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 THE 
 
 HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 MASHAM 
 
 MASHAMSHIRE; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF ITS SEVERAL FRANCHISES, ITS ANCIENT LORDS, 
 RECTORS, PREBENDARIES, VICARS, CURATES, &c, &c. ; 
 
 Appendixes, containing Copies of several Charters, Grants, and other 
 
 important Documents relating to the Manor, Forest, 
 
 Free Warren and Free Chase, Markets, Fairs, 
 
 Prebendal Church, &c, of Masham. 
 
 Setttlj mmurous tttljogragflw auo foooo-tut Illustrations. 
 
 By JOHN FISHER, Esq. 
 
 (masham). 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT. 
 
 RIPON : W. HARRISON, MARKET-PLACE. 
 
 And all Booksellers. 
 1865. 
 

 
JJjebicateb 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 VICE-ADMIRAL OCTAVIUS VERNON HARCOURT, 
 
 LORD OF THE MANOR OF MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 WHO DIED THE I4.TH OF AUGUST, 1 863, 
 
 IN THE 7OTH YEAR OF HIS AGE j 
 
 And in grateful acknowledgment of his many inestimable virtues j the 
 urbanity of his manners, and gentleness of his disposition ; his skill and 
 uprightness, combined with moderation, in the dispensing of justice as a 
 Magistrate 5 his liberality and considerate conduct as a landlord j his 
 extreme kindness to the poor, and attention to their many wants ; and 
 his unbounded munificence to charitable institutions calculated to benefit 
 his fellow--man $ his patience and christian resignation when under 
 affliction ; and, whilst calmly awaiting his dissolution, his entire trust 
 and confidence in the merits and efficacy of the blood of his crucified 
 Saviour and Redeemer. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
ADMIEAL OCTAVIUS VEENON HAECOUET. 
 
 The death of this estimable gentleman took place at Swinton Park, 
 near Masham, on Friday, August 14th, 1863, at half-past ten in the even- 
 ing. He was the eighth son of Dr. Edward Vernon, late Archbishop of 
 York, who took the surname of Harcourt by Eoyal sign manual in Jan- 
 uary, 1831, on his succeeding to the estates of the last Earl Harcourt. 
 The gallant Admiral was born on the 26th of December, 1793, at Eox 
 Castle, in Cumberland (his late father being then Bishop of Carlisle) and 
 was consequently in his 70th year at the time of his death. He entered 
 the navy in August, 1806, as midshipman on board The Tigre, 74, Captain 
 Benjamin Hallowell, and, on attending the expedition to Egypt, in 1807, 
 he witnessed the surrender of Alexandria, and was much employed in boat 
 service on the river Nile. After assisting at the blockade of Toulon, and 
 contributing to the destruction of the French ships of the line, Robuste 
 and Lion, towards the close of October, 1809, he accompanied Captain 
 Hallowell, on his promotion to Eear Admiral, into The Malta, 80, and con- 
 tinued to serve with him in that ship on the Mediterranean Station, until 
 the receipt of his last commission on the 11th January, 1814, co-operating 
 intermediately with the troops on the south east coast of Spain, and serv- 
 ing in the batteries at the siege of Jarragona. He next joined The Mid- 
 grave, 74, Captain Thomas James Maling, and, while cruising in that ship 
 off the coast of Italy, he landed with a party of seamen and marines near 
 Piombino, where he captured a Martello Tower, and brought out, or de- 
 stroyed, a convoy anchored under its protection. During the war of one 
 hundred days, he served in The Amelia, 38, Captain The Honourable 
 Granville Prooy, at the blockade of Elba ; and on the intelligence arriv- 
 ing of the surrender of Buonaparte, after the battle of Waterloo, he was 
 sent with a major of the Tuscan army to summon the town of Porto Fer- 
 rajo. Quitting the latter vessel in 1816 he remained on half -pay until 
 the 2nd of February, 1818, when he was appointed to the Sir Francis 
 Drake, flag ship of Sir Charles Hamilton, at Newfoundland, where he ob- 
 tained command on the 3rd of February, 1820, of The Drake Sloop, and 
 for a short time in the same year, of The Carnation, 18, and, during that 
 year, discharged the duties of surrogate at Newfoundland. He afterwards 
 joined, on the 5th of June, 1824, and on the 30th of May, 1835, The Bri- 
 tomart, 10, and Primrose, 18, both employed in the West Indies, from 
 which station he returned to England with upwards of a million of dollars, 
 in July, 1827. On the 7th of the following month he was promoted to the 
 rank of Post Captain, and about the same time was selected by the Lord 
 High Admiral to act as his Aide-de-Camp in the Royal Sovereign Yacht, 
 on the occasion of a visit of inspection to the various seaports. On the 
 26th of March, 1834, he was appointed to The North, 28, in which vessel 
 he took out H. Hamilton, Esq., the British Minister, to Buenos Ayres, and 
 
Vi. OBITUAEY. 
 
 was then employed in surveying the coast of Central America and Cali- 
 fornia, and ultimately returned to England with a large freight. Since 
 the 27th of October, 1836, he was on half -pay ; and on the 26th of Octo- 
 ber, 1854, he was promoted to the rank of Eear Admiral on reserved half- 
 pay, under Her Majesty's Order in Council of the 25th of June, ]851, On 
 the 22nd of February, 1838, he married Ann Hoi well Danby, the widow 
 of William Danby, Esq., of Swinton Park, and by her, and in her right, he 
 became lord of Mashain and Mashamshire, and into the possession of 
 a handsome rent-roll. Immediately on his marriage he took up his resi- 
 dence at Swinton Park, which he has ever since made his principal resi- 
 dence, Very soon afterwards he was placed on the commission of the 
 peace for both the North and West Eidings of Yorkshire, and then be- 
 came a very active magistrate for the district, and so continued until 
 March, 1856, when he was overtaken by the sickness which ended in his 
 death. In his magisterial capacity he was remarkable for great pains- 
 taking, and for tact and discernment in arriving at the truth ; and when 
 called upon to put into execution the correctional arm of the law, he ever 
 tempered mercy with justice, and thus became, as he deserved to be, very 
 popular throughout the district. In the year 1 818 he was appointed to the 
 office of High Sheriff of Yorkshire ; and he discharged the duties of his 
 office in a highly satisfactory manner, fully maintaining its dignity by his 
 gentlemanly bearing and a liberal hospitality. He has ever been a great 
 benefactor to the Church. He built at his own expense a very handsome 
 Church and Parsonage upon his estate at Healey, near Masham, which 
 he amply endowed ; also another Church at Bent Tor in Devonshire, the 
 endowment of which he also considerably augmented. He also restored 
 at his own cost, and in a most efficient manner, the Parish Church at 
 Masham, besides contributing very largely to the funds for the erection 
 of several other churches, not only in this but in other counties. He 
 was likewise a liberal contributor to the funds of the several societies 
 having for their object the building, enlarging, and endowing of churches 
 in England, as well as the colonies ; also for promoting the employment 
 of additional curates in populous places, and for promoting and encourag- 
 ing the extension of a sound and religious education amongst the people. 
 In the year 1858, he erected in Masham six neat and commodious Alms- 
 houses for the benefit of the poor of the parish, and these he endowed by 
 transferring to trustees for the benefit of the Charity, £1,775 three per cent. 
 Consols, besides contributing with a princely munificence to the Eiddell 
 Memorial Mechanics' Institute in Masham, the Masham Grammar School, 
 the Masham Free School, the Infant School, and the Free School at Kell- 
 bank near Masham, as well as to the funds of all the local Charities. 
 For several years past he has regularly distributed £100 a year amongst 
 the necessitous poor of Masham ; in short, his contributions to charitable 
 and other objects, calculated to benefit his fellow-men, were in truth with- 
 out stint, and their full extent is unknown, for he ever loved to do good 
 without ostentation or publicity. He was also a kind and liberal landlord ; 
 and as such his memory will ever be held dear to a numerous and devoted 
 tenantry. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH, KORTH WEST. 
 
 THE HISTOKY OF MASHAM AND 
 MASHAMSHIHE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 HERE seems to be something in our very 
 nature which causes us to look back with 
 an indescribable feeling of pleasure upon 
 the scenes of our childhood, and to view 
 with an inexpressible delight the spots 
 where we, with joyous companions like 
 ourselves, spent the happiest portion of our days, freed, 
 as they then were, from the cares and anxieties of after 
 life : where every surrounding object seems vividly to 
 call back to our minds happy reminiscences of the past ; 
 and the scenes too even of our riper years, where we 
 battled with the outer world with the ever varying 
 successes of life : now big with hope and high expecta- 
 tions, and anon depressed with gloomy fears : now on 
 
 B 
 
2 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the very verge of ruin, and anon in the heyday of 
 prosperity: are hardly less the objects of our interest, 
 and afford us, after they are past and gone, useful reflec- 
 tions, how we escaped the threatened evil, and in what 
 manner we accomplished the good. The places too, 
 where our forefathers, and those whom we loved best 
 here on earth "lived, and loved, and died"; the church 
 where they worshipped, the altar at which they were 
 joined together in holy wedlock, the baptismal font at 
 which they, with ourselves, were received into commu- 
 nion with Christ's church here on earth; and the very 
 graveyard in which their bodies now lie mouldering in 
 the dust, and 
 
 Into whose furrows shall we all be cast,. 
 
 In the sure faith that we shall rise again, 
 At the great harvest, when the Archangel's blast 
 
 Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain, 
 
 (LONGFELLOW) 
 
 are equally the objects of our fond affections. The fol- 
 lowing lines, from one of Henry Kirke White's earliest 
 productions, is so very apposite to my own feelings upon 
 the subject, as here expressed, that I am induced to 
 introduce them here. 
 
 Pictured in memory's mellowing glass, how sweet 
 Our infant days, our infant joys to greet ; 
 To roam in fancy in each cherished scene, 
 The village church-yard, and the village green, 
 The woodland walk remote, the greenwood glade, 
 The mossy seat beneath the hawthorn's shade, 
 The whitewashed cottage, where the woodbine grew, 
 And all the favourite haunts our childhood knew ! 
 How sweet, while all the evil shuns the gaze, 
 To view the unclouded skies of former days ! 
 
 Such being the feelings which I am persuaded pervade 
 the breast of all, it is unnecessary to make any apology 
 for thus attempting to trace the past history of their 
 childhood's home, or the place of their adoption, which- 
 ever it may be* 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is not intended in these pages to indulge, on the 
 one hand, in the diy and often contradictory speculations 
 of the antiquary, for that would tend to puzzle and em- 
 barrass the general reader, rather than instruct and 
 interest him; nor, on the other hand, to present him 
 with a mere "fancy's sketch, " although the richness and 
 acknowledged beauty of the scenery of Mashamshire, 
 with its historic reminiscences, would afford abundant 
 scope for the imagination and pen of a Poet. The object 
 of these pages is far otherwise, namely, to give a plain 
 and unvarnished account of the past history of the 
 place, as far at least as it is known, written in plain 
 and intelligible language, so as to be readily understood 
 by the ordinary reader. 
 
 LOW FORS, IS HAYDALE-SIDE. 
 
4 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 DERIVATION OF THE NAME OF MASHAM. 
 
 With regard u to the name of Masham, happily it is 
 not, like the names of other places, involved in much 
 mystery, and is consequently of a very easy solution. 
 As far back as we can trace, it has been written as it 
 is now invariably pronounced, namely, Massam or Mass- 
 ham (but mostly in the former fashion, and not as now 
 Ma-sham) ; Mass was then spelt with a double ss, as it 
 ought to be. In Domesday Book, which was compiled 
 by the direction of William the Conqueror, and was 
 completed a.d. 1086, it is spelt Massan, the termina- 
 tion ham having been turned into an by our old enemies 
 the Danes, * who, previous to the Conquest had over- 
 run and possessed themselves of this district, and altered 
 the terminations of the names of many places in it to 
 suit the genius of their own language. The original 
 termination of the name of Massam, was, however, very 
 soon resumed, as appears by all the subsequent ancient 
 documents connected with the place. 
 
 The word Massham is derived from the two words 
 Mass and ham. The word Mass f originally implied 
 only a religious festival, and it was in this sense used 
 long before the introduction of the sacrament now known 
 by the name of the mass, in the word Christmas, which 
 signified the festival of the Nativity of Christ. By 
 degrees, however, it came to be used for the church-ser- 
 vice, and from its signifying the church-service in general 
 
 * The powerful Gospatric, who was the Lord of Masham town at the 
 time of the Conquest, was a Dane. There is also every reason to believe 
 that the valiant Earl Si ward, another Danish chieftain, had one of his seats 
 within this parish in the time of Edward the Confessor. For an account 
 of these lords, see post. 
 
 f Archdeacon Churton, in his " Early English Church" says, " Mass, in 
 the old English or Saxon language, meant a feast — the holy feast of the 
 Lord's Supper." 
 
DERIVATION OF NAME. 5 
 
 it came at length to denote the communion-service, or 
 mass, in particular ; and the word ham (which is Saxon) 
 signified a village. Thus we see that the word Masham 
 properly signifies the village, or place where the religi- 
 ous festivals of the church are celebrated. 
 
 This name was no doubt given to the place on the 
 original building of the church here, in the Saxon era, 
 some ten or twelve hundred years ago at the least, and 
 that too, in the place of some other name of heathenish 
 origin, which had been given to it by our pagan fore- 
 fathers, but now passed into oblivion, like many other 
 things connected with Masham and its church, which, 
 if still existing — 
 
 " What tales could they tell, 
 Of the merry peals rung on the old church bell ; 
 How recount they the scenes, when the yeoman or lord 
 Was wed, or was laid 'neath the soft green sward." 
 
6 MASIIAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 LOCAL DESCRIPTION OF MASIIAM AND 
 NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 The Parish of Masham is situate on the banks of the 
 river Yore, at the southern extremity of the North 
 Riding of Yorkshire, and forms the boundary line 
 between the North and West Ridings of that County. 
 Protected on the north by the Gebdykes-hills, and on 
 the south by the range of hills, of which Nutwith is the 
 chief, that portion of the Parish lying to the east forms 
 a rich and fertile vale ; whilst the western portion, 
 which extends to, and takes in the extensive moorlands 
 to the west, where 
 
 " To his cackling dames, 
 On blooming heather and secret lawns dispersed — 
 The gor-cock calls the sultan of the grove," 
 
 is less fertile and more bleak and rugged in its character. 
 Abounding in every part in hill and dale, and in wood 
 and water, Mashamshire presents an endless variety of 
 the most picturesque and striking landscapes. 
 
 "Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, 
 Here earth and water seem to strive again ; 
 Not chaos-like, together crush'd and bruis'd, 
 Bat, as the world, harmoniously confused : 
 "Where order in variety we see, 
 And where, though all things differ, all agree." 
 
 POPE. 
 
 The hills — as they recede from the western moors 
 (where they rejoice to their very summit in the purple 
 heather), and approach towards the town of Masham, 
 — although still bold in outline, lose much of their 
 mountainous character without becoming tame, and 
 with the valleys below, present a rich and luxuriant 
 appearance, at the same time affording abundance of 
 food for both man and beast ; whilst many lesser dells — 
 which intersect it in different directions, here and there 
 
MASHAM AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 7 
 
 assume the form of deep and rugged ravines* — serve to 
 mark the violent convulsions which nature has under- 
 gone in these parts — the effect of volcanic eruptions, 
 which 
 
 " Down the vales in masses threw, 
 Crags, knolls, mounds, and confusedly hurl'd 
 The fragments of another world!" 
 
 and contrast the more strongly with the adjoining valleys. 
 It is, however, its woodland scenery, with its exube- 
 rant foliage, for which Mashamshire stands pre-eminent. 
 Few places, indeed, can vie with it, either as to the 
 quantity or the grandeur and magnificence of its forest 
 trees, " all tinged with varied hues,' 7 especially the oak, 
 M the king of the forest," which here grows to an amaz- 
 ing size, and contributes largely to the supply of material 
 for the "wooden walls of old England." When viewed 
 from the distant hills, on approaching it from Bedale or 
 Kipon, the Town with its lofty spire, whose " silent 
 finger points to heaven," presents the appearance of 
 being situate in the midst of a vast forest, backed with 
 a, double range of lofty hills, with here and there only, 
 patches of land, and the more prominent of the villages 
 and houses peeping above the trees, with the silvery 
 waters of the Ure, gliding slowly and majestically on in 
 its winding course at the foot of the valley, giving grace 
 and dignity to the landscape. 
 
 " Here waving woods — a mass of living green — 
 With varied shade diversify the scene ; 
 Flowers of all hues perfume the haunted dell, 
 Where streams descend, and bubbling fountains dwell j " 
 
 "And ever, as the summer sun goes down, 
 From bank to bank, amidst yon leafy bower, 
 The woodland songsters trill harmonious notes: 
 Till every tree that crowns the verdant steep, 
 Or shades the stream, that flows in amber light, 
 Sends forth its melody." 
 
 * Quarry-gill and Arnagill, or Eagle's-gill, are especially worthy of notice, 
 and ought to be visited by every tourist. 
 
8 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Interesting as Mashamshire may be to the lovers of 
 the beautiful in nature, it is not the less so to the lovers 
 >{ antiquity. To use the language of Professor Phillips 
 — in his " Rivers, Mountains, and Sea-coasts of York- 
 shire," when speaking of Masham — " it is full of anti- 
 quarian reliques;" reliques, as will be hereafter seen, 
 embracing the Early British, the Roman, the Anglo- 
 Saxon, the Norman, and the Mediaeval periods of our 
 history — besides being surrounded on all sides by, and 
 in the immediate vicinity of the ruins of innumerable 
 castles and abbeys, which stand like monumental pillars 
 in the stream of time, inscribed with the names of 
 England's native chivalry and early hierarchy, to per- 
 petuate their patriotic deeds and works of piety. 
 
 , " I do love these ancient ruins — 
 
 "We never tread upon them, but we set 
 
 Our foot upon some reverend history ; 
 
 And, questionless, here in this open court, 
 
 Which now lies naked to the injuries 
 
 Of stormy weather, some men lie interred 
 
 Who loved the Church so well, and gave so largely to't 
 
 They thought it should have canopied their bones 
 
 Till doom's-day. But all things have their end, 
 
 Churches and Cities :" — Webster's Duchess of Malfi. 
 
 For instance, at Aldburgh Hall, we have the site and 
 groundworks of an ancient castle, supposed to have been 
 a Roman fortress, and which, very soon after the Con- 
 quest, was one of the granges belonging to the monks 
 of Fountains. 
 
 At Tanfield, we have the remains of Tanfield Castle, 
 which was at a very early period the property of the 
 knightly families, the Gernegans and the Fitzhughs, by 
 the latter of whom it was carried in marriage, early in 
 the thirteenth century, to the equally knightly family of 
 the Marmions, whose remains lie buried in the Maud 
 Marmion Chantry (founded by her, a.d. 1343) in the 
 adjoining church, where are monumental effigies of some 
 of the Marmions. 
 
MASHAM AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 9 
 
 " But now th' unsightly brier grows, 
 Where once in gilded bower, 
 The Queen of Beauty trained the rose — 
 Herself a fairer flower." 
 
 At Snape, we have another castle, which was anciently 
 the seat of the Fitz-Randolphs, Lords of Middleham, 
 and afterwards of the Nevilles, Lords Latimer. 
 
 " There is a spirit brooding o'er these walls, 
 That tells the record of a bye-gone day ; 
 
 When, 'midst the splendour of thy courtly halls, 
 A pageant shone, whose gorgeous array, 
 Like Pleasure's golden dream, has passed away ; 
 
 Where Beauty's smiles, and willing graces, lent 
 The witching radiance of their love-lit ray; 
 
 And from the scene a mingled strain was sent 
 
 Of music, laughter, festive song, and merriment." 
 
 Raglan. 
 
 In the neighbouring church at Well, is an Elizabethan 
 monument of John Neville, the last Lord Latimer 
 (1577), as, also, a brass of Dorothy Neville, the prede- 
 cessor of Queen Catherine Parr, in Lord Latimer's bed 
 and affections, and the mother of the Lord above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Well church has been recently restored, and has, 
 consequently, lost much of its ancient character, partic- 
 ularly in the interior. There was a curious representa- 
 tion of the Almighty in stained glass, with the arms of 
 Neville on his breast. This has disappeared! If yet 
 entire, it should be restored to its old place in the ves- 
 try window. 
 
 NEVILLE. 
 
10 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 At Clifton Castle, we have the site of the ancient 
 Castle of the Scropes, Lords of Mashamshire — 
 
 " Its huge old halls of knightly state, 
 Dismantled lay and desolate." 
 
 CLIFTON CASTLE. 
 
 In the adjoining parish of Kirkby Malzeard, we have 
 what Pennant, the naturalist and antiquary, describes 
 as " the remains of Mowbray's Castle-hill, which are 
 unquestionably Roman; a square defended on one side 
 by the steep of the hill, on the other by a dyke and 
 deep ditch on the outside;" referring to one of the 
 many castles of Roger de Mowbray, one of the great 
 and early Lords of Mashamshire, but of which castle 
 not one stone is now left upon another. 
 
MASHAM AOT ' NEIGHBOURHOOD. 11 
 
 " Where is mighty Mowbray's Hall, 
 
 The Chieftain's voice — the clang of war; 
 The tower — the battlement so tall, 
 The Beacon naming from afar? 
 
 * . # * * 
 
 'Tis gone, and merely left a name, 
 Gone like the meteor's rapid light. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 The pride — the strength — the dread array, 
 The feudal lord — the warlike throng, 
 
 The Castle towers have past away, 
 Save in historic page or song." 
 
 A little further distant is Ripon Minster, where rest the 
 bones of St. Wilfrid ; and near to it is Fountains Abbey 
 (of world-wide fame, and therefore needs little descrip- 
 tion), which was founded a.d. 1132, and to which the 
 Lords of Mashamshire were great benefactors. Here 
 we find 
 
 "The fair wrought shaft all ivy-bound, 
 The tow'ring arch with foliage crowned, 
 That trembles on its brow sublime, 
 Triumphant o'er the spoils of time." 
 
 Bloomfield. 
 
 At Bramley Grange and Pott Grange, the monks of 
 Fountains had granges, in addition to the one they had 
 at Aldburgh, already alluded to. Pott Grange is remark- 
 able as being the birthplace of William Ascough, who 
 became Bishop of Salisbury, and was murdered by the 
 mob in Jack Cade's insurrection, on the 29th June, 
 1450, as well as of others of the same name and family, 
 who were Lord Mayors of York. At Colsterdale, the 
 monks of Jervaux had also a grange, and where mines 
 were worked as early as the reign of Edward L* 
 
 At Bedale, we have the site of a castle, which was the 
 residence of, and is supposed to have been founded by 
 Brian Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, a younger brother 
 of the Earl of Richmond. In the church is the effigy 
 
 * Sir Walter Scott, in his Ivanhoe, makes Prior Aymer, of Jervaux, an 
 important personage. 
 
12 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE 
 
 of Brian Fitz Alan, as, also, a portion of an ancient 
 Saxon tomb, and in the churchyard are the remains of a 
 Saxon cross. 
 
 JERYAUX ABBEY. 
 
 On the very border of Mashamshire is Jeryaux Ab- 
 bey, which was originally founded a.d. 1144, at Fors, 
 in Wensleydale, by Akarius Fitz Bardolph, an illegiti- 
 mate brother of Alan Rufus, an early Lord of Masham- 
 shire, but was, ad. 1156, removed to its present situation, 
 when it received considerable benefactions from the then 
 Lord of Mashamshire. 
 
 " Here science calmly rear'd its laurelled brow, 
 And learning sheltered in the sacred pile, 
 Asylum soft; where toiled the busy pen, 
 Transcriptive, volumes multiplied : ere yet 
 The metal type, and ponderous moving press 
 Had lent their magic art to literature." 
 
 At Coverham,f we have another abbey of considerable 
 
 t Coverdale has the honour of being the birthplace of Miles Coverdale, 
 the English Reformer and Bishop of Exeter. 
 
MASHAM AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 13 
 
 celebrity, which was founded by Ranulph, the son of 
 Robert Fitz Ralph, the Lord of Middleham. 
 
 " Where now the grass exhales a murky dew, 
 The humid pall of life — extinguished clay, 
 
 In sainted fame the sacred fathers grew, 
 Nor raised their pious voices but to pray. 
 
 Where now the bats their wavering wings extend, 
 Soon as the gloaming spreads her warning shade, 
 
 The choir did oft their mingling vespers blend, 
 
 Or matin orisons to Mary paid. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 It is remarkable that in the churchyard at Coverham, 
 one can neither see the church nor hear the bells. The 
 ground descends so rapidly from the church, that at 
 the bottom of the bank the church cannot be seen, whilst 
 the noise of a water-mill, which is close by, prevents 
 one from hearing the sound of the bells » 
 
 MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. 
 
 At Middleham we have another castle, which has 
 been rendered famous in history by its many mighty 
 possessors. 
 
 It was founded a.d. 1190, by Robert Fitz Ralph 
 (grandson of Ribald, one of the followers of William the 
 
14 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Conqueror), who was the third Lord of Middleham. 
 Middleham Castle came to the Nevilles by " the fair and 
 gentle" Mary, daughter of Ralph Fitz Randolph, who 
 married Robert de Neville, son of the Lord of Raby, 
 whose grandson, " the Peacock of the North," 
 
 " in bold prosperity, 
 Of colours manifold and bright, 
 Walked round, affronting the daylight." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 From this marriage descended the Earls of Westmore- 
 land, who thus becoming possessed of Middleham Castle, 
 it became the favourite residence of the powerful Nev- 
 illes, who acted an important part in the public affairs of 
 this country in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 Ralph Neville, a younger brother of the Lord of Mid- 
 dleham, was the hero of the battle of Neville's Cross in 
 1346. John, Lord Neville, who died in 1388, highly 
 distinguished himself in the wars of Scotland, France, 
 and Turkey. Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, 
 who succeeded him, was the betrayer of Archbishop 
 Scrope and his principal supporters, in 1405. He is a 
 principal character in Shakspere's " King Henry IV." 
 But the most celebrated of the owners of Middleham, 
 was Richard, Earl of Warwick, " the setter up and 
 plucker down of kings." Here, the great " Kingmaker" 
 frequently had for his guest Edward IY. After the 
 death of Warwick on the field of Barnet, in 1471, 
 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., 
 who married Warwick's youngest daughter, came into 
 possession of Middleham, and often resided at the Cas- 
 tle,* where his only son was born in 1473. In the 
 language of W. G. M. J. Barker, in his ' Three days of 
 Wensleydale,' " There dwelt the mighty Earl of Salis- 
 bury and his yet mightier son — the renowned " King- 
 
 * Sir E. B. Lytton, Bart., in his ' Last of the Barons' says, " Middleham, 
 not Windsor, nor Shene, nor Westminster, nor the Tower, seemed the Court 
 of England " at this time, to such a state of importance had it then been 
 risen by- its mighty owners. 
 
KIVEHS, BKOOKS, ETC. 15 
 
 maker/' Warwick. There, too, dwelt Richard, Duke of 
 Gloucester (Warwick's son-in-law), and England's third 
 Richard ; and there, that monarch's only son, Edward 
 Prince of Wales, was born 1473, and died 1484. c The 
 White Rose' early drooping." And he might have 
 added that it was from hence that the Earl of Salisbury 
 marched through Craven, at the head of 4000 men, 
 belonging to this district, to the battle of Bloreheath, in 
 1459. And further on he adds, " Altogether, the 
 castle, by historic recollections, is rendered one of the 
 most interesting in the north of England. As we pace 
 its deserted courts, or stand within its roofless walls,, 
 imagination may well recall the by-gone. The trumpet 
 sounds — the armour clashes : — the gorgeous Edward — 
 the munificent Richard — fair Anne of Warwick — her 
 Duchess sister — people these desolate rooms. Lady y 
 knight, damoiselle, and damoiseau, flit past us in bril- 
 liant pageantry. * * * Anon, the scene 
 changes : — night hovers over the castle — the young moon 
 vainly struggles with the dim clouds — torches supply 
 their place — there are guards and a prisoner — we hear 
 the death axe fall on the unhappy Falconbridge : — we 
 start from our day-dream — all are gone: — feasters and 
 sufferers — nobles and soldiers — we are standing hi a 
 banquet-hall deserted, and the jackdaw's cry awakes the 
 echoes of the trumpet's sound." 
 
1G 
 
 MASH AM AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 And in near proximity to it is Bolton Castle, remark- 
 able as having been for about two years the prison-house 
 of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, previously to 
 her removal to Tutbury Castle, in Staffordshire. 
 
 BOLTON CASTLE. 
 
 It was at Bolton Castle that the Duke of Norfolk made 
 his fatal overtures to the Queen, which led to his death on 
 the scaffold. During the civil wars, it was long defended 
 for the king by Lord Scrope, and a party of Richmond- 
 shire militia, against the Parliamentary forces, but ulti- 
 mately on the 5th of November 1645, surrendered by 
 them on honourable terms. In the meantime, however, 
 they no doubt sang lustily — 
 
 " Our Donjon tower is stout and tall, 
 Each rampart mann'd and steady ; 
 And loyal hearts from every wall, 
 Shout ' Roundheads? we are ready !" 
 
p—t 
 
RIVERS, BROOKS, ETC. 17 
 
 RIVERS, BROOKS, AND BECKS. 
 
 Mashamshire is watered by the river Yore and its 
 tributary, the Bourne, together with several other moun- 
 tain streams which empty themselves into the latter. 
 
 The principal and most important stream is the Yore. 
 There has been much needless controversy at different 
 times as to the etymology of " Yore." There can be no 
 doubt, however, but that in the time of the Romans, it 
 was called " Urus," as behig descriptive of its rapidity. 
 Such was, and still is, the characteristic of the Yore, 
 before, at least, - it reaches Mashamshire — the Latin word 
 " Urus" signifying a beast like a bull (that animal being 
 at that day remarkable for its impetuosity and swiftness) 
 is, therefore, very applicable to such a river — hence the 
 name " Ure" or " Eure". The Saxons, however, as was 
 common with them in their day, prefixed the letter J to 
 it, and by otherwise altering the Roman name, by drop- 
 ping the Lathi termination us, to suit the peculiar genius 
 of their own language, called it " Jer," or " Jor," or 
 " Jore," rather from the sound than from strict ortho- 
 graphy. Hence we have " Jore-Yallis," as inscribed on 
 the tombs in Jervaux Abbey, and the present name of 
 Jervaux (the Normans having hi their turn changed 
 the termination " vaiiis" a vale, hito " vaulx" or " vaux," 
 as we now have it). Thus we see how the names " Ure," 
 p Eure," " Jer," " Jor," and " Jore," have sprung from 
 the Roman name " Urus." Lastly, the Danes turned 
 the J hito Y, the J hi their language having the sound 
 of the English Y. Mr. Barker, before alluded to, who 
 it will be remembered, used, when living, to date his 
 poetical and other effusions from " The Banks of the 
 Yore" (and was an advocate for the name of " Yore"), 
 says this — " From all preserved documents, Papal 
 Bulls, Royal Charters, Feudal Grants, and family papers, 
 which I have hitherto investigated, as well as in the 
 
 c 
 
18 MASHAM AKD MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 local pronunciation, I consider my orthography justified, 
 and adhere to " Yore." I can only say in answer to this, 
 that although I certainly have not had the advantage of 
 inspecting any " Papal Bulls" (and I cannot see what 
 the Pope or Papal Bulls could have to do with the Yore) 
 I have carefully examined many of the other early doc- 
 uments alluded to, and until within a comparatively 
 recent period, I have invariably found it called " Jor" or 
 " Jore." For instance, Earl Alan and Roger de Mow- 
 bray, hi their grants, call it " Jor" or " Jhor" ; " Yore" 
 does not appear until more modern times, and is evidently 
 a Danish corruption of " Jore." See page vi. of the 
 preface to Worsaae's Danes and Norwegians as to this.* 
 The explanation is the Danes wrote it Jore and pronoun- 
 ced it Yore, so both names are right. By whichever of 
 these names it is called, whether the Saxon " Jore," or 
 the Danish or more modern " Yore," it loses it at Ouse- 
 burn, where it is joined by, and unites with the Swale, 
 and the insignificant Ouse, and taking the name of the 
 u Ouse," it becomes the greatest stream in Yorkshire, 
 and on its being again augmented by the Derwent, it 
 becomes the mighty Humber. There can be little doubt, 
 however, but that in ancient times, the Yore, or Jor, or 
 Eure, retained its own name as far as York, and that 
 York derived its present name from it,f York being 
 formerly called " Eurewic," and Yorkshire u Eurewick- 
 scire." Even so late as a.d. 1285, it was called " Jor" 
 as far as York, as appears by a charter of that date, of 
 Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, Lord of the Barony of 
 Knaresbrough and Manor of Aldborough, by which he 
 
 * 
 
 That learned author there says, " J has the sound of the English Y, as 
 in Jarl (Yarl, Earl) Jorvik (Yor-vik, York)." Many instances will also be 
 found in the course of these pages where the letter Y is substituted for both 
 G and J, as in " Yven" instead of " Given." 
 
 t Mr. Worsaae, in his ' Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England/ 
 at page 32, says that the Danes called York ' Jorvik/ that is, they wrote 
 it ' Jorvik/ but as stated in the preface to that learned work, they pro- 
 nounced it 'Yorvikj' "hence," he says, " it is plain that the form ' York/ now 
 in use, is derived." 
 
RIVERS, BROOKS, ETC. 19 
 
 gave to the monks of Fountains, a passage on the waters 
 of Jor [not Ouse or even Yore] from Boroughbridge to 
 York, free from tolls, passage, or pontage. 
 
 Yore takes its rise at a place called the Lady's Pillar, 
 in the mountain range which divides Yorkshire on the 
 west from Westmoreland. Camden thus incidentally 
 speaks of the head of the Yore : " On the side of the 
 country next to Lancashire, is such a dreary waste and 
 horrid silent wilderness among the mountains, that certain 
 little rivulets that creep here are called by the neighbour- 
 hood • Hell-becks/ q. d., rivers or streams of hell, and 
 especially that at the head of the Ure, which runs under a 
 bridge of a single rock, in so deep a channel as to strike 
 beholders with horror. In this part the goats, deer, and 
 stags of extraordinary size, with branching horns, find a 
 secure retreat." The Yore, 
 
 " rolling far below — 
 Here swift as time, there still and slow ; 
 O'ershadowed here with arching bowers, 
 There sweetly fringed with summer flowers." 
 
 Proceeding hence, it receives in its course the many tor- 
 rents collected from the sides of Shunor Fell, Widdale Fell, 
 and Dodd Fell, and thus becomes a considerable volume 
 before it reaches Hawes. Still gathering in its onward 
 course down the picturesque and romantic Yale of Wen- 
 sleydale, at Hardraw Scaur, it is augmented by a moun- 
 tain stream, the whole body of which takes a sudden 
 leap of ninety-nine feet over the rocks, forming a massive 
 column of water projected from the edge of a rock, so as 
 to detach itself completely from the strata beneath, and to 
 plunge without dispersion or interruption into a black 
 and boiling cauldron below, and in the huge cavern thus 
 formed behmd the cascade (which is easy of access), 
 hawks and jackdaws build their nests. Rushing still on- 
 ward, after receiving the overflow of the lake Simmer- 
 water, the whole body of the river takes a precipitate leap 
 over two ledges of rock, one above and the other below 
 
20 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the bridge at Aysgarth Force ;* thence passing Wensley, 
 Middleham, and Jervanx Abbey, it assumes a more 
 tranquil aspect, and passes Clifton Castle and Masham, 
 where it becomes a magnificent stream, and the scenery 
 remarkably picturesque and beautiful. On its reaching 
 that romantic spot Hackfall, it has again assumed its 
 impetuous career, and dashing from rock to rock passes 
 on past Tanfield, Kipon, and Boroughbridge, to Ouse- 
 burn, where, as has been before described, it drops its 
 name, and takes that of the insignificant Ouse. 
 
 John L eland, the famous antiquary, who visited this 
 place in the reign of Henry VIII., hi his "Itinerary," 
 which was begun by him about a.d. 1538, thus speaks 
 of the Ure: — " Ure cummith thrughe Wencedale acl- 
 joininge to Bishopsdale. The hed of Ure in a mosse 
 about a myle above Coteren-hill is about 14 miles above 
 
 Middleham, much westwarde All the top of Co- 
 
 terene hill and somewhat farther is hi Bichmondshire, 
 and at the utter parte of the hill or thereabout is a beck 
 called Hell-gille, because it runnithe in such a deadley 
 place. This gill commithe to Ure and is divider of 
 Bichmont and Westmerlandshire. .... There is no very 
 notable Bridge on Ure above Wincelaw Bridge, a mile 
 above Midleham and more Bainbridge is above 
 
 * Mr. W. G. Barker, in his ' Three days of Wensleydale,' thus speaks of 
 Aysgarth Force: "The Force may be strictly termed magnificent. The 
 whole body of the river rushes rapidly over an abrupt descent, partially 
 broken into three steps, and falling with stunning roar into a deep cauldron, 
 over which, rainbowed spray, like April shower clouds, continually hangs. 
 It flashes onwards, foaming and thundering along the irregular sheet of- 
 limestone, occasionally subsiding into calm, glassy pools, but for the most 
 part boiling and hissing tumultuoasly around the broken rocks that seem 
 vainly endeavouring to arrest its speed. On both sides the river, are grim, 
 impending cliffs, that threaten with destruction any adventurous explorer of 
 the water's margin. Trees and brushwood cover their summits, and above 
 lie green fields, invisible from below. Wild flowers spring from the chinks, 
 and ivy and blossoming creepers festoon both branch and crag." Taking 
 Aysgarth Force, with its picturesque banks, altogether, it is one of the most 
 beautiful waterfalls in the county. 
 
RIVERS, BROOKS, ETC. 21 
 
 Wencelaw Bridge, Aiskar Bridge * above it, where Ure 
 
 Ryver faullethe very depe betwixt 2 scarry Rokkes 
 
 There be a greate number of Hopes or small brooks that 
 cum into eche syde of Ure out of the Rokky mountayne 
 
 or evar it cum to Midleham The Bridge over Ure 
 
 by Midleham is but of Tymbar About a myle be- 
 
 nethe Gervalx Abbey is a great old Bridge of stone on 
 Ure, caullvd Kilsram Bridge. Then about 4 miles to 
 Maseham Bridge of Tymbar a little benethe Masseham 
 and YI miles lower north Bridge at the hether end of 
 Ripon, it is of YII arches of stone. And a qwarter of 
 a myle or lesse lower Hawike Bridge of 3 arches. Skelle 
 commithe in betwixt thes 2 Bridges From Midle- 
 ham to Wenslaw about a mile up ther is a great Bridge 
 of stone over it [Ure] made many yere shis by a good 
 
 person at Wincelaw callid Alwine And or ever I 
 
 cam to West Tanfield I passed by Ferry for lak of 
 
 Bridge The Tounlet of West Tanfielde standith 
 
 on a cliving ground hard by Ure, a Ryver of colour and 
 the morish nature of the soil of Wencedale from whens 
 
 it cummith The fair Bridge of 3 or 4 arches that 
 
 is on Ure at Wencelaw a mile or more above Midleham 
 was made 200 year ago and more by one caullyd Alwine 
 Parson of Wencelaw." 
 
 The next stream of importance is the Bourne or Burn, 
 which L eland says, " risethe at a place by West in the 
 West hills caullid moreheads and then goithe into Ure 
 a little benethe Massenham Bridge and Town on Ure. 
 
 Agayne the mouthe of this on the othar syde of 
 
 Yore Ryver lyethe Aldeburg Yillage. ...... At the other 
 
 ende of Masseham I passed over a fan' Ryver called 
 Bourne. It goith hito Ure a little byneth the Bridge." 
 
 Short as this description of L eland's is of the Bourne, 
 it is more curious than exact. It takes its rise on the 
 Masham moors, and proceeding thence past Colsterdale- 
 house, Gollinglith foot, Brearybank - wood, Leighton- 
 
 * Aysgarth. 
 
22 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 bridge, Healey Cotton-mill, Shaw's Bridge, Swinton-mill, 
 Swinton-bridge, through Bourne holme, to low Bourne 
 bridge, and then empties itself into the river Ure, taking 
 in in its winding course the several becks or streams of 
 Black Gutter beck, Spruce-gill beck, Gin-pit beck, Slea- 
 gill beck, House-gill beck, Low-gill beck, Brown beck, 
 Birk-gill beck, How-gill beck, Arnagill beck, Agill 
 beck, Grimesgill beck, Pott beck, Sole beck, Den beck, 
 and Swinney beck, all of which take their rise on the 
 several moors of Colsterdale moor, Ilton moor, and 
 Ellingstring moor, all within Mashamshire. 
 
 These several rivers and becks are several miles in 
 extent, and, abounding in every description of fresh 
 water fish — especially the trout, the smelt, and the gray- 
 ling — afford abundance of sport to the peaceful disciples 
 of Izaak Walton,* who invariably receive a ready and 
 hospitable welcome from the Lord and Lady of Mas- 
 hamshire. 
 
 EXTENT AND POPULATION. 
 
 The boundaries of Mashamshire, although apparently 
 sufficiently defined in the ancient grants, have several 
 times been the subject of dispute, and consequently of 
 litigation. About the year 1551, it will be hereafter 
 seen, a dispute arose between Sir Christopher Danby, 
 the then Lord of Mashamshire, and the Earl of Len- 
 nox, as Lord of East Wilton, as to the boundaries of 
 their respective manors, and was the subject of litigation 
 before " the Council of the North." 
 
 * To such of the " gentle art " as are unacquainted with the description of 
 flies to be used for fishing in these streams, I may mention that Jackson's 
 ' Practical Fly-fisher,' written by an experienced angler in these rivers, will 
 be found exceedingly useful to them in the selection (or making if need be) 
 of the flies they will require. There is also a valuable work, published by 
 A. Johnson and Co., Ripon, entitled « British Angling Flies,' by Michael 
 Theakston, of Ripon, which is well worthy of perusal by the followers of 
 Izaak Walton. 
 
EXTENT AND POPULATION. 23 
 
 In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, another dispute 
 arose between the same Sir Christopher Danby, as Lord 
 of Mashamshire, and Edward Earl of Derby, the then 
 Lord of Kirkby Malzeard, as to the boundary line be- 
 tween those two parishes. The matter in dispute was 
 principally as to the right to a certain portion of Nut- 
 with, which being valuable for deer-stalking, on account 
 of the undulating nature of the ground, was claimed by 
 both parties. The matter was ended by an award 
 (dated the 5th October, 12th Elizabeth, a.d. 1570) 
 made therein by Sir Richard Shirborne, of Stoneyhurst, 
 knight ; William Tankard, of Boroughbridge ; Pobert 
 Shirborne, of Catterall; and William WycliiFe, of Wy- 
 cliffe, Esquires ; (the arbitrators to whom the dispute was 
 referred) which defined and set out the boundaries as 
 they are now known. 
 
 In or a short time before the year 1607, another 
 dispute arose between Christopher Danby, Esq., the 
 then Lord of Mashamshire, and Edward Lord Bruce, 
 the then Lord of East Witton, as to the boundaries of 
 those two parishes. This dispute also appears to have 
 been about the deer on Witton Fell, Sowden-beck Pas- 
 tures, and in Colsterdale. Lord Bruce havins: filed a 
 Bill in Chancery against Christopher Danby, Esq., the 
 matter was referred to the arbitration of Sir Thomas 
 Fairfax, knight, and Richard Hutton, and John Jackson, 
 Esquires. These gentlemen by their award (which was 
 confirmed in Chancery on the 28th January, 1608) de- 
 fined and settled the boundaries, and thus ended the 
 dispute for the time being. 
 
 About 170 years afterwards, namely in the year 1778, 
 another dispute arose between William Danby, Esq., the 
 father of the last William Danby, Esq., and Thomas 
 Bruce, Earl of Aylesbury, as to the boundaries of Mr. 
 Danby's lands in Colsterdale. The parties entered into 
 a bond, dated the 28th February, 1778, whereby they 
 agreed to refer the matters in dispute to the arbitration 
 of Peter Johnson, Esq., of York. That gentleman, by 
 
24 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 his award dated the 9th November, 1779, set out and 
 defined the boundaries of the Parish at that point as 
 they are now known. 
 
 The limits of the parish having been thus defined, the 
 following statement will shew its extent in acres — 
 
 
 
 ACKES. 
 
 Township 
 
 of Masham 
 
 . 8657 
 
 >» 
 
 Swinton-with-Warthermarsk 
 
 . 1614 
 
 » 
 
 Ilton-cum-Pott . . . : 
 
 . 2220 
 
 ?> 
 
 Fear "by . . . . . . ... 
 
 853 
 
 55 
 
 Healey-with-Sutton 
 
 . 4827 
 
 55 
 
 Ellingtons, High and Low 
 
 . mo 
 
 55 
 
 Ellin gstring 
 
 . 402 
 
 55 
 
 Burton-upon-Yore . . ... 
 
 . 2242 
 
 Total extent of Masham Parish 
 
 22,525 
 
 Of these 22,525 acres, about 7000 are open moorland. 
 The rateable value of the parish according to Parlia- 
 mentary returns is as under — 
 
 RATEABLE VALUE. 
 
 £ 
 
 Township of Masham 
 
 . 3595 
 
 „ Swinton-with-Warthermarsk 
 
 . 1397 
 
 „ Ilton-cum-Pott 
 
 . 1146 
 
 55 Fearby .. .. .. . 
 
 . 1029 
 
 „ Healey-with-Sutton . . 
 
 . 2089 
 
 „ Ellington, High and Low. . . . . 
 
 . 1734 
 
 „ Ellingstring 
 
 . 438 
 
 „ Burton-upon-Yore . . . . . 
 
 . 1604 
 
 £13,032 
 
 The following (which is copied from the Minute Book 
 belonging to the Four-and-twenty of the parish of Mas- 
 ham) will shew the different proportions which were 
 formerly paid by the several townships in the parish, on 
 account of the church-rates. 
 
 " The ancient Rents of every severall Towne within 
 the Parish of Masham by antient Records — 
 
 Masham 
 Burton 
 
 Fifty Pounds 
 Fifty Pounds 
 
EXTENT AND POPULATION. 25 
 
 Swinton cu' Wardermarske . . . . Fower and Twenty Pounds 
 
 Ilton en' Pott . . . . .... Thirty Pounds 
 
 Healey cu' Sutton . . . . . . Thirty Pounds 
 
 Feareby . . . . .... Fifteen Pounds 
 
 Ellingtons . . . . . . Twenty-six Pounds 
 
 Ellingstring . . . . .... Fifteen Pounds " 
 
 This ancient mode of assessment of the parish was 
 discontinued in the year 1828, when a new valuation 
 was made (and which is now acted upon) as will appear 
 from the following entry hi the Minute Book of the 
 Four-and-twenty of the parish of Masham — 
 
 " 1828. \ At a meeting of the Four-and-twenty, convened by due notice 
 Vestry > i n writing, and held on the 23rd day of July last — It was 
 Aug t . o. ; unanimously resolved and agreed, that a new Valuation of the 
 several Townships within the Parish should be made by Mr. Trumper, for 
 the more due Assessment and Equalization of the Church-rates — And at a 
 meeting this day holden pursuant to regular notice, it was farther resolved, 
 agreed, and declared, that for the future each Township of the Parish shall 
 be rated and assessed at and in the respective suras following, viz. — 
 
 £ 
 Masham .. .. .. .. .. 1880 
 
 Swinton 
 
 Ilton-with-Pott . . 
 Fearby 
 
 Healey-with- Sutton 
 Ellingtons . . 
 Ellingstring 
 Burton 
 
 990 
 
 910 
 
 710 
 
 1606 
 
 1080 
 
 355 
 
 1200" 
 
 Such a mode of laying a church-rate as this is very 
 unusual, and it may be a question whether such a custom 
 can be supported, especially as its commencement is so 
 recent as 1828. To be a good custom, I apprehend that 
 it should have been from time immemorial, which this 
 is not. 
 
 The tithes of the parish have been commuted under 
 the Tithe Commutation Act, and the amounts payable 
 in each township will be shewn by the following tabu- 
 lar statement — 
 
26 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSIIIRE . 
 
 TITHE COMMUTATION RENT CHARGES. 
 
 
 Rectorial Tithes. 
 
 Vicarial Tithes. 
 
 TOWNSHIPS. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Masham 
 
 163 
 
 
 
 
 
 *35 
 
 
 
 Swinton- with- War thermarsk 
 
 150 
 
 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 Ilton-cum-Pott . . . . . . 
 
 92 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 Fearby 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 Healey-with-Sutton 
 
 140 
 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 Ellingtons, High and Low 
 
 183 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 10 
 
 Ellingstring . . . . 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 Burton-upon-Yore 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 
 
 -2 
 
 
 
 Total £ 
 
 941 
 
 
 
 
 
 236 
 
 
 
 The Rectorial Tithes are payable to the Master and 
 Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, who are the 
 patrons of the living. 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 Previous to the year 1801 no census was ever taken 
 in this country, but since that time they have been taken 
 regularly every ten years, the particulars of which, so 
 far as they relate to the parish of Ma sham, are here 
 given. From these Tables it will be readily seen how 
 far the parish has increased, or decreased, in population, 
 during the last sixty years. 
 
 Before 1801, when the first census was taken in Eng- 
 land, the only means of ascertaining the population of a 
 place, was on a calculation grounded on the number of 
 baptisms and burials which had been registered in the 
 particular place within a given period. The following 
 table will supply data for such a calculation. 
 
 * Since the Commutation Land has been transferred from the Swinton 
 Estate, in reduction of the Vicarial Tithes, a Rent-charge of 9/. 12s. is 
 now only payable to the Vicar from the township of Masham. 
 
POPULATION. 
 
 27 
 
 A Table shewing the number of Baptisms and Burials which took place 
 within the parish of Masham during a period of 100 years, viz., from 
 A.D. 1700 to A.D. 1800. 
 
 In the Tear 
 
 Baptisms. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 In the Year 
 
 Baptisms. 
 
 Males. 
 
 Females. 
 
 1700 
 
 38 
 
 14 
 
 24 
 
 1760 
 
 44 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 1710 
 
 36 
 
 20 
 
 16 
 
 1770 
 
 44 
 
 26 
 
 18 
 
 1720 
 
 23 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 1780 
 
 54 
 
 34 
 
 20 
 
 1730 
 
 27 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 1790 
 
 58 
 
 33 
 
 25 
 
 1740 
 
 32 
 
 13 
 
 19 
 
 1800 
 
 54 
 
 26 
 
 28 
 
 1750 
 
 51 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 
 
 Baptised in Masham Church within the period of 100 years, ending in 
 1800 inclusive :— Males, 2311— Females, 2178— Total, 4489. 
 
 Buried at Masham during the same period: — Males, 1560 — Females, 1691 
 —Total, 3251. 
 
 CENSUS RETURNS OF THE SEVERAL TOWNSHIPS COMPRISED IN 
 
 MASHAM PARISH. 
 
 In the year 1801 the Parish of Masham contained 2520 Inhabitants. 
 
 Masham Township 
 
 1811 
 
 1821 
 
 1831 
 
 1841 
 
 1851 
 
 1861 
 
 1014 
 
 1171 
 
 1276 
 
 1318 
 
 1139 
 
 1079 
 
 Swinton-with-Warthermarsk 
 
 182 
 
 177 
 
 207 
 
 214 
 
 205 
 
 202 
 
 Ilton-cum-Pott 
 
 209 
 
 266 
 
 233 
 
 237 
 
 245 
 
 200 
 
 Fearby 
 
 216 
 
 214 
 
 249 
 
 237 
 
 251 
 
 242 
 
 Healey- with- S utton 
 
 354 
 
 413 
 
 400 
 
 442 
 
 378 
 
 318 
 
 Ellingtons, High and Low . . 
 
 123 
 
 152 
 
 148 
 
 130 
 
 144 
 
 114 
 
 Ellingstring 
 
 139 
 
 204 
 
 228 
 
 196 
 
 201 
 
 164 
 
 Burton-upon-Yore 
 Total in the whole Parish . . 
 
 164 
 
 170 
 
 254 
 
 200 
 
 132 
 
 120 
 
 2401 
 
 2767 
 
 2995 
 
 2974 
 
 2696 
 
 2439 
 
LOCAL JURISDICTIONS, Etc. 
 
 The market town of Masham is the head of an ancient 
 Saxon parish of that name, which, nntil the year 1856, 
 comprised the several townships or con stable wicks of 
 Masham, Ellingtons (High and Low), Ellingstring, Fear- 
 by, Healey- with- Sutton, Ilton- cum- Pott, Swinton-with- 
 Warthermarsk, and Burton-upon-Ure. Masham parish 
 was even more extensive than this previous to the 
 building of Jervaux Abbey, for as it will be hereafter 
 seen, the then Lord of Masham and Mashamshire grant- 
 ed a considerable portion of his land here for the pur- 
 poses of the abbey, which, thereupon, ceased to belong 
 to Masham parish, on its being then placed under the 
 spiritual charge of the monks of Jervaux. 
 
 Masham parish — as to ecclesiastical matters — was in 
 the year 1856 still more decreased in extent by the 
 then formation of the new parish of Healey, as will be 
 
LOCAL JURISDICTIONS, ETC. 29 
 
 shewn presently. In the year 1848, a new church was 
 erected at Healey, by Admiral Octavius Vernon Har- 
 court, and Anne Holwell Dauby Vernon Harcourt, his 
 wife — the then and now Lord and Lady of the manor 
 of Masham and Mashamshire (who also endowed it), 
 and which on its consecration was dedicated to St. Paul 
 the Apostle. 
 
 By an order made by Her Majesty in Council, on the 
 15th of January, 1849, after reciting that Her Majesty's 
 Commissioners for building new churches, had, in pur- 
 suance of the 16th section of an Act passed in the 59th 
 year of the reign of George the Third, intituled " An 
 Act to amend and render more effectual an Act passed 
 in the last Session of Parliament, for building and pro- 
 moting the building of additional churches in populous 
 parishes," or under or by virtue of any other power or 
 authority vested in them by the Church-building Acts, 
 duly prepared and laid before Her Majesty in Council, 
 a representation, bearing date the 5th of January, 1849, 
 to the effect following — namely, that they (the said Com- 
 missioners) having taken into consideration all the cir- 
 cumstances of the united parishes of Kirkby Malzeard 
 and Masham (the former of which parishes is situate 
 within the West Riding, and the latter within the North 
 Riding of the county of York, and both being within 
 the diooese of Ripon), it appeared to them to be expe- 
 dient that a particular district should be assigned to the 
 consecrated church of St. Paul, situate at Healey, in 
 the said parish of Masham, under and by virtue of the 
 power or authority for such purpose contained in the 
 16th section of an Act of Parliament, passed in the 59th 
 year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, 
 intituled " An Act to amend and render more effectual 
 an Act passed in the last Session of Parliament, for build- 
 ing and promoting the building of additional churches 
 in populous parishes," or by virtue of any other power 
 or authority in that behalf, vested in them (the said 
 Commissioners) under the Church-building Acts; and 
 
30 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 that such proposed district should comprise all that 
 portion of the said parish of Masham which lies to the 
 west of the eastern boundary line thereinafter described, 
 which comprises also the entire township of Ellingstring, 
 the township of Healey-cum- Sutton (excepting all that 
 portion thereof called or known by the name of Sutton), 
 the entire township of Ilton- cum- Pott, the greater part 
 of the township of Fearby, with detached portions of 
 the townships of Masham, Burton, Ellington, and Swin- 
 ton, as well as the unenclosed moorlands belonging to 
 the parish of Masham, and not divided between the 
 several townships in such parish, and that such proposed 
 district should be called " The Chapelry District of 
 Healey," with boundaries as thereinafter mentioned, 
 " The Chapelry District of Healey" is bounded on the 
 south and south-west by the said parish of Kirkby Mal- 
 zeard, on the north-west by the parish of Coverham, on 
 the north by the parish of East Witton, and on the east 
 by the remaining part of the said parish of Masham, 
 from which the proposed Chapelry District is separated 
 by the western and south-western boundary line of the 
 township of Ellington, as far as to the point where the 
 road from Ellingstring to Swinton crosses Swinny-beck ; 
 then by the said road leading from Ellingstring to Swin- 
 ton, till it meets the Burn river; thence by the river 
 Burn, running in a westerly direction up to the mouth 
 of Quarry-gill beck ; thence by the Quarry-gill beck, till 
 it arrives at the boundary of the township of Ilton; 
 then by the boundary line of the township of Swinton, 
 as far as to the road leading from Masham to Ilton ; and 
 then by the boundary line of the township of Burton, 
 till it meets the boundary of the parish of Kirkby Mal- 
 zeard on the south, as such proposed Chapelry District 
 is more particularly delineated on the map or plan there- 
 unto annexed, and is thereon coloured pink. Also that 
 it appeared to them (the said Commissioners) to be expe- 
 dient that banns of marriage should be published, and 
 that marriages, baptisms, churchings, and burials should 
 
LOCAL JURISDICTIONS, ETC. 31 
 
 be solemnized or performed in the said church of St. 
 Paul, and that the fees to arise therefrom should be paid 
 and belong to the incumbent of such church for the 
 time being. That the consent of the Eight Reverend 
 Charles Thomas, Lord Bishop of Ripon (as Bishop of 
 the Diocese) had been obtained thereto, as required by 
 the act and section thereinbefore mentioned, in testi- 
 mony whereof the said Charles Thomas Lord Bishop of 
 Ripon, had signed and sealed that representation. The 
 said Commissioners, therefore, humbly prayed that her 
 Majesty would be graciously pleased to take the pre- 
 mises into her royal consideration and to make such 
 order in respect thereto, as to her Majesty in her royal 
 wisdom should seem meet. Her Majesty having taken 
 the said representation, together with the map or plan 
 thereunto annexed, into consideration, was pleased, by 
 and with the advice of her Privy Council, to approve 
 thereof, and to order, as it is thereby ordered, that the 
 proposed assignment be accordingly made, and the 
 recommendations of the said Commissioners in respect 
 of the publication of banns and the solemnization of 
 marriages, baptisms, churchings, and burials, and the 
 fees arising therefrom, be carried into effect, agreeably 
 to the provisions of the said act, and her Majesty, by 
 and with the like advice, was pleased thereby to direct 
 that that Order should be forthwith registered by the 
 Registrar of the Diocese.* 
 
 Thus far the district thus assigned to Saint Paul's 
 Church, Healey, only constituted it into a " Chapelry 
 District," and not a parish; but by the 14th section of 
 a subsequent act of Parliament, viz., the 19th and 20th 
 Vict., cap. 104 (commonly called Lord Blandford's Act, 
 and which received the royal assent on the 29th July, 
 1856), it is enacted that "Whensoever or as soon as 
 banns of matrimony and the solemnization of marriages, 
 churchings, and baptisms, according to the laws and 
 
 * See < London Gazette ' of the 2nd of Feb., 1849. 
 
32 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 canons in force in this realm, are authorised to be pub- 
 lished and performed in any consecrated church or 
 chapel, to which a district shall belong, such district 
 not being at the time of the passing of this act a sepa- 
 rate and distinct parish for ecclesiastical purposes, and 
 the incumbent of which is, by such authority, entitled 
 for his own benefit to the entire fees arising from the 
 performances of such offices, without any reservation 
 thereout, such district or place shall become and be a 
 separate and distinct parish, for ecclesiastical purposes, 
 such as is contemplated in the 15th section of the first 
 recited act [referring to the the 6 and 7 Vict., cap. 37], 
 and the church or chapel of such district shall be the 
 church of such parish." And by the 15th section of 
 the same act, it is enacted that " The Incumbent of every 
 new parish, created .... pursuant to the provisions .... 
 of this act, shall, saving the rights of the Bishop of the 
 Diocese, have sole and exclusive cure of souls, and the 
 exclusive right of performing all ecclesiastical offices 
 within the limits of the same, for the resident inhabi- 
 tants therein, who shall for all ecclesiastical purposes be 
 parishioners thereof, and of no other parish, and such 
 new parish shall, for the like purposes, have and possess 
 all and the same rights and privileges, and be affected 
 with such and the same liabilities, as are incident or 
 belong to a distinct and separate parish, and to no other 
 liabilities." 
 
 By the conjoint operation of the Order in Council, 
 and of the Acts of Parliament before alluded to, the 
 district thus originally assigned to Saint Paul's church, 
 Healey, as a Chapelry District, has become, and is now, 
 a separate and distinct parish for ecclesiastical purposes, 
 and has ceased to form a part of the ancient parish of 
 Masham, so far, at least, as regards ecclesiastical purpo- 
 ses. As a necessary consequence of this, the vicar, 
 churchwardens, and the four- and- twenty of the parish 
 of Masham, have on the one hand, now, no power or 
 authority whatever to intermeddle with the ecclesiastical 
 
LOCAL JURISDICTIONS, ETC. 33 
 
 concerns of the residents in the new parish, either by 
 interfering with the minister of Healey parish in his 
 functions, or by rating the inhabitants of Healey parish 
 to the church-rate, or otherwise ; and on the other hand, 
 the residents within the new parish of Healey have now 
 no power or authority whatever to intermeddle with 
 the ecclesiastical concerns of the old parish of Masham, 
 or to be or act as churchwardens or members of the 
 Four-and-twenty of the parish of Masham, as is now the 
 case.* 
 
 * Since writing the above, I have been favoured with a copy of an opinion 
 which has been given by Dr. Travers Twiss, upon a case submitted to him 
 by the Four-and-twenty of the parish of Masham, to advise them as to their 
 right to enforce the payment of a church-rate upon the inhabitants of 
 Healey. That learned civilian is of opinion that the District Chapelry of 
 Healey has been constituted — for ecclesiastical purposes — a new parish, and 
 as such can make a rate for the repair of the new church of Healey ; but 
 that such rate must be levied, according to the general ecclesiastical law, 
 upon the inhabitants of the new parish exclusively, and not in the .manner 
 in which church-rates are levied for the parish of Masham. So far his 
 opinion coincides with the view I have taken of the subject. He, however, 
 goes on to say that he thinks the new parish of Healey is not relieved from 
 the payment of rates assessed by the Twenty-four of Masham, according to 
 immemorial custom (basing such opinion on the case of Batt v. Watkinson, 
 a report of which will be found in the Appendix C. hereto). He-saysit 
 would appear from the judgment in that case, that the rate assessed by the 
 Four-and-twenty, according to the ancient immemorial custom of the parish 
 of Masham, is not to be regarded as an ecclesiastical rate, but a common law 
 rate, and that the rate is to be levied by the churchwardens under common 
 law process, upon warrant from the Four-and-twenty, to whom alone they 
 are to account; and that the obligation to pay a rate so assessed by the 
 Four-and-twenty is a common law obligation of which the ecclesiastical 
 courts cannot take cognizance. Whereas he says the 15th section of the 
 new Parish Act (1856), in declaring the parishioners of the new parish to be 
 parishioners of no other parish, and to be subject to no other liabilities than 
 such as are incident to the inhabitants of a distinct and separate parish, 
 qualifies the exemption by the words " for ecclesiastical purposes " — that is, 
 as he interprets them, for all purposes known to the ecclesiastical law, and 
 of which the ecclesiastical courts may take cognizance. The fallacy of Dr. 
 Twiss' argument is too evident to need pointing out. What he in effect says, 
 is, that a church-rate levied by the Four-and-twenty is not for ecclesiastical 
 purposes, simply because it cannot be enforced by the ecclesiastical courts, 
 but by the warrant of the Four-and-twenty, as if the mode of recovery of a 
 
 D 
 
34 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Both the parishes of Masham and Healey are, for 
 ecclesiastical purposes, situate within the Deanery of 
 Catterick, the Archdeaconry of Richmond, the Diocese 
 of Ripon, and the Province of York. The parishes of 
 Masham and Kirkby Malzeard, it will, however, be here- 
 after seen, were, at an early period, exempted by the 
 Archbishop of York and the Dean and Chapter of York, 
 from Archdeaconal jurisdiction; and on the ground of 
 such exemption, and as a consequence of it, the Peculiar 
 Court of Masham was established, which exercised juris- 
 diction over all ecclesiastical offences committed within 
 its jurisdiction, the proof of wills of persons possessed 
 of bona notahilia within the local extent of its jurisdic- 
 tion, the administration of the effects of intestates under 
 like circumstances, and the granting of marriage licenses ; 
 but since the establishment of the Courts of Probate and 
 Divorce, the greatest portion of its jurisdiction has been 
 taken away. It still, however, continues to grant mar- 
 riage licenses, although there are serious doubts whether 
 it has the power even to do this. It is a very singular 
 circumstance — - yet not less singular than true — that 
 during the time of the late Rev. Thomas Riddell, whilst 
 he as the vicar of Masham — who is the commissary or 
 head of the Peculiar Court of Masham — granted marriage 
 licenses, as the Surrogate and Deputy of the Bishop of 
 the Diocese, and in the name of the Bishop, his curate, 
 as his (the vicar's) Surrogate or Deputy, granted similar 
 marriage licenses in the name of the vicar, as Commis- 
 sary of the Peculiar Court of Masham. In matters of 
 civil action, the ancient parish of Masham is situate 
 within the Honour or Liberty of Richmondshire, and as 
 the chief bailiff of that Liberty has the return of all 
 
 rate alters the nature and purpose of it. I say a church-rate is for an ecclesi- 
 astical purpose, however recoverable, and that the mode of its recovery makes 
 no difference in its nature and purpose. Being then, as I contend it is, a 
 liability for ecclesiastical purposes, the inhabitants of the new parish of 
 Healey are exempt from it. Holding this opinion, I still adhere to the view 
 I have taken of the subject, as above expressed. 
 
LOCAL JURISDICTIONS, ETC. 35 
 
 writs issuing out of the Queen's Courts, the sheriff of 
 Yorkshire cannot enter this Liberty to execute any such 
 writs, but on receiving such, directs his mandate thereon 
 to the chief bailiff of the Liberty, to execute the same 
 within hia Bailiwick, who executes the same accordingly ; 
 and all persons taken in execution by him, under writs 
 of Capias ad Satisfaciendum, are lodged and imprisoned 
 by him in his gaol at Richmond. In modern practice, 
 however, it is usual to obviate this, by inserting in the 
 writs which are directed to the Sheriff of Yorkshire, 
 what is called the " non omittas clause," viz., " omit not 
 by reason of any liberty in your bailiwick, but" etc., 
 which authorizes the sheriff to enter all Liberties, and 
 to execute the Queen's writs therein. Formerly, Quar- 
 ter Sessions were held at Richmond for the Liberty of 
 Richmondshire, and when such was the case, the Sessions 
 business for this district was transacted there, and not 
 at the Quarter Sessions for the North Riding, as at 
 present. But these Liberty Sessions were abolished many 
 years ago. 
 
 As regards magisterial business, business relating to 
 the land tax, the assessed taxes, and the property and 
 income taxes, the ancient parish of Masham is situate 
 within the division of Hang East, of which Bedale is 
 the head. 
 
 In the matter of elections of knights of the Shire for 
 the North-Riding of Yorkshire, the whole parish is 
 situate within the Leyburn polling district, and the lists 
 of voters for the' several townships within the parish are 
 annually revised by the revising barrister at Leyburn, 
 where, also, the polling of the voters takes place at the 
 elections. 
 
 As to County Courts, part of the parish, viz., the 
 townships of Masham, Swinton-with-Warthermarsk, and 
 Ilton-cum-Pott, is within the jurisdiction of the County 
 Court at Ripon ; and the remaining part of the parish, 
 viz., the townships of Burton-upon-Yore, Fearby, Hea- 
 ley- with- Sutton, Ellingtons (High and Low), and Filing- 
 
36 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 string, is within the jurisdiction of the Leyburn County 
 Court. 
 
 As to the administration of the Poor-laws, the town- 
 ships of Masham, Swinton-with- Warthermarsk, and Ilton- 
 cum-Pott, are within the Bedale Poor-law Unions and 
 the townships of Burton-upon-Ure, Fearby, Healey-with- 
 Sutton, Ellhigtons (High and Low), and Ellingstring, 
 are within the Leyburn Poor-law Union. 
 
 A small portion of the town of Masham is situate 
 withhi the Liberty of Saint Peter, the tenants of which 
 do suit and service at the Copyhold Court, held for " the 
 manor of the late Prebend of Masham " — the Master 
 Fellows and Scholars of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 bemg the Lords of such manor in right of the dissolved 
 Prebend ; and part of the township of Burton-upon-Ure 
 as well as some portion of the district near Pott Grange 
 having formerly formed part of the possessions of the 
 monks of Fountains, is within the manor of Fountains 
 Earth. The remaining portion of the ancient parish of 
 Masham is within the manor of Masham and Masham- 
 shire — the tenants of which answer, and do suit and 
 service at the Manorial Courts held by the Lord of that 
 manor. 
 
 HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 From the many early remains which have from time 
 to time been brought to light within the parish of Mas- 
 ham and its immediate neighbourhood, and from the 
 names of many places still to be found in it, there is 
 every reason to believe that Masham is a place of great 
 antiquity, and that it has been one of much importance 
 as far back as the time of the Early Britons, when the 
 religion of this country was that system of paganism 
 called Druidism.* 
 
 * The chief doctrine which the Druids inculcated was the transmigration 
 of souls, they asserting that when a man died his spirit did not perish but 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIEE. 37 
 
 It is not intended in this place to describe the several 
 early remains above alluded to, but to defer the descrip- 
 tion of them to a subsequent portion of this work, where 
 the subject will be entered upon at some length. 
 
 In the meantime I would wish to draw the reader's 
 attention to several places in Mashamshire, the names 
 and situations of which are even at this distant day very 
 suo^estive of a Druidical origin. It is a matter of 
 history that the inhabitants of this country, and of this 
 district more especially, adored the sun under the name 
 of " Bell " or " Baal, which they worshipped in high 
 places and deep groves, amidst the deep gloom of the 
 dense oak forests, intersected by labyrinths of devious 
 and inextricable paths and windings, or within huge 
 circles of upright stones — making 
 
 " Their altars the high places, and the peaks 
 Of earth o'ergazing mountains — " 
 
 erecting their altar- stones on the tops of mountains, and 
 sacrificing hi the valleys. In this parish there are places 
 which fully answer to this description, as well in situa- 
 ation and appearance, as in the names which they still 
 bear. I refer more especially to Healey-Baals, Beldin- 
 Gill, and Baal- Hill, which latter place is situate either 
 upon or near to the range of hills known by the name of 
 Healey-Baals. The very name of Baal-Hill, without 
 reference to its appearance or locality, indicates that the 
 place is a hill dedicated to the worship of the heathen 
 
 passed immediately into another body. They were much given to religious 
 observances, and when attacked by any serious disease or were involved in 
 the dangers of warfare, they immolated human victims, and employed the 
 Druids to perform these sacrifices — their opinion being that the gods were 
 not to be propitiated, unless for the life of a man, the life of a man were 
 offered up. They also offered up similar sacrifices on behalf of the state — 
 sometimes images of wicker-work of immense size were constructed, which 
 being filled with living men, were then set fire to, and the men perished in 
 the flames. They regarded the destruction in this manner, of persons taken 
 in the commission of theft or robbery, or any other delinquency, as most 
 agreeable to the gods ; but when the supply of such criminals was insuf- 
 ficient, they did not hesitate to make victims of the innocent. 
 
38 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 god Baal ; and the name Healey-Baals, according to the 
 interpretation which I put upon these words, is, if pos- 
 sible, still more conclusive of the matter. I take it that 
 the name of Healey is derived from Heil, holy or sacred, 
 and ley, land consisting of fallow-ground, pastures, or 
 meadows. If, therefore, I am right in my interpretation 
 of the name of Healey, then Healey-Baals means simply 
 land sacred to Baal. This supposition is strengthened 
 by the circumstance of circles of upright stones having 
 recently existed near to the place, and from ancient relics 
 which have been found within the parish, and at but a 
 short distance from Healey and Healey-Baals, which are 
 supposed to have been used in the mystical rites of the 
 Druids or priests of Britain, for at least antiquaries can 
 assign no other use to them. In the adjoining dale of 
 Nidderdale, too, there are many places bearing the names 
 of Baal-Hill, Baal-Bank, Baal-Ings, and other such like 
 names. There are traditions, too, which have been 
 handed down to us, to the effect that the heathen custom 
 of making feasts and Baal-fires (which although unknown 
 to the persons making them, were in truth so made in 
 honour of Baal) have been continued until very recent 
 times in this district — and especially in Nidderdale — the 
 remembrance of which is transmitted to us in the annual 
 feast which is still held at Healey.* 
 
 Besides this internal evidence of the existence of 
 Druidism within the parish and district, it is well known 
 that one of the tribes of the Brigantian Celts had estab- 
 
 * The Druids had four great religious festivals. The first was on the 10th 
 of March, or the sixth day of the moon, which was the nearest to that, being 
 their New Year's day ; the second on the 1st of May; the third on Midsum- 
 mer ere ; and the fourth on the last day of October. On all these occasions 
 their chief celebration was by fire. On the eve of the festival of the 1st of 
 May, all the domestic fires throughout the country were extinguished, and 
 lighted again the next day from the sacred fire kept always burning in the 
 temple. In Ireland, and also in the North of Scotland, the first of May, 
 and in some places the 21st of June, is still called Beltein or Beltane,]] that 
 is, the day of Bel Fire, on which days fires are kindled, and imitations of 
 the old superstitious ceremonies of the Beltane fires are performed. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 39 
 
 lished themselves in this neighbourhood, and had selected 
 it as their station for the dispensation of justice, the 
 celebration of religious rites, and the seat of government. 
 Mr. Walbran, in his 4 Guide to Ripon,' describes two 
 remarkable earthworks, which are situate on the high 
 land near Blots Hall, like Abury and Stonehenge, which 
 he says they rival in antiquity; their outline is that of 
 a circle, of which the diameter is not less than 680 feet. 
 They have evidently been enclosed by a lofty mound 
 and corresponding trench, the latter being inside, with a 
 platform or space of about thirty feet wide intervening. 
 Besides these there are three similar temples at Thorn- 
 brough Moor, near Tanfield, one of which still remains 
 perfect. He also says the antiquity and purpose of these 
 places, as temples for the performance of Druidical rites, 
 is satisfactorily ascertained by the existence of at least 
 eight large Celtic barrows in their immediate vicinity, 
 two of which, he says, he had opened in 1846. He also 
 adds that it is not unreasonable to believe that a spring 
 which rises in a piece of enclosed ground, called Halli- 
 keld* field, about midway between the works before de- 
 scribed and the village of Melmerby, was the fons sacer, 
 necessary for the due performance of Druidical rites. 
 Celts, Druidbeads, and fragments of coarse pottery ware 
 have also been found in the neighbourhood. 
 
 From these circumstances, there is too much reason 
 to fear that our native hills have been the frequent wit- 
 nesses to many a human sacrifice, and that our peaceful 
 valley has often resounded to the shrieks of the dying 
 victims of a gross and sanguinary superstition. 
 
 Nor is it less certain that Mashamshire was not un- 
 known to the Roman cohorts, with their glittering arms 
 and ensigns — 
 
 " Those dauntless chiefs 
 Who clad in armour bright and lofty crests, 
 Dealt death with many a ghastly wound," 
 
 * Hallikeld, from the Danish Helligkilde, means Holy-well. 
 
40 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 since many such arms have from time to time been found 
 within the parish. Besides which it is surrounded on 
 all sides by Roman military stations — is intersected by 
 ancient Roman roads — and Roman remains have been 
 extensively discovered not only within it but in the sur- 
 rounding neighbourhoods. If we turn southward, we 
 discover at Aldbrough, near Boroughbridge, the great 
 Isurium of the Romans — mentioned by Ptolemy (who 
 wrote a.d. 120) as existing at the time when the Anto- 
 nine Itinerary was compiled — and which was at one time 
 in all probability the chief city in Britain. If we turn 
 to the north, at Catterick-briclge, we see the Roman 
 military station, Cataractonium ; and further west, in 
 Wensleydale, where Bainbridge now stands, we see the 
 Roman military station or town of Bracchium, traces of 
 which are yet distinctly visible, and where, at various 
 periods, altars, stones bearing inscriptons, and parts of 
 statues have been dug up. From Isurium to Cataracto- 
 nium, we trace the great Roman military road, called 
 Watling Street, and now known by the modern name of 
 Leeming-lane. From Cataractonium, we trace another 
 Roman road in the direction of Kilgram-bridge, thence 
 past Ellington, in Mashamshire, close by the Mar or 
 Mere -field, and westward of the town of Masham, and 
 to the eastward of a small oval camp in Swinton-park, 
 and of the large square camp at Nutwith; thence to 
 Roman-ridge and How-hill, across the river Nidd to the 
 westward of Ripley, joining Watling Street again about 
 midway hi its course from Isurium to Olicana (now 
 called Ilkley), on the Wharf. At Nutwith, near Mas- 
 ham, we find that another Roman vicinal road branched 
 out of the road just described, taking the direction of 
 Aldbrough Hall, and thence past Well, where a Roman 
 pavement and other Roman remains, evidently forming 
 part of a Roman villa, were sometime since discovered, 
 and are mentioned in Camden's Britannia, as also some 
 others discovered so late as in the year 1859 ; and thence 
 past the three circular entrenchments at the very ancient 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1RE. 41 
 
 village of Thornbrough, before described.* It should 
 be here observed that these Roman military and other 
 branch roads, which I have been thus tracing out, were 
 not mere trackways, such as our early British roads 
 were, or even such as are our present roads, but were 
 roads of a more permanent description, carefully con- 
 structed of large paving stones, laid in concrete, so as to 
 prevent the roots of trees and other things from growing 
 through them (of which portions can yet be traced near 
 Masham) ; and their route, too, was marked by tumuli 
 of earth raised up so as to serve in the place of our 
 modern guide-posts. 
 
 Having thus shewn Masham to be the centre of sev- 
 eral Roman military stations, and that it is intersected 
 in different directions by Roman roads, and to be in the 
 immediate vicinity of an undoubted Roman villa at 
 Well, I now proceed to shew that there is every reason 
 to suppose that a Roman fort once stood at Aldbrough 
 Hall, near Masham. The very name itself of Aldburgh 
 denotes its antiquity as a fortification — Aid signifying 
 old, and burgh a fortified place ; but when it is remem- 
 bered that this was its name so far back as the eleventh 
 century, it must indeed be considered as a very ancient 
 fortification. That Dr. Whitaker was evidently of 
 opinion that a Roman station once existed at Aldbrough 
 Hall, is apparent from this passage taken from his His- 
 tory of Richmondshire — "The distance between Isurium 
 and Eracchium was such as to require an intermediate 
 station. This Aldburgh is on or near the line of road. 
 I think it probable that the Romans had a fort, however 
 inconsiderable, at this place. The Iter is stated to me 
 to have struck out from Leeming-lane to the north-west, 
 so as to pass through the glebe land of Wath, where it 
 has been ploughed up ; it then traverses Thornbrough- 
 moor, passes between Nosterfield and Tanfield, and 
 
 * The Roman roads above described have been traced out, and are shewn 
 upon a map which has been published by the Royal Society of Antiquaries. 
 
42 MASELAJM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 thence over Watlas-moor to Thornton- Steward. Some- 
 where about Ulshaw-bridge must have been the Roman 
 Trajectus. Near the course of this road, some years 
 ago, a Roman tesselated pavement, indicating a villa, 
 was taken up at Well ; and in a field north of Gatenby- 
 gate by Leeming-lane, large foundations of buildings 
 were taken up about sixteen years ago, together with a 
 brick pavement, two or three pillars, and some stones, 
 apparently bases whose mouldings seem to be wrought 
 by Roman models." 
 
 Professor Phillips, in his work before quoted, says, 
 " At Aldbrough* nearly opposite Nutwith Camp, an old 
 road crossed the Ure, and there are marks fitting to its 
 name, of ancient foundations." 
 
 These foundations are still very apparent, and near to 
 them is a tumulus, the usual accompaniment of such a fort- 
 ress. It is from this circumstance, no doubt, that all recent 
 writers on the topography of the district, have fallen into 
 the error of stating that William le Gros, Earl of Alber- 
 marle — who in 1138 was created Earl of York, as a re- 
 ward for his gaining the battle of the Standard — had a 
 castle here, when the fact is that William le Gros's castle 
 was at Aldburgh in Holderness, and not at this Aldburgh. 
 
 With these remarks I must conclude my observations 
 on the Roman period of the history of Mashamshire. 
 
 That Mashamshire not only existed, but was a flour- 
 ishing place in the time of our Saxon forefathers, is 
 amply proved by the Domesday Survey, which was 
 made by the directions of William the Conqueror, soon 
 after the Conquest, and was completed a.d. 1086. From 
 the extract from the Domesday Book, set out in the 
 
 * Aldbrough Hall is now the seat and property of John Timothy D'Arcy 
 Hutton, Esq., a magistrate for the North Riding of Yorkshire. (See Pedi- 
 gree post.) It is an old mansion covered with ivy, and is situated about 
 three miles from Masham. The staircase and several of the floors are of old 
 black oak. Amongst the paintings is a fine portrait of the Hon. James 
 D'Arcy, created Baron D'Arcy of Navan, Ireland, who died in 1731, aged 
 eighty ; also of Sir Roger Beckwith, a former owner of the estate. 
 
HISTOKY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 43 
 
 Appendix A. to this work, it will be seen that Masham, 
 Swinton, Sutton, Ellington, Fearby, Ilton, and Burton, 
 are all mentioned and minutely described, as being in 
 existence at the time of our Saxon King, Edward the 
 Confessor, and that they were very much depreciated in 
 value at the time of the Survey. The circumstance 
 that — according to Domesday Book — there was a church 
 at Masham at that time, whilst it carries us back into the 
 Anglo-Saxon period of our history, proves beyond doubt 
 that Masham had become a place of some importance, 
 and sufficiently populous to have a church of its own at 
 that early day. The church, however, which we now 
 see, is not the one which existed in the Saxon times. 
 During the late restoration of the church, it was dis- 
 covered that a great number of highly-wrought and 
 moulded stones, some of which were decidedly of Saxon 
 masonry, as well as others, which bore evident marks of 
 fire, had been used up in the rebuilding of the present 
 structure; besides which, great quantities of charcoal 
 and partially burnt wood were brought to light whilst 
 digging in the churchyard. From these discoveries, 
 and what has been thus brought to light, I have no 
 doubt but that the old Saxon church was one of the 
 churches which sprung up in consequence of the preach- 
 ing of St. Paulinus, and was no mean structure considering 
 the period hi which it was built, and that it was de- 
 stroyed by fire in one of the many wars which unhappily 
 desolated this country in those early times. Drawings 
 of some of the Saxon masonry before alluded to will be 
 found in these pages. 
 
 We find from the earliest records and documents in 
 existence relating to the place, and dating from a period 
 immediately after the Norman Conquest, that the district 
 which is now known to us by the name of Mashamshire, 
 has, as far back as can be traced, been called and dis- 
 tinguished by the name of Mashamshire, and further, 
 that it has always been spoken of and described as being 
 a forest. It will be seen, on referring to the copy of 
 
44 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the Grant of Earl Alan to Roger de Mowbray, set out 
 in the Appendix A., that Mashamshire is there spoken 
 of. The Forest of Masham is also mentioned in the 
 following charter of Roger de Mowbray : 
 
 " Roger de Mowbray, to all his men, French and 
 English, future and present, Greeting : Know ye that I 
 have given, and by this charter confirmed to John son 
 of Drin, Burton with all its appurtenances and Comon 
 of Pasture in the Forest of Massham and in the Province 
 of Massham, I grant to him to make a mill, and to fasten 
 the stagnum or mill poole; I allso grant to him the 
 pawnage of his hogs quit in the Forest of Massham,, and 
 building wood and fyre wood doing the service of the 
 tenth p't of one knight's fee. I also grant unto him 
 hare and wulf. These being Witnesses," etc. (Harleian 
 MS., vol. 793, British Museum.) 
 
 From the circumstance of this district being thus 
 described as Mashamshire — although then comprising 
 several different manors — and as the Forest of Masham, 
 and from the fact that we cannot find amongst the 
 Public Records since the Norman Conquest, any original 
 Royal grant giving it that designation, or constituting 
 it a forest, we are entitled to assume that it was so called 
 by the name of Mashamshire, and was so constituted a 
 Lordship paramount (as it now is) as well as a forest, 
 before the Conquest, namely in the Saxon times ; and 
 further, as appears by the Domesday Survey, that the 
 village of Aiskew, near Bedale, was then a soke belong- 
 ing to it, and as such, the inhabitants of Aiskew would 
 be required to do their suit and service at the Masham 
 Courts. 
 
 Mr. Fosbroke, in his Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, 
 page 449, thus speaks of forests : — " The Northern 
 nations threw the country adjacent to their chief resi- 
 dences into forests, on account of the superior safety and 
 less danger in incursion and defence. Hence forests, 
 which were not made for the mere purposes of hunting 
 near our cities. They were anciently exclusive of any 
 
HISTORY OE MASHAMSHIRE. 45 
 
 county, diocese, or parish, acknowledging the King only 
 for their Lord, and had a peculiar law of their own. 
 They abounded with wolves, boars, buffaloes, stags, 
 roes, goats, hares, and thieves. In process of time they 
 became neglected so that by Statute xvii., Car. 1, which 
 enacts that no forests where the courts had not been 
 held for sixty years, should thereafter be deemed forests, 
 they were got rid of with very few exceptions." Citing 
 Caes. B. Gall. lib. vi — Spelman v. Foresta — M. ParL 
 988 st. al. 
 
 Since the Norman Conquest, however, rights of forest, 
 properly so called, can only belong to the Crown, or at 
 any rate can only be legally constituted by a Grant 
 from the Crown ; assuming then that Mashamshire is 
 really and truly a forest, it is a somewhat singular cir- 
 cumstance that a private subject should thus be possessed 
 of a forest — certain, however, it is, that the Lords of 
 Mashamshire have from the earliest times, and down to 
 the present, asserted these rights of forest. A deputa- 
 tation is still in existence, dated 8th Charles I., under 
 the seal of Sir Thomas Danby, by which he deputed 
 and appointed Francis Armitage, Esq. (his brother-in- 
 law) to the office of Bow-bearer* of his chase of Mas- 
 hamshire, to hold for the life of him the said Thomas 
 Armitage, together with all fees and emoluments thereof, 
 in as ample manner as the same had iisually been held. 
 Jacob, in his Law Dictionary, defines " Bow- bearer " 
 to be " an under officer of the Forest, whose office is to 
 
 * Roger Croft, Esq., of Appleton, was Bow-bearer for the adjoining 
 Forest of Wensleydale. The Crofts of Stillington are of the same family. 
 
46 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 oversee, and true inquisition make, as well of sworn 
 men as unsworn, in every bailiwick of the forest, and of 
 all manner of trespasses done, either to vert or venison, 
 and cause them to be presented without any concealment 
 in the next Court of Attachment," etc. Citing Crompt. 
 Juris., fol. 201. 
 
 If we are to attach any importance to this Deputation 
 of Bow-bearer, it would seem to imply that the Lords 
 of Mashamshire held the forest under a Royal Grant, 
 " habendum cum omnibus incidentibus et pertinentiis" 
 which includes the courts and officers incidental to them, 
 except the Justice in Eyre, for under no other state of 
 things could the Lords of Mashamshire appoint forestal 
 officers. 
 
 Besides this forestal officer, the Bow-bearer, it would 
 seem, by a pretty well authenticated tradition in Mas- 
 ham, that up to the time of the inclosure of the moors 
 and commons, which extended up to Masham town-end, 
 there was another forestal officer, called a u Swineherd," 
 appointed for the manor of Mashamshire, and a field is 
 also pointed out as being the Swine-garth, which was 
 used by that functionary in the way of his calling. That 
 field is situate at Masham town-end, on the road to 
 Swinton, and is now in the occupation of Mr. Edmund 
 Barker, and is called to this day by the name of the 
 Swine-garth. Tradition further has it, that every morn- 
 ing, on the Swineherd's blowing his horn, the good 
 people of Masham opened their piggery doors, where- 
 upon the grunting inmates immediately made their way 
 very instinctively to the Swineherd at the Swine-garth, 
 and when the swinish multitude had all assembled, he 
 took them to feed for the day upon the commons and 
 wastes, and brought them back again to their respective 
 homes in the evening ; when 
 
 " to their lowly dome, 
 
 The full-fed swine returned with evening home ; 
 
 Compelled, reluctant, to their several sties, 
 
 With din obstreperous, and ungrateful cries" — 
 
 Pope's Odyssey. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 47 
 
 That swine did run out here hi the woods, is evident 
 from Roger de Mowbray's charter before cited, wherein 
 he grants to the people of Burt on-upon- Yore, the pan- 
 nage of their hogs quit in the forest of Masliam. Ac- 
 cording to King John's Charter of the Forest No. 7, 
 " the Swineherd was an officer under the Forest laws, 
 whose duty it was at the ringing of a bell at ten o'clock, 
 to drive the swine upon the forest, and to collect and 
 bring them back when the bell rang the hour of four." 
 
 Besides these instances of the exercise of forest-rights, 
 the Lords of Mashamshire have up to the present time, 
 regularly held courts, which are called forest courts, and 
 to which forest juries are as regularly summoned. These 
 courts are but forest courts hi name only, and not in 
 reality. They are summoned and conducted in pre- 
 cisely the same way as an ordinary Court Baron and 
 Court Leet, and the Court Rolls are headed exactly the 
 same as for a Court Baron and Court Leet, the only 
 difference being that the Jury-panel is headed with 
 " the names of the forest jury," instead of " the names 
 of the jury." This, however, is but one instance of the 
 many inconsistencies connected with the holding of the 
 Manorial Courts here, and the measures taken for the 
 preservation of the privileges and franchises belonging 
 to the place. 
 
 A forest, however, in the hands of a subject is more 
 properly and legally speaking, a chase, being usually 
 subject to the common law, and not to the forestal law; 
 for unless the jurisdiction be expressly indicated in the 
 grant, such grant does not pass forestal rights (see At- 
 torney General v. Marquis of Downshire, 5 Price's 
 Reports 269). This may account in some measure for 
 the manner in which the Manorial Courts have been and 
 are still held here. 
 
 Assuming it then to be what I believe it to be, namely 
 a chase; a chase is a franchise or liberty of keeping 
 certain kinds of wild animals within a particular and 
 known district. It is commonly less than a forest, and 
 
48 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 not endowed with so many liberties, as officers, laws, 
 courts. It has no laws peculiar to it, so that all offences 
 in chases are punishable by the common law, and not by 
 the forest laws. (See Manwood 49, 147.) When it 
 belongs to a subject it (the same as a forest) must have 
 been originally created by a grant from the Crown. 
 
 According to Manwood, beasts of the chase are — the 
 buck, doe, fox, marten, and roe; and according to Lord 
 Coke, in a common and legal sense, all beasts of the 
 forest are beasts of the chase. Beasts of the forest are 
 the hart, the hind, the boar, and the wolf. 
 
 Forests and forest laws, however, are happily now 
 amongst the things of the past, as through them great 
 oppressions were frequently inflicted by the ancient 
 Lords upon their vassals. Any inquiry into them now, 
 therefore, is serviceable only for elucidating the past 
 history of the country, and of the manners and customs 
 of its inhabitants, at a time when men lived by the 
 chase, and the chase was the only or chief sport or 
 amusement of our great barons. In that day, no doubt, 
 such franchises were exceedingly valuable, and much 
 prized, so much so that the great feudal Lords enforced 
 their rights so very strictly, and so oppressively, as to 
 call forth in the reign of King John, a.d. 1215, the 
 famous enactment, " the Carta de Foresta" — a charter 
 second only in importance to Magna Charta itself. 
 
 I now come to speak of another description of fran- 
 chise, which has been granted by different kings to the 
 Lords of Mashamshire. I allude to rights of Free 
 Warren, which are the exclusive right of preserving and 
 killing hares, rabbits, roes, partridges, pheasants, rails, 
 quails, woodcocks, mallards, and herons (but not grouse) 
 within the demesne lands and the limits of the manor. 
 The first of these grants of Free Warren was made by 
 King Henry III., a.d. 1250, to Sir John de Wauton, the 
 then Lord of Mashamshire; another of these grants 
 was made by King Edward III, a.d. 1328, to Jeoffrey 
 le Scrope, the then Lord of Mashamshire ; and another 
 
fiiSTOilY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 49 
 
 of such grants was made by King Kichard II., a.d. 
 1393, to Stephen le Scrope, the then Lord of Masham- 
 shire. 
 
 The validity of the first-mentioned grant was called 
 in question a.d. 1280, by Sir John de Wauton; he being 
 then called upon to shew by what warrant or authority 
 he claimed to have Warren at Masseham, Elington, 
 Elingstring, Helagh, Fereby, and Sutton. To which he 
 answered and proved, that they were hamlets, and mem- 
 bers of Masseham, and that King Henry III. had granted 
 him Free Warren in all his demesne lands in his manor 
 of Masseham. See copy of the Judgment Roll in the 
 Appendix B., No. 5. 
 
 In the year 1549, the validity of the last-mentioned 
 grant of Richard II., was called in question, by Sir 
 Christopher Danby, the then Lord of Mashamshire, being 
 then called upon by the King's Attorney General to shew 
 by what warrant or authority he claimed the Chase or 
 Forest, with Fairs and Free Warren at Mashamshire. 
 To which he answered and justified his right to Free 
 Warren under the above-mentioned grant of Richard 
 II., and said that he was heir to Sir Stephen le Scrop, 
 the grantee therein mentioned, as being the son of Mar- 
 gery, who was great-granddaughter of the said Stephen 
 the grantee — that Mashamshire had from time immemo- 
 rial been called by the name of Mashamshire as well as 
 by the name of Masham — and as to the Chace, he justi- 
 fied his right to it by prescription, setting out its bounds, 
 etc. ; which plea the Attorney General confessed to be 
 true, and judgment was accordingly given thereon in 
 favour of Sir Christopher Danby, thereby establishing 
 his right to the franchises in question. See copy of the 
 Judgment Roll in this case, which is set out at full 
 length in the Appendix B, No. 6. 
 
 These grants of Free Warren, it should be remem- 
 bered, only extend to the demesne lands, and not to the 
 tenemental lands of the manor, which were held by the 
 respective grantees at the dates of their respective grants, 
 
 E 
 
50 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and do not extend to the after-acquired lands, or to any 
 lands which the Lords have since parted with. The 
 owner of a Free Warren possesses many peculiar privi- 
 leges within his manor; among others I may mention 
 that he or his gamekeeper may shoot a dog infesting his 
 Warren — privileges which ordinary Lords of manors 
 cannot exercise. 
 
 Besides these several franchises, the Lords of Mas- 
 hamshire have obtained for Masham no less than four 
 different charters, authorizing a weekly market and sev- 
 eral fairs to be held at Masham. The first was one 
 granted to Sir John de Wauton, in the year 1250, grant- 
 ing him one market on Friday, at his manor of Massham, 
 and one fair there lasting for three days — to wit, on the 
 eve, day, and morrow of the Assumption of Saint Mary ; 
 the second was one granted to Geoffrey le Scrope in the 
 year 1328, granting him one market at his manor of 
 Massham on Wednesday, and one fair there of four 
 days, to wit, on the eve and the day of St. Barnabas the 
 Apostle, and for two days following ; the third was one 
 granted to Stephen le Scrope in the year 1393, granting 
 him a weekly market at his manor of Massham on Wed- 
 nesday, and two fairs yearly, to be held on the Feast of 
 St. Barnabas the Apostle,* and on the eve and day of 
 the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; and the fourth 
 was granted to Thomas Danby, Esquire, in the year 
 
 * It is stated in a document dated more than one hundred years ago, that 
 the Barnabas Fairs here alluded to had not then been held within the time 
 of man's memory, but upon what account or for what reason they had been 
 discontinued was not known. The market every Wednesday, and the other 
 fairs granted by this charter of Richard II. to Stephen le Scrope, had been, 
 however, constantly held and kept up to that time. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 51 
 
 1632, granting him a Fair to be held every other Wed- 
 nesday, from the 8th of May till Michaelmas, for corn 
 and cattle, together with a Court of Piepowder.* 
 
 Copies of these charters will be found in the Appen- 
 dix B. to this work. It will be seen on an examination 
 of these charters, that none of them (except the last of 
 them granting the fortnight fairs) give the Lord of the 
 manor any tolls, or make any mention whatever of any 
 tolls. Under such circumstances the Lord of the manor 
 of Mashamshire is not justified in demanding or taking 
 any tolls at any of these fairs, except the fortnight fairs. 
 The law upon the subject, which is very clear, is thus 
 laid down in Tomlynes' Law Dictionary, under the word 
 toll — " If the king grants to a man a fair or market, and 
 grants no toll, the patentee shall have no toll; for toll 
 being a matter of private right for the benefit of the 
 
 * The market and fairs held at Masham were in former times very much 
 frequented, so much so that it very soon became a matter of complaint on 
 the part of the Richmond people that their town had suffered very severely 
 on account of them, and their property very much deteriorated in value. 
 Even so late as the last century there was a good market at Masham, which 
 was regularly attended by the people of Nidderdale and others from a great 
 distance, who came and bought and carried away their goods on pack horses 
 — a very primitive manner. 
 
 Fairs were formerly of much greater importance to a district than they 
 are now, for it was at them that the people provided themselves not only 
 with every description of pedlars' wares, but of clothing of every kind, 
 which they might require for the use of themselves and their families until 
 the next fair. These articles were not then to be had at shops in the same 
 manner as they are now. Thus they were not only a great convenience to 
 the district at large, but were an advantage to the town where they were 
 held, by bringing with them a large influx of people to it, to attend such 
 fairs. This alone necessitated an increased number of inns, and we accord- 
 ingly find that there were formerly in the town, as well as in the parish of 
 Masham, a much larger number of inns than there are at present. The 
 villages of Swinton and Ilton even had their inns in those days, and 
 were no doubt flourishing concerns, owing mainly to the excessive use of 
 intoxicating liquors, which then unfortunately prevailed everywhere. They 
 no doubt profited also from the circumstance of Masham being situate on 
 the high road leading direct from York to Lancaster, and as such was very 
 much frequented — Masham being then a place of call. 
 
52 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Lord, is not incident to a fair or market, as a court of 
 piepowder is, which is for the benefit of the public, and 
 the advancement of justice, etc. Such a fair or market 
 is free from toll, and after the grant made, the king can- 
 not grant a toll to such free fair or market without some 
 proportionable benefit to the subject; and if the toll 
 granted with the fair or market be outrageous, the grant 
 of the toll is void, and the same is a free market, etc." 
 —2 Inst., 220, Cro. Eliz. 550; and see 1 Wils. 109. 
 Besides this I may mention that in. the somewhat recent 
 case of the Earl of Egrement v. Saul, 6 Adol. and Ell. 
 924, where the charter contained the very same words 
 as are in the operative part of these charters, viz., " cum 
 omnibus liberis consuetudinibus, etc., ad feriam pertinen- 
 tibus" it was held that the Lord of the manor was not 
 entitled to tolls. This defect appears to have been dis- 
 covered as early as the year 1632, for it will be seen 
 that Thomas Danby, Esq., in obtaining the charter for 
 the fortnight fairs, obtains a grant of tolls for the other 
 fairs. This part of the charter is of no effect for the 
 reason above stated, namely, that the king could not 
 after the grant made of those other fairs grant any tolls 
 in respect of such other fairs. In short the insertion of 
 those words in the charter of 1632 was a futile attempt 
 to bolster up the Lord's title to the tolls of the other 
 fairs. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 53 
 
 Having thus described the several franchises to which 
 the Lords of Mashamshire are entitled, I now proceed 
 to describe the condition of the parish and district at the 
 close of the Anglo-Saxon period, and the commence- 
 ment of the Norman period of the history of this 
 country. 
 
 We find by Domesday Book and other early authentic 
 records, that the town of Masham, and the several other 
 hamlets and villages which are now situate in, and con- 
 stitute Mashamshire, were all then (viz. before a.d. 
 1086) existing, with the addition of some others which 
 have since wholly disappeared. A place called " Tuis- 
 tlebroc " is mentioned hi the Domesday Survey as then 
 existing, but has now disappeared altogether, although 
 it is supposed to have been situate somewhere upon the 
 banks of the Swinney (which was formerly called 
 " Tuisellbroc," from broc, a brook or beck, and tuisel, 
 twisting or winding) ; and there was also then a village 
 called " Sywardthorp," which was situate near to Sut- 
 ton (where there are still some ancient foundations to be 
 seen), but which has also disappeared — 
 
 " We build with what we deem eternal rock, 
 A distant age asks where the fabric stood !" 
 
 From the name of this place, it is probable that it was 
 one of the seats of Siward,* the great and powerful 
 
 * This Syward or Siward was a Danish chieftain, and the eighth Earl of 
 Northumberland during the reign of Edward the Confessor. He was a man 
 of most extraordinary strength and valour, and was appointed by Edward 
 the Confessor, to lead an army of 10,000 men into Scotland, to aid Malcolm 
 against the usurper Macbeth, whom he slew, when he set Malcolm on the 
 throne of Scotland. Shakspere, in his play of Macbeth, act iv., scene iii., 
 has immortalized his name in the following couplet — 
 
 " Gracious England hath 
 Lent us good Siward, and ten thousand men; 
 An older and a better soldier, none 
 That Christendom gives out." 
 
 Siward, who was famous for his goodness and piety as well as for 
 his valour, is reputed to have been the founder of St. Mary's Abbey at 
 York. When this brave old warrior was on his deathbed at York, in the 
 year 1055, and reduced by disease to the last extremity, he is said to have 
 
54 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Earl of Northumberland, who nourished in the reign of 
 Edward the Confessor — Syward being the name of a 
 person, and thorpe being the Saxon for village. Some 
 other places, also, which are now single houses were 
 then villages, such for instance as Aldbrough and Nut- 
 with Cote. 
 
 At the time when the Domesday Survey was made, 
 viz., before the year 1086, it appears that nearly the 
 whole of Mashamshire was laid waste, and had ac- 
 cordingly very much lessened in value between the time 
 of Edward the Confessor and that time. On referring 
 to the extract from the Domesday Book, which is 
 inserted in the Appendix A to this work, it will be seen 
 that Masham, which was worth £6 in the time of 
 Edward the Confessor, was then only worth 16s. ; that 
 Ellington was reduced in value during the same period 
 from 40s to 30s. ; Sutton, which had been worth 10s., 
 was then entirely waste; and Ilton, which had been 
 worth 16s., was then only worth 8s. 
 
 The key to all this devastation is to be found in the 
 pages of history, written by many contemporary chroni- 
 clers. From it we find that Mashamshire had to with- 
 stand for years the rude shocks of the repeated incursions 
 of the Danes, and according to an old local tradition, 
 was the scene of a great battle, which was fought with 
 the Danes at Mowbray Wath — 
 
 "To shake the Saxon's mild domain, 
 Hush'd in rude swarms the Robber Dane, 
 From frozen wastes and caverns wild, 
 To genial England's scenes beguil'd; 
 
 exclaimed — " Oh, what a shame it is for me, who have escaped death in so 
 many dangerous battles, to die like a beast at last ! Put me on my impene- 
 trable coat of mail," * * * " Gird on my sword, place on my hel- 
 met, give me my shield in my right hand, and my golden battle-axe in my 
 left — thus as a valiant soldier have I lived, even so will I die !" His friends 
 obeyed this injunction, which was no sooner done than he expired. His 
 body was buried in the church of St. Olive, at York. His son Waltheof, 
 and successor in the Earl of Northumberland, did not die so honourable 
 a death, having been executed at Winchester. Waltheof 's daughter, Matilda 
 or Maud, married David Canmore, afterwards king of Scotland. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 55 
 
 And in his clamorous van exulting came 
 The demons foul of famine and of flame ; 
 Witness the sheep-clad summits, roughly crown'd 
 With many a frowning foss and airy mound, 
 Which yet his desultory march proclaim." 
 
 In it we are also told that from the banks of the 
 Ouse to the river Tyne, the Pagan Danes* laid in ashes 
 not only towns but also churches and monasteries, f which 
 the piety of our Saxon forefathers had reared as the 
 evidences of their recent conversion to Christianity ; and 
 that their greatest pleasure was in feastmg their eyes 
 with the flames of the burning villages which they had 
 pillaged, and their ears with the groans of their captives 
 expiring under the anguish of torture. From it, too, 
 we know that scarcely had Mashamshire recovered from 
 these days of severe trial, than it had again to undergo 
 others still worse. Edward the Confessor, the last of 
 our Saxon kings, having died in 1066, William Duke of 
 Normandy laying claim to the English crown, put him- 
 self at the head of a formidable army, with which he 
 ravaged the whole country, and although he succeeded 
 in obtaining it by gaining the battle of Hastings, he was 
 not contented until he had not only wrested from the 
 ancient nobility of the country all their possessions, and 
 given them to his own Norman followers, but had com- 
 pletely altered and subverted all their ancient Saxon 
 laws and customs, which they dearly prized — 
 
 " The son of love, and lord of war, I sing — 
 Him who bade England bow to Normandy, 
 And left the name of Conqueror more than King, 
 To his unconquerable dynasty — 
 
 * The Danes seem to have been settled in Mashamshire and neigh- 
 bourhood, for Gospatric, who was Lord of the town of Masham in the reign 
 of Edward the Confessor, and Earl Siward, before alluded to, were both 
 of them Danes. 
 
 t The Nunnery which formerly stood in the Marfield probably disappeared 
 about this time. 
 
56 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 Nor faim'd alone by victory's fleeting wing, 
 
 He rear'd his bold and valiant throne on high ; 
 The bastard kept like lions his prey fast, 
 And Britain's bravest victor was the last." 
 
 lord Bybon. 
 
 This conduct naturally roused the people against him, 
 and as was to have been expected, made them slow to 
 submit to the Norman yoke. A violent struggle accord- 
 ingly ensued between William the Conqueror and the 
 Northern Barons. York was the rallying point of the 
 patriot army. William proceeding from York towards 
 the North, laid waste the whole country before him, 
 between York and Durham, so that, as all the chroni- 
 clers relate, it was without inhabitants and people to 
 till the ground for a period of nine years, and the few 
 people that were left were fain to eat horse flesh, cats, 
 dogs, and even men's flesh. It is said that 100,000 lives 
 perished on that occasion. William of Malmesbury, 
 who wrote eighty years afterwards, says, not an inhabited 
 village remained — fire, slaughter, and desolation made a 
 vast desolation there, which continued to that day. In 
 the midst of all this, it was not by any means probable 
 that Mashamshire would be spared, since it belonged to 
 Edwin,* the Saxon Earl of Mercia, who with his brother 
 Morcar, Gospatric, the then Lord of Masham town,f 
 
 * Edwin was the first Lord of Mashamshire of whom we have any 
 account. For the particulars of his life and doings, and that of his brother, 
 Earl Morcar, see Edwin's pedigree post. 
 
 * It is stated in Pict. Hist. Engl., vol. i., page 372, that " An English army, 
 commanded by Gospatric, disheartened, disorganized, and very inferior in 
 numbers, retreated before the Normans, and either retired into Scotland or 
 threw itself into the mountains, being followed by all the population that 
 had strength and activity enough to escape" William the Conqueror soon 
 afterwards summoned Earls Edwin, Morcar, and Gospatric, to appear before 
 him to answer for their offences. Gospatric, however, had the good sense 
 not to obey the summons, but abandoning all he possessed in England, fled 
 to Scotland, where King Malcolm Conmore gave him a castle and lands upon 
 which he settled and founded a noble house. The families of Dunbar and 
 Dundas (at the head of the latter of which is the present Earl of Zetland), 
 deduce their pedigrees from this Gospatric. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 57 
 
 and Archill, his brother Morcar, Lord of lit on, were 
 the Conqueror's bitterest and most formidable foes. 
 
 The great depreciation which had taken place in the 
 value of Mashamshire, as shewn in the Domesday Sur- 
 vey and other early documents, is thus easily accounted 
 for. After a while, however, notwithstanding the repeated 
 incursions of the Scots into this district, most of the 
 villages rallied again, and were rebuilt, but some there 
 were which never again rose from their ashes. 
 
 We may picture to ourselves Mashamshire at this 
 time as being a vast forest, consisting for the most part 
 of thickly- studded woods, interspersed with extensive 
 plains, dotted here and there by the several ancient 
 Saxon villages, the habitations of men, surrounded by 
 patches of cultivated ground. Whilst the woods were 
 the lairs and resting-places of the wild boars, the wolves, 
 the foxes, and the wild cats, which then infested the 
 country, the plains supplied rich browzing ground for 
 the fallow deer, which abounded in every part, affording 
 good sport for the hunter — 
 
 " On, and ever onwards bounding-, 
 
 Scours the hunter to the chase ; 
 On, and ever onwards bounding 
 
 To the mountain's wildest space. 
 Swift, as footed by the wind, 
 Flies before, the trembling hind. 
 
 Light and limber, upwards driven, 
 
 On the hoar crag quivering, 
 Or through gorges thunder riven 
 
 Leaps she with her airy spring ! 
 But behind her still the foe — 
 Near and near the deadly bow ! " 
 
 Bulwer. 
 
 In the neighbouring forests of Wensleydale, Teesdale, 
 and Galtres, we read that these were not the only wild 
 animals that they were troubled with — their forests and 
 woods being also infested with even bears and wild bulls ; 
 and there is little doubt but that it was so, at least to 
 some extent. We may therefore conclude that this dis ■ 
 
58 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 trict would not be wholly exempt from them. The 
 bears, however, soon disappeared, owing to the great 
 passion our rude forefathers had for bear-baiting,* which 
 continued long after the bear had ceased to be a native 
 of our woods, when it gave way to bull-baiting, which 
 continued here until a comparatively recent period, when 
 it in its turn gave way to advancing civilization. I be- 
 lieve there are still to be seen in our Masham market- 
 place, the rings, and at any rate the stones to which the 
 bulls were attached for the purpose of baiting, and I 
 even have some slight glimmering of the recollection 
 of Susy Fleetham's bull being baited there. The wolves, 
 though once plentiful enough, according to our earliest 
 records, were destroyed at a much earlier period, as after 
 the thirteenth century we have little mention of them 
 in England ; although I believe a solitary one was found 
 in Scotland so late as the year 1680, and another in 
 Ireland in the year 1701. 
 
 Wild cats continued to be found within this parish so 
 recently as about 150 or 200 years ago, as appears by 
 entries in our church books, wherein I find that the 
 churchwardens, as was usual in those days, charge the 
 parish with the payment of money for the destruction of 
 wild cats as well as other vermin. These church books 
 aiFord very conclusive evidence of the wildness of this 
 part of the country, from the great number of wild cats, 
 badgers, foxes, and foumarts, which appear therein to 
 have been killed, and to have been paid for every year 
 by the churchwardens. 
 
 About the seventeenth century, the deer, which had 
 before been very plentiful, also gave way to the progress 
 
 * It would seem from the following passage in a very rare Roman Catho- 
 lic book—" The Life of the Rev. Father Bennett of Canfield, Douay, 1623," 
 translated from the French by R. R., Catholique Priest, page 11 — that bear- 
 baiting was continued to be practised in England until very recent times. 
 " Even Sunday is a day designed for beare-baiting, and even the hour of 
 theyre [the Protestants'] Service is allotted to it, and indeede the tyme is as 
 well spent at the one as at the other." 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1RE. 59 
 
 of agriculture, to make room for more useful cattle, 
 although I believe in the neighbouring forest of Wen- 
 sleydale, they lingered there until the beghming of the 
 last century. Whilst they continued with us, all our 
 accounts are filled with the disputes which were con- 
 tinually arising respecting them, and the rights of the 
 chase. 
 
 The hunting of the wild boar was in this as in other 
 districts in England, once a favourite amusement of our 
 ancient Lords. The wild boar is treated both by the 
 ancient Welsh and English laws as a beast of the chase, 
 which was reserved principally for the amusement of the 
 king, and was so much prized in the reign of William 
 the Conqueror, that a person convicted of killing a wild 
 boar without royal authority, was punished with the loss 
 of his eyes. They seem, however, to have been plenti- 
 ful enough in this district, so much so as to have given 
 the name to Swinton. 
 
 The wild boar, it seems, soon became extinct, and the 
 tame breed had taken its place in our woods as early as 
 in Roger de Mowbray's tune, namely, in the eleventh 
 century, as we find from the early grant of his, before 
 alluded to, wherein he grants to the people at Burton- 
 upon-Yore the pawnage or pannage of their hogs quit 
 in the forest of Masham. As early, indeed, as the 
 Saxon times, it appears that swine were kept in prodi- 
 gious numbers, and were esteemed amongst the most 
 valuable of their possessions, and that they fed great 
 herds of them amongst the oak and beech groves, under 
 the care of numerous swineherds.* Even, too, in our 
 
 * Swine were kept in great numbers during the whole of the Anglo-Saxon 
 times, and none of the common occupations of husbandry are more frequent- 
 ly mentioned than that of the swineherd. In the will of a nobleman, two 
 thousand swine are left to his two daughters ; another nobleman gives to his 
 relations, a hide of land with one hundred swine, and he directs two hun- 
 dred swine to be given to two priests, in equal proportions, for the good of 
 his soul ; and an individual gives land to a church on the condition that two 
 hundred swine are fed for the use of his wife.— See Pict. Hist. Engl., vol. i., 
 page 277. 
 
60 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 own times it would seem that the regulation of the swine 
 has been thought a subject worthy of legislative enact- 
 ments, as by the Statute 35 Hen. VIII., cap. 17, sec. 
 17, it was enacted that swine should not go unringed in 
 woods. It also appears by more recent documents that 
 up to the time of the enclosure of the moors and com- 
 mons, which then came down to Masham town-end, that 
 vast numbers of swine were still kept here, and were 
 allowed to run in the neighbouring woods and waste 
 lands, under the care of a regularly appointed swine-herd, 
 and that they were herded in a garth at Masham town- 
 end, still called Swinegarth, and now in the occupation 
 of Mr. Edmund Barker. 
 
 "BRYNGYIXG IN THE BORE'S HEAD 
 
 The Mills next claim our attention, as being amongst 
 the best indicia of the state of progress and civilization 
 of a people at any given period. 
 
 One thing strikes me as somewhat remarkable, and 
 that is, that no mention whatever is made in the Domes- 
 day Survey of there being any mills within Mashamshire, 
 
 * The boar's head was formerly a favourite Christmas dish. Aubrey, in a 
 MS. of the date 1678, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, says, " Before the 
 last civil wars, in gentlemen's houses, at Christmas, the first diet that was 
 brought to table was a boar's head with a lemon in his mouth." It was 
 brought in with the trumpets sounding before it. The Carol " bryngyng in 
 the bore's head" is well known. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 61 
 
 although we know that mills* for grinding corn had 
 become common about the close of the Saxon period, 
 and that very soon after the Conquest there were seve- 
 ral mills in existence within the parish. Had any mills 
 then existed in the parish, one would have expected to 
 have seen them mentioned hi the Survey. Many mills 
 are mentioned in Domesday, and Sir Henry Ellis, in his 
 Introduction to Domesday Book says " Whenever a mill 
 is specified in Domesday Book, we generally find it still 
 subsisting. Mills anciently belonged to the Lords of 
 manors, and the tenants were permitted to grind only at 
 the Lord's mill." We must therefore conclude that either 
 no such mills had been then built, or that they had been 
 destroyed during the wars ; this latter supposition is the 
 much more probable view of the matter. 
 
 As early as the eleventh century, we find Roger de 
 Mowbray, by a grant before referred to, giving the owner 
 of Burton leave to make a mill, and to fasten the sta^num 
 or mill-pool within the forest of Mashamshire. This 
 mill, however, appears by another document to have 
 fallen into decay as early as the year 1352. 
 
 At, or very soon after this period, we find that there 
 was a mill at Ilton, and that one Sir Richard de Wax- 
 wid or Waxwand, knight, in giving his moiety of it to 
 the monks of Fountains, at the same time stipulating 
 that his freeholders should perform the same services to 
 the mill, and help to repair the same, as they had been 
 used to do to him, and reserving to himself and his hens 
 the right of grinding his corn at it, and also covenanting 
 that he would not permit any other mill to be erected 
 or used in his territory. This mill would no doubt find 
 plenty of employment whilst the monks of Fountains 
 had their Cow-grange at Pott-grange. 
 
 * No description of building is so frequently mentioned in Domesday 
 Book as water mills. They were in every case the property of the Lord of 
 the Manor, and the tenants were not permitted to grind at any other mill 
 — a restriction which has not been abolished in some cases even at the 
 present day.— Pict. Hist. Engl, vol. i., page 600. 
 
62 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 There was also at about the same date, another mill at 
 Swinton, also the property of the monks of Fountains 
 Abbey. The site of it is known even at this day. It 
 would seem, however, that afterwards there were two 
 mills at Swinton, for it appears by the Act book of the 
 Ecclesiastical Court at Masham, that on the 14th of 
 May, 1635, Christopher Lodge, of Masham, was pre- 
 sented for not paying his church-rates " of Swinton 
 corne milne," and at the same court, " John Lucas, of 
 Massham, for the cloth mill in Swinton." Again, on 
 the last day of February, 1638, John Lucas is presented 
 for not paying his church-rate " for the Walk mill," and 
 John Lofthouse, for not paying his church-rate for 
 " Swinton mill," and again on the 14th of May, 1639, 
 u Christopher Lodge, of Masham, was presented for not 
 paying his church-rate for the corne mille of Swinton," 
 and John Lucas, of Massam," for the cloth mill in Swin- 
 ton. See Appendix D. 
 
 Besides these mills, there were in the year 1392, two 
 other corn mills in Mashamshire, which are described as 
 being then worth by the year, beyond reprizes, £10, 
 which was a very large sum at that date, when we con- 
 sider that in that same valuation, land is valued at from 
 fourpence to eightpence per acre, and other property 
 in like proportion.* 
 
 There was also formerly a cotton mill at Healey — a flax 
 
 * Many years ago, an attempt was made to assert a claim on behalf of the 
 corn mill at Masham, as being a soke, but this was resisted, and was ulti- 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 63 
 
 or hemp mill in the Marfield — and a comb manufactory 
 at Nutwith Cote. 
 
 Bridges, also, are another index as to the progress of 
 a people. Although our Saxon forefathers knew how to 
 construct bridges both of stone and timber, bridges 
 appear to have been but scarce in this district. We 
 have already seen that when L eland, the antiquary, 
 visited Masham, in the reign of Henry VIII., namely, 
 about the year 1540 or 1550, there was only a wooden 
 bridge over the Yore at Masham, and not one at all at 
 Tanfield, although there were stone bridges over it at 
 Wensley and Kilgram, which were then old. L eland 
 then described Masham as being " a praty quik market- 
 town," having " a fair church," with "wood, pasture, and 
 sum good corn." The land between it and Grewelthorpe 
 he describes as being then lingy and moorish. On the 
 other side of the river Yore, he says " lyeth Aldeburg 
 village," and further east " at Thorpe" (meaning Thorpe 
 Perrow), u one of Master Danby's houses." 
 
 The " tymbar" bridge mentioned by L eland as being 
 over the Ure at Masham, was, I believe, the bridge 
 which was washed away in a great flood which took 
 place on the 2nd of February, 1732-3, and was the 
 greatest flood known in the memory of men then living. 
 Masham and Tanfield bridges were both broken down 
 by it, and the North bridge at Ripon was also greatly 
 damaged. The present bridge at Masham was built 
 A.D. 1754, and was in its turn nearly swept away by 
 the great flood of the 2nd of February, 1822, and 
 which did very great damage, not only to the foun- 
 dations of the bridge, but to the country generally. 
 
 Whilst upon the subject of bridges, I may mention 
 that in the Act book of the Ecclesiastical Court already 
 cited, it appears that on the 5th September, 1621, one 
 " William Dodgson and Jane his wife " were cited before 
 
 mately abandoned ; Mr. Danby having first satisfied himself that there was 
 no ground for making any such claim, and a fortunate thing it was for the 
 people of Masham. 
 
64 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 the Ecclesiastical Court here for committing fornication 
 together before their marriage;" and the aforesaid Wil- 
 liam Dodgson having confessed " that he committed the 
 crime aforesaid on the said Jane afore their marriage," the 
 judge " did enjoyne that they should acknowledge their 
 fault before the minister and churchwardens, and to pay 
 six shillings to the repairs of Burne bridge"— a most 
 righteous and useful decision ! 
 
 Elizabeth Jackson, of Ellingstring (widow), by her 
 will, dated the 10th December, 1660, gave "ten shillings 
 to the building of a bridge at Swinton Milne," and di- 
 rected that if one should not be built within ten years 
 after her death, that the legacy should go to the poor of 
 S whit on; "also Mr. Beaverley to preach my funeral ser- 
 mon,* whom I leave ten shillings for his paines." 
 
 Anthony Beckwith, of Nutwith Cote (yeoman), by 
 his will, dated the 10th of January, 1623, gave and 
 bequeathed to the repairing of " the bridge called Ladie, 
 standing over the river Bourne, in the parish of Mas- 
 ham, forty shillings." This last mentioned bridge was 
 no doubt Low Burne bridge, which at that time was but 
 a horse bridge, but has since been widened, so as to 
 admit of carriages, etc. passing over it. 
 
 Edward King, of Sowermire, by his will, dated the 
 8th of March, 1625, gave to the building of " Golden 
 life brigg ys" [Gowlinglithe bridge]. 
 
 The monks of Fountains, very soon after their estab- 
 lishment, appear to have obtained a footing here, Earl 
 Alan, one of the earliest Lords of Mashamshire, having 
 given them all the wood which is on the Burton side of 
 the river Yore, for the purpose, as some of the accounts 
 have it, of building Fountains Abbey itself with it, but 
 as other accounts say, and much more likely to be 
 true, for the purpose of building for themselves a cell at 
 Aldburgh. Very shortly afterwards, Roger de Mow- 
 
 * Funeral sermons had their origin in the funeral orations which used to 
 be pronounced over deceased martyrs. Ten shillings was the usual fee for a 
 funeral sermon, which was more than they were often worth. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 65 
 
 bray, besides confirming to them what Earl Alan had 
 previously granted to them, gave Aldburgh itself to 
 them, with common of pasture in Swinton and Roomer ; 
 he also gave them the dead wood, as well standing as 
 lying, to make charcoal for their forge there ; and by a 
 subsequent grant, he gave them a road for their cattle, 
 to go from Aldburgh to feed on the moor between Swin- 
 ton and Nidderdale, belonging to the Honor of Masham ; 
 and one Richard de Hedona, a tenant of Roger de Mow- 
 bray, also gave them sixty acres of land on Nutwith,* 
 which he describes as being near to the camp, to the 
 bounds of Aldburgh, and to the river. All subsequent 
 accounts shew that at Aldburgh the monks of Fountains 
 had a very extensive grange, as well as another at Pott- 
 grange. Aldburgh-grange had, it seems, fallen into 
 decay so early as the year 1363, and was then so ruinous 
 (as stated in an Inquisition of that date) that the monks 
 were not able to repair it. It was, however, repaired, 
 and it remained in the hands of the monks of Fountains 
 until the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, 
 when it was seized and sold by King Henry VIII. It 
 was purchased by Sir Roger Beckwith, in the year 1597, 
 
 * Nutwith is derived from Canute, a man's name, which being Danish, is 
 always pronounced and sometimes written as Cnut or Knut, and with (which 
 is also Danish), a forest or wood — hence we have Canute's forest or wood. 
 Some, however, suppose the name to have been derived from Nut, the well- 
 known wild fruit of that name, and with, a wood, hence Nutwood. 
 
 Nutwith Cote, which is situate near to Nutwith, is the residence of 
 Thomas Edmundson, Esq. The house is very ancient, and contains a large 
 quantity of black oak. The walls of one of the rooms are hung with Span- 
 ish leather, bearing embossed devices, and figures of angels, bacchanalians, 
 grapes, etc., in gold. 
 
 Sir Patrick Mackie, of Largo, a lieutenant-colonel of horse in the Scotch 
 army, appears to have had a temporary residence here, as a slab was found 
 in the churchyard of Masham, in 1861, bearing the following inscription 
 upon it—" Here lyeth the body of Sr. Patrick Mackie, of Largo, and lieu- 
 tenant-coll, of horse in the Scots armie" — and on turning to the Register 
 of Burials for Masham parish, I find the following entry concerning him, 
 viz., « 1647— Nutwith Coate, Sr. Patrick Mackie, knight, was buryed the 
 sexteenth day of January." 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 in whose family it remained until it was again sold to an 
 ancestor of John Timothy D'Arcy Hutton, Esq., the 
 present owner of it. 
 
 CHAPTER HOUSE, JERVAUX ABBEY. 
 
 The working of Mines in a district is also evidence of 
 considerable progress having been made in the arts and 
 civilization. No mention is made in the Domesday Sur- 
 vey of there being any mines within Mashamshire, but it 
 is certain that as early as the year 1250, iron mines were 
 worked in it. In that year Sir John de Wauton, the 
 then Lord of Mashamshire, by deed bound himself and 
 his heirs to the monks of Jervaux, never to raise a forge 
 in Colsterdale, nor give nor sell any iron mines therein, 
 in order, as I suppose, that the working of such mines 
 might not prove injurious to the grange which the monks 
 of Jervaux then had in Colsterdale; or disturb their 
 deer. 
 
 In the year 1334, I find that there were also coal 
 mines* in Colsterdale, and that Sir Jeonrey le Scrope, 
 the then Lord of Mashamshire, by deed, granted to the 
 
 * Coals were not in common use in England until the reign of Charles L, 
 1625. The burning of them was thought to be prejudicial to human health, 
 and were prohibited being used in London, and even smiths were obliged to 
 burn wood in 1273. The coal mines in Colsterdale were worked much more 
 extensively than they are at present, down to a period within the memory 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 67 
 
 Abbot and Convent of Jervaux and their successors, 
 for ever, the sole right of getting coals upon the wastes 
 of Colsterdale, upon the payment to him of the annual 
 rent of eight marks; and I also find that by another 
 deed, dated in the same year, Sir Jeofirey le Scrope 
 granted to the same monks a free way through all Mas- 
 hamshire to their coal mines in Colsterdale, on payment 
 to him of twenty quarters of coals yearly. I also find 
 a coal mine mentioned in an Inquisition taken in the 
 year 1392, as belonging to the Lords of Mashamshire, 
 and which was then bringing in a rent of forty shillings 
 a year, thereby shewing that it was worked even then 
 on a pretty extensive scale ; for forty shillings a year was 
 then a large sum. 
 
 Lead, also, has been found in this parish. About 
 the year 1709, when the colliers were following up a 
 coal seam on Thorney Grane, about two miles and a half 
 west of Colsterdale, they cut through several veins of 
 lead. Lead was continued to be got there for several 
 years afterwards, but proving unprofitable, the works were 
 ultimately abandoned. In the adjoining dale of Md- 
 derdale, however, lead mines appear to have been worked 
 even so far back as in the time of the Romans. Some 
 few years ago, a pig of lead* with Roman marks, and 
 bearing the name of the reigning monarch upon it, 
 was found there, and is now deposited in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 Having already mentioned Aldburgh-grange as be- 
 longing to the monks of Fountains, and Colsterdale- 
 grange as belonging to the monks of Jervaux, I ought 
 not to omit mentioning that about the year 1201, Gilbert 
 
 of some of the oldest inhabitants of the place, and were the means of intro- 
 ducing a large number of families into this district, who have settled here. 
 
 * The pig of lead here alluded to was discovered underground on Hay- 
 shaw Moor, in the year 1731, half-way between the ancient lead mine north 
 of Pateley Bridge and the Roman road from Ilkley (Olciana) to Aldbrough 
 (Isurium). It weighs 1541bs., and is inscribed with the name of the Em- 
 peror Domitian, when he was consul for the eighth time a.d. 82. 
 
68 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 de Wauton, the then Lord of Mashamshire, gave Pot- 
 grange to the monks of Fountains, with a right of Com- 
 mon upon Sowermire, and also fifteen acres of land in 
 the fields of Masham, called Brathorne. Pot-grange, 
 like Aldburgh-grange, remained with the monks of 
 Fountains until the time of the dissolution of the mon- 
 asteries, when it was seized by King Henry VIII., and 
 by him granted out to Sir Richard Gresham, who, as 
 patentee under the Crown, sold it, with other property, 
 to Mr. William Singleton of Fountains, from whom Sir 
 Thomas Danby bought it in the year 1586. 
 
 Potteries also give us a notion of the advance of the 
 people in the arts and civilization. There was anciently a 
 pottery where Healey church now stands. The field in 
 which the church was built was called the " Potter's 
 field," and when the workmen were digging the founda- 
 tions of the church, they found a large quantity of 
 apparently refuse or mis-shaped pots. There appears, 
 also, to have been another pottery at a place in Colster- 
 dale, called " Potter's Pitt," where some clay -pits have 
 evidently been worked, and where, also, mis-shapen pots 
 have been found. This latter place was according to 
 some old maps a very ancient inclosure from the moor. 
 
 Besides these memorials of peace in by-gone days, 
 we have others as indicative of war and bloodshed. 
 Upon Roomer, and near to the houses there, is the site 
 of a Roman camp, with a Tumulus near it, both yet 
 plainly visible, and capable of being easily traced. Upon 
 Nutwith, and in the centre of a wood, is the site of 
 another camp, which tradition has always pointed out as 
 " Mowbray's camp." There are, also, some earthworks 
 upon Nutwith (and as such they are shewn upon the 
 Ordnance maps), which are supposed to be the remains 
 of a very ancient camp. There is, also, another of these 
 camps in Colsterdale; and, according to a map of the 
 Roman roads in Yorkshire, which has been published by 
 the Royal Society of Antiquaries, it appears that there 
 is a small oval camp in Swinton Park. But 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 69 
 
 " Where once the steel-clad warrior trod, 
 Spring renews her verdant wreath ; 
 And o'er the once ensanguined sod, 
 
 Flowers their mingled incense breathe. 
 Where the clang of clarion rose, 
 All is silence and repose ; 
 Save where in yonder halls of state, 
 The blackbird serenades his mate. 
 
 Judging from the existence of these several camps 
 within the parish — the history of the times — the devas- 
 tation already alluded to as having been made in the 
 parish, and the traditions* which have been handed down 
 to us, we have much reason to believe that Mashamshire 
 has on more than one occasion been a battle-field, where- 
 on contending armies, actuated by fierce and hostile 
 passions, have enacted deeds of bloodshed and carnage. 
 Nor is there less reason to believe but that Mashamshire 
 itself has in its time produced its own share of the bone 
 and sinew by which such battles have been fought and 
 won, in the shape of stalwart men. The brave and 
 warlike character of our early lords, the times in which 
 they lived, the chivalrous spirit of those times, and the 
 tenure by which they held their manors and lands from 
 the king, and by which too their vassals held such lands 
 of them, as well as the page of history, all go to shew 
 that both lords and vassals have each enacted their part hi 
 many a sanguinary battle. Upon the Norman Conquest, 
 the feudal system was introduced into this country in all 
 its rigour, and the consequence of it was, that all the 
 lands in the kingdom were divided into what were called 
 knights' fees, in number above 60,000; that for every 
 knight's fee, a knight or soldier was bound to attend the 
 
 * The tradition, however, that Roger de Mowbray fought a battle with 
 the Danes at Mowbray- Wath cannot be correct, as the incursions of the 
 Danes had ceased long before his time, and Gospatric the Dane, was quietly 
 enjoying his Manor of Masham Town at the time of the Conquest, and had 
 quitted the place before Roger de Mowbray was born, as will be shewn in 
 the course of these pages. There can be little doubt, however, that there 
 is some truth in the tradition, that a battle was really fought there, but not 
 with the Danes. 
 
70 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 King in his wars (and that, too, either within or without 
 the realm), mounted and armed *f or forty days in every 
 year. In this space of time (before war was reduced to 
 a science, as it now is), the campaign was generally fin- 
 ished, and the kingdom either conquered or victorious. 
 By this means alone, the King had without any expense 
 to himself, an army of upwards of 60,000 well-equipped 
 men, always ready at his command ; and by the same 
 law, the Lord's vassals were hi like manner bound to 
 accompany their lords to such wars. 
 
 MORNING OP THE TOURNAMENT. 
 
 " Knights, with a long retinue of their squires, 
 In gaudy liveries march, and quaint attires; 
 One laced the helm, another held the lance, 
 A third the shining huckler did advance. 
 The courser paw'd the ground with restless feet, 
 And snorting foam'd and champ'd the golden bit; 
 The smiths and armourers on palfreys ride, 
 Files in their hands, and hammers at their side, 
 And nails for loosen'd spears, and thongs for shields provide. 
 The yeomen guard the streets in seemly bands, 
 And clowns come crowding on with cudgels in their hands." 
 
 Palamon and Arcite. 
 
 Thus from necessity alone, if not from choice, would 
 our early lords and their vassals be bound to take part 
 in the many wars and civil commotions and insurrections 
 which disgraced the reigns of our early monarchs. This 
 necessity, however, was not the sole cause which induced 
 them to take part in such wars. Such was, indeed, the 
 chivalrous spirit of those times, that most, if not all of 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 71 
 
 them, were ever ready from the mere love of the excite- 
 ment necessarily attendant on martial enterprises, if not 
 from the promptings of loyalty, or love of country and 
 their own aggrandizement, to draw the sword, and to 
 incur the risks and dangers of war — that " malady of 
 princes" — and that, too, for causes not always justifiable. 
 
 " War is honourable 
 In those who do their native rights maintain ; 
 In those whose swords an iron barrier are 
 Between the lawless spoiler and the weak ; 
 But as in those who draw tbH offensive Made 
 For added power or gain, sordid and despicable 
 
 As meanest office of the worldly churl." 
 
 Joanna Baillie. 
 
 The promptings of loyalty and love of country was 
 not, however, by any means wanting in the " Barons 
 bold" of this highly favoured nation, for it is to them, 
 and them only, that we owe the large measure of free- 
 dom which we at present enjoy — 
 
 " Yet Barons of the land ! to you 
 A grateful people still retains 
 Proud memory of the swords ye drew — 
 The swords that brake a tyrant's chains, 
 And planted Freedom on our plains ! 
 For Freedom's cradle was the Keep, 
 
 Her Guardians were the Barons bold ; 
 Who placed her Temple on the Steep, 
 And on her head a crown of gold ; 
 And cried — ' The deed is done ! Behold 
 Henceforth our British land shall be 
 The glorious land of Liberty ! ' " 
 
 Prompted by one or other of these motives to action, 
 the Lords of Mashamshire, and with them, their nume- 
 rous vassals and followers, have ever taken a prominent 
 part in the military transactions of this country, and as 
 such, have participated in the dangers as well as the 
 glory of some of the most memorable wars in which 
 this country has ever been engaged. Passing over the 
 high military achievements accomplished by our earliest 
 Lords, Earl Edwin and Earl Alan (as having taken 
 
72 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 place before the period I have referred to, namely, the 
 introduction of the feudal system into this country), 
 and of Nigel de Albini, another early and potent Lord, 
 who was bow-bearer to King William Rufus, and was 
 present at his death (because his valiant actions are 
 more than effaced by the great devastation which he in 
 his military capacity, and as a follower of the Conque- 
 ror, assisted in bringing upon this district), we come to 
 Roger de Mowbray, another early Lord, who, not to 
 mention any other of the many battles in which he was 
 engaged, the Rebellion which he raised in Yorkshire on 
 behalf of Prince Henry against his father, Henry II., or 
 his expeditions as a Crusader to the Holy Land — whilst 
 he was yet a mere stripling, he not only fought at the 
 head of his vassals from this and his other manors, but 
 was one of the brave commanders at the memorable 
 battle of the Standard,* fought at Northallerton, on the 
 
 Figures of the Standard, from Aelred's " Historia de bello Standardi." 
 * The immediate cause of this battle was the usurpation of King Stephen 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1BE. 73 
 
 22nd of August, 1138, at which David Bruce, king of 
 Scotland, whilst seeking to invade this country, was 
 signally defeated, and thus was this district saved from 
 a repetition of the fearful carnage and devastation which 
 it had suffered on many former occasions from the 
 repeated incursions of the Scots. 
 
 In the ancient ballad on the " Battle of the Standard," 
 fought on Cuton-moor, near Northallerton, David Bruce 
 is made to say, on reviewing the two contending armies 
 in battle array : 
 
 " And whoo's yon youth I see 
 A galloping o'er the moore ? 
 Hys troopes that followe so gallantelye 
 Proclayime hym a youthe of pow're." 
 
 To which question the poet gives the following as the 
 answer to it : 
 
 " Young Roger de Mowbray is that youthe, 
 And he's sprung of the royal line ; 
 Hys wealthe and hys followers, oh King, 
 Are allemost as greate as thyne." 
 
 Sir JeofFrey le Scrope, another early Lord of Mas- 
 hamshire, too, although bred to, and an adept in, 
 another species of warfare, I mean that of the law (a 
 warfare, by the way, which, whatever else it may do, 
 spills no blood), was not the less valiant, and fought in 
 many a battle-field, not only against the Scots but against 
 
 of the Crown of England, which by right belonged to King David's sister, 
 Matilda or Maud, usually called the Empress Maud from her having married 
 the Emperor of Germany. This naturally provoked the Scots, as well as 
 many of our English nobility, who accordingly took up arms against Ste- 
 phen, with the purpose of placing the Empress, as the rightful heiress, on 
 the English throne. 
 
 The reason of this battle being called the " Battle of the Standard " was 
 in consequence of its being fought under a Standard, made of a long pole 
 like a ship's mast, which Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, brought from 
 the convent of Beverley. It was mounted on a four-wheeled carriage, and 
 had on the top of it, a silver crucifix, under which were suspended the 
 banners of St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of 
 Ripon, and above all, in a silver pix, the consecrated host. 
 
74 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the French, whilst his son, Sir Stephen Serope, also 
 fought and distinguished himself at the memorable 
 battle of Cressy, and the sieges of Calais and Berwick ; 
 and another son, Sir William Serope, with equal valour, 
 fought at the several battles of Scluse, Cressy, Neville's 
 Cross near Durham, Espagnola-sur-mer, Poictiers, Ber- 
 wick, and Najara, as well as at the siege of Calais. Sir 
 Henry Serope, another Lord, fought as bravely at the 
 siege of Berwick, and at the several battles of Hallidon 
 Hill, Scluse, Cressy, Neville's Cross near Durham, Es- 
 pagnola-sur-mer, and at the siege of Calais, all of which 
 have been rendered famous in the annals of this country. 
 Sir Stephen le Serope, another Lord, also served his 
 country not less faithfully in the wars of France, and 
 having taken upon him the cross and become a Crusader, 
 went to the Holy Land to fight against the enemies of 
 his religion, for the rescue of the holy places from the 
 possession of the pagan Turks, and fought at the battle 
 of Najara. Other Lords of Mashamshire have served 
 their country as efficiently, and not less faithfully, in the 
 arts of diplomacy, in the senate, the cabinet, and in high 
 offices of State. 
 
 Of this last number may be classed the unfortunate 
 Henry Lord Serope, Treasurer of England, who was 
 attainted and beheaded for high treason, in the reign of 
 Henry V. 
 
 As a history of Mashamshire could hardly be said to 
 be complete unless it contained some account of the 
 circumstances which led to the sad event I have last 
 named, I purpose to state them here. 
 
 In the summer of the year 1413, Henry V., actuated 
 by those feelings of ambition which were no less natural 
 to his age and character than consonant with the man- 
 ners of the times in which he lived, but without the 
 least shade of right to support his pretensions, laid 
 claim to the Crown of France, as the heir of Isabella, 
 the wife of Edward II. He accordingly sent Henry 
 Lord Serope (of whom I am now speaking), and some 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 75 
 
 others, as ambassadors to the Court of Charles VI., 
 King of France, to make his unjust demand. This 
 demand not being complied with, Henry V. determined 
 to assert his pretended right by force of arms, and, ac- 
 cordingly, in the month of July, 1415, ordered all his 
 troops to repair to Southampton, where they were to 
 embark, and whither he himself went with his court and 
 retinue, including Henry Lord Scrope, Lord of Mas- 
 hamshire, in order to superintend personally their em- 
 barkation. About the end of July, 1415, whilst the 
 King was preparing to embark, a treasonable conspiracy 
 against the King's person and government was discover- 
 ed, the conspirators being Richard Earl of Cambridge 
 (brother of the Duke of York), Henry Lord Scrope of 
 Masham (the Lord Treasurer of England), who so far 
 possessed the confidence and friendship of the King, 
 that he commonly lay in the same room with him, and 
 Sir Thomas Grey of Heton (knight), who was a Privy 
 Counsellor. Immediately on this discovery being made, 
 the King, by his warrant, dated the 21st of July, 1415, 
 commanded the Sheriff of Southampton to summon a 
 jury, for the trial upon the spot of the parties impli- 
 cated. The Earl of Cambridge, and Henry Lord Scrope, 
 however, having claimed their privilege of being tried 
 by their Peers, a commission was accordingly issued, 
 and addressed to the Duke of Clarence, for their trial, 
 who thereupon summoned Humphrey Duke of Glouces- 
 ter, Edward Duke of York (who was allowed to name 
 Thomas Earl of Dorset, as his deputy, probably on 
 account of his near relationship to the Earl of Cam- 
 bridge), Edmund Earl of March, the Earl of Hunting- 
 don, the Earl of Arundel, John Earl Marshall, Thomas 
 Earl of Salisbury, Eichard Earl of Oxford, Michael 
 Earl of Suffolk, John Lord Clifford, Gilbert Lord Tal- 
 bot, William Lord Zouche, John Lord Harrington, 
 Robert Lord Willoughby, William Lord Clinton, John 
 Lord Maltravers, Hugh Lord Bourchier, and Lord 
 Bortreaux — " Lords and Magnates of England, and 
 
76 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Peers of the said Richard Earl of Cambridge, and Lord 
 Scrope, being then present, and intended for the voyage 
 of our Lord the King beyond the sea." 
 
 The court, thus irregularly constituted, forthwith pro- 
 ceeded as irregularly and as unconstitutionally with the 
 trial of the prisoners. The prisoners, though one of 
 them was a prince of the blood, were not even produced 
 in court on the trial, or allowed to be heard in their own 
 defence, but were tried behind their backs. No witnesses 
 were indeed examined against them, the only evidence 
 produced against them being the deposition which had 
 been made by Sir John Popham, the constable of the 
 Castle of Southampton, on the previous trial of Sir 
 Thomas Grey, deposing to an alleged confession to him. 
 Upon this evidence alone were the prisoners pronounced 
 guilty, and sentence of death, as traitors, passed upon 
 them, and they accordingly paid the forfeit of their lives 
 on Monday, the 5th August, 1415. 
 
 The Earl, being of the blood royal, was merely be- 
 headed, u but" as is recorded in the Rolls of Parlia- 
 ment, " to mark the perfidy and ingratitude of Scrope, 
 who had enjoyed the King's utmost confidence and 
 friendship, and had even shared his bed, he commanded 
 that he should be drawn to the place of execution, and 
 his head should be affixed on one of the gates of the 
 city of York." 
 
 What was alleged against the prisoners on their trial, 
 if trial it may be called, was this — that on the 20th of 
 July, 1415, the Earl of Cambridge and Sir Thomas 
 Grey falsely and traitorously conspired to collect a body 
 of armed men, to conduct Edmund Earl of March, to 
 the frontiers of Wales, and to proclaim him the rightful 
 heir to the Crown, in case Richard II. was actually 
 dead; that they solicited Thomas Trumpyngton (who 
 personated King Richard), Henry Percy, and many 
 others from Scotland, to invade the realm; that they 
 intended to destroy the King, the Duke of Clarence, 
 the Duke of Bedford, and the Duke of Gloucester, with 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 77 
 
 other Lords and great men, and that Henry Lord Scrope 
 of Masham, consented to the said treasonable purposes, 
 and concealed the knowledge of them from the King, 
 These are the very words of the charge brought against 
 them. 
 
 Irregular and unjust as the proceedings on this trial 
 were, there can be little doubt as to the guilt of the 
 Earl of Cambridge, inasmuch as he confessed it, and 
 such, his confession in his own handwriting, may now 
 be seen in the British Museum. In this document, the 
 Earl of Cambridge positively accuses his brother-in-law, 
 the Earl of March (who it will be seen sat as one of his 
 judges, and as such was one of those who condemned 
 him to death), with assenting to the conspiracy, but 
 at the same time he altogether exculpated Henry Lord 
 Scrope 
 
 Shakspere, in his play of " King Henry V.," repre- 
 sents the King as thus reproaching Lord Scrope on that 
 occasion : — ■ 
 
 " What shall I say to thee Lord Scrope ; thou cruel, 
 Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature ! 
 Thou, that didst bear the key of all my counsels, 
 That knewest the very bottom of my soul, 
 That almost might have coined me into gold, 
 Woulds't thou have practised on me for thy use ? 
 May it be possible, that foreign hire 
 Could out of thee extract one spark of evil, 
 That might annoy my finger ? 'T is so strange, 
 That, though the truth of it stands off as gross 
 As black from white, my eye will scarcely see it. 
 O, how hast thou with jealousy infected 
 The sweetness of afiiance ! Shew men dutiful ? 
 Why, so didst thou : seem they grave and learned ? 
 Why, so didst thou : come they of noble family ? 
 Why, so didst thou : seem they religious ? 
 Why, so didst thou : or are they spare in diet ? 
 Free from gross passion, or of mirth or anger ; 
 Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood ; 
 Garnished and decked in modest complement ; 
 Not working with the eye, without the ear, 
 And, but in purged judgment, trusting neither ? 
 
78 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Such, and so finely bolted, didst thou seem. 
 And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot, 
 To mark the full-fraught man, and best endued, 
 With some suspicion. I will weep for thee ; 
 For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like 
 Another fall of man ! " 
 
 King Henry V., Act il, Scene ii. 
 
 Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, in speaking of this tran- 
 saction, in his History of the Battle of Agincourt, says, 
 " Historians have, however, generally confessed their 
 utter inability to explain upon what grounds the con- 
 spirators built their expectations of success, as unless 
 they had been promised powerful assistance from France, 
 the design seems to have been one of the most absurd 
 and hopeless upon record." 
 
 Cheap as human life seems to have been held in those 
 semi-barbarous times, one can with difficulty bring 
 oneself to believe it possible that any man, much less 
 men of such mark and character as these prisoners were, 
 could have been found guilty of such a serious crime, 
 upon such evidence ; and still less that the King could, 
 after the confession so made by the Earl of Cambridge, 
 exculpating Lord Scrope, have allowed the sentence to 
 be carried into effect. It seems, however, from the 
 Rolls of Parliament, that M the King did before his 
 death much repent to the Duke of Exeter of the taking 
 away the land of the Lord le Scrope, upon the attainder 
 of Henry, the last Lord;" and that the lands were after- 
 wards restored to the family, with the full consent of 
 Parliament, by whom the attainder was reversed. 
 
 The historian Eapin, in speaking of this so-called 
 trial and execution, and commenting upon its irregular- 
 ity, says, " This was, as it were, the first spark of that 
 flame which consumed, in process of time, the two 
 Houses of Lancaster and York " — referring to the wars 
 of the Roses, of which I shall have to speak hereafter. 
 
 Whether Henry Lord Scrope, was or was not guilty 
 of the traitorous act for which he forfeited his life, his 
 successors in his honours and estates (whatever they felt 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 79 
 
 on account of the gross injustice thus inflicted on their 
 noble house), ever afterwards proved themselves as loyal 
 to their King and country as to the faith which they 
 have ever honestly and sincerely professed; and that, 
 too, under circumstances the most trying to their con- 
 stancy. 
 
 Arms of Scrope. 
 
 During the sanguinary dispute between the two 
 Houses of Lancaster and York, known in history as the 
 " War of the Roses,"* which lasted full thirty years, 
 during which period no less than twelve regular pitched 
 battles were fought within this kingdom, by Englishmen 
 against Englishmen, at a cost of one hundred thousand 
 lives, and above eighty royal princes fell by each other's 
 swords, and the ancient nobility and gentry of this king- 
 dom were almost entirely annihilated. The Scropes of 
 Masham remained, throughout, faithful to their King, and 
 to the cause of the red or Lancastrian Rose, whilst their 
 kinsmen and their neighbours as warmly and as zealously 
 espoused the cause of the white Rose of York, or 
 changed about from side to side, as their interest for the 
 time being led them. 
 
 * These wars originated with the descendants of Edward III. That 
 monarch was succeeded by his grandson Richard II., who being deposed, the 
 Duke of Lancaster was proclaimed King, by the title of Henry IV., in 
 prejudice to the Duke of York, the right heir to the crown — he being 
 descended from Lionel, the second son of Edward III., whereas the Duke of 
 Lancaster was the son of John of Gaunt, the third son of King Edward. 
 Much regard, however, was not paid to strict legal succession to the English 
 crown in those early days. 
 
80 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Whilst this unnatural war was thus raging, Margaret 
 of Anjou, the Queen of our Henry VI., wishing to 
 enlist the sympathies of the men of the North on be- 
 half of her child, she, in the summer of 1459, carried 
 the young Prince of Wales, her son, then only six years 
 of age, in progress through the North. Whilst she was 
 thus engaged, the Earl of Salisbury having placed him- 
 self at the head of 5,000 men, raised in the neighbour- 
 hood of his castle at Middleham,* marched thence to 
 fight under the Standard of the Avhite Rose, and against 
 his King. The result was the battle of Bloreheath, 
 which was fought on the 23rd of September, 1459, and 
 was won by the Lancastrians, when the Earls of War- 
 wick, March (afterwards King Edward IV.), and Salis- 
 bury, with many other noble adherents to the house of 
 York, were obliged to consult their safety by flying to 
 Calais. The cause of the house of Lancaster having 
 thus prevailed, a few days afterwards, viz., on the 9th of 
 October, 1459, Sir Thomas le Scrope, the then Lord of 
 Mashamshire, received the honour of a summons to Par- 
 liament as the fifth Lord Scrope of Masham, and on the 
 19th of December following, he was further rewarded 
 with the grant of an annuity of twenty marks, for his 
 services against the house of York — a sufficient proof 
 of his devotion and loyalty to his King. He did not, 
 however, live long enough to see the termination of the 
 war, by the final overthrow of the house of York, on 
 Bos worth field, on the 22 nd of August, 1485. His son 
 and successor, Sir Thomas Scrope, however, following 
 the example of his sire, still adhered to the cause of the 
 red Rose, and served his King and country in several 
 important missions. His adherence to the red Rose, it 
 appears, did not, it seems, prevent his having the honour 
 of being present on the 6th July, 1483, at the coronation 
 of Richard III. and his Queen Anne (the daughter of 
 the great Earl of Warwick), and of being appointed 
 
 * Here we have the men of Mashamshire in the very midst of the horrors 
 of war. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 81 
 
 cup-bearer on the occasion (see Bentley's Excerpta His- 
 torica, page 384); having previously to this, viz., on 
 22nd Edward IV., A. d. 1482, received a summons to 
 Parliament, as sixth Baron Scrope of Masham. 
 
 On the 17th of April, 1486, soon after the accession 
 of Henry VII. to the throne, whilst he was at Ponte- 
 fract Castle, and in the course of a progress which he 
 was making in the northern parts, for the purpose of 
 attaching the nobility and gentry of the north to his 
 interests, he received intelligence that Lord Lovel, for- 
 merly chamberlain to Richard III., had raised a force of 
 some 3000 or 4000 men in the neighbourhood of Ripon 
 and Middleham,* and that he had thrown himself and 
 a body of insurgents between Middleham and York, 
 with the intention of surprising him at his intended 
 entry into York. The King, on hearing this intelligence, 
 collected together, as well as he could, a small force, in 
 order to meet the insurgents, which he placed under the 
 command of the Duke of Bedford, with directions not 
 to approach the enemy, but to try first every proper 
 expedient in order to get them to disperse peaceably. 
 Accordingly the Duke published a general offer of par- 
 don to all such as should return to their duty. This 
 had the desired effect, and the rebel army immediately 
 dispersed. Lord Lovel, after lurking some time in Lan- 
 cashire, made his escape into Flanders, whilst a few of 
 his followers were, by way of example, executed by the 
 Earl of Northumberland. How far, or to what extent, 
 the Lord, or the people, of Mashamshire were implicated 
 in this rising, I have not been able to make out. 
 
 * Here again we have our Mashamshire men involved in the turmoils of 
 war. 
 
 G 
 

 82 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Another occurrence of a still more extraordina^ 
 character took place at Masham, immediately after this 
 event. I refer to the presence there of the Pretender, 
 Lambert Symnel (under the assumed title of Edward 
 VI.), together with Lords Lincoln and Lovel, and a 
 considerable army, with the avowed object of disputing 
 the King's title to the crown, and of claiming it for the 
 Pretender, who was represented to be the youthful 
 Edward Plantagenet Earl of Warwick, and son of the 
 Earl of Clarence, who had escaped from the Tower of 
 London. 
 
 This Earl of Warwick was indisputably the next heir 
 of the house of York, after the Princess Elizabeth, and 
 was at one time treated by his Uncle Richard III. as 
 heir apparent to the crown, but was afterwards confined 
 by him as a prisoner in Sheriff-Hutton castle, for fear 
 of any claim being set up on his behalf to the crown. 
 When Henry VII. came to the throne, he having equal 
 cause to fear danger from the same cause, had the Earl 
 of Warwick removed from Sheriff- Hutton castle to the 
 Tower of London. A report having got into circulation, 
 and generally believed, that the youthful Earl of War- 
 wick had made his escape from the Tower, it occurred 
 to a wicked young priest of Oxford, of the name of 
 Richard Simon, to attempt to personate the Earl of 
 Warwick, and accordingly procured for the purpose a 
 boy of about the same age as Warwick. This boy was 
 Lambert Symnel, the son of a baker at Oxford, who is 
 described as being a youth of handsome exterior, good 
 address, and endowments of mind above his years. The 
 priest forgetful of his own holy calling, at once proceeded 
 to teach the lad the art of lying and dissimulation, and so 
 well did he succeed in it that he very soon got him so 
 well initiated into the part which he had to perform, 
 that the boy was soon able to relate, with apparent 
 accuracy, his supposed adventures at Sheriff-Hutton, 
 and in the Tower, and his escape. So well instructed 
 did he appear, it was remarked that he was better 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 83 
 
 informed of circumstances relating to the royal family, 
 particularly in the adventures of the Earl of Warwick, 
 than he could be supposed to have learned from one in 
 Simon's condition. It was therefore thought that some 
 persons of higher rank, partisans of the house of York, 
 had had some hand in the instruction of him. 
 
 In the month of November, 1486, the priest landed 
 in Dublin with the lad, when he presented him to the 
 Earl of Kildare, the Lord-Deputy, and the Chief of the 
 Yorkists in Ireland, under the name of the Earl of 
 Warwick, and implored the protection of that nobleman 
 on behalf of that young and innocent prince, who by 
 escaping from the Tower had avoided a fate similar to 
 that of his unfortunate cousins, the sons of Edward IV. 
 It was no doubt good policy in the priest in chosing 
 Ireland as the place where the claims of the Pretender 
 were to be first introduced to notice, as that island was 
 known to be zealously attached to the house of York, 
 and to bear an affectionate regard to the memory of 
 Clarence, the Earl of Warwick's father, who had been 
 their Lieutenant, and being a people of lively imagina- 
 tion, and warm feelings, gave a ready and a willing ear 
 to the priest's story, and accordingly a generous sym- 
 pathy spread from heart to heart for the young hero of 
 it, and the whole people of Dublin, with one consent 
 tendered their allegiance to the boy as the .true Plan- 
 tagenet. 
 
 The Earl of Lincoln, of whom I have lately spoken, 
 was one of the first to espouse openly the cause of the 
 impostor. He made straightway to Flanders, to concert 
 with his aunt, Margaret of York, and Duchess of Bur- 
 gundy, the means of dethroning Henry VII. , and to 
 solicit her support to the undertaking. The Duchess, 
 who hated Henry with an implacable hatred, immediately 
 agreed to furnish the Earl with two thousand Burgun- 
 dian soldiers. The Priest and the boy were again joined 
 by the Earl of Lincoln, and his Burgundian soldiers, as 
 well as by Lord Lovel and others. In the month of 
 
84 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 May 1487, the impostor was proclaimed in Dublin by 
 the style of Edward VI., King of England and France 
 and Lord of Ireland, and was crowned in the Cathedral 
 Church of Dublin, in the most solemn fashion, the Bishop 
 of Meath performing the ceremony, and there being no 
 royal crown at hand, they took a golden diadem from a 
 statute of the Virgin Mary, which answered the pur- 
 pose as well as the best. The whole island followed 
 the example of the capital, and not a sword was any- 
 where drawn on behalf of the King, Henry VII. 
 
 All having thus gone on well in Ireland for the im- 
 postor, the rebel army now resolved on striking the blow, 
 by making an attempt on England : they embarked ac- 
 cordingly for England, and landed at Foudrey in Lan- 
 cashire. The army on its landing consisted of about 
 eight thousand German and Irish troops, but was after- 
 wards increased at Swatmore, near Ulverstone, by the 
 accession there of the tenantry of Sir Thomas Broughton. 
 The Earl of Lincoln, who was their commander, expected 
 that the inhabitants in the disaffected countries in the 
 north would rise and join his standard, but in this he 
 was mistaken. The rebel army having passed rapidly 
 across Lancashire and Westmoreland, within four days 
 after their landing in England, arrived here at Masham, 
 where they took up their quarters. It is supposed, that 
 they selected this route through Yorkshire, on account 
 of its bringing them near to Bolton-Castle, the residence 
 of Lord Scrope of Bolton, who was distinguished for 
 his attachment to the house of York, and thence into 
 the neighbourhood of Middleham, On arriving here, 
 the lords Lincoln and Lovel, despatched to the Lord 
 Mayor and Corporation of York, the following letter, in 
 the name of the counterfeit King, commanding that 
 lodgings, victuals, &c, should be provided for them in 
 that city. 
 
 "By the King — 
 
 To our Trusty and well-beloyed the Mayor, his brethren and Comunaltye 
 of our Citie of York. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 85 
 
 Trusty and well-beloved we grete you wele, and forsoniuch as we beene 
 comen within this our realme, not oonlly by Godde's grace, to atteyne our 
 righte of the same, but also for the relief and well of our said realme you and 
 all othre our true subgiettes which hath bene gretely inj ured and oppressid in 
 default of nowne ministracion of good rules and justice desire therefor, and in 
 our right herty wise pray you that in this behalve ye woll shew unto us your 
 good aidez and favourez. And where we and such power as we have broght 
 with us, by meane of travalye of the see and upon the land, beene gretely 
 weryed and laboured, it woll like you that we may have relief and ease of 
 logeing and vitailles within our Citie ther, and soo to depart and truly pay 
 for that as we shall take; and in your soo doing ye shall doo thing unto us 
 of right acceptable pleaser, and for the same find us your good and souverain 
 lord at all tymes herafter, and of your disposcions herein to acertain us by 
 this bringer. 
 
 Yevene undre our signet at Masham the viij day of Juyn." 
 
 A copy of this letter, with the Resolutions of the 
 Magistracy upon it, is entered in one of the Registers 
 now in the municipal archives of the City of York. 
 The following is a copy of the Resolution alluded to, as 
 copied from the Register. 
 
 " The which Letter was immediately sent to the Earl of Northumberland 
 for to see : and a copy of the same was sent to Sir Richard Tunstall, and 
 another delivered to master Payne, to show it to the king's grace; and fur- 
 ther what the Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and common Counsel of the City 
 of York, assembled in the Counsel-Chamber within the Guildhall departed 
 from the Counsel, and commanded and was agreed, that every Warden 
 should be in Harness and raise his ward, and keep due watch that no person 
 should have entry into the said City, but such as be true Liege-men unto our 
 Sovereign Lord the King Henry VII. And the said Mayor incontinently, 
 by the advice of his brethren Aldermen, Sheriffs, and Common Counsel 
 aforesaid, sent a Message unto the said Lords of Lincoln and Lovel, three 
 of the Chamberlains, giving them in commandment to shew unto the said 
 Lords, that my Lord the Mayor, my masters his brethren Aldermen, Sheriffs, 
 Common Counsel, with the whole commonality of the City of York, be 
 finally determined, that he, whom the said Lords called their King, they, 
 nor none of their Retenue or Company intending to approach this city, 
 should have any entry into the same, but to withstand them with their 
 bodies and Goods, if they would atteyne so to do." 
 
 It will be seen by the above very verbose minute, that 
 the Mayor refused to comply with the commands con- 
 tained in the above Letter, and that the City Chamber- 
 lains were dispatched to convey the refusal to Lords 
 
86 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Lincoln and Lovel. The rebel leaders, it appears had 
 left Masham, and had reached Boroughbridge on their 
 way to York, when this hostile answer was delivered to 
 them. On receiving it they changed their course, and 
 proceeded direct for London. Within a week afterwards 
 the rebels, who had then advanced as far as Stoke, near 
 Newark, were intercepted by the Earl of Oxford, (who 
 led the van of the King's army,) and brought to battle 
 on Saturday, the 16th June. The battle was fierce and 
 obstinate for about three hours, during which time the 
 result was doubtful, but at length, the rebels were en- 
 tirely routed, with the loss of about half their number. 
 His majesty Edward VI. (now plain Lambert Symnel) 
 and the Priest, were taken prisoners, the Earl of Lincoln, 
 the Lords Thomas, and Maurice, Fitzgerald, and Sir 
 Thomas Broughton, died fighting. The Lord Lovel 
 was seen to escape from the field, but was never more 
 seen, and it was believed that he was drowned in at- 
 tempting to swim his horse across the Trent. Several 
 of the principal insurgents were afterwards hanged upon 
 a gibbet at York. The Priest was made to confess the 
 imposture, and then thrown into prison, where he per- 
 ished, but the pretended Edward VI. obtained his par- 
 don, was made a scullion in the royal kitchen, and 
 afterwards, as a reward for his good conduct, raised to 
 the office of falconer. 
 
 But to retnrn to the minutes of the proceedings at 
 York, where they all seem to have been in a great state 
 of alarm and excitement. The minutes proceed thus : — 
 
 " On Tuesday, after Trinity Sunday, Lords Scrope of Bolton and Upsale, 
 came on horseback to Bootham Bar, and there cried king Edward, and made 
 an assault at the Gates, but they were put to flight. The Mayor, &c, then 
 proclaimed King Henry VII. 
 
 " And upon Sonday at iii of the clok in the morying, tidinges came to my 
 Lord Maier, from the feld, howe Almighty God had sent the King Victorye 
 of his ennymies and rebelles, and thereupon my Lord Maier, taking with 
 hyme his brethre Aldremen with the 'ol Counsaill of this Citie— upon cer- 
 taine knowledge of the victory aforesaid, shewed by the mouthe of a servant 
 ~ F AT ^ f ~' "Recordour comying streught from the said feld — came to the 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 87 
 
 Cathedral Church of York, and there caused all the ministres of the same ta 
 make lovinges to our Saveour for the tryumphe and victory 'foresaid, singing 
 solemplye in the high qwere of the said Church, the Psalme of Te deum 
 laudamus with othre suffraiges." * 
 
 From the mention above of " Lords Scrope and Upsale" 
 it will be seen, that, although Thomas Lord Scrope, of 
 Masham and Upsall, did not actually join the rebel army, 
 his sympathies were with them. What could have 
 induced him to have entered into so mad a project can- 
 not now be divined. 
 
 THE ARSIOURER. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1489, great discontent 
 appears to have arisen in this district, in consequence of a 
 subsidy which had been granted by Parliament to King 
 Henry VII. for carrying on the war in Bretagne. The 
 people in the neighbourhood refused to pay it, and 
 assembling in a tumultous manner around the residence 
 of Henry Percy the fourth Earl of Northumberland, at 
 Topcliffe, and being further inflamed by some indiscreet 
 expressions which then dropt from the Earl, who as 
 Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire, represented the King, 
 they at once fell upon him and murdered him. This 
 sad occurrence took place on the 28th April, 1489, and 
 it is the more to be regretted, on account of his being a 
 
 * See " Original Documents relating to Lambert Symnel's Rebellion in 
 the second year of the reign of King Henry the VII., selected from the 
 Municipal Archives of the City of York, by Robert Davies, Esq., F.S.A. 
 
88 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 most exemplary nobleman, and one who had previously 
 enjoyed a high degree of popular favour. 
 
 In the month of July 1503, on the Princess Margaret, 
 the eldest daughter of Henry VII. , visiting Yorkshire, 
 on her way to Scotland, to consummate her marriage with 
 James IV., King of Scotland, we find the nobility and 
 gentry of the County, vying with each other in the 
 endeavour to do honour to her on the interesting occasion. 
 Amongst the number who thus honoured her, was 
 Henry the seventh Baron Scrope, of Masham and Upsal, 
 " in company of many gentylmen well appointed, and 
 ther folke in suchwise." 
 
 The following amusing stanzas upon the subject of 
 this intended marriage occur in Evans's Ballads : — 
 
 " O fair, fairest of every fair, 
 Princess most pleasant and preclare 
 The lustiest alive that be, 
 Welcome to Scotland to be Queen. 
 
 Young tender plant of pulchritud, 
 Descended of imperial blood, 
 Fresh fragrant flower of fairhood sheen, 
 Welcome to Scotland to be Queen. 
 
 Sweet lusty imp of beauty clear, 
 Most mighty King's daughter dear, 
 Born of a Princess most serene, 
 Welcome of Scotland to be Queen. 
 
 Welcome the rose both red and white, 
 Welcome the flower of our delight, 
 Our spirit rejoicing from the spleen, 
 Welcome of Scotland to be Queen." 
 
 Little did Henry Lord Scrope dream, when he was 
 thus acting the courtier, and doing honour to this 
 beautiful and ^interesting Princess, on her approaching 
 nuptials, that, in the course of a very few years, he him- 
 self would assist in making her a widow, and her future 
 child an orphan. Yet so it happened. At the battle of 
 Flodden Field, in which her husband was slain, Henry 
 Lord Scrope fought at the head of the men of Masham- 
 shire, in the vanguard of the English army. This battle, 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 89 
 
 so disastrous to Scotland, and the Scotch, was fought on 
 the 9th September, 1513, at Flodden Field in Scotland, 
 
 " Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear, 
 And broken was her shield." 
 
 In it fell, not only James IV., King of Scotland (the 
 brother-in-law to our Sovereign Henry VIII.,) but also 
 all his nobility, together with 8000 or 9000 men. Of 
 this battle, Sir Walter Scott says, " Scarce a Scottish 
 family of eminence but has an ancestor killed at Flodden 
 Field ; and there is no province in Scotland, even at this 
 day, where the battle is mentioned without a sensation 
 of terror and sorrow." 
 
 From an old ballad on this battle, preserved in Weber's 
 edition, it will be seen, that the Lord of Mashamshire, 
 under the designation of " Lord Scroop, of Upsall," and 
 the men of Mashamshire, are made to take a prominent 
 part in the battle of Flodden Field. 
 
 The marshalling of the Richmondshire-men at the battle of 
 
 Flodden-Field. 
 
 Lord Lomly and Latimer, 
 
 Were equal match't with all their power; 
 With whom was next their neighbours near, 
 
 Lord Coniers stout and stiff in stoure, 
 With many a gentleman and Squire, 
 
 From Rippon, Ripley, and Ryedale; 
 With them marcht forth all Massamshire, 
 
 With Noisterfield and Netherdale: 
 With till-men taught in harness store, 
 
 Which turned the furrows of Mitton-field 
 With bill-men bold from Blackamore, 
 
 Most warlike wights these lords did wield. 
 Next whom was placed with all his power, 
 
 Lord Scroop of Upsall, tKaged Knight. 
 
 * * # # # 
 
 All these in foremost battle bold, 
 
 These valiant wights in vanguard were. 
 
 # # * # # 
 
 John Clarvice then was 'nexed near, 
 With Stapylton of stomach stern ; 
 
90 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIIIRE. 
 
 Next whom Fitzwilliam forth did fare, 
 
 Who martial feats was not to learn. 
 These Captains keen, with all their might, 
 
 In right-hand wing did warlike wend. 
 
 The Earl himself can undertake 
 
 Of the rearward the regiment; 
 Whom harons bold did bravely back, 
 
 And Southren soldiers, seemly bent, 
 Next whom in place was 'nexed near, 
 
 Lord Scroop of Bolton, stern and stout, 
 On horseback who had not his peer; 
 
 No Englishman, Scots more did doubt. 
 With him did wend all Wensadale, 
 
 From Morton unto Moisdale moor; 
 All they that dwelt by the banks of Swale, 
 
 With him were bent in harness stour. 
 From Weresdale warlike wights did wend, 
 
 From Bishopsdale went bowmen bold; 
 From Coverdale to Cotter-end, 
 
 And all to Kidton causeway cold. 
 From Mollerstang and Middleham, 
 
 And all from Mask and Midleconby ; 
 And all that climb the mountain cam, 
 
 Whose crown from frost is seldom free. 
 With lusty lads, and large of length, 
 
 Which dwelt at Seimerwater side; 
 All Richmondshire, its total strength 
 
 The lusty Scroop did lead and guide. 
 
 Henry Lord Scrope of Masham, did not long survive 
 this his victory over the Scots, at Flodden-Field. He 
 was succeeded in his title and estates, by his two 
 brothers Ealph and Geoffrey, who held them in succes- 
 sion. They too lived but a very short time to enjoy 
 them, the last of them having died in the year 1517, 
 without issue. The male branch of the house of Scrope, 
 of Masham, having thus become extinct, the dignity fell 
 into abeyance between the issue of Geoffrey Scrope's 
 three sisters, Marjery, the wife of Sir Christopher Danby,* 
 
 * From a well authenticated Pedigree which has been placed in my hands, 
 it would seem that Charles J. H. Mundy, Esq., of Ormsby, in Lincolnshire, 
 is lineally descended from, and is now the Heir-at-law, and representative 
 of Margery the wife of Sir Christopher Danby. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 91 
 
 Elizabeth, the wife of Sir Ralph Fitz Randolf, of Spenni- 
 thorne, and Alice, the wife of Sir James Strangways, of 
 Harlsey, amongst whom the real estates also descended. 
 On a Partition of the Estates soon afterwards taking 
 place amongst the three co-heiresses named, Masham- 
 shire fell to the share of Marjery Danby, which intro- 
 duces us to a new race of Lords of Mashamshire. 
 
 I cannot better conclude my remarks as to the family 
 of the Scropes of Masham, (of whom I very reluctantly 
 now take leave,) than by quoting the following from 
 Burke's General Armory. In speaking of the Barons 
 Scrope of Bolton, and the Barons Scrope of Masham and 
 Upsal, he says : " The great house of Scrope traced in 
 an unbroken male line from the Conquest, if not from 
 the time of Edward the Confessor, produced in a period 
 of three hundred years from the reign of Edward II. to 
 that of Charles L, two Earls and twenty Barons, one 
 Chancellor, four Treasurers, and two Chief Justices, one 
 Archbishop, and two Bishops, five Kinghts of the Gar- 
 ter, and numerous Bannerets. The last Lord Scrope of 
 Bolton, Emanuel Earl of Sunderland, died without 
 legitimate issue in 1627, when the higher title became 
 extinct, and the Barony of Scrope devolved on Mary, 
 wife of William Bowes, Esq., of Streatlam, and only 
 daughter of Henry, ninth Lord. It is now vested in the 
 family of Jones, of Caton, in the County of Lancaster. 
 The Barony of Scrope of Masham, is in abeyance among 
 the descendants of the sisters and co-heiresses of GefFerey, 
 the ninth Lord. — Az., a bend, Or. In 1385, Sir Richard 
 le Scrope, first Baron Scrope of Bolton, challenged the 
 right of Sir Robert Grosvenor to bear the Coat Az., a 
 bend, Or; and the memorable suit, instituted for the 
 decision of this heraldic controversy, lasted upwards of 
 four years, and was at length awarded in favour of 
 Scrope, who established, by the evidence of a vast num- 
 ber of deponents, consisting of the most distinguished 
 men of the day, from John of Gaunt, the King's Uncle, 
 to Chaucer the Poet, who was then Squire at arms, that 
 
92 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 his ancestors had continually borne the contested arms 
 from the Conquest. — Crest, — Issuing out of a ducal 
 Coronet, a Crab. The sons of Sir Richard le Scrope, 
 first Lord Scrope of Bolton, assumed for Crest — Out 
 of a ducal coronet, a plume of Ostrich feathers." 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby, the husband of Marjery Scrope, 
 did not long survive his unexpected good fortune, having 
 died in the following year, leaving his son Christopher, 
 (afterwards Sir Christopher Danby) a youth of fifteen 
 years of age, as his successor. 
 
 This last mentioned Sir Christopher Danby, young as 
 he was when his father died, was already a husband, 
 having, at the early age of twelve years taken to himself 
 for wife, Elizabeth, the third daughter of his near neigh- 
 bour, Richard Neville, second Lord Latimer, who then 
 resided at Snape- Castle. The marriage contract for this 
 young pair is still in existence, and is dated the 6 Henry 
 VIIL, a.d. 1514, from which it appears, that the lady's 
 fortune was six hundred marks, or AOOl. of our money. 
 This lady was sister to John Neville, afterwards third 
 Lord Latimer, and the husband of Catharine Parr, who 
 ultimately became the sixth and last wife of King 
 Henry VIII . She was also sister to Susan, the wife of 
 Richard Norton, of Norton-Conyers, the real leader of 
 the Rebellion of 1569, known in history as " The Rising 
 of the North," as well as otherwise connected with some 
 others of those who afterwards participated in that sad 
 and disastrous affair. 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby being a minor at his father's 
 death, was in wardship under King Henry VIIL until 
 he was twenty-one years of age. 
 
 He came into the full possession of his estates at a very 
 eventful period in the history of this country, and having 
 lived to a good old age, he witnessed the events which 
 took place not only during the last twenty-eight years 
 of Henry VIII.'s reign, but the whole of his son Edward 
 VI. 's, and his daughter Queen Mary's reigns, and the first 
 fourteen years of his daughter Queen Elizabeth's reign. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 93 
 
 During that period, he was the melancholy witness to 
 the final overthrow of that religion which had for gener- 
 ations been cherished by his ancestors, and to which 
 he himself was warmly and zealously attached, — the 
 Churches in which he and his forefathers had worshipped, 
 taken possession of by men, whom he in his conscience 
 believed to be heretics, and enemies to religion, — the 
 very altars and adornments which had been reared by 
 the pious zeal of her worshippers, to the honour and 
 glory of their Maker, ruthlessly thrown down, and 
 desecrated, and that too, in the name of religion, — her 
 revenues,* the pious gifts of his forefathers, which had 
 been given by them out of their own substance, and 
 solemnly set apart, and consecrated by them, to be used 
 in all time to come, solely for the advancement of their 
 Redeemer's kingdom here on earth, sacrilegiously seized 
 upon and appropriated by impious hands, to the most 
 unholy purposes, — the monasteries,! the abodes of peace- 
 
 * " Men gave their lands as they declare in the Deed of Gift ' for the 
 glory of God,' and they charged what they so gave with the maintenance of 
 masses: if reformation had been desired, this condition would have been 
 repealed ; but this would not have gorged the fatal covetousness, which, by 
 confiscating the endowments, ran headlong into the guilt of sacrilege. But 
 again, was all the confiscated property of the nature above described ? Oar 
 own experience can answer. Were the tithes (now unpropriated) of much 
 more than half the parishes of England, given to superstitious uses ? Were 
 the glebe-lands, and glebe-houses, of our poor vicarages (now in the hands 
 of laymen), superstitious and unholy things ? This part of the spoil was 
 taken strictly from the Clergy." — Wiberforce. 
 
 t The Rev. I. J. Blunt (Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge,) in his 
 "Sketch of the Reformation in England," thus speaks of the monasteries; 
 " As we know not, says the proverb, what the well is worth till it is dry, 
 so was it found after the dissolution, that with all their faults, the monas- 
 teries had been the refuge for the destitute, who were now driven to frightful 
 extremities throughout the country, the effect of the suppression being with 
 respect to them the same as would now follow from the sudden abolition of 
 the poor laws : that they had been the alms houses, where the aged dependants 
 of more opulent families, the decrepid servant, the decayed artificer, retired 
 as to a home nor uncomfortable nor humiliating : that they had been the 
 country infirmaries and dispensaries, a knowledge of medicine and of the 
 virtues of herbs being a department of monkish learning (as passages in the 
 
94 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ful and holy monks, (notwithstanding all that Henry 
 VIII. 's hireling Commissioners,* and lying calumnia- 
 tors, have said to the contrary) and which had been for 
 ages past, the sole nurseries of religion and learning, 
 dissolved, and their inmates (if not hanged) scattered, 
 and sent out to the wide world to seek a refuge, and an 
 asylum, where they could find one. The revenues on 
 which those good men subsisted, and which they faith- 
 fully dispensed in charity for the support of the poor, 
 the halt, and the blind of the land, seized upon, and 
 appropriated, by that most avaricious and licentious of 
 
 A CISTERCIAN MONK. 
 
 old dramatic writers sometimes indicate,) and a hospital, and perhaps, a 
 laboratory, being component parts of a monkish establishment : that they 
 had been foundling hospitals, relieving the state of many orphan and outcast 
 children, and ministering to their necessities, God's ravens in the wilderness 
 (neither so black as they had been represented), bread and flesh in the morn- 
 ing, and bread and flesh in the evening : that they had been inns for the 
 wayfaring man, who heard from afar the sound of the vesper-bell at once 
 inviting him to repose and devotion, and who might sing his matins with 
 the morning star, and go on his way rejoicing." 
 
 * Mr. Thorn in his " Rambles by Rivers," says, " these Commissioners 
 were the greatest scoundrels in this Country, excepting their master." And 
 so they were. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 95 
 
 all licentious kings, King Henry VIII. and his obsequious 
 nobles, — and still more, — good and religious people, not 
 only mulcted in pecuniary penalties and stripped of their 
 property and possessions, and otherwise persecuted for 
 conscience- sake, but dragged to the stake, and burnt as 
 heretics, because, forsooth, they could not and would not, 
 in their consciences, believe and declare that that base 
 libertine, King Henry VIII., and his not less infamous 
 daughter Queen Elizabeth, were " The only supreme 
 head on earth of the Church," as they impiously assumed 
 to be. 
 
 The suppression of the monasteries and religious 
 houses and institutions, and the appropriation of the 
 property of the Church by the King,* and the turning 
 out of so many monks, nuns, sick, and aged people to 
 starve, or beg their bread, so exasperated the people, 
 
 * Mr. Blunt in his work before cited, says, " The convulsion felt throughout 
 the country on this memorable occasion, was probably more violent than any 
 which it has experienced, either before or since. The joints of Society were 
 thoroughly loosed: a vast proportion of the population was turned adrift 
 
 upon the wide world, their employment gone, their relief gone too 
 
 Cromwell, who was the King's political adviser throughout this great 
 measure, felt the state rocking under him, and suggested the sale of the 
 Abbey-lands and tithes to the nobles and gentry, that by this means the 
 leading persons in every County might be pledged to support the new order of 
 things, and be tied by the tooth. Thus popish lands, as it was said, made 
 protestant landlords, and thus the lay impropriator, a character hitherto 
 almost, or altogether unknown, took his beginning. How far the country 
 was a gainer by the exchange of ecclesiastical for other landlords may be 
 
 questioned The monks gave a miserable stipend to their Vicar, ' but 
 
 now,' says one Henry Brinklow, in a curious address to the members of both 
 houses shortly after the dissolution, ' there is no Vicar at all, but the farmer 
 is Vicar and parson altogether : and only an old castaway monk or friar, 
 which can scarcely say his matins, is hired for twenty or thirty shillings, 
 [a year] meat and drink; yea in some places, for meat and drink alone, 
 without any wages.' ' I know,' he continues, ' and not I alone, but twenty 
 thousand men know, more than five hundred vicarages and parsonages thus 
 well and gospelly served after the new gospel of England,' and so crying was 
 this evil, for even great parishes and market towns were utterly destitute of 
 the word of God, that there was nothing for it but to ordain the lowest me- 
 chanics to these worthless benefices." 
 
96 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 especially of this district, who not only then, but for 
 generations afterwards, clung with the greatest tenacity to 
 " the old religion," that large multitudes rose in open 
 rebellion and demanded the redress of these grievances, 
 and the re-establishment of the Catholic religion, and the 
 Monastic Institutions. In the work called a Richmond- 
 shire Wills," by the Rev. James Raine, M.A., a worthy 
 and talented Clergyman of the Church of England, and 
 published by the Surtees Society, it is stated " In no 
 part of England was there more attachment to the old 
 religion than in this district," and " Henry Jenkins 
 after the lapse of one hundred years, could well remem- 
 ber the grief and dismay which was everywhere exhi- 
 bited at the dissolution of the religious houses." 
 
 The first most notable of these risings was the ill-fated 
 insurrection, " The Pilgrimage of Grace," which took 
 place in October 1536. It was not confined to the com- 
 mon people only, the nobility and gentry, the former 
 patrons of the dissolved houses, having also joined the 
 standard of revolt. The Archbishop of York, the Lords 
 Neville, D'Arcy, Lumley, and Latimer,* Sir Robert 
 Constable, Sir John Bulmer, Sir Stephen Hamilton, Sir 
 Thomas Percy (brother of the Earl of Northumberland) 
 and many other Knights and gentlemen of the north, 
 were amongst the insurgents, who amounted in number 
 to upwards of 40,000 men. The enterprise, however, 
 resulted in complete failure — Lord D'Arcy, Robert Aske 
 (the nominal leader of the insurrection) and many others, 
 were taken and executed. The Abbots of Fountains, 
 Jervaux, and Rivaulx, the Prior of Bridlington, and 
 others, were executed at Tyburn. Sir Robert Constable 
 was hanged in chains at Hull ; Aske was suspended from 
 
 * This was John Neville, third Lord Latimer of Snape-Castle, and brother 
 to Sir Christopher Danby's wife. He was one of those deputed by the 
 rebels to treat with the Duke of Norfolk, then advancing at the head of an 
 army against them. Notwithstanding that Lord Neville had thus waged 
 war against Henry VIII. and his authority, that Monarch, it appears, did 
 not think his widow (Catherine Parr) the less eligible for his sixth wife. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 97 
 
 a tower at York ; D'Arcy* was beheaded on Tower-hill 
 in London; and seventy-four of the officers were hung 
 on the walls of Carlisle. Many of those who suffered, 
 either in person or estate, in consequence of this ill- 
 starred rebellion, were connexions or friends of the 
 Danbys; and the hard fate which had thus befallen 
 their friends, did not tend to make them a whit the more 
 in love with either the authors, f or the objects, J of the 
 so-called Reformation. 
 
 Unsuccessful, and disastrous, as this insurrection 
 proved, such was the discontent of the people that it 
 did not prevent other similar attempts being made, but 
 on a smaller scale, with the same object ; but which proved 
 equally unavailing. 
 
 In the year 1569, however, the disaffection of the peo- 
 ple as to Queen Elizabeth's conduct in matters of reli- 
 gion, had reached to such a pitch, that according to Sir 
 Ralph Sadler's account, there were scarcely ten gentle- 
 
 * Lord D'Arcy was the son of Sir William D'Arcy, by Euphemia the 
 daughter of Sir Thomas Langton of Farnley, and was thus related to the 
 Danbys. He was also a grandson of Eleanor, the daughter of John Lord 
 Scrope of Masham; and Lord Lumley was husband to Joane, the daughter of 
 Henry Lord Scrope of Bolton. 
 
 t It is well known that the English Reformation was brought about 
 mainly by King Henry VIII. and Archbishop Cranmer. Of the character 
 of the former, little need be added to the observations I have already made 
 respecting him, except, that it was said of him, and that truly, when he died, 
 that " throughout his long reign he neither spared man in his anger, nor 
 woman in his lust." And as to Cranmer, I will content myself with merely 
 giving the following short extract from Lord Macauley's History of England, 
 in which he describes Cranmer as " Saintly in his professions, unscrupulous 
 in his dealings, zealous for nothing, bold in speculation, a coward and a time- 
 server in action, a placable enemy and a lukewarm friend" — a character not 
 by any means to be envied, but better than he deserved. 
 
 X The immediate object of the Reformation was to enable King Henry 
 VIII. to get rid of his lawful wife, Catharine of Aragon — to whom he had 
 been married some twenty years, during the course of which she had the 
 misfortune, in common with the rest of human kind, of growing old and 
 plain — and to marry Anne Boleyn, who had the advantage of being young, 
 and of possessing superior charms for the voluptuous monarch. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 men of note who approved of her proceedings, and the 
 people generally were ready to rise up in open rebellion 
 against her authority, at any moment, and on any pre- 
 text. This feeling found vent in the Kebellion of that 
 year, which is known in history by the name of " The 
 Kising of the North." The Earls of Northumberland 
 and Westmoreland were ostensibly at the head of it, but 
 the real leaders and instigators, were Richard Norton* 
 of Norton Conyers, and Thomas Markenfield of Marken- 
 field, near Ripon. The first meetings of the chief insur- 
 
 MABKENFIELD HALL. 
 
 gents were held at the seat of the Earl of Northumber- 
 land at Topcliffe, at which place the plan of the insur- 
 rection was laid, and the arrangements were made for 
 the commencement of operations. The Queen, however, 
 having become acquainted with their movements, sum- 
 moned the two Earls to appear at once at court to answer 
 for their conduct. This precipitated the Rising before 
 all was fully prepared for it. In the middle of one 
 November evening, (being the same day on which he 
 received the Queen's summons before alluded to), the 
 Earl of Northumberland was aroused from his bed at 
 Topcliffe, by one of his servants of the name of Beckwith, 
 who told him that his enemies were then about the park, 
 
 * It will be seen hereafter, on referring to the Pedigree of the Nortons, 
 that Robert Norton, a grandson of this person, resided at Swinton near 
 Masham. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 99 
 
 waiting to take him, and that he had better arise and 
 make his escape. This was a ruse which was played 
 upon the Earl by his own confederates, who had recourse 
 to this expedient in consequence of their suspecting that 
 he was wavering. The Earl accordingly rose from his 
 bed, and mounting his horse, rode off in great haste to 
 Brancepeth- Castle, the seat of the Earl of Westmoreland, 
 whom he found surrounded by a number of friends and 
 retainers, all ready and eager to take up arms at once, 
 for what they considered a holy cause. They thereupon 
 determined to begin the insurrection without more 
 delay, and they no sooner made such their intentions 
 known, than great multitudes of the common people 
 flocked to their standard. 
 
 " Now was the North in arms : — they shine 
 In warlike trim from Tweed to Tyne, 
 At Percy's voice ; and Neville sees 
 His followers gath'ring in from Tees, 
 From Wear, and all the little rills 
 Conceal'd among the forked hills. 
 Seven hundred Knights, retainers all 
 Of Neville, at their master's call 
 Had sate together in Raby Hall ! 
 Such strength that Earldom held of yore, 
 Nor wanted at this time rich store 
 Of well-appointed Chivalry. 
 
 Not loth the sleepy lance to wield, 
 
 And greet the old paternal shield, 
 They heard the summons : and futhermore 
 Came foot and horsemen of each degree 
 Unbound by pledge of fealty; 
 Appear'd with free and open hate 
 Of novelties in church and state, 
 Knight, Burgher, Yeoman, and Esquire, 
 And th' holy Priest, in Priest's attire." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 Their first demonstration was made at Durham ; they 
 next marched southward to Staindrop, Darlington, and 
 Richmond, at each of which places they restored the 
 ancient services: and having arrived at Ripon on the 
 18th November, they there received a large accession to 
 
100 MASHAM AND MASIIAMSHIRE. 
 
 their number from this district. They had a muster at 
 the market-cross at Eipon, when the two Earls made a 
 proclamation, in which they declared that they intended 
 to attempt nothing against the person of the Queen, to 
 whom they avowed unshaken allegiance, but that their 
 sole aim was to re-establish the religion of their ances- 
 tors, to remove evil Counsellors from about the Queen's 
 person, and to restore the Duke of Norfolk (who was 
 then confined as a prisoner in the Tower, to prevent his 
 marrying Mary Queen of Scots then confined in Bolton 
 Castle), and other faithful peers, to their liberty and the 
 Queen's favour. After putting Sir William Ingilby to 
 flight, who opposed them, they marched to Knaresbrough, 
 and from thence to Wetherby, and at length to Clifford's 
 moor, where they held a Council of war. The insur- 
 gents having by this time found that their army num- 
 bered but 1600 horse and 4000 foot, and that they were 
 not likely to receive some support which they had been 
 led to expect, determined upon a retreat northward. 
 Having laid siege to Sir George Bowes in Barnard Castle, 
 that fortress, after eleven days resistance, was yielded to 
 them, as was also the sea-port town of Hartlepool. In 
 the meantime the Royal army, which far exceeded them 
 in numbers, was advancing upon them from York. The 
 Insurgents lost heart, and their infantry presently dis- 
 banded and fled in all directions, many of them being 
 killed or captured in their precipitate flight. The Earl 
 and Countess of Westmoreland, Egremont Ratclife, 
 Richard Norton, Sir Thomas Markenfield,* and others, 
 
 * Sir Thomas Markenfield's estate at Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, 
 became forfeited by the part he thus took in the Rebellion, and was subse- 
 quently granted to the Lord Chancellor Egerton, one of whose descendants, 
 the celebrated Duke of Bridgewater, sold it to Sir Fletcher Norton, ancestor 
 to Lord Grantley, the present owner. 
 
 The Markenfield family appear to have been long settled at Markenfield 
 Hall, and their burial-place was in Ripon Minster, where there is a fine 
 altar tomb of Sir Thomas Markenfield, a warrior in the time of Edward HI., 
 and his wife, the heiress of the Miniots of Carlton Miniot, near Thirsk; also 
 another altar tomb on which are placed the effigies of Sir Thomas Marken- 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 101 
 
 managed to escape into the Spanish Netherlands, where 
 they suffered severely from poverty and great hardships, 
 and dragged out a miserable existence to the end of 
 
 1 V VlV " VW ii .I .," '.'I' I I mil ill 
 
 TOMB OF SIR THO. MABKENFIELD (1497), GREATGRANDFATHER OF THE REBEL. 
 
 their days. The Earl of Northumberland fared still 
 worse, for having been betrayed, and given up to his 
 enemies by Earl Moreton, Viceroy of Scotland, he was 
 beheaded at York, on the 22nd August, 1572.* The 
 
 field, and Elenor his wife, daughter of Sir John Conyers of Hornby Castle. 
 
 Sir Ninian Markenfield (one of the family) was at the battle of 
 
 Flodden-field, in the year 1513, as appears by the ballad quoted ante p. 89 ; 
 
 " Next went Sir Niniaif Markenville, 
 In armour-coat of cunning work, 
 The next went Sir John Normanville, 
 "With him the citizens of York." 
 
 * " The history of the Percy family, is a scene of war and blood. Six of 
 the Earls died violent deaths, as did many of the collateral branches. Henry 
 Percy, first Earl, was slain at the battle of Bramham-moor, 1408 ; Henry, 
 second Earl, was killed at the battle of St. Albans, 1455; Henry, third Earl, 
 was slain at the battle of Towton, 1461 ; Henry, fourth Earl, was murdered 
 by the mob at Topcliffe, 1489; Thomas, seventh Earl, was beheaded at York, 
 1572; Henry, ninth Earl, shot himself in the Tower, 1585; Thomas Percy, 
 Earl of Worcester, brother to the first Earl, was beheaded at Shrewsbury, 
 
102 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 greatest severity was exercised against all such as had 
 taken part in this enterprise, Queen Elizabeth having 
 sworn a solemn oath, that she would give them such a 
 breakfast as they had never had in the north before ; and 
 for once in her life she kept her word. The wealthier 
 of the rebels were doomed to attainder and confiscation, 
 
 whilst all the severity of mar- 
 tial law was let loose on the 
 miserable offenders who had 
 nothing but their lives to lose. 
 Sixty-six persons were hang- 
 ed at Durham, chiefly petty 
 constables, and others, who 
 had acted under the orders of 
 the insurgents, but amongst 
 them was a Mr. Plomtre, a 
 noted priest. Executions equ- 
 ally sanguinary, took place at 
 Richmond and other places, where the rebellion had 
 been most general. Sir George Bowes having, with his 
 executioner, traversed the whole country between New- 
 castle and Wetherby (a district of sixty miles in length 
 by forty in breadth), like a 
 
 THE PERCY BADGE. 
 
 " Royal Mastiff panting- at their heels, 
 
 "With all the savage thirst a tiger feels : " 
 
 dealing out death wherever he went with no sparing 
 
 1403; Henry, Lord Percy, eldest son of the first Earl, was slain at the battle 
 of Shrewsbury, 1403 : Sir Ralph Percy, third son of the first Earl, was slain 
 by the Saracens in the Holy Land, 1400 ; Sir Thomas Percy, fifth son of the 
 second Earl, was killed at the battle of Northampton, 1460 ; Sir Ralph Percy, 
 seventh son of the second Earl, lost his life at the battle of Haggelamore, 
 1463 ; and Sir Thomas Percy, second son of the fifth Earl, was executed at 
 Tyburn for a conspiracy. It is very remarkable that John Neville, created 
 Earl of Northumberland by Edward IV., 1464, after the attainder of the 
 third Earl, lost his life at the battle of Barnet, 1472, and that John Dudley, 
 created Duke of Northumberland by Edward VI., 1551, after the title 
 became extinct by the death of Henry, the sixth Earl, without issue, and 
 the attainder of Sir Thomas Percy, 29 Hen. VIII., was beheaded, 1553; as if 
 some fatality attended the title."— Gill's Yallis Ehoracensis. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIBE. 103 
 
 hand. It was his boast, that there was not a market town 
 or village, in that district, in which an execution had 
 not taken place of some of its inhabitants. The whole 
 country was dotted in every direction with gibbets — not 
 less than eight hundred persons in the whole having thus 
 suffered by the hands of the executioner. Amongst the 
 number were Simon Digby, Esq., of Aiskew; John Ful- 
 thorpe, Esq., of Iselbeck; Robert Pennyman, Esq., of 
 Stokesley ; and Thomas Bishop, jun., Esq., of Pocklington ; 
 who were beheaded at York.* The Editor of " The 
 Richmondshire Wills," before alluded to, in speaking of 
 this Rebellion, says, that a number of the Richmondshire 
 gentry were involved in it, and adds, that " death, ban- 
 ishment, and confiscation, were dealt out amongst the 
 offenders with no sparing hand;" * * **and further that 
 " The Council of North was established at York, and 
 conformity with the religion of the State, was exacted 
 in the most rigorous manner. Many therefore of the 
 Richmondshire gentry who refused to renounce their 
 faith were cast into prison, and not a few of them died 
 in bonds. Yet notwithstanding all this the Richmond- 
 shire Cavaliers in the following century fought well for 
 King Charles, and none were so prodigal of their estates, 
 and their lives, as the Roman Catholic gentlemen." The 
 same author at page 207 of the work already quoted, 
 adds, what was undoubtedly the fact, that " The family 
 of Danby was more or less concerned in the Rising of 
 the North." 
 
 A reference to the Pedigree of the Danby family will 
 shew that the Danbys were connected by blood, and by 
 marriage, and otherwise, with the chief leaders of the 
 Rebellion; and further that Sir Christopher Danby's 
 
 * Mr. Walbran in his Guide to Ripon, in speaking of this subject, says, 
 " there were ordered to be executed here, [at Ripon] all the Rebel Constables 
 of the West-Riding, except those of Wetherby, Boroughbridge, and Tad- 
 caster : all the offending serving-men of the West- Riding : and lastly, 
 within sight of their neighbours, and homes, and kindred — the misguided 
 townsmen of Ripon." 
 
104 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 son-in-law, Sir John Neville of Liversedge, (who had 
 married his daughter Dorothy) was so implicated in it, 
 that he was convicted of high treason, and all his lands 
 (which were extensive) became forfeited to the crown. 
 It does not seem that Sir Christopher Danby actually 
 joined the rebel army in person; and, considering his 
 advanced years at the date of the rebellion, and his 
 death within two years afterwards, it is not probable 
 that he would be able to do so. Besides that, it would 
 not seem, that he was even in earlier life disposed for 
 military adventures, or adapted for military service, for 
 in a Commission of Array for the county of York, made 
 in the 36th Hen. VIIL, a.d. 1545, during the war with 
 France and Scotland, he was not, like others, required to 
 appear in person in the war, but was only required to 
 find and send ninety footmen as his contribution to the 
 force. These observations however would not apply to 
 his sons, and more especially to his eldest son Sir Thomas 
 Danby, who had married Lady Mary Neville, a daughter 
 of Ralph the fourth Earl of Westmoreland, and aunt to 
 Charles Neville the sixth Earl of Westmoreland, one of 
 the chief leaders of the Rebellion. 
 
 ARMS OF JERYAUX. 
 
 Shortly after the dissolution of Jervaux Abbey, viz., 
 in the 26th Hen. VIIL, a.d. 1534, the King granted the 
 site of the abbey, and the abbey lands, to Matthew 
 Stewart, Earl of Lennox, a nobleman who had been ban- 
 ished from Scotland, his own country, for basely attempt- 
 ing to betray Dumbarton Castle. Henry VIIL gave 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 105 
 
 him shelter in England, and as a reward for his virtuous 
 achievements, gave him not only several manors in 
 Yorkshire, but also the hand of his neice, Lady Margaret 
 Douglas, daughter of his sister Margaret, Queen Dowa- 
 ger of Scotland, by her second husband the Earl of 
 Angus. This Earl of Lennox was father of the celebra- 
 ted Lord Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots. 
 The Earl of Lennox it would seem very soon after thus 
 coming into the possession of the land belonging to Jer- 
 vaux Abbey, became a disagreeable and troublesome 
 neighbour of Sir Christopher Danby, and laid claim to a 
 portion of Sir Christopher's estate, as belonging to him 
 as Patentee of the Crown of the Abbey and abbey lands 
 of Jervaux. This gave rise to some proceedings being 
 taken by him before "the Council of the North," as will 
 appear by the following letter upon the subject addressed 
 to the Earl of Shrewsbury, then Lord President of the 
 North, by Sir Christopher Danby. 
 
 Letter from Christopher Danby to the Earl of Shrewsbury. 
 
 " My humble dewtie remembrede to your honerable Lordshipe plesith 
 you to be advertised that I have recevide your lovynge and gentil] Letter by 
 the tenure whereof I do perceave your Lordshipe's pleasure is that ye wolde 
 have my Lorde of Lennoxe and me to byde order of two of the Kynge's 
 Ma'ties Counsell establishede in the North parties all suche contraversies 
 dependynge betwixt us, with which order my Lorde I shall be contentede 
 at your Lordeshipe's desire: and to selecte for me Mr. Robert Chaloner, 
 and for my two friends I appoint my son-in-law Sir John Neville, and 
 Christopher Nevill my brother-in-lawe, because they have beyne in use with 
 the seide controversies, and where your Lordeshipe's request is, that ye wold 
 have me to doo no displeasure to the seide Erie wherewithall any uncon- 
 venyence might arise, my Lord, that in noo wise 1 intende to do, savin ge 
 only, to kepe my possession of my inheritannce whereof I am possesside 
 alredy and alwaies hath beyn. My Lord, I trust that your Lordshipe will 
 let me knowe my Lorde of Lennoxe's pleasure herein, what place and day 
 he doth appoynte to mete at, so that it may be afore the Feaste of Saynt 
 John Baptiste next for to come, and all suytts of both the parties to seace in 
 the mean season ; and thus Almighty John have your honorable Lordshipe 
 in his blisside kepynge. 
 
 Thorp Perrow, the By yours to commande, 
 
 xx of Marche [1551.] X'per Danby." 
 
106 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIEE. 
 
 Indorsed. 
 " To The Right Honorable and my s'ngler good Lorde The Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, Lord President of the King's Ma'ties most honorable Counsells 
 establishede in the Nor the parties this be delyverede."* 
 
 I am not aware how this dispute as to the boundaries 
 between Masham and East Witton Parishes ended. I 
 merely give the above letter as an historical fact, and to 
 illustrate the manners of the times, and as a specimen of 
 letter writing at the date mentioned in it. He was High 
 Sheriff of Yorkshire in the year 1545. 
 
 It appears to have been the intention of King Henry 
 YIIL, before his death, to have raised Sir Christopher 
 Danby to the Peerage, by creating him a Baron, with a 
 pension to enable him the better to support the dignity ; 
 the King's death however prevented him carrying out 
 such his intention. The Peerage and pension were 
 afterwards offered to Sir Christopher but declined. Sir 
 Christopher was doubless indebted for this intended 
 honour to the influence and interest of Catharine Parr, 
 the King's sixth and last wife, who, previous to her 
 marriage with the King, had been the wife and after- 
 wards the widow of John Neville, third Lord Latimer, 
 who was brother to his (Sir Christopher Danby's) wife, 
 and as such, at one time, resided at Snape Castle, whilst 
 he (Sir Christopher) was residing at Thorp Perrow. 
 
 During the time of Sir Christopher Danby, Masham 
 was honoured with a visit from John L eland the famous 
 antiquary, who has given an account of his visit in his 
 Itinerary. He there speaks of " Masseham" as " a praty 
 quik market town and a faire Chirch." " At the ende 
 of Masseham Townlet I passid over a fair Ryver called 
 Bourne, it goeth into Ure thereby a little byneth the 
 bridge. The Lordship of one of the Aldeborows lyith 
 agayn the mouth of Bourn, wher it goeth into Ure. 
 Thens to Gruelle Thorp 3 or 4 miles bi hilly and lingy 
 
 * The Earl of Lennox was assassinated in the year 1571, by the Hamil- 
 tons, in revenge for his having, as Regent of Scotland, hanged, without a 
 trial, the Archbishop of St. Andrews. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 107 
 
 and some morisch ground. And thens by much like 
 ground a 3 miles to Ripon. After that I passid from 
 Thorp ; half a mile I left hard on the lefte hand Kirkeby 
 Malzart, wher Moulbray had ons a great Castelle." 
 ¥ Snape Lordshipe where now the Lord Latimer dwil- 
 lethe was Fitz Randolf." " About a mile benethe Ger- 
 valx Abbay is a great old Bridge of Stone on Ure, caullyd 
 Kiloram Bridge. Then almost 4 miles to Maseham 
 Bridge of Tymbar a little bynethe Masseham, and VI 
 miles lower North Bridge at the hether end of Ripon ; 
 it is of YII arches of Stone." "On the other syde of 
 Yore Ryver lyethe Aldeburg Tillage. " "And a mile 
 farther by est lyethe Thorpe one of Master Danby's 
 Houses, howbeit he hath one that he more occupiethe at 
 Farneley a 2 miles from Leeds." " Wiville dwellithe a 
 little above Masseham on the further Rype of Ure." 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby closed his eventful life in the 
 year 1571, full of years, and in the midst of his numer- 
 ous family of children. He was succeeded in his estates 
 by his eldest son Sir Thomas Danby, who appears to 
 have won his spurs and to have been knighted in his 
 father's life-time, and to have taken upon himself the prin- 
 cipal management of his father's Mashamshire estates. 
 
 This Sir Thomas Danby was in the 26th Hen. VIII. , 
 1534, at the early age of four years, married to Lady 
 Mary Neville, second daughter of Ralph, fourth Earl of 
 Westmoreland, by Catharine Stafford, daughter of Edward 
 Duke of Buckingham, (a most illustrious nobleman, 
 who was unjustly beheaded on Tower-hill, on the 17th 
 May, 1521), with whom he was to receive a fortune 
 of 1050 marks, or 700/. of our money. This sum, 
 although it looks small in our eyes, was in truth con- 
 sidered a very handsome fortune in those days. The 
 marriage contract is still in existence. This lady was 
 aunt to Charles Neville, sixth Earl of Westmoreland, who 
 was one of the leaders of the Rebellion of 1569, before 
 mentioned. He appears, even during his father's life- 
 time, to have had a serious affray with his cousin and 
 
108 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 neighbour, John Neville, the last Lord Latimer (to whom 
 the sumptuous mural monument in Well Church is 
 erected) which led to proceedings being taken, not only 
 before the Council of the North, but at the court of 
 Quarter Sessions, as the following letter upon the sub- 
 ject from John Lord Latymer to the Earl of Shrewsbury, 
 the then President of the Council of the North, will shew. 
 
 Copy. 
 " Right honorable my very goode lorde, after my moost humble maner, 
 these shal be to sign y fie your Lordshippe, that whereas ther is a certain 
 matter in traverse betwixt me and my servants, and Sir Thomas Danby, 
 Knight, and his servants, now depending in the lawe before your Lordship, 
 and the Counsaill, for one assault and fraie late made by the said Sir Thomas 
 Danby and his servants, upon me and my servants, in myne owne grounde 
 at Snape, which matters were called and pleaded before your Lordship and 
 the Counsail at yo'r late syttinge at Yorke, and in the same no ende were 
 made at that time. Trusting that the said matter shuld have been tried before 
 yo'r Lordshippe and Counsaill at the time convenyent without any ffurther 
 busyness off either partie, and sythens that tyme the said S'r Thomas w'th 
 others hath at the Sessions endyted me and my servants for the seid fraie : 
 which thing I never doubted, consideryng that the matter was dependyng 
 byfore yo'r lordshippe, and in the lawe, ffor if I had thought that they would 
 have gone about and sought for such purposes, I wold have loked therupon, 
 most humbly requyring your good lordshippe to consider the premysses, and 
 to shewe me yo'r benyvolent favor therin and in other my matters now 
 depending in the lawe before yo'r Lordshippe and the Counsaill, thus besech- 
 ing I'hu to have your Lordshippe in his holy keepinge. 
 From Snape this last of Your Lordshippe's at Co'mandment, 
 
 November [1545] John Latymer." 
 
 Indorsed 
 " To The Right Honorable and very good Lord The Erie of Shrewisburye, 
 President of the Kinge's Ma'ties Counsaill established in thes north partes." 
 
 It also appears that before his father died, viz. in 8 
 Eliz., a.d. 1565, he had joined him in the purchase of 
 the manors of Healey and Ellington, from Henry Lord 
 Scrope of Bolton, together with all claim to all Badges of 
 Seignory whatsoever, and also of several parcels of land 
 in Healey, Ellington, Masham, Swinton, Eearby, Ilton, 
 and Sourmire. 
 
 He was forty years of age when his father died, and 
 when he came into the full possession of his estates, viz. in 
 
HISTOEY OE MASHAMSHIRE. 109 
 
 1571. In the year 1576 he was High Sheriff of York- 
 shire. In the same year he purchased of William Single- 
 ton of Fountains, gentleman, the capital messuage of 
 Pot, with all the lands thereto appertaining, and all his 
 claims of right to the Royalties, wastes, &c, thereof. 
 This Mr. Singleton having purchased it, along with 
 other lands, of Sir William, the son of Sir .Richard 
 Gresham, to whom King Henry VIII. had granted it on 
 the dissolution of Fountains Abbey. 
 
 He died at his manor house at South Cave, on the 
 14th Sept., 32 Eliz., a.d. 1590, leaving Lady Mary his 
 widow, and a large family of children surviving him. 
 His eldest son Thomas Danby, Esq., had however died 
 in his lifetime, leaving by Elizabeth,* the daughter of 
 Thomas Wentworth, Esq., of Wentworth Woodhouse, a 
 posthumous son, Christopher Danby, Esq., who suc- 
 ceeded to the estates. 
 
 This Christopher Danby was very young when his 
 grandfather died, namely about nine years old, and was 
 accordingly a ward under the Court of Wards and Liv- 
 eries, until he came of age. His mother however, who 
 seems to have been of strong mind, and business-like 
 habits, in the 32 Eliz., a.d. 1589, bought from the Crown 
 the custody, wardship, and marriage of her son, during 
 his minority, and having also procured an assignment of 
 the lease of his lands, undertook herself the bringing up 
 of her infant heir. She made several purchases of par- 
 cels of land, and especially of two thirds of the manor of 
 Swinton, and added them to the estate, and otherwise 
 improved it, during the time she had the control over it. 
 She long survived her husband, and spent the greatest 
 portion of her widowhood at Pot Grange near Masham, 
 which she had for her residence. She was in religion a 
 staunch Roman Catholic, and with her son Christopher 
 (one of the Lords of Mashamshire) were accordingly 
 pronounced and punished as Popish Recusants. They, 
 
 * She was aunt to the celebrated Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, 
 of whom I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. 
 
110 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 however, in the 8th James I., a.d. 1610, obtained a Par- 
 don under the Great Seal for their offence ! but not until 
 after they had first paid a round sum of money for it, 
 when they were restored to their just rights, as British 
 subjects. 
 
 Hard however as they no doubt thought it thus to. 
 suffer for conscience-sake, they were not without com- 
 panions in their sufferings, as the proceedings in our 
 own Ecclesiastical Court at Masham, as set out in the 
 appendix D hereto, will abundantly shew. A reference 
 to those proceedings will shew that great numbers of 
 the people here were prosecuted for the following, 
 amongst other offences, viz., for being negligent comers to 
 Church — for indecent behaviour hi Church — for keeping 
 their hats on in communion time — for not coming to 
 Church monthly — for absenting themselves from Church 
 on Sundays and holidays — for bidding the Churchwardens 
 to do their worst on their wishing them to go to Church — 
 for not receiving the Holy Communion — for not receiving 
 the Holy Communion at Easter — for not receiving the 
 Holy Communion thrice a year — for refusing to be in- 
 structed in the Church Catechism — for not bringing their 
 children to Church to be baptized — for having their chil- 
 dren baptized elsewhere than at their own Parish Church 
 — women for not giving thanks for their safe deliverance 
 — for marrying clandestinely, without license or banns — 
 for not being married at their own Parish Church — for 
 being married by a Popish Priest — for being married at a 
 Priest's house — for husband and wife living separate and 
 apart — Schoolmasters teaching without license — for dese- 
 crating the Sabbath— for drunkenness— for vain swearing— 
 for brawling and scolding — for being common scolds — for 
 being malicious slanderers — for fornication — for adultery 
 — for incest — for fornication before marriage — for taking 
 possession of the Chapel at Ellington* — for selling the 
 
 * Before the dissolution of the monasteries, there was a Chapel of Ease 
 at Ellington, the duties of which were supplied by the monks of Jervaux. 
 It was situate upon the farm lately occupied by Mr. Charles Lee, but now 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSRTRE. Ill 
 
 bell and other ornaments belonging to the Church at 
 Ellington — for not providing bread and wine for the 
 Perambulation — the Clergyman for not reading " The 
 Book of Sports" during the time of divine service, as 
 required by the King's Proclamation — the Clergyman for 
 not reading Prayers, &c, on Wednesdays and Fridays — ■ 
 the Churchwardens for not putting in force the statute 
 imposing a fine of \2d. for every time that a person is 
 absent from Church — for telling of fortunes, and using 
 unlawful enchantments — for carrying a dead man's skull 
 out of the churchyard and laying it under the head of a 
 person to charm him to sleep — for the nonpayment ot 
 Church-rates — for harbouring papistical Recusants* — for 
 having mass said at their houses — for being suspected of 
 being Popish Recusants — for standing excommunicate 
 and being Popish Recusants— for burying excommunica- 
 ted Recusants — for burying a mother she being a Popish 
 Recusant — for having suspicious crossings of towels at 
 burials — for saying a Pater noster for the soul of an old 
 
 by Mr. Jefferson. Part of the building still remains, and is used as a barn. 
 
 " And here the Cemetery, hallow'd ground, 
 Where sleep the Fathers of this ancient place, 
 This consecrated mould ! a garden now 
 Where culinary plants profusely grow; 
 And thus the living riot on the dead." 
 
 There was also then a similar Chapel of Ease at Leighton, the duties of 
 which were supplied by the monks of Fountains from their Grange, at Pott 
 Grange. It is now converted into a Farmhouse, and is occupied by Mr. 
 John Carter. There was also formerly another Chapel at Fearby, and a house 
 is still pointed out on the village green, bearing the name of the " Chapel 
 house," as the site of it, and where is still to be seen the ancient Stone 
 Altar. There were two other private Chapels at Low Burton and High 
 Burton, near Masham, and in all probability another at Aldborough. 
 
 * Mrs. Jane Wyvell of Little Burton Hall, or as it is now called Low 
 Burton, was the person who was convicted of this offence. Low Burton Hall 
 is a curious old building, having an octagonal chimney ten feet high, con- 
 structed of polished stone. The stair-case is of black oak, and three of the 
 rooms are wainscotted with the same material. There were formerly a 
 Chapel and a burial ground attached to the house. About fifty years ago 
 some ancient vases of earthenware were found here but were not preserved. 
 
112 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 wife at her burial — for kneeling at the Cross* at a funeral ; 
 and lastly — for making water against the churchyard 
 wall ! For these several offences great numbers of the 
 people were not only cited to appear and answer these 
 outrageous charges against them, but were subjected to 
 the censures of the church — including payment of costs, 
 the doing of penance, excommunication (whereby they 
 were cut off from all intercourse with the christian com- 
 munity, and deprived of their civil rights), and to being 
 denounced as Popish Recusants, by which they were 
 placed under many very serious disabilities (including 
 the denial of christian burial), and were subjected to 
 very heavy penalties. 
 
 Besides having thus made our Ecclesiastical Court 
 an intolerable engine of oppression for the purpose of 
 coercing the people into a renunciation of a faith to 
 which they were zealously attached, and into the adop- 
 tion of one which they as cordially hated, the strong arm 
 of the Courts temporal and civil power, was evoked to 
 their aid, as is evident by the churchwardens of Masham 
 being compelled to put in force the Statute imposing a 
 fine of twelve pence for every time that a person ab- 
 sented himself from church, as well as from the docu- 
 ment set out below, which I have extracted from the 
 "State Paper Office, Dom. Jas. L, vol. 15." 
 
 " Better, and juster, far would it have been, 
 To give Religion her unbridled scope, 
 Nor judge by Statute a believer's hope." 
 
 * Formerly stone Crosses stood in the streets (some of which, or rather 
 the bases of them, were existing within the memory of the present genera- 
 tion) at which sermons used to be preached, royal proclamations made, laws 
 published, and malefactors sometimes hanged. When a corpse was being 
 conveyed to the churchyard to be buried, it was set down there, that all the 
 people attending the funeral might pray for the soul of the deceased. The 
 following question is amongst the " articles to be enquired of within the 
 Archdeaconry of Yorke, by the churchwardens and sworne men." 163 — , 
 4to. " Whether at the death of any there be praying for the dead at Crosses, 
 or places where Crosses have been, in the way to the Church " — which shews 
 that the Reformed Church was then endeavouring to put the practice 
 down. There are still the remains of one of these crosses at Fearby-Cross. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 113 
 
 It will be seen by the last mentioned document that 
 the following five gentlemen residing in this neighbour- 
 hood, namely, Christopher Conyers of Hutton, Joshua 
 Pullyn of Nidderdale, Francis Scroope of Danby, An- 
 thony Catherick of Stanwick, and Francis Sayer of 
 Marrick Park — having been charged with Recusancy 
 whereby their estates Would, on their conviction for the 
 offence, become forfeited to the crown — one Dr. Martin, 
 the Physician to the Queen (adopting the course then 
 usually pursued by the court favourites, and taking time 
 by the forelock by anticipating their conviction), peti- 
 tioned the King that the goods of these five unfortunate 
 gentlemen should be given to him, and that such his 
 petition was granted. The following is a copy of the 
 precious document alluded to, which is in the form of a 
 Letter from the Archbishop of York, Dr. Matthew 
 Hutton, to Lord Dorset, Lord Treasurer for Recusants, 
 and is endorsed " Minute to the Lord Treasurer for 
 Recusants — the Council to (Lord Dorset)." 
 
 "My Lord, 
 
 Whereas Mr. Doctor Martin, her Ma'ty's Phisicion hath 
 made humble suite unto the King to bestowe upon him such commodities as 
 shall growe unto his Ma'ty by vertue of the recusance of these persons un- 
 derwritten, after an orderlie conviction by lawe, and an extent of their lands. 
 Although his Ma'ty be well pleased to shew his gracious favour therein 
 when it shall appeare to what proportion their extents will amount. Never- 
 theless because there may be many others of his servants who will expect 
 his favour, and that it cannot yet appeare what may be the value of these, 
 His Ma'ty is pleased that you shall take notice that these are sued for by 
 the said Dr. Martin ; and that he shall recyve such benefitt as shall arise 
 thereby, yf the same prove to be no greater upon their conviction then shall 
 stand w'th his gracious liking : w'ch yf it be his Ma'ty's will then dispose 
 of as much, or as little, as he shall thinke fitt. And so desiring yo'r Lo'pp 
 to make an entrie heerof accordinglie, I committ you to God. 
 From the Court at Wyndsore, 10 Septemb. 1605. 
 
 Your Lo'pp assured friend to command, 
 JEbor. Ebok. 
 
 Christofer Conyers of Huton 
 Joshua Pullyn of Nidderdale 
 Francis Scroope of Danby 
 Anthony Catherick of Stanwick 
 Francis Sayer of Marrick Park." 
 
■W" 
 
 114 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 But, unfortunately, the persecution of the Roman 
 Catholics, by their Protestant brethren, did not by any 
 means stop here, but extended itself to the shedding of 
 innocent blood, and that too, of men who had been born 
 and brought up in the midst of us, and who with pious 
 zeal were constantly going about this very district in 
 the discharge of the duties of their sacred calling, in the 
 administering. of religious consolation and advice to those 
 who, in spite of the severe persecutions and trials they 
 had to undergo on account of their faith, still unflinch- 
 ingly adhered to it. 
 
 Amongst the sufferers above alluded to were the fol- 
 lowing, viz, : — 
 
 Francis Ingilby, a son of Sir William Ingilby, Knight, 
 who was born at Ripley in Yorkshire, and was hanged 
 at York on the 3rd of June, 1586, for no other crime 
 than being a Roman Catholic Priest. 
 
 Alexander Crow, who was born in the neighbourhood 
 of Ripon, was hanged at York on the 30th Nov., 1586-7, 
 for being a Roman Catholic Priest. 
 
 Richard Sympson, who was born at Well, was 
 hanged at Derby, at the Summer Assizes there of 1588, 
 for being a Roman Catholic Priest. It appears that this 
 Sympson had formerly been a Protestant, but having 
 become a convert to the Roman Catholic faith, he entered 
 the Roman Catholic College at Douay, in France, where 
 he was admitted on the 19th of May, 1577. Having 
 received the necessary instruction there, he was ordained 
 Priest, and sent back into England as a Missionary. 
 Like all new converts, he was more zealous than discreet 
 in his preaching, and spoke with much boldness in de- 
 fence of the doctrines of the Romish Church. The con- 
 sequence was that he soon got himself into trouble — was 
 thrown into prison — and from prison into banishment. 
 Nothing daunted, however, he soon returned to his 
 ministry, when he again laboured with unabated faith- 
 fulness and zeal, for the winning of souls ; but he was a 
 second time cut short in his work, by his being again 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 115 
 
 apprehended whilst going from Lancashire into Derby- 
 shire, and committed to the County Gaol, at Derby, 
 where he was tried and condemned at the Lent Assizes 
 of 1588 "for being a Priest made by the authority and 
 rites of the Roman Church." After this his conviction 
 it seems that the fear of death at last unmanned him so 
 that he betrayed some symptoms of wavering, and took 
 some steps towards conforming to the Protestant religion 
 and a renunciation of his own faith; and was accord- 
 ingly reprieved until the Summer Assizes following. 
 In the meantime however, he relented of the steps he 
 had taken towards a recantation, and having re-asserted 
 his continued adherence to the doctrines for which he 
 had been condemned, he was ordered for execution. An 
 eye-witness of the execution says, that he suffered with 
 great constancy, though not with such remarkable signs 
 of joy and alacrity, as the two priests his companions, 
 who were executed along with him. After his execu- 
 tion, his head and quarters, were set upon poles, in and 
 about Derby, but were afterwards stolen away by his 
 friends and decently buried. 
 
 The following lines are said to have been written by 
 an eye-witness of the execution of Sympson and his two 
 companions : 
 
 "When Garlick did the ladder kiss, 
 And Sympson after hie, 
 Methought that there St. Andrew was 
 Desirous for to die. 
 
 When Ludlam looked smilingly, 
 
 And joyf ul did remain, 
 It seem'd St. Stephen was standing by 
 
 For to be ston'd again. 
 
 And what if Sympson seem'd to yield, 
 
 For doubt and dread to die : 
 He rose again, and won the field, 
 
 And died most constantly. 
 
 His watching, fasting, shirt of hair, 
 
 His speech, his death, and all, 
 Do record give, do witness bear, 
 
 He wail'd his former fall." 
 
116 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Nicholas Horner (a layman) who was born at Grant- 
 ley, near Eipon, was hanged at Smithfield, on the 4th 
 of March, 1589, "for assisting Christopher Bayles, made 
 Priest beyond sea, who was convicted of treason for re- 
 maining in the realm contrary to the statute." 
 
 Peter Snow, who was born at or near Ripon, was 
 hanged at York, on the 15th of June, 1598, for being a 
 Priest. 
 
 Thomas Pallaser (a Priest) who was born at Ellerton- 
 on- Swale, was apprehended at the house of Mr. John 
 Norton, of Norton Conyers, along with Mr. Norton and 
 his wife, and a Mr. John Talbot, for being found in his 
 company, and were all committed for trial at the Dur- 
 ham Assizes, where they were all found guilty and con- 
 demned to die for their religion. All of them (except 
 Mrs. Norton, who was reprieved on account of her being 
 supposed to be then enciente) were executed at Durham 
 on the 9th August, 1600. 
 
 John Pibus, who was born at Thirsk, was also hanged 
 on account of his religion, on the 18th of Feb., 1601. 
 
 I will but add one more to this black catalogue of 
 judicial murders on account of religion, by the way of 
 further shewing the extent of the persecutions which 
 the Eoman Catholics suffered at the hands of the Pro- 
 testants on account of their faith, in this immediate 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Edmund Catterick, who was of the family of the Cat- 
 tericks of Carlton, near Richmond, was executed at York 
 on the 13th of April, 1642, for being a Roman Catholic 
 priest. The circumstances attending his apprehension 
 — and that too on the very border of our own parish, and 
 most probable immediately after one of his stolen visits 
 to it in the pursuit of his holy vocation, and the adminis- 
 tering to the spiritual wants of the people within it — 
 his committal to prison, his trial, conviction, and subse- 
 quent execution, are so touching, that I am induced to 
 devote a few lines to a description of them. 
 
 It appears that Mr. Catterick received his education 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 117 
 
 at the English College of Douay, and having been there 
 made a Priest, he was sent upon the English Mission 
 about the year 1635. He is said to have been a man of 
 extraordinary meekness, and to have been very zealous 
 and laborious in his mission. After seven years of 
 labouring in the vineyard of his Lord and master, he 
 was apprehended on the road not far from Watlass, and 
 carried before Mr. Dodsworth of that place, who was a 
 Justice of the Peace, charged with being a Roman 
 Catholic Priest. It would seem, that when he was 
 before Mr. Justice Dodsworth, there was some difficulty 
 in giving the necessary legal proof of Mr. Catterick' s 
 being really a Roman Catholic priest, as charged against 
 him. This difficulty, however, Mr. Dodsworth soon 
 found means to get over, for it so happened that he 
 having married a near kinswoman of Mr. Catterick, the 
 latter gentleman had, when on a visit to him on his own 
 invitation, candidly, but confidentially, informed him 
 that he was a Roman Catholic Priest : Mr. Dodsworth 
 therefore took upon himself, without more ado, to com- 
 mit Mr. Catterick to York Castle for trial on the charge, 
 and afterwards appeared and gave evidence against him 
 on his trial, to the effect that the prisoner had in his 
 hearing owned himself to be a Priest. Upon this evi- 
 dence he was convicted, and condemned to die; and 
 was accordingly executed on the 13th April, 1642. His 
 demeanour at the place of execution is said have been 
 very religious and devout, and that, whilst Mr. Lock- 
 wood (who was executed along with him) was upon 
 the ladder, he by his looks and reverend postures, 
 plainly shewed that his supplications to God were full of 
 fervour and affection. When Mr. Lockwood had been 
 turned off, and he was ordered up the ladder, he cheer- 
 fully obeyed, and appeared calm and tranquil. When 
 he was upon the ladder he again betook himself to 
 prayer, earnestly desiring all Catholics there present to 
 pray with him, and for him. He spoke little, saying, 
 there was no need of it, for that his trial being but lately 
 
118 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 passed, whereat many of the company were present, they 
 could all bear him witness that he was tried and con- 
 demned for his priesthood, and that for this only, and 
 for no other reason was he brought thither to suffer 
 death. He prayed for the King, his royal Consort, and 
 their issue, and that God in his mercy would shower 
 down his blessings upon them, and send a right under- 
 standing between his Majesty and his Parliament. He 
 then prayed for his persecutors, especially the person 
 who was chiefly instrumental to his death, that God 
 would bring him to a sense of his crime, and a speedy 
 repentance, adding, that for his own part he freely for- 
 gave him, as heartily as he expected, and hoped for 
 mercy and pardon of his own manifold sins at the hand 
 of God. And now recollecting himself a^ain for a few 
 moments, with eyes and hands lifted up to heaven, he 
 said, u Lord, I obey; be near me Lord, my soul hath 
 trusted in thee, let me not be confounded for ever." 
 Then, pulling a cap over his eyes, he delivered himself 
 to the executioner, who soon after turned him off the 
 ladder, and he calmly expired. His head was placed 
 upon Micklegate Bar in York, and his bowels were 
 buried on Toft-green. 
 
 Having now brought to an end this sickening account 
 of the persecutions which the Roman Catholics in this 
 district received at the hands of the Protestants, it is a 
 great relief to me to turn aside from these sad scenes of 
 bloodshed, and to return to the theme of my general 
 history of Mashamshire.* 
 
 * Should the reader however desire to pursue this subject further, I beg 
 to refer him to Dr. Bridge water's " Concertatio Ecclesise Catholica?," (which 
 is writteu in latiu) and to Bishop Chaloner's Missionary Tracts. Dr. Bridge- 
 water alone names about 1200 who thus suffered before the year 1588, and 
 Bishop Chaloner adds very considerably to the number ; and I may add, 
 that so far as I have been able to test the truth of their statements, 1 have 
 found them correct, although, as is to be expected, the accounts they give 
 are somewhat highly coloured. It may be proper for me here to acknow- 
 ledge that I am indebted to this source for much of the information given 
 above. I am alone responsible for the language in which it is conveyed, hav- 
 
HISTOKY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 119 
 
 I left Christopher Danby, the then Lord of Masham- 
 shire, in his nonage, under the fostering care of his 
 mother and guardian at Pott-grange. 
 
 Christopher Danby, having in the year 1602 arrived 
 at the age of twenty-one, was then freed from the Court 
 of Wards and Liveries, and thus came into the posses- 
 sion of his Estates. He soon afterwards married Frances 
 the youngest daughter of Edward Parker, Lord Morley 
 and Monteagle. This Lady was sister to William Lord 
 Morley and Monteagle, to whom the remarkable letter 
 was addressed by one of Guy Fawkes's co-conspirators 
 in the gunpowder-plot in the reign of James I., by means 
 of which letter the Plot was happily discovered, and Guy 
 Fawkes and his co- conspirators were arrested before they 
 could put their plans into execution, and were afterwards 
 punished. In the year 1604 it would seem that he was 
 travelling abroad, for I find in the State Paper Office 
 that a License was granted to him to travel, which is 
 dated the 11th of April, 1604. Christopher Danby and 
 his wife were both Roman Catholics. His wife, it will 
 be seen on referring to the Appendix D hereto, contain- 
 ing extracts from the Act-book of the Ecclesiastical 
 Court at Masham, was for her adherence to her faith, 
 prosecuted and punished as a Popish Recusant. 
 
 Both parties seem to have forgotten to exercise that 
 mutual forbearance so beautifully described in the fol- 
 lowing well-known lines of Cowper : 
 
 " The kindest and the happiest pair, 
 Will find occasion to forbear : 
 And something, every day they live, 
 To pity, and perhaps forgive." 
 
 The marriage was not by any means a happy one, and 
 resulted in domestic feuds and a considerable amount of 
 litigation, and finally in the husband and wife living 
 separate and apart. Christopher Danby does not by 
 
 ing taken upon myself to re-write these accounts, in consequence of the 
 quaint and unreadable language in which the originals are written. 
 
120 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 any means seem to have lived altogether a blameless 
 life, and to have kept the best of society. His name 
 will be found recorded in the proceedings before alluded 
 to in the Ecclesiastical Court at Masham in connection 
 with a little amorous affair with one Elizabeth Scott. 
 Amongst other indiscretions, he appears to have allowed 
 himself to be grossly robbed by an unfaithful steward, 
 and to have run into considerable debt, so as to compel 
 him to sell off a considerable portion of his paternal 
 estates. He was also a very litigious person, and was con- 
 sequently involved in a multiplicity of law suits, amongst 
 which may be mentioned an action which he brought 
 against Solomon Wyvell of High Burton, for hunting 
 upon Brownriggs, in which he obtained a verdict at York 
 Assizes, and thereby established that Brownriggs was 
 situate within in the boundaries of Mashamshire, and 
 was not within the boundaries of East Witton Parish, or 
 part of the lands belonging to the then Lord Bruce as 
 was then contended.* 
 
 * The following Will of James Dariby, of Ellington, [a member of the 
 family), which was proved in the Peculiar Court of Masham, together with 
 the Inventory lodged in that Court by the Executors thereunder, is not only 
 very curious, but also throws some light upon the embarrassed state of the 
 affairs of the Danby family at this time. The will commences as follows : — 
 
 " In the name of God Amen, the thirtieth day of August, Anno D'ni 
 1617, 1 James Danbie the elder, of Ellington in the Parish of Masham, in 
 the Countie of Yorke, Gent., (being aged and growinge infirme in body 
 throughe sicknes and unwonted maladies increasing upon me, and thereby 
 the rather warned to prepare my selfe toward myne end whereto by age 
 and infirmities I finde myselfe hasteninge) have thought it very meete and 
 convenient nowe in the time of my good and p'fect memory (for w'ch I 
 highly praise God) to disburden myselfe and my thoughts of the cares of 
 this world, in disposinge of my wordly estate and goods transitorie by my 
 last Will and Testam't, w'ch I do nowe by these p'sents ordain and make 
 in manner and forme followinge : that is to say First, and chiefely, I com'end 
 my soule in the hands of Almightie God my Creator, assuredly trustinge by 
 and through the meritts, death, and passion of his dearly beloved sonne 
 Jesus Christ mine onely redeemer and Saviour to p'ticipate w'th the faithfull 
 in that eternall ioy and felicitie w'ch God hath p'pared for his electe, and' 
 my body I commend to the earth from whence it came to be buried in the 
 Church of Massam aforesaid as neare the place of myne Ancestors theire 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1RE. 121 
 
 Christopher Danby died on the 18th of July, 1624, 
 and was succeeded in his estates by his eldest son Sir 
 Thomas Danby, Knight, who was then a minor of four- 
 teen years of age. 
 
 buriall as conveniently may be." He then proceeds to dispose of his wordly 
 goods to " the two children of William Challoner of Ellington aforesaid, 
 Yeoman, and Katherine, his late wife deceased ; " " William Malleverer, of 
 Arnecliffe, Esq., and Francis Pinckney of Nether- Silton, Gent ; " " Thomas 
 Ascoughe of Low Newstead" his "sonnes James Danby and John Danby," 
 to whom he leaves his Lands at Scruton — and he appoints the said William 
 Malleverer, Esq., Francis Pinckney, Thomas Ascoughe, and his said son 
 James Danby executors of his said Will. 
 
 The following is an exact Copy of the Inventory before alluded to: 
 " Debts w'ch the Testator affirmed to be owen unto him by Eliz. Danby 
 of Pott, widdow, and X'pofer Danby of Farneley, Esq., her sonne, as folio w- 
 eth : Item, Eliz. Danby for the use and interest of one hundreth pounds for 
 two years xx/s. Beside the losse and damage sustained for want of the said 
 xx Is. for twelve years or theireaboute at least amountinge to xxiiij/s. It'm 
 lefte in the said Eliz. hands to have beene equally paide to his children 
 James and Eliz. p'cell of the said Cls. towards theire porc'ons the sume of 
 xlls., w'ch being never payde accordingly the losse and damage for want of 
 the same xlls. for twelve years or thereabouts amounteth to xlviij/s. It'm, 
 the said Chr'ofer Danby, Esq. for an Annuitie of iij/s. vjs. viije?., given unto 
 the Testator by Sir X'ppofer Danby, Knight, his Father dureing the Testa- 
 tor's life, w'ch was behinde and unpaide to the Testator in the minorite of the 
 said X'pofer for foureteene yeares at least, amountinge to the sume of xlyj/s. 
 xiijs. iiije?. beside the damage for want of the said xlvjVs. xiijs. iiijj., since 
 the said X'p'ofer came to full age being xij yeares at the least amounting to 
 liiij7s. It'm lent to the said X'pofer towards the reedeming of his wardship 
 {as other Tenants) three years rent never yet repay ed nor allowed, viij/s. It'm 
 for use of iij/s. xvs. due yearely for the bailiwick of Massam given by the 
 said Sir X'pofer Danby to the Testator during the lives of Sir X'pofer Danby, 
 and Sir Thomas Danby, and when the said Chr'ofer Danby, Esq., was ward 
 and alsoe since he came to his full age till within eight yeares or thereabouts 
 last past amountinge to the sume of xxxfe. Beside the want of the yearly 
 profitt of the Chamber beside the Tollbooth and tJie Shojjpes under the Toll- 
 booth, all w'ch did belonge to the bailwicke being worth by yeare xls., w'ch 
 the Testator hath also wanted for eight yeares at least, amounting to xvj/s." 
 
 Katherine Challoner, mentioned in the above will, appears to have been 
 a daughter of the Testator James Danby. He also appears by his Will to 
 have had another son called Christopher, who was then dead. The Inven- 
 tory discloses, amongst other symptoms of embarrassment, that the Tenantry 
 of the estate had been called upon to advance to their young Landlord, (the 
 scape-grace Christopher Danby), by way of loan, the amount of three years 
 
122 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 This Sir Thomas Danby, being in his minority at the 
 time of his father's death, became a ward under the 
 Court of Wards and Liveries,* and his possessions were 
 accordingly taken possession of and held by that Court 
 during his minority. Mr. Christopher Wandesford of 
 Kirklington (who afterwards became Sir Christopher 
 Wandesford, Knight, Master of the Rolls, and Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland) purchased from the Court of Wards 
 and Liveries for the sum of 800/. the right to the cus- 
 tody, wardship, and marriage of Sir Thomas Danby, the 
 minor, together with an allowance of 20/. a-year to be 
 paid out of Court for his maintainence and education, 
 until he should attain the age of twenty-one years, and 
 also a Lease of all the minor's* estates (which included 
 other estates besides Mashamshire) for a Fine of 40s., 
 during the minority, at the annual rent of 150/. Sir 
 Christopher Wandesford, having thus obtained the pos- 
 session of the minor's person, and the right of marrying 
 him to whomsoever he thought fit, as also a Lease of all 
 his estates, at the moderate rent of 150/. a-year, set 
 about securing, what I may term the reversion in the 
 minor and his estates ; and accordingly, whilst he was 
 even yet in his minority, married him to his own daugh- 
 ter Catharine Wandesford. This happy event occurred 
 in the 6th Charles I., 1630. This marriage, whatever 
 may be said or thought as to the manner of its being 
 brought about, seems to have been a happy one, or at 
 all events, a "very fruitful one, as she bore him a large 
 family of children ; and, according to a memorandum in 
 
 rent, in order to assisth im in purchasing his wardship, and thereby to get 
 the management of the estate back into the hands of the family. 
 
 This James Danby (the maker of the will above mentioned) was the 
 uncle of Christopher Danby the " unjust steward" to the Danby estates, the 
 latter being a son of Marmaduke Danby, Esq. of Masham, who was the fifth 
 son of Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, who married Elizabeth the daughter 
 of Richard Neville, Lord Latimer. 
 
 * For an illustration of the monstrous tyranny which was exercised by 
 the Court of Wards and Liveries over minors, before its abolition, see Copy- 
 Will of John Laton, and notes thereto in the Appendix F, No. 3. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 123 
 
 handwriting of Abstrupus Danby, she in the end died 
 at Thorp-Perrow on the 22nd of Sept., 1645, in the 
 thirtieth year of her age, in giving birth to her fifteenth 
 child, and was buried on the same day at Masham. # 
 In the 8th Charles L, a.d. 1632, Sir Thomas Danby 
 
 * The following account of the purchase of the wardship and marriage of 
 young Thomas Danby, by Mr. Christopher Wandesford, is given in a 
 very rare book, now in the possession of the Rev. John Prior, M.A., Rector 
 of Kirklington, who married Sarah, daughter of the Hon. Charles Harward 
 Butler Clarke Southwell- Wandesford, the grandson of the last Earl of 
 Wandesford, Viscount Castlecomer, and Baron Mowbray and Musters, 
 entitled "A Book of Instructions, written by the Right Hon. Sir 
 Charles Wandesford, Knight, Lord Deputy of Ireland, First Master of 
 the Rolls, then one of the Lords Justices, and Baron Mowbray and Masters, 
 to his son and heir George "Wandesford, Esq., in order to the regulating 
 the conduct of his whole life." 
 
 At the request of Sir Thos. Wentworth [afterwards Earl of Strafford] 
 and with the approbation of the other relatives of Thomas Danby of Massam, 
 Esq., Mr. Wandesforde was now prevailed on, being resettled at Kirklington, 
 to take on himself the wardship of this young gentleman, and his estate 
 which was greatly encumbered with debts and Leases, contracted and made by 
 his father, who had loved pleasure, and left this son, another son, and a 
 daughter. 
 
 Sir Thomas Wentworth, in a letter dated Nov. 13, 1625, to Sir Walter 
 Pie, Attorney of the Court of Wards, informs him, that all the relations of 
 the Wards, viz., his Grandmother, Lord D'Arcy [whose mother was a Went- 
 worth], and himself, approved of Sir Henry Anderson's turning over the 
 wardship of Mr. Danby to Mr. Wandesforde, as the best course for the ward, 
 and desires his assistance to dispatch the affair legally, Mr. Wandesforde not 
 daring to go to London on account of danger from the plague, but sending 
 an agent. 
 
 Mr. Wandesforde managed the estate and affairs of Mr. Danby w T ith the 
 same care as if they had been his own. He paid off all just debts, — dischar- 
 ged many burthensome annuities, — considerably improved the rents, — and 
 provided the best education for the Heir and younger branches. 
 
 Mr. Danby, having lived sometime in Mr. Wandesford's family, had cast 
 eyes of affection on his elder daughter, a very pretty young lady, and ap- 
 peared so worthy in the eyes of all the family, that though several other 
 gentlemen of considerable fortune, etc., were suitors, he was preferred both 
 by her and her parents, and being about eighteen years of age, now mar- 
 ried her about fifteen. Thereupon Mr. Wandesford delivered to his son-in- 
 law all his Estate of 3000/. per annum, clear of all demands of Wardship, 
 etc., and added a very handsome fortune in ready money, viz., 1600/., as 
 appears from a letter of Lord Strafford. Abstrupus Danby says her fortune 
 
124 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 granted a Deputation to his brother-in-law Francis 
 Armitage, Esq., appointing him to the office of Bow- 
 bearer of his Chase in Mashamshire, to hold for his life, 
 together with all the fees and emoluments thereof, in 
 as ample manner as the same had usually been held 
 before. 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby was a Justice of the Peace for the 
 North Riding of Yorkshire, and in the year 1638 he was 
 appointed to, and executed the office of, High Sheriff of 
 the County. 
 
 In the year 1635, he was appointed by his cousin- 
 german, Lord Wentworth (afterwards created Earl of 
 Strafford) then Lord Lieutenant of the West-Riding of 
 Yorkshire, and Lord President of the North, one of his 
 Deputy Lieutenants, which was an appomtment of some 
 importance at that day. 
 
 It will be seen from the following letters (which are 
 preserved in the British Museum, and are to be found 
 there, in Add. MSS. 6672, folio 222), that Sir Thomas 
 was very active in enforcing the payment of that obnox- 
 ious tax, Ship-money,* which proved so disastrous not 
 
 was 2000/. ; and as this couple were too young to begin housekeeping, gave 
 entertainment to themselves, servants, and horses, for several years." 
 
 From this account it would seem, that young Thomas Danby's own mo- 
 ther (who had taken to herself a second husband) took no interest in the 
 boy, but left the arrangement of these matters to his aged grandmother, 
 who still lived at Pot Hall, and her relatives, the Wentworths. Also that 
 Mr. Wandesford having taken him to live with him in his own house at 
 Kirklington, the young gentleman soon began "to cast eyes of affection" 
 on his daughter, the " very pretty young lady," Kate, which being recipro- 
 cated, ended in the most natural manner possible, in a marriage between the 
 two young people. 
 
 * It seems that in ancient times the Kings of England had occasionally 
 during the exigencies of a perilous war, called upon the maritine counties to 
 furnish ships for the defence of the coast, and that such demands had some- 
 times been compounded for by the payment of money. Charles I. being 
 much in want of money, and having a difficulty in inducing Parliament to 
 grant him supplies, hit upon the expedient of making use of this ancient, 
 but long disused, prerogative of the Crown in order to meet his needs. He 
 therefore levied Ship-money, not only along the coasts, but also on the 
 inland shires, and that, too, in a time of peace, and not for maintaining a 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 125 
 
 only to his Eoyal master, King Charles I., but to his own 
 relative and patron the Earl of Strafford. 
 
 Copy of a letter from Charles Egerton, Esq., of Mar- 
 kenfield Hall, near Eipon, to Sir Thomas Danby, Knt. : 
 
 "Noble Sr. 
 
 It is a hundred miles betweene my habitation heere in Staffordshire 
 and my house att Markinfield, there in the County of York : so that sud- 
 denly I cannot send betweene them where yo'r officer hath driven three of 
 my best kine and one calfe, for six Pounds required for Ship money j al- 
 though I had before sent unto the Vice-President certaine money to dis- 
 charge the same, desireing him to move you I might not be 'sessed above 
 forty shillings — in regard of my former sufferings, as he can acquaint you 
 — as also that it is as much as many do pay for thrice such an estate. My 
 desire is, you will command my goods to be delivered to this bearor, and 
 that you will speake w'th Sir Edward Osborne, unto whom, w'th yourself, 
 I referr myself. S'r, I pray consider my charges and foure hundreth miles 
 Journey heareabout, and ease me the more in my 'Sesment. S'r, by my Ser- 
 vante's letter here sent, you may see w'th what severity yo'r Collecter hath 
 used me, w'ch I refer to yo'r discretion. 
 
 Newburrow, the 4th of Yo'r Servant, 
 
 December, 1637. Charles Egerton.* 
 
 Copy of letter from the same Charles Egerton, to 
 Sir Edward Osborne,f Knt., Baronet, Yice-President of 
 
 navy for the defence of the coasts, but for indirectly furnishing him with 
 the supplies which the Parliament would not grant him. This claim so 
 alarmed and incensed the whole nation, that it was stoutly resisted by the 
 people, and led to the Revolution, by which the King lost his head on the 
 scaffold on the 30th of January, 1649. 
 
 * This gentleman was the owner of Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, as to 
 which see ante, p. 100. 
 
 t This Sir Edward Osborne was the son of Sir Hewitt Osborne, Knt., 
 and grandson of Sir Edward Osborne, Lord Mayor of London in the time 
 of Queen Elizabeth. He was the ancestor of the present Duke of Leeds. 
 
 ARMS OF THE DUKE OF LEEDS. 
 
126 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the Council of the North, annexed : 
 
 "Noble Sr. 
 
 Notwithstanding my request unto you att London, as also that I 
 made bould imediately upon my returne thence, to write unto you at Yorke, 
 and therew'th sent some money to pay unto Sr. Thomas Danby, for Ship 
 money; yet — notwithstanding his officers have driven away some of my 
 best Cattle, for Six Pounds demanded for the same — as by this letter sent 
 unto me by my servantes may appeare, procareing me great sorrow, labor, 
 and charges to signifie the same unto you and the Sheriffe : unto whom I 
 have written, requesting both yo'r assistance to se me righted att yo'r plea- 
 sures. Hartily wishing either a good life or a quiett grave. 
 
 Yo'r true friend, 
 
 2 of Decemb. 1637. Charles Egerton. 
 
 Copy of letter from the same Charles Egerton to the 
 same Sir Richard Osborne, annexed: 
 
 "Noble Sr. 
 
 Under protection of yo'r love, I have made bold to send you by 
 this bearer forty shillings, w'ch I desire may be payed to Sir Thom. Danby, 
 for this year's Ship money, in discharge of my Lands in Yorkshire — two 
 motives inducing me so to do. First, because you promised to move him 
 therein, as also to save me the charges and trouble of sending two hundred 
 miles to pay the same in Yorkshire. Sr., I was 'sessed there Seaven pound 
 the last yeare, when the verry next Towne, with the Manour and all, was 
 but forty shillings. 
 
 Noviembar the 25th, 1637. 
 
 To his noble kind freind Sr. Edward Osborne, Knt., Baronett, Vice- 
 President of the north, these." 
 
 The above correspondence is addressed " To his noble 
 friend Sr. Thomas Danby, Knight, Baronett, High 
 Sheriffe for the County of Yorke, give these." 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby was zealously attached to the 
 royal cause during the Civil Wars, and was entrusted 
 with the command, or colonelcy, of a regiment of sol- 
 diers which was raised in this district. 
 
 The King having determined to declare war against 
 Scotland, in order to enforce the submission of the peo- 
 ple of that country to his will, in regard to the adoption 
 by them of Episcopacy and the English Liturgy, which 
 they strenuously resisted — set forth upon his mad cru- 
 sade in March, 1639, and having arrived at York on 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 127 
 
 the 30th of that month, was there met by a number of 
 the Yorkshire nobility and gentry. On that occasion 
 he was presented with the following important address, 
 which, it will be seen, is signed by, amongst others, Sir 
 Thomas Danby. 
 
 " Most dread Sovereign, 
 
 We, your Majesty's most humble and loyal subjects, the Deputy 
 Lieutenants and Colonels of the County of York, having heard and consi- 
 dered of divers propositions made unto us by Sir Jacob Astley, Knt., Ser- 
 jeant Major General of the Field, and Sir Thomas Moreton, Knt. and 
 Colonel, conducing to the safety and defence of your Majesty's whole King- 
 dom, and more particular of these Northern parts, do, with all humble 
 readiness and unanimous consent, profess that in case your Majesty, out of 
 your princely wisdom, shall find cause to command our services, we with 
 our persons, together with the Trained Bands of this County (being double 
 their ancient number, and the charge of any other County near us, propor- 
 tionally), will be ready to march, with the arms charged upon us, to such 
 place or places of rendezvous as your Majesty shall be pleased to assign : 
 there to enter into pay according to your Majesty's instructions, signified by 
 the said Sir Jacob Astley. Nevertheless, with all humble submission, we 
 beseech your Majesty to take into your gracious consideration in what state 
 and condition our country, fortunes, wives, and children, will be then left, 
 when those forces shall be totally drawn from us, which, as we conceive, are 
 and always have been seated and settled among us for our own defence and 
 safety at home, and, for anything that we have heard or can find to the con- 
 trary, even in times of great hostility, were never all at once employed out 
 of our own County, upon any remote service whatsoever : nor can we but 
 expect many insolences and disorders from such forces as shall be raised out 
 of other parts for securing ours during our absence, as may appear by expe- 
 rience of some former times — all which we most loyally and dutifully sub- 
 mit to your Majesty's princely wisdom, being really confident that as your 
 Majesty's most vigilant eye of providence ever watcheth over all your king- 
 doms in general, for the public peace and preservation, so you w T ill be gra- 
 ciously pleased to take us and our County now into your royal consideration, 
 who shall be exposed to most danger in case your Majesty be enforced to 
 enter into action. Thus beseeching God for your Majesty's long and pros- 
 perous reign over us, we humbly rest, your Majesty's most loyal subjects 
 and obedient Servants, 
 
 Edward Osborne Hugh Cholmondeley 
 
 William Scott, major Arthur Ingram 
 
 William Savill William Sheffield 
 
 Jo. Hotham George Went worth 
 
 Henry Griffith Edward Rhodes 
 
 William Pennyman Thomas Danby 
 
 Thomas Mesham William Mallory 
 
 
128 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE . 
 
 Henry Goodrick George Butler 
 
 William Lister Robert Strickland 
 
 Jo. Ramsden Robert Rockley." 
 
 This document, although full of loyalty, was in truth 
 a remonstrance, and intended as such, and ought to have 
 induced the King to have refrained from pressing for- 
 ward with his army to the border — especially when it 
 was well known at the time that the Scots were united 
 as a nation in favour of the covenant ; and it was not 
 right or just, or even politic, thus to attempt to forbid 
 them their liberty of opinion on religious matters. But 
 it failed in inducing him to alter his plans. 
 
 Sir Thomas represented the Borough of Eichmond 
 in Parliament, and was member for that constituency 
 during the memorable Long Parliament. In the year 
 1642, however, that august body declared him incapable 
 of sitting in it, on account of his attachment to the 
 royal cause. 
 
 He also warmly and zealously adhered to, and sup- 
 ported, his relative and patron, the unfortunate and 
 cruelly persecuted Earl of Strafford, during all his con- 
 contentions and trials, and was one of the very few 
 persons who ventured to come forward openly and give 
 evidence on his behalf, on the occasion of his Trial on 
 the Bill of Attainder before Parliament, and to vote 
 against his conviction on that occasion. For this, his 
 honourable adherence to the cause of the fallen Earl, he 
 was one of those few members whose names were pub- 
 licly posted up in London on the 3rd of May, 1641, 
 immediately after the trial and conviction of the Earl, 
 and thus pointed out to the fury of the inflamed popu- 
 lace, as " Straffordians." 
 
 The following lines, which are ascribed to the Earl, 
 shew that he fully appreciated the kindness and devotion 
 thus shewn to him by Sir Thomas and his other friends. 
 
 " The pride of life has vanished, 
 And here I stand alone, 
 Degraded, stript, and banished 
 From all that was my own : 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 129 
 
 Yet in dreams, when friends surround me 
 
 "With the loyal and the true, 
 The youthful links that bound me, 
 
 Seem all riveted anew. 
 
 "When I hear their loyal voices, 
 
 I half forget my wrongs, 
 And again my heart rejoices 
 
 In our good old loyal songs. 
 
 Pent up in these dark regions, 
 
 The only gems I boast, 
 Are my honour and allegiance — 
 
 All else of earth is lost." 
 
 Sir h. Ellis's Original Letters, Vol. III. 
 
 I may here mention that a good portrait of the Earl 
 is preserved at Swinton Park, and may be seen in the 
 dining room there. 
 
 ARMS OF THE EARL OP STRAFFORD. 
 
 During the supremacy of the Roundheads Sir Tho- 
 mas Danby was long detained a prisoner, and obliged to 
 pay a fine of 5600/. to procure his freedom and the 
 restoration of his estates. 
 
 After the Restoration, King Charles II., in 1660, in- 
 vested him with the Order of " The Royal Oak," which 
 
 K 
 
130 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Order was projected by that monarch, in order to per- 
 petuate the loyalty of his faithful adherents, but was 
 afterwards abandoned under the apprehension that it 
 might also perpetuate dissensions which had better be 
 consigned to oblivion. 
 
 In the Act Book of the Ecclesiastical Court, so often 
 before alluded to, and in other evidences which I have 
 had the opportunity of examining, we have a melancholy 
 insight into the very sad condition of the morals of the 
 people of Mashamshire during the time of which I am 
 here treating.* They "appear to have been habitually 
 
 *The Rev. James Raine, M.A., in the Preface to his " Depositions from 
 the Castle of York, relating- to offences committed in the Northern Counties 
 in the seventeenth century," published since the above remarks were penned, 
 draws an equally dark picture of the state of the morals of the people in 
 the North of England generally at this period. He there says, "Every 
 village had its party of thieves : every family had its own fends and wrongs 
 to avenge. No one could go to rest with certainty of finding his cattle in his 
 fold when he arose in the morning*. The effects of such a system were most 
 disastrous. Agriculture was necessarily neglected. Refinement there was 
 none, and all the gentler arts were uncultivated and unknown. The hus- 
 bandman tilled his fields with his arms by his side, meditating, perhaps, all 
 the while a descent upon some neighbouring herd. The landed proprietor, 
 also, was but little in advance of his tenant in the social scale. He occasi- 
 onally assisted him in his raids. At all times he was willing to cast a cloak 
 
 over his offences On cvciy side there was rapine and bloodshed, and 
 
 the inhabitants of the district, gentle as well as simple, were Ishmaelites 
 
 indeed Of the social position and character of the people of the North 
 
 during the seventeenth century, it is impossible to speak with commendation. 
 
 These Depositions give us a very unvarnished tale Party spirit seems 
 
 to have raged with all the acrimony of later times, unattended by their 
 
 generosity. Treason in one form or another was not unfrequent Many 
 
 vices had sprung up which were congenial to that period, and which the 
 rulers treated with unequal justice that is so detrimental to the morals and hap- 
 piness of the people. Informers were far too busy with their calumnies and 
 lies, and men had not yet learned to look ux)on them with contempt. There 
 could be but little security either at home or abroad when freedom of speech 
 and liberty of conscience were hampered or denied. Restrictions are too 
 frequently the nurses of discontent and crime. What way could education 
 have made among the peoj)lewhen superstition was still rampant, and when 
 they listened with such implicit belief to every tale of witchcraft and spiri- 
 tual manifestations ? Religion also, I fear, had but little hold upon the 
 masses. They were obliged indeed to attend the services of the church, but 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 131 
 
 guilty of almost every conceivable offence, not only cog- 
 nizable in the Ecclesiastical Courts, but also in the civil 
 and criminal Courts of this country. Where there was 
 not a systematic opposition to the Reformed Church, 
 there was a dogged indifference to its teachings and 
 ministrations, and that too in spite of the very severe 
 
 there are few things more detrimental to true piety than such compulsory- 
 worship. It hore some very evil fruits. That this was the case the fre- 
 quency of the crime of sacrilege is a sufficient proof. When the spirit of 
 
 devotion is strong no unholy hand is laid upon a church There were 
 
 robbers of every description and degree, from the famous Nevinson to the 
 ordinary cut-purse. Horse-stealing was a very frequent offence, especially 
 in the time of the Civil Wars aud among the disbanded soldiery. Cattle- 
 stealing, which is now so rare, was one of the common vices both of town, 
 and country. But, perhaps, the most serious and frequent crime was the 
 clipping and deterioration of the coin The most striking political of- 
 fence was the great Presbyterian rising in October, 1663. That powerful 
 party had many real or imaginary grievances to arouse it. The neglect of 
 that Sovereign whom they had placed upon the throne — the vices that he 
 countenanced and practised — the black Bartholomew Act that emptied so 
 many pulpits — generated much bitterness and discontent. This broke out 
 at last in open rebellion. A conspiracy was organised at Harrogate and 
 Knaresbrough, which spread its ramifications through the whole of the nor- 
 thern Counties Numerous arrests were made throughout the north of 
 
 England, and in the Winter a special assize was held, at which the offenders 
 were brought to the bar. Twenty-two were executed in Yorkshire, and four 
 
 at Appleby. Many others were kept in prison for a long time Among 
 
 the political offenders of the day, the Quakers must undoubtedly be enume- 
 rated. That peculiar sect had only recently sprung into existence, and 
 through its luminaries, Fox and Naylor, it was very closely connected with 
 the north of England. [There were formerly a great number of Quakers 
 settled in Masham Parish, and there is still within it a Quakers' Meeting- 
 house and a Burial-ground, although there are not now any Quakers left in 
 the Parish]. The infancy of this religious party was more fiery than its 
 age. The Quakers were concerned more or less in all the plots of the time. 
 It was their delight to abuse the Minister in the pulpit, and the Judge upon 
 the bench. They were continually violating public order and decency in 
 the grossest manner. They prophesied — they walked about the streets in 
 the unadorned simplicity of our first parents — they howled and bellowed as 
 if an evil spirit was within them — they professed to use earthly weapons, as 
 the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Madness like this was of course 
 intolerable. The Yorkshire Justices clapped the deluded creatures into 
 prison — they suppressed their conventicles — they forced upon them the oath 
 of allegiance, and cooled their religious ardour in the gaol." 
 
132 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 enactments, which were put in force with great rigour, 
 by a not unwilling clergy, to coerce them into submis- 
 sion by an unwilling adoption by them of a new-fangled 
 creed, which found no favour either in their understand- 
 ings or their consciences. This was, undoubtedly, the 
 case, as to a large majority of the people in this parish; 
 and the great bulk of those who seemingly conformed 
 to the doctrines of the Reformed Church, did so merely 
 because of their utter indifference to all religion what- 
 ever, and would as readily have conformed themselves to 
 Mahomedanism, or any other form of religion, imposed 
 upon them by the state. Hence lawlessness and crime 
 became the rule rather than the exception. This was no 
 doubt attributable to the unsettled state of things which 
 had prevailed from the time of the Reformation as re- 
 gards religion. The Reformation had unsettled every- 
 thing, and had especially unloosed men's minds from all 
 restraint and authority. The Roman Catholics, on the 
 one hand, were no longer under the control of their 
 priesthood, which had hitherto exercised a wholesome 
 and salutary influence and authority over them, and 
 their moral conduct ; and, being denied the counsel and 
 advice of their own chosen guides, they refused to recog- 
 nize the authority of the Protestant Clergy, who had 
 superseded them ; whilst on the other hand, the Pro- 
 testants, or such as chose to call themselves by that 
 name, were impatient of all priestly control whatever, 
 and have not, even to this very day, acknowledged the 
 authority of their clergy over them, in anything like the 
 same degree as the Roman Catholics have ever done 
 towards their priesthood. All authority being thus 
 gone, the people were left like a bark without a rudder 
 on the troubled ocean, to be tossed about by every wind, 
 and the consequence was, that they gradually, but surely, 
 drifted into schism, and schism, ever begetting and repro- 
 ducing schism, (coupled with each individual, however 
 ignorant and unlearned, claiming to be divinely inspired, 
 and to exercise and act upon his own private judgment, 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 133 
 
 as to the rule of his faith and conduct), they ran into the 
 adoption of a great number of errors, contradictions, 
 and absurdities, which ended in their splitting up into 
 numberless sects, professing very opposite and contra- 
 dictory views upon the subject of religion; and thus 
 they brought religion in general into disrepute, as well 
 as scandal upon its professors.* 
 
 Men then rose up, as they have ever done, and will 
 ever do again, in like circumstances, 
 
 " With passions under no command, 
 Who fill the world with doctrines contraband, 
 Discoverers of they know not what, confined 
 Within no bounds — the blind that lead the blind." 
 
 This was especially the case with the Puritans, who 
 seemed to think that religion consisted in adopting a 
 peculiar gait and garb — in wearing lank hair cut in such 
 a manner as to represent an inverted bowl on their heads 
 (from which circumstance they acquired the name of 
 u Roundheads ") — in assuming a sour solemnity of coun- 
 tenance — in turning up the whites of their eyes — in al- 
 ways speaking with a nasal twang, and in a peculiar 
 dialect — in using the imagery and style of Scripture, 
 in speaking of the every day occurrences of lifef — in 
 
 * Principal Tulloch in his "English Puritanism and its Leaders" says 
 on this subject, " Startling as such contrasts appear, and inconsistent with all 
 sanity of judgment, they were not uncommon in this age. Men's minds in 
 such a storm of religious fervour as prevailed, passed rapidly from one ex- 
 treme to another. There was no principle too fixed or sacred for discussion ; 
 all landmarks in religious doctrines and experience had been torn up, arid 
 the spirit of inquiry, once set in motion, ran in many cases from indifference 
 to earnestness and the study of the Bible, and from these again, under some 
 new and irrepressible stimulus, to contempt, and libertinism both of thought 
 and practice." 
 
 f Cant was the fashion of the day ; and where a letter was not profusely 
 interlarded with the language and figures of Holy Writ, the author was 
 liable to be suspected of indifference or affection to the cause. 
 
 "An evil soul, producing holy witness, 
 Is like a villain with a smiling cheek." 
 
 Shakspere. 
 "And thus he clothes his naked villainy 
 With old odd ends stol'n forth of Holy Writ." 
 
 Dr. Beattie's Castles and Abbeys. 
 
134 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 their dislike to organ music in their Churches — in a hor- 
 ror to a liturgy and to bishops — but above all at the sight 
 of a cross (the emblem of our salvation), or other orna- 
 ments or decorations usually met with in God's house. 
 Such being their principles they interdicted, under heavy 
 penalties, the use of the Book of Common Prayer, not 
 only hi the Churches, but in private houses — ejected 
 many thousands of the Clergy from their benefices, 
 merely because they did not come up to their standard, 
 and did not adopt their peculiarities — defaced many of 
 the fine works of art, and remains of antiquity found in 
 our Churches — and prohibited every species of amuse- 
 ment however harmless — at the same time quoting texts 
 of Scripture in support of their atrocities. 
 
 " The world is still deceived with ornament 
 
 # # # # # 
 
 ■ In 'Religion, 
 
 "What damned error, but some sober brow 
 Will bless it, and approve it with a text, 
 Hiding the grossness with fair ornament ? 
 There is no vice so simple, but assumes 
 
 Some mark of virtue on its outward parts. 
 
 # * * * # 
 
 Thus ornament is but the guiled shore 
 
 To the most dangerous sea : the bounteous scarf 
 
 Veiling an Indian beauty : in a word, 
 
 The seeming Truth which cunning times put on 
 
 To entrap the wisest." 
 
 Shakspere. 
 
 The principles of these canting, whining fanatics, seem 
 to have extended themselves into our own parish, and 
 even to the person of the then vicar of Masham, the Rev. 
 Gilbert Horseman, who, amongst other things, objected 
 to wearing the prescribed vestments during the celebra- 
 tion by him of divine service, as well as to " reading 
 Prayers upon the Eves of Sundays and Holy days," and 
 " the Litany and other Prayers upon Wednesdays and 
 Fridays," and to toll the bell for Prayers upon Wednes- 
 days and Fridays, as had hitherto been the practice, for 
 which offence he was suspended from his ministrations 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 135 
 
 by our Ecclesiastical Court, but more effectually by his 
 resignation and death, which took place shortly after- 
 wards. But 
 
 " Soon their crude notions with each other fought ; 
 
 The adverse sect deny'd what this had taught ; 
 
 And he at length the amplest triumph gain'd, 
 
 Who contradicted what the last maintain'd." 
 
 Prior. 
 
 Accordingly a few years later, the Rev. Benjamin 
 Browne, the then Vicar of Masham, who was more 
 orthodox 'in his doctrines and practices, was ejected 
 from, and kept out of his vicarage for some twelve years 
 by the Puritans, during which time his place was sup- 
 plied by nonconforming ministers, who intruded them- 
 selves into his living. They, too, in their turn, were 
 ejected soon after the Restoration, when Mr. Browne 
 was restored to his living. The sentiment contained in 
 the following couplet will commend itself to all right- 
 thinking people, when placed in circumstances such as 
 have here been described : 
 
 " To live uprightly then is sure the hest, 
 To save ourselves, and not to damn the rest." 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 During this unhappy and troublous period our Church 
 was despoiled of its carved Rood Screen and Lattices, 
 which till then separated the choir and side chapels from 
 the nave*" — of its Altar-rails, which, no doubt, were too 
 ornamental for the puritanical taste of the times — its 
 encaustic Tiles at the Communion Table — of its stained 
 
 * Dr. Whitaker, in his History of Richmondshire, in speaking of the de- 
 struction of the Rood Screen in our Church, thus characteristically expresses 
 himself: " Highly as the neatness and exact repair of the Church are to be 
 commended, it is still matter of regret that all the Screens and Lattices, 
 which once separated the Choir and the Side Chapels from the nave, have 
 been removed. In the breaking down of these fences, either to sanctity or 
 to property, there is something extremely like the breaking down of all dis- 
 tinction between the different ranks of society, which is one of the worst, 
 among many, bad symptoms of the age. A shield, bearing argent on a fess 
 between three plain cotises, gules, as many Jleurs de lys, was in a northern 
 window in 1622." 
 
136 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 glass windows (fragments of which encaustic tiles and 
 stained glass were found buried under the floor of the 
 church during the late restorations) — of some of its 
 brasses, sepulchral crosses, and other ornaments. Well 
 may it be said, 
 
 " Arouse the tiger of Hyrcanian deserts, 
 Strive with the half-starved lion for his prey ; 
 Lesser the risk, than rouse the slumbering fire 
 Of wild fanaticism." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the Church had to undergo 
 its trials, as well as Sir Thomas Danby, the then Lord 
 of Mashamshire. Whilst the Restoration put an end to 
 the trials of the Church, death, about the same time, 
 put an end to the sufferings of Sir Thomas, he having 
 died in London on the 5th of August, 1660, when he 
 was buried in the north choir in York Minster. 
 
 Thomas Danby (who was a captain in the Royal Army 
 and the first mayor of Leeds) succeeded him in his es- 
 tates. He did not, however, live long to enjoy them, 
 having been slain before Leeds in 1667, when he was 
 succeeded by his son Thomas Danby, who was a minor 
 at the time. He too only lived some four years, when 
 he was succeeded by his brother Christopher Danby, 
 who, within two years afterwards, was killed by a fall 
 from his horse, whilst hunting on Watlass moor. 
 
 By the death of all the three sons of Sir Thomas 
 Danby, in such rapid succession, Mashamshire, in 
 the year 1683, became vested in Sir Thomas's brother, 
 Christopher Danby, Esq., as the heir-at-law of his last 
 surviving nephew. He, however, . in the same year 
 granted Mashamshire to his eldest son, Sir Abstrupus 
 Danby, Knt., who immediately entered into the posses- 
 sion and enjoyment of it. 
 
 Sir Abstrupus, very fortunately, was in the prime of 
 life when he thus came into possession of the estate 
 (being then thirty -two years of age) for it was then very 
 much involved in debt, owing partly to the extravagance 
 and bad management of some of his ancestors, and partly 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE, 137 
 
 to the heavy losses which his grandfather, Sir Thomas 
 Danby, had sustained by the Civil Wars. Under such 
 circumstances, there was great need of such a person as 
 he proved himself to be, in order to put matters again 
 on a proper footing. He, accordingly, proceeded to 
 sell off the outlying and detached estates at Watlass, 
 Thorp-Perrow, Scruton, and Driffield; and, with the 
 money thus realised, paid off the outstanding debts and 
 charges upon the lands in Mashamshire. He at the 
 same time bought from Mr. Norton the remaining one- 
 third* of the Manor of Swinton, together with the Man- 
 sion-house there ; and thus becoming the sole owner of 
 it, he changed the family residence or seat from Thorp- 
 Perrow to Swinton. Such was the debt of gratitude 
 which he thus earned for himself from his family, that 
 on his death, they caused a very expensive and sump- 
 tuous monument to be erected to his memory in Masham 
 church, on which they state, " God favouring him he 
 was the Restorer of his Family" ; which seems in their 
 eyes, at least, to have been his only merit, for they do 
 not in their inscription to his memory, ascribe any other 
 to him, although he was as well entitled to an eulogistic 
 epitaph as any of his successors. 
 
 Besides thus improving the family estates, Sir Abstru- 
 pus found time also to serve his country and the public, 
 as all gentlemen possessing his means and abilities ought 
 to do. He was an active Justice of the Peace, and 
 Deputy Lieutenant for the North-Riding of Yorkshire ; 
 and in the year 1698, he represented the ancient Borough 
 of Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, in Parliament. If 
 however, we are to place any reliance upon the following 
 couplet, which was written of him, it would seem he 
 was not a very valiant man : 
 
 "Sir Abstrupus was a Knight: 
 Wore a sword, and would not fight." 
 
 Sir Abstrupus, however deficient he may have been in 
 
 * It will be seen that at page 109 ante, that the mother of Christopher 
 Danby had previously bought two-thirds of the Manor of Swinton. 
 
138 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 valour, does not appear to have been wanting in family 
 pride, (which, by the way, is a very pardonable, if not a 
 laudable weakness), if one may judge from the following 
 inscription, which he had put at the foot of an engraving 
 of Swinton Hall, he had engraved in the year 1723. It 
 runs thus : " Swinton Hall, the Seat of Sir Abstrupus 
 Danby, Knt., one of ye Heirs general of the Lords 
 Scroop of Masham and Upsal : and by marriages with 
 the several houses of Wivel, Lord Latimer, and the 
 Earl of Westmorland, is descended from John of Gaunt, 
 
 THE OLD HALL AT SWINTON, 1723. 
 
 Duke of Lancaster, fourth son to the most victorious 
 Prince Edward the third King of England, &c." A truly 
 noble descent certainly, and one of which Sir Abstrupus 
 or any one else might well feel proud. 
 
 He married Judith the daughter of Abraham Moon, 
 a merchant in London, and relict of William Davies, 
 Esq., younger brother to Sir Thomas Davies, Lord 
 Mayor of London; and dying on the 24th Deer. 1727, 
 he was succeeded by his son Abstrupus Danby, Esq. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 139 
 
 The following sketch from Sir Abstrupus Danby's 
 Pedigree, will shew that he was perfectly justified in 
 laying claim to the royal descent here mentioned: — 
 
 Henry III., King of England^Eleanor, dau. and coheir of Raymond Berenger. 
 
 Edward I., King : 
 of England. 
 
 : Eleanor, daughter of Ferdi- 
 nand III., King of Castile. 
 
 Edmund Earl= 
 of Lancaster. 
 
 =Blanche, Queen 
 Dow. of Navarre. 
 
 Edward II.,=^=Eleanor, daughter of Philip 
 
 King of 
 England. 
 
 the Fair, King of 
 France. 
 
 Henry, =pMaud, daughter and 
 Earl of | heiress of Sir Patrick 
 Lancaster. Chaworth. 
 
 Edward 1 1 1., =j= Phillip a, daughter of William, Lady Mary =pHenry, 3rd Lord 
 
 ~)ied Pla.ntagenet. Percy, of Aln- 
 wick. 
 
 r J 
 
 Henry, 4th LoRD^Maud, sister and 
 
 King of 
 England. 
 
 Count of Hainault. 
 1369. 
 
 John of GAUNT,=pCatharine, widow 
 
 4th son of King 
 Edward III. 
 
 of Sir Otho de 
 Swinford, Knt., 
 (his third wife.) 
 
 Percy, father of 
 the renowned 
 " Hotspur." 
 
 heiress of An- 
 thony Lord 
 Lucy. 
 
 1 I : 
 
 Maud PERCY=f=John de Neville, 3rd Lord Neville, of Raby. 
 I , 1 
 
 Joan de Beau-=j=Ralph Neville, lst^Margaret, daughter of Hugh Earl of 
 fort (2nd wife), j Earl of Westmoreland. | Stafford (1st wife). 
 
 George ^Lady Elizabeth Beauchamp, daugh- 
 
 Neville, 
 1st Lord 
 Latimer. 
 
 ter of Richard Earl of Warwick, 
 the "King maker," whose daugh- 
 ter Anne married Richard III. 
 
 John, died=p. 
 in the life 
 time of his 
 father. 
 
 Sir Henry Neville, who : 
 fell at the battle of Edg- 
 cot, near Banbury, in the 
 life time of his father. 
 
 Richard, 2nd : 
 Lord Latimer, 
 of Snape Castle. 
 
 : Joanna, dau. 
 of Jn. Bour- 
 chier Lord 
 Berners. 
 
 J 
 
 daughter 
 
 Ralph, 2nd= Elizabeth, 
 Earl of dau. of 
 
 Westmore- Henry Lord 
 land. Percy. 
 
 1 
 
 John : 
 
 — J 
 
 : Anne, daughter of 
 
 Sir Humphrey 
 
 Stafford, of Grafton. 
 
 Ralph NEViLLE,=f=Margaret, daugh- 
 3rd Earl of West- ter of Sir Roger 
 moreland. | Booth, of Barton. 
 
 I 
 
 ELizA-^Sir Christopher 
 beth. I Danby, Knt., of 
 Thorpe- Perrow. 
 
 Ralph Neville,= 
 4th Earl of West- 
 moreland. 
 
 1 
 
 : Lady Catharine Stafford, 
 daughter of Edward Duke 
 of Buckingham. 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, Knt.=f=MARY, dau. of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmoreland. 
 
 m r J 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esa.^Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, Esq. 
 
 I ' 
 
 Christopher Danby, Eso,=r Frances, <*• of Ed. Parker Lord Morley and Monteagle. 
 
 I ' 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, KNT.=pCatharine Wandesford, of Kirklington. 
 
 I ' 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esct.=T=Ann, daughter of Col. Edward Colepepper. 
 
 I • — ' 
 
 Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knt., 12th in direct descent from Edward III., King 
 
 of England. 
 
140 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIIIEE. 
 
 This Abstrupus Danby was of the mature age of 
 forty-seven when he came to the family estates, and al- 
 though he lived to enjoy them some twenty-three years, 
 he was of such unassuming and retired habits that he 
 took no part in public business, but lived for himself 
 alone (as many country gentry do) without leaving any 
 record in the page of history and still less in the scroll 
 of fame, or any good deeds to perpetuate his memory, 
 or shew that any such person had ever existed. 
 
 " What is a man, 
 If his chief good, and market of his time, 
 Be hut to sleep, and feed ? a beast, no more, 
 Sure, He, that made us with such large discourse, 
 Looking before, and after, gave us not 
 That capability and Godlike reason 
 
 To rust in us unused." 
 
 Shakspere. 
 
 In the month of January 1741, a contested election 
 took place for the representation of the County of York 
 in Parliament. The following extracts taken from the 
 Poll Book on that occasion will furnish the names of the 
 persons who were Freeholders within Mashamshire at 
 that date. 
 
 Freeholders' Names. 
 
 Where Freeholds lye. 
 
 Place of Abode. 
 
 Candidate. 
 
 Thomas Banks .... 
 
 Masham 
 
 Masham 
 
 Chomley & } 
 Turner. j 
 
 Joseph Calvert .... 
 
 Grewelthorpe . . 
 
 
 Turner. 
 
 Thomas Fownes* . . 
 
 Masham Parish . 
 
 Masham Parish . 
 
 Turner. 
 
 Christopher Gardiner 
 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 Thomas Jackson .... 
 
 Masham Parish . 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 John Lonsdale .... 
 
 Bellerby 
 
 
 Turner. 
 
 William Lupton .... 
 
 Skipton in Craven 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 Matthew Metcalf f . . 
 
 Nidderdale 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 William Thirkhill .. 
 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 
 
 
 Turner. 
 
 
 Kirkby Malzeard 
 
 Masham 
 
 Turner. 
 
 * The Grandfather of Thomas and Solomon Fawnes of Fearby. 
 f The Schoolmaster of the Masham Free School, who appears to have 
 voted in right of the land belonging to the School. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 141 
 
 During the Scotch Rebellion of 1745, the good people 
 of Mashamshire were thrown into a great state of trepi- 
 dation and alarm by the report of a great victory which 
 the young Pretender had gained over the English army 
 (probably referring to the battle of Falkirk, which was 
 fought on the 17 th of January, 1746), and that the 
 Scots' army were making rapid advances towards this 
 neighbourhood. They all, thus panic-struck, with one 
 accord, proceeded at once to bury and conceal the 
 most valuable of their several goods and chattels, in the 
 most extraordinary places, and in the most ludicrous 
 manner : not forgetting at the same time to conceal their 
 own precious persons in the best way they were able. 
 After the danger was past, the many ridiculous scenes 
 which the panic gave rise to, were much talked of, and 
 were long remembered by the name of u Run-away- 
 Wednesday." 
 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq., the then Lord of Masham 
 and Mashamshire, married Eliza the daughter of Arthur 
 Ingram, Esq., of Barrowby, brother to Henry Lord Ir- 
 win; and, dying on the 12th of March, 1750, was suc- 
 ceeded in his estates by his eldest son, William Danby. 
 
 William Danby was a different person altogether to 
 his father. He was a gentleman of great intelligence and 
 good taste combined, with active business habits, talents 
 which he brought into full play in the improvement of 
 his vast estate, and the amelioration of the condition of 
 the people upon it. He reclaimed and brought into 
 profitable cultivation large tracts of the moor-lands, and 
 also considerably improved his own private residence 
 and pleasure grounds at Swinton, the latter of which 
 he laid out with great judgment and good taste. His 
 improvements altogether appear to have been such as to 
 have attracted considerable attention at the time, and to 
 have been the subject of much comment. 
 
 He was also a great benefactor to the charities of the 
 town and parish of Masham, as well as to the Church, 
 besides being the largest contributor to the establishing 
 
142 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and founding of the Grammar and Free Schools, in 
 Masham, as will be seen hereafter when I come to treat 
 of these charities. 
 
 About the year 1768, in consequence of the fame of 
 his extensive improvements upon his estates, he was 
 honoured with a visit from Arthur Young, the eminent 
 agricultural author of that period, whose works, coupled 
 with his Tour, gave such an impetus at the time to that 
 science, and to the improvement generally of the large 
 landed estates of this country. He has devoted several 
 pages of his work, called his " Northern Tour," to notic- 
 ing the state of agriculture at that time within this parish, 
 and his remarks are so good and interesting that I am 
 tempted, by way of elucidating the improvements then 
 being effected by Mr. Danby, to copy from it very freely. 
 In speaking of the course of husbandry pursued within 
 this parish, he says : " Their courses of Husbandry are 
 1st, Fallow — 2nd, Wheat — 3rd, Beans. Another course 
 is 1st, Fallow — 2nd, Wheat — 3rd, Turnips (which latter 
 is the cart before the horse). For Wheat they plough 
 four or five times — sow from nine to eleven pecks about 
 Michaelmas, and reckon to average two and a half quar- 
 ters. For Barley they plough three times, sow from 
 ten to twelve pecks in April, and gain at a medium the 
 same quantity as of Wheat. For Oats they give but 
 one stirring, sow four and a half bushels in March, and 
 reckon the mean crop at three quarters. They give but 
 one earth for Beans, sow as much as of oats the end of 
 February or the beginning of March, broadcast — never 
 hoe — the crop two quarters. They plough but once for 
 Peas, sow nine or ten pecks in March — the crop the 
 same as of beans. For Turnips they give four plough- 
 ings, sow them the end of May or beginning of June — 
 it is known amongst the farmers that such a practice as 
 hoeing exists, and some of them begin to talk a little of 
 it, but very few have practised it. The average value 
 per acre is 21. 10s. They plough once or twice for 
 Rape, sow it at the end of July, never feed it — sow 
 
HISTOEY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 143 
 
 Wheat after it — know nothing of Clover. Pay very 
 little attention to raising large quantities of Manure — 
 their principal dependence is upon Lime, of which they 
 lay from one to two and a half chaldrons per acre. Good 
 Grass lets from 20s. to 25s. per acre. The summer joist 
 of a cow from 20s. to 25s. The annual expense of a 
 Horse (including shoeing) they reckon at 11. The sum- 
 mer joist is 45s., and that of winter Is. 6d. per week. 
 Poor-rates twopence to fivepence in the pound — at Mas- 
 ham tenpence. The employment, spinning of worsted : 
 a woman earns, if industrious, sixpence or eightpence a 
 day. All drink Tea.* Price of labour, &c. — In Har- 
 vest 26s. or 28s. and board and lodging. . In Hay-time 
 
 a mower 30s. a month and board and lodging — in Win- 
 s' ^ 
 ter sixpence a day and board and lodging. Mowing 
 
 grass two shillings per acre. First man's wages, 10/. to 
 13/. — next ditto ll. — Boy of ten or twelve years, 31. — ■ 
 Dairymaids, 51. — other maids SI. 10s. to 4/. 4s. Women 
 per day in Harvest tenpence to one shilling — in Hay- 
 time sevenpence to eightpence— in Winter sixpence. 
 Price of Provisions, &c. — Cheese 2d., Butter 8d. the 
 22 ounces— Beef 3d, Mutton 3d, Yeal 3d, Pork §\d. 
 — Milk one halfpenny the one and a half pint — Potatoes 
 Z\d. the peck — Turnips 3d ditto — Candles 6^d the lb. 
 Soap Id. the lb. Labourer's House-rent 15s. to 40s. 
 Firing 15s." 
 
 Such is Mr. Young's general summary of the state 
 and practice of agriculture, within this parish, nearly 
 one hundred years ago. In a subsequent part of his 
 work he has the following observations, having reference 
 to Masham parish. 
 
 " One of Mr. Danby's tenants (Lightfoot by name) 
 has shewn, in one or two instances, somewhat more at- 
 tention to improvements than the general herd. He has 
 cultivated Cabbages four years — winter fallows the land 
 for them, and sets the rows three feet asunder, and the 
 
 * Tea was first brought into England in 1666, and was for some time 
 generally sold for 60s. per pound. 
 
 i 
 
144 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 plants 22 inches. He finds them, both in quantity and 
 use, far beyond turnips : values all he has had at 6/. an 
 acre. I asked him what he would take for the present 
 year's crop of three acres, he replied he would not sell 
 them at all. Could you take 101. an acre? 'Tis a deal 
 of money replied he, but I would not part with them at 
 all. An answer in the mouth of a common farmer, and 
 that a little one too, after four year's experience, is de- 
 cisive with me in respect to the value of Cabbages. But 
 the object much the most worthy of attention in this 
 country is the immense tract of moors which back it to' 
 the westward. Mr. Danby possesses several thousands 
 of contiguous acres, which do not yield him a tenth part 
 as many farthings a year. 
 
 He has a Colliery upon the edge of his moors which 
 employs many hands. The cottages of the colliers are 
 scattered about at no great distance. Each had at first 
 a small garden, which from the great foresight and re- 
 fined politics (for I can give the conduct no other name) 
 of their landlord grew into little farms." He here adds 
 in a note, " Great praise is here given to Mr. Danby for 
 his judgment and kindness towards the miners, and after 
 their own farms are in good cultivation, he encloses part 
 of the moor for their use, which after some years they 
 pay a trifling rent." 
 
 The best intelligence I gained was of James Croft one 
 of the colliers. But this man deserves a more particular 
 attention. Thirteen years ago he began his husbandry 
 by taking in an acre of moor, which he pared and burnt, 
 spread three chaldrons of lime among the ashes, and 
 sowed it with oats, of which he got but an indifferent 
 crop. He next threw in three more chaldrons, planted 
 half of it with potatoes, and sowed the other half with 
 maslin, the crop middling. He then limed it again, 
 sowed it with oats, the crop thirty-five bushels. After 
 another liming he sowed it with oats, and gained fifty 
 bushels. Next he limed it again, and sowed half of it 
 with barley, and planted the other half with potatoes, 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSH1RE. 145 
 
 the crops but indifferent. He then limed it again, and 
 sowed oats once more of which he got forty bushels. 
 With these oats he sowed hay-seeds, all he could get 
 together or procure, which was thirty-six bushels. After 
 the oats were off he mixed some lime and earth together 
 and spread over the land. The grass came very finely 
 and has been exceedingly good ever since, and improving 
 every year, and it is now worth twenty shillings an acre. 
 I viewed it attentively, and think it well worth that rent. 
 
 This first essay was very spirited, but not carried on 
 upon principles which can be altogether approved of. 
 Indeed it could not be expected that a poor collier should 
 strike at once, and without any experience, into an accu- 
 rate and correct husbandry. 
 
 His next effort was upon an addition of eight acres, 
 which, however, were too much for him to improve at 
 once, but he effected it all by degrees. Three acres 
 were exceedingly stony, so that after a division by walls 
 built out of them, many remained. One acre cost him 
 two months to clear and fill up the holes. Some single 
 stones required near a week. Laborious as the work 
 was he completed by degrees, and pared and burnt the 
 soil. He threw these lands into better husbandry 
 (though not totally defensible) than what he used before. 
 His method was to sow turnips upon the pared and 
 burned land, after liming two chaldrons per acre, which 
 costs by the time it is laid on the land Us. Qd. a chal- 
 dron. The turnips are generally worth 20<s. to 30s. an 
 acre. He draws and scatters them on his grass for his 
 cows and young cattle. After the turnips he ploughs 
 four times, lays on two chaldrons per acre of lime, and 
 sows oats, eight bushels per acre. The crop varies from 
 forty to sixty bushels. After these oats he sows four 
 more successive crops of them, for each of which he 
 ploughs three or four times, and also limes at the rate 
 of two chaldrons per acre. The average of these crops 
 is forty-six bushels per acre. With the last he lays 
 down to grass by sowing plenty of hay-seeds. 
 
 L 
 
146 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 This has been his general course, but sometimes he 
 has sown rye, of which he generally gets thirty- six 
 bushels per acre. Potatoes he has regularly cultivated : 
 sets them in rows two feet asunder, and one foot in the 
 rows ; in which manner thirteen bushels plant an acre. 
 The mean produce is 158 bushels. 
 
 Two years ago he took in eight acres more, on which 
 he is now hard at work. It is astonishing with what 
 perseverance he attacks the most enormous stones, cut- 
 ting them in pieces, carrying them away, and then bring- 
 ing mould to fill the holes up, and he has such an idea 
 of heather that he will not pass one. He has five acres 
 of grass, his management of which is very good. He 
 lays all the dung he can raise upon it, mixed well with 
 lime, and sometimes with good earth ; and this dressing 
 he repeats every third year, without failing. His stock of 
 cattle is three milch cows, a heifer, and a galloway : their 
 winter food, hay, turnips, and straw. Two acres of 
 commonly improved grass (from moors) he reckons suffi- 
 cient to summer feed a cow, but an acre and a half of 
 his will do. He makes six pounds of butter per cow per 
 week, twenty-four ounces to the pound, for three months, 
 and four pounds the rest of the summer. And each of 
 his cows eat an acre of hay in the winter. He has not 
 yet had enough of his own for them, buying some, but 
 hopes soon to effect that. 
 
 Besides the mere husbandry of his fields, he has done 
 something in the ornamental way, having almost sur- 
 rounded two of his closes with a young plantation of firs 
 and other trees, which thrive extremely well. Attentive 
 to every object that can render the farm either profitable, 
 convenient, or agreeable, he has with no slight trouble 
 directed a little rill of water from the moors through his 
 fields, by which means he not only has water in every 
 field for his cattle, but can also water some of his grass, 
 and thereby fertilize it much. Were I to dwell upon 
 every circumstance of this collier's husbandry, I should 
 be afraid of tediousness, but I shall not conclude without 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. • 147 
 
 attempting to give you some idea of the man as well as 
 his farm. 
 
 I have shewn you how he has managed for several 
 years above nine acres of land, much of it always in 
 tillage, and some constantly fresh breaking up and im- 
 proving. We have found him cropping his land several 
 years successively (a practice though bad, yet of increa- 
 sing labour) never sowing any without a previous ample 
 liming, and three or four ploughings — adding to his 
 cultivated land, by perfectly clearing the fresh soil from 
 all stones, some of them of enormous size, of many tons 
 weight, and by paring and burning in the most spirited 
 and laborious manner. When you consider these circum- 
 stances, and that at the same time he has had the courage 
 to attack eight acres more, will you not conclude that he 
 has received much assistance, either of money or labour, 
 or that many favourable circumstances hitherto unre- 
 lated, have enabled him to make such advances in so 
 spirited a conduct? But the very contrary of all this is 
 the case. His work in the colliery has been regular, 
 equal in every respect to the other men, and in some 
 superior. His hour of going to the mine is twelve 
 o'clock at night, the work and time of meals are over 
 at noon the next. The remainder is all he has had to per- 
 form what I can scarcely call less than wonders : nor 
 has he ever received the least assistance of any kind, or 
 ever expended one shilling in hiring the labour of ano- 
 ther man. The quantity of lime he has laid on his land 
 is very great, and much more than what is commonly 
 used by the neighbouring farmers; the number of 
 ploughings he has given his fields is equally superior; 
 and yet all this labour has been performed with a single 
 galloway, the lime brought six miles. It is astonishing 
 what a spirit of perseverance must have actuated this 
 extraordinary man, to execute with such slight engines, 
 works that will put many farmers with teams to the 
 blush. Some assistance in weeding potatoes, in harvest, 
 &c, and such slight work he has received from his 
 
148 MASH AM AND MASHAMSRIRE. 
 
 family, but you may suppose it not considerable, when I 
 tell you that of four or five children, he has only one 
 son about fourteen years of age, who works with him 
 constantly in the colliery. From the time of leaving 
 off work in the mine till that of sleeping, he has regu- 
 larly spent in unremitted labour in his farm; since his 
 beginning he has never had more than four hours sleep, 
 and of moon-light or star-light nights, seldom so much. 
 The regular severe fatigue of the colliery has not been 
 sufficient to bow down the spirit of this poor fellow. He 
 applies the remainder of the day, and even steals from 
 the night, to prosecute his favourite works of husbandry 
 — that is, to make up his hours of work to twenty, out 
 of the twenty-four. Such a conduct requires a genius 
 of a peculiar cast — daring in his courage and spirited in 
 his ideas ; the most extensive plans are neither too vast, 
 nor too complicated, to be embraced with facility, by his 
 bold and comprehensive imagination ; with a penetration 
 that sees the remotest difficulty; a prudence and firm- 
 ness of mind that removes every one the moment it is 
 foreseen ; we attribute the wonders he has performed to 
 the powers of his mind, and almost forget that the whole 
 which is executed of his ideas, has been the work of his 
 own hands. The severest fatigue, the most assiduous 
 labour, have been unable to quench the fire of the one, 
 or repress the vigour of the other. The greatest, and 
 indeed, the only object of his thoughts, is the improve- 
 ment of the wilds that surround him, over which he 
 casts an anxious but magnanimous eye, wishing for the 
 freedom to attack, with his own hands, an enemy, the 
 conquest of whom would yield laurels to a man of ample 
 fortune. I asked him what he would do if he had his 
 whole time to apply to his farm : "I could perform 
 something/' said he, " at present I do nothing." Hint- 
 ing to him that I would mention to Mr. Danby the re- 
 leasing him from the colliery, that all his time might be 
 applied to farming, his countenance was animated at the 
 very idea : his eyes sparkled with pleasure. Upon my 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 149 
 
 asking him further, if he did not think every part of the 
 moors were highly susceptible of improvement : " Im- 
 provement, Sir ! " he replied with eagerness, " there is 
 not an acre but might be made as good land as a man 
 would wish to farm." Upon my asking him further, if 
 he thought he could improve a larger tract than was 
 within the power of one pair of hands, by having men, 
 horses and carts, &c, put under his direction? "Aye 
 sure," he replied, "for it is nothing more than extend- 
 ing the proportion of ten acres to a great number. It 
 would be hard indeed, Sir, if a man that had improved 
 ten acres with his own hands, could not direct the im- 
 provement of one hundred, or a thousand." What 
 would you do if any unthought of accident gave you an 
 hundred pounds? " Lay it all out in improving land." 
 I had a long conversation with him upon these subjects,, 
 and found him very sensible, spirited, and most enthusi- 
 astically devoted to the improving of moors. His ideas 
 are clear and shining, and though his language is totally 
 unrefined and provincial, insomuch that some attention 
 is necessary to comprehend the plainest of his meaning; 
 yet whoever will take the pains to examine him, will 
 find him a genius in husbandry ; a diamond of the first 
 water, but so buried in the obscurity of the mine as to 
 be scarcely distinguishable from the vulgar rubbish that 
 surrounds it. The view of this remarkable man's little 
 farm, and the conversation I had with him upon the im- 
 provement of moors, a point of such vast importance in 
 this country, prejudiced me so much in his favour as to 
 make me wish it were possible to enable him not only to 
 add greatly to his farm, but to conduct the culture of it 
 upon a spirited plan. I mentioned it to Mr. Danby 
 (who had at first introduced me to him as an extraordi- 
 nary fellow) and he agreed with me that his being a 
 collier spoiled a good farmer, adding that he had thought 
 of giving him more land, and also releasing him from 
 the coal-mine. This gave me much pleasure, not doubt- 
 ing but so spirited a mind, with a body so active and 
 
150 
 
 MASHAM AKD MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 vigorous, would alone do wonders. I 
 
 regret 
 
 that the 
 
 nation at large should lose the benefit that might be 
 made to result from the labours of a genius in the most 
 useful walk of all. While we viewed Croft's fields, Mr. 
 Danby asked his steward, who was present, what he 
 could let such grass as all Croft's at per acre. He re- 
 plied, in quantities of any extent, at 15s. an acre, but in 
 small parcels of twenty or thirty acres, at 20s. — an im- 
 provement which is astonishing, from land that was 
 absolutely and wholly waste. But the goodness of it 
 appears also from Croft's stock of cattle, and the quan- 
 tity applied to feed a cow, which will be found not more 
 perhaps than the medium quantity, through the cultiva- 
 ted counties of this whole Tour. It is from these cir- 
 cumstances evident enough, that this kind of moor land 
 is amply capable of improvement, and that there is no- 
 thing in the nature of the soil which gives any reason to 
 doubt of rendering it exceeding good land." 
 
 Again, in another part of his Northern Tour, allud- 
 ing to this Parish, Mr. Young further says : 
 
 " The Roads which branch every way around Swinton 
 are admirable, and owing entirely to the generosity and 
 spirit of Mr. Danby. Through his own territory, which 
 is very extensive, he makes them at his own expense, and 
 in so excellent a manner, as to be superior to most Turn- 
 pike Roads ; but the neighbouring roads he contributes 
 largely to, and bribes the Parishes to seek their own 
 good. By this uncommon spirit, he has either made, or 
 greatly improved, above twenty miles of road : a noble 
 example. 
 
 " The very excellent and worthy owner of Swinton 
 has made that seat one of the pleasantest places in this 
 country: he has surrounded the house with a most 
 beautiful Park, finely wooded and watered, and has 
 added Plantations and Pleasure-grounds, in a style of 
 great propriety and taste. With much trouble and 
 expense, he has brought several miles, a small but ele- 
 gant stream, through his Gardens and Park, which in 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHTRE. 
 
 151 
 
 some places breaks into very fine Lakes, in others con- 
 tracts into the size of a little rill, which winds through 
 the woods in a most pleasant manner ; here falling into 
 cascades, it enlivens the whole scene : there, withdraws 
 from the eye, and hides itself in the dark bosom of 
 tufted groves. The house is very convenient and ele- 
 gantly furnished.' ' 
 
 HACKFALL. 
 
 Hackfall,* although not situate within the limits of 
 Mashamshire, but in immediate contiguity to it, is a 
 
 * The late Mr. George Cuitt, who was many years a respected inha- 
 bitant of Masham (where he died), and was a great admirer of the beautiful 
 in nature, as well as an artist of the highest order, says in his " Wanderings 
 and Pencillings amongst Ruins of Olden Times," in speaking of Hackfall, 
 " It is situated in Hags', or Witches' Vale, whence its name of ' Hags- Vale ' 
 has by corruption assumed its present orthography. There is no situation, 
 indeed, which could be more appropriately peopled by the superstitious fancy 
 of the olden time with witches, demons, and fairies than this deep, seques- 
 tered, gloomy vale : nor indeed, even in the beautiful country in which it is 
 situated, in which nature and art are so exquisitely blended, that the eye 
 cannot discern the line which separates them, can a spot be found more 
 delightful to the lover of romantic scenery." 
 
152 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 place of such interest to the good people of Masham 
 and its many visitors, I am induced to transcribe Mr. 
 Young's description of it, and insert it in this place, 
 rather than attempt an account of it of my own in 
 another place. 
 
 Mr. Young says, "Hackpall, seven miles from Stud- 
 ley and only two from Swinton, is laid out in a different 
 style. Greatly worth the trouble of any traveller's go- 
 ing many miles out of his way to view it. Entering the 
 woods from Swinton, the first point of view we came to 
 was a little white building by way of a seat : on the 
 point of a round projecting hill, you look down upon a 
 rapid stream through scattered trees which fringe the 
 slope — the effect is fine. To the right is an opening 
 among the trees, which lets in a most beautiful view of 
 a range of hanging woods which unite to form a hollow. 
 Behind, through another opening in the adjoining trees, 
 you look down upon a bend of the river: Masham 
 steeple, and a part of the town appearing over some 
 wood that hangs to the water — nothing can be more 
 sweetly picturesque, for the spot whereon the building 
 stands being shaded with trees, the brightness of the 
 sheet of water has the effect of a natural clear obscure, 
 and the buildings seeming to rise from branches of 
 wood hanging on the stream, adds greatly to the beauty 
 of the scene : a white house, a little on one side, is an 
 object which improves the landscape. Another view 
 from this spot is to the left, a curve of the river, under 
 a bank of hanging wood, scarred with rocks. From 
 hence the Riding* winds on the banks of the river, and 
 passing a dropping spring, rises up some slopes to an 
 open octagon bench, from hence the views are truly 
 elegant. To the right you look upon a bold shrubby 
 hill, which has an air of grandeur that is striking. There 
 is a building by way of object, raised upon it, that is 
 
 * The Yore here forms the boundary line between the North and West 
 Ridings of Yorkshire. 
 
PART OF A SAXON CROSS, FOUND IN A WALL 
 NEAR MASHAM CHURCH. 
 
 See p. 430. 
 
 SCENE IN HACKFALL. 
 
 P. 152. 
 

HISTOEY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 153 
 
 called an arch, or a ruin, almost hanging over a dell of 
 wood, the river peeping at one spot in a pleasing man- 
 ner, and the murmur over the rocks in its bed, fills the 
 ear, and gives room for the imagination to play — one 
 instance, among others, how much ideal pictures are 
 raised by the noise of a river foaming among Rocks, but 
 hid by wood : the steeps and torrents receive a height- 
 ening from the fancy which would be half-dissipated by 
 viewing the reality. To the left a bend of the river is 
 seen fringed with hanging woods, and above them dis- 
 tant prospects. Winding from this spot through the 
 grove, we came next to a rustic stone temple by the side 
 of a basin with a stump of &jet d'eau in the middle of it. 
 It is in a small area, a hollow in the hanging woods, re- 
 tired and naturally beautiful. A little gushing fall of 
 water from the bank into the basin is picturesque and 
 worthy of an unguous meandering course over moss 
 and pebbles. An opening in the front of this spot lets 
 in a view of a scar of rocks in the middle of a bank of 
 wood. Walking round the circular lawn, an opening on 
 the left displays a most glorious hollow of hanging 
 groves, on one side of which is seen the white seat first 
 mentioned. This view is very noble. A little further 
 you catch a fine circular hill of wood, and the shore of 
 the river which winds at its feet : it has a magnificent 
 appearance. Advancing through a whiding walk you 
 come to a Grotto, from which the scene is beautifully 
 picturesque. You look aslant upon a natural cascade, 
 which falls in gradual sheets above forty feet in the 
 midst of hanging wood ; it is quite surrounded by the 
 trees, and seems to gush forth by enchantment. The 
 water is clear and transparent, and throws a moving 
 lustre to the eye unexpressibly elegant. The motion of 
 it pleases, not only from its genuine beauty, but from 
 the peculiar happiness of the situation, viewed from a 
 woody retired spot, which contrasts so well the brilli- 
 ancy of the object. But those touches of reality which 
 exceed the utmost efforts of painting, thicken upon us : 
 
154 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 for leaving this agreeable spot we presently come to 
 another, from whence you see a beautiful natural cascade 
 gushing, to all appearance out of a cavern in the rock, 
 overhung with thick wood, and falling from one crag to 
 another till it loses itself among the adj oining woods. You 
 move next to a bench, where you are again entertained 
 by the same cascade viewed in a different direction, with 
 the addition of its trickling at your feet over the grass, 
 beautifully scattered with trees. Through them, in 
 front, is a fine opening over a hollow of hanging woods. 
 To the right, you look down through another natural 
 opening among the trees, and catch the river rushing 
 rapidly over the rocks. Nothing can exceed the taste, 
 variety, and beauty of this landscape. Following the 
 winding course of the walk we come to Fisher's Hall, a 
 small octagon room built of a petrified substance upon a 
 little swelling hill hi the midst of a hollow, surrounded 
 by a vast amphitheatre of hanging woods. Thus is the 
 outline of the picture, which is in itself fine, but the 
 filling up of the canvas adds a colouring more than 
 equal to that of painting. Excuse the describing, and 
 always remember that J offer description but to induce 
 a friend to fly to that entertainment which I have found 
 so pleasing. The little hill on which this building is 
 placed is covered with a thicket of trees, which makes 
 the whole picturesque. The river gives a bend at your 
 feet, embanked by hanging woods : the white building 
 first mentioned peeping from among them in one spot, 
 and a fine scar of rock in another. Under the seat the 
 stream is rapid, raging over rocks, and winding away 
 under walls of them covered with hills of wood. To 
 the right of these objects the other hills appear in a fine 
 style, one in particular, covered with shrubby wood, 
 projects in a magnificent sweep that cannot but strike 
 the spectator with awe. All the surrounding ones ap- 
 pear from hence in fine waves, rearing thin woody tops, 
 one beyond another in a style truly great. Besides 
 these objects which partake so much of the sublime, 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 155 
 
 here are others of genuine and native beauty* From 
 one side of this building, you have a most pleasing pros- 
 pect, consisting of two cascades divided by a projected 
 grove of trees. That to the right pours down from one 
 cleft of the rock to another for a considerable space, ad- 
 mirably overhung with the spreading branches of the 
 adjoining thick wood, which rises in sweeps around it, 
 gloomy with the brownness of the shade, and contrast- 
 ing the transparent brightness of the water. The other 
 cascade likewise falls down an irregular bed of rock, but 
 not in such strong breaks as the former ; it is seen in the 
 bosom of a fine wood which fringes a rising hill upon 
 the top of which is a building. Winding from this in- 
 imitable scene down to the river side, and following it, 
 we come to a romantic spot under a range of impending 
 rocks, with shrubby wood growing out of their clefts, 
 and a few goats brouzing on their very edges. You 
 look back on the preceding scenes which in general ap- 
 pear like a fine hollow of surrounding woods. Fisher's 
 Hall, a beautiful little hill, the building crowned with a 
 tuft of trees. Pursuing the road a little further (though 
 without the bounds of the ornamented grounds) you 
 rise with the hill, and have a view of the river broken 
 into three sheets of water, divided by scattered woods 
 and the banks ornamented by a straggling Village : be- 
 tween the hills a distant prospect is seen. Returning, 
 we took the walk that leads by Fisher's Hall and winds 
 up the hill to the left. The first point you come to is a 
 bench overhung with trees, from which, at your feet, 
 you look down upon a beautiful cascade gushing out of a 
 rock under a thicket of trees : exquisite. And to the 
 right, at a little distance, another, but different: this 
 scene is sequestered, and will naturally tempt the spec- 
 tator to stop to admire the wild, but pleasing beauties 
 of the spot. The walk winds up the hill by the side of 
 a continued cascade, the water falling in small sheets 
 from rock to rock in a majestic style: on one side a 
 thick wood, and on the other a rocky bank fringed with 
 
156 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 shrubs. This leads to Kent's seat and above, from 
 which the landscape is in the pure style of ornamented 
 nature. If you suppose art to appear it is the simplex 
 munditus of design. In front, at the distance of a few 
 yards, is a double cascade, the water gushes from a dark 
 spot, half rock, half wood, and falling on a bed of the 
 former, has but a short course before it falls a second 
 time into the rill before mentioned, which winds over a 
 bed of stone at your feet. These parts of the scenery 
 are surrounded by a little amphitheatre of thick wood, 
 and form, upon the whole, a most beautiful picture. It 
 may not be admired by those who are fond of only the 
 great, but to such as are pleased with the soft tints of 
 nature's pencil, this landscape will yield pure enjoyment. 
 Nor is this all, for turning your eye a little to the left, 
 you catch through a small, and to appearance, natural 
 opening in the trees, a view of a scoop of hanging woods, 
 and beyond a distant prospect, one of the most complete 
 bird's-eye landscapes in the world. Continuing this 
 walk you mount to the top of the hill, and there arrive 
 at a spot called Mowbray- point. The building (called 
 the ruin) has a little area before it, from which you com- 
 mand a prodigious prospect. You look directly down 
 on a fine winding valley, the river appearing in different 
 sheets of water, and the roar of its rapidity heard dis- 
 tinctly, though so far beneath. This valley bends round 
 a projecting promontory of high land, the hanging banks 
 of which, like all the others, are covered with thick 
 plantations, forming upon the whole a most glorious hol- 
 low of pending woods. At the bottom, besides the 
 river, you see Fisher's Hall in a very picturesque situ- 
 ation, and at the top of the opposite projecting hill, a 
 pasture so truly elegant as to decorate the whole scene. 
 The distant prospect has a great variety : to the right, it 
 is unbounded except by the horizon : in front, you look 
 upon the extent of Hambledon Hills at the distance of 
 about twenty miles : and to the left you have inclosures 
 distinctly seen for many miles. The whole vale before 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 157 
 
 you is finely scattered with towns, villages, churches, 
 seats, &c. York Minster is seen distinctly at the dis- 
 tance of more than thirty miles — Roseberry Topping in 
 Cleveland, as far, another way. In front you view the 
 Scar in Hambledon Hills called the " White Mare " ; 
 the town of Thirsk, almost under it, and Northallerton 
 to the right. In the building are two neatly furnished 
 rooms — one for dining, and the other by way of drawing 
 room. 
 
 " It was not without regret that I took my leave of 
 Swinton and its most worthy owner : it is a family in 
 which polite cheerfulness, and a manly urbanity both 
 please and instruct." 
 
 It should always be remembered in reading these 
 very lucid descriptions of Mr. Young, that they were 
 written by him about the year 1768, or nearly one 
 hundred years ago, and that many very great changes 
 have taken place within the Parish since that date. 
 
 About fourteen years after Mr. Young's visit, another, 
 but less distinguished Tourist, (a Mr. Bray) paid a visit 
 to Masham, and accordingly makes mention of it in his 
 " Tour of Yorkshire " which he published shortly after- 
 wards. From that Tourist, we get another glimpse of 
 the state and condition of the place from another point' 
 of view. He says, " From Hackfall it is three miles to 
 a little town called Masham, the Market-place of which 
 is uncommonly spacious, built on three sides, but the 
 houses so low and mean, that it has the appearance of a 
 deserted place. The church is at the end of the fourth 
 side, remarkably neat." 
 
 He afterwards goes on to say that " Mr. Danby's 
 improvements of the Moors, which lie behind his house 
 in immense tracts, is so observable, and so worthy of 
 imitation, that too much cannot be said of them. He 
 has a Colliery, which employs many hands, and the 
 Cottages of the Workmen are scattered about on the 
 moors. Some years ago he gave leave to the cottagers 
 to inclose a field contiguous to their gardens, that they 
 
158 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 might, if industrious, raise their own com. A few 
 examples had great effects, and now there is not a collier 
 without a little farm of from four to twenty acres, on 
 which he keeps a cow or two, and raises corn. The 
 hours of work in the colliery are few, and leave sufficient 
 time for the cultivation of this land. This scheme has 
 introduced a spirit of industry, in lieu of the idleness 
 which used to prevail after the work of the coal-pits was 
 finished for the day, and fixes the men, who before this, 
 on the least disgust, used to run from one colliery to 
 another." 
 
 I cannot, however, but think that there is some exag- 
 geration in Mr. Bray's description of the town of Mas- 
 ham, as to its low and mean houses ; at the same time 
 it reminds me of a very graphic description which I 
 once heard the late William Terry give of the houses 
 in Masham, as they were in olden time, in narrating 
 one of the many traditions* of the place, of which he 
 alone seems to have been the grand repertory. Accord- 
 ing to one of these traditions, many of the houses were 
 low, thatched buildings, with then" eaves nearly reach- 
 ing to the ground, whilst their ridges — which were con- 
 structed of green turf — mounted up to a very great 
 height, so that the sheep (which were then shewn at the 
 September fairs, and were much wilder and more active 
 on the leg than such as are now shewn) used to take 
 bounds, and leap and run upon the roofs of the houses, 
 and gambol about upon them in such a very extraordi- 
 nary manner as to present quite a spectacle to the gap- 
 ing beholders below, and not a little bewilderment to 
 their no less noisy canine companions. 
 
 Mr. Danby married Mary the daughter of Gilbert 
 
 * Another of William Terry's traditions was, that Cardinal Wolsey, 
 when making his ostentatious Progresses into the North, used to stay all 
 night in Masham, and to be lodged and entertained in the old Court-house 
 there, being the house now occupied by Mr. Thomas Pullen, coachbuilder, 
 and the property of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 as formerly belonging to the Prebend of Masham. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 159 
 
 Affleck, Esq., of Dalham Hall in the county of Sussex, 
 the ancestor of the present Baronet of that name. He 
 died on the 8th of April, 1781, leaving his eldest son 
 (the late William Danby, Esq.) his successor to the 
 estates. 
 
 William Danby, Esq., the last of fgjpj i)jjr 
 
 the ancient family of the Danby s, was in m^ ^^jg 
 
 his twenty-ninth year, when he thus came S^^jf|S^ 
 into possession of his patrimonial Estates, I \ 
 
 and being blessed with considerable na- jp|b/ \ J 
 
 tural talents, which he inherited from w|^^^^^|fc/ 
 both his parents, he proceeded at once ^^^^£i^^ 
 to direct the whole energies of his ^^ 
 
 vigorous mind to the carrying out of his father's projects 
 for the improvement of his wide demesnes, a task, which 
 it will be seen, he accomplished in an eminent degree. 
 
 Very soon after coming to his estates, viz. in the year 
 1784, he was honoured with the office of High Sheriff of 
 his native county. It so happened, that in consequence 
 of the then state of parties in the Commons House of 
 Parliament, the treaty of peace which had just then been 
 signed at the conclusion of the long, but unsuccessful 
 war which this country had been engaged in with 
 America (by which the United States then first acquired 
 their independence) — a change of ministry and a dissolu- 
 tion of Parliament — and the turmoils of an election for 
 so extensive a county as Yorkshire in the midst of a 
 fierce agitation for Parliamentary reform — the duties of 
 his office as High Sheriff, were not only exceedingly 
 onerous, but made his position one of great delicacy 
 and responsibility, as will be seen by the following 
 notices, calling county meetings, which were issued by 
 Mr. Danby as High Sheriff, viz : 
 
 " Having received a Requisition signed by upwards of one hundred re- 
 spectable Freeholders of the County, wherein they state, ' That they had 
 observed with great concern the unhappy disputes in Parliament, fomented 
 by party, and agitated with such violence as not only to interrupt the na- 
 tional business, but also to endanger the true principles of the constitution/ 
 
160 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE- 
 
 and therefore requesting me to call a General County Meeting, for the pur- 
 pose of addressing the Throne on the present alarming aspect of public 
 affairs. In compliance with such requisition, I do hereby appoint a Meeting 
 of the Freeholders of this County, to be held at the Castle of York, on 
 Thursday the 25th of March next ensuing, at ten o'clock in the forenoon. 
 
 William Danby, 
 York, Feb. 26, 1784. Sheriff." 
 
 A general County Meeting was accordingly held at 
 York Castle at the time named in the above notice, 
 which was presided over by Mr. Danby as the High 
 Sheriff of the County. At this meeting the following 
 address to the throne was agreed upon, apparently after 
 much warm altercation and discussion, as well as a 
 division. 
 
 " To the King's most excellent Majesty : 
 
 May it please your Majesty, we, your Majesty's dutiful and 
 loyal subjects, the Freeholders of the County of York, alarmed at the pre- 
 sent distracted state of public affairs, beg leave to approach your throne with 
 assurances of our unfeigned and zealous attachment to your Majesty's person 
 and government. 
 
 Convinced that the very existence of our excellent constitution depends 
 on the preservation of the due balance of power wisely placed in the dif- 
 ferent branches of the legislature, we declare ourselves equally solicitous to 
 maintain the legal prerogatives of the crown, and the just privileges of the 
 two Houses of Parliament. 
 
 We cannot too strongly reprobate the late attempt to seize the property 
 and violate all the chartered rights of the East India Company, the enor- 
 mous patronage of which would have produced an influence equally destruc- 
 tive of the prerogative of the Crown and the liberties of the people. 
 
 To remove Ministers who made such an attempt, we deem to be a just 
 exertion of your Majesty's prerogative, and under the peculiar circumstances 
 of the case, we think your Majesty acted with equal justice by retaining 
 your present Ministers, until an appeal to your people could be made. Im- 
 perfect as such an appeal to the constituent body must ever be, under the 
 present manifold defects of our national Representation, we still conceive the 
 calling of a new Parliament to be the only true constitutional measure which 
 your Majesty in your royal wisdom can adopt to settle the present differ- 
 ences between the several branches of the Legislature." 
 
 The meeting having adopted the above Address to the 
 Throne, it was also agreed, that it should be signed by 
 Mr. Danby, the High Sheriff, as the act of the meeting, 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 161 
 
 and that he should also be requested to present such 
 address to the King. An unanimous vote of thanks was 
 also passed to Mr. Danby as High Sheriff for his im- 
 partial conduct in the business of the day. 
 
 On the following day another, but a private, meeting 
 of the principal gentry of the County, was held at the 
 York Tavern, at which the following resolution was 
 passed : 
 
 " Resolved, that Sir R. D. Hildyard, Sir Christopher Sykes, Mr. Buck, 
 Mr. Peirse, and Mr. R. S. Milnes, be deputed to wait upon the High Sheriff, 
 to request him, in the name of this assembly, to call a meeting of the Free- 
 holders of the County of York, to consider of two proper persons to represent 
 them in the ensuing Parliament." 
 
 The Deputation having waited upon the High Sheriff 
 with the above resolution, he immediately issued the 
 following notice : 
 
 " To the Freeholders of the County of York, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 The above Requisition having been presented to me by the Gentlemen 
 deputed for that purpose, I do hereby appoint a General Meeting of the 
 Freeholders of the County of York, to be held at the Castle of York, on 
 Friday next, the 2nd day of April, 1784, at ten of the clock in the forenoon, 
 to consider of two proper persons to represent you in the ensuing Parliament, 
 as I have this day received the Writ for a new election, which will be on 
 the 7th day of the same month. 
 
 Given under my hand, this 27th day of March, 1784. 
 
 William Danby, Sheriff." 
 
 A County 'Meeting accordingly took place, at which 
 four candidates were put in nomination to represent the 
 county in Parliament, viz., Francis Ferrand Foljambe, 
 Esq., William Weddell, Esq., Henry Duncombe, Esq., 
 and William Wilberforce, Esq. * On a show of hands, 
 however, being taken, the High Sheriff declared it to be 
 in the favour of Duncombe and Wilberforce. On the 
 evening before the election, which was fixed for the 7th 
 April, Foljambe and Weddell declined going to the poll, 
 and thus a hotly contested county election (which had 
 been fully expected) was avoided, to the great delight 
 of the High Sheriff. 
 
 M 
 
162 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 It is needless to say, that Mr. Danby, during the 
 remainder of his year of office, discharged the duties of 
 the Shrievalty in as liberal and as satisfactory a manner 
 as he had thus begun. His tenantry also discharged, in 
 a very creditable manner, the duties then imposed upon 
 the tenantry of the High Sheriff, of attending at the 
 opening of the commission at each assize, well mounted, 
 (on saddles the gift of the High Sheriff,) to form the caval- 
 cade, which then always went to meet his Majesty's 
 Judges of Assizes on their entering the City of York. 
 For many a long year afterwards, these trips to York, 
 the pageantry of the Shrievalty of their " Squire," and 
 their own' personal doings and wonderful achievements 
 on these occasions, formed the theme of the conversation 
 of the old tenant-farmers of Mashamshire, when over 
 their pipes and glasses. But alas ! there is not one of 
 them now left — Squire and tenants alike have all passed 
 away, and now lie mouldering in the dust. 
 
 In the year 1790, Mr. Danby obtained from Parlia- 
 ment " An Act for dividing and inclosing part of the 
 Moors and Wastes within the Manor of Masham and 
 Mashamshire, in the North Riding of the County of 
 York ; " and being thus armed, he immediately set him- 
 self to work, in effecting the inclosure of large tracts of 
 his extensive moor-lands. By a judicious sub-division 
 of such inclosures into convenient allotments — the plant- 
 ing and careful rearing of a great number of plantations, 
 in places and situations the best adapted for shelter, 
 laying out and constructing commodious roads, and by 
 skilful management generally — he not only succeeded in 
 bringing the inclosures into a profitable state of cultiva- 
 tion, but long before the close of his long and useful life, 
 he had the great pleasure and satisfaction of seeing the 
 whole face of that district of country assume a decidedly 
 improved appearance, and lands, which had before been 
 a drear and barren waste, become fruitful fields of grain. 
 
 Extensive as these improvements were, and much as 
 they must have occupied Mr. Danby' s attention, he found 
 
HISTOKY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 163 
 
 time also to direct his attention to other improvements 
 of another and different description, viz., the enlargement 
 and improvement of his mansion, his park, and his plea- 
 sure-grounds at Swinton. 
 
 As to the mansion itself — when he first came into the 
 possession of the estate, he found the mansion in much 
 the same condition as it had been left by his great-grand- 
 father, Sir Abstrupus Danby, and &s is represented in 
 the drawing of it given at page 138. It was very much 
 like what the old manor-houses formerly were, viz., very 
 plain, and without having any pretensions whatever to 
 architectural design, or correct principles of ornamenta- 
 tion. It covered but a very small space of ground, and 
 was three stories in height, with an unsightly turret 
 window peeping out of its roof to give light to the attics. 
 It presented altogether the appearance of that very useful, 
 but homely article, the "tea caddy," which was, in truth, 
 the name by which it was really designated. 
 
 Such being the state and condition of Swinton Hall at 
 that time, those who were at all acquainted with the 
 cultivated and refined taste of Mr. Danby, will not be 
 surprised to find that he was not well satisfied with it as 
 a residence, and that he determined to build for himself, 
 either an entirely new one, or to materially enlarge and 
 improve the external appearance of the old one. His 
 first thoughts were, to build a new mansion somewhere 
 near to the site of the present farm-house belonging to 
 the Low-Maines Farm. Had he carried out this, his ori- 
 ginal design, he would certainly have selected for it the 
 most charming situation within the parish, and one capa • 
 ble of giving full scope to his superior skill and fertile 
 genius in such matters, in the laying out of the grounds 
 around it, so as to take due advantage of the rich wood- 
 land scenery which everywhere presents itself in that 
 locality, the extensive natural sheet of water, the Marfield 
 Pond, as well as the silvery waters of the Yore, which 
 there washes its verdant banks, and meanders down the 
 valley beneath. It is highly probable, too, that in select- 
 
164 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ing that site for his baronial residence, he would have 
 chosen the very place which some ancient Lord of the 
 Manor had, several hundreds of years before him, selected 
 for the site of his baronial residence, or manor-house. 
 The names of the High and Low-Maines are derived 
 from the word "demesnes," or u demain," which means, 
 lands held by the Lord of the Manor in his own hands, 
 and not let out to tenants ; and as such, when found thus 
 applied to a place, always gives one the idea that the 
 place has at some early period been the residence of the 
 great Lord of the place. He would also have selected 
 the immediate vicinity of an old Koman road, and an 
 ancient nunnery, the latter of which, in all probability, 
 stood many hundreds of years ago, at a place still called 
 by the name of "Nunneries," which adjoins Marfield, 
 where some old foundations were dug up many years ago, 
 when making the old Hemp Mill, and where the stone 
 coffins (to be hereafter mentioned) were subsequently 
 found, as well as a remarkable Well, dedicated to Saint 
 Clement. Mr. Danby, however (although he retained 
 to the latest period of his life, a strong partiality and 
 predilection to the Low-Maines, as a very eligible and 
 admirable site for a residence, and as such very fre- 
 quently visited it) in the end abandoned the idea of 
 removing his residence from Swinton, and determined 
 upon reconstructing and modernising his old seat, which 
 had for a length of time been the peaceful abode of his 
 forefathers, and thus possessed charms and old associa- 
 tions, which another could not by any possibility either 
 possess or acquire. 
 
 Accordingly, about the year 1790, he commenced 
 building an extensive wing to his old mansion, being all 
 that portion of the hall, and range of rooms and offices, 
 extending towards the North, in which the present ser- 
 vants' hall and other household offices, are now to be 
 found; and in the year 1813, he added to it another 
 extensive wing, thereby forming the fine suite of rooms 
 facing the South, and terminating in a Museum, the 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 165 
 
 depository of a valuable collection of minerals, fossils, 
 and many other productions of nature, as well as some 
 valuable reliques of antiquity found within the parish. 
 In the centre of this suite of rooms (which is from a 
 design of James Wyatt, Esq.) is the drawing-room, a 
 noble apartment; and in the years 1821, 1822, 1823, 
 and 1824, he erected a massive tower towards the East, 
 and other castellated additions, in the Norman style of 
 architecture, from the designs of Robert Lugar, Esq. ; 
 these contain, together with numerous family rooms, an 
 elegant Library, forty-two feet in length, and a spacious 
 entrance-hall. A Western tower completes the coup d'oeil 
 of the South front. 
 
 Among the internal decorations will be found (for a 
 private collection) an extensive Gallery of good Pictures, 
 by Reubens, Salvator Rosa, Guercino, Snyders, Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, and Ibbotson, Richard Metcalfe and 
 George Cuitt (our own native artists), and others of 
 known celebrity, as also a valuable collection of books. 
 
 The following is a catalogue of some of the principal 
 Pictures, arranged in order as they are to be found in 
 the several rooms. 
 
 In the Library. 
 
 SUBJECT. ARTIST. 
 
 The Hard Bargain — Pandits, scholar of Rembrandt. 
 
 Landscape — Salvator Rosa. 
 
 Ditto Ditto. 
 
 Kite and Fowls — Snyders, Frans. 
 
 Landscape and Waterfall in Norway — Everdingen, Aldert Van. 
 
 Boors at Play, &c, A Dutch Interior — Bega. 
 
 Landscape — Ferg, Paul Francis. 
 
 Travellers refreshing — Barentz, a scholar of Wouvermans. 
 
 Neapolitan Gamblers — Francesco Solimine, called L' Abate Ciccio. 
 
 A Road-side Inn — Barentz, a scholar of Wouvermans. 
 
 The Village Doctor, A Neapolitan Group — Francesco Solimine, called 
 
 L' Abate Ciccio. 
 A Berger on Horseback — P. Wouvermans. 
 Landscape — Ferg, Paul Francis. 
 St. John — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 Landscape — J. Wynants. 
 An Interior, Scouring Kettles — Zorg, Hy. 
 
166 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 A Calm on the Coast — Cuyp, Albert. 
 
 A Breeze — Bonaventura, Peters. 
 
 Sea-side, with Horses, &c. — Theodore Stoop. 
 
 Head of Himself — Armibal Caracci. 
 
 The Repast — D. Ryckarrt. 
 
 Head of an Old Man (a study) — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Three Boys' Heads — Sebastion Bourdon. 
 
 Eleazar, the Steward of Abraham, giving the Bracelet to Rebecca — Sebas- 
 tion Bourdon. 
 
 Portrait of Shakespere — Unknown. 
 
 Abraham and his Family on their Journey [Qy., Jacob) — John Victor, or 
 Fictoor. 
 
 Portrait of Count Zulestein — Ferdinand Bol. 
 
 Infant Moses — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Portrait of Charles II. when a boy — Vandyke, Sir Anthony. 
 
 Landscape — Claude de Loraine. 
 
 A View in Holland, Canal, Bridge, &c. — Francis Decker. 
 
 A Moonlight Scene, View in Holland — Arnold, Vander Neer. 
 
 View of Caves in a Rock — Loutherbourg, Philip James De. 
 
 View of a Lime-kiln, &c. — Ditto. 
 
 Small Drawing-room. 
 
 Landscape, Moonlight — Pether. 
 
 The Virgin, Infant Child, and St. John — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 A Cabin, Sunset effect, The Rhine, in Holland — Van der Capella. 
 
 Portrait of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper — Sir Antonio Moor. 
 
 Unknown Portrait — Mar in de Vos. 
 
 The Vision of Mary Magdalen — Poelemburg, Cornelius. 
 
 The Mountebank, or Quack Doctor — Ferg, Paul Francis. 
 
 Interior of a Cathedral — Scholar of Steenwyck. 
 
 Cattle in a Landscape — Paul Potter, and Herman Swanevelt. 
 
 Lady washing her hands — Gerard Terberg. 
 
 Children at play — after Vandyk. 
 
 The Young Gamesters (the original in the Queen's collection) — Miss 
 Cropley, from Le Nain. 
 
 Horse and Groom, Ferry, &c. — Forr, P. (1783.) 
 
 Holy Family — Cooregio, Antonio Allegri da. 
 
 Portrait of Sir Abstrupus Danby (on copper) — Sir Godfrey Kneller. 
 
 Portrait of a Divine — Vander Heist Barto. 
 
 St. John the Evangelist — Raffaelle Sazio da Urbino. 
 
 Grand Canal, Venice, and Church of Madonna della Salute— Canaletti, 
 Antonio 
 
 Infant Christ sleeping — Murillo, Bartolome. 
 
 Portrait of Himself — Carlo Dolci. 
 
 Portrait of his Son — Cuyp, Albert. 
 
 
 Landscape — Gasper Poussin. 
 Ditto Ditto. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 167 
 
 Landscape, in manner of Claude — T. Hofland. 
 
 Holy Family, S. George, and Female Saint — after Reubens. 
 
 The Five Senses — Rothenhamer, John. 
 
 Portrait — after Rembrandt. 
 
 Ditto Ditto. 
 
 Rocks, &c, in Quarry-gill, Swinton Park — T. Hofland. 
 
 Flowers, &c, with a Centre, Madonna and Child — Seghers Vandyk, 
 
 View in Holland — Van Goyen, John. 
 
 Girl with Tablets — Clarke, of Naples, from Schedoni. 
 
 Windermere Lake, Calgarth, &c. — T. Hofland. 
 
 Landscape and Children — Julius Csesar Ibbotson. 
 
 Ditto Ditto. 
 
 Landscape — Boudewyns, Nicholas. 
 Landscape — Claude Galee" dit de Loraine. 
 The First Purchase — Collins, William. 
 Landscape, a Warm Day — L. Van Bos. 
 Virgin and Child — Giulio Romano. 
 The Banks of a Lake or River — Salvator Rosa. 
 Ulls water Lake — T. Hofland. 
 
 Cupid with a Vase — Clarke, of Naples, from Schedoni. 
 Holy Family — Sebastian Burdon. 
 The Dead Christ — after Guercino, by Evans. 
 The Ferry— Collins, William. 
 Battle Scene — Borgognone. 
 Landscape — Boudewyns. 
 Cattle, &c. — Flemish School. 
 View near Rome, Monte Caro — Denys, 1789. 
 Landscape, round — Artois, Jacques. 
 Head of Madonna — Carlo Maratti. 
 Horse at Ford or Ferry ditto 
 
 A Calm, vessel saluting, cloudy effect — Van de Velde, Wm. the younger. 
 Head of an Old Woman — Rembrandt, Van Rhyn. 
 Study of a Head — J. Slater. 
 
 Landscape, with cattle drinking, &c. — Brenghel, John. 
 Cattle, &c. — Flemish School. 
 View of the Lake of Albano — Denys, 1789. 
 Landscape, round — Artois, Jacques. 
 
 Drawing-room. 
 Farm Yard, Horses, &c. — George Morland. 
 Child sleeping, inscription, " Ego dormio, sed cor meum vigittit" — after 
 
 Vaccari, by S. Clarke, Naples, 1740. 
 Portrait of a Burgomaster's Wife — Philip de Koning. 
 Landscape, with cattle — Duroy. 
 Overture and Duet — Verkolie, John. 
 Landscape, with cattle — Duroy. 
 Scene in Holland, Evening — Van de Neer. 
 
168 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Landscape — Moncheron. 
 
 Boys bartering — Le Nain. 
 
 Madonna della Rosa — James Stella. 
 
 Ascension of Virgin — Carlo Maratti. 
 
 Imogen and Pisanio Cymbelin — H. Singleton, 1818. 
 
 Head of a Magdalen — Elizabeth Siram, of Bologna. 
 
 The Seven Charities — Van Helmont. 
 
 His own Portrait — Francesco Albani. 
 
 View of Tivoli, &c. — Domenichino. 
 
 View of Dort (Dordrect) — S. Ruysdael. 
 
 River Scene in Holland — J. Van Goyen. 
 
 Boors regaling — Senave, after Ostade. 
 
 Hagar and Ishmael with Angel, in the Desert — Francesco Mola. 
 
 Charity — Guercino. 
 
 Portrait of the Marqnis of Granby — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 The Lady at her toilette — Luca Giordano. 
 
 A Lady at work — Maas Arnold. 
 
 Horses and figures, a group — Wouvermans, Ph. 
 
 Landscape, with goats — Wynants and Berghem. 
 
 A Child with flowers — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 The Cascade at Tivoli, &c. — Vernett, Joseph. 
 
 Boors playing at nine pins — David Teniers. 
 
 The Village Sports — David Teniers. 
 
 Waterscape — John Van Goyen. 
 
 Child with a cat — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Children at play — Murillo, Bartolome Estevan. 
 
 Lady with a marten cat (in the Royal Collection at Naples)— after Parme- 
 
 giano, by S. Clarke, 1790. 
 The Holy Family (Ditto)— after Raphael, by S. Clarke. 
 
 Charity (Ditto) — after Albano, by S. Clarke. 
 
 Landscape, with an avenue — J. Weenix. 
 Italian Landscape — Gasper Poussin. 
 The Dead Christ and Angels — Ludovico Caracci. 
 Landscape — Van de Velt, Adrian. 
 Isaac, Rebecca, and Jacob — School of Rembrandt. 
 Interior of Dort Church — J. Van Nikkelen. 
 The Virgin, Christ, and St. John (in the Royal Collection at Naples) — after 
 
 Raphael, by S. Clarke. 
 Charity (Ditto)— after Schedoni, by S. Clarke, 1790. 
 
 The English Sailor (Ditto)— after Van Dyk, by Ditto, 1790. 
 
 Virgin and Child, a saint adoring — School of Caracci. 
 A Maritime Port, &c. — Claude Gelee, dit de Loraine. 
 Landscape — John Van Huysum. 
 Interior of Church at Antwerp — Peter Neef. 
 The Ferry — Isaac Ostade. 
 Winter Scene on the Rhine, in Holland— J. Brenghel. 
 
HISTOEY OF MASHAMSH1EE. 169 
 
 Head of Lear (a study) — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 Children at play — Murillo, Bartoleme Estevan. 
 
 Dining-room. 
 
 Portrait of Mrs. Danby Vernon Harcourt— Briggs. 
 
 An Archduke of Austria — Reubens. 
 
 An Archduchess of Austria — Ditto. 
 
 Portrait of the Rev. William Holwell Carr— Evans, copy from Jackson. 
 
 Mary Countess Harcourt — after Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 William Danby, Esq., in 1825 — Jackson, R.A. 
 
 William Danby, Esq., in 1770, obiit 1781, set. 69— Dance. 
 
 Mary, his wife, daughter of Gilbert Affleck, Esq., obiit 1773 — Angelica 
 
 Kauflman 
 Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knt., obiit 1727 — School of Sir Peter Lely. 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq., their son, obiit 1750., set. 70 — Ditto 
 Portrait of an Academician — Frank Hals. 
 George Nassau Earl of Cowper — Zoffany. 
 
 Sir Robert Danby, Knt., Lord C. J. of the K. B., obiit 1472— Unknown. 
 Thomas Went worth First Earl of Strafford — after Vandyke. 
 
 West Tower Room. 
 
 A Moonlight Scene — Pether. 
 
 The Descent from the Cross, a carving in ivory, Italian — Daniel de Volterra. 
 
 The Coast of Weymouth — Luny. 
 
 Market-place at Middleham — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 
 View in Dartmouth Harbour — Luny. 
 
 Lake Scene — Richard Metcalfe. 
 
 Seaside View, with horses, &c — Theodore Stoop. 
 
 A Train of Horses — Agasse. 
 
 Child with flowers — Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Billiard Hoom and Staircase. 
 
 Distant View of Masham and the Swinton Moors — George Cuitt. 
 
 An Interior ; scene, a cottage at Masham — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 
 Lake Windermere Ditto 
 
 Town of Masham, with Mashamshire Volunteers Ditto. 
 
 Lake Ullswater Ditto. 
 
 The Woodcutters — Reinagle 
 
 View on the Home Lake, Swinton Park — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 
 Landscape, with cattle and figures — Rysbrack and Van Blommen. 
 
 Dead Game — Ferguson 
 
 Swinton Moors, scene at Arnagill — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 
 Cottage Interior, Masham Ditto. 
 
 The Root-house, Swinton pleasure grounds Ditto. 
 
 Cows and a Herdsman — Reinagle. 
 
 Mary Magdalen— Reubens. 
 
170 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 A Panther — Pietro at Rome, 1789. 
 
 A Tiger Ditto. 
 
 A Terrier — Reinagle. 
 
 The Market-place at Middleham — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 
 Tlie Hall, §c. 
 
 Portrait of Setter — Agasse. 
 
 Portrait of a Mastiff— Halfpenny, of York. 
 
 Cupid reclining (original in the Royal Collection at Naples) — after Sche- 
 
 doni, by S. Clarke, Naples, 1790. 
 View in Borrodale Eagle Craggs — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 Hen and Chickens — Pietro, Rome, 1789. 
 Portraits of Sally and Rover — Denys, Rome, 1789. 
 Landscape, composition — N. Berghem. 
 A Lake Scene — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 "Waterfall and Lake — Scholar of Brughel. 
 An Island, with Waterfowl — Ditto. 
 Christ delivering the Keys to St. Peter — after Reubens. 
 Craig Millar Castle — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 The Well at Masham Ditto. 
 
 Cattle, &c, crossing a Ford— N. Berchem. 
 Cupids, with a donkey — Nicol Poussin. 
 A Jewish Rabbi — after Rembrandt. 
 Milking Cows — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 The Broom Seller, Swinton village — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 A Peasant Girl — William Collins. 
 Unknown Portrait — Holbein. 
 Boy with a Lantern — after Gerard Dow. 
 Utocles and the Lion — Agasse. 
 A Snow Scene — Richard Metcalfe. 
 A Lake Scene Ditto. 
 
 Landscape and figures Ditto. 
 Rock Scene, distant landscape — Ditto. 
 The Swinton Archery Meeting. — Ditto. 
 Group of Flowers in a vase — John Baptiste Mounoyer 
 View of Storth Water, Swinton Park — A Swiss Artist (in body colours). 
 
 In the Passages, fyc. 
 
 William Danby, Esq. — Chamberlain. 
 
 Mary, his wife, daughter of Gilbert Affleck, Esq Chamberlain. 
 
 Mary, their daughter, afterwards Countess Harcourt — Chamberlain. 
 Arthur Danby, Esq. (brother of W. Danby, Esq.) Ditto. 
 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq. (brother of W. Danby, Esq.) Ditto. 
 
 Miss Elizabeth Danby, only child of the above Abstrupus Danby, Esq. 
 
 She died unmarried, 1768. — Unknown. 
 William Danby, Esq. — Opie. 
 
HISTOEY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 171 
 
 Sir A bstrupus Danby, Knt., obiit 1727 (oval) — Unknown. 
 Francelia, sister to ditto Ditto. 
 
 Portrait of William Danby, Esq. — Hamilton (in crayons). 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq, -when a boy — Uunknown. 
 
 Portrait of Catharine, daughter of John Danby, Esq., of Middleham — Do. 
 Portrait of Sir Thomas Danby, Knt. — J. Carleton, 1635. 
 Portrait of his Wife, Catharine, daughter of the Lord Deputy Wanders- 
 ford — J. Carleton, 1635. 
 Portrait of their Child— Ditto. 
 
 In the Housekeeper's Room. 
 Portrait of the two Brothers, the late Billy and Tommy Beckwith, the 
 well-known blacksmiths at Masham — James D. Hay. 
 
 In the Bath-room. 
 North-east View of Fountains Abbey — Julius Caesar Ibbotson. 
 South-west Ditto Ditto Ditto. 
 
 A Train of Horses — Agasse. 
 
 Amongst these pictures, it will be seen, there are 
 many family portraits, which to the eye of an historian, 
 (and especially to a local one like myself, who has been 
 long studying the characters there pourtrayed) present 
 an ample field for reflection : — 
 
 " For, by dim lights, the portraits of the dead 
 Have something ghastly, desolate, and dread. 
 . Their buried locks still wave 
 Along the canvas ; their eyes flash like dreams 
 
 On ours, as stars within some dusky cave ; 
 But death is imaged in their shadowy beams." 
 
 As, however, I cannot dwell to particularize them, 
 much less to enter into a minute description of them, I 
 therefore proceed with my history. 
 
 Mr. Danby, besides effecting the several improvements 
 before described, considerably extended the Park and 
 Pleasure-grounds, so as to take within their range that 
 rugged and romantic ravine, Quarry-gill, with the foam- 
 ing waters of the Eller rushing impetuously on in its 
 winding course at the bottom of the deep glen, dashing 
 from rock to rock until it empties itself into the Bourne 
 a little below the bridge. 
 
172 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIEE. 
 
 " Nature here 
 "Wantons as in her prime, and plays at will 
 Her virgin fancies, 
 Wild above rule or art." 
 
 And 
 
 " Hollowly here, the gushing water sounds 
 With a mysterious voice ; and one might pause 
 Upon its echoes till it seemed a noise 
 Of fathomless wilds where man had never walked." 
 
 At this spot, and upon another massive rustic bridge, 
 which receives the roaring cataract of the Falls of the 
 
 QUARRY-GILL BRIDGE. 
 
 Eller just described, Mr. Danby erected a magnificent 
 bridge of polished stone, consisting of three pointed 
 arches seventy feet in height, surmounted with orna- 
 mental parapet walls, in the form of a rustic broken 
 battlement, so as to span and connect the two opposite 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 173 
 
 sides of the Gill. The construction of this bridge was 
 a very formidable undertaking ; much more so, indeed, 
 than would appear at first sight, in consequence of so 
 much of its massive masonry being hid from the eye. It- 
 was completed in the year 1822, and occupied eleven 
 years in the building of it, having, as I have been told 
 by Mrs. Danby Harcourt, cost Mr. Danby £11,000 in its 
 construction. 
 
 Besides stocking the Park with a number of beautiful 
 deer, he also formed additional lakes, and reconstructed 
 or remodelled the existing ones, so as to make them pre- 
 sent a more romantic and picturesque appearance than 
 they had even hitherto done, and to produce more varied 
 and striking contrasts in the scenery. Near to and in 
 sight of the mansion, and its mossy lawn, he preserved 
 the verdant banks of the Home Lake, with its still, clear, 
 silvery waters, skirted at intervals with evergreens, on 
 which 
 
 " The swan, with arched neck, 
 Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows 
 Her state with oary feet," 
 
 surrounded by the deer browsing in the extensive park, 
 thus presenting an appearance of stillness and repose, in 
 the midst of a wide and extended prospect of the sur- 
 rounding country, commanding a picturesque view of 
 the Hambleton Hills and the rich vale of York in the 
 distance; whilst on approaching the Great Lake, the 
 more secluded Storth Water, and finally the romantic 
 Quarry-gill, wild and forest-like scenery, in all its rug- 
 gedness and nakedness, is made to burst on the eye. 
 This he effected, in a great measure, by the peculiar 
 formation of the lakes themselves, studded as they are 
 with islands presenting wild and rugged banks, with bold 
 projecting rocks (constructed of immense masses of stone 
 brought thither for the purpose, at great labour and 
 expense, from the neighbouring moors) and overhanging 
 trees, with here and there cascades falling over pending 
 rocks, and rustic bridges constructed of huge rouo-h 
 
174 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 stones apparently thrown together as if by accident, 
 rather than design — the whole being closely hemmed in 
 and darkened by thickly wooded plantations of forest 
 trees, so as to overhang and shnt out of view all sur- 
 rounding objects. These, with the quiet stillness of the 
 place, and the absence of all sounds except the gurgling 
 of the waterfalls, and the warblings of the feathered 
 inhabitants of the woods, produce on the mind a deep 
 sense of solitude and seclusion, with^ at the same time, a 
 feeling of awe and admiration — a feeling which continues 
 to increase upon us, until we reach Quarry-gill itself. 
 
 The tourist having thus by devious paths reached 
 Quarry-gill, he then climbs up, as well as he can, one side 
 of the ravine, when he reaches a small rustic structure, 
 in the shape of a niche, which bears this inscription : — 
 "This Seat, overlooking some of the beautiful 
 works of the Creator, was built with a grateful 
 mind by William Danby, Esq., a.d. 1832," and pos- 
 sesses the additional interest of its being the last work 
 which Mr. Danby did in the way of improvements. 
 From this point he will have an extensive panoramic 
 view of the vast expanse of country which there presents 
 itself before him, extending from the Western moorlands 
 of Mashamshire on the one hand, to the rich vale of 
 Mowbray and the range of Howardian hills on the other, 
 with the Bourne running rippling along its pebbled bank 
 at the bottom of the deep valley beneath. The undu- 
 lating character of the country — the winding of the 
 Bourne in its course down the valley — and the ever- 
 varying tints and hues of the great diversity of timber 
 trees, and especially the plantations of Scotch firs, larch, 
 and the spruce, in endless variety and in rich and luxu- 
 riant foliage, which crown the acclivities, as well as 
 clothe the banks of the river, render the scene not only 
 exceedingly picturesque, but truly magnificent and im- 
 posing. Here 
 
 " Cultured slopes, 
 Wild tracts of forest ground, and scatter'd groves, 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 175 
 
 And mountains bare, or clothed with ancient woods, 
 Surround us " 
 
 " Here groves arranged in various order rise, 
 And bend their quivering summits to the skies : 
 The regal oak, high o'er the circling shade, 
 Exalts the hoary honours of his head ; 
 The spreading ash a different green displays, 
 And the smooth asp in soothing whispers plays : 
 The fir, that blooms in Spring's eternal prime, 
 The spiry poplar, and the stately lime. 
 Here moss-clad walks, and lawns of lively green, 
 United form one nicely-varying scene : 
 The varying scene still charms the attentive sight, 
 Or brown with shades, or opening into light." 
 
 VIEW IN ARNAGILL. 
 
 I may, however, truly say, what has already been said 
 upon the subject by an abler pen than mine, that Ui '+ * c 
 
 it is 
 
176 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 difficult, by description, to do justice to the beauties 
 which are here developed, as the visitor wanders through 
 the ever- varying and enchanting scenery of the park and 
 grounds belonging to this delightful residence. Art has 
 been here so judiciously brought to the assistance of, and 
 is so blended with nature, that it can nowhere be detected 
 as intrusive." 
 
 " Here might contemplation imp 
 Her eagle plumes ! The poet here might hold 
 Sweet converse with the muse ! The curious sage, 
 Who comments on great nature's ample tome, 
 Might find that volume here ; for here are caves, 
 Where rise those gurgling rills, that sing the song 
 Which contemplation loves. Here shadowy glades, 
 Where, through the tremulous foliage, darts the ray 
 That gilds the poet's day-dream!" 
 
 Although the natural bent of Mr. Danby's mind and 
 disposition was ever towards peace, and the peaceful arts, 
 it will be seen presently that when the necessity arose 
 for it, he was not only ready but willing to draw the 
 sword in defence of his country. It will be remembered 
 that during the French war, in which this country was 
 unfortunately involved, the great Napoleon not only 
 threatened to invade England, but actually took steps for 
 carrying his threat into execution. Such, too, was his 
 confidence of success, that he actually had medals struck 
 (by way of anticipation), to commemorate the event. 
 This threat of invasion so aroused the spirit of the coun- 
 try, that Volunteer corps were raised throughout the 
 length and breadth of the land, for the defence of their 
 homes. The men of Mashamshire, whose ancestors had 
 fought and shed their blood on many a battle-field in 
 their country's cause, were not by any means the last to 
 come forward and enrol themselves amongst the defenders 
 of their country, having for their leaders Mr. Danby and 
 Timothy Hutton, Esq., of Clifton Castle. Within the 
 parish of Masham alone, such was the spirit which then 
 actuated the people, that they raised a corps of upwards 
 of 100 men, and each man not only provided at his own 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 177 
 
 cost his own uniform, but also his accoutrements (a fact 
 which ought to put the present generation to the blush). 
 Neither were they the less spirited in their endeavours 
 to learn their exercise, and to fit themselves for active 
 service in the field should such be required. In the year 
 1804, the Mashamshire Volunteers, as well as the Loyal 
 Dales, and other Volunteer corps in this neighbourhood, 
 were called up for permanent duty at Richmond. The 
 call was cheerfully responded to by both officers and 
 men, by their leaving their homes and their business at 
 their country's call, and for their country's weal, and 
 devoting themselves for several days to learning the bat- 
 talion exercise. 
 
 I have reason to know that the time of the stay of the 
 Volunteers in Richmond was a very profitable one to the 
 fair "practieers at the bar" of the several inns of the 
 ancient borough of Richmond! Often did those places 
 re-echo to " The Song of the Mashamshire Volunteers," 
 to the tune "With a Rodney we will go," sung con voce 
 fortissimo etfuoco. 
 
 " We Volunteers of Masham, our clothing is of red, 
 And if we meet the Frenchmen we'll make them us to dread ; 
 Our clothing is of red, my boys, and turned up with black, 
 But if we meet those French boys we'll make their bones to crack. 
 And with Danby we will go, will go, 
 
 With Danby we will go ; 
 For Hutton is a soldier's friend, 
 And that we all do know." &c, &c, &c. 
 
 Big words are these, certainly; and they were very 
 shortly afterwards almost put to the test, and weighed 
 in the balance, and not found wanting, as will be seen 
 presently. 
 
 Immediately after the assembly of the Volunteers at 
 Richmond, it was discovered that the Dales lads (or 
 Havre- cake-lads, as they were called,) had been so long 
 accustomed to hearing themselves called by nicknames, 
 that they had actually forgotten the names which "their 
 Godfathers and Godmothers had given to them in bap- 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 tism," and were consequently unable to answer to their 
 names when called from the muster-roll of the Regiment, 
 and that the greatest confusion was caused on account of 
 it. To remedy this evil, the Commandant of the Regi- 
 ment was obliged to have a new muster-roll made, framed 
 so as to give the names of the men in a manner that was 
 intelligible to the men themselves. Accordingly, the 
 following names are to be found in the muster-rolls (as 
 amended) of the companies of the Loyal Dales Volun- 
 teers, which were under the command of Captain Met- 
 calfe* and Captain Stewart on that occasion. 
 
 Thomas Alderson, Grain Tom. 
 
 Glowremour Tom. 
 Poddish Tom. 
 Tarry Tom. 
 Tish Tom. 
 Tripy Tom. 
 Trooper Tom. 
 
 Butter Geordie. 
 
 Bowlaway. 
 
 Brownsa Jossy. 
 
 Cis Will. 
 
 Cotty Joe. 
 
 Codgy. 
 
 Cwoaty Jack. 
 
 Curly. 
 
 Assy Will Bill. 
 Ayny Jack. 
 Aygill Tom Bill. 
 Becka Jack. 
 Brag Tom. 
 Bullet. 
 
 Bullock Jammie. 
 Buck Reuben. 
 
 METCALFE. 
 
 * The Metcalfes were very numerous in the Dales, as well as in Masham- 
 shire. It is recorded that in 1556, Sir Christopher Metcalfe, being High 
 Sheriff of Yorkshire, met the Judges of Assize, attended by three hundred 
 horsemen, all of his own family and name, mounted on white horses, and 
 clad in uniform habits. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSRTRE. 179 
 
 Dicky Tom Johnny. Mark Jammie Joss. 
 
 Docken Jammie. Moor Close Gwodie. 
 
 Dant. Nettlebed Anty. 
 
 Freestane Jack. Peter Tom Willy. 
 
 Gudgeon Tom. Peed Jack. 
 
 Hed Jack. Piper Ralph. 
 
 John Hird, Awd John. Pullan Will. 
 
 . . Young John. Robert Will Peg Sam. 
 
 Jain's Jack. Rive-Rags. 
 
 . . Mary Jack. Skeb-Symy. 
 
 . . King Jack. Slipe. 
 
 Katy Tom Alick. Slodder. 
 
 Kitty Puke Jock. Swinny. 
 
 Kanah Bill. Spletmeat. 
 
 Knocky Gwordie. Strudgeon Will. 
 
 Lollock Ann Will. Tash. 
 
 Matty Jwoan Ned. Tazzy Will. 
 
 It must have been exceedingly amusing to a stranger 
 to hear the muster-rolls called on parade, and one can 
 hardly imagine the strictest disciplinarian of a sergeant 
 calling out "Rive -Rags," or " Skeb-Symy," without 
 breaking out into a laugh, subversive of all ideas of the 
 gravity of authority. Nicknames, however, such as these, 
 were not by any means uncommon at this time, even in 
 our own parish, and amongst our own Volunteers. 
 
 The Mashamshire Volunteers were a fine body of men. 
 The town and parish were then in a very flourishing 
 condition, and plenty of money was astir, so that the 
 men were thriving, and in high spirits, and being proud 
 of Mr. Danby and Mr. Hutton as their Captains and 
 leaders (a feeling which was as heartily reciprocated by 
 those very worthy gentlemen), hence their great success. 
 As long as Masham stands, it will ever be a matter of 
 congratulation and pride, that at such a crisis, such a 
 body of men, and so efficient, should have been raised in 
 it for the defence of their common country when threat- 
 ened by a foreign foe. 
 
 Early one morning, the people of Masham were aroused 
 by the ringing of the bells, the beat of drums, and the 
 call, u To arms — to arms." News ran like wildfire that 
 
180 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIEE. 
 
 the Beacon-fires were lit up, and that the French were 
 coming. Presently Mr. Danby and Mr. Hutton were 
 seen bustling about the town, and the men under arms 
 and in marching order. The baggage waggons were got 
 ready as by a magic spell, and all were soon on march 
 towards the eastern coast, ready to give the enemy a 
 meeting on his attempting a landing on our shores. 
 Great was the consternation which prevailed in Masham 
 on that memorable morning. It would be a very easy 
 task to indulge in a little fine sentimental writing on the 
 sayings and doings of "sweethearts and wives" on that 
 occasion, but it would be ungenerous, nay, unmanly and 
 wrong, thus to attempt to cast ridicule upon the gentle 
 sex when placed under such trying circumstances. They 
 only obeyed the promptings of their finer nature and 
 susceptibilities, which it would have been unnatural in 
 them to have resisted. The men, however, acted nobly 
 and heroically, and bravely responded to the call of duty, 
 every man in the corps falling into the ranks, and march- 
 ing away, resolved "to do or die" in his country's cause, 
 still not forgetting "the lass he left behind him." 
 
 The gallant fellows, however, on reaching Thirsk, dis- 
 covered that there was no enemy for them to face, the 
 Beacon-fires having been lit up by mistake, the Warden 
 of the Beacon on Penhill having mistaken an accidental 
 fire on the eastern hills for the Beacon on Roseberry- 
 Topping. A halt was therefore called, to enable the men 
 to obtain some refreshment before returning home again. 
 Unfortunately the apostles of temperance had not at that 
 day set out on their disinterested and philanthropic mis- 
 sion, and the mad fanaticism and excesses of the Puritans 
 (which had produced a revulsion of feeling amongst the 
 people) had by this time degenerated into a perfect indif- 
 ference to all religion whatever, and its ministrations 
 into a barren formality, so that it was not then considered 
 a reproach to a man, and still less to a gentleman, to 
 indulge too freely in intoxicating drinks. This license 
 which the spirit of the times gave them, was on this 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 181 
 
 occasion, I am sorry to say, carried to its fullest extent 
 by the men of Mashamshire. They managed, however, 
 to return to their respective homes with whole skins, and, 
 if not crowned with laurels, with unsullied honour, to 
 the great relief of "the sweethearts and wives" aforesaid. 
 
 The Mashamshire Volunteers were not alone in being 
 thus deceived by the lighting-up of the Beacon-fires. 
 The Loyal Dales Volunteers were also in like manner, 
 and under like circumstances, mustered, and were under 
 arms some hours before the mistake was discovered, 
 when they were also dismissed to their homes. 
 
 Tidings of the gallant conduct thus displayed by the 
 Mashamshire, and the Loyal Dales Volunteers, having 
 attracted the attention of Parliament, Sir Henry Mild- 
 may, on the 11th July, 1806, in moving pursuant to 
 notice, a vote of thanks to the Volunteers generally (as 
 reported in the Parliamentary Debates of the House of 
 Commons of that date), called the attention of the house 
 to the merits, the services, the zeal and perseverance of 
 the Volunteers of the United Kingdom, and said he had 
 no hesitation in saying that it was the full conviction on 
 his mind, that it was to them that the country was 
 indebted for its security when threatened by invasion. 
 Besides the general ardour which gentlemen from every 
 county might bear testimony to, there were some parti- 
 cular instances of their promptitude and alacrity in the 
 course of the last year. On an alarm of invasion on the 
 coasts of Yorkshire, the Volunteers of the neighbouring 
 districts (referring especially to the Mashamshire and 
 the Dales Volunteers) pressed forward, with that ardour 
 and zeal which the country had a right to expect from 
 them, &c, &c. ; and concluded by moving "That this 
 House doth thankfully acknowledge, and highly approve 
 of, the different corps of Yeomanry and Volunteers of 
 the United Kingdom; and doth think it necessary to 
 record its decided opinion, that the due encouragement 
 of the zeal and patriotism which the Yeomanry and 
 Volunteers have so eminently displayed in the main- 
 
182 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 tenance of their establishment, and the preservation of 
 their discipline, would contribute, in an essential degree, 
 to the defence and internal security of the country." 
 This motion, having been seconded by Mr. Dent, was, 
 after some discussion, carried. A similar resolution was 
 also carried in the House of Lords. 
 
 At the conclusion of peace, the Mashamshire corps 
 was broken up, when Mr. Danby, with a liberality which 
 was highly creditable to him, gave up the muskets, which 
 he had bought with his own money for the men, to be 
 sold and the money to be applied for the benefit of the 
 Free School at Masham. The amount thus realised by 
 their sale, together with £100 added to it by him, was 
 afterwards invested in the purchase of £232 2s. 6d., 
 three - and -a- half per cent. Consols, for the use of the 
 schoolmaster, who, as such, has received the interest of 
 it to this day as a part of his annual stipend. If this 
 was not a beating of swords into ploughshares, it was 
 even better, for it was a turning of weapons designed 
 and intended for the destruction of their fellow-men, into 
 instruments for the imparting of instruction to the rising 
 generation, in the arts of peace, virtue, and religion. 
 
 I would here pause for a moment to allude to a circum- 
 stance which at this time occurred, and very injuriously 
 affected the prosperity and well-being of the town of 
 Masham. I refer to the total destruction by fire of the 
 mill at Burton, which had existed there as a corn-mill, 
 a worsted-mill, and a flax-mill, from the time of Roger 
 de Mowbray.* This untoward event occurred on Friday, 
 the 1st of December, 1820 — the fire, which was acciden- 
 tal, having been first discovered about three o'clock that 
 afternoon. The effect of this fire was to throw a great 
 number of hands out of work, and for awhile to affect 
 the trade of the place. The mill, however, was shortly 
 afterwards rebuilt upon a more extensive scale, and 
 
 * See ante p. 44, where allusion is made to the grant by Roger de Mow- 
 bray to John, son of Drin, who had liberty to make this mill, and to fasten 
 a stagtium or mill- pool. 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 183 
 
 afforded employment for a great number of workmen for 
 many years, viz., until about the year 1841 or 1842, 
 when it ceased to be worked, and was shortly afterwards 
 pulled down to the ground. 
 
 This unfortunate occurrence was followed shortly 
 afterwards by a very great flood of the River Yore, which 
 happened on the 2nd of February, 1822, and. not only 
 did great damage to Masham bridge, but caused great de- 
 struction to a vast amount of property. There had not 
 been such a flood since the 2nd of February, 1722-23 
 (a period of exactly ninety years) when the bridges 
 at Masham and Tanfield were broken down by it, as 
 stated at page 63 ante. 
 
 But to return to my account of Mr. Danby, whom I 
 left immediately after the disbanding of the old Mas- 
 hamshire Volunteers. 
 
 Mr. Danby was throughout his long life a great bene- 
 factor to the town and parish of Masham. He did much 
 from time to time towards the restoration and improve- 
 ment of the Church. He paid nearly the whole expense 
 of repairing the steeple on its being blown down by a 
 great wind ; also of the erection of the galleries in the 
 church. He was at the sole expense of the organ, and 
 of the endowment of £30 a-year to be paid to the or- 
 ganist. He also (with the assistance of £450 contri- 
 buted for the purpose by the late Mr. Wm. Heslington, 
 a retired tradesman of Masham) built the School and 
 schoolmaster's house at Kell-bank, and endowed it with 
 its present stipend for the master. Besides which his 
 contributions to both public and private charities were 
 without bound or stint. Their full extent, however, is 
 unknown, for he did good as it were by stealth. 
 
 Besides possessing these good and amiable qualities, 
 he was at once an accomplished scholar, and the gentle- 
 man — his mind being richly stored with the best classic 
 literature, he was ever ready with an apt quotation from 
 the best and most approved authors, on any subject 
 which might chance to arise in the course of conversa- 
 
184 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 tion. When pointing out to his visitors his choice col- 
 lection of paintings and works of art (in which he took 
 great delight) his descriptions of them were not only 
 most lucid, but, at the same time, evinced the taste and 
 judgment of a well-informed connoisseur. His know- 
 ledge of the sciences, of geology, and mineralogy, as 
 displayed in his descriptions of the many specimens he 
 had collected together in his well-stored museum, was, 
 for the age in which he lived, extensive. He also pos- 
 sessed a thorough knowledge of the "divine art of music," 
 and was well acquainted with its many intricacies, and 
 the laws of thorough-bass and counterpoint. His musi- 
 cal library contained the works of the most eminent 
 masters, as well as a choice collection of classical con- 
 certed music. He possessed a complete set of well- toned 
 stringed instruments by the most approved makers, for 
 the use of himself and such of his musical friends who 
 were in the habit of visiting him. He was an excellent 
 performer on the violoncello, on which he played with 
 exquisite taste and sound judgment. Possessing such a 
 taste, it was, as might well be conceived, his greatest 
 pleasure and delight to get around him such friends as 
 could take their parts, and acquit themselves with credit, 
 in a concerted piece of music. In such society, and so 
 employed, he verily revelled, and, what is still better, he 
 loved to see others enjoy themselves as well as himself. 
 
 Besides being the author of several fugitive pieces of 
 literature, he wrote and published the following works, 
 the titles of which I give from the catalogue of them in 
 the British Museum. 
 
 1. — Thoughts chiefly on serious subjects, 8vo. Exe- 
 ter, 1821. 
 
 2. — Thoughts chiefly on serious subjects, with re- 
 marks on " Lacon," [By C. C. Cotton]. Second edition 
 with additions, 2 vols., 8vo. Exeter, 1822. 
 
 3. — Ideas and Kealities, or thoughts on various sub- 
 jects, 8vo. Exeter, 1827. 
 
 4. — Extracts from, and Observations on, Cicero's 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 185 
 
 Dialogues de Senectute and de amicitia, and a Translation 
 of his Somnium Scipionis, with Notes by W. D., etc. 
 1829, 8vo. 
 
 5. — The Somnium Scipionis of Cicero, and an Eng- 
 lish Translation of it with Notes, etc., by W. D., 8vo. 
 1829. 
 
 6. — Thoughts on various subjects, 8vo. London, 1831. 
 
 7. — Extracts from, and Observations on, Cicero's Dia- 
 logues de Senectute, &c, by W. D., 8vo. 1832. 
 
 I cannot conclude this account of Mr. Danby's life 
 better, than by quoting the concluding portion of the in- 
 scription inscribed upon the monument erected to his 
 memory in Masham Church. It says that " He united 
 considerable natural talents with various and elegant 
 accomplishments, and whilst he devoted much leisure to 
 the study and imitation of eminent writers in many 
 languages, the book which he best loved to study was 
 the great book of nature, wherein he clearly read, and 
 with a thankful heart acknowledged, the power and good- 
 ness of its author. Thus endowed with the best 
 gifts and qualities of this world, he forgot not the things 
 pertaining to his Salvation, and the life of the world to 
 come. And as he descended into the vale of years,, 
 and drew nearer and nearer to his God, he was enlight- 
 ened with clearer views of Divine love ; and amidst the 
 sinkings of decaying nature he placed his firm, though 
 trembling, trust in the cross of his redeemer." 
 
 He died on the 4th of December, 1833, in the 82nd 
 year of his age, and was buried in the family burial- 
 vault in Masham Church on the 13th of the same month,, 
 when he was followed to the grave by the tears of a 
 numerous and devoted tenantry, and especially of the 
 poor, to whom he had ever been a kind and sympathising 
 friend. 
 
 O fairest pattern to a falling age, 
 Whose public virtue knew no party rage r 
 Whose private name all titles recommend, 
 The pious son, fond husband, faithful friend. 
 
186 MASHAM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 In manners plain, in sense alone refined : 
 
 Good without show, and without weakness kind. 
 
 To reason's equal dictates ever true ; 
 
 Calm to resolve, and constant to pursue ; 
 
 In life with every social grace adorned, 
 
 In death, by friendship, honour, virtue, mourned. 
 
 —Pope. 
 
 He was succeeded in his estates by his widow, Anne 
 Hoi well Danby, now (1863) the wife of Admiral Octa- 
 vius Vernon Harcourt, to whom he devised them by 
 his Will for her life. 
 
 This brings me to the most difficult, as it is the most 
 delicate part of my task, for it is ever a most difficult 
 and delicate thing for an author to write an account of 
 the doings of living persons. I would not willingly do 
 an injustice to the present owners of Mashamshire, by 
 withholding anything which may redound to their credit, 
 and for which they are justly entitled to receive the ho- 
 mage due from a grateful people : at the same time I 
 owe it to my own character not to indulge in any com- 
 ments or observations, which may subject me even to 
 the suspicion of being guilty of an attempt at flattery, 
 or as it is more significantly termed, " toadyism," a thing 
 which I from my heart do utterly abominate. In order 
 to avoid this, it is my intention to confine myself as much 
 as possible to a plain statement of facts only, and to leave 
 my readers to form their own conclusions upon them. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances, when an estate falls to 
 a tenant for life, as it was hi this instance, it is to be 
 expected that a person placed in such a position, and 
 having no further interest in the estate, than for his or 
 her own life, will do as little as possible for the improve- 
 ment of the property, the advancement of the prosperity 
 of the place, or the interests of its inhabitants. If, how- 
 ever, such expectations were ever formed as to this 
 parish, they have been far from being realised. Had the 
 present possessors of the estate been the owners of the 
 fee simple itself, and been able to have handed it down 
 to a member of their own family, they could not well 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 187 
 
 have done more for it than they have done. The interest 
 they have ever taken in the parish, and in the welfare of 
 the people in it, could not have been greater than it has 
 been, as has been proved by their unbounded liberality 
 to all its institutions and charities ever since they came 
 into possession of the estate. Nay more, whenever it 
 shall please the Almighty to call them hence, they will 
 leave behind them substantial proofs of their connection 
 with the parish, and the interest they have taken in it, 
 in the shape of a handsome new Church and parsonage 
 at Healey ; in twelve almshouses, and a school and school- . 
 house at Masham ; all of which they have not only built, 
 but liberally and amply endowed; besides having con- 
 tributed very largely to the restoration and beautifying 
 of the church, and the improvement of both the grammar 
 and free-schools. 
 
 Admiral Harcourt (the present Lord of Mashamshire) 
 was a younger son of Dr. Edward Vernon, late Arch- 
 bishop of York, who took the surname of Harcourt by 
 Royal sign manual, in January, 1831, on his coming to 
 the estates of the last Earl Harcourt. The Admiral 
 was born on the 26th of December, 1793, and when 
 very young adopted the naval service for his profession. 
 Owing to the lengthened peace which then happily pre- 
 vailed, he never had an opportunity of distinguishing 
 himself in naval enterprises; he, however, served his 
 country not the less faithfully and efficiently, in survey- 
 ing the coasts of California, and in other similar peaceful 
 pursuits. On the 22nd of February, 1838, he married 
 Mrs. Danby, the then Lady of the Manor of Masham 
 and Mashamshire, when he came to reside at Swinton 
 Park. Yery soon afterwards he was placed on the com- 
 mission of the peace for both the North and the West 
 Ridings of Yorkshire, and then became an active magis- 
 trate for this district, and so continued until the year 
 1856, when he was overtaken by his present sickness. 
 In his magisterial capacity, he was remarkable for great 
 painstaking, and for evincing considerable tact and dis- 
 
188 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIIIRE. 
 
 cernment in arriving at the truth, in the several cases 
 brought before him ; and when called upon to put into 
 execution the correctional arm of the law, he ever tem- 
 pered mercy with justice. 
 
 In the year 1848 he was appointed to the office of 
 High Sheriff of the County of York, when I had the 
 honour of acting as his Deputy Sheriff, Seal-keeper, 
 and County-clerk. He discharged the duties of his 
 office in a highly satisfactory manner, fully maintaining 
 the dignity of the office by his gentlemanly bearing, and 
 a liberal hospitality. The duties of the Shrievalty were, 
 
 HEMAINS OF THE OLD CHAPEL AT HIGH BURTON (DESTROYED SOME YEARS AGO). 
 
 however, unusually light during his year of office, and 
 the pageantry and show on the occasions of the High 
 Sheriff going to meet the Judges of Assize, which had 
 existed in the late Mr. Danby's time, had, in the mean- 
 time, been materially reduced by dispensing with the 
 attendance on those occasions, of the High Sheriff's 
 tenantry to form the cavalcade. Still, however, there 
 was scope and verge enough left in order to make, not 
 only a very respectable but imposing display, an oppor- 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 189 
 
 tunity which was not by any means neglected, so that 
 his Shrievalty did not suffer by its being contrasted 
 with that of any other High Sheriff in modern times. 
 
 I have already alluded more than once, to the build- 
 ing, by Admiral and Mrs. Danby Harcourt, of the 
 Church at Healey; I mention it again in order, not only 
 to give the reasons which prompted them to it, but also, 
 for the purpose of giving a description of the Church, 
 and of its consecration. Previous to the Reformation, 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, HEALEY, NEAR MASHAM. 
 
 the western portion of this parish had the opportunity 
 of hearing divine service at the chapels which then ex- 
 isted at Leigh ton, Ellington, and Fearby, whilst such 
 as lived on the opposite side of the river, could hear 
 mass at the chapels at Aldborough- Grange, Low Bur- 
 ton, and High Burton. The dissolution of the Monas- 
 teries however, amongst other evils, swept these and 
 other chapels away, so that the people were unable to 
 
190 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 attend any place of worship, except the Parish Church, 
 which laid at a considerable distance from many parts of 
 this wide parish. The consequence was, that many of 
 the parishioners were either unable to attend a place of 
 worship at all, or were driven to attend the chapels of 
 the Dissenters, which were brought to their very doors. 
 It was in order to remedy this evil, that they determined 
 upon the building of Healey Church. 
 
 The design of the church is from the pencil of E. B. 
 Lamb, Esq., of 26, Charlotte Street, Portland Place, 
 London, a gentleman of some eminence as an architect, 
 and the author of a very excellent Treatise on Archi- 
 tecture. The church is of the Gothic style of architec- 
 ture,* of the decorative character, having a small lantern 
 in the centre, and a well proportioned spire, which pro- 
 duce a very good effect, and form a very beautiful and 
 interesting object in the surrounding landscape. It is 
 admirably adapted to its situation, standing as it does 
 upon an eminence commanding a view of a richly wooded 
 and fertile vale below. 
 
 The design of the church is thus spoken of in the 
 "Athenaeum" of the 16th of May, 1846, on the occasion 
 of its being first exhibited at the Eoyal Academy in 
 London. " It is a meritorious exception from the office 
 and drawing-board school of architecture on the one 
 hand, and the ultra-rigid precedent school on the other. 
 It reproaches many of the noble newspaper paraded 
 churches whose praises seemed to be penned not so much 
 in the spirit of carnal criticism as with a Dr. Cantwell 
 lifting up the eyes. We have here evidence of fertility 
 of conception, and working of mind. There is something 
 equally original and happy in the idea of the small cen- 
 tral lantern and spire for which let those who will, ask 
 for precedent — it being enough for us that precedent 
 may be derived from them." The general effect of the 
 church is very much enhanced by three painted glass 
 windows. The East Window was painted by, and was 
 the gift of, an amateur (the late Sir Robert Erankland 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 191 
 
 Russell, Bart. ) In the upper part of it are introduced 
 emblems of the four Evangelists, and underneath are 
 the figures of Faith — the Belief — Moses presenting 
 the Ten Commandments — and also the Paschal Lamb, 
 and the Pelican feeding its young — the whole being 
 richly ornamented. The West-window was painted by 
 the architect himself, and was the gift of Mrs. Danby 
 Vernon Harcourt. Besides containing the armorial 
 bearings and crests of Admiral Harcourt, the founder, 
 it has in the centre two large figures of St. Paul the 
 Apostle (the patron Saint of the church), and St. John 
 the Evangelist, and is also richly ornamented. The 
 North- window presents the Royal crown and the letters 
 Y.R. — the date of the erection of the church — with the 
 monogram of" the architect, by whom it was painted and 
 presented. The open roof, the stalls, the pulpit, the 
 reading desk, the screen, and the communion table, are 
 all constructed of English oak, in a very substantial but 
 ornamental style, and in good keeping with the remain- 
 der of the building. The total cost to Admiral Harcourt 
 was, I believe, not much short of £2000. 
 
 The church was consecrated by the Right Rev. Dr. 
 Longley, then Bishop of Ripon, assisted by the Yery 
 Rev. D. Erskine, then Dean of Ripon, and about twenty 
 of the neighbouring clergy. The Bishop and the Dean 
 of Ripon officiated at the communion table, and the late 
 Rev. Thomas Riddell, M.A., the Vicar of the Parish, 
 at the reading desk. The Bishop preached an excellent 
 sermon on the occasion from 3 Coloss., 2nd. verse, "Set 
 your affection on things above, not on things on the 
 earth." Admiral Harcourt endowed the church with a 
 stipend which has been since augmented. He has also 
 built an excellent Parsonage-house to it at a cost of £600. 
 
 As I have already shewn, Healey is now constituted 
 a separate and distinct Parish for ecclesiastical purposes, 
 having defined limits as hereinbefore described. It is in 
 the patronage of the Vicar of Masham for the time be- 
 ing, and is of the value of £152 per annum. The Rev. 
 
192 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 John Abraham Carter Swire, M.A., is the present 
 incumbent. 
 
 In the years 1856 and 1858, the public charities of 
 the Parish received a very important, and useful, ad- 
 dition, through the liberality and kindness of Admiral 
 and Mrs. Dan by Yernon Harcourt, in the shape of 
 twelve neat and commodious Almshouses, and a charity 
 School. In the former year six of the Almshouses were 
 built by, and at the expense of, Mrs. Harcourt, who at 
 the same time endowed them with £2650 three per cent. 
 Consols, which she transferred into the names of the 
 trustees of the charity, in order to enable them to carry 
 out its object, by the payment of five shillings a week to 
 each occupier of such six Almshouses. She also in the 
 same year built a School-room and Residence for the 
 Schoolmistress, for the purpose of the gratuitous instruc- 
 tion therein of twelve girls. She at the same time en- 
 dowed the School with £666 13.s. Ad. three per cent. 
 Consols, which she in like manner transferred into the 
 names of the trustees of the charity, to enable them to 
 pay the salary of the schoolmistress, and to defray the 
 expense of the clothing of the twelve girls required to 
 be instructed therein. And in the latter year (1858), 
 six additional Almshouses were in like manner built by, 
 and at the expense of, Admiral Harcourt, who at the 
 same time endowed them with £1775 three per cent. 
 Consols, which he transferred into the names of the 
 trustees of the charity, to enable them, out of the divi- 
 dends thereof, to pay to each occupier of such six Alms- 
 houses, five shillings a week. 
 
 The institution of charities such as these, although 
 once so common, are but too rare in this mammon-loving 
 age — a circumstance which to my mind presents a mel- 
 ancholy proof of a sad falling off in this country in some 
 of the very essentials of true vital religion, namely the 
 practice of almsgiving and good works. We have it 
 continually dinned in our ears that " man is justified by 
 faith"; but how seldom are we told that "faith without 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 193 
 
 works is dead," or that "by works a man is justified, not 
 by faith only," or the duty or necessity of alms-giving 
 enforced from our pulpits; and still less do we see it 
 practised even by those who are the loudest and the 
 foremost to make great professions, and an outward show 
 of religion. The spirit of the teaching and practice of 
 the present age seems to be, that Christ is to do all for 
 man, and that man is to do nothing, — to practice no 
 self-denial, — and to make no sacrifices, for Christ, which 
 is as contrary to the plain precepts of Holy Writ as 
 light is from darkness. In former days this was not so, 
 for then men, out of the abundance of their love 'for the 
 Gospel, gave largely of their substance to the cause of 
 Christ, for the extension of his kingdom, and the ad- 
 vancement of his glory, and that to the extent of impo- 
 verishing themselves and their offspring. This they did, 
 not for vain-glory, or to secure the praise of their fellow- 
 men, well knowing that God, the searcher of hearts, 
 knew full well what were the feelings that prompted 
 them to such actions; neither did they practise these 
 good works thinking thereby to purchase Heaven, as has 
 been erroneously and illnaturedly imputed to them. 
 Such was not their belief, they being but too conscious 
 that Heaven was not to be gained by anything poor sin- 
 ful mortals like themselves could do, but that on the 
 contrary, they were saved by grace and not of themselves, 
 and the practice of such virtues was the result of the 
 promptings of the faith which was in them, and the fruits 
 of a holy living. I must confess that 
 
 " There's something in that ancient superstition, 
 Which, erring as it is, our fancy loves." 
 
 This, however, may be said in favour of the teaching and 
 practice of the professors of religion of the present day, 
 that it has this advantage over the old, of being a cheap 
 way of gaining Heaven, a consideration not to be over- 
 looked in these degenerate times, when the acquisition 
 and hoarding of wealth are regarded as the summum 
 bonum of earthly happiness. 
 
194 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 On the 27th August, 1848, another institution, of a 
 very different character to those just described, was 
 founded in Masham. I refer to the formation and estab- 
 lishment of the Masham Mechanics' Institute — an insti- 
 tution, in my opinion, second to none in importance, in a 
 place so situate and circumstanced as Masham is. I was 
 greatly interested in it at the time, and took an active 
 part in its formation and establishment. As soon as its 
 nature and object was understood, it became generally 
 appreciated, and proved a great success. It has already 
 been of great service to many, although, I must confess 
 it has not as yet accomplished all the good which I 
 had anticipated. The objects aimed at by it were, the 
 establishment of a comfortable reading-room, well sup- 
 plied with newspapers, periodicals, and suitable books, to 
 which the young men in the town might resort in an 
 evening, in preference to spending their time at the street 
 corners, or at the alehouses ; of classes, at which they 
 might be instructed in useful branches of knowledge : of 
 a library of carefully selected works, suitable for their 
 reading at their own homes : and of a series of popular 
 and instructive lectures, such as would be interesting to 
 all its members. The project was much approved of, 
 and being supported by liberal contributions from Admi- 
 ral and Mrs. Danby Vernon Harcourt, Timothy Hutton, 
 Esq., and others, it was brought into full operation. The 
 Rev. Thomas Riddell, M. A., the then vicar of Masham, 
 accepted the office of President, an office which he conti- 
 nued to occupy with great advantage to the institution, 
 and no little satisfaction and pleasure to himself, down 
 to the time of his death in 1855. During the whole 
 time of the presidentship of Mr. Riddell, the institution 
 carried out the several objects for which it was founded 
 to the fullest extent, under the immediate superinten- 
 dence of Mr. Riddell himself, and it is incalculable the 
 amount of good which was thereby effected, notwith- 
 standing the great disadvantage which the institution 
 then laboured under, by the want of a suitable building 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 195 
 
 wherein to carry on its operations. The want of such 
 a building was much bemoaned by Mr. Riddell, as well 
 as by all who took an interest in the well working of the 
 institution. Little did we dream at the time that we 
 should so shortly be put into the possession of what we 
 so ardently desired, but at the loss of our worthy and 
 respected President himself. Yet so it happened. 
 
 On the 30th September, 1855, Mr. Riddell died sud- 
 denly. The news of his death fell upon the people of 
 Masham like a thunderbolt, and was received by them 
 with the greatest consternation and dismay, each one 
 feeling that by his melancholy death he had lost a much 
 loved and valued friend. Never did man die more 
 regretted and beloved. On the day of his burial his 
 remains were followed to the grave by a large concourse 
 of friends and parishioners ; never did I witness such a 
 depth of feeling as was exhibited on that melancholy 
 occasion, not a few otherwise stout-hearted men giving 
 vent to their pent-up sorrow by floods of tears. 
 
 Thus was severed, and that for ever, the happy and 
 harmonious connection which had existed, during a pe- 
 riod of nearly fifteen years, between this truly good and 
 estimable man and his parishioners, during which he had 
 endeared himself to those committed to his charge, by 
 his pious and exemplary life — the faithful and zealous 
 discharge of his duties as their pastor — his unwearied 
 exertions in visiting the sick, and relieving their varied 
 necessities — his unbounded liberality to the poor, and 
 to the several charitable institutions — and by his kind, 
 gentle, and Christianlike bearing to all. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Riddell' s sudden and melancholy death, 
 a strong desire was expressed by many of his parishion- 
 ers and friends to pay some mark of respect to his 
 memory, and at the same time to preserve and hand down 
 to posterity some lasting record of him, and his connec- 
 tion with the parish. As he had in his lifetime taken a 
 very lively interest in, and had been the president and a 
 liberal supporter of, the Mechanics' Institute, from its 
 
196 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 first establishment until his death, it was determined to 
 erect to his memory a handsome building in Masham as 
 a Mechanics' Institute, to be called after his name. The 
 Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, very 
 liberally granted a site for the building, and in addition 
 thereto gave a donation of £20 towards the building. A 
 subscription was set on foot for the erection of the build- 
 ing, which in a short time amounted to a considerable 
 sum. In further aid of the building fund, the ladies of 
 Masham formed themselves into a committee, and having 
 obtained a long list of lady patronesses, with the name 
 of Mrs. Danby Vernon Harcourt at his head, got up a 
 Fancy Fair and Bazaar upon a novel and extensive scale. 
 The Fancy Fair and Bazaar was held in Swinton Park, 
 on the 9th of July, 1856, and was honoured by a very 
 large and fashionable assemblage, numbering about 1500. 
 The ladies of the committee gracefully and ably presided 
 over the fancy fair, and the several stalls, which were 
 loaded with a vast variety of fancy and ornamental arti- 
 cles, as well as a large assortment of others of a more 
 useful description, presented, with the gay throng, a 
 most imposing appearance. Never did the fair domains 
 of Swinton Park, replete as it is at all times by nature 
 with all that is charming and beautiful, show to greater 
 advantage than it did on that occasion. Everything 
 passed off with the greatest possible satisfaction to all 
 parties, and after paying all expenses and outgoings, the 
 committee had the pleasure of handing over to the trea- 
 surer of the building committee the sum of £275, which 
 with the sum of £461 raised by subscription, made the 
 sum of £736, applicable to the erection of the building. 
 This last mentioned sum covered the entire cost of the 
 building. 
 
 The first stone of the building was publicly laid on 
 the 15th March, 1856, by Admiral Harcourt, as chair- 
 man of the building committee, and myself, as president 
 of the institute, in the presence of Timothy Hutton, Esq., 
 of Clifton Castle, the Rev. Thos. Hedley, M.A., vicar of 
 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 197 
 
 Masham, Win. Perkin, Esq., the architect, the officers 
 and committee of the institute, and a large concourse of 
 the inhabitants of Masham and neighbourhood; when 
 suitable addresses were delivered. 
 
 The Public Inauguration, and opening of the building 
 for the purposes of the institute, took place on the 3rd 
 November, 1856, by a Public Soiree, which was attend- 
 ed by a large and respectable audience. The chair was 
 taken on that occasion by myself, as president of the 
 institute, when the meeting was addressed by the Rev. 
 Canon Trevor, of York, the Rev. Dr. Whiteside, vicar 
 of Scarborough, the Rev. Thomas Hedley, M. A., vicar 
 
 THE RIDDELL MEMORIAL MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. 
 
 of Masham, the Rev. S. H. Atkins, of Studley, Barnett 
 Blake, Esq., Lecturer to the Yorkshire Union of Mecha- 
 nics' Institutes, and by other gentlemen, each speaker 
 dwelling at some length on the great benefits which me- 
 chanics' institutes were capable of effecting, and paying 
 a tribute to the memory of the late Mr. Riddell. The 
 proceedings of the evening passed off with great success 
 and gave universal satisfaction. 
 
 At the end of that year I resigned the office of Pre- 
 sident into the hands of the then newly appointed Vicar 
 
198 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHlRti. 
 
 of Masham (Mr. Hedley), and the Institute has ever since 
 been carried on principally under his personal direction 
 and superintendence. 
 
 The next public improvement which claims our atten- 
 tion, was the lighting of the town of Masham with gas, 
 in 1858. This was effected by the aid of a Joint Stock 
 Company, which was formed for the purpose, under the 
 style of " The Masham Gas Company Limited." The 
 construction of the works was let to the late Mr. Knap- 
 ton of the Albion Foundry v York, who completed the 
 contract very satisfactorily. The town was lit up on the 
 5th November, 1858, when the event was commemora- 
 ted by a large dinner party at the King's Head Inn, 
 which was attended by all the principal Inhabitants of 
 the place, and was presided over by myself, as chairman 
 of the Gas Company — the town being at the same time 
 gaily illuminated with a great variety of appropriate 
 devices. The Gas Company, as a commercial specula- 
 tion, proved highly successful — its shareholders having 
 received out of the profits realised by it a dividend of £5 
 per cent, in the first year of its existence, and £10 per 
 cent, in the second year. The public lamps in the streets 
 are now lighted by the Local Board for the Masham 
 District (which comprises the whole Parish), appointed 
 under the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1858. 
 
 About the same time the town received the benefit of 
 a plentiful supply of excellent spring water, brought to 
 it in pipes from a distant spring, by the enterprise of a 
 private individual (Mr. George Kendall of Masham). I 
 doubt whether that spirited gentleman receives a suffi- 
 cient return in the shape of water-rents, for his invest- 
 ment in the undertaking. This however is quite certain 
 that the waterworks have been a great boon to the inha- 
 bitants, in the supply of a want which was very much 
 felt. 
 
 I have already recorded the raising of a Volunteer 
 Corps at Masham during the late French war: it is 
 therefore but right that I should mention, for the credit 
 
HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIKE. 199 
 
 of the present generation, that when circumstances arose 
 some two or three years ago, to render it desirable for 
 the defence of the nation that a volunteer force should 
 again be raised, a sub-division of Volunteers was formed 
 in Masham under the name of " The Mashamshire or 
 11th North Eiding of Yorkshire Eifle Volunteers." 
 The commissioned officers of this sub-division are, Tho- 
 mas Smurthwaite, Esq., of High Burton near Masham, 
 as lieutenant; James David Eaine Fisher, Esq., as en- 
 sign; and Midgley Cockroft, Esq., M.D, as assistant 
 surgeon. Both officers and men have since its formation 
 been very diligent and unremitting in their attendance 
 at the necessary drills, and in acquiring the necessary 
 instructions to enable them efficiently to discharge their 
 respective duties, and to acquit themselves creditably 
 when called up for duty. 
 
 The Dissenters are very numerous throughout the 
 parish, and there are accordingly many dissenters' cha- 
 pels within it. The Society of Friends were formerly 
 very numerous here, and they have still a meeting-house 
 in Masham, and a burial-ground at Ellington, although 
 there is not now a single member of their society left in 
 the parish. The Baptists were the first, after the 
 Quakers, to establish themselves here. They formerly 
 held their meetings in the lobby in the long room con- 
 nected with the Bay-horse inn. They afterwards bought 
 a site in Grewelthorpe road, on which they built for 
 themselves their present chapel. The Wesleyans (who 
 are a numerous body) have also had a chapel of their 
 own here for many years past. The Primitive Metho- 
 dists have also been established here for many years, 
 but have not as yet been able to raise a chapel of their 
 own. They meet in a room at the Cross-of-the-hill, 
 which they rent for the purpose. A body calling them- 
 selves " Eeform Wesleyans " have also been established 
 here within the last few years, and meet for worship in a 
 room rented by them for the purpose. Besides these, 
 the Wesleyans possess a chapel of their own at Fearby. 
 
200 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Provident Institutions are numerous within the 
 parish : the Oddfellows (of the Manchester Unity), are 
 the most numerous body, and possess a Hall of their 
 own, in which they hold their lodge meetings. The 
 Gardeners, and the members of the several societies 
 called " Free-gifts," meet for the most part at the public 
 houses. 
 
 A Savings Bank has also been established here, in 
 connection with the Ripon Savings Bank, and deposits 
 are received, and payments made, by the trustees every 
 Wednesday at noon, at the Mechanics' Institute. 
 
 Having now noticed everything of importance con- 
 nected with the past history of Masham, its parish, and 
 its institutions, I now proceed to speak of its several 
 Lords. I accordingly, in the first place give, in a tabu- 
 lar form, a complete list of the several Lords of Masham- 
 shire, commencing with Earl Edwin, who held Masham- 
 shire in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and ending 
 with the present Lord and Lady of the Manor, shewing 
 in what manner and at what date they succeeded each 
 other in the Lordship. And in the second place, I give 
 the personal history of the several Lords, and of their 
 families and connections, in the shape of full and extend- 
 ed Pedigrees. 
 
VIEW OP MASHAM FROM ABOVE THE BRIDGE. 
 
 A TABLE, 
 
 Containing a List of the several Lords of Masham- 
 shire, from the reign of Edward the Confessor to the 
 present time, shewing when and how they succeeded 
 each other in the Lordship. 
 
 Edward the Confessor to 5 William I. 1071. 
 
 Edwin, the Saxon Earl of Chester, and brother of Earl 
 Morcar the Saxon Earl of Northumberland, was at 
 this time Lord of Mashamshire. In consequence of 
 the great opposition which Edwin and William of- 
 fered to William the Conqueror, the latter, in 1071, 
 seized upon Earl Edwin's estates, and granted them 
 to his own nephew, 
 
 [5 William I. 1071.] 
 
 Earl Alan, known as Alan Rufus, Earl of Bretagne, and 
 Richmond. On his death Mashamshire descended to 
 his brother, 
 
 [3 William II. 1089.] 
 
 Earl Alan the 2nd, known as Alan Niger, Earl of Bre- 
 
202 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIBE. 
 
 tagne and Richmond. On his death Mashamshire de- 
 scended to his brother, 
 
 [7 William II. 1093.] 
 
 Earl Stephen, Earl of Bretagne and Richmond, who 
 granted Mashamshire in his life- time to 
 
 [Before 1 Stephen. 1135.] 
 
 Nigel de Albini. On his death he was succeeded by his 
 eldest son, Roger, then a minor, who took the name 
 of 
 
 [About 1 Stephen. 1135.] 
 
 Roger de Mowbray, who granted Mashamshire in his 
 life -time to his relative, 
 
 [Before 10 Stephen. 1140.] 
 
 Walter de Buhere, on whose death Mashamshire passed 
 to his sister and heiress, 
 
 Emma de Buhere, who in consideration of some services 
 rendered to her in the recovery of her estates in Nor- 
 mandy, granted Mashamshire to 
 
 John de Walton, or Wauton — which grant was after- 
 wards confirmed by Roger de Mowbray. On his 
 death he was succeeded by his son, 
 
 [7 Richard I. 1195.] 
 
 Gilbert de Walton, or Wauton, on whose death he was 
 succeeded by his son, 
 
 [13 John. 1211.] 
 
 John de Walton, or Wauton, who granted Mashamshire 
 in his life-time to his son, 
 
 [Before 15 Henry III. 1230.] 
 
 Sir John de Walton, or Wauton, on whose death he was 
 succeeded by his daughter, 
 
 [26 Edward I. 1297.] 
 
 Joan de Walton, or Wauton, afterwards the wife of Hugh 
 de Hopham, whom she survived. She sold Masham- 
 shire to 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 203 
 
 [2 Edward III. 1328.] 
 
 Sir Geoffrey le Scrope, Knt., on whose death it descended 
 to his son, 
 
 [13 Edward III. 1339.] 
 
 Sir Henry le Scrope, Knt. (1st Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 who was succeeded on his death by his son, 
 
 [16 Richard II. 1392.] 
 
 Sir Stephen le Scrope, Knt. (2nd Lord Scrope of Alas- 
 ham) on whose death he was succeed by his son, 
 
 [8 Henry IV. 1406.] 
 
 Sir Henry le Scrope, Knt. (3rd Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 on whose attainder for high treason, and consequent 
 forfeiture of his estates, Mashamshire became vested 
 in 
 
 [3 Henry V. 1415.] 
 
 The Crown, by whom it was granted out by Letters 
 Patent (dated 10th June, 5 Henry V., 1417) to 
 
 [10th June, 5 Henry V. 1417.] 
 
 Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, Knt. His grant of these estates 
 having been set aside, after a long contest, the estates 
 of the last mentioned Henry Lord Scrope, were finally 
 by Act of Parliament restored to his fourth brother, 
 
 [25 Henry VI. 1446.] 
 
 Sir John Scrope, Knt. (4th Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 who granted Mashamshire in his life-time to his son, 
 
 [4th May, 32 Henry VI. 1453.] 
 
 Sir Thomas Scrope, Knt. (5th Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 on whose death he was succeeded by his son, 
 
 [15 Edward IV. 1475.] 
 
 Sir Thomas Scrope, Knt. (6th Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 on whose death, without issue, he was succeeded by 
 his brother, 
 
 [9 Henry VII. 1493.] 
 
 Henry Scrope (7th Lord Scrope of Masham) on whose 
 death he was succeeded bv his son, 
 
201 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 [6 Henry VIII. 1514.] 
 
 Ralph Scrope (8th Lord Scrope of Masham) on whose 
 death, without issue, he was succeeded by his brother, 
 
 [7 Henry VIII. 1515.] 
 
 Geoffrey Scrope, Clerk, (9th Lord Scrope of Masham) 
 on whose death without issue, and in default of heirs 
 male, his real estates, including Mashamshire, des- 
 cended to his three sisters and co-heiresses, 
 
 [9 Henry VIII. 1517.] 
 
 Alice, the wife of Sir James Strangways, Knt., Marjery, 
 the wife of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., and Eliza- 
 beth, the wife of Sir Ralph Fitz- Randolph, Knt. On 
 a partition of the estates amongst these three co-heir- 
 esses, Mashamshire was allotted to, and fell to the 
 share of 
 
 [12 Henry VIII. 1520.] 
 
 Marjery, the wife of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt. On 
 her death it passed to her son, 
 
 [23 Henry VIII. 1531.] 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby, Knt. (who at his father's death 
 in 1514 was a minor, 12 years of age.) On his death 
 he was succeeded by his son, 
 
 [14 Elizabeth. 1571.] 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., on whose death he was suc- 
 ceeded by his grandson, 
 
 [32 Elizabeth. 1589-90.] 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq. (then a minor,) on whose 
 death intestate he was succeeded by his son and heir, 
 
 [22 James I. 1624.] 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, Knt. (then a minor). On his death 
 he was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
 [12 Charles II. 1660.] 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq., on whose death he was succeeded 
 by his son, 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 205 
 
 [19 Charles II. 1667.] 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq., on whose death he was succeeded 
 by his brother, 
 
 [23 Charles II. 1671.] 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq., on whose death he was suc- 
 ceeded by his uncle, 
 
 [35 Charles II. 1683.] 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq., who in that same year con- 
 veyed Mashamshire to his son, 
 
 [35 Charles II. 1683.] 
 
 Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knt., on whose death he was suc- 
 ceeded by his son, 
 
 [14 George I. 1727.] 
 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq., on whose death he was suc- 
 ceeded by his eldest son, 
 
 [24 George II. 1750.] 
 
 William Danby, Esq., on whose death he was succeeded 
 by his only son, 
 
 [22 George III. 1781.] 
 
 William Danby, Esq., on whose death without issue, 
 Mashamshire passed by his will to his widow, 
 
 [4 William IV. 1833.] 
 
 Anne Holwell Danby, now (1863) the wife of Admiral 
 Octavius Henry Cyril Venables Vernon Harcourt, 
 who now holds it for her life. 
 
206 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 PEDIGREES OF THE SEVERAL LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE, FROM 
 THE REIGN OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR TO THE PRESENT 
 TIME. 
 
 EARL EDWIN. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Algar, the Saxon Earl of Mereia in the time of Ed- 
 ward the Confessor, had the following children, viz. : — 
 
 I. Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, who received his 
 appointment from the people, and was afterwards con- 
 firmed in it by Edward the Confessor. He was also 
 Governor of York, which City, after a gallant defence 
 of six months by him and his brother Edwin (Lord of 
 Mashamshire) on its being besieged by William the Con- 
 queror, he w r as obliged to surrender through famine, in 
 1071. He was condemned by the Conqueror to perpe- 
 tual imprisonment. 
 
 II. Edwin, the Saxon Earl of Chester and Lord of 
 Mashamshire, in the time of Edward the Confessor. He 
 was the brother-in-law of King Harold, son of Earl God- 
 wyn, who at the death of Edward the Confessor, had 
 been elected by the people and crowned King of Eng- 
 land. William Duke of Normandy having laid claim to 
 the crown, and Tosti (the then Earl of Northumberland) 
 having landed on Lindsey coast in Lincolnshire, with a 
 rebellious force, for the purpose of disputing Harold's 
 title to the crown, Edwin with his brother Morcar, rose 
 and beat them out of the country, and afterwards 
 gave battle to Harold Harfagar, King of Norway, who 
 then invaded the land, but without success. It is not 
 very certain, but very probable, that he was at the 
 Battle of Stamford Bridge near York (which took place 
 five days afterwards) where Harold Harfager the King 
 of Norway was slain. After the disastrous defeat and 
 death of Harold, the last of our Saxon monarchs, at the 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 207 
 
 Battle of Hastings, Edwin and his brother Morcar of- 
 fered the most vigorous and organised opposition to the 
 arbitrary usurpation of William the Conqueror. The 
 crafty Conqueror, however, being anxious to conciliate 
 two such powerful Thanes as Edwin and Morcar were, 
 and to win them over to his own interest professed great 
 friendship towards them, appointed them to honourable 
 posts at his coronation, and still more, promised to give 
 one of his daughters to Earl Edwin in marriage. Thus 
 tempted, instead of further resisting the Conqueror's 
 pretensions, they rendered him important services ; but 
 when Edwin asked for his promised reward, the Con- 
 queror not only refused the fair bride but insulted the 
 suitor. Upon this Edwin and Morcar secretly left the 
 Norman Court, and coming here into the north of Eng- 
 land, joined their incensed countrymen, and made com- 
 mon cause with them for the recovery of the ancient 
 liberties of the people. 
 
 Having rallied around them the flower of the Saxon 
 nobility, and garrisoned the City of York, they made a 
 long and desperate resistance to the Norman arms. Af- 
 ter a protracted siege, however, in which they were 
 joined by Gospatric (Lord of Masham town) they and 
 the gallant Saxons were defeated, through famine and 
 the treachery of their Danish allies. Whilst William 
 the Conqueror and his Norman allies were thus laying 
 siege to the City of York in 1071, he deprived Earl 
 Edwin of all his estates (including Mashamshire) and 
 gave them to his own relative, Earl Alan (of whom here- 
 after) as a reward for the great services which he had 
 rendered to him, on that and on other occasions. The 
 Conqueror having taken Earl Edwin's brother Morcar 
 prisoner, Edwin determined to release his brother or 
 lose his life in the attempt, but was betrayed by his own 
 followers into the hands of the Normans, when he lost 
 his life. His death was much lamented not only by his 
 own countrymen but by the French and Normans — on 
 account, it is said, of his noble extraction, the devotion 
 

 208 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 of his parents, the handsomeness of his person, and of 
 his being an especial lover of the clergy, monks, and 
 poor persons. So much indeed was he regretted that 
 when the Conqueror himself heard by what treachery 
 his life had been taken, it is said that he was compas- 
 sionately moved and wept, and instead of rewarding 
 those that betrayed him, as they had been led to expect, 
 he banished them, as they richly deserved to be. 
 
 III. Algytha, who married Harold, the last of our 
 Saxon Kings of England, who was slain at the Battle 
 of Hastings. She died in 1075, and was buried near 
 her husband at Westminster. She had by him two sons 
 called, 
 
 I. Wolf, who was but a child when his father 
 
 was slain, and 
 II. Edmund. 
 
 IV. Lucy, whom the Conqueror gave in marriage to 
 Ivo Talbois, a Norman, who was made Lord of all Hol- 
 land in Lincolnshire. 
 
 EAEL ALAN. 
 
 A A A A 
 
 t 'k t X I LINEAGE. 
 
 k 'k 'k m k \ Eudo, Earl of Bretagne in Armorica, 
 i k k 'k i' J na( l the following children, viz. : — 
 i i i m t J I. Alan Rufiis, or Fergeaunt, of 
 jfc A' 'k^y whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Alan Niger, of whom hereafter. 
 
 III. Stephen, of whom also hereafter. 
 
 IV. Brian, who marrying the heiress of Chateau Bri- 
 ant, retired into Cornwall, where he laid the foundation 
 of a noble family, which nourished for many ages. 
 
 Y. Ribald, the first Lord of Middleham, who by his 
 wife Algatha, daughter of Robert de Brusce, of Skelton 
 Castle, in Cleveland — had a son, 
 
 I. Robert, Lord of Middleham, who in 1190, built the 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 209 
 
 Castle of Middleham. He married Helwisa, daughter 
 and heiress of Ealph de Glanville, a Baron, and Chief 
 Justice of England hi the time of Henry ll. and Richard 
 I. He left the following children, viz, : — 
 
 I. Ranulphus, Lord of Middleham. 
 II. Robert, Lord of Middleham. 
 III. Mary, the wife of Robert de Neville, Lord 
 of Raby, by whom she had many children. 
 By her Middleham Castle came into the 
 Neville family. 
 
 II. Bardolf, the father of Akarius, who founded the 
 Abbey of Fors, in Wensleydale, in 1144, which was 
 afterwards transferred to Jervaux. 
 
 Alan Rufus, or Fergaunt, above-mentioned, came into 
 England with the Conqueror, and commanded the rear 
 of his army at the Battle of Hastings, and was married 
 to Constance, one of the king's daughters. As a reward 
 for his services, the Conqueror, at the siege of York in 
 1071, gave him all the estates (including Mashamshire) 
 of which he had deprived Earl Edwin, as before men- 
 tioned. By this means he became Earl of Richmond 
 and Lord of Mashamshire. He died in 1089, but left 
 no issue, whereupon he was succeeded as Lord of Mas- 
 hamshire by his brother, 
 
 Earl Alan Niger, who was in great favour with King 
 William Rufus, and was a great benefactor to the church. 
 He also died without issue, a.d. 1093, when Masham- 
 shire descended to his brother, 
 
 Earl Stephen, who' granted Mashamshire, some time 
 before 1136, to Nigel de Albini (of whom hereafter). 
 He died in 1137, and was succeeded in his remaining 
 estates by his son, 
 
 Earl Alan (surnamed the Savage,) who confirmed the 
 grant of Mashamshire made by his father Earl Stephen, 
 by again granting Mashamshire to Roger de Mowbray, 
 the son and heir of Nigel de Albini. He died a.d. 1165, 
 leaving issue, 
 
 I. Conan, his successor. 
 
210 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 II. Robert. 
 
 III. Brian, father of Alan, Lord of Bedale. 
 
 IV. Reginald, of whom I do not further treat, as 
 
 Mashamshire had ceased to be held by 
 them or their family by the grant thereof 
 by Alan Niger to Nigel de Albini, of whom 
 I proceed next to speak. 
 Arms : — Escutcheon, Ermine. 
 
 NIGEL DE ALBINI, 
 
 AND 
 
 ROGER DE MOWBRAY. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Roger de Albini, by Amicia de Mowbray, sister to 
 Robert, Earl of Northumberland, had (amongst other 
 issue) a son, 
 
 Nigel de Albini, who came into England with the 
 Conqueror, and was, after the Conquest, one of those 
 captains who marched with him into the northern parts, 
 and laid waste this part of the country. He was after- 
 wards Bow-bearer to King William Rufus, and was 
 present when that king came by his untimely death. 
 He was a great warrior, and received as a reward for his 
 valour grants of very large possessions. It is said that 
 he was so enriched that he had in England 140 knights' 
 fees, as also 120 in Normandy. He became possessed of 
 Mashamshire by a grant thereof from Earl Stephen, as 
 before mentioned, which grant was afterwards confirmed 
 by Earl Stephen's son, and heir (Earl Alan), granting 
 Mashamshire to Roger de Mowbray, as the son and heir 
 of this Nigel de Albini. Whilst he was Lord of Mas- 
 hamshire, he granted Aldborough to the Monks of Foun- 
 tains. He had two wives, the first of whom was Maude, 
 the daughter of Richard de Aquila, whom he married by 
 permission of Pope Paschall, hi the lifetime of her hus- 
 band, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 211 
 
 whilst lie (Mowbray) was in prison for his rebellion 
 against King William Rufus. He afterwards got divorced 
 from her, on the pretext of her being his kinsman's wife, 
 and then he married Gundreda. He died in the year 
 1135, and by Gundreda, his wife, he left as his successor, 
 and heir of his extensive estates, (which included Mas- 
 hamshire) a son, 
 
 Roger de Albini, who by the special command of King 
 Henry I., assumed the name of Roger de Mowbray. 
 This Roger de Mowbray, being a minor at his father's 
 death, was a ward to King Stephen. He, like his father 
 Nigel de Albini, was a great warrior, but had a still 
 stronger bent to works of religion and peace. He was a 
 most powerful baron, and his landed possessions were 
 immense. He had four seats, or castles, annexed to his 
 several baronies. Of these the first was Thirsk, depen- 
 dent on which was that fine and fertile portion of the 
 county of York, still denominated the " Yale of Mow- 
 bray.'' The second was the Barony of Mashamshire, and 
 Kirkby Malzeard (at which latter place he had one of his 
 castles), which stretched from the eastern confine of 
 Mashamshire, by Middlesmoor, to Hebden-in- Craven. 
 The third was Ewcross-Wapentake, stretching from Cra- 
 ven to the confines of Westmoreland, having another 
 castle at Burton-in-Lonsdale ; and the last was the Isle 
 of Axiholme, where he had also a castle, called Epworth 
 Castle. With Mashamshire, however, he parted in his 
 lifetime, having granted it to his relative Walter de 
 Buhere (of whom hereafter). Mr. Jefferson, in his His- 
 tory of Thirsk, says, "In Roger de Mowbray the unfor- 
 tunate always found a friend ; one that not only pitied 
 their misfortunes, but also used his endeavours to relieve 
 them ; in battle he was valiant, and like a genuine hero, 
 spread slaughter and destruction around him. He was 
 lofty of stature ; and his noble mien and condescending 
 manners won him many friends." In the year 1138, on 
 David, King of Scotland, invading England, this Roger 
 de Mowbray, having sent the whole force of his wide 
 
212 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 domains into the field, was, although a youth, one of the 
 barons who commanded the King's army at the memora- 
 ble battle, the Battle of the Standard, which was fought 
 at Northallerton on the 22nd August, 1138, and at which 
 the English obtained a great victory over the Scots. 
 About the year 1142, adhering to the King against the 
 Empress Maud, he was with him at the Battle of Lincoln, 
 where he was taken prisoner, but was afterwards released 
 when the Queen and her son were obliged to retire into 
 Normandy. In the year 1148, he accompanied Lewis 
 VII. , King of France, as a Crusader, to the Holy Land, 
 where it is related that he fought and vanquished a stout 
 and hardy pagan in single combat. In the year 1173, 
 having taken the side of Prince Henry in his contest with 
 his father, King Henry II., for the throne, whilst he was 
 staying at his castle at Thirsk, he planned a rebellion 
 against the King, into which he entered very heartily, 
 but proving unsuccessful he was taken prisoner by Geof- 
 frey, the Bishop elect of Lincoln (the King's bastard son) 
 on Candlemas day, 1140, when his castles at Kirkby 
 Malzeard and Thirsk^ were besieged, and they, with his 
 other castles, were destroyed by order of the King. 
 Amongst other religious houses, he founded the Abbey 
 of Byland, as also the Priory of Newburgh, and made 
 numerous and extensive grants of land to the monks of 
 Fountains, and of Jervaux, as well as to other religious 
 houses, amounting, it is said, to no fewer than thirty-five 
 in number, to all of which he was a most liberal benefac- 
 tor. Probably in order to expiate the crime of joining 
 in rebellion against his King, he afterwards took a second 
 
 * Mr. Jefferson, in his History of Thirsk, in speaking of Roger de Mow- 
 bray's Castle of Thirsk, says, " This strong and warlike fortress, whose 
 formidable walls overlooked the few houses which composed the town of 
 Thirsk, was of immense magnitude, and inferior to few in the kingdom for 
 the magnificence of its external appearance, as well as the sumptuous gran- 
 deur of the interior. Its towers were high and numerous, and of such excel- 
 lent stone that they at once displayed all the richness of Gothic architecture, 
 and all the durability so necessary to preserve them from the rage and vio- 
 lence of the feudal times, to which they were subjected. * * * Mowbray 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 213 
 
 expedition to the Holy Land, on which occasion he was 
 again unsuccessful. The Christians being vanquished by 
 Saladin, Roger de Mowbray was taken prisoner along with 
 Guy, King of Jerusalem, but was afterwards redeemed 
 by the Knights Templars. Wearied with wars and dis- 
 gusted with the world, he returned to England, and 
 retired to the calm seclusion of Byland Abbey, where he 
 assumed the monastic habit, and spent the last fifteen 
 years of his long and eventful life, in offices of religion. 
 He was buried within the Abbey, in an arch on the south 
 side of the Chapter-house, near to the Lady Gundreda, 
 
 was always well provided with stores for a siege, and the most orderly dis- 
 cipline was observed among his troops, which generally amounted to 500 
 effective men, who were willing at any time to lay down their lives for their 
 valiant leader, and would have thought them richly bestowed. The castle 
 itself was a noble pile of building, uniting the magnificence of a royal palace 
 with the strength and security of an impregnable fortress. The soldiers 
 were sprung from the different clans of the Mowbrays, and with their war- 
 like leader had often fought valiantly and successfully, and had defended 
 with fidelity incorruptible the rights of their beloved commander. The cas- 
 tle, with its outworks, occupied four acres of ground, but now scarce a stone 
 remains upon another to mark the scene of all this bustle and confusion. 
 The view, on passing the grand entrance, was calculated to strike terror into 
 the beholder. The ponderous iron gates turned heavily on their hinges, 
 ' grating harsh thunder.' The courts were filled with the warriors of the 
 Mowbrays, who nightly traversed the ramparts, to keep diligent watch over 
 the inmates of the castle, and to prevent a surprisal by lurking violence. 
 The great hall was of spacious dimensions, and its decorations were of exqui- 
 site workmanship, hung with waving banners, the fruits of hard-earned 
 victory." 
 
 If this is really a true and faithful description of Roger de Mowbray's 
 castle at Thirsk, we may form some idea of the magnificence and strength of 
 his other castle at Kirkby-Malzeard. All, however, that we know of it is 
 its situation, and that it was situated on an eminence, with a deep ditch on 
 the north, and commanding most extensive prospects to the east and north- 
 east, and from which, no doubt, his other castle at Thirsk was visible. The 
 late Mr. Dickins, in enlarging his mansion at Kirkby-Malzeard, and laying 
 out his pleasure-grounds, dug up many ruins of the ancient castle of Kirk- 
 by-Malzeard, consisting of bases, shafts, capitals, which are still preserved. 
 The camp upon Nut with and the ford, or wath, across the Yore, near Aldbo- 
 rough (which still bears his name), are also evidences of his greatness and 
 martial character. 
 
sons, viz. 
 
 214 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 his mother, having the figure of a sword placed over his 
 tomb. His remains laid there in peace and undisturbed 
 for a period of 600 years, namely, until the month of 
 July, 1819, when the late Martin Stapylton, Esq., having 
 learned from an ancient MS. the spot where they were 
 deposited, took it into his head to cause them to be 
 disinterred, and to be conveyed to his seat at Myton. 
 Fragments of the coffin and small fragments of bones 
 were obtained by different persons, who preserved them 
 as relics. He left by Alice de Gaunt, his wife, two 
 * l 
 
 I. Nigel de Mowbray, (his successor, ) who it will 
 be seen, joined his father in the grant of the 
 Church of Masham to the Church of St. 
 Peter's at York, and also in granting the 
 Forest of Masham to John de Wauton ; but 
 of this Nigel hereafter. 
 II. Robert de Mowbray, who also joined his father 
 in making the last-mentioned grants. 
 Nigel de Mowbray, above-mentioned, succeeded his 
 father in his vast possessions, but dying without issue, 
 about the 3rd Richard I., 1191, he was succeeded by his 
 eldest son, 
 
 William de Mowbray, who was one of the barons who 
 took up arms against King John, and was one of the 
 twenty-five barons appointed to enforce the observation 
 of Magna Charta, which was signed at Runnimede June 
 19th, 1215. In the reign of Henry III., adhering to the 
 same cause, he joined the party of Prince Lewis of 
 France, who invaded England at the request of many of 
 the barons, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Lin- 
 coln, when his lands were forfeited, but afterwards 
 restored to him. He died in 1222, and was buried at 
 Newburgh Abbey. He was succeeded by his eldest son 
 
 * Neither of these two sons, or their descendants, were ever Lords of 
 Mashamshire, their father having in his lifetime granted the lordship to his 
 kinsman Walter de Buhere. I however continue the pedigree, on account of 
 the prominent figure they make in the history of the country. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 215 
 
 and heir, (by Agnes his wife, daughter of the Earl ol 
 Arundel, ) 
 
 Nigel de Mowbray, who dying without issue, was suc- 
 ceeded by his brother, 
 
 Roger de Mowbray, who is the deforciant to the fine, 
 set out in the Appendix hereto. He died in the 51st 
 Henry III., 1266, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
 Roger de Mowbray, who was summoned to Parliament 
 as a baron. He died at Ghent about the 26th Edward L, 
 1297, and was buried at Fountains Abbey. He was 
 succeeded by his eldest son (by his wife Rose, sister of 
 Gilbert, Earl of Clare), 
 
 John de Mowbray. He married Aliva, daughter and 
 co-heir of William de Braose, of Gower, and thereby 
 acquired that inheritance. He fought in Scotland, and 
 was knighted in the 35th Edward I., 1306.* Having 
 joined in the insurrection under Thomas, Earl of Lan- 
 caster, he was amongst those who were taken prisoners 
 at the battle of Boroughbridge, and was afterwards 
 hanged at York, 15th Edward II., 1321. Rapin says, 
 " Never since the Norman Conquest had the scaffold been 
 drenched with so much noble English blood as on this 
 occasion." He was succeeded by his son and heir, 
 
 John de Mowbray, who marched with the King into 
 Scotland, was made Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 
 and served in the French wars with great honour. He 
 died of the plague at York, in the 35th Edward III., 
 1361, leaving by his wife Joane Plantagenet (one of the 
 daughters of Henry Earl of Lancaster) a son, as his suc- 
 cessor, viz. : — 
 
 John de Mowbray, who, having joined the Crusaders, 
 was slain near Constantinople, on his way to the Holy 
 Land, in the 42nd Edward III., 1368. He married 
 
 * During the reign of Edward II., the battles of My ton on the Swale, 
 Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, and Kipon, were fought 
 against the Scots, and great was the desolation which was caused throughout 
 this district. Northallerton and Ripon were ransomed by the King for 1000 
 marks each, but Knaresborough was totally burnt by the victorious Scots. 
 
216 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Elizabeth, daughter and heir of John Lord Segrave, by 
 Margaret his wife, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Plan- 
 tagenet of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, and Marshall of 
 England, son of King Edward I. by his second Queen. 
 He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 John de Mowbray, who at the coronation of Richard 
 II. was created Earl of Nottingham, but dying soon 
 after, he was succeeded by his brother, 
 
 Thomas de Mowbray, who 
 was created Earl of Notting- 
 ham. On the 20th Richard II. 
 1396, he was appointed Earl 
 Marshall of England, to hold 
 to him and the heirs male of 
 his body, and that by reason of 
 the said office he should bear 
 "a golden truncheon enamelled 
 with black at each end, having 
 at the upper end the King's 
 arms, and at the lower their 
 own arms engraven thereon." 
 In the 21st Richard II., 1397, 
 he came into such favour with 
 the King, that he was created 
 Duke of Norfolk. Falling, 
 however, into disgrace with his 
 royal master, he was banished 
 for life, and died of the pesti- 
 lence at Yenice, a.d. 1400. His wife was Elizabeth, 
 sister and one of the coheiresses of Thomas Fitz- Allan, 
 Earl of Arundel. He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Thomas de Mowbray, who was beheaded at York in 
 the 6th Henry IY., 1404, with others, for taking part 
 with Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, and the Earl 
 of Northumberland, in an alleged conspiracy to dethrone 
 the King. Having left no issue, he was succeeded by 
 his brother, 
 
 John de Mowbray, who was restored to his father's 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 217 
 
 dignities by Henry V., whom he attended into France 
 in his wars. He died about the 14th Henry VI., 1435, 
 leaving by his wife (Catherine, daughter of Ralph Nevil, 
 Earl of Westmoreland) an only son, 
 
 John de Mowbray. He was sent ambassador to 
 Picardy, and made Judge Itinerant of Forests. He dying 
 the 1st Edward IV., 1461, left by Eleanor his wife, 
 (daughter of William, Lord Bourchier) an only son, 
 
 John de Mowbray, the last Duke of Norfolk of this 
 family. He died in the 17th Edward IV., 1477, leaving 
 issue by Elizabeth, the daughter of John Talbot, Earl 
 of Shrewsbury, an only daughter, who was married to 
 Richard, Duke of York, second son of Edward IV., who 
 by special charter, created him Duke of Norfolk, and 
 Earl Warren, to hold to him and the heirs male of his 
 body. This young prince, however, did not long survive 
 his newly-acquired honours, he and his brother, Edward 
 V., having been smothered hi the Tower, by (as it is 
 stated in our old histories) their unnatural uncle Richard 
 Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III. Later 
 research, however, has tended to weaken the force of 
 these assertions, and, to say the least, to throw consider- 
 able doubt upon the truth of them. Under such circum- 
 stances, it is not only charitable, but proper, for us to 
 believe that an uncle could not, and would not, be guilty 
 of so foul a murder, and thus imbrue his hands in the 
 innocent blood of the children of his deceased brother. 
 
 Arms — Gules, a lion rampant argent. 
 
 WALTER DE BUHERE. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Walter de Buhere (one of the Lords of Mashamshire), 
 was a relative of Roger de Mowbray, as appears by 
 a deed in which he confirms to the Abbot of Fountains 
 a grant made to that abbey of lands in Swinton, by 
 Purgisins, grandson of Roger de Mowbray, by his 
 
218 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 daughter Margery, to whom Roger had given the manor 
 of Swinton. In that deed this Walter de Buhere calls 
 this Purgisins (the grandson of Roger de Mowbray), his 
 brother. It appears that Roger de Mowbray, in his life- 
 time, granted Mashamshire to this Walter de Buhere, 
 and that the grant (although now lost), was in existence, 
 and produced in evidence on the trial of an action 
 brought by Christopher Danby, Esq., against Solomon 
 Wyvel, Esq., for a trespass upon his lands in pursuit of 
 game ; and it is also mentioned in a schedule of deeds 
 belonging to Mashamshire, now at Swinton Park. His 
 name also appears in many of the grants belonging to 
 Fountains Abbey, by which it is evident that he was 
 Lord of Mashamshire ; and this fact is further confirmed 
 by the circumstance of his also confirming the grant 
 made by Roger de Mowbray of the church of Masham 
 to the church of St. Peter's, at York, which he does by 
 his making a fresh grant thereof (as was usual at that 
 date, when the confirmation of an estate was necessary), 
 as will be seen in the Appendix C. hereto of documents 
 relating to the church. He appears to have had no 
 issue, whereupon Mashamshire descended to his sister 
 and heiress, 
 
 Emma de Buhere, who, it seems, granted Masham- 
 shire to John de Walton, or Wauton, "for helping her 
 to seek her lands in Normandy and England," as is 
 stated in the Catalogue before referred to. 
 
ARMS OF 
 
 LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 219 
 
 JOHN DE WALTON, OR WAUTON. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Sir John de Walton, or Wauton, be- 
 came Lord of Mashamshire, by grant 
 from Emma de Buhere, as above stated, 
 which grant was confirmed to him by 
 Roger de Mowbray, as appears by a 
 document set out in the Appendix A. 
 hereto. He, as Lord of Mashamshire, 
 gave to the Abbey of Fountains part 
 of Nutwith and Flatwith, in Masham- 
 de Walton, or wauton. g^g . w hi c h grant was afterwards con- 
 firmed to the abbey by Roger de Mowbray, as the then 
 Superior, or Chief Lord of the Fee. He died in the 
 year 1195, and was buried in the cemetery of Jerveaux 
 Abbey. He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Gilbert de Walton, or Wauton. About the year 
 1201, he, as the then Lord of Mashamshire, gave the 
 grange of Pott, in frankalmoigne, to the abbey of Foun- 
 tains, together with a right of common on Sourmire; 
 and by another deed he gave to the same abbey fifteen 
 acres of land in the fields of Masham, called Brathorne. 
 He died in 12 John, a.d. 1211, and was buried under 
 the cloisters, before the door of the chapter-house, in 
 Jerveaux Abbey. He was succeeded by his son, 
 
 John de Walton, or Wauton, who granted Masham- 
 shire, in his life-time (as appears by a document set out 
 in the Appendix A. hereto), to his son and successor^ 
 Sir John de Walton, or Wauton. He died 13 Hen. III., 
 a.d. 1230, and was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Sir John de Walton, or Wauton, who became Lord of 
 Mashamshire in his father's life -time, by a grant thereof, 
 as before mentioned. His name occurs in the deeds 
 of Fountains Abbey, as a witness to different grants 
 made to that abbey of lands in Ellingstring, by Robert 
 de Massam, dated the 1 Edw. I., a.d. 1272. In the 34 
 
220 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Hen. III., a.d. 1250, he bound himself and his heirs, by 
 a deed, to the Abbey of Jerveaux, never to raise a forge 
 'in Colsterdale, nor to give or sell any iron mines therein, 
 or take any wood therefrom. In the 8 Edw. I., a.d. 
 1280, he was called upon by the King to show by what 
 authority he claimed Free Warren, in Masham, Elling- 
 ton, Ellingstring, Healey, Fearby, and Sutton, to which 
 he answered, and proved that he was entitled to the 
 same, both by prescription and by a grant thereof by 
 King Hen. III. In the pleadings in this action, it is 
 called the manor of Masseham, and Ellington, Elling- 
 string, &c, hamlets, and members thereof. See the 
 record of the proceedings in this action in the Appen- 
 dix B. hereto. He died 25 Edw. L, a.d. 1297, leaving 
 an only child as his successor, viz. : 
 
 Joan de Walton, or Wauton, afterwards the wife of 
 Hugh de Hopham, whom she survived. In the 2 Edw. 
 
 FONT IN SOUTH KILVINGTON CHURCH. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 221 
 
 HI., 1328, she sold* Mashamshire to Sir Geoffrey de 
 Scrope. The several deeds relating to this sale will be 
 found set out in the Appendix A. hereto. 
 
 Arms: — Argent, a Chevron and an Amulet in the 
 dexter point of the Escutcheon, Sable. 
 
 SCROPE OF MASHAM AND UPSALL. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Sir William le Scrope, Knight, al~ 
 pf??£q|^B§8^8 though described by Lord Campbell, 
 Ihi^i^lk | m ki s Lives of Chief Justices, as "a 
 
 ■&£$#??!% I small squire who lived at Bolton, in 
 ^^^^:':'|i:f^^rt Yorkshire," was, it is well known, 
 yBiKmim^- \ ' : ■•■:-W distinguish ed both in tournaments and 
 w^ "t^-:/ in the field, which at that day were 
 ^fc: ijw considered to be the greatest accom- 
 
 ^mg^ plishments which a gentleman could 
 
 possess. And if we are to believe the deposition made 
 by the Earl of Arundel, in 1386, in the celebrated con- 
 troversy between Sir Richard Scrope (the grandson of 
 
 * It has been frequently stated that Mashamshire and other estates came 
 to the Seropes as heirs-at-law to the De Wautons, which is not correct, 
 as the truth was that Sir Geoffrey de Scrope acquired them by purchase, as 
 will appear by the copy purchase deeds, set out in Appendix A. It would 
 seem, however, by the Seropes occasionally quartering the arms of the 
 Wautons, that there really was some relationship between them. In an 
 article in the 16th vol. of the Archceologia, when speaking of a font in South 
 Kilvington Church, of which I introduce an engraving on the opposite page, 
 and the arms sculptured upon it, it proceeds thus : — " The first shield is 
 Scrope of Upsall, with a label of three, as a younger son of the house of 
 Bolton ; the second and third are Scrope also ; the second quartering Wauton. 
 The fourth is Scrope, impaling a lion rampant with two tails, which may be 
 Cressy, Sutton of Warsop, or Lord Wells. The fifth is Chaworth quartering 
 Statham. The sixth is Scrope in a border, which appears to be composed of 
 the bearing of Wauton. The seventh is Scrope quartering Chaworth, and 
 Scrope quartering Fitzwilliam. The eighth is Scrope quartering Wauton, 
 with another shield of arms, probably that of Redman." The font alluded 
 to is inscribed round the stem, in bold relief, " D'n's Thomas le Scrop et Eli- 
 zabeth uxor ejus," from which it would seem that it was erected at the cost 
 
222 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the individual here referred to), and Sir Robert Gros- 
 vena, knt., hereinafter mentioned, it will be put beyond 
 all question that he "was descended from noble and 
 generous blood of gentry and ancient ancestry, who had 
 always preserved their name and estate in dignity and 
 honour;" and the depositions of a host of other witnesses, 
 who deposed, on that occasion, to the fact that Sir 
 Richard Scrope's ancestors " had continually borne the 
 contested coat from the Conquest? thus carrying their 
 gentility as far back as the Conquest. The Scropes 
 of Castle Combe (a branch of this family), indeed trace 
 their pedigree through this Sir William le Scrope, as far 
 back as the time of Edward the Confessor. By Con- 
 stance, his wife, he had two sons, viz. : 
 
 I. Henry le Scrope, who became Lord Chief Justice 
 of the Court of King's Bench. Lord Campbell, in his 
 Lives of Chief Justices, vol. 1, page 85, thus speaks of 
 him : — " Henry le Scrope, of an obscure origin, from an 
 eminence in the legal profession, sat in the House of 
 Lords as a baron: and great chancellors and warriors 
 were proud to trace him in their pedigree. He was the 
 son of William le Scrope, a small squire, who lived at 
 Bolton, in Yorkshire. Having studied at Oxford, he 
 was transplanted, when very young, to London, to study 
 the law in one of the societies then forming, which were 
 afterwards denominated ' Inns of Court.' He was much 
 distinguished for industry and ability, and in the end of 
 the reign of Edwd. I. gained great wealth and repu- 
 tation as an advocate." His name appears as an advo- 
 cate in the Year Book of 1st Edw. II. On the 27th 
 
 of Thomas, the sixth Lord Scrope of Masham, and Elizabeth, his wife, for- 
 merly Elizabeth Neville. 
 
 The late Abstrupus Danby, Esq., in a memorandum in his handwriting 
 which I have seen, says that the Scropes had no right to the arms of the 
 Wautons, adding, " for they don't appear to have borne 'em at any time." I 
 don't know, however, how he could reconcile this statement with the arms 
 inscribed on the font in South Kilvington Church, as above mentioned. It 
 seems to me that the arms borne on this ancient font fully establish the con- 
 nection between the Scropes and the De Wautons. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 223 
 
 November, 1308, lie was made a Judge of the Court of 
 Common Pleas; on the 15th June, 1317, he was pro- 
 moted to the office of Chief Justice of the Court of 
 King's Bench; and on the 19th December, 1330, he 
 was appointed Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer. 
 He seems to have been in high favour with the King, 
 from whom he received many grants for his services, 
 and by whom he was created a knight banneret. He 
 died on the 7th September, 1336, possessed of large 
 estates, leaving by his wife Margaret three sons, all 
 of whom were then minors, viz. : 
 
 I. Sir William le Scrope, Knt., who was in the wars 
 of Flanders and Scotland. He died in 1345, without 
 leaving issue. 
 
 II. Stephen le Scrope, who died before 1345, without 
 issue. 
 
 III. Sir Richard le Scrope, Knt., who became first 
 Lord Scrope of Bolton. He was born in 1328, and was 
 a great warrior. He was in the wars of France temp. 
 Edwd. III., by whom he was knighted at the battle of 
 Durham, in 1346, hi which the Scots were defeated; 
 and in the same year he was at the siege of Calais. Be- 
 tween that time, viz., 1346, and the year 1385, a period 
 of forty years — (and which is the most brilliant period 
 of our annals) — it is said that there was scarcely a 
 battle of note in England, France, Spain, or Scotland, 
 where the English forces were engaged, in which he did 
 not gain honour ; and his career as a statesman was still 
 more remarkable. He received a summons to Par- 
 liament as Baron Scrope of Bolton, and had also the 
 honour of being appointed to the offices of Treasurer of 
 the Exchequer, Steward of the King's Household, and 
 the King's Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal; 
 "having," according to Walsingham, u not his fellow (of 
 his degree) in the whole realm, for prudence and inte- 
 grity." Such, indeed, was his integrity, as Lord Chan* 
 cellor, that he peremptorily refused to affix the Great 
 Seal to a grant made by his Royal master, King Richard 
 
224 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIBE. 
 
 II., to one of his favourites, telling the person that 
 the duty of his office would not permit him to set the 
 seal committed to his keeping to all the King's indiscreet 
 grants, until he had acquired a little more experience ; 
 and when the King sent messengers to him to deliver 
 up the Great Seal, he refused to do so, saying he would 
 not surrender it except to the King himself. It was 
 this Lord Scrope who had the memorable dispute with 
 Sir Robert Grosvenor, Knt., touching the right to bear 
 "az. a bend or " for his arms, which was tried, and after 
 a contest which lasted four years, decided in his favour. 
 His name is amongst those of the Peers who assented to 
 the deposition of Rich. II., whilst his son, the Earl of 
 Wiltshire, sacrificed his life in the service of that unfor- 
 tunate Sovereign. He founded twelve additional canon- 
 ries in the Monastery of St. Agatha, at Easby; he also 
 established six chantry priests in his castle at Bolton, 
 and made Wensley Church collegiate. He built Bolton 
 Castle, and died full of honours, in May, 1403. By his 
 will, which is dated 1400, he left to the abbey at Easby 
 his set of vestments, chalice, candlesticks, cruets, and 
 a little gilt bell ; to the abbot, a covered cup given him 
 by the Lord Prince ; to his son and heir, a pair of pater- 
 nosters, in coral, which were his father's, and a golden - 
 cross he himself had borne; he calls the Lord Arch- 
 bishop of York " my dearest father and son," and leaves 
 him a maser cup. He married, first, Blanche, daughter 
 of Sir William de la Pole,* and sister to Michael, Earl 
 
 * The De la Poles were a very remarkable family. This William de la 
 Pole was, in the reign of Edw. III., a wealthy merchant at Hull, and having 
 on one occasion lent the King, in his urgent necessities, a large sum of 
 money, he was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Knight Banneret, 
 and was employed as an ambassador on several occasions. His son Michael, 
 also, here alluded to, was originally a merchant, but was created Earl of 
 Suffolk by Rich. II., and made Lord Chancellor. He was ultimately 
 impeached by the Commons for divers misdemeanours and frauds, parti- 
 cularly for purchasing lands, while Chancellor, " in deception of the King," 
 and being found guilty, was sentenced to death and forfeiture. He, how- 
 ever, through the favour of the King, managed to save his life, but was 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSH1RE. 225 
 
 of Suffolk; and secondly, Mary, daughter of Sir John 
 Montford, Knt. ; by the first wife he had three sons, 
 viz. : 
 
 I. Stephen, who died in December, 1403 ; he was Lord 
 of Bentley, in Yorkshire, and of Castle Combe, in Wilts, 
 and ancestor of the Scropes of Castle Combe and Cock- 
 erington. 
 
 II. Sir William le Scrope, K.G., created Earl of 
 Wiltshire, to hold the said dignity to him and his heirs 
 male for ever. He was greatly esteemed, and employed 
 by Rich. II. in numerous and important services. 
 Amongst other offices, he was made Seneschal of Aqui- 
 taine in 6 Rich. II., and afterwards constituted Governor 
 of the Town and Castle of Shirburgh. In the 16th 
 of the same reign he was appointed Vice-Chamberlain 
 of the Household, and about the same time he pur- 
 chased the sovereignty of the Isle of Man from William 
 de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, with the Crown thereof, 
 it being then a right of the lord of that island to be 
 crowned with a regal crown, and to bear the title of 
 king; and in 1394, when the truce was confirmed with 
 France, he is recorded to have assented to it, " pour le 
 Seigneurie de Man," as one of the "allies" of the King 
 of England. He was one of the ambassadors deputed 
 to France to contract a marriage for King Richard with 
 Isabel, eldest daughter of Charles VI. , King of France ; 
 
 deprived of everything he possessed. His son Michael, however, succeeded 
 in getting restored to his father's dignities, and was the father of Michael, 
 Earl of Suffolk, one of the Peers who tried and condemned to death, as 
 a traitor, his relative, Henry Lord Scrope of Masham, and was shortly after- 
 wards himself killed at the Battle of Agincourt. On the death of this 
 latter nobleman, he was succeeded in his titles by William, son of the first 
 Earl above mentioned, and brother to Blanche, and became celebrated in 
 the reign of Henry VI., as Queen Margaret's favourite, and was created 
 Marquis and Duke of Suffolk, Lord Chancellor, Lord High Admiral, and, in 
 fact, Dictator. He was ultimately impeached by the Commons of high 
 crimes and misdemeanours, and afterwards decapitated. John de la Pole, 
 his son, was, however, restored by Edw. IV. to his father's peerage dig- 
 nities, and ultimately married the Princess Elizabeth, the King's second 
 sister. 
 
 Q 
 
226 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 he received from the Crown large grants of confiscated 
 lands, and on the 29th September, 1397, he was created 
 by letters patent Earl of Wiltshire, and constituted 
 Justice of Chester, North Wales, and Flint, with a grant 
 of the office of Surveyor of all the Forests within the 
 Principality of Chester, and was lastly made a Knight of 
 the Garter ; his rapid rise to wealth and honours was, no 
 doubt, the cause of his downfall; he is the person of 
 whom Shakspere makes the Lord Koos to say, u The 
 Earl of Wiltshire hath the realm to farm." — Rich. IT., 
 act 2, sc. 1.* On the invasion of the Duke of Lancaster, 
 in 1399, he defended the Castle of Bristol for the King, 
 when he was taken prisoner and beheaded on the 29th 
 July, in the same year, and his estates were seized upon 
 by the usurper. When his attainder was confirmed in 
 Parliament, it is said that " his father, grey-headed, and 
 still commanding the respect of his Sovereign and Peers, 
 arose from his seat, his eyes streaming with tears, and 
 implored that the proceedings might not affect the inhe- 
 ritance of himself or his other children; and was con- 
 soled by the King, who assured him that their interests 
 should never suffer for the sentence, for he was, as 
 he always before deemed him, c a loyal knight.' " Simon 
 Thomas Scrope, Esq., of Danby-super-Yore, is now 
 prosecuting his claim to the Peerage before a Committee 
 of Privileges of the House of Lords.f 
 
 III. Sir Koger Scrope, Knt. (second Lord Scrope of 
 
 * It appears that in 1389 he had been charged with infringing upon the 
 franchises of the Bishop of Durham, and that it was then determined that 
 he " should, for his transgressions and misprisons in the Bishop of Durham's 
 franchise, by way of penance, offer a jewel at St. Cuthbert's shrine," the 
 value of which being left to King Rich. II. , was fixed by him to be of the 
 value of £500 at the least. Judging from the large amount thus fixed upon, 
 and the value of money at that day, his offence must have been a very 
 serious one. 
 
 t Simon Thomas Scrope, Esq., of Danby, is descended from Ralph, fourth 
 son of John Scrope, of Spennithorne, second son of Henry, sixth Baron 
 Scrope, of Bolton, by Elizabeth Percy, daughter of Henry, Earl of Northum- 
 berland. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 227 
 
 Bolton.) He died in 1404,* leaving issue, through 
 whom Simon Thomas Scrope, Esq* (the claimant to the 
 Wiltshire Peerage), traces his pedigree. 
 
 II. Sir Geoffrey le Scrope, Knt. (of whom next). 
 
 Sir Geoffrey le Scrope, Knt. (the first Lord of Mas- 
 hamshire of that name), and Chief Justice of the Court of 
 King's Bench in the reigns of Edw. II. and Edw. III., 
 with the latter of whom he also served in a military 
 capacity throughout his French and Scotch wars. He 
 is also described as a knight distinguished both in 
 lists of tournament and the field, and many interesting 
 anecdotes are given of him in the several depositions 
 taken in the Scrope and Grosvenor controversy before 
 alluded to. Dr. Whitaker, in his History of Rich- 
 mondshire, says of him that "he seems to have risen 
 under the patronage of the Nevills, and that he first 
 appeared in Coverdale, where he obtained a charter of 
 free warren in his demesne lands at Coverham, Cald- 
 bergh, and Agglethorpe, 5 Edw. III. Six years after- 
 wards he began to extend his possessions, probably by 
 an extensive practice of the law in Lincolnshire, Kent, 
 and Northumberland. The same year he obtained a 
 license to make a castle of his manor-house of Clifton- 
 upon-Yore, and Yarneswick, in the county of York. Of 
 
 * By his will, he directs that " if Richard, son and heir of Henry de 
 Grey, late Lord of Wilton and Shirlond, do not consent to a marriage 
 between himself and Matilda, my daughter, when he attains the age of 
 fourteen years, then I leave the marriage of the same Richard, with the 
 custody of all his lands, to my executors, to dispose of them for the pro- 
 motion and marriage of the said Matilda ; and if he do agree to it at the 
 said age, then I will that my executors shall apply all the profit of the 
 said lands, beyond yearly reprisals, for the salvation of my soul, at their 
 discretion." In this will we have not only another illustration of the infa- 
 mous traffic in the wardships and marriages of minors, which was at this 
 day unblushingly carried on by the highest personages in the land, but also 
 an insight into a very ingenious contrivance which is here resorted to by Sir 
 Roger Scrope, having for its object the obtaining of a husband, and portion, 
 for a daughter, and at the same time, the securing of the salvation of his 
 own soul into the bargain. The young gentleman, however, did not after all 
 marry the fair Matilda. 
 
228 MASHAM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 the Castle of Clifton few vestiges appear, though from 
 its vicinity to Masham, it seems to have stood in the 
 place of a manor-house for that town. 7 ' There are, 
 however, documents giving earlier references to him 
 than those mentioned by Dr. Whitaker. The earliest is a 
 deed dated July 27, 1310, 4 Edw. II., by which William 
 de Brakenbury granted him part of a rent out of the 
 mill at Thirsk; and in March, 1316, he is certified as 
 possessing property in various townships in Yorkshire. 
 He was a serjeant-at-law, 9 Edw. II., a.d. 1315, and 
 shortly afterwards he held the office of King's Serjeant. 
 In the wardrobe account, there is an entry of the pay- 
 ment of £13 6s. Sd. "to Geoffrey le Scrope, King's 
 Serjeant, staying near the person of the King, by his 
 order, when journeying through divers parts of Eng- 
 land in the months of April, May, and June, in the 
 present fourteenth year of the King's Gift, for his 
 expenses in so staying." About the same period, he was 
 employed by the King in negotiating with the Scots. 
 He was one of the Commissioners named in a Commis- 
 sion dated at Knaresbrough, on the 27th of Feb., 16 
 Edw. II., a.d. 1322, for the trial of Andrew de Harcla, 
 Earl of Carlisle,* charged with having entered into a 
 conspiracy with James Douglas, a Scot, whereby the 
 King, for lack of his assistance, was defeated in a battle 
 at Byland Abbey. The Commissioners having found 
 him guilty, they then and there pronounced the follow- 
 ing sentence upon him : — " That his sword should be 
 taken from him, and his gilt spurs hacked from his 
 heels. That he should then be drawn and hanged by 
 
 * Andrew de Harcla, Earl of Carlisle, was the owner of Harmby, near 
 Leyburn, in the fourteenth century. He was the son of a private gentle- 
 man, but having distinguished himself in the Scottish wars, was created 
 Baron Harcla by Edw. II., on the 15th of May, 1322. In the following 
 year he completely routed the insurgents under Prince Thomas Plantagenet, 
 Earl of Lancaster, at Boroughbridge, and took the Earl himself prisoner. 
 In consequence of his services, he was elevated to the Earldom of Carlisle. 
 His sudden elevation seems to have turned his head, and to have induced 
 him to enter into this conspiracy. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 229 
 
 the neck; his heart and bowels taken out of his body, 
 burnt to ashes, and winnowed ; his body cut in quarters ; 
 one to be set on the principal tower of Carlisle Castle ; 
 another upon the tower of Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; a 
 third upon the bridge at York ; and the fourth at 
 Shrewsbury; whilst his head was to be placed on Lon- 
 don Bridge;" which judgment was carried into execu- 
 tion on the 3rd March, 1322. On the 27th Sept., 
 1323, 17 Edw. II., he was raised to the Bench, and 
 created a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; on the 
 21st of March in the folio wing year he was promoted to 
 the Chief Justiceship of the King's Bench, and presided 
 over that court until the end of that monarch's reign, 
 when he was removed for some cause or other, but was 
 re-appointed to his office on the 28th Feb., 2 Edw. III. 
 In this last-mentioned year he purchased Mashamshire 
 from Joan de Hopham, as before mentioned. But it was 
 not only as a lawyer that he was distinguished : he made 
 himself equally prominent as a diplomatist, a knight, 
 and a soldier. As a diplomatist, he was repeatedly 
 employed by the King in negotiating many important 
 matters of State ; and whilst thus employed, we find 
 that other judges had to be appointed to supply his 
 place on the Bench. As a knight and a soldier, he 
 gained great distinction at the tournaments held at 
 Northampton, Guildford, and Newmarket, at the first of 
 which he was knighted. He also accompanied the King 
 in the invasion of Scotland, and displayed his banner 
 and pennon at the affair of Stannow-park ; he was also 
 several times one of the royal retinue in Flanders and 
 France, having a train of two knights and forty men-at- 
 arms; and in July, 1340, 14 Edw. III., he served at 
 the siege of Tournay. Sir Geoffrey was twice married : 
 his first wife was Ivetta (daughter of Sir William Roos, 
 of Ingmanthorp, Yorkshire), whom he married some 
 time before 2 Edw. II., 1317 ; his second wife was 
 Lora (daughter and co-heir of Sir Gerard de Furnival, 
 Lord of Munden Furnival, &c, in Hertfordshire, and of 
 
230 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHlRE. 
 
 Swanton, Yorkshire, and widow of Sir John Ufflete, 
 living 5 Edw. III., 1331.) He died 14 Edw. III., 1340, 
 at Ghent, in Flanders, and was buried at Coverham- 
 Priory ; he left by his first marriage the following chil- 
 dren, viz. : — 
 
 I. Sir Henry Scrope, Knt., Baronet (1st Baron Scr ope 
 of Masham), who was born about 1315, his eldest son 
 and successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Sir Thomas Scrope (second son) was living in 
 1322. He died during the lifetime of his brother, and 
 was buried at Coverham. 
 
 III. Sir William Scrope, Knt., (third son) was born 
 about 1325; served in the wars of France, Spain, and 
 Scotland, and was at the Battle of Scluse, 1340; Cressy, 
 1346; Neville's Cross, 17th October, 1346; Espagniolo- 
 sur-mere, 1350; Poictiers, 1356; Berwick, 1357; Najara, 
 1367; and at the siege of Calais, 1346-7. He married 
 Maud (daughter of John Lord Neville of Raby, K.G., by 
 Maud, a daughter of Lord Percy) ; and he died in Spain 
 1367, without issue. 
 
 IV. Sir Stephen Scrope (fourth son), who was at the 
 Battle of Cressy, 1346; and the sieges of Calais, 1347; 
 and Berwick, 1357. Sir Stephen Scrope was living in 
 1359, when he held lands at Leyburn, Thornton, and 
 other places in Yorkshire. His wife's name was Isabella 
 (who was also living in 1359) by whom he left issue an 
 only daughter and sole heiress, 
 
 Joan Scrope, who was born about 1365. She married 
 first, William de Pert of Tiverington, Yorkshire, who 
 died before 1390; and secondly, Sir Roger SAvyllington, 
 Knt., who died 1418. She died 20th September, 1427, 
 leaving issue bv both her marriages. 
 
 V. Geoffrey Scrope, Clerk (fifth son) Prebendary 
 of Apesthorp, 3rd November, 1340; Rector of Bowden 
 Magna in Leicestershire, 1366; Prebendary of Hayder, 
 Lincolnshire. He died on the 11th April, 1380 (in 
 which year his will was proved) and was buried in Lin- 
 coln Cathedral. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 231 
 
 VI. Beatrix Scrope, who married, before 1320, Sir 
 Andrew Luterel,* of Irnham, in Lincolnshire. 
 
 VII. Constance Scrope, who was married before 1390, 
 to Sir Geoffrey Luterel, brother to Sir Andrew Luterel. 
 
 VIII. Ivetta Scrope, who was married to John de Ho- 
 tham, who died in her lifetime. She was living in 1355. 
 
 Sir Henry le Scrope, Knight Banneret, and first Baron 
 Scrope of Masham (before mentioned as eldest son and 
 heir of Sir Geoffrey). He was a military and long-lived 
 man. In the 5th Edward III. he served with distinction 
 in the wars of Scotland, when a few of the English nobi- 
 lity placed Baliol on the throne of that kingdom. He 
 was at the siege of Berwick, 1303, and there knighted; 
 and at the Battles of Halidon Hill, 1333; Scluse, 1340; 
 Cressy, 1346 ; Neville's Cross, near Durham, October, 
 1346; Espagniolo-sur-mere, 1350; and at the siege of 
 Calais 1346-7; was Governor of Guisnes and Calais, 
 1360; and Captain of Calais, 1369. He was one of the 
 Commissioners for arraying the County of York on a 
 threatened invasion by the French, and during the re- 
 mainder of the reign of Edward III., he was either 
 actively engaged in the wars, or employed as a diplo- 
 matist. In the 2nd Richard II., being then a Knight 
 Banneret, he was with others sent Ambassador to treat 
 with Charles King of Navarre, regarding a league be- 
 tween that prince and the King of England. He was 
 summoned to Parliament from November, 24th Edward 
 III., 1350, to 7th September, 15th Richard II., 1391. 
 He died 31st July, 15th Richard II., 1391, aged about 
 76, leaving by his wife Joan* the following children, 
 
 * Robert Luterel, his grandfather, "was summoned to Parliament 22nd 
 and 23rd Edward I., and died 25th Edward I. His son Geoffrey never had 
 summons to Parliament, nor any of his descendants, hut in 1768, a junior 
 branch of this family, Simon Luterel, whose sister married his Royal High- 
 ness the Duke of Cumberland, brother to King George III., was created 
 Baron Irnham, of Luttrelstown, in Ireland, and was subsequently advanced 
 to the dignity of Earl of Carhampton. 
 
 * Mr. Grainge, in his " Vale of Mowbray," says, " His wife was Philippa, 
 
232 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 I. Sir Geoffrey Scrope, his son and heir ; he was born 
 about 1340, served in Brittany at the siege of Rennes, 
 1357, and before Paris 1360, when he was knighted: 
 he was slain in Lithuania 1362, and was buried in the 
 Cathedral of Konigsburg, in Prussia. He married Elea- 
 nor, daughter of Ralph Lord Neville, but died without 
 issue, and his widow afterwards became a Nun, and sub- 
 quently Abbess of the Minories, in London. 
 
 II. Sir Stephen Scrope (second son and successor) of 
 whom hereafter. 
 
 III. Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York (third son). 
 He was born about 1350. Was Rector of Ainderby- 
 Steeple, in Yorkshire, 1367; was consecrated Bishop of 
 Lichfield and Coventry, August, 1386, and translated to 
 York 23rd June, 1398 ; and was beheaded for high trea- 
 son, 8th June, 1405. He was so much beloved by the 
 people that great numbers of them used to flock to his 
 grave, and so many miracles were said to have been 
 wrought at it that Henry IY. ordered it to be concealed 
 by great logs of wood. 
 
 IV. Henry Scrope (fourth son) was an Esquire in the 
 army before Paris, in 1360. 
 
 Y. Sir John Scrope, Knt., (fifth son) who was born 
 about 1345; served in France, 1380, and in Scotland, 
 1383. He married before 1402, Elizabeth, eldest daugh- 
 ter and coheir of David Strathbogie, Earl of Athol, and 
 widow of Sir Thomas Percy, Knt. He died December, 
 1405, leaving by his wife the following children, viz. : — 
 
 daughter of Guido de Brien, who died in 1406, and was buried in York 
 Minster ;" and he adds the following foot-note in confirmation thereof : — 
 " An inscription in St. Stephen's Chapel, in York Minster, extant in Leland's 
 time, is decisive as to who was the wife of this Henry le Scrope, and when 
 she died." Burke's " Extinct and Dormant Baronage," p. 474, leaves her 
 name blank, and afterwards inserts her as the first wife of Sir Henry le 
 Scrope, who was beheaded in 1415. " Philippa, wife of Henry Lord Scrope 
 of Masham, daughter of Guy Lord Brien, died November 19, 1406." Mr. 
 Grainge is not, however, always correct in his statements respecting the 
 Scrope family. I therefore adhere to Joan as being the name of Henry 
 Lord Scrope's wife. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 233 
 
 I. Elizabeth Scrope, who married Sir Richard Hast- 
 ings, and was living in 1415. 
 
 II. Margaret Scrope, who married Thomas Clarrell, 
 of Clarrell near Tickhill, Yorkshire, by whom she had 
 
 She was living in 1415. 
 
 III. Joan Scrope, who married Henry Lord Fitzhugh, 
 second Baron: she died 16th Richard II., 1392, leaving 
 two sons, viz. : — 
 
 I. John Fitzhugh, who was slain at the Battle of 
 Otterbourne, better known as " Chevy Chase," fought by 
 the English under Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert 
 Percy, and the Scots under the command of the Earl ol 
 Douglas. 
 
 " Ther was slayne upon the Ynglysshe syde, 
 For soth and sertenlye, 
 A gentell knight, Sir John Fitz-hughe, 
 Yt was the more petye." 
 
 The Battle of Otterbourne. 
 (From " The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry") 
 
 II. Henry Lord Fitzhugh,* third 
 Baron, who attained great eminence 
 in the reigns of Henry IV. and Henry 
 Y. On the coronation of Henry Y. he 
 was appointed Constable of England 
 for that solemnity. He was after- 
 wards Lord Chamberlain of the 
 King's Household, and assisted at the. 
 Council of Constance. For his great services he had a 
 grant of all the lands which had belonged to the attainted 
 Henry Lord Scrope, of Masham — hereafter mentioned — 
 'to hold during the term that those lands should continue 
 in the King's hands. Thus for a short time he was Lord 
 
 * Henry Lord Fitzhugh was descended from Bardolph, an illegitimate 
 brother of Earl Alan Rufus. Bardolph's son, Acharius Fitz-Bardolph, was 
 the original founder of Jervaux Abbey, when it was first founded at Fors, 
 in Wensleydale, in 1150. The family some generations afterwards took and 
 assumed the name of Fitzhugh. 
 
234 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIEE. 
 
 of Mashamshire, but subsequently surrendered his grant 
 on the lands being restored to Sir John le Scrope as 
 fourth Baron Scrope of Masham. He was much engaged 
 in the French wars, and twice as a Crusader to the Holy 
 Land, where he fought with the Saracens and Turks. 
 He married Elizabeth Gray, heiress of Marmion of Tan- 
 field : he died at Ravens worth on the 11th January, 
 1424, and was buried at Jervaux Abbey, the burial- 
 place of his ancestors as founders of the abbey. The 
 mutilated efligy of this illustrious warrior is still to be 
 seen at Jervaux. 
 
 VII. Isabel Scrope, born 24th August, 1337. She 
 married Sir Robert Plumpton, Knight, of Plumpton, 
 Yorkshire, who died 19th April, 8 Hen. IV., 1407. 
 She died before 1399, leaving issue. 
 
 Sir Stephen Scrope (the second son of Sir Henry 
 Scrope, Knight) succeeded his father as second Baron 
 Scrope of Masham. He was born about 1345, and was 
 forty years of age when his father died ; he was a soldier, 
 and served in the train of his father — viz., in 1391 — in 
 the wars of France, and distinguished himself by sea 
 and land. During his father's lifetime he became a Cru- 
 sader, and went to the Holy Land, and was knighted at 
 Alexandria a.d. 1365 ; he was at the battle of Najara in 
 1367; he was summoned to Parliament from 23rd Nov. 
 16 Rich. II., 1393, to 1st Jan., 7 Hen. IV., 1406. His 
 will is dated 7th Jan , 1405-6, and was proved on the 
 25th of that month. He married before a.d. 1376, 
 Marjery, daughter of John Lord Welles, and widow of 
 John Lord Huntingfield. He died 25th Jan., 1405-6, 
 possessed of large estates in the counties of Essex, 
 Notts., Stafford, Lincoln, and York, and was buried 
 in St. Stephen's Chapel, in York Cathedral ; he left the 
 following children, viz. : — 
 
 I. Sir Henry Scrope (his eldest son, heir, and suc- 
 cessor to the title), of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Sir Geoffrey Scrope Knt., (second son.) He 
 received a grant of £20 per annum for his services, 12th 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIKE. 235 
 
 May, 1409. He died 6 Hen. V., 1418, without issue. 
 
 III. Stephen Scrope, Clerk (third son.) He was 
 inducted into the prebend of Langtoft, 28th December, 
 1399; into the prebend of Bickell, Feb., 1400; into the 
 prebend of Driffield, 4th March, 1400-1 ; he was col- 
 lated Archdeacon of Richmond the 19th, and installed 
 by proxy the 22nd of May, 1400; and was Chancellor 
 of Cambridge, 1414. By his will, which is dated 23rd 
 August, and proved 7th Sept., 1418, he acknowledges 
 his obligation to Archbishop Scrope, and desires to be 
 buried near him. He died the 5th of September, 1418. 
 
 IY. Sir John Scrope (fourth son), of whom hereafter. 
 
 Y. William Scrope, Clerk (5th son.) He was inducted 
 into the prebend of Skipwith, 22nd July, 1448; and of 
 Nunwick in August, 1457 ; he was collated Archdeacon 
 of Durham, and Residentiary of the College of St. John 
 of Beverley, of Ripon; he died 12th May, 1463, and was 
 buried in York Cathedral. 
 
 VI. Maud Scrope, a nun in the Minories in London, 
 who was living August, 1418. 
 
 VII. A Daughter, married to Sir Baldwin Frevyll, 
 who died 2 Hen. IV., 1400, leaving issue. 
 
 Sir Henry Scrope, (third Baron Scrope of Masham, 
 K.G.,) succeeded as son and heir to his father, Sir Stephen 
 Scrope. He was summoned to Parliament from 20th 
 August, 8 Hen. IV., 1408, to 26th Sept., 2 Henry V., 
 1414; was ambassador to the Queen of Denmark, 1406 ; 
 to France, 1408 ; to the Duke of Burgundy, 1413 ; and 
 again to France in that year; was appointed to nego- 
 tiate the King's marriage, in June, 1414; was Treasurer 
 of England a.d. 1409. In the 6th Hen. IV., he ob- 
 tained a grant from the King of the manors of Thirsk 
 and Hovingham. The towns of Hampstead and Hen- 
 don, in Middlesex, were assigned to him during his stay 
 in London, for lodging and entertainment of his servants 
 and horses, in consideration of his great abilities and 
 the necessity of his presence in Parliament and Council. 
 His will is dated 23rd June, 1415 ; he was beheaded for 
 
236 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 high treason 5th Aug., 3 Hen. V., 1415, and attainted, 
 under the circumstances mentioned in pages 74-8 ; he 
 married twice ; his first wife was Philippa, daughter and 
 coheir to Sir Guy de Bryan, Jun., widow of Sir John 
 Devereaux, whom he married 11th July, 22 Eich. II., 
 1398, pursuant to a Papal disj^ensation, on account of 
 their being related; she having died 19th Nov., 8 Hen. 
 IV., 1406, he married, secondly, Joan, widow of Edmund 
 Duke of York, and sister and coheir of Edmund Hol- 
 land, Earl of Kent, about Sept., 1411. He had no issue 
 by either of his two wives, and was succeeded by his 
 brother, Sir John Scro]3e, next referred to. 
 
 Sir John le ScrDpe (fourth Baron Scrope of Masham, 
 the fourth son of Sir Stephen Scrope, before mentioned.) 
 He succeeded as heir to his brother, Sir Geoffrey, and 
 was thirty years of age and upwards in 6 Henry V., 
 1418. In his relief for the manor of Driffield, 3 Hen. 
 VI., 1424, he is described as brother and heir of Stephen 
 le Scrope, Clerk, the brother and heir of Geoffrey le 
 Scrope, Knight, brother and heir of Henry le Scrope, 
 Knight, son and heir of Stephen. As the first step to a 
 restoration of the barony and estates forfeited by his 
 brother's attainder, he obtained from the Crown, with 
 the assent of the Lords in Parliament, a grant for four 
 years of all the lands so forfeited by his brother. After 
 a long and protracted struggle, as will be seen by the 
 documents set out in the Appendix A. hereto, he was 
 ultimately restored to the barony and estates. He was 
 summoned to Parliament from 7th Jan., 4 Hen. VI., 
 1426, to 26th May, 33 Hen. VI., 1455. He does not 
 seem to have been distinguished as a military man, but 
 was accounted a prudent and judicious ambassador to 
 foreign Courts, and was accordingly employed much in 
 that capacity. He was sworn a Privy Councillor 28th 
 Feb., 2 Hen. VI., 1424; was ambassador to the King 
 of Spain and King of the Eomans, in July, 1428; to 
 Scotland, 1429; and was employed in diplomatic mis- 
 sions on many subsequent occasions. He served in the 
 
LOEDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 237 
 
 wars of France ; lie was in high favour with the King, 
 and was appointed to the great office of High Treasurer 
 of England, 26th Feb., 10 Hen. VI., 1432, which he 
 held for two years. His will is dated 1st July, 29 Hen* 
 VI., 1451, by which he directed his body to be buried 
 in a new tomb made for himself and the Lady Elizabeth, 
 his wife, in St. Stephen's Chapel, York, and that at his 
 funeral his corpse should be borne by his sons and ser- 
 vants (being then at his house), to the said chapel, 
 twenty-four poor men clothed in woollen gowns going 
 before it, and that the same poor men should, before the 
 entrance of that chapel, say their prayers at the diriges, 
 as well as the mass, each receiving for their pains Qd. 
 Also, that his corpse should be brought into that chapel, 
 and laid upon the tomb, and covered with a black 
 woollen cloth, and a large cross of white linen, and that 
 two pairs of candlesticks of silver-gilt, with his arms, 
 which he had lately given to the high altar, should 
 be placed upon his tomb, each of them holding a wax 
 candle weighing 41b. ; he also gave to John, son and heir 
 of Henry Lord Scrope of Bolton, one great brooch of 
 gold, of two angels, fashioned like a man's heart. A 
 codicil to this will is dated 18th March, 1453; he mar- 
 ried twice: his first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of 
 Ralph Lord Greystock, who dying without issue, he 
 married, secondly, Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Thomas 
 Chaworth, of Wiverton, in the county of Notts., Knight, 
 whose ancestor, Thomas de Chaworth, had summons to 
 Parliament 22 Edw. I., and heiress of Mcola, daughter 
 and heiress of Sir Reginald Braybrooke, Knight, who 
 survived him eleven years, and died in 1466. She then 
 took the veil. The commission to receive her is dated 
 18th Dec, 1455, and is directed to the Archbishop of 
 York, and to his suffragan, John Bishop of Phillipolis. 
 The following is a copy of the oath which was adminis- 
 tered to her : — " In the name of God, Amen. I, Eliza- 
 beth Scrop, late wife of my worshipful Lord John 
 newly Lord Scrope and of Masham, avow to be chaste 
 
238 MASHAM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 fro' this time forward, and I behote to live stably in this 
 vow during my life ; and in witness whereof I with mine 
 own hand made this subscription. ►£ " He died on the 
 15th Nov., 34 Hen. VI., 1455, leaving the following 
 children by his second marriage, viz : — 
 
 I. Henry Scrope, son and heir, who died young and 
 unmarried. 
 
 II. John Scrope, second son, who married Margaret, 
 daughter of Thomas sixth Lord Dacre, who was living 
 September, 1452. The date of his will is 17th Septem- 
 ber, 1452, in which he mentions his sister Eleanor: he 
 died on the 18th of the same month, and was buried in 
 York Cathedral — he left no issue. 
 
 III. Eleanor Scrone,* who married twice : her first 
 husband was Richard Darcy, son and heir-apparent of 
 Sir John Darc)^, of Iiyrst, Yorkshire ; he having died in 
 his father's lifetime, viz., before 1st June, 1454, she 
 married, secondly, William Claxton, of East Briggeford, 
 in Nottinghamshire, Esq., about the 29th April, 38th 
 Henry VI., 1460 : she died and left issue by her first 
 marriage, from whom the Barons Darcy and Conyers are 
 descended. 
 
 IV. Anne Scrope, died young. 
 
 V. Elizabeth Scrope, died young. 
 
 VI. Elizabeth Scrope, married Henry fourth Lord 
 Scrope of Bolton, who died January, 1459. She was 
 living August, 1498 : her son John (whose portrait is 
 still preserved) was a stout Yorkist. 
 
 VII. Sir Thomas Scrope, third son, of whom next. 
 Sir Thomas Scrope, last above-mentioned, was the fifth 
 
 Baron Scrope of Masham : he was 26 years of age in 
 34th Henry VI., 1455, and was 30 years of age at the 
 death of his mother, 6th Edward IV., 1466. He was 
 summoned to Parliament from the 9th October, 38th 
 Henry VI., 1459, to 19th August, 12th Edward IV., 
 
 * She was grandmother to Thomas Lord Darcy, who was beheaded in 
 1538, on whose attainder the [third] Barony of Darcy became forfeited. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 239 
 
 1472. Though living, at least as to his earlier years, in 
 an unquiet period, he seems, by his quiet disposition, to 
 have not only escaped attainder and forfeitures, but to 
 have obtained a grant of an annuity of 20 marks for his 
 services against the House of York, 19th December, 
 38th Henry VI., 1459. In the 37th year of the same 
 reign he obtained a license to found a chantry for two 
 priests in the family chapel of St. Stephens, in the 
 Cathedral Church of York. About 1453 he married 
 Elizabeth,* daughter of Ralph Lord Greystock: he died 
 15th Edward IY., 1475, leaving the following children, 
 viz. : — 
 
 I. Sir Thomas Scrope, his son and heir, who was his 
 successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Henry Scrope, second son, who succeeded his 
 brother Sir Thomas in the title, of whom also hereafter. 
 
 III. Ralph Scrope, third son, who succeeded his bro- 
 ther Henry Scrope in the title, of whom also hereafter. 
 
 I Y. Geoffrey Scrope, Clerk, fourth son, who succeeded 
 his brother in the title, of whom also hereafter. 
 
 Y. Alice Scrope, who married Sir James Strang- 
 wayes, of Harlsey Castle, Yorkshire, Knt., by whom 
 she left issue. 
 
 YI. Margaret, or Marjery Scrope, who married Sir 
 Christopher Danby, Knt., of Thorp Perrow, by whom 
 she left issue, for which see the Danby pedigree. 
 
 VII. Elizabeth Scrope, who married Sir Ralph Fitz- 
 Randolf,f of Spennithorne, by whom she left issue, now 
 represented by the family of Wyvill, of Burton Con- 
 stable. 
 
 * Mr. Grainge, in his " Vale of Mowbray," says " He was designed by his 
 father to marry a daughter of Lord Grey stoke, but it does not appear that 
 the marriage took place, nor is it certainly known to whom he was married." 
 I think, however, judging from the Scropes' evidence at Swinton Park, which 
 I have seen, and a memorandum upon the subject in the handwriting of the 
 late Abstrupus Danby, Esq., that the marriage took place as stated in the 
 text. 
 
 t This Note will be found on the next page. 
 
240 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Sir Thomas Scrope, (sixth Baron Scrope of Masham,) 
 son and heir of Thomas Scrope, the fifth Baron Scrope 
 of Masham: he was fifteen years of age in 15th Edward 
 IV., 1475 : and obtained livery of his lands 20th Edward 
 IV., 1480. In June, 1480, he was a Commissioner of 
 Array for the defence of the marches of Scotland : he 
 was a Conservator of the Treaty between Richard III. 
 and James King of Scotland, in September, 1484 :• he 
 was summoned to Parliament, from the 15th November, 
 22nd Edward IV., 1482, to 12th August, 7th Henry 
 VII., 1492. In 1492 he was retained to serve beyond 
 the sea, with one man-at-arms and fifteen archers. He 
 married Elizabeth, f daughter of John Neville Marquis 
 
 The following Note belongs to the previous page : — 
 
 f Mr. Barker, in his " Three Days of Wensley- 
 dale," says, the Fitz-Randolphs " descended from 
 Ralph, third son of Robert, Lord of Middleham } 
 by Helewisia de Glanville. Ralph, eighth in des- 
 cent from Robert, married Elizabeth, daughter 
 and coheiress of Thomas Lord Scrope of Masham, 
 and Upsal, and had by her a son who died un- 
 married; and four daughters, who all married, 
 but one dying without issue, the inheritance 
 devolved on Dorothea, wife of Francis Ash of 
 Hunton; Alice, wife of Charles Dronfield: and 
 Agnes, wife of Francis Wyvill of Little Burton [now called Low Burton, 
 near Masham.] By this last marriage the manor [of Spennithorne] and the 
 Constable Burton estate passed into the Wyvill family." — See p. 149. 
 
 * It is stated in a MS. in the British Museum (Harl. MSS. 542, fo. 34) 
 that " the Lord Scrope of Yposall," as well as " the Lord Scrope of Bolton," 
 was among the nobility who came to Kynge Richard," at the Battle of Bos- 
 worth Field, which was fought on the 22nd August, 1485. His name, how- 
 ever, is not included in the Act of Attainder which was soon afterwards 
 passed against the adherents of Richard III., and he seems afterwards to 
 have been received into the favour of his victor, Henry VII. 
 
 t She survived her husband, and afterwards became the wife of Sir Henry 
 Wentworth, Knt. She by her will dated 7th March, 9th Henry VIIL, 
 bequeathed her body to be buried in the Black Friars, in London, by her 
 said husband Thomas Lord Scrope, appointing that five trentals [a service of 
 thirty masses for the dead] of masses should be sung and said for her soul 
 at the place of her burial, and for her husband's soul, and also for the soul of 
 Alice their daughter, likewise for the soul of Henry Wentworth, and for the 
 
 ARMS OF FITZ-RAXDOLPH. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 241 
 
 Montague.* He died on the 23rd April, 9 Hen. VII., 
 1493, and was buried in the Black-Friars, London, and 
 left an only child, viz. : 
 
 Alice Scrope, who was twelve years of age in 9 Hen. 
 VII., 1493, and married before Oct. 11th, 1495, Henry,f 
 
 soul of John Marquis Montagu her father, the Lady Isabel his wife, her 
 mother, and for all Christian souls. She also gave to the Lady Lucie her 
 sister, a Primer and Psalter, which she had of the gift of King Henry the 
 Seventh's mother. 
 
 * He was the second son of Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury. Having 
 taken part with his brother, the Earl of Warwick, in the attempt to restore 
 King Henry VI., he was attainted, and was with him slain at the battle 
 of Barnet, on the 14th April, 1471. His eldest son, George Nevill, was 
 created Duke of Bedford, with an intention, on the part of the King, to 
 marry him to his daughter, the Princess Elizabeth, but was afterwards 
 degraded from all his dignities. 
 
 t Mr. Longstaffe, in his " Richmondshire," &c, says: — "Prom John 
 Scrope, of Spennithorne, younger brother of the Lord Henry, who for a 
 brief space reunited the slackened cords of relationship between the Baro- 
 nial lines of Bolton and Upsal, proceeded three great families of Spenni- 
 thorne and Danby, Cockerington, in Lincolnshire, and Womersley. The 
 house of Cockerington seemed to have inherited all the fame of their elder 
 cousins. "The thrice noble Sir Adrian," who died in 1623, was considered 
 worthy of this bouncing stanza : — 
 
 " Tombs are but decent lay -books, tliey only keepe 
 Their names alive wbo in their wombes do sleepe ; 
 But who would pen the virtues of this knight, 
 A story, not an epitaph, must write." 
 
 His son, Sir Gervase Scrope, was a staunch Royalist, and received twenty-six 
 wounds at the battle of Edge-hill, which caused him, as well they might, 
 to be left on the field as dead. His son Adrian, on the day following, with 
 great industry, sought for his body and found it senseless, but not lifeless ; 
 so that with much care the knight, in a few weeks, was restored to health, 
 and survived for nearly ten years afterwards. Fuller says he had this 
 information from Sir Gervase himself, who carried his arm in a scarf, and 
 looked pale from loss of blood. Another " comely " Sir Adrian Scrope, of 
 the Womersley line, was a noted Puritan, took up arms against his King, 
 sat as one of his judges, and signed the warrant for his execution. After 
 the Restoration, Scrope was in the Speaker's Chamber, as it was thought, to 
 surrender himself under the King's proclamation, when Sir Richard Brown 
 said to him, " What a sad case we have brought this kingdom into." 
 "Why?" said Scrope. "Do you not see," replied Brown, "how it is 
 ruined, now that the King is murdered ? " Scrope hastily answered, " I 
 
 R 
 
242 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 6th Lord Scrope, of Bolton. She died in 1501, leaving 
 two children, viz. : 
 
 I. Alice Scrape, who died young. 
 
 II. Elizabeth Scrope. 
 
 Henry Scrope, 7th Baron Scrope of Masham, a 
 younger brother of Sir Thomas Scrope, 6th Baron 
 Scrope of Masham, succeeded him in the title. He was 
 in the wars in Scotland, and fought at the head of the 
 men of Mashamshire in the battle of Flodden Field, 
 1513. He was summoned to Parliament on the 28th 
 November, 3 Henry VIII., 1511. He died before 6 
 Henry VIII., 1514, and left no issue. He was succeeded 
 in the title by his younger brother, 
 
 Ralph Scrope, 8th Baron Scrope of Masham. He was 
 summoned to Parliament 6 Henry VIII., 1514. His will 
 is dated 10th August, 1515, and was proved on the 18th 
 March following. He bequeathed his body to be buried 
 before our Lady of Piety in Rivaulx Abbey, together 
 with a legacy of £20 to that house. He also mentions 
 therein Johanna, his wife, Geffrey Scrope, Clerk, his 
 brother and next heir. He died 17th September, 1515, 
 and was buried at Rivaulx Abbey, as directed by his 
 will. He left no issue, and was succeeded in the title by 
 his younger brother, 
 
 Geoffrey Scrope, Clerk, 9th and last Baron Scrope, of 
 Masham. He was born in 1485, and succeeded to the 
 Barony in 1515. He died in 1517, aged thirty-three 
 years, without issue, when the dignity fell into abeyance 
 
 will not make you my confessor ;" an expression which was construed at his 
 trial into an attempt to justify his conduct ; and it was supposed influenced 
 the judgment from perpetual imprisonment and confiscation (as in other 
 cases), to execution. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered, at Charing- 
 Cross, 17th Oct., 1660; but his quarters were given to his friends, and not 
 exposed. Upon his trial he nobly observed, in allusion to Cooper, after- 
 wards Earl of Shaftesbury, and others who were sitting with Lord Chief 
 Baron Bridgman on the Bench : — " My Lord, I say this, if I have been 
 misled, I am not a single person that have been misled. My Lord, I could 
 say (but I think it doth not become me to say so), that I see a great many 
 faces at this time that were misled as well as myself." 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 243 
 
 between the issue of his three sisters, Alice Strangways,* 
 Margaret, or Marjery Danby, f and Elizabeth Fitz- 
 Randolph ; J and is still in abeyance* 
 
 Arms. — Azure, a bend or. 
 
 Crest. — Issuing out of a ducal coronet, a crab. 
 
 * Alice Strangwayes was the wife of Sir James Strangwayes, of Harlsey- 
 castle, Knt. She left a son, Sir Thomas Strangwayes, and other children, 
 but I believe her issue ultimately became extinct, so that the claim to the 
 Barony of Scrope, of Masham, which is in abeyance, now rests with the 
 representatives of the two families of Margery Danby and Elizabeth Fitz- 
 Randolph, of whom hereafter. 
 
 f The present representative of Margery Danby it will be seen by the 
 following pedigree, is Charles John Henry Mundy, Esq., of Ormsby, in 
 Lincolnshire. 
 
 THE MUNDY PEDIGKEE. 
 
 Catherine, the daughter of Christopher Danby, Esq., (the then repre- 
 sentative of Margery Danby, as will be seen on referring to the Danby 
 pedigree, post), married Sir Francis Armitage, of Kirklees, Bart., by whom 
 she had a son, 
 
 Sir John Armitage, Bart., who married Margaret Thornhill, and had by 
 her (with other children who all died without issue), a daughter, 
 
 Catherine Armitage, who married Christopher Tancred, Esq., of Whixley, 
 who was the son and heir of Christopher Tancred, Esq., of Whixley, by 
 Dorothy, the daughter of Sir Christopher Wyvill, Bart., (then one of the 
 representatives of Elizabeth Fitz-Randolph, above mentioned). She had by 
 her said husband (amongst other issue) a daughter, 
 
 Elizabeth Tancred, who married W Dobson, Esq., of York, and 
 
 by him had a daughter, 
 
 Ann Dobson, who married W. B. Mussingberd, Esq., of Ormsby, in 
 Lincolnshire, by whom she had a son, 
 
 Charles Burrell Mussingberd, Esq., who married Ann Blackall, by whom 
 he had a daughter, 
 
 Harriet Mussingberd, who married Charles Godfrey Mundy, Esq., of 
 Markeaton, Derbyshire, by whom she had (amongst other issue) a son, 
 
 Charles John Henry Mundy, Esq., of Ormsby, in Lincolnshire, who is 
 now (1863) living, and not only now represents Margery Danby, one of the 
 above co-heiresses to the Barony, as above shewn, but also represents 
 Elizabeth Fitz-Randolph, the other co-heiress, through Sir Christopher 
 Wyvill, Bart., as will be shewn in the following note. 
 
 X Elizabeth Fitz-Randolph was the wife of Sir Ralph Fitz-Randolph, 
 Knt., of Spennithorne, Lord of Middleham, by whom she had a son, who 
 died unmarried, and four daughters, (one of whom died without issue) who 
 
244 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKET. 
 
 DANBY OF SWINTON-PARK. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 ^tf^l^fl ^vlif John Danby, Lord of Great and 
 
 l^J? f^J Ejf Little Danby, or Danbie, and of lands 
 
 ff^BS^MM in Thirsk, Hutton, and Scowston, had 
 
 P- yil="-IM--tt^-l an on ^ daughter and sole heiress, viz. : 
 
 [jj^KaM|^^i!i Arme trade de Danby, who suc- 
 
 W^^ESj^W ceeded her father in his estates. She 
 
 ^^j^^p^ was given in marriage by William the 
 
 ^r Conqueror to Edmund Stringent, or 
 
 Strograve, a soldier of fortune who accompanied him into 
 
 England, and to whom he also gave certain lands in 
 
 Thirsk. She had by this marriage a son and successor,, 
 
 viz. : 
 
 John Stringent, or Strograve, who was the first who 
 called himself of Danby, after the lands which he had in 
 
 all married, viz., Dorothea, wife of Anthony Ash, of Hunton ; Alice, wife 
 of Charles Dronfield, and 
 
 Agnes Fitz-Randolph, who married Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Knt., M.P. for 
 Ripon in 1553, and by him had a son, 
 
 Christopher Wyvill, Esq., who married Margaret, Daughter of the Hon. 
 John Scrope, younger son of Henry, Lord Scrope of Bolton, by Elizabeth, 
 his wife, daughter of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, by whom he 
 had a son and successor, 
 
 Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Bart., who married Magdalen, daughter of Sir 
 Christopher Danby, Knt., (for which see Danby pedigree, post), and by her 
 had a son and successor, 
 
 Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Bart., who married Isabel, the daughter and 
 heiress of Sir William Gascoigne, Knt., and had by her a son and successor,. 
 
 Sir Christoper Wyvill, Bart., of Constable Burton, and M.P. for Richmond, 
 who married Ursula, daughter of Conyers, Lord D'Arcy, created Earl of 
 Holderness, and by her had (amongst other issue) a daughter, 
 
 Dorothy Wyvill, who married Christopher Tancred, Esq., of Whixley, by 
 whom she had a son, 
 
 Christopher Tancred, Esq., of Whixley, who married Catherine Armitage, 
 as mentioned in the last note. 
 
 From this marriage is descended, as above described, 
 
 Charles John Henry Mundy, Esq., of Ormsby, in Lincolnshire, who, it 
 will be seen, now represents the two remaining co-heiresses to the Barony 
 of Scrope of Masham» 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 245 
 
 right of his mother. He married Margaret, a daughter 
 of Thomas Catherall, by whom he had (amongst other 
 issue) a son, viz. : 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq., who succeeded his father, and 
 married a daughter of Edmund Onley, or Ouldley, by 
 whom he had a son and successor, viz.,: 
 
 Edmund Danby, Esq., who married Mary, daughter 
 of Thomas Fitz-Osborne, by whom he had issue, viz. : 
 
 I. Thomas, his eldest son and successor, of whom 
 hereafter. 
 
 II. John, his second son. 
 
 III. Ann. 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq., (the last mentioned,) succeeded 
 his father and married a daughter of William Kirkeham, 
 and by her had issue, viz. : 
 
 I. Richard, his son and heir, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. William. 
 
 III. John. 
 
 Richard Danby, Esq., (the last mentioned, ) succeeded 
 his father and married Jane, or Joane, the daughter of 
 Robert Conyers, and by her had a son, viz. : 
 
 Robert Danby, Esq., who succeeded his father, and 
 married Cassandra, a daughter of Edward Thurland, 
 Esq., and by her had a son and successor, viz. : 
 
 William Danby, Esq., who married Anne, the daugh- 
 ter of Sir Thomas Greene, Knt., by whom he had issue, 
 
 I. Thomas, his son and heir, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. John. 
 
 III. Elizabeth, the wife of Gerard Salvia, of North 
 Driffield. 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq., of Yafford, (above mentioned,) 
 succeeded his father, and married Mary, the daughter of 
 Sir Robert Tanfield, Knt., of Danby, by whom he left 
 the following children, viz. : 
 
 I. William Danby, Esq., Lord of Danby and Yafford, 
 who married Catherine, only daughter and sole heiress 
 of John Bretwell, Lord of Yafford, 1394, by whom he 
 had a son and successor, viz. : 
 
246 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 I. Robert Danby, Lord of Great and Little Danby, 
 and Yafford, who married the heiress of John Ayslebie, 
 and whose son and successor was 
 
 I. Ralph or James Danby,* who married Margaret, 
 daughter and sole heiress of Sir Richard Cogniers, Knt., 
 of Cowton, (in whose right he had South-moors.) He 
 was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He had by 
 his said wife three daughters and co-heiresses, viz. : 
 
 I. Margaret, or Margery,* the wife of Ralph Rokeby, 
 Esq., of Moreton-Mortham, by whom she had the follow- 
 ing children, viz. : 
 
 I. Ralph Rokeby, a lawyer. 
 
 II. A daughter, the wife of John Scrope. 
 
 III. John Rokeby, LL.D., a learned divine. 
 
 * I believe that the name of this person was James, and not Ralph, as 
 invariably stated in the pedigrees of the Danby and some other families. In 
 an Inquisition post mortem, taken at Richmond on the 5th June, 23 Henry 
 VII., 1507, on the death of James Danby, Esq., the jurors found that James 
 Danby, Esq., was seized in his demesne as of fee on the day on which he died 
 of one messuage and half a carucate of land and two bovates of land with 
 the appurtenances, in Yafford, in the county of York, &c. ; and that he died 
 on the 13th July, 2 Richard III., 1484 : and that Margery, now the wife of 
 Ralph Rokeby, Alice, late the wife of John Acclom, and Margaret, now the 
 wife of James Strangwys, of Sneton, jun., are his daughters and next heirs; 
 and that the said Margery was then of the age of 15 years and upwards, — 
 and that the said Alice was then of the age of 12 years and upwards, — and 
 that the said Margaret was then of the age of eight years and upwards. — 
 JEsct. Bund. 24 Henry VII., No. 2. It appears, however, by another Inqui- 
 sition post mortem, taken 33 and 34 Henry VIII., No. 10, on the death of 
 Margery Rokby, that she is described as " the widow and relict of Ralph 
 Rokby, deceased, one of the three daughters and heiresses of Ralph Danby, 
 also deceased." How to reconcile these two Inquisitions, I am at a loss to 
 tell. 
 
 * According to the first of the above Inquisitions her Christian name was 
 Margery, which fact is confirmed by her will, dated 27 th September, 1540, 
 which has been published by the Surtees Society amongst the Richmond 
 Wills. She is the person referred to in the poem of " The Felon Sew of 
 Rokeby and the Fryers of Richmond." 
 
 " Then mistress Rokeby came anon, 
 And for her [the Sew] brought shee meate^full soone, 
 
 The Sew came unto her, 
 She gyve her meate upon the flower." 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 247 
 
 IV. Richard Rokeby, a soldier. 
 
 V. Henry Rokeby. 
 
 VI. Christopher Rokeby. 
 
 VII. Jane, the wife of Tocketts. 
 
 II. Agnes, or Margaret,* the wife of James Strang- 
 wayes, of Ormsby, by whom she had issue Sir Richard 
 Strangwayes. 
 
 III. Alice, the wife of John Aclam, Esq., of Moreby, 
 (son of Richard Acklam,) by whom she had issue, viz. : 
 
 I. Margaret, the wife of Thomas Hawksworth, Esq., 
 by whom she had issue, 
 
 II. Ellen, the wife of Marmaduke Thwaites, of Little 
 Smeeton. 
 
 III. Anne, the wife of Thomas Metham, of Barnshill, 
 by whom she had issue, 
 
 II. Richard Danby. 
 
 III. Ralph Danby. 
 
 IV. John Danby, of Leake, who married Margaret, 
 the second daughter and co-heiress of William Moston, 
 of Henscott, in Warwickshire, and of Caville, near How- 
 den, in Yorkshire, by whom he had a son, viz. : 
 
 I. James Danby, of Braworth, who married a daugh- 
 ter of Walworthe, and by her had issue, viz. : 
 
 I. William Danby, of Leake, who married Margaret, 
 daughter of Gilbert or Roger Leigh, Esq., of Middleton, 
 by Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Nevill, Esq., 
 of Cudworth, by whom he had a son, viz. : 
 
 I. James Danby, of Braworth, who married a daughter 
 f Warde, by whom he had issue, viz : — 
 
 I. Thomas Danby, of Leake, who married Ann, 
 daughter and co-heiress of Ralph Anger, by whom he 
 had issue, for which see foot note.f 
 
 * Her name was Margaret, as will appear by the first of the above Inqui- 
 sitions. For the issue of this marriage see 1st vol. of Burke's Commoners^ 
 page 136— Strangwayes of Well. 
 
 f PEDIGREE OF THE DANBTS OF LEAKE. 
 
 Thomas Danby, of Leake, who married Anne, the daughter and co-heiress 
 
248 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 II. William Danby, of Knaresbrough, who married 
 Katherine, daughter of Richard Greene, of Newby, and 
 by her had issue, viz : — 
 
 I. Christopher. 
 
 II. Thomas. 
 
 III. Henry. 
 
 IV. John. 
 
 V. William. 
 
 VI. Francis. 
 
 VII. Myles. 
 
 VIII. Walter. 
 
 IX. Alice. 
 
 of Ralph Anger, by whom he had issue, viz : 
 
 I. Thomas Danby, his eldest son, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Miles Danby, who married and had issue. 
 
 III. John Danby, of Boroughbridge, who married and had issue. 
 
 IV. William Danby, who died unmarried. 
 
 V. Francis Danby. 
 
 VI. Edmund Danby, of Borougbridge, who married and had issue. 
 
 VII. Elizabeth, the wife of Michael Metcalf, of Little Otterington. 
 
 VIII. Jane, the wife of Thomas Middleton, of Middleton, in Cleveland. 
 
 IX. Mary, the wife of Thomas Appleton, of Great Smeaton. 
 
 Thomas Danby, (above mentioned) of Braworth, (who died in the lifetime 
 of his father) married Elizabeth, daughter of Christopher Cams, Esq., of 
 Halghton, in Lancashire, by whom he left issue, viz : 
 
 I. John Danby, of Great Leake, Esq., his eldest son, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Thomas Danby, who was slain at the Battle of Naseby, in the service 
 of King Charles I., 14th June, 1644. 
 
 III. Christopher Danby. 
 
 John Danby, (above mentioned) of Great Leake, who married, firstly, 
 Mary, daughter of William Swynbourne, of Cap-Heaton, in Yorkshire, by 
 whom he had an only daughter, viz : 
 
 I. Elizabeth, who married 1st, James Shafto, of Tanfield-Leigh, Durham ; 
 2ndly, William Salvin, of Brandon-hall. He married, secondly, Mary, 
 daughter of Anthony Meynell, of Kilvington, by whom he had issue, viz : 
 
 II. Anthony Danby, who was twelve years of age on August 23rd, 1665. 
 
 III. Joseph Danby, who was then seven years of age. 
 
 IV. James Danby, who was then six years of age. 
 
 V. John Danby, who was then four years of age. 
 
 VI. Elizabeth Danby, who was then ten years of age. 
 
 VII. Agnes Danby, who was then three years of age. 
 
 VIII. Ursula Danby, who was then one year of age. 
 
LOEDS OF MASHAMSHIKE. 249 
 
 X. Mary, the wife of William Haxby. 
 
 II. Christopher Danby, of Scarborough. 
 
 III. Eobert Danby,* of Kounton, or Rainton, near 
 Topcliffe. 
 
 IV. Leonard Danby, Parson of Cowsby. 
 Y. Anne Danby. 
 
 VI. Barbara, the wife of Thomas Allen. 
 
 V. Sir Robert Danby, Knt., the ancestor of the 
 Danbys of Swinton, therefore of him I proceed next to 
 speak. 
 
 Sir Robert Danby, Knt., was brought up to the pro- 
 fession of the law, and, as his subsequent history shews, 
 became a very eminent lawyer. His name occurs as an 
 Advocate, in the Year Books, as early as in the year 
 1431. On the 14th February, 1443, he is therein 
 styled Serjeant, soon after which he was appointed one 
 of the King's Serjeants. On the 28th June, 1452, he 
 was raised to the Bench, as one of the Judges of the 
 Court of Common Pleas, and on the 14th May, 1461, 
 
 * PEDIGREE OF THE DANBYS OF KIRKBY KNOWLE. 
 
 Robert Danby, of Rounton, or Rainton, near Topeliffe, had a son, 
 
 William Danby, of Kirkby Knowle, who died in 1577, and left (amongst 
 other issue) a son, 
 
 Edmund Danby, who died in 1587-8, and left (amongst other issue) a 
 son, 
 
 Henry Danby, who had an only son, 
 
 George Danby, of Kirkby Knowle, afterwards of Upleatham, and then of 
 Gisborough. He married Elizabeth Crawe, of Upleatham. He died in 1670, 
 and left (amongst other issue) a son, 
 
 Roger Danby, of Gisborough, who married Abigail Nicholson. He died 
 in 1691, and left (amongst other issue) a son, 
 
 William Danby, of Gisborough, who left (amongst other issue) a son, 
 
 Roger Danby, of Gisborough, who married Jane, daughter of Joseph 
 Anderson, M.D., by whom he left an only son, 
 
 William Danby, who married Elizabeth Thompson. He died in 1822, 
 aged eighty-one, leaving an only surviving son, 
 
 William Danby, Esq., formerly of Gisborough, but now of Park House, 
 Exeter, who was born 15th August, 1807, and is now (1863) living. 
 
250 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 (immediately after the accession of Edward IY. to the 
 throne) he was made Chief Justice of that court. Sir 
 Robert had the reputation of being an excellent judge, 
 and his judgments have at all times been looked upon 
 with great respect, and held as authorities. In the year 
 1471 he was a Knight. It appears by a letter from the 
 Earl of Salisbury, in the Paston Correspondence, that 
 Sir Robert was a decided Yorkist, as was also his son 
 and successor, Sir James Danby, Knight. After he had 
 acquired considerable wealth by his practice, he pur- 
 chased Thorpe-Perrow, which soon afterwards became 
 the residence of himself and family, and continued to be 
 used as such by his descendants, down to the year 1688, 
 when it was sold by Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knight, to Sir 
 William Blackett, through whom it has since passed into 
 the hands of Mark Millbank, Esq., its present owner. 
 He married, first, Katherine, daughter of Ralph Fitz- 
 Randal ; who, dying without issue, he married, secondly, 
 Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of William Aislaby, 
 in whose right he held lands, &c, in Durham, Darlington, 
 Gateshead, &c. He was also possessed of the Manor of 
 Scruton, which he had by exchange with his brother 
 William, Lord of Danby and Yafibrth, for lands in 
 Great and Little Danby. He came by his death by com- 
 mitting suicide, and that too after a very ingenious 
 fashion. He directed his Park-keeper to shoot any per- 
 son whom he should find on that night in the park, who 
 would not stand and speak when called upon. Having 
 given these directions, he went himself into the park on 
 that same night, and being met and challenged by the 
 park-keeper, he refused to stand or speak, whereupon 
 the keeper, acting strictly according to his orders, but 
 little dreaming that it was his master, fired at him, and 
 shot him dead. This melancholy occurrence took place 
 in the year 1472, and, as it is believed, at Thorp-Perrow. 
 There is a very good portrait of the Chief Justice at 
 Swinton Park, by an unknown artist. He left by his 
 second marriage, the following children, namely : 
 
L0KDS OF MASHAMSH1RE. 251 
 
 I. Sir James Danby, Knight, his successor, of whom 
 I speak presently. 
 
 II. Richard Danby, of Crayke, who married Joane, 
 the daughter of Sir John Roecliffe, Knight, a Baron of 
 the Exchequer, and by her had issue, namely : 
 
 I. Ralph, or Richard, of Great Langton, who married 
 four wives in succession; his first wife was Margaret, 
 daughter of Phillips; his second wife was Mar- 
 gery, daughter of Swales: his third wife was 
 
 Margaret, daughter of Kayes; and his fourth 
 
 wife was Dorothy Weresdale : he had no issue by his 
 first and third wives; by his second wife he had two 
 sons, namely: 
 
 I. William Danby, of Great Langton, (living 1585). 
 He married Dorothy, daughter of Brian Eglesfield, of 
 Hude, by whom he had an only daughter, namely : 
 
 Grace, who married William, son and hen of Francis 
 Tankard, of Peynell, by whom she had a daughter, 
 namely : 
 
 Dorothy, who married Sir Henry Jenkins, Knt. She 
 was two years old in 1585. 
 
 II. Lancelot Danby, of Great Langton, who married 
 Rosamond, daughter of ..... Keyes, of near 
 Leeds, and by whom he had issue, namely : 
 
 I. Christopher; II. Ralph; III. Thomas; IV. Martin; 
 V. Robert; VI. Magdalen; VII. Susan; VIII. Mary; 
 IX. Grace. 
 
 The above mentioned Ralph, or Richard Danby, had 
 by his fourth wife, the following issue, namely : 
 
 III. Peter Danby, of Scotton, near Knaresborough. 
 
 IV. Jane, the wife of Thomas Pybus, of Great Fen- 
 cote. 
 
 V. Mary, the wife of Richard Gale, of Scruton. 
 
 II. Thomas Danby. 
 
 * 
 
 * This Thomas Danby is usually stated in the Danby pedigrees to have 
 died without issue; he is, however, described in Harl. MS., 1550, fo. 147, 
 " Visitations of Lincolnshire, 1564 — 1592," as having been standard bearer 
 
252 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Ill *. the wife of Hall, of Laverton, 
 
 near Sherborne. 
 
 III. Margaret, who married Christopher Barton. 
 
 IV. Margery, who married Sir John Salvine, Knt., 
 (who was dead in 1496). She was living at York in 
 1496, and was dead in 1499. In her will dated in 1496, 
 she mentions her sister Elizabeth, her niece Langton, 
 her goddaughter Margery Danby, her sister Langton, 
 her sister Barton, her brother Langton, and her brother 
 Eichard Danby. She had by her said husband a son, 
 
 Kichard, who was living in 1496. 
 
 Sir James Danby, Knt., of Thorp-Perrow, above men- 
 tioned, succeeded his father, Sir Robert Danby, Knight, 
 in his estates. He was a valiant soldier ; and, espousing 
 the cause of the White Rose of York, he was in 1482, 
 made a Knight Banneret, by Richard Duke of Glouces- 
 ter, afterwards King Richard III., in Hutton-field, near 
 Berwick. He had the honour of being present and 
 taking part in the coronation of Richard III. and his 
 Queen Anne, on the 6th July, 1483.* He married 
 
 to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, at the Battle of Flodden Field, and that he 
 married .... Marcall, of Marcall, in Lincolnshire, by whom he had the fol- 
 lowing children, viz : I. Symonde ; II. James, (who had a base son) ; III. Ann, 
 the wife of Thomas Savill, of Copley ; and IV. Dorothy, the wife of Surgant 
 Roksby, of Skyres, in Yorkshire. Symond Danbye, above mentioned, is also 
 therein described as a merchant of Hull, and as having married Ann, daughter 
 of John Billesby, of Billesby, in Lincolnshire, by whom he had the follow- 
 ing children, viz : I. Grace, the wife of John Ashburn, of Umberstone, in 
 Lincolnshire; II. Thomas Danby, of Billesby, in Lincolnshire; III. Mar- 
 garet, the wife of Richard Dyxon, of Hull; and IV. Andrew Danby, of 
 Grymsby. It is further stated therein, that the last mentioned Thomas 
 Danby, of Billesby, married Jane, daughter of William Armstrong, of Corby, 
 in Lincolnshire, by whom he had a son, Thomas, who died young. This 
 family bore for arms, ar., three chevronells, braced in the base of the es- 
 cutcheon sa., on a chief of the second three mullets of the first, (the same as 
 the Danbys of Swinton Park), but bearing a crescent for a difference, sig- 
 nifying that the family were descended from a second son of the house of 
 Danby. 
 
 * See Bentley's " Excerpta Historica," page 384. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 25$ 
 
 before the 22nd December, 6 Edward IV., 1466, Agnes, 
 the daughter and sole heiress of Sir John Langton, 
 Knight, of Farnley, near Leeds, by a daughter and co- 
 heiress of Robert Neville, Esq., of Gargrave. By this 
 marriage he acquired, with other large possessions, the 
 manor of Farnley,* which remained in the Danby family 
 until the year, 1799, when it was sold by the late Wil- 
 liam Danby, Esq., for little more than the value of the 
 timber upon it, to Mr. James Armitage, an opulent mer- 
 chant, in Leeds. Sir James died on the 9th October, 
 12 Henry VII., 1496, (his wife having survived him till 
 the 26th March, 6 Henry VIIL, 1514.) By his will, 
 which is dated the 16th March, 1496, and proved at 
 York on the 28th June, 1497, he desired, if he died in 
 the parish of Leeds, to be buried in the Church at Leeds, 
 and mentions the following persons, &c. : — The Master 
 and Parson of Well ; such heirlooms as left by my father 
 at Thorpe, which appears by my father's testament; 
 
 Roger Dodisworth, Park at Farnley ; a messe-booke 
 
 worth 40s. to be bought and delivered to the chapel at 
 Yafford; my wife Dame Annes Danby; William Met- 
 calfe ; Christopher my son ; my brother Richard Danby ; 
 William Calverley, Esq. ; Sir Thomas Danby, Parson, of 
 Tenerington, and Edmund Malliverey. He left by his 
 said wife two sons, namely : 
 
 I. Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, his successor, of 
 whom presently. 
 
 II. James Danby, who is mentioned in the will of his 
 brother, which is dated 16th March, 1517. 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, of Farnley and Thorp- 
 Perrow, succeeded his father in his estates, and ulti- 
 
 * Thoresby, in his " Ducatus Leodiensis," (edit. 1715) page 201.^ says*. 
 " This is indisputable that Agnes, daughter and sole heir of the last John 
 Langton, Esq., brought this lordship of Farnley to the ancient family of the- 
 Danbys, together with the lordships of Akenshaw and Howton, together- 
 with Long-Villiers, Heaton, Mowthorp, Langton, West Lutton, and an, 
 estate at York." — See also Inquisition post mortem, taken at her death. Ao.- 
 6, Henry VIIL, No. 34. 
 
254 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 mately became, in right of his wife, the first Lord of 
 Mashamshire. He was born in 1468, and married Mar- 
 gery, the second daughter of Thomas le Scrope, fifth 
 Lord Scrope of Masham and Upsall, and one of the 
 co-heiresses to that Barony at the decease of her brother 
 Geoffrey, the ninth and last Lord. — (See the Scrope pedi- 
 gree ante, p. 242). By this marriage, the Danbys ac- 
 quired, with other manors and extensive possessions, the 
 manor of Masham and Mashamshire. He died on the 
 17th March, 9 Henry VIII., 1517. In his will, which 
 is dated the 16th March, 1517, and proved on the 10th 
 November, 1518, he directed his body to be buried at 
 Leeds, and mentions his father, mother, wife, son, (Chris- 
 topher), and his brother James Danby. According to 
 Thoresby's "Ducatus Leodiensis" (edit. 1715) Appen- 
 dix page 573, there was formerly in the south quire of 
 the Leeds Parish Church, the following inscription: — 
 " Orate pro animabus Christopheri Danby, militis, <fy 
 Domina Margeria uxore sua, ac jiliorum <$f filice, qui 
 istam fenestram fieri fecerunt, anno Dom. m.ccccc.xxi." 
 And also, besides the arms, were effigies of a knight 
 kneeling, with his wife. He left by his said wife a son 
 and successor, namely : 
 
 Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, Lord of Farnley, and 
 also Lord of Mashamshire in right of his mother. He 
 was a minor of fifteen years of age when his father died, 
 and was in wardship to King Henry VIII. He was 
 High Sheriff of Yorkshire 37 Henry VIII., 1545, and 
 was a benefactor to the Leeds Parish Church, which ap- 
 pears, on account of its vicinity to Farnley, to have been 
 at this time the burial-place of the family. He married 
 in 1514 (when only twelve years old) Elizabeth, the 
 third daughter of Kichard Neville, second Lord Latimer,* 
 
 * Richard Neville, second Lord Latimer, had his seat at Snape Castle, 
 and was therefore near neighbour to Sir Christopher Danby, who resided at 
 Thorp-Perrow (the father of the juvenile husband). This Lord Latimer was 
 one of the Commanders of the King's Army, in the 1st Henry VIL, 1486, 
 at the Battle of Stoke, when Lambert Simnel (the Pretender, who honoured 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 255 
 
 of Snape Castle, and sister to John Neville, third Lord 
 Latimer,* whose second wife was Catherine Parr,f after- 
 wards the wife of King Henry VIII. ; also sister to Susan, 
 the wife of Richard Norton, the leader of the Rebellion 
 of 1569, known in history as " The Rising of the North." 
 It will be seen {ante page 106) that a peerage, and a pen- 
 sion to support the dignity, were offered to him by King 
 
 Masham with a visit, as lias been stated ante p. 84,) and the Earl of Lincoln, 
 and his adherents, sustained a signal defeat, and the Pretender himself 
 taken prisoner. He was also a Commander in the English Army, under the 
 Earl of Surrey, which marched to the relief of Norham Castle, then invested 
 by the Scots. And he also acquired high reputation at the Battle of Flodden 
 Field, mentioned ante p. 89. 
 
 * John Neville, third Lord Latimer, also resided at Snape Castle. He 
 joined the Insurrection known as the "Pilgrimage of Grace," and was 
 appointed by the rebels in that insurrection along with Lord Scrope, of 
 Bolton, Lord Lumley, and Lord Darcy, their Deputies to treat with the Duke 
 of Norfolk (who commanded the army sent against them) when they suc- 
 ceeded so well in their negotiations, that all concerned in that affair were 
 allowed to return to their homes without being further molested. His son 
 John Neville, the fourth and last Lord Latimer, appears not to have followed 
 in the footsteps of his father in matters of religion, having turned Protestant, 
 and therefore did not join the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, 
 in the Rebellion of 1569. This his reticence appears to have given great 
 offence to the Earls and their party, who accordingly took their revenge 
 upon him, by entering and spoiling his house at Snape, from which they took 
 property of great value, as well as his horses and cattle from his park and 
 grounds at Snape, to his no little mortification. I have already [ante p. 108) 
 alluded to the serious affray which this last-mentioned Lord had with his 
 cousin Sir Thomas Danby (between whom a very bad feeling appears for a 
 long time to have existed). To such a length had this quarrel gone that he 
 nearly ran through one of Sir Thomas's men with a rapier, for which the 
 Archbishop of York, in 1563, was about to complain to the Queen, of his 
 " evell and misorderede" life, and of his not being a "man of government/' 
 which meant that he was in such a state as not to be competent to govern , 
 or take care of himself. 
 
 t Catherine Parr was a daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, and was born at 
 Kendall. She was blessed with four husbands. Her first was Mr. Burghe 
 — her second was John Neville, third Lord Latimer (the father of the hot- 
 brained Lord just alluded to) — her third was King Henry VIII. — and her 
 fourth, and last, was Admiral Seymour, brother of the Protector Somerset? 
 by which last marriage she became aunt to King Edward VI., who was 
 already her son-in-law. 
 
256 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Henry VIII., but were declined. In a Commission of 
 Array for the County of York, made in the 36th Henry 
 VIII., 1545, during the war with France and Scotland, 
 he was required to provide and send ninety footmen as 
 his contribution to the force. On the 22nd September, 
 1549, he presented as patron of the living of Thornton- 
 Watlass. He is described in several documents as living 
 at New Park, in the County of York, and especially so in 
 the award made between him and Lord Derby, dated 5th 
 October, 1570, relating to the disputed boundary between 
 Mashamshire and the parish of Kirkby-Malzeard. Sir 
 Christopher died in the year 1571, leaving a will, which 
 was dated the 27th March, 1568, and proved in the 
 Court of the Dean and Chapter of York, on the 19th 
 March, 1571. In this will he thus makes mention of the 
 following persons, viz : " Elizabeth, my wife — to every 
 one of my daughters, four hundred marks each — my 
 daughter Magdalen, wife of Marmaduke Wyvell; Dame 
 Ann Paycocke; John Mallory; Katherine Maulivery, 
 daughter of Sir Edmund Maulivery; my son James 
 Danby; my son Marmaduke; my son William; my son 
 Sir Thomas Danby (whom he appoints Executor) ; 
 Thomas Danby, son of the said Sir Thomas." Accor- 
 ding to the Warburton MSS., in the British Museum, 
 No. 1394, page 327, there was formerly the following 
 inscription, " In the Churche of Leedes : ' Orate p. bono 
 statu Xpoferi Danby Armigeri, et Elizabethae uxoris 
 ejus. A . D'ni. m.ccccc. tricessimo. 1 Below which were 
 the figures of iij. sonnes and six daughters: and the 
 arms of the Danbys, with helmet and crest, were painted 
 on the wall of the church, as were also the arms, &c, of 
 the Langton family." Sir Christopher left by his wife the 
 following children, viz: 
 
 I. Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., his successor, of whom 
 hereafter. 
 
 II. Dorothy, the wife of Sir John Neville, Knt., of 
 Liversedge, a noble scion of an ancient stock who traced 
 their pedigree from one of the Saxon Kings of England. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRS. £5? 
 
 He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 3rd Elizabeth, 
 1560, and in the 12th Elizabeth, 1569, was convicted of 
 High Treason, for having joined the Earls of North- 
 umberland and Westmoreland, in the Rebellion of 1569, 
 before alluded to, whereby all his lands, &c. (which 
 were very considerable) were forfeited. He appears to 
 have taken a very active part in the Rebellion, from its 
 commencement, and, according to the confesssion made 
 by the Earl of Northumberland, previous to his exe- 
 cution, was not only privy to, and took an active part in, 
 the planning of the conspiracy, but joined the Earls at 
 Brancepeth, previous to the rising. After the failure of 
 the Rebellion he escaped to Hume Castle, in Scotland, 
 where he was sheltered for some time by Lord Hume. 
 He was still at Hume Castle on the 17th April, 1570, 
 but shortly afterwards escaped from thence to Flanders, 
 where he was joined by his wife to share his sorrows 
 with him in his adversity. In 1571, he was at Lovaine, 
 and from thence "departed towards Rome." He be- 
 came a pensioner of the King of Spain, who allowed him 
 £60 a year for the support of himself, his wife, and 
 children. Previous, however, to his departure for the 
 continent, every effort was made by his devoted wife to 
 procure his pardon, or, at all events, to save his life, but 
 without effect. In a letter from Sir T. Gargrave to 
 Cecil, dated 13th February, 1670, accompanying her 
 examination taken before him and Sir Hugh Savile, he 
 says, " Lady Neville is left with ten children in a very 
 4 pore estate,' and she thinks that c yf her husband might 
 have his lyfe, he would come in and submit hymself to 
 imprisonment, or otherwise, as shuld please the Queenes 
 majastie,' : but this too proved of no avail with the re- 
 morseless Queen. His name is included in the list of 
 " Names of those that were endyted for the conspiracy 
 of treason, 1 Sep. An. 11 Eliz., at Topclyf, in the County 
 of Yorke," as " John Nevill, of Lyversedge, Knight," — 
 also, in " An acte for the confirmation of th' Attaynders 
 of Charles, Earle of Westmoreland, Thomas, Earle 
 
258 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 of Northumberland, and others — xiij. Eliz. c. xvi." — 
 as " Sir John Nevill, late of Leversedge, county of 
 York, Knight. 7 ' His estates having thus become 
 forfeited, Queen Elizabeth, in July, 1573, granted 
 them out to Edward Carey, one of the grooms of the 
 Privy Chamber, and others ; whilst she, with her usual 
 generosity (?) and liberality (?) in February, 1574, 
 granted to " Robert Nevill, Gent.," his son, out of the 
 father's large possessions, (which had thus fallen to her), 
 the miserable pittance of £20 a year, and that only du- 
 ring her pleasure, to be paid by the Receiver of York, 
 out of Leversedge. Sir John Nevill himself, however, 
 was allowed to remain to the end of his days, and to die 
 an exile from his country, in order to gratify the revenge- 
 ful spirit of a Queen, whose soul was as much a stranger 
 to the true knowledge of the attributes of mercy, as her 
 heart was to the better and finer feelings usually pos- 
 sessed by her sex : 
 
 " The quality of mercy Is not strain'd ; 
 It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath ; it is twice bless'd ; 
 It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes i 
 T is mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes 
 The throned monarch better than his crown : 
 His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
 The attribute to awe and majesty, 
 Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings % 
 But mercy is above this sceptred sway : 
 It is enthroned in the hearts of kings : 
 It is an attribute to God himself; 
 And earthly power doth then show Mkest God's,, 
 When mercy seasons justice. 
 
 consider this, — 
 
 That, in the course of j ustice, none of us 
 Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
 The deeds of mercy." — Shakspere. 
 
 Lady Neville had by her husband the following chil- 
 dren, viz: 
 
 I. Robert Neville. 
 
 II. A daughter, the wife of Mr. Aiscoughe. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 259 
 
 III. A daughter, the wife of Mr. Cholmley — and 
 seven other children. 
 
 III. Margaret, the wife of Christopher Hopton, Esq., 
 of Armley-hall, who left issue. 
 
 IV. Margery, the wife of Christopher Mallory, Esq.,* 
 of Wothersome, in the West Riding, son and heir of Sir 
 William Mallory, Knt., of Studley, by Jane, daughter 
 of Sir John Norton, Knt., who died without issue. 
 
 V. Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Wentworth, Esq., 
 of Ashby, second son of Sir John Wentworth, of Elms- 
 halL 
 
 VI. Mary, the wife of Sir Edward Maleverer, of Arne- 
 cliffe, who left issue. 
 
 VII. Anne, the wife of Walter Calverley, heir to Sir 
 William Calverley, Knt., of Calverley, f who died leaving 
 the following children, viz : 
 
 I. William Calverley, who succeeded his father, and 
 married and left issue. 
 
 II. Christopher Calverley, who was living in 1568. 
 
 III. Edmund Calverley, who married and had issue. 
 
 VIII. Magdalen, the wife of Marmaduke Wyvill, Esq., 
 who died leaving issue ; from whom the Wyvills of Con- 
 stable-Burton, are descended. — See Burke's "Extinct 
 and Dormant Baronetcies," 1591. 
 
 IX. Jane, the wife of Roger Meynell, J Esq., of Hal- 
 naby, and Hilton, who died leaving an only son, viz : 
 
 I. Edmund, who married Thomasina, daughter of 
 
 * Christopher Mallory's sister Margaret married John Conyers, of Eaton- 
 on-Usk, and had by him Christopher Conyers, who married a sister of the 
 celebrated Cardinal Allen, and his sister Dorothy married the celebrated 
 Sir George Bowes, of Streatlam, who figured so conspicuously in putting down 
 the Rebellion of 1569. From this we learn that the Danbys and Sir George 
 Bowes were connected by marriage* although taking different sides in that 
 Rebellion. This may account in some measure for the escape of Christopher 
 Danby, and Sir John Neville, after the failure of the Rebellion- — See 
 Walbran's " Lords of Studley." 
 
 t See " Burke's Commoners," p. 674. 
 
 % See Ibid, p. 402. 
 
260 MASHAM AND MASHAMSKXIiE. 
 
 Kalph Tancred, of Arden, Esq., by whom she had a son f 
 Charles Meynell, of Hilton. 
 
 X. Christopher Danby, Esq. (2nd son) who married 
 Margaret, daughter of Sir William Calverley, Kht., and 
 widow of Robert Beeston, of Beeston-hall, Esq. Having 
 thus allied himself to the knightly family of the Carver- 
 leys,- and that too by the marriage of a widow in the 
 possession of a comfortable home and establishment, 
 with an ample fortune wherewithal to support it, he took 
 up his residence at his wife's mansion (Beeston-hall). 
 There he might have ended his days in peace and 
 affluence, had not his strong sense of the wrongs done to 
 his co-religionists, impelled him to join his relatives, the 
 Earls of Northumberland, and Westmoreland, in the 
 disastrous Rebellion of 1569, whereby he brought ruin 
 upon himself and his family. For this he was convicted 
 of High Treason, and attainted, whereby his estates be- 
 came forfeited to the crown, and he had to seek his own 
 safety by fleeing to a foreign land, there to drag out the 
 remainder of his days in exile, living upon a paltry pit- 
 tance of £30 a year, and for which even he was indebted 
 to the hand of a stranger. In connection with the Rebel- 
 lion before alluded to, his name first appears in a docu- 
 ment in the British Museum, (Calig. c. 1, 347), dated 
 2 November, 1569, in which he figures as "Christopher 
 Danby, son of Sir Christopher Danby, a great doer in 
 these matters," [meaning that he was a great plotter of 
 Rebellion,] and " evil of religion," [a Roman Catholic]. 
 And after the unsuccesful issue of the Rebellion, his 
 name again appears in another letter of Lord Scrope (of 
 Bolton), dated 1st January, 1570, in which it is said 
 that Christopher Danby is at one John Scott's house, at 
 Colebeck: which John Scott, on being sent for, denied, 
 and was committed to prison. And also, as to his having 
 been at Leeds with two hundred rebel horsemen. He 
 however succeeded in effecting his escape into Scotland, 
 and then we have his name included in another docu- 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 261 
 
 ment, dated 8th January, 1570, containing the " Names 
 of such Rebells and fugitiv as the Erie of Sussex doth 
 demand of the Lord Regent " [of Scotland] . And, again, 
 the Earl of Northumberland himself, in his confession, 
 which he made previous to his execution, gives the name 
 of Christopher Danby as one of the parties who were 
 privy to, and took an active part in, the conspiracy for 
 the Rebellion, and as one of the plotters of it. And 
 Christopher Norton, too (the seventh son of old Richard 
 Norton, "the Patriarch of Rebellion,") in his confession 
 also stated that " Christopher Danby toyld me, ryding 
 from Raby, the [Spanish] Imbasator at London, hayd 
 promysed to aid them with ather one hondryd southand 
 crowns, or else V hondryd southand : and that the Erles 
 shold have hayd thame, shortly after;" which was cer- 
 tainly a most damnatory piece of evidence against him, 
 as, if true, it proved him to have been privy to an ar- 
 rangement by which he and his co- conspirators were to 
 receive assistance in their enterprize from a foreign 
 Catholic power. Accordingly, we find included amongst 
 the " Names of those that were endyted for the con- 
 spiracy of treason, 1 Sep. An. 11 Eliz., at Topclyf, in 
 the county of Yorke," the name of " Christopher Danby, 
 Beiston, Esq.," as also in "An Acte for the Confirmation 
 of th' Attainders of Charles, Earle of Westmorelande ; 
 Thomas, Earle of Northumberland, and others. — 13th 
 Eliz. c. xvi.," the name of " Christopher Danby, late of 
 Beiston, Esq." He, however, succeeded in evading his 
 pursuers, and in effecting his escape into the Low Coun- 
 tries, and in June, 1572, we find that he was an exile 
 existing there upon a pension of £30 a year, allowed him 
 by King Philip. The last trace I can find of him 
 is in a letter of Dr. Thomas Wilson, (who was sent into 
 Flanders to procure the banishment of the fugitive rebels) 
 in which he says that he was then at Namur. Such was 
 the sad and eventful history of this scion of the once 
 noble house of Danby, which, with that of Sir John 
 Neville, his brother-in-law, lend a melancholy interest to 
 
^^— — ___ 
 
 262 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIIIE. 
 
 this portion of the pedigree. He left, by his wife, two 
 daughters, viz : 
 
 I. Mary Danby. 
 
 II. Elizabeth Danby. 
 
 XI. John Danby (3rd son) who died without issue. 
 
 XII. James Danby (4th son), of Scruton (1585), 
 but afterwards, it is supposed, of Ellington, who married 
 Isabella, a daughter of Richard Meynell, of Eslyngton, 
 Yorkshire, by whom he had the following children, viz : 
 
 I. Christopher Danby, who was born about 1564. 
 
 II. James Danby. 
 
 III. Francis Danby. 
 
 IV. John Danby. 
 Y. Elizabeth Danby. 
 
 XIII. Marmaduke Danby (5th son), of Masham, Esq. 
 He was appointed supervisor under the will of John 
 Dods worth, of Masham, dated 6th April, 1584 ; he was 
 
 living in 1600. He married a daughter of Parker, 
 
 and left the following children : 
 
 I. Christopher Danby, the "unjust steward" of the 
 Danby estates. He was living in 1608, and was then a 
 party to a suit in Chancery with Edward Lord Bruce. 
 
 II Elizabeth Danby. 
 
 III. Mary Danby. 
 
 XIY. William Danby (6th son), living in 1590. 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., above-mentioned, in the 
 year 1571, succeeded his father in his estates, and as 
 Lord of Mashamshire. He was born about 1530, and 
 was returned in Barnard's Survey of Duchy Lands in 
 the County of York, taken in 19th Elizabeth, 1577, as 
 holding the manor of Farnley, of the Honor of Ponte- 
 fract. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 18th Eliza- 
 beth, 1576. In 1583, he was a Justice of the Peace for 
 the North Riding, there being then only twenty-one jus- 
 tices in number.* 
 
 * See Calendar of Justices of the Peace for the North Riding of Yorkshire, 
 taken in 1583.— Hark MS. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 263 
 
 He married Lady Mary Neville, second daughter of 
 Ralph Neville,* fourth Earl of Westmoreland, to whom 
 he was espoused in the 26th Henry VIII., 1534-5, when 
 he was only four years old, her fortune being 1050 marks 
 or £700. She was aunt to Charles Neville, sixth Earl 
 of Westmoreland, who joining with the Earl of Northum- 
 berland in the Rebellion of 1569, before alluded to, was 
 attainted, when all his honours and very great posses- 
 sions became forfeited. In the 8th Elizabeth, 1565-6, 
 Sir Thomas joined with his father in the purchase of the 
 manors of Healey and Ellington from Henry Lord Scrope 
 of Bolton, besides other lands, together with claim to 
 all badges of seignory whatsoever ; and in the 29th 
 Elizabeth, 1586-7, he bought of William Singleton of 
 Fountains, Gentleman, the capital messuage of Pot, with 
 the lands thereto appertaining, and all his claims of right 
 to the Royalties, wastes, &c. He also purchased the 
 
 * " He was descended from Ralph Neville, the first Earl of Westmoreland, 
 K.G., by his second wife Joane, daughter of John of Gaunt, whose posses- 
 sions were so extensive that besides the castle of his Anglo-Saxon ancestors, 
 and those of Brancepeth, Middleham, and Sheriff Hutton (inherited through 
 Norman heiresses of great name), he possessed about fifty manor-houses : and 
 his feudal following was so grand, that, at times, he assembled in the great 
 hall at Raby, no fewer than 700 knights, who lived on his lands in time 
 of peace, and followed his banner in war. Even the Earl's children were 
 more numerous than those of his neighbours. He was twice married ; and 
 the Duchess of York, known among the Northern men as " The Rose of 
 Raby," was the youngest of a family of twenty-two. John Neville (Ralph's 
 eldest son by his first Countess) was progenitor to those chiefs who, as Earls 
 of Westmoreland, maintained baronial rank at Raby, till one of them risked 
 and lost all in the great Northern Rebellion against Elizabeth. Richard 
 Neville (Ralph's eldest son by his second Countess), obtained the hand 
 of the heiress of the Montagues, and with it their Earldom of Salis- 
 bury, and their vast possessions. In the continental wars and domestic 
 struggles in which Englishmen indulged during the loth century, Salisbury 
 was recognised as a man of military prowess and political influence ; but 
 almost on reaching middle age his fame grew pale before that of his eldest 
 son, Richard Neville, who espoused the heiress of the Beauchamps, who, in 
 her right, obtained the Earldom of Warwick, and who, as times passed on, 
 became celebrated throughout Europe as the 'King-maker.'" — The Wars 
 of the Roses, hy J. G. Edgar, p. 14. 
 
264 MASHAM AND MASH AMSH IRE. 
 
 manors of Bramham-Biggin, and South Cave. In the 
 year 1586 he erected Farnley Hall, as appears by an 
 inscription on the front of it.* I have already, at page 
 108, alluded to the serious quarrel he had with 
 his cousin John Lord Latimer. He died in his manor- 
 house at South Cave, on the 13th September, 1590. In 
 his will, which is dated the 3rd September, 1590, and 
 proved at York, on the 22nd Sept., 1590, he describes 
 himself, as " Sir Thomas Danby, of South Cave, Knight," 
 and directs his body to be buried in the church of South 
 Cave. He thus makes mention of the following persons, 
 &c, in his said will: — c 'To Richard Danby, my son, the 
 manor [of South Cave] and my lordship of Wytherley, 
 — Mr. William Danby, my brother, — Robert Danby, my 
 son (whom he appointed sole executor), — Mrs. Ann 
 Calve rley, Parsonage of Watlass, — Hector Danby, my 
 son, — my son Thomas Danby, deceased, — Christopher, 
 my son Thomas son, — the poor of Farnley, — my brother 
 Marmaduke Danby hath a pawn of Christopher Danby 's 
 farm of Lang ton, — Christopher son oi said Marmaduke, 
 — Mr. James Danby, my brother. "f He left by his 
 wife, Lady Mary (who survived him till the 14th of 
 March following), the following children: 
 
 I. Thomas Danby, Esq., who in the 19th Elizabeth, 
 
 * Thoresb}', in his "Ducatus Leodiensis," edit. 1715, p. 199, says, Farnley 
 Hall was " a stately fabrick," and that " upon the front thereof is this 
 inscription, l Build ed in the year of our Lord 1586, and in the reign of the 
 Queen 28, by Sir Thomas Danby, Knight?" He also says, " On one side of 
 the Inscription is the paternal Coat, and on the other that with seven quar- 
 terings, above the whole are 19 Coats besides the Danbys." 
 
 t According to an Inquisition post mortem, taken at Methley, on the 7th 
 July, 35th Elizabeth, 1593, he held at the time of his death — "the manor of 
 Masham of the Queen, as of her castle of Richmond — the manor of Mow- 
 thorpe — the manor or grange of Mossa and lands in Scruton — the manor of 
 Farnley, &c, and manor of Clackheaton, and manor of Scoles — the manor 
 of Thorpe-perrowe, and manor of Watlass — the manor of Driffield — the 
 manor of Wibsey — the manor of Bramham-Biggin — Pott Grange, &c, in 
 Pot, with Cosh- head, &c, held of the Queen in capite — the manor of South- 
 grave [South Cave], held of Sir Edward Striugley [Stanley], Knt, of the 
 manor of Thirsk, in socage."- -Marl, MS,, 760, fol. 63, British Museum. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 265 
 
 1576, was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas 
 Went worth, Esq., of Wentworth-Woodhouse, Yorkshire, 
 by Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir William Gas- 
 coigne, Knt., of Gawthorpe, who was a descendant of Sir 
 William Gascoigne, Knt.,* Lord Chief Justice, (a very 
 eminent Judge), and the grandfather of the unfortunate 
 Earl of Strafford. The marriage contract is at Swinton 
 Park, and is dated 1st August, 19th Elizabeth, from 
 which it appears that her father gave her £1500 for her 
 fortune. She survived her husband many years, and 
 having purchased Pot Grange of Christopher Danby, her 
 son, and of Robert Danby, his uncle (to whom Sir Tho- 
 mas had left an annuity of forty marks chargeable 
 thereon), she spent the greatest portion of her widow- 
 hood at that place. She purchased from the Crown the 
 wardship of her son daring his minority, and also from 
 William Cecil, Esq., in the 37th Elizabeth, 1594-5, an 
 assignment of the Crown lease of her son's lands then 
 held by him. She was a Roman Catholic in religion, 
 and was convicted of Popish recusancy, for which she 
 received a pardon under the Great Seal in the 8th of 
 James I., 1610. She died about the 10th January, 
 1629, having left a will which bears date in September, 
 1627, and was proved at York in October, 1629, in 
 which she describes herself as of Thorpe Perrow, widow, 
 
 * Chief Justice Gascoigne was not only 
 a very eminent Judge, but a very bold, up- 
 right, and independent magistrate. His 
 refusal to try Archbishop Scrope, and 
 Thomas Mowbray, son of the banished 
 Duke of Norfolk, and his committal to 
 prison of Henry V. (whilst Prince of 
 Wales), for insulting him on the seat of 
 justice, are noble instances of this. He 
 died in 1419, and was buried in Harewood 
 Church, where a monument is erected to 
 his memory, an engraving of which will 
 be found ante, p. 5. The annexed engraving 
 is a representation of his shield of arms. 
 
 ARMS OF SIR WILLIAM GASCOIGNE. 
 
%6$ MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and directs her body to be buried in Masham Church. 
 It then proceeds to mention the following persons : — 
 "My nephew, Sir Thomas Wentworth, Baronet, — my 
 cousin, Mr. Michael Wentworth, — my grandchild, Mr. 
 Thomas Danby, — Mr. Christopher Danby, another of 
 my grandchildren,— Elizabeth, wife of John Metcalfe." 
 Thomas Danby, her husband, died the 3rd January, 
 1581-2, in his father's lifetime, and therefore never came 
 to the estates. He left by his wife a posthumous son, 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq., who succeeded to the estates 
 on the death of his grandfather (Sir Thomas), therefore 
 of him hereafter. 
 
 II. Henry Danby (2nd son), who died in his father's 
 lifetime, and was buried at Leeds in 1578. 
 
 III. Kobert Danby, Esq., of Masham, who died with- 
 out issue. ^ By his will, dated the 28th March, 1631, 
 after desiring to be buried in Masham Church, and men- 
 tioning his late niece Mary, sister to Thomas Danby, 
 Esq., of South Cave, he makes the following bequest: 
 "Item, my debts paid and pence apiece* given to the poor e 
 at the church after the usual manner, and my funeral 
 expences according to my abilitie discharged — I give unto 
 the said Christopher Lodge [his servant] all my moneys 
 and debts owen tome when they shall be due unto me;" 
 and he appointed Christopher Lodge his sole executor. 
 
 * The distribution of pence to the poor at the funeral, here alluded to, 
 lias reference to the Funeral Dole which was usually distributed on these 
 occasions. We learn from St. Chrysostom, that they were thus given, to 
 procure rest to the soul of the deceased, that he might find his judge propi- 
 tious. Brand says, " the giving of a dole, and the inviting of the poor on 
 this occasion, are synonymous terms." So late as the last generation, it was 
 the usual practice at Ellington, and Ellingstring, to invite all the poor to 
 attend at the funerals. The original design of the custom was for the 
 deceased to have the benefit of the prayers of these parties thus participating 
 in the dole, or attending the funeral. It was also very common formerly in 
 this parish for persons making wills to leave money to be distributed amongst 
 the poor with the same object. In connection with this subject I may men- 
 tion that within the recollection of the old people of Ellington and Elling- 
 string, it was quite common to have funeral wakes there. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 267 
 
 On the 13th May, 1631, he was presented in the Eccle- 
 siastical Court at Masham for not paying his church rate 
 to Masham Church. 
 
 IV. Richard Danby, Esq., of South Cave, to whom 
 his late father had left the manor of South Cave in fee. 
 He married Alice, daughter of Marty n Arm, of Frickley. 
 By his will, dated the 14th June, 1602, and proved at 
 York the 20th of November, 1602, he describes himself 
 as of "South Cave," and as a "prisoner for my contienc," 
 and mentions "oakes and eshes in Weedley Wood," — his 
 manor of South Cave, — and that his heir was then under 
 21. He also thus makes mention of the following per- 
 sons : — "William Danby, Gregory Danby, and Richard 
 Danby, my sons, — Mary Danby, Alice Danby, and Ann 
 Danby, my daughters, — my wife deceased, — Maister 
 Hector Danby of Streglethorpe, and Mr. Thomas Danby 
 of Thorganby, Co. Lincoln, my kinsmen, — my brother 
 Ellis of Kiddale, — my brother Nelson of Brotherton." 
 He died leaving the following children : 
 
 I. Richard Danby, who was under 21 in 1602. 
 
 II. Gregory Danby, who was living in 1602. 
 HE William Danbv, who was living in 1602. 
 
 IV. Thomas Danby,* who was living in 1602. He 
 married Rosamond, the daughter of Sir Robert Swifte, 
 and by her had a daughter, namely : 
 
 Jane Swifte, who was baptized atDoncaster in 1650-1. 
 Y. Mary Danby, who was living in 1602. 
 YI. Alice Danby, who was living in 1602. 
 VII. Ann Danby, who was living in 1602. 
 
 V. Dorothy Danby, who was buried at Leeds in 1578. 
 \ I. Hector Danby, who (according to a memorandum 
 
 in the handwriting of Abstrupus Danby, Esq.) settled in 
 Kinlet, in Shropshire. He is probably the same Hector 
 
 * In an Act of Parliament, passed in 1652 (during the time of the Com- 
 monwealth), cap. 23, I find that " the estates of Thomas Danby, late of Cave, 
 in the County of York," are declared forfeited for high treason. I presume 
 tha* this is the Thomas Danby referred to in the Act of Parliament. 
 
268 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Danby as is mentioned in the will of Richard Danby, 
 dated 1602, as then of Streglethorpe. 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq., above-mentioned, succeeded 
 to the estates, and became Lord of Mashamshire, on the 
 death of his grandfather, on the 13th September, 1590. 
 He was born on the 3rd March, 24th Elizabeth, 1581, 
 two months after his father's death, and was conse- 
 quently long a minor, his estates being in the meantime 
 under the management of his mother as above- stated. 
 He is described as of Thorpe Perrow, and Farnley, but 
 he appears at one time to have resided at Leighton Hall, 
 near Pot Grange. In the 44th Elizabeth, 1601-2, he 
 was freed from the court of wards and liveries of his 
 lands. Very soon afterwards he married Frances, the 
 youngest daughter of Edward Parker* Lord Morley, by 
 his wife Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of William 
 Stanlev Lord Monteagle. She was sister to William 
 Lord Morley and Monteagle, to whom the remarkable 
 letter was addressed by one of the parties to the Gun- 
 powder Plot conspiracy, in the reign of James I., by 
 means of which letter the plot was discovered in time, 
 and Guy Fawkes, with his co-conspirators, were at once 
 arrested, and subsequently punished. He was in reli- 
 gion a Roman Catholic, and was convicted of Popish 
 recusancy, for which he received a pardon under the 
 Great Seal in 1610. His lady, who was also a Roman 
 Catholic, was, for her adherence to her religion, also 
 presented in the Ecclesiastical Court at Masham, and 
 condemned as a Popish recusant. The marriage (which 
 had taken place without the sanction or knowledge of 
 the friends of the lady) was a very unhappy one, and 
 
 * He was one of the Peers who sat in judgment and pronounced sentence 
 of death on the beautiful, but unfortunate, Mary Queen of Scots — on Philip 
 Earl of Arundel — and on Robert Earl of Essex, all in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth. Elizabeth, his wife, was the only daughter and heiress of Wil- 
 liam Stanley Lord Monteagle, the grandson of Sir Edward Stanley, who so 
 highly distinguished himself at the Battle of Flodden-field, for which service 
 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Monteagle. 
 
LOBDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 269 
 
 resulted in a considerable amount of litigation and bad 
 blood, and ultimately in a separation. He was anything 
 but a faithful husband, and led the very reverse of a 
 blameless life ; he kept bad company — was very liti- 
 gious — a spendthrift — very improvident; allowed him- 
 self to be robbed by an unfaithful steward, and ran into 
 considerable debt, which obliged him to sell off a large 
 portion of his paternal estates. His name also occurs in 
 the proceedings of the Ecclesiastical Court at Masham, 
 in connection with a frail lady of the name of Elizabeth 
 Scott. He afterwards, however, became a very strenu- 
 ous defender of his fortune against all encroachments, 
 and especially of the franchises and liberties of Masham- 
 shire, as appears by the great number of suits and actions 
 at law, in which he was concerned relating to them. 
 Among these, may be mentioned the action which he 
 brought against Solomon Wyvill, of High Burton, near 
 Masham, for hunting upon Browhriggs, in Mashamshire, 
 in which he obtained a verdict at York assizes, and 
 thereby established the fact that Brownriggs was within, 
 and formed part of, the manor of Mashamshire, against 
 the pretensions of the then Lord Bruce, who supported 
 the defendant in the action, by claiming it as part of his 
 manor of East Witton. Notwithstanding his being a 
 Roman Catholic, he appears on the 12th September, 
 1608, to have presented as patron to the living of Thorn- 
 ton- Watlass. He died on the 18th July, 1624, intestate, 
 and on the 20th August in the same year, letters of 
 administration to his effects were granted to Michael 
 Higginson, of York, as a creditor of the deceased, showing 
 the still embarrassed state of his affairs. His widow 
 survived him many years, and continued to receive her 
 thirds of the estate till the 12th Charles I., 1636-7, in 
 which year she accepted from her son a settlement of 
 £350 a-year in lieu of her dower. About a year after 
 her husband's death, she consoled herself by taking to 
 herself a second husband (a William Richards, Esq.) 
 with whom she lived a great many years at Farnley, and 
 
270 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ultimately survived him, she having died on the 20th 
 September, 1654. Christopher Danby had by his said 
 wife the following children : 
 
 I. Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., his successor, of whom 
 presently. 
 
 II. Christopher Danby, who was left unprovided for. 
 He resided in London, where he died intestate, on the 
 2nd October, 1634, of "an imposthume and spotted 
 fever," being then about 18 years of age; and on the 
 10th February, 1634, letters of administration to his 
 effects were granted to his mother, in which she is 
 described as the wife of William Richards, Esq., of 
 Farnley. 
 
 III. Katherine Danby, who was also left unprovided 
 for ; her brother, however, after he came of age, volun- 
 tarily gave her £1500 as a fortune. She was baptized 
 at Leeds on the 29th February, 1611, and was after- 
 wards, in 1629, married to Sir Francis Armytage, Bart., 
 of Kirklees, who in the 8th Charles I. held the office of 
 Bow-bearer of the Free Chase of Mashamshire. From 
 this marriage is descended Charles John Henry Mundy, 
 Esq., of Ormsby, in Lincolnshire, the supposed present 
 representative of the family, and of the barony of Scrope 
 of Masham. Lady Katherine Armytage died about the 
 year 1646, having had the following children: 
 
 I. Sir John Armytage, Bart., who was remarkable as 
 being most zealous in putting down the Nonconformists, 
 and most active in suppressing their conventicles. In 
 the year 1669, he was High Sheriff of Yorkshire, and 
 Captain of the Trained Bands; he was also Deputy 
 Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace. He married 
 Margaret, the second daughter of Thomas Thornhill, 
 Esq., of Fixby. In April, 1677, he fell from his horse 
 as he was returning home from a drinking party at Nun- 
 brook, and broke his neck. He was buried at Hartshead 
 Church with a most gorgeous ceremonial, the Eev. Saml. 
 Drake, Vicar of Pontefract, preaching his funeral ser- 
 mon. Oliver Heywood, the Dissenter, who describes 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSH1RE. 271 
 
 the scene of his death, evidently looked upon it as a 
 judgment for Sir John's harshness to the Dissenters. 
 He left eight sons, all of -whom died childless. — See 
 Burke's Extinct Baronetcies. 
 
 II. Francis, who married Mary, daughter of Robert 
 Trapps, Esq., of Nidd-hall, and had an only surviving 
 son, Thomas, who succeeded to the Baronetcy. 
 
 III. William, of Killinghall. 
 
 IV. Catherine, who died unmarried. 
 
 V. Anne, wife of Mr. Smith, of London. 
 
 VI. Prudence, who died unmarried. 
 
 VII. Elizabeth, who died unmarried. 
 
 VIII. Winifred, the wife of Thomas Lacy, Esq. 
 
 Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., above-mentioned, succeeded 
 to the estates, and became Lord of Mashamshire, on the 
 death of his father in 1624. He was born in 1610, and 
 consequently was only 14 years of age when he came to 
 the estates. His estates came into the King's hands, and 
 were accordingly taken possession of by the Court of 
 Wards and Liveries, (which was then in the plenitude of 
 its power,) to be held by it during his minority. Thus 
 the boy's grandmother had the mortification of seeing 
 the estates for a second time in the hands of that most 
 obnoxious and tyrannical court, and she was now too old 
 to take upon herself the wardship of her grandson, and 
 the management of his estates, as she had previously 
 done during the minority of his father. It would seem,, 
 however, that she, through the influence and interest of 
 her nephew, Sir Thomas Went worth (afterwards Earl of 
 Stratford), and other members of her family, soon suc- 
 ceeded in inducing Christopher Wandesford, Esq.,* of 
 
 * He was upon very friendly terms with Thomas Wentworth Earl of 
 Strafford, and when that nobleman was created Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 he accompanied him thither, when he was made Master of the Rolls there, 
 in 1633, and at the same time sworn of the Privy Council. He was one of 
 the Lords Justices in 1636 and 1639, and on the 1st April, 1640, he was 
 appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, and soon afterwards created Baron Mow- 
 bray, and Musters, and Viscount Castlecomer. The melancholy fate of Earl 
 
272 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRS. 
 
 Kirklington (afterwards successively Sir Christopher 
 Wandesford, Knt., Baron Mowbray, Baron Musters, 
 Viscount Castlecomer, Master of the Eolls, and Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland), to become the purchaser from the 
 Crown of the wardship of her grandson. Mr. Wandes- 
 ford accordingly purchased from the Court of Wards and 
 Liveries, for the sum of £800, the right to the custody, 
 wardship, and marriage of the minor, together with an 
 allowance of £20 a-year to be paid out of court, for the 
 maintenance and education of the minor, and also a lease 
 of all the minor's estates (which included other estates 
 besides Mashamshire), for a fine of forty shillings, during 
 the minority, at the annual rent of £150, they being then 
 really worth £3000 a-year according to the value of 
 money at that day. Mr. Wandesford having thus secured 
 to himself the guardianship of the minor upon these very 
 advantageous terms, had him immediately removed to 
 his own house at Kirklington, where he had him brought 
 up and educated in the midst of his own family of 
 children. The allowance of £20 a-year, so liberally 
 allowed by the Court of Wards and Liveries, for the 
 maintenance and education of the minor, was certainly 
 small enough, and would have hardly satisfied the very 
 moderate demands of Mr. and Mrs. Squeers of Do-the- 
 boys Hall, — especially, as the £20 a-year had to include 
 the necessary articles of clothing, besides treacle-and- 
 brimstone, and extras, (that odious word we invariably 
 meet with in our school-bills), and still less, even the 
 
 Strafford had, however, so deep an effect upon him that he died on the 3rd 
 December in the same year. His son and successor, Christopher Wandes- 
 ford, was on the 5th August, 1662, created a Baronet, and his grandson, Sir 
 Christopher Wandesford, Bart., was advanced to the Peerage of Ireland, as 
 Baron Wandesford and Viscount Castlecomer. Sir John Wandesford, fifth 
 Viscount Castlecomer, was in 1758, created Earl Wandesford, but dying in 
 1784, without male issue, all his honours became extinct. His daughter 
 Anne, having married John Butler, afterwards Earl of Ormonde, the "Wan- 
 desford estates came into the Butler family. Sarah, the wife of the Rev. 
 John Prior, the present Rector of Kirklington, is the daughter of the last- 
 mentioned Anne Wandesford, afterwards Countess of Ormonde, 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 273 
 
 moderate desires of "a fine young English gentleman, 
 one of the modern times," in the shape of an allowance 
 from " the Gov'ner," for cigars and pocket-money ; yet 
 such was the liberality of the infamous Court of Wards 
 and Liveries; and both the guardian and ward were 
 (each for their own reasons) perfectly content with it. 
 Young Thomas Danby had not, however, been long at 
 Kirklington before he began to "cast eyes of affection," 
 on his guardian's eldest daughter Catherine, "a very 
 pretty young lady," (as we have already seen, ante p. 
 123.) What sort of eyes the young lady cast back in 
 return may be readily imagined, for "though several 
 other gentlemen of considerable fortune, &c, were 
 suitors," she gave the preference to young Thomas 
 Danby, and they were accordingly joined together in 
 holy wedlock in the year 1630, to the great satisfaction 
 of all parties concerned, the young gentleman having 
 then arrived at the mature age of eighteen, whilst 
 Catherine his wife rejoiced in having seen fifteen sum- 
 mers. Although the happy pair had been considered old 
 enough to marry, they were thought to be too young to 
 commence housekeeping on their own account ; they there- 
 fore continued to reside with the young lady's father 
 and mother, who it is said, "gave entertainment to 
 themselves, servants, and horses, for several years." Mr. 
 Wandesford having in 1633 been appointed Master of 
 the Rolls in Ireland, he some time afterwards removed 
 his wife and family thither, when Mr. Thomas Danby 
 took his wife and children to Farnley, where they com- 
 menced housekeeping on their own account, and " began 
 to live in a most generous manner." He was soon after- 
 wards put upon the Commission of the Peace for the 
 North Riding of Yorkshire; and in 1635, he was ap- 
 pointed by his cousin Lord Wentworth (afterwards 
 created Earl of Strafford) then Lord Lieutenant of the 
 West Riding, and Lord President of the North, one of his 
 Deputy Lieutenants. On the 29th August, 1635, he 
 presented as Patron to the living of Thornton- Watlass. 
 
274 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRB. 
 
 In 1637-8, he served the office of High Sheriff of his 
 native county, and during that year we find him actively 
 engaged in enforcing the payment of the obnoxious 
 impost, ship-money. His father-in-law having been ap- 
 pointed on the 1st April, 1640, to the high office of Lord 
 Deputy of Ireland, and soon afterwards created Baron 
 Mowbray and Musters, and Viscount Castlecomer, he and 
 his wife paid him a visit in Ireland, and during such 
 
 visit had the honour of being- knighted. In the mean- 
 CD o 
 
 time, however, he had been appointed Colonel of a Regi- 
 ment of soldiers, * and we accordingly find his name 
 attached as such to an address which was presented to 
 King Charles I. at York, on the 30th March, 1639, by 
 the Deputy Lieutenants and Colonels of the county. He 
 also represented the Borough of Richmond in Parliament 
 and was member for that borough during the memorable 
 Long Parliament; but was in the year 1642, declared to 
 be incapable of sitting in it on account of his malignancy. 
 Whilst he continued in Parliament, as a staunch Royalist, 
 he zealously supported the Royal cause against the Par- 
 liament, and warmly espoused the cause of his relative 
 and patron the Earl of Strafford, and ventured to come 
 forward and give evidence on his behalf on his trial, and 
 to vote against his conviction. He thus became a marked 
 man, and his name was accordingly publicly posted up 
 in London on the 3rd May, 1641, as u a Straffordian," 
 and as such was thus pointed out so as to excite the fury of 
 the populace against him. He still, however, continued 
 zealously attached to the cause of his royal master, to 
 whom he rendered good service during the Civil Wars. 
 In common with the rest of the Cavaliers, on the failure 
 of their cause, and the consequent supremacy of the 
 Roundheads, he was a great sufferer both in person and 
 estate, and was long detained a prisoner, and obliged to 
 pay a fine of £5600, in order to procure his freedom, 
 
 * Thoresby in his " Ducatus Leodiensis " (Edit. 1715) page 203, says, 
 " When Sir Thomas Danby was Colonel against the Scots, Mr. Gale was 
 Captain." 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 275 
 
 and the restoration of his estates. It is proverbial that 
 misfortunes seldom come alone, and the truth of this 
 proverb was fully exemplified in the life and hard fate 
 of Sir Thomas Dauby. He had the misfortune of wit- 
 nessing the downfall of his cousin and patron, the great 
 Earl of Strafford, and the shedding of his blood upon 
 the scaffold — the death very soon afterwards, from sheer 
 grief, of his father-in-law, who stood towards him in the 
 peculiar position in which he had been placed, more as 
 a parent than otherwise — the disastrous defeat of the 
 Cavaliers at the battle of Naseby, which had not only 
 all but rendered hopeless the cause he had so much at 
 heart, and sealed the fate of his Royal Master, but had 
 placed himself and his fortune at the mercy of the 
 Soundheads — but yet another and a greater misfortune 
 awaited him. On the 26th September, 1645, his wife, 
 in giving birth to her fifteenth child, died in the thirtieth 
 year of her age, and in the very fulness of her woman- 
 hood ; and such appears to have been the nature of her 
 death, that it was deemed necessary to remove her life- 
 less remains, on the*same day on which she died, from 
 Thorp- Perrow to Masham, there to be buried. Now 
 was Sir Thomas's cup of grief full to o'erflowing, bereft 
 as he then was of the wife of his affection — the com- 
 panion of his youth, and lately his only companion and 
 adviser, and sharer of his joys and sorrows. He was left 
 alone to drag out the few remaining years of his life, and 
 to brood over his misfortunes, and to occupy himself in 
 recalling to his memory the scenes of former days. One 
 can hardly conceive circumstances more distressing than 
 these, or more calculated to enlist one's sympathies on 
 behalf of a person so placed, for 
 
 " Still o'er these scenes his mem'ry wakes, 
 And fondly broods with miser care ! 
 Time but th' impression deeper makes, 
 As streams their channels deeper wear." 
 
 In the year 1660 (after the Restoration) King 
 Charles II. invested him with the newly created 
 
276 MASH AM ANT) MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Order of the Royal Oak as a mark of, and a re- 
 ward for, his loyalty. He lived however but a very 
 short time to wear his newly acquired, and dear- 
 bought honour, having died 5th Aug., 1660, in London, 
 and was buried in the North aisle of the Choir of York 
 Minister. By his will, which is dated the 11th Nov- 
 ember, 1659, but which was only proved at York in 
 the year 1673, by Catherine, the wife of Henry Best, of 
 Gray's Inn, Esq, (daughter of the deceased), he describes 
 himself, as " Sir Thomas Danby of Thorpe Perroe, 
 Knight," and thus makes mention of the following per- 
 sons, viz : "to my eldest daughter Catherine Danby, 
 £2000, to my daughter Alice Danby, £1000, to my third 
 son John Danby, £1,000 — to my fourth son Charles 
 Danby, £1000 — my fifth son Francis Danby, £1000 — 
 my second son Christopher Danby and his wife, my plan- 
 tations in Virginia, and £200 to be paid within twelve 
 months after he should return into Virginia to settle and 
 plant there. A very good portrait of Sir Thomas, by 
 J. Carleton (1635) is to be seen at Swinton Park, as also 
 one of his lady. He had by his said wife the following 
 children, viz : — 
 
 I. Thomas Danby, Esq., his successor, therefore of 
 him hereafter. 
 
 II. Christopher Danby, his second son, of whom also 
 hereafter, he having ultimately succeeded to the estates 
 on the death of his nephew Christopher, as hereafter 
 mentioned. 
 
 III. Catherine, the wife of Henry Best, Esq., of Mid- 
 dleton-Quernhow, Yorkshire, a member of Gray's Inn, 
 London. She died in 1688, leaving the following 
 children, viz. : — 
 
 I. Henry Best. 
 
 II. Catherine, the wife of Edward Goddard, of Rich- 
 mond, Yorkshire. 
 
 IV. John Danby (his third son), who married and 
 lived at Middleham. He is mentioned in the will of his 
 father, dated 1650, and of his brother Charles, dated 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE, 277 
 
 1672, as well as in Sir Abstrupus Danby's will, in 1726. 
 He died and was buried at Middleham, in 1696, leaving 
 an only surviving daughter, namely, 
 
 I. Catherine, the wife and afterwards the widow of 
 
 Digby, of Middleham, (who is described in Sir 
 
 Abstrupus Danby's will as his cousin). There is a 
 portrait of her in Swinton Park. She left by her hus- 
 band a son, James Digby, of Middleham, who is also 
 mentioned in the will of Sir Abstrupus Danby, dated 
 in 1726. 
 
 V. Charles Danby (his fourth son), who died without 
 issue in 1672. By his will, dated the 18th April, 1672, 
 and proved at York in the same year, he describes him- 
 self as "Charles Danby, of Gray's Inn, Gentleman," and 
 thus makes mention of his relatives : — " My niece Cathe- 
 rine Best, the daughter of Henry Best, of Gray's Inn, 
 Esq. — My brother John Danby. — My brother Francis 
 Danby. — My sister Katherine Best. — My nephew Henry 
 Best, son of my brother Henry Best. — The children of 
 my brother Christopher Danby." 
 
 VI. Francis Danby (his fifth son), who was baptized 
 at Leeds on the 31st March, 1641, and died unmarried. 
 
 VII. Edward Danby. 
 
 VIII. Alice Danby, who died unmarried in 1670. 
 Seven other children, who all died young and without 
 
 issue. 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq. (above-mentioned), succeeded 
 his father, Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., in his estates 
 at his death in 1660, and thus became Lord of Masham- 
 shire. He was born at the house of Sir Christopher 
 Wandesford, Knt., at Kirklington. He was a Captain in 
 the Boyal Army, and the first Mayor of Leeds.* He 
 married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of William 
 Eure, second son of William, sixth Lord Eure, of Wilton 
 Castle, in Cleveland, who was a Colonel in the Koyal 
 
 * Edward Atkinson, Esq., officiated for him during his mayoralty. 
 
2 78 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 army, and fell at Marston-moor in 1645. She was also 
 co-heiress to her cousin Ralph Lord Eure, and had in 
 her widowhood in 1673, a royal grant to enjoy place and 
 precedence as if her father had survived William Lord 
 Eure, her grandfather. This Thomas Danby is stated 
 in the Danby pedigree to have been slain before Leeds, 
 in 1667, but it is stated in Harl. MS., fo. 35, that he 
 was killed in a tavern in London, in 1667. He died 
 intestate, on the 23rd November, 1667, and letters of 
 administration to his effects were granted to Margaret 
 Danby,* his relict, who survived him till the 23rd June, 
 1688, when shedied. He had by her the following children : 
 
 I. Thomas Danby, Esq., his successor, therefore of 
 him presently. 
 
 II. Christopher Danby, Esq., who succeeded his bro- 
 ther in the estates on his death, and therefore of him 
 also hereafter. 
 
 III. Mary Danby, who was baptized at Leeds on the 
 2nd of May, 1661, and died an infant. 
 
 TV. Charles Danby, who also died an infant. 
 
 Y. Charlotte Danby, who was killed by a fall from 
 her horse in 1688. 
 
 Thomas Danby, Esq. (above-mentioned), succeeded 
 his father in the estates on his death in 1667, and 
 thus became Lord of Mashamshire. He was a minor 
 when he came to the estates ; we accordingly find that 
 on the 14th January, 1669, (he being still a minor) 
 Margaret Danby, his mother, presented for him as patron 
 of the living of Thorn ton- Wat lass. Having died during 
 his minority, and unmarried, in the year 1671, he was 
 succeeded bv his brother, 
 
 * After the death of her husband she offered a considerable sum of money 
 towards the erection of a handsome new Guild-hall at Leeds, to be erected 
 upon pillars and arches, according to the plan of Mr. John Thoresby. Her 
 offer, however, was not accepted, which was afterwards very much regretted, 
 and an ugly structure was built in its stead, which has since had to give way 
 to the elegant Town-hall but recently built there. — See Thoresby's Ducatus 
 Leodiensis, (edit. 171o), p. 15. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 279 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq. (also above-mentioned), who 
 on the death of his brother, succeeded to the estates, and 
 thus became Lord of Mashamshire. He was killed in 
 the year 1683, by a fall from his horse on Watlass-moor, 
 whilst hunting; and thus dying a minor, and without 
 issue, was succeeded by his uncle, 
 
 Christopher Danby, Esq. (also above-mentioned), who 
 was the second son of Sir Thomas Danby, Knt., and was 
 born in November, 1633, at the house of his maternal 
 grandfather, Sir Christopher Wandesford, Knt., in St. 
 Martin' s-lane, London : and, along with his elder brother 
 Thomas, received his education in Dublin, where his 
 maternal grandfather and grandmother were then re- 
 siding. He succeeded-to the estates on the death of his 
 nephew, Christopher Danby, in 1683, and thus became 
 Lord of Mashamshire, but in the same year granted it to 
 his son, Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knt. He married Anne, 
 the daughter of Colonel Edward Colepepper, second 
 brother of John Lord Colepepper, who survived him till 
 the 11th Nov., 1695, when she died and was buried in 
 Trinity Church, Micklegate, York, aged 63. # He died 
 in the year 1689, having had by his wife the following 
 children : — 
 
 I. Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knt., his successor, there- 
 fore of him presently. 
 
 II. Wandesford Danby, Esq., who was born in 1663, 
 and was living in 1700. 
 
 * The following is a copy # of the inscription erected to her memory in the 
 above Church, by her son Sir Abstrupus Danby : — 
 
 " Epitaphium in obitum Annae uxoris Christophebi Danby, armigeri 
 quae sanctissima vita emisit animam beatam, xj die Novembris MDCXCV, 
 anno iEtatis suae 63. 
 Atropos. — Haud valui tamen hanc abscindere vitam 
 Tanta intexta fuit vis pietate sua. 
 Addidit ipse mihi Deus sua stamina vires ; 
 Mortua nunc vivit non moritura Deo. 
 Hoc monumentum exculptum impensis Abstrup. Danby, militis, in piam 
 defunctse suae matris memoriam erect' fuit in hac Bacilica xv die Januarii, 
 
 MDCXCVI." 
 
280 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 III. Francelia Danby, who was born in 1668, and died 
 in 1698. Her portrait is to be seen at Swinton Park. 
 
 TV. Eleanor Danby. 
 
 Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knight (above-mentioned), 
 succeeded to the estates, and became Lord of Masham- 
 shire, by a grant made thereof to him by his father in 
 his lifetime, in the year 1683. He was born on the 27th 
 Dec, 1655, and was knighted at Kensington on the 30th 
 August, 1691. He was a Justice of the. Peace, and 
 Deputy Lieutenant for the North Riding of Yorkshire, 
 and represented the borough of Aldborough, near Bo- 
 roughbridge, in Parliament in the years 1698 and 1699. 
 When he came to the estates he found them very much 
 involved, and his first act was to borrow on mortgage 
 the sum of £20,000, in order to pay off the debts and 
 incumbrances upon them. In order to pay off or reduce 
 this mortgage, he, in the year 1688, sold the estate at 
 Thornton- Watlass and Thorp- Per row to Sir William 
 Blackett, which sale produced £10,300; he also in the 
 same year sold the manor of Scruton to Dr. Gale, then 
 Dean of York, which produced £1040 ; and in the year 
 1697, he sold the manor of Driffield to Mr. Richardson 
 for £2000. In the same year (1688) in which he sold 
 Thorp-Perrow, he purchased from Mr. Norton, for 
 £1160, the remaining one-third of the manor of Swinton, 
 with the mansion-house there, whereupon the family 
 removed their seat or residence from Thorp-Perrow to 
 Swinton. By his judicious management of the estates 
 he acquired to himself the title of the "Restorer of his 
 Family," as will be seen on reference to the monumental 
 inscription to his memory which is now in Masham 
 Church. He married Judith, the daughter of Abraham 
 Moon, a merchant in London, and relict of William 
 Davies, Esq., younger brother to Sir Thomas Davies, 
 Lord Mayor of London. She died on the 22nd January, 
 1712, and was buried at Masham. Sir Abstrupus died 
 at Swinton on the 24th December, 1727, having left a 
 will which is dated 1726, and was proved at York in 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 281 
 
 1729, in which he describes himself as "Sir Abstrupus 
 Danby, Knight, of Mashamshire," and directs his body 
 to be buried in Masham Chnrch, where his wife was 
 buried. In his will he thus makes mention of the fol- 
 lowing persons: — "My brother Mr. Wandesford Danby. 
 - — Mr. James Digby, son of Mrs. Katherine Digby, of 
 Middleham, widow, and grandson of my late uncle Mr. 
 John Danby, of Middleham, deceased. — My cousin the 
 said Katherine Digby, surviving daughter of my late 
 uncle. — Mr. John Green, mine and my dear wife's most 
 hopeful godson. — Abstrupus Danby, Esq., my son and 
 heir." There are several portraits of Sir Abstrupus at 
 Swinton Park. He left by his said wife an only son, 
 
 Abstrupus Danby, Esq., of Swinton, who succeeded 
 his father in the estates at his death, and thus became 
 Lord of Mashamshire. He was born in 1680. In the 
 year following his father's death, viz., 1728, he paid off 
 one half of the remaining £10,000 of the mortgage upon 
 the estate, and the other half in the year 1750. He 
 married first Elizabeth, the daughter of Arthur Ingram, 
 Esq., of Barrowby, (and brother of Henry Lord Irwin), 
 by Jane, daughter of Sir JohnMallory, Knt., of Studley, 
 by whom he had the following children, viz : 
 
 I. William Danby, Esq., his successor, therefore of 
 him presently. 
 
 II. Arthur Danby, who was born in 1713, and died 
 in 1766, unmarried. His portrait is at Swinton Park. 
 
 III. Abstrupus Danby, who was born in 1717, and 
 married Hannah, the daughter of Richard Wolfe, Esq., 
 of Bridlington Quay. She died in 1792. This Abstrupus 
 Danby died at York 17th March, 1792. There is a 
 portrait of him at Swinton Park. He left by his wife 
 an only daughter, viz : 
 
 Elizabeth Danby, who died unmarried in 1768, and 
 whose portrait is at present to be seen at Swinton Park. 
 
 IV. Jane Danby, who was born in 1714, and died in 
 1764, unmarried. 
 
 His first wife having died in April, 1717, and been 
 
282 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 buried at Whitchurch, near Leeds, he married secondly, 
 in the year 1720, Battina, daughter of the Kev. Dr. 
 Euston. She died in 1748, and was buried at Bath He 
 died on the 12th March, 1750. By his will, which is 
 dated a.d. 1743, and proved at York, a.d. 1750, he 
 describes himself as of Swinton, and thus makes mention 
 of the following persons, viz : " My wife Battina — my 
 younger sons Arthur Danby and Abstrupus Danby — 
 my daughter Jane, if she be restored to her right mind ; 
 but in case she shall marry with Charles Robinson, now, 
 or late of Scarborough, Esq., Barrister- at 4a w, then etc., 
 (he cuts her off) — my daughter Judith — my daughter 
 Anne — my eldest son William." There is a portrait of 
 him at Swinton Park. He left by said second wife the 
 following three daughters, viz : 
 
 V. Judith Danby, who died in 1744, without issue. 
 
 VI. Anne Danby, who died at Acomb, near York, on 
 the 17th April, 1759, without issue. She left by her 
 will dated the 23rd June, 1755, to the charity school for 
 the poor children in the town of Masham £200 for the 
 benefit of the said charity school, also to the Foundling 
 and St. Luke's Hospitals, the Society for Propagating 
 the Gospel, the Protestant Schools in Ireland, the charity 
 schools in York, and the poor of Masham, £200 each. 
 
 VII. Battina Danby, who was baptized on the 23rd 
 February, 1728, and died without issue. 
 
 William Danby, Esq., (above mentioned) succeeded 
 his father in the estates at his death in 1750, and thus 
 became Lord of Mashamshire. He was born in 1712, 
 and married Mary, daughter of Gilbert Affleck, Esq., 
 of Dalham-hall, in the county of Suffolk. She was the 
 sixteenth child of her parents. Her brother Edward 
 having entered the Royal Navy in 1781, he commanded 
 the ""Bedford," of 74 guns, and in 1782, was advanced 
 to the rank of Rear Admiral of the blue. He was 
 created a Baronet on the 28th May, 1782, for his 
 gallant conduct as commander of the central division in 
 the memorable naval engagement of the 12th April, 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 283 
 
 1782, between Admiral Rodney and the French Squad- 
 ron under the command of Compte de Grasse. Mr. 
 Danby was an excellent manager of his estates, and not 
 only cleared them of all the remaining incumbrances up- 
 on them, but considerably improved them in value, as 
 we have already seen ante. He also made extensive 
 additions to the estate ; indeed it appears that during his 
 time, and that of his father, and grandfather, purchases 
 were made in order to improve the estate, to the amount 
 of £14,733. He was also a great benefactor to the town 
 and parish of Masham. He died at his house in Bruton 
 Street, London, on the 8th of April, 1781, aged sixty- 
 nine years. There is a good portrait of him at Swinton 
 Park. He left by his wife (who died on the 8th June, 
 1773) the following children, viz: 
 
 I. William Danby, Esq., his successor, therefore of 
 him presently. 
 
 II. Mary Danby, who was born in 1749. She married 
 firstly on the 13th July, 1772, Thomas Lockhart, Esq., 
 (son and heir-apparent of Alexander Lockhart of Craig- 
 house, Esq., one of the Lords of Session in Scotland) 
 who died on the 22nd August, 1775. She married, 
 secondly, in 1780, the Honourable Colonel William Har- 
 court, who on the 20th April, 1809, succeeded on the 
 death of his brother, to the title of Earl Harcourt. He 
 was Master of the Horse to the Queen, Governor of the 
 Military College, Governor of Portsmouth, and a Field- 
 Marshal. She died on the 14th January, 1833, without 
 issue. 
 
 III. Elizabeth Danby, who was born in London, on 
 the 4th September, 1754, and died unmarried in Sep- 
 tember, 1786, at Lyons, where she was buried. 
 
 William Danby, Esq., (above mentioned) succeeded 
 his father in his estates at his death in 1781, and 
 as such became Lord of Mashamshire (being the last of 
 his name and family). He was born on the 28th June, 
 1752. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1784. He 
 married, firstly, on the 16th September, 1775, Caroline 
 
284 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 daughter of Henry Seymour, of Sherbourne, Esq., M.P., 
 for Evesham ; she dying without issue on the 3rd May, 
 1821, at Clifton, near Bristol, he married, secondly, on 
 the 5th January, 1822, Anne Holwell, second daughter 
 of William Gater, Esq., of Exeter. He died on the 4th 
 December, 1833, without issue, leaving his wife him 
 surviving, to whom he left by his will the Lordship of 
 Mashamshire, for her life, with a limited power of ap- 
 pointment in favour of one of the members of the Affleck 
 family. She is now (1863) the wife of Admiral Octavius 
 Henry Cyril Venables Vernon Harcourt,* who, in her 
 right, is the present Lord of Mashamshire. 
 
 Arms, ar., three chevronells brased in the base point 
 of the escutcheon, sa. ; on a chief of the second, three 
 mullets of the first. 
 
 Crest, a crab erect, or. 
 
 * Admiral Harcourt died whilst these pages were going through the 
 press, namely, on Friday, the 14th of August, 1863, aged 69. 
 
LORDS OF MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 285 
 
 
 PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES CONNECTED 
 WITH MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 
 NORTON OF SWINTON. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Richard Norton, Esq.,* of Norton- 
 Conyers, u the Patriarch of the Rebel- 
 lion" of 1569, and for which he was 
 attainted in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
 beth, married Susan, the daughter of 
 Richard Neville, Lord Latimer, and 
 sister of Elizabeth, the wife of Sir 
 Christopher Danby, Knt., mentioned 
 
 in the Danby pedigree, ante. By this marriage he had 
 
 several children, but I confine myself to 
 
 Edmund Norton, of Clowbeck, in the parish of Cleasby, 
 
 in Yorkshire, the third son of the above Richard Norton, 
 
 and who was not concerned in the Rebellion of 1569. 
 
 He married Cecily, (the daughter of Matthew Boynton, f 
 
 * The family of Norton is descended from a branch 
 of the noble house of Conyers, which is one of hoar 
 antiquity and high repute both in Yorkshire and 
 Durham, where they formerly held very extensive 
 possessions ; but all of them are now gone, and ac- 
 cording to Surtees, " not a foot of land is now held 
 by Conyers in either county." Their achievement is. 
 said to have been before the conquest. 
 
 t The family of Boynton was one of great antiquity in Yorkshire, being 
 descended from Sir Ingram de Boynton who lived in the reign of King 
 Henry III. 
 
 Sir Francis Boynton, in his will dated in 1614, mentions "my aunt Cecily 
 Norton — my uncle John Norton the elder — young Tom Norton — my cousin 
 Thomas Norton, Esq., of "VVheldrake — my cousin Norton, my solicitor." 
 
286 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 of Barmestone, Yorkshire), who was a maid of honour to 
 Queen Elizabeth, and died about the year 1602. This 
 Edmund Norton died about 1601, leaving the follow- 
 ing children : 
 
 I. Francis Norton, who died unmarried. 
 
 II. Richard Norton, who died unmarried. 
 
 III. William Norton, of Sawley, near Ripon, who 
 married Margaret, the daughter of William Welbury, of 
 Newton- in-Cleveland. He died in 1644, leaving issue, 
 from whom the Nortons of Sawley, and the Lords of 
 Grantley are descended. 
 
 IV. Robert Norton, of Swinton, near Masham, of whom 
 I now proceed to speak. 
 
 Robert Norton, of Swinton, near Masham, just men- 
 tioned, appears to have resided in the parish of Wath in 
 1593, but to have -afterwards removed to Swinton. He 
 married Catherine, daughter and co-heir of John Staveley, 
 of Swinton, near Masham, Esq., whose family appear to 
 have possessed lands in, and to have resided at, Swinton, 
 during several preceding generations. She died at 
 Swinton, and was buried at Masham, in February, 1641, 
 having survived her husband, who was buried at Masham, 
 on the 6th February, 1638. They were both Roman 
 Catholics, and were accordingly presented in, and pun- 
 ished by, the Ecclesiastical Court at Masham, as being 
 Popish Recusants. They had the following children, 
 viz: 
 
 I. Mauger Norton, who was baptized at Wath, near 
 Ripon, on the 23rd May, 1593. He afterwards took up 
 his residence at St. Nicholas, near Richmond, which 
 Borough he represented in Parliament. He married 
 Anne, daughter of Sir George Wandesford, of Kirklington, 
 Knt., who was the grandfather of Catherine Wandesford, 
 the wife of Sir Thomas Danby, Knt. This Mauger 
 Norton was buried at Richmond, on the 12th December, 
 1673, and his wife (who survived him) was also buried 
 there on the 23rd December, 1683. They had the fol- 
 lowing children, viz : 
 
PEDIGREES CXF FAMILIES. 287 
 
 I. Edmund Norton, who died before 15th January, 
 1657, without issue. 
 
 II. William Norton, a Barrister of Gray's Inn, who 
 was born in 1627, and was living in 1658. 
 
 III. Christopher Norton, who was born in 1651. He 
 sold St. Nicholas, Richmond, in 1685. He had a 
 daughter, 
 
 Anne, who was baptized 24th June, 1673. 
 
 IV. Mary Norton who was baptized 12th July, 1635, 
 at Richmond, and married there 20th August, 1651, to 
 Sir John Yorke, of Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidclerdale, who 
 was M.P. for Richmond in 1661, by whom she had issue, 
 
 I. Thomas Yorke, M.P. for Richmond, who married 
 Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Lister, Esq. 
 
 II. Mary Yorke, who married Sir Edward Blacket, of 
 Newby, near Ripon. 
 
 II. Richard Norton. 
 
 III. William Norton, of Swinton, near Masham, who 
 was baptized 6th March, 1601, at Masham, where he was 
 buried 16th November, 1625. He died unmarried. 
 
 IV. Elizabeth Norton, who was baptized at Masham, 
 20th January, 1599, and was married to Richard Smurth- 
 waite, of Nutwith Cote, near Masham, on the 7th Octo- 
 ber, 1635, at Masham, and was buried there 25th Nov- 
 ember, 1680. They had isssue, viz : 
 
 I. Catherine Smurthwaite, (daughter and co-heiress) 
 who was married at Masham Church on the 11th January, 
 1662, to Simon Bartlett, of Richmond, Yorkshire, after- 
 wards of Masham (1662 — 8), and afterwards of Nutwith 
 Cote. He was buried in Masham Church, 22nd Feb- 
 ruary, 1680. She survived her husband and died, and 
 was buried at Masham, on the 2nd August, 1697, leaving 
 the following children, viz : 
 
 I. Elizabeth Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham, 
 24th November, 1665. She was married at Masham 
 Church on the 29th June, 1684, to William Beckwith, 
 of Lamb-hill, Gent. She had issue an only son who died 
 in his infancy. 
 
288 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 II. Hannah Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham 
 30th August, 1668, and was living in 1684, and un- 
 married. 
 
 III. Catherine Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham, 
 17th November, 1670. 
 
 IV. Margaret Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham, 
 23rd February, 1672, and was married there 2nd July, 
 1696, to Leonard Fothergill, of Swinton, Gent. 
 
 V. John Bartlett, eldest son and successor, therefore 
 of him below. 
 
 VI. Mary Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham 4th 
 February, 1678, and married there on the 30th August, 
 1699, to Mr. Charles Lister, of Ripon.* 
 
 VII. Simon Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham 
 14th June, 1681, and was buried there 24th May, 1684. 
 
 VIII. Richard Bartlett, who is mentioned in the will 
 of his grandfather, Richard Smurthwaite, dated Nov. 17, 
 1676, as then living. 
 
 John Bartlett (above mentioned) was of NutwithCote. 
 He was baptized at Masham 13th June, 1675, and was 
 
 buried there. He married who was buried at 
 
 Masham in August, 1706. He had by his wife the fol- 
 lowing children: — 
 
 I. John Bartlett, of Nutwith Cote, who was baptized 
 at Masham Feb. 10th, 1705-6. He died Dec. 15, and 
 was buried in Masham Church on the 18th December, 
 1769, leaving no issue. 
 
 II. Elizabeth Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham 
 19th March, 1703. 
 
 III. Catherine Bartlett, who was baptized at Masham 
 23rd December, 1704. She married, in 1742, John 
 Ascough, of Nutwith Cote, Gent., (who was the eldest 
 
 * Charles Lister's second daughter, Catherine, married William Beckwith, 
 of Lamb-hill, near Masham, Gent., who died on the 3rd June, 1762, aged 
 sixty-two, and was buried in Masham Church. She died 25th January, 
 1776, aged sixty-nine, and was also buried in Masham Church; they had 
 issue four daughters, viz : — Mary, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Dorothy. — See 
 Inscription on slab in Masham Church. 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 
 
 289 
 
 son and heir-at-law of Thomas Ascough, of Nutwith Cote, 
 who was, in 1730, the heir apparent of Christopher 
 Ascough, of Nutwith Cote). She had by her said hus- 
 band the following children : — 
 
 I. John Ascough, of Nutwith Cote, Gent, (and nephew 
 and heir-at-law of John Bartlett above mentioned, as 
 appears by an inscription on a slab in Masham Church). 
 He was baptized at Masham 19th Dec, 1743; died on 
 the 4th, and was buried in Masham Church on the 6th 
 Feb., 1774, leaving no issue. 
 
 II. Thomas Ascough, of Nutwith Cote, who was born 
 on the 5th, and was baptized at Masham on the 6th Jan., 
 1744-5. In 1772, he married Catherine Fleming. In 
 1775, he was described as "the second and only surviving 
 issue" of the above mentioned Thomas Ascough and 
 Catherine his wife. He died without issue in 1786, or 
 1788, leaving his wife him surviving. 
 
 Arms — Azure, a maunch ermine, over all a bend, 
 gules. 
 
 HUTTON OF CLIFTON-CASTLE 
 ALDBOROUGH-HALL. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 AND 
 
 Matthew Hutton, of Priest-Hut- 
 ton, in the parish of Wart on, Lanca- 
 shire, descended from an ancient 
 family at Hutton Hall, Lancashire. 
 He married and had the following 
 children : — 
 
 I. Edmund Hutton, of the county 
 of Lancaster. 
 
 II. Matthew Hutton, D.D., of whom hereafter. 
 
 III. Robert Hutton, D.D., Prebend of Durham, and 
 Rector of Haughton-le-S kerne. He married Grace, 
 daughter of Leonard Pilkington, D.D., by whom he had 
 
 u 
 
290 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIBE. 
 
 issue. He desires, in 1619, to be buried "in the Quyer 
 at Haughton, neere his wyfe's stalle under the blew stone 
 in the east side of the ehurche." He left by his said 
 wife a daughter Anne, who married John Vaux, of 
 Darlington. 
 
 Matthew Hutton, D.D., above-mentioned, was born at 
 Warton, in the year 1529. He took holy orders, and 
 was made Dean of York in 1567 : he was elected Bishop 
 of Durham 9th June, and consecrated 27th July, 1589. 
 He was translated to the Archiepiscopal See of York on 
 the 24th March, 1594. He married thrice, viz: 
 Firstly, Catherine Fulmesby, niece to Thomas Godrick, 
 Bishop of Ely, in 1564; but she dying soon after, with- 
 out issue, he married, secondly, in 1567, Beatrice, the 
 daughter of Sir Thomas Fincham, of Finshaw, Knt. She 
 having died on the 5th May, 1582, he married, thirdly, 
 on the 20th November, 1583, Frances, widow of Martin, 
 the son of Martin Bowes, Knt., Alderman of London, 
 who survived him. In the year 1598, he purchased the 
 Marske Estate, which still remains in the family, being 
 now the property of Timothy Hutton, Esq., of Clifton 
 Castle. He died on the 16th January, 1605, and was 
 buried in York Minster, where a monument is erected 
 to his memory. The learned author of the Eboracum 
 says of him, u This prelate was a man of great learning* 
 and accounted the most able preacher of the age he lived 
 in." He had by his second wife the following children: 
 
 I. Mark Hutton, ^ 
 
 II. Stephen Hutton, >all died infants. 
 
 III. Ralph Hutton, j 
 
 TV. Sir Timothy Hutton, his successor, of whom 
 hereafter. 
 
 Y. Sir Thomas Hutton, of Popleton, who married 
 Ann, the daughter of Sir John Bennet, of Dawley, near 
 Uxbridge, by whom he had issue. He died on the 23rd 
 January, 1620. 
 
 YI. Thomasine Hutton, who was baptized 17th April, 
 1572. She married Sir William Gee, Knt., of Bishop's 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 291 
 
 Burton, Secretary to, and one of the Council of the North, 
 who died in 1611, and is buried in York Minster. She 
 had a daughter Jane, wife of Koger Gregory. 
 
 VII. Elizabeth Hutton, who was baptized the 20th of 
 March, 1568. She married Richard Remington, D.D., 
 Prebendary of North Newbold, in the Church of York, 
 and Archdeacon of Cleveland. 
 
 VIII. Anne Hutton, who was baptized 25th Dec, 
 1575. She married Sir John Calverley, Knt., of Little- 
 burne, in the county of Durham. 
 
 Sir Timothy Hutton, his successor, above mentioned, 
 was a Justice of the Peace in 1598 ; was High Sheriff of 
 Yorkshire in 1605, and then received the honour of knight- 
 hood. In March, 1592, he married Elizabeth, the third 
 daughter of Sir George Bowes, ofStreatlam. He died on 
 the 6th April, 1629, having charged his son always to keep 
 a Levite* in his house. He left the following children : 
 
 I. Matthew Hutton, who died young. 
 
 II. Matthew Hutton, his father's successor, of whom 
 hereafter. 
 
 * A clergyman, or chaplain — according to Lord Macaulay, at this period 
 ■ — " A young Levite — such was the phrase then in use — might be had for his 
 hoard, a small garret, and ten pounds a year, and might not only perform his 
 own professional functions, might not only be the most patient of butts and 
 of listeners, might not only be always ready in fine weather for bowls, and 
 in rainy weather for shovel-board, but might also save the expense of a 
 gardener, or of a groom. Sometimes the reverend man nailed up the apri- 
 cots ; and sometimes he curried the coach-horses. He cast up the farrier's 
 bills — he walked ten miles with a message or a parcel — he was permitted to 
 dine with the family ; but he was expected to content himself with the 
 plainest fare. He might fill himself with the corned beef and carrots ; but, 
 as soon as the tarts and cheese-cakes made their appearance, he quitted his 
 seat, and stood aloof till he was summoned to return thanks for the repast, 
 from a great part of which he had been excluded. Perhaps, after some years 
 of service, he was presented to a living sufficient to support him. * * Witk 
 his cure he was expected to take a wife. The wife had ordinarily been in the 
 patron's service ; and it was well if she was not suspected of standing too 
 high in the patron's favour. * * * A waiting woman was generally 
 considered as the most suitable helpmate for a parson." — Queen Elizabeth, 
 however, in her Injunctions of 1559, enjoined that no clergyman should 
 espouse a servant girl, without the consent of the master and mistress. 
 
292 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 III. Timothy Hutton, who was baptized 22nd Sept., 
 1601, and was a merchant at Leeds. He married Mar- 
 garet, daughter of Sir John Bennet, Knt., and died 
 without issue. 
 
 IV. Philip Hutton (a scholar). He was lieutenant 
 in Sir Charles Vavasour's Regiment for the Scottish 
 expedition : he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas 
 Bowes, eighth son of Sir George Bowes, Knt., of Streat- 
 lam, by whom he left issue. 
 
 V. Beatrice Hutton, who was married at Richmond, 
 the 27th November, 1613, to James Mauleverer, Esq., 
 of Arnecliffe. She left no issue. 
 
 VI. Frances Hutton, who was married at Richmond, 
 26th December, 1615, to John Dodsworth, Esq., of 
 Thornton- Watlass . 
 
 VII. John Hutton (a scholar) : he married a daugh- 
 ter of — More (a Yorkshire family) and was buried 7th 
 August, 1638. 
 
 VIII. Elizabeth Hutton, who married Edward Cli- 
 burne, Esq., of Cliburne, in Westmoreland. 
 
 IX. Thomas Hutton, of the Six Clerks' Office: he 
 was buried at Marske, 7th May, 1653. 
 
 X. Anne Hutton, who died when an infant. 
 Matthew Hutton, last above mentioned, was born 22nd 
 
 October, 1597, and was married at Hornby Castle, in 
 Yorkshire (the seat of the lady's father), on the 22nd 
 April, 1617, to Barbara, eldest daughter of Sir Conyers 
 D'Arcy, afterwards Lord D'Arcy, and sister of Conyers, 
 first Earl of Holderness, by whom he had the following 
 children : 
 
 I. John Hutton, his successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Timothy Hutton, John Hutton's twin brother, 
 who died 28th June, 1628. 
 
 III. Matthew Hutton, who was born at Richmond, 
 30th December, 1621. 
 
 IV. Dorothy Hutton, who was born at Marske, 22nd 
 July, 1620, and married to Sir Philip Warwick, Knt. 
 She died at Marske, 6th August, 1644. 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 293 
 
 V. Barbara Hutton, born at Richmond, 30th Dec, 
 1630, and was married at Marske, 16th April, 1655, to 
 Thomas Lister, Esq., of Bawtry. 
 
 VI. Mary Hutton, who was born at Marske, 4th Feb., 
 1637, and married to Eichard Peirse, Esq., of Hutton 
 Bonville, by whom she left issue, 
 
 I. John Peirse. 
 
 II. Henry Peirse. 
 
 VII. Elizabeth Hutton, who was born at Richmond, 
 8th March, 1628-9. 
 
 VIII. Othy Hutton, who was baptized 8th Nov., 1642. 
 John Hutton, Esq., above mentioned, was born at 
 
 Marske, 6th October, 1625, and succeeded to the Marske 
 estate. He married Frances, second daughter of Bryan 
 Stapylton, Esq., of My ton, and had issue, 
 
 I. John Hutton, his successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Matthew Hutton, who was born 28th Feb., 1652, 
 and died in 1653. 
 
 III. Frances Hutton, who was baptized 7th March, 
 1653, and married to Andrew Wanley, Esq., of Ilford, 
 Gloucestershire. 
 
 IV. Barbara Hutton, who was born 12th Oct., 1655, 
 and buried 19th Feb., 1694. 
 
 V. Olyfe Hutton, who was born 30th Nov., 1656, and 
 married to Thomas Alcock, Esq., of Chatham. 
 
 VI. Elizabeth Hutton, who was born in 1656, and 
 died 13th August, 1718. 
 
 VII. Henrietta Hutton, who was born Nov., 16G0, 
 and buried at Marske, 17th May, 1728. 
 
 John Hutton, Esq., above mentioned, who was born at 
 Marske, 14th July, 1659 : he married Dorothy, daugh- 
 ter of William Dyke, Esq., of Trant, in Sussex: he was 
 buried on the 2nd March, 1730-1 : he had the following 
 children : 
 
 I. John Hutton, his successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Matthew Hutton, D.D., who was born at Marske, 
 the 5th January, 1692-3. In 1702, he went to school 
 
294 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 at Kirkby-hill near Richmond, and in 1704, he removed 
 with his master, the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, to Ripon, under 
 whose tuition he remained six years. He was admitted 
 in Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1710, in which college 
 he took his degree of B.A. in 1713, being in the same 
 year appointed Chaplain to the Duke of Somerset. In 
 1717 he was elected a Fellow of Christ's College, and in 
 the same year graduated M.A. In 1726 he was Rector 
 of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire. In 1729 he became Rector 
 of Spofforth. He was made a Prebendary of York by 
 Archbishop Blackburn, who was appointed one of the 
 Chaplains to King George II., and went with his Majesty 
 to Hanover in 1736. In 1737 he obtained a Canonry of 
 Windsor, which, on the 18th of May, 1739, he exchanged 
 for a Prebend of Westminster, which he resigned in 
 1745, when he became Bishop of Bangor. On the 29th 
 December, 1747, he was translated to the Archbishopric 
 of York, and in April, 1757, to that of Canterbury. In 
 March, 1731, he married Mary, daughter of John Lut- 
 man, of Petworth, Sussex, who died in May, 1779. He 
 died on the 19th March, 1758, at Duke-street, West- 
 minster, and was buried at Lambeth, near the Commu- 
 nion Table.* He left issue by his said wife. 
 
 III. Elizabeth Hutton, who was born 30th November, 
 1683, and died 23rd May, 1759. 
 
 IV. Frances Hutton, who was born 22nd September, 
 1686, and buried at Thornton- Watlass 4th Oct., 1722. 
 
 Y. Dorothy Hutton, who was baptized 8th August, 
 1694, and buried 6th May, 1696. 
 
 YI. Barbara Hutton, who was baptized 9th July, 
 
 1697, and buried 8th December, 1720. 
 
 VII. Timothy Hutton, who was baptized 31st March, 
 1696. 
 
 VIII. Thomas Hutton, who was baptized January, 
 
 1698, and buried 16th December, 1702. 
 
 * " The Family of Hutton, of Marske, is the only one in the kingdom 
 who can be said to have yielded to the Church two English Archbishops, 
 who both appear to have been great and good prelates." — Nichols. 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 295 
 
 IX. Henrietta Hutton, who was baptized 23rd Oct., 
 1701, and married 18th February, 1718, to John Dods- 
 worth, Esq., of Thornton- Watlass. She died in May, 
 1797, and left issue — 
 
 Elizabeth Dodsworth, who married the Rev. James 
 Tunstall, by whom she had a daughter, Henrietta Maria 
 Tunstall, who married John Croft, Esq., by whom she 
 had a son, Sir John Croft, t>art., and Baron da Serra da 
 Estrella, and K.T.S., who was born in 1778. 
 
 John Hutton, Esq., above mentioned, was bap- 
 tized on the 18th November, 1691. He married first, 
 Barbara Barker, of Chapel Town, near Leeds. She 
 dying without issue, he, on the 5th March, 1726, married 
 secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of James Lord D'Arcy, of 
 Navan, in the kingdom of Ireland. In the year 1735 
 he bought Clifton Castle from one of the Prestons. By 
 his second marriage he had the following issue : 
 
 I. John Hutton, his successor, of whom hereafter. 
 
 II. Anne Hutton, who was baptized 8th January, 
 1731, and married to George Wanley Bowes, Esq., of 
 Thornton, by whom she had three daughters, their 
 father's co-heirs, namely: 
 
 I. Margaret Wanley Bowes. 
 
 II. Anne Bowes, married to Thomas Thornton, Esq., 
 late Lieutenant-Colonel of the Coldstream Guards. 
 
 III. Elizabeth Bowes, married to Kev. Robert Croft. 
 III. Matthew Hutton, who was baptized 13th October, 
 
 1733; died 31st December, 1782, and buried at Ripon. 
 
 IY. Elizabeth Hutton, was baptized 24th February, 
 1734, and married Henry Pulleine, Esq., of Carleton 
 Hall, Yorkshire, on the 11th September, 1764. She 
 had (among other issue), 
 
 Henry Percy Pulleine, Esq., who was born in 1770: 
 he purchased Crakehall in 1814: he married, in 1796, 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Anthony Askew, Esq., M.D., of 
 London, and niece of Henry Askew, Esq., of Redheugh, 
 and had amongst other issue, 
 
296 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 I. James Pulleine, Esq., now of Crakehall, Justice of 
 the Peace, &c. 
 
 II. The Eev. Eobert Pulleine, now the Eector of 
 Newby Wiske. 
 
 V. James Hutton, Esq., of Aldborough Hall, near Mas- 
 ham: he was baptized 11th June, 1739, and married in 
 July, 1793, Mary the daughter of John Hoyle, of Mid- 
 dleham: he died 2nd March, 1798, leaving by his said 
 wife (who survived him till March, 1803) an only child, 
 namely, 
 
 James Henry D'Arcy Hutton, Esq., of Aldborough 
 Hall, who was born on the 24th March, 1796: he was 
 married in London, on the 9th June, 1821, to Harriet, 
 daughter of Eobert Aggas, Esq., of Earsham, Norfolk, 
 and died Dec. 31st, 1844, leaving issue, 
 
 I. John Timothy D'Arcy Hutton, Esq., his successor, 
 who was born in 1822, and is a Justice of the Peace for 
 
 the North Riding of Yorkshire. He married 
 
 daughter of Thomas March Lamb, Esq., of Middleham. 
 
 II. James D'Arcy Hutton, Esq. 
 
 III. Harriet Emma Hutton, who was born on the 
 30th May, 1826, and married the Eev. Eichard Cattley, 
 now a minor canon in Worcester Cathedral. She died 
 on the 1st December, 1854, leaving an only son. 
 
 John Hutton, Esq., above mentioned, was born 
 on the 30th September, 1730, and died at Marske in 
 September, 1782. He married Anne, daughter of Eich- 
 ard Ling, of Appleby, and by her had four sons : — 
 
 I. John Hutton, Esq., late of Marske, who was born 
 24th September, 1774, and died 14th August, 1841, 
 unmarried. He was His;h Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1825. 
 According to the inscription on a monument in the church 
 at Marske, he was a "generous patron of Societies for 
 Agriculture, Literature, and Science ; a liberal landlord, 
 and kind encourager of all practical improvements ; a 
 steady supporter on every occasion of political reform, 
 
CLIFTON CASTLE. 
 
 P. 297. 
 
PEDIGEEES OF FAMILIES. 
 
 297 
 
 and a hospitable gentleman in the hall of his ancestors ; 
 honoured and beloved by all who entered it as guests 
 and as friends." 
 
 II. James Hutton, Esq., a captain in the army, who 
 was born 11th January, 1776, and died at Marske, 24th 
 January, 1803. 
 
 III. Matthew Hutton, Esq., a captain in the army. 
 He died at Macclesfield, in Cheshire, on the 12th De- 
 cember, 1813, aged thirty-five, and was buried at his 
 own request under the obelisk, at Marske, where he had 
 often as a boy sat, enchanted with the beauties of the 
 mountain scenery. 
 
 IV. Timothy Hutton, Esq., of Clifton Castle, and 
 Marske, was born at Marske, on the 16th October, 
 1779, and on the 12th December, 1804, married Eliza- 
 beth, youngest daughter of William Chaytor, Esq., of 
 Spennithorne. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 
 the year 1844. 
 
 Arms — Gu., on a fess between three cushions, arg., 
 fringed and tasselled, or, as many fleurs-de-lis of the 
 field. 
 
 Crest — On a cushion gu., placed lozenge-wise, an open 
 book, the edges gilt, with the words Odor Vitce inscribed. 
 
 Motto — Spiritus gladius. 
 
 ASCOUGH. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Richard Ascoughe, who was possessed 
 of the manor of Dalbourne-Norris, New- 
 sam, Burstall, Thornton, Waroft, Wor- 
 laby, Newby, and other lands, to him 
 and his heirs for ever, married the 
 daughter of Thomas Broughe, of 
 Hackford, and by her had issue, 
 Eichard Ascoughe, Esquire, of Pot Grange, near Mas- 
 
298 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ham, who married the daughter of Lord Fitzhugh, and 
 by her had issue : 
 
 I. William Ascoughe,* who was educated for the 
 church, and would appear from his rapid advancement 
 in the church to have been a person of great learning. 
 He was entered at the University of Cambridge where 
 he took his LL.D. degree. He was made archdeacon 
 of Dorset; afterwards in the year 1433, was made master 
 of Michael House College (which is now incorporated 
 with Trinity College), Cambridge, and Secretary to 
 Henry VI. On the 10th November, 1436, he was in- 
 stalled in the prebend of Sutton-cum-Buckingham, alias 
 Bucks, in Lincoln Cathedral. He was raised to the see 
 of Salisbury by a Papal Bull, dated 11th February, 
 1437. He received the temporalities of his Bishopric on 
 the 13th July, in the year 1438, and was consecrated on 
 the 20th July, 1438, in the King's chapel at Windsor, of 
 which chapel he was canon. He was the first Bishop 
 who held the office of Confessor to the King. ' After he 
 had filled the see twelve years, viz., in the year 1450, 
 the memorable rebellion under Jack Cade broke out, 
 when the commotion rapidly spread to every part of the 
 kingdom. His tenants being inflamed by the spirit of 
 the insurection, flocked to his residence at Eddington, 
 on the 29th June, 1450, at the time he was celebrating 
 mass. Regardless alike of the sanctity of the place, and 
 of his character, they dragged him from the altar to a 
 neighbouring hill. Whilst he was on his knees engaged 
 in prayer, they dashed out his brains, and stripped him 
 to his very shirt, and did not even spare him that, but 
 took it and tore it into rags, every one of them taking to 
 
 * Dodsworth in his " Account of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury," 
 p. 49, says that Bishop Ascough was the son of " Robert Ascough, of Pot 
 Grange, in Yorkshire." Bishop Godwin, however, says that William 
 Ascough, bishop of Salisbury, was second son of Richard Ascough, and 
 brother of Richard Ascough, of Pot Grange, near Masham. The bishop is 
 also stated to be the son of Richard, in Harl. MSS., No. 2118, fo. 4, (British 
 Museum). See also " Whitaker's History of Richmondshire," vol. ii., p. 5, 
 citing Hopkinson's MSS. 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 299 
 
 himself a piece to keep as a monument of their worthy- 
 exploit. The insurgents concluded this tragedy by 
 plundering his mansion, and carrying away with them 
 10,000 marks in money. The pretext assigned for this 
 outrage was his employment at court, and consequent 
 absence from his diocese ; in all probability it was but a 
 pretext and nothing more. His mutilated remains were 
 interred in the neighbouring house of Bon-hommes. It 
 appears by a Kegister which was kept by him that the 
 doctrines of Wickliff had continued to spread, not only 
 among the laity, but even among the clergy. 
 
 II. Richard Ascoughe, of whom presently. 
 
 III. Peter Ascough (a priest). 
 
 Richard Ascough, Esq. (above named) succeeded 
 his father. He married a daughter of Sir John Basern, 
 or Bassingburne, of Horton, Knight. He died and was 
 buried at Bedale. He left two sons : — 
 
 I. Robert Ascoughe, his successor, of whom presently. 
 
 II. John Ascoughe, Esq., of Cowling, near Bedale. 
 He was the founder of another branch of the family whose 
 pedigree will be found below. He died the 3rd Hen. VI., 
 viz., 8th January, 1425.* 
 
 Robert Ascough, Esq. (above named) succeeded his 
 father, and was described as of Pot Grange. He married 
 and had a son and successor, 
 
 Richard Ascough, of Pot- Grange, who married Mary, 
 
 * PEDIGREE OF THE AYSCOTJGHS OF COWLING NEAR BEDALE. ' 
 
 John Ayscough, Esq., described as of Cowling, in the parish of Bedale- 
 cum-Ayscough, in the County of York, in the 9 Rich. II., 1385, and men- 
 tioned in the forgoing Pedigree, married a daughter of Sir John Arncliffe, 
 Knt. He died Jan. 8th, 3 Henry VI., 1425, and left a son and successor, 
 
 Sir William Ayscough, Knt., one of the Judges of the Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas. He married Elizabeth, daughter and one of the heiresses 
 of John Calthorp, Esq. He died in 1456, and was buried at Bedale. He 
 left two sons, viz. : 
 
 I. John Ascough, from whom Sir Edward Ayscough, Knt., of South 
 Kelsey in Lincolnshire, is descended ; and 
 
 II. William Ascough, who is also described as of Cowling. He married 
 one of the daughters and co-heiresses of a younger son of Fulthorpe, 
 
300 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the daughter of Thomas Lascelles, Esq. of Brockenbrough, 
 by whom he had three sons : — 
 
 I. Kobert Ascough, his successor (of whom hereafter). 
 
 II. Thomas Ascough. 
 
 III. John Ascough. 
 
 Kobert Ascough (last above named) succeeded his 
 father. He married Isabella, the daughter of Thomas 
 Strangwayes, Esq., by whom he had an only son, who 
 was his successor, viz : 
 
 William Ascough, Esq., who is described as of Pot 
 Grange. He married and had the following children, 
 
 I. Ealfe Ascough, his successor, of whom presently. 
 
 II. Guy Ascough. 
 
 III. John Ascough. 
 
 IV. Henry Ascough, who founded the family of 
 Askwith, of Newstead.* 
 
 of Fulthorpe, in the County of Durham, and of Hipswell in Yorkshire. 
 He died about 35 Henry VIII., 1544, and left a son and successor, viz : 
 
 George Ayscough, of Cowling, who married Alice, sister to Sir Chris- 
 topher Wray, of Glentworthe in Lincolnshire, Chief Justice of the Court 
 of King's Bench, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He died about 1556, 
 and left a son and successor, viz. : 
 
 Christopher Ayscough, of Richmond, who married, and from whom the 
 Ayscoughs of Skewsby, in Yorkshire, are descended. 
 
 * PEDIGREE OF THE ASKWITHS OF NEWSTEAD. 
 
 Henry Askwith married Cicely, daughter of William Conyers, of Marske, 
 by Catherine the daughter of Sir William Mauleverer, of Arnecliffe, Knt. 
 His will is dated 22nd Nov., 1561, and proved at Richmond on the 9th June, 
 1562. He left by his said wife the following issue, viz : 
 
 I. Christopher Ascough, of Newstead, who married Jane, daughter of 
 Richard Pavor, of Brome, near Spofford. He took part in the putting down 
 of the Rebellion of 1569, but died during its continuance. He left by his 
 wife the following issue, viz : 
 
 I. Richard Askwith, of Borrowby (1584), who married Agnes, daughter of 
 James Westrope, of Cornburgh, by whom he had a son Richard. 
 
 II. Thomas Askwith. 
 
 III. Henry Askwith, who married a daughter of Francis Bainbrigg. 
 
 IV. Cicely, who married Francis Bainbrigg. 
 
 V. Christian, who married Ralph Atkinson. 
 
 II. Simon Ascough, who married a daughter of — Burgh, and relict of 
 Mr. Beverley. 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 301 
 
 V. Thomas Ascough. 
 
 VI. Miles Ascough. 
 
 VII. Lawrence Ascough. 
 
 VIII. Jane, the wife of Steele. 
 
 IX. Elizabeth, the wife of Walker. 
 
 Ealph Ascough, Esq. (above-named) succeeded his 
 father, and is described as of Pot Grange. He married 
 — the daughter of — Thackwreye, of Sykesworth, in 
 Yorkshire, by whom he had the following children : 
 
 I. John Ascough (his successor) of whom presently. 
 
 II. Thomas Ascough. 
 
 John Ascough (above named) succeeded his father. 
 
 He married Alice the daughter of Cooper, by whom 
 
 he had the following children : 
 
 I. Kobert Ayscough (his successor) and of whom 
 presently. 
 
 II. Thomas Ayscough, draper, York, of whom Torr 
 in his " Antiquities of the City of York," says he " was 
 one of the Sheriffs of the city [1592 — 3]. He was born 
 at Pott Grange, died the 29th of August, 1609, of the 
 age of 71 years, and lies buried in the church of All 
 Saints, North- street." He married twice. His first wife 
 was Ursula, daughter of Robert Sandwich, of York, 
 brewer, by whom he had the following children : 
 
 I. Thomas, who died in his father's life time. 
 
 II. Christopher, who was baptized at St. Crux Church, 
 York, in 1577, and married Julian Briggs, of York, who 
 survived him, and afterwards married Philip Ayscough, 
 of York, as mentioned below. 
 
 III. Alice, who was living unmarried in 1609. 
 
 His second wife was Anne the daughter of Robert 
 Ellerker, of Thoulthorpe, gentleman. She was buried 
 the 22nd February, 1607 — -8. He had by her a son, 
 
 Thomas, who was living in 1609, at the time of his 
 
 III. George Askwith, who was Curate at Hunton, and died in 1575. 
 
 IV. Adam Askwith, who died in 1594. 
 
 V. Barbara, who married Robert Conyers, of Coatham, by whem he had 
 a daughter, Ann Conyers. 
 
302 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 father's death, by his will dated the 22nd August, 
 1609, and proved 6th September, 1609, directed his 
 body to be buried in the church of All Saints, North- 
 street^ York, "in the side quire there, so neare unto my 
 last wife as convenientlie may be," and he bequeathed to 
 his daughter Alice Askwith " half a dozen silver spoones 
 of th' older sorte with madeshead on them." He also 
 mentions his sons Christopher and Thomas, his daughter 
 Alice Askwith, and Julian, wife of his son Christopher 
 Askwith, also his nephew Kobert Askwith, alderman.* 
 
 III. Christopher Ayscough, citizen of London, who 
 was living in 1596, and had issue. 
 
 IV. Margaret, the wife of William Barton, of York, 
 who was married in 1572 in St. Crux Church, York. 
 
 V . Maudelin, the wife of John Ascough, of Kilburne, 
 afterwards of Thomas Browne, and afterwards of Per- 
 cival Metcalfe, whose wife she was in 1596. 
 
 Robert Ayscough, above-named, succeeded his father. 
 He was a draper in York. Torr in his " Antiquities of 
 the city of York," says of him that he was " Alderman 
 and twice Lord Mayor of this city. He was born at Pot 
 Grange, died 18th August, 1597 : he lies buried in Crux 
 Church under a 'blew' marble in the chancel. He gave 
 at his death, to the City, 201b. "f He appears to have 
 
 * The following is a copy of a monumental inscription in the choir of 
 the church of All Saints, North-street, York, as taken from the small edition 
 of "Drake's Eboracum," (Edit. 1788). 
 
 " Here lieth the bodies of Thomas Askwith and Anne, his wife, late of 
 this city of York, and sometime one of the Sheriffs of the same city. Which 
 Thomas was born at Pot Grange, who in the seventy-first year of his age, 
 and the 29th of August, 1609, departed this life, leaving behind him two 
 sons and one daughter, viz : Christopher and Alice, whom he had by Ursula 
 Sandwich, daughter to Robert Sandwich, of this city, brewer, and Thomas, 
 whom he had by the same Anne, and daughter to Robert Ellerker, of 
 Thoulthorpe, gent, being in their time, for good hospitality and other laud- 
 able parts, a credit and ornament to this city." His second wife was buried 
 in the same church on the 22nd February, 1607 — 8. 
 
 t Thomas Gent, in his " History of York," in speaking of this person, 
 says : — " The above Lord Mayor was buried in Crux church, and had this in- 
 scription over him, * Here lieth the body of Robert Askwith, late alderman, 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 
 
 303 
 
 been City Sheriff in 1572-3; to have been elected Al- 
 derman of the City on the 3rd of April, 1577, vice 
 Gregory Peacock resigned ; and to have been Lord 
 Mayor of York in the years 1580 and 1593: and also 
 represented the City of York in Parliament from the 
 year 1588 to 1592. He married at the church of Saint 
 Dennis in York, on the 10th August, 1561, Elizabeth* 
 
 PORTRAIT OF ALDERMAN ROBERT ASCOUGH, OF YORK. 
 
 and twice Lord Mayor of this city, born at Pot Grainge, who the LXXVTI 
 year of his age, and on the XVIII day of August, 1597, departed this life, 
 leaving behind him four sons and two daughters, viz : Robert, Elizabeth, 
 Katherine, Thomas, George, and Philip, being in his time for good hos- 
 pitality and other laudable parts, a credit and ornament to this city.' " 
 
 In his will, which is dated 14th February, 29th Eliz., he mentions the 
 Lady Elizabeth, his wife, his sisters Dyneley, of Swillington, Magdalen, 
 wife of Percival Metcalfe, and Catherine Barton, his brothers Christopher 
 and Thomas ; his sons Robert, Thomas, George, and Philip Askwith ; his 
 daughters, Katherine, wife of Robert Myers, and Elizabeth, wife of Richard 
 Hodgson, and his daughter-in-law, Mary Askwith, wife of his son, Robert 
 Askwith. His will was proved on the 23rd August, 1597. 
 
 * Lady Elizabeth Askwith, widow, late wife of Robert Askwith of York, 
 
304 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Cartmele, of 
 York, by whom he had the following children : 
 
 I. Robert Ayscough, his successor (of whom here- 
 after). 
 
 II. Thomas Ayscough, who was baptized at Crux 
 Church, York, in 1572, and died without issue. 
 
 III. George Ascough (of whom hereafter, he having 
 succeeded his eldest brother). 
 
 IY. Philip Ayscough, of York, Gentleman, who was 
 baptized at Crux Church, York, in 1578, and married 
 Julian Ascough above-named, formerly Briggs. 
 
 Y. Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Hodgson, of Cherry 
 
 Alderman, deceased, by her will dated 27th August, 6 James I., 1608, di- 
 rected her body to be buried in St. Crux's church, " on the south side within 
 the Chan cell there, eyther in the place wherein my said husband was buried 
 or as neere adjoyninge thereto as possible may be It'm, I give & be- 
 queath unto my sonne Robert Askwith, Alderman, on' basen & eure of sil- 
 ver p'cell guilt, two high olde fashioned saltes of silver, w'th a cover double 
 guilte, two great high boules double gilte w'ch I bought of Mr. John Wad- 
 desworth, one white shell or nutte barred and sette in silver double gilte, 
 one dozen of Apostle spoones & one bowle of silver double gilte, plain, like 
 
 the fashion of a callice To my dau. -in-law the Lady Mary Askwith, 
 
 wife of my said son Robert A., one piece of plate of silver called a Nutte, 
 w'th a cover double gilte, wrought w'th silver under the shell and aboute 
 the foote, & one sugar boxe of silver w'th a spoone of silver thereto belong- 
 inge, one table clothe, one dozen of napkins, & one to well, all of damaske 
 worke w'ch I bought of Mr. Christofer Brooke, & one drinkinge napkin of 
 damaske, one diaper table cloth fower yardes longe, seaven diaper table nap- 
 kins of damaske, one fyne paire of lynnen sheetes, one fore kertle of wrought 
 velvette w'ch I bought last, & a branched damaske petticote, my great gilley 
 potte, a laddie that doth belong to yt, one drippinge pan, & two hambrough 
 pottes, a cheine of golde, & ye purse wherein the same is." The will then 
 goes on to give legacies to her daughter Elizabeth, wife of Richard Hodg- 
 son, Esq., of Cherry Burton. To her sons Thomas, George, and Philip 
 Askwith, and to Sarah Askwith wife of the said George, and thus proceeds, 
 " It'm, I give unto Robert Myers, Alderma', and now Lord Maior of the 
 Cittie of Yorke, who married Katherine my late daughter, two spurre Ry- 
 alls of golde and a ringe of golde w'th a stone in yt, called an ametist, en- 
 amilled w'th blacke." She also left legacies to Thomas and Elizabeth Myers 
 children of the said Katherine and Robert Myers, and appointed her son 
 Robert Askwith, executor of her will, who proved the same at York on the 
 22nd of October, 1608. 
 
 
PEDIGREES OF FAMILIES. 303 
 
 Burton, Yorkshire, Gentleman, by whom she had issue. 
 
 VI. Catherine, the wife of Robert Mears, or Myers, of 
 York. She was baptized at Crux Church, York, in 
 1570 ; was married there in 1589, and was living in 
 1597. 
 
 Sir Robert Ayscough, above-named, was baptized at 
 St. Crux Church, York, 28th December, 1567, and 
 succeeded his father. He was also a draper in York — 
 was Sheriff of the City of York in 1599-1600, elected 
 alderman 22nd April, 1602, and was twice Lord Mayor 
 of York, namely, in the years 1606, and 1617, in which 
 latter year it is stated in Mcholls' Progress of James L, 
 vol. iii., that "On the 11th April, 1617, the King entered 
 the city of York. On the 13th, being Sunday, he went 
 to the Cathedral, when the Archbishop preached. After 
 sermon ended, he touched about seventy persons for the 
 king's evil. This day he dined with the Lord Mayor, 
 with his whole Court, and after dmner knighted Sir 
 Robert Ayscough, the Lord Mayor, and Sir Richard 
 Hutton, the Recorder," Sir Robert represented the city 
 of York in Parliament in the year 1604, and in several 
 subsequent years, having been elected on the 5 th March, 
 1604-5— 21st March, 1614-15— and in 1620. This Sir 
 
 Robert Ayscough married Mary , who was living 
 
 in 1596 : having died without issue, he was succeeded 
 by his brother, 
 
 George Ascough, who is described as of York : he 
 was baptized at Crux Church, York, in 1575, and mar- 
 ried Sarah, daughter of Leonard Belt, of the city of 
 York, Gentleman, at Crux Church, York, in 1599 : he 
 died in the year 1626, and left the following children: 
 
 I. Robert Ayscough, his successor (of whom pre- 
 sently). 
 
 II. William Ayscough, who was baptized at St. Crux 
 Church, York, in 1609, and died unmarried. 
 
 III. Mary, wife of the Rev. Josias Bell wood, Clerk, 
 M. A. She was baptized in St. Crux Church, York, in 1608, 
 and married at Trinity Church, Goodram-gate, York, in 
 
 v 
 
306 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 1637. She left a son, Roger Bellwood, a student in the 
 Middle Temple, London, 21st March, 1665. 
 
 IV. Elizabeth, the wife of Christopher Geldard, a 
 merchant in York ; afterwards of Abraham Bynns, ano- 
 ther merchant in York. She was baptized at St. Crux 
 Church, York, in 1611. 
 
 V. Frances, the wife of John Morret, citizen of Lon- 
 don. She was baptized at St. Crux Church, York, in 1616. 
 
 VI. Anne, the wife of Anthony Place, of York. She 
 was baptized at St. Crux Church, York, in 1618. 
 
 Robert Ayscough, above-mentioned, succeeded his 
 father, and is described in u Dugdale's Visitation of 
 Yorkshire," in 1665, as being then a of the citty of 
 York, set, 59 on 13th September, anno 1665," and as 
 having married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas 
 Peake, of Thornton, in Lincolnshire. By this marriage 
 he had the following children : 
 
 I. William Ayscough, Doctor of Physic, aged 29, on 
 the 13th September, 1665. 
 
 II. Robert Ayscough. 
 
 III. Elizabeth Ayscough. 
 
 IV. Martha Ayscough, who died young. 
 
 V. Mary Ayscough. 
 
 Aems. — One, and four, sable, a fess or, between three 
 asses passant argent, a crescent for difference, two and 
 three — a fret — a crescent for difference. 
 
 Crest — An ass's head arg., charged with a crescent gules. 
 
 LONSDALE OF MASHAM. 
 
 LINEAGE. 
 
 Michael Beckwith, of Nutwith Cote, near Masham, 
 Tailor, had by his wife an only daughter, 
 
 Margaret Beckwith, who was married at Masham, on 
 the 13th of November, 1698, to John Lonsdale, of Mas- 
 ham, grocer. This John Lonsdale died at Masham on 
 the 18th of February, 1703 (where he was also buried) 
 leaving an only son, 
 
PEDIGBEES OF FAMILIES. 307 
 
 John Lonsdale, of Masham, gentleman, who was bap- 
 tized at Masham on the 19th Oct., 1701. He married 
 Mary, the daughter of William Beckwith, Esq., of Lamb- 
 hill, near Masham, who died when 36 years old, and was 
 buried at Masham on the 20th Sept., 1739. John Lons- 
 dale, her husband, died at Masham (and was buried 
 there on the 1st of May, 1784), leaving an only son, 
 
 The Rev. John Lonsdale, clerk, B.A., who was bap- 
 tized at Masham on the 22nd February, 1738. He was 
 married at Scarborough, on the 5th September, 1785, to 
 Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles Steer, Esq., of Wake- 
 field (born 23rd October, 1749). In 1791 he was living 
 at New- Miller- dam, Yorkshire. He died in 1807, and 
 was buried at Darfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 
 of which place he was vicar. He left, with other issue, a son, 
 
 The Right Rev. John Lonsdale, D.D., Lord Bishop of 
 Lichfield. He was born on the 17th January, 1788, and 
 christened at Sandal, near Wakefield, on the 8th of March, 
 1788. He was educated at Heath School, near Halifax, 
 and afterwards at Eton. He afterwards, in 1806, entered 
 King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a Fel- 
 low, where he graduated B.A. in 1811 — having gained 
 Sir William Browne's medals for the best Latin Ode in 
 1807, and again in 1809. In the latter year, he also ob- 
 tained the Battie University Scholarship. He took the 
 degree of M.A. in 1814, and that of B.D. in February, 
 1824, and was successively Christian Advocate (1821) at 
 Cambridge; Domestic Chaplain to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury (1822); Prebendary of St, Paul's (1831); 
 Principal of King's College London, (1839); Rector of 
 Southneet (1839); Archdeacon of Middlesex (1842). 
 He was many years Preacher at Lincoln's Inn, and was 
 consecrated in 1 843, Lord Bishop of Lichfield. In 
 1815 he married Sophia, daughter of John Bolland, Esq., 
 M.P., of London, sister to Sir William Bolland, Knt., 
 one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer of Pleas, 
 and niece of the late Henry Bolland, Roger Bolland, 
 Joseph Bolland, and Miss • Bolland, all of Masham. 
 
VIEW OF MASHAM CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH. 
 
 HISTORY OF MASHAM CHURCH. 
 
 View not this Spire by measure giv'n 
 To buildings rais'd by common bands ; 
 
 That fabric rises high as Heaven, 
 Whose basis on devotion stands. 
 
 "While yet we draw this vital breath, 
 We can our hope and faith declare ; 
 
 But Charity, beyond our death, 
 Will even in our works appear. 
 
 Blest be he call'd among good men, 
 Who to his God this column rais'd ! 
 
 Tho' lightning shake the Spire again, 
 The man who built it shall be prais'd. 
 
EKf-1 
 
 11CS- 2. 
 
 npmh(®f$§Mk BkmB$ m ffUmfimm (jf^m^m 
 

MASHAM CHURCH. 309 
 
 Yet Spires and Towers in dust shall lie, 
 
 The weak efforts of human pains ; 
 And Faith and Hope themselves shall die, 
 
 While deathless Charity remains. 
 
 Prior. 
 
 The earliest record in which the church at Masham 
 is mentioned, is the Domesday Survey, which, as I have 
 before mentioned, was compiled under the direction of 
 William the Conqueror, soon after the Conquest. In 
 that document it is stated that there was then a church 
 at Masham. From this we know that our church has 
 existed from the times of our Saxon forefathers, but 
 nothing further, and we are left to conjecture, by the 
 light of contemporaneous history, as to what particular 
 period of the Saxon era it had its rise. The building 
 itself does not aid us in this enquiry, for no portion of it 
 (unless possibly that part of it which is now used as the 
 vestry) can be assigned to the Saxon times — the oldest 
 part of it being of Norman architecture, and not Saxon. 
 The present building, however, is evidently not the ori- 
 ginal one, but is a "rebuild," and that, too, upon the site 
 of an old building, of a much larger extent, which had 
 been burnt down (probably in one of the incursions of 
 the Danes, who are known to have ravaged this part of 
 the country). During the progress of the late restora- 
 tion of the church, a great many stones, which had ap- 
 parently formed part of a former building, and of un- 
 doubted Saxon masonry, some of them too bearing in- 
 disputable marks of having been exposed to fire, were 
 found worked up, and built into the walls of the present 
 building. And as further evidences of fire, in digging 
 in the churchyard, great quantities of charcoal, charred 
 wood, and wood-ashes have been found, apparently the 
 debris or remains of an extensive fire. The stones of 
 Saxon masonry which have been thus worked up again, 
 and used in the construction of the present building, is 
 an important fact in my present inquiry. Besides which 
 some sepulchral slabs, which were brought to light 
 
310 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 during the restoration, are of unquestionable Saxon 
 workmanship, and that, too — if we may judge from the 
 character of the figures engraved thereon, and the rude 
 workmanship — of a very early date. 
 
 The pedestal to the dial, still standing in the church- 
 yard, is also undoubtedly of Saxon workmanship, and 
 has formerly been the lower frustrum of an ancient 
 Saxon cross. This cross is particularly noticed in Cam- 
 den's "Britannia," by Gough, and in Whitaker's "His- 
 tory of Richmondshire," where an elaborate engraving 
 of it is given. Mr. Longstaffe, too, in his more recent 
 work on Richmondshire, also alludes to it, and in re- 
 ferring to the scroll work, or carving, upon it, says that 
 it has the twelve Apostles round the top, and below are 
 figures on horseback, the adoration of the Magi, &c. ; and 
 adds, that the form of the chair on which the Virgin is 
 sitting, merits notice. 
 
 We learn from history, that the cross originally pointed 
 out the spots where Christianity was first preached to 
 our forefathers, and near to which the church was usually 
 erected, and that it afterwards became part of the deco- 
 ration of every church ; and we further learn from the 
 like source, that these crosses were generally removed 
 from our churchyards at the time of the Reformation, or 
 were afterwards destroyed or defaced by the Puritans, 
 in their great, but mistaken zeal, for destroying every- 
 thing, good or bad, which, according to their own dis- 
 tempered notions, at all savoured of Roman Catholicism. 
 The latter appears to have been the fate of our beautiful 
 church-cross, a circumstance which is much to be de- 
 plored. It is said in " Camden's Britannia," by Gough, 
 that it was more especially customary to erect crosses at 
 the places where Paulinus preached, and celebrated 
 divine service, bearing this inscription — " Paulinus hie 
 praedicavit et celebravit." Three church- crosses now in 
 the churchyard of Whalley, in Lancashire, and one for- 
 merly in that of Dewsbury, in Yorkshire, are (according 
 to Mr. Walbran, in his " History of Gainford") tradi- 
 
SUiricni (fross at Masljam. 
 
MASHAM- CHURCH. < 311 
 
 tionally said to record the preaching of Paulinus, besides 
 which there is or was another near Easing wold. As 
 the upper portion of our church-cross is lost, we are un- 
 able to tell whether it was one of Paulinus' s crosses or 
 not, we must therefore look elsewhere for further light 
 upon the subject, and especially into the history of our 
 early British Church, in this particular district. 
 
 We learn from the early church historians, that 
 although St. Paul, or some other of the Disciples, cer- 
 tainly planted a Christian church in Britain,^ yet that 
 owing to the great persecutions it had to undergo — the 
 evil influences of its Pagan rulers — -and other causes, 
 most of the early Britains had fallen away from the true 
 faith, f and had become Pagan idolators, when Paulinus, 
 
 * Dr. Henry, says, " it appears to be morally certain that the first rays 
 of the light of the Gospel reached the south-east parts of this island some- 
 time between 43, and 61, a.d." [Namely sometime between nine years and 
 twenty-seven years after our Saviour's crucifixion]. See Henry's " Great 
 Britain," vol. 1, pp. 187—9. 
 
 Tertullian (writing 1 a.d. 209) says, that "Those parts of Britain even 
 into which the Roman arms had never penetrated, were become subject to 
 Christ" — alluding to the assertion that Christianity was introduced into 
 Britain by some of the Roman soldiers who had embraced Christianity at 
 Rome before coming to Britain with the Roman legions. — See Tertullian, 
 " Contra Judseos," c. 7. I have already shewn, ante, p. 40, that the Ro- 
 mans had penetrated into this district long before the time of Tertullian, 
 indeed shortly after the crucifixion of our Saviour. — See note, ante, p. 67. 
 
 Eusebius (writing A.D. 320) says the gospel was preached to the Romans, 
 Persians, &c, and those which are called the British Islands. — See Eusebius, 
 Demonstr. Evang. lib. 3, c. 7, p. 113. 
 
 Gildas, our own British historian (a.d. 560) affirms that Christianity had 
 long been introduced into this country in his own day. — See Gildas' Epist., 
 Rudder. Indeed we have undisputed evidence that three British Bishops were 
 at the Council of Aries, in 314, and took part in the business of that Council. 
 
 t " There is no truth in the statement so frequently and absurdly ad- 
 vanced, that Christianity was driven out of Britain. — True that the Church 
 
 suffered bitter persecutions at the hands of its enemies and that it was 
 
 driven into the mountainous parts of Wales and Cornwall : but that the Britons 
 or their Church, were ever driven out of the land is contrary to historical 
 fact." — See " The Romans in Gloucestershire," by the Rev. S. Lysons, M.A. 
 
 Theodoret says that there were many churches in Britain in his day, and 
 Fuller says that " the Christian faith ever remained in Britain." 
 
312 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 one of the forty companions of St. Augustine,* the 
 Roman missionary to Britain, appeared amongst us a.d. 
 625, in the capacity of chaplain to Ethelburga,f the Queen 
 of Edwin, the then Saxon King of Northumbria, and 
 Bretwalda, or leader of the Britains. Paulinus thus 
 circumstanced, and having also by his zealous endeavours 
 succeeded in effecting the conversion of the king himself 
 (who had previously been a Pagan) thereby acquired 
 great influence, which he did not fail to bring to bear in 
 also effecting the conversion of the people. In those 
 days, the old Saxon kings commonly resided in country 
 villages, where they had their halls or hunting seats, and 
 from time to time removed from one of these residences 
 
 * Mr. Wright, in his work, " The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon," gives 
 the following account of the circumstances which occasioned St. Augustine's 
 mission to Britain : " During the Pontificate of Pelagius II., some boys 
 from Saxon Britain, distinguished by their beauty, were exposed for sale in 
 the slave-market at Rome. The priest Gregory, as he passed through the 
 ancient forum, was struck with their appearance, and on being told that 
 they were Pagans from Britain, he lamented that people having such bright 
 countenances should remain a prey to the spirit of darkness. Continuing 
 the conversation, with the same play upon words, he was told that they 
 were called Angles, upon which he observed that it was a just name, for 
 they had angelic faces and ought to be the coheirs of angels in heaven. He 
 then asked the name of the province from which they came, and was told 
 that it was the kingdom of Deira [being the kingdom in which this district 
 was then situate]. ' It is well,' he said, ' they shall be de ira eruti, snatched 
 from the wrath and brought to the mercy of Christ.' He was next told 
 that the name of their king was iElla. ' That,' he said, ' is Alleluiah, and 
 it is right that the praise of God should be sung in that land.' Full of pro- 
 jects of conversion, Gregory hastened to the Pope, and begged to be em- 
 ployed on this distant mission : bat the citizens, with whom he was ex- 
 tremely popular, were unwilling to allow of his absence. Nothing further 
 therefore, was done towards the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, until, in 
 590, Gregory himself was elected to the Papal See. The Anglian chil- 
 dren were then remembered, and Gregory despatched missionaries under 
 the guidance of St. Augustine, to visit the distant island." 
 
 f On the treaty for the marriage between Edwin, our then Saxon King, 
 and Ethelberga (who was a Christian) it was stipulated that she should not 
 only be allowed to follow her own religion, but that she should have Pau- 
 linus (one of St. Augustine's missionaries) as her chaplain. Thus it was 
 that Paulinus was introduced into this district. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 313 
 
 to another. King Edwin had one, at least, of such halls, 
 or hunting seats, in each of the three ridings of Yorkshire, 
 as well as some others further north. One of them is 
 said to have been at, or near Tanfield,* where he spent 
 much of his time. Paulinus, as domestic chaplain to the 
 court, necessarily removed from place to place with the 
 court, and accordingly embraced those opportunities of 
 doing good, by preaching to, and baptizing the people 
 wherever he went. It is recorded of his doings, that at 
 a place in Northumberland, the number of people which 
 flocked to him was so great, that for thirty-six days he 
 was engaged from morning until evening in giving them 
 daily instruction. His plan seems to have been, not to 
 baptize them indiscriminately, but to defer their baptizm 
 until the converts could answer the catechism which he 
 himself taught them, when he baptized them in the little 
 river Glen (in Northumberland) and the clear waters of 
 the Swale, at Catterick, and also (as the Venerable Bede 
 says) at Brafferton. In an epistle of Pope Gregory to 
 St. Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria, on the subject of 
 the conversion of the Britains (which seems at the time 
 to have attracted considerable attention) is an account of 
 Paulinus having, on a Christmas-day, baptized in the 
 English river Swale, above ten thousand men, besides an 
 innumerable multitude of women and children. The 
 truth of such account cannot be doubted, as it is con- 
 firmed by the historian, the Venerable Bede, who 
 flourished very shortly afterwards, and lived in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the place. The occurrence 
 gave occasion to the river Swale being afterwards desig- 
 nated, as well it might, " the Jordan " of England, and 
 to its being very much venerated by our Saxon fore- 
 fathers. In connection with this subject, it may not be 
 
 *Mr. Gideon Barker, in Lis "Three Days of Wensleydale," p. 12, says 
 " the King resided much at his Palace near Tanfield," but cites no author- 
 ity for such statement. The Rev. James Raine, M.A., in his " Fasti Ebor- 
 acenses," vol. 1, p. 43, appears also to have been of this opinion, as well as 
 Mr. Hodgson Hinde, in his " History of Northumberland." 
 
314 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 amiss, in passing, to draw attention to the fact, that the 
 baptism I have been speaking of, was a public one, and 
 that these new converts were not ashamed thus publicly, 
 and in the presence of thousands, to acknowledge their 
 former errors, to disclaim and renounce their idols, and 
 to take upon themselves the yoke of Christ, and fur- 
 ther that it was by total immersion (as was the practice 
 of the early churches) in an open river, and on a cold 
 Christmas-day — a rather severe test, it must be admitted, 
 of their sincerity, and of the faith which was in them. 
 Their subsequent history, too, shews that they became 
 really good Christians, for it is recorded of them, that 
 they no sooner received the truths of Christianity, than 
 they, with a most fervent zeal, gave themselves up to it, 
 by discharging all the duties of Christian piety, and 
 amongst these I may include what was then considered 
 as of the highest importance — as most needed — the build- 
 ing of churches in the j)laces of their heathen temples. 
 
 They listen'd : for unto their ear 
 The word, which they had long'd to hear, 
 Had come at last — the lifeful word, 
 Which they had often almost heard 
 In some deep silence of the hreast : 
 For with a sense of dim unrest 
 That word unborn had often wrought 
 And struggled in the womb of thought : 
 And lo ! it now was born indeed — 
 Here was the answer to their need. 
 
 R. C. Trench. 
 
 Although it is not actually recorded in history, that 
 Paulinus did preach here, at Masham, or baptize, in the 
 river Yore, as he had thus done on the banks of the 
 neighbouring river Swale, it is hardly too much to sup- 
 pose that he did not do so (and especially so, if one of 
 his residences was at or near Tanfield, as before men- 
 tioned) since it is said that he did preach and baptize 
 at other places besides the Swale. It will be seen that 
 Mr. Raine is of opinion that Paulinus did baptize at 
 Tanfield upon the Yore. But even supposing that Pau- 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 315 
 
 linus did not personally visit Masham, may I not with 
 justice ask, that if he did not come to them, did not the 
 people of Mashamshire go to him, and hear his preach- 
 ing, on the banks of the Swale or at Tanfield ; and did 
 not they form part, at least, of that goodly throng of ten 
 thousand men, besides the innumerable multitude of 
 women and children, I have before alluded to? Surely 
 we will not so libel our forefathers as to say that they 
 did not — nay, surely, God's goodness, which has no 
 bounds, was not thus confined to the banks of the Swale, 
 but extended its beneficent influence to our native hills, 
 by disposing the hearts of the people, not only to listen 
 to, but embrace with gladness, the Word thus preached 
 unto them. Great and mighty, indeed, was the work 
 thus effected through the happy instrumentality of Pau- 
 linus, and of James, * his deacon, whom he left behind 
 him to preach and baptize in this district; and its in- 
 fluence extended itself far and wide, and produced a 
 mighty change for the better in the manners and feelings 
 of the people of the whole district. 
 
 " As were the Britons famous for their zeal 
 
 To gentile gods, while such they did adore, 
 So when the heavens to earth did truth reveal, 
 
 Blest was that land with truth and learning's store." 
 
 I would not, however, have it supposed for one mo- 
 ment, because I have thus spoken of the good effects of 
 the teaching of Paulinus in this immediate neighbour- 
 hood, that I would wish by any means to ignore, on the 
 
 * James the Deacon, whom Paulinus left behind him when he fled with 
 Ethelburga, the widowed queen of Edwin, after the latter had been slain at 
 Hatfield, by the Pagan Penda, A. d. 633, resided at Aikber near Fingall, 
 where, it is said, he was very diligent in teaching and baptizing the people, 
 but was more especially famous for his great skill in singing, and his fond- 
 ness for the Gregorian tones, which he taught as well as chanted. He is 
 supposed to be buried in the churchyard at Hawxwell, and to be commemo- 
 rated by an ancient cross. — See 1 Raine's " Fasti Eboracenses," p. 44, and 
 notes. Mr. Barker, in his " Three Days of Wensleydale," p. 13, says that 
 James the Deacon died at a very advanced age. 
 
— =*WBW«I 
 
 316 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 one hand, the previous existence at the time I have been 
 speaking of, of an early British Church : or to make Hght 
 of its services, in bringing about the happy change I have 
 been speaking of: or, on the other hand, would I wish to 
 magnify the importance of the ancient British Church, to 
 the disparagement of the Eoman Church (as some of our 
 modern Church historians would have us to do). Nay, 
 rather would I say, that both of them were the happy 
 instruments, in God's hands, in bringing about so good 
 glorious a work We have, indeed, much reason to 
 know, and to rejoice, that such a Church as the early 
 British Church still existed in this country, at the time 
 of the mission to it of St. Augustine, and his fellow- 
 labourers in the good work — notwithstanding the great 
 persecutions which it had had continually to undergo, 
 from the Pagan rulers of this country, previous to the 
 conversion of King Edwin by Paulinus.* Such, indeed, 
 had been its persecutions, that its bishops and clergy, 
 and many of its most conspicuous members, had, like the 
 Apostles themselves, from time to time, to flee for their 
 
 * See ante, p. 311 in notes. In addition to that which, will he there found 
 on this head, I may add the following quotations from Mr. Raine's " Fasti 
 Eboracenses" : — " It seems evident that there was in the British Church an 
 Eastern as well as a Western element ; indeed, it is quite possible that Judaic 
 traditions had been brought to England before the birth of the Redeemer. 
 The Eastern origin of the inhabitants of these islands, the frequent visits 
 which they received from Asiatic merchants, could not fail to make the 
 Britons more or less acquainted, at a very early period, with the truths of 
 Christianity, and there are traditions which such a supposition can alone 
 explain." — See vol. 1, p. i. " It is evident that Christianity obtained a sure 
 footing in this country whilst it was in the possession of the Romans." — 
 Ibid, p. 6. " We find that three British bishops, including one from the 
 city of York, were present at the Council of Aries, A. D. 314. The same 
 Episcopate was also represented at the Councils of Nicaea, Sardica, and Armi- 
 nium ; and from the accounts that are preserved of the deliberations at these 
 sacred meetings, we may gather that the British bishops were thoroughly 
 catholic and orthodox. They were not afraid, also, of standing up for the 
 faith when it was imperilled by the machinations of heretics. Against the 
 Arians they took so decided a part, that they are mentioned with honour by 
 Athanasius." — Ibid, p. 8. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 317 
 
 lives, and to seek refuge for a season in the mountains of 
 Wales, and in Scotland, again to come forward when the 
 persecutions subsided, or slackened, with hearts burning 
 all the more, through their persecutions, with pious zeal, 
 to revive and reinvigorate their dying Churches. Thus 
 it was that the early British Churches had been kept 
 alive within these Isles, through those dark and idolatrous 
 ages of our history. It had, indeed, assumed such a degree 
 of importance at the time of St. Augustine's mission to 
 Britain, that the latter deemed them a sufficiently impor- 
 tant body to induce him to endeavour to gain them over 
 to his own (the Roman) Church, and with that view 
 sought for, and obtained, a solemn conference with the 
 bishops, and most eminent of the clergy, of the early 
 British Church. The conference, however, came to 
 nothing, they having disagreed as to the time of holding 
 Easter,* and as to the mode of administering Baptism, 
 the practice of the two Churches differing on these points, 
 the British Church keeping Easter day on a Sunday, 
 between the 14th and 20th of the paschal moon inclusive, 
 whereas the Roman Church kept it on the Sunday which 
 fell between the 15th and 21st. 
 
 It matters not, however, by whom, or through whose 
 instrumentality, the great work was effected, for the 
 doctrines and observances of the two churches were at 
 that time almost identical, and the teachings of both 
 tended to the same end. The effect was, as I have 
 already stated, to produce in the min ds of the new con- 
 verts an ardent zeal for the building of churches — a feel- 
 
 * It was a great misfortune that they thus disagreed upon these trifling 
 matters, and especially so with reference to the time of holding Easter, 
 about which both parties were wrong. Dr. Hook says in his " Church Dic- 
 tionary," that " Easter-Sunday is not strictly the anniversary day of our 
 Saviour's resurrection, but is the day appointed by the Church to be kept in 
 remembrance of that event." Had they come to an agreement at that Con- 
 ference much bloodshed would have been spared. I here allude to the 
 slaughter of twelve hundred and fifty of the British Clergy of Bangor, on 
 account of their religion — which took place soon after the conclusion of this 
 Conference. 
 
3L8 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ing which was very properly encouraged by the teach- 
 ings of the church. The consequence of this was that 
 great numbers of parish churches were then built in this 
 neighbourhood — some of them as early as the time of 
 Paulinus himself — and others shortly afterwards.* As 
 a proof of the spirit which had thus been evoked in this 
 district, for the building of churches, I may refer to 
 the speech of St. Wilfrid (who was consecrated Arch- 
 bishop of York, a.d. 669) which was delivered by him 
 on the feast of the dedication of the church at Kipon, 
 which was built by Wilfrid shortly after this time. In 
 his address to the princes and people, assembled on that 
 memorable occasion, and which lasted for several days, 
 he especially refers to the church building which was 
 then going on around them.f 
 
 * Mr. Raine in his " Fasti Eboracenses," vol. 1, p. 26, says, " It is diffi- 
 cult to say at what time the earliest Churches in the North of England were 
 erected. Wilfrid, in his oration at the dedication of Ripon Minster, speaks 
 of the holy places which the British Christians had deserted, and that he 
 had succeeded in his attempts to recover some of them seems to be partly 
 evident from the fact, that under the walls of one or two Saxon Churches in 
 the North-Riding of Yorkshire, human remains, belonging to a very early 
 period have been disinterred." I may here add that similar human remains 
 were lately found interred beneath the walls of Masham Church, when the 
 workmen were engaged in digging under the Vestry for the purpose of in- 
 troducing the hot- water apparatus for warming the Church. This circum- 
 stance alone is some evidence at least, of its Saxon origin. 
 
 The learned antiquary, Dr. Stukeley, in a paper read before the mem- 
 bers of the Antiquarian Society on the 30th of October, 1*755, says, "Pau- 
 linus built many Churches in Yorkshire — some I have seen, and taken 
 drawings of them, particularly that at Goodmanham, where is the original 
 Font in which he baptized the heathen high-priest, Coifi. He built North- 
 allerton Church, now remaining. His effigy is placed on the outside of it." 
 — Archeeologia I., 44. 
 
 Mr. Barker, also, in his " Three Days of Wensleydale," in speaking of 
 the church at Thornton-Steward says, " The Church, one of the oldest in 
 Wensleydale, stands half-a-mile west of the village. Although this Church 
 is not (as Dr. Whitaker supposed) Saxon, there is every reason to believe 
 that one has occupied its site ever since the days of St. Paulinus." 
 
 f Oswald, too, is said to have filled the kingdom with the Monasteries 
 and Churches. Parish Churches had, indeed, become so numerous early in 
 the ninth century, as to call forth a particular Canon to be enacted at the 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 319 
 
 The conclusion to which these circumstances leads us 
 is, that our church is one of the many churches which 
 sprung up in this district in consequence of the preach- 
 ing of Paulinus in this neighbourhood, and in, or soon 
 after, his day. 
 
 Masham church was no doubt built, and endowed 
 (as was the custom in those days) by, and at the expense 
 of, the great Thane, or Lord of the place, for the use of 
 himself, retainers, vassals, and tenants, he retaining to 
 himself the patronage of the church. We are not, how- 
 ever, made acquainted with the name of the great Thane,* 
 or lord, to whom we are indebted for our church, and 
 its very ample endowment. 
 
 The first Lord of Mashamshire whom we find dealing 
 with the patronage of Masham church was Nigel de 
 Albini (the father of Koger de Mowbray), who as such 
 was patron of the living, a.d. 1135, and presented his 
 kinsman Samson de Albinif to the church of Masham, 
 along with the church at Kirkby Malzeard, and other 
 churches in his gift. 
 
 Council of Celichyth, in the year 816, for the regulation of their consecra- 
 tion ; and we find that in the time of Edward the Confessor, it was made a 
 matter of complaint on the part of the clergy of the old churches, that, 
 " now there be three or four churches, where in former times there was but 
 one, and so the tithes and profits of the priests [of the old churches of course] 
 are much diminished." — See Ken. Par. Ant., 586 — 587. Not only did 
 Parish churches spring up thus early in this district, but Monasteries as well. 
 The first monastery known to have been erected in Yorkshire, was that of 
 Lastingham, near Kirkby-Moorside, A.D. 648. The second was founded at 
 Tadcaster, Newton Kyme, or Aberford, in 655. The third was at Whitby, 
 in 657. The fourth was at Gilling near Richmond, founded before 659 ; 
 and the fifth was founded at Ripon in 661 — besides five others which were 
 established in this County before the Conquest. 
 
 * It was one of the qualifications of a Thane that he should have five 
 hides of his own land, and a church. 
 
 t Samson de Albini appears to have been living, and to have held the 
 Rectory of Masham, in the year 1145, when Roger de Mowbray founded 
 the Priory of Newburgh, as his name is attached as a witness to Roger de 
 Mowbray's Charter of Foundation of that Priory, as " Samson, Clark of 
 Massam." 
 
320 MASHAM AND MASH AMS HIRE. 
 
 Eoger de Mowbray (the son of Nigel de Albini) hav- 
 ing succeeded his father in the lordship of Mashamshire, 
 and as such in the patronage of the church, and having 
 a.d. 1145, founded a Priory of Black Canons at New- 
 burgh, he very soon afterwards granted the churches of 
 Masham, and Kirkby Malzeard, in free alms to the 
 canons of Newburgh for ever, as will be seen on referring 
 to a copy of this grant which will be found in the Ap- 
 pendix hereto. And by another charter (an extract 
 from which will also be found in Appendix C hereto) 
 Samson de Albini (before alluded to, as the person to 
 whom Nigel de Albini had, in his time, granted the 
 churches) released to the abbey at Newburgh, all his 
 interest in the church at Masham, and the other churches, 
 stipulating, however, that while he (Samson de Albini) 
 remained a secular ecclesiastic, he should retain full pos- 
 session thereof, and that upon his assumption of monastic 
 vows, or his decease, his son Roger should hold the same 
 churches, he, the son, being supported during his mi- 
 nority out of the profits ol the church of Masham. 
 
 It appears by these two charters, and by other docu- 
 ments relating to the church, that Eoger de Mowbray 
 was at this time very anxious to endow his newly founded 
 Priory of Newburgh, with these churches, but the sub- 
 sequent history of the rectory of Masham shews that 
 such intention was never effectually carried out. This 
 was a subject which puzzled the learned Dr. Whitaker 
 when writing his " History of Richmondshire." I hope, 
 however, by the aid of information which was not known 
 to Dr. Whitaker, to clear up the mystery, and to be able 
 to shew how it happened that these churches did not 
 continue to be the property of the canons of Newburgh, 
 as intended by Roger de Mowbray, their founder and 
 patron. 
 
 It has already been shewn, that Nigel de Albini, the 
 father of Roger de Mowbray, had already conferred this 
 church, with six others, on Samson de Albini, and fur- 
 ther, that by the Charter of Confirmation by Samson de 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 321 
 
 Albini, of Eoger de Mowbray's grant of this church to 
 the abbey, the prior, and monks of the abbey, were to 
 derive no benefit or advantage whatever from the dona- 
 tion, during the life-time of Samson de Albini, or even 
 during the life-time of Samson de Albini' s son Roger. 
 
 It appears too that the abbey was of the Order of 
 Black Canons, and not being founded until after the rule 
 of St. Austin was promulgated, the prior and canons 
 were prevented from taking the cure of souls in the 
 parish; it would seem, therefore, that the diocesan had 
 interfered, as he had power to do (his consent being ne- 
 cessary to the Confirmation of the grant) in order to se- 
 cure religious ordinances to the parishioners of Masham, 
 when the church should become vacant by the death of 
 Samson de Albini, or of Eoger his son, for it should be 
 remembered that appropriations to religious houses were 
 then far from being encouraged by the bishops. Thus, 
 from the necessity existing of filling the church when- 
 ever the vacancy should occur — the incapacity of the 
 prior and canons to undertake the charge and cure of the 
 parish — coupled with their remote interest in the profits 
 of the benefice, it is evident that the archbishop of York 
 had refused to give his assent to the grant, without 
 which assent the grant would be inoperative. This in- 
 deed sufficiently appears by the very terms of the grant 
 itself, which it will be seen prays the archbishop's assent 
 to that his gift by the authority of his, the archbishop's, 
 writing, and by the absence of such consent to the grant. 
 
 The grant of the Church to the Priory of Newborough 
 having thus failed to take effect, we next find that Eoger 
 de Mowbray, by another charter, without date, but made 
 during the occupation of the archiepiscopal see of York 
 by Eoger de Bishopsbridge (who held it between the 
 years 1154 and 1181) granted "to God and St. Peter of 
 York, and to the Archbishop Eoger, and his successors 
 for ever, the Church of Masham, &c, in pure and perpe- 
 tual alms, so that it may be henceforth a Prebend in the 
 Church of St. Peter of York, my sons Nigel my heir, 
 
 w 
 
322 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and Robert, consenting." And it further appears, by 
 the following extract from the record known as the 
 "Greate White Peignter," fo. 346, that Roger, the arch- 
 bishop, confirmed to the Church of St. Peter at York, 
 the Church of Masham, Kirkby Malzeard, &c, and thus 
 Masham became a Prebend of the Cathedral Church of 
 York, and the richest stall in that Cathedral, as we shall 
 see presently. 
 
 Very soon after the establishment of this Prebend, we 
 find that William Fitz- Richard, Canon of York, granted 
 to the Prebend of Masham certain land, on condition 
 that the Prebendary should sing mass for the soul of 
 King Richard I., of good memory. 
 
 The next reference to the Church of Masham we find 
 in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, taken a.d. 1291, in 
 which the Prebend of Masham is rated as worth £166 
 13s. 4d. (which was a very large sum of money indeed 
 at that day, especially when we consider that £8 a-year 
 was then considered an ample stipend for a parish 
 priest). It was also rated at the same sum, in 1340, 
 and continued to be so rated down to the time of the 
 dissolution of the Prebend on the eve of the Reformation. 
 
 Dr. Whitaker, in his "History of Richmondshire," 
 thus speaks of the Prebend of Masham: — "Masham was 
 the Golden Prebend in the Cathedral of York, being 
 valued, in 1534, at £136 per annum, and as the corps 
 of that Prebend consisted, as appears, solely of the Rec- 
 tory Manor of this parish, it follows that the valuation 
 was higher than that of any other benefice in the kingdom, 1 '' 
 This circumstance, as in many other instances, led to its 
 fall, the Prebend of Masham having been dissolved, and 
 converted into a lay-fee, by Archbishop Holgate. It 
 also accounts for another fact, which is the high rank 
 and celebrity of many who held this Prebend." 
 
 This description of the Prebend of Masham, by Dr. 
 Whitaker, is not by any means overcoloured, for other 
 authors besides him describe it as having been the rich- 
 est and best endowed Prebend in the whole Church: 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 328 
 
 and further, it would seem, on a perusal of the following 
 table, or list, of persons who have held this Prebend, 
 that it was sufficiently wealthy and important to have 
 attracted the attention of the Pope of Rome to it, and to 
 be worthy of the acceptance of the highest dignitaries of 
 the Church, not even excepting the Pope's own near 
 relatives and the Cardinals of the see of Rome, two of 
 such Cardinals having not thought it beneath their dig- 
 nity, and high station, to accept it and its revenues. 
 
 The following is a list of the several persons who have 
 occupied the prebendal stall of Masham in the Cathedral 
 Church of York, from the time of this church being first 
 made prebendal (about 1158) down to the time of its 
 dissolution by King Henry VIII., A. d. 1546; with foot 
 notes thereto, containing notices of the several persons 
 mentioned in the list. 
 
 A List of the several Prebendaries of the Pre- 
 bendal Church of Masham from the time of its being 
 first made prebendal (about 1158) down to the time of 
 its dissolution by King Henry VIII., 1546. 
 
 About a.d. 1158. Roger de Albini.* 
 
 Roger or Bogo de Clare. f 
 
 * Roger de Albini was the first Prebendary, after the church was made 
 prebendal, as mentioned in the text. He was the son of Samson de Albini, 
 before alluded to, and nephew of Roger de Mowbray. He must have been 
 very young when he was made a Prebendary, or Canon of the Church, as it 
 will be remembered that he is stated in one of the charters already men- 
 tioned, to have been then a minor, and that his father, with true paternal 
 solicitude, therein stipulates, that a provision should be made for him out of 
 the Rectory of Masham during his minority. I would here observe, that he 
 is neither the first nor the last stripling who has been thus provided for by 
 Mother Church. He held the Prebend for a very long time, and was suc- 
 ceeded by Roger, or JBogo de Clare, some time before the 9th of April, 1278, 
 but how long before I have not been able to ascertain. 
 
 t Roger de Clare, or Bogo de Clare, the next Prebendary of Masham 
 Church, was a son of the great Earl of Gloucester, and was famous as being 
 a great pluralist in the Church. He was Rector of St. Peter's in the East, 
 in Oxford, and in the 8th Edw. I., 1279, was presented by his father (the 
 Earl of Gloucester) to the Church of Wyston, in Nottinghamshire, when he 
 
324 MASHAM AKD MASHAMSHIft^ 
 
 'Robert de Lacy, clerk.* 
 11th T itip 129^ - Theobald Cormand, a kinsman of the 
 ' | Earl of Barr, 
 
 ^Boniface de Salucis. 
 
 obtained a dispensation from the Pope of Home to hold it, together with on© 
 church in Ireland, and. fourteen other churches in England, in nine different 
 dioceses. The Rev. James Raine, M.A., in his " Fasti Eboracenses," vol. 1, 
 p. 305, says of him — " The history of this man is a most remarkable one. 
 His noble blood, perhaps, made him spurn authority, and he paid no atten- 
 tion whatever to decency and discipline. At one and the same time he held 
 as many as eighteen livings, in addition to the Treasurership at York, and 
 the deanery of Stafford. On one occasion, when a royal official served a 
 writ at his house in London, Bogo's servants compelled the unhappy man to 
 eat up the document, seals and all ! Of course his parishes were grievously 
 neglected, for Clare merely valued the income which they produced. The 
 Treasury at York was in such a state during his rule, that it was reported 
 against him that the vestments and ornaments of the church were often used 
 by women in childbed. In the church of Simonburn, in Northumberland, 
 whilst he was rector, the chronicler of Lanercost observed in the place of the 
 carving which ought to have been behind the altar some wicker work taken 
 evidently from a stable, and still smeared with the dung of oxen." — This 
 Roger de Clare was not only a very powerful man, but a very troublesome 
 fellow. It is but right, however, to add, that in return for these good things, 
 he gave much to religious houses, several of which he founded. It will be 
 seen that he held the Prebend on the 9th April, 1278, when Masham Vicar- 
 age was ordained. 
 
 * In the year 1295, it appears that this Prebend was vacant, which having 
 attracted the attention of Pope Boniface VIII., he by his Papal Bull, formed 
 out of it three Prebends, each to be worth fifty marks per annum sterling, 
 and assigned the remainder of the revenues of the Prebend to the common 
 use of the Dean and Chapter of York. He assigned these three newly- 
 formed Prebends to the three persons mentioned in the text. In obedience 
 to this Bull, John le Romayne, the then Archbishop of York, on the 11th 
 June, 1295, issued his mandate from his Castle at Cawood, to the following 
 effect : — 
 
 " I, by the permission of God, &c, to our Deane and Chapter of Yorke, 
 greeting, grace and benediction. Because out of the Prebend of Masham, in 
 our Church of Yorke, being voyd, we have constituted and ordayned, by 
 Apostolical Bull, three Prebends, fully equal in value, that is to say, each of 
 them may be worth yearly fifty marks, wholly assigning the remainder of 
 the profits of the same Prebend of Masham, while it was entire, to your 
 common use, as it will more fully appear by our ordinance, and we have 
 given in charity, the first of the said equal Prebends to Master de Lacy, our 
 clerk; tthe second to Theobald Cormand, the clerk of the nobleman Earle of 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 325 
 
 a.d. 1309. John de Grandison.* 
 
 Bar ; and the third to Boniface de Salucis, clerk. "We command ye that, 
 admitting the said Robert, Theobald, and Boniface, to be brothers, fratres, 
 and canons, ye duly assign unto them, or their representatives, in their name, 
 by reason of these Prebends, their stalls in the Quire, and their places in the 
 Chapter, further executing in their persons, after the accustomed manner, 
 what to ye belongeth. Dated at Cawood, 11 Kalendar June, 10th year of 
 our reign." 
 
 Mr. Raine, in his " Fasti Eboracenses," vol. 1, p. 341, in his Life of this 
 Archbishop, says, in reference to this transaction, that, " he contemplated 
 also the division of the stall of Masham into three, and that of Langtoft into 
 two. The arrangements for the last step seem to have been nearly com- 
 pleted, and canons were actually appointed ; but the proposed scheme, after 
 all, seems to have fallen through, and it was never attempted afterwards. 
 The King put his veto upon the project, and the life of Romanus was too 
 short, and his influence at Court too small, to enable him to obtain the con- 
 sent of the sovereign." — See "Reg. Romanus," Prynne iij, 783; Act. Capit. 
 Ebor. 15. 
 
 All the three canons here named were of noble families, and persons of 
 great influence in their day. Robert de Lacy was of the family of the De 
 Lacies, Earls of Lincoln ; Theobald Cormond was of the family of the Compte 
 de Barr ; and Boniface de Salucis was an ecclesiastic of such high position 
 and influence, that his diocesans had great difficulty in restraining him, 
 and keeping him in due subjection. 
 
 I may here mention that the names of these three last-mentioned Preben- 
 daries are all omitted in Torr's, as well as in all other lists of the Prebendaries 
 of York. This may probably be accounted for, for the reasons mentioned by 
 Mr. Raine before alluded to. 
 
 * John de Grandison, who came in as Prebendary in 1309, was born at 
 Ashperton, in Hertfordshire, and is said to have been descended from the 
 noble house of the Grandisons, Dukes of Burgundy, his father being William, 
 brother to Otto, or Otho de Grandison, the great Lord Grandison who accom- 
 panied Prince Edward to the Holy Land, and was afterwards Governor of 
 the Islands'of Guernsey and Jersey, and Secretary to King Edward L, by 
 whom he was sent on an embassy to Rome. John de Grandison is described as 
 having been a very studious and learned man, and to have been in high 
 favour with Pope John, being one of his Privy Council, and a legate or 
 nuncio to several states on matters of great importance. In 1345, he was 
 sent by the King on an embassy to Rome. He was appointed Archdeacon 
 of Nottingham, and was afterwards (1327) advanced to the Bishopric of 
 Exeter, which see, it is said, be held for near forty- two years. He died on 
 the 15th July, 1369, and was buried at Exeter. It is supposed that he re- 
 signed the Prebend of Masham in 1316. 
 
326 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIHE. 
 
 About a.d. 1316. William de Ayremin.* 
 
 About „ 1340. John de Ufford.f 
 
 „ 1348. Reginald Brian, j 
 
 „ 1350. Andrew de OfFord.§ 
 
 „ 1363. Cardinal Andoin Aubert, or Albert. 
 
 * William Ayreman was descended from an ancient family in Lincoln- 
 shire. He was one of the surpliced ecclesiastics who fought at the battle of 
 Myton-upon- Swale, on the 12th October, 1319, when he was taken prisoner 
 by the Scots. He was made Bishop of Norwich by the authority of the 
 Pope, and was consecrated 13th September, 1325. He was made by the 
 King Lord Chancellor of England. He died on the 27th March, 1337, and 
 was buried at Norwich. 
 
 It appears that the churchyard at Masham had at this time been dese- 
 crated, most probably by the spilling of blood in it, for I find that on the 
 12th April, 1318, a commission was granted by Archbishop Melton to one 
 of the suffragan Bishops, authorizing him to reconcile the churchyard of 
 Masham. 
 
 f John de Ufford was the son of Baron Robert de Ufford, and brother to 
 Robert de Ufford, who was created Earl of Suffolk, and achieved the highest 
 military renown by his skill as a leader at the celebrated Battle of Poictiers. 
 John de Ufford was promoted to the Deanery of Lincoln and the Chancel- 
 lorship of England, and upon the King's request he was made by the Pope 
 Archbishop of Canterbury in 1348. He was, however, never consecrated, 
 having died of the great plague at Tottenhall on the 7th June, 1348. 
 
 X Reginald Brian was the first Bishop of St. David's, and from thence 
 was translated to the see of Worcester in 1352; and in 1361 was nominated 
 by the Pope to the see of Ely, but died of the plague at Alnchurch on the 
 10th December, 1361, before his translation thither. 
 
 § Andrew de Offord was Archdeacon of Middlesex, and died in 1358. 
 On the 28th January in that year his goods were sequestered for a cap and 
 palfrey which were due on his death to the cathedral at York. After his 
 death the prebend of Masham remained vacant for a short time, when it 
 was seized upon and filled by Pope Urban V., by the appointment by him of 
 the two Cardinals mentioned in the two following notes. 
 
 || Cardinal Andoin Aubert, or Albert, was presented to the prebend of 
 Masham by the Pope. He was a nephew of Pope Innocent VI., and was a 
 man of great learning, especially in civil and canonical jurisprudence, in 
 polite literature, and in Church history. He was raised in 1349 to the Epis- 
 copal see of the church of Paris; in 1350, to that of Auxerre; and in 1352, 
 to that of Maguelone. His uncle Pope Innocent VI. made him Cardinal 
 Priest (by the title of St. John and St. Paul) on the 15th February, 1353. 
 He died on the 9th May, 1363, and left all his wealth to a college in the 
 University of Toulouse, which he had founded in his life-time, and where a 
 number of young people were to be supported during the time of their study 
 in humanity, philosophy, and the liberal arts. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 327 
 
 a.d. 1363. Cardinal William de Aigrefeuille.* 
 „ 1370. Robert de Stratton.f 
 „ 1381. John Mowbray. 
 „ 1385, William de Norton. 
 „ 1387. John Stacy.J 
 
 * Cardinal "William de Aigrefeuille was a near relative of Pope Clement 
 VI. He took the habit of a Friar among the Benedictines of the congre- 
 gation of Clugny, and was Prior of St. Peter, of Abbeville. His relative 
 Clement VI., having been raised to the Pontificate, he gave him the Arch- 
 bishopric of Saragossa, in the kingdom of Arrogan ; and afterwards, in the 
 year 1350, made him Cardinal, and employed him in several matters. And 
 Pope Urban V., whom he followed to Rome, dispatched him legate to 
 Naples. He died at Viterbo on the 11th October, 1369. 
 
 In " An Inventory of all the jewels, vases of gold and silver, and other 
 ornaments, vestments, and books, pertaining to the cathedral church of York, 
 in the custody of the under-treasurer of the same church, in jewels and other 
 things, as appears below, together with the money in the chest of St. Peter, 
 is the following : — Chalices, xxxx. One chalice, silver and gilt, with a paten 
 of the gift of the Lord Cardinal of Palestrina, formerly Prebendary of 
 Masham, weighing 21bs. 5|oz., with arms at the foot and three scalops, 
 [shells] and a lion." From this it would seem that another Cardinal had 
 held the Prebend of Masham besides the two before-named, but of whom I 
 have no account, and have therefore not inserted his name in the list of pre- 
 bendaries. Palestrina is the modern name for Proeneste, one of the most 
 ancient Greek cities in Italy, and is now a town in the Papal States, about 
 twenty-three miles distant from Rome. 
 
 f Robert de Stratton was admitted to the Prebend of Masham in 1370, 
 but his admission to it does not appear to have been registered till between 
 the 8th and 19th March, 1374. According to Torre he was presented to this 
 Prebend by the Pope, but this I think doubtful. It is said in Add. MSS., 
 21,089, fo. 89 (British Museum) that he was "A Canon of Lichfield and 
 Chaplaine to the Blacke Prince, utterly unworthy -of so high preferment, 
 being an illiterate fellow. He was twice rejected, both by the Pope and the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, for insufficiency, yet at the said Prince's earnest 
 suite for him, two other Bishops were appointed to examine him, who ap- 
 proved and permitted him consecration," [as Bishop of Coventry and Lich- 
 field, on the 26th September, 1360]. After holding the see of Coventry and 
 Lichfield for twenty-five years he died at his Manor-house at Heywood, on 
 the 28th Marcb, 1385. 
 
 % John Stacey was Prebendary of Banbury, in the cathedral church of 
 Lincoln. He died in 1394. When the learned antiquary Dodsworth visited 
 Masham church on the 19th October, 1622, there was the following Inscrip- 
 tion on the east window, " Pray for Sir John Stacey, Prebendary of the 
 Prebend of Masham."— Dodsworth's MSS. in Bod. Lib., No. 5,101, vol. 160. 
 
328 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 a.d. 1395. JohnRoos. 
 1396. John Bere. 
 1402. Thomas More.* 
 1421. William Kinwoldmersh. 
 1426. Henry Bowett.f 
 1447. George Neville. J 
 1456. Roger Radclif.§ 
 1471. John Shirwood.l 
 
 11 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 11 
 11 
 
 * Thomas More was Dean of St. Paul's, London, into which he was ad- 
 mitted in 1406. He died in 1421, and was buried in St. Paul's cathedral. 
 
 f Henry Bowett was Archdeacon of Richmond, to which he was collated 
 on the 6th Sept., 1418, on the death of Stephen le Scrope the then Archdeacon. 
 
 J George Neville was only some seven or eight years old when he was 
 collated into the pretend of Masham. When, however, it is considered that 
 he was brother to Richard, Earl of Warwick, the " King-maker," we cease 
 to be surprised, for if his brother could make and unmake kings, as it is said 
 he could, and did, it was not unlikely that he could also make a good canon 
 out of a boy of seven or eight years old. He was also first cousin to King 
 Edward IV. But George Neville did not stop here, for on the 25th Novem- 
 ber, 1455, he was made Bishop of Exeter, when, as Bishop Godwin says, he 
 was not fully twenty years of age ; in 1460 he was created Lord Chancellor 
 of England ; and in 1465 he was made Archbishop of York. On the death 
 of his brother, the Earl of Warwick, at the battle of Barnet, 14th April, 
 1471, he was accused of Treason, imprisoned for four years, and died of a 
 broken heart, soon after his liberation, on the 8th June, 1476, and was buried 
 in York Minster. He had, however, ceased to hold the Prebend of Masham 
 from the time of his becoming Bishop of Exeter, in 1455. 
 
 § Roger Radcliff was Dean of St. Paul's, London, into which he was 
 collated in 1468. He died in 1471. It appears by the Fabric Rolls of York 
 Minster, dated 1473, that a mortuary of 16s. 8d. was paid at his death to 
 that Cathedral, as the price of a horse to which the Cathedral became enti- 
 tled at his death. 
 
 || John Shirwood, D.D., was, according to Add. MSS. 21089, fo. 258 
 (British Museum), "A Carthusian Friar — was a good poet, an exact Grecian, 
 and an excellent divine. Before he was Bp. of Durham he had been the 
 King's Soliicitor in the Court of Rome, whence he brought many rare 
 Greek authors with him at his return." He was collated Archdeacon of 
 Richmond 14th July, 1465, and was elected Bishop of Durham January, 
 1484-5. Mr. Longstaffe, in his " History of Darlington," p. 91, says of him, 
 " He walked on one hand of Richard [King Richard III.] at his Coronation, 
 forgetful of many favours conferred by the late monarch, and for some reason 
 had not the temporalities restored till within sixteen days of that bloody 
 battle in which the crown was torn from the house of Plantagcnet and placed 
 on the brow of Tudor." He died on the 12th January, 1493. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 329 
 
 a.d. 1484. John Blythe.* 
 „ 1493. Henry Carnebull. 
 „ 1508. Richard Dudley.f 
 „ 1536. Thomas Bedill.J 
 „ 1537. William de Willyford.§ 
 „ 1537. Eobert Peterson.|| 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1546, Archbishop Holgate, by 
 licence from King Henry VIII., granted the Prebend of 
 Masham to Chancellor Wriothesley, and his heirs, where- 
 by it became a lay-fee, and so it was dissolved, after 
 having existed some four hundred years, and had been 
 filled by the highest dignitaries of the church. 
 
 * John Blythe, LL.D., was descended from William Blythe, of Leeds 
 (who was his grandfather), his father heing William Blythe, of Norton, in 
 Derbyshire. He was brother to Jeoffrey Blythe, Lord Bishop of Coventry 
 and Lichfield, and nephew of Thomas Kotherham, Archbishop of York. 
 He was installed Archdeacon of Huntingdon, by proxy, June 13th, 1478; 
 into the Prebend of Masham, 1484; into the Archdeaconry of Richmond, 
 8th October, 1485 ; as Master of the Rolls, 1492. He became Bishop of 
 Salisbury on the 23rd February, 1493, and the year after his consecration, 
 viz., 1494 he was Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He died on 
 the 23rd August, 1499. 
 
 f Richard Dudley was Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral, and died in the 
 year 1536. 
 
 J Thomas Bedill was Archdeacon of Cornwall, and Prebendary of Lincoln. 
 He acted as Clerk of the Council on the consecration of Cranmer as Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, and also on the trial of King Henry VHL's Queen 
 Catherine, before Cranmer, at Dunstable, in May, 1533. There is amongst 
 the State Papers a letter addressed by him to Lord Cromwell, giving an 
 account of the proceedings on the Queen's trial, which discloses facts highly 
 disgraceful to both him and Cranmer. He was also afterwards sent along 
 with Fox, the Almoner, by King Henry VIII. to Queen Catherine, to induce 
 her to forbear using the title of Queen, when she refused to comply with 
 their unreasonable request. On the 3rd July, 28 Henry VIII. , A.D. 1536, he 
 demised unto John Forswyck, Esq., Treasurer of the first fruits and tenths, 
 for the term of fifty years, the Prebend of Masham, with all the houses, 
 lands, tithes, and obventions to it belonging (except the mansion place 
 , within the city of York), for £136 13s. 4d. a year rent. He died in 1537. 
 
 § William de Willyford was a Prebendary in Lincoln Cathedral. He 
 died in 1537. 
 
 || Robert Peterson was the last Prebendary who held the Prebend of 
 Masham. Having resigned it in 1546, it then became dissolved. 
 
330 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 King Henry VIII. having thus possessed himself of 
 the revenues attached to this and other prebends, as well 
 as of some other religious establishments which had 
 shared the same fate, he gave the revenues of the prebend 
 of Masham, to the Master, Fellows, and Scholars of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge (which he had shortly be- 
 fore founded) as an endowment. Thus it was that 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, became, as they still con- 
 tinue to be, the owners of the great tithes of the parishes 
 of Masham and Kirkby-Malzeard, and the patrons of those 
 livings. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the prebendal church of Masham 
 has been from time to time filled by such high digni- 
 taries of the church, it must not be supposed that the 
 people of Masham fared any the better for it. It is true 
 that for more than one hundred years after the church 
 had been erected into a prebend, the prebendaries had 
 themselves the cure of souls within the parish, and had 
 by themselves personally, or by curates or chaplains ap- 
 pointed by them, to discharge the duties required of them 
 within the parish. Such being the case, whilst the re- 
 venues were being withdrawn from the parish for the 
 support of its non-resident prebendaries, the duties of the 
 cure were discharged by stipendiary curates or chaplains, 
 liable at any moment to be dismissed from their cures. 
 To remedy this evil, hi the reign of King Stephen, viz : 
 the 5th April, 1278, a vicarage was ordained for the on 
 parish, by which it was settled by the Dean and Chapter 
 of York, with the consent of Roger, or Bego de Clere, 
 (the then prebendary of the prebendal church of Masham) 
 that the revenues arising from the prebend should be 
 apportioned between the prebendary and the vicar, as 
 follows : that the vicar and his successors should have, 
 for ever the whole altarage* of the church, excepting the 
 
 * Altarage properly comprehends not only the offerings made upon the 
 altar, bat also the profit which accrues to the priest by reason of the altar, 
 viz: tithes of wool, lambs, colts, calves, pigs, goslings, chickens, butter, 
 cheese, hemp, flax, honey, fruits, herbsj and such other small tithes, with 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 331 
 
 tithe of hay, wool, and lamb of the parish, and the mor- 
 tuaries in live cattle, all which, together with the tithe 
 of corn of the parish, and land wherewith the church 
 was endowed, and the capital messuage of Masham, which 
 should remain to the canon or prebendary and his suc- 
 cessors ; but that all the rest of the altarage and profits 
 of the church the vicar should have, in name of his vicar- 
 age, together with the decimal silver oblations,* ob- 
 ventions, and all other tithes whatsoever. And that the 
 vicar should make his personal residence in the said 
 vicarage, and personally serve the same, having under 
 him three priests, at his own cost, and should bear all 
 the burthens incumbent on the same vicarage; and 
 that to the canon, or prebendary, and his successors 
 should always belong the building, covering, and repairs 
 of the chancel. For a full copy of this Ordinance, see 
 Appendix C. 
 
 Such were the conditions on which the vicarage was 
 founded. After this time (1278) the sole cure of the 
 parish was confided to the vicar and the three priests 
 appointed by him, the prebendary retaining in right of 
 his prebend, the patronage or right of nominating and 
 presenting a vicar to the vicarage whenever it became 
 vacant. 
 
 It appears that very soon after this date the church at 
 Ellington was built, for I find that on the 17th August, 
 1287, John le Romayne, the then Archbishop of York, 
 granted a commission directed to the Dean of Bulmer 
 to act as his deputy in dedicating the church at 
 Ellington. 
 
 offerings which shall be due within the parish. It will be seen, however, 
 that the tithes of hay, wool, and lamb, and mortuaries are here reserved to 
 the Prebendary, who thus gets the lion's share. 
 
 * Easter dues or offerings. I may here, however, observe that Easter 
 dues are now no longer payable in Masham parish, they having been com- 
 muted when the tithes of the parish were commuted. 
 
332 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 A List of the Vicars of Masham, compiled from Torre's 
 MSS., and various other sources. 
 
 31 Mar., 1346. Sir William Bucktrout, chaplain.* Pre- 
 sented by the Prebend of Masham. 
 Vacated by death. 
 26 Sept., 1349. Sir Alan de Otteringham, Chaplain. 
 
 Death. 
 
 12 Jan., 1369. Sir John de Leghton, Chaplain. Death. 
 
 18 May, 1393. Mr. William Clynt, STP.f Death. 
 
 22 Mar., 1425. Sir Wm. Yoxhall, Chaplain. Death. 
 25 Mar., 1425. Sir J. Balderby, Chaplain. J Exchanged. 
 20 Feb., 1448. Mr. Kobert Thwaites, STP. Eesigned. 
 
 30 April, 1457. Mr. Adam Merland. 
 
 7 Oct., 1461. Sir John Clyfton. Resigned. 
 
 23 Aug., 1466. Sir John de Montfort.§ Resigned. 
 7 June, 1499. Mr. John Walker, Pbr. Death. 
 
 23 Dec, 1505. Mr. John Wylde, Pbr. Resigned. 
 
 * He is mentioned in the Nonse Rolls, an extract from which is given in 
 Appendix C. It will be seen that the title of Sir is given to several of these 
 Vicars. Formerly this title was given to Priests. Dr. Johnson thinks it 
 was applied to such as had taken the Degree of A.B. in the Universities. 
 
 f He is mentioned in Document No. 11, Appendix C, as having gone to 
 the General Council of Constance, and as having a drunken fighting curate ; 
 also in the will of John de Harwood, an advocate in the Court at York, dated 
 4th August, 1460. — See vol. i. " Testamenta Eboracensia," (Surtees Society) 
 p. 341. 
 
 % John Balderby, by his will dated the 13th Nov., 1448, and proved 25th 
 Nov., 1448, gave his soul to Almighty God, St. Mary, and All Saints, and 
 his body to be buried in the Church of St. Andrew, of Kirkby-Malzeard. 
 He is mentioned in the will of John Dene, a Canon in Ryton Cathedral, 
 dated the 15th March, 1433, and proved 11th April, 1435. — See vol. ii. 
 " Testamenta Eboracensia," (Surtees Society) p. 44. 
 
 § John de Montfort, by his will dated 24th Nov., 1498, and proved 21st 
 Jan., 1499, commended his soul to Almighty God, St. Mary, and All Saints, 
 and his body to be buried in the Quire of the Church of Kirkby-Malzeard. 
 He was a party to an agreement, in 1484, whereby it was agreed that the 
 Chapel at Middlesmoor should be consecrated, in order that the inhabitants 
 might bury therein, and have baptisms and marriages solemnized there. 
 
Masham church. 
 
 333 
 
 Mr. George Dudley, D.D. Death. 
 
 Sir Robert Snape, Pbr. Resigned. 
 
 Mr. Leonard Horsman, M.A. Death. 
 
 Thomas Gyll. Presented by Trinity 
 College, Cambridge. Death. 
 
 Francis Rydall, B.A. Resigned. 
 
 Anthony Ford. 
 
 Cornelius Welles, STB.* 
 
 Thomas Boulton. Death. 
 
 Francis Savage, STB. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman. Resigned. 
 
 Henry Fearne, STB. Resigned. 
 
 William Loe, STB. Resigned. 
 
 Benjamin Browne. Ejected, but re- 
 stored in 1661. Death. 
 
 Christopher Lancaster. 
 
 Anthony Prockter. Intruded. 
 
 John Newman, minister. Intruded. 
 
 Joseph Welde, CI. Presented by Trin- 
 ity College, Cambridge. Cession. 
 
 Patrick Cooke, M.A. 
 
 Peter Save, B.D. Death. 
 
 Goodrick Ingram. Death. 
 
 Edward Moises. Death. 
 
 Richard Kershaw, B.D. Death. 
 
 William Lawson. Death. 
 
 George Waddington, MA. Resigned. 
 
 Thomas Riddell, M.A. Death. 
 
 Thomas Hedley, M.A. 
 
 The following is a list of the Curates of Masham, so far 
 as I have been able to ascertain by a reference to the 
 Register Books of the parish and other sources of infor- 
 mation, with the dates when they held the curacy. 
 
 In 1599, Mr. William Favell, who lived at Swinton, 
 was curate. 
 
 * Cornelius Welles was, on the 31st July, 1584, presented in our Eccle- 
 siastical Court here, for not keeping the vicarage house in sufficient repair. 
 
 14 May, 
 
 1528 
 
 15 May, 
 
 1534 
 
 14 Dec, 
 
 1534 
 
 6 May, 
 
 1551 
 
 5 Oct., 
 
 1557 
 
 6 Mar., 
 
 1570. 
 
 8 Feb., 
 
 1578. 
 
 2 May, 
 
 1600 
 
 27 Dec, 
 
 1601 
 
 16 Nov., 
 
 1602 
 
 17 Oct., 
 
 1638. 
 
 23 Oct., 
 
 1639 
 
 12 July, 
 
 1649. 
 
 April, 
 
 1652. 
 
 31 Aug., 
 
 1655. 
 
 5 April, 
 
 1682. 
 
 3 Sept., 
 
 1688. 
 
 
 1703. 
 
 
 1732. 
 
 
 1790. 
 
 
 1791. 
 
 
 1833. 
 
 9 June, 
 
 1841. 
 
 March, 
 
 1856. 
 
334 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 In 1624, Mr. Thomas Hodgson succeeded. Mr. Favell. 
 On the 23rd September, 1626, he was presented in the 
 Ecclesiastical Court at Masham for reading of prayers and 
 serving the cure of Masham without a license from the Or- 
 dinary, but the case was dismissed. He was*also presented 
 in the same court on the 12th April, 1636, for not having 
 the churchyard wall in good repair, also for not having 
 a poor man's box, and for not making the stalls uni- 
 form. He was also presented in the same court on the 
 20th March, 1638, for not having a covering of silk or 
 other convenient stuff for the communion table, and for 
 not having a pot of pewter, or purer metal, for the wine 
 upon the communion table. He was also presented in 
 the same court on the 9th October, 1638, for not making 
 the stalls uniform in the body of the church and those 
 places flagged which were wanting. Death, however, 
 soon after this took him out of the reach of his persecu- 
 tors. He was buried at Masham 9th April, 1639, 
 being followed, in the same year, by 
 
 Mr. Mark Hodgson, who was curate under Dr. 
 Henry Feme, vicar. 
 
 In 1649, Mr. Jonas Brown succeeded Mr. Mark 
 Hodgson as curate. He left Masham for the curacy of 
 Middlesmoor in 1650, but it would seem that he was soon 
 put out by Mr. John Cooper, who was curate there in 1650. 
 
 In 1651 Mr. Anthony Prockter was curate under 
 Mr. Christopher Lancaster, who had obtruded himself 
 into the living to the exclusion of the Eev. Benjamin 
 Brown, the rightful vicar. 
 
 In April, 1652, "Mr. Christopher Lancaster did 
 leave the vicaridge of Masham and Kirbye, and Mr. 
 Anthonye Prockter had the parish of Masham assigned 
 over to him under hand and seale from Mr. Brown, vicar 
 of Kirbye, with consent of Mr. Matthew Beckwith and 
 those that are of the order of the fower and twentye." — 
 Parish Register. 
 
 In 1655, "Mr, Prockter did leave Masham and goe 
 to the vicaridge of Well." — Ibid. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 335 
 
 In 1655, "Mr. John Newman, minister of Masham, he 
 came to live at Masham the last day of August, 1655." 
 — Ibid. He seems to have maintained the position 
 into which he had been intruded during the Pro- 
 tectorate until 1661. 
 
 In 1679, Mr. Mark Hodgson, curate, was buried at 
 Masham 17th October, 1679. His will which is proved 
 in the Peculiar Court at Masham, is dated the 13th 
 October, 1679. 
 
 In 1680, a Mr. William Wainwright seems to have 
 been curate. 
 
 In 1693, Mr. Leonard Jenkinson, curate, was buried at 
 Masham the 24th July, 1693, when Mr. Patrick Cooke, 
 the then vicar of Masham, " came in person to serve the 
 cure at Masham.' 7 — Ibid. 
 
 In 1696, Mr. John Horner was curate. 
 
 In 1707, Mr. John Reid was curate. 
 
 In 1713, Mr. Paul Gelly, curate, was buried at Mas- 
 ham, on the 6 th April. 
 
 In 1714, Mr. William Wettenhall was curate. 
 
 In 1721, Mr. Clement was curate, and was married 
 "to Mrs. Gelly, widow," (most likely the widow of his 
 predecessor) on the 27th of April in this year. 
 
 In 1736, Mr. John Dale was curate. He married 
 Mrs. Mary Denison, of Watlass, on the 10th October, 
 1741, and subsequently became vicar of Kirby-Hill. 
 He was buried at Watlass on the 28th April, 1778. 
 
 Mr. Robert Radcliffe was curate in 1753, and many 
 succeeding years. He was the youngest son of 
 Christopher and Alice RadclyfFe, of Linton-brige- 
 end, in Craven, and is supposed to be descended from, 
 and to have possessed some of the property of Sir George 
 Radcliffe, the celebrated Secretary of the great Earl of 
 Strafford. He married Mary, one of the daughters of 
 Thomas and Dorothy Wrather, of Masham. He went to 
 live at Well, died on the 1 st of February, and was buried 
 at Masham on the 18th of February, 1785, in the seventy- 
 third year of his age. 
 
336 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 The Eev. Joseph Burrill appears by the Register 
 Book to have been curate in the year 1789. He con- 
 tinued to hold the office of curate for forty^nine years. 
 He then went to reside at Broughton Sulney in Notting- 
 hamshire (of which parish he was rector) where he 
 died on the 1st March, 1853, aged eighty-nine years. 
 
 On the loth January, 1837, the Rev. David Bruce, 
 M.A., was curate, under the Rev. George Wadding- 
 ton, M.A., vicar. He left the curacy in May, 1841, 
 and is now an honorary canon of Durham Cathedral, and 
 perpetual curate of Ferry-hill, Durham. 
 
 In 1845, the Rev. William Vaughan Yarworth, 
 M.A., was curate under the Rev. Thomas Riddell, 
 M.A., vicar. He was afterwards curate of Westbury- 
 upon-Trym, Gloucestershire. 
 
 In 1847, the Rev. John Abraham Carter M.A. (now 
 John Abraham Carter Swire, incumbent of the parish of 
 Healey) succeeded Mr. Yarworth as curate under the 
 Rev. Thomas Riddell, vicar (whose sister he subse- 
 quently married) and continued to hold the curacy un- 
 til after the death of Mr. Riddell, and the induction of 
 Mr. Hedley into the vicarage. 
 
 On the 28th February, 1858, the Rev. Edward 
 Nicholson Stott, M.A. (afterwards Fellow of the Uni- 
 versity of Durham) became curate under the Rev. 
 Thomas Hedley, M.A., vicar, and remained curate until 
 the 3rd March, 1860. He is now perpetual curate of 
 Middletown, Chirbury, Shropshire. 
 
 In 1860, the Rev. George Morton Piatt, M.A., be- 
 came curate under the Rev. Thomas Hedley, M.A., vicar. 
 He left his curacy on the 8th July, 1862, and is now the 
 perpetual curate of Cantley and Dowbiggin, Sedbergh, 
 Kendal. 
 
 In 1863, the Rev. Munby became curate 
 
 under the Rev. Thos. Hedley, M.A., vicar. 
 
 It will be seen by the documents set out in the Ap- 
 pendix C hereto, that very soon after the Church of 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 337 
 
 Masliam had been made prebendal, as before described, 
 Geoffrey Plantagenet, the then Archbishop of York, 
 with the consent of the Chapter of York, freed and 
 exempted it from all the customs and claims of his arch- 
 deacons and officials, and confirmed it to be as free for 
 ever as other the Churches of any Prebends in the Church 
 of York, and that the same Prebend should be thence- 
 forth as free and quit as any the freest Prebend in the 
 Church of York; and also, that William de Sunelli (the 
 then Archdeacon of Richmond) also, in like manner, and 
 with the consent of the Chapter of York, absolved and 
 exempted from all service and claim appertaining to the 
 Archdeaconry of Richmond, those churches that apper- 
 tained to the Prebend of Masham, which were within 
 the Archdeaconry of Richmond, of the endowment of 
 Roger de Mowbray, that was to say, the churches of 
 Masham and Kirkby, with all their appurtenances ; and 
 he confirmed, that the aforesaid churches should remain 
 free and quit from him and his successors, for ever, as 
 well from household visitations as from capitular charges 
 and aids, and synodals, and all other claims, as any the 
 freest Prebend in the Church of York. 
 
 The effect of the Prebend of Masham and the churches 
 appertaining to it, being thus exempted, was not only to 
 exempt them from archdeaconal visitation, and all pecu- 
 niary payments, and from being subject to be cited 
 before the Archdeacon, as their Ordinary, in the Arch- 
 deaconry Court at Richmond, but to confer upon it many 
 very important privileges, namely, such as appertained to 
 the freest Prebend in the Church of York. One consequence 
 of this exemption, and the grant of these privileges, was 
 the establishment, at Masham, of the Ecclesiastical Court, 
 known as the "Peculiar Court of the Prebend of Mas- 
 ham," which still exists, although by recent alterations 
 in the law deprived of nearly the whole of its former 
 jurisdiction. Whilst this court was in its full vigour, 
 the Prebendary, or his official, granted probates of the 
 wills of persons dying possessed of bona notabilia within 
 
338 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the prebendal manor, namely, the parishes of Mashani, 
 and Kirkby-Malzeard ; also letters of administration to 
 the effects of those dying intestate leaving bond notabilia 
 within the limits of the court's jurisdiction, as before 
 stated: he also summoned the clergy, resident within 
 such limits, in rural synod : he also summoned the 
 churchwardens to his visitations, which he held annually, 
 admitted them to their office, received their present- 
 ments, and took cognizance of all ecclesiastical crimes 
 and misdemeanours: he proceeded in causes, for sub- 
 traction of tithe and for the recovery of church-rates : 
 he exercised control over the fabric and furniture of the 
 churches, and the churchyard walls: he appointed a 
 registrar, and an apparitor of his court: he granted 
 licenses to curates, schoolmasters, and parish clerks (but 
 I have not discovered any instance of his granting 
 licenses to midwives,* and practitioners in physic, as is 
 sometimes found to be the case in similar courts, although 
 the right to do so is evidently an usurpation) : he granted 
 marriage licenses (and the surrogate of this court con- 
 tinues to do so) : he appointed surrogates (and the official 
 still continues to do so), and did many other acts inci- 
 dental to an ecclesiastical court, and to the office of a 
 judge of an ecclesiastical court, such as adjudicating in 
 testimentary, matrimonial, and other causes of ecclesias- 
 tical cognizance, and the granting of faculties, as is 
 evidenced by the Act-books of the court, which are still 
 in existence, and from which I have taken copious ex- 
 tracts, as will appear on referring to Appendix D hereto. 
 Mr. Lawton, however, in his " Collectio rerum Eccle- 
 siasticarum," says that the dean and chapter of York 
 have "what is called contentious jurisdiction, or the right 
 
 * The following question is among the articles of inquiry issued by 
 Bishop Fleetwood (of St. Asaph) in the year 1710 : — " Do any in your parish 
 practice physic or chyrurgery, or undertake the office' of midwife without 
 license V In the oath which was administered previous to being licensed 
 by the Bishop, they were made to swear that " I will not use any kind of 
 sorcery or incantations in the time of travail of any woman." 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 339 
 
 of deciding causes of Ecclesiastical cognizance over all 
 the places where the dignitaries and prebendaries have 
 the right of holding visitations and granting probates and 
 administrations ; and, therefore, when any suit arises re- 
 specting any grant which would otherwise have been 
 made by the prebendal, or other peculiar jurisdiction, 
 the probate or administration is, in such cases, granted 
 by the dean and chapter's court; this jurisdiction also 
 
 extends over the dissolved prebend of Masham" 
 
 And the same learned author, in his treatise of " Bona 
 Notabilia," in speaking of the right of the Peculiar Court 
 of Masham, to grant probates and letters of administration 
 adds, "the jurisdiction is also claimed by the dean and 
 chapter of York." Notwithstanding this, it is quite clear 
 that the Peculiar Court of Masham has, for hundreds of 
 years past, constantly exercised this contentious juris- 
 diction without, as far as I can see, its power so to do, 
 ever being called in question, by the dean and chapter's 
 court, or by any other authority ; and I think it would not 
 be difficult to establish that it had full and ample au- 
 thority to exercise this contentious jurisdiction. Under 
 existing circumstances, however, and having regard to 
 the recent alterations made in law, such an enquiry 
 would be more curious than profitable. 
 
 Dr. Hook, in his " Church Dictionary," has correctly 
 said, that "at the Reformation, by an oversight, the 
 Peculiars were not restored to the jurisdiction of the 
 diocesan, but remained under the king, or under such 
 other person, as by custom, or purchase, obtained the 
 right of superintendence;" so that when King Henry 
 VIII. granted the dissolved prebend of Masham to the 
 Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, he 
 granted along with it, as incident to the prebend, the 
 right of holding the Peculiar Court, a right which they 
 availed themselves of, and continue to do so to the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 The oversight, alluded to by Dr. Hook, has since been 
 repaired, for by an Order in Council, dated in August, 
 
340 MASHAM AND MASH AMSII IRE. 
 
 1846, made in pursuance of an Act of Parliament passed 
 for the purpose, the jurisdiction over these peculiar jur- 
 isdictions has been restored to the Ordinary, so that the 
 Archdeacon of Richmond, can and does, now, exercise 
 his jurisdiction and authority over this as well as other 
 Peculiars within his Archdeaconry. The consequence 
 of this is, that the Official of the Peculiar Court of Mas- 
 ham has ceased to hold his annual visitations, as formerly, 
 and the clergy and churchwardens, resident within the 
 local limits of the peculiar jurisdiction, now regularly 
 attend, and answer at the Archdeacon's Visitations, and 
 thus, to that extent at least, acknowledge him as their 
 Ordinary. 
 
 The Act to amend the law relating to Probates and 
 Letters of Administration in England, passed in August, 
 1857, has taken away all the testamentary business of 
 our Peculiar Court ; and the Act to amend the law re- 
 lating to Divorce and Matrimonial Causes in England, 
 passed at the same time, has taken away its jurisdiction 
 in matrimonial causes, if it ever had any. It still, how- 
 ever continues to grant marriage licenses as heretofore, 
 although the marriage licenses granted by the diocesan 
 are also recognized and acted upon by the clergy with- 
 in the local limits of the peculiar jurisdiction. 
 
 Another consequence of the church of Masham being 
 made prebendal, and of its exemption from archdeaconal 
 visitation, as before mentioned, was to place it under the 
 more efficient visitation of the Dean and Chapter of 
 York. That body appears by documents still in exist- 
 ence, to have exercised its visitatorial authority, not only 
 very strictly, but also very fearlessly, not failing to 
 report and correct whatever abuses they found in the 
 church, on the several occasions of their visitation of it, 
 either as to the state of the repair of the fabric, or the 
 conduct of the clergy. 
 
 In a report of one of these visitations, made about the 
 year 1414, they report that Master, or Sir William Clynt, 
 the then Vicar of Masham, was at the General Council 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 341 
 
 of Constance ;* that the commissary had inspected the 
 choir and chancel, and that they were found sound and 
 becoming complete ; that the windows of the choir were 
 in process of building by the Lord Prebendary [Thomas 
 Moore] at his own proper costs; that Sir John Wath, 
 chaplain [curate] of Masham, both in the church and 
 elsewhere, misconducted himself among the parishioners, 
 and frequently haunted common taverns, and at least 
 for two or three da}^s in the week was intoxicated, and 
 challenged the parishioners to fight with him ;f that the 
 parochial chaplains [curates] of Masham refused to per- 
 form, or celebrate, the obsequies of deceased infants, and 
 poor persons whomsoever, unless they were first paid by 
 the friends and parents twopence for every night-watch 
 [wakes for the dead], J which they had frequently ex- 
 
 * The Council of Constance is one of the most noted in the history of the 
 church, and was one of the most numerous councils ever assembled, great 
 numbers having flocked to it from all parts of Christendom, and amongst 
 these from this neighbourhood alone, were Sir William Fitz Hugh, the then 
 Lord of Mashamshire, and the Rev. Wm. Clynt, the then vicar of Masham. 
 It was assembled chiefly to put an end to the great schism which then agi- 
 tated the church, during which John XXIII., Gregory XII., and Benedict 
 XIII. , each claimed the rank and office of sovereign pontiff. The council 
 having deposed all three of them, elected Ottone, Cardinal Colonna, as legiti- 
 mate pope, by the name of Martin V. It was at this council that a canon 
 or decree was passed, asserting the supremacy of a general council over the 
 Pope — the doctrines of John Huss and of Wycliffe, were condemned as 
 heretical — and John Huss himself, together with Jerome of Prague, were 
 condemned to be burnt alive; a sentence which was carried into execution, 
 as to Huss on the 6th July, 1415, and on Jerome, on the 30th May, 1416. 
 This council had promised to occupy itself with a reform of church discipline, 
 (which was then much called for) but it did little in that way, having been 
 abruptly dissolved by the new Pope, Martin V., in April, 1418, after a sitting 
 of four years. 
 
 + We must not too hastily conclude from the mention of this disgraceful 
 conduct on the part of one of the curates of Masham, that such was a com- 
 mon occurrence in the church at this period. The very circumstance of its 
 being thus reported for correction shews, that it was, if true, much disap- 
 proved of, and condemned, and called for enquiry. We are not to condemn 
 the church, or any church, because one, or even more, of its ministers are 
 guilty of conduct inconsistent with their sacred calling. 
 
 J Brand, in his " Observations on Popular Antiquities," says, " That 
 
342 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIEE. 
 
 torted; that the chaplains [curates] received at every 
 solemnization of marriage, eightpence placed down upon 
 the book, contrary to their ancient usages, and the parish- 
 ioners pray for the imposition of silence upon the same 
 chaplains. 
 
 In another similar and subsequent report, they state 
 that the chancel was defective in the ceiling ; and that 
 the guardian of the jurisdiction (the official of the Pe- 
 culiar Court) claimed from the executors of those 
 deceased persons who had made wills, one signet ring, 
 when the testator had none, contrary to the ancient 
 custom. 
 
 In another similar and subsequent report, they state 
 that the ceiling over the altar was wanting, that the 
 chancel was defective in one beam in the roof, and in 
 glass windows, and that three roods of land appertaining 
 to the church of Masham for the maintenance of one 
 lamp were withheld by Richard Pygott, Serjeant-at-law.* 
 
 watching with the corpse was an ancient custom, everywhere practised, 
 numerous passages from Ecclesiastical writers might be cited to prove, could 
 there be any doubt of the antiquity of the custom, which, owing its origin 
 to the tenderest affections of human nature, has perhaps on that account 
 been used from the infancy of time." 
 
 The custom of holding these wakes for the dead continued to be observed 
 in this parish, and especially at Ellington and Ellingstring, until within the 
 recollection of the present generation, some of Whom can still remember the 
 observance of it, and the evils which resulted from it. The original design 
 of these wakes was, that the persons attending them should join in offering 
 up prayers for the benefit of the soul of the deceased, but their end and aim 
 having been forgotten, they tended to evil rather than good, and it was well 
 that they were discontinued, as they have now been. 
 
 * Richard Pygott took the degree of Serjeant-at-law in 1468, and ac- 
 cording to an inquisition post mortem, taken in the 1st Rich. III., 1483, was 
 found to be possessed at the time of his death, of the manor of Little Burton- 
 upon-Yore, and some messuages, &c. in Masham and Fearby. It will be 
 seen hereafter that in the arms of Wyvill, in Masham Church, the Pigot 
 arms are quartered — Robert Wyvill, of Little-Burton, having married Joan, 
 the daughter and heiress of John Pigot, who was of the Pigots, of Clother- 
 holme, near Ripon. By this marriage the Low-Burton estate was brought 
 to the Wyvills from the Pigots, and was not derived by them from the 
 Scropes, as is generally supposed. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 34 
 
 o 
 
 In another similar and subsequent report, they state 
 that the parishioners thought that they had great wrong 
 done them, because that they had wanted or had been 
 without a parish-priest for three quarters of a year. 
 Also that their neighbours thought that they had wrong 
 done them that they might not have the tithe-calves and 
 lambs, but that other men without the parish bought 
 them ; also that they thought that they had wrong done 
 them, that if a poor person sold one of the worst 
 calves they took the best to tithe. Also that they 
 desired to know what a servant should pay to tithe for 
 his hire,* for as much as ten shillings was drawn from 
 poor servants that had but a small wage to find them, 
 and that it was sore for them to take so much ; that the 
 parsonage and the houses that belonged to it, were al- 
 lowed to go down, and were unrepaired ; also that they 
 complained that there was no ceiling over the high altar ; 
 also that they thought that they would have the High- 
 Mass done in the work-day between nine and ten of the 
 clock, and of the holy day begun at ten of the clock, f 
 
 And another of such reports contains " An Ordinance for 
 celebrating divine service in the summer and winter time 
 in the church of Masham," made, as is stated, in conse- 
 quence of a request J from the parish, who desired that a 
 
 * This was a tithe which was formerly paid, under the name of personal 
 tithe, in pursuance of a constitution of Archbishop Winchelsea, by which 
 labourers and others were to pay as tithe, a tenth part of the profit on their 
 labour, after deducting all reasonable expenses. This species of tithes has 
 not been enforced for a great length of time, and is now obsolete, if not 
 abrogated by the statute 2 and 3 Edwd. VI., cap. 13, sec. 7. 
 
 t This desire on the part of the people at this time to have service in the 
 church on week-days, as well as on Sundays, would seem to indicate that 
 they really prized the ministrations of the church, and give us a favourable 
 impression as to the state of religion in the parish at this period, as contrasted 
 with later times. 
 
 % This is another indication of the state of the religious feeling in the 
 parish at this period. How different to the feeling which afterwards pre- 
 vailed in this parish, viz., after the Reformation, when the people were not 
 only indifferent to everything which, related to the church, but could not be 
 induced even by the aid of the censures of the church, and the most cruel 
 
314 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 fixed time should^ be appointed for celebrating divine 
 service, the parish extending to five miles. It is dated 
 on Saturday, the 13th August, 1519, and appoints "that 
 from the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary, [25th 
 March] unto the Feast of the Nativity of the same [25th 
 December] the first bell shall be rung for matins at six 
 o'clock, and that they commence matins at seven o'clock. 
 And from the Feast of the Nativity [25th December] 
 unto the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary, 
 [25th March] the first bell be rung at half an hour be- 
 fore seven, and they ought to commence matins at half 
 an hour before eight. And for celebrating vespers, it 
 is appointed that the first bell be sounded at one o'clock, 
 and that they commence vespers at two o'clock in winter 
 time, and in summer time the last bell be rung at two 
 o'clock aforesaid, and they commence vespers at three 
 o'clock. 
 
 Within seven or eight years after the date of this Or- 
 dinance, King Henry VIII. having been enamoured with 
 the superior charms of Anne Bullen, became anxious to 
 obtain from the Poj:>e of Rome, a divorce from his lawful 
 wife, Catherine of Arrogan, but not succeeding in thus 
 effecting his object, he in the end, by the aid of Cromwell 
 and Cranmer, shook off the authority of the Pope, and, 
 wicked wretch that he was, assumed to himself, as far as 
 regards this country, the office of Pope, and to be " In 
 England the Supreme Head on earth of the church." 
 This was called the Reformation, but reformation it cer« 
 tainly was not. Had he, however, stopped there, matters 
 would not have been so bad, but his exhausted exchequer 
 and his avaricious disposition, drove him to plunder the 
 church. Not beins; contented with dissolving the mon- 
 
 O CD 
 
 asteries, and other religious houses, and seizing upon, 
 and appropriating to himself their extensive possessions, 
 he also in like manner seized upon, and appropriated, the 
 possession of this and other Prebends of the church. 
 
 enactments, to enter it, and still less to conduct themselves with propriety 
 when brought there by compulsion. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 345 
 
 By the dissolution of this Prebend, and the seizure 
 and appropriation, by King Henry VIII. of its pos- 
 sessions, the dean and chapter of York, ceased to have 
 any interest in it, or in the church at Masham, and thus 
 their connection with the place virtually ceased. Masham 
 church still, however, retained its exemption from Arch- 
 deaconal Visitation, and accordingly then became subject 
 only to the visitation of the official of the dissolved pre- 
 bend, and to that of its diocesan, from the latter of which 
 it had never been exempted. 
 
 Whilst the church at Masham retained its connection 
 with the Cathedral church of York, and remained under 
 its fostering care, it received many visits from the capit- 
 ular body, and great was the state and ceremony obser- 
 ved on these occasions. I can even now picture to my- 
 self one of the processions of these dignitaries entering 
 the church, by the beautiful Norman door -way under the 
 massive tower, and proceeding the whole length of the 
 church up to the high altar. 
 
 The Reformation, however, proceeded but slowly 
 during the remainder of the reign of Henry VIII. It 
 was enough for him that he had accomplished his 
 object, in obtaining at the hands of Cranmer, what had 
 been denied him by the Pope of Rome, viz : his divorce 
 from his lawful wife, Queen Catherine, by which he had 
 been enabled to marry Anne Bullen, that he had 
 acquired for himself the supremacy of the church, and 
 had been enabled to plunder it of its richest possessions. 
 So time passed on, and he died as he had lived, a Roman 
 Catholic in doctrine and belief, having by his will, left 
 directions for the interment of his body, the celebration 
 of masses and the distribution of alms for the benefit of 
 his soul.* 
 
 * For this purpose he left by his will to St. George's chapel, Windsor, 
 £600 a-year for ever, for two priests to say mass at his tomb daily, for four 
 obits yearly, and a sermon at every obit, with £10 to the poor, and for a 
 sermon every Sunday, together with the maintenance of thirteen poor 
 knights. 
 
346 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 It was not so, however, during the short reign of his 
 son, and successor, the boy-king, Edward VI. No 
 sooner was the old king dead and buried, and the masses 
 sung for the repose of his soul, than was the young king 
 crowned, the ceremony being concluded " with a solemn 
 high mass sung by Archbishop Cranmer." Then it was 
 that the work of reformation (as it was called) began in 
 earnest. Their first act was to seize upon and confiscate 
 all the lands belonging to the chantries,* free chapels,f 
 colleges, and the guilds or fraternities, together with the 
 revenues given for obits, J anniversaries, § and lights in 
 churches, which had hitherto escaped the rapacity of 
 King Henry VIII. ; by which act ninety colleges, one 
 hundred and ten hospitals, and two thousand seven hun- 
 dred and thirty-four chantries, and free chapels, were 
 destroyed. Their next step was to make great alterations 
 in the offices of the church, and to prohibit the carrying 
 of candles on Candlemas -day, of ashes on Ash- Wednesday, 
 and palms on Palm- Sunday, which although simple mat- 
 ters in themselves, was an attack upon the liberty of the 
 people, and accordingly gave great umbrage to them. 
 A new liturgy was framed, and enacted by Act of Par- 
 liament, by which act very heavy penalties were imposed 
 upon such ministers as should refuse to use it, or who 
 
 * A Chantry was commonly a little chapel, or particular altar in a church, 
 endowed with lands or revenues for the maintenance of a priest, to pray for 
 the souls of the founder and his friends. For instance, the chapel at Fearhy 
 was endowed with an annuity of £5 for praying at Fearby for the souls of 
 James Cooper and his parents for ever, which was payable out of the revenues 
 of Coverham abbey at the time of its dissolution. The North aisles in most 
 of our country churches were used as chantry chapels, in which masses were 
 sung at the altar of some favourite saint, for- the souls of the founder and 
 others, whom he might name. They were also used as burial places for the 
 founder and his family. — Gill's " Vallis Eboracensis." 
 
 f Free chapels were places of religious worship, exempt from all ordinary 
 jurisdiction, save only that the incumbents were generally instituted by the 
 bishop, and inducted by the archdeacon of the place. 
 
 J Obits are offices for the dead. 
 
 § Anniversaries were days observed with prayers and alms or other com- 
 memoration, on the anniversaries of persons' deaths. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 347 
 
 should preach or speak in derogation of it. Sanctuaries* 
 
 * Anciently all churches and churchyards were places of sanctuary, al- 
 though some were endowed with greater privileges than others, or were 
 considered of greater sanctity than others, and their privileges better en- 
 forced. If a person accused of any crime, (except treason, wherein the crown, 
 and sacrilege, wherein the church, was too nearly concerned,) had fled to any 
 church or churchyard, and in forty days after went in sackcloth and con- 
 fessed himself guilty before the coroner, and declared all the particular 
 circumstances of the offence, and took the oath in that case provided, viz : 
 that he adjured the realm, and would depart from thence forthwith at the 
 port that should be assigned him, and would never return without leave from 
 the king ; he by this means saved his life, if he observed. the conditions of 
 the oath, by going with a cross in his hand, with all convenient speed to the 
 port assigned, and embarking. For if, during this forty days of privilege of 
 sanctuary, or in his road to the sea side, he was apprehended and arraigned 
 in any court for this felony, he might plead the privilege of sanctuary, and 
 had a right to be remanded, if taken out against his will. — See 4 " Black. 
 Comm.," 332. 
 
 The following is the form of the oath required to be taken by persons 
 fleeing to, and claiming sanctuary, as taken from " Rastall's Collections." — 
 " This hear thou, Sir Coroner, that I, M, of H, am a robber of sheep, or of 
 any other beast, or a murderer of one or of two, and a felon of our Lord the 
 King of England, and because I have done many such evils or robberies in 
 his land, I do abjure the land of our Lord, Edward, King of England, and I 
 shall haste me towards the port of such a place as thou hast given me : and 
 that I shall not go out of the highway, and if I do, I will that I be taken as 
 a robber, and a felon of our lord, the King ; and that at such a place I will 
 diligently seek for passage, and that I will tarry there but one flood and ebb, 
 if I can have passage ; and unless I can have it in such a place, I will go 
 every day into the sea, up to my knees, assaying to pass over ; and unless I 
 can do this within forty days, I will put myself again into the church as a 
 robber and a felon of our lord the king. So God me help and his holy judg- 
 ment." 
 
 It will be seen by the following extract from the " Records of the Sanc- 
 tuaries at Durham and Beverley," published by the Surtees Society, 1837, 
 that William Smorthit, one of our own parishioners, had occasion to seek the 
 protection of sanctuary : 
 
 " Sanctuar Dunelmense, No. 85. — "William Smerthwet, of Masham, in 
 Richmondshire, 15th January, 1502, came to the Cathedral church of 
 Durham and sought immunity for that he on an assault being made by 
 certain persons, Edward Yngram, Richard and John Yngram, brothers, and 
 George Horsman, upon him and his father in a certain narrow road near the 
 church of the same town, on the eighth day thence past, in his own defence 
 feloniously struck John Yngram with a certain le bazelard in the breast, of 
 
348 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHTRE. 
 
 were abolished, and the stone altars were ordered to be 
 removed from our parish churches, and wooden tables 
 substituted for them, and the marriage of priests was 
 declared to be good and valid. Visitors were also sent 
 out with injunctions to see that " all monuments of idol- 
 atry," (as they called the ornaments of the church) were 
 removed out of the walls and windows of the churches. 
 And by way of climax on the 6th April, 1549, a royal 
 proclamation was issued, actually forbidding the celebra- 
 tion of the mass throughout England. 
 
 These proceedings, as I have elsewhere stated, pro- 
 duced very great irritation in the minds of the people of 
 this district, who were warmly attached to the " old re- 
 ligion," and as zealously opposed to the introduction of 
 these novelties. It is not, however, my purpose here to 
 speak further on that head, but to confine myself in this 
 place, as far as possible, to what took place with reference 
 to our own parish church itself. 
 
 In consequence of these orders and injunctions, the 
 stone-altar, the screens, and lattices, which then separated 
 the choir and side-chapels from the nave, and the other 
 ornaments, which then adorned our church, were re- 
 moved or destroyed. Our beautiful church cross too, in 
 all probability was defaced at the same time. The altar- 
 
 which on the following day be died — for which he sought immunity. Be- 
 fore these witnesses, Thomas Smerthwet, Richard Warcopp, Ranold 
 Smerthwet, Robert Harvy, and others." 
 
 FLEEING TO SANCTUARY. 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 349 
 
 rails, the tesselated pavement, and painted windows,* 
 being probably then spared to be afterwards ruthlessly 
 thrown down and destroyed by the Puritans. 
 
 The early death of Edward VI., and the accession of 
 Queen Mary to the throne, checked for a while these 
 ravages of the church, and of its possessions. It is to be 
 regretted, however, that this should have been effected 
 at the cost of so much human blood, f but such a thing 
 as tolerance in matters of religion was unknown in that 
 age, and it was then considered a matter of conscience 
 and a bounden duty, on the part of professed Christians, 
 thus to put down and punish such as were deemed by 
 themselves to hold and practice erroneous doctrines, and 
 neither of the .two contending parties were in this re- 
 spect guiltless. The Marian persecutions, however, did 
 not injuriously affect the church here, or its clergy, for 
 as will be disclosed in these pages, the people of Masham, 
 if they did not sympathise with her in her crusade 
 of persecution, were but too glad of being permitted, as 
 they were by her, to adhere to the old faith, and to re- 
 ject the novel doctrines and practices which had been 
 introduced into the church in the previous reign. 
 
 The check, before alluded to, however, was but of 
 short duration, for, by the death of Queen Mary, after a 
 brief reign of five years, and the accession of her sister, 
 Queen Elizabeth, to the throne, the flood of reform, which 
 
 * Dr. Whitaker in his " History of Richniondshire," says, in speaking of 
 Masham Church, that, "In 1622 there was a shield hearing argent on a fess r 
 between three plain cotises gules, as many fleurs de lys, in a northern win- 
 dow ; and also, the arms of the Scropes in one of the south windows." 
 
 f The historian Speed (who was a Protestant) says, that 277 persons suf- 
 fered during the reign of Queen Mary, either by being deprived of their 
 livings, the loss of their estates, imprisonments, tortures, or banishment on 
 account of their religion. Lord Burghley, however, in his tract, entitled 
 " The Execution of Justice in England," says that as many as 400 suffered 
 in this reign. But great as this number seems, it is as nothing when com- 
 pared with the number of Roman Catholics who suffered during the suc- 
 ceeding reign of Queen Elizabeth, on account of their religion — allowance 
 however, should be made on account of the much longer reign of the latter 
 Queen. 
 
350 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 had been but dammed up for the while, was allowed to 
 break loose again, and that too with greater force than 
 before, only to bear down with an irresistable force all 
 before it, and to turn the tide of persecution in the con- 
 trary direction, viz : against the Roman Catholics. In this 
 reign, unlike that of Queen Mary, the church at Masham 
 and its clergy and people were made to suffer. In it 
 cruel penal laws were enacted for the extirpation of the 
 Catholic religion, which at that time was the prevailing 
 religion in this parish. It was made death to ordain a 
 Catholic priest within the kingdom — it was death for a 
 Catholic priest to enter the kingdom — it was death to 
 harbour a Catholic priest — it was death to confess to such 
 a priest — it was death for a priest to celebrate mass — and 
 it was death for a Catholic to attend at mass. And other 
 laws* were enacted, which were hardly less cruel in their 
 
 * By the statute 1 Eliz., cap. 1, all persons were required to resort to 
 their Parish church upon every Sunday, and other days, ordained and used 
 to be kept as holidays, and then and there to abide orderly and soberly, dur- 
 ing the time of common prayer, preaching, and other service of God there 
 to be used and ministered, on pain of punishment by the censures of the 
 church, and also on pain of forfeiting twelve pence for every such offence, to 
 be levied by the churchwardens to the use of the poor, of the goods, lands, 
 and tenements of such offender by way of distress. 
 
 By the 23 Eliz., cap. 1 , it was enacted that every person, above the age 
 of sixteen years, who should not repair to church, should forfeit £20 a 
 month, and that if he should not do so for twelve months he should be 
 bound with two sureties in £200 at least, to the good behaviour, and so to 
 continue bound until he did conform. 
 
 If any person should keep a schoolmaster who should not repair to 
 church, or be licensed by the Bishop, he should forfeit £10 a month, and 
 such schoolmaster should be disabled to be a teacher of youth and be im- 
 prisoned for a year. 
 
 By the statute 29 Eliz., cap. 6, it was enacted that every offender who 
 should not repair to church who had been once convicted, should for every 
 month afterwards until he conformed, pay into the exchequer without any 
 other indictment or conviction, in every Easter and Michaelmas Term, as 
 much as shall then remain unpaid after the rate of £20 a-month, and if de- 
 fault should be made in any part of the payment thereof, the Queen might 
 by process out of the exchequer, seize all the goods and two parts of the lands 
 of such offender. But a subsequent statute, the 3rd James I., cap. 4, im- 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 351 
 
 operation, their professed object being to drive the people 
 into the adoption of the new doctrines, however contrary 
 they might be to their own convictions. Snch was the 
 vigour and stringency of these laws that the people of 
 this district, as we have already seen, were driven into 
 open rebellion, and were punished accordingly.* 
 
 I have already shewn in these pages how that the re- 
 ligion of the people being thus interfered with, and 
 attempted to be coerced in a particular direction, they not 
 only rebelled against it, but refused to listen to its teach- 
 ings, or to reverence its ministers, and how they were 
 persecuted for it. These proceedings, as to the great 
 bulk of the people, instead of driving them into the 
 church, drove them out of it, and many that remained in 
 it (being such characters as I have before described) 
 would, for the credit of the church, have been better out 
 of it, for they but nominally conformed to its doctrines 
 and precepts in order to avoid the penalties, and as such 
 were worse than hypocrites. 
 
 In the midst of these persecutions, and possibly as a 
 consequence of them, puritanism reared its pestilential 
 head within this district, and not only took possession of 
 a small portion of the laity, but also of the vicar of Mas- 
 ham, which also, in its turn, caused considerable irri- 
 tation in the parish. The Rev. Gilbert Horseman having 
 
 proved upon this last act, by enacting, that the King might refuse the £20 
 a-month, and take two parts of the lands, at his option. 
 
 And every person who should maintain, retain, relieve, keep, or harbour 
 in his house, any servant, sojourner, or stranger, who should not repair to 
 church for a month together, should for every month forfeit £10. 
 
 What mortal man, I would ask, could resist laws such as these ? And 
 can it be wondered at, that by force of these accursed enactments, many bad 
 Roman Catholics were turned into worse Protestants ? 
 
 * Dr. Bridge water (a Roman Catholic) in his " Concertatio Ecclesiae 
 Catholicae," gives the names of about twelve hundred Roman Catholics who 
 thus suffered on account of their religion during the first thirty years of the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth, namely before the year 1 588, and we know that 
 great numbers suffered in the same w T ay after that period ; and, as such are 
 not taken into account in that work, these pages, indeed, will add not a few 
 to the names thus enumerated by him. 
 
352 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 succeeded to the vicarage in the year 1602, in the course 
 of time, exhibited evident symptoms of a strong leaning 
 to the puritanical doctrines and practices, so obnoxious 
 to his parishioners, as is shewn by his not having the 
 bell tolled for prayers on Wednesdays,* and Fridays, and 
 not reading the litany and prayers on those days, as had 
 hitherto been the practice in this parish, and in not 
 wearing a hood,f and in refusing to read in the church 
 
 * Dr. Hook, in his " Church Dictionary," says, that Wednesday, " in our 
 own Church is numbered among the Rogation and Ember days, besides 
 which throughout the year the Litany is appointed to be sung or said on 
 Wednesday, as well as on Sunday and Friday, after morning Prayer"; 
 and as to Friday he says, " It is our weekly Fast for our share in the death 
 of Christ, and its gloom is only dispersed if Christmas-day happens to fall 
 thereon." The Puritans, however, and the Vicar sympathizing with their 
 prejudiced and erroneous views upon the subject, refused to observe these 
 days as too nearly approaching the usages of the Romish Church, which of 
 itself was a sufficient reason, according to their ideas, for rejecting them. 
 
 f By the 58th Canon, "every minister saying the Public Prayers, or 
 ministering the Sacraments, or other rites of the Church, if they are gra- 
 duates, shall wear upon their surplices, at such times, such hoods as by the 
 orders of the Universities are agreeable to their degrees." Although the 
 wearing, or the not wearing, a hood, is an indifferent matter of itself, yet 
 Mr. Horseman was bound by the vows he took at his ordination, to obey the 
 Canons of the Church, and as such to wear a hood. The Puritans how- 
 ever, had, or pretended to have, some scruples about the matter. They even 
 objected to the surplice, which they called a rag of Popery — the whore of 
 Babylon's smock; and the Book of Common Prayer, they called a Mass in 
 English, and nicknamed it Porridge. Such was the temper of these people that 
 
 Tinkers bawled aloud, to settle 
 Church-discipline, for [instead of] patching kettle. 
 No sow-gelder did blow bis horn 
 To geld a cat, but cried REFORM. 
 The oyster- women locked their fish up, 
 And trudged away to cry No Bishop ; 
 The mouse-trap men laid save-alls by, 
 And 'gainst ev'l counsellors did cry ; 
 Botchers left old clothes in the lurch, 
 And fell to turn and patch the Church ; 
 Some cried the COVENANT, instead 
 Of pudding-pies and ginger-bread ; 
 And some for brooms, old boots, and shoes, 
 Bawled out to purge the Commons' HOUSE : 
 Instead of kitchen-stuff, some cry 
 A GOSPEL-PREACHING MINISTRY; 
 And some for old suits, coats, or cloak, 
 No Surplices nor Service-book ; 
 A strange harmonious inclination 
 Of all degrees to Reformation.- -Butler's Hudibras. 
 
Masham church. 353 
 
 the King's Proclamation. For these offences he was 
 presented in our Ecclesiastical court, when a sentence of 
 suspense was pronounced against him, soon after which 
 he resigned his cure, and died shortly afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Horseman was succeeded in the vicarage by the 
 Rev. Dr. Henry Ferae (afterwards Bishop of Chester), 
 who was anything but favourable to the Puritans, as may 
 be supposed, not only on account of his rapid preferment 
 in the church, but from his being selected as a proper 
 person, on account of his abilities, to state the case in 
 favour of Episcopacy as opposed to the Presbytery, be- 
 fore the Commissioners appointed to settle the Treaty of 
 Uxbridge. He did not, however, remain long enough 
 in the parish to be able to effect any great change or im- 
 provement in it. 
 
 The Puritans, however, were in their turn persecuted, 
 and as Lord Macaulay says, " persecution produced its 
 natural effect on them. It found them a sect ; it made 
 them a faction. To their hatred of the church was now 
 added hatred of the crown.* The two sentiments were 
 intermingled, and each embittered the other," and the 
 result was they became for a while the dominant party 
 in both church and state, and as such they not only seized 
 the reins of government, but subverted the church, and 
 having ejected the greatest portion of the clergy from 
 their livings, they seized upon the revenues, and intruded 
 ministers of their own peculiar views into their parishes. 
 Neal (who was himself a Puritan, and therefore may be 
 
 * That man who can readily throw off the authority of his church, will 
 not find it very difficult, in like manner, to throw off the authority of the 
 state, and thus become a rebel to his sovereign, as he is to his Maker. The 
 truth of this proposition was fully borne out by the subsequent history of 
 these times. The same parties who subverted the church, and denied its 
 authority in sacred things, murdered their Sovereign, having first denied 
 his authority in temporal things. We know what followed. The people 
 soon got sick of the change, and again desired a King, and a King was 
 given unto them, not the best of kings certainly, but a bad king even, as 
 they had learnt from past bitter experience, was better than no king at all. 
 
 Y 
 
354 MASHAM AND MASIIAMSIIIRE. 
 
 regarded as a trustworthy authority upon the subject) 
 in his " History of the Puritans," in speaking of the 
 sufferings of the Episcopal clergy at this time, says, 
 " These being in possession of the best livings in the 
 church were liable to suffer the greatest damages ; mul- 
 titudes of them left their cures, and took sanctuary in the 
 king's armies or garrisons, having disposed of their goods 
 and chattels in the best manner they could. Others, 
 who had rendered themselves obnoxious by their sermons 
 or declarations for the king, were put under confinement, 
 no friend being suffered to come near them; " "yet," he 
 says, " it ought to be remembered that none were im- 
 prisoned or turned out for their adhering to the doctrine 
 or discipline of the Church of England, till after the 
 imposing of the Scots' Covenant,* but for immorality, 
 
 * " The Solemn League and Covenant," which was entered into, and 
 mutually subscribed, by the Covenanting and Parliamentary leaders, as well 
 as by a large number of the people of both England and Scotland, and was 
 adopted by the English Parliament on the 21st of September, 1643, is here 
 referred to. Hallam says, "The Covenant consisted in an oath, to be sub- 
 scribed by all persons in both kingdoms, whereby they bound themselves to 
 preserve the Reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, wor- 
 ship, discipline, and government, according to the Word of God and the 
 practice of the best reformed churches; and to endeavour to bring the 
 churches of God, in the three kingdoms, to the nearest conjunction and uni- 
 formity in religion, confession of faith, form of church government, directory 
 for worship and catechising ; to endeavour, without respect of persons, the 
 extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, and whatsoever should be found contrary to 
 sound doctrine and the power of godliness ; to preserve the rights and privi- 
 leges of the Parliaments, and the liberties of the kingdoms; to endeavour 
 the discovery of incendiaries and malignants, who hinder the reformation 
 of religion, and divide the King from his people, that they may be brought 
 to punishment" This Covenant, as we have already seen, was enforced by 
 its adherents, whilst they were in power, by civil penalties of the severest 
 description, exacted with a rigour anything but consistent with their reli- 
 gious professions. Their power, however, ceased with the Restoration, 
 between which time and the Revolution of 1688, instead of being 
 the persecutors they became the persecuted, and hard was the measure 
 which was then meted out to them by their old antagonists, now 
 again in power. They were hunted, and mercilessly shot down like 
 wild beasts, by Claverhouse's dragoons ; so that it is said, that, " Scarcely 
 
MASHAM CHUKCH. 355 
 
 false doctrine, non-residence, or taking part with the 
 King against the Parliament. However it is to be lamen- 
 ted that several pious and worthy bishops, and other 
 clergymen, who withdrew from the world, and were 
 desirous to live peaceably without joining either side, 
 suffered afterwards in common with the rest of then' 
 brethren, their estates and livings being sequestered, 
 their houses and goods plundered by ungovernable 
 soldiers, and themselves reduced to live upon the fifths, 
 or a small pension from the Parliament, either because 
 they could not take the covenant or comply with the new 
 directory for public worship;" and again, he says, "Be- 
 sides the sequestration of benefices, the Parliament con- 
 sidered the King's clergy as parties to the war, and seized 
 their estates both real and personal under that character, 
 towards defraying the expenses of it. Divers clergymen 
 of considerable learning and blameless lives, sound pro- 
 testants and good preachers, lost their estates and liveli- 
 hoods." A pretty candid confession to come from a 
 Puritan ! What a humiliating picture of human nature 
 is this, that 
 
 " They who should have ope'd the door 
 Of charity and light, for all men's finding, 
 
 Squabbled for words upon the altar-floor, 
 And rent the Book in struggles for the Binding. 
 
 Charles Dickens, 
 
 In the midst of the proceedings here described, the 
 vicarage of Masham was seized upon in the name of the 
 
 is there a churchyard extant in Scotland, laying claim to antiquity, 
 that does not contain one or more stones, the half-obliterated inscrip- 
 tions of which attest the fact, that underneath lies some poor victim of 
 persecuting zeal." 
 
 And no more 
 The assembled people dared, in face of day, 
 To worship God, or even at the dead 
 Of night, save when the wintry storm raved fierce, 
 And thunder-peals compelled the men of blood 
 To crouch within their dens ; then dauntlessly 
 The scattered few would meet, in some deep dell 
 By rocks o'er-canopied, to hear the voice, 
 Their faithful pastor's voice." 
 
 Graham's Sabbath. 
 
356 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Parliament, and the Rev. Benjamin Browne, the then 
 vicar, was ejected from his living. For what cause Mr. 
 Browne was so ejected, is not known, except as a " scan- 
 dalous minister," a term, however, which was applied to 
 all such as were ejected from their livings, although 
 many of them, it is admitted, little deserved so oppro- 
 brious a term being applied to them. It could not have 
 been on account of immorality, or unsound doctrine, be- 
 cause I find that during the time he so remained out of 
 his living, he was doing occasional dutv at some of the 
 neighbouring churches, which the Parliament could not 
 supply with ministers, for Neale says, " The silencing of 
 so many clergymen at once, made it very difficult to 
 find persons qualified to fill the vacant pulpits. And 
 again, he says, " The Parliament entertained and pro- 
 moted several Scots divines, and yet after all, wanted a 
 supply for several vacant benefices, which obliged them 
 to admit of some unlearned persons and pluralists, not of 
 choice, but through necessity." How r ever this may be, 
 Mr . Browne was deprived and kept out of his living for 
 several years. On the 12th of July, 1649, Mr. Chris- 
 topher Lancaster, a " Preaching Minister," was put into 
 the living by the Parliament, from which time down to 
 April, 1652, he appears not only to have held the 
 vicararge but to have discharged the duty in person. 
 On this latter date, however, he went to Kirkby 
 Malzeard, when, according to memorandum entered in 
 the Parish Register, it is said that Mr. Anthonye 
 Prockter had the parish of Masham assigned over to him 
 under hand and seale from Mr. Brown, vicar of Kirbye, 
 with consent of Mr. Matthew Beckwith,* and those that 
 
 * Matthew Beckwith was the son of Roger Beckwith, Esq., of Aldborough 
 Hall, near Masham. He was one of Cromwell's captains, and a justice of 
 the peace for the North Riding, and as such was very active in putting the 
 laws in force not only against the Roman Catholics, but such as presumed to 
 differ from him in matters of religion. Justices of the peace, however, 
 during the Commonwealth, were generally speaking not men of the first 
 water. There were many Justice Shallows among them. As Lord Clarendon 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 357 
 
 are of the order of the fower and twentie."* It appears 
 that he remained here until 1655, for in another memo- 
 randum in the Parish Register, under date of 1655, it is 
 stated that " Mr. Prockter did leave Masham and goe to 
 the vicaridge of Well." This Anthony Prockter is de- 
 scribed in the Parish Register of Well, as a " Noncon- 
 formist," and as having intruded himself there between 
 the years 1654 and 1662. 
 
 Mr. Prockter was succeeded here by Mr. John 
 Newman, who is described in the Parish Register, 
 as " Minister of Masham," which says that " he 
 came to live at Masham the last day of August, 
 1655," and he seems to have remained here, and in the 
 possession of the living during the Protectorate, until 
 1661, when the Rev. Benjamin Browne, the rightful 
 vicar, was restored to it, and lived to enjoy it, after all 
 
 observes, they were raised out of a class of persons who had previously been 
 of no higher grade than constables ; as an instance of this, the town of 
 Chelmsford, at the beginning of the wars, is said to have been governed by 
 a tinker, two cobblers, two tailors, and two pedlars. It was probably in his 
 capacity as a justice of the peace, and acting on the behalf of Parliament, 
 that Matthew Beckwith was a party to the transaction here alluded to, 
 whereby Mr. Browne, the rightful vicar of Mashain, was put out of his 
 living to make way for Mr. Anthony Prockter, the Nonconforming Minister. 
 After the Restoration, Matthew Beckwith became steward to the Earl of 
 Elgin (an ancestor of the present Marquis of Ailesbury) and as such built 
 the east end of the Marmion Chantry, at Tanfield, where he resided, and 
 put over his door in latin, 
 
 IF RELIGION FLOURISHES I LIVE. 
 M. B. 1668. 
 
 "Whereupon Mr. Littleton, the then rector of Tanfield, who lived opposite to 
 him, by way of answer, put up over his door : 
 
 I do not heed the man the more 
 That hangs religion at his door. 
 
 He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir John Buck, Knt., of Filey, by 
 whom he had issue, from whom are descended the Beckwiths, of Thurcroft, 
 Yorkshire, and Trimdon, in the county of Durham. 
 
 * This is Ibelieve the first time that the body called the " Four and Twenty" 
 are named. It proves at all events that that body was not only in existence, 
 but were exercising very extraordinary powers, so early as the 12 th July, 
 1649. 
 
358 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 his trials, some twenty years afterwards. He died and 
 was buried at Masham on the 11th December, 1681. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that the few ornaments 
 which had been left to the church on its being despoiled 
 soon after the Reformation, were removed or destroyed 
 during the supremacy of the Puritans, and that it is most 
 probable that it was at this time that the altar-rails, tes- 
 selated pavement, and the stained glass windows, which 
 formerly graced the church, were broken down and 
 demolished. At all events we have but too much proof 
 that they left the church in a great state of neglect and 
 decay, and in need of much reparation. 
 
 I have not been able to ascertain what progress was 
 made in the restoration of the ornaments and in the re- 
 pairs of the church, during the remaining years of Mr. 
 Browne's incumbency, but it appears by the church- 
 wardens' accounts that they were being proceeded with 
 in 1682, when his successor, the Rev. Joseph Welde, 
 entered upon the vicarage. I suspect, however, that in 
 the year 1680, considerable expense was incurred by the 
 churchwardens in the restoration of the church, as I find 
 that the accounts for that year were objected to by some 
 of the parishioners, who cited the churchwardens to pro- 
 duce their accounts in the Ecclesiastical Court at York, 
 but that court was restrained from further proceeding in 
 the suit by reason of the Court of King's Bench having 
 granted a writ of prohibition for that purpose, as will be 
 seen hereafter. 
 
 The following items of payment, which I have ex- 
 tracted from the churchwardens' accounts for the year 
 1682, will afford us some information as to what was then 
 doing : 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 " For 4 churchwardens goinge with Mr. Weld into the parish to 
 
 to gather a Brief. . 
 " Bestowed on Mr. Weld at several times when hee preached 
 « For goeing to Ripon beinge summed to ye Bishop's Court, both 
 
 old and new churchwarden 
 " For charges with ye Bishop's Parriter att Roberta Jaques 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. - 359 
 
 " Paid at the Courte for an Order for settinge ye Altar Railes .034 
 " For charges att ye same time old and new churchwardens being 
 
 sitted to appear .. .. .. .. ..054 
 
 " For our dismission out of Court and Charges . . ..048 
 
 " For given for attendinge the Parson Courte 2 dayes, being sitted 
 
 to appear ., .. .. .. ..040 
 
 "Paid to William Dawson, of Tanfield, for Riles to Alter Table 116 
 " For fetching them from Tanfeild and other charges . . ..020 
 
 From these items we learn that the altar rails, which 
 had been removed as in other churches in these troublous 
 times, were now restored, in consequence of some pro- 
 ceedings having been taken against the parish in the 
 Ecclesiastical Court at York to compel their restoration, 
 as well as to otherwise restore the church which had 
 fallen to decay. 
 
 The Brief, above alluded to, which raised £8 4s. 9d. 
 was for the benefit of the French Protestants. 
 
 In the accounts for 1683, and 1685, several sums are 
 entered as having been paid for charges with two limners 
 which came to see the church, 3s. 8d., and for what is 
 called beautifying the church, and amongst other items, 
 is " Paid Phillip Waller for drawinge ye kinge's arms* 
 in oyle, which was more than our bargain, £1." The 
 beautifying here alluded to is no doubt the covering of 
 the walls of the church with texts of scripture, painted in 
 black letters, and surrounded by ornamental scroll-work, 
 to form panels. Some of this work was exposed to view 
 during the late restoration of the church. In the ac- 
 counts for the same year, 1685, several sums are also 
 entered as charges for a " new belfrey floor," and in those 
 for 1688, for the expenses of the churchwardens in going 
 to York, on their being cited to appear three several 
 times at the Ecclesiastical Court there, and for court 
 fees paid by them on those occasions. 
 
 * In the year 1650 (during the Commonwealth) the Parliament caused the 
 king's arms to he defaced and expunged in all places of public worship and 
 courts of judicature throughout the dominions, " to make the giddy people 
 forget the garlick and onions of Egypt they much hankered after." After 
 the Restoration the royal arms were required to be put up again in the 
 churches, which will account for this item. 
 
360 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 In this latter year the Rev. Patrick Cooke, M.A., ap- 
 pears to have succeeded to the vicarage. He did not, 
 however, come and take up his residence at Masham 
 until July, 1693, the duty having in the meantime been 
 discharged by his curate, Mr. Leonard Jenkinson, who 
 died at this time. 
 
 It appears by the churchwardens' accounts, and the 
 Minute Book of the Four and Twenty that in 1689, the 
 churchwardens' seat was close to the pulpit, and that the 
 pew which they now occupy was then bought by 
 Abstrupus Dan by, Esq. from Mr. Christopher Marshall 
 of Masham, for two pounds, and presented by him to the 
 churchwardens . 
 
 The reparation of the church appears by the following 
 items in the churchwardens' accounts to have been con- 
 tinued during Mr. Cook's incumbency. 
 
 " 1695. Paid the workmen for poyntinge the spire 
 
 Paid for a load of malt and Bruinge it and carryin it to 
 church 
 " 1696. Paid Joseph Pickersgill for makinge 3 new Windowes 
 Paid to John Robinson for Ironworke for church- 
 wardenes and Bells 
 " 1699. Paid to Joseph Pickersgill, glazier, for makinge 1 new 
 "Window and mendinge several other Windowes . . 
 " 1702. Paid to Joseph Pickersgill for makinge 2 new Windowes 
 
 The new windows above alluded to were, I fear, no 
 improvement to the church but rather a disfigurement of it. 
 
 The Rev. Peter Save, B.D. (Mr. Cooke's successor) 
 entered upon the vicarage in the year 1703, and during 
 his incumbency of twenty-nine years was the cause of 
 much ill-feeling in the parish. He was a very trouble- 
 some and litigious person, having instituted several suits 
 for tithes against his parishioners, and especially against 
 those of the parish of Kirkby Malzeard. These proceed- 
 ings involved him in debt, which caused him to be in- 
 carcerated for a while in York Castle, during which 
 time one of the Register Books belonging to the parish 
 of Kirkby Malzeard was lost. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 
 
 361 
 
 I extract the following items of payment made by the 
 churchwardens during Mr. Save's incumbency, as best 
 elucidating the state of matters in the parish at this 
 time. 
 
 "1719. 
 
 "1721. 
 
 "1723. 
 
 1725. 
 
 " 1727. 
 
 £ 
 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 1 10 6 
 
 • • • • 
 
 . 13 
 
 8 
 
 • • • • 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 • • • • 
 
 1 11 
 
 8 
 
 • • • • 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 • • • • 
 
 2 2 
 
 6 
 
 days at York 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 Expenses by waiting on Mr. Save to treat 
 
 Expenses at York when obliged to appearing — Mr. Save 
 for 4 men and horses with Mr. Waite and servant, 
 and Mr. Waldrig and Wm. Johnson 
 
 Expences on the Rode with same men to and from 
 York 
 
 Court Charges on yt account 
 
 Paid to ye Procter per Bill 
 
 Paid Mr. Wait for his journey 
 
 Paid Mr. Waldrick p. Bill 
 
 For Wm. Johnson self and horse 3 days at York 
 
 To Sir Abstrupus Danby Servt. for money expenses 
 about going to Kirby Knowle to enquire for a cu- 
 rate, sixpence to a messenger twice to Mr. Brook- 
 bank 
 
 Paid Parson Dickison for giving Communion 
 
 Paid M. Thirkhiil for going to Middlesmoor for a Parson 
 
 Paid Parson Colling for giving Communion and spent 
 with him 
 
 Paid for a Hors for Parson to Nidherdall 
 
 Paid Parson Dicison for 2 days giveing Communion and 
 spent with him 
 
 Spent when we let the churchyard wall 
 
 Expences about Feasting the church when it was to be 
 beutefyed was 
 
 For Alle by Churchwardens and fower and twenty 
 when the clock was about letting 
 
 Do when the Clock was lett 
 
 Spent with ye Collectors when they brought money . . 
 
 Spent with the Parson* . . 
 
 * The Churchwardens' accounts are full of such items as these. These 
 extracts are valuable, as giving us an insight into the manners and habits of 
 the people at this period. At this time no business whatever, not even 
 church business, could be transacted, except at the alehouse. The clergy 
 were not even exempt from this bad habit, and the churchwardens and the 
 Four and Twenty were peculiarly guilty of it. Hence we find that no parish 
 business was ever done without " drink " being at the end of it, and an item 
 such as this appearing in the annual accounts. No one can conceive the ex- 
 tent to which this bad practice was carried in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries in this as well as in other parishes. 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
?)(\2 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 " 1728. Paid Mr. Pointon, of Rippon, for exchange of the 
 
 church Flaggons and Salvers . . . . . . 110 
 
 For Scouring the Flaggons . . . . . . -— 
 
 It will be seen by the following entry, made in the 
 Minute Book of the Four and Twenty, that that body in 
 the year 1730 determined upon taking proceedings 
 against Mr. Save in the Ecclesiastical Court for mis- 
 conduct. 
 
 "26th August, 1730. 
 
 " It was then order' d at Vestry that the churchwardens 
 should present Mr. Save for several misdemeanors at the 
 Visitation to be held at Aldbrough the Friday following 
 by the Dean and Chapter of York, and that ye parish 
 should reimburse them the charge they should be at and 
 should indemnify the churchwardens for what they should 
 do touching the primisses which said misdemeanors are 
 contained in their presentment and to be presented at ye 
 sd. Visitation. Signed by R. Beckwith, Jno. Bartlett, 
 Chr. Gregg, Tho. Hardcastle, Thomas Ripley, John 
 Ward, Jno. Lonsdale, Will. Bankes, Thos. Leathley, 
 Matthew Jackson, Hen. Ascough, Nic. Watson, Chr. 
 Dawson, X Hodgson his mark, Joseph Pickersgill, Tho. 
 Clarkson." 
 
 Connected with this business I find the following en- 
 tries of pa3 7 ments in the churchwardens' accounts for the 
 years 1730, and 1731, being evidently the expenses in- 
 curred hi the prosecution of Mr. Save. 
 
 11 1730. P'd at Berrow Bridge ye Churchwarden's expences 
 Aug. ye 28. P'd ye Court Fees at the same place and time 
 
 At ye same time p'd Mr. Brath for a Retaining Fee 
 "Dec. ye 1. Paid for a citation 
 
 „ ye 18. P'd for expence att York 
 Spent as we came home 
 P'd for 3 days' Hors hire to York 
 "1731. Disburs'd as by note in carrying sev'l Witnesses to 
 
 York . . . . . . . . . . 8 18 4 
 
 Mr. Save did not long survive this prosecution, having 
 died in the year following, as appears by an inscription 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 383 
 
 upon a freestone monument, erected against the south 
 wall of the choir of the church at Kirkby Malzeard. 
 
 " The Reverend Peter Save, Batchelor of Divinity and 
 Vicar of ys Parish 29 years was buried under ys Tomb 
 • by his own desire of laying in ye churchyard, September 
 the 11th, 1732." 
 
 In the same year in which Mr. Save died, a clock was 
 put up in the Church-steeple, in pursuance of a Resolution 
 previously passed by the Four and Twenty, in which they 
 direct that the clock face and hand should be placed on 
 the outside of the spire or steeple [and not in the tower 
 as it had heretofore been, and is now again, placed] as 
 not only being commodious and of great use to the in- 
 habitants of the town and the people resorting to the 
 market and fair, but also the country generally. The 
 following items taken from the churchwardens' accounts 
 for 1732, relate to such clock: 
 
 " 1732. P'd to George Smithes for drying the Clock 
 
 P'd to AVm. Thirkill for Alle for the churchwardens and 
 
 George Smithes, meeting about the Diall plate, for 
 
 setting of it up 
 P'd George Smithes for repairing of the hand 
 P'd to John Howgill for the Diall plate as ap'ears by Bill 
 P'd for the carriage of the Diall plate betwixt York and 
 
 Millby, and the car'age betwixt Milby and Masham 13 6 
 
 Mr. Save was succeeded in the Vicarage by the Rev. 
 Goodrick Ingram. During Mr. Ingram's incumbency, 
 a gallery was erected at the south end of the nave of the 
 church, as appears by the following entries in the church- 
 wardens' accounts : 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 "1751. For a Faculty for the Gallery .. .. . . 2 10 
 
 To Thos. Walker and Jno. Shepherd, to complete the 
 
 price of the Gallery . . . . . . ..300 
 
 It appears by a minute entered in the Minute Book of 
 the Four and Twenty, dated 14th March, 1753, that three 
 of the floors in the steeple, namely, those two which were 
 next under the bell-floor, and that which was over it, as 
 also the roof over the nave, were much out of repair ; 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
361 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and that the outside walls and the steeple were much in 
 want of being pointed ; also that the walk upon the top 
 of the tower outside the steeple also wanted repairing and 
 leading ; all which repairs the Four and Twenty then 
 ordered to be done. Leave was also given by them to 
 Mr. Danby at his own cost to make a ceiling under the 
 roof of the nave of the church, and to embellish it with 
 cornices and other suitable ornaments, such as he should 
 think proper, and to make what alterations he should 
 think fit, in the windows in the body of the church. 
 
 In another minute in the same Book, dated the 23rd 
 January, 1754, it is stated that the north aisle of the 
 Church was so ruinous and out of repair in the leads, 
 that it required to be entirely releaded, and that the 
 Four and Twenty, accordingly, ordered it to be done. 
 It is also therein stated that the windows in the same 
 aisle were thought too small, and insufficient for the 
 lighting of the church : and that the leads and glass in 
 such windows were so broken that they required to be 
 made entirely anew; and that the Four and Twenty, 
 accordingly, then ordered such windows to be so en- 
 larged, and to have new glass put therein. They also, 
 at the same time, ordered that the churchyard gates 
 should be made anew, the old ones being quite decayed 
 and broken. 
 
 In another minute in the same book, dated the 6th 
 August, 1755, it is stated that the south aisle of the 
 church was out of repair, and that Wm. Danby, Esq., 
 out of the good will he had to the parish, and in regard 
 to the great expenses the inhabitants had lately been at 
 in the repairs of other parts of the church, had volun- 
 tarily agreed at his own charge to take down the roof, 
 and to erect a good and substantial one in its stead, and 
 to make a handsome ornamental ceiling to it, and to 
 make new windows in such aisle, and that leave should be 
 then given to Mr. Danby to carry out such repairs and 
 improvements as proposed. 
 
 Mr. Ingram was, on his death, succeeded in the vicar- 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 365 
 
 age of Masham, by the Eev. Edward Moises. During 
 his incumbency the repairs and restoration of the church 
 appear to have been continued. 
 
 It appears by a minute entered in the minute book, 
 before alluded to, dated the 18th June, 1760, that it had 
 then been found, that the vestry and aisle adjoining to the 
 chancel, were so ruinous and out of repair, and particu- 
 larly the roof, that it could not be repaired without 
 making it entirely anew, and being releaded, and that 
 the Four and Twenty then accordingly ordered this to 
 be done, and also that the windows of the vestry and 
 aisle should be enlarged or altered, as the churchwardens 
 should think requisite. 
 
 In another minute in the same book, dated the 4th 
 March, 1761, it was ordered by the Four and Twenty, 
 that with regard to the vestry, the window of which was 
 greatly out of repair, should be made anew, and that a 
 plastered ceiling should be made and the walls new 
 plastered ; and that the chamber floor,* which was entirely 
 useless, should be taken down. 
 
 And in another minute in the same book, dated the 
 17th November, 1765, it is stated that the four bells be- 
 longing to the church had been taken down on account 
 of the badness of the timber-work, and other materials, 
 used in the hanging of them, and that the bells them- 
 selves were not -only somewhat out of repair, but were 
 so ill proportioned in point of size and weight, ill-shaped, 
 ill-matched, and untuneable, that it was thought advise- 
 able that they should be sold, and four new good and 
 tuneable bells should be purchased in their stead ; and 
 also that a sum of money had been raised by a vol- 
 untary subscription, sufficient for purchasing two ad- 
 ditional bells ; and that the Four and Twenty had there- 
 fore ordered that the churchwardens should dispose of 
 the four bells, and purchase four good new tuneable 
 
 * From this it appears that up to this time there had been a chamber 
 over the vestry. 
 
366 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 bells in their stead, and had also given leave to add two 
 other bells to them, and to have the whole six bells hung 
 in the belfry. 
 
 The following extract from the churchwardens' ac- 
 counts will shew the weight and cost of these six bells. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 "Paid to Jas. Harrison, Bell Founder, for Freight of 4 old 
 Bells from York to Hull 
 
 Cwts. qrs. lbs. 
 " For 6 new Bells No. 1 . . . 5 3 20 
 
 18 6 
 
 No. 2 . . 
 No. 3 . . 
 No. 4.. 
 No. 5 . . 
 No. 6 , 
 
 , 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 11 
 
 13 
 
 11 
 22 
 23 
 10 
 23 
 
 56 25 at £6 per Cwt. 337 5 
 
 " For Wood for Stays, 12d. ; Grease and Oyle, 12d. . . . . 2 
 
 " For making the Bell frames and hanging the Bells . . . . 34 
 
 "For repairing the Church-clock & puting out a Dyal face 
 
 against the broach of the Church . . . . . . 7 
 
 £379 5 6 
 
 The following is a copy of the inscriptions upon the 
 six bells : 
 
 1st Bell. "Look too my brethren -whilst the Peal I lead 
 
 2nd „ We to the trible's motion mast take heed 
 
 3rd „ In various course we are taught to range 
 
 4th „ In singles, doubles, and in tripples, change 
 
 5th „ For every peal is rung by different scheme 
 
 6th „ Of dodge, and bob, and round to the extreme. 
 
 MEMENTO MORI. 
 
 Each of the bells bears date 1766, and is inscribed 
 with the names of " James Harrison, Bell Founder ; Ed. 
 Moises, Vic. ; and Wm. Wrather, Jas. Calvert, and Thos. 
 Smothwaithe, Churchwardens . "* 
 
 It appears by an entry in the Minute Book of the 
 Four and Twenty, before alluded to, dated 27th July, 
 
 * The six bells here mentioned were again taken down and rehung in 
 the Autumn of 1862, when two additional bells were added so as to com- 
 plete a peal of eight bells. These bells were opened on the 5th November, 
 1862. 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 367 
 
 1766, that the church clock was declared to be not only 
 out of repair, but of no manner of use, and it was ordered 
 that a new one should be put up in its place. 
 
 And in the same book is also entered the following 
 order of the Four and Twenty, under date of the 25th 
 February, 1770, "That for the sake of acquiring more 
 seats (which are much wanted) in the church, the Font* 
 shall be removed from ye place where it now is, and 
 placed at ye west end of ye passage or alley, which is ye 
 nave of the said church, and that the large seat or pew 
 in which the said font now stands shall be divided into 
 lesser pews for ye sake of accommodating families that 
 are in want of pews." 
 
 Mr. Moises died at York on 6th of February, 1790, 
 aged seventy-three, and was buried in the church with- 
 in the communion rails. 
 
 The successor of Mr. Moises was the Kev. Kichard 
 Kershaw, B.D., a son of the vicar of Leeds, and rector of 
 Eipley, who died in 1736. He did not, however, live long 
 
 * I believe that the Font was not only removed at this time, but that a 
 new one was substituted for it, which certainly was not by any means an 
 improvement upon the old one. A few years ago the old Font was disco- 
 vered to have been put to a most shameful use, an ex-churchwarden having 1 
 converted it into an urinal for his cow-house, and so used it for many years. 
 Strange as this may seem it was very like the act of a churchwarden of 
 these times. Churchwardens, as their name and oath of office import, are, 
 or ought to be, the guardians and protectors of the Church; yet, they are, 
 generally speaking, the greatest enemies it has to encounter. As a class 
 they appear to have no proper notion of the sanctity of the place they have 
 under their charge, and regard the church, and all that belongs to it, as they 
 would any other building, however mean and vile its purpose. I can point 
 to a dung-hill in Masham, the filthy contents of which are fenced in with 
 lettered gravestones — sad mementos of mortality — desecrated and sacrile- 
 giously taken away by those connected with the church, from out of the 
 churchyard ; and flagged causeways, constructed of similar memorials of the 
 dead, taken away in like manner from holy, consecrated ground, in utter 
 disregard to all decency and propriety. A proper reverence for God's house 
 is wholly unknown to them, and instead of shewing their love for their 
 Maker by rendering his holy temple worthy of his name, they are ever con- 
 triving how little they can spend upon it, and thereby reduce the amount of 
 the church-rate. This was not so in times gone past. 
 
368 MASH AM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 enough for any improvement being effected in the church 
 during his incumbency. He died on the 27th January, 
 1791, and was buried in the church, where a tablet is 
 erected to his memory bearing the following inscription : 
 
 " Near this place are interred the mortal remains of 
 Richard Kershaw, M.A., sometime Fellow of Trinity 
 College, in the University of Cambridge, and vicar of this 
 parish; with ready wit and a refined imagination, he 
 united in a mind of more than ordinary compass a correct 
 and vigorous judgment; giving to the support of that 
 true religion of which he was a firm and sincere professor, 
 the authority of acknowledged talents, and appointed to 
 his spiritual charge he was preparing to fulfil his duties 
 as a pious pastor among his parishioners, when in the 
 faith and hope of his high calling he was removed to the 
 life eternal in the year of our salvation 1791, in the forty- 
 eighth 3'ear of his age." 
 
 Mr. Kershaw was succeeded in the vicarage by the 
 Rev. William Lawson, In the early part of Mr. Law- 
 son's incumbency, whilst he was travelling in France, 
 during the time of the war between England and that 
 country, he was taken prisoner and detained there for a 
 long time. On being liberated at the conclusion of the 
 peace, he retired to Kirkby Malzeard, and there built him- 
 self the present parsonage-house, and, having surrounded 
 it with high walls, he shut himself up in it, and was 
 rarely or ever seen afterwards, or at all events by his 
 parishioners at Masham. The consequence was, that 
 during his long incumbency of forty-two years every- 
 thing connected with the parish and his cure was neg- 
 lected, the sole charge of this wide and extensive parish 
 being committed to his curate, the late Rev. Joseph 
 Burrill. Considering that Mr. Burrill during the time 
 he so held the curacy was carrying on a large and flourish- 
 ing boarding-school — was the Head Master of the Gram- 
 mar School — and was at the same time personally man- 
 aging a farm which he rented, it will be readily seen 
 that he could not pay that attention to the spiritual con- 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 369 
 
 cerns of the Parish, and of its inhabitants, which its 
 importance demanded, or which ought to have been be- 
 stowed upon it. Yery few improvements were there- 
 fore effected in the church during this incumbency. 
 
 The following extracts however from the churchwar- 
 dens' accounts during this time, may be useful, and may 
 interest the reader in the way of furnishing him with 
 dates. 
 
 £ s. a. 
 
 " 1797. Paid Henry Cook for new Gates* to ye Churchyard as bill 19 6 2 
 " 1801. Dan'll Ingleby's Bill, new Hearse f. . . . . . 14 14 
 
 " 1807. Deer. 23rd, Paid for mending Bazoon J * . ..066 
 
 " 1808. July 2nd, Paid for Reeds . . . . . . ..034 
 
 " 1812—13. Paid James Metcalfe for the King's Arms || . . 15 15 
 
 * The gates here alluded to are still in use. Henry Cook, the maker of 
 them, was a smith in Masham. 
 
 t The new hearse continued in use until its place was supplied by ano- 
 ther, and more elegant one, which is the one now in use, and was built by 
 Mr. Thomas Pullen, coachbuilder, Masham. Daniel Ingleby, the maker of 
 the old hearse, was a noted wheelwright at Ilton. 
 
 | The items for mending the bazoon, and for the bazoon reeds, remind 
 one of the time when screeching fiddles, squeaking clarionets, dyspeptic 
 flutes, and grunting bazoons, were heard in our Parish Churches — to the great 
 delight, no doubt, of the country swains who performed on them, but to the 
 entire subversion of all proper notions as to the sacred character of church- 
 music. More correct ideas on this subject have, however, prevailed of late 
 years, but there is still much room for improvement. Many of the tunes 
 which are even now sung in the church, might, with great advantage, be 
 handed over to the " Ranters." 
 
 || The King's Arms here mentioned, are still in the church. They were 
 painted by Richard Metcalfe (a son of the James Metcalfe mentioned in this 
 entry) who was, in his day, an artist of considerable merit, and whose works 
 will, at some distant day, attract that attention which they merit. He was 
 a native of Masham, and when a youth was put apprentice to Mr. Buck- 
 trout of Bedale, to learn the business of a house and sign painter. During 
 his apprenticeship he evinced talents and aspirations of a higher order than 
 could be satisfied by following the vocation for which he was originally in- 
 tended. At the expiration of the term of his apprenticeship, he returned 
 to Masham, and having attracted the attention of Julius Ctesar Ibbotson, 
 then a resident here, that worthy gentleman (knowing by his own past ex- 
 perience the value of such assistance) kindly gave him the necessary instruc- 
 tions and directions for pursuing his studies as an artist, and otherwise 
 rendered him considerable assistance in the prosecution of them. After 
 
 Z 
 
£. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 370 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 " 1814 — 15. Expended with Guy in agreeing to his teaching Sin'g 
 " 1815. Jan. 25, New Barrel to ye Organ, paid Ward 
 
 „ 31, Repairing two old Barrels.. 
 " 1821—22. Paid the Kettlewell singers 
 
 " 1827 — 28. Paid the person who repair'd the Spire and his ex- 
 penses . . 
 " 1828. June 3, Paid Ballance on acc't of the Steeple. . 
 " 1829. Jan. 9, Paid Mr. Trumper for his valuation of Parish* . . 
 " 1833. Jan. 23, Paid Mr. Tate for Faculty f 
 
 The reparation of the church spire above-mentioned, 
 was occasioned by the upper portion of it having been 
 blown down in a high gale of wind. The person alluded 
 to as having repaired it was Mr. Phillip Wooton, of Not- 
 tingham. The way in which that daring gentleman 
 effected it, without scaffolding, is worthy of being re- 
 corded. He first took a long ladder upon the top of the 
 battlement, and having reared it up against the steeple, 
 he fixed the lower end of it to the battlement, and the 
 upper end of it to the steeple with iron cramps, which he 
 drove into the wall; he then took another ladder up the 
 first ladder, and fastened the lower end of it to the first 
 ladder, about midway of it, and then cramped the upper 
 end of it to the side of the steeple with iron cramps in 
 the same way he did the first ladder. He then took lad- 
 der after ladder, and fixed them successively in the same 
 way as he did the second ladder, as before described, 
 namely by fastening the bottom end of each succeeding 
 
 prosecuting his studies for some time under Mr. Ibbotson, he removed to 
 Ripon, and there for many years received the patronage and support of the 
 late Mrs. Lawrence of Studley Park, for whom he executed several works. 
 He removed from Ripon to Catterick, and from thence to Masham, where 
 he ended his days, on the 27th of November, 1842, in the 58th year of his 
 age. 
 
 * As to the effect of this valuation see ante p. 25. 
 
 t This Faculty was obtained for the erection of the three galleries now 
 standing in the west-end of the church. This entry is (like a former one 
 for a similar Faculty) inconsistent with the claim set up by the Four and 
 Twenty, that they have the same powers in and over the church at Masham, 
 as the Bishop or Ordinary has in other parishes. Mr. Tate was the Regis^ 
 trar of the Peculiar Court of Masham. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. S71 
 
 ladder about midway up the ladder which had been last 
 fixed, and cramping the upper end of it to the side of the 
 steeple, until he at last reached the top of the steeple, 
 which he accomplished in about three hours. By the aid 
 of these ladders alone, and without any scaffolding what- 
 ever, he not only took down the damaged part of the 
 steeple, but built it up again, and fixed the vane upon it 
 in a very substantial and workmanlike manner. The 
 work was commenced upon the 28th June, 1827, and 
 completed on the 9th July, 1827. 
 
 The Faculty above alluded to, which was granted by 
 the Peculiar Court of Masham, was to authorise the 
 pulling down of the old gallery which had been erected 
 in 1751, as before mentioned, at the south end of the 
 nave of the church, and the building of the present gal- 
 lery (which is much larger than the old one) and the 
 side galleries as they now are. Some of the seats in the 
 centre gallery were then sold, for the object stated in the 
 following minute, which I here give at full length from 
 the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty. 
 
 " At a vestry of the Four and Twenty of the parish of 
 Masham, in the vestry of the Parish Church, held the 
 first day of December, 1832. 
 
 " Whereas the gallery at the west end of the middle 
 aisle of the church has lately been rebuilt and enlarged, 
 and also new galleries erected at the west ends of the 
 south and north aisles of the church. It was intended 
 by the erection thereof that the seats or pews of the said 
 galleries should be enjoyed or occupied by such of the 
 parishioners for the purpose of hearing divine service as 
 the said Four and Twenty should from time to time 
 direct and appoint, they by immemorial usage* having 
 
 * Generally speaking the disposal and distribution of seats rests with the 
 churchwardens, but only as the officers, and subject to the control and cor- 
 rection of the Ordinary. — Fuller v. Lane, 2 Add. It. 425 ; Kenrick v. Taylor, 
 1 Wils., 326, per Lord Coke ; Browne and Goldsb. Ii. 45. " In some places 
 usage has vested the power of disposing of seats in churchwardens and 
 vestry ; and in others, in a particular number of the parishioners, exclusive 
 
372 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 always exercised a right to the erecting of the pews or 
 
 of the Ordinary." — Prideaux's " Directions to Churchwardens," by Tyrwhitt, 
 p. 10*7 (10th Edit.) It is also said by Dr. Burn in his " Ecclesiastical Law," 
 vol. i., p. 255, (1st Edit.) " That a custom time out of mind of disposing of 
 seats by the churchwardens and major part of the parish, or by twelve or 
 any particular number of the parishioners, is a good custom, and if the Or- 
 dinary interpose, a prohibition will be granted," citing Gibs., 198. 
 
 The authorities above cited go far to show that an immemorial custom 
 may exist in this Parish, which would authorise the Four and Twenty to 
 dispose of the seats in the church, as stated in the text. The question, how- 
 ever, is, whether it can be established by legal evidence that such a custom 
 has existed from the time of legal memory, and if so, that it has been con- 
 tinuously acted upon by the Four and Twenty, down to the present time. 
 There can be little doubt but that the Four and Twenty have for a consi- 
 derable period exercised this authority of disposing of the seats in the 
 church, but I question whether they have done so continuously down to the 
 present time. If 1 mistake not, after the last occasion when the church was 
 repewed, the Four and Twenty not only took no part in the disposing of 
 the seats, but were not even consulted upon the subject by the vicar, who 
 disposed of them as he thought proper. It may, therefore, be well doubted 
 whether the Four and Twenty have not lost their right to dispose of the 
 seats in the church, even supposing that they ever possessed any such right. 
 If the Four and Twenty really possessed the power of seating the parishion- 
 ers in the church, as claimed by them, it is a great pity that they, in the in- 
 stance here alluded to, surrendered such power to the vicar, or rather allowed 
 him to usurp it, for it is notorious that the way in which the seats were dis- 
 posed of by him gave great umbrage and dissatisfaction to several of the 
 parishioners, and not without cause, for if the grossest partiality and in- 
 justice was not used in the redistribution of the seats on that occasion, it had 
 all the appearance of it, and as such tended to increase the unpopularity of 
 the vicar. 
 
 The following extract from the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty 
 will further shew that that body has, from an early period not only claimed, 
 but exercised, the right of disposing of the seats in the church. 
 
 " Novemb'r the 30th, 1689. Mem'm, That the Worshipfull Abstrupus 
 Danby, Esq'r, Lord of the Manor of Massam and Massamshire, did give 
 fourty shillings to Christopher Marshall, for his pew, erected in the lower 
 end of Massam Church aboves'd, and did also give and bestow the abovesaid 
 Pew or Seat to the then Churchwardens of Massam Parish and to their 
 successors, and that the above Mr. Christopher Marshall, by the consent of 
 the aboves'd Worshipfull Abstrupus Danby and the rest of the Four and 
 twenty, did amend or repair a Seat or Pew by the Pulpitt formerly the old 
 Churchwardens beninge granted to hime and his posterity." 
 
 The following Document (which is now in the possession of Mr. Thomas 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 373 
 
 seats in the church, and appropriating the said seats to 
 particular persons or families in like manner as the Or- 
 dinary in other parishes has a right to do. At this 
 meeting it was resolved to relieve the parishioners in 
 part from the heavy expense of enlarging the said middle 
 gallery and erecting the two new galleries ; that a part of 
 the gallery in the middle aisle be appropriated to such 
 person or persons as may be disposed to purchase the 
 same for the use of themselves and families, for the pur- 
 pose of hearing divine service. Therefore it is ordered 
 that the seats or pews in the middle gallery on the south 
 side of the organ and two upper pews on the north side 
 of the organ be offered to be disposed of # for the benefit 
 of the purchasers or their families, or such other persons, 
 being parishioners, as the purchasers may assign them 
 for their sittings to hear divine service on the following 
 terms, viz: 
 
 Stott of Masham) also affords similar proof of the fact : — 
 
 "5th December, 1712. Wee of the Four and twenty for the Parish of 
 Massham, in the County of Yorke, whose names are hereunto subscribed, 
 doe hereby consent and agree that Mr. Thomas Hardcastle of Massham 
 aforesaid, shall have part of two long seats in the Church of Massham 
 aforesaid, adjoyneing to a Pew belonging to S'r Roger Beckwith, Barr't, 
 wherein his servants sitts on the West side thereof (viz), that part thereof 
 adjoyneing to the middle Isle, to erect a pew for the use of himselfe and 
 family, at his own p'per costs and charges." Signed, " Ab. Danby, Ro. 
 Beckwith, Jno. Bartlett, Jno. Beckwith, Tho. Johnson, Thomas Ripley, 
 Chris. Gregg, Sam'l Beckwith, John Mann, John Ward, Robert Plewes, 
 James Williamson, Geo. Thwaites T his marke, John Burrill I his marke, 
 Ralph Ballan R B his marke, Tho. Atkinson X his mark, Tho. Jackson 
 X his marke." Endorsed, " Lycence from the Fower and Twenty of the 
 Parish of Massham, to erect a Pew in Massham Church." 
 
 Other instances in which the Four and Twenty took upon themselves to dis- 
 pose of the seats in the church, will be found mentioned throughout these 
 pages. 
 
 * At the risk of invalidating my own title to one of these Pews, which 
 my late father bought and paid for, I have no hesitation in saying that the 
 Four and Twenty had no lawful authority to sell these Pews as here indi- 
 cated. See Walter v. Gunner and Drury, 1 Consist. Rep., 314 — 1798. I 
 hope to see the day when the gallery itself, which is a great eyesore to the 
 church, will be entirely swept away. 
 
374 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 No. 1. — £20 accepted and purchased by Mr. Geo. 
 Imeson, Swinton. 
 
 No. 2. — £20 purchased by the Rev. John Gipps 
 Bolland. 
 
 No. 3. — £16 purchased by Mr. Henry Metcalf, 
 Masham. 
 
 No. 4. — £16 purchased by Mr. William Williamson, 
 Masham. 
 
 No. 5. — £14 purchased by Mr. John Fisher, Masham. 
 
 No. 6. — £14 purchased by Mr. John Lightfoot, Mas- 
 ham. 
 
 Nos. 7 and 8, upper seats, north side of organ. — £20 
 purchased by Mr. Edmund Barker, Masham. 
 
 " We, of the Four and Twenty, here assembled, do ac- 
 knowledge to have received the above sums and the same 
 have been appropriated towards the church rate." Signed 
 by twenty -one members of the Four and Twenty. 
 
 In the same year (the 3rd May, 1832) an organ was 
 erected in the centre gallery, at the expense of the late 
 William Danby, Esq., who also by a deed dated the 1st 
 March, 1833, granted an annual rent-charge of £30, 
 issuing out of the farm at Warthermarsk, then in the 
 occupation of Mr. Thomas Theakston, but now of Mr. Wil- 
 liam Hodgson, as a perpetual endowment for the organist. 
 
 Mr. Lawson died in the year 1833, when he was suc- 
 ceeded in the vicarage by the Rev. George Waddington, 
 M.A., now Dean of Durham. 
 
 The Rev. George Waddington, M. A., was educated at 
 the Charterhouse School, and was afterwards Fellow of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. 
 in 1815, having in 1811 gained Sir William Browne's 
 
 " CD . CD 
 
 medal. In 1813 he obtained the University Scholarship, 
 besides being Chancellor's Medallist for English verse. 
 And in 1815 he was Senior Chancellor's Medallist. He 
 was one of the Prebendaries of Chichester Cathedral. 
 
 Mr. Waddington, following immediately after the long 
 incumbency of such a vicar as Mr. Lawson, necessarily 
 found the parish and its several charities and institutions 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 375 
 
 in a very unsatisfactory state. Nothing daunted, how- 
 ever, he immediately set himself to work in investigating 
 and correcting what he found amiss. To him we are 
 much indebted for correcting many abuses which had 
 crept into the management and administration of the 
 several charitable bequests which had been from time to 
 time made to the Parish, and more especially in effecting 
 a more equitable division of the revenues with which 
 the Grammar School and the Free School had been en- 
 dowed. The Free School, which under former manage- 
 ment, or rather mismanagement, had become nearly de- 
 serted by scholars and entirely useless, he completely 
 reorganized and put into an efficient footing ; and so well 
 did he succeed in it that it very soon became so attractive 
 and so well attended that the school room in a very short 
 time had to be considerably enlarged, so as to accommodate 
 the number of scholars who now eagerly nocked to it. 
 He also established a Sunday School in connection with 
 the church, all the previous Sunday Schools in the town 
 being connected with and taught by the Dissenters. In 
 this eifort he was also very successful, the school being 
 very soon attended by a much larger number of scholars 
 than have attended it in more recent times, and was 
 much better conducted, it being then plentifully sup- 
 plied by very efficient teachers. The present Subscrip- 
 tion Library and the Parochial Library, also owe their 
 existence to the originating mind of Mr. Wadding ton, 
 and to his bountiful purse, he having contributed largely 
 to their funds, not only at their first formation but 
 during all the time he remained at Masham. 
 
 But perhaps the greatest boon which Mr. Waddington 
 conferred upon the town, was his procuring the vicarage- 
 house to be built here, by which means he secured to it, 
 and the parish at large, the advantage of having there- 
 after a resident vicar, an advantage which can only be 
 fully appreciated by those who have known and ex- 
 perienced the want of one. In a place like Masham the 
 influence of a resident clergyman is very great, (especially 
 
376 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 when he happens to be a gentlemen who commands the 
 respect and esteem of his parishioners, ) and cannot fail at 
 all times to produce a beneficial effect on the morals and 
 manners of the people. The building of the vicarage - 
 house, however, proved a very costly affair to Mr. Wad- 
 dington, having, as I well know, cost him a considerable 
 sum of money over and above the amount of the grants 
 which he was able to obtain towards its erection, and 
 which had to be taken from his own private fortune. 
 
 Yery early in his incumbency he procured the tithes 
 of the parish to be commuted, and accordingly embraced 
 that opportunity of putting an end to the collection, in 
 future, of Easter dues, and other small exactions on the 
 part of the church, which, although but of trifling amount, 
 were the cause of much irritation and annoyance to the 
 parties called upon to pay them. 
 
 It was during Mr. Waddington's incumbency, viz : on the 
 17th September, 1837, that the church clock which is 
 now in the tower was presented to the parish by Mrs. 
 Danby, in the place of the old clock, which had got out 
 of repair, and had become useless. 
 
 In the year 1840, Mr. Waddington was appointed to 
 the Deanery of Durham, when he resigned his vicarage, 
 to the very great regret of his parishioners, by whom he 
 was very much esteemed. He j)reached hi s valedictory 
 sermon (which was published) on the 27th December, 
 1840, when he left Masham. 
 
 Mr. Waddington was succeeded in the vicarage by 
 the late Rev. Thos. Rid dell, M.A. Much as had been 
 effected towards the improvement of the condition of the 
 parish during Mr. Waddington's incumbency, there still 
 remained much to be done towards it when Mr. Riddell 
 came to the living. Owing to the previous lax manage- 
 ment the people had become somewhat alienated from 
 the church, and preferred the ministrations of the Dis- 
 senters to those of the church. Mr. Riddell, by his kind 
 and affable disposition, was well adapted to gain the 
 goodwill and esteem of the people, and the exemplary 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 377 
 
 and religious life which he led, (coupled with the precepts 
 which he urged with great earnestness and ability, both 
 fronvthe pulpit and in private) had the effect of convincing 
 many that the services of the church were not that 
 barren and lifelesss form, as many had hitherto been led 
 to believe, but, on the contrary, tended to, and produced 
 in many of its members, true vital religion. The church 
 accordingly again came into favour, its congregations 
 visibly increased, and the number of its communicants 
 gradually became larger and larger ; and this too was not 
 without its effect upon the manners and habits of the 
 people generally. The Lord's day* which had been 
 openly and habitually profaned by gaming, field sports, 
 and intemperance, during the whole time of Mr. Law- 
 son's long incumbency, had by this time begun to be 
 properly observed, and the habits of excessive drunken- 
 ness which had characterised the people in that period 
 now gave way to habits of comparative temperance, and 
 more orderly conduct, in the great majority of the 
 people. 
 
 No improvements were made in the fabric of the church 
 during Mr. Riddell's incumbency worthy of being here 
 noted, except the restoration of the steeple, of which I now 
 proceed to speak. 
 
 On the 27th July, 1855, Masham, and neighbourhood, 
 
 * I dare say that there are some old inhabitants still living who can re- 
 collect the time when notices of auction sales and other matters of public 
 interest, were openly proclaimed by the Town's bellman at the church gates, 
 on Sundays, as the people were leaving the church. At that time this was 
 the ordinary mode of giving publicity to that which was considered neces- 
 sary to be made known in the Parish. Many notices relating to parish 
 business, were, indeed, then usually read by the clergymen from the reading 
 desk. Mr. Raine in his " Depositions from York Castle," says " In these 
 days [the seventeenth century] in the North of England, it was customary 
 to proclaim from the pulpit any stolen goods, and other matters of interest 
 to the congregation, were also announced. One rich Rector in the County 
 of Durham, who sat in Bernard Gilpin's chair within the present century, 
 used regularly to announce from the rostrum the sale of the hay off his 
 glebe!" 
 
378 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 was visited by a terriffic thunder-storm, in which the 
 steeple was struck by lightning, and the upper portion of 
 it was so much damaged as to require its being taken 
 down and rebuilt. A difficulty, however, here presented 
 itself in the Four and Twenty (as the guardians of the 
 parish purse) having refused either to repair it them- 
 selves or to contribute towards the expense of its restor- 
 ation. Mr. Riddell, however, although much discouraged 
 by such refusal, immediately set on foot a voluntary sub- 
 scription amongst his parishioners, for the restoration of 
 the steeple, and very soon raised by it nearly £400, 
 being more than sufficient to accomplish that object. He 
 did not, however, live long enough to see its completion, 
 having died whilst the work was in progress. 
 
 I have already, elsewhere in these pages, alluded to 
 the circumstance of Mr. Riddell' s death — the great gloom 
 which it cast upon the parish — and the erection of the 
 u Riddell Memorial Mechanics' Institute " by his parish- 
 ioners and friends, as a tribute of respect to his memory, 
 and therefore need not further allude to the subject 
 here. 
 
 Mr. Riddell died on the 30th September, 1855, and in 
 the March following he was succeeded in the vicarage by 
 the Rev. Thomas Hedley, M. A. (the present vicar) who 
 was then a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, where 
 he graduated B.A. in 1844, and M.A. in 1847. 
 
 Since Mr. Hedley entered upon the incumbency, con- 
 considerable improvements have been effected in the fabric 
 of the church, by a very extensive, although not by any 
 means a complete restoration of it. This has been accom- 
 plished mainly through the liberality of the late Admiral 
 Octavius Vernon Harcourt. In the course of these restor- 
 ations all the old square-headed windows throughout the 
 church (except the two windows on the west end of it) 
 being of a debased style of architecture, were taken out, 
 and new ones, with gothic heads, and of a more correct style 
 of architecture, substituted in their places. The flat roof, 
 with the plastered ceiling and ornamental plaster cornices 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 379 
 
 which formerly covered the chancel, were removed, and 
 a high-pitched roof, covered with lead, put in its stead, 
 as being more suitable to the character and sanctity of 
 the building. Much of the stonework was repaired and 
 restored, the whitewash was removed, the square boxes 
 of pews which had previously disfigured the church gave 
 place to oaken stalls of a more uniform and suitable de- 
 scription ; the unsightly altar-rails were replaced by rails 
 more in accordance with the place. Encaustic tiles took 
 the place of the common rough flagging within the com- 
 munion-rails ; the substitution of an elaborately carved 
 pulpit and reading-desk for the unsightly tubs which had 
 previously disfigured the church ; and suitable cathedral 
 glass being substituted in the windows for the square 
 panes of common lead and glass, of which they had been 
 previously composed. 
 
 The church also at this time received an addition of 
 two stained glass windows, both of them being superior 
 works of art, and a great ornament to the church, viz : 
 the East window, and the window over the Priest's door 
 in the Chancel. The former, which was the gift of the late 
 Admiral Harcourt, and the work of Mr. Barnett, of Leith, 
 near Edinborough, represents different events in our 
 Saviour's life, together with the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost upon his disciples. And the latter, which is the 
 work of Mr. Barnett, of Newcastle, was erected to the mem- 
 ory of the late wife of the author of this work, who died in 
 child-bed. The centre compartment represents Rachel on 
 her death-bed, and in the act of giving the name of Benoni 
 to her new-born babe; beneath which are inscribed in 
 church text, or Lombardic characters, the words " IHacM 
 
 tvtlltb jrb nam* §emmi, fljai m, % Bon 0f mg xoxxaba" 
 The second compartment represents Jacob, her husband, 
 weeping over her grave, and beneath are inscribed in 
 similar characters the words, " glac^I bub Ettfcr Jfatcrh 
 ui K jrtlfe u$an jxer grafae," And the third compart- 
 ment represents Peter raising Dorcas, and beneath are 
 
380 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 inscribed in similar characters the words " gj(l the 
 ixriiwttrs ntaab hjr fotcpmg mtir sjwtoittg % toutn anir 
 garments Ixrljtclj *§0OT8 maW And under these is a 
 band bearing the following inscription, " Jfn |$Um0rg 0f 
 
 Charlotte gtariait Jfisfrer, lxrjr0 bietr 27tfr ^iobtmhx, 
 1858." 
 
 And in July, 1862, the church received a further ad- 
 dition in the gift by the Rev. George Morton Piatt, M. A. 
 (the then curate of Masham) of a new Font of Caen 
 stone, having representations of the symbols of the Four 
 Evangelists richly carved on four of the eight panels* of 
 which it consists, the four intermediate panels bearing 
 fleurs-de-lis, and other church emblems. 
 
 Having now brought down the history of the church 
 to the present time, it only remains for me to conclude 
 this chapter by giving a description of the fabric of the 
 church. In doing this I cannot do better than here 
 transcribe what the learned Dr. Whitaker has said on the 
 subject in his " History of Richmondshire." 
 
 " At the East end is the church dignified alone among 
 all the churches of Richmondshire by the ornament of a 
 spire, which the Norman tower was well calculated to 
 sustain. This, as it is the oldest is also the most massy 
 part of the church, and has the general feature of these 
 structures soon after the conquest, that the wall is re- 
 peatedly contracted. The upper story, on which the 
 spire is immediately raised, appears to be contemporary 
 
 * It will be observed that this new Font, like its predecessors, is octago- 
 nal in shape. It seems that there is a reason for making Fonts in that 
 shape. The octagon had a mystical meaning in the ancient Christian Church, 
 and, on that account, Fonts were constructed in that form. In Gruter's In- 
 scriptions, page 1166, are some verses of St. Ambrose upon the Font of St. 
 Thecla, 
 
 " Octagonns fons est munere dignus eo. 
 Hoc numero decuit sacri baptismatis aulam 
 Surgere, quo populo vera salus rediit." 
 
 And it was a common observation, that as six was the number of antichrist, 
 so eight, of true Christianity. Hence we find an octagon represented on 
 some ancient coins of Christian Princes. — See Camden, C, xci. 
 
WEST DOORWAY OF THE NORMAN TOWER, 
 MASHAM CHURCH. 
 
 P. 380. 
 
t 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 381 
 
 with its superstructure, or about the reign of Edward 
 III. Near the south porch is the frustrum of a Saxon 
 cross, distinguished by scrolls and other characteristic 
 marks of that period. The church itself, with the choir 
 and side aisles, may be termed middle gothic of very 
 handsome masonry without, and kept with extreme 
 neatness within. The north and south choirs have evi- 
 dently belonged, in right of different manors within their 
 barony, to the Scropes of Masham, but on the partition 
 of their great estates, when Little Burton* fell to the 
 share of the Wyvills, the north choir accompanied it, 
 while that on the south seems to have gone along with 
 the barony of Masham. At the head of the north aisle 
 is a cumbrous and costly monumentf to the memory of 
 of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, the first Baronet of his family 
 and the last inhabitant of Little Burton, in the general 
 style of James I., with two leaning figures, in which the 
 meanness of the material is hid by a thick coat of paint 
 and gilding. The epitaphj is interesting from the genea- 
 logical information conveyed by it." 
 
 * It will be seen here that Dr. Whitaker has fallen into the common 
 error of supposing- that Little Burton (or Low Burton as it is now called) 
 formed part of the possessions of the Scropes, and that it came through 
 them to the Wyvill family, which is a mistake. Little Burton never did 
 belong to the Scropes, but was brought into the Wyvill family by Joan, the 
 daughter and heiress of John Pigot, who married Robert Wyvill, an ancestor 
 of the Wyvills of Constable Burton, who it will be seen quarter the arms of 
 the Pigots of Clotherholme. 
 
 f The famous antiquary, John Leland, who visited here about the year 
 1538, merely says that there is at Masham "A faire Church." Dods worth 
 the antiquary, who visited Masham church on the 19th of October, 1622, 
 says, in speaking of this monument, " In the north choir a fair new monu- 
 ment with the portraitures of a man and his wife — beneath six sons armed, 
 and two daughters kneeling." In the margin of this note he has put, 
 " Builded by himself in his lifetime," alluding to the unusual circumstance 
 of its having been erected by Sir Marmaduke Wyvill to himself in his 
 life-time, namely in 1613, he not having died until the 9th January, 1617. 
 See Dodsworth's MSS., preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, No. 
 5101, vol. 160, fo. 268. 
 
 % The following is a translation of the Latin Inscription upon the monu- 
 ment : 
 
fbc SagbKlI Monument in glasbam ifbuvtb. 
 
382 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Hie jacet Marmaducus "Wyvell, miles primus sui nom- 
 inis Boronettus filius et haeres X'poferi per Margareta 
 filiam Joh'is Scrope : X'poferus fuit filius et haeres Mar- 
 maduci et Agnetis unius quinq soror, et cohaerdum 
 Joh'is filu et haeredis Radulphi Fitzrandall militis et 
 Elizabethae unius trium sororum et co-harerdium Ra- 
 dolphi D'ni Scrope de Masham. Marmaducus fuit filius 
 et haeres Roberti filu et haeredis Roberti et Johannae 
 filae et haerdis Joh'is Pigot. A. D'ni 1613, quo extruc- 
 tum fuit hoc monumentum, Marmaducis per Magdalenam 
 filia X'poferi Danby militis huit viventes sex filios et 
 duas filias. Evis tunc haeres apparens fuit X'poferus 
 filus X'poferi Marmaducus filius Marmaduci Barbara, 
 unigenita sua vixit ad aetatem annor' 76 et mortuis est 
 Ao. mediatoris sui unici cui sit omnis gloria et Benedictio 
 1617, mensisq' Januarii 9. 
 
 Arms* quarterly — first, gules three chevronels inter- 
 
 " Herelieth Sir Marmaduke Wyvell, Knight, the first Baronet of his name, 
 son and heir of Christopher, by Margaret, daughter of John Scrope. Chris- 
 topher was son and heir of Marmaduke and Agnes, one of the five sisters and 
 co-heiresses of John, son and heir of Sir Ralph Fitz Randall, Knight, and 
 Elizabeth, one of the three sisters and co-heiresses of Ralph, Lord Scrope of 
 Masham. Marmaduke was the son and heir of Robert, son and heir of 
 Robert and Joan, daughter and heiress of John Pigot. 
 
 In the year of our Lord 1613, when this monument was erected, Marma- 
 duke, by Magdalen, daughter of Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, had six 
 sons and two daughters living. His then heir apparent was his son Chris- 
 topher, Marmaduke, son of Christopher, Barbara, the only begotten daughter 
 of Marmaduke. 
 
 He lived to the age of seventy-six years, and died in the year of his only 
 Redeemer (to whom be all glory and blessing) 1617, and on the 9th day of 
 the month of January." 
 
 The information afforded by this inscription does not accord with the pedi- 
 gree of the Wyvills, as given in Burke's " Extinct and Dormant Baronet- 
 cies," wherein, amongst other omissions, nothing is said of the marriage of 
 Robert Wyvill with Joan, the daughter of John Pigot, as here stated. 
 
 * Dodsworth in his Notes, before alluded to, gives the arms as follows : — 
 Quarterings— First, gules three chevrons embraced gules [Qy. Vaire] a 
 chief or. Second — Sable three pickaxes argent a crescent moon or. Third — 
 azure a chief dancette or. Fourth, azure a bend or with a file argent paled 
 with azure abend or with a crescent moon argent. The same paled with Danby. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 383 
 
 laced, vair, a chief, or, Wyvell. Second, sable, three 
 pickaxes, argent, a crescent for a difference, Pigot. 
 Third, azure, a chief indented or, Fitzrandolph. Fourth, 
 azure, a bend, or, with a label for a difference, Scrope of 
 Masham. 
 
 On the opposite side is another chapel, the burial- 
 place of the Danby s of S win ton, who having inherited 
 the great estates of Masham from the Scropes, and hold- 
 ing the barony itself in abeyance with the Wyvells, 
 having long resided at Swinton in great opulence, though 
 contented with the rank of private gentlemen. Of this 
 family there is a sumptuous mural monument at the 
 east end with a bust to the memory of Abstrupus Danby, 
 Esq., together with several others of smaller account to 
 other members of the family. 
 
 In the North aisle : 
 
 Ab hoc non procul marmore jacet Abstrupus Danby 
 miles suae (favente Deo) Familiae Restaurator. Natus 
 vicessimo septimo die Decembris anno Christi Milessimo 
 sexcentesimo quinquagessimo quinto. Denatus vicessimo 
 quarto die Decembris Milessimo Septugentessimo vices- 
 simo septimo. In cujus memoriam Abstrupus Danby 
 Armiger Filius unigenitus, hoc monumentum gratissimo 
 amino posuit vicessimo die Septembris Anno Salutis 
 1737.* 
 
 " Here lieth all that is mortall of Dame Judith Danby 7 
 late the beloved wife of Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knight, 
 Lord of the Manors and Liberties of Mashamshire, who 
 departed this life at Swinton the 22nd day of January, 
 1712. 
 
 * The following is a translation of this Inscription : 
 
 " Near to this monument lies Abstrupus Danby, Knight (God favouring 
 him) he was the restorer of his family. Born the 27th day of December, in 
 the year of Christ, 1655. Died the 24th day of December, 1727. In whose 
 memory Abstrupus Danby, Esq., his only son, erected this monument with 
 a most grateful mind on the 20th day of September, in the year of our sal- 
 vation 1737." 
 
384 MASHAM AtfD MASHAMSHTRE. 
 
 Mors mihi lucrum [Death is gain to me]. 
 Thro' death I 'm passed to everlasting life, 
 And so am quit of all your worldly strife, 
 Cease to lament for me : yourselves deplore : 
 I have all happiness & wish no more : 
 Those temporary Joys I had before." 
 
 H. S. E. 
 Abstrupus Danby Armiger qui obiit 12mo Martu a.d. 
 1750 aet 70. ExElizabetha uxore filia Arthuri Ingram 
 de Barraby Armigeri tres filios et unam filiam susceptos 
 reliquit superstites supremum munus posuit Gulielmus 
 filius primogenitus.* 
 
 "Here lie the bodies of William Danby, Esq., who died 
 April 8th, 1781, aged 69, and of Mary his wife, the 
 daughter of Gilbert Affleck, Esq., of Dalham, in the 
 county of Sussex, who died June 8th, 1773, leaving him 
 three children then surviving (Mary, William, and Eliza- 
 beth). This Monument is erected in grateful testimony 
 of all that a son can owe to the tenderest and most ex- 
 cellent of parents and christians. 
 
 The memory of the just is "blessed, 
 
 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness. 
 
 Proverbs." 
 
 H. S. M. 
 " Depositae sunt reliquae Thomae Lockhart unius ex 
 Familia Cornwarth in Brittannia Septentrionali. In 
 mense Julii 1772, Mariam, major em natu filiam Gulielmi 
 Danby Armigeri uxorem duxit obiit vicessimo secundo 
 die Augusti 1775, prope triginta annos natus."f 
 
 * The following is a translation of this Inscription :— 
 
 " Here lies interred Ahstrupus Danby, Esq., who died the 12th March, 
 
 1750, aged 70. By Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Arthur Ingram, of 
 
 Barraby, Esq., he left three sons and one daughter, him surviving. His 
 
 eldest son William erected this last tribute." 
 
 f The following is a translation of this Inscription : — 
 
 " Here are deposited the remains of Thomas Lockhart, one of the family 
 
 of Cornwarth in North Britain. In the month of July, 1772, he married 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 
 
 385 
 
 " Thomas Danby, Esq., married Elizabeth, daughter of 
 Thomas Wentworth, of Wentworth Woodhouse, Esq. 
 He died Jan. 3rd, a.d. 1582. She lived many years 
 after him at Pott Grange and was a great benefactress 
 to his family."* 
 
 At the East end of the church is this epitaph : 
 
 odtober 
 
 \W^°^ 
 
 CONFINED . IN . A . BED : OF . DVst 
 HEAR . DOTH . A . BODY . LYE 
 BAiSED . AGAiN . IT . WiLL . I TRVst 
 iNTO . THE : HEAVENS : HiGH 
 SiN . NOT . BVT . HAVE . A CABE 
 TO : MAKE . YOVr . CALLING . SVBe 
 
 OMiT . those . things . which triual are 
 
 p rise . that wc . wiLL . Indure 
 
 HanGe . not . your Mind . on secular things 
 
 Each one . doth . fade . apace 
 
 Biches . the . chief . of . wc hath wings 
 
 A . MATRON GRAVE . 19 . HERE . INTER'D 
 • WHOSE . SOVL . IN HEAVEN IS PREFERR'D 
 AFTER HER GRANDSON LOST HIS BREATH 
 SHE SOON SVRRENDER'D VNTO DEATH 
 
 Keeping . no . certaine . place 
 
 Adict Your . selues . unto . his conuersation 
 
 you '1 . purchase . heauen . for your Habitation. 
 
 Of the Lords Scrope there neither is in all probability 
 any interment in this church nor any memorial, except 
 their arms in one of the south windows, which remained 
 anno 1622. It does not appear indeed that though 
 
 Mary the eldest daughter of William Danby, Esq. He died the 22nd day 
 of August, 1775, in the thirtieth year of his age. 
 * See ante, pages 264 and 265. 
 
 AA 
 
386 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 owners of all Mashamshire they ever had a seat in the 
 parish. Clifton,* their nearest residence, is in the parish 
 of Watlass, but Clifton, as we learned from L eland, was 
 only a tower or castlet, so that their general abode must 
 have been at Upsal Castle, as we know that the place of 
 interment of many of them was in York Cathedral, where 
 they had a chapel. 
 
 Besides the several monuments above alluded to by 
 Dr. Whitaker, there are several others in the church also 
 worthy of mention, upon which are the several inscrip- 
 tions mentioned below, viz : 
 
 " In memory of Roger Beckwith,*f" of Aldbrough, Esq., 
 who dyed on Monday, the 19th of January, in the year 
 1634, and was buried near this place. He married 
 Susanna the daughter of Mr. Brackenbury, of Sellaby, 
 in the county Palatine of Durham, by whom he had 
 Arthur, his successor, and seven other children, four sons 
 and three daughters. She departed this life the 28th 
 day of October, Anno Domini 1670, and lyes buried in 
 the Parish Church of Skelborough. He was the son of 
 Marmaduke Beckwith, of Acton, by Anne, daughter of 
 Mr. Dynley, of Bramhope, which Marmaduke was the 
 
 * In the 3rd vol. of Camden's " Britannia," by Gough, it is said " A little 
 above Masham, at Clifton, near the river [Yore] are the ruins of a large 
 building of antient Gothic Architecture, which was formerly the seat of 
 the Lords Scrope of Masham. — Part of it is inhabited by Mr. T. Beckwith, 
 a gentleman farmer." 
 
 It is further stated in White's " Gazeteer of Yorkshire," page 595, that 
 " Clifton Castle, a handsome Grecian mansion pleasantly situated in a beau- 
 tiful Park, embossed with thriving plantations, and built in 1802, on the 
 site of an ancient mansion of Geoffrey le Scrope, who had large possessions 
 in that neighbourhood, and in the reign of Edw. II. obtained a license to 
 make a Castle of his House at Clifton. The Manor of Clifton passed from 
 the Lord Scropes of Masham to Sir Ralph Fitz Randolph, and after- 
 wards to the Wyvills, Daltons, and Prestons — the latter of whom sold it 
 to John Hutton, Esq., of Marsk." — See also ante, p. 295. 
 
 f He was succeeded in his estates by his son Arthur Beckwith, Esq., of 
 Aldborough, who is also buried in Masham Church. The inscription upon 
 the Brass erected there to the memory of Arthur, will be referred to pre- 
 sently. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 387 
 
 next in descent to Huntington Beckwith, of Clint,* where 
 the family had continued from the tenth year of King 
 Henry III., a.d. 1226, until the year 1597, when the 
 aforesaid Roger Beckwith sold his lands in Clint and 
 purchased Aldborough." 
 
 " To the memory of Arthur Beckwithf of Aldbrough, 
 
 * The Beckwiths were formerly a very numerous race, the main stock of 
 which was settled at a very early period at Clint in the Parish of Ripley. 
 Their moated mansion (which is now in ruins) was situate on an elevated 
 spot opposite to the village of Hampsthwaite, commanding charming pros- 
 pects of the lower end of the Vale of Nidderdale. There they flourished 
 until about the close of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth 
 century; but their last days were clouded by misfortunes. The circum- 
 stances which occasioned the sale of the old family estate and mansion at 
 Clint, were of a melancholy character. William Beckwith of Clint (who 
 was the father of Huntingdon Beckwith of Clint, mentioned in the above 
 inscription) having succeeded his father in the Clint estate in 1575, married 
 Jane daughter of William Tancred, Esq., of Boroughbridge, sister of his 
 father's second wife. By this incestuous and unholy alliance he had a son, 
 William (who died without issue) and two daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, 
 of whom the latter was twice married, and had issue. Whilst he was serv- 
 ing in Ireland as captain in the army, his wife proved unfaithful to him. 
 In consequence of this painful circumstance, he not only repudiated her and 
 cast her off as his wife, but, during her lifetime, married Mary daughter of 
 Anthony Salmon, of Annesley Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire (chamber- 
 maid to the Countess of Huntingdon). By this marriage he had issue, 
 Huntingdon (mentioned in the inscription above), William,* Henry, Cath- 
 erine, and Isabel. His second wife died in 1601, and he lived to survive 
 her but some six years, having died in 1607. His eldest son, Huntingdon, 
 married in his parents' liftime, viz., on the 19th of February, 1589, Margaret 
 daughter of Thomas Mering, of Mering in Nottinghamshire, who became 
 insane, and, having survived her husband, died without issue, and in great 
 poverty, as appears by a memorandum to that effect placed opposite to the 
 registration of their marriage at Ripley, viz., "in great poverty, at Ripley 
 church, 4th of May, 1655. The family of Beckwith both gone, and Mering." 
 — See Walbran's " Memorials of Fountains Abbey," p. 323. 
 
 Roger Beckwith — who is also mentioned in this inscription, and appears 
 to have saved something out of the wreck of the old family estate at Clint, 
 and to have invested it in the purchase of the Aldburgh estate — was of this 
 same family, and was the father of Arthur Beckwith, of whom I shall pro- 
 ceed to speak presently. 
 
 t Arthur Beckwith was the son of Roger Beckwith, the purchaser of the 
 Aldborough Estate, who died January 19, 1634. He was a captain in the 
 
388 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Esq., who dyed in the service of his country anno 1642. 
 "He married Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Marmaduke 
 
 Parliamentary army, in which service he was slain in 1642. He married a 
 daughter of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, as stated in the text. It appears that 
 after his death his widow (who was a Roman Catholic) having persisted in 
 bringing up the children to her own religion to the great mortification of the 
 Beckwith family (who were great puritans) their grandmother (Mrs. Susanna 
 Beckwith) and their uncles (John Anlaby and John Odingsells) petitioned 
 the House of Commons that the custody of Marmaduke, the heir, should be 
 taken from her and committed to them. The influence of the Beckwiths 
 being then great with Parliament, their request was granted, and on the 21st 
 August, 1647, an Ordinance was ordered to be brought in for that purpose. — 
 " Journal of House of Commons," vol. v. p. 281. The widow having en- 
 deavoured to convey the children abroad, so as to defeat the object of the 
 Ordinance, the House, on the 30th January, 1649, again interfered, by di- 
 recting the Council of State to give such directions in the matter as might 
 be requisite. — Ibid, vol. vi. p. 353. The widow, although defeated in her 
 object, as regards the heir Marmaduke, succeeded in her purposes so far as 
 regards the educating of her second son Roger (who by the death of his elder 
 brother ultimately became the heir) as a Roman Catholic. This last mentioned 
 Roger Beckwith having on the death of his brother succeeded to the estates 
 was created a Baronet by King Charles II., on the 15th April, 1681, just 
 eight days after his second marriage. He committed suicide by shooting 
 himself on the 6th December, 1700, at his father-in-law's house near to Ripon 
 Minster, at which last mentioned place he was buried. Whilst he was 
 living he gave much trouble here in church matters, and was the cause of 
 the suit of Batt v. Watkinson which settled the question as to the validity of 
 the body called the Four and Twenty of the Parish of Masham. He left by 
 his second wife two sons, viz : Roger, his heir (hereinafter mentioned) and 
 Marmaduke, the latter of whom, following the fortunes of the Jennings 
 family, went to America, and was Clerk of the Peace in Virginia. Roger, 
 the eldest son and heir-at-law, having succeeded to the estates and the 
 Baronetcy, was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in the year 1706. On the 10th 
 October, 1705, he married Jane, daughter and sole heiress of Benjamin 
 Waddington, Esq., of Allerton Gledhow, and by her (who died in the year 
 1713) had two sons, viz : Roger and Edmund (who both died unmarried) and 
 a daughter Jane, who eventually became his heiress, and married Beilby 
 Thompson, Esq. of Micklethwaite Grange. By this marriage she had a 
 daughter, Jane Thompson, who married Peregrine Wentworth, but died 
 ultimately without issue. Sir Roger, like his father, committed suicide by 
 shooting himself with a pistol at Aldborough Hall, in May, 1743, when the 
 Baronetcy became extinct. Soon after his death the Aldburgh estate was 
 sold, and by that means came into the possession of an ancestor of the pre- 
 sent owner, John Timothy D'Arcy Hutton, Esq. 
 
MASHAM CHUECII. 389 
 
 Wyvell, Kt. and Bt., by whom he left two sons and three 
 daughters. She dyed in the year-1646, and was buried 
 in the church of St. Clement Danes, London. 
 
 " Roger his successor, married two wives, first Eliza- 
 beth daughter of Sir Christopher Clapham of Beamsley, 
 Knt., who departed this life the first day of December in 
 the year 1673, and was buried near this place. Secondly, 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edmund Jennings, Kt., with 
 whom he lyes buried in the Collegiate Church at Ripon," 
 
 " Near this place are deposited the remains of William 
 Beckwith,* Esq., of Lamb-hill, he departed this life June 
 the 5th, 1762, aged sixty-two. Catherine his wife, 
 second daughter of Charles Lister, of Ripon, died Jan- 
 uary the 25th, 1776, aged sixty, leaving issue Mary, 
 Catherine, Elizabeth, and Dorothy. 
 
 " Their youngest daughter caused this tablet to be 
 erected. 
 
 "John Beckwith, Esq. of Masham, brother of the 
 above William Beckwith, died December the 14th, 1761, 
 aged fifty -four." 
 
 " In the adjoining vault are deposited the mortal re- 
 
 * William Beckwith, of Lamb-hill near Masham, was the son of William 
 Beckwith of Lamb-hill (hereafter mentioned) and was descended from Tho- 
 mas Beckwith, of Sutton -Grange near Ripon, who died in 1672, and who, 
 with his son Thomas, purchased the Lamb-hill estate on the 7th May, 1656. 
 Thomas Beckwith the son, had a son (William Beckwith of Lamb-hill) who 
 married Dorothy Pickersgill of Mickley (who died on the 3rd Deer. 1745, 
 aged 70, and is buried in the church at Kirkby Malzeard), by whom he had 
 two sons, viz., William Beckwith of Lamb-hill (who married Catherine 
 Lister of Ripon, by whom she had four daughters, viz., Mary, Catherine, 
 Elizabeth, and Dorothy, as stated in the text), and John Beckwith of Mas- 
 ham, and a daughter, Mary, who married John Lonsdale of Masham, the 
 ancestor to the present Bishop of Lichfield. — See ante, p. 307. 
 
 Samuel Beckwith of Aldbrough, and afterwards of High Burton, second 
 brother of Thomas Beckwith, the son above-mentioned, married a daughter 
 of Rowland Walker of Masham, who was nearly related to the celebrated 
 Dr. Walker, the gallant defender of Londonderry. — Walbran's " Memorials 
 of Fountains Abbey," p. 326. 
 
390 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 mains of William Danby, Esquire, late of Swinton Park, 
 in this Parish. He was only son of William Danby and 
 Mary Affleck his wife. Born xxviii. June, mdcclii. 
 Died iv. December, mdcccxxxiii. Married first in 
 mdcclxxv. Caroline Seymour, by whom he had one son 
 William, who died an infant mdcclxxix. Secondly in 
 mdcccxxii. Anne Hoi well Gater who survived him 
 without children, and in the affectionate wish to record 
 his virtues erected this monument to his memory. 
 
 " The last of the antient family which he adorned by 
 his excellence. He spent his long and active life in the 
 improvement of his patrimony. He erected numerous 
 buildings, he called extensive wastes hito cultivation, 
 and constructed the greater part of the mansion in which 
 he passed and ended his peaceful days. He possessed 
 the purest qualities of a Christian philanthropist, be- 
 nevolent, humble, and forbearing, warm in his attach- 
 ments, in his manners equal and affable, sincere in all 
 things. His charity knew no stinted limits, for it pro- 
 ceeded from his heart. And while generous in the sup- 
 port of public institutions, above all things he was the 
 patron of the poor. He relieved their wants, he redres- 
 sed their wrongs, he provided for their education, and 
 thus deserving and acquiring the affection of all around 
 him, he was followed to the grave by their tears. He 
 united considerable natural talents with various and 
 elegant accomplishments, and whilst he devoted much 
 leisure to the study and imitation of eminent writers in 
 many languages, the book which he best loved to study 
 was the great book of nature, wherein he clearly read 
 and with a thankful heart acknowledged the power and 
 goodness of its author. 
 
 " Thus endowed with the best gifts and qualities of 
 this world he forgot not the things pertaining to his sal- 
 vation, and the life of the world to come. And as he 
 descended into the vale of years and drew nearer and 
 nearer to his God, he was enlightened with clearer views 
 of divine love : and amidst the sinkings of decaying nature 
 
MASHAM CHUBCH. 391 
 
 he placed his firm though trembling trust in the cross of 
 his Kedeemer.'' 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Caroline, daughter of 
 Henry Seymour, Esq., and wife of William Danby, Esq., 
 who has inscribed this tribute of affectionate remem- 
 brance of the many amiable engaging and estimable 
 qualities that distinguished her as a wife, a friend, and a 
 christian. She died at Bristol Hot Wells, March 3rd, 
 1821, aged sixty- six." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Mary, Countess Harcourt, 
 widow of Field Marshal William, last Earl Harcourt, and 
 eldest daughter of William Danby, of Swinton, Esq. and 
 Mary, daughter of Gilbert Affleck, of Dalham, in the 
 county of Suffolk, Esq.* Born at Swinton, 12th March, 
 1748, married first, Thomas Lockhart, Esq., in 1772. 
 Secondly, the Hon. Col. William Harcourt,f in 1778, with 
 whom she lived in greatest harmony and affection for 
 above fifty-two years, and died 14th January, 1833, and 
 was buried at Staunton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. 
 
 " Also to the memory of Elizabeth Danby, the only 
 other daughter of the said William and Mary Danby. 
 Born in London 4th September, 1754. Died at Lyons, 
 October, 1786, and was there buried. 
 
 * Gilbert Affleck, Esq., was the son of John Affleck, by Neeltice daughter 
 of Gilbert Schape, merchant of Amsterdam. He married Arme the daugh- 
 ter of John Dolben, Esq., by whom he had a family of eighteen children, 
 of whom Mary the wife of William Danby, Esq., of Swinton Park, and 
 the mother of the late William Danby, Esq., and the Countess Harcourt, 
 was the sixteenth child. His son Edward (who was his tenth child) 
 having distinguished himself in the Naval Service (as mentioned ante, page 
 282) was created a Baronet on May 28th, 1782. 
 
 t He traced his Pedigree to Bernard, a nobleman of the royol blood of 
 Saxony, who acquired, in 876, when Hollo the Dane made himself master 
 of Normandy, the Lordship of Harcourt, Caileville, and Beauficel, in that 
 Principality. The immediate founder of the family, however, was Simon 
 Harcourt, a lawyer of eminence who became Lord Chancellor of Great 
 Britain, and was elevated to the Peerage on the 3rd of Septr., 1711, by the 
 title of Baron Harcourt. To him succeeded his grandson, Simon Harcourt, 
 who was on the 21st of Deer., 1749, created Earl of Harcourt, from whom 
 the Earldom descended to his grandson, Colonel Harcourt, above-named. 
 
392 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 u This tablet is inscribed as a last tribute of affection 
 to his beloved sisters by their only brother William 
 Danby, of Swinton, Park, Esq., now in the eighty-second 
 year of his age. November, 1833." 
 
 " In the middle aisle lie the remains of William Hard- 
 castle,* of Masham, gentleman, who died March 26th, 
 
 * William Hardcastle was a solicitor, and practiced at Masham. He 
 was the steward of the Copyhold Court of the Dissolved Prebend of 
 Masham ; and, during the time of his stewardship, the Court Rolls of the 
 Manor were burnt, either by accident or design. The consequence of the 
 loss of such Court Rolls was, that much property became lost to the Manor, 
 and has since become freehold. He was brother to John Hardcastle, Esq., 
 of Bedale, Barrister-at-Law, whose pedigree I give below. He married 
 Mercy (daughter of Mr. Richard West of Wakefield) who died at Masham, 
 on the 5th Deer., 1801, aged 76 years. He died on the 26th of March, 
 1782, aged 62 years, having had the following nine children by his said 
 wife, viz : — I. John, who died in his infancy. II. Richard, who also died 
 in his infancy. III. Thomas, who died without issue. IV. William who 
 also died without issue. V. Mary, who died unmarried. VI. Elizabeth, 
 who died unmarried on the 13th of March, 1830, aged 75. VII. Jane, who 
 died unmarried. VIII. Henrietta, who married John Baines of Masham, 
 surgeon (whom I mention presently). She died on the 22nd of Sep., 1804, 
 aged 43 years, having had a family of children as hereafter mentioned. 
 IX. Charlotte, who married Mr. Smalt, by whom she had issue. 
 
 John Hardcastle, Esq., of Bedale, Barrister-at-Law (above-mentioned) 
 married Jane daughter of Gregory Elsley, Esq., of Patrick Brompton, who 
 died on the 2nd, and was buried at Bedale on the 7th of May, 1806, aged 
 87 years. He died on the 15th, and was buried at Bedale on the 19th of 
 December, 1805, aged 96 years. He had by his said wife an only daughter, 
 Elizabeth, who was baptized at Bedale on the 9th of April, 1747, and was 
 married to Edward Carter, Esq., of Theakston Hall near Bedale, on the 
 11th of May, 1768. She died on the 13th, and was buried on the 19th of 
 August, 1834, aged 87 years. She had by her said husband the following 
 children : — 
 
 I. Jane, who was baptized 3rd July, 1769. She married Roger Martin, 
 solicitor, Bedale, and died at Masham on the 9th of March, 1850, aged 80, 
 without issue. 
 
 II. Elizabeth Frances, who was baptized the 23rd of July, 1770. She 
 married Mr. Hardy, surgeon, of Bedale. She died on the 19th of April, 
 1812, aged 41, leaving by her said husband the following children: — 
 
 I. Edward Hardy, formerly of Valparaiso, but late of Fairlawn, near 
 Ripon ? now deceased. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 393 
 
 1782, and Mary, his wife, who departed this life, Decem- 
 ber 5th, 1801, leaving two sons, Thomas and William 
 (who died without issue) also five daughters, Mary, 
 Elizabeth, Jane, Henrietta, and Charlotte. 
 
 " Elizabeth diedat Masham, unmarried, the 13th day of 
 March, 1830, aged seventy-five, and by her will desired 
 
 II. John Hardy, who assumed the name of Hardcastle, and died at 
 Masham without issue, on the 29th July, 1856, aged 50. 
 
 III. Richard Hardy, now (1863) living at Thorp- Arch. 
 
 IV. Mary Hardy, now living (1863) at Thorp-Arch. 
 
 III. Harriet, who was baptized on the 12th of March, 1777, and died 
 without issue. 
 
 IV. Edward John Carter, Esq., late of Theakston Hall, near Bedale, 
 but now deceased, the father of Edward Carter, Esq., of Theakston Hall, 
 now a Justice of the Peace for the North Riding of Yorkshire. 
 
 The Hardcastles were an old and influential family in this and the adjoin- 
 ing parish of Kirkby-Malzeard, as well as in Nidderdale, where they were 
 possessed of considerable landed estates. Before the dissolution of the mon- 
 asteries they appear to have held intimate relations with the monks of Foun- 
 tains Abbey. During the Civil Wars they warmly epoused the cause of 
 King Charles, and were made to suffer for it. Accordingly we find that one 
 of their names appears as a sufferer for his loyalty in the " List of such 
 persons from whom the Commissioners for Compositions with Delinquents 
 at Goldsmith's Hall, have purchased any Revenue for increase of mainte- 
 nance to the Ministry, allowing for the same proportionably by deduction 
 out of the Fines imposed on them. Published for the use of those whom it 
 may concern, 1648," as will appear by the following extract : — 
 
 " 22 Julii, 1647. Wm. Hardcastle, of Larton in the County of York, 
 Gent, to settle the Rectory of Coverham and the Chapel thereto belonging, 
 forever, for which he is to be allowed out of his second payment." 
 
 The name of this same person also appears in " A Catalogue of the Lords, 
 Knights, and Gentlemen that have compounded for their estates," " Printed 
 for Thomas Dring, at the sign of the George in Fleet-street, near Clifford's 
 Inne, June, 1655," as appears by the following extract : " Hardcastle, Will, 
 Larton, York, Gent, £138." 
 
 Notwithstanding the great losses which they sustained by the Civil Wars, 
 the family still retained a considerable amount of family pride. Old Mat- 
 thew Metcalf, the Parish Clerk at Masham, records in his private Register, 
 under the date of 25th Septr., 1808, the Burial of Miss Hardcastle of Mas- 
 ham, aged 55, as having taken place at 8 o'clock at night by torchlight; and 
 there is a tradition that one of the ladies of this family gave utterance to a 
 wish that there should be a curtain in Heaven to separate the poor from 
 the rich. 
 
394 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 this tablet to be erected in affectionate regard to the 
 memory of her parents." 
 
 " In memory of John Baines,* surgeon, who died at 
 Masham, the 5th of May, 1821, aged sixty-one years, es- 
 teemed and regretted by all who knew him. To con- 
 siderable skill and experience in his professional capacity 
 he united the most humane attention, and in private life 
 was distinguished by his urbanity and benevolence of 
 disposition. 
 
 " And of Henrietta, his wife, the fourth daughter of 
 the late William Hardcastle, Esq., of Masham, who died 
 22nd of September, 1804, aged forty-three years. 
 
 "As a feeble testimony of affection their son and 
 daughter have caused this monument to be erected." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Samuel Wrather, f who 
 died on the 7th of April, 1806, aged eighty-eight years, 
 also of Elizabeth Wrather, his wife, who died on the 12th 
 of October, 1780, aged forty-four years. Also of their 
 sons and daughters, the Reverend John Wrather, J B.A. 
 
 * Mr. Baines was a cousin of the late Mr. Edward Baines, the proprie- 
 tor of the " Leeds Mercury." He carried on for many years an extensive 
 practice as a surgeon at Masham, where he was much respected and had 
 great influence. He married Henrietta (the fourth daughter of the late 
 William Hardcastle of Masham before mentioned), and by her had the fol- 
 lowing- children, viz : — I. Mary, who died in her infancy, the 19th of June, 
 1799. II. William, who also died in his infancy, the 2nd of August, 1799, 
 aged 13 years. III. Henrietta, who died the 9th of August, 1806, aged 24 
 years. IV. John, who resided in London, and died there, leaving issue. 
 V. Anna, who, on the 23rd of August, 1810, married (1st), John Lodge 
 Battley, Esq., of Masham (the only son of the late Jeremiah Battley, Esq., 
 of Masham), who died the 19th of May, 1820. She married, secondly, on 
 the 25th of May, 1822, Charles Harrison, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, who on 
 his marriage took the name of Battley, and was M.P. for Beverley, by 
 whom she has left issue. She died the 19th of June, 1863, at Eamonscore 
 Manor House, near Warwick, aged 78. 
 
 f Samuel Wrather was Chief Constable for the Division of Hang East, 
 and also carried on the business of woolstapler at Masham. He was blind 
 for many years before he died. 
 
 J The Rev. John Wrather was a wag and a poet. His verses, especially 
 those on Hackfall, were very much prized by the people of Masham, who 
 
MASH AM CHUECH. 395 
 
 of Trinity College, Cambridge, who died on the 6th of 
 November, 1800, aged twenty-five years. William 
 Wrather, solicitor, who died in London on the 21st of 
 October, 1814, aged thirty-four years. Thomas Wrather,* 
 captain in the 3rd West York Regiment of Militia, who 
 died on the 22nd of July, 1841, aged fifty-nine years. 
 Elizabeth Wratherf who died on the 15th of June, 1853, 
 aged seventy-six years. Samuel Wrather J who died on 
 
 took great delight in repeating them. The following lines, on Johnny 
 Knubley's Barber's Pole, were, however, to my mind, the best production of 
 his muse : 
 
 " The Spiral Pole from far was seen 
 
 To tell the world that there 
 Frail man might lose his lengthen'd beard, 
 
 In Johnnie's Elbow-chair ; 
 Their shatter'd heads with age grown hoar, 
 
 Or robb'd of hair in vain, 
 But Johnnie can their loss restore, 
 
 And make them young again." 
 
 He was also the composer of the inscriptions put upon the Portrait of 
 the same famous Johnnie Knubley, " drawn and etched from nature by 
 J. C. Ibbotson, 1802," viz., " Johannes Knubleus, Depilator & Fac totum 
 Celerrimus Celeberrimusque," and " John Knubley the famous Barber of 
 the old School & Mambrino's last surviving helmet- bearer, Masham, Yorksh." 
 
 * Captain Wrather will be long remembered, as an old and highly re- 
 spected inhabitant of Masham. He raised from his late father's hack-mare, 
 a small but valuable stud of race-horses, which were destined, after his death, 
 to cut a conspicuous figure on the turf. He did not, however, live long 
 enough to reap the benefit of his labours, by witnessing the successes of the 
 horses which he had thus reared and trained. 
 
 t Elizabeth Wrather, by her Will dated the 4th of May, 1853, gave " to 
 the Blind Assylum at York, the Wilberforee Memorial, £100 exempt from 
 the Legacy duty. To the School at Scarbeck Wall, Masham, £100 of my 
 3 j per cents funded property, for the education of poor boys from the most 
 destitute families in Masham. I wish this Legacy to remain in the funds. 
 After a certain time the poor children will take their turns of removal to 
 the Free School, and others will be appointed to their places — the Vicar of 
 Masham to have the nomination.'^ . ......" I leave a Sovereign a year to the 
 
 Dorcas Society." I regret, however, to add that, through the supineness of 
 the vicar, this charity is lost to the town. 
 
 % Samuel Wrather was a commissioned officer in the old Mashamshire 
 Volunteers. Having succeeded to his brother's racing stud, at his death, he 
 had the gratification of winning with his horse " Nutwith," the St. Leger 
 of 1843, and also several other important stakes with " Miss Lydia," and 
 " The Maid of Masham." 
 
396 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the 18th of December, 1854, aged seventy-six years. 
 Mary Wrather* who died on the 14th of March, 1860, 
 aged eighty-six years." 
 
 " In memory of the Reverend Joseph Burrillf who 
 died March 1st, 1853, aged eighty-nine years. He was 
 forty-nine years curatej of this his native place, and late 
 Rector of Broughton Sulney, Notts. Also of Lucinda 
 his wife, eldest daughter of the late William Wrather of 
 Masham, Esq. She died June 4th, 1839, aged seventy- 
 six years. Their remains lie interred in the church of 
 Broughton Sulney. 
 
 " 4 Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord/ — Rev. 
 xiv., 13." 
 
 " Mrs. Marsden,§ of Hanover Terrace, Regent's Park, 
 London, gave the sum of £220, 3 per Cent Consolidated 
 
 * By the death of Mary Wrather this branch of the Wrather family be- 
 came extinct — all her brothers, as well as her sister, having- died unmarried. 
 
 t The Rev. Joseph Burrill was born at Masham in 1764, and was the 
 only son of the late Joseph Burrill of Masham (who died 23rd of October, 
 1806, aged 76 years) and Elizabeth his wife, (who died 29th of October, 
 1810, aged 75 years.) He, on the 20th of June, 1794, married Lucinda, 
 daughter of the late William Wrather of Masham, by whom he had eight 
 children, viz : — I. Charles, who died 20th July, 1802, aged 1 year. II. Wil- 
 liam, now of Liverpool. III. Joseph, who was a solicitor in Masham, and 
 died suddenly on the 22nd of March, 1830, aged 34 years. IV. John, who, 
 on Sept. 26th, 1826, married Anne daughter of the late James Blackburn 
 of Masham, deceased, by whom he left issue. He died 14th June, 1846, 
 aged 48 years. V. Thomas, who died 11th Sept., 1827, aged 24 years. 
 VI. James. VII. Mary. VIII. Elizabeth, now the widow of the late Rev. 
 William Glaister. 
 
 \ Besides being Curate of Masham, he was also, for very many years the 
 Head Master of the Grammar School at Masham, and the proprietor of a 
 very extensive Boarding School here, which, in its day, was held in very 
 high repute. His predecessor, as Head Master of the Grammar School, 
 was a Mr. Wilson ; and his immediate successor in it was Mr. Edmund 
 Barker of Masham ; who has been again succeeded by Mr. Henry Stubbs, 
 the present master. 
 
 § Mrs. Marsden was a daughter of the late William Wrather of Mas- 
 ham, and sister to Lucinda the wife of the Rev. Joseph Burrill above 
 mentioned. 
 
MASHAM CHUECH. 397 
 
 Annuities and caused the same to be transferred on the 
 22nd of February, 1842, to the Reverend Thomas Ricl- 
 dell, vicar of Masham, William Bur rill, and John Burrill, 
 Esqrs. In Trust, viz : the interest to be applied annually 
 for the benefit of such poor people of the parish of Mas- 
 ham as the said trustees in their discretion shall think 
 proper. N.B. The vicar of Masham for the time being 
 is always considered as one of the Trustees." 
 
 " In the church-yard, on the north side, are deposited 
 the remains of William Morton,* Steward for thirty 
 years to William Danbys, Esquires (Father and Son) of 
 Swinton. He died December 19th, 1798, aged fifty-six. 
 His worth and fidelity are in the memory of those who 
 knew him on earth. His reward we trust is in heaven." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Major Har court Morton, 
 who died on the 4th of June, 1854, aged sixty-eight 
 years. 
 
 " Also of Elizabeth Morton, the beloved mother of the 
 above, who died on the 27th of February, 1832, aged 
 eighty -five years. 
 
 " To Jane, widow of John Thirkhill, Esq., dis- 
 tinguished by unaffected piety, extensive charity, and 
 exemplary patience under very severe sufferings, this 
 Tablet is placed by her affectionate godson as a memorial 
 of his gratitude and of her christian virtues. 
 
 " Born at Masham, Sep. 27th, 1782. Died in London, 
 July 27th, 1812. 
 
 * He married Elizabeth (who died 27th Feb., 1832, aged 85 years), 
 
 by whom he had five children, viz : — I. William, his successor in the stew- 
 ardship, but afterwards became steward to the late Mrs. Lawrence and the 
 Earl de Grey, successively. He married Louisa daughter of the late Rich- 
 ard Strang ways, Esq., of Well, by whom he left issue. II. George, who 
 was a solicitor. III. Harcourt, who was a major in the army, and was 
 wounded in the Peninsular War. He died 4th June, 1854, aged 68, with- 
 out issue. IV. Mary, who, on the 23rd of Nov., 1810, married Mr. Charles 
 Pickslay of Sheffield, and had issue. V. Martha, who died 23rd February, 
 1862, unmarried. 
 
398 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 " She bequeathed One hundred Pounds towards the 
 insitution of a Female Union Society in this Parish." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of John Lodge Battley, Esq., 
 who died the 19th of May, 1820, aged fifty-six years. 
 
 " To rescue from oblivion his departed worth there 
 needs no inscriptive Tablet, since it is indelibly engraven 
 on the hearts of all who knew him. For filial piety and 
 attention, for the most perfect urbanity of manners, and 
 those various qualities of the head and heart, which make 
 men estimable, he was conspicuous. He was at once the 
 christian, the scholar, and the gentleman, and a most 
 affectionate and tender husband. 
 
 " His Widow has caused this memorial to be placed as 
 a tribute of her respect and gratitude." 
 
 " In memory of John Harrison, Esq., formerly Purser 
 in the Royal Navy, who died at Masham, June 19th, 
 1808, aged seventy-four. 
 
 " A man much esteemed both in his public station, 
 and in his retirement ; respected by the honourable for 
 his integrity ; courted by the social for his vivacity and 
 information, and much sought after by the sick and 
 needy for his active benevolence. 
 
 " Also of Phillis Harrison, his sister, who died April 
 23rd, 1800, aged sixty-eight. 
 
 " This monument is erected by Grace, the wife of Sam- 
 uel Broomhead Ward, Esq., of Mount Pleasant, near 
 Sheffield, and daughter of the late Thos. Martindale, of 
 Masham, gent., who died May 14th, 1789, aged seventy- 
 four, as a small tribute of gratitude to a relative who was 
 a kind friend and a benefactor to her and her family." 
 
 " John Lonsdale* of Masham, who departed this life 
 ye 18 of Feb., 1703, se. . . . ". Mutilated. 
 
 " Mary the wife of Mr. John Lonsdale f of Masham, 
 
 * He was the great-grandfather of the present Bishop of Lichfield. 
 f She was the grandmother of the present Bishop of Lichfield. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 399 
 
 and Daughter of Mr. William Beckwith, late of Lamb- 
 hill, buried Sep'b'r 20th, 1739, aged 36 years. Also 
 Mary her Daughter, buried June 20th, 1740, aged 4 
 years. 
 
 " Mr. John Lonsdale* was here also interred May 1st, 
 1784, aged 82." 
 
 " Here lyeth the body of Arthur Marshall of Masham, 
 who died the 28th of Feb., 1689. 
 
 Is mihi erat conjux dum vita manebat 
 Quem spero superas nunc habitare domus. — M. M." 
 
 " Here lieth the body of William Hardcastle of Mas- 
 ham, who departed this life the 31st of March, 1782, 
 aged 68 years. Also the bodies of John and Richard, 
 his sons, who died in their youth. Also near this place 
 lie the body of Mr. Richard West of Wakefield, who 
 departed this life December the 3rd, 1768, aged 71 
 years." 
 
 " Here lieth the body of Mrs. Mercy Hardcastle, wi- 
 dow of Mr. Willm. Hardcastle, and daughter of Mr. 
 Richd. West of Wakefield, who departed this life Deer. 
 7, 1801, aged 76 years." 
 
 " Here lieth interred the body of Mary Relict of Tho- 
 mas Johnson late of Mickley, Gent. She departed this 
 life the 9th of July, 1716, aged 80 years. Near this- 
 place also lye the body of John their youngest son. 
 He departed this life the 22nd of November, 1729, aged 
 23 years." 
 
 " Beneath this stone are interred the remains of Dor- 
 othy, daughter of the late John Bowes of Bedale, sur- 
 geon, She departed this life the 3rd day of April, 1814, 
 aged 49 years. Also the remains of Mary Relict of the 
 
 * He was the grandfather of the present Bishop of Lichfield. 
 
400 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 said John Bowes. She died Novr. 4th, 1814, in the 
 84th year of her age."* 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth the daughter of 
 the late John and Mary Bowes of Bedale. She departed 
 this life June 22d, 1821, aged 56 years. Also of Cecilia 
 Bowes, who died Novr. 12th, 1841, aged 73 years." 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Anne, widow of the late 
 Revd. Robt. Wilson, A. B., of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
 and Daughter of the late John and Mary Bowes of Be- 
 dale. She departed this life June 3rd, 1845, aged 78." 
 
 ' I know that my Redeemer liveth.' — Job 19 ch., 25 vr." 
 
 " Here lies the body of Benjamin Severs, of Masham, 
 who departed this life Feb. 8th, 1782, aged sixty-seven 
 years. 
 
 " His known character needs no encomiums. 
 
 " Here also lies the remains of Isabel, wife of the above 
 named Benjamin Severs, who died after a life spent in 
 the practice of every Christian virtue, on the 22nd day 
 of September, 1802, aged eighty- four years." 
 
 " Here lies the body of Mary, the wife of William 
 Horsman, of Ilton, who departed this life June the 9th, 
 Anno Domini 1767, in the thirty-fifth year of her age. 
 
 " Also interred here the body of William Horsman, of 
 Ilton, who departed this life July the 26th, 1791, aged 
 seventy-six years. 
 
 All you that behold my Stone 
 Ah ! think how quickly I was gone. 
 Death does not always warning give, 
 Therefore be careful how you live." 
 
 * John Bowes and Dorothy his wife, here mentioned, were the grand- 
 father and grandmother of the two Misses Wilson, now residing in Park- 
 street, Masham ; and the Rev. Robt. Wilson, B.A., and Anne his wife, 
 mentioned in the next inscription, were the father and mother of the same 
 ladies. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 401 
 
 " [Simon] Bartlett, of Nutwith Cote, who departed 
 this life — day of February, a.d. 1680. Also his son 
 John Bartlett, who died October ye 18th, 1680." 
 
 " Here lieth the body of John Bartlett,* of Nutwith 
 Cote, Esq., who died December the 15th, 1769, aged 
 sixty-three years. Also the body of John Ascough, 
 Esq., nephew and heir to the said John Bartlett, who 
 died February the 4th, 1774, aged thirty years." 
 
 " Erected in affectionate remembrance of Charlotte 
 Marian, the beloved Wife of John Fisher the younger, 
 of Masham, who departed this life Nov. xxvu., ad. 
 m.dccclviii., aged xlii. years, leaving her afflicted hus- 
 band and nine children to deplore her loss.f 
 
 " And of her two children, viz : — William Richard and 
 John William, who both died in her lifetime, and in 
 their infancy. 
 
 " ' Them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.' — 1 Thes. iv., xiv." 
 
 The foregoing are, I believe, all the monumental In- 
 scriptions which can now be seen in the interior of Mas- 
 ham Church. There have been many others, but they 
 have either been destroyed or are now become illegible, 
 or have been hid from sight by the present stalls. 
 
 There are in the churchyard great numbers of Grave- 
 stones, dating from the year 1691 down to the present 
 time — the great majority of which are, in point of de- 
 sign and workmanship, really execrable, and but few of 
 them are even tolerable, and as such are well calculated 
 to give to a stranger a very unfavourable impression as 
 to the state of " mason-craft " in the parish. Bad, how- 
 ever, as the gravestones themselves are, the inscriptions 
 placed upon many of them are still worse, and are equ- 
 ally calculated to impress a stranger with the notion, 
 that, so far as this parish is concerned, " the schoolmaster 
 
 * He is the person mentioned ante, page 287. 
 . t She was the wife of the author of these pages. 
 
 BB 
 
402 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 is abroad." On one gravestone a very plain old country 
 farmer is made to address his " wife and children dear," 
 in the following doggerel : 
 
 u Mourn not my wife and children dear, 
 I am not dead but sleepeth here, 
 My debts is paid, my grave you see, 
 Stay but awhile then follow me." 
 
 On another gravestone (which is placed over the grave 
 of a well-known old ringer in our Masham belfry) will be 
 found the following inscription, which, although better 
 than the other in point of composition, is open to severe 
 criticism on account of the very flippant way in which 
 it treats the very serious subject of Death. 
 
 " Here lies an old ringer, beneath the cold clay ; 
 Who has rung many peals both to serious and gay ; 
 Thro' grandsires and triples with ease he could range, 
 Till Death call'd his Bob, and brought round his last Change." 
 
 And on another gravestone (which is placed over the 
 grave of a person who was hanged at York Castle for 
 having attempted to murder his wife's father by firing a 
 loaded gun at him with the intent to murder him, in 
 order that he might succeed his father-in-law in the 
 tenancy of his farm) will be found the following Inscrip- 
 tion, surmounted by an open book, on the one page of 
 which are inscribed the words " Memento mori," and on 
 the opposite page, the translation of those words, viz : 
 " Eemember Death." 
 
 " My friends read this, and shed no tears, 
 I must lay here 'till Christ appears, 
 And at his coming hope to have 
 A joyful rising from the Grave." 
 
 God forbid that I should seek to deny, even to a mur- 
 derer, the hope of a joyful rising from the grave at the 
 great day of the Resurrection, knowing as I well do, the 
 story of the thief upon the cross, still I must say that, 
 under the circumstances, it would have been much bet- 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 403 
 
 ter taste to have remained silent upon the subject. It 
 must be admitted, however, that it is a too common error 
 amongst us thus to express, in strong terms such as these, 
 a confidence and assurance of a joyful Resurrection, as our 
 own grave-yard, as well as our own experiences, will 
 abundantly testify. It is needless, however, to point 
 out other instances such as these, especially as the doing 
 so might give pain to surviving relatives.* 
 
 Before taking leave of this disagreeable subject, I take 
 the liberty of stating that it is time that steps should be 
 taken to put a check to the erection of such inappro- 
 priate, unsightly, and^ otherwise objectionable monu- 
 ments in our churchyard as have hitherto disfigured it. 
 There is a remedy for it, and why not apply it? No 
 person has any right to erect a monument, or even a 
 gravestone, either in the church or churchyard, without 
 first obtaining the sanction of the Vicar for so doing ; 
 and it would not be an unreasonable request on the 
 Vicar's part, for him to require before giving such leave, 
 to be furnished with a plan of the proposed monument 
 or gravestone, and a copy of the inscription intended to 
 be put upon it. The adoption of such a course of pro- 
 ceeding, as here indicated, will not only put a stop to the 
 
 * Faulty as many of the inscriptions are in our own churchyard, they are 
 not by any means worse than many which are to be found in other neigh- 
 bouring churchyards, as the following precious specimen recently put up in 
 the churchyard at Tanfield will shew : 
 
 " In memory of Dorothy the eldest daughter of the respectable the late 
 Thomas and Dorothy Barugh of Burniston, passed through the gaities of 
 youth into the favour of her choice, and became the worthy wife for 15 years 
 of earthly eminence, then entered the shade of the bereft widow, the sacred 
 relict of the late William Horsman, farmer, of West Tanfield. She followed 
 her honoured husband and all their eight children to the tomb, lived a life 
 of liberality, pious friendships, and important events, and died in hope of 
 Heaven, in the centre of every interest, weeping relatives, and friends, on 
 the 2nd day of March, 1853, m 81 years. 
 
 Here the mortal lies, 
 Till summon'd to rise 
 
 By tlie Trumpet's awakening call. 
 Then will she be found 
 With Saints to surround 
 
 The Throne of the great Judge of all." 
 
404 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 evil, but will in all probability, at no very distant day, 
 save the Vicar from having to discharge a most unplea- 
 sant duty, in causing an objectionable gravestone to be 
 removed from the grave-yard, as has but recently hap- 
 pened to another clerg} T man elsewhere. 
 
 In the North side of the churchyard is a gravestone 
 bearing the following inscription upon it, viz : 
 
 " Here lie the remains of Julius Caesar Ibbetson,* an 
 artist eminent for his taste and skill in painting Rustic 
 figures, cattle, and Rural Scenery. He died Octr. 13th, 
 1817, aged 58. 
 
 " This humble memorial was erected by the affection 
 of his widow. 
 
 " Here also rest the remains of John Batley Ibbetson, 
 youngest son of Julius Caesar Ibbetson, who died Novr. 
 21st, 1821, aged 6 years." 
 
 And not far distant from the above, and on the same 
 
 * Pilkington in his " Dictionary of Painters," says, that Ibbotson was a 
 native of Masham, and that he was liberally educated and studied painting 
 for amusement, bat rose to such eminence that his landscapes were eagerly 
 sought for by collectors of the first rank. He is, however, in error in saying 
 that Ibbotson was a native of Masham, for he was born at Scarborough in 
 1759, and was originally a ship-painter, as stated by Rose in his " Biograph- 
 ical Dictionary." Ibbotson, having attracted the attention of the late Wil- 
 liam Danby, Esq., of Swinton Park, was induced to settle down at Masham, 
 where he spent the greatest portion of his life and ended his days, under the 
 kind patronage and fostering care of that worthy gentleman. It is quite 
 true, as stated by Pilkington, that he rose to great eminence, so much so 
 that he was very appropriately called by Mr. West the "Berghem" of 
 England, and his Pictures sold at high prices. Ibbotson, however, like too 
 many other men of genius, was very improvident, and was, consequently, al- 
 ways poor and in pecuniary difficulties. He was a good, sociable, and kind- 
 hearted man, and was very much respected. Many very amusing anecdotes 
 respecting him have often been told by the old inhabitants of Masham. As 
 to his pictures, his cattle are touched with great spirit, and those in which 
 they constitute a principal feature, are by far the best of his productions. 
 Several specimens of his work may be seen at Swinton Park. He also 
 painted some historical pictures, and was the author of a work called " An 
 Accidence or Gamut of Oil Painting for beginners," which was published 
 in 1805. 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 405 
 
 side of the Church, is a plain recumbent gravestone, to 
 the memory of a brother artist, on which is the follow- 
 ing inscription : 
 
 " George Cuitt,* Artist, died 15th July, 1854, aged 74. 
 
 " His memory lives in his works and in the hearts of 
 his friends." 
 
 * Mr. Cuitt was born at Richmond in Yorkshire, in 1779. His father 
 was an artist of considerable eminence, who studied at Rome as a portrait 
 painter, but on his return to England devoted himself to landscape painting 
 — a branch of the profession more congenial to his taste, and which he pur- 
 sued for many years with great success, in pourtraying, with admirable 
 fidelity, the scenery of his native county. 
 
 Under his father's tuition young Cuitt displayed early talent, and his 
 sketches from nature evinced from the first a degree of that originality and 
 force which distinguished his later works. In 1804 an opening presented 
 itself in Chester, where he took up his abode, and for some years pursued 
 his profession as a master with unremitting assiduity and eminent success. 
 His talent for imparting instruction to others, and the urbanity of his man- 
 ners, rendered him most popular in the sphere he had chosen, and those of 
 his pupils yet living remember his kindly tuition with affectionate regard 
 and respect. 
 
 Talents, however, such as his, were not to be confined to the drudgery of 
 teaching. Etching, and the transfer of his original drawings to the copper- 
 plate, became the engrossing subject of his more arduous study, and in the 
 picturesque buildings of the quaint old City, which was his residence, he 
 found ample material for the exercise of his pencil. His father had brought 
 from Rome a very complete collection of Piranesi's magnificent works; 
 these he adopted as his models, on which he certainly formed his style, and 
 the influence of which — notwithstanding their own inherent originality — 
 may be traced in all his future works. He published at intervals several 
 numbers of very original and powerful etchings, entitled " Old Buildings 
 in Chester." These were succeeded by his " Castles in Wales," in which 
 perhaps his admiration for Piranesi led him too far into mannerism, a defect 
 which detracts from the merits they otherwise undoubtedly possess. 
 
 In the year 1820 a severe illness obliged him to relinquish his duties as a 
 teacher, and having realised a moderate independence, he left Chester, and 
 returning to his native county, settled here at Masham, where he spent the 
 remainder of his days. The leisure he here enjoyed enabled him to bring 
 to full maturity his powers as an artist, and especially as an etcher, and his 
 succeeding works accordingly display a power of design and execution far 
 surpassing his previous efforts. It was here he produced his " Abbeys of 
 Yorkshire," all of which may be esteemed unrivalled as etchings — combining 
 such poetry of conception, force of light and shade, and fidelity in the de- 
 tails, as render them not less valuable to the archaeologist, than they are 
 
406 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 And near to the vestry is the vault belonging to the 
 Batley family, on which is the following inscription : 
 
 " The earthly remains of Mary the wife of Jeremiah 
 Batley of Masham, Esquire, are underneath deposited, 
 who died August 8th, 1810, aged 72 years: She was of 
 the name and family of Harrison of Sutton-house near 
 Seaford in the county of Sussex, and one of the last sur- 
 viving relatives of the late Sir William Thomas, of Folk- 
 ington House, in the said county, Baronet. 
 
 " In the same grave also rests the body of the said 
 Jeremiah Batley, formerly of Bull Close, near Halifax, 
 who after a happy union with his said beloved wife of 
 nearly fifty years died honoured and respected for his 
 talents and virtues, October 29th, 1810, aged eighty-two 
 years. 
 
 " Under this tomb lies interred the body of John Lodge 
 Batley, of Masham, Esq. (to whose memory a tablet is 
 erected in the church). He was the only son of Jeremiah 
 Batley, Esq., and Mary his wife, and died May 19th, 
 1820, aged fifty- six years." 
 
 And on the west end of the churchyard is the vault 
 belonging to the Bollands of Masham upon which are the 
 following inscriptions, viz : 
 
 charming to artistic taste. Among these the principal are "Fountains 
 Abbey," "Kirkstail," "Rievaulx," in separate numbers of six in each num- 
 ber, which were succeeded by " Bolton," " York," " Byland," and "Kirkham." 
 
 Besides these etchings on a large scale, he published a number of most 
 exquisite little vignettes of landscape subjects, in which, released from the 
 trammels of architectural portraiture, he seemed to enjoy greater freedom, 
 and certainly produced works of art which vie with, if they do not surpass, 
 his more ambitious efforts. 
 
 After a life passed in the successful pursuit of art — in the cultivation of 
 refined tastes — amid a select circle of chosen friends, who alone had power 
 at times to draw him from a seclusion, which his natural disposition and the 
 domestic happiness he enjoyed in it, rendered, if anything, too engrossing. 
 Mr. Cuitt was attacked by a short but severe illness, to which his vital 
 powers succumbed. He died on the loth of July, 1854, leaving no family, 
 but a widow, who still lives to lament her irreparable loss. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 407 
 
 " Near this spot rest the mortal remains of John 
 Bolland, of Masham, gent : also of Margaret his wife, and 
 of six of their children. He was for many years a re- 
 spected inhabitant of the "town of Masham, and having 
 survived his wife eight years he died a.d. 1776, aged 
 sixty-one."* 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of Joseph Bolland, f of 
 Masham, Esqr., son of John Bolland, gent, and 
 Margaret his wife. After having been actively engaged 
 in the City of London for more than forty years in the 
 anxious occupation of commerce, he retired to his native 
 
 * The Bolland family originally came from out of Craven, and were not 
 by any means blessed with an over-abundanee of wealth when they first 
 planted themselves in this parish. By plodding industry, however, com- 
 bined with a frugal course of living such as is seldom to be met with in these 
 days, they not only soon acquired for themselves competent fortunes, but 
 established themselves as persons of the first position in the place. John 
 Bolland, here mentioned, followed the business of a shopkeeper — embracing, 
 as was common at that time, both the grocery and the drapery businesses. 
 He left several children, viz. — I. John, who ultimately became an extensive 
 and opulent merchant in London, and had a seat in the House of Commons. 
 He married and had a son, William, who became a distinguished lawyer, 
 and had an extensive and lucrative practice at the Old Bailey in London. 
 He was raised to the Judicial Bench as one of the Barons of the Court of 
 Exchequer in 1829, when he was knighted ; and also a daughter, Sophia, 
 who became the wife of the Right Rev. John Lonsdale, D.D., Lord Bishop 
 of Lichfield, as mentioned ante, p. 307. II. Henry, who on the 10th Deer., 
 1803, was married at Masham church, to Mrs. Fielder (a daughter of the 
 late Thomas Martin dale, Esq., of Masham) who died without issue on the 
 28th June, 1805, aged 34 years. He survived her many years, and resided 
 at Haregill Lodge. He took a very prominent part in all parish matters, 
 and also held a commission as an officer in the old Mashamshire Volunteers. 
 He died without issue. III. Roger, who lived many years in Masham after 
 he retired from business as a grocer, &c, and died there unmarried. IV. 
 Joseph, of whom I speak presently. V. Miss Bolland, who resided at Mas- 
 ham, and lived to a great age, but died there unmarried. 
 
 f Joseph Bolland, here mentioned, was the son of John Bolland, men- 
 tioned in the previous note. After having retired from business, he took up 
 his residence at Masham. On the 17th April, 1823, he was married at 
 Masham church to Miss Dyne. He died without issue, and his widow sub- 
 sequently married James Taylor Wray, Esq., late of Cliff-lodge near Ley- 
 burn, whom she also survived many years. 
 
408 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 town to pass the remainder of his life, and died sincerely 
 lamented on the 6th day of July, 1827, aged sixty- 
 eight. 
 
 " The widow of Joseph Bolland caused this tomb to be 
 erected as a tribute of affection to a kind husband, of the 
 most benevolent disposition and endearing manners." 
 
 The Register Books belonging to Masham Church 
 commence in the year 1599, and have been pretty ac- 
 curately kept from that period down to the present time. 
 The earliest Book is in a very dilapidated state so far as 
 regards the binding, but the whole of the leaves appear 
 to have been preserved. A large portion of the Register 
 was, some years ago, neatly re-copied by the late Rev. 
 Joseph Burrill, at the expense of the parish. There are 
 not, that I am aware of, any remarkable entries in our 
 Parish Register, or at at any rate any which call for any 
 special remark, unless the following entries may be con- 
 sidered such, viz : 
 
 "Marriages, 1707. Audburgh. William Wray, aged 
 eighty-two years, and Margory Geldart of the same, aged 
 seventy- two, married by John Read, curate, the 15 th 
 day of April." 
 
 "Marriages, 1723. Leonard Pybus, of Ilton, and 
 Sythe Horner, of Masham, were married by banns pub- 
 lished. The woman, to prevent the creditors coming on 
 her new married husband for the debts contracted by 
 the former husband had nothing to cover her nakedness 
 during the solemnizing of the wedding but her shirt. 
 June 24, 1723."* 
 
 * There was formerly a very common, but a very erroneous, notion in this 
 as well as in many other parishes throughout England, that if a man mar- 
 ried a woman en chemisette, he was not liable for her debts. — See " Book of 
 Days," vol. i., p. 259. A similar entry to this is to be found in the Register 
 Book of a small village in Wilts, which is as follows : " John Bridmore and 
 Anne Sellwood, both of Chiltern All Saints were married October 17th, 
 1714. The aforesaid Anne Sellwood was married in her smock, without 
 
MASH AM CHURCH. 409 
 
 This last entry, which discloses a strange " Shift " to 
 get rid of a legal obligation, does not by any means re- 
 flect any credit, either upon the parties concerned, or 
 the clergyman who was so simple as to deface the Register 
 by making such a ridiculous entry in it, to say nothing 
 as to his permitting such a disgusting exhibition to be 
 enacted in the church. Neither does it say much for 
 the intelligence of the parish at this period. We know, 
 however, from other sources, that, not only at this time, 
 but long afterwards, great ignorance, not unmixed with 
 an incredible amount of superstition, very much pre- 
 vailed throughout the parish, and that ghosts and hob- 
 goblins were as plentiful in it as blackberries, so that 
 there was scarcely a nook or corner in the parish which 
 was not " haunted " by its own special ghost or boggle. 
 The " Marfield Boggle," " Jinny Greensleeves," of High 
 Burton, " Sir Roger Beckwith's " ghost, of Aldborough 
 Hall, and " The Woman without a head," at the Dykes- 
 hill, have indeed only taken their departure from the 
 parish within the period of my own recollection. 
 
 The churchwardens' accounts, together with the 
 minutes of the procedings of the Four and Twenty exist 
 in unbroken succession from a period shortly after the 
 Restoration (1661) down to the present time. A book 
 of much earlier date than this was also in existence some 
 years ago, and was last seen at Swinton Park. That 
 book is said to have contained much very valuable and 
 
 any clothes or head-gear on." (See 6th vol. of " Notes and Queries," p. 485.) 
 See also the subject discussed in the 3rd vol. of Brand's "Popular Antiquities," 
 Ed. Ellis (1842) page 205, where it is said " When a man designs to marry 
 a woman who is in debt, if he take her from the hands of the priest clothed 
 only in her shift, it is supposed that he will not be liable to her engage- 
 ments." It appears that this "vulgar error" was also prevalent at Cotten- 
 ham, in Cambridgeshire, at but a very recent date (6 " Notes and Queries," 
 p. 561) as well as at Kirton in Lindsey and at Ulcomb in Kent (7 "Notes 
 and Queries, p. 17). Indeed I am informed that the same error was re- 
 peated in our own parish (but with a greater regard to decency) so late as 
 the 10th November, 1810, on the occasion of the marriage of Matthew Carter 
 and Hannah Ascough. 
 
410 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 interesting matter as regards the ancient rights and 
 usages of the parish, and especially of the Four and 
 Twenty. It appeared by it that formerly the Four and 
 Twenty had the sole charge and superintendence of the 
 poor of the whole parish, and that the cost of the 
 whole of the poor of this wide and extensive parish 
 then averaged but £5 a year — a sum which con- 
 trasts very strikingly with the present cost of the poor 
 in any single township within the parish, and still more 
 in the whole eight townships of which this parish con- 
 sists.* Townships, however, as we now know them, did 
 not exist at that day, but only came into existence after 
 the passing of the Act, 13 and 14 Charles II., cap. 12 
 (a.d. 1662) and by its operation. Previous therefore to 
 the passing of this act, the poor of the whole parish were 
 necessarily placed under the care of the churchwardens 
 of the parish at large, assisted by Overseers of the Poor, 
 appointed also for the parish at large under the 43rd 
 Eliz. cap. 2, and it seems by the entries in the missing 
 book before alluded to, that the churchwardens and over- 
 seers of the poor of the parish, acted under the control 
 and superintendence of the Four and Twenty of the 
 parish. By the splitting up of the parish into townships 
 as before mentioned, not only the churchwardens but the 
 Four and Twenty ceased to have any further power over 
 the management of the poor in the several townships, 
 and as a consequence of it the churchwardens' accounts 
 
 * The following is an account of the cost of the Poor to the Township of 
 Masham for one year, ending 28th Sept., 1863. 
 
 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 In maintenance 
 
 . . • • 
 
 . . 29 11 
 
 Of 
 
 Out Relief 
 
 . . • . 
 
 ..230 2 
 
 1 
 
 Extra Medical Fees 
 
 • . . • 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 Vaccination Fees . . 
 
 . . 
 
 . . 12 7 
 
 6 
 
 Registration Fees . . 
 
 . . 
 
 ..4 3 
 
 6 
 
 Funeral Fees 
 
 . . 
 
 2 18 
 
 3 
 
 Salaries of Officers an 
 
 d other common charges 
 Total cost for one year . 
 
 . . 97 9 
 
 
 
 
 .£377 11 
 
 4-2 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 411 
 
 ceased from that time to include any account of the 
 monies expended upon the poor. 
 
 The oldest Book now forthcoming, containing the 
 churchwardens' accounts, and the minutes of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Four and Twenty, being subsequent in 
 point of date to the division of the Parish into Town- 
 ships, does not throw any light upon the subject of the 
 cost, and management of the poor. It does, however, 
 contain many curious and interesting entries as regards 
 the management and care of the fabric of the church, 
 and on other church matters, especially of the several 
 steps taken by the Four and Twenty towards putting 
 the church into a proper state of repair, and " rebeauti- 
 fying " it, after its passing out of the hands of the Puri- 
 tans on the restoration of King Charles II. I have 
 already in the course of this work given several extracts 
 from this Book, hi the way of elucidating the past his- 
 tory of the church (which I need not repeat here) ; but 
 there are many other entries in it worthy of noting. I 
 shall content myself however by merely adding the fol- 
 lowing, viz : 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 " 1683. For charges with two Limners w'ch came to see the church 3 8 
 Paid to Mr. Brackenbury for his two time cominge when 
 
 the church should have been butyfied, and charges . . 10 6 
 For a Whipe and a Bell for the Saxton . . ..014 
 
 " July the 6th, 1686. Eec'd then of Arthur Marshall and Marmad. Kinge 
 of the towne of Massam, and Churchwardens of the Parish, the sum of 
 Eight Pounds and four shillings and ninepence, collected from the Briefe 
 for the reliefe of the French Protestants. I say rec'd by me, Jo. Weld, 
 Vicar of Massam." 
 
 " 1688. P'd for the Saxton new Gowne . . . . ,.170 
 
 "1694. P'd for a new Gown for the Saxtton.. .. ..148 
 
 " 1738. P'd John Wardrop for making Saxton Coat & Britches. . 3 6 
 " 1743. Gave to Jno. Wheatley, Lost his substance by Fire ..016 
 
 I gather from this Minute Book that in the year 1727, 
 the grave and sapient body, the Four and Twenty of 
 Masham, was much agitated by the discussion of the 
 very important and stirring subject, whether a new Dial 
 
412 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 (which they had agreed to purchase at a great cost) 
 should be put up in the inside, or the outside of the 
 church. Great diversity of opinion appears to have ex- 
 isted upon the subject, and accordingly several meetings 
 were held upon it, and doubtless much liquor drank by 
 them at the expense of the parish, before they were en- 
 abled to solve the knotty point. They did, however, 
 ultimately come to a decision upon the matter, and they 
 recorded it in their Minute Book by the following mi- 
 nute, which I here give verbatim et literatim, viz : 
 
 "Aug'st ye 13th, 1727. Mem'd'm. It is this day 
 agreed att a Vestrey legelly held, by a majority of Votes, 
 that a new Diall shall be putt up on ye insid of ye church 
 and not on ye out." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that these wiseacres, forgetful of 
 the fact that, for a dial to be of any service, it must be 
 placed in a situation where the sun can shine upon its 
 gnomon or hand, and thus cast its shadow upon the 
 dial-plate, so as to mark the hour of the day, actually de- 
 termined by a majority, not merely that the dial should 
 be placed in the inside of the church (where the sun 
 could not shine upon it) but that it should not be put 
 up on the outside of the church, where the sun could 
 shine upon it, and thus mark the time of the day. It 
 is but charitable to suppose that this Resolution had 
 been come to by them at a late hour of one of their sit- 
 tings, after their brains had been strangely obfuscated 
 by the swallowing of large potations of liquor (which 
 they were then in the habit of taking on these occasions) 
 and by the fumes of tobacco. 
 
 With these extracts I close my account of the history 
 of the Church, and shall now proceed to describe the 
 constitution and powers of the ancient body called " The 
 Four and Twenty of the Parish of Masham," in whom 
 is now vested the government and regulation of the 
 Church, so far at least as regards civil or non-ecclesias- 
 tical matters. 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 413 
 
 THE FOUR AND TWENTY OF THE PARISH 
 
 OF MASHAM. 
 
 This ancient body is a Select Vestry, and bases its 
 origin on prescription and immemorial usage. How long 
 it has existed, in fact, is not known, but, in presumption 
 of law at least, it must have existed from the first year 
 of the reign of King Richard I. According to an old 
 book belonging to the parish, which contained the ac- 
 counts and the minutes of the proceedings of this body 
 (but which book is now lost or mislaid) the Four and 
 Twenty was not only in existence some time previous to 
 the passing of the Act 13 and 14 Charles II., cap. 12, 
 a.d. 1662 (by virtue of which act the parish was for the 
 first time divided into Townships as they now exist) 
 but that it had imposed upon it the sole charge and or- 
 dering of the poor throughout the whole parish, as well 
 as other duties. It is also incidentally mentioned in an 
 entry in the Parish Register, under the date of April, 
 1652, hereinbefore referred to (ante, page 334) as then 
 in existence, and assuming to itself the power of assign- 
 ing the Vicarage of Masham over to the Nonconforming 
 minister, Mr. Anthony Prockter, in the place of the 
 Rev. Benjamin Browne, the rightful Vicar of the parish 
 who was then put out of his living. The next mention 
 of this body is in the Report of the case Batt and others, 
 Churchwardens of the Parish of Masham, against Wat- 
 kinson, which was decided in the year 1690, to which I 
 shall presently refer. Before doing so, and in order to 
 make the matter more intelligible, I may mention that, 
 during the Commonwealth, and the consequent supre- 
 macy of the Roundheads or Puritans, the fabric of our 
 Church had not only been despoiled, but had been per- 
 mitted to run into decay, so much so that at the Restor- 
 ation in 1661, it stood in great need of extensive repar- 
 
4 14 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ations, and consequently required a large outlay of money 
 upon it. Accordingly, we find that in, or previous to, 
 the year 1680, a large sum of money was expended up- 
 on it by Thomas Batt, John Smorthwaite, and John 
 Pickard, the Churchwardens for the Parish of Masham 
 for that year. 
 
 These gentlemen, having expended their money upon 
 the Church, naturally introduced these expenses in their 
 account as churchwardens for the current year of 
 their office, viz : the year 1680, and having done so, 
 submitted their accounts to, and got them allowed and 
 passed by, the Four and Twenty. So far all was well, 
 but there happened to exist in the parish a very awk- 
 ward customer, in the person of Sir Roger Beckwith, 
 Bart., of Aldborough Hall. This gentleman, as we 
 have already seen, was brought up by his mother (a 
 Wyvill) as a Roman Catholic, but afterwards, on prov- 
 ing himself to be a bad Romanist, became a worse Pro- 
 testant, and accordingly, like the rest of his family, turned 
 Puritan. Being a Puritan, it is needless to say, that he 
 had no sympathy with the restorations which were then 
 going on in the Church, and accordingly objected to the 
 expense of them, and sought to get them disallowed. 
 Besides being a Puritan, as I have already stated, he ap- 
 pears to have been a person possessed of an ill-balanced 
 mind, having one fine morning taken it into his head to 
 blow his own brains out with a pistol. Sir Roger, there- 
 fore, cited the churchwardens to appear and produce 
 their accounts before Henry Watkinson, LL.D., the 
 Judge of the Dean and Chapter's Court at York. The 
 churchwardens, accordingly, and in obedience to the ci- 
 tation, appeared before that learned functionary, but at 
 the same time refused to produce their accounts to him, 
 alleging as their reason, the existence within the parish 
 of the ancient body called the Four and Twenty, and 
 that it had been the custom in the parish from time im- 
 memorial for the churchwardens to produce their annual 
 accounts to, and to get them allowed by, the Four and 
 
MASHAM CHURCH. 415 
 
 Twenty, and that on such accounts being so passed and 
 allowed by that body, they (the churchwardens) were, 
 by such custom, exonerated from producing them to any 
 other person whatever, and further that they, the church- 
 wardens, had already submitted their accounts to the 
 Four and Twenty, and had got them allowed by them 
 according to the ancient custom, which had thus pre- 
 vailed in the parish. The learned Judge of the Eccle- 
 siastical Court having over-ruled these objections of the 
 churchwardens of Masham, decreed that they (the 
 churchwardens) should produce their accounts as re- 
 quired by Sir Roger. This decision, although evidently 
 erroneous, imposed upon the churchwardens the neces- 
 sity of either producing the accounts as decreed, or of 
 contesting the matter further, by applying to a Court of 
 Common Law by Writ of Prohibition to restrain the 
 Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court from proceeding fur- 
 ther in the matter. The churchwardens chose the latter 
 alternative, and the result will be seen by a perusal of 
 the following report of the case as reported in the second 
 volume of Lutwiche's Reports, page 1027. 
 
 PROHIBITION 
 
 Batt and others Churchwardens of the Parish 
 of Massam v. Watkinson. 
 Michaelmas Term, 2 Wm. & Mary, a.d. 
 1690. 
 
 havf^pTohibi- Memorandum that on the 28th Nov. in that 
 
 ^a^court^S" term, came hither into Court Thomas Batt of 
 
 York - the Parish of Massam in the county of York, 
 
 John Smorthwaite of the same parish, and 
 
 John Pickard of the same parish, late Wardens 
 
 of the Parish Church of Massam aforesaid, by 
 
 Robert Waring their attorney, and gave the 
 
 That the parish court here to understand and be informed 
 
 °anS a Srish an that whereas the said parish of Massam is an 
 
 ancient parish, and that there are within the 
 
416 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 That there have 
 been 24 chief 
 Parishioners. 
 
 That on the 
 death of one of 
 them the residue 
 have elected an- 
 other in his room 
 
 That in the 
 
 Parish there is a 
 
 custom, &c. 
 
 That the said 24 
 
 for the time 
 
 being have made 
 
 Bates, &c. 
 
 said parish and that from time of which the 
 memory of man is not to the contrary there 
 have been Twenty Four of the more fit and 
 able parishioners who are called, and during 
 the whole time aforesaid were called the Four 
 and Twenty. And thro' all the time afore- 
 said as often as any one of the aforesaid 24 
 parishioners died* the residue of the afore- 
 said 24 parishioners surviving chose, and 
 thro' all the time aforesaid were wont to choose 
 one other fit and able parishioner of the said 
 parish to be one of the aforesaid 24 parish- 
 ioners, in room of the like parishioner so 
 deceased. And that within the said parish 
 there is, and from time of which the memory 
 of man is not to the contrary has been a cus- 
 tom namely, that the said 24 parishioners 
 called the Four and Twenty for the time being 
 from the aforesaid time of which the memory 
 of man is not to the contrary, were used and 
 accustomed as often as it was necessary to 
 make rates and to assess reasonable sums of 
 money on the parishioners and inhabitants of 
 the said parish for the time being, for and to- 
 wards the reparation of the nave and aisles of 
 the Parish Church of Massam aforesaid, and 
 of the bells, and for other things fitting and 
 becoming in and about the said church to be 
 used and expended, f 
 
 * It has also been the custom as far back as can be traced, that whenever 
 any one of the Four and Twenty ceased to reside in the parish, or resigned 
 his office as a member of the Four and Twenty, for the residue of the Four 
 and Twenty to choose and appoint another person in his place. With this 
 correction, the custom here stated has been regularly acted upon and fol- 
 lowed up to the present time, as the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty 
 (which dates from a period earlier even than this decision) will shew. 
 
 t The Four and Twenty still continue to make rates in the manner and 
 for the purposes here stated. 
 
THE FOUR AND TWENTY. 
 
 417 
 
 That the "War- 
 dens of the said 
 
 And that the wardens of the said church 
 for the time being, from all time aforesaid, 
 have received and have used, and were accus- 
 fmSemSiaih^e tomed to receive all dues and sums of money 
 &TforburMsln' due or payable for Burials in the body or 
 SLSdchurch aisles of the said church,* and if any parish- 
 ioner or inhabitant of the said parish refused 
 to pay any rate assessed upon him, or any 
 sum of money due or payable by him for Bu- 
 rials as aforesaid, then the churchwardens for 
 the time being, by warrant made by the said 
 24 parishioners called the Four and Twenty 
 for the time being to such churchwardens on 
 that behalf, distrained and were used and ac- 
 customed to distrain, f within the parish afore- 
 said, the goods and chattels of such parish- 
 ioner so refusing for such Eates assessed upon 
 
 * It appears by the churchwardens' accounts that they have been, and are 
 still, accustomed to receive a Fee on a Burial in the nave or aisle of the 
 church, and that they have given the parish credit for such receipts in 
 their annual accounts. My first impression was that the churchwardens 
 were not justified in laying claim to such a Fee, as, if due at all, it was due 
 to the Vicar, in whom the soil and freehold of the church is vested by law, 
 and who alone has the power to give leave to bury in the church. — See 2 
 Cro. 367; Id. 237; and Noy. 104. Further reflection, however, upon the 
 subject, has led me to modify this opinion. Dr. Burn, in the 1st vol. of his 
 " Ecclesiastical Law," p. 187 (1st edit.) says, that the churchwardens by cus- 
 tom may have a fee for every burial within the church, by reason that the 
 parish is at the charge of repairing the floor, citing Wats., c. 39, as his au- 
 thority. If, therefore, the churchwardens lay claim to the fee merely as a 
 compensation for the damage done to the floor of the church, and not as a 
 consideration for leave to bury in it, I now think that they may be j ustified 
 in asserting their claim to it as stated in the text. 
 
 f The oldest inhabitant now living cannot remember a single instance of 
 such a distress being ever made, and no trace of such a distress being made 
 can be found, either in the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty, or in the 
 churchwardens' accounts. On the contrary, it appears by the Act Book of 
 the Peculiar Court of Masham, that church rates have, in a great number 
 of instances, been sued for in the Ecclesiastical Court, precisely in the same 
 way as in other parishes. If, therefore, the right to distrain ever existed, 
 as stated in the text, it is now lost by non-user. 
 
 CO 
 
418 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 And that the said 
 
 24 with consent 
 
 of the vicar or 
 
 curate have used 
 
 to repair the 
 body and aisles. 
 
 And that the 
 churchwardens 
 from time im- 
 memorial have 
 given their ac- 
 counts to the 
 said 24, &c. 
 
 him or for money due or payable for Burials 
 as aforesaid. 
 
 And that the said 24 called the Four and 
 Twenty for the time being, from all time 
 aforesaid, with consent of the Vicar or Curate 
 of the said church for the time being, were 
 used and accustomed to repair or cause to be 
 repaired,* the body and aisles of the said 
 church, and the churchwardens for the time 
 being, from all time aforesaid, paid and used 
 to pay all sums of money to such reparation 
 of the body and aisles of the said church, and 
 when the churchwardens for the time being 
 from all time aforesaid gave and rendered and 
 used to give and render to the said Four and 
 Twenty their accompt of all sums of money 
 by such churchwardens for the time being 
 received and expended in their office, the said 
 24 parishioners called the Four and Twenty 
 from time to time from all time aforesaid al- 
 lowed or disallowed such accompt of the 
 churchwardens for the time being according 
 as it seemed to them to be expedient. And 
 upon such accompt by such churchwardens 
 so made, and by the said 24 parishioners al- 
 lowed, those wardens were immediately ex- 
 onerated and from all time aforesaid were 
 wont to be exonerated from making or ren- 
 dering any account elsewhere. f And where- 
 
 * The Four and Twenty hare been, and still are, accustomed to order 
 and direct the necessary repairs to he done in the nave or aisle of the church 
 as stated in the text. They have, also, always claimed the right to make 
 alterations in, or additions to, the church, without applying to the Ordinary 
 for a Faculty to enable them to do so, and it will be further seen ante, p. 371 f 
 that they claim to have, and to exercise, the same rights as the Ordinary in 
 other parishes has a right to do. 
 
 f The present practice is according to the custom as here stated, and ap- 
 pears to have been constantly acted upon from a period antecedent to the 
 date of this decision. 
 
 And that on such 
 
 account the 
 
 churchwardens 
 
 have always been 
 
 discharged from 
 
 any account. 
 
THE FOUR AND TWENTY. 419 
 
 Sffswe?e e ciSrch- as ^ ne same Thomas Batt, John Smorthwaite, 
 wardens for the and John Pickard, were Wardens of the said 
 
 year 1680 and . ^ pii/ri n i 
 
 after that year .Parish Church of Masham for the year 1680, 
 
 they gave their i i • ' i ' ■ i ■ l 
 
 account to the and after that year ended m the said parish 
 of Masham gave and rendered then to the 
 24 parishioners of Masham aforesaid called 
 the Four and Twenty a full and just accompt 
 of the money by them received and expended 
 in their office aforesaid which accompt the 
 said 24 Parishioners then and there allowed. 
 
 That an pieas And whereas all and singular the pleas and 
 
 concerning Pre- <-> , -L 
 
 scriptions and matters touching or concerning any such 
 
 customs ought to .. o . •. . V • i r> 
 
 be determined at prescription or custom within this realm of 
 
 Common law. 1 -»- . _ n 
 
 England specially belong and pertain to our 
 Lord the King and our Lady the Queen now 
 and to their royal crown, and by the law of 
 the land of this realm of England ought to be 
 tried and determined in a Court of Record of 
 our Lord the King and our Lady the Queen, 
 now and (not) before any ecclesiastical or 
 spiritual Judges, and always hitherto ought 
 St h h 4 D dSwn and used so to be. Yet a certain Henry 
 spirituafcourt. 6 Watkinson, LL.D., commissary or auditor of 
 causes of the venerable the Dean and Chap- 
 ter of the Cathedral and Metropolitan Church 
 of St. Peter at York, not being ignorant of 
 all and singular the premises, contriving un- 
 duly to aggrieve, oppress, and harrass the 
 said Thomas Batt, John Smorthwaite, and 
 John Pickard, against the custom aforesaid 
 and the law of the land of this realm of Eng- 
 land, and to draw the judgment of a plea 
 which specially belongs and appertains to the 
 King and Queen now and to their royal 
 crown, to another examination in a Court 
 Christian, has caused to be cited the said 
 Thomas, John Smorthwaite, and John Pick- 
 ard, into a Court Christian before the said 
 
420 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIIIllE 
 
 Judge, ex-officio suo, on the information of 
 Sir Roger Beckwith, Baronet, to appear be- 
 fore the said Spiritual Judge, to exhibit and 
 count, &c. before pass the accompt of money received and laid 
 out in their office of churchwardens aforesaid. 
 And the same Spiritual Judge has unjustly 
 bound over the said Thomas, John Smorth- 
 waite, and John Pickard, to appear in the 
 said Court Christian before himself as Judge, 
 and to answer to the same spiritual Judge of 
 and concerning the premises. And although 
 the said Thomas, John Smorthwaite, and 
 John Pickard, pleaded all and singular the 
 premises aforesaid for their exoneration from 
 the said matter imposed on them in the same 
 Court Christian before the said Judge, and 
 frequently offered to prove them with inevi- 
 table truth. Yet the same spiritual Judge 
 hath wholly refused to admit or receive their 
 allegation or proof, and threatens that the 
 said Thomas, John Smorthwaite, and John 
 Pickard, shall be condemned of and concern- 
 ing the premises in contempt of the said Lord 
 the King and Lady the Queen, now and to the 
 manifest loss, prejudice, and grievance of the 
 same Thomas, John Smorthwaite, and John 
 Pickard. And this the same Thomas, John 
 Smorthwaite, and John Pickard, are ready to 
 verify. Wherefore the same Thomas, John 
 Smorthwaite, and John Pickard imploring 
 the aid and bounty of our Lord the King and 
 our Lady the Queen, pray for a Prohibition 
 to be directed to the aforesaid spiritual Judge 
 of the said Court Christian or to any other 
 competent Judge whatsoever, in this behalf 
 to prohibit him from holding any further 
 plea before him touching the premises in any 
 way, &c. 
 
THE FOUR AND TWENTY. : 421 
 
 On great debate of this case at several 
 times, the Court was of opinion that the 
 aforesaid custom was good and reasonable, 
 and Prohibition was absolutely granted." 
 
 It will be seen by the foregoing report that the church- 
 wardens were successful in their litigation, and that the 
 Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court was prohibited from 
 proceeding further in compelling them to account before 
 him. The effect of this decision was to establish the 
 authority of the Four and Twenty as a Select Yestry by 
 prescription or immemorial usage, for it will be seen 
 that the existence of the immemorial usage, as alleged, 
 was not even attempted to be denied, and the Court, as- 
 suming that the usage as alleged had so existed from 
 time immemorial, decided that such a custom as was 
 here set up by the churchwardens, was a good and rea- 
 sonable custom, and therefore gave effect to it by grant- 
 ing the Prohibition as prayed. Thus it will be seen 
 that there can be no question as to the legality or au- 
 thority of the body called the Four and Twenty, as a 
 select vestry by immemorial usage. 
 
 The class of persons qualified to be members of the 
 Four and Twenty, are " the more fit and able parish- 
 ioners," that is, persons resident in the parish, and they 
 are required to be elected, whenever vacancies occur in 
 the body, by the remainder of the existing members 
 then constituting it ; and when so elected they remain 
 members of the body for life, or until they quit the 
 parish, or sign. 
 
 The powers of the Four and Twenty embrace all the 
 powers and authorities which can be, and commonly are, 
 exercised by ordinary Parish Vestries, such as exist in 
 ordinary parishes, and also some other powers and au- 
 thorities which are not possessed by such last mentioned 
 Vestries. Amongst these powers and authorities may 
 be mentioned, the right to fill up vacancies in their own 
 body as often as vacancies may occur — their power to 
 
422 MASHAM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 make rates for the reparation of the body and aisles of 
 the church, and for other things fitting and becoming in 
 and about the Church to be used and expended — to re- 
 pair, or cause to be repaired, with the consent of the 
 Vicar or Curate, the body and aisles of the Church, the 
 expenses of which are to be paid by the churchwardens 
 — to receive the accounts of the churchwardens of all 
 sums of money by them received and expended in their 
 office, and to allow or disallow such accounts according 
 as it should seem to them expedient, and to exonerate 
 the churchwardens from making and rendering any ac- 
 count elsewhere. Besides possessing the powers above 
 alluded to, they annually appoint three out of the four 
 churchwardens (the Vicar appointing the fourth church- 
 warden) — they assume to themselves the entire direction, 
 superintendence, and control, over the fabric of the 
 Church, and of the churchwardens in the discharge of 
 the duties of their office — and they also claim the right 
 by immemorial usage, " of ordering with regard to the 
 erecting of pews, and of authorising anything to be done 
 relative to such matters, in like manner as in other par- 
 ishes the Bishop or Ordinary has a right to do." — [See 
 entry in Minute Book of the Four and Twenty under 
 date of 1765]. — Also the right to erect pews or seats in 
 the Church, and of appropriating the said seats to par- 
 ticular persons or families, in like manner as the Ordi- 
 nary in other parishes has a right to do. — [See entry in 
 the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty, under date 
 of Dec. 1st, 1832]. — Also the right from time to time 
 to appoint to the office of Sexton, and to remove him 
 from his office when and as they shall think fit — and 
 lastly, they claim to represent in all Parish affairs the 
 whole body of the Parish, and to have the direction and 
 ordering of all matters belonging to the Church, and as 
 oft as any part of the Church, or any utensils belonging 
 to it are wanted either repairing or ornamenting, or any 
 material thing is wanted to be done, to give orders con- 
 cerning such matters from time to time as they may 
 
THE FOUR AND TWENTY. 423 
 
 think proper, and that such orders should be executed 
 by the churchwardens. — [See a statement to this effect 
 in the Copy Case submitted by the Four and Twenty to 
 Mr. Johnson, Recorder of York, for his opinion* thereon 
 entered in the Minute Book of the Four and Twenty, 
 under date of 21 Octr., 1765.] 
 
 Such is the constitution of the body called the Four 
 and Twenty, and the powers exercised or claimed by 
 the members of that body. I have already had occasion 
 in the course of this work, to allude to these powers, 
 and to discuss the question whether they could success- 
 fully maintain them if contested : it is needless therefore 
 repeating them here. 
 
 * Mr. Peter Johnson in his opinion upon the case here alluded to, says, 
 " I am of opinion that the Select Vestry of Four and Twenty inhabitants 
 within the Parish of Mashani, being grounded upon custom, and that custom 
 having been held good and reasonable in the case of Batt v. "Watkinson, re- 
 ferred to in the case, the Four and Twenty have the same power within the 
 Parish, to judge and order what they think necessary or proper to be done 
 in the Church as the Parishioners at large have in any Parish where there 
 is not a Select Vestry; and as the acts and orders of the majority of the 
 parishioners at large, duly assembled upon the usual public notice given in 
 the Church, will bind the Parish in the latter case, so the majority of the 
 Select Vestry, duly assembled upon the like notice, -will equally bind in the 
 former." 
 
424 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY FOUND WITHIN 
 THE PARISH. 
 
 It is a matter much to be regretted that the remains of 
 antiquity, which have been from time to time discovered 
 within the Parish, have been (with but few exceptions) 
 so little cared for, and so ill preserved, as they have 
 hitherto been. Considering that, many years ago, the 
 late William Danby, Esq., formed a Museum at Swinton 
 Park, one would have expected that such articles as 
 were found within the Parish would have found their 
 way into that valuable depository, and have been thus 
 preserved for the benefit and instruction of the inhabi- 
 tants, but this, unfortunately, has not been the case ; and 
 the same observation will apply, but with still greater 
 force, to the Museum which was established some six 
 years ago in connection with the " Riddell Memorial Me- 
 chanics' Institute," at Masham, for I believe that not a 
 single article of interest connected with the Parish has 
 as yet been added to that Museum, although some of the 
 gentlemen having the charge of it and its interests, have 
 found means of obtaining and adding to their own pri- 
 vate collections, many articles which would have been 
 valuable acquisitions to that Museum — a selfishness 
 which cannot be too much condemned, since it is well 
 known that the small private collections of individuals 
 are but of very little, if any, value to the public at large, 
 besides having the disadvantage of being always liable 
 to be dispersed on the death, or the change of residence 
 or alteration in the circumstances, of the owners of such 
 small private collections — a result which cannot occur in 
 the case of a public museum like that at the Mechanics , 
 Institute. 
 
 Many articles possessing antiquarian interest have 
 been lost to the Parish, owing no doubt to the finders of 
 
TO FACE PAGE *25 
 
 SEEP. 429. 
 
 bronze patella found at round -hill, near 
 masham; and a golden armlet, dug 
 up un swinton dark 
 
 GARGOYLE 
 FOUND IN MAjSHAM CHURCH. 
 
 SMALL BAND-BELL 
 FOOT!) IN MASBAM CBDUCE 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 425 
 
 them not knowing the value of them, whilst others have 
 been lost to it by their getting into the hands of small pri- 
 vate collectors, and being afterwards dispersed or dis- 
 posed of, in the manner above mentioned. I trust, how- 
 ever, for the credit of the parish, and especially of those 
 having the management and direction of the museum 
 connected with the Mechanics' Institute, that for the fu- 
 ture a different course of conduct will be pursued. 
 
 Having made these few prefatory remarks with a view 
 to secure the future preservation of articles of local an- 
 tiquarian interest which may hereafter be found, I now 
 proceed to notice a few such articles as have been found 
 and preserved. 
 
 The first article which I shall mention is a very re- 
 markable gold ornament, supposed to be connected with 
 the early British, or Druidical, era of this country, which 
 was discovered in the year 1815, in forming the sunk 
 fence which is opposite to the Porter's Lodge, or the en- 
 trance to Swinton Park, and within two feet of the sur- 
 face of the ground. In the Archaeological Institute, 
 York, 1846, page 5, it is thus described: "It bears 
 much resemblance to one type of the Irish 4 Ring money ' 
 as designated by Sir Wm. Betham (Transactions of the 
 Royal Irish Academy, vol. xvii.) By some antiquaries 
 these singular objects have been termed Armlets : it is 
 more probable that they might serve as fastenings of the 
 mantle or other garment, or, possibly, they were orna- 
 ments of a sacred or mystic nature. The weight of this 
 specimen is 5 ounces 3 drachms and 10 grains. A gold 
 ornament of analagous description, was found in Scotland 
 in 1731, deposited in an urn (Archseologia, vol. ii., pi. 
 iii., Reliq. Galaenae, p. 280). Another was found in 
 1773, near the Lizard Point, Cornwall; and two (of 
 which one weighed 9 ounces and 10 pennyweights) were 
 discovered near Ripon in 1780, as stated in Gough's 
 Additions to Camden, vol. iv., p. 231. No example of 
 the precise type found at Swinton Park has been noticed 
 as discovered in England." 
 
4:26 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 The discovery of this gold ornament is also referred 
 to in the 6th vol. of the Archaeological Journal, page 61, 
 in an article by Albert Way, entitled, " On ancient arm- 
 illse of gold recently found," in which it was stated that 
 it was most kindly communicated from the Swinton Park 
 Museum by desire of Mrs. Danby Harcourt through Mr. 
 Charles Tucker. I regret, however, to add that even 
 this interesting relic is not now forthcoming, but 
 is supposed to have been stolen from the museum at 
 Swinton Park. 
 
 I next proceed to notice two Sepulchral Stone Cists 
 which were discovered in the years 1835, and 1836, by 
 some workmen employed in obtaining gravel at the 
 gravelpit in the Marfield, near to Mr. Kendall's 
 waterworks, and the land called "The Nunneries" or 
 " Nunners' fields " ; and also some vessels of Bronze 
 found in 1845, at Round-hill, and supposed to belong to 
 the Roman period of the history of the parish. They 
 are thus described by Charles Tucker, Esq. (a gentle- 
 man well known not only to the people of Masham, on 
 account of his connection with the Swinton Park estates, 
 but also to the antiquarian world by his valuable contri- 
 butions to the science of Archaeology) in the 6th vol. of 
 the Archaeological Journal, page 41 : u At the monthly 
 meeting of the Institute in December last [1848] there 
 were exhibited drawings of two remarkable Stone Cists 
 or Cofiins, of considerable antiquity, now preserved in 
 the pleasure-grounds at Swinton Park, Yorkshire. No. 
 1, was discovered in the year 1835, by workmen who 
 were digging gravel from an extensive ridge or hill, of 
 that material, lying about 200 yards distant from the 
 right bank of the river Eure, in the parish of Masham, 
 Yorkshire. The ridge is raised 10 or 12 feet above the 
 level of the adjacent soil in an extensive open field called 
 Mar or Mere-field, and is now grown over with brush- 
 wood, forming a kind of shaw. There is no historical 
 tradition connected with the actual spot, but about 2 
 miles lower down the stream is a rocky ford known as 
 
PAGE 426. 
 
 TWO SEPULCHRAL STOHE CISTS, EOFNL IN" THE MAR-FIELD BEAR 
 MASSATsU A.D. 1835, A"ND A.D. 1836. 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 427 
 
 4 Mowbray- Wath,' and near to this it is said a great 
 battle was fought with the Danes. The stone of this 
 Cist is not that of the neighbouring Quarries of Elling- 
 ton-Firth, but apparently the coarse grained sandstone 
 of Agra-moor and Colsterdale, about 7 miles distant to 
 the westward. The lid was unfortunately split across 
 the centre by the workpeople before they were aware of 
 their nature, and it was placed about 2 feet from the 
 surface of the ridge, and contained the greater portion 
 of the bones of a human skeleton, but no remains of any 
 other kind : many of the bones crumbled to dust on ex- 
 posure to the atmosphere; others, with the skull, were 
 less decayed, and were stated by a surgeon [Dr. Dal- 
 gliesh of Masham] who examined them, to be apparently 
 those of a female. The workmanship of the Cist is 
 rude, and totally devoid of any kind of ornament or in- 
 scription. The measurements are as follows : length at 
 the bottom or ground line, 6 feet 3 inches; length at 
 junction with the lid, 6 feet 9 inches ; width at the bot- 
 tom, 2 feet; width at junction with lid, 2 feet 6 inches; 
 thickness of lid at centre, 1 foot 4 inches; thickness of 
 lid at the edge, 10J inches; thickness of sides of Cist, 
 
 6 inches; height of Cist from ground (without lid) 2 
 feet; depth of cavity, 1 foot 6 inches. 
 
 "In the following year (1836) the CistlSTo. 2 was dis- 
 covered by the labourers whilst pursuing their occupa- 
 tion of digging gravel in the same ridge, and a few yards 
 further northward than the position of the former. It 
 is formed of the same kind of stone, but is more rude in 
 shape and workmanship, and was entirely empty. The 
 dimensions nearly correspond with those of the Cist al- 
 ready described. Length, 6 feet 6 inches; width, 2 feet 
 3 inches ; height, 1 foot 8 inches ; thickness of the lid, 
 
 7 inches. The lid is a flat stone with a chamfered edge, 
 and it projects slightly over the sides of the Cist, and 
 rather more over the ends. For their better care and 
 preservation both Cists were removed to [and are still 
 to be seen at] the Pleasure Grounds at Swinton Park. 
 
428 MASHAM AMD MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Similar stone Cists, some of which are ornamented or 
 bear inscriptions, discovered in the neighbourhood of 
 York, are preserved in the Museum of the Philosophical 
 Society in that City. 
 
 " The discovery of the second Coffin in the same ridge 
 or hill of gravel, leads rather to the supposition that — 
 instead of its having been a bank of gravel formed by 
 the subsidence of the stream, as had been generally sup- 
 posed — the mound, although in the lapse of ages it has 
 lost its shape, may have been originally raised by man 
 as a tumulus, in which to entomb the Coffins — the adja- 
 cent bed of the river affording an abundant supply of 
 materials. 
 
 " It is evident from the shape of the cavities in these 
 Cists, and from the bones found in one of them, that 
 cremation of the dead was not the practice of the people 
 who formed these interesting relics; they seem, how- 
 ever, to belong to a period about coeval with the Roman 
 occupation of Britain,* or immediately subsequent to 
 the departure of that people. The rudeness of forma- 
 tion clearly proves that they do not belong to a time 
 when it was the practice to ornament with sculpture the 
 depositories of the dead. 
 
 * The Rev. C. Wellbeloved, in his " Eboracum, or York under the Ro- 
 mans," says, " In the disposal of the dead, two methods have most generally 
 prevailed : I. The burial of the entire body : II. The burial of the ashes 
 
 after the body has been burned The Romans derived the greater part 
 
 of their funeral rites from the Greeks, so that, generally speaking, what is 
 said of one people will be applicable to the other also. Interment, or the 
 depositing of the whole body in the ground, was the method of disposing of 
 the dead first adopted by the Romans ; and it was also the last. Cremation, 
 or burning, w r as intermediate." Mr. Wright too, in his " The Celt, the 
 Roman, and the Saxon," says " We learn from the ancient writers that it 
 was the earlier practice of the Romans to bury the body of their dead en- 
 tire, and that it was not till the time of the dictator Sylla, that the custom 
 of burning the dead was established. From this time either usage continued 
 to be adopted, at the will of the individual, or of the family of the deceased ; 
 but in the second century of the Christian era the older practice is said to 
 have become again more fashionable than that of cremation, and from this 
 time it gradually superseded it." Mr. Wellbeloved also says, " The road 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 429 
 
 " An ancient road which enters the County of York at 
 Piers-bridge over the Tees, has been distinctly traced to 
 Cataractonium [now Thornborough] near the present 
 Catterick-bridge, and from thence to Kilgram-bridge 
 over the Eure or Yore, and from whence to a place 
 called ' Roman-ridge,' near Ripon, the line passes by 
 the boundaries of the Mar or Mere-field before-men- 
 tioned, to the westward of the town of Masham, and to 
 the eastward of the small Oval Camp in Swinton Park, 
 and of the large Square Camp adjoining Nut with Com- 
 mon. From the Roman-ridge the line becomes less 
 distinct, but seems to take the direction of the Camp on 
 the How-hill, about 4 miles from Ripon and 9 from 
 Isurium [Aldborough near Boroughbridge], and after 
 crossing the river Nidd to the westward of Ripley, joins 
 the Watling-street about midway in its course from Isu- 
 rium to Olicana [Ilkley], situate on the Wharfe. 
 
 " It may be observed that British remains have been 
 discovered at Swinton Park : a representation of a very 
 remarkable gold ornament there found is given in this 
 number of the Journal, plate 60. Roman Vessels of 
 bronze were found in 1845, at Round-hill in Arnagill, 
 about 6 miles to the westward, immediately under the 
 great range of the western high moors. Two of these 
 vessels, patellae of bronze, from the Swinton Museum, 
 were exhibited at York in the Museum formed during 
 the meeting of the Institute in that City, and we are 
 now enabled to give representations of them. The metal 
 is of a superior kind, and the workmanship sharp and 
 good. The large number of similar patellae found at 
 Pompeii, and now in the Museo Borbonica at Naples, 
 favours the opinion that they were probably used for 
 
 side was the place most commonly appropriated to the burial of the dead ; 
 so that they who passed by might be reminded of their own mortality, and 
 the memory of the dead might be continually revived, and the longer pre- 
 served." This practice of burying the dead on the road side will account 
 for the place where these two stone Cists were found, which was on the side 
 of the Roman road which formerly passed through the Marfield, as stated 
 in the text. 
 
430 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 culinary purposes, rather than sacrificial, as had been 
 suggested from the fact of a thyrsus being engraved on 
 the handle of the larger vessel, as shown by the accom- 
 panying representations of these ancient vessels." 
 
 Besides the two sepulchral stone Cists before described, 
 there was another stone Cist of a similar description dis- 
 covered many years ago in digging on Cockpit-hill, or 
 the Little Market-place, in Masham. Unfortunately, 
 however, it was reburied somewhere near to the spot in 
 which it was originally found, and no description of it is 
 preserved except by tradition. 
 
 There was also, some years ago, preserved in the Mu- 
 seum at Swinton Park, a Roman Battle-axe, which was 
 said to have been found within this parish, but this also 
 has disappeared. It is said that a late gamekeeper upon 
 the estate, who had no reverence for ancient relics, but 
 possessed an utilitarian turn of mind, conceiving that 
 this battle-axe would, by the aid of a country blacksmith, 
 make him an excellent instrument for the destruction of 
 vermin, appropriated it, and had it converted accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 Roman Tiles, and Stones of Roman workmanship, 
 have also at different times been discovered in the parish, 
 but have not been preserved. 
 
 Having already (ante, pages 39 to 42) referred to the 
 Roman Roads which intersect the parish, and the Roman 
 Camps which are to be found in it, I need not further 
 allude to them here. 
 
 The next species of remains of antiquity found in the 
 parish, which I have to notice, are those which belong to 
 the Saxon era. The most important of these is the 
 frustrum of the Church Cross now standing in the 
 churchyard, and used as the pedestal to the dial, as al- 
 ready mentioned (ante, page 310, where an engraving of 
 it will be found) ; and hardly less important are two sep- 
 ulchral crosses of Saxon workmanship, which were 
 brought to light in the course of the restorations of the 
 Church, drawings of which are here given. 
 
PAGE 4-30. 
 
 SEPULCHRAL CROSSES FOUND IF MAEHAM CHURCH, 
 THE LOWER ONE BEING OF SAXON WORKMANSHIP 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 431 
 
 After the Saxon remains of antiquity, just mentioned, 
 the Norman Tower, and western Doorway, of the Church 
 next claim our attention, as remarkably characteristic of 
 the style of architecture which prevailed immediately 
 after the Norman Conquest. A drawing of the Norman 
 Doorway just mentioned is here presented. 
 
 It now only remains for me to notice several sepulchral 
 crosses belonging to the mediaeval era of the history of 
 this country, which were brought to light during the 
 late restorations of the Church. They are of different 
 dates, and vary considerably in design, as will be seen 
 on reference to the several drawings of them which are 
 here given. 
 
432 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 CHARITIES. 
 
 The Grammar and Free Schools. — These schools 
 were originally founded out of the proceeds of the fol- 
 lowing bequests for educational purposes within the 
 parish, viz : £100 bequeathed by the will of Isabel Beck- 
 with of Well, spinster, dated the 14th June, 1735, to be 
 laid out in the purchase of lands, for the benefit of a 
 Free School at Masham, for teaching five such poor boys 
 and finding them books, in such manner as the Four and 
 Twenty of the Parish of Masham should from time to 
 time think proper, always preferring such boy and boys 
 as should be of the name of Beckwith. £520 bequeathed 
 by the will and codicil of Oswald Coates of Newcastle- 
 upon-Tyne (but previously of High Burton near Mas- 
 ham) officer of excise, dated the 25th Feb., 1748, to 
 trustees, towards the founding and supporting of a Free 
 or Charity School, in the town of Masham, for the in- 
 struction of twenty boys and ten girls, the children of 
 the poorest inhabitants within the vicarage of Masham, 
 in reading English, and in writing and arithmetic. As 
 to £20 of this sum, the interest thereof was to be ap- 
 plied in the finding and providing a certain number of 
 Bibles in each year, with the New Testament and Com- 
 mon Prayer therein, one of which to be given to every 
 poor child upon his or her removal from or leaving the 
 school. £200 bequeathed by the will of Ann Danby, 
 spinster, dated the 23rd June, 1755, to the Charity 
 School for poor children in the town of Masham; and 
 £225 given in money by William Danby, Esq., in 1760, 
 together with a yearly Rent-charge of £10 issuing out 
 of lands at Hutton Long Villiers, and a school-house and 
 cottage built by him for the benefit of the school. With 
 these sums of money were purchased certain Rent- 
 charges, amounting to £18 2s. 4d. yearly, issuing out 
 
CHARITIES. 433 
 
 of lands in Swaledale, and also a cottage and garth at 
 Ravensworth; also a Rent-charge of £3 10s. yearly, 
 issuing out of lands in Grewelthorpe ; also certain lands 
 at Galphay. The property thus acquired was vested in 
 trustees (all of whom are long since dead) for the bene- 
 fit of the charity, and the trusts of such charity were 
 declared by an indenture of bargain and sale (enrolled 
 in Chancery) dated the 26th day of June, 1760, made 
 between William Danby, Esq., of Swinton, John Hard- 
 castle, Esq., of Bedale, and the Rev. Edward Moises, of 
 Kirkby Malzeard (Vicar of Masham) and William 
 Hardcastle, of Masham, gentleman, of the one part, and 
 John Wrather of Masham, gentleman, of the other part. 
 By this deed, it was declared that the establishment 
 should consist of a head master who should take on him 
 the instruction of the children of the town and Parish 
 of Masham, in such learning as might be wanted and 
 desired, but at the expense of their parents ; and that he 
 should also have the overseeing of the children to be 
 taught free, as directed by the foregoing wills : and 
 also of an assistant master to give gratuitous instruction 
 to the thirty-five poor children of Masham required by 
 the wills of Oswald Coates, and Isabel Beckwith, to be 
 taught free. 
 
 It appears by the report of the Commissioners ap- 
 pointed to enquire into the Public Charities (dated 30th 
 June, 1821) that the Rev. Joseph Burrill, the head 
 master of the school, was then in the receipt of £51 14s. 
 per annum (less £2 5s., for repairs and bibles) of this 
 endowment over and above what he received from the 
 parents of the children, whilst Mr. Matthew Metcalf, the 
 master of the Charity School, was in the receipt of 
 £24 12s. 4d. per annum, for the teaching of the thirty- 
 five children required to be taught gratuitously. 
 
 The head master, and the master of the Charity 
 School, continued in the receipt of the sums above men- 
 tioned from this time down to the time when the Rev. 
 George Waddington became Vicar of Masham, when 
 
 DD 
 
434 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE 
 
 that gentleman, upon investigating the matter, consider- 
 ably reduced the amount of the head master's share of 
 the endowment, and increased that of the master of the 
 Charity School, by the amount thus taken away from the 
 head master. 
 
 The Charity School was afterwards turned into a 
 National School, and was placed under the care of a cer- 
 tificated teacher, and the limit as to the number of scho- 
 lars to be taught in it gratuitously was taken away. 
 
 By a scheme — which was approved of and allowed by 
 the Court of Chancery, on the 10th December 1856 — the 
 management and government of both the Grammar 
 School, and the Free (or Charity) School, and the ap- 
 pointment and dismissal of the schoolmasters thereof re- 
 spectively, was committed to a body of trustees, consisting 
 of the Vicar of Masham, the Lord or Lady of the Manor 
 of Masham, and the four churchwardens of the Parish of 
 Masham for the time being, together with Timothy Hut- 
 ton, Esq., of Clifton Castle (since deceased) ; John 
 Timothy D'Arcy Hutton, Esq., of Aldborough Hall ; 
 William Margaret Dalgleish, M D. (who has since 
 resigned, and is no longer a trustee) ; and myself. 
 
 By the scheme before alluded to, the annual rents of 
 the land at Galphay, Laverton, and Fearby-moor,* the 
 cottage in Masham, and the annual rent-charge of £10. 
 issuing out of lands at Hutton Long Villiers, belonging 
 to the charity, are directed to be applied to the use of the 
 head master of the Grammar School, after deducting 
 thereout, annually, the sum of 30s. towards a fund for 
 keeping the buildings upon the Charity property belong- 
 ing to both the schools in repair, and the further sum of 
 1 5s. for the purchase of bibles for the use of the scho- 
 lars belonging to the Free School. And the annual 
 rents of the cottage and garth at Ravensworth, and the 
 annual rent-charges issuing out of lands in Swaledale, 
 
 * The land at Fearby-moor was allotted to the school by the Inclosure 
 Commissioners, on the inclosure of Fearbv-moor. 
 
CHARITIES. 435 
 
 and Grewelthorpe respectively, as also the dividends pay- 
 able on the £232 2s. 6d.,* then, and now invested in 
 the 3 j per cent, consols, also belonging to the Charity, 
 should be applied to the use of the master of the Free 
 School. 
 
 The Grammar School is declared by the above 
 scheme " to be open to the children of all resident inhabi- 
 tants of the Parish of Masham," and that the instructions 
 to be afforded hi it, are, to be in the principles of the 
 Christian religion, the Greek, Latin, and French lan- 
 guages, mathematics, algebra, arithmetic, general English 
 literature and composition, sacred and profane history, 
 geography, reading, writing, and also such other lan- 
 guages, arts, and sciences, as to the trustees may seem 
 expedient, and so as to give the boys a sound, moral, 
 religious, and liberal education — and the head master is 
 not to charge for head-money for such instruction, any 
 greater sum, or sums, than shall be allowed of, and ap- 
 proved by, the trustees. f 
 
 The Fkee School is also declared by the above 
 scheme, to be " open to the children of all resident in- 
 habitants of the Parish of Masham, between the ages of 
 7 and 16 years, who shall be able to read words of one 
 syllable, and shall apply to the master of the said Free 
 School for admission according to the order of such ap- 
 plications" — preference, however, is to be given as to 
 five of such applicants to children of the name of " Beck- 
 with". — And that the secular instruction at the Free 
 
 * See ante page 182, as to the manner in -which the Free School became 
 possessed of this sum. 
 
 f It will be observed that the head master of the Grammar School is not 
 required, in return for his endowment, to teach any children gratuitously ; 
 the endowment is given to him, as expressed in the Deed of Endowment of 
 1760, " as an encouragement for a person of learning, and other endowments, 
 to settle at Masham, and to take on him the instruction of the children of 
 the town and parish of Masham, in such learning as might be wanted and 
 desired." 
 
436 MASHAM AMD MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 School is to comprise reading, writing, spelling, Eng- 
 lish grammar, arithmetic, and such subjects of general 
 and useful knowledge as may from time to time be 
 directed, or authorized, by the Committee of Council on 
 Education. The religious instruction is to comprise the 
 bible, and bible history, and the Church catechism, and 
 is to be consonant with the principles and doctrines of 
 the Church of England — and the head-money to be paid 
 by each scholar attending the Free School is not to ex- 
 ceed two-pence, weekly. 
 
 The School House now used for the Grammar 
 School was built on its first foundation by William 
 Danby, Esq., of Swinton Park, but was afterwards 
 much improved by the late Admiral 0. Y. Harcourt. 
 
 The School House belonging to the Free School, 
 was also originally built by Willliam Danby, Esq., but 
 was afterwards pulled down, and re-built, by Mrs. Danby 
 Harcourt in 1834 (then the widow of the late William 
 Danby, Esq.) and has since been considerably enlarged, 
 and improved, at her expense. — Additional rooms have 
 also been lately built to it, in order to accommodate a 
 school for girls, in which they are taught needlework, 
 and also the scholars belonging to the Infant school re- 
 cently established in connection with the Free School. 
 
 The total income of the head master of the Grammar 
 School as derived from the rents, &c, of the property 
 with which his school is endowed, is £44 14s. a year — 
 And that of the master of the Free School, as derived 
 from the rents, &c, of the property with which his school 
 is endowed, is £36 5s. 8d., a year. This last mentioned 
 sum is, however, considerably increased by the children's 
 pence, the annual subscriptions of the trustees and sub- 
 scribers to the Free School, and by the grants annually 
 made to it by the Committee of Council on Education. 
 
 The Kellbank School was founded and endowed 
 somewhere between the years 1820, and 1822, under the 
 circumstances and in the manner mentioned in the reci- 
 
CHAKITIES. 437 
 
 tals of the Deed of Endowment presently mentioned. — 
 By an Indenture of bargain and sale, (enrolled in Chan- 
 cery) bearing date the 19th Oct. 1822, made between 
 William Danby, Esq., of Swinton Park, of the one part, 
 and the Rev. Joseph Burrill, therein described, as " re- 
 sident minister of the Parish church of Masham" of the 
 other part ; after reciting, that William Heslington, * of 
 Masham, gentleman, being desirous to make some provi- 
 sion for the instruction of the children of the poor inhabi- 
 tants of the Parish of Masham, did in or about the year 
 1820, advance and pay to the said William Danby the 
 sum of £450, which he requested and directed the said 
 William Danby to lay out in such manner as he thought 
 fit, in or towards the erection of a school-house, and 
 other buildings, upon lands belonging to the said Wil- 
 liam Danby, situate at Healey; and reciting, that the 
 said William Danby had in compliance with such request 
 laid out and expended the said sum of £450, together with 
 other monies of his own, in erecting a school-house, 
 dwelling-house, stable, cow-house, and other buildings, 
 upon the lands of him, the said William Danby, situate 
 at Healey : and reciting, that the said William Danby, 
 being desirous to promote and encourage the design of 
 the said William Heslington, had determined to found, 
 
 * Mr. Heslington was in early life a shopkeeper in Masham, carrying on 
 the business of a grocer, draper, spirit merchant, and general dealer ; — he 
 also speculated heavily in the public funds, by which he acquired a consider- 
 able fortune, with which he retired into private life, being succeeded in his 
 business by the late Thomas Durham (the maternal grandfather of Mr. 
 James Carter, who now carries on business upon the same premises). The 
 reason which prompted Mr. Heslington to this act of liberality, as expressed 
 by himself, was the pain which he felt on account of the great want of edu- 
 cation which then prevailed throughout the parish, and even amongst such 
 as were then termed respectable farmers, few of whom could then write. He 
 married, first, Mary, the daughter of the late Mr. John Wrather, of Masham. 
 — She having died on the 3rd March, 1807, aged 83, he married, secondly, 
 on the 2nd April, 1810, Edith, the daughter of the late John Holdsworth, of 
 Kexmoor, who died on the 16th April, 1818, aged 64 years. He had no is- 
 sue by either of his two wives, and died at Masham, on the 16th Oct. 1825, 
 aged 87 years. 
 
438 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and for ever establish, a school at Healey, for educating, 
 and instructing, the children of the poor inhabitants of 
 the Parish of Masham, in the manner thereinafter men- 
 tioned, and, for that purpose, to convey the said school- 
 house, dwelling-house, stable, cow-house, and other 
 buildings, and also the several closes or parcels of ground, 
 and hereditaments, thereinafter described, with their 
 appurtenances, unto and to the use of the said Joseph 
 Burrill, his heirs and assigns, upon the trusts thereinafter 
 expressed : It is witnessed, that in pursuance of such 
 determination, he the said William Danby did grant, 
 bargain, sell, and confirm, unto the said Joseph Burrill, 
 his heirs and assigns, all that the said school-house, and 
 all that the said dwelling-house, with the stable, cow- 
 house, and other buildings, then lately erected and 
 built by the said William Danby, as thereinbefore men- 
 tioned, and also the yard and garden adjoining, or be- 
 longing to the said school-house, dwelling-house, and 
 premises thereinbefore described; and also all those 
 three closes or parcels of arable, meadow, or pasture 
 ground, lying within a ring fence about the said school- 
 house and dwelling-house, containing by admeasurement 
 (with the site of the said buildings) 11a. 2r. 18p., or 
 thereabouts, were the same more or less, bounded on the 
 north and east sides thereof by high roads, and on the 
 south, and west, sides thereof, by other lands of the said 
 William Danby, and all which said school-house, dwelling- 
 house, and premises, are situate, lying, and being, in the 
 township of Healey and Parish of Masham; together 
 with the appurtenances. To hold the same unto the said 
 Joseph Burrill, his heirs and assigns, for ever ; upon the 
 trusts thereinafter declared concerning the same, that 
 was to say, upon trust, that he, the said Joseph 
 Burrill, his heirs and assigns, should at all times 
 thereafter, permit and suffer the said school-house to be 
 used and employed by the schoolmaster for the time 
 being of the said school, for the teaching of the scholars 
 therein ; and should permit and suffer the schoolmaster 
 
CHARITIES. 439 
 
 for the time being of the said school, to inhabit, hold, oc- 
 cupy, and enjoy, the said dwelling-house, stable, cow-house, 
 buildings, yards, garden, closes, or parcel of ground, and 
 other hereditaments thereinbefore described, and to take 
 the profits thereof for his own use and benefit, the said 
 master for the time being keeping, and maintaining, the 
 said school-house, dwelling-house, and other buildings, 
 in good and sufficient order and repair, at his own ex- 
 pense, and also managing the said closes or parcel of 
 ground in a proper and husbandlike manner. And the 
 said William Danby thereby declared, and directed, that 
 the schoolmaster of the said school should from time to 
 time, and at all times, thereafter, be elected, nominated, 
 and placed in the said school, by the said William 
 Danby, or the lord, or lords, or lady, or ladies, of the 
 manor of Masham, and Mashamshire, for the time being, 
 or by the guardian, or guardians, of any lord, or lords, 
 or lady or ladies of the said manor, who might happen to 
 be a minor or minors. And, that the schoolmaster of the 
 said school for the time being, should, in consideration 
 of his enjoying the said dwelling-house and hereditaments 
 and premises thereinbefore mentioned, teach and instruct 
 such a number of children of the poor inhabitants of the 
 Parish of Masham, as the said William Danby, or the 
 lord, or lords, or lady, or ladies, of the manor of Masham, 
 and Mashamshire, or his, her, or their guardian, or guar- 
 dians, and the said Joseph Burrill, or the resident minis- 
 ter of the Parish Church of Masham, for the time being, 
 should from time to time appoint, in the principles of the 
 Protestant religion, as by law established, and in reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic, and other proper and useful 
 learning for poor children, without receiving any salary, 
 gratuity, or reward, for the same, either from the Parish 
 of Masham, or from any of the relations, or friends, of 
 the said children, or any of them, without the consent of 
 the said William Danby, or the lord, or lords, or lady, 
 or ladies, of the manor of Masham, and Mashamshire, or 
 his, her, or their guardian, or guardians, and the said 
 
440 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Joseph Burrill, or the resident minister of the Parish 
 church of Masham, for the time being. But that the 
 said schoolmaster of the said school for the time being, 
 should be at liberty to take any scholars into the said 
 school (besides the said poor children) and to take such 
 salaries, or rewards, for teaching them as he should 
 think fit. — And the said William Danby further directed, 
 that the said school should at all times thereafter be 
 ordered, governed, and conducted, by, under, and sub- 
 ject to such rules, regulations, restrictions, and conditions, 
 as the said William Danby, or the lord, or lords, or lady, 
 or ladies, of the manor of Masham, and Mashamshire, for 
 the time being, or his, her, or their guardian, or guar- 
 dians, and the said Joseph Burrill, or the resident minis- 
 ter of the Parish church of Masham, for the time being, 
 should from time to time think proper to make, order, or 
 direct, for that purpose. And that if any schoolmaster 
 for the time being should neglect the said school, mis- 
 behave himself, or become incapable, or unfit, to perform 
 his duty, or refuse, or neglect, to act comformably, and 
 in obedience to the rules, regulations, and orders, which 
 should be made as aforesaid for governing and conduct- 
 ing the said school, or should accept of, or undertake, 
 any other situation, office, or employment, incompatible 
 with his duty as schoolmaster of the said school, then 
 and in every such case, it should be lawful for the said 
 William Danby, or the lord, or lords, or lady, or ladies, 
 of the manor of Masham, and Mashamshire, for the time 
 being, or his, her, or their guardian, or guardians, to dis- 
 place and remove such schoolmaster, on the 6th day of 
 April in any year, upon giving him six calendar months 
 previous notice in writing of his intended removal, and 
 to nominate another fit person, in the room or place of 
 the schoolmaster who should be so removed. But it 
 was thereby declared, that no person should be appointed 
 to, or hold, the situation of schoolmaster of the said 
 school, unless he should be a Protestant according to the 
 doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, and 
 in communion therewith. 
 

 CHARITIES. 441 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Burrill, the sole trustee under this 
 deed, died on the 1st March, 1853, and as no new 
 trustee has since been appointed in his place, the legal 
 estate in the Charity property is now vested in Mr. Wil- 
 liam Burrill, of Liverpool, as his eldest son and heir-at- 
 law. 
 
 Mrs. Danby Harcourt's Charity School, was 
 built by that lady in the year 1854. It is a neat stone 
 building with a porch, and contains, besides the school- 
 room, apartments for the schoolmistress. Mrs. Danby 
 Harcourt also endowed it with £666 13s. 4d. three per 
 cent consols, for the purposes, and in the manner set out 
 in the Deed of Endowment to be mentioned presently. 
 By an Indenture made the 17th March, 1856, between 
 Octavius Henry Cyril Venables Vernon Harcourt,* of 
 Swinton Park, an Admiral in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, 
 and Anne Holwell Danby Yernon Harcourt, his wife, of 
 the one part, and the said 0. H. C. V. Y. Harcourt, Chris- 
 topher Imeson,f of Masham, gentleman, and John Light- 
 foot the younger, of the same place, gentleman (trustees 
 for the purposes thereinafter named) of the other part, 
 after reciting that the said Anne H. D. Y. Harcourt, 
 had then lately erected, fitted up, and established, as a 
 school-room, and residence for the schoolmistress thereof, 
 a certain building situate at the entrance into the town 
 of Masham, and that she was desirous that a Day-school 
 should from time to time for ever thereafter be held and 
 carried on, in the said school-room, for teaching gratui- 
 tously, such a number of girls as thereinafter mentioned, 
 under and subject to the rules and regulations therein- 
 after mentioned, or referred to, and that the other por- 
 tion of the said building should be occupied as a residence 
 for the time being of a schoolmistress, to be nominated, 
 and appointed, displaced, and removed, in the manner, 
 
 * He died on the 14th August, 1863. 
 
 t He died on the 12th July, 1859, aged 60. 
 
 EE 
 
442 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and by the person, or persons, named and provided for 
 in the said rules and regulations. And reciting, that in 
 order to make provision for, or towards, the stipend or 
 salary of such schoolmistress, and the clothing of 
 twelve girls who should be instructed in the said school, 
 and for supplying fuel to warm the said school-room and 
 residence, and for supplying books for the said school, 
 she, the said A. H. D. Y. Harcourt, with the privity 
 and consent of her said husband and with monies at her 
 own sole use and disposal, had purchased the capital sum 
 of £666 13s. 4d. stock, in the 3 per cent. Consolidated 
 Bank Annuities, and had caused the same to be trans- 
 ferred into the joint names of the said 0. H. C. Y. Y. 
 Harcourt, Christopher Imeson, and John Lighfoot the 
 younger, and that such sum was then standing in their 
 joint names in the transfer books of the governor and 
 company of the Bank of England. And reciting, that 
 the said A. H. D. V. Harcourt was further desirous, 
 that such trusts should be declared of and concerning, 
 the said bank annuities, as were thereinafter expressed 
 and declared. It is witnessed, that for further effectua- 
 ting the desire and intentions of the said A. H. D. Y. 
 Harcourt, in relation to the said school and premises, 
 and for declaring the trusts of the said bank annuities, it 
 was thereby expressly declared, and agreed, that they, 
 the said 0. H. C. Y. Y. Harcourt, C. Imeson, and John 
 Lightfoot the younger, and the survivors and survivor 
 of them, or the executors or administrators of such sur- 
 vivor, and their or his assigns, or other the trustees or 
 trustee for the time being, to be appointed under and by 
 virtue of the power or authority thereinafter in that be- 
 half contained, should stand and be possessed of the said 
 sum of £666 13s. 4d., 3 per cent, consolidated bank an- 
 nuities, which had been so transferred into, and was 
 then standing in, the joint names of them, the said 
 0. H. C. Y. Y. Harcourt, C. Imeson, and John Light- 
 foot the younger, as thereinbefore recited, and the divi- 
 dends and annual income thereof, upon trust, and to the 
 
CHAKITIES. 443 
 
 intent that they, the said trustees, or the trustees, or 
 trustee, for the time being acting under the said Inden- 
 ture, should, from time to time, and at all times there- 
 after, pay and apply the dividends and annual income 
 arising from the said sum of £666 13s. 4d., 3 per cent, 
 consolidated bank annuities, when, and as the same 
 should become due, and payable, for and towards the 
 payment of the salary of the said schoolmistress for the 
 time being, and for or towards defraying the costs and 
 expense of clothing from time to time the twelve girls 
 who are being instructed free in the said school.- — And 
 as to the residue and remainder of the said dividends 
 (if any) upon trust, to invest such surplus, as therein 
 mentioned, in order that the same might accumulate and 
 form a fund for the increase or extension of the said 
 school. — It was also declared that the appointment and 
 removal of the said schoolmistress, should rest abso- 
 lutely, and entirely, with, and be vested in, the said A. 
 H. D. V. Harcourt, during her life, and that she should 
 be at ^liberty, at her own absolute will and pleasure to 
 dismiss, displace, and remove, any such school mistress, 
 whenever, in the uncontrolled discretion of the said A. 
 D. V. Harcourt, she should think fit, and to appoint 
 another in her stead, and that any such schoolmistress 
 so removed, should not have any claim whatever for 
 salary, or any other remuneration, beyond the day of the 
 date of her dismissal from being mistress of the said 
 school, and should not under any pretence whatever, 
 have any claim or right to remain in the school premises 
 or residence. — And, that as long as any schoolmistress 
 so appointed as aforesaid, should continue to be mistress, 
 she should teach, and instruct, free of all charge, and to 
 the best of her ability, twelve girls, to be appointed by 
 the said A. H. D. V. Harcourt, during her life, in read- 
 ing, sewing, marking, and plain work. — And that after 
 the decease of the said A. H. D. V. Harcourt, the 
 trustees, or trustee for the time being, acting under the said 
 Indenture, should have full power and authority, at their 
 
444 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 discretion, to dismiss and displace the schoolmistress of 
 the said school, at any time, for inattention to her duties, 
 misconduct, or want of capacity for teaching, or for any 
 other reasonable cause, which to the said trustees for the 
 time being in their discretion should seem fit, and there- 
 upon to remove such schoolmistress from the said school- 
 house and residence, and to appoint such other fit per- 
 son in her stead, as, in their discretion, they should 
 choose to elect, and immediately upon any such dismis- 
 sal of any schoolmistress, under or by virtue of the 
 power thereby given to the said trustees, or trustee for 
 the time being, such schoolmistress should be forthwith 
 deprived of any right or claim to the use, or occupation, 
 of the said school premises and residence, or any part 
 thereof, or to any stipend or salary after the day of such 
 dismissal or removal — proviso, that the owner of the 
 Swinton estates for the time being, with the concurrence 
 of the Vicar of Masham for the time being, and the said 
 trustees, or the majority of them, shall have the nomina- 
 tion and selection of the twelve girls before mentioned, 
 and who may be chosen from any township in Masham- 
 shire forming the Swinton property. 
 
 Mrs. Danby Harcourt's Almshouses were built by 
 that lady in the year 1853, and were endowed by her with 
 £2650 3 per cent, consols, to enable each of the six in- 
 mates thereof to receive five shillings a week, as is shewn 
 by the following Deed of Endowment. By an Indenture 
 (enrolled in Chancery) dated the 17th March, 1856, 
 made between the said 0. H. C. V. V. Harcourt, and 
 A. H. D. Y. Harcourt, his wife, of the one part, and the 
 Rev. Thomas Hedley, Yicar of Masham, the said Chris- 
 topher Imeson, and John Lightfoot the younger, of the 
 other part. After reciting, that the said A. H. D, V. 
 Harcourt, had lately erected, built, and fitted up, as 
 almshouses, six small cottages in Masham, and that she 
 was desirous that six poor persons of the Parish of Mas- 
 ham, to be nominated and appointed as thereinafter 
 
 
CHAEIT1ES. 445 
 
 mentioned, should from time to time, be permitted and 
 allowed to become the inmates and occupiers of the 
 said cottages or almshouses. And reciting, that in 
 order to make some provision for, or towards, the main- 
 tainance and support, of the persons from time to time 
 residing in, or occupying the said cottages or alms- 
 houses, the said A. H. D.V. Harcourt, had purchased 
 the capital sum of £2650 3 per cent. Consolidated Bank 
 Annuities, and had caused the same to be transferred 
 into the joint names of the said Thomas Hedley, C. Ime- 
 son, and J. Lightfoot the younger, and such sum of 
 £2650 3 per cent. Consolidated Bank Annuities were 
 then standing in the joint names of the said trustees. 
 And reciting, that the said A. H. D. Y. Harcourt was 
 further desirous that such trusts should be declared, of 
 and concerning the said bank annuities, and the divi- 
 dends and annual income thereof, as were thereinafter 
 expressed and contained. It is witnessed, and was 
 thereby declared, that the said trustees, and the trustees 
 for the time being, to be appointed under or by virtue of 
 the power or authority thereinafter in that behalf con- 
 tained, should stand, and be possessed of, and interested 
 in the said sum of £2650 3 per cent, consolidated bank 
 annuities, which had been so transferred into, and was 
 then standing in, the joint names of the said trustees, 
 and the dividends, and annual proceeds or income 
 thereof, upon the several trusts following : that was to say, 
 upon trust, that they, the said trustees should from time 
 to time, and at all times thereafter, pay and apply the divi- 
 dends, and annual proceeds and income of, and arising 
 from the said sum of £2650 3 per cent, consolidated bank 
 annuities, when, and as the same should become due, and 
 payable, for or towards the maintenance and support of 
 the six poor persons, who for the time being should, un- 
 der the rules and regulations thereinafter mentioned or 
 referred to, reside in or occupy the said six cottages or 
 almshouses, at Masham, so erected and built by the said 
 A. H. D. Y. Harcourt, as aforesaid, but so nevertheless, 
 
446 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and in such way and manner as that each inmate or occu- 
 pier of the said six cottages or almshouses, for the time 
 being, whether a male or female, or both (a man and his 
 wife being counted one person only) may have and 
 receive thereout for his, her, or their stipend, the sum 
 of five shillings per week, and no more, to be payable 
 every Wednesday morning. — And, as to the residue or 
 surplus of the said dividends or annual proceeds (if any) 
 to invest the same for the benefit of the inmates. — Pro- 
 viso, that no inmate or occupier shall be entitled to 
 receive or claim the said weekly stipend, or allowance 
 of five shillings, unless he, she, or they, shall in all re- 
 spects, matters, and things, submit and conform to, and 
 duly observe, perform, and keep the several rules and 
 regulations therein mentioned or referred to. 
 
 Admiral Harcourt's Almshouses were built by 
 that gentleman, in the year 1855, and were by him en- 
 dowed with £1775, 3 per cent, consols, to enable each of 
 the four inmates of such almshouses to receive live shil- 
 lings a week, as is shewn by the following Deed of En- 
 dowment. By an Indenture (enrolled in Chancery) da- 
 ted 6th day of August, 1858, and made between the 
 said 0. H. C. Y. V. Harcourt, of the one part, and the 
 said Thomas Hedley, C. Imeson, and John Lightfoot of 
 the other part, after reciting that the said 0. H. C. 
 V. V. Harcourt had lately erected, built, and fitted up, 
 as almshouses, four small cottages or tenements, in Mas- 
 ham, and that he was desirous that four male poor per- 
 sons, either single, or married and having a wife, but 
 without family, of the Parish of Masham, to be nomina- 
 ted and appointed as thereinafter mentioned, should 
 from time to time be permitted and allowed to become 
 the inmates and occupiers of the said cottages or alms- 
 houses, under and subject to the rules and regulations 
 thereinafter mentioned or referred to ; and reciting that 
 in order to make some provision for, or towards, the 
 maintenance and support of the persons from time to 
 
CHAKIT1ES. 447 
 
 time residing in or occupying the said cottages or 
 alms-houses, the said 0. H. C. Y. V. Harcourt had pur- 
 chased the capital sum of £1775 stock in the 3 per 
 centum consolidated bank annuities, and had caused the 
 same to be transferred into the joint names of the said 
 trustees, and that the said bank annuities were then stand- 
 ing in the joint names of the said trustees, in the trans- 
 fer books of the governors of the Bank of England. — 
 And reciting, that the said 0. H. C. V. V. Harcourt 
 was further desirous that such trusts should be declared 
 of, and concerning, the said bank annuities, and the di- 
 vidends and annual income thereof, as are thereinafter 
 expressed and contained. It is witnessed, and was 
 thereby declared, that the said trustees, or the trustees 
 or trustee for the time being, to be appointed under or 
 by virtue of the power or authority thereinafter in that 
 behalf contained, should stand arid be possessed of and 
 interested in the said sum of £1775 in 3 per centum 
 consolidated bank annuities, which had been so transfer- 
 red into and was then standing in, the joint names of the 
 said trustees, and the dividends and annual proceeds or 
 income thereof, upon the several trusts following, that 
 was to say, upon trust, that they, the said trustees 
 should, from time to time, and at all times thereafter, 
 pay and apply the dividends and annual proceeds or in- 
 come of, or arising from the said sum of £1775 3 per 
 centum consolidated bank annuities, when and as the 
 same should become due or payable for, or towards, the 
 maintenance and support of the four poor persons who 
 for the time being should under the rules and regulations 
 therein mentioned, or referred to, reside in or occupy 
 the said four cottages or almshouses, at Masham afore- 
 said, so erected and built by the said 0. H. C. Y. V. 
 Harcourt as aforesaid, but so nevertheless, and in such 
 way, and manner, as that each inmate or occupier of 
 the said four cottages or almshouses, for the time being, 
 whether a single person, or a man and his wife (a man 
 and his wife considered as one individual) may have 
 
448 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and receive thereout, for his, her, or their stipend, the 
 sum of five shillings per week, and no more, to be pay- 
 able every Wednesday morning. And as to the residue, 
 or surplus of the said dividends, or annual proceeds (if 
 any) to invest the same for the benefit of the inmates. 
 Proviso, that no inmate, or occupier, should be entitled 
 to receive, or claim the said weekly stipend or allowance 
 of five shillings unless he, or they, should in all respects 
 matters, and things, submit and conform to, and duly 
 observe, perform, and keep the several rules and regula- 
 tions therein mentioned or referred to. 
 
 Poor's Lands in Coverdale. — By Indentures of 
 lease and re-lease, the re-lease being dated the 24th March, 
 1731, James Geldart, and Lucy his wife, in consideration 
 of £94 5s., conveyed unto Sir Roger Beckwith,* Ab- 
 strupus Danby,f William Beck with, J Christopher 
 Gregg, || John Bartlett,§ and John Lonsdale,^" (being 
 part of the twenty four of Masham) and their heirs, a 
 messuage or tenement in Carlton, in Coverdale a close 
 of meadow ground called the garth, on the backside of 
 the said messuage, and two closes of meadow called 
 respectively Tenters and the Kiln close, containing 
 altogether by estimation 3a. lr. upon trust, after deduc- 
 tion of taxes, repairs, and other incidental charges yearly, 
 on the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, according to the 
 best of their discretion, with the approbation of the rest of 
 the Twenty-four for the Parish of Masham, for the time 
 being, to give and distribute to the most poor, impotent, 
 and aged people of the township of Masham (in such 
 
 * Sir Roger Beckwith shot himself in May, 1743. 
 
 t Abstrupus Danby, Esq., died 12th March, 1750. 
 
 % William Beckwith died 5th June, 1762. 
 
 || Christopher Gregg died 31st March, 1748. 
 
 § John Bartlett died 15th Dec, 1769. 
 
 ^j" John Lonsdale was buried 1st May, 1784. — He was the last surviving 
 trustree under this Deed. The legal estate in this property is therefore now 
 vested in his heir-at-law, viz : — The Right Rev. John Lonsdale, D.D., 
 Bishop of Lichfield. 
 
 
CHARITIES. 449 
 
 proportions as they should think fit) such proportion of 
 the rents and profits of the said premises to £20 as the 
 whole rent is to £94 5s. (the consideration money afore- 
 said) or with such proportion of the said rents and profits 
 to put or place out apprentice or apprentices, such child 
 or children of the most poor, impotent and aged people 
 of the township of Masham, as to them should seem meet 
 and proper (£20, part of the said purchase money being 
 left for that purpose) ; and in like manner yearly, on the 
 feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle, according to the 
 best of their discretion (with the approbation of the rest of 
 the said Twenty-four of the said Parish) after deduction 
 of taxes, repairs, and other incidental charges relating to 
 the trust aforesaid, to distibute and give to the most poor, 
 impotent, and aged people of the Parish of Masham, in 
 such proportions as they should think fit ; the rest of the 
 rents and profits of the said premises or otherwise, there- 
 with to put or place out apprentice or apprentices such 
 child or children of the most poor, impotent and aged people 
 of the Parish of Masham, as to them should seem meet 
 and proper, such residue being left for that purpose : 
 and power was thereby reserved to the trustees on the 
 death, resignation or non-residence of any of them 
 within the Parish of Masham, and as the major part of 
 them then in being, should think proper to choose others 
 of the Parish of Masham, to fill up the vacancies in the 
 number of trustees. 
 
 The property at Carlton was bought by the Four and 
 Twenty with the sum of £70, then in their hands and 
 belonging to the poor of the Parish of Masham, and 
 with the further sum ef £20, then belonging to the poor 
 of the township of Masham, the balance of £4 5s., being 
 made up by the township, and the Parish contributing 
 to it proportionably, as I gather from a minute to that 
 effect in an old book belonging to the township of Mas- 
 ham, which further states that the township is entitled 
 to two-unith parts of the clear rents and profits of the 
 estate, and that the Parish is entitled to the remainder, and 
 
 FF 
 
450 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 that the rents had accordingly been so distributed ever 
 since the making of the purchase. I find, however, on 
 referring to a book belonging to the Four and Twenty, 
 the following minute having reference to this property, 
 viz. : "1844, Dec. 14th, it was resolved by the Four and 
 Twenty that whereas it appears that when the rent was 
 four pounds, the poor of Masham were considered 
 entitled to one-fifth, and that now the rent is seven 
 pounds, the same sum of 16s. only has been given, the 
 proportion should again be raised to one-fifth of the rent. 
 — T. Kiddell." 
 
 Since the date of this last minute, I find that £1 8s. 
 has been annually distributed among the poor of Masham 
 township, instead of 16s. as heretofore ; and that £5 12s. 
 (being the balance of the rent of £7) has been annually 
 applied by the Four and Twenty in placing out appren- 
 tice boys of the whole Parish, £1 being paid for each boy 
 on the production of the indenture. 
 
 The £20 mentioned above as belonging to the town- 
 snip of Masham, was partly derived from a bequest made 
 by the will of a William Tipping, dated the 25 th Decem- 
 ber, 1626, in which he gave " to the poor of 
 the town of Masham 20s. yearly," the annual payment 
 of 20s. being afterwards commuted by a money payment 
 of £15, and partly by a sum of £5, being the remnant of 
 a legacy of £100 which was left to the poor of Masham, 
 by a person of the name of Smith, but which (with the 
 exception of £7 1 0s. ) was lost by the insolvency of a 
 person who held the money. 
 
 Formerly and down to the 14th Dec, 1844, it was the 
 practice to distribute 16s. (part of the annual rent of this 
 land) under the name of " Tipping' s dole," among poor 
 persons of the township of Masham, for which purpose it 
 was added to money collected at the sacrament; and the 
 same practice has prevailed since the 14th Dec, 1844, 
 the only difference being that £1 8s., has been so dis- 
 tributed in the place of 16s. as formerly. 
 
 The property at Carlton, including an allotment of an 
 
CHAKIT1ES. 451 
 
 acre and a half of land made on the inclosure of Carlton 
 common, is now let to William Walls, of Carlton, at 
 the rent of £7 per annum. 
 
 Hutchinson's Dole. — This is a rent-charge of £2 per 
 annum, £1 thereof is payable to the poor of Masham 
 township, and the other £1 to the poor of the township 
 of Swinton, charged by the will of John Hutchinson, of 
 Eipon, dated the 9th Sept., 1719, on certain lands in the 
 Parish of Kirkby Malzeard, called the poor-lands (now 
 the property of Charles Oxley, Esq., of Ripon) as 
 appears by the following extract from such will: — " And 
 I hereby give and devise all that farm-hold or tenement, 
 with its appurtenances commonly called by the name of 
 Falls, situate and being within the township of Galgah, 
 al s Galgay, al s Galghway, in the Parish of Kirkby Mal- 
 zeard, in the said county of York, with all the lands, 
 closes, tenements, and hereditaments, whatsoever, to the 
 same belonging and now therewith held and enjoyed, 
 unto the said John Bartlett, Charles Lyster, and John 
 Wells, and their successors and heirs, for ever, upon the 
 special trust and confidence, following, viz : — That they 
 the said John Bartlett, Charles Lyster, and John Wells, 
 and the survivors, successors, and survivors of them and 
 his heirs, shall out of the yearly rents, issues, and profits 
 thereof, pay unto my said dear wife [£4 per annum]. 
 And upon this further trust and confidence, that they 
 the said John Bartlett, Charles Lyster, and John Wells, 
 and the survivors, successors, and survivor of them and 
 his heirs, shall yearly and every year, for ever from and 
 after the decease of my said wife, pay unto the 
 respective overseers of the poor of the respective 
 townships of Well, Masham, and Swinton, in the said 
 county of York, for the time being, the respective sums 
 of twenty shillings a piece, the same to be respectively 
 paid unto them upon the first day of March yearly, and 
 every year, without any deduction or abatement for any 
 cause, matter, or thing whatsoever, to be by the said 
 
452 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 respective overseers yearly applied in and towards the 
 relief of the respective poor of the said respective town- 
 ships." 
 
 Thirkill's Charity. — Jane, widow of John Thirkill, 
 of London (who died 27th July, 1812) by her will 
 bequeathed £100 towards the institution of a Female 
 Union Society in the Parish of Masham (see ante p. 
 397-8.) 
 
 Marsden's Charity.— Mrs. Marsden, of Hanover 
 Terrace, Regent's Park, London, gave £220 3 per cent, 
 consolidated bank annuities, and caused the same to be 
 transferred on the 22nd February, 1842,' to the late Rev. 
 Thomas Riddell, Yicar of Masham, William Burrill, 
 (now of Liverpool) and the late John Burrill in trust, 
 viz : — the interest to be applied annually for the benefit 
 of such poor people of the Parish of Masham, as the said 
 trustees in their discretion shall think proper. — The 
 Vicar of Masham for the time being is always considered 
 as one of the trustees (see ante p. 397.) 
 
 Wrather's Charities. — Elizabeth Wrather, late of 
 Masham, spinster, by her will dated 4th May, 1853, 
 gave "to the school at Scarbeckwall, Masham, £100 of 
 my 3^ per cents, funded property, for the education of 
 poor boys from the most destitute families in Masham — 
 1 wish this legacy to remain in the funds. — After a cer- 
 tain time the poor children will take their turns of 
 removal to the Free School, and others will be appointed 
 to their places. — The Yicar of Masham to have the 
 nomination* # * * * I leave a sovereign a year to the 
 Dorcas society." (see ante p. 395.) 
 
 Township of Fearby. 
 
 Ripley's Rent-Charge. — William Ripley, by will 
 dated 14th Dec, 1722, devised to his nephew, William 
 
CHARITIES. 453 
 
 Ripley, and the heirs of his body, all his messuages, lands, 
 and hereditaments in the townships of Fearby and Mid- 
 dleham, in the county of York, upon condition that there 
 should thereof be yearly paid by the said William 
 Ripley, and the heirs of his body, to the poor of Fearby 
 aforesaid, 10s. on Candlemas-day, for ever. 
 
 Township of Ilton-cum-Pot. 
 
 There is an ancient payment of 10s. a year to the 
 poor of this township, out of a cottage and three small 
 fields of about three acres in the township, the property 
 of the Horsman family. This payment is still continued 
 to be made by Miss Margaret Horsman, of Ilton, the 
 present owner of the property. 
 
 Township op Ellingstring. 
 
 Wright's Gift. — Thomas Wright, by will dated the 
 5th Oct., 1715, gave to the poor of Ellingstring, £50 — the 
 use of it, 50s. a year, to be paid for ever on St. Thomas's 
 day, to honest religious poor people, and such as John 
 Wright and four others therein named should think fit. 
 The will, however, was not duly executed as the law 
 then stood, being signed in the presence of two witnesses 
 only, and the payment, which has been discontinued, 
 cannot therefore be legally enforced. 
 
 Township op Swinton. 
 
 Hutchinson's Dole. — This Charity is noticed ante p. 
 451, and still distributed. 
 
 King's Gipt. — "William King (as appears by an 
 entry in the Overseers' or Township book) left £12, 
 the interest thereof, viz : 10s. to be distributed among the 
 poor of Swinton yearly." The interest is added to, and 
 distributed with, the Sacrament money and Hutchinson's 
 Dole before alluded to. The £12 is now invested in the 
 Bedale Savings Bank. 
 
454 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Bartlett's Dole — This is an annual payment of 5s. 
 a year for the poor out of land in Swinton, now the pro- 
 perty of Mrs. Danby Vernon Har court, and formerly 
 belonging to the Bartlett, and afterwards the Ascough 
 family. This Dole is still distributed. 
 
 Charity for Apprenticing. — By Indenture dated 
 30th March, 1714, made between John Pickard of Low 
 Boomer, in the Parish of Masliam (surviving executor 
 of the will of John Pickard his late father deceased) of 
 the one part, and the Honourable Sir Abstruphus Danby, 
 of Mashamshire, in the county of York, of the other 
 part : Reciting that Matthew Imeson being possessed 
 of, or entitled to, two little closes of meadow or pasture 
 ground on the low flat, commonly called the three acre 
 closes, containing by estimation three acres, abutting on 
 Badger-lane on the west, and the river Eure on the 
 east, lying and being in the township of Swinton, in 
 Boomer, and Wardermark, hi the county of York, with 
 the appurtenances, for the residue of the several and 
 respective terms of eight hundred four score, and eight 
 hundred and three score and nineteen years, or for the 
 remainder of some other considerable number of years 
 unexpired, had by indenture of lease dated 1st March, 
 1672, for the consideration therein mentioned, demised 
 the said premises to the said John Pickard the father, for 
 860 years thence ensuing without impeachment of 
 waste ; and further reciting that the said John Pickard, 
 the father, had by his will constituted Mirian Pickard, 
 and the said John Pickard (the party) executors thereof, 
 and that they had proved the said will, so that the 
 interest in law in the said premises became vested hi the 
 said Mirian Pickard and John Pickard (the party) or one 
 of them : and that the said Mirian Pickard afterwards 
 died, by whose death the interest in law in the premises 
 became solely vested in the said John Pickard (the party) 
 and further reciting that the said John Pickard (the party) 
 by indenture dated 1st May, 1712, in consideration of 
 
CHARITIES. 455 
 
 £25 paid by Sir Abstrupus Danby, Knight (£20 part 
 thereof being a legacy left by Mrs. Ann Norton,* by her 
 will dated 27th August, 1640) to the intent that out 
 of the interest and produce thereof, yearly and every 
 year, a poor child should be bounden apprentice within 
 the Parish of Masham, especially from Swinton :f and 
 £5 the remainder thereof being a gift given by the then 
 late Lady Yorke, J niece to the said Ann Norton, since 
 the making the aforesaid will towards placing out the 
 said poor children apprentices, had demised to the said 
 
 * Ann Norton, of Swinton, gentlewoman, by her will dated the 27th 
 August, 1640, after bequeathing her soul to Almighty God her maker, and to 
 Jesus Christ her redeemer, hoping through the merits of her Lord and 
 Saviour, Christ Jesus, to obtain everlasting salvation, and giving and be- 
 queathing her body to be buried in the church or churchyard of Masham, at 
 the likinge of her executor and cozen, Edmond Norton, " gave thirty shillings 
 yearly and every year for the binding of a poor child prentice within the 
 Parish of Massam, and especially from Swinton wherein I was borne." 
 She also in this will makes mention of her brother Maior Norton [Mauger 
 Norton] of Richmond, gentleman — her brother Richard — the daughter of 
 her brother Richard, "w 7 hich I christened," — her sister Ciciie Norton. 
 She constituted Christopher Beckwith, of "VVoodall in Nidderdale, her sole 
 Executor, and appointed her " Cozen Edmond Norton of Stainley Rice, Gen., 
 supervisor." — The will is witnessed by James Danbie, Edmond Norton, 
 Henry Atkinson, and John Horsman. 
 
 t The people of Swinton read these words as if they meant exclusively 
 from Swinton, whereas the utmost that they can mean is, that preference 
 should be given to those in Swinton. Acting upon this interpretation of 
 the words, they have hitherto appropriated the whole of the money to the 
 apprenticing of poor children from Swinton, to the exclusion of the rest of 
 the Parish ; and, as it but seldom happens that Swinton produces a poor 
 child which requires putting out apprentice, they have accumulated the 
 money until it has reached the sum of £70, which they retain in their hands 
 rather than apply it, or any part of it, towards putting out apprentice poor 
 children from other parts of the Parish. This is manifestly wrong and 
 requires correction. 
 
 X Lady Yorke here alluded to, was Mary Norton, the daughter of Mauger 
 Norton, M.P., of St. Nicholas, near Richmond ; she was baptized at Rich- 
 mond, on the 12th July, 1635, and was married there on the 20th August, 
 1651, to Sir John Yorke, M.P., of Gowthwaite Hall, in Nidderdale, who was 
 M.P. for the borough of Richmond, as mentioned ante p. 287. Mr. Grainge, 
 however, in his " History of Nidderdale," page 49, says that the marriage 
 
456 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Sir A. Danby, the premises aforesaid for 600 years 
 thence next ensuing, in trust nevertheless for the use of 
 the poor of Swinton, in the said county of York, 
 redeemable upon the paying £26 10s. in such manner 
 as therein expressed. It is witnessed that the said John 
 Pickard (the party) in consideration of the further sum 
 of £15 paid by Sir A. Danby, being a gift given by him 
 in addition to the said Mrs. Ann Norton's and the Lady 
 Yorke's charity, and for the better performance of the 
 said Ann Norton's will, towards putting out a proper 
 child or children apprentices from Swinton Constablery 
 aforesaid, granted, bargained, sold, and assigned unto 
 the said Sir A. Danby, all his estate, right, interest, claim 
 and demand whatsoever, in law or equity, of, in, or to 
 the before-mentioned closes ; to hold the same unto the 
 said Sir A. Danby, his executors, administrators, and 
 assigns, for all the remainder of the said term of 860 
 years, granted by the said Matthew Imeson, to the 
 said John Pickard (the father) in trust only and for 
 and towards the placing out such poor child, or poor 
 children apprentices in Masham Parish, or elsewhere, as 
 from time to time should happen to be born or have 
 some legal settlement in the Constablery of Swinton 
 aforesaid, and to no other use, intent, and purpose what- 
 soever. 
 
 The land mentioned in this deed, and which goes by 
 the name of "the Poor Boys' Closes," is now in the 
 occupation of Dr. Dalgleish of Masham, and lies open on 
 one side to adjoining land belonging to Mrs. Danby 
 Harcourt, the fence having been taken away ; there are, 
 
 between Sir John Yorke and Mary Norton, took place on the loth January, 
 1658, when Sir John was a minor, and that when he came of age he settled 
 upon his wife as a jointure, all his manors or lordships of Nidderdale, and 
 Appletreewick, Gowthwaite Hall, &c. : and that it was by this lady that 
 the property of the Nortons at Richmond, came into the possession of the 
 family of Yorke as dower : and that she was the dame Mary Yorke, 
 who, during her widowhood, purchased the manor of Bewerley in 1678. It 
 is from this lady that John Yorke, Esq., the present owner of Bewerley, is 
 descended. 
 
CHARITIES. 457 
 
 however, boundary stones erected to mark the real 
 boundary. It contains by admeasurement 4a. 3r. 16p. 
 The whole of the rents derived from this land are 
 applied in putting out as apprentices, boys who have 
 either been born, or have their legal settlements, in 
 Swinton Township. — £4 appears to be the sum which is 
 usually paid for putting out an apprentice. 
 
458 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ANCIENT CUSTOMS, &c. 
 
 The practice of ringing the Curfew-bell morning and 
 evening, has been continued at Masham down to the 
 present time. The introduction of this custom into 
 England is usually ascribed to William the Conqueror, 
 and is said to have been first instituted by him in the 
 City of Winchester, as a badge of servitude, and for the 
 purpose of keeping the subjugated English from meeting 
 over their cups, and debating their grievances. Whilst 
 these regulations were in operation, it was required that 
 at the time of its evening sound, all lights and fires 
 should be extinguished, and not be re-kindled till its 
 sound was again heard in the morning. This was 
 effected by raking the ashes of the wood fires over the 
 embers as they lay upon the hearth — hence its name 
 Couvrefeu, or Cover-fire(see Milne's Winchester, i, 189.) 
 Some, however, who give the credit of its institution to the 
 Conqueror, are of opinion that these were not the only 
 reasons which he had for introducing his Curfew regula- 
 tions into England, and that one object at least which he 
 had in view, was to prevent the frequent occurrence 
 of the serious conflagrations of the dwellings of the 
 English to which they were then subject, owing to the 
 combustible nature of the materials then used in their 
 construction, viz : — wood, wattles, &c. — brick being then 
 but little used, whilst stone was reserved for ecclesiasti- 
 cal and military structures. This was especially the case 
 in this district, which was then a wild forest — 
 so much, indeed, was this the case, that the neighbour- 
 ing village of Watlass actually took its name from the 
 wattles of which it was then built. — Hence the necessity 
 for such a precaution. 
 
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 459 
 
 There can be no doubt, however, that the practice of 
 ringing the Curfew-bell is of much older date than the 
 time of William the Conqueror, and that it had long pre- 
 vailed throughout Europe, at the time of the conquest, 
 so that the Conqueror had only the merit, or demerit, 
 whichever it maybe deemed, of introducing into England 
 an existing custom already practised elsewhere, and not 
 that of originating it, as has been erroneously supposed. 
 — See Pop. Antiq., ii, p. 137. 
 
 The error which I have just pointed out, was not, I 
 believe, the only error in connection with the ringing of 
 the Curfew-bell — as it was called. If the Curfew-bell 
 was really instituted by the Conqueror, or if it be true 
 that he imposed upon the subjugated English his Cur- 
 few regulations as a badge of servitude, or slavery, and 
 with the object I have already mentioned, one would 
 naturally have supposed that the people would have been 
 but too glad to have got rid of it as soon as the oppor- 
 tunity for doing so presented itself, yet such was not the 
 case. The law which enacted these oppressive Curfew 
 regulations was abolished by King Henry I. (the Con- 
 queror's youngest son) in the year 1110, yet we find 
 that the practice of ringing the bell was continued as be- 
 fore, and that it has since been continued in many parts 
 of both England and Scotland down to the present day r 
 and what is more, in a great many places, indeed, a 
 salary is still paid annually out of the Parish monies for 
 the ringing of it. Now, as men, when left to themselves, 
 do not usually pursue a practice which is attended with 
 labour and some expense, we may venture to conclude 
 that they have not been without an object in the contin- 
 uance of such a practice for so many hundreds of years 
 after the legal necessity for it had ceased. The ringing 
 of the bell no doubt owes its continuance, if not its- 
 origin, to a religious observance, or what was formerly 
 regarded as a religious duty, the object of it being to re- 
 call to men's minds the duties they owe to their Maker 
 — to excite them to acts of devotion — and repeat the 
 
460 M ASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE 
 
 Angelas Domini in memory of our Saviour's becoming 
 Man for their salvation, from which circumstance it came 
 to be known by the name of the Angelus Bell. The 
 name, however, together with its end and object is now 
 wholly forgotten, and the times of its being rung have 
 in the course of time been changed to 8 a.m., and 5 p.m., 
 to suit the utilitarian spirit of the age in which we live, 
 and it now only serves to recall the labourer to his daily 
 toil in the fields, and to release him at the conclusion of 
 the day from his labour. 
 
 Formerly it was the custom to ring the Church-bells 
 on the eve of the September Fairs, the object being (ac- 
 cording to a tradition handed down to us through old 
 Jack Harrison, the leader of the ringers) to guide by 
 the sound of the bells, persons coming across the wide 
 moors (which were then laid open and unenclosed) to 
 attend the fairs. I suspect, however, that the ringing of 
 the bells on those occasions, had reference rather to the 
 commemoration of the anniversary of the dedication of 
 the church, than to the direction of the strangers coming 
 across the moors to attend the fairs. 
 
 The manner of tolling the Passing-bell * or SouTs-bell, 
 
 * The Passing-bell, as its name implies, was formerly tolled whilst the per- 
 son was yet alive, but on the point of dying or passing from life, in order 
 that those who heard it might pray for the soul of the person so dying. The 
 practice is not only associated with the finest impulses of human nature, but 
 is of high antiquity. Durand, who flourished about the end of the twelfth 
 century, tells us in his Rationale, Lib. I., ch. 13, " When any one is dying, 
 bells must be tolled that the people may put up their prayers ; twice for a 
 woman, and thrice for a man : if for a Clergyman, as many times as he had 
 orders : and at the conclusion a peal on all the bells, to distinguish the 
 quality of the person for whom the people are to put up their prayers." It 
 is also mentioned in Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," Lib. IV., cap 23, also in 
 Ellis's " Original Letters Illustrative of EnglishHistory," 2nd Series, vol. ii, p. 
 290. The practice was not only retained at the Reformation, but it contin- 
 ued in use as late as the time of Charles II., up to which time the tolling of 
 this bell formed one of the enquiries in all Articles of Visitation. By the 
 begiuning of the Eighteenth century the Passing-bell, in the proper sense of 
 the term, had almost ceased to be heard. Brand in his "Popular Antiquities " by 
 Ellis, vol. ii, p. 129, makes mention of a custom being still preserved in the 
 
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 461 
 
 here is very ancient and different to that which prevails 
 in other Parishes. Here, in the case of persons dying 
 within the town of Masham, or in Burton Constablery, 
 the Tenor-bell is first rung out, but not so in the case of 
 persons dying in any other part of the Parish ; after which, 
 in the case of a child under seven years of age, three 
 knells are given on each of the six bells in succession if 
 a female, and three knells on the first four bells, and five 
 knells on the last two bells in succession if a male. For 
 a person under sixteen years of age five knells are given 
 on each of the six bells in succession if a female, and iive 
 knells on the first four bells, and seven knells on the last 
 two bells in succession if a male. For a person above 
 sixteen years of age, but unmarried, seven knells are 
 given on each of the six bells in succession if a female, 
 and seven knells on each of the first four bells, and nine 
 knells each on the last two bells in succession if a male. 
 For a married person, nine knells are given on each of 
 the six bells in succession if a female, and nine knells on 
 each of the first four bells, and eleven knells on each of 
 the last two bells in succession if a male. Thus by pay- 
 ing attention to the bell and to these rules, a listener is 
 able to tell whether the person deceased is young or old, 
 whether male or female, and whether single or married. 
 
 The advent of Christmas used formerly to be heralded 
 in here by the visits of Yessel-cup singers, bearing bas- 
 kets containing waxen images of the Infant Saviour, and 
 singing Christmas carols; and afterwards for several 
 mornings in succession by the " Waits." 
 
 Christmas Eve is commemorated by a gathering 
 together (whenever practicable) of all the members of each 
 family, and the partaking together of a supper of fur- 
 menty, yule-cakes, and cheese, besides other good things, 
 over a blazing fire, in which the yule-log plays a promi- 
 
 Nortli of England, of making numerical distinctions at the conclusion of the 
 ceremony here alluded to ; " i. e. nine knells for a man, six for a woman, and 
 three for a child," which he says are undoubtedly the vestiges of the ancient 
 injunctions of popery. 
 
462 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 nent part, and " not to be snuffed "yule-candles which the 
 family grocer, by ancient and immemorial custom, is 
 bound to supply gratuitously. If the supper of fur- 
 menty, &c, should not by any chance have succeeded in 
 effecting a sleepless night to the partakers of it, that ob- 
 ject is sure to be attained by two or three companies at 
 the least of vagrant " Christmas Singers," serenading 
 them at different hours during the night, followed by a 
 parcel of " urchins " screaming out at the top of their 
 small voices, " I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy 
 New Year, please will you give me a Christmas-box." 
 Before, however, the door can be opened to any of these 
 " disturbers of the peace," it is imperatively necessary 
 that the " lucky bird " should be first introduced, and 
 that that lucky-bird should not by any means be a female, 
 but a black curly-headed boy, and that no lights or fires on 
 any account be taken in, or out of the house and premi- 
 ses during Christmas time. Woe betide the individual 
 who has the hardihood to disregard any one of these 
 time-honoured observances : — the least thing that can be- 
 fall him will be a run of ill-luck during the whole of the 
 coining year. 
 
 Christmas-day is ever redolent of roast beef, roast 
 goose, and indigestible plum-pudding, and rum or 
 brandy sauce to boot — and New year's day is spent 
 much after the same fashion as Christmas-day. 
 
 During the whole time of Christmas, the Church and 
 the houses are decked with twigs of laurel and holly. The 
 "Fond Plough," or "Plough Stott," and "Sword-dancers," 
 dressed up in grotesque habits pay their annual visits to 
 the Parish at this season of joviality, to partake of its 
 hospitalities and good cheer, for which the Parish is pro- 
 verbial. 
 
 " St. Valentine's Day " has still its votaries in this Parish 
 amongst the young unmarried of both sexes. 
 
 "Collop Monday" is still observed so far, at least, as the 
 dining on eggs and collops on this day is concerned, but 
 the people of Mashamshire do not by any means on this 
 
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 463 
 
 day take their leave of flesh meat, previous to their en- 
 tering upon the solemn season of Lent, as they formerly 
 did in the Roman Catholic times. 
 
 "Pancake Tuesday" is also observed by the ringing of 
 the pancake-bell at 11 a.m., and by afterwards dining up- 
 on pancakes, but not I fear by the confessions of sins, as 
 in times previous to the Reformation. During the last 
 generation, as if by way of contrast to the strictness in 
 which it was formerly observed, the day was spent in 
 cock-fighting, and the night in dancing, card-playing, 
 and revelry — but this is all past away. Within the time 
 of my own recollection the day was observed as a holi- 
 day for schoohboys and apprentices, and was generally 
 spent in playing at " knorr-and-spell," &c, in the Mar- 
 field, as well as at other places in the Parish. — It is now 
 but little observed. 
 
 On " Ash- Wednesday" the good people of Masham cer- 
 tainly do not put on sack-cloth and ashes. Our fathers 
 and grandfathers used so far to observe this day as to dine 
 on salt-fish ; but we, of the present generation, dine on 
 what we like best or rather upon what some of us can 
 get, and the day is not now otherwise observed. 
 
 At the beginning of Lent the most inveterate of card- 
 players (and their number was legion) used to lay aside 
 their packs of cards, and would not on any account, so 
 much as touch them during the whole season of Lent ; 
 but now, however, the practice is very different. 
 
 " Good- Friday," however, is better kept now than it was 
 some thirty or forty years ago, although by no means so 
 well observed as it ought to be. The farmers and 
 tradesmen during the last generation used to follow 
 their usual occupations on this day as on other week 
 days ; the former, however, deeming it unlucky to 
 break, or turn up the soil on this day, enrploy their 
 teams and their labourers in the leading and clearing 
 away of rubbish, and otherwise cleaning their farms, and 
 thus contrive to cheat the devil. 
 
 On "Easter Sunday," young men and boys, by prescrip- 
 
464 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 tive right, take the liberty of taking the shoes from off 
 young women's feet, and of keeping them till redeemed 
 by a payment of money ; and on Easter Monday, the 
 young women in exercise of the like right, possess them- 
 selves, as best they can, of the hats of the young men 
 and retain them until they are redeemed by a like pay- 
 ment. 
 
 "All-Fools Day" (the 1st April) and " May-gosling 
 day " (the 1st May) are never allowed to pass over 
 without some body or other being sent on sleeveless 
 errands. 
 
 In Eogation Week, or on one of the three days before 
 Ascension day, or Holy Thursday, it was formerly the 
 custom to perambulate the bounds of the Parish, and on 
 those occasions meat and drink were provided for the 
 parties taking part in the perambulation. About the 
 year 1640, the people of Ellington turned refractory, and 
 refused to provide meat and drink for the perambulation ; 
 accordingly we find that at the Ecclesiastical Court held 
 in Masham Church, on the 19th May, 1640, John Corn- 
 forth, of Ellington, was presented and afterwards excom- 
 municated, " for not providing bread and drink for the 
 perambulation according to ancient custom." JSTo peram- 
 bulation of the Parish has taken place within the 
 time of living memory. 
 
 "Royal Oak Day" (the 29th May) is still observed by 
 the boys decking themselves and the Grammar school, 
 with the leaves of the oak. Formerly the church-bells 
 were rung on this day, but the practice has been discon- 
 tinued. 
 
 Whitsuntide is now only kept in remembrance by the 
 annual feast, and the dance after it, held at Healey, on 
 Whit Tuesday. 
 
 The "Sheep Shearing," and the " Mell-Supper," at the 
 conclusion of the harvest, have always been, and may they 
 long continue to be, in this parish, seasons of festive mer- 
 riment. 
 
 The " Masham Fairs " have ever been pregnant with 
 
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 465 
 
 roast-beef, pickled-cabbag© and strong ale, to which by 
 the laws of hospitality prevailing in the Parish, all comers 
 are ever welcome : every individual, however humble his 
 circumstances, considering it his bounden duty to provide 
 a plentiful supply of these indispensable articles for con- 
 sumption on these occasions. 
 
 u Riding the Stang " for offenders against the laws of 
 conjugal propriety, has become, by long usage, an institu- 
 tion in this Parish. The offender, however, instead of being 
 mounted in propria persona, and borne backwards 
 upon the stang or pole, is here represented by an 
 effigy, which is publicly carried about the town in 
 a cart, and thus exhibited for three successive nights. On 
 the last of those nights it is burned at the Market-cross, 
 and an oration hi doggerel rhyme, composed for the 
 occasion, pronounced over it by way of warning to all 
 persons in likeways offending. 
 
 The feast in honour of Bishop Blaize, * the patron 
 Saint of the Woolcombers, and who is said to have been 
 the inventor of woolcombing, was formerly held here an- 
 nually, on the 3rd Feby., when it was duly commemo- 
 rated by the woolcombing fraternity by a supper, and 
 a swill — for the "jolly combing-boys " were always 
 " thirsty souls". This, at least, was the course pursued 
 in ordinary years, but on some special occasions, some- 
 thing grander and more imposing, as a spectacle, was not 
 only attempted, but attained by them. On these special 
 occasions a grand procession was formed, which being pre-* 
 ceded by a band of music, promenaded not only the 
 streets of the town of Masham, but those of other 
 neighbouring towns. The procession was composed of 
 master woolcombers on horseback, each wearing a white 
 sliver of wool; woolsorters, also on horseback, each car- 
 
 * St. Belasius is generally represented as Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia, 
 and as having suffered martyrdom in the persecution of Licinius, in 316. 
 The fact of iron combs having been used in tearing the flesh of the martyr, 
 appears the sole reason of his having been adopted by the woolcombers as 
 their patron saint. — " Book of Days." vol. i, p. 219. 
 
 GG 
 
£(j(j masham and mashamshire. 
 
 rying a fleece before him, and bright and glittering 
 shears ; the shepherd and shepherdess dressed in green, 
 and bearing shepherds' crooks; the Bishop, on horse- 
 back, dressed in his mitre and full canonicals, bearing an 
 open Bible in one hand and a woolcomb in the other, 
 attended by guards and attendants, and accompanied by 
 his chaplain (who acted the part of the orator on the 
 occasion) ; followed by the working woolcombers and 
 others connected with the trade, on foot, in shirts as 
 white, and as neat, as women's hands could make them, 
 each gaily decked with cross -belts, sashes, and bracelets 
 composed of parti-coloured slivers of wool; the rear of 
 the cavalcade being brought up, as if by way of contrast, 
 by an old charcoal-burner with grimy face, and a short 
 tobacco-pipe stuck in his mouth, smoking like a steam- 
 engine, and mounted upon an ill-favoured mule, with 
 trappings to match its rider. The cavalcade, it must be 
 admitted, presented — with the glittering paraphernalia 
 and other emblematic figures and devices, representing 
 Jason and the golden fleece, &c, which were used on the 
 occasion — a novel yet somewhat imposing appearance, 
 and created no little interest in the place. The proces- 
 sion occasionally came to a halt, when the orator deli- 
 vered himself of the following grandiloquent oration : — 
 
 " From an infinite variety of blessings conferred by 
 Providence upon the inhabitants of Great Britain, none 
 seems to be of greater importance, or of more general 
 utility, than that of the Golden Fleece, which was little 
 known to the people of this happy Isle until the glorious 
 reign of Edward the Third. About that period, accord- 
 ing to tradition, Bishop Blaize [here the orator grace- 
 fully extended his hand towards the Bishop, and the 
 Bishop, in acknowledgment, made a low but very digni- 
 fied obeisance] first introduced the combing of wool 
 into this Kingdom,* and we have the honour to be his 
 
 * I confess I cannot sec how the Bishop, after being dead some thousand 
 years, could introduce the art of woolcombing- into England, as here boldly 
 
 
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 467 
 
 successor in that important mystery which employs 
 such a number of our fellow-creatures, and not only 
 contributes to the improvement of Masham, but, more 
 than all the rest, to the splendour and dignity of the 
 British Crown. Our fleets, which ride triumphant on 
 the vast expanded ocean, and carry terror to the utmost 
 limits of the torrid zone, are chiefly supported by the 
 manufacturers of this kingdom, where we claim prece- 
 dence; therefore, with grateful hearts, let us celebrate 
 this glorious day to the memory of the immortal Blaize, 
 till time shall be no more. God save the Queen, and 
 the inhabitants of this place." [Here, again, the Bishop 
 made his obeisance, the company cheering most vocifer- 
 ously, and the Bishop, in return, making his acknow- 
 ledgments with all the gravity and nonchalance of a 
 veritable Bishop]. 
 
 On the conclusion of the oration the company pro- 
 ceeded to sing, in full chorus, the following song * in 
 
 asserted : probably the woolcombers can explain it. No doubt the Bishop 
 was a wonderful person, for it was said, and believed, that, by a charm in 
 his name, a thorn could be extracted from the flesh, or a bone from the 
 throat — it only being necessary to hold the patient,- and say, " Blaize, the 
 martyr, and servant of Jesus Christ, commands thee [in the case of a bone 
 in the throat] to pass up or down; [in the case of a thorn] to come forth; " 
 and the command was instantly effectual. 
 
 * Although I have been at some trouble in order to ascertain the name 
 of the tune in which this song is sung, and of its composer, I have been 
 unable to arrive at anything satisfactory. My friend, Mr. William Jackson 
 of Bradford, writes me thus upon the subject : — " I can give you no inform- 
 ation about the tune to which the Bishop Blaize song was sung. I copied 
 it down from poor old Jack Harrison's singing, but do not find it in any 
 collection of old English airs, nor have I ever found it known out of the 
 district. My own opinion is, that it is local, and not very old, say about the 
 middle of last century. The verses of the song were written (so I have 
 understood) by Mr. Wrather, the father [Qy. brother] of the late Samuel, and 
 captain ; and it is not improbable that the tune may have been composed or 
 modified by old George Thornberry, who was leading singer at the Church, 
 and on whom the epitaph [mentioned ante p. 402] was written. Thornberry, 
 from the many anecdotes I have heard of him from my mother, must have been 
 a man of considerable genius in musical matters, though somewhat churlish 
 about imparting his knowledge to others." 
 
468 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 honour of Bishop Blaize : — 
 
 " My friends, the day of Bishop Blaize is here — 
 The joyful'st day we have in all the year, 
 "Wherein all tradesmen may rejoice and sing — 
 From a woolcomber to the greatest King. 
 
 When first the art of combing, it was found 
 By Bishop Blaize — through England it did sound, 
 And therefore he shall canonized be, 
 Amongst the Saints, to all eternity. 
 
 Ten thousand spinners, and twice ten thousand too, 
 . By our brave art have daily work to do ; 
 Who from their wheels send forth such pleasant noise, 
 In honour of we jolly combing boys. 
 
 Go ! ask the weaver who was the first trade, 
 Whose approbation here it may be had — 
 For what fine stuffs, or serges, could there be. 
 Without the art of combing mystery ? 
 
 Here 's a health unto our masters, we '11 begin, 
 And then we '11 drink a health unto the King, 
 What one invents the others do support — 
 Whilst Indians mourn, we true Britannians sport." 
 
 I have been thus particular in recording and describ- 
 ing the Feast in honour of the "immortal" Bishop, 
 because I do not think it likely that the proceedings 
 here described will ever be repeated, in Masham at least, 
 or otherwise perpetuated, except by the aid of these 
 pages. Although woolcombing was at one time the 
 staple trade of Masham, yet, in consequence of the in- 
 troduction of improved machinery for the combing and 
 dressing of wool without manual labour, and other causes 
 of a private nature, the trade has now ceased to exist in 
 the place ; and the wool, which is still bought up in 
 large quantities in this neighbourhood, is sent off, in the 
 raw and unmanufactured state, to Bradford and other 
 towns, without affording any employment to the people 
 in this district. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 CHARTERS AND OTHER EVIDENCES RELATING TO 
 
 MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Grant from King William the Conqueror to Earl Allan, of Earl Edwin's 
 Manors and Lands. Date A.D. 1071. 
 
 [a translation]. 
 I, William, surnamed the bastard, do give and grant to thee, Alan,* my 
 nephew, Earl of Bretagne, and to thy heirs for ever, all the towns and 
 lands which lately belonged to Earl Edwyn,| in Yorkshire, with the 
 Knights' fees, Churches, and other privileges and customs, in as free and 
 honourable a manner as the said Edwyn held them. 
 Given from the siege before York. 
 
 No. 2. 
 Extract from Domesday Booh, translated by the Rev. Wm. Bawden, so far 
 as it relates to the Parish of Masham and neighbourhood. 
 
 Yorkshire. — The land of Earl Alan. 
 
 In Ellintone (Ellington) to be taxed six carucates,| and there may be 
 four ploughs. Gospatric§ (two carucates) and Norman (three carucates and 
 two oxgangs), and Torchil (six oxgangs) || had three manors there. The 
 same Gospatric now has what he had, of the Earl. In the demesne one 
 
 * See ante, p. 209, for an account of Alan Rufus or Fergaunt, the Earl here referred to. 
 
 t See ante, pages 56, 71, 206, and 209, for an account of Earl Edwin here alluded to. 
 
 % A carucate is of uncertain extent, being as much land as one team can plough in the year. 
 It varied from 120 to 180 acres. 
 
 § " G-ospatric -was a noble Saxon, whose lands were not at first seized by the Conqueror : he 
 was even received into favour, and, on payment of a large sum of money, was created Count of 
 all the Country north of the Tyne ; he appears to have demeaned himself with great servility, 
 but all was not sufficient to make William forget that G-ospatric was an Englishman. Within 
 less than a year he deprived him of the dignity for which he had paid, and made him no restitu- 
 tion. The reason alleged was, that G-ospatric had fought in the defence of York, and taken part 
 in the insurrection in which Robert Comine perished. Seized with chagrin and remorse the Saxon 
 for ever abandoned his native land, and settled in Scotland, where his descendants long continued 
 to dwell in honour and opulence." — Grainge's Nidderdale, p. 72; see also ante, pages 4, 55, 56, 
 and 69. 
 
 || An oxgang is also of uncertain extent, being as much land as an ox can plough in one year 
 which is generally taken to be 15 acres, or, as others allege, 20 acres. 
 
470 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 plough, and three bordars * with one plough. In the rest of the land the 
 Earl has six villanes,f with three ploughs. Meadow six acres. The whole 
 one mile and a half long and half a mile broad. Value in King Edward's 
 time forty shillings, now thirty shillings. — \_Orig., 312, a L] 
 
 In Siwartorp % (Siwarthorp) to be taxed one carucate, and there may be 
 one plough. A moiety of this is in land of Massan (Masham). Torchil 
 had it, now the Earl, and it is waste. 
 
 In Sudtone (Sutton) to be taxed one carucate, and there may be one 
 plough. Norman had a Manor there. Earl Alan now has it, and it is waste. 
 The whole half a mile long and half broad. Value in King Edward's time, 
 ten shillings. 
 
 In Federbi (Fearby) to be taxed three carucates, and there may be two 
 ploughs. Gospatric and Eldred had there two manors. The Earl has them 
 now, and Gospatric of him. Eight villanes and one bordar have there two 
 ploughs and a half. The whole half a mile long and four quarantens § broad. 
 Value in King Edward's time, ten shillings, now sixteen shillings. 
 
 In Hilchcton (Hilton) to be taxed two carucates, and there may be two 
 ploughs. Archil |[ had a manor there. Gospatric has now there one plough 
 and three villanes and two bordars. The whole half a mile long and half 
 broad. Value in King Edward's time, sixteen shillings, now eight shillings. 
 
 In Massan (Masham) to be taxed twelve carucates, and there may be 
 eight ploughs. Gospatric had there one manor. Ernegis has now there 
 one plough, and ten villanes and three bordars with five ploughs. There is 
 a church. 
 
 To this manor belong the berewicks ^[ — Tuislebroc**( — ), three carucates; 
 Swinton (Swinton) three carucates and a half; and Sudton (Sutton), one 
 carucate — to be taxed seven carucates and a half, and there may be four 
 ploughs. They are waste. The whole manor, with the berewicks, one mile 
 
 * A Boarder was a person who held a cottage and a small parcel of land attached to it, upon 
 condition that he should supply the lord with poultry and eggs, and other such like provisions for 
 his board or entertainment. 
 
 f A Villain was one who held lands by a base or servile tenure, or in villainage. There were 
 two Mnds of Villains, viz : Villains regardant, that were annexed to the land ; and Villains in 
 gross, or at large, that is, annexed to the person of their lord and transferable by deed from one 
 owner to another. These villains could not leave their lord without his permission, and if they 
 ran away, or were purloined from him, he could recover them back by action, like beasts or other 
 chattels. In later times they became enfranchised by manumission, and in process of time were 
 permitted by the lords to enjoy their possessions without interruption in a regular course of de- 
 scent, so that in the end the common law gave them title to hold it in spite of the lord's will. 
 These villeins generally held their lands agreeably to the custom of the Manor entered in the Rolls of 
 the Court Baron. They afterwards were called tenants by copy of Court-roll, and copyholders are 
 therefore no other than villeins whose tenure was a copyhold. Lord Macaulay in his " History of 
 England," attributes to the influence of the Eoman Catholic religion the extinction of this spe- 
 cies of domestic slavery. 
 
 t See ante, pages 53 and 54, as to Siwardthorpe. 
 
 § A Quaranten is 40 perches. 
 
 || Archill was one of the great barons who took up arms against William the Conqueror, as 
 will be seen ante, p, 57. 
 
 IT A Berewick is a village or hamlet belonging to a manor. ' 
 ** As to Tuiselbroc see ante, p. 53. 
 
ArPENDIX. 471 
 
 long and one broad. Value in King Edward's time, six pounds, now six- 
 teen shillings. 
 
 In Clifton * (Clifton) to be taxed three carucates, and there may be two 
 ploughs. Canute had there a manor. Donewald now has there one pl®ugh, 
 and three villanes with one plough and a half. The whole half a mile long 
 and half broad. Value in King Edward's time, eight shillings, now five 
 shillings. 
 
 In Welle (Well) to be taxed eight carucates, and there may be six 
 ploughs. Torchil had there a manor. Bernulf has now there two ploughs, 
 and six villanes and six bordars with three ploughs. There is a church and 
 a priest there. The whole one mile long and one broad. 
 
 To this manor belong the berewicks — Burtone,f (Burton), four carucates. 
 Opetone (Upton), four carucates — Alchebi, four carucates, to be taxed to- 
 gether twelve carucates, and there may be eight ploughs. There are now 
 there twenty six villanes, and four bordars with fourteen ploughs. Mea- 
 dow, four acres. Coppice wood. The whole half a mile long and half 
 broad. The value of the whole manor was in King Edward's time, forty 
 shillings, now sixty shillings. 
 
 In Fredebi (Firby) to be taxed five carucates, and there may be four 
 ploughs. Auduid had a manor there : Earl Alan has now there seven vil- 
 lanes and three bordars with four ploughs. The whole half a mile long and 
 half broad. Value in King Edward's time, ten shillings, now thirteen shil- 
 lings.— [Orig. 312. b. i.] 
 
 In Bedale (Bedale) to be taxed six carucates, and there may be four ploughs. 
 Tori had there a manor. Bodin now has there two ploughs and seventeen 
 villanes and five bordars with five ploughs. A Church and a mill of five 
 shillings. Meadow, six acres. The whole one mile long, and half broad. 
 Value in King Edward's time, twenty shillings, now thirty shillings. 
 
 In Echescol f (qy. Aiskew) is soke belonging § to Massan (Masham) to 
 be taxed ten carucates, and there may be seven ploughs. Earl Alan has 
 now there five villanes, and one bordar with three ploughs. Coppice wood. 
 The whole one mile long and half broad. 
 
 * Clifton, Well, Firby, Bedale, and Aiskew, are not part of Mashamshire, but are only in- 
 troduced here on account of their being in the immediate neighbourhood of, and their evident 
 connection -with the place. 
 
 t Burton, it will be seen, was formerly a Berewick or Village, belonging to the township of 
 Well. The township of Burton-upon-Yore, although situate within the parish of Masham, does 
 not form any part of Mashamshire. It consists now of three distinct manors. The Aldborough 
 estate, together with the Greens and Nutwith Cote, are parcel of the manor of Aldborough 
 Grange, of which John T. D. Hutton, Esq., is the lord. The Little Burton, or Low Burton es- 
 tate, is another manor, of which G-. J. Yarburgh, Esq., of Heslington Hall near York, is the lord ; 
 and Great Burton, or High Burton, as it is now called, is another manor, of which James 
 Pulleine, Esq., of Clifton Castle, is the lord. 
 
 t The name of this place signifies on the other or opposite side of the water, which answers to 
 the description of Aiskew, which is on the opposite side of the water to Bedale. 
 
 § It would seem from this that Aiskew was formerly in some manner dependant upon the 
 manor of Masham, and that its tenants would consequently be required to do suit and service at 
 the Court of the Lord of Masham ; for soke, in law, Avas an ancient privilege which a Lord of a 
 Manor claims in his Court of holding pleas in causes of debate arising among his tenants and vas- 
 sals; and of imposing and levying fines and amercements touching the same. The word is saxon 
 and literally signifies cause, contest, and thence right of jurisdiction, &c. 
 
472 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 No. 3. 
 Grant from Earl Alan to the Monks of Fountains relating to Aldburgh.— 
 Date between A.D. 1137 and A.D. 1165. 
 
 [translation.} 
 Alan, *^ Earl of Brittany and England, to his steward and constable and 
 chamberlain and all his barons and men, French and English, greeting. 
 Know ye that I, for the soul of my father and my mother, and for myself 
 and the Countess Bertha my wife, and for my heirs, have granted in alms ; 
 and, for their perpetual benefit, given to the Monks of Fountains, all the 
 wood which appertains to Marsam which is on that side of the river Yore 
 where Burton stands, to build therewith a certain abbey of their order. And 
 on the other side of the aforesaid [river] towards Marsam I grant and give 
 to the aforesaid monks, Rumore and Bramley, to the use of the aforesaid 
 Abbey, by the name of Aldeburne. These being witnesses, Richard son 
 of Eustace Fitz John, Scolland the steward, Ruald the constable, Warin Fitz 
 Wymer, Hugh Fitz Jarnagote. 
 
 No. 4. 
 Grant from Earl Alan to Roger de Mowbray, of Mashams7iire (without date 
 but made beticeen A.D. 1135, and A.D. 1140^. R. Pat., A. 20., H. vi., 
 p. 6. 
 
 [translation.] 
 Alan, Earl of England and Britain, to all barons of Richemonschire and 
 to all his men, French and English, greeting. Know ye, that I have granted 
 and by this present charter confirmed to Roger de Molbrai, Massaham, with 
 all its appurtenances in wood, and in plain, in meadows, and in pastures, in 
 waters, and in mills, in chases, and in warrens f with all its liberties and free 
 customs, to hold of me and my heirs, to him and his heirs, as freely, and as 
 
 * This Earl Alan was surnamed " the savage r " and was the son of Earl Stephen, as will be 
 seen ante p. 209. He was an active partizan of King Stephen's in his contest with the Empress 
 Maud. He committed great spoil at Ripon, upon the demesnes and tenants of the Archbishop of 
 York. Notwithstanding his having made this Grant to the Church, he is described as having 
 been a most deceitful wicked person. His Countess Bertha, whom he here mentions, was the 
 eldest daughter and co-heir of Conan le Grosse. 
 
 f The mention in this early charter of a chase and a icarren^ is somewhat confirmatory of my 
 own supposition, that the free chase and free warren of Mashamshire, existed so far back as in the 
 Saxon times. It is true that a free warren in Mashamshire was granted, long after this date, viz: 
 the 35 Henry HI., A.D. 1250, to John de Wauton, the then lord of Mashamshire, but it is not to be 
 taken for granted, that because a free warren was then granted to the lord of the Manor, no rights 
 of free warren had previously existed in the place, for these Royal Grants were in former times 
 frequently sued for, and granted, as and by way of confirmation only of previously existing rights 
 which were claimed by prescription, and to be used as evidence of such rights in case they should 
 ever afterwards be called in question by proceedings in Quo Warranto. The words, however, 
 " in chases and warrens," may after all have been only used here as general words, so as to include 
 rights of free chaeeand free warren, if any such existed, and may not in strictness imply that a 
 chace or free warren could have been then claimed. This last observation, however, will not ap- 
 ply to the actual mention by name of the " Forest of Masham," in the charter dated A.D. 1259, 
 hereinafter referred to. 
 
APPENDIX. 473 
 
 quietly and as honourably as ever Nigell de Albeni his father better held 
 the same of Earl Stephen my father, and by the same service, to wit, by 
 one Knight's service, as far as to the bounds of Witton. Because I would 
 not that any strife should arise concerning the mortgage * of the same Mas- 
 ham which he the same Roger made to me, to wit, for a hundred marks of 
 silver, seeing I can claim nothing thereout (except the service aforesaid) 
 after the discharging of the aforesaid mortgage. And these are the metes 
 of the bounds of Witton and of Massamshire, to wit, where Esewath (Brig- 
 with-wath) is on the west part of Witebeck as it flows into lor, and from 
 Esewath to Kelgrmebro (Kilgram Howe Grange), and from thence to Deta- 
 cher (Charekeld), and from Delacher to Blaypot (Claypit), and from thence 
 to Seilekelde (the Well in Nevvstead Pasture), and from thence to Holegill 
 (Lambert-gill), on the west part as Macheresgate (Marketgait) ascends be- 
 tween two Hole Gills (Lambertgill and Leygill), and from thence to Kemp- 
 staines (Castle-hills), and afterwards as the waters separate themselves, some 
 of which stretch out to the north towards Witton, and some to the south 
 towards Massahamschire, and as the waters separate themselves, on the 
 north part of Caderland (Caldberg), and of Burnelneshage (Ellers-hall) as 
 far as to the bounds of Coverdale, and to Nidderesho (Myers) to the bounds 
 of Ralph the son of Ribald. Witnesses, Scholand the Steward, Ralph the 
 son of Ribald, Hugo the son of Gernagan, Hervey the son of Acharius, 
 Roger the son of Gien'm, Alan the Butler, Robert the Chamberlain, Copsis 
 the son of Archillus, Theobald the Clerk, Samson de Albania Bertram Hagel, 
 Adelmus de Aldefield. 
 
 And this to all whom it concerns, we, by these Presents, do make known. 
 In testimony whereof, &c. Witness the King at Westminster the 10th day 
 of June.f 
 
 No. 5. 
 Grant from Roger de Mowbray to the Monhs of Fountains, of Aldburgh 
 near Masham. 
 
 [translation]. 
 To all the Sons of Holy Mother Church, present and to come, Roger de 
 Mowbray, greeting. Know ye that I, for the salvation of the soul of me 
 and my wife and my children, and my father and my mother, and all my 
 relatives, have given in alms to the Monks of St. Mary of Fountains, 
 Aldebargh, as a grange, free and quit from all services and whatsoever ap- 
 pertains thereto on that side of the river Yore, in wood and plain and fields 
 
 * The Mortgage here alluded to was in all probability effected by Roger de Mowbray for the 
 purpose of enabling him to take one of his expeditions to the Holy Land as a Ctusader, as we 
 know from other sources that he borrowed large sums of money for this very purpose. 
 
 t The grantor of this charter was the Earl Alan who was surnamed " the savage," as men- 
 tioned in the foot note ante, p. 472. It appears by this charter that Mashamshire had previously 
 to this been granted by Earl Alan's father (Earl Stephen) to Nigel de Albini, the father of Roger 
 de Mowbray, and that this is merely a confirmation of such previous grant. Samson de Albini 
 (one of the witnesses to this and the following charter) was the reetor of the church at Masham, 
 as will be seen ante, pp. 319 and 320. 
 
474 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and meadows and waters, as my father (Nigel) de Albini formerly gave the 
 same to the monks of Pontiniac (Ponthieu ?), and common of pasture on the 
 other side of the water, in Swinton, and Rumore, and Nutewith, and on 
 the same side the soil of their pool to construct a mill. These being wit- 
 nesses, Samson de Albini, Matthias de Rampamme, Ralph de Bellun, 
 Walter de Rivere.* 
 
 No. 6. 
 Extract from Vol. v., p. 569, of Dugdale's " Monasticon Ajiglicanum," rela- 
 lating to Grants from Roger de Moicbray to the 3Ion7cs of Jerveaux. 
 
 [translation]. 
 The Lord Roger de Mowbray, our founder, hearing that certain Monks 
 of Savigny had begun to build an Abbey anew, [and] desiring to share in 
 their prayers and spiritual benefits, as in those of other religious persons, 
 with great piety and generosity of soul, gave unto the same brother Peter, 
 land pasture and wood out of his demesne of Masham by this deed. 
 
 DEED OF ROGER DE MOWBRAY. 
 
 Roger de Mowbray to all his servants and men of Yorkshire, French 
 and English, greeting. Know ye that I have given and granted to God 
 and St. Mary of Charity and to Peter the Monk and his brethren of the 
 Abbey upon the river Yore, all the land and all the wood as the way goeth 
 from Brigwath (Brigwith wath) unto Whiteberchvade (Whitebeck wath), 
 and beside this [liberty] to fish in Higlamore (Eelmire-dub), and the warren 
 and pasture of my whole wood. And I will that they have this land up to 
 the Yore as free and quit as land can be, freely and in alms. Witness, Roger 
 Abbot of Byland.f 
 
 No. 7. 
 An Extent in the 30th year of the reign of King Henry II. [a.d. 1183]. 
 
 [translation]. 
 Concerning the Carucates of Lands in Richmondshire, and how many 
 
 * This grant appears to be merely a confirmation of a grant previously made by Nigel de 
 Albini to Fountains Abbey. It will be seen that this charter grants to the monks of Fountains, 
 common of pasture in Swinton, Roomer, and Nutwith, and not the land itself. I remember when 
 Nutwith and Roomer common was about being converted into a stinted pasture as it now is, the 
 late James Henry D'Arcy Hutton, Esq., of Aldborough Hall, in laying claim to Nutwith and 
 Roomer as belonging to Burton people exclusively, objected to all the claims put in by the several 
 other freeholders throughout the parish. The freeholders, however, fully established their claims 
 by evidence of immemorial usage. A reference to this charter will shew how such claim has 
 originated, and at same time how absurd and unfounded it was. 
 
 It will be seen that mention is made of a mill which was about to be constructed at this early 
 period. 
 
 t The land here granted by Roger de Mowbray was then part of Masham Parish. By this 
 grant the boundaries between Masham parish and the parish of East Witton became altered, and 
 the consequence in after times was, that it gave rise to litigation, as mentioned ante, pages 22, 2-3, 
 105, and 120. 
 
 Higlamore, mentioned in this charter, is what we now know as " Eelmire-dub." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 475 
 
 there are in every Wapentake, by [their] Vills, in the 30th year of the said 
 King Henry II. 
 
 Carucates in Hang Wapentake : — 
 
 Ellyngton 
 
 6 Carucates. 
 
 Twisebrok* . 
 
 3 Carucates 
 
 Swarthorp * . . 
 
 1 Carucate. 
 
 Swynton 
 
 .. 3§ do. 
 
 Sutton 
 
 . . 1 do. 
 
 Clifton 
 
 ..3 do. 
 
 Fetherby 
 
 . . 3 Carueates. 
 
 Welle 
 
 . . 8 do. 
 
 Ilketon 
 
 . . 2 do. 
 
 Burton 
 
 . . 4 do. 
 
 Masham 
 
 .. 12 do. 
 
 Hopeton 
 
 .'. 4 do. 
 
 Fine 44th 
 Henry 3rd 
 York No. 3 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Fine between John de Wanton, Plaintiff, and Roger de Mowbray, Deforciant, 
 
 relating to the Forest of Mashamshire. Dated 44 Hen. III., A.D. 1259. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 • | Between John de Wauton,f Plaintiff, and Roger de Mowbray, 
 is. j Deforcient, reciting previous fine between Roger de Mowbray, 
 (great grandfather of the aforesaid Roger) and Nigel his son, Plaintiffs, and 
 John de Wauton (great grandfather of the aforesaid John) of bounds of Mass- 
 ham, and Malesard [Kirkby-Malzeard] whereof the aforesaid John is now 
 deforced) whereby the aforesaid Roger grants to the said John all the forest 
 of Masshani, % by the bounds § underwritten, to wit, from lor [Yore] unto 
 
 * It appears by this document that the Tillages of Siwardthorpe and Tuiselbroc (which are 
 mentioned hi the Domesday Survey) were still in existence'at this date (A.D. 1183). This, how- 
 ever, is the last mention we have of them. They were probably altogether destroyed by the Scots 
 in one of their many incursions into these parts. In the year 1314 the fatal battle of Bannock- 
 burn was fought, in which, the Scotch historian Buchanan, says, that 50,000 Englishmen were 
 slain upon the spot ; and the Scots afterwards entered England and laid waste the country with 
 ' fire and sword. The people of Ripon and Northallerton each paid the Scots 1000 marks to spare 
 those towns. The towns of SMpton and Knaresborough were however burnt. 
 
 t The John de Wauton here mentioned, was the Sir John de Wauton mentioned ante, p. 219 
 (the son of John cle Wauton, who died A.D. 1230). The object of this fine is merely to confirm the 
 title to Sir John de Wauton. 
 
 J The Forest of Masham and Mashamshire it will be seen is here, as in several other early char- 
 ters, expressly mentioned by name— although it is true that nine years previous to the date of this 
 charter a grant of a Free-warren had been made to John de Wauton, the then Lord of Mashamshire. 
 The calling of it here " a Forest " cannot have had any reference to that charter, for a Free- warren 
 and a Forest are two very different things, as these early lords very well knew. I would espe- 
 cially direct the reader's attention to the last clause in this charter which provides for the case of 
 "beasts " raised in Masham running into the Kirkby-Malzeard liberty, and authorizes the Lord of 
 Mashamshire to follow such beasts into such liberty and to take and chase them. These words 
 it should be observed are wholly inapplicable to a Free-warren, but are applicable to a Forest or 
 Free-chace — see my observations on this subject ante, pages 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47. 
 
 § In reference to the boundaries mentioned in this charter, I may mention that it appears'by 
 " Coke's Entries 565, and 566 " that some proceedings on a Writ of Rationabilibus Divisis were 
 taken in the 10 and 11 Queen Eliz. A.D. 1568., in a suit between Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., and 
 Edward Lord Derby, respecting the boundaries of the manors of Kirkby-Malzeard and Masham, 
 and that the dispute was settled by an award, dated the 5th October, 12 Eliz. A.D. 1570, made by 
 Sir Richard Sherbourne, Knight., Wm. Tankard, Esq., Robt. Sherburne, Esq., and Wm. Wy- 
 cliffe, Esq., whereby it was settled that the boundaries should be as follows-: — " From the Weste 
 end of Nutwith and so upon Sinderhowe, and from thence to a hill next toward the south of Roger 
 Crosse, as the water doth descend towarde Massham otherwise called the Holestone, and from 
 
476 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Synderho [Sinder-howe] so that Notewyt [Nutwith] shall remain in com- 
 mon between the townships of Masseham and Malleshard [Kirkby-Mal- 
 zeard] and from Sinderho unto the hill which is nearest towards the south of 
 Roger's Cross [afterwards called New Cross] as the water floweth down from 
 thence towards Masseham, and so unto the hill above Pylesden [Pillisden] 
 and thence by the top of the hill unto Frosthrynldesdo [Throstle- how] and 
 from Trosthrynldesdo by the top of the hill unto the bounds of Ralph Fitz 
 Ranulph [Coverdale] and thence unto the bounds of Wytton [East Witton]* 
 as that which is appurtenant to the same lands which the same John holds 
 
 thence to the toppe of a hill called Pyllesden, otherwise called Wolstonbaurgh alias Wolstock- 
 baurghe." It also appears by an ancient [record without date (but supposed to have been'made 
 about A.D. 1600) found amongst the Court Eolls of the adjoining manor of Kirkby-Malzeard, that 
 the boundaries of that manor were found to be as follows : — The bounders of the manor of Kirkby- 
 Malzeard as they were settled by Sir John Saville, Mr. Pepper, Surveyor of the Court of Wards, 
 Mr. Jackson, the Queen's Attorney, and Mr. Bland, Justice of the Peace, Commissioners, bet. the 
 Eight Honble. William Earl of Derby and Stephen Prockter, Esq., by virtue of a Commission sit- 
 ten upon at Kirkby-Malzeard , the 30th of August, and so continued until the 3rd September, touch- 
 ing the Royalties of Kirkbyshire."--"1.— From Wools Wath to Frost Stone. 2. -Thence to Headlesse 
 on Nutwith Edge. 3. — Thence to the Crosse at the West end of Nutwith. 4. — Thence to Sinder- 
 how Hill. 5. — Thence to Snout Eller Cross. 6. — Thence to Cattgill Head Cross or Roger Cross. 
 7. — Thence to the Writhen Stone. 8. — Thence to Hambleton Hill. 9. — Thence to Kettlestang 
 Cross. 10. — Thence to Dowbergill. 11. — Thence to High Cross on Dallow-moor. 12. — Thenceto 
 Meer Syke. 13. — Thence to Skellbeck Head, and so along Skell leaving out the scite of the Mo- 
 nastery. 14. — Thence to Hellwath. 15. — Thence to Baron-way. 18. — Thence to Studley Stone. 
 17. — Thence to Clotherholme Cross and Ridley Causeway. 18.— Thence to Calf Gill. 19. — Thence 
 to Mow r bray Wath and Monkstone moor. 20. — Thence to the River Ure — Woolswath." 
 
 * As to the boundaries between Mashamshire and East Witton — In the year 1608, disputes 
 having arisen as to these boundaries, between Edward Lord Bruce, and Christopher Danby, Esq., 
 the former filed a bill in the Rolls Court against the latter, whereupon the matter in dispute was 
 referred to Sir Thomas Fairfax, Knt., and Richard Hutton and John Jackson, Esqrs., who accord- 
 ingly made their award (and which award was afterwards confirmed in Chancery, on the 28th of 
 January, 1608) to this effect. — " We order that the said Edward Lord Bruce shall enjoy to him and 
 his heirs all that parcel of ground called Witton-fell, by the known bounds thereof without the let 
 or interruption of the said Christopher Danby or his heirs, and that his Lordship and his heirs be 
 at liberty to enclose the same in severalty for that we conceive the same has been used as a stinted 
 pasture by the tenants of East Witton : And likewise we think it fit and do order that the said 
 Edward Lord Bruce shall enjoy to him and his heirs a house and certain enclosures or approve- 
 ments called Sowden Beck, otherwise Sowden beck Closes, or Pasture called Ramsey Pasture ap- 
 proved and taken off the common, 300 acres of moor to be approved and taken off the Common 
 next and most conveniently adjoining to Hammer-Wood, and his Lordship to enjoy the same to 
 him and his heirs against the said Christopher Danby and his heirs, and all persons claiming un- 
 der them, and because it was intended that the 300 acres, together with Hammers and Ramsey, 
 and such other grounds as his Lordship should think fit were to be imparked and inclosed for the 
 preservation of deer. We think it fit and do order that his Lordship shall maintain the pale and 
 fence of the said park in such sufficient manner without Taltries, as the deer in the chase may be 
 kept out. And we order and think fit that all the said grounds that be enclosed as aforesaid and 
 all other grounds severals and inclosures of his Lordship in Kilgram, Jerveausc, and East Witton, 
 shall from henceforth for ever be discharged of all liberty of chase against the said Christopher 
 Danby and his heirs, saving that it may be lawful for the said Christopher Danby and his heirs by 
 their keeper or servant (if any) of the deer come within the said grounds, severals, and inclosures 
 other than the park aforesaid, to tuft the ground and to shake off his or their bounds to bring 
 them out. Likewise we order and think fit that the residue of the said moors betwixt the said in- 
 closures and Colsterdale shall from henceforth be open and be used as now they are and heretofore 
 have been : And we further order and think fit that the said Christopher Danby and his heirs 
 shall hold and enjoy Colsterdale against the said Edward Lord Bruce and his heirs, for that it did 
 appear that the same did belong to the said Christopher Danby." 
 
 Another dispute having arisen as to the directions in the above award, that the moors be- 
 
APPENDIX. 477 
 
 of fee of the same Roger in Massamshire, to have and to hold to the same 
 John and his heirs of the same Roger, and his heirs for ever ; so that if the 
 said John or his heirs, or any freeman of his household are with their dogs 
 and harriers at Massham, and the said dogs and harriers run from the afore- 
 said forest of the same John to the forest of the aforesaid Roger, the said 
 John and his heirs or the aforesaid household, shall have the chace of beasts 
 raised in his aforesaid forest of Masham, to take and chace the said beasts 
 without impediment, &c. 
 
 No. 9. 
 Grant of the manor of Masham from Sir John de Wauton, to his son John 
 de Wauton, dated before A.D. 1230. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Know all men present and to come that I, John de "Wauton, Knt.,* 
 have given and granted and by this my present writing confirmed and en- 
 tirely quit-claimed for ever to John de Wauton my son, all my Manor of 
 Masham with all its appurtenances to wit, the capital messuage with the 
 buildings, with all the demesne lands tilled and untilled, woods, moors, 
 plains, meadows, feedings, pastures, chaces, warrens, piscarys, turbarys, 
 streams, ponds, mills, homages, fealtys, villains, with villenages and with all 
 their chattels and sequels, and with all other things whatsoever belonging 
 to the aforesaid manor, to have and to hold the aforesaid manor of Masham, 
 with all its appurtenances before named and not named to the said John de 
 Wauton my son, and his heirs or assigns of the chief lord of the fee, freely, 
 quietly, and wholly, well, peaceably and hereditarily for ever, doing there- 
 fore to the chief lords of the fee, the services therefore due and accustomed : 
 
 twixt the inclosures and Colsterdale should be open and be used as they had theretofore been, such 
 dispute was by a bond made by William Danby, Esq. (the father of the last William Danby) 
 and Thomas Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury, dated the 28th February, 1778, referred to the arbitration 
 and award of Peter Johnson, Esq., of York, who by his award dated the 9th Nov. 1779, awarded 
 and finally determined that the boundary of the manors of East Witton and Masham as against 
 each other in and upon the moors ordered by the said former award to lie open, is in a line begin- 
 ning at a stone or place at the east side of the moors known by the name of Tranmire, and passing 
 from thence westward and directly across the same open moors to the north side of a place called 
 Turn Lodge, and from thence to the brow of the hill called Brownrigg, and from thence to a place 
 situate on the western side of the same open moors called or known by the name of Kempstones, 
 where the said boundary terminates : And the arbitrator did thereby further award and finally de- 
 termine that so much and such parts of the said moors by the said former award ordered to lie 
 open as aforesaid, as lie and are situate on the north or northerly side of such boundary so thereby 
 described as aforesaid are wastes belonging to the manor of East Witton, and not to the manor of 
 Masham aforesaid : And that so much and such parts of the said moors by the same former 
 award ordered, are ordered to lie open as aforesaid, as lie and are situate on the south or southerly 
 side of such boundary so hereby described as aforesaid are wastes belonging to the manor of Mass- 
 ham, and not to the manor of East Witton aforesaid. 
 
 I have already elsewhere stated, that the ancient Parish of Masham formerly extended fur- 
 ther in the direction of East Witton than it does at present, and we here see by the words in italics 
 that the Forest, or Free-chase of Mashamshire, formerly included in its bounds Kilgram, Jerveaux, 
 and East Witton. 
 
 * The Sir John de Wauton, the grantor in this grant, was the son of Gilbert de Walton or 
 Wauton, as mentioned ante p. 219. 
 
478 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 and I, the aforesaid John de Wauton, Knt., and my heirs or assigns, will for 
 ever warrant to the said John de Wauton my son, his heirs or assigns, 
 against all Nations as well Christians as Jews, the aforesaid manor of 
 Masham, with all its appurtenances and all other things before named and 
 not named as is aforesaid : And that this my gift, grant, and confirmation 
 of this, my present writing and release, may be of continual force, I have to 
 these presents set my seal — these being witnesses — S'rs Brian the son of 
 Alan, Ranulph of Penill, Hugh the son of Henry Coald of Richmond, 
 William of Scargill, Hugh of Ask, Knt., Askik of Clesby, Roger Tysel, 
 William Scrop, John of Rich, Richard of Penton, Hugh de Langton, 
 Robert de Moncton, and others. 
 
 No. 10. 
 Extract taken out of the Exchequer as to the lands in Masham, with Little or 
 Low Burton, Healey, and Sutton, Ellingstring, Llton, Ellington, Ald- 
 burgh, and Fearby, in the 13th Edwd. I, a.d. 1284. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Massham with Little Burton. — There are 27 acres [carucates] of land 
 there and they answer for one Knight's fee, and there are 6 carucates of land 
 there whereof the Master of the Knights Templars in England, holds two 
 bovates of land in pure alms, and the remainder is holden of John de Wau- 
 ton, and the same John, of Roger de Mowbray ; and the same Roger, of 
 John de Brittany ; and the same John, of the King, and no service is there- 
 fore performed. 
 
 Helayghe and Sutton. — There are 5 carucates of land there which are 
 holden of John de Wauton, and the same John, of Roger de Mowbray ; and 
 the same Roger, of John de Brittany ; and the same John, of the King, 
 whereof 4 carucates are in Heley, and 1 carucate in Sutton. 
 
 Swynton. — There are six carucates of land there, whereof twelve 
 [make &c] of which four carucates are holden of Ralph de Normanville, and 
 the same Ralph holds the remainder of Hugh Fitz Henry, that is to say — 
 two carucates of land and the same Hugh, of John de Wauton ; and the 
 same John, of the Earl ; and the Earl of the King, and there is no rent [pay- 
 able to the Wapentake.] 
 
 Ellingstring. — There is one carucate of land there, whereof the Abbot of 
 Joreval holds one bovate of land of Walter de Lambert, and the same Wal- 
 ter holds the same and four other bovates of land of John de Wauton, and 
 the same John de Wauton holds the remainder of Roger de Mowbray, and 
 the same of the Earl, and the Earl of the King, and no rent [is payable] for 
 a fine to the Wapentake aforesaid. 
 
 Ilkton. — There are two carucates of land there, which the Abbot of 
 Fountains, the Master of the blessed Mary Magdalen, and Robert Waddes- 
 ley, hold together by equal portions of John de Waaton, and the same of 
 Mowbray, &c, as above, 
 
 Ellington. — There are six carucates of land there which Richard le 
 
 
APPENDIX. 479 
 
 Scrope, Knight, holds of John de Wauton, and the same John of Mowbray, 
 &c, as above. 
 
 Aldeborough. — There are three carucates of land there of the fee of 
 Massham ; which the Abbot of Fountains holds of John de Wauton, and the 
 same of Mowbray, &c. 
 
 Feyrbye. — There are three carucates of land there of which Elias Fytch- 
 erby holds two carucates of John de "Wauton ; and the same John, of Avice 
 Marmyon ; and the same Avice, of John de Brittany ; and the same of the 
 King ; and the aforesaid Elias holds one carucate of land of Gilbert de Clyf- 
 ton, and the same Gilbert of the heirs of Thornton Steward, and the same of 
 John de Brittany, and the same of the King : and the rent by the year is 
 10s. 2d., but whether as a fine to the Wapentake, or to the Sheriff, no men- 
 tion is made. Therefore let it be enquired of. 
 
 No. 11. 
 Inquisition made of the Fees in Richmondshire, taken the loth Edivd. I, A.D. 
 1286. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Inquisitions made of the Fees in Richmondshire before John Kirkeby, 
 Treasurer of the Lord Edward, son of King Henry, in the 15th year of the 
 reign of the same King, as appeareth on the Roll of Fees of the same year in 
 the County of York ; and in the Bag of Fees being in the custody of the 
 Treasurer's Remembrancer in York. 
 
 ILKETON. 
 
 There are three carucates there which are holden of Hugh Fitz Henry ; 
 and the same Hugh holdeth of John de Wauton ; and the same John, of 
 Roger de Mowbray ; and Roger, of the Earl ; and the Earl of the King. 
 
 SWYNTON. 
 
 There are six caracutes of land there whereof twelve make [a Knight's 
 fee] &c. — of which four carucates are holden of Ralph de Normanville ; and 
 the same Ralph holdeth the residue of Hugh Fitz Henry ; and the same 
 Hugh, of John de Wauton ; and John, of the Earl ; and the Earl of the 
 King. 
 
 HELHE AND SUTTON. 
 
 There are in the same Vills there, five carucates of land which are holden 
 of John de Wauton, and the same John [holdeth] of Roger Mowbray ; and 
 Roger, of the Earl ; and the Earl of the King. 
 
 ELYNSTRYNGE. 
 
 There is one carucate of land there — of which the Abbot of Joreval hold- 
 eth one bovate of land of Walter le Latryn ; and the same Walter holdeth 
 the same bovate and three other bovates of John de Wauton ; and the same 
 
480 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Jolin holdeth the residue of Roger Mowbray ; and the same Roger of the 
 Earl ; and the Earl of the King. 
 
 ELYNGTON. 
 
 There are six carucates of land there — of which three carucates are hold- 
 en of John de "VVauton : the Abbot of Joreval likewise holdeth of the same 
 John, and renders by the year 10s. ; and the same John of Roger Mowbray, 
 and the same Roger of the Earl ; and the Earl of the King. 
 
 MASHAM AND LITTLE BURTON. 
 
 There are twenty-seven carucates of land in the same Vills, and they an- 
 swer for one Knight's Fee ; also, there are six carucates of land there — of 
 which the Master of the Knight's Templars in England, holdeth two bovates 
 of land in pure alms, and the residue is holden by John de Wauton ; and the 
 same John [holdeth] of Roger Mowbray ; and the same Roger of the Earl ; 
 and the Earl of the King. 
 
 FEGHERBY. 
 
 There are three carucates of land there which Elias de Fetherby holdeth ; 
 two carucates of John de Wauton (whereof 9 carucates make one knight's 
 fee) and the same John of Avice Marmyon ; and the same Avice of John 
 Earl of Richmond ; and the same Earl of the King : also the aforesaid Elias 
 holdeth one carucate of land of Gilbert de Clifton ; and the same Gilbert of 
 the heirs of Thornton Steward ; and the same heirs of the Earl : and the 
 Earl of the King : and they render by the year 10s. ; but whether it ought 
 to be rendered towards the Fine of the Wapentake, or for the Sheriff's aid, 
 there is no mention in the Inquisitions. 
 
 BURTON-UPON-YORE. 
 
 There are 4 carucates of land there, whereof 14, &c, which Richard of 
 Great Burton holdeth of Mary de Neville, and the same Mary of the Earl, 
 and the Earl of the King. 
 
 No. 12. 
 An Inquisition post mortem taken the 29th Edwd. I, A.D. 1300, n. 47, as to 
 the manors, 8fc, held by Roger de Mowbray e, by which it teas found that 
 he was possessed of (among other manors), 
 
 MASHAM MANOR. 
 
 No. 13. 
 An Inquisition post mortem taken in the 32 Edwd. I, A.D. 1303, No. 33, as to 
 the manors which were held by John de Wauton and Margaret his wife, 
 by which it was found that they were possessed of the following : — 
 
 Waltham, Bernolby and Wade, 30s. of Rents and a Toft . . Lincoln. 
 
 North Pikenham manor, extent . . . . . . . . Norfolk. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 481 
 
 Masliam Manor — extent with its hamlets, Kirkehy-Malsart, suit ^ 
 
 of Court 
 Ellingstringe, a member of the said manor of Masham — half a 
 
 carueate of land 
 Ellington, a member of the same manor of Masham — ten bovates, 
 
 &c. 
 South Leghton Hamlet a member of the said manor of Masham, 
 
 twenty -four acres of meadow, wood, &c. 
 Colsterdale, two parts of a mine of coal — Masham a moor 
 Pott- Wood, Housebote, and Haybote appertaining to the manor 
 
 of Masham there . . . . . . . . . . J 
 
 York. 
 
 No. 14. 
 Extract from Roberts' Extracts from the Fine Rolls, v. 1, p. 256, m. 7. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 York. — The Lord the King hath committed to John Fitz Philip, for the fine 
 of 200 marks which he hath made with him, the manor of Masham, with the 
 appurtenances which is of the inheritance of John de Wauton, son and heir 
 of John de Wauton ; and for which the aforesaid John Fitz Philip had for- 
 merly rendered to the Lord the King, £40 by the year, to have and to 
 hold to him, or to whomsoever he may will to assign the same manor, until 
 the lawful age of the heirs of the aforesaid John. And the aforesaid John 
 will render to the exchequer the 200 marks aforesaid, at the terms under- 
 written — that is to say, at the exchequer of St. Michael in the 18th year, &c, 
 50 marks, and at the exchequer of Easter in the 19th year, &c, 50 marks, 
 and at the exchequer of St. Michael in the same year, 50 marks, and at the 
 exchequer of Easter in the 20th year, &c., 50 marks, and he hath letters pa- 
 tent thereof. Witness, the King at Kennington, the 25th day of April. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Wards of the Castle of Richmond during the time of King Richard II, other- 
 ivise concerning the Fees aforesaid according to an Inquisition made in the 
 time of King Richard II. 
 
 October ( Of John Fitz Philip \ 
 
 and ] for one Fee in > Half a Mark. 
 November ( Mashamshire. J 
 
 The Lord de Mowbray 
 holdeth 
 [the same.] 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Obligation from Hugh de Hepeham, Lord of Masham, to Geffrey le Scrop, 
 for paying to him 40s. yearly, for the term of his life, out of his manor of 
 Masham, dated the 8th Ed. II, a.d. 1314. 
 
 HH 
 
482 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 [translation.] 
 To all who shall see or hear this writing Hugh de Hepeham,* Lord of 
 Masham, greeting in the Lord. Know ye that I am bounden and by these 
 presents obliged to Geoffrey le Scrop, in 40s. sterling yearly, to be received 
 for the whole life of the said Geoifrey out of my manor of Masham, to whose 
 hands soever it shall come. A moiety, to wit, at the feast of Pentecost, and 
 the other moiety at the feast of St. Martin in the winter, by equal portions ; 
 and I oblige me and my heirs and my manor aforesaid, faithfully to make 
 the same payment at the said terms. In testimony whereof to the present 
 writing I have affixed my seal. Given at London, on Thursday, next after 
 the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the 8th year of 
 the reign of King Edward, son of King Edward. 
 
 No. 17. 
 In the time of Edwd. II, the following ivere Lords of the several members of 
 Mashamshire, viz: — Of Masham, Hugh de Hopham ; of Burton-upon- 
 Yore, Roger Cysell ; of Sivinton, Ralph de Normanuille ; of Ilketon, 
 John Waxwand, and the Abbot of Fountains, and the Master of Magdalen 
 Hospital ; of Helagh-icith- Sutton, Hugh de Hopham, and John de Hen- 
 ton ; of Feglierbg, Reginald de Clyfton, and John Alward ; of Flling- 
 ton-iuith-Elling string, the Abbot of Jerveaux, and the heirs of Richard 
 Cysell. 
 
 No. 18, 
 
 Deed from John de TVawton to Richard de Welles, relating to the manor of 
 Masham, dated 2nd Fdiv. Ill, A.D. 1328. 
 
 [translation.] 
 To all the faithful in Christ to whom the present writing shall come, Joan 
 daughter and heiress of Sir John de "Wanton, greeting in the Lord. Know 
 ye that I, in pure widowhood and my lawful power, have granted that 
 the 3rd part of the manor of Massham with its appurtenances which the lady 
 Joan de St. Clare holdeth in dower of my inheritance for the term of her life;- 
 and also the 3rd part of two parts of the manor aforesaid, which the Lady Mar- 
 garet de Wauton my lady and mother [holdeth] together with all other lands 
 and tenements which the same Lady Margaret holdeth in dower, and in allow- 
 ance of dower for the term of her life in the same manor of my inheritance 
 (and which third part of the manor aforesaid, with its appurtenances after 
 the death of the aforesaid Joan de St. Clare, and also the third part of two 
 parts of the manor aforesaid, together with all other lands and tenements 
 which the said Lady Margaret my mother, holdeth in the aforesaid manor, 
 after the death of the aforesaid Lady Margaret ought to revert to me, the 
 aforesaid Joan de Wauton and my heirs) shall entirely and without any 
 
 * Hugh de Hopham had become Lord of Masham by his marriage of Joan de Wauton, the 
 daughter of Sir John de Wauton, as will be seen ante p, 220. 
 
 I 
 
APPENDIX. 483 
 
 withholding remain to Richard de Welles, his heirs and assigns. To have 
 and to hold to him and his heirs of the chief lords of the same fee, by the 
 services therefore due and accustomed for ever. Moreover, I, the aforesaid 
 Joan and my heirs will warrant, acquit, and defend the aforesaid the 3rd 
 part of the manor aforesaid, when (after the death of the aforesaid Lady 
 Joan) it shall fall in — and also the 3rd part of two parts of the manor afore- 
 said, when (after the death of the aforesaid Lady Margaret) they shall fall 
 in to the aforesaid Richard, his heirs and assigns, against all men for ever. 
 In testimony whereof, to this present writing I have affixed my seal. These 
 ■being witnesses — Sir Walter de Huggeford, Knt., Sir Hugh de Mortimer, 
 Knt., Hugh de Dodemonfrom, John de Upton, William de la Hull of 
 
 Urnege, and many others-. Given at on Sunday, next after the 
 
 feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, in the 2nd year of the reign of 
 King Edward, after the Conquest the 3rd. 
 
 No. 19, 
 
 Indenture between Richard de Well, and Sir Geffrey le Scroj), dated 2 Eicd. 
 III., A.D. 1328. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 This Indenture between Richard de Well, and Sir Geffrey le Scrop, wit- 
 nesseth that the said Richard, and Dame Joan daughter of Sir John de Wau- 
 ton, shall come to Westminster upon the 8th of St. Michael next ensuing, 
 and shall there secure over to the said Sir Geffrey by a fine or in some otter 
 manner the manor of Masham with all its appurtenances in demesne, seig- 
 nory, and reversion in the manner following — that is to say, that the said 
 Dame Joan may have and hold the said manor with all its appurtenances as 
 is above, and to have and to hold for her life without being impeached for 
 waste, and that the said Sir Geffrey and his heirs may fully have the said 
 manor with all its appurtenances as is above, and to hold to them and their 
 heirs for ever after the death of the said Dame Joan : and in consideration 
 of this reversion in the manor aforesaid, the said Sir Geffrey shall give to 
 
 the said Richard and Dame Joan twenty ■ of land in Hertfordshire 
 
 or elsewhere, of the same value, in a place which they shall think convenient 
 to hold to them and their heirs for ever : and that he shall secure to them by 
 a fine or in some other manner, at the same time that the manor of Masham 
 shall be secured to him as is above expressed ; and if the land be not agree- 
 able to them, the said Sir Geffrey shall give them 400 marcs in money, and 
 shall also pay to the said Richard and Dame Joan, 200 marcs at the time 
 above mentioned: and the said Sir Geffrey shall procure to the said Dame Joan 
 the release and quit claim of Robert de Wauton, to the manor of what in de- 
 pendant of him and his heirs for ever. And to the fulfilling and accomplish- 
 ing these covenants legally and without fraud, the said Sir Geffrey and 
 Richard have sworn upon the Holy Evangelists, and have to these Inden- 
 tures interchangeably set their seals. 
 
484 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIIIRE. 
 
 Dated at Clifton-upon-Yore, on the Tuesday next after the festival of the 
 Decollation of St. John the Baptist, in the 2nd year of the reign of King 
 Edward the 3rd, after the Conquest. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 Indenture obliging Sir Jeffrey le Scrop to grant the manor of Masham to the 
 late wife of Hugh de Hopham for her life, after he shall have received 
 the same by grant from Richard de Well, dated 2 Ed. III., A.D. 1328. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 This Indenture tripartite betwixt Sir Geffrey le Scrop, Richard de "Well, 
 and Joan who was the wife Hugh de Hepham, witnesseth that whereas the 
 said Sir Geffrey is obliged by recognisance entered into before the King to 
 the said Richard in 2000 marcs to be paid at the feast of Easter next ensu- 
 ing, the said Richard wills and grants for himself and for his heirs and ex- 
 ecutors, that if the said Sir Geffrey after the said Richard shall have released 
 and given up for himself and for his heirs to the said Sir Geffrey and his 
 heirs, all the right and claim which he hath or shall have in the two parts 
 of the two parts of the manor of Masham, with its appurtenances, and shall 
 have granted to the said Sir Geffrey and his heirs, the reversion of the third 
 part of the manor aforesaid, which Dame Joan de Saint Cler holds in dower 
 for the term of her life, and the reversion of the third part of the two parts 
 of the said manor which Dame Margaret, who was the wife of Sir John de 
 Wanton, holds in dower for the term of her life ; and that the said Joan who 
 was the wife of Hugh de Hopham, hath granted and released to the said Sir 
 Geffrey and his heirs, all the right and claim which she hath or shall have 
 in the manor aforesaid, in demesne and in reversions, with all its appurte- 
 nances, and this by fines levied in the Court of the King upon the eighth of 
 St. Hillary next ensuing or before. That then the said Sir Geffrey by a fine 
 upon the fifteenth of St. Hillary next ensuing, shall grant to the said Dame 
 Joan late wife of Hugh de Hopham, the said manor of Masham in demesne and 
 in reversion as is above expressed, to hold for the life of the said Joan as fully 
 as the said Sir Geffrey receives it from the gift and grant of the said 
 Richard ; and the said Richard wills and grants for himself, his heirs and 
 executors, that if the said Sir Geffrey perform the covenants in form and 
 manner above mentioned, that then the said recognisance of 2000 marcs lose 
 its force and be of none effect ; and if the said Sir Geffrey after the fines 
 passed to him in form above said, perform not the covenants above said in 
 form and manner above, that then the said recognisance be in its full force 
 and not otherwise. In testimony whereof to one part of this Indenture, 
 being in the hands of the said Sir Geffrey, the said Joan, late wife of Hugh 
 de Hopham and Richard, have set their seals, and to the two parts of the 
 same Indenture being in the hands of the said Joan and Richard, the said 
 Sir Geffrey hath set his seal. Dated at Westminster on the Friday next 
 after the Feast of St. Dionysius, in the 2nd year of the Reign of King Ed- 
 ward the third, after the Conqueror. 
 
 i 
 
APPENDIX. 485 
 
 No. 21. 
 
 Deed between Joan de Wauton and Sir Geoffrey le Scrope, dated 3rd Edw. 
 III., a.d. 1329. 
 
 [translation.] 
 This Indenture betwixt Dame Joan, daughter and heiress of Sir John de 
 Wauton, late Lord of Masham, on the one part ; and Sir Geffrai le Scrop, che- 
 valier, on the other part. Witnesseth that whereas Richard de Welles hath 
 given and granted to the said Sir Geffrai, the manor of Masham with all its 
 appurtenances, together with the reversion of all the lands and tenements 
 with their appurtenances, which Dame Joan de Saint Cler and Dame Marga- 
 ret, who was the wife of the said Sir John, held in dower for the term of their 
 lives severally within the said manor, to have and to hold to the said Sir 
 Geffrai and his heirs for ever, since which gift and grant the aforesaid Dame 
 Joan daughter and heiress of the said Sir John — granted, released, and for 
 ever quitted claim to all her right of the said manor, as well in demesne, 
 seignory, as in reversion, with all their appurtenances, to the said Sir Gef- 
 frai and to his heirs for ever, independent of the said Dame Joan daughter 
 and heiress of the said Sir John, and of her heirs for ever. And during the 
 seizineof the said Sir Geffrai of the said manor, the said Dame Joan de Saint 
 Cler is dead, by which the tenements which the said Dame Joan held for the 
 term of her life, are come into the possession of the said Sir Geffrai as his 
 right and reversion belonging to him, the said Sir Geffrai hath given and 
 granted, and by this Indenture confirmed, to the aforesaid Dame Joan 
 daughter and heiress of the said Sir John, all the manor of Masham with all 
 its appurtenances, franchises, and free-chaces * as fully in demesne, seignory, 
 and in reversion after the death of the said Dame Margaret as the said Sir 
 Geffrai received it by the gift and grant of the aforesaid Richard de Welles, 
 or by the grant of the aforesaid Dame Joan daughter and heiress of the said 
 Sir John, to have and to hold to the aforesaid Dame Joan daughter and heir- 
 ess of the said Sir John for the term of her life, of the aforesaid Sir Geffrai 
 and his heirs by the services of two Enmervillons — that is to say, one 
 Fornie and one Trecelet to be paid annually by those who shall be heirs 
 within the seignory of the said Dame Joan within Mashamschire : and doing 
 for the said Sir Geffrai and his heirs to the chief lords of the fee the services 
 due and accustomed ; and if it so fall out that there be no Enmervillons within 
 the said seignory that then the said Dame Joan be released from the rent of 
 the Enmervillons for that year and for such years in which there shall be 
 no heirs : and after the death of the said Dame Joan daughter and heiress of 
 the said Sir John, the aforesaid manor of Masham with all its appurtenances, 
 franchises, and free-chaces, fully in demesne, seignory, and reversion shall re- 
 turn to the said Sir Geffrai and his heirs to hold independant of the heirs of 
 the aforesaid Dame Joan for ever. In testimony whereof as well the afore- 
 said Dame Joan daughter and heiress of the said Sir John, as the said Sir 
 
 * It will be observed that even in this early deed, dated in 1329, the Franchise and Free Chace 
 is expressly mentioned and granted. 
 
486 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Geffrai have to these Indentures interchangeably set their seals. These 
 being witnesses — Henry le Scrop, Thomas de Colville, Ranp. de Normanvill, 
 John de Vaxand, and Chevaliers Simn. de Stotevill, Randolf Pygot, John de 
 Burton, Roger de Schirwode, William de Pontfreiht (clerk), and others. 
 Dated at Masham, on Thursday next before the Feast of Saint Gregory, 
 in the 3rd year of the Reign of King Edward the 3rd, after the Conqueror. 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 Fine between Geoffrey U Scrop, Plaintiff, and Joan the widow of Hugh de 
 Ilopham, Deforcient, respecting the manor of Masham, dated 3 Edw. 
 III., A.D. 1329. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 This is the final agreement made in the Court of the Lord the King at 
 Westminster in one month from the day of Easter, in the 3rd year of the 
 Reign of King Edward, from the Conquest the 3rd — before William de Herle, 
 Henry le Scrop, John de Bousser, and John Travers, Justices, and other 
 faithful men of the Lord the King then there present ; between Geoffrey le 
 Scrop, Plaintiff, and Joan who was the wife of Hugh de Hepham, Deforce- 
 ant, of the manor of Masham with the appurtenances, whereupon a plea of 
 covenant was summoned between them in the same Court — to wit, that the 
 aforesaid Joan hath acknowledged the aforesaid manor with the appurte- 
 nances to be the right of the same Geoffrey; whereof the same Geoffrey hath 
 two parts of the aforesaid manor with the appurtenances of the gift of the 
 aforesaid Joan — to have and to hold to the same Geoffrey and his heirs of 
 the chief lords of the same fee by the services which to the same two parts 
 appertain for ever : and, moreover, the same Joan hath granted for herself 
 and her heirs that the third part of the aforesaid manor with the appurte- 
 nances (which Margaret who was the wife of John de Wauton, holdeth in 
 •dower of the inheritance of the aforesaid Joan on the day when this agree- 
 ment was made, and which after the decease of the same Margaret ought to 
 revert to the aforesaid Joan and her heirs) shall after the decease of the same 
 Margaret entirely remain to the aforesaid Geoffrey and his heirs, to be hold- 
 en together with the aforesaid two parts as if remaining by this fine of the 
 chief lords of the same fee, by the services which to the same third part ap- 
 pertain for ever : and the aforesaid Joan and her heirs will warrant to the 
 aforesaid Geoffrey and his heirs the aforesaid manor with the appurtenances 
 as is aforesaid against all men for ever : and for this acknowledgement, 
 grant, warranty, fine, and concord, the same Geoffrey hath granted for himself 
 and his heirs, that they will render every year to the aforesaid Joan for the 
 whole life of the same Joan, one hundred marks of silver — to wit, a moiety 
 at the feast of St. Michael, and the other moiety at Easter ; and if it happen 
 that the aforesaid Geoffrey or his heirs at either term make default in the 
 payment of the aforesaid money, it shall be lawful to the aforesaid Joan dur- 
 ing the whole life of the same Joan to distrain on the aforesaid two parts 
 
APPENDIX. . 487 
 
 with the appurtenances, and also on the manors of Clifton-upon-Yore, Bur- 
 ton-Constable, and Hunton y with the appurtenances, and the distresses in vir- 
 tue thereof taken to retain until she be fully satisfied of the arrears ; and af- 
 ter the decease of the same Joan the aforesaid Geoffrey and his heirs shall be 
 quit of the payment of the aforesaid money by the year for ever. 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 Grant from Sir Geoffrey le Scrop to the Abbot and Convent of Jorevale, of a 
 right of way through all Mashamshire to their Coal-mine in Colsterdale, 
 dated 10 April, 7 Edw. III., A.D. 1333. 
 
 This Indenture witnesseth that Sir Geoffrey le Scrop, Lord of Masham- 
 shire, hath granted to the Abbot and Convent of Joreval and their sucessors 
 and all [their] men a free way through the whole of Mashamshire towards 
 Colsterdale ; so that no one heneeforth coming towards Colsterdale unto the 
 mine of the said Abbot and Convent to seek coals or other necessaries, or 
 thence returning, shall by the aforesaid Sir Geoffrey le Serop, his heirs or as- 
 signs, or any one in their name, be assailed, hindered, or disturbed in com- 
 mon, in meadow, and corn ; but all men may peaceably come to, and return 
 from, the said mine of Colsterdale without any disturbance, for ever : and for 
 this grant the aforesaid Abbot and Convent, grant to the aforesaid Sir Geof- 
 frey le Scrop and his heirs every year out of the aforesaid mine of Colster- 
 dale, twenty quarters of coals for estovers, for ever, while the aforesaid mine 
 lasts ; and saving to the aforesaid Abbot and Convent sufficient coals for 
 their own necessities. In testimony whereof, the parties aforesaid to these 
 presents have interchangeably affixed their seals. These being witnesses — 
 Sir Thomas de Schofeld, Knt., Sir Ranulph de Normanville, Knt., Philip de 
 Burton, Reginald de Clifton, Nicholas Warde of Akelthorpe, and many 
 others. Given at Joreval, the 10th day of the month of April, in the 7th 
 year of the Ueign of King Edward, from the Conquest the 3rd. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 Agreement between the Abbot and Convent of Jervaux, and Sir Geffrey le 
 Scrop, that the Abbot and Convent should get Coals in Colsterdale, dated 
 7 Edwd. III., a.d. 1334. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 This written Indenture between the Abbot and Convent of Jervaux on 
 the one part, and Sir Geffrei le Scrop, Lord of Masham, on the other part ; 
 witnesseth, that whereas there hath been a dispute betwixt them concerning 
 the mine of coals in Colsterdale, so it is agreed betwixt them that the said 
 Sir Geffrei wills and grants for himself and for his heirs that the said Abbot 
 and Convent and their successors, may dig for coals within Colsterdale where- 
 soever they like, as well without their enclosed ground as within, and make 
 their profit of them at their pleasure, without the hindrance of the said Sir 
 
488 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Geffrei or his heirs, for ever. And for this grant the aforesaid Abbot and 
 Convent grant and oblige themselves for themselves, and for their successors, 
 to be bound in eight marks sterling of yearly rent, to be paid to the said 
 Sir Geffrei, and to his heirs, at two terms in the year, in their manor of 
 Wytton — that is to say, one moiety at the Festival of St. Martin, and the 
 other moiety at the Feast of Pentecost, by equal portions — beginning for 
 the first term at the Festival of St. Martin next ensuing. And the afore- 
 said Abbot and Convent will and grant for themselves and for their succes- 
 sors, that if the aforesaid rent, at the terms aforesaid, be in arrear,- in whole 
 or in part, that then it be lawful for the said Sir Geffrei, and for his heirs, 
 to distrain within the said manor of Wytton and its appurtenances, by them- 
 selves or their Bailiffs, and to detain what they so take in distress until sa- 
 tisfaction be made them for the arrears and damages. And the said Sir 
 Geffrei wills and grants for himself and for his heirs, that if it happen that 
 the mine of coals in Colsterdale be by working so destroyed and reduced 
 that no more coals be left therein, that then the said Abbot and Convent, 
 and their successors, may be released from the payment of the aforesaid 
 Rent for ever. Notwithstanding that the payment of the aforesaid rent be 
 made to the said Geoffrie and to his heirs for ever, as is above said, as long 
 as any coals can be found therein ; albeit that the aforesaid Abbot and Con- 
 vent and their successors, get not the coals, so that through the negligence 
 of the said Abbot and Convent or their successors, or through default of 
 their working, the payment of the said Rent may not cease. In testimony 
 whereof, to one part of this Indenture remaining with the said Sir Geffrei, 
 the aforesaid Abbot and Convent have set their common Seal, and to the 
 other part of this Indenture remaining with the aforesaid Abbot and Con- 
 vent, the said Sir Geffrie hath set his seal. These being witnesses — Sirs 
 John de Mowbray, Henry le Scrop, Thos. de Shefeld, Thos. de Colvill, 
 Chevrs. "William de Scurueton (Bailiff of Richmond), John de Burton, Ray- 
 nald de Clifton, Nicholas Ward of Aszelthorp, William de Powntfreight 
 (Clerk), and others. Dated at Jervaux on Monday, being the day after 
 Easter day, in the 7th year of the reign of King Edward ye 3rd, after the 
 Conquest. 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 Grant from John de Mowbray to Sir Jeoffrey le Scrope, of the Forest and 
 Chace of llassaham, dated 11th Edward III., A.D. 1337. 
 
 [a translation from the latin]. 
 
 To all that shall see or hear this writing, John de Mowbray, Lord of the 
 Isle of Aixholm [Axiholme] and of the Honour of Brember and Gower, 
 greeting in the Lord. Whereas Sir Roger de Mowbray, our ancestor, by 
 his writing did grant and confirm to Sir John de Wanton formerly Lord of 
 Masham, his Forest * of Massham by these Bounds — to wit, from lor to 
 
 * Here we have again special mention of the Forest of Masham, and also of the Chace. See 
 ante p. 476, as to the boundaries of Masham. 
 
APPENDIX. 489 
 
 Sinderhow as Nutewid [Nutvvith] remains in common between the villages; 
 and from Sinderhow to a hill which is near to the south of Roger- cross, as 
 the water runs from thence towards Masham, and so to a hill above Pilles- 
 den ; and from thence by the top of the hill of Fristildishou [Throstle-how]; 
 and from Fristildishou by the top of the hill to the bounds of Robert the 
 son of Ralph [Coverdale] ; and from thence to the bounds of Witton — to 
 hold to the said John and his heirs, of the aforesaid Ploger and his heirs, to 
 wit, in forest, in wood and in plain, in chaces, with all its Liberties and ap- 
 purtenances. And did also grant that if the same John or his heirs, or their 
 dogs, run beyond the said bounds into the Forest of the said Roger that the 
 same John and his heirs should have the chasing thorough of the beast which 
 they were in pursuit of. And that if the said John or his heirs should have a 
 mind to range in the forest of the said Roger, it should be lawful for them so 
 to do, with two or three bows. And also, Roger de Mowbray and Nigell his 
 son, our ancestors, by a Fine levied in the Court of the Lord the King at 
 Doncaster, on the morrow of the Assumption of the blessed Mary, in the 22nd 
 [qy. 2nd] year of the reign of King Henry, before Ranulph de Glanvill and his 
 companions, then Justices of the same Lord the King, did by the same Fine 
 grant that the forest aforesaid, by the before-mentioned bounds, should re- 
 main to John de Wauton and his heirs. And that the same John and his 
 heirs should have liberty of chasing and ranging in the forest of the said 
 Roger in form aforesaid. And because that Joan de Wauton, heir of the 
 said John de Wauton, did give and grant to our beloved Sir Galfrid le 
 Scroop the Manor of Masham, with all its appurtenances, forests, chaces, 
 liberties, Knights' fees, and all other things whatsoever belonging to the 
 said manor, to have and to hold to the said Sir Galfrid, his heirs and as- 
 signs for ever, of the chief Lords of the Fee, by the services therefore due 
 and accustomed. Now we, for the special affection which we bear towards 
 the said Sir Galfrid, do will and grant that the said Sir Galfrid, his heirs 
 and assigns, may have and hold the said forest and chace by the metes and 
 bounds contained in the writing of Sir Roger de Mowbray, our ancestor, 
 and in the before-named Fine together with the aforesaid liberty of chasing 
 and ranging in the forest of the said Roger, granted by our ancestors in form 
 aforesaid, to the said John de Wauton by the aforesaid writing and Fine — 
 so that neither we nor our heirs, nor any in our name, or in the name of our 
 heirs, may at any time hereafter have claim, or require any right or claim, 
 in the aforesaid forest or chace, nor in any part thereof, or any liberty of 
 chase in the same. Furthermore we do will and grant for us and our heirs, 
 that the said Sir Galfrid and his heirs may have and hold the Manor of 
 Masham, with all its appurtenances, forests, chaces, liberties, Knights' fees, 
 and all other profits whatsoever to the said manor belonging, of us and our 
 heirs, by the service of a bearded Arrow, to be paid to us at the Feast of 
 the Nativity of our Lord, for all services, exactions, and demands, for ever, 
 so that neither we nor our heirs, or any one in our name, may at any time 
 hereafter claim or require any right or claim in the aforesaid manor, witli 
 its appurtenances, or in any services whatsoever issuing out of the said 
 
 II 
 
490 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 manor, except the aforesaid bearded arrow. And all other services whatso- 
 ever due to us and our heirs out of the aforesaid manor, we do by these Pre- 
 sents remit and release to the said Sir Galfrid, his heirs and assigns for ever. 
 In testimony whereof we have to this writing set our seal, these being wit- 
 nesses r S'rs Thomas de Lacon, Michael de Hewik r Thomas de Sheffeld r 
 John de Wacksand, Ralph de Normanvill, Kn'ts; Will'm de Clyve (Clerk), 
 Nicholas "Ward of Akelthorp, WilFui de Dalton, Thomas de Tolyngton, 
 and others. Dated at Kirkeby-Malesard on Sunday on the feast day of St. 
 Lawrence, in the 11th year of the reign of King Edward the third after 
 the Conquest. 
 
 No. 26. 
 An Inquisition post-mortem taken the 14^A Edw. III., A.D. 1340 ( No. 
 35J as to the Manors which were held by Geoffrey le Scrop, by which 
 it teas found that he was jJossessed of the following, amongst other 
 31a?iors, Sfc, viz. : — 
 
 Masham Manor — Fegerby, Helagh, Sutton, Ellington, Ellingstringe, and 
 Finghale, 
 
 27. 
 
 Grant from Sir Henry le Scrop to Sir John de Heslerton, and Sir Thomas 
 de Swyningthwaite of his manors of Masham, fyc, dated 17 Edw. III. t 
 a.b. 1343. 
 Know [all men] present and to come that I, Sir Henry le Scrop, Knight, 
 have given and granted, and by this my present deed confirmed to Sir John 
 de Hoselerten, Parson of the Church of Patrick Brompton, and Sir Thomas 
 de Smyngthwait, Parson of the Church of "Watlows, my manors of Masham, 
 Clifton-upon-Yore, Thern, and Burton Constable, with their appurtenances 
 and all the reversions belonging to me in the same manors, to have and to 
 hold all the manors aforesaid, with the appurtenances and reversions afore- 
 said to the aforesaid Sir John and Sir Thomas, their heirs and assigns of the 
 chief lords of the same fee by the services therefore due and accustomed for 
 ever ; and I, the aforesaid Henry and my heirs, will warrant all the manors 
 aforesaid with the appurtenances and reversions aforesaid, to the aforesaid 
 Sir John and Sir Thomas, their heirs and assigns, against all men for ever. 
 Also I have granted to the same Sir John and Sir Thomas, all my cattle, 
 goods, and chattels, found and being in all the manors aforesaid. In testi- 
 mony whereof, to this present deed I have affixed my seal. — These being 
 witnesses — Sir William le Scrop, Knight, Sir Ranulph Pigott, Knight, Sir 
 William de Smyngthwait, Knight, and Sir John Tempeste the Son, Knight, 
 William de Skurneton, Geoffrey Pigott, Nicholas Ward, and others. Given 
 at my manor of Coverham, on Thursday, next before the feast of St. Marga- 
 ret the Virgin, in the 17th year of the Heign of King Edward, from the Con- 
 quest the 3rd. 
 

 APPENDIX, 491 
 
 No. 28. 
 
 iDeed of Settlement by John de Heslerton and Thomas de Sivyninythtcaiie^ 
 settling the manors of Masham, 8fc., upon Sir Henry le Scrop for life, 
 with remainder to his sons Geoffrey and Henry, dated 17 JEdw. III.., 
 A.D. 1343. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Know [all men] present and to come that we, John de Heslerton, Parson 
 of the Church at Patrick Brompton, and Thomas de Sinyngthwait, Parson of 
 the Church of Watlows [Thornton Watlass] have given, granted, and by 
 this our present deed confirmed to the Lord Sir Henry le Scrop, Knt., our 
 manors at Masham, Clifton-upon-Yore, Thirn, and Burton Constable, with 
 all their apurtenances and reversions to us belonging in the same manors, 
 to have and to hold all the manors aforesaid, with all their appurtenances 
 and reversions aforesaid, to the aforesaid Lord Henry for his whole life of 
 the chief lords of the same fee by the services therefore due and accustomed, 
 with this addition moreover, that it shall be lawful to the aforesaid Lord 
 Henry to make waste thereof, and that he be not hindered touching the 
 waste thereof made, so that after the death of the aforesaid Lord Henry, all 
 the manors aforesaid, with all their appurtenances and reversions aforesaid, 
 shall remain to Geoffrey, son of the aforesaid Lord Henry and his heirs of 
 his body issuing, to be holden of the chief lords of the same fee by the servi- 
 ces therefore due and accustomed for ever ; and if it happen that the said 
 Geoffrey die without heir of his body issuing (which God forbid) then after 
 the death of the aforesaid Geoffrey, all the manors aforesaid with all their 
 appurtenances and reversions aforesaid, shall entirely remain to Henry, bro- 
 ther of the same Geoffrey and the heirs of his body issuing, to be holden of 
 the chief lords of the same fee by the services therefore due and accustomed ; 
 and if it happen that the aforesaid Henry die without heir of his body issu- 
 ing (which God forbid), then after the death of the aforesaid Henry all the 
 manors aforesaid, with all their appurtenances and reversions aforesaid, shall 
 remain to the right heirs of the aforesaid Lord Henry le Scrop, to be holden 
 of the chief lords of the same fee by the services therefore due and accus- 
 tomed for ever ; also we have granted to the same Lord Henry all the cattle, 
 goods, and chattels, found and being in the same manors. In testimony 
 whereof, to this present deed we have affixed our seals. — These being wit- 
 nesses — Sir Ranulph Fitz Ralph, Knight, Sir John de Lascels of Lange- 
 thorn, Knight, and Sir John Waxand, Knt., Roger Tysell, Roger Steward, 
 Robert de Middleham, John Bucktrout, and others. Given at Patrick 
 Brompton, on Saturday the eve of St. Lawrence the Martyr, in the 17th 
 year of the reign of King Edward, after the Conquest the 3rd. 
 
 No. 29. 
 Release from Sir Thomas de Coleville to Lord Henry Scrop, of all his right 
 in the manor of Masham, dated 18 Edw. III., A.D. 1344. 
 
 To all who shall see or hear this writing Sir Thomas de Colville, Knt, greet- 
 
492 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 ing in the Lord. Know ye that I have remised, released, and altogether for me 
 and my heirs for ever quit-claimed to Lord Henry le Scrop, Knt., his heirs 
 and assigns, all the right and claim which I have had, have, or hereafter may 
 have in the manor of Masham with its appurtenances, and also in all the lands 
 and tenements which the same Lord Henry had on the day of the making of 
 these presents, in demesne, lordship-service or reversion, within Masham or 
 Mashamshire, with all and singular its appurtenances ; so that neither I, the 
 said Thomas, nor my heirs, nor any in our name, shall be able hereafter to 
 demand, or challenge aright or claim in the manor lands or tenements afore- 
 said, nor in any part of the same, nor in any their appurtenances for ever ; 
 and I, the aforesaid Thomas, and my heirs, the manor of Masham aforesaid, 
 and all the lands and tenements aforesaid, with all and singular their appur- 
 tenances, will warrant and defend to the aforesaid Lord Henry, his heirs and 
 assigns, against all men for ever. In testimony whereof, I have affixed my 
 seal to this writing, these being witnesses — Sir Alexander de Nevill, Knt., 
 Sir Thomas de Rokeby, Knt., and Sir John Tempest, the Son, Knt; Sir John 
 de Heselarton (Parson of the Church at Patrick Brumpton) Nicholas Ward 
 of Akelthorpe, Thomas de Gathenby, Adam de Cubbeuych, Thomas de Scot- 
 land, John de Fleteham, and others. Given at Clifton-upon-Yore the 
 seventh day of April, in the 18th year of the reign of King Edward, after 
 the Conquest the third. 
 
 No. 30. 
 Extract from the Inquisition taken at Bedale, before the Collectors of the aid 
 granted to the King to make his eldest son a Knight, in the 22 Edw. 
 III., a.d. 1348. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Also they say that Henry le Scrop holds in Massam, with the appurte- 
 nances, half a Fee which John de Wauton formerly held, and that the Ab- 
 bott of Jervaulx holds, in Elynstring, three carucates of land in perpetual 
 alms of the Fee of Masham, and that the Abbott of Fountains holds in 
 Aldeburgh, three carucates of land in perpetual alms of the aforesaid Fee. 
 
 No. 31. 
 Extract from the Inquisition post mortem, taken at Bedale, in the \§th Ric. 
 II, A.D. 1392, on the death of Henry le Scrop, chevalier. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Massham.— Also they say that the aforesaid Henry held in his demesne 
 as of Fee, on the day on which he died in the aforesaid County, the Manor 
 of Massham with all appurtenances, of Thomas de Mowbray, Earl Marshall, 
 by the service of one barbed arrow by the year for all services ; and there is 
 in the same manor, one capital messuage which is worth nothing by the 
 year beyond reprizes j and there are in demesne there, 166 acres of land, 
 
APPENDIX. 493 
 
 every acre whereof is worth by the year 8c?.— sum 110s. Sd. And there are 
 in demesne there, 30 acres of meadow, every acre whereof is worth by the 
 year 2s. — sum 60s. Also there are of rents of Free tenants there — that is to 
 say, in Massham, Feghyrby, Heilagh, Sutton, Ellyngton, Ellyngstring, 
 £4 6s. Id., payable at the Terms of St. Michael, Saint Martin, Easter, and 
 Pentecost : also there is the rent of one pound of Pepper there price 14c7. ; 
 payable every year within the Advent of the Lord : also there are of the 
 rents of bondmen and tenants at will there, with the Agistment of the Ma- 
 nor there in Massham, Feghyrby, Heilagh, Sutton, Ellyngton, Ellynstryng, 
 and Leghtowne, £51 8s. Id., payable at the Terms of Easter, Saint Michael, 
 and Saint Martin — thereof at the term of Saint Martin £9. Also there are of 
 rents of divers tenants there for works, at the Term of Saint Peter ad vincula, 
 77s. 3fc?. Also there are two water corn mills there, which are worth 
 by the year beyond reprizes £10 ; payable at the Feasts of St. Michael and 
 Easter : also there is a certain coal mine there, which is worth by the year 
 beyond reprizes 40s. ; payable at the Feasts of Saint Michael and Easter : 
 also the perquisites of Courts are worth by the year 33s. 4c?. 
 
 Clifton. — Also they say that the aforesaid Henry held in his demesne 
 as of Fee, on the day on which he died in the aforesaid County, the Manor 
 of Clifton with the appurtenances of Ralph Neville, chevalier, by Knight's 
 service ; and they say that in the said manor there is a certain capital mes- 
 suage which is worth nothing by the year beyond reprizes : also they say 
 that there are 180 acres of land there in demesne, every acre whereof is 
 worth 4id. — sum 60s. ; also they say that there are 30 acres of meadow 
 there in Inclosures and without, every acre whereof is worth by the year 
 2s. — sum 60s. ; also the Agistment of the Moor there, is worth by the year 
 13s. 4c?. ; and there is one rent of Assize there, issuing out of a water mill 
 upon the Jarrow [Yore] of 43s. 4c?., by the year, at the Terms of Saint Mar- 
 tin and Pentecost, and which mill is waste and hath been waste 40 years 
 now past, and therefore of the aforesaid rent nothing is received. 
 
 Burton-UPON-Jore. — Also they say that the aforesaid Henry held in 
 his demesne as of Fee, on the day on which he died in Burton-upon-Jore 
 [Yore] in the County aforesaid, one messuage and certain land which are 
 worth by the year 6s., and are so demised to tenants at will, payable at the 
 Terms of St. Martin and Pentecost, and they are holden of Richard le Scrop, 
 chevalier — by what service they are ignorant. 
 
 No. 32. 
 
 An Inquisition post mortem, taken the 1th Henry IV., A.D. 1405. — No. 52, as 
 to the Manors, 8fe., which icere held by Stephen le Scrope, of Masham, by 
 ichich it was found that he was possessed at the time of his death of the 
 following (amongst other manors). 
 
 Viz :— 
 
 Masham Manor, with its members, in Fetherby, Helaugh, Sutton, \ 
 
 Elington, and Ellingstring .. .. .. "[york. 
 
 Leigh tons and Nosterfield 
 
 Cilfton Manor 
 
494 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE, 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 Extract from an Instrument reciting a grant from Henry V., to Henry 
 Fitz Hugh, dated 10 June, 5th Hen. V., A.D. 1417, of the manors of 
 Masham, fyc, that belonged to Henry le Scrop (who forfeited them for 
 high treason), at the time of his forfeiture to hold to the said Henry Fitz- 
 Hugh and the heirs male of his body begotten. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Whereas our Lord Henry, late King of England, our father, on the 10th 
 day of Jnne in the 5th year of his reign, of his special grace and of his mere 
 and proper motion by his letters patent, did give and grant, and confirm to 
 his beloved and faithful Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, Knt., now deceased, the 
 manors of Masham, Clyfton, &c, with all their members and appurtenances 
 whatsoever, together with all the lands, tenements and rents, which were of 
 Henry le Scrop of Masham, within the Liberty of Richmond, or in Rich- 
 mondshire, together with Knight's Fees, Advowsons of Churches, Priories, 
 Abbeys, Chapels, Chantries, and other Ecclesiastical benefices whatso- 
 ever ; Courts Leet, Infangthef views of Frankpledge, wards, marriages, es- 
 cheats, reliefs, parks, chaces, warrens, liberties, franchises, fairs, markets, 
 and other commodities whatsoever to the said manors, lands, and tenements, 
 in anywise howsoever appertaining or belonging, or not appertaining to the 
 manors, lands, and tenements aforesaid, which were of the aforesaid Henry 
 le Scrop, who forfeited [the same] to oar same father, or of any feoffees or 
 feoffee to his use within the Liberty of Richmond or in Richmondshire within 
 the County of York, as entirely and with the same franchises and liberties 
 as the aforesaid Henry le Scrop, or any of his ancestors had or held the same 
 at any time before the forfeiture aforesaid, together with all the reversions 
 of the lands, tenements, fees, or advowsons to the aforesaid Henry le Scrope 
 appertaining, which on the day of his forfeiture aforesaid, did, or by reason 
 of the forfeiture aforesaid might have come to our same father, within the 
 aforesaid Liberty or in Richmondshire aforesaid ; and which manors, lands, 
 tenements, rents, services, fees, and advowsons, Courts Leet, Infangthef 
 views of Frankpledge, wards, marriages, escheats, reliefs, parks, chases, 
 warrens, liberties, franchises, fairs, markets, and reversions, with all their 
 commodities, with the appurtenances, then were of the value of £260 by 
 the year, as to our same father did appear to have and to hold as free- 
 ly and entirely with the same liberties and franchises as the aforesaid Henry 
 le Scrop or any of his ancestors at any time had or held the same to the afore- 
 said Henry Fitz Hugh and his heirs male of his body begotten, unto the 
 value of £260 aforesaid by the year, of our same father and his heirs by ser- 
 vice rendering to our same father and his heirs by the year, one rose for all ser- 
 vices, without rendering any other thing to him or his heirs aforesaid, for the 
 same as in the letters aforesaid is more fully contained ; and afterwards by 
 an Inquisition before Sir Richard Nevill, Knt., &e, 
 
APPENDIX. 495 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 Exemplification of proceedings taken by John Lord Scrop of Masham, for the 
 Restoration to him of the Estates forfeited by the Attainder of Henry 
 Lord Scrop of Masham. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Elizabeth, by the graee of God, of England, France, and Ireland, Queen, 
 defender of the faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come greeting. 
 We have inspected a record of a certain petition preferr'd before Lord Henry 
 the 6th, late King of England, our ancestor, by one John Lescrop, Knight in 
 the Parliament of the said King, held at Westminster the last day of April, 
 in the 3rd year of his reign, and remaining upon record in the Rolls of our 
 Chancery within our Tower of London, in these words following : — Item — 
 Another petition was exhibited in the same Parliament by the said Commons, 
 in favour of John Lescrop, Knight, brother and heir to Henry, late Lord 
 Lescrop of Masham, the tenour whereof here follows. To the most sage 
 Commons in this present Parliament assembled, beseecheth most humbly 
 John Lescrop, Knight, brother and heir to Henry, late Lord Lescrop of 
 Masham : that whereas Henry, late King of England, father to our sover- 
 eign lord the King that now is, being moved by his conscience with regard 
 to the possession of the seignories, manors, lands, tenements, fees, and ad- 
 vowsons, possessions, and hereditaments that were seized into his hands by 
 reason of the forfeiture of Henry, late Lord Lescrop of Masham, upon inform- 
 ation given him that the same were entailed, will'd and granted by word of 
 month, that all the signories, manors, lands, tenements, fees, and advowsons, 
 possessions, and hereditaments seiz'd into his hands for the reason aforesaid, 
 then being in his hands, or granted before or by his letters patent to any 
 other which the said John Lescrop, brother and heir in-tail to the said 
 Henry Lord Lescrop of Masham, could prove himself intitled to the inheri- 
 tance of in-tail by sufficient evidences before the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 the Duke of Exeter, the Bishop of Durham, and William Kinvolmershe, * 
 then treasurer of England, should be restored to the said John according to 
 the effect of the entails thereof, without further delay or process of the law, 
 which will and grant of the said late King was prevented being brought 
 to a conclusion as well by reason of the malady of the said Duke, as also the 
 death of the said William Kinvolmershe, on which account the said John 
 by the advice of his Council hath by diverse petitions applied to our said 
 sovereign lord the King and to his Council, in order to obtain Justice in the 
 pursuit of the said inheritance, upon which petitions several Commissioners 
 were appointed by Commission of our said Lord the King to make Inquisitions 
 in the several Counties wherein the seignories, manors, lands, tenements, fees 
 and advowsons, possessions and hereditaments of the said inheritance lye, were 
 entail'd upon the said John ; and notwithstanding by Inquisitions taken by suf- 
 ficient Knights and Esquires in different Counties and returned into Chancery, 
 
 * He was Prebendary of the Church of Masham, see ante p. 328. 
 
496 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the greatest part of the seignores, manors, lands, tenements, fees and advow- 
 sons, possessions and hereditaments of the said inheritance are found to be suf- 
 ficiently entail'd and lineally descended to the said John, as by the said In- 
 quisitions more fully appear ; yet the said John by the great and voluntary 
 delaies made by different persons cannot have recovery nor livery of his said 
 inheritance according to the will and grant of the said late King Henry, nor 
 according to right and conscience, to the very great prejudice of the said 
 John and the utter destruction of his said inheritance, unless he be remedied 
 by the authority of this present Parliament. May it please you in your 
 great wisdom, considering the will and grant of the said late King and the 
 other premises of application made to our sovereign lord the King who now 
 is, and to all the lords spiritual and temporal in that present Parliament as- 
 sembled ; in discharge and absolution of the soul of the said late King to 
 enact by the authority of this present Parliament that of all those seignories, 
 manors, lands, tenements, fees and advowsons, possessions and hereditaments, 
 which are found to be entailed upon the said John by the said Inquisitions 
 taken by vertue of the said Commissions and returned into Chancery as 
 above said, the said John shewing his evidences and good and sufficient en- 
 tails, agreeable to the said Inquisitions, before this present Parliament, or in 
 the Court of Chancery before the Chancellor of England for the time being, 
 the said John may have full and entire livery and entry into the same, by 
 the authority of this present Parliament without further delay or process of 
 the law or of any other pursuit thereof, any gift or grant of the said seign- 
 ories, manors, lands, tenements, advowsons, possessions and hereditaments, or 
 any parcel thereof made to any other by the said late King or our sovereign 
 lord who now is to the contrary notwithstanding, considering in your very 
 great wisdom as well the will and grant of the said late King, as the long 
 time in which the said John has been dispossest of the said inheritance, 
 namely, for 6 years and upwards ; during which time the said suppliant was 
 employed in the wars by the command of the said late King to the so great 
 expenses and costs of the said suppliant, that he is no longer in a capacity to 
 recover his inheritance by any other means than as is above said. Which 
 supplication being read and understood by the lords spiritual and temporal 
 in the said Parliament assembled, by the advice and assent of the said lords, 
 and at the special request of the said Commons, it was answer'd in the man- 
 ner following : — The King with the assent of the lords in this Parliament, 
 and at the request of the Commons, hath granted all the contents within the 
 said petition ; provided, nevertheless, that if it be found now or hereafter, 
 before any escheatour or other person who hath or shall have power to make 
 such enquiry, that the said Henry, late Lord Lescrop was seiz'd of any par- 
 cel of the said signories, manors, lands, tenements, fees and advowsons, pos- 
 sessions and hereditaments, not being granted to any by the letters patent 
 of the late King or our sovereign lord that now is, in fee-simple or in his 
 demesne as of fee-simple, the day he forfeited or at any time after, that the 
 King or his successors may enter into such seignories, manors, lands, tene- 
 ments, fees and advowsons, possessions and hereditaments, or any parcel 
 thereof as are so found to be in fee-simple ; and that the issues and profits of 
 
APPENDIX. 497 
 
 such seignories, manors, lands, tenements, fees and advowsons, pos- 
 sessions and hereditaments, or parcel thereof so found to be in fee-simple, 
 received from the day of entry or livery made by or to the said suppliant by 
 the authority aforesaid, until the day of such enquiry by which they are 
 found to be in fee-simple as above, be restored to the King or to his suc- 
 cessors ; and if any person having estate by the letters patent of our sover- 
 eign lord the King or his noble father, in the said seignories, manors, lands, 
 tenements, fees and advowsons, possessions and hereditaments, or any par- 
 cel thereof, commences suit hereafter against the said suppliant his heirs or 
 assigns, by writ of Scire facias or otherwise alledging in the said suit that 
 the said Henry the day of his forfeiture or after was seiz'd, in fee-simple or 
 in his demesne as of fee-simple of the said seignories, manors, lands, tene- 
 ments, fees and advowsons, possessions and hereditaments, or any parcel 
 thereof, and this can prove by any action tried by record, or by any other 
 just and reasonable way : or if the suppliant, his heirs or assigns, be in law- 
 ful manner called upon by the Sheriff or other person deputed in the said 
 writ of Scire facias or other pursuit ; and appear not upon the day ap- 
 pointed in the said writ of Scire facias or other pursuit ; or if they do ap- 
 pear and can alledge nothing material in barring the actions and demands 
 of the persons so suing, that then the said persons so suing and their heirs 
 be restored to such seignories, manors, lands, tenements, fees and advowsons, 
 possessions and hereditaments, or any part thereof being in such manner 
 lawfully tried as above, and found to be in fee-simple ; together with the is- 
 sues and profits of all such seignories, manors, lands, tenements, fees and ad- 
 vowsons, possessions and hereditaments, or any parcel thereof being in such 
 manner lawfully tried as above, and found to be in fee-simple, according to 
 the quantity thereof from the day of entry or livery made by or to the said 
 suppliant as above, until the day of such recovery, saving to the King, his 
 heirs and successors, the right of reversion which they had therein : and sav- 
 ing nevertheless to the said suppliant, his heirs and assigns, after the said 
 restitution or entry of the King, their right and action at Common Law if 
 they have any therein, &c. Memorandum that the said clause of Purven 
 was made by the advice of two lords spiritual and temporal, and of the 
 King's Sarjeants-at-Law. We have consented that the tenor of the R.oll of 
 the aforesaid Petition shall be exemplified by these presents at the request 
 of our faithful and well-beloved Sir Christopher Danby, Knight. In testi- 
 mony whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Wit- 
 ness ourself at Westminster the 8th day of June in the 9th year of our reign. 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 An Inquisition taken at York Castle, the 3rd Aug., 2 Hen. VI, A.D. 1423. 
 Masham. — An Inquisition taken in the Castle of York, the 3rd day of 
 August in the 2nd year of the reign of King Henry, the 6th after the Con- 
 quest of England : before Sir Richard Neville, Knt, Robert Tirwhit, John 
 Preston, and also Robert de Hilton, Sheriff of York; Commissioners of the said 
 
 JJ 
 
498 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Lord the King assigned, together with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumber- 
 land; Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland; and John Baron de Greystock, by 
 virtue of a certain Commission of the said Lord the King to the same di- 
 rected, to enquire by the oath of good and lawful men of the County of York, 
 if John Alburgh by his deed the date whereof is at York, the 22nd day of 
 the month of September in the 13th year of the reign of the Lord Edward 
 late King of England, after the Conquest the 3rd, progenitor of the afore- 
 said Lord the now King deceased, gave to Sir Geoffrey le Scrop, Knt., and 
 the heirs of his body begotten by the name of Sir Geoffrey le Scrop, Knt., 
 the manor of Masham with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid, by 
 the name of all his manor of Masham, with all its appurtenances in the vill 
 and in the district of Masham and Mashamshire, as in messuages, gardens, 
 vivaries, walls, hedges, ditches, lands, meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, 
 waters, pools, mills, rents, services of freemen, villeins [with] their chattels 
 and sequels, fairs, markets, chaces, warrens, and all other liberties and ap- 
 purtenances whatsoever, and in whatsoever place without any witholding ; 
 and which manor he lately had of the gift and feoffment of the aforesaid 
 Geoffrey ; and if by virtue of the said gift made to the same Geoffrey, he 
 was seized of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances in his demesne as 
 of fee and right by the form of the gift aforesaid, in time of peace, in the time 
 of the said late King Edward, and took the esplees thereof as in leasing 
 of the messuages, corn-herbage, mowing of meadows, cutting of wood and 
 underwood, rents, arrears of rents and other kinds of the issues of the man- 
 or amounting unto £20 and more, as of fee and right by the form of the gift 
 aforesaid ; and if from the aforesaid Geoffrey the right of the manor afore- 
 said with the appurtenances, did and ought to descend to Henry, as son and 
 heir of the aforesaid Geoffrey by the form of the gift aforesaid ; and if from 
 the same Henry the right of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances 
 did and ought to descend to Stephen as son and heir of the same Henry, by 
 the form of the gift aforesaid ; and if from the aforesaid Stephen the right 
 of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances, did and ought to descend to 
 Henry as son and heir of the same Stephen, by form of the gift aforesaid ; 
 and if from the same Henry son of Stephen, because he died without heirs 
 of his body the right of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances, did and 
 ought to descend to Geoffrey as brother and heir of the same Henry, son of 
 Stephen, by the form of the gift aforesaid ; and if from the same Geoffrey 
 brother of Henry, because the same Geoffrey died without heir of his body, 
 the right of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances did and ought to 
 descend to Stephen as brother and heir of the aforesaid Geoffrey, brother of 
 Henry, by the form of the gift aforesaid ; and if from the same Stephen bro- 
 ther of Geoffrey, because the same Stephen died without heir of his body, 
 the right of the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances, did and ought to 
 descend to John le Scrop, as brother and heir of the same Stephen, brother 
 of Geoffrey, by the form of the gift aforesaid ; and if after the death of the 
 aforesaid Geoffrey, the father of Henry, and Henry son and heir of the same 
 Geoffrey, and Stephen son and heir of the same Henry son of Geoffrey, and 
 
APPENDIX. 499 
 
 Henry son and heir of the same Stephen, son of Henry and Geoffrey, bro- 
 ther of the same Henry son of Stephen, and Stephen brother of the same 
 Geoffrey brother of Henry ; it ought to descend to the aforesaid John le 
 Scrop as brother of the aforesaid Stephen, brother of Geoffrey and also bro- 
 ther and heir of the aforesaid Henry son of Stephen, by the form of the gift 
 aforesaid, because each of the aforesaid Henry, Geoffrey, and Stephen, bro- 
 thers of the same John le Scrop died without heirs of his body ; and if the 
 Lord Henry, late Xing of England, father of the Lord the now King de- 
 ceased, seiz'd the manor aforesaid with the appurtenances into his hands by 
 pretext of a certain judgment of forfeiture for high treason rendered at 
 Southampton, against the aforesaid Henry son of Stephen, by the name of the 
 Lord Henry le Scrop of Masham [and] of Faxflete in the County of York, Knt., 
 on Monday the 5th day of August, in the 3rd year of the reign of our said Lord 
 Henry, father of the Lord the now King deceased, before Thomas late Duke of 
 Clarence, and other Lords, Peers of the aforesaid Henry, son of Stephen, by 
 the same late Duke convoked with him by virtue of a certain Commission of 
 the same Lord Henry, father of the lord the now King deceased, thereupon 
 directed to the aforesaid late Duke ; and if the same judgment was after- 
 wards affirmed in the Parliament of the aforesaid lord the King deceased, 
 father of the lord the now King, holden at Westminster in the same 3rd 
 year ; and if afterwards the same Henry father of the lord the now King 
 deceased, did by his letters patent grant the said manor of Masham with 
 the appurtenances among other manors, lands, and tenements, to Sir Henry 
 Fitz Hugh, Knt., and his heirs male of his body begotten. By the oath of 
 Sir Richard Hastings, Knt., Sir John Clerveaux, Knt., Sir William Ryther, 
 Knt, Sir John Puddesay, Knt., Sir John Everingham, Knt., Ralph Fitz 
 Randolph, John de Newsam, William Scargill, John Merkynfeld, John 
 Dysney, Robert Haytfield, and William Beckwith, who say upon their oath 
 that the said John Alburgh by his deed bearing date, &c, did give to Geof- 
 frey le Scrop, &c., the manour of Masham, &c, and that the same descended 
 as above and was seized into-the King's hands for high treason as above, 
 and afterwards the K. granted the said manor of Masham to Henry Fitz 
 Hugh, and so the said Jury upon their oath say that the manour aforesaid 
 with its appurtenances, was given as in the deed of the said John shewn to 
 the said Jury is contained, and that the said John le Scrop has right and 
 title to the same manour as he supposed by his petition specified in the let- 
 ters patents of the said lord the now King, to this Inquisition annexed. 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 Extract from an Inquisition taken at Richmond in 6th Hy. VI., A.D. 1427, 
 to grant the King a Subsidy. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 Also they say that John le Scrope, chevalier, Sir William Normanville, 
 
500 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Knt, Robert Waddesley, William Bagtrout, and others, hold severally and 
 amongst them in Masham half a Knight's Fee, of that fee which John de Wau- 
 ton formerly held, so that neither of them holds a fourth part of one Knight's 
 
 Fee, therefore nothing : also they say that the Abbot of Jervaulx hold in 
 
 Elynstryng in perpetual Frankalmoigne, three carucates of land whereof 
 John de Wauton holds in Masham, and the aforesaid three carucates of land 
 are the temporalities of the same Abbot in the same town, for which he pays 
 tenths when tenths are imposed nothing: also they say that the Ab- 
 bot of Fountains holds in Allburgh, three carucates of land whereof twelve 
 make a fee, of that aforesaid fee which John de Wauton formerly held in 
 Masham, and they are the temporalities of the same Abbot in the same town, 
 for which he pays tenths when tenths are imposed ; therefore nothing. 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 An Inquisition post mortem taken the l^th Hen. VI, A.D. 1435, No. 36 on 
 the death of John Duke of Bedford, whereby it teas found that the said 
 Duke held at the time of his death (amongst other things) in 
 Masham. — One Fee by John Lord Scrope. 
 
 No. 38, 
 
 Extract from Inquisition jmst mortem, taken at Northallerton on the 2oth 
 April, 16 Hy. VI, A.D. 1437, on the Attainder of Henry Lord le Scrop 
 of 3Iasha?n. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 That Henry Lord le Scrop of Masham, and of Faxnete, in the County of 
 York, chevalier, deceased; who committed high treason againstthe LordHenry 
 after the Conquest of England the 5th, late King of England, father of the 
 lord the now King, on the 20th day of July in the 3rd year of the reign of the 
 same late King ; and thereupon the 5th day of August in the same third year 
 before Thomas late Duke of Clarence and other Lords, the Peers of the same 
 Henry Lescrop, called to him by the same late Duke, by virtue of a certain 
 commission of the aforesaid late King directed to the same late Duke convicted 
 and adjudged to death, was seized in his demesne as of fee-simple on the oth 
 day of August, and on the day and at the time of his forfeiture aforesaid, of 
 the Manor of Masham with the appurtenances in the County of York, and of 
 102 messuages, 24 cottages, 12 tofts, 500 acres of land, 133 acres of meadow, 
 1000 acres of pasture, 140 acres of wood, and £33 of rents, with the appurtenan- 
 ces in Masham, Heiagh, EiTyngton, Ellyngstring, Sutton, Fccrby, Burton- 
 Constable, Burton-upon-Yore, Nostrefield, Thorn, Well, Tanfield, Aynderby 
 with the Steeple, Humton, Garston, Berdene, Fosterley, Scotton, Rysewyke, 
 Coverham, Caldeburgh, Melmorby, Aclethorp, Scrafton, Clyfton, Watlows, 
 Bermyngham, Neweson, Bellerby, Richmond, Scurveton, Fyngale, West- 
 wy tton, and Estwytton, with the appurtenances in the same County of York, 
 and of 8 messuages, 4 tofts, 2 gardens, 2 oxgangs, and 15 acres of land, and 
 
APPENDIX. 50 1 
 
 5 acres of meadow called Rymourlands in Masham, Ilketon, Feerby, Sutton, 
 and Ellyngton, which the aforesaid Henry late Lord le Scrop newly pur- 
 chased to him, his heirs and assigns, of one Thomas Rymourof Masham -.**** 
 and further they say, upon their oaths, that Sir John Lescrop, Knt., on the 24th 
 day of July, in the 3rd year of the reign of the said lord the now King, hath 
 entered into all the aforesaid manors, lands, and tenements with the appur- 
 tenances, claiming and supposing the parcels of the same manors, lands, and 
 tenements, with the appurtenances, to be entailed to him by three forged deeds 
 made under the name of John Aldburgh to one Sir Geoffrey Lescrop, Knt., 
 ancestor of the same John Lescrop and the heirs of the same Geoffrey begot- 
 ten, the date of which deeds are at York, the 22nd day of the month of Septem- 
 ber in the 13 th year of the reign of the Lord Edward after the Conquest the 
 3rd, late King of England : also claiming and supposing the residue of the 
 same manors, lands, and tenements with the appurtenances to be entailed to 
 him by a certain other forged deed made under the name of John Gunward- 
 by to one Sir Henry Lescrop, Knt., the son and heir of the aforesaid Geoffrey, 
 the ancestor of the same John Lescrop, and the heirs of the body of the 
 same Henry begotten, and of which deed the date is at Coverham, the 22nd 
 day of the month of February, in the 25th year of the reign of the Lord Ed- 
 ward, after the Conquest of England the 3rd, late King of England. 
 "Whereas the aforesaid deeds made under the name of the aforesaid John Ald- 
 burgh, are not, nor ever were the deeds of the same John Aldburgh, neither did 
 either of the aforesaid manors, lands, and tenements with the appurtenances 
 specified in the same deeds, ever pass into the possession of the aforesaid 
 Geoffrey, nor did the same John Aldburgh ever have anything in the same, 
 nor give the same or any part thereof, to the aforesaid Geoffrey in form afore- 
 said ; and whereas the aforesaid deed made under the name of the aforesaid 
 John Gunwardby, is not, nor ever was the deed of the same John Gunwardby, 
 nor did any of the aforesaid manors, lands, and tenements with the appurte- 
 nances specified in the same deed, ever pass by the same deed into possession of 
 the aforesaid Henry Lescrop, son of Geoffrey, nor had the same John Gun- 
 wardby anything in the same, nor ever give the same nor any part thereof, to 
 the aforesaid Henry Lescrop, son of Geoffrey, in form aforesaid : and moreover 
 they say that the aforesaid John Lescrop hath continually occupied and still 
 occupies all the aforesaid manors, lands, and tenements with the appurte- 
 nances, from the aforesaid 24th day of July, unto the day of the taking of 
 this Inquisition, and hath levied and received all the issues and profits there- 
 of issuing by the same time. In testimony whereof to this Inquisition in- 
 dented, as well the aforesaid escheator, as the Jurors aforesaid have put their 
 seals. Given on the day, year, and at the place abovesaid. 
 
 No. 39. 
 
 The second Petition preferred to Parliament by John le Scrop, as set out on 
 the Rolls of Parliament of the 20th Henry VI., A.D. 1444, Vol. 6, p. 41. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 To the King our sovereign Lord beseechcth meekly, the humble Liegeman 
 
502 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 John, the Lord Scrope, that it please your Highness of your most abundant 
 grace tenderly to consider how that he in the Parliament holden at Westmin- 
 ster, the 3rd year of oar noble reign, sued a Petition in the form that follow- 
 eth. [Here follows the recital of the first Petition by the same John le Scrope, 
 of the assent of the Lords and the King thereto and of the clause of Purview 
 (Proviso) added to the same assent as is hereinbefore set out. Whereby it ap- 
 peareth openly that the said clause of Purview was made without knowledge 
 or assent of your said Commons, and against the statute in such case made in 
 time of the said King your noble father, of the which statute a copy is an- 
 nexed to this Bill, upon which Act in Parliament made in form as afore the 
 said suppliant came afore my Lord of Winchester now Cardinal of England, 
 then Chancellor of England, openly in the Chancery at Westminster in the 
 term of Trinity then next following, and there shewed his good and suf- 
 ficient [en] tail according to the said inquests [Inquisitions] contained and 
 specified in the said Petition in Parliament after the form of the said Act of 
 Parliament, desiring that he by authority of the same Parliament, might en- 
 ter into all the said Lordships manors, lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, 
 possessions and inheritances in the said [en] tails and enquests [Inquisitions] 
 specified by virtue of the said Act in Parliament, which entry by the same 
 authority was then and there granted and awarded him by the same Chan- 
 cellor as it more plainly appeareth of Record in the said Chancery ; and the 
 said suppliant in all the said Lordships, manors, lands, tenements, fees, ad- 
 vowsons, possessions and inheritances in the said [en] tails and inquests [In- 
 quisitions] specified by virtue of the said Act and Award, entered, and them 
 peaceably enjoyed unto, now late, that Christopher Conyers late the Es- 
 cheator of Yorkshire, seized certain of the said Lordships, manors, lands, ten- 
 ements, fees, advowsons, possessions, and inheritances, into your noble hands 
 by virtue of certain Inquisitions taken before him by virtue of his office, 
 coloured by matters contained in the said clause of Purview ; in which In- 
 quisitions it was found by men uninformed in anywise cf the right of the 
 said beseecher, that the said Henry late Lord Scrop was seized the day of 
 his said forfeiture of the said certain of the said Lordships, manors, lands, 
 tenements, fees, advowsons, possessions, and inheritances in his demesne as 
 of fee-simple ; whereupon your said beseecher hath been to his great anien- 
 tisement [annihilation] of body and goods greatly vexed and laboured, and 
 that the sovereign Lord of your excellent right wiseness, graciously consid- 
 ering the said conscience of your said noble father, the authority of the said 
 Parliament, the age and long service of the said beseecher to you, and to 
 your noble progenitors without reward, and in especial how that at the time 
 of the said Act and clause of Purview made all the said Lordships, manors, 
 lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, possessions, and inheritances seized into 
 your said noble father's hands by reason of the said forfeiture, as afore, were 
 then severally granted by letters patents of the said King your noble father, or 
 of your sovereign Lord to divers persons remaining at that time in your said 
 hands, no part of them, so that ye by that clause of Purview nor anything 
 therein contained may have no avail ; but your said beseecher continual vex- 
 
APPENDIX. 503 
 
 ation and trouble against all good faith and conscience, will ordain by the 
 advice of the Lords spiritual and temporal in this present Parliament by au- 
 thority of the same Parliament, that the said entry so made by the said be- 
 seecher and possession by him, had by force of the same entry in all the said 
 Lordships, manors, lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, possessions, and inner - 
 itances, with all their appurtenances in all the said Inquisitions specified by 
 virtue of the said Act, be good, just, effectual, and available in law by au- 
 thority of this same Parliament, the said clause of Purview or anything con- 
 tained therein, and all things followed depending and executed thereupon 
 notwithstanding ; and that the sovereign Lord of your said benign grace will 
 by the said authority of this same Parliament, amove your said hands of all 
 the said Lordships, manors, lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, possessions, 
 and inheritances, with all their appurtenances in all the said Inquisitions 
 specified, and to ordain that he by the same authority may enter into the 
 same Lordships, lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, possesions, and inheritan- 
 ces with all their appurtenances, and them to have, enjoy, and inherit ac- 
 cording to his title found for him in the said enquests [Inquisitions] taken by 
 virtue of the said Commissions granted upon the said petitions of right spe- 
 cified in the said Act of Parliament, and thereto to be restored with the issues 
 and profits thereof, taken and received from the day of the said Inquisitions 
 afore the said Christopher Conyers, and that the Chancellor of England for 
 the time being, grant and make to the said suppliant such and as many writs 
 to such and as many officers, farmers, and others as needeth or shall need 
 in this case, saving always to our sovereign Lord and your heirs the right, 
 title, and interest of reversion of fee-simple that be fallen or may fall to you 
 or to your heirs, because of the said forfeiture after the said [en] tails dis- 
 pended [spent] ; and to all your liegemen their rights, title, and interest had 
 or to be had, as well by any reason or cause lawful grown or sourding 
 [arising] afore the date of the said [en] tails of the said Lordships, manors, 
 lands, tenements, fees, advowsons, possessions, and inheritances, or any par- 
 cel of them that the said suppliant entered in as afore, as by any discontinu- 
 ance of them, or any parcel of them, since made by the said suppliant or any 
 of his ancestors : and which Petition in the aforesaid Parliament being read, 
 heard, and fully understood to the same Petition, with the advice and assent 
 aforesaid, answer was thus made. — The King with the advice and assent of 
 the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons assembled in this pre- 
 sent Parliament, hath granted all the contents of this Petition in all points. 
 
504 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 An Inquisition post mortem taken the 31st Henry VI., A.D. 1452, No. 43, as 
 to the Manors or Lands which were held by Sir William Fitzhugh, Knt., 
 by which it was found that he was possessed at the time of his death of 
 the following (amongst other lands) 
 
 Viz:— 
 Masham. — One messuage, two bovates of land, and one cottage > 
 
 there 
 Ellyngton. — One messuage and eight acres of land there 
 Sutton near Masham. — One toft, one croft, and two acres of 
 
 land there .. .. .. .. . .. 
 
 Ylketon. — One messuage and eight acres of land there 
 Feyrby. — One toft, and six acres of land there all called " Ry- 
 
 mour Lands" .. .. .. .. , tJ 
 
 No. 41. 
 
 Grant from Lord le Scrop by way of Marriage Settlement to Tho?nas his son, 
 and Elizabeth Daughter of Ralph Lord Greystock, of the Manors of 
 Masham, Colsterdale in Mashamshire, Sutton, Fearby, Ellington t and 
 Helagh, dated the Mh May, 31 Henry VL, A.D. 1453. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Know all men present and to come, that I, John Lord le Scrop, have 
 given and granted, and by this my present deed indented, have confirmed tc 
 Thomas my son, and Elizabeth * daughter of Ralph Lord de Graystoke 
 [and] the heirs of their bodies between them lawfully begotten, my manors, 
 of Masham, Colsterdale in Mashamshire, Sutton, Ferby, Ellington, an( 
 Helagh and all other my lands and tenements in Masham, Colster- 
 dale in Mashamshire, Sutton, Ferby, Elyngton, and Helagh aforesaid, witl 
 their appurtenances : to have and to hold the said manors, lands, and tenements, 
 with their appurtenances, to the aforesaid Thomas and Elizabeth and the 
 heirs of their bodies between them lawfully begotten of me and my heirs ; 
 rendering therefore to me and my heirs one rose yearly in the season of 
 roses, if it shall be demanded ; and paying and supporting all other the 
 charges and services therefore due and of right accustomed : saving and re-, 
 serving to me the advowsons of the Churches of the same manors, and the 
 
 * See ante p. 239, and note as to this marriage. 
 
 t Mr. Davies in his York Records of the 15th Century says, that this Lord Greystock was 
 Cousin to King Edward IY., his mother being half-sister of Cicely Duchess of York ; citing 
 Collecteana Topog. et G-eneal. I, 297, and that he was frequently employed in public affairs, and 
 that his name appears in several Commissions issued during the reign of Edw. IV. : also that his 
 principal residence was the Manor-house of Hinderskelfe, on the site whereof the princely man- 
 sion of Castle Howard now stands. 
 
 None of the Peerages, however, mention this daughter of Lord G-reystock. 
 
APPENDIX. 505 
 
 wild animals, and also the woods of and in the manors, lands, and tenements 
 aforesaid ; except that the same Thomas and Elizabeth, and the heirs of 
 their bodies between them lawfully begotten, and their tenants there as well 
 at will as for a term of years, shall have and receive in the woods aforesaid, 
 sufficient timber and wood for reasonable house bote, hay bote, fire bote, and 
 plough bote, when they shall have need by the view and delivery of the sur- 
 veyors, receivers, or foresters of me, the said Lord le Scrop ; and if the said 
 Thomas and Elizabeth die without heir of their bodies between them law- 
 fully begotten, then all the aforesaid manors, lands, and tenements, with the 
 appurtenances (except before excepted) shall remain to the right heirs of the 
 same Thomas and their heirs ; and I, the aforesaid Lord le Scrop, and my 
 heirs, will warrant and defend the said manors, lands, and tenements, with 
 the appurtenances (except before excepted) to the aforesaid Thomas and 
 Elizabeth, and the heirs of their bodies between them lawfully begotten 
 against all men for ever. In testimony whereof, to this my deed indented, 
 I have affixed my seal, these being witnesses — Henry Thebaytes, John 
 Stafford, and Nicholas Belle (Rector of the Parish Church of Watlows), and 
 others. Given the 4th day of the month of May, in the 31st year of the 
 reign of King Henry, after the Conquest of England the 6th. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 An Inquisition post mortem, taken the 15th Edw. IV., A.D. 1475, No. 41, as to 
 the Manors or Lands ivhichicere held by Sir Thomas Scrope of Ma sham, 
 by which it was found that he was possessed at the time of his death of 
 the following (amongst other manors) 
 
 Viz :— 
 
 Thornton-Watlows. — * Great Burton-upon- the- Yore — Masham ) 
 
 Manor . . . . . . . . . . . . > York. 
 
 Clifton Manor . . . . . . . . . . ) 
 
 No. 43. 
 
 An Inquisition post mortem, taken the 1st Rich. III., A.D. 1483, No. 38, as to 
 the Manors or Lands which were held by Richard Pygott, by which it 
 teas found that he was p>ossessed at the time of his death of the following 
 (amongst other manors) 
 
 Viz:— 
 
 Manor of Little Bubton-upon-the-Yore * . . . . ] 
 
 Masham. — Messuages, &c. . . . . . . . . I York. 
 
 Ferriby. — Messuages, &c. . . . . . . . . \ 
 
 * This Inquisition shews that the Low, or Little-Burton, Estate did not come to the Wyvill 
 Family through the Scropes, as is generally supposed. We here see that it belonged to the Pigots 
 of Clotherholme near Ripon ; and we have already seen ante p. 342 that Joan Pigot (a member of 
 this family) having married Robert Wyvil, brought this Estate with her into the Wyvil family. 
 
 KK 
 
506 MASHAM AND MASHAMSH1RE. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 An Account of the manors, lands, tenements, rents, reversions, and services, 
 advowsons of Churches and Chantries, and all other hereditaments, in 
 the County of York, and in the County of the City of York, the Counties 
 of Lincoln, Nottingham, and Northumberland, which ivere the inher- 
 itance of Jeoffrey Lord Scrope of Upsall, as they are parcelled out to his 
 several heirs by the Partition Deed dated 10 October, 12 Hen. VIII., 
 Anno Domini 1520. (Siointon MSS.) 
 
 All the manors of Clifton, Nosterfield, Burton-Constable, Hunton, Gares- 
 ton [Garrison] "VVoodhall, Unthanke, and all lands and tenements in Clifton, 
 Nosterfield, Burton-Constable, Hunton, Gareston, "VVoodhall, and Unthanke, 
 aforesaid, with the appurtenances in the County of York ; and the Reversion 
 of the Manors of Carleton Scrope in the County of Lincoln, Walton in the 
 County of Northumberland, 'and all the lands and tenements in Carleton 
 Scrope, and Walton aforesaid, with the appurtenances, after the death of 
 Dame Eleanor Scrope widow of Lord Rauf Scrope, Lord of Upsall : and the 
 Reversion of the Manor of Suthmuskham aforesaid, with the appurtenances, 
 after the death of Henry Lord Scrope of Bolton, and the said dame Eleanor 
 Scrope, and the Reversion of all the lands and tenements in Harworth in 
 
 the County of with the appurtenances, after the death of the said 
 
 Lord Henry, and 13d. of yearly rent going forth of the Manors of Driffield 
 in the County of York, and Sowthursby in the County of Lincoln, with the 
 advowson of the Church of Fyngall, the advowson of two Chantries founded 
 in the Cathedral Church of York, the advowson of the Church of Carlton 
 Scrope, and the advowson of the Church of Hunton, are allotted to Nicholas 
 Sterley, Elizabeth his wife, Charles Dransfield, Alice his wife, Rauf Batty, 
 Mary his wife, Lancelot! Esshe, Dorothie his wife, Marmadiike Wyvill, and 
 Agnes his wife (as in the right of their wives, daughters, and heirs of Dame 
 Elizabeth Fitz Randulf, sister and one of the heirs of the said Jeffrey Lord 
 Scrope) and to their heirs for their equal purpartie and part to them belonging 
 of all the manors, lands, and tenements, which were the inheritance of the said 
 Lord Scrope of Upsall, within the Counties aforesaid. 
 
 All the manors of Aynderby, Woodlathes, Ecclesall in the County of 
 York, the manor of Barnolby in the County of Lincoln, and all lands and 
 tenements in Aynderby, Woodlathes, Eccleshall, and Barnolby aforesaid, 
 and the Reversion of the manors of Upsall, South Kylvyngton, Thornbergh, 
 Over-Silton, Nether-Silton, and Scroton aforesaid, with the appurtenances, 
 after the death of the said dame Eleanor Scrop ; and the Reversion of the manor 
 of Waddlesworth in the County of York, and all the lands and tenements in 
 Waddesworth in the County of York, and all lands and tenements in 
 Waddesworth after the death of Elizabeth Aire, widow ; and the Reversion 
 
 These observations, however, do not apply to the High-Burton or Great-Burton Estate ; which as 
 will be seen by the Document No. 42, was formerly the property of the Scrope family, and as such 
 fell to the ancestors of the Wyvils on the partition of the estates of the Scropes. 
 
APPENDIX. 507 
 
 of the manor of Colsterdale in the County of York, and a yearly rent of 
 £10 12.3., going out of the manor of Bilton in the County of the City of 
 York ; and all lands and tenements in Colsterdale aforesaid, with the appur- 
 tenances, after the death of Henry Lord Scrope of Bolton, and 18s. lid., 
 going yearly out of the manors of Masham and Watlows, with the appurte- 
 nances in the County of York ; with the advowson of the Church of Kylvyng- 
 ton, the advowson of the Vicarage of Aynderby, advowson of the Parish 
 Church of St. Martyn in York, are allotted to Sir Thomas Strangwais, Knt., 
 son and heir of Dame Alice one of the sisters and heirs of the said Henry 
 Lord Scrope, and to his heirs, for his equal purpuartie in part to him belong- 
 ing, of all the manors, lands, and tenements which were the inheritances of 
 the said Lord Scrope of Upsall, in the Counties aforesaid. 
 
 All the Manors of Masham and Watlass in the County of York, and all 
 lands and tenements in Masham and Watlous aforesaid, with the appurte- 
 nances ; and the Reversions of the manor of Driffield in the County of York, 
 and Sutheresby in the County of Lincoln ; and all lands and tenements in 
 Driffield and Suthuresby aforesaid, with the appurtenances, after the death of 
 the said Dame Elionor Scrope, with the advowsons of the Churches of Scroton, 
 Watlous, Kyrbyknolle, and the advowson of a Chantry in Driffield aforesaid ; 
 are all allotted to Dame Marjery Danby (the third sister unto the said Jef- 
 frey) and to her heirs for her equal purpartie and part of all the said manors, 
 lands, and tenements which were the inheritance of the said Lord Scrope of 
 Upsall.* 
 
 No. 45. 
 
 Extract from " The Valor f of the Scite and demanes with the Graunges late in 
 the occupation qfthesaide late Monastery of Fountains ; and also the Valor 
 of dyvers lordshipps, maners, lands, and tenements, which were parcell of 
 the lands belonging to the same late Monastery, with the Valew of the 
 woods growyng upon the same," so far as relates to property lying within 
 the limits of the Parish of Masham. {Bate 9th September 32 Hen. 
 VIII., A.D. 1540.] 
 
 The Graunge of Nutwith Cote. 
 Theis parcells make this hole Graunge, and is of the parishe of Masham 
 
 * This Document shews how a portion only of the estates of the last Lord Scrope of Masham, 
 was divided at his death amongst his co-heiresses. It will be seen by this Document that Marjery 
 Danby had allotted to her the manors of Masham, Thornton Watlass, and Driffield in Yorkshire, 
 and the manor of Suthersby in Lincolnshire, besides the advowsons of the Churches of Scruton, 
 Thornton Watlass, Kirkby Knowl, and a Chantry in Driffield. This, however, was not by any 
 means all the property which came to her by the death of the last Lord Scrope of Masham, for by 
 another Deed of Partition (relating to other estates) dated at Northallerton on the 11th December, 
 23 Henry VIII., A.D. 1532, there was assigned to her son Christopher Danby, Esq., " the manor of 
 Neyland, and all lands, tenements, and hereditaments in Stoke in the County of Suffolk, and the 
 manor of Poulscray in the County of Kent, the manor of Kettilby and Howell in the County of 
 Leicester, and the Parke of Horsely, called Neyland Park in the County of Essex, and the free 
 Chapel of Neyland in the County of Suffolk, and also all lands, tenements, and hereditaments m 
 Neyland, Poulscray, Kettilby, Howell, and Newland Park aforesaid." 
 
 t I am indebted to John R. Walbran, Esq., F.S.A. (the author of the Memorials of Fountains 
 
508 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 with Kirkby Malsherd, and be all the lands of the late Monastery ther. 
 Richard Bekeweth, * Lucy his wyfe, and Cristofer t nis sonne hold the 
 Graunge called Nutwith Cote, with edificez, with garthings adionyng, and 
 one close called Slee Close, cont. by estimacion iiij acres, vjs. viijd.— -iij closes 
 of arrable lond and medoo callid Corne Closes, cont. by estimacion xx acres, 
 vjs. viijd. A close of arrable land and medoo called Cow Close, cont. by 
 estimacion xij acres, xvs. A close of medoo callid Heck Hed, cont. by esti- 
 macion xij acres, xvs. A close callid Flat Close, cont. by estimacion xij 
 acres, xijs. viijd., iij closes of pasture adionynge callid Grene Closez, other- 
 wise callid Cow-pastore, cont. by estimacion xl acres, xxs., ij closes of past- 
 ure called Cote Hed Closes, contenynge by estimacion iiij acrez, iiijs., and 
 the herbage of a wood callid Flatwith Springe, cont. by estimacion xx acrez, 
 nil ; in all by yere iiij" 
 
 Abbey) for this important record, which was copied by him from a paper-roll now in the possess- 
 ion of the Rev. H. J. Ingilby of Ripley Castle, and bears the signature of James Rokeby, an Audi- 
 tor of the Court of Augmentations. 
 
 * It appears by Mr. Walbran's work above alluded to, that the Beckwith family had settled 
 at Nutwith Cote long before the date of this document ; and that a Richard Beckwith was hold- 
 ing the Grange of Nutwith Cote, and keeping certain of the Abbot's cattle and sheep there as 
 early as in the year 1453, and was at the same time holding the office of Forester within the manor 
 of Aldborough. It appears also by the Compotus Stauri of Fountains, that in 1481 a Richard Beck- 
 with was living at Nutwith Cote, and that he annually appeared at the Abbey with his accounts 
 from the year 1481 to the year 1494, with the exception of the year 1489 ; when he was repre- 
 sented by his son James. It is also stated in Abbot Huby's Rental of 1496, that Richard Beckwith 
 held this Grange for a term of years at the annual rent of 305. — he being also bound to keep 20 
 cows of the stock of the Monastery, and to return of their annual proceeds 13st. 41bs. of butter at 
 1 2d. per stone ; 26st. 81bs. of cheese at 8d. per stone ; with 10 stirketts, each to be worth 4s. By 
 a Lease dated 4th July, 1495, the Abbot and Convent of Fountains demised to Richard Beckwith, 
 Catherine his wife, and Richard their son " All their Graunge or Loge callid Nutwith Cote, with 
 all the appurtenances in the Parish of Masham in ye shire of York," and also a tenement in the 
 same Parish called Thwate-house, with its lands and appurtenances, to hold the same from the 
 feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross, then last past to the end and term of 48 years, upon the 
 same terms as is mentioned abo^e ; and by another Lease dated the 4th July, 1538, the Abbot and 
 Convent of Fountains demised to Richard Beckwith, Lucy his wife, and Christopher his son (being 
 the same persons as are mentioned in the text) at the old rent of 30s., and £4 the Graunge of 
 Nutwith Cote, with the tenement of Thwaite-house from the feast of the Invention of the Holy 
 Cross then last past for the term of 48 years. I need hardly mention that soon after the granting 
 of this last mentioned Lease, the dissolution of Fountains Abbey occurred when King Hen. YIII. 
 seized upon and appropriated the possessions of the Abbey. 
 
 t This Christopher Beckwith (according to the Heraldic Visitation of Durham, taken in 1615) 
 married Catherine Tunstall and had issue by her, Thomas, Robert, and Anthony, who also resided 
 at Nutwith Cote. Thomas, the eldest son above named, was the father of Christopher, who was 
 the father of Thomas, Roger, and Christopher. — This last mentioned Christopher married in 1679 
 (as his second wife) Ellen, daughter of Welbury Norton, Esq., of Sawley, sister of Thomas Norton, 
 grandfather of the first Lord Grantley, and his son is supposed to have been the last of the Beck- 
 withs who resided at Nutwith Cote. 
 
 The following entries which I have extracted from the Act Book of the Peculiar Court of Mas- 
 ham, will shew that this branch at least of the Beckwith Family had not as yet seen fit to desert 
 the faith of their forefathers, notwithstanding the petty persecutions and annoyances they had to 
 undergo at the hands of the puritanical faction which was at that time the dominant, although 
 the least numerous and respectable party in this parish. 
 
 On the 22nd April, 1594, Anthony Beckwith of Nutwith Cote (the person of that name above- 
 mentioned) was excommunicated by the Peculiar Court of Masham "for that a proper young wo- 
 jnan was brought to his house and there bare a child begotten in fornication, and he hayth suf- 
 fered her to depart unpunished." And on the 18th August, 1624, Christopher Beckwith of Nut- 
 with Cote, and Ann Smyth, alias Beckwith, were presented in the same Court for" being married 
 in a Priest's house without their Parish Church, without licence or banns asking." 
 
 
 
APPENDIX. 509 
 
 Aldburgh Graunge. * 
 
 This is a manore, the hole particulars whereof do appere in this booke and 
 be a rentyd in this valew ; and theis parcells be of the parishe of Masham 
 with Kirkby Malsherd, and of Tanfeld : and theis with the said members, 
 make the hole and entere manore of Aldburgh. f 
 
 Aldbrugh Graung. 
 
 Robert Browne J holdeth the Manore and Graunge of Aldbrugh, with the 
 howses and boyldings thereunto pertenyinge, with garthings adionyng, vs. 
 A close of pasture callid Somer Close helez, contenyinge by estimacion x acres, 
 xs. A close of pasture callid Upper Lees and Nether Lez, contenyinge clx 
 
 The Beckwiths were succeeded at Nutwith Cote, by another family of the name of Smurth- 
 waite, but whether they were connected by marriage or otherwise I have not been able to ascer- 
 tain. Marmaduke Smurthwaite who was lessee of Nutwith Cote, by his will dated the 27th April, 
 1633, desired "his bodie to be buried in the Parish Church of Masham," and directed his son 
 Richard to pay out of Nutwith Cote twenty bushels of rie, four of wheat, eight of barley, and 
 twenty of oats yearly, for and towards the education " of five of his children until the youngest 
 shall obtain the age of sixteen years." 
 
 It will be seen (ante p. 287) that Richard Smurthwaite of Nutwith Cote (who was the son and 
 successor of Marmaduke Smurthwaite before mentioned) on the 7th October, 1635, married Eliza- 
 beth Norton of Swinton, by whom he had a daughter, Catherine Smurthwaite, who on the 11th 
 January, 1662, married Simon Bartlett (Avho afterwards took up his residence at Nutwith Cote). 
 Simon Bartlett was succeeded there by his son John Bartlett. This last mentioned John Bartlett 
 having died in August, 1706, he was succeeded by his son (another John Bartlett) who dying with- 
 out issue on the 18th Dec, 1769, was succeeded at Nutwith Cote by his sister Catherine, then the 
 wife of John Ascough of Nutwith Cote, gentleman. She was succeeded at Nutwith Cote, by 
 her eldest son John Ascough, who dying without issue on the 6th February, 1774, was succeeded 
 by his only brother Thomas Ascough. Thomas Ascough having died without issue in 1786 or 
 17S8, Nutwith Cote came into the possession of the Pickersgill family, from whom it passed by will 
 to the late James Ewbank, Esq., of Middleham, when it came to be occupied, as it still is, by the 
 Ewbank family ; and on the death of the last mentioned gentleman was sold to the Trustees of 
 the Swinton Estates, and thus again became united with them after a severance from them of 
 some 700 or 800 years. 
 
 * Aldburgh was acquired by the Monks of Fountains by a grant thereof to them, from Roger 
 de Mowbray, the then Lord of Mashamshire, made very soon after he came into the posession of 
 his inheritance. He states in the Grant alluded to, that Aldburgh had previously been granted by 
 his father Nigel de Albini to the Monks of Pontigny in France. 
 
 t I have elsewhere stated that although the Township or Constablewick of Burton-upon-Yore 
 (in which Aldburgh is situate) forms part of the Parish of Masham, it is not within the Manor of 
 Masham and Mashamshire, and we here see that Aldburgh is a perfectly independent manor to it- 
 self and comprizes the whole of the lands there which formerly belonged to the monks of Fountains. 
 
 t In Abbot Huby's Rental of 1496, it is returned that a William Browne held the Manor or 
 Grange of Aldbrough for a term of years at the annual rent of £17 10s., including a rent-charge 
 of 4*. id. to Richmond Castle, being bound also to return annually of the issues of twenty cows, 
 which he had to keep of the store of the Abbey, thirteen stones four pounds of butter, twenty 
 eight stones eight pounds of cheese, and ten stirketts : and also to keep from Michaelmas to the 
 3rd of May, four hundred of their hogg sheep, the maintenance of which was valued at 80s., and 
 on the 20th May, 1535, the Abbot and Convent of Fountains demised one half of their Grange of 
 Aldborough to Robert Brown, who was to hold it from the 25th March then last past, for the term 
 of forty years at the annual rent of £5 3s. Sd., to keep a horse, ten cows, and a bull, and to render 
 annually of the offspring of the said cows, five stirketts or stirks of one year old ; also thirteen 
 stones four pounds of butter, or the value of each at the election of the officials of the Convent, ac- 
 cording to the custom had in Nidderdale. — See Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, p. 327. 
 
 On the 2nd Dec, 1635, and the 12th September, 1637, William Browne of Ilton, gentleman, was 
 presented in the Peculiar Court of Masham, for not paying his assessment, for which offence he 
 was on the last day of February, 1638, excommunicated. 
 
510 MAS HAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 acres, iiip- A close of pasture callid Yone Close, cont. by estimacion xvj 
 acres, xvjs. A close of medoo callid Stable ing-, contenying by estimacion xvj 
 acres, xxijs. : ij closes of arrable grounde over Stable ing, cont. by estima- 
 cion xij acres, xijs. A close of arrable lond lyeing by the lane syde, conten- 
 yinge by estimacion iiij acres, iiijs. A close of medoo callid Thakeley Wrey, 
 cont. by estimacion xv acres, xxs. ; ij closes adionynge called Wheat Close 
 and Kaver Close, containing by estimacion viij acrez, viijs. A close of me- 
 doo callid Grenez, cont. by estimacion x acres, xiiijs. iiijc?. A close of medoo 
 callid Holmez, cont. by estimacion xij acres, xxiiijs. A close of medoo callid 
 Bigg ing, cont. by estimacion iij acres, vs. A close of pasture callid Wood 
 Close, cont. by estimacion vj acrez, vjs. A close of pasture callid Cow Close, 
 cont. by estimacion lx acrez, xls. A close of medoo callid Sekeley lond, 
 contenynge by estimacion xvj acrez, xviijs. viijc?. A close of pasture callid 
 Phesaunts' bushe, cont. by estimacion xvj acrez, viijs. A close of medoo cal- 
 lid the High Nuk, cont. by estimacion xx acres, xxs. A close callid Ridding 
 ings, conteyninge by estimacion xij acres, xijs. A parcell of ground callid 
 Thevis Gill, cont. by estimacion ij acres, xijd. A close callid Eke hed, 
 cont. by estimacion v acres, vs. The herbage of a wood callid Aldburgh Wood, 
 cont. by estim. xxx acres, nil ; in all xvj^ xs. 
 
 North Cote. 
 
 Richard Lister * holdeth a Tenement or Graunge callid North Cote, with 
 edificez, landes, medos, andpastores thereunto belonging; lyeing within and 
 parcell of the said Graunge of Aldburgh aforesaid, and is worth by yere vip« 
 xxiip- xs. 
 
 Pott Graung. 
 
 Parcell of the man ore of Aldburgh f and the morez and wasts unto theis 
 parcells belonginge, be callid Pott-more and Cowme Fell, and be the propre 
 soyle and ground of the late Monastery, and is parcell of this Valew, and 
 makez the hole graunge of Pott, and is of the Parishe of Masham with 
 Kirkby Malsherd ; and the same parcells contenyth all the hole lands of the 
 late Monastery ther. 
 
 * A person of the name of Thomas Lyster, held the Grange of Aldborough under Fountains 
 in 1456, and until 1482, when Richard Robinson, his son, appeared for him at the annual Audit, 
 and afterwards was tenant there until 1488-89, when he died. — Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, 
 p. 329. 
 
 In the year 1552, a Mr. Richard Lyster, gentleman, was residing in Masham. — The will of his 
 wife will be found in a subsequent part of this work, from which it seems that she was nearly related 
 to the Dodsworths and the Beckwiths, of this Parish. 
 
 t We here see that Pott-Grange is parcel of the manor of Aldborough. — In confirmation of 
 which I may state that it was formerly the practice of the tenants of Pott-Grange, Ashhead, and 
 of other places in that neighbourhood, which formerly formed part of the possessions of the monks 
 of Fountains, to appear at, and to do suit and service as tenants of the Manor Court of Fountains 
 Earth ; and that this practice continued to be acted upon until about 80 years ago, when Mr. 
 Danby required his tenants to cease answering at the Manor Court of Fountains Earth, and in lieu 
 thereof to attend, and do suit and service at bis own Manorial Court at Masham. Since that time, 
 but not before, these places have been considered and treated as situate in, and forming part of 
 the manor of Masham and Mashamshire — a position which can by no means be supported. I pre 
 sume that Mr. Danby considered that as his ancestor Sir Thomas Danby, had in the 29th Elizabeth, 
 
 
APPENDIX. 511 
 
 A Parcell of Pott Graunge. 
 
 Sir X'pofer Danby, Knyght, holdeth a parcell of the Graunge callid Pott, 
 that is to saye : — a tenement with other edificez, garthez, and garthings 
 thereunto adionyng, iijs. iiijJ. A close callid Sowrye Close, cont. by estim. 
 x acrez, xs. A close of pasture callid Somersyde, cont. by estim. xxx acrez, 
 xxxs. A close of medoo callyd How Ing, cont. by estimacion ij acrez, ijs. 
 viije?. A close of medoo callid Stubbe, cont. by estimacion viij acres, xs. 
 A close of medoo callid Morehouse Ing, cont. by estim. xviij acrez, xxiijs. A 
 close of pasture callid Gremesdell, cont. by estimacion xvj acres, xs. A close 
 of medoo callid Wood Ing, cont. by estimacion x acrez, xiijs. iiije?. A close 
 of pasture callid Horse Close Bank, contenying by estimacion xvj acres, 
 xs. viij^. A close of pasture callid the Ing-bank, Sive Intak, cont. by esti- 
 macion x acres, vjs. viijd. A close of pasture callid Littell Nether Wood, 
 inclosed within Lighton Park, which close the said Sir Cristofer Danby Knt., 
 occupieth in recompence of xxvjs. viije?., for an annuall rent for a kow rake dew 
 unto him at the said Graunge of Pott, and paith yerely nil, and common of 
 pastore upon the more callid Pott more, withoute stynte belonge to the said 
 Graunge vj K - viij c?. 
 
 An other parte of Pott Graunge. 
 
 Cristofer Bekeweth and John Bekew* * his son, hold the iij part of Pott 
 Graung, that is to say : — A mansion house with other buildings and with 
 garthings adionynge, iijs. iiijc?. A close of medoo and pastore callid Helme 
 Close, cont. by estimacion xxx acres, xxxs. A close of pasture callid Rughe 
 Close, cont. by estimacion xxx acrez, xxs. A close of course medoo called 
 Stote Fauld, cont. by estimacion xxx acrez, xxs. A close of medoo caltyd 
 Ox-over Kell plane, cont. by estimacion vi acrez, vjs. A close of medoo cal- 
 lyd William Ing, cont. by estimacion vj acrez, vs. A close of medoo callid 
 Steward Ing, cont. by estimacion v acres, vs. A close of pastore callid Calfe 
 Close, cont. by estimacion x acres, vs. A close of pasture callid Nether- 
 wood, cont. by estimacion xx acrez, xiijs. iiij^., in all by yere, with com- 
 mon of pasture upon the more callid Pott more, without stynt, iirp- xiijs. 
 viij d. 
 
 ASHEHED, PARCELL OF THE SAID POTT GRAUNGE. 
 
 Richard Atkinson f holdeth a tenement with edificez callid Nether Ashe- 
 hed with garthings adionying, iijs. iiijd. A close of pasture callid Ing Close, 
 cont. xij acres, ijs. A close of course medoo, callid Netherside, cont. by esti- 
 
 bought Pott-Grange and all claims of right to the Royalties and Wastes thereof, that it thereupon 
 ceased to belong to Fountains Earth ; and that the tenants were not therefore bound to do suit 
 and service at that Court : it may, however, be very true that the tenants were by force of the 
 Grant released from doing suit and service at the Court of Fountains Earth, yet that circumstance 
 did not, and could not (especially since the passing of the statute Quia Emptores) make the lands 
 parcel of another manor, viz :— the Manor of Masham and Mashamshire, as appears to have been 
 assumed by him. 
 
 * Christopher Beck with and John Beckwith, here named, are supposed to be of the same family 
 as the Beckwiths of Nutwith Cote, mentioned ante p. 508. 
 
 t William Atkinson held one part of the Grange of Pott in 1496, where William and Henry 
 
512 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHTRE. 
 
 maciou xl acres, xxvjs. viij J. A close of pasture callid New Close, cont. by 
 estimacion v acres, xxd A close of pasture callid Arnagiil Close, cont. by 
 estiuiacion vj acres, ijs. A close of course pasture callid Cow Close, cont. by 
 estimacion xl acrez, vjs. xiijd. A close of pasture callid Calf Close, cont. by 
 estimacion vj acres, ijs. A close of pasture callid Skell funte yate close, cont. 
 by estim. vij acres, ijs. iiijd. A close of pasture callid Stirk Close, cont. by es- 
 tim. vj acres, ijs. A close of pasture callid Tuppe Close, cont. by esti- 
 macion ij acres, xvjc?., in all with common of pasture upon the mores by yere 
 \s. 
 
 Over Ashehed, parcell of Pott Graunge aforesaid. 
 
 John Bane * holdith a tenemente callid Overeshed with edificez, garthers, 
 and garthings, adionynge, iijs. iiijc?. A close of medoo callid West Ing, 
 cont. by estimacion xij acres, xijs. A close of medoo callid Este Ing, cont. 
 by estimation viij acrez, viijs. A close of pasture callid Cauf Faw, conteny- 
 ing by estimacion v acres, iijs. iiijd. A close of medoo callid New Close, con- 
 teyninge by estimacion iij acres, iijs. iiije?. A close of pastore callid Cow 
 Close, conteyninge by estimacion x acrez, iijs. iiije?., in all with common of 
 pasture upon Come Fell, without stynt, by yere xxxiijs. iiije?. 
 
 xiiiip- xviijs. viij c?. 
 
 Atkinson had an interest in 1480. The Abbot and Convent of Fountains by Indenture dated 2nd 
 January, 1518, demised to Margaret Atkinson of Pott, and Richard Atkinson her son "all that 
 parte of ther Graunge and loge callid Pott, with all closez, medowez, pasturez, &c." apppurtenant 
 then in the tenure of the lessees, from the 3rd of May then last past, to the end of thirty years, at 
 the annual rent of 16s. It was also stipulated that " they yerly, during all the said terme, shall fe- 
 manly, sayfly, and surly kepe upon the said tenement at their proper costes and charges, of the 
 gudes and catell of the said Abbot and Convent, teen kye, two whyes, and two styrkes, at all times 
 in the yere, and of the isshowes, revenuez, and profettes of the same kye and whies, yerely con- 
 tent, and pay and deliver at the Chese-howse of the Monastery of Founteyns, thyrteen stones and 
 four pownds of chese, and sex stones and viiith powndes of butter, of gude and lawfull meete suf- 
 ficient in weight afore the fest of SayntMartyn in Winter, yerely, at the sight of the monke officer 
 in the same for the tyme being," and likewise of the issues of the said ten kye and two whies, .de- 
 liver five stirks worth four shillings each. They also " graunteth that they shall every thirde 
 yere, duryng all the said terme, with Robert Loge or Oder in his rowmeth for the tyme beying, 
 femanly, savely, and surely keep upon the pastor appertenying to the Graunge and loge of Pott 
 aforesaid, at yair propir costes and charges, a fioke of weders of the nowmber of iijc. of foresaid 
 Abbot and Convent," from 29th September to the 3rd May. 
 
 On the 17th April, 1536, this Lease was renewed to Richard Atkynson of Pott, from the 3rd 
 May then last past " unto the ende and terme of his lyffe naturall," upon the old terms and con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Several of the Atkinsons long after the Reformation remained attached to the Roman Catho- 
 lic religion. On the 8th April, 161S, Richard Atkinson and Agnes his wife, Margaret Atkinson 
 and Marmaduke Atkinson her son, were severally presented in the Peculiar Court at Masham, 
 " for standing excommunicate in not appearing to answer their Recusancy." — Walbran's Memo- 
 rials of Fountains. 
 
 Several members of this family still linger in the Parish, amongst whom I may mention as 
 such, is Mr. Joseph Atkinson of R,ound-Hill. . 
 
 * The Banes, like most of the more respectable and substantial inhabitants of this Parish at 
 that time, appear to have been Roman Catholics ; and as such to have been cited on different pre- 
 tences in our Ecclesiastical Court here. On the 13th September, 1633, the wife of Humphrey Bane 
 of Somerfield, was presented in it " for not coming to Church to give God thanks for her safe de- 
 liverance in child-birth ;" and Matthew Baines " for carding on two several Sabbath days, " and 
 on the 18th December, 1634, the 12th April, 1636, the 9th Oct., 1638, and the 8th June, 1641, the 
 former was again presented as a Popish Recusant, and excommunicated accordingly. 
 
APPENDIX. 513 
 
 The Reste of the Manor of Aldbrugh. 
 
 Theis be parcell of the manor of Aldbrughe, and be of the Parishe of 
 Masham with Kirkeby Malsherd, and be al the lands of the late Monastery- 
 there. — Item. — the wastes and morez belonging to the same Townez is cal- 
 led Rowmore, and is the propre soyle of the same late Monastery, and con- 
 tenyd in this Valew. 
 
 Swynton. 
 
 Item. — ther be vij tenements late in the tenure of Rauf Bekewyth, * 
 ter, xijs. Richard Slater, f xij.s. William Chapelhouse, J Richard xijs. 
 xxxiijs. iiije?. John Adamson, § xiijs. iiijc?. John Bekwith, xs. John Sla- 
 
 Pott-Grange as we have seen ante 297, was long the residence of an influential family of the 
 name of Ascough, and was the birth-place of William Ascough, Bishop of Salisbury, who was mur- 
 dered in Jack Cade's Rebellion on the 29th June, 1450 : — Thomas Ascough who was Sheriff of 
 the City of York in 1592-93 ; Robert Ascough who was twice Lord Mayor of the City of York, viz : 
 — in the years 1580 and 1593, and also M.P. for York from 1 588 to 1592 ; and Sir Robert Ascough, 
 who was twice Lord Mayor, viz : — 1606 and 1617, and also M.P. for York. 
 
 The family appears to have been connected with the monks of Fountains, for according to the 
 Compotus of the Bursar of Fountains for 1457, William Askwith was keeper of the Abbot's cattle 
 at Pott-Grange ; and in the Compotus Stauri of 20 Edward IV., A.D. 1480, Thomas Askwith ap- 
 pears to hold a mediety of Pot-Grange, and to render the same service until 1488, when Miles Ask- 
 with appears in his room and was resident there in 1490, and in 1496, Margaret Askwith was ten- 
 ant of a mediety of Pot-Grange.— See Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, p. 332. 
 
 Benjamin Pulleine Ascough, Esq., now Mayor (for the second time) of the City of Ripon, is 
 descended from this notable family. 
 
 * By an Indenture dated 20th February, 1518, the Abbot and Convent of Fountains demised to 
 John Beckwith pf Pott, and John his son a tenement, that is to say — one toft built upon, and a 
 croft, also 8 acres of land, and one acre of meadow in the vill and territory of Swinton in the 
 tenure of the said John of Pott, for the term of their natural lives and that of the longer liver, at the 
 annual rent of 12s. — Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, p. 333. 
 
 t In 1496, John Slater and Richard Slater, each held a tenement in Swinton of the monks of 
 Fountains. — See Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, p. 333. 
 
 On the 9th Sept., 1622, " Anna the wife of Jo. Slater" of Swinton, husbandman, was presented 
 in the Peculiar Court of Masham, as a Popish Recusant. On the 18th Dec. 1628, John Slater was 
 also presented in the same Court as a Popish Recusant and an excommunicate person ; and also 
 again on the 13th May, 1631. On the 20th March, 1638, " Thomas Slaiter, Schoolmaster at Elling- 
 string" was presented in the same Court " for teaching schollars without a licence and for stand- 
 ing excommunicate." — his will is dated 30th March, 1667. On the 4th March, 1612, Peter Slater 
 of Ellingstring, Slayter, bequeathed his cottage there to his wife "upon condicion that if any of 
 my children shall chance to fall sicke, she shall lett them have house-roome, bed-roome, and fyre- 
 roome within the same till they be recovered." 
 
 X William Chapellowe held this tenement at the same rent in 1496. — See Walbran's Memorials 
 of Fountains, p. 333. 
 
 § John Adamson held this tenement in 1496. — Ibid. 
 
 On the 28th Feb., 1627, John Adamson and his wife of Swinton, "were presented in the Pecu- 
 liar Court of Masham as Popish Recusants," and also on the 13th May, 1631. On the 13th May, 
 1635, they are presented again for the same offence along with their daughter Margaret. On the 
 20th March, 163S, " Margaret Adamson, the wife of John Adamson of Swinton," was presented in 
 the same Court " for looking corne on the Sabbath day in summer last ; she being rebuked for so 
 doing, answered, that she was better employed than they that went to Church to pray ;" and on 
 the 3rd June, 1641, John Adamson and his wife, and Anthony Adamson, John Adamson, Henry 
 Adamson, and Margaret Adamson, were all excommunicated for being Popish Recusants. John 
 Adamson, of Swinton, Yeoman, by his will dated 30th May, 1642, gave unto his son John Adamson, 
 all his lands and tenements in Thornton Rust, to his son Henry Adamson, " all such lands and 
 tenements as I purchased of Maior Norton, gent., Swinton ;" and to his son Anthonie Adamson, 
 
 LL 
 
514 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Beckwith, xiiijs. iijc?., with all lauds, medoos, pastors, commons, and wastes 
 thereunto belonginge, whiche be parcell of the sade Graunge of Aldbrughe, 
 
 in all by yere evjs. 
 
 Ilkton. 
 
 Item. — There be v tenements in Ilketon, late in the tenure of William 
 Lodge * xijs. William Stele, vis. viijc/. John Lambert, f ijs- John Pot, J 
 xijs. Symond Smerthuate, xijs., and in fre rent for the lands of Simon Law- 
 son, § vje?., with all lands, medoos, pastors, commons and wastes unto the same 
 tenements belonging ; which be parcell of the sade Graung of Aldbrughe, in 
 
 all by yere xlvs. ije?. 
 
 Wardenmersk. 
 
 Item. — The herez of Jamez Danby, Knight, hold a parcell of ground nere 
 
 the water ther, ijs., and a tenement ther late in the holdinge of Thomas Mas- 
 
 terman || xiiijs., with all the lands, medoos, pastors, commons, and wastes 
 
 therunto belonging ; which be parcell of the sade maner of Aldbrughe, in all 
 
 by yere xvjs. 
 
 viip. vijs. ijc?. 
 
 Signed James Rokeby. 
 
 No. 46. 
 Copies of Court Rolls of the Manor of Masham. 
 
 Manor of Masham | To wit. — At the Court Leet or View of Frankpledge 
 in the V of the worshipful Abstrupus Danby, Esquire, Lord of 
 
 County of York. J the same manor, holden at the Toll Booth in Masham 
 aforesaid, on Tuesday, to wit the 20th day of October, in the 1st year of the 
 reign of the Lord James the 2nd, now King of England, &c, and in the 
 year of onr Lord 1685, before Roger Bayne, gentleman-steward of the Court 
 there. 
 
 The names of the Jurors for the Court aforesaid called 
 Forest Jury. 
 Thomas Bowes Sworn. John Pickersgill Sworn. 
 
 " all the rest of his lands." — He mentions his daughter Margaret Adamson and John Slater, alias 
 Adamson, his grandchild, and desires " to be brought forth according to my calling." 
 
 * A person of this name held this tenement in 1496. — See Ibid. p. 333. The Lodge family was 
 a very numerous one in this Parish, one of them, " Richard Lodge of Masham, Butcher," made his 
 ■will dated 30th June, 1665. 
 
 t John Lambhird held four waste tofts in Ilketon, of the Abbot of Fountains in 1361. See 
 Walbran's Memorials of Fountains, p. 333. On the 1st April, 1619, Simon Lambert was pre- 
 sented for teaching at Ilton, not known to be licensed. 
 
 t Thomas de Pott held in Ilkton in 1360, a messuage, an oxgang of land, a waste toft, and 
 half an acre of land, at the annual rent of 4s. 4cZ., and three boon days at Aldborough Grange. — 
 Ibid., p. 333. 
 
 § In or before the time of King Edw. III., John Lowson held by charters under the Abbot of 
 Fountains, a messuage and three acres of land in Swinton. And in 1361, Richard Lowson held in 
 Swinton, a messuage, four oxgangs, and an acre and a half of land at the annual rent of 21*. 
 5$d.—Ibid., p. 334. 
 
 || James Masterman of Ilton, husbandman, by his will dated 17th Feb., 1605, directs his body 
 to be buried in Masham Churchyard. 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 515 
 
 Christopher Dawson 
 William Ogle 
 Henry Adamson 
 John Ripley- 
 William Longstaffe 
 George Beckwith 
 Wilfrid Skafe 
 
 Sworn. Peter Burrell Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. Thomas Hanley Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. Peter Hanley Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. Richard Sturdy Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. George Preston Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. William Hodgeson Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. George Burrell Sworn. 
 
 Also the Jurors aforesaid at the Court aforesaid holden for the manor 
 aforesaid, on the day and year abovesaid, in due manner impannelled, sworn, 
 and charged to enquire of and present those things which at the Court afore- 
 said were presentable upon their oath say and present. 
 
 Also they present that John Pickersgiil of Ellingstring, in the County 
 aforesaid, yeoman, on the loth day of October, in the year of our Lord 1685, 
 had and placed one mare infected with the mange to pasture upon the moor or 
 common of Ellingstring aforesaid, and which mare remained there by the 
 space of four days and upwards the next following, against the form of the 
 Statute. Therefore he hath forfeited to the lord of the manor 10s. 
 
 No. 47. 
 
 Manor of Masham j At the Court Leet or View of Frankpledge of the 
 
 in the V worshipful Abstrupus Danby, Esquire, Lord of the same 
 
 County of York, j manor> holden at the Toll Booth in Masham aforesaid, 
 
 on day, to wit the 23rd day of April, in the second year of the reign 
 
 of the Lord James the 2nd now King of England, &c, and in the year of 
 our Lord 1686, before Roger Bayne, gentleman-steward of the Court there. 
 
 The names of the Jurors of the Court aforesaid called Ellingtons' Jury. 
 
 Robert Thompson 
 Thomas Plewes 
 Anthony Williamson 
 Thomas Pratt 
 Richard Smorthwaite 
 Marmaduke Plewes 
 
 Also the Jurors aforesaid, at the Court aforesaid, holden for the manor 
 aforesaid, on the day and year abovesaid, in due manner impannelled, sworn, 
 and charged to enquire of and present those things which at the Court afore- 
 said, were presentable upon their oaths aforesaid say and present. 
 
 Also they present that John Pickersgiil of Ellingstring in the County 
 aforesaid, Yeoman, on the 20th day of April, in the year of our Lord, 1686, 
 with force and arms, &c, broke into the common pound at Ellingtons afore- 
 said, and then and there rescued and drove out certain cattle then being in 
 the same pound. Therefore he is in mercy 5s. And which amerciament by 
 the affeerers of the same Court was affeered at 2s. 4e#. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 James Williamson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 William Powter 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 George Thwaite 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Christopher Jackson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 John Thompson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Christopher King 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Affeerers of the ( Robert Thompson. 
 Court aforesaid. [ Anthony Williamson. 
 
 Sworn. 
 
516 
 
 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 Manor of Masham ] To wit.— At the Court Leet or View of Frankpledge 
 in the V f the worshipful Ahstrupus Danby, Esquire, Lord of 
 
 County of York, j the same manor> holden at the Toll Booth in Masham 
 aforesaid, for the manor aforesaid, on Saturday, to wit the fifth day of May> 
 in the fourth year of the reign of James the second, now King of England, 
 &c., and in the year of our Lord 1688, before Roger Bayne, gentleman-stew- 
 ard of the Court there. 
 
 The names of the Jurors for the Court aforesaid called Forest Jury. 
 
 Thomas Bowes 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Matthew Imeson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Richard Sturdy 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Matthew King 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Robert Leathley 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Peter Barker 
 
 Sworn 
 
 Richard Mankin 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 John Burrell 
 
 Sworn 
 
 Thomas Ripley 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Anthony Gibson 
 
 Sworn 
 
 "William Hodgson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 William Pickersgill 
 
 Sworn 
 
 George Beck with 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 Vincent Cooper 
 
 Sworn 
 
 Anthony Watson 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 John Olliver 
 
 Sworn 
 
 Robert Preston 
 
 Sworn. 
 
 
 
 Also the Jurors aforesaid, at the Court aforesaid, holden for the manor 
 aforesaid, on the day and year abovesaid, in due manner impannelled, sworn, 
 and charged to enquire of and present those things which at the Court afore- 
 said were presentable upon their oaths aforesaid, say and present. 
 
 Also they present that John Pickersgill of Ellingstring, in the County 
 aforesaid, Yeoman, on the fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1688, 
 at Ellingstring within the manor aforesaid, and the precinct of the Court 
 aforesaid, with force and arms, &c, made an affray and assault in and upon 
 one Christopher Durham, and then and there drew blood from the same 
 Christopher. Therefore he is in mercy 20s. And which amerciament by 
 the affeerers of the same Court was affeered at 10s. 
 
 Affeerers of the ( Thomas Bowes. ) o ' 
 Courts aforesaid. [ Richard Murdy. j wor 
 
APPENDIX. 517 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 B. 
 
 CHARTERS GRANTING FREE-WARREN, MARKETS, AND FAIRS IN MASHAM, 
 AND FROCEEDINGS BY QUO WARRANTO RESPECTING SAME, AND THE 
 
 FREE CHASES. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Charter granted by Henry III., to John de Wauton, dated 1st June, 35 Hen. 
 III., A.D. 1250, of Free-warren, a Market, and a Fair in Masham. — 
 Charter Rolls. — 35 Hen. III., m. 6. 
 
 [TRANSLATION.] 
 
 For John de Wauton. — The King to Archbishops, &c., greeting. Know 
 ye that we have granted, and by this our charter confirmed to John de 
 Wauton, that he and his heirs for ever, have Free-warren * in all his demesne 
 lands of Masseham in the County of York, provided, nevertheless, that the 
 same lands be not within the metes of our forest ; so that no one enter the 
 same lands to hunt in the same, or to take anything which to warren apper- 
 tains, without the licence and will of the same John, or his heirs, upon for- 
 feiture to us of Ten Pounds. We have given to the same John, that he and 
 his heirs for ever, have one market every week on Friday, at his same 
 manor of Masseham ; and that he have in the same one fair f every year of 
 three days duration — that is to say, on the eve, the day, and the morrow of 
 the Assumption of the Blessed Mary. \ Unless the same market and fair 
 
 * As to what a Free-warren is, see ante p. 48. 
 
 f Spelman says, that Fairs are of Saxon origin, and that they were first instituted in England 
 by King Alfred, A.D. 886. In early times the Monks celebrated the festival of their patron Saint 
 on these days, and the vast resort of people to them, occasioned a great demand for goods, wares, 
 &c. It will be observed that the Fair granted by this Charter (and which is the Fair now held on 
 the 17th, 18th, and 19th days of September) is to be held on the festival of the patron Saint of 
 Masham Church, viz : — of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
 
 For the reasons mentioned above, and of the Fair being held on the Feast of the dedication of 
 the Church, I think it very probable that a Fair had been held at Masham, and at this season, long 
 previous to the date of this Charter, and that this Charter is merely in the nature of a confirmation 
 of a previously existing right to hold the Fair by prescription. 
 
 This Charter it will be observed grants no toll, and therefore no toll is demandable at it, as I 
 have already shewn ante pages 51 and 52. 
 
 X By the Statute 27 Henry VI., cap. 5 (passed A.D. 1448) Fairs were prohibited being held on 
 the High Feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady, from which date no Fair coidd be held on 
 that day. This Act (27 Hen. VI., cap. 5) however, was only repealed so lately as by the 13 and 14 
 Vict., cap. 23, although it had long ceased to be observed. 
 
 As I have already mentioned ante, this is the same Fair which is now holden on the 17th, 
 
 
518 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 be to the damage of the neighbouring markets and fairs. Wherefore we 
 are willing, &c. — Witnesses, &c. Given by our hand at Merewell, the first 
 day of June. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Charter granting to Jeoffrey le Scrop Free-warren in his lands, and a mar- 
 ket and fairs at his manor of Masham, dated 1§th October, 2 Ewd. III., 
 a<d. 1327.— Charter Rolls a. 2 E 3. n. 27. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 For Geoffrey le Scrop. — The King in these words. Know ye that we of 
 our special favour have granted and by this our Charter have confirmed to 
 our beloved and faithful Geoffrey le Scrop, that he and his heirs, may pos- 
 sess for ever a Free-warren * in all his demesne " lands of Masham, Bellerby, 
 Gertheston, Hunton, Silton, Thirne, Aglethorpe, Upsale, Thornbergh, and 
 Kylvngton, in the County of York, and Maskham in the County of Notting- 
 ham, provided those lands be not within the metes of our forrest. Also that 
 no one enter those lands to hunt in them, or take anything pertaining to the 
 warren without the licence and consent of the said Geoffrey, or his heirs, 
 upon forfeiture to us of £10. And that they have one market every week 
 on Wednesday, at his manor of Masham in the said County of York, and two 
 fairs there every year, which shall continue for 4 days, one to wit — on the 
 eve and on the day of Saint Barnabas the Apostle, f and one other fair there 
 on the eve and on the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, J 
 unless that market and those fairs shall be to the injury of the neighbouring 
 markets and the neighbouring fairs. Wherefore it is our wish, and we firmly 
 direct for ourselves and our heirs, that the aforesaid Geoffrey and his heirs 
 may have for ever, a free-warren in all his demesne lands aforesaid ; provi- 
 ded those lands be not within the metes of our forest. Also, that no one 
 enter those lands to hunt in them, or take anything pertaining to the war- 
 ren, without the license and consent of the said Geoffrey or his heirs, upon 
 forfeiture to us of £10. And that they have the aforesaid market and fairs 
 
 18th, and 19th days of September. The time of holding it has, however, been altered ; as the Fes- 
 tival of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is held on the 15th day of August, and the 
 Fairs being on the eve, the day, and the morrow, would require to be held on the 14th, 15th, and 
 16th days of that month. Many instances could be adduced where the time of holding of Fairs has 
 been altered, especially when the Fairs occurred during harvest-time, and thus interfered with the 
 operations of the harvest. I apprehend that that has been one of the reasons why the alteration 
 has been made in the time of the holding of this Fair. 
 
 * As the Grant of Free-warren made to John de Wauton previously mentioned, only extended 
 to the lands held by him at the date of such Grant ; and as Sir Geoffrey le Scrope had in the mean- 
 time acquired other lands besides those he derived from the Wautons, it was necessary for him to 
 obtain a fresh Grant of Free- warren so that it might extend to the newly acquired lands. 
 
 t This Fair has long ceased to be holden. — See foot-note ante p. 50. 
 
 t This is the same Fair as was granted to John de Wauton A.D. 1250, except that it is granted 
 for two days, instead of three days, as in the former Grant. It is substantially, as to this Fair, a 
 mere confirmation of the former Grant to John de Wauton ; and like it gives no toll. My observ- 
 ations, therefore, ante, as regards the toll equally apply to this Charter. 
 
APPENDIX. 519 
 
 at his manor aforesaid, with all liberties, and free customs pertaining to a 
 market and to fairs of this kind, unless that market and those fairs, shall be 
 to the injury of the neighbouring fairs as aforesaid. As witness these vener- 
 able Fathers. — S. Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, 
 H. Bishop of Lincoln, our Chancellor, The Bishop of Hereford, our Treasurer, 
 R. Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, Edmund Earl of Kent, our uncle, John 
 de Waren Earl of Surrey, Henry de Percy, John de Wysham steward of our 
 household, and others. 
 
 Given under our hand at New Sarum on the 28th day of October. 
 Under Writ of Privy Seal. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Charter granting to Sir Stephen le Scrope Free-ivarren in his lands, and a 
 Market and two Fairs at his manor of Masseham, dated 1th May, 
 16 Ric. II, a.d. 1392. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Richard by the grace of God, King of England and France, and Lord of 
 Ireland: to Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Dukes, Earls, Barons, 
 Justices, Sheriffs, Reeves, Ministers, and all his Bailiffs, and faithful men greet- 
 ing. Know ye that of our special grace, we have granted and given licence 
 for us and our heirs, as much as in us lies to our beloved and faithful Stephen 
 le Scrop, Knight, that he and his heirs for ever, have one market every week 
 on Wednesday, at their manor of Masseham in the County of York, and two 
 fairs there, to be holden for six days, that is to say — one fair to be holden 
 for two days before the Feast of St. Barnabas, the Apostle, * and on St. Bar- 
 nabas' day, and the other fair to be holden for two days before the Feast of 
 the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, and on the day of the same Nativity ; f 
 unless the same market and fairs be to the prejudice or damage of other 
 neighbouring markets and fairs there : also, we have granted and given li- 
 cence for us and our same heirs, as much as in us lies to the same Stephen, 
 that he and his heirs for ever, have free-warren J in all their demesne lands 
 in the Vills of Masseham, Bellerby, Gareheston, Hunton, Silton, Thirne, 
 Aglethorpe, Upsale, Thornburgh, and Kilvington in the County of York, 
 Muskham in the County of Nottingham, Fifhide, Willynghale, Doo and Wil- 
 
 * This Fair lias long ceased to be holden.— See foot note ante p. 50. 
 
 t This is the same Fair which was granted to Sir John de WautonA.D. 1250, and confirmed to 
 Sir Geoffrey le Scrope A.D. 1327, except it will be seen that it is granted for three days, the same 
 as in the first mentioned Charter, and the time of holding it is altered from the Assumption to 
 the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary — being twenty four days later. The days for the hold- 
 ing of the Fair under this Charter, are the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of September, instead of the 13th, 
 14th, and 15th days of August as in the previous Charter— with this difference it is substantially 
 as to this Fair at least, a mere confirmation of the former grants to John de Wauton and Sir Geof- 
 frey le Scrope, and like them it gives no Toll. My observations, therefore, ante, as regards the 
 Toll apply equally to this Charter. 
 
 % See my observations ante, as to the necessity for Sir Stephen le Scrope's applying for 
 another Grant of Free-warren, by reason of his having in the meantime acquired additional estates 
 to which the former Grant of Free- warren would not extend. 
 
520 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 lynghale, Spaigne, in the County of Essex, and Paulynscray, in the County 
 of Kent. Provided, nevertheless, the same lands be not within the metes of 
 our forest, so that no one enter the same lands, to hunt in the same 
 or take anything which to warren appertains, without the licence and 
 will of the same Stephen, or his heirs, upon forfeiture to us of Ten 
 Pounds. Wherefore we will and firmly order, for us and our same heirs, that 
 the aforesaid Stephen, and his heirs aforesaid, for ever, have one mar- 
 ket every week on Wednesday, at their manor of Masseham, and two 
 fairs there to be holden for six days every year, that is to say, — 
 one fair to be holden for two days before the Feast of St. Barnabas the 
 Apostle, and on St. Barnabas' day ; and the other fair to be holden for two 
 days before the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mary, and on the day 
 of the same Nativity ; unless the aforesaid market and fairs be to the pre- 
 judice or damage of other neighbouring markets and fairs there : and also, 
 that the same Stephen and his heirs aforesaid, for ever, have free warren in 
 all their demesne lands in the aforesaid vills of Masseham, Bellerby, Gare- 
 heston, Hunton, Silton, Thirne, Aglethorpe, Upsale, Thornburgh, and Kil- 
 vington in the County of York, Muskham in the County of Nottingham, 
 Tifhide, Willynghale, Doo, and Willy nghale, Spaigne, in the County of Es- 
 sex, and Paulynscray in the County of Kent ; provided the same lands be 
 not within the metes of our forest ; so that no one enter the same lands to 
 hunt in them, or take anything that to warren appertains, without the li- 
 cence and will of the same Stephen, and his heirs aforesaid, upon forfeiture 
 to us of Ten Pounds as is aforesaid. These being witnesses — the Venerable 
 Fathers, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, Thomas, 
 Archbishop of York, Primate of England, our Chancellor, William, Bishop of 
 Winchester, John, Bishop of Salisbury, our Treasurer, John, Duke of Aqui- 
 taine and Lancaster, Edmund, Duke of York, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, 
 our dearest uncles, our dearest brother John de Holand, our Chamberlain, 
 and William, Earl of Salisbury, Thomas de Percy, Steward of our household, 
 and Edmund de Stafford, keeper of our Privy Seal, and others. 
 
 Given under our hand at Westminster the Seventh day of May, in the 
 Sixteenth year of our reign. 
 
 By W r rit of Privy Seal. 
 
 Gandeby. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Charter granted hy Charles I., to Thomas Dariby, Esq., dpied the 26th Nov. 
 8 Charles I., a.d.. 1632, of Fortnight Fairs in Masham, as taken from 
 the Patent Rolls 8 Charles I.,p 7, m 3. 
 
 [t ranslation.] 
 
 Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, 
 
 King, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all to whom the present letters shall 
 
 come greeting. Whereas our beloved and faithful subject Thomas Danby, 
 
 Esq., hath most humbly prayed us that we, for the improvement of the town of 
 
APPENDIX. 521 
 
 Massam otherwise Masseham in our County of York being the hereditament of 
 the aforesaid Thomas as it is said, and for the common advantage and benefit of 
 the inhabitants there, would deign to grant to the aforesaid Thomas Danby, 
 and his heirs, one fair or feast on Wednesday in every second week, from the 
 8th day of May, unto the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel— yearly— to 
 be hoiden at their Town of Massam, otherwise Masseham aforesaid, for the 
 buying and selling of all manner of cattle with the appurtenances, together 
 with power and authority, that he and his heirs might have and receive such 
 and such sort of reasonable tolls for corn and cattle, as well in the same fair 
 as in other fairs * and markets hoiden and to be hoiden in the town afore- 
 said, as and which are usually paid in others fairs and markets near adjoin- 
 ing. And whereas w r e thereupon willing to be certified, if the said fair or 
 feast, and tolls might be granted to the same Thomas Danby and his heirs, 
 without loss or prejudice to us, or otherwise to any one whomsoever, by our 
 writ of ad quod damnum lately issuing from our Chancery, directed to the 
 Sheriff of our County of York aforesaid, did command the same Sheriff, that 
 b}' the oath of good and lawful men of the County aforesaid, by whom the 
 truth of the matter might be the better known, he should diligently enquire 
 if it would be to the loss or prejudice of us or others, if we should grant to 
 the aforesaid Thomas Danby and his heirs, that he and his heirs for ever 
 should have and hold a fair for all manner of cattle with the appurtenances, 
 on Wednesday in any second week from the 8th day of May, unto the Feast 
 of St. Michael the Archangel — yearly — at their town of Masseham in the 
 aforesaid County of York, and that the same Thomas and his heirs, for ever, 
 might take and have in the same fair, and in other their fairs and markets, 
 to be had and hoiden at their manor of Masseham aforesaid, by the same 
 Thomas and his heirs, for corn and cattle to be sold in the same, such sort of 
 and such tolls, as and which from time whereof the memory of man is not to 
 the contrary, have been paid in the fairs and markets had and hoiden in the 
 towns of Richmond, Middleham, Bedall, and North Allerton or either of 
 them ; and that he should likewise enquire what sort of and what tolls had 
 from the aforesaid time, whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary, 
 been paid in the aforesaid towns of Richmond, Middleham, Bedall, and 
 North Allerton, or either of them ; and if the fairs and markets had and 
 hoiden in the aforesaid towns of Richmond, Middleham, Bedall, and North 
 Allerton, were the nearest fairs and markets to Masseham aforesaid. And 
 if it would be to the loss or prejudice of us or of others, if we should grant to 
 the aforesaid Thomas Danby, that he and his heirs for ever, have, and hold 
 the aforesaid fair for all manner of cattle at their town of Masseham afore- 
 
 * It will be seen here that Thomas Danby prays that Tolls may be granted to him, not only 
 for these Fortnight Fairs, but also for " other Fairs and Markets hoiden and to be hoiden in the 
 town." It is, however, one thing to pray for a thing, and another thing to have such prayer 
 granted ; and it will be seen hereafter, when we come to the Granting part of this Charter, and 
 especially the clause granting the Tolls, that this Charter only grants to him Tolls for these Fort- 
 night Fairs, and makes no mention whatever of the other Fairs and Markets. Had, indeed, the 
 clause granting the Tolls even gone so far as to grant Tolls for the other Fairs, it would have been 
 Bimpiy inoperative for the reasons mentioned ante page 51 and 52. See also note post. 
 
 MM 
 
522 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 said, and that the same Thomas Danby and his heirs for ever, should take 
 and have the tolls aforesaid, in their aforesaid other fairs and markets, at their 
 aforesaid manor of Masseham aforesaid, to be had and holden by the same 
 Thomas and his heirs, for corn and cattle to be sold in the same, then unto what 
 loss and what prejudice of us, or of others, and of whom, and how, and in what 
 manner ; and an Inquisition thereupon, distinctly and openly made, he should 
 without delay, send to us in our Chancery under his seal, and the seals of those 
 by whom it should be made, and the same wait ; and whereas by a certain In- 
 quisition indented, taken at Thirske in the County aforesaid, the 11th day of 
 April, in the 8th year of our reign, before Sir Thomas Laton, Knight, Sheriff 
 of the County aforesaid, by virtue of our said writ to the same Sheriff directed, 
 by the oath of good and lawful men of the County aforesaid, it was found that it 
 would not be to the loss or prejudice of us, or of others, if we should grant to 
 the aforesaid Thomas Danby and his heirs, that he and his heirs have, and 
 hold a fair for all manner of cattle with the appurtenances, on Wednesday, in 
 every second week from the 8th day of May, unto the Feast of St. Michael the 
 Archangel — yearly — at their town of Masham in the aforesaid County of York; 
 and that the same Thomas Danby and his heirs, for ever take and have in the 
 same fair, and in other their fairs and markets to be had and holden at their 
 manor of Massam aforesaid, by the same Thomas Danby and his heirs, for 
 corn and cattle to be sold in the same, such sort of, and such tolls as and 
 which from time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary, have 
 been paid in the fairs and markets had and holden in the towns of Richmond, 
 Middleham, Bedale, and North Allerton, or either of them ; and whereas by 
 the aforesaid Inquisition, it was further found in the fairs and markets had, 
 and holden in the town of Richmond aforesaid, from time whereof the mem- 
 ory of man is not to the contrary, there had been paid such sort of, and such 
 tolls — that is to say, — for every bull, cow, ox, steer, or heifer, sold in any 
 fair or market of the same, one penny ; for every horse, mare, or gelding, 
 sold in the same, one penny; for every horse, colt, there sold, one penny; 
 and for every 5 sheep there sold, one penny : and for every 5 lambs there 
 sold, one penny ; and for every hog there sold, two pence ; and for exery 
 pig, sow, or other pig there sold, two pence ; to be paid equally between the 
 seller and the buyer : and for every bushel of corn there sold, half a pint ; and 
 for every horse load of corn there sold, and carried out of the market afore- 
 said, half a penny : and that the aforesaid fair and market had and holden 
 in the aforesaid town of Richmond, and the fairs and markets of Middleham, 
 Bedall, and North Allerton, in the writ aforesaid likewise specified, are the 
 nearest fairs and markets to the aforesaid fair, and market of Massam afore- 
 said, as by the writ and Inquisition aforesaid, returned by the Sheriff afore- 
 said into our Chancery, and there remaining of Record, is more fully mani- 
 fest and appears. Know ye, therefore, that we graciously consenting to the 
 petition of our aforesaid subject, Thomas Danby, of our special grace, and of 
 our certain knowledge and mere motion, have given and granted and by these 
 presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give, and grant to the aioresaid 
 Thomas Danby, his heirs and assigns, that he, the aforesaid Thomas Danby, 
 
 
APPENDIX. 523 
 
 his heirs and assigns, henceforth for ever, have, hold, and keep within th« 
 town of Massam, otherwise Masseham aforesaid, the liberty or precinct of the 
 same — yearly and every year for ever — one fair or feast, for all manner of cat- 
 tle, with the appurtenances, on Wednesday, in every second week, from the 8th 
 day of May, unto the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, yearly, to continue 
 and last for all those days, together with a Court of piepoudre, there to be hol- 
 den at the time of the said fair over and beside the other fairsand markets of 
 the same Thomas Danby, lawfully had and holden, or to be had and holden, 
 within his town of Masham, otherwise Masseham aforesaid, before the making 
 of these our letters patent : and, moreover, if our more abundant special grace, 
 and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, for us our heirs, and successors, 
 we do grant to the aforesaid Thomas Danby, his heirs and assigns, that 
 he, his heirs and assigns, for ever, have and take, for the corn and 
 cattle to be sold in the same fairs, feasts, and markets in the same 
 town of Masham, otherwise Masseham, such sort of and such tolls * as, 
 and which have been paid in the fairs and markets of Richmond aforesaid, 
 had and holden from time whereof the memory of man is not to the con- 
 trary, that is to say, — for every bull, cow, ox, steer or heifer, sold in any of 
 the same fairs or markets of Massam, otherwise Masseham aforesaid — one 
 penny ; for every horse, mare, or gelding, sold in the same, one penny ; for 
 every horse, colt, sold there, one penny ; and for every 5 sheep sold there, 
 one penny; and for every five lambs there sold, one penny; and for 
 every hog there sold, two pence ; and for every pig, sow, or other pig 
 there sold, two pence ; payable equally between the seller and the 
 buyer ; and for every bushell of corn there sold, half-a-pint ; and for every 
 horse-load of corn there sold and carried out of the market aforesaid 
 half-a-penny : f and with all liberties, free customs, tolls, stallage, piccage, 
 fines, amerciaments, and all other profits, commodities, advantages, and 
 emoluments whatsoever, to the aforesaid markets, fairs, or feasts and Court 
 of piepoudre appertaining, belonging, arising, happening, or contingent : 
 wherefore, we will, and by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, 
 
 * This is the granting clause of this Charter, and it will be seen that it only grants Tolls " for 
 the corn and cattle to be sold in the same Fairs, Feasts, and Markets in the same town of Massam, " 
 now these words same Fairs, &c, mean the Fortnight Fairs only, for they are the only Fail's which 
 have been mentioned before — that is — in the clause immediately preceding it which grants these 
 Fairs ; or in other words the Fortnight Fairs being the last antecedent, they are the Fairs referred 
 to as the same Fairs. Had, however, the Grant of Tolls even extended to the other Fairs, it would 
 have been inoperative as stated ante pages 51 and 52. 
 
 t Even supposing that these Tolls are now payable at the September Fairs (which I dispute 
 for the reason mentioned ante pages 51 and 52) these are not the Tolls which are now demanded 
 and received by the Lessee of the Tolls at these Fairs. The Lessee now charges just double the 
 amount of the Tolls here specified, viz : — two pence for every bull, cow, ox, steer or heifer ; 
 and for every five sheep, or lambs, two pence, or eight pence per score. This Charter, therefore, 
 cannot be the Charter under which the present scale of Tolls is now demanded, and if this is not 
 the Charter, then let me ask under what other Charter can such a demand be justified ? For none 
 of the other Charters grant any such scale of Tolls, or indeed any tolls whatever, and we have al- 
 ready seen that if no Tolls are granted by the Charter which grants the Fairs or Market, no Tolla 
 are demandable, but that the Fair or Market so granted, is a free Fair and a free Market. Thia 
 if unquestionably the case as to the Fairs and Markets held at Masham. 
 
524 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 firmly order and command, that the aforesaid Thomas Dauby, his heirs and 
 assigns, henceforth and for ever, have, hold, and keep, and may, and shall be 
 able to have, hold, and keep within the town of Massam, otherwise Masseham 
 aforesaid, the liberty or precinct of the same, yearly and every year, for ever, 
 the aforesaid fair or feast, for all manner of cattle with the appurtenances, 
 on "Wednesday in every second week, from the 8th day of May, until the 
 feast of St. Michael the Archangel yearly, to last for all those days together 
 with a Court of piepoudre there to be holden at the time of the said fair, over 
 and beside other fairs and markets heretofore, as is aforesaid lawfully had 
 and holden within the town of Massam, otherwise Masseham aforesaid, and 
 with all the liberties, free customs, tolls, stallage, * piccage, f fines amerci- 
 aments, and all other profits, commodities, advantages, and emoluments 
 whatsoever, appertaining, belonging, arising, happening, or contingent, as 
 as well to the fair and Co art of piepoudre, by these presents before granted 
 as to the aforesaid other fairs and markets and every or either of them ; and 
 this without any rent, account, or any other thing, therefore to us our heirs or 
 successors, to be rendered, paid, or done ; and also without any molestation, 
 disturbance, grievance, or contradiction of us, or any of the officers or 
 ministers whomsoever, of us our heirs or successors : so nevertheless, that the 
 aforesaid fair be not to the nuisance of other neighbouring fairs whatsoever; 
 also, we will and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and successors, do 
 grant to the aforesaid Thomas Danby, his heirs and assigns, that this our 
 present Charter on the enrolment of the same, be in all things r and by all 
 things, firm, valid, sufficient and effectual in the law, and shall be un- 
 derstood, adjudged, and determined in all our Courts, as well and favourably 
 as it can be known and understood on the behalf of the aforesaid Thomas 
 Danby, his heirs and assigns, towards and against us, our heirs and success- 
 ors, notwithstanding the not reciting, or mis-reeiting of our aforesaid writ 
 ad quod damnum, and the Inquisition thereupon taken, or any defect, or de- 
 fects in the execution or return of the said writ and Inquisition, or either of 
 them : also, we will, and by these presents grant to the aforesaid Thomas 
 Danby, that he may have, and shall have these our letters patent in due 
 manner, made and sealed under our great seal of England, without fine or 
 fee, great or small, to us in our Hanaper or elsewhere, to our use, therefore 
 in anywise howsoever to be rendered, paid, or done, altho' express mention 
 be not made in these presents, of the true yearly value or certainty of the 
 premises or either of them, or of other gifts or grants heretofore made by us,. 
 or by either of our progenitors or predecessors, to the aforesaid Thomas 
 Danby, Esq., or any Statute Act, ordinance, provision, proclamation, or res- 
 triction to the contrary thereof, heretofore had, made, passed, ordained, or 
 provided, or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever, in anywise not- 
 withstanding. In testimony whereof, we have caused these our letters to be 
 
 * Stallage is the liberty or right of pitching or erecting Stalls in Fairs or Markets,^ or the 
 money paid for the same. — Kennefs Gloss. 
 
 t Piccage is a consideration paid for the breaking up of ground to set up booths, stalls or 
 standings in Fairs ; payable to the Lord of the soil. See Jacob's Law Diet., Art. Piccage. 
 
APPENDIX. 525 
 
 made patent.' — Witness, ourself at Westminster, the 26th day of November, 
 in the 8th year of our reign. 
 
 By Writ of Privy Seal. Wolesley. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 Pleas of Juries and Assizes and of Quo Warranto, before John de Vale, and 
 his Companions, Justices Itinerant in the County of York, in the *lth, 
 &th, and 9th years of the reign of King Edward, on John de Wanton 
 being summoned to shew by what warrant or authority he claimed to have 
 warren at Masseham, Elington, Eling string, Helagh, Fereby, and Sutton, 
 $c. * Bated 8 Edw. I., a.d. 1280. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 And John cometh and saith that Elingstring, Elington, Helagh, Fereby, 
 and Sutton, are hamlets and members of Masseham; and that the Lord 
 King Henry, father of the Lord now King, granted him free warren in all 
 his demesne lands in his manor, by a Charter of which he makes profert. 
 And Alan de Walkingham who sueth for the King, saith that in the afore- 
 said hamlets there are certain free tenants, in whose lands the aforesaid John 
 hath warren as in his own demesne lands, and he prayeth that this be en- 
 quired of ; and John doth the like. Afterwards it was found by William de 
 Holteby and his companions, jurors, that the aforesaid John hath used his 
 warren in Masham, but they say that he of his own act hath appropriated 
 the lands of the Abbot of Fountains, Reginald de Clifton, John de Rycher, 
 Simon de Sutton, and certain others unto the same use ; therefore he is in 
 mercy, and he hath judgment as to warren, &c, f — Roll 1 dorse. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Judgment Roll in the case of the Attorney General v. Sir Christopher Dariby f 
 Knt., being proceedings in Quo Warranto, to try the right to the Chase 
 or Forest and Free-warren in Mashamshire. Date 5 Edw. VI., 
 A.D. 1551. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 Among the Records deposited in the Public Record Office, London, to 
 wit — King's Bench — Judgment Roll — Michaelmas Term 5th, Edw. 6th, it 
 is thus contained : — Pleas before the Lord the King at Westminster, in the 
 term of St. Michael, in the 5th year of the reign of Edward the 6th, by the 
 
 * A Writ of Quo Warranto, is a writ which, lies against any person that usurps any franchise 
 or liberty against the King, without good title ; and is brought against the usurpers to shew by 
 what right and title they hold or claim such franchise or liberty. 
 
 t The purport of this decision is, that John de Wauton was entitled to Free-warren in his de- 
 mesne lands, but that he had encroached upon the lands of the Abbot of Fountains, Reginald de 
 Clifton, John de Rycher, Simon de Sutton, and certain others, which were not of his demesne lands, 
 and therefore judgment was given against him as to those lands, and in his favour as to his right 
 to the Free-warren. 
 
526 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 grace of God, of England, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, 
 and on earth of the Church of England and Ireland, Supreme Head. 
 
 Witness — It. Lyster. 
 
 Mynne — Roll 1st. — Pory. 
 
 York to Wit.— Roll 8. As yet of the term of St. Michael (King's [Roll]).— 
 Be it remembered, that Henry Bradshaw, Esq., Attorney General of the 
 Lord the King, who now sues for the same Lord the King proffered here in 
 Court, a certain information against Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, which 
 follows in these words : — York to wit. — Be it remembered that on Tuesday 
 next after the quinzime of St. Michael, in the 3rd year of the reign of Ed- 
 indictment ) ward 6th, by the grace of God of England, France, and Ireland, 
 
 Michaelmas • 
 
 3rd. Edw. 6th j King, Defender of the Faith, and on earth of the Church of 
 England and Ireland, Supreme Head, before the Lord the King at West- 
 minster, comes Henry Bradshaw, Esq., Attorney General of the Lord the 
 King, who now sues for the same Lord the King in his own person, and 
 gives the Court of the said Lord the King here to understand, and be in- 
 formed that Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, by the space of half-a-year now 
 last past, and more hath used and still useth, to have one chace or forest, 
 with wild animals, and free-warren at Mashamshire, in the County of York, 
 to the derogation thereupon of the said Lord the now King, and the great 
 prejudice and contempt of the same Lord the King ; whereupon the same attor- 
 ney of the said Lord the King, for the same Lord the King prayeth advice of 
 the Court in the premises, and that the aforesaid Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., 
 be warned to answer the said Lord the King, by what warrant he claims to 
 
 have the chace, forest, and free warren aforesaid, &c, whereby the 
 
 Sheriff is ordered that he omit not, &c, that he cause him to come and 
 
 answer, &c, and now to wit, on Friday next after the quinzime of St. 
 
 Michael in this same term before the Lord the King at Westminster, comes 
 the aforesaid Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, by James Wolriche, his attor- 
 ney, and hath audience of the premises ; and as touching free-warren * at 
 Mashamshire aforesaid, the same Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, saith that 
 the Lord Richard the 2nd, late King of England, progenitor of the said 
 Lord the now King, by his letters patent of which the same Christopher 
 Danby here makes proffert in Court — the date whereof is at Westminster, 
 the 7th day of May in the 16th year of his reign ; amongst other things — 
 granted and gave license, as far as in the same late Lord the King was to 
 his beloved and faithful Sir Stephen le Scrop, Knight, by the name of 
 Stephen le Scrop, chevalier, an ancestor of the said Christopher Danby, 
 whose heir he is — that is to say, the son of Margery, the daughter of John, 
 the son of John, the son of the said Stephen, that the same Stephen, and his 
 heirs for ever, should amongst other things have free-warren in all the 
 demesne lands of the same Stephen, in the Vills of Masham, Bellerby, Gar- 
 reston, Hunton, Sylton, Thirne, Aglethorpe, Upsall, Thornbargh, and Kyl- 
 
 * It will be seen here that Sir Christopher Danby justifies his right to the Free-warren only 
 under the Charter of King Richard II., to Sir Stephen le Scrope, and not that of the Chase which 
 he afterwards justifies by another plea claiming it by prescription. 
 
 
 
APPENDIX. 527 
 
 lington, in the said County of York, Muskam, in the County of Nottingham, 
 Fyfhed, Wyllynghall, Doo, and Wyllyingoall, Spaigne, in the County of 
 Essex, and Pawlyngscray, in the County of Kent. Provided, nevertheless, 
 the same lands were not within the metes of the forest of the said late Lord 
 the King, so that none should enter the same lands to hunt in them, nor 
 take anything which to warren appertains, without the licence and will of 
 the same Stephen, or his heirs, under pain of forfeiting to the said Lord the 
 King £10, as by the aforesaid letters patent more fully appears ; and further 
 the same Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, saith that the aforesaid townships 
 of Mashamshire, in the said information specified, and the township of Mas- 
 ham, in the aforesaid letters patent [named], are one and the same vill and 
 not others, nor different ; and that the aforesaid township is known and from 
 time whereof the memory of man is not to the contrary, was known as well 
 by the name of Massamshire as by the name of Massam ; and by that war- 
 rant the same Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, claims the free warren afore- 
 said, and hath used and still useth, to have the free- warren aforesaid, of and in 
 his demesne lands, which the demesne lands of the said Stephen, in the 
 aforesaid townships of Massamshire, in the aforesaid information specified as 
 was lawful to him, that is to say, in 3000 acres of land, 4000 acres of pasture, 
 2000 acres of meadow, 2000 acres of wood, 12000 acres of furze and heath in 
 the aforesaid Vills ; in the aforesaid information specified, which at the time 
 of the aforesaid grant, were the demesne lands of the said Stephen le Scrop, 
 of Massam and Massamshire, which after the death of the aforesaid Stephen 
 le Scrop (as is aforesaid) descended to the aforesaid Christopher Danby, as 
 cousin and heir of the same Stephen, that is to say, the son of Margery, the 
 daughter of John, the son of John, the son and heir of the said Stephen, by 
 virtue whereof the same Christopher was seized of the premises in his de- 
 mesne as of fee ; and the same Christopher Danby saith that the aforesaid 
 demesne lands at the time of the grant aforesaid were not within the metes 
 of any forest of the same late King Richard the 2nd, which, &c. And 
 moreover, the same Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, saith that he and his 
 ancestors, whose heir he is, from time whereof the memory of man is not to 
 the contrary have used, and the same Christopher still useth, to have and 
 enjoy to him, and his heirs one chace * with stags, deer, and other wild ani- 
 mals of the woods in and at Mashamshire aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, 
 called Massam forest, in 6000 acres of land, 4000 acres of pasture, 3000 acres 
 of meadow, 4000 acres of wood, 12000 acres of furze and heath in Massam- 
 shire aforesaid, with all things which to chase appertain, by the boundaries 
 underwritten, to wit — from Yore (so named) into Synderhowe, so that Nute- 
 wid may remain in common between the townships of Malsert (now [known] 
 by the name of Kirkby Malserd) and Masham, and from Synderhowe, unto 
 the hill which is nearest to the south of Roger Cross, now called New Cross, 
 as the water descends thence towards Massam, and so unto the hill above 
 Pilesden, and then from thence by the Edge of the hill unto Froseldeshow, 
 
 * It will be seen that it is only claimed as a Chace, and not as a Forest.— See observations 
 thereon ante p. 47. 
 
528 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 (now called by the name of Throstylhow), and from Frostildeshow by the 
 edge of the hill unto the boundaries of Robert Fitz Ralph (now called Cov- 
 erdale) and thence unto the boundaries of AVitton ; and these are the metes 
 of the boundaries of Witton and Massamshire, to wit — where Esewathe is on 
 the west of "Whitebethe, [Whitebeck] as it floweth into Yore, and from 
 Eswathe unto Kylgrynihs (now called Kylgrymhowe Grange), and thence 
 unto Delather (now called Charekeld), and from Delather unto Blapott (now 
 called Claypit), and thence unto Selykeld (now called the well in Newsted 
 pasture) and thence unto Holgill (now called Lambertgill) on the west side 
 as Matheresgaytt (now called Marketgait), ascends between the two Holli- 
 gilles (now called Lambertgill and Leygill), and thence unto Kempestaines 
 (now called Castle Hills), and afterwards as the waters collect together 
 some whereof tend to the North towards Witton, and some to the South 
 towards Massamshire, and as the waters divide on the North-side from Cader- 
 land (now called Caldburghe), and from Burnelneshage (now called Eller- 
 shall), unto the boundaries of Coverdale, and unto Nedeshawe (now called 
 Myers) unto the boundaries of Ralph Fitz Ribald (now called Middleham), 
 and by this warrant the same Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, hath used and 
 still useth a chase there, in the aforesaid 6000 acres of land, 4000 acres of 
 pasture, 3000 acres of meadow, 4000 acres of wood, 12000 acres of furze and 
 heath, with stags, deer, and other wild animals, and all things which to chace 
 appertain, as it was lawful to him; all and singular which things the same 
 Christopher is ready to verify, as the Court, &c. "Whereupon, he conceiveth 
 not that the Lord the now King will further impeach or hinder the same 
 Christopher Danb} T , by occasion of the matters aforesaid or any of them, &c. 
 And he prays judgement ; and that the same free-warren and chace aforesaid 
 may be allowed and adjudged to him, &c. And that he concerning the pre- 
 mises be dismissed this Court, &c. Whereupon, the plea of the aforesaid 
 Christopher above pleaded in form aforesaid, and by Henry Bradshaw, Esq., 
 Attorney-General of the said Lord the King, who sues for the same Lord the 
 King in this behalf understood, and by the same Henry diligently examined 
 with the aforesaid letters patent made and granted as is aforesaid, to the 
 aforesaid Stephen Scrop and his heirs, in form aforesaid, and to the Court 
 here shown ; and, moreover, because, that [by] certain Court Rolls of the 
 said Christopher and his ancestors holden within the manors aforesaid to the 
 Court of the Lord the King here shewn, and also by the relation of divers 
 trustworthy witnesses in the same Court here present, it manifestly appear- 
 eth, that certain of the ancestors of the aforesaid Christopher and now the 
 same Christopher, by reason of the prescription * aforesaid, and also by vir- 
 tue and force of the grant to the aforesaid Stephen and his heirs, have used 
 and enjoyed all and singular the liberties in the aforesaid forest or chase in 
 Massamshire aforesaid. Therefore, the same Henry Bradshaw for the said 
 Lord the King, confesseth the plea of the aforesaid Christopher pleaded in 
 
 * Thus it will be seen that whilst Sir Christopher Danby succeeding in establishing his claim 
 to Free-warren by f orce of the Grant thereof made to Sir Stephen le Scrope by King Richard II. , he 
 established his right to the Free Chase or Forest by a much higher title, viz : — by prescription. 
 
 
APPENDIX. 529 
 
 form aforesaid, to be true, whereupon all and singular the premises being seen 
 and by the Court here understood, the Serjeants-at-law of the Lord the King, 
 and the Attorney of the same King being hereunto convoked and present, 
 it is considered that the aforesaid Christopher Danby may enjoy and use the 
 aforesaid forest or chase aforesaid, with all the liberties and free customs 
 aforesaid, &c. And that all and singular the letters patent aforesaid, toge- 
 ther with the liberties aforesaid, be allowed to the aforesaid Christopher 
 Danby and his heirs in his behalf, &c. And that the same Christopher con- 
 cerning the premises go thereof without day, &c. — Saving always the right 
 of the King, if any, &c. 
 
 NN 
 
530 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 c. 
 
 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CHURCH OF MASHAM. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Grant from Roger de Mowbray to the Canons of Newburgh of the Church of 
 3fasham, as copied from the Harleian MSS., 793, in the British Museum. 
 [Date between A.D. 1147, and A.D. 1153.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 To the Reverend Father and Lord Henry, by the grace of God, Arch- 
 bishop of York, Roger de Mowbray greeting. I give y'r discretion to un- 
 derstand that I, for the health of my soule, all my ancestors and heirs have 
 given, and by this charter confirmed, to God and to the Church of Saint 
 Mary of Newburg, newly founded in my fee, and the Canons there living 
 regularly, for ever, in free, &c, whatsoever right I had in the Churches of 
 Massam, and Malseard [Kirkby Malzeard], and Landeford; and whatever a 
 layman can, in Churches conferre, to any religious college, that I have con- 
 ferred the same upon them for ever, in the same Churches — and because your 
 great care, who earnestly endeavour to plant sacred religion, and to cherish 
 it when planted, is known to all men, therefore I humbly pray y'r clemency, 
 that for the love of God ye would lend your assent to this my gift, and by 
 the authority of your writeing confirme for ever, the mentioned Churches to 
 the Canons aforesaid. 
 
 Please y'r benignity to take notice that I made this gift to them with the 
 will, and at the request of Sampson de Albinij, my kinsman, who holds the 
 foresayd Churches. — These being witnesses, Robert Chaplayne, &c. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Extract from a Deed between Sampson de Albini, and the Prior of New- 
 burgh, preserved at St. Mary's, York, and set out in Dugdale's Monas- 
 ticon (new edition), Vol. iii., part 1, page 319. 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Sampson de Albini after releasing to the Abbey all his interest in the 
 Church of Masham, and other Churches, stipulates as follows : — " that he 
 [Sampson de Albini] shall hold the Church of Malseart [Kirkby Malzeard] 
 
APPENDIX. 531 
 
 of the Prior, and Richard of him, as, &c. ; and after the decease, or change of 
 life of Richard, his brother Uchtred shall hold it in like manner, and Rich- 
 ard shall have the boy Roger in his keeping, with the Church of Massam ; 
 and out of the same Church shall provide the boy with necessaries by the 
 counsel and consideration of the Prior." 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Deed of Roger de Mowbray touching the Church of Masham made prebendal. 
 [Date between A.D. 1154, and A.D. 1181.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Roger de Molbrai to all the sons of Holy Mother Church, to whom these 
 letters shall come, Greeting and love. Be it known unto you all, that I have 
 granted as a Prebend so far as appertains to a layman, and that Roger the 
 Archbishop, hath granted and confirmed to the Church of the Blessed Peter 
 of York, the Church of Masham, and the Church of Kirkebi Malsard, and the 
 Church of Halsay, and the Church of Hanston, and the Church of Landeford, 
 and the Church of Hesmit, with all their appurtenances, in perpetual alms, 
 free and quit from all demand and custom. — Witness, Roger the Archbishop, 
 and the Chapter of York, and Ralph Beler, and Oliver de Buci, and Roger 
 de Flamanville, and Walter de Charlton. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Another Deed of the same Roger de Mowbray, touching the Church of 
 Masham. \_Date between A.D. 1154, and A.D. 1181.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Roger de Molbrai, to Roger Archbishop of York, and Robert the Dean, 
 and Chapter of York, and all his men, French and English, greeting, 
 Know ye, that I have given and granted to God, and St. Peter of York, and 
 Roger, the Archbishop, and his successors for ever, for the souls of my 
 father and my mother and my ancestors, and the salvation of me and my sons, 
 the Church of Masham, and the Church of Malseart [Kirkby Malzeard] and 
 the Church of Landeford, in pure and perpetual alms, so that they may be 
 from henceforth a Prebend in the Church of St. Peter, York — my sons Nigel, 
 my heir, and Robert [thereto] covenanting. These being witnesses — Ralph 
 de Belveer, Robert de Buci, Thomas de Colville, Richard de Wideville, Roger 
 de Ardan, Sampson Cornwall, Robert, the Chaplain, John, the Archdeacon, 
 Master Mamard, Alan, Canons of York. 
 
 No. 5. 
 Deed of Walter Buheret, touching the same Church of Masham. 
 
 [translation]. 
 Know all men who shall see or hear these letters, that I, Walter Buheret, 
 
532 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 have given and granted, and with my own hand offered, Masham with all 
 things which to the same appertain, in pare and perpetual alms, to hold to 
 God, and the Blessed Peter, and the Canons there serving God, to Roger [to 
 wit] de Albeni, who now holdeth the same as a Prebend, and his successors; 
 and this, by my present deed, I affirm myself to have made before Robert 
 the Dean, and the Chapter of York, and many others ; Thurstin Fitz Malgre, 
 Robert Beler, Everlard de St. Anian, Robert de Bellum, and others — clerks 
 and laymen.* 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Deed of the Archbishop of York, touching the Prebendal Church of Masham. 
 [Bated between A.D. 1191, and a.d. 1193.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Geoffrey, by the grace of God, Archbishop of York and Primate of Eng- 
 land, to all who shall see or hear this deed, greeting. Be it known unto 
 you all, that we, in our Chapter of York, with the common assent and coun- 
 sel of our brethren, have freed and exempted the Churches of the Prebend of 
 Roger de Albini, to wit — the Church of Massham, and the Church of Kirkeby 
 Malezeard, and the Church of Landeford, from all the customs and claims of 
 our Archdeacons and officials ; wherefore, I will and grant, and by this my 
 present deed confirm, that the same churches be as free for ever as other the 
 churches of any Prebends in the Church of York, and that the same Prebend 
 composed of the same churches, be henceforth as free and quit as any the 
 freest Prebend in the Church of York. These being witnesses — H. the Pre- 
 centor, Master Simon de Apulia, Ralph, Archdeacon of York, Geoffrey, 
 Archdeacon of Cleveland, William, Archdeacon of Nottingham, William, 
 Archdeacon of Richmond, Robert Reeve, of Beverley, Stephen [and] Hugh 
 Murdac, William de Bayeux, Adam de Thornore, Richard Gernegen, Reginald 
 Arundel, William de Malmarsh, William de Steind, Canons of York; Mas- 
 ter William de St. Quintin, Ralph de Hampton, Philip, John, and William 
 de Cane, Canons of the Chapel, Henry, clerk of Collum. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Consent of the Archdeacon of Richmond, touching the same. [Date between 
 a.d. 1189, and A.D. 1193.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 To all the sons of Holy Mother Church who shall see or hear these letters, 
 William de Sunelli, Archdeacon of Richmond, greeting. Be it known un- 
 
 * This Grant of Walter de Buhere, was merely a confirmation of a prior grant made by his 
 predecessor in the estate (Roger de Mowbray) to the Church at York. 
 
APPENDIX. 533 
 
 to you all, that I, of my mere will, have absolved and for the advantage and 
 honor of our Church of York, by the common counsel and authority of the 
 whole Chapter of York, have exempted from all service and claim appertain- 
 ing to the Archdeaconry of Richmond, those churches that appertain to the 
 Prebend of Masham, which are within the Archdeaconry of Richmond, of the 
 endowment of Roger de Mowbray, that is to say, the Churches of Masham 
 and Kirkeby [Kirkby Malseard], with all their appurtenances ; wherefore, 
 I will, and by my present deed unalterably confirm, that the aforesaid 
 churches thus remain free and quit from me and my successors, for ever, as 
 well from household [visitations] as from Capitular [charges] and aids, and 
 synodals, and all other claims, as any the freest Prebend in the Church of 
 St. Peter, of York. These being witnesss — Henry, the Dean, Ralph, the 
 Archdeacon, Master Simon, the Chancellor, Geoffrey, Archdeacon of Cleve- 
 land, Robert Reeve, of Beverley, Stephen [and] Hugh Murdac, Adam de 
 Tornoure, Nicholas, son of Hugh, Reginald Arundel, John Norwick, Peter 
 de Dinant, William de Malmarsh, Thomas Fitz Paulin, Canons of York, Mas- 
 ter Miles de Beverley, Peter de Ros, William Fitz Aldan, Alexander the 
 Succenter, Alan de St. Wilfrid, William de Budthum, Arundel the Priest, 
 John Fitz Geoffrey, and many others. 
 
 No. 8. 
 Ordination of the Vicarage of Masham. \_Dated 5th Ajyril, 1278.] 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 To all the faithful in Christ who shall see or hear this writing [William 
 de Langton] the Dean and the Chapter of the Blessed Peter of York, greet- 
 ing in the Lord everlasting. Know ye, that we by the will and assent of 
 Sir Bogo de Clare, Canon of the same Prebend, and our colleague, do and 
 have rated the Vicarage in the Churches of Masham, and of Kirkeby Mala- 
 sard in the prebend of Masham, and other chapels adjoining, in this form, 
 that is to say, that the Vicar of the aforesaid Churches, and his successors for 
 ever, have the whole altarage of the aforesaid churches, the wool and lambs 
 of both parishes altogether excepted ; and except the tithe hay of the parish 
 of Masham only, but the hay of the parish of Kirkeby shall remain to the 
 said Vicar ; and except mortuaries of live beasts of both parishes, which to- 
 gether with all tithes of sheaves of both parishes, and with the land where- 
 from the aforesaid churches are endowed, and with the capital messuage of 
 Massam, shall remain for ever to the aforesaid Canon and his successors. 
 Nevertheless, the Vicar and his successors, shall have that close of Kirkby 
 Malsard, wherein the priests have been accustomed to dwell, and all the re- 
 mainder of the alterage and profits of the churches aforesaid, the Vicar shall 
 have in the name of his Vicarage, with the tithe money, oblations, obventions, 
 and all other tithes in anywise, howsoever, accruing to the said Vicarage, 
 and he shall make personal residence in the same Vicarage, and per- 
 

 534 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 sonally serve the Vicarage, and have with him in the same, three priests 
 at his own cost, and the aforesaid Vicar shall support all the charges 
 which devolve upon the Vicarage. So, nevertheless, that the Canon for this 
 turn shall supply the deficiency of the aforesaid churches in sufficient books, 
 and ornaments ; and to the same Canon and his successors, shall for ever per- 
 tain, the roofing of the chancel. Also, we reserve to ourselves power of in- 
 creasing or diminishing the said Vicarage so often as it may seem to us ex- 
 pedient. In testimony whereof, we have caused our common seal to be af- 
 fixed to the present writing. Given in our Chapter of York, the Nones [5th] 
 of April, in the year of our Lord 1278. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Pope Nicholas' Taxation, taken 19 Edw. L, A.D. 1291. 
 The Prebend of Masham is rated as worth £166 13s. 4.d. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Extract from the Nonce Rolls (being an assessment of the ninth Sheaf, 
 Fleece, and Lamb, to be levied on all Lands whether belonging to the mo- 
 nastic and religious bodies, or laymen in every Parish.) Taken 15 Edw. 
 III., A.D. 1340. 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Masham, 250 marks [£166 13s. 4c?.] The same [assessors] answer of £60 
 for the ninth of the same Parish committed to John Bucktroute, Thomas 
 Forrester, Robert del Bergh, John Frankys, Edward de Stanley, and Wil- 
 liam de Ilketon ; whereof 60s. is for the portion of the Abbey of Fountains, 
 there for the temporalities, &c. And so less than the tax [of the Church in 
 the taxation of Pope Nicholas] because 30 carucates of land lie uncultivated, 
 which, if they were cultivated, the ninth would not be worth £20, and 
 where the Rector was accustomed to receive three sacks of wool worth £15, 
 he doth not receive one sack worth £5, as appeareth by the oath of the men 
 aforesaid. Sum £60. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Extracts from the " Fabric Rolls at York Minster" published by the Sur- 
 tees Society. 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 Certain matters discovered in the visitations of the Cathedral Church of 
 York, and also of the Churches to the same appertaining, within the pro- 
 vince of York. — [Date about A.D. 1414]. 
 
 Masham.— Master William Clynt, vicar, is at the General Council of 
 Constance. The Commissary hath inspected the Choir and Chancel, and 
 they were found sound, and becoming complete, windows of the Choir being 
 
APPENDIX. 535 
 
 in process of building by the Lord Prebendary at bis own proper costs. Sir 
 John Wath, chaplain of Masham, both in the church thereof, and elsewhere, 
 misconducts himself among the parishioners, and frequently haunts common 
 taverns, and at least, for two or three days in the week, is intoxicated, and 
 challenges the parishioners to tight with him. The parochial chaplains of 
 Masham refuse to perform, or celebrate, the obsequies of deceased infants, 
 and poor persons whomsoever, unless they first be satisfied, by the friends and 
 parents, of twopence for every night watch, which they have frequently ex- 
 torted. The chaplains receive at every solemnization of marriage, eight- 
 pence, of the money placed upon the book, contrary to their ancient usages, 
 and the parishioners pray for the imposition of silence on the same chap- 
 lains. — No. Lin., p. 249. 
 
 \_Same heading as above"]. 
 
 Masham. — The Chancel is defective in the ceiling. The guardian of the 
 jurisdiction claims from the executors of these deceased persons who have 
 made wills, one signet ring, when the testator had none, contrary to the an- 
 cient custom. — p. 255. 
 
 [Same heading]. 
 
 Masham. — The ceiling over the Altar in the Chancel is wanting. The 
 Chancel is defective in one beam in the roof, and in glass windows. Three 
 roods of land appertaining to the church of Masham for the maintenance of 
 of one lamp, are withheld by Richard Pygot, Sergeant-at-Law. — p. 259. 
 
 [Same heading]. 
 
 Masham. — The parishioners think they had great wrong, because they 
 wanted a parish priest three quarters of a year. Also the neighbors think 
 they have wrong that they may not have the tithe calves and lambs, but 
 other men without the parish buy them. Also they think they have wrong 
 that if a poor person sell one of the worst calves, they take the best to tithe. 
 Also we desire to know what a servant should pay to tithe for his hire, for 
 as much as 10s. is drawn from poor servants that have but a small wage to 
 find them : it is sore for them to take so much. Also the parsonage, and 
 the houses that belong to it, go down and are unrepaired. Also they com- 
 plain that there is no ceiling over the high altar. Also they think they 
 would have the high mass done in the work-day between 9 and 10 of the 
 clock, and of the Holiday begun at 10 of the clock. — p. 263. 
 
 \_Same heading]. 
 
 Masham. — An ordinance for celebrating divine service in the summer 
 and winter time, in the church of Masham. 
 
 On Saturday, that is to say the 13 th day of August in the year of our 
 Lord 1519, it is appointed that from the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin 
 Mary [25th March] unto the Feast of the Nativity of the same [25th Deer.], 
 the first bell shall be rung for matins at 6 o'clock, and that they commence 
 matins at 7 o'clock. And from the Feast of the Nativity unto the feast of 
 
536 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary, the first bell be rung at half an hour 
 before seven, and they ought to commence matins at half an hour before 
 eight. And for celebrating vespers it is appointed that the first bell be 
 sounded at 1 o'clock, and that they commence vespers at 2 o'clock in winter 
 time ; and in summer time the last bell be rung at 2 o'clock aforesaid, and 
 they commence vespers at 3 o'clock. [This order was made in consequence 
 of a request from the parish]. Also they desire that a fixed time be ap- 
 pointed for celebrating divine service — the parish extending to 5 miles. — 
 P. 269. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Extract from Burner's "Fcedera" vol. vi., p. 126. 
 [translation]. 
 
 36 h' ' 8th i To a11 ' &c •' Tllomas Wriothesley, Knight, of the most noble Order 
 of the Garter, Lord Wriothesley, and Chancellor of England, 
 Greeting in the Lord everlasting. Know ye, that I have granted to my 
 most excellent and invincible Prince and Lord, my Lord Hy. 8th, by the 
 grace of God of England, &c, all those my advowsons, presentations, do- 
 nations, free dispositions, and rights of patronage, of the Prebend of Mas- 
 ham, within the metropolitan church of York, in the county of the city of 
 York, and of the Rectory and parish church of Shillington in the county of 
 Bedford, and the Rectory of the parish church of Great Bowdon in the 
 county of Leicester, &c. 
 
 In testimony whereof, to this my present charter, I have affixed my seal 
 of arms. Given the last day of May in the 27th year of the said Lord the 
 King. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Extracts from Torres 3ISS., preserved in the Library of the Dean and 
 Chapter of York. 
 
 York Minster. — Prebend of Masham. 
 Masham Preb. £136 13s. 9d. 
 
 R. Steph. Roger de Mowbray granted to the Church of St. Peter of 
 York, the Churches of Massam, Kirkby Malesart, and four other Churches. 
 Yet before that, Walter Buhert, with his own hand, offered upon the altar of 
 St. Peter, the Church of Massam, in frankalmoign, to hold the same to God, 
 St. Peter, and the Canons thereof; and to Roger de Albini then holding it 
 for a Prebend, and William de Sunelli, exempted the same from the Arch- 
 deacon's jurisdiction. 
 
 Extent. — According to the old extent of this Prebend of Massam. 
 
 Church. — The Prebendary is Rector of the Church of Massam, which 
 was exempted from all customs and exactions of the Archdeacon. 
 
 Manor. — Hath his manor thereon (which was built of many tenements.) 
 
APPENDIX. 537 
 
 Tenements and Lands. — Also, hath these following tenements which 
 belong to his Prebend, viz : — 
 
 1. — The Lord Hen. le Scrop holds 4 tenements, and 3 oxgangs of land — 
 and another tenement called 
 
 2. — P. B. holds one Tenement — ibid — and another tenement called Ald- 
 burgh-place. — Also one Oxgang of land. 
 
 3. — W. T. holds one tenement, and 8 acres of land. 
 
 4. — A. B. holds one tenement, and 7 acres of land. 
 
 5. — J. B. holds two tenements and 1 oxgang, and 7 acres of land, and one 
 tenement, within the Prebendal manor. 
 
 6. — J. W. holds 2 tenements, 2 oxgangs, and 3 roods of land. 
 
 7. — O. H. holds one tenement, and 3 acres of land. 
 
 8. — Moreover, there are two tenements there called Hackford-place, and 
 
 6 other tenements, with their gardens ; and one acre in the N fields, upon 
 
 Elyngton-gate, and § an acre in le Sorcrofte ; and \ an acre in les Lofebultes. 
 
 Jurisdiction. — The Prebendary hath jurisdiction of all and singular the 
 sojourners and inhabitants of the same town of Masham. 
 
 Sutton. — It. — The Prebendary hath dominion and all manner of juris- 
 diction of 2 tenements, and a close containing 4 acres in Sutton. 
 
 Elyngton. — It. — The Prebend hath in Elyngton, dominion and jurisdic- 
 tion of three tenements, and three acres of land. 
 
 Wandsworth. — It. — It. — The Prebendary hath in Wandsworth, all 
 kind of jurisdiction of one close at the end of the town, and of all other the 
 inhabitants of the said town. 
 
 Fetherby. — It. — The Prebendary hath in Fetherby [Fearby], dominion 
 and all manner of jurisdiction, and 7 tenements, 3 oxgangs, and \ acre of 
 land. 
 
 Elyngthangs. — It. — The Prebendary hath in Elynthangs, dominion 
 and jurisdiction of all the inhabitants thereof, and one tenement with \ an 
 acre of land. 
 
 Burton Super. — It. — The Prebendary hath in Upper Burton, dominion 
 and jurisdiction of all tenants and inhabitants therein, and 2 tenements, and 
 f an acre of land. 
 
 Major and Minor. — And jurisdiction of those of Burton's. 
 
 Aldburgh. — It. — The Prebendary hath dominion and jurisdiction of all 
 the tenants and lands which the Abbot of Fountains holds of him in Ald- 
 burgh, *. e. — Aldburgh- grange and North Cote. 
 
 Ilton. — It. — The Prebendary hath dominion and jurisdiction of all ten- 
 ants and inhabitants in Ilton, and 3 tenements, and one oxgang of land, ibid. 
 
 It. — The Prebendary hath jurisdiction of all these places and towns fol- 
 lowing, viz : — Slapewath, Sowremire, Pickerisgill, Leghton, and Leghton 
 with the Vaccary and Grange of Pott, belonging to the Abbot of Fountains 
 ■ — Helagh, with Helagh Cotts, Elington Upper, Nether Swynton, Wardes- 
 marke— a mansion at Biggante. 
 
 KlRKEBY MALESABD. 
 
 It. — The Prebendary of Masham, is Rector of the Church of Kirkby Mal- 
 
 00 
 
538 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 sard, which (together with Massam), was exempted from all customs and ex- 
 actions of the Archdeacon and his officials, by Sewell, Archbishop of York, 
 and the Chapter of the same. 
 
 Dominion. — Jurisdiction. — Also, hath dominion and jurisdiction of all 
 the tenants and inhabitants of the same town. 
 
 Tenements and Lands. — And 2 free tenements, with their crofts, and 
 1 acre and 3 roods of land. 
 
 Bond. — Also, there are held of him, by tenants in bondage, 4 tenements, 
 4 oxgangs of land, and 7 cottages. 
 
 Moreover, there are in the Parish of Kirkby Maleshard, these subsequent 
 towns, hamlets, granges, and places, which pertain to the jurisdiction of this 
 Prebend of Massam, viz : — the towns of Azerlawe [Azerley], Thorpe 
 [Grewelthorpe], Wykelhaw, Wraythwayte, Langell, Laverton, the Hamlets 
 of Wyfose, Katesmore [Ketsmoor], Sweton, Carleton Dale, and Dale Bonhous, 
 the Granges of Galghow [Galphay], Wyggyngs, Bramle, and divers places 
 and Granges, within Nidderdale, * viz : — Angram, "Westhouse, Loge [Lodge], 
 Sykeshouse, Hackenker [Heathen-Car], Woldale, Newhouscs, Lymb [Lim- 
 ley], Trop, Middlesmore, Steane, Stodfolde, Lofthouse, Morehouse de Steane, 
 Brathwayte [Bouthwaite,] Ramesgill, Ragil house, Calf hull house [Calval- 
 house,] Goldethwayte [Gowthwaite,] Sixford [Sigs worth], Irfeld, Effald, 
 and one part of He with, Wynnesley [Winsle], Brunsle. 
 
 11 Kalend Junii, A.D. 1295. 
 
 The Prebend of Massam being then vacant, the P. [Pope] by his 
 apostolical authority, constituted out of it 3 Prebends, every of them to be of 
 equal value, viz : — to consist of £50 sterling, per annum. And of the resi- 
 due of the profits thereof, while it was entire to be totally assigned to the 
 common use of the chapter. 
 
 1. — And collated the first Prebend on Robert de Lascy, his clerk. 
 
 2. — The 2nd, on Theobald, kinsman to the noble Earl of Ban*. 
 
 3. — And the 3rd, on Boniface de Salucis, his clerk. 
 
 The old taxation of this Prebend of Massam, was £250, and the new tax- 
 ation £120. 
 
 3 July, 28 Hen. VIII. 
 Thomas Bedyill, clerk, Preb. of Massam, demised unto John Foswyck, 
 Esq., treasurer, of the first fruits and tenths for the term of 50 years, all that 
 his Prebend of Massam, with all the houses, lands, tythes, obventions to it 
 belonging, with the Parsonage of Langforde (except the Mansion-place 
 within the City of York), rendering per ann. rent £136 13s. 4.d. 
 
 Churches Peculiar.— Massam Church of St. Mary. 
 
 Land. — In the town of Massam and Little Burton, were 22 carucates of 
 land, which answered for one Knight's fee. 
 
 * Mr. Grainge, in his History of Nidderdale, p. 169, says, that the places in Nidderdale here men- 
 tioned, are thus enumerated in an account previous to 1296, 
 
APPENDIX. 539 
 
 Also there are 6 carucates, all which excepting 2 oxgangs held in Frank- 
 almoign by the Knights' Templars, were held by John de Watton [Wauton], 
 who held the same of Roger de Mowbray, and he of John de Brittannia, as 
 he of the King in Capite. — Walter Buheret offered the church of Massam, in 
 frankalmoign to God and St. Peter of York, and to Roger de Albini and his 
 successors, Prebendaries thereof. 
 
 K. Steph. fo. 59. 
 
 Church. — Roger de Mowbray granted to the church of St. Peter of 
 York, this church of Massam, which became a Prebend therein from that time 
 and was exempted from all archdeaconal customs and exactions : so the Pre- 
 bend of Massam is Rector of the church thereof; having there his manor, 
 many tenements, and about 10 oxgangs of land (4 tenements and 3 oxgangs 
 whereof were held by the Lord Scrope, of Massam, over which the Prebend- 
 ary hath all spiritual jurisdiction). 
 
 Geffrey le Scrope procured a charter for free-warren in all his demesne 
 lands at Massam, as also a Wednesday-market there, and two fairs yearly ; 
 one on the eve and day of St. Barnaby the Apostle, and the eve and day of 
 our Lady's Assumption. 
 
 The Prebendary of Massam has jurisdiction in all these towns and 
 places, viz : — Towns — Sutton, Elyngton, upper and nether, Wandesworth, 
 Fetherby, Elyngstring, Burton, major and minor, Aldburgh, North Cot, 
 Ilton, Slapewath, Sowremyre, Pickerisgill, Leghton, Leghton with the 
 Vaccary and Grange of Pott, belonging to the Abbot of Fountains, Helagh 
 with Helagh Cotts, Swynton, Wardesmarke, Biggente Mansion. 
 
 The Vicarage of Masham is valued in the King's Books, viz : — 
 
 First Fruits £46 6 8 
 
 Tenths 4 13 4 
 
 Subsidies 4 4 
 
 13th Nov, | John Baldersby, Vicar of Massam and Kirkby Malshard, 
 A.D. 1448. j made his will (proved 25th Nov. 1448), giving his soul to God 
 Almighty, St. Mary, and all saints, and his body to be buried in the church 
 of St. Andrew, of Kirkby Malesart. 
 
 24th Nov. ) John Montfort, Vicar of Massam and Kirkby Malesart, 
 A.D. 1498. j made his will (proved 21st Jany. a.d. 1499), commending his 
 soul to God almighty, St. Mary, and all saints, and his body to be buried in 
 the quire of the church of Kirkby Malesart. 
 
 MlDDLESMOOR CHAPEL. 
 
 15th Nov. 1484. 
 This Composition and Concord was made between the Prebendary 
 of Massam, and Vicar of Kirkby Malsard, of the one part, and the inhabi- 
 tants of the town of Middlesmoor, in Nidderdale, on the other part, viz : — 
 That the said inhabitants of the town of Middlesmoor, have therein one 
 
540 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 chapel, in which they were wont to hear divine service celebrated by stipend- 
 iary chaplain of their own, and also to have the sacraments administered to 
 them by license of the Vicar, and now desire to have the said chapel and 
 chapel yard consecrated, that they might bury therein, and have baptisms 
 and marriages solemnized. 
 
 Wherefore, they promised for themselves and successors, inhabitants 
 thereof, to pay all the tithes due, as well to the Prebendary, as to the Vi- 
 car of Kirkby (in which parish it is), and will likewise observe all customs 
 heretofore used, and also contribute towards the repairs and other burdens 
 of the mother church of Kirkby. 
 
 On loth Nov. a.d, 1484. 
 
 Obtained the Archbishop's Commission directed to "William, Bishop of 
 Dromore, to consecrate the said chapel and chapel yard.* 
 
 And on the 16th Novbr. 1484, the said Indenture of Covenant was con- 
 firmed by Thomas, Archbishop of York, accordingly. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Extracts from Dodsworth's MSS., preserved in the Bodleian Library, at 
 Oxford, No. 5101, Vol. 160,/o. 268. 
 
 Masham Church, 19th October, 1622. Choir.— East Window. 
 
 [translation.] 
 
 " Pray for Sir John Stacy, Prebendary of the Prebend of Masham." 
 Buiided by \ i n the north choir a fair new monument with the portraitures 
 his lifetime, j of a man and his wife — beneath six sons armed, and two 
 daughters kneeling. 
 
 Quarterlys : — First : gules, three chevrons embraced, vair, a chief or. 
 Second : Sable, three pickaxes, argent, a crescent-moon, or. Third : Azure, 
 chief dancette, or. Fourth : Azure, a bend, or, with a file argent ; paled 
 with azure, a bend or, with a crescent-moon, argent. The same paled with 
 Danby. 
 
 [Inscription translated as under.] 
 
 "Here lieth Sir Marmaduke Wyvell, Knight, the first baronet of 
 his name, son and heir of Christopher, by Margaret, daughter of John 
 Scrope. Christopher was son and heir of Marmaduke, and Agnes one of the 
 five sisters and co-heiresses of John, son and heir of Sir Ralph Fitz Randall, 
 Knight, and Elizabeth one of the three sisters and co-heiresses of Ralph Lord 
 Scrope, of Masham ; Marmaduke was the son and heir of Robert, son and 
 heir of Robert and Joan, daughter and heir of John Pigot. 
 
 In the year of our Lord 1613, when this monument was erected, Marma- 
 duke by Magdalen, daughter of Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, had six sons 
 and two daughters living. His then heir apparent was Christopher Mar- 
 maduke, son of Christopher. — Barbara the only begotten daughter of Mar- 
 maduke. 
 
 * " loth Nov. 1484, a Commission was issued to William, Bishop of Dromore, to consecrate 
 Capellam et Cimiterium in valle de Mijdlemore infra circuitum de Nidderdale."— Fabric Rolls of York 
 Minster, p. 241, Surtees Society. 
 
APPENDIX. 541 
 
 He lived till the age of 76 years, and died in the year of his only 
 Redeemer (to whom he all glory and hlessing) 1617, and on the 9th day of 
 the month of January. 
 
 The names of his sons were Christopher Marmaduke, Humphrey, Francis 
 parson of Spennithorne, William a lawyer, John, Elizabeth, wife of Christo- 
 pher Phillipson, of [Galgarth] Westmoreland, Mary, wife of [Thomas] 
 Percehay, of Riton, widow of Francis Briggs of Malton. 
 
 KiRKBY MALASARD CHURCH. — NORTH WINDOW. 
 
 Argent, on a fesse, entre, two cotises, gules, three Ostrich feathers of the 
 first. 
 
 South Window. 
 
 Argent, three chevrons embraced on a chief of [or], the two molletts, 
 of the first. Azure, a bend or, a file argent. 
 
 North Window. 
 
 [translation]. 
 
 " Pray for the soul of Wm. Baynare, chaplain, who caused this window 
 to be made." 
 
 Note. — That Kirkby Malasard and Masham, are two several parish 
 churches, yet but one parsonage and one vicarage. Some time they were a 
 Prebend of York, and dissolved by Hen. VIII., when he founded Trinity 
 College, in Cambridge, and gave them to the same, who are now patrons. 
 
 No. 15. 
 Extracts from the Records at Lambeth Palace. 
 Endowments of Vicarages, Vol. 2. York Diocese. 
 Marsham Vicarage, and Kirkby Malzeard Vicarage — endowment of 
 United Vicarages belonging to the Prebend of Marsham, Nones [oth] April, 
 1278, in Register of dean and chapter of York. 
 
 Chester Diocese. 
 
 Massam and Kirkby Malesard Vicarage — endowment of Vicarage, Kal- 
 ends of April, 1278. — Acts of Chapter, marked L, p. 67. — Register of Leases 
 marked T. b. p. 93. Do. marked T. c. p. 48. Acts of Chapter marked X. a. p. 
 18 (York Registry). 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 Parliamentary Surveys, Vol. 18, p. 130. 
 
 At the Sitting held at Knaresborough the twenty-eighth day of 
 May, in the year of our Lord, 1650, by virtue of a Commission for enquiry 
 of church livings, before Sir Robert Barwick, Knight, Colonel Charles Fair- 
 fax, Esq., Henry Arthington, Thomas Stockdale, Thomas Dickenson, George 
 Marwood, Sampson Staveley, and John Stanhope, Esqres., Commissioners, 
 who upon their enquiry find as followeth : — 
 
542 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 KlRKBYE MALZARD. 
 
 "We find Kirkbye Malzard a parish, and extends to these towns and 
 villages,' namely, Kirkbye Malzard, Azerley, Grewelthorpe, Larton cum 
 Missis, Hartwy tch cnm Wynsley, Langley, Brastonewood, Dallowgill, Stayne- 
 bcck-up, Carlesmoore, Staynebeck-down, Kettsmoore, Fountaynes Earth. 
 
 It is a Vicarage presentative with cure of souls, and the cure at Kirkbye 
 Malzard, supplied by Mr. Christopher Lancaster, preaching minister, whose 
 maintenance arising out of the said parish, is only certain small tithes and 
 duties not worth above £40 per annum. 
 
 There is only one chapel in that parish called Middlesmore chapel, which 
 is supplied by Mr. John Cooper, who hath no other maintenance but what 
 the people doth give him. We find that the tithe of the said parish are ap- 
 propriated and granted to Trinity College, whose farmers do receive the pro- 
 fits. We conceive it necessary that besides the said church of Kirkbye Mal- 
 zard, and the chapel of Middlesmore, there be one church erected more for 
 the said towns of Brinham, Hartwith,* Winsley, and Brayston Wood, these 
 places being far remote both from the said church and chapel, and fit to be a 
 distinct parish from Kirkby Malzard. — Page 158. 
 
 Extracts taken from the Act Books belonging to the Ecclesiastical or Peculiar 
 Court of Massani, from the year 1583 to the year 1641, containing the 
 Presentments ichich were made in the Ecclesiastical Court there. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church, on the lQth July 1583, before Edward 
 Eaivcett, Official. 
 
 Lawrence Johnson, of Healey, that he begott a child in fornication with 
 Jane Buckle six years ago, and hath, as yet, escaped without punishment for 
 the same. — The Judge ordered him to do penance. 
 
 Ellen Metcalf, for fornication with Richard Chambers. — Condemned to do 
 penance. 
 
 John Walker, for that he harboured a woman with child, who was deliv- 
 ered of the said child in his house, and after the delivery thereof, did convey 
 or suffer her to go away before she had done penance for the same. They 
 know not the woman's name, nor from whence she came. 
 
 Ann Johnson, of Fearbi, for that she harboured a woman called Marga- 
 ret Slater, being with child, and delivered of the said child, in the house of 
 the said Ann Johnson, and hath gone away without penance doing for the 
 same . — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Ward, for that he harboured in his house, one Margaret Wyche, 
 who was delivered of a child in his house, and went away without penance 
 doing. 
 
 * This recommendation does not appear to have been attended to, as it was not till the year 
 1751, that a chapel was built at Hartwith. It was built by the subscription of landowners and 
 tenants, and was consecrated 7th August, 1751. It was enlarged in 1830, at the expense of the 
 landowners aided by a grant of £230 from the Church Building Society. The chapel yard was en- 
 larged and consecrated in 1827. The annual value of the living is £116. 
 
APPENDIX. 543 
 
 "William Ward, for that he harboured another woman in his house called 
 Isabel Hally well with base child in the house of the said Warde ; and went 
 ^,way without penance doing for the same. 
 
 Margaret Wiches, for fornication with Richard Burton, of Ingerthorpe, 
 near Ripon. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Teasdale, and Ann Servant, for fornication. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Dorothy Broadwith, for that she is from her husband. 
 
 Isabelle Hallywell, for fornication with Wm. Ward. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Jane Hawkins, and Jo. Jackson, for fornication. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Margaret Crosbie, for fornication. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Margaret Glewe, for fornication. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held the 31st July, 1584, in Masham Church. — 
 
 The Churchwardens of Kirkby Malzeard, and Cornelius Wells, clerk, 
 Vicar of the same, for that their vicaredge is in decaie in the defoulte of the 
 said Mr. Wells, and their queare is in decaie and not cleanlie kept, and not 
 repayred in default as before. — Deferred. 
 
 At a Court held the 6th October, 1587. — 
 William Williamson, of Ellingstring, for that he committed fornication 
 with Ann Askwith, and hath gotten a child in fornication with her. — He 
 confessed the charge, and was ordered to do penance. 
 
 At a Court held the 5th December, 1587. — 
 Thomas Pratt, of Healey, and Matilda Crawland, of Massam, for fornica- 
 cation with each other. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Horseman, of Massam, and Helena Wright, of Cowling, for for- 
 nication together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held the 31st 31arch, 1589. — 
 
 Thomas Punder, of Ellingstring, and Dorothy Teasdale, for fornication. 
 
 Peter Mylner, William Wray, and Richard Hanley, for that they refuse 
 to pay their sessments to the church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Richard Pickersgill, of Hilton, for that he keepeth apedder [pedler's] wife 
 in his house, very suspitiously to the offence of his neighbours. 
 
 At a Court held the 10th Feb. 1591.— 
 William Atkinson, Milner [Miller], and his wife, for fornication together 
 before marriage. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held the 12th Oct. 1592, at Masham Church. — 
 
 Henry Chatter, and Matilda Crawland, for fornication together. — Excom- 
 municated the man. 
 
 Thomas Smorthwaite, and Elizabeth Cusse, for fornication. 
 
 Nicholas Pickersgill, of Ilton, for that he keepeth a pedder wife in his 
 house very suspiciously, to the great offence of his neighbours, and was en- 
 joyned to put her away, and never to come in her company again, either in 
 
544 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 church or market ; and yet he keepeth her still in his house, &c. — to the 
 great danger of his own soul. 
 
 At a Court held the 2,2nd of April, 1594. — • 
 
 John Horseman, of Stonefold, near Healey, for there was a young woman 
 
 brought from , who had a child in his house begotten in fornication by 
 
 Christopher Horseman, now deceased. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Anthony Beckwith, of Nutwith Cote, for that a proper young woman was 
 brought to his house, and there bare a child begotten in fornication, and he 
 hath suffered her to depart unpunished. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Masham Church, 16 July, 1601. 
 Matthew Sraorthit, of Healey, and Ellen Pickersgill, for fornication 
 before marriage. 
 
 At a Court held in Masham Church before the Rev. Gilbert Horseman, on 
 the 8th April, 1618. 
 
 Robert Watson, presented for adultery or fornication with Mary Gregg. 
 
 Robert Ponder, presented for committing the crime of adultery with 
 
 Fyshwick. 
 
 "William King, presented for adultery or fornication with Anne Pattison. 
 — He confesseth it. 
 
 Isabel Danby, wife of Christopher Danby, Gen., Constance Beckwyth, 
 wife of Richard Beckwith, John Smerthwaite, Thomas Walker, Katherine 
 Norton, wift of Robert Norton, Gen., Ellen and Elizabeth Norton, Christ'r 
 Reyner, Senr., Christ'r Theakston, Christopher Watson, Margaret Smyth 
 the wife of John Smith, Dorothy Brunton, Edward Brunton, Richard At- 
 kinson and Agnes his wife, Margaret Atkinson widow, and Marmaduke Atkin- 
 son her son, Lambert Wade, Richard Lucas and his wife, Agnes, wife of Anth'y 
 Crosbye, Elizabeth, wife of William Kinge, Frances, * the wife of Christopher 
 Danbye, of Leighton, Esq., John Carter, Lucy Jackson, widow, Marmaduke 
 Wintersgill, and Janet his wife, and son, John Gleadston, Thomas Jackson, 
 sen., and Ann his wife, William Cowper, Janet Jackson, widow, Robert f 
 Wivel, gent., and Alice, his wife, Luna [or Lucy], Wyvil, widow, Cuthbert 
 Wivell, and Elizabeth, his wife, John Win, Mary Redil, Thomas Spence, 
 and Luna [or Lucy], his wife, Julia, wife of Christ'r Beckwith, Ann Hodg- 
 son, widow, and Ralph Wildman, presented for Recusants, and for standing 
 excommunicate in not appearing to answer their Recusancy. 
 
 Jane Wivel, % presented for harbouring many papistical Recusants § 
 resorting to her house. 
 
 * She was the daughter of Edward Parker, Lord Morley, and the wife of Christopher Danby, 
 Esq., Lord of Mashamshire. — See ante p. 268. 
 
 t Robert Wyvill was the sixth son of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Bart., by Magdalen daughter 
 of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt. 
 
 t She was the widow of Christopher Wyvill. 
 
 § At the Reformation those were deemed Recusants who disputed the authority of the Crown 
 in causes Ecclesiastical, and denied the King's supremacy : but the Acts of Parliament made 
 against Recusants, particularly the 35 Eliz., describe a Recusant to be " one who does not repair 
 to some church or chapel or usual place of common prayer to hear divine services." Afterwards, 
 receiving the Sacrament of the Church was made a further test of conformity. 
 
APPENDIX. 545 
 
 William Theakston, for not receiving the holy communion ; and also, for 
 that they buried Catherine Langdale, and Jane her daughter, being excom- 
 municate Recusants, at the time of their death in the churchyard of Masham. 
 
 At a Court held at York Cathedral before Thomas Corney, the 29th July, 
 1618. 
 Edward Bovell of Massam, presented for that he was married with Mar- 
 garet Foster without Banns asking, and as is thought in a private house.* 
 
 At a Court held the 1st April, 1619. 
 
 William Dodgeson, William Kinge, Richard Horner, and Christopher 
 Williamson, churchwardens, for that there is wanting in the church a Pulpit 
 cloth, a cushion for the Pulpit, the Book of Constitutions [canons] and the 
 Book of Bishop Jewell. 
 
 Henry Pickard, for teaching a Schoole at Massam not knowne to be 
 licensed. f 
 
 Simon Lambert, for teaching at Ilton, not knowne to be licensed. 
 
 Edward Sanderson and Maria Lleadley, for fornication together. 
 
 Thomas Smurthwaite, and Katherine Wilson, presented for the crime of 
 fornication together. 
 
 Samuel Pinder, and A. . . . Teasdell, presented for committing the crime 
 of fornication before marriage. 
 
 Peter Spooner and Dorothy Applebye, for committing the crime of for- 
 nication together. 
 
 At a Court held before John Lawrence, 2 Sepr., 1619. 
 
 Henry Chatter, William Theakston, Christopher Renyer, Christopher 
 Clarke, John Awton senr., Richard Hodgson, Christopher of S win- 
 ton, for not paying their 'Sessments for bread and wine [church-rate]. 
 
 John Beckwith of Massam, for not paying his 'sessment of 6d. in the 
 pound, and for taking upon him to bury his mother, being a Recusant, and 
 dying excommunicate. 
 
 Robert Greaveson, for not paying his 'sessment for bread and wine, 4d. 
 
 Charter, widow, for the like. 
 
 Majery Tailor, for having a child begotten in fornication, by Christopher 
 Wilson. 
 
 Elizabeth Rainton, for having a child begotten in fornication by John 
 Cross, and late the miller of Burton milne. 
 
 Thomas Mankin and his wife, for fornication before marriage. 
 
 John Theakston, of Ellingstring, senr., forbidding the churchwardens do 
 their worst against him — being wished to go into the church. 
 
 William Casse, for keeping his hat on in communion time. 
 
 * The offence here indicated was that they had been married by a Roman Catholic priest. 
 
 t By the 77th Canon, no man shall teach a school but such as shall be licensed by "..the Bishop 
 of the Diocese or Ordinary of the place ; and this is also enjoined by the Statutes 23 Eliz., cap. 1, 
 the 13 and 14 Charles II. , cap. 4 — the latter of which also requires that every schoolmaster shall 
 make a declaration that he will conform to the Liturgy of the Church of England. Even at this 
 day the churchwardens are called upon every year to state whether there are any persons teach- 
 ing schools within their respective parishes who have not been licensed. 
 
 PP 
 
546 MASHAM AND MASHAMSIURE. 
 
 At a Court held at York Cathedral before Thomas Corney, the 2%th 
 Sep. 1619. 
 
 Thomas Johnson and Ann Ringer, for committing- the crime of fornica- 
 tion together. 
 
 Thomas Jaques of Swinton, and Catharine Beckwith — the like. 
 
 Christopher Wilson of Masham, for committing fornication with Ann his 
 now wife before their marriage. 
 
 At a Court held the Uth Feb. 1620. 
 
 Thomas Theakston and Ann Ringer, for adultery or fornication together. 
 
 At a Court held in the Church of Kirkby 31alzeard. on the 5th Sep- 
 tember, 1621. 
 
 Thomas Salywicke, "William John Winne, and John Kirkby, for not 
 receiving the holy communion, and for that they are Recusants. 
 
 Thomas Kinge, for not living with his wife. 
 
 John Smithson, for that he was married forth [out] of his own parish 
 church. 
 
 Francis Lofthouse and Margaret his wife, for the like. 
 
 Edward Wintersgill of Fearby, for getting of a child in fornication, with 
 Dorothy Pattison. 
 
 George Bawker and Janet Harrison, for committing of fornication 
 together. 
 
 Marrnaduke Walker and Elizabeth Walker, for the like. 
 
 William Theakston for burying of Christopher Theakston, a Recusant 
 and excommunicate, in the night time. 
 
 Henry Teasdale and Jane his present wife, for committing fornication 
 together before their marriage. 
 
 William Dodgson and Jane his wife, for the like. 
 
 Note. — Win. Dodgson confessed " that he committed the crime aforesaid 
 on the said Jane, afore their marriage." — The Judge " did enjoy ne that they 
 should acknowledge their faults before the minister and churchwardens, and 
 to pay 6s. to the repairs of Burnebridge." 
 
 Richard Atkinson, of Ash-head, for that six or seven of his children were 
 baptized they know not where, but as he saith some of them in Netherdale, 
 and some of them in Masham parish. 
 
 At a Court held in York Cathedral before Thomas Coney, on the 9th Sep- 
 tember, 1622. 
 
 Richard Horner and Ellen Lonsdale, alias Horner his wife, for having 
 a child begotten in adultery or fornication before their marriage. 
 
 At a Court held in Ifassam Church 16 Dec. 1623. 
 
 William Welfoote and Anne Johnson, for fornication together. — Excom- 
 municated. 
 
 Henry Lowson of Fearby, and Jane Baine, for the like. — Excommu- 
 nicated. 
 
APPENDIX. 547 
 
 Christopher Ringer and Jane Dodgson, for fornication together before 
 they were married. 
 
 John Grainge of Healey, and Ann Pinder, alias Grainge his reputed wife, 
 being married without their parish church, and for fornication together. — 
 Excommunicated. 
 
 Robert Jackson and Ellen Batty, alias Jackson his reputed wife, for the 
 like. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Teasdell, Richard Beckwith, William Gray, Anthony Horsman, 
 Christopher Thwaite, William Horsman the elder, Henry Browne, Janetta 
 Walker widow, William Mawer, Henry Taylor gent., Henry Chater, Wil- 
 liam Gregg, Christopher Gregg, and Marmaduke Beckwith, for not paying 
 their 'sessments to the church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Walker of the Coate, and Leonora Plewes of Massam, for fornica- 
 tion together. 
 
 Richard Horner and Ellen Langdale, for fornication before marriage. 
 
 Isabella Danby, wife of Christopher Danby, Margery Watson widow, 
 Thomas Walker, Stephen Wintersgill, and Catherine his wife, Elizabeth 
 Wilson, Alice Peake, and Ralph Norton of Massam, Popish Recusants. — 
 Excommunicated. 
 
 John Scott and Dorothy Lucas, for being present at the burial of Ralph 
 Lucas, an excommunicate person and a Recusant. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thompson, * of Skelfeyyeate, suspected to be a Popish Priest. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 John Grainge, for having a child christened with a Popish Priest called 
 Thompson.* — Excommunicated. 
 
 Robert Dawson, Christopher Ellerker, gent., and Jo. Hawkeswell, church- 
 wardens, for not appearing at the visitation. 
 
 Simon Awton and Dorothy Jackson, for fornication together. 
 
 Stephen Wintersgill of Massam, blacksmith, and Catherine his wife, 
 
 John Smithson of Swinton, Webster [Weaver], and Eleanor his wife, Jo. 
 
 Dawson of the same place, husbandman, and Mary his wife, Anna the wife 
 
 of Jo. Slater of the same place, husbandman, Thomas Gowland of the same 
 
 place, Webster and his wife, Agnes Clerk wife of Jo. Clerke, labourer, Jo. 
 
 Ward of the same place, husbandman, Frances Smith widow, Christopher 
 
 Watson of Swinton, Jo. Jackson of High Ellington, yeoman, and Jane his 
 
 wife, George Braithwaite and Ann his wife, Anthony Lofthouse and Dorothy 
 
 his wife, Baine widow, and Ann her daughter, Jo. Burrill and his wife, 
 
 Maria wife of Peter Hanley, Tho. Hambleton and his wife, and Matthew 
 
 his son, Ralph King and Margaret his wife the wife of William King, 
 
 Robert Jackson and Ellen his wife, Christopher Johnson of Fearby, Eliz. 
 
 the wife of William Bower, Margaret Lowson widow, Jo. Lowson and Anna 
 
 his wife, Thomas Mallersonhall and Edith his wife, Marmaduke Kirkeby 
 
 * If this is the same person as is mentioned by Bishop Chaloner in his Memoirs of the Mis- 
 sionary priests under the name of John Tompson, he was born in Mdderdale, and afterwards be- 
 came a Seminary priest. In the year 1651, he was apprehended at Malton on that charge, was 
 placed in the Stocks there and afterwards sent to York Castle, where he was tried and convicted, 
 but died before his execution. — See Eaine's Depositions from York Castle, page 47. 
 
548 MASHAM AND MASIIAMSHIRE. 
 
 and Anne his wife, Margaret the wife of Sampson Horseman, Elizabeth 
 Baker, Recusants. 
 
 William Ripley, for teaching children in his house without a licence. 
 
 Christopher Done and Anne Red, for having a child in fornication 
 together. 
 
 Robert Tennant and Dorothy Tilford, for the like. 
 
 Robert Cowper and Lucy Baine, his wife, for fornication before marriage. 
 
 William Missy and his wife, for the like. 
 
 Thomas Scrowthorpe, for working npon the sabbath-day. 
 
 Thomas Walker and Francis Walker, for burying Michael Walker, an 
 excommunicate person. 
 
 Robert Armistead, Mallory Normanville, and Lancelot Walton, junr., for 
 burying of Dorothy Armistead, an excommunicate person. 
 
 William Talbot [of Kirkby Malzeard parish], for harbouring a Popish 
 priest in bis house to say mass there. 
 
 Henry Duffield [of Kirkby Malzeard parish], for having Mass done in his 
 house as is reported. 
 
 The same Henry Duffield, for having a child christened forth [out] of his 
 parish church, and not knowne where. 
 
 Thomas Bird, for having superstitious crossings with towells at the burial 
 of one of his children. 
 
 Jo. Wiseman, for the like when his wife was buried. 
 
 William Dawson, Christopher Hanson, and Henry Duffield, for not pay- 
 ing their 'cessments [church rates]. 
 
 Catherine the wife of Leonard Lcathley, Ann Richmond widow, Mar- 
 garet Huille, Thomas Metcalfe, Thomas Walker, Junr. and Margaret his 
 wife, Francis Atkinson, Ann the wife of Robert Fleetham, Margaret Winn, 
 Ralph Burnett, Ann Smith widow, Margaret Rayner widow, Janetta the 
 wife of Anthony Malthse, Jo. Waite and his wife, Marmaduke Blackburn 
 and Ann his daughter, Francis Beckwith and Janetta his wife, Gilbert 
 Beckwith, Christopher Smyth, Catherine Heslington, George Theakston, 
 Isabella the wife of Gilbert Theakston, William Talbott, Stephen Talbott 
 and Margaret his reputed wife, Geoffrey East and Margaret Burneston his 
 servants, Bridgett Armistead, Elizh. Wells, Margaret the wife of Thomas 
 Birde, Stephen Fawcett, Elizh. his wife, Margaret the wife of William Gil- 
 dar, Ann the wife of William Marshall, Gilbert Smith and Ann his wife, 
 Henry Duffield and his wife, Dorothy Duffield widow, Ann the wife of 
 Nicholas Beckwith, Robert Armistead, George Kirkby, Alice the wife of 
 William Abbott, Ann Braithwaite, Dorothy the wife of Leonard Beckwith, 
 Dorothy the wife of George Smith, Gilbert Atkinson and Margaret his 
 wife, Barbara Foster, Margaret the wife of Thomas Lambe, Maria Reed, 
 Elizh. Bell, Alice Ella. the wife of Lancelot Edon, Popish Recusants. 
 
 At a Court held on the \4Ah July, 1624. 
 
 John Carling of Healey, and Ann Grain ge, alias Pinder his reputed wife, 
 Robert Jackson of litem, and Ellen Batty, alias Jackson, his reputed wife, 
 
APPENDIX. 549 
 
 for being married clandestinely without licence or banns asking forth of 
 their Parish Church. 
 
 John Carter and Ann Atkinson, his reputed wife, and Christopher Beck- 
 with of Nutwith Cote, and Smyth his reputed wife, for the like. 
 
 At a Court held before Gilbert Horsman \d>th Aug. 1624. 
 
 John Scowthorpe of Oldfield, and Ann Beckwith, alias Scowthorpe, of 
 Nutwith Cote, his reputed wife, being married without licence or banns ask- 
 ing, not known where. 
 
 Christopher Beckwith of the same place, and Ann Smyth, alias Beckwith, 
 being married in a priest's house without their parish church without licence 
 or banns asking, 
 
 J. Barker and Ann Atkinson, his reputed wife, for the like. 
 
 Gilbert Atkinson and Christoper Smith, "for bragging or boasting that 
 they would have a popish priest at their house, and if Mr. Horsman [the 
 Vicar], came thither at that time, he should have hott service." 
 
 Ann Pinger, for having a child begotten in fornication. 
 
 Ann Morriss, for the like. 
 
 Lucy Plcwes of Ellington, for the like. 
 
 Christopher Pinder of Swinton, for harbouring of Ann Pinger, who have 
 together at his house begotten a child in fornication. 
 
 Mary Norris, for harbouring Ann Norris, for the like. 
 
 At a Court held at the Church of Kirkhy Maheard 3Qlh Aug. 1624. 
 
 Stephen Wintersgill and Catherine his wife, for not receiving the holy 
 communion at Easter was twelve months. 
 
 Edward Buckshaw and Ann his wife, of Masham, for not living together. 
 
 Edward Johnson of Massam, for living suspiciously, and committing 
 adultery with Ann Spark, his woman servant. 
 
 Edward Johnson for vain swearing. 
 
 Ann Hodgson, wife of Richard Hodgson of Swinton, for brawling and 
 scolding. 
 
 Eliz. the wife of Richard Cleveland, of Massam, and Ellen the wife of 
 Christ. Moore, of Healey, for brawling and scolding. 
 
 Robt. Theakston of Healey, for not bringing his children to the church 
 to be christened. 
 
 Soloman Adamson of Swinton and Margaret his wife, Jo. Ward of the 
 same place, John Smith, John Gierke and his wife of the same place, Wil- 
 liam Theakston and his wife of the same place, Thomas Madderson and 
 Ann his wife, John Jackson of Sourmire and his wife, Elizabeth the wife 
 of William Baker of Wardermaske, and Margaret the wife of Sampson 
 Horseman — being Popish Becusants, and lately fallen away. 
 
 Dorothy Johnson of Ilton, widow, Mary the wife of Peter Hanley of 
 Pott, Thomas Hambleton, Robert Jackson and Ellen his wife, of Moorheads, 
 Magdalen Jackson of the same place, spinster, Robt. Theakston and his wife 
 of Healey, Lucy Jackson widow, of the same place, Marmaduke Ferbie of 
 
550 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 the same place, Francis Atkinson of Healey Coate, Barnabas Jackson of 
 Healey, Thomas Kinge of Crabbe-tree House, Elizh. Bowes wife of Michael 
 Bowes of Fearby, Alice Griswitt of the same place, Margaret Baine of the. 
 same place, spinster, and Christopher Johnson of the same place, being 
 Popish Recusants, and lately fallen away. 
 
 At a Court held at the Church at Kirkby-Malzeard on the 23rd Feb. 1625, 
 before Edward Watkinson, LL.D. 
 
 Christopher Lodge and Elizh. Ward, of Massam, for committing fornica- 
 tion together. 
 
 Thomas Boddy and Margaret Tuting, of Ellington, for committing for- 
 nication together. 
 
 Isabella Scott, * for committing fornication with Christopher Danby, of 
 Pott, and having a child begotten by him in fornication. 
 
 Henry Pickerd churchwarden of Masham, for being negligent in the 
 service of his office, and absenting of himself from the church in the time of 
 prayers. 
 
 At a Court held at the Church of Kirkby Malzeard on the 23rd Sept. 1626. 
 
 Thomas Hodgson, f for reading of prayers and serving the cure of Mas- 
 sam without a license from the Ordinary. — Dismissed. 
 
 Towler, the son of Humphrey Towler, of Moorheads, for selling 
 
 shoes on the sabbath days in the time of divine service. 
 
 Sampson Butterfield and his wife, of Massam, Elizabeth the wife of 
 Ralph Wilson, of the same place, Thomas Theakston, senr., and his wife, of 
 Ellington, James Gleadston and his wife, Robert Williamson and his wife, 
 Elizabeth Walker, spinster, of the same place, for not receiving the Holy 
 Communion at Easter last. 
 
 Christopher Lodge and Elizabeth Ward, for standing excommunicate. 
 
 Edward Blackhouse and his wife, for the like. 
 
 Stephen Wintersgill and his wife, for the like. 
 
 Gilbert Atkinson and Ann his reputed wife, for being marryed by a 
 Popish Priest, and hyfeere as is supposed, or for living unlawfully together. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 Henry Duffield, for having sundry Masses done in his house, and for 
 having one of his children baptized by a Popish Priest as is thought. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 Alice Sirre, and John Sirre [both of the parish of Kirkby Malzeard] , for 
 saying a Pater-noster suspitiously for the soule of an old wife who had dyed 
 at Gilbert Pickersgill's house at Ringbeck, after the funeral was done. — 
 Excommunicated . 
 
 At a Court held at Kirkby Malzeard Church, on the 6th Nov. 1626, before 
 Edward Watkinson, LL.D. 
 Thomas Theakston, Anthony Smirthwaite, Robert Boddie, and Robert 
 
 * See as to this ante p. 269. 
 
 t He became the curate of Masham about A.D. 1624.— See ante p. 334. 
 
APPENDIX. 551 
 
 Awton, churchwardens, of Massam, for that they have not a table containing 
 the Degrees for marriage. 
 
 Henry Pickard, for not receiving the holy communion at Easter last. 
 
 Sampson Walker and Margaret Horsman of Ilton, for being unlawfully 
 married together as is thought by an unlawful .'minister, and yet living to- 
 gether as man and wife. 
 
 Christopher Beckwith, Junr., of Massam, and Maria Beckwith of Mas- 
 sam, for the like. 
 
 William Johnson and Sarah Pickersgill, for the like. 
 
 Thomas Hebden of Ellingstring, for abusing the churchwardens with 
 evil speeches in time of divine service. 
 
 Henry Pickerd, for abusing the minister and churchwardens. 
 
 At a Court held at Masham Church, on the 28th Feb. 1627, before Edward 
 Watkinson, LL.D. 
 
 John Sanderson of Healey, for teaching without license Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Isabella Danby the wife of Christopher * Danby, gent., Robert Thwaite 
 and Frances his daughter, Margaret Srnirthwaite, spinster, Alice Peake, 
 spinster, Margaret Watson, widow, John Winde, Richard Atkinson of 
 Moorheads, Barnabas Jackson of Healey, Lucy Jackson, widow, Mabel the 
 wife of Henry Clarke of Healey, Thomas Gowland and his wife, John 
 Jackson and his wife, John Jackson and his wife of Rawmore [Roomer] John 
 Adamson and his wife of Swinton, Marmaduke Atkinson of Ash-head, 
 Batchellor, presented for Popish Recusants. 
 
 John Sanderson of Healey, for saying in a bragging manner he would 
 teach School without license and stand excommunicate, and none come at 
 the church. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Mallear d Church on the 19th May, 1628. 
 
 John Hardcastle, for burying his grandmother, being excommunicated. — 
 Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Malzeard Church on the l%th Dec. 1628, before 
 JEdwd. Watkinson, LL.D. 
 
 Christopher Gristhwaite and Jane Tuting his reputed wife, for being 
 married as is reported, and the minister who married them not known and 
 they having had a child together. 
 
 Isabella Danby the wife of Christopher Danby, Alice Peake, spinster, 
 Margaret Srnirthwaite, Marjery Watson, James Waite, gent., Elizabeth the 
 wife of Myers Bowes, William Wintersgill and Isabella his wife, Ann the 
 wife of William Cowper, Isabella the wife of George Clerke, Lucy Jackson, 
 widow, Barnabas Jackson, Thomas Salrwick, Ellenor Moore, Catherine the 
 wife of Robert Norton, gent., f Thomas Lowland and his wife, John Clerke 
 and his wife, John Slater, Rachel Hartte, William Theakston and his wife, 
 
 * This must be the " Unjust Steward." 
 t See ante p. 286. 
 
552 MASH AM AND MASHAMSIIIRE. 
 
 John Jackson of Rawmore, Thomas Matterson and his wife, Elizabeth 
 Baker and Ann Pickering, presented for Popish Recusants and excommuni- 
 cate persons. 
 
 Christopher Johnson of Ilton, Roger Atkinson and his wife, Robert 
 Warde and his wife, Marmaduke Atkinson, Roger Atkinson, junr., of Ash- 
 head, Edward Ashe and his wife, Elizabeth Atkinson, Robert Jackson and 
 his wife, John Kirkby and his wife, Marmaduke Kirkbie, Thomas Kinge and 
 
 his wife, Lucas, widow, Elizabeth Kinge, Robert Theakston and his wife, 
 
 William Kinge and his wife, Ann the wife of John Astwith, and John 
 "Ward, for the like. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church on the 19th 3fay, 1629, before Andrew 
 Agar. 
 
 Ann Sparke, for committing fornication with one Edward Johnson de- 
 ceased. 
 
 Robert Greaveson, and Beatrix Mankin, for the like. 
 
 Isabella the wife of Christopher Danby, gent., John Winde, William 
 Rawe, Robert Thwaites and Francis his son, Elizabeth the wife of William 
 Baker, Jane the wife of John Slater, Thomas Gowland and his wife, John 
 Adamson and his wife, John Clarke and his wife, Jo. Jackson, Thomas Mad- 
 derson and his wife, Lucy Jackson widow, Barnard Jackson, Mabel the 
 wife of George Clarke, Ellen Moore widow, Thomas Salrwick alias Gillam, 
 Dorothy Clarke, widow, Robert Theakston and his wife, Elizabeth Atkin- 
 son, spinster, Rich. Atkinson, and James Waite, gent., presented for Popish 
 Recusants and excommunicate persons. 
 
 Marmaduke Atkinson, Robert Warde, Richard Atkinson, junr., Edward 
 Ashe and his wife, John Kirkbie and his wife, Robert Jackson and his wife, 
 Lambert Ward and his wife, Thomas Hambleton and his wife, Marmaduke 
 Kirkby and his wife, Thomas Kinge and his wife, Elizabeth Kinge, widow, 
 Catherine Lofthouse, widow, Margaret the wife of Francis Lofthouse, Ann 
 the wife of Jo. Askwith, Christopher Johnson, Elizabeth the wife of George 
 Kinge, Dorothy Johnson, widow, for the like. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Malzeard Church on the 2<kth Nov. 1629, before 
 Gilbert ITursman. 
 
 Thomas Boddie and Frances Dodgson, for living together as man and 
 wife, it being unknown whether they be married or not. — Dismissed. 
 
 William Thwaites and his reputed wife, of Ellington, for being clandes- 
 tinely married together. 
 
 John Slater, and Margaret Adamson, for commiting fornication together. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Beckwith of Aldbrough, and Jane Beckwith, for being unlaw- 
 fully married together, being Cozen Germains. — marked " not cited." — 
 
 Marmaduke Thompson of Masham, and Dorothy Pickersgill, for being 
 clandestinely married together. 
 
APPENDIX. 553 
 
 At a Court held at York Minster the \Zth May, 1631, before Andrew Agar, 
 
 Thomas Fenton of Gowthwaite Park, presented long ago for commit- 
 ting adultery with one Ellen Duffield. — Absolved. 
 
 Robert Danby * of Massam, gent., and Thomas Thwaites of High. 
 Ellington, for not receiving the holy communion at Easter last. 
 
 Ann the wife of Edward Buckshaw, for living from her husband contrary 
 to his mind. 
 
 Marmaduke Smorthwaite of JNTutwith Cote, and Frances Dodgson his ser- 
 vant, for fornication together. — Dismissed. 
 
 William Holmes of Ellingstring, and Ann his reputed wife, for fornica- 
 tion together before they were married, and for being married clandestinely, 
 or for living together as man and wife unmarried. 
 
 Elizabeth Cowper of Ellingstring, for working at hay on the sabbath 
 day. 
 
 Isabella the wife of Christopher Danby, gent., Margaret Watson, widow, 
 Marjery Smorthwaite, spinster, Robert Thwaite, Alice Peake, spinster, and 
 John Winde, of Massam, John Adamson and his wife, Thomas Gowland and 
 his wife, William Theakston and his wife, John Slater, John Smith junr., 
 John and Lambert Warde of Swinton, Roger Atkinson and his wife, 
 Robert Ward and his wife, Edward Paley, batch elor, Marmaduke Atkinson, 
 batchelor, Thomas Kinge and his wife, and Elizabeth Kinge, widow, of 
 Moor-heads, presented for Recusants. 
 
 Barnard Jackson, Lucy Jackson, widow, and Dorothy Clarke, spinster, 
 of Healey, Elizabeth, the wife of Michael Bowes, and William Wintersgill, 
 senr., of Fearby, William Cowper and his wife, and James Gleadston of 
 Ellington, Thomas Madderson and his wife, William Baker and George 
 Jackson, bachelor, of Romer, for the like. 
 
 Thomas Jackson, for swearing and taking the name of God in vain in 
 blasphemous manner. 
 
 Christopher Wilson of Massam, for undecent and uncivil behaviour in the 
 church. 
 
 Sampson Walker and Margaret his wife, for harbouring one Margaret 
 Ibbotson till she was delivered of a child, begotten in fornication by one 
 Francis Topham of Cawdbergh, and suffering her to depart unpunished. 
 
 At a Court held the 2±th May, 1631, before Gilbert Horsman. 
 
 Christopher Beck with of Rawmore, for committing adultery with Elizh. 
 Horsman. 
 
 Ann Williamson, widow, for adultery by her committed with one Michael 
 Archer of Kilgrame, in Witton parish. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Jackson, senr,, of Ellington, for a drunkard and vaine swearer. 
 
 Francis Ripley, for sleeping in the church. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church 12th June, 1632. 
 
 Mark Smith of Healey, for teaching without license. 
 
 * See ante page 266. 
 
 QQ 
 
554 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 James Hunton and Jennett Walker, of Swinton, for living together as 
 man and wife. 
 
 Marjery Watson, widow, Francis Thwaites, Alice Peake, spinster, Mar- 
 garet Smirthwaite, spinster, and John Winde, of Massam, for Recusants. 
 
 John Adamson and Margaret his wife, and Margaret his daughter, John 
 
 Smith, the wife of William Cowper, John Clarke and his wife, Thomas 
 
 Gowland and his wife, Catherine Harker, widow, William Theakston and 
 his wife, George Jackson, and the wife of William Baker of Swinton, pre- 
 sented for the like. 
 
 Dorothy Johnson, widow, Richard Atkinson and his wife, Richard Atkin- 
 son the yr., Marmaduke Atkinson, Robert Warde and his wife, and Edward 
 Paley of Ilton, for the like. 
 
 Mabel the wife of George Clarke, Barnabas Jackson, Elizh. Kinge, 
 widow, Thomas Kinge and his wife, of Healey, presented for the like. 
 
 Robert Jackson and his wife of Healey, Elizh. the wife of Michael 
 Bowes, and William Wintersgill and his wife, of Fearby, James Gleadston 
 and his wife, Thomas Thwaites and his wife, of Ellington, and Thomas 
 Madderson of Burton, presented for the like. 
 
 At a Court held at Kirhby Malzeard Church the 2Qth March, 1633, hefore 
 Gilbert Horsman. 
 
 Leonard Beckwith of Pond, in the parish of Masham, and Ann Bird his 
 reputed wife, for being clandestinely married together. 
 
 At a Court held in 3Iassam Church on the 13th Sep. 1633, before Gilbert 
 Horsman. 
 
 Simon Hargrave and Ann Smorthwaite, of Ellington, widow, for forni- 
 cation together. 
 
 [N.B. — They proved that they were married at Middleham, on the 20th 
 August, 1633]. 
 
 William Jackson of Grimesgill, for harbouring a woman in his house 
 who bore a child there begotten by one Beane of the parish of Hornby, a 
 married man, and for suffering her to depart unpunished. 
 
 Robert Hodgson of Fearby, for a common drunkard and swearer. 
 
 Alice the wife of Christopher Cusse, of Massam, for a malicious slanderer. 
 
 Magdalen the wife of Roger Banks, of Massam, for a common scould and 
 a blasphemous swearer. 
 
 The wife of Humphrey Baine of Somerfield, for not coming to church to 
 give thanks for her safe deliverance in child birth. 
 
 Marmaduke Smith of Healey, for standing excommunicate for teaching 
 school without license, and for threatening not to come to church in prayer 
 time. 
 
 Matthew Baines and John Kettlewell, for carding two several Sabbath 
 days. 
 
 John Harrison of Massam, and Robert Walton of the same place, for 
 suffering them to play in their houses said days respectively. 
 
APPENDIX. 555 
 
 Francis Warde and Alice Walton, of Moorlands, for living together as 
 man and wife, and being unlawfully married. 
 
 Marjery Watson, widow, Alice Peake, John Wynde and Elizh. his wife, 
 George Kinge of Massam, presented for Recusants. 
 
 Elizabeth the wife of Michael Bowes, William Wintersgill and Isabella 
 his wife, of Fearby, for the like. 
 
 Thomas Thwaites, James Gleadston and his wife, of Ellington, for the 
 like. 
 
 Jane * Wivell, widow, Phillipa f Wivell, Margaret Danby, Alice Wrand, 
 William % Wivell, Robert Mitchell, Francis Thwaite, Dorothy Thrackwray, 
 Thomas Madderson and his wife, of the Village of Burton, presented for the 
 like. 
 
 John Adam son and his wife, Margaret Adamson his daughter, Thomas 
 Gowland and his wife, John Clarke and his wife, Ann the wife of William 
 Cowper, William Theakston and his wife, George Jackson and his reputed 
 wife, Thomas Harrison and Catherine Harbert his reputed wife, Ann Gow- 
 land, Dorothy Brunton, Jo. Smith, Elizabeth the wife of William Baker, 
 and the wife of John Slater of Swinton, for the like. 
 
 Dorothy Johnson, widow, Richard Atkinson and his wife, Richard 
 Atkinson, junr., Marmaduke Atkinson, Ellen Atkinson, Robert Warde and 
 his wife, Lambert Warde and his wife, Francis Warde and Alice Walton 
 his reputed wife, Edward Paley and his wife, Robert Jackson and his wife, 
 Thomas Kinge and his wife, Elizabeth Kinge widow, and Magdalen Jack- 
 son spinster, of Ilton and Moorheads, presented for the like. 
 
 Mabel Clarke, widow, Jane Clarke, Barnabas Jackson, Dorothy Clarke, 
 Robert Theakston and his wife, and Ann the wife of John Askwith of Hea- 
 ley, presented the 27th Aug. 1633, all for the like Recusants. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Malzeard Church the l%th Dec. 1634, before Gil- 
 bert Horsman. 
 
 William Williamson and Margaret Hammond of High Ellington, for 
 living together as man and wife, not known whether they be married or no. 
 
 [N.B. — They proved that they were really married]. 
 
 John Chambers of Ellingstriug and Dorothy his wife, for living asunder. — 
 Excommunicated. 
 
 Edward Beckshaw and Ann his wife, for the like. 
 
 Nicholas Bridgewater of Fearby, for a malicious reviler and a contentious 
 person. 
 
 William Williamson of High Ellington, and Jane the wife of Henry 
 Thompson of Ellingstring, for suspicion and adultery together. 
 
 John Husband and Elizabeth his wife, of Massam, for fornication before 
 marriage. 
 
 * She was the widow of Christopher "Wyvill of Little or Low Burton. 
 
 t She was the youngest daughter of Jane Wyvil, above mentioned, and was afterwards the 
 wife of Richard Sale. 
 
 % He was the son of Jane "Wyvill above mentioned. 
 
556 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 William Awton and Margaret his wife, for the like. 
 
 William Wintersgill of Massam, for being disobedient to parents, and 
 also a blasphemous swearer and drunkard. 
 
 Robert Boddie, Robert Watson, junr., Robert Greenson, Robert Walton, 
 Richard Johnson, Ghristopher Waggett, Christopher Beckwith of Massam, 
 for not paying their 'sessment to the church. — William Gray, John Lucas, 
 
 Christopher Rainger, John Awton, Cowper widow of Swinton, for the 
 
 like. — Thomas Rainder, Margaret Parker widow, Robert Atkinson, Thomas 
 Kinge and Isabella Kinge widow, of Ellington, for the like. 
 
 Anthony Robinson, for working on the Sunday, in time of divine 
 service. 
 
 The wife of George King, Alice Peake spinster, of Massam, Jane Wivell 
 widow, John Wharton gent, and Catherine his wife, William Wivell, Robt. 
 Mitchell, Francis Thwaites, Margaret Danbie, William Staveley, Ann Jack- 
 son, Ann Madderson widow, of Burton, presented for Recusants. 
 
 Dorothy Brunton widow, John Adamson and his wife, William Theakston 
 and his wife, John Smith, John Clarke and his wife, the wife of Thomas 
 Gowland, Ann Norton, Dorothy Ward widow, William Baker, John Adam- 
 son of Swinton, for the like. 
 
 Dorothy Johnson widow, Marmaduke Atkinson, Robert Ward and his 
 
 wife, Richard Atkinson, Atkinson widow, Ellen Atkinson, the wife 
 
 of Humphrey Baine, Maria the wife of Peter Hanley, Robert Jackson, 
 Peter de Pott, Edward Paley and his wife, Lambert Warde and his wife, 
 of Ilton and Moorheads, for the like. 
 
 Francis Warde and his wife, and Kinge widow, for the like. 
 
 Mabel Clarke, Robert Theakston and Ann his wife, Barnabas Jackson of 
 Healey, William Vrintersgill and his wife, Elizabeth the wife of Michael 
 Bowes, and James Gleadson of Ellington, for the like. 
 
 Christopher Mankin, for fornication with Dorothy Chambers. 
 
 Thomas Theakston, for fighting and brawling in the church. 
 
 Francis Lambert of Ilton, and Bridget Hey wood of the parish of Kirkby 
 Malzeard, for a clandestine marriage. 
 
 Thomas Ascough and Elizabeth Hutchinson his reputed wife, of the Par- 
 ish of Massam, for a clandestine marriage. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Lancelot Edon [of Kirkby Malzeard Parish], for kneelinge at the Cross, * 
 in the way as they carried a goast to the church, notwithstanding he was 
 wished by John Buckle to forbeare the same. — Excommunicated, afterwards 
 dismissed. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby '-Malzeard Church 13th of May, 1635, before 
 Gilbert Horsman. 
 
 John Winde, Alice Peake, Elizh. the wife of George Kinge, and Barna- 
 bas Jackson of Massam, presented for Recusants. 
 
 John Adamson and his wife, Margaret his daughter, John Smith, George 
 Jackson and his wife, William Theakston and his wife, for the like. 
 
 See note ante. 
 
APPENDIX. 557 
 
 Ann Gowland, Mary Gowland widow, John Clarke and his wife, Ann 
 Norton, the wife of John Slater, Elizh. the wife of William Baker, Ann 
 Pickering, Ann Madderson widow of Swinton, for the like. 
 
 Robt. Wood and his wife, Marmaduke Atkinson, Richard Atkinson, 
 
 Atkinson widow, Lambert Wayd and his wife, Francis Wayd and his 
 
 reputed wife, Elizh. Kinge widow, Thomas King and his wife, Robert 
 Jackson, Robert Theakston, Marjery Clarke, Edward Paley and his wife, 
 Peter Pott of Moorheads, for the like. 
 
 James Gleadston and his wife, Thomas Thwaites of Ellington, William 
 Wintersgill and his wife, the wife of Michael Bowes of Fearby, Jane Wy veil 
 widow, Margaret Danbie, Catherine the wife of Wharton, Robt. Mit- 
 chell, Alice Wray, Lucy the wife of Anthony Thwaites, John Wharton, gent., 
 Francis Thwaites of Low Burton, for the like. 
 
 Dorothy Awton of Swinton, and Alexander Thwaite of Swinton, for com- 
 mitting fornication together. 
 
 John Judson and Margaret the wife of Robert Jackson, upon a common 
 voice and fame of committing adultery together. 
 
 Thomas Allanson of Ilton, and Margaret the daughter of Anthony Hors- 
 man of Ilton, for standing excommunicate these three years last past for 
 committing fornication, and have not done their penance. 
 
 Thomas Watson of Swinton, and John Reanger, for being at an unlawful 
 marriage of James Hunton of Swinton, and Jannet Walker, her former hus- 
 band being yet living. 
 
 James Hunton and Jannet Walker, for marrying together, the husband 
 of the said Jannet Walker being yet alive. 
 
 Isabella Milner of Swinton, widow, for harbouring of Dorothy Aughton 
 spinster, and suffering her to bear a child in her house, begotten in her 
 house, begotten in fornication, and suffering her to depart unpunished. 
 
 The churchwardens, for not seeing that the statute, by which there is 
 xiie?. forfeited for everie one that is absent from the church, is put in opera- 
 tion. 
 
 At a Court held the 2nd December, 1635. 
 
 John Wharton of Low Burton, George Jackson of Swinton, Robert Wood 
 of Moorheads, Francis Wayd of Moorheads, Recusants, for not bringing or 
 causing to be brought, their children to be baptized at their parish church. 
 
 Thomas Gray, for positively refusing to come to the church to be in- 
 structed in the catechism. 
 
 Edward Buckshaw and Ann his wife of Massam, living asunder contrary 
 to law, and for standing excommunicate. 
 
 Anthonie Boddie of High Ellington, for a blasphemous swearer. 
 
 Margaret Gray of Massam, spinster, for committing fornication, as she 
 saith, with Christopher Dodsworth of the Low Maines, bachelor. 
 
 Ann Gill of Moorheads, for committing fornication, as she saith, with 
 Thomas Imeson of York. 
 
 William Wintersgill and Jane his wife, for common suspicion of fornica- 
 tion before they were married. 
 
558 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 William Gray and Edward Mitchell of Massain, Thomas Kinder, Robt. 
 Atkinson, Robert Dickenson, William Cowper, Matthew Thwaites of Elling- 
 ton, Thomas Askwith, William Browne of Ilton, and John Scowthorpe of 
 the same place, for not paying their 'sessments. 
 
 Thomas Askwith, Thomas Foster and James Gleadston of Ellingstring, 
 Lambert Wayd and Humphrey Toller of Healey, Christopher Lodge of Mas- 
 sam, for the Corne-milne of Swinton, Jo. Lucas of Massam, for the cloth 
 mill in Swinton, and John Clarke, for not paying their 'sessments. 
 
 Elizh. the wife of George Kinge, John Winde, Alice Peake 'spinster, 
 Ruth the wife of Stephen Wintersgill, Barnabas Jackson of Massam, Jane 
 Wyvell widow, Edward Wyvell, Margaret Danby singlewoman, Robert 
 Mitchell and Alice Wray his reputed wife, Francis Thwaites batchelor, 
 Ellen Horsman, Jo. Wharton gent, and Catherine his wife, Lucy the wife of 
 Anthony Thwaites, presented for Recusants. 
 
 John Adamson and Margaret his wife, Anthony his son and Margaret 
 his daughter, John Smith, George Jackson and William Theakston and his 
 
 wife, Gowland widow, John Clark arid his wife of Swinton, Elizh. the 
 
 wife of William Baker, Ann Pickering spinster, Ann Matterson widow, 
 Thomas Harrison and Catherine his wife, of AVardermarske, for Recusants. 
 
 Robt. Wood and his wife, Marmaduke Atkinson, Richard Atkinson, 
 
 Atkinson widow, the wife of Humphrey Baine, Francis Wayd and his wife, 
 Dorothy Johnson of Ilton, widow, Peter Barker, Edward Ry ley and his wife, 
 Robert Beck of Healey and his wife, Elizh. the wife of Michael Bowes, 
 Mabel Clarke widow, William Wintersgill and his wife, of Fearby, James 
 Gleadston and his wife, Thomas Thwaites, for the like. 
 
 John Nelson of Ellingstring, for living with his reputed wife, but 
 whether they be married or no it is not known. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church on the 12th of April, 1636, before 
 Edward Waikinson, LL.D. 
 
 Thomas Hodgson curate, and Marmaduke Miller, Francis Howe, Thomas 
 Buckell, and Francis Theakstone, churchwardens of Massam, for not having 
 their churchyard wall in so good repair as it ought to be, as likewise for not 
 having a poor's man's box, and for not making their stalls uniform. 
 
 John Wharton of Low Burton, gent., Recusant, for not suffering three of 
 his children, born in the parish of Massam, to be brought to the church to be 
 baptized. 
 
 Robt. Mitchell of Low Burton, George Jackson of Swinton, Robert Wood 
 of Moorheads, Francis Wayd of Moorheads, Robert Jackson of Sowermyre, 
 for the like. 
 
 Margaret the wife of Christopher Johnson of Ilton, for stubborn refusal 
 to live with her husband. 
 
 Edward Mankin and Ann the daughter of Robert Plewes, of Sutton, for 
 committing fornication together. 
 
 Christopher Doddesworth of Low Maines, and Margaret the daughter of 
 William Gray of Massam, for committing fornication together. 
 
APPENDIX. 559 
 
 Anthony Boddie of High Ellington, for a blasphemous swearer. 
 
 John Wind, Elizabeth the wife of George Kinge, Catherine the wife of 
 Stephen Wintersgill, Barnabas Jackson, Dorothy Jackson, and Dorothy 
 Jackson of Massam, John Wharton gent., and Catherine his wife, R.obert 
 Mitchell and Alice his wife, Lucy the wife of Anthony Thwaites of Burton, 
 Jo. Adamson and Margaret his wife and Anthony his son, and Margaret 
 the daughter of William Theakston and his wife, John Clarke and his 
 wife, Gowland widow, Elizabeth the wife of William Baker, Ann Pick- 
 ering, Thomas Harrison and Katherine his wife, presented for Popish 
 Recusants. 
 
 Robert Wood and his wife, Richard Atkinson, Marmaduke Atkinson, 
 
 Atkinson widow, the wife of Humphrey Baine, Lambert Wayd and 
 
 his wife, Francis Wayd and Alice his wife, Robert Jackson, Peter de 
 
 Leighton (cognomen unknown), Edward Paley and his wife, the wife of 
 
 William Kinge of Moorheads, Robert Theakston and his wife of Healey, 
 William Wintersgill and his wife, Elizabeth the wife of Michael Bowes of 
 Fearby, James Gleadston and his wife, Thomas Thwaites of Ellington, for 
 the like. 
 
 Robert Boddie, William Gray, Edward Mitchell, Richard Beckwith, 
 John Beckwith, Richard Bridgewater, Christopher Beckwith, and Robert 
 Topham, of Massam, for refusing to pay their 'sessments. 
 
 Christopher Lodge of Massam, for not paying his 'sessment of Swinton 
 Corn-mill, John Lucas of Massam, for the Walke-mill at Swinton, William 
 
 Theakston, John Clarke, 'Hodgson widow, Theakston widow, John 
 
 Awton of Swinton, for not paying their 'sessment. 
 
 William Horner, Ann Scott, Christopher Kinge, Janet Johnson widow, 
 William Cowper, William Gleadston, Richard Boddie, Robert Atkinson, and 
 
 Williamson, Margaret Williamson widow, Thomas Jackson, Robert 
 
 Dickenson, Christopher Dickenson of the City of York, George Dickenson 
 and Thomas Runder of Ellington, for the like. 
 
 John Ebden of Ellingstring, for suspicion of incest with his wife's sister 
 about Christmas last, he being found " Solus cu sola nudus cu nuda." — not 
 cited. 
 
 At a Court held the 9th May, 1637, before Edward Watkinson, LL.D. 
 
 Page, for teaching schollars at Healey, without license. 
 
 George Haxwell of Wardermaske and Elizabeth Johnson of Ilton, 
 spinster, for suspicion of fornication or adultery together, for they were 
 watched into an out-house in the fields at an unlawful time in the night. 
 
 Richard Harrison of Massam, and Jane Pattrick, upon common voice and 
 fame of committing adultery together. 
 
 William Mankin of Sutton, and Alice his wife, for committing fornication 
 before they were married. 
 
 William Gray, Edward Mitchell, Robert Beckwith, Christopher Kinge, 
 Jannet Johnson, William Cowper, Ralph Durham, William Gleadston, 
 Richard Boddie, Robt. Atkinson and William Williamson, Thomas Jackson, 
 
560 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Thomas Rynder, Christopher Lodge, John Lucas, Jo. Clarke, the "wife 
 
 of Hodgson, Robert Bennett, Margaret Walker, Thomas Morris, Robert 
 
 Jackson, Thomas Smurthwaite, Lucy , Christopher Morley, John Bowes, 
 
 the wife of Hodgson, the wife of Theakston, Richard Boddie, Robt. 
 
 Atkinson, Thomas Jackson, James Gleadston and John his son, for detaining 
 their 'sessments. 
 
 Jo. Hebden and his wife, for bearing manure on the Sunday to manure 
 their ground. 
 
 Robt. Smurthwaite of Nutwith Cote, for fornication with Anne Bar- 
 nistone, of the same. 
 
 Thomas Hanley, for committing fornication or adultery with Alice Scott, 
 wife of Robt. Scott of Brearey Bank. 
 
 George Theakston of Pickersgill, for committing fornication or adultery 
 with the said Alice Scott. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman vicar, for not haveing the vicarage house in sufficient 
 repaire, and for not readinge the Book of Canons yearly — for not wearinge 
 a hood — for not publishing his Majesty's Proclamation. — Promised to be 
 done. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman, clerk parochial, for reading prayers, and takeing upon 
 him the office of a curate without authoritie or any lawfull licence or dis- 
 pensation in that behalf obtained. — Suspended, but afterwards restored* 
 
 At a Court held the 20th March, 1637. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman, vicar of Kirkby Malzeard, for not reading prayers 
 upon the eves of Sundays and Holy days — for not reading the Letany and 
 other prayers upon Wednesdays and Fridays. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman and Francis Ripley, for not tolling the bell for 
 prayers upon Wednesdays and Fridays. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Malzeard Church the 12th Sep. 1637, before 
 Edward Watkinson, L L.D. 
 
 William Browne of Ilton, gent., for refusing to pay two several 'sessments 
 for the repair of the church, which amounted to the sum of 3s. 6d. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 John Hodgson of Massam, fcr a blasphemous swearer, and after reproof 
 of the same did still continue and refused to be admonished. 
 
 Robert Hodgson, for a common drunkard and profaner of the sabbath. — 
 Excommunicated. 
 
 The same Robert Hodgson, for fornication with Jane Carter — Excom- 
 municated. 
 
 William Kinge of Sowermire, for a negligent comer to his parish church. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Cooke, and Alice Chapman, for comman drunkards. 
 
 John Wind, Alice Peake spinster, Elizabeth the wife of George Kinge, 
 Catherine the wife of Stephen Wintersgill, Barnabas Jackson and Dorothy 
 Jackson of Massam, for Popish Recusants.-— Excommunicated. 
 
APPENDIX. 561 
 
 Jane Wyvell widow, Arm Williamson spinster, Catherine Wharton, gent., 
 Henry Atkinson, Lucy the wife of Anthony Thwaites of Burton Township, 
 Popish Rec usan ts. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Dawson and Margaret his wife, Margaret Adamson spinster, 
 Anthony Adamson, William Theakston and his wife, John Clarke and his 
 wife, George Jackson and his wife, Thomas Harrison and his wife, John 
 Smith and his wife, Ann Gowland, Peter Petche and Elizabeth his wife, 
 William Baker of Swinton, for popish Recusants Excommunicated. 
 
 Humphrey Towler and his wife, Lambert Wayd and his wife, Francis 
 
 Wayd and Alice his wife, Atkinson widow, Richard Atkinson, Robert 
 
 Ward and his wife, Marmaduke Atkinson, Peter Leighton, Robert Jackson 
 and his wife, Kinge widow of Moorheads, for Popish Recusants. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 Thomas Thwaites, Robert Jackson and his wife of Healey, for Popish 
 Recusants. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Wintersgill and his wife, and Elizabeth Bowes the wife of 
 Michael Bowes of Fearby, Popish Recusants. — Excommunicated. 
 
 James Gleadston of Ellington, for a Popish Recusant. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Christopher Pickersgill, Thomas Bridgewater, Ralph Horseman and Jo. 
 Turner churchwardens of Massam, for neglecting to present Robert Hodgson, 
 
 for committing fornication with also William King of Sowermire, for 
 
 a negligent comer to his parish church. 
 
 At a Court held at York Minster the 16th Nov. 1637, before E. Burton. 
 
 Gilbert Horseman, for not having the vicarage house in sufficient repairs, 
 and for not reading the Book of Canons yearly, for not wearing a hood, for 
 not publishing His Majesty's Declaration. — The Judge adjudged " The said 
 Mr. Horsman to certify the supply of these defects, fyc" 
 
 At a Court held at York Minster the 2tth Nov. 1637, before E. Burton. 
 
 Sentence of suspence was pronounced against Mr. Horseman on the above 
 presentment. 
 
 At a Court held at Massam Church the 20th March, 1638, before E. Burton. 
 
 Thomas Hodgson curate, Christopher Pickersgill, Thomas Bridgwater, 
 Ralph Horsman and John Turner, churchwardens of Masssam, for not 
 having a covering of silk or other convenient staff for the communion table, 
 and for wanting a pott of pewter or purer metal for the wine upon the com- 
 munion table. 
 
 Mark Smith of Fearby, for teaching schollars without a licence. 
 
 Thomas Slaiter, schoolmaster at Ellingstring, for teaching scholars with- 
 out a licence, and for standing excommunicate. 
 
 Elizabeth Atkinson of High Ellington, for living from her husband. 
 
 Robert Hodgson of Fearby, for fornication with his wife before marriage. 
 
 Edward Williamson and Frances Masterman, for committing fornication 
 together. 
 
 RR 
 
562 
 
 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Thomas King of Ellington, and Jane the wife of George Dickenson, for 
 a common voice and fame of committing adultery together. 
 
 Robert Theakston of Massam, and Beatrix Mankin, for committing 
 adultery together, and for standing excommunicate five years. 
 
 John Smith of Swinton, and Francis Wayd of Moorheads, Popish Recu- 
 sants, and for having divers children christened with a Popish Priest. 
 
 Margaret Adamson the wife of John Adamson, of Swinton, for looking 
 [weeding] of corne on the Sabbath-day in summer last ; she being rebuked 
 for so doing, answered she was better employed than they that went to 
 church to pray. 
 
 Ellen Horner of Low Ellington, and Thomas Place, for having taken 
 possession of, and occupied the chapel at High Ellington. 
 
 Christopher Hanley of Eshe-head, and Isabella King his reputed wife, for 
 being clandestinely married together. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby Maheard Church the 9th October, 1638, before 
 Richard Darnton, M.A. 
 
 Thomas Hodgson curate, and Jo. Marshall, "William Smith, Tho. Ward 
 and George Thwaites, churchwardens of Massam, for not making the stalls 
 uniform in the body of the church, and those places flagged which are 
 awanting — for not providing a cloth of green with silk fringe for the com- 
 munion table, as also a pott or flaggin of pewter for wine when there is a 
 communion. 
 
 Anthony Jackson, for absenting himself on the Lord's-day from the 
 church, and after being admonished by the churchwardens did refuse to 
 come. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Edward Paley and his wife, Charles Younge, Robert Theakston, 
 
 the wife of Humphrey Bayne, Eliz. Bell, Thexton widow, William 
 
 Wintersgill senr. and his wife, William Wintersgill junr., and Mabel Clarke 
 widow, for Popish Recusants. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Hawton of Fearby and the wife of Seth Wrigglesworth, for 
 
 committing the crime of adultery together Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church on the last day of February, 1638, 
 before Henry Feme, M.A. 
 
 George Askwith and Frances Slater, the daughter of Thomas Slaiter of 
 Ellin gstringe, for committing fornication together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Richard Johnson and Marjery Johnson, widow, for committing fornication 
 together. — Dismissed. 
 
 Thomas Shaw and Margaret Smorthwaite, the daughter of Robert 
 Smorthwaite of Healey, for committing fornication together. — Excom- 
 municated. 
 
 Robert Dawson and Ann Awton alias Dawson, for living together in 
 incontinence. — Dismissed. 
 
 John Marshall, churchwarden of the parish of Massam, for profaning the 
 Sabbath-day in time of divine service, and suffering his servants to the mill 
 for corn upon Candlemas-day. — Dismissed. 
 
APPENDIX. 563 
 
 John Lofthouse, for grinding of corn upon Candlemas-day last. 
 
 Christopher Watson and Maria Atkinson, for committing fornication 
 together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Wharton gent., and Catherine his wife, George Jackson, Francis 
 Wayd and Robt. Wayd, for not having their children baptized at their 
 parish church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Christopher "Ward of Massam, for not paying of five several 'sessments 
 to the church, which amount to the sum of 5s. 3d. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Dorothy the wife of James Dodsworth, for not paying his 'sessment to 
 ,the church, which is Id.- — Dismissed. 
 
 George Hawkeswell of Wardesmaske, for not paying his 'sessment in 
 Massam, amounting to the sum of 8d. 
 
 The same George Hawkswell, for not paying his 'sessment in Swinton, 
 amounting to the sum of Is. 8d. 
 
 Thomas Smorthvvaite, for not paying 2d. for his 'sessment. — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Robt. Atkinson, for not paying his 'sessment to the church, amounting to 
 2s. 4c?. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Browne, for not paying his 'sessment to the church, for Elling- 
 string, amounting to 4d. — Excommunicated. 
 
 The said William Browne, for not paying his 'sessment for II ton, 
 amounting to 2s. Id. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Foster, for not paying his 'sessment, being 3d. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Theakston, for not paying his 'sessment, being lid. — Dismissed. 
 
 Wm. Ripley, for not paying his 'sessment, being 10c?. — Do. 
 
 John Watson, for not paying his 'sessment, being 4d. — Do. 
 
 Robt. Atkinson, for not paying his 'sessment, being 2s. 4c?. — Do. 
 
 Ralph Durham, for not paying his 'sessment, being 7c?. — Do. 
 
 Thos. Rimder, for not paying his 'sessment, being 4s. 2d, — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Robt. Bennett, for not paying his 'sessment, being 3s. Sd. — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Thos. Norris, for not paying his 'sessment, being 7c?. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Robt. Jackson, for not paying his 'sessment, being 22c?. — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Humphrey Towler, for not paying his 'sessment, being 22c?. — Excommu- 
 nicated. 
 
 Lambert Wayd, for not paying his 'sessment, being 15c?. — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 Wm. Atkinson, for not paying his 'sessment, being, 5s. 4c?. — Excommuni- 
 cated. 
 
 John Awton, for not paying his 'sessment, being 5d. — Dismissed. 
 
 John Lofthouse, for not paying his 'sessment, being 4s. 10c?., for Swinton 
 mill. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Lucas, for not paying his 'sessment, being 2s. 5d., for the Walk- 
 mill. — Excommunicated. 
 
564 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Jane the daughter of Marjery Slaiter, for committing the crime of for- 
 nication. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held the 9th October, 1638. 
 
 Frances Walker wife of Francis Walker, of Grewelthorpe, for assumeing 
 to herselfe that she could tell of goods that were lost, and using such like 
 unlawful inchantment. * 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby-3Iaheard Church the 3rd Sep. 1639, before 
 John Sagg, 31. A. [curate there']. 
 
 John Marshall, Win. Smith, Thomas Wardle, and George Thwaites, 
 churchwardens of the church of Massam, for not making their present ac- 
 counts of office. — Dismissed. 
 
 John Scott and Jane Smith, for committing fornication together. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 Ann Williamson the wife of Lawrence Williamson, for not receiving the 
 holy communion at Easter last. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Ann Ollithorne of Massam, for committing the crime of adultery with 
 Anthony Fawber. 
 
 Christopher Walker and Margaret Awton, for committing the crime of 
 fornication together before marriage. — Dismissed. 
 
 Robert Fisher, for hedging upon the sabbath-day, and mending of shoes. 
 — Dismissed. 
 
 Robt. Pickersgill and Ann Ollithorne, for living in fornication together. 
 — Dismissed. 
 
 John Wind, Elizabeth the wife of George King, Stephen Wintersgill 
 and Catherine his wife, and Alice Peake, of Massam, for Popish Recusants. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Adamson and his wife, John Smith and his wife Theakstone 
 
 widow, Clarke widow, Ann Norton gen., Isabella Watson, and 
 
 Hodgson *vidow, Elizabeth the wife of William Baker, George Jackson and 
 his wife, of Svvinton, for Popish Recusants. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Magdalen Jackson, Atkinson widow, Marmaduke Atkinson, Lam- 
 bert Wayd and his wife, Francis Wayd and his wife, Robert Jackson and 
 his wife, Elizh. King widow, of Ilton and Moorheads, for Popish Recusants. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 * This district was at this time much troubled with persons assuming to be "wise-men" and 
 " wise-women." Their wisdom, however, consisted solely in getting as much money as they 
 could out of the poor deluded creatures who where so silly as to require their aid. Anne Greene, 
 one of this fraternity, was brought before the magistrates on a charge of witchcraft, when she 
 made the following defence, which I copy from Mr. Raine's " Depositions, &c, from York Castle." 
 — " Anne Greene saiththat she sometimes useth a charme for cureing the heart-ache, and used 
 itt twice in one night unto John Tatterson of Gargreave, by crosseing a garter over his eare and 
 sayeing these words ' Boate, a God's name ' 9 times over. Likewise for paines in the head, she 
 requires the water and a locke of their heire, the which she boyles together, and afterwards 
 throwes them in the fire and burnes them ; and meddles not with any other diseases." Her mo- 
 dus operandi although certainly somewhat complicated, could not be otherwise than harmless. 
 In 1656, William and Mary Wade of Studley, were prosecuted for witchcraft practiced by them 
 upon Miss Elizabeth Mallory of Studley -hall, near Ripon. 
 
APPENDIX. 565 
 
 Elizabeth, the wife of Michael Bowes, Wm. Wintersgill and his wife, of 
 Fearby. and James Gleadston of Ellington, for Popish Recusants. — Excom- 
 municated. 
 
 Jane Wyvell widow, Catherine the wife of John "Wharton gent., Henry 
 Atkinson, Lucy the wife of Anthony Thwaites of Burton-upon-Yore, for 
 Popish Recusants. — Excommunicated. 
 
 George Theakston of Pickersgill, for a negligent comer to his parish, 
 church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Johnson of Healaugh, for working at hay upon St. James' day 
 at the time of Divine service, and being rebuked for the same, said he was 
 better employed than they that were at church. — Dismissed. 
 
 John Hanley and his wife, of Moorheads, for negligent comers to their 
 parish church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 George Gibson and his wife, for washing of clothes upon the Lord's-day. 
 — Dismissed. 
 
 Thomas Jackson of Ellingstring, for keeping unlawful company in his 
 house on the Lord's-day. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Robert Render of Ellingstring, for a negligent comer to his parish 
 church. — Dismissed. 
 
 At a Court held the 3rd Sep. 1639, at Kirkby-Malzeard, before Mr. Sagge. 
 
 Robert Barker, at Coulthouse, for harbouring of Mr. Boyes, a popish 
 priest. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Ann Gill widow, and Elizabeth the wife of George Frear, for resorting to 
 the said Boyes. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby-Malzeard Church on the \Qth Dec. 1639. 
 
 Robt. Awton, Thos. Kilburne, churchwardens of Masham, for not finish- 
 ing the churchyard wall of Masham. 
 
 Brian Clarke alias Ripley, for teaching school without a license. 
 
 Jane Robinson, for working on the sabbath-day. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Ellen Moore, for absenting herself from her parish church upon Sundays 
 and holidays. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Richard Kendall and Margaret Horseman, for a fame of fornication 
 together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Runder, Robt. Atkinson, Robt. Williamson, John Tooler, Ralph 
 Brandsby, Thomas Ryder, and Robt. Watson, for not paying their monies 
 for bread and wine, being 4c?. a year. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Norris, for not paying his 'sessment for the parish church. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 Humphrey Tooler, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Henry Watson, for not paying his 'sessment, being od. — Satisfied the 
 churchwardens. 
 
 Wm. Wintersgill, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Ann Hodgson widow, of Swinton, for not paying her 'sessment. — Excom- 
 municated. 
 

 566 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Thos. Tan field, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Win. Browne, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Binckes, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 ■ Bennett widow, for not paying her 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Gray, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Ralph King and his wife, of Potts, and Simon Hanley of the same place, 
 for not receiving the holy communion thrice in the year, and for negligent 
 comers to their parish church. — Dismissed. 
 
 Richard Hanley of Moorheads, Thomas Ballan of Ellingstring, and Wil- 
 liam Johnson of Healaugh, for not receiving the holy communion thrice 
 every year, and for negligent comers to the church. — Dismissed as to Han- 
 ley, and Johnson and Ballan excommunicated. 
 
 John Ringer of Swinton, for carrying cloth usually on the Lord's-day, in 
 time of Divine service. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Francis Fawber of Kirkby-Malzeard, for committing adultery with 
 Phillis Fothergill. 
 
 Janet Burniston [of Kirkby-Malzeard parish], for carrying a dead man's 
 skull out of the churchyard, and laying it under Christopher Head, thinkeing 
 therewith to charme him asleep. —The Judge in dismissing her "admonished 
 her to bring the said skull into the churchyard again." 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church YSth May, 1640, before John Sage, M.A. 
 
 Roger Danby, and Ann Norton his reputed wife, for being unlawfully 
 married together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Porter, Thomas Harrison, and William Ripley, the church- 
 wardens of Massam, for not exhibiting their Registers of christenings, wed- 
 dings, and burials within the said parish. — Dismissed. 
 
 John Chambers and Dorothy Bennett, for being unlawfully married 
 together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William King and Lucy Watson, for a fame of committing the crime of 
 fornication together. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Francis Dickenson of Ellington, for selling the bell belonging to the cha- 
 pel of Ellington, and other ornaments, and for a negligent comer to the 
 church. — Excommunicated. 
 
 John Cornforth of Ellington, for not providing bread and drink for the 
 perambulation, according to custom. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Marmaduke Loftus [of Kirkby-Malzeard parish], for making water 
 against the churchyard. — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Kirkby-Malzeard Church the 12th Dec. 1Q4:0, before 
 Win. Loe, B.D. 
 
 Robert Jackson, for not christening his child at his parish church. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 John Wharton, for not christening his child at his parish church. — Ex- 
 communicated. 
 
 Christopher Hebden, for walling on the sabbath day. — Excommunicated. 
 
 ■H 
 
APPENDIX. 567 
 
 Robt. Punder, for not coming to church monthly. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Norris, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Peter Toller, for not paying his 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Lambert Wayd, Robert Jackson, Ann Hodgson, John Chambers, Wil- 
 liam Browne, Thomas Punder, Robert Atkinson, and Thomas Jackson, for 
 not paying their caste or 'sessment. — Excommunicated. 
 
 William Browne, Thomas Norris, Thomas Punder, John Toller, William 
 Wintersgill, Ann Hodgson, John Chambers and his wife, Jane Robinson, 
 Robt. Williamson, Lambert Wayd, Francis Wayd, John Bincke, and John 
 Ringer, for standing excommunicate. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Leonard Walker and Joana Fawconbridge, for fornication. — Joana Faw- 
 conbridge excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held at Kirkby-Malzeard Church the 8th June, 1641, before 
 John Sage, M.A. 
 
 Thomas Foster, for not paying his 'sessment for bread and wine, being 
 4 d. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Burrall, for not paying his 'sessment for bread and wine, being 
 4c?. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Thomas Smurthwaite, for not paying his 'sessment for bread and wine, 
 being 4c?. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Jane Robinson, Thomas Punder of High Ellington, Robt. Atkinson, 
 Robt. Williamson, John Toller, Ann Hodgson, and John Bincke, for 
 standing excommunicate. — Excommunicated. 
 
 Stephen Wintersgill and Catherine his wife, of Massam, John Wynd, 
 Alice Peake, William Wintersgill and Isabella his wife, Elizabeth the wife 
 of Michael Bowes, Edward Ryley and his wife, Robert Theakston and Ann 
 his wife, Francis Wayd and Alice his wife, Robert Jackson and his wife, 
 Robt. Scott and his wife, Maria the wife of Charles Younge, William 
 
 Kinge, James Gleadston and his wife, Robt. Ward and his wife, the 
 
 wife of Humphrey Bayne, Elizabeth Atkinson widow, ■ Walker, John 
 
 Smith, his wife and son, Ann Theakston, Simon Pickersgill and Ann his 
 wife, of Swinton, John Ringer, the wife of Thomas Watson, John Adamson 
 and his wife, Anthony Adamson, John Adamson, Henry Adamson, Mar- 
 garet Adamson, Richard Adamson, Widow Milnes, Maria Gowland, Thomas 
 Harrison and his wife, of Rowmore, George Jackson and his wife, Agnes 
 Clarke, Widow Wood, Jane Wyvell, Henry Atkinson, Ellen Horseman, 
 Ellen Morley, Ann Elley, Lucy the wife of Anthony Thwaites and Beatrix 
 their daughter, John Aiscough, Lambert Waid and his wife and their 
 daughter, Anthony Waid, the wife of William Kinge, for Popish Recusants. 
 — Excommunicated. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church on the 15th Dec. 1641, before John 
 Sage, M.A. 
 
 The wife of William Kinge of Sowermire, for a Popish Recusant. * 
 
 * The following additional list of Popish Eecusants within the parish of Masham, is taken 
 from Mr. Raine's " Depositions from York Castle," which he says, in a note, are made from lists 
 
568 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Lambert Waid, for not paying his 'sessment, being Gd. 
 
 Robert Scott of Ellington, for not paying his 'sessment, being Gd. 
 
 Thomas Wilson, Thomas Gillam, Peter Toller, Francis Lofthouse, Fran- 
 cis Glewe, Thomas Allan, and Robert Scott, for not paying their 'sessments 
 and keeping 'sessments in their hands. 
 
 At a Court held in Massam Church on the 15th Oct. 1688, before 
 Benjamin Broione, Vicar of Kirkby-Malzeard, official, 8fc. 
 
 [There are no entries of any business done at this or at any subsequent 
 Court]. 
 
 prepared by the village Constables and forwarded to York. It will be seen that tbese lists are 
 subsequent in point of date to those mentioned above. 
 
 " March 25th, 1664. — I/ton cum Pottoe. — Robert Thomas, and John "Ward, Ann and Elizabeth 
 Ward spinsters, Richard King and Elizabeth King his wife, Richard Handley. — Swinton-cum-War- 
 fhermaske. — Anthony Adamson, Henry Adamson and Elizabeth his wife, George Jackson and 
 Frances his wife, Symon Pickersgill and Mary his wife, Wm. Smith and Alice his wife, John 
 Smith and Alice his wife, Ann Thwaites spinster. — Massam. — Jane Bridgewater widow. — Elling- 
 ton. — William Thwaite, Wm. Body spinster. — Ellingstring. — Jane Smorthwaite spinster. — Fearby. 
 — Edward Ryley and Isabel his wife, John Ryley. — Healey-cum-Sutton. — Anthony Wade and Jane 
 his wife, Francis Wade. — Burton-super-Ure. — Roger Beckwith, Esq., Isabel Beckwith spinster." 
 
 " July 6th, 1669. — Healey-cum-Sutton. — Anthony Wade and Jane his wife, Dorothy Jackson 
 widow. — Fearby. — John Ryeley, Isabel and Mary Ryeley, Eliz. Bowes. — Ellington.— Thomas Hay- 
 ton, Blackburne widow. — Uton-cum-Pott. — Robert Warde, John Warde, Ann and Jane Warde 
 
 spinsters, Humphrey Baine and Susannah his wife, Richard King and Dorothy his wife, Richard 
 Hanley. — Burton-super- Yore. — Marmaduke Beckwith and Elizabeth his wife, Wm. Beckwith." 
 
 " July 8th, 1670. — Ellington. — Thomas Hayton and Hannah his wife, Blackburne, Anne 
 
 and Matthew Scott. — Firby. — John and Sabil Ryley, Eliz. Bowes. — Swinton.— Henry Adamson and 
 Eliz. his wife, Anthony and Margaret Adamson, George Jackson and Frances his wife, George 
 Jackson and Ellen his wife, John Smith, Thomas Smith and Sarah his wife, Wm. Smith and Alice 
 his wife. — Masham. — Robert Lodge and Hester his wife, Jane Bridgwater widow, Thomas Bridg- 
 water. — Uton-cum-Pott. — Humphrey Bane and Susanna his wife, Richard Kinge and Eliz. his wife, 
 Robert, John, and Thomas Warde, Richard Jackson." 
 
APPENDIX. 509 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 E. 
 
 COPIES OF WILLS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE HISTORY OF MASHAMSHIRE 
 AND THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Copy Will of Christopher Wyvell, Esq., of Little or Low Burton, in the 
 parish of Masham. 
 
 In ye name of God, Amen. I, Christopher "Wy veil * of Burton Constable 
 in the countie of York, Esquier, this presente xxvj. day of March, 1577, 
 being of good and perfeitt remembrance. First and principallye, I geve 
 and bequethe my sowle to Almightie God, and my bodye to be buried in my 
 closed within ye parish church of Massam in ye said countie of Yorke, if yt 
 shall happen me to dye ether within ye said parish of Massam, or parishe of 
 Eyngall within ye said countie of Yorke, otherways at ye order and dispo- 
 sition of myne executors. Item. — My full mynd, intent, meaning, and will 
 is, and also I do will and bequethe that my entyrely beloved wife Margaret 
 Wyvell f shall have during her life all my maners, messuages, houses, 
 dove-houses, mylles, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, with ther 
 appurtenances whatsoever, in Burton Constable and Garrison in ye said 
 countye of Yorke, except one fermehould in Burton Constable aforesaid, 
 which John Merman now occupieth, and also except one fermehould in Gar- 
 rison which Frances Brughe now dwelleth on. And also I do geve, will, 
 and bequethe unto ye said Marg'ret for and during her life, all my lands, 
 tenements, and hereditaments, in Spenithorne in the said countie of Yorke, 
 nowe in the severall tenures or occupacons of the wife of Anthonie Burgh, 
 Richard Roweth, John B-owth, and Rauph Calvert. And also one fielde 
 
 * Christopher Wyvill was the eldest son and heir-at-law of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Knight, 
 M.P., of Little or Low Burton, near Masham, by Agnes the daughter and heir of Sir Ralph Fitz 
 Randolph, Knight, of Spennithorne, by Elizabeth his wife, one of the daughters and co-heiresfes of 
 Ralph Lord Scrope of Masham, as will be seen ante p. 244. He took the part of Queen Elizabeth 
 in putting down the rebellion of 1569, whilst Ms eldest son took the part of the rebels, as will be 
 seen hereafter. 
 
 t She was the daughter of the Hon. John Scrope, younger son of Henry sixth Lord Scrope of 
 Bolton, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. She had by 
 C. Wyvill four sons and two daughters, viz: — 1, Marmaduke ; 2, Richard, who died young ; 
 3, Robert; and 4, Christopher; Margaret, who died 12th April, 1565, and was buried in York 
 Minster ; and Dorothy the wife of Solomon Swale. 
 
 ss 
 
570 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 called Litle Morefeld, and one close called Brode Inge close, in Spenithorne 
 aforesaid : both the said closes now being in my owne occupacon. Also I 
 geve, will, and bequethe to my said wife all my lands, tenements, and he- 
 reditaments, with th' appurtenances in Skabbed-Newton, and Thorneton in 
 Bowlmershier in ye aforesaid countie of Yorke, to have and to hould for 
 terme of her naturall life, in full allowance, recompence, and satisfaction of 
 her right or tytle of dowre of, in, or to all and singuler the maners, 
 lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever within the realme of Eng- 
 land, whereof I, the said Christofer Wivell now stand, or at any tyme 
 heartofore during the espousalls between m& and the said Marg'ret have 
 been seased as of any estaite of cnheritance, if she, the said Marg'ret, will 
 in such maner and forme accept and tayke the same after the death of me 
 the said Christofer. And further, I will and devise by this my last will and 
 testament, that Robert Wyvell my second sonne shall have all my lands, te- 
 nements, and hereditaments in Swaneby in the same countie of Yorke, ass 
 well in possession as in revercion to him and his heires for ever, unto the 
 proper and onely use and behove of ye said Robert Wyvell, his heires and 
 assigns for ever. And also I will and bequethe that the said Robert shall 
 have all my lands, tenements, and hereditaments, with their apppurtenances 
 in Danbie and Thorneton Steward in the said countie of Yorke, together 
 with all such house would stuff, furniture, and implements of househould as I 
 now have, or heretofore have had, at or in the mansion house of Thorneton- 
 Steward aforesaid, and nowe remayne conteyned in an inventaire maid in 
 or about such tyme as Marmaduke Wyvell my eldest sonne entred into 
 ye said mansion house ther to dwell, to have, and to hould ye premises with 
 their appurtenances in Danbie and Thorneton-Steward aforesaid, unto ye 
 said Robert Wyvell for and during his naturall life onelie. Also I give, 
 will, and bequeth to Christofer Wyvell, my third sonne, all and singuler my 
 maners, lands, in Spenithorne aforesaid, being at the day of ye daite hearof 
 in ye tenure or occupacion of ye aforesaid Marmaduke Wyvell, for terme of 
 ye naturall life of the said Christopher Wyvell. And also I geve and be- 
 quethe unto the said Christofer Wyvell, all my lands in Spenithorne be- 
 queathed to my wife for her life onelie, to have and to hould the same unto 
 the said Christofer Wyvil my third sonne, immediatlye from and after the 
 decease of the-said Marg'ret my wife, for and during his life onelie. Also 
 I will and bequethe that Christofer Wyvell, my brother Wyllyam Wyvell 
 sonne, shall have one annual and yearlie rent charge of liijs. iiijc?. out of my 
 manner of Staynley, to be payd unto the said Christofer Wyvell yearlye du- 
 ring his life at two severall tearmes in the yeare, that ys to say, at ye An- 
 nunciation of our Ladie xxvjs. viijJ. and at St. Mychaell the Arkangell, other 
 xxvjs. viijd. with power to distrain. Also I will and bequeath that Francis 
 Brough of Garryston, shall have his ferme that he sytteth on rent fre for 
 terme of his life naturall, and after his death, to remayne unto the said Mar- 
 g'ret my wife for and during her life onelie. Also I geve and bequeth to 
 John Merman his house and his ferme that he occupiethe for terme of his 
 life, and after his death to remayne unto the said Marg'ret Wyvell my wife> 
 
APPENDIX. 571" 
 
 for and during her life onely. The residue of all my maners unbequethed, 
 and the reversion of those bequethed by this my last will, I geve, will, and 
 bequethe unto the said Marmaduke Wyvell my sonne and heire apparant. 
 Item. — I geve and bequethe unto my wife the whole use, occupacon, and 
 profits of ye farme and lease of ye parson ag of Fingall during her life, and 
 for the terme of yeares yen to come, paying to Christofer Wyvell my sonne, 
 yearlye, after he accomplishe ye age of xviij yeares, vjli. xiijs. iiijd. at two 
 several! termes in ye yeare, yt is to say, at Martynmas and St. Marke's day, 
 or within xx u - dayes next after either of ye said feasts, and yf it fortune 
 my said wife to dye before ye expiracon of ye said years, the residue to re- 
 mayne wholy to ye said Christofer. My wife to have the use and custodie 
 of hir childe porcon till he be xxj., and if she die, my son Christofer to be at 
 the appoyntment of her last will. Also I give unto my afforesaid wife ye 
 draught of oxen at Fingall, with all thinges to them belonging, for terme of 
 her life, and so to leave them to the said Christofer Wyvell accordingly as 
 she receyved ye same. Item. — I geve and bequethe unto Marmaduke 
 Wyvell * my sonne and heire, ye whole use, occupacon, possession, and pro- 
 fitts of my farme and lease of ye parsonage of Massham, and all the termes 
 of years of and in the same to come after my deathe. — Also I geve and be- 
 quethe unto the said Marmaduke all my leases of the lordshipp of Kyrkstan- 
 ley. Also I geve and bequethe to my said son Marmaduke Wyvell, my best 
 stoned horse, viij. at Lytle Burton [Low Burton] and all ye necessaries 
 to them belonginge as wayne, yockes, and teames, my iron bound carte, 
 with all things thereunto belonginge, and all my brewing vessells at Lytle 
 Burton, the great chamber, the lord's chamber, ye parlour under ye lord's 
 chamber, the haule, the butterie, and ye kytchinge, to be furnished as shall 
 appeare by an inventorie mayd about the daite of this my last will and 
 testament. Also I geve unto the said Marmaduke all my armour at Lytle 
 
 * Marmaduke Wyvill here referred to, joined the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland 
 in the rebellion of 1569 so often hereinbefore referred to ; and was taken prisoner, as appears by a 
 letter from Lord Scrope to Sir W. Cecil, dated 30th Dec. By the influence of powerful friends, how- 
 ever, he escaped the fate which befel some of his fellow-prisoners, and not only saved his life, but 
 obtained his liberty. The f ollowing extract from a letter from the Earl of Sussex to Sir W.Cecil, da- 
 ted Hartlepool, 17th Jany. 1569, has reference to him. — " Mr. Wivell's son and heire was in the rebel- 
 lion with the Earl of Northumberland his master, and is by Simon Musgrave detayned as diverse 
 others be in those partes contrary to my sondry letters, upon some intente they have to begg them 
 off the Q. Majestie. He is my wife's cosin, and therefore if any seke to begg him I besech you to 
 procnre his stay in the Q. Ma. handes. He hath nether landes nor goodes presently ; and if it shall 
 not please her Maj. hereafter to give him his life free, I wold rather wish for my wife's sake, it 
 might please her Maj. to take a fyne to her self, although I payed parte of it, then to give him to 
 be merchandized by others." — It appears that he not only effected his escape, but that he was 
 afterwards taken into favour, for he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and was created a Baronet 
 by King James I. on the 23rd Nov. 1611. He married Magdalen the daughter of Sir Christopher 
 Dauby, Knt. (as mentioned ante p. 259), by whom he had a family of eight sons and two daughters- 
 He erected in his life-time the sumptuous mural monument now remaining in Masham church* 
 and died on the 9th Jan. 1617, aged 76 years. He was succeeded in his baronetcy and estates by 
 his grandson Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, who was High-sheriff of Yorkshire in the 9th Charles I., and 
 was a distinguished Royalist and sufferer, having been twice plundered by Cromwell's troops, and 
 finally compelled to pay £1 ,343 as a composition for his estates. 
 
 For several generations the Wyvills were the lessees of the tithes of Masham parish, and in 
 that character they joined Trinity College, Cambridge, in presenting to the living whenever it 
 became vacant. 
 
572 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 Burton. Also I geve unto the said Marmaduke one basen and eware of 
 sylver persell gilt, tow sylver boweles with a cover persell gylt, tow sylver 
 saltes with a cover dooble gilt. Item. — I geve and bequeth unto my 
 doughter-in-lawe his wife, one ambling gelding. Item. — I geve unto my 
 sonne Sallomon Swaile, * one gelding or \U. in moneye, whether of those 
 bequests he is willing to have, and to my doughter Dorothe his wife xfo*. 
 Item. — I geve and bequethe unto my brother Wylliam Wyvell, one nagg or 
 fyve markes, whether of the said gyftes he is willing to have. And also I 
 geve and bequethe to my brother Francis Wyvell, one nagg or fyve marks, 
 whether of ye said gefts he is willing to have. Item. — I geve unto my sonne 
 and heire Marmaduke Wyvell the tuic'on and bringingc upp of Christofer 
 Wyvell f of Waleworthe, with all such monie as shall appeare in a bill an- 
 nexed to his father's will with xft. more which I geve unto the said 
 Christofer. Also I geve and bequethe unto Christofer Wyvell of Thorneton, 
 my dunne horse which was under strunte tayle maire. Also I geve unto 
 Marmaduke Wyvell his brother, one bay meire called bay gyll. Also I geve 
 to Elizabethe Wyvell xli. towards ye preferment of hir marriage. Also 1 
 geve and bequethe to my brother John Scrope, my brother Adrian Scropc, 
 and to my brother Robert Scrope, every one of them, an ould ryall for a re- 
 membrance. Item. — I give to my neece Ann More xls. Item. — I geve to 
 my cosing Phillis Dods worth e J xxs. Item. — I geve and bequeith unto 
 every yeoman servante within my house at ye tyme of my deathe, one half- 
 year's wage over and besydes such wages as ys due unto them at the day of 
 my deathe. And also unto all other servants in my house as well as men as 
 women, one quarter's wage over and besydes such wayges as are due unto 
 yem at ye same tyme. Item. — I geve to Marmaduke Wynterskell all my 
 hosen as well sloppes as nether stockes, all my bootes and spurres, and all 
 my hatts, except one hatt which hath a crutch on yt, and also one fushing 
 dublett. Item. — I geve and bequeth xli. of moneye to be distributed and 
 geven in almes § for ye healthe of my soule to the most poore, nedye, impo- 
 
 * Solomon Swale, Esq., was the son of Thomas Swale by Cicely his wife, who was daughter 
 of John Pulleyn, Esq., of Killinghall. He was the father of Francis Swale, Esq., of south Stain- 
 ley, who married Anne daughter of Sampson Ingilby, Esq. (a younger son of Sir William Ingilby 
 of Ripley), and had by her a son Solomon Swale, who was created a Baronet on the 21st June, 
 1660, and represented the borough of Aldborough in the Parliament which voted the restoration 
 of King Charles II. He married Dorothy the daughter of Christopher Wyvill (the testator). 
 
 t Christopher Wyvill here alluded to, was the eldest son of testator's brother, Sampson Wyvill 
 of Walworth, in the county of Durham, who by his will dated the 12th April, 1568, mentions 
 Christopher his eldest son, his son Thomas, his daughter Margaret, as also his wife Faith, and ap- 
 points Christopher Wyvill of Burton, and Nicholas Girlington of Hackforth, Esq., Marmaduke 
 Wyvill, and Nicholas G-irlington junr., gentlemen, the supervisors of his will, but commits his 
 eldest son Christopher (here alluded to) to the charge of his Uncle (the testator mentioned in 
 the text). The mother of this youth was Faith the daughter of Nicholas Girlington, Esq., of Hack- 
 forth; she survived her husband and re-married George the son of Henry Pudsey, Esq., of 
 Barford. 
 
 t She was the daughter of the testator's aunt Dorothy Wyvill, who married Richard or Roger 
 Dodsworth, Esq., of Thornton-Watlass, by whom she had a family of children, one of whom was 
 Phillis Dodsworth here alluded to. 
 
 § Although the testator took the part of Queen Elizabeth in putting down the rebellion of 
 1560, in which his eldest son risked his life, he was a Roman Catholic in doctrine and by profes- 
 sion, and consequently believed in the efficacy of the giving of alms for the health of his soul as 
 here indicated. 
 
APPENDIX. 573 
 
 tent, and lame persons dwelling and inhabiting in such places as hereafter 
 followethe, that ys to say, in ye parishinge of Massham v/i., in ye parishinge 
 of Fingall iijE, and in ye parishing of Spenithorne xls., to he payd by my 
 executors over and besydes my funerall expenses. The resydew to Marg'ret 
 my wife, Robert and Cristopher Wyvell my tow sons, they X'rs, supervisors, 
 my loving brother-in-lawe Henry Scrope, and my loving sonne Marmaduke 
 Wyvell : and for the paines taking theirin, I geve to either of them tow 
 odd ryalls for a remembrance. In witness whereof I have set my hand and 
 seale, &c — these being witnesses, Lanclot Rowth, clerk, person of Fyngall, 
 &c. Christopher Wyvell. Proved 10 May, 1579, in the Archdeaconry 
 Court of Richmond. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Copy Will of Margaret Wivell of Little Burton, the widow of Christopher 
 Wyvell before named. 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. I, Margaret Wivell of Little Burton, widow, 
 being craised of bodie, but of good and perfect remembrance, thankes be 
 geven to God, this presente xix. daie of Auguste in the yeare of our Lorde 
 God, 1584, and in the xxxist. yeare of the reigne of our sovereigne Ladie 
 Elizabeth, by the grace of God, Queene of England, France, and Ireland, de- 
 fender of the faith, &c, do ordeine, constitute, and make this my last will 
 and testament in manner and forme following : — First, I geve and principal- 
 lie bequeithe my soule to the blessed Trinitie and all the blessed companie 
 of heaven, and my bodie to be buried beside my husband's, in the churche of 
 Massham, and presentlie after my deathe tenn poundes, to be geven at that 
 time to the poore. Item. — I geve and bequiethe to my daughter Mawdlen, 
 my french hood with all things thereunto belonginge, my stillitorie [a still} 
 and six elle of linninge cloth. Item. — 1 geve and bequieth to Christopher 
 Wivill my sonne, Marmaduke's sonne, my crosse of golde and xv£ over and 
 beside all suche househould stufFe as I have delivered to his father accordinge to 
 suche a note as I have delivered him. Item. — I geve and bequiethe unto 
 Marie Wivell, my son Marmaduke's doughter, one silver salte with a cover, 
 one gilded spone, one diper table clothe, one pair of linen sheetes and two 
 pillow-beeres over and beside \li. I have delivede her father. Item. — I geve 
 unto Umphrdie Wivell, Francis Wivel, William Wivell, and John Wivell, 
 my sonne Marmaduke's children, everye one a cowe. Item. — I geve to 
 Elizabeth Wivell, my sonne Marmaduke's daughter, one brode canvaisse 
 table clothe, one longe sewed silke quisshone over and beside x\li. I have de- 
 livered her father. Item.— I geve and bequiethe to Marmaduke Wivell my 
 sonne Marmaduke's sonne xxs. over and besides vli. I have delivered his 
 father. Item. — I geve and bequiethe to Thomas Wivell my sonne, Marma- 
 duke Wivell sonne xxs. over and besides \li. I have delivered his father. 
 Item. — I geve and bequiethe to my brother More xls., to my sister Moore 
 
574 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 iijft. and tenn yardes of Linnen, and to everie one of my brother More sonne, 
 xs. Item.— I geve to my nece Anne Moore, three silver spones with maiden 
 heades, one paire of linnen sheetes, one paire of harden sheets, one table-clothe, 
 one cubbord clothe, six table napkins, my best pillione, one whie and xiijs. for 
 a black gowne over and besides xxli. and a whole bed of close I have delivered 
 her. Item. — I geve to Margaret Moore, one mattresse, one bolster, one paire of 
 blanketts, two coverletts, one paire of harden sheetes, two pattlothes and 
 two smoks. Item. — I geve to my nephew Adrian * Scrope, two angells, and 
 to eyther of his brethren one angell, and to his sister Philis xls. Item.— 
 I will that my sonne Kob'te shall paie unto my nephew Adrian for a horse I 
 bought of him, tenn pounds att the daie of his marriadge. Item. — I geve 
 unto every one of my brother Adrian's children xs. Item. — I geve and 
 bcquiethe unto Salamon Wyvell my sonne, Rob'te's sonne, one silver bowle, 
 one silver salt without cover, one trussinge bedd [a travelling bed], one fole- 
 ded table, beinge boothe in the chamber where my husband and I was wont 
 to lie, one greate chyste, two pillowes, one paire of blanketts, one coverlett, 
 my best counterpoint. Item. — I geve to Madlen Wivell his sister xli. which 
 I will that her father put forwardes to her use. Item. — I geve to Mar- 
 garett Swaille one silver spone, one why [a young heifer] and ten ewes, one 
 little white cover, one paire of lynne sheetes, one to well, one cobert cloth, 
 vij. napkins over and besides X.IL I have alredie delivered to her mother. 
 Item. — I geve unto my brother William Wivell xili. which he oweth me in 
 money. Item. — I geve to X'for his sonne xxs. Item. — I geve unto my 
 
 brother Francis Wivell xs. Item I geve unto my cosen Elizabeth Gowse 
 
 my beste clothe gowne, and to every one of her daughters xs. Item. — I 
 geve to my cousin Phillis Tennante my velvet hat. Item. — I geve to Mrs. 
 Alice Segiswicke xxs. Item. — I geve and bequithe unto my daughter 
 Swaile * my silver goblett, my silver pottinger [a porringer or a little dish 
 with ears], the trusstinge bed I lie on with all that is of it (the feather bedd 
 and bolster onely excepted), one black coffer with all things therein, my 
 great coffer which hathe her marke thereon, three score weathers (which my 
 sonne Marrnaduke's sonne and my sonne Robert shall deliver if there be so 
 many remaininge in their handes att the daie of my deathe) fortie ewes, five 
 kine and three calves, four quarters of mault, two quarters of wheate, and 
 all the new milke house vessels unoccupied, and halfe my household stuffe, 
 my legacies first discharged, with half my swine, poultry, and bees, or else 
 one hundreth marks, with my silver gobblett, and my silver pottinger, and the 
 greate coffer which hathe her marke on, to be paid within one year after my 
 deathe, and four pounds for their blacks. Item. — I geve and bequiethe unto 
 my son Marmaduke Wivell half my cattle and my sheepe, my legacies firste 
 beinge paid, my best feather bed and bolster and fortie shillings for such 
 kitching stuffe as was undelivered of my son Christopher's childe portions. 
 And my clock, or else one hundreth markes if it please him to be delivered 
 
 * This is " the thrice noble Sir Adrian " mentioned ante p. 241, who was the son of her bro- 
 ther Kalph Scrope of Hambledon, and father of Adrian the " regicide" whose signature is at- 
 tached to the death warrant of King Charles the First. — See ante p. 241. 
 
 * See ante. 
 
APPENDIX. 575 
 
 within one yeare next after my death. Item. — I geve unto my sonne Robt. 
 wief my best gowne and kirtle [a tunic or jacket] and dubblett, one coffer 
 "with ii. table clothes, ii. cuberte close, ii. towells, ii. pillow beers, six table 
 napkins, my linnbeck, ii. quishings [cushions] and fortie shillings for a 
 black gowne. Item. — I geve Frances Burghe wife of Gareston, my best 
 petticote. Item. — I geve to Margaret Beckwith, my god-daughter, xls. and 
 one whye stirk. Item. — I geve to Elizabeth Blackburne xls., one cowe, my 
 work-day kirtle and petticoate, one mattrice, one bolster, one pair of 
 blankets, and one coverlett, one pair of harden sheets, one smock, one ker- 
 chef and one fail [a garment of fine linen formerly worn round the neck]. 
 Item. — I geve to the residue of my maydens every one vs. and one smocke, 
 one kerchef, and one rail. Item. — I geve to my men servants every one vs. 
 Item. — I geve to William Winterskell vs. Item, — I geve to John Waggett 
 and his wife, iiis. iiiid. Item. — I require my sonne Marmaduke that after 
 my burial he will call together my friends and make them a dinner at Bur- 
 ton Parke, and I geve for the chardge thereof tenne poundes, and if he be 
 not in the country at that tyme, then my minde and will is, that my sonne 
 Robert shall have the xZ. and make the dinner att Thornton Steward. Item. 
 - — I geve to the poor of Massam xls., to Burton and Fingall xxs., to be distribu- 
 ted in Lenten after my deathe. Item. — My full minde, that if any of those 
 legacies before bequiethed in this my laste will and testament be deliverede 
 to any the parties afforenamed in my lief tyme, that then my executors 
 shall be thereof acquitted and discharged. The residue of all my good debts 
 and legacies discharged, I geve and bequiethe unto my son Robert Wivell, 
 whome I do ordeine, constitute, and appointe my sole executor of this my 
 last will and testament according to such uses as I have appointed. — In wit- 
 ness whereof I have sett to my hand and seale, the daie and yeare above 
 wrytten. 
 
 Letters of Administration of the effects of the deceased were granted by the 
 Peculiar Court of Masham to Robert Wivell, the sole executor mentioned in 
 the above will, he having exhibited an Inventory amounting to the sum of 
 £351 14s. <±d., and entered into the necessary bond with Christopher Beck- 
 with of Nutwith Cote, yeoman, as his surety. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Copy Will of John Laton of Snape Low Parke, in the Parish of Well. 
 
 In the nayme of God, Amen. The sexte day of Apryll, in the yere off 
 our Lord God, m.ccccc.lvtij. I, John Laton of Snape Low Parke * I gyff 
 unto Marjorye Laton my wyfe, such lands and tenements as I have pur- 
 chased within the lordshipp and grounds att Skulterskeff and Osmoderlay, 
 
 * John Laton of Snape Low Park, was descended from a younger son of the family of Laton 
 of Sexhowe. He was the son of William Laton who died 6 Hen. VIII. , by Margaret the daughter 
 
 of Thomas Montford. He married Marjery daughter of Dodsworth of Thornton- Watlass, by 
 
 whom he left four sons and a daughter. — All his sons died childless.— See Rkhmondshire Wills. 
 
576 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 within the Countye of Yorke, and after her dyseas the same lands and tene- 
 ments to remayne unto John Laton my eldest son, and to his heirs for ever. 
 And I gyf unto the said Marjery my wife, all myn hooll intreste, right, and 
 tytle which I have for th' one halfe off an oxgang land at Newby-upon- 
 Wyske, for terme of certayn yers yit nott expyred. And I gyf unto my said 
 wife and to John Laton myn eldest son, and to the over-lyffer of them, all 
 my hooll ryght, title, and intereste of all and syngler, such yerely annuities as 
 I have att any tyme heretofore opteyned and bought of any person or persons 
 eyther at Snape or Skampston, within the said countye of Yorke. And I wyll 
 that the said Marjorie my wife, to have and occupie for terme of her lyfe all 
 my fermyngs, both tythes and oder which I have at Well, Tiddellfude, Est 
 Harellyssey and att Ilton in Mashamshire, and the corne tythes for the 
 Kynge, part att Karethropp, with all maner, comodyties, and profetts to 
 them or any of them belongyng. And I gyf unto my son Christopher 
 Laton xli. over and besyde his bairne part, and my best horse, and the reste 
 of all my yers of my farmyngs at "Well, Ilton, and Carethropp by the fore- 
 said, after my said wyfe disceas, and I wyll and desyre that my said son 
 Christofer may have the maryage of Isabell Mennyll the King's ward, afore 
 she come to xvj. years old, or ells to eyther off my two oder sones George or 
 Herry Laton, and yfytt chaunce ye said Isabell utterly to refuse all my 
 said sones, then I will that her mariage be sool'ed afore her said age of xvj. 
 yers, and the said Christopher Laton to have the full halfe thereof towards 
 his preferment of marriage or oderwyse, and resydue of the value of her 
 said mariage equally to be devided amongs all oder my said sones and my 
 said wyfe. And for all maner rents and other yerely profetts conrying or 
 growing of all the said Isabell is landds to be receyved yerely by my said 
 wiffe or her assjTiges, and the moyte thereof, she to retayne to her own pro- 
 per use, and th' oder moyte to be dysposed and devided after her dyscrescon 
 to and emongs all oder our children. And I gyf to our younger sons George 
 and Henry Laton vli. in money to eyther off them over and above ther 
 bairn parts. And I gif to Agnes Laton my doghter x\li. towards her 
 maryage and in full payment of her bayrn part. And I gyf her also vj. syl- 
 ver spones and a fether bed wyth all things thereunto perteynyng. And I 
 wyll she have a cowe and a whie as gode in value as those were that her 
 grandaym, my moder and her cosyn Ann Lyster * gaffe her, with resoon- 
 able satisfaccion for the calfs I have had of them. And I gif to John Laton 
 my eldest son, my flowr off gold with a stone in yt and xx. nobles in money, 
 besydes his bairn part. And I wyll that after my wyff's desceas, my said 
 son John Laton to have all myn farmyngs at Sidal, Est Haresley, boithes 
 tythes and all oder. And my said wyf to pay him xxvjs. viije?. yerely at 
 
 * Anne Lyster (who was probably own sister to tbe testator's wife) was the wife of Richard 
 Lyster, gentleman. In her will made at Masham, on the 3rd July, 1552, she directs her body to 
 be "carded " in the church of our Lady at Masham, and leaves to Richard Beckwith " a cowe cal- 
 led Young Allback," — to Margaret Beckwith " iiij Eye called flowreld, old Allak, White-fote with 
 her calf, and tagged whye with calf" — to her sister Dodisworth her best gowne and hat — to her 
 son John's wife a pair of corall beads — to Dorothy Parker a pair of l'amber beads and a velvet 
 patlet — to Dorothy Dodsworth her best basin and her best charger — to her daughter Beckwith 
 her syde saddle ; and mentions her brother Anthony Dodsworth. — Eichmondshire Wills, published 
 by the Surtees Society. 
 
APPENDIX. 577 
 
 Mertilmes and Pentyeost, by evyn porcons duryng tyme off her occupation 
 of the farmyngs, or any oder person or persons. And I gyff to Isabell Men- 
 nel my best mere, a fether bed, a bolster, a pair of sheets, a par blankets, ij. 
 coverlets and a counterpoynt. I gyff unto my Lord Latymer * xls. I gyff 
 to th' endmendmentt of the churchwarke at Well, and for my lying in the 
 church there xs. Also 1 gyf to Mr. Vycar there xs. To Sir Jamys Place 
 xld. And whereas John Dalton heretofore delyvered me v marks to kepe, 
 which afterwards by reason of the fall of money was but xxxiijs. iiijf?. 
 which same 1 wyll he be rekenyed for, and to be satisfyd thereof accord- 
 ingly. The resydue to Margery e Laton my wyfe my executrix. 
 
 No. 4. 
 Copy Will of the Rev. George Neville, D.D., Master of Well Hospital. 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. The fourth day of September, the yere of 
 our Lorde God a thowsande fyve hundreth threescore and seven. I, George 
 Nevill,f Doctor of Dyvinytie, and Maister of th' 'Ospitall of Well, of an 
 hole mynde and perfite remembrance, makith this my last will and testa- 
 ment in maner and forme folowynge. First. — I geve and bequyeth my soule 
 unto God Almyghtie my Cretor and Redemer, the whiche onely I trust in 
 his marcy and merits of his passion to have everlastynge life after this mis- 
 erable worlde, and my body to be buryed within the queyr of Well churche 
 nye unto the old Mr. of Well, and to have a writyng gravyn above fixed 
 upon the marbill stone ther and the old Mr. Threplande % name ther on also. 
 Item. — I geve and bequyeth unto the churchewarke of Well vjfo'. xiijs. iiijc?. 
 Item. — I geve and bequyeth unto the parishe of Spoforde xxli. — to the par- 
 
 ishe of Well xx^'._to the parishe of Bolton xxli to the parishes of Sawgill and 
 
 Morland xxli., and to the pareshe of Burton Latymer xxli. Item. — I geve unto 
 Sir Henry Percy § and my lady his wife and Thomas ther son, my godson, 
 
 * John Lord Latimer of Snape, who married Lucy daughter of Henry Earl of Worcester, by 
 whom he left four daughters and co-heiresses, and died on the 22d of April, 19 Eliz. — Ibid. 
 
 t George Neville (the testator) was the thirteenth child and seventh son of Richard Lord 
 Latimer by Anne daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton in Worcestershire, having been 
 born on the 29th July, 1509. He was also brother to Elizabeth the wife of Sir Christopher Danby, 
 Knight, mentioned ante page 254. Besides being the master of Well Hospital he held at the time 
 of his death the livings of Spofford, Bolton, and Leake in Yorkshire, Rothbury in Northumber- 
 land, and Salkeld and Morland in Cumberland. 
 
 X Richard Threpland of Well, clerk, by his will dated 4 June, 1552, left 25. to be distributed in 
 alms among poor people immediately after his departure : — to his niece Janet Sympson the house 
 in which he dwelt, and his lease of a close in Longworth, which he held of Lord Latimer — to Ma- 
 tilda his sister, his furred gown — to Ann Willyngson his sister, a side gown which had no lining 
 — to John Willyson his nephew, a short gown — Sir Robert Redshaw, Sir John Rokeby, and Sir 
 John Robynson, his curates, are the witnesses to his will, which was proved 19th July, 1552. 
 
 § Sir Henry Percy (here alluded to) was the second son of Sir Thomas Percy, who was be- 
 headed in 1557, for the part he took in the rebellion called " the Pilgrimage of Grace," mentioned 
 ante page 96. After his elder brother (the Earl of Northumberland) was beheaded at York in 
 1570, for the part he took in the rebellion, " The Ri«ing of the North, " alluded to ante page 97, 
 he became the eighth Earl of Northumberland. He was sometime governor of Norham Castle, and 
 was also for a considerable period Captain of Tynemouth Castle. When the last mentioned rebel- 
 lion broke out, he had the good sense to refrain from joining in it. He ultimately, however, be- 
 
 TT 
 
578 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 ■ 
 
 amongst them, in olde gold x\li. Item.— I geve unto Mr. Christ Wyvell * xli to 
 
 Maistress Wyvell his wife iijli. vjs. xiijd. — to Mr. Marmaduke Wyvell and his 
 
 wief v&. — to the Parson of Tanfield xls. — to the Parson of Kyrtlyngton xls to 
 
 the Vicar of Well iijli. vjs. viijd. — to Mr. Hodgeson xls to Sir William 
 
 Adamson xls — to Sir Rauf Smith xxs., and where I am lawfully possesside 
 of one annuytie of xjli. ixs. xd., goynge furth of the maner of Nonmonkton, 
 for the terme of many yeres yet endurynge, I geve, will, and bequj'eth unto 
 Antony Chaloner xxvjs viije?., parcell of the saide annul tie of xjli. ixs. xd. 
 Item. — I geve, will, and bequyeth unto John Wilsone xxvjs. viijcZ. parcell of 
 the said annuytie xjli. ixs. Yd. Item. — I geve, will, and bequyeth unto 
 Henry Harlande xxvjs. viijc?. parcell of the said annuytie of xjli. ixs. xd. 
 Item — I geve, will, and bequythe unto the said John Lambert xxvjs. xiijd. 
 parcell of the said annuytie of xjli. ixs. xd. Also, I geve, will, and be- 
 quyeth unto Thomas Scrafton xiiijs. ixd. parcell of the said annuytie of xjli. 
 ixs. yd. Item. — I geve, will, and bequyeth unto Sir Thomas Gill xli. par- 
 cell of the said annuytie of xjli. ixs. vd., and if it fortune the saide Sir 
 Thomas Gill, or any other of my servants above writtyn, unto whom I have 
 geven any annuytie, to dye affore my yeres of the afForesaid an'tie of xjli. 
 ixs. xd. in Nonmonkton be fynished and ended, that then the said annuities 
 of them so deceased and deid to be distributed to the poore people within 
 Well parishynge, to whom as shall be thought most mete by the sight and 
 appoyntment of my executors. Item. — I geve and bequyeth unto my sead 
 servants Antony Chaloner xli. — to John Wilson xl. — to Henry Harland xli. — 
 to Antony Sympson xli. — to Thomas Scrafton iiijli. Item — I geve unto 
 Agnes Freer xli. — to Anne Key xxs. — to John Cooke with his wagies xs. — 
 to Wynde with his wagies xiijs. ixd. — to John Brown xxs. — to Thomas 
 Wade with his wages xiijs. iiijd. — to Bucele with his wages xs. — to Agnes 
 Freer with hir wages xiijs. iiijcZ. — to Ware with his wages xs. — to Wayn- 
 man with his wagies xs. — to Marmaduke Emondson xli. — to Robert Barkus 
 
 xls. — to William Morland xxs. Item I geve and bequyeth unto Sir John 
 
 Nevill f xli. and v marks for hymself. Item. — I bequyeth xx marks to be 
 bestowide by my executors for mendynge of Briggs and hyewais. Item. — 
 I geve unto Susan Nevill J if she be lyving iiijli. — to Mary Nevill xls. — to 
 Mr. Doctor Sygewike iiijli. — to the poore people at my buryall and for the 
 
 came suspected of participating in the conspiracies of Mary Queen of Scots, and after remaining for 
 some time under the surveillance of the officers of Queen Elizabeth, he was thrown into the Tower, 
 where, after a long and tedious imprisonment, he shot himself on the 21st < .Iune, 1585, being the 
 seventh Earl of Northumberland, and the thirteenth member of the family of Percy who died by 
 violent death. 
 
 He married Catherine eldest daughter of John fourth Lord Latimer, and niece of the testa- 
 tor, and of Elizabeth the wife of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., by whom he left a large family. 
 
 * Christopher Wyvill, here alluded to, is the person whose will occurs ante. 
 
 t Sir John Neville of Iiversedge, who married Dorothy, daughter of Sir Christopher Danby, 
 Kiit., and a niece of the testator, for an account of whom see ante page 256. 
 
 % Susan Neville, the fifth daughter and seventh child of Richard Lord Latimer (and niece of 
 the testator, and of Elizabeth the wife of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt.), was born on the 28th of 
 April, 1501, and married Richard Norton, Esq., of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, the " Patriarch" 
 of the Rebellion of 1569, so often before alluded to. He, with most of his family, having joined 
 in that ill-fated enterprize, on the failure of the insurrection were especially marked out for ven- 
 geance. Christopher Norton, however, his seventh son, was the only member of the family that 
 
 
APPENDIX. 579 
 
 dyner xx marks. — to my executors idi. apece, except those rewarded and ap- 
 poynted in a bill. Item. — I geve unto Sir Henry Percy halfe the tithe 
 corne of Spoford, for the delapidacions and his goodnes shewid unto me. 
 Item. — I geve unto Mr. Doctor Carter xls. And I geve, will, and bequyeth 
 unto my trusty servants Antony Chaloner, John Wilson, Henry Harland, 
 John Lambert, and Thomas Scrafton, those iij parts of my fermehold of 
 Leake in iiij parts divided, whiche I have in myn owne occupacion, to have 
 and to hold unto them duryng all my interest and terme of yeres in the 
 same, and the iiijth parte thereof being nowe in the occupacion of Richard 
 Danby, I geve, will, and bequyeth unto the said Richard Danby durynge all 
 my interest and terme of yeres in the same. Also, I geve unto the said 
 Richard Danby xls. Also, I geve and bequyeth unto the Lady Jefforth 
 fyve marks. And I geve unto my nephos Francis Norton, John Norton, 
 Edmunde Norton, William Norton, George Norton, Christopher Norton, 
 Sampson Norton, and Marmaduke Norton, silt. — to be devidid equally 
 amongest them. Item. — I geve and bequyeth unto Mr. Myghell Wandisford * 
 xls., and to George Wandisford my godson, other xls. Item. — I geve unto 
 my nece Mary Lambone f liijs. iiijeL Item. — I give unto my nepho Wil- 
 liam Danby J xxli. — to my nepho James Danby § xx marks, and I geve 
 unto my nepho Marmaduke Danby || xx marks. Item. — 1 geve unto Sir 
 Thomas Scoot iiij//. Item. — I will, geve, and bequyeth unto John Wandis- 
 ford, clerk, Hen. Hodgeson, clerk, and Leonard Bateson, clerk, all mybokes, 
 certen books whiche are called the course of Lyra, whiche I will shall re- 
 mayne into the churche of Well onely excepted. Item. — I geve, bequyeth, 
 and will, that my executors shall pay all such summes of money and be- 
 quests as ar wrytyn and conteynyd in a cedall or bill hereunto annexed. 
 The residue of all my goods, my will fulfilled by detts and legacies contented 
 and paid, I geve unto Syr Henry Percy, Knyght, Richarde Norton, 51 Crist. 
 Wyvell, ** and Crist. Danby, f f Esquires. Witnesses hereof. — William Fir- 
 bie, Thomas Hutchenson, John Anderson, Marmaduke Lemynge, John Pic- 
 kerynge, yonger, George Neville. 
 
 Proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Richmond, on the 4th Nov. 1567, 
 by Richard Norton, Chris'r Wyvell, and Christr. Danby, Esquires. 
 
 was put to death : of the others, one or two were pardoned, and the rest, together with their aged 
 father, escaped abroad and died in exile. 
 
 * Michael" Wandesford (here alluded to) was the fourth son of Thomas Wandesford, Esq., 
 of Kirklington, by Margaret, daughter of Henry Pudsay, Esq., of Barford. He married Isabel 
 daughter of Rowland Place, Esq., of Hanlaby. The George Wandesford next mentioned in 
 the will was probably the son of Michael. 
 
 t Mary Lamborne (here alluded to) was a daughter of Richard Norton before mentioned, by 
 a sister of the testator. She married Henry Green, Esq., of Newby, and after his death (in 1557) 
 she re-married John Lamborne, who was deeply implicated in the rebellion of 1569. 
 
 t Willam Danby (here alluded to) was the sixth son of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt. 
 
 § James Danby (here alluded to) was the fourth son of Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., see ante 
 p. 262. 
 
 || Marmaduke Danby (here alluded to) was of Masham, and the fifth son of Sir Christopher 
 Danby, Knt., as will be seen ante page 262. 
 
 IT Richard Norton was the leader of the rebellion of 1569. 
 
 ** Christopher Wyvill is the testator mentioned ante. 
 
 ft Christopher Danby is Sir Christopher Danby, Knt., mentioned ante. 
 
580 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 F. 
 
 Extracts from an old booh of Accounts belonging to the Churchwardens of 
 Ifasham, from A.D. 1540 to A.D. 1677. * 
 
 A.D. 1542.— Received " and gathered in the church for Rowell Candell 
 afore the rood xxd.— for Howell Eges of Masham xijd." Paid " against the 
 Assumption of our Ladye" xjlb. of waxe iijs. vijrf. — Christopher Williamson, 
 for making of it vijd., for wyre for the clock id. for the Rowell iiij/6. of 
 waxe xx<7., and for makynge of the same iiijc?. to the Clark of Dent, for 
 mendying and tunyng of the Organ iijs. to John Syxforthe, for kepyng of 
 the clock iiijs. 
 
 A.D. 1543. — Received of John Beckwith of Swynton, for lyeing of his 
 mother in the churche iijs. iiijd. f for the Rowell Eges of Masham, xije?. 
 Paid against Easter, xij/6. of waxe for the serges and the Rowell, and for 
 makyng the sayd serges, vijt?. ; for makyng the Rowell, iije?. to John Cor- 
 bryke of Petley Bridge, for xl stone of Leyde, xiijs. to John Smorthwayt 
 of Hilton, for x stone of Leyd, iijs. iiijd. to Nycolas Plummer, for castyng 
 of the churche roofe, xxs. viijrf. to Rauf Thekston, for fetching half a fother 
 of leyd from Patley Bridge, xxiijc?. for meyt and drynk at Bayll Gyll, xd. 
 to John Yatts, for makyng of the sompe to make leyd in, i]d. to Symonde 
 Robynson's wyfe, for a gallon of ayll, i]d. to John Johnson of Heley, for carye- 
 ing of x stone of leyd to Massam, ijd. to Robert Johnson, for fetchyng xl 
 
 * This is the Book referred to ante page 409, which has only been recovered since the preced- 
 ing sheets were printed off. It is full of very interesting matter. From this book it will be seen 
 that, as is still common in the Roman Catholic Churchy Masham Church used to be lighted up 
 with Wax Candles placed before the rood or crucifix ; and that this practice was continued until 
 it was prohibited on the completion of the Reformation by an Order in Council, 2 EdAvard 6th, 
 A.D. 1548, and again revived in Queen Mary's time. Whilst the practice prevailed, very large 
 sums of money appear to have been annually expended in the purchase of wax, and the making of 
 it up into different descriptions of candles. In it we are able to trace not only the great changes 
 which were, at this period, taking place in the Church, but in the State —the suppression of the 
 Roman Catholic religion and its usages, and mode of worship; and its temporary revival in the 
 reign of Queen Mary — the establishment of the Protestant or reformed religion in the time of 
 Queen Elizabeth— its overthrow by the Puritans during the Commonwealth ; and its revival after 
 the Restoration — the continual changes in the Communion Book — the putting up of the King's 
 Arms in the Church (1605) by way of asserting the King's right to be " In England the supreme 
 head on earth of the Church" — the pulling down of the King's Arms (A.D. 1651) by the Parlia- 
 ment during the Commonwealth ; and the setting up of the Arms of the Commonwealth in their 
 stead — the setting up again of the King's Arms (A.D. 1660) after the Restoration— the ringing at 
 King Charles's Coronation, and on the 29th May. The book is also very valuable in shewing the 
 price of labour, and of different descriptions of commodities at these early dates. 
 
 t See as to this ante page 417. 
 
APPENDIX. 581 
 
 stone of leyde * at Pateley Bridge, for horse and man, xiijd. to Cowper's 
 wyfe, for ij gallons of ayll, yd. for blawing the Organse, ije?. 
 
 a.d. 1544. — Received of Margaret Dodsworth, for her bequest to the 
 churche, vjs. viije?. of Robert Browne, to bye one clothe for the crosse iijs. 
 iiijd. of the sayd Robart, for his bequest to ye churche, vjs. viije?. for the 
 rowell Edges of Massam xije?. 
 
 Paid for waxe agaynst the Assumpcyon of our Ladye, for makeynge the 
 seyrges afore the royd, iis. viijd. to the Organ maker, iiijV7. Symond 
 Robynson, for mendyng the Great Bell, xcZ. for sylke and black threde, yd. 
 for mendyng of vestments, xd. 
 
 A.D. 1545. — Received of Massam rowell eges, xijc?. of lit on, vjd. for 
 Heley, vjd. for Fearby, vjd. for Ellyngstryng, vjd. for Ellyngton, vjd. 
 for Burton, ijd. 
 
 Paid for Oyll to the Lampe, ijs. against Chrystmas, to Christopher 
 Williamson, for makyng the serges afor the roydes, viijtf. against Easter, to 
 Christopher Williamson, for makyng the serges afore the royd, and for the 
 rowell makyng, xd. for answering at Fyngall Court, iiijd. 
 
 a.d. 1546. — Received of Robert Langbane, for the rowell eges of Ellyng- 
 ton, vjd. of Ilton, iiije?. and vjd. of Ellyngstryng, vjdf. of Swynton, vjd. 
 of Burton, ijd. of Massam, xij d. of Fearby, vjd. for Rowell, more than 
 was gathered in the church, xiij d. 
 
 A.D. 1554. — Paid settyng up the Royd Altar, viijd. for blew thred, 
 grene thred, and royd thred, for the mendyng of the vestments, iiijd. 
 
 A.D. 1555. — Paid to the Prest of Mydylsmore, for mendyng the Organ, 
 viijs. for nayls for the Organ, ij d. to Christopher Ardington, for makyng 
 the Rerestore Dore, iijs. i'd. for watching the Rerestore, when the Dore 
 was brokynne, viijc?. for the Rolle Candle afore the Royd. for mendyng 
 of iij albs, ijd. t for making of the Rowell, xijd. for vj yards of Lynnen 
 Cloth to ij Ratchetts : J to the Clarks, iiijs, iiije7. ; to Agnes Peckett, for 
 making of the same Rachetts, vjd. 
 
 a.d. 1556. — Paid for mending the Prest's Surploses, iiije?. for mending 
 of Vestments and Albs, vijd. for making of ij Rachetts, iiijd. 
 
 a.d. 1559. — Paid for Ayll, when the Serges were mayd, ijd. for werke 
 making of the serges and the Rowell Candell, xxiijJ. Payd for Commu- 
 nion Boke, viijs. for one Salter, xij d. 
 
 a.d. 1564. — Paid for making one Rachet, iijd. 
 
 A.D. 1566. — Paid to William Wylson, for cordyng of a Grave in the 
 Ladye Quiere, ijd. 
 
 A.d. 1567. — Paid for expenses at Rippon, when we were afore the Com- 
 missioners, ijs. iiijc?. 
 
 * It would appear by this entry, and by numerous other similar entries, that about this date 
 the churchwardens were occupied in covering in the Church with lead. The average price paid 
 for lead appears to have been from 4td. to 5d. per stone ; and the ale that was drank by the work- 
 men employed on the works appears to have cost from 2c?. to 2%d. per gallon. 
 
 t An Alb, is an ample linen tunic with sleeves, named from its colour, worn next over the 
 cossock and amice. It was, at first, loose and flowing ; afterwards, bound with a zone, mystically 
 signifying continence. 
 
 t A Rochet is a surplice, save that it has no sleeves ; and was for the clerk who assisted the 
 priest at the mass. 
 
582 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 A.D. 1570. — Paid for taking down of Tabernacles, ixd. * 
 
 a.d. 1572. — Paid for Communyon Boke to Raufe Bell of Rippon, xs. jd. 
 
 Received of John Horsman, for not standing as a churchwarden, xije?. 
 of Christopher Walker for the same, xije?. of John Beckwith of Pott, for 
 the same, xijc?. of Richard Beckwith of Wardermask, for the same, xije?. 
 of Humphrey Baine, for the same, xije?. of Thomas Johnson, xijd. of 
 Henry Atkynson, xije?. for the Rood loft, vs. 
 
 Paid for the exchange of the Communion Cupe, and the expense about 
 the same, xxs. for making of the Communion Table, and for other charges of 
 workemen abowt the church at that tyme, xs. jd. for books — thatys to say, 
 the Homylyes and Salter of David, Spalms and other boks, vjs. to the 
 Clarke, for lack of his wages, ijs. iiije?. to John Nycollson, that he was 
 behind of his charge, ixs. 
 
 a.d. 1575. — Paid for bread and wine against Christmas, iiijs. to Cather- 
 ine Bridgewater, for making of a new surplice, and mending of an old, xije?. 
 to Richard Watson, for mending of the Poore Boxes and the windows that 
 was broken, ije?. to Katherine Bridgewater, for making of a new surplice and 
 a Ratchett, ijs. 
 
 A.D. 1580. — Paid expenses of churchwardens when they were commandyt 
 to appear before my Lord Presydent, ijs. 
 
 M. — That the Churchwardens of Masham in the yeare of our Lord God 
 1595, The worshipfull and the xxiiij of the same parish, hath sold all such 
 parcels of church geare as came to their sight, conteyned in one invent- 
 ory in the same pagina next following, unto Mr. Robt. Wyvell for the 
 summe of vij/. f of lawfull Englyshe moneye to be paid as hereafter folio w- 
 eth, viz : at, in, & upon. 
 
 An Inventori/e made the xxiiijth daye of August, Anno D'ni 1595 [Qy. 1575], 
 of certaine gere belonginge to the parishinge of Masham, in the hands 8f 
 keeping of certaine men as hereinafter follow eth : — 
 
 It. — In the hands of Mr. Marmaduke Danbye, J one Vestment of White 
 Damaske, one Vestment of red dund velvett, with a crosse of blewe Damaske, 
 with an old Vestment of silke, with a lyninge & one coope of velvett defaced. 
 
 It. — In the hands of James Beckwith of Masham, one Vestment of dund 
 velvett with a croose, one pece of greene & blewe sattaine in burgies — with 
 five paines of eyther part with two lyninges. 
 
 It. — In Christopher Watson's hands of Ellin gstringe, one blewe sute of 
 sattaine in burgeis, lackynge the coope, with certaine Laycinges. 
 
 It. — In the hands of Robert W T intersgill of Fearby, one purse of velvett, 
 one canobie [canopy] of velvett, with all such things as doth appertaine to 
 the same, xj coxpaxes, § ij old purses, a little Bell, one pece of Fustian. — 
 
 * A Tabernacle is an ornamented chest, placed on the altar as a receptacle of the ciborium and 
 pyxis. It is also a canopied stall or niche. 
 
 t The £7 was paid by Mr. Robt. Wyvell by instalments. 
 
 X See ante page 262. 
 
 § The linen cloths which were spread over the body (corpus) or consecrated elements in the 
 Sacrament. The design of using them was to represent the body of our Saviour being wrapped in 
 fine linen by Joseph of Arimathea. 
 
APPENDIX. 583 
 
 in albes, & a pece of a dund Sarsonett some tyme one caire cloth. 
 
 It. — In the hands of John Sturdye, one sute of red velvett with grene 
 orfrayes [embroidery], lackinge half of one tunycke with one coope apper- 
 teyinge to the same, of red velvett in the hands of John Beckwith of Swin- 
 ton, of the hie hall. 
 
 It. — In the hands of Christopher Beckwith, one Vestment of red sattaine, 
 with one hand bell. 
 
 It. — In the hands of William Kinge of Masham, one Piatt of Brasse & 
 one hand bell. 
 
 It. — In the hands of John Dodsworth, one coope of blewe sattaine in 
 gauge, ijs. * 
 
 It. — In the hands of Edwarde Saly weeke, one Frunt cloth f of Sattaine 
 in burgeis, grene & blewe, with vj paines of blew & vo. of grene with a border 
 of red & black Velvett, with a lyninge & Vo. peces of a Vestment of grene & 
 red silke. 
 
 All the parcels above written was delivered by the churchwardens whose 
 names hereafter followeth, that is to say — James Beckwith, William Thomp- 
 son of Masham, John Thexton of Healey, & Robt. Wintersgill of Fearby. 
 
 a.d. 1596. — Paid to the Cutler of Bedell, iijs. iiij^. — when the Dyall stone 
 was got up, vjc?. 
 
 A.D. 1601. — Paid charges at Richmond when we went about the poore, 
 ijs. vjc/. — at Richmond, when we went about the Recusants, ijs. xjd. to a 
 Preacher, \jd. to bread and wine for the whole year, xxixs. for a whip- 
 ping stocke, iijs. Spent at York, when they went about the Sequestration, 
 iijs. iiije?. for lying stones flatt in the church, iiijd 
 
 A.d. 1602. — Paid for lyinge stones flatt over the graves, ij d. 
 
 a.d. 1603. — Paid for one new Pulpitt, xvjs. for lying stones flatt over 
 the graves, \]d. 
 
 A.D. 1605. — Paid for the King's arms, xs. for lyeing stones flatt in the 
 church, viijd. Thomas Wilson, for railes and making the same, and settinge 
 up the King's arms, vjs. \i\]d. 
 
 a.d. 1608. — Paid to the Bell Founderer, for exchange of two bells. xhj7. 
 for straw, iiijrf. 
 
 A.D. 1612. — Paid for a new Table, xijs. for a new Bible and fetchying 
 of it, Ivs. vjcZ. 
 
 A.D. 1613. — Paid for a new Communion Book, vs. 
 
 In the yeare of our Lord God 1624, the Organs in Massam Church was 
 builded not by a cast lay or 'sessment, but upon gratuitie — what every man 
 was willing to give — Christopher Beckwith, and William Johnson of Mas- 
 ham, and John Hodgson of Fearbie, and Edward Smorthwaite of Healey, 
 being Churchwardens. 
 
 a.d. 1624. — Paid for a locke for Rerisore Dore, xiiijJ. payd to Mr, 
 Stubbs, for a sermon, ijs. \]d. for blowinge of the Organs, ii\]d. 
 
 * Surely, it is not here meant to say that one of the sacred vestments of the church was in 
 pawn or pledge for 25. 
 
 t The Front-cloth or Frontal was a square piece of linen cloth covering the altar, and hang- 
 ing down from it — otherwise called a Pall. 
 
584 MASH AM AND MASHAMSHIRE. 
 
 a.d. 1626. — Paid for playing on the Organs, ijs. 
 
 A.D. 1627. — Paid for mending the church dores, and the church yeats, 
 and a marriage table, and a planck for the Rerestore Chamber, iiijs. to 
 Mark Hodgson, for playing on the Organs, vs.* 
 
 A.D. 1628. — Payd to Mr. Fisher, for a sermon, ijs. 
 
 A.D. 1629. — Paid to Mr. Turner, for a sermon, ijs. 
 
 a.d. 1631. — Payd to Mr. Winfeld, for a sermon, iijs. vjc?. to Mr. Tur- 
 ner, for a sermon, vs. 
 
 A.D. 1632. — Paid for a new Communion Booke, viijs. vjc?. for the Article 
 Booke, ijs. for paper at Bedall for writing for the poore, jc?. Our charges 
 three several dayes at Bedall, concerning the poore, vs. for a Booke of 
 Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical, xiijc?. 
 
 A.D. 1633. — Payd when we met to appoint Sydemen, viijc?. to Mr. 
 Lofthouse, for two sermons, iiijs. Payd to the Bell-founder, jx/. Payd at 
 Kirby Wisk, when the third Bell was cast in charges, xjs. Charges when 
 the Bell was taken down and hung up, ijs. vjc?. 
 
 A.D. 1634. — Payd for beautifying the church, x?. for screan for the 
 pulpit, and making it fast, xxjd. for playing on the Organs, vs. Jiner for 
 a Beere, viijs. vjc?. to Mr. Strother, for two sermons one day, vs. 
 
 a.d. 1635. — Paid for playing on the Organs to Noah Hodgson, js. for a 
 warrant from the Justices for making a Presentment for Recusants, xijc?. 
 to Thomas Bridgewater, for makeing the Rayle about the alter, j?. xiijs. iiijc?. f 
 for mending the Parke pale, ijc?. to Thomas Bridgewater, for a frame to 
 place the names of the Fower and Twenty in, xijc?. for a skin of parchment 
 for wryting the Indenture of the Fower and Twenty to Noah Hodgson, Pish. 
 Clarke, iijs. iiijc?. to Noah Hodgson, Pish. Clarke, for wryting the accounts, 
 iijs. iiijc?. 
 
 a.d. 1636. — Paid to Brian Sweeting, for making the clock, iij?. Spent 
 on the clock-maker, xijc?. 
 
 A.D. 1639. — Paid to John Pryston, for mending the Organs, £2. — Be- 
 stowed on him in drynk, 2s. for the Ornaments to the Church, £6 2s. lOd. 
 for mending the Ornaments, and settinge the Fryndge on, 6c?. Thomas 
 Bridgewater, for removing the Desk, Is. 4c?. for a book for the King's-day, 
 Is. for the book of new Cannons, Is. Given Smith, for carryinge the Pre- 
 sentment to York, 4c?. 
 
 A.D. 1641. — Paid for the book of Common Prayers, 5s. Id. 
 
 a.d. 1642. — Paid Saxton, for gettinge Hollinge to the church, 6c?. John 
 Wilson, for borrowing a cupp and flaggon, 4c?. 
 
 A.D. 1646. — Paid for charges when we did goe to distraine in the Parish, 
 8s. 
 
 * Mark Hodgson was the eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Hodgson the curate, and was elected 
 A.D. 1624, by the Twenty -Four with the consent of the Vicar, as parish clerk and organist. 
 
 t Altar rails, as such, and as distinguished from the Chancel screen, were not known before 
 the Reformation. Archbishop Laud ordered the Altar Table to be set up in the Chancel, and to 
 be protected by Rails. Altar rails, shortly after this, became a mark of the hostility of the Puri- 
 tans, and accordingly were everywhere destroyed by them during the Commonwealth, as appears 
 by the Journal of William Dowsing, Parliamentary Visitor of Churches in the Great Rebellion. 
 
APPENDIX. 585 
 
 AvD. 1647.— Paid Mr. Atkinson, for 2 sermons, 8s. 6d. 
 
 A.D. 1649. — Paid for a distringuidge servinge, 10c?. to Mr. Browne, for 
 preachinge and serving the Cure, from the first day of April, 1649, to the 
 first of October after, 12/. 16s. 8c?. to Mr. Shaw, for a sermon, 6s. 8c?. In 
 charges to the Bell-founder, 3s. 
 
 A.D. 1650. — Paid to the Praisers that praises those things that was dis- 
 train'd, Is. Spent when we put in the Overseers, 8c?. for going to distrain 
 in the parish, 2s. for goinge to distraine with the 4 men, 2s. for a war- 
 rant to distrain with, Is. Given to a Preacher's wife and 7 children, 2s. 6d, 
 to a Preacher, for a sermon, 2s. 
 
 A.D. 1651. — Paid to Henrye Crookay, for abollishinge the Kinge's Arms, 
 2s. 4c?. for Aile, when the Kinge's Arms was abollisht, 6c?. for settinge up 
 the Stait's Arms, 6s. 8c?. for worke and nayls about them, 4c?. for charges 
 the same tyme, 4c?. to Chambers, for his help when the King's Arms was 
 abollisht, 5c?. Makeinge a fraym for the Church Orders, 3s. 3c?. for writ- 
 ing the Church Orders, 2s. 6c?. 
 
 A.D. 1652. — Paid to Robert Woolley and Marmaduke Smorthwaite, for 
 going to ye Justices for a warrant, 3s. 
 
 A.D. 1653. — Paid to the fower Churchwardens, for goeing to Bedall for a 
 warrant, 2s. 8c?. for the Warrant, Is. 
 
 A.D. 1654. — Paid to Mr. Newman, for preachinge, £1. 0s. 0c?. * 
 
 AD. 1655. — Given to a Minister, 2s. for goeinge to Bedall to the sessions, 
 for a warrant, Is. for the warrant, Is. 
 
 A.D. 1656. — Paid for Cloath, for the Saxton's gown with furniture and 
 making of it, £1 2s. 2c?. to two churchwardens, for goeing to the sessions 
 about the warrant, 4s. 6c?. Given to Mr. Newman in money, £1 10s. 0c?. 
 to Thomas Bridgwater, for shifting the Saxton's chair, 6c?. 
 
 A.D. 1657. — Given to Mr. Newman, by the consent of the Four and 
 Twentye, 10s. Given to a Preacher and his charges, 3s. Payd to Thomas 
 "Wood, the Bell-founder, for castinge and fyndinge mettall for the Great Bell, 
 £18 Is. 0c?. for a warrant to distraine, Is. At the request of Mr. Beck- 
 with, the 24^'e was pleased to give Veal's daughter £1 6s. 6c?., for taking 
 two Pennacles down, and in charges, 2s. 4c?., for taking another Pennackle 
 down, Is. 6c?. In charges, for goeinge to Tanfield to Justice Beckwith, ls.f 
 
 A.D. 1659. — Given to a poor Preacher, for two sermons and in charges, 
 lis. Given to Mr. Beckwith's man, for a warrant to distraine, 2s. Payd 
 for a warrant and going for itt, Is. 8c?. 
 
 A.D. 1660. — Paid to the Ringgers on Coronation day, 6s. 5d. to the 
 churchwardens, for going into the parishe to distraine, 2s. for the King's 
 Arms settinge upp, makeing a fraym and in charges about them, 15s. lOd. 
 to George Oyle, for settinge uppe the Funt and other warke, 6s. 6c?. to 
 Henry Gray, for one day's work at the Funt, 10c?. For Lyme to the Funt, 
 
 * Mr. Newman was one of the Nonconformist Ministers who were put into the Church at 
 Masham during the Commonwealth. 
 t See ante page 357. 
 
 UU 
 
586 MASHAM AND MASHAMSHIKE. 
 
 Is. For mendinge the Funt coveringe, Is. 4 d. For the Funt roapes,* and 
 payntinge stuffe to the Funt, 16s. To Noah Hodgson, for paintinge the 
 Funt, Is. For culleringe the Funt again, Is. 
 
 A.D. 1661. — Bestowed on Mr. Sanderson, for Aile when he preached, Is. 
 For the hooks of Common Prayer, os. Given unto the Ringgars, on the 
 29th May, 6s. 6c?. For a new Prayer to the Church, 2s. 4c?. 
 
 A.D. 1662. — Paid for our Oaths before the Bishopp's Commissarye att 
 Rippon — 8 sworne, 10s. 
 
 a.d. 1663. — Disburst for a quart of Wyne, for Mr. Brown, 9c?. Bestowed 
 upon the Painter that came with an order for beautifyinge the churche, 2s. 
 For a gown for the Sexton, with trimmings and making of itt upp, £1 4s. 0c?. 
 Mr. Browne sold the olde Challice for one pound and eleven shillings, and 
 he had payd to itt towards the buyinge of a new Challice, £3 17s. 6c?. 
 
 A.D. 1664. — Payed for exchaingeinge the old flaggon for a new one, 4s. 
 For leade to mend the Funt with, 4c?. 
 
 A.D. 1665. — Paid to the Painter, for paintinge the Creed and the Lord's 
 Prayer, 18s. 4c?. For mendinge the Funt and Frynge for the same, 2s. 8c?. 
 For a little Bell for Richard Chambers, 3c?. To Mr. Brown, for 2 Bookes 
 for the Visitation, 2s. For paintinge for the Furt, 2s. 6c?. 
 
 A.D. 1666. — Paid for goinge into the Parish to summon in the Recusants, 2s. 
 
 A.D. 1667. — Given to a poor Preacher, Is. 6c?. 
 
 A.D. 1668. — Paid for writing a Note, for the 24^'e to sett their hands for 
 ye churchwardens to distraine, Is. Given by the consent of the 24 towards 
 the Fyre at London loss, £1 0s. 0c?. . 
 
 A.D. 1669. — Paid for writinge a Note for the Fower and Twentye to set 
 their hands to distraine, Is. In charges bestow'd upon Mr. Lancaster and 
 Mr. Nicelson, for preaching, 2s. 6c?. To William Beckwith and Henry 
 Picker sgill goinge to Healey to distraine, Is. To Robert Glewe, for dis- 
 traininge, 8c/. 
 
 A.D. 1670. — Paid to two Churchwardens, for goeing into Burton Con- 
 stablery several tymes about the distraininge of the Quakers, Is. 
 
 A.D. 1672. — Paid for writeinge a Presentment and a note for the church- 
 wardens to distraine, Is. 6c?. 
 
 a.d. 1673. — Paid to the Sexton, for a new gowne and makeinge it upp, 
 18s. 6c?. In charges when Mr. Nickolson preached, Is. In charges when 
 Dr. Samwayes preach't, Is. In charges when Mr. Prockter preach't, 6d. 
 
 A.D. 1674. — Paid for writeing a Presentment, and an order for to dis- 
 traine, Is. 6c?. Bestow'd on Mr. Brown in Ayle, Is. In charges when Mr. 
 Scroop preach't, Is. 
 
 a.d. 1675. — Paid in charges when Mr. Prockter preach't at Massam, 2s. 
 In charges when Mr. Dickenson preach't the first tyme, Is. 6c?. — when Mr. 
 Dickenson preach't the second tyme, Is. 6c?. In charges when Mr. Sander- 
 son preach't, 4s. Bestow'd in Aile upon Mr. Brown, Is. 
 
 * It -would seem that canopy, or covering of the Font, vras, at this time, raised and lowered 
 by a rope. 
 
APPENDIX. 587 
 
 A.D. 1676. — Paid to Mr. Scroop for preaching, xs., and in charges, Is. 9d. 
 In charges when Mr. Plaise preach' t, 2s. 8d. In charges -when Mr. Scroop 
 preach't, 2s. In charges when Mr. Procter preach't, Is. 3d. 
 
 In perpetual! remembrance to posterity, and in acknowledgment of the 
 thanks of the 2#y and the parishioners of the Parish of Masham to the 
 Right Honorable Thomas Lord Vycount Wentworth,* Lord Lieutenant & 
 Lord President of these north parts, & one of the executors of the right 
 worshipfull Elyzabeth Danby, widow, late of Pott, deceased ; & to the 
 right Worshipful Roger Beckwith of Aldborough, Esquire, that it hath 
 pleased his Lordship forth of the personal estate of the sayd Mrs. Danby in 
 demonstration of hir charity and affection to the poore, to give £20 to the 
 sayd Parish of Masham ; and that the sayd Mr. Beckwith, forth of his 
 charity & zeale, hath likewise given other £20, to be disposed of by the 
 sayd 24 fc y to the benefitt of the sayd poore and parish. We the said 2#y 
 have this present St. Andrew day, 1629, mett together, & with one general 
 consent have agreed to record in our Church Booke, the said religious & 
 free gift, & have further concluded & agreed that the rents & profits thereof 
 shall be forever dystributed & given to the bynding apprentyces such poore 
 children, born within the Parish of Masham, as by the major voyce of 
 the sayd 24*7 shall be elected with the approbation of the heyres of the 
 sayd Mrs. Danby & of Mr. Beckwith & his heyers forever. Lastly, it is 
 concluded by us that there shall be eight Feffees chosen, one forth of every 
 Townshipp of our sayd Parish, in whose names shall be taken all assurances 
 & seciirityes for these moneys, and all such other moneys as may hereafter 
 be given to the same use ; and that upon every St. Andrew day next after 
 the death of any of the Feffees, others shall be chosen by the sayd 24ty> 
 and that the Feffees liveing shall, on St. Andrew day, make yeareley ac- 
 count to the sayd 24, to whom they shall have disbursed the rents & profits 
 of the sayd moneys, and shall likewise record in the Churche booke the 
 names & their par'tes names of such as shall be bound apprentices with the 
 somme or sommes of moneys payed for them, & every of them, and the 
 tyme when & to whom, and to what trayde and place they were bound. 
 In Witness whereof we have subscribed our names the day and yeare above 
 sayd. Signed, Roger Beckwith, Solo. Wyvell, James Dodsworth, Chris- 
 topher Beckwith |[ his mark, Jo. Beckwith, William Buckell, Thomas Jack- 
 son || his mark. 
 
 * He afterwards became the Earl of Strafford. He was the nephew of Elizabeth Danby, 
 here referred to, who, as will be seen ante p. 265, died about the 10th January, 1629. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Acreage of Masham Parish, &c, 24. 
 
 Afflick Family, 159, 282, 384, 390, 391. 
 
 Agill-beck, 22. 
 
 Agriculture, 59, 142, 143, 144. 
 
 Aiskew near Bedale, 44, 471. 
 
 Akarius, Fitz Randolph, 12, 233. 
 
 Alan, Earl, 18, 44, 64, 65, 71, 208, 209; 
 Alan Niger, Earl, 209; Alan Rufus, 
 Earl, 12, 18, 44, 208, 209, 469, 470, 
 471, 472, 473. 
 
 Albini, De, Family of, 72, 210, 211, 
 319, 320, 322, 323; Nigel de, 72, 210, 
 319, 320, 473; Roger de, 320, 323; 
 Samson de, 319, 321, 530. 
 
 Aldbbrough, 8, 21, 40, 41, 42, 54, 63, 
 65, 67, 68, 189, 210, 387, 388, 389, 
 471, 472, 473, 478, 509, 513; Near 
 Boroughbridge, 18, 67, 137. 
 
 All-fool's day, 464. 
 
 Alms-houses, 192, 444, 446. 
 
 Alterage, 330. 
 
 Altar-rails, 359, 584. 
 
 Alward, John, 482. 
 
 Alwent, Parson of Wensley, 21. 
 
 Ancient Customs, 458. 
 
 Anne of Warwick, 15. 
 
 Anne of Boleyn, 97, 344, 345. 
 
 Anduid, 471. 
 
 Antiquity, Remains of, 424. 
 
 Apprentices, Charity for, 448, 454, 587. 
 
 Arnagill, 7, 22, 175. 
 
 Archill, Lord, of ILton, 57, 470. 
 
 Armitage, Francis, Esq., 45, 124. 
 
 Arundell, Earl of, 11. 
 
 Ascoughs, 11, 121, 288, 289, 297, 513; 
 Bishop of Salisbury, 298. 
 
 Ash -head, 512. 
 
 Ash- Wednesday, 463. 
 
 Assessment of Masham Parish, &c, 
 24, 25, and Addenda. 
 
 Ayreman, William de, 326. 
 
 Aysgarth Force, 20. 
 
 B 
 
 BAAL or Bel, 37; Baal-hill, 37; Baal- 
 bank, 38; Baal Ings, 38; Baal Fire, 
 38. 
 
 Badgers, 58. 
 
 Bainbridge, 20, 40. 
 
 Baines, John (surgeon), 394. 
 
 Balderby, Sir John, 332, 539. 
 
 Bagtrout, William, 500. 
 
 Baptisms in Masham Parish, 27. 
 
 Bartletts of Nutwith Cote, 287, 288, 
 401, 454; Dole, 454. 
 
 Batt v. Watkinson, case of, 33, 413, 
 415, 416. 
 
 Battle of the Standard, 42, 72, 73, 212; 
 of Hastings, 55, 209; of Flodden 
 Field, 89, 101. 
 
 Battley, Jeremiah, 394; John Lodge, 
 394, 398; Charles Harrison, 394. 
 
 Bayles, Christr. (a Priest), 116. 
 
 Bears, 57, 58, 59. 
 
 Beckwith, Sir Roger, 65, 389; Samuel, 
 389; John, 389; William, 389, 398; 
 Huntingdon, 387; Roger. 386, 387, 
 587; Marmaduke, 386; Arthur, 386, 
 387; Thomas, 386, 389; Matthew, 
 334, 356, 357, 584; Family, 508. 
 
 Bedale, 11, 471; Poor-Law Union, 36. 
 
 Bedill, The Rev. Thomas, 329, 538. 
 
 Bedford, Duke of, 500. 
 
 Beldin-gill, 37. 
 
 Bells (Church), 365, 366, 582, 583, 584. 
 
 Bere, John, 328. 
 
 Bernulf, 471. 
 
 Birk-gill Beck, 22. 
 
 Bishop Blaize, 465. 
 
 Bishopsdale, 20. 
 
 Black-gutter Beck, 22. 
 
 Blois-hall, 39. 
 
 Blandford, Lord, Act of, 31. 
 
 Bloreheath, 15, 80. 
 
 Blythe, The Rev. John, 329. 
 
 Boars, 57. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 589 
 
 Bodin, 471. 
 
 Bolland Family, 406, 407, 408. 
 
 Bolton Castle, 16, 224. 
 
 Boroughbridge, 19, 20. 
 
 Bourne, or Burn River, 21, 64. 
 
 Bourne-holme, 22. 
 
 Bourne-bridge, 22, 64, 546. 
 
 Boundaries, 22. 
 
 Bow-bearer, 45. 
 
 Bowes, Sir Geo., 100, 102; Family, 
 
 399, 400. 
 Bowett, The Rev. Henry, 328. 
 Boulton, The Rev. Thomas, 333. 
 Boniface de Salucis, 324, 325, 538. 
 Bray, Mr. (his Tour), 157. 
 Bramley Grange, 11, 472. 
 Bracchium, 40, 41. 
 Brathorne, 68, 219. 
 Breary-banks, 21. 
 Bridgewater, Dr., 118. 
 Brig-with-Wath, 473, 474. 
 Brian, Fitz Alan, 11. 
 British Remains, 38, 41. 
 Brown-beck, 22. 
 Browne, The Rev.,' Benjamin, 135, 
 
 333, 334, 356, 357, 583, 584, 585. 
 Brownriggs, 120, 476, 477. 
 Bridges, 63. 
 Brian, Reginald, 326. 
 Brown, The Rev. Jonas, 334, 583. 
 Bruce, The Rev. David, 336 
 Bruce, Edward, Lord, 23, 120. 
 Bruce, Thos., Earl of Ailesbury, 23, 
 
 477; Edward, Lord, 476. 
 Buhere, De, Family of, 211, 214, 217, 
 
 218, 219, 531. 
 Bull-baiting, 58. 
 Bucktrout, Sir fm, 332. 
 Burrill, The Rev. Joseph, 336, 368, 
 
 396, 433, 437. 
 Burton, Low or Little, 111, 189, 342, 
 
 478, 505. 
 Burton, High or Great, 111, 120, 189, 
 
 389, 480, 505. 
 Burton, Manor of, 43, 44, 47, 59, 61, 
 
 64, 342, 471, 475, 482. 
 Burton-mill, 182, 474, 493. 
 Burials in Masham Parish, 27. 
 
 C 
 
 Cade, Jack, 11. 
 Caldberg, 473. 
 Camps, 42, 68. 
 Catterick-bridge, 40. 
 Cataractonium, 40. 
 
 Catterick, Edmund (a Priest), 116, 
 117. 
 
 Cardinal, Andoin Aubert, 326; Wil- 
 liam De Aigref euille, 327 ; of Pales- 
 
 trina, 327. 
 Carnebull, Henry, 329. 
 Carter, Edwd., Esq., 392, 393. 
 Carter, The Rev. John Abraham, 336. 
 Canute, 471. 
 
 Catherine of Aragon, 97, 329, 345. 
 Catherick, Anthony (of Stanwick), 
 
 113. 
 Celtic Remains, 38, 424, 425. 
 Census Returns of Masham Parish, 
 
 &c. 27. 
 Churchwardens, 33; Church Rates, 
 
 24, 25, 33, 416, 545; Churchwardens' 
 
 Accounts, 409, 410, 411, 412, 580. 
 Challoner, Wm, 121. 
 Challoner, Bishop, 118. 
 Chivalry, 70. 
 Charities, 432. 
 Chantries, 346. 
 Chase, 47, 124, 472, 488. 
 Christmas, Customs at, 461. 
 Charters for Markets and Fairs, 517, 
 
 518, 519, 520. 
 Church of Masham, 308, 341, 342, 343, 
 
 355, 359, 370, 378, 379, 380, 381; 
 
 Spire, 360, 363, 370, 371, 378. 
 Civil Wars, 16, 126, 127, 128, 393. 
 Clifton Castle, 10, 20, 295, 386, 471, 
 
 475, 487, 493, 505. 
 Clare Roger, or Bogo de. 323, 324, 
 
 330, 533. 
 Clynt, The Rev. William, 332. 340, 
 
 341, 534. 
 Clyfton, Sir John, 332 ; Gilbert de, 
 
 479, 480 ; Reginald de, 482. 
 Clement, Mr., 335. 
 Clock (Church), 361, 363, 367, 376, 
 
 580. 
 Colsterdale, 11, 21, 22, 23, 66, 67, 68, 
 
 220, 476, 477, 481, 487. 
 Coal Mines, 66, 144, 157, 487. 
 Comb Manufactory, 63. 
 Conyers, Christr., of Hutton, 113. 
 Cooke, Patrick, 333, 360. 
 Cooper, James, 346. 
 Copyhold Court at Masham, 392. 
 Collop Monday, 462. 
 Cormond, Theobald, 324. 
 Cornwall, Edmund, Earl of, 18. 
 Cospatric, see Gospatric. 
 Cottern-hill, 20. 
 Council of the North, 22, 105, 108 ; 
 
 of Constance, 341. 
 Court Baron and Court Leet, 47. 
 Court of Wards and Liveries, 109, 
 
 122 
 Court'Rolls, 514, 515, 516. 
 
590 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 County Election, 141, 161. 
 
 County Courts, 35. 
 
 Coverham, 12, 346. 
 
 Coverdale, 473, 476. 
 
 Covenant, Solemn League and, 354, 
 
 355. 
 Craven, 15. 
 
 Cranmer, 97, 344, 345, 346. 
 Croft, Eoger, Esq., 45. 
 Crosses, Stone, 112, 310. 
 Crow, Alexander (a Priest), 114. 
 Crusades, 72. 
 Cuitt, Geo., 151, 405. 
 CyseU, Richard, 482. 
 
 D 
 
 D'Arcy, Baron, 42, 238; The Honour- 
 able James, 42. 
 
 Danby Pedigree, 244: Sir Christopher, 
 22, 23, 49. 90, 92, 253, 254, 382; Mar- 
 gery, 90, 91; Sir Christopher, 90, 91, 
 103, 104, 105, 106, 121, 122, 253, 
 254, 475; Sir Thomas, 104, 107, 122, 
 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 
 
 136, 137, 262, 271; Thomas (Esqr.), 
 45, 50, 52, 109, 121, 136, 264, 277, 
 
 278, 385; Christopher (Esq.), 109, 
 119, 120, 121, 136, 260, 266, 268, 
 
 279, 544, 550; James, 120; Marv, 
 385; John, 121; Marmaduke, 122, 
 262; Robert, 266, 553; Abstrupus 
 (Esq.), 123, 140, 141, 281, 360, 372, 
 
 373, 383, 384; Sir Abstrupus, 136, 
 
 137, 138, 139, 280, 361, 383; Wil- 
 liam, 23, 141, 143, 144, 282, 364, 
 
 374, 384, 385, 390, 391, 392, 436, 
 437; Elizabeth, 391. 
 
 Danes, 18, 54, 55, 69. 
 
 David Conmore, 54. 
 
 David Bruce, King of Scotland, 73. 
 
 Dale, The Rev. John, 335. 
 
 Dean and Chapter of York, 34, 330, 
 
 339, 345. 
 Deer, 57, 59. 
 Den-beck, 22. 
 
 Derivation of the name of Masham, 4. 
 Description (local), of Masham, 6. 
 Derby, Edward, Earl of, 23, 475. 
 Dial (Church), 411, 412. 
 Dissenters and Dissenters' Chapels, 
 
 199. 
 Dodd-fell, 19. 
 Donewald, 471. 
 
 Dodsworth, Mr. (Watlass), 117. 
 Dorset, Lord, 113. 
 Domesday Survey, 42, 43, 469. 
 Drin, John, son of, 44. 
 
 Driffield, 137. 
 Druidism, 36, 39, 425. 
 Dunbar, 56. 
 Dundas, 56. 
 
 Dudley, Richard, 329; George (D.D.), 
 333. 
 
 E 
 
 Easter Offerings, 331. 
 
 Easter Sunday, 463. 
 
 East Witton, 22, 23, 106, 473, 474, 476. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Court of Masham, 110. 
 
 Edward IV., 14. 
 
 Edwin, Earl, 56, 71, 206, 209, 469. 
 
 Eldred, 470. 
 
 Elections, Parliamentary, 35, 140, 160, 
 161. 
 
 Egerton, Charles, 125, 126. 
 
 Ellingstring, 22, 219, 220, 342, 478, 
 481, 482, 490, 492, 493 ; Township, 
 24, 25, 28, 35, 36. 
 
 Ellingtons, High and Low, Township 
 of, 24, 25, 28, 35, 36, 342, 482, 490, 
 493; Manor of, 43, 54, 108, 220, 
 469, 475, 478, 481; Chapel, 110, 111, 
 189, 331. 
 
 Epitaphs, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 
 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 
 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 
 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 540. 
 
 Ernegis, 470. 
 
 Etymology of Yore, 17. 
 
 Extent and Population, 22. 
 
 F 
 
 Fairs, 50, 51, 158, 517, 518, 519, 520. 
 Fairfax, Sir Thos., 23. 
 Falconbridge, 15. 
 Fancy Fair at Swinton Park, 197. 
 Favell, The Rev. William, 333, 334. 
 Fearby Township, 24, 25, 28, 35, 36, 
 
 108, 111, 220, 346 ; Manor of, 43, 
 
 470, 475, 478, 482, 490, 493, 505. 
 Fearne, The Rev. Henry, 333, 334, 
 
 353, 562. 
 Feudal System, 69. 
 Firby, Manor of, 470. 
 Fisher, Charlotte Marian k 379, 401. 
 Fish, 22. 
 
 Fitz-Hugh, 8, 233, 341, 494, 504. 
 Fitz- Randolph, 9, 14, 91, 540. 
 Fitz-Alan, Brian, 11. 
 Fitz-Ralph, Robert, 13. 
 Fitz-Randolph, Sir Ralph, of Spenni- 
 
 thorne, 91. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 591 
 
 Fors, in Wensleydale, 12, 209. 
 
 Forest of Masham, 43, 44, 47, 472, 
 475, 488. 
 
 Ford, Anthony, 333. 
 
 Font (Baptismal), 367, 380, 586. 
 
 Fountains Abbey, 11, 19, 61, 62, 64, 
 65, 67, 68, 109, 111, 210, 212, 215, 
 217, 219, 472, 473, 478, 479, 482, 
 492, 507. 
 
 Four-and-Twenty of Masham, 24, 25, 
 32, 33, 357, 361, 362, 372, 373. 411, 
 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 
 421, 423, 582, 584, 586, 587. 
 
 Fountains Earth, 36. 
 
 Foxes, 57, 58. 
 
 Foumarts, 58. 
 
 Free Warren, 48, 49, 220, 472, 517. 
 
 Free School, 375, 434, 435. 
 
 G 
 
 Gas Company, 198. 
 
 Gelly, The Eev. Paul, 335. 
 
 Gernegans, 8. 
 
 Gin-pit peck, 22. 
 
 Gloucester, Kichd., Duke of — See 
 Eichd., Duke of. 
 
 Gollinglithe-foot, 21, 64. 
 
 Gospatric, 4, 55, 56, 69, 469, 470. 
 
 Good- Friday, 463. 
 
 Gresham, Sir Eichd., 68. 
 
 Grewelthorpe, 63. 
 
 Grammar School, 375, 434, 435, 436. 
 
 Grey stock, Ealph, Lord, 504; Eliza- 
 beth, 504. 
 
 Grandison, John, De, 325. 
 
 Grimesgill-beck, 22. 
 
 Gundowder Plot, 119. 
 
 Gyll, The Eevd. Thos., 333. 
 
 H 
 
 Backfall, 20, 151. 
 
 Hallikeld, 39. 
 
 Hang East Division, 35. 
 
 Harcourt Family, 391; Earl of, 391, 
 
 Countess, 391; Admiral, O. V. 29, 
 
 186, 187, 284, 436; Anne, H. D. 29, 
 
 186, 284, 436. 
 Hardcastle Family, 392, 393, 394; 
 
 William, 392, 393, 394, 399; John, 
 
 392; Miss*, 393. 
 Hardraw Scaur, 19. 
 Hartwith, 541. 
 Harrison Family, 398. 
 Hawes, 19. 
 Hayshaw-moor, 67. 
 Healey Parish, 28; Church, 29, 33, 
 
 189; Township, 24, 25, 28, 35, 36; 
 
 Cotton-mill, 22, 62; Manor, 38, 108, 
 
 220, 478, 482, 490, 493; Healey 
 
 Baals, 37. 
 Hedley, The Eev. Thos., 333, 378. 
 Hell-becks, 19, 20. 
 Hemp or Flax-mill, 63, 164. 
 Henry VIII., 92, 93, 96, 97, 106, 344, 
 
 345, 346. 
 Henton, John De, 482. 
 Heslington, Wm., 437. 
 He wick, 21. 
 
 History of Mashamshire, 36. 
 Hodgson, The Eev. Thomas, 334. 550, 
 
 584 ; Mark, Eevd., 334, 335 ; Noah, 
 
 584, 585, 586. 
 Hopham, Hugh de, 220, 481, 482, 484, 
 
 486; Joan de, 483, 484, 485, 486. 
 Horner, The Eev. John, 335; Nicholas 
 
 (of Grantley), 116. 
 Horsman, The Eevd. Gilbert, 134, 
 
 333, 351, 352, 549, 560, 561; Leon- 
 ard, 333. 
 House-gill-beck, 22. 
 How-gill-beck, 22. 
 How-hiU, 40. 
 
 Hutchinson's Dole, 451, 453. 
 Hutton Family, 289; Dr. Matthew, 
 
 113, 290, 293; Eichard, 23; John 
 
 T. D'Arcy, 42, 66, 296, 388, 434, 471; 
 
 Timothy, 176, 297, 434. 
 Humber, 18. 
 
 Ibbetsox, Julius Cassar (the Artist), 
 
 369, 395, and Addenda. 
 Ilton-cum-Pott Township, 24, 25, 28, 
 
 35, 36, 108, 514; Charitv, 453; 
 
 Manor, 43, 54, 57, 61, 470, 475, 478, 
 
 482; Moor, 22. 
 Hkley, 40, 67. 
 
 Inclosure of the Commons, 162. 
 Ingleby, Francis (a Priest), 114. 
 Ingram, Arthur, 141, 384 ; The Eev. 
 
 Goodrick, 333, 363. 
 Inns, 51. 
 Introduction, 1. 
 Iron-mines, 66, 220. 
 Isurium, 40, 
 
 Jackson, John, 23; Practical Fly 
 Fisher, 23. 
 
 Jenkinson, The Eev. Leonard, 335, 360. 
 
 Jerveaux Abbey, 11, 12, 17, 20, 21, 66, 
 67, 104, 209, 212, 219, 220, 474, 476, 
 478, 479, 480, 482, 487, 492. 
 
592 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Johnson, Peter (Recorder of York), 
 
 23. 
 Jore, 17. 
 Jurisdiction (Local), 28. 
 
 K 
 
 KAY, Christr., 385. 
 
 Kershaw, The Revd. Richd., 333, 367, 
 
 368. 
 Kell-bank School, 183, 436. 
 Kilgram Bridge, 21, 40, 63, 473, 476. 
 King's Arms, 359, 369, 582, 583, 585. 
 King's Charity, 453. 
 Kinwoldmersh, 328, and Addenda. 
 Kirkby-Malzeard, 10, 23, 211, 212, 
 
 213, 256, 319, 320, 356, 368, 475, 
 
 537, 541, 542. 
 Knaresborough, 18. 
 Knights' Templars, 478, 479, 480, 539. 
 Knubley, Johnnie, 453. 
 
 Lacy, Robert de, 324, 538. 
 
 Lambert, Symnel, 82. 
 
 Lancaster, Christopher, 333, 542, 585. 
 
 Latimers, Lord, 9, 254, 255. 
 
 Laton, John, 575. 
 
 Lawson, The Revd. Wm., 333, 368, 
 
 374. 
 Lead, and Lead Mines, 67. 
 Leeming Lane, 40, 42. 
 Leighton, Sir John de, 332. 
 Leighton, 21, 111, 189, 481, 493. 
 Leland, John (the Antiquary), 20, 63, 
 
 106. 
 Lent, 463. 
 Lennox, Matthew, Earl of, 22, 104, 
 
 105, 106. 
 Ley burn Poor- Law Union, 36. 
 Levite, a young, 291. 
 Library, Subscription and Parochial, 
 
 375. 
 Liberty of Richmondshire, 34, 35; of 
 
 St. Peters, 36. 
 Limits of Masham Parish, 24 ; of 
 
 Townships, 24, and Addenda. 
 Lincoln, Lord, 82. 
 Local Jurisdictions, 28. 
 Lochart, Thos., Esq., 384. 
 Lockwood, Mr. (a Priest), 117. 
 Lonsdale (of Masham), Family of, 
 
 306, 307, 389, 398, 399. 
 Lords of Mashamshire, 201 . 
 Loe, The Rev. W., 233, 566. 
 Low-gill Beck, 22. 
 
 Low Fors in Raydale-side, 3. 
 Lovel, Lord, 81, 82. 
 Lumley, Lord, 89. 
 Lyster, Anne, 576. 
 
 M 
 
 Maines Farms, 163. 
 
 Malleverer, Wm., 121. 
 
 Magisterial business, 35. 
 
 Mackie, Sir Patrick, 65, 
 
 Malcolm, Conmore, 56. 
 
 Marmions, 8, 479. 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 16, 100. 
 
 Marriages in Masham Parish, 27, 408. 
 
 Marriage Licenses, 34. 
 
 Marriages (Smock), 408, 409. 
 
 Mar-field, 40, 55, 63, 163, 426. 
 
 Markets, 50, 51, 517, 518, 519, 520. 
 
 Manorial Courts, 36. 
 
 Markenfield, Thos., 98, 100; Sir 
 
 Ninian, 101. 
 Markenfield Hall, 100, 125, 126. 
 Marshalling of the Richmondshire 
 men at the Battle of Flodden 
 Field, 89. 
 Martin, Dr., 113. 
 Marsden, Mrs., 396, 452; Charity, 
 
 452. 
 Masham Manor, 43, 54, 470, 475, 477, 
 478, 481, 482, 490, 493, 505; Town- 
 ship, 24, 25, 28, 35, 36, 108; Parish, 
 24, 25, 28; Church, 43, 134, 135, 
 136, 183, 218, 308, 319, 348, 349, 
 530, 531, 532, 534, 535, 536, 539; 
 Bridge, 63. 
 Mashamshire, 43, 91, 136, 137, 140. 
 Maud, Empress, 73. 
 May- Gosling day, 464. 
 Mechanics' Institute, 194, 378. 
 Mell- Supper. 464. 
 Merland, Adam, 332. 
 Metcalfe, Richard (Artist), 369. 
 Middleham, 13, 14, 20, 21, 81. 
 Middlesmoor, 539, 542, 581. 
 Mills, 60, 61. 
 Moon, Abraham, 138. 
 Moises, The Revd. Edward, 333, 365, 
 
 366, 367. 
 Montf ord, Sir John de, 332, 539. 
 Morton Family, 397. 
 More, Thomas, 328, 341. 
 Morcar, Earl, 56. 
 Monasteries, Dissolution of, 93, 94, 
 
 95. 
 Morals of the People, 130, 377, 409. 
 Mowbray, Roger, 10, 18, 44, 47, 59, 
 61, 65, 69, 72, 73, 209, 210, 211, 218, 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 593 
 
 319, 320, 472, 473, 474, 475, 478, 
 
 480, 481, 488, 530, 531: John, 327; 
 
 Camp, 68; Watli, 54, 69, 476. 
 Munby, The Rev. Jos. B., 336. 
 Mundy, Charles J. H., Esq., 90, 243, 
 
 244. 
 Museum at Swinton Park, 164. 
 Music (Church), 369. 
 
 N 
 
 Neville Family, 9, 14, 92, 122, 217, 
 263, 328; Lady Mary, 14, 263, 480; 
 Robert de, 14; Ralph, 14, 217, 263; 
 John, Lord, 14; Richard 2nd Lord 
 Latimer, 92, 122, 254, 577; John 
 3rd Lord Latimer, 92, 96, 108, 255; 
 Sir John (of Liversedge), 104, 256; 
 Dorothy, 9 ; George (Prebendary of 
 Masham), 328; George (D.D., Mas- 
 ter of Well Hospital), 577. 
 
 Newburgh Priory, 320, 321. 
 
 Newman, John, 333, 335, 585. 
 
 Nidderdale or Netherdale, 38, 51, 65, 
 67, 89. 
 
 Nigel de Albini, 72, 210, 319, 320, 473. 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of, 16, 100. 
 
 Northallerton, 72, 73, 318. 
 
 Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl 
 of, 87, 98, 101. 
 
 Norton, Richard (the Rebel), 92, 98, 
 100, 255; John, 116; William de, 327. 
 
 Norman, 469, 470. 
 
 Normanville, Ralph de, 478, 479, 482; 
 Sir William, 499. 
 
 Nosterfield, 41, 89, 493. 
 
 Nutwith, 6, 23, 40, 42, 54, 65, 68, 213, 
 219, 474, 475; Camp, 42, 68, 213; 
 Cote, 63, 64, 65, 287, 288, 289, 471, 
 507. 
 
 Nunnery in MarfLeld, 55, 164, 426. 
 
 O 
 
 Off ord, Andrew de, 326. 
 
 Order in Council (15 Jan. 1849), 29, 
 
 30 31 32. 
 Organ, 370, 374, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584. 
 Osborne, Sir Edwd., 125, 126, 127. 
 Otteringham, Sir Alan de, 332. 
 Ouse, 18, 20. 
 
 Pallaser, Thos. (a Priest), 116, 
 Pancake-Tuesday, 463, 
 
 Parker, Edward Lord. Morley, 119, 
 
 268. 
 Parliamentary Army, 16. 
 Parr, Catherine, 9, 92, 96, 255. 
 Passing-Bell, 460. 
 Pateley Bridge, 67, 581. 
 Paulinus, 43, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 
 
 315, 318. 
 Peacock of the North, 14. 
 Peculiar Court of Masham, 34, 337, 
 
 538, 539, 542. 
 Peterson, Robert, 329. 
 Percies, 87, 101. 
 Pews, 371, 372, 373. 
 Perambulations, 464. 
 Pilgrimage of Grace, 96, and Addenda. 
 Pibus, John (a Priest), 116. 
 Pinckney, Francis, 121. 
 Picture Gallery at Swinton Park, 164. 
 Pigot, Richard (Sergeant-at-law), 
 
 342, 535; John, 342, 381, 382; Joan, 
 
 342, 381, 382, 505, 540. 
 Piatt, The Revd. George M., 336, 
 
 380. 
 Poor Laws, 36. 
 
 Poor Lands, in Coverdale, 448. 
 Poll-book of the County Election 
 
 (A.D. 1741), 141. 
 Pole, Family of De la, 224. 
 Population and Extent, 22, 26. 
 Popish Recusants, 109, 544. 
 Pott Grange, 11, 36, 61, Q5, 68, 109, 
 
 119, 121, 124, 385, 481, 510, 511, 
 
 512, 587. 
 Pott-beck, 22. 
 Potteries, 68; Potter's Pit, 68; Potter's 
 
 Field, 68. 
 Prebend of Masham, 36, 321, 322, 323, 
 
 345, 392, 531, 532, 536, 539. 
 Prebendaries of Masham, 323, 324, 
 
 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 343. 
 Prockter, Anthony, 333, 334, 356, 357, 
 
 586. 
 Princess Margaret's Marriage, 88. 
 Provident Institutions, 200. 
 Pulleine, James, Esq., 471. 
 Pullyn, Joshua, of Nidderdale, 113. 
 Puritans, 133, 134, 135, 136, 310, 351, 
 
 352, 353, 358, 584. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quakers, 131, 586. 
 Quarry-gill, 7, 171, 172, 173, 174. 
 Quarter Sessions business, 35. 
 Queen Elizabeth, 97. 
 Quo Warranto, proceeedings in, 525, 
 526, 527, 528, 529. 
 
594 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 R 
 
 Raby, Lords of. 14. 
 
 Eadcliffe, Rogerj 328; The Rev. R., 335. 
 
 Ranulph, son of Robert Fitz-Ralph, 13. 
 
 Ralph Fitz-Randolph, 14. 
 
 Rateable Value of Mashani Parish, 
 
 &c., 24, and Addenda. 
 Recusants, 109, 544. 
 Reformation, The, 92, 93, 94, 97, 131, 
 
 132, 310, 344, 346. 
 Restoration, The, 129. 
 Reid, The Rev. John, 335. 
 Register Books, 408. 
 Ribald, 13. 
 
 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 14, 15. 
 Richard III., 14, 15. 
 Richmondshire, 20, 34, 35; Militia, 
 
 16. 
 Richmond, Earls of, 11. 
 Richard, de Hedona, 65. 
 Riddell, The Revd. Thomas, 34, 195, 
 
 333, 376. 
 Riding the Stang, 465. 
 Ripley's Rent-charge, 452. 
 Ripon, 11, 20, 21, 63, 81, 89, 100, 103. 
 Rising of the North, 98. 
 Rivers, Brooks, and Becks, 17. 
 Roads, 151. 
 Romans, 39. 
 Roman Remains, 8, 40, 41, 42, 67, 68, 
 
 164, 428, 429, 430; Roman-ridge, 
 
 40. 
 Roomer, 65, 68, 472, 474. 
 Roman Catholics, 113, 114, 115, 116, 
 
 117, 118, 346, 349, 350. 
 Roundheads, The, 129, 133. 
 Roos, John, 328. 
 Roger-cross, 475. 
 Royal Oak Day, 464. 
 Rydall, The Rev. Francis, 333. 
 
 Saes't Wilfrid, 11. 
 
 Saint Clement's Well, 164. 
 
 Salisbury, Earl of, 14, 15, 80, 225. 
 
 Sanctuaries. 347, 348. 
 
 Sadler, Sir Ralph, 97. 
 
 Samson de Albini (Rector of Mas- 
 ham), 319, 321. 
 
 Savage, The Rev. Francis, 333. 
 
 Save. The Revd. Peter, 333, 360, 361, 
 362. 
 
 Savings' Bank, 200. 
 
 Sayer, Francis (Marrick Park), 113. 
 
 Saxon Remains, 43, 309, 430; Saxon 
 Villages, 57, 
 
 Scotch Rebellion, 141. 
 
 Scots, 54, 55, o&, 57, 73, 88, 89, 90. 
 
 School, Grammar, 432; Free, 182,432; 
 Kell-bank, 183; Mrs. A. D. Har- 
 court's, 192, 441. 
 
 Scropes, Lords of Masham, 10, 48, 79, 
 80, 91, 138, 221, 227, 230, 231, 234, 
 235, 236, 238, 240, 242; Archbishop, 
 14, 96, 216, 232; Jeoffrey le, 48, 50, 
 66, 67, 73, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 
 486, 487, 488, 490, 499 ; Stephen le, 
 49, 50, 73, 493; Sir William, 74, 22] , 
 223, 225; Sir Henry, 74, 75, 490, 
 491, 492, 494, 500; Sir Stephen, 74; 
 John, Lord, 495, 499, 501, 504; Sir 
 Thomas, 80, 505; Thomas, Lord, 87; 
 Henry 7th Lord, 88, 89, 90; Ralph, 
 Lord, 90, 569; Geoffrey, Lord, 90, 
 227, 506; Margery, 90; Elizabeth, 
 91; Alice, 91. 
 
 Scrope, Lord of Bolton, 84, 227. 
 
 Scrope, Francis (of Danby), 113. 
 
 Scruton, 137. 
 
 Seymour, Catherine, 390, 391; Henry, 
 391. 
 
 Siward, Earl, 4, 53, r 55, 470. 
 
 Simmerwater, 19. 
 
 Singleton, William, 68, 109. 
 
 Sheep-shearing, 464. 
 
 Shunor FeU, 19. 
 
 Shirborne, Sir Richd., 23; Robert, 23. 
 
 Ship-money, 124, 125. 
 
 Shirwood, The Rev. John, 328. 
 
 Shaws Bridge, 22. 
 
 Skell, River, 21. 
 
 Slea-gill, 22. 
 
 Smurthwaite (of Nutwith Cote), 287. 
 
 Snape, 9. 
 
 Snape, Sir Robert, 333. 
 
 Snow, Peter (a Priest), 116. 
 
 South Cave, 109. 
 
 Sole Beck, 22. 
 
 Sowden Beck, 23, 476, 477. 
 
 South Kilvington Church (Font in), 
 220 221 222. 
 
 Sower'mire, 64, 68, 108, 219. 
 
 Stacy, The Rev. John, 327, 540. 
 
 Stott, The Revd. Edwd. Nicholson, 
 336. 
 
 Stratton, Robert de, 327. 
 
 Strangwayes, Sir James, 91. 
 
 Strafford, Earl of (see Wentworth). 
 
 Sunday School, 375. 
 
 Superstitions, 409. 
 
 Swale, The, 18, 313, 314, 315. 
 
 Swinton-with-Warthermarsk Town- 
 ship, 24, 25, 28, 35, 36, 108, 474, 
 513; Manor of, 43, 65, 109, 137, 
 217, 470, 475, 482; Bridge, 22; 
 
 MH 
 
INDEX. 
 
 595 
 
 Mill, 22, 62, 64; Swinton Park, 40, 
 
 129, 138, 150, 163. 
 Swine, 46, 47, 59; Swineherd, 46, 59; 
 
 Swinegarth, 46, 60. 
 Swinney-beck, 22, 53. 
 Sywardthorpe, 53, 54, 470, 475. 
 
 Talbot, John, 116. 
 
 Tanfield, 8, 20, 21, 41, 63, 313, 359. 
 
 Tankard, Wm, 23. 
 
 Terry, Wm., 158. 
 
 Theakston's " British Angling Flies," 
 22. 
 
 Thirkill, Jane, 397, 452; Thirkell's 
 Charity, 452. 
 
 Thornbrough-moor, near Tanfield, 39, 
 41. 
 
 Thornton Steward, 42, 318, 480. 
 
 Thorney Grane, 67. 
 
 Thorpe Perrow, 137. 
 
 Thwaites, Eobert, 332. 
 
 Tithe Commutation of Masham Par- 
 ish, &c., 25, 26. 
 
 Tipping's Dole, 450. 
 
 Tolls of the Markets and Fairs, 51, 
 52, 121. 
 
 Topcliffe, 98, 101. 
 
 Torchill, 469, 470, 471. 
 
 Tori, 471. 
 
 Tournaments, 70. 
 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, 26, 36, 
 330, 339. 
 
 Tuistlebroc, 53, 470, 475. 
 
 Tutbury Castle, 16. 
 
 Twiss, Dr. Travers, Opinion of, 33. 
 
 U 
 
 tJFFORD, John de, 326. 
 
 Ulshaw Bridge, 42. 
 
 Upton, 471, 475. 
 
 Ure, or Eure, 17, 42, 63, 183, 314. 
 
 Urus, 17. 
 
 Uxbridge, Treaty of, 353. 
 
 Valentine-day, 462. 
 
 Valuation of Masham Parish, &c, 24, 
 
 25, 370, and Addenda. 
 Vicarage of Masham, 330, 331, 375, 
 
 376, 533, 539, 541; Vicars, 332, 333. 
 Visitations, 340. 
 Volunteers, Mashamshire, 176, 199; 
 
 Vote of thanks to, 181; Song of, 
 177; Dales' Volunteers, 177; Mus- 
 ter-roll of, 178. 
 
 W 
 
 Waddincton, The Eev. G., 333, 374, 
 
 375, 376. 
 Waddesley, Eobert, 500. 
 Wainwright, The Eev. William, 335. 
 Wakes for the dead, 341, 342. 
 Walker, The Eev. John, 332 ; Eow- 
 
 land, 389 ; Doctor, 389. 
 Waltheof, 54. 
 Wars of the Eoses, 79. 
 Wandesford, Christr., 122, 123, 271, 
 
 272. 
 Wards and Liveries, Court of, 109, 122. 
 Warwick, Eichard, Earl of, 14, 263. 
 Warthermarsk, 514. 
 Watling- street, 40. 
 Wath, 41. 
 
 Watlass, 42, 117, 137, 386, 505. 
 Waterworks, 198. 
 Wath, Sir John (Curate), 341. 
 Wauton, John de, 48, 49, 50, 66, 69, 
 
 214, 219, 220, 475, 477, 478, 480, 
 
 481, 482; Gilbert de, 67, 219; 
 
 Family of, 219, 220, 221, 222. 
 Waxwid, Eichd. de, 61; John de, 482. 
 Welde, The Eev. Joseph, 333, 358. 
 Welles, The Eev. Cornelius, 333, 543. 
 Well, 9, 40, 41, 42, 357, 471, 475. 
 Wells, Eichd. de, 482, 483. 
 Wensley, 20, 21, 63, 224; Wensley- 
 
 dale, 19, 20, 21, 57. 
 Wentworth, Sir Thomas, 123, 124, 
 
 128, 129, 265, 271, 385; Elizabeth, 
 
 385, 587. 
 Westmoreland, Earls of, 14, 98, 263; 
 
 Charles, Earl of, 98, 100. 
 Wettenhall, The Eev. William, 335. 
 Whitsuntide, 464. 
 Widdale Fell, 19. 
 William the Conqueror, 13, 42. 
 Wild Cats, 57, 58; Bulls, 57. 
 Wills and Letters of Administration, 
 
 34. 
 Willyford, William de, 329. 
 Wiltshire, Earl of, 225. 
 William le Gros, 42. 
 Wolves, 57. 
 
 Wolsley, Cardinal, 159. 
 Wooton, Philip, 370. 
 Wrather's Family, 394, 395, 396; 
 
 Charities, 452. 
 Wright's Gift, 453. 
 Wycliffe, Wm., 23. 
 
596 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Wylde, The Rev. John, 332. 
 
 Wyvell, Jane, 111, 544, 555; Kobert, 
 342, 505, 544, 582; Solomon, 120, 582; 
 Sir Marmaduke, 259, 381, 382, 386, 
 388, 540, 544, 569, 571; Christo- 
 pher, 569; Margaret, 573. 
 
 Yaeburgh, G. J., Esq., 471. 
 Yarworth, the Eev. W. V., 336. 
 Yorke, Lady, 455. 
 
 Yore, 17, 42, 63, 183, 314 ; Flood of, 
 
 183. 
 York, 18. 
 
 York, Mayor and Corporation of, 84. 
 Yorkshire Election, 159. 
 Young, Arthur, 142, 143, 144. 
 Yoxhall, Sir William, 332. 
 
 Zetland, Earl of, 56. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 RIPON ; PRINTED BY A. JOHNSON AND CO., MARKET-PLACE. 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 24. — The correct acreage of Masham Parish, according to the Ordnance 
 Survey, is as under, viz. : — 
 
 ACRES. 
 Township of Masham ... ... ... ... 2347 
 
 „ Swinton-with-Warthermarsk 1967 
 
 „ nton-cum-Pott ... ... ... 2310 
 
 „ Fearby ... ... ... 890 
 
 „ Healey- with- Sutton ... ... ... 4993 
 
 „ Ellingtons, High and Low... 1790 
 
 „ Ellingstring ... ... ... ... 429 
 
 „ Burton-upon-Yore ... 2288 
 
 Total acreage of Masham Parish 
 
 17,014 
 
 The Rateable Value of the several Townships within the Parish, as 
 ascertained by the Assessments Committees for the present year, 1864, under 
 the " Union Assessment Committee Act, 1862," is as under, viz. : — 
 
 Township of Masham 
 
 „ Swinton-with-Warthermarsk 
 
 ,. Ilton- cum- Pott 
 
 ,, Fearby 
 
 „ Healey- with- Sutton . 
 
 „ Ellingtons, High and Low 
 
 „ Ellingstring 
 
 „ Burton-upon-Yore 
 
 Total rateable value of the Parish 
 
 Page 25. — The mode of laying the Church-rate here mentioned, has been 
 recently abandoned, for the reasons mentioned in the text, as being incorrect. 
 
 Page 33. — The opinion of another counsel having been obtained upon the 
 subject, which coincided with my views as expressed in the text, the Four and 
 Twenty are now acting upon it, and such of the members of the Four and 
 Twenty as were residents within the new Parish of Healey have resigned their 
 offices, and their places have been filled up by others resident within the 
 Parish of Masham. 
 
 Page 49. — In the sixth line dele "he" 
 
 Page 57. — In the top line dele the words " his brother Morcar." 
 
 Page 80. — In the sixth line from the bottom dele "it seems." 
 
 Page 89.— In the third line dele " in Scotland." 
 
 £ s. 
 
 d. 
 
 ... 3950 
 
 
 
 ... 1847 
 
 
 
 ... 1358 
 
 
 
 ... 1079 10 
 
 
 
 ... 2303 15 
 
 
 
 ... 1772 15 
 
 
 
 ... 438 
 
 
 
 ... 1953 5 
 
 
 
 £14,702 5 
 
 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 96. — According to " Walbran's Memorials of Fountains Abbey," pages 
 272, and 329, not only Sir Christopher Danby, the then Lord of Mashamshire, 
 but a great number of the Mashamshire men, took part in the Rebellion of 
 "The Pilgrimage of Grace." Mr. William Stapleton (who was one of the 
 Captains of the Insurrection) in his confession says, " On a Wednesday, about 
 Michaelmas day then last passed [the 29th Septr. 1536] there came to the 
 garth or Court of the Abbey of Jerveaux — about five miles from Middleham, 
 — two or three hundred of the Inhabitants of Mashamshire" and then 
 proceeds to describe the acts of violence which they then committed. Strange 
 as it may seem, yet it is not the less true, that Sir Christopher Danby not only 
 escaped punishment for the part which he had taken in the Insurrection, but 
 was actually the Foreman of the Grand Jury on the trial of the parties 
 implicated in it. 
 
 Page 110. — In the bottom line for " occupied by Mr. Charles Lee, but now 
 by Mr. Jefferson " read "occupied by Mr. Henry Jeff, but now by Mr, Mason 
 Verity." 
 
 Page 192, — In the top line for "Swire" read "Squire," 
 
 Page 2-18. — In the ninth line from the bottom begin a fresh line with the 
 words " He married secondly, Mary." 
 
 Page 287. — From the Mary Norton mentioned in the ninth line is descended 
 John Yorke, Esq., the present owner of Bewerley. — See Grainge's Nldderdale, 
 page 49. 
 
 In the seventeenth line after "Richard Norton" add "who married 
 Margaret, daughter and heiress of Francis Hall, of Worsall, Yorkshire, and 
 by her had issue." 
 
 Page 288, — Margaret Bartlett was Leonard Fothergill's second wife. His 
 first wife Elizabeth died 1st November, 1694, and was buried in Masham 
 Churchyard. 
 
 In the last line but one in the Text, for " John Ascough " read "Thomas 
 Ascough," 
 
 Page 297. — Timothy Hutton, Esq., of Clifton Castle, died at Clifton Castle 
 on the 17th of November, 18G3, and was succeeded in the Clifton Estate by 
 James Pulleine, Esq., of Crakehall. 
 
 Page 307.— In the thirteenth line from the bottom, for " B.D." read " D.D." 
 
 Page 328. — William Kinwoldmersh, mentioned in the fourth line from the 
 top, was Treasurer of England, 
 
 Page 333. — Gilbert Horsman, B.D., was born at Kirkby Malzeard, and was 
 a Fellow of University College, Oxford. He was installed Vicar of Masham, 
 and Kirkby Malzeard, in 1603, and died 4th June, 1638, aged 75 years, after 
 having been Vicar of Masham 36 years. 
 
 William Favell was born A.D. 1559, at Burnsay, in Craven. He became 
 Curate of Masham A.D. 1591, and died 7th July, 1624, and was buried in the 
 Chancel of Masham Church. 
 
 Page 334. — Thomas Hodgson was born at Ingerthorp near Ripon, and was 
 Reader of Divine Service, and Schoolmaster, at Kirkby Malzeard. He entered 
 into Priest's Orders, and into the Curacy of Masham, in August, 1623. 
 
 Mark Hodgson was also born at Ingerthorp, A.D, 1611. He was Reader of Divine 
 Service, and Schoolmaster, at Kirkby Malzeard, under the Rev. Gilbert 
 Horsman, B.D. He entered upon the Ciu*acy of Masham on St. Mark's Day, 
 15 Charles I.. A.D. 1639. and died in October, 1679. 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA, 
 
 Page 336. — At line 17, for "John Carter Swire" read "John Carter Squire," 
 
 For the Eev. Munby read " The Eev. Joseph Edwin Mmiby." 
 
 Page 339, — In the twenty-third line, between the words "in" and "law" 
 insert the word "the." 
 
 Page 393. — In the fourteenth line, for "Edward Carter, Esq." read 
 " Christopher Carter, Esq." 
 
 Page 404. — It appears by a memoir of Ibbotson, attached to the second 
 edition of his "Accidence, or Gamut, of Painting in Oil," published after his 
 death, viz., in 1828, that he was the son of Richard Ibbotson, and that in con- 
 sequence of the death of his mother by a fall upon the ice when she was pregnant, 
 he was brought into the world on the 29th December, 1759, by the Caesarian 
 operation, hence his name of " Julius Caesar," the first name being after the 
 name of his maternal grandfather, and the latter name from the manner of 
 his birth. He received the first part of his education from the Moravians (of 
 which body his father had been a member) and afterwards, on his father's 
 removal to Leeds, at the Quaker's School in that town. Having from his 
 earliest years evinced a decided predilection for painting, his father 
 apprenticed him to Mr. John Fletcher, a ship painter at Hull. At eighteen 
 years of age, on his master retiring from business, he went to London, where 
 he spent several years in the painting of pictures, for a picture-dealer, and 
 thereby acquired considerable knowledge of pictures, especially those of the 
 Flemish and Dutch Schools. In 1780, he married, but his wife died in 1794, 
 leaving him with two sons and a daughter. In 1788, he went out as draughts- 
 man to an Embassy to China, with The Honourable Colonel Cathcart, in the 
 Vestal Frigate, Captain Sir R. J. Strachan. His Ambassador having died on 
 the passage out, and as no successor could be appointed, the vessel returned 
 immediately to England, and Ibbotson lost his whole year's wages, which 
 plunged him into pecuniary difficulties. To compensate him, however, for his 
 loss and disappointment, his friends procured for him an offer of an 
 appointment in Lord Macartney's Embassy to China, but Ibbotson could not 
 be induced a second time to accept such an engagement. After undergoing 
 many hardships on account of his pecuniary embarrassments he quitted 
 London in 1798, when he visited the Lakes of Westmoreland, at which 
 place, in the following year, he fixed his residence.* In June 1801, he 
 
 * According to "Notes and Queries," (Vol. viii. of New Series, page 96) there is a local tradition 
 that whilst Ibbotson was residing at Ambleside, he used often to ramble as far as the 
 picturesque valley of Troutbeck, which is about four miles from Ambleside, to indulge in the 
 double enjoyment of the sweet scenery around, and the " home brewed" within the humble 
 ale-house there ; and that in acknowledgment and commendation of the latter, he painted a 
 sign with two faces, each "looking the character" admirably, the one being that of a stout, 
 jolly-faced toper with rubicund nose, and the other that of a thin, white-faced, lantern-jawed 
 chap, the veritable picture of a modern teetotaller, and with labels from their mouths thus 
 inscribed : — 
 
 "Thou mortal man, who liv'st by bread, 
 "What is it makes thy nose so red ? " 
 And, 
 
 " Thou silly oaf with nose so pale, 
 It is with drinking Birkex'S ale." 
 
 The Painting has been supplanted by its title in plain letters " The Mortal Man," but the 
 old people say that they still remember it, and that they admired it, and that it is now 
 preserved in Carlisle. 
 

 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 married, for his second wife, the daughter of Mr. William Thompson, of 
 Windermere, who was very much his junior in years. In 1803, he was 
 plunged into deeper embarrassments, in consequence of a heavy pecuniary loss, 
 which he at this time sustained through the defalcations of a supposed friend. 
 This loss, however, was somewhat compensated by the circumstance, that about 
 this time he fortunately had commissions for pictures from Earl Buchan, Sir 
 Henry Nelthorpe, and several others, amongst whom, the late William Danby, 
 Esq. ought to be mentioned. It was in consequence of this latter gentleman's 
 liberal and extensive commissions for pictures, that Ibbotson was induced to 
 leave his beloved retreat in the Lake District, and to settle at Masham. At 
 Masham he was much employed by the gentlemen in the neighbourhood, and 
 this, with commissions from London and elsewhere, occupied the remainder 
 of his life. In 1817, whilst engaged in painting a favourite hunter for Lady 
 Augusta Milbank, he took a cold which settled upon his lungs, and terminated 
 his existence on the 13th October, leaving a widow and a daughter, the latter 
 of whom is said to have inherited her father's talents for sketching, &c. 
 
 Page 409. — The Book alluded to in the fourth line from the bottom of the 
 text, has since been recovered and restored to its proper custody. — Copious 
 extracts from it will be found in Appendix F, page 580. 
 
 Page 417. — Add to the last Note " It would appear, however, by some entries 
 in the Old Book above alluded to, that during the Commonwealth, and after 
 the functions of the Ecclesiastical Court had been put an end to, or suspended, 
 but not before, Church rates were in some instances recovered from defaulters 
 by distresses upon their goods — in the first instance, evidently by the authority 
 of a Warrant of Justices, and probably afterwards, and in course of time, by 
 what was called a Warrant of the Four and Twenty themselves, but which was 
 in point of fact no warrant at all, but a mere undertaking on the part of the 
 Four and Twenty to indemnify the Churchwardens from loss, in case of any 
 distresses they might make for Church rates, for copies of such supposed 
 warrants are still in existence. The mere circumstance of the Churchwardens 
 requiring such indemnities from the Four and Twenty, shewed that they 
 considered their right to make such distresses to be but doubtful. Probably 
 the practice of the recovering of Church rates by distresses upon the goods, 
 had its origin in an Ordinance of Parliament made during the Commonwealth, 
 dated 8 November, 1644, by which all persons were enjoined to pay all kinds 
 of Tithes and Church duties, and in default thereof, it authorized two Justices 
 to summon the offenders before them, and to grant warrants authorizing the 
 constable to distrain, and sell the offender's goods."