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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1941

BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.

WORKS BY W/LUAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.

Mr. WilUam Andrews has produced several books of singular value
in their hi.storical and archasological charafcter. He has a genius for
digging among dusty parchments and old books, and for bringing
out from among them that which it is likely the public of to-day will
care to read. — Scotsman. Old Church Lore.
The result is in every way satisfactory. Much that is new,
carefully gathered from unpublished documents and other sources,
is interwoven with a fund of anecdote and information that ha.s
never, perhaps, been so readably offered to the general public
before. . . . There is not a dry page or a superfluous para
graph in the whole book. ... To the antiquary, as well as the
general reader, this work will prove useful and instructive. — The
Gentlewoman. Contains much that will interest and instruct. — Glasgow Hej-ald.
A well-written work on a deeply interesting subject. — European
Mail. Old-Time Punishments.
This is an entertaining book . . well-chosen illustrations
and a serviceable index. — AthemEttin.
A work which will be eagerly read by all who take it up. —
Scotsman. A vast amount of curious and entertaining matter. — Sheffield

We can honestly recommend a perusal of this book. — Yorkshire
Post. A very readable history. — Birmingham Daily Gazette.
Mr. Andrews' book is well worthy of careful study, and is a
perfect mine of wealth on the subject of which it treats. — Herts
Advertiser. Curiosities of the Church.
A volume both entertaining and instructive, throwing much light
on the manners and customs of bygone generations of Churchmen,
and will be read to-day with much interest. — Newbery House
Magazine. An extremely interesting volume. — North British Daily Mail,
A work of lasting interest. — Hull Examiner,
Full of interest. — The Globe.
The reader will find much in this book to interest, instruct, and
amuse. — Home Chimes.
We feel sure that many will feel grateful to Mr. Andrews for
having produced such an interesting book. — The Antiquary.
Historic Yorkshire.
Cuthbert Bede, the popular author of "Verdant Green," writing
to Society, says: "Historic Yorkshire," by William Andrews, will
be of great interest and value to everyone connected with England's
largest county. Mr, Andrews not only writes with due enthusiasm
for his subject, but has arranged and marshalled his facts and
figures with great skill, and produced a thoroughly popular work
that will be read eagerly and with advantage.
Historic Romance.
Stkange Stokies, Char.\.cters, Scenes, Mysteries, and
Memorable Events in the History of Old England.
In his present work Mr. Andrews has traversed a wider field than
in his last book, "Historic Yorkshire," but it is marked by the
same painstaking care for accuracy, and also by the pleasant way in
which he popularises strange stories and out-of-the-way scenes in
English History. There is much to amuse in this volume, as well
as to instruct, and it is enriched with a copious index. — Notes and
Queries. A fascinating work. — WhitehaU Review.

BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE

EDITED BY
WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.,
AUTHOR OF
' OLD CHURCH LORE," " CURIOSITIES OF THE CHURCH," " OLD-TIME
PUNISHMENTS," " HISTORIC YORKSHIRE," ETC.

^^

HULL^
A. BROWN & SONS.
London : Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Limited.
I 89 I,

a

preface.
I ^HIS volume brings to a close an account
-*- of Lincolnshire in the olden time.
I am grateful to my contributors, and think
that their articles cannot fail to interest and
instruct the readers of this work.
My thanks are also due to the Rev. W. J.
Gordon, m.a., and Mr. H. W. Ball, the historian of
Barton-on-Humber, for the loan of illustrations.
I should be lacking in courtesy if I did
hot express my thanks to the critics for the kind
notices of my previous volume. If the present
one meets with a similar welcome from the press
and the public, I shall have every reason to
believe my labours have not been in vain.
William Andrews.
Hull Literary Club,
Novemher £7th, 1S91.

Contents.

PAOK

Lincoln Cathedral. By T. Tindall Wildridge  1
Lincoln Castle. By E. Mansel Sympson, m.a., m.d., cantab. 25
Tattbrshall, its Lords, its Castle, and its Church. By
E. Mansel Sympson, m.a., m.d., cantab.  43
Bolingbroke Castle. By Tom Robinson, m.d. ... 56
Ancient Stained (itLASs, and the Great Earl Beaumont.
By T. Tindall Wildridge  62
On the Population of Lincolnshire. By Tom Robinson,
M.D  69
Superstitious Beliefs and Customs of Lincolnshire. By
the Rev. Wm. Proctor Swaby, d.d  80
The Legend of Byard's Leap. By the Rev. J. Conway
Walter  96
Robert de Brunne, Monkish Chronicler and Poet. By
Frederick Ross, f.r.h.s  117
The Witches of Belvoir. By T. Broadbent Trowsdale ... 127
Thornton Abbey. By Frederick Ross, f.r.h.s  136
The Battle of Lincoln. By Edward Lamplough  151
"Lincoln Fair." By Edward Lamplough  161
Alford Fight. By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a  170
Babton-on-Humber Ferry. By C. H. Crowder  175
The Great Brass Welkyn of Boston. By William
Stevenson ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 185
Dr. William Dodd, the Forger. By John T. Page ... 190
An Eighteenth Century Poet. By the Rev. Alan
Cheales, m.a  203
The Great Hawthorn Tree of Fishtoft. By William
Stevenson  212
Spalding Gentlemen's Society. By Marten Perry, m.d. ... 215
Sir Isaac Newton. By J. W. Odling  226
Lincolnshire a Century Ago  243
Index  249
List of Subscribers  251

BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.

->-«-<-

Xincoln Catbebral.
By T. Tindall Wildridge.
LINCOLN was an important town of the
ancient British Coritani, and as such it
was mentioned by Ptolemy, under the name of
Lindos. It sent a bishop to the Council of
Aries. Upon the advent of the Romans, it was
chosen as the site of a station or barracks, and
of a colony, to which they gave the name of
"Lindum Colonia," which, by abbreviation, has
become " Lincoln." The derivation of the name
Lindum (which is the Latin designation also of
two other places, Lindisfarne, and Lindo in
Rhodes) is said to be from a root lin, a fen, pool,
lake, and, at any rate, has doubtless an origin
common to the large number, all over the world,
of place-names having the same constituent.
The station was on the hill later occupied by the

2 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
cathedral and castle. It was parallelogramic, the
sides facing the cardinal points. The district is
rich in Roman relics, the objects unearthed
including a fine fragment of a tesselated pave
ment, yet in its original position in the north-east
part of the cathedral cloisters, where also lie (too
much exposed) several Roman altars and other
remains. Lincoln retained its consequence under the
Saxons. It was re-Christianized by Paulinus in
628. Until 656, the see of Lindsey, or Sidna-
cester, was in Northumbria. Thence to 678 it
was part of the see of Mercia, but in that year
Egfrid, King of Northumbria, seized Lindsey,
and formed it into a separate see under York,
having its seat at Sidnacester, afterwards called
Stow. It continued but for a year as part
of Northumbria. At a date before 949, Sidna
cester, as Leicester had already been, was united
to Dorchester, under Canterbury, as part of the
great Mercian see of Lichfield. It remained
to the Normans to transfer the whole to
Lincoln. The proximity of the Humber laid the
district open to the attacks of the Danes, who
finally established their hold upon it in 877,

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 3
and Lincoln became the seat of a Danish burgh,
and part of the Danelagh.
As the amalgamation of the Saxons and Danes
proceeded, Lincoln became one of the principal
trading boroughs of the country, and an evidence
of its prosperity lies in the very large number of
churches found here at tbe Conquest.
Under the Norman rule, Lincoln was almost
immediately given special prominence, and affords
us one instance of many where the Norman
policy and strategetic arrangements coincided
closely with those of the Romans. In various
ways the position of Lincoln as a centre of
control was strengthened ; a castle was built,
involving the destruction of 240 of Lincoln's
1070 houses, upon part of the site of the forgotten
station ; while the town was made tbe seat of a
bishopric. The founder of Lincoln Cathedral was Remi
(also met as " Romo " and " Rumi," but doubtless
" of Rheims," and styled in Latin documents as
" Remigius,") almoner of the Norman Convent
of Feschamp. His origin is doubtful. Bishop
Godwin says he was the son of a priest ; others
say he was a son of Gerard Salven, and brother
of Ranulf de Flambard, Bishop of Durham. On

4 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
a sepulchral plate of lead, preserved in Lincoln
Cathedral library, William DAincourt, of the
royal stock, records that he is a kinsman of
Remi. Whatever was the extent of Remi's
blood-relationship to the Conqueror, it was
sufficient to place and keep him in high favour
at the court of William I., and at that of Rufus
after. Remi was a man of small stature and
bilious complexion, but of ultra-Norman astute
ness and energy. He came over with William in
1066, furnishing a ship and twenty armed men,
by way of bargain (say William of Malmesbury
and other writers), in exchange for the promise
of an English bishopric. However that may be,
his head received the first English mitre bestowed
after Senlac. He was made Bishop of Dorchester
in the place of Wulfi, who died soon after the
Conquest. In 1070, Remi accompanied the
two English Archbishops to Rome, and was,
practically, confirmed in his see. He prepared to
build a cathedral at Dorchester, but the con
centrating Norman policy (in which he was
merely an instrument, being evidently greater in
detail than in general organization) intervened.
His triple see was translated to Lincoln. The
exact time is yet unknown, but as near as can

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 5
be conjectured it was shortly before 1075. The
inactive claim to have jurisdiction over the see
of the Archbishops of York, grounded upon
the facts above given, was disregarded, or it
may perhaps have been a factor in the selection
of the site of the new cathedral ; however, that
choice shews a strong faith in Canterbury's case,
and was justified by the ultimate result, to which
it perhaps lent an influence.
There seems to have been no more than the
usual facility for acquiring the ground. Gilbert
de Gant, a nephew of King William, is credited
with furnishing much of the land, William
D'Aincourt not improbably contributedsomething,
while the Conqueror himself gave a part of the
site. With regard to the endowment, the
Conqueror was munificent ; he gave the manors
of Welton and Sleaford ; the rectories of the
manors of Chircheton (Kirton-Lindsey), Castre
(Caistor), and Wallingour, with rectorial glebes
and tithes, as well as the rent-tithes of the
manors ; and the churches of St. Martin and St.
Lawrence, in Lincoln. He likewise confirmed to
Lincoln what he had given to Dorchester, viz.,
the churches of Bedford, Leighton Buzzard,
Buckingham, and Aylesbury, and the Manor of

6 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Woburn, and confirmed, also, Waltheof s grant of
Leighton Bromeswold. Among other less trace
able temporalities of the see were some lands
taken by the king from one Halden, a Saxon.
The see established, the site obtained, the
materials for the proposed cathedral were at
hand. Far below the surface, the oolite beds of
the great limestone range which underlies Lincoln
Heath offered for deep excavating an excellent
stone, which, though it decays near contact
with the soil, hardens after tooling, and resists
atmospheric action admirably. From strata of
the same range, the Romans had procured the
stones of which were constructed their buildings
in this locality, and portions of which remain, as
is well known, to this day. Remi had shafts
sunk, lateral galleries carried out, and immense
quantities of stone were accumulated. The
Saxon Church of St. Mary Magdalen was cleared
away from the south-east portion of the city,
arrangements being made by which the
parishioners were allowed for worship the use
of part of the nave of the new cathedral, together
with a priest, though a separate church was
afterwards provided for them.
Take away the angel choir of the east end, and

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 7
the pi-esent gi-ound plan of Lincoln is, in the
main, that of Remi's Norman cathedral, after the
design of Rouen. All that is now left of his
date is the central portion (without the arcade)
of the west front, hooded over by the later work ;
a recess and arch on the north and south sides of
the west transept ; and the font of black
basalt, probably a foreign bai-gain. This
hiis bold dragons and lions of semi- Assyrian
character carved on the sides: and on the upper
edge, a five-leaf ornament at the foui- cornei-s, and
aTnedallion in the centre of each side.
Without doubt, the remains of foundation at
the west end shew that Remi's desiofu was for two
towers. From the general probability, supported
by the existence of grooves, it is evident that the
tlu'ee sections of the front were surmounted by
gables, a chief point in which Norman aud Eai-ly
Enoflish design had coincidence, outside any
blending of stj^le consequent on transition. The
gables were part of the work removed to make
way for the Early English work, when, also, the
circular head of the central recess was changed to
a pointed ai'ch. There is suflSicient trace of the
spring of the cireulai- arch left to be seen below
the trellis work. The height of the Norman

8 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
arch was seventy-five feet, the effect of the
alteration being the addition of rather more than
one-fifteenth. The Norman masonry is a good
instance of " wide-jointing." Above the two
inner side recesses, there is a serie§ of interesting
sculptures, inserted irregularly along the front.
It has been said that these are earlier work,
removed from another building, but they do not
appear to be necessarily so. It is not unusual in
Norman work to find such sculptures inserted in
a haphazard and, so to speak, abrupt manner ;
even in the more cultured Decorated, where life-
designs are so thoroughly and beautifully in
corporated, this odd " using up " of sculptures is
not infrequently to be noticed. The subjects of
this deeply-sculptured frieze include the Torments
of the Damned, the Descent into Hell, Adam
and Eve Driven from the Garden, the Building
of the Ark, etc.
Remi, it is said, died a day or two before that
upon which he had arranged that the consecration
of the Cathedral should be held, having, it is said,
invoked, by means of a sum of money, the royal .
authority to compel the Archbishop of York to
desist from troubling the see with his claim.
Remi had appointed twenty-one secular canons.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 9
dean, precentor, treasurer, seven archdeacons, and
ten ordinary canons, each with his incomed
canonry. The foundation was one of the
thirteen which were served by seteular canons.
" Every stall has produced a prelate or cardinal."
He founded an hospital for lepers. His was the
principal hand in the making of the Domesday
survey. To Remi succeeded Robert Bloet, the
Chancellor of Rufus. He postponed the con
secration till 1094, and vigorously pushed on the
building work. He also erected a monastery at
Stowe, and in the pride of his architectural exploits
made a comparison between that and a monastery
built by the king at Reading, which sealed
against him the door of the royal favour for all
his life. He was persecuted by lawsuits ; but one
of these, in which the king was the chief mover,
resulted, though unfortunately for Bloet, happily
for Lincoln, for Bloet was compelled to buy off"
York (with either one or five thousand pounds),
which finally secured the see from York's claims.
Bloet doubled the number of canons. He was
bishop thirty years, dying in 1123.
The third bishop was Alexander, who not only
proceeded with the building of the Cathedral but

10 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
evidently re-built portions in the more refined
style belonging to his day. The parts remaining
of his date are the three doorways within the
central recesses of Remi's front, with the intersect
ing arcade above the two outer entrances, and the
three lower stages of the west towers. The
distinction between Remi's work and that of
Alexander is, clear. He vaulted the roof with
stone, a thing, for large spans, then quite new.
The astonishing change in the fashion of build
ing which swept over the land in the latter part
of the 12th century took early effect at Lincoln.
The Norman style — calculated, when united
with commensurate workmanship, to endure a
thousand epochs — was in every shire cleared away
to make room for a new and more beautiful kind
of structure. The new style was scarcely founded
upon anything else ; it was a sublime invention of
the Middle Ages, and one which, in the hands of
its enthusiastic originators, seems to have been
capable of development and extension to infinity.
Hugh of Grenoble — afterwards canonised as St.
Hugh of Lincoln — is to be termed the second
founder of Lincoln Cathedral. He is more
fortunate than Remi in that the work planned by
him, and in great part erected in his lifetime, has

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 11
endured to the present day. The choir, the
chapter-house, the east transept, the east wall, and
perhaps the lower part of the west wall
of the west transept, and some of the
added work of the west front are his. The east
end, as built by him, was apsidal, and terminated
near the high altar. His architect was the
Englishman, Geoffrey de Noiers, and his work at
Lincoln is the earliest specimen of pure Early
English work in the country.
The choir, like the nave, presents a disagree
able effect in the ungraceful lowness of the sweep
of its vaulting, while the ribs do not terminate in
the central bosses, giving, where perspective does
not hide part of these defects, a clumsy ill-formed
appearance. Notwithstanding this the choir is a
work of real beauty, and is, moreover, of unique
interest, being, as before said, the earliest example
¦ of Pointed Gothic extant in England. Here the
classic origin of many mediaeval forms of archi
tectural detail is seen in unusual purity, while
there are several indications that the influence of
the Norman style of ornament had not then
(circa 1200) died away.
The comparatively complete state of Lincoln is
particularly noticeable in the great transept, the

12 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
east side of which retains its chapels, separated
from the rest of the transept by elaborate stone
screens. They have wall arcading of varying
designs. They have all had double arcades, but
in some cases the outer series of arches has been
torn away. The splendid Early English glass of
the rose window, thirty feet in diameter, in the
north end of the transept, as well as the rich
Decorated rose window of the south, are strikingly
beautiful. In the lesser transept are two curious pillars ;
the stone piers, having projecting leaflets, are each
surrounded by eight detached shafts of Purbeck
marble. This transept is disfigured by two dis
guised oak beams, necessary to support the piers
opening on the transept north and south. In fact,
although Lincoln is so perfect, it is full of lines
fallen from both the horizontal and perpendicular.
St. Hugh died in 1200. After three years'
vacancy the see was filled in 1203, until 1206, by
William of Blois, and after him, from 1209, by
Hugh, of Wells, under both of whom the building
in the new style went forward. Under Hugh de
Wells (brother of Jocelyn, Bishop of Wells), who
lived till 1235, was built the nave and the wino-s
and upper cornice of the west front and the

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 13
Galilee porch. He also finished the chapter
house. This is the earliest polygonal chapter
house in England. It has considerable associative
interest. It was the probable meeting-place of
several Parliaments ; here the Knights Templars
were tried in 1310, and here, in 1536, the leaders
of the Pilgrimage of Grace met in council.
The Early English west front is a wide expanse
of arcade panelling. It has in the centre an
elaborate gable, forming the gable of the nave,
which intersects the west towers. The third
tier from the ground is occupied chiefly
by two rose windows, which, of no improve
ment to the general effect exteriorly, usefully
light two chapels behind. The corners of
the facade are flanked by turrets almost
detached ; these have figures upon their spires —
on the south St. Hugh, on the north the
Swineherd of Stow, a humble individual who is
said, by popular legend, to have be
queathed a peck of silver pennies to the
work of the building. The surrounding of
the lean Norman arches by this patterned mass of
Early English work gives an effect distinctly
incongruous to the purist, but it has withal a
touch of barbaric dignity, as the idea suggested

14 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
by the recesses, and accentuated by their ornate
setting, is that of magnificent entrance. The rich
arcading of the gable, though beautiful and of
the purest Early English character, wants the
perfect grace which sometimes distinguishes even
plainer instances, as, for example, some portions
of Beverley Minster.
The cinquefoil window in the central recess has
mouldings of open work. The inner portions of
the west end and of the central tower are
distinguished by a curious stone trellis work,
apparently an imitation of plain strips of metal
or wood crossing at an angle of forty-five degrees,
and is said to be peculiar to this cathedral. It
stands in the place of diaper work, but it cannot
be said that the effect is pleasing.
On entering the nave by the west door the
effect is one of grandeur, the arrangement of the
tower-supports, though they are in themselves
ugly, furnishing a stately vestibule, which
prevents the long perspective from immediately
engulfing the spectator. The unskilful lowness
of the vaulting strikes the eye, and the wide span
of the arches exaggerates the actual slightness of
their supporting piers. The great length which
is given to the building by the addition of the

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 15
presbytery to the original choir is considered by
some to be a defect, but it is questionable whether
this is so, as it has not the effect of narrowing
the aspect ; and it may be doubted whether many
observers have received, as their first impression
that which one eminent writer describes, namely,
that the view looking through the inside of the
cathedral is, eastward and westward, little better
than that afforded by " looking through a tube."
There is, moreover, an artistic gain in the
dwarfing of the large windows by the mere fact
of the great distance, and it is surprising to find
that effect pointed out as a blemish.
Lincoln, however, contains one defect, in which it
is similar to a by no means inconsiderable number
of other European churches, small and large. This
is the irregularity of the axis of the church, and
in all eases is doubtless due to the want of due
care in fixing the orientation of new portions at
the time of commencing alterations, the apparent
meridian varying according to the time of year.
The presence of this peculiarity in various churches
has led to the propounding of a far-fetched
theory that, just as the form of the whole
building is symbolic of Christ's cross, so the
deviation of part of it from one true line is

16 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
symbolic of the inclination of his head in the
hour of death. But if its improbability
alone does not prevent this explanation from
being ignored, it may be well objected that
the deviation does not invariably occur at the
chancel. Lincoln is an instance of this.
Equally unacceptable is the suggestion that the
old architects purposely made their churches
crooked in order to give a variety in the
perspective. The five eastern bays of Lincoln nave are
twenty-six and a half feet wide, and in the same
axis as the choir. The western bays, however,
are only twenty-one and a quarter feet wide, and
have a more northerly inclination than the others.
It may be reasonably presumed — though it is
not a matter of necessity — that at one period it
was intended to re-build all the west end ; that
such intention was abandoned ; and that even the
discovery that the orientation of the old work
was different from that of the new approaching it,
was not sufficient to cause the demolition of the
Norman remains. It may have been that the
question of cost caused its retention, or, more
probably, that the architectural conscience was
averse from destroying the ancient front ; though

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, 17
it must have suffered a pang in abandoning the
uniformity of the interior. In the triforium the
contraction of the western bays is carried out by
the omission there of one arch from each group
of three arches, which groups run two to each
bay throughout. In the clerestory the space is
saved merely by narrowing the arches, which
there, as elsewhere, are in groups of three. The
nave is forty-two feet wide. There is great
variety in its detail. The arcade on the north
side is supported by shafts detached from the
wall ; on the south side the vaulting shafts are
not detached ; while here there is more sculpture
than on the other side, including a dog-tooth
moulding, which, however, is not part of the
arches, but carved in the wall. Some of the
bosses and crockets here are models of graceful
beauty. A chapel at the north-west corner
has some fine Purbeck marble shafting, the
filleted pillar \\hich supports the vaulting —
standing in the centre, as is seen in chapter
houses — being very elegant.
The next bishop after Hugh de Wells
was Robert Grosteste, the champion of the
Anglican Church against the aggressions of
Rome. There is no account of building by

18 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
him in the Cathedral records, but from
the style of parts of the building it is
probable that he completed the works of his
predecessor, and evident that he built the great
central tower for one stbrey above the roof It is
said that the older tower of Remi had given way,
but this and similar statements of earthquakes and
fires, which are curiously coincident for the 12th
century, must be looked at with caution, as the
universal change of style was in itself a stronger
circumstance than any incident of required re
paration. There is, on the other hand, no want
of proof that the very heaviness of Norman work
was in part the result of ignorance of proper
principles of construction, and the new style may
have had increased knowledge of those principles
as its prime liberator. The tower standing in
1240 is that year said to have almost miraculously
fallen at an opportune moment when a Romish
advocate was remarking from the pulpit that if
men held their peace the very stones would cry
out against Grosteste.
The appearance of the interior of the central
tower is very beautiful, despite the slight in
congruity of the coarse trellis work and the
irregularity of the window-piercing above it,

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 19
Grosteste was bishop from 1235 to 1253, and
was followed by Henry Lexington. Under him
the great work of preparing a place for St.
Hugh's shrine was commenced. It was decided
to be placed at the extreme east end of the
cathedral ; and to make room for the additional
building, now known as the presbytery or angel
choir, it was found necessary to remove part
of the city wall, which was done by licence of
King Henry IV.
One of the most pleasing features of
ecclesiastical history is the readiness and faithful
adherence to plan with which successive
dignitaries took up great architectural works
bequeathed to them. This angel choir was
carried on by Richard de Gravesend, who was
bishop from 1259 to 1279, and at his death
passed forward to Bishop Oliver Sutton, who
had the gratification of completing it, and of
having it opened by King Edward I. and his
Queen on the 6th October, 1280.
On the tympanum on the exterior of the south
door of the presbytery are some figures which,
though grievously mutilated, bear the impress of
a masterly hand. It cannot be said, however,
that they approach in a.rtistic conception and

20 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
arrangement the magnificent sculptures of the
interior. The subject is the Last Judgment,
with God enthroned, and kneeling angels of
excellent workmanship, while below is one of the
popular representations of Hell's Mouth, with
Satan stood receiving the lost souls which two
fiends are throwing into the pit.
The angel choir, of some three-quarters of a
century later than St. Hugh's choir, was wisely
made similar in its general characteristics, though
in the proportions of its elevation and the execu
tion of its details it is beyond comparison the
superior. The sculptures, which have suggested
the name by which the presbytery is known, are
more than an instance of this superiority, being
without rivals as examples of true art in the archi
tectural ornament of any known building. They
occupy the spandrils of the triforium, and are em
phatically sculptures rather than stone-carvings,
being the work of artists rather than masons.
They shew traces of being the work of more than
one hand, some being much better than others ;
and were executed before being placed. Though
splendidly congruous, and shewing what Gothic
might have been if art had not been so far behind
architecture, these noble and graceful figures are

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 21
exotics ; perhaps they were executed by some
Italian artist, whose name — if we could but know
it — would be familiar to us, and, whether that be
so or no, are the production of genius of the
first order.
The cloisters, which are small and slight,
though charmingly graceful. Bishop Sutton built in
1295. He also erected a wall round the precincts
(the monks being much subject to disturbance from
the ungodly before they had this protection), and
began the court of the vicars choral. Bishop
Sutton practically finished the cathedral. John
D'Alderby, who followed him, built up the
central tower in 1307, completed the cloisters,
with their vestibule from the north transept, the
choir screens, and the Easter Sepulchre, all of
the Geometric Decorated.
The face of the south transept was rebuilt, its
fine circular curvilinear windows inserted, and the
parapets of the west front and south aisle added,
as well as the organ screen, in 1320-60, a period
which may have been in the time of Henry
Bjarghersh (1320-40) or Thomas Bek (1342-47).
Bishop Bek was the brother of Anthony Bek,
Bishop of Durham, and he it was who, while
Bishop of St. .David's, defrayed the whole cost

22 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
of the pageantry of consecration of the angel
choir. To the date which is understood by Early
Perpendicular belong the higher stages of the
west towers, the rows of kings on the west front,
and the vaulting of the towers, the credit of
which work, in the absence of any particular
information, must be shared by <Tohn Gynwell,
Bishop 1347-62, and John de Buckingham
(1363-98). The fine series of stalls were given by John de
Welbourn, the cathedral treasurer, in the time of
John de Buckingham, but the miserere carvings
appear to be of later date. They are of the usual
miscellaneous character, including many semi-
satirical subjects, but, though executed with skill
and finish, lack something of the bold originality
of style which marks similar sets in some other
places. Fully developed Perpendicular supphes nothing
to the present design of Lincoln Cathedral, and
the only details of that style which can be pointed
out with certainty are the inserted west window
and the accumulation of beautiful chantry chapels,
though several authorities concur in considering
that the spires of the towers were of this date.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 23
Some of the chantry tombs are remarkably
fine, those of the Burghersh family being of great
interest. The dispensary of the cathedral adjoins the
north lesser transept. It was an upper chamber,
but the floor is now gone, and the curious recesses
for drugs are looked up to from the space below.
The windows of this lower room have the
original shutters, bound with iron.
Up to the Reformation, Lincoln was the finest
and richest cathedral in the kingdom. King
Henry VIIL, in 1540, had removed from it to
his coffers 2621 ounces of pure gold and 4285
ounces of silver, St. Hugh's shrine of pure gold,
and Bishop (St. John) D'Alderby's of silver,
besides an immense quantity of precious stones.
There was even then left behind sufficient to
furnish a second plunder, eight years later, when
Bishop Holbech, in his zeal for the Reformation,
gave up all that was left.
In length, east to west, the cathedral is 530
feet, in breadth, from north to south of the great
transept, 227 feet.
The two western towers, St. Mary's and St.
Hugh's, are 200 feet high; with their wood spires,
which were removed in 1808, they reached 301

24 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
feet. The central tower, called "the Broad
Tower," — the vaulting of which is 127 from the
floor, — rises to the height of 271 feet, and is the
highest central tower in England. The wood
spire of this was blown down in 1547, the total
height previously being 525 feet, and would, if it
now existed, be fourteen feet higher than the
soaring spires of Cologne.
Lincoln Cathedral occupies the proud pre
eminence of being the earliest pure Gothic
building in Europe, and its interest, great on that
account, is enhanced by its embracing, in an
almost harmonious whole, instances of every
phase through which Gothic architecture passed ;
beyond which, it may be said that its examples
are not only most early, but excellent.

Xincoln Castle.
By E. Mansel Sympson, m.a., m.d. cantab.
ON approaching Lincoln by the Old North
Road, the Ermine Street, and while still
a mile or so away from the city, two prominent
objects catch the eye. One, the Cathedral,
" towering in its pride of place," the other, a long
low mass of grey, yet still high above the sur
rounding houses, — the Castle. Approaching
Lincoln from the South, the same effect is
noticed, only less prominently, as all the houses
on the slope are manifest as well. How much
more then in the fifteenth century, when the
castle towers, now shorn of well-nigh half their
height, must have formed a grim contrast to the
delicate stonework and the heavenward pointing
spires of our noble Cathedral.
For many a year after the Norman Conquest,
most places of any importance were under these
two dominions, that of the Church and that of the
Soldier. Sometimes the two agreed not well

26 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
together, as at Old Sarum, and to those ancient
quarrels the beautiful Cathedral and the town of
Salisbury are witnesses to this day.* The two
characters were not uncommonly found in the
same person, as in our Bishop Alexander (to
whom we probably owe the three west doors of
the Cathedral), who, following in his uncle,
Roger of Salisbury's footsteps, built for himself
castles at Newark, Sleaford, and Banbury.
A brief sketch of the manner of castle building
(not in Spain, or the Editor would soon put
a practical veto on this paper), in Britain among
the various nations who have dwelt here, may
make it tolerably clear how this castle of Lincoln
has assumed its present form.
First, then, let us take the British. They
selected the summits of hills or other naturally
strong positions for their forts. These were
defended by a ditch and rampart, sometimes
double, and varying in shape and material with
the situation. Thus in Wiltshire, the walls are
of earth, in Wales (as at Pen-maen-mawr), and
Cornwall (as at Castle en Dinas and Ch(in), they
consist of stones piled together, with a little earth-

* The Bishop and Clergy having removed from Old Sarum to the
site of the present city, and there built the Cathedral.

LINCOLN CASTLE. 27
occasionally, to form a very effectual defence.
Have we any remains of British fortifications in
Lincoln ? Probably not, though certain earth
works on the Riseholme, the great North Road,
have been assigned to this people by some
authorities. But, judging from the rectangular character of
these works, the way in which the Roman road
bisects them, their distance from the city (600 or
700 yards) and the extreme probability that the
British would have placed their castle where all
the succeeding nations have, i.e., on the brow of
the hill, these earthworks are either Roman or
erected by Romanized British, to defend their
store of cattle from attack.
The Roman method of fortification was as
follows : every night, when an army was on a
march, a square camp was constructed by forming
a deep and wide ditch, and a rampart on the
inner side of the ditch from the earth thrown up
from it. Then stakes were firmly driven into the
rampart, four gates were made, one in each side
of the square, and the defences were complete.
Their method of fortifying permanently, as at
Lincoln, was just the same, save that the ditch
and earthern rampart were of greater size, and

:^8 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
that, springing from the natural level of the
ground, as a kind of facing to the earthwork, and
elevated over it, a stone wall took the place of
the palisades of the temporary camp. In the
castle, undoubtedly, the existence of the Roman
walls (or their ruins, for they almost certainly
were ruined in Saxon times) has caused the
present plan as far as the west and south walls
are concerned. In the west wall, or rather in
the earthern rampart on which it stands, just
north of the sallyport (which we shall treat of
presently) was the old Roman west gate, which
was discovered in 1836, but which unfortunately
fell down forthwith. In the observatory mound,
at the south-east angle of the Castle, are some
portions of the Roman south wall of the city.*
The Saxon method of defending a position was
by making huge earthworks round the area, sur
rounded by a ditch, and surmounted by palisades
or fencing of wood. Inside the area, or forming
part of this earthern wall, but always with its
own ditch, was a large mound, which would
represent the keep of later days. Occasionally
there were two mounds, as in this very castle,
* TYie first south wall, for even in Roman times, the original city
was too small for its inhabitants, and had to extend its limits towards
the river and Brayford.

LINCOLN CASTLE. 29
the keep and the observatory mounds. All the
earthworks, then, belonging to the present castle,
are almost certainly of Saxon date. They con
sist of these two circular mounds already
mentioned, both in the line of the outer walls,
and of a nearly continuous earthern rampart,
beginning at the south-west angle, running due
north to the north-west angle, then along the
north side to the north-east angle, and lessening
to the Eastgate, where it stops. It is about
fifty to eighty yards broad, and from twenty to
thirty feet in height, internally, as Mr.
Clark * notes, of easy slope ; externally steep.
On these mounds and earthworks, William the
Conqueror, in 1068, ordered fortifications to be
erected, and in the execution of this order, one
hundred and seventy-six houses were destroyed,
probably because they were situated on the
glacis, or actually inside the castle area. Most
likely these fortifications were of wood (as we
know some of William's at York were) and later
on they were replaced in stone. At this date,
then, we have left the inner part of the eastern
gate, the western gate or sallyport, and
* See an admirable paper by G. T. Clark, Esq. , on Lincoln Castle,
in the Associated Societies' Reports and Papers for 1876, to which I
am glad to record my acknowledgments.

30 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
the north and west walls. Mr. Clark assigns
the keep, the wall running eastwards and
westwards from it, and the observatory
tower, to a rather later date, but certainly
before the close of the eleventh century.
The front of the eastern gate, the upper portion
of the observatory tower, and the tower called
Cobb's Hall are all of Edwardian date, probably
about 1300, when Thomas of Lancaster, Earl of
Lincoln, was constable of the castle.
The gaol buildings were erected about 1786,
the assize courts in 1826.
Here it may be convenient to give a short
account of the existing buildings.
The entrance to the castle is now limited to
the eastern gate, facing Castle Hill. This was
once defended by a barbican consisting of two
walls, which started from the present gate, crossed
the ditch, and ended each in a small tower. This
was still standing in 1790, when it was removed to
make a better approach to the castle. Between its
walls the drawbridge would be let down. The
entrance gate is pointed,* and has two angle
turrets over it, by which access was gained to the
* There was a stone lion on each side of the gate, a portion of one
remains just outside Cobb's Hall,

LINCOLN CASTLE. 31
walls. A little within it, is the original round-
arched Norman gate. Where the present doors
stand was the groove for the portcullis, the
ancient doors having been fixed about six feet
further west. On the right hand side, on enter
ing, is seen, fixed in the wall of a modern porter's
lodge, a very beautiful oriel window brought by
the late Earl Brownlow, for preservation, from
John of Gaunt's palace * in the lower town. It
dates probably from the time of his daughter (by
Catherine Swynford), Joan, Countess of West
moreland, who with her mother was buried in the
cathedral. Passing through the gate, and turning to our
left, we find a large mound, about forty feet
high, capped with buildings, the observatory
tower, which has been already mentioned.
The wall here (as in many other places) shows
evidence of " herring bone " work, that is, flat
stones like tiles placed in rows one above another,
but sloping in opposite directions, like the back
bone of a fish. In Roman building, this work is
* Opposite the palace is a fine Norman building, really the home of
St. Mary's Guild, but mis-called John of Gaunt's stables. Behind
this is a field, greatly used for football, and occasionally for school
treats. A mother of a treated scholar was recently asked where the
festivity was being held ; with a nice sense of not wishing to be too
familiar, she said, " Please, ma'am, in Mr. Gaunt's Field ! " But Free
Education will end all tales of this kind.

32 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
frequent, but it differs from the Norman use of
it, by being continued right through the whole
thickness of the wall, here it only forms a facing.
Just where the wall begins to ascend the
observatory mound, may be noticed a Norman
arch blocked up. The observatory tower is
square itself, is composed of one half, the western,
of Norman date, of two floors, with a good stone
staircase in the wall, and an eastern half, of
fourteenth century date, also of two floors,
flanked by two square turrets. A modern
turret caps the whole, and gives its name to the
tower. It was erected by Mr. Merryweather, a
former governor of the castle, who was of astro
nomical tastes.
Proceeding along the outer wall, westwards
from this, we come to a large circular conical
mound, which supports the keep. This is a
many-sided building, of the kind called shell-
keeps, because it simply consists of an outer
wall, around the inside of which would be wooden
structures, leaving a free space in the midst.
The wall is about twenty feet high, and eight
feet thick, but the parapet is entirely gone.
Where the keep and outer walls join are two
small rooms. That on the eastern side has been

LINCOLN CASTLE. 33
groined and vaulted, and may have been an
oratory. There are two gates, the one facing
south-west to the outer slope of the mound, the
other (by which admission is gained) north-east
on to the inner slope. The steps up to this are
modern, but probably replace older ones in the
same place. At the south-west angle of the
castle wall is a new piece of stone-work, evidently
where "a large breach has existed. Here the city
west wall joined it, and ran down by Motherby
Hill to Brayford. The sally-port on the west
side much resembles the eastern gate, but it
possesses considerable remains of its barbican,
and it is entirely of Norman date. The only
other building of antiquarian interest left to be
mentioned is the tower at the north-east angle,
called Cobb's Hall. It is of horseshoe form, with
the curved portion projecting outside the angle of
the walls. It has two storeys, both acutely
vaulted, and with loop-holes commanding the
flanking walls and the country (as it was !) opposite.
The lower one is reached by a trap-door and
ladder, and on some of the stones may be still
seen rude carvings, which, doubtless, have wiled
away some of the many hours of captivity ; for
this was, we know, a prison. The roof is- reached

34 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
by a stone staircase, and the battlements are
modern. Here, in the days of public executions
(happily no more), the last act of many a sordid
tragedy was played out.
Before the gallows were erected here, they
used to be put at the junction of three roads, at
the north-west angle of the castle, close by
Hangman's Dyke.
The Assize Courts and gaol need no description
here. Apart from them, the view of the grounds
inside the castle, which are very well kept up, is
very pretty, and the banks well furnished with
trees, and the noble expanse of lawn, make a very
charming vista on passing through the entrance-
gate. In spring, there is a particularly
picturesque glimpse of the keep from just below
it, in Drury Lane, and even the modern cap to
the observatory tower is harmoniously designed.
The outer surface of the west mound is covered
with trees, while the long stretch of the north
wall, unbroken by any tower from angle to angle,
is very impressive. It is rather a curious feature
of this castle, indeed, that there are so few towers
to protect the walls ; however, it seems, as we
shall see presently, to have been a very hard nut
to crack by those who attacked it.

LINCOLN CASTLE. 35
A short sketch of the chief historical events
connected with Lincoln Castle will foi-m a fitting
finish to this paper.
But little is known of the very eaa.-ly history of
the castle, till, in 1140, the Empress Maud made
herself master (if the apparent misnomer be
pardoned !) of the city and the castle. Stephen
promptly laid siege to both. The castle was
soon taken by assault, though the Empress had
the good fortune to effect her escape. Then, by
stratagem, William de Romar-e (who had been
made Earl of Lincoln by King Stephen) and
Ranulph, Earl of Chester, his half-brother,
seized the castle, and held it for the Empress.
St<?phen again promptly laid siege to it, and the
Eai'l of Chester managed to escape, being lowered
over the walls, in this, resembling St. Paul.
He joined the ai"my already in the field under
the Empress's half-brother, Robert, Eai-l of
Gloucester, who at once marched to the relief of
the beleaguered garrison. According to old
chroniclers, the Earls swam the Ti-ent at the head
of theu* forces, and attacked Stephen where the
slope of the hiU was least, that is, on the south
west side, where the new-formed Yarborou^h
Road runs upwards. Stephen, after performing

36 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
prodigies of valour, was captured, and, from tho
ease and completeness of the victory, the battle
was known as the "Joust of Lincoln." It was
fought on Candlemas Day, 1141.
Again Stephen regained his liberty, and again
besieged the Earl of Chester in the castle. This
was in 1144. The siege was again unsuccessful.
On this occasion, or on the earlier one, he
executed those entrenchments, which can still be
seen, just to the west of the castlo, in what is
now " The Lawn " and a field to the north of it.
Probably these were made when he first attacked
Maud, because, the city being hostile to him, hu
could not attack the castle from any other side
but the west. Two years after this, the Earl of
Chester was taken prisoner, and had to resign
the castle as part of the price of freedora.
"During the reign of Henry II. ," writes Mr.
Clark, " the Crown recovered much of its power,
and Lincoln Castle seems to have been diBSociated
from the earldom, though the Earl of Chester
preserved a hold uptjn it, Richard de Hay held
the constableship in fee, and it descended to his
daughter and heiress, Nicholaa, who married
Gerard de Camvile, who received from Richard 1.
the custody of the castle and the farm of tho

hlNOOLN CAST hit 37
mvoiuuw of tho county. (Jorard, howovor, was a
partizan ol' l*i'in(!o .lohn, and stood a siogo in Lho
castlo from Longoliiunp, Clianoollor to tlio nbst^it
Riiiliard. Tho oiistlo was roliovinl l)y John, but
(lonird lost his ollico und fann in 1194, until
John booamo king. His widow, Niolioliia, hold
tho oHstlo for tho Uiiig against (ho iiiHUi'gont
lords. Al'tor tho war, King John visitiul Lincoln,
and Nioholaa, thon o( groat ago, roinnvod him nt
(lho oast" (west, aooording to Mr. VV. i^iooko)
" gaio oC tho (vxstl(>, und itllbrod him tho koya, dosir-
iiig to bo roliovod on aooount of lior ago. John
gmoorully riu(uos(.od hor do roduin iho koys, und
sho oontiniUHl in comma,nd thi'ougliout his i-oign,
ami into dhuit of lliMii')', his son." In Ilii 6,
(Jilbort Ak\ (Juiit* (wiio was nt\phow of u Gilbort
do (Juind, \^i\\\\ of Lincoln, who diod iu I! 5(1)
siuzod (ho cKy for dho Duuphin and dlu^ bui'ons,
und luiid siogo do iho (vus(ilo. Williain, Earl
Mrtrsoohul, in who.so luuids, ul'dor dho doudh of
John, (ho royal uudhorKy wus vosdod, us.somblod
un army and marohod do Newark. Thoro, dho
loga((> of dho Pope oxcommunioutod (ho army of
dho Duuphin und (ho Ivirons, and dho wluilo oi(y
of Lincoln.
* ll(>\viui viviiiln li'ii'l 111' l.iuculii l\v t'lx' l>iui|ihiii, I'riiu'o l.ouit* of

38 B YGONE LINCOLNSHl RE.
"Upon the approach (of the Earl Marshall
and his army)," says Speed, "if the Counsell of
some Enghsh Lords had beene followed, the
Lewysiun Army had issued forth of tho City,
and giuen them Battle in the open field ; but the
Earle of Perch (the French Generali), thinking
the King's party to be greater than it was, for
that the Noblemen and Bannerets thereof had
each of them two Ensignos, the one borne with
themselues, the other advanced among the
carriages, which doubled the show of their
numbers ; they did, thereupon, change that
course, closed the gates of the City, and plyed
thoir endeavours against the Castle more fiercely
than before. The Earle of Pembroke (the Earl
Marshall) thcrfoi-e lets Falcasius (a well-known
soldier of fortune) slipi)e in at the Castle-posterne
with his Arbalasters, whiles others bi'wdce vp the
South-gate of the Citie, fit which the King's
Army most couragiously entring, and they of the
Castle sallying out in Flancke of the Enemy,
scattered and utterly defeated the Lewysians.
. . . The whole riches of the Lewysian campe,
and of the Citie of Lincolne, became the booty
and spoyle of the King's Army, wherupon, this
discomfiture was called Lewis Fair." The

LINCOLN CASTLE. 39
more general term, I imagine, was Lincoln
Fair. From that date to that of the struggle between
King Chai'les and the Parliament, the castle's
record has uU the silence of probable peace. In
1642-8, orders were sent from the Parhament to
have all the prisoners removed to a place of
safety, and that tho castlo should be put in the
hands of the Earl of Lincoln, and be fortified.
However, shortly afterwards, we find the Royalist
party in possession, with Sir Francis Fane as
Governor. In 1644, the Earl of Manchester attacked
the lower city, and became master of it.
Two days afterwards, he carried the close and the
castle by assault, fifty of the besieged were killed,
and more than 700 captured. With this event,
the martial history of the castle closes, never, let
us hope, to be re-opened. Prisoners, indeed,
there are and have been within its walls, but
prisoners (except perhaps in 1745) of the civil
power alone.
The castle originally, of course, was Crown
property, and the custodian or constable was
appointed by tlie Crown. Thus we have seen
Nicholaa, a lady, held it in the reign of John.

40 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Henry III. conferred it on William de Longesp^e,
Earl of Salisbury, in 1224, who married the
daughter and heiress of Gerard de Camvile, who
has been mentioned above.
William's great granddaughter Alice married
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, grandson of
Henry IIL, and thus it was conveyed
into the Duchy (afterwards made) of Lancaster,
as it passed into the hands of Henry, Earl
of Lancaster and Lincoln (the nephew and
heir of Thomas), who was created Duke of
Lancaster in 1351, and whose daughter
Blanche married John of Gaunt, " Time-honoured
Lancaster." Their son was Henry IV., so the
Constableship and the Earldom became again
vested in the Crown. The latter was revived
several times, and now is a title of the Ducal
family of Newcastle.
In 1832, it was sold by the Duchy of Lancaster
to the County of Lincoln.
Finally, the castle, if anywhere, is the proper
place for one of Lincoln's greatest needs (from an
intellectual point of view, the greatest) — a
museum. It is a distinct and damaging blot upon
Lincoln as a city that it has nothing of the

LINCOLN CASTLE. 41
kind.* Rich in archaeological remains, rich in
history, rich in modern mechanism, rich in its
cathedral, it is yet absolutely poor in the very
thing to bring all these branches of education
together into a focus. And there would be no
difficulty about filling a museum which had been
started. Archaeological collections, more or less
public, are fairly numerous. First-rate geological,
botanical, and entomological collections could be
obtained without much difficulty to illustrate the
natural history of the district. The same with
birds and beasts. Then the various trades of the
city should have full recognition of their wants,
particularly that of iron and steel work. And
probably there is no place where a museum could
be more easily or more profitably situated than in
those very castle grounds which have been
described just now. It has visitors now, it would
have crowds with a museum within its walls,
especially if local art were to be exhibited, and
we have abundance of local art ; while loans from
South Kensington (such as are lent to the Science
and Art School, Monk's Road) and from the
* The Science and Art Schools, indeed, have a room open free as a
small museum, to which Bishop Trollope has recently given a most ,
valuable collection of local Saxon "finds," and which has contribu
tions from South Kensington.

42 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
county families would serve to change the
exhibits from time to time. Let us hope that
Lincoln will lose no time in supplying this great
defect in her public institutions, and will provide
a fitting shrine for the many objects of art,
of science, and of archseology which she
possesses.

^attcrsball, its Xorbs, its Castle, anb its
Cburcb.
By E. Mansel Sympson, m.a., m.d. cantab.
ANCIENT castles, in this island at least, are
always interesting, whether from their
remote antiquity, like those in Wiltshire, Wales,
and Cornwall, from the story of their gallant
defence like Newark, from their comparative
perfection like Caernarvon, or from their associa
tion with history like The Tower of London, or
with the magic of romance like Conisboro' or
Carlisle. Again, they are often among the most
picturesque objects of our country, as Beaumaris,
DunoUy, and Tantallon may testify, while to
antiquarians they present a world of interest as
their plan, their builders, and their history are
discussed, occasionally with a vigour which re
calls the fights their walls have witnessed.
Tattershall, it is true, can lay claim to but few
of these charms ; a huge square pile of almost
(Hurstmoncaux excepted) the noblest brickwork

44 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
in the kingdom, it can scarcely be called pictur
esque, it has no sieges whereof to tell us, and
its plan and arrangements are fairly well known.
Nevertheless its size, the beauty of its workman
ship, and the noble families who have been
connected with it, may well justify a short
account appearing in " Bygone Lincolnshire."
The manor of Tateshale (as it was then written)
and Tateshale Thorp, were given by William the
Conqueror to one of his attendant knights, called
Eudo. His son, Hugh FitzEudo, also distin
guished by the surname of Le Breton, in 1139,
erected the neighbouring Cistercian Abbey of
Kirkstead. A small fragment — part of the south
transept apparently — alone is left, reminding one
of the stately remains at Kirkstall and Roche, by
its unadorned simplicity of style, which distin
guished the early buildings of the Cistercian,
itself a reformed branch of the Benedictine order.
In the chapel — one of the daintiest specimens of
Early English (and containing some of the
earliest wooden screenwork) in the kingdom, —
a few yards south of the Abbey ruin, is a Purbeck
marble figure of an armed knight, which, from
the fashion of the helmet and other evidence,
is believed to be that of Robert de Tateshale

TATTERSHALL. 45
and Kirkstead (a great-grandson of Hugh le
Breton), who died in 1212. His son, also a
Robert, in 1231, obtained a license from Henry
III. to erect a castle of stone here. No remains
of that castle are known to exist now ; it seems
doubtful whether some portions may not have
endured into the early years of the present
century, but this will be alluded to later on.
If these were not so, then probably the first castle
— as far as the masonry at least — was entirely
swept away when the second castle was rising
on its site in all its whilom magnificence. The
grandson of the castle-builder was summoned
to Parliament, in 1297, as the first Baron de
Tateshale, and died in 1298. His daughter,
Joan, married Robert Driby, and their daughter
married Sir William Bernack. Their son, Sir
John Bernack, married Joan, daughter and co
heir of Robert, second Baron Marmion of
Widdrington. This is another link (besides
Scrivelsby, * which, with Tamworth, had been
granted to Robert de Marmion, Lord of Fon-
tenay, by WiUiam I., and held by the service
of being the royal champion, as the ancestors
* The parish of St. Michael's, Coningsby, only a mile away from
Tattershall, also belonged to the ancient baronial family of Marmion.

46 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
of Marmion had been to the Dukes of Normandy)
between Lincolnshire and this noble family. One
of Sir John Bernack's children, Maude, married
Sir Ralph Cromwell, afterwards Baron Cromwell,
who died in 1398. The family of Cromwell
seems to have been settled in the villages of
Cromwell and Lambley (a few miles north-east
of Nottingham), in Nottinghamshire, since about
1166, and, as far as I can learn, had nothing
to do with the ancestors of the " Hammer of
the Monks," as Thomas Cromwell was called, or
of Oliver, the Protector.
The Cromwells had already, in the thirteenth
century, been allied with the family of Marmion,
as the third Ralph Cromwell married Mazera,
second daughter and co-heir of Philip de
Marmion, Lord " of Tamworth tower and town."
The second Ralph, Lord Cromwell, died in 1416,
and his son, the third Ralph, Baron Cromwell,
Lord Treasurer of the Exchequer, married
Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Deincourt,
built the present castle and church of Tattershall,
and died childless in 1455. It would be but a
tedious task for my readers if I were to recount
the various generations of possessors of Tatters
hall since that date ; suffice it to say then, as

TATTERSHALL. 47
with many other estates, it was granted by
Henry VIII. to his absorbing brother-in-law,
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, in 1522, again
by Edward VI. to Edward, Lord Clinton and
Say (afterwards Earl of Lincoln), whose great-
grandson, Theophilus, petitioned Parliament for
a grant, as the tower had been injured during
the civil war ; that it continued in the male
line of that family till 1693, when a cousin,
Bridget, married Hugh Fortesque, an ancestor
of the present noble owner, the Earl Fortescue.
So much for the Lords and Ladies of Tatters
hall, all of my pleasant duty that now remains is to
give the readers some ideas of the past and present
state of this once magnificent fortalice. It was
built, as has been stated above, by Ralph, the third
Baron Cromwell, at a cost, historians tell us,
of 4,000 marks (a mark— 13s. 4d.) We can date
its erection, as the late Mr. Nicholson* pointed
out, within a very few years by the heraldry
which forms its most prevalent ornament. There
are the arms of Tattershall, which might be
used by any Lord of Tattershall since William
I. ; of Driby, which would date from the reign
* In an admirable paper on Tattershall, in the Lincolnshire Topo
graphical Society's volume, 1843, which has furnished much of value
for this article.

48 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
of Henry III. ; those of Bernack and Cromwell
from Richard II. , but Cromwell and Tattershall
impaling Deincourt (what an Eastern atrocity
this sounds to non-heraldic ears !) shows that
not until after the Treasurer's marriage with
Margaret Deincourt could the castle have been
thus decorated, and as there were no children of
that marriage, there could have been no such
union of arms after their death. Then again,
the frequent repetition of the Purse, the Badge
of Office, marks the period of building as that
of Ralph being Lord Treasurer, i.e., from 1433-
1443. It is an interesting thought for Lincoln
shire folk that very probably a celebrated
Lincolnshire man, William Patten, of Waynflete,
Bishop of Winchester, was the architect of
"these bricky towers," as Spenser terms the
Temple in the Strand. He was a great architect,
a personal friend of Lord Cromwell's, and was
one of his executors ; the church of Tattershall
being unfinished at Cromwell's death, William
of Waynflete helped to complete it, having very
possibly designed it also.
The plan of a mediaeval castle was, generally
speaking, as follows. There was an outer wall,
with a ditch surrounding it, over which a draw-

TATTERSHALL. 49
bridge would give access to the main entrance.
Then separated from the first wall by a second
ditch, would be a second — the inner wall. Both
walls would be strengthened by towers at
appropriate points. Within this inner ward (as
the space inside the inner wall was termed) the
chief living-rooms, the barracks, so to speak,
would stand. Finally there would be the donjon,
or keep, the strongest of the castle-buildings,
built very frequently on a mound, — these mounds
being due in many cases to Saxon engineering
skill, — and capable of itself withstanding for some
time any hostile attack, even though the rest
of the castle was in the enemy's hands. Those
who have seen Conisboro' Castle, in Yorkshire,
will have a good idea of a Norman keep,
Tattershall Castle was defended by an in
complete outer moat, which starting at the
north-east angle, went along the north and west
sides and joined the river Bain : there is still
some water in portions of this ditch. The inner
moat ¦was complete, and the wall surrounding
it is still in fair condition ; it was supplied with
water by a culvert from the outer moat about
the middle of the north side, which is plainly
visible, and which was specially defended by

•50 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
a strong tower. Between the two moats at
various parts of the outer wall were some
guard-houses (portions of which still exist), the
tower just mentioned, and on the east side, where
there is no outer moat, there was an outstanding
Barbican (part of which still remains as a private
house), probably to defend the main entrance,
which was nearly in the same line as the present
pathway. The inner ward now is almost flat,
it unfortunately was levelled early in the present
century. However, from a plate, published by
Buck, in 1727, which is in the writer's possession,
we can gather that at that date the entrance
gate, protected by a portcullis and with turrets
at the angles, the eastern portion of the chapel,
showing an apse with three perpendicular
windows, and great part of the dining-hall, with a
bay window (just as the College Halls of Cam
bridge have now), were standing. There are
also some buildings visible in the print, which
Mr. Nicholson thought to be of Henry Ill's.
date, and so to be remains of the first castle
on this site. Now we come to the chief feature
of the place, the so-called Castle, which in reality
was only the representative of the keep of earlier
days. It is eighty-seven feet long by sixty-nine

TATTERSHALL. 51
feet wide, and the parapet of its angle turrets
is no less than one hundred and twelve feet above
the level of the ground at its base. Brick is the
main element in its composition ; there have been
varied patterns in brick-work on its walls, and
some of the groining of brick in the upper
rooms is most delicately moulded, and may well
serve for a lesson to us, even in this nineteenth
century, in artistic workmanship. Stone is used
for the windows, the machicolations, and the
chimney-pieces, which are very fine, and are
ornamented with coats of arms, and the Treasurer's
Badge. The coping of the battlements, as Bishop
Trollope has pointed out, * is not of stone, as it
appears to be, but of excellent cement. The large
windows, which are quite as evident on the west
or exposed side as on that facing the inner ward,
show that the great change in warfare was in
process, that " villainous saltpetre " was changing
the type of fortification from a massive tall keep
like Rochester or Conisboro' to low walled earth
works such as those which still surround Berwick,
and which were erected in the time of Queen
Elizabeth. Also, these windows show that the
* In a paper on " The Use and Abuse of Red Bricks," Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports and Papers, 1858, to which I am glad
to confess considerable indebtedness.

52 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
nobleman's Castle was changing into the noble
man's Palace, of which again the Elizabethan
buildings such as Longleat, Hatfield, or Haddon
Hall are the finest examples. Access is gained
to all the rooms above the ground-floor by a
spiral or newel staircase in the south-east turret,
the hand-rail, continuous and ingeniously moulded
in stone, being noticeable. There seem to have
been no less than forty-eight separate apartments,
four of these being very large, and occupying the
centre of the building, one over another. That
on the ground-floor may possibly have been the
common hall ; it is entered by a door on the
east side, has large and beautiful windows, and
a very elegant fireplace. The corresponding room
on the first floor may have been the hall of
state. Over that again were two more large
rooms, on the second and third stories, the latter
being far the loftiest of the series. Their floors
would be of timber, overspread with plaster,
and at the top of the third storey there was a
lead roof In the eastern wall on the second
floor is a beautiful vaulted gallery, on the third
floor this is made into two apartments, which are
vaulted in brick in a still richer style than the
former. At the top, a covered-in gallery, well

TATTERSHALL. 53
supplied with loop-holes, runs round partly over
the machicolations (as the holes under the
projecting parapet are called, through which
the defenders could securely pour " boiling oil
or something humorous " — as the Savoyard poet
sings, — on their assailants when they had reached
the foot of the wall and were out of reach of
ordinary missiles), and the walls, from turret
to turret. In each of these turrets there are
fireplaces, partly no doubt for the warders'
comfort, but chiefly for the prompt supply of
material for the warm welcome which has just
been mentioned. On the south of the inner
court is a large piece of ground, elevated and
surrounded by a stone wall except on its eastern
side, this may have been used for tilting and
other exercises. Eastwards it joins a stiU larger
portion of ground on the south of the church,
probably the garden of the castle, this is walled
in (with brick) and in the spandrils of a doorway
in the south wall are the arms of Tattershall and
Cromwell, and Deincourt.
About four miles from Tattershall are the
remains of another tower — Tower le Moor — of
the same date and construction (only much
smaller, it was not more than sixty feet high, and

54 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
only one angle exists; more is to be seen in
Buck's sketch, about 1727, also in the writer's
possession) as Tattershall Castle, and probably
built by Lord Cromwell as a hunting box.
A brief reference to the once Collegiate Church
of Holy Trinity, Tattershall, may well close this
paper. It was chiefly built and endowed by the
same Robert, third Lord Cromwell, for seven
priests, six secular clerks, and six choristers, but,
being unfinished at his death, was completed by
Bishop William of Waynflete. The church is
large, well proportioned, and with a fine tower.
It consists of nave, chancel, and transepts. The
size of the windows (as is usual in the perpen
dicular style) and their unfortunate freedom from
colour (the original stained glass was presented
to St. Martin's, Stamford, in the middle of the
last century) give a particularly light effect to
the nave, which is rather enhanced by the
absence of any seats, the choir alone being used
for service. In the north transept are some very
interesting brasses, most of which have been
removed from the choir to their present place.
They commemorate Lord Cromwell (the founder)
and Margaret his wife, his nieces Maude and
Joan Stanhope, the first and second Provosts of

TATTERSHALL. 55
the College, Warde and Moor, and William
Symson, a chaplain to one Edward Hevyn. They
are among the finest specimens of their kind.
The choir is separated -from the rest of the
church by a stone rood-screen and loft, which is
of the date 1528. There are traces of an altar
on the west side on the north and south of the
central doorway, an arrangement similar to the
rood screens at Exeter and Norwich, and
generally in England, and one which was very
prevalent in France. A full description of this
screen illustrated by a plan and west view, has
been given elsewhere* by the present writer.
In conclusion, it may be said that a very
pleasant day may be spent in seeing Tattershall
Castle and Church, then walking along the side
of the Bain to Coningsby, which has a fine
church, and some interesting old brickwork in
several of its houses, thence about four miles to
Kirkstead, where the remains of the abbey and
the chapel may be seen, and the traveller may
catch a train there or walk on to Woodhall Spa.
* On Lincolnshire Rood-screens and Rood-lofts. Associated
Architectural Societies' Volume for 1890.

BoIitiGbrofte (Tastle.
By Tom Robinson, m.d.
THE Castle of Bolingbroke affords some
points of interest to the archaeologist.
Its appearance at present is not suggestive of
much information. The traveller who passes
along the valley of Bolingbroke sees a practically
smooth expanse, and the only traces of the
existence of what was at one time one of the
most important fortified spots in the east of
England, are the undulations of the ground and
the depressions of the moats. Yet our fathers
probably saw more practical evidence of the
existence of a castellated structure that survived
till 1815, the old gate-house, which contained
within itself the dungeons that have immured
the victims of many generations. The best
description of Bolingbroke Castle is the one
which Holies has left in the Harleian MSS.,
British Museum. He has there told us something
of what must have been the appearance of the

BOLINGBROKE CASTLE. 57
castle. He takes as an axiom the fact that the
castle was built by William de Romana, at a date
which we may assume to be about a.d. 1100. The
theory which postulates that previous structures
existed before his time is perfectly open. We know
the Romans may have had a station at the spot.
The evidence which identifies the Roman
Banavallum with Horncastle is extremely weak.
We are entitled to assume the existence of
Banavallum, but it may have been at any spot
along the Bane river. It is therefore possible its
situation may have been at Bolingbroke or any
where else.
The fact that the only opening into the
depression in which stand the ruins of the castle
and village is towards the south and west is a
significant one. The original builder of the
castle selecting a valley on the brook for its site
is a significant one also, but the hills, which are
to the north and east of Bolingbroke, although
near enough to permit modern guns to bombard
and destroy the town, would be far beyond the
reach of mere bows and slings. The access by
water would be easy, and it must not be forgotten
that the water courses get narrower and shallower
as time advances, whereas, in the time of the

58 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
building of Bolingbroke Castle, they would be
deep enough to permit the free passage of the
monoxylon, or dug-out canoe of the early Britons.
Nor were the boats of the Middle Ages in any
way larger or more easy of navigation.
However inexplicable the fact is that a fortress
should have been built in a valley, the fact is so,
and mere ontology and speculation will not help
us. The theory may be propounded that it was
constructed in the face of an enemy, and that it
marks the site of an old "zereba." This
site, whether employed by Coritavian, by Roman
or Saxon, was used by the Norman castle builder,
and we had, as a result, an edifice which was for
years a castle of authority against the surround
ing population. Bolingbroke Castle was for
centuries one of the most important strongholds
in the east of England. Imagination alone can
lead us to conjecture what the old eastie of
William de Romana was like. It was probably
quadrangular in form, with four turrets and
battlements around protecting the inmates. The
entrance was over a drawbridge.
The barbican or gate-house, which acted as a tete
du pont to the bridge, was the last relic of the
castle to survive, was a high - structure,^ and a

BOLINGBROKE CASTLE. 59
portcullis served as the entrance to the enciente.
Another portcullis, analogy leads us to infer,
probably defended the castle gate inside the
moat. The sandstone of which the castle was
built probably fell into ruin in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, who erected some spacious
chambers within it. These rooms were used by
the Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster, and
the records of the whole country were kept in
them. The auditors of the accounts seem usually,
like the commissioners of Woodstock in Scott's
novel, to have been disturbed by a ghost in the
likeness of a hare.
In the time of Charles the First, the constable
of the castle appears to have been Lord Castle
maine, who received £500 a year out of a pension
of £1000 a year granted by the king to his
infamous wife. At this time, the church
windows were full of stained glass commemorative
of the counties of Lancaster and Chester, and
the families of Lacy, Meschines, Willughby,
Longespec, Clifford, Spenser, Cantilupe, Beke,
Deyncourt, Rochford, and Slight.

" The Knights are dust
Their swords are rust
Their souls ai-e with the Saints we trust."

60 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Cromwell's soldiers destroyed these windows,
and the fire from the castle during the siege
damaged the church. Of the outward events
which led to their destruction, it is now my duty
to speak. Of the battle of Winceby (October
1643), I need say little, although its results led
to the termination of the career of Bolingbroke
as a stronghold. Suffice it to say that the Royalist
army, under the command of Sir John
Henderson, were totally defeated, and the castle
of Bolingbroke surrendered to the enemy. Like
Tattershall, the old fortress was dismantled and
became a ruin, which the Restoration did not
revive. To the east of the lines of former walls
which mark the site of the once proud
Bolingbroke Castle, may be seen traces of the
entrenchments of the Parliamentary army.
During the time of the Georges, the castle
grew worse and worse, till at last the old barbican
was the only relic left. This disappeared in
1815, and so departed the glories of Bolingbroke
Castle. " New people fill the land now they are gone,
New gods the temple, and new kings the throne.''
The records of the Duchy of Lancaster are
now in a Whitehall office, and one of the most

BOLINGBROKE CASTLE. 61
interesting ruins of antiquity is for ever lost to us.
Yet it is a pity that no picture of Bolingbroke
Castle, as it was in the days of its glory, has
been preserved to, us. In fact it is disappoint
ing to the antiquary to be able to glean so
little in his attempts to preserve a true record of
this birth-place of a king. And it is also sur
prising to find so little evidence of the presence
of a castle on the site where it once stood. And
we can have little doubt that the population
must have carried the castle away for some
purpose such as to build other structures or
possibly to repair the road.

ancient Staineb (Blass, anb tbe (Breat
]Earl Beaumont
By T. Tindall Wildridge.
AN informing and voluminous, but utterly
mistaken and unnecessary work might be
produced by taking any ancient stained glass
window, naming the costumed figures therein
after more or less prominent individuals of the date
indicated, and giving picturesque descriptions of
their stirring times — and are not all times stirring
— with snatches of biography, and a convincing
array of dates.
It is but to write, it would seem, a sample
chapter of such a work, to speak long upon the
two figures in the stained glass of St. Peter's,
Barton. These figures bear about them nothing that
can identify them as being the portraits of any par
ticular individuals ; and to record the conviction
that the one in the palmer's dress was merely
intended to represent St. James the Great, and

ANCIENT STAINED GLASS. 63
"that in panoply, St. George, is but to echo the
suggestion of Poulson. That industrious writer
had an aptitude for falling into error, in which
respect, it may be noted, he was not singular ;
yet, in a simple question of judgnaent, he is nearly
as good to follow as any other antiquary that ever
veiled charta pura with mole-like researches,
especially when one agrees with him.
Yet, on the other hand, that intangible shade.
Tradition, — that haunts the congenial pre-
cints of our ancient churches, filling in with a
shadowy yet confident finger the blanks in all
our draft-like records, — gives names to these two
figures. They are Beaumonts, she says ; yet
having but a kaleidoscopic eye for coloured glass,
she shifts her story uncertainly, variously styling
them in one breath, both Henry Lord Beaumont ;
and, in another, calls the palmer Henry, and
the warrior, William.
Not often is garrulous old Tradition without a
basis of fact for her misty stories ; it is ill work
to flatly contradict her, and, therefore, remember-
ino- how often a modicum of truth has eventually
appeared in her almost absurdities, we, in spite of
our better judgment, incline half an ear to her
explanation of these figures; Perhaps, though

64

BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.

really representations of the saints named, they
were given the faces of the lord or successive
lords of the manor. Or, which is the more
probable, the first Beaumont of Barton perhaps

FIGURE IN ANCIENT STAINED GLAS.S, BARTON-ON-HTJMBEB.
gave the window in which they first were, with
other portions of the church ; which might reason
ably be the case, for he came into possession of the
manor in 1307, when, from the style of the

ANCIENT STAINED GLASS.

65

architecture, it is probable the building was being
rebuilt, and in a forward state. The armour of
St. George bears out this conjecture exactly
enough, being early plate-mail, with parts of the

FIGURE IN ANCIENT STAINED GLASS, BARTON-ON-HUMBER.
yet not entirely superseded chain-mail. It is not
impossible that this Beaumont entirely restored
the Church.
A long-ago vanished inscription, said to have
F

66 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
been in this church, ingeniously set forth the
most illustrious marriage points in the pedigree of
the Beaumonts thus :
" Rex Hiersolimus cum Bello-monte locatur,
BeUus Mons etiam Boghan consociatur
Bellus Mons iterum Langicostro religatur
Bellus Mons etiam Oxoniae titulatur."
This brilliant terseness unfortunately occasions
the need of a few notes to make it intelligible.
The King of Jerusalem was Charles, whose
second son, Lewis, marrying Agnes of Bello-
monte, France, became lord of that city, and his
issue took the name, which later melted into
Beaumont. Boghan refers to Henry Beaumont, the fourth
in descent, who, marrying an heiress of Alexander,
Earl of Boghan, constable of Scotland, eventu
ally succeeded to his title, office, and estates.
He was "the great Lord Beaumont," being he who
had the grant in fee of the manor of Barton-on-
Humber, with other manors, in 1307, upon the
death of Lora, the widow of Gilbert de Gant,
who, like Henry Beaumont himself, was a relative
of the king, Edward II. De Gant seems to
have been a grasping and tjn-annical land lord,
one instance being his oppressive and exorbitant

ANCIENT STAINED GLASS. 67
tolls upon local trade. It is, perhaps, indicative
of a new state of things that almost immediately
after his grant of the Manor of Barton, the king
granted to Henry de Bellomonte a new charter
for a weekly market, and a yearly fair of seven
days' duration. Twelve years later, Henry
granted the manor to his sister Isabella, widow
of John de Vesci, for her life. Henry carried an
unjust steward of his, one Adam de Kydale,
into the Court of King's Bench, at York, for
deficiencies in his account of the rents of Barton.
The amount of damages was large, and suggestive
of an easy-going character on the part of the lord of
the manor. Upon the whole, there is a dim sugges
tion of benignness and careless good-nature in
what we can learn of Henry, Lord Beaumont,
that does something towards accounting for
Dame Tradition's attempt to immemorate him as
the original of the stained glass figures.
" Langicostro " indicates Eleanor, daughter of
Henrj", Earl of Lancaster, whom John, Lord
Beaumont, k.g.. Constable of England, married.
Similarly " OxonijB " points to Margaret,
daughter of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who
was married to Henry, Lord Beaumont, who died
in 1413

68 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
But our interest flags with the death of the
first Henry, the great lord, in 1340. Little can be
said about a William, Lord Beaumont, of 1296,
in connection with this glass, tradition and Mr.
William Fowler being probably entirely wrong in
attributing this painted figure of a red-cross
knight to him.
Mr. Fowler engraved both the figures in 1806,
a third their actual size, which is, in height, about
two feet. These engravings Fowler, as was
usual with his publications, laboriously coloured
by hand.
The glass is now in the Late Perpendicular east
window, being removed from a situation of earlier
date, as, say, the portion of the church in the
Early Decorated style, added by the great
Lord Henry.

®n tbe ipopulation of Xincolnsbire.
By Tom Robinson, m.d.
I ^HE origin of a people may be tested by two
-¦- methods, the one anatomical, the other
philological. Our Lincolnshire population gives
us the means of finding the full value of this
argument. There are two ways wherein we may look at
the inhabitants of any nation. We may take
the characters of the race as we see them or
as we hear them. The first test is the safest,
the second the easiest. It will be my duty to
take the second one first.
The Germans especially, amongst whom Benfey
and Schleicher are the leaders, adopting a method
which has been since applied with more or less
success by Max Miiller, group man not only
for reasons of what he is like, but for what he
says, and what others hear that he says. They
take a word like father. Assuming that f and
p are interchangeable, on a law which Grimm

70 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
had defined, they trace it out through the French
pere, the German /a(ier, the Spanish and Italian
padre, till we get to the Latin pater and the
Greek ¦Jto.T-qp. From this we make a step at once
to the Sanskrit. In the word pitar we have this
origin. Now, when this theory is applied on a
large sense, and to large races of men, it is not
always successful. It is only when it is applied
in detail that we are enabled to appreciate its
powerful importance as a " gablick " [crowbar] (I
use a word of my own district of Lincolnshire),
which may help us to turn over some of the hard
lumps of earth which bury the rich and succulent
roots of the anthropology of east Lincolnshire.
We see in the existing population of Lincoln
shire much that seems to give us an index of
the proportion of existing surnames to the
various members of the dark or light-haired
population of the district. If we take a village
like East Kirkby, select the individuals of well-
marked cranial, capillary, and ocular character,
and arrange them according to the surnames
which they bear, we see that a rough index to
the population may be given.
In this investigation I have been much assisted
by the prior investigations of Dr. R. S. Charnock,

POPULATION OF LINCOLNSHIRE. 71
late President of the Anthropological Society of
London, whose " Ludus Patronymicus " has been
for years the text book on the subject.
My friend Dr. Carter Blake, late secretary
to the Anthropological Society of London, has
also kindly aided me. We may take the members
of the families, Ealand, Chatterton, Brooks,
Hand, Fowler, Spring, Skelton, Sheriff, and
Ironmonger as dark-haired individuals, where
names are certainly derived from Anglo-Saxon
origin. With these we may associate the fair-
haired population, comprising the Clarksons,
Thorndykes, and Rowsons. Other elements exist,
Watson (D) and Adlard (D) are German,
Maughan (F) is Welsh. Thompson (F) Syriac,
AUbones (D) Latin, and Dennis (D) Greek =
AtovDo-os are probably mere Kultur-namen, after
saints or martyrs, and the same applies to
Adams (F) where the Hebrew root is per
petuated, doubtless as a Biblical name. Orry
(F) is from a Keltic root, derived directly from
V — S, Blakie (D) is Scotch, Baggallay (F) is Scotch
or Gaelic, and Panton (F) is French. Only Storr
(D) is Scandinavian. We see thus, taking
twenty-nine families at random, that sixteen
of them are certainly of a dark complexion,

72 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
whilst only twelve are fair. What now becomes
of the once prevalent theory that the population
of Lincolnshire were particularly fair-haired ?
Against this, I make the assertion confidently
that the majority of the population within this
district is especially dark-haired, and that only
one family, the Storrs, can be said to show a
name which has been derived from a Scandi
navian origin. The blue-eyed, fair-haired brachy-
cephalic * people that we find in Holderness and
other localities in Yorkshire are entirely absent,
and we do not find their representatives at East
Kirkby or its vicinity.
Carefully going over those names, the first
fact with which we are struck is the entire
absence, with one exception, of many names
which are usually called Scandinavian. We had
a prejudice to look for Danes, and we do not
find them. Even the neighbouring population
on the other side of the Doggerbank, who have
left traces of Flemish or Dutch words in the
vocabulary of Lincolnshire are entirely absent.
* All skulls of which the proportions of the transverse to the
longitudinal diameter is greater than eighty per cent., are termed
short-headed, or brachycephalic ; all in which it is less than eighty per
cent, long-headed, or dolichocephalic. There are many intermediate
steps between these two extremes, to whioh various names have been
given.

EYE-COLOURS IN LINCOLNSHIRE TOWNS.
(From Beddoe).

Number.

Sex.

Eyes Light.

Byes
Light.

Eyes Intermedi
ate or Neutral.

Byes
Neut'r

Eyes Dark.

Byes
Dark.

Index per
cent.

Eed.

Fair.

Brown.

Blaclt.

Nigi-es- ence.

Eed.

Fair.

Brown

Dark.

Nigr.

Eed.

Fair.

Brown

Dark.

Nigr.

Grantham per
cent. 300

both

2-7

121

34-6

10-3

•7

60-4

3

1

6

6-3

12-6

4

1-3

8-15

2-4

27

19

Barrowby, "j
Harlaxtons, 1 onn
Marthorpe, T""
and Grantham,

both
2-7
13-7
35-3
11-5
¦5
63-7
1
•7
7-7
•6
¦3
15-6
1-a
5-2
12-1
2-
20-6
15-8
Stamford town
per cent. 200
fem.
4
11-5
30
9-
54-5
•7
7-2
¦6
14-
2-
1-
5-
20-5
3-
31-5
22-3
Do. peasants 175
5
34
61-5
16-5
117
10-5
10-
•3
21-
5
7 '5
24-5
37-
12-5
Per cent.
2-9
19-4
35 1
9-4
668
6-
5-7
¦3
12
3
4-3
13-7
2-8
211
Lincolnshire
3
15-2
32-6
8-6
¦2
59-4
3
1-1
6-3
5-4
•1
13-4
1
7-3
15-7
2
26-
12-6
74 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
If we turn to the river names of Lincolnshire,
we have evidence which is in perfect accordance
with this fact. I am forced to go into this
argument in some detail.
The population of Lincolnshire is therefore
received by Dr. Beddoe as a particularly fair-
haired population. But a writer in Lincolnshire
Notes and Queries brings arguments to prove that
a dark-haired Celtic population exists in Lincoln
shire. He does not base this argument upon
the physical characters, but on the river names.
We have consulted the best etymologists of
river names. He has gone through the works of
Fergusson and Taylor with little profit. Keltic
river names are not confined to the Isle of
Axholme. Probably eighty per cent, of the
river names of Europe are of Keltic origin.
Ax is not found in any Keltic dictionary for
" water," it comes from a Greek word for water
through the Keltic word for the same. It is the
same word as Ex, Ox, Ix, Usk, Wisk, Wash,
Ouse, and by many more names, as Dr. Charnock
had long ago shown.
In the article in Lincolnshire Notes and
Queries, there is a mixture of Welsh and GaeHc.
Rhos in Welsh is a moor, waste, or coarse high-

POPULATION OF LINCOLNSHIRE. 75
land. The Gaelic ros is rendered by Armstrong
a promontory or isthmus.
The first syllable in Gamsen might come from
cam, crooked, but without accounting for the
last syllable it is no derivation.
Ross is found in other parts of England,
especially in Cornwall, and in Scotland and
Ireland. The last syllable in Crowle is probably leg, as
in Acle and some other names.
Mawe is hardly from moel. Conf- St. Mawer,
i.e., St. Mary's in Cornwall, parish of St. Just.
When I see that perhaps eight per cent, of
European river names are of Keltic origin, I
must add that many of the Keltic words are of
Greek or Latin origin. Thus, according to Dr.
Charnock, we have in this way probably 600 or
700 names from vEop, Trorafios, pea, amnis, fluvius,
rivus, aqua.
We have a notion of what the early British,
and consequently the inhabitants of Lincolnshire,
must have been like in Strabo (a.d. 1) ; he says,
" The men are taller than the Celts of Gaul, their
hair is not so yellow, and their limbs are more
loosely knit. To show how tall they are, I may
say that I saw myself some young men at Rome,

76 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
and they were taller by six inches than anyone
in the city, but they were bandy-legged, and had
a clumsy look." Here we have the bandy
legged character, common to all agricultural
labourers ; and which would be specially notice
able in Rome. The " six inches," however, is
an obvious exaggeration. But we have a state
ment that the Britons were darker than the
Gauls, and darker than the Celts of Gaul. Broca
has asserted that there never have been Celts in
Great Britain, and that no British people ever
call themselves Celts ; they were never so called
by ancient writers, and they do not possess the
physical character of the Celts of history. The
real Celts, he considers, are the people of Central
France, who are the decendants of the Celts of
CiBsar. The term Celt is therefore an anthro
pological term, incorrectly used, and at variance
with the signification given alike by classical
writers and modern anthropologists.
Careful investigation, village by village, is
necessary for Lincolnshire. Two hundred
observations alone are before me. The names
of the localities are not given, but we are told
that in Lincolnshire, the average height, 'with or
without shoes, is inches 68-16, metres 1-732, are

POPULATION OF LINCOLNSHIRE. 77
light eyed, and only 36-0 dark eyed. The
following facts, taken from Dr. Beddoe's " Races
of Britain," will help us a little.
A theory may be suggested that the dark
population of Lincolnshire, if it exists, may be
the remains of the old Cimbric element in Kent,
among the descendants of the so-called Jutes.
We find, occasionally, a dark-haired population.
But it must not be forgotten that the invaders of
Enghind, "Saxon, or Dane, or Norman, etc.,"
did not bring their women with them, and,
therefore, that the dark element proceeds from
one only of the assumed race progenitors. It is
this dark-haired population of Lincolnshire that
I am going to describe in detail.
Modern Anthropology has grown out of the
idea which made of the whole of our British
country a Saxon people. The speculations of
Gustaf Kombst are now scarcely tolerated by
modern science; yet even Beddoe has pointed
out the difficulty of showing how the waves of
popular opinion have varied, in a passage on page
209 of the " Races of Britain," yet the existence
of the dark-haired population of Lincolnshire is
entirely ignored by the anthropologist of the
present day. It is my purpose to make these

'8 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
dry bones live, to show in the existing population
of Lincolnshire an element of dark-haired pop
ulation that may or not be the relics of previously
existing Celts, or the descendants of the piebald
Viking invaders. To demonstrate these facts is
a hazardous task, when the Anthropometrical
Committee of the British Association say that
out of the population of Lincolnshire, 61-0, the
average height, including clothes, being in lbs.
162-9; kilogrammes, 74-0 ; the ratio, lbs. weight
per inch of stature, weight, height, 2-390 ; of light
blue, blue, dark blue, and grey eyes, with very
fair, light brown, or brown hair, we have 34-6 per
cent. ; with black or dark brown hair, 23-7 per
cent. ; with golden or red hair, 2-8 per cent. ;
the total fair eyes being 61-0 per cent. ; of brown,
hazel, or black eyes, with brown, dark brown,
and black hair, 32-8 per cent. ; fair hair, 1-1 per
cent. ; red and dark hair, 2-3 per cent. ; the total
of dark eyes being 36-2 per cent. Other com
binations such as green, light brown eyes with
light or dark hair, amounted to 2-8 per cent.
The locations that have been selected for the
purpose of observation are chiefly market towns,
and the aboriginal, or it may be, autochthonal,
population is almost entirely ignored. Such

POPULATION OF LINCOLNSHIRE. 79
statistics, if taken village by village, will be of
inestimable value. It is this population which
forms the part of England that was most exposed
to continual attacks. This has made a hardy,
rugged, and pure-living race, an industrious race
that may compete with any on the score of worth
and virtue. The precepts of the old Stoics are
exemplified in Lincolnshire by persons who have
never heard of their teaching, but fulfilled the
precepts which they unconsciously follow. A
hardy peasant will expose himself to the most
inclement weather with the slightest covering.
His own inherent warmth protects him against
rheumatism, fever, or the other sequelse of damp.
It is this warmth which renders me proud to
acknowledge my birth in one of England's most
beautiful gardens, where the hardy peasant
" 0 fortunatos nimium, si sua bona norint,
Agricolas !"
derives the means of his support from one of the
most generous soils of western Europe. The
Lincolnshire peasant who perpetuates the blood
of the old Coritavi, inherits the proudest
traditions of England.

Superstitious Beliefs anb Customs of
Xincolnsbire.
By the Rev. Wm. Proctor Swaby, d.d.
IF asked to give an account of Lincolnshire,
perhaps nine people out of ten would
describe it as a county of fens and fogs, of
swampy marshland and ague, a county of slowly
moving, and slower thinking, people, and, on the
whole, as a part of England almost entirely
devoid of interest. Well, it is true, there are
fens, and there are fogs occasionally, there are
acres of marshland, and miles of dreary-looking
"fitties." There are muddy lanes, and muddier
stretches of samphire-covered shore. There are
long lines of sandhills covered with prairie-looking
bents, and leagues of country with no eminence
higher than a molehill. To the ordinary tourist
there is not much, perhaps, that is specially
attractive. And yet, in charming bits of scenery
and glimpses of picturesque beauty, there are
some parts of the county which will compare

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 81
favourably with any county in England. In the
north-east, among the Wolds especially, there
are snug little hamlets, nestling under the
shadows of the chalk hills, sheltered by magni
ficent trees, fringed by meadow and cornland, and
possessing a beauty peculiarly their own. There
are isolated villages, approached by winding
lanes, with their flower-covered banks, and hedges
of hawthorn. Antiquated-looking buildings peep
out of their woody surroundings, grand old-
fashioned farm houses, with their yards crowded
at times with noble-sized stacks of corn, teams of
well-fed and well-groomed horses slowly moving
here and there, on farms which can boast a
thousand acres of tilled land, streams or "dikes"
teeming with pike and eels, pastures dotted over
with sheep and cattle, or well-tilled fields rich
with waving corn. In places such as these, rural
life goes on and old-world customs are followed,
as they were a century ago, unshaken by the
express speed of our times, and affording an
ao-reeable change from the keen competition and
the hurry and bustle of towns.
Nor are the lowland parts of the county with
out their special beauty and their rich variety of
animal and plant life. The county holds a fore-
G

82 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
most place for the magnificence and variety of its
ecclesiastical architecture. Boston, Grantham,
Louth, and a score of others, are among the
finest churches in the country, while for purity of
style, for grace and dignity of outline, and
abundant wealth of decoration, Lincoln Minster
holds a premier place. The county, too, is not
the swampy bog which outsiders suppose it to be,
nor are the natives amphibious. Thanks to the
excellent system of drainage, it is one of the
driest and healthiest of English counties. The
death-rate, as a whole, will compare favourably
with any other part of England, while the rainfall
is less by many inches than the average for the
whole country, and more than fifty per cent, less
than Cumberland, Westmoreland, and West
Lancashire. The common conception of Lincoln
shire is not accurate. To him who has the skill
to read, the land and the people are full of
interest. But that is so everywhere and always.
It is only those who have eyes who can see.
As time goes on, it will become better known,
its beauty will be more appreciated, its geology,
its history, its people, and its fund of quaint
customs and beliefs - will become more familiar,
and deemed of higher interest, and the present

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 83
belief that the sun can only be seen at midday,
that saltmarsh and bog make up its acreage, that
ague and malarial fever are as common as measles,
that its people are amphibious, and that there is
nothing attractive within its limits, will give
place to a truer conception, and a just estimate
of what is its real beauty and worth.
j(^s in all agricultural districts, where the
means of locomotion are comparatively small, and
the opportunities of mind rubbing against mind
few and far between, the people think slowly.
It does not require a surgical operation to get an
idea into a fenman's head, as it is said to do in
the case of a Scotchman with regard to a joke ;
but a new idea enters into his mind with difficulty,
though, having once seized upon it, you cannot,
without extreme difficulty, dispossess him of it.
The "oldest inhabitant" has his "gospel" of
behefs and village traditions, to which he clings
tenaciously, and which the enlightenment of the
nineteenth century has not yet been powerful
enough to remove. The power of the " evil eye,"
witches who turn themselves into hares, fairies
who frequent the fields and dance their midnight
rounds, ghosts who walk the earth till cockcrow,
are as real to him, and perhaps more so, than the

84 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
fact of the Reformation or the' Battle of
Waterloo. It is a most interesting, but difficult, and often
a disappointing search after the origin of many
of these quaint beliefs, which still exist in the
fens and wolds of the county.
"Thou weant he' noa luck to daay, I knaw,"
says the goodwife to her husband as he sets out
from home, " cos I heard that owd craw croakin'
ower my left showder this mornin', and I knaw it
dussent croak like that for nowt."
Where could the goodwife learn that there is
bad luck in the croak of a crow ? For one thing,
she confounds the crow with the raven; but of
the raven, of her own personal knowledge, she
has nothins evil to tell. The fact is, that the raven
got a bad name in the far past, and it clings to
him. His ancestors have held it ever since the
flood, and, like the dog with a bad name, no
subsequent good living can free him from the
reproach. Among men, the antiquity of a name
is held sufficient to atone for the bad deeds of its
founder. He may have been guilty of the worst
of crimes, but if the name has passed through
the filter of a long pedigree all stain is removed,
and the delinquencies of all former holders of the

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 85
name are rather looked upon as ornaments than
otherwise. It is not so with the raven. He can
trace his pedigree back to antediluvian times, but
he carries with him his bad name still. In the
Mosaic Law, he is called unclean (Lev.,
ix., 15, Deut. xiv., 14). The writer of the
Proverbs speaks of his bad habits (Prov., xxx., 7).
The prophet, when wishing to depict in strong
colours the desolation which was coming upon
the land of Idumea, alludes to the solitary habits
of this weird bird (Isa., xxxiv., 11). The
Romans called him infausta comix, and because
he looked preternaturally wise, they dedicated
him to Apollo, as a bird of divination, and looked
upon him then, as the Lincolnshire wife looks
upon him now, as a messenger of bad luck, and
sometimes a prognosticator of death. Climatic
changes .don't kill him. He braves alike the
bitter cold of the Arctic regions, or the fierce
heat of the torrid zone. He is as much at home
in all climates as the Wandering Jew, and, like
him, some people believe he never will die.
But where did that ploughman's wife learn all
this ? He belongs, we are told by naturalists, to
the great and widespread and ancient family of
the corvidcB, which are nearly all. omniverous and-

86 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
voracious scavengers. Nothing comes amiss to
them in the way of food. They are all bold,
cunning, inquisitive, and terrible thieves. There
is something weird and wise in the expression of
a raven's face, and a union of mischievous cunning
and malignity in the twinkle of his bright black
eye. His black-blue plumage, the colour of mid
night and death, his hoarse croak, his solitary
habits, and his carrion-loving tastes and bad deeds
generally (as the shepherd will tell you, not
altogether undeserved), all contribute to the
belief that he is an uncanny bird, and possesses
preternatural knowledge. But where did the
hind's wife learn this ? To the fenman, in olden
days, the raven was a bird of ill omen ; for the
Scandinavian rover, who harried the coasts, with
whom cunning and cruelty were virtues, he held,
in common with all northern peoples, the raven as
a sacred bird. Hugin and Munin, in northern
mythology, were the two sacred ravens who sat
on the shoulders of the god Odin, and whispered
into his ears all that their keen eyes saw. By the
war-loving Norseman or Dane, whose floating
ship was his home, whose deck was his bed, whose
highest boast was that he had never spared in
fight man, woman, nor child, nor ever drained a

BELIEFS AND CCSTOMS. >:
hom by the light of a cottage fire, the raven.
cruel, voracious, and blood-loving, was deemed a
kingly bird. Nor could the sight of the battle
flag, borne by the plundering Dane pirate — on
which the raven was displayed as late as the yeai'
1200 — ^mean anything to the fenman iu those iar-
off times but iU luck, plunder, death. To him the
raven would mean ill luck. But the swniwife
who warns her husband to-day knows nothing of
Hugin or Munin, or Scandinavian or Dane : no,
but firom mouth to mouth, through century after
century, the ravens association with questionable
deeds has been handed down, and as her aneestoi-s
said ages ago, as her mother taught her, so savs
she : ¦" There's nowt soii unlue^ as to hear a
i-aven croiik, specially if its ower the left
showder." One other old customj which may have
travelled down firom the fer pcist. used to prevail
in the extreme east of the county, and which may
do so stilL An old shepherd we knew used
always, s^er parturition, to throw the
¦'cleansing" upon a hawthorn bush. "It
brought luck,'' he used to siiy. The writer
does not lay claim to knowledge sufficient to
explain the reason, but may not the fact that

88 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
fruit-bearing trees were sacred to Freya — the
goddess of love and pleasure, and whose blessing
was deemed essential to the well-being of the
offspring of animals^have something to do with
this curious custom ? Customs like these are like
fossils in the stone, or like the moat round the old
castle ; they enable us to get a glimpse of what
were the beliefs and life of our fathers in the far
past. Perhaps no county has a greater store of
superstitious beliefs than Lincolnshire. They
begin with a child's birth and before, and follow it
through every stage of life, until the grave closes
over it, and after.
' A child born with a caul was supposed to be
very lucky, and cannot die by drowning, not only
in Lincolnshire, though prevailing there, for in a
leading London paper of a few years ago
appeared the following advertisement : "A
child's caul for sale, £3 ; useful to sailors." The
hands of a child must not be washed until it has
been christened — the chrt which accumulates is
supposed to be a sign of future wealth ; nor must
its nails be cut with scissors, or knife, as that
would, bring ill luck. If its ears are large, it will
be certain to have success in life, unless the luck

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 89
is marred by its clothes being put on over its head
instead of being drawn upwards over its feet ; and
if the mother wishes to ward off' evil from the
sleeping babe, she must never allow her hands to
be idle while she rocks the cradle.
At the christening it is necessary that a hoy
should first be placed in the arms of the priest
(and in Durham and Northumberland there is at
times an unseemly wrangle to secure this), other
wise the girl will be blessed with a beard and
hairy face, which should have been the boy's chief
adornment. For the child to sneeze during the ceremony is
unlucky, but to cry is good, inasmuch as it is a
sure sign that the old Adam is being driven out.
At confirmation the candidate must riot receive
the left hand of the bishop, for the same reason
that the maid must not take the last piece of
cake — -the certainty of remaining a maid unto the
end of her life. It is doubtless to humour this
prejudice, as well as to conform to the rubric, that
the bishop places both hands upon the head of
those he confirms.
As the days pass, the young man and woman
become inquisitive as to whom their future
husband or wife shall be.

90 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
There are many ways of learning this with
certainty. On New Year's Eve, by the light of
the Yule log, the family Bible, with the front
door key and a young maid's garter, are
requisitioned. The key is placed within the
leaves of the Bible, with the wards resting upon
the words of the seventh verse of the eighth
chapter of the Song of Solomon, " Many waters
cannot quench love," etc. It is bound loosely
round with the garter, and gently turned with the
wedding-ring finger, and while the bystanders
name slowly the letters of the alphabet in order,
the holder reciting meanwhile the verse on which
the key rests. The Bible is nearly sure to fall
before the alphabet has been gone through, and
the letter named last is the initial letter of the
future husband's or wife's name. If it should not
fall, there is no hope but that of life-long celibacy
for the holder.
Perhaps a surer, though a bolder way, is for
the adventurous youth or maid to walk round the
church, at dead of night, on St. Mark's Eve,
looking into each window as they pass, and in the
last there will appear the face of the one they are
to wed.
Looking at the first new moon of the year

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 91
reflected by a looking-glass will give the
number of years before the wedding takes
place. It is unlucky to be married on a Friday, or to
be married in green, and it forbodes death to some
one of the wedding party if the ring be dropped
during the ceremony. The piece of bride cake
passed through the bride's wedding-ring and
placed under a maid's pillow, will bring to her, in
her dreams, the sight of her future lord ; and an
old shoe flung after the bride will bring her off
spring and good luck through her married
Hfe. A stye on the eye can be cured by rubbing
seven times with a gold wedding-ring ; ivens are
removed by the touch of a drowned man's hand
seven times repeated ; three hairs from the cross
on a donkey's back will cure the whooping cough ;
warts are cured by cutting a notch in a stick and
burying it ; and the ill luck brought by spilling
the salt can always be averted by throwing a
pinch over the left shoulder.
To kill a robin wantonly, forebodes a broken
limb ; and to see the moon reflected in a mirror is
a sign that something will arise before the day is
out to make you angry.

92 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
To seat a hen upon thirteen eggs ensure a
healthy brood : but to dine with thirteen at table
is unlucky, and death or sickness will come to
those of the party who first rise from the
table. The candle mnst never be allowed to die out, or
it brings death to some sailor out at sea : and for
the cook to throw %^'g shells, whole, behind the
fire will raise a storm at sea.
The glittering of a candle is indicative of a
shroud : but a spark in the wick signifies a letter.
The advent of a stranger can be known by the
sootflake which hangs upon the bar, by the dr^
in the teacup, by the peeping into the window of
a robin, and by several other signs.
Money must be ttumed in the pocket, when the
note of the cuckoo is first heard, if you would
have things go well with you ; and if the business
day is to be a profitable one, the first takings in a
morning must be spit upon and spun.
The cinder which leaps out of the fire should
be taken up, spit upon, and held loosely in the
palm. If it crackles, it means your purse wdl be
replenished, but if not, it indicates a shroud.
!N o luck can come to the business you have in
hand if the first person you meet on setting out

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 9.3
is a woman. The evil can be averted, however,
if you return to the house, sit down, and start
afresh. It equally presages failure if you have
to return for anything forgotten. To sharpen a
knife after supper, is to make the way easy to
the burglar and cut-throat, and to leave knives
crossed is to court calamity.
The booming sound of the church bell foretells
death to someone in the parish, within the week,
and the cold shudder, which at times runs
through you, is a sign that someone is treading
upon your grave.
If your right ear burn, someone is praising
you, but if the left, some malicious tongue is
slandering you.
The death watch will give notice of death to
a house, and the howling of a dog denotes the
same. It is as unlucky to laugh while crossing a
fairy ring, as it is to hear the cock crow before
midnight, or to possess a crowing hen.
Every schoolboy knows how the sight of a
number of magpies can influence events, and the
following lines remain longer in the memory of
most boys than : " As in proesenti perfectum
format in avi : "

94 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
" One for sorrow
Two for mirth
Three for a wedding
Four for a birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven you'll see the de'il himsell."
The New Year will be marked by death or
ill luck if fire be taken out of the house, or if
nothing green be taken in, or if the first-foot be
a woman or a fair man instead of a dark man.
Second sight will be given to those who will
watch at the church porch until the clock strikes
twelve on St. Mark's Eve, April 24th, and they
will see, passing into the church, the form of
everyone in the parish who, in the coming year,
are doomed to die.
It is a sure sign, if the limbs of a corpse remain
flexible, that another death will come to the
house before the year is out.
The " layer out " in some places ties the feet
of the dead, but it is necessary that they who
bind, should, before burial, unloose, otherwise
the dead will not rise at the first resurrection.
Feet first, the body must be carried to its last
resting-place, and that the dead may rest in
peace and be ready to rise at the Judgment

BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS. 95
signal, we lay them reverently with feet towards
the dawn :
" For awhile the tired body
Rests with feet toward the dawn,
Till there break the last and greatest
Easter morn."

o

^be Xegenb of B^arb's Xeap.
By the Rev. J. Conway Walter.
N the old Roman road, called " Ermine
Street," or " The High Dyke," which
stretches in an almost unbroken line through the
county of Lincoln, from Stretton in Rutland
(probably so called from its position on the old
" street," Latin " stratum,") to Winteringham on
the shore of the Huinber, — and at a distance of
some three miles from Ancaster, a Roman station,
as its name implies, and which Horsley
(" Britannia Romana," p. 433) pronounced to be
the ancient Causennse — and in the angle formed
by the Sleaford and Newmark road, which there
crosses the Roman road — stands a solitary farm
house ; its solitude only relieved by two cottages
distant about one hundred yards, on the same
side of the great highway, and, more recently
erected, a small school building on its opposite
side. Solitary in its position, its civil status also was

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 97
formerly isolated, since it belongs to what was
an extra-parochial farm, at the north-west corner
of Ranceby, sometimes returned with the parish of
Cranwell, sometimes with that of Leadenham ;
but latterly (under the Act, 20 Victoria, cap. 16)
constituted a separate parish in its own right.
Close by the entrance gateway to this farm
house, on the road side, is a block of stone, such
as not uncommonly may be seen near old houses
of the kind, forming two steps, from which a rider
mounted his horse. This stone is inscribed with
the two words " Byard's Leap." They are some
what enigmatical, and we propose here to put
forward an interpretation of them.
Other spots besides this have acquired some
what similar designations, owing to circumstances
connected with them " in days of yore." Thus we
have in Middleton dale, in Derbyshire, "The
Lover's Leap," a high rock, from which a love
sick maiden, as it is said, in her despair on finding
her love not requited, cast herself down into the
abyss below (circa 1760), and, strange to say,
sustained little injury. Again, a lofty precipice
on one of the headlands, called "The Sutors
of Cromartie," in Scotland, has been named,
for nearly 200 years, "The Caithness man's

98 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
leap," from the fact of such a person having
sprung over the cliffs to escape being shot, and
marvellously survived to tell his own tale, when
nearly ninety years of age. In like manner, on the
famous St. Gotthard route in Switzerland, a spot
on the river Reuss, near the village of Wyler, is
known as the " Pfaffenn-sprung," or Father's Leap;
a romantic (or lawless) monk having once there
sprung over the torrent, bearing in his arms (in
spite of his priestly orders) a young girl whom he
was carrying off; a feat which has led to his
being, uncanonically indeed, but scarcely less
effectually, canonized, or immortalised, in all the
guide-books of the country.
Not less singular are the circumstances which
are said to have given rise to the name of
" Byard's (or " Bayard's ") Leap," or the Leap of
the horse " Bayard." They are of considerable
interest, as affording a case of (so called) witchcraft,
resting on something like tangible and circum
stantial, if not absolutely veritable, testimony.
Our forefathers at any rate thoroughly believed
in witchcraft and all its potent influences. The
air about them was rife with marvellous accounts
of it, inextricably interwoven with the tissue of
their daily experiences. In the reign of " good

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 99
Queen Bess," even a reverend Prelate, Bishop
Jewel, when preaching before her majesty, could
declare from the pulpit, that in her "Grace's
realm, witches and sorcerers had, of late years,
marvellously increased," and although we, in the
closing years of this 19th century, plume ourselves
upon being wiser than those who have gone before
us, yet, as recently as in the year 1858, a
labourer's daughter, in Essex, accused an old
woman of having bewitched her, and the overseers
of the Union publicly recognised her case as one
of veritable sorcery.
Indeed, it is not difficult to account, in some
degree, for this widespread belief existing in
former times. When there were few, if any, of
the books, such as our educational system now
brings to the humblest cottage, wherewith to
while away the long winter evenings, the Tale
teller was in great requisition ; and the ofttold
narrative, almost naturally, would grow more and
more marvellous in its details on each repetition of
it. Hogarth's famous picture, of " The Propagation
of a Lie" was true to nature. As some one has said,
" the old folk wagged their heads, and the young
their tongues ; " till the smallest incidents were
magnified into mystery ; and the rude fancy of

100 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
the untutored swain, being allowed to run riot,
peopled every hill and hollow, every coppice and
quarry, every waste or quagmire, with beings of
another mould than that of ordinary humanity.
In the soft soughing of the summer breeze, or in
the wild shriek of the storm-blast, he recognised
the wail of some spirit distrest, or the howl of a
doomful demon ; and minds, feeding on their own
superstition, bred a prolific crop of horrors about
them, till witches and warlocks became a general
subject of fear and fanaticism, and nothing was too
extraordinary to be accepted, with an implicit
faith worthy of a worse name (note 1), nor was
this state of things confined to the lower orders.
Learned treatises were written, by Glanville and
Sinclair, to prove that in the 17th and 18th
centuries witches still existed (note 2).
A recent writer (note 3) has described some
parts of Lincolnshire as "the isolated home of
folk-lore," where " linger the tales of witchcraft
and the spirit-world ; " and the neighbourhood to
which our legend belongs has been rich in sorcery.
A remarkable instance is connected with Belvoir
Castle. The Earl and Countess of Rutland, with
other members of their family, were believed to
be bewitched by an old servant, who had been

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 101
dismissed from their service for purloining victuals.
Their eldest son. Lord Ros, is said to have been
" taken sick in a strange manner, and died ; " Lord
Francis, his brother, was " severely tormented ; "
Lady Catherine, their sister, became subject to
fits ; and the Earl and Countess were so affected
that they could have no more children. And
not only was this the common bruit of the
vicinity, but at Bottesford, their burial place,
where there is a monument representing the Earl
and Countess and two children, who were
supposed to have been bewitched to death"
(note 4), the full particulars were given in an
old book which used formerly to be shewn to
visitors by the sexton at the church. The two
daughters of the witch were executed at Lincoln
for witchcraft, on March 11th, 1618-19; and the
witch herself, after uttering an imprecation against
herself, by wishing that the bread and butter
which she ate might choke her if guilty,*
* This form of imprecation was of very old date. The swallowing
of a piece of bread without choking was an old ordeal to test the guilt
or innocence of a party suspected of any crime. And hence, Du Cange
tells us, arose the expression, " may this piece of bread choke me, eta "
Ingulphus and other old Chroniclers state that Earl Godwin,
being suspected by Edward the Confessor of having murdered his
brother Alfred, and some words to that effect having fallen from the
King while Godwin was dining ^^'ith him at Winchester, the Earl assert
ing his innocence said, " May this bread which I am about to eat choke
me if I had any hand in that murder ! " He ate the bread, but, in
attempting to swallow it, was choked, and died at the King's table.

102 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
immediately fell down dead, as she was being
taken to Lincoln jaU, and was buried at Ancaster,
within three miles of the scene of our legend.
But to return to " Byard's Leap " : — It is
situated in the midst of what was once a lonely
tract of high land, almost a waste, extending for
many miles, and called Ancaster Heath. Possibly
its lonehness may have made its sparse inhabitants
somewhat behind their age, and may have
fostered in their benighted minds a brooding
spirit, favourable to a belief in the marvellous.
Be that as it may, the following particulars are
the result of careful enquiry, and may be deemed
worth preserving, in an age when old-time
traditions are being rescued from the oblivion
which would otherwise speedily engulf them, in
these days of rapid progress and enlightenment.
The pedestrian who follows the footpath which
runs along the Eastern side of the great Roman
highway, wUl observe, at a distance of some
fifty yards northwards from the farmhouse of
Byard's Leap,'and near a pond by the roadside,
four very large iron horse shoes, embedded in
the soil. If he measures the distance of these
shoes from the pond he will find that it is twenty
paces, or sixty feet, and sixty feet was the length

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 103
of Byard's Leap. We are not aware that there
is any case on record of a horse having leaped
that distance; about half that extent being
usually considered the most that a horse can
cover in one bound.* Consequently something
very unusual must have occurred to incite the
horse Bayard to make such a spring. What that
occurrence was, my tale is supposed to unfold.
Opposite the farm of " Bayard's Leap," is a
plantation ; not a gloomy wood, whose recesses
we might expect to find the haunt of the super
natural, but consisting chiefly of trees of recent
growth ; but probably there formerly existed an
older growth, whose pristine shades were more
adapted to harbour weird spirits. Within that
wood, inhabiting, as is said, a cave, but more
likely a deserted quarry of the famed Ancaster
stone of the district (such places of abode being
still used), there lived the pest and terror of the
country side in the person of an old woman, known
far and wide as, par excellence, the witch. How
long ago she flourished we are not told ; but
inasmuch as the horse connected with our story
was named Bayard, and that soubriquet was
* We believe that the greatest leap on record is that of Chandler, in
the Leamington steeplechase, now several years ago ; who cleared the
great distance of thirty -three feet.

104 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
doubtless derived from the celebrated French
warrior, Peter Bayard, whose exploits were
performed in the latter part of the fifteenth and
earlier part of the sixteenth century, and whose
fame would require some lapse of time to reach a
locality so remote, we may fairly assume that the
era of her malign influence was not further
removed in the past than some 300 years ago.
A dangerous character was the old beldame to
any who ventured to thwart her, or cross her
path. We know not whether she ever attained
to the distinction of having an epitaph ; but
assuredly that would not have ill-suited her
(with the necessary change of name), which is
inscribed on the tomb of another notorious
individual, who once over-awed and harried the
extreme North of the British Isle : —
" Rob Don here lyes lo,
Was ill to his friend,
Waur to his fo,
But true to his master
In weal and wo."
Her vindictive nature was well known, and her
many ways of showing it. If the old
woman was denied anything which she craved of
her better-to-do neighbours, they were certain
speedily to suffer for it. Take a few instances of

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 105
the witches common mischief-working powers, as
given by various authorities. At one house she
asks for a pot of ale. The ale is given her, but
proves to be sour. She leaves the house
indulging in a flood of imprecations, and the next
day the dairymaid is six long hours in churning
before she can get the butter to come, and then
it will not " set." A man shoots at a black cat,
which comes in his way as he is returning home
in the evening from his sport. The creature
turns round and spits at him : and then he
recognizes the visage of the old hag in its face ;
and of course it goes off with a charmed life ; but
the following night he finds his horses in the
stable trembling and in a cold sweat, although
they have done no work. If the urchins in play
point at her and call her names, they are sure to
go home to their mothers crying with the tooth
ache, or otherwise affected. One farmer's wife
declares that for a whole week all her hen's eggs
were addled, because she had given the old
woman buttermilk when she asked for milk. Cows
drop their calves, sows farrow their litters before
their time. The servant girls, talking of their
sweethearts' merits, late at night, when they
ought to be asleep, see the old woman grinning

106 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
at them in jealousy through the chamber
window. Being asked by a nurse-maid to
admire the babe she is carrying in arms, the hag
merely looks at it, and forthwith it squints ever
afterwards. A farmer riding home from market
in the dusk, and with more sheets in the wind
than he can well carry, declares that he saw her
riding on a broomstick in front of him, and that
when he called to her to get out of his way, his
horse shied and at once fell dead lame. These
and such like are among the minor samples of
her witchery (note 5) ; until, in course of time,
suspicion grows into a general conviction that
the old woman is a sore incubus to the whole
neighbourhood ; that neither man nor beast is
secure from her spells ; and that no one knows
that he may not himself be the next victim to
suffer, in some form, from her blighting influence.
The matter at first is talked over, almost in
whispers, by the farm labourers, as they lounge
on the settle by the fire in the farmer's kitchen,
sipping their spiced ale. And one, inspired with
a more than usual amount of Dutch courage,
suggests that it would be for the public good if
the old woman could in any lawful way be got
rid of The idea is broached more than once

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 107
before anything comes of it ; the main difficulty
being. Who is to hell the cat ? At length, a child
having been still-born in a cottage from which
the old woman had been turned away without re
ceiving what she asked for, the indignation ripens,
and a plan is proposed, by which it is hoped that
the witch's power may be put an end to, while the
act shall seem to be of her own originating. The
shepherd of the farm has been on something like
intimate terms with the old woman, occasionally
paying her a visit, and, as is surmised, himself
having had illicit dealings with her, the result,
however, to himself being that closer acquaint
ance with her has in no wise enkindled affection ;
and although he is afraid to " break " with her,
for fear of the consequences of her resentment,
he would yet greatly rejoice, as would many others,
if he could terminate the unpleasant thraldom of
her influence.
To attain this end, then, a scheme is devised
as follows, rude in its conception, but, as the event
proves, sufficient for its purpose. They all make
up their minds, in the homely phrase of the
locality, " to get shut of her." By a sort of
lottery, the shepherd is selected for the enter
prise. He is to lead out the farm horses to

108 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
water in the evening, at the pond by the road
side, opposite to which is the hag's den. He is
to throw a stone into the water as the horses are
drinking, and whichever horse then raises its
head first, he is to mount. He is to be armed
with a two-edged knife. He is to call to the old
woman to come and mount behind him. He is
to stab her when she has done so, as if in self-
defence on her springing up behind him ; and it
is hoped that in the struggle, she will be
drowned ; the not unfrequent end of witches.
At the appointed time he proceeds to carry out
these instructions. The horses are led to the
water, the stone is thrown into the pond. The
first horse that raises his head, on hearing the
splash, is the blind Bayard ; a providential
circumstance, since it is likely that any horse
which could see would shrink from contact with
the witch. He mounts the horse Bayard. He
calls out to the old woman, asking her to come
and ride behind him. Her reply (which has been
preserved) is, " Wait till I've buckled my shoes
and suckled the cubs, and I'll be with you." He
waits, and in due time she comes forth. At his
bidding she mounts behind him. He at once
plunges his knife into her breast. The old hag.

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 109
in her agony, clutches at the horse's back with
the long sharp nails of her fingers. The horse in
its alarm makes one wild, sudden bound, which
lands him full sixty feet from the spot. The
witch falls back into the pond, and is drowned ;
and so her career is ended.
Tradition says that the horse made a second
bound, equal in length to the first, and which
brought him to the corner of the cottages which
stand further on by the side of the road ; but
only the first is marked by the four huge horse
shoes, which are carefully preserved, in situ, as
described above, as a standing evidence and
memorial of " Bayard's Leap " (note 6).
IRotes to tbe "3Legent) of 3Si?arb's aLeap."
I. — In a pamphlet in the writer's possession,
entitled " Strange Newes out of Hartfordshire
and Kent," and " Printed for R.G., in London,
1679," there is (1), "An account of a mowing
devil, which cut down three acres of oats. It fell
out that at night the crop shew'd as if it had
been all of a flame, but next morning appear'd so
neatly mow'd by the devil that no mortal man
was able to do the like, etc." (2), "A true
narrative of a young maid possest with several

110 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
devils, one of which, by the prayers of a pious
doctor who came to visit her, was fetch't out of
her body, and, in the likeness of a large snake,
twisted itself about the doctor's neck . . . with
an account also of other devils which yet remauied
in her, etc. . . . This narrative is attested by
several persons of credit . . . present while the
accident happened." As we read such state
ments, we can only open our eyes with
amazement, and say, with Horace, " Credat
Judajus ! " and look for a parallel to such
monstrosities, to his laughable description of
Canidia, " Brevibus implicata viperis crines." —
(Epod. v., 15).
II. — ^We have, in the text, quoted the
statement of Bishop Jewel as to the increase of
witchcraft in the reign of Elizabeth. It may
here be added that Zachary Gray, the editor of
Hudibras, states that he had perused a list of
3000 witches, which were executed during "the
Long Parliament." The penal statutes against
witchcraft were repealed in 1736, but the case of
Barker v. Wray, in Chancery, August 2nd, 1827,
shewed that popular belief in witchcraft stiU
prevailed ; and the writer of this record has him
self frequently seen an old woman in Scotland

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. Ill
who had the reputation of being " canny," and of
whom it was commonly said that " the blink of
her ill e'e" could produce disease, and even
death. III. — Article on the " Legends of the Lincoln
shire Cars," by Mrs. Balfour, in "Folk Lore,"
vol. ii., No. 2, p. 148.
IV. — The inscription on the monument says
that they were murdered by "wicked practice
and sorcery." The death of the old woman, of
course, prevented her trial being proceeded with,
but the two daughters were expressly charged
with "murdering Henry, Lord Ros, by witch
craft, and torturing the Lord Francis, his
brother, and Lady Catharine, his sister." On
that charge they were condemned by Sir Henry
Jlobbert, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
and Sir Edward Bromley, one of the Barons of
the Exchequer, and tlw accused confessed their
guilt. V. — The instances of evil influence, here
brought together, are only such as were commonly
attributed to witches in those days. Of course
it would be impossible, at this distance of time,
to enumerate all the performances of the particular
witch here in question, or to vouch for the literal

112 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
and exact accuracy of the accounts here given ;
but, according to the information gathered from
various sources, they may be taken as re
presenting, generally and substantially, the nature
of the doings imputed to her at the time, and
which still linger in local traditions.
VI. — It should be here stated that considerable
variations from the foregoing version of the
legend exist, as is usually the case with such
narratives, in the form of oral tradition still float
ing in the neighbourhood. For instance, the
personalty of the hero himself varies from that
of a knight-errant of the age of chivalry to that
of an ordinary cavalry soldier of a more recent
period. The Venerable Edward Trollope, f.s.a.,
Archdeacon of Stow (now Bishop Suffragan of
Nottingham), in a monograph on " Ancaster
under the Romans, and Mediaeval Ancaster,"
which appeared in The Reliquary, for April and
July, 1863, and was subsequently (1868) pub
lished in a separate form, describes the Knight
as setting out from Ancaster (some three miles
distant from Bayard's Leap), in quest of the
witch, having made a vow that he would rid the
neighbourhood of her pestiferous influence ;
watering his horses at a pool, which was, and is,

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 113
situated in part of the ditch of the old Roman
Castrum of that ancient place, he prays that the
horse best suited for his purpose may give some
token ; whereupon the steed Bayard tosses his
head, and neighs his readiness for the enterprise.
The knight, riding forth, soon sees a mysterious
light proceeding from a deep recess in a rock ;
and, as he passes it, he is attacked by a strange
wild-looking creature with flaming eyes, stream
ing locks, and talon-like claws. In vain he
strikes about him with his trusty sword, while
his weird antagonist deals him many a lusty
buffet. At length, by a tremendous blow, he
succeeds in wounding her, but his weapon is
broken in the effort. The hag, maddened by
pain, springs on the horse's back behind him, and
buries her claws deep in the flesh of man and
beast. They fly ; and the knight, remembering
the charm against witchcraft, which attaches to the
cross, like Tana-o-Shanter making for " the Key-
stane o' the brig," steers his steed for the cross
roads ; and, as the horee bounds over the point of
juncture, the witch relaxes her hold, and falls
dead to the ground ; the spot being henceforth
called "Bayard's Leap." This version the
compiler of the above " Legend " is inchned to

114 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
reject ; partly because it does not accord with
the words of the witch, given by several different
authorities, " Wait till I've buckled my shoes and
suckled my cubs and I'll be with you," an answer
which implies that she was first appealed to, or
challenged, by some one else, instead of being, as
this version would make her, herself the
aggressor ; but more especially because (as stated
above) the name of " Bayard " would seem to
assign the events to a date considerably later
than the age of knight-errantry. Almost equally
anachronistic, in the other direction, is the version
which ascribes the feat to a cavalry soldier, who
encounters the witch, cutting off her left breast
with his sword ; whereat she springs upon his
charger, which, incontinently, gives " three great
jumps," still marked by stones. This variation
may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that
the old woman who gives it had once travelled
so far from her home as the town of Sheffield,
and there had a sight of some mounted yeomanry ;
and the form of the legend, as it percolated
through her somewhat obtuse brain, would seem
to have acquired a tinge from her own recollec
tions of that event, which would probably be an
exceptional one in her limited sphere of ex-

THE LEGEND OF BYARD'S LEAP. 115
periences. The " throe jumps," are an instance
of the occurrence of the by no meane uncommon
mystic number, three, found in such uncanny
narratives ; and which again occur in another
variation, whore tho hero (whoever he was,) not
content with throwing the stone once into the
pond, on finding that the blind horse in the one
to raie© its head, made the experiment thrice, and
each time the same blind horse responded by
tossing its head. Other various are :
(a.)— -(As in White's "Pli.story of Lincoln
shire," Ed. 1856), tliat the witch herself occupied
the solitary (now farm) house on tlio heath, and
that sho took a prodigious leap, on her horse
Bayard, into a ravine, and so gave rise to the
name. (;,.)__.It is said that the witch, when attack
ing the rider, assumed the form of a lion.
(('.)— The horse is, by one authority, called
" Byron," but this is evidently only a corruption
of Byard.
(f/.)__It is said that the holes, otherwise sup
posed to have been the marks of Bayard's feet,
were originally nothing more than the boundary
marks of four parishes ; while
(e.) — Some have supposed that the spot was

116 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
thus marked out, as a place where jousts and
tilting matches were formerly held.
The two latter ideas, however, would seem to
be merely conjectural, and are really somewhat
beside the purpose ; since certain holes may have
formerly served either or both of these ends,
without in any way affecting the legend.
In a letter to the writer, the present owner of
" Bayard's Leap," Colonel Reeve, of Leadenham
House, states that in his " father's time. Bayard's
jump was denoted by eight holes in the ground,
but at length they got worn out ; and finding
this to be the case, he himself had the present
large horse-shoes made and put into large blocks
of stone, to prevent their being easily removed."
He adds that "the shoes weighed sixty-eight
pounds," or close upon seven stone.
On the whole, the version here given, and
based on information gathered on the spot,
seems the most congruous, so far indeed as
congruity can be expected to exist, in a matter
of such hypothetical authenticity.

IRobert be Brunite, fiDonhisb Cbronicler
anb ipjoet.
By Kuiiiiiiiuoic Ross, f.u.h.s.
BOURNE is a small market town in Southorn
Lincolnshire, whose history may be traced
back to the Saxon times, and ovon, if wo may
oonolude from the discovory of Roman coins and
a teaselatod pavoinont, from the Roman period.
Leofric, Earl of Mercia, had a castle and estates
horo which descended to Hereward tho Wake,
his son, who formed tho "camp of refuge" amid
the swamps of tho isle of Ely, and for a long
period set the Norman Conqueror at defiance,
being the last of tho patriotic Saxons whom he
reduced to subjugation. He seems to have
retained possession of his lands at Brunne, as it
was thou callod, until his death without issue,
wheu they lapsed to tho crown, and were granted,
by William Rufus, to Walter John Gilbort or
Fitzgislobert, about the year 1138. In the
middle of tho twelfth century, Gilbert, son of

118 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Jocelyne, Lord of Sempringham, in Lincolnshire,
founded on his manors a monastery of a new
order, for both sexes, but in separate houses, that
of the men being a modification of the
Augustinian canons, and that of the women of
Cistercian nuns, which was ratified and confirmed
by Pope Eugenius III. The order spread
rapidly, so that before the dissolution there were
twenty-six houses of the order in England, of
which several were in Lincolnshire. Of these was
the Priory of Brunne ; which was founded by
Baldwin Fitz Gilbert son of the grantee of the
castle. In 1279, Baldwin, Baron Wake, had a
grant of a Saturday market and an annual fair to
be holden in his town, and in the market-place is
an ancient town hall, said to have been erected
by the Wakes, but was more probably built by
the Cecils, whose arms are carved in basso-relievo
on the front. The town has suffered severely by
fire, one entire district having been destroyed in
1605, and another district in 1637.
Bourne boasts of having been the nursery of
the Cecils, where William Cecil, afterwards Baron
Burleigh, was born, in 1520, at the house of his
grandfather, David Cecil, a family that still
maintains a pre-eminence in statesmanship. It

SO££RT DE BRVNSE. 119
was also the birthplace of one of whom there is
le^ reason to be pi-oud, the Rev. I>r. William
Dodd. author of some esteemed works, who was
executed for foi-gerv on the Eail of Chesterfield, iu
1«"77. Fivm his assumption of the mune of • de
Brunne " this monkish chronicler h;vs obtained the
i>eputation of having been a native of Lincoln-
shite. His biographers generally, and Lincoln
shire writei^ as a rule^ maintain that he was born
at Bourne, even Edward A. Freeman, the famous
and aeeui-ate historian, in a paper, entitled
" Landum Colonia," read before the Lincolnshire
Arehiteotural Society in 1S75, and sinee piinted
in his " ^glish Towns " (p. 2:^0) has fallen into
the same error, writing : " And even if I have
robbed the Bourne man of one worthy"'
(Hereward) " I have another to give him instead.
It was a Iiineolnshire man, a Bourne man,
(Robert de Brunne) who gave the English
language its present shape." He may feirly be
claimed as a lanoolnshire man, as he resided
tliere the gi-'eater portion of his life, imd at
Brunne wi-ote his ehronides and pt>ems. but still
he was not a native. His name was Bobert
Manny ng. and he was bom at Mjilton. in
Yorkshire, drca, li!70, and was brought up and

120 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
educated in the Gilbertine monastery there. In a
neighbouring village was born Peter de Langtoft,
another monkish chronicler, who became a Canon
of Bridlington, whose chronicles he versified, and
whom he would be acquainted with as a
neighbour and contemporary for some twenty or
thirty years. Being an ardent devotee of the Gil
bertine order, it was natural that he should desire
to imbibe further instruction at the fountain head,
hence we find that when he had finished his
novitiate at Malton, he went to Sexhill, where he
made his profession and assumed the cowl,
whence he removed to Brunne, where he spent
the remainder of his life, and died there at a great
age. Hearne writes : — "The historians of former times
were the religious, who often lost their surnames,
and upon compiling their famous works, were
surnamed anew from the houses of which they
were members. . . . 'Tis impossible to give
a particular account of the life of Robert de
Brunne. . . . He was one of those that culti
vated the English tongue, and he gained a great
reputation upon that score. . . . He lived to
a great age, though the year in which he died
doth not occur. . . . The true name of this

ROBERT DE BRUNNE. 121
great man was Robert Mannyng, but being, as I
believe, born at Malton, in Yorkshire, he was
from hence frequently called Robert of Malton.
. . . He had been at Brunne about fifteen
years when he began to translate the ' Manuel de
Peches,' and 'twas more than thirty after that
before he finished his task about Peter de
Langtoft. After he became famous, he was
generally called Robert de Brunne, which was
occasioned by his living so long in the Priory."
Madden writes : — " Not Canon of Brunne, but
born there, for he calls himself "of Brunne," soon
after 1303 and in 1338. From 1288 to 1303 he
was in the priory of Sempringham, then removed
to Brynnwake (Brunne) six miles distant, where
he wrote the prologue to his first work : the
interval is not accounted for : after this, till
1327-38, when he composed the translation of
Langtoft, and during that period was a short
time in the house of SixhiUs, the Prior of which,
Dan Robert of Malton, caused the work to be
undertaken : my interpretation : — ¦' My name is
Robert Manyng, now of Brunne, but was awhile
at SixhiUs, where you knew me as Dan Robert of
Malton, where I wrote this for felawes' sake, with
which to make merry with songs and recitations.'"

122 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
The conclusion of his prologue to Langtoft
runs thus : —
"Of Brunne, I am, if any me blame,
Robert Manyng is my name.
Blessed be he of God of Heuene,
In the third Edward's tyme was it.
When I ad wrote all this story ;
In the house of Sixhille I was a throwe (a little while),
Dawn Robert of Maltone, that ye know.
Did write it for felawes' sake.
When that they wold solace make."
Warton, in reference to this, observes : — " It
appears from hence that he was born at Malton,
in Lincolnshire," but there is no Malton in that
county. He was one of our earliest versifyers of the
chronicles of England, and of translations of
theologfical treatises into the vernacular, in a
style rugged and uncouth, but perhaps best
adapted for this purpose, as he said, his writings
were intended not for the learned, but for the
" lewd " (the low and illiterate). Warton says : —
" He appears to have possessed much more
industry than genius, and cannot at present be
read with much pleasure, yet it must be
remembered that even such a writer as Robert de
Brunne, uncouth and unpleasing as he naturally
seems, and chiefly employed in turning the

ROBERT DE BRUNNE. 123
theology of his age into rhyme, contributed to
form a style : to teach expression ; and to pohsh
his native tongue. In the infancy of language
and composition nothing is wanted but writei-s.
At that period even the most artless have theh
use." The following specimen of his style, from the
" Manuel des Peches," may interest Lincolnshire
readers : —
" For lewed men, I undjrtoke
In Engljshe tonge to make this boke,
For manj beyn of sach manere;
That taljs and rrmys, will blethly (gjadly) here (hear).
On gamys and tetys at the ale
LoTe men to lestene trotonale (tralii and all),
To all Christen men tinder sanne
And to gode men of Bmnne ;
And spedalli al bi name
The felaiichippe of Symprvnghame ;
Boberd of Bmnne greteth yow
In aUe godenesse that may to prow (profit)
Of Brynwake, ya Kest«Tenei,
Syxe mile besyde Sympryn^ame evBne,
Ydwelled in the priorye^
Fjrfteeae yeres, in companye
In tiie time of gode Dan Jone
Of Camelton, that now is gone ;
In hys tyme was i ther ten Teres,
And knewe and herd of his maneres ;
Sytiiin with Dan Jon of Qytone
Fyre wyntyr 'wytiie hym gan I wone :

124 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
" Dan Felip was mayster in that tyme.
Than I began this Englyshe ryme
The Year of Grace fyd (fell) than to be
A thou.sand and thre hundred and thre."
The following is a list of Manyng's works : —
"A Metrical Chronicle of England," partly
compiled from Wace and Langtoft, and partly
original : the first part from .^Eneas to the death
of Cadwallader : the second to the end of the
reign of Edward the First. An edition trans
cribed from a manuscript in the Inner Temple
was published by Thomas Hearne, in 1725.
The first portion, which was never printed
entire, is a translation of a French Poem by
" Maister Wace," entitled " Roman de Rois d'
Angleterre," based on Geoffrey of Monmouth.
It was commenced by Eustace, one of the oldest
French Romance writers, under the title of
" Brut d' Angleterre," who completed his part in
1155 ; and was continued until the reign of
William II. , by Wace, chaplain to Hqnry II. ,
with the title of " Le Roman de Rou et les Dues
de Normandie" in 1160. The second portion is a
metrical translation of Langtoffc's Chronicle, with
some original matter.
" Meditations on the Supper of our Lord and

ROBERT DE BRUNNE. 125
the Hours of the Passion," by Cardinal Bonaven-
ture, the Seraphic Doctor, drawn into English
verse by Robert Mannyng, of Bourne, edited from
the MSS. in the British Museum and the Bodleian
Library, Oxford ; with Introduction and Glossary,
by J. Meadows Cooper, f.r.h.s.. Early English Text
Society, 1875. Bonaventure's title was " De Coena
et Passione Domini, et psenes S. Marise Virginis,"
and Manny ng's ran thus : — " Meditacyons of the
Soper of our Lorde Jhesu and eke of the Peynes
of hys sweete Modyr Mayden Marye, the whyche
mad yn Latyn Bonaventurse Cardynall," in which
the translator took great liberties with the text,
introducing much matter of his own.
" Her by genet a treaty s that ys yclept ' Castel
of Love that Biscop Grosteyst made ywis for
lewde men by Love.' " An edition of 100 copies
was privately printed, entitled " A translation of
Grosteste's (Bishop of Lincoln) ' Chateau d'
Amour,' by J. O. HaUiweU, 1849."
" Robert de Brunne's ' Handlyng of Synne '
(written a.d. 1303), with the French Treatise on
which it is founded, ' Le Manuel des Pechiez,' by
William of Wadington ; now first printed from
MSS. in the British Museum and Bodleian
Libraries. Edited by Frederick J. Furnival,

126 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
M.A., for the Roxburghe Club, London,
1862." A very free translation, with the introduction
of new matter. William of Wadington was a
native of Waddington, in Yorkshire, and is said
to have translated the above work into French
verse from a Latin Poem, ascribed to St. Bernard
and otherwise to Pope Clement. It was, how
ever, his own original composition, and was
paraphrased by Bishop Grosteste, whose real
name was Copley, descended from the Copleys of
Batley, Yorkshire, whose paraphrase was the
basis of Manny ng's translation into English verse,
under the title " Here begynneth the Boke that
men clepyn in Frenshe, Robert Grosteste byshop
of Lincolne."

^be Mitcbes of Belvoir.
By T. Broadbent Trowsdale.
THE case of the " Witches of Belvoir," one
of the most celebrated in the annals of
English witchcraft, has an intimate connection
with the county of Lincoln. The trial and
execution of the wretched women who " wrought
annoy " to the family of the Earl of Rutland,
in the early years of the seventeenth century,
took place in the city of Lincoln. Joan Flower,
the principal actor in this dark drama of deceit,
was overtaken by death on her way to the trial,
and was buried at Ancaster ; and Belvoir Castle,
the scene of the accomplishment of the " black
arts " of these sworn agents of the evil one, which
may in truth be spoken of as " deeds without a
name," stands on the very border of Lincolnshire.
In the church of ' Bottesford, in the north
eastern corner of Leicestershire, is the sepulchral
chapel of the Rutland family, and among the
stately tombs is that of Francis Manners, Earl of

128 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Rutland, his Countess, and their two sons, Henry
and Francis, which attracts more than ordinary
interest, from the story attached to it in the
church books. An extract therefrom, with the
spelling modernised, is given in Burke's "Anec
dotes of the Aristocracy." When the Right Hon.
Sir Francis Manners succeeded his brother Roger
in the earldom of Rutland, and acquired possession
of Belvoir Castle, and of the estates belonging to
the earldom, he took such honourable measures
in the course of his life, that he neither discharged
servants nor denied the access of the poor ; but,
making strangers welcome, he did all the good
ofiices of a noble lord, by which he obtained the
love and goodwill of the country, his noble
Countess being of the same generous and
honourable disposition. So that Belvoir Castle
thus became a continual place of entertainment,
especially to neighbours, where "Joan Flower"
and her daughter were not only relieved at the
first, but Joan was also admitted charwoman, and
her daughter Margaret as a continual dweller in
the Castle, looking to the poultry abroad, and
the wash-house at home ; and thus they continued
until found guilty of some misdemeanour, which
was discovered to the lady. The first complaint

TIIE WITCHES OF BELVOIR. 129
against the mother was that she was a very
malicious woman, full of oaths and irreligious
imprecations, and as far as appeared, a plain
Atheist ; as for Margaret, she was frequently
accused of going from the Castle, and carrying
provisions away in unreasonable quantities, and
returning at such unseasonable hours that they
could not but conjecture at some mischief
amongst them, and that their extraordinary-
expenses tendered both to rob their lady, and
served also to maintain some debauched and idle
company which frequented Joan Flower's house.
This state of things went on for some considerable
time, when the Countess of Rutland having dis
covered other indecencies in the life of her servant
Margaret, at length discharged her from the
Castle, but in a kindly manner ; giving her at her
dismissal, as the Church record tells us, " forty
shillings, a bolster, and a mattress of wool." The
Flower family appear to have been of a very
revengeful disposition ; and we are informed that
after a while the Earl's household became sen
sible of their malicious and wicked influence.
" First," proceeds the story, " the Earl's eldest
son, Henry, Lord Ross; was taken sick after a
gtrange manner, and in a little time died ; and after
K

130 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Francis, Lord Ross, was severely tortured and
tormented by them with a strange sickness,
which caused his death. Also, and presently
after, the Lady Catherine was set upon by their
devilish practices, and very frequently in danger
of her life in strange and unusual fits ; and as
they confessed, both the Earl and Countess were
so bewitched that they should have no more
children. In a little while after, they were appre
hended and carried into Lincoln gaol, after due
examination before sufficient justices." Joan
Flower, before her conviction, called for bread
and butter, and solemnly wished that it might choke
her if she was guilty of the crime of which she
was accused. This, we would here observe, was
one of the tests generally applied in former times
to persons charged with witchcraft. It was
alleged that anyone who had entered into a
compact with the fiends, lost, from the date upon
which they bartered their souls in return for
their initiation into the art and rites of witchery,
the power of swallowing bread with freedom.
This belief was grounded upon the supposition
that bread, having been consecrated, and being
one of the articles of the sacrament, could not be
retained in the body of an agent of the evil one.

THE WITCHES OF BELVOIR. 131
The test appears to have been, to return to our
story, fatal in the case of Joan Flower, for " upon
mumbling of it, she never spoke more, but fell
down and died, as she was carried to Lincoln
gaol, being extremely tormented both in body and
soul, and was buried at Ancaster." The examina
tion of Margaret Flower, which took place on
the twenty-second of January, 1618, we shall
re -produce as given by Burke from the account
in the Bottesford Church books.
" She confessed that about four years since her
mother sent her for the right-hand glove of
Henry, Lord Ross, and, afterwards, her mother
bid her go again to the Castle of Belvoir, and
bring down the (other ?) glove, or some other
thing of Henry, Lord Ross ; and when she asked
her for what, her mother answered, ' To hurt my
Lord Ross.' Upon which she brought down the
glove, and gave it to her mother, who stroked
Rutterkin (her cat, the imp) with it, after it was
dipped in hot water, and so pricked it often ;
after which, Henry, Lord Ross, fell sick, and,
soon after, died. She further said that, finding
a glove abouttwo or three years since of Francis,
Lord Ross, she gave it to her mother, who put it
into hot water, and afterwards took it out, and

132 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
rubbed it on Rutterkin (the imp), and bid him go
upwards, and said, ' a mischief light on him, but
he will mend again.' She further confessed that
her mother and her [self] and her sister agreed
together to bewitch the Earl and his lady, that
they might have no more children ; and, being
asked the cause of this their malice and ill-will,
she said that, about four years since, the Countess,
taking a dislike to her, gave her forty shillings, a
bolster, and a mattress, and bid her be at home,
and come no more to dwell at the Castle ; which
she not only took ill, but grudged it in her heart
very much, swearing to be revenged upon her ;
on which her mother took wool out of the
mattress, and a pair of gloves, which were given
her by a Mr. Vovason, and put them into warm
water, mingling them with some blood, and
stirring it together ; then she took them out of
the water, and rubbed^ them on the belly of
Rutterkin, saying, ' the lord and lady would have
children, but it would be long first.' She further
confessed that, by her mother's command, she
brought to her a piece of the handkerchief of the
Lady Catharine, the Earl's daughter, and her
mother put it into hot water, and then, taking it
out, rubbed it upon Rutterkin, bidding him, ' fly

THE WITCHES OF BELVOIR. 133
and go;' whereupon, Rutterkin whined, and cried
'mew,' upon which, the said Rutterkin had no
more power of the Lady Catharine to hurt her.
"Margaret Flower and PhUlis Flower, the
daughters of Jane [Joan] Flower, were executed
at Lincoln for witchcraft, March twelfth, 1618.
" Whoever reads this history, should consider
the ignorance and dark superstition of those
times, but certainly these women were vile,
abandoned wretches, to pretend to do such
wicked things.
" ' Seek ye not unto them that have familiar
spirits, nor wizards, nor unto witches, that peep
and that mutter : should not a people seek unto
their God?'— Isaiah viii. 19."
So, with a quotation from Holy M'rit, en
deavouring, according to the time-honoured rule,
to point the moral of the tale, ends the Bottesford
record of the " Witches of Belvoir."
But the story, as given in the book of the
sepulchral Chapel of the illustrious Manners
family, leaves out some interesting particulars.
These are supplied by a contemporary pamphlet,
reprinted in Nichols's " Leicestershire." Associ
ated with the Flowers in their horrible practices
were three other women of the like grade of life —

134 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Anne Baker, of Bottesford ; Joan Willimot, of
Goodby ; and Ellen Greene, of Stathorne, all in
the immediate neighbourhood of Belvoir Castle.
The confessions of these women were much to the
same purpose as that of Margaret Flower. Each
had her own familiar spirit to assist her in
working out her malignant designs against her
neighbours. That of Joan Willimot was called
" Pretty." It was blown into her mouth by her
master, William Berry, in the form of a fairy,
and immediately after came forth again and stood
on the floor in the shape of a woman, to whom
she forthwith promised that her soul should be
enlisted in the infernal service. On one occasion,
in Joan Flowers' house, she saw two spirits, one
like an owl, the other like a rat, one of which
sucked her under the ear. This woman, however,
protested that, for her own part, she only
employed her spirit for inquiring after the health
of persons whom she had undertaken to cure.
Greene confessed to having had a meeting with
Willimot in the woods, when the latter called
two spirits into their company, one like a kitten,
the other like a mole, which, on her being left
alone, mounted on her shoulders, and sucked her
under the ears. She- had then sent them to

THE WITCHES OF BELVOIR. 135
bewitch a man and a woman who had reviled her,
and who, accordingly, died within a fortnight.
Anne Baker seems to have been more of a
visionary than the rest. She once saw a hand,
and heard a voice from the air ; she had been
visited with a flash of fire ; all of them ordinary
occurrences in the, annals of hallucination. She
also had a spirit, but, as she alleged, a beneficent
one, in the form of a white dog.
The examination of the Belvoir witches was
conducted before Sir Henry Hobbert, Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas, at Lincoln, and the
wretched women were condemned to death on
their own confession.
The implicit belief in the impossible powers
with which witches were for so many centuries
universally accredited, and of which the above
case furnishes a striking illustration, affords a
forcible proof of the amazing and lasting power of
superstition over the human mind.

tlborntoh Hbbei?.
By Frederick Ross, f.r.h.s.
THE traveUer journeying from New Holland
to Grimsby, by the Manchester, Sheffield,
and Lincolnshire Railway, will notice, about three
miles down, across a couple of fields, a fine and
venerable Gothic gateway, formerly the entrance
to Thornton Abbey, a bringing together face to
face of the art and science of the twelfth century
with that of the nineteenth. The worthy old
fathers who dwelt, and prayed, and fasted, and
droned away their lives within the walls of that
building dreamt not in their wildest imaginings
of travelling at the rate of fifty miles an hour.
They would have attributed it to witchcraft or
enchantment, and would probably have burnt
George Stephenson, had he sprung up in their
time ; they, honest souls, were content to plod
along their execrable way-tracks, with their
bullock vans, at the rate of four miles an hour.
Still, though they had no notion of steam as a

THORNTON ABBEY. 137
propelhng power, and knew little or nothing of
modern science, they had a marveUous intuitive
perception of the beautiful in art, and evolved
the noble Gothic order of architecture, with all
its sacred symbolism, examples of which are so
profusely scattered over our land, either complete
or in ruin, the remains of the ere while magnificent
Thornton Abbey, standing as a representative of
the old monk's taste and skill on the southern
shore of the Humber.
The country in which the Abbey is situated is
historic ground. The river Humber, flowing
nearbye, has afforded a passage into the interior
for many a hostile fleet, mainly of Danes and
Norsemen, and many a battle has been fought on
these shores between the Saxons and the Danes,
resulting eventually in the latter gaining the
supremacy in Lincolnshire, and settling there in
vast numbers, which is evidenced by the great
number of villages in the district which were re
named by them, with the Danish terminal hy.
The famous and decisive battle of Brunanburh,
the site of which is not known, and has been the
cause of much controversy, is said in Ethelward's
Chronicle to have taken place at Brunandene,
which the editor pronounces to be Brumford, or

138 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Burnham, in the parish of Thornton Curteis, a
palpable mistake, as the battle was fought
unquestionably to the north of the Humber.
Westward of the village of Thornton is
a large entrenchment, called Yarborough
Camp, supposed to be of Roman origin,
great numbers of Roman coins having
been found there. At Barrows, three or four
mUes distant, once the seat of the ancient familv
of Tyrwhit, is a marsh, with an eai'thwork, called
the Castle, where tradition tells that it was
constructed by Humber when he invaded Britain,
in the time of Brut the Trojan ; Dr. Stukeby,
however, after examining it thought it to have been
a British Druidical Temple, which opinion is
corroborated by the existence of several British
Tumuli in close proximity. Wulfere, King of
Mercia, gave to St. Chad, Bishop of Lichfield,
in the seventh century, land whereon to found a
monastery at Barwe, "which Bede saith re
mained in his time." From this circumstance,
a district near the church is still caUed
St. Chads.
At Goxhill, another neighbouring village,
was a Cistercian Nunnery, founded by William
de Alta Ripa, about the middle of the twelfth

THORNTON ABBEY. 139
century. It was at Thornton, too, that the
lady, Mrs Skinner, dwelt whose daughter was
drowned in crossing the Humber from Hull in a
storm, along with the Rev, Andrew MarveU,
Vicar of Hull, and father of Andrew Marvell, the
patriot, to whom she had been paying a visit, and
who (Mrs Skinner) a lady of property, being
thus rendered childless, sent for young Marvell
from Cambridge, and made him her heir.
The founder of the Abbey was William le
Gros, Earl of Albemarle, Lord of the Seigniory
of Holderness, and in right of his wife. Lord of
tho Honour and Castle of Skipton in Craven.
His territorial possessions, paternal and jure
u.roris, in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cumberland,
and other counties, wore on a most extensive
scale, rendering him one of the most powerful
and wealthy of the northern nobles. He was
born in 1119, and succeeded his father, Stephen, in
the Earldom, who was concerned in conspiracies
against Henry I., in which he disappeared ; but
the date is not known. He (William) held a
chief command at the battle of the Standard,
1138, when David of Scotland was defeated, and
adhered to Stephen in his contest with the
Empress Maud, fighting under him at the Battle

140 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
of Lincoln, 1140-1, where the King was defeated
and captured, the Earl narrowly escaping the
same fate. He rebuUt the Castle of Scarborough,
of which place he was Governor, on the ruined
site of an ancient fortress, and, in the reign of
Henry II. , was appointed seneschal of Normaftdy,
and being a potent and able man was entrusted
with many important Offices of State, married
Cecily, daughter of William Fitz Duncan, nephew
to Malcolm, King of Scotland, by Alice, daughter
of Robert de Romil^, Lord of Skipton, by whom
he had issue : —
Hawyse, his heiress, who married William de
Mandeville and two others, who afterwards
became successively. Earls of Albemarles, j.u.
Amicia, who married one Aston or Eston,
from whom descended John de Eston, who
claimed the Earldom of Albemarle on the death
of Aveline de Fortibus, sixth Edward I.
The Earl died after an active and vigorous life,
in 1179, and was buried with great honour and
respect in his Abbey of Thornton.
William le Gros was as distinguished for his
foundation of monasteries and benefactions to the
church as he was for his military enterprises, and
skill in warfare—" De prima fundatione ejusdem

THORNTON ABBEY. 141
et arbitibus abbatuno, ex chronicis abbatie de
Thorneton Curteis, penes Gervasium Holies de
Grimesby, in Com. Line. Armigerum, Anno
1640. " Proedictus comes fundator existit quatuor
monasteriorum ; primum monasterium S. Martin
de Anyco prope Albemarlium ordinis Clunia-
censis. " Secundum monasterium, beatse de Thorneton
ordinis St Augustini Line. Diocesis.
" Tertium monasterium beatse Marise de
Melsa ordinis Cistereiensis, in com, Eboracii
fundatur enim Anno Dom. 1150 in die
circumcisionis Domini, anno xi post fundationem
monasterii beatse Marise de Thorneton. "
The last-mentioned Abbey of Meaux, near
Beverley, was founded in absolution of a vow to
go on a crusade to the Holy Land, the Earl
having become so corpulent as to render him
incapacitated for undertaking the fatigues of the
journey and the perils of the warfare.
The monastery of Thornton was built circa
1139, as a Priory of Augustinian canons, or, as
they were usually termed, Black Canons.
The order of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo,
originated in the eighth century, as a medium

142 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
between Secular Priests and the Benedictine
monks, the rules being that all property should
be in common ; labour from morning to sext ;
reading from sext till nones ; and work from
refection to vespers ; with regular attendance at
Divine Service. Psalms to be sung at the hours
and readings after vespers. Times of fasting and
abstinence ; punishments for certain offences, such
as idle talk and gossiping, fixing their eyes upon
women ; pilfering food ; harsh expressions to
each other ; disobedience to superiors, etc. In
the twelfth century, Pope Nicholas II. introduced
a stricter rule, which gave rise to the distinction
of Regular and Secular Canons, the former being
those who lived in common in the monasteries,
and the latter those who officiated in Cathedral
and Collegiate churches.
The Priory was gradually built, the more
important portions the earlier, and when it was
rendered habitable and accommodation provided for
the purpose of Divine worship, it was consecrated
and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a
seal made, of which an imperfect impression may be
seen in the Chapter House of Westminster
Abbey — the Blessed Virgin, superbly crowned,
having in one hand a lily, in the other a cross,

THORNTON ABBEY.

143

and the Divine Infant seated on her lap : with
what remains of the legend — ". . . gillvm. see.
Marie, de Thorneton."
A colony of monks, with brother Richard at
their head, migrated hither, from Kirkham, near
Malton, Yorkshire, who took possession of the
cells, and Richard was elected their first Prior.

J.GBEEmilOt».NVI L

THORNTON ABBEY.

From the first it received some very liberal
donations from other benefactors, and in con
sequence it was converted, in 1148, from a
Priory into an Abbey ; which benefactions were
enumerated in the " Carta Regis Ricardi Primi,
Donatorum et Concessiones, recitans et con-
firmans,"

144 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
The following is a list of the Abbots : —
1. Richard, elected Prior 1140; Abbot, 1148,
by BuU of Pope Eugenius III. ; died 1152.
2. Philip, 1152; c, 1175.
3. Thomas, 1175 ; died 1184, on his road to
Rome, relative to an appeal respecting the church
of Barrow.
4. John Benton, 1184-1203.
5. Jordan de Villa, 1203-1223.
6. Richard de Villa, 1223-1233.
7. Geoffrey Holme, 1233-1245.
8. Robert, 1245 ; died 1257.
9. WiUiam Lincoln, 1257-1273.
10. William Hotoft or Waller, resigned 1290.
11. Thomas de Ponte, otherwise Thomas de
Glaunteford Bridge, 1290; resigned 1323.
12. William de Grysby, 1323 — cession 22d
Edward III.
13. Robert de Derlyncton, occurs 13th and 22d
Edward III.
14. Thomas de Gretham, Royal assent to
election 38th Edward III., occurs l7th Richard
II. 15. WiUiam de Multon, 17th Richard II.
16. Geoffrey Burton, died 1st Henry VI,
17. John Hoton, elected 1439.

THORNTON ABBEY. 145
18, William Multon, elected 1443,
19, WUUam Medley, occurs 1473,
20, John Beverley, occurs 1492 and 1495.
21. John Louth, occurs 1499 and 1517.
22. John More, occurs 1522 and 1535, the last
Prior, who surrendered the Abbey at the dis
solution. Judging from what is left in the ruins, the
Abbey must have been a magnificent aggregation
of buildings. It appears to have been arranged
in the form of an extensive quadrangle, sur
rounded by a deep moat and a high rampart,
with the walls castellated and crenellated for
defence against the pirates of the Humber. The
gateway which still remains, with massive door
and portcullis, was approached by a drawbridge
over the moat, between two flanking, loopholed
walls and with two round towers for military
purposes. The grand entrance-arch is sur
mounted by a parapet and a room for the
gatekeeper or watchman. The western face has
six embattled turrets, with three statues, between
the two middle ones — the centre a crowned figure
of a King, with a mitred Bishop on one hand and
a Knight in armour on the other, each figure
standing under an enriched canopy. Above are

146 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
figures in the attitude of prayer, representative
probably of monks, and there are other niches
which at one time have contained statues. In
the interior are numerous rooms, cells, and
passages, including the grand banqueting room,
with the stone-work of its bay-window still entire,
and a finely groined roof ornamented with richly
carved groupings of flowers and fruit, and half
length human figures with distorted countenances,
supposed to represent beings undergoing the
penal purgation of purgatory. Eastward of the
gateway have been excavated the remains of the
church, which has evidently been a noble
structure ; the chapter house, still tolerably
complete, was octangular, and richly decorated,
with, running round it, beneath its beautiful
windows, an arcade of pointed arches, with
cinque-foiled heads and tre-foiled pendants in the
centre. The Abbot's house on the south is now
occupied as a farm-house. In making the
excavations was found a tomb inscribed, " Roberti
et Julia, 1443," and in a wall was found a
skeleton, with a table, a book, and a candlestick,
supposed to be the remains of Thomas de Gretham,
the fourteenth Abbot, who was immured (buried
alive within a wall) for some crime or breach of

THORNTON ABBEY. U7
monastic rule. The Annals of the Abbey aie
somewhat scant v, there beinor but little known of
its ecclesiastical or domestic history. The
following are a few details from the Abbey
chronicle : —
"Anno. 1142. Fundatur noster dedit nobis viUam de
Grvsbv.
1143. Fundator noster dedit nobis Villam de
Adelfby.
1147. Bernardus, son of Scamni, with son
Hugo, who was made Canon, gave us
xxxiv. aci-es of land.
1149. Herbertus de St. Quintino gave all his
land at Stayntun and 2 bovates of
land in Barrow.
Radolphus de Halton gave one caracute
of land in Halton, etc
.. Our founder gave Villam of Fix)thyng-
ham, for the soul of his brother
IngelcannL
1180. Obiit pKeclai'us comes et eximius
monasteriorum fundator, WUhehnus
Grose xiii KaL Septembris.
1217. Perquivisit confirmatione Ecclesiarum
de Humbleton, GJarton, et Frothyng-

148 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
"ham et patronatus Ecclesiarum de
Karlton et Kelstron ab Honorio,
Papa III,
1225. Perquivisit generale privelegum ab
Honorio, Papa III.
1228. Perquivisit confirmationem de Ecclesia
de Barow k Gregorio, Papa, Nono,
anno, Pontificatus sui secundo.
1262. Perquivisit confirmationem Ecclesia
de Gouxyll ab Urbano Papa
Quarto,
1292. Emptum erat Manerium de Halton, ab
Henrico Lacy, pro mille libris."
King Henry VIII., about the time that he was
commencing the suppression and plunder of the
monasteries, paid a visit to Hull with his Queen,
Katherine Howard, and a train of courtiers,
where he voted at the Mayor choosing, caused
the erection of new defences, and promoted other
works for the improvement of the town, and
after a stay of five days, crossed the Humber to
Barrow-Haven, and went hence to Thornton
Abbey, a procession of the whole fraternity
meeting him on the road, and conducting him,
with expressions and marks of welcome to the
Abbey, where he was entertained with a stately

THORNTON ABBEY. 149
and costly reception and magnificent banqueting.
This was probably a politic act on the part of the
fraternity, in order to curry favour with the
King, who, they saw, was then appropriating to his
own purposes the revenues and lands of the
monastic houses, and in the issue it proved
successful, as after the surrender of the house,
with its revenue of somewhat over £700 per
annum, equal to twenty times its value of present
money, mindful, perchance, of his sumptuous-
entertainment and the courtly attentions of the
Abbot and brethren, instead of altogether
suppressing the Abbey, he converted it into a
collegiate establishment to the honour of the
Holy and Undivided Trinity, with a dean and
nineteen prebendaries, and applied the greater
part of the Abbey lands for its endowment. It
had not however a long period of existence, being
dissolved on the first of the following reign
(1546-67), and the site granted in exchange
to the Bishopric of Lincoln.
From the Pension Book in the Augmentation
Office we find that the following pensions were
" assigned by the King's commissioners to the late
Chanons, to be paid vnto them duringe their
Lyves at the ffeasts of th' annu' ciacion of 'or Lady

150 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
and Seynte Mychaell th' Archangell by evin
porcions." " To 8=^ Edmond Sotheby viijli.
To S"^ William Shawe vi. li. xiijs. iiijd.
To S'^ Thomas Appulton „ „ „
To S"^ Christoph' Smythe „ „ „
To S"^ John Williamson al's Storre „ „ „
To S=^ Stephen Thompson „ „ „

Summa Totall xij. vj. viijd.
Phylyp Parys.
Jo. Tregonell.
Jo. Hughes."

Zbe mttlc of Xincoln.
By Edward Lamplough.
WHEN the long reign of Henry I. came to
a conclusion in the December of 1135,
the crown was bequeathed to his daughter,
Matilda, the ex-Empress of Germany, and at
that time the wife of Geoffrey Plantagenet,
Count of Anjou.
Stephen, Count of Blois, the son of the Con
queror's daughter Adela, was the first prince of
the royal blood. He was an ambitious and
gallant noble, well fitted by character and ability
to succeed to his uncle's crown. In the absence
of Matilda he seduced the barons, and usurped
the throne, thereby plunging the land into a
civil war, endured from the year 1136 until peace
was finally concluded by the treaty of Win
chester, in 1153, when the throne was secured
to Stephen for the remainder of his life, the
succession being vested in Henry Plantagenet,
Matilda's . eldest son.

152 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
The cause of the ex-Empress was first espoused
by her uncle, David, King of Scotland, but her
half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, was her
chief captain and counsellor, his devotion to
MatUda being only equalled by his hostUity
towards Stephen,
The most remarkable event of the war was the
defeat of King David by the northern barons,
seconded by the native archers of Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, at the battle of Northallerton, or
" the Standard," as it was popularly termed.
In 1140, Stephen entered Lincolnshire with
the intention of reducing Lincoln Castle, recently
surprised by Ralph de Gernons, Earl of Chester,
who, with his wife and his half-brother, William
de Roumara, proposed to maintain his quarters
in the fortress during the approaching festival
of Christmas,
Many of the citizens of Lincoln loyally adhered
to the gallant Stephen, and news of the disaster
was speedily dispatched to him, and as promptly
responded to by his appearance before the fortress
at the head of a numerous and well-appointed
army. The Earl of Chester, thus taken at a dis
advantage, was extremely apprehensive for, the

THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN. 153
safety of his castle, and the welfare of his wife
and friends, for he doubted whether the defences
could be maintained against the repeated attacks
of the active and determined monarch. In this
strait he sallied forth, under cover of night,
passed through the lines of the beleaguring army,
repaired to the Earl of Gloucester, and apprised
him of the perilous position of the castle and its
garrison. Ralph de Gernons had espoused the Earl of
Gloucester's daughter, and her perilous position
no doubt influenced the nobleman in adventuring
his life for the relief of the fortress. The force
that could be assembled at so short a notice,
and during the winter season, was necessarily
small, but the two earls acted with the energy
and promptitude demanded by so important a
crisis, and mustering their vassals and friends,
and a body of auxiliary Welshmen, they marched
upon Lincoln,
Stephen trusted too confidently to the natural
defences of his position, which was flanked by a
rivulet and morass, but the army of relief passed
these obstacles without loss or disorder, and
offered battle to the better appointed and more
numerous army of the .King.

154 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE!.
Gloucester and Stephen confronted each other
with their infantry in the centre, and the men-
at-arms on the wings. Glouces+er stationed the
naked Welshmen at the extremity of the line
of battle, and took up his position at the head
of his infantry ; Chester commanding on one
wing, which consisted of his own vassals ; while
the other wing was under the command of the
refugee barons, the bitter enemies of King
Stephen. Although surprised by the celerity and vigour
of Gloucester's movements, Stephen doubted not
the issue of the impending conflict, and assumed
the command of the centre ; the Earl of Albemarle
and William d'Ypres commanding the Breton and
Flemish horse, composing one of the wings, while
the other wing, consisting of English and Breton
horse, was led by Count Alain of Dinan, Walleran
de Mellent, Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, Simon
de Seules, Earl of Northampton, and WiUiam de
Warrenne, Earl of Surrey,
The first blow was struck by William d'Ypres,
who charged, and dispersed the unfortunate
Welsh auxiliaries, whose exposed position, and
lack of defensive armour, rendered them an easy
prey to their enemies. While William d'Ypres

THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN. 155
was urging the pursuit with more zeal than
discretion, he exposed his disordered ranks to
the attack, and was taken in flank by the Earl
of Chester, who charged through his squadrons,
and drove them in irretrievable confusion from
the field.
The English refugees, casting their lances away,
spurred, sword-in-hand, upon Stephen's remaining
wing ; but these cavaliers, influenced by either
cowardice or treachery, declined the combat, and
fled in confusion from the field, leaving Stephen
at the head of his exposed infantry, to be sur
rounded, slain, and captured.
The leonine courage of Stephen was brilliantly
displayed in the ensuing conflict. Although
victory was hopeless, he conducted the defence
with great skill, and by his heroism and general
ship, delayed the moment of defeat. At length,
he fought almost alone, his soldiers -being
scattered or captured, and his enemies hemming
him in on every side, yet, despite their personal
enmity, showing a disposition rather to capture
than to slay the king. In the heat of the melee,
his battle-axe was shivered and cast aside ; his
sword was next broken, and, whilst defending
himself with his truncheon, he was struck by a

156 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
stone and felled to the ground. As he struggled
to his knees, WiUiam de Kaines threw himself
upon him, and held him by his helmet, with his
sword presented in readiness to deal the mortal
thrust, declaring that he would proceed to the
last extremity if the king attempted to continue
the struggle ; whereupon Stephen consented to
yield himself a prisoner to the Earl of Gloucester,
who was accordingly sent for, and received the
king's submission, four gallant gentlemen who
had shared in the last valiant conflict yielding up
their weapons at the same time.
Thus the Anglo-Saxon chronicle :
" The Earl held Lincoln against the king, and
seized all that belonged to the king there, and
the kinof went thither and besieged him and his
brother William de Roman in the castle ; and
the Earl stole out, and went for Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, and brought him thither with a large
army ; and they fought furiously against their
lord on Candlemas Day, and they took him
captive, for his men betrayed him and fled, and
they led him to Bristol, and there they put him
into prison and close confinement."
Only one hundred men of the royal army feU
to the sword and spear of the enemy, and there

THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN. 157
appears to be just cause for the suspicion of
treachery, Wendoer, in his " Flowers of History," has the
following account of the battle :
" Meanwhile, King Stephen heard mass with
much devotion, and when, in the course of the
ceremony, he put into the hands of Bishop
Alexander the royal wax taper as the usual
offering to God, it was suddenly broken and ex
tinguished, which foreboded sorrow to the king ;
the eucharist also fell upon the altar, together
with Christ's body, by reason of the string break
ing, and this was an omen of the king's ruin.
Stephen, on foot, disposed his troops with much
care, and industriously arranged around himself
all his men in armour, without their horses ; but
he arranged all his Earls, with their horses, to
fight in two bodies. The army of the rebel earls
was very small, whilst that of the king was
numerous, and united under one standard. At
the beginning of the battle, the exiles, who
were in the van, charged the king's army, in
which were Earl Allan, Robert, Earl de Mellent,
Hugh Bigod, the Earl of East Anglia, Earl
Simon, and the Earl of Warenne, with such fury
that some of them were slain, some taken

158 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
prisoners, and the rest fled. The division com
manded by the Earl of Albemarle and William
of Ypres, charged the Welsh, who advanced on
the flank, and routed them ; but the Earl of
Chester attacked this body, and defeated them
like the rest. Thus all the king's knights fled.
William of Ypres, a man of the rank of an Earl,
and the others who could not flee, were all taken
and thrown into prison. A remarkable circum
stance here happened : King Stephen, like a
roaring lion, alone remained in the field; no one
dared to encounter him ; gnashing with his teeth,
and foaming like a mountain boar, he repulsed,
with his battle-axe, the troops that assailed him,
and gained immortal honour by the destruction
which he wrought on the chief of his enemies.
If there had been a hundred like him, he would
not have been taken captive, since even he alone
was with difficulty overcome by a host of foes.
He was taken prisoner on the day of the puri
fication of the blessed Virgin, and led before the
empress, by whom he was imprisoned in Bristol
Castle." Apparently, the battle of Lincoln placed the
crown upon the brow of the ex-empress, but she
had no bold upon the affection of the people, who

THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN. 159
admired the courage and generosity of Stephen,
and, by her want of tact, she mortally offended the
Londoners, who, rising in sudden revolt, chased
her out of the city. Stephen's adherents again
making head, gained some advantages, and
effected the capture of the Earl of Gloucester,
who was ultimately exchanged for Stephen, and
the war dragged on with varying successes until
the final pacification , by the treaty of Winchester,
A.D. 1153.
The chronicle gives a pathetic account of the
afflictions of the English during those long years
of internecine strife, a portion of which may be
appropriately quoted here :
" Then was corn dear, and flesh, and cheese,
and butter, for there was none in the land, —
wretched men starved with hunger, — some lived
on alms who had been erewhile rich ; some fled
the country, — never was there more misery, and
never acted heathens worse than these. At
length they spared neither church nor church
yards, but they took all that was valuable therein,
and then burned the church and all together.
Neither did they spare the lands of bishops, nor
of abbots, nor of priests ; but they robbed the
monks and the clergy, and every man. plundered

160 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
his neighbour as much as he could. If two or
three men came riding to a town, all the township
fled before them, and thought that they were
robbers. The bishops and clergy were ever
cursing them, but this to them was nothing, for
they were all accursed, and forsworn and repro
bate. The earth bore no corn, you might as well
have tilled the sea, for the land was all ruined by
such deeds, and it was said openly that Christ
and his saints slept,"

"Xincoln fair."
By Edward Lamplough.
WHEN King John ended his days at
Newark, in the October of 1215, the
crown descended to his son Henry, a child aged
ten years, who was crowned at Gloucester, in the
presence of the few barons who remained loyal to
the Plantagenets. The papal-legate exacted from
the young prince the act of homage to the holy
see, and the nobles having sworn fealty to the
boy king, he was placed in the charge of Earl
Pembroke, the regent of the Kingdom.
The loyal barons were few, and the numerous
mercenaries who had been introduced into the
kingdom by John were not likely to maintain
their fidelity in the face of possible reverses, and
inducements that might be held out to them by
the Anglo-French party.
The confederate barons, in their desperate
attempts to make head against the mercenary
armies of King John, had offered the crown to
M

162 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Prince Louis of France, who had espoused a niece
of the late King, but was by no means acceptable
to the Commons of England. Louis had ac
cordingly entered the Kingdom with a considerable
army, but had not performed any brUliant exploit
in arms, and had alienated the respect of the
revolted barons by his contempt of their services,
and his partiality for his French followers. The
papal-legate had increased the difficulties of
Prince Louis' position by pronouncing the ban
of excommunication against him and his
adherents. With moderation and tact that redounded to his
honour, Pembroke proclaimed Henry's coronation,
and invited the revolted barons to return to their
allegiance to the Plantagenets, under the pledge
of a general amnesty for all past offences.
The haughty nobles were unwilling, however,
to abandon the French Prince, and continued the
war, which assumed a more favom'able aspect for
the patriotic party, for such were the Royalists at
this later stage of the struggle.
The young Henry was extremely fortunate in
being served by two such faithful and talented
officers as the Earl of Pembroke and Hubert de
Burgh, the latter of whom, in his capacity of

"LINCOLN FAIR." 163
governor of Dover Castle, successfully resisted
all the mUitary, and other less honourable arts, of
Prince Louis to induce the surrender of that
important fortress.
After the coronation some negotiations took
place, and Louis accepted a brief truce, which he
employed in visiting his father, no doubt to
obtain further counsel to assist him in carrying
out his difficult enterprise.
Pembroke improved this opportunity of
negotiating with the revolted barons, and won
over his son, William Mareschal, and some others
to the Royal cause. The Cinque Ports returned
to their obedience, and sent out a fleet to
encounter Louis on his return. The English
sailors acquitted themselves so manfully that
several of the French, ships were destroyed, an
injury which Louis avenged by laying Sandwich
in ashes.
The most important conflict of this desultory
struggle occurred, however, on the soil of Lincoln
shire, and was occasioned by an expedition of the
Earl of Chester into Leicestershire, for the
purpose of attempting the reduction of Montsorrel,
which was garrisoned by a party of French troops
under Henri de Braibrac.

161 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
The Count dc Perche, one of the most famous
of the French captains, was despatched to the
relief of the threatened fortress, with 20,000 men.
On his march he connnitted many excesses,
burning churches and monasteries, and dealing
the utmost severities of war upon the unhappy
people. The Earl of Chester was compelled to
beat a retreat before this overwhelming army,
whereon tho French commander marched upon
Lincoln, which was favourable to his cause, and
threw open its gates on his approach,
Lincoln Castle was, however, held by Nichola,
widow of Gerard de Com ville, the hereditary
custodian of the fortress; and tliis loyal lady bade
defiance to the haughty Marshal of France, and
stoutly held him at bay, although the Frenchmen
closely invested the castle, and amused themselves
by pillaging the cathedral.
The castle was in danger of falling into the
Count's hands, the garrison being reduced to
great extremities ; and the Regent was so con
cerned by its perilous position that he made a
desperate attempt to effect its relief, although he
could not bring into the field so numerous and
well-appointed an army as that of the French
commander. He succeeded in drawing together

••LINCOLN Ft/R." IC.f)
a l'or(H> of niount>od yconuMi, a considorjiblo
body of inlaniiry, '21)0 crossbownion, and -100
knights. Intoiit U}H)n inllict.ing a siuldon blow upon the
onomy, iVniUroko conducdod his oprrationw with
sucrotiy and proni[)tiiudo, and had roacluHl
Nowai'k, within tAVi-lvo nnlos of tho ononiy's
position, boforo tho (\>unt of IVn-ho was advisod
of his }HM-il.
A ooui\oil of wni- wfvs imniodiatoly iiold, and
many of tho barons woro for nuuvhing out of
Ijincoln, and giving tho Hi>gont. bniflo in tho upon
})lain, whoro Ihoir niunonnis cavalry would bo
a,bU> l-o aot with tho groatos^t atlvantago. Tho
niajorily woro dis[)osod to rogard (ho rodnotion
of tho oastlo as )>oing of primary iniportanoo, and
ndvivsod tho pi-inoo to uu\ii\tain tlu> oitv against
l\Mubroko, t\l I hi' sanio timo oont inning tho siogo
ol" tho castlo ; indood (I>o (\>unt of IVrolio oould
soaivoly roali/o tho faot (hat lVn\broko had tho
audacity to assail him a( oloso quar(ors, within
tho walls, so oontiilont was ]>o, not only in his
own gonoralsliip and in (ho suporiorKy oi'
numbers, but also in tho quaJKy and disoiplino of
his soldiers. Tho presumption of the Fronoh
leader was opposed to his past exporienoo, and

166 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
drew upon him a swift and fatal rebuke, on that
long remembered 19th of May, a.d. 1217.
Every preparation was made' to defend the
city against Pembroke's assaults, and the walls
were strongly manned. Unopposed, the royal
army marched to the attack, and Pembroke pro
ceeded to secure the fortress by throwing into it
the 250 crossbowmen, under the command of
Fulk de Breant ; a postern-gate, which opened
to the plain, enabled this first step towards
victory to be carried out without difficulty or
resistance. Fulk de Breant at once proceeded to
conduct a sally against the enemy, his advance
being covered by the archers, who shot their
arrows thick and fast from the ramparts. The
attack was furious and determined, and was
seconded by Pembroke, who was hotly engaged
in the storming of one of the city gates.
Embarrassed by the difficulties of their position,
and not having room to use their numbers to
advantage, the French suffered severely from the
double attack, and Pembroke bursting into the
city, charged them furiously on all sides. The
French were confused and hampered in the
narrow streets and lanes, where they could not
make head, or find room to charge, while they

"LINCOLN FAIR." 167
were assailed by the archers, who, in comparative
safety, shot down their horses, and with their
keen bolts wounded and slew the riders. Thus
the confusion increased, and the loss of life
waxed very heavy. Baffied and disheartened,
the troops of Louis maintained the conflict for
sometime, the Count of Perche manfully exert
ing himself to restore the battle, and retrieve his
fault ; but the gallant Royalists acquitted them
selves with temper and spirit, beat down the
French on all sides, and slew the Count of Perche,
who declined the proffered quarter, " in mere
pride and petulance, swearing he would not
surrender to any English traitor." Other good
knights were wiser ; Gilbert de Ghent, Robert
Fitz- Walter, the Earls of Winchester and Here
ford, surrended their swords, together with 400
knights, and a multitude of esquires, men-at-
arms, and infantry.
The national animus was unsparingly exhibited
to the French soldiery, who were put to the
sword with merciless severity, nor was the
disloyal adherence of the burghers of Lincoln to
the cause of Prince Louis aUowed to pass
unpunished. The city was piUaged with un
sparing severity, and the soldiery obtained so

168 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
rich a booty that they distinguished the deed of
spoliation and revenge by the title of " Lincoln
Fair." The priestly adherents of Louis who were
stationed in Lincoln were treated, by the legate's
commands, with the severities due to excommuni
cated offenders. The ban that condemned the
disloyal to punishment, formed a striking contrast
to the favours conferred upon the loyal troops,
the legate having confessed and absolved the
leaders, and encouraged the valour of all, by
declaring Paradise open to those who fell while
combating in the interests of the tiara and the
crown, on that auspicious day.
In describing military achievements during the
middle ages, the loss of the soldiery is not always
enumerated, so little were they regarded in
comparison with the nobles, and this peculiarity
appears to have led to the following misapprehen
sion, with its amusing reflections, quoted from
Hume and Smollett's history :
" Lincoln was delivered over to be pillaged ; the
French army was totally routed ; the Count of
Perche, with only two persons more, was kUled ;
but many of the chief commanders, and about
400 knights, were made prisoners by the Enghsh,

"LINCOLN FAIR." 169
So little blood was shed in this important action,
which decided the fate of one of the most power
ful kingdoms in Europe, and such wretched
soldiers were those ancient barons, who yet were
unacquainted with everything but arms."
The defeat of a French fleet of reinforcements
so severely crippled Prince Louis' movements
that he was under the necessity of treating with
Pembroke. He was, apparently, glad to escape
from the critical position in which he found
himself, but retired with what dignity he might,
under cover of an affected interest in the fortunes
of his adherents, and those of the nation, for he
stipulated for " an indemnity to the adherents
who remained faithful to him, a restitution of
their honours and fortunes, as well as the enjoy
ment of those liberties which had been granted
in the late Charter to the rest of the nation."
Such were the happy results following that
famous " Lincoln Fair," an event to be remem
bered with interest by all patriotic students of
our national evolution.

aiforb fiabt.
By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, b.a.
ONE could scarcely find a country town
whose aspect is more peaceful — an
enemy of the place, if it has one, might say
more sleepy — than the little town of Alford.
Its grey church tower looks down year after
year upon its wide market-place and clean broad
streets, and sees little change as time rolls on ;
and the rooks, cawing on their homeward way to
the dark woods of Well, but seldom carry home
tidings of any new encroachment by the habita
tions of men upon their ancestral "hunting-
grounds." The very railway has been kept at a
full arm's length, and when recently a line of
tramcars, with reckless daring, strove to desecrate
the decorous streets of Alford with clang of bell
and hiss of steam, a few short years sufficed to
still the noisy emblem of progress, and to leave
the highways once more in the dignified monotony
of unbroken peace.

ALFORD FIGHT. 171
But in the turbulent days when King and
Commons argued out their differences with crash
of arms, Alford felt the shock of the con
stitutional earthquake, and showed herself no less
able to bear her part than other more important
places. Indeed, the condition of things in the
little town was such at that time as to suggest
that anything but peace reigned in the district,
and that bickerings in the market and brawlings
in the streets must then have been no infrequent
sights and sounds. For in the centre of the town,
under the very shadow of the chhrch, lived Sir
William Hanby, of Hanby Hall, a staunch
adherent of Church and King, whose opinions,
doubtless, were of no little weight with many of
his poorer fellow-townsmen. But his rule was
not undisputed, for in Well Vale dwelt Sir
Lionel Weldon, who had thrown in his lot with
the Puritans, and had his following also, no doubt,
among his neighbours.
The turmoil of the town reached a crisis in
June and July, 1645. On the morning of the
27th June, the Royalist leader. Cavendish,
marched into the town with a strong force ; the
movement was part of an attempt then being
made by the King's troops at Newark

172 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
and Nottingham to force a passage to Boston,
one of the Parliamentary strongholds ; but a
minor motive is said to have been the hope of
capturing the said Sir Lionel Weldon, a hope in
which they had been specially encouraged by Sir
William Hanby.
Hanby Hall was made the Royalist head
quarters, and the troops lay encamped on the
south side of the town, one wing at Bilsby, the
other at Holy Well Farm. The low ground
round the latter position was at that time but ill-
drained, and the marsh proved fatal to many in
the subsequent attempt to retreat.
Every effort to seize the person of Sir Lionel
proved ineffectual, and the Parliamentary forces,
hastily gathered under Sir Drawer Massingberd,
though too feeble to attempt an attack, succeeded
in keeping the Royalists in check until further
help arrived. Late in the day, on July 1st, the
Earl of Manchester came up with a considerable
force of Parliamentarians, and encamped in
Bilsby Field, while news was brought that
cavalry and artillery were advancing from Burgh
to aid the same cause.
No movement was made that day, the Puritan
troops being wearied with forced marches, and

ALFORD FIGHT. 173
the Royalist leader being temporarily absent.
On the following day, July 2nd, however, the
fight began betimes ; the right wing of the Royal
army was vigorously assailed by the troopers of
Moody of Scremby, and Payne of Burgh, and
completely routed ; numbers perished in the
swamp, and the scattered remnant was met at
Willoughby by Rossiter, advancing from Burgh,
and practically annihilated. The battle was not
so easily won in the rest of the field, but at last
the whole position was carried by the Earl of
Manchester's forces, the Royalists being
scattered with great slaughter.
Cavendish got safely away, but Sir William
Hanby was among the slain, and his Hall was
partially destroyed. The fragment of a regiment
serving under Colonel Penruddock took refuge
in the parish church, and here, as in so many
other instances, the Puritans sullied their victory
by the exhibition of their barbarity ; not only
did the sacred walls prove no City of Refuge for
the vanquished, but the completed victory was
signalised by the destruction of almost everything
which they contained. Of this desecration, a
relic is still to be seen : the tracery of the
north and south windows of the Sacrarium

174 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
of the church is filled with some fragments of
old glass, that by their richness of tone put to
shame the modern glass beside them, and more
than thatj prove to us how beautiful must have
been " the dim religious light " within those walls
before the passions of men brought the hot
breath of war upon the place, to blight the
beauty both of men and things.

Barton*on^1bumber fen^^.
By C. H. Crowder.
THE ancient ferry at Barton, once the only
practicable passage across the Humber,
must have an interesting record could the almost
impenetrable veil of the past be drawn aside.
Domesday Book says that when William the
Conqueror sat on his uneasy throne, the town
had a mayor and aldermen, and also, what few
towns could at that period boast of, a church, a
priest, two mills, and a Ferry on the Humber —
indeed, the Ferry is mentioned in still earlier
records, as is manifest by a dispute respecting the
tolls in the time of Edward the Confessor. In
very remote times the Ermine Street of the all-
pervading Romans ran down to the Humber-side
at Barton, the ferry giving passage to their con
quering legions. Coming down to a later period.
King Edward I. (the " Hammer of the Scotch,")
accompanied by his recently-wedded Queen,
Margaret, and his eldest son, Prince Edward,

176 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
with a gallant array of nobles, knights, and men-
at-arms, crossed the Humber (April, a.d. 1300) at
Barton, landing at Hessle, the King being on his
way to Scotland, the thinly-scattered, though
brave and rugged, defenders of which gallant
country could not save it from devastation by their
more powerful neighbour. The passage across
the Humber occupied two days, an item of the
expenses stating : " Galfrid de Selby and other
sailors of the eleven barges and boats for carrying
the King's military equipment and household
from Barton to Hessle, across the Humber,
occupying two days, by the hands of the same
sailors at Hessle^ 27th May, 13s." Doubtless the
abbots and monks of the famous Abbey of
Thornton, when travelling to or from the sacred
shrines of York or Beverley, as well as many a
cavalcade of pilgrims, would pass and repass at
this ancient ferry. A gloomier episode in its
history is perhaps worth noting. It being at that
early day the only passage from the south to the
Sanctuary of St. John of Beverley, the man-
slayer (whether by accident or design) would make
for the old ferry, and would, to escape the
vengeance of his pursuers, seek sanctuary and
safety within the sacred bounds,' A case of this

BARTON-ON-HUMBER FERRY. 177
kind is chronicled, where " one Elias de la HiU, of
Barton, struck Richard de la Hill, of the same
place," finding refuge within the holy precincts of
the Beverley Saint.
In the first week of July, 1643, Lord
(Ferdinando) Fairfax was in full retreat from
Leeds to Hull, being pursued by the Royalists
under the Earl of Newcastle ; the old lord
crossed the Ouse at Selby, his gaUant son, Sir
Thomas (afterwards, as Lord Fairfax, the famous
Parliamentary leader), taking the post of danger
in the rear. On the point of embarking their
cavalry, the Royalist horse were upon them.
The father crossed with the main body in safety,
but the son, Sir Thomas, became separated,
having received a bullet through the wrist. He
would have fallen from his horse through loss of
blood, had not some of his troopers caught him
as he fell, and laid him on the grass. He shortly
recovered from the temporary faintness, and
remounted, making the best of his way along the
right bank, at length crossing the Trent. Ac
companying his flight, seated on a horse before
her nurse, was his " little daughter Moll," at that
time about five years of age. These defenceless
companions added greatly to Fairfax's anxiety, N

178 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
for they were nearly dead with fatigue and
terror. After their perilous passage of the
Trent, he sent the swooning child for shelter to
a farm house, and rode on to Barton, which place
he reached after being forty hours in the saddle.
Here he hoped to obtain some much-needed rest,
and succour for his wound ; but in a quarter of an
hour after his arrival the Royalist horse attacked
the place of his retreat, so he hurried aboard a
friendly ship, and reached the garrison of Hull,
with his clothes torn to pieces and covered with
blood. He did not forget his " little daughter
Moll " and her nurse, for a vessel was speedily sent
to rescue them. The daughter happily joined her
father on the following day, and lived eventually
to be Duchess of Buckingham.
The Haven formerly ran up to Finkle Lane,
which is now a considerable distance from the
water, and where, within living memory, stood
the old ferry boat house, known by the sign of
" The Maiden," an ancient framework building of
lath and plaster (see the illustration). The sketch
was taken in 1795, and it would be at this spot
(at the junction of Finkle Lane and Newport, or
Newport Street, or about the site), that most of
the foregoing events took place. The last

BARTON-ON-HUMBER FERRY. 179
occupier of the interesting old edifice, which was
demolished during the second decade of this
century, was a Mr. Richard Willford, a fresh-
looking, venerable, white-haired man, the great
grandfather of Mr. Ball, the publisher of the
" History of Barton," from which the illusti-ation
is taken. In Mr. Willford's day, the house con
tained some fine old carved furniture, and the
view from its windows was (with the exception of
a barn-like building, used at times for public
meetings) uninterrupted over the open fields
do\7n to the Humber, which, long years before,
had retreated to its present bounds.
The Humber must have once flowed higher
than at present, as a paddock in the East Acridge
was called Shrimpholme, and here fishermen used
to dry their nets. A field also in this vicinity
bore the name of Sedge Close, showing its
original proximity to water. Some years ago a
large mound of earth was removed from the same
locality. It had evidently been a sea or river
embankment, as large quantities of marine shells
were discovered during the excavations.
The old building now known as the " Water
side Inn," standing in close proximity to
the landing-place on the Humber, although

180 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
possessing no architectural beauty, has in
teresting memories, as throughout the pack-horse
and coaching times, anterior to railroads, all ranks
and conditions of men have sheltered beneath its
roof The celebrated Daniel Defoe, the writer of
Robinson Crusoe, crossed from Barton to Hull in
the year 1748, and his experience would appear
not to have been a pleasant one, old Humber
probably being in one of its tempestuous moods,
stirring up Daniel's bile, for he vents his ill-humour
as follows : — " There are seven good towns on the
sea coast, but I include not Barton, which stands
on the Humber, as one of them, being a straggling
mean town, noted for nothing but an oldfashioned,
dangerous passage ; a ferry over the Humber to
Hull, where, in an open boat, in which we had
about fifteen horses and ten or twelve cows
mingled with about seventeen or eighteen
passengers, we were about four hours tossed about
on the Humber before we could get into the
harbour at Hull." Nearly a hundred years
earlier (August 19th, 1654) the learned and pious
John Evelyn, had a similar stormy voyage, for he
says : " We passe the Humber, an arme of the
sea of about two leagues breadth. The weather

BARTON-ON-HUMBER FERRY.

181

was bad, but we cross'd it in a good barg to
Barton, the first towne in that part of
Lincolnshire." In 1779, a breathless horseman, mounted on an
equally breathless steed, startled the king's quiet
lieges at Barton by riding madly through the
town towards the Waterside, when his horse
dropped lifeless beneath him. Without noticing

OLD fEERY-BOAT HOUSE, EABTON-ON-HUMEER.
the poor animal he rushed to the ferry and
demanded instant passage ; the ferrymen said it
was impossible, it being what they termed " dead
low water." The stranger thereupon drew a
pistol, and threatened the poor men's Uves if they
did not comply with what appeared to them so
unreasonable an order. They thereupon procured

182 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
a large washing-tub, and slid the impetuous rider,
whose uniform betokened a man in authority, down
the mud, or warp, to the water's edge, and quickly
put him over the Humber, landing him at Dairy-
coates, where he again, in the same unceremonious
manner, seized a horse from a plough, and
galloped posthaste towards Hull. It afterwards
turned out that he was a King's Messenger, witli
instructions to the governor of the citadel to put
that place in a state of defence, in anticipation of
a visit from that daring sea-rover, Paul Jones,
who, with his victorious squadron, was then
hovering off the mouth of the Humber.
Another famous character, Charles Dibdin, the
seamen's poet, writing in 1788, says : — " On the
fourth of November, faUing on a Sunday, and
being exactly ninety-nine years since the memor
able Revolution, the wind being almost due north,
very strong and squally, accompanied with a
severe and incessant rain, I set sail from Hull to
Barton. Nor is all this preparation unworthy
the occasion. I am sure I shall endure nothing
in my voyage to India that will exceed what I
thus experienced, for if it did we should be past
aU endurance." After an amusing account of the
" middle passage," he concludes — " After our poor

BARTON-ON-HUMBER FERRY. 183
sloop had been buffeted three hours and forty
minutes, during which she above a hundred times
as fairly dived as ever did a duck, our sailors were
so kind as to run us aground at the mouth of
Barton Harbour." Truly " Rude Boreas " should
have behaved better to the great Sea-Songster.
In 1802, a Mr. Shaw rode from Barton Water--
side to London, 172 miles, in ten hours and thirty-
three minutes. This must have been accomplished
by a relay of horses, and good ones too.
In coaching days, the Royal mail usu ally
arrived at the Waterside about eleven p.m. ;
according to the state of wind and tide, travellers
might have to wait at the inn, eight, ten, or even
twelve hours before they could cross the Humber ;
The huge kitchen fire of the inn was never
allowed to go out, day or night, from year's end
to year's end, except for necessary repairs.
Passengers on very urgent business might cross
the Humber (weather permitting) at a charge of
7s. 6d. each. The mails for the town of Barton
were in charge of an odd character, whose sobriquet
was Skitter Jack. This free and easy individual,
on hot summer days, might frequently be seen
fast asleep on a gravel heap, on the road ' twixt
the Waterside Inn and the George Inn (the then

184 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Post-office), with His Majesty's mail-bags under
his head !
Although many a year has elapsed since any
Royal or historic event (save perhaps the short
visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh on
coast-guard duty in the autumn of 1880) has
enlivened the Ancient Way (via regia) to the
equally ancient Ferry, yet, up to recent times
was it re-animated many times a day by the passing
to and fro of Royal mail and other coaches, but
all-victorious steam at length changed Barton as
it has changed the whole world beside, and the Old
Waterside and Ferry, though very interesting in
the past, are very commonplace and quiet in the
present.

Z\K (Brcat Brass Mclft^n of Boston.
By William Stevenson.
IF we refer to Thompson's History of this
ancient borough (p. 310), we shall find that
Lord Clynton, in a.d. 1580, desired to borrow
from the corporation of Boston their " great
brasse wellkyn," and that his desire was granted.
We do not know when the corporation first
became possessed of this mysterious article : but
they held it for seventy-seNen years after the
above date, when, finding it no longer useful
to them, they ordered it to be sold. Thirty-
seven years later, viz., in 1694, we find they had
again pressing need for it, and a new one was
brought from Nottingham at a cost of £10 ; this
in its turn was held by the corporation for sixty-
three years, when it was disposed of.
The question for aU students of Bygone Lin
colnshire is, what was this " wellkyn," " wilking,"
or "welkyn ?"
Mr. Thompson says : " We have sought much

186 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
for, and have made many enquiries respecting
the meaning of this word," but Mr. Thompson
failed, as we are afraid every student of the old
county lore will fail, to find its meaning, for it is
a philological mystery ; as an important article in
metal there is no parallel entry, to our knowledge,
in any records of this or other counties. It
does not appear in any of our dictionaries. J. 0.
Halliwell, in his " Dictionary of Archaic and
Provincial Words," is silent. The same silence
obtains with Professor Skeat, in his "Etymological
Dictionary of the English Language," ditto,
ditto in " J. Jameson's " great work, " The
Dictionary of the Scotch Language," Atkinson's
" Glossary of Cleveland," and Rev. W. Carr's
" Dialect of Craven." If such great authorities
are silent on this 'detail, where shall we look
for information ?
One thing is certain, that from 1580 down to
1757, a period of 177 years, this article in the
possession of the corporation of Boston was well-
known in the town by this name, and presumably
long before.
If we turn to Nottingham, a town rich in its
records, the earliest portion of which has recently
been published by the corporation, we find that.

THE BRASS WELKYN OF BOSTON. 187
at the close of the middle ages, it was a celebrated
place for the casting of brass and metals, and
that a large business was done in the founding
of bells and brass pots for domestic purposes ; but
no mention of " welkyns " is made or found in
these records.
Mr. Thompson ventures upon the following
opinion of the meaning of this strange and
remarkable word : " Whatever the wellkyn of
1580 was, we think the wilking of 1694 was an
apparatus for driving piles, in which the weight
being drawn up to a considerable height, and
then let fall upon the head of the pile, was called
the wilkin. It was so designated when such
an apparatus was used in driving the piles for
the iron bridge in 1804."
We have sought for confirmation of this state
ment, but we fail to find any.
The pile-driving apparatus of this century is
provided with an iron weight, variently called a
" ram " or " monkey." The casting of iron in
moulds does not reach back beyond the last
century, it hence foUows that the "rams" or
" monkeys " of old times must have been of wood,
stone, or brass. Wood, no doubt, from its light
ness, was not applicable, and stone, from its

188 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
brittleness, would be discarded, so it is possible
that in some special instances brass might be
resorted to.
Taking Mr, Thompson's view, it would appear
that a considerable amount of piling was resorted
to in the early history of Boston, such as the
banking of the river, the forming of staiths,
wharves, or landing stages, in which case the cor
poration would have a special use for pile-driving
appliances, and might indulge in the cost of a
great brass " ram."
The primary etymology of the word " welkin "
is the clouds or the firmament, from whence it
was applied to anything large or bulky, in which
sense it is stUl used in Lincolnshire and many
other counties, as applied to a large or bulky
man — "a great welkin fellow," Its application
to a metal ram was, if Mr, Thompson's view is
correct, exclusively confined to Boston.
It may be worthy of note that the ancient
pile-driving apparatus was a sliding weight,
suspended on a strong rope, such rope passing
over a wheel at the top of the frame, and hanging
down the inside, where the lower end had
numerous smaller ropes attached thereto, after
the manner of a cat-o'-nine-tails, each rope being

TIIK BRASS W'ULKYA' OF BOSTON.

ISl)

in oluu'go of a laixmring ma,n. Thi> wt^ight of tiin*
ram rt'gulatotl dho nnmborof men, wliioh usually
rungod from tiWt^lvo tit tiwonty. TIh> \vi>igliti or
ram wais i'a,istMl by tlu' m>itt>d aodion of tJu>so
mow pulling the ropes, tho operation b(>ing
aitn'ompaiiiod by a. song. This primitive appliance
may stUl ho fountl in lloUand, and lho writtM' lia.s
set>n it. in opt^ratioii iu the City of Stockholm.
We r<\gr(>d wo haAo not. boon a,bl(> do coniirm
dhtM'iew formed by Mr. Thompson, prior to lHf)S,
on this "great bi'ass \vi>lkyn." id follows, on
lho other hai\d, that we have not. hoow able do
refute it. luul l\enc(> we must, conline ourselves to
relleetiug the above faint, light upon the subject,
and Kvvve (ho solution of the problem to
posdoridy,

Dr. Milliam Dobb, tbe forger.
By John T. Page.
THE eighteenth century was a fitting time
for the advent of such a man as William
Dodd. At hardly any other period of the history
of the Church could his connection with her in
the holy office of clergyman have been main
tained. A century afterwards, we can only look
back and wonder that such a career could have
been possible for one who had so little claim to
either veneration or respect. Not only was his
general character open to severe censure, but it is
not too much to assert that his moral nature was
rotten to the core, It is said, on good authority,
that Bishop Newton actually expressed regret
that he should have been hanged " for the least of
all his offences." From first to last he was
continuously artificial, and even in the most
critical and supreme moments of his life — except
in the last dread ordeal, when, as he himself
asserted, all was real — he never seems to have
thrown away the chance of a well-timed pose.

DR. WILLIAM DODD. 191
William Dodd was born at Bourne, in Lincoln
shire, on the 29th of May, 1729. His father
was the Rev, WiUiam Dodd, vicar of Bourne.
Besides the notorious William, there was one
other son, named Richard, who also became a
clergyman, but as he aspired to fiothing more
remarkable than working hard in a country
parish all his life-time, his biography has never
been written. The natures of the two brothers
were widely different, and it was probably from
this cause that they held very little inter
course with each other in after-life. The " dear
pale face " of an affectionate father watched
assiduously over the early years of the two boys.
At the age of sixteen WiUiam left home and
was entered at Cainbridge, where he matriculated
a Sizar of Clare Hall, on the 22nd March, 1746.
This precocious youth undoubtedly worked hard
. • while at college, for it is on record that he
attracted notice by his diligence and success. In
1749, he took the degree of B.A. with reputation,
but ten years elapsed before he blossomed into
tho usual M.A. Already he had begun to write
pamphlets, and also to develop an ever-increasing
taste for a gay life. The calls of duty and
pleasure for a time received equal attention, but

192 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
he gradually lost his equilibrium, and one day his
University career came to a precipitate end.
We next hear of him in London, where, for
a time, he gained some sort of a livelihood as a
literary hack, spending his leisure in amusement
and conviviality. Having formed the acquaint
ance of a verger's daughter, Mary Perkins by
name, he became a married man on the 15th
April, 1751, at the early age of twenty-two.
Strangely enough, this match turned out to be
a very suitable one, for, though his wife possessed
no fortune, she was "largely endowed with
personal attractions," and, somehow, managed
to adapt herself easily to the strange circum
stances and positions in which she was afterwards
placed. In 1752, appeared Dodd's " Beauties of
Shakespeare," a book which passed through
many editions, and which still, occasionally, finds a
sale. In the preface to this book, he took the
opportunity of pompously forswearing the com
pany of " Shakespeare and the critics," and then
gracefully advanced towards " better and more
important things," and the Priest's Orders
which awaited him. On the 19th of October,
1753, he was ordained Deacon by the Bishop of

DR. WILLIAM DODD. 193
Ely, at Caius College, and settled down as
Curate to the Vicar of West Ham.
The Reverend William Dodd for a time worked
zealously in this new sphere of life, and won the
esteem of many with whom his duties brought
him into contact. In after years, he always
looked back with pleasure to the happy days
spent at West Ham. Two vacant lectureships
now fell into his hands, and, on the opening of
the Magdalen Hospital, on the 10 th of August,
1758, Dodd, who had taken a great interest in
the undertaking, was chosen to preach the
inaugural sermon in Charlotte Street Chapel,
Bloomsbury. He soon slipped into the
chaplaincy of this popular Charity in an
honorary capacity, but, in 1763, he was officially
appointed to the post at a salary of a hundred
guineas per annum. His sermons at the Mag
dalen speedily became the sensation of the day,
and every Sunday, crowds of fashionable ladies
journeyed from the West End to hear the hand
some young clergyman, who so gracefully played
upon their feelings.
Young William Dodd was now well on his way
to fame and fortune. In the year of his appoint
ment to the Magdalen Chaplaincy, he received

194 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
the more important appointment of King's
Chaplain, was chosen by the celebrated Earl of
Chesterfield as tutor to his son, and he also
published his " Reflections on Death." The series
of papers which went to make up this book
had already appeared in the pages of the
" Christian Magazine," a periodical in which
Dodd took a lively interest, and in connection
with which he gradually worked himself up to
the post of editor.
All this time, he was making desperate efforts
to secure promotion in the church. In 1766, he
proceeded to Cambridge, and, on his return, had
developed into a full-blown Doctor of Laws.
Shortly afterwards he threw up his humble
curacy and lectureships, and launched out into
an extravagant life in London. Not only did he
take a residence in the West End, but also pro
vided himself with a country house at Ealing.
About this time, his wife won a prize of £1000
in a State Lottery, and this money Dr. Dodd
at once laid out in building a chapel of ease in
Pimlico, which he named Charlotte Chapel, after
the Queen. Here he quickly gathered a fashion
able congregation around him, but his bid for
Royal patronage was unavailing. He was also

DR. WILLIAM DODD. 195
pecuniarily interested in Charlotte Chapel,
Bloomsbury, where he occasionally preached, but
he rarely missed his Sunday morning sermon at
the Magdalen.
It was not until 1772 that Dr. Dodd obtained
his first cure of souls, when he was presented to
the rectory of Hockliffe, in Bedfordshire, to
which was shortly afterwards added the Vicarage
of Chalgrove. He was now in the zenith of his
fame as a popular preacher.
In February, 1774, by the translation of
Bishop Moss to the See of Bath and Wells, the
valuable living of St. George's, Hanover Square,
became vacant, and Dodd set about the execution
of a foolish and mad -brained scheme to secure the
presentation for himself An anonymous letter
was, at his instigation, addressed to Lady Apsley,
offering £3000 down if a gentleman, to be after
wards named, received the appointment. With
very little trouble the letter was traced to Dr.
Dodd, and the king, in a fit of indignation, at
once erased his name from his list of Chaplains.
A storm of invective, satire, and abuse followed,
in the midst of which the wily Doctor left the
country. But the worst was to come. Foote
was, at this time, engaged in writing his farce

196 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
entitled " The Cozeners," and, therein, he straight
way introduced a certain Dr. and Mrs. Simony.
Though " Dr. Simony " does not appear
personaUy in the play, his wife describes him to
the letter, and boasts of the fact that he was no
schismatic, but believed in the Thirty-nine
Articles, and " would if there were nine times as
many." The portrait was unmistakable, and the
pit roared itself hoarse at the stinging satire.
In the meantime, Dodd was safe in Geneva,
where his former pupil, now Lord Chesterfield,
received him cordially, and as a mark of his
affection presented him to a vacant living at
Winge, in Bucks. After the " Simony " scandal
had, to a large extent, blown over, the Doctor
returned home, and forthwith plunged once more
into the turbid waters of London society. Deeper
and deeper still he sank, until his embarrass
ments threatened completely to overwhelm
him. On the 2nd of February, 1777, Dr. Dodd
preached as usual at the Magdalen, and two days
after took his last leap in the dark by forging the
signature of his patron, the Earl of Ches(;erfield,
to a bond for £4200. In order to a speedy
negotiation, the Earl's signature was attested by

DR. WILLIAM DODD. 197 -
Dodd himself, and the signature of a broker
named Robertson was also appended as a witness.
The sum of £4000 was now paid over for the
bond, and later on the document was brought
under the notice of Lord Chesterfield. It was,
of course, repudiated by his lordship, and the
principals were at once placed under arrest.
Dodd now realised his critical position, but when
he had restored nearly the whole of the money
he began to feel himself comparatively safe. The
case was, however, by a curious combination of
circumstances, forced into prominence, and the
hapless Doctor found himself committed to the
Compter to await his trial.
The story was by this time all over London,
and newspaper men and ballad-mongers gloated
over the details.
On the 19th of February, Dr. Dodd appeared
at the bar of the Old Bailey, and, after an
exhaustive consideration of his case, the jury,
while strongly recommending him to mercy, were
constrained to bring in a verdict of "Guilty."
He lay in Newgate until the 26th of May, when
he was brought forth to receive sentence, after
which he was again conveyed back to prison.
Here he was shown every indulgence — a private

198 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
room was placed at his disposal, books and other
comforts were amply provided, and friends came
and went all day long. It was only after eight
o'clock at night that he was left alone, and then
he worked assiduously at his " Prison Thoughts,"
a book still read by some with a morbid
interest. Meanwhile, great exertions were being made to
save his life. It is in connection with these that
the burly form of Dr. Johnson appears upon the
miserable scene, which, for a time, is brightened
by his presence. His reverent heart was deeply
moved as he contemplated the fact that a man
who bore office in the Church was in danger of
suffering an ignominious death. He threw the
whole weight of his great name and influence into
the scale on the side of mercy, and no amount of
labour and time seemed too much for him to
spend in trying to obtain a mitigation of the
sentence. He prepared several petitions, wrote
speeches for Dodd to deliver in court, and actually
composed a sermon which the wretched man
preached to the prisoners in Newgate a short
time before his execution.
The case of " the Unfortunate Dr. Dodd " now
excited universal interest. Society was stirred

DR. WILLIAM DODD. 199
to its lowest depths, and everybody signed
petitions praying for his respite. One petition
alone contained 23,000 signatures, and was over
thirty-seven yards long ; another was presented
by the Lord Mayor and Common Council in a
body. All, however, was of no avail, for on the 1 5th
of June the Privy Council met, and, after due
deliberation, virtually decreed that Dodd must
die. Accordingly, a warrant was made out for
him to be publicly hanged on the 27th. The few
remaining days of his life can only be likened to
a miserable orgie. Friends were coming and
going all the time, and while some held out hopes
of escape, or even rescue, others less sanguine
wept with him over his sad fate. Looking back
to these critical moments in Dr. Dodd's life, we
behold him in turn firm, penitent, unmanned,
ostentatiously pious, and hideously unreal. On
the last day of his life he wrote a drivelling letter
to his friend and amanuensis, Weedon Butler,
whose faith in him never wavered ; and he also
penned a reply to an earnest and manly exhorta
tion which he had received from Dr. Johnson.
All through the day he was kept in a continuous
fever of alternate hope and despair by the

200 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
injudicious utterances of his friends. When at
last they left him, he fell into a peaceful sleep,
only, alas, to wake and realise that Friday, June
the 27th, 1777, had arrived at last, and now had
come the time when he must die.
Outside the prison walls, all London was
stirring early, and tens of thousands from the
country had arrived to see the end. From
Newgate to Tyburn, the crowd was so dense that
order was with difficulty kept. As early as
seven o'clock the bell of St. Sepulchre's had
commenced tolling, but nine o'clock had struck
ere the procession started along its three mile
course. Dodd was seated in a mourning coach,
drawn by four horses, and for more than two
hours his corpse-like face was framed in the coach
window. At Tyburn, nothing but a vast sea of heads
was visible. Every coign of vantage was
occupied, and many descriptions of the scene
have been published by spectators. Dodd was
accompanied by a companion in misery, a youth
of eighteen years, named Harris, whose crime
was that of robbing a man of a little less than
thirty shillings. This poor boy was quickly
dispatched, and then, in the midst of a heavy

DR. WILLIAM DODD, 201
¦ shower of rain, the doctor was placed upon the
cart. He is described as appearing "stupid from
despair," and with face turned downwards praying
all the time. The final preparations took up
wards of an hour to complete, and this made the
crowd somewhat impatient. At length every
thing was ready, the rope adjusted, his broad-
brimmed hat and wig exchanged for a night-cap,
and all his leave-takings over. His last act was
to place money in the hands of the executioner,
and then to whisper earnestly in his oar. What
he said wuw never known. The cart on which
he stood moved from under his feet, and in a
couple of minutes all was (jver.
After hanging tho usual time, the body was cut
down and handed to the waiting friends. A hot
bath had been prepared in a house not far away,
and here John Hunter was in attendance to try
his hand at restoring life. Owing, however, to the
bigness of the crowd, precious minutes, and even
hours, were lost before the body arrived,
and by this time all hope of revivification was
gone. The same night, Dodd's faithful friend, Weedon
Butler, had the body taken down to Cowley, in
Middlesex, for interment, and there, on the north

202 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
side of the church, he was laid to rest. Unlike
his ostentatious life, the gravestone erected to his
memory is simple in the extreme. It merely
contains the foUowing laconic inscription :
"rev. WILLIAM dodd
born march 29, 1729
died JUNE 27, 1777
IN THE 49th year of his age."

Hn jeiobteentb Century poet.
By the Rev. Alan Chealbs, m.a.
LINCOLNSHIRE is a great county. But
like the plant which takes a hundred
years to each blossom, it has been somewhat slow
in maturing its poets. Our generation has seen a
magnificent outburst, a double-headed plant of
poesy, at once the sweetest woman singer of the
century, and a Poet-Laureate, Who can read
Boston's tragedy, " The Brides of Mavis
Enderby," without tears in the voice ?
" A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
Than my son's wife Elizabeth," —
while, at the same time, Jean Ingelow, in her
prose writings, more especially, "Off the Skelligs,"
and " Fated to be Free," has given urhi et orbi,
to county and country, the most fascinating of
novels. As to our Poet-Laureate, the first who ever
won a peerage, though by no means the first peer

204 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
who has been a poet, neither again happily
can he be spoken of in the past, although
"Tennyson country" is now classic ground. I
know it well. A portion of his "Brook" runs
through one of my fields. That " Vision of
Fair Women," " Rare Pale Margaret," " Spiritual
Adeline," " Airy Fairy Lilian," I know them once
intimately ! Very exquisitely true to life, as well
as perfect poetry, is the portrait of each.
But these are present poets, happily still alive
amongst us, and our editor sternly warns me
back into Bygones.
I have to tell of a now forgotten, yet much
admired in his own day, Lincolnshire poet ; with
whose life is interwoven more romance and tragedy
than is easily realized. Fact, in fact, is mostly
stranger than fiction.
I speak of Dr. John Langhorne, who lived
from 1735 to 1779. Langhorne's "Plutarch" isa
well-known standard work, a most able translation
by Dr. Langhorne and his brother. I desire to
call attention rather to " Langhorne's poems."
John Langhorne was a man of strong and deep
feelings. Brought up by a mother, widowed
when he was four years old, he always exhibits
for her the most tender affection.

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POET. 205
Monody, 1759.
" Por her I mourn
Now the cold tenant of the thoughtless urn —
Por her bewail these strains of woe,
Por her these filial sorrows flow ;
Source of my life that lead my tender years,
With all a parent's pious fears,
That marked my infant-thought, and taught my
mind to grow."
At the time of his great trouble, when the fair-
seeing temple of conjugal happiness after one
single year had fallen shattered about him ; it is
to his brother he turns for fresh exertion and
comfort —
" Come then, thou partner of my life and name.
Prom one dear source, whom Nature forme the same,
Allied more nearly in each nobler part.
And more the friend, than brother, of my heart ! "
Like many other of our poets, John Langhorne
at first found the battle of life hard. He was
glad to take a tutorship, in 1759, in the family of
Robert Cracroft, Esq., of Hackthorn ; not the
least known or well-descended of " Lincolnshire
families." There he met his fate.
We find some pleasing lines addressed to R.
W. Cracroft, one of his pupils, but no less
than six odes are addressed to Miss Cracroft.
Mr. Chalmers says: "While employed in the

206 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
education of the sons of Mr. Cracroft, he became
enamoured of the amiable disposition and personal
charms of Miss Anne Cracroft. He had given
her some instructions in the Italian language,
and was often delighted by her skill in music,
for which he had a very correct ear. A mutual
attachment was the consequence, which Mr.
Langhorne was eager to terminate in marriage.
But the lady, who knew that a match so dispro-
portioned as to fortune, would be opposed by
her family, gave him a denial as firm and as
gentle as her good sense and secret attachment
would permit. For this, however, Mr. Langhorne
was not prepared, and immediately left his situa
tion, in the hope of recovering a more tranquil
tone of mind in distant scenes and different
employment. In 1767, after a courtship of five
years. Dr. Langhorne obtained the hand of Miss
Cracroft, to whom he had ever been tenderly
attached ; and with whom he had kept up a
correspondence since his departure from Hack-
thorn. By what means her family was reconciled
to the match, we are not told ; but some fortune
accompanied it, as the living of Blagden, in
Somersetshire, was purchased for him, and there
he went immediately to reside. His happiness,

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POET, 207
however, with this lady, was of short duration,
as she died in childbirth of a son, 1768."
However long he might have lived, those ten
years were virtually his life. In them we find
his highest inspirations. 1761.
Wrapped Round a Nosegay op Yiolets.
" Dear object of my late and early prayer !
Source of my joy ! and solace of my care !
Whom gentle friendship such a charm can give.
As makes me wish, and tells me how to live.
To thee the Muse with grateful hand would bring
These first fair children of the doubtful spring.
O may they, fearless of a varying sky.
Bloom on thy breast, and smile beneath thine eye !
In fairer lights their vivid blue display.
And sweeter breathe their little lives away ! "
1763.
" 0 born at once to bless me and to save,
Exalt my life and dignify my lay !
Thou too shall triumph o'er the mouldering grave.
And on thy brow shall bloom the deathless bay.
" O most beloved ! the fairest and the best
Of all her works ! still may thy love find
Pair Nature's frankness in thy gentle breast ;
Like her be various, but like her be kind.
" Then when the Spring of smiling youth is o'er.
When Summer's glories yield to Autumn's sway ;
When golden Autumn sinks in Winter hoar.
And life declining yields its last weak ray ;

208 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE,
" In thy loved arms my fainting age shall close,
On thee my fond eye bend its trembling light.
Remembrance sweet shall soothe my last repose.
And my soul bless thee in eternal night."
1765.
Sonnet in the Manner op Petraoh.
" On Jihy fair morn, O hope-inspiring May !
The sweetest twins that ever Nature bare,
Where Hackthorn's vale her field-flower-garland wove.
Young Love and Fancy met the genial day.
And all as on the thyme-green bank I lay,
A nymph of gentlest mien their train before,
Came with a smile ; and, ' Swain,' she cried, ' no more
To pensive sorrow tune thy hopeless lay.
Priends of thy heart, see Love and Pancy bring
Each joy that youth's enchanted bosom warms ;
Delight that rifles all the fragrant spring !
Pair handed Hope, that paints unfading charms !
And dove-like Paith, that waves her silver wing ; —
These, swain, are thine, for Nancy meets thy arms ! "
And after all the long waiting, and then hope,
and then joyful anticipation, — Oh ! the pity of
it ! They had just one year of wedded life together.
Monody, 1769.
" She comes — ye flowers, your fairest blooms unfold,
Ye waving groves, your plaintive sighs forbear.
Breathe all your fragrance to the amorous air
Ye smiling shrubs, whose heads are clothed with gold !
She comes, by truth, by fair affection led,
The long loved mistress of my faithful heart !
The mistress of my soul, no more to part,

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POET. 209
" And all my hopes, and all my vows are sped !
Vain, vain delusions ! dreams for ever fled !
Ere twice the spring had waked the genial hour.
The lovely parent bore one beauteous flower.
And drooped her gentle head.
And sunk, for ever sunk, into her silent bed."
It was during this short interval that he
addressed the " Precepts of Conjugal Happi
ness " to her sister. Miss Maria Cracroft, then
also wedded, and to a Mr. Nelthorpe.
"Priend, sister, partner of the gentle heart
Where my soul lives, and holds her dearest part ;
While love's soft raptures these gay hours employ,
And time puts on the yellow robe of joy.
Will you, Maria, mark with patient ear
The moral Muse, nor deem her song severe ?
Love, like the flower that courts the sun's kind ray.
Will flourish only in the smiles of day ;
Distrust's cold air the generous plant annoys,
And one chill blast of dire contempt destroys.
O shun, my friend, avoid that dangerous coast
Where peace expires, and fair aifection's lost ;
By wit, by grief, by anger urged, forbear
The speech contemptuous, and the scornful air.
True, tender love one even tenor keeps
In reason's flame, and burns when passion sleeps.
Pure in its source, and temperate in its sway.
Still flows the same, nor finds its urn decay.
0 bliss beyond what lonely life can know.
The soul-felt sympathy of joy and woe !

210 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
"That magic charm which makes e'en sorrow dear.
And turns to pleasure the partaken tear !
Long, beauteous friend, to you may heaven impart
The soft endearments of the social heart !
And oh, forgive the zeal your peace inspires.
To teach that prudence whioh itself admires."
It is pleasing to learn " To this lady Dr,
Langhorne committed the charge of his infant
child, who has lived to acknowledge his friend
ship, and to discharge the duties of an affectionate
son, by the late memoir of his father prefixed to
an elegant edition of his poems."
Mr Langhorne's poem, entitled " Genius and
Valour," obtained for him, in 1766, a long
and flattering letter from Dr. Robertson, the
celebrated historian, and Principal of the
University of Edinburgh, requesting him to
accept a diploma for the degree of doctor in
divinity. There are portions of this latter poem which
might be read with advantage by some in the
present day.
" In nervous strains Dunbar's bold music flows.
And Time yet spares the Thistle and the Rose.
O while his course the hoary warrior steers
Through the long course of life-dissolving years,
Through all the evils of each changeful age.
Hate, envy, faction, jealousy, and rage.

^iV^ EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POET. 211
" Ne'er may his scythe these Sacred Plants divide.
These Plants by heaven in native union tied !
Still may the Plower its social sweets disclose.
The hardy Thistle still defend the Rose !"
In the quaint stiff epigrams of those days Dr.
Langhorne thus composed his much-loved
partner's epitaph :
" With Sappho's taste, with Arria's tender heart,
Lucretia's honour, and Cecilia's art,
That such a woman died surprise can't give,
'Tis only strange that such a one should live."
Dr. Langhorne married again in 1776, again
lost his wife in childbirth, and died himself in
1779, in the forty-fifth year of his age.

^be (Breat Ibawtborn ^ree of Jfisbtoft.
By William Stevenson.
THOMPSON, in his " History of Boston "
(page 493), gives an engraving of this
tree, and notes that it was mentioned in the
Fishtoft Acre Books, i.e.. Field Books, in a.d.
1662 and 1709, and that it "is traditionally
stated to have been a stake, driven into the body
of a female suicide, who was buried at the cross
roads, as was the custom at one period."
There is no base to this tradition, for the
punishment of suicides after death by burying
them at the cross roads, in quicklime, and driving
stakes through their bodies does not date back to
the first historical mention of this tree, besides
which, the stake would never be left above ground
to sprout, but would be driven close down to the
body. The hawthorn tree is indigenous to this
country, and, in the opinion of natives of the
north of Europe, where it will not grow, it, along

THE HA WTHORN TREE OF FISHTOFT. 213
with the winn, gorse, or furze, is one of the most
beautiful flowering bushes we possess. Prior to
the great enclosures, about a century ago, of the
open lands in this county, hawthorn trees were
dotted over the grazing lands, as may still be
seen in the old deer parks of our nobility, and
the one at Fishtofts is, no doubt, a solitary
survival or representative of this old order of
things. As a quick hedge, the hawthorn has been used
in this country in partitioning the toft-steads or
home-crofts from the open fields or unenclosed
lands, for over a thousand years, and it derives
its name, haw, from the Anglo-Saxon haw, a
yard or enclosure. Chaucer uses churche-haive,
for churchyard. The haivthonra. is thus the
enclosure-thorn, a name drawn from the popular
use to which it was in early times applied.
It is generally thought that in primitive times
the eastern counties were largely covered with
this thorn, and it is certain that the frequent
mention of thorn in place-names lends support to
this view, instance Thorne, in Hatfield Chase,
near Doncaster, Thornton Abbey, in our county,
Thorngumbald, Whitethornsea (now Withernsea),
Whitethornwick (now Withernwick) in Holder-

214 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
ness, and Thorney or Thorneye, Thorn Island, in
the south.
The ancient state of the country suggested by
this hawthorn tree at Fishtoft is pictured by
Shakespeare in Henry VI. :
" Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
To shepherds looking on their silly sheep.
Than doth a rich embroidered canopy
To kings who fear their subjects' treachery ? "
But no poet has conceived a more beautiful
picture of the rural hawthorn than Goldsmith in
his " Deserted Village : "
" The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
Por talking age and whispering lovers made."

Spalbing (Bentlemen'e Society.
By M.arten Perry, m.d.. President.
THE foundation of this, the oldest
antiquarian society in the kingdom, is
entirely due to the energy, tact, and persever
ance of Maurice Johnson, Barrister of Law, of
the Inner Temple, whose residence was
Ayscoughfee Hall, in Spalding.
When a young man, in London, he was, as he
expresses it, " by Mr. Gay, the poet, brought
acquainted with Pope, Addison, Sir Richard
Steel, and others, who were in the habit of
meeting at Button's Coffee House, in Covent
Garden, where the Tatler, edited by Steel, was
read as it came out." Here Johnson, Browne
Willis, Roger and Samuel Gale, Stukeley, and
Rymer, endeavoured to found (or re-found) the
London Society of Antiquaries, and Johnson was
selected for its first librarian. This society was
not floated until the year 1717; when a president
and officers were elected.

216 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Meanwhile, Johnson had removed to his native
town, and at once — in 1709 — though himself
only just arrived at manhood, and all his advisers
and encouragers were at a distance, "set himself
to work to institute a literary society in the
Lincolnshire Fens amongst a company unac
customed to such a mode of spending an
evening." He took in the Tatler, and com
municated its contents to his acquaintances, who
met weekly at a coffee house in the Abbey Yard.
" These papers being universally approved as
both instructive and entertaining they ordered
'ein to be sent down thither, when they were read
every Post-day generally aloud to the whole
company who could sit and talk over the subject
afterwards. This insensibly drew the men of
Sense and Letters into a sociable way of con
versing and continued ye next yeare 1710 until
the publisher desisted to their great regret,
whose thoughts being by this means bent
towards their own improvement in knowledge
they again in like manner heard some of the
Tatlers read over and now and then a Poem,
Letter or Essay upon some subject in polite
literature and it being hapily suggested that as
they take care to have those papers kept together

SPALDING GENTLEMEN'S SOCIETY. 217
it would be well Worth their while to take into
consideracon the state of the Parochial Library
where there were some valuable Editions of the
best authors in no very good condicon and they
did accordingly agree to contribute towards the
repairing the old and adding new books to it, but
being by ye two worst enemies to understanding.
Ignorance and Indolence prevented doing much
for it. They turned their beneficial intrution
towards the royal and ffree Grammar School in
which there was at that time a large but Empty
Desk capable of being made a press or Class on
wch ye One only solitary Volume then belonging
to the School lay (viz :) Langius Polyanthsea
bestow'd upon it by Sir John Oldfield Bart, some
years before and to this These Gentlemen did now
voluntarily add several other Authors in
Gramatical, Critical or Classick learning, wch
was to ye great pleasure and convenience of the
worthy Master."
In March, 1711, the Spectator came out, and
was duly read here as the Tatler had been, and
the next year these gentlemen formed themselves
into a voluntary society for the " Supporting
mutual benevolence and their improvement in the
liberal sciences and polite learning." The Rev.

218 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Stephen Lyon, minister of Spalding, was elected
president for the first month. He was succeeded
by WiUiam Ambler, Esq., Rev. — Wareing, and
Maurice Johnson, Esq., father of the founder.
In April Mr. Lyon was again elected. Finding
inconvenience arise from the frequent changes, it
was then decided that the president should con
tinue in office until the society thought fit to
choose another quamdiu se bene gesserit.
This year the society took in the Lay Monk
and Menfioirs of Literature. Afterwards, such
portions as were not political in the Freethinker
and the Spyes were read. Papers, essays, letters,
and exhibits now becaine abundant,- and the
society added annually to its list of regular and
honorary members some of the most learned men
of the day. We find the names of Sir Isaac
Newton, Sir Hans Sloane, the Earl of Oxford,
the two Gales, Dr. Stukeley, the poets Gay and
Pope, the painters Vertue and Collins, Beaupre
Bell, Dr. Jurin, Dr. Massey, Archdeacon Neve,
Joseph Banks (the father of Sir Joseph Banks),
Samuel Wesley, Dr. Bentley (master of the
Grammar School at Spalding, who was quickly pre
ferred thence to the mastership of Trinity College,
Cambridge), William Bogdani, Samuel Buck (the

SPALDING GENTLEMEN'S SOCIETY. 219
engraver), Lord Coloraine (Pres. Soc. Antiq.),
Dr. Dodd, Emanuel Mendez du Costa, Dosithseus
(Archimandrite, abbot of the Monastery, of
Pantocratoras, on Mount Athos), Martin Folkes,
Captain John Perry (engineer to Czar Peter the
Great), Archdeacon Sharp, Rev. Richard
Southgate, Thomas Sympson (of Lincoln),
Chancellor Taylor, Browne Willis, John Grundy
(engineer), and many others of note far too
numerous to catalogue.
Up to the present time, the various acts and
regulations of the society had been recorded by
Maurice Johnson, who, for, many years, acted as
secretary, on sheets of paper, which, at a sub
sequent date, were bound together, and entitled
the First Volume of Minutes, or the " Institution
Book." The first entry of original research is
entered on November 10th, 1712. It is a sketch
of " the forme of a Tomb in the cemetery of the
Cathedral Church in Peterborough, in the county
of Northton, on the South Side, near the Choir."
At the next meeting, held on November 17th,
Mr. Maurice Johnson, Junr., communicated to
the society, "two copies of verses from the Rev.
Francis Curtis, the one an Epistle from a gentle
man at Eaton to his friend at Cambridge, in

220 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
Latin Hexametre and Pentametre. The other,
in EngUsh, upon D. of Marlborough's goeing for
Germany, where he commanded the allyd army
agt the French and their allies." He also
gave a list of materials for painting in miniature,
etc., collected from the directions of Albert
Durer and others, with the method of preparing
them. The next week's proceedings were very interest
ing. A Spalding halfpenny of 1667, -showing
a view of the old Town Hall, was exhibited by
the secretary. Rev. Mr. Wareing gave a
description of a journey to Bath, and of the
antiquities and natural curiosities of the City of
Bath, in several Latin Epistles, attended with
drawings. Next follows the exhibition of an
impression in wax of a brass seal of Elizabeth
Lady, Duchess of Sevierki, in Poland. This
shows the figure of a lady seated on a side saddle,
with hawk perched on left hand, and a lure in
her right hand. This was succeeded by a disserta
tion on hawking, on ladies' habits, and on side
saddles, with reference to their introduction into
England, in 1382, by Queen Ann, daughter of
Charles II. of Bohemia and Emperor of
Germany, the wife of King Richard II. Lastly,

SPALDING GENTLEMEN'S SOCIFTY. 221
we have " Inscriptum Pictures Reverendi
Martyrologistse, and S. T. P. Dni Johannis
Foxij, Anno Domini 1509, Statis 70, penes
Johan, Toley Armiger, apud Boston, ubi Idem
doctiss, Autor natus fuit."
To pursue the minutes further would be
tedious, suffice it therefore to say, that they
contain copies of ancient documents, many of
which refer to the Priory of Spalding, and to
many other religious houses in the neighbour
hood, notes on Literary Subjects, on Natural
History, on Events of the Day, Poetry,
etc. The importance of the society being now
firmly established, it became necessary that the
meetings should be held in a more private room,
and, after having " flitted " to the Parsonage, a
room was secured in the " Markettstead," to
which the name of "Assembly Room" was
ari ven. In 1717, the society having purchased the
books of the deceased Mr, Wareing, distributed
them between the Church Library, the Grammar
School Library, and their own Library.
It is evident that the society was now in a
most flourishing condition, and had attained a

222 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
position seldom if ever equalled by any similar
society in a provincial tomi, but then, as now,
extraneous assistance was necessary to sustain
the interest of its members, and to maintain its
prosperity. Papers were contributed, books
given, interesting letters written, and curiosities
exhibited by many who were not resident in our
neighbourhood, and we stUl keep, with religious
care, an immense amount of coiTespondence
with such men as the Gales, Stukeley, Earl of
Oxford, Beaupre Bell, and others. But let it
never be forgotten, that Maurice Johnson con
tinued to the end of his life, in 1755, to be the
mainstay of the society. As long as he hved
the society prospered. Most interesting items
oceui- in the minute books, which were written
principaUy by him, and illustrated profiisely by
his hand; he added some of its most valuable
books to the hbrary, and considerably enriched
its museum. Alas I shortly after his death, a
change comes over the scene ; the society con
tinued to meet weekly, and accounts of its weekly
and yearly receipts and expenditure were duly
kept, but the minute-book ceased to be used;
little or nothing was added to the hbrary ; the
Physic garden given up ; and the museum went

SPALDING GENTLEMEN'S SOCIETY. 223
to decay, until at length nearly every specimen
was cleared out !
After the lapse of seventy years. Dr. Moore
having been elected president in 1828, again
resumed the use of the minute-book, and a few
interesting essays were, at long intervals, entered
therein. Dr. Cammack and. Canon Moore
followed in his footsteps, but the society was
evidently all but moribund. No meeting is
recorded, nor can any member call to mind any
meeting held from April 26th, 1875, until after
Canon Moore's death, in May, 1889. At that
time its library, museum, and furniture, were in
a most filthy state, from the accumulation of
dust, and it was but rarely that a member
ventured into the room to consult a book,
studying therein being an act of most severe
penance. StiU, in fulfilment of Gale's prophecy,
the library remained " a glorious monument of
the public spirit and learning of its founder, and
the record of a noble attempt, which, otherwise,
could scarcely be credited by posterity."
On July 15th, 1889, a meeting of the remaining
members was held, and it was decided that an
earnest effort should be made to revivify the
society. Dr. Perry was elected president, and

224 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
a committee appointed to consider tho rules of
the society, and report thereon. The president
also exhibited some Roman gold coins which had
recently come into his posse.ssion ; Mr. Everard
Green, f.s.a,, presented ])edigrees of various
families; and Canon Marsden, who had Iteen
elected a member wo long ago as ] 82H, presented
" Philonioru.s" to the socMety. Mi\ White, of
Grantham, read a memoir on tlie late Canon
Mooro. At the next meeting, wliioli was lield Sejiteinber
SOtli following, a (Vesh set of rules, which had
been drawn uj) by a coniinittee, were iipproxed.
Mr. H. S, Maples was elected ti'cuisurer.
The Rev. T. A. Stoodley, J lead Master of
tlie Grammar School, having been (fleeted a
inember, was appointed Hbrariaii, and undertook
to re-cratalogue the books. Mr. W. E. Foster,
F.S.A., ])resonted iiapers ou Hereward the
Fenman, on EUoe Stone, and on Whaplode
Church. Canon Moore's executors proHentcd
])apei'H on Croyland Abhoy and Bridgi^, and on
S. Guthlac's Stone ; and the ])resi(leiit rend a
l)a])er on the origin of coinage. Since then tho
socmity itself lias purcliased sovend books, others
have been givtsii by tho nieiiibers, doiiatioiiH to

SPALDING GENTLEMEN'S SOCIETY. 225
a small extent have been made to the museum,
and several very interesting and instructive
papers read, and articles of antiquity exhibited.
To the list' of regular members twenty-seven
names have been added, and fourteen honorary
members have been elected.

Sir 30aac IRewton.
By John W. Odling.
ON the roll of illustrious sons whom " Bygone
Lincolnshire " may specially claim as her
own, the name of Sir Isaac Newton admittedly
stands pre-eminent.
During that eventful period, the seven
teenth century, when the great heart of the
nation was throbbing with pulsations which
threatened to disorganize the entire system of
social and political economy, — when the long
line of English monarchy was snapped asunder,
— when religious controversy ran high, and when
rich and poor alike quailed with terror at the
presence of the fatal plague daily sweeping its
victims from the stage of action ; then, in the
solitude of his laboratory undisturbed by human
passion or fear, was to be found the young
philosopher, whose unswerving devotion to truth,
and patient investigation of natural phenomena,
have not only immortalized his name, but also

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 227
opened up for succeeding generations hitherto
undiscovered paths for the unlimited advance
ment of scientific knowledge and research.
The honour of the birthplace of this genius
belongs to Woolsthorpe, a hamlet in the parish
of Colsterworth, about six miles south of the
town of Grantham, in the county of Lincoln.
Here, in the Manor House, on the morning of the
25th December, 1642 (o.s.), the infant, afterwards
to become universally celebrated, first saw the
light. At his birth he was so diminutive
and feeble that his life was despaired of; but
in this frail newborn babe powers lay hidden
which the world sorely needed, and the
life so precious was providentially preserved.
The manor of Woolsthorpe was sold in 1623
by one Robert Underwood to Robert Newton,
Sir Isaac's grandfather. On the death of Robert
Newton, in 1641, he was succeeded by his son,
Isaac, who, however, survived him only a year,
his death occurring about three months prior
to the birth of his illustrious child. The parish
register contains the following entries :
"1642. Isaac Newton buried Octr. 6."
"Isaac Sonne of Isaac and Hanna Newton baptized Jan. 1."
The education of this fatherless boy was begun

228 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
at day schools in the adjacent hamlets of
Skillington and Stoke, but when twelve years
of age he entered the free public school at
Grantham, founded in 1528, and boarded in that
town with a Mr. Clarke, an apothecary,
As a lad, Newton was exceedingly industrious,
though he took but little part in the games and
amusements of his school-fellows, preferring to use
his little tools in the manufacture of various
articles, an experience which, doubtless, was of
much value in later years. His mind was much
occupied with mechanical inventions. He con
structed working models of machines, a wind
mill after the plan of one being erected at the
time in the neighbourhood, a water-clock which
kept fairly accurate time, and a mechanical
carriage. He also invented paper lanterns, and
attached these to kites, by which the supersti
tious country folk were not a little terrified. His
careful observation led him to drive pegs into the
walls and roofs of buildings, indicating the position
of the sun at various times of the day.
One of his earliest scientific experiments was
made on the occasion of the historical storm
which prevailed at the death of the Protector
CromweU (3rd September, 1658). With a view

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 229
to determine the force of the gale, he jumped in
opposite directions, both against and with the
wind, marking and measuring the respective
distances. This experiment he repeated on a
subsequent calm day, and was thus able to form
some conception of the force of the wind.
The following incident of his schooldays is
recorded. Having received a kick from a boy
who stood higher in the class, Newton, although
less robust, challenged him to fight. In the
result Newton gained the victory, but he
aspired to the moral as well as to the physical
superiority. He therefore exerted himself to
attain a higher place in school than his opponent.
This he soon succeeded in doing, and continued
to rise until he held the first position.
Woolsthorpe Manor House was rebuilt between
the years 1645 and 1656 by Isaac's stepfather,
the Rev. Barnabas Smith, Rector of North
Witham. Dr. Stukeley, who visited the house
on 13th October, 1721, while Sir Isaac was yet
alive, described it thus : " It is built of stone,
as is the way of the country hereabouts, and a
reasonable good one." When it was undergoing
repairs in 1798, a tablet of white marble was
erected, bearing an inscription as follows :

230 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
"Sir Isaac Newton son of Isaac Newton, Lord of the
Manor of Woolsthorpe, was born in this room on the 25th
December, 1642."
The house at Grantham, in which young Isaac
lodged whUe in attendance at school was also
rebuilt about 1711. This contained many highly
interesting sketches, drawings, and diagrams,
executed by him, in charcoal, on the walls.
His mother having become a widow for
the second time, Isaac was recalled from
school to engage in the practical duties of farm
ing. To these he was apparently unable to
devote himself, and on every possible occasion
he stole away to his books, and applied himself
to study, to the utter neglect of his commercial
transactions. Astonished at his passion for learning, his
mother and uncle very wisely arranged for his
return to school, preparatory to more advanced
academical study. Subsequently his uncle, him
self a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge,
made the needful arrangements for Isaac to enter
the same college, and, in 1661, he was admitted
as Sub-Sizar.
He attained his B,A, in 1665, and
that year and the following one were, perhaps,

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 231
the most notable in his history. It was just at
this period that he discovered, and commenced
his work on, the method of Fluxions; that,
driven home by the Plague, which closed the
Universities for a while, his attention was first, or
at least more particularly directed to the law of
gravitation ; and that, having procured a glass
prism, " to try therewith the phenomena of
colours," he made those experiments and arrived
at those conclusions which attracted the notice of
learned men to his genius. Certain it is that at
this period of his life his mind was intensely
active, and his attention wholly concentrated on,
and absorbed in, his investigations.
The vigour of his intellect may be judged by
the fact that he needed only to look at Euclid
at once to grasp and thoroughly comprehend the
various problems propounded. In order to
prepare himself for the lectures which he
attended, his habit was to read the text books in
advance, and when the time arrived he frequently
knew more of the subject than his tutors. It is
related of him that, in later years, he received
the famous problem intended to puzzle European
mathematicians, at five o'clock in the day, after
having completed his business labours, and.

232 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
although much tired, he nevertheless solved the
problem the same night.
The years 1 667 and 1668 found him Minor FeUow
and M.A, respectively, while in 1669 he was
elected to the Lucasian Professorship, vacated by
the resignation of his former instructor. Dr.
Barrow, whose work on Optics, published in the
same year, was revised and corrected by Newton,
though he was but twenty-seven years of age,
and twelve years Dr. Barrow's junior.
From this time onward to 1695, he was seldom
absent from Cambridge, and he pursued his
experiments with unbounded diligence. Every
hour was fully occupied, for he was exceedingly
jealous of his time. Except when fulfilling public
or social duties, he was seldom to be found with
out a book before him or a pen in hand. His
hour for retiring was irregular, ofttimes
three or four in the morning-, in some instances
five or six o'clock ; yet he most scrupulously kept
the rules of the College, and was ready to begin
his day's work at the appointed hour, with
apparently no ill consequences from the shortness
of his rest.
Newton early devoted close attention to the
study of Optics, and applied himself to the

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 233
practical grinding of glasses, with a view to the
improvement of instruments then in use. While
engaged in this study, he was led to the discovery
of the decomposition of light and the re-
frangibility of its component rays. Piercing
a hole in the window shutter he admitted into the
darkened room a single beam of light, which,
falling on a prism, displayed the seven colours of
the prismatic spectrum. By re-uniting the
separated rays he again produced white light.
For a special reason, he deferred, until 1704, the
publication of his work entitled " Opticks, or a
Treatise on the Reflexions, Refractions, In
flexions, and Colours of Light." For many long
years the merit of this extraordinary work was
not fully appreciated.
Owing to his natural modesty, and to the dis-
tressinof controversies which followed the
announcement of his discoveries, he was exceed
ingly slow to declare the result of his investigations.
The delay thus occasioned very largely contributed
to the later disputes in which other men sought to
secure for themselves the merit of his labours.
The crowning event of Newton's life was his
discovery of the law of universal gravity, for
while others had been on the verge of ascertain-

234 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
ing this profound truth, Newton produced his
demonstration of its existence.
Seneca (a.d. 38) spoke about the moon attract
ing the waters, and in Gary's translation of Dante's
Inferno the following passage occurs :
"Thou wast on the other side, so long as I
Descended ; when I turn'd, thou did'st o'erpass
That point, to which from every part is dragg'd
All heavy substance."
Shakespeare wrote {Troilus and Cressida,
Act iv., Scene 2) :
" But the strong base and building of my love
Is as the very centre of the earth.
Drawing all things to it.''
Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler, Galileo and many
others had each and all successively made valuable
additions to ascertained truth on the subject, and
had thus prepared the way ; but up to the time of
Newton's discovery the mightiest problem of all
remained unsolved, the key to unlock Nature's
mysteries was still missing, the light was only
feeble and glimmering as the dawn. But the day
was at hand :
" Nature and all her works lay hid in night,
God said 'Let Newton be,' — and all was light."
The grand principle of universal gravitation.

236 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
" that every particle of matter in the universe is
attracted by or gravitates to every other particle
of matter, with a force' inversely proportional to
the squares of their distances," finds its ex-
empUfication in the Principia (PhilosophicB
Naturalis Principia Mathem/xtica), the three
books of which were written by Newton, in 1685,
1686, and the early part of 1687, and published
about midsummer of the latter year.
" If I have seen further than other men,"
Newton in his modesty declares, "it is because I
have stood upon the shoulders of giants."
In 1672, now thirty years of age, he was
chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society, about
which time his reflecting telescope (the work of
his own hand, be it observed,) was presented to
the society, and shown also to the king. This
telescope greatly increased the power of observ
ing distant objects, but some years elapsed before
its principle became practicaUy avaUable for
astronomical purposes.
It is well worthy of note in passing that
Newton's most brilliant achievements, his method
of fluxions, and his theories of hght and gravita
tion, were conceived before he completed his
twenty-fourth year ! We marvel, and rightly so.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 237
at the genius and wisdom of those who, even after
a mature experience of forty or fifty years, attain
world-wide renown, but with how much greater
wonder and admiration shall we regard a mere
stripling in age who proves himself to be a very
prince amongst philosophers, and in the very
front rank of distinguished mathematicians !
When James II., in his vain attempt to re
establish the Roman Catholic religion, attacked
the privileges of the University of Cambridge,
Newton was selected as one of the delegates to
defend them. He was afterwards chosen a
inember of the Convention Parliament.
Endeavours were made by friends to secure
some public position for Newton, but for a time
these were unsuccessful. In 1696, however,
when the coinage was to be recalled, he was
appointed Warden of the Mint, through the
influence of Mr. Charles Montague, afterwards
Earl of Halifax. From 1699 he fulfiUed the
higher duties of Master of the Mint, receiving a
salary of from £1200 to £1500 a year. In these
positions, his knowledge of chemistry and
metallurgy, as profound as his knowledge of
mathematics, proved of immense service to the
State,

238 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
In 1703, Newton was elected President of the
Royal Society, and he continued to hold that
high and enviable position to the end of his days,
being the first who was re-elected without
interval, and whose presidency extended over so
long a period. It may be remarked that his
latest visit from home was paid on the 2nd
March, 1727, to fulfil an engagement to preside
over the Royal Society,
After his removal from Cambridge to London,
he resided first in Jermyn Street, St. James's,
and then at a house, now numbered thirty-five, in
St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square. To the
latter came many distinguished visitors, including
the Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen-Consort
of George II., who rejoiced in the opportunity
of conversing with so learned a man, able to
answer her enquiries and to solve her difficulties.
Although Newton had acquired considerable
reputation in previous reigns, the honour of con
ferring a knighthood upon this inimitable man
was reserved for Queen Anne. On the occasion
of a Royal visit to Cambridge, in 1705, Isaac
Newton received this dignity "in the Court held
at the Lodge of Trinity," the residence of Dr,
Bentley, the Master of Trinity, who " looked on

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 239
rejoicing in the honour done to his illustrious
friend." During the last ten years of his life Sir Isaac's
time was principally occupied in reading religious
books. He exhibited the traits of a true
Christian life, devoutness, faith, generosity and
purity of character. He was attached to the
Church of England, and held very firmly
the main doctrines of Protestant religious
belief Until his eightieth year he enjoyed excellent
health, but afterwards was a great sufferer
from a calculous disorder. No murmur,
however, escaped his lips, and he maintained to
the end that patience and sweetness of soul
which had characterized his whole life. Up
to the 18 th March he was able to read
without the use of spectacles, and to converse
freely with his friends, but on the morning of
the 20th March, 1727, between one and two
o'clock, at Orbell's Buildings, Kensington, whither
he had shortly before removed to secure the
purer air, his spirit passed away.
There are numerous memorials which per
petuate the name of this unsurpassed genius.
Among these may be mentioned a tablet in

240 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
the Parish Church of Colsterworth in this
county : "Sir Isaac Newton
who first demonstrated the laws by which
the Almighty made and governs the universe,
was born at Woolsthorpe in this parish
on Christmas day 1642
and was buried in Westminster Abbey 1727.
Three generations of the Newtons
Lords of the Manor of Woolsthorpe, are buried
near this place."
Another county memorial is a bronze statue,
by Theed, erected at Grantham, to commemorate
Newton's association with that town, during the
period of his early education. The cost, £1600,
was obtained by public subscriptions. The un
veiling of this statue took place on 21st
September, 1858, when Lord Brougham dis
coursed on the life and works of Newton.
In Trinity College, Cambridge, is a marble
statue, by Louis Francis Roubilliac, which was
set up on 14th July, 1755, the pedestal of which
contains merely the words :
" Newton,
Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit."
The noble monument in Westminster Abbey,
erected in 1731, occupies a most conspicuous

SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 241
position, — a spot which hM been eagerly but
vainly sought after by the nobility. It stands,
an inspiration to every beholder, on the left hand
side of the entrance from the Nave to the Choir,
and is visible from all parts of the Nave.
Well may Sir David Brewster, in his Memoirs
of Sir Isaac Newton, say : " What a' glorious
privilege was it to have been the author of the
Principia ! There was but one earth upon whose
form and tides and movements the philosopher
could exercise his genius ; one moon, whose
perturbations and inequalities and actions he
could study ; one sun, whose controlling force
and apparent motions he could calculate and
determine ; one system of planets whose mutual
disturbances could tax his highest reason ; one
system of comets, whose eccentric paths he could
explore and rectify ; and one universe of stars,
to whose binary and multiple combinations he
could extend the law of terrestrial gravity. To
have been the chosen sage summoned to the
study of that earth, these systems, and that
universe ; the favoured law-giver to worlds
unnumbered ; the High Priest in the temple of
boundless space, was a privilege that could be
granted but to one member of the human family ;

R

242 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
and to have executed the task, was an achieve
ment, which, in its magnitude, can be measured
only by the infinite in the space, and, in the
duration of its triumphs, by the infinite in time.
That Sage, that Law-giver, that High Priest
was Newton."

Xincolnsbire a Century Uqo.
IT has always been a pleasure to me to dwell
on old times, and to compare them with the
present, and much may be gleaned from the tales
of old working-men. They will tell you what
they have heard with their ears, and what their
fathers have heard before them for a number of
generations. Tradition may not be very reliable
in all cases, but it is a side-light to history, and
may be relied on when it goes no further back
than 100 years. Some thirty -five years since, I
used frequently to listen to the tales of an old
Lincolnshire man, and will try to give the pith of
what he said in something like the way in which
he said it.
I was born in the Isle of Axholme, in the
year 1789, but as I lived in another part of
North Lincolnshire during my boyhood, what I
tell you now will apply partly to one side of the
Trent, partly to the other, but chiefly to the
whole of North Lincolnshire. My father was a

244 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
farmer. He owned and cultivated about five
acres of land. He rented about 120 acres close
to his own ; but ho did not cultivate half of it —
more than half (now wai'ped, and ranking with the
richest land in England) was over-run with whins
and brambles, or c(jvefe(l a good part of the year
with water. We were seldom without gi[)sieH on
this waste land — it was a favourite spot for tliem,
and there were more gipsius then than now. I
remember when quite a child hearing the tales of
a gipsy, said to be 100 years old. She could teU
about every buUding which had been erected in
the district during her life ; and, to tell the truth,
it would be no hard matter to remember every
thing, as North Lincolnshire appears to have been
almost stationary during the eighteenth century.
My father was in fairly good circumstances,
having had a little nioney from his father and 100
guineas (all "spade ace") with his wife. But he
had a large family of sons — .1 was the seciond son
— and we were not very smoothly reared. We
did not live as you chUdren live now. For break
fast we seldom had anything besides boiled milk
and bread, when wheat was fairly cheap — when
wheat was dear we had porridge instead. We
were never without bacon for dinner, and we

LINCOLNSHIRE A CENTURY AGO. 245
seldom had any other kind of animal food. Some
farmers would kill a beast or two just before
Christmas each 3'^ear, and put the beef in salt.
But »'(' had nono of this hung beef It was the
custom for farmers to eat very little except what
their farms produced, and my father always held
that pig feeding was more profitable than the
feeding of beasts. At night we had the same
fare as for breakfast. Except mother, none of us
ever drank tea — fatlier scouted the idea of tea-
drinking, it was only fit for women. Father used
a little tobacco, and we often had ale of our own
brewing, but oftener we were without. Mother
churned and baked on the same day — once a
week. We children had a treat on that day.
We had each a large cake made of leavened
dough, with a little lard or bacon fat put in
before baking. When taken out of the oven a
hole was made in the middle of each cake, and
was filled with butter. We pulled the cakes to
pieces with our fingers, and drank buttermilk
(whey) with them. The baking was done very
dilferently then to now. Tho present sort of
ovens must have been introduceil before 1800, but
they were not common. The oven then in use
was a kind of bell, whioh was placed on a stone

246 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
made hot and then covered with ashes. Cakes
were often baked in ashes without even the
covering of a bell, and were much esteemed by
some people. Potatoes were extensively grown,
and were always sound, and formed a staple
article of food for winter. Swedish turnips were
unknown, and, as the white variety would not
keep well, cattle food was always scarce in spring.
Even gardens were not so rich in the choice and
variety of vegetables as now. Rhubarb, celery,
all the fancy peas, and many other things vvere
unknown then.
As to fruit culture, I think we were about as
forward then as we are now. None of the new
sorts of apples, pears, etc., seem to be an advance
on the good old sorts — sorts which grew on the
old trees when I was a boy. As we had a good
orchard, we were seldom without apple pies and
raw fruits of various sorts. These improved our
living very much ; but it was hard living then,
when wheat happened to be badly sprouted and
scarce fit to grind. But we had plenty of food at
all times, and, as we had to work hard, we were
not too particular about our food. But the
condition of farm labourers', children was very
different to ours. They have often been an

LINCOLNSHIRE A CENTURY AGO. 247
entire winter without bread. The winter of 1800
was very bad. Many a farmer had his wheat
and sheep stolen, although the laws were so
severe. I remember one grainery was broken
open by the labourers, and corn distributed to
every family in the village. The affair was
passed over, as it was felt that whole families
were starving. The poor children were sent to
work as soon as they could walk, and when they
were tired out they were beaten by their parents
(not hard-hearted ones, perhaps), and made to do
more. A man I now know, living in another part
of the county, told me that he had worked nearly
ever since he was born — ^that he earned and paid
for his first breeches, and that it was done at the
expense of his food. His mother gave him
nothing but bread for his dinners, and a penny
per day to buy treacle at the village shop. But
he was content to eat his bread without treacle,
or anything except water, and the pence saved
bought the breeches. The lines by Elizabeth
Barrett Browning, with respect to child labour
of another sort, might well be applied to the farm
labourers' children of North Lincolnshire a
hundred years ago : —

248 BYGONE LINCOLNSHIRE.
" Do ye hear the children weeping, 0 my brothers,
Ere the sorrow comes with years ?
They are leaning their young heads against their mothers,
And that cannot stop their tears.
The young lambs are bleating in the meadows.
The young birds are chirping in the nest,
The young fawns are playing with the shadows,
The young flowers are blowing towards the west ;
But the young, young children, 0 my brothers.
They are weeping bitterly !
They are weeping in the play-time of the others.
In the country of the free."
These " good old times " have gone — never, I
trust, to return ; but chUdren brought up in this
way often turned out well, and did wonders in
after life.

3nbej:.

Albemarle, William le Gros, Earl
of, 139
Alford Fight, 170
Ancient Stained Glass, the Great
Earl Beaumont, 62
Barrows, British remains at, 138
Barton-on-Hnmber Perry, 175 ;
in the Conqueror's time, 175;
Edward I. at, 175 ; Haven,
The, 178 ; Ride, a famous,
183; "Skitter Jack," 183;
" Waterside Inn," the, 179
Battle of Lincoln, The, 151;
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle quot
ed, 156; Wendover's "Flowers
of History," 157
Beaumont, Henry, Lord, 66
Brunanburh, Battle of, re., 137
Bolingbroke Castle, 56; dis
mantled, 60
Bourne, 117
Byard's Leap, The Legend of, 96 ;
The Scene of, 102-3; The
Legend, 103-9; Notes to
various renderings, 112-116
Caithness Man's Leap, The, 97
Castles, British, or Defensive
Works, 26; Roman, 28;
Saxon, 28 ; Norman, 29
Cecils, The, 118
Chester, Ralph de Gernons, Earl
of, 152
"Coaching days" at Barton, 183
Danes in Lincolnshire, The, 137
Defoe, Daaiiel, at Barton, 180
Dibdin, Charles, crosses the
Humber, 182

Dodd, The Rev. Dr. Wm., the
Forger, 119, 190; Early history
of, 191 ; at the Magdalen,
193 ; " Dr. Simony," 195-96 ;
Forgery, The, 197 ; Dr.
Johnson's exertions, 198 ;
Last days, 199 ; Last scene,
201
England during Stephen's reign,
159
Evelyn, John, at Barton, 180
Fairfaxes, Retreat to Hull, 177
Father's Leap, The, 98
Fortifications, Change in, 51
Hanby, Sir "WiUiam, 171-73
Hawthorn Tree of Fishtoft, The
Great, 212; Prevalence of,
213
Henry Viii. plunders Lincoln
Cathedral, 23
Hereward the Wake, 117
Humber, The, at Barton, 179
Hume and SmoUett quoted, 168
John of Gaunt's Palace, ReUc of,
31
Joust of Lincoln, The, 35-36
Langhorne, Dr. John, 204;
Monody on his mother's
death, 205 ; tutor with Robt.
Cracroft, 205 ; his courtship,
206 ; Poems to Miss Cracroft,
207-8; " Precepts of Conjugal
Happiness," 209; "Genius
and Valour," 210 ; Epitaph,
211

250

INDEX.

Langtoft, Peter de, 120
"Lewis " or " Lincoln Fair," 38-39
Lincoln, Early history, 1-3
Remi, Bishop of, 3-9
Alexander, Bishop of, 9
Bek, Thomas, Bishop of, 21
Bloet, Robert, Bishop of, 9
Groteste, Robert, Bishop of,
1 7 ; Hugh of Grenoble, Bishop
of, 10 ; Sutton, Oliver, Bishop
of, 19-21 ; Castle, 25; Castle,
Historical Notes, 35-39 ;
Castle Stormed by the Earl
of Manchester, 39; Cathedral,
1 ; Cathedral, Foundation of,
3; Cathedral, Endowment, 5;
Fair, 161 ; Fair, City pillaged,
167
Lincolnshire a Century Ago, 243
Louis, Prince, 162
Lover's Leap, The, 97
Marvell, The Rev. Andrew, 139
Newton, Sir Isaac, 226 ; Birth
place, 227; Boyhood, 228;
Cambridge, at, ' 230 ; Dis
coveries, 233 ; Honours to,
237 ; Death, 239 ; Eulogy by
Sir David Brewster, 241
Nicholaa de Camvile, 36-37, 164
On the Population of Lincoln
shire, 69 ; Origin, Methods
of testing, 69 ; Early Inhabi
tants of Britain, 75 ; Eye
Colours, 73 ; Character of the
Peasantry, 79 ; Complexion
in evidence, 71
Ordeal, or Imprecation, re Bread,
101
Paul Jones, Warning re, 182
Pembroke, Earl of, 162-66
Perche, Count de, 164-67
Poet, An Eighteenth Century,
203 ; Present Poets on
Lincolnshire, 203-4

Robert de Brunne, 117 ; List of
his Works, 124
Sanctuary, A Fugitive for, 177
Spalding Gentlemen's Society,
215 ; Foundation, 215 ;
Minutes, 219
Stephen, King, 151
St. Peter's Church, Barton, 62;
Lost Inscription, 66 ; Figures
in Stained Glass, 62
Superstitious Beliefs and Customs
of Lincolnshire, 80 ; Lincoln
shire, Descriptive of, 80 ;
Craws, 84 ; Ravens, 84 ;
Type of the Dane, 86 ;
Freya, 88 ; Caul, . 88 ;
Christening, 89 ; Confirma
tion, 89 ; Future Husband,
89-90 ; Marriage, 91 ; Cures,
91 ; Robin, 91 ; 111 Luck, 92-
94 ; Good Luck, 93-94.
Swineherd of Stow, The, 13
Tattershall, its Lords, its Castle,
and its Church, 43 ; Lords,
44-47 ; Castle, 47 ; Church, 54
Thornton Abbey, 136 ; Rules,
142 ; Seal, 142 ; Abbots, List
of, 144 ; Building Described,
145 ; Chronicle, Extracts
from, 147 ; Henry VIIL at,
148 ; Dissolution of, .and
Pensions, 149
Tower le Moor, 53
Weldon, Sir Lionel, 171-72
Welkyn, The Great Brass, of
Boston, 185
William of Wadington, 126
W^itchcraft in 1858, 99 ; at Belvoir
Castle, IOO; Spells, etc., 105-
106 ; Curious Notes on, 109
Witches of Belvoir, The, 127 "
Yarborough Camp, 138
York Claims Jurisdiction over
Lincoln, 8-9

Xist of Subscribers.
Abbott, Rev. D. W. , Rectory, Thorpe-on-the-Hill, Lincoln.
AUenby, Major S. H., The Elms, Lymington, Hants.
AUnutt, Rev. W. B., Covenham, St. Bartholomew, Louth.
Anningson, Thirkill, 111, Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby (2 copies).
Ash, E. Oliver, m.d., Donnington-on-Bain.
Ashwin, Rev. F. , Quadring Vicarage, Spalding.
Atkinson, Miss, The Vicarage, Caistor.
Ayre, Rev. L. R., Holy Trinity Vicarage, Ulverston.
Bartholomew, S. G., 18, Burton Road, Lincoln.
Battle, W. H., f.b,.c.s., 6, Harley Street, London, W.
Baxter, Rev. Thos. P. N., m.a., k.d., Hawerby Rectory, Great
Grimsby.
Beeson, Bennett, Grantley House, Grantham.
Bealby, J. T., 339, High Street, Edinburgh.
Berridge, Mrs., Thurnby, Skegness.
Bogie, J. R., Hundleby, near Spilsby.
Bohn, George, Tranby Park, Hull.
Bools, W. E., 7, Cornhill, London, E.G.
Bothamley, C. H. , Yorkshire College, Leeds.
Boyd, W., 4, Cowper Mansions, Cadogan Gardens, London, S.W.
Boyer, Charles F. , Gosberton Hall, Spalding.
-Bradley, F. L., Bel Air, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Brailsford, Joseph, Endcliffe, Sheffield.
Bramley, Rev. H. R., 3, Lindum Terrace, Lincoln.
Brierley, Rev. Philip H. , Vicarage, Brigg.
Bromley, Chas., Belle Vue House, Goole.
Bolton, H., Bookseller, Savile Street" Hull (4 copies).
Boulton, Babington, Ihe Bank House, Bishop Auckland.
Boulton, Hy., 7, St. Mary's Square, Horncastle.
Brown, Miss, Eastgate School, Lincoln.
Brown, W. C, Appleby, Doncaster.
Brown, William, Lock Hill Chambers, Great Grimsby.
Browne, Rev. N. L., Barkstone-le- Willows, Grantham, Line.
Burton, F. M., Highfield, Gainsbbrough.
Burtonshaw, Wm., Crowle, Doncaster.
Carter, F. R., Savile House, Potternewton, Leeds.
Carter, Reginald, 33, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.
Castle, Spencer, 34, J)§ Vere Gardens, Kensington.
Caswell, C. J., Hprneastle.
Chambers, Harry W., 26, Bank^Street, Sheffield.

252 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Chawner, Mrs. , Freshford Villa, Clifton Wood, Bristol.
Cheales, Rev. Alan, Brockham Vicarage, Reigate (4 copies).
Chesterfield Free Library, per D. Gorman.
Chorlton, Thos., 32, Brazenose Street, Manchester.
Clapton, Edward, m.d., 22, Sb. Thomas Street, London, S.E.
CoUett, Rev. E., m.a., 12, Lime Grove, Long Eaton, Derbyshire.
Conington, Mrs., Hagvvorthingham, Spilsby.
Cowburn, Rev. Robt., Moorby Rectory, Boston.
Crampton, W. T., Parcmont, Roundhay, Leeds.
Crow, Benj., Mechanics' Institute, Louth.
Craven, B., 6, Shelburne Road, Holloway, London, N.
Curtis, Rev. Edward, Little Bytham Rectory, Grantham.
C'usins, Rev. F. T., North Hykeham Vicarage, Lincoln.
Custance, Rev. A. C. , Binbrook Rectory, Market Rasen.
Dixon, James, County Buildings, Hull.
Doubleday, Wm. E., Ia., Greville Place, London, N.W.
Dowse, Francis, Godalming, Surrey.
Dowson, Mrs. E., Stanmore House, Weybridge, Surrey.
Dredge, J. , Ingle Vicarage, Buckland Brewer, Bideford, Devon.
Eddie, Mrs., Wootton, Ulceby.
Elvin, Chas. Norton, Eckling Grange, East Dereham.
Embleton, Thos. W., The Cedars, Methley, Leeds.
Fane, H. P., Fulbeck Hall, Grantham.
Farebrother, F. E. , 2, Craig's Court, Charing Cross, London, S.W.
Farrah, John, Low Harrogate.
Faunthorpe, Rev. J. P. , Principal, Whitelands College, Chelsea.
Featherston, R., Telegraph Superintendent, Grimsby.
Fewster, C. E., Elbceck, Princess Avenue, Hull.
Finlay, Wm., Stamford, Spalding and Boston Bank, Bourne.
Foljambe, Cecil G. Savile, m.p., Cochglode, Allerton, Newark.
Forster, Thomas, 101, High Street, Colchester (2 copies).
Forster, W. E., f.s.a., Lindum House, Aldershot.
Fotherby, Henry J., m.d., Woodthorpe Cote, Reigate.
Fowler, Jas., Louth.
Freshney , Rev. F. , Withcall Rectory, Louth.
Frith, Rev. W. A. , Welby Rectory, Grantham.
Galloway, F. C. , Castle View, Biskey Howe Terrace, Bowness.
George, Rev. J. , Deeping St. James, Market Deeping.
Gilliat, Rev. E., Harrow-on-the-Hill.
Goold, Rev. W. , Somerby Rectory, Brigg.
Goulding, R. W., Bookseller, Louth.
Graves, Rev. Michael Borlase, Marlow, Bucks.
Guest, W. H. , 57, King Street, Manchester.
Gutch, Mrs. , Holgate Lodge, York.
Hainsworth, Lewis, 120, Bowling Old Lane, Bradford.
Hall, Rev. F. D., Manby Rectory, near Louth.
Hall, T. M., Lincoln and Lindsey Banking Co., Horncastle.
Handson, Miss M.A., 13, Upper Berkeley Street, Portman Square,
London, W.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 253
ftarrison, Arthur, 37, North Parade, Grantham.
Heath, Rev. Joseph, Wigtoft Vicarage, Boston.
Hebb, William, Waynflete, Ross, Herefordshire.
Herringshaw, A., 76, High Street, Lincoln.
Hett, Frank C, St. Helen's, Brigg, Lincolnshire.
Hildyard, G. G. , Tinwell Road, Stamford.
Hill, Samuel W., 4, Bedford Row, London, W.C.
Hodgson, Rev. E. E. , Kyme Vicarage, Lincoln.
Hollis, Rev. R. , Whaplode Drove, Wisbeach (2 copies).
Holmes, Rev. Joseph, Swineshead Vicarage, Boston.
Hopkin, John, 8, Flottergate, Grimsby.
Horncastle, Hy., 115, Anerley Road, Anerley, London, S.E.
Horobin, Thomas Crewe, c. a., Crowle.
Howard, Dr., Altofts, Normanton.
Huddleston, Anthony, Feruleigh, Cambridge Road, Huddersfield.
Hudson, Rev. J. Clare, Thornton Vicarage, Horncastle.
Hull, Blundell Street Reading Room, per Mr. Isaacs.
Hull Church Institute, per Mr. Bailey.
Hull Literary Club, per Mr. William Andrews,
Irving, George, Estate Office, N.E.R. Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Isitt, J. T. , Hillfoot Lodge, Grantham.
Jacobson, Thomas E., Sleaford.
Jalland, Robert, Horncastle.
James, Philip, Postmaster, Brough, East Yorks.
Jeans, Rev. G. E., Shorwell Vicarage, Isle of Wight.
Kelsey, S., Morton, Gainsborough.
Kingston, Samuel, F.s.i., Auctioneer, Spalding (2 copies).
Laking, C, Hornsea.
Lambden, Miss, Old Vicarage, Burgh.
Laurence, Walesby, Rectory, Market Rasen.
Lee, R. Fred, Gonerby House, Grantham.
Lincoln, Right Rev. Lord Bishop of (Dr. King), The Palace, Lincoln.
Lincoln, Very Rev. the Dean of (Dr. Butler).
Lincoln Co-operative Society, Silver Street.
Lincoln Mechanics' Institute, per J. H. H. Perkyns.
Lloyd, Rev. J. G., Bosherston Rectory, Pembroke.
Locock, Major E. , South Elkington, Louth.
Loft, Rev. J. E. Wallis, Swallow Rectory, Caistor.
London National Liberal Club, Arthur W. Hutton, Librarian.
Love, Rev. J. Garlon, S. Agnes Vicarage, Liverpool.
Macdonald, Rev. G. W., m.a., St. Mark's Vicarage, Holbeach.
Macdonald, Dr. John, Woolsthorpe, Grantham.
Mackinder, Herbert, Mere Hall, Lincoln.
Maddison, Rev. A. R. , Vicar's Court, Lincoln.
Maddison, Ernest, Hagworthingham, Lincolnshire.
Markham, Geo., 'The Hubits, St. Martin's, Guernsey.
Marsden, W. .T. , Gainsborough.
Mason, Jas. Eardley, The Sycamores, Alford.
M'Cormick, Rev. Frederic H. J., f.s.a. Scot., St. George's, Derby.

254 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
Melville-Leslie, A. H. , D'Isney Place, Lincoln.
Michelson, Henry, 1, Broad Street, Stamford.
Mills, Robert M., Bourne.
Mills, W. H., County Alderman, Spalding (2 copies).
Milson, Richard Henry, m.d., 88, Finchley Road, South Hampstead,
N.W.
Mitchell, Thomas J., Stamford, Spalding, and Boston Bank, Bourne.
Moor, Rev. C, The Vicarage, Barton-on-Humber.
Moor, W^m. , 1 , Cavendish Street, Great Grimsby.
Morton, Dr. J., Eastgate House, Guildford.
Munkman, .J. H., 16, Commercial Street, Leeds.
Nelson, Miss, Biscathorpe House, Louth. '
Newcastle Public Library, per W. J. Haggerston, Chief Librarian.
Newcomb, J. M., Bookseller, Boston (2 copies).
Parker, John, Ingleby, Lincoln.
Patchett, John, Mildred House, Undercliffe Lane, Bradford, Yorks.
Pearson, Rev. W. J., Ard wick Lodge, Beverley Road, Hull.
Peet, Henry, 97, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool.
Phillips, Joseph, Stamford.
Phillips, Moro, Westgate House, Chichester (2 copies).
Pickering, Alfred, 19 and 20, Aldgate, London.
Pheasant, Charles, Crowle.
Pocklington-Coltman, Mrs., Hagnaby Priory, Spilsby.
Pretty, William, St. Thomas Road, Spalding.
Pretyman, Ernest G. , Orwell Park, Ipswich.
Price, C, Esq., Westward Ho, N. Devon.
Proctor, G. T., Bruce Grove, Tottenham, Middlesex.
Pyke, Charles, Swaton, Folkingham.
Quirk, John J. , Leigh, Lancashire.
Randall, Joseph, Bank Chambers, George Street, Sheffield (2 copies).
Rawnsley, W. F. , Park Hill, Lyndhurst, Hants.
Reeve, Captain N. H. , Ashby Hall, Lincoln.
Roberts, D. , Scrafield House, near Horncastle.
Roberts, W. B., Manor House, Hampton-on-Thames.
Robinson, Tom, m.d., 9, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, N.
Ross, Frederick, f.b.h.s., 137, Huddleston Road, Tufhel Park,
London.
Rowles, J. L., National School, Cleethorpes.
Roy, W. Gascoigne, Byams, Marchwood, Hants.
Royce, Rev. David, Nether Swell Vicarage, Stsw-on-the-Wold,
Gloucestershire.
Rushworth, J., AUbrighton, Wolverhampton.
Ruston, J., Monk's Manor, Lincoln.
Sammons, Rev. R. T., Saxilby Vicarage, Lincoln.
Saunders, Rev. J. C. K., Brookside, Market Rasen.
Sauvage, Henry, 41, Virginia Road, Leeds.
Scorer,. A. E., 9, New Inn, London.
Scupham, Henry, Market Rasen.
Sealey, Rev. S. B., Gosberton Vicarage, Spalding.

LIST OL' SUBSCRIBERS. 255
Selby, Capt. F. T., 14, High Street, Spalding.
Sharp, Rev. J. P. , Edenham Vicarage, Bourne.
Shelley, Rev. J. B., West Butterwick Vicarage, Doncaster.
Shillaker, T. G., 3, Stanley Gardens, Willesden Green, N.W.
Sibthorpe, Coningsby C, Sudbrooke Holme, Lincoln.
"Simpson, Miss Helen, 41, High Street, Stamford.
Simpson, Henry, 41, High Street, Stamford
Smith, Mrs. Ben, Horbling House, Folkingham (2 copies).
Smith, Major Edward, J.P., 7, Nevern Square, South Kensington,
S.W.
Smith, George, Horbling, Folkingham.
Smith, George, 21, Great Percy Street, Clerkenwell.
Smith, Mark, Louth.
Snaith, James Frederick, Ancaster House, Southsea, Hants.
Sneath, J. S., 32, Tentercroft Street, Lincoln.
Sorfleet, John, 23 and 25, Gresham Street, London, E.C.
Southwell, J. 6. , National School, Horncastle.
Sowby, T. H., Grainthorpe, Great Grimsby.
Sowter, G. S., Brigg.
Spence, J., Junr., Beckingham, Newark.
Spencer, W. B., 1, Colehern Terrace, EarVs Court, S.W.
Spurrier, Henry, Roughton Rectory, Horncastle.
Stamp, George, Ash Lea, Great Grimsby.
Stanley, Mrs., The Red House, Coleby.
Stephen, Mrs. Reginald, Wootton Cottage, Eastgate, Lincoln.
Stephenson, John, Borough Treasurer, 'Town Hall, Grimsby.
Stiirmer, Rev. Von H. E., Scotton Rectory, Kirton Lindsey.
Summers, M. C, Heckington, S.O. Line.
Sutton, E., S. Botolphs, Lincoln.
Sutton, Frederick, Willingham by Stow, Gainsborough.
Swaby, William Proctor, d.d., Millfield, Sunderland.
Sympson, E. Mansell, m.a., m.d. (Cantab), 2 and 3, James Street,
Lincoln.
Taylor, Herbert B. , 31, Crutchet Friars, London, E.C.
Taylor, Rev. R. V., Melbecks, Richmond.
Tennyson, Lord Alfred, Poet- Laureate, Freshwater, Isle of Wight.
Tewson, Edward, 80, Cheapside, London, E.C.
Thompson, John, j.p., Peterborough.
Thorold, Sir John, Syston Park, Grantham.
Thorpe, R. A., Lindum, St. Alban's Road, Watford.
Tinkler, Rev. John, m.a.. Rose Cottage, Caunton, Newark, Notts.
Tomlinson, Henry J., Whitecross House, Barton-on-Humber.
Towler, Isaac W., 11, Trollope Street, Lincoln.
Triffitt, Josiah, High Street, Holbeach.
TroUope-Swan, Mrs. C, Sausthorpe Hall, Spilsby.
Troyte-BuUock, Mrs. , North Coker House, "Veovil, Somerset.
Tryon, Rev. A. W. , Middle Rasen Vicarage, Market Rasen.
Tupholme, Frank, 1, Coleherne Terrace, EarVs Court, S.W.
^yack, Rev. George S., Crowle, Doncaster.
Venables, Rev. Canon, The Precentory, Lincoln.
Vere, George, Louth.
Vincent, William Clarke, Boston Lodge, Boston Spa, Yorks,

256 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
WiiUi.s, Frank \V., 112, Hnnley Koiid, Stroud Givon, London, N.
WaUis, William Emerson, 78, Cornhill, London, E.C.
\Vatkinson, W. H,, SO, Stirling Street, Grimsby.
Welby, Rev. O. B., Barrowby Rectory, (Srantlinm (2 copies).
\\'hit6, Rov. J. H., Bratsleby Rectory, Lincoln.
Wilkinson, \V. A,, 13, Bowlalloy Lano, Hull.
Wilkinson, Mi.is, 2, Parksiilo, (.'lunbridge.
Wilson, lOdwnrd S., Melton, nnnigli. East Yorks.
Winokley, William, i'.,s..\,, Kluinbard.'s, Harrow-on-tho-Uill.
WingatoSaiil, W.W., m.d., Fenton-Ciiwthorne House, LiinoiiMtur.
Winn, Mis.s, Ap|iU'hy Itall, Ooiicaster (2 copies).
Wood, E. Hontloy, Cothio House, Stamford.
^Vood, R. n., Ks..\., Penrhos House, Rim-by.
Wris'lit-Taylor, R. , M.,\., i,.L. im., v.s. .v., Haysi;'arth I'nrU. Mavtou-on-
Huiuber.

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