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building, (perhaps burnt and demolished in some of the
inroads of the Scots,) and of course not rated as a castle,
and that the Duke made the old port (sic) habitable, and
added to it those works of defence which are now taken away.
The only remains of the castle are a large square building,
and several arched cellars, which were probably the
dungeons, or keeps. One thing however is
remarkable; an arched, subterraneous road leads all the way
from the castle to the kitchen-floor of an house in the
town, called Dockwray-Hall, the distance being 307 yards.
Such subterraneous roads were not unfrequent in these old
fortresses, and were doubtless intended for conveying
provisions, and preventing surprises.
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Having finished the description of this town, it now remains
to give a sketch of its history, which is unavoidably
entangled with the general history of the country, and
likewise with the history of England. The town and signory
underwent no changes different from those of the whole
county till the year 1251; at that time they were given as
the 200 librates of land which King Henry III. gave,
together with 5000 merks of silver, as a portion with
Margaret his daughter, who was then married to Alexander
King of Scots. It was given under the title of the Queen's
Haim (or Home) Lands. Though it thus
became a property to the Scottish Crown, it was only
considered as a part of the King's private estate, (for
which he did homage or fealty to the King of England, by
paying one soar hawk at the city of Carlisle,) and not as
being part of the Scots dominions. This appears from an
assize held 6. Edward I.; also from an inquisition taken at
Carlisle in 21. Edward I. before Thomas de Normanville, the
King's Escheator, beyond Trent, A.D. 1292. The jurors there
find, that the said manors are worth 200 pounds, and that
John Baliol is next heir, and of the age of thirty years.
Edward, however, in the 26th year of his reign, having
quarrelled with Baliol, (then King of the Scots,) seized
these lands, and gave them to Beck Bishop of Durham, (known
by the name of the Fighting Bishop:) He enjoyed them not
long, for being summoned to attend a parliament held at
Carlisle in the thirty-third year of the same reign, and not
appearing, the lands were adjudged to the Crown. In the year
1306, and the thirty-fourth of his reign, Edward gave these
lands to the Duke of Britanny: In his family they continued
till 11. of Edward IV.; when Ralph de Nevil, (then Duke,)
being slain in battle at Barnet, they again reverted to the
Crown for want of heirs. They continued in the Crown till
William III. gave them to William Bentick Esq; (afterwards
Earl of Portland,) his favourite page: In that family they
continued till 1784, when his Grace the present Duke of
Portland sold them to his brother-in-law the Duke of
Devonshire.
This town of Penrith hath several times severely suffered by
the inroads of the Scots, particularly in the 19. of Edward
III. when 26,000 entered Cumberland, laying waste all before
them. They burnt Penrith, with several other villages;
carried away all the inhabitants whom they could any way
make useful into Scotland, and there publickly sold them to
the highest bidder: they likewise carried off 40,000 head of
cattle, and committed such barbarities on the defenceless
and weak as humanity must shudder at. In the 6. of Edward
the II. they likewise made an incursion, and destroyed this
town, at which time it is supposed many of the inhabitants
hid their money in the walls of their houses; being
afterwards either killed or carried away captives, the money
was frequently left there; insomuch that an old house is
seldom pulled down but some silver and other coins are
found. These calamities, joined to a want of water, and
great distance from coal, (the nearest being 26 miles
land-carriage,) made this town very thin of inhabitants: but
in the year 1748 [1468], Bishop Strickland of Carlisle
remedied the former of these wants, by purchasing of the
owners of certain Mills, (particularly Vaux of Catterlin,)
so much of the water of the river Petterell as would flow
through the eye of a mill-stone. This he generously, at his
own expence, conveyed to Penrith, and the water still
continues to flow in the same quantity, and no more. Since
the general use of pumps, no town perhaps is better supplied
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