{series- Lakes Guides}
{title- Transcriptions from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1731 to 1907}
{author- Norgate, Martin & MN: 16.9.2010}
{version- last edit: 3.9.2015}
{abstract- Transcriptions of interest to Westmorland and Cumberland etc,
from the Gentleman's Magazine, published London, 1731 to 1922.}
{header- Transcriptions from the Gentleman's Magazine, 1731 to 1907}
{text- Transcriptions of interest to Westmorland and Cumberland etc, from
the Gentleman's Magazine, published London, 1731 to 1922. The magazines
used are mostly in the Armitt Library, Carlisle Library, and some at
Hampshire CC Museums Service.}
{text- The Armitt Library has nearly all issues up to 1809, and these can
be browsed on the shelves. Carlisle Library has a longer run of issues kept
in the stacks, missing some which might be available on CD. I have not had
access to the following: missing 1892 to 1899 part 1; 1899 part 2
incomplete; missing 1903 to 1906; missing 1907 part 2 to 1922.}
{text- source type: LakesSrc & Gents Mag}
{header- Lists of References}
{text- In these lists:-}
{text- (GS) marks contributions by George Smith who is a regular
contributor from Cumberland.}
{text- (CAM2) gives the page number/s of citation in William Camden's
Britannia, Gough edn 1789.}
{text- Not all entries have useful information.}
{text- Note that A Rambler is believed to be Joseph Budworth, 1756-1815,
author of A Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes, but little of his other
contributions have any relevance to Westmorland or Cumberland.}
{text- Illustrated articles have either an engraving on one of the pages,
or a plate tipped in. The annotation does not include maps and charts which
are mentioned explicitly.}
{text- The coded page references are hyperlink buttons in the database.
There are two styles:-}
{inset- G[yr][no].txt eg G7310367.txt}
{inset- G[yr][A|B][no] eg G857B108.txt}
{text- In each case the first three numbers gives the year (1731 and 1857
in the examples); letter A or B is for part 1 or part 2 in the year; the
last number is the page number.}
{text- The pages were mostly photographed; the source books are too stiffly
rebound to lay flat on a scanner or photocopier, the photography could not
use a copy stand and lighting and relies on camera flash or natural light.
The photographs are not intended for display; all pages are now
transcribed, and the photo of the page hidden from the default page
display. The images are available 'behind the scenes' in image view (MODES
database).}
{header- Finding Stuff!}
{text- Some, even many, articles may have been missed. Miscellaneous
articles, prints and maps have been found in the magazines at different
times. The Armitt Library has a handlist of articles relevant to Cumbria
which was a valuable start for searching, but it has some glitches which I
have tried to correct. Some of the entries in that handlist have little
direct bearing on The Lakes and Cumbria. References marked 'not found' are
in the Armitt index, but not found in the magazine. The Armitt handlist
stops at 1808, so from 1809 the Contents at the start of each issue and the
Index at the back of each volume, or part volume, have been inspected to
spot relevant material. These volume indexes are not always reliable,
citing page numbers which do not have the promised content, or not indexing
under obvious terms in the content. As always with historical material,
searching for relevant material depends on the searchers foreknowledge of
the likely odd spellings and family names which might be of interest. This
failure of indexes might be taken as a reason to use text searching instead
(not an option in printed material, but could be applied to transcripts in
machine readable form); searching that way also relies on the searcher
knowing what to look for. Would you know to look for
'Kshitisavasavalicharitam' (in the index for 1853 part 2) if you had an
interest in India? Indexing in the new series about the 1860s has a list of
keywords for essays, and a separate topographic index; both were checked.
Indexing of the entirely new series begun in 1868 is nonexistent, all that
is given is a page or two of contents.}
{text- As an example of a better level of indexing, the arrangement of
vol.36 for 1766, includes}
{inset- a list of plates for the whole volume at the beginning;}
{inset- for each monthly issue there is a title page with a contents list,
and the next page is an extended contents which has subentries for matter
within articles, and indicates pages;}
{inset- at the end there are separate indexes to essays, to occurrences, to
poetry, and to person names.}
{text- But: when trying to find an article about agriculture in Cumberland
in this volume there was no relevant index entry, but the article was
found, it is about Land Tax, and was noticed because 'Cumberland' was
luckily mentioned in an extended content entry.}
{header- General Indexes}
{text- There have been numerous projects to index the magazine, some
claiming to be full indexes, latterly they concentrate on people's names to
serve the current craze for family history; topography is not an interest.
The most promising of general index is said to be organized by county:-}
{text- An early time span is covered by an index:-}
{text- As yet I have not had access to this index.}
{text- A book sometimes cited as an index is not an index but just a
subjective selection of articles made in 1891 and more recently reprinted.}
{header- References}
{text- NOTA BENE: Over the long span of publication the number of new
series and misnumberings of volumes make it essential for today's
researcher to give references by the year, part and page
number. The declared volume number from its title page might be
given as well, but is not to be relied upon and is better ignored}
{text- Make references on the pattern (from 1810):-}
{inset- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 2 p.406}
{text- or for early years when pagination was continuous for a whole year
(before 1810), use the pattern:-}
{inset- Gentleman's Magazine 1731 p.1035}
{text- or some abbreviated form. (For instance the database references to
pages of the magazine follow the MS DOS 8.3 rul. G is the declared prefix
for the Gents Mag in the research project, the reference above becomes
G865B406.txt; for the early series where the year has a single run of pages
reaching over 1000, the reference would be on the pattern G7351035.txt.)}
{text- And when looking for things, bear in mind: that pages are sometimes
bound out of sequence; that the contents and indexes are not always at the
end; etc.}
{header- Please Help:-}
{text- It is not a practical option to read every page of every magazine
over nearly two centuries of monthly issues, to find all relevant material.
So,}
{text- I do not imagine I have found all the matter relating to
Westmorland, Cumberland, Lancashire north of the sands, and the scrap of
Yorkshire, that make present Cumbria. If you know of more please pass the
reference to me, to be added into this list.}
{header- The First Magazine}
{text- Edward Cave was first to use the word magazine for this type
of publication. Dr Samuel Johnson was one of his contributors; his
dictionary entry for the word is:-}
MAGAZINE n. (magazine, French, from the Arabick machsan, a
treasure)
1. A storehouse ... ...
2. Of late this word has signified a miscellaneous pamphlet, from a
periodical miscellany called the Gentleman's Magazine, and published
under the name of Sylvanus Urban by Edward Cave.
{header- Technical Note}
{text- Extracts made for gazetteer entries, place by place, can be quite
large and beyond the capability of MODESforWindows to handle. This size
problem is a bug that has not been solved, and will not be now that MfW is
no longer developed. The successor database engine, MODESxml, will not have
this problem. Meanwhile, some extracts have been cut into smaller chunks,
which should be linked by previous/next page buttons.}
{text- The usual pattern of linking 'included' files in LakesGaz is to
store the chunk of Evidence data with record identifier = [place
identifier] ([short filecode]inc). For example Evidence from Donald 1774
for Addingham, Glassonby is:-}
{inset- Addingham, Glassonby (DN04inc)}
{text- There are Includes and IncludedIn data to link the place record and
included record.}
{text- For the Gentleman's Magazine evidence the included record will have
a record identifier on the pattern [place identifier] (GM text
reference]inc)), eg:-}
{inset- All Saints, Bolton (G7800130inc)}
{series- Lakes Guides}
{title- Gents Mag, indexes and searching}
{author- Norgate, Martin & MN: 11.9.2012}
{version- last edit: 21.5.2015}
{abstract- Thoughts about indexes and searching prompted by using the
Gentleman's Magazine.}
{header- The Gentleman's Magazine}
{header- Thoughts about Indexes and Searching}
{text- These thoughts about indexes and searching were prompted by using
the Gentleman's Magazine, published in London 1731 to 1907, or 1922.}
{text- source type: LakesSrc & Gents Mag}
{text- Using indexes and using search tools are quite different ways are
exploring a text source like the Gentleman's Magazine. Searching has
recently become popular with the use of websites. What is offered by some
websites, but not explained, is a search tool that apparently works on .pdf
page images using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software somewhere in
the process. Other tools are based on more reliable machine readable text,
but there are still difficulties. A major failing of searching is that the
text being searched is old, it has odd letter forms, odd spellings, odd
hyphenations, and so on. Looking for Windermere you will not find
Wynandermere, Winder Meer, and other spellings, or even the current
spelling if it is split over a line or a page. It is not reasonable to
expect the searcher to know all possible variants, some of which might be
one-off errors, which have to be searched for. It gets worse if the target
of the search has changed its name at one time or another: Thirlmere was
known as Leathes Water and Wythburn Water amongst other things as well as
having variant spellings. If the target of the search is not narrow but a
wide interest then things get completely impossible: would you know to look
for William Gibson when looking for people of interest to The Lakes? The
user can't be expected to know what to look for. Powerful and apparently
successful search engines like Google leave you in awe at their power: BUT
you don't know what they have missed.}
{text- Using an index is a different process. The user does the searching
by scanning down a list of what is available presented in a useable order.
This, too, has failings. Did the indexer include keys to every thing in
which you have an interest, and did he key oddly spellt variants under both
the source spelling and a standardised modern form? Good indexing depends
on common sense, appreciation of the source, and of people's interests,
supported by strong terminology rules, awareness of the value of variant
forms, and so on. Its an art: its never perfect, but it should link you to
the target of your search through all sorts of spellings and historical
versions of names of people, places, etc. In the arrangement of the index
keys a name like William Gibson will be presented in a list that makes his
relevance to The Lakes apparent. Beware that although book indexing is
often done very well, indexing to books in a collection, especially, for
example, a public library, is usually extemely poor.}
{header- What To Index and How}
{text- Indexing the transcribed pages, stuff relevant to Cumbria, in a
reasonably thorough way is not a small task. Using a purist approach is
laborious: one example should demonstrate the work needed, the Content
group for the Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.604, record , G7450604.txt, could
be (I have added an author for the purpose of demonstration):-}
{text- CONTENT}
{inset- PERSON author: Smith, George & GS}
{inset- PERSON soldier: Wade, George, Marshall}
{inset- PERSON : Charles, Prince}
{inset- PERSON soldier: Perth, Duke of}
{inset- PERSON soldier: Ogilvy, Lord}
{inset- PERSON soldier: Gordon, Lord}
{inset- PERSON soldier: Pattenson, Thomas}
{inset- PERSON unit: Murray's Regiment}
{inset- PLACE Great Corby & Wetheral & Cumbria Cumberland) &
England}
{inset- PLACE Carlisle & Cumbria (Cumberland) & England}
{inset- PLACE Penrith & Cumbria (Cumberland) & England}
{inset- PLACE Warwick Bridge & Wetheral & Cumbria (Cumberland)
& England}
{inset- PLACE Stanwix Bank & Carlisle & Cumbria (Cumberland) &
England}
{inset- PLACE Brampton & Cumbria (Cumberland) & England}
{inset- PLACE Rickerby & Stanwix Rural & Cumbria (Cumberland) &
England}
{inset- PLACE Warwick & Wetheral & Cumbria (Cumberland) &
England}
{inset- PLACE Blackhall & St Cuthbert Without & Cumbria
(Cumberland) & England}
{inset- PLACE Rockcliffe & Cumbria (Cumberland) & England}
{inset- DATE 1745}
{inset- PERIOD 18th century, early & 1740s}
{inset- EVENT rebellion: 1745 Rebellion}
{inset- EVENT siege: siege, Carlisle}
{inset- OBJECT_NAME magazine & Gentleman's Magazine}
{inset- OBJECT_NAME Rowcliff (Rockcliffe) & Rickarby (Rickerby)}
{text- The time taken to record all this is not small.}
{text- Thinking about what is wanted from the indexing makes a less purist
approach attractive.}
{inset- Not all the keywords in the above analysis are wanted, 'Cumbria'
and 'England' for examples.}
{inset- The planned indexes for many of the keywords do not require them to
be in separately identifiable concepts; they will just be entries in a
general index.}
{inset- But I do want to be able to index, in a controlled manner, the
magazine date and author.}
{text- So a simplified approach is:-}
{text- CONTENT}
{inset- PERSON author: Smith, George & GS}
{inset- DATE 1745}
{inset- PERIOD 18th century, early & 1740s}
{inset- 0BJECT_NAME magazine & Gentleman's Magazine}
{text- TEXT_SECTION}
{inset- KEYWORD Wade, George, Marshall & Charles, Bonnie Prince &
Perth, Duke of & Ogilvy, Lord & Gordon, Lord & Pattenson,
Thomas & Murray's Regiment & Great Corby, Wetheral & Carlisle
& Penrith & Warwick Bridge, Wetheral & Stanwix Bank, Carlisle
& Brampton & Rickarby (Rickerby) & Rickerby, Stanwix Rural
& Warwick, Wetheral & Blackhall, St Cuthbert Without & Rowcliff
(Rockcliffe) & Rockcliffe & rebellion, 1745 & 1745 Rebellion
& Carlisle, siege & siege, Carlisle}
{text- This pattern is similar to the indexing approach already used,
successfully, for guide book transcriptions.}
{text- Note that I am indexing for Cumbria interest; and I am using terms
to match the Old Cumbria Gazetteer.}
{header- Article or Page?}
{text- Indexing in other elements of the Lakes project transcriptions has
always been done record, ie page, at a time. The idea of indexing by
article rarther than page for the Gents Mag was considered and rejected.}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 18th century 1731-49}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 18th century 1750-74}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 18th century 1775-99}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 19th century 1800-24}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 19th century 1825-49}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 19th century 1850-74}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 19th century 1875-99}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, 20th century, 1900-1922}
{title- Gents Mag, contents, non Cumbria list}
{header- Gentleman's Magazine: MISCELLANEOUS EXTRAS}
{text- The following may have no direct relevance to Cumbria. (GS) marks
contributions by George Smith who is a regular contributor from
Cumberland.}
{header- Other contributions by George Smith (GS)}
{text- The following have no direct relevance to Cumbria. George Smith was
a regular contributor from Cumberland; he lived in Yorkshire up to 1737-38,
in Boothby by Brampton, from 1738, in Wigton 1740-1759.}
{inset- 1735 pp.610, 732 and 1736 p.157- part of an epistle to Mr Pope on
his excellent poems.}
{inset- 1737 pp.144-147 - Jeptha, an Oratorio.}
{inset- 1737 p.756 - in memory of Richard Gay.}
{inset- 1738 p.216 - on a Hymn to Chastity.}
{inset- 1738 p.350 - on a passage from Virgil's Aenid.}
{inset- 1738 p.598 - Women of Ten Different Sorts.}
{inset- 1740 pp.620- - Visit to Zink}
{inset- 1741 pp.325-326 - transaltion of Horace ode 25 book 1, To Lydia.}
{inset- 1747 p.36 - reply to Theophilus Buckeridge regarding monks.}
{inset- 1747 pp.211-212 - on poets imitating one another.}
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{inset- }
{title- Gents Mag 1734 p.164}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1734 p.164:-}
{header- William Thurmond}
{image = G7340164.jpg}
William Thurmond, Esq; aged 105, near Carlisle. In 1645. he
was in Naseby Fight, and lost his Arm to Musket-Ball.
{title- Gents Mag 1735 p.379}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.5 p.379, 1735:-}
{header- Venus in Eclipse}
{image = G7350379.jpg}
On VENUS seen in the Solar Eclipse 1715.
Translated from a Latin Epigram, p.272.
VEnus dallying with Mars, as goes the old story,
Requested the Sun to abandon his glory;
'Tis done, but, fair goddess, you're never the nearer;
Where next will you hide, when the shade shews you clearer?
G. S
{text- By George Smith.}
{title- Gents Mag 1736 p.554}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.6 p.554, 1736:-}
{header- Eclipse, 1737}
{image = G7360554.jpg}
Sept. 27, 1736.
Mr URBAN,
I Just now by Accident met with a Monthly Book under the pompous Title of
Oracle, the Authors of which vainly endeavour to cast an Odium upon
all your Performances; it is so full of gross Errors, that I wonder their
Ignorance has escap'd so long uncensur'd. As I have no private Ends to
serve, it is purely out of sincere Regard to Truth, that I shall endeavour
to rectify their Mistakes relating to the Eclipse for next February.
Whoever the Author of this Calculation be, he seems but little acquainted
with that part of Astronomy; for no Pretence of Oversight can excuse such
palpable Blunders, otherwise I would willingly have imputed it to that
Cause.
He says, The central Shade enters in the Gulf of Mexico; whereas
there is no central Shade in this Eclipse: 'Tis a very remarkable annular
one; and the Apex of the central Cone terminates in the Expansum several
hundrd miles before it reaches Earth.
As to the Annulus coming on, he is not far wide of the Mark, it will be
about the Mouth of Rio del Nort, or the North River, where it
empties itself into the Gulf of Mexico; but as to very intermediate
Part, he is so widely out, as in some Places to err almost 920 Miles. For
by his Passage we are to expect the Annulus or Middle of the central
Eclipse no where in Britain, but in Greenland, Iceland, and
the Lord knows where; It will be central very near the City of
Edinburgh, as I shal shew in my next by a Map; which, if it be
thought proper, you may publish with my Name.
Yours, &c. G. S.
{text- The promised map has not yet been found, though there are several
eclipse maps by other astronomers.}
{title- Gents Mag 1737 p.121}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.7 p.121, 1737:-}
{image = G7370121.jpg}
SIR,
York, Feb. 21, 1736.
THE Eclipse being now past, I thought proper to acquaint you with what
Observations I had made thereon. The Day was here very favourable, and I
cast the Species of the Sun on a Sheet of Paper (whereon I had drawn
several Circles to different Radii) thro' a two-foot Telescope: The Eclipse
began in the lower Limb of the Sun towards the West at
20 m.
{text- The date should be February 1737.}
{title- Gents Mag 1737 p.122}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.7 p.122, 1737:-}
{image = G7370122.jpg}
20 m. past II, the Moment of greatest Darkness was at 39 m. past III, and
the Digits about II, or a very little turn'd: the Horns of the Sun were in
the same Circle of Altitude at 41 m. past III, and the full End was at 57
m. past IV: The Proportion of the Diameters of the Luminaries at the Middle
of the Eclipse was as 12 to 11.3. We were not included within the Annulus,
that being considerably to the North: So that those Gentlemen who
constructed this Eclipse, and brought this City within the Annulus, are
widely mistaken. Whether Edinburgh was central, or not, is left to
the Observation of that City. The Ingenious J. T. of this Place has
communicated his Observations to me, viz. Began at II 18 m. Middle
at 41 m. past III. End at 55 m. past IV. He wrote to me some Time before,
that he made the Centre considerably North of Edinburgh, about
Perth and Dundee. Notwithstanding the Digits came up to II,
and the Sky very serene considering the Season, yet when the Darkness was
greatest we could not perceive above three of the Planets, viz. Venus,
Mars and Saturn, and none of the fix'd Stars, the Gloom being
mostly about the Horizon, and the Darkness not very considerable: So that I
question if more were seen within the Annulus itself; we being almost as
dark as any other Place could be in an Eclipse where the Ring was so large.
I am pleas'd the Observations came so near my computations.
Sir, your most humble Servant, G. S.
{title- Gents Mag 1737 p.157}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.7 p.157, 1737:-}
{header- Aldebaran Eclipsed}
{image = G7370157.jpg}
Occultation of ALDEBARAN by the MOON.
Mr. URBAN,
AS you now improve Mathematical Knowledge in your Magazine, I
here send an Observation of the Star Aldebaran eclipsed by the
Moon.
FEB 25. last, about V. in the Evening, I perceived the Star
Aldebaran in antecedentia to the Moon, thro' a four-foot Day
Telescope, but could not determine whether there would happen an
Occultation or not, the Star seeming too much elevated for the Cusp of the
illuminated Horn; and the Sun not being set, the obscured Portion of the
Moon's Disk was altogether invisible; However I continued to observe, and
about 30 after V. the Star instantaneously disappear'd behind the obscured
Disk, as if it had been actually extinguished. It continued immersed just
16 Minutes, and made a sudden Eruption considerably below the Tip of the
illuminated Horn: But as a Figure will represent the Appearance more
natural, I have added one.
{image = G737E01.jpg}
The Place of Observation was Rufforth, in the same Latitude with
York; but about five Miles more to the West, according to Measure.
The first Observation of this Star, that I know of, being eclips'd by the
Moon, was in the Year 509 of Christ; but no doubt there were many
antecedents to it. It has many Names; as the Lucida, Palilitium, Oculus
Tauri, Aldebaran, and in the Hebrew, Kesil; hence Kesilim
for the Hyades. Such an Immersion as this preceded the Overthrow of
the Babylonian Empire by the Medes; for that Nation being
eminent Astronomers, the Prophet Isaiah gave them a Sign
fore-running their Destruction, after their own Method, and suited to their
favourite Science, almost 300 Years before it happenend; which at that time
was more than all the Mathematicians of the Universe could do. See
Isaiah xiii. 10. For the Stars of Heaven and the Kesilim
thereof shall be hid, &c. The rest of the Verse is a Prediction
of a Solar and Lunar Eclipse happening much about the same Time; all which
Occurrences have not, since that Period, happened so near again, till the
present Year, that I know of.
Yours, G. S.
P.S. These and like Observations are of great Use, not only to determine
the Longitude of Places, but to perfect the Theory of the Moon.
{title- Gents Mag 1738 p.417}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1738 p.417}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G7380417.jpg}
{image = G738E01.jpg}
{inscription- Fragment of an Altar to Serapis, in a Wall
at Kirkby Thor, in Westmorland.}
The above Figure is a Fragment of a Roman Altar to Jupiter
Serapis, lately taken out of the Back of an Oven at Kirkby Thor
in Westmoreland, and now plac'd in a Stone Wall in the Town Street;
by the Asterisks placed at the Top, the Deity having such a Mark in the
AEgyptian Ceremonies, the Dedicator seems to have been an
AEgyptian, train'd up at Rome; 'tis a small portable Altar,
and, I believe, the only one dedicated to that Idol in Britain.
The following is in the Wall of a House at the same Place, but the
Inscription is common tho' imperfect.
{image = G738E02.jpg}
{inscription- Fragment of a Roman Altar to the Great Jupiter,
found in the same Place, in the Wall of House.}
The Village, yet, retains the Name of the Saxon Idol Thor,
from whence Thursday is call'd, is remarkable for a very
considerable Vestige of a Roman Camp, and several other Inscriptions
and Ruins, which I had not Leisure to examine, but may be the Subject of
some future Attempt.
Yours, CARLEOLENSIS.
{title- Gents Mag 1739 p.11}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1739 p.11}
{header- Baptism, Bridekirk Font}
{image = G7390011.jpg}
DIPPING the Proper BAPTISM.
... ...
That Baptism was administered by Immersion in the Scripture Times, is
confess'd by many, that to this Day adhere to the Innovation of Sprinkling,
and that it was performed this Way in After-Times I may prove (by way of
Appendix to the many Testimonies I before gave) from that famous old Font
at Bridekirk in Cumberland, which seems by the Inscription to
be erected upon the most early Conversion of the Saxons to
Christianity; where, as Bishop Nicholson observes, 'we have
on the East Side fairly represented a Person in a long sacerdotal Habit
dipping a Child into the Water, and a Dove, (the Emblem, no doubt, of the
Holy Ghost) hovering over the Infant.' They are the Words of the
Bishop to Sir William Dugdale, that famous Antiquarian, and may be
found in Gibson's Cambden, p.841. ...
{text- In a letter by Marcus written 16 October 1738.}
{title- Gents Mag 18 part p.}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 3rd series vol. p., 18:-}
{header- Frost and Flood}
{image = G7400080.jpg}
Extract of a Letter from Carlile. Feb. 23, 1740.
Our Frost broke on Sunday the 17th Instant, and notwithstanding the
Rapidity of some of our Rivers, which withstood its Assaults long before
they froze, I measur'd some of the Icy Fragments tost ashore by the Flood
22 1/2 Inches thick next Day after the Thaw, the like certainly never known
in these Climates. The Ice on the River Eden by Carlisle,
which is many Miles lengthways in several Places, is not risen to the
Flood, and we expect very bad Consequences whenever it shall, unless
dissolv'd by a gentle Thaw, which the present Circumstances seem to
promise, it having bore all manner of Carriages for six Weeks past, and
must be very thick. Our Snow is quite gone, save in the Mountains.
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.130}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.10 p.130, 1740:-}
{header- Opitics}
{image = G7400130.jpg}
Mr. URBAN.
As the following Optical Phaenomenon is not yet taken notice of by the
Writers on that Subject, it may probably not be unacceptable if propos'd in
your Mag. that some of these Literati may account for it
from their Principles.
Looking at the Moon (by accident) in a common plain Mirror or
Looking-Glass, which I held in such a Position as to see her Body there, I
was very much surpriz'd to see her multiply'd into four distinct Spectrums,
at some distance from each other. I try'd the same Experiment with the Sun,
and the like happen'd to him also. How is this to be accounted for in a
plain polish'd Mirror, where other Objects appear only single, as daily
Practice confirms? Note the Spectrums are gradually darker on each side of
the true reflected Image, sometimes they are five, and in some Glasses but
three, and never fewer;
Yours, G. S.
{text- The consequent correspondence is not short, and has not been
transcribed, but see:-}
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.170}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.10 p.170, 1740:-}
{image = G7400170.jpg}
{image = G740E04.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.171}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1740 p.171}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G7400171.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
I HAD the pleasure of yours in relation to the Altar I sent you, which was
so much more necessary, as having procur'd Baron Clark's own Remarks
on the Reading since I wrote to you. It may now be published, with the
Conjectures of two of the best Antiquaries of the Age (the Baron and Mr
Ward). I have drawn them up as below.
{image = G740E01.jpg}
THIS remarkable ALTAR to FORTUNE was lately discover'd in ye outer
Room of a Bath at Netherby, it being, as Baron Clark
conjectures, a peculiar Ceremony in the Worship of that Goddess, to purify
the Priest and the People with Water. That judicious Antiquary grounds his
Opinion on a Yorkshire Altar, dedicated to the same Power; for which
I refer you to Horsley's Brit. Romana, Page 304.
The Letters are very fair, but attended with considerable Difficulty in the
Reading, by means of the peculiar Signature (X) at Bottom, which the Baron
says was the ancient Manner of writing M; and indeed it appears to be so
from Ol. Wormius's Runic Characters. See also Hick's Antiq.
literat Septentr. He therefore assigns three various Readings to it as
below.
DEAE * SANCTAE FORTUNAE CONSERVATRICI, MARCUS AURELIUS †
FAVIUS TRIBUNUS ‡ COHORTIS PRIMAE AELIAE HISPANORUM
1. MILLE EQUITUM
2. MILLIARIA EQUITATA
3. CUM MILLE EQUITIBUS
VOTUM SOLVIT LUBENS MERITO.
Of these he prefers the two first, and chiefly the second.
Mr Ward thinks it should read MILLITUM EQUESTRIUM; and, if the
Baron's first Method and this be right, what a Profusion of Criticism would
have been sav'd to Salmasius, Lipsius, Caufabon &c. concerning
equestrian Cohorts, had this signal Stone been discovered a few
Centuries sooner! I know not but these Disputes about equestrian
Cohorts might have also induced Mr Horsley to read the like
Signature milliaria, or millenaria Cohors in a Durham
Inscription in the Vardalorum Cranei (a Spanish People). See
Brit. Rom. p.295. But as the Cohors milliaria seems to be a
general Name for every first Cohort, I should rather prefer the
mille equitum or militum equestrium, because the Cohors
prima and milliaria appear to me one of them superfluous.
There is, if I mistake not, but one other Stone yet discovered that has a
like Signature, and that is in the University of Glasgow, where it
occurs four Times together on the same Altar, and must be there a Numeral.
See Brit. Rom. p.197.
Mr Horsley conjectures that the Romans have made a Ligature
of the direct and reverted C, connected with the Numeral X, for ten
Hundred, or a Thousand, as thus (X) and so that Signature came in Use for
mille; if so, it must admit of no other Reading but mille
Equi-
* The Epithet Sanctae seems apply'd to this Goddess on no
other of her Altars yet found in Britain.
† Falvius I read Alvius, there being no F in the
Original.
‡ This Cohort was never known to have garrison'd Netherby
before this Altar was discovered.
tum:
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.172}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1740 p.172}
{image = G7400172.jpg}
{text- Gents Mag 1740 p.172}
[Equi]tum: And yet the same Gentleman, in the Durham
Altar above quoted, where it again occurs, dares not venture to read it
mille, as he does in the Glasgow Altar; and for no other
Reason that I can see but a Dislike of equestrian Cohorts, tho' I
think we have the Cohors quarta Gallorum Equitum on another Altar
found elsewhere. Brit. Rom. on Cumberland, Altar LII.
Certainly if equestrian Cohorts were ever us'd by the Romans,
the Defence of the Stations near the Frontiers, where this Cohort generally
resided, seems to want such a Garrison most, for the sake of expeditious
marching where hostile Attempts might call them.
Accordingly we find the Spanish Cohort with Agricola,
Vespasian's Legate, at Airdoch in Scotland; and it
appears to have been about 37 Years after this Legate's Resignation, before
Hadrian built his Vallum, at which Time they probably assum'd
the Title AElia (attributed to them in this Stone) in Compliment to
the Emperor, and might have their Quarters then at Netherby, where
the Altar was found, as an advanced Station to the Wall. After this,
when the Empire was on the decline, I think they have been at
Ellenborough, on the Coast of Cumberland, by Inscriptions
found there. See Brit. Rom. p.279. And when the Notitia was
wrote, a little before the Romans abandon'd the Island, they are
expressly placed at Axelodunum on the Wall, which Mr
Horsley imagines to be Brugh on the Sands. Neither are any
Altars yet found that mention their being elsewhere in Britain. So
what Reason Baron Clark has for calling Netherby AEsica, I
know not, without the Affinity of the Name to ye River Esk be the
sole Motive. Mr Horsley supposes it to be the Castra
Exploratorum, but seems to ground his Conjectures entirely on the
itinerary Distance from Carlisle, which is certainly no safe Guide.
Those that would enquire farther into the Nature of equestrian
Cohorts, may consult Brit. Rom. Ch.VI. Book.I.
Netherby is about ten Miles North of the Wall; there are
several other Pieces of Antiquity at it, but as they are already published,
I shall take no farther Notice of them. Our Maps of Cumberland are
strangley mistaken with respect to the Situation of Places thereabouts.
April 12, 1740.
G.S.
P.S. I have another curious Fragment of an ALTAR, lately plow'd up at
Boulness, to send you when I have Time to ride to see it.
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.298}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.10 p.298, 1740:-}
{image = G7400298.jpg}
{image = G740E05.jpg}
{image = G740E02.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.299}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.10 p.299, 1740:-}
{image = G7400299.jpg}
{image = G740E06.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1740 p.620}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1740 p.620:-}
{header- Visit to Zinc}
{image = G7400620.jpg}
{image = G740E03.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1741 p.650}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1741 p.650}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G741E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.30}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.30}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G7420030.jpg}
The Inscription on the Roman Altar, and an Account of the other
Figures. p.627 (sic)by George Smith Esq.
Jovi optimo maximo
et Numinibus nostrae
Cohorti Secundae Tungrorum
Gordianorum Mille Equitum †
cataphractariorum Legionis
cui praesest Sicilius Claudianus, *
Praefectus instante Aelio Martirino
Principe decimo Kal. I. imperatoris
Dom. nostri Gordiani III. Pompeiano Consule
Or probably these last all in the Ablative.
† Cohorts of Horse were most necessary to guard the Frontiers, but
whether the Cataphractariorii were ever formed into regular Cohorts,
Mr Ward knows better than I
* The CI is CL. for the bottom of these letters is destroy'd, and I
read it Sicinus or Sicilius or Sicilianus Claudianus.
I observed Something like an -ON before PRAFEC. But as they were very small
to the rest, I shall not read them Pannonia,
In the N of MART N there seem'd to be a connection of an R I and O, which
induces me to read it Martirino, but I think the Name hardly Roman, and
submit to Mr Ward's reading.
Fig.1. Is the Altar which was found in the bank of the Rivulet Cam
beck near a very large Roman Fort, call'd Petrianis by
Horsley, just where the wall of Severus crosses the said
Rivulet; and removed by Mrs Appleby to her house at Cast-steeds where it
now is.
Fig.2. Is the Rota on the Side opposite to the fulmen. Fig.3.
another Fragment of an Altar. Fig.4 and 5. are two curious pieces of a
Glass bowl preserved by Mrs Appleby, one of them has the Name of Acteon in
Greek capitals, cut with the adamant I suppose, and the other which is a
Piece of the same Bowl, has a Dog's head fair on it, so that the Fable of
that Prince has been engraved on the Bowl.
Fig 6 Another fragment of a Stone, found at Cast-steeds.
In the Wood where the fort has been, that Lady found some time ago buried
in the Rubbish a regular Clay floor with several Pedestals upon it, and
betwixt every two of them a hollow Parallelopipedon of burnt clay of 16
Inches long and 6 wide with a Hole thro' the opposite Sides.- The Use of
these Pedestals is hard to be conjectured, unless to carry off the Damp
from the Floor which was laid over it, but as Pipes went thro'these holes,
it would rather seem like a Contrivance to warm a hot Bath, Mr
Ward's Opinion about these would be of Service. I have drawn what
are left of them, with the Form of the hollow Clay at A, but the Lady tells
me there is not one fourth of them left that were there when She first
discover'd it.
Boothby Nov. 7. 1741.
G Smith
Explanation of the Roman Altar and Figures; aforesaid by Mr
Ward, Professor ef (sic) Rhetoric in Gresham College London.
The INSCRIPTION.
1. Jovi optimo maximo,
2. et numini domini
3. nostri, cohors secunda Tun-
4. grorum Gordiana millenaria equitum
5. centum quinquaginta, cui prae-
6. est Silius Clau-
7. dianus prae
8. fectus, instante
9. Aelio Martiano
10. Principe, decimo kal. I.
11. imperatore domino nostro Gordiano Augusto tertium Po-
12. mpeiano consulibus.
Observations on the inscription.
1. THERE can be no doubt, I think, but the first line ought to be thus
supplied, which so often precedes et numini or numinibus in
our British inscriptions; and the fulmen
{text- The illustration referred to is on Gents Mag 1741 p.650, not p.627.}
placed
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.31}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.31}
{image = G7420031.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
placed on the right side of the altar seems a corroborating proof of it.
2. If the form of the character N at the beginning of the third line would
admit of it standing for AV [ligature] the obvious reading here would be
et numini Augusti; but as I understand it will not, the most
probable reading that occurs to me is, et numini Domini nostri, the
letter D being supplied at the end of the second line, Thus we have another
British inscription with the words, et numini domini nostri Augusti,
Horsley Northumb. LXXX; as Gordian is afterwards titled in this.
3. The form of the character N for AN in the last line of this inscription
seems to support the gentleman's opinion, who takes IW at the end of the
third line to stand for Tun, and then no doubt Tungrorum. is
the true reading of that word.
4. The insertion of the ancient M between the lines, which has been omitted
by the workman, being placed over the word GOR. and before the following
point, induces me to give it this reading. Vegetius speaking of the first
cohort of a legion sais: Habet pedites mille centrum quinque, equites
locatos centum triginta duos, et appellatur cohors miliaria Lib II.
c.6. The cohort therefore received its name miliaria or
millenaria from the number of common foot soldiers, who were a
thousand, the additional hundred and five being subaltern officers, as
Stewechius shews upon the place. Vegetius indeed ascribes these numbers
both of the foot and horse only to the first cohort of a legion, and a less
number of each to the other cohorts; but under the lower emperours, and
especially in the provinces, it seems by inscriptions, as if those numbers
were not always regularly observed. And therefore this second cohort, which
was honoured with the name of the emperour, exceeded the common number both
in the foot and horse, might possibly occasion its being particularly
mentioned.
7. I think the vacant space in this line after the letter D very well suits
with the conjecture of the gentleman, who reads the name Claudianus.
8. Instante here seems to denote the same as curante in some
other British inscriptions, Horsl. Durham XI, XII. So Pliny
Panegyr. c.18 sais Instant operibus, speaking of the
officers, who directed the soldiers works.
10. Princeps is a proper name, which occurs several times in Gruter.
The small letter i placed in the belly of the L stands, as I suppose, for
the name of the month, which might either be omitted at first, or placed in
that manner for want of room.
11. But the most considerable doubt which occurs in the inscription, is
this; that it makes the Emperour Gordian colleague with Pompeianus
in his third cosulate, which the fasti consulares ascribe to the
second. Nor is any mention made of this third consulate any where, but
here, and in another inscription given to us by GRUTER, p. MLXXXV.
n.10; which I conclude therefore must be a mistake, especially since
in several others of Gruter's inscriptions Pompeianus is joined with
him in his second consulate, agreeably to the fasti.
The two fragments of the glass bowl with the name AKTAI[O]N on one, and a
dog's head on the other, cut with an adamant, as is supposed, are very
curious. It is a great pity the bowl had not been preserved intire.
The pedestals here mentioned as found in the wood, where the fort was, are,
I suppose, pillars erected for the support of an hot bath, and the hollow
instrument made of clay, a tube for carrying off the smoke. This will be
more evident by comparing these remains with the draught of the hypocaust
found at Lincoln, and published by the antiquary society of London. I wish
a more accurate description had been given of the whole. the space it
contain'd, and particularly the matter and dimensions of the pillars, as
likewise whether any cinders or ashes were found there.
J. WARD
N.B.The other, Letters concerning this Piece of Antiquity must be, referred
to our next.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.76}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.76}
{text- }
{image = G7420076.jpg}
A Letter from G. SMITH, Esq. concerning the Altar, &c.
(See Vol.XI. p.650. and our last p.30.)
SIR,
I Have nothing to add, in relation to this Altar, being agreeably prevented
by so judicious an Antiquary as Mr. Ward; what I have to say, shall
be confin'd to the local Observation made a third Time at
Cast-steeds, in order to satisfy his Enquiry.
The Dimensions of the Hypocaustum are 5 yards by 9 within the Walls; the
ground floor was of Clay in which the Stone Pedestals were fix'd, about 4
or 5 Inches deep more or less, so as to bring them to a perfect Level at
Top, their Height including the Depth in the Clay is generally about 2
Foot; supported by these pedestals was a second Floor of white Stone about
1 Inch thick and curiously cemented for the Bath. The paralellopipedons of
burnt Clay were plac'd quincunx form, betwixt every other Row of these
pedestals, and were 5 or 6 Inches short of their Height, in order to give
Passage for the Smoak to warm the Bath; a perspective Draught of what
remain'd being sent you before, I shall here give you an ichnographical
Plan of a few of them, in order to the better understanding the whole.
{image = G742E02.jpg}
Here the Squares represent the Ichnography of the Pedestals, and the n's
that of the Clay Parallelopipedons which were omitted in every other Row,
as A B. There were above 100 Pedestals in all, 2 Pedestals and the Vacuity
took up above 28 Inches as near as can be judg'd from the present State of
their Situation on the Floor.
Mrs Appleby, who deserves to be gratefully remember'd by all Lovers
of Antiquity, took great Pains to preserve what she cou'd of those valuable
Remains of the Antients, she found there the Ruins of the Bottom and Sides
of an Iron Grate, which that Lady still has at Cast-steeds, and some
Pieces of Charcoal were lying up and down on the Floor.
Adjoining to the South Wall where the Grate stood, were two curious Rooms,
supported in the same manner with Pedestals, and Conduits betwixt them,
still running fresh when that Lady found them, but on admission of the Air,
all have gone to ruin. The Floors of these Rooms that rested on the
Pedestals, were pav'd in the same manner as the Bath, with this Addition,
that a curious cemented Composition of Lime, Brick-dust, and Pebbles, at
least 4 Iinches thick was spread over the Stone of a wonderful Hardness.
Such Care have that warlike People taken to render a Climate of these
Northern Regions agreeable to their Constitutions.
There were many other curious Floors found amongst the Ruins, and some
Coal-ashes; but I am apt to believe, that the old Castle of the de
Vallibus, Proprietors of Gillsland after the Conquest,
has been built on the Ruins of this Fort, because several Curiosities that
intimate a more modern Date have been found here. It stands, as most other
Roman Forts have done, on a Lingula, as near as the Defence of the
Wall wou'd admit, betwixt the Rivulets of Irthing and
Cammock.
There was also a cold Bath found near the Place, and not far from it
something like a Cistern, about 5 Yards by 1 and a half, compos'd of thick
Slate Stones very large set edge-ways, curiously cemented so as to refuse
Passage to any Liquid, on Supposition that it might be intended for such a
Design.
The Glass Bowl is very curious, but the Fragments not being at the Edge any
where, 'tis impossible to judge of its capacity. One of the Pieces is about
1 Inch, 8 tenths length-ways, and 1 tenth cross, or to speak
Mathematically, the chord is about 1 Inch 3 tenths long, and the Sagitta or
vers'd Sine 1 tenth, wherefore the Diameter ought to be 8 Inches 1 tenth at
the Place, but these are extremely difficult in such small Arches to be
accurately determin'd. No doubt but the Fable of Actaeon was the
History on the Bowl, and 'tis great pity it had not been intire.
G. SMITH
P.S. I have just now received the Jan. Magazine, there are two
Mistakes in the printing Cohorte for Cohortis, and
Consule for Consulibus, in my first reading.
N.B. The learned Dr. Gale's Remarks on this Altar, must be
left to our next.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.106}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.106}
{header- Comet, 1742}
{image = G7420106.jpg}
Boothby near Carlisle.
SIR,
ON the 20th, about 4 o' Clock in the Morning I accidentally discover'd a
Comet in or near the Extremity of the Tail of the Serpent of
Ophiuchus, about 12 or 14 Deg. West, and of the same Altitude
with the Lucida Aquilae. The next Morning it had mov'd in one
diurnal Revolution at least 2 and a half Degrees, seemingly in or near the
Direction of a vertical Circle, and aiming towards the Lucida Lyrae;
but I have no Instruments to make proper Observations, I therefore desire
you would consult some of the eminent Astronomers in London, and
give Account of it in your next, for we want to have the Theory of Comets
compleated, which can no otherways be obtained but from Observations a
Posteriori.
I am, Sir, &c. G. SMITH.
(Extracts from Mr. Smith's Letter being sent to several
Gentlemen, it produced the following Answers.)
Fleet-street, Feb. 27, 1741-2.
Mr. URBAN,
HAD the two last Nights been favourable, I might have been able to give you
and your Northern Friend a better Account of the present Comet; but your
Miscellany comes out too soon to give Time for Satisfaction. The Comet was
seen in the West last Thursday was 7-night, in the Morning; whether sooner
by any one I cannot tell. It was then in Antinous, near or at the
Tail of the Serpens Ophiuchi. About Wednesday it was in the Milky
Way, near the Tail of the Eagle, full as bright as Stars of the 3d
Magnitude. It is going almost Northward, at some Distance from Lucida
Lyrae, at the Rate of about six Degrees in a Day, with a Tail six Deg.
long, and will soon not set at all. It passes not far from the Course of
the Comet which was seen in 1672, and may be supposed the same, if its Node
prove to have been in the same Place with that; which I fear will not hold,
as I at first hoped. It is, I suppose, in its Ascent from the Sun, and may
be visible many Weeks, if not a few Months, in clear Nights. This very
imperfect Account must suffice at present, from
Yours, &c. WILL. WHISTON.
{image = G742E03.jpg}
Mr. URBAN,
I Thank you, Sir, for the Account you sent me of the Comet.
Yesterday Morning, about Three o'Clock, I was so happy as to have a Sight
of it myself; but for Want of proper Instruments to observe it, was obliged
to do it by the Help of Lines, in the following manner.
On the 24th Inst. 15h. 12m. O.M. by extending a Thread from the bright Star
in the Harp, to a small Star of the 4th Magintude in the neck of
Anser (before the Nose of Vulpicula) which I have mark'd in
the above Figure B. I foud it to pass thro' the Center of the Comet; and at
the same Time I observed the Comet to be distant from the Star mark'd A,
just twice the Distance of the two Stars A, and b. But to be more
exact, I apply'd a Thread from Albireo in the Swan's Beak, to
b, in the Harp, and found the Distance of the Comet on one Side from
the Thread, to be exactly twice the Distance of the Star A, on the other.
The Vertical Circle, passing thro' the Center of the Comet, I found to be
distant from Lyra the full Extent of an Equilateral Triangle formed
upon Lyra and the small Star C. The Tail
of
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.107}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.107}
{image = G7420107.jpg}
of the Comet pointed E, in the Right Hand of Hercules, and formed
the side of an Isosceles Triangle with Lyra; the Head seem'd to be
of the 2d Magnitude, and very cloudy; the Tail was very pellucid to the
extent of 3°. but very faint towards its Extremity.
I find, by Contruction, its Longitude was then in 21°. 13′ of
Capricorn, and the Latitude 52°. 12′ North.
The Tail I make about nine Degrees; and I have some Reason to believe 'tis
moving very fast Northward, and from the Sun.
If any of your Correspondents please to correct the Stars Places, the Place
of the Comet may be very easily found by them, and the Time of Observation
rectified to a very great exactness.
Yours, &c.
St. James's, Feb. 26.
THO. WRIGHT.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.132}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.132}
{image = G7420132.jpg}
St James's, March 20.
SIR,
SINCE my first Account of the Comet, which I sent you at the Beginning
of it's Appearance, I have had several Opportunities of observing it (in
the same Manner) again, and have determin'ed it's Place amongst the fix'd
Stars as follows,
March 3, 11 H. 40 Min. P.M. I Observed it at A in Lat. 78
Deg. 59 Min. North, and in Long. 19 Deg. 3 Min. of Pisces;
March 7, 10 H. 5 Min. P.M. I found it at B, it's Lat. then
was 76 Deg. 38 Min. North, Long. 20 Deg. 9 Min. of
Taurus.
And March the 11th, 8 Hours 26 Min. p.m. it
appeared at C. Lat. 71 Deg. 8 Min. North; Long. 8 Deg. 32
Min. of Gemini: At A and B by reason of the Moon's
more powerful Reflection, the Tail was scarce perceptible, but at C,
it again appeared, tho' very faint, about 3 Deg. in Length. 'Tis
in it's Ascent from the Sun, and was in, or near its Perigeum, Feb
24th, about 5 Hours before I saw it. Its Geocentric apparent
Motion is direct, but now it begins to incline to a Retrogradation, and
it's annual Parallax arising from the Earth's Motion (in its Orbit) is very
visible: The Mean ascending Node I make in 8 Deg. 15 Min. of
Capricorn, and the Inclination of it's Way to the Plain of the
Ecliptic, 79 D. 20 Min. but ye Equation of this Way, in the last
Intervals of Observation, more than the Arch of a Great Circle, is 12
Min.
The proper Motion of this Comet in it's own Orbit is contrary to the
Order of Signs, and the Convex Part of it's Trajectory in the present
Transit, is towards the Earth: but for want of an Observation, or two
before the Perigeum I find it will be very difficult to determine its true
Course. The Inclination of it's Path to the Plane of the Ecliptic (or
Heliocentric Latitude) I take to be much less than that seen from the
Earth, but the ascending Node, I judge not to be far from that of the
Siderial Way.
Mean Velocity of this Comet per Day, betwixt the First and Second
Observation, was 4 Deg. 53 Mon. 30 Sec. between the 2d
and 3d, 3 Deg. 10 Min. and between the 3d and
last, 1 Deg. 58 Min. 'tis now only to be seen thro' a Telescope.
Yours,
T. Wright.
{image = G742E04.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.135}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.135}
{image = G7420135.jpg}
A learned Gentleman's Observations on the Roman Altar at
Cast-Steeds, (see Vol.XI. p.656, and our two last,
p.30. 76) communicated by G. Smith, Esq.
Jovi optimo maximo et numini Augusti
Nostri Cohors Secunda Tungrorum milliaria equitibus centum quinquaginta
cui praeest Claudius Claudianus praefectus instante Aulio Martiano decimo
Kal. I. imperatore domino nostro Gordiano Augusto tertio Pompeiano
Consulibus.
Thus he reads tertio referring to Gordian the Third, and not
the Times of his Consulship with Pompeianus; and tho' he judiciously
observes that it was not usual to distinguish their Emperors by I. II. III.
&c. yet having no Instances of three of the same Name so closely suc-
ceeding
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.136}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.136}
{image = G7420136.jpg}
[suc]ceeding one another, may assign the Reason for this being so.
He inclines to read the Word effac'd in the second Line Augusti for
Domini, but observes Instances may be given of both. He has, besides
this ingenious Remark, that tho' the Cohort here mention'd was the
Secunda Tungrorum, yet it might be the Prima of the
Ala to which it appertain'd, and then there will be no Reason to
suppose that there were two milliary Cohorts belonging to it.
The Name of the Prefect is read Claudius (perhaps justly) for
the S is least of all to be distinguish'd from the CC in its small Remains.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.183}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.183}
{image = G7420183.jpg}
The Elements of the late COMET's true Motion, as moving in a
parabolic Orbit, from a graphical Construction of it communicated to
the Royal Society by Tho. Wright.
1742 The proper Motion Retrograde.
° ′ ″
Heliocentric Place of the ascending Node Libra
5 47 22
Inclination of the Orbit to the Plane of the Ecliptic
68 14
Time of the Perihelion January 27. 21h. 50m. P.M.
Perihelion Place in the Trajectory ... Scorpio
7 33 28
And Distance from the Node
31 47 6
Perihelion Distance of the Comet from the Sun 76890, such Parts of which
the Earth's mean Distance from the Sun, is 100000, and its Logarithm
9.885870.
{image = G742E06.jpg}
Explanation of the SCHEME.
EGHF is the Orbit of the Earth in the Plain of the Ecliptic.
DPωABC, the Trajectory of the Comet in the Plane of its Orbit.
DSC Latus Rectum of the Parabola.
PSG Line of the Absides. ESω Line of the Nodes.
P the Perihelion Point. A the first observ'd Place of the Comet, and
B the Place near which it disappeared.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.210}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.210}
{image = G7420210.jpg}
SIR,
TO compleat your Account of the Comet, I have sent you the following
Sketch, which, if you think it worthy a Place in your Magazine, please to
get it engraved in due Proportion. Your last from Mr Wright (by
whose Oversight I cannot pretend to say) is vastly wide from the
Determination he draws from it.
{image = G742E07.jpg}
The small Stars 5 and 6 are the 5th and 6th without Form in Tycho
Brahe's Catalogue of the Lesser Bear, both of the 6th Magnitude; with
which two Stars the Head of the Comet form'd an equilateral Triangle
March the 12th about 9 at Night.
That Star mark'd A is the 2d in the Bear's Tail, the other five,
viz B, C, D, E, F, (which together with (A) form a Hexagon,
not very irregularly, about the Pole Star) are neither in Tycho's
Catalogue, nor that more copious one of our Countryman Mr Flamstead: B
C and E I find in Hevetius's Description of Cepheus,
but D and F, the latter being a very small one of the 7th
or 8th Magnitude, I can find no Account of: The Places of the Comet mark'd
12, 13, 14, &c. are its Places the respective Nights in March.
The 13th, when in a Line with the two Stars, its Tail fell directly upon
the Star B: At its nearest Approach to the Pole Star, viz. March
the 16th, its Distance was scarcely 3 1/2 Degrees of a Great Circle. My
Observations were made about 9 or 10 at Night. I was not very curious as to
Minutes, the precise Time being of little Use in this manner of
observing. Saturday the 20th being somewhat cloudy, the Comet
appear'd distinctly thro' the Breaks, but the 21st it was scarcely visible
to an unarm'd Eye, tho' with a Telescope it appeared very distinct; after
which Night, cloudy Weather setting in, I saw it no more, and had the Air
continued clear, I presume it would have quite disappeared in a few Days,
not far from the Place of my last Observation. I have not troubled you with
its Longitude and Latitude at each Observation, that being easily obtained
from the Scheme, and correct Places of the Stars.
I am, Sir, your humble Servant,
Friestone April 4, 1742
Edmund Weaver.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.319}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.319}
{image = G7420319.jpg}
SIR,
I Observe in your MAGAZINE a vast Incongruity in the Observations made of
the late Comet: I have therefore sent you the following Sketch (according
to my Judgment) deduced from four Observations I made of it here; which is
not designed to contradict what the learned Philomaths have been
pleased to communicate to the Publick, but only to be better informed
myself: The Observations I made were from the several fix'd Stars mentioned
in the Scheme, which if you please to insert in your next Magazine will be
gratefully acknowledged by
Sir, your humble Servant, unknown.
Stroud near Rochester, May 24. 1742.
J. BULMAN.
N.B. The Distance of the Comet from the Pole Star on the 14th
at 9h. 30 min. P.M. I observed to be 5 deg. 45
min. nearly; its Tail was then plainly to be seen, but most
conspicuous to the naked Eye when Reflection was observed in Water, as it
was in a large Mill-pond at this Place.
{image = G742E08.jpg}
The above was composed for last Month but could not then be
inserted.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.132}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.132}
{header- Bewcastle Cross}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, runes on the Bewcastle Cross,
Bewcastle, Cumberland, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, London,
1742.}
We insert the following INSCRIPTION, not doubting that it will fall into
the Hands of some Gentleman who understands the Language, and will please
to give us the Explication. It is taken from a very curious Obelisk,
erected for a Monument in a Church-yard in Cumberland.
{image = PR0718.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.318}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.318}
{header- Bewcastle Cross}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, The North and West Prospects of the
Famous Runic Obelisk at Bew Castle in Cumberland, by G Smith, engraved by
Wennock, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1742.}
{image = PR0715.jpg}
The North and West Prospects of the Famous Runic Obelisk at Bew-Castle in
Cumberland. Taken by G. Smith.
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 13x21cm; wxh, image = 100x175mm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.319}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.319}
{header- Bewcastle Cross}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, detail of the Bewcastle Cross,
Cumberland, by G Smith, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, London,
1742.}
{image = PR0716.jpg}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 13x21cm.}
The Magna Britannia Antiqua & Nova, speaking of this Obelisk,
calls it "a Cross of one entire square Stone, about five Yards in Height,
washed over with a white oily Cement. The Figure inclines to a square
Pyramid, being two Foot broad at Bottom. On the West Side, among other
Draughts, is a picture of some holy Man in a sacerdotal Habit, with a Glory
round his Head, and the Effigies of the blessed Virgin with a Babe in her
Arms; on the North Side is a very great deal of Chequer Work." This Book
gives us but a very imperfect Account of the Iinscriptions, and offers no
other Representation than that here annexed.
If then this noble Monument has been hitherto so incorrectly described,
what Defects may not be discovered in the other curious Remains of
Antiquity, with which this County abounds more than any other in
Britain? We believe, therefore, it will not be unsatisfactory to the
Publick to be informed that the ingenious Gentleman who favoured us with
this Draught, is at present compiling a full and accurate Description of
this County.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.368}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.368}
{header- Bewcastle Cross}
{image = G7420368.jpg}
The Explanation of the Runic Obelisk, (see p.318.)
by George Smith, Esq;
SIR,
THAT Part of Cumberland which lies beyond the Banks of the River
Eden, Northwards, having been often exposed to the Waste of War, and
the People ruined by almost continual Depredations; the Barenness of it
seems rather to proceed from the Neglect of Culture than the natural
Poverty of the Soil. Within the Embraces of the Frontier Mountains of this
Tract lies Beu-Castle Church, on a Rivulet called Kirk-beck,
near an old ruined Castle of the Proprietors of that Part of the Country
before the Conquest; and both Church and Castle are built on the Remains of
a large Roman Fort. Opposite to the Church Porch, at a few Yards
Distance, stands the Obelisk, of one entire Stone, 15 Foot and a half high,
springing through an Octagonal Pedestal, whose Sides were alternately
equal. 'Tis nearly the Frustrum of a Square Pyramid, each Side being 2 Foot
broad at Bottom, and one Foot and a half at Top, wherein a
Cross
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.369}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.369}
{image = G7420369.jpg}
Cross was fixed, which has been demolished long ago, by popular Frenzy and
Enthusiasm; and probably its Situation in these unfrequented Desarts has
preserved the Remainder from their Fury.
In the Bottom and Top Divisions, of the North Side, (see p.318) are
cut Vine-Trees with Clusters of Grapes in Demi-relievo, probably the
Danish Symbol of Fertility, as Amathea's Horn was amongst the
Greeks.
In a Fillet above the under Vine are these Characters fairly legible,
{image = G742E01.jpg}
which the learned Bishop Nicolson expounds RYNBURU, and thinks that
it intimates the Expulsion of the magical Runae, and their Accession
to Christianity. But if I may be allowed to dissent from so great a Name, I
had rather believe it to be a Sepulchral Monument of one of the
Danish Kings slain in Battle, and the Reading I think will support
my Conjecture.
For there is no Instance of any Nation using the 1st Character for an R,
nor do I remember to have seen it so explained in all the numerous
Runic Alphabets of Olaus Wormius, but the Danes about
the Sinus Codanus, made Use of it for K. Besides the R is
Roman wherever it occurs, in this and other Inscriptions on this
Monument. The 2d is the Massagetic U a People about the
Tanais. The next two Letters are wrong copy'd by the Bishop, the
first is a Q, or Scythian N, the other an I; the 4 following are
BURU plain; and the last is K Final, for the Initial and Final K differing
in their Form was common in those Nations, as the Initial and Final M to
the Hebrews. Upon the whole I read it KUNIBURUK, which in the old
Danish Language imports Sepulchrum Regis. And the checquer
Work included betwixt the two magical Knots (the Scythian Method of
embellishing Funeral Monuments) very much corroborates my Opinion.
However I so far agree with the Bp that it may also seem to have been
designed for a standing Mounument of Conversion to Christianity, which
might have happen'd on the Loss of their King, and each mutually celebrated
by it.
For Buchanan tells us, that in the Reign of Donaldus (the
Sixth of that Name) the Danes having wasted Northumberland,
were met and engag'd by the united Troops of England and
Scotland, with such Uncertainty of Victory, that both Sides were
equally glad of Peace, by which the Danes obliged themselves to
embrace Christianity. This, therefore, was a very proper Monument for so
great a Change; and the Figure on the West Side greatly contributes to
favour this Conjecture, as I shall shew in my next Dissertation on the
other three other Sides. This Transaction happened about 850 Years ago, and
none believe the Obelisk to be older then 900.
That the Monument is Danish appears incontestable from the
Characters; Scottish and Pictish Monuments having nothing but
Hieroglyphick's, and the Danish both; and, excepting Bride
Kirk Font, it appears to be the only Monument of that Nation left in
Britain. SIR,.
Your very humble Servant,
GEO. SMITH.
{title- Gents Mag 1742 p.529}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1742 p.529}
{header- Bewcastle Cross}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, The South and East Prospects of the
Famous Runic Obelisk at Bew Castle in Cumberland, by G Smith, engraved by W
Pennock, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1742.}
{image = PR0717.jpg}
The South and East Prospects of the Famous Runic Obelisk at Bew-Castle in
Cumberland. Taken by G. Smith, 1741.
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 13x21cm; wxh, image = 101x176mm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1744 p340.}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1744 p340.}
{header- Roman Inscription}
{image = G7440340.jpg}
MR URBAN, Carlisle, Apr. 18, 1744
THE following Inscription was this Day found in a Wall of Geo.
Wright's House, at Naworth, where it must have laid 200 Years at
least, the House being so decay'd with Age, that it was absolutely
necessary to rebuild it.
{image = G744E01.jpg}
LEGIO SEXTA VICTRIX PIA FIDELIS FECIT.
Mr Horsley conjectures that most of the Inscriptions in the Walls of
Naworth* Garden and about it, were fetch'd by Ld
William Howard, a great Antiquarian, from Burd-Oswald that
celebrated Station on the Wall, which the Britannia Romana calls
Amboglana, about three Miles distant from Naworth; the Stone does
not appear to have been any larger, and we have Instances of like
Inscriptions found at the same Place. That Legion was certainly in
Britain at the Building of the Wall, or soon after; for in the
Notitia most of the Stations are garrison'd with Foreigners, and the
said Burd Oswald, with the 1st Cohort of the AElia Daecorum.
Yours, &c. G. SMITH
* A Seat of the Earl of Carlisle, who is very curious in
Matters of Antiquity.
{title- Gents Mag 1744 p.369}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1744 p.369}
{header- Roman Inscription, Lanercost}
{image = G7440369.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
Carlisle, June 8, 1744.
THE following Roman Inscription, being the Head-stone of the upper
Passage betwixt the Pillars and the Out-wall of the old Abbey of
Lennercost, has escaped the Observation of all Antiquaries by its
obscure Situation. It was discovered by two Masons at Work there, who
informing me of it, I went this Day to examine it, and by help of a Ladder
noted down these Characters
IOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO COHORS PRIMA AETIAE DACORUM CUI PRAEEST JULIUS
SATURNINUS TRIBUNUS.
{image = G744E02.jpg}
The Rest had been obliterated by the Workmen at building the Abbey. To
understand it, we are to consider, that besides the legionary Troops
employ'd in the Roman Service, there were ten auxiliary Cohorts,
which made a Legion, of foreign Troops, and assumed the Name of the
conquer'd Province to which they belong'd, and sometimes added another
Title in Honour of some of their Emperors, under whom they were probably
inlisted. This Cohort was then called AElia Dacica; AELIA, in Honour
of Adrian, who was stil'd Titus AElius Hadrianus, and DACICA,
from their Country, Dacia comprehended all that Tract of Ground
North of the Danube to the Carpathian Mountains, betwixt the
Rivers Tibiscus and Pruth, comprehending now good Part of
Hungary, all Transilvania, Moldavia and
Walachia. We have many other Stones which mention this Cohort,
particularly at Burd-oswald, the Roman Amboglana; here the
Notitia, which was written under Theod. junior, places this
Legion which seems to have succeeded the Legio Sexta victrix, and
very likely garrison'd this Place to the final Departure of the
Romans from Britain. The Name of the Tribune is different
from that on any other of the Stones ascribed to this Cohort. Whilst I was
copying this Stone, the Farmer's Son who resides at the Abbey, told me
there were some kind of Letters over a Stair case in an old Tower,
belonging to their House, which excited my curiosity to visit them. I found
it a Piece of as valuable Inscription as any yet discovered in
Britain, whether we attend to the odd Irregularity of the Letters,
the Shape, or Variety of them; for there are Roman, Runic, and
Saxon, sometimes in the Compass of a single Word; and 'tis hard to
say which of the Alphabets of these three Nations has the greatest Share in
the Composition. 'Tis great Pity that it is not compleat, the Workmen
having cut it to adjust it to the Place, so that Part is covered by the
adjoining Stones which cannot well be remov'd.
The Form of the Letters is exactly as below
{image = G744E03.jpg}
In my Opinion we are to read it
Regni nostri primo mense tertio Anno Domini Millesimo Trecentesimo
Septimo.
Edward II. began to reign that very Year 1307, July 7, so
that the third Month after would still happen in that Year specify'd, and
seems to be a Grant for building the Out-conveniences to the said Abbey.
The Singularity of the Method of Writing in that obscure Century renders it
very remarkable; for in the single Word Trecentesimo, 'tis difficult
to say which Alphabet the Latter T belongs to, but it mostly resembles the
Celto-Scythic, R is Roman, E is Runic, M, the old
Gothic, and in other Words some are Saxon.
Abbey Lennercost stands on the North-Bank of the River
Irthing, and is of its Kind as near a Gothic Structure as any
left. It was built by Hubert de Vallibus to expiate a Murder, but
fell several Times into the Hands of the Scots, who often plunder'd
it of its Treasures. The Roman Wall which passes just above it has
furnished the principal Materials for this Edifice, which contains
Inscriptions on Monuments of the next Century to Edward's, but these
have an Uniformity of Characters, and are not so barbarously confounded as
the above. I shall send you one or two as Specimens soon, but have already
exceeded the Bounds of a Letter.
Yours, &c. G. SMITH.
(See the Inscription p.340)
{title- Gents Mag 1744 p.676}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1744 p.676:-}
{header- Jospeh Pennington}
{image = G7440676.jpg}
{text- Obituary, 3 December:-}
3. Sir Joseph Pennington, Bart. member for Cumberland. He
marry'd the sister of the present Lord Lonsdale, and is succeeded by
his eldest son, John, a commissioner for the excise.
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.385}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.385}
{header- Smuggling Wool}
{text- The Historical Chronicle for Thursday 4 July 1745 has:-}
WAS a trial in the court of exchequer on an information against one Simpson
of Whitehaven, Cumberland, for running wool to France, when the jury found
him guilty of running 2700 lb, the penalty of which is 405 l.
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.601}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.601}
{header- Progress of the Rebels}
{image = G7450601.jpg}
...
The following is the Pardon offered to the Rebels.
GEORGE WADE, Esq;
Field marshal of his majesty's forces, one of his majesty's most
honourable privy council, lieutenant-general of the ordnance, and colonel
of one of his majesty's regiments of horse, &c. &c. &c.
WHereas it hath been represented to his majesty, that several of his
subjects, inhabiting the highlands of Scotland, and others, have
been seduced by menaces and threatnings of their chiefs and superiors, to
take arms, and enter into a most unnatural rebellion; his majesty hath
authorised me to assure all such, who shall return to their habitations, on
or before the 12th day of November next, and become faithful to his
majesty and his government, that they shall be objects of his majesty's
clemency; but if, after this his most gracious intention being signified,
they shall continue in their rebellion, they will be proceeded against with
rigour suitable to the nature of their crime.
Given at the camp at Newcastle upon Tyne, this 30th day of
October, 1745.
{text- The route of the rebel army involves Cumberland and Westmorland.}
The accounts of the progress of the rebels published by authority, being
read with more than ordinary attention, we have copied them from the
Gazette, without the intervention of other matters.
From the Gazette, November 2.
Whitehall, Oct. 30.
THEre are advices from Berwick of the 25th at night, that ...
...
From the Gazette, Nov. 8.
Whitehall, Nov. 4. By letters from the North of the 31st of last
month there is an account ...
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.602}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.602}
{image = G7450602.jpg}
... ...
From the London Gazette, Nov. 9.
Whitehall, Nov. 5. By letters of the 3d Inst. from Berwick
... That about one o'clock upon the 1st Inst. the pretender's son proceeded
to Dalkeith, from which place a considerable body of the
Highlanders, who call'd themselves the advanced guard, march'd that evening
to Pennycook, and another to Loan Head, both which places are
at a small distance from Dalkeith, upon the road leading Westward to
Peebles, Moffat, Carlisle, &c. those advanced parties gave out,
that their whole army was to follow them the next day: That the pretender's
son was to set out from Dalkeith upon the 3d, and that they were to
march thro' Annandale to Carlisle: That the better to
disguise their motions, billets for quarters had been sent to
Musselburgh, Fisheraw, Inverask, Preston-Pans, Tranent, Haddington,
and other villages upon the East road to Berwick; whilst
considerable numbers were to march by night to the Westward: That they had
along with them above a hundred and fifty carts and waggons full of
baggage, besides great numbers of baggage-horses, and that they gave out
that their intention was to proceed directly into England, to
endeavour to slip by the troops under Marshal Wade, and to get into
Lancashire.
Nov. 8. By advices from the North of the 5th Inst. there are
accounts, that the rebels were marching Southwards towards Langton
and Carlisle, as was supposed, in three different columns, the
Westermost of which was thought to be their main body by the pretender's
son being with them, who was to take his quarters at Broughton near
Peebles, being the house of Murray his secretary. The middle
column march'd by Lauder, Selkirk, and Hawick, and the
Eastermost column by Kelso. Marshal Wade was at
Newcastle upon the 5th, and upon advice of the march of the rebels
Southwards, had countermanded the march of the army under him to
Berwick. ... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.603}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.603}
{image = G7450603.jpg}
... ...
Nov. 9. By an express just arriv'd from the North there is an
account, that a quarter master from the rebel army was come the 5th Inst.
to Moffat to demand quarters to be ready that evening for 2000 foot
and 600 horse.
From the Gazette. Nov. 12.
Whitehall, Nov. 10. By letters from the North of the 6th Inst. there
is advice, that that part of the rebel army which came to Kelso,
continued there till nine that morning; their numbers were between 3 and
4000. At ten they began to pass the Tweed, and continued passing
till after it was dark; they took the road to Jedburgh, and by the
motions of the other two columns, as well as by what they gave out
themselves, they were marching towards Langton for Carlisle.
Marshal Wade was at Newcastle upon the 7th, and it was
thought would continue there till their designs could be more certainly
known; ... ... Advices from Berwick of the 7th Inst. say, that that
part of the rebel army which took the rout to Peebles, were believ'd
to be by that time near Carlisle: That the other part who were at
Kelso, after having staid two nights there, march'd on the 6th in
the morning towards Jedburgh. Many of the rebels have deserted on
their march from Edinburgh, and particularly at Kelso, and
many stragglers with their arms have been seiz'd, and deliver'd by the
country people into the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, or
to the commander's of his majesty's ships.
Nov. 12. By letters from Carlisle, dated the 9th Inst.
receiv'd late last night, there is advice that part of the rebel army
encamp'd that evening on a moor within two miles of that city.
By an express this morning from the North there is an account, that upon
the 9th in the afternoon, about 50 or 60 of the rebels, well mounted, and
thought to be officers, appear'd on a hill call'd Stanwix-Bank,
close by Carlisle; that the castle of Carlisle fir'd upon
them, and that after some time they retreated: That there were accounts of
different bodies appearing in different places near Carlisle: that
their main army was at Ecclefeighton, 16 miles from thence: That
they could not get their artillery and baggage forwards for want of horses,
but that they were collecting all they could get every where, and that it
was talk'd amongst them, that they were to push on Southwards. The whole
militia of the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland were in
garrison at Carlisle.
From the Gazette, Nov. 16.
Whitehall, Nov. 15. Letters of the 9th from Berwick mention
...
And letters of the 11th ...
The following account of the motions of the rebels from the 7th to the 10th
Inst. was receiv'd by the same express.
On Thursday the 7th of November the rebels march'd from
Hawick to Holyhaugh, where the pretender's son lay that
night. On Friday the 8th they march'd, part of the cavalry to
Longholm, and infansry (sic) to Cannoby, on the Scotch
side, and the rest of the cavalry cross'd the river and lay at
Longtown, and the pretender's son lay at Mr David Murray's at
Ridding. On Saturday the 9th they march'd towards
Rowcliff, where they cross'd the river within four miles of
Carlisle, and thence pursued their march to Murray's on
Brough side, where they lay that night, about four miles Southward
of Carlisle; and that afternoon part of the corps which took the
rout by Moffat, with the artillery, join'd them, and all the rest
next day, except about 200, which could not join before the 11th. On
Sunday the 10th part of their corps approach'd the walls of
Carlisle, first bending towards the Irish gate, but
afterwards march'd round to the English gate, in order to
reconnoitre the place as it was judged, during which motions they were
fired at from both town and castle, and it was suppos'd they intended to
make a vigorous attack in the night between the 10th and 11th, the firing
con[tinuing]
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.604}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.604}
{image = G7450604.jpg}
[con]tinuing till midnight. On the same day the two regiments commanded by
Ld Ogilvy and Gordon of Glenbucket cross'd the river,
about two miles above Rowcliff, at which time they were counted, and
found both together to make up to but 400.
Nov. 15. A letter, dated the 12th Inst. from Mr Thomas
Pattenson, mayor of Carlisle, brings advice, that on
Saturday night, the 9th Inst. that city was surrounded by about 9000
Highlanders; that at three o'clock that afternoon he, the mayor, had
receiv'd a message from them, to provide billets for 13,000 men, and to be
ready that night, which he refused: That the next day, at three in the
afternoon, he receiv'd a message in writing from the person stiling himself
Prince Charles, and subscribed Charles P.R. in the following
words:
"Charles Prince of Wales, Regent of the Kingdoms of England,
Scotland, France and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto
belonging."
"Bring come to recover the king our father's just rights, for which we have
arriv'd with all his authority, we are sorry to find that you should
prepare to obstruct our passage: We therefore, to avoid the effusion of
English blood, hereby require you to open your gates, and let us
enter, as we desire, in a peaceable manner; which if you do, we shall take
care to preserve you from any insult, and set an example to all
England of the exactness with which we intend to fulfil the king our
father's declarations and our own: But if you shall refuse us entrance, we
are fully resolv'd to force it by such means as providence has put into our
hands, and then it will not perhaps be in our power to prevent the dreadful
consequences which usually attend a town's being taken by assault. Consider
seriously of this, and let me have your answer within the space of two
hours, for we shall take any farther delay as a peremptory refusal, and
take our measures accordingly."
"November 10, 1745, Two in the Afternoon.
"For the Mayor of Carlisle."
That he, the mayor, had return;'d no answer thereto but by firing the
cannon upon them: That the said pretended prince, the Duke of Perth,
with several other gentlemen, lay within a mile or two of the city; but
that their whole army was, at the time of dispatching the above advice,
march'd for Brampton, seven miles on the high road to
Newcastle.
Nov. 16. By advices from the North of the 12th at night there are
accounts, that the main body of the rebels march'd upon the 11th to
Brampton. The pretender's son lodged on the 9th night at
Murray's, at a little village three miles West of Carlisle,
on the 10th night at Blackhall three miles South of Carlisle,
and was at Warwick castle by ten o'clock on the 11th. A body of the
rebels, which the garrison took for the rear guard, appear'd the same day
upon Stanwix Bank, but the guns firing upon them, they fled in great
haste. The same night this body took up their quarters at Rickarby,
and at several villages near it upon the North side of the river
Eden; but receiving an express ordering them to march to
Brampton without loss of time, they set out immediately from thence,
but were not able to march above a mile and a half that night, their
carriage-horses having fail'd them. Some stragglers had been brought into
Carlisle, and two carriages laden with bisket. Upon the 12th the
rebels remain'd at Brampton, Warwick Bridge, and the villages
between those two places. They gave out that their whole army was to join
that night, and that they had orders to hold themselves in readiness to
march at ten o'clock, upon the 13th. They had 16 field-pieces along with
them, and seem'd to be greatly supriz'd that the town of Carlisle
had not surrender'd upon their appearance before it the Sunday
before.
Nov. 16, The following intelligence was reciev'd this morning from
Penrith in the county of Cumberland, dated the 13th Inst.
The rebels who continued before Carlisle from Saturday till
Monday last, retreated with their carriages and 16 field pieces to
Brampton, eight miles from thence. They have continued there, and
have been collecting their forces till nine this morning. Two persons of
good character came to Penrith at five this evening, and declar'd
they saw a large body of the rebels, which they gave out to be 7000, moving
from Brampton to Carlisle, and heard numbers of them declare
they were going to besiege it in form. That the rebels forced four
carpenters to go along with them from Brampton, in order (as they
said) to assist in erecting batteries. The said two persons further added,
that the guns of the garrison of Carlisle were firing very briskly,
as they came on the road hither. Numbers of persons who have likewise been
at Brampton from Penrith are return'd, and all agree as to
the march of the rebels and their artillery from Brampton towards
Carlisle. The rebels have been felling wood all this day in
Corby and Warwick parks for the repairs of their carriages,
as they give out, and making batteries and scaling-ladders.
From the Gazette, Nov. 19.
Whitehall, Nov. 18. Letters from marshal Wade of the 15th
Inst. mention, that upon the news receiv'd by him of the resolution of the
rebels to return from Brampton, in order to make an attempt upon
Carlisle, it had been determin'd in a council of war, held the same
day thereupon, to march on Saturday morning the 16th Inst. by
Hexham towards Carlisle.
Letters of the 14th Inst. from Penrith mention, that it was affirm'd
by great numbers of persons who were come thither from the villages on the
South and West sides of Carlisle, that the whole rebel army were
endeavouring to surround that city. That they shot at every body that fled
from them, and that one person had been killed, and that they were actually
putting the country under military execution. That they seized all
able-bodied men, horses and carriages, and declared that they would force
them to carry their ladders to the walls of Carlisle: That the
cannon of Carlisle were firing that morning very briskly: That
[They]
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.605}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.605}
{image = G7450605.jpg}
they had taken the four light horsemen upon their return from
Newcastle, who had been sent to conduct the quarter-master of the
rebels, taken prisoner near Carlisle, to marshal Wade.
Letters of the same date from Penrith at nine o'clock at night
mention, that the rebels had approached so near Carlisle, that the
garrison had thrown granadoes at them, and that the rebels had broke ground
about 300 yards from the citadel, and at Spring-Garden, near the
horse-race ground; and that they had been obliged to fetch provisions as
far as Heckett, about five miles from Carlisle.
Nov. 18. Letters dated the 15th Inst. from Penrith, give an
account, that a person sent from the governor of Carlisle to marshal
Wade, reported, that it was agreed, that the town should be
delivered up to the rebels, but did not know the conditions. The governor
was determined to defend the castle to the last extremity, and had prepared
every thing for that purpose. It was supposed that he will be able to hold
out eight days. Letters from Shap of the 15th Inst. at noon mention,
tht the city of Carlisle surrender'd at ten o'clock that morning.
Nov. 19. By letters receiv'd this morning from Edinburgh , of
the 15th Inst. ...
From the Gazette, Nov. 23.
Whitehall, Nov. 23. Letters from Penrith, dated the 16th,
bring a confirmation of the surrender of Carlisle the day before to
the rebels, and give the following account of the occasion of it,
viz. that for seven days before, neither the officers nor common men
of the garrison had had scarce an hour's rest, being perpetually alarm'd by
the rebels, and that many of them were so sick, thro' their great fatigue,
that being out of all hopes of a speedy relief, they absolutely refused to
hold out any longer, and multitudes went off every hour over the walls,
some of which fell into the hands of the rebels, till the officers of many
companies were at last left with not above three or four men; so that the
mayor and corporation determined to hang out the white flag (tho' contrary
to the opinion and protestation of Col. Durand) and made the best
terms they could get for themselves; and that the colonel was thereupon
oblig'd to abandon the castle, not having above 70 invalids to defend it,
and most of them unfit for service, and the rebels threatening in case of
refusal, to destroy the whole town by fire and sword. It is added in other
letters of the 17th, that the garrison were permitted to go to their
respective homes. Marshal Wade march'd on Saturday last, at
ten o'clock in the morning, and was to go the first night to
Ovingham, and the second to Hexham.
Nov. 21. By letters of the 19th from Penrith there is an
account, that at three o'clock in the afternoon of the day before, a
quarter-master belonging to the rebels, came to that town, and demanded
billets for two squadrons, making 250 horse, that were to be there that
night, and for 8000 men more, who were to be there next day. The horse came
in that evening, and were counted by several people, but did not exceed
half the number they were said to be.
Nov. 22. Letters from the North of the 20th Inst. mention, that the
rebels entered Penrith on the 19th Inst. Letters from marshall
Wade dated the 19th Inst. at Hexham, bring advice of the
arrival there, on the 17th at midnight, of the army under his command, in
order to have proceeded to the relief of Carlisle, and to give battle to
the rebels, but having receiv'd advice, as well of the surrender of
that city and castle on the 15th, as of the advance of the rebels to
Penrith, and finding the roads, thro' the great quantity of snow
that had fallen, in a manner impassable, it had been resolv'd in a council
of war, to march the army back immmediately to Newcastle.
Nov. 23. It appears by letters just receiv'd from Col.
Durand, commandant of Carlisle, that before the surrender of
that place to the rebels, he had time to nail up ten pieces of cannon, from
four to two pounders, that were placed upon the ramparts; that he had
prevailed upon 400 men, (besides the two companies of invalids) to join
with him in defending the castle, but that before eight the next morning
they had changed their resolution, and had all left him to a man, so that
upon calling a council of war, consisting of the officers of the invalids,
it was unanimously agreed, that with the small force remaining under his
orders, and which did not exceed eighty men, many of them extremely infirm,
it was not possible to defend the castle.
Letters from Berwick ... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.609}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.609}
{image = G7450609.jpg}
... ...
An account of the taking of Carlisle by an eye witness.
ON Sat. the 9th, afternoon, about three o'clock, a body of the
rebels ap-
peared
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.610}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.610}
{image = G7450610.jpg}
[ap]peared at Stanwix Bank, within a quarter of a mile of
Carlisle; and it being the market day there, they mixed with the
country people returning home, so that it was not possible for the garrison
to fire upon them for some time, without risque of injuring their
neighbours along with their enemies: but in less than half an hour, the
country people dispers'd themselves, and then the garrison of the castle
fired a ten gun battery upon them, which, 'tis believed, kill'd several;
then, night coming on, they retreated to a greater distance from the city,
and the garrison stood all night under arms. At two in the morning a thick
fog came on, which remain'd 'till twelve that day, when it cleared up for
about an hour, and then the garrison discover'd the rebels approaching to
attack the city in three several parties, viz. one at Stanwix
Bank, commanded by the D. of Perth, a second at Shading
gate-lane, commanded by the Marquis of Tullibardine, who also
had the artillery, and the third in Blackwell-Fields, where the
pretender commanded the rest of their body, facing the English Gate.
Upon discovering these three parties approaching so near the city, the
garrison fir'd upon them, viz. the four-gun battery upon the Marquis
of Tullibardine, who was heard to say, gentlemen, we have not
metal for them, retreat; which they immediately did and disappear'd.
The turret guns and the citadel guns were fir'd upon the pretender's
division, where the white flag was display'd, which was seen to fall; about
the same time the ten-gun battery was fir'd upon the duke of Perth's
division, who also retir'd. Then the thick fog struck in again, and all the
inhabitants of the city expected nothing but that a general assault would
be made by the rebels, against which the walls were well lin'd with men;
and Sir John Pennington, Dr Waugh, chancellor, Humphry
Senhouse, Joseph Daire Dalston, of Acron-bank (sic), Esqrs. with
several other gentlemen of note, stood all night under arms, to encourage
and assist them. The militia was also drawn up at the foot of
Castle-street, to be ready, in case of a forcible attack, to relieve
and reinforce the men upon the walls.
On Monday morning the fog still continuing thick, the garrison could
not observe the situation of the rebels, but heard their pipers playing not
far from the English gate. About ten o'clock a man was let down from
the city walls, to reconnoitre the enemy, and he found they were retiring
towards Warwick bridge. After noon other spies were likewise
detach'd to observe their motions, and discover'd a great number remain'd
about Warwick bridge; but the pretender, with his guard and
attendants were advanc'd to Brampton, where they lodg'd themselves
that night; and on Tuesday they lay idle from all action, except
feats of rapine and plunder; for they spent the day in hunting and
destroying the sheep of lord Carlisle's tenants, and bearing off the
country people's geese and other poultry. They also seiz'd upon all the
horses they could lay hands on, without any question relating to
value or property; notwithstanding they declare the design of
their expedition is to redress grievances, and correct abuses.
Tuesday night the rebels slept quietly with full bellies.
On Wednesday morning about ten o'clock they display'd the white flag
at Warwick Bridge-end, to which they were about three hours in
repairing. About one o'clock the young pretender, attended by lord
George Murray, the D. of Perth, and several others, besides
those called his guards, came to them; upon which they form'd themselves,
and began to march again to Carlisle, in the following order: First,
two (nam'd hussars) in highland dresses, and high rough red caps, like
pioneers; next, about half a dozen of the chief leaders, followed by a
kettle-drum; then the pretender's son, at the head of about 110 horse,
called his guards, two and two a-breats; after these a confus'd multitude
of all sorts of mean people, to the number (it was supposed) of about 6000.
In this order they advanced to the height of Warwick Moor; where
they halted about half an hour, and took an attentive view of the city:
From thence the foot took the lead, and so march'd to Carlisle about
three in the afternoon; when they began a fresh assault, and the city
renewed their fire.
- On Thursday it was discover'd, that the rebels had thrown up a
trench, which intimidated the town, and in a consultation it was resolved
to capitulate, a deputation was sent to the pretender at Brampton,
and the town and castle deliver'd up on Friday morning.
Edinburg. Some gentlemen, by order of the pretender, having visited
the wounded English prisoners in the infirmaries, and told them that
such as inclined to swear that they would not carry arms against the house
of Stuart, before the 1st of Jan. 1747, should be set at
liberty; 260 of them complied, some of whom got to the castle, other remain
in the infirmary to be cured. - The rebels soon after retired from the
city, and when they were at a distance the mob rose on the stragglers
left
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.611}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.611}
{image = G7450611.jpg}
left behind, drove them into the castle; and broke all the windows of the
most noted Jacobites. Last Sunday divine service was perform'd in
most of the churches of Edinburgh, and large collections were made
for the poor.
Brough, in Cumberland, Nov. 11. A person who saw the rebels
about Rowcliff, affirms that the whole number did not exceed 9000
men. As to arms every man has a sword, target, musket and dirk; their
baggage is not very considerable, but they relieve the guard that marches
with it every night. For provisions they have live cattle, and keep a drove
along with them; oatmeal they buy, or take it where they find it, carry it
in a bag at their sides, and eat it morning and evening with water. They
march at a very great rate, and express a desire of getting into
Lancashire. Their officers lodge in villages, but the men always
encamp at night. About day-break they begin to move, or sooner if the moon
shines, and push on as hard as possible. Whereas some of our regiments
do not get ready to march till 9 o'clock.
... ...
Extract of a letter from Kendal, Nov. 18.
MOST of our militia are got home from Carlisle, who generally
complain'd of very ill treatment in that place; and tho' perhaps some of
them may exaggerate matters thro' resentment, yet, by all accounts, the
conduct of that city fell much short of what was expected from a place of
so much strength and reputed loyalty. - An officer of the said militia, who
is a man of fortune and good credit, declares, that Carlisle merits
no greater honour by its surrender to the rebels than Edinburgh did.
The garrison wholly consisted of Cumberland and Westmorland
militia, together with a few volunteers, and two imperfect companies of
invalids. There were besides some independent companies of the town, who
would not assist the said garrison with more than two or three men out of a
company; so that last week they were obliged to be continually upon duty,
and the week before one half reliev'd the other alternately. The militia
were also put to several other great hardships; many of the inhabitants
making them pay an exorbitant price for provisions; and they could not, for
any money, procure a sufficient quantity of straw to lie upon the wall.
Capt. Wilson, (son of Daniel Wilson, Esq; member of
parliament for Westmorland) paid 1l. 10s. for the use
of a cobler's stall under the walls. Upon the first approach of the rebels,
the garrison gave out that themselves were 3000 strong; upon which the
rebels durst not attempt the city immediately, but went forwards toward
Brampton; from whence they returned on the 13th. The garrison kept
continually firing upon them, 'till they were obliged, on the 14th, by the
manager in the town, to desist, and come off from the walls, and continued
so all that night; during which time it was suppos'd the terms of
captulation were settled.
Nex
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.612}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.612}
{image = G7450612.jpg}
Next morning they observed that the rebels had entrench'd themselves before
the town; upon which the garrison renew'd their fire with great spirit and
bravery, but soon receiv'd orders again to desist, for the capitulation was
agreed upon. The D. of Perth, with his division, were the first of
the rebels that enter'd Carlisle, the pretender then being six miles
from the city. They made the garrison swear never to appear in arms any
more against them; and Perth shaking the men by the hands, told them
they were brave fellows, and offered them great sums to enlist with him.
The rebels have taken above 200 good horses, and all the arms from the
militia, besides 1000 stand lodged in the castle. They also found a rich
booty in the castle; the people of the country round about having brought
thither, for safety, the most valuable of their effects. The marquis of
Tullibardine was kill'd by the first fire from the walls on the
10th. The town capitulated on the 14th, in the evening; and on the 15th, at
ten o'clock in the morning, it was given up. About one in the afternoon the
rebels enter'd the city, and the next morning the castle was surrendered to
them. Several of the militia endeavour'd to escape, without being obliged
to take the oath, as also did some of Cope's men, who had deserted
from the rebels, one of which they threaten'd should be shot, as an example
to deter others. -
Notwithstanding the above account seems the throw some blame upon the
citizens of Carlisle, we hope, in a short time, to have matters so
clear'd up, as sufficiently to vindicate both their prudence and loyalty.
... ...
FRIDAY 24.
The rebels enter'd Lancaster at noon, and the commanding officer
immediately demanded the public money.
From the London Gazette, Nov. 26.
... ...
Whitehall, Nov. 25. Advices from Penrith of the 20th at
night, mention, that the rebels to the amount of 3000 had been entering
that place from four in the afternoon to nine, and that several thousand
men were expected there the next day; that according to all appearance
their intention was to march southwards, and that a party of them,
consisting of 120 men, had gone that afternoon to Lowther-hall, lord
Lonsdale's seat.
Letters of the 21st from the same place say, the rebels have been coming in
there all that day; that those which had arrived the day before were all
gone the Lancashire road; that lord George Murray, lord
Elcho, lord Nairn, Glenbucket, and the person styling
himself duke of Perth, were arriv'd at Penrith, and the
pretender's son was expected every minute.
Letters from Kendal of the 21st bring advice, that about 120 horse,
belonging to the rebels, were come into that town, and that orders had been
given for preparing quarters for 2000 foot, which were to be there that
evening under the command of lord George Murray. Letters of the 22d
from the same place say, that the rebels were arriv'd there, and that they
gave out that they propos'd to be at Lancaster upon the 23d.
By advices of the 22d from Penrith, the Highland army which
march'd there on the 21st was to halt that day. The pretender's son, with
his houshold, came in at the head of a regiment of foot, about three that
afternoon, that by the best reckoning that could be made at Emont
and Fallowfield-bridge, the whole of their army did not exceed 7000
men, that
the
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.613}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.613}
{image = G7450613.jpg}
the body of regular horse is very inconsiderable. There are not as yet
above 30 Hussars, besides those that march'd with the van guard yesterday
to Kendal; that Carlisle was left with only about 100; that
they talk'd of great numbers were gone to join them from Scotland,
that Old Glenbucket was gone forward with lord Elcho; that
their whole train of artillery did not amount to above 16 small field
pieces; that their baggage waggons, which were about 20 in number, were
very slenderly guarded, some of them being drawn by three, and others by
two horses, and that it was expected that the whole body would march from
Penrith upon the 24th.
Whitehall, Nov. 26. By advices from Liverpool of the 24th,
there is an account, that nine men belonging to the army of the rebels came
into Burton about one o'clock in the afternoon of the 23d, and
demanded quarters for 100 horse and 700 foot. Letters from Lancaster
of the 24th, take notice, that the van of the rebel army, consisting of the
numbers above, arriv'd there that day; and that the young pretender, with
the main body, lay at Kendal the night before.
- There are letters from the north which mention, that upon the 14th
instant about 40 carts belonging to the rebels, and loaded with arms,
bread, Highland plads and waistcoats, were seiz'd and plunder'd by
the country people in the the county of Annandale, within ten miles
of Dumfries.
... ...
Deal, Nov. 25. This afternoon arriv'd here his majesty's ship
Sheerness, capt. Bully, and brought in a French
privateer call'd the Soleil, which he took on the 22d off the dogger
bank. She came from Dunkirk the 21st, and was bound to
Montross, in Scotland, and has on board Mr. Ratcliff,
(who stiles himself earl of Derwentwater) with 20 colonels,
captains, &c.† Irish, Scotch and French, besides
60 other men.
So far from the Gazette.
† Another account of the capture of the Soleil, says
'there was on board a million of livres, and that, besides Mr. Ratcliff,
among the prisoners are the duke of Richlieu, count Clerment, lord Nairn,
lord Drummond, sixteen other persons of distinction, and the pretender's
youngest son, who goes by the name of Manley.'
--- A letter from on board admiral Vernon's ship, where the prisoners are,
relates,
'that Mr Ratcliff pretends to be father of the young gentleman who is
supposed to be the pretender's youngest son, (see his age vol.XI. Pedigree
of princes, p.435) but that, upon two beds being shewn, he offer'd the best
to his son, who is very sullen and spiritless; and every thing tends to
confirm his being a young pretender, which some are ready to swear, but
they did not think he was six foot high, as this person is.'
From another letter, ---
'Our suspicion is further confirmed, by the young gentleman's keeping his
left hand cover'd to hide his two middle fingers, which grow together; by
his throwing his laced hat and coat into the sea and putting on a leather
cap and jacket; by the preference Mr Ratcliff gives him on all occasions,
and by the affirmation of a person who knew him at Rome.'
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.624}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.624}
{text- }
{image = G7450624.jpg}
From the London Gazette extraordinary. Whitehall, Dec. 18.
... ...
... The person call'd duke of Perth, with about 150 horse, left the
rebel army upon the 11th at Lancaster, and took the road towards
Carlisle, giving out, that he was going to fetch a reinforcement.
Notice thereof has been sent to all the towns through which he was to pass,
and it was hoped the country people would intercept him*. About
twenty rebel stragglers have been pick'd up in different places. ...
* Accordingly, as other letters add, the people fell upon this party
at Kendal, took 3 men and 2 women, and some horses, but three of the
town were killed. This was on the 14th at noon. - They marched to
Shap that night, and lay there; and next day, believing they would
be treated in the same manner at Penrith, they endeavoured to miss
it, but were met by the country people on Lazenby-moor, on which
they turn'd off to Temple Sowerby, and were hunted all day by the
people, who took one of them, and were driven into Orton, at 6 in
the evening; here they only staid to feed their horses in the street, and
then set forward (having pressed a guide) to join their main body at
Kendal, being pursued by the people from Appleby and
Brough, who ('tis said) took the D. of Perth's mistress and
another gentlewoman, and two horses, their chaise being broke down. -- All
the towns which they pass'd, after this, felt their reinforcement to a very
high degree, not only by plundering their houses and shops, but by
destroying their goods, and by stripping many men of their shoes, stockings
and breeches; sometimes also of their other cloaths.
By advices from Preston of the 15th, the rebels began to march out
of Lancaster at eight o'clock the night before, in a very great
hurry; the baggage proceeded first. They were marching out in different
bodies all night. The last of them left that town at eight o'clock in the
morning of the 15th.‡ They took the road to Kendal.
‡ Letters from Lancaster say, That as the rear of the rebels
were marching out at one end of the town on the 25th, Gen.
Oglethorpe's horse enter'd the other, and was to refresh in the
street, and then proceeded; but he was called back to Garstang that
night, upon receipt of an express of the French being landed, which
was afterwards contradicted, and the next day he was order'd to push on
again.
Letters
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.625}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.625}
{image = G7450625.jpg}
Letters ...
... ...
... that from their first entering England, till they came to
Derby, they seem's resolv'd upon marching directly to London;
but that at Derby, having heard how the D. of Cumberland's
army was posted, a council of war was call'd, in which it was resolv'd to
return by Carlisle into Scotland; that there was a person
with the rebels who stiled himself the French ambassador; and that
great numbers of the men had often declar'd, that if they could get back
into Scotland, they would leave the army, and return to their
respective abodes.
Appleby, Dec. 14. In obedience to a letter sent to the
deputy-lieutenants of Westmorland and Cumberland, by his R.H.
the D. of Cumberland, requiring them, by all means, to retard and
obstruct the march of the rebels thro' thos two counties, a resolution had
just been taken to raise part of the county to demolish Wastal
bridge, to make the road from Kendal to Shap impassable for
the artillery of the rebels, or any wheel-carriages; and for the same
reason to break up the road down Graridge Hawse; whereby it is hoped
their march may be so far retarded, as to give time to his R.H.'s army to
come up with them, before they can get clear of these counties. About ten
this morning the van-guard of the rebels, consisting of 110 men, equip'd
and accoutred like Hussars, entred Kendal on horseback, with a
chaise, in which was a person in woman's dress, rode up the town quietly,
and turned thro' the fish-market down to the bridge leading to
Penrith; but as they were pursuing their route thro' the town,
without stopping, and were almost got out of it, a gun was fired out of a
house, and one of the rebels kill'd; whereupon the town's people closed in,
and took two more prisoners. The rest of them gallop'd on towards the
bridge, where a halt was made on a sudden, and a few muskets discharg'd at
the people, and an ostler and shoemaker thereby kill'd upon the spot. They
then made a general volley, but without doing any more mischief, and after
that pursued their way as fast as they could towards Shap. Their
horses seem's very much harassed and jaded.
Lancaster, Dec. 17. A party of rebel horse (about 100) amongst whom
was the D. of Perth, so call'd, pass'd thro' Kendal on
Saturday morning about ten; the country and town's people mobb'd
their rear, which fir'd and kill'd two or three, and proceeded forward
towards Penrith. On Sunday after dinner a party of horse came
into Kendal, amongst whom was their commissary; and an hour
afterwards came the rest, horse and foot, and were coming in till after
dark. Their artillery, consisting of 12 or 13 small pieces, was about the
middle of the corps, with several cover'd carts. The duke of Perth,
so call'd, after the scuffle above mention'd at Kendal, proceeded on
to Shap, and intended for Penrith; but seeing the beacons on
fire, and hearing it was done to call in the country, sent a small party to
the round table, which is a mile on this side of Penrith, and five
from Shap to make enquiries; and finding it true, he return'd for
safety to Kendal about two in the morning of the 16th. Between four
and five the drums began to beat, and the men march'd out from day-break
till near ten, in the same order as they enter'd, Ld George Murray
being with the last company.
Whitehall, Dec. 19. By an express just arriv'd from his R.H. the D.
of Cumberland, dated at Lancaster the 17th, there is advice,
that Gn. Oglethorpe with the avant-guard was to be at Shap
that day, and the rest of his royal highness's forces were on their march
for Kendal, and were to rest there that night. That on the 16th in
the morning, the rebels marched from the Kendal, but not being able
to reach Penrith as they intended, were forced to lie at
Shap.
From the London Gazette, Dec. 21.
... ...
Whitehall, Dec. 21. Letters receiv'd this morning from the Duke of
Cumberland, by a messenger who left his royal highness on
Thursday morning last, being an account, that he came up with the
rebels on Wednesday night with his cavalry, after ten hours march,
just beyond Lowther-Hall, which the rebels abandon'd on our
approach, and threw themselves into a village called Clifton, within
three miles of Penrith, which village his royal highness immediately
attacked with the dragoons dismounted, who behaved extremely well, and
drove the rebels out in an hour's time, tho' a very strong and defensible
post. The loss of the rebels could not be known, as it was quite dark
before the skirmish was over: That of the king's forces amounted to about
40 men kill'd and wounded, and 4 officers wounded, but not mortally,
viz. Col. Honeywood, Capt. East,
and
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.626}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.626}
{image = G7450626.jpg}
and the two cornets Owen and Hamilton. A captain
Hamilton of the rebels was taken prisoner much wounded. After this
action, the rebels retir'd to four mile distance, and his royal highness
intended to pursue them as soon as possible.
From the London Gazetter, Dec. 24.
Penrith, Dec. 20.
THE rebels having carried off their killed and wounded, when they were
driven out of the village of Clifton by the king's forces, it has
not been possible to ascertain their loss; but since that affair about 70
of their people have been taken prisoners.
Of the king's forces, the regiment that suffer'd most was his majesty's own
regiment of dragoons, some officers of which being wounded, the rebels
cried, No quarter, - murder them. - and they receiv'd several wounds
after they were down.
About ten o'clock on Wednesday night that corps of the rebels which
was at Penrith, and had order'd their cannon and baggage to advance
during the skirmish, retired with the utmost precipitation to
Carlisle, where they arrived yesterday morning about ten. It was so
dark, and the country so cover'd, that it was not possible to pursue them
that night, and the troops being fatigued with the forced marches they had
made thro' very bad roads, they halted at Penrith yesterday, and
were joined last night by the greatest part of the foot, and by the
remainder this morning.
By the best accounts the rebels are still at Carlisle, but it is
thought their intention is to go off tomorrow, if the rivers and floods
will permit them. If they continue there, his royal highness proposes to
invest the town tomorrow with the troops now here, and the detachment from
Marshal Wade's army, and a train of battering cannon from
Whitehaven, which is to be this day at Cockermouth. and has
orders to move with the whole posse comitatus, which will be
assembled tomorrow at Wigton.
Newcastle, Dec. 21. Marshall Wade arriv'd here yesterday, and
gave orders for the immediate march of 1000 foot, and 50 horse, to join his
royal highness the Duke of Cumberland in the neighbourhood of
Carlisle. Those troops march'd accordingly from hence this morning,
and will be tomorrow night at Haltwesel.
From the Gazetter extraordinary, Dec. 26.
Whitehall, Dec. 26.
LEtters receiv'd yesterday by express from Blichall near
Carlisle give an account, that upon the march from Penrith
thither, his royal highness the Duke had receiv'd the news of the rebel
army having quitted that place, and left in it only 3 or 4 hundred men,
who, according to the best intelligence, consisted chiefly of their
English recruits, and Gordon of Glenbucket's men,
commanded by one Hamilton. The king's forces arriv'd within sight of
the town the 21st about noon, and Major Gen. Bland had invested it
on the Scotch side with St George's dragoons, and 300 men of
Bligh's regiment, with orders to prevent any passage over the bridge
upon the river Eden, which leads directly to the Scotch gate.
Major Adams, with 200 foot, was posted in the suburbs of the
English gate, to prevent any of the garrison's escaping that way;
Major Meirac at the Irish gate with the same orders, and Sir
Andrew Agnew at the Sally Port with 300. All the horse, and the
foot-guards, were canton'd round the town, at a mile or two distance. The
rebels, who, were left, made a shew of intending to defend the place,
firing their cannon upon everybody who appeared in sight of it. The
artillery from Whitehaven was expected to arrive in a day or two at
the army, and it was proposed to have a battery erected by the morning of
the 24th; after which it was not doubted but his royal highness would be
master of the town in 24 hours, in which he intended to leave a sufficient
garrison. The rebels left their cannon behind them in Carlisle,
excepting 3 pieces; and Major Gen. Bland had taken 16 carts laden
with tents.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.673}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.673}
{header- Ancient Carlisle}
{image = G7450673.jpg}
A short description of the ancient City of CARLISLE.
CARLISLE has a most pleasant situation, being between three rivers,
having on the North side the Eden, on the East the Petterell,
and on the West the Caude. It is secured by a strong stone wall, a
castle, and a citadel. 'Tis of an oblong form from N. West to S. East,
extending in a point to the * South; the castle, which stands in the
N. West extremity, is pretty large, and by the arms (as Mr Camden
infers) seems to have been built by K. Richard III. but the
commentator on him tells us, that it is certain it was built by K.
William II. for K. Richard III. in so troublesome and short a
reign, could only repair it. The citadel is by the Bother gate, very
strong, fortified with several orillons, or roundels, and built by K.
Henry VIII.
The British chronicle tells us, that it was first built by a petty
king of this country, named Luel, or Lugubal, long before the
Romans invaded Britain, and upon that account had the name of
Caer-Luel or Lugubal. When the Roman legions, in the
reign of the emperor Claudius, extending their conquests thus far
Northward, they alter'd the name but very little, calling it
Luguballum, or Luguvallum. The Saxons kept to the old
name Luel. Ptolemy calls it Leucopibia: Nennius, Caer
Lualid; the Welch writers, the city of Duballus, we
Carlile; and the Latins, Caerleolum. Great pains are taken by
some to find out the derivation of the name Luguballum; but none is
so probable as this, that being situate just by the Picts wall or
Vallum, and Lugus, or Lucus, signifying, in the
language of the Celtae and Britains, a tower, it implies a
tower or fort upon the wall, or Vallum. And tho' indeed there are
little or no remains of the
Stan-
{text- The catchword is not correct for the following page.}
* (Or may be said to lie South and North, a part extending to the N.
West.)
{title- Gents Mag 1745 p.674}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.674}
{image = G7450674.jpg}
wall near this city standing, yet at Stanwicks, a small village just
over the bridge, and in the channel of the river itself, there are plain
remains of it.
That this city flourished in the time of the Romans, appears
evidently from many antiquities frequently dug up here, and the common
mention of it in Roman authors.
Upon the departure of the Romans, it was ruin'd by the Scots
and Picts, who spoil'd and ravag'd it, and it lay bury'd in its
ruins till about the year of Christ 680, when Egfrid rebuilt it, and
encompassed it with a fair stone wall; and having repaired the church,
restor'd divine worship, placed in it a college of secular priests, and
gave it to St Cuthbert, bishop of Landisfern, and his
successors, with all the lands 15 miles round.
Again, in the 8th and 9th centuries, the whole country was ruin'd by
repeated incursions of the Danes and Norwegians, this city
being laid quite desolate, some few ecclesiastics and chief inhabitants
only excepted, and in this miserable state it continued 200 years. The
Norman conquest, which happen'd in that time, better'd not its
condition, for Wm the conqueror took no farther notice of it, than
by his writ to subject it, and the rest of the county to the see of
Durham. But Wm Rufus, his son, returning from the
Scotch wars, after he had settled a peace with that nation, made a
visit to Carlile, and being pleased with the situation, proceeded to
repair the walls and castle, and rebuild the houses, sending thither first
a colony of Flemings, (whom upon second thoughts he removed
afterwards into North Wales and Anglesey) and then of
English husbandmen out of the South, to teach them to till
and improve their land, which before lay uncultivated.
Carlile being thus in some measure restored, K. Henry I.
considering how good a barrier it might be made against the Scots,
caused it to be well fortified, placed a garrison in it, dignified it with
an episcopal see, and bestowed upon it many other privileges and
emoluments, which his successors , even down so low as Q. Elizabeth,
very much augmented. It was indeed often besieged by the Scots, and
twice taken, viz. in K. Stephen's and K. John's days,
but recover'd again by their successors K. Henry II. and III. and
tho' it was burnt by misfortune 14 Richard II. and near 1500 houses
destroyed, with the cathedral and suburbs, yet by the munificence of the
succeeding kings it was again restored, and much improv'd in strength and
beauty.
It is at present a wealthy and populous place, the houses are well built,
and city walled in, having three gates, viz. the Caldo or
Irish gate on the S. West, the Bother or English gate
on the South, and the Rickard or Scotch gate towards the
North. It is govern'd by a mayor, 12 aldermen, two bailiffs, &c. The
assizes and sessions for the most part are held in this city.
It has but two parish churches, St Mary's and St Cuthbert's.
St Mary's is the cathedral, and stands almost in the midst of the
city, with a wall round it. * The Eastern part, which is the newer,
is a curious piece of workmanship; the choir, with the isles, is 71 foot
broad, is an exact piece of architecture, having a stately East window of
48 foot in height, and 30 in breadth, adorned with pillars of curious
workmanship. The roof is elegantly arched with wood, and embellished with
the arms of France and England quarter'd, the Piercy's,
Lucy's Warren's, Mowbray's, and many others. In the choir are monuments
of three bishops of this see, Bell, Robinson, and Smith, who
are bury'd there. The West end, which is the lower, and was anciently the
parish-church, was also a spacious building before the rebellion in 1641,
but was for the greatest part demolished by those violent reformers, and
the materials made use of for the building of guard-houses at every gate,
erecting batteries in the castle, and setting themselves up private
dwellings in the town; tho' it has been observed, their posterity never
enjoyed them.
This observation is made by the reverend compiler of the
Magna Britannia antiqua et nova, from whom the foregoing description
is taken, except a correction of him with regard to the situation of the
place, all our news papers following this writer (who might have informed
himself better from honest Speed) having turned the city about and
placed the English gate in the West and the Irish in the
South.
This city was formerly esteemed the key of England against the
Scots on the West side, as Berwick was on the East, and so
far is a place of great importance. Notwithstanding it was well provided
with cannon, ammunition, &c. it was soon taken by the rebels, for which
many causes are assigned [(see]
* The tour thro' Great Britain says, that "a great part of it
was built by St David, K. of Scotland, who held this county,
together with Westmorland and Northumberland, in vassalage
from the crown of England. He, and many of his successors, were
great benefactors: but almost the whole nave, or west part of it, was
demolished by the Scots, in the civil wars."
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.675}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1745 p.675}
{image = G7450675.jpg}
(see p.605 F) in private letters from thence, the writers of them mutually
excusing their friends, and charging others with the whole blame, and even
with cowardice. A time may come when it will be more easy to discover the
truth, or at least more proper to publish these varying accounts.
This city was surrender'd to the rebels Nov. 16, 1745, and taken by his
royal highness the D. of Cumberland, after 48 hours battering the West
curtain of the castle from Primrose Hill, on Dec. 30, about 400 rebels left
there, on the precipitate retreat of the main body to Scotland,
surrendering to the king's mercy.
{image = G745M01.jpg}
{text- The map is a copy of John Speed's map, 1611.}
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.20}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.20}
{header- Progress of the Rebels}
{image = G7460020.jpg}
ACCOUNT of the Motions of the REBELS and of the KING'S
FORCES, from the London Gazette, with some Remarks. Continued
from Vol.XV. p.626 and 667.
From the London Gazetter, Dec. 31.
... ...
Whitehall, Dec. 31. Some letters from the north mention, that the
rebels remained in the town of Carlisle upon the 25th, and fired
almost incessantly; that his royal highness had upon that day received six
pieces of cannon expected from Whitehaven; and that every thing was
preparing for beginning the atcack (sic) upon the place.
Whitehall, Dec. 31. at noon. By letters of the 28th Inst.
just received from his R.H. the duke of Cumberland's army, there is
advice, that they had then begun to batter the four gun battery of
Carlisle with six 18 pounders, and hoped to make a breach fit to
give the assault by the next night.
From the Gazette extraordinary, Jan. 2. Published by
authority. Price 2d.
... ...
Whitehall, Jan. 2. Last night a messenger arriv'd with letters from
Blackhall, dated the 30th past, with the following account of the
sur
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.21}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.21}
{image = G7460021.jpg}
surrender of the town and castle of Carlisle to his R.H. the duke of
Cumberland.
(Blackhall, a village near Carlisle, Decemb. 30,
call'd Blichal in the Gazettes of Dec. 26 and 28
(See Vol.XV. p.626 G, and p.667 H) which is added to
this Gazette for the sake of perspicuity.)
ON the 29th it was found necessary to abate the firing from the battery,
which had begun to play the day before, for want of shot, till towards
evening, when a fresh supply arriving, it was renew'd very briskly for two
hours, which shook the walls very much.
The same evening a fellow attempting to get out of the town, was taken by
one of the advanced parties, and brought to the duke. He delivered two
letters, one for his royal highness, the other for the commander of the
Dutch troops suppos'd to be with his army. They were from a person
stiling himself the commander of the French artillery, and of the
French garrison that was at, or might come to Carlisle and
who subscribes his name De Geogbegan (sic), for the defence of the
town and citadel; and the contents of them were to summon the commander of
the Dutch to retire with his troops from the English army,
under pretence of the capitulation of Tournay.
The night of the 29th was spent in raising a new battery of three 18
pounders, which was completed by the morning; but on the first platoon of
the old battery firing, the rebels hung out the white flag; whereupon the
battery ceased, and they call'd over the walls, that they had two hostages
ready to be deliver'd at the English Gate, which is on the opposite
side of the town, His R.H. then order'd Col. Conway and Ld
Bury to go and deliver the two messages mark'd (A) and (B) in
writing, to be sign'd by Col. Conway. The second message being
design'd as an answer to the person's letter who call'd himself a
Frenchman.
IN about two hours they return's, and brought the paper mark'd (C) signed
by John Hamilton, whereupon they were sent back with the terms
signed by the duke of Richmond, by order of his R.H. as contained in
the paper mark'd (D), and about four they brought the paper mark'd (E),
sign'd also by John Hamilton; on which brigadier Bligh was
order's immediately to take possession of the town, and he will have there
this * night 400 foot guards, and 700 marching foot, with 120
horse to patrole in the streets. His R.H. the duke will enter the town of
Carlisle himself * to-morrow.
* THe words this night, and to-morrow being found very
abstruse, as standing under the date Whitehall, Jan. 2. it was
necessary to add the date above from Blackhall, Dec. 30, and to
separate the account, which was most clear in itself, from the
Gazette writer's narrative, with which it was blended, the terms
unchanged.
Copy of his royal highness's message to the rebels at Carlisle,
upon their hanging out a white flag on Monday morning, Dec. 30,
1745.
(A) HIS royal highness will make no exchange of hostages with rebels, and
desires they will let him know by me, what they mean by hanging out the
white flag.
(B) To let the French officer know, if there is one in the town,
that there are no Dutch troops here, but enough of the king's to
chastise the rebels, and those who dare to give them any assistance. Sign'd
Col. Conway, aid de camp to his R.H. the duke.
(D) John Hamilton's answer to his R.H. the duke's message to the rebels
in Carlisle, Dec. 30, 1745.
IN answer to the short note sent by his royal highness prince
William, D. of Cumberland, the governor in name of himself
and all the officers and soldiers, gunners, and others belonging to the
garrison, desires to know what terms his R.H. will be pleased to give them,
upon surrender of the city and castle of Carlisle, and which known,
his R.H. shall be duly acquainted with the governor and garrison's last or
ultimate resolution, the white flag being hung out on purpose to obtain
cessation of arms for concluding such a capitulation. This is to be given
to his R.H.'s aid de camp.
Sign'd John Hamilton.
(D) His Royal Highness's declaration to the rebels, sent by the
colonels Conway and Ld Bury, aid de camps to his R.H. after
receiving John Hamilton's letter, Dec. 30.
ALL the terms his royal highness will or can grant to the rebel garrison of
Carlisle are, that they shall not be put to the sword, but be
reserv'd for the king's pleasure.
If they consent to these conditions, the governor and principal officers
are to deliver themselves up immediately, and the castle, city, and all the
gates of the town, are to be taken possession of forthwith by the king's
troops. All the small arms are to be lodged in the town guard room, and the
rest of the garrison are to retire to the cathedral, where a guard is to be
placed over them. No damage is to be done to the artillery, arms, or
ammunition.
Head quarters at Blackhall, Dec. 30. Half an hour past two in the
afternoon.
By his royal highness's command,
Sign'd Richmond, Lenox, and Aubigny, Lieut. Gen. of his
majesty's forces.
(E) The rebels answer to the terms offer'd them by his royal
highness, Dec. 30, 1745.
THE governor of Carlisle, and the hail officers comprising the
garrison, agree to the terms of capitulation given in, and subscribed by
order of his royal highness, by his grace the duke of Richmond,
Lenox, and Aubigny, Lieut. Gen. of his majesty's forces,
recommending themselves to his royal highness's clemency, and that his
royal highness will be pleased to interpose for them with his majesty; and
that the officers cloaths and baggage may be safe, with a competent time to
be allow'd to the citizens of Carlisle to remove their beds,
bed-cloaths, and other houshold furniture impressed from
them
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.22}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.22}
{image = G7460022.jpg}
them for the use of the garrison in the castle. The 30th of Dec.
1745, at three o'clock in the afternoon.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.23}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.23}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Prisoners at Carlisle}
{image = G7460023.jpg}
... ...
From the London Gazette:-
Whitehall, Jan. 7. The following is an account of the rebel officers
and soldiers, together with their artillery, taken by his royal highness
the duke of Cumberland at Carlisle.
LIST of the English rebel officers in the Manchester regiment taken in
Carlisle, 1745.
Col.
Francis Townley, of Lancashire.
Capt.
John Saunderson, of Northumberland.
Peter Moss, of Lancashire.
James Dawson, of ditto.
George Fletcher, of ditto.
Andrew Blood, of Yorkshire.
Lieuts.
Thomas Deacon, of Lancashire.
John Berwick, of ditto.
Robert Deacon, of ditto.
John Holker, of ditto.
Thomas Chadwick, of Staffordshire.
Thomas Furnival, of Cheshire.
Ensigns
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.24}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.24}
{image = G7460024.jpg}
Ensigns
Charles Deacon, of Lancashire.
Charles Gaylor, of ditto.
John Hurter, of Northumberland.
James Wilding, of Lancashire.
John Betts, of ditto.
William Bradshaw, of ditto.
Samuel Maddock, of Cheshire.
Adjut.
Thomas Syddel, of Lancashire (Barber)
Total of Officers. 1 Colonel. 5 Captains. 6 Lieutenants. 7 Ensigns.
1 Adjutant. And 93 non-commissioned rebel officers, drummers, and private
men.
James Cappock, of Lancashire, made by the Pretender Bishop of Carlisle.
LIST of the Scotch Rebel Officers taken in Carlisle, 1745.
John Hamilton, of Aberdeenshire, late Governor. - Robert Forbes, of ditto,
Capt. in Lord Lewis Gordon's regiment. - John Burnet, of ditto, Capt. in
Col. Grant's regiment. - Alexander Abernethy, of ditto, Capt. in the D. of
Perth's regiment. - Donald M'Donald, of Inverness-shire, Capt. in Capock's
regiment. - John Comerie, of Braes of Athol, Capt. in the D. of Athol's
regiment. - Charles Gordon, of Aberdeenshire, Lieutenant in in Lord
Ogilvie's regiment. - James Gordon, of ditto, Lieut. in Col. Grant's
regiment. - Walter Ogilvie, of Bamffshire, Lieut. in Lord Lewis Gordon's
regiment. - William Stewart, of ditto, Lieut. in Col. Roye Stewart's
regiment. - Alex M'Grouther, of Perthshire, Lieut. in the D. of Perth's
regiment. - Alex. M'Grouther, of ditto, Lieut. in ditto. - Walter Mitchel,
of Aberdeenshire, Ensign in ditto. - George Ramsey, of ditto, Ensign in
ditto. - James Stratton, of Berwickshire, Surgeon to the garrison. - James
Nicholson, broke the capitulation by endeavouring to make his escape,
Lieut. in the D. of Perth's regiment.
Total of Officers. 1 Governor. 1 Surgeon. 6 Captains. 7 Lieutenants.
3 Ensigns. And 256 non-commissioned rebel officers, Drummers, and private
men.
LIST of those stiling themselves French officers, taken at Carlisle,
1745.
Sir Francis Geogean, of Thoulouse in France, Captain in Lally's regiment. -
Strickland, of ditto, Col. no regiment. - Sir John Arbuthnot, of ditto,
Capt. in Lord Drummond's regiment.
Private Men and Serjeants.
Pierre La Locke, of Dieppe in France, Serjeant in Lally's regiment. - Fra.
Carpentier, of ditto, private man, in ditto. - Pierre Bourgogne, of
Tourrat, private man, in ditto. - Jean Poussin. of Dieppe, private man in
ditto. - Pierre Vickman, of ditto, private man, in ditto.
Total of those calling themselves French. 3 Officers. 1 Serjeant. 4.
Private men.
An Account of the Brass and Iron Ordinance of the Rebels taken in
Carlise.
6 brass one and half ponder guns with carriages. 1 brass octagon with a
carriage. 3 brass four pounder guns with carriages. 4 brass cohorns. 2
royals.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.30}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.30}
{header- Irregular Forces}
{image = G7460030.jpg}
Essay on regular and irregular Forces.
AS some remarkable instances have happen'd of irregular troops routing
well-disciplin'd, it may be worth while to enquire the causes. If war be a
peculiar science, as all wise nations have understood it to be, that
discipline which proves useless ought to be rejected, and a better
substituted in its place.
It
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.31}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.31}
{image = G7460031.jpg}
It would be needless to produce testimony from history, to shew that no
assemblage of undisciplin'd mobs, how desperate soever, that fought with
the same weapons, and had not other advantages, succeeded against an equal
number of regular men.
The supreme being, in conducting the Jews from AEgypt, led
them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, because the
Philistines were men of war from their youth, regular and
well-disciplin'd troops, and the Jews in no condition to fight them,
and force a passage thro' their country. The same superiority is evident in
all the wars made on that people; till David observing it, form'd
the original militia into a standing army, and by that means became very
successful in his future wars with that republic.
When, therefore, in the case of regular troops engaging with mobs, the
former are defeated, some reasons ought to be assign'd which, in my
opinion, are chiefly reducible to the following: Superiority of numbers,
misconduct of officers, particularly the general, surprize, temerity,
cowardice, difference of weapons, and confusion.
In the battle of Gilli-cranky, the difference of weapons, confusion,
and cowardice of the horse, were always assign'd as the principal causes of
our defeat.
In the late affair at Gladsmuir, most of the troops had never been
in action; wherefore to the reasons before named, cowardice and surprize
ought to be join'd, tho' the last seems to be the greatest part of the
charge.
It is particularly to be observ'd, that regular men can never fight well
when reduced to the form of a mob, no more than a mob can fight like
regular men. The former is a method of fighting which soldiers are not
acquainted with, and the practice and lesson of their lives absolutely
discharge it. 'Twill therefore be the constant aim of a tumultuous and
cunning enemy to render discipline useless by introducing confusion; if by
a sudden shock, or desperate push they acquire this, certain victory is
generally the consequence, they are the best fighters in disorder, their
leaders sufficiently know this, and never fail to improve it.
Another essential cause is the difference of weapons, not so much the sword
as the shield, which protects the assailant in cutting his way, and enables
him to proceed with intrepidity, and strike terror. The success is ascribed
to personal valour, and the agent is elated, while the execution performed
by fire-arms is too general to give the honour to any one agent. Hence the
Highlanders acquire their fame, and presume on greater bravery. Their
swords indeed are manageable with much greater dexterity and smartness than
ours, the three centres of motion, gravity, and magnitude uniting in them,
which the weight of our blades, and the lightness of our hilts, separate
too much.
As for the battle-axe, the inconveniency of wielding it renders it of very
little consequence but terror.
Much dependence has of late years been placed on the musket and bayonet,
which are more manageable, and less embarassing than the long and unwieldy
pike, and, for their double use, have been preferred to it. But in a close
engagement the broad sword and target seem to have much the advantage of
the musket and bayonet; since the point of the bayonet may be receiv'd upon
the target on the left hand, while the weighty broad sword does the
business on the right, the fighter without a shield having no guard against
the stroke. For this reason a Scotch gentleman of considerable
wealth, and great dealings as a merchant, proposed to raise and head a
regiment to be instructed in a particular discipline, by which he would
undertake to engage and overthrow any Highland regiment, notwithstanding
their target. The method was for his men to sling the musket on the right
shoulder, or under the strap of the left, lengthening the sling, that the
musket might be supported so as to lessen the weight, and by hanging at a
balance, at a convenient length, might be push'd forward, like a battering
ram, with the left hand, so that the point of the bayonet would come under
the Highlander's right arm, out of the way of the target, and while he was
aiming a stroke, our merchant's soldier was to defend himself by the guard
of his sword in his right hand. A method not unlike this was followed by
the late duke of Argyle, when he push'd and entirely routed the
rebels right wing at Sherriff-muir. Why the merchant's proposal was
not accepted, or whether any regard has been had to the method, I cannot
say; but as the king's troops do not want of courage, it is a pity they
should not serve themselves of every art for defence, as well as offence.
(See Vol. XV. p.527.)
It is easier to point out difficulties than to remedy them. War is a
science I have but little study'd; but it seems beyond a doubt, that a
constant and regular fire from the foot, with a vigorous support of the
horse, would presently turn the scales, against even Highlanders. Their
shields are not impenetrable to bullets, and these desperadoes, mad as they
are, will chuse to shun death by flight, the moment that
they
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.32}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.32}
{image = G7460032.jpg}
they are convinced it is not to be avoided by standing.
To prevent all future attempts of so dangerous a consequence, two or three
regiments of loyal Highlanders might be rais'd, for the government's use,
that may continue their own method of fighting, without going tho' the
discipline of ours.
Some regiments of horse, instructed in the hussar manner of fighting, would
likewise be highly serviceable on these contests. For I am of the D. of
Marlborough's opinion, that a few active regiments of horse would
answer better to quell such tumults, than twice the number of foot.
I am, Sir, Yours, &c.
G.S.
Oct. 21, 1745.
P. S. That the soldiers ought to be guarded with all manner of
defensive mail, not cumbersome to use, is certainly very commendable in a
war of this nature, and to have pistols as well as the Highlanders, to the
end that, when these madmen find their purpose frustrated in hewing their
way, they might shew their heels.
... ...
{series- events}
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.43}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.43}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Whitehaven}
{text- The Historical Chronicle for Wednesday 29 January 1746 has:-}
The inhabitants of Whitehaven, having distinguished themselves by the ready
assistance given to the army under the duke of Cumberland, Sir Everard
Faulkner, by command of his R.H. wrote a letter of thanks to them on that
account.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.62}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.62}
{header- 1745 Rebellion}
{image = G7460062.jpg}
Mr URBAN, Feb. 10, 1745-6.
AS the intelligence convey'd to us by your magazine is very much depended
upon, and may furnish materials for a more compleat history of the present
troubles, it becomes every one, to furnish you with proper incidents.
In your Mag. for December, p.624 C, in the note, and p.625 F,
you have given some account of the D. of Perth's being attack'd at
Kendal, and of his procedure afterwards till his joining the main
body of the rebels; but as it is imperfect, I would supply its deficiencies
with an exact representation of the affair.
Dec. 14. The D. of Perth with about 110 men, the vanguard of
the rebels, dress'd in imitation of hussars, entred Kendal and
pass'd quietly till they came to Tinkle-street, where the mob
suddenly rising fell upon them, with clubs, stones, or any thing they could
pick up in their hurry. The D.'s men made a short stand a little below the
fish market, and fir'd several shot, by which four people received wounds
of which they died. Of the rebels none were kill'd on the place, but four
made prisoners, one of them Perth's servant, who rid on a good
horse, and had a mail behind him, which were secured. Then the rebels
push'd forward as fast as their horses could carry them near a quarter of a
mile, till they came at the bridge, being pursued all the way by the
enraged people, throwing stones, &c. at them. Their rear made another
stand here, and seem'd as if they would return, but a townsman, having
crept privately to the end of the bridge, fir'd at the foremost, who
immediately let his gun and cloak fall, and could not turn his horse, but
by the help of his companions he got off; however they buried 3 before they
got to Shap, and about noon they proceeded on their march as far as
Eamont Bridge, intending for Penrith that night, but
perceiving that beacon on fire, they enquir'd at a public house the reason;
the landlady told them it was to raise the country, and added, 'Gentlemen,
I desire you for God's sake to go back, because all the hedges from here to
Penrith are lin'd.' They follow'd her advice, and returned to
Shap. Here they staid the remainder of the night, and Perth
was in so great a fright, that he durst not keep his quarters, but removed
to another house near the middle of the town. Having forc'd a guide here,
they set out early in the morning, but not daring to venture the
Penrith road, they cross'd the Eden at a village call'd
Culgaith, and intended to have pursu'd their route for
Scotland along the East of that river: but Penrith people
having notice of their march, sent a detachment of between 2 and 300 men
mounted and arm'd, who crossing the Eden at Langonby bridge,
met the rebels on Langonby moor, who on some shot fired at them,
thought fit to retreat, without disputing for a passage, by Temple
Sowerby, being hotly pursu'd by the country people, from every side,
and sometimes almost surrounded. ---
They once made a stand upon a plain open piece of ground, but the country
people who were mostly on foot and badly armed, did not care to come too
near them, except where they had hedges, walls or rocky ground to secure
them from the horse. When the rebels saw that the country would not fight
them, except upon their own ground, they once more mov'd forward, and when
it was almost dark, were greatly distressed, for the countrymen dividing
into small companies, were near them on every side, discharging guns and
huzzaing, which made them often vary their course: About 7 o'clock they
came to Orton, where the D. of Perth had lodged all night
when the rebels marched southward, but he did not know the town, nor dursts
enter it, till having first sent in to take some prisoners, by whom he
learnt that there were no soldiers or armed men in it. During this pursuit
one of the rebels was taken and they took a country boy who had discharged
his pistol 2 or 3 times at them, and seem'd determin'd to shoot him; but
Perth dissuaded them, saying he was a pretty boy, and 'twould be a
pity to kill him. The Eastern part of Westmorland, hearing the
transactions of the day, and yt the rebels were lodged at Orton,
resolved to serve their king and country, by taking or destroying these
enemies of our peace. Accordingly Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, and
indeed the country in general rose that night, and went to surround
Orton as soon as they could, many of them being near before day, and
determined to attack the town, but the rebels after a short repose having
proceeded forward to Kendal, the country were disappointed of their
design.
P.625. Col.2. H. it is said by the Gazette, 'the loss
of the rebels could not be known, as it was quite dark before the skirmish
was over.' I believe 'tis true, that no body does know the exact number of
the kill'd. Five only being found dead upon the field, many suppose that no
more were kill'd; I cannot positively assert the contrary; but as I was a
very near eye witness of the action, one of the rebels having been kill'd
within a few yards of the place where I stood, I had perhaps a fairer
oppportunity of seeing what passed than any other person, whether member of
the army or not; and do declare, that the second regular fire of the king's
men in the field, which was made when the two bodies were about 50 yards
distant from each other, did a great deal of execution among the rebels;
for I suppose, some scores might fall, and I am sure they never rose again
while I kept my station; and after this the rebels receiv'd a full fire
from the king's men within a very few yards, which certainly must do very
great execution, but as they were immediately involved in smoke I could not
see; but as to the first I am positive that numbers were either kill'd or
wounded, and their not being found is no objection to the truth of the
thing, because they had time enough to carry them off.
J. Burn.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.105}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.105}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Prisoners at Carlisle}
{image = G7460105.jpg}
Historical Chronicle February 1746.
... ...
MONDAY 10.
The rebel officers taken at Carlisle, being 39, besides a
French colonel engineer, and 4 others, were brought to town in 4
waggons and a coach, under a strong guard of soldiers; part of them were
carried to New Prison, and the rest, among whom was Hamilton
governor of Carlisle, to Newgate, except the Frenchmen
who were conducted, the engineer in a coach, and the others in a waggon, to
the Marshalsea prison; (the pretender's bishop of Carlisle,
Cappuch, had been committed to Chester castle.) They were very
rudely treated by the populace, who pelted them with dirt, and shew'd all
other marks of abhorrence of their black designs.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.218}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.218}
{header- Cannon for Carlisle}
{image = G7460218.jpg}
Historical Chronicle, April 1746.
WEDNESDAY 2.Twelve pieces of cannon 12 pounders were also order'd for
Carlisle, and several engineers for the defence of that city.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.233}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.233}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Carlisle}
{text- Article accompanying a map of the Countries Adjacent to Carlisle
shewing the Route of the Rebels by G Smith, published in the Gentleman's
Magazine, London, May 1746.}
{image = G7460233.jpg}
A Letter to a friend, containing an account of the march of the rebels into
England, description of the castle of Carlisle, and a dissertation on the
old Roman wall; with respect to the map of it, and the adjacent country,
the plan of Carlisle, and the view of its castle, just publish'd in two
sheets; the draughts of which were favourably received by the duke of
Cumberland on his forming the attack on Carlisle castle; and now are
dedicated to his royal highness; by G. Smith.
SIR,
SO many idle rumours of the march of the rebels into England, had been
spread previous to the fact, that to flatter our indolence we presumed it
to be impossible, and therefore took no measures to prevent it; we
cloister'd up the light horse and militia of both counties within the walls
of Carlisle, and left the country to shift for itself; our nobility, except
lord Lonsdale, did nothing, even those whose fortunes depended greatly on
the route of the rebels, raised not a single man in the cause.
By letters from Scotland on Tuesday Nov. 5, we began to understand that the
long projected expedition was now actually undertaken, and our frontiers
quite open and unguarded; the garrison of Carlisle were under no
apprehensions, judging they would march past them as in the rebellion of
1715. We secreted our most valuable effects, and sent the ladies eastward
from these miscreants, of whom we had most terrible representations,
determined to abide them ourselves.
On Thursday the eastermost column had gained Stangarth side on the English
border, and we suspected their intention was to penetrate thro' the wastes
of Beu-castle for Brampton, being the properest place to subsist so
numerous a corps; but that night we learn'd that they had turn'd to the
right for Longtown, which gave us hopes that they would continue their
march for Row-cliff and pass the river Eden there, the dryness of the
season having reduc'd that stream to a tolerable fording in several places
below Carlisle.
On Friday the middlemost column join'd them, and on Saturday their hussars
advanced to Stanwix bank, to take a view of the city; on which the 8 gun
battery at B fir'd from the castle and they disappear'd. On Sunday they
invested the city on all sides, having passed Eden at several fords below.
The marq. of Tullibardin was driven with his corps from Shaddan-gate by the
four gun battery at D, and those on the north under the duke of Perth
remained in the village of Stanwix, where some houses received considerable
damage from the continued fire of the eight gun battery.
The troops on the south side under the pretender's son were in like manner
repuls'd by the citadel and turret guns. Being in want of materials for a
siege a resolution was that night taken to remove to Brampton, and the
quarter masters accordingly came into that place about midnight.
On Monday the 11th the prince's lifeguards, as they were called, came to
Naworth Castle the earl of Carlisle's seat, and I went to see them, they
behaved in general with much complaisance and were well-dress'd,
good-looking men: they were very solicitous to see a map of England, and I
carry'd them one on Tuesday morning, to try if I could penetrate their
intentions; but these were inscrutable; only I observed they made great
enquiry about Wales, and afterwards about other places, artfully to
disguise their aim; which however I am apt to think they scarce knew
themselves.
The same morning capt. Hamilton, quarter-master general of the foot, came
to Naworth, demanding billets for 6000 men: the guards look'd very blank at
the proposal, and began to secure their portables, and I soon found what a
nest of thieves we were going to have.
About noon several hundreds of a wretched, ill-looking, shabby crew pass'd
by armed with targets, broad swords, muskets, &c. and seemed very angry
if no deference was paid to their flag: that afternoon and all next day
they spent in shooting sheep, geese, &c. and robbing on the highway:
tho' their chiefs express'd great dissatisfaction at their proceedings, yet
they dar'd not restrain them for fear of putting them out of humour.
Betwixt that and the 16th, I had some of their hussars, an audacious,
insolent, lying rabble, and on Saturday the 16th six of the officers of the
M'Phersons, who were by far the civilest of their foot, and pay'd for what
they had in a genteel manner enough; it was not my business to expose their
extravagant chimeras, but I found they were kept extremely ignorant of our
affairs, by the artifice of their superiors. Some of them had their sons in
his majesty's army, but were made to believe that all our regular forces
were detained by the French in Flanders, and they already possessed London
in their elevated ima-
{title- Gents Mag 1746 opp p.233}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 opp p.233}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Carlisle}
{image = SMT8.jpg}
{text- Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Countries adjacent to Carlisle
shewing the Route of the Rebels, published by the Gentleman's Magazine,
London, 1773.}
A MAP of the Countries Adjacent to CARLISLE shewing the Route of the Rebels
with their principal Ford over ye Rr. EDEN. By G. Smith.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Smith 1746}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 26.5x20.5cm; scale = 1 to 57000?}
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.234}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.234}
{image = G7460234.jpg}
[ima]ginations without drawing a sword.
The fate of Carlisle you must have heard from other hands, we are yet in
doubt whether that ignominious surrender was caused by cowardice or
treachery, or both; I think it most probable that it was lost thro' a
presumption that it would never be attack'd, and for want of a regular
discipline among the men. The map exhibits that pretended battery which
contributed to this false step, to which I refer you. The pretender's son
was proclaimed at the cross, the keys of the city being carry'd to him at
Brampton by the mayor and attendants; it should seem a necessary question
how the keys of a garrison town, the custody of which was always till then
committed to the governor, nominal or residential, came to be delivered
into the mayor's hands for such a use at such a time.
During the pretended siege the garrison had a lad kill'd on the citadel by
a musket shot, and one by the accidental firing of a piece on the walls,
which was all their loss slain or wounded. What the rebels lost is not to
be ascertain'd, a person of distinction was reported to be kill'd near
Harraby, and bury'd with great solemnity at Wetheral; a principal engineer
was seen to fall by a shot from the citadel at the head of their pretended
battery: doubtless they lost more, but I am apt to believe not many,
because they kept at too great a distance, and could not be discover'd for
a very thick and uncommon mist which continued all the time; so that the
garrison may be said to have fir'd in the dark, directing their guns only
by the sound of their pipes or voices. Their own reports were not at all to
be credited, some of them pretending that the cannon balls had hit them
without hurting them, credat Judaeus Apella.
On Tuesday the 19th, about 100 horse more came to Brampton from Scotland,
and the greatest part of the inhabitants of the country, tir'd out with
finding subsistence for such a voracious crew, fled. I went to Halt-wesel,
hearing that general Wade's army was in full march for our relief,
determining to join him, but the day following that rout was countermanded,
on hearing that the rebels were proceeding southward. Such was the position
of our affairs, from the 5th till the 20th of November; a long period of
uneasiness and expence in carrying off and bringing back effects.
I must do the rebels the justice to say, that they never used so much as a
single woman in the whole country with the least indecency, notwithstanding
the crimes of that nature laid to their charge: 'Tis said that their prince
had given strict orders to the contrary, and declared that every oficer
should suffer as the criminal for actions of that nature, committed by any
of the ruffians under him: whether true or not I cannot say.
All the time they lay in this neighbourhood they were marching and
countermarching constantly, the better to conceal their numbers, which they
reported to be 22000, but were only about one third of that number.
From the time that the rebels left this neighbourhood, every day brought
different accounts of them, which were all reported with so many improbable
circumstances that they gained no credit. We too plainly perceiv'd that
they had many well-wishers, who industriously conceal'd whatever might be
to their prejudice, and exaggerated every circumstance in their favour.
Sometimes it was reported that they were defeated, and presently afterwards
that they were within a day's march of London, and that the mob had taken
arms to support them: Every thing began to be in confusion, for those who
had nothing to lose were ready to break down the partition wall that
separated properties; what contributed greatly to our uneasiness was that
we could gain no intelligence that could be rely'd upon; the intercourse
between Newcastle and Carlisle, being in a manner suspended after that city
fell into the enemies hands. It was not long before several of the
inhabitants of that and the neighbouring places, exasperated against the
tyranny of the Highland government, began to rouze themselves, necessity
inspiring them with courage; associations were formed to regain their
liberty, and a scheme laid to storm the castle, and destroy the rebel
garrison; chimerical as this project may appear, it terrify'd the governor
into an artful invitation of the mayor and aldermen to an entertainment
within his precincts; which they accepted for fear of giving offence, and
were immediately secur'd, tho' soon after released, on parole that they
would encourage no such attempt for the future; others were confined on
suspicion, and every village in the neighbourhood of the city search'd for
arms or ammunition by the rebels, who nevertheless were continually
deserting as apprehensive of surprize. The governor neglected nothing to
keep them in spirits,
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.235}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.235}
{image = G7460235.jpg}
sometimes flattering them with expectations from Scotland, at other times
from France, and when all this wou'd not do, he fir'd the guns round the
batteries for joy of a pretended victory, got I know not where. I do assure
you their joy, ill grounded as it was, gave all real well-wishers to their
country sufficient uneasiness, especially as no certain intelligence could
be obtained.
In the mean time frequent skirmishes happen'd betwixt the citizens and
rebels, in all which the townsmen had the better, and made several
prisoners, whom they sent to distant goals, whilst the governor, to prevent
a general defection, seiz'd the fathers of the offenders, as if punishing
them would atone for the fault of their sons. He likewise attempted several
methods to remove the general odium which his party lay under, sometimes by
fair words, and at other times by menaces, and locking up the gates, all
which prov'd ineffectual; so that the whole extent of his government seem'd
to be in a state of hostility and confusion.
Affairs were in this situation 'till about the middle of December, when the
governor being appriz'd of the retreat of his partisans, seiz'd on the
market, and fixed his own price on the commodities, ransacking the country
people, under pretence of searching for letters, and impressing beds for
the use of his garrison from the inhabitants.
(to be continued.)
{title- Gents Mag 1746 opp p.276}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 opp p.276}
{header- Duke of Cumberland}
{image = G746E01.jpg}
WILLIAM DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.
{text- Volumes 15 and 16, 1745-46, of the Gentleman's Magazine have many
articles about the 1745 Rebellion. 1747 pp.240-242 is a report of the
Battle of Culloden, with several pages about Civilizing the Highlanders and
Punishing the Rebels, ...}
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.300}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.300}
{image = G7460300.jpg}
Letter relating to the Map and Plan of Carlisle, and the Retreat of the
Rebels (Continued from p.235.)
THE rebels all this time were making forc'd marches to regain Scotland
before his royal highness.
The dread of the return of a mob of exasperated ruffians, disappointed of
their grand project, and in want of all things, threw us into a general
consternation:
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.301}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.301}
{image = G7460301.jpg}
Penrith beacon was fir'd as a signal of distress, and the whole country
thereupon flock'd southward to its relief. A party of about 120 rebels,
which had been driven from Kendal before the rest came up, were intercepted
in their flight, and pursued into Orton craigs; but they regain'd their
main body, tho' with great difficulty, and after a very close pursuit, one
only being taken.
As there were no officers among them, and the people were very ill-arm'd,
'twas judg'd extremely imprudent to hazard an action, especially as the
distance of the duke's army could not certainly be known; so they separated
to guard the avenues leading to their respective habitations, and left
Penrith to shift for itself.
On Wednesday, Dec. 18, about midnight, by an express from his royal
highness, we were summon'd to give all the assistance possible, by
endeavouring to intercept the rebels, or any part of them, before they
regain'd Carlisle. But they kept in so compact a body that we throught the
attempt impracticable, especially considering the difference of weapons and
numbers; so they reach'd the city on Thursday night and Friday morning,
excepting a few inconsiderable stragglers, who were secur'd.
Had it not been for the surrender of Carlisle, where they had now a
comfortable retreat, and necessary supplies, they must have been extremely
embarass'd, as the rains had now rendered the river Eden unfordable; but on
the news of the Duke's marching from Penrith, they abandoned the city, and
left the old governor, with about 400 Highlanders, and the English
auxiliaries, to garrison the castle, with a view to retard the pursuit,
having suffer'd incredible fatigues in the course of their flight from
Derby; in which, had not a halt, of near 30 hours, been unhappily order'd
to the king's troops, on the false notion of an invasion in Sussex, they
would have been infallibly destroy'd. They forded Esk near Longtown, but
lost some men by the rapidity of the current, seem'd to be in great
uneasiness at Graitna, and vented repeated menaces against England for its
disloyalty and backwardness in so just a cause, threatning a return after
being join'd by the forces which were then in Scotland for the service. As
the principal topic of thes (sic) rebel conversation, while they prepared
to attack Carlisle, was on the beauties of their prince, the valour of
their men, the tyranny of the present government, the justness of their
cause, and their disregard of death; so now they were always boasting their
skill and capacity in making an unparallel'd retreat, and their great
prudence in timeing it, so as to prevent their being inclos'd between two
fires.
His royal highness arrived before Carlisle on Saturday the 21st, and
honour'd Blackhall by taking up his lodgings there, at the same house in
which the pretender's son was quarter'd in his march round that city. His
royal highness sent notice privately to the well affected citizens to
withdraw with their effects, and on Sunday Carlisle was again invested on
all sides. On Monday, I sent his highness a plan of the city and castle of
Carlisle, to which this is a copy, with my humble opinion where the
batteries might be commodiously rais'd, to distress the town least, and the
enemy most, by firing on the west curtain from Primrose Bank, and
endeavouring to break down the arch over the sally-port door, which was
accordingly approv'd of, and put in execution.
As the army had left their trenching materials behind to facilitate the
pursuit, the country was summon'd in with theirs, who with great alacrity
flock'd to the place, and cast up the ditch at L, notwithstanding the fire
from the garrison, which hurt not a single man, there being an advanc'd
guard of soldiers to inform the trenchers at every flash. On Thursday the
26th his royal highness went round to visit the works on the North side
near Stanwix, and some friends of the rebels having driven a flock of sheep
onto the Swifts, the garrison, under favour of some cannon placed on Eden
bridge, made a sally, and brought several head into the Castle; flour was
also furnish'd them from time to time, notwithstanding the prohibition,
which oblig'd his royal highness to cut the aqueducts that drove the mills,
to disappoint their supplies; the rebels burnt a barn and house near the
English gate the same day. On Friday six eighteen pounders which arrived
from Whitehaven were brought from Rawcliff, and planted on the batteries,
in order to begin to play on Saturday at day-break, which they accordingly
did, 3 against the angle battery at C, and the other 3 against the 4 gun
battery at D. 'Tis to be noted that as the parapet of the castle wall was
extremely low, and the gunners on that account greatly expos'd, the
inhabitants had rais'd an artificial bulwark of wet turf to a considerable
thickness, with proper
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.302}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.302}
{image = G7460302.jpg}
embrasures for the cannon, before the first march of the rebels out of
Scotland; a work sufficient to drown the shot of any pieces which the enemy
cou'd bring along with them, the road they came. But these were presently
thrown down by the repeated shocks of the eighteen pounders, and the
rebels, expos'd to too brisk a fire, abandon'd the battery at D by noon,
the army continuing to batter in breach all that afternoon and next day,
besides the cohorns which were thrown from the ditch, at the end of
Priestbeck bridge, as exhibited in the map, and which greatly incommoded
the garrison. The wall by Sunday night began to totter, and three more
cannon arriving they were erected on a new battery at H, somewhat nearer,
to play on the angle C; the other 5 were to batter in breach (one of the
six having burst). At the sight of this new battery the governor hung out a
flag of truce, before any breach was effect'd, subsequent to which were the
conditions publish'd in the Gazette, to which I refer, (see p.81)
DESCRIPTION of CARLISLE castle.
THE castle of Carlisle is built on a rising ground, close to the North side
of Hadrian's vallum, near the conflux of the Eden and Cauda. It was at
first probably one of Agricola's stations, which Severus remov'd to the
opposite bank of the Eden, for the better securing of his wall; for which
reason it is omitted in the list of Pancirolus's garrisons (being none in
his time) and Congevata, or Stanwix, substituted in its stead. It continued
nevertheless a place of note, and is frequently mention'd, in the Itinerary
of Antonine under the name of Lugo-vallum, ad vallum, deriv'd, as
etymologists imagine, from the Celtic word LUGOS, a tower, and VALLUM, a
trench, or rampart. But I rather conjecture that it was wrote Leucovallum,
denoting a particular whiteness in the wall of this place, almost all the
other walls in that country appearing red from the colour of the stone of
which they are built. Egfrid, a king of Northumberland, seems to be the
first who built a castle here in the 7th century, but it was afterwards
demolish'd by the Danes, and again restor'd by Rufus son of the Norman, for
a safe-guard against the Scots. The munificence of succeeding kings added
greatly to its strength, so that it was able to hold out a considerable
time in the civil war;
and might have been an impregnable barrier against the rebels, who could
not have lain long before it, even with the garrison of invalids, had they
done their duty. It consists at present of an inner and outer
fortification, both together making one triangular building: A figure least
susceptible of improvement from modern fortification, but abundant amends
is made for this defect by the thickness of its walls, the firmness of its
mortar, and the distance of annoying batteries, those of his royal highness
being 700 yards (about 300 beyond point blank) and the escalado being
impracticable; besides the security of an inner castle of much less
compass, of a pentagonal form, and incredible strength, especially against
any cannon which the rebels had or cou'd bring by that road. Nevertheless
it surrendered with the city, or immediately after, at a time when his
majesty's army was within two days march to relieve it. Quis talia fando,
&c. For the position of the batteries, and the number of guns, I refer
you to the map and plan.
While the rebels had this castle in possession, a project was formed by
some of the city, after a surfeit of highland government, to seize it by
surprize; a scheme feasible enough, as the governor lodg'd in the city, and
as it was to be effected on a market day, when a curiosity to gaze drew the
rebel garrison from their stronghold. But it was unluckily discover'd a
little before the time fixed for the execution. Some of the projectors were
secur'd, and other precautions taken, which unhappily prevented the entire
destruction of the rebels in their flight back, and render'd the loss of
the place so much the greater consequence, and never enough to be
regretted.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.357}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.357}
{header- Dissertation on the Roman Wall}
{image = G7460357.jpg}
A Dissertation on the Roman WALL, with Remarks.
IN the present situation of affairs, a plan of the method antiently
practic'd by the vigilant Romans for securing the isthmus of
Britain, with some remarks on it, will not I believe be unacceptable
to the public.
Agricola, lieutenant to the emperor Domitian, seems to be the
first of the Roman generals that extended his conquests after the
reduction of the Brigantes to this isthmus. Such of the
Britons as escaped his arms, retreated behind the long chain of
mountains on the skirts of Yorkshire and Northumberland. But
these strong barriers of nature avail'd little against the persevering
courage of the Roman soldiery; they carry'd on military roads, and
supported them with garrisons, thro' the most inaccessible desarts of
Britain, and united territories which the mountains had sever'd in
vain. Whilst any land remain'd the Britons fled before the
Romans, 'till getting beyond the isthmus at Carlisle, a more
extended and hilly country, it afforded them not only a safer retreat, but
the liberty of returning through defiles of thick and entangling forests,
yet unknown to the Romans. But it was not long that the natives
could play this game, under the attentive eye of Agricola; he soon
perceiv'd the inconvenience, and found out a remedy. He fixed a series of
stations in a line across the isthmus, at regular intervals, and,
garrisoning them with what soldiery he could spare, proceeded with the rest
to reduce the North. At Bodotria another isthmus occurr'd, much
straiter than the first; this he fortify'd in like manner, and recall'd the
soldiers to keep garrison there as in the former, marching to subdue the
countries by the Grampian mountains. But before he could complete
his scheme, he was recall'd, and the Caledonians, resuming their
independency, carry'd their arms to his first line of stations again.
Hadrian afraid of the consequence, and with a view to suppress the
nocturnal excursions of the enemy, through the intervals of
Agricola's garrisons, which they frequently perform'd with
astonishing celerity and silence, connected all these stations by a
mud-wall, two aggers, a ditch, and military way.
Antoninus Pius his successor found means to curb the insolence of
the Caledonians, and confine them to their mountains once more,
driving them beyond the second isthmus, and fortifying it with an admirable
wall of hewn-stone from sea to sea, along the series of Agricola's
stations.
After his death Britain was again neglected, and the
Caledonians overthrowing his wall stretched their limits to
Agricola's first stations, and the wall was never more recover'd
from them by the Romans. Whether the succeeding emperors disregarded
such a conquest as useless, or whether it was not in their power to retake
it, is of no consequence to determine; probably their attention to affairs
on the continent, afforded little time for their securing Britain.
After the death of Antoninus, Severus was the first of the
Roman emperors that turn'd his eye to Britain, the island
being well nigh lost by a general defection. He reduc'd them to obedience
once more after several victories, promoted his boundaries to
Hadrian's wall, and built one of hewn stone at this isthmus, similar
to Antonine's, from sea to sea, which continu'd the limit of the
Roman empire in Britain, 'till their final departure from the
island. But 'tis to be observ'd that he had several advanc'd stations as
exploratory garrisons, for giving signals on any alarms, and preventing
surprize: As at * Beu-castle, Netherby, Middleby, &c.
(See the map), besides the principal encampments on the wall, each
of which appears to have consisted of 1000 foot and 150 horsemen, by the
stone lately found at Cast-steeds and publish'd in the
Magazine for 1741. p.650. See also Mag. 1742, p.30, 76, 135.
Such was the vigilance, resolution, and military application of the
conquerors of the world. They turn'd not their soldiers into an army of
useless observation at the East end of the wall, when the West was ravag'd
with thieves, nor, amid their banquets, were they idle auditors of the
oppression of their friends, without putting a hand to deliver them.
Without any other qualifications but the virtues of a military face, and
the sincerity of a Roman heart, they disregarded the inclemencies of
a British air, nor dreaded the point of a Caledonian lance.
Embroidery was no part of their garb, and took up no part of their time; as
they dress'd not like mountebanks, they fought not like poltroons. Thus
they liv'd, and dying left behind them such
* See Vol.XII. p.132, 318, 368, 529.
stand-
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.358}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.358}
{image = G7460358.jpg}
standing monuments to perpetuate their memory, that we are at a loss which
most to admire, the glory of their actions whilst alive, or their care of
transmitting theme to posterity after their death.
I am none of those speculative visionaries that would call the wall from
its ruins, tho' in imagination only; I am sensible it would ev'n be in a
manner usless in the present practice of war. But had 6 or 7000 regular
forces been plac'd in the line of the wall, from Hexham to
Brampton these, with the additional garrisons of Carlisle and
Newcastle, and the rivers of Tyne and Eden, wou'd have
effectively prevented the incursion of the rebels into England.
The cavalry in the extremities, and the foot in the centre, might have
united before the Highlanders cou'd get up, as the insuperable desarts on
the skirts of Northumberland absolutely determined their march on
leaving Jedburgh. His majesty's forces, though timely appriz'd of
it, never mov'd westward 'till Carlisle had surrender'd, and
ignominious as it was,'twas defended from Saturday noon 'till
Friday morning. On the day after the king's troops under the marshal
Wade march'd forwards to Hexham, in order to relieve us, and
by that step gave the rebels two days march of them, in the prosecution of
their journey to London, which had actually been accomplish'd, had
not his royal highness just prevented it.
P. S. In my description of the Roman wall, I have follow'd the
Notitia of Pancirolus, as the most exact in the rout of the
garrisons on the wall, and carefully compared it with the Itinerary
of Antoninus, tho' it begins where Cambden and all other
antiquaries, except Horsley, end, at the West sea, calling Tuno
celum, Bowness, in place of Tinmouth, and so on. For
Cambden and his adherents have made scarce a probability ev'n at
conjecture with regard to them; for example Tun-ocelum, or
Itun-ocelum, signifies a promontory at the mouth of the river
Ituna (Eden, by Ptolemy, and all who mention it,) such
as Bowness is, and not Tinmouth, which has no highland at all
beside it, as Ocelum signifies. Besides, Pancirolus says it
was garrison'd by the AEl. Classica, as stones found at
Bowness import; now there are no stones, nor any wall carry'd within
4 miles of Tinmouth, and Cambden has not a single reason to
support him, but a similitude of names, which proves nothing. Again
Amboglana, Cambden translates, because of the likeness of
sound, Ambleside, a place in Westmorland, above 30 miles from
any part of the wall. Now Pancirolus says Amboglana was upon
the wall, and garrison'd by the AElia Dacica, as twenty stones dug
up there import, and as Pancirolus affirms also, and therefore must
be the great fort of Burdoswald, which is capable to contain 3000
men, with very signal ruins; and their altars expressly assent to
Pancirolus, and say the cohors AElia Dacica garrison'd it;
and so 'tis impossible to be Ambleside any more than London;-
but of this more in a proper time. I beg pardon for dissenting from so
great an antiquary, but my reasons will convince every unprejudic'd person
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.537}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.537}
{header- Roman Inscriptions, Birdoswald}
{image = G7460537.jpg}
... ...
Mr. URBAN,
I Send you herewith an inscription on a stone in the South East wall of
Naworth garden, unpublish'd.
{image = G746E02.jpg}
I send also the figures of two altars which were lately dug up at
Burd-Oswald above 100 yards without the principal camp, Eastward, in
a kind of old ruin, which was so destroy'd as to leave no conjecture what
it might have been, and within about 70 yards of the precipice where the
Roman wall cross'd the river Irthing. I was sent for to read them,
as I had given express orders not to deface any that might be found there.
They seem both of the lower empire by the bad execution of the sculpture,
and, I think, are to be read after the same manner, excepting tribunes
names.
These altars are the more remarkable, as they make it past doubt that
Burd-Oswald, was the Roman Amboglana, as asserted in the July
Mag. p.358.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.538}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.538}
{image = G7460538.jpg}
{image = G746E03.jpg}
1st,
Jovi optimo maximo
Cohors prima Aelia Dacorum
Postumiana
Cui praeest Marcus
Gallicus
Tribunus
{image = G746E04.jpg}
2d,
Jovi optimo Maximo
Cohors prima AELia
Dacorum
Postumi-
ana cui praeest
Probus Au-
gendus
Tribunus.
Postumiana is remarkable, and seems to be an appellative annex'd to
or assum'd by this cohort, from some distinguish'd officer of that name, as
Tetriciana is, in one stone published by Horsley belonging to
this garrison. Why they call'd themselves AElia Dacica is accounted
for before in a prior magazine. (See p.358.) The ligature in the
first stone l. 2 l. A. has not been yet observ'd by any antiquarian, those
of the same affinity discover'd are E, or _E for le or el, to
which this must be now added, which renders their discovery more curious.
The little stone is the greatest rarity, and being situated behind a bush
escaped observation. I read it PEDITUM CENTUM QUINQUAGINTA BRITANNORUM. We
never knew before this that the Romans indulg'd any national troops the
favour of garrisoning their own territories; but here are 150 BRITISH foot
assign'd to that use; whether that was at Burd-Oswald, or elsewhere
appears not, because we are not postively sure whence some of these stones
at Naworth came; many of them are certainly from Burd-Oswald,
but to affirm all are so, wou'd be taking too much upon me, till future
discoveries explain the matter.
For the sake of the lovers of antiquity, I take pains to rake into these
ruins, and shall be pleased if any service might thence ensue to the
commonwealth of learning.
Yours &c.
GEO, SMITH.
Aug. 25, 1746.
{title- Gents Mag 1746 p.598}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1746 p.598}
{header- 1745 Rebellion, Westmorland}
{image = G7460598.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
I Beg leave, by your means, to publish a short vindication of the moral and
political character of the county of Westmoreland, which the late
troubles have given occasion to be evil spoken of.
1. It was represented to his majesty's judges of assize, in their circuit
last year, that five men in six of the county were Jacobites, and
disaffected persons: whereas it is now well known, and the judges this year
made us a compliment upon it, that in the rebels march the whole length of
our county, southwards and northwards, not one person joined them:
Which is more than most counties can say. from the Orkneys to the
Peak in Derbyshire.
2. A certain person, of great rank and distinction, was pleased in the
public papers to represent the common people of Westmoreland to be
as savage and inhuman as the rebels; and the reason was, because it was
suggested, that they had taken a dead rebel out of his grave, and
insulted his carcass. It is a pity he had not been informed, that this was
not done by the common people of the county of Westmoreland, but by
the new-rais'd reg--ts. It would be unjust to retort the charge, and
to draw a parallel betwixt the rebels, and some of the new reg--ts; because
as the common people in general would not have been answerable, if the
accusation had been true, for the crimes of two or three villains; so the
officers cannot always insure the behaviour of every individual
soldier.
3. If it be affirmed that we are an evil and adulterous generation,
we appeal to those three worthy mem--s, who came this summer upon our
mountains - to catch birds, whether they would have been at the trouble and
cost of bringing ladies of pleasure likewise along with them, for
the space of near two hundred miles, if they had known or believed that
there had been one wh-re in the county.
4. As to the imputation of prophaneness and Sabbath-breaking, we appeal to
them, whether in passing and repassing on Sundays, they ever observed any
person following his weekly employment on that day, save only the man with
the cart, who carried their baggage: or to those other south-country
gentlemen, who honoured us with their company on the same errand, whether
thay did not on Sunday forenoon observe numbers of people passing and
repassing to and from church, if they had time to look off at cards, in one
of the gardens in the town of ---.
I am, Sir, &c.
WESTMORELANDICUS.
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.60}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.60}
{header- Roman Altar, Castlesteads}
{image = G7470060.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.223}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.223}
{header- Waywiser}
{image = G7470223.jpg}
{image = G747E01.jpg}
The Method of fixing a new invented Machine for Land Measure; to be
apply'd to the inside of the seat of a coach, chariot, &c.
LET a flat piece of iron be placed on the axletree, as E E E in Fig.
2. in the margin; let a bar, of sufficient strength, go from thence into
the seat of the coach, D D D; to the end of this bar, let the machine in
form of Fig. 3. be fixed with screws; let a lever be made to play
free of the flat plate, by means of a thin colet, as in rge figure; let a
pin be put into the wheel, as at d, in such a manner as to strike
the lever at S, by which means the other end at R will, by its contact with
the wire fastened to to the slifing part of the work within, move one tooth
every revolution of the wheel, thereby discovering the true distance of
places by the index on the dial. The spring W is to throw back the lever to
its proper place, when by backing the carriage it has been turned the
contrary way.
In order to allow for the motion of the coach, the bar D D D must be fixt
to the plate E E E by a shoulder screw, allowing a little play between,
which will answer any motion of the coach upwards or downwards, and by its
natural turn from the centre allow for every side motion.
Another sort, design'd for the back of a coach, chaise, or single
horse-chair wheels, may have two principal hands go from the centre, as in
Fig. 3. When
these
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.224}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.224}
{image = G7470224.jpg}
these are placed behind the wheel, as in Fig. 1. the lever being
moved by the pin as abovesaid, immediately moves a pin of the inside work.
A third sort having a single hand only in the centre, with a dial in all
respects resembling Fig. 1. having four indexes; the first moves
once round in a certain number of rods, the second in one mile, the third,
or centre hand in 20 miles, and the fourth in 500 miles. One of these will
cost but 25 shillings, without a case, varnishing or silvering; but if
varnished, and silvered in all respects as a clock dial, one guinea and a
half. The others are from two to four guineas, and eight guineas if with
bells to strike the miles and quarters on pulling a string; one of which
may be seen at Mr Neale's, watchmaker in Leadenhall-street,
who has a patent for making several astronomical machines, &c. and
where proposals at length may be had, or at St John's Gate.
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.246}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.246}
{header- Coal Mine Fire, Whitehaven}
{image = G7470246.jpg}
Whitehaven, in Cumberland. One of the coalpits belonging to
Sir James Lowther near this place, being set on fire by the
carelessness of a boy, it burnt with great fury, and communicating itself
to 6 pits, was become a very shocking scene, prodigious quantites of smoak,
earth, pieces of timber, and materials used in the work, being continually
thrown out, with an inconceivable noise, and shaking of the earth, so that
the inhabitants were in fear for their houses.
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.324}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.324}
{header- Obituary, Bishop Fleming}
{image = G7470324.jpg}
A CHARACTER of the late Lord Bishop of CARLISLE.
ON Thursday, the 2d of this instant July 1747, died at his
palace at Rose-Castle, the Rt Rev. Father in God, Sir George
Fleming, Bart., Lord Bishop of Carlisle, in the 81st Year of his
Age, and the 13th of his Consecration. He was born June 10, 166[ ],
at the Family-Seat at Rydal-Hall, in the County of
Westmorland; being, in order of Birth, the fifth of eleven Sons, and
the ninth of fifteen Children, of Sir Daniel Fleming, Knt, by
Barbara, eldest Daughter of Sir Henry Fletcher of
Hutton, in the County of Cumberland, Bart, who was slain
valiantly fighting for King Charles I. Sept. 24, 1645, at
Routon Heath, near Chester.
The said Sir Daniel, who, in private Life, which he most affected,
excelled most Men of his Rank and Fortune, had an Occasion given him, by a
malicious Misrepreaentation of him to his then Sovereign King
Charles II. to inform his Majesty, which the most authentick
Evidences enabled him to do, that eleven of his Ancestors had, for their
good Services, been rewarded with the Honour of a Knighthood, since the
Norman Conquest, when King William I. gave to his faithful
Follower and Kinsman Sir Michael le Fleming, a considerable Estate,
part of which has been transmitted down from him, in an uninterupted
Succession, to the present Heir-male the twenty-first Generation. It was
with equal Truth and Satisfaction that the same worthy Knight could aver,
that as he himself had, in the most difficult and trying Times, inviolably
adhered to the Constitution in Church and State, so not on of his
Progenitors had, since the distant Epoche above-mention'd, been an Opposer
of the Crown; not one, since the Reformation, had been a Papist, nor a
Dissenter, in any Shape, from the Church of England. Disposing of
all his Sons in the most advantageous ways he could,
con-
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.325}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.325}
{image = G7470325.jpg}
consistently with his Interest and Ability, he destin'd his fifth,
agreeably to his own Inclination, which he very early discover'd, to the
Sacerdotal Function. To qualify him for that by a liberal Education, he
entred him in June 1688, in Edmund-Hall, in Oxford,
(which was then govern'd by the celebrated Dr John Mill,) under the
Tutorage of Dr White Kennet, afterwards Lord Bishop of
Peterborough. There did he first testify the pleasing Sense, which
he ever after retain'd, of the happy Revolution, among those Academicks,
who printed congratulatory Verses on King William's victorious
Return from Ireland. Having pass'd thro' his Degrees in Arts, he
became domestick Chaplain to Dr Tho. Smith, then Lord Bishop of
Carlisle, by whom he had been ordained and collated to the Vicarage
of Aspatria in that Diocese, as he was soon afterto the second
Prebend in the said Cathedral Church. In 1705, he was collated to the
Arch-Deaconry, in 1727, was promoted to the Deanery, and in 1734, was
advanced to the bishoprick of Carlisle; so that, in one and the same
Diocese, he made a gradual Progress thro' all the Orders and Dignities of
the Church; and as, in each Step, his Merit preceded his Promotion, so did
he adorn, as well as fill, his several successive Stations. He had not wore
the Mitre two Years, when, on the Decease of his eldest and only surviving
Brother, without Issue Male, he succeeded to the title of Baronet, and the
paternal Estate od his ancient Family.
-- With this Accession of Honour and Fortune, he was nevertheless that
wellbred Gentleman he ever shew'd himself, in every Quality forming that
Character, which was never more eminently united, than in him, with that of
a Pious and truly Christian Prelate. As no one could conduct himself with a
better regulated Tenderness and Affection, in the nearer Relations of LIfe,
so could no one demean himself, with a more exact, and yet easy, Address,
to all Ranks and Degrees of Mankind.
His Example, in which a Medium was nicely observ'd, with an Accuracy that
descended to the minutest Article, was a constant Lesson of Instruction,
and his House, under its Influence, was the best School of Wisdom and
Virtue. As he always preserv'd a Neatness about his Person, which was of
itself comely and graceful, so, by a special Guard against Habits, and with
a continual Presence of Mind, he kept himself intirely free from all little
Peculiarities, in Words, Gestures, and Actions, which, tho' not criminal,
in any moral Turpitude, would be better wanting in many, whom they
distinguish, not to their Advantage. A certain Awefulness surrounded him,
which would have commanded more Fear, than Love, had it not been soften'd
and sweeten'd with Affability. As he cou'd address his Superiors and
Equals, with all the Ceremony and Complaisance of Good-Breeding, so was he
easy of Access, and of Discourse, to his Inferiors, to the lowest of all;
and never dismiss'd any, but with an attendant Liking and Approbation of
him, even when he denied a Request, which he could do with a better Grace,
than many grant one. Never wanting to be advised, nor reminded, in what was
fit and convenient for him to do on any Occasion, he had as much
Resolution, as Ability, to be directed by his own Judgment, and was ever
cautious, tho' not jealous of Imposition. As he hardly ever bestow'd his
Preferments thro' Dint of Solicitation, or the Intervention of any powerful
Interest, but was always pre-determin'd in his own Breast; so did he double
every Favour by his Manner of conferring it, and seemingly shared, with the
Person he obliged, in his Pleasure and Satisfaction. His Tongue was ever as
ready to encourage the Afflicted, as his Hand was to relieve the Indigent;
and as no Object of Compassion ever presented itself to him in vain, so did
no Design, favourable to Religion, Learning, or Publick-Good, ever fail, on
the first Application, of his generous Assistance. With a Revenue, not more
than adequate to his Expences, which he ballanced with a most laudable
Oeconomy, he was frugal without Parsimony, and liberal without Profusion;
and, whilst he put its just Value on Money, he esteem'd it, not for its own
Sake, but for the good Uses of it, and as it enabled him to gratify his
ample and ardent Desires, in Acts of Charity, Beneficience, and
Hospitality, which consum'd his Income, as it accrued, and might seem to
require, and would, but with his Managemant, a much larger Fund.
-- Though his Sensations were quick and strong, and his Temper naturally
warm; yet, what was therefore the more meritorious, Raeson constantly
maintain'd its proper Sway over his Passions; and a settled Equanimity,
founded on the Basis of Piety and Prudence, still shew'd itself, in one
uniform Appearance, amdist all the various Events and Occurrences of his
LIfe. As he was not elated with Acquisitions, so was he not dejected with
Losses, but bore both with an even and steady Spirit; and tho' no one could
possess a Blessing with a more true and thankful Sense of its Worth and
Importance, yet could no one resign it with more Patience, or reconcile
himself to the Want of it with more Acquiescence and Alacrity. This amiable
Moderation, as well amidst the Enjoyments, as the Sufferings, of the World,
was never more its own Reward in any Man, than in this excellent Prelate,
who, by means of it, under God, enjoy'd all along a sound Mind in a sound
Body, the Sum Total of human Wishes in the present State. In this
Tranquillity, tho' in his last Years he had to conflict with Incident of a
most affecting Nature, did Old-age come upon him:
-- It came gently, and alone, unattended by those Infirmities, which often
make Life a Burden long before its End.
-- Tho' his Frame had never been a robust one, but owed its Duration, under
divine Providence, to his own prudent Care of it, all his Senses, his
Sight, Hearing, &c. continu'd unimpair'd, and their Organs discharg'd
their respective Functions, without any Helps of Art; whilst his
Intellects, his Apprehension, Judgment, and Memory, remain'd good, as they
always had been, to the very last. When,
not-
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.326}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.326}
{image = G7470326.jpg}
notwithstanding, conscious, under a strong Perception of an inward Decay,
that his Stamina were just worn out, he saw, with an Heart still cheerful,
his approaching Dissolution. Having set his House in Order, and
deliberately adjusted both his Secular and Spritiual Concerns, he neither
express'd a Desire of Continuance, nor of Departure, but, attentive to the
glorious Prospect before him, waited, with a Religious Indifference and
Resignation, till his Change came. Tho' that could not be so sudden as to
surprize him unprepar'd, yet was it so remarkably so, that, without being
confined to his Bed, he had but just risen from off his Knees, in joining
with his Family, which he punctually did Four Times a Day, in the publick
Devotions of the Church, - when he most signally verified the Psalmist's
Reflection, that 'tho' Men be so strong, yt they come to Fourscore Years,
yet so soon then does their Strength pass away, and they are gone!' Death,
tho' it could not have been terrible to him in any Form, arrested him, as
it pleas'd God, in the kindliest, - unpreceded by Sickness, - unaccompanied
by Agony:- He expir'd, without a Groan, calm and serene, and his Soul,
exulting on the Wing to its Happiness in view, left, when it took its
Flight, his Countenance in a Smile.
-- In the justest Application of that beautiful Allusion, has this
admirable Prelate 'gone to his Grave in a full Age, like as a Shock of Corn
cometh in, in its Season.'
-- Drawing the Curtains about him in that Bed of Dust, I leave him to
repose, till the general Resurrection, without adding more to this brief
and imperfect Eulogium, but that, as, in him, human Society has lost one of
its most valuable Members, - the Church of England one of its
chiefest Ornaments, - his present Majesty one of his most firm and faithful
Subjects, - so have his Clergy lost the best Diocesan, his Children the
best Father, his Servants the best Master, the Poor their best Benefactor,-
and Numbers of Men their best Friend, - who regret his Death, and revere
his Memory.
{header- Fire Damp}
Extract of a Letter from Whitehaven, May 16.
A False account having been put into the news papers about several of our
coal pits near this town being on fire, and burning in the most dreadful
manner,
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.327}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.327}
{text- }
{image = G7470327.jpg}
manner, it may be proper to publish the truth. - Some of the coal-pits near
this town are probably the deepest of any in the world, and therefore
subject to fire-damps; so that, if a great deal of foul or inflammable air,
by neglect or mischance, is collected together under ground, and is set on
fire, it goes off with a very great explosion, and does great damage to
what it meets with in its way to vent itself at the pit's mouth. - Where
the foul air is very strong, as it is often at the sinking of new pits, it
is brought up in pipes along the sides of the pit into the open air, and a
candle, or lighted paper, being put to the end of the pipe, it will break
out into a flame, one or two feet in breadth, and several feet in height,
more or less, according to the quantity of foul air that is vented, and
will burn day and night for months and years. The flame of it may easily be
seen at the Isle of Man, which is ten leagues off, and affords a better
light to shipping than the light-house; and yet may be generally
extinguished by laying a wet sail over it. - Sir James Lowther, to
whom this colliery belongs, had thoughts of making a fire-engine with it,
had there been occasion for one where it arises: it therefore may be
esteemed one of the greatest natural curiosities which is any where to be
met with †
This colliery is the most curious and extensive in its kind; it hath been
wrought above 100 years, and above a million sterling hath been expended in
carrying it on; some parts of the works are carried under the sea, and are
200 yards deeper than the surface of the sea, which is probably nearer to
the earth's center than any miners have penetrated in any other place.
On the 6th of April last, by means of some defect in the partitions,
or pipes to carry off the foul air, there happened a very great explosion,
which beat down a good deal of the partitions, and some of the stops under
ground, and a part of the coal took fire by the damp, which kept burning as
it issued out of the crevices, and several other blasts or explosions
happened for a day or two, but not so violent. For several days afterwards
there was no explosion, nor any thing to be observed, but a little smoak
and a sulphureous smell at one or two of the pits, till the 20th of
April, when there were two more explosions, and two more on the 22d,
some of which were so violent, the blast carried all that was loose before
it, and threw up to the top of the pit, tho' 160 yards deep, a strong
wooden stage, covered with earth, clay, stones, &c. and let down to
stop the air going down the pit, and to resist a smaller explosion; since
that day such methods have been taken, that there has been no explosion,
and nothing to be observed at the top of the pit but a little smoak, and a
sulphureous smell, so that there can be at worst but a small fire, if any,
which there is little doubt will soon be extinguished. It has pleased God,
this whole affair, which was set forth in so terrible a manner (see
p.246 E) has not cost the life or limb of any one person.
† This fire-damp, or thick mine air, may be contained in bladders,
and has been sent in that manner to London, &c. It is a true
kind of air, tho' inflammable, being a subtile and permanently elastic
fluid, which is easily rarified by heat, and condensed by cold, as may be
proved by holding a bladder not quite fill'd with it to the fire. By its
elastic spring it also expands itself as soon as the pressure of the
incumbent atmosphere is taken off; thus the bladders, which were not quite
fill'd with it at the bottom of a deep pit, are violently distended when
brought to the top in a lighter air. The same may be demonstrated by
putting some of it in a bladder close tied, under the receiver of an
air-pump, and exhausting some of the air contained in the receiver.
In regard to its inflammability, contrary to gun-powder, it will not take
fire at a red-hot iron, or at the sparks made by the collision of a flint
and steel, but is readily kindled by a lighted candle, or any other flame;
and if pressed out of a bladder thro' a pipe stopple, and so set on fire,
it continues burning at the end of the stopple as long as it is pressed
out. But if the flame of a candle be suddenly introduced into a bladder
fill'd with it, so as to fire it all at once, it goes off with a
considerable explosion like gun-powder; and thus resembles what the miners
call a blast; which sometimes proves destructive to them, when a large
quantity of this inflammable air is collected together in the mines, and
there, by some accident, set on fire.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.384}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.384}
{header- Journey to Cross Fell}
{image = G7470384.jpg}
... ...
A Journey up to Cross-fell Mountain.
THE following account of Cross-fell, will entertain such of your
readers whose genius inclines them to the description of romantic scenes.
A mountain that is generally ten months bury'd in snow, and eleven in
clouds, cannot fail of exciting the attention and curiosity of a traveller.
That immense ridge of mountains, which are reputed the British Alps,
make their first appearance in Derbyshire, and are thence continu'd
in one chain of different elevations to the river Tweed. The
Lancashire and Copland heights, with those in
Yorkshire and Durham, being only detach'd parts of this great
body, such as are remarkably eminent have particular names assign'd them,
whilst the general ridge bears one appellation for several miles together.
Cross-fell, tho' distinguished in none of our county maps, is most
singularly eminent, whether you regard its height, or the immense base it
stands on, being above 20 miles in circumference; in some parts the rise is
very leisurely and gradual, in others more rugged and perpendicular,
emitting considerable streams to both seas. This insensible ascent removes
its top to a very great distance from the inhabited plains, and being in a
manner encompassed with other desolate and barren mountains, it retains the
snow much longer than any other we can see in Britain, there being
some who affirm that it has continued sometimes for seven whole years
together.
Ald-
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.385}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.385}
{image = G7470385.jpg}
Aldstone is the nearest town where one can get a safe conductor to
cross these almost impervious wastes, a country extremely ill represented
in all our maps yet published, not to mention their exhibiting the towns on
the wrong side of the river [Nint]. About two in the afternoon we
set forward three in company, and two who join'd us afterwards, out of the
same curiosity. We pass'd the river Tine near its confluence with
Blackaburn, beyond which this immense waste begins, and could
plainly perceive the alteration of air in riding a few miles. On the top of
Roderic heights is a pretty large lake, call'd
Green-castle-loch, which receives no visible feeder, but emits a
small stream northward to the said burn; nor is there any vestige of a
castle, from which it could be presum'd to borrow the name. The Swallows,
those incontestable remains of Noah's deluge, begin here to be very
frequent. Some of these are 30 or 40 yards in diameter, and near as much
deep, perfectly circular, but contain no water at any season, the ground
having gradually fallen in at the sinking of the waters; but where they
have happen'd amid rocks, the holes are left open to incredible depths.
This naturally accounts for those surprizing phaenomena in the
Pyrenean and Narbone mountains, and our Elden-hole in
Derbyshire, whose depths have never been ascertained with the
longest lines.
On the descent of Roderic-fell there is plenty of herbage, but few
plants, save the scorpioides arvensis, and tormentil.
At the bottom of this height Blackaburn is divided into two
branches, the eastermost tumbling over a precipice of 40 perpendicular
yards, which makes a most wild, surprizing cascade.
From this rivulet we are to account the rise of Cross-fell. We were
now so much environ'd with large and extended morasses, rocks and
mountains, that they exhibited a very frightful appearance, not the vestige
of a house, except some old shiels, where in former ages the people had
resorted like the Asiatic Tartars to graze their cattle in summer, a
practice now quite disus'd. There were a few sheep, but no deer, that we
could see, tho' there are several on the heights; and notwithstanding the
extraordinary drought, the water follow'd our horses footsteps for miles
together, except where the ground was perfectly rotten. At a place call'd
Bulmans cleugh there have been formerly lead-works, now left off. We
had now ascended gradually about 3 miles, thro' very broken morassy wastes,
when the mountain began to rise in three very formidable ascents, very
steep, in the manner of mount Lebanon, pil'd one above another, with
large and extensive plains to each of them, and loose shivery stones on ye
brows, very troublesome to the horses which we now were obliged sometimes
to quit. This continu'd for near 2 miles more, when we got on the edge of
the highest, which forms a capacious plain of several hundred acres, if you
reckon from the East ascent; but of such a barren soil, that there was not
so much as a single leaf of grass, herb or plant to be found in so large a
plain, exclusive of a few of those rings attributed to fairies, some of
which are perfect circles of the Gramen gluinis variis, in botany,
ascrib'd by Linnaeus in his description of the Baltic isles
to a particular quality of its affecting the dirtiest soil, where no other
grass can survive. This immense plain has no verdure, therefore, but a
venerably grey aspect from the moss or down, and even this can hardly draw
a subsistence to support itself; so inconceivably barren is this
distinguish'd eminence. The West side towards the Cumberland plains
is more rocky and steep than the way we ascended. Great part of six
counties were to be seen, and notwithstanding our height, there seemed to
be 4 or 5 mountains that disputed preheminence, the rest all look'd far
below us. These were Skiddaw in the West of Cumberland,
Criffield in Scotland, Pennygent and
Ingleborough in Yorkshire, and the highest Cheviot in
Northumberland. I computed the diameter of our visible horizon to
exceed 120 miles, 60 each way from the center. The mountains in
Cleveland by the east sea were very fair, and the West sea
sufficiently discoverable. As to the perpendicular height of the mountain,
I could not so well judge, having no barometer, and the top suffers too
much by refraction to be ascertain'd on geometrical principles.
Whether it takes its name Cross-fell from its transverse situation
to the common run of that ridge, or from a papistical conjuring a cross to
dislodge the aerial daemons, which that religion has ascribed to this
desolate mountain, I take not upon me to determine.
P. S. Being the 13th of August, and a long drought, and hot
season, we were not able to find any least relicks of snow, in places most
likely for it; which is very extraordinary.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.522}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.522}
{header- Journey to Caldbeck Fells}
{image = G7470522.jpg}
... ...
A Journey to CAUDEBEC FELLS, with a Map and Description of the
same.
ONE curiosity is apt to excite another; after visiting Cross-fells,
† my inclinations led me to examine those of Caudebeck, that
lateral detachment of the British Alps, which overspreads great part
of Cumberland; distinguished by insuperable precipices, and tow'ring
peaks, and exhibiting landskapes of a quite different and more romantic air
than any part of the general ridge, and of nearer affinity to the
Switzerland Alps. My intention in this journey was to visit the
Wadd-mines, the peculiar product of these mountains, and no where
else discovered on the globe; but as they are kept close shut up, and the
weather was extremely unfavourable, I deferred that examination to a more
proper time, and contented myself with the varieties in the neighbourhood
of Mose-dale; here I found villages in the narrow bottoms, that feel
no more benefit from the solar rays for two months about the winter
solstice, than the old Cimmerians, or the Laplanders who
inhabit about the North Cape of Norway.
Swinsted on Cauda is a strong instance that the property of
the Artic circle is not confined to those unhappy regions which lie within
23 degrees of the pole, especially with regard to the solar light.
These mountains differ not only in figure, but are very dissimilar in
property to the main body, being dry, smooth, and more agreeably verdant,
where precipices occur not. The rocks upon which they are built, being of a
fissile absorbent nature, serving to imbibe the descending rains, which are
thrown off from the more compact strata of the general ridge, and take
broken and uneven courses, through the loose and spongy texture of their
outward covering, forming sometimes morasses, but more frequently rotten
bogs, and sinuous mires of difficult passage
† Of which see the description, p.384-5.
No
{title- Gents Mag 1747 opp p.524}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 opp p.524}
{header- Caldbeck Fells}
{text- Map, uncoloured engraving, perspective view, Caudbeck Fells ie
Caldbeck Fells, scale about 1+ miles to 1 inch, published by the
Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1747.}
{image = GM14.jpg}
{text- map type: LakesMap & Gents Mag 1747}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 21x12.5cm; scale = 1 to 78000?}
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.523}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.523}
{image = G7470523.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
No such disagreeable objects interrupt the traveller here; if he guards
against the precipices, he has no other danger to encounter.
The most common plants which I observed are,
Adianthum nigrum officinarum (of Ray) black maiden hair.
Lujula, acetosa sylvestris, wood or mountain sorrel.
Muscus squammosus montanus repens, sabinae folio.
Muscus clavatus juniperinis foliis reflexis, clavis singularibus sine
pediculis. Several mosses of the capsulated kind.
Brush moss.
Rorella longifolia perennis, and other sun-dews.
The shrubs rising from the latices of the rocks, are dwarf birch, dwarf
mountain oak, of so untractable a genius that no soil will meliorate it.
Fraxinus sylvestris, ornus montana, wild mountain ash, with red
fruit. I do not remember to have seen this tree in the South, nearer than
Derbyshire; it differs both in size and leaf from the service tree,
of which species it is, according to the botanists, and is a very beautiful
one when the fruit is ripe; the superstitious use it against witchcraft.
The only bird peculiar to these rocks is the raven.
It is a received Cumberland proverb, that the mountains of
Caudebeck are worth all England besides, but it has not yet
been verify'd by experience; and if we may be allow'd to conjecture from
the nature of their stones, found in the rivulets and quarries, it may be
difficult to say when they will. Most of their lapilli are a fluor of the
stalactite kind, or a sparry talc resembling white flint, variegated with
hexagonal crystalline spars, whose points will cut glass like the adamant,
but immediately lose that property from their fragil quality. Others are
impregnated with the marcasite of lead, but so blended with an arsenical
sulphur that they evaporate in the process of separation, and others are of
the copperas kind; all of them containing such heterogeneal qualities in
their composition, as never to yield a proper gratification for the tryal.
Their quarries, also, only abound with a fissile blue-ish slate, useful for
the covering of their houses, but very remote from the metalline nature:
Indeed in Brandlegill-beck, and the Northern descents, copper has
been formerly dug, but the mines are long since worn out; hereabouts the
lapis calaminaris is also found.
Under mount Skiddow is the head of the river Cauda; it issues
thro' a narrow trough, and takes its winding course with great rapidity to
Mosedale, where it turns northward for Carlisle. Near two
miles above that village (Mosedale) it receives a small rivulet from
Bouscale-tarn, a lake near a mile in circumference, on the side of a
high mountain, so strangely surrounded with a more eminent amphitheatrical
ridge of quarry rocks, that it is excluded the benefit of the sun for at
least four months, in the middle of winter; but this is not its only
singularity. Several of the most credible inhabitants thereabouts,
affirming that they frequently see the stars in it at mid-day; but in order
to discover that phaenomenon, the firmament must be perfectly clear, the
air stable, and the water unagitated. These circumstances not concurring at
the time I was there, depriv'd me of the pleasure of that sight, and of
recommending it to the naturalists upon my own ocular evidence, which I
regret the want of, as I question if the like has been any where else
observed. The spectator must be situated at least 200 yards above the lake,
and as much below the summit of the semi-ambient ridge; and as there are
other high mountains, which in that position may break and deaden the solar
rays, I can only give an implicit credit to the power of their agency,
'till I am convinc'd of their effects, and am qualified to send it better
recommended to the publick.
At Grisedale the water turns bothways, so that in a sudden shower
you may with your foot only, send the rain-water, either to Carlisle
or Cockermouth, by the channels of Cauda or
Lender-maken. This last springs under Saddle back, a
Parnassian eminence, with two prominent peaks; the most northerly is
called Blencarter, a suprizingly high precipice of the quarry kind.
Souter-fell is a distinguish'd mountain of itself, encompass'd quite
round with a turbinated trough, thro' which the Lender-maken
is convey'd. The West and North sides are barricadoed with rocks, the East
is more plain but withal steep, and seemingly 900 yards in height, but
every where of difficult access. It was on this Fell that the
astonishing phaenomenon appear'd to exhibit itself, which in 1735, 1737 and
1745 made so much noise in the North, that I went on purpose to examine the
spectators, who asserted the fact, and continue in their assertion very
positively to this day.
On
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.524}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.524}
{header- Souther Fell}
{image = G7470524.jpg}
On Midsummer eve 1735, Wm Lancaster's servant related that he
saw the East side of Souter-fell, towards the top, covered with a
regular marching army for above an hour together; he said they consisted of
distinct bodies of troops, which appeared to proceed from an eminence in
the North end, and march'd over a nitch in the top, [mark'd A and B in my
drawing] but as no other person in the neighbourhood had seen the like, he
was discredited and laugh'd at. Two years after on Midsummer eve
also, betwixt the hours of eight and nine, Wm Lancaster himself
imagined that several gentlemen were following their horses at a distance,
as if they had been hunting, and taking them for such, pay'd no regard to
it, till about ten minutes after, again turning his head towards the place,
they appeared to be mounted, and a vast army following, five in rank,
crowding over at the same place, where the servant said he saw them two
years before. He then call'd his family, who all agreed in the same
opinion; and what was most extraordinary, he frequently observed that some
one of the five would quit rank, and seem to stand in a fronting posture,
as if he was observing and regulating the order of their march, or taking
account of the numbers, and after some time appear'd to return full gallop
to the station he had left, which they never fail'd to do as often as they
quitted their lines, and the figure that did so, was generally one of the
middlemost men in the rank. As it grew later, they seem'd more regardless
of discipline, and rather had the appearance of people riding from a
market, than an army, tho' they continued crowding on, and marching off, as
long as they had light to see them.
This phaenomenon was no more seen 'till the Midsummer eve, which
preceded the rebellion, when they were determined to call more families to
be witness of this sight, and accordingly went to Wilton-hill and
Souter-fell-side, till they conven'd about 26 persons, who all
affirm they then saw the same appearance, but not conducted with the usual
regularity as the preceding ones, having the likeness of carriages
interspersed; however it did not appear to be less real, for some of the
company were so affected with it as in the morning to climb the mountain,
through an idle expectation of finding horse-shoes, after so numerous an
army, but they saw not the vestige or print of a foot.
Wm Lancaster, indeed, told me that he never concluded they were real
beings, because of the impracticability of a march over the precipices,
where they seem'd to come on; that the night was extremely serene; that
horse and man upon strict looking at appear'd to be but one being, rather
than two distinct ones; they were nothing like any clouds or vapours, which
he had ever perceiv'd elsewhere; that their number was incredible, for they
fill'd lengthways near half a mile, and continued so in a swift march for
above an hour, and much longer he thinks if night had kept off.
This whole story has so much the air of a romance, that it seem'd fitter
for Amadis de Gaul, or Glanville's system of Witches, than
the repository of the learned; but as the country was full of it, I only
give a verbatim from the original relation of a people, that could have no
end in imposing on their fellow-creatures, and are of good repute in the
place where they live.
It is my real opinion, that they apprehended they saw such appearances, but
how an undulating lambent meteor could affect the optics of so many people
is difficult to say. No doubt fancy will extend to miraculous heights in
persons dispos'd to indulge it; and whether there might not be a
concurrence of that, to assist the vapour, I will not dispute, because
three difficulties seem to occur, worthy of solution †
1st, Why a lambent agitated meteor should appear to stop at certain
intervals, and return with augmented velocity to reassume the forsaken
place.
2d, Why it should for a very long time preserve so regular a system,
as to appear still five in a line.
3d. Why one particular evening in the year, only, exhibited the
unusual meteor for three times, at so long intervals.
As these are at present beyond my philosophy to explain, it may be an
amusement to such as will give themselves the trouble of enquiry, having
neither added nor diminished to the
† To this relation we may add that in the spring of the year 1707,
early in a serene still morning, was observed by two persons, one of the
name of Churchill, who were walking from one village to another in
Leicestershire, a like appearance of an army marching along, till
going behind a great hill, it disappeared.- The forms of pikes and carbines
were distinguishable, the march was not entirely in one direction, but was
at the first like the junction of two armies, and the meeting of generals.
ac-
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.525}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.525}
{image = G7470525.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
accounts given me. Those who treat it as a mere illusion or deceptio
visus, should assign reasons for so large a fascination in above 20
persons; probably one, indeed, might serve to aggrandize the fancy of
others, but I should think they could not be so universally deceiv'd
without some stamina of the likeness exhibited on the mountain from a
meteor, or some unknown cause.
It is singularly remarkable, that most of all these mountains have their
precipices fronting the West and Northwest, which is a strong collateral
proof of the Earth's motion, because the diurnal revolution would naturally
throw off all the loose strata in its fluid state to the opposite quarter,
and the concurring suffrage of travellers in the same properties of foreign
mountains, where reasons are not obvious for their being otherwise, much
strengthens the argument.
I shall reserve my further observations in my surveys of the several parts
of England for your new intended maps. Those which have of late
appeared are entirely old things, and not worth looking on; for tho' you
mention but eleven parks omitted in that of Berks, I can affirm
there are no less than fourteen; and in their map of Bucks, I could
not imagine that a noble duke's seat so near London and the present
road to the shire town should be omitted; so that I need not wonder at
their losing credit every day.
I am, Sir, &c.
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.583}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.583}
{header- Black Lead Mine}
{image = G7470583.jpg}
SIR,
I Am very glad that such remarks as I have been able to make, are so
agreeable to your readers. - For their satisfaction I must inform you, that
wadd mines in the Cumberland Dialect, signifies the
black-lead mines, being synonymous terms. Their cause and nature has
employ'd the great Bp Nicolson in two manuscript letters, whose
opinion, with my own, I intended to transmit to you; but as I could not
have the opportunity of seeing them myself, I defer publication till a
better opportunity. We are positive the whole world affords not another,
nor does it appear the Romans ever knew of this. It was accidentally
discover'd by a tree blown up by the roots in a tempest.-
The produce has nothing in common with lead but the name, not being fusible
in any fire. The mines are seldom opened, except a great demand require it;
tho' notwithstanding the vigilance of the owners, it may be procured from
the smugglers thereabouts; it sells at 6s. 6d. per lb. generally.-
The inclemency of the weather, and rocks of so formidable ascent, prevented
my intention to see them.
Yours &c.
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.597}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.597}
{header- County Maps}
{image = G7470597.jpg}
An Account of preparations made by F. CAVE, for a new set
of COUNTY MAPS.
IT having long been the desire of all lovers of geographical exactness to
see a more correct set of county maps than any hitherto published, he has
had for some years past in view such an attempt, thinking it also a matter
of concern that our own country should not be more truly described. As he
talked of the Magazine above four years before he began it, so this
scheme was no secret; and some persons, according to what now appears,
being more eager to get the start, than solicitous to obtain such
improvements as he proposed, it may not be improper to make publick what he
has done towards this desirable and elaborate work, and then give some
instances that Haste in this affair is inconsistent with
Accuracy.
1. Many journies have been taken with the measuring wheel, at no trifling
expence, thro' various parts of the kingdom, for the purpose before
mentioned, together, indeed, with the pleasures of seeing countries, men
and cities; in which journies various enquiries were made, the course of
roads and distances of places noted, cities measured, and towns plann'd.
2. He has further been at the charge of particular observations and surveys
by different persons, eminently skilled in the business, in order to adjust
the junctions of counties, take the angles &c of roads, and bearings of
the sea coast.
3. It being necessary, for fixing the true situation of place throughout
England, to determine the difference of the meridians of
London and Edinburgh, (which had not been before done,) an
ingenious gentleman, moved by a zeal for the truth of the work, more than a
view to self-interest, was pleased to go to Edinburgh in the
year 1746, solely for that end. He waited for a fine day, took his
observations at the castle there, and
car-
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.598}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.598}
{image = G7470598.jpg}
carried forward his meridian thro' the south of Scotland into the
north of England, and sent up the particulars to St John's
Gate.
4. The same gentleman has almost ever since been making and communicating
his observations, which, being inspected, have given pleasure to competent
judges; and it is a further satisfaction to find, from some of his rough
notes and drawings inserted in the Magazine, (as well as from other
pieces published by himself,) that its learned readers have (to say nothing
to offend his modesty) not the least distrust of his judgment and accuracy.
We shall therefore, as desired, insert some more of his remarks in the
Mag. for Jan. 1748.
By these methods, and by the kind intimations sent by gentlemen from
different parts, Mr C. will be able, if not to obtain absolute
exactness, at least to supply some defects and to avoid a great number of
errors, committed by those all-sufficient and sage
adventurers, who dreaming of mountains behind their counters, imagine that
a good map may be made without stirring out of London; and that, if
they purchase two or three old maps, and deliver them to a neat engraver,
all the business is done; but people of common parts only think it
absolutely necessary that a geographer should spend some time in travelling
and nice observation, in order to know which map to follow, and to insert
the roads with any degree of exactness. However, it must be left ot the
public, whether by examinations on the spot, and a little more thought than
has been shewn in the late performances, several contingent improvements
may not be made to the best maps of counties.
There are indeed a kind of Universal Undertakers, that fancy
themselves equal to every thing, but do nothing right. He has no reason to
be displeased at the start which such have got, nor to envy them the credit
and profit of it. On the contrary, tho' he has taken so much pains, he will
freely instruct them how to correect one great error of errors, the
Bedfordshire map, against the next impression. - As the writing on
the plate may be rubbed out, they must erase half a dozen towns, and
re-ingrave them in a quite different order; and if they please to ask
pardon of the public for exhibiting so confused a jumble, he will proceed
to finish his tour and enquiries in the county, and publish a correct map
of the whole, for them accurately to survey and copy in a garret.
Mention was made in the Gentleman's Magazine for September
and November, of the number of parks (14), and places (120) omitted
in their map of Berks; and with regard to their map of
Buckinghamshire, the world was therein informed, that the editor
should not have omitted the coach and turnpike road to the county town, nor
a duke's seat within 20 miles of London, and where the map was
empty. - As to their Bedfordshire, at first view the distortion of
the great Watling-street road, (obvious to every traveller,) also of
the adjacent towns, but above all the false situations of places at the
north corner, immediately appeared; and upon further inspection a number of
errors and defects. By the following copy of a small part of this little
county of Bedfordshire, the reader will have a sufficient idea of
the industry and skill of two new sets of
map-undertakers, and magazine-compilers, their maps being alike except a
small difference in the scale.
P>S> In their last map for December, the first glance
discovered places set at above two thirds less distance than they are in
reality.
The north corner of Bedfordshire, as it appears from a view of
the county.
{image = G747E02.jpg}
The north corner of Bedfordshire, as it stands in the two
Magazine maps of it, from pretended accurate surveys.
{image = G747E03.jpg}
Such is the information to be expected in these new maps; and the
description of the counties is of the like kind, scarce one in ten of the
fair days being right.
If
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.599}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.599}
{image = G7470599.jpg}
It is hoped, therefore, that such gentlemen as have made any geographical
remarks, or have any partial surveys, will be pleased to contribute their
assistance and observations to this work, directing to E. CAVE. at St
John's Gate, who will gratefully acknowledge the favour.
N.B. The intimation of the survey of a large lake, in the hands of a
person of distinction, is received, and may be of use; but we have seen
before, that part of the history of it which was sent.
{text- A map of Bedfordshire by Thomas Kitchin was published in the
Universal Magazine, by John Hinton, London, 1747; and in the London
Magazine, November 1747.}
{text- A map of Buckingham-Shire by Thomas Kitchin was published in the
Universal Magazine, by John Hinton, London, 1747; appearing in the London
Magazine in July 1748.}
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.611}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.611}
{header- Ghosts of Souther Fell}
{image = G7470611.jpg}
Downs, Jan. 3, 1748.
SIR,
If you have had no Remarks sent you on the two following subjects, by
publishing the observations of a sailor, you may perhaps please some of
your readers ashore.
...
II. On the APPARITION at Souterfells, &c. (see Gent.
Mag. Nov. 1747.
HAving observed the learned author's account and suggestion that these
strange appearances might be only Meteors, I cannot but remark that
our modern men of learning, having ta-
ken
{title- Gents Mag 1747 p.612}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1747 p.612}
{image = G7470612.jpg}
[ta]ken it into their heads to imagine there is no hell, at least
that its punishments are not eternal, and that the devil, if there is such
a being, hath nothing to do with the world; and, consequently, that there
can be no such things as spirits. Whenever these immaterial beings
are constrained to act in a more open manner than they chuse (for 'tis not
th[e] interest of the devil to have it known there is such a
being) these wise men are forced either to deny the facts, by
accusing the relators of falshood, folly, or credulity, or impute them to
other causes. Yet there is an old book, which I shall not name, lest
it should be ranked with Glanville, or Amadis de Gaul; for in
that old book the Sabeans and Chaldeans could not
steal cattle, lightning kill some sheep, a high wind blow down a house, nor
a man be troubled with boils, but all is imputed to the Devil; whereas, our
modern philosophers would have found a thousand other causes for those
misfortunes, in order to excuse that being. Shall I add, that that old
book, to give a slight idea of the number of Daemons, asserts, that
seven were cast out of one woman, and a legion from a man, &c. But,
leaving that old book to itself, let us suppose one of our
philosophers to see a regiment of dragoons reviewed in Hyde-Park: If
asked what they were? might he not truly answer, that they were a
company of spirits, confined for a time to inhabit material bodies of
different forms and textures? And was he asked the same question, on
sight of a number of animalcules, visible only thro' the assistance of
microscopes, would not the same answer be a truth, tho' the bodies of these
animalcules are almost as rarified as themselves? Nay, do we not know that
there are several insects that change their shapes at times? Where then is
the absurdity in supposing it possible for some spirits to appear for a
short time in bodies still more refined, and capable of what shape they
please, and when? And were this not the case, as who can prove it is not?
is not the regularity of a regiment of men's exercise a greater wonder than
that of spirits, who may well be supposed much wiser than mortal beings,
who are more confined by their bodies than they? In short, if there are
really a vast multitude of immaterial beings concerned in the affairs of
the world as the said old book seems to assert, is not the denying
their existence as great an absurdity as was theirs who denied the
antipodes, because they had never seen them? And would not the allowing of
such beings be a much easier and truer way to account for such appearances,
than that of meteors, &c.
P. S. It is pleasant to observe, that, notwithstanding the
endeavours to discredit the being of spirits, there is hardly a person in
England (I believe I may say the world) but hath either heard or
seen one himself, or been acquainted with those that have: and was this
rightly attended to, such apparitions would be reckoned no more
supernatural than it is to see an American or East-Indian;
the one being as much a work of creation as the other. But, because spirits
are beings something above us, and we cannot account for all their actions,
therefore we think there are no such things; but Death shall remove us from
our material bodies, when we may perhaps view more fellow spirits than ever
we saw fellow-mortals.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.3}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.3}
{header- Cumberland Coast Survey}
{image = G7480003.jpg}
{image = G748E03.jpg}
EXTRACT of a Letter giving an Account of a Survey of the N.West
Coast of England, in August 1746, at our Expence.
SIR,
I WAS made extremely sensible of the want of correct maps in the course of
my survey; in my opinion, the nation ought to encourage general
meridians thro' Britain at least from Berwick to the south
coast of England, as has been done in France. Geography gains
ground fast, and by a few observations of the eclipses of Jupiter's
satellites, made at different places by proper observators, our longitudes
might all be corrected. The principle objection, I own, is the great
expence of the work; but it well known that Moll's little erroneous
trifles, built altogether on copy, took very well, and certainly in a more
curious age, correct ones would not need encouragement.
It was my business every night to prepare meridians, by the north-pole, in
case of mistakes by the needle, after allowance made for the position of
the pole-star from the point of the earth's produc'd axis, against my
mornings works. I could not find, that the points of Darwent mouth
bore near so much west as suppos'd in the present maps, the makers of
which, I imagine, depended on the magnetical meridian more than the solar
one.-
And, indeed, as the difference of the magnetical and solar meridians is
very near 18° on this coast, it is not to be wonder'd that surveys,
following the needle, should throw all promontories so much south of west,
as seems to be the case, in constructing on these principles; the
magnetical being a false meridian, tho' sailors use it for a true one.
Observations by the magnetical needle uncorrected by the solar, are at
least about 1½ point west of the north. It has encreased on this
coast since 1715 from 14° to 17° 30', where it is now, but is
still encreasing.- I have marked the position of the sands from the best
intelligence - Tho' the sea coast is most useful to be taken as it appears,
for the service of mariners, yet it is great pity that public encouragement
is not offer'd for accurate maps of the land also.
I began, at the monument on Burgh Marsh, to measure off the
Solway bay; and as the ground was very low, I took several bases of
triangles, to measure the opposite shore, and fix its
principal
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.4}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.4}
{image = G7480004.jpg}
principal points. For general heights to keep constantly in my eye, I fixed
on three remarkable mountains, as judging they might be seen thro' the
greatest part of the extent of my survey; these were Skiddow in
Cumberland, Criffield, and Burnswark in
Scotland, which appeared, as in the draughts. The distances were
determined thus:
I measured a base line on Burgh Marsh, after correcting the
magnetical meridian; this was directed to a tree on an eminence near
Drumbugh, as judging it the longest course in a plain. I carefully
examined every angle from each of these stations, and fix'd the several
places as specified in my draught. It took me up some time to get proper
assistants, and fix Skiddow, one of my principal aims; the ground
besides being very troublesome, by reason of the frequent creeks and
quicksands, so that I could reach no farther than Bowness on the
27th at night. From the monument the coast is extremely low on the
English side, and a fine pasture tillDrumbugh.
At Bowness I took a new meridian to ascertian the truth of my
triangles. It is properly so called from the bend of the coast at this
promontory, which is the most remarkable one on the Solway bay, at
least on the English side. It is to be remark'd that the river
Eden has of late years kept almost close under the Scotch
shore, but its course is constantly varying by the rapidity of land floods
at low ebbs, thro' such a soft and slimy sand, that no chart can be given
with certainty of its fesh water course; besides, the sands are extremely
uncertain and dangerous to enter upon.
At Fishgarth I measur'd a fresh base at low ebb, to adjust
Workington light-house, and proceeded forward by Uln or
Eln foot. Maps are divided how to spell this river, but it seems
most reasonable Uln or Ulhn, because above Ierby,
where this water flows, the dale or valley is call'd Uln dale, and
the church Uln-dale church. Again from Ellenborough, near its
mouth, one would be induced to write it Ellon, and 'tis commonly
called at its exit Eln-foot.
From Eln-foot the shore is a fine hard sand, and the coast above at
some distance high and woody, particularly above Flimby, a little
village with salt-pans; these woods are call'd Flimby parks, and the
country assumes a better aspect.
When we get to a single house call'd the Boin, the coast elbows
round, and the whole track from thence to Darwent mouth is a low
benty soil, so broken with rabbets, that 'tis almost impossible to ride it
after night falls.
The river Darwent is the second for magnitude in Cumberland;
it might be made navigable to Cockermouth, by cutting thro' some
grounds, and erecting locks; for it admits ships of tolerable burthen for
coasters to Workington.
Workington seems a town of pretty trade, above 50 vessels belong to
it, and the harbour dilates above the pier, which breaks the extreme
violence of tides by westerly winds, and affords a good harbour; but as it
lay out of my limit I pass'd the Darwent in a boat, and proceeded to
follow the course of the coast. On the opposite side we came up with the
light-house and high land which we had seen for several miles; they are
principal sea-marks for Workington harbour, and the Scotch
coast, which appears exactly as I have drawn it.
{image = G748E01.jpg}
Appearance of How-michael chapel H, and Workington light
house L, for 16 miles along the coast.
The
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.5}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.5}
{image = G7480005.jpg}
The land was now high again, but skirted with low, benty ground for rabbet
warrens, with which the whole coast from the Grune abounds; but
makes a very bad appearance, because the eye is presently taken off by the
height of the banks on your left hand, which of themselves form a very
indifferent landskip.
I had now lost Skiddow and Burnswark, Criffield only
remainded on the Scotch shore, but the Isle of Man was
visible enough, tho' the horizon was hazy, and the sea very rough.
At Harrington salt-pans, and before, the coast from bad grew worse
and worse; the rocks, or stones equal to rocks, grew insupportable for
either horse or foot. I order'd the horses up land at foot-ways cut from
the pans along very steep, rocky brows, finding the coast now impracticable
for riding, and walk'd under the shocking precipices, where no mortal could
have gone in spring tides, because the sea washes them to a great height.
The sea was then full and stormy, and I often felt its sprinklings, broke
into drops by the violent shock upon the low rocks, on whose top was all
the path we had.
Both Harrington salt-pans, which are now wrought, and the old ones
of Leuco, which are tumbling into ruins every spring tide, are
shockingly situated.
After a fine coast and inland, we came to Whitehaven, which is a
thriving and well-built town; it exceeds Carlisle in extent about
⅓, but is thrice as populous. The streets are extremely straight and
regular in most places; there is a general appearance of industry amongst
the inhabitants, and the hurry and bustle which accompanies their trade
seems to be natural and easy. The vast supply of coals in this
neighbourhood has rais'd this port from a fishing town to be the next after
Bristol and Leverpool on the west sea, and the roads leading
to it are equal to the best turnpikes about London, and are
every-day improving, and carrying forward. Its situation is low in
comparison of the great height of the coast on all side of it, and the
harbour barricado'd with several piers to bridle the fury of the west
winds, to which it is greatly expos'd. Here the country puts on a much
better appearance, and a fine vale encircles Bees-head from
Whitehaven to the little brook below Sea-cote, full of
pleasant villages, and country seats; so that if you have no accident by
the way in so long a journey, you will not repent visiting
Whitehaven.
There is a small fort at the outer pier, to command the harbour, of no
great strength by situation; there seems wanting a lower battery on the
pier itself.
On the 30th we reached Bees-head, where is a light-house, but, in my
opinion, the cradle is too much sunk within the battlements to afford a
serviceable light to sailors; the point indeed is so prodigiously exposed,
that a greater elevation would occasion a far greater consumption of fire;
but coals are so plentiful in this neighbourhood, the expence ought not to
be regarded, as 'tis the first land that sailors from the west endeavour to
make. They compute it 10 leagues from this promontory to the Isle of
Man, I make it more by connecting of triangles, to the Paps of
Man, whither I took my aim.
The town or village of St Bees is pleasantly situated in a vale,
where they suppose the sea formerly flowed; here is a good free-school, and
a fine retreat for youth; it is equal to several market towns in bigness,
but the market of Whitehaven has attracted the business, and left
St Bees a village only.
From hence we found the sand and shingle very loose and chaffy, which
occasions great labour to the traveller till we came to the Caldar,
a stream running, thro' very romantic prospects, into the sea, without any
harbour. At about a mile distant from Caldar mouth is a very
dangerous rock, only seen at extreme low ebbs. It is called
Drig-rock and in the course of seven years has only been observed
twice.
Here is abundance of all kinds of crabs and lobsters, and other testaceous
fish, and the largest oysters of Britain.
(To be continued)
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.152}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.152}
{header- Northern Rivers, Snow}
{image = G7480152.jpg}
Carlisle, Apr. 16.
Mr URBAN,
THESE rivers, the Kirtle, Esk, Liddale, Tiviot and Line, have
their rise, and a great part of their course among bleak and
desolate mountains.
By the hot and dry weather in the last autumn, they were lower than ever
known, and the earth was heated to an uncommon degree.
For this reason, although the snows in Feb. were heaped upon the
mountains, by strong winds intensely cold, yet there was a ground thaw in
the plains.
This constant drift of snow on the mountains, and intense cold of the air,
consolidated the flakes in their descent, and a long succession of these
congealed every standing pool, or mill dam in the channel to the bottom. -
So that the intermediate channel became dry.
But soon after the ice had reach'd the bottom of these pools, the ground
thaw began insensibly to waste it away, and thus the waters of the river
gradually rose; tho' in Esk, which has but few pools no sensible
increase of waters might ensue, as was the case.
But in Line, which, tho' less than Esk, has more pools, a
deep channel, and slow course, it was otherwise; for although, by the cause
above assigned, the few fords that it has were passed by persons on foot,
dry shod; yet within a few hours, there was so great a swell, that they
were dangerous to horsemen.
The different courses of the freezing air, and the situation of the
mountains, with respect to the several rivers, were the cause why this
circumstance did not happen all on the same day. And that several adjoyning
rivers did not freeze must be attributed to their running through a more
level, and, therefore, a warmer country; and for the same reason some parts
of the Esk might have little ice, as it is not all surrounded by
mountains.
Yours &c. A.B.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.179}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.179}
{header- Antique Figures}
{image = G7480179.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
I SEnd you some pieces of antiquity, which I lately discovered in the wall
and adjoining houses of an obscure farm at Coning-garth, about 2
short miles southward from Wigton, in Cumberland, and not far
from a large Roman encampment, called Old Carlisle, on the military
way leading to Ellenborough.
Old Carlisle has been variously understood by antiquaries; but Mr
Horsley's opinion, that it was the Roman Olenacum, seems to
have the greatest weight, where the Ala Herculea encamp'd at the
time of the Notitia.
{image = G748E05.jpg}
FIG. I. is a Triton; the stone is about 2 1/2 foot by 16 inches; whether
there has been any figure on the other sides cannot be learn'd, as 'tis
built in the wall; it is in full demi-relievo, and tolerably well executed,
at least much better than many sculptures of those times, but 'tis
imperfect; below the tail has been another figure, but the stone is broke
off; and, facing the Triton a third also defac'd and imperfect.
{image = G748E06.jpg}
FIG. II. is the corner stone of a stable, or barn, at the very foundation,
probably a pedestal to a funeral monument. The figures on it resemble
scales, or waves, and whether it has been a plinth for the Triton, and the
whole a sepulchral pillar, is not now to be determin'd.
FIG III. is an inscription, now placed horizontally, as the upper lintel of
a window near the Triton, by which it seems probable that the Ala
Augusta had some time garrison'd this place; it is of the funeral kind,
and dedicated to the Dis Manibus. I hope the curious will oblige us
with their reading and interpretation of it.
FIG. IV. is a view of a stone, which I take to be the capital of the whole
monument; the length of the plinth is 17 1/2 inches, breadth 12, height 7
inches, of which 2 are edg'd away in a slope moulding, and the spheroid on
the plinth is 20 inches
high,
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.180}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.180}
{image = G7480180.jpg}
high, 14 inches diameter one way, and 12 the other, exactly equal to the
breadth of the base, and wrought over with a kind of net-work, probably
taken from the cone of a fir-apple. Its most singular curiosity is, that
plinth and spheroid make but one entire stone, contrary to the custom of
the moderns spiking their globes. I am persuaded if the whole funeral
obelisk had been entire, it would have been one of the most curious of the
kind yet discovered. At present it lies in a back yard, useless and
disregarded.
Yours, &c. G.S.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.205}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.205}
{header- Meridian}
{image = G7480205.jpg}
... ...
Extract of a JOURNEY to EDINBURGH, &c. to survey those
parts, and settle a Meridian, undertaken Oct. 1746 at our expence,
for the avoiding of old errors, and proceeding on true principles in our
County Maps. (See p.3, 4, 5.)
AS it was necessary to have the meridian of Edinburgh castle trac'd
out before the winter was too far advanced, I lost no time, but having
provided materials, I set out for that city, hoping to get it carry'd
forward on one line before the snow fell; but to my great surprize found
the middle ridge of mountains in Tweedale for several miles bury'd
in a monstrous depth of it, and still falling in great quantities all day
long over the lowest part of that ridge, which is the high way leading to
Edinburgh; but as I was set out, I determined to proceed some way or
other to settle the question. When I came near Edinburgh, the
climate sem'd to be altered, at least 10 degrees, in respect of the
mountains which we had left. I got to that city in the forenoon, but was
obliged to stay till next day before I could take the sun's meridian; but
then happily accomplished it at the castle, and without loss of time
proceeded for the top of Braid Craigs, over which my line directed
me to a remarkable eminence in them. From these rocks I could carry it not
above a mile, being cut short by the advanced skirt of the eastermost
height of Pentland, and a very hazy horizon. Kinghorn on the
Fife coast, and the eastern declivity of the eastermost
Lomund, two very high mountains on the east of Fife, are on
the meridian northward; this and the castle kept me firm to my line, but I
soon lost them, and found that I should be carry'd thro' impervious mosses
and mountains; I therefore continued to west, carefull noting the quantity
of my deviating angles, from mountain to mountain, till I gained the summit
of Erric stone brae, from whose top I could see Burnswark, in
the plains of Annandale; on the next morning having by favour of the
moon rid four hours before day-break, to reach Burnswark by the
sun's
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.206}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.206}
{image = G7480206.jpg}
sun's rise, when our view is generally most extended, because of the fewer
vapours, I effected it by the time I proposed, and found, to my vast
surprise, a great variation from what geographers have made the meridian of
Annan and Edinburgh.- I have constructed the plan of the
road, and laid down the meridian, with the proper longitudes, of
Criffel and Bees-head.- You will perceive from the plan what
pains I have taken in this survey, in laying down mountains, rivers,
villages, &c.-
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.255}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.255}
{header- Weather, and Shepherds}
{image = G7480255.jpg}
Signs prognostic of the Weather.
Mr URBAN,
A Rational Account of the Weather by the Rev. Mr POINTER, was
published in 1738; and The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules, &c.
by JOHN CLARIDGE, in 1744.
The Observations of the Shepherd contained in the latter Treatise, are said
to be grounded on no less than 40 years experience; but by comparing them
with those contained in the former account, I find almost all his
observations to be transcrib'd verbatim from it: and in order to
shew this more clearly, I have sent you both their observations, which you
may distinguish by different characters.
SHEPHERD.) 1. SUN. If the sun rise red and fiery, - wind and rain.
POINTER.) 1. If the sun at his rising looks red, &c. the air is
thickning: and, if the clouds look red at sun-rise, there will be a very
great tempest.
2. If cloudy, and it soon decrease, - certain fair weather.
Shepherd.
2. If the clouds are driven from the sun-rising, and pass away to the
west, it is a sign of fair weather. Pointer.
3. CLOUDS small and round, like a dappley-grey, with a north wind, - fair
weather for 2 or 3 days.
3. Clouds appearing like white fleeces of wool, scattered about in the
sky, are another sign of fair weather.
4. Large like rocks, - great showers.
4. Clouds appearing like rocks or towers, signify great showers.
5. If small clouds increase, much rain.
5. If small clouds grow bigger and bigger in an hour or two, they
signify a great deal of rain.
6. If large clouds decrease, - fair weather.
6. If great clouds separate, waste off, and grow smaller and smaller,
this signifies fair weather.
7. MISTS. If they rise from low ground, and soon vanish, - fair weather.
7. If the mists arise out of ponds and rivers, and there vanish away
(i.e. are either exhal'd or subside) they signify fair weather.
8. If they rise to the hill tops, - rain in a day or two.
8. But if from thence they are attracted to the tops of hills, 'tis like
there will be rain suddenly, either the same day, or commonly within two or
three days.
9. A general mist before the sun rises, near the full moon, - fair weather.
9. If before the sun-rising it will be a general mist (both on the hills
and vales) near the full moon, it signifies fair weather.
10. If in the new moon, - rain in the old.
10. But if such a mist be in the new of the moon, it signifies rain in
the old of the moon.
11. If in the old, - rain in the new.
11. But in the old of the moon, it signifies rain in the new.
12. WINDS. Observe that in eight years time there is as much south west
wind as north east, and consequently as many wet years as dry.
12. It has been an observation made by some, that have been very curious
observers of the weather for many years, that in eight years time there is
as much south and west wind, as north and east wind; and consequently as
many wet years as dry.
13. When the wind turns to N. E. and it continues two days without rain,
and does not turn south the third day, nor rain the third day, it is likely
to continue N. E. for 8 or 9 days, all fair, and then to come to the south
again.
13. First, For the N. E. wind: When the wind turns to this point, and
continues 2 days without rain, and turns not southward the third day, nor
rains, then it is like to continue N. E. for 8 or 9 days without rain, and
then return into the S.
14. If it turn again out of the S. to the N. E. and continues in the N. E.
2 days without rain, and neither turns S. nor rains the third day, it is
like to continue N. E. for 2 or 3 months. The wind will finish these turns
in 3 weeks.
14. If the wind turn out of S. to the N. E. again, and continue in that
point without rain for 2 days, and turn not S. the third day, nor rain the
third day, iot is like to continue N. E. for 2 months, or 3 for the most
part. the wind will finish these turns towards the N. in 3 weeks.
15. S. W. WINDS. After a northerly wind for the most part of 2 months or
more, and then coming south, there are usually 3 or 4 fair days at first,
and then on the 4th or 5th day comes rain, or else the wind turns north
again, and continues dry.
15. 2dly. For the S. W. winds: When the wind has been in the north for
two months or more for the most part, and comes to the south, usually there
are 3 or 4 fair days at first, and then the 4th or 5th day comes rain, or
else the wind turns north, and continues dry still.
16. If it returns to the south within a day or two without rain, and turn
northward with rain, and return to the south, * in one or two days,
as before (* the first or second day. Pointer.) two or three
times together after this
sort,
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.256}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.256}
{image = G7480256.jpg}
sort, then it is likely to be in the south, or south-west, 2 or 3 months
together, as it was in the north before. - The winds will finish these
turns in a fortnight.
16. If it returns. &c. (verbatim)
17. Fair weather for a week, with a southern wind, is like to produce a
great drought; if there has been much rain out of the south before. The
wind usually turns from north to south, with a quiet wind without rain, but
returns to the north with a strong wind and rain; the strongest winds are,
when it turns from south to north by west.
N. B. When the north wind first clears the air (which is usually
once a week) be sure of a fair day or two.
17 If it be fair weather out of the south for a week together (which is
not usual) it is like to be a great drought, when it has been a long time
of rain out of the south before. Usually the wind turns from the north to
the south quietly without rain, but comes back again into the north with a
strong wind and rain. - The greatest winds, which blow down houses and
trees, usually come out of the south by the west into the north, which
drives away rain, and clears the air. Pointer.
18. CLOUDS. In summer or harvest, when the wind has been south 2 or 3
* days, and it grows very hot, and you see clouds rise with great
white tops, like towers, as if one were upon top of another, and join'd
together with black on the † nether side, there will be thunder and
rain suddenly. Shepherd.
18. When the wind in the summer time has, &c. * days
together.
† nether side, then it is like to be thunder and rain suddenly in
many places.
19. If two such clouds arise, one on either hand, it is time to make haste
to shelter.
19. If there arise two such clouds with thunder in them, the one on the
one side of you, and the other on the other, then beware.
20. If you see a cloud rise against the wind, or side wind, when that cloud
comes up to you, the wind will blow tha same way that the cloud came. And
the same rule holds of a clear place, when all the sky is equally thick,
except on clear edge.
20. Not in Pointer's account.
21. Sudden rain never lasts long: but when the air grows thick by degrees,
and the sun, moon, and stars shine dimmer and dimmer, then it is like to
rain six hours usually.
21. When a shower comes suddenly, 'tis like to be fair weather again in
the space of half an hour, or an hour: and when the air grows thick by
degrees, and the sun shines duller and duller, till it shines not at all,
or the moon or stars by night, then it is likely to rain six hours
usually.
22. if it begin to rain from the south, with a high wind for two or three
hours, and the wind falls, * but the rain continues, it is like to
rain twelve hours or more, and does usually rain ‡ till a strong
north wind clears the air. These long rains seldom hold above ‖
twelve hours, or happen above once a year.
22. When it begins, &c. (verbatim)
* (and it continues raining still)
‡ Till a strong wind arises to clear the air.
‖ above twenty-four hours, or seldom happen,
&c.
23. If it begins to rain an hour or two * before sun-rising, it is
like to be fair before noon, and † so continue that day; but if the
rain begin an hour or two after sun-rising, it is like to rain ‡ all
that day, except the rainbow be seen before it rains.
23.
* before day.
† to hold so all the rest of the day.
‡ most of the day after.
24. SPRING and SUMMER. If the last 18 days of February, and 10 days
of March, be for the most part rainy, then the spring and summer
quarters are like to be so too: and I never knew a great drought but it
enter'd in that season.
25. WINTER. If the latter end of October and beginning of
November be for the most part warm and rainy, then January
and February are like to be open and mild.
These 3 last observations not in Pointer.
From this comparative view, any one may, at first sight, see whether these
observations, ascrib'd to the Shepherd of Banbury are really deduc'd
from no less than 40 years experience, or not rather transcrib'd from Mr
Pointer's account, in which are great many curious observations,
besides these that have been borrow'd from him.
And as to the Shepherd's book, it must be acknowledg'd to be well written;
and the publisher's remarks are judicious, rational, and useful.
I am, Sir, Yours, &c.
STALBRIGIENSIS.
May 28, 1748.
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.291}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.291}
{image = G7480291.jpg}
{image = G748E04.jpg}
DESCRIPTION of the Cumberland Coast; a new Survey,
Continued from page 5.
FROM Bowness the coast continues high for about a mile westward to
How point, when it falls low again, winding by
Scargevil-head, till we come to Cardronac bay, which is a
very dangerous one, being full of shifting quicksands, by reason of the
rivers and land waters; these, after rains, hurry the sand into a loose
sludge, which must be wash'd with several tides before it consolidates
afresh, so that no traveller, or even the inhabitants, can pass it with
certainty at all times.-
This bay is by some suppos'd the Mori-cambe of Ptolemy, but I
rather think it to be Ken sands. There has been an old castle at the
cote of Skinburn-naze, probably to guard the bay; a deep creek flows
up to it rendering it navigable, so that brandy sloops drive on a strong
trade here, because of the impossibility of an officer getting at them,
especially from the Cardronac side.
On the south side of the bay lies Holm-abbey, eminent for the
residence of the princes of Scotland; it resembles the escurial in
Spain, having been both a palace and a monastery; but the
description of Virgil's Tenedos may be now applied to it.
- Dives opum Priami dum regna manebant.
Nunc deserta quidem.
AEn. 2.
Cardronac is an insignificant village in a wretched country, almost
quite invironed with sea and morasses.
The Grune is a remarkable head of land, whose position the common
maps have widely mistaken. It is now only a rabbet warren, and hardly any
vestige left where an ancient chapel stood, called the chapel of the
Grune; the whole is a low beachy coast. The Dutch would make
a gainful acquisition by diking of this bay, was it in Holland, for
the tide recedes so far as one may pass it in any place for several hours
together.
From hence the coast inclines more southerly, but is so extremely poor,
that one could not meet with a single public house, or any refreshment,
from Holm-abby, where I lodg'd the fourth night, to Allonby
on the coast, where night overtook us again. This whole coast, till you
come at a house called Beckfoot, is full of sandy hills, blown and
rais'd by the winds, and are very tiresome travelling upon -
Allonby is grown from a petty village to have a kind of market,
especially in the summer; it stretches along the coast in a straggling
manner, but is tolerably well built, and has a considerable concourse for
bathing in the sea.
Hill-house is a sea-mark, because it stands pretty high, and is made
use of in the same manner almost as Dubmill-house, to avoid
dangerous sand, which stretches almost from Workington-bar to the
Scotch coast. When Howmichael chapel and the saddle on
Bees head are in one line, you may avoid the Swap; and when
Dubmill-house and mount Skiddow are in a line, you are on the
tail of Dubmill swap, and so may turn down the Salway; 'tis
about half a mile broad.
Hence
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.292}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.292}
{image = G7480292.jpg}
Hence we have a low coast till you pass the Blue-dial; then the
shore begins to be banky, and rises by degrees to the Bankend point,
with a skirt of low ground under the banks, for rabbet warrens. The
sea-sand is full of stones, some pretty large. On this shore I saw the
star-fish, the concha, periwnkle, and pectines, and hardly any other kind.
The coast, all along from Skinburn-naze, is entangled with
sea-holly, and very few other herbs, save the serpyllum and rest-harrow.
Ravenglass is but a small town, consisting of single row of houses
in an isthmus, so surrounded with water, that travellers are sometimes
oblig'd to wait four or five hours before they can get to it, without
riding almost up to the mountains. If there was occasion for it, a very
small matter would render it unapproachable.
The Perch is a word us'd here for the mouth of a harbour; there is a
long pole rais'd in the middle of the channel of Ravenglass harbour
for a post of direction; to such as these candles and lanthorns are
affix'd, for night guides in most places.
This harbour is extremely ill represented on all maps; certainly no
geographer has ever inspected it: Three tolerable streams empty themselves
into it, whose names and course you have in the draught.
Of all the three streams, Esk is the farthest navigable, even a
great way above Moncaster hall, Sir Joseph Pennington's seat,
quite to the mountains, for vessels of tolerable burthen.
Notwithstanding the government keeps a preventing officer at this town, he
is so flood-lock'd, that he must often be an idle spectator of that foul
practice of smuggling, without having it in his power to prevent it. 'Tis
surprizing, that there is not a station boat allowed, that might enable him
to go out at all times, to inspect vessels of that kind, for few others
ever call here; from the sea-side is a very shocking landskip of fells and
precipices, bare and quite void of soil to westward, as is observed thro'
the world (See vol. xvii. p.525) so that whilst the east side
affords fine pasturage, the west will hardly support a goat. Amidst these
precipices, shocking as they are, many beautiful narrow vales are
interspers'd, and kept so warm, that they produce a fine breed of large
cattle, contrary to the usual custom of mountains.
Had the rebels retreated this way, as was once apprehended, they must have
perished for want of subsistence, but they understood the country better.
Was it not for its weekly market, Ravenglass would decline; but
that, and the merchants of Whitehaven useing it sometimes as a
building place for vessels, because materials are cheaper, contribute to
its preservation.
Getting to Stubb-place, I renew'd my observations to the Isle of
Man, and Bees-head.
Under Bankend I also made observations to three several places in
the Man, and three other places.
I measured a fresh base line to fix Southfield point, on a very
stoney shore of 88 chains. Off this head a sailor assured me that a very
large stone, as big or bigger than his vessel, lies about three miles from
land, bare at low ebbs, that he has seen it several times, and has sail'd
very near it.
VIEW of Mount Skiddow and the neighbouring Fells from Ierby.
{image = G748E02.jpg}
{text- The draught referred to in paragraph 4 has not been traced.}
{title- Gents Mag 1748 opp p.313}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 opp p.313}
{header- Eclipse, 17 July 1748}
{image = SM19EW.jpg}
The GEOGRAPHY of the Great Solar Eclipse of July, 14. MDCCXLVIII.
EXHIBITING an accurate Map of all the Earth in which it will be Visible,
with the NORTH POLE, according to the latest Discoveries, BY G. Smith Esqr.
T. Jefferys Sculp.
{text- Westmorland and Cumberland are not in the path of the total eclipse,
but are close.}
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.313}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.313}
{header- Eclipse, 17 July 1748}
{image = G7480313.jpg}
{text- Notes relevant to the map of the eclipse (none directly from
Cumbria).}
... ...
Mr URBAN,
I Had the pleasure and satisfaction of making some observations of the
great solar eclipse, on the 14th instant, at Grantham, in
Lincolnshire, by a good pendulum clock rectify'd to the apparent
time, and the application of a smoak'd glass to the focus of a telescope of
10 feet in length. I perceiv'd the moon's first impression on the sun's
limb, or the beginning of the eclipse, at 1 m. past 9; soon after, the sky
being tolerably clear, I darken'd a room fit for observation, into which I
let in, through my telescope, the image of the sun, which I received upon a
pastboard made of white paper, having a proper number of white circles
projected on it. By this means, I observed very carefully several beautiful
phases or appearances, that the moon's shadow made upon the sun's image,
and particularly that most remarkable one at the time of the nearest
appropinquation of their centers, or middle of the eclipse, which happened
at 31 m. past 10. The duodecimal parts, or digits eclipsed, I measured
10° 4'; the exact time of the end I could not observe, the sun being
quite clouded; but by comparing several phases of the shadow decreasing
with the intervals of time between them I imagine it might happen about 6
m. past 12. If you please to give this a place in your Magazine, you will
very much oblige your most humble servant,
Grantham, July 22, 1748. RO. WHITE.
Mr URBAN,
Luffwick, near Thrapston, in Northamptonshire.
THE sun's eclipse was accurately observ'd here as follows; which if you
please to insert, it may oblige your astronomical readers.
{table- }
"","Apparent Time.","","",""
"","D","H","'","""
"Began July","13","21","1","00"
"Greatest obscuration","","22","33","00"
"End ---","14","00","5","25"
{ -endtable}
Digits eclips'd 10 1/3
Latitude 52° 27' 30"
Yours, M.D.
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.562}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.562}
{header- From Derby to Windermere}
{image = G7480562.jpg}
...
LETTER from Carlisle, June 9, 1746.
FROM Derby we rode 12 miles, the latter part of them over the
desolate hills of the Peak to ... Matlock ... Derwent
... Chatsworth ... Buxton ... Pool's-hole ... Mary
Q. of Scots Pillar ... Dislay ... Manchester ...
Wigan... and passing thro' Preston, were lead out of our way
by our guide, so that, quite lost in the dark, we wandered about all night,
and over many strange places, had several disagreeable falls with our
horses, but at last arrived late at Lancaster, at the dawn of
day,
{title- Gents Mag 1748 p.563}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1748 p.563}
{text- }
{image = G7480563.jpg}
day, held a merry conversation with a large party of fair ones, who were
returning home from a groaning, - then went quietly to bed, and rested
untill nine in the morning. When we came to Kendal, 16 miles
further, we enquired after Windermere-lake, we soon procured a
guide, then quitted the high-road, and rode 12 miles over some of the
wildest hills in Great-Britain. We came upon a high promontory that
gave us at once a full view of the bright lake; which, spreading itself
under us, in the midst of the mountains, presented one of the most glorious
appearances that ever struck the eye of a traveller with transport. It
measures 11 miles in length, and two in breadth, and is surrounded, on all
sides, with rocks, woods, and inclosures. In some places the crags appear
through the trees hanging over the water, in other places little valleys
are seen opening between the hills, through which small torrents empty
themselves into the lake; and, in all places, the border quite round shows
itself delicate and beautiful. In the midst of the lake rise several
islands covered with trees, which greatly adorn the prospect. We stayed
here sometime to contemplate this surprising scene, and then descended to a
small village, but neat, on the verge of the lake, where we procured nets,
hired boats, and spent the day on this delightful water, either in fishing
or rowing about from island to island, and place to place, exploring the
great variety of beauties which surrounded us on all sides. There is one
island in this lake containing 30 acres, with an house and garden; as it is
the largest, so it is the most admired: but we visited another, which,
though much smaller, is greatly more romantic; it is covered all over with
trees, and edged all round with rocks; at one end rises a mount to a very
considerable height above water, on the top of which is a table and seats,
cut out of the rock, agreeably shaded with trees. From this enchanting spot
we command a large part of the lake; which, together with the country that
incloses it, yields a prospect surpassing all that ever attracted my
observation. Powis-castle (See p.357.) does not exhibit a
view more amazing, nor winds more delicate. The transparent waters of the
lake extend themselves many miles before us, round which shade rises above
shade, rock above rock, hill above hill, and mountain above mountain, even
to the clouds, forming the most stupendous theatre, presenting the most
sublime scenes that human sight can possibly make room for.
I am yours, &c.
(Most of our histories mention that this lake, besides almost all other
British fish, is remarkable for the Charr, a fish rarely
found but in this county: The Magna Britannia, Nova & Antiqua.
Vol.ii. p.1306. gives us the following particulars: "The charr is
found in but one part of this mere, the pike destroying them in the
other. This fish is about a quarter of a yard long, and thought to be a
sort of golden Alpine trout. The male, which is called a milling
charr, is the largest, has a red belly, and flesh somewhat white; the
female charr is not so red on the belly, but the flesh very red,
and, when potted, is delicious meat. Of these great quantities are yearly
sent to London from Kendal and Lancaster. They are
caught also in Keningston mere, which is about five miles long, and
one broad, lying at the foot of Keningston fells, about five miles
distant, tho' not in such plenty, but 'tis said, that the charr
caught there are fairer and more serviceable than those of Winander
mere," - So far the Magna Britannia, which, together with
Campden, has furnished the pretended Tours published by some
great travellers at home, who, if they had ever been in the counties
they describe, could not have published such gross falsities.)
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1749 plate}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 plate}
{header- Sun Dogs}
{image = G749E05.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.202}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.202}
{header- Sun Dogs, Cumberland}
{image = G7490202.jpg}
... ...
FIG. VI. explained in an ingenious Letter from a new Corresppondent.
Mr URBAN,
AT six this morning, our air being replete with icy particles, we observed,
round the real sun, two halos, represented in the figure by CGD and EFH,
very strong and rainbow-like; the border next the sun of the interior halo
was red, of the exterior violet, but the lower parts of them the horizon
intercepted. On each side of the real sun, and of the same altitude,
appear'd two parahelia, or mock suns, thro' which the interior halo pass'd;
on whose top, at G, was a small part of a white circle, with luminous rays
darting from it, much resembling a radiated coronet. The Northermost
parhelion, A, had a long splendid tail, comet-like, opposite to the sun,
which, as we observ'd it
gra-
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.203}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.203}
{image = G7490203.jpg}
gradually diminish'd, a tail, at the same time, as gradually extending from
the Southermost parhelion B (which before had none) till both A's and B's
tails appear'd of equal length: A while after a white cloud mov'd
apparently into the place of the parhelion A, so that it disappear'd, but
the clouds moving off, A recover'd its lustre again, and then also its
tail, by degrees, extended to the same length as at first, whilst B's tail
gradually decreas'd, till it again appear'd without one. All this time the
rainbow colours of the two halos became less vivid, and turn'd whitish;
then, touching the top of the exterior halo, there appear'd a broken one
IK, deeply tinged with the colours of the rainbow, wch seemed to respect
the zenith Z for its center; the interior limb whereof, nearest Z, was
tinged with violet, the exterior with red; at this juncture, the radiated
coronet, to whose base the imperfect halo I K seem'd concentric,
disappeared, but the deep tincture of the imperfect halo partly fading, it
appear'd again, tho' not with its former splendour. The lustre of the two
parhelia was sometimes stronger, sometimes fainter; now tinged with rainbow
colours, again quite lucid; as A's lustre diminish'd, B's increas'd; and as
A's tail either decreas'd, or increas'd, B appear'd either with or without
a tail. In short, the regular variations and changes made such a beautiful
appearance that words cannot paint it. A little after 7, a black cloud
veil'd the face of the real sun, when the mock sun A quickly disappear'd,
and B as quickly redoubled its own lustre and length of tail, but presently
grew so faint and weak, by the approach of a white cloud, as scarcely to be
visible, the cloud being past, it recover'd a little; clouds again
succeeding, the whole disappear'd. A little before 8 it was again clear
round the sun, when the interior halo CGD again appear'd quite white,
except some rays of a yellowish tincture at top, but the two parhelia, and
the exterior halos were quite vanished.
I am, Sir, Yours &c.
JOHN DAVIS.
Cumberland, May 4.
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.152}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.152}
{header- Bridekirk Font}
{image = G749E01.jpg}
{text- Caption p.152:-}
FIG V. The view of an ancient font at Bridekirk in Cumberland, with a Runic
inscription, of which we expect a further account.
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.217}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.217}
{header- Bridekirk Font}
{image = G7490217.jpg}
... ...
A Description of FIG. V. in the Miscellaneous Plate in
last Magazine.
Mr URBAN,
THIS curious piece of antiquity was dug up in the ruins of
Papcastle, near Cockermouth, in Cumberland, among
other antique remains. The author of Magna Britannia, &c. says,
"What use it was made for, does not appear, but 'tis now used for a
baptismal font (called by St Austin sacrarium regenerationis, the
sacred laver of regeneration, and, probably, it was design'd for one." He
adds, that it is of green stone, but it is really a whitish
free-stone. (See Vol.XII. p.319 a greater mistake of this
writer.) It stands in a square pedestal, about 8 inches high in the
upright, and about three more in the perpendicular of the slope; this
supports another of about 20 inches more, pretty near a cube hollow'd,
being 22 inches on the South and North sides, and 20 on the other two.
It faces the porch door of Bridekirk, is lined with lead, and
perforated at bottom to take off the baptismal water, and must be at least
900 years standing.
The front, or South side, engraving is betwixt 3 fillets; the uppermost, I
imagine, contains two AEgoceri, or sea-goats, the ancient
representation of Capricorn, in whose sign the sun was at the birth
of Christ, and, probably, alludes to that; the middle fillet has a
festoon of grapes, &c. and a human figure catching at a cluster,
perhaps, to intimate the mystery of the passion, or of the Eucharist, and
the advantages accruing to the partaker.
Betwixt that and the third fillet is the inscription, and below a female
figure with a cup, probably, in her hand; and some festoons.
The East side has only two fillets, the uppermost contains an Amphisbaena,
or a hydra rather, with two heads, one bent down over its body to the
ground, the other erect, with a branch proceeding from its mouth, which in
its process divides into three; the first head may denote the depression
and extinction of the Mosaic scheme, the other the erection of the
Christian one, and the mystery of the Trinity may be express's in the
branch dividing into three, and both may be represented by the hydra.
The second fillet has a tree, and Joseph and Mary, I suppose,
with the child, as Joseph is call'd a fruitful branch.
The North side confirms my conjectures on that of the South, where the two
coelestial signs of Capricorn and Sagittary are represented;
Sagittary is the concluding sign of the year, as Capricorn
the initial one with regard to the solar return; intimating that the
religion which sprung from the person born when the sun was in
Capricorn, would continue to the consummation of things, or till the
sun had gone into Sagittary, their emblem of the last period.
The fillet below, on the same side, has an allusion to the slaughter of the
babes at Bethlehem, and a devotee in a religious posture kneeling,
and taking hold of the true tree of life, notwithstanding the loss of her
child, as the only means of her future acceptace and happiness.
The West side is in the same taste, but the figures wasted by time.
The learned Bp Nicolson supposes the Runic inscription should be
read thus.
And to dis men red wor tanen men brogten.
In ENGLISH
Here Ekardwas converted, and to this man's example were
Danishmen brought.
He conjectures that Ekard was a Danish general, who being
baptized at this font, was the occasion of many of his officers and
soldiers becoming Christians.
The Bishop is of opinion that the figures by way of embellishment, are only
the fancy of the workman; but I am persuaded that they have an emblematical
meaning, which can at this time only be conjectured.
(* Perhaps this reading may help to explain the Inscription found
at the Duke of Bedford's, which is in the same plate.)
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.281}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.281}
{header- Lord Derwentwater's Estates}
{image = G7490281.jpg}
Historical Chronicle, June 1749.
TUESDAY 13.
The king ... gave the royal assent to the following bills, ...
For vesting the forfeited estates of James late E.of Derwentwater, and
Charles Ratclciffe, dec'd, in trustees for an absolute estate of
inheritance for the benefit of Greenwich hospital, and for raising certain
sums of money out of the said estates for relief of the children of the
said Charles Ratcliffe.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.283}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.283}
{header- Snow in Summer}
Extract of a letter from the North.
June 3. Snow lay till 7 in the morning, particularly near Carlisle.
June 15. A great snow fell on mount Skiddow, and lay till 3 in the
afternoon.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.367}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.367}
{header- Roman Altar, Burgh by Sands}
{image = G7490367.jpg}
An INSCRIPTION found on a small portable ALTAR at
Burgh on the Sands, in Cumberland. in the house of one John
Hodgson. - A reading of it is desired.
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.389}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.389}
{header- Storms, Cockermouth}
{image = G7490389.jpg}
Cockermouth, Cumberland, September 3.
IN the night between the 22d and 23d ult. in the midst of the most terrible
lightning and thunder that ever was seen and heard; a large rock near the
tops of the mountain was rent assunder; out of which came so great a deluge
of water, and with such violence and rapidity, as carried all before it,
such as solid stones of incredible weight, houses, barns, mills, &c.
and even erased their very foundations, so that you cannot now tell where
they stood; the mill stones are carried some hundred yards from the mill,
and tossed upon the rubbish and sand, the quantity of which is so great
that it has laid waste a great tract of arable and meadow land, which will
for the future be for
ever
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.390}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.390}
{image = G7490390.jpg}
ever spoil'd, being as deep in some places as the tops of trees.
It would surpass all credit to give you every particular circumstance of
this surprizing cataract, which still continues to discharge a large
quantity of water of such a strange nature as to tincture all the river
Derwent, quite down to the sea, which must be near twenty miles. The
damage done to the hay, corn, and proprietors of the neighbouring fields
and houses, is computed at near 4000l.
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.403}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.403}
{header- Inscription and Cross Slab, Carlisle}
{image = G7490403.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
THE underwritten was a cenotaph found below the Bishop's throne, in
Carlisle (cathedral.) It is about 6 foot 5 inches long, 11 inches
wide, two of which are slop'd away all round, on each side, and the end;
this slope measures 4 inches and 3 quarters in the slant, and there is four
inches more in the whole of a perpendicular depth, which makes the entire
substance. It has had an antique Roman-catholic cross on the top, with this
inscription,
{image = G749E03.jpg}
If your learned correspondents cannot make it out, I shall use my small
endeavours to give some satisfaction, tho' it is certainly incomplete
itself.
The following inscription is on a stone 2 foot 5 inches long, 12 inches
broad at one end, and 9 at the other, and was found in digging Mr
Benson's cellar in the year 1744, six foot deep under ground; its
explanation shall be attempted another time.
{image = G749E04.jpg}
Yours, &c. G. SMITH.
Wigton, July 11, 1749
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.534}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.534}
{header- Viewer for Perspective Views}
{image = G7490534.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
I Am confined by old age to a country solitude, where your magazines are
one of my principal amusements. As you are pleased often to embellish them
with perspective views, and it is said, thay are seen to great advantage
with a diagonal mirrour, or concave glass: if you please to give us a
description of the machine, proper for viewing such prints, with the
dimensions of the mirror, and diameter, and radius, of the glass, either
concave or convex, with the manner of placing the glasses and prints, and
such plain directions for construction of the whole, as may enable a
country mecanick to make it, you will much oblige many of your country
readers; none more than
Yours, ROB. RUSTICUS.
P.S. If you please to mention the name, and place of abode, of an
artist in London, from whom the glasses may be had, with the usual
price, it will be an addition to your favour.
ANSWER.
THERE are several methods of constructing the optical machine, for viewing
landscapes and perspectives, but that, represented by the figures annexed,
seems to be most convenient, as it keeps the pictures, with all the
apparatus, together, and is portable without danger.
Fig. I. A is a box, 4, 5, or 6 inches deep, 2 feet long, and about 18
inches wide, b b are two brackets of thin wainscot, turning on
hinges at c, and fastened in the position, in which they are
represented, by a small hasp at 2, so as to keep the lid, or cover, of the
box d d, in a perpendicular direction. a is a plain speculum,
or common looking glass, fstened, by an hinge, to the box lid, near the
edge at 3, and kept in a diagonal position, or so as to make an angle of 45
degrees with the horizon, by the sloped tops of the brackets; 4 is a print
which is to be viewed in the
ma-
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.535}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.535}
{image = G7490535.jpg}
{image = G749E02.jpg}
[ma]chine. There is an aperture in the lid of the box as is represented at
5. Figure II. in which is fixed a convex lens, opposite to the center of
the mirrour. The lens must be a sufficient diameter to be looked thro' with
both eyes at once, and must have such a degree of convexity, as that there
be just half the distance of its focus between it and the center of the
mirrour, over-against which it is placed; therefore as the distance between
the vertical plane d d, Fig. I. in which the lens is fixed, and the
center of the mirrour a will be in proportion to the size of the
mirrour, the degree of convexity of the lens must be determined by the size
of the mirrour, or vice versa.
The distance of the print 4, from the mirrour will be determined by the
size of the box, but in this no great exactness is necessary, that distance
which is just sufficient to cause the mirrour to take in the whole print,
and no more, is the best.
The picture being reflected from the mirrour appears greatly relieved, and
in a vertical position to an eye placed at the lens. When the machine is to
be laid by, the pictures are put into the box, the brackets, being
unhasped, shut down upon them, folding one over the other, the mirrour
falls flat to the inside of the box-lid, and is fastened there by a button,
the lid then shuts down, and all are locked up together.
A concave mirrour shews perspectives, &c. to equal, if not greater
advantage, by reflexion, if they are placed in the focus, without any other
apparatus: but those that are large enough for this purpose are sold at a
high price.
P.S. Any of the optical shops will furnish the glasses; if your
friend knows not any, on receiving a letter by post, and an order on the
carrier, care shall be taken to supply them.
{header- Commentary}
{text- A closely related device is the polyterpic table invented by John
Buchanan about 1817, in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum,
Chamber Street, Edinburgh, item H.KNJ6. This is described in:-}
{text- The polyterpic table seems just to be a furniture version of the
zograscope, which has just a lens and mirror on a stand, for viewing
perspective views. Also see:-}
{index terms = polyterpic table; zograscope; perspective views; Buchanan,
John H}
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.550}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.550}
{image = G7490550.jpg}
... ...
Mr URBAN,
Nov. 6, 1749.
IN your Mag. for Sept. last, meeting with an inscription
found in the cathedral of Carlisle, with an invitation to those that
would make it our, I have
adven-
{title- Gents Mag 1749 p.551}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1749 p.551}
{image = G7490551.jpg}
adventured upon it; and, after my small skill in these matters, think that
it is to be read thus:
: : IC JACIT EVA QUONDA UXOR WILLI FIL ROGERI
i.e. Hic jacet Eva quondam uxor Wilhelmi Filli Rogerii. Here
lieth Eve heretofore the wife of William Fitz-Roger. - The
obliterated H at the beginning of Hic, the final M thrown off in
quondam, and the abbreviations in Willi. and Fil.
sufficiently justify your correspondent's observation, that it is certainly
incomplete in itself.
I dare say, the curious part of your readers would be obliged to the same
hand for a draught of the antique Roman Catholick cross on the top of the
stone, taken with the same exactness, as the letters are exhibited. For
though they have mostly some general likeness, yet is there a great variety
in their form. Besides, a sketch of the covering stone, with the cross
embossed (I suppose) on it, and the engraved inscriptiom, with the hollowed
under-stone, would give more satisfaction to the enquirer, than twenty
paragraphs, though work'd up with the utmost perspicuity, can inform the
understanding.
I shall defer giving any thoughts of the other inscription, or entering any
farther into the present, till I shall see how far my sentiments here suit
with those of better judgments: of which, doubtless, you receive many, from
the number and variety of your ingenious correspondents.
Yours, &c. Z. &.
To GEO. SMITH Esq;
SIR,
WIthout any design of forestalling your own interpretations (which, on the
contrary, I am in hopes you will favour us with) I have adventur'd to try
my skill in enucleating the two inscriptions you were pleas'd to
communicate to the world in September last.
I perceive you think the first inscription to be imperfect, but, unless you
have some valid reason for thinking so, from an ocular inspection of the
stone, I should believe it complete as it is, it affording a good, and, in
my opinion, an entire sense.
HIC JACIT EMA QUONDA UXOR WILLIELMI FILII ROGERI
In English.
Here lies Emma late wife of William son of Roger.
At that time of day, before sirnames were in vogue, this was the usual
method of describing persons, Wills, fil, Rogeri, Johes, Fil,
Stephani, &c.
Dates also were then but too often omitted, and for these two reasons I
incline to esteem the inscription perfect.
The other inscription: I read thus
DEOR DE TORCI MIL.
and explain it, DEOR (or perhaps THEOR) DE TORCI knight. De Torci or
de Forcy, was one of the great men that came into England
with Wm the Conqueror, (See the roll of Battle Abbey)
and the Family continu'd here flourishing long after.
I am Yors, &c.
PAUL GEMSEGE.
{title- Gents Mag 1750 p.27}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1750 p.27}
{header- Netherby Hypocaust}
{image = G7500027.jpg}
Draught of an ancient Roman Sweating-Stove.
Mr URBAN,
I Send you inclosed the draught of an Hypocaustum, or Bath, discover'd at
Netherby, 10 miles north from Carlisle. You may compare it
with another at Cast-steeds communicated to you (See Vol. xi.
p.650, Vol. xii p.30, 31, and Vol. xvii.
p..60.
The rooms mark'd c were the sudatories, or sweating places, where
the people retired after bathing. a, a were for exercise, &c.
That mark'd f, a bath for ablution; a necessary part of the Heathen
theology in the worship of Fortune, to whom the altar is conecrated, which
is also in another part of your Magazines (See Vol. X.
p.171.) The communicating funnels (b) supply'd the fire with
fresh pabulum of air, and at the same time the pipes (d) heated the
sudatories.
G. SMITH.
{image = G750E01.jpg}
N.B. Most of the rooms were floor'd with a small thick flag, laid in
cement, with three courses of pavement below.
{title- Gents Mag 1750 p.186}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1750 p.186}
{header- Roads, Egremont}
{text- The Historical Chronicle for April 1750, Wednesday 11 has the royal
assent given to bills for:-}
...
For repairing and widening the roads leading from Egremont to Duddon
bridge, Santon bridge, and Salt-house, in the county of Cumberland.
{title- Gents Mag 1750 p.344}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.20 p.344, 1750:-}
{header- Meteor over Wigton etc}
{image = G7500344.jpg}
Letter from Wigtoun.
THE extraordinary meteor mentioned in the Newcastle paper, &c.,
appeared over the Solway firth, directing its course South Eastward,
the wind W.S.W. passed to the East of Wigton, seemed to be over
Carlisle, and passed Newcastle also: but in order to account
for its appearing at so many places, near the same time, it must have been
kindled in the higher regions of the atmosphere, and been vastly higher
than people imagined, whose computation was about 30 yards only, whereas it
seems to have been as many miles at least, else it could not have appeared,
almost over every place that we yet hear of; its tail and other appearances
wou'd vary with the circumstances of its inflammability and motion.
Yours, G.S.
{image = G750E02.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.40}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.40}
{header- Theft of Black Lead}
{image = G7510040.jpg}
... ...
Keswick, Cumberland, Jan. 11. A gang of villains, accustomed to
steal wadt, or black lead ore from the mine at Borrowdale, (the only
one in Europe, see Vol. xvii. p.583) to the value of at least
1000l. yearly, attacked on the 11th past, at night, the house of Mr
White, steward of the mine, with fire arms, but losing one of their
number by the fire from the place, the rest fled, but had the assurance to
go and make oath before a justice that White and his men had
murdered one Daniel Wright on which the accused surrender'd and were
admitted to bail; one of the rogues afterwards impeached the rest, who all
fled except one Dixon, who is committed to the county gaol.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1751 opp p.51}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 opp p.51}
{header- Black Lead Mines}
{text- Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Black Lead Mines in
Cumberland, and area, scale about 2 miles to 1 inch, probably by George
Smith, with an article by GS, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, 1751.}
{text- The map includes Cockermouth, Keswick, Borrowdale etc, south to
Seathwaite.}
{image = GM13.jpg}
MAP of the BLACK LEAD MINES &c. in CUMBERLAND See p.51. Vol.XXI.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Gents Mag 1751 (Geology)}
{text- The magazine title page, May 1751, which is p.191, explains the
extra images: '... a Map of the Black Lead Mines in Cumberland, in which is
tracked Mr Smith's journey, related p.51. A Representation of several
ancient Coins found about Porchester Castle, near Portsmouth; and an
uncommon Fish called a Bourse ...'}
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.51}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.51}
{header- Black Lead Mines}
{text- Report of a visit to the black lead mines above Seathwaite, by GS,
George Smith, published in the Gentleman's Magazine, London, February
1751.}
{image = G7510051.jpg}
THE Gentleman's Magazine: For FEBRUARY 1751.
Mr URBAN,
THE public attention has been drawn to the black lead mines, in Cumberland,
call'd the Wad, by the account of their having been plundered, which has
lately appear'd in the papers: but as yet they have not been described, and
though it is not known that there is any other mine of the same kind in the
world, yet, I believe, they have never been visited with a view to natural
history, except by myself, and some gentlemen who went with me. I,
therefore, send you the following narrative of our journey and discoveries,
which, I hope, will be acceptable to your readers. Yours, &c. G.S.
I Had long intended a journey to the Wad, and had often been prevented from
effecting it by unfavourable weather, and other accidents; but in the
beginning of Aug. 1749, I set out from Wigton, in company with two or three
friends, and had appointed others to meet us from Cockermouth, who waited
only for my message to set out; for as this expedition had been long
projected, they had determined to bear me company.- From Wigton, in about 3
hours, we arrived at Orthwaite, a small village under mount Skiddow: (See
Vol.XVIII. p.292). A sudden storm of rain obliged us to take shelter in a
little alehouse at this place, and an uninterrupted series of bad weather
kept us prisoners near a week; however as the neighbouring clergymen
charitably visited us every day, we did not much suffer by our confinement.
Here the gentlemen from Cockermouth joined us on the first fair morning;
and the afternoon being clear we agreed to meet the next morning at the
Royal Oak in Keswic, a market town, on the south side of Skiddow. This
mountain, which I had visited the year before, and of which I have already
given you some account (See V.XVIII. p.4) is a fissile absorbing slate:
This slate is flaked off with a kind of wedge, peculiarly adapted to the
work, in quarries near the top of the mountain, and is conveyed down to the
plain by laborers, in a machine so contrived as to be carried upon the
shoulder, the man walking upright: In these machines each man carries as
much as would load a Cumberland cart, but having by long use learnt to
improve the advantage afforded by the declivity of the mountain, they
descend with little labour, and less hazard.
Skiddow is undoubtedly one of the highest mountains in Britain, the
declivity from the white-water dash, at the foot, to the summit, measures
near 5000 yards, but the perpendicular height cannot be much more then one
fourth of that measure. The neighbouring mountains are all very high, and
the greater part terminate in craggy precipices, that
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.52}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.52}
{image = G7510052.jpg}
have the appearance of huge fragments of rock, irregularly heaped on one
another; but in the prospect round, nature has lavished such variety of
beauty as can scarce be believed upon report, or imagined by the most
luxuriant fancy. The plains of Basingthwaite, watered by a fine lake,
appear like a paradise to the West; and the islands that lie interspersed
among the windings of Darwent, and the lake of Keswic, exceed description;
beyond these, to the South, lie the mountains of Barrowdale, which are yet
higher than Skiddow: The western seas, the Isle of Man, all the South coast
of Scotland, and the mountains of Pennygent and Ingleborough, in Yorkshire,
diversify other parts of this delightful landscape. The spot upon which I
stood is one intire shiver of slate, and the precipice to the westward is
frightful. The plants of Skiddow are the myrtle berries, generally called
blackberries, the vitis idaea of Dioscorides, mossberries, great variety of
mosses, and among others the muscus squammosus pulcher digitatus of
Tournefort.
On Friday morning, pursuant to our appointment, we set out from Orthwaite
[1], and our Cockermouth friends fell in with us before we reached Keswic;
so that we stay'd there no longer than was necessary to hire a guide, and
consequently I had no time for critical examination. It is distant from
Orthwaite 7 computed miles, and forms the west side of the base of Skiddow;
it is skirted with the lake of Basingthwaite, which is about one mile wide
and 5 miles long, and on the opposite side Widehope fells, with their
impending woods, form a very pleasing and romantic appearance. The town
seems to be ancient, and the poorer inhabitants subsist chiefly by
stealing, or clandestinely buying of those that steal, the black-lead,
which they sell to Jews and other hawkers.
Near Keswic is also another lake about two miles broad, and 4 miles long,
in which several beautiful islands are interspersed, but not inhabited by
German miners, as was asserted by a worthy brother of yours lately defunct
[2]. When I saw them they were so many Ortygias, or islands of Calypso,
covered with beautiful woods, which were then felling.
On one of these, called Lady Island, Ld Derwentwater had formerly a castle,
now in ruins, intended to prevent the depredations which were frequently
committed by the Scots before the union.
We left Keswic at 9 in the morning, and wou'd have proceeded by water, and
sent our horses overland, but this way of travelling wou'd have cost us
more time than we cou'd afford. On our left, in the way from Keswic, a
ridge of rude craggy rocks extended near 4 miles; on our right was Keswic
lake, and beyond it a group of pyramidical hills, which formed an uncommon
appearance. At the head of Keswic lake, the Darwent is contracted to a
narrow river, and runs between two precipices, covered with wood to the
top, the perpendicular height of which is 800 yards. On approaching this
place we imagined it to be our ne plus ultra, but our guide soon convinced
us that we were mistaken. On the West side of the Darwent in this Herculean
streight, and directly under one of these stupendous precipices lies the
village of Grange. The white prominent rocks, which were discovered at an
immense height, thro' the apertures of the wood, would have filled a
poetical imagination with the ideas of the Dryades, the Bacchum in remotis,
and other fables of antiquity. Here we were obliged many times to alight,
the gut being very rocky, and the mountains would indeed have been
impassable, if the river had not made a way.
We had now reached the Bowder stone of Barrowdale, which is much the
largest stone in England, being at least equal in size to a first rate man
of war; it lies close by the road side, on the right hand, and seems to
have been a fragment detached from the impending precipice above, by
lightening or some other accident. From hence we had good road thro' groves
of hazel, which in this vale, as there is no occasion for hedges, grow very
large, and bear excellent nuts.
Before we came to Barrowdale chapel, which is situated on the left, the
valley expands, and the two streams divide, which form the Darwent by their
union. The area of Barrowdale chapel
{page.footnote = 7510052.1}
Thwait is the Saxon word for pasture, and the preposition is an
appellative, sometimes derived from a proper name, and sometimes from a
quality; thus Mik-wait, or Mickle-thwait is great pasture, &c.
{page.footnote = 7510052.2}
The writer means the Universal, or London Magazine; for both have given
descriptions of this country, so void of truth, that they are, as to those
parts, felo de se.- They have not the right number of churches in Carlisle,
and both make large and fair towns, where there are not three houses
together.
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.53}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.53}
{image = G7510053.jpg}
is scarce equal to that of a pigeon cote, and its height much less. We now
entered another narrow valley, which winded thro' mountains that were
totally barren, and in about an hour we arrived at Seathwaite, which is
just under the mines, and, as near as I can compute, about 10 miles distant
from Keswic. The scene that now presented itself was the most frightful
that can be conceived; we had a mountain to climb for above 700 yards, in a
direction so nearly perpendicular, that we were in doubt whether we should
attempt it; however, recovering our resolution, we left our horses at a
little house that stood by itself, on the utmost verge of the county, and
approached the mountain. The precipices were surprisingly variegated with
apices, prominences, spouting jets of water, cataracts, and rivers that
were precipitated from the cliffs with an alarming noise.
One of these rivers we passed, over a wretched foot-bridge, and soon after
began to climb; we had not ascended far before we perceived some persons at
a great distance above us, who seemed to be very busy, tho' we could not
distinguish what they were doing; as soon as they saw us, they hastily left
their work, and were running away, but by a signal made by our guide, who
probably was but too well acquainted with them, they returned, to the
number of 18. We came up to them after an hour of painful and laborious
travelling, and perceived them to be digging with mattocks, and other
instruments, in a great heap of clay and rubbish, where mines had been
formerly wrought; but tho' they were now neglected by the proprietors, as
affording nothing worth the search, yet these fellows could generally clear
6 or 8 shillings a day, and sometimes more.
The black lead is found in heavy lumps, some of which are hard, gritty, and
of small value, others soft and of a fine texture. The hill in which it is
found is a dirty brittle clay, interspersed with springs, and in some
places shivers of the rock. The hazel grows in great plenty from the bottom
to the height of above 300 yards, but all the upper part is utterly barren.
The mineral has not any of the properties of metal, for it will not fuse
but calcine in an intense fire: before its value was discovered the farmers
used it as those of the S. counties do ruddle, to mark their sheep; it is
not the petroleum, the melanteria, nor the pinguitis of the ancients, nor
does it agree with any description in Pliny, or Aldrovandus.
About 150 yards above this rubbish is the miner's lodge, to which the
ascent is very steep, and here the facts related in the news papers must
have happen'd, if at all, for the principal heap of rubbish, where several
fellows and girls were then at work, is within pistol shot of the hut.
We had now reached the summit of the black lead hill, but were astonished
to perceive a large plain to the West, and from thence another craggy
ascent of 500 yards as near as I could guess.
The whole mountain is called Unnisterre, or, as I suppose, Finisterre, for
such it appears to be; myself and only one more of our company determined
to climb this second precipice, and in about another hour we gained the
summit: The scene was terrifying, not an herb was to be seen, but wild
savine, growing in the interstices of the naked rocks; the horrid
projection of vast promontories; the vicinity of the clouds, the thunder of
the explosions in the slate quarries, the dreadful solitude, the distance
of the plain below, and the mountains heaped on mountains that were piled
around us, desolate, and waste, like the ruins of a world which we only had
survived, excited such ideas of horror as are not to be expressed. We
turned from this fearful prospect afraid even of ourselves, and bidding an
everlasting farewel to so perilous an elevation, we descended to our
companions, repassed the mines, got to Seathwayte, were chearfully regaled
by an honest farmer in his puris naturalibus, returned to Keswic about 9 at
night, and got home by 11.
This expedition, which we happily accomplished, was last year attempted by
the ingenious Mr Bowyer, but he got no higher than the chapel. I would have
gone with him, notwithstanding the fatigue and danger that I had already
experienced, but some business obliged me to decline the happiness of his
company, which would have been a compensation for both.
P.S. The lumps of black-lead found in the rubbish seldom exceed half a
pound in weight, but those found in the mines are said to weigh six or
seven pounds, they work forward for it, and the pits resemble quarries or
gravel pits.
We shall soon give a Map of this place, the only one that was ever drawn.
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.112}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.112}
{header- Inscription, Dearham}
{image = G7510112.jpg}
... ...
An INSCRIPTION in Deerham Church window, near
Workington in Cumberland, Communicated by the Vicar to G. S.
Esq; who desires Mr GEMSEGE, from his great Knowledge in the
Lapidary Stile, or any Gentleman of that Taste, to give the Publick their
Opinion about it.
{image = G751E01.jpg}
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.200}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.200}
{header- Floods, St John's in the Vale}
{image = G7510200.jpg}
... ...
Account of a surprising Inundation in the Valley of St John's
near Keswick in Cumberland. (See Map in this Mag.)
ON the 22d of August 1749, there was the most terrible thunder, and
incessant lightning, ever known in that part in the memory of man, the
preceding afternoon having been extreme hot and sultry. The inhabitants of
the vale heard a strange buzzing noise, like the working of a maltmill, or
wind in the tops of trees, for two hours together, before the breaking of
the clouds, which was accompanied by the water-fall. From the havock it
made in so short a time (for it was all over in less than two hours) it
must have far exceeded any thunder shower ever seen; most probably it was a
spout, or large body of water, which by the lightning incessantly rarefying
the air, broke at once on the tops of the mountains, and so descended upon
the valley below, about three miles long, half a mile broad, and lying
nearly E. and W. closed in on the S. and N. side, with prodigious high,
steep, rocky mountains. Legburthet Fells on the N. side had almost
the whole cataract, and the spout did not extend above a mile in length,
and swelling chiefly four small brooks; but to that amazing degreee, that
the greatest of them, called Catcheety Gill, swept away a mill and a
kiln in five minutes, leaving the place where they stood covered with huge
rocks and rubbish, 3 or 4 yards deep; so that one of the mill stones cannot
be found. In the violence of the storm, the mountain tumbled so fast down,
as to choak up the old course of this brook, the water forcing its way
through shivery rock, and now runs there in a chasm 4 yards wide, and
betwixt eight and nine deep. These brooks have lodged such quantities of
gravel and sand on their bordering meadows, that they can never be
recovered. Many vast pieces of rock have been carried a considerable way
into the fields, larger than a team of ten horses can move; one of these
measured nineteen yards about. The damages alone to the grounds, houses,
highways, &c. are by some computed at 1000, by others at 1500 pounds.
One of the said brooks, called Mose or Mosedale Beck, which
rises near the source of the others, but runs North from the other side of
Legburthet Fells, continues still foul and muddy, probably from
having worked its channel into some mineral substance, which gives it the
colour of water gushed from lead mines, and is so strong as to tinge the
river Derwent, even at the sea, near twenty miles form their
meeting.
... ...
{text- I have not found a map in this volume of the magazine; but -}
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.254}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.254}
{text- }
{image = G7510254.jpg}
... ...
To GEORGE SMITH, Esq;
SIR,
HAving been long absent on a journey, it was not in my power, till now, to
give you my sentiments on the inscription you are pleased to propose in a
late Magazine.
I lay it down as a rule, that there is no stroke in these short
abbreviated inscriptions, which is not of significance, consequently we
must in the first place resolve the ligatures; which being done, I take the
letters to be,
{image = G751E01.jpg}
There is an appearance of the Saxon character, particularly in the
[G], but as it is well known that letters of that form were in use in the
north as late as 1361, (See Mr Drake's Eboracum p.497.) this
will be no objection to my referring the inscription to the second century,
as you will see I shall do in the sequel; and much less, since you may
observe a strong inclination to the more modern form in the [reverse D] and
[G] the third and fifth letters.
'Tis uncertain whether I shall give you that satisfaction you seem to
expect from me, in the interpretation I am now going to offer of this
imperfect legend; but 'tis much at your service, such as it is, with an
entire submission to your better judgment, and the voice of the learned.
The glazing and painting of windows in our churches being formerly a work
attended with great costs and charges, nothing was more common than for
benefactions to the fabric of churches and chapels to run in that course. I
could multiply examples of this sort, but shall content myself with two
authorities, one relating to the south, and the other to the north part of
the kingdom. See Somner's Antiq. of Canterb. appendix p.69.
Drake's Eboracum p.339, 340, 529. Wherefore observing this epigraph
to be in a church window, I conceive the 4 first letters to be the last
syllable of the Latin word fenestras, and the inscription to
be imperfect at the beginning. If this be so, and the inscription be in the
church, and not in the chancel, (which in my opinion would vary the case
extremely) I explain it thus;
Has fenestras T RAS Galfridus G V D N L reparavit Anno Domini
MCL°
In English, Geofry Goding repair'd these windows in the year
1150.
Two or three particulars in this interpretation you will expect I should
account for, which I thus briefly attempt.
GVD
{text- Paul Gemsege is Samuel Pegge 1704-96.}
{title- Gents Mag 1751 p.255}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.255}
{image = G7510255.jpg}
GVDNL. 'Tis an usual practice in inscriptions to drop the vowel that should
precede a mute; see Sir Andrew Fountaine's Tables of the
Anglo-Saxon Coins, and Dr Hick's Thesaurus, Eadmund xvii. 25.
AEthelstan ii. AEthelred ii. 3. Eadward iii. 21.
inc or ing is a vulgar termination in our English
names; see the same author Cnut ix. Aethelred viii. and you
have an authority for the C being unfinish'd in one transverse stroke at
top, Eadmund xviii. insomuch that this is no other than the common
name of Goding, or Gooding, so frequent in the north.
R. There is a dot or point between the legs of this letter, that seems to
denote the abbreviation.
A. The stroke at the head of this letter shews the abbreviation plainly.
[triangle]. This is a very arbitrary mark; how it should stand for M, I
cannot imagine, and yet it can be nothing else in this case.
[square]. This form of an O you will find in Sir Andrew Fountaine's
alphabet, and others of a sharp lozenge figure both in him and
Bouterovius. It is plac'd in your type at the top of the L very
apositely, to express the last letter of the word quinquagesimo,
which in a numeral would stand in that manner, thus L°.Yours,
&c. PAUL GEMSEGE.
June 8, 1751.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.90}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.90}
{header- Roads, Carlisle}
{text- The Historical Chronicle for February 1752, Saturday 22:-}
...
3000 l. are granted by parliament for making a road to Carlisle, and into
Scotland.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.105}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.105}
{header- Inscriptions, Hadrian's Wall}
{image = G7520105.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
IN a journey to the north of England, in August last, I had
the opportunity of observing some of the remains of the Roman walls
in that country, and of particularly examining several of the ruined
stations belonging to them. I had no thoughts, then, of troubling you, or
any one else, with my sentiments concerning any pieces of antiquity; my
intention, at that time, reaching not farther than my own amusement. If I
had, I might in some respects, perhaps, have been more exact; but I
believe, I may venture to say, that in the copies of the following
inscriptions no mistake has been committed that is material. I met with
them at Burdoswald and Carrvoran, formerly the stations of
Amboglanna and Magna; and since they have not, as far as I
know, been yet made publick; if you think proper to insert them in your
Magazine, they and the observations upon them are at your service.
(See VOL.XVI. p 358)
I am yours, &c. FRANCIS SWINHOW.
Coll. of Edinburgh, 13 Jan. 1752.
OBSER-
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.106}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.106}
{image = G7520106.jpg}
OBSERVATIONS on five Roman inscriptions after the manner of
Mr Horsley.
{image = G752E01.jpg}
Jovi Optimo Maximo - Cohors prima AElia Dacorum - Postumiana - cui
praeest Marcus - Callecus (Caelius) - Superstes Tribunus.
{image = G752E02.jpg}
Jovi Optimo Maximo - Cohors prima AElia - Dacorum - Postumiana.
I, II. THE two first are standing in the yard belonging to the farm house
at Burdoswald. I understood from the people of the place, that they
had dug them up about four or five years ago, within about a stone's throw
of the wall of Severus, and a little to the east of the station.
They are both to Jupiter the best and greatest, by the Cohors
prima AElia Dacorum, which Cohort is well known to have been
stationed at this place. The letters do not seem very well cut, and yet are
not so rude and uncouth, as they are in many other inscriptions. They are,
however, very differently disposed in them, tho' the stones seem to have
been inscribed within a few years of one another. In the first the O
is in the belly of the C in Cohors, and the E and
L in the same line are joined together by a ligature; and DAC
is put for Dacorum. In the second there is no such inequality of the
letters, and the word Dacorum has been at its full length. The
reason of this I take to be, that in the second the name of the commander
of the Cohort has been shorter, than in the first, where it seems to
consist of three distinct words, to make room for which, the stones being
of the same size, what fills up the second and third line in the other is
in this crowded into the second. Hence it appears that this Cohort
must have had two commanders, at least (tho' the name of one of them we do
not know) during the seven (a) years of Postumius's power
over the western parts of the empire. For I make no doubt that the third
line in the first, and the fourth in the second inscription is to be read
Postumiana, and that the Cohort has this appellation from its
taking part with Postumius one of the thirty tyrants, whose
government was acknowledged thro' all Gaul and Britain, and
whose coins are frequently found in our island. We have a short account of
him and his son in Trebellius Pollio (b). In other
inscriptions we find this Cohort called Gordiana (c)
from the emperor Gordian, and Tetriciana is given us only by
Mr Horsley (d), and I think it is well supported by the two
inscriptions that we are now considering, which, and those two just now
referred to, seem mutually to throw light upon and confirm each other. The
name of the commander in the first inscription seems to have been Marcus
Callecus Superstes, or perhaps Marcus Coelius Superstes; for it
is not unlikely, that the first appearance of an L has been really
an E, and I am apt to think that I have made some mistake in the
fifth letter. But, be this as it will, tho' in the next line with only
RS, it does not seem to be too hasty a supposition, that the word
has been Superstes, as before the R there is just space
enough for the four first letters, and after it for the three last. We have
the same Cognomen in other inscriptions (e); and Marcus
Coelius Superstes
(a) Hic vir in bello fortissimus, &c. talem se praebuit per
anos septem, ut Gallias instauraverit &c. Trebell. Poll. Trigint.
Tyrann.
(b) Ibid.
(c) See Cambden, pag.1039, and Horsley's
Britannia Romana, Cumberland VII, and VIII.
(d) Ibid p.253.
(e) See Gruter; Gordon's Itenarium Septentrionale
pl.33, fig.1. p.75; and Horsleys's Brit. Rom.
Northumberland, xxxvi, and lxxxvi.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.107}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.107}
{image = G7520107.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
perstes is a name that occurs in Gruter (f).
The appellation Postumiana ascertains the time of these
inscriptions, for Gallienus began to reign alone about the year 259,
which, as appears from Trebellius Pollio, was before
Postumius was made emperor in Gaul (g). We may
therefore reasonably suppose the time of these inscriptions to have been
between the years 260 and 267 or 268. I chose Tribunus to compleat
the first inscription, because in other inscriptions, this Cohort
appears to have been commanded, not by a Praefect, but by a
Tribune (h). Of these stones I have only taken the planes, on
which the inscriptions are, as I saw nothing else observable in them. The
ligature of the EC, if I have taken that part of the first
inscription right, is worth observing.
{image = G752E03.jpg}
Dis Manibus - - - Et - Stipendiroum Annorum decem - Frater
III. This stone lies upon a wall just by a gate at a little distance from
the station westward. The letters are well cut, and are deep in the stone.
Half of it, if not more, seems to be broken off; so that very little can be
known about it, which is a great pity. However, it plainly appears to have
been a sepulchral; but of the DM for Dis Manibus the D
only is left on the top. An inscription in Gruter tells us of a
Cohors Bracarum that was once in Britain (i); but that
the same Cohort is intended here under the name Braecarum, I
will not say. All that can be said about it is, that the person, to whom
that belonged, seems to have served ten years in the army, and that it has
been erected to him by his brother. For STAX seems to denote
Stipendiorum Annorum decem; and the last four broken letters of the
last line plainly appear either to have stood for Frater, or to hev
been part of the whole word. The stroke near the T, in the last line
but one, seems only to be an accidental scratch upon the stone.
{image = G752E04.jpg}
--- Centuriae Marii Cohortis quartae Brittonum Antoniniae
viator - Hoc Sepulchrum faciendum curavit.
IV. This and the following I met with at the farm house at
Carrvoran, at or near which they were found a few years since. This,
I make no doubt, is sepulchral. At first, indeed, from the centurial mark
at the beginning, one might be apt to take it for an inscription of the
centurial kind. But where there are spaces between two diverging lines, or
ridges on the borders of inscribed stones, they are always on the middle of
the borders; from whence it appears, that what is now first cannot have
been the original beginning of the inscription; and that about two lines
may well be supposed to have been broken off from the upper part of it,
which probably have contained the name of the deceased, and his rank in the
army. What remains shews his belonging to the century of one, the three
first letters of whose name were MAR, as Marius or
Marcus &c. What was next in the first remaining line is broken
off; and so is something from the two succeeding ones. This leaves us not a
little in the dark; and yet, I think, we have reason to conclude, and with
some degree of probability too, that the Cohort, to which the
deceased belonged, was the Cohors quarta Brittonum Antoninia. Mr
Horsley, in his collection of sculptures and inscriptions, has given
us a part of the body of an altar erected by one of this Cohort (k).
He is not, indeed, certain at what particular place it was found; but he is
inclined to believe, that it was somewhere hereabouts, which occasioned his
placing it in the order he has (l). It was of Mr Warburton's
collection, and taken to the library at Durham. The inscription,
under consideration, suits well with this reading, and better, I think,
than with any other. For, if we suppose any other Cohort intended,
it must have been entirely included in what is wanting of the first
remaining line; the consequence of which will be, that the letters in the
second remaining line are the first of the proper name of the person, who
took care to have the monument erected: and on this supposition we shall
have Viator in the third, as signifying this office. For the
Viator is well known to have been a kind of beadle, that attended
several of the civil magistrates (m). It occurs in many inscriptions
in Gruter, as denoting this officer; but not above two or three of
them
(f) Pag. dcccxlvi. 13. See also Boissard, Tom.
IV. 73.
(g) Cumque liudibriis et belluationi vacaret (Gallienus)
&c. Galli --- Postumium ad imperium vocarunt. Treb. Poll.
Gallieni duo.
(h) See Cambden, Horsey.
(i) P. ccccxiv. 8.
(k) Northumberland, lxxvi.
(l) Pag.233.
(m) See Rosini Antiquit. Roman. cum notis Dempsteri
p.540 et 542, and Kennet's Roman Antiquities,
p.116, 120.
are
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.108}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.108}
{image = G7520108.jpg}
are found out of Italy. On this account, I would rather read
Viator as a proper name, of which we have several instances in the
same author. Nor is it altogether needless to observe, that, if we take it
in this sense, we may easily suppose the rest of the line to have been
filled up with some letters relating to his own, or his father's name, with
F for Filius, or some such thing; whereas, were we to take
Viator for the officer, we should be quite at a loss to guess what
made up the rest of the line. These considerations have had so much weight
with me, that I have ventured to put under the inscription the reading, to
which, indeed, the lost spaces in each of the remaining lines are not
unsuitable. The last line is very obscure, and confused. As to the first
faint appearance of a letter in it, I do not know whether to consider it as
one, or as an accidental scratch upon the stone. However, the whole might
have been H.S.F.C. for Hoc sepulchrum faciendum curavit; as
it is common enough in other inscriptions. The Cohors quarta Brittonum
Antoninia was, perhaps, stationed at Magna before the writing of
the Notitia.
{image = G752E05.jpg}
V. This is a portable altar, the capital and base of which I did not take,
as I saw nothing remarkable in them. The inscription is curious and well
worth observing, if it be only for the sake of the word Hammia,
which is not to be met with in any other. I at first thought it to have
been the name of some local deity; but that the Syrian Goddess, or
Mother of the Gods, is intended by it, I do not now at all question.
For it seems plainly to be of Hebrew or Syriac, from
םא Eem, or אםיא Aimma,
Mater (n). And Hesychius gives us the same signification of both
Αμμια and
Αμμάς. The H, or aspiration,
indeed, has been superadded. Mr Horsley has an inscription to the
same goddess under the name of Dea Suria, which, he is inclined to
believe, formerly belonged to Little Chesters (p). it is also
mentioned in Cambden (q). Cybele, Rhea, Ceres, Tellus, Dea Syria,
Dea mater, are all well known to have been names belonging to the same
deity. The person, by whom this altar was dedicated, appears to have been
one Sabinus, or Sabineius; but I prefer the latter name,
which, tho' not so common as the other, we have in Gruter (r); for
in the next line to SABT there seems ot have been a letter before
the E; and there is room enough after it for three letters more.
This conjecture, perhaps, may not be a little confirmed by observing that
the solitary E could never have belonged to the word Fecit,
because we never meet with this word upon altars, without Ex Voto, Ex
Imperio, or some such thing preceeding it; and it is impossible that
this should have been the case here. Very probably, there was originally
added in another line, tho' now obliterated, the letters V.S.L.M. or
some others, yt are commonly met with in inscriptions of the like kind. I
take this altar to have been inscribed in the time of the decliine of the
Roman power in Britain; for the letters are rudely cut, the
stone is of very coarse grit, and DEE is used instead of
Deae; all of which are marks of the low empire.
To the above observations it may not be amiss to subjoin the two following
articles, tho' not of much importance.
At a well near Walton, not far from Carrvoran, I saw the
under part of a broken altar. Mr Horsley has mentioned it (s); but
it seems to have been unobserved by him, as having still remaining upon it
very distinctly, the letters V.S.L.M. for Votum sobuit libens
merito.
At the House Steeds, near the chief row of sculptures and
inscriptions, there lies a thin flat stone, of an oblong figure. Thinking
it might have something upon it, I raised it up, and examined it, and found
upon one of its longest edges the letters MARII plainly cut, besides
the obscure appearances of several others. I am apt to think it part of the
centurial kind, and that it has been a part of the wall of the station. It
seems not to have been taken notice of before.
{image = G752E06.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.272}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.272}
{header- Black Lead Mines, Security}
{image = G7520272.jpg}
{text- Reports from Parliament:-}
... also a petition from John Banks of Kingstonhall,
Dorsetshire, Esq; and John Shepheard of Ireland, Esq;
setting forth, that they are now in actual possession of all those mines or
wad-holes, of wad, or black cawke, commonly called black lead, lying in a
very steep, craggy, and desolate mountain, and situated amongst several
other mountains of great length and extent in the county of
Cumberland (See VOL.xxi. p.53.) and by reason of this desolate and
mountainous situation, the said mines are exposed to constant theft and
robbery; and therefore praying a bill for more effectual securing the said
mines, and for punishing the unlawful breaking, entering, and carrying away
the black lead, &c. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1752 opp p.311}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 opp p.311}
{header- Long Meg and Her Daughters}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, Long Meg and her Daughters, near Little
Salkeld, Hunsonby, Cumberland, published by the Gentleman's Magazine,
1752.}
{image = PR0753.jpg}
LONG MEG and her DAUGHTERS, near Little Salkeld, Cumberland.
{text- Size: wxh: 21x12cm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.311}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.311}
{header- Long Meg and Her Daughters}
{image = G7520311.jpg}
Wigton July 1712.
I Went some days ago to examine that curious remain of British antiquities
called Long Meg and her Daughters, about which it must be acknowledged all
conjectures are extremely uncertain.
They are situated upon an eminence on the east side of the river Eden, near
a mile from it, above a village called Little Salkeld; this eminence
appeared to have been all moor formerly, but now about half ye stones are
within inclosures, placed in an orbicular form, in some places double. I
make 70 principal ones, but there are 1 or 2 more disputable; several lie
flat on the surface, their greatest eminence not exceeding a foot, others
yet less, and others perpendicular to the horizon; the highest of those in
the circular range does not much exceed 3 yards, nor is it more than 4
wide, and 2 deep; but none of them have a regularity of shape, though the
constructors seem to have aimed at a parallelopipedon. Long Meg herself is
near four yards high, and about 40 yards from the ring, towards the
southwest, but leans much, it being of what they call the free-stone kind,
is more regular than those in the circle, and is formed like a pyramid on a
rhomboidal base, each side being near two yards at the bottom, but a good
deal narrower at the top. (What I mean by the base is only the ground plan
of the stone itself, for as to what is in architecture called base, it has
none but earth). The others in the orbicular range are of no kind of stone
to be found in that neighbourhood, and the four facing the cardinal points
are by far the largest and most bulky of the whole ring; they contain at
least 648 solid feet or about 13 London cartloads, and, unless they are a
composition, (which I am much induced to believe) no account can be given
what carriages could have brought them there, nor by what means they could
be placed erect when they came. It is to be noted that these measures are
only what appeared above groound; we have reason to suspect that at last a
yard is left in the earth, which will make the whole amount to a prodigious
weight more. Others are erect, but not of such enormous size, and others,
as I said before, lie flat along, not thrown down, as I think, but so
placed either by choice or design, and some of these are also very large.
In diameter the ring may be 80 yards or more, and the circle is pretty
regular, but how they came there and their destination is the important
question.
I am, Sir, Yours, &c. G.S.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.311}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.22 p.372, 1752:-}
{image = G7520372.jpg}
Further Remarks upon long Meg and her DAUGHTERS. (see
p.311.)
THE Vulgar notion that the largest of these stones has breasts, and
resembles the remainder of a female statue, is caused by the whimsical
irregularity of the figure, in which a fervid imagination may discover a
resemblance of almost any thing; as various figures are discovered in
burning coals, veins of marble, and floating clouds, which cannot possibly
be pointed out to another, tho' to another
with-
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.311}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.22 p.373, 1752:-}
{image = G7520373.jpg}
without being pointed out, they would necessarily be visible if they had
any existence in the fire, marble, or cloud, and were not merely creatures
of the imagination.
It can scarce be conceived that the position of these stones, is the effect
of the flood, or any other mere natural cause because they are placed in a
regular figure, and the regularity of the figure is at least a probable
proof of design.
The substance of those stones, except the tallest, which is not however the
largest, is a compound of small pebbles sufficiently indured to run
together with coarse sand, and such other ingredients, as rendered the
whole mass fusible at different times, before the last stratum grew too
hard to admit a coalition of the next, and the ebulitions of this matter,
as it was not confined by any mould, probably produced the excrescences on
the outside of the mass; a conjecture, which appears the more probable, as
the largest are least reducible to regular solids.
They appear to have suffered but little change by the weather, though their
situation is remarkably bleak; for they are almost as impenetrable as the
porphyry of the ancients, of which they bear some resemblance, but are not
near so fine. The mill stone grit is the most like them of any natural
substance now known, but this tho' the most similar, is greatly different.
What was the opinion of the Romans concerning them is not to be
known from any of their writings, which time has delivered down to us: that
part of Tacitus which relates to Britain, and which wou'd
therefore have been most valued by us, being in all probability
irrecoverably lost.
I am inclined to believe that these stones, those on Salisbury
plain, and those in Oxfordshire, are the remains of three temples of
the Druids, certain priests who taught the Pythagorean doctrine in
Gaul and Britain.
But by the Pythagorean doctrine, I do not mean the Metempsychosis,
which was falsely attributed to Pythagoras by the ancients, who were
led into an erroneous opinion of his doctrine by its obscurity.
The Metempsychosis was an opinion known only in the East, when
Pythagoras fled from Greece into Italy. He taught the
unity of the divine nature, and that God, as he was equally present in all
places, was to be worshipped only sub dio, and not in any building;
he opposed all sacrifice as being the effect of error and superstition,
supposing it to be impossible that the blood of an innocent creature could
atone for the crimes of one that was guilty; and he taught that the soul in
the future state, was to be reunited to the same body from which it had
been dismissed by death, and rewarded or punished as its moral conduct, had
been good or ill.
This doctrine before it had been corrupted, some of the immediate disciples
of Pythagoras brought into Britain.
Et vos barbaricos ritus, moremque sinistrum
Scarorum Druidae positis repetistis ab armis,
Solis posse Deos et caeli sidera vobis
Aut solis nescire datum: nemora alta remotis
Incolitus lucis vobis auctoribus umbrae
Non tacitas Erebi sedes, ditisque profundi
Pallida regna petunt: regit idem soiritus artus
Orbealio: longae canimus si cognita vitae
Mors media est. certe populi, quos descicit Arctos
Felices errore suo, quos ille timorum
Maximus haud urget metus
Pharsal. L.i.
The temples of these Druids were in dark woods, and it is remarkable that
here as well as Stone-Henge, and in Oxfordshire, trees, have
been frequently dug up, the grove having long since disappeared, tho' the
temple which it inclosed, has survived even tradition itself.
It will appear the more probable that this circle of stone was a temple, if
it be considered that among the Egyptians a circle was an emblem of
deity, that Pythagoras receiv'd his education in Egypt and
might probably communicate this symbol to his disciples who might teach it
to the druids. The tallest might be intended for the station of the chief
pontiff, and might be placed out of the circle, that he might view the
whole assembly. The four other principle stones, at the four cardinal
points, possibly were intended for four of the inferior priests who looking
each toward the congregation, might repeat the moral precepts of their
chief, one after the other, that they might be the better heard by the
whole circle.
Upon this view of the Druidical Doctrines amd worship, they appear to
approach so near to christianity, that it is less difficult to account for
the readiness with which the gospel was received in Britain. Nor
will either the zeal or the success of the converts, be any longer deemed
miraculous or incredible, if it is to be considered that they were only
reviving in greater purity, doctrines which were already regarded with
veneration as the religion of their ancestors.
G. S.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.344}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.12 p.374, 1752:-}
{image = G7520374.jpg}
SIR,
MR G.S. in his account of Long Meg &c. - being of the same
opinion as others concerning Stonehenge, that they are a
composition, by the improbability of being brought there by carriages, and
the superior difficulty of raising them, has induc'd me to make the
following observations, to evince the practicableness of these works,
though so stupendous.
In the history of New-Spain we have an account of stones of a
prodigious size brought 12 and 15 leagues, through vallies and over
mountains, by main strength, and without the use of iron. And in
Tindal's translation of Rapin is as follows; "during the
march Caesar, receiving the melancholy news that his fleet was
destroyed by a violent storm." - To prevent the like misfortune again, as
soon as the ships were refitted, he employs his soldiers night and day, to
draw them by strength of arms into the middle of his camp. This work
notwithstanding the difficulty of it, was finished in 10 days.
"The said ships carried 150 men each from which their tonnage may be
inferr'd."
The great bells of Moscow, Pekin, Nanking, and Erfurd in
Upper Saxony, are also instances of vast weights being moveable. And
I am of opinion that the rocking stone on the altar at Stonehenge,
which, by my mensuration, weighs upwards of 16 ton could be replaced (if
the uprights were whole) by the same means as the great bell at Christ
Church, Oxford, which weighs about 8 ton, was raised to the great
height it hangs.
I have been casually inform'd, that we have 3 cranes about London,
that will purchase 10 ton each, and do verily believe, that if any publick
work required it, we are as capable of erecting a Stonehenge, as the
Druids were
Yours &c. MECHANICUS.
P.S. The pyramids of Egypt, I tahe to be an incontestable proof of
what I advance, viz. The practicableness of bringing and raising
stones of an amazing size.
{title- Gents Mag 1752 p.420}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1752 p.420}
{header- Smit Marks}
{image = G7520420.jpgq}
Transactions in the last Session of Parliament; ...
Feb. 3. ...
Several resolutions from the committe [ways and means] to which the several
petitions relating to marking sheep with pitch and tar, were referred,
being reported, were ordered to be considered on a subsequent day; they
were considered accordingly Feb. 14, in a committee of the whole
house, and were dropt; petitions having been presented against it from
Westmoreland and Yorkshire; and Mr Th-n-n, having
fully shewn that the regulations in the bill were quite needless, and would
therefore have a bad effect in that part of the kingdom.
{title- Gents Mag 1753 p.270}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1753 p.270}
{header- Inscription, Kirkby Thore}
{image = G7530270.jpg}
... ...
P.S. There are two Roman inscriptions at a country village, call'd
Kirkby Thore in Westmorland, which never yet have been
published; the one, in a stone wall near the house of the Rev. Mr
Atkinson, rector of the church, beginning with ANTONIA
&c. The other in a stone wall belonging to Dr Green against the
Town street, beginning with the words JOVI SERAPI, &c.
but I had not time to copy them, tho' legible enough. There are likewise
other Roman letters and sculptures, upon several of the door
lintels, in the same town, which Mr Horseley has omitted.
Headston Howe, Dec. 16 1752.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1753 p.342}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1753 p.342}
{header- Riots, Whitehaven}
{image = G7530342.jpg}
... ...
Whitehaven in Cumberland, July 10. On Wednesday June
20, in the night, a tumultuous, rabble of 4 or 500 people, pull'd down and
destroyed the turnpike at Balder Bridge (which they have done twice
before within these two years) threatning the lives, and to burn the
houses, of some of the neighbouring gentlemen.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1753 opp p.357}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1753 opp p.357}
{header- Devil's Bridge}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, View of the Bridge over the Lone, ie
Devil's Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, published by the Gentleman's
Magazine, 1753.}
{image = PR0754.jpg}
A View of the Bridge over the LONE, near / Kirkby Lonsdale in Westmorland.
{text- Size: wxh: 21x12cm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1753 p.355}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1753 p.355}
{header- Devil's Bridge, Kirby Lonsdale}
{image = G7530355.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
HAving lately had an opportunity of viewing the bridge at
Willington, over the river Lone, near Kirkby Lonsdale,
which for its antiquity and excellent workmanship exceeds any in the N. of
England, and as it may add a little to your history of bridges, I
thought it would not be unacceptable. It is the opinion of some judicious
persons that this bridge has been a work of the Romans, but I rather
think it to be of later date. 'Tis all built of a fine free stone, truly
squared, and almost all of a size, the joints are so firm and even that in
some places they are hardly to be discovered, and the arches are really
admirable. Whatever we moderns may think of ourselves, or whatever mean
ideas we may have of these dark ages, here is both strength and beauty.
The arches are all turned with mouldings at the edges, and 3 gutters in the
middle, near 8 inches square, as is partly shewn at B, but to give a
plainer idea of it, at A is a section of the arch, supposed to be cut in
the middle.
To be short, the whole design hath been executed with the utmost exactness
both for strenth and beauty. The water under the arch at C, is five yards
deep in summer, when the river is very low, and in winter 'tis almost as
deep again, and vastly rapid. (See the Plate.)
Yours, &c. S. PARROT.
{text- Willington is probably Whittington, a nearby parish in Lancashire}
{title- Gents Mag 1753 p.370}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1753 p.370}
{header- Sun Dogs, Kirkby Lonsdale}
{image = G7530370.jpg}
{image = G753E01.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
ON May 24, about half an hour after six o'clock in the morning, the
air being replete with watery particles of a pale duskish colour, and the
atmosphere seeming to be equally spread with a very fine lamina, smooth and
evenly suspended, there appeared a coloured halo above the sun (see the
above representation) very fair and distinct, for a considerable time. The
inner half of the semicircle was of a reddish, and the outer half of a
light yellow colour, the bright spots on either side the sun terminated in
far distant points, like the shadow of the earth in an eclipse of the moon;
the corona, or inverted circle, was not so visible as one I observed a few
years since: the bright spots disappeared first, then the vivid colour of
the iris faded by degrees, extending itself to a stupendous arch
before it totally disappeared.
We have had very hot droughty weather, and still continues ever since the
appearance of the halo. - The barometer unusually low, rising and falling
almost every day a little, but low in the main from what might be expected
this hot season.
Yours, &c. S. PARROT.
Near Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland, June 5.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.41}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.24 p.41, 1754:-}
{header- In Memory of Mr Cave}
{image = G7540041.jpg}
VERSES to the Memory of Mr CAVE.
ACcept, good man, this last exequial sigh,
The tear expressive of the social tye;
To science, art, to Britain lost and me,
Remorseless stroke of fate's severe decree!
Yet shall thy fame thro' future ages bloom,
Avert destruction, and defy the tomb,
O may this honest heart-approving lay
Yet catch thee mounting to the realmes of day!
E'er long, thy bard must share the same decree,
And want the tribute he bestows on thee;
Then join'd congenial on the heav'nly shore,
Disease, and age, and death, shall be no more.
G. SMITH.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.230}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.230}
{header- Kirkby Stephen}
{image = G7540230.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
AS I continued some days at Kirkby Stephen, in Westmoreland,
I made some occasional observations, which, if you think proper, you may
communicate to the publick, Yours, &c. S.
THE etymon of the name is easily traced, as bye is the old
Saxon word for a village, so that Kirkby is church town; and
Kirkby-Kendal, and Kirkby-Stephen, signify the church towns
of Kendal and Stephen.
The village is situated on the west bank of the river Eden, which
takes its rise from Hughstat mountain, about six miles higher up, on
the skirts of Yorkshire, near the sources of the Swale and
the Rother. This mountain is falsely called Hutton Morvel in
most maps, and indeed, none of these desolate places have been laid down
with any tolerable degree of exactness.
The whole village consists of one single street, indifferently built, which
lies nearly north and south, opening on Helbec mountain at one
extremity, and Wildbore at the other. There was once a fine market
place, 70 yards wide, and near 100 long, but by some strange inattention to
publick utility, houses have been suffered to be built on it, and others
afterwards to be built before them. The market is on Monday, and as
the stocking manufacture supplies the principal trade, this traffic is the
first at the market; it generally begins about six and is over by eight in
the morning. Tho' the situation of Kirkby-Stephen is under bleak and
barren mountains, yet the communication with several of their own dales,
and with Yorkshire, along the river heads, affords a pretty
considerable market; an advantage which Brough, near
Stainmore, has lost for want of such connection.
Three fairs are also held at this place, one on the first Thursday
after Whitsontide, chiefly to supply new married persons with
household goods and furniture; another on the 18th of Oct. for
cattle; and the third, which is much superior to the other two, on the
Monday preceding Fastens Even, (or Shrove Tuesday),
called every where in the north Callop Monday, from an immemorial
custom there, of dining that day on eggs and collops.
The town has no magistrate but a petty constable; the people in general are
hospitable, their manners are plain and open, their constitution vigorous,
and their apprehension quick.
As to the number of inhabitants, I am of opinion that the number of the
licens'd publick houses will give a tolerable estimate, if the proportion
allowed be as one to ten; thus Kirkby-Stephen has 20, Appleby
29, Penrith 52, Carlisle near 70, Wigton 23. It will
perhaps be necessary to alter this proportion with respect to towns that
abound with manufactures; but as these are easily distinguished, and the
licensed houses all over the kingdom are necessarily known, estimates may
be made without expence, and by a method which, as I remember, has not been
thought of before.
The river Eden, which below Carlisle becomes the Pontem
indignatus Araxes of Virgil, admits here of all varieties of
bridges, even of stepping stones; and as the whole town, or rather whole
county, is one bed of limestone, we may observe most amazing varieties in
the cradle of the river, wrought by time and the constant force of a rapid
current.
The church of Kirkby-Stephen is low, and the porch looks like a hole
into a hermit's cell; the steeple is square, about 18 yards high, and has
four bells of a considerable size, but not well proportioned to each other;
the oldest bears date 1631, and the newest, which is also much the largest,
1749; the carpenter that new fram'd them when this was put up, having made
his bargain for the old frame, it happened that as he was throwing down the
last piece, a nail which he had not perceived caught hold of his cloaths,
and the piece of timber being heavy, drew him after it, from a window being
15 yards high, and dash'd his brains out against some of the pieces he had
thrown out before; an accident which was the more regretted as it happened
on a Saturday night, when the man had just compleated his job, and
was in haste to return with the money to his wife and family at
Appleby.
The steeple is built on limestone rock, and there is a new geometrical
stair case turned round a cylindrical column, which leads into a decent
gallery at the west end of the church, of good workmanship.
In the east end near the chancel adjoining to the south wall, is the
burying place of the Musgrave family; the inscription runs round the
stone.
Near the middle, betwixt this and the cemetery for the Wharton
family, is the effigy in stone of the famous Andrew Herclay, earl of
Carlisle, who was
beheaded
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.231}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.231}
{image = G7540231.jpg}
beheaded by Edward the second, upon pretence of having betray'd the
English army at Byland Abbey near York, into the hands
of Bruce, king of Scots; Edward himself escaped with
great difficulty, and is said to have attainted this nobleman, only to
transfer the ignominy of his own misconduct to another, The figure lies at
length, with the head supported on a kind of urn or helmet, for 'tis much
broken and disfigured, and the feet on a lion, without any inscription,
tradition only having preserv'd the name; and his castle in this
neighbourhood, though now in ruins, being still called
Hecley-castle; to this estate the Musgrave family must have
succeeded soon after, as their lease is between 2 and 300 years old, and I
think the battle of Byland Abbey is generally fixed to 1326, by the
Scotch annals.
In an isle rail'd off near this monument, northward, is the vault of the
honourable family of Wharton, which is now extinct, thro' the
misconduct of the last possessor, remarkable for great natural abilities
misapplied; there are some monuments, but the inscription was broken off at
the east end; however, by the helf (sic) of a friend, I join'd the pieces,
and found the whole as follows:
Round the rim on the side edge at at top, the letters raised, with an
effigy at large of himself and his two ladies.
Thomas Whartonus jacet hic et utraque conjuns
Elinora suum hinc habet Anna locum,
En tibi terra tuum carnes ac ossa resumem
Coelos animas tu Deus alme tuum.
On the east end underneath,
Gens Whartonus genus dat honores dextera victrix
In Scotos, Stapletona domus mihi quam dedit uxor
Elionora jacet ter bina prole parentem
Binam adimut teneris, binam juvenilibus annis
Fata mihi dat, nominavi bina superstes
Anna secunda uxor [oe]lebri est de gente † Salopum
† Shrewsbury.
The reader will easily discover the puerility of the performance, as well
with respect to the language as the poetry; but such as it is, it should be
preserved in your Magazine, for a few years more will render it
quite illegible on the stone.
This inscription has no date, but the person whom it commemorates is known
to have been governor of Carlisle in the 33d of Henry VIII.
to have beaten the Scots with a very few men the year following, in
conjunction with Sir Wm Musgrave, and to have taken Dumfrize,
for which services he was made baron of Wharton, a place which I
shall have occasion to mention in my next. He died anno 1568, in the 10th
year of Q Elizabeth
This family and that of the Musgrave's were celebrated defenders of
the northern frontiers for many years before the Scotch succession;
the Wharton family liberally endow'd Kirkby-Stephen with a
free school, but the salary is sequester'd by the purchaser of the family
estate, till the trustees admit his choice of a master.
P.S. There is also an isle and vault of the Dalston family,
but without any effigies, date, or character.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 opp p.465}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 opp p.465}
{header- Floods, St John's in the Vale}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, illustrating the storm, floods, etc in
St John's in the Vale, St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn, Westmorland,
1749, engraved by M Darly, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, 1754.}
{image = PR0755.jpg}
{text- Size: wxh = 21x12cm.}
{text- The view looks towards the East; the two background hills are Clough
Head and Great Dodd.}
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.464}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.464}
{header- Floods, St John's in the Vale}
{image = G7540464.jpg}
Dreadful Storm in Cumberland
THERE happened about four years ago a most dreadful storm of thunder and
ligtening (sic), in these parts, which bursting over the mountains, was
attended with such a torrent of rain, as considerably changed the face of
the country, and did incredible damage, in the vale below
The vale is called St John's Vale, and as I lately passed through it, I
took a draught of the mountains, as they now appear, which I send you, with
a more particular account of the storm, than has been yet published.
The precipices on the left of this vale, as you pass along the road D from
Keswic to Ambleside, very much resemble volcano's, and look as if they were
half burnt. The ascent is for several miles covered with rude fragments of
different sizes and figure, which storms and torrents have torn from the
native rock, and is ploughed into many hollows, down which the cataracts
have poured, when a water cloud has been broken at the top, which very
frequently happens, and produces such rain, as the inhabitants of level
countries have never seen.
Above these precipices other mountains, still higher, terminate the view,
and the vale below is a narrow, but fertile spot, the inhabitants of which,
have, from time to time, removed the loose stones, which were driven down
upon them, and formed them, by degrees, into a fence, against the fury of
other inundations.
The hollows, or channels which wind down the declivity, and when I saw them
were dry, become gradually wider, and more shallow, as they descend to that
part of the mountain which is less steep; the waters in proportion as they
spread, lose their force, cover a larger tract, and fall with less
rapidity.
In the afternoon, which preceded the storm, it was perceived to thunder and
lighten incessantly beyond Skiddow, (see v.18 p.291.) is one of our highest
mountains, the cloud from which the tempest proceeded, came at length, up
to the mountain, but not being high enough to pass over it, divided, one
half of it went away north east, and meeting with no opposition, it
discharged a great quantity of water, on the plains of Wigton, and
Carlisle, over which, it hovered till about nine o'clock at night, and then
moved farther in the same direction, but so slowly that its explosions were
not out of hearing till two in the morning.
The other half went through a vale called Threlcot, and over the rocks on
one side of Keswic, called Lady Rocks, meeting no opposition till it came
to the mountains which bound St John's vale, and by these it was stopped.
It became every moment more dense, by the accession of vapours, which being
still in motion, pressed upon it, and soon after it poured down a torrent
of rain, which lasted eight hours. The thunder still continued, and the
darkness which might almost be felt, became more dreadful by the flashes
which broke it at short intervals with a sulphureous light; to the noise of
the thunder, was added that of the cataracts, and of the fragments of the
rock, which they drove before them; the fences were overturned in a moment,
the fields covered with the ruins of the mountains, under which, the
cottages were first crushed, and then swept away by the torrent. The
inhabitants, who were scarce less astonished and terrified, than they would
have been at the sound of the last trumpet, and the dissolution of nature,
ran together from under the roofs that sheltered them, less they should be
beaten in upon their heads, and finding the waters rush down all round them
in an impetuous deluge, which had already covered the ground, such of them
as were able, climbed the neighbouring trees, and others got on the tops of
hay stacks, where they sat exposed, at once, to the lightening and the
rain, discovering by the light of every flash, some new ruin, and every
moment ex-
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.465}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.465}
{image = G7540465.jpg}
[ex]pecting that the trees to which they had fled for safety, should be
torn up by the roots, and the hay overturned by the innundation.
It is perhaps impossible, for the strongest imagination to accumulate
circumstances of greater horror, and these were produced by a concurrence
of various causes, which perhaps may happen no more. I have therefore been
particular in my account, in hopes that you will preserve it to posterity,
and the rather as I find in the memorials of your royal society, and of the
academies abroad, that such events are never thought below their notice.
Cockermouth, Cumberland, October 3, 1754. Yours &c. G.S.
Description of the PLATE.
A, a farm house that was abandoned that night.
B, a mill that was demolished.
C, stacks and trees where a farmer saved himself and his family.
D, the high road from Keswic to Ambleside.
E cataracts of stone and water over-turning the wall G in many places.
F, high mountains about a mile in acclivity beyond the rugged hill H H,
which furnished water to fill the channels and which stopped the
tempestuous cloud.
Q Q Q channels formed by the descending conflux of waters from the
mountains F F.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 opp p.505}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 opp p.505}
{header- Christianbury Crag}
{text- Print, uncoloured engraving, Christenbury Crags ie Christianbury
Crag, Bewcastle, Cumberland, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, 1754.}
{image = PR0756.jpg}
{text- Size: wxh = 21x12cm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.505}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.505}
{header- Journey to Christianbury Crag}
{image = G7540505.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
AS you frequently entertain your readers with topographical curiosities, I
send you a view and description of a natural rock in Cumberland,
called Christen-bury Craiggs. *
The rock is situated at the top of a mountain, very difficult of access, at
which I had often looked through my telescope from a place three and twenty
miles distant. The view at length so much excited my curiosity, that I
determined to gratify it by a nearer examination; however, as it was early
in the spring when I first formed this resolution, and as the ways are
scarce passable, even in summer, I waited till the beginning of
August, and then set out on my expedition.
I took a guide with me to Beu-Castle, a parish on the northward
extremity of Cumberland, in which there is neither town nor village,
but a few wretched huts only, which are widely scattered in a desolate
country. After a journey of 20 miles, sometimes wading an hour together in
water up to the horses girts, though the bottom was tolerably sound, we
came to the church. At a small distance I discovered a hedge alehouse,
which I knew must serve me for an inn, but when I entered it I was not more
disgusted with the dirt and darkness of the room into which I was
introduced, the floor of bare earth, and the bed less eligible than clean
straw, than I was with the noisy mirth of some boors who had been drinking
till the were drunk. However, as I knew it was bootless to complain, I
appeared, as well as I could, to be content, that I might not displease my
host. The clergyman, indeed, was so obliging as to offer me his room at the
parsonage, but as I was unwilling to give trouble, I declined it.
In the evening I acquainted mine host with the intent of my journey, and at
my request he procured me another guide, who undertook to conduct me up the
mountain to the craiggs. When I rose at four o'clock the next morning, I
found him ready. The weather was extremely bright and serene, which greatly
favoured my purpose, and after we had proceeded about two miles, we came to
a place where there were a few more hovels, called the Flat. After some
talk with my guide, I discovered that he was very diffident of the success
of our expedition, and of his own ability to procure me safe conduct; and
therefore, as we were now in sight of the precipices, I hired a boy that
kept sheep upon them to walk with us, at least as far as we could use our
horses. By his direction we came into an hollow, through which the river
Line runs, among innumerable precipices. In this hollow we were
obliged often to cross the water to avoid the falls, and going sometimes on
one side, and sometimes on the other, we made about a mile of winding way,
and at length came into a kind of plain,
* Bury, in the Saxon language, signifies mansion, or
mannor, and perhaps the converts to christianity in the north might
assemble here to be undiscovered. - Hence the name Christen-bury.
one
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.506}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.506}
{image = G7540506.jpg}
one side of which was bounded by by the declivity of the mountain, which we
then began to ascend; soon after we had reached that part which was level
with the base of the craigs, we found ourselves environed with a syrtes,
which, as Milton says, was neither sea nor good dry land; here we
were obliged to dismount, and having tied our horses by the bridles, we
proceeded on foot: To tie them was, indeed, an unnecessary precaution, for
the poor creatures, by a natural instinctive sagacity, were as sensible of
their danger as we, and stood motionless where we left them. We now walked
above a mile and a half over a tract of ground full of holes filled with
boggy substance, which in this country is called a moss; we were here in
perpetual terror lest it should give way under our feet, or lest some
cloud, being stopped by the rocks, should bury us in a fog, and not only
disappoint my curiosity, but prevent the recovery of our horses. However,
we still went forward, and came to a place that was covered with moss of
another kind. This lay above the ground in little heaps, about a foot over,
called hassocks, which were full of holes, like an honey comb; the long
irregular strides which we were obliged to take, to avoid these hassocks,
made this part of my journey extreamly fatiguing. When we came within about
a quarter of a mile of the base of the rock, we entered all on a sudden
upon the finest grass plat that nature can produce; the ascent over this
green is very gradual, and it has the appearance of a fine artifical slope.
The rocks, upon a near view, appear very rude and romantic; they are broken
by innumerable fissures that go quite from top to bottom in a perpendicular
direction; most of them are from 10 to 15 yards high; it is not difficult
to walk on the top of them, nor in many places to step from one to another;
some of them, however, project considerable over the side of the mountain,
and upon these it would be dangerous to stand; they cover about three acres
of ground, and bear some resemblance to Stone Henge, particularly in
the difficulty of numbering them, which I attempted several times, but
could never produce tha same sum. To the caves among these rocks the moss
troopers formerly retreated for security, and of late years on
Micklehow, and a favourite mistress, took up their abode here for
two or three seasons.
It has at present no inhabitants but wild cats, of which there are many,
the largest I ever saw.
In our descent, notwithstanding the skill of the guides, we came a full
mile west of our horses, which we at last found by the help of my compass;
they stood trembling by one another, and had not strirred a step either in
search of food or freedom; we led them down the brow, and thus ended the
adventure of Christenbury Craig, which at a distance has all the
appearance of one of those enchanted castles that are described in the
heroic romances of the middle ages.
The mountain is on the skirts of Northumberland, and the rocks are
upon its summit. In the calmest day there is a surprizing draught of bleak
air into Northumberland wastes, which are the most shocking desarts
that I ever saw in Britain.
If the rottenness of the soil on which these rocks stand be considered,
perhaps it will not be thought an improbable conjecture that the whole
summit of the mountain was once of the same height with the rocks, but that
the wind and rains having by degrees washed and driven the softer parts
down from the stone, they were formed into a bog below, and the rock left
naked above.
The rocky part itself, however, appears to waste, the interstices being
filled with a white sand, which is carried away in drifts, and great
quantities of which is found in all the neighbouring places, whence it is
carried to market, and sold for sharpening scythes and such other offices,
for which it is much better than any other.
Description of the PLATE.
The view is taken from the S. The rocks as they now stand are represented
at B. At Y is an inaccesible craig, which will probably fall off as the
wind wastes it at Q. The grass plat on the summit of the mountain is at A.
At W the wastes in Northumb. C the hassocks. R The quagmires on the
top of the precipice. SS The declivity to the river Line. D D where
we left our horses.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.534}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.534:-}
{header- Fire Ball}
{image = G7540534.jpg}
A fire ball to save coals. - With a ton of soft, mellow clay, free
from stones, work up three or four bushels of small sifted sea coal; make
this composition into cakes about three or four inches square, and let them
be thoroughly dried. When the fire burns clear, place three or four of them
in front of it, and they will soon become red, glowing with a clear and
strong heat till they are consumed. A ton may be made for 10s. and
will go father (sic) than a chaldron and a half of coals.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.567}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.24 p.567, 1754:-}
{image = G7540567.jpg}
... ... G. S.
P.S. The method mentioned in your last, p.534, of using fire balls
to save coals, has been long practised by the wretched inhabitants of the
coasts of Cumberland and Northumberland: They roll a ball of
clay in the small coal which is found on the surface of their declivities,
and this they call crow coal; but as they have no better fuel to kindle the
ball, and keep it glowing it is a poor succedaneum for sea coal, and the
fires thus made are scarce worthy of the name.
{title- Gents Mag 1754 p.571}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1754 p.571}
{header- Cumberland Weather}
{image = G7540571.jpg}
Extract of a Letter from Cumberland, dated Dec. 10.
OUR weather here has been remarkable inconstant: Frosts and snow before
Christmas are phenomena unknown to the plains of Cumberland,
tho' no county has more of them, nor of longer duration, than the
mountains. The snow covered our hills in October, and by degrees
approached our plains, so that about the 30th it cover'd the surface near
an inch, but immmediately dissolved, and produced great land floods. The
thermometer, which never had fallen below 40, on the 29th of
November fell to 30, but at noon rose to 36; on Monday, Dec.
2, it was at 40 in the morning, and 44 at noon, and has continued from 36
to 49, where it is now at noon of Dec. 10. The rains are heavy, the
floods all out, and just now there is the appearance of a frost again.
In the night of Wednesday, Dec. 4, it thundered and lightened very
much: We have had wet weather ever since; and last night from eleven to one
in the morning, it thundered and lightened again with great violance; an
accident the more remarkable, as in this county thunder and lightening,
even in summer, are very rare.
Our epidemic distempers have been a swelling of the gums and jaws,
inflamations of the tonsills, rigid contractions of the mastoid muscle, so
as to render mastication extremely painful, and quinseys: It has no where
proved fatal, but has submitted to the usual remedies for a cold.
My thermometer is within doors, in a chamber over the back parlour, where a
fire is very seldom made, and the wall faces the south east; from the whole
of my observations, compared with yours, I am persuaded you are always
colder at London in winter than we.
I am, Sir, yours, &c.
G. SMITH.
P.S. It has lightened again all this night, with excessive rains, thunder
far west; thermometer this morning at 44, an unsettled sky, wind, &c,
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.5}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.25 p.5, 1755:-}
{image = G7550005.jpg}
Extract of a Letter from Cumberland, dated Jan. 11, 1755.
SINCE the 10th of last month the weather here has been remarkably serene
and calm, with scarce a breath of air; the thermometer has not varied more
than from 34 to 40; 40 being its height at noon, and 34 its height at
night, and in the morning; but this morning it became hazy, and so much
warmer, that the thermometer is up at 40; tho' 'tis yet early.
Our husbandry goes forward without
inter-
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.6}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.25 p.6, 1755:-}
{image = G7550006.jpg}
intermission, as the ground is in fine order from the dryness and warmness
of the season, which is besides remarkably healthy in these parts.
During the lightnings mentioned in your last Mag. (See Vol. xxiv.
p.571) 3 men were walking thro' St John's vale, over which the
clouds, being pent in betwixt the high mountains, hung pretty low, and the
lightnings were very frequent. The vale is about 500 yards wide, and two
miles long, and after they had walked about a mile, one of them complained
suddenly of uncommon oppression in his lungs, and presently afterwards
dropt down dead. After some uneffectual attempts to recover and remove him,
the survivors being alarmed by the approach of night, and the encrease of
the tempest, went on as fast as they could. Soon after one of these made
the same complaint, and almost instantly fell down dead, as the other had
done: The third was now struck with astonishment and terror, and solicitude
for himself suppressed for the present his concern for others; he
immediately began to run, and expected every step to be his last, as he
felt the same oppression on his breast, which every moment increased,
however this went off after he had gone about a quarter of a mile, and he
ran into to the first house pale, trembling, and exhaused, and as soon as
he could speak directed the people to seek and succour his companions, whom
they soon found, but all attempts to recover them proved ineffectual. G.S.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.56}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.25 p.56, 1755:-}
{image = G7550056.jpg}
Extract of a Letter from Wigton in Cumberland, dated
Feb. 15.
THE thermometer here has varied only from 35 to 40, since the commencement
of this month. We have here a severe frost, but no snow, though
Scotland seems loaded. Our last year's bill of mortality decreased
from 40 to 11, two were infants; the computed number of inhabitants is
5000, so that we have this year lost but 1 in 500.
We should be sorry to find any gentleman with draw his useful
thermometrical observations, from an apprehension that they are
disregarded; on the contrary they are highly acceptable, as from such
observations only, we are likely to any precision in the theory of
atmospheres.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.103}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.25 p.103, 1755:-}
{image = G7550103.jpg}
Account of Weather and Diseases in Carlisle.
SINCE my last the weather has continued much as before, lowring, dark, and
frosty, but not intensely cold. The thermometer never fell below 31 in
February, nor indeed much lower in any other part of the winter. -
Since March commenced we have had cold easterly winds, but not high,
and some sprinklings of snow, which dissolv'd as it fell; the thermometer
has never been below 35, and on the 5th was up at 48. Rheumatic pains begin
to affect us as much, and obstinate swellings of the gums, which in
children have generally broke; in adults they have affected the teeth and
jaws, and sometimes the larinx and uvula. Stomatic complaints have been
also frequent, flatulencies, nauseas, inflammatory pains, and bilious
vomittings, which have been followed by hysterics, watchings, and
troublesome dreams; intermittents seem also to come on as the season
advances, which is indeed but slowly.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.115}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.25 p.115, 1755:-}
{header- Obscure Phrases}
{image = G7550115.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
THE superiority of your collection, the consequent extent of its sale,
evidently depend on the multiplicity and variety of your correspondents; by
these you are enabled to gratify curiosity with novelty, and without these
you would be compelled to act like your imitators, if they deserve even
that name, who copy books long since published, and transcribe into their
collection what they find in others, without adding any new matter,
contracting it into a more comprehensive view, or correcting any accidental
defect. For my own part, I never fail to find several articles that afford
me entertainment; but have of late been particularly gratified in my
favourite subject of Antiquities. The pieces signed Gemsege are
excellent of their kind, and, I think, of greater utility than is generally
thought, or indeed than appears upon the first view. His interpretation of
antient inscriptions throws great light upon those parts of history that
are left in obscurity by other writers. To instance in one particular out
of many; he has by a very small part of an inscription, and a date,
discovered Aughton steeple to be a precatory offering for the
pilgrimage of grace, of which neither Fabian, Fuller, Rapin, or
Dugdale seem to have had any knowledge, notwithstanding their
accuracy, diligence, and penetration. By his explication of adages and
phrases, which time would probably render inscrutable in a few years, the
knowledge of old customs is preserved, and the language illustrated. I
therefore, with many others, most earnestly wish that he would proceed to
explain such other British inscriptions as can be procured, and such
other British expressions as are frequently uttered, tho' seldom
understood; and to convince him that associates will be wanting, I will
venture to propose a conjecture or two of my own, and shall hope for his
approbation.
Spick and span new, is an expression, the meaning of which is
obvious, tho' the words want explanation; and which, I presume, are a
corruption of of the Italian, Spiccata da la Spanna, snatched from
the hand; opus ablatum incude; or according to another expression of
our own, Fresh from the mint; in all which the same idea is conveyed
by a different metaphor. It is well known that our langauge abounds with
Italicisms, and it is probable the expression before us was coined
when the English were as much bigotted to Italian fashions,
as they now are to those of the French.
There is another expression much used by the vulgar, wherein the sense and
words are equally obscure: The expression I mean is, An't please the
pigs, in which there is a peculiarity of dialect, a corruption of a
word, and a common figure called metonymy: For in the first place,
an in the midland counties is used for if; and pigs is
most assuredly a corruption of Pyx, (from Pyxis and
Πυξίς) a vessel in which the host is
kept in Roman Catholic countries. In the last place the vessel is
substitued for the host itself, by an easy metonymy, in the same manner as
when we speak of the sense of the house, we do not mean to ascribe
sense to bricks and stones, but to a certain number of
representatives. The expression, therefore, means no more than Deo
volente, or as it is translated into modern English by coachmen
and carriers, God willing. G.S.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.198}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.198}
{header- Placename, Maiden Way etc}
{image = G7550198.jpg}
Mr URBAN, Hemingburgh, April 26.
WE meet with a short account in some historians of the Maiden
Castle, and Maiden Way, in the county of Westmoreland,
both which are affirm'd to be Roman. (See particularly Magna
Brit. Westmoreland, p. 23) Likewise, in a MS. history of that county by
the Rev. Mr Thomas Machel, rector of Kirkby-Thor, we have
further mention of the Maiden Hold on Speedy-Moor, near
Crackenthorpe. Now, Sir, I would gladly be informed by some of your
antiquarian correspondents, in your next Magazine, whence arose the above
denomination. Yours, &c Lasenbyensis.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.272}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.272}
{image = G7550272.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
THE first conception, in investigating the original of the names
Maiden-Castle, Maiden-Way, and Maiden-Hold, in the county of
Westmoreland, in answer to your correspondent's quere, p.198, is
this, that the first and last places being apparently places of strength,
as may be judged by their names, which import a fortification of some kind,
might be so called from their impregnability, as never having been taken by
an enemy; just as we read in Hall's Chronicles, that over the one of
the gates of the city of Tournay, Temp. Henry VIII. was written
Jamais ton ne a perdue ton pucellage, Thou hast never lost thy
maidenhead. And as the motto of Waterford in Ireland
formerly imported, Intacta manet Waterfordia, where intacta
means virginea, as Hor. Od. i. 7. and Juv. vi. 163,
& annot Ovid Art. Am. i. 677. But then this interpretation is
not so applicable to a road, or the Maiden-way, the other place
mentioned in the query, wherefore admitting, upon the suggestion of the
proposer, that all three places were known to the Romans, I rather
incline to think, that the first part of these compounds may be of a
British original; that the ancient Britons in their time had
been settled in these places; that the Romans, upon theur arrival,
finding them proper stations, and ready to their hands, continued to make
use of them, and retained the
old
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.273}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.273}
{image = G7550273.jpg}
old names, as they did in most other places; and that by this means the old
British names were transmitted to the Saxons, who retained
them likewise, affixing only the appleatives of castle, way, and
hold, as respectively necessary.
But the question still recurs, what is the meaning of the word
Maiden, in these names? There is some difficulty in this, as we may
learn from Dr Gale, where he writes, 'Sub opidum vidimus magnam
aream profunde vallatam, quam incolae vocant Maiden Bowr. Quid fuit
majoribus nostris Britannis Maiden, non ausus sum asserere, sed in
Bowr latere videtur Burgus. Plurima tamen sunt nobis loca,
quae nomen Maiden sibi prefixum gerunt, omnia a vias militares sita.
Sunt ex istis Maiden Castle juxta Durnovariam (Dorchester)
aliud Maiden Castle juxta Lavatra {Bowes), at via illa ipsa
quae a Gallaco (Whelp Castle) as vallum ducit, dicitur Maiden
Way.' Dr Gale's Comment. on the Itinerary, p.61.
Geoffrey of Monmouth also tells us, that Ebranius
build (sic) the city of Abelud, towards Albania, and the town
of mount Agned, call'd at this time the Castle of maidens, or
the mountain of sorrow. Lib. ii. c. 7. But to risque a conjecture
upon a point so obscure, perhaps it may come from the British word
mad, pulcher, or beautiful; hence may come the Anglo Saxon
words [maid] and [maiden], virgo, which in that case answer exactly
to our present expressions, a fair one, and in the plural, the
fair, a sense undoubtly very well accommodated to all the three places,
both to the road, and to the two fortifications. The river Medway
was called by the Saxons [Med-wage], or [Med-weage], and Mr
Baxter, in his Glossary, p.162, says 'Britannis ita dicitur tanquam
Mad űog űisc vel pulcher fluctus aquae,' where
mad evidently signifies pulcher, though I think this very
learned man is greatly mistaken in deducing the latter part of the name
from űog űisc, for it comes from the British
word űy, which signifies water. This the Saxons
pronounced more gutterally [wage] or [weage], from whence was formed the
Latin vaga; and the English, since the conquest, have
softened the g again, and are come to call it way, just as
they have several rivers in England, as in Wye, Weybridge,
Weymouth, &c. and this I think a much more natural etymology,as to
the latter part of the compound, than that offered by Mr Baxter; and
that űy signifies water, appears from a thousand
derivations in that author, but see particularly Ed. Lhuyd's
Adversaria there, p.265.
But to return to what we were upon, Dr Gale, speaking of
Vagniacae, which he, with others, very preposterously fixes at
Maidstone, writes thus, p.75: 'Ad Maidston (olim, ut dixi,
Medweagston) duo confluunt amnes, quorum unus appellatur
Medway, ab ultima hujus vocabuli parte, sume videtur nomen
Vagniacae. Sed quid sit med me prorsus latet. Fluvius certe
nobilis qui hic praetervolat in Pentingeri tabulis, aut opidum as
ejus ripas situm, vocatur Madus, idemque vocabulum sese offert in
aliis multis apud nos exterosque, ubi semper denotare amnem videtur,
nimirum in Med loco, (com. Lancaster) Medoaco (inter
Venetos) Meduana (le Mayn qui urbem Andegavensem alluit) &c. But this
pasage abounds with mistakes, [so] to say nothing further here of his
placing Vagniacae at Maidston, which I think I can
demonstrate was at Swanscomb, 'tis not likely that Vagniacae
should be so called from the latter part of the name of the river
Medway. The town was called Madus, and the river was
denominated from it, Medwey; that is, the river of the town of
Med or Madus; and consequently if Vagniacae was to
have been named from this station, it would have been denominated not from
the last, but the first syllable of the word Medwey, that is from
Madus. The word Med, he thinks, may signify a river,
but this surely is equally improbable; for pray observe what an absurd
sense this would produce, the river water, for that, according to
him, would be the import of the name, he having before allowed, that the
latter part of the composition signifies a river; these are his words,
'Britannis Wye et Wey, latinis Vaga, nomen multorum
apud nos fluviorum.' To have done with Dr Gale, Medway is the
river of the town Madus, and Madus I imagine, was so called
from mad, beautiful, as taking its name from the agreeableness of
its situation.
Mr Baxter, in the place above cited, for I must, with your leave,
bestow one word upon him, is so far right, as upon the supposition of
Vagniacae being Maidstone, to deduce that name from the
former rather than the latter part of the compound Medwey; but then
it is not likely that Vagniacae in the Itinerary should be a
corruption of Maduiacis, as he supposes, but what is worse,
Vagniacae is not Maidstone, insomuch
that
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.274}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.274}
{image = G7550274.jpg}
that there is not the least ground for imagining any such corruption. And
thus, tho' I willingly adopt the sense he gives us of the British
word mad, I cannot agree with him that there is any such name as
Maduiacis. But as I do not propose to enter farther into this matter
at this time, I shall here take my leave, being Sir, Yours, &c.
P. GEMSEGE.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 opp p.360}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 opp p.360}
{header- Roman Altar, Old Carlisle}
{image = G755E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.360}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.360}
{header- Roman Altar, Old Carlisle}
{image = G7550360.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
AS you have often obliged the public with accounts of British and
Roman antiquities, which have been discovered in various parts of
this island, I send you the best drawing I could make of two Roman
altars and a trough, which were very lately found by some workmen as they
were digging for the foundation of a ring wall against the common at old
Carlisle, about 200 yards east of a Roman legionary garrison.
The Agger's praetorium, ditches, and roads belonging to this station are
still to be traced by their remains on this uncultivated common, and the
Alae Auxiliariae appears by many scattered ruins to have encamped
eastward a long way.
Some doubt has been made what was the antient name of this place. Mr
Cambden gives it no name, though he calls it a famous city: It is
indeed most probable that he never saw it, for there are no remains of
building besides the fort, of which the wall is here and there still to be
seen, and some wretched huts, which seem to have been cobbled up by private
soldiers, merely to shelter them from the weather, for the remains of them
are of very bad stone, though there is a good quarry at a little distance,
to which recourse would certainly have been had if any regular edifices had
been raised for more durable purposes, many of which there must have been
to constitute a city.
Dr Stukeley supposes it have been the Castra Exploratorum,
but this also is a very improbable conjecture, for it cannot be thought
that Antonine would have begun his itinerary for London here,
and computed 12 stadia to Bowness, 12 to Carlisle, and 20 to
Penrith, and so on, because this rout, as is plain from the map, is
far from being the shortest way, which the Romans, who were eminent
for accuracy and expedition, always took.
Mr Horsley, with much greater appearance of truth, supposes this
place to be the antient Olenacum, and to be garrisoned by the
Alae Herculeana. This question, however, would probably be
ascertained, if the remainder of the stone, Fig. I. can be found, for which
I have directed diligent search to be made, because on this fragment will
be seen the name of the cohort which should immediately precede the words
cui praeest.
The date of this stone is ascertained, as it is said to be consecrated by
one AElius Septimianus Rusticus, a praefect in the consulship of
Maternus and Bradua.
The other stone, Fig. II. is also incompleat, but this seems to have been
mutilated at the side by the Romans themselves, for there are marks
of their pick all over it. It is dedicated to the health of Septimus
Severus, the great triumpher over Britain, and builder of the
stone wall, the ruins of which 1500 years have not mouldered away.
Fig. III. is a trough to the use of which I confess myself wholly a
stranger, and should be glad to see the conjectures of some of your
ingenious correspondents on the subject.
The altars, Fig. I. and II. are about two feet high, and 15 inches thick;
there is no fire place on the top of them, nor any sacrificial vessels on
the sides, yet the workmanship is not contemptible. The trough is 22 inches
long, 14 wide, and six deep; the rim is about 4 inches and an half; the
letters are about 3 inches, very legible, none of them being defaced.
The inscriptions I read thus:
Fig. I. Cui praeest AElius Septimianus Rusticus praefectus
Materno et Bradua Consulibus.
Fig. II. Jovi Optimo maximo pro Salute Imperatoris
Septimi Severi Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
{title- Gents Mag 1755 p.361}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1755 p.361}
{image = G7550361.jpg}
If the other fragments are found, they shall be communicated by
Sir, yours, &c G.S.
P.S. There is an high Roman road, which has never yet been taken
notice of, leading in a streight line from Plumpton fort to
Ellenborough; the stations upon it are four, Plumpton fort, Cast
Steeds on Broadfield, Old Carlisle near Wigton, and
Ellenborough; their names I conjecture to have been Voreda,
Brementuracum, Olenacum, and Virosidum. There is also a streight
Roman road from Virosidum by Abbey-holm to
Carlisle.
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.8}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.8}
{header- Earthquake, Windermere}
{image = G7560008.jpg}
{text- Regarding the Lisbon earthquake:-}
Kirkby Lonsdale, in Westmoreland, Nov. 1.
THe lake called Wymansdel-Meare, so famous for the Char-fish,
was agitated in a very extraordinary manner; for in an instant the waters
rose seven feet, and again as soon subsided; so that two fishermen who were
in a boat near the edge of the lake, repairing their fishing tackle, found
themselves by one wave carried into it a considerable way, and were so
astonished with the sudden transportation, as to declare they expected
nothing less than the general consummation.
{header- Meteorological Journals}
{text- Also on this page is one of a series of monthly reports of the
weather at London, and somewhere near Carlisle, Cumberland:-}
{text- Each magazine entry includes the last few days of the preceding
month and all except the last few days of the current month. One year has
been chosen (1756, for no special reason) to show the weather in
Cumberland, and the style of reporting. The first monthly report in 1756
has the last few days of December 1755, and most of January 1756:-}
{text- Weather for 25 to 31 December 1755, 1 to 24 January 1756.}
{image = G756E03.jpg}
{text- The earthquake that caused troubled waters on Windermere was the
Lisbon earthquake 1 November 1755, which is described elsewhere in the
Gentleman's Magazine with other articles about earthquakes in general.}
{text- The weather is reported for London and Carlisle month by month; each
magazine entry includes the last few days of the preceding month and all
except the last few days of the current month. One year has been chosen,
for no special reason, to show the weather in Cumberland. The first month
of 1757 has the data for the end of December 1756.}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.56}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.56, February}
{text- Weather for 25 to 31 January and 1 to 23 February 1756.}
{image = G756E06.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.104}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.104, March}
{text- Weather for 24 to 29 February and 1 to 25 March 1756.}
{image = G756E07.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.160}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.160, April}
{text- Weather for 26 to 31 March and 1 to 24 April 1756.}
{image = G756E08.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.216}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.216, May}
{text- Weather for 25 to 30 April and 1 to 24 May 1756.}
{image = G756E09.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.272}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.272, June}
{text- Weather for 25 to 31 May and 1 to 24 June 1756.}
{image = G756E10.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.324}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.324, July}
{text- Weather for 25 to 30 June and 1 to 23 July 1756.}
{image = G756E11.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.372}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.372, August}
{text- Weather for 24 to 31 July and 1 to 23 August 1756.}
{image = G756E12.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 opp p.414}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 opp p.414}
{header- Comet 1756}
{image = G756E02.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.413}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.413}
{header- Comet 1756}
{image = G7560413.jpg}
Precepts to determine the Course of the Comet.
Precepts for determining, from one single Observation, the whole
apparent course of the expected Comet, with directions in what part of the
Heavens to look for it every Month in the Year.
ON a large sheet of pasteboard describe a circle ten inches radius, to
represent the earth's orbit round the sun, as in Fig. 1. which
divide into 360 degrees, and distinguish the signs by their proper
characters. Then. with the sun, or center, as a focus, and the true
perihelion place and distance, draw a parabola like that deduced from the
observations of the comet of 1682, and thereon mark every 4th days motion
from the perihelion, on either side, and draw a line of the nodes; these
elements, as also the inclination of the orbit, may be found in Dr
Halley's table or list of comets.
{image = G756E05.jpg}
Set off the cosine of the inclination on perpendiculars to the line of the
nodes, towards the several fourth days marks or points in the parabola;
these will form the projection of the parabola, or comet's trajectory, on
the plane of the ecliptic, over which the comet is at any time
perpendicular.
To find the comet's place at any time, count how long it is before or after
its perihelion, and mark the place in the projection of the parabola: lay
one edge of a parallel ruler through that point, and also through the point
of the earth's place in its orbit at that time, and the other edge passing
thro' the sun, will cut the earth's orbit at the comet's geocentric place.
The tangent of the inclination, taking the perpendicular from the
comet'splace to the line of the nodes as radius, is the tangent of its
apparent latitude, making the curtate distance of the comet from the earth,
the radius.
For expedition thus: draw two lines, making an angle of 17d. 56m. equal to
the inclination. On one of them set off the perpendicular from the comet's
projected place, and raise aperpendicualr to the other; or, which is the
same, from the comet's real place in the parabola, and let fall a
perpendicular, which will be the tangent of its geocentric latitude.
One observation of a known comet will, by the help of such a scheme,
determine, in good measure, its whole course: for, from the earth's place
in its orbit draw the observed longitude of the comet, and where that cuts
the projection of the parabola, there is the comet's place; to which if the
observed latitude agrees, it confirms it. Then, the other data being
already known, and one place given, its whole course may be traced.
{image = G756E04.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.414}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.414, September}
{text- Weather for 24 to 31 August and 1 to 23 September 1756.}
{image = G756E13.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 opp p.431}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 opp p.431}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G756E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.431}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.431}
{header- Roman Altar, Old Carlisle}
{image = G7560431.jpg}
Mr URBAN, Wigton, July 16, 1756.
THE INCLOSED (see the plate) is an exact copy of the inscription on
a votive altar, and a draught of the stone, which was lately dug up near
Old Carlisle, as it is called by the neighbouring inhabitants.
Antoninus fixes the Castra Exploratorum some where near this
place: indeed the situation of these antient ruins renders the name very
proper; for the station has been on a hill, which commands a free
prospect of the country, and therefore extremely convenient for spying an
enemy.
This stone was found a few yards distant from the place where the two
fragments of the altars were dug up, whose inscriptions were copied by the
late Mr Smith, in your Magazine. (See Altar Gen.
Index to the first 20 volumes.
Yours, &c. T. TOMLINSON.
{text- Notice the reference to George Smith.}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.462}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.462, October}
{text- Weather for 24 to 30 September and 1 to 23 October 1756.}
{image = G756E14.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.510}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.510, November}
{text- Weather for 24 to 31 October and 1 to 23 November 1756.}
{image = G756E15.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.624}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.624}
{header- Moons of Jupiter}
{image = G756E16.jpg}
{text- The moons of Jupiter can be used to determine longitude; they are an
accurate measure of the time at the prime meridian.}
{title- Gents Mag 1756 p.855}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1756 p.855, December}
{text- Weather for 24 to 30 November and 1 to 23 December 1756.}
{image = G756E17.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1757 p.8}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1757 p.8, January}
{text- Weather for 24 to 31 December 1756, and 1 to 23 January 1757.}
{image = G757E02.jpg}
{text- Includes the end of December 1756.}
{title- Gents Mag 1757 opp p.220}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1757 opp p.220}
{header- Roman Altar, near Carlisle}
{image = G757E01.jpg}
Two imperfect ROMAN ALTARS, discovered in 1755, near CARLISLE
{title- Gents Mag 1757 p.220}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1757 p.220}
{image = G7570220.jpg}
Mr URBAN, Wigton, April 8.
ENclosed I have sent you an exact draught of the two imperfect altars which
were dug up near Carlisle in 1755. As the workmanship,
notwithstanding their present mutilated condition, is far from being
contemptible; and as the prints you gave us of them in your Magazine for
August 1755, were not such just copies of the originals, nor the
inscriptions so correct as I could have wished to have seen them, these, I
thought, might not be unacceptable to the curious.
Fig. I. This inscription is sadly defaced, and there is something
uncommon in the shape of the letters, especially the A s and M
s. But, were it not differing from better judgment, I should be for
reading it thus:
(Jovi) Optimo maximo / Pro Salute L. Septimii /
Severi et (or item) Mar. Aur. Antonini.
The other (Fig II.) as far as perfect, is legible enough; and the
reading in your Mag. I take to be the true one; though the imperfect letter
in the second line, which ought to be S, to make the
Septiminus, seems rather to be the tail of an J.
Yours, &c. T. T.
{title- Gents Mag 1757 opp p.584}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1757 opp p.584}
{header- England and Wales}
{text- A New Map of England and Wales, by Thomas Jefferys, published in the
Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1757.}
{image = GNT8Cm.jpg}
A New MAP of ENGLAND and WALES By Thos. Jefferys Geographer to his Royal
Highness the Prince of WALES.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Jefferys 1757}
{title- Gents Mag 1758 p.427}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1758 p.427}
{header- Storms, Wigton}
{text- Sumary of the content of article XXIV in Philosophical Transactions,
published by the Royal Society, vol.50 part 1,1757.}
{image = G7580427.jpg}
XXIV. An account of the effects of a storm at Wigton in
Cumberland.
On Dec. 6, 1756, about 11 o'clock at night, a violent hurricane
began, which lasted till near three in the morning; it swept away many
stacks of hay and corn, unroofed many houses, and laid several in ruins,
tore up some trees by the roots, and snapt others off in the middle,
scattering the branches in fragments over the adjacent fields; some were
twisted almost round, others split down to the root. Every herb, plant, and
flower, to a considerable distance has its leaves withered , shrivelled up,
and turned black; the leaves on the trees on the weather side were in the
same condition, and the ever-greens only escaped. The alteration produced
in the plants, leaves, and flowers, was at first supposed to be the effect
of lightning, but it was afterwards found that though little rain had
fallen during the storm, yet these vegetables were covered with a dew as
salt as sea water, and retained a saline taste for near a week. It was then
conjectured that the withered appearance of the leaves and herbage was the
effect of this salt dew, as the same is known to happen to the leaves of
hedges and trees, near the coast on that side next the sea, after a strong
wind in that direction, which is supposed to bring the sea-water with it,
the leaves next the land retaining their verdure.
{title- Gents Mag 1759 p.407}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1759 p.407}
{header- Roman Altar, Overborough}
{image = G7590407.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
MR Rauthmell, in his Antiquitates Bremetonacenses, seems to
have sufficiently proved, that Overborough is the
Bremetonaca, or Bremetonacae, of Antoninus. Amongst
his others proofs, he has produced a Roman altar, found in an old
building near Overborough, and given to him by Mr Fenwick,
which is exceeding a propos, since Mr Cambden, who first
imagined this place might be Bremetonaca, had vouched, in proof of
it, certain inscriptions upon stones, and Dr Gale and Mr
Horsley, from Cambden, had taken notice of the same. The
inscription upon this altar Mr Rauthmell has caused to be engraved,
but is, in my opinion, extremely unfortunate in reading and interpreting
it; indeed he is but a bad writer, and, I think, no better an antiquarian.
The inscription is,
DEOSAN / GONTR / EBIVAT / TAPOSV.
Which he divides, reads, and explains on this manner: (2) DEO SAncto
MOGONTI REstituta Bonae jam Valetudini ATTA POSuit Votum. But who can make
MOGONTI of NGONT? Nor is there any reason why Atta should be
supposed to be a woman, as he conjectures. (3) Poneres votum, I
doubt, is not Latin; but what is worst, you may at this rate make
any thing of any thing. To interpret rebiv, (letters unpointed, and in the
middle of an inscription REstituta Bonae tam Valetudini, is a
proceeding so arbitrary, and so little supported by the Roman
inscriptions in being, that one may be allowed to say, there is no
exampleof the like; and indeed were three or four words together to be
expressed by initials on the marbles, the inscription would be so obscure
and unintelligible, even in the age it was written, that no reader, at
least no vulgar reader, would ever be able to comprehend it. Such
inscriptions would rather tend to puzzle than instruct a reader. Setting
aside, therefore, all he has amassed together about the god Magon,
or Mogon, whom he supposes to be a British deity, answering
to the Sun, or Apollo, the god of physic or health, and
afterwards to have been adopted and worshipped by the Romans at this
station. (4) I am entirely for trying a new method of reading and
interpreting this inscription; and if I may but be allowed to suppose that
the S at the top of the first V, which, I imagine, was written thus,
Vs, has been either worn out, or overlooked, (which, I assure
you, was a very easy thing for Mr Rauthmell to do) the whole will be
very natural, plain, and easy, when distinguished thus.
DEO. SAN / GON. TR / EBIVS. AT / TA. POSV.
That is, in words at length DEO SANGO Numerius TREBIVS ATTA POSVit.
Now, in favour of the emendation, I have to observe, that there seems to
have been a substantial reason for the alligation of the V and S; for
otherwise the name of the votary ATTA could not have been commodiously
divided; if the S had been cut at large, there could only have been the A
in that line.
This Sangus, or Sancus, for he is written both ways, was
originally a Sabine deity, but afterwards was in great request at
Rome. According to Varro, he was the same as Hercules,
and consequently was a proper diety for a soldier to honour. He was the
principal deity of the Sabines, is mentioned by many authors, but is
peculiarly famous on account of the mistake committed by Justin
Martyr, (5) Tertullian, (6) and others, in respect of him. The
mistake was this: these fathers charged the Romans with dignifying
the great impostor Simon Magus with a statue and inscription, which
statue, Justin Martyr says, was erected in the Tiber, between
two bridges, and bore this Latin inscription, Simoni Deo
Sancto. But now,
(1) Mr Rauthmell makes a Nominative to be Bremetonacae, but
Dr Gale, in his commentary on Antoninus, supposes it to be
rather Bremetonaca. The ablative in the author, Bremetonacis,
will admit of either. Cambden gives it in the singular,
Bremetonacum, not correctly. N.B. It is also written
Bremetonaca. Dr Fulk, in the 2d edit. of Burton's
comment on Antoninus, places Bremetonaca at Trentham
in Staffordshire, very absurdly.
(2) See p.96.
(3) See p.67.
(4) See p.96.
(5) Justin Mart. Apolog. I.
(6) Tertullian Apolog. c. xiii.
{title- Gents Mag 1759 p.408}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1759 p.408}
{image = G7590408.jpg}
in the year 1574 (sic), a stone was dug up in an island of that river,
inscribed Semoni Sanco Deo Fideo, &c. from whence it is evident,
in the opinion of most, that those fathers misread and misinterpreted this
stone, it being the individual stone and inscription which they had beheld.
See Hevercamp ad Tertull. Apolog. c. xiii. the annotators on
Ovid's Fasti, Lib. vi. 213. seq. in Burman's edition,
and Dr Thirlby, in his edition of Justin Martyr. I do not
remember, at present, to have found any mention of the Trebian
family at Rome, but Atta is a legitimate Roman name,
as appears from these lines of Horace.
Recta nec ne crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula, si
dubitem, clament periisse pudorem Cuncti pene patres. Hor. 2. Epist i.
79.
This was Titus Quinctius Atta, a comic poet. The word Atta,
which was a cognomen also in the Sempronian family, (7) and, as
appears from this inscription, in the Trebian, signifies, according
to Pompeius Festus, in voce, a lame person.
Amongst the authors that mention the god Sangus, are Paulus
and Festus, in the word Sanqualis avis, which they interpret
Ossifraga, or the osprey, testifying that this bird was under the
protection of Sangus. On one side of the altar in question there is
the figure of a bird, which doubtless was intended for the Sanqualis
Avis. Mr Rauthmell fluctuates stragely about it: first, he does
not know what to make of it; then he says, (8) it appears to him to
be the portraiture of an owl; and afterwards, that it certainly has, in his
opinion, the resemblance of an owl. An owl it is, unquestionably, in his
type, and the owl, and not the osprey, was the Sanqualis, or
Sanqualiss Avis, in the opinion of the mason that cut this stone;
for it must be remembered, that authors are not well agreed as to the
Sanqualis Avis. See Pliny, lib. x. c. 7. However, that our
mason, who intended to exhibit the Sanqualis Avis, was mistaken in
giving us the owl for it, I make no manner of doubt.
Yours, &c.
P. GEMSEGE,
{title- Gents Mag 1760 opp p.108}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 opp p.108}
{header- Thurot in the Irish Sea}
{text- Chart, uncoloured engraving, A Correct Chart of the Irish Sea, scale
about 43 miles to 1 inch, engraved by J Gibson, published by the
Gentleman's Magazine, 1760.}
{image = GM20Cm.jpg}
A Correct Chart of the IRISH SEA, &C. exhibiting a View of the several
Islands & Bays lately touch'd at by M. THUROT, in his Attempt upon
IRELAND
{text- map type: LakesMap & Gibson 1760 (EandW)}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 21x25.5cm; wxh, map = 181x233mm approx; scale: 1
to 2700000?}
{text- The expedition of M Thurot, and a biography, is described in the
Magazine, pp.107-112; and includes nothing of direct relevance to Cumbria.}
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.317}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.317}
{header- Robert Walker of Seathwaite}
{image = G7600317.jpg}
{text- These letters were also published in the Annual Register 1760, and
are believed to be about Robert Walker of Seathwaite. BUT: the letters
refer to Mr W of L? L for Lancashire?}
... ...
Mr URBAN,
THE following Letters being authentic, deserve, I think, to be inserted,
as a remarkable Instance of the happy Effects of indefatigable and cheerful
Industry. I have only to put the initial Letters of the names mentioned and
am
Yours &c.
To Mr ----
C---ne, July 26, 1754.
SIR,
I Was the other day upon a party of pleasure about five or six miles from
this place, where I met with a very striking object, and of a nature not
very common. Going into a clergyman's house (of whom I had frequently
heard, but with whom I had never any personal acquaintance) I found him
sitting at the head of a long square table, such as commonly used in this
country by the lower class of people, dressed in a course blue frock,
trimmed with black horn buttons; a check'd shirt, a leather strap about his
neck for a stock, a course apron, and pair of great heavy wooden sol'd
shoes, plated with iron to preserve them (what we call clogs in these
parts) with a child upon his knee eating his breakfast: His wife, and the
remainder of his family, which consists of nine children, were some of them
employed on waiting on each other, the rest in teazing and spinning wool,
at which trade he himself is a great proficient: And, moreover, when it is
made ready for sale, will lug it by 16 or 32 pounds weight at a time upon
his back, and on foot seven or eight miles to market, even in the depth of
winter. I was not much suprized at all this, as you may possibly be, having
heard
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.318}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.318}
{image = G7600318.jpg}
heard a good deal of it related before. But I must confess myself
astonished at the alacrity and good humour that appeared both in the
clergyman and his wife, and more so, at the sense and ingenuity of the
clergyman himself. My curiosity tempted me to make an enquiry into his
benefice, with all his temporalities, of which he gave me, I really
believe, a true and just account; and they are as follows. His fix'd salary
(which has of late years been augmented by Queen Anne's bounty
dropping into it) is now between 10 or 11, or near 11l. a year.
About this time he visits his neighbours, who are very fond of him, and
they present him with a fleece or two of wool each, which gratuities he
tells me may amount in the whole to the value of 3l. the remainder
of his income, and all his temporalities consist in some small matter of
cash he had left him, as a legacy I believe, and what is very surprizing,
of some which he has spared out of his income, besides maintaining his
family, which is now placed out at interest, and which interest, when added
to his benefice, and the gratuities above-mentioned, will not make the
whole 20l. per annum.
It amazes me to think how he procures a maintenance for such a family, out
of so small a matter; and yet he does it to the admiration of all that know
him; his industry causes him to be loved by his flock, his honesty to be
trusted, his function to be respected by them, and his genius to be admired
by every one.
W.F.
SIR,
HOW glad I am to find poor Mr W---'s affecting circumstances so
deservedly taken notice of, which are so well known in these parts, that
upon application to any reputable person hereabouts, you will be told, he
is as honest, worthy, well-meaning, industrious a poor clergyman, as any in
these northern parts. Last Saturday, on delivering yours to Mr
W---, at his house at L-----, would you believe it? I found
him at one of the most servile of this country's employments, which, out of
regard to persons of our profession I shall forbear to mention: His good
moral conduct and meek behaviour among his neighbours, has gain's him an
uncommon respect; and were it not for some trifling presents they make him
of hay, wool, and the like, he could never pretend to maintain a sickly
wife, and seven or eight chargeable small children, out of the poor income
of his yearly salary. His family throughout, not excepting himself, is
cloathed with stuff of his own manufacturing, and if I add that necessity
has put him upon working them out of the fleece, even to the making them up
into wearing apparel, it is but what I have been credibly told, and upon
the strongest evidence of ocular demonstration have good reason to believe
it. Yet, notwithstanding the narrowness of Mr W---'s circumstances,
I don't apprehend that his family wants the common necessaries of life; but
what will not the fear of want put a man upon doing? and how commendable is
honest industry to prevent such a terror? By his frugality and good
management, he keeps the wolf from the door as we say; and if he advances a
little in the world, it is owing more to his own care, than to any thing
else he has to rely upon; I don't find his inclination is running after
further preferment: He is settled amongst a people that are happy amongst
themselves, and lives in the greatest unanimity and friendship with them.
and I believe the minister and people are exceedingly satisfied with each
other; and, indeed, how should they be dissatisfied when they have a person
of such known worth and probity for their pastor? A man, who, for his
candour and meekness, his sober, chaste, and virtuous conversation, his
soundness in principle and practice, is an ornament to his profession, and
an honour to the country he is in, and bear with me if I say, the plainness
of his dress, the sanctity of his manners, the simplicity of his doctrine,
and the vehemence of his expression, have a sort of resemblance to the pure
practice of primitive christianity. I have been now at B---n near
five years, and never once have heard any one speak an ill word of Mr
W---; but what is hardly to be met withal in a clergyman of the like
circumstances, all treat him with the greatest respect, good nature, and
humanity; and this must be certainly owing to the purity of his morals, and
innocence of his life. Nay, Mr W---'s character is so well
established in the neighbourhood, that I'll venture to say, the best and
worthiest genetleman hereabouts take a pleasure in doing him any favour he
requests.
T.[C].
January 31, 1755.
{text- TC is probably Timothy Cooperson, vicar of Broughton in Furness.}
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.319}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.319}
{image = G7600319.jpg}
From Mr C--- of Lancaster to the Rev. Mr. B---.
Feb. 4, 1755.
SIR,
UPon my return hither, I wrote to Mr W--- of L---, the poor
clergyman you mentioned to me, desiring he would send me a particular
account of his curacy, and the number of his family, and from him I have
just received the following answer. I also wrote to Mr C---, a
clergyman who lives in the neighbourhood of Mr W---, to let me know
Mr W---'s character, and how he behaved, &c. which he has done
in the letter I here inclose. Mr C--- is a person of great worth and
integrity, so that I can depend upon the truth of his letter. You will, I
doubt not from these papers, be of opinion that Mr W--- is not
unworthy the regard you have been pleased to shew him, and that he deserves
encouragement.If I can give you any farther information in this affair, or
can be in any way serviceable in paying Mr W--- what you are so kind
to collect for him, I shall, with pleasure, observe any directions you
shall give; for I know not a more deserving object than he is, though we
have numbers of poor clergymen in these parts; nor a more charitabale
office that a person can be employed in.
From Mr W---.
SIR,
Yours of the 16th instant was communicated to me by Mr C---, and I
should have returned an immediate answer but the hand of providence then
lying heavy upon an amiable pledge of conjugal endearment, hath since taken
from me a promising girl, which the disconsolate mother too pensively
laments the loss of, though we have yet eight living, all healthy hopeful
children, whose names and ages are as follows. Zaccheus aged almost
18 years; Elizabeth, 16 years and 10 months; Mary 15 years;
Moses 13 years and 3 months; Sarah 10 years and 3 months;
Mabel 8 years and 3 months; William Tyson 3 years and 8
months; and Anne Esther one year and three months; besides
Anne who died, [2] years and 6 months ago, and was then aged between
9 and 10, and Eleanor who died the 23rd instant January, aged
6 years and 10 months. Zaccheus the eldest child is now learning the
trade of a tanner, and has two years and half of his apprenticeship to
serve. The annual income of my chapel at present, as near as I can compute
it, may amount to 17l. ten of which is paid in cash, viz.
5l. from the governors of the bounty of Queen Anne, and
5l. from W.P. Esq; of P---, out of the annual rents, he being
lord of the manor, and 3l. from the several inhabitants of
L--, settled upon their tenements as a rent charge, the house and
gardens I value at 4l. yearly, and not worth more, and I believe the
surplice fees and voluntary contributions one year with another may be
worth 3l. but as the inhabitants are few in number, and the fees are
very low, this last mentioned sum consists chiefly in free will offerings.
I am situated greatly to my satisfaction with regard to the conduct and
behaviour of my auditory. who not only live in happy ignorance of the
follies and vices of the age, but in mutual peace and good will one with
another, and are seeminlgy (and I hope really too) sincere Christians, and
sound members of the established church, not one dissenter of any
denomination being amongst them all. I got to the value of 40l. for
my wife's fortune, but had no real estate or cash of my own, being the
youngest son of 12 children, born of obscure parents; and though my income
has been but small, and my family large, yet by a providential blessing
upon my own diligent endeavours, the kindness of friends, and a cheap
country to live in, we have always had the necessaries of life. - By what I
have written (which is a true and exact account to the best of my
knowledge) I hope you will not think your favours to me out of the late Dr
Stratford's effects quite miss-bestowed; for which I must ever
gratefully own myself, Sir, your most obliged and most obedient humble
servant,
R. W. Curate of L---.
To Mr C--- of Lancaster.
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.520}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.520}
{header- Waterspout, Brackenthwaite}
{image = G7600520.jpg}
An authentic Account of a Water-Spout, which mostly fell upon
Brackenthwaite in the County of Cumberland, on Sept. 19,
1760; by an Eye-witness.
THE village of Brackenthwaite, which is part of a large valley
extending from N. to S. about five miles in length, and one and a half in
breadth, is bounded on the E. by a ridge of very lofty mountains, running
from N. to S. the southermost of which, Grassmere, is reputed the
highest in England, except Skeddow: its top is quite level,
and exceeding spacious, so as almost to equal its base; northward of it
there are three others, which rise regularly, and unite in one narrow
summit, somewhat lower than Grassmere; with the extremity of which
it is connected by a narrow inclined plain. Down the gullies, between these
mountains, descend three small brooks, Lizza, Hopebeck, and
Habcorton, in streams little more than sufficient to turn an
ordinary mill; the first of these enters the plain about the middle; the
second at the most northern part of Brackenthwaite; and the third
farther northward, at the village of Larton. On the summit, which is
common to all the three mountains, and forms as it were their joint top,
seems to have been one of the breakings, or falls of water, as all the
three brooks were affected by it, nearly all in the same degree. But what
made the mischief produced by the others less condsiderable than that by
the Lizza, was a second spout on the extremity of the top of
Grassmere, the whole of whose waters fell into its channel. This
second was the chief cause of the damage which ensued in
the
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.521}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.521}
{image = G7600521.jpg}
the valley, not only by producing a much greater quantity of water than the
other, but principally by the vast quantity of rubbish which it brought
along with it, the whole side of the mountain, down which it rushed with
inconceivable rapidity, being covered with vast heaps of stones, beds of
gravel, sand,and earth, which lying loose were easily carried away with so
impetuous a torrent. Such a mixture, carried with the velocity which it
must necessarily acquire down a slope of a mile in length, and so steep as
to make an angle of 60 degrees with the horizon, could not but make
terrible havock in the valley. The channel of the brook being rocky, and
its bank rising to a considerable height on each side from the place of the
water of the second spout's falling into Lizza, and mixing with that
of the other down to the plain, it was so far kept within pretty good
bounds; but it was no sooner freed from these restraints, than it made the
most dreadful devastation. Of the first field it entered, it has swept away
both the soil and the gravel quite to the rock; and the second, consisting
of ten or twelve acres, is entirely burried under a sand-bank of such a
thickness, as never to be removed. Instead of the old channel, which did
not exceed five or six feet in breadth, and one in depth, a new one is now
made at least 18 or 20 yards in breadth, and one and half deep.
Notwithstanding which, it overflowed its bank on each side, in such a
prodigious stream, as to be able, at the distance of a quarter of a mile,
to wash away a remarkably thick and strong wall; and what is more
wonderful, on the other side, even where, on the smooth surface of the
meadow, there seemed nothing to resist its progress, in some places, to
tear up vast masses of earth, which can no where be found, so as to leave a
pit of two yards and half in depth, and of 800 or 1000 yards in area.
Several other pits, it is thought, were made, and afterwards filled up
again with stones and sand, otherwise it is difficult to imagine how the
vast quantities of stone, which composed the walls near the brook, not one
of which is remaining, should have disappeared.
Such was the ruin it made in the meadows and arable ground, when at full
liberty to spread itself. But it was no sooner, by the inclination of the
ground, reduced within more scanty limits, than it began to rage with
redoubled fury. Two meadows were entirely taken away, and a bed of sand
left in their place, Its course being afterward through a wood, not a tree
within its reach was left standing. Two stone bridges, well built and
exceedingly strong, were carried away with the torrent, and not one remnant
of the materials which composed them to be found: nay, what is more
strange, a causeway of prodigious breadth, supported by a most enormous
bank of earth, which is remembered these hundred years, has been swept from
its foundation, and its place left floated by the stream. In short, nothing
which fell in its way was able to resist it; but earth, trees, hedges,
stones, walls, bridges, piers and mounds were swept away, till it reached
the place where the brook discharges itself into the river Cocker.
Here an end was put to its fury; for though the channel of the river was
far from being capacious enough to receive the whole of the water, on
account of the vast level plain on each side, its overflowings did no
damage, as it could only deluge to be stagnant. Happily no houses were
within its reach, though one very narrowly escaped, the ground being all
carried away to a considerable depth within two yards of it, where the
solid rock began, on which the house was founded; and a mill escaped, only
by the channel's accidentally diverting its force from it to the opposite
bank, which was all torn to pieces.
I endeavoured, but in vain, to get data sufficient on which to build
a calculation of the quantity of water which came down; for, as it happened
at midnight, neither the time of its continuance could be ascertained, nor
could it be determined whether it was constant and regular or variable. A
clergyman in the neighbourhood was of opinion, that all the water of
Crummack, an adjacent lake of two square miles surface, and very
deep, could not have done half so much harm. It is certain, indeed, from
one circumstance, that it must have been very great; as the water remained
the next morning, in a widow's cottage, twelve feet perpendicular above the
ordinary surface of the water, and at the distance of thirty yards from the
brook; and as the ground was lower on the opposite bank to the distance of
fifty yards, there must have been a stream of at least 4 or 5 yards deep,
and 80 or 90 in breadth; and this
where
{title- Gents Mag 1760 p.522}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1760 p.522}
{image = G7600522.jpg}
where it run with the greatest rapidity at the foot of the mountain.
The effects of the brooks of Hopebeck and Habcorton need not
to be so particularly described, being of the same kind with the other,
only inferior in degree, both on account of their being swelled by one of
the spouts only, & their channels being deeper. However, the damage
done by those, tho' inferior to the other, was by no means inconsiderable.
One circumstance relative to that of Hopebeck may perhaps deserve to
be mentioned: having burst its banks just at the place of crossing the
highway, it continued its course along a lane to a considerable distance
before it found a passage into the fields; and when the brook subsided, and
the supply failed, much water remained stagnant in the hollows of the lane,
particularly one before the door of a house, situated on the road. At this
the people, not knowing how it could possibly come there, were greatly
surprized; but much more, when they found in it a very fine dish of trout.
With regard to the physical cause of this uncommon phaenomenon, there are
some circumstances preceding it which seem irrenconcileable with either of
the two theories I have seen. The cause assigned in the first theory,
viz. various and contrary winds, could not be the real cause, as
there was very little wind all the day preceding the event; what there was
came constantly from the same quarter, and it entirely ceased in the
evening. Neither was there more probability in the other cause's operation,
viz. an extraordinary rarefraction of the air by igneous meteors, as
there was not the least lightning seen, or thunder heard, nor any other
diagnostic of the atmosphere's being charged with a more than ordinary
stock of sulphureous exhalations, and nitrous acids at that time.
ROB. DIXON.
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.72}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.72}
{header- Mallerstang Valley}
{image = G7610072.jpg}
Description of a VALLEY in Westmoreland.
FEW are perhaps acquainted with that dreary part of Westmoreland
which borders on Yorkshire. Indeed its forbidding aspect, composed
of lofty mountains, whose craggy summits seem formed of rocks thrown
together by the hand of discord, and frightful deserts laid waste by the
piercing storms of the north, tends to extinguish curiosity, and prevent
travellers from seeking the recesses of a country, which promise only
labour and fatigue. The roads, or rather paths, between the mountains that
lead into those sequester'd retreats, are often frightful beyond
description. One particularly, about a mile from Wildbore Fell,
deserves notice. The tract which runs along the side of a mountain almost
perpendicular, is not above six feet wide. Above, enormous projections of
rock hang over the head of the traveller, and threaten to crush him by
their fall; while far below, a rapid torrent tumbles headlong into the
valley, and with its bellowing noise, excites a terror in the mind that
language cannot paint. Not a shrub nor blade of grass enlivens the
prospect; the whole side of the mountain appearing as if blasted by
lightening, and the place where black despair has fixed her dire aboad.
But notwithstanding the general aspect of the country is so frightful, and
the roads in some parts remarkably dangerous, yet between these mountains
are valleys equally remarkable for their beauty and fertility. In one of
these, a particular friend, who many years since retreaed from the noise
and hurry of the world, has fix'd his habitation; and to visit once more
that valuable man, before I was overtaken by the night of death, induced
me, last summer, to undertake the journey, which occasioned the trouble of
this letter.
The valley in which my friend lives, is of a circular form, about a mile in
diameter, and surrounded by prodigious mountains, whose tops, except those
to the south, are hidden in the clouds. Between these mountains are two
breaches, the only passages into this delightful valley, one on the west,
the other on the south. Through the latter, a large stream of water flows
from a lake situated on the south side of the valley, and supplied by two
cataracts, which tumble from rock to rock down the sides of the mountains.
The declivity of the northern hills being exposed to the prolific rays of
the sun, produces plenty of corn, and the cultivated parts are bounded by
trees, whose lovely verdure, contrasted with the golden ears of waving
corn, and the glowing blossoms of flowery shrubs in the fences of the corn
fields, exhibits the most delightful prospect. The greatest part of the
valley itself, is divided into fields of pasture, in which abundance of
cattle and sheep are constantly fed. The lake above-mention'd is well
stored with fish of various kinds, and the several small islands
interspersed in it, add greatly to the beauty of this luxuriant retreat,
which affords every thing necessary to render life agreeable.
One of the cascades that supply the lake with water, rushes down the
mountain's side, in a fine sheet of water, foaming among the rocks till it
reaches the valley, and from thence glides along a stony channel into the
lake. The other is much less, and its declivity not so rapid; but its
various falls and windings among the rocks, render it more pleasing to the
sight than the former. Facing this small cascade, at the foot of the
northern mountains, my friend's house is situated; and near it are too
(sic) farm-houses, and about a dozen cottages, the dwellings of husbandmen,
the only inhabitants of this unfrequented vale. But the declivity of the
southern mountains which face north, and thence enjoy the benefit of the
solar rays only a small part of the year, exhibit a picture of desolation,
a dreary waste of naked rocks and tremendous precipices, whose forbidding
spect forms a striking contrast to the luxuriant parts, and renders the
prospect more pleasing and delightful.
Perhaps this sequester'd dale exhibits a more pleasing representation of
the antient patriarchal life, that can any where else be seen: my friend,
who is the sole owner of the valley, is considered as the protector of his
tenants, nay more, as their father. They listen with pleasure to his
orders, and gladly follow his steps in the paths of virtue. Every
Sunday morning all the
in-
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.73}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.73}
{image = G7610073.jpg}
inhabitants, unless prevented by sickness, repair to a small chapel, where
divine service is devoutly performed by a reverend divine, who, after
labouring many years in the vineyard of his master, and learning from
experience, that merit alone is not always sufficient to procure
preferment, has found at least a pleasing retreat, where his hours are
spent in tranquillity and peace, and he enjoys the heart-felt pleasure of
beholding the precepts of his great master practised by his flock, and his
preaching attended with the desired success.
Such is the tranquillity, such a happiness that reigns in this pleasing
solitude; and could the votaries of noisy mirth and riotous intemperance be
prevailed upon to visit this calm retreat, and behold the true content and
unalloyed delights these peasants enjoy, they would, I am persuaded, be
convinced, that they have pursued only the shadow of pleasure, who has here
fixed her throne.
For my own part, I must confess that I left this happy valley with regret,
and tho' age has impaired my faculties, and almost dried up the fountains
of life, yet I beheld with pleasure their innocent diversions, and could
hardly forbear joining in their rural pastimes. "Happy mortals (I said to
myself) you enjoy that satisfaction which the rich, the great, the
ambitious, and the powerful, seek in vain amidst the crowds of a splendid
court, and the gay assemblies of a populous city. And after gliding thus
serenely down the stream of life, you will pass, with equal serenity,
through the straits of death, into the boundless ocean of a happy
eternity."
Forgive the loquacity of an old man, who, though he can no longer hope to
share in the pleasures of the world, rejoices in the happiness of others;
and is desirous, even on the verge of life, to do every thing in his power
to promote it, and to spend his last breath in the service of virtue.
St Paul's Coffee-house,
Jan. 6, 1761. J. HARRIS.
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.126}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.126}
{header- Journey to Ingleborough}
{image = G7610126.jpg}
Mr URBAN,
I Have long been an attentive reader of your Magazine, and have been
particulary pleased with that part of your work, in which the natural
curiosities of remarkable places are described. In your Mag. for
July last, (See p.316) a correspndent from Wakefield
expresses a desire that some person who resides near Ingleborough in
Yorkshire, would communicate to the public an account of the
uncommon curiosities which are found in the environs of that place. As you
have yet published nothing on the subject, I send you the following
account, and hope ot will at least excite some more able hand to send you a
better.
INGLEBOROUGH is situated in the west riding of the county of York;
the westerly and northerly part of it lies in the parish of Bentham;
the easterly in the parish of Horton in Pibbledale (sic); the
southerly in the parish of Clapham. It is likewise a part of four
manors. The manor of Ingleton, to the west; belonging to -----
Parker, Esq; the manor of Newby, to the co-heirs of the late duke of
Montagu; the manor of Clapham, to Josias Morley, Esq;
and the manor of Austwick, to James Shuttleworth, Esq. It is
a mountain, singularly eminent, whether you regard its height, or the
immediate base upon which it stands. It is near 20 miles in circumference,
and has Clapham, a church town, to the south; Ingleton to the
west; Chapel in the Dale to the north; and Selside, a small
hamlet, to the east; from each of which places the rsie, in some parts, is
even and gradual; in others, rugged and perpendicular. In this mountain
rise considerable streams, which at length fall into the Irish Sea.
The land round the bottom is fine fruitful pasture, interspersed with many
acres of lime-stone rocks. As you ascend the mountain, the land is more
barren, and under the surface is peat-moss, in many places two or three
yards deep, which the country people cut up, and dry for burning, instead
of coal. As the mountain rises, it becomes more rugged and perpendicular,
and is
at
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.127}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.127}
{image = G7610127.jpg}
at length so steep that it cannot be ascended without great difficulty, and
in some places not at all. In many parts there are fine quarries of slate,
which the neighbouring inhabitants use to cover their houses, but no
lime-stones; yet, near the base, no stones but lime-stones are to be found.
The loose stones near the summit the people call greet stone. The
foot of the mountain abounds with fine springs on every side, and on the
west side there is a very remarkable spring near the summit. The top is
very level, but so dry and barren that it affords little grass, the rock
being but barely covered with earth. It is said to be about a mile in
circumference, and several persons now living say, that they have seen
races upon it. Upon that part of the top, facing Lancaster and the
Irish Sea, there are still to be seen the dimensions of an house,
and the remains of what the country people call a beacon, viz. a
place erected with stones, three or four yards high, ascended with stone
stairs; which served in old time, as old people tell us, to alarm the
country, upon the approach of an enemy, a person always being kept there
upon watch, in the time of war, who was to give notice in the night, by
fire, to other watchmen placed upon other mountains within view, of which
there are many, particularly Whernside, Woefall, Camfell, Pennygent,
and Pennlehill. There are likewise discoverable a great many other
mountains in Westmoreland and Cumberland, besides the town of
Lancaster, from which it is distant about 20 miles.
The west and north sides are most steep and rocky; there is, one part to
the south, where you may ascend on horseback; but whether the work of
nature, or of art, I cannot say. A part of the said mountain jutts out to
the north east near a mile, but somewhat below the summit; this part is
called Park-fell; another part jutts out in the same manner, near a
mile, towards the east,and is called Simon-fell; there is likewise
another part towards the south, called Little Ingleborough; the
summits of all which are much lower than the top of the mountain itself.
Near the base, there are holes or chasms called swallows, supposed to be
the remains of Noah's deluge; they are among the lime-stone rocks,
and are open to an incredible depth. The springs towards the east all come
together, and fall into one of these swallows, or holes, called Allan
Pott; and after passing under the earth about a mile, thay burst out
again, and flow into the river Ribble, whose head, or spring, is but
a little further up the valley. The depth of this swallow, or hole, could
never be ascertained; it is about 20 poles in circumference, not perfectly
circular, but rather oval. In wet foggy weather, it sends out a smoak, or
mist, which may be seen a considerable distance. Not far from this hole,
nearly north, is another hole, which may be easily descended. In some
places the roof is 4 or 5 yards high, and its width is the same; in other
places not above a yard; and was it not for the run of water, it is not to
be known how far you might walk, by the help of a candle, or other light.
There is likewise another hole, or chasm, a little west from the other two,
which cannot be descended without difficulty: You are no sooner entered
than you have a subterraneous passage, sometimes wide and spacious,
sometimes so narrow you are obliged to make use of both hands, as well as
feet, to crawl a considerable way; and as I was informed, some persons have
gone several hundred yards, and might have gone much further, durst they
have ventured. There are a great many more holes, or caverns, well worth
the notice of a traveller: some dry, some having a continual run of water;
such as Blackside Cove, Sir William's Cove, Atkinson's Chamber,
&c. all whose curiosities are more than I can describe.
There is likewise, partly south-east, a small rivulet, which falls into a
place considerably deep, called Long-Kin; there is likewise another
swallow, or hole, called Johnson's Jacket-hole,a place resembling a
funnel in shape, but vastly deep; a stone being thrown into it, makes a
rumbling noise, and may be heard a considerable time; there is also
another, called Gaper-Gill, into which a good many springs fall in
one stream, and after a subterraneous passage of upwards of a mile, break
out again, and wind thro' Clapham; then afterwards a winding course
of several miles, this stream joins the river Lon, or Lune;
and, passing by the town of Lancaster, it falls into the Irish
Sea: There likewise, both on the west and north sides, a great many
springs, which all fall into such cavities, and bursting out again, towards
the base of the said mountain, fall likewise into the Irish Sea, by
the town of Lancaster; and what seemed very remarkable to me, there
was not one rivulet running from
the
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.128}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.128}
{image = G7610128.jpg}
the base of the mountain that had not a considerable subterraneous passage.
All the springs arose towards the summit, amongst the greet-stones
and sunk or fell into some hole, as soon as they descended to the
lime-stone rocks; where passing under ground for some way, they burst out
again towards the base. There is likewise, to the west and north, a great
many swallows or holes, some vastly deep and frightful, others more
shallow, all astonishing, with a long range of the most beautiful rocks
that ever adorned a prospect, rising in a manner perpendicularly up to an
immense height.
In the valley above Horton, near the base of this mountain, I
observed a large heap or pile of greet-stones all thrown
promiscuously together, without any appearance of building or workmanship,
which yet cannot be reasonably thought to be the work of nature; few stones
are to be found near it, though 'tis computed to contain 400 of that
country cart load of stones, or upwards. There is liekwise another at the
base north-east, in resemblance much the same, but scarce so large, and I
was informed of several others up and down the country. Now if any of your
correspondents will favour me with their thoughts how, and upon what
account, they have been laid there, they will highly oblige your humble
servant, and constant reader,
PASTOR.
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.138}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.138}
{header- Whitehaven Harbour}
{text- The Historical Chronicle for March 1761, Thursday 19 has the royal
assent given to the bill for:-}
...
For enlarging the harbour of Whitehaven.
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.500}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.500}
{header- Other Places in Cumberland}
{image = G7610500.jpg}
Cockermouth, Oct. 19.
Mr URBAN,
IN the plan of a little tour sketched out by one of your correspondents in
your Mag. for last April, I cannot but be surprized that, among the
other towns of Cumberland, he should omit Keswick and its
environs. Nature has with such a liberal hand lavish'd her graces on this
sweet retirement, that here seems to be an assemblage of every thing that
is beautiful, from every rural scene in the universe. Some of its finest
groves have indeed been cut down within these few years; but in vain should
I attempt to describe the beauties which remain, which cannot be
experienced but by an actual survey.
It would be unpardonable not to mention the Black lead mine at the
head of the valley of Borrodale, as being one of the greatest
curiosities in England, or perhaps in Europe *:
Neither ought the salt spring to be past by, being very near the
edge of the road, at the head of the lake. I have mentioned this part of
the country chiefly on account of the prospects, with which every
traveller, who has any taste for the wild and romantic, cannot but be
highly delighted; the vallies of Ennerdale, Buttermeer, Loweswater,
and Lorton, furnish us with some others of the same nature; but not
quite so beautiful or extensive. But to the antiquarian I should point out
several other as
* See a particular description of them, illustrated with a map of
the country, in February, 1751.
worthy
{title- Gents Mag 1761 p.501}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1761 p.501}
{image = G7610501.jpg}
worthy of notice, such as Eleborough, near Maryport, where
may be seen several pieces of Roman antiquities: And Wigton,
near which place appear the Vestigia of that famous Roman
station, which has for many years gone by the name of Old Carlisle,
where have been found a great number of very valuable antiquities, as
votive altars, inscriptions, &c.
When our traveller has visited Carlisle, no doubt but he will have a
desire to see what remains of the Picts wall, in this county. Many
pieces of antiquity are to be seen at Netherby, Scaleby Castle,
Brampton, Lanercost, and Irthington.
Corby is remarkable for the pleasantness of its situation; and,
opposite to it, on the other side of the Eden, Wetherall, where are
some rooms dug out of the solid rock, in a place very difficult of ascent,
supposed to have been the habitation of some hermit; or, perhaps, places of
security for the Monks † to retire to in time of danger. Near
Penrith, a little below the confluence of Eimot and
Eden, is also a large grotto dug out of the rock, said to have been
once a place of some strength, known by the name of Isis Parlish.
And at Little Salkeld, not very far from thence, may be seen that
great curiosity called Long Meg and her Daughters *, not
perhaps well accounted for by any of our antiquarians.
When speaking of prospects, I ought to have mentioned that vastly extensive
and much admired one from Warnal, which takes in all the low
country, and bounded on the north by Solway Frith, and a fine chain
of Scottish mountains. Not far from hence, near --- Denton's,
Esquire, is a petrifying spring. There is also another in the estate of Sir
Wm Dalston, at Uldale, out of which have been taken several
large and extremely curious petrifactions of moss, leaves, roots, &c.
but it does appear that this mutation would be produced in any substance
put therein, but in a rotation of a prodigious number of years. In some
parts of the county are some mineral waters, much resorted to at the
season, and several rich mines of lead, some copper, &c.
Though I have been a little more particular than your correspondent, yet a
traveller, who makes it his business to enquire, will find many more things
well worth his observation. However, from what I have said, it may appear
that Cumberland is as well worth visiting, on several accounts, as
most other counties in England.
Yours, &c.
A.B.
† From the neighbouring monastery.
* See a representation and description of them in July 1752,
p.310-11.
{title- Gents Mag 1766 p.166}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1766 p.166}
{header- Account of a Journey from Lancashire into Scotland}
{image = G7660166.jpg}
... ...
Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman to a Lady, giving an account of his
Journey from Lancashire into Scotland.
MADAM,
I take the liberty to send to your Ladyship, the account I promised of my
journey into Scotland.
Lancaster and Kendal are the two first towns I came to, that
I had not seen before, they are both well built, and well situated; from
the latter I went fourteen miles over mountains as difficult to pass as the
Alps are represented, but there are several natural cascades, some
of an immense height tumbling from one rock upon another, that make the
scene altogether pleasing and romantic.
From the summit of the last of these hills, there appears an easy ascent
beyond the valley, Lord Lonsdale's house and park, and a large
extent of his estates, beautifully interspersed with woods, water, and rich
pasture, and meadow grounds, which still seem more delightful, because of
the immediate transition, from barren rocks to one of the richest vales
imaginable. Not far from hence I crossed a bridge, just below which the
river divides, one part falling down a cascade into a seprentine stream,
the other into a strait canal, planted on each side with a row of high
elms, that form an arch over it. Adjoining it is a gentleman's seat, with a
park and terrace lying to the water, but the owner has left it to live in a
town. I lay at Penrith, and from thence rode to Carlisle,
over a fine country, not quite open, nor too much enclosed, so well
cultivated, that all the prospects look chearful, and are set off by having
the mountains every where in view.
Carlisle is a very pretty town, sweetly situated, there is a hill
beyond it, that affords a most glorious prospect, having a great river, a
noble bridge, and fine meadows below, and, on the hill opposite the town,
surrounded with trees, and gardens, above which on a green bank, stands the
castle; four miles from hence, the Esk divides the two kingdoms, the
stream of which is so rapid, that we found some difficulty in passing it.
The first thing I observed in Scotland, was a group of women washing
in the middle of a large pond, with their cloaths tucked up so high, that
they were naked to the tops of their thighs; upon taking a near view, and
asking them some questions, it amazed me to find in so short a space, so
great an alteration in the persons, language, and manners of the people.
The roads I found very good, being in most places raised, with ditches on
each side to drain them; but at Annan a royal burrough, the first
town I came to, I had a sad presage of the accommodations I was to expect
in the inns; they being worse than such cottages where you see written over
the door, lodging and small beer for foot travellers. ...
{text- Further travels, in Scotland, are not copied.}
{title- Gents Mag 1766 opp p.466}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1766 opp p.466}
{header- Roads to Carlisle}
{image = GB01.jpg}
{text- Road strip map, uncoloured engraving, A Correct Map of the Road from
London to Carlisle and The Road from Carlisle to Berwick, scale roughly 3.5
miles to 1 inch, by John Gibson, published by the Gentleman's Magazine,
London, 1765-66.}
A Correct MAP of the ROAD from LONDON to CARLISLE, commencing / at
Darlaston Bridge, in the CHESTER ROAD.
The ROAD from CARLISLE to BERWICK.
NB. The Distances are from the Royal Exchange.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Gibson 1766 (Roads)}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 31x20cm; wxh, map = 286x172mm; scale: 1 to
240000? estimate.}
{text- London to Carlisle - from Darlaston Bridge, Staffordshire; through
Cheshire; to Lancaster, Lancashire; then Burton, Kendal, Shap, Westmorland;
to Penrith and Carlisle, Cumberland.}
{text- Carlisle to Berwick - from Carlisle, Cumberland; across Kershope
Burn near Kirkby Hill, and through Jedburgh, Kelso, Scotland; to Berwick,
Northumberland.}
{title- Gents Mag 1766 p.581}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1766 p.581}
{header- Land Tax, Cumberland}
{image = G7660581.jpg}
The Land-Tax explained and considered.
... ...
Mr URBAN.
THE Land-Tax seems by some to be a subject very little understood. When the
parliamentary settlement was made (upon the faith and credit of which, nine
tenths of the land in England has since been bought) certain poor
counties were to pay a certain sum, when the lad (sic) tax was at
4s. in the pound; which land in those counties was rated at a
certain purvey, to provide the said certain sum; so that a purchaser, from
the purvey of the land he was contracting for, could ascertain how much he
must pay when the land tax is at 4s., in the pound (for every purvey
in the county raises 100l.) therefore, for instance say, as the
purvey of the estate in question is to 100l. one general purvey, so
is the proportion he is to pay, to the sum to be raised by the county when
the land tax is 4s. in the pound; in other words, the purchaser must
pay so many crowns as the county rasies hundred pounds.
We will call this an exemption from the land-tax (perhaps not 6d. in
the pound upon the value) I say the purchaser paid for this exemption, and
bought it on the faith of Parliament, as stockholders bought their stock,
upon the faith that they would not be taxed, altho' they are as liable to
it, as these lands; and the usual price of these lands, if freehold, is
forty years purchase.
Again, he that bought lands in the counties that pay land-tax, bought them
lower in proportion, from 25 to 35 years purchase upon the gross rent, the
neat (sic) income being what a purchase considers, and the lands bought 25
year purchase, produce no more nett, than those bought at 40 years purchase
per cent, on the purchase-money; this is well known to Gentlemen in
the House, who have lands of both sorts.
Hence it is plain, that if a law should pass, for the whole nation to pay a
tax of 2s. in the pound, exempted lands would immediately sink 10
per cent. in value, and the 4s. land that is eased of
2s. would rise 10 per cent. in value, just as a tax of
2s. in the pound on the stock dividends, would sink the value of
stock 10 per cent., and an act passed to grant them 2s. in
the pound more than the dividends, would raise the value of the stock 10
per cent. and thence I infer, that 2s. in the pound, levied
upon all the land in England, would not be an equitable tax.
My property lies in Cumberland (let every man speak for his own
county) I now proceed to shew you, that besides the impropriety of taking
(call it an exemption) from a man, which he has bought and paid for, the
said county really cannot pay 2s. in the pound ;and tax, because the
landholders do not lay up 2s. in the pound of their rents, in three
years, so cannot pay such a sum every year.
There is a ridge of mountains, that goes from the Irish Sea to the
German Sea, on the North of which this county lies, by which
situation we are deprived of much benefit of the sun which you enjoy; the
middle of February is the middle of our winter, & the farmers
must have one half of their straw and two thirds of their hay at that time,
or their stock perishes. We cannot turn out horses and cows to grass till
the beginning of June, at which time the grass begins to fit: add to
this, that the winds and incessant rains, the latter end of the year, from
Michaelmas, caused by the situation of those mountains, make it very
unfavourable for goods to be exposed.
As soon as you pass these mountains, and get into Cumberland, you
perceive the air changed to a light, thin, cold air, very unfavourable to
vegetation; hence the land is kept so cold and spungy, that we cannot sow
oats before April, bigg (the substitute for barley) before
June, and the wet and frost in winter is very unfavourable for
wheat, so that our lands, with the vast quantity of manure we must employ,
more than is necessary south of the mountains, costs one third at least
more to till them than yours do, and does not produce half the crops yours
produces; this makes our crops come so dear, that I may venture to say, of
all the many thousand pounds paid for bounty of corn, I never heard of a
single guinea being paid bounty
for
{title- Gents Mag 1766 p.582}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1766 p.582}
{image = G7660582.jpg}
for corn exported out of Cumberland; on the contrary, we import from
the counties favoured by providence in their situation, and which are
therefore taxed, many ship loads of corn every year, and it comes much
cheaper than we can grow it.
We also pay the same duty for malting our bigg, you do for barley, and your
malt is one third stronger than ours, and therefore we find it cheapest to
bring our malt from Southampton, it being near a shilling a bushel
cheaper than ours, the goodness considered, notwithstanding the great
charge of bringing it. I might add ale, and other things wherein we pay the
same duty for a worse commodity than you have.In a country like this, you
may be sure there is a great deal of land let for little money, because the
cost of fencing and working it is so great, the markets few and far off,
the corn neccessary to feed the horses procured at great expence of labour
and manure, the hay short and late got, and very often bad weather to get
both corn and hay when cut.
There are about 30 lords and gentlemen, who perhaps may own a fourth of the
county (most of the money remitted to them is spent at London;) some
of these are lords of the manors of the greatest part of the other
three-fourths of the county, fine arbitrary, which keeps the tenants poor
to a proverb; the rest, to the number of about ten thousand, are
land-owners, from ten to a hundred pounds a-year; there are not 40 farms in
the county of 100l. a year each, mostly from 10l. to
50l. a year. These petty land owners work like slaves, they cannot
afford to keep a man servant, but husband, wife, sons and daughters, all
turn out to work in the fields; they wear wooden shoes, shod like a horse's
foot with iron, sackcloth shirts, yarn stockings, home-spun linsey, and
cloth that comes about 2s. a yard, felt hats, their diet is whey,
potatoes, turnips, oatmeal bread, and oatmeal and water; theye very seldom
taste meat, or wheat bread; and work very hard upon this diet; they breed
many children, and this coarse fare, expanding the stomach, by the great
quantity they eat to supply the nourishment necessary to the constitution,
makes them grow large in bulk, and (as you may suppose) when they grow up,
they post away to happier climes, and make you very good servants.
Now, Sir, since notwithstanding this miserable way of living, they save
nothing, you will easily see they must either starve or go naked, if they
pay the tax, for they cannot either feed or dress meaner; else they must
leave off breeding, for they have no trade; and as this breeding county
seems necessary to the state, I hope their condition will supply the place
of a better advocate, for an industrious, frugal, virtuous, and loyal
people.
Yours, &c.
Cumberland.
{title- Gents Mag 1771 pp.567-568}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1771 pp.567-568}
{header- Eruption of Solway Moss}
Thursday, 12.
A letter from Edinburgh, of this day's date, gives the following
particulars of the ravages sustained by the moveable moss:
"Solway moss still continues to move, and it began to flow on Saturady last
with more rapidity than it has done for three weeks past.
The following is a list of the names and number of the farms destroyed by
the eruption of Solway flow in Cumberland, together with the number of
farmers who possessed these farms, and the rental ofthese lands, as present
paid to Mr. Graham of Netherby, proprietor of Solway flow, and the lands
now covered by it. Taken at Solway flow, on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 1771.
{table- }
"","",""
"Names of the farms.","Farmers.","Rental."
"","","L.s.d."
"Closgap,","3","29 10 0"
"Patonston,","3","22 0 0"
"Browhead","3","17 10 0"
"Lake,","3","20 0 0"
"Henrystown,","1","10 0 0"
"Cullenston,","1","14 0 0"
"Smallholmstone,","1","14 0 0"
"Peartree,","2","29 10 0"
"Yadefold,","2","27 4 0"
"Todbank,","1","7 12 0"
"Dykestone, in part as yet,","4","12 0 0"
"Mirrinstoun, in part as yet,","1","12 0 0"
"","",""
"Twelve tenements,","23","220 6 0"
{ -endtable}
The above farms are so greatly destroyed, that twenty three families of the
farmers, besides cotters, are obliged to leave their ruined houses; some of
them being knocked down by the force of the eruption, others of them
covered almost to the top of the side walls by the moss.
The following four farms are only partly covered, the houses being
inhabited, viz.
{table- }
"","",""
"Farms.","","Rental of what is covered."
"","","L.s.d."
"Oakbank,","","2 0 0"
"Meadoff,","","12 0 0"
"Cargate-head,","","4 10 0"
"Know,","","8 0 0"
"","",""
"","","26 10 0"
"Rental of the other 12 towns,","","220 6 0"
"Total","","246 6 0"
{ -endtable}
This is the present rental of all the land that is covered by the eruption
of the moss; and, if these lands are set, on an average, at twelve
shillings per acre, the quantity of ground covered must be four hundred
acres and fifty-three poles.
The land upon which the moss has flowed, is covered by it from twelve to
thirty feet deep. The eruption began on Saturday the 15th of November last,
about eleven o'clock at night. It broke out from the Solway flow, on the
north-east side, by a gullet of about a hundred yards wideness. At a very
short distance from the mouth of the gullet, it spread at the wideness of
almost a mile square, over above four hundred acres of the best land in the
north of England. It still continues to flow out of the gullet in a very
rapid current, carrying along with it a large quantity of moss, which it
forces from below the surface, and, even in some places, the solid surface
along with it, which, by floating upon the moss that hath covered the lands
in the beds of Esk, gives them altogether the appearance of having been a
moss from time immemorial. As it flows at present, so it must, from the
very nature of the thing, continue to flow for ages. That it may do least
damage, its course should either be diverted to the river of Sark, on the
west side of Solway flow, or else a clear passage made in its present
direction to the river of Esk; both of which are practicable, but at
considerable expence. However, if some such method is not taken, much more
exceeding good land will be covered by it.
The cause of the eruption is so evident, from the situation of Solway flow,
and of the adjacent lands on the east side of it, with the former
management of those who have casten their peats on the Solway flow, that it
is more wonderful to the person who hath taken the above account, that the
Solway flow hath stood so long, than that it hath now broke out, and
overflowed so great a quantity of ground upon the beds of Esk. It will be
next to impossible, ever again to clear the covered land by burning the
moss; though it appears probable to me, that there is a possibility of
clearing it by water. The greatest part of the surface of the old moss is
still whole; but it is now so much out, that, though formerly level, the
middle of it is like a large glen between two hills, declining from each
other."
{title- Gents Mag 1772 p.41}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1772 p.41}
{image = G7720041.jpg}
Dec. 31.
Solway Moss is still moving, and it is said to have now covered 900 acres
of as fine holm land as there is in England. It has stopped the road for
these eight days past betwixt Annan and Longtown, and the post is obliged
to boat over the river Esk.
{title- Gents Mag 1772 opp p.608}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1772 opp p.608}
{header- Lancaster Canal}
{text- Canal map, uncoloured engraving, Plan of the Proposed Navigable
Canal ... to Kendal, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Robert Whitworth,
published by the Gentleman's Magazine, 1772.}
{image = GM17.jpg}
A Plan of the Proposed NAVIGABLE CANAL from the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
near Eccleston in the County Palatine of Lancaster, to Kendal in
Westmorland. Survey'd in 1772, by Robt. Whitworth.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Whitworth 1772 (Canals)}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 36.5x21.5cm; wxh, map = 311x166mm; scale: 1 to
260000?}
{title- Gents Mag 1773 opp p.221}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1773 opp p.221}
{header- Canals in England}
{image = GM19.jpg}
{text- Canal map, uncoloured engraving, A General Plan of the Several
Canals given in the Course of this Magazine, engraved by Thomas Bowen,
published by the Gentleman's Magazine, 1773.}
A GENERAL PLAN of the several CANALS given in the Course of this Magazine
{text- map type: LakesMap & Bowen 1773 (Canals)}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 25x21cm; wxh, map = 205x174mm.}
{text- The map includes England from Kendal in the north, St Asaph in the
west, to just south of Reading.}
{image = GM19Cm.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1773 pp.221-222}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1773 pp.221-222}
{header- Canals in England}
... The extent of these canals could hardly have been thought practicable
at first setting out. Whoever had suggested the establishment of an inland
navigation from Kendal, in Westmoreland, to London, before the taste for
inland navigation became the mode, would have been looked upon as a
visionary, and his undertaking would have been treated rather as the
project of a madman, than the practicable idea of an able engineer: and
yet, by the plan exhibited, it appears that the same has been, or will be
soon, effected, without such an idea having ever entered into the minds of
those by whom it either is, or will be completed. ...
Explanation of the Letters in the Plan. / a b mark the Lancaster Canal 72
1/2 [Miles] ...
{title- Gents Mag 1773 opp p.265}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1773 opp p.265}
{header- Eruption of Solway Moss}
{text- Map, uncoloured engraving, Plan of Solway Moss, or Eye Draught of
Solway Moss, published by the Gentleman's Magazine, London, 1773.}
{image = GM18.jpg}
Eye Draught of the SOLWAY MOSS.
PLAN of SOLWAY MOSS. Decribed (sic) in the Gent. Mag. for June. p.265.
{text- map type: LakesMap & Gents Mag 1773}
{text- Size: wxh, sheet = 19x13cm; wxh, map = 138x93mm.}
{title- Gents Mag 1773 pp.265-266}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1773 pp.265-266}
Account of the IRRUPTION of SOLWAY MOSS, Dec. 16, 1772, in a Letter from
Mr. John Walker to the Earl of Bute, and communicated by his Lordship to
the Royal Society *. (See other Accounts of this Irruption, Vol.xli.
xlii.)
MY LORD,
WHEN I was sitting yesterday writing to your Lordship, I received the
honour of yours. I shall, therefore, defer the account I intended of my
expedition last season to the North, and give the best description I can of
the extraordinary irruption of Solway-Moss, which I went to visit about a
week after it happened. It is not surprizing that it has every where
attracted the attention of the public: for, though the cause of it is
obvious, yet, as far as I recollect, the alteration it has produced on the
face of the earth is greater than any we have known in Britain from natural
causes since the destruction of Earl Goodwin's estate. It happened on the
16th of December, when there fell such a deluge of rain over all the North
of England, as has not been known for at least two hundred years. There was
a very great flood at Moffat; but I think I have seen one or two greater,
and certainly it was not so extraordinary here as further South.
The Solway-flow contains 1300 acres of very deep and tender moss, which,
before this accident, were impassable, even in summer, to a foot passenger.
It was mostly of the quag kind, which is a sort of moss covered at top with
a turf of heath and coarse aquatic grass; but is so soft and watery below,
that, if a pole is once thrust through the turf, it can easily be pushed,
though perhaps 15 or 20 feet long, to the bottom.
If a person ventures on one of these quags, it bends in waves under his
feet, and if the surface breaks, he is in danger of sinking to the bottom
†.
The surface of the flow was at different places between 50 and 80 feet
higher than the fine fertile plain that lay between it and the river Esk.
(See the Plate.) About the middle of the flow, at the place marked A, were
the deepest quags, and there the moss was elevated higher above the plain
than in any other part of the neighbourhood. From this to the farm called
the Gap, upon the plain at C, there was a broad gully, though not very
deep, through which the brook marked B used to run.
The moss, being quite overcharged with the flood, burst at these quags
about 11 o'clock at night; and, finding a descent at hand, poured its
contents through the gully into the plain.
It surprized the inhabitants of twelve towns in their beds ‡. Nobody
was lost, but many of the people saved their lives with great difficulty.
Next morning thirty five families were found dispossessed, with the loss of
most of their corn and some cattle §. Some of the houses were nearly
totally covered, and others of them I saw standing in the moss up to the
thatch, the side walls being above 8 feet high.
In the morning above 200 acres were entirely overwhelmed; and this body of
moss and water, which was of such a consistency as to move freely continued
to spread itself on all hands for several days. It was come to a stop when
I saw it, and had covered 303 acres, as I was infomed by a gentleman, who
had looked over the plans of the grounds with Mr. Graham the proprietor:
but every fall of rain sets it again in motion, and it has now overspread
above 400 acres. At F it had run within a musket shot of the post road
leading from Moffat to Carlisle, when I saw it; but it has now flowed over
the road, and reached the Esk. This river, which was one of the clearest in
the world, is now rendered black as ink, by the mixture of the moss; and no
salmon has since entered into it. A farmer also told me, that, upon
removing the moss, to get at a well which it had covered, they found all
the earth worms lying dead upon the surface of the ground. The land, that
is covered, was all inclosed with hedges, bore excellent crops of wheat and
turneps, and rented from between 11 and 14 shillings, besides the taxes and
tithes, which amounted to 4 shillings per acre.
I endeavoured to guess at the depth of the moss upon the plain, by a large
thorn which stands in the middle of it, and which is buried to above the
division of the branches. The farmers told me that it stood upon a rising
more that six feet above the general level of the plain, and that it was
upwards of 9 feet high of clear stem. By this account, great part of the
plain must be covered 15 feet deep with the moss; and near the farm called
Gap, there were some considerable hollows, where they think the moss, at
present, lies full 30 feet deep. The smallest hedges on the land are all
covered over the top. The houses are not so much buried, because they stood
mostly on the higher parts of the fields; and, towards the extremities of
the moss, I observed it, in many places, not above three or four feet deep,
owing likewise to the rising of the ground.
The gut at A, through which the moss flowed that covered the plain, is only
about 50 yards wide; and the gully from A to C is near a quarter of a
measured mile long.
The brook B, being stopped up by the moss at E, has now formed a lake at D.
About 400 acres of the flow, next the place of its evacuation, appear to
have sunk from 5 to 25 feet; and this subsidence has occasioned great
fissures upon those parts of the moss which refused to sink. These fissures
are from 4 to 8 feet wide, and as much in depth. The surface of the flow,
consisting of heath and coarse grass, was torn away in large pieces, which
still lie upon the surface of the new moss some of them from 20 to 50 feet
long; but the greater part of the surface of the flow remained, and only
subsided: the moss, rendered thin by the flood, running away from under it.
Looking over Solway Moss at the village of Longtown, where there is a
bridge on the Esk, they formerly saw only the tops of the trees at Gratney,
a house of the Marquis of Annandale's, 4 miles distant, but now they see
them almost to the ground; and looking over it in another direction, they
now see two farms of Sir William Maxwel's, which were not before visible:
so the ridge of the flow or moss, seems to have subsided about 25 feet.
Moffat, I am, my Lord, &c. &c. Jan. 30, 1772. JOHN WALKER.
* The society has received from other hands several accounts of this
curious and singular phaenomenon; but this, as one of the latest, being
likewise the compleatest, was thought the most proper to be laid before the
public, especially as on comparison few particulars of any importance
mentioned in the other accounts were found wanting in this. These few,
however, have been collected and subjoined in the form of notes.
† The surface was always so much of a quagmire, that in most places
it was hardly safe for any thing heavier than a sportsman to venture upon
it, even in the driest of summers. A great number of Scotchmen, in the army
commanded by Oliver Sinclair, in the time of Henry VIII. lost their lives
in it; and it is said, that some people digging peats upon it, met with a
skeleton of a trooper and his horse, in compleat armour, not many years
ago.
‡ Those who were nearest the place of bursting, were alarmed with
the unusual noise it made; others not till it had entered their houses, or
even, as was the case with some, not till they found it in their beds.
§ The case of a cow seems singular enough to deserve a particular
mention. She was the only one of eight, in the same cow-house, that was
saved, after having stood sixty hours up to the neck in mud and water. When
she got out she did not refuse to eat, but water she would not taste, nor
even look at without shewing manifest signs of horror. She is now
reconciled to it, and likely to recover.
{title- Gents Mag 1776 p.310}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1776 p.310}
{header- Ruins at Quamps}
{image = G7760310.jpg}
Mr. URBAN,
IF you think the following piece of antiquity worthy of a place in your
Magazine, you will oblige the writer by inserting it. Conjectures of its
age and use have been formed, but the decision is left to antiquarians by
profession; some of whom, it is hoped, will favour the public with their
sentiments concerning an article in their way, which is, perhaps not
frequently to be met with.
Lancaster, July, 6.
W.C.
Account of some remarkable Foundations of Walls, discovered on clearing
a Field called The Quamps, in Dalton Hall, Demesne, (near
Burton in Kendal,) in the latter End of the Year 1774. See the
following Figure.
THE fence of the field, a, a, a, a, sketched out by the eye, is a hedge, as
are all the fences in that neighbourhood. The black lines, b, b, ,b, are
the ground plot of the wall. They were all thrown down, and grown over in
many places with bushes; but the foundation stones appeared to be laid by a
line, and the two outside faces were about three yards distance. The
intermediate spaces were filled up with any kind of cobbles, &c. These
foundation stones were large lime-stones, with which that part of the
country abounds, and generally as big as two or three men could move; but
no mortar was discovered, nor any marks of the hammer, except in some
freestone ones at the corners. The dotted lines, c. c, c, (drawn by the
eye,) had much the same appearance as the rest; but the marks of a regular
wall were not so evident there; and I believe the plan does not notice all
the vestiges that were remaining of this kind. The annexed dimensions are
not very accurate, as they were taken after the stones were removed. There
were openings like common gateways into these enclosures, and some stones
were found at the edges of these gateways, near a foot under the soil, with
holes in them, such as are now in use for gates to turn upon by means of
iron pivots. There are two springs in the field at d and e. The spring d is
never dry; that at e, not certain how it is. The area at f is low and soft
in the bottom; as if it had been a receptacle for water.
The field containing these walls is pretty level, and on an eminence of the
most western of a number which had formerly been covered with an extensive
oak wood, and which again were bounded to the eastward with large moors
reaching many miles north and south. The field has as spacious a view to
the west and south, as most which are found in this hilly country. But its
prospect is obstructed by an eminence about a quarter of a mile to the
south-west, on the top of which, some say, there were very lately a small
mound and trench. Also, at about an equal distance to the north east of
these walls, were dug up, at the same time, the foundations of an enclosure
of a like kind, near forty yards square, divided into two unequal oblongs,
and whose walls were above three yards thick. And in a line with this, the
Quamps, and the mound, is an appearance of other walls, though of inferior
dimensions, which are yet unmolested. There are remains of two old halls
within a mile of these ruins, and one of them has a large enclosure
adjoining to it that is moated round. These remains and tradition, however,
discover nothing, relating to them that is any way worth notice; neither is
there the least tradition concerning the walls in
question,
{title- Gents Mag 1776 p.311}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1776 p.311}
{image = G7760311.jpg}
question, which before their clearing away could appear only like common
stone-heaps. In digging up these ruins an old copper pan was found, some
small stone mortars, and the fragments of near twenty pair of
hand-mill-stones, such as are intimated by the figure; but nothing else of
any utensil kind. The mill-stones were of very coarse freestone, and from a
quarry about three miles distant; near twelve inches in diameter, and
picked and hollowed in the ordinary manner. In the bottom stone B was a
hole, as at n, where it is supposed an iron spike was fastened for the
top-stone A to turn upon, by means of an orifice at r. Down the conical
pipe m r the grain was supposed to fall between the stones, as from a
common hopper. Some had a hole in the side of the top stone as at o; others
were without, and others again were seemingly unfinished. On ploughing the
field, nothing more was discovered deserving particular notince, except
some ashes with the areas, and some burnt cobble-stones. - No remains of
any thing like fire-places were found in these walls; and, indeed, their
situation was rather too bleak for dwelling-houses.
{image = G776E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1776 p.574}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1776 p.574}
{header- Sailors, Whitehaven}
{image = G7760574.jpg}
November 22.
The Magistrates of Whitehaven issued an order, offering two guineas bounty
for every able sailor that should enter voluntarily with the proper officer
there, to serve the royal navy, in which they were followed by the
gentlemen of the town; so that every sailor who enters there will receive
9l. 4s.
The corporation of Newcastle have offered the same bounty with that of
Whitehaven.
{title- Gents Mag 1778 p.161}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1778 p.161}
{header- Land Tax, Westmorland and Cumberland}
{image = G7780161.jpg}
An equal LAND-TAX is by many warmly contended for. The following
Remarks from Nicolson and Burn's History and Antiquities
of Westmoreland and Cumberland, lately published, will furnish
their Opponents with a new Argument.
'It is a vulgar mistake,' (say the writers of the History and Antiquities
of Westmoreland and Cumberland,) 'that the former of these counties paid no
subsidies during the existence of the border service, as supposing it to be
exempted from such payment merely upon that account; for we find all along
such and such person (mentioned as) collectors of these subsidies in this
county granted both by clergy and laity.
'The land-tax succeeded into the place of subsidies; being not so properly
a new tax, as an old tax by a new name.
'From the reign of Edward III. downward, certain sums and proportions were
fixed upon the several townships within these respective counties,
according whereunto the taxation hath constantly been made.
'In process of time this valuation may be supposed to have become unequal,
especially since, by the increase of trade and manufactures in some large
towns, much wealth is accumulated within a small compass, the tax upon
which division continuing the same: and hence a new valuation hath often
been suggested to render this tax more adequate, which nevertheless from
the nature of the thing must always be fluctuating according to the
increase or diminution of property in different parts of the kingdom. But
in reality this notion proceeds upon a very narrow and partial principle:
an equal tax, according to what a man is worth, is one thing; and an equal
land-tax, all other taxes being unequal, is quite another.
'Setting aside the populous manufacturing towns, let us take the county of
Westmoreland in general, in which there is no such manufacturing town,
Kendal only excepted; and we shall find that this county, upon the whole,
taking all the taxes together, pays more to the government, in proportion
to the wealth of the inhabitants, than, perhaps, any other county in the
kingdom; and that is, by reason of its comparative populousness.
'Suppose a township (which is a common case in Westmoreland) worth
400l. a year: in this township there are about 40 messuages, and a
family in each messuage; and, at the proportion of five persons to a
family, there are 200 inhabitants. These, by their labour and what they
consume, are worth to the public double and treble the value of the
land-tax in its highest estimation. These 40 messuages, at 3s. each,
pay yearly 6l. house duty; and so many of them perhaps have above 7
windows as will make up 6l. more. Now let us advance further south,
and an estate of 400 a-year is there frequently in one hand. There is one
family, perhaps of 15 or 30 persons; one house-duty of 3s. some few
shillings more for windows, and a 10th part of the consumption of things
taxable; as salt, soap, leather, candles, and abundance of other articles.
Now where is the equality! One man for 5 or 10 pounds a-year pays as much
house-duty as another for 400l. a-year. In Westmoreland many persons
(and the clergy almost in general) dwell in houses that pay more house and
window duty than the house itself would let for: and in other respects the
public is as much benefited by three or four families occupying 10 or
20l. a-year each, as in the other case by one family occupying ten
times as much.
'It hath been computed by political calculators, that every person, one
with another, is worth to the public 4l. a-year. On that
supposition, the inhabitants in one case are estimated at 800l. in
the other case at 80l. so if we reduce the sum to half, or a
quarter, or any other sum, it will always come out the same that the one
and the other are of value to the public just in the proportion of 10 to 1.
'In short, populousness is the riches of a nation, not only from the
consumption of thinigs taxable, but from the supply of hands to arts,
manufactures, war, and commerce.
'A man who purchases an estate and lays it to his own, making one farm of
what was two before, deprives the public of a proportionable share of every
tax that depends upon the number of houses and inhabitants.
'A man that gets a whole village or two into his possession by this means,
consisting of an hundred antient feudal tenements, evades ninety-nine parts
in an hundred of such taxes, and throws the burden on others, who, by
reason of the smallness of their property, are proportionably less able to
bear it; for a man of an hundred pounds a year can better spare twenty
pounds, than a man of ten pounds a year can spare forty shillings, for the
one has eighty pounds left, the other only eight pounds.
'This new argument against altering the established mode of collecting the
land-tax, added to that of the danger of every innovation, how specious
soever the pretence.'
{title- Gents Mag 1778 p.189}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1778 p.189}
{header- John Paul Jones, Whitehaven}
{image = G7780189.jpg}
{text- April or May?}
Thursday 23.
The town of Whitehaven in Cumberland, opposite the Irish coast, was
suddenly alarmed by a party from an American privateer, who landed in the
night and set fire to one of the ships in the harbour, with a design to
burn the town, which, however, was providentially prevented by the exertion
of the inhabitants, who extinguished the flames before they had reached the
rigging. One of the party, who was left behind, on his examination
declared, that the party landed consisted of 30 men, that they belonged to
the Ranger privateer, fitted out at Piscataqua in New England, Capt. Jones
commander; that she mounted 18 guns besides swivels, and had on board
between 140 and 150 men; that she had taken two prizes and sent them into
France. The same privateer has since landed some men on the western coast
of Scotland, and pillaged the house of Lord Selkirk, near Kirkcudbright, of
plate, jewels, and all the moveables that were of value. His Lordship was
in London, but his Lady and family were in the house.
{title- Gents Mag 1779 opp p.65}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1779 opp p.65}
{header- Eruption of Solway Moss}
{image = G779M01.jpg}
{inscription- A PLAN OF / SOLWAY MOSS, / in / CUMBERLAND}
{title- Gents Mag 1779 p.65}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1779 p.65}
{image = G7790065.jpg}
Mr. URBAN,
BY giving the following short account of the eruption of Solway Moss
a place in your valuable miscellany, you may possibly entertain some of
your readers.
Yours, &c.
J. F--R.
SOME years ago there happened a most dreadful inundation, occasioned by the
eruption of Solway Moss, near Longtown, in Cumberland,
which did incredibale damage in those parts, and considerably changed the
aspect of the country. As I lately visited it, I took a draught of the
moss, as it now appears, which I send you, with a brief, but I believe as
genuine an account as any that has hitherto been made public. (See the
Plate.)
It broke out in the night of 16th of November, 1771:- the inhabitants who
lived near it were greatly alarmed with an unusual noise made at its
discharge; and, remaining ignorant of the cause of their terror till the
morning, some were suprized with it even in their beds, and many by the
entrance it made into their houses. About four hundred acres of land were
covered with this heathy surface, the houses either overwhelmed or swept
away by the current; many cattle were suffocated, but happily not a human
life was lost: several bridges in this and the neighbouring counties were
broke down by the violence of three days rain, which preceded this
eruption: peoplpe from all parts flocked to see this wonderful phaenomenon,
whic continued moving slowly for several days, till at last it mixed its
stream with the Esk, and totally stopped the course of that river
for some time. This black deluge so lowered the surface of the moss, which
before was a plain, but now sunk in the form of a vast bason, as to give
the northern parts new views of land concealed before.
(We are the more readily inclined to oblige our correspondent, as we do not
remember to have seen so extensive a plan of the moss and its environs in
any other printed account of this eruption - See Vol.XLI. p.567. Vol.XLII.
p.41. Vol.XLIII. p.265. - Phil. Trans. Vol.LXII. p.123. - Pennant's Tour,
1772, pp.65,66.)
{title- Gents Mag 1780 p.130}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1780 p.130}
{header- All Saints, Bolton, Carvings}
{image = G7800130.jpg}
{image = G780E01.jpg}
{image = G780E02.jpg}
These figures are carved upon a stone joining to the Inscription as in the
plate.
The size of these two stones is not specified, any more than the time when
they were first noticed; and, whether owing to any accident, as plaister
falling off, it seems, however, to be quite a modern discovery, as Dr.
Burn, whose History of Cumberland was published in 1777, mentions nothing
of it.
This Inscription is on a stone above the old door-way, on the outside of
the North wall of the Chapel of Bolton.
The characters and points are both exactly represented.
The places marked [hash] are convex; where probably some letter or letters
are defaced.
And those marked ---- are long spaces; where no characters appear.
Bolton Chapel stands in the parish of Morland, about four miles North of
Appleby, to which it is adjoining, on the Western bank of the river Eden,
in Cumberland.
{title- Gents Mag 1780 p.131}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1780 p.131}
{image = G7800131.jpg}
Mr. URBAN,
A FEW days ago I receieved the annexed sculpture and inscription from a
good friend at Lancaster, who hoped that I might be able to throw some
light upon it; which, I frankly own, I am not able to do: but as others may
be more fortunate, to them I recommend it through your channel; and if it
may save them some trouble, I will just mention what has occurred to them
on the subject. To begin with the Carving; which one would expect would
speak an universal language, and consequently be readily made out; which is
not, however, the case, at least with me. I see two combatants, seemingly
cased in armour from head to feet; the helmets of both are remarkably
pointed at top; and both plainly have stirrups, which seem to grow out of
the belly of the horses, without any the least appearance of
stirrup-leathers. The horses too of both seem compleatly cased in leather
at least, as they exhibit no eyes, mouths, ears, or manes: but as their
tails too seem equally covered, (looking more like those of large rams)
perhaps the uniformity of their whole appearance should be charged to the
badness of the carving: though I think not, no more than to being worn
smooth by time and weather: the stirrups might be fastened to this case or
shell. One bears on his left arm an oval shield, which, I believe, is an
uncommon shape: his right hand is raised level with his shoulder, and he
pushes a tilting spear (I venture to call it so from its swelling bigger in
the middle) into the neck of his adversary, who lifts up his left hand, and
lowers the banner in his right hand; both seemingly in token of yielding.
It is observable that there is no appearance of his having a shield; nor
has his banneret any apparent head or spike to it, and the staff is
uniformly slender throughout. This, one should suppose, was the
representation of some formal combat: but in these it was usual to be very
exact in seeing that the combatants arms were the same in size, &c. and
from the cut or indented shape of the banneret, we must conclude, that it
is the Gonfannen or Ecclesiastical banner: such, I supose, was St.
Cuthbert's, at Durham; which, besides appearing in processions, was
sometimes advanced against the Scots, with good success: but if so, this
must be the champion, Vower, advocate or avoué of the
church in some dispute; and that the fight should refer to somewhat of this
kind , is natural enough to think, from the place where it is fixed. But we
may well wonder why a defeat of a son militant of the church should be
represented.
If I have made but little out of the carving, I am afraid I shall come off
still worse with the inscription. In it I observe two crosses, + +.
Combatants crossed themselves before they began to engage; and children
before they ventured upon their A B C, hence called the Christ's-cross-row,
and the sign of it is still prefixed as a mark or direction to them in
their hornbooks.
{image = G780E03.jpg}
if the first word of the 4th line ends like justitie, maestitie, tristitie,
&c. are employed in this short inscription. The two first words, as I
venture to call them, seem exceedingly like those that compose the last
line; except a final horizontal stroke in the middle of a perpendicular
stem of the 1st letter, which, perhaps, was not visible in the
correspondent one of the last line, or was over-looked. If it ought not to
be at all in the first letter, then one might read DominuS LVR RENDE WERE
DVN ASHVM MILES DE BO ELTYN. Ð the first letter may be supposed to
be the Saxon Ð; but that is, I believe, always formed with a stroke
of equaly length on both sides of the perpendicular one; which is not so
here; and if it was, no more insight into the meaning is gained.
Mr. Burn, in his History of Cumberland. p.454, informs us, that Boeltun was
one of the four ancient ways of writing Bolton. If it should be thought
that the copy doth not justifying supposing that more than a single letter
is wanting in M E S, we should consider that it might be wrote L E S: the I
being included in L, either thus [L with a stoke] or thus
{image = G780E04.jpg}
differing only in length. But a still greater difficulty with me, is the
knight's being loaded with three names, at a time when very great people
had often no more than a short
mono-
{title- Gents Mag 1780 p.132}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1780 p.132}
{image = G7800132.jpg}
monosysllable, as Grip, Girt, &c. If we go another way to work, and
suppose the first letter to be an E, then, considering that not only the
next parish church of Appleby is styled in record, Ecclesia Sti Laurentii
de Appleby; and that the parish church of Morland, in which parish our
chapel stands, is dedicated to the same saint; Burn I, 443 (though our
chapel is to All Saints; see Ecton's Valor) we might be tempted to read
Ecclesia DE S LaVRRENDE, the last letter but one being a mistake for C or
T; or else should be separated, and form DE: but neither doth this satisfy;
for though I have turned over Mr. Burn's two volumes very carefully on this
occasion; in which there are some thousands of persons and place names
mentioned, yet I can find none that one can suppose to be here meant. Nor
doth the Baronetage article, Lorraine of Northumberland, afford any variety
of assistance, Mr. Burn mentions, vol. I. p.51. Estate of Loring, and Sir
Nigel Loring, vol. I. p.153, but he has no Weredun, or Verdon; but Warton,
Wartun, Wherton, Quherton, pp.1, 11, 12, 36, 39, 41, 62, 234, 264, 558.
There is said to be a Wardon or Wardrew iin Northumberland. Heylin's Help
to History, p.436, No.114, barely mentions a Baron Verdon, who is probably
no more ours than his Baron Leidurne; p.445, No.275, has any thing to do
with the middle of our 5th line. Mr. Burn has a Laborne, v.i. p.143, 144,
and he likewise informs us, Cumb. I, p.420, that Axham was anciently wrote
in the most authentic instruments ASCYM or ASCOM. But our H is so
remarkably large and plain, that it cannot be mistaken for a K. To go on, I
cannot desire anybody to read AnnO A A Reparata S a lute; as I see
nodate, except CV be one, and M omitted. The middle word of line 4th, if
other things conspired kindly, might tempt one to read MVRum, to
commemorate the building of the very wall, as hanc fenestram fecit,
&c. Burn I, p.75. The fifth line, if an Antiquary could be other than a
sad creature, he would think for Lilliburlaro; and that the usual ORATe prO
a Ni M, was intended to follow. But when in so many suppositions not a
single one seems plausible, it is time to give up, and express one's
wishes, that others may only not be misled by any thing here said, as
perhaps they would have done better, if left entirely to themselves,
instead of being put on a wrong scent; and I assure them, when they make
all clear, as they will do, who settle the reading rightly and truly, that
I shall be pleased to see how easily and luminously they proceed on, where
I could not see a step before me, nor even where I was.
{title- Gents Mag 1780 p.373}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1780 p.373}
{image = G7800373.jpg}
Mr. URBAN,
TO remove the perplexities in which your anonymous correspondent, p.131,
finds himself involved by the carving and inscription at Bolton, you will
please to inform him, that there is nothing uncommon in the figures, either
of the men or horses, as represented in his friend's drawing, admitting it
to be a faithful one, which may perhaps be doubted. If time has not made
the figures ruder than the carver or draughtsman formed them, he need go no
further then the famous tapestry of Bayeux for their parallels. He will
there find the same pointed helmets, oval shields, indented banners,
stirrups not growing out of the horses bellies, but affixed to the
saddle. The inscription is composed of the same kind of letters. The
crosses are prefixed to it as in all of this and earlier as well as later
periods. In that at Kirkdale (Arch. V. p.188, Pl.IV.) we see the cross at
the beginning of different sentences, and at the end of the whole. That the
language of our inscription is Saxon appears from the first letter
Ð, which probably is followed by a single expressing ER. Lurren
de may be luffende living: weredun, ƿerðn,
werdun, were. dns Hugo miles de Boeltun.
ÐER LYFFENDE ÞEREDVN DNS HV. . MLES DE BOELTVN.
This may be one sentence; and this conjecture may or may not be right: but
futher this deponent saith not, except that the last two words of the
remaining part resemble the two first of the preceeding. Dr. Burn cannot
help us out; for he goes no further back than the time of Edward II. A
corrector copy might clear its own way: but the present may prove a Gordian
knot to T. Row or Maister Somerset.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1782 pp.550-551}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1782 pp.550-551}
{header- Longevity, Martin Stevenson}
{image = G7820550.jpg}
Oct. 17. At Kentmere, in Westmoreland, Mr. Martin Stevenson, in the 117th
year of his age. He began life in life with a capital of 16 shillings, and
ended it with
leaving,
leaving, by will, 18,000l. accumulated by parsimony. He lived and died a
bachelor; his only domestics being his housekeeper and his dog, and left
his whole fortune to a man who was no relation.
{title- Gents Mag 1783 p.538}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1783 p.538}
{header- Price of Corn}
{image = G783E01.jpg}
{text- Corn prices are quoted in other issues of the magazine.}
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.68}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.68}
{header- Births, Marriages, Deaths, Whitehaven and Carlisle}
{image = G7850068.jpg}
At Whitehaven, in the course of last year, there were 349
christenings, 91 marriages, 401 burials. Increased in christenings 23;
decreased in marriages 20; increased in burials 62.
At Carlisle there were births, males 103, females 230, in all 133;
burials, 153. The births of the Dissenters are not included.
{title- Gents Mag 1785 opp p.332}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 opp p.332}
{header- Ring Pin, Flusco Pike}
{image = G785E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.347}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.347}
{header- Ring Pin, Flusco Pike}
{image = G7850347.jpg}
B. C. Durham.
Mr. URBAN,
I SEND you the drawing of a fibula of uncommon magnitude and weight, found
in April last, at Huskew Pike, an eminence distant from Penrith in
Cumberland about three miles, on the Keswick road, (See the plate,
fig. 8.) In searching for stones, several urns, and other remains of
human sepulture, have been found at this place; but history is silent
touching the people here interred, or whether the occasion was public: the
adjacent country was the scene of many deadly conflicts in early ages. The
fibula is of silver, and coarse workmanship; the diameter of the circle is
seven inches and a half; the studs or buttons are hollow, and fitted on
without solder; it has never been burnished, as appears by the hammer marks
remaining: the length of the tongue, or spear, is twenty inches and three
quarters; and the whole weight is twenty-five ounces. I hope some of your
correspondents will discover its proper use, as it seems to be too heavy an
ornament for a man's apparel.
Yours,
W.H.
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.843}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.843}
{header- Agricultural Drainage}
{image = G7850843.jpg}
MR. URBAN,
IF you can find room in your entertaining miscellany for the sentiments of
an old traveller, who in September last reviewed a part of this Island
which he had passed over forty years ago, you will oblige.
A CONSTANT READER.
In the Eastern parts of the counties of York, Durham, and Northumberland,
and the low-lands of Scotland, I saw some hundred thousands of acres added
to the national stock. These lands, forty years ago, consisted of boggy
peat-moss, or heath soil, which, at that time, were not worth more than
from six pence to three shillings per acre (now let at twenty shillings per
acre), yielding only a scanty pittance for a few half-starved sheep, colts,
and young cattle, with here and there a bush, shrub, or dwarf-tree; without
a hedge, a few stone-walls, low-mould fences, or shallow ditches, to mark
boundaries; travelling miles without seeing a human face, or the habitation
of one, which when you did was the dwelling of a miserable farmer, scarce
able to exist. Sometimes, indeed, the eye was a little cheered by seeing a
stone-house of the owner of some land, guarded by stone-walls, with a small
garden and improved land, ornamented with a few sycamores and alder-trees.
I am now, in September 1785, happy to give you a different landscape; the
boggy and peat-land drained, producing oats or potatoes; the barren heath
converted into grass, meadow-land, or corn-fields, smiling with plenty of
golden wheat or barley, ornamented here and there with pine clumps,
sometimes mixed with ash, beech, and young oaks; the lands divided by
luxuriant white-thorn hedges, which here thrive amazingly well, and those
near the noblemen's seats are kept in excellent order: indeed there is one,
in particular, Mr. Brandling, one of the present members for Newcastle,
seems sensible of the white-thorn as a timber-tree, which sometimes grows
to a lrage size, and is the most beautiful wood for cabinet-makers use,
being much superior in texture, colour, and veins, where knots are, to any
other wood now in use. I observed in this gentleman's hedges, at the
distance of every ten or twenty yards, one of these being straiter and
taller than the rest, singled out, growing two or three feet above the rest
of the hedges. This mode I also observed was followed by two or three
gentlemen in Ayrshire. I dwell the longer on this wood because very few
know its value, and to what size it will grow. I have seen one of these
trees in the county of Middlesex, where they do not thrive so well as in
the North, grow straight from the root to its branches twelve feet high,
and at five feet above the ground, measure in the girth five feet and a
half; but the tree was then decaying, and I saw from one of its branches
planks of seven inches width cut from it; and of this one branch two large
elbow chairs, one good sized table, and two tea-trays, and two
tea-canisters, were made, the most beautiful I ever saw. The Duke of Argyle
has several of these trees tolerably
strait,
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.844}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.844}
{image = G7850844.jpg}
strait, of a good height, which measure near four feet in the girth.
These landscapes are much ornamented by noblemens and gentlemens houses,
repaired or new built, some in an elegant style.
The reader will now be pleased by travelling with me into Scotland, where,
in the lowlands, they tread very close on the heels of the English, both in
respect to the improvement in their farms as well as their buildings. But
here my pleasure was much abated, when, asking my postilions, Whose seat is
that? whom does that fine house belong to? &c. I was generally or
frequently answered, To Colonel such a one, Major such a one, or Captain
such a one, lately come from the East Indies.
On my arrival at Edinburgh, I was surprized and delighted at the sight of
the New Town. The contrast astonishes you: but what increased my surprize
was, the being told, that the foundation of another wing to that city,
opposite to it, was going to be laid; and that another levelling-bridge of
communication was to be erected opposite that leading to the New Town; for
which purpose, it appeared to me not less thah the dwellings of 100
families must come down, to make room for the avenue onnly. The expence of
this undertaking seems so immense, that there must be other mines than
those of stone found for its completion.
Glasgow I saw less extended, but greatly inproved. I had seen it a handsome
regular well-built city before; but now more elegant, by some noble
buildings and new streets, composed of houses for siingle families. Most of
the old buildings resemble Edinburgh too much in high houses, though
nothing like so inconvenient as the old city of Edinburgh.
Before I quit Scotland, I must observe, that the greatest improvements in
farming, and in laying out the lands, are in Ayrshire; though the land does
not appear to be better, if so good, as in other parts: all which, I hear,
is owing to the encouragement given to the tenants by the gentlemen of that
shire.After these delightful improvements, which I have already mentioned,
in England and Scotland, I must claim the reader's company to the estate of
the late Dr. Graham, of Netherby in Cumberland, which far outstrips them
all.
When this gentleman came into possession of this estate, I believe about 25
years ago, on the death of his aunt the Lady Widrington, the rent-roll was
said to be near 2000l per annum; and how it could produce that, I can
hardly conceive; for all the lands I had then been over, those appeared the
most unpromising, and the least capable of improvement. But let us see what
a good understanding, common sense, attentive observation, and the love of
his family and country, will do.
In 16 years after his residence at Netherby, the nett produce of this
estate was 10,000l. per annum; and before his death, I have been informed,
was advanced to 13,000l.per annum; and that if his son, Sir James Graham,
the present possessor, treads in the steps of his father, it will, in the
course of a very few years, amount to 20,000l. per annum clear of all
deductions. And how has this immense increase of fortune been obtained? Not
by rack-renting his tenants, for that would have reduced his 2 to 1000l.per
annum!
Not by mines, for I never heard that he had any in his estate; nor by
raising their rents; no; nor by fines, for that would have disenabled them
to labour for the advantage of their landlord, and have operated like the
taxes laid on the Americans.
It was simply thus: by draining, manuring, and planting. His method was, to
drain and manure 1000 acres for tillage, grass, or meadow land; then build
villages, consisting of eight or ten houses, with the necessary
out-buildings, allotting to each so many acres, and then letting them to
the most industrious among his married neighbours, frequently rent-free for
one or two years, or until they were able to pay rent.
At the same time that he was thus improving and peopling his lands, he was
reviving or building towns, erecting churches, building iins,and furnishing
the industrious with the means of accommodating the traveller, the
gentlemen, and the nobleman, with carriages and post-horses. In short, this
worthy member of society so improved this part of the country, from a cold
moist clay, heath, and peat-land, that it is now the garden of that part of
the country, and wears the appearance of the most improved soil about the
metropolis. He has raised a princley estate for his family; added so many
thousand
acres
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.845}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.845}
{image = G7850845.jpg}
acres to the national stock; and at the same time been a singular blessing
to his tenants, and to all around him, as well as to many gentlemen in that
county, who trod in his steps; and one gentleman * in particular, I
am informed, for I have not seen it, has not only followed his mode of
draining his lands, but has so much improved upon it as to reduce the
expence per acre to one-third, without oppressing the poor labourer.
And here let me add, that Dr. Graham, amidst much attention to the
improvement of his estate, was not neglectful of the comforts and
elegancies of life; he having built himself a very handsome house, with
every convenience in and about it, fit for a gentleman of fortune, with
doors of hospitality to it. Go, ye nobles and gentlemen of landed estates!
- go and do likewise! Here I mean not to address the Dukes of Argyle,
Athol, and Northumberland, nor the Earl of Bredalbane, and some other of
the Northern gentry, they having made great improvements, and at the same
time been a blessing to their country.
How greatly to their credit, advantage and satisfaction, would the rest of
the nobility and gentry in this island tread in the steps of the worthy Dr.
Graham, instead of employing their time and fortunes in corrupting the
electors of a county, town, or paltry borough, to make dependant
members of parliament, to the destruction of that constitution they are
bound by every tie of confidence, duty, and interest to preserve and
defend.
E. B.
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.969}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.969}
{header- Lord Wharton's Tomb}
{image = G7850969.jpg}
MR. URBAN,
ON the N. side of the chancel of the church of Kirkby Stephen, in
Westmoreland, is an aisle belonging to the Wharton family, in which is a
large monument of alabaster, consisting of a table six feet square, raised
three feet and a half from the ground, and containing three figues, at full
length, of Thomas, the first Lord Wharton, in the middle, under whose head
is a bull's head, supposed by the common people to represent the devil in a
vanquished posture; on his right side, Eleanor his first wife, and on his
left his second wife Anne. About the table is the following legend:
Thomas Whartonus jaceo. hic utraque conjux:
Eleanora suum hinc, hinc habet Anna locum.
En tibi terra, tuum, carnes atque ossa resume;
In coelos animas, tu, Deus alme, tuum.
{title- Gents Mag 1785 p.970}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1785 p.970}
{image = G7850970.jpg}
The following jeu d' esprit has been given as a translation of the
above:
Here I, Thomas Wharton, do lie,
With Lucifer under my head,
And Nelly my wife hard by,
And Nancy as cold as lead:
O how can I speak without dread!
Who could my sad fortune abide!
With one devil under my head,
And another laid close on each side.
{title- Gents Mag 1787 p.74}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1787 p.74}
{header- Kendal Sunday Schools}
{image = G7870074.jpg}
The managers of the Sunday Schools at Kendal (in Westmoreland) have lately
published the annual report of their proceedings, by which it appears that
the whole number of Scholars admitted is 331; of these 47 are gone
apprentices or to service; at present 183 remain on the list. The
subscriptions amounted only to £.57 4s. 6d.
The address to the public on this occasion contains the following sensible
and important remarks: 'In this enlightened country, numbers of poor
children were found to be destitute of instruction, and wanting proper
education and proper examples, they remained in ignorance, or passed their
hours in idleness. Now at this early period of life it is impossible to be
idle, and at the same time innocent. But habits are gradually
formed; these are confirmed by bad company, and insensibly lead unthinking
youth into criminal excesses, sometimes even to the last stages of infamy
and ruin. - The Sabbath, being appointed to preserve the sense of religion
in the world, demands the serious regard of all ranks of men. On this much
depends. Some part of our time should certainly be devoted to religious
purposes: and if this day comes to be generally neglected or prophaned, it
is easy to foresee the consequences. It is therefore of no small moment
that the rising generation should be trained up in a regular observation of
the Sabbath, and instructed in those branches of knowledge which are suited
to their capacities, and tend to make them useful members of society.'
{title- Gents Mag 1787 p.842}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1787 p.842}
{header- Bishop Douglas}
{image = G7870842.jpg}
Aug. 26. With the sincerest pleasure we announce, that Dr. Douglas
kissed hands this day on a congé d'elire being isued,
recommending him to the vacant mitre of Carlisle. This is the species of
promotion which all the world must applaud. The sterling worth and
unassuming literary talents of the new Prelate are far beyond our eulogium,
but they are universally known and admired.
{title- Gents Mag 1788 p.310}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1788 p.310}
{header- Bishop Kite}
{text- In a list of prelates translated from Ireland to see's in England.}
{image = G7880310.jpg}
... ...
V. 1396. Robert Read, a Dominican friar, from Waterford to Carlisle, by
Papal bull. (ibid [Godwin], p.766.)
...
VIII. 1521. John Kite, from Armagh to Carlisle,or rather from Armagh to the
archbishoprick of Thebes, with which he held Carlisle, by a perpetual
comendam. (Ibid. p.770, not.1.) And it is observable, that in the
inscription on his monument in the chancel of Stepney church (Weever,
p.539), his archbishoprick in Greece is only mentioned:
In Greece Arch Byshop elected wortheley,
And late of Carliel rulying pastorally.
To accept the diminutive see of Carlisle in lieu of the primacy of all
Ireland, shewed a strong predilection for England. He probably took the
other titular archbishoprick, that he might not lose the titles usually
annexed to that superior dignity. - In the epitaph, which is in a language
very uncouth, he is denominated, 'John Kitte, Londoner natyffe.'
...
XIII. 1641. James Usher, from Armagh to Carlisle. It was not, strictly
speaking, a translation, because this excellent and eminently learned man
never ceded his archbishoprick; but, when compelled to leave Ireland, the
see of Carlisle was granted to him in commendam, that he might have
somewhat to support him. Godwin, p.772.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1788 p.803}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1788 p.803}
{header- Tour in England and Scotland}
{image = G7880803.jpg}
Review of New Publications
... ...
157. A Tour in England and Scotland, in 1785. By an
English Gentleman.
'THERE is not one hour in the life of any man that is exactly the same with
another during the whole course of his existence, from the cradle to the
grave.' This first observation and first sentence of this Tour, we venture
our reputation as Reviewers, is sufficient to ensure its sale among the
generality of readers, whether under the denomination of London Riders,
Phaeton Riders, Tabbies, and Reading Ladies of all ages in market-towns;
whether they wear large oval rings on the lower joints of their fore
fingers, or velvet bracelets round their tawny and skinny arms. All will
join in the truth of the great general observation, which they will
repeat before they say, How delightful a morning! or, What sad weather it
is! or the hundred other pertinent remarks which diversify the hours of man
and woman.
Reflections like this hover about our English Gentleman, from Oxford
Chapel-house, as they have done, and will do, round hundreds of his jolly
and fair fellow-saunterers from London to every good inn on the road to the
East, the West, the North, or the South points of the kingdom. He dined at
a very good inn, saw a very good house, gleaned two silly stories about Sam
Johnson at Lichfield, stared at a canal carried over a river, and a country
remarkabley full of thorn hedges.
P.50. 'Lancaster Castle, built by Agricola, though it bears all the
marks of antiquity, yet seems to be in a perfect state.' We never
before heard its date carried further back than to Constantiius. Mr.
Camden fixes it to no particular period.
P.55. 'The Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes afford most soothing
ideas and exquisite gratifications;' except when interrupted by
a thick fog, which was this poor gentleman's case ar Corriston (sic) Lake;
but when he did see it, he could not look down; i.e. pick his way
for staring at it.
P.67. 'Antiquarians have not been able to decypher the inscription on the
'stone
{title- Gents Mag 1788 p.804}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1788 p.804}
{image = G7880804.jpg}
'stone in Penrith church-yard.' This is the first time we ever heard there
was an inscription on it; and we dare not set our anonymous traveller's
opinion against the respectable names that have gone this way before him.
P.82, 83. The falls of the Clyde ...
{text- With continued observations of bombast, errors, and hyperbole; the
reviewer is not favourably impressed.}
{title- Gents Mag 1788 p.950}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1788 p.950}
{header- William Gilpin's Observations on the Northern Lakes}
{image = G7880950.jpg}
Oct. 24.
Mr. URBAN,
I HAVE latly perused Mr. Gilpin's Observations on the Northern
Lakes, and think he has displayed great taste and judgement in
discriminating the beauties of landscape from its defects. I have long been
intimately acquainted with the scenes he delineates, and feel singular
satisfaction from the truth and brilliancy of his descriptions; but there
are some passages in his book, which, I presume, are fair subjects of
criticism. Having confined his travels to the limits of his native isle,
Mr. Gilpin seems to have formed erroneous notions of the face of foreign
countries, to have drawn comparisons, and to have settled precedences, with
being warranted by facts.
For example; it is surely too bold an assertion to pronounce, that England
excels all other countries in beauty of landscape. Had he confined it to
verdure and neatness, I should concur most heartility with him; but its
mountainous parts are inferior in every respect to similar tracts on the
Continent, and its lakes are certainly not superior in beauty to those of
Italy and Switzerland. An immense proportion of England is still
uncultivated, and void of picturesque charms; many of the cultivated parts
are ugly, almost all of them tame and uninteresting, in the opinion of a
painter. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1788 p.1107}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1788 p.1107}
{header- On Constancy}
{image = G7881107.jpg}
{text- The following verses would seem to be those referred to on p.1114,
vol.62, 1792}
On CONSTANCY
WHEN kindred hearts together join,
And like the oak and ivy twine,
How blest the happy pair!
But, should the oak receive a wound,
Is not the tendril ivy found
To feel an equal share?
Such union hearts with every feeelings glow
And "turning tremble at, or joy or woe."
The SIMILE.
The oak is man, in firmness drest,
With strength of fondness in his breast,
Delighting in the tie:-
The ivy is the gentle wife,
That clings around his happy life
With deathless constancy.
In life - she does her folding joys impart;
In death - she withers round the sapless heart.
{title- Gents Mag 1789 p.423}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1789 p.423}
{header- Bridewain}
{image = G7890423.jpg}
May 19.
Mr. URBAN,
AS a companion to the form of invitation to a Welch bidding, p.99, I have
herewith sent you the form of invitation to a Cumberland bridewain,
advertsied in the Cumberland Packet of April 1. It is usual on these
occasions to make the new-married couple (generally about a fortnight after
the ceremony) a present of money, or some houshold utensil or piece of
furniture, or sometimes, even to this day, a small portion of some kind of
grain. This formerly, when the circulation of coin was not so common in
that country, was the most usual offering.
J.H.
'BRIDEWAIN.
'There let Hymen oft appear,
In saffron robe, and taper clear,
And pomp, and feast, and revelry;
With mask and antick pageantry;
Such sights as youthful poets dream,
On summer's eves by haunted stream.
'George Hayton, who married Ann, the daughter of Joseph and Dinah Collin of
Crosby-mill, purposes having a bridewain at his house at Crosby, near
Maryport, on Thursday, the 7th day of May next (1789), where he will be
happy to see his friends and well-wishers; for whose amusement there will
be a variety of races, wrestling matches, &c. &c. &c. The
prizes will be a saddle; two bridles; a pair of gand-d'amour gloves, which
whoever wins is sure to be married within the twelvemonth; a belt (ceinture
de Venus) possessing qualities not to be described; and many other
articles, sports, and pastimes, too numerous to mention, but which can
never prove tedious in the exhibition.
'From Fashion's laws and customs free,
We follow sweet variety;
By turns we laugh, and dance, and sing,
Time for ever on the wing;
And nymphs and swains, on Cumbria's plain,
Present the Golden Age again.'
{title- Gents Mag 1789 p.663}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1789 p.663}
{header- Antiquities, Aspatria}
{image = G7890663.jpg}
COUNTRY NEWS.
A few days ago, as Mr. Rigg, surgeon in Aspatria, near Carlisle, was
superintending some labourers he had employed in levelling and (sic)
artificial mount, called Beacon-hill, close behind his house, in that
village, they dug into a cavity which contained the skeleton of a man,
entire from the crown of the head to the ancle-bone. Across the fore-head,
or more properly at the head of this gigantic skeleton, was found a sword;
the blade of which is remarkably broad, and the whole length (including the
handle, which is strongly plated, and ornamented both with gold and silver)
is five feet. Several pieces of armour were also found, and a dirk, or
hanger, the handle of which appears to be highly ornamented and studded
with silver.
- A belt was also dug up, the buckle of which is supposed to be gold; and a
breast-plate. The scabbard of the sword is of wood, and has been lined with
cloth, a part of which adheres to the rust on the blade. The place in which
these remains were found is about three yards deep, measuring from the top
of the hill, and as many feet below the surface of the ground at its base;
the last depth is walled round, and the cavity was covered with large
stones, on some of which are inscriptions, not yet understood.
{title- Gents Mag 1789 opp p.799}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1789 opp p.799}
{header- Stone Age Tools}
{image = G789E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1789 p.799}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1789 p.799}
{header- Stone Age Tools}
{image = G7890799.jpg}
Kendal, Aug. 24.
Mr. URBAN,
IT appears from the discoveries of modern travellers, that in countries
where iron has not been introduced, various hard bodies are substituted in
its room by the natives; and the works they are able to accomplish, by
instruments made of very unlikely materials, are truly surprising; their
boats, their bows, and spears, are neatly formed, and curiously carved,
with tools consisteing of nothing but stones, bones, shells, and various
kinds of hard wood.
Now, since we are convinced by actual observation that man, in one part of
the world can perform various mechanical operations by the help of such
implements alone, it cannot be questioned that the inhabitants of a
different climate would have recourse to the same methods under similar
circumstances; and it is highly probable that the predecessors of the
polished Europeans have, at some distant period, made use of such
instruments as are now employed by the savages of America and the Southern
islands. It would be in vain to expect, that the history of any nation
should furnish facts to establish this opinion from the customs of the
people whose transactions it commemorates, for man must always make a
considerable progress in civilization before he will attend to letters; and
as metals are so necessary to his refinement, these instruments have been
laid aside and forgot in every country before the commencement of its
history. Hence it happens that it is in the annals of more polished nations
alone we find proofs of their existence, when the historians accidentally
mentions the manners of his ruder neighbours. Thus it appears from Exodus
iv. 25, that the Midianites used a sharp stone instead of a knife in the
time of Moses. Stones and clubs were undoubtedly the first offensive
weapons; and it is positively asserted by Pliny, that the latter were used
by the Libyans in an antient war which this people had with the Egyptians.
An author, whose name at present I cannot recollect, informs us, that the
maritime nations of Italy formerly pointed their darts with the bony
termination of the tail of the fireflair. Tacitus says, that the Germans,
in his time, headed their spears very sparingly with iron, which they
obtained by barter from the Gauls and Italians; but that the Finni, a very
extensive tribe, but ruder than the rest, without cattle, and without
habitations, depended on their bows for subsistence; and it would be folly
to suppose that a people, thus destitute in arts and commerce; could
procure any other tips for their arrows than those of the simplest kind.
Perhaps more circumstantial proofs of the primitive simplicity of our
ancestors might be brought to light, by an attentive enquiry into the
subject; but the facts abovementioned are sufficient to make it appear,
that both Europe and Asia have been indebted for their conveniences to
those things which constitute the arts and riches of a modern savage.
There is not, as far as I know, any historic evidence proving that these
primitive instruments were ever used by the antient Britons. Julius Caesar,
who describes their manners, found them possessed of copper and iron,
though sufficiently barbarous in other respects; the former they obtained
by commerce, and the latter was extracted from the ore by the inhabitants
of the coast, who, being of Gallic extractions, were acquainted with the
arts of the Continent. By this early intercocurse between our ancestors and
their more cultivated neighbours, the Romans were prevented from observing
those sequestered islanders in their native simplicity: they had surmounted
the more destitute condition of savage life previous to the first visit of
their conquerors; and before the commencement of their history they were
become too sensible of the superior advantages of metals, to depend on
implements made of more imperfect materials. But the researches of the
Antiquary have supplied the defects of written records, flints are found in
different parts of Scotland, which have been fashioned with great labour
into the heads of arrows. The stone from which these views are given
(pl.II. fig. 6, 7, 8) is of the same date, and from the same hands.
It was found in a rivulet in the North of Cumberland. The peculiarity of
its form renders it impossible to determine its precise use. It has
evidently been intended for an offensive weapon, and its employer, in all
probability, either tied it to the end of a thong, or fixed it in a wicker
handle. If we suppose it to have ebeen an instrument of
war,
{title- Gents Mag 1789 p.800}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1789 p.800}
{image = G7890800.jpg}
war, it was certainly used in close fight, for no man would throw a thing
into a hostile crowd, the loss of which could only be repaired with very
great labour. If we imagine it to have been used against wild animals,
there is not the same obbjection against its having been a missive weapon.
Lastly, we may reasonably enough conjecture, that it was employed by the
Druids, in their sacrifices, for slaying the victims.
D. G.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.18}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.18}
{image = G7900018.jpg}
Jan. 19.
Mr. URBAN,
IN your vol.LIX. p.799, D.G. describes a stone, which, he tells us, was
found in a rivulet in the North of Cumberland, and which he supposes is
evidently shaped by art, for the purpose of war, of hunting, or the
sacrificing of victims by the Druids. The plate you have given is no doubt
descriptive of its figure; but it is to be lamented that your correspondent
has not given its weight, specific gravity, compossition, or any account of
its external appearance: not does he, in my opinion, assign any weighty
reasons for supposing it to be of human invention. From a stone of a
somewhat similar appearance which I have seen, I am inclined to suspect it
to be rather a production of Nature than of Art; but this I speak with all
possible deference, because we have not sufficient data given in his
account, to ascertain whether it is of a similar kind with that I have to
describe, or not.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.57}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.57}
{header- James Clarke's Survey of the Lakes}
{image = G7900057.jpg}
A Survey of the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmorland, and
Lancashire; together with an Account, historical, topographical, and
descriptive, of the adjacent Country. To which is added, A Sketch of the
Border Laws and Customs. By James Clarke, Land-surveyor. Penrith
printed. folio.
THE thirst after variety having awakened a curiosity to visit the lakes in
our own country, Mr. C. proposed a subscription, 1787, for a survey of
them, in eleven large and beautiful plates, consisting of the roads to
them, with the adjacent country, and then the lakes themselves, with their
environs; which he completed in 1789.
The Introduction, in upwards of 40 pages, contains an account of the
manners, customs, and dialects of the inhabitants, and of the scenery of
the country, with strictures on the accounts of our tour-writers and
describers of these lakes; such as Gray, Pennant, West, Hutchinson,
Young, Gilpin, &c. &c. - The Border-history, or a farther view of
the state and customs of the Marches, or debateable land, in several pages,
concludes the whole.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.85}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.85}
{header- Obituary, Donald M'Leod}
{image = G7900085.jpg}
{text- obituary}
At Lowther-hall, co. Westmorland, aged 83, Mr. Donald M'Leod. He was
respected as an honest man and an agreeable companion; and was no less
distinguished as a soldier, during 50 years service. He was at the siege of
Carthagena, under Gen. Wentworth, in 1741, and one of eleven only who
survived out of the whole regiment. He also fought in Fleming's regiment,
under the late Duke of Cumberland, at Fontenoy, &c.; likewise at
Falkirk and Culloden, against the rebels: in all which actions he supported
the character of a brave soldier; and, after many hair-breadth escapes,
ended his mortal pilgrimage in rural and peaceful retirement.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.172}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.172}
{header- A Hare in Court}
{image = G7900172.jpg}
... ...
On the 18th of January, while the sessions was holding at
Cockermouth, a hare which had escaped her pursuers made the best of
her way over Derwent Bridge, streight up the street, where, meeting with
some interruption, she darted through the window into the room of the
Globe-inn, where the clerk of the peace was surrounded by a crowd of his
fraternity; and placing herself upon the table, among the papers and
law-processes of office, squatted, without apprehending the danger of the
company she was in. As soon as the consternation was over which had taken
place on that occasion, poor Puss was instantly seized, and without judge
or or jury inhumanly put to death, though no other crime was alleged
against her except that of forcible entry. She was then committed to
the custody of the cook, who roasted her without mercy; and, strange to
tell! she was afterwards eaten in this Christian country, by the canibals
who had butchered her, with savage triumph, and without remorse!
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.272}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.272}
{image = G7900272.jpg}
Additions to, and Corrections in, ...
... ...
P.57. The introduction to Clark, "Survey of Lakes," and great part of the
work itself, was written by Mr. Is. Rittson, translator of Homer's "Hymn to
Venus." Mr. C. (sic) was a schoolmaster at Penrith in a lucrative and
respectable situation; but quitting it, went to Edinburgh to study physic
under the late Dr. Brown, who came to London, and died about the same time
with his pupil.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.463}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.463}
{header- Earthquake, Arnside}
{image = G7900463.jpg}
COUNTRY NEWS
A very singular phaenomenon happened at Arnside, in Westmoreland.
Very early in the morning of the 6th of March, a noise louder than thunder
was heard issuing from the earth, which so much alarmed the inhabitants,
that they fled in consternation from their houses to a considerable
distance. When the approach of day-light made objects discernible, a
subterraneous chasm of great depth appeared to be the effect of this
convulsion of nature. - Several cattle and horses are missing, and are
supposed to have been swallowed up. - From all the circumstances that can
be collected, it appears to have been one of those local earthquakes that
sometimes happen in particular parts of the country, without being felt at
much distance from the scene.
{text- Earthquake? or a landslide.}
{series- society & education}
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.505}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.505}
{header- Customs in Cumberland}
{image = G7900505.jpg}
Digg, Cumberland, June 2.
Mr. URBAN,
THE South of Cumberland, the place of my nativity and general residence,
has of late years experienced as rapid an improvement as, perhaps, any part
of England. This, in a great measure, may be attributed to the increase of
the coal-trade that is carried on from this coast to Dublin, and most other
ports of Ireland. This trade alone employs upwards of two hundred and fifty
vessels, from seventy to two hundred tons in burthen. So that coal may be
termed the great staple of Cumberland, proving the source of a continual
influx of money into the country. At the beginning of this century, the
inhabitants were in a state bordering on extreme indigence and ignorance.
Large families on small estates could but with difficulty earn a
subsistence for themselves; they lived barely on the product of their
little farms, without either a hope or desire of raising fortunes. Knowing
no better condition, they, however, enjoyed their lot with content, and
that was their happiness. Hospitality was prevalent in every heart; though
the means of indulging it were bounded within a narrow compass. A
disposition social and agreeable smiled serenely in poverty. Thus Horace
says,
Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum
Splendet in mensa tenui salinum;
Nec leves somnos timor aut cupido
Sordidus ausert.
Indeed with these good qualities they were generally very superstitious;
there was some gloomy place or other, in almost every village, supposed to
be the haunt of spirits and apparitions. Besides, there were witches and
fairies in abundance. If any person wiser or more learned than his fellows
rose among them, it was well if such escaped without the imputation of
being conversant with the devil. Some traits of this weak superstition are
still discernible.
Schools at this time were rare, and a master's wages not more than six
pence a quarter. But about fifty years ago, many free-schools were founded
in different parishes, and endowed at the bequest of the more
liberal-minded, and such as were well-wishers to learning. A salary of
about ten pounds per annum was settled upon these schools; a sum
thought sufficient for the maintenance of the master, without any expence
to the scholar, the freedom of the school being granted to the respective
parishes. Here are several chapels with stipends under twenty pounds; some
fall short of ten; which, notwithstanding, have each a clergyman. Prior to
their augmentation by Queen Anne's bounty, the inhabitants hired
lay-readers for about forty shillings a year.
To give some idea, Mr. Urban, of their acquaintance with foreign luxuries,
a circumstance has occurred to my remembrance, which happened here within
these few years, and may be depended on for a fact. A good house-wife
received a pound of tea as a present from a friend abroad; so she called
her neighbours together to partake of this great rarity, prepared indeed in
a manner truly novel. First she boiled the herb, and strained off the
liquor, and then served it up in a dish, after it was properly seasoned
with salt, butter, and other choice ingredients. Her guests, ignorant about
it as herself, en-
joyed
{series- society & education}
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.506}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.506}
{image = G7900506.jpg}
[en]joyed it in this state of preparation. - Not long since, a knife and
its corresponding fork were all a family possessed; and to any
entertainment every one carried his pair with him.
But things are now assuming a new appearance. The rust of poverty and
ignorance is gradually wearing off. Estates are bought up into fewer hands;
and the poorer sort of people remove into towns, to gain a livelihood by
handicrafts or commerce. Lands increase fast in value: the houses (or
rather huts) of clay, which were small, and ill-built, are mostly thrown
down; instead of which, strong and roomy farm-houses are built, and
building, with hard durable stone, which is very plentiful here; quarries
of red and white stone being frequent, and plenty of excellent slate in the
mountains.
We have an ancient custom of living on fried rashers on the Monday before
Lent. May not this be a remnant of Popery that has not yet receded from
this distant quarter, when the Catholicks left off the use of flesh for the
forty days of Lent?
RETROSPECTOR.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 opp p.708}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 opp p.708}
{header- Coins, Dean}
{image = G790E02.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.708}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.708}
{header- Coins, Dean}
{image = G7900708.jpg}
Newtown Stewart, July 14.
Mr. URBAN,
IN passing through Keswick, in order to visit its celebrated lake, I met
with some coins, in the possession of Mr. Crosthwaite, who exhibits an
interesting little museum there, He informed me, that they had been
deposited in a leaden vessel, and were discovered in the village of Dean,
about twelve miles West of Keswick, by a cow's treading upon the spot where
it lay concealed, Mr. Crosthwaite procured eleven, bearing the mark of a
cross, and twenty of different sizes and various impressions, but similar
in coinage to that in Plate III. No.9, which I have endeavoured to
give a representation of. I have taken the exact size of the coins
described; and all of those (excepting No 3), having Saxon characters, were
in excellent preservation; some of the other class had suffered. The
inscription upon No 1 appeared to me to be LAMBERTUS IMPE; reverse,
CHRISTIANA RELIGIO: No 2, BORACE; the reverse I could not read: No 3,
ERIR..ENER; reverse ... No 4. SC. (perhaps SANCTUS) EADMUND R.; reverse,
BERA MONETs. No 5, S. CEAIDN.; which I conjecture to be a coin of the last
monarch, as also the three with Saxon characters, not represented, as they
seem to vary only by the change of one or two letters, and the name of the
moneyers. No 6, PILM REX; reverse, C. IMNELR: supposing this to be
William's, it differs from any I have seen represented. Nos 7 and 8 were
decidedly of Edward's, and the characters perfectly distinct.
In hopes that this communication, respecting so extraordinary a mixture of
coins, may be interesting to some of your correspondents, and that
intelligence may be conveyed through the channel of your useful Magazine
concerning them, I take the liberty to trouble you; and am, with respect,
A LOVER OF ANTIQUITIES.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.930}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.930}
{header- William Gilpin's Picturesque Beauty}
{image = G7900930.jpg}
Review of New Publications
... Observations Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty ... William Gilpin
...
... ...
What would our modern philosophers say to the following manly and true
remarks on the dismal dungeons of Cockermouth castle, II. 150? "It makes
one shudder to think of a human creature shut up in those chambers of
horror. How dreadful would it be for the people of these more polished
times to be carried back into those barbarous periods when these savage
practices existed! And yet there is such a correspondence throughout the
whole system of manners in each aera, that people are happier, perhaps,
under the entire habits of any one age than they would be under a partial
change, even though that change were for the better. If we could all bear
the mixture with such savage contemporaries, they would perhaps be as much
discomposed with our polished manners. Nor did they feel, as we should, a
compassion for that barbarous treatment which they were ready to suffer
themselves from the chance of war."
... ...
Mr. G. considers Keswick lake as an inexhaustible fund of beauty; yet
thinks it capable of improvement, by clearing the road about it, and
by planting. The rules for the latter are not so easily practised.
"Man cannot put a twig into the ground without formality; and if he put in
a dozen together, let him put them in with what art he please, his awkward
handywork will hardly ever be effaced. Nature will be ashamed to own his
work, at least till it had been matured by a long course of years. The best
mode of planting is to plant profusely, and thus to afford scope for the
felling-axe, which is the instrument that gives the finishing touch of
picturesque effect." II. 165. Mr. G. forgets that man can plant only
twigs. If he could plant the oak of
centuries,
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.930}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.930}
{image = G7900930.jpg}
centuries, he might perhaps improve Nature, or at least concur with her in
her improvements. The felling-axe is not to be trusted in every hand. We do
not mean every hand that wants its aid to recruit its profusion or
necessities, but that which attempts what is commonly called
improvement; witness the devastations of Brown at Roche abbey,
censured by Mr. G. In the building line of improvement at Keswick Mr. G.
prefers bridges to mansions, or the "bringing a few loads of bricks or
stone, and puting them together in some odd shape, whitening them over, and
calling them a ruin."
{title- Gents Mag 1790 opp p.983}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 opp p.983}
{header- Roman Altar}
{image = G790E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.982}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.982}
{header- Roman Altar, Keswick Museum}
{image = G7900982.jpg}
Feb. 10.
Mr. URBAN,
BEING at Keswick in the course of last autumn, I went to inspect the
natural and artificial curiosities which have been collected by Crosthwaite
and Hutton, (Guides to the Lakes,) and which form their separate museums. -
At the house of the latter I observed a Roman altar, which, he informed me,
he had recently purchased. It is about a year since it was observed in
Cumberland, at Plimpton wall, upon the remains of the fort Petriana, now
called Castle Steeds.
In an abstract which Hutton shewed me from West's Guide to the Lakes, this
spot is thus described, p.149:
"The Castrum is 168 paces from South to North, but 110 within the Foss,
which was also surrounded by a stone wall: the stones have been removed to
the fence wall, and the fence side, being in Plimpton, is called Plimpton
wall. The station is a vast heap of ruins of stone buildings, the walls of
great thickness, and cemented. The town has surrounded the station, except
on the side of the Pitteral."
These
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.983}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.983}
{image = G7900983.jpg}
These remains are mentioned in Gibson's Camden,2d. edit. vol.II. p.1020;
where several inscriptions are recorded.
Considering that a sketch of the above altar might prove acceptable, I have
ventured to send you a rough drawing, in which I have however endeavoured
to give a faithful representation of the altar, and, as near as I could,
the shape of the letters, which are cut but faintly and rudely, being in
every part of equal thickness. See Plate III. fig. I.
The altar is formed of sand-stone, similar to that which abounds in the
neighbourhood of Penrith; and, as near as I could guess (for I had no means
of measuring it), is about three feet in height, and about fifteen inches
across the face, without any other ornament than what is shewn in the upper
parts.
I hope some of your ingenious correspondents will favour your readers with
an explanation of the inscription.
Yours, &c.
PEREGRINATOR.
* We are obliged to J.B. for his copy of the above
inscription, and chearfully accept his offer of sending us some others
which have never been published.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.1092}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.1092}
{header- Roman Altar, Plumpton}
{image = G7901092.jpg}
Explanation of a Roman Altar. ...
Mr. URBAN,
OBSERVING in your Magazine for last month an engraving of the Roman Altar
found at Plimpton Wall, in Cumberland (which altar, in the year 1786, was
in the possession of a Mr. Sanderson, though now said to have been recently
purchased by one Hutton, a guide to the lakes), and your correspondent
Peregrinator requesting an explanation of the inscription, I beg leave, by
the same channel, to submit the following to the consideration of your
readers.
DEO
MARYI
BELAIVCAD
ROEIN[UM]I
NIBAYCC
IVLIVSAV
GVSTALIS
ACIORIVLLV
PIPRET
Deo
Marti
Belatucad
ro et Numi
nib(us) Augg(ustorum)
Julius Au
gustalis
Actor Jul(ii) Lu
pi Pref(ecti posuit.)
To the God
Mars Belatucader
and the Deities
of the Emperors(Marcus
Aurelius and Lucius
Verus; or more probably
Severus and Caracalla,
or Caracalla and Geta)
Julius Augustalis
Agent of Juliuis Lupus
the Prefect hath placed
or dedicated.
From the foregoing inscription, which, from a gentleman's account of it who
has accurately viewed it, is perfectly fair and legible, and the stone
between the words Marti and Belatucadro no way injured or
mutilated, so as to admit of a conjecture of there ever having been a
fuller reading; it seems to me, that the term Belatucader must
thereby decidedly applied to mean the same with, and synonymous to, that of
Mars, or one and the same deity under two different denominations, about
which there has heretofore been great contrariety of opinion among the
Learned, whether that appellation belonged to Mars or Apollo. May not the
inscription on this altar serve, therefore, to settle such difference of
opinion, by adducing it as evidence in confirmation of its conveying those
different names of the same deity in stronger and unequivocal terms? All
altars dedicated to the god Belatucader, which probably might be the
British or other well-known local names for, and of the same import with,
the Roman Mars, have been very rare and uncommon, and are not hitherto
known to have been found except in Cumberland and Westmoreland,
FRED. S. SCARISBING.
{title- Gents Mag 1790 p.1187}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1790 p.1187}
{header- Roman Inscription, Belatucadr}
{image = G7901187.jpg}
Jan. 3.
Mr. URBAN,
IN the Roman inscription, elucidated p.1092. BELUTACADR is partly left
unexplained. It is British, and is literally, Bel, the puissant god.
Bel, which is here personified, is the Celtic radical word for war;
whence Rhyfel, now used in the same sense, formed from Rhy
and Bel, which implies the excess and devastation of BEL.
Yours, &c.
OWAIN O FEIRION.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.721}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.721}
{header- Luck of Edenhall}
{image = G7910721.jpg}
Bottesford, July 29.
Mr. URBAN,
IN an excursion to the North of England, I was easily prevailed upon to see
the Luck of Edenhall *, celebrated in a ballad in Ritson's
Select Collection of English Songs. The only description I can give you of
it is, a very thin, bell-mouthed, beaker glass, deep and narrow, ornamented
on the outside with fancy work of coloured glass, and may hold something
more than a pint.
Antient superstition may have contributed not a little to its preservation;
but that it should not, in a more enlightened age, or in moments of
conviviality, (see the Ballad), meet with one gentle rap (and a
gentle one would be quite sufficient for an ordinary glass of the
same substance), is to me somewhat wonderful. Superstition, however, cannot
be entirely eradicated from the mind at once. The late agent of the family
had such a reverential regard for this glass, that he would not
suffer any person to touch it, and but a few to see it. When the family, or
other curious people had a desire to drink out of it, a napkin was held
underneath, lest any accident should befal it; and it is still carefully
preserved, in a case made on purpose. The case is said to be the second,
yet bears the marks of antiquity, and is charged with
{image = G791E01.jpg}
Tradition, our only guide here, says, that a party of Fairies were drinking
and making merry round a well near the Hall, called St. Cuthbert's well;
but, being interrupted by some curious people, they were frightened, and
made a hasty retreat, and left the cup in question: one of the last
screaming out,
If this cup should break or fall,
Farewell the Luck of Edenhall.
The Ballad above alluded to is here inserted. It was written by the Duke of
Wharton; and is called, "The Earl's Defeat." - To the tune of Chevy
Chace.
"On both sides slaughter and gigantic deeds."
MILTON.
GOD prosper long from being broke
The Luck * of Edenhall;
A dolefull drinking-bout I sing,
There lately did befall.
To chase the spleen with cup and can,
Duke Philip took his way;
Babes yet unborn shall never see
The like of such a day.
The stout and ever-thirsty Duke
A vow to God did make,
His pleasure within Cumberland
Three live-long nights to take.
Sir Musgrave, too, of Martindale,
A true and worthy knight,
Eftsoon with him a bargain made,
In drinking to delight.
The bumpers swiftly pass about,
Six in a hand went round;
And with their calling for more wine,
They made the Hall resound.
Now when these merry tidings reach'd
The Earl of Harold's ears,
And am I (quoth he, with an oath)
Thus slighted by my Peers?
Saddle my steed, bring forth my boots,
I'll be with them right quick;
And, Master Sheriff, come you too;
We'll know this scurvey trick.
"Lo, yonder doth Earl Harold come!"
Did one at table say:
"'Tis well," replied the mettled Duke;
"How will he get away?"
When thus the Earl began: "Great Duke,
I'll know how this did chance,
Without inviting me; sure this
You did not learn in France:
"One of us two, for this offence,
Under the board shall lie:
I know thee well, a Duke thou art;
So some years hence shall I.
"But trust me, Wharton, pity 't were
So much good wine to spill,
* Edenhall, - the antient seat of Sir Philip Musgrave, near Penrith,
Cumberland.
* A pint bumper at Sir Christophener Musgrave's. (N.B. Ancestor of
the present Baronet.)
As
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.722}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.722}
{image = G7910722.jpg}
As these companions here may drink
Ere they have had their fill.
"Let thou and I, in bumpers full,
This grand affair decide," -
"Accurs'd be he," Duke Wharton said,
"By whom it is denied!"
To Andrews, and to Hotham fair,
Many a pint went round;
And many a gallant Gentleman
Lay sick upon the ground.
When at the last the Duke espied
He had the Earl secure,
He plied with a full pint glass,
Which laid him on the floor:
"Who never spoke more words than these,
After he downward sunk:
"My worthy friends, revenge my fall;
Duke Wharton sees me drunk."
Then with a groan, Duke Philip took
The sick man by the joint,
And said, "Earl Harold, 'stead of thee,
Would I have drunk the pint!
"Alack! my very heart doth bleed,
And doth within me sink;
For surely a more sober Earl
Did never swallow drink!"
With that the Sheriff, in a rage
To see the Earl so smit,
Vow'd to revenge the dead-drunk Peer
Upon renown'd Sir Kit.
Then stepp'd a gallant 'Squire forth,
Of visage thin and pale;
Lloyd was his name, and of Gang-hall,
Fast by the river Swale:
Who said, he would not have it told,
Where Eden river ran,
That unconcern'd he should sit by, -
"So, Sheriff, I'm your man!"
Now when these tidings reach'd the room,
Where the Duke lay in bed,
How that the 'Squire suddenly
Upon the floor was laid;
"O heavy tidings!" quoth the Duke,
"Cumberland witness be,
I have not any toper more
Of such account as he."
Like tidings to Earl Thanet came,
Within as short a space,
How that the Under-sheriff too
Was fallen from his place;
"Now God be with him," said the Earl,
"Sith 't will no better be;
I trust I have, within my towns,
As drunken Knights as he."
Of all the number that were there,
Sir Bains he scorn'd to yield;
But, within a bumper in his hand,
He stagger'd o'er the field.
Thus did the dire contention end,
And each man of the slain
Were quickly carried off to bed,
Their senses to regain.
God bless the King! the Duchess sat!
And keep the land in peace!
And grant that drunkenness henceforth
'Mong noblemen may cease!
And likewise bless our Royal Prince
The nation's other hope!
And give us grace for to defy
The Devil and the Pope!
Yours, &c.
W.M.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.804}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.804}
{header- John Wilson, Botanist}
Anecdotes of Mr. John Wilson, a celebrated Botanist.
{text- introductory note:-}
Mr. URBAN,
Kendal, Aug. 18.
A SHORT life of the subject of the present essay may be found in Pulteney's
History of Botany in England, vol.II. p.264; where we are informed, that
the principal circumstances are borrowed from the British Topography. As
this account is far from being correct, it is presumed that the following
may be offered to the Gentleman's Magazine without farther apology.
{text- article:-}
Some Account of JOHN WILSON, Author of the Synopsis of British
Plants in Mr. Ray's Method.
{image = G7910804.jpg}
JOHN WILSON, the first who attempted a systematic arrangement of the
indigenous plants of Great Britain in the English language, was born in
Longsleddale, near Kendal, in Westmoreland, some time in the year 1696. He
was by trade a shoe-maker, and may be ranked amongst the few who, in every
age, distinguish themselves from the mass of mankind by their scientific
and literary accomplishments without the advantages of a liberal education.
The success of his first calling does not appear to have been great, as
perhaps he never followed it in a higher capacity than that of a
journeyman. However this may be, he exchanged it, for the more lucrative
employment of a baker, soon enough to afford his family the common
conveniences of life; the profits of his new business supporting him in
circumstances which, though not affluent, were far superior to the abject
poverty he is said to have experienced by the author of the British
Topography. This writer, amongst other mistakes undoubtedly occasioned by
false information, has recorded an anecdote of him, which is the
fabrication of one of those inventive geniuses who are more partial to a
good tale than attentive to the truth. He acquaints us, that Wilson was so
intent on the pursuit of his favourite study, as once to be tempted to sell
a cow, the support of his house, in order to procure the means of
purchasing Morrison's voluminous work; and that this absurd design would
have certainly been put in execution, had not a neighbouring lady presented
him with the book, and by her generosity rescued the infatuated botanist
from voluntary ruin. The story is striking, but wants authenticity; and is
absolutely contradicted by authority that cannot be disputed. At the time
when Wilson studied botany, the knowledge of system was not to be obtained
from English books; and Ray's botanical writings, of whose method he was a
perfect master, were all in Latin. This circumstance
makes
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.805}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.805}
makes it evident, that he acquired an acquaintance with the language of his
author, capable of giving him a complete idea of the subject. The means by
which he arrived at this proficiency are not known at present; and though
such an attempt, made by an illiterate man, may appear to be attended with
insuperable difficulties to those who have enjoyed a regular education, yet
the experiment has been frequently made, and has been almost as frequently
successful. No one ought to be surprised with the apparent impossibilities
that perseverance constantly vanquishes, when properly stimulated by the
love of knowledge. The powers of industry are not to be determined by
speculation; they are seen and understood by their effects: it is this
talent alone that forms the basis of genius, and distinguishes a man of
abilities from the rest of his kind.
It was no easy undertaking to acquire the reputation of an expert and
accurate botanist before Linnaeus's admirable method of discriminating
species gave the science so essential an improvement.
The subject of the present essay overcame the difficulties inseparable from
the enterprize, and merited the character from his intimate acquaintance
with the vegetable productions of the North of England. But there is good
reason to believe that he was not entirely self-taught; for, under the
article Gentiana, he accidentally mentions his intercourse on the
subject with Mr. Fitz-Roberts, who formerly resided in the neighbourhood of
Kendal, and was known to Pettiver and Ray: his name occurs in the Synopsis
of the latter gentleman. The numerous places of growth of the rarer plants
added by Wilson to those found in former catalogues, shew how diligently he
cultivated the practical part of botany.
It will appear a matter of surprise, to such as are ignorant of his manner
of life, how a mechanick could spare a very large portion of time from
engagements which ought to engross the attention of men in low
circumstances, for the sole purpose of devoting it to the curious but
unproductive researches of a naturalist. On this account it is proper to
remark, that the business of a baker was principally managed by his wife,
and that a long indisposition rendered him unfit for a sedentary
employment. He was affected with a severe asthma for many years, which,
while it prevented him from pursuing his trade as a shoe-maker, encouraged
the cultivation of his favourite science, and he attended to it with all
the ardour a sick man can experience. Fresh air, and moderate exercise,
were the best palliatives of his cruel disease: thus he was tempted to
amuse the lingering hours of sickness with frequent excursions in the more
favourable parts of the year, as oft as his health would permit; and, under
the pressure of an unpropitious disorder, explored the marshes, and even
the hills, of his native county, being often accompanied by such of his
intimates as were partial to botany, or desirous of beholding those
uncommon scenes of Nature that can only be enjoyed in mountainous
countries.
The singularity of his conversation contributed not a little to the
gratification of his curiosity; for he was a diligent observer of manners
and opinions, and delivered his sentiments with unreserved freedom. His
discourse abounded with remarks, which were generally pertinent, and
frequently original: many of his sententious expressions are still
remembered by his neighbours and contemporaries. One of these deserves
recording, as it shews that his knowledge of botany was not confined to the
native productions of England. Being once in the county of Durham, he was
introduced to a person who took much pleasure in the cultivation of rare
plants. This man, judging of his abilities by his appearance, and perhaps
expecting to increase his own reputation by an easy victory over one he had
heard commended so much, challenged him to a trial of skill; and, in the
course of it, treated his stranger with a degree of disrespect that
provoked his resentment, and prompted him to give an instance of his
superiority. Accordingly, after naming most of the rarities contained in
the garden, and referring to authors where they are described, he in his
turn plucked a wild herb, growing in a neglected spot, and presented it to
his opponent, who endeavoured to get clear of the difficulty by pronouncing
it a weed; but Wilson immediately replied, a weed is a term of Art, not a
production of Nature: adding, that the explanation proved his antagonist to
be a gardener, not a botanist. Thus the contest ended.
These qualities, so uncommon in an unlettered man, procured him the notice
of several persons of taste and fortune, whose hospitality enabled him to
prosecute his researches on an oeconomical plan that suited his humble
condition.
Mr.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.806}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.806}
Mr. Isaac Thompson, an eminent land-surveyor, resident at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, may be reckoned his steadiest patron, and warmest
encourager; for he frequently accompanied this gentleman, when travailing
in the line of his profession, under the character of an assistant,- an
employment that left him at full liberty to examine the vegetable
productions of the different places visited by them. But it is difficult to
determine, at present, what experience he gained from his connexion with
Mr. Thompson; and the author of the present essay has scarcely any other
means of discovering what were his opportunities of attending to the places
of growth of the rarer plants, besides his own work the Synopsis, where the
observations are in a great measure confined to Westmoreland and
Northumberland. Perhaps this was done to accommodate his friends, who were
numerous in those counties, and for whose use the book was chiefly
intended: however, it appears from the volume itself, that he was not
entirely unacquainted with the South of England. This work was published in
the year 1744; it comprehends that part of Ray's method that treats of the
more perfect herbs, beginning at the fourth genus, or class, and
ending with the twenty-sixth. He promises, in the preface, to compleat the
performance at a future period, provided his first attempt should meet with
a favourable reception from the publick; but did not live to fulfil his
promise, being prevented by indisposition from finishing a second volume,
which was intended to contain the Fungi, Mosses, Grasses, and Trees.
He died July 15, 1751, after lingering through the last three or four years
of life in a state of debility that rendered him unfit for any undertaking
of the kind. Some papers left by him on the subject passed into the hands
of Mr. Slack, printer at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but were never published.
Among these were some drawings, but it is not certain whether they were
representations of rare plants, or figures intended to illustrate the
technical part of the science. The writings of Linnaeus became popular in
England a short time after his death, and very soon supplanted all
preceding systems; otherwise the character of Wilson had been better known
to his countrymen at present. His Synopsis is certainly an improvement on
that of Ray; for, besides some correction in the arrangement, many trivial
observations are left out of it, to make room for generic and specific
descriptions, the most essential parts of a botanical manual.- He did not
increase the catalogue of British plants much, only adding two to Ray's
number, as distinct species, the Allium schoenopprasum, and the
Valeriana rubra; but he was the first who introduced the Circea
alpina to the notice of the English botanist, as a variety of
Chutitiana, growing near Sedberg, in Yorkshire.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.990}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.990}
{header- Giant's Caves, Torquin and Lancelot}
{image = G7910990.jpg}
Bottesford, Sept. 27.
Mr. URBAN,
AS the trifling account of the Luck of Edenhall (inserted in your
Miscellany, p.721), appeared not unworthy of your notice, I will venture to
give at least an imperfect description of another curiosity in the same
neighbourhood, called The Giant's Cave. From Edenhall, my
fellow-traveller and I were conducted to the banks of the river Eamont,
where we were gratified with a sight of this curious den. Difference of
opinion, unavoidable in most cases, prevents me from calling it
"a dismal or horrid mansion". A flight of steps, cut out of the rock
(not so terrible as have been represented), led us nearly half way down a
bold precipice; and, by advancing a few yards to the right, we came to the
mouth of the cave, where a part of the roof (otherwise not altogether safe)
is supported by a pillar in the centre. This pillar was evidently intended
for the conveniency of hanging doors, or something of the sort, to prevent
suprize; and the remains of iron gates, I am told, have not long been
removed. Here visitors wish to perpetuate their names, but a soft
mouldering stone is unfavourable to the purpose; none of more antient date
appear than in the year 1660. This rock, a soft red sand-stone,
appears of a vast depth, and the dipping of the strata about 23
degrees West. The cave at the entrance is about 9 feet high and 20 wide,
and extends in length about 50, when it becomes more contracted in every
point of view. Stagnant water, and dirt within, add to the natural
gloominess of the place, and give an unfavourable impression. But the
situation is in many respects beautiful - a fine winding river flowing at
the bottom of a lofty precipice (not so bold indeed as to alarm) had to me
at least a pleasing effect. This, with a very extensive prospect, engaged
my attention so much, that I wondered I had overlooked, at a very little
distance, on a flat on the opposite side of the river, the church commonly
called Nine-Kirks, or Nine-Church, and the parish Nine-Church
parish, from is being dedicated to St. Ninian, "a Scottish saint, to
which kingdom," according to Dr. Burn, "this church did probably belong at
the time of the dedication." A church situated at the extreme bounds of a
parish, far from any inhabitants, is not so uncommon a circumstance as it
is difficult to be accounted for. A narrow path led us a little further to
a chasm in the rock: this is called The Maiden's Step, from the
traditionary account of the escape of a beautiful virgin from the hands of
Torquin the giant, who, after exercising upon all occasions every
species of bru-
tality
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.991}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.991}
{image = G7910991.jpg}
[bru]tality and depredation within his reach, retreated to this strong
hold. This step is not so wide as to exceed the bounds of
credibility; but the difficulty of escape afterwards arises from the most
horrible situation any one must be in, every moment, by scrambling up a
steep ascent upon the very edge of a naked precipice, with scarcely the
appearance of security for either hand or foot: notwithstanding, to succeed
in the attempt I am convinced is not impossible, especially where life or
death are the alternatives. Returning by the same path, we passed the cave
in an opposite direction, and came to a grotto, with a stone table in the
middle, all cut out of the solid rock. This is said to have been done by
the late Sir Christopher Musgrave, as occasionally a place of pleasure.
In some parts of the North of England it has been a custom, for time
immemorial, for the lads and lasses of the neighbouring villages to collect
together at springs or rivers on some Sunday in May, to drink sugar and
water, where the lasses give the treat: this is called
sugar-and-water Sunday. They afterwards adjourn to the public-house,
and the lads return the compliment in cakes, ale, punch, &c.; and a
vast concourse of both sexes always assemble at the Giant's Cave on the
third Sunday in May for this purpose. Of this practice, Mr. Urban, I have
been many years an eye-witness; and I shall be much obliged to any of your
correspondents that can give me an account of the origin of this singular
custom.
Two circular stone pillars, resembling ancient spears, near 12 feet high,
and 14 assunder, point out to us The Giant's Grave, in Penrith
churchyard; but the particulars of this curious monument of antiquity have
been so frequently given, that to add here would be superfluous. Tradition,
mostly something to rest upon, informs us that Torquin, refusing to obey
the summons of King Arthur to appear at his Court, to answer for the
ravages he daily committed, Sir Lancelot du Lac was dispatched to bring him
by force. A battle was the consequence; Torquin fell, and was buried
betwixt these pillars. The battle, I think, is celebrated in many ballads
of the antient poets. The following, which I thought curious, may be met
with in Percy's "Reliques of Antient English Poetry."
When Arthur first in court began, and was approved King,
By force of arms great vict'ries wanne, and conquest home did bring,
Then into England straight he came with fifty good and able
Knights that reverted unto him, and sate at the Round Table*.
And he had justes and tournaments, whereto were many prest,
Wherein some knights them did excelle, and far surmount the rest;
But good Sir Lancelo du Lake, who was approved well.
He for his deeds and feats of armes all others did excell.
When he had rested him awhile in play, and game, and sporte,
He said he would go prove himself in some advent'rous sorte.
He armed rode in forrest wyde, and met a damsell faire,
Who told him of adventures great, whereto he gave good eare,
"Such wold I find," quoth Lancelot, "for that came I hither."
"Thou seem'st," quoth she, "a knight full good, and I will bring thee
thither,
Whereas a mightye knight doth dwell, that now is of great fame;
THerefore tell me what wight thou art, and what may be thy name."
"My name is Lancelot du Lake." Quoth she, "It likes me than,
Here dwells a knight who never was yet match'd with any man,
Who has in prison threescore knights and four that he did wound;
Knights of King Arthurs courts they be, and of his Table round."
She brought him to a river side, and also to a tree,
Whereon a copper bason hung, and many a shield to see.
He struck so hard the bason broke, and Torquin soon he spy'd,
Who drove a horse before him fast, whereon a knight was ty'd.
"Sir Knight," then said Sir Lancelot, "bring me that horse-load hither,
And lay him downe, and let him rest, we'll try our force together;
For, as I understand, thou hast, as far as thou art able,
Done great despite and shame unto the Knights of the Round Table."
* At Eamont bridge, not more than a mile and a half from Penrith, is
a circus, 40 yards in diameter, with a deep ditch, having an entrance on
the North and South; it is called "King Arthur's Round Table." This, with
the very fine Druidical temple at Mayborough, close by, have frequently
been noticed by antiquaries.
"If
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.992}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.992}
{image = G7910992.jpg}
"If thou be of the Table Round," quoth Torquin speedily,
"Both thee and all thy fellowship, I utterly defy."
"That's over much," quoth Lancelot, "defend thee by-and-by."
They set their spurs unto their steeds, and at each other fly.
They coucht their spears (their horses ran as tho' there had been thunder)
And strucke each other amidst their shield, wherewith they brake in sunder;
Their horses backs brake under them, the knights were both astound;
T'void their horses they mad haste, and light upon the ground.
They took them to their shields full fast, their swords they drew out than,
With mighty strokes most eagerlye each at the other ran;
They wounded were, and bled full sore, for breath they both did stand,
And leaning on their swords awhile, quoth Torquin, "hold thy hand,
"And tell to me what I do ask." "Say on," quoth Lancelot. "Tho'
Thou art," quoth Torquin, "the best knight that ever I did know,
And like a knight that I do hate, so that thou be not hee,
I will deliver all the rest, and eke accord with thee."
"That is well said," quoth Lancelot, "but sith it must be so,
What knight is that thou hatest thus, I pray thee to me show."
"His name is Lancelot du Lake, he slew my brother deare;
Him I suspect of all the rest; I would I had him here."
"Thy wish thou hast, but yet unknown, I am Lancelot du Lake,
Now knight of Arthur's Table Round; - 's son of Southake;
And I defy thee, do thy worst." "Ho! ho!" quoth Torquin, "Ho!
One of us two must end our lives before that we do go."
They buckled them together so, like unto wild boars rushing,
And with their swords they ran at one another flashing;
The ground besprinkled was with blood. Torquin began to yield,
For he gave back for weariness, and low did bear his shield.
This soon Sir Lancelot espy'd. he lept upon him then,
He pull'd him down upon his knee, and swashed off his helm;
Forthwith he struck his neck in twain, and when he had so done,
From prisone threescore knights and four delivered every one.
Yours, &c.
W.M.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.995}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.995}
{image = G7910995.jpg}
{text- Errata, a long list supplied by a reader, including:-}
... ...
P.721. From the letters with which the Luck of Edenhall is charged,
may it not be conjectured that it was originally designed for a sacramental
chalice?
... ...
Yours, &c.
ANTIQUARIUS.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.1062}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.1062}
{header- Obituary, William Gibson}
{image = G7911062.jpg}
4. At his house at Blawith, near Cartmell, occasioned by a fall he got in
Eggerslach, when returning from Cartmell, Mr. William Gibson. He was born
in the year 1720, at a village called Boulton, a few miles from Appleby, in
Westmorland. At the death of his father, being left young, without parents,
guardians, or any immediate means of support, he put himself under the care
of a reputable farmer in the neighbourhood, to learn the farming business,
where he remained several years. Having obtained some knowledge therein, he
removed to the distance of about 30 miles, to be superintendant to a farm
near Kendal. After being there some time, and arrived at the age about 17
or 18, he was informed that his father had been possessed of a tolerable
estate, in landed property; and that, in the beginning of the last century,
he had descended from the same family with Dr. Edmund Gibson, then bishop
of London. He spent the little money he had acquired by his industry to
come at the truth of the business; when he found, to his sorrow, that the
estate was mortgaged to its full value, and upwards. He therefore continued
his occupation, and soon afterwards rented and managed a little farm of his
own, at a place called Hollins, in Cartmell Fell, not far from Cartmell,
where he applied himself vigourously to study. A little time previous to
this, he had admired the operation of figures; but laboured under every
disadvantage, for want of education. As he had not been taught either to
read or write, he turned his thoughts to reading English, and enabled
himself to read and comprehend a plain author. He therefore purchased a
treatise on arithmetick; and though he could not write, he soon went
through common arithmetick, vulgar and decimal fractions, the extraction of
the square and cube roots, &c. by his memory only, and became so expert
therein, that he could tell, without setting down a figure, the product of
any two number multiplied together, although the multiplier and
multiplicand, each of them, consisted of nine places of figures: and it was
equally astonishing how he could answer, in the same manner, questions in
division, in decimal fractions, or in the extraction of square or cube
roots, where such a multiplicity of figures is often required in the
operation. Yet at this time he did not know that any merit was due to
himself, conceiving other people's capacity like his own; but being a
sociable companion, and when in company taking a particular pride in
puzzling his companions with proposing different questions to them, they
gave him others in return, which, from the certainty and expeditious manner
he had in answering them, made him first noticed as an arithmetician, and a
man of most wonderful memory. Finding himself still labouring under further
difficulties, for want of a knowledge in writing, he taught himself to
write a tolerable hand. As he did not know the meaning of the word
mathematicks, he had no idea of any thing beyond what he had
learned. He thought himself a master-piece in figures, and challenged all
his companions, and the society he attended. Something, however, was
proposed to him concerning Euclid; but as he did not understand the meaning
of the word, he was silent, but afterwords found it meant a book,
containing the elements of geometry, which he purchased, and applied
himself very diligently to the study of, and against the next meeting, in
this new science he was prepared with an answer. He now found himself
launching out into a new field, of which, before, he had no conception. He
continued his geometrical studies; and as the demonstration of the
different propositions in Euclid depend entirely upon a recollection
of
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.1063}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.1063}
{image = G7911063.jpg}
of some of those preceeding, his memory was of the utmost service to him;
and as it did not require much knowledge in classical education, but
primarily in the management of straight lines, it was a study just to his
mind: for while he was attending the business of his farm, and humming over
some tune or other, with a sort of whistle, his attention was certain to be
solely engaged upon some of his geometrical propositions, and with the
assistance of a piece of chalk, upon the lap of his breeches-knee, or any
other convenient spot, he would clear up the most difficult parts of the
science in a most masterly manner. His mind now being open a little to the
works of Nature, he paid particular attention to the theory of the earth,
the moon, and the rest of the planets belonging to this system, of which
the sun is the centre; and, considering the distance and magnitude of the
different bodies belonging to it, and the distance of the fixed stars, he
soon conceived each to be the centre of a different system. He well
considered the laws of gravity, and that of the centripetal and centrifugal
forces, and the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the tides; also, the
projection of the sphere, stereographic, orthographic, and gnomical; also,
trigonometry and astronomy. He paid particular attention to, and was never
better pleased than when he found his calculations agree with observation:
and being well acquainted with the projection of the sphere, he was fond of
describing all astronomical questions geometricaly, and of projecting the
eclipses of the sun and moon that way.
By this time he was possessed of a small library. He next turned his
thoughts to algebra, and took up Emerson's treatise on that subject; and
though the most difficult, and that, with Simpson's, are the best authors
yet published, he went through it with great success, and the management of
surd quantities, and clearing equations of higher powers, were amusement to
him while at work in the fields, as he generally could perform them by his
memory; and if he met with any thing very intricate, he had recourse to a
piece of chalk, as in his geometrical propositions. The arithmetick of
infinities, and the differential method, he made himself master of, and
found out that algebra and geometry were the very soul of mathematicks. He
therefore paid a particular attention to them, and used to apply the former
to almost every branch of the different sciences. The art of navigation,
the principles of mechanicks, also, the doctrine of motion, of falling
bodies, and the elements of opticks, he grounded himself in; and, as a
preliminary to fluxions, which had only lately been discovered by Sir Isaac
Newton, as the boundary of the mathematicks, he went through conic
sections, &c. to make a trial of this last and finishing branch. Though
he expressed some difficulty at his first entrance, yet he did not rest
till he made himself master of both a fluxion and a flowing quantity.
As he had paid a similar attention to all the intermediate parts, he was
become so conversant in every branch of the mathematicks, that no question
was ever proposed to him which he did not answer, nor any rational question
in the mathematicks, that he ever thought of, which he did not comprehend.
He used to answer all the questions of the Gentleman and Lady's Diaries,
the Palladium, and other annual publications, for several years; but his
answers were seldom inserted, except by, or in the name of some other
persons, for he had no ambition in making his abilities known, farther than
satisfying himself that nothing passed him which he did not understand. He
frequently has had questions from his pupils and other gentlemen in London,
the universities, and different parts of the country, as well as from the
university of Gottingen, in Germany, sent him to solve, which he never
failed to answer; and, from the minute enquiry he made into natural
philosophy, there was scarcely a phaenomenon in nature, that ever came to
his knowledge or observation, but he could, in some measure or other,
reasonably account for it. -
He went by the name of Willy o' th' Hollins for many years after he left
the place. He removed to Tarngreen, where he lived about 15 years, and from
thence to the neighbourhood of Cartmell, and was best known by the name of
Willy Gibson, still continuing his occupation as before. For the last forty
years of his life he kept a school of about eight or ten gentlemen, who
boarded and lodged at his own farm-house; and having a happy turn of
explaining his ideas, he has turned out a great many very able
mathematicians, and a great many more gentlemen he has instructed in
accompts, for the counting-house, as well as for the sea, and for
land-surveying, which profession he followed himself for these last forty
years and upwards. In the course of his life he had had a very great
practice that way; and, having acquired a little knowledge of drawing,
could finish plans in a very pretty manner. He has been several times
appointed, by acts of parliament, a commissioner for the inclosing of
commons, and was a very proper person for that purpose; for, as well as his
practice in land-surveying, he had equal experience and judgement in the
quality of land, as well as the quantity: also in levelling or
conveying of water from one place to another, for he was well acqainted
with the curvature of the earth's surface.
He used to study incessantly, during the greatest part of the night; and in
the day-time, when in the fields, his pupils frequently went to him, to
have their different difficulties removed. He was fond of all who knew him.
He has left a disconsolate widow, to mourn for the loss of an indulgent and
affectionate husband. They has been married, and lived together in the
purest
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.1064}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.1064}
{image = G7911064.jpg}
purest harmony and friendship, for near 50 years; and in all probability,
if it had not been for this or some other similar accident, from their
apparent health and constitution, they might have lived together many years
longer, as, before this melancholy accident, he had never been out of
health an hour in all his life. He has also left ten children living, to
lament the loss of a tender and indulgent parent. He was well known and
respected by a numerous acquaintance, by several eminent gentlemen in the
city of London, and in other parts of the kingdom, and particularly so for
a considerable distance round his place of residence. He had but four days
illness; from a bruize he had got in his side by the fall, he bore it with
the greatest patience; and died in the greatest composure, aged 71 years.
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.1079}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.1079}
{header- Luck of Edenhall, and Tarn Wadling}
{image = G7911079.jpg}
Dec. 12.
Mr. URBAN,
YOUR correspondent Antiquarius, P.995, asks, whether, "from the letters
with which the (case of the) Luck of Edenhall is charged," it may
not "be conjectured that it was originally designed for a sacramental
chalice?" This, you may tell him, the canons of the church, which he
will find in Lyndewode's Provinciale, render impossible. But
I have no objection to think that it has been used as a drinking-glass by
the superior of some religious house. My inability to procure drawings of
this hall and glass (both which I have seen) alone prevents
me from giving a new and handsome edition, with curious notes, of the
doleful drinking bout, which, I have good authority to say, was
not written by the Duke of Wharton.
To the information given by W.M.
(p.991)
{title- Gents Mag 1791 p.1080}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1791 p.1080}
{image = G7911080.jpg}
(p.991) about King Arthur and his round table, I shall beg
leave to add, that the seat of this fabulous monarch was at
Carlisle, and that Tarn Wadling, a spacious lake near
Armanthwaite, is frequently mentioned in our old poetical romances
concerning him. It is said, I think, that there is a city at the bottom of
it. The origin of these local traditions is to be attributed to the
Cambrian Britons, who kept possession of this part of the country long
after the Saxons, and even Normans, were in possession of the rest. One
seldom hears of King Arthur but in or near Wales, Cornwall, or Cumberland.
The ballad, which I suspect your correspondent had not direct from Percy's
Reliques, is incorrectly printed; but it is neither very antient nor
very rare. He has taken it, I am persuaded, from Clarke's Survey of the
Lakes. It is always candid, however, to cite the true authority, though
it may not happen to be the most respectable.
Eamont (or Eimot) is a slight corruption of the Saxon
Ea-muth, i.e. the water's mouth, meaning Ulleswater, whence
this river flows. A Saxon name for a river is so uncommon a circumstance,
that I should be glad to know whether its irruption might not have taken
place subsequently to the settlement of that people.
... ...
Yours, &c.
DEIRENSIS.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.24}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.24}
{header- Giant's Caves, Langwathby}
{image = G7920024.jpg}
Jan. 12.
Mr. URBAN,
IN vol.LXI. p.990, I read remarks on a cavern near Penrith, vulgarly called
The Giant's Cave. Led to visit that place some years ago, I was
surprized that so little could be learned of its antient inhabitants, if
ever more than one took up residence there; but do not hesitate to
determine it was the habitation of some hermit. The recess cut in the rock
to receive the mattress is yet perfect; and the marks of gratings and
bolt-holes, with some remains of masonry, shew that the retreat has been
well secured. The situation is romantic, and well adapted to religious
severities: it is also adjacent to the church of St. Ninian. I have met
with no records that give light to the subject: indeed, few hermitages have
left such evidences as that of St. Godric, at Frichale, in the county of
Durham. Even the famous hermitage of Warkworth, in Northumberland, has left
little but tradition, though the beauty of the design, and
workmanship
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.25}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.25}
{image = G7920025.jpg}
workmanship in the rock, perhaps, surpass every thing of the kind in
Europe.
{header- Mr Jollie}
On being at Carlisle lately, I was pleased to find that Mr. Jollie, an
industrious bookseller there, was assiduously collecting materials for a
compleat History of the County of Cumberland. A gentleman, who has already
gratified the publick with some of his works, with a distinguished
liberality, has put into Mr. Jollie's hands the collections which, some
years ago, he prepared for that county history. The Clergy and Gentlemen of
the county have most indulgently sent to the intended editor their
historical remarks and descriptions, so that we have reason to expect a
valuable work, which is promised to be given to the press early in the
spring. The subscription is filled with distinguished names, which is the
best description of the public expectation.
The county of Cumberland abounds with natural beauties and antiquities; the
field is large for the descriptive pen; and the historian will have ample
materials to enliven the work with interesting incidents.
Great praise is due to Mr. Jollie, who comes forward singly to
gratify the present age, greedy of topographical information, and to give
to posterity the honours of the country where he lives, at a vast
expence,and with infinite labour and attention.
It is to be hoped every admirer of topographical history, and every lover
of his country, will assist the undertaking, by communicating such records,
historical subjects, and matters of antiquity, as they may possess; and
that the private repositories of gentlemen will be liberally opened, to
make the work as compleat as possible.
The progress and present state of trade and manufacture, natural histroy,
and every other subject that can gratify the curious eye, I am told, are
enquired after by the intended editor, who has dispersed round the country
and its environs queries, addressed to gentlemen, for that purpose.
As I am an encourager of works of this sort, I cannot forbear thus
recommending the intended publication, and know you do not scruple to
indulge a constant reader with remarks like these.
Yours, &c.
VIATOR.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.180}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.180}
{header- Sheriff of Cumberland}
{image = G7920180.jpg}
SHERIFFS appointed by his Majesty in Council, for the year
1792.
... ...
Cumberland. Edward Hasell, of Dalemain, esq.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.183}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.183}
{header- Obituary, Thomas Addison}
{image = G7920183.jpg}
{text- obituary}
Aged 72 years (46 of which he had been curate of Thornthwaite, near
Keswick), the Rev. Thomas Addison; a gentleman very emminent for his
mathematical acquirements, and equally respected in his neighbourhood as a
divine, a physician, and a lawyer. The services he rendered to the circle
of his acquaintance (too contracted for a person of his endowments) will be
long remembered with gratitude. His income never exceeded 20l. per
ann.; yet from that, and some advantages derived from a situation which
(it is plain) could not afford much, he died possessed of more than
800l. While this affords a striking instance of the effect of
oeconomy in an individual, it furnishes a true anecdote, not
unworthy the notice of those who collect every species of information
respecting the fashionable Tour of the Lakes.
{series- society & money}
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.224}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.224}
{header- Trade Token, Appleby}
{image = G792E02.jpg}
{image = G7920224.jpg}
... The other tokens in pl.III fig 8, 9, 10, 11, are communicated by
a Leicesterhsire correspondent. Those of ASHBY, HARBOROUGH, and LEICESTER,
may be of use to the Historian of the county; but that of APPLEBY is not
easily determined. M.G.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.581}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.581}
{header- Mail Coach Accident, Penrith}
{image = G7920581.jpg}
...
At the Crown Inn at Penrith, Mr. Frederick Sneedorf, a Danish gentleman,
professor of history in the University of Copenhagen, and a correspondent
in this Magazine (see p.491). On the evening of the 13th, the Manchester
mail-coach arrived at the usual time in Penrith, with four inside
passengers, viz. a lady and three gentlemen, and one outside passenger, a
man. About the first mile-post from Penrith, the nearside leading horse, by
some unaccountable accident, got the bridle rubbed off its head; and at a
time when all four horses were walking very slowly, and being rather
spirited, made a sudden turn, to come back to Penrith. The outside
passenger and guard, who had both got off the coach, to ease the horses up
the hill, and the coachman, who was perfectly sober, made every effort to
prevent the horses turning round, but without effect, having no command of
the nearside leader, on account of the bridle being wanting. The coachman
thought that by getting off his box, he could, with the assistance of the
guard and outside passenger, stop the horses; but all would not do; they
set off at a gallop. Mr. Sneedorff, and another gentleman whose name is not
known, leaped out of the coach. The latter escaped with a slight scratch on
his face; the former, we are sorry to say, in leaping out (it is supposed)
pitched upon his head, and received a concussion of the brain, of which he
lingered until one o'clock in the morning of the 15th, and then expired.
The lady and gentleman who remained in the coach received no injury; and,
it is imagined, had the other two
remained
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.582}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.582}
{image = G7920582.jpg}
remained, all would have been safe. The coachman was hurt in his endeavours
to stop the horses, but is recovering; the horses were slightly hurt.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.882}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.882}
{header- Ramble to Helm Crag}
{image = G7920882.jpg}
Aug. 18.
Mr. URBAN,
I AM lately returned from an excursion to the Lakes, and extract from my
Ramble the following account of Helm Crag, a projecting mountain about five
miles on the road between Ambleside and Keswick, and which has always been
mentioned as a remarkable rock, though I believe it has never before been
visited by tourists; a reason, Mr. Urban, that induces me to select it for
the Gentleman's Magazine.
Yours, &c.
A RAMBLER.
July 29. We went up a narrow lane about half a mile from the church,
which gave us a new view of Grassmere valley, with a perpetual water-fall,
justly, from its force, called White-Churn Gill*; it seemed to rush
from a crescent-heathed hill, and forms one of the most considerable brooks
that supplies Grassmere.
The sun was hot. After a gentle ascent of about a mile we rested some
minutes under a thick hawthorn, which we will call the foot of the crag.
The projecting point of the first rise looked formidable, and not less so,
to speak in plain English, from having a complete belly-full; however, when
people are determined to overcome difficulties, time and circumstances are
no obstructions.
We were covered from the wind, and it was so steep we were frequently
obliged to stop when we met a narrow shelf; and, when we got to the first
range of the hill, I was glad to throw myself down, panting for relief. The
grass was slippery, which we guarded against by forcing our sticks as deep
into the ground as we possibly could. And when we had gained the second
height, I never remember meeting a more chearful relief than in finding we
had got over that part of the hill which kept the wind from us; we were not
only enlivened, but opened upon prospects which promised to repay our
labour when we had surmounted it.
The pinnacle hanging over our right obliged us to take a sweep; and as we
had the wind, and a near sight of the top, we found less trouble in this
stage than in the others. We were exactly an hour from the hawthorn; which
was not for its being a high hill, but the steepest in this part of the
country, being seldom visited but by sheep, ravens, and foxes.
Newton*, our guide, was never on it but once; and neither he nor any
of the other guides remember its being visited by strangers.
But I must be alowed to rest myself a little before I say any thing of the
prospects around us, and look with aweful pleasure at the sight.
We went upon the pinnacle, which had just room to hold two, from which I
mark the views, but thought it prudent to have a less exalted rock in order
to write them down.
The summit is covered with pieces of rock, that give it the appearance of a
grand ruin occasioned by an earthquake, or a number of stones jumbled
together after the mystical manner of the Druids. There is a deep fissure,
two feet broad and twenty long, with a stone over one end of it, which
gives it
* A gill means a water-fall.
* Robert Newton, the guide, keeps a public-house in Grassmere, and
may be safely recommended as a modest obliging man.
the
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.883}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.883}
{image = G7920883.jpg}
the look of a step over a mill stream. Although I am not versed in
antiquities, I cannot help thinking this chasm resembles the
kistvaens of the Druids, as described by the learned and
indefatigable Grose, in his Preface, p.136. I wish some Antiquary would
investigate this mountain. I think his fellow labourers would be obliged to
him; and, at any rate, if he does not find sufficient to authenticate my
surmise, he will have so delightful a command around him as may well re-pay
him for his trouble, and, I trust, may induce him to think he has not taken
his labour in vain. By dropping a pebble down a rent, you may hear it
rebound a long time. One bending stone serves as a shelter for sheep, where
we found a mushroom, the only one we saw in the North; and I even think
this stone, from its bend, is part of a Cromlech of the Druids.
The circumference of the crag, including its mis-shapen points, may be a
mile; and where there is any soil the grass is remarkably sweet. From this
unfrequented point to the North-east we saw the whole of Windermere,
Esthwaite water; and, by Grassmere lake being our point, they make a
complete triangle, divided by rich pastures, &c. whilst the valley and
its appendages, directly under us, seemed to contain every thing that can
be beautiful in miniature.
We overlooked the Tarn*, whence White-Church Gill has its course,
inclosed in the horse-shoe, whose sides are bespangled with smooth stones,
occasioned by a thin sheet of water oozing over them, and an almost
perpendicular sun.
We observed, over Helveylin and the grain† of Seat Sandal, a torrent
of rain; whilst over Bowness, and to the South east, it was so partially
collecting, the distance gave them the appearance of water-spouts. We
imagined we had nothing to fear from any of them; it was clear over head,
and in the quarter whence the wind blew. The guide had scarcley said so,
ere we observed the clouds from Seat Sandal pushing against the wind,
though they were considerably exhausted on those mountains. We were soon
convinced of our ill-judging, and took shelter in the sheep-cove, which, by
sitting, and bending, held us secure. This was too confined a situation;
and, as the rain had somewhat ceased, the guide and I went about 150 yards
down the hill. The rain increased, and wetted us to the skin; but we were
amply re-paid by the most luminous sight I had ever beheld. I shall attempt
to describe it.
The sun shone with such brilliancy through the slanting drops, they fell
resembling a line of crystal as round as a finger, and they were intermixed
with a spray as variegated as the rainbow. Newton, who has been all his
life accustomed to mountains, allowed he never saw any thing like it
before. Might it not be owing to the dark heath over the Tarn, and a
partial shining of the sun over the crag?
Too much rain had fallen to render the grass less slippery; we were obliged
to traverse down the hill with the utmost caution, and, though not with so
much difficulty as the acsent, with considerably more danger. When we
opened the valley of Seat Sandal, we were surprised by a superb cataract,
occasioned by the rain which fell whilst we were upon the summit. God
forgive me! but I could not help wishing and expecting we should have a
thunder storm.
Let the considerate mind contemplate the various sights that were presented
to us in so short a time!
A RAMBLER.
* A small piece of water.
† A grain, in the North, is meant for a valley.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.941}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.941}
{header- Verses on Helvellyn}
{image = G7920941.jpg}
VERSES,
Begun on the Spot, and since finished, in Remembrance of the Refreshment
received from a Spring near the Summit of HELVEYLIN, August 2, 1792.
THE full-orb'd moon o'er Loughrigg* fell†
Ting'd the rough crag with golden spell
At the approach of morn;
No cloud the lofty cliffs o'erhung,
No breath of wind refreshing sung
Through the upstanding corn.
O'er mountains high, to valleys deep,
And higher still, and still more steep,
We brush'd the early dew.
Toil wet the brow; the beauties round
Lessen'd the labour of the ground,
And spurr'd us to pursue.
Beneath our feet, upon a hill,
We saw the parent of a gill‡
Entomb'd in mountains drear.
My Mentor urg'd me to go on -
"Leave, leave the tempting draught alone,
For danger lurketh there."
Again we toil'd - a steep ascent§
Made me with parched tongue repent
I had not dar'd to try.
* The head of the Ambleside valley from the Salutation inn.
† A barren, and sometimes a ragged, hill.
‡ A small water from a tarn, so called from its being less than a
lake; this was of amazing depth, and was skirted by Seat Sandal and two
other steep mountains.
§ Grisdale Pike.
The
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.942}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.942}
{image = G7920942.jpg}
The choice was past - yet through the toil
The eye was pleasur'd all the while,
And cover'd many a sigh.
Ye Naiads of the brooks so gay,
That on the crystal surface play
Invisible to all;
When you retire beneath the Deep,
May you in peaceful caverns sleep,
Lull'd by the cataract's fall!
Or of on airy wing you fly,
Attend the cleaving, tirsty sigh,
To mountains bend your way;
Exert your powers, and from below
Enforce some hidden fount to flow
T' assuage the heat of day.
Helveylin's height at last we gain'd,
And, panting for relief, remain'd
To mark th' extension round;
Then down with lighter pace we bent;
A spring! - the clearest Heav'n e'er sent -
I kiss'd the moisten'd ground.
Eager I drew the cooling stream,
And all fatigue was gone - a dream!
Helveylin's praise to sing:
Thy carpet was the liveliest green,
Thy steep the swiftest* I have seen,
All owing to thy spring.
They prospects are beyond compare;
Mountains, and dales, and lakes, appear,
And Ocean bounds the whole;
They bubbling was the sweetest sound
That ever tinkled o'er the ground
To lull the enraptur'd soul.
Nearest to Heav'n† - unrival'd flow;
May torrents ne'er deface thy brow,
No season dry thy course!
May all thy sheep untroubled live,
And man the limpid draught receive
At thy enliv'ning source!
Then shall bold man Helveylin's views make known;
Refresh'd by thee - on Skiddow's‡ height look down.
A RAMBLER.
* Mountain sheep are peculiarly swift. Ed.
† I believe the highest spring in England.
‡ Called, "lofty Skiddow;" and by some (perhaps those who are proud
of having visited it) wrongly imagined as high as Helveylin.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.1114}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.1114}
{header- Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes}
{image = G7921114.jpg}
Review of New Publications
... ...
264. A Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes in Westmoreland, Lancashire,
and Cumberland. By a Rambler. 8vo.
WE were agreeably struck, at the opening of this book, to find it the
production of a lively correspondant, who, in our present volume, has
favoured us with pleasing specimens of his descriptive powers both in verse
and prose (see pp.882, 941); and to whom, in our vol.LVIII. p.1107, we were
indebted for an exquisite poetical simile.
It wall naturally occur to all who may peruse this Ramble, that it is the
unlaboured effusion of a young, a generous, and a cultivated mind; and if
we hint a regret that the pruning knife has not been extended to a very
small part of the first chapter, and a few lines of the twelfth, it will
not be constructed into a derogation of that unqualified praise we heartily
think the work deserves.
After the description we have already given (p.882) of Helm Crag, it may be
superfluous to add, that the future Traveller to the Lakes will find this
"Rambler" a very valuable companion.
In Levens park our Tourist observed "a tree whose trunk is cut off a foot
from the earth, and whose branches were engrafted into another tree. It was
in full foliage, and seemed alive to the bottom of the trunk. Although it
may once have been a complete tree, its neighbour becomes the parent, and
the sap of it in Winter must go into the root."
We cannot resist this opportunity of introducing to the notice of our
readers the Lake, the Village, and the Beauty of Buttermere.
"The road we took was very uneven and boggy, with a number of beau traps,
As we ascended we gained a full view of both Buttermere and
Crummock lakes, separated by good land and a deep river. There are
two small islands upon the latter; and at the bottom the country looks
fertile. It is about two miles to the Waterfall, and we found it an
uncomfortable task. But mountain-troubles vanish the instant you behold the
object of a walk. My ears first caught the mellow sound, and, after
clambering over a rough wall, we came suddenly upon the cause of it. I was
lost in admiration in one of those vacant delights in which the mind
thinks of nothing but what is before it, and makes you feel yourself more
than a man. I required a tap on the shoulder to return to mortality; I
receieved it, and I thus feebly described the cause of it.
"Scale-Force Waterfall is two hundred feet perpendicular, except where it
flushes over a small jut. The steep on both sides is covered with variety
of moss, fern, ash, and oak, all fed by the constant spray; and flourish in
indescribable verdure. The delicacy of the effect is heightened by being in
a narrow chasm, a hundred yards in the rock, before it rushes into the
lower fall, at the point of which you have the grand view. Clamber up the
left side, and look into the first basin; and, although you may be wet with
the spray, you cannot help feeling the solemnity of the deep, this musical
abyss, enchanting as verdure and melody can make it: and although there has
been no rain for nine days, it far exceeds any thing of the kind I ever
saw, and the boasted one at Coo* in Germany sinks below comparison.
I suppose we saw it in the best state it could be received in. Had it been
after rain, it might have filled us with astonishment; but what would have
becomre of the verdure of the sides? The foam would have nearly covered
them. As we saw it, every part was in unison with the musick it created;
the mind comprehended it, and carried away one of the most inimitable
scenes that ever enriched the fancy of man, or graced the pencil of a
Moore.
"We met a rosy boy, with a satchel on his back; he was going to one of the
householders for a stated time. The poor live amongst the farmers in
proportion as they are assessed, and they are always treated like one of
the family. The only pauper at
* Of which the Rambler gives a good description. REV.
present
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.1115}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.1115}
{image = G7921115.jpg}
present is the little alien. His mother knew her frailties too well; and
was too honest to swear to a father; therefore the villagers have taken the
boy amongst them, and are going to send him to school, They said, with
concern, until a fortnight ago they had no regular schoolmaster these two
years; in short, since the period of chusing their clergyman was taken from
them. The chapel and the school serves for both purposes, and I could
almost reach the roof with my head. The inhabitants, time out of mind, used
to appoint their own clergyman, and he was generally chosen with full
consent. Perhaps it was the very poorest livelihood in the kingdom, even
with the addition of Queen Anne's bounty; but it was a vehicle for a minor
priest to get superior orders; and there never was a want of candidates.
They now say they have lost their right; at any rate, they are afraid to
claim it, as they are more in dread of the Great Eagle of the North than
the eagles which build in their mountains; they think it a judgment upon
them for unanimously voting au contraire at a contested election.
But, whatever may be the reason, they are left to go to heaven as quietly
as they can. The Schoolmaster, without being a Parson, officiates as such;
and a clergyman from Lorton, the parish-church, comes over about once in
six weeks to administer the Sacrament, which may be the means of preserving
the bounty. In this forlorn manner is the service* performed
in the village of Buttermere. Luckily, it could not have happened in a
village where it appears less wanted; but as good, harmless people always
regret the loss of a good custom, they regret it.
"The village consists of fourteen families, and some of them are rich
people; that is, they may have fifty pounds a-year landed property, and
healthful flocks of sheep. We had salt provisions and vegetables for
dinner; and I do not think there was a fresh joint in the valley. The ale
was home-brewed, and good, but rather too strong for our taste. If you are
fond of strong ale, Buttermere is famous for it. Wine and spirits are not
sold here; and they are so far from the excise, they pay their duty by
compromise, ten pence halfpenny a-week. The landlady says they do not
sometimes sell six pennyworths a-week .... On our return, we met a woman
with a loaded horse. She had been to Keswick market, laying-in meat and
other necessaries for herself and neighbours. This amicable custom is
equaled by the following: when a person is sick, or a woman about to
lie-in, a horseman is sent express to Keswick or Cockermouth for a surgeon,
and the neighbours send a relay of horses to expedite him. When we came to
the Cockermouth road, we had a rich sight of a rainbow extending from
Keswick, and just including Lowdore fall. It was rendered more beautiful by
a watery tinge on the tops of the hills, and by the sun's partially leaving
them, shewing which was the highest.
"SALLY OF BUTTERMERE.
"Her mother and she were spinning woollen yarn in the back kitchen. On our
going into it, the girl flew away as swift as a mountain-sheep, and it was
until our return from Scale-Force that we could say we first saw her. She
brought-in part of our dinner, and seemed to be about fifteen. Her hair was
thick and long, of a dark brown, and, though unadorned with ringlets, did
not seem to want them. Her face was a fine contour, with full eyes, and
lips as red as vermillion. Her cheeks had more of the lily than the rose;
and although she had never been out of the village (and, I hope, will have
no ambition to wish it), she had a manner about her which seemed better
calculated to set off dress than dress her. She was a very Lavinia,
'Seeming, when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most,' When we first saw her at her
distaff, after she got the better of her first fears, she looked an angel;
and I doubt not but she is the reigning lily of the valley. Ye
travellers of the Lakes, if you visit this obscure place, such will find
the fair Sally of Buttermere!"
"The inhabitants in general about these mountainous countries are not so
tall or lusty as in many others; perhaps, as it requires great industry to
get a livelihood, the growth of their children is checked by early labour.
They live to a very advanced age; and the faces of the very old are strong
and healthfully marked with deep short wrinkles. The middle-aged are
commonnly handsome; their youth are ruddy and sun-burnt; their children
have the faces of Cherubim, and seem to have "the milk of Dorothy" flowing
purely in their veins. They are not only affectionate to their parents, but
friendly amongst each other; and a man would run risk of his life in deep
snow, in venturing over the steepest mountains to attend the funeral of a
friend. They have the highest respect for the dead; perhaps to a degree
bordering upon superstition; and they rather rob the living by the expence
they put themselves to at a funeral. But as a livelihood, not a love of
gain, is their grand consideration, they are too friendly and industrious
to want; and I did not see (except some little vagrants at Keswick) one
person that asked our charity. Their food is homely: they prefer thin
oat-cake to wheat-bread; and they are fond of the natural products of the
earth, which may be the reason of seeing large families in every house, for
we did not call at a cottage that had less than three children. Their drink
consists of butter-milk and whey, and, occasionally, a draught of
* "As the chapel enjoys Queen Anne's bounty, should not the diocesan
take care they have a proper pastor? But I cannot suppose he is informed of
it."
stout
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.1116}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.1116}
{image = G7921116.jpg}
stout ale. Spirits are seldom used to excess; their baneful influence is
almost unknown; they are taken as cordials, and I hope they will never make
further encroachment." ...
"The high roads are generally excellent, and the commons are well supplied
with finger-posts. A road once made up will last a long while; the first
expence is heavy, but they are not much burthened by after-repairs, or the
traveller by turnpikes. .... I do not think his Majesty has more loyal
subjects in his dominions; and if Mr. Pitt should cast a look upon this
humble production, I have the satisfaction of telling him, the Proclamation
was upon all the church-doors, and they loooked as clean as the day they
were put up, except that we could sometimes trace the mark of a finger that
had conned it over."
The following sentiment arises from a visit to Barrow cascade: "We went
round the pleasure-ground, and saw some valuable oaks, such as ought to
cover our waste land, many hundred thousand acres of which still bear the
name of Forests, without producing one tree. I think there is much
satisfaction in looking at young plantations, as to future navies; and
every lover of his country ought to regret when he sees a woodless
forest."
We shall end by transcribing some obervations on the summit of Skiddow:
"When we reach the top, we open the crown of Ingleborough, and the range of
hills to the champaign part of Northumberland; we have the Chiviot hills,
and the great chain to the point of Mull in Galloway. The sun is setting
over Hawthorn island, belonging to Lord Selkirk, partially tinging both
coasts. And I cannot omit an opportunity of saying, it is a glorious emblem
of an Union that has made Two people One; and, by making our interests the
same, has stopped a tide of British blood, and turned our hatred into
affection. By carrying the eye to the Mull of Galloway, we just see the
North of Ireland, and distinctly the length of the Isle of Man."
In the pleasure this "Ramble" has given us in the perusal, we have
overlooked some slight inaccuracies, which the author, we doubt not, will
attend to when revising for succeeding editions.
Quantity, p.187, is used (for fulness) in a sense we never
before observed it.
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.1197}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.1197}
{header- Weather in Kendal}
{image = G7921197.jpg}
Kendal, Jan. 8.
Mr. URBAN,
PERHAPS the following remarks on the weather and natural history of a part
of the country, where nothing of the kind has been before attempted, may
prove acceptable to your philosophical readers, It will be necessary to
add, that this year has been the wettest we have experienced since the
commencement of my Journal in 1787.
JOHN GOUGH.
Abstract of a Meteorological Diary, kept at Kendal for 1792.
Explanation of the Table. - The first column contains the month; the
second, the mean height ofthe barometer in inches and decimals; the third
and fourth, the greatest and least heights; the fifth, the space moved
through by the mercury; the sixth, the mean of the thermometer; the seventh
and eighth, the mean of the hottest and coldest days; the ninth, the height
of the rain in inches; the tenth, the number of wet days.
{image = G792E01.jpg}
N.B. The means in the foregoing Table are taken from three observations
each day, without one ommission. The space moved through by the mercury is
found by adding together the differences arising from the subtraction of
the different heights of the column, in the barometer, at each successive
change.
Notes for the year 1792.
February 1. The hedge-sparrow, motacilla modularis, singing.
4. Thrush, turdus musicus, singing.
12. Rooks, corvus fragilegus, building.
15. The chaffinch, fringilla coelebs, singing. The female was seen
on the 25th: none were observable in January. Is the return of these birds
proclaimed by the song of the male?
March 6. Yellow wagtail, motacilla flava, singing.
18. Woodcocks, scolopax rusticula, are very abundant at present,
after disappearing for a fortnight. These visitors, perhaps, are on their
return from Ireland to the Continent.
24. The wheatear, motacilla oenan; the female taken on the hills.
29. The sand martin, hirundo riparia, two seen, and again on the
31st.
April 4. The redbreast, motacilla rubicula, has reired to the
woods.
6. Bees busy on the gooseberry blossom.
8. The redstart, motacilla phoenicurus, seen; the same began to sing
on the 25th.
11. Swallows, hirundo rustica, two seen; they were numerous on the
13th.
15. Blackcap, motacilla atracapilla, singing.
23. Phryganea bicaudata, plentiful. Few swallows seen since the
13th. The sand-martins mentioned in March have been stragglers, as they
disappeared again. The cuckow, cuculus canorus, heard this day.
25. The whitethroat, motocilla sylvia, singing.
29. The shrew, sorex araneous, abroad, and a wasp, vespa
vulgaris, and the stonechatter, motacilla rubicola.
30. The swift, hirundo apus.
May 14. The corncrake, rallus crex, crying in the grass. n.b.
This bird breeds here in June.
15. Young sparrows, fringilla domestica, fledged.
22. The quail, tetroa coturnix, rare here.
June 4. Cockchaffer, scaraboeus melolontha, on the wing.
A little hay cut between the 16th and 27th.
August 7. The swifts have been gra-
dually
{title- Gents Mag 1792 p.1198}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1792 p.1198}
{image = G7921198.jpg}
[gra]dually disappearing since the 5th. They have remained with us 104 days
this year.
13. The redbreast is returned to the town. All the song birds are silent at
present, except the redbreast, about the houses; and the yellowhammer,
emberiza citrinella, in the hedges. Hay-harvest nearly finished.
17. Oats reaped.
September 5. Swallows, hirundo rustica, in flocks. These
birds were seen till the 24th; not after.
25. The fieldfare, turdus pilaris.
October 2. The woodcock, scolopax rusticola.
15. The harvest finished.
November. The chaffinch, fringilla coelebs. Large flocks of
the females, separate from the males, seen in the hedges on the first, some
as late as on the 12th.
17. The water ouzel, sturnus cinclus, singing, and fishing in the
shallow parts of the river.
Progress of Vegetation, determined from the time of flowering of wild
Plants.
February 26. Galanthus nivalis.
March 21. Ficaria verna, viola canina. 22. Narcissus
pseudo-narcissus. 28. Mercurialis perennis.
April 4. Ribes glossularia. 6. Adoxa moschatellina, Anemone
nemorosa, Oxalis acetosella. 12. plum-tree, Alchemilla vulgaris, Prunus
spinosa. 15. Cherry-tree, Primuka veris, Cardamine pratensis, Leontodon
taraxacum. 17. Pear-tree. 29. Geum rivale, Stellaria nemorum. 30. Erysimum
alliaria.
May 6. Hyacinthus non-scriptus, Trollius Europaeus. 9. Paris
quadrifolia, Orchis morio. 15. Geranium sylvaticum, Asperula odorata,
Lychnis dioica. 17. Saxifraga granulata. 20. Crataegus oxycantha.
June 1. Ophrys ovata, Punguicula vulgaris. 7. Comarum paulstre,
Lychnis flos-cuculi. 10 Digitalis purpurea.
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1051}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1051}
{header- The King of Patterdale}
{image = G7931051.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
... ...
[October 21] At Patterdale-hall (Patrickdale). in the parish of Barton, co.
Westmorland, in the 92nd year of his age, John Mounsey, esq. commonly
called King of Patterdale*; the owners of which place for
time immemorial have been honoured with this appellation; a distinctlion
which probably arose from some of the property being alloidal, as it
is independent, and held of no superior. The royal family have the titles
of King, Queen, Prince, Princess, and Dukes. the palace, pleasantly
situated at the head of the lake Ulswater, makes but an indifferent
appearance; neglect for half a century hath left it almost a ruin. To get
money with the late owner was a principle that almost absorbed every other
idea. This propensity broke out very early in life, and appeared on every
occasion. - The wild mountains, which almost surround the village, afford a
beautiful blue Westmorland slate, and lead ore in great abundance; and some
of them are covered with wood. of wood and slate he had a large share, most
of which was conveyed down the lake in boats; and, when a boy, he could not
be restrained by his father from the drudgery of the oar. His brother, the
Duke of Stybrow (styled so from Stybrow-crag, a tremendous rocky precipice,
bursting out into the lake near the village of Patterdale, was no lover of
work; he was a fine jolly fellow; which made the old man, a respectable
country-gentlrman, in his mirth observe, "he had three children of very
different dispositions: the oldest son
* Some particulars of this extraordinary person may be seen in the
agreeable "Ramble," reviewd vol.LXII. p.1114.
manner
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1052}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1052}
{image = G7931052.jpg}
would be drowned in Ulswater; the other in the mash-tub; and the
daughter - the devil could not beat her for pride." No change in his manner
of life (at least for the better) took place at the death of his father,
which brought him into the possession of more than 300l. a year; he
persevered as if he daily dreaded the want of the common necessaries of
life; no work or hardship was too great for him; and he was lucky enough to
engage one Dick Pearson, a true and trusty slave, into his service. They
loaded the boat, rowed it down the lake, unloaded, and returned, at all
seasons of the year, and at all times of the night. Sometimes he would
sleep in barns, or other out-houses, when a few pence would have afforded
him a comfortable bed in a public-house. in dress, he was the figure of
misery itslef; his stocking-heels were made of strong leather; his cloaths
patch upon patch of any colour; and, according to the custom of the
country, he wore wooden shoes (provincially clogs) heavily shod with iron.
Nature had formed him for labour, of a strong robust make; he was almost
equal to any thing. He had another happy requisite; he would never flinch
any weight he was able to stand under; and anecdotes are now wanting of his
extraordinary strength
A storm, however, would set all his powers at defiance; and once, at least,
the prediction of his father was nearly fulfilled. He was ferrying a load
of wood down the lake with no other help than his old companion Dick
Pearson; a violent and unusual hurricane arose, and they were every moment
in danger of going to the bottom. To throw the wood overboard was too great
a sacrifice though their lives were in the most imminent danger. They were,
however, so fortunate as to reach an island, a bare rock just rising above
the lake. The storm increased; for two days and nights they were exposed to
all its violence; a pile of stones, which they industriously raised, was
their only shelter; and here, it was said, the King took care to secure
what provision they had for his own use. In this there is reason to believe
he was unfairly used. He contradicted the report himself; and, as he was
not possessed of fine feelings, it is unlikely he would have given himself
that trouble had it been true. All the posse vicinitatis were
collected; but no one had courage to attempt their deliverance,
notwithstanding the temptation of a considerable reward from the Queen
Dowager. the storm at length abated, and they landed safe. This might have
furnished him with an useful lesson; but it did not, for he never desisted
till old age compelled him to stoop.
When he had particular business to transact from home, where he saw the
necessity of appearing decent, he would call upon a friend on the road,
with whom he could take the liberty, and borrow his cloaths. In two or
three days he restored the loan, and returned home in the dress he set out.
-
Upon the mountains he had an extensive right of common; four shillings was
the price for a beast-gate. When applications for joist were wanting, he
would travel the country on foot, beating up for recruits. In one excursion
it was remarked he could only collect one solitary heifer, which he drove
himself from Alston-moor, Cumberland, a distance of near 40 miles.
From such a strict oeconomy it is not to be wondered his property was daily
accumulating: his house-keeping, it is supposed, never exceeded 30l. a
year, some say not 20; and his annual income at the last was at least 800l.
Indeed he seldom ate at home, as he let his lands by stipulation, his
tenants to give him so much hard cash, and so many meals, some one a week,
some more, and he genarally took care to have them before due; even
cockles, cabbage, &c. by measure or count, became sometimes the
consideration for a trifling rent. In some things he would indulge himself;
he was remarkably fond of sugar, gingerbread, and all kinds of sweetmeats,
which he always kept in his pocket; and in one instance he agreed with a
tenant to supply him with 36 pounds of sugar yearly
To prevent the risk of being robbed, he would frequently hide his money in
old stone walls. Something or other created suspicion, and he was watched.
An industrious woman privately removed many a stone with little or no
success, but would not give it up; she had therefore recourse to stratagem;
she tumbled the stones about as he approached, and ran off with the
appearance of very great surprize as if on actual possession of treasure.
He was taken in the scare, and called out he would give her one-half if she
would return and deliver it up. This feint had the effect; she was now
convinced that near the place money was hid, and took opportunity, before
his Majesty was recovered from his consternation, to make a more diligent
search; and by this manoeuvre, which was in the end successful, actually
carried off the prize. That he recovered any part of the money is not very
probable: he had such an excessive dread of the law that his subjects might
almost say or do any thing with impunity.
When more advanced in years, his dress was at least decent; he attended
markets like a common farmer, and there was nothing in his appearance to
attract the notice of a stranger. He nevertheless studied oeconomy in every
shape, and to the last had his new stockings lined with leather at
the heels.
Once he joined with a neighbour for a horse; but the partnership soon broke
up: the poor animal when upon travel had a sorry time of it; provender
was scarce, and turnpike-gates caused many a tedious journey;
but a penny was saved. Riding one day to Penrith market by the side
of Ulswater, he made a full stop, stripped, and into the lake he went. From
the bottom he picked up an old stocking,
which
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1053}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1053}
{image = G7931053.jpg}
which he carefully examined. "It might very likely have something valuable
in it as it did not want to swim to the side," was his reply to a clergyman
who afterwards joined him upon the road, and whose curiosity, from the odd
circumstance, was not a little raised.
Wilson, schoolmaster of Patterdale,acted as his secretary; and ten pence
was the price agreed upon for making his will. After the first,
alterations, additions, and codicils, became so frequent, that Wilson was
tired of the price, and for once got it raised to a shilling. He afterwards
made a bolder attempt, he asked half-a-crown; this was too serious, and
another person was employed.
Not many years ago, he was so ill that his recovery was doubtful. His son,
the Prince, advised him to leave 200l. to the poor. "No, he had lost a
great deal by the poor, but he never got any thing by them in his life. Why
leave any thing to them?" But the amiable youth, reasoning with him on the
aweful scene before him, he gave way. "Well," says he, to his only child,
his heir, and executor, "I will leave one hundred, if you will be
fifty of it." Whether ever in his life before he hit upon so curious a
method of cheating himself is unknown to us. This was not the finishing of
his reign: he recovered; and, in his 89th year, lamented the shortness of
life: "Could we but," says he to his old friend Willon, "live to the age of
Methuselah, we might then have some chance of getting rich: but, we no
sooner find ourselves in the way of getting a little together, than death
comes upon us and spoils all." -
He is succeeded in his title and estate by his only child John, who has a
numerous family. This young man is almost adored in the place; and the
writer of this can faithfully testify that, upon the spot, he had the
pleasure of hearing the following remark. "that, if it was possible, he was
too good." Mr. Gilpin (alluding to situation only, most
likely) has said, that, "if he was inclined to envy any potentate in
Europe, it would be the King of Patterdale." If this was the case during
the life of the late King, how much more so now, when this Prince
has for some time since been looked upon as the tutelar deity of the vale,
whose chief study it has been to render the inhabitants more happy, easy,
and contented.!
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1793 opp p.1081}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 opp p.1081}
{header- Bernard Gilpin}
{image = G793E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1081}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1081}
{header- Memoirs of Bernard Gilpin}
{image = G7931081.jpg}
MEMOIRS OF BERNARD GILPIN.
(Accompanied with an elegant Portrait.)
BERNARD GILPIN was born in the year 1517, about the middle of the reign of
Henry the Eighth. His forefathers had been seated at Kentmire Hall, in
Westmorland, from the time of King John, in whose reign this estate had
been given by a baron of Kendal to Richard Gilpin as a reward for services
thought very considerable. From this gentelman the estate of Kentmire
descended to the father of Bernard, Edward Gilpin, who had several
children, of which Bernard was one of the youngest; an unhappy circumstance
in that age, which, giving little encouragement to the liberal arts, and
less to commerce, restrained the genius and industry of younger brothers.
No way, indeed, was commonly open to their fortunes but the church or the
camp. The inconvenience, however, was less to Mr. Gilpin than to others;
for, that way was open to which his disposition most led him. From his
earliest youth he was inclined to a contemplative life, thoughtful,
reserved, and serious. Perhaps no one ever had a greater share of
constitutional virtue, or, through every part of life, endeavoured more to
improve it. The Bishop of Chichester hath preserved a story of him in his
infancy, which will shew how early he could discern not only the
immorality, but the indecorum, of an action.
A begging friar came on a Saturday evening to his father's house; where,
according to the custom of those times, he was received in a very
hospitable manner. The plenty set before him was a temptation too strong
for his virtue; of which, it seems, he had not sufficient to save
appearances. The next morning, however, he ordered the bell to toll; and,
from the pulpit expressed himself with great vehemence against the
debauchery of the times, and particularly against drunkenness. Bernard
Gilpin, who was then a child upon his mother's knee, seemed for some time
exceedingly affected with the friar's discourse, and at length, with the
utmost indigniation, cried out, "He wondered how that man could preach
against drunkenness, when he himself had been drunk only the night before."
Instances of this kind soon discovered the seriousness of his disposition,
and gave his parents an early presage of his future piety.
His first years were spent at a public school, where, we are told, he soon
distinguished himself. From school he was removed to Oxford; and, at the
age of sixteen, was entered upon the foundation at Queen's college. He now
determined to apply himself to divinity, made the Scriptures his chief
study, and set himself with great industry upon gaining a thorough
knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages. He was very soon taken notice
of, and looked upon as a young man of good parts and considerable learning;
he was also admired and beloved for a remarkable sweetness in his
disposition, and unaffected sincerity of manners. He took the degree of
Master of Arts at the usual time, and, about the same time, was elected a
Fellow; soon after which, he removed to Christchurch* upon a
* Cardinal Wolsley laid the foundation of Christ-church college on
the site of the priory of St. Frideswide; but his disgrace and death
hindered him from completing it.
proposal
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1082}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1082}
{image = G7931082.jpg}
proposal made him by Cardinal Wolsey's agents, who designed that his
college should be the means of the restoration of learning in England. Into
whatever part of Popery Gilpin examined, he found great abuses; the true
simplicity and spirit of Christianity were gone, totally lost in mere human
inventions. But, what he first began to object to in the Popish creed, and
was most disgusted at, were indulgences, prayers before images, and
disallowing the public use of the Scriptures. However, Mr. Gilpin took
cautious steps before he declared hinmself a Protestant. He continued at
Oxford till the 35th year of his age, studiously reading divinity; he
hitherto rejected the solicitations of his friends to leave the university,
saying, he was not yet enough instructed in religion himself to be a
teacher of it to others. About this time he succeeded (at the earnest
request of his friends) to the vicarage of Norton, in the diocese of
Durham. His presentation bears date, Novermber, 1552.
Before he resided on his vicarage he was appointed to preach before the
king at Greenwich. The reigning vice of that age, it seems, was avarice;
or, more properly, rapine. At Court every thing was venal. In the room of
law and justice, gross bribery and wrong were common; in trade grievous
extortions and frauds. Accordingly, the avarice of the times was the
subject of Mr. Gilpin's discourse, resolving, with an honest freedom, to
censure corruption in whatever rank of men he observed it. He first
addressed the clergy on their being either pluralists or non-residents. He
then turned to the Court. The king being absent - "It grieved him," he
said, "to see those absent, who, for example's sake, ought particularly to
have been present." He then recommends every pastor to hold but one
benefice, and, as far as possible, every one to do his duty. He then
elegantly addresse himself to the magistrates and gentry. They all, he
said, received their honours, their powers, and their authority, from God,
who expected they would make proper use of such gifts, and would certainly
call them to account for the abuse of them.
Having thus freely addressed his audience, he concluded his sermon with an
hearty exhortation, "that all would consider these things, and such as
found themselves faulty would amend their lives."
Some time after this Mr. Gilpin went abroad; and, while he was pursuing his
studies at Louvain, he and all the Protestants in those parts were suddenly
alarmed with melancholy news from England - King Edward's death, the Lady
Jane's fall, and Queen Mary's accession.
Innumerable were the difficulties this good man encountered in those
troublesome times; but, his firm resolution was doing what good he could,
and setting himself in earnest to reprove vice publicly and privately, to
encourage virtue, and to explain the nature of true religion. Wherever he
came, he used to visit all the jails and places of confinement; few in the
kingdom having at that time any appointed minister. And, by his labours,
and affectionate manner of behaving, he is said to have reformed many very
abandoned persons in those places. He would employ his interest likewise
for such criminals whose cases he thought attended with any hard
circumstances; and often procured pardon for them. "To show the esteem in
which he was held by every one:" - By the carelessness of his servant, his
horses were one day stolen. The news was quickly propogated, and everyone
expressed the highest indignation at the fact. The thief was rejoicing over
his prize, when, by the report of the country, he found whose horses he had
taken. Terrified at what he had done, he instantly came trembling back,
confessed the fact, returned the horses, and declared he believed the devil
would have seized him directly had he carried them off knowing them to have
been Mr. Gilpin's. The charity of Mr. Gilpin was unbounded. The value of
his living as about four hundred pounds a year; which, however considerable
an income at that time, was yet in appearance very unproportionate to the
generous things he did. He never let slip an opportunity of doing good.
Strangers and travellers found a cheerful reception at his house. All were
welcome that came; and even their beasts had so much care taken of them,
that it was humourously said, "if a horse was turned loose in any part of
the country, it would immediately make its way to the rector of
Houghton's."
The load of calumny, ingratitude, and ill-usage, with which he
undeservedly met, may justly be supposed heavy upon him, already
sinking under a
weight
{title- Gents Mag 1793 p.1083}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1793 p.1083}
{image = G7931083.jpg}
weight of years; yet, he bore it with uncommon fortitude, strengthening
himself with such consolations as a good Christian hath in reserve for such
extremities.
About the beginning of February, 1583, he found himself so very weak, that
he was sensible his end must be drawing near. He told his friends his
apprehensions, and spoke of his death with a happy composure which always
attends the conclusion of a good life. He was soon after confined to his
chamber. His senses continued perfect to the last. A few days before his
death he ordered himself to be raised in his bed, and his friends,
acquaintance, and dependents, to be called in. He first sent for the poor;
and, beckoning them to his bedside, told them., he found he was going out
of the world; he hoped they would be his witnesses at the great day that he
had endeavoured to do his duty among them; and he prayed God to remember
them after he was gone. He would not have them weep for him: if ever he had
told them anything good, he would have them remember that in his stead.
Above all things, he exhorted them to fear God, and keep his commandments;
telling them, if they would do this they never could be left comfortless.
He next ordered his scholars to be called in. To them likewise he made a
short speech, reminding them that this was their time, if they had any
desire to qualify themselves for being of use to the world; that learning
was well worth their attention, but virtue was much more so.
He next exhorted his servants; and then sent for several persons who had
not heretofore profited by his advice according to his wishes, and upon
whom he imagined his dying words might have a better effect. His speech
began to falter before he finished his exhortations. The remaining hours of
his life he spent in prayer and broken conversations with some select
friends, mentioning often the consolations of Christianity; declaring they
were the only true ones; that nothing else could bring a man peace at the
last. He died March 4, 1583, in the 66th year of his age.
W. P.
{title- Gents Mag 1794 p.111}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1794 p.111}
{header- Naturalist's Ramble in the North}
{image = G7940111.jpg}
Jan. 30.
Mr. URBAN,
YOUR valuable Miscellany has just presented the publick with the ramble of
a gentleman, who seems to have some taste for Natural History: his remarks
were made in the South of England; and, with your premission, I will
communicate, through the same channel, a short account of a similar
excursion in the North.
Being in Westmorland last summer, I undertook a journey to Kent-sands, in
search of natural curiosities, in the company of a friend whose taste is
congenial to my own. The scenery of the country, and manners of its
inhabitants, have been described by abler pens than mine; for which reason
it will be proper to confine the following observations to the fossils,
plants, and animals, that came under our notice.
We set off from Kendal on the first of August, on foot; which mode of
travelling a judicious Naturalist will always prefer, because it affords
him the best opportunity of pursuing his favourite study.
Kendal Fell is a hill which does not rise more than 160 yards above the
river Kent in the highest part, The superior strata, to a great depth,
consist of compact limestone, being that variety called stink stone as it
emits a disagreeable smell when rubbed against a hard body, Its colour is
grey, its fracture rough, and its specific gravity [2.723]. It abounds with
petrifactions,
principally
{title- Gents Mag 1794 p.112}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1794 p.112}
{image = G7940112.jpg}
principally of the bivalve kind, which are very frequently mutilated. This
vast mass of calcareous matter terminates in an extensive field of the
same, occupying the valley to the South, In this part it rests on an
elevated ridge of the grey variety of the shistus fuscus, which is
the common stone of the country to the North, and even takes place
immediately on the East side of the river, where no limestone appears
parallel to the hill; but the natural rock is never seen in the low grounds
excepting by those who sink deep wells; for, it is buried beneath a thick
covering of sand and pebbles, that forms the bed of the Kent, and extends
up the declivities on both sides of it to a height far exceeding the limits
of the present channel. The West side of the Fell is steep, frequently
perpendicular; and the great quantity of limestone rubbish collected at the
bottom of the precipice is covered with underwood, and has been famous
since the time of Ray for a number of uncommon plants. I can add to the
list already to be found in botanical works an early and undefined variety
of the cynosurus coeruleus, differing in the following particulars
from that noticed by Mr. Lightfoot. It grows in the dry chinks of the
rocks, flowers in the beginning of April, and never exceeds six or eight
inches in height. The tevite, a kind of linnet, builds its nest on
the summit, either among loose stones, or under the stinted junipers, which
spread their branches over the mossy surface of this barren soil, and
heighten the picture of sterility by their starved appearance. The dottrel,
charadius morinellus, also pays a short visit to this uninviting
spot at the first coming of the swallow, in its passage from the seacoast
to the interior mountains, where it spends the summer, and lingers a few
days on its return to winter-quarters about the end of September.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, we directed our course Southwards along
the banks of the Kent; and, after walking a little more than two miles,
reached Haws-bridge, where the whole body of the current forces its way
through a deep and narrow chasm in the limestone rock. Here the
petrifactions are, generally speaking, entrochites; in which
circumstance these strata differ from those we had examined before. Near
the bridge we found a complete but small specimen of belmintholithus
hamonites, imbedded in a fragment of stone. The botany of the woods on
the West side of the river is various; but I shall only mention the
melampyrum sylvaticum, viburnum opulus, and agaricus
chantarellus, out of the great profusion of plants afforded by this
luxuriant place. Fahrenheit's thermometer stood in the shade, a little
after 3 P.M. at 67° and, at the same time, we found the temperature
of a very fine spring to be 46.5°.
Between 4 and 5 o'clock we entered Leven's Park on the East side of Kent;
the great quantity of woods in this delightful pleasure-ground has invited
to its shades a variety of small birds, amongst which all the species of
Parus were observed, the Biarmicus excepted; and the
Motacilla Regulus was also plentiful, though an uncommon bird in
this part of Westmorland. The banks of the river, as far as we had yet
traversed them, were frequented by the pied fly-catcher, Murcicapa
Atricapilla, a bird that is far from being uncommon in the hilly parts
of the North, though hardly known in the south of England. It leads its
young, as soon as they are fledged, to the sides of brooks and rivulets,
where they find shelter under the spreadiing leaves of the tussilago
petasites; its food does not consist altogether of insects; for, the
gizzard of one I dissected contained a number of minute seeds mixed
with small stones.
The following description was taken from a young cock bird: weight 13 dwts.
length from the tip of the bill to the origin of the tail 3 1/2 inches;
breadth 8 1/2 inches; upper part of the head glossy-black; neck surrounded
with a broad white ring; the limits of the black and white very well
defined; base of the bill flared, but not so conspicuously broad as in the
m. grisola; exterior feathers of the tail white tipped with brown;
inner web of the quill feathers dirty white; coverts of the wings black
with light brown edges; legs fuscous, not black; under part of the
body of a dirty white, feathers being black tipped with white. The water
ouzel, [fl]urnus cinculus, occurred frequently in the course of our
walk. All the springs between Haws-bridge and this place cover the withered
vegetables in their respective channels with a calcareous crust; the water
of these fountains is undoubtedly impregnated with lime, suspended in it by
an excess of carbonic acid; this gass escaping, when it comes into contact
with the external air, leaves the earthy matter to
subside,
{title- Gents Mag 1794 p.113}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1794 p.113}
{image = G7940113.jpg}
subside, and form the incrustation in question; which incloses sticks, dead
moss and straws cementing them into masses, vulgarly, but improperly,
called petrifactions; for, the substance here alluded to is a calcareous
tophus. Water thus charged with lime has a brisker taste than what
has been rendered soft by exposure to the atmosphere in the river, and
generally is preferred for culinary purposes; which seems to invalidate an
opinion, entertained by very able physicians, of particular obstructions
being occasioned by stony particles received into the system, together with
the fluid in question; but this beverage, so suspicious in appearance, is
innocent in its effects; for, the stone and gravel are, at least, as
uncommon here as in any part of the kingdom, nor do we perceive the
smallest symptom of those unseemly tumours of the throat which prevail in
the Alps and other mountainous districts.
Before quitting the park, we came to high-water mark; for, the tides reach
thus far into the country at the time of spring-floods, the distance from
the sea being not less than twenty miles; consequently this part of the
river is not more than eighteen or twenty yards above low-water mark, which
is a very gentle ascent when compared with that we had been examining; for,
the Kent falls nearly fifty yards, by means of streams and cascades, in the
space of less than five miles between Kendal and Levens. The watery
inhabitants of this limpid current may be thus enumerated: the fresh-water
muscle, Mytilus Cygneus; the cray-fish, Cancer Astacus; the
samlet, Salmo; the trout, S. Fario; the salmon, S.
Salar; the eel, Muraena Anguilla; the bull-head, Costus
Gobio; the pink, Cyprinus Phoxinus; the loach, Cobitis
Toenia. About high-water-mark are found the flounder, Pleuronectes
Flessius; and the smelt, Salmo Eperlanus. The otter may be
added, without much impropriety, to the catalogue, the common enemy of the
finny tribe.
(To be concluded in a future number.)
{title- Gents Mag 1794 p.326}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1794 p.326}
{image = G7940326.jpg}
A NATURALIST'S RAMBLE IN THE NORTH.
(Concluded from p.113).
AFTER leaving Levens, the park, and river, we soon reached Heversham. This
village presents the Malva Sylvestris to the North country
Naturalist; a plant which he considers as a botanical acquisition. We also
picked up by the way the Bromus Madritensis, and the Convulvulus
Arvensis.
Nothing more worth recording occurred until we came to the junction of the
Bela with the Kent on the Sands. Here the thermometer, placed in the
fresh-water of the channel at eight in the evening, stood at 60°,
with which observation we closed the labour and recreation of the day,
intending to renew them early the next. The amusements of our walk were
undoubtedly many, but it could be called fatiguing, as the length of it did
not exceed eight miles.
August 2. In pursuance of our last night's resolution, we were on the sands
soon after five in the morning. The days was fine, and we determined to
follow the shore in order to pick up what curiosities might happen to fall
in our way. But it soon appeared that our journey had not been well timed;
for, the tides were neap, and the gulls had cleared the deserted channel of
the greatest part of the marine animals that are found in it at the time of
spring-floods.
These sands are skirted on both sides with calcareous rocks; those on the
East side, which bound the shore we examined, are frequently high and
naked, and run in a zigzag line; their direction is nearly from North to
South as far as Arnside, but afterwards it inclines considerable to the
East, whiile the opposite coast continues in the former course, or nearly
so; thus the width of the channel is gradually enlarged. The strata are for
the most part well formed; but the rocks are, in some places South-east of
Arnside, composed of mis-shapen masses, not at all stratified. This lofty
bank of limestone abounds with petrifactions, principally of
Lithophyta; but the petrified valves of a species of Pinna
are sometimes found in it, as well as those of the Cardium Edule and
other bivalves. The joints of the strata are in some places stained
with a red substance, proceeding from the blood-stone which they contain.
This mineral contains much oxyd of iron; its colour is reddish brown; its
specific gravity 4.992; one surface is generally convex, the other is less,
and concave; the sides are for the most part marked with converging fibres.
Another uncommon fossil is found here, the Stirium Marmoreum of
Linnaeus, or fibrous limestone; its specific gravity is 2.728; fire
converts it into lime; it disolves in the vitriolic, marine, and nitrous
acids, and contains carbonic acid gas. We heard that variety of the
Motacilla Trochitus, called in Westmorland a Strawsmear, singing in
a woody declivity close to the beach, after the same bird had been silent
for more than three weeks in the interrior part of the country. It weighs 6
1/4 dwts. The bill is slender, nearly equal; the tongue
notched
{title- Gents Mag 1794 p.327}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1794 p.327}
{image = G7940327.jpg}
notched at the end; the nostrils oval; upper mandible, head, and back, of a
mouse-colour tinged with yellow; a light yellow line between each eye and
the corresponding nostril; wings of the same colour with the back, except
that the inner web of each quill is marked with a yellow margin; tail long,
consisting of eleven equal feathers of the same colour with the back; under
mandible brownish; throat and breast white; thighs yellow; legs brownish;
nails mouse-coloured; under-side of the feet a deep yellow, as is the
inside of the bill. It appears here after the middle of April. Its song
consists of a succession of distinct loud notes gradually decreasing in
acuteness. It frequents hedges, shrubberies, and such-like places. It
builds a nest of straws lined with hair, resembling that of the
white-throat, and lays generally five eggs of a dirty white colour, marked
at the thicker end with numerous dark-brown oval spots. the bird here
described can be no other than the Scotch warbler of the "British Zoology;"
though the author denies it to be a separate species, in his "Arctic
Zoology," on the authority of a Swedish correspondent. We found the
Cardium Edule on the sands below Arnside point; and the Fucus
Filum, which is brought hither by the tide. The rocks are covered with
the Mytilus Edulis, Turbo Littoreus, and Lepas Balanoides;
they are also clad with the Fucus Vesiculosus and F.
Canaliculatus. The Gulls, which were here numerous, conisted of the
three following species, Larus Canus, L. ridibundus, and
Winter-gull. Linnaeus makes this a variety of the Larus Canus; and
Berkenhour supposes it to be the young of the same; but one was
domesticated in this country, and kept in a garden for four years without
changing its distinguishing marks; it ought, therefore, to be considered as
a distinct species.
The rare plants that grow in the salt ditches on the marsh, the stony
beach, and limestone rocks, may be thus enumerated: Apium Graveolens,
Auriplex Littoralis, Cochlearia Danica, Triglochin Maritimum, Triticum
Junceum, PLantage Coronapus, Atropa Belladona, Chelidonium Glaucium,
Arenaria Tenuifolia, Polygonum Aviculare marinum, Roas Arvensis, Crataegus
Aria, Conyza Squarosa, Parietaria Officinalis.
After following the beach about three miles beyond Arnside, we discovered
the Oniscus*.........icus among the loose stones near
low-water mark. This insect has not yet found a place in the British
catalogue. It runs quickly, in which it differs from Oniscus
Assellus as well as in the structure of its tail.
This was the end of our excursions; for we returned leaving the beach and
keeping more on the sands, which were well inhabited by the Lumbricus
Marinus. We also picked up the Tellina Carnaria, Medusa Aurita,
and the Alcyonium Bursa. The surface of our road was ruffled here
and there, so as to as to resemble the knap on frized cloth. This
appearance is occasioned by a minute shrimp, the Canas Linearis,
multitudes of which bore the sand perpendicularly, each forming for its own
use a long narrow cell. It was well observed by my friend at the time,
that, if a portion of sand so perforated should happen to be converted into
stone, it would form a tubiporus every way like that in the
neighbouring rocks, the slenderness of its tubes excepted. The remark was
ingenius, and perhaps not very inconsistent with the operations of Nature;
for, though the process of petrifaction is unknown, it is highly probable,
nay almost demonstrable, that the calcareous strata occupying a vast
extent of this country were originally loose sand mixed with marine bodies,
just as it appears to be at this day in the capacious channel we have been
exploring. The remaining part of our route lay through places already
descibed; and the few new observations that occured do not seem worthy of a
place in this narrative.
Yours, *c.
X. Z.
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.305}
{header- Petition for Peace, Carlisle}
{text- Parliamentary Proceedings of Lords and Commons in 1795.}
{image = G7950305.jpg}
January 22.
Mr. Curwen presented a petition from the inhabitants of Carlisle,
for a speedy and effectual peace.
Lord Morpeth produced a protest, which, he said, was signed by 12 or
1300 inhabitants, who, notwithstanding the general inclination for a peace,
did not agree or participate in the proceedings of the petitioners. He
spoke much of the respectability of the persons signing the protest; which
was done from a sense of duty, and not in consequence of any solicitation.
Mr. Curwen defended very zealously the character and principles of
the petitioners who drew up this address in consequence of an adverisement
calling for a public meeting. It was a petition very far from partaking of
the spirit of party or opposition, which the subscribers not only
disclaimed for themselves, but also directed their representatives to join
with any gentlemen who were in favour of peace, and not to be influenced in
any degree by the conduct of the party, by whom, from experience, they knew
they were liable to be deceived. Were the petition drawn up in any other
spirit, he should be ashamed to bring it before the House. He was sure that
it was not manufactured, nor was any influence used in bringing it forward,
though he was very well assured that very active influence was employed in
producing their protest. The characters of the petitioners were exceedingly
well known, as they consisted of the most respectable inhabitants of
Carlisle.
Mr. Wallace did not deny but that some of the signatures to the
petition were highly respectable; but, with regard to the generality of
them, he would not pretend to say any thing. Their object he could by no
means commend, as it seemed intended to obstruct the operations of
Government: nor was it sanctioned by a majority of the inhabitants of
Carlisle, and of the county of Cumberland in general. The only argument
adduced to prove that it conveyed the general sense of the inhabitants was,
that it came from a public meeting, convened by advertisement. It was not,
however, his opinion, that the sense of the country was accurately
collected by such meetings; besides, the petition was not signed by the
chairman, by order of the meeting, but signatures taken individually, and
persons invited for that purpose. It was but too notorious, that petitions
could in this manner be procured for almost any cause; and the straights
the abettors of the petition were driven to were evident, from their
applying for signatures to strangers and children, one of whom was a boy of
13 years of age, apprentice to a hair-dresser. He confessed there was a
very ardent wish for peace, but it was not for a premature peace, but one
consistent with the honor, interests, and the safety of the country.
Mr. Fox was sorry the advisers of the protest had not drawn it up in
a shape which would admit of its being received by the House. For then it
would appear, that the opinions of the subscribers to the petition, and
those to the protest, were precisely the same respecting the necessity for
an immediate peace, and that they only differed on the propriety of making
in this way any application to Parliament.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the other hand, contended, the
subscribers to the protest having declared their desire for peace, when
Parliament in their wisdom should think proper, possessed an object
perfectly distinct from the petitioners, who desired a peace at present, on
whatever terms it might be gained. The address was not signed till after
Parliament, in its address to the throne, had declared, that a secure and
honourable peace was only to be obtained by a vigourous persecution of the
war, and the subscribers, in submitting to their prudence and wisdom,
professed to entertain the same opinion as the House.
The question, that the petition do lie upon the table, was put, and
carried.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.569}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.569}
{header- Lanercost Priory}
{image = G7950569.jpg}
July 10.
Mr. URBAN,
LANERCOST priory is omitted in the new History of Cumberland, though all
the places around it in Eskdale ward are treated at large, and prints of it
given in the second part of vol. I.
Mr. H. has described it, in his Tour to the Lakes, in all the pomp and
flowers of language. Forgetting that he was there "in the character of an
itinerant only," he has preached a sermon on the languishment which hangs
on the very curiosity which excited him to advance. Imagination is
immediately figured from conception of the rites which once
hallowed this place. The benevolent mind turns away from ideas of those
horrid crimes which, through the corruption of men, polluted these holy
mansions, and will not yield to the sable character which would blot out
all pleasing visions." p.268. "It is profitable for the impetuous and
ambitious spirit of youth to visit such a remonstrating
repre-
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.570}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.570}
{image = G7950570.jpg}
representation," &c. &c. Oh! it is so moving one can read no more
Two such modern smarts are introduced into an inside view of the priory, in
the second part of the first volume.
I am led to these enquiries by looking over your former volumes in the
XIVth of which are give two curious inscriptions from this old ruin: the
one of Roman, the other of Gothic, antiquity: of the latter a more correct
copy is much wished for, though it is much to be feared Mr. H. cannot be
depended upon to make a fac simile, such wretched work he has made
of others.
If I should have overlooked Lannercost in a work that has no plan nor
index, who is to blame?
P. P.
{title- Gents Mag 1795 opp p.985}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 opp p.985}
{header- Dacre Bears}
{image = G795E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.985}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.985}
{header- Dacre Bears}
{image = G7950985.jpg}
Sproxton, July 30.
Mr. URBAN,
THE Editors of the History of Cumberland, rather to my surprize,have not
favoured the publick with drawings of the four pillars in Dacre
church-yard; I therefore send you sketches of them taken in the summer of
1795. (see Plate I. fig. 2, 3, 4, 5.) My own remarks nearly agree
with the following description they give us:
"In Dacre church-yard are four remarkable monuments, being the figures of
bears, about five feet in height, sitting on their haunches, and clasping a
rude pillar, or ragged staff, on which two of the figures rest their heads;
the other two carry on their backs the figures of a lynx; one is in the
attitude of attempting to rid himself of the animal on his shoulders, with
his head twisted, and paw cast behind him. They are placed on a square, two
to the East of the church, and two to the West."
Afterwards follows a quotation from Bishop Nicolson, the same as copied by
Burn in 1777.
"That these look like some of the achievements of the honourable family
that so long resided at the neighbouring castle, which has since been
illustrated by a very worthy descendant of the family, on account of their
claim to the hereditary forestership of Inglewood forest: and the more so
as one sees these jagged branches over and over introduced in the chapel of
Naworth castle, which is so rich with arms and cognizances; and where this
jagged branch is, in some places, even thrown across the Dacre's arms
fess-wise. Ranulph de Meschines, lord of Cumberland, granted this
office of Forester to Robert D'Estrivers, lord of Burgh upon Sands, in fee;
his arms were Argent, three bears Sable. The heiress
D'Estrivers married Engain; the heiress of Engain married Morvil; the
heiress of Morvil married Multon; and Dacre married the heiress of Multon,
and by her had the same right as the others to the forestership of
Inglewood; which was so honourable, and gave so great command, that there
is no wonder the family should wish, by every means, to set forth their
claim to it, and, amongst others, by cognizances taken in allusion thereto,
especially as the Crown, about this time, seems to have interfered with
them, in regard to this right. Surely nothing could be more naturally
adapted to this idea than this Bear, which was the arms of their ancestor,
the first grantee of office. The branch of a tree, which seems so very
allusive to forests and woods, agrees with the same notion: and it is not
improbable but this might be originally a badge used by Robert D'Estrivers
himself, and that he chose the bears in his arms, because they were
inhabitants of forests."
The Editors remark, that in the old town-house walls at Penrith (burnt
down, I think, in 1770) bears and ragged staves were represented.
Dacre according to Burn, is noted for having given name to, or
rather received its name from, the Barons of Dacre, who continued there for
many ages. It is mentioned by Bede, as having a monastery there in his
time; as also by Malmesbury, for being the place where Constantine, king of
the Scots, and Eugenius, king of Cum-
berland,
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.986}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.986}
{image = G7950986.jpg}
[Cum]berland, put themselves and their kingdom under the protection of the
English king, Athelstan. The true name of the family was D'Acre, from one
of them who served at the siege of Acre (or Ptolemais) in the Holy Land;
who, from his achievements there, having received the name of the place,
imparted the same at his return to his habitation in Cumberland.
When this noble family deserted their ancient mansion, the castle, I am not
informed. The estate was sold by Anne Lennard, Baroness Dacre, and others,
in the year 1716, to Sir Christopher Musgrave, of Edenhall, bart. who
conveyed it to the grandfather of the present proprietor Edward Hassell, of
Dalemanin, Esq.
I should wish to know from any of your correspondents, Mr. Urban, whether
anything like these pillars occurs in church-yards in other parts of the
kingdom; and what is the most general opinion respecting them.
W. M.
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.1077}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.1077}
{image = G7951077.jpg}
Dec. 30.
Mr. URBAN, I CANNOT help regretting that your excellent correspondent W.M.
p.985, has not expressed himself more clearly, by his pencil I mean,
respecting the lynxes on the shoulder of two of the Dacre bears. I
will allow the editors of the new History of Cumberland to see any thing
any where; but, as I cannot see with their eyes, I do not see in W.M.'s
drawings any thing like the lynxes, or the paw cast behind one of the bears
to rid himself thereof. The bear may have been the badge or cognizance of
the Dacre family as successors to that of D'Estrivers: whether the
ragged staff was connected with the bear in this instance as with
the family of the
earls
{title- Gents Mag 1795 p.1078}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1795 p.1078}
{image = G7951078.jpg}
earls of Leicester, on their monuments in the beautiful Beachamp chapel at
Warwick, is another question; but, if it was, it may be doubted whether
what is mistaken for the lynx be not the jagged branch, part
of the ragged staff or pillar against which the bears lean, which without
it would be smoother than the ragged staff is generally represented by
Virgil's stipes gravidus nodis, AEn. VII. 507, and the nodosus
stipes of Ovid, Ep. X. 101.
{title- Gents Mag 1796 opp p.841}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1796 opp p.841}
{header- Westmorland Carts}
{image = G796E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1796 p.843}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1796 p.843}
{header- Westmorland Carts}
{image = G7960843.jpg}
Oct. 9.
Mr. URBAN,
TRAVELLING a short time since in the North, I was struck with the
peculiarity of the carts used in Westmorland, and some parts of Lancashire,
and was induced to make the enclosed sketch, (fig. 9). It is
surprizing with what facility a horse will ascend and descend the steepest
mountains with one of these carts loaded, owing, I believe, to the shafts
being elevated and consequently less weight thrown on the horse's back.
{title- Gents Mag 1797 p.725}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1797 p.725}
{header- Wharton Family}
{image = G7970725.jpg}
Sept. 10.
Mr. URBAN,
THE lady, concerning whom a correspondent enquires in a note in p.283 was
Dorothy Colby, daughter of --- Colby *, and his wife, first, [to]
--- Tamworth; and, 2dly, to Philip third Lord Wharton, whose second wife
she was, and to whom she bore a son surnamed Henry. Allow me to request
some information relative to the barony of Wharton, granted by King Henry
VIII. to Sir Thomas Wharton, knt. for his signal services against the
Scotch at the battle of Sollom-moss, in 1543. This baron de-
* See p.200.
scended
{title- Gents Mag 1797 p.726}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1797 p.726}
{image = G7970726.jpg}
[de]scended in a direct line from the original grantee to Thomas fifth Lord
Wharton, who was created Marquis of Wharton, and was the father of the Duke
of Wharton, "the scorn and wonder" of his time; who, rebelling against the
Crown of Great Britain, fled to Spain, and died there in extreme poverty.
Leaving no issue, all his titles but that of baron became extinct; and it
does not appear that the barony was claimed by either of his sisters; of
whom Lady Jane was married, first, to Mr. Holt, of Redgrave, in Suffolk,
and 2dly, to Robert Coke, esq.; and Lady Lucy was the wife of Sir William
Morrice, bart. Their brother having been in a state of rebellion, it is
supposed he was attainted, and that his titles were consequently declared
to be forfeited; or it is probable that the barony would not have remained
so long without a claimant. I am desirous, therefore, of knowing whether
the titles were so forfeited, and whether the first Lord Wharton was called
to the House of Peers by writ or patent; and, if by the latter, whether the
barony was limited to to heirs-male, or extended to heirs-general. As Lady
Jane Coke left her great fortune to a lady of obscure birth, who had been
her companion, who was in no wise related to her, and who afterwards
married the late Earl of Pomfret, it is presumed that she had no issue by
either of her husbands. And I am desirous of knowing whether the Lady Lucy
had any issue by Sir William Morrice, whose title is probably extinct,
there being no such name in the list of barons of either of the three
kingdoms. If the titles were not forfeited, and if the barony was granted
by writ, or extended to heirs-general, and if neither Lady Jane nor Lady
Lucy left issue, the barony of Wharton musts be in abeyance between the
representatives of Philip fourth Lord Wharton, by his second wife, Jane,
dau. of Arthur Goodwin.
Any information upon this subject, and particularly whether the titles are
considered as forfeited, will much oblige
Yours, &c.
VIATOR A.
{title- Gents Mag 1797 p.940}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1797 p.940}
{image = G7970940.jpg}
Oct. 6.
Mr. URBAN,
IN answer to the queries of Viator A. pp.725,726, I inform him, that the
barony of Wharton is understood to be a barony in fee, descendable to
heirs-general of the body of Sir Thomas Wharton; who, as no reference is
made by Dugdale in his Baronage, vol.II. p.389, to a patent; must
have been summoned to parliament, by writ, 1 Edw. VI. For the descendants
of Philip Lord Wharton, by Jane Goodwin, I refer him to the Stemmata
Chicheleana; a book which I have not at present, but which I recollect
states various issue. There is certainly no remaining issue of Thomas,
Marquis of Wharton, his son. Mary, daughter of Philip Lord Wharton, married
Sir Charles Kemeys, bart. whose daughter by her married Sir John Tynte,
bart. died 1785 withjout issue by his wife, Anne, daughter and heir of Dr.
Busby, of Addington, in Bucks; in consequence of which his sister's son,
who married John Johnson, esq. late a lieutenant-colonel in the guards, has
become the representative of this daughter of Lord Wharton. Her husband has
assumed the name of Kemeys-Tynte. (See Collinson's Somersetshire, I. 80.)
Philadelphia Wharton, another daughter, married Sir George Lockhart, of
Carnwarth, and afterwards Capt. John Ramsey, son to the Bishop of Ross. She
died July 3, 1722, leaving issue by Sir George two sons and a daughter, of
whom George, the eldest, died 1761, leaving nine children. (See Noble's
Cromwell, II. pp.269,271.) Margaret Wharton married Major Dunck, of Pusey,
in Berkshire, esq. whose issue seem all extinct. (See Noble, ut
supr. p.447.) Anne Wharton married William Carr, a Scotchman. (Dugd.
Bar. II. 390.) Philip Lord Wharton had, by a former wife (Elizabeth
Wandesford), a daughter, Elizabeth, second wife of Robert Bertie, third
Earl of Lindsay, whose heirs-general are Lady Willoughby, of Eresby, and
the Countess of Cholmondeley. These ladies have certainly a co-claim to
this barony; for the exclusion of half-blood does not, as I
apprehand, apply to the inheritance of honours.
The marriage of Philip Lord Wharton with Dorothy Colby is not mentioned by
Dugdale. If your correspondent be right in this, she must have been his
third, not his second, wife.
The statute books will tell whether an act of attainder passed against the
eccentric Duke of Wharton. I guess not. A bill of indictment for high
treason was found; and it proceeded, I think, to outlawry. I know
one of the co-heirs does not consider the barony
forfeited.
F. S.
{title- Gents Mag 1798 p.196}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1798 p.196}
{image = G7980196.jpg}
F.S. will observe, that I was right with respect to Dorothy Colby being the
second wife; for, it was Philip, third Lord Wharton, who
married Dorothy Colby to his second wife, and not Philip,
fourth Lord W, who had indeed three wives, from two of whom descend
the Bertyies, Tyntes, and Lockharts.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.157}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.157}
{header- Accident, near Carnforth}
{image = G7990157.jpg}
Jan. 15. A shocking accident happened this evening at
Carnforth, about 5 miles from Lancaster, As one of the stage
coaches, generally termed the opposition coach, was proceeding to Kendal,
the box on which the driver sat was by some means forced to one side rather
suddenly; in consequence of which he fell to the ground, and the wheels
instantly passing over his head occasioned his immediate death. He has left
a widow and four small children.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 opp p.281}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 opp p.281}
{header- Cockermouth Castle}
{image = G799E01.jpg}
North View of COCKERMOUTH CASTLE.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.281}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.281}
{header- Cockermouth Castle}
{image = G7990281.jpg}
Staindrop, June 11.
Mr. URBAN,
WITH this you will receive a drawing of Cockermouth castle, Cumberland;
which I took but a few days ago; and, as I am informed no similar view has
ever been published, I apprehend it will readily find a place in your
valuable Miscellany. This castle stands upon a hill South of the river
Dirwent, and West of the Cocker; it is very strong, and the walls are 600
yards in compass. On the East side, over the gate-way, are the arms of the
Moltons, Humphranvilles, Lucys, and Percys. In this place are the remains
of a vaulted cellar, and some walls of a chapel. It is supposed to have
been built soon after the Conquest by William de Meschines.
S. R.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.518}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.518}
{header- Accident near Hawkshead}
{image = G7990518.jpg}
May 13. A few nights ago three gentlemen set off from
Hawkeshead, to go to a place near Ulverston, in Lancashire:
soon after they got upon the road, which is in some parts very indifferent,
and in general very uneven, two of them proposed to gallop their horses to
a certain distance, of a few paces, for a trifling wager. They were riding
at full speed, when, coming to a place called Foss Bridge (about 6 miles
from Hawkshead), at the bottom of a steep hill, both horses ran with such
violence against the dry parapet wall of the bridge as to break it down;
both, of course, plunged into the stream, the bed and sides of which are
rock. One of the gentlemen (a young man of the name of Taylor) was killed
upon the spot, as also was his horse. The other one had one of his thighs
broken, and the leg shattered in a dreadful manner. The third person, whom
they had left at some distance behind, passed the bridge soon afterwards,
without perceiving what had happened; but not long after, the discovery was
made by a man travelling that way, who was alarmed by the groans of the
survivor, whom, with the dead body of his companion, he found in the
horrible situation above described.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.642}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.642}
{header- The Eden at Stenkrith Bridge}
{image = G7990642.jpg}
Garden-court, Temple, July 18.
Mr. URBAN,
IF an ordinary observer of Nature may find his way into your respectable
Magazine as well as the more minute enquirers into that subject, may I beg
leave, through the medium of it, to publish a short description of what
appears to me a most striking natural curiosity in the North of England? It
is called by the country-people STANKTHRED BRIDGE, and is about half a mile
West of the town of Kirby Stephen, in the county of Westmorland. I have not
found any account whatso-
ever
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.643}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.643}
{image = G7990643.jpg}
[whatso]ever of it in print; and the reason why it has not been mentioned
by any of the numerous tourists through Craven in Yorkshire, and to the
Lakes, I apprehend it no difficult matter to account for. There are two
routes to the lakes; one by the way of Lancaster, through Craven, which is
beginning the Lakes at the western end; and the other lies through Brough
and Appleby, which enters upon them by Penrith, at the Eastern extremity.
Now, Kirby Stephen lies nearly in the middle of a most dreadful cross-road,
of about 40 miles, which connects these two tracks to the Lakes, and runs
along the South of Westmorland, almost forming the boundary between that
county and Yorkshire. The bad state of this road, and the exorbitant
demands for toll at all turnpikes, are of themselves sufficient evidence of
its desolate and unfrequented state. It was my fortune to visit these Lakes
with a friend last Summer, and we entered upon the tour at Penrith, and
terminated it at Ambleside and Kendal. In returning, we determined to take
the cross-road I have above described, and accordingly travelled from
Kendal to Brough. Upon stopping at Kirkby Stephen, to refresh ourselves, we
enquired of the landlord of the inn if there was any thing in the place or
its neighbourhood deserving the attention of strangers. Our host, who was
rather a sensible fellow, told us that there was this natural curiosity at
Stankthred Bridge, which was about half a mile from his house, and which
some few solitary travellers had occasionally visited. We were accordingly
soon furnished with a guide to the spot; and such was our impatience, that
we reached it in a few minutes.
This phaenomenon consists of the bed of a river, formed entirely of rocks,
of different strata of white stone, rather level on their surface, as if
worn with water. The stream, which in Summer is very slender and small,
runs from North to South, not over this bed of rocks, but through a
passage or fissure in the middle of it, from about a foot to a yard wide in
different places, but extending in depth to the bottom of the rocks.
In Winter, when the torrents descend from the mountains, their surfaces are
of course quite overflowed. I was much pleased with tracing the course of
the stream as it rushed along its narrow channel. It was, in some places,
ten or fiftenn feet below the surface of the rock; and, at other places,
was obliged to spread itself, in order to find a passage, thence descending
in fine cascades, one of which, near the bridge, descended a perpendicular
height of near twenty feet into a large basin formed in the rock, with
great noise and grandeur. These waterfalls proceed not only from the
different number of strata in different parts of the bed of the river, but
are likewise, in a great degree, occasioned by the nature of the country,
which is uncommonly mountainous, a high ridge of mountains running all
along the Southern boundary of Westmorland, down which rush several streams
in different places, and this one amongst the rest. I walked along the bed
of this river over the tops of these rocks, and they seemed to me (judging
form the fissure along which the water ran) to be about thirty of forty
feet thick. The breadth of this bed of stone was nearly the same, and
extended in length about a quarter of a mile. If this sort of appearance
presented itself in Italy instead of England, no naturalist would hesitate
a moment to determine it the effect of some volcanic eruption. It has every
feature which marks the character of a torrent of lava, rushing into the
bed of a river, and filling up the space it occupied. It is also
extraordinary to accunt for the manner in which the stream has worked its
passage through this bed of intruding lava, particularly as the distance is
so great; to effect which, there is no doubt that it must have required
many ages. For my own part, when I combine the appearance of this bed of
lava with the shape of the mountain which overlooks Stankthred Bridge and
the town of Kirby Stephen, I have no doubt that it is the eruption of some
volcano, and that the mountain, instead of discharging a stream of water as
at present, has formerly poured from its bosom a torrent of liquid fire,
the remains of which are now seen. This will not appear so extraordinary,
when we consider that it has long been a fact ascertained by naturalists,
that calcined rocks, pumice-stone, and lava, the undoubted vestiges of
volcanos, are not peculiar to any country or climate. They have been
discovered in France, Germany, the West Indies, and the islands in the
South Seas. There are even as many proofs of the existence of extinguished
eruptions
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.644}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.644}
{image = G7990644.jpg}
eruptions in this island. It is well known that in the strata of Darley
Moor, in Derbyshire, there is both lime-stone and lava; in the former of
which Mr. Moor of Bakewell, lately discovered the remains of a petrified
crocodile. Many other instances might also be adduced; but I have never
heard of or seen any thing of this kind so perfect in its shape, and so
peculiarly possessing the features of the Sicilian torrent of lava, as the
place I have been describing. If any of your readers can give me a
satisfactory explanation of this phaenomenon, I shall be much obliged to
them. At present I cannot forbear adding it to the list of those examples
of the disordered face of Nature, which go strongly to prove an unbounded
succession of events, and unceasing revolutions of Nature, through
invulnerable ages and an eternity of time.
Yours &c.
G. COOPER.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 opp p.833}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 opp p.833}
{header- Gosforth Cross}
{image = G799E02.jpg}
H. Serjeant esq. fecit 1799
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.833}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.833}
{header- Gosforth Cross}
{image = G7990833.jpg}
Sept. 29.
Mr. URBAN,
THE inclosed drawing (Plate I. fig. 2.) may, perhaps, be a small
subject of entertainment to your Antiquarian readers. It represents a
column at present extant in the church-yard of the parish of Gosforth,
situated 12 miles Southward of Whitehaven, in the county of Cumberland. It
stands above 15 feet above the ground, and is about 14 inches mean
diameter, and formerly, as is reported, had a fellow column at about 7 feet
distance, with an horizontal stone between the two, on which was rudely cut
the figure of a large and antique sword. This stone has been taken away
within memory; and the cross which crowned the two columns, after that the
column was cruelly cut down and converted into a style for a sundial, which
was put into the parson's garden of Gosforth, and there remains. On this
column I once, by means of chalking, discovered two figures of horses and
men; but these were faint. It is much more perfect, and perhaps less
injured by time, than those spoken of by Camden as being in Penrith
church-yard; and are much taller, and of more elegant shape. They are
sepulchral monuments, and of Christian days. What else may be supposed of
them, I leave to your Antiquarian correspondents.
CARBO.
{title- Gents Mag 1799 p.945}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.945}
{image = G7990945.jpg}
The cross at Gosforth (p.833), of which not the least notice is taken in
Burn's History of Cumberland, vol. I. p.583, was probably at the head or
feet of a grave, like those in the church-yard at Penrith.
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.18}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.18}
{header- A Rambler's Revisit to Buttermere}
{image = G8000018.jpg}
Jan. 2.
Mr. URBAN,
BEING among the English Lakes part of the winter of 1797-8. I felt an
irresistable wish to re-visit Buttermere; that I might see, what I
formerly called "the incomparable Scale Force water-fall,"
bound
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.19}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.19}
{image = G8000019.jpg}
bound up in icicles; but my grand intention was, to settle an account with
my own mind; and do away any false pride, which the handsome things said of
a young creature at Buttermere might have disordered her with.
Jan. 8, 1798, I left the Salutation-inn, at Ambleside, where I always feel
myself at home: there, "A Fortnight's Ramble" originated, and a great part
of the poem on Windermere was written. We had an exhilerating clear
atmosphere, and not a breath of air. Grasmere valley and lake were in the
sweetest view; the reflection in the water of the sheep grazing on the
island was most famous, and the tones of the wether-bells, as they nibbled
along, delightful music. Besides, the surface shewed, what I never observed
before, a sugar-loaf top of snow, peeping amongst other hills, apparently
to the naked eye all of the same height; but the lesser hills were green or
rough as Nature formed them. No one could have passed this scene, without
half an hour's admiration, and particular attention to the chaste summit;
which proves it to be a mountain, on the highest part of which only there
was then snow.
A rock on the top of Helm Crag exactly resembles a thirteen-inch
sea-mortar, ready to burst forth her formidable shell at 45 degrees
elevation; military men would be much struck with it; and yet it had
formerly escaped my notice, till a gentleman desired me to observe it. I
then went to Robert Newton's, and took care to order a cup of his "good
woman's preserved gooseberries" at breakfast, and was made a great deal of.
I had no sooner breakfasted, but was shewn by Robert a near path to the
high road; and seeing a person brushing up it, I made such expedition I
overtook a clergyman of the county before he had surmounted it; like
myself, he was on foot to Keswick [ ] take advantage of this very fine day.
There cannot be a better road, and the varieties in view are superb, or
pleasing; I had never walked farther than Grasmere that way. The returning
look from the top of the road into the valley, overpowered me with delight;
the icy gems that studded the opposite hills, on which the sun had
influence, were innumerable; this quiet vale, thus bedecked, was superior
to whatever the strongest fancy could conceive; and I am certain, as we saw
it, must always live in my companion's remembrance. I have a stronger proof
than any thing I can say, of the indelible appearance of this valley, and
shall go aside from my present walk to make it known. On my return from
this excursion, I had stopped at the Cherry-tree, the half-way house, and
learnt that the chearful old woman, spoken of in the Ramble, was dead; the
other, now 84, was nursing a sickly looking infant, which she held in her
withered arms with much affection, and bitterly lamented that colds had
been very prevalent, and fatal to the children about them. The house looked
so gloomy to what it formerly did to me, I hastened out of it, although I
was feebly asked if I chose to have a bed; and soon overtook a weary old
soldier, that seemed to toddle on, overcome by fatigue. He told me he had
walked that morning from Whitehaven, that he was hastening to Liverpool, to
chastise a captain of a ship, with the crab-stick in his hand, for cruelly
treating his son when at sea. I soon drew him from that disagreeable
subject, "to shoulder his staffe," and talk the fights he had been in. As
we advanced, and I pointed to the mortar on the crag, he was quite
delighted with the remark, and said,- "that bull-dog looks as if it was
going to open u[ ]on us, to hinder our passing the Gaut;" and for himself,
when he came to a full command of Grasmere, he thus spoke - "Forty years
ago
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.20}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.20}
{image = G8000020.jpg}
ago I first came this road, a recruit from Whitehaven - I thought this
sight at the bottom of the hill very beautiful, I have passed it several
times since, and have been all over the world; it is sixteen years since I
last saw it, and I have never seen any thing so pretty." The unadulterated
taste of an uneducated veteran is my excuse for the digression; and the
truest compliment Grasmere ever received.
I was entertained with many anecdotes, by the clergyman, of particular
people, in different valleys we crossed; and his information would have
been very useful, had I ever thought of publishing this. On my
expressing a wish to avoid the town of Keswick, he led me by the head of
Derwentwater, by that part which had been so cruelly dispoiled of its
venerable oaks by the Greenwich-hospital commissioners, and which robbed
that beautiful lake of a grand and irreparable feature; the boughs were
wont to be so thick and entwined, boys could pass from one branch to
another, through an immense wood. My companion went with me to the bridge,
purposely to point out a path to the parsonage-house; that common station
of lake-fanciers, and by which I was to proceed.
We had passed the foor of gigantic HELVELLYN, and I was now beneath "the
giant Skeddaw." The base was much decorated with furze-like bushes, in
summer-like bloom. The frost occasioned this part of the road to be uneven,
and disagreeable. I passed Little Crosthwaite, and was directed to the
border of Bassenthwaite-water, at this time seen to greater disadvantage
than any other lake, having been lately so overflowed: many trees were torn
from their beds, and it was very swampy; I had consequently a most
uncomfortable walk to the inn at Ouse bridge, near the outlet of the lake;
where I closed the day in a good room, over a Christmas goose-pye, and by a
blazing fire.
In the morning I hugged my bed, thinking, from the roaring of the lake,
there was a storm; and was astonished, when I drew myself out, to find the
day as calm as the preceding: this effect was occasioned by a "bottom
wind," of which so much has been said, and whose turbulent powers
require to be seen to form an idea of, and cannot be contemplated upon
without emphatic admiration towards the invisible Creator of wonders.
The land here is much better than about Ambleside, or Hawkeshead, but not
so rich in wood: the hills and the mountains were in such new shapes, and
varied cloathing, I was gratified; and many houses about the lake must in
summer have some sumptuous views, that are now in disorder; and pleasing
ones, which are now swampy, and defiled with coarse reeds. The dirt on the
highway is deep, but the bottom sound. In short, there is nothing to induce
us to pay Bassenthwaite-water a second winter visit.
On starting I hurried on to Cockermouth, and walked up to the castle to
admire the view from it; thence, towards Lorton, and went through a
beautiful summer valley, which the river Cocker waters in his passage from
Crummock-lake. I had passed Lowes Chapel, and had many formidable strides
to take, over rugged and unbeaten ground, before I could be within a
certain compass of my first object, Scale Force Water-fall. Not that
I supposed the effect could be so enchanting as the state I had described
it in: for motion is the very life of cascades: but I conceived its then
Gothic style would be a new kind of beauty to me. I sat some time
upon a stone, very much pleased with my solitary situation, and the manly
thoughts which crowded upon me. The time of the day would not allow me to
rest long. I made very many efforts to overcome the glassy hill; and
although I had sharp nails in the balls of my shoes, and large stubbs to
the
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.21}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.21}
{image = G8000021.jpg}
the heels, with a pike to my hazle-stick, my efforts were useless: I
tumbled twice, and slid bodily down the hill again. Difficultues increased
my ideas of its magnificient state; bedsides the innate dislike we feel in
being overcome. I changed the mode of attack, and took a sweep by the left;
the rise through which we had in the summer 1792 been wet by splashes from
loose stones, and which in the Ramble called "beau-traps," one of
your correspondents wished for an explanation.
Although the surface was ice, the rough grass and water oozing through had
made it both hollow and rotten. I soon got over my shoe tops, and up to one
knee, and I then felt myself conquered, gave up the pursuit, and determined
to bear a great disappointment with due meekness; but could not
nevertheless help resting upon my thoughts, and deeply regretting the fight
I had lost.
I had a bad mile and a half of this uneven slippery road, and night was
closing fast. Too wet to care where I trod, I kept on the margin of
Crummack-lake, till I had passed the head of it; and reached an apology for
a bridge, over the rapid brook that fills the lake: half the hand-rail of
the bridge was forced away, with only a narrow birch-tree and broken turf
in a separation between it and a crooked plank; I stood considering how I
was to get over, and congratulated myself on being a good swimmer, in case
I should be doused in the attempt. To wait for assistance would have been
useless; the passage was too well known by the natives to be trusted to,
and strangers were never seen at this season of the year; no house was
within call; and I had not seen a human being for several hours. What could
a weary stranger do? I got a pole, and thumped against the planks to try
their strength; finding they did not give way, and having fixed upon some
oziers I would attempt to seize in case of a plunge, I first threw my
faithful hazle over, mounted stride, with my shoes in one hand, and coat
across my shoulder: luckily these honest precautions were useless, for I
crept over in safety. After jumping about a little, the natural consequence
of an escape, I became as bold as a lion; though must frankly confess,
there were certain qualms about me, when at the other side, which were
somewhat akin to fear.
I was all hurry to reach the village of Buttermere, and made up to
the public-house, in which I was received by the chief object of this
Ramble; and was given to understand I might have a bed, but should be much
disturbed, as they were going to have an annual dance, for the benefit of
one Askew, a blind fiddler of Whitehaven.
Nothing could more delight me than this information, because, amidst the
life and unaffected mazes of a rustic dance, an observer can look deeply
into the hearts of the happy throng.
This Askew, bye the bye, is not only a great favourite with the Cumberland
lads and lasses, but has much more musical skill than inspires the
itinerants of his profession; and much more humour in playing, than many
who have the advantage of eyes to lead them by. And though he does not come
up to old blind Metcalfe, of Harrogate, who has made so many roads
and built so many bridges, like him he can find his way every where; and
can actually go (where there are paths) over these tremendous mountains
unattended. "His staff," he says, is "his friend, and his God his
guide." I found him at dinner, having just arrived; and I mellowed his
meat with some sound beer. I was no sooner seated in a two-armed chair, but
the daughter of the house, seeing the dirty condition of my legs, brought
me ere I asked some warm water, and her old father's shoes and stockings:
as this unaffected kindness was performing about me, how true to my heart
it was to find,
I was
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.22}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.22}
{image = G8000022.jpg}
I was unremembered among my friends.
This Mary is the young person described five years and a half ago;
under the character of
"SALLY OF BUTTERMERE."
My dinner, being cold corned surloin of most marbled beef, was soon ready,
and fire in a small room prepared for me. I was waited upon by Mary, and
contrived to joke away famously, and the dirtiness of the walls, gave me a
fine opportunity; for I observed writing in Greek, in Latin, in French, and
English, upon them; all about her, and which I gave her to understand were
the probable reasons of the walls not having lately been white-washed. Her
denial too much crimsoned her face, for me to believe her; and the next
morning I saw the compliments in English were rubbed out.
Here is a noble field of thought! which, if the reader understandeth, will
rejoice him - and if he does not - it matters not. Mary's hair, so
ornamental when we before saw her was folded under her cap; she went out to
prepare for the dance; on my calling suddenly, she instantly came in; her
hair was down her back rather darker coloured, remarkable thick, and near a
yard long: and I regretted it was going to be concealed under a cap. The
blind man had expressed himself so well, I wished to hear more, and ordered
a pipe to my first seat in the chimney-corner; not doubting but I should
pass very well, both by my dress and talk, for a farmer.
About 7 o'clock, a well-dressed young man, full 6 feet high, rosy as the
morning, with fine black eyes and hair, of a sweet countenance, was the
first person that came in; and I drew him into conversation. From this
youth's early arrival, and from the modesty of his speech, I could not help
wishing, and even thinking, that he was Mary's favourite; and I determined
to observe accordingly. At eight, I heard a distant burst of laughs, and,
guessing the casue, ordered Askew to play, as quick as possible, "Come
haste to this wedding;" and a rare parcel of lads and lasses rushed in. I
guessed this music would hinder them from immediately eyeing the stranger;
for I knew every body in these sequestered valleys are the most inquisitive
and observing in the world; besides, I half buried myself in a cloud of
smoke. Some of them stopped to tap Askew on the back; some shook the old
woman of the house by the hand, and some peer'd through the cloudy
atmosphere at my phiz. - All this was done in a minute, when up stairs they
clattered, and a reel commenced.
There was not one of them but curiosity soon brought down to have a peep at
me; and I had, I was pleased to see, a few courteous looks from some pretty
girls. I had smoked the little all of tobacco in the house, and now felt
myself sufficiently acquainted to go amongst them. - They were the very
rosiest-cheeked mortals I ever saw; - the men kept excellent time, and
rattled on the floor with a variety of stops (sic); the women danced as
easily as the men determinedly. The dance was never long, and the moment
the fidler ceased another set that were ready called a fresh tune, and
began. I was glad to notice the black-eyed youth hand out Mary and
another young girl, and call for a reel; and, I honestly say, I never saw
more graceful dancing, or a woman of finer figure to set it off, than in
Mary of Buttermere. I was delighted that this exhibition lasted
three times longer than any former one. The fidler knew how well she
danced; indeed he had told me, and said, "she shall set herself off before
you." At the conclusion, the youth turned round to Mary, and most
respectfully bent one knee, then led her, I thought, not unwillingly to her
seat. Here was a field for a rural observer.
I now went down stairs, and had the pleasure to hear my health drunk. Some
of them, understand-
ing
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.23}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.23}
{image = G8000023.jpg}
[understand]ing there was not any more tobacco to be procured, came and
opened all their little papers in the dish; and they agreed, that "I was
yan of the cheariest streangers they had e'er seen he Buttermere:" such
like expressions were sure to enliven, and I was by this too much a part of
this happy group, to continue at my pipe; however, I just took some more
whiffs, to let them see I did not refuse their ready gifts.
A stout man, more than six foot, belonging to Lorton, about this time
entered, and most piteously regretted he had not known of the dance, as his
iron-bound clogs were too heavy to dance in: mine being by this time dry, I
offered to lend them for the night; but he had the disappointment to find
them too short, or, he said, "they would ha done very weel;" though by the
bye they weighed 2lbs 7 ounces. - However, he soon was amongst the dancers,
and footed it away in his stocking-feet; and after they were worn out,
barefooted.
At eleven, the females all came down stairs, and the old mother waited upon
me at their desire, "to request I would go into the parlour, and partake of
a Christian custom." A large bowl was upon a dish full of what they called
"Pouseoudi," or an ale-posset, with some rum and plenty of nutmeg, sugar,
and bread. Spoons garnished the dish, and every body was to take one: upon
the women finding there was a spoon wanting (as I of course let them help
themselves), they one and all offered me theirs, and Mary flew out
of the room and brought in another. We then, on a kind of signal, began;
and most excellent and stomach-warming it was: when we had finished about
three-quarters of the bowl, some one recommended that we should leave the
rest for the old mother, because she had made it so good; instantly every
spoon was on the dish; and I am not ceratin, whether this natural civility
both to me and to the old woman did not warm my heart more than the good
posset.
While thus feasting, the men were not idle; and all manner of sounding
steps, from the shuffle of pumps to the force of iron-clad shoes, were
labouring over our heads, with the variety of sound attributed to a Dutch
concert.
Several times, when Mary and her female friend came down to have their own
talk, the black-eyed swain was in her wake, but did not follow them into
the parlour; once indeed I persuaded him to come in, but they joked him out
again; and, by finding myself sufficiently intimate to have my joke too, I
took his part, and learnt - "We make nothing of him, he's only a next-door
neighbour, - that's all." I shrewdly guessed he was next neighbour
to the heart; but was rather more certain that Mary was in his. I told
them, I had somewhere read of a "Sally of Buttermere," and asked which was
her? The friend replied, "My name is Sally; but this Mary here is
the Sally the South-countryman wrote about, and I love her above all the
world." Some of the lads were getting mellow and noisy; and I had in
consequence a famous share of chat with the fair two; whom I could not
avoid giving a decided preference over many other buxom lasses.
Mary Robinson has really a heavenly countenance, yet is she far from a
perfect beauty; and in a few years she may even grow too large ever to have
been thought what she now is. She is nineteen, and very tall; her voice is
sweetly modulated; and in every point of manners she appeared such as might
be fitted
"Or, to shine in Courts with unaffected ease," &c.
On speaking about her hair, her friend immediatley unpinned her cap, and
let it afloat; and, at my request, that natural ornament was left to flow.
It was pleasant to see all the
women
{title- Gents Mag 1800 p.24}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1800 p.24}
{image = G8000024.jpg}
women well and plainly dressed in neat check-aprons, a useful and becoming
part of rural dress; nevertheless we had a fine glare of ribbons.
About two, the party went, as they had come, all together. A homely bed
served me as well as a bed of down could have done; for the hurry both of
body and mind, in so interesting a day, chased away sleep; yet I had a
sufficiency to be refreshed. In the morning, our heroine was in her working
dress; and she exhibited just enough of hair, to convince me that she had
taken my hint properly.
The weather was louring; and I did not wish, in case of a downfall, to be
entombed in Buttermere; therefore, taking the opportunity of being alone, I
told her I knew the author of a Fortnight's Ramble, and as such had
something to say to her; she curtsied respectfully; and taking her by the
hand I began:
"Mary, I wrote it, and rejoice in having had such an opportunity of
minutely observing the propriety of your behavious. You may remember, I
advised you in that Book never to leave your native valley. Your age and
situation require the utmost care. Strangers will come, and have come,
purposely to see you; and some of them with very bad intentions. We hope
you will never suffer from them; but never cease to be upon your guard. You
really are not so handsome as you promised to be; and I have long wished,
by conversation like this, to do away with what mischief the flattering
character I gave of you may expose you to. Be merry and wise."
She told me, she sincerely thanked me, and said, "I hope, Sir, I ever have,
and trust I always shall take care of myself."
I then gave her a a hearty salute; bade her farewell! and, teeming
with good wishes towards my felow mortals, toiled out of the
Valley of Buttermere.
A RAMBLER.
{title- Gents Mag 1801 p.143}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1801 p.143}
{header- Housman's Tour of The Lakes}
{image = G8010143.jpg}
41. A descriptive Tour and Guide to the Lakes, Caves, Mountains, and
other natural curiosities, in Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancashire,
and a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. By John Housman.
"THE following sheets form part of a more extensive topographical work by
the same author; and a few copies have been printed for the accommodation
and convenience of such travellers as may think the whole work either too
bulky or too expensive. Besides his own observations, made in the course of
his different tours, the author has had recourse to the works of several
popular writers, from which he has extracted such passages as appeared to
him the most interesting; and upon the whole has endeavoured to digest and
arrange a concise and correct Guide to the Lakes, &c.;
which he humbly hopes will be found an useful companion to the visitors of
the many scenes and uncommon works of Nature within the district. With
respect to the several stations for views, he has confined himself to
general directions, leaving to the artist of taste to select for himself
such as may answer his particular purpose. Unexaggerated descriptions, in
plain and simple language, are here principally aimed at; and if the author
in any instance has failed in the truth and justness of his representation,
he intreats the candid reader to attribute such inaccuracies either to some
unperceived mistake of his own, or to the misinformation of others, and not
to any design of passing a deception upon the publick. Corby, June,
1800." Advertsiement.
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.633}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.633}
{header- History of the Roman Wall}
{image = G8020633.jpg}
Review of New Publications
114. The History of the Roman Wall, which crosses the Island
of Britain, from the German Ocean to the Irish Sea.
Describing its antient State, and its Appearance in the Year 1801.
By W. Hutton, F.A.S.S.
"You can never bring in a WALL - what say you, Bottom?" SHAKSPEARE.
WE have received much pleasure in reviewing former topographical works by
this writer, who keeps up the ball of curiosity and narrative to the last.
"Having had the pleasure of seeing many antiques of various ages and
people, it naturally excited a desire of proceeding in farther research;
and the eye, unsatisfied with seeing, induced a wish to see the greatest of
all the curiosities left us by the Romans, THE WALL; the wonderful and
united works of Agricola, Hadrian, and Severus." ... "What astonishment
must arise at the sight of the grandest production of Art in the whole
island! the united work of a Commander in Chief and two Emperors, assisted
by three powerful armies, and aided by a long series of years!" ... "I
consulted all the authors I could procure; which strengthened desire. But I
found they were only echoes to each other. Many have written upon the
subject; but I could discover that very few had even seen it, and not a
soul had penetrated from one end to the other. Besides, if those who paid a
transient visit chose to ride, they could not be minute observers.
Poor Camden travelled it till he was frightened, ran away, and wrote
hastily. Horsley was weary, and retreated; but wrote more correct. The
judicious Warburton, whom I regard for his veracity, rode on, desisted, and
then remarked, "He believed he had trod upon ground which no foot had ever
trodden since the Romans." He also transcribed Horsley, whom Mr. Gough
professes to follow. I envied the people in the neighbourhood of the Wall,
though I knew they valued it no more than the soil on which it stood. I
wished to converse with an intelligent resident, but never saw one. I
determined to spend a month, and fifty guineas, in minutely examining the
relicks of this first of wonders; began to form my plan of operations, and
wrote my sentiments to an eminent printer in London, for whom I have a
singular regard; but, receiving no answer, I gave up the design, and, as I
thought, for ever; destroyed my remarks, closed with regret all my books of
intelligence, and never durst open them, lest it should revive a strong
inclination, which I could not gratify. About four years elapsed, when my
family agreed with a gentleman and his lady to visit the Lakes. They
enlisted me of the party, in which they found no difficulty, becasue the
temptation lay in the neighbourhood of that wonder which had long engaged
my ideas*. I have given a short sketch of my approach to this famous
bulwark; have described it as it appears in the present day, and stated my
return. Perhaps I am the first man that ever travelled the whole length of
this Wall, and probably the last that ever will attempt it. Who then will
say, he has, like me, travelled it twice! Old people are much inclined to
accuse youth of their follies; but on this head silence will become me,
lest I should be asked, "What can exceed the folly of that man, who, at
seventy-eight, walked six hundred miles to see a shattered Wall!"
Preface.
"This first and most remarkable piece of Antiquity in the whole island is
known by several names, some of them erroneous. It bore that of
Agricola, which is now lost. The Picts Wall; but this seems
inconsistent, for they had no concern with the Wall, except to pull it
down; and I think it should rather bear the name of the man who built it
up. Sometimes Hadrian's Wall; but I cannot see why a bank of earth
should bear the name of a Wall. Our idea of a wall comprehends an
erection of brick or stone. Perhaps Hadrian's Bank would be more in
character, as agreeing with the materials of which it is composed.
Severus's Wall is more proper, because he erected the stone wall,
part of which is remaining. It is often called The Roman Wall, and
by way of pre-eminence, The
* "Thirteen months elapsed after we had resolved upon our journey,
when our friends declined the adventure; but we, having fed upon the
imaginary but delightful repast, could not relinquish it. I procured for
myself the exclusive privilege of walking, which, of all the modes
of travelling, I prefer. My daughter rode behind her servant; and we agreed
not to impede each other on the way, but meet at certain inns, for
refreshment and rest. I was dressed in black, a kind of religious
travelling-warrant, but divested of assuming airs; and had a budget of the
same colour and materials, much like a dragoon's cartridge-box, or
postman's letter-pouch, in which were deposited the maps of Cumberland,
Northumberland, and the Wall, with appendages; all three taken out of
Gough's edition of Britannia; also, Warburton's map of the Wall,
with my own remarks, &c. To this little pocket I fastened with a strap
an umbrella in a green case, for I was not likely to have a six weeks tour
without wet, and flung it over that shoulder which was the least tired. And
now, July the 4th, 1801, we begin our march." (pp.107-109.)
Wall.
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.634}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.634}
{image = G8020634.jpg}
Wall. That man is born a savage, there needs no other proof
than Severus's Wall. It characterizes two nations as robbers and murderers.
Nineteen in twenty of our race sustain half this character during life.
Some individuals correct the crude passions, adhere to justice, and avoid
whatever is worthy of blame." (pp.1,2,3)
"Our old historians always term the Scots Barbarians: to this I
assent. They surprised the innocent, murdered them, laid waste their
country, took the property, and left the place. Allow me, without
the aid of Dr. Johnson, to illustrate the word Barbarian. Julius
Caesar, Agricola, Antonine, Severus, &c. went one step farther than the
Scots; they surprised, murdered, plundered, and kept possession. Our
venerable ancestors too, the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, who came over in
swarms, butchered, robbed, and possessed; although they had no more right
than I have to your coat. Whoever deprives an unoffending man of his right,
comes under this word. It follows, no war can be justified but that of
defence. It is an old remark, that "idleness is introductive of mischief."
The Picts, now Highlanders, confirm this remark. Strangers to
commerce, to the arts, and, from the barrenness of the country, almost to
agriculture, they led a life of indolence. Their chief avocations were
hunting, basking in the sun, procuring fuel from the heath, and fish from
the water. In some of these, the women bore a part. Idleness of body
promotes idleness of mind. They were savage, voracious, domineering, except
to their chiefs, who were as savage as themselves, but to them they paid
implicit obedience. Servility is the attendant upon a mind debased. Men
thus situated must feel the effects of want. Nature and necessity made them
courageous. At the beck of the chief they entered the Lowlands, which they
sometimes robbed; but oftener joined the inhabitants in partnership, and
penetrated the borders between Scotland and England; and, when not opposed,
killed, burnt, and pilfered, at pleasure; then returned, singing in Erse,
their native tongue. While the Britons were supine, or quarreling with each
other, or while their power was withdrawn from the frontiers, and employed
against other enemies, the Scots and Picts made their inroads. Booty was
the word; but this could not be had without blood. This astonishing
rampart, the production of three eminent persons, and at three different
periods, was designed to remedy the mischief described." (pp.7-10.)
"The Wall was about eight feet thick, and twelve high, to the battlements,
which rose about four more; so that, viewed in profile, it would appear
much like a chair, the main part forming the seat, and the embattled part
the back. At the foot of the Wall, on the North, a ditch ran parallel."
(p.22.)
On its length, 70 miles, were 18 stations, or cities, 81
castles, called by the country-people, from their distance,
Mile castles, about four between every station; and about 330
turrets, or watch-towers, at the distance of about 808 yards each.
The time employed in finishing these united and almost immoral works it is
impossible to tell; nor could they be completed for so small a sum as 100
millions of our present money, exclusive of the land they occupy, which is
more than 5 square miles, or 3000 acres. Constantine, (not the
Great) first neglected it, and the Picts broke in. In the reign of
Theodosius the Romans withdrew from Britain, A.D.402; and the Wall, after
having remained in perfection 200 years, went to decay, and was never after
effectually repaired. Some good stories, and suitable observations on them,
are told of the state of the border, and the debatable ground in
succeeding times, till the latter was divided between the two nations,
1549.
"Had there been no other argument for a Union between the two kingdoms, the
blood which cried from the borders was sufficient. Much has been said, both
for and against it; but one short remark will decide the question. If the
members of a vast family are obliged to reside together, whether is it
better to live upon equality, and in harmony, promoting each other's
interest, or, each to do the other all the mischief in their power? It may
be said, 'the Scots lost their sovereignty.' They did, just as a tradesman
loses his, who, having pursued his business upon his own account,
with small gains, enters into a partnership with a greater, and multiplies
his accumulations tenfold." (pp.93,94.)
"Thus we have wandered through the long series of 1500 years; have seen the
rise, meridian, and fall, of the grandest work ever produced by European
hands; have observed, with a melancholy eye, the depraved state of human
nature, the defection of law, of the power to protect, and the insatiablity
of property; but, with a smile, have seen the termination of a quarrel
which had continued fifty generations. This short indference may be drawn
from the whole: that protection on one side, and liberty and obedience on
the other, are the foundation of all just government." (pp.103,104.)
Of Liverpool, Mr. H. observes that "the street is crowed with
shipping;
the
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.635}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.635}
{image = G8020635.jpg}
the stile of business is amazing, and is enough to ruin Bristol and eclipse
London." (p.122.) - At Heysham,
"Upon the crown of a rock, joining the church-yard, is a flat, thirty yards
diameter, which precipitates into the sea, where stand the remains of a
chapel. In this repository of the dead was taken up a stone coffin, which
now lies above ground, and seems to fit a corpse five feet ten, and to have
stood the test of a thousand years. A hollow is cut in the hard grit, for
the head, neck, shoulders, &c. Upon this bare rock is a level part, six
yards by three and a half, in which have been cut six hollows, or coffins,
in a row, in the form of a human body, about twelve inches deep, with a
groove round each, to admit a lid. This was probably the depositary of one
family, who, instead of sinking, may be said to rise into the
grave. The West side of this rock is washed by the waves, and elevated
about fifty feet above them. These receptacles of the dead look like half a
dozen mummies, in rank. (pp.130,131.)
Receptacles must be like catacombs, and the bodies in them
like mummies.
The passage 8 miles over the Kent sands (p.132-139.) is truly
interesting; also, the description of Windermere (p.141-146.)
At Penrith the father and daughter parted, he for the Wall, she for the
Lakes. Antiquaries as we are, we wish they had kept together.
A mile from Shewenshields is the famous Busy gap, about 29
miles from Newcastle, so called from the frequency of the Picts and Scots
breaking through this gap, and suprising the Romans and Britons, and
afterwards of the Moss troopers; "a break in the mountain over which the
Wall ran, now filled up by a common field-gate, two yards and an half
wide." The feats of the Moss troopers have been greatly exaggerated; but "a
more dreary country than this can scarcely be conceived. I do not wonder it
shocked Camden. The country itself would frighten him, without the
troopers." (p.229.)
"The station Borcovicus, now House Steads, is much elevated;
declines to the South; the ramparts are plain. A very large Suburb seems to
have been added to this populous City, now reduced to one solitary house;
the whole about fifteen acres. The curious observer, I believe, may count
twenty streets. The population, perhaps, could not be less than two or
three thousand souls. From the melancholy relicks on the spot, it must have
been graced with some elegant buildings. A Temple, no doubt, was one. I saw
the square base of a large pillar, with a circular shaft proceeding from
it, fourteen inches in diameter, curiously moulded. Another, of a different
form, with a square shaft eighteen inches diameter; noble remains of
fifteen hundred years! which loudly declare the days of ancient splendour.
The castle stood at the corner, North-west, within the Station; was itself
moated round, as were also the Station and the Suburbs, separately. Joining
the Wall, within, are the remains of a Court of Justice, about twelve yards
long and six wide. In the West corner was the judge's seat, six feet in
diameter, and quoined with stone, ten courses of which remain. It is not
easy to survey these important ruins without a sigh; a place once of the
greatest activity, but now a solitary desert; instead of the human voice,
is heard nothing but the winds. In the farm-house, down in the valley, the
jamb which supports the mantle-tree is one solid stone, four feet high, two
broad, and one thick, complete as in the day the workmen left it, as in the
plate annexed; which may also be found in Warburton's History of the Wall,
plate III. p.60; and in Gough's improved edition of Camden's
Britannia, vol.III. plate xvii. p.245. There are also many curious
figures, all Roman, in this Station." (pp.235-237.)
"At Bradley-hall, a single farm-house, I consider myself in the
middle of the kingdom, between the German Ocean and the Irish Sea;
consequently, upon the most elevated ground between both, and distant, in a
strait line, by land, about fifty miles from each. We must allow, from the
convexity of the globe, a rise of one hundred and fifty yards; and the
mountain on which I stand will perhaps give a rise of forty more. It
follows, I am elevated one hundred and ninety yards above the sea. The
prospects are not grand, but extensive, and rather aweful." (p.240.)
"The works at Cambeck, the ancient Petriana, are wholly gone;
for a gentleman, who, like other 'wise men from the East,' had acquired a
fortune in India, recently purchased the estate on which this castle stood
for 130,000l. stocked up the foundations, and erected a noble house on the
spot. Other Stations preserve the ruins, but this only the name, and is the
first which has been sacrificed to modern taste." (p.271.)
"Upon the spot of Edward the Third's departure at Burgh, Henry
Howard, Duke of Norfolk, proprietor of the land, erected a monument 28 feet
high, 1685, declaring the event in Latin. Time and the weather have reduced
this monument, and the fragments now lie round the spot. Lord Lonsdale is
proprietor of the estate by exchange of property with the Duke, and, I was
informed,
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.636}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.636}
{image = G8020636.jpg}
informed, had promised to erect another, which the country wait for, or
would erect it themselves. Edward's bowels are said to have been interred
in the church." (p.297.)
Mr. Hutton "crossed the kingdom twice, under a burning sun, and without a
drop of rain, in seven days and six hours." (p.312.) When he returned
homeward he was thoroughly drenched.
"By easy marches I arrived a Birmingham Aug. 7, 1801; after a loss, by
perspiration, of one stone of animal weight; an expenditure of forty
guineas, a lapse of thirty-five days, and a walk of six hundred and one
miles. As so long and solitary a journey on foot was, perhaps, never
wantonly preformed by a man of seventy-eight, it excited the curiosity of
the town, which caused me frequently to be stopped in the street to
ascertain the fact. I shall, 'to satisfy all whom it may concern,' give the
journal of the day, in the following table." (pp.339,340.)
{table- }
"","","","",""
"1801.","Slept at","Miles","Add.","Tot."
"","","","",""
"July 4, Sat.","Lichfield","","","16"
"5, Sun.","Stone","","","22"
"6, M.","Hulmes Chapel","","","25"
"7, Tu.","Warrington","18","1","19"
"8, W.","Liverpool","18","3","21"
"9, Th.","Ditto","","",""
"10, F.","Tarlton","","","21"
"11, Sat.","Garstang","","","21"
"12, Sun.","Haysham","17","3","20"
"13, M.","Ditto","","",""
"14, Tu.","Hest Bank","","","6"
"15, W.","Newby Bridge","18","1","19"
"16, Th.","Ambleside","15","1","16"
"17, F.","Penrith","","","25"
"18, Sat.","Stanwix","20","1","21"
"19, Sun.","Burgh (return from Boulness)","","","22"
"20, M.","High Walton","","","15"
"21, Tu.","Twice Brewed","","","14"
"22, W.","Harlow Hill","","","22"
"23, Th.","Newcastle","17","1 re-","18"
"24, F.","Walwick Chesters","","turn","22"
"25, Sat.","Glyn Velt","","","18"
"26, Sun.","Hesketh","","","28"
"27, M.","Shap","","","19"
"28, Tu.","Burton","","","20"
"29, W.","Ditto","","",""
"30, Th.","Ditto","","",""
"Aug. 1, Sat.","Ditto","","3","3"
"2, Sun.","Preston","25","1","26"
"3, M.","Wigan","","","17"
"4, Tu.","Knutsford","","","25"
"5, W.","Newcastle under Line","","","24"
"6, Th.","Wolsley Bridge","","","21"
"7, F.","Saitley, near Birmingham","","","26"
"","","","",""
"","","","","601"
{ -endtable}
"I have treated but little of Roman inscriptions, or of Legions, and
Cohorts, for several reasons. They are all totally vanished from the Wall
and Stations where they were placed. Some few have been presrved by the
connoisseur, in dusty lumber-rooms, which seldom see light; but more are
converted into slabs, steps, and lintels, others for viler purposes; but
all neglected, and many more destroyed. The few that remain are nearly
obliterated; and, were they not, they are written in half-characters, and
in Latin, not easy to understand; and, being unacquainted with the Latin
tongue, it might seem presumptuous in me to attempt it. Besides, with what
success could I explain that about which the Learned themselves differ?
And, if they could be explained, what do they amount to? only that such a
regiment or company resided in a certain place, when all are equally
unknown; and, to the generality of readers, nothing is more dry. When he
has laboured through a parcel of miserable letters, what is he the wiser? I
allow, a stone of such antiquity becomes a curiosity; but a piece of
antiquity, when not understood, sinks in value; and still more, if not of
moment. The hungry enquirer, who can relish a dry husk, may find in
Warburton all which have been discovered in latter ages, to the number of
one hundred and fifty-two; also in my friend Mr. Gough's edition of
Camden's Britannia. I design this work a present to a book-seller.
As it will be cheap to him, I wish it cheap to the purchaser. I would have
it sweet as the apple; but, if I load it with parings, like putting garlick
into his repast, it will swell the book, the price, and the disgust."
(pp.323-325.)
"Thus hath he, WALL, his part discharged so;
And, being done, thus WALL away do go."
SHAKESPEARE.
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.878}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.878}
{header- Robert Walker, Obituary}
{image = G8020878.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
Aug. .. In advanced age, at Seathwaite, near Ulverstone, co.
Lancaster, the Rev. G. Walker, upwards of 60 years curate of that chapel.
This venerable man continued to discharge the duties of his sacred function
till within the last four years, when, his sight failing, his office was
supplied by another clergyman. Mr. Walker, upon a small stipend, with great
industry and oeconomy, brough up a large family in a very decent manner,
giving to one of his sons, since deceased, an academic education, and
living contented, in his retired situation, without a wish to change it. He
was beloved by his family, and respected by all who knew him.
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.1157}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.1157}
{header- John Hatfield and Mary Robinson}
{image = G8021157.jpg}
Monday, December 27.
John Hatfield this day went through a fourth examination at Bow-street; in
the course of which the following letter from "Mary of Buttermere" was read
by Mr. Reeves:
"The man who I had the misfortune to marry, and who has ruined me and my
aged and unhappy parents, always told me that he was the Hon. Col. Hope,
the next brother of the Earl of Hopetoun.
"Your grateful and unfortuunate
"servant, MARY ROBINSON."
The unaffected simplicity of this letter, coming from one who, though
wounded in the most feeling manner, abstained from the severity of
reproach; and though it breathed the soft murmur of complaint, yet was,
throughout, remote from virulence or abuse, excited in the breast of every
person present the sympathetic emotion of pity and respect for the
unmerited sorrows of a female, who has manifested a delicacy of sentiment,
and nobleness of mind, infintely beyond her sphere of education.
{title- Gents Mag 1802 opp p.1185}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 opp p.1185}
{header- Ravenstonedale Church}
{image = G802E01.jpg}
{inscription- South View of Ravenstonedale Church / in Westmoreland.}
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.1186}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.1186}
{header- Ravenstonedale Church}
{image = G8021186.jpg}
Dec. 10.
Mr. URBAN,
RAVENSTONEDALE Church, Westmoreland, (fig. 5.) was rebuilt in 1745.
The following is part of a monumental inscription in this edifice: "Sacred
to the memory of George Fothergill, D.D. and principal of St. Edmund's Hall
in Oxford, where he lies interred, who departed this life Oct. 5, 1760,
aged 54. He was a person of great parts and learning, and of most exemplary
piety and virtue, which made his death greatly lamented." Dr. George
Fothergill was the son of a very respectable yeoman of this parish; and his
brother, Thomas Fothergill, was many years provost of Queen's college in
Oxford, and died in 1796.
In this church is also the following inscription
"To the memory of Anthony Fothergill, / late of Brownber, / whose natural
talents, and acquired knowledge, / rendered his character truly
respectable. Though placed in a humble station, / he distinguished himself
by a firm adherence / to the cause of Truth, Liberty, and rational
Religion. / His integrity of heart, / social disposition, / and uncommon
abilities, / gained him general esteem. / He departed this (his chequered)
life / June 13, 1761, aged 75"
Mr. Anthony Fothergill published a work, entitled "Wicked Christians
practical Atheists." From the inscription to his memory it might be
inferred, that he had imbibed Deistical notions. It is evident however from
his writings, that his disbelief of Christianity proceeded no further than
a renunciation of the doctrines of original sin.
CLERICUS WESTMORIENSIS
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.1203-1204}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.1203-1204}
{header- Journal of a Tour through the North and England and Part of
Scotland}
{image = G8021203.jpg}
{text- Review of New Publications.}
238. Journal of a Tour through the North of England and Part
of Scotland; with Remarks on the present State of the Established
Church of Scotland, and the different Secessors therefrom: together
with Reflections on some Party Distinctions in England, shewing the
Origin of these Disputes, and the Causes of their Separation. Designed to
promote Brotherly Love and Forbearance among Christians of all
Denominations; and some Remarks on the Propriety of what is
called
{text- p.1204:-}
{image = G8021204.jpg}
called Lay and Itinerant Preaching. By Rowland Hill. M.A. late
of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Minister of Surrey
Chapel.
THE title-page sufficiently discovers the design and tendency of this
pamphlet. We learn from it, that, when Mr. Hill was a member of the
University of Cambridge, that University "was almost in total darkness. ...
... He hopes some Gospel hero in the neighbourhood of Penrith will
make it a point to to besiege that town (p.8); and he laments that "there
seems to be an awful death prevailing over the people of Carlisle,
though they have not wanted the blessing of some most faithful Gospel
sermons from the dean, and his brother, the late Mr. Milner, of Hull, whose
abundant services to the Church of Christ, not only as a preacher but as an
ecclesiastical historian, together with his other useful publications, will
render his name deservedly respected by all livers of the Gospel, and of
good and useful literature" (p.9); yet "his sentiments, perhaps, might have
been more correct according to Scripture rule, if less favourable to
high-church discipline." ... ...
{text- And more of the same into Scotland.}
{title- Gents Mag 1802 p.1224}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1802 p.1224}
{header- William and Mary Wordsworth}
{image = G8021224.jpg}
{text- Marriage}
4. W. Wordsworth, esq. of Grasmere, to Miss Hutchinson, of Wykeham,
Scarboro'.
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.17}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.17}
{image = G8030017.jpg}
Sproxton, Leic. Dec. 11.
Mr. URBAN,
IT would give me, and more of your readers, much satisfaction, I am sure,
if any of your correspondents would favour us with more particulars of the
late Rev. Mr. Walker, of Seathwaite, near Broughton, Lancashire, whose
death appears in vol.LXXII. p.878.
The character given there of that most worthy and singular man is, that "he
was more than 60 years curate of that chapel; and that, upon a small
stipend, with great industry and oeconomy, he brought up a large family in
a very decent manner, giving to one of his sons, since deceased, an
academic education, and living contented in his retired situation, without
a wish to change it. That he was beloved and respected, &c."
I lament much that justice is not likely to be done to such an
extraordinary character, by giving the world an example of what industry,
oeconomy, and good management, will do. I will, however, throw in my mite.
Near thirty years ago, I knew him a little, and soon after formed an
intimacy with his son, who was of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the year
1776 was presented to the perpetual curacy of Rusland, near Ulverstone,
worth about 30l. a year, which he soon vacated for the cure and free-school
in Ulverstone, where he died many years ago. He was a young man of
considerable abilities, benevolent and generous, but expensive.
Some anecdotes of the early part of the old gentleman's life I had from the
late William Penny, of Penny-Bridge, esq. his patron. Mr. Penny informed
me
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.18}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.18}
{image = G8030018.jpg}
me that he presented him to the perpetual curacy of Seathwaite, when it was
no more than 8l. a year; that he married early in life, and, I think,
brought up more than ten children, besides several that died in infancy. In
this I am not clear that I am correct, any farther than his family was very
large. This 8l. a year, and teaching a village school in one of the most
retired places of the North, which probably never brought him in more than
another eight, and more probably not five, was apparently all he had to
live upon. It is impossible that with such a pittance, without patrimony,
he could support an increasing family. He had of course may other helps. He
was steward of the court for his patron Mr. Penny; and, no doubt, received
many perquisites in a copyhold manor which consists of small inheritances.
He made wills, bonds, conveyances, surrenders, and every thing of the kind;
and, in short, was the only lawyer in the neighbourhood. He more than
educated his children; he trained them up to habits of industry, and gave
them a living example of it in his own person. To his scholars he did the
same; for, at the very time he taught them to read and write, he was
spinning in the chancel, which was his school. I think after this, Mr.
Urban, I have paved the way for what follows, and shall not suprize your
readers very much when I add, that this clergyman was not only a spinster
but a publican (or, rather, his daughter, in whose name, to save
appearances, the licence was granted); and by this calling, I do
really believe, he did more good than he was able to do by precept. No late
hours, no tippling, no immorality or indecency of any kind, would he
suffer; though mild and gentle, he would shew his authority when he
pleased. By persevering in this plan, when there was not another
public-house of a contrary description to counteract his benevolent
designs, he would have it in his power, with few exceptions, to train up
the rising generation in religion and virtue. Village ale-houses, for the
most part, from experience I affirm, are great impediments to the
well-meant endeavours of a conscientous clergyman, which cannot have their
proper effect so long as they continue, as they almost universally do,
under little or no regulations.
Mr. Walker, though strict and rigid in some cases, yet was naturally of a
liberal turn of mind, and had no objection to allow the innocent pleasures
of youth, as will appear from the following circumstance.
In some places of the North of England, they have their plumb fairs, cherry
fairs, sugar and water Sundays, or some other annual meeting, which
evidently have the same origin as the wakes or feasts in the Midland
counties, viz. the dedication of churches to some Saint.
On the Sunday when the young people met at Seathwaite to partake of fruit,
cakes, and ale, as usual, Mr. Walker's first care, when the bell rung, was
to clear the house, and conduct them all to the chapel. After a suitable
discourse, they all returned to their mirth, when he condescended to be
their waiter, and Coming, coming, Sir, with his band yet on, was the
echo to their call.
Perhaps it was not in his power to prevent all irregularities at all times
in his house; but, from the great respect every one had to his general
character, he could do what others could not.
It is not easy to conceive what profits would arise to one situated in such
a sequestered vale (who was hospitable and generous in the extreme) by
selling ale; one that many times would take nothing from either friends
or strangers. Multitudes have been benefited by his bounty, and myself
among the number. The first time I called at his house with his patron's
compliments (though totally unknown to him), there appeared benignity and
gratitude inexpressible in his countenance, and , eat and drink what I
would, there was nothing to pay.
His living did not long rest at 8l. a year; but gradualy increased, and
principally from the following cause. A party of gentlemen from London,
long before it was fashionable to visit the Lakes, accidentally stumbled
upon his house for refreshment. Here they found, to their astonishment,
plenty of homely fare, and a cup of excellent ale; their host also a
sensible and agreeable companion, surrounded by a houseful of children, all
so neat, so industrious, and so happy, that, after their return to town,
they raised (oftner than once, I believe) 200l. by subscription, which
commended another 200l. from Queen Anne's Bounty. The income from this,
when laid out in land, together with what fell by lot at dif-
ferent
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.19}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.19}
{image = G8030019.jpg}
[dif]ferent times, and the original 8l. made the living at least worth
about 60l. a year. But may years before he was in possession of 60l. a
year, most of his children were brought up, educated, and fixed in
business. One became a partner in the house of Bolton and Fothergill,
Birmingham. Others were imprudent, and cost him very considerable sums of
money. The improvement of the buildings, premises, &c. expended under
the idea of his son succeeding him (which he had the promise of), helped to
drain his little purse. It is really beyond the power of belief that, his
situation and circumstances considered, with the common and extra expences
of his family, which in some cases were great, he could have kept level and
clear from debt; but it will appear still more incredible when I mention
that Mr. Penny told me five and twenty years ago, "that he knew Mr.
Walker was worth a thousand pounds." With this suprize upon your
readers, I will take my leave, as the family have, from distance, since
that time altogether ceased from my observation,
Yours &c.
W.M.
{title- Gents Mag 1803 opp p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 opp p.305}
{header- Sizergh Church}
{image = G803E01.jpg}
{inscription- SIZERGH church, WESTMORLAND.}
{text- ... if such ever existed ...}
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.305}
{header- Sizergh Church}
{image = G8030305.jpg}
March 28.
Mr. URBAN,
I BEG leave to present you with a drawing of Sizergh church, Westmoreland,
from the pencil of a friend (fig. 2.)
This antique fabrick is built of a freestone, with the exception of a wing,
in which is a porch in imitation of the Saxon, which was added by the good
Bp. Wilson, whilst chaplain to William Earl of Derby, in 1692. By-the-by,
the worthy and pious man did not shew himself an adept in architecture,
because the remainder of the church is built in the rude Gothic style which
prevailed in the reign of Richard III. at which time the church at Sizergh
was built, at least such is my opinion; but I speak it under correction.
The Youghall family (of which was the Sir Sir John Youghall who was shot by
an arrow at the seige of Joppa (Histoire de la Croix par Froisart, at
Paris, 1643) caused in memory of that event the family arms to be affixed
above the South portico, of which I have sent a copy. Those of the family
of Martlemere (a lion couchant, Gules, with three arrows Argent), are also
affixed to the North entrance. As there is no singularity about the latter,
except their being superbly ornamented and painted on oak, I have not sent
them.
Yours, &c.
P. WOODWARD.
{text- This has been described as a 'spoof'.}
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.779}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.779}
{header- John Hatfield's Trial}
{image = G8030779.jpg}
August 15. This day (Monday) the notorious Hatfield was tried on a
charge of forgery, and convicted, at the Carlisle Assizes. On being called
for his defence, the prisoner addressed himself to the jury. He said, he
felt some degree of satisfaction in being able to have his sufferings
terminated, as they of course must be, by their verdict. For the space of
nine months he has been dragged from prison to prison, and torn from place
to place, subject to all the misrepresentations of calumny. "Whatever will
be my fate," said he, "I am content; it is the award of justice,
impartially adinistered; but I will solemnly declare, that in all my
transactions, I never intended to defraud or injure the persons whose names
have appeared in the prosecutions. This will I maintain to the last of my
life." The jury, notwithstanding the plausible defence of the prisoner,
found him guilty on two indictments.- At eight on Tuesday morning, the
prisoner was brought up to receive judgment; when Baron Thompson, after
beseeching him to employ the remaining part of his time for eternity, and
hoping that he would find mercy at the hour of his death, and day of
judgment, pronounced sentence of death in the usual form.- The
prisoner heard it with firmness, bowed respectfully, and was taken away
from the dock, and thence to the gaol. From the evidence which traspired on
the trial it appears that Hatfield is of a respectable family. He is a man
of much address, and
formerly
{title- Gents Mag 1803 p.780}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1803 p.780}
{image = G8030780.jpg}
formerly himself kept his carriage in Devonshire: his motives for the
extraordinary career he has lately run are rather veiled in mystery, and
will most likely remain so, as no hopes of pardon were held out to him on
his condemnation; and he has since, we find, been ordered for execution on
Saturday the 3d of September.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 opp p.9}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 opp p.9}
{header- Wetheral Church}
{image = G804E01.jpg}
{inscription- View of WETHERALL CHURCH, from Corby Walks.}
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.9}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.9}
{header- Wetheral Church}
{image = G8040009.jpg}
Jan. 2.
Mr. URBAN,
PERMIT me, Sir, to add to your collection of churches, by transmitting you
a drawing of one in Cumberland.
Wetheral church is a handsome edifice, built with stone in the Gothic
style, consisting of three ailes, supported on each side by three massive
pillars. The nave is divided from the chancel by a fine Gothic arch. The
South side of the chancel apparently bears greater antiquity than the rest
of the building: two inscriptions in Gothic letter remains there; one over
the door, the other over the window, viz.
Orate p' anima Richardi Wedderhall. / [D]rate[ ] Willi'mi Thornton abbatis.
In 1774, the roof was covered with blue slate; and in 1789 and 1790, the
whole was flagged, stalled, plastered, and ceiled; the tower was built,
finished with four spires, and a bell hung therein. In 1790. the chapel
over the burying vault, belonging to Corby Castle, was rebuilt by Henry
Howard, esq. to the memory of his lady and ancestors.
Between the north aile and the chancel of the church are the effigies of a
man and woman in alabaster, which (it is supposed) are sacred to the memory
of Sir Richard Salkeld, who resided at Corby Castle. There is an
inscription to this, but it is almost obliterated.
Yours, &c.
C.H.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.269}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.269}
{header- Roman Sacrificial Vases}
{image = G8040269.jpg}
Description of the Roman Sacrificial Vases lately discovered
in Sewell's-lane, Scotch Street, Carlisle.
These antiquities are so valuable, both from their rarity, and from the
elegance of the workmanship, that they must be extremely precious in the
eyes of the Antiquary. The name that the vase is generally distinguished by
is praefericulum, and it is understood to have been appropriated to
the holding of incense, &c. used in the sacrifice. Many of these have
been brought from Greece and Siciliy, and have been highly estimated by the
curious, for the elegance of the workmanship, and the beauty of the relief
in the ornaments. But the Grecian vessels are principally of fine clay, or
bronze. These vases we are speaking of, we believe, are the first which
have been discovered in Britain; and the sculpture of such a vessel but
once appears among all the altars found in this country: it is on a
beautiful Roman altar, discovered at Ellenborough, which was removed to
Flat-hall, at Whitehaven, and is now in the possession of Lord Viscount
Lowther. This altar is inscribed "Genio loci, Fortunae reduci, Romae
AEternae, et Fato bono," &c. It is said to be the most curious
Roman altar that ever was discovered in Britain, and is particularly
described both by Camden and Horsley, who go into a long train of
conjectures respecting the instruments sculptured on its side, which are
the praefericulum, the patera, the axe, and the knife.
- The metal which the vessels in question are formed of seems to be a
composition of refined brass, capable of receiving a very high polish, and
so flexible that it allowed the artificer to form them extremely thin. At
the top and bottom of the vases it is evident that they have been turned
and finished in a lathe. From there being no accompanying altar or
inscription, we regret we cannot suppose exactly the time of the Empire
when these sacred vessels have been used. The only guide is the elegant
sculpture of the handles, which consists of four tiers of groups of
figures, in excellent workmanship, and all apparently illustrative of
sacrifice. The uppermost seems to be two persons holding, or preparing, a
cow or bullock for sacrifice; the next, a person taking hold of a hog for
the same purpose; the third, a priest cloathed in his robes, standing at an
altar, holding something on it; the lower one, which is the most beautiful,
is, on the one side, a man cloathed in complete armour, holding a knife, as
if going to sacrifice a sheep or a lamb, which another person below holds
for that purpose; on the other side the priest stands, with another knife
or sword, attending the ceremony. These vases are, from their extreme
rarity, and from other cause, unquestionably of much greater value than we
were first induced to set upon them.
This piece of antiquity has been preserved, because it fell into the hands
of a judicious mechanic; but we have heard it asserted as a fact, that some
remains of antiquity, found in this neighbourhood, was a few years ago
carries to a founder, who consigned it to the furnace, because no one
present understood that such a thing was of the smallest value!
Carlisle Journal
{title- Gents Mag 1804 opp p.313}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 opp p.313}
{header- Pikethwaite Fell Camp}
{image = G804E02.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.305}
{header- Pikethwaite Fell Camp}
{image = G8040305.jpg}
Carlisle, Jun. 12.
Mr. URBAN,
IN this Northern nook of our England, contiguous formerly to that lawless
territory of the Border, the monuments of the elegant arts are none,
or few; while martial relicks, and remains of bold though crude
architecture, are frequent. The Antiquary often stumbles upon the Roman
Cassis, or Saxon helm; and even in our wildest Muir-land the Grouse are
frequently found encamped on the deserted station of the Victor Legions, or
lurking under Saxon Dykes. I send you, Sir, the outline of a camp on
Pykethwaite fell, near Christenbury Craggs in this county, (fig. 9).
It does appear to our Antiquaries, whether it should be classed among the
Saxon or the Roman ones. Without troubling you with any more remarks, which
would but fill, without adorning, the pages of your excellent Magazine, I
subjoin the drawing, fig. 9.
A. A. Ruins of a wall, about two feet and a half wide.
B. B. Ruins of ditto, about one foot and a half wide.
C. Sunken εννεαγων,
nearly paved round with strongly cemented stones.
D. Sunken circles, paved round in the same manner, supposed to be meant for
fires.
It seems as if a large fire was kept in the centre of the camp, others
between two walls, and more occasionally without; probably as beacons at
night, or to keep off the wolves. I leave it to some of your ingenious
correspondents to comment upon the shape of this singular camp, and to
assign it to its proper definition, style, title, and addition.
J. HUDSON.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.322}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.322}
{header- The Worthies of Windermere}
{image = G8040322.jpg}
April 13.
Mr. URBAN,
THE inclosed account of the Worthies of Winandermear has been sent me by a
literary friend; and it will inform, and, I think, amuse some of your
readers; and if you will give it a place soon in your Magazine you will
oblige, Yours, &c.
PHAROS.
THE WORTHIES OF WINANDERMEAR.
Nations, provinces, and counties, have proudly boasted the births of men
eminent for Arms, Arts, or Sciences. In the same county, Learning, Wit, and
Parts, have appeared more in one age than another. Homer, Virgil, Milton,
were of different countries. The Lake of Genoa may boast of Rousseau and
Voltaire; but it is true, that in these latter days more men of letters,
and of learned professions, have been born on the banks, or within a few
miles, of the famous Lake Winandermear in England, than in any other part
of the world of the like extent, and within the same space of time, that we
know or have read of. For instance:
The late Rev. Dr. Edwin Sandys, Lord Archbishop of York.
Daniel Rawlinson, from Griesdale, citizen of London.
Sir William Rawlinson, one of the first Lords Commissioners for the custody
of the Great Seal of England.
Rev. Dr. Law, Lord Bishop of Carlisle, one of whose sons was also mitred
during the father's episcopacy.
Robert Rawlinson, chief justice of Chester, &c. &c.
Dr. Anthony Askew, the great Grecian of Emanuel college, Cambridge, and of
St. Bartholomew's hospital.
- These were all near neighbours born, and were progenitors of great,
respectable, and flourishing families, now in being.
Launcelot Addison, dean of Lichfield, father of the celebrated and
highly-eminent Joseph Addison, esq.
Dr. John Barwick, of St.John's college, and dean of St. Paul's.
Dr. Peter Barwick, physician to King Charles II.
Allan Bellingham, king's counsel, and a bencher of the Inner Temple.
Richard Burn, LL.D. author of Justices' Law, &c. &c.
Ephraim Chambers, F.R.S. original author of the Cyclopaedia.
Lionel Ducket, fellow of Jesus college, Cambridge, and a great benefactor
to it.
Dr. Robert Dawson, bishop of Clonsert in Ireland.
The Rev. Dr. Fell, who founded the Fourness-fell fellowship at St. John's
college, Cambridge.
Dr. Sir John Fleming, bart. lord bishop of Carlisle.
William Fleming, archdeacon of Carlisle.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Fothergill, master of St. John's college, Cambridge.
Dr. George Fothergill, principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Dr. Thomas Fothergill, provost of Queen's college, Oxford.
Dr. John Fothergill, a Quaker, and eminent physician in London.
Dr. Thomas Garnet, natural philosopher, &c.
The Rev. Dr. Edmund Gibson, lord bishop of London.
Bernard Gilpin, of Queen's, and also of Christ-church, Oxford, a great
character in the persecuting times of Queen Mary, and who preached a
remarkable sermon before and at Barnes, bishop of Durham.
Richard Hogarth, father of the ingenious and inimitable artist William
Hogarth.
Sir Richard Hutton, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
Dr. Roger Leyburn, a bishop of the Church of Rome.
The Rev. Adam Pennyngton, of Boston, in Lincolnshire, who first endowed the
free-school at Kendal.
Sir John Preston, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
The
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.323}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.323}
{image = G8040323.jpg}
The Rev. Dr. Preston, lord bishop of Killala and Ferns.
Christopher Phillipson, a barrister, and a major in the army.
Robert Phillipson, a bencher of the Middle Temple.
Dr. Postlethwaite, master of Trinity college, Cambridge.
Dr. Barnaby Potter, provost of Queen's college, Oxford, and lord bishop of
Carlisle.
Dr. Thomas Savage, of Queen's college, Oxford, Master of the Rolls, lord
chancellor, bishop of Durham, archbishop of York, ambassador to Rome, and
Cardinal St. Prazides.
Dr. Thomas Shaw, principal of Edmund-hall, Oxford, regius professor of
Greek, and known to the Learned World by his Travels to Barbary and the
Levant, &c. &c.
Jeremiah Seed, an able orthodox divine, and an amiable man, whose writings
were much esteemed.
The Rev. Dr. Shepherd, professor of experimental philosophy at Cambridge.
The Rev. John Smith, famed for his historical works of the Venerable Bede.
Dr. Thomas Smith, of Queen's college, Oxford, and Lord bishop of Carlisle.
The Rev. Dr. John Taylor, noted for his Hebrew-English Concordance.
Mr. Thomas Taylor, who complied (a modern work) the best book of Logarithms
ever published.
Thomas Tickell, esq. an ingenious poet and author, and contemporary with
Addison, Steele, &c.
Dr. John Waugh, of Queen's college, Oxford, and lord bishop of Carlisle.
Sir John Wilson, a judge of the Common Pleas at Westminster.
The present Rev. Dr. Watson, lord bishop of Landaff.
Dr. Sir Isaac Pennington, Regius professor of physick.
Sir Alan Chambre, a judge of the Common Pleas at Westminster.
Dr. Ainslie, of the College of Physicians, London.
Daniel Braithwaite, esq. F.R.S. of the antient family at Ambleside.
Adam Walker, the philosophical lecturer in London, &c. &c.
Romney, Cranke, and Gardner, three ingenious artists.
Messrs. Millers, Ainslie, Hall, Bell, Harrison, and Hudson, young gentlemen
of great promise in the University of Cambridge and at the Bar.
It has been supposed that the ancestors of the great naval hero, Lord
Nelson, Duke of Bronti, resided near the borders of this Mear, on the west
side of it.
Katharine, the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr, and wife of Henry VIII. was
born at Kendal, near the lake.
Anne, Countess of Pembroke was born not far distant; and her memory is with
great reason respected in all the county of Westmorland, as well as on the
banks of this delightful lake.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.846}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.846}
{header- Lithological Observations in The Lakes}
{image = G8040846.jpg}
{text- Reviews of new publications:-}
170. Observations, chiefly Lithological, made in a Five Weeks Tour to
the principal Lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland.
THE state of Europe preventing our author from making a second visit to the
Alps, he was led to turn his views to the Apennines of his own country.
Passing through Buxton, he agrees, with Faujus de St. Fond, that it is, "a
cheerless, dreary tract, and, unlike other mountainous countries,
totally devoid of the picturesque." Nor is he at all partial to Manchester;
...
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.847}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.847}
{image = G8040847.jpg}
... ...
It is the opinion of many eminent men, that the air of mountains produces a
peculiar animation and cheerfulness. At Keswick we have an account of the
museum of Mr. Crosthwaite, and the rival one of Mr. Hutton, both abounding
with curiosities and information; but the latter has the minerals, though
small in number, better arranged.
... ...
"The summit of Skiddaw is covered with a whiteish shivery slate, which
threatens to slide down with every gust of wind. The broken state of this
slate makes the present summit appear the ruins of others; a circumstance
as extraordinary in appearance as difficult to be accounted for. It is
impossible for a better description of Skiddaw to be given than this; but
who can be so astonished when it is from the pen of the wonderful Mrs.
Radcliffe?" (p.58.)
In chap. VII. granite is determined, by M. de Luc, "to constiture the great
mass of mountains decidedly primordial; and no where is it ever seen to
depart from its truly generic character, that of exhibiting no marks of its
first formation. ... It occupies a large part, and may be said to take its
rise from three distinct parts of Great Britain, - Scotland,
Caernarvonshire, and Dartmoor; ...
... ...
This is an entertaining narrative, even to those who object that it is not
strictly lithological.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.885}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.885}
{header- Obituary, George Kendall}
{image = G8040885.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
Rev. George Kendall, curate of Natland, and master of the free
grammar-school at Kendal, in Westmoreland.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.954}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.954}
{header- Earl of Carlisle, Verses}
{image = G8040954.jpg}
VERSES sent by the Earl of CARLISLE to the Archbishop of
YORK, on his inclosing the Tomb of Archbishop GREY (a principal
Benefactor ot the Minster) with a beautiful Gothic Railing of
Cast-iron.
FROM rude approach, and from the touch profane,
This gen'rous Markham guards this crumbling fane,
Revives just praise to Grey, makes widely known
A course of lib'ral actions like his own.
And should a baser age, unmov'd, survey
Our much-lov'd Prelate's mould'ring tomb decay,
View Time's coarse hand each grateful line efface,
Nor the broad tablet to his worth replace;
Yet on the spot, where once was plac'd his urn,
Shall true Religion ever weep and mourn;
A reverential awe around shall spread,
And Learning point where rests his holy head.
{title- Gents Mag 1804 p.1065}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1804 p.1065}
{header- Earl of Carlisle, Stained Glass}
{image = G8041065.jpg}
The Earl of Carlisle has presented to the Dean and Chapter of York,
for the embellishment of the Minster, a window of beautiful painted glass,
purchased during the late troubles in France from the church of St.
Nicholas, at Rouen. The subject is the visitation of the Virgin Mary; the
figures as large as life, admirably drawn, and always considered to have
been designed either by Sebastion de Piombo, or Michael Angelo.
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.506}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.506}
{header- Tour of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland}
{image = G8050506.jpg}
June 5.
Mr. URBAN,
THE following simple narrative of a short tour to the Lakes of Cumberland
and Westmorland, in the months of August and September last, is entirely at
your service.
B.T.
Sunday evening, Aug. 12. Moving slowly over Highgate-hill, the groups of
domes and spires scattered over the vast plain of London burst upon us for
a few moments and disappeared. The shades of Night gathered fast about us
ere we had reached ...
... ...
{text- Verulam, Watling Street, Woburn Abbey, Leicestershire, Leicester,
Derbyshire, ...}
{text- There is no description of Cumbria till p.806.}
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.806}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.806}
{image = G8050806.jpg}
{text- Hackfall, Masham, Middleham, Askrig,}
... ...
... forward to Sedbergh, and in our way saw Hardraw force. Its
perpendicular height is considerable, and the eye unaccustomed to these
objects follows the precipitation of the water into the gulph beneath with
a sensation of horror.
The country assumed a more interesting face as we drew nigh to Sedbergh,
than we had seen for miles. On approaching Kendal, across open and dreary
moors, our attention was arrested by the bold, black summits of
Westmoreland, terminating the horizon. Towards evening we crossed the river
Kent, and after a hasty meal in the moping town of Kendal, hurried through
Stavely and Ings to catch the sun's last lingering rays on the mountains.
The Lake of Winandermere burst upon us in all its tranquil glory, as we
approached Bowness, a little village on its Eastern shore. For a few
minutes we were tempted to quit our chaise, and walked about 200 yards to
the gate of a meadow, which commended the most central view of the Lake.
Here, and at this moment; the novelty of the scenery, the
serenity of the evening, the glassy stillness of the water, the terrible
grandeur of the mountains, and the little hamlets couching at their feet,
inspired a charm peculiar to first impressions, and evanescent as the
monent that gave it birth! Winding round its cultivated banks, the prospect
varying at every turn, we took shelter in the delicious repose of Low Wood,
a spot which I soon ventured to predict, would, at no very distant period,
become the favourite resort of every Northern traveller who has any correct
taste for the wild or beautiful in Nature!
(To be continued.)
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.918}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.918}
{image = G8050918.jpg}
TOUR TO THE LAKES OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND.
(Continued from p.806.)
ON the morning of the 19th we opened our astonished eyes on the glorious
expanse of Windermere, floating a tract of country 14 miles in extent. The
beams of the rising Sun
quivered
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.919}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.919}
{image = G8050919.jpg}
quivered prettily on the margin of the Lake, and a little fleet of boats
rode at anchor in the peaceful harbour of Low-wood. We ascended a gentle
eminence in a lane leading to the village of Troutbeck, and frequently
turned to survey the prominent beauties of the surrounding landscape. The
stupendous chaos of rocks terminating the Northern shore, to us appeared no
other than the Pyrenean Chain, and a very moderate exertion of the
fancy transported us to the classic borders of the Leman Lake.
Notwithstanding the variety of character which the shores of Windermere
present, the oblong regularity of its sides is rarely diversified by the
jutting of a promontory or the sinuosity of a bay. Before us rose, in a
magnificent cluster, the rocks of Hardnose, Wryknot, Rainsbarrow, &c.
towering one above another in awful grandeur, and harmonizing all the
infinite varieties of shade, while the silver pikes of Langdale undulating
fancifully along the verge of the horizon, filled the broken intervals of
distance. From these sloped the tame fells of Coniston, degenerating
Southward into low and naked downs, shelving to the shores enlivened here
and there by inclosures of green pasture and yellow corn. Some handsome
knolls, pointed with wood, variegate the ornaments of the Eastern beach.
The mediocrity of the Southern boundary, however conspicuous, might have
escaped the severity of Criticism, if it were not unfortunately exposed by
the splendour of connexion. In scenes like these, where Nature, working in
the style of a bold and independent Master, launches into the wild and
fanciful, and soars beyond the conception of human genius, we are unable to
reconcile an association so distasteful, and would rather have been blind
to the beauties, than have witnessed the deformities of the picture.
Consistency is surely compatible with the boldest design; and it is painful
to see the liveliest colours mixed on the same canvass with the
sombre.
The woody valley of Troutbeck, or Trout-river, an interesting walk of two
miles from Low-wood, boasts a few scattered cottages, a moss-grey church,
and a stream. so beautifully clear that not a fish nor a weed can escape
detection. But these are not the only boast of Troutbeck. The modest
register of her sons, "To fortune and to Fame unknown," is ennobled by the
birth of Romney and Wilson; names honourably distinguished in
the history of our Arts and Jurisprudence.
We crossed the river and mounted a green slope, ornamented by the neat and
hospitable mansion in which the learned Judge tranquillized the evening of
his active life.
Untainted by the guilty bribe,
Uncurs'd amid the harpy tribe,
No orphan's cry to wound his ear,
His honour and his conscience clear!
There is a capacious quarry above Troutbeck, that furnishes a stone of
excellent durability, and from this were conveyed the materials employed in
the last reparation of Westminster Hall. On our descent towards the Howe,
and the farm-house of the Stricklands, we snatched a glance of the river
working its way furiously through the glen, and almost buried in the depth
of its woody sides. Here opened an extensive view of the Southern shore,
comprising the farthest sweep of the Lake, and the islands floating in its
bosom. Beneath us, in a marshy bottom, stood the heavy edifice of Calgarth
House, the residence of the Bishop of Llandaff; a station so unhappily
selected, as to exclude every interesting view of the enchanting scenery
that surrounds it.
On our return we made a frugal meal in the arbour of Low-wood. The sun
shone most splendidly on the mountains, and the serene azure sky was
without a cloud. The white sail flitted by the wall of the garden, relieved
at intervals by the alternate dashing of the labouring oar.
We revelled through the long evening under the majestic rocks of Rydal. The
path winding round the head of the Lake opened upon a rich vale of meadow,
luxuriant from the moisture of its mother streams. Here we crossed the
river Rothay, and traced it through the valley, which is of the finest
verdure. We were awed at the approach of those rugged rocks that looked so
smooth and silken at a distance. Their broad bases are shrouded in a
labyrinth of wood, while their loftier sides are occasionally broken by a
projecting point, or an insulated hollow. Here the solitary cow, cautiously
descending, crops in uninterrupted security the delicious herbage. Such is
the tremendous elevation to which she aspires, that the animated speck
would be unperceived but for an accidental
motion.
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.920}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.920}
{image = G8050920.jpg}
motion. But, notwithstanding the cautious inactivity of these animals, they
are sometimes punished for their temerity, and precipitated lifeless into
the pastures. We passed some enviable cottages at the foot of this Alpine
pile. The Rothay kept pace with us until we reached Rydal, but not without
a soft murmur. Ambleside is a little straggling town, shutting up the pass
to the vales of Ulswater and Keswick, and indebted for much of its interest
to its situation. This is celebrated by the Antiquaries as the
well-selected station of a Roman encampment, the site of which presented a
natural barrier to the incursions of an enemy. Curiosity has not been
deficient in exploring, nor has industry failed to accumulate, the rich
relics of military valour; for here the very guides are
Philosophers, and a town is poor indeed that cannot boast a
Museum!
(To be continued.)
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1010}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1010}
{image = G8051010.jpg}
TOUR TO THE LAKES OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND.
(Continued from p.920.)
MONDAY, 20th of August; embarked at Low Wood, and made a pleasant voyage of
six miles to Mr. Curwen's Island. We could not but admire the stillness and
transparency of the Lake, which is in some parts nearly 100 yards deep, and
three quarters of a mile across. In the winter season it is frequently so
rough as to render the management of a boat extremely hazardous. It abounds
with Char, a coarse fish, caught in nets, of which great quantities are
potted. In addition to these there are Trout, Perch, and Eel; the former
are more numerous in the brooks and rivulets by which the Lake is fed. The
Eels are pierced by a sharp instrument, a model of the harpoon, as they
coil unwarily on the grassy bottom. On our approach, the village of Bowness
rose among the trees on the opposite shore. From the poetical rhapsodies of
the guides, in delineating the charms of these islands, the imagination
revels in fairy bowers and Rosicrusian Sylphs. But, instead of these, what
Mr. Gray would have expressly termed a Rus in Urbeish house, and a
neglected garden, served rather to excite pity than to aggravate
disappointment. The shores (as might be expected) are low and uncommanding.
A lofty point of rock on the Western beach is occupied by a station house,
erected by the same gentleman. Here, after a laborious ascent, we gained
little novelty of prospect, and surrendered much of the grandeur of the
mountain scenery.
On the 21st, we sallied out with our Rozinantes, admirable subjects for
Bunbury. Made towards the little village of Clappersgate at the water-head;
admired the situation of Miss Pritchard's house, and envied Mrs. H-- her
cottage window; passed, to the left of the road, Hawkshead, a neat market
town at the head of Esthwaite water. Coniston Fells presented a savage
aspect as we drew nigh to the Northern shore. The Lake is six miles long,
and, like Windermere, the glory of its banks is concentrated in a single
point of view. In a shrubbery on the Western edge stands Coniston Hall, the
antient seat of the Flemings. This is a well-chosen situation. Hence we had
a wild ride among the mountains; passed Loughrigg Tarn, a Lake not larger
than an orchard-pond, and descended by a steep and narrow track into that
glorious amphitheatre of rock, which shuts in the little peaceful vale of
Grasmere. Here Nature has worked with the hand of an Enchantress, and I do
not envy the Philosopher his feelings who can pass it without emotion. For
myself, I could only exclaim with the Poet, "Sic meae sedes utinam
Senectae." the white church shot up its taper spire from among a group
of scattered cottages at the remotest corner of the valley. This presented
a pastoral landscape, rich in trees and cattle; and finished with all the
minuteness of a pencil; while the Lake, like a sheet of polished silver,
reflected every leaf in its bosom. Here too, is a green islet, but
it is subject to the undisputed dominion of the water-fowl. In such a spot,
where nothing is to be seen or heard that can disturb the interest derived
from Nature, it is surely not surprising, if some distaste should be
excited to the bustle of commerce and the "busy hum of men." The Lake of
Grasmere, basoned in rock, a frontier so terrible, as even to strike the
warrior with dismay, might have lain for ages beneath the veil of primaeval
obscurity; and it is much to be feared that the facility of access to a
scene of such commanding beauty, may prove fatal to its most bewitching
attractions. Descending Grasmere Hill, we rode along the rushy margin of
Rydal water, and in front of us appeared Rydal Hall, the respectable
mansion of Sir Michael le Fleming, at the skirts of a lofty range of
mountains. On our return to Low-wood, we were saluted with a reiterated
chorus. The report of a small cannon fired from the shores of the Lake had
awakened drowsy Echo from her cell.
On
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1011}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1011}
{image = G8051011.jpg}
On the 22nd we stopped at Rydal, in our route to Keswick, and lingered away
an hour in the rich woods of Sir Michael. Ascending under a close covert
shade, about 200 yards from the mansion-house, our progress was suddenly
arrested by the broad bed of the Rothay dashing with a foamy fury over the
precipitous sides of a tremendous gill, "bosomed high in tufted
trees." After tumbling with a horrid roar, nearly an hundred
perpendicular feet, it is hurried down a gradual declivity into a current
perpetually agitated by smaller impediments. Hence we dived into a narrower
glen, which the rampant boughs have wrapped in almost Cimmerian gloom.
After walking some steps, the guide who preceeded us flung open the door of
a small summer-house in ruins, nodding over the brink of the river. The
momentary effect was electrical! and we drew back with involuntary
surprize. The suddenness and velocity of these impressions defy every
attempt to describe the effect they produce upon the sensations of the
spectator. The water of a small bason, hollowed in a bed of stone, and
darkened by the impending foliage is thrown into a tremendous agitation by
two small steams falling six or eight feet from the clefts of a small shelf
of rock. One of them is a broad ribband torrent, fretting itself into a
white foam; the other a little rippling stream. whose current disperses as
it falls. The fine marble slabs that form the sides of the bason, are
carpeted by a thick brown moss; and the light which is denied admittance
through the trees, is ushered in at the arch of a small wooden bridge above
the falls, and reflected from the surface of the water.
This finished miniature, the beauties of which are elegantly delineated by
the pen of Mr. Mason, affords every effect that is striking in the
arrangement of light and shade, and all that is exquisite in the delicacies
of contrast.
Nothing can exceed the interest of the ride form Ambleside to Keswick. From
the bridge of Grasmere the eye ranges with rapture over its secluded
valley, and contemplates with astonishment the awful grandeur of the
mountains by which it is environed. At the foot of Helme Crag, an immense
broken pile, which, like the ruins of some giant citadel, guards the North
East side of the valley, the road winds through the romantic vales of
Legberthwaite and St. John.
We now ascended Dunmail Raise, so named from Dunmail, the last King of
Cumberland, who was defeated and buried here by Edward the Saxon. The place
of his interment, marked by a rude heap of stones, is still retained as the
line of demarkation between the counties. On the right of the road
Helvellyn lifts its awful form, a mountain of tremendous grandeur, upon
whose brow the snow hangs as upon a glacier. The cottagers, nestling at its
base, pride themselves in the shelter of this impenetrable rampire, and
stoutly repel the imputation of the Keswick peasantry, who assert the
greater altitude of their native Skiddaw. Here we passed the little modest
chapel of Wythburn, noticed by Mr. Gray. The antient salary of its Curate,
we were credibly informed, amounted to 2l. 10s. per annum!
Leathes-water is a picturesque expanse in the bosom of the valley. The
surrounding mountains fling a deep shade over the surface of the water, and
a narrow peninsula jutting from the margin, affords an easy intercourse to
the shepherds of the opposite border. The Western edge swells into a little
promontory, decorated with a neat manor-house shrouded in trees. But the
objects of greatest beauty are a group of Rocks, which raise the closing
screen of the landscape. These wear a variety of figure and ornament; some
of them are pyramidal, and dressed in green wood to the very summit; other
magnificently turreted, project boldly, as if to display their naked sides
of silver grey. In the back ground are seen the broad gloomy ridges of
Saddleback and Threlkeld Fells, hung with a pall of the deepest sable. On
Castle Rigg, an eminence, distant about a mile from Keswick, we rested to
examine the prospect which has been distinguished by the rapturous
encomiums of Mr. Gray. It is a bird's-eye view of the vale, discovering a
large extent of variegated enclosure, to the exclusion of those points from
which is derived its particular and prominent character.
Of the Lake of Derwent by much the finer part lies concealed; the poor town
of Keswick is an unassimilated and discordant feature in the bottom; nor is
there any picture in the naked object of Crossthwaite church. The
river,
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1012}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1012}
{image = G8051012.jpg}
river, however, it must be admitted, is creative of considerable interest
in its vagaries from Lake to Lake. Skiddaw rears his giant head at a
respectful point of distance, and the lower boundary of Bassenthwaite Lake,
which is naked and uniteresting beyond description, is happily shut out
from the view. But, indeed, the fervour of composition appears in this
instance to have a little overstepped the modesty of Nature.
(To be continued.)
Erratum.- In the last paper, for Wryknot, read
Wrynose; for Hardnose, read Hardknot.
The origin of these outlandish terms has been in some few instances
successfully traced from the Greek, from the connexion existing between
that language and the antient Celtic. The Author submits to the decision of
his readers a conjecture with which he has been favoured on the derivation
of the name Wrynose, viz. the Greek Ου[
]ανος, from its height; the corruption is
easily deduced, more especially if it is considered that the English w
corresponds with the Greek letter [ ]; and that the disposition to give an
intelligible pronunciation to an unintelligible term (in
frequent use among the vulgar) has proved the most prolific source of
etymological difficulties. Skiddaw probably owes its origin to the Greek
word Σχια, "for shadows, clouds, and
darkness rest upon it.
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1121}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1121}
{image = G8051121.jpg}
TOUR TO THE LAKES OF CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND.
(Continued from p.1012).
KESWICK is a small mean market town, situated 25 miles N.W. of Kendal, and
subsisting on a manufacture of linsey and woollen yarn: the Lake, three
miles in extent, and of a shape irregularly circular, derives its principle
nourishment from the rivers of Derwent and Lodore; it is profusely
sprinkled with islands arrayed in rich liveries of green. On the most
considerable of this little archipelago stands a tasteless mansion, the
residence of a gentleman whose splendid regattas have acquired him an
extensive celebrity in the county. Of the water scenery, if we consider it
abstractly, much cannot be said; but the elevation of its side and front
screens is without parallel in grandeur. The tour of the Lake, affording a
most interesting walk of nine miles, presents every variety of which the
gradual change of situation, and the unceasing interposition of new
objects, are anywhere susceptible. It is a secret among the best-informed
guides, and one of admirable importance, to keep as nearly as possible to
the margin of the water for the purpose of a view; for, in proportion as we
receded, we diminish the extent of the foreground; points of great
elevation, as they render the objects beneath them scanty and diminutive,
are for a similar reason not generally preferred. This lake and its
environs demand more than any an attention to these rules; for it must be
evident to the meanest observer, that Nature has
not
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1122}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1122}
{image = G8051122.jpg}
not here distributed her favours with an equal hand, scattering
those ornaments with a fastidious frugality, around which she wantons in
the most luxuriant profusion. When I first beheld the Lakes of Derwent and
Bassenthwaite, I could not easily divest my mind of a persuasion that thay
had once been united, and that the intervening plain had originally formed
the bed of the water. Such an alteration, taken as a whole, might
powerfully contribute to the scenic consistency of the valley; but perhaps
an expanse so equally extensive would rather degenerate into tameness, than
raise the landscape in the scale of grandeur. The character of the Mountain
scenery is here happily diversified; we have the undulating velvet slope,
the mouldering earth crag, the sullen grey cliff, and the rock of silvery
whiteness, sparkling like agate in the interstices of the shrubby mantle
with which it is overspread. The water of Derwent, which is of the clearest
crystal, is sometimes curled into little eddies, and presents a surface as
much agitated as that of boiling water,owing to what is technically
denominated a bottom wind, the infallible omen of an approaching
tempest. This ruffled face of the Lake, from whatever cause, is by no means
unfrequent, and gives an interesting vivacity to the scene; it is moreover
an appearance which has not escaped observation in the glownig (sic)
catalogue of Virgil's beauties:
Speluncae, vivique lacus, - mugitisque boum,
Non absunt.
Towards the Southern extremity of the Lake is occasionally seen what the
guides call a floating island. This phaenomenon, which is peculiar to
stormy weather, the Keswick philosophers explain by saying, that a torrent
is discharged at this point beneath a turf bank, which swells from greater
or less upward pressure, to different degrees of convexity.
Artificial islets, we are told, float upon the Lakes of Mexico and China;
and, however Philosophy may solve the problem in Nature, Poetry, less
scrupulous ofher authority, has lately wrought the artificial image with
peculiar felicity to the hands of the voyager:
We reach'd the shore,
A Floating Islet waited for me there,
The beautiful work of man; I sat my foot
Upon green growing herbs and flowers, and sate
Embower'd in odorous shrubs; four long light boats
Yoked to the garden; with accordant song,
And dip and dash of oars in harmony,
Bore me across the Lake.
SOUTHEY'S Madoc.
In the evening of the 22d we sauntered through a delicious grove of oak and
fir, crowning an eminence which overhangs the West border of the Lake; in
our way, we learned with regret, that the Dryads of Crow Park were no more;
the greater part of the land here is annexed to the estates of public
charities or private manors; and it is indeed a subject of deep and
universal regret to the lovers of Lake scenery, that the coppice wood and
forestries should be so often and so barbarously mutilated, and the shores
denuded of their fine foliage trimmings, by the avarice or caprice of their
tasteless owners:
Sed non omnes arbusta juvant.
From the brow of Cockshut-hill we caught the grand outline of the vale,
under the mellowing rays of a majestic sunset: behind us stretched the
frightfully stupendous wall of Barrow and Wallow Crags; and from these was
extended a chain of cliff bounding the vale of Watendlath: next rose the
grandly-wooded rocks of the Lodore, forming a magnificent circus for its
fall: still farther yawned the terrific jaws of Borradaile, closed on
either side by the huge precipices of Grange Fell and Gate Crags. In the
midst of this dreary chasm, an isolated spire of rock, invested on all
sides with foliage of the liveliest verdure, stood like a tower. This is
Castle Crags which the Antiquaries dignify with the honours of a Roman
Fort. Of this, if it ever existed, Time has long sapped the foundations,
and dispersed the ruins; but its muffled pediment has not denied a refuge
to the later posterity of the Roman Eagle. Descending to join the road, we
climbed Castlehead, a pretty tufted hill about half a mile distant from
Cockshut. This is a most commanding eminence. Had Mr. Grey, seated on its
summit, consented for once to loosen the bandage from his eyes, and
contemplate magnificence without terror, we could but faintly conceive the
glowing touches of his animated pencil. Directly beneath us lay the town of
Keswick, in as much obscurity as we could wish.
Of
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1123}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1123}
{image = G8051123.jpg}
Of the lake-spread plain, prettily illuminated by the last floating beams
of the Sun, we commended the whole extent: the double-coned Skiddaw frowned
awfully in the distance; while the rocks of Borradaile and Lodore advanced
boldly to the very borders of the Lake. The vale of Newlands, an abyss of
Elysian beauty, the fanciful meanders of the Derwent and Greeta in the
bottom, and the roads to Cockermouth and Penrith intersecting the
mountains, contributed to variegate and soften the rougher features of this
glorious landscape.
23d. Made a pedestrian survey of the Lake. An hollow in the crumbling
summit of Wallow Crag is named Lady's Rake, from a prevalent but almost
incredible tradition, that by this steep Lady Derwent effected her escape
from Cumberland, at the period of her Lord's arrest. The fall of Lodore
presents a singularly-harmonious assemblage of the sublime and beautiful.
We seated ourselves within the verge of a spacious and symmetrical
amphitheatre; from the hollow of which, the wild wood in picturesque
confusion hung.
The character of this famous fall (the Niagara of England) varies with the
season, as might be expected from the nature of its resources: the
cataract, which during the floods rolls with uninterrupted volume and
impetuous velocity, and shakes the mountains with its rebound, dwindles in
the drought of summer into a thousand little rills, babbling in the hollows
moulded by their continued eddy, or fretting to find a passage between the
spiculi that start from the ragged bottom of the rock; these at length
join, and, as if impatient of delay, wind off into a smooth rivulet on its
journey to the Lake. The variegated tints of the foliage, and the rainbow
lustre of the tremulous spray, glistening in the Sun's beams, contribute to
the splendour of the scene.
We proceeded (the sound of the torrent still vibrating in our ears) through
the villages of High and Low Lodore. A grey-headed man, bent with age and
its infirmities, feebly opened a gate, and implored our charity. We were
suprized to learn that this poor man, who appeared to annex a bare
subsistence to his employment, was the unenvied possessor of as many acres
as would secure to a contented mind the blessing of independence:
"Multas inter opes inops."
The Grange is a small village in the mouth of Borradaile, once used as the
repository of their tithe-grain by the Monks of Furness. A little stone
bridge thrown across the river here is nearly gone to decay: here we saw
the farm house, whither Mr. Gray fled for shelter from the inhospitable
frowns of Borradaile. Following the upward course of the Derwent, we found
a path recently led through the wild woods of Lord William Gordon, who has
a pretty Cottage orneé washed by a bay of the Lake: the wood
walks of his garden are tastefully embroidered with all the rich varieties
of fir and ash, and afford a delicious retirement: at intervals we snatched
a glimpse of the water, and from a high point of ground, called the silver
field, gazed upon the empurpled majesty of Skiddaw. Its insular situation
and enormous size afford a striking contrast to the line of rocks girdling
the distant shore, which seem shrinking from the perils of competition. Its
dun sides, outstretched to a tremendous extent, are broken by frequent
gills and excavations; clouds skirt its awful summit; and its stupendous
base is blended, by many wavy and fantastic lines, into the smooth level by
the subjacent plain.
Hence we marched under cover of a huge slate rock, looking down upon the
vale, and fell into the Cockermouth road, at a distance of two miles from
Keswick.
As we crossed the rapid tide of the river Greeta, we observed, at the
distance of a stone's throw from the road, an old embattled brick mansion,
apparently an uninhabited ruin; in this however we were mistaken; it was
the Villa Lucretilis of one among the celebrated of that
Corpusculum Poetarum, who, it cannot be denied, have afforded
abundant specimens of the exuberance of genius. His lyric brother
occupies a cottage on the banks of Grasmere, for which, as his landord
assured us, he pays an annual rent of 5l. - Sic itur as astra!
Our facetious landlord amused us at the dinner-table with a recital of the
feats of those magnanami heroes, whom he termed pedestrians,
and of their first incursions into the Northern
counties.
{title- Gents Mag 1805 p.1124}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1124}
{image = G8051124.jpg}
counties. Some years ago, he observed, the young nobility and gentry,
arrayed like sailors, with knapsacks flung at their backs, gained a
difficult admission into his bar parlour; what was his suprize to discover
that these gentlemen, apparently so little nice, were in fact the most
fastidious of his guests; there were however excellent paymasters, and from
his frequent experience of their liberality, he regretted seriously the
loss of thier patronage. Nothing could be more absurd than this
extravagnace, which like most other excesses, however, soon corrected
itself: this was that cant and affectation of stoicism, which would convert
a toil into a pleasure, by combating the existence, or stealing the
perception of pain; and which as it originated only in sophistry, soon
terminated in disgust. What athlete could endure a series of such sudden
and extraordinary labour? What but the annihilation of that lively sympathy
existing between mind and body, could enable a toil-worn traveller to
participate a pleasure, which can only be relished in the full flow of
strength and spirits, is at best only a transient, and of so delicate
impression, as to be generally greatest in anticipation? Gross mistakes too
were commonly committed in diet or management, which, with the debilitating
effects of over-fatigue, either cooled the courage of the Hercules in his
onset, or left him, if he persisted, "ad extremum ridendus." In
short, the result of these chivalrous adventures always convinced me, (in
the language of the French proverb): "Que la jeu ne vaut pas la
chandelle!"
(To be continued.)
{text- Although the article ends to be continued, there seems not to be any
more. The index to volume 75 for 1805, under Cumberland, tour to, lists
pp.609, 709, 804, 918, 1010, and 1121. The index for volume 76, 1806, has
no relevant entry. The errata early in 1806 mention the author's
indisposition.}
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.39}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.39}
{image = G8060039.jpg}
*** The following errors occurred in our last
continuation of "A Tour to the Lakes," owing to the author's severe
indisposition, and distance from the Metropolis. We lament that a similar
reason must be offered as his apology for postponing this month's
communication.
P.1122, col.1, l.15. read equably. - 1, - 56, authorities. -
2, - 43, Castle Crag.
P.1123, col.1, l.29 read, the wild wood hung in picturesque confusion. -
Col.2, l.34, read, the smooth level of the subjacent place. - l.58
read, magnanimi. - L.59. read, pedesterians. This was the
landlord's pronunciation.
P.1124, col.1, l.19, read steeling us to the perception of pain.
L.41 read le jeu, &c.
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.102}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.102}
{header- Mr Neild's Remarks on Cumberland Etc Gaols}
{image = G8060102.jpg}
Mr. Nield's Remarks on Cumberland &c. Gaols.
...
CUMBERLAND COUNTY GOAL at CARLISLE. Joseph Mullender, gaoler, 40l.;
and a blacksmith for his attendance, 2l. 2s. per annum. Fees,
debtors, 11s.; felons, 13s 4d. For the conveyance of transports, one
shilling per mile if less than 5, but if they exceed that number 9d. per
mile. Garnish, 1s. 6d. Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Mark; duty, prayers and sermon on
Sunday; salary 20l. Surgeon, Mr. Hodgkin, salary, 5l. 5s. for attendance:
medicines paid for by bill. Allowance. Debtors, on applying to the
Justices, obtain 1s. 3d. a week; felons 2s. a week.
The court spacious, 85 yards by 36; has a pump with fine water; it was
formerly common to all prisoners, but now a part is appropriated to the
felons, 15 yards by 8, and separated by iron pallisades; through which they
can converse with the debtors, or any persons who visit there. The gaoler's
house is at one end of the court, and the chapel (built, as appears by the
date, in 1734) adjoins, and where the prisoners mix indiscriminately to
hear divine service.
Master's side, debtors have five rooms in the keeper's house, for which
they pay 2s. 6d. per week; two sleep in a bed. Commons side, debtors have 4
free wards, 28 feet by 18, and a small room; but they are in a very
dirty and ruinous state; with windows opening into the court; formerly they
looked into the street. The sexes are separate at night, but together all
day. The wards for felons are 2 rooms, down a step or two; dark, damp, and
dirty; one of them, 7 yards by 5, the day room, which serves likewise as a
night room, had a window to the street; through which spiritous liquors and
tools for mischief might easily be conveyed, but it is now bricked up. The
condemned room is only 11 feet by 9. There are two rooms over these, called
the house of correction, where women are lodged; and straw only is allowed
to those prisoners who cannot pay for a bed. Transports have not the king's
allowance of 2s. 6d. a week. No infirmary; no bath: Act for preserving the
health of prisoners, and clauses against spiritous liquors, not hung up.
Number of prisoners, April 1st, 1800; debtors, 28; felons, &c. 5.
January 30th 1802, debtors, 4; felons, &c. 8. September 20th 1802,
debtors 16; felons, &c. 7. This gaol is in a very ruinous and
dilapidated state, but there is an excellent situation near the castle,
where I was informed a new gaol was proposed to be built; the session house
might likewise adjoin, the present one being very old, and very
inconvenient from its being in the middle of the town, and distant from the
prison.
CARLISLE CITY GAOL. Over the Scotch gate, is only one ruinous room
about 20 feet square, with a fireplace, and a window 4 feet by 1 1/2. No
allowance. No court. No water. It was filled with lumber when I was there;
no prisoners had been confined in it for 10 years. The prisoners from the
city are kept in the County gaol by agreement between the Corporation and
the keeper. No town debtor can now be imprisoned for less than 10l.;
they seldom exceed 2 or 3 in a year, and those only for a short time.
COUNTY BRIDEWELL at COCKERMOUTH. Joseph Bowman keeper, salary, 20l.
Has a small court yard, and 2 rooms on the ground floor, one of which is
called the strong room; persons for small offences are committed
here for a short time. No allowance.
WHITEHAVEN TOWN GAOL, is part of the workhouse, and consists of a dungeon
where prisoners are confined for a night.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY GAOL at Appleby. James Bewsher, gaoler, salary,
20l. he is a blacksmith, and his workshop is at the foot of the bridge,
nearly opposite the gaol. Fees, felons, 6s. 8d.; debtors, 13s 4d. out of
which the under-sheriff receives 6s. 8d. for his liberate.
For conveyance of transports to Whitehaven, 1s. per mile. Garnish, 1s.
Chaplain, Rev. James Metcalfe; salary, 15l.; duty, prayers and sermon
Sunday afternoon. Surgeon, Mr. Bushby, salary, none; makes a bill.
Allowance: debtors, none; felons, 4d. a day. Remarks: This gaol was built
by the County. The Earl of Thanet is hereditary sheriff, and pays
the gaoler his salary. The prison itself is out of reach of the floods, but
the water overflows part of the court yard, which is 32 yards by 22; and
there being no other court, all descriptions of prisoner associate together
in the day time. The lower part of the gaol consists of 4 vaulted wards for
felons, 14 feet 6 inches by 18 feet; a window in each, but no chimney; no
cooking-
room,
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.103}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.103}
{image = G8060103.jpg}
[cooking-]room, the provisions are dressed in the open arch, under a flight
of steps; which lead to 3 good roooms with chimneys, for debtors; the
floors of the wards are flagged; and each prisoner is allowed straw and 2
blankets. Gaol delivery once a year; a pump in the court; the Act
for preservation of health and clauses against spiritous liquors
conspicuously hung up. The gaol clean. I copied the table of fees which are
hung up, viz.
At the Midsummer General Quarter Session of the peace holden at Appleby, in
and for the said county, on Friday the 24th day of July 1797: the following
table of fees to be taken by the keeper of his majesty's gaol at Appleby
aforesaid, were unanimously agreed to by the bench of justices then
present, viz.
{table- }
"","s. d."
"For the discharge of a debtor","13 4"
"For every person committed by a warant of a justice of the peace","6 8"
"For a copy of committment when demanded","1 0"
"For a certificate of committment in order to obtain a writ of habeous
corpus","2 6"
"For signing a certificate, in order to obtain a supersedeas or a rule or
order of court","2 9"
"For the discharge of a prisoner by proclamation at the Assizes or general
quarter sessions","13 4"
{ -endtable}
There being no chapel, divine service is performed in the debtor's
day-room.
Prisoners, Feb. 2 1801: Debtors, 2; felons, none. Sept. 24, 1802: Debtors
4; felons, none.
No employment furnished by the County; but handicarft trades, such as
tailors, shoe-makers, &c. sometimes get employment from the town.
COUNTY BRIDEWELL, APPLEBY. Built, as appears by the date, 1639. Gaoler,
John Atkinson, salary 12l.; no fees; 2 cells 23 feet by 8, with
vaulted roofs; straw on the floor: No light or air but what is admitted by
an aperture 12 inches by 4: subject to the floods. One large room upstairs,
insecure. No water accessible to prisoners. Neither the act, nor clause
against spiritous liquors hung up. Prison very dirty, but it appears little
used. Prisoners, 24th September, 1802; 2 Inmates.
KENDAL, WESTMORELAND. Gaoler, Miles Hayton, salary 30l.; and one
fourth of the prisoners earnings. Felons fees and garnish abolished;
debtors fees, 2s. 4d. on being liberated. Allowance none. Any debtor
arrested by process issuing out of the borough court, is allowed 6d. a day,
after three court days; a court is held every three weeks. Allowance to
felons 4d. a day. Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Briggs, salary 10l. Duty, Sunday
afternoon. Surgeon from the dispensary when wanted. For the conveyance of
transports 1s. per mile.
Remarks: This is the town gaol and bridewell, and judiciously situated on
an eminence a little way out of town. Debtors have a spacious airy court 28
yards by 12, with pump water, and six sizeable rooms, with sash windows,
and fire-places to four, airy and clean; they open into a lobby near 5 feet
wide; for the use of these rooms the debtor pays nothing if he finds his
own bed; but if the keeper furnishes one, he is paid 8d. a week for a
chaff-bed, and 1s. a week for a feather-bed; two lie together. Men felons
court, (which opens into the debtor's yard) is 10 yards by 7, with a
day-room and a fire-place in it, and on the ground floor are 4 sleeping
cells with vaulted roofs about 10 feet by 9 each, lighted and ventilated by
an aperture in the door, 12 inches square; iron grated. Straw on a wood
bedstead, a blanket and a rug. Upstairs is one room, 8 feet square. Women
felons have a separate court in front of the building, 12 yards by 10, 4
sleeping-rooms about 8 feet square, and 2 work-rooms, in one of which a
woman was weaving, and in the other a woman spinning; one room with a
single loom in it, at which a man was weaving. The looms are humanely sent
from the workhouse, for the use of the prisoners during confinement; and
each prisoner is allowed three fourths of his earnings for their
maintenance, and the other fourth to the keeper. there was one woman in
solitary confinement, whose employment and support depended wholly on her
friends. there is a very neat chapel, which has 2 separate doors for
entrance, with a folding screen in the middle, so that the women can
neither see or be seen by the men. Every part of this gaol is well supplied
with water. the act for the preservation of health, and clauses against
spiritous liquors, conspicuously hung up. The gaol very clean. Prisoners,
3rd November 1801, debtors, 2; felons, &c. 7; lunatics,
8.
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.104}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.104}
{image = G8060104.jpg}
3. 1802, Sept. 25th, debtors, 3; felons, &c. 4 men, 3 women; lunatic 1.
Kendall, Sept. 27, 1802.
My dear friend,
I have just been visiting the workhouse at this place, (Kendall) and am
much pleased with the industry, oeconomy, and cleanliness of it, but the
ceilings are too low, and the kitchen improperly placed. Doctor Haygarth's
rules to prevent infectious fevers are stuck up in various parts of the
house, and by the attention of the managers, health is preserved, and
labour productive; for none are suffered to be idle who are capable of
working. Paupers in the house 99, of these there are children under 5 years
of age 22; old and unable to work 12; sick 5; at work 60.
P.S. The children of the workhouse in Kendall have not their best interests
compromised for immediate gain; they are not considered as mere machine,
and care is taken to cultivate and improve their minds; and easy
opportunity is afforded by means of the READING SCHOOL, of giving to the
children of the poor a decent education, without taking them from
productive labour. The book is considered as a relaxation from
work, and both succeed better; this is most particularly
exemplified here; the children not only enjoy the privilege of mixing with
other children, and of being raised from a state of extreme degradation,
but at the same time earn more than when they confined within the
precincts of the house. From the account which I have seen, it appears,
that forty-five children have so conducted themselves, as to have
received premiums this year (1802) amounting to 14l. 5s. 2d., and to
contemplate their decent appearance, and the manner of behaviour, must be
truly gratifying to every philanthropist *.
The connexion between gross ignorance, profligacy of character, and abject
poverty, is easily traced; for a very large majority of those, who have
come under my observation as a magistrate, for felony, or misdemeanours, or
vagrants, or to filiate bastards, or even to be examined respecting their
settlements, are unable to write their own names.
Yours, truly,
JAMES NEILD.
* What an excellent example does not this present to the guardians
of the workhouses of Bury St. Edmund's and Norwich! And the reflections of
Nield in his account of Kendall, drawn from long and deep experience,
demand the serious regard of every guardian of the poor, and of every
magisttrate in the United Empire. J.C.L.
{title- Gents Mag 1806 plate}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 plate}
{header- Stained Glass, York Minster}
{image = G806E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.401}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.401}
{image = G8060401.jpg}
An Account of the WINDOW presented by the EARL OF CARLISLE,
to the DEAN and CHAPTER of the CATHEDRAL at
YORK. (See Plate I.)
THIS fine Picture (for so it may be called) of the Visitation, was bought
at Rouen in Normandy, and originally adorned the East window of the Church
of St. Nicholas in that place. It is now placed in the East window of the
South aile in York Cathedral, opposite Archbishop Bowet's monument, through
the opening of which, when it is seen, confined as it were within a
magnificent Gothic frame, the effect is enchanting; nor are its beauties in
the least eclipsed by the other brilliant windows with which the matchless
pile abounds.
From the roundness and bold relief of the figures, which are as large as
life, and the richness of the colouring, it is esteemed by those who are
conversant with the works of that master, to be the design of Sebastian del
Piombo, the inventor of painting upon walls in oil, who lived in the utmost
esteem with Pope Clement VIII. was the great favourite of Michael Angelo
Buonaroti, and whose martyrdom of St. Agatha is pronounced equal to the
best works of Raphael, Titian, or any of the great masters.
S.
{title- Gents Mag 1806 pp.412-413}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 pp.412-413}
{header- Ponsonby Family}
{image = G8060412.jpg}
April 10.
Mr. URBAN,
IN turning over the pages of Nicolson and Burn's History of Westmorland and
Cumberland, I find the following particulars of the Ponsonby family, which
seem to have escaped the notice of our Genealogists. Vol.II. article
Ponsonby. "Ponsonby, the habitation of Ponson, was so denominated
from a family of that name of antient time, which family afterwards took
name from the place De Ponsonby, of which family and name there are several
yet remaining.
There was one Ponson in the reign of King Stephen and Henry I. His son,
John Fitz ponson, was fined in Henry the Second's time, because he wanted
pledges. Alexander, son of Richard Ponsonby, lived about the
time
{image = G8060413.jpg}
time of Edward II.; and William in the reign of Edward III; and Robert in
the reign of Richard II.
Yours, &c.
BIOGRAPHICUS
{title- Gents Mag 1806 p.576}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1806 p.576}
{header- Weather, Cumberland}
{image = G8060576.jpg}
... ...
At Whitehaven, about three P.M. some tremendous peals of thunder
were heard, and considerable damage was done by the lightning. At
Rothersike Green, in Low Quarter, in the parish of St. Bees, two
heifers were killed; thirteen others close by received no injury. Several
ash-trees were much damaged. Five sheep were killed on Castle-rig-fell,
near Keswick. One of them had the wool stripped off one side, from
the head to the tail. The electric matter had taken a circular direction,
and turned up the soil as with a spade.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.40}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.40}
{header- Whitehaven Court Room}
{image = G8070040.jpg}
Whitehaven, Jan. 1.
Mr. URBAN,
YOUR Readers will be glad to be informed of a circumstance that must afford
great pleasure to numbers. The Rt. Hon. Lord Viscount Lowther has, it is
believed, (without any solicitation) given orders for the immediate fitting
up of the building in Lowther-street, long known by the name of the
Reckoning House, which, from its ruined state, was re-erected a few years
ago, but left unfinished. His Lordship has been pleased to direct the
completing of this edifice, with the liberal view of accommodating the town
with a suitable COURT-ROOM, COFFEE-ROOM, and LIBRARY, under one roof; and
considerable progress has already been made in the work. All who have seen
the plan, highly approve of the arrangement; of which some idea may be
formed by others, from the following imperfect sketch: On the ground-floor,
on the right hand side of the lobby, will be the Court-room, with a smaller
apartment, for the purpose of a withdrawing-room for the magistrates. To
the left of the entrance, the apartments for the housekeeper, or manager;
which consist of a large parlour, two bed-rooms, pantry, closet, &c.
and a private stair-case to the library and reading-room. The winding
stair-case to the first-floor (or upper story) is in the centre of the
building, fronting the street; a double flight of 20 steps on each side:
surmounted by a very handsome portico. This floor comprises (to the right)
the Coffee-room; with two smaller apartments for filing the newspapers,
&c. and on the left are the Library and Reading-room. The dimensions of
the principal rooms are as follows, viz. the Court-room, 22 feet by
21 feet 8 inches; private box, 10 feet 8 inches by 7 feet; the Coffee-room,
24 feet by 22 feet; the Library, 16 feet 4 inches by 7 feet; the
Reading-room, 19 feet by 14 feet. The whole is well lighted; and the
interior, we understand, is to be fitted up in a very handsome style. The
line of iron palisadoes, extending the length of the building, will be 50
feet, including the gates in the centre; and the breadth of the area,
within it, is 32 feet. The arrangement, and the manner in which it is
intended to be finished, are such as cannot fail of uniting elegance with
convenience. It is expected to be completed by Whitsuntide.
J.W.
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.473}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.473}
{header- Storms, Whitehaven}
{image = G8070473.jpg}
May 12. A most tremendous thunder-storm commenced at
Whitehaven, about 5, and continued for an hour, accompanied by a
heavy fall of hail stones. Its course was nearly from South to North.
Copious showers of rain succeeded. Mr. Murray, a drayman at Parton Brewery,
was on the road with a dray, when the horse took fright at the thunder, and
he was found not long after speechless, and apparently insensible. He
expired early next morning. It is supposed that the dray had passed over
his back.
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.576}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.576}
{header- Earl of Lonsdale}
{image = G8070576.jpg}
Whitehall, April 4. Rt. Hon. William Viscount Lowther, created earl
of Lonsdale, co. Westmorland. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.637}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.637}
{header- Quantity of Rain}
{image = G807E02.jpg}
{text- Rainfall for various places in England and Scotland, including
Dalton, Lancashire and Kendal, Westmorland, January to December 1806}
{title- Gents Mag 1807 opp p.1009}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 opp p.1009}
{header- Medal and Inscription}
{image = G807E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.1009}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.1009}
{header- Medal and Inscription}
{image = G8071009.jpg}
*** THE Medal in Plate II. has been sent us by a
Correspondent without any accompanying history, which some of our Readers
will possibly supply.
of the two inscriptions on the same Plate, fig. 2 (from Mr. Tyler of
Petworth) was dug up amongst the ruins of the Court of Cockermouth Castle,
belonging to the Earl of Egremont, in Cumberland, in lowering the ground of
that Court in 1803.
{title- Gents Mag 1807 p.1167}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1807 p.1167}
{header- Snows, Cumberland}
{image = G8071167.jpg}
Extract of a letter from Whitehaven, dated Nov. 24. "Ever since the
memorable fall of snow in 1767, nothing in any degree resembling it has
been experienced in this part of the kingdom until the night of Thursday
last, and the following morning, accompanied by a strong gale of wind from
the North-west, which drifted in several places in the streets to the depth
of four feet, and to a much greater degree in many parts of the country,
even to 12 feet. The general post, which usually arrived about eight
o'clock in the evening, did not appear, and no mail could be sent off. No
article whatever arrived from the country for Saturday's market. The post
boy arrived on Saturday evening with the London mail of Wednesday, being 23
hours later than usual. It was brought from Penrith to Cockermouth by a man
on foot, the road being impassable for a horse. Another fall of snow came
on, a little after 11, on Monday forenoon, which continued falling when the
above account came away."
Dec. 4. In Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, and
Westmoreland, the weather has been for the last week particularly
severe, with deep snow, and dreadful hurricanes from the North-east. ... In
many parts the stage-coaches could not be got on, though drawn by six or
eight horses. The Carlisle mail-coach, on Monday last, met with great
difficulty in getting over Stainmoor, though drawn by six horses.
{title- Gents Mag 1808 p.648}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1808 p.648}
{header- Murder of Joseph Glendinning}
{image = G8080648.jpg}
July 13. The body of Joseph Glendinning was found murdered in his
own field, near Workington. He was seen very near the place, in
company of a man at present unknown, between seven and eight o'clock in the
morning, and was found dead between two and three in the afternoon; and
from every circumstance it appears that the murder must have been committed
within a few minutes after he was seen with the said unknown person. A more
cruel and barbarous murder has not been heard of in any country. He had
five wounds in the breast and ribs, eleven in the belly, twelve in the
neck, and one in the right leg.
{title- Gents Mag 1808 p.845}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1808 p.845}
{header- Murder near Dundraw}
{image = G8080845.jpg}
COUNTRY NEWS.
Aug. 25. A man named James Hood was tried at the Cumberland
assizes for the murder of Margaret Smith of Longburn, and Jane Pattinson
her sister. - He had applied for work, as a weaver, at the house of Smith;
and, after being some time there, took the opportunity, during the absence
of Smith, to murder the two women, and rob the house of some money. He was
traced to Scotland, where he was apprehended, and confessed the crime. He
was sentenced to death, and executed this day.
{title- Gents Mag 1808 p.939}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1808 p.939}
{header- Snow, Cumberland}
{image = G8080939.jpg}
Oct. 10. A considerable quantity of snow has fallen during the last
and preceding weeks, in the counties of Derby and Cumberland.
There has also been a severe frost in Lancashire, where ice of a
considerable thickness was seen.
{title- Gents Mag 1808 p.940}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1808 p.940}
{header- Enclosure, Westmorland and Cumberland}
{image = G8080940.jpg}
The Earl of Lonsdale has signified his intention of enfranchising his
numerous copy-holders throughout Cumberland and Westmoreland,
by which measure he will be enabled to enclose more than 20,000 acres of
land in those countries, at this time in a state of commonage.
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1140}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1140}
{header- Life of George Romney}
{image = G8091140.jpg}
Review of New Publications
155. The Life of George Romney, Esq. By William Hayley,
Esq. 4to. pp.416. 1809. Payne.
THE thousands who have been delighted and interested in Mr. Hayley's Life
of Cowper will know what to expect from this second specimen of his talents
as a Biographer; and if, in the present instance, the subject does not
afford matter of such general importance as in the former, we can venture
to assert that Mr. Hayley's ingenuity more directly appears in rendering
that a most elegant and engaging narrative, which others, with no more
copious materials, would have left "stale, flat, and unprofitable."
Mr. Hayley possesses, indeed, a particular felicity in commemorating the
virtues of a departed friend: and if the remarks he has advanced in the
early part of this work be attended to, the volume will be perused with
those tender and indulgent feelings that are seldom excited in the writings
of this kind. In the Preface he observes that its principal defect is,
"that it says too much of himself, in proportion to what it says of others;
so that parts of it might rather be intituled ANNALS OF FRIENDSHIP than the
Life of an Artist." And this is, in truth, its proper title, and a title
which cannot fail to recommend it to all who have known what it is to
possess and to lose a friend of distinguished worth. In another
observation, connected with this, we cordially join: "In advanced life
there is no occupation more attractive than such affectionate study as
enables a man to recall and delineate, in the truest point of view, the
various endowments of persons worthy of everlasting remembrance, whom it
has been his lot to know perfectly, to love, and to lose."
As Biography has long formed an important branch of our Miscellany, we
shall avail ourselves of this opportunity to enrich it with an abridged
sketch of Mr. Hayley's more expanded, minute, and elegant labours.
George, the third child of John and Anne Romney, was born Dec. 26, 1734, at
Dalton in Furness, Lancashire, and was educated partly at a school in the
village of Dendron, but chiefly at home. His father was a builder,
merchant, and farmer; and George, at the age of twelve, discovered a
passion for mechanicks and
musick.
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1141}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1141}
{image = G8091141.jpg}
musick. The fortunate incident which led him to a cultivation of his
principal art was simply this: "in his youth he observed a great
singularity of countenance in a stranger at church: his parents, to whom he
spoke of it, desired him to describe the person - he siezed a pencil, and
delineated the features from memory with such a strength of resemblance as
amazed and delighted his affectionate parents. The applause that he
received from this accidental performance excited him to draw with more
serious application." In his fifteenth year he received some encouragement
and assistance from one John Williamson, whose character appears to to have
been a favourite with Romney, and is represented by his Biographer in the
same favourable light. This was a gentleman of small fortune near
Whitehaven, who had "passionately devoted himself to natural philosophy,
musick, mechanicks, and, above all, to the fascinating study of alchemy,"
which produced his ruin, but attended, in our opinion, with a circumstance
that detracts very much from the general character here given of him. This
madman, for if he was not that he was worse, had bestowed "much
time, trouble, and money, on preparations for the grand experiment of
making gold. He drew nigh the decisive hour; and was watching, with
peculiar anxiety, his furnace, whose fire he had kept, with the utmost
regularity, for nine months, when his wife requested him to attend some of
her company at the tea-table. Her persevering importuning induced him,
though with great reluctance, to comply with her request. Never was
conjugal complaisance more unfortunate, except in the case of our first
parents. While the projector was attending his ladies, his furnace blew up,
and all his high-raised hopes were utterly demolished by the explosion. In
consequence of this event he conceived an antipathy against his wife so
vehement that he could not endure the idea of living with her again."
This was bad; but worse a consequence of this man's connexion with Romney
will soon appear. He gave Romney lessons in his art, who repaid him by
compassion and esteem. When Romney left home, he was placed under the care
of a cabinet-maker of Lancaster, who, perceiving his bias, suggested to his
father the idea of making him a painter, and at the same time recommended a
young travelling artist as his master. This person, whose name was Steele,
employed his pupil in other matters than what belonged to his art. Having
induced a young lady to elope with him to Scotland, "he employed his young
pupil in conducting the delicate and private business of his love, instead
of confining him to the severer labours of the pencil." In this service
Romney contracted a violent fever, during which he was attended by a young
female, with whom, on his recovery, he entered into a precipitate marriage,
Oct. 14, 1756. The inconvenience of such a step was soon experienced; but
instead of a wife and two children proving a spur to his exertions, he
determined, after the example of his friend the alchemist, to leave them;
and having given them about 70l. set out for the Metropolis, and
never saw his wife more until he returned to Kendal, in the last year of
his life! Mr, Hayley endeavours to soften these circumstances with a
friendly hand, but we cannot say with much success.
During his residence in the North he practised mostly in historical
paintings; and Mr. Hayley details his progress, and specifies his principle
pictures with critical taste. Having become acquainted with Sterne, he
delineated some of the comic scenes of that Writer. His favourite
composition was Obadiah making his bow to Dr. Slop, as the Doctor is
falling in the dirty lane; but we have here an exquisite engraving of
another picture, representing the introduction of the bemired Doctor in the
parlour of Mr, Shandy, a work of great comic power, and now in the
possession of Sir Alan Chambre. He painted portraits also at York,
Lancaster, &c. and some historical pieces of the more serious kind from
Sterne and Shakespeare.
In 1762 he arrived in London, where his first patron was one in whose
praise all who have the happiness to know him will eagerly join, that truly
worthy and ingenious man, Daniel Braithwaite, Esq. formerly Comptroller of
the Foreign Post-office. Romney, under his friendly directions, began
painting portraits for
the
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1142}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1142}
{image = G8091142.jpg}
the moderate sum of five guineas, and became a candidate for the prizes
distributed by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences. For
his Death of Wolfe he would have obtained the second prize in 1763; but,
after a decision in his favour (if we rightly understand this part of his
history), it was reversed in favour of Mortimer, and the Society voted
Romney a present of 25 guineas, which "he accepted with lively gratitude -
not as a compensation for an injury received, but as a free and liberal
encouragement to his promising talents."
In 1764 he visited the Continent, less on a settled plan of travel and
study than as a short excursion of pleasure. At Paris he was introduced to
Vernet, the celebrated landscape and marine painter, and visited all the
galleries and repositories of art in that city. On his return, after an
absence of only six weeks, he resumed his labours in Gray's Inn; and in
1765 obtained from the Society of Arts the second prize of fifty guineas
for his Death of King Edmund; and continued to exhibit pictures for most of
the London Exhibitions for some years. Of his skill Mr. Hayley remarks,
that, "though he was continually improving, and his resemblances were
eminently strong, yet it must be owned, before he visited Italy, his
pictures discover the defects arising from a want of studious familiarity
with the great models of his art: his portraits were often hard, cold, and
heavy." Such was his success, however, that when he left England, for the
sole purpose of improvement, he had raised his professional income to no
less a sum than twelve hundred a year. He travelled to Rome with a brother
artist, Mr. Humphry, leaving London March 20, 1773; they arrived at Rome in
June, where Romney devoted himself to intense and sequestered study. "Such
was the cautious reserve which his singular mental infirmity, a perpetual
dread of enemies, inspired, that he avoided all further intercourse with
his fellow-traveller, and with all the other artists of his country who
were then studying at Rome." Of his pictures while in this place Mr. Hayley
has recovered very few notices; but the details of his excursion are
abundantly interesting, and accompanied by reflections of great importance
to young artists.
In the beginning of July 1775 he returned to London, and, after residing a
few months in Gray's Inn, hired a house in Cavendish Square, vacant by the
death of Coates, the eminent crayon-painter, and now inhabited by the very
ingenious poet and artists, Mr. Shee. "It was at Christmas in 1775 that
Romney took possession of this memorable residence. He was then in the very
prime of his life; his health had been improved, and his mind enriched, by
two years of foreign study: and he had the active good wishes of several
friends in his favour. Yet in his singular constitution there was so much
nervous timidity, united to a great bodily strength, and to enterprising
and indefatigable ambition, that he used to tremble, when he waked every
morning in his new habitation, with a painful apprehension of not finding
business sufficient to support him. These fears were not only early
flutterings of that incipient hypochondriacal disorder which preyed in
secret on his comfort during many years; and which, though apparently
subdued by the cheering exhortations of friendship and great professional
prosperity, failed not to shew itself more formidably, when he was
exhausted by labour, in the decline of his life."
Romney, however, resumed his labours with abundant success; and in 1776
acquired the friendship of his Biographer; a circumstance which powerfully
increases the interest arising from this narrative, as Mr. Hayley now
speaks from personal knowledge, frequent visits to and from the Artist, and
an unreserved correspondence by letter. In 1777 Mr. Hayley's admiration of
his friend produced the "Epistles to Romney," which have been long before
the Publick, and are here reprinted as a suitable accompaniment to the
Memoirs. Mr. Hayley, likewise, while endeavouring to account for the
fewness of Romney's capital pictures, considering his time and fame,
occasionally digresses into remarks and anecdotes which are highly
entertaining, but for which we must refer to the work itself. Let it
suffice to notice, in a sketch like the present, that in 1785 Romney
painted portraits to the value of 3635l. His prices now were, for a
whole-length,
eighty
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1143}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1143}
{image = G8091143.jpg}
eighty guineas; half whole-length, sixty; half-length, forty; a kit-cat,
thirty; and for a head, twenty guineas. It is very remarkable, however,
that he had never become a member of the Royal Academy, nor exhibited in
its rooms. For the first, Mr. Hayley has very satisfactorily accounted; and
his advice to Romney on the subject appears to us most judicious. The
following reflections and anecdote need no apology:
"The emoluments of portrait-painting may be said both to support and ruin a
great Artist; they afford him affluence, but they impede his progress in
that higher field of imagination which promises a richer harvest of delight
and honour. Romney felt and lamented the fetters of his profession, and
often pleased himself with a prospect of shaking them off; but he was not
aware of the infinite efforts required to break the golden fetters of
custom. He was not dazzled or enslaved by the gold he gained, for he had a
spirit superior to such bribery, and he often threw money away as rapidly
as he acquired it: but he really had a pleasure in painting a new face,
exclusive of all pecuniary considerations; and his heart was so tenderly
sympathetic, that, if he had resolved most solemnly never to paint another
portrait for any fresh sitter, yet a lover, begging a likeness of his
favourite nymph, or a mother requesting a resemblance of a darling child,
might have melted, in a few monents, his sternest resolution. If the
facility with which he sympathized in the feelings of those who equired his
attention often led him to find in portrait-painting much cordial
gratification, unmixed with ideas of interest; on the other hand it
tormented him exceedingly when he was desired to preserve an exact
likeness, and yet to bestow considerable character on a countenance to
which Nature had given very little or none. On such occasions he was apt to
be very faithful in his representation of life; and once, when the portrait
of a simple gentleman was sent back to him, to receive a more animated
countenance, I remember to have seen the Artist in much ludicrous
perplexity from having vainly tried to make a simpleton, most truly
delineated, retain his own features and yet look like a man of sense. I
could not, on this occasion, apply to him an admirable compliment addressed
by Dryden to his friend Kneller:
'Thus thou sometimes art forc'd to draw a fool;
But so his follies in thy posture sink,
The sensless idiot seems at last to think.'
For, in the portrait alluded to, a weakness of understanding was still
visible, after repeated endeavours of the mortified Painter to give his too
faithful inanimate image the requested air of intelligence."
When the Boydell Shakspeare was projected, Romney contributed his aid; and
Mr. Hayley has here favoured us with a very curious and interesting history
of the rise of that splendid undertaking. The idea of painting from his
favourite Shakespeare was very alluring to the spirit of Romney. He had a
quick and keen relish for the beauties of that wonderful Poet, although his
own fancy was so volatile, and his mode of reading so desultory, that it
may be questioned if he ever read, without interruption, two acts of the
dramas that he most cordially admired. The feelings of Romney often
displayed, in the strongest point of view, the astonishing force of habit.
It seems suprising that a man who, with a pencil in his hand, could attend
to a single subject for many hours, without any symptoms of fatigue, should
feel his powers of attention very rapidly exhausted if he exchanged his
pencil for a book or a pen. The progress of his pictures for the Shakspeare
Gallery is minutely and critically detailed by his Biographer, at whose
house in Sussex the Artist first meditated upon the various pictures from
Shakspeare which he hoped to produce, and there formed the first sketch of
his scene from the Tempest.
After he had finished this important picture, in 1790, he was induced to
visit Paris again, with Mr. Hayley and another friend; and this journey
affords Mr. Hayley many opportunities to introduce those traits of
friendship and critical digressions which constitute the merit of this
volume, and cannot fail to be highly interesting to future (especially
young) artists, whose proficiency Mr. Hayley seems every where to consult
with parental affection.
In 1791 we find Romney engaged on a Joan of Arc, a Magdalen, and a
Bacchante, for the Prince of Wales, and Constance for the Shakspeare
Gallery. His intimacy, at this time, with the celebrated and engaging Lady
Hamilton appears to have been of most pleasing importance to him as an
Artist. He was frequently permitted to avail himself of the taste
and
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1144}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1144}
{image = G8091144.jpg}
and graces of that lady, as models, and his admiration of her rose to
enthusiasm. On one occasion he fancied he had lost her esteem. This
produced a letter, part of which we shall copy, as highly characteristic of
the Writer, who, Mr. Hayley says with just indignation, had been blamed for
illiteracy.
--- "In my last letter I think I informed you that I was going to dine with
Sir William and his Lady. In the evening of that day there were collected
several people of fashion to hear her sing. She performed, both in the
serious and comic, to admiration, both in singing and acting: but her Nina
surpasses every thing I ever saw: and I believe, as a piece of acting,
nothing ever surpassed it. The whole company were in an agony of sorrow.
Her acting is grand, terrible, and pathetic. My mind was so much heated,
that I was for running down to Eartham to fetch you up to see her. But,
alas! soon after I thought I discovered an alteration in her conduct
towards me. A coldness and neglext seemed to have taken place of her
repeated declarations of regard for me. They left town to make many visits
in the country. I expect them again the latter end of this week, when my
anxiety (for I have suffered very much) will be either relieved or
increased, as I find her conduct. It is highly probable that none of the
pictures will be finished unless I find her more friendly than she appeared
the last time I saw her. I had it in contemplation to run down for a day or
two, before she returned to town, to bring you up with me, and I mentioned
it to her. She said, 'Do so;' but in a cold manner; though, a fortnight
before, when I said I would do so, she was very desirous that I shoould
bring you to town. You will see every thing is in great uncertainty; but it
may turn out better than I expect;" - which happened to be the case.
The commencement of the year 1792 was a propitious season to Romney. It
improved his health, and enlivened his spirits, by affording him cheerful
opportunities of displaying his gratitude towards Madame de Genlis, and
other accomplished ladies of Paris, whose kind civilities to him, as a
stranger in their country, he was happy to acknowledge and return in his
own. He had likewise a very pleasing interview with the celebrated Cowper
at Mr. Hayley's house in Sussex, and painted his portrait, which "he
himself considered as the nearest approach that he had ever made to a
perfect representation of life and character." Mr. Hayley's feelings on the
remembrance of this interview between Cowper and Romney are thus tenderly
expressed:
"It is with a melancholy gratification that I dwell on the remembrance of
social and friendly joys, which the grave has superseded, though I trust
not for ever extinguished. The Painter and the Poet, so kindly just to each
other, were not only animated in their days of health with similar
sensibility, but resemble each other in one most affecting circumstance of
their mortal pilgrimage: it was the dstiny of each to lose the use of his
enchanting faculties before his departure; or, to cite a most expressive
line of Churchill,
'To sit the monument of living Death.'
"They were both such delightful associates, in their happier days, that in
the wane of life I cannot but feel their loss as irreparable.
"The result attending this conviction is most effectually soothed by the
hope that I may a little contribute 'to keep their memories green on the
earth,' by tender and faithful records of those particular talents and
virtues in each which excited my constant solicitude for the welfare of
both during many years, and rendered them objects for ever of my indellible
affection."
The mention of the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds induces our Biographer to
offer a few observations on some opposite peculiarities of character in him
and in Romney. These, we are certain, will prove gratifying to our Readers,
and are a fair specimen of those elegant digressions peculiar to this work,
and interesting to the lovers of the Arts.
"We may consider an ardent and powerful imagination, acute and delicate
sensibility, and a passion for study, as the three qualities peculiarly
essential towards forming a great Artist. Of these three important
endowments I believe Nature to have bestowed a larger portion on Romney
than on Reynolds; but in her bounty to the latter she added some
inestimable qualities, which more than turned the scale in his favour. They
rendered him pre-eminent in these three great objects of human pursuit, in
fortunr, in felicity, and in fame.
"She gave her favourite what his friend and biographer, Mr. Malone, has
described as the mitis sapientia Laeli, that mild and serene wisdom
which enables a man to exert whatever talents he possesses with the fullest
and happiest effect. She gave him the securest panoply against the arrows
of wordly contention, highly-polished good humour, which conciliates
universal esteem, and disarms, if it does
not
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1145}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1145}
{image = G8091145.jpg}
not annihilate, that envious malevolence which genius and prosperity are so
apt to excite. Dr. Johnson very truly said of Reynolds, that he was the
most invulnerable of men; but of Romney it might be said, with equal truth,
that a man could hardly exist whom it was more easy to wound.
"His imagination was so tremblingly alive, that even a slight appearance of
coldness in a friend, or of hostility in a critic, was sometimes sufficient
to suspend or obstruct the exertion of his finer faculties.
"Had it been possible for Romney to have united a dauntless and invariable
serenity of mind to such feelings and powers as he possessed, when his
nerves were happily free from all vexatious irritation, I am persuaded he
would have risen to a degree of excellence in art superior to what has
hitherto been displayed: for Painting, though we justly celebrate some very
glorious characters among the many who have professed and ennobled it, have
never been so honoured and so cultivated as to reach those points of
perfection which it is capable of attaining, but which, we have reason to
fear, it will never attain, because they can hardly be reached without a
favourable coincidence of many most improbable circumstances in the fortune
of nations, and in the destiny of individuals.
"Both Reynolds and Romney had the misfortune to begin their career under
the heavy disadvantage of very imperfect professional education. Several
works of both may be thought to verify the latter part of a penetrating
remark, by Mr. Shee, in contrasting the Painters of France and of England.
Of the first he says, 'They are timourous combatants, who exhaust their
powers in preparation, and chill the ardour of enterprize by their coldness
of precaution. We, on the other hand, are often rash adventurers, who
plunge into dangers against which we have not provided, and rush into the
field before we are sufficiently armed for the fight.'
"Yet, considering the various impediments that both Reynolds and Romney had
to surmount, the degree of excellence that each attained in their happiest
productions is highly honourable to the genius of our country, and ought to
endear the memories of both to every lover of art. In estimating the merits
of Reynolds we ought never to forget the deplorably abject condition of the
Arts in our country when he began his career. In the early part of the last
century it was acknowledged that nothing could be found which seemed to
deserve the title of English Art. There is a letter concerning Design,
written at Naples in the year 1712, by the philosophical Lord Shaftesbury,
who was extremely fond of pictures, in which he says, 'As to Painting, we
have as yet nothing of our own native growth, in this kind, worthy of being
mentioned.' Yet at that time the penetration and the patriotic spirit of
this contemplative Nobleman led him to predict that his Country would
gradually form for herself a taste in all the Fine Arts superior to that of
the great rival Nation, in which a despotic and ostentatious Monarch had
recently affected every kind of pre-eminence'
"It was the opinion of this noble Author, and it seems to be an opinion in
which his active fancy did not overpower his judgment, that to the Arts the
voice of the people is the breath of life. 'There can be no Publick (he
says) where the people are not included; and without a public voice,
knowingly guided and directed, there is nothing which can raise a true
ambition in the artist; nothing which can exalt the genius of the workman,
or make him emulous of after-fame, of the approbation of his country, and
of posterity.' He therefore thought it an advantage to England that she had
settled her government on the noble principles of freedom before she began
to cultivate her native talents for the pencil. Such a public voice, as
this celebrated Writer justly considered of so much importance, has been
gradually formed in our country, in the course of the last century; and of
all individuals Reynolds may be regarded as having contributed the most, by
the united influence of his pictures and his writings, to its formation and
to its guidance.'
"The decease of Reynolds, as I have intimated in noticing that event,
rather quickened than relaxed the ambition of Romney. He felt all the
merits of his great departed predecessor, and was anxious so to employ the
precarious residue of his own impaired health that he also might hope for a
considerable portion of posthumous regard."
Much of the remaining part of this work consists of those "Annals of
Friendship" which the Author promised, and which no man can give with more
touching interest. Among the friends whom genius attached to Romney was the
late Lord Thurlow, of whom we have many pleasing anecdotes. This
distinguished Nobleman has seldom been held forth in the more amiable
features of his character. In 1797 we find him visiting Mr. Hayley's seat
in Sussex, and condescending to sit to Mr. H's son, who practised
sculpture, for a bust.
"The
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1146}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1146}
{image = G8091146.jpg}
"The friendly affability of the learned Peer on this singular occasion
afforded me frequent opportunties for unreserved conversation with him; and
in the course of it I stated a question to this experienced judge of
mankind, which he answered with a candid frankness that proved he was aware
of his own mental peculiarities. Our mutual concern for Romney's health led
us to speak on the singular state of his mind, and on the various mental
infirmities so apt to over-cloud the evening of life. In discussing this
copious topick I asked my contemplative Visitor if he could resolve the
following question: Suppose two men, of very powerful minds, but of minds
differently exercised in different lines of life, one, for instance,
continually employed in scientific researches, and the other in pursuits of
imagination; if both their minds begin to shew symptoms of decline at the
same age, which of the two will be troubled with the darkest and most
oppressive mental infirmities, the man of reason, or the man of fancy?
'Assuredly the man of reason,' said Lord Thurlow. I could not help
repeating inwardly to myself,
'His own example strengthens all his laws;'
silently comparing the fits of spleen to which this noble Lord and our
friend Romney were occasionally subject: the spleen of Romney burst out in
rapid and transient flashes, like the explosion of a rocket; the spleen of
Lord Thurlow rolled forth in a gloomy volume, like an eruption of smoke,
followed by a fluent fire, from the labouring Vesuvious.
"Different as these two memorable men appeared in their studies, in the
texture of their nerves, and in their public capacities, they greatly
resembled each other in one particular: whenever they wished to please, the
style and tone of their conversation united uncommon charms of entertaining
vivacity and of delicate politeness."
In 1799 Romney retired to Kendal, where he had the comfort of finding an
attentive, affectionate nurse in a most exemplary wife, who had never been
irritated to an act of unkindness, or an expression of reproach, by his
years of absence and neglect.
"His early and long estrangement from a virtuous partner and parent, so
mild and meritorious, was the great error of his life; it appears the more
pitiable as it proceeded, originally, from mistaken ideas of professional
ambition, and it continued from that awkward pride by which men of quick
and apprehensive spirits are too frequently deterred from confessing and
correcting their own misconduct."
Such is Mr. Hayley's apology. We have already hinted a difference of
opinion on our part, and leave the whole to the determiniation of the
Reader.
The death of Romney, which took place in November 1802, is recorded here
briefly, but with much sensibility. His persoanl character is thus
delineated:
"The person of Romney was rather tall; his features were broad and strong;
his hair was dark; his eyes indicated much vigour, and still more acuteness
of mind. The features of the human visage, which he considered as the
surest index of the heart was in his own countenance very remarkable. By
the quick or tardy movement of the fibres around the lips, he was
accustomed to estimate the degrees of sensibility in his sitters; and of
himself, in this particular, it might have been said, with truth,
'His own example strengthens all his laws:
He is himself THE SENSITIVE he draws.'
"For his heart had all the tenderness of Nature: never, I believe, were the
lips of any man more quick to quiver with emotions of generous pity at the
sight of distress, or at the relation of a pathetic story. His feelings
indeed were perilously acute. Thye made him a man of many frailties; but
the primary characteristick of his nature was, that true Christian charity
which more than compensates for manifold imperfections. He had a deep and
cordial veneration for the Saviour of Mankind; and was doubly attached to
the Religion of Christ. In his season of mental health it animated and
delighted his mind, in furnishing the finest subjects for the exercise of
his art; and still more, as affording the only ground for a steadfast hope
of eternal felicity. His piety, which was sincere, was not the produce of
study, but the offspring of feeling. He was often disposed to direct his
eye to the face of Heaven, and read in the skies, with a contemplative and
devout spirit, both the power and benificence of God. He used to say, that
he could find every sentiment in the variations of colouring that he
observed in the clouds. It must, however, be confessed, that with him, as
with most men, a quickness of perception to feel and acknowledge the
attributes of his Maker had infintely more influence on the contemplations
of his mind than on the conduct of his life. Sensible that the profession
of Painter exposes a frail mortal to peculiar temptations, Romney was
anxious to guard his pupils against the perils of immorality by the kindest
admonition; a proof of his considerate
benevolence
{title- Gents Mag 1809 p.1147}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1809 p.1147}
{image = G8091147.jpg}
benevolence, which his worthy disciple Mr. Robinson related to me, with
expressions of the warmest regard and veneration for his memory. As a
companion, Romney was uncommonly entertaining, from the force and
originality of his ideas. Though he had not the advantages of a polished
education, his extreme sensibilty gave a great delicacy to his manners,
especially in the company of ladies: he rapidly gained their esteem, and
and they delighted in his conversation. In the course of his annual visits
to Sussex, a lady of brilliant talents and extensive reading, who has long
been dead, used to say, 'I love to meet Romney at Eartham, because I am
sure of hearing from him such remarks as we hear from no other mortal.' I
have often regretted that I never formed a collection of his pointed
sayings; for I am confident I might have preserved several that would not
have disgraced the pages of a Caesar or a Bacon, who were both collectors
of apophthegms. I recollect one of his replies to the questions of a lady
that afforded some suprise and pleasure to a little party of his admirers
in Sussex. The conversation happened to turn on the effects of emulation
among Artists: a lady observed, that 'it often produced evil; but (she
added) it appears necessary to call forth their talents; for, if you take
away the spirit of emulation, there seems nothing left to animate the
genius of a Painter.' "Yes, Madam (replied Romney), there is: and a more
powerful incentive to laudable exertion." 'Pray, Sir, what is it?'
"Religion, Madam," replied the serious Artist. The force and justice of his
reply was duly felt and acknowledged. Indeed, Romney often painted under
the influence of this sublime principle: he frequently considered the act
of painting as an act of devotion, in which he was expressly thankful to
Heaven for such talents as were given to him, by his solicitude to exert
them in a manner that might conduce to the great interests of mankind. Had
he retained health enough to complete his projected picture of the
Temptation in the Wilderness as happily as he had begun it, in the figure
of our Saviour, it might have proved a glorious monument of his devout and
laudable ambition."
These traits of character are followed by a "Sketch of Romney's
Professional Character, by Flaxman," and opinions on the same subject by
Mr. Hayley and other Artists. We shall not attempt to give an idea of the
value of these communications. To Artists, and to the Lovers of the Art,
they must be of incalculable importance. Artists have seldom been Authors;
but the pen, in the hand of such men as Flaxman, emulates the professional
weapon. If the life of an Artists does not afford those vicissitudes which
are common to other men, and are supposed necessary to constitute
biographical variety, it affords us what is perhaps more useful, and which
is admirably exemplified in this volume, a series of instructions on the
art, and anecdotes of its rise and progress, from which the student cannot
fail to derive information and improvement of the most engaging kind.
This volume, which is elegantly printed, contains the following Engravings,
executed mainly by Caroline Watson, in a peculiarly-elegant and
highly-finished style: 1. Portraits of Romney at different periods of his
life; 2. The Introduction of Dr. Slop into the Parlour of Mr. Shandy; 3.
Sketch of a Shipwreck; 4. The Head of Sensibility; 5. Study for the Head of
Miranda; 6.Portrait of Madame Genlis; 7. Cassandra; 8. Head of our Saviour;
9. The infant Shakespeare; 10. Sir Isaac Newton, with the Prism; 11.
Portrait of Romney, from a Medallion; 12. Portrait of Romney Robinson.
These Engravings, we cannot help adding, render this book one of the
cheapest purchases ever offered to the Publick, as it is undoubtedly one of
the most ingenius and affectionate tributes ever paid to the memory of a
departed friend.
{title- Gents Mag 1810 part 2 p.176}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1810 part 2 p.176}
{header- Storm, Penrith}
{image = G810B176.jpg}
... ...
Aug. 4. ...
In a violent storm of thunder, lightning, and hail, this day, at
Penrith, considerable damage was done by the lightning: a barn,
containing 10 cart-loads of hay, belonging to Mr. Martindale of
Gutter-lane; and a stack, the property of Sir F. T. Vane, of Hutton Hall,
were both set on fire, and entirely consumed. A horse and five lambs were
killed in a field near Penrith. Several of the hail-stones measured two
inches in circumference. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 1 p.178}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 1 p.178}
{header- Storm, Carlisle}
{image = G811A178.jpg}
... ...
Feb. 6. In one of the most violent hurricanes of wind, accompanied
with rain, ever remembered at Carlisle, the walls of Messrs. Robson
and Co's spinning-mill there, which was some time ago consumed by fire,
were blown down with a tremendous crash.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.113}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.113}
{header- Names for Clouds}
{image = G811B113.jpg}
The new Nomenclature of Clouds explained.
Mr.URBAN, July 12.
WITH a view to assist your Meteorological Readers in affixing to the
various clouds which are continually presenting themselves to the eye,
their proper technical names, according to the new nomenclature, which I
have adopted for my journal, I have procured from my ingenious friend Mr.
Luke Howard, of Plaistow in Essex, some rough, but accurate sketches of
different modifications, which I shall trouble you to engrave (See Plate
II.)
To the generic names of clouds which relate only to their modification, I
have added certain specific names, calculated to express their particular
shape, figure, or manner of arrangement; which are circumstances quite
different from their modifications: at the same time I must remind the
reader, that clouds, in passing from one modification to another, often
remain for some time in an intermediate state; and it is then impossible to
class them at all.
Figures 1. 1. represent Cirri; the large one to the right hand is
called Cirrus Comoides, from its appearing like a distended lock of hair;
the straight lines which constitute the cloud on the left have suggested
the propriety of calling it Cirrus linearis. The former of these,
when it prevails, usually indicates windy and unsettled weather; it is in
many parts of the country called Mares Tail, and in Lincolnshire Sea Tree.
In giving specific names to the Cirrus it must be observed, that its
metamorphoses are so numerous as to preclude the possibilty of giving a
distinct name to each of them. Sometimes it appears like an erect feather,
at others loose friges hang from a confused mass of vapour; it frequently
looks like a confused bundle of threads, and is then termed
filiformis; often it forms beautiful network, consisting of light
transverse bars or streaks, intersecting each other at right angles; it is
then called reticularis.
Figs. 2. 2. represent a light dark Cirro Cumulus; these
circumstances depend only on the relative situation of this cloud with
respect to the sun; the nubeculae constituting this cloud, vary something
in size and aggregation.
Fig. 3. is a dark Cirro Stratus seen near the horizon.
Fig. 4. is the Cirro Stratus Cymoides; a variety which is often seen
before storms. The Cirro Stratus is a cloud varying much in figure: when it
is composed of long parallel bars, it is called Striatus; when
finely undulated, Undulatus; when it gives the idea of the fibres of
a muscle, Myoides; when a large continuous sheet, Planus;
this often exhibits the halo, &c. I must refer your Readers for
more particular Definitions and Observations of Meteorological Terms in
your Magazines for March and May.
Fig. 5 represents a Cumulus; the common cloud of fair and settled
weather, when it appears alone; when it looks rocklike and mountainous, it
is called Petroides; in this stage it frequently changes into Cumulo
Stratus. Sometimes the Cumulus seems composed of numerous roundish
tubercles, and is then termed Tuberculatus; when divided into loose
fleeces, Floccosus.
Fig. 6. exhibits Cumulo Stratus, which is a compound cloud, and its
formation is most frequently the result of the operation of two or more
modifications on each other; lone streaks of the Cirro Stratus may be seen
as it were permeating rocky Cumuli; and the consequence is the formation of
Cumulo Stratus, which generally precedes Nimbification, and is very
prevalent before thunder-storms, when it often forms beautiful and
picturesque skies; as it approaches to Nimbus it increases in density, and
exhibits various tints as its irregular edges happen to catch the Sun's
light; Cirrose fibres extend from its top and form a crown, and at last it
resolves itself into rain. After the storm has spent itself, the several
modifications which preceded it may again be seen occupying their several
stations in the atmosphere. That these effects are produced by the agency
of electricity there can be no doubt, after the experiments and
observations of Signor Cavallo, Mr. Howard, M. Van Mons, and others. Indeed
varieties in the electric state of the atmosphere appear to be the causes
of all the diffrent modifications and species of cloud. To me the subject
of atmospheric electricity seems of great importance; for I cannot help
thinking that the degree and kind of influence which the atmosphere
exercises in the production
of
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 opp p.113}
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{image = G811E02.jpg}
{image = G811E02a.jpg}
{image = G811E02b.jpg}
{image = G811E02c.jpg}
{image = G811E02d.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.114}
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{image = G811B114.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
of many disorders of health, has never been sufficiently reflected upon.
...
... De Luc's Electric Column, or Aerial Electroscope ...
... it [the electroscope] is considerably altered by peculiarities in the
electric state of the atmosphere. The prevalence of Cirri ramifying
about the sky in various directions, and accompanied often by other
modifications, by dry Easterly and changeable winds, and by many small
meteors of an evening, certainly indicates a disturbance in the
atmospherical electricity; and such kind of weather I have noticed to be
accompanied by an irregular action of the Electric Column of M. De
Luc; the bells ring at intervals, and with a kind of hurried pulsation.
When such weather as I have described is followed by rain, the bells have
been found silent. There are also other varieties in the kind of pulsation
of the bells; sometimes they ring weak and regular, sometimes weak and
irregularly, sometimes strong and regular, at others strong but irregular;
the intervals of quiescence are sometimes of longer duration than at
others; these minute variations are probably connected with peculiarities
in the state of the atmosphere, as I have said above, which are worthy
attention, because they may be principally concerned in producing many
disorders of health which are attributed to atmospheric influence; when the
weather is settled, when only diurnal Cumuli prevail with Westerly
winds, then the action of De Luc's Column is the most regular, and this is
generally allowed to be the most wholesome kind of weather.
Yours, &c. THOMAS FORSTER.
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.124}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.124}
{header- Drunken Barnaby's Journeys}
{image = G811B124.jpg}
"We let our friends passe idely like our time,
Till they be gone, and then we see our crime,
And think what worth in them might have been known,
What duties done, and what affections shewn;
Untimely knowledge, which so dear doth cost,
And then begins when the thing known is lost."
BOSWORTH, to the Immortal Memory of the fairest and most virtuous lady, the
lady --.
Mr. URBAN, Chiswell-street.
ONE hundred and fifty years has obscured the name, though it has brightened
the fame of the Author of the above lines, as prophetic as they are
applicable to himself. The inquisitive curiosity of posterity, at various
periods, to be made acquainted with the real name of the facetious but
unkown Author of that celebrated little book Drunken Barnaby's
Journal, is confirmed; and, in spite of the prying eyeys of posterity,
the vigilance, the rewards, and the labour of our literary police, no
success has ever been able to apprehend and bring to justice this facetious
and eccentric Highwayman, this High Priest of the Jolly God and
Apollo, Author of the two following Works:
"Barnabees Journall, under the names of Mirtillus and Faustulus, lively
shadowed, for the Traveller's solace, and to most apt numbers reduced, to
the old tune of Barnaby, as commonly chaunted, by Corymbaeus."
First Edition, no date or Printer's name: and,
"The Chast and Lost Lovers, lively shadowed, in the Persons of Arcadius and
Sepha; and illustrated with severall Stories of Hemon and Antigone, Eramio
and Amissa, Phaon and Sappho, Deliathason and Verista: being a Description
of several Lovers smiling with delight, and with hopes fresh as their
youth, and fair as their beauties, in the beginning of their affections,
and covered with bloud and horror in the conclusion: To this is added, the
Contestation betwixt Bacchus and Diana, and certain Sonnets of the Author
to Aurora; Digested into Three Poems, by William Bosworth, Gent.
---- Me quoque
Impune volare, et sereno
Callipoe dedit ire caelo.
London, printed for William Sheares, and are to be sold at the Signe of the
Bible, in St. Paul's Church Yard, 1653."
127 pages, neatly printed, 8vo, with a neat Portrait, engraved by G.
Glover, representing him in loose hair, whiskers on the upper lip, long and
turned up, like Charles I. point lace, scolloped, falling over a satin
embroidered jacket, aetatis 30, 1637.
The latter Work was posthumous, though written at the age of nineteen; and
ushered to the world, after the Author's death, by R. C. with a Dedication,
"To the true Lover of all good Learning, the Hon. John Finch, Esq.;" and
"copies of commendatory Verses on these deathlesse Poems, by L. B.; Francis
Lovelace; Edmond Gayton; S. P.; and L. C."
Having a Volume of Portraits ready for the press, of illustrious, eminent,
and remarkable Persons, not hitherto or but imperfectly known or engraved,
I shall be much obliged by any communication, that may throw light on the
above Person or his Works, as early as convenient, but particularly to
point out the spot
"That closed the scene of all his folly."
I have consulted with the Registers of Scaveley, near Kendal, where he
terminated both his peregrinations, and dwelt; and the registers of Queen's
College, Oxford, where it is said he was a graduate; and Appleby, where he
was born - withut success. The latter register cannot be found.
William Bosworth, Gent. was descended from the antient and illustrious
familes * of Bokesworth, Boxworth, or Bosworth, of
Boxworth, by Harrington, in Cambridgeshire, was born in 1607, and died
about the year 1651-2-3; in his journey he speaks of this earlier work then
in MS.
* In his Poems addressed to Aurora, he says,
"O scorne me not; I come of noble line;
For by the Norman Duke our browes were crowned
With lawrell branches, and our names renowned."
"Thence
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.125}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.125}
{image = G811B125.jpg}
"Thence to Godstow with my lovers."
And of another bearing the title of "The Jewell," a title common at that
period to prose as well as poetical works - not yet come to light -
"Thence to Daintree with my Jewell."
I should enter into further particulars; but the warning voice of brevity,
like the warning echo to Barnaby at Burleigh,
"Echo replies, Hunger, begone!"
prevents the analysis of his great merits, and bids me "retire in time, ere
I trespass upon your valuable pages at too great a length.
YOURS, &c. FRANCIS ALLISON.
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 opp p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 opp p.305}
{header- Deanery of Carlisle}
{image = G811E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.305}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.305}
{header- Deanery of Carlisle}
{image = G811B305.jpg}
Mr. URBAN, Oct. 6.
I SEND you a sketch of the Deanery of Carlisle, the residence of the Rev.
Isaac Milner, D.D. Master of Queen's College, Cambridge.
Yours, &c. H.W.D.
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.506}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.506}
{image = G811B506.jpg}
Mr. URBAN, Carlisle, Nov. 19.
AS you have been so obliging as to insert an engraved View of the Deanery
House at Carlisle in your last month's Magazine, p.305, I hope it will not
be unacceptable to many of your Readers, to be supplied with a description
of that venerable structure.
The Deanery consists of an inconsiderable part of the Conventual buildings,
many of which were destroyed at the Reformation. Considerable additions
have been made by succeeding Deans since the dissolution of the priory, 32
Henry VIII.
The principal room contains a curious painted ceiling, put up by Prior
Senhouse, who flourished A.D. 1507. It consists of many devices, and is
divided into square compartments. On the crossbeams are painted the
following rude verses:
Symon Senus pryor sette thys rofe and scalop here,
To the intent that ye should have prayers every day in the yere.
Lofe God and thy prynce,
And you nedys not drede thyne enymies.
Remember man the grete pre-eminence
Given unto thee by God omnipotent:
Between ye and angells is lytell difference,
And all thynge erthly to thee obediente.
By
{title- Gents Mag 1811 part 2 p.507}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1811 part 2 p.507}
{image = G811B507.jpg}
By the byrde and best under the firmament,
Say what excuse mayest thou lay or finde,
Thus you art made by God so excellente,
But that you oughtest again to hym be kinde.
Among the eminent men who have possessed the dignity of Dean of Carlisle,
may be reckoned Dr. Francis Atterbury; Dr. Percy, the late venerable Bishop
of Dromore; and the present Dr. Isaac Milner, who is beneath none of his
predecessors in profound or elegant knowledge, in piety, virtue, and the
most amiable demeanour in private life.
As the present Dean of Carlisle is known, in the Southern part of this
kingdom, as an eminent natural philosopher, and the continuator of his
brother's History of the Christian Church, only, it may not be out of place
to give your Readers some idea of his great powers as a pulpit orator. He
makes a point of preaching every Sunday, at some of the Churches in this
city, during his residence, which continues from the latter end of June to
the latter end of September. But his principle attendance is at the
Cathedral; above an hour before the service begins, the numerous
congregation have taken their seats; and by the time he ascends the pulpit,
there is scarcely standing-room. His congregation, we may aver, consists of
several thousands; such a numerous and steady attendance bespeaks the best
disposition of the people of Carlisle; and we may hope that he has been the
means of 'turning many from the power of Satan unto God.' The style of his
eloquence is suited to the different classes which he addresses. It is at
once elegant, nervous, clear, and simple; and the subjects of his
discourses are generally of a nature to interest both the understanding and
the feelings of his audience. It is not in my power to do justice to his
transcendant merits; but I have some pleasure in paying this well-mertited
tribute to the abilities of one of the first Divines of the age.
The Deanery-house enjoys a most beautiful prospect up the Vale of Caldew;
the background is formed by that grand amphitheatre of mountains, of which
Skiddaw forms the chief feature. The more immediate vicinity is composed of
the more cheerful, but less picturesque, scenes of bleach-fields,
print-works, cotton-mills, and the busy employment of manufactures.
In the immediate neighbourhood of the Deanery are the Refectory, part of
the Dormitory, and the Cloisters, which open towards the South side of the
venerable Cathedral. The present worthy Dean and Chapter have done much to
adorn the precincts of the Abbey, by constructing broad gravel walks
winding under the shade of venerable lime trees.
The Cathedral is partly Saxon and partly Pointed Gothic architecture. The
East window is a beautiful piece of tracery; indeed the appearance of the
choir is elegant and grand; the style of its architecture is extremely
light. It has been repaired at many different periods; the principal
contributors to its improvement were Bishop Smith and Bishop Lyttelton. The
present Dean and Chapter have added an organ, which is said to be inferior
to none in the kingdom. The Earl of Lonsdale has presented to this
Cathedral two fine paintings, of the Resurrection and St. John preaching in
the wilderness, which are placed on either side of the altar.
There are in this Cathedral monuments of the following Bishops. A marble
figure, in pontificals, of Bp. Stirkland, temp. Henry IV.; of Bp.
Barrow, temp. Henry V.; of Bp. Bell, temp. Edward IV.; of Bp.
Robinson, temp. Elizabeth and James I.; of Bp. Smith, temp.
Queen Anne; of Bp. Fleming, temp. George II.; of Bp. Law,
temp. George III. Those of Bishops Bell, Robinson, Smith, Fleming,
and Law, are furnished with inscriptions, which shall be presented to your
Readers in some future number. Drawings of this ancient structure (the
Cathedral) have been made at different periods by Mr. Hearne, Mr. Gayfere,
Mr. Carlyle, Mr. Clennel, Mr. Fielding, &c. &c.
Yours, &c. CLERICUS
{title- Gents Mag 1812 part 1 p.480}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1812 part 1 p.480}
{header- Riots, Carlisle}
{image = G812A480.jpg}
The Carlisle Journal states, that tumult and disorder at present
prevail in that neighbourhood, and to a greater extent than at any time
since the disturbances first broke out. It then proceeds to enumerate a
variety of outrages since the 15th, on which day the corn-mill at
Monk-hill, near that city, was broken into, and plundered by a number of
persons. Even the asylum of the poor is not spared by these offenders. On
Monday night, the 18th, the workhouse of St. Cuthbert's parish, at
Harraby-hill, was entered by one of the windows, and a quantity of bacon
and hams taken away.
{title- Gents Mag 1812 part 2 p.6}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1812 part 2 p.6}
{header- New Turnpike from Carlisle}
{image = G812B006.jpg}
Hints for a Tour in SCOTLAND; in an Original Letter from the
Hon. DAINES BARRINGTON to a Friend (probably Mr.
PENNANT.)
July 17, 1771.
DEAR SIR,
The following Route is calculated for a wheel-carriage; and you may depend
upon being accomodated throughout, at least as well as in Wales.
From Carlisle there is a new turnpike quite to Edinburgh, with regular
stages, and very decent accomodations.
I don't recollect any thing worth mentioning on this road, except that when
you come to Selkirk you should inquire for Melrose Abbey.- I would advise
you to lye there, as the house is a very decent one. It is not above 5 or 6
miles out of the road to Edinburgh.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1812 part 2 p.231}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1812 part 2 p.231}
{header- Preliminary Observations on the Population Abstract, 1811}
{image = G812B231.jpg}
The following very interesting Extracts are taken from Mr. RICKMAN'S
'Preliminary Observations on the Population Abstract, 1811.'
'THE leading division of England into Shires or Counties appears to have
been established by our Saxon ancestors about a thousand years since; many
of the Counties being mentioned in history before the extinction of the
Saxon Heptarchy. In the Population Abstract the Counties are placed in
alphabetical order, and in England each distinctly; but in Scotland it has
been found necessary to join the shires of Cromarty and Ross, the former
being as it were scattered in about fifteen separate fragments throughout
the latter, and being indeed usually considered in modern laws as forming
part of it. Much inconvenience is experienced by the inhabitants of these
shires of Ross and Cromarty from these numerous 'Annexations' which were
made by authority of two Acts of the Parliament of Scotalnd in 1685 and
1686.
The further division of the Southern parts of England into Hundreds is also
unquestionably of Saxon origin, and probably in imitation of similar
districts which existed in their parent coun-
try:
{title- Gents Mag 1812 part 2 p.232}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1812 part 2 p.232}
{image = G812B232.jpg}
[coun]try *: but in what manner the name was applied is not certain.
At least 100 (which in Saxon numeration means 120 †) Free Men,
Householders, answerable for each other, may be supposed originally to have
been found in each Hundred; for that the Hundreds were originally regulated
by the population is evident, from the great number of Hundreds in the
Counties first peopled by the Saxons. Thus, Kent and Sussex, at the time
when Domesday-Book was compiled, each contained more then 60 Hundreds, as
they do at present. In Lancashire, a County of greater area than either,
there are no more than Six Hundreds,- in Cheshire, Seven: and upon the
whole, so irregular is this distribition of territory, that while several
Hundreds do not exceed a square mile in area, nor 1000 persons in
Population; the Hundreds of Lancashire average at 300 square miles in area,
and the Population contained in one of them (Salford Hundred) is above
250,000.
'This striking irregularity seems to have been felt as an inconvenience as
early as the time of Henry VIII. when a remedy was attempted by ordaining
Divisions (called also Limits or Circuits), (22 Henry
VIII. c.12. A.D. 1531.) which still exist (more or less manifestly) in most
of the English Counties. These Divisions seem to have been formed by a
junction of small Hundreds, as convenience required in each particular
case, and are recognized in subsequent Acts (43 Eliz. and 12-13 Car. II.)
which regard the maintenance and relief of the Poor.
'But time, which had caused the irregularity of the antient Hundreds,
gradually has the same effect on modern arrangements; so that to alter the
Names or Limits of the antient Hundreds would really be equivalent to
inventing and learning a new and changeable language, instead of retaining
the use of that which has been established for ages. An instance of the
inconvenience of such reform occurs in Wales, several of the Counties of
which were created by Act of Parliament in 1535 (27 Henry VIII. c.26.) and
the antient Districts called Cantrefs and Commots were
altered into Hundreds, by virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal for
that purpose; but the alteration was attended with much unexpected
difficulty, three years, and afterwards three years further, being allowed
for it by subsequent Acts of Parliament (28 Henry VIII. c.3. and 31 Henry
VIII. c.11.); and after all this deliberation the new Counties and Hundreds
exhibit more instances of indistinct boundary, that is, of Parishes and
Townships not conterminous with the County or Hundred, than do the antient
Counties; while the abolished Cantrefs and Commots are not
yet quite forgotten, and occasionally cause some confusion.
'Such innovations are really unnecessary, as temporary Districts, for
present convenience will always be settled by Civil Magistrates, or by
custom, around each place where Petty Sessions are usually holden *:
and in like manner for the business of the Lieutenancy of each County,
Sub-Divisions are formed from the antient Hundreds, subject to such
alteration as circumstances may require.
'In the Northern Counties, formerly exposed to hostile invasion, Wards and
Wapentakes stand in place of Hundreds; and in the Population Abstract they
are alike arranged in alphabetical order in each County.
'Where the Divisions are very antient, as the Lathes of Kent and the
Rapes of Sussex, or where necessary from the multiplicity of the
Hundreds, as in Hampshire and Dorset, they are preserved, and their several
Hundreds ranged under them. The Divisions of Dorset underwent a change in
the year 1740.
'One exception to the general arrangement occurs in regard to the larger
Towns, which as usual are placed at the end of their several Counties. For
this there is a better reason than at first sight appears: Corporate Towns
and some others have a peculiar jurisdiction, and rarely are in any
Hundred. The degree of separation and exemption varies infinitely, as might
be expected, and cannot be reduced to any general rule, being indeed
sometimes a subject of litigation. Hence the strict propriety
* 'Tacitus seems to describe a Hundred-Court very exactly:
'Eliguntur et principes qui hura per pagos vicosque reddunt: Centeni
singulis ex plebe comites, concilium simul et auctoritas, adsunt.'
De Morib. German.'
† 'Numerus Anglice computator 1 cent. pro CXX. Domesday-Book,
vol.1. p.336. In Civ. Linc.'
* 'iin the year 1805, an opportunity occured of learning from the
several Clerks of the Peace, the places in England and Wales where Petty
Sessions or Divisional Meetings were then usually holden; they amounted to
520; and the number of acting County Magistrates was 3,293; but many of
these, no doubt, acted under more than one Commission of the Peace, which
must make the real number much less.'
of
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{image = G812B233.jpg}
of placing many Cities and Towns at the end of the respective Counties:-
and, for the sake of comparision, other Towns, which have arisen into
importance since the disuse of granting charters and immunities, although
these Towns are for every purpose included within some Hundred of the
County,- are placed with the rest. The most ready way therefore of finding
the Population of a principal Town, is to refer to the Summary of its
County, before searching for the Hundred in which it is locally situate.
The Metropolis presents an unusual difficulty, as extending into two
Counties, and therefore has been necessarily inserted distinctly in an
Appendix. In the County Summaries the Total of entire Hundreds is usually
to be found; in the Body of the County all recognized Sub-divisions of the
Hundred are distinguished, each with its separate Total.
'So far the arrangement of the ensuing volume differs little from that of
1801, nor indeed from the several Poor Returns of 1776, 1786, and 1803; nor
ought it to differ from established precedent, without good reason for so
doing. But the very repetition of such inquiries has been found to render
it absolutely necessary to enter more minutely into the relative connexion
and identity of places than before. This necessity will best be understood
by stating, that there are in England and Wales about 550 Parishes which
are known to extend into Two Counties, or into more than One hundred or
other Jurisdiction; and that every one of these places creates a danger of
duplicate entry. No person entrusted with the care of perfecting the
Population Returns, can fail to refer to all preceding authorities; nor,
doing so, can fail to apply for Returns to Parish Officers, who apparently,
but not really, have made a default: nor can any effort of memory prevent
this; the orthography of the names of places being too little settled, and
indeed many names identically the same occuring too often. to permit any
certain recognition of the same place. The best method of avoiding these
difficulties appeared to lie in a more careful attention to the parochial
connexion of places; besides that for many purposes, particularly
ecclesiastical, the knowledge of the Population of a Parish is, at
least, as useful as that of its constituent parts. The instruction,
prefixed to the questions of the printed Schedule, was intended to produce
information of this kind, which indeed had before been asked with some
effect, as appears in the Poor Return Abstract of 1803; with the help of
which, and of the present Returns, it was hoped that a successful attempt
might be made, to ascertain the parochial connexion of all places in Great
Britain; so that no Parish should be named in the Enumeration Abstract,
without a reference to all its constituent parts; and that no such part
should be named without a reference to its Parish; and this whether the
whole Parish be in the same County and Hundred, or otherwise.
'In this attempt some difficulty has occurred, which renders it necessary
to enter into a brief Statement respecting the Parochial Division of the
Kingdom; which may be deemed Ecclesiastical rather than Civil.
'The Country Parishes in England (in the modern sense of the word Parish)
seem originally to have been the same extent and limits as the several
Manors; nor could it well be otherswise, because, when it became settled,
during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, that Tithe was generally due to the
Church, every Lord of an independent Manor would of course appoint a
Clergyman of his own chusing, or make a donation of his Tithes to some
religious community. Hence the Parochial Division of England appears to
have been nearly the same as now established, in the Taxatio
Ecclesiatica, which was compiled in the reign of King Edward the First.
(A.D. 1288-1292.)
'In the Towns indeed there is considerable variation, personal tithes
having been much more productive before the Reformation of Religion than
afterwards, and consequently a greater number of Clergymen maintained in
populous places. Thus the City of London (within and without the Walls, but
not including the Borough of Southwark), which now reckons 108 Parishes,
forming no more than 72 Ecclesiastical Benefices, had at that time 140;
Norwich, in like manner, is reduced from 70 Parishes to 37, and other
antient Cities in proportion: a sufficient indication that the number of
Parishes in Towns was formerly suffered to increase in proportion to the
population: and, besides that personal Tythes and Dues must always have
been in a great degree voluntary, it appears from the Taxatio
Ecclesiastica, that the profits accruing from one and the same Parish
were not confined to one Spiritual Person, nor even to one Religious House
or Community. Under such circumstances, it is not likely that Town-Parishes
were antiently limited, either in number or extent; but the conflicting
rights of Tithe-owners, and the perambulations ordained by the Canon Law,
must have
settled
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{image = G812B234.jpg}
settled the boundaries of Country Parishes much earlier.
'In later times the boundary of every Parish has been settled with
precision, and indeed rendered immutable by any authority short of a
special legislative enactment. This exactness has been produced by the Laws
for the Maintenance and Relief of the Poor, whose claims on a Parish being
regulated by their legal settlement in it, and the Assessment or Poor's
Rate, which takes place in consequence, being levied according to the
property of the other inhabitants, a double motive for ascertaining the
Boundary of a Parish continually subsists, and was frequently a subject of
litigation after the Poor Laws first became burdensome.
'At that time the Parishes of the Northern Counties were also found to be
much too large for the administration of the Poor Laws, which must always
be founded upon a personal knowledge of the situation and character of
every one applying for relief, and is therefore a subject to which no
general rule can be applied. The inconvenience which was felt in the
Northern Counties, from this cause, will be easily explained, by stating,
that 30 or 40 square miles is there no unusual area of a Parish; in other
words, that the Parishes in the North average at seven or eight times the
area of those in the Southern Counties.
'Hence in the 13th year of Charles II. (soon after his Restoration) a Law
was passed, permitting Townships and Villages, though not entire Parishes,
severally and distinctly to maintain their own Poor, assigning as a reason
for this innovation, 'That the inhabitants of Lancashire, Cheshire,
Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Bishoprick of Durham,
Cumberland, and Westmorland, and many other Counties of England and Wales,
by reason of the largeness of the Parishes within the same, have not and
cannot reap the benefit of the Act of Parliament (43 Eliz.) for the Relief
of the Poor.'
'Under this law the Townships of the North have become as distinctly
limited as if they were separate Parishes; and of course make separate
returns, which, in the Abstract of 1801, are placed alphabetically in their
several Wards and Hundreds, but are now arranged under their respective
Parishes; whereby the perplexity arising from a crowd of explanatory Notes
has been avoided, and the convenience of those who have occasion to
ascertain the Population of a whole Parish, is best consulted. This
arrangement takes place in all the Counties North of the Humber and the
Dee, and occasionally elsewhere; and those who compare the Notes on
Derbyshire, with the simplifeid order of the seven more Northern Counties,
will perhaps see cause for wishing the improvement had been extended
farther, or even throughout the Kingdom. - In two of the Counties,
Northumberland and Westmorland, such an arrangement had previously been
formed; in the other five it now appears for the first time *.
'In all the Southern Counties, the place which gives name to the whole
Parish is always called Parish, though it be only part of the Parish
(the less important designation merging in the other); nor could this be
avoided; but a proper note of reference will always be found to accompany
the name of such Parishes, as also the the name of the place so referred
to. Besides this immediate and indispensable service purpose of the Notes,
which appear in the present Abstract to the number of 2,300, they will be
found to embrace such other information as may tend to elucidate the
arrangement and connection of places, or to obviate doubts which frequently
arise where well-known places seem to have been omitted, being indeed
included in the Return of their Parish.
'In attempting an arrangement of this kind, comprehending the whole
Kingdom, the question, What is a Parish? has often occurred, and has been
found not easily determinable. It has been asserted, that a Parochial
Chapel is that which hath the privileges of administering the Sacraments
(especially that of Baptism), and the Office of Burial. 'For the liberties
of Baptism and Sepulture are the true distinct Parochial Rights: and if any
new Oratory had acquired and enjoyed this immunity, then it differed not
from a Parish Church. And till the year 1300, in all trials of the Rights
of particular Churches, if it could be proved that any Chapel had a custom
fro free Baptism and Burial, such place was adjudged to be a Parochial
Church.'
* 'Mr. Davidson, Clerk of the Peace for the County of
Northumberland, arranged the Townships of that County, under their several
Parishes, in 1777; and W. W. Carus Wilson, esq. an active Magistrate in
Westmorland, did the same for that County, in 1802; - in arranging the
other Counties, when original information could not be procured, recourse
was had to Mr. Carlisle's Topographical Dictionary, which experience proved
to be worthy of confidence.'
{title- Gents Mag 1812 part 2 p.235}
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{image = G812B235.jpg}
Church.' (Degge's Parson's Counsellor P.1 c.12.) But, however true this may
have been at the time when Parishes were originally formed, in the present
sense of the word Parish, it is obviously fallacious, inasmuch as almost
every Chapel of Ease would thereby constitute a separate Parish: and, in
the various degrees of the dependence of Chapels on their Mother Churches,
(as some rule must be adhered to) it has been deemed safe to assume, that
where the Curate is appointed and removable by the Incumbent of the Mother
Church, and more certainly where Church-Rates still continue to be paid
towards the repair of such Church, the chaperly is not parochial. On the
other hand, a perpetual curacy has not been struck out of the list
of Parishes, merely because the Curate is appointed by the Incumbent of the
Mother Church, his permanent nature (especially if the curacy has been
augmented under tha laws which direct the distribution of Queen Anne's
Bounty *) seeming to alter the case materially. But this attempt at
definitionis rather meant to show what has been aimed at, than what has
been accomplished; it being impossible to ascertain minutely all such
circumstances for the present occasion. Nevertheless, the doubtful cases
are not many; and, for any general purpose, the number of Parishes and
Parochial Chapelries in England and Wales may safely be taken at 10,674.
'The number of places in England and Wales, of which the Population is
distinctly stated in the present Abstract, is 15,741.
'The number of Parishes in Scotland is 921; of Population Returns is 1,005.
'To arrive at a settled orthography of the names of places would manifestly
be for general convenience, but is not easily attainable. On the present
occasion this object has not been slighted; the name which appears on each
Return not having been adopted without collation with the former Population
Abstract of 1801, and also with that of the Poor Returns of 1803, whereby
frequent errors have been corrected: but it is to be understood that this
kind of correction has been applied only to the Ennumeration Returns, not
to those of the Clergymen; so that, in the Parish Register Abstract, every
name will be found exactly as it appeared to be spelled in the original
Return.
'Besides Parishes and their Tythings or Townships, there are many places
not contained within the limits of any Parish, and thence called
Extra-Parochial; and from some of these, Returns of their Poopulation are
not easily procurable. They are found usually to have been the site of
religious houses or of antient castles, the owners of which did not permit
any interference with their authority within their own limits; and in rude
times, the existence of such exemptions from the general Government of the
Kingdom is not surprising. At present the case is widely different; and
there seems to be no good reason for permitting the Extra-Parochial places
still to avoid sharing the burdens borne by the rest of the community. Thus
an Extra-Parochial place enjoys a virtual exemption from maintaining the
Poor, because there is no Overseer on whom a Magistrate's order may be
served; from the Militia laws, because there is no Constable to make
Returns; from repairing the Highways, because there is no Surveyor: besides
all which, the inhabitants have a chance of excaping from direct taxation
of every kind.
'The number of such places is not inconsiderable, though difficult to be
discovered; the present Volume exhibits about 200 of them; and the subject
is the more worthy of attention, inasmuch as the acquisition of new land,
whether by reclaiming forests, drainage of fens, or embankment from the
sea, furnishes frequent occasion for endeavouring even now to establish
Extra-Parochial Immunities.
'The subject of complaint being an unreasonable exemption from certain
general laws, the remedy might be applied to that defect only; so that all
such places, where any person is found ready to act as Overseer of the
Poor, Constable, and Surveyor of the HIghways, might be permitted to remain
as they are; but the Magistrates of each
County
* 'The Ct of 1 Geo. I. c.0. $ 4, is not positive on this
point; for, after declaring 'that all such Churches, Curacies, and Chapels,
which shall be augmmented by the Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne,
shall be from the time of such augmentations, Perpetual Cures and
Benefices,' - in the next section ($ 5.) it goes on to provide,
'That no Rector or Vicar of the Mother Church, having Cure of Souls, within
the Parish or Place where such an augmented Church or Chapel shall be
situate, shall therby be divested or discharged from the same; but the Cure
of Souls, with all other Parochial Rights and Duties, shall hereafter
remain in the same state, plight, and manner, as before the making of this
Act, and as if this Act had not been made'.'
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County might be empowered to annex all other Extra-Parochial places to
adjoining Parishes, for the purposes above described. Districts of larger
extent may be found, which, under the name of Liberties, interrupt
the general course of law, as affecting Hundreds, in like manner as
Extra-Parochial places that of Parishes. In Dorsetshire, where this
inconvenience chiefly prevails, the grants of some of these Liberties are
dates as late as the reign of Henry VIII. and even of Elizabeth. The proper
remedy for the inconveniences arising out of these improvident grants,
might be, to subject them to abolition by the County Magistrates, whenever,
by default in the appointment of proper officers, these Liberties
(under whatever title) are found to obstruct the due administration of
justice, or of the laws.
'Other deformities there are in the territorial arrangement of England and
Wales, which may be deemed the more worthy of attention, as of more easy
remedy. Such have been already mentioned as causing Duplicate Returns,
where Parishes extend into more Counties, or into more Hundreds, than one.
The number of places of the first class, in so far as they have been noted,
is 134; scarcely any County not affording an instance, and some having
Parishes intermixed with every surrounding County. The Parishes which
extend into more Hundreds or Divisions than one, are much more numerous;
and still more considerable is the number of those places which lie at a
distance from their own County or Hundred, to the frequent inconvenience of
the inhabitants and of the publick. Indeed several of the Hundreds are so
strangely scattered, that they might be advantageously merged in others,
as, from the conjoint name of some Hundreds, seems formerly to have been
done. Instances of the inconvenience here alluded to, and of the remedy,
are most frequent in Wiltshire. Winkley Hundrred in Somersetshire,
Farringdon Hundred in Berkshire, that of Barton-Stracey in Hampshire, and
some others, are remarkable instances of irregularity still in existence.
The correction of all these anomalies might be referred to the County
Magistrates, who alone could accurately point them out, and who best know,
by experience, how far such places are inconvenient to the inhabitants, or
to the publick at large.
'The enumeration of the whole Population may be considered as complete, no
place being known finally to have omitted making Return. In cases where the
name of a place differs from the Abstract of 1801, or where two places are
included under one title, all the names are now entered, with an
explanatory remark: and the same thing has been done in cases where any
place has been transferred from one Hundred to another.
'The proportion of the Sexes remains much the same as in 1801, being nearly
as 10 Males to 11 Females of the Resident Population, and nearly equal in
the General Total. The increase of the Military, and of Sailors, has indeed
increased the number of Males; but it is obvious that this increase has not
been entirely furnished by Great Britain, many Natives of Ireland, as well
as Foreigners, being included in the Army, in the Navy, and among those who
navigate Registered Shipping.
'In conclusion, it is proper to mention, that where the Total of any
County, as laid before Parliament in February 1812, shall be found to
differ from the Total in the present Volume, the latter is to be considered
as the corrected Total, some alterations, necessary from the discovery of
duplicate entries, of omissions, and of clerical errors, having occurred on
the final revision of the Work.'
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{header- Ullswater}
{image = G813A110.jpg}
Sproxton, Jan. 5.
Mr. URBAN,
IN a tour to the Lakes last Summer, I observed a piece of flat ground
consisting chiefly of sand and pebbles, which, within forty years, to my
knowledge, had been gained from the Lake of Ulleswater by the floods of a
rapid brook rolling down earth, stones, and gravel, from the adjoining
mountains, &c. which must have been an immense quantity, as the water
was ten fathom deep or more, a few yards only from the
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{image = G813A111.jpg}
shore. On further observation, I remarked other large meadows extending a
long way into the Lake, and terminating almost in a point, which had
evidently been formed by the floods of insignificant brooks, and which in
some cases had cut and torn up the sides of the mountains to a degree of
astonishment. So that the Lakes are filling up to a certainty, and faster
than we seem to be aware of; I think in two or three thousand years they
will be all flat meadows, with a river or main drain in the middle. Such
meadows in the valleys frequently occur, and it is more than probable they
once were lakes.
If we go upon a larger scale, we find a variety of substances continually
pouring into the sea by the great rivers, and never returning, at least
beyond the reach of a high tide, from which one would naturally suspect,
exclusive of the help of minor causes, that the sea in process of time
would be so filled up, as to deluge the whole earth. Those violent efforts
of Nature, volcanos and earthquakes, may, indeed, at any time, in an
instant, make the sea land, and the land sea; but what is there in the
regular course of Nature to prevent the drowning of the earth; unless, to
help us over the difficulty, we have recourse to an imperceptible increase
in bulk of such strata, as lie below the reach of man, whose
intrusion may destroy, or at least check their growth? - And that the earth
rises more or less by the organization of strata of different degrees of
strength and vigour, and shrinks in a state of decay or decomposition, I
have no doubt: hence other lakes and seas, by a greater or less extension
or depression of the bowels of the earth, will of course be formed; and the
sea thus keep its distance for a time exceeding the calculation of man.
But one word more on the subject of the Lakes. The proprietors of lands are
bounded by the lakes on one side: the fisheries have also their bounds and
marks; and are generally the property of others, and totally distinct. Now,
Mr. Urban, should the Lake be quite filled in, by dreadful and unusual
torrents and inundations, in three years instead of three thousand, in
point of law how will the matter stand? will the proprietor of five acres
become the proprietor of fifty, as his writings will shew his field is
bounded on one side by water; or must the fisherman lose his all, or he in
exchange become a landed proprietor also, whose writings point him out as a
proprietor of water only? or will the lord of the manor cut the matter
short, and settle the difference between them? And as the counties of
Westmoreland and Cumberland are bounded by the Lake for the whole length of
it nearly, - does the Lake itself form no part of either county? or is the
real boundary of the counties an imaginary line running in a sort of
zig-zag direction in the centre of the Lake, to correspond with the
windings of the shores - in cases of arrest, or some other legal process
which requires a tolerable degree of certainty?
W.M.
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{header- Carlisle Castle}
{text- In a 'Review of New Publications' of the 'Border Antiquities of
England and Scotland'.}
{image = G813B051.jpg}
There are few Cities in England which have been the scenes of more
momentous or more interesting events than Carlisle. During those years when
the borders of the two countries were the theatre of alternate triumph and
defeat of both, it shared with suffering fidelity in the fierce contests of
its warlike possessors; and even at a later period, when Rebellion reared
her bloody standard in the North, Carlisle was at once the witness of
crime, and the scene of its punishment. Recently, also, the Muse of a
popular writer has excited an increasing interest concerning all that
relates to Border transactions, where will one be found of any importance,
that is not more or less connected with Carlisle and its towers of defence?
The office of Warden of the Marshes was one commnly bestowed upon Nobles of
tried fidelity and known courage; and in their train were to be found the
youthful aspirers after military glory, who longed to signalize themselves
in feats of arms, where bravery was opposed to bravery, and the wreath of
glory was won, not by a single achievment, or by desultory prowess, but by
continued watchfulness, labour, and skill. In modern times, since Law has
held its mild dominion instead of the ferocious and turbulent supremacy of
arms, Carlisle Castle has lost much of its importance and much of its
utility. It is now regarded rather as a vernerable relick of antiquity,
than as an edifice formed for defence; and yet the mind feels a sentiment
of sober and solemn delight in recalling the occurrences which are
connected with it through every period of English history.
{title- Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.298}
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{header- Obituary, William Close}
{text- Obituary}
{image = G813B298.jpg}
At Dalton in Furness, Lancashire, of a consumption, by which he was
attacked soon after Christmas, aged 39, Mr. Wm. Close, surgeon and
apothecary; deservedly esteemed for his candour, sincerity, and
benevolence, and for his diligent attention to the duties of his
profession. He composed and published several writings of great merit upon
various subjects, but chiefly on philosophy and the arts. In Nicholson's
Journal he has detailed the particulars of many inventions and discoveries,
which display great talents and originality of invention. The learning he
derived from education was obtained before he was ten years of age, and
Lilly's Grammar was the only book he was taught at school. In 1805 he
published a new edition of West's 'Antiquities of Furness,' newly arranged;
abridging the redundant matter, and adding a Supplement, containing much
new and valuable information. In 1810, he laid before the Society of Arts
and Manufactures his improvements in the trumpet, bugle, and French horns,
for which the Society awarded him the gold medal. He, however, declined
accepting it, and sold the instruments to Mr. Percival, music-seller, who
obtained a patent for them. These instruments, in their improved state, are
distinguished by the name Polyphonian; and the improvements consist in
their being rendered almost as comprehensive in their scales as the German
flute, by means of tubular appendages, which are furnished with secret
ducts for carrying off the water, and they are played by the fingers. - He
was buried, at his own request, at Walney, in a spot of ground upon which
he had often played when a boy.
{title- Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.405}
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{header- Obituary, John Pennington}
{text- Obituary}
{image = G813B405.jpg}
Oct. 8. At Muncaster Castle, Cumberland, John Pennington, Lord
Muncaster, and a baronet. His Lordhsip married Peneleope, daughter and
coheiress of James Compton, Esq. a lineal descendant of the Earls of
Northampton; and by her, who died in November 1806, had issue one son,
Gamel de Pennington, born July 1, 1780, died young; Anne Jane Penelope,
died in April 1811; and Maria Frances Margaret, married, in Dec. 1811,
James, Lord Lindsay, eldest son of Alexander, sixth Earl of Balcarras. His
lordship leaving no issue male, the titles of Lord Muncaster and Baronet
devolve to his only brother, General Lowther Pennington, now Lord
Muncaster. The deceased peer was the fifth baronet in descent from Sir
William Pennington, of Muncaster, created a baronet by Charles II. June 21,
1676. He represented the county of Westmoreland in many parliaments, and
was raised to the dignity of Baron Muncaster, in Ireland, by patent dated
Oct. 21, 1783, with remainder to his brother, Lowther Pennington. His
lordship was the representaive of a long line of ancestors, whose descent,
from the time of the Conquest, may be seen in Burn and Nicholson's History
of Cumberland. - Gamel de Pennington was resident at Muncaster at the
Conquest: from him, through many generations, descended sir John
Pennginton, who was steadily attached to Henry VI. and gave that
unfortunate Prince a secret reception at Muncaster, when in his flight from
his enemies. In return, the King gave him a curiously wrought glass cup,
with this blessing to the family, 'that they should ever prosper, and never
want a male heir, so long as they should preserve it unbroke;' which the
superstition of those times imagined to carry good fortune, and called it
the Luck of Muncaster: and of this glass the family are still
possessed. This sir John de Pennington commanded the left wing of the
English army in an expedition into Scotland, when the earl of
Northumberland led the main body. His grandson, sir John de Penngington,
had a command at the battle of Flodden Field, where James IV. was taken;
and his descendant, sir John Pennington, was admiral to Charles I. The
baronetage was conferred, in 1676, by Charles II. on sir William
Pennington, of Muncaster, great grandfather of John the first Baron
Muncaster.
{title- Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.573}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1813 part 2 p.573}
{header- History of the Roman Wall}
{text- Book review}
{image = G813B573.jpg}
The History of the Roman Wall, which crosses the Island of
Britain, from the German Ocean to the Irish Sea.
Describing its Antient State, and its Appearance in the Year 1801.
By W. Hutton, F.A.S.S The Second Edition; with Corrections.
8vo. pp. 404. Nichols, Son and Bentley.
WE heartily rejoice to meet again with our old friend Mr. Hutton, 'who at
full twenty years beyond the age of man, still enjoys his strong mental
faculties,' - in a new dress indeed; but in a garb that much becomes him;
and are much pleased to see his honest physiognomy in the front.
In an Advertisement to this Second Edition, Mr. Nicholson observes,
'The kind intentions of my highly-respected Friend Mr. Hutton, in
presenting me with this Work, were frustrated by an unfortunate accident,
which consumed all the Copies of it that were then unsold. - Enough,
however, were in the hands of the publick, to establish its character, and
considerably increase the reputation of its ingenious Author. - The good
opinion I originally entertained of the Work, is so strongly confirmed by
the unanimous approbation of the various Periodical Criticks; that I cannot
resist selecting some passages from the principal ones.'
Copious extracts are then given from the Monthly Review, British Critic,
Critical Review, Aikin's Annual Review, and Gentleman's Magazine, &c.
all highly commendatory of the Work; which is, indeed,as Mr. Aikin justly
describes it, a very 'amusing and interesting portion of Topographical
History. The lively and cheerful manners of the Author captivate the fancy,
and we follow him through the progress of his journey with sympathy and
curiosity.'
The Advertisement also contains a very interesting Letter from Miss Hutton,
written some years ago to S. S. Pratt, esq. (who had requested her to
furnish him with some particulars of her Father's Journey,) which our
Readers, we are confident, will peruse with pleasure:
'Dear Sir, - Our summer's excursion in 1801 was ardently wished for by us
both. My Father's object was, to see the Roman Wall; mine, the Lakes of
Cumberland and Westmoreland. We talked it over, by our fire-side, every
evening of the preceding winter. He always insisted upon setting out on
foot, and performing as much of the journey as he should be able in the
same manner. I made little objection to his plan: reserving myself for a
grand attack at last. - When the time drew near, I represented to my Father
that it as impossible he should walk the whole way; though I agreed with
him that he could walk a considerable part: the only difference between us
was, whether he should ride to prevent mischief, or after mischief was
done. I besought him, with tears, to go as far as Liverpool in a carriage,
and walk afterwards as he might find expedient; but he was inflexible. All
I could obtain was, a promise that he would take care of himself. - I rode
on a pillion behind a servant; and our mode of travelling was this. My
Father informed himself at a night how he might get out of the house next
morning, before the servants were stirring. He rose at four o'clock, walked
to the end of the next stage, breakfasted, and waited for me. I set out at
seven; and, when I arrived at the same inn, breakfasted also. When my
Father had rested two hours, he set off again. When my horse had fed
properly, I followed; passed my Father on
the
{title- Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.574}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1813 part 2 p.574}
{image = G813B574.jpg}
the road, arrived before him at the next inn, and bespoke dinner and beds.
- My Father was so careful not to be put out of his regular pace, that he
would not allow me to walk by his side, either on foot or on horseback; not
even through a town. The only time I ever did walk with him was through the
street of Warrington; and then, of my own accord, I kept a little behind,
that I might not influence his step. He chose that pace which was the least
exertion to him. and never varied it. It looked like a saunter; but it was
steady, and got over the ground at the rate of full two miles and a half in
an hour. - When the horse on which I rode saw my Father before him, he
neighed, though at the distance of a quarter of a mile; and the servant had
some trouble to hold him in. He once laid the reins upon his neck; and he
trotted directly up to my Father, then stopped and laid his head upon his
shoulder. - My Father delivered all his money to me before we left home,
reserving only a few pieecs (sic) of loose coin, in case he should want on
the road. I paid all bills; and he had nothing to do but walk out of an
inn, when he found himself sufficiently refreshed. My Father was such an
enthusiast with regard to the Wall, that he turned neither to the right or
the left, except to gratify me with a sight of Liverpool. Winander Mere he
saw, and Ullswater he saw; because they lay under his feet; but nothing
could detain him from his grand object. - When we had reached Penrith, we
took a melancholy breakfast, and parted, with a tear half suppressed on my
Father's side, and tears not to be suppressed on mine. He continued his way
to Carlisle; I turned Westward for Keswick. After a few days' stay there, I
went back to Hest Bank, a small sea-bathing place near Lancaster, where we
had appointed to meet. - While I remaineded at Hest Bank, I received two
scraps of paper, torn from my Father's pocket-book; the first dated from
Carlisle, July 20; in which he told me he was sound in body, shoe, and
stockings, and had just risen from a lodging amongst fleas. The second from
Newcastle. July 23, when he informed me 'he had been at the Wall's End;
that the weather was so hot he was obliged to repose under hedges; and that
the country was infested with thieves: but lest I should be under any
apprehensions for his personal safety, he added, they were only such as
demolished his idol, the Wall, by stealing the stones of which it was
composed.' - On the fifth morning after my arrival at Hest Bank, before I
was up, I heard my Father cry, Hem! on the stairs. I answered
calling out Father! which directed him to my room; and a most joyful
meeting ensued. He continued here four days, wondered at and respected by
the company. We set out on our return home in the same manner as before,
and reached it in safety. - During the whole journey I watched my Father
with a jealous eye. The first symptom of fatigue I observed was at
Budworth, in Cheshire; after he had lost his way, and been six hours upon
his legs; first in deep sands, and then on pavement road. At Liverpool his
spirits were good; but thought his voice rather weaker. At Preston he first
said he was tired, but, having walked eleven mile farther, to Garstang, he
found himself recovered; and never after, to the best of my remembrance,
uttered the least complaint. He usually came into an inn in high spirits,
ate a hearty meal, grew sleepy after it, and in two hours was rested. His
appetite never forsook him. He regarded strong liquors with abhorrence.
Porter he drank, when he could get it; ale and spirits never. He mixed his
wine with water; but considered water, alone, as the most refreshing
beverage. - On our return, walking through Ashton, a village in Lancashire,
a dog flew at my Father, and bit his leg; making a wound about the size of
a sixpence. I found him sitting in the inn at Newton, where he had
appointed to breakfast, deploring the accident, and dreading its
consequences. They were to be dreaded. The leg had yet a hundred miles to
walk, in extremely hot weather. I comforted my Father. 'Now,' said I, 'you
will reap the fruit of your temperance: you have put no strong liquors or
high sauces into your leg; you eat but when you are hungry, and drink but
when you are thristy; and this will enable your leg to carry you home.' The
event shewed I was right. The wound was sore; and the leg, round it, was
inflamed, as every leg under such circumstances must be; but it never was
very troublesome, or ever indulged with a plaster. - From the time we
parted at Penrith, till we reached home, the weather was extremely hot. My
Father frequently walked with his waistcoat unbuttoned; but the
perspiration was so excessive, that I have even felt his coat damp on the
outside, from the moisture within; and his bulk visibly diminished every
day. When we arrived at Wolseley Bridge, on our return, I was terribly
alarmed at this, and thanked God he had but one day more to walk. - When we
got within four days of the completion of our journey, I
could
{title- Gents Mag 1813 part 2 p.575}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1813 part 2 p.575}
{image = G813B575.jpg}
could no longer restrain my Father. We made forced marches; and if we had
had a little further to go, the foot would fairly have knocked up the
horse. The pace he went did not even fatigue his shoes. He walked the whole
six hundred miles in one pair; and scarecly made a hole in his stockings. I
am, dear Sir, Your very sincere friend and servant,
CATHERINE HUTTON.'
For our opinion of the Work itself, it will be sufficient to refer to the
Review of it, by Mr. Gough, who was pre-eminently qualified to judge of its
merits, in our Vol.LXXIV. p.16.
This Edition has a good Index.
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.3}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.3}
{header- Playing Card Maps}
{image = G814A003.jpg}
Tredrea, Jan. 14.
MR. URBAN,
HAVING recently seen two Packs of Cards, which appear to me curious
specimens of the Times of old, I am persuaded that a short description of
each will not be unacceptable to your Readers; as the first exhibits a plan
for uniting instruction with amusement, invented long before such
contrivances are supposed to have been in use; and as the second discloses
a singular method of exciting Party zeal, practised on a very extraordinary
occasion. These cards have long been preserved in the respectable family of
the late Mr. Hodson, a gentleman farmer of Sussex.
The first pack bears the date 1590. The cards are charged with Maps of the
fifty-two Counties of England and Wales, arranged in four series of
thirteen each, distinguished by North, South, East, and West. The Counties
follow in each division, according to their estimated magnitudes, No.1.
being the least. Within a square occupying the middle of each Card, is
delineated the County; the Number is placed in a corner, both above and
below: in the other upper corner stands a Compass; and in the lower one a
Scale of Miles. Over the square and below it are four lines descriptive of
the County. For example:
'Sussex the 10th of the South, hath miles
in Quantite sup'ficiall 900, in Circuite 172,
In Lengthe from Hamshire unto Kent 68,
In Bredth from Surrey to ye Brittaine Sea 25.'
'Sussex plesaunt pastures and dow'es full of Sheep,
Store of Wood, Rivers, and Vaynes of Yron,
Havinge the Narrow Sea East, Hantshire West,
Surrey and Kent North, and the Britt. Sea South.'
As another instance:
'Cornwall the 8th of the South hath Miles
In Quatite sup'ficiall 837, in Circuite 262,
In Lengthe from Denshire to the Brittaine Sea 66,
In Bredth from the Seaverne to the Sea 40.'
'Cornwall ye sea-coste full of tow'es well shipped,
Full of Mettal, especialli Tynne, which serveth all Europe;
Having Denshire East, the Maine Sea West,
The Irishe Sea North, and the Brittaine Sea South.'
There are with the Pack eight additional Cards; but these are stated, in a
little accompanying book, to be intended for ornamenting two boxes that may
be made to hold the Cards themsleves and also some counters, which,
however, are not preserved. One has a general Map of England; another a
Portrait of Queen Elizabeth; a third contains a Plan of London; a fourth,
Arms, &c; the two others are filled with short accounts of the History
and Constitution of the Country.
The Author, in his little book which is very imperfect, pays many
compliments to the Inventor of Com-
mon
{text- These are the playing card maps by William Bowes, probably engraved
by Augustine Ryther, issued 1590.}
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.4}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.4}
{image = G814A004.jpg}
[com]mon Cards; declaring them to be excellent against melancholy
cogitations, and for breeding contents in all necessities. ...
... ...
{text- The second pack has historical themes.}
Yours, &c. DAVIES GIDDY.
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.13}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.13}
{header- Monastic Churches}
{image = G814A013.jpg}
List of Conventual Churches still in Use.
... I am induced to offer you the subjoined List of Conventual Churches,
which are still made use of, either wholly or in part, for divine service;
hoping that it may afford some assistance to the Lover of Sacred
Architecture in his researches amid the venerable remains of our Monastic
structures, many of which, though highly deserving attention, have, as the
writer of the article justly laments, long lain in obscurity.
As I believe this is the only List that has been given of the Monastic
Churches which have in some degree been preserved to us as useful religious
structures, I am aware that it may be imperfect, and shall be much obliged
to any of your Correspondents who will honour it by correction or addition.
HUGH OWEN.
NB: only entries for Cumbria - Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire north of
the sands - are transcribed:-
Cathedral Priory Church of Augustine Canons.
Carlisle ... Greater part of Nave, Transept, and Towers, destroyed.
Benedictine Priory Churches, now Parochial.
St. Bee's, Cumberland ... Nearly perfect.
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.14}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.14}
{image = G814A014.jpg}
Churches of the Regular Canons of St. Augustine, now Parochial.
Cartmel, Lancashire ... Perfect.
Lanercost, Cumberland ... Nave used , early lancet work.
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.515}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.515}
{header- Obituary, William Hutchinson}
{image = G814A515.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
April 7. At Barnard Castle, aged 82, W. Hutchinson, esq. F.A.S.
whose death was preceded only two or three days by that of his wife, aged
78; they were both interred in the same grave. Mr. Hutchinson had
distinguished himself by the publication of Three different County
Histories: 1. 'A View of Northumberland, with an Excursion to the Abbey of
Mailross in Scotland,' 2 vols. 4to. 1776, 1778. 2. 'The History and
Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham,' 1785, 1787, 1794, 3 vols. a
Work now become scarce. - See his account of the family of Bishop Chandler,
and of the causes which retarded the publication of his third volume in our
Vol. LXIII. p.974. - 3. 'The History of the County of Cumberland, and some
Places adjacent, from the earliest Accounts to the present Time;
comprehending the Local History of the County, its Antiquities, the Origin,
Genealogy, and present State, of the principal Families, with Biographical
Notes; its Mines, Minerals, and Plants, with other Curiosities either of
Nature or of Art; particular Attention is paid to, and a just Account given
of, every Improvement in Agriculture, Manufactures, &c.' 2 vols. 4to.
1794. - In our Vol. LV. are several Letters and Autographs of eminent
Persons, communicated by Mr. Hutchinson with the following
authentification:- 'Some few years ago, by accident, there fell into my
hands a confused heap of papers which belonged to the Wharton family. Such
as were worthy atention I transcribed, as many of the hands'-writing were
diffilcult to be read, for the easier communication to my friends. I
selected the Poems into one book, and the Letters into another; and in this
state both the originals and a copy have remained with me unpublished. It
has occurred to me, that some parts of this collection may be esteemed
curious enough to merit a place in your Magazine. I would not put my own
estimate upon them; but, if you think the books worthy the carriage, so
that you may lay them before some of your judicious compilers, I will send
them up, on condition that you will please to return my MSS. If they are
thought worth at-
tention,
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 1 p.516}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.516}
{image = G814A516.jpg}
[at]tention, you are welcome to publish any of them. - The first book
consists of Letters, and Poems introduced therein, from Dr. Burnet to the
Marchioness of Wharton, which give light on those characters not publicly
known. The rest of the collection in this book are chiefly political; wrote
to Lord Wharton in the year 1706, and so to 1711, from the Earl of
Marchmont, W. Fleming, Lord Sunderland, General Palmes, Lieut.-gen. Rosse,
with an account of the Campaign in 1708, and the returns of prisoners,
&c. Lieut.colonel Gledhill, Lord Galway, Duke of Shrewsbury, Duke of
Richmond, Young, Addison, De Foe, and several others. If you think it would
be worth the trouble, I will take the signatures from off the original
Letters, for you to cut into wood, to authenticate the publication. The
volume of Poems consists of many Dr. Burnet's to the Marchioness of
Wharton; and some that have been published, but here much corrected.' These
curious papers, with the greater part of Mr. Hutchinson's correspondence
during a long and active life, remain in the hands of his son; and part of
them may probably be given to the publick. - A very fine Portrait of Mr.
Hutchinson, on the same Plate with that of his benevolent friend the late
George Allan, esq. of the Grange, F.S.A. forms the frontispiece to the
Eighth Volume of 'Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century.'
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 2 p.626}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 2 p.626}
{header- Brougham, Brough, Appleby}
{image = G814B626.jpg}
Dec. 31.
Mr. URBAN,
RETURNING to London by Penrith and Brougham last Summer, my attention was
attracted by a Pillar, standing on a gently-rising ground on the South side
of the road, about a mile this side of the latter place. On examination, I
found it to have been erected in the year 1656, by the Countess Dowager of
Pembroke; a woman so justly celebrated for her many excellent qualities,
that a little description of this memorial, with four of the numerous
castles belonging to her, and which, under her munificence, were repaied
and preserved from demolition, may, I presume, not be unacceptable. This
Pillar is between seven and eight feet high, and about three in diameter,
of an octagonal form, with capital and base: it supports a square block of
stone, on two sides of which are sun-dials, on a third the arms of
Veteriponts and Clifford, impaling Russell, surmounted by an earl's
coronet; and on the fourth. the following inscription, on a brass plate:
'This pillar was erected, anno 1656, by the Right Honourable Ann Countess
Dowager of Pembroke, &c. and sole heire of the Right Honourable George
Earl of Cumberland, &c. for a memorial
of
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 2 p.627}
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{image = G814B627.jpg}
of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, the Right
Honourable Margaret Countess Dowager of Cumberland, the 2nd of April, 1616.
In memory whereof she also left an annuity of four pounds to be distributed
to the poor within this parish of Brougham every 2nd day of April for ever,
upon the stone table here hard by. Laus Deo.'
A few paces towards the South is the base of a small stone table, the upper
part of which has been thrown down, and lies near the spot: how long it has
been in this state, I know not; but with very little trouble it might be
replaced, and both preserved from destruction. Gratitude to the benevolent
distributor of so many charities would, I think, be alone sufficient to
preserve this and all other of her works from wanton demolition; and when
we reflect on the doubly pious intention of this little monumental tribute,
as expressed in the inscription, it is a duty absolute and indispensable.
This exalted female character (the daughter of George Clifford, third Earl
of Cumberland, by Margaret Russell his wife,) was born at Skipton Castle on
the 30th of January, 1590. She first married William Sackville, Earl of
Dorset, and afterwards Philip Hubert, Earl of Pembroke, who died in the
year 1649. After his death the Countess devoted her attention to many pious
works, and the restoration of six of her noble castles, which had suffered
delapidations during the civil wars. Of these, SKIPTON, in Yorkshire first
claimed her notice, it being the place of her birth, and which was
afterwards her chief residence. The situation of this building, although
not very commanding, is nevertheless beautiful, and much admired for the
finely-diversified scenery which surrounds it. The chief entrance is
through a gate protected by four round towers, a short distance North-east
of the church, near the market-place. It has been much altered from its
original state, and now forms a convenient lodge. On entering the
court-yard, a large and ponderous square building presents itself, with a
venerable circular tower at each angle: within this is a small ancient
quadrangle, picturesque from its variety of windows, buttresses, &c.
and a fine old yew tree standing in the centre. The parts of the castle now
inhabited are attached to the North and East of these more antient
apartments, the whole forming a picturesque group.
Skipton Church is a spacious handsome structure, consisting of body and
chancel, with a well-proportioned tower at the West end, and is entered by
a porch on the South side. Some portions of it are antient, but the
prevailing style is that of Henry VII. The interior contains nothing
remarkable but several monuments of the Clifford family.
BROUGHAM CASTLE, near Penrith in Westmorland, was repaired by the Countess
Dowager of Pembroke in the year 1651, having been in a dilapidated state
nearly five and thirty years. After her death it was entirely neglected,
and all the materials sold for £.100 to two attorneys in Penrith. It
is now a mouldering venerable ruin on the banks of the river Eden. The keep
and chapel are the most prominent features, the former of which is very
ancient, of massy construction, having several circular arches in front,
and has probably been considerably higher. To the North-east angle is
attached a gateway of less antient erection. The chapel was very small;
part of the East window, stalls, and holy-water recess, with large corbels
of the roof, remain. The old church at Brougham, being considered in a
dangerous state, was taken down, and rebuilt by the Countess of Pembroke,
in the year 1659.
BROUGH, (or Brough under Stanimore (sic), to distinguish it from other
places of a similar name,) one stage on the London side of Appleby, is a
town of no great importance, except that its Castle was one of the number
belonging to the great Duchess of Pembroke; it is a fine remain, on a grand
and commanding situation, towards the North of the town. A great fire
happened here before the year 1521, which destroyed nearly all the internal
timber work, with the lead roofs, &c. But the Duchess began to repair
these extensive damages in 1660, and over the gate placed an inscription to
that effect, which has long since been beaten down and destroyed. The
strength of this Castle was very great. In addition to its defence by
Nature, it had several deep fosses with high banks and ramparts between,
the whole rising with very steep ascent.
With APPLEBY I shall conclude, being the last of the four castles I visited
belonging
{title- Gents Mag 1814 part 2 p.628}
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{image = G814B628.jpg}
belonging to the Countess of Pembroke. This is the county town, an
extensive place, of very high antiquity, though some doubts exist about its
ever having been a Roman town, which many assert; but no fragments of this
kind ever having been found it rests upon mere conjecture. The Countess
herself believed the keep of the Castle to be of Roman construction; but
there is no appearance of any such character. It may probably claim a date
as early as the Conquest, which the general form and circular arches induce
us to believe is near the time of its erection. It has received the
appelation of Caesar's Tower, but from what circumstance is not exactly
known. It has a square turret at each angle, rising above the battlements,
terminated by a leaden cupola and vane, is surrounded by a high rampart
wall, extending Eastward a considerable length, with two bastions; the
North has one bastion and the entrance gateway. In the East and part of the
North side are the dwelling buildings, which have been much altered from
their original state. The whole of this is encompassed and farther
protected by a deep foss, which in addition to its lofty situation must
have rendered it a very formidable place of defence. The quantity of ground
in the Castle Park, including the Castle, &c. is twenty-two acres and
eight perches. The whole is now finely wooded; and the beautiful river
Eden, flowing under the steep declivity towards the East, renders the scene
particularly grand. Towards the North end of the town stands the Church,
dedicated to St. Laurence, near an old bridge of two arches, at the West
end of which was formerly a small Chapel, likewise dedicated to that Saint.
The Church is large, having a long body of three aisles, a small chancel, a
low tower embattled at the West end, and a porch on the South side. Great
part of the Church was rebuilt by the Countess in the year 1659, and a
vault made during her lifetime near the North-east angle of the chancel. On
the North wall is her monument of black marble, on which are distributed
twenty-four shields bearing arms, the pedigree of her illustrious family.
In the base is this inscription:
'Here lyes expecting yr second comeinge of our Lord and Savious Jesus
Christ, ye dead body of ye Lady Anne Clifford, daughter and sole-heire to
George Clifford, third Earl of Cumberland, by his blessed wife Margaret
Russell, Countess of Cumberland, which Lady Anne was born in Skipton Castle
in Craven ye 30th of January (being a Friday) in the year 1590, as ye year
begins on New-year's-day. By a long-continued descent from her father and
his noble ancestors, she was Barroness Clifford, Westmorland, and Vesey,
High Sherifesse of the county of Westmorland, and Lady of ye Honor of
Skipton in Craven aforesaid. She married for her first husband Richard
Sackville, Earl of Dorset; and for her second husband, Philip Herberte,
Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, leaving behind her only two daughters that
lived, which she had by her first husband; the eldest, Margaret Countess of
Thanet, and the younger Isabella Countess of Northampton. Which Lady Anne
Clifford Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery, deceased at
her Castle of Brougham. ye 22nd day of March, in ye year of our Lord 1675,
Christianly, willingly, and quietly, having before her death seen a
plentiful issue by her two daughters of thirteen grandchildren; and her
body lies buried in this vaulte.'
Yours, &c. AN OBSERVER.
{title- Gents Mag 1815 part 2 p.189}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1815 part 2 p.189}
{header- Obituary, Mrs John Wordsworth}
{image = G815B189.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
Aug. 5: At Penrith, in her 57th year, after a lingering illness,
which she bore with exemplary resignation, Mrs. Wordsworth, wife of John
Wordsworth, esq. Virtue and piety were in her united with strong sense,
warm feeling, and all the social affections, and the most engaging manners,
in a degree rarely to be met with. To her most affectionate husband she
will be an irreparable loss, and be tenderly and lastingly regretted by her
relatives and friends, and by all who knew her, in proportion as they had
an opportunity of being acquainted with her virtues.
{title- Gents Mag 1815 part 2 p.367}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1815 part 2 p.367}
{header- Storms in the North}
{image = G815B367.jpg}
COUNTRY NOTES
Dumfries, Sept. 28. During Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday last, there
was an uncommon fall of rain, accompanied with very high wind, in the
neighbourhood. The devastation, in consequence of the swelling of the
different rivers and rivulets, is incalculable: great quantities of grain
have been carried away, embankments destroyed, &c. ... ... The great
flood on the 15th and 16th of November, 1807, was truly awful, both in the
neighbourhood of Carlisle, and in this district; but we have had nothing of
this sort to be compared with the present, since Feb. 1780.
{title- Gents Mag 1815 part 2 p.631}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1815 part 2 p.631}
{header- Obituary, Duke of Norfolk}
{image = G815B631.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
THE LATE DUKE OF NORFOLK.
The late most noble Charles Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was Earl Marshal and
Hereditary Marshal of England, Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Baron
Fitz-Allan, Maltravers, Clun, and Oswaldestre; Premier Peer and Chief of
the Noble Family of Howard; Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rorulorum of the
County of Sussex, and Colonel of its Militia; High Steward of the cities of
Gloucester and Hereford, and President of the Society for the Encouragement
of Arts and Manufactures, F.R.S. and F.A.S. &c. &c. ...
... ...
The Duke of Norfolk possessed a plurality of some of the finest
country-seats in the kingdom ... Besides these, his Grace was proprietor of
the beautiful Gothic villa, Graystoke Castle, in the centre of the romantic
lake scenery in Cumberland; ...
The funeral procession left Norfolk House, St. James's-square, about nine
o'clock on Saturday, Dec. 23, composed of the coach and six horses of his
Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, and nearly twenty other Noblemen's and
Gentlemen's carriages; and arrived at Burford Bridge at four, from which
place, a mile and a half from Dorking, the body was conveyed in state to
the town. The cavalcade consisted of the Duke's Gentleman on horseback,
fully caparisoned, bearing the ducal coronet and golden batons of office
upon a cushion of crimson velvet, before the hearse. The chief mourners
were, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Surrey, Lord Viscount Andover, Henry
Howard, jun.
esq.
{title- Gents Mag 1815 part 2 p.632}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1815 part 2 p.632}
{image = G815B632.jpg}
esq. and Henry Howard, of Corby Castle in Cumberland. The Gentlemen of the
Duke's household, with his servants, followed in six mourning coaches; and
the Deputy Garter king of arms, Norroy king of arms, 3 heralds, and 3
persuivants, attended in the tabards of state, to perform the ceremonies
usual at the funeral of the Earl Marshal of England.
{text- Buried at the church in Dorking}
The ceremony was witnessed by a crowd of the Duke's tenantry, and the
inhabitants of the town and neighbouring villages, who preserved the
strictest order and decorous silence.
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 1 p.131}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 1 p.131}
{header- Other Names for Clouds}
{image = G816A131.jpg}
Specimen of a new Nomenclature for Meteorological Science; by THOS.
FORSTER, F.L.S. Hill. Soc. Nat. Sci. Phil. &c.
THE habit of the English writers of borrowing from other tongues the
greatest part of their technical words, especially those which are used for
the Sciences, is one of the causes why Natural History is not so much known
to the generality of the people here, as it seems to be in many of the
Northern Countries. This fact was brought into view to me, when I asked
several Artists, who were about to travel over Wales and other mountainous
lands, to watch for and to sketch the changes of the different forms of the
clouds which took place in such places, in order to compare them with those
which are common in flat countries. They told me that they could never
remember the technical terms, which were made up of Latin or Greek words,
which they did not understand; and wished that names could be given to
Meteorological Phaenomena, which are formed out of our own tongue. Struck
by this remark, I made the following Name-list, which I shall go on with
hereafter for other appearances. Meanwhile, those who will do me
the
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 1 p.132}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 1 p.132}
{image = G816A132.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
the favour to make remarks, or to take sketches of the clouds, &c. can
make use of the following terms:
CURL-CLOUD. The old name in Latin by Mr. Howard, is Cirrus, a curl;
Cirrulus and curl beling the diminutive.
STACKEN-CLOUD, or Cumulus, from the verb to stack, to heap up.
FALL-CLOUD, or Stratus; being the falling, or subsidence of watery
particles in the evening.
SONDER-CLOUD, or Cirrocumulus, is a sundered cloud, made up of separated
orbs. The characteristick of this cloud being the gathering together into a
bed, of little clouds, yet so far assunder as not to touch.
WANE-CLOUD, or Cirrostratus; from the waning or subsiding state of this
cloud in all its forms.
TWAIN-CLOUD, or Cumulostratus; made often by the twinning or uniting of two
clouds together.
RAIN-CLOUD, or Nimbus, speaks for itself. So we can have Storm-cloud,
Thunder-cloud, &c.
MOON-RING, or Halo; a ring including an area around the Moon.
SUN-RING, the same about the Sun, Solar Halo.
MOON-BURR, a fleecy or confused burr about the Moon. The old name is
Corona. So we have Sunburr, Double Moon-ring, Threefold Moon-ring,
coloured Sun-ring, &c.
MOCK-SUN, or Parahelion.
MOCK-MOON, or Paraselene.
MOON-CROWN: this may answer to the Halo Discoides of my Nomenclature.
RAINBOW, retains its old name instead of Iris.
RAIN-RAY, the Rabdi divergenses of my Name-list.
CONE-RAY, the Rabdus pyramidalis of the same.
SHOOT-FLAME, or shooting, or falling star, instead of meteor. Thus we can
have White-tailed, Shoot-flame, &c. instead of Caudate Meteor.
WISP-FLAME, or Ignis fatuus.
POLE-STREAMER, or Northern-light. The Aurora being Australis as well as
Borealis.
BLOOMEN-FLAME, the electric flame seen about flowers, particularly the
evening primrose, described in my Ros. Atm. Phaen. &c.
As I intend to publish a more complete Nomenclature for Meteorological
Science in the course of a short time, I have merely made this specimen,
intended to be inserted in some of the Periodical Journals.
For explanation of the Phaenomena for those who are unacquainted with them,
I refer to my "Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena;" in which I have
given Plates explanatory of the clouds, in many of their various forms. Any
information on meteorologica subjects with which my friends will honour men
will be thankfully received, as I am collecting materials for future
publication.
T. FORSTER.
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 1 p.379}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 1 p.379}
{header- Obituaries, Jane Emmerson and Thomas Briggs}
{image = G816A379.jpg}
{text- Obituaries}
Westmoreland - At Kendal, aged 76, Mrs. Jane Emmerson, who has left
the bulk of her real and personal estate to charitable institutions in that
town; one-third to the widows of Sands' Hospital; one-third to the
Sunday-schools; and one-third to the Schools of Industry.
At Natland, aged 53, Rev. Thomas Briggs.
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.173}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.173}
{header- Hail, Cumberland etc}
{image = G816B173.jpg}
COUNTRY NEWS
July 21. A tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, with heavy
rain, was experienced in Lancashire, and the adjoining counties. The
electric fluid struck a public-house near Tockholes, which it
greatly damaged, and killed the landlord. - About three o'clock in the
afternoon, at Longpark, after a considerable deal of thunder and
lightning, a dense whitish cloud cloud was observable, apparently about
Barrock, which advanced with great rapidity, and, on its nearer approach,
presented the appearance of the waves of the sea tumultuously rolling over
each other. This phaenomenon was doubtlessly occasioned by the hail
composing the body of the cloud, and whirled along by the hurricane which
enveloped it. ... ... The same afternoon the hurricane visited
Longtown and the neighbourhood. At Netherby upwards of 700
panes of glass were broken in the hot-houses of Sir James Graham, bart.;
and 60 squares in the house were driven in with great violence by the
hail-stones. A particularly large tree at Kirkandrews upon Esk, and
more in the neighbourhood, were completely torn up by the roots. The
country about Scaleby and Kirklinton also experienced the
severity of the storm to a violent degree. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.274}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.274}
{header- Obituary, Dr Richard Watson}
{image = G816B274.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
MEMOIR OF THE RIGHT REVEREND RICHARD WATSON, D.D. F.R.S LORD BISHOP OF
LANDAFF,
Fellow of the American Society of Arts and Sciences; Member of the
Massachussetts Historical Society; a Trustee of the Hunterian Museum; and
Vice-President of the Society for the Suppression of Vice.
This eminent Prelate, equally distinguished as a Divine, a Natural
Philospher, a Polite Scholar, and a Politician, was born in August 1737, at
Heversham in Westmorland, five miles from Kendal, in which town his father,
a Clergyman, was master of the Free Grammar School, and took upon himself
the whole care of his son's early education. From this seminary he was
sent, in November 1754, with a considerable stock of classical learning, a
spirit of persevering industry, and an obstinate provincial accent, to
Trinity College, Cambridge, where, from the time of his admission, he
distinguished himself by close application to study, residing constantly,
until made a Scholar in May 1757. He became engaged with private pupils in
November following, and took the degree of B.A. (with superior credit,
being second Wranger,) in January 1759. He was elected Fellow of Trinity
College in Oct. 1760; was appointed Assistant Tutor to Mr. Backhouse in
November that year; took the degree of M.A. in 1762, and was made
Moderator, for the first time, in October following. He was unanimously
elected Professor of Chemistry in Nov. 1764; became one of the Head Tutors
of Trinity College in 1767; appointed Regius Professor of Divinity (on the
death of the learned Dr. Rutherforth) in Oct. 1771, with the Rectory of
Somersham in Huntingdonshire annexed.
During a residence of more than 30 years, he remained the pride of his
University; at one time, by the ingenuity of his Chemical researches; at
another, by his demeanour in the Divinity chair. He wrote, during his
residence there, the following papers in Philosophical Transactions (having
beene elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1769):
'Experiments and Observations on various Phaenomenoa attending the Solution
of Salts,' Phil. Trans. LX. 325;
'Remarks on the Effects of Cold in February 1771,' LXI. 213;
'Account of an Experiment made with a Thermometer, whose Bulb was painted
black, and exposed to the rays of the Sun,' LXIII. 40.;
'Chemical Experiments and Observations on Lead Ore,' LXVIII. 863;
all which were reprinted in the fifth volume of the 'Chemical Essays.' In
1763 he published 'Institutiones Metallurgicae,' 8vo, intended as a
text-book for that part of his Chemical Lectures which explained the
properties of metallic substances; and in 1771, 'An Essay on the Subject of
Chemistry and their general divisions,' 8vo.
{text- He also published various sermons from time to time; became a
Prebend at Ely, 1774; made Archdeacon of the Diocese of Ely, 1780; was
rector of Northwold, Norfolk from 1780.}
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.275}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.275}
{image = G816B275.jpg}
{text- He published an 'Apology for Christianity ...' in response to Edward
Gibbon's 'History of the Rise and Declension of the Roman Empire', leading
to correspondence between the two men.}
In 1781, he published a volume of Chemical Essays, addressed to his pupil
the Duke of Rutland, which was received with such deserved approbation, as
to induce the Author to give to the world, at different times, four
additional volumes of equal merit with the first. It has been stated, that
when Bp. Watson obtained the Professoship of Chemistry, without much
previous knowledge of that science, he deemed it his duty to acquire it;
and accordingly studied it with so much industry, as materially to injure
his health: with what success, his publications on that branch of Philosphy
demonstrate. ...
{text- He planned, but failed, to abandon chemistry when elected Professor
of Divinity, 1771; later in his career he burned all his chemical notebooks
to put an end to his attachment to it.}
Having been tutor to the late Duke of Rutland, when his Grace resided at
Cambridge, Dr. Watson was presented by him to the valuable rectory of
Knaptoft, Leicestershire, in 1782; and in the same year, through the
recommendation of his noble Patron, was advanced and consecrated to the
Bishoprick of Landaff. In consequence of the smallness of the revenues of
the former, Dr. Watson was allowed to hold with it the archdeaconry of Ely,
his rectory in Leicestershire, the Divinity Professorship, and rectory of
Somersham. ...
{text- His political opinions prevented his further advancement.}
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.276}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.276}
{image = G816B276.jpg}
{text- Bishop Watson continued to publish sermons, letters, etc. some
concerning the organisation of the Church, revision of the Liturgy, but
also encouragement of the Royal Humane Society and like bodies.}
In 1795, his Lordship's powers in theological controversy were called forth
on a most important occasion, though by a very inferior antagonist to
Gibbon. Thomas Paine, after having enlightened the world in regard to
Politicks, proceeded, in his 'Age of Reason,' to dispel the clouds in
which, he
impiously
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.277}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.277}
{image = G816B277.jpg}
impiously conceived, Christianity had for so many ages enveloped the world.
The arguments of this man were abundantly superficial; but his book was
likely to produce greater effect than the writings of the most learned
Infidels. the connexion of his political with his religious opinions tended
still farther to increase the danger; for Atheism and Jacobinism at that
time went hand in hand. It was on this occasion that the Bishop of Landaff
stood forward in defence of Christianity, by publishing his most
seasonable, strong, judicious, and beautiful 'Apology for the Bible, in a
Series of Letters addressed to Thomas Paine,' 12mo. ...
{text- Sermons and letters continued through his life; against slavery,
defending revelaed religion, various religious, political, and agricultural
subjects.}
... It is asserted that during the last years of his life his Lordship
employed his leisure upon a History of his own times, after the manner of
Bp. Bur-
net's
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.278}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.278}
{image = G816B278.jpg}
[Bur]net's celebrated work; that he completed it about six months ago, and
left directions for its publication after his decease. Such a performance
from so eminent a character will, of course, be expected with no ordinary
anxiety by the political as well as the literary world. ...
... In his private deportment, though somewhat reserved, he was remarkable
for the simplicity of his manners, and the equality of his temper; enjoying
all the emoluments of his stations, and the fame arising from his writings,
in rural retirement at Calgarth Park, Westmorland, a beautiful sequestered
situation on the celebrated Lakes, a retreat which he had not only adorned
and improved, but in some measure created, and where his Lordship passed
much of his time in the indulgence of those deep studies to which his whole
life was addicted. His Plantations here were very extensive, and in 1789
gained him a premium from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures, and Commerce. ...
{header- Obituary, Joseph Huddart}
{text- And an obituary}
JOSEPH HUDDART, ESQ. F.R.S. (see p.190)
This venerable gentleman, whose distinguished services as a Geographer, and
unwearied attention to the different departments of science which he
embraced, fully entitled him to the gratitude of his Country, was born at
Allenby, a village in Cumberland, 11th Jan. 17401, O.S at which place his
father followed the profession of a shoemaker. He was an only child; and,
at a proper age, was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, then
clergyman of the parish of Allenby, who was an excellent classical scholar,
but did not possess any knowledge of mathematicks, to which study the mind
of his pupil seemed most to bend. His father intended him for the Church;
but a strong prediliction for a sea-life, 'a life of danger and of honour,'
caused a rooted aversion to theological pursuits; and he, shortly after
leaving school, had his wishes gratified by the following circumstance:
About the year 1756-7, great shoals of herrings came into the Firth of
Forth; and Allenby being a fishing-town, the elder Mr. Huddart, in
conjunction with some respectable neighbours, built conveniences for the
purpose of curing them. Young Huddart, of course, was employed in the
fishery in small vessels, thereby laying the foundation, by practical
knowledge, of the conspicuous talents which a few years soon developed. His
father dying in 1762, he became concerned in the profits of the fishery,
when he took the command of a small brig employed in carrying cargoes of
their commodity to different ports, principally to Ireland, for the
West-India markets. His time not being fully taken up with these trips, his
active mind would not permit him to be idle; and, having a strong
mechanical turn, he devoted his leisure opportunities to the study of
ship-building and astronomy: in the latter pursuit, he derived great
advantage from the assistance of the son of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, who had
attended the University of Glasgow, and was a very ingenious young man. Mr.
Huddart, however, was not long destined to remain employed in the mere
conveyance of fish; for, in 1763-4, the shoals wholly left the Firth, and
fell into Chester. Similar conveniences, by the same company, were erected
at Park-gate; but the quantity fell so far short of his expectations, that
he took the command of a brig belonging to a relation, intending, as soon
as a vessel which then occupied the slips was completed, immediately to
build one himself. It may appear surprising, that, with no farther
instruction than his own genius elicited, this task he accomplished in the
course of the year 1768, and moulded every timber about her with his own
hands. In this vessel he continued till 1773; and his navigation having
been principally confined to St. George's Channel, every leisure moment was
devoted to the survey of different ports and roadsteds; and having claimed
the attention of nautical men, by the accuracy of the delineation of some
few charts, which were published, he was strongly solicited by Sir Richard
Hotham to enter into the India Company's service. He accordingly, in the
season 1773-4, proceeded to India as
fourth
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.279}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.279}
{image = G816B279.jpg}
fourth mate of the York; in which voyage he made several useful surveys on
the West Coast of Sumatra. He returned to England in October 1775; and, not
fully determined to continue the service, he resumed the command of his own
vessel, in which he was accustomed to make an annual voyage to America; and
the remainder of the year was employed in the coal-trade. Being in London
about this time, Mr. Sayer, the chart-seller, understanding that he had
made surveys of the Sumatra Coast while in the York, wished to give them
publicity; and, in consequence of there being no accurate chart of St.
George's Channel, requested he would complete the survey of the same; which
he accomplished, after indefatigable labour, in the course of the year
1777; and its accuracy has been acknowledged by the most distinguished
naval characters.
- In the following year, he was very earnestly requested by his former
patron, Sir Richard Hotham, again to proceed to Inidia, in a vessel built
on the bottom of the Royal Captain, wrecked off Pelowar in Dec. 1773. He
sailed from the Downs April 27th, 1778, in the Royal Admiral, as chief
mate; but the captain dying at Portsmouth, he was appointed to the command,
and made four voyages in her in a period of ten years; during which time,
he was but twenty months in England. His time not particularly devoted to
the duties of the ship while in India, was employed in the usual manner;
and he completed a survey of the whole peninsula from Bombay to Coringo.
His astronomical knowledge, from the eclipse of Jupiter's satellites,
enabled him to ascertain the longitude of Bombay with more accuracy than
any former Geographer.
- He quitted the India Company's service in 1788, and made surveys of the
Western Islands of Scotland; and was appointed in 1790, by the Trinity
House, in a survey of Hasbro' Gatt, for the purpose of placing the lights
through that intricate navigation
- in the year 1791, he was appointed an Elder Brother of that corporation,
and also F.R.S.: and few have had higher pretensions to those honourable
distinctions; for to him (as may be collected from the preceding account)
the science of Navigation owes many valuable discoveries and improvements,
the result of much personal fatigue and expensive experiment: the world in
general is likewise much indebted to him for many of the best Maps and
Charts extant; and his knowledge of Mathematicks and Astronomy ranked him
in the class, if not upon a level, with the first professors of those
sciences. Of his skill in Mechanism he has left a monument in the machinery
for the manufacture of cordage, unrivaled in this or any other Country (if
we except the steam-engine, the work of his friend and contemporary Mr.
Watt of Birmingham). His improvement originated as follows: In his first
voyage to India, the York, in strong gales of wind on the coast of Sumatra,
having parted her cables, and lost all her anchors but one, it forcibly
struck his mind that some improvement might be made in the manufacture of
cordage, to prevent a repetition of such accidents; and, after experiencing
great trouble, he invented a mode for the equal distribution of the strains
upon the yarns; he took out a patent for the same, and erected machinery at
Maryport, where his endeavours were crowned with complete success in the
attainment of his object. The patent, however, lay dormant for some time,
the rope-makers being averse to depart from their old manufacture; but, on
being joined by some respectable friends concerned in shipping, the
superiority of Capt. Huddart's patent being fully proved by repeated
trials, he commenced once more rope maker (though with great aversion to
entering into business). Capt. Huddart retired to Highbury-terrace, in
plentiful, if not oppulent circumstances, honourably acquired, secure in
the esteem of those friends who were dear to him, and the high respect of
all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance; and closed a life of
unwearied utility, after a lingering illness of many months, in Christian
faith and home, in the 75th year of his age. On the 27th of August, his
mortal remains were deposited in a vault under St. Margaret's Church in the
Strand.
- In his figure Capt. Huddart was tall and erect, his features were
regular, and his countenance strogly indicative of those powers of mind for
patient investigation and rational conclusion which he so eminently
possessed, blended with an expression of placid benevolence equally
characteristic of that amiable simplicity which so strongly endeared him to
those who were capable of appreciating his more scientific qualifications.
- Capt. Huddart married in 1752, and had five sons, one of whom only
survives, now residing in Highbury-place; he was formerly a merchant of
Leghorn, and some time Pro-Consul there. William died in the command of the
York, at Macao; and Johnson in Italy, whitherhe went for the recovery of
his health; the other two died in their infancy.
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.313}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.313}
{header- Compendium of County History}
{image = G816B313.jpg}
Oct. 1, 1816.
Mr. URBAN,
IF you deem the following Compendium of the County-History of Bedford and
Berks worthy of insertion in your very respectable Magazine, I intend
sending a similar Epitome of two English Counties every Month, until the
whole is completed.
The Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, are those registerd in
the year 1810.
The Population is according to the Census of 1811.
The Biography is confined exclusively to Natives, with the
place and year of their birth, unless otherwise mentioned.
BYRO.
...
{text- The author 'Byro' is elsewhere referred to as Mr Roby.}
{text- Compendia of county history for Westmorland and Cumberland appeared
in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1825 and 1816:-}
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.599}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.599}
{header- County History, Cumberland}
{image = G816B599.jpg}
CUMBERLAND.
SITUATION AND EXTENT.
Boundaries. North, Scotland. East, Northumberland and Durham. South
Westmorland and Lancashire. West, Irish Sea.
Greatest length 72; greatest breadth 38; cicumference
224; square 1516 miles.
Province York. Diocese Carlisle, excepting the Ward of
Allerdale above Derwent in Chester, and the Parish of Alston Moor in
Durham. Circuit Northern.
ANTIENT STATE AND REMAINS.
British Inhabitants Brigantes.
Roman Province. Valentia. - Stations Amboglana, Burdoswald:
Petriana, Castlesteads: Aballaba, Watch-cross: Congavata, Stanwix:
Axelodunum, Burgh on the Sands: Gabrocentum, Drumburgh: and Tunnocelum,
near Boulness: on the Wall. Derventio, Papcastle: Virosium, Ellenborough:
Olenacum, Old Carlisle: Voreda, Old Penrith: Arbeia, Moresby or Irby:
Bremetenracum, Whitbarrow or Brampton: Apiatorium, Bewcastle: Castra
exploratorum, Netherby on the Esk: Luguballium, Carlisle,
Saxon Heptarchy. Northumbria.
Antiquities. The Roman Wall. "Long Meg and her Daughters," Druidical
circle, 350 feet diameter. "Giant's Grave," Pillars in Penrith Churchyard.
Bewcastle Obelisk. Carlisle Cathedral. Kirklinton, Aspatria, Torpenhow, and
St. Bees Churches. Fortified Towers of Newton-Arlosh, Burgh on the Sands,
and Great Salkeld Churches. Holme-Coultram and Calder Abbeys. Lanercost and
Wetheral Priories. Seton Nunnery, Irton Cross. Bridekirk Font. Bewcastle,
Carlisle, Cockermouth, Dacre, Egremont, High Head, Kirk Oswald, Naworth,
Penrith, Rose, and Scaleby Castles,
Carlisle was the only Episcopal Chapter in England of the order of St.
Austin; the others were all of St. Benedict.
PRESENT STATE AND APPEARANCE.
Rivers. Bleng, Calder, Caldew, Cocker, Croglin, DERWENT, Duddon,
Eamont, EDEN, Ellen, two Esks, Gelt, Greeta, Irt, Irthing, Kershope,
Kingwater, Line, Liddel, Lowther, Mite, Nent, Petterell, Sark, Tees, Tyne,
Wampool, Waver.
Inland Navigation. Derwent and Eden Rivers. Whitehaven Brook.
Lakes. Bassenthwaite, Crumock, DERWENT, Devock, Ennerdale, Lowes,
Over, ULLS, and Wast Waters. Butter and Thirl Meres. Barnmoor, Bray,
Martin, Sellafield, Talkin, Tindale, and Wadling Tarns. Anthorn Lough. The
Stark.
Eminences and Views. Scafell, 3166; Helvellyn, 3055; Skiddaw, 3022;
Bowfell, 2911; Cross fell, 2901; Pillar, 2893; Saddleback, 2787; Grasmere
Fell, 2756; High Pike, 2101; Black Comb, 1919; Dent Hill, 1115 feet above
the level of the Sea. Hardknow, Wrynose, Penrith, Beacon, Christenbury
Craggs, Carrock, Scaw, and Souter fells.
Natural Curiosities. Gilsland and Melmerby Medicinal Waters. Airey
Force in Gowbarrow Park, Scale Force, Lowdore and the Howk Cascades. The
Bowder Stone, 31 yards long and 8 high. Borrowdale Pass.
Seats.
Warnel Hall, Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Lieutenant of the County.
Armathwaite Castle, Robert Saunderson Milbourne, esq.
Carlton Hall, Rt. Hon. Thos. Wallace.
Clea Hall, Sir Henry Fletcher, bart.
Corby Castle, Henry Howard, esq.
Crofton Place, Sir Wastell Brisco, bt.
Dalehead, Thos. Stranger Leathes, esq.
Dalemain, Edward Hassell, esq.
Derwent Water, Lord Wm. Gordon.
Greystock Castle, Duke of Norfolk.
Hayton Castle, Rev. Isaac Robinson.
Hutton Hall, Sir Frederick Fletcher Vane.
Kirklinton Hall, William Dacre, esq.
Mire House, John Spedding, esq.
Muncaster Castle, Lord Muncaster.
Netherby, Sir James Graham, bart.
Nunnery, Mrs Elizabeth Bamber Ponsonby.
Ponsonby,
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.600}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.600}
{image = G816B600.jpg}
Ponsonby Hall, Geo. Edw. Stanley, esq.
Rose Castle, Bishop of Carlisle.
Walton House, Wm. Ponsonby Johnson, esq.
Weary Hll, Mr. Geo. Drury, a quaker.
Wood Hall, J. Saunderson Fisher, esq.
Workington Hall, John Christian Curwen, esq.
Members to Parliament. For the County, 2; Carlisle, 2; Cockermouth
2; total 6.
Produce. Wadd or Black Lead, Lead, Coal, Iron, Limestone, Gypsum,
Slate, Freestone. Oats, Potatoes, Cranberries, Butter. Herrings, Cod,
Salmon.
Manufactures. Cotton, Coarse Cloths, Coarse Linen, Sail Cloths,
Ship-building, Glass Bottle.
POPULATION.
Wards, 5; Parishes, 104; Market-towns, 19;
Houses, 24,552.
Inhabitants. Males, 63,433; Females, 70,311: total 133,744.
Familes employed in Agriculture, 10,868; in Trade, 11,448; in
neither, 6,074: total, 28, 390.
Baptisms. Males, 1,965; Females, 2,001. - Marriages, 1,040. -
Burials, Males, 1,199; Females, 1,260.
Towns having not less than 1000 Inhabitants; viz.
{table- }
"","Houses.","Inhab."
"Carlisle (capital city)","1,709","12,531"
"Whitehaven","1,974","10,106"
"Workington","1,068","5,807"
"Alston Moor","466","5,079"
"Penrith","938","4,328"
"Maryport","323","3,134"
"Wigton","642","2,977"
"Cockermouth","628","2,964"
"Brampton","266","2,043"
"Keswick","352","1,683"
"Longtown","173","1,579"
"Egremont","335","1,556"
"Total","Towns, 12","Houses, 8,874","Inhabitants, 53,787."
{ -endtable}
HISTORY
Anno 875, Carlisle destroyed by the Danes.
1001, Cumberland laid waste by Ethelred, because Malcolm its Prince
assisted the Danes.
1053, Cumberland ganted by Edward the Confessor to Siward Earl of
Northumberland, who afterward defeated Macbeth, and placed Malcolm, Prince
of Cumberland, son of Duncan, on the throne of Scotland.
1153, At Carlisle, David, King of Scotland, died.
1306, July 7, at Burgh-upon-Sands, EDWARD I. died.
1315, Carlisle successfully defended, against Robert Bruce, by Andrew de
Hercla, created for this service Earl of Carlisle.
1537, near Carlisle, Nicholas Musgrave, in rebellion against Heny VIII.
defeated by the Duke of Norfolk.
1542, at Solway Moss, the Scots, under Sir Oliver Sinclair, favourite of
James V. routed, and their principal Nobles taken, by Sir Thomas Dacre and
Sir John Musgrave.
1568, May 16, at Workington, poor Mary of Scots landed.
1645, June 25, Carlisle, after a noble defence, surrendered to the Scottish
army under General Lesley.
1645, October, near Carlisle, Lord Digby and Sir Marmaduke Langdale
defeated by the Parliamentarians.
1745, Nov. 15, Carlisle surrendered to Prince Charles Stuart. - Dec. 18, at
Clifton, skirmish between the rear of the Prince's army and the van of the
Duke of Cumberland's. - Dec. 30, Carlisle retaken by the Duke of
Cumberland.
BIOGRAPHY.
Aglionby, John, one of the translators of the Testament, about 1565.
Annesley, Samuel, nonconformist divine and author, 1619.
Armstrong, Archibald, fool or jester to James I. and Charles I. Arthuret
(died 1672).
Banks, Sir John, Chief Justice, Keswick, about 1590.
Benn, William, nonconformist divine and author, Egremond, 1600.
Benson, George, dissenter, biblical critick, Great Salkeld, 1699.
Boucher,
{title- Gents Mag 1816 part 2 p.601}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1816 part 2 p.601}
{image = G816B601.jpg}
Boucher, Jonathan, loyalist divine, Saxon scholar, Blencogo, 1758.
Canon, John, schoolman, Canonby (flourished 1320).
Dalton, John, divine and poet, Deane, 1790.
Eaglesfield, Robert, founder of Queen's College, Oxford (died about 1370).
Egremont, William, schoolman, Egremont (flourished 1390).
Fletcher, Abraham, mathematician, Little Broughton, 1714.
Foster, Elizabeth, martyr, Greystock (burnt in Smithfield 1556).
Gilpin, Richard, divine, author of 'Satan's Temptations' (died 1657).
Gilpin, Sawrey, artist, painter of animals, Carlisle, 1733.
Gilpin, William, divine and tourist, Scaleby Castle, 1724.
Grindal, Edmund, Abp. of Canterbury, Hensingham, 1519.
Harvey, Thomas, divine and stenographist, Dovenby, 1740.
Herbert, St. friend of St. Cuthbert (died 688).
Hudleston, John, catholic priest, preserver of Charles II. Greystock, 1608.
Hudson, John, critic, editor of Josephus, Widehope, 1662.
Langbaine, Gerard, divine and antiquary, Kirk-Bampton (died 1657).
Layburn, Roger, Bp. of Carlisle, near Carlisle (died 1509).
Leake, John, physician, founder of the Westminster Lying-in Hospital,
Ainstable, 1729.
Nicolson, William, Abp. of Cashel, antiquary, Orton, 1655.
Porter, George, civilian, Weary Hall (died about 1635).
Reay, William, divine, author of 'Sermons,' Nether Denton (died 1756).
Relph, Josiah, 'Cumberland poet,' Sebergham, 1712.
Ritson, Isaac, translator of Homer's Hymn to Venus, Penrith.
Robinson, Henry, Bp. of Carlisle, Carlisle, about 1556.
Seed, Jeremiah, divine, Clifton, 1605.
Senhouse, Richard, Bp. of Carlisle, Netherhall (died 1626).
Simpson, Joseph, editor of Epictus and Theophrastus, Redmain, 1710.
Skelton, John, satirical poet, Armathwaite (died 1529).
Taylor, John, lived to the age of 135, Garragill, 1638.
Tickell, Thomas, poet, Bridekirk, 1686.
Todd, Hugh, miscellaneous writer, Blencowe, about 1652.
Whelpdale, Roger, Bp. of Carlisle, logician and mathematician (died 1422).
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.
From Whitehaven a packet to Man, on which isle it is intended to give a
separate account.
Nov. 13, 1771, Solway Moss overflowed, covering and destroying every thing
within a space of 500 acres.
'The wizard Michael Scot' was a monk of Holme Cultram about 1290. - The
theologian Paley was rector of Salkeld, vicar of Dalston and Addingham, and
archdeacon of Carlisle; his 'Horae Paulinae,' 'Evidences of Christianity,'
'Sermons,' 'Moral and Political Philosophy,' were composed at Carlisle. He
was buried in the Cathedral. - Tan Wadling Lake and Castle Hewin are the
scene of a ballad in Percy's Collection, entitled 'Sir Gawaine's Marriage.'
- 'Adam Bell, Clym o' th' Clough, and William of Cloudeslee,' three
Cumberland archers and outlaws, are but little inferior in ballad celebrity
to Robin Hood and Little John.
BYRO.
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 1 p.12}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 1 p.12}
{header- Endowed Schools}
{image = G817A012.jpg}
Apartments of the Society of Antiquaries, Somerset Place,
London, Dec. 26, 1816.
Mr. URBAN,
THE numerous endowed Schools in this Kingdom reflect the highest honour on
the memory of their charitable and pious Founders. But, as we have little
intelligence respecting the internal establishment, and the proper mode of
applying for admission for a child, and the requisites necessary to
success, it has occurred to me, that a concise description of those
benevolent institutions might be useful to persons in general; as a clear
explanation of their Ordinances may remove many difficulties from an
enquiring parent, and point out the several advantages of any particular
seminary.
Under this impression I have drawn up a series of questions, which I beg
leave to lay, with every degree of respect, before the publick, through
your Magazine. In this solicitation of of general attention, I wish it
clearly to be understood, that I am actuated solely by the desire of
promotiing the public good, and that I shall esteem myself much honoured by
the trouble which any Head Master, or any other Gentleman, may take in
drawing up the history of the Schools in their respective counties, or for
any information which they may please to communicate, to render this
endeavour as accurate and useful as the importance of the subject requires.
NICHOLAS CARLISLE.
1. When, and by whom, was this School founded?
2. What was the original Endowment, and what is the present amount of it?
3. Have any subsequent Endowments been made, and by whom? and to what
amount?
4. Are these Endowments in land, or otherwise, and where situate?
5. A copy of the Statutes and Ordinances.
6. Is the School open to Boys of your Town or Parish indefinitely, free of
expence? or, is it limited to the relatives of particular persons? or, for
a certain number of Scholars only? or, by place of nativity, or otherwise?
7. What number of Boys are admitted upon the Foundation? and how many
others are usually educated at the School?
8. At what age are Boys admitted, and how long may they remain without
superannuation?
9. What is the form of admission, and who are the persons that nominate?
10. Which are the Latin and Greek Grammars in use? and what is the routine
of education prescribed?
11. What are the number of Exhibitions, Scholarships, or other University
advantages, and the amount of each?
12. To what Colleges are such Boys usually sent?
13. What is the Head-Master's name, and what is the amount of his Salary
and Emoluments?
14.
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 1 p.13}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 1 p.13}
{image = G817A013.jpg}
14. If the Head-Master takes Pupils, what is the annual charge for the
Board and Education of each Boy?
15. If the second, or other Masters take Pupils, what are their annual
charges for Board and Education?
16. Are there any Church Preferments, or other advantages, belonging to
this School?
17. A list of the eminent Men who have been educated here.
18. A drawing or impression of the common seal.
Any other matters, which you may be pleased to communicate, will be
gratefully received.
{series- events}
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 1 p.404}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 1 p.404}
{header- A Remarkable Escape from the Rebel Army}
{image = G817A404.jpg}
Narrative of a Remarkable Escape from the Rebel Army in 1745
[following] The recent publication of the Culloden Papers ...
... I have been induced to look over some papers in my possession relating
to it that had long lain unattended to. Among these a letter, giving an
account of a remarkable escape from the Rebel army while at Derby ... the
Narrative has never yet appeared in print, further than a few particulars
of the occurrence being inserted, rather incorrectly, in a small volume
printed in a cheap form at Carlisle in 1755, entitled, "A Complete History
of the Rebellion, from its first Rise in 1745, to its total suppression in
April 1746. By James Ray, of Whitehaven, Volunteer under his Royal Highness
the Duke of Cumberland;" a publication which, notwithstanding its homely
garb and style, is not inferior, as a record of facts, to some of much
higher pretensions.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 2 p.26}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 2 p.26}
{header- Observations and Enquiries to be made by the Topographer}
{image = G817B026.jpg}
Observations and Enquiries to be made by the Topographer while
Travelling. (From the MSS. of the late W. ALEXANDER, F.S.A.
TO ascertain the ancient and modern name of the parish, and its etymology;
how situated; what distance from tne nearest market town; what rivers or
brooks pass near, or bound it, with their rise and course; extent of the
parish, and by what others bounded, express by compass; to what hundred, or
division, or liberty belonging, and what hamlets therein; what number of
houses and inhabitants; what seats and manors; who the ancient and present
lords or proprietors, and what peculiar customs, tenures, or privileges,
appertain thereto; what castles, ruins, antient mansions, or remarkable
buildings; and whether any sculptured ornaments, arms, painted glass,
&c. are to be found therein; what fairs or markets, when held, by whom
granted, and whether continued or disused; what trade or manufactures
carried on; whether any remains of religious houses, as monasteries,
nunneries, colleges, chapels, hospitals, guilds, or fraternities, alms, or
school-houses; when founded, their antient establishment and present state;
what privileges or immunities, charters, deeds, or other writings; what
cartularies, genealogical rolls, pedigrees, books of arms, seals, or other
fragments, belonging to them; what singular customs, as annual processions,
wakes, doles, sports and games; and what peculiar proverbs, phrases, and
words.
What Crosses, or obelisks, ornamented or inscribed; whether any barrows or
tumuli; have any of these been opened, and such articles as weapons,
pottery, rings, lachrymatories, &c. found therein?
Whether any beacons or landmarks; what Roman earth-works, as camps, ways,
roads, and if any altars, coins, or other fragments of antiqui-
ty,
{series- local histsory}
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 2 p.27}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 2 p.27}
{image = G817B027.jpg}
[antiqui]ty, have been dug from them; whether any Druid or British
monuments, as temples, cromlechs, cairns, rocking stones, or any such
remains, near the place.
Have any famous battles been fought in the neighbourhood: what traditions
respecting them, and of the place in general.
Are there any collections of pictures or sculpture, or any museum of
natural history, &c.; whether any portraits of eminent men, or other
representations of ancient edifices or antiquities of any kind?
To learn if any of the parishioners, or their acquaintance, possess any
coins, manuscripts, surveys, plans, or drawings; and to ask for any curious
or intelligent enquirer into matters of this nature, from whom much
information is often obtained.
In what diocese, deanery, or hundred, does the church stand; whether the
living be rectory or vicarage, and what is its value; who the patron and
incumbent; to whom the tithes appropriated or impropriated.
Whether any parochial library in the church or parsonage.
By whom the church founded, and to whom dedicated; when supposed to be
erected, and of what materials built; to take the ichnography and
measurements of the nave, ailes, chancels, chapels, &c.; to note
whether it be ceiled or paved, what number of galleries, and what the
general state of repair; to enquire whether any vaults peculiar to ancient
families, and to examine all monuments, tombs, brasses, &c. in the
church or church-yard; to describe or draw the several stalls, piscinae,
bells, font, &c. with their devices, ornaments, armorial bearings,
inscriptions, dates, dimensions, &c.; as also to make memoranda from
pictures, painted glass, sculptures of every kind.
Whether there are any chantries, altars, shrines, images, roods, legends,
relics, charities, or benefactions; to note the commencement of the
register, and any curious remarks that may be made therein, with the
births, marriages, or burials of eminent persons.
To examine the church chests, in which mutilated remains of monumental
inscriptions, &c. are sometimes deposited.
To date the time of your survey and observations.
W.A.
{series- society & religion}
{title- Gents Mag 1817 part 2 p.104}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1817 part 2 p.104}
{header- Cathedral School, Carlisle}
{image = G817B104.jpg}
...
CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS.
(Continued from Part I. p.418.)
CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.
Crosby-square August 16.
Mr. URBAN,
OF all the English Cathedrals the Church of Carlisle seems to have
presented the most barren field for Antiquarian research; and the more
recent history of the Choristers is so unsatisfactory, that I enter upon
the subject with considerable reluctance. We are informed that a community
of Christians, including a School, was settled at Carlisle before the close
of the seventh century; and this Foundation was elevated to a Bishopric by
Henry I. As to the School, the immediate object of this enquiry, we can
only trace its existence from being incidentally mentioned in the Valuation
of Pope Nicholas; whence we learn that the Church of Dalston was charged
with an annual payment for its support.
This Cathedral,during the middle ages, was a Priory of Augustine Canons;
and at the Dissolution was re-endowed by Henry VIII. for a Dean,
Archdeacon, four Prebendaries, and eight Minor Canons, with Lay Clerks,
Choristers, and Schoolmasters; agreeing in all essential points with other
ecclesiastical establishments by the same founder.
The Royal Grammar School, if it be still in existence, is not of sufficient
importance to be noticed in the local Histories of the City and Cathedral;
and it is, doubtless, from the same cause that the Musick School has
likewise escaped observation; and little information can be collected
beyond the following general outline:
The Choristers, six in number, are chosen by the Dean and Chapter. They
have occasional lessons in singing from the organist; but whether they
receive any other instructions, literary, moral, or religious, and in what
manner they usually settle in life, I have vainly endeavoured to learn.
Perhaps some of your Correspondents residing in Caralisle may favour our
Readers with a communication on the subject.
M.H.
{title- Gents Mag 1818 part 1 p.329}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1818 part 1 p.329}
{header- Drunken Barnaby's Journal}
{image = G818A329.jpg}
{text- book review}
Barnabee Itinerarium; or, Barnabee's Journal. The Seventh
Edition: to which are prefixed, an Account of the Author, now first
discovered; a Bibliographical History of former Editions of the Work; and
Illustrative Notes. London, printed for J. Harding, 1818. 12
mo.
'The best serious piece of Latin in modern metre,' says the Quarterly
Reviewer, 'is Sir Francis Kinaston's Amores Troili et Cressidae, a
translation of the two first books of Chaucer's poem; but it was reserved
for famous BARNABY to employ the barbarous ornament of rhyme, so as
to give thereby point and character to good Latinity,'
No XXXV. p.32.
THIS celebrated and popular poem, commonly known by the name of Drunken
Barnaby's Journal, was first published without a date - probably, as
the Editor thinks, about 1650. The Second Edition was in 1716, small 8vo.
and took the name of Drunken Barnaby's Four Journeys to the North of
England. The Third Edition was in 1723, small 8vo. The
Fourth in 1786, small 8vo. The Fifth in April 1805,
8vo. The Sixth in Sept. of the same year.
In the Second Edition a conjecture was made, that the Author was one
Barnaby Harrington, an airy being, of whose earthly existence not
one atom of proof has been even attempted. The present indefatigable
Editor, MR. HASLEWOOD, had already gone the length of printing the text,
and sending his Preface to the Printer, on the 10th of October last, when a
passage in the Itinerary rendering necessary a reference to one of the
numerous publications of a forgotten poet of that day, delivered at once to
his delighted eye, the secret of the Author of Barnabee's Journal,
in characters which neither left any doubt in his mind, nor can leave any
doubt in the mind of any one capable of weighing the force of
circumstantial evidence of identity: at least it cannot do so when
accompanied by the additional coincidences which the pursuit of the same
clue afterwards unfolded.
This forgotten poet was no other than RICHARD BRATHWAYTE, born 1588, who
died 1673, aged 83, and whose productions bear date from 1611 to 1665.
Richard Brathwayte at the end of his Strappado for the Divell, 1615,
has an apology for the errata, on account of 'the intricacy of the copy,
and the absence of the Author from many important proofs,' &c. This
is the express apology at the end of Barnabee's Journal, that the copy
was obscure; neither was the Author, by reason of his distance, and
employments of higher consequence, made acquainted with the publishing of
it. &c. Similar apologies occur in Brathwayte's English
Gentleman, 1630 - his English Gentlewoman, 1631 - his Essays
upon the Five Senses, 1635, &c. Even all the capitals and rule
ornaments used in the First Edition of Baranabee;s Journal (and several are
of rather peculiar character) are found in a little work by Brathwayte,
nearly contemporary, printed by J. H. - probably John Haviland.
Having got thus far, let us compare the recorded facts of Brathwayte's life
with those which Barnabee relates of himself. Barnabee says,
'Veni Applebie, ubi natus,
Primam sedem comitatus.'
Brathwayte was the son of Thomas Brathwayte, of Warcop, near
Appleby. (Wood indeed says that the poet was born in Northumberland;
but the neighbourhood of his father's seat is a much more probable place,)
The next coincidence is still stronger.
Barnabee says,
'Veni Nesham, Dei donum,
In Coenobiarchae domum,
Uberem vallem, salubrem venam,
Cursu fluminis amoenam,
Laetam sylvis, et frondosam,
Herae vultu speciosam.
Veni Darlington, prope vicum
Conjugem duxi peramicam;
Nuptiis celebrantur festa,
Nulla admittuntur moesta,' &c.
'Thence
{title- Gents Mag 1818 part 1 p.330}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1818 part 1 p.330}
{image = G818A330.jpg}
'Thence to Nesham, now translated, Once a nunnery dedicated; Vallies
smiling, bottoms pleasing, Streaming rivers never ceasing, Deckt with tufty
woods and shady, Graced by a lovely lady.
Thence to Darlington; I boused, Till at last I was espoused; Marriage
feast, and all prepared, Not a fig for th' world I cared,' &c.
In 1617 Brathwayte married at the Church of Hurworth, near
Darlington, Frances, daughter of James Lawson, of NESHAM, which is
in the parish of Hurworth.
Barnabee again mentions this subject in his Fourth Journey.
'Nunc ad Richmund, primo flore,
Nunc ad Nesham cum uxore,
Laeto cursu properamus,
Et amamur, et amamus, &c.
Now to Richmond, when spring's coming,
Now to Nesham with my woman
With free course we both approve it;
Where we love,and are beloved,' &c.
Does the rest of Brathwayte's character agree with that of
Barnabee? The former spent his youthful years at Oxford, Cambridge,
and in London; and the latter in the North as a Country Gentleman, and a
Magistrate. He was a loyalist - so was Barnabee. He tells us in his Holy
Memorials, at the end of The Spiritual Spicery, 1638, 'WHILE
ROARING WAS IN REQUEST, I HELD IT A COMPLETE FASHION. A long Winter night
seemed but a Midsummer-Night's Dream, being merrily past in a Catch of Four
Parts, a deep health to a light Mistress, and a knot of brave blades to
make up the Consort,' &c.
Barnabee, like Brathwayte, reforms, and ends in a retreat to the quiet and
innocence of the country.
'Nunc as Staveley, ubi aves
Melos, modos, cantant suaves;
Sub arbustis, et vigultis
Molliore musco fultis
Cellis, sylvis, et tabernis,
An foeliciorem cernis?
MIRTIL. Esto, Faustule! recumbe,
Rure tuo carmina funde;
Vive, vale, profice, cresce,
Arethusae alma masse;
Tibi Zephyrus sub fago
Dulciter afflet. FAUST. Gratias ago.'
'Now to Staveley strait repair I,
Where sweet birds do hatch their airy;
Arbours, osiers freshly showing
With soft mossy rind o'ergrowing;
For woods, air, ale, all excelling,
Wouldst thou have a neater dwelling?
MIRTIL. Be't so, Faustulus! Here repose thee,
Cheer thy country with thy posy;
Live, farewell, as thou deservest,
Rich in Arethusa's harvest:
Under th' beech while shepherds rank thee,
Zephyrus bless the. FAUST. I do thank thee.
{title- Gents Mag 1819 part 1 p.116}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1819 part 1 p.116}
{header- Innsign, The Fountain}
{image = G819A116.jpg}
Remarks on the Signs of Inns &c. (Continued from p.17.)
THE FOUNTAIN. - A Fountain of Water appears to be a rather inappropriate
sign for a seller of 'wine and spiritous liquors;' yet it seems,
nevertheless, to be a favourite; and Cary mentions seven posting-houses
decorated with this device ...
... ...
{text- ... which continues to give a list of rivers in Westmorland and
Cumberland.}
{title- Gents Mag 1819 part 1 pp.117-119}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1819 part 1 pp.117-119}
{text- }
{image = G819A117.jpg}
{image = G819A118.jpg}
{image = G819A119.jpg}
The following is a list of the most remarkable natural fountains in the
counties of England and Wales.
... ...
Cumberland is famous for its numerous and beautiful lakes; the
cascades of the Airey Force, Scale Force, Lowdore, and the Howk, and the
medicinal fountains of Gilsland and Melmerby. The South branch of the
'Coaly Tyne' and the Weare have their rise near Alston Moor.
... ...
Lancaster. Windermere, Coniston, and Esthwaite Lakes. Cartmel ...
medicinal waters. ...
... ..
Westmoreland. Numerous beautiful lakes, whence flow several rivers,
as the Eimot from Ullswater, the Lodden from Broadwater, and the Ken from
Kentmere. Betham Park dripping well. Kirkby-Thower, and Shapmore mineral
springs. Head of the Lon, or Lune, near Kirkby Lonsdale; of the Ure, in the
wilds near Yorkshire.
{title- Gents Mag 1819 part 1 p.120}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1819 part 1 p.120}
{image = G819A120.jpg}
... ...
I shall conclude this long account with Southey's beautiful inscription for
a tablet on the bank of a stream:
'Stranger! awhile upon this grassy bank
Recline thee. If the sun ride high, the breeze,
That loves to ripple o'er the rivulet,
Will play around thy brow, and the cool sound
Of running waters sooth thee: Mark how clear
It sparkles o'er the shallows, and behold
Where o'er its surface wheels with restless speed
Yon glossy insect; on the sand below
How swift the shadow flies. The stream is pure
In solitude, and many a healthful herb
Bends o'er its course, and drinks its vital wave;
But passing on amidst the haunts of man
It finds pollution there, and rolls from thence
A tainted tide. Seek'st thou for Happiness!
Go Stranger, sojourn in the woodland cot
Of Innocence, and thou shalt find her there.'
{title- Gents Mag 1819 part 1 p.402}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1819 part 1 p.402}
{image = G819A402.jpg}
COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY.
ADDITIONS TO CUMBERLAND, Vol.LXXXVI. Part ii. page 599.
'Thus by thy fall, Lowdore, reclin'd;
The craggy cliff, impending wood
Whose shadows mix o'er half the flood.
The gloomy clouds which solemn sail,
Scarce lifted by the languid gale,
O'er the capp'd hill and darken'd vale,
Channels by rocky torrents torn,
Rocks to the lake in thunder borne,
Or such as o'er our heads appear
Suspended in their mid career,
To start again at his command
Who rules fire, water, air, and land,
I view with wonder and delight,
A pleasing though an awful sight;
For seen within the verdant isles
Soften with more delicious smiles,
More tempting twine their op'ning bow'rs,
More lively glow the pruple flowers,
More smoothly slopes the border gay,
In fairer circles bends the bay;
And last to fix our wand'ring eyes,
The roofs, O Keswick, brighter rise,
The lake and lofty hills between,
Where giant Meddaw shuts the scene.'
Dr. DALTON.
ANTIENT STATE AND REMAINS.
British Inhabitants. Cumbri, a tribe of the Brigantes.
Antiquities. British: Druidical circles on Grey Yawd, or King Harry
fell, Sunken Kirk, and near Keswick. - Roman: Of miscellaneous antiquities
the principal collections are at Netherby, Sir James Graham's; Nether-hall,
Humphrey Senhouse, esq.; Walton-house, W. P. Johnson, esq.; and Wigton, the
Rev. Richard Matthews. The antiquarian brothers Lysons have given a
description of 142 altars and inscribed stones found in this county.
Aspatria, Cross-Canonby and Dearham fonts. Dearham and Gosforth church-yard
crosses. Two pillars at St Bride's. Carlisle Deanery. Akerton, Greystock,
Irthington, and Millom castles. Towers and Mansion-houses of Dalston,
Drumburgh-castle, Harby-brow, Hardrigg, Hewthwaite, Irton,
Kirk-Andrews-upon-Eske, Lamplugh, Muncaster, Netherby, and Nether-hall.
Excavations in the rock over the river Eden, called Wetheral Safeguard, or
Constantine's cells. - Glass vessel, called 'The Luck of Eden-hall,'
noticed in the Duke of Wharton's ballad,
'God prosper long from being broke
The Luck of Eden-hall.'
And another called 'The Luck of Muncaster.' On the preservation of these
two vessels, according to popular superstition, the prosperity of their
respective houses depends. Of the Edenhall cup there is an engraving in
Lysons's 'Cumberland.' The Muncaster basin is said to have been presented
to Sir John Pennington by Henry VI. who was secreted at Muncaster for some
time.
Among the monuments of its bishops in Carlisle Cathedral, the most curious
are those of William Barrow 1429, and Richard Bull (engraved in Gough's
'Sepulchral Monuments') 1596.
St. Bees derives its name from Bega, an Irish saint, who founded a
monastery here about 650. Calder Abbey was erected by Ranulph de Meschines
in 1134.
Holme Cultram Abbey was founded in 1150, by Henry son of David King of
Scots. In it was buried Robert Bruce, father of the Scottish King of that
name. The abbot, though not mitred, was occasionally summoned to
Parliament.
Lanercost priory, founded by Robert de Vaux or de Vallibus, Lord of
Gilsland in 1169, was often vsited by Edward I. with his Queens Eleanor and
Margaret. At his last visit with Queen Margaret he was detained by illness
from October 8, 1306, to February 28, 1306-7.
PRE-
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PRESENT STATE AND APPEARANCES.
Rivers. Aine, Bruscath, Cambeck, Line the black and the white, Liza,
Nyte, Pultrop, Vent, Wiza or Wiz.
Lake. Llough near Rowcliffe.
Eminences and Views. Bootle beacon, Brampton mote, Carlisle castle,
Castle cragg-hill, Cumrew fell, Dale Raughton, High style, Honiston cragg,
King Harry fell, Lingy-close head, Moothay, Muncaster fell, Naddle fell,
Red pike, St. Bee's head, Sandala top, Scarrow hill, the Screes, Spade-Adam
top, Workington hill.
Natural Curiosities. Biglands, sulphureous; Drig, Gilcrux, and
Stanger, saline; Sebergham, petrifying; Bewcastle, Great Salkeld, Brampton,
and Iron-gill chalybeate springs. - Scenery of Newland and Wanthwaite
vales. Of the extraordinary eruption of Solwaty Moss, Nov. 15, 1771, not a
trace is now to be seen, the ground having gradually been cleared at a
great expence, and brought again to cultivation by Dr. Graham. who was
landlord of the whole inundated track. This county is remarkable for the
longevity of its inhabitants. In Lysons's 'Cumberland' is a list of 144
persons of not less than 100 years of age buried between the years of 1663
and 1814. The most remarkable instances recorded, are Robert Brown, aged
110, buried at Arthuret 1666. Richard Green, 114, Dacre 1680. Thomas
Fearon, 112, Bride-kirk 1701, Jane Hodgson, 114, Harrington 1717. Thomas
Dickenson, 112, Bootle 1745. Mary Lingleton, 110, Dearham. Rev. George
Braithwaite, 110, Carlisle 1753, Mark Noble, 113, Corney 1768. James Bell,
113, Penrith, 1772. The obituary of the Gentleman's Magazine also records
Ann Wilson, 110, Aston 1765. John Noble, 114, Corney 1772. John Maxwell,
132, Keswick Lake 1785. John Taylor, noticed among the eminent natives,
lived to the age of 135.
Public Edifices. Carlisle Assize courts, founded in 1810, within the
walls of the antient citadel, architect Robert Smirke, jun. who also built
the bridge of 5 elliptic arches, each of 35 feet span, founded 1812; County
gaol; Grammar-school - Girl's Charity-school - Guildhall - Dovenby hospital
and schools. - Keswick school; and Market-house, built 1813. - Longtown
bridge, 5 arches. Penrith and Plumbland schools. - St. Bee's school,
founded by Archb. Grindall. - Warwick bridge. - Whitehaven piers, four
batteries, mounting together 18 guns; Dispensary. - Wigton school. -
Workington bridge, erected 1763; Assembly rooms; theatre; schools.
Seats.
Barfield, Robert Gibson, esq.
Barrow, The, Joseph Pocklington, esq.
Bonstead-hill, William Nixon, esq.
Brayton, Wilfred Lawson, esq.
Bride-kirk, John Thompson, esq.
Burgh-upon-Sands, G. H. Hewett, esq.
Calder-abbey, Miss Senhouse.
Castle-how, Miss Senhouse.
Cockermouth-castle, Earl of Egremont.
Dovenby-hall, J. B. Dykes, esq.
Edenhall, Sir Philip Musgrave, bart.
Ewanrigg, John Christian, esq,
Flimby-hall, Earl of Lonsdale.
Hardriff-hall, Sir F. F. Vane, bart.
Holme-hill, Colonel Salkeld.
Holme-rook, Skiffington Lutwidge, esq.
Hunter-hall, E. B. Harraden, esq.
Hutton-john, Andrew Hudleston, esq.
Irton-hall, E. L. Irton, esq.
Isel, Wilfred Lawson, esq.
Justice-town, Thomas Irwin, esq.
Kirk-oswald, T. S. Featherstonehaugh, esq.
Linethwaite, Thomas Hartley, esq.
Long-burgh, Mason Hodges, esq.
Lowthwaite-house, Williamson, esq.
Melmerby, Rev. Joseph Pattinson.
Moor-house, Richard Hodgson, esq.
Moor-park, Joseph Liddell, esq.
Naworth-castle, Earl of Carlisle.
Nether-hall, Humphry Senhouse, esq.
Newbiggen-hall, Rev. S. Bateman.
Nunwick-hall, Miss E. Wilkinson.
Oaks, The, Mrs. Blamire.
Ormathwaite, Sir J. B. Walsh, bart.
Orthwaite-hall, William Brown, esq.
Pap-castle, Thomas Knight, esq.
Rickerby, James Graham, esq.
Salkeld-lodge, Colonel Lacy.
Sella-park, Edward Stanley, esq.
Skirwith-abbey, J. O. Yates, esq.
Southerby-hall, John Fallowfield, esq.
Staffold, R. L. Ross, esq.
Tallantire-hall, William Brown, esq.
Vicar's Island, General Peachey.
Warwick-hall, Robert Warwick, esq.
Whitehaven-castle, Earl of Lonsdale.
Woodside, late John Losh, esq.
Peerage. Burgh barony to Lowther Earl of Lonsdale, who is also
Viscount and Baron Lowther of Whitehaven: Carlisle earldom to Howard, who
is also Baron Dacre of the North, or of Gilsland: Cumberland dukedom to
Prince Ernest Augustus, fifth son of the King: Dacre of the South barony to
the lady of Thomas Brand, esq.: Egremont earldom and Cockermouth
barony
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barony to Wyndham: Ellenborough barony to Law: Greystock barony to Howard
Duke of Norfolk: Lorton Irish viscounty to King: Muncaster Irish barony to
Pennington: of Cockermouth, Lucy barony to Percy Duke of Northumberland.
Produce. Oysters; char-fish. Wheat, barley. Copper; grindstones. The
Whitehaven collieries, the property of the Earl of Lonsdale, are the most
extensive of any in the kingdom.
Manufactures. Iron: paper: carpets: blankets: ropes: breweries:
coarse pottery.
POPULATION.
... / Houses. / Inhab.
Preston, in St. Bee's parish / 691 / 3261
Harrington / 348 / 1621
Middlegate and Sandgate in Penrith parish / 294 / 1191
HISTORY.
About A.D. 60, Carlisle burnt by the Scots during the absence of the
Romans.
120. Cumberland ravaged by Mogal King of the Scots, and Uniparus King of
the Picts.
425. Fergus King of Scotland defeated by Maximian the Roman General.
880. At Carlisle, an assembly of Nobles held by Gregory King of Scotland,
to whom Cumberland had been ceded for his services against the Danes.
930. At Dacre, Constantine King of Scotland, with his son Eugenius, did
homage to Athelstan.
937. Cumberland occupied by Athelstan after his victory at Brunanburgh.
940. Cumberland granted by Edmund I. to Indulph, son and heir-apparent of
Malcom King of Scotland, on his doing homage for the same.
945. Cumberland having rebelled against Indulph, and elected a King of the
name of Dunmaile, Edmund I. laid waste the county, put out the eyes of
Dunmaile's two sons, and reinstated Indulph.
1016. Near Burgh-upon-Sands, Uchtred Earl of Northumberland and the Danes
defeated by Malcolm King of Scotland.
1069. Cumberland granted by William the Conqueror to Ranulph de Meschines,
afterwards Earl of Chester; Malcolm King of Scotland being dispossessed of
this principality for granting an asylum to the English refugees.
1092. Carlisle rebuilt, and its castle erected by William Rufus.
1133. Carisle erected into a bishoprick by Henry I.
1135. Carlisle seized by David King of Scotland on Stephen's usurpation of
the throne of England.
1138. At Carlisle, Sept. 25, Alberia the Pope's legate, in a conference
with David King of Scotland, accompanied by his nobles and prelates,
obtained the release of all female prisoners, and the restoration of Adulph
to this bishoprick.
1139. To Carlisle David King of Scotland fled after his defeat at the
battle of the Standard, and was there joined by his son Prince Henry.
1150. At Carlisle, David King of Scotland, Henry Fitz-Empress (afterwards
Henry II. of England), and Ralph Earl of Chester, entered into a league
against King Stephen, and Henry was knighted by King David.
1152. At Carlisle, John the Pope's legate, met David King of Scotland and
his son Prince Henry.
1157. Cumberland ceded by Malcolm IV. of Scotland to Henry II. who
confirmed to Malcolm the possession of the earldom of Huntingdon.
1158. At Carlisle, conference between Henry II. and Malcolm IV.
1173. Carlisle besieged by William the Lion King of Scotland, but he was
compelled to raise the siege on the approach of Richard de Lucy, Chief
Justiciary and Regent, during the absence of Henry II.
1174. Carlisle under Robert de Vaux, again besieged by William the Lion.
During the siege, which lasted some months, but was at last raised on the
capture of William at Alnwick in Northumberland, the Scots took Liddel
castle, Burgh-upon-Sands castle, and several other fortresses.
1186. At Carlisle Henry II, assembled an army to assist William King of
Scots against Roland a rebellious baron, who bring taken prisoner, was
brought by the Scotch King and his brother David to the English Monarch in
that town.
1216.
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1216. Holme Cultram abbey pillaged, and Carlisle, Aug. 8, taken by
Alexander King of Scotland.
1217. Carlisle retaken by Walter de Gray, Abp. of York.
1237. Cumberland finally annexed to the throne of England by cession of
Alexander King of Scotland to Henry III.
1296. Robert de Clifford appointed the first English Lord Warden of the
Marches. - Carlisle successfully defended by the inhabitants against the
Scots under John Comyn Earl of Buchan, and six other Earls, who burnt the
suburbs of the city, and on the retreat set fire to Lanercost Abbey.
1297. Allerdale, as far as Cockermouth, laid waste, and Carlisle
unsuccessfully besieged by the Scots under Wallace, in October.
1298. At Carlisle, Sept. 15, after his victory at Falkirk, parliament held
by Edward I.
1300. At Holme Cultram abbey, in October, Edward I. released the Bp. of
Glasgow from his imprisonment, and received his allegiance with great
solemnity.
1307. From Lanercost priory, March 1, Edward I. and his Queen Margaret
removed to Kirk Cambock; thence on the 4th to Linstock castle, where they
were entertained for six days by John Halton Bp. of Carlisle; on the 12th
the Court proceeded to Carlisle, where the parliament was sitting; and on
June 28, Edward, very weak and ill, left the city on his March to Scotland;
halted that night at Caldecote; reached Burgh-upon-Sands July 5, and closed
his glorious reign there July 7. An obelisk commemorating this event was
erected on Burgh Marsh by Henry Duke of Norfolk in 1685, and repaired by
William Viscount Lowther in 1803. - July 11, 1307, Edward II. arrived at
Carlisle, and on the 13th receieved the homage of his barons. On his return
from Scotland in September he restored Anthony Bec to the bishoprick of
Durham, of which he had been dispossessed by Edward I.
(To be concluded in our next.)
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...
April 23. In Poland-street, aged 87, the Rev, W. Strickland, head of
the ancient family of Strickland, of Sizer, Westmoreland. He made over, at
an early age, to his younger brother (grandfather to the present
representative of the family, Charles Strickland Standish, esq.) the whole
of his patrimonial inheritance, reserving only a small annuity, and retired
to the English Jesuits' College at St. Omers, where he embraced the
ecclesiastical state as a member of that society. After the suppression of
the Order in France, in the year 1763, he followed his community to Bruges,
in Flanders, and was one of the Professors in their new College in that
city; and afterwards, on their further removal to Liege, was several years
president of their College in that Bishoprick. He lived to witness at
length the successive ruin of each of these establishments, and, returning
to his native land about 30 years since, dedicated himself entirely to the
duties of the Ministry, until an apoplectic attack nearly deprived him,
about six years since, of his mental powers.
...
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COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY.
ADDITIONS TO CUMBERLAND, Vol.LXXXVI. Part ii. page 599.
(Concluded from page 405.)
1311. Gilsland ravaged by Robert Bruce King of Scotland.
1314. Kirk-oswald burnt and Lanercost pillaged by the Scots under Edward
Bruce, brother of the King.
1315. During the siege of Carlisle, St. Bee's Monastery, with the manor
houses of Cleator and Stainburn, destroyed by the Scots.
1319. Gilsland laid waste by the Scots under James Douglas and Thomas
Randolph.
1322. Rose castle and Wigton town burnt, and Holme Cultram abbey, where his
father was buried, destroyed by Robert Bruce King of Scotland, who
devastated the Western side of this county to Duddon sands.
1323. At Carlisle, Andrew Hercla, Earl of Carlisle and Lord Warden of the
Marches, accused of treasonable correspondence with the Scots, arrested by
Lord Lucy, and beheaded.
1332. At Carlisle, Edward Baliol the fugitive King of Scotland, entertained
by Lord Dacre the governor.
1337. At Arthuret the Scots entered England, destroyed 20 villages, and
carried off a great booty. In another incursion they burnt Rose castle, the
hospital of St. Nicholas, and the suburbs of Carlisle.
1342. Penrith and several neighbouring villages burnt by the Scots.
1345. Penrith town burnt by the Scots under Sir William Douglas, who
besieged Carlisle, and set fire to the suburbs; but on his retreat to
Scotland was overtaken and defeated by Kirby Bp. of Carlisle and Sir Robert
Ogle.
1346. Liddel castle taken by assault, its governor Sir Walter Selby
beheaded, and Lanercost priory plundered, by David Bruce King of Scotland.
1380. Penrith, during a truce, treacherously surprised by Scots, who slew
many of the inhabitants, and carried off numerous prisoners and a great
booty as it was a fair day in that town. These marauders also set fire to a
street in Carlisle.
1383. Holm Cultram abbey saved from burning by the Abbot paying the sum of
200l. to the Earl of Douglas, commander of the Scots.
1385. Carlisle unsuccessfully besieged by the French and Scots.
1387.
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1387. Cockermouth surprised, and Peter Tilliol, Sheriff of the county,
taken by the Scots, under the Earls of Douglas and Fife. The suburbs of
Carlisle burnt by the Scots, among whom Sir William Douglas, a natural son
of Archibald Lord Douglas, particularly distinguished himself, overcoming
three armed citizens on a draw-bridge of the out-works. Shortly aftwards
the Scots were defeated, with the loss of 11,000 men.
1388. In Gilsland, on Lord Dacre's demesne, 200 decrepit persons, women and
children, shut up in houses, and burnt by the Scots.
1461. Carlisle unsuccessfully besieged, and the suburbs burnt, by an army
of Scots in the interest of Henry VI.
1523. Cumberland plundered, and 300 prisoners carried into Scotland by Lord
Maxwell.
1537. Carlisle besieged by Nicholas Musgrave in rebellion against Henry
VIII. but he was repulsed by the artizans, and shortly afterwards defeated
by the Duke of Norfolk, when 74 of his officers were hanged on the walls of
Carlisle, but Musgrave escaped.
1569. At Naworth, December, the insurgent Earls of Northumberland and
Westmorland disbanded their forces.
1570. From Naworth castle, Leonard Dacre, claiming the baronies of Gilsland
and Greystock, sallying out to attack Lord Hunsdon, was defeated and
compelled to fly to Scotland.
1596. William Armstrong, a noted borderer, celebrated in ballads by the
name of 'Kinmont Willie,' having been taken prisoner on a day of truce and
carried to Carlisle, his release was demanded without effect, on which Sir
William Scott, Lord of Buccleugh, came with a party of 200 horse before
break of day, made a breach in the castle, and carried off the prisoner
before the garrison was prepared for defence.
1644. In Carlisle castle the Marquis of Montrose unsuccessfully besieged by
the Earl of Callendar. Near Great Salkeld, in September, Sir Philip
Musgrave and Sir Henry Fletcher defeated by General Leslie and the Scots.
1645. Feb. Scaleby castle taken by --. October, on Carlisle Sands, Lord
Digby, and Sir Marmaduke Langdale, defeated and forced to fly to the Isle
of Man, by Parliamentarians under Sir John Brown, Governor of Carlisle.
1648. April 28, Carlisle surprized by the Royalists under Sir Thomas
Glenham and Sir Philip Musgrave. - June 15, Penrith taken by the
Parliamentarians under General Lambert, and detachments from his army about
the same time took Greystock, Rose, and Scaleby castles, and defeated a
body of royalists at Warwick-bridge. - Cockermouth castle, under Lieutenant
Bird, was besieged by the Royalists, from August to September 29, when the
siege was raised by a detachment of Parliamentarians from Lancashire, under
Colonel Ashton. - October 1, Carlisle surrendered by its Royalist Governor
Sir William Levington, to Oliver Cromwell.
1715. Brampton and Penrith entered in November, and James III. proclaimed
by the friends of the Stuarts under General Foster.
1745. Near Longton, Nov. 8, advanced guard of Prince Charles Stuart's army
entered Cumberland. Nov. 11, army at Brampton. Commenced the siege of
Carlisle on the 13th, and the garrison under Colonel Durand surrendered on
the 15th, when James was proclaimed King, and his son Regent, by the
Corporation in their robes. On the 21st the van of the army marched into
Penrith, which Charles with the main body entered on the following day. On
their retreat from Derby the army entered Penrith Dec. 17. Retreated from
Carlisle into Scotland Dec. 20, and the city was invested by the Duke of
Cumberland on the 21st, and surrendered to him at discretion Dec. 30th.
1778. Whitehaven unsuccessfully attempted by the Pirate Paul Jones.
BIOGRAPHY.
Brown, Dr. Joseph, biographer and editor of Cardinal Bererini, Water
Millock, 1700.
Carleton, Guy, Bp. of Chichester, (died 1685)
Carlyle, Joseph Dacres, Arabic scholar, Carlisle, 1759.
Ellis, Clement, divine, author of Scripture Catechist, 1630.
Fell, John, dissenting divine, author of Demoniacs, Cockermouth, 1735.
Graham,
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Graham, Richard, Viscount Preston, Secretary of State to James II,
Arthuret.
Hall, Dr. Anthony, editor of Trivet's 'Annales,' and Leland's 'Scriptores,'
Kirkbride, 1619.
Huddart, Capt. Joseph, hydrographer, Allonby, 1741.
Huddleston, Sir Richard, knight banneret at Agincourt, Millom.
Huddleston, William, recovered the Royal Standards at Edge-hill, Millom.
Law, EDWARD, Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough, Great Salkeld, 1750.
Law, John, Bp. of Elphin, friend of Paley, Greystock, (died 1810.)
Moravile, Sir Hugh de, one of the four murderers of Abp. Becket in 1170.
Morris, Capt. Thomas, song writer, Carlisle, 1732.
Musgrave, Sir William, 6th bart. antiquary and collector, Hayton castle,
1735.
Reay, William, Bp. of Glasgow, the Gill in Allonby parish.
Robinson, George, bookseller, Dalston, (died 1801.)
Salkeld, John, divine, styled by James I. 'the learned,' Corby castle,
1576.
Senhouse Humphrey, founder of Mary-port, Netherhall, (died 1770.)
Senhouse, John, antiquary and collector, father of the Bishop; Netherhall.
Strong, Joseph, blind mechanic, Carlisle, (died 1798.)
Tully, Thomas, divine, Carlisle, 1620.
Wallis, John, historian of Northumberland, 1714.
Watson, Daniel, divine, friend of Sterne and Warburton, Sebergham, 1698.
Williamson, Sir Joseph, secretary of state to Charles II. Bridekirk, 1644;
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.
Addingham was the vicarage of Dr. Paley, from 1792 to 1795.
In Arthuret church-yard was buried its native Archibald Armstrong, fool or
jester to James I. and Charles I. 1672.
In Aspatria church, amongst the monuments of the Musgraves, is a cenotaph
to Sir William, the sixth baronet, benefactor to the British Museum, who
was buried in St. James's church, Westminster, 1800.
In Bootle church is the monument of Sir Hugh Askew, knighted at
Musselborough, 1547, died 1562.
In Carlisle cathedral are handsome monuments of its bishops, Sir John
Fleming, bart. 1747; and the learned Edmund Law (by Banks) 1787. Its
excellent Archdeacon, Paley, has no inscription; but a grave-stone records
the death of his wife Jane, who died in 1791. In St. Cuthbert's church was
buried Joseph Dacre Carlyle, Chancellor of the diocese and Professor of
Arabic in the University of Cambridge, 1804. On May 19, 1292, this city
with its priory, convent of Grey Friars, and churches, was consumed by a
fire raised by an incendiary, who was executed for the fact. In 1390
another fire consumed 1500 houses. In 1597 and 1598 about 1196 persons died
of the plague. The Quakers have had a congregation in this city almost from
the time of their first establishment; George Fox, their founder, was
imprisoned in the dungeon and suffered great hardships here in 1653. Robert
Milne, author of Physico-Theological Lectures, was pastor of a Presbyterian
congregation in this town; he died in 1800. There are but three rings of
bells in this county, one at Carlisle cathedral, one at Crosthwaite, and
one at Bingham.
Dalston was the vicarage of Dr. Paley from 1774 to 1793. In the church-yard
was buried Dr. Edward Rainbow, Bp. of Carlisle, 1684.
Great Salkeld rectory is attached to the archdeaconry of Carlisle, and as
such, was held by the learned Edmund Law, (afterwards Bishop of this
diocese, and father of the late Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough) from 1743
to 1756. He resided and composed most of his works at this place. Dr. Paley
held the living with his archdeaconry from 1782, till his death in 1805.
Greystock was the rectory of Dr. Richard Gilpin, nonconformist divine,
author of 'Satan's Temptations,' In the castle are several valuable
portraits, and a crucifixion executed in needlework by Mary Queen of Scots.
The park, which contains 3000 acres, is surrounded by a wall 9 feet high.
In Kirk Oswald church, among the memorials of his family, is the monument
of the loyal Sir Timothy Featherstonehaugh, who was beheaded at Chester,
Oct. 22, 1651.
Mary-port was founded by Humphrey Senhouse, esq. who died in 1770, and was
buried in the chapel of that town. It was so named in honour of his wife.
At Ellen-foot, the site of the present town, till the year 1750
there
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there was only one house; and in 1811 there were in Mary-port 323 houses,
containing 3134 inhabitants, exclusive of sailors, which were estimated at
900 more.
Ormathwaite was the seat of Dr. William Brownriff (sic), an eminent
physician, author on the art of making salt, and preventing pestilential
contagion; he died here in 1800, aged 88.
Ousby was the rectory from 1672, till his death in 1719, of Thomas
Robinson, author of 'An Essay towards a Natural History of Cumberland and
Westmoreland,' 'A Natural History of this World of Matter and this World of
Life,' and 'The Anatomy of the Earth.'
Penrith castle was enlarged and repaired by Richard Duke of Gloucester,
afterwards Richard III. who made it his principal residence for five years.
In 1598 at Penrith 583 person died of the plague, according to the
register, but the number is incorrectly stated on a brass plate in the
church as amounting to 2260. The vicarage was enjoyed from 1699 till his
death in 1728 by Dr. Hugh Todd, who made considerable topographical
collections for this county, and wrote a brief account of Carlisle.
Plompton Park, according to Ritson, was a favourite haunt of Robin Hood.
In Sebergham church is a monument of its native poet Josiah Ralph, who was
curate here from 1733 till his death in 1743. His poems were published by
his successor in the curacy, the Rev. Thomas Denton, who was himself author
of two poems, and compiled the supplemental volume of the Biographical
Dictionary. He died in 1777.
Stanwix was the vicarage of Dr. Paley from 1793 to 1795.
Stapleton was the rectory from 1771 till his death in 1796, of William
Graham, translator of Virgil's Eclogues, and author of Sermons.
In Wetheral church is the monument, by Nollekens, of Maria, daughter of
Lord Archer, and wife of Henry Howard, esq. who died 1789.
Whitehaven, in the reign of Elizabeth, contained only six houses. In 1633,
it had only nine thatched cottages. In 1693, under the patronage of Sir
John Lowther, it was inhabited by 2,222 persons, mostly occupied in Sir
John's collieries. In 1811 there were 1974 houses and 10,106 inhabitants.
In the castle, the seat of the earl of Lonsdale, are some fine paintings
and family portraits.
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{image = G819B324.jpg}
Oct. 16.
Mr. URBAN,
I SHOULD hope the following cursory hints are not altogether unworthy of
the notice of your readers.
Travellers can observe a great difference as to the degree of
attention paid by the Magistrates and Road-surveyors to the
following clause in the Highway Act, 13 Geo. III. c.78, s.26.
"The Justices at the Special Sessions shall issue their precept to the
Surveyor, where several highways meet, and there is no sufficient
direction-post or stone already fixed or erected; requiring him forthwith
to cause to be erected or fixed, in the most convenient place where such
ways meet, a stone or post, with inscriptions thereon, in large legible
letters painted on each side thereof, containing the name or names of the
next market-town or towns, or other considerable place or places to which
the said highways lead, &c."
The information to be derived from hand-posts is so apparent, that it seems
strange they are so much neglected!
{title- Gents Mag 1819 part 2 p.490}
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{header- Parish Registers}
{image = G819B490.jpg}
Importance of Parish Registers. ...
Newcastle-on-Tyne Nov. 8.
Mr. URBAN,
THE concluding remarks of A.C.R. (p.318), merit the greatest attention; and
I now take up my pen for the purpose of still more strongly impressing
their importance on your Clerical readers, who, I am afraid, consider the
copying of the Parish Register an intolerable grievance.
It is a well known fact, that by a Canon of James the First, the Clergyman
of every Parish was required to send a copy of the Register annually to
some particular place appointed by the Bishop of the Diocese: at present I
believe this Law is regularly complied with; but this has not always been
the case, or at least if it has, the most shameful negligence is
attributable to the person in whose keeping they have been placed; indeed I
have some reason to suppose this, as I lately saw, in the possession of a
friend, a great number of extracts from the Register of a certain Parish in
this neighbourhood, and on questioning him as to the way in which he became
possessed of them, was informed they were given to him by his Cheesemonger,
and that they were copies, forwarded by the Clergyman of the Parish to the
proper Office in a bordering Diocese, and had been allowed, through the
negligence of their keeper, to obtain the distinguished honour of wrapping
up cheese and bacon.
I can also attest, from my own knowledge, that no such records exist in the
dioces of Durham, (except for the few last years) having lately had
occasion to enquire for them, owing to the registers in the Parish being
partly lost, and the remainder much mutilated.
When we consider the great value of the information contained in Parish
Registers, not only to Genealogists and Antiquaries, but to the people in
general, as they are often required to establish claims to property which
otherwise would probably be the source of endless litigation; I confess I
am surprized that none of our reverend Divines (many of whom are
distinguished for the great light they have thrown on Antiquarian subjects)
should not, long ere this, have lent their aid to endeavour to remedy this
evil, so generally felt by Genealogists and County Historians, by
completing the copies of all the Parish Registers; and thus preventing the
possibility of a complete loss which the burning of a Church, or other
accidents, might occasion.
Yours, &c.
DE THIRLEWALL.
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{header- Lithographic Views, Lancashire}
{image = G820A224.jpg}
Lithographic Views, &c. ...
{text- Part of a book review of 'A LITHOGRAPHIC VIEW OF THE SEVERAL
COUNTIES IN ENGLAND; BY THE LATE MR. EMANUEL MENDEZ DA COSTA, F.R.S.'}
... ...
Lancashire. ... Copper mines at High Furness, Conyston Fells; ... Fine
haematites ore found in the fells, and much of it is sent to Carron in
Scotland, and Sheffield and Rotherham in Yorkshire; and iron forges at
Cunsey, Bachbarrow, Sparkbridge, Conyston, Caton, and Burgh. The navigable
canals run through this county.
(To be continued.)
...
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 1 p.228}
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{header- Poets, Cumberland}
{image = G820A228.jpg}
... ...
Kellington, March 10.
Mr URBAN,
IN addition to the list of living and deceased Poets, inserted in your last
Supplement, p.595, I would wish to subjoin the Rev. Francis Wrangham, 1790;
and a few more names of persons, who, though their poems are, many of them,
written in a provincial dialect, are by no means unworthy of a place in a
catalogue of British Poets.
The first candidate I shall propose for this honour is the late Rev.
Josiah Relph, for some time perpetual curate of Sebergham, a small
rural village near Carlisle. His poetical works were first published
shortly after his death, under the superintendance of the Rev. T. Denton,
of Ashted in Surrey. Mr. Denton, I have been informed, was also himself a
poet. A second edition was also printed a few years ago at Carlisle. The
chief and best of them are Pastorals, written in the dialect of his native
county (Cumberland).
An account of his Life and Writings may be seen in the Notes to
Hutchinson's History of Cumberland.
Mr. Thomas Sanderson, a native also of Sebergham, has published a
small volume of poems, many of which are very elegant. Mr. Sanderson was
also editor of Relph's Poems, lately published at Carlisle, and to which he
annexed an account of his life, and a pastoral elegy on his death. Mr.
Sanderson is still living in a most beautiful rural situation upon the
banks of the river Line in Cumberland.
Mr. Robert Anderson, another Cumberland poet, is still living in
Carlisle. Some time ago he published a volume of peoms, entitled
'Cumberland Ballads.' In these he accurately describes the manners and
rustic sports of his native county, in its own dialect. Another edition,
with considerable additions of this gentleman's poems, is about shortly to
be published by subscription.
Mr. Robert Carlisle, a native of Carlisle, is still living. He has
arrived at considerable eminence as a Painter; and is no less celebrated as
a votary of the Muses. He has published several detached poems. Mr.
Carlisle, if memory does not deceive me, is also author of two Novels, 'The
Rose of Cumberland,' and 'The Heir of Gilsland.'
The late Miss Susan Blamire, of Thuckwood-nook, near Carlisle, from what I
have seen of her compositions, appears to be a poetess of superior rank. I
am not conscious that any of her works were ever published: neither am I
certain, (not having the book at hand to refer to) whether any account of
her life is given in Hutchinson's Cumberland. The following copy of verses,
written by her when in a declining state of health, and which is the only
one I have at present in my possession, may, perhaps, amuse some of your
Readers.
'How sweet to the heart is the thought of To-morrow,
When Hope's fairy pictures bright colours display;
How sweet, when we can from futurity borrow
A balm for the grief that afflicts us today!
When wearisome sickness has taught me to languish
For health and the comforts it bears on its wing,
Let me hope, oh! how soon would it lessen my anguish,
That To-morrow will ease and serenity bring.
When
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When travelling alone, quite forlorn, unbefriended,
Sweet the hope that To-morrow my wandering should cease;
Then at home, when with care sympathetic attended,
I should rest unmolested, and slumber in peace.
When six days of labour each other succeeding,
When hurry and toil have my spirits opprest;
What pleasure to think, as the last is receding,
To-morrow will be a sweet Sabbath of rest.
And when the vain shadows of time are retiring,
When life is fast fleeting, and death is in sight,
The Christian believing, exulting, expiring,
Beholds a To-morrow of endless delight.
The infidel, then, sees no joyous To-morrow,
Yet he knows that his moments are hasting away;
Poor wretch! can he feel without heart-rending sorrow,
That his joys and his life will expire with To-morrow.
Yours, &c.
OMICRON.
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 1 p.290}
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... ...
M. H. authoress of "Affection's Gift," &c. wishes to learn why "OMICRON
(p.228) ascribes the beautiful stanzes, entitles 'To-morrow,' to Miss
Blannil, as they are decidedly mentioned as being written by Miss Parker in
Dr. Styles's brief Memoir of her excellent brother, who was the intimate
and beloved friend of his biographer; and of course the authority appears
unquestionable."
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 1 p.307}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1820 part 1 p.307}
{header- Lithographic Views, Westmorlandand Cumberland}
{image = G820A307.jpg}
{text- book review}
A LITHOGRAPHIC VIEW OF THE SEVERAL COUNTIES IN ENGLAND; BY THE LATE MR.
EMANUEL MENDEZ DA COSTA, F.R.S.
(Continued from p.224.)
WESTMORELAND. A county full of mines, and abounds also in many curious
fossils of different kinds, as very fine cubic fluors, crystals,
petrifactions, &c. Slate quarries at Troutbeck Park. Lead mines at
Hartley, Kirkby Steven, &c.
Cumberland. A county full of mines and minerals. Whitehaven, the great
coal-pits that even run under the bed of the sea. Petrifactions abound in
this county. The awful slate fells, and slate quarries at Newlands. Keswick
and Barrowdale black-lead mines, fine haematites and rubrica or
Reddle ore at Langtron near Whitehaven, and at Egremont, &c.
Copper mines at Caudbeck, Goldscalp, &c.; lead mines at Nenthead,
Newlands, Alston Moor, Thornthwaite, Barrow, and the many lead mines of the
Derwentwater estate. In Barrow, Brickhilburn, and several other of these
mines, fine and curious Spathose lead ores are found; the fibrous kinds
thay call stringy ores. Lead, copper, and iron mines in the manor of
Millom. Salt pans at Bransty Cliff near Whitehaven.
... ...
Yorkshire ... Iron manufactories at Sheffield and Rotherham; at these
places thay smelt the rich and good iron ores of Lancashire, Cumberland,
and Northumberland. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 1 p.406}
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{header- Carlisle, Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G820A406.jpg}
TOUR THROUGH ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
(Concluded from p.315.)
BIDDING adieu to my Scotch friends, from whom I separated with regret,
pleased with the sobriety of their manners, and their steady conduct; I
pursued my rout to a place that has given an aching heart to many a parent;
and if I object more particularly to one thing than another, it is the
abominable system of matrimony upon an anvil, and uniting persons by
the means of a horseshoe-maker. Gretna Green was the only place passed on
the North side of the Tweed with disgust, and it arose from this
contemptible adoption of means for an honourable connexion between the
sexes. I must also observe, that my feelings were somewhat shocked at the
naked feet and ancles of the females, fearing that they would be lacerated
by sharp stones, and bruised by hard roads. My friend observed, 'that they
required not my sympathy; observe,' says he, 'their feet are perfect, free
from wounds, and capable of the greatest freedom of action, better, Sir,
than yours and mine, which have been cramped in the cobbler's stocks from
our infancy.' As facts speak louder than words, I was silent. The
Borderers, however, determined still to be in opposition, adopted on the
English line thick clumsy heavy oppressive wooden shoes; and in the towns I
found the term 'clogger' written up as a branch of business, and a
delectable one it seems to be.
Having entered Carlisle, and walking sedately about to take a view of the
City, I was insulted by a drunken Elector, for it was during the
agreeable time of the General Election that I found myself in this
pleasant situation. - I expostulated; the reply was, 'all was fair at an
Election;' now I thought otherwise; for meeting two out of three tipsy, I
thought all was foul; and felt comfortable (that is negatively so) that we
had not yet improved so far as to have Annual Elections or General
Suffrage.
A fresh day brought fresh ideas and fresh circumstances. Happily for us
mortals, we do not here 'continue in one stay;' events are but passing, and
we ought to make them as agreeable or as pleasant as we can. To attain to
the first, we are to be attentive to duty; and walking past the venerable
red stone Cathedral of the time of red-haired William Rufus,
I attended Divine Service on a Prayer-day; - the simple Choristers, some
with fine expressive countenances, gave me new feelings, new ideas, and
completely did away with the unpleasantries of the City - a few pious women
and myself were the Congregation. Such characters were to be found when
Christianity was in its infancy; they were to be found at the foot of the
Cross, when all else had fled! and they are still to be found in out
week-day worship, where male idlers seldom are seen. To such women as
these,
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{image = G820A407.jpg}
these how much are we indebted! to such as these, who have been heads of
families, how much good may be traced, to Individuals, to Families, and to
our Country! Whether I was noticed as a stranger seated in an antient
stall, I cannot say; but I felt the Anthem from the 121st Psalm, and verses
7 and 8, as exceedingly approriate to my present case; and the consequent
aspirations of gratitude were made. Farewell to the momentary acrimony
arising from the insult in the street; and welcome gratitude; from a sense
of duty, and thanks to these good Choristers, for occasioing the proper
selection of it.
Returning homeward, after an extended ramble of 1100 miles in 35 days, not
having had for so many years an absence from business, I will beg leave to
conclude with the following neat little Epitaph, taken from the
Cathedral-yard.
On R. and M. BARLY, aged 3 years.
'Ere Sin could blight, or Sorrow fade,
Death came with friendly care,
The opening buds of Heav'n convey'd,
And bade them blossom there.'
Yours, &c.
A.Z.
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{header- Obituary, Mrs Curwen}
{image = G820A567.jpg}
{text- obituary}
MRS. CURWEN.
April 21. At Workington Hall, in her 55th year, Mrs. Curwen, wife of
John Christian Curwen, Esq. M.P. for Cumberland. The sole heiress of a
wealthy and very antient family, she was, perhaps, in early youth, but too
much caressed by fortune and friends. Yet it is but justice to her to say,
that she bore the trials which came upon her in after-life, to the full
share of humanity, with fortitude and equanimity. The seeds of Religion,
which had been sown in her youthful mind by a mother of whom
she
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 1 p.568}
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she was early deprived, sprung up, and bore good fruit, under the culture
of affliction. She was endued by nature with quickness and brightness of
intellect, as appeared from her conversation and epistolary correspondence;
and to the latest period of her life she retained both the desire and the
ability of improving her mind. But what was of far more consequence to
herself, and to all who came within her sphere, she was blessed with great
benevolence of disposition, which prompted her to a continual exercise of
kindness and charity. Although for several years she had been in a great
measure deprived of the use of her limbs, yet her last illness made it
apparent that the principle of life was still very strong in her: and
although the many and sever sufferings which were required to release her
spirit from its house of clay, were afflicting to her friends; yet it is to
be hoped that the memory of the patience and perfect resignation to the
will of her Heavenly Father, with which she endured them, will afford them
the truest conslation. Her husband and children have to deplore the loss of
a dutiful and affectionate wife and mother, and the poor of Workington of a
most kind benefactoress.
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.15}
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{header- To-Morrow, by Susan Blamire}
{image = G820B015.jpg}
Killington, June 14.
Mr. URBAN,
IN answer to the enquiry of M.H. part i. p.290, give me leave to state,
that the copy of verses, entitled 'To-Morrow,' was copied from the Tyne
Mercury, verbatim et literatim, with the exception of one Stanza,
which, as not being thought equal
to
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to the rest, was omitted. The son of the late Mr. Mitchel, the respectable
and able conductor of that Newspaper, says, that his late father was last
year employed in the South of England in collecting materials for a volume
of Fugitive Poetry, and that this copy of verses was given him by a lady as
the production of Miss Susan Blamire (not Blannil, as printed p.290), of
Thackwood-nook, near Carlisle, and which authority he never doubting, in
consequence printed them as such. I have not, at present, at hand the
additional Stanza, otherwise I should have sent it you, as it might,
perhaps, lead to a discovery of who was the author of those beautiful
lines. I have it in my power to procure a few more of the poetical
compositions of Miss B. which, should this seem to afford any pleasure to
the generality of your readers, I shall have equal pleasure in
communicating.
Take the following as a specimen.
SONG,
On being advised to go abroad for a change of air.
Tune - 'Rose-bud still in bearing.'
Oh! urge me not to wander,
Or quit my pleasant native shore,
But let me still meander,
On these sweet banks I lov'd before.
The heart o'ercharg'd with sorrow,
Can find no joy in change of scene,
Nor can that cheat 'To-morrow'
Be aught but what 'To-day' has been.
If pleasure e'er o'ertakes me,
'Tis when I tread the wonted round,
Where former joy awakes me,
And strews reliques o'er the ground.
There's not a shrub or flower,
But tells some much-lov'd tale to me,
Or paints some happy hour,
Which I, alas! no more must see.
I cannot quit M.H. without returning my grateful thanks to her for the
sincere pleasure which I received from the perusal of her elegant little
volume, 'Affection's Gift.' With Mr. Urban's permission I shall transcribe
a few observations with which I felt particularly gratified.
'Seriously reflect, my beloved child, before we can enjoy happiness, the
mind must be prepared to receive it, - that there is no transmuting power
in death, - that unless we habituate the soul to virtue, and to piety
here, and endeavour to attain a relish for those enjoyments we are
promised in Heaven, even there happiness would be unknown to us.'
'Ever remember that the aggregate of our hapiness is made up of little
pleasures, continually repeated: that human misery consists of petty
inconveniences constantly recurring.'
Speaking of Prayer, M.H. observes,
'That Prayer is the high privilege of frail and weak beings, that
only can calm when the tumults of thought arise within, that only
can bid the soul be still, and rest upon its God.'
'Recollect how desirable, how essential it is to become better as you
become wiser: that, while by study and reflection you improve your
understanding, you must also zealously endeavour to improve your heart.'
'The mind cannot endure a vacuum: and if not filled with laudable pursuits,
will have a recourse to trifles to fill up the void. Hence the passions of
envy and vanity, the frivolities of dress, the rivalship of beauty, which
agitate successivley the bosoms of those unemployed beings. These
tormentors of peace can never find place in the heart of a girl, who has
learned to place delight in the performance of domestic duty and
intellectual pursuits.'
Yours, &c.
OMICRON.
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{header- Teacher's Qualifications}
{image = G820B020.jpg}
Greenhithe, Feb. 24.
Mr. URBAN,
IN vol.LXXXIX. p.303, 'Oxoniensis' begins thus:
'Your Correspondents Sigismund, S.T.B. &c. have clearly shown that
the graduated Clergy ought to wear silk tippets or scarfs and
also their respective hoods. One of the reasons assigned for their
so doing is,
that
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that they would thereby be effectually distinguished from those Clergy who
have not had a University education, often termed Northern Lights,
many of them having been born in the North parts of England. I beg leave,
therefore, to send you the following quotations from a Letter to the late
Bishop Watson, published in 1783, by which the propriety of the
above-mentioned distinction will be further evinced and illustrated.'
Though I highly respect the outward habiliments of these Graduates during
the actual performance of their sacred functions; yet, I am clearly of
opinion, that the exhibition of these robes every day in a country parish
would not only create gaping and staring in the lower orders, and ridicule
in the higher; for I must tell 'Oxoniensis' that there are many country
gentlemen on whom it is not so easy to pawn the shadow for the substance.
Besides, perhaps, this fondness for outside show might occasion a subject
for a village song, or for some coarse epigram; and, consequently, might
isolate the shepherd from his flock, instead of amalgamating him with his
parishioners, a consummation so devoutly to be wished in a Parish
Priest. In the Church of Rome mummery and external splendour have great
influence, but I trust we of the Church of England shall always despise
such flimsy expedients.
'Oxoniensis' then proceeds:
'The Northern counties abound in Free SChools, where the children of
peasantry are instructed gratis in the dead languages. It is a prospect
flattering to the vanity of a poor country-fellow to have his son provided
for in an order, which seems' (O excellent!) 'to place him in the
rank of a gentleman. One son is of course destined for the Ministry: the
youth is puffed up with this idea; he has a right, or obtains one, to be
admitted into this Seminary: the attendance required there does not
interrupt his manual labours: in the season when they are most requisite,
he attends alternately the school and the plough.'
Now, Mr. Urban, with respect to the three great Schools * in the
North of England, if the above assertion be not a wilful, it is most
certainly a palpable, falsehood: but to proceed,
'And after a novitiate performed with the barefoot mortifications of an
antient pilgrimage,' (wanderings of the noddle,) 'with the addition of a
new coat and the perusal of Grotins de Vericate and the four Gospels in
Greek, a sham title and testimonial from persons who never heard of him
before, our candidate starts up completely equipped for the office of an
instructor of mankind; though for any essential qualification your Lordship
might as well ordain any boys out of our common Charity Schools.'
O how fine! Now, from whence, Mr. Urban, come these titles and
testimonials? The answer is one of the severest lashes, which 'Oxoniensis'
could possibly throw upon the beneficed Clergy. But the fact is, they are
as common amongst the Graduates, as these Northern Lights. I
am also of opinion, that few boys out of the common Charity Schools would
be able to construe Grotius into good English, or the four Greek Gospels
into classical Latin;because we have known some of these Graduates,
at an Ordination, not able to perform the task! For the edification of
'Oxoniensis' (who sneers at petty ushers), I will relate an anecdote of a
petty usher of Appleby School, Westmoreland (though by the bye,
there is never more than one in these Schools). When Mr. Usher
Bracken was of age to take orders, he went to the Ordination at York. The
Archbishop perceiving from whence he came, seemed determined to try the
literary powers of this young candidate; for after he had gone through the
usual exercises, he was required to translate one of the 39 Articles into
Greek, which he did so much to the satisfaction of the Archbishop, that his
Grace sent a complimentary Letter to the Master of Appleby School, on the
occasion.
To settle the spleen of 'Oxoniensis,' I will, with your permission, Mr.
Urban, relate an anecdote of a young student of a minor School, - that of
Banton in Westmoreland. The Free School of Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland,
becoming vacant by the death of Mr. Wilson, a Graduate of Queen's College,
Oxford, but the gift not being in any of the Colleges, there was an open
competition: a day was appointed for the examination of candidates, and the
Rev. Dr. Burn, author of the 'Justice,' &c. the examiner. Two Graduates
entered the lists for fame, as did also the scholar from Banton. Homer,
Horace, and Virgil, were first given into the hands of the Graduates, but
their stumblings
* Appleby, S. Bees, and Sedbergh.
and
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{image = G820B022.jpg}
and stoppings were manifest, whilst Northern Lights ambled over his
ground as over a bowling-green. The last book given to the competitors was
Clarke's introduction. It was opened at Bellum antiquissimum cujus
occurrit mentio: but in this war of the Argonauts the College heroes
were entirely defeated; neither hoods, scarfs, nor tippets, were, under Dr.
Burn, even a dust upon the balance: nothing but sterling merit
preponderated, and, consequently, the Graduates retired crest-fallen,
whilst the Banton stripling, about 20 years of age (Mr. Holmes), was
declared victor, amidts the cheers and applause of an admiring assembly.
SUPERBIAE CASTIGATOR
PROBITATISQUE VINDEX.
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.236}
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{header- William Camden}
{image = G820B236.jpg}
book review
the introduction includes a biography of William Camden:-
'The earliest historians of this county after Leland, the father of English
antiquaries, was William Camden; who, in his Britannia, has written an
account of Staffordshire; the English translation of which by Bishop Gibson
is on the hands of every reader. Sampson Camden, his father, was a native
of Lichfield, and settled as a painter in London, residing in the Old
Bailey, here his son William, afterwards by the way of eminence surnamed
the learned, was born May 21, 1551. He was educated at Christ's Hospital
and at St Paul's School, and became a servitor at Magdalen College, Oxford;
from which he removed to Broadgate-hall, and afterwards to Christ Church.
From Oxford he was elected second Master of Westminster School, and, in
1592, Head Master. He was Clarenceux king at arms, and founder of the
professorship of modern history at Oxford. His works are numerous, learned,
and valuable. He died at Chislehurst in Kent, Nov. 19, 1623, aged 73. Arms:
Or, a fesse between six crosslets Sable.'
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.344}
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{header- Duddon Sonnets}
{image = G820B344.jpg}
{text- book review}
69. The River Duddon, a Series of Sonnets: Vaudracour
and Julia: and other Poems. To which is annexed, a Topographical
Description of the Country of the Lakes, in the North of England.
By William Wordsworth. 8vo. pp.321. Longman and Co.
THE Poems in this Volume are marked by the same apparent ease and elegant
simplicity which characterize the productions of Mr. Wordsworth. The first
of them, affectionately inscribed to his brother (the Rev. Dr. Christopher
Wordsworth) consists of XXXIII. Sonnets "called forth by one of the most
beautiful streams of his native County;" and illustrated by some
entertaining Notes; particularly an excellent Biographical Memoir of the
Rev. Robert Walker, who lived to the age of 93, and was Curate of
Seathwaite 63 years.
"The River Duddon rises upon Wrynose Tell (sic), on the confines of
Westmorland, Cumberland, and Lancashire; and, serving as the boundary of
the two latter counties, for the space of about twenty-five miles, enters
the Irish Sea, between the Isle of Walney and the lordship of Millum."
The scenery of that sequestered spot, and of the pious Curate's labours, is
thus described:
"A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted yew,
Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks;
Aloft the Imperial Bird of Rome invokes
Departed
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.345}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1820 part 2 p.345}
{image = G820B345.jpg}
Departed ages, shedding where he flew
Loose fragments of wild wailing that bestrew
The clouds, and thrill the chambers of the rocks,
And into silence hush the timorous flocks,
That slept so calmly while the nightly dew
Moisten'd each fleece beneath the twinkling stars:
These couch'd 'mid that lone Camp on Hardknot's height,
Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars:
These near that mystic Round of Druid frame,
Tardily sinking by its proper weight
Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!"
"Sacred Religion, 'mother of form and fear,'
Dread Arbitress of mutable respect,
New rites ordaining when the old are wreck'd,
Or cease to please the fickle worshipper;
If one strong wish may be embosomed here,
Mother of Love! for this deep vale, protect
Truth's holy lamp, pure source of bright effect,
Gifted to purge the vapoury atmosphere
That seeks to stifle it; - as in those days
When this low Pile a Gospel Teacher knew,
Whose good works formed an endless retinue:
Such Priest as Chaucer sang in fervent lays;
Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew;
And tender Goldsmith crown'd with deathless praise!"
In a note on the third line Mr. Wordsworth says,
"The Eagle requires a large domain for its support; but several pairs, not
many years ago, were constantly resident in this country, building their
nests in the steeps of Borrowdale, Westdale, Ennerdale, and on the Eastern
side of Helvellyn. Often have I heard anglers speak of the grandeur of
their appearance, as they hovered over Red Tarn, on one of the coves of
this mountain. The bird frequently returns, but is always destroyed. Not
long since one visited Rydal Lake, and remained some hours near its banks;
the consternation which it occasioned among the different species of fowl,
particularly the herons, was expressed by loud screams. The horse also is
naturally afraid of the eagle. - There were several Roman stations among
these mountains; the most considerable seems to have been in a meadow at
the head of Windermere, established, undoubtedly, as a check over the
passes of Kirkstone, Dunmail-raise, and of Hardknot and Wrynose. On the
margin of Rydal Lake, a coin of Trajan was discovered very lately. - The
Roman Fort here alluded to, called by the country people "Hardknot
Castle, is most impressively situated half way down the hill on the
right of the road that descends from Hardknot into Eskdale. It has escaped
the notice of most antiquaries, and is but slightly mentioned by Lysons. -
The Druidical Circle is about half a mile to the left of the road ascending
Stoneside from the vale of Duddon: the country people call it "Sunken
Church."
In Seathwaite Chapel is the following inscription:
"In memory of the reverend Robert Walker, who died the 25th of June, 1802,
in the 93rd year of his age, and 67th of his curacy at Seathwaite.
"Also of Anne his wife, who died the 28th of January, in the 93rd year of
her age."
And in the Parish Register:
"Buried, June 28th, the Rev. Robert Walker. He was Curate of Seathwaite
sixty-six years. He was a man singular for his temperance, industry, and
integrity."
In his early days Mr. Walker had been the schoolmaster of Loweswater, and
from the register of that parish Mr. Wordsworth gves the following
memoranda respecting "a person apparently of desires as moderate, with,
with whom he must have been intimate during his residence."
"Let him that would ascend the tottering seat
Of courtly grandeur, and become as great
As are his mounting wishes; but for me,
Let sweet repose and rest my portion be.
HENRY FOREST, Curate.
Honour, the idol which the most adore,
Receives no homage from my knee;
Conent in privacy I value more
Than all uneasy dignity.
Henry Forest came to Lowes-water, 1708, being 25 years of age."
"This curacy was twice augmented by Queen Anne's bounty. The first payment,
with great difficulty, was paid to Mr. John Curwen of London, on the 9yth
of May, 1724, deposited by me, Henry Forest, Curate of Lowes water. Ye said
9th of May, ye said Mr. Curwen went to the office and saw my name
registered there, &c. This, by the Providence of God, came by lot to
this poor place.
Haec testor H. Forest."
"In another place he records, that the sycamore trees were planted in the
churchyard in 1710.
"He died in 1741, having been curate thirty-four years. It is not
improbable
that
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.346}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1820 part 2 p.346}
{image = G820B346.jpg}
that H. Forest was the gentleman who assisted Robert Walker in his
classical studies at Lowes-water.
"To this parish register is prefixed a motto, of which the following verses
are part.
"'Invigilate, viro, tacito, nam tempora gressu
Diffugiunt, nulloque sono convertitur annus;
Utendum est aetate, cito pede praeterit aetas.'"
The volume concludes with a very interesting "Topographical Description of
the Country of the Lakes," which is thus prefaced:
"This Essay, which was published several years ago as an Introduction to
some Views of the Lakes, by the Rev. Joseph Wilkinson, (an expensive work,
and necessarily of limited circulation.) is now, with emendations and
additions, attached to these volumes; from a consciousness of its having
been written in the same spirit which dictated several of the poems, and
from a belief that it will tend to materially illustrate them."
{title- Gents Mag 1820 part 2 p.558}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1820 part 2 p.558}
{header- Fire, The Rose and Crown, Kirkby Lonsdale}
{image = G820B558.jpg}
Dec. 7. This morning, about one o'clock, the house of Mrs. Roper,
the Rose and Crown Inn, Kirkby-Lonsdale, was discovered to be on
fire. The hostler, who was the first person awakened by the flames,
immediately gave the alarm to all the family whom the violence of the fire
would allow him to approach. Mrs. Roper, two of her daughters, a female
servant, five servant-men, a traveller, and a professional gentleman, who
was a lodger in the house, effected their escape, most of them by leaping
out of the windows. Five of the female servants became the victims of the
devouring element, and were literally burnt to ashes. The house is entirely
destroyed, and scarcely any part of the furniture was saved.
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 1 p.23}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 1 p.23}
{header- Archibald Armstrong, Jester}
{image = G821A023.jpg}
... ...
ARCHIBALD ARMSTRONG*, better known by the name of Archee, was
Jester to the Court of James and Charles I. - He had a particular spleen
against Archbishop Laud, who was, on more occasions than one, the butt of
his wit. After the Liturgy had been rejected in Scotland, he had the
temerity to ask the prelate, 'Who is fool now?' and termed the stool which
was thrown at Forbes's head in the pulpit, 'the stool of repentance.' For
this insolence the King ordered him to pull of his fool's coat, and to
suffer flagellation and dismissal; and appointed as his successor a person
called 'Muckle John,' who was the last Jester in this country†.
Armstrong, about a week after his discharge, put on a suit of black, and
being interrogated concerning his coat, said,
"O, my Lord of Canterbury hath taken it from me, because either he or some
of the Scots Bishops may have use for it themselves: but he hath given em a
black coat for it, to colour my knavery with, and now I speak what I please
(so it be not against the prelates) for this coat hath a far greater
privilege than the other had‡."
Few will think but it was necessary to put a stop to the impertinence of
this man; for, of all others, a Jester should never meddle with affairs not
in his immediate vocation. - His Jests were printed in 12mo, with
his portrait by Cecill, in which he is represented in a long parti-coloured
cloak, with a hat and feather. Subjoined to the print are these lines:
"Archee, by kings and princes grac'd of late,
Jested himself into a fair estate;
And in this book, doth to his friends commend,
His jeers, taunts, tales, which no man can offend."
These verses seem to hint that Armstrong had acquired a handsome
competency. Granger doubts the authenticity of the bon-mots, and
says that they 'are indeed, in general, very unworthy of him.'
"A Banquet of Jests, or Change of Cheare. Being a Collection of Moderne
Jests, Witty Jeeres, Pleasant Taunts, Merry Tales:" the 5th impression,
"Printed for Richard Royston, and are to be sold at his shoppe in
Ivie-lane, at the signe of the Angell, 1639," pp.190. When the first
edition was printed, we are not informed, but are inclined to fix it in
1631: another appeared in 1636.
No.15. "Of a Freese Jerkin. - An honest good fellow, having worne a
thread-bare jerkin for the space of two yeares and an halfe; as soon as he
had compast
* Neale, Hist. Purit. II. 332.
Ȃ Granger.
‡ Morgan's Phoenix Britannicus, p.462.
another
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 1 p.24}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 1 p.24}
{image = G821A024.jpg}
another suit, for the good service it had done him, made of it this
epitaph,
"Here lie in peace, thou patient overcommer,
Of two cold Winters, and one scorching Summer." p.10.
No.37. A Spanish Traveller. - A Spaniard travelling from Dover
towards London, being benighted, was forc'd to knock at a poore Alehouse
for lodging; the Hostesse demanding his name, he told her it was Don
Pedro Gonzales Gaietan, de Guevezra: to whom the good woman answered,
'Alas, Sir, my small house neither affords roome nor meat for so many,"
p.25.
No.106. "A Gormandgizer.- A Gormandgizing fellow protesting to a
friend of his, that hee loved him as well as he loved his soule: I thanke
you, Sir (said he) with all my heart; but I had rather you loved me as well
as you love your body." p.89.
The second part of this Work was printed by M. Flesher, for Richard
Royston, in Ivy-lane, 1633, p.156; and is accompanied by the following
poetical apology:
"My eldest brother, having had the grace,
Of three Impressions (late) in two yeares space,
Now ready for the fourth, imboldens me
To Presse unto the world hoping as free
A welcome as he had, since to your view,
I come in colours fresh, in habit new.
Borne without teeth we both were, that's to excite
To mirth and sport, neither to snarle or bite.
And in the second course you shall not faile,
Jeare for his Jest, taunt ready for his Tale."
No.143. "One being demanded why great men were not so liberall to Poets in
these our dayes, as in former times, and they have been made answer: that
their consciences tell them how unworthy they are of praises given them by
Poets." p.119.
No.186. "Hard of Beliefe.- I have heard of a great Magistrate, that
being often deceived by false rumours of Queen Elizabeth's death, protested
that hee would never believe shee was dead, untill he saw it under her owne
hand." p.146.
This story has since found its way into more recent collections.
Such are the leading features in Anecdotal History, prior to the Rebellion,
when Wit was proscribed in common with Art and Science. ...
... ..
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 2 p.370}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 2 p.370}
{header- The Princess of Cumberland}
{image = G821B370.jpg}
The following curious notice was industriously placarded on the walls of
the Metropolis:
'PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND IN CAPTIVITY, Contrary to her Rights, Privileges,
and Rank, at Mr. Davis's, 45, King-street, Soho.
'The Princess of Cumberland informs the English nation, that an execution
has been served on her body for debt; and that the late King bequeathed her
15,000l. which has been proved according to law, and an
application made to Lord Sidmouth for the payment of that sum, without
effect; therefore, not having received one guinea from the Government, nor
any of this large sum bequeathed to her by her uncle, King George III. she
is under the painful necessity of appealing to the honourable generosity of
the British public.
'45 King-street, Soho, Oct. 9.
OLIVE.'
Mrs. Serres' statements, respecting her high pretensions, appear to be
fabrications too ridiculous to detail. Her maiden name was Olivia Wilmot,
of Warwick, where she was born in 1772. Her brother, Mr. T. Wilmot, is now
resident at Coventry.
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 2 p.457}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 2 p.457}
{header- Buonoparte's Snuff Box}
{image = G821B457.jpg}
... ...
SELECT POETRY.
... ...
to Lady HOLLAND on the Legacy of a Snuff-Box, left to her by
BUONAPARTE.
By the Earl of CARLISLE.
LADY, reject the gift! 'tis tinged with gore!
Those crimson spots a dreadful tale relate:
It
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 2 p.458}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 2 p.458}
{image = G821B458.jpg}
It has been grasp'd by an infernal Power;
And by that hand which seal'd young Enghein's fate.
Lady, reject the gift: beneath it's lid
Discord, and Slaughter, and relentless War,
With every plague to wretched Man lie hid -
Let those not loose to range the world afar.
Say, what congenial to his heart of stone,
in thy soft bosom could the Tyrant trace?
When does the dove the eagle's friendship own,
Or the wolf hold the lamb in pure embrace?
Think of that pile*, to Addison so dear,
Where Sully feasted, and where Rogers' song
Still adds sweet music to the perfum'd air,
And gently leads each Grace and Muse along.
Pollute not then these scenes - the gift destroy:
'Twill scare the Dryads from that lovely shade;
With them will fly all rural peace and joy,
And screamiong Fiends their verdant haunts invade.
That mystic Box hath magic power to raise
Spectres of myriads slain, a ghastly band;
They'll vex thy slumbers, cloud thy sunny days,
Starting from Moscow's snows, or Egypt's sand.
And ye, who, bound in Verdun's treacherous chains,
Slow pin'd to death beneath a base controul,
Say, shall not all abhor, where Freedom reigns,
That petty vengeance of a little soul?
The warning Muse no idle trifler deem;
Plunge the curst mischief in wide Ocean's flood;
Or give it to our own majestic stream,
The only stream he could not die with blood.
... ...
* Holland House
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 2 p.595}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 2 p.595}
{header- Lakes Poets}
{image = G821B595.jpg}
Dec. 8.
Mr. URBAN,
LONG before Campbell's "British Poets," I had projected a similar
publication, containing specimens of the living as well as the deceased,
with general criticisms, notes, and illustrations; and I had arranged the
more recent writers (for the last four volumes)
chronologically (as follows), each according to the date of his (or her)
earliest poetical production:
{text- The list is long and I have extracted names I think I recognize as
relevant to The Lakes - but may have missed some (or many) and misincluded
others.}
...
R. Cumberland ... ... 1761
...
Earl of Carlisle ... ... 1773
...
Thomas Coombe ... ... 1783
...
Robert Southey ... ... 1797
S. T. Coleridge ... ... 1797
...
W. Wordsworth ... ... 1800
...
Walter Scott ... ... 1802
...
Lord Byron ... ... 1807
...
Of
{title- Gents Mag 1821 part 2 p.596}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1821 part 2 p.596}
{image = G821B596.jpg}
Of the preceding votaries of the Muse, a great number have gone to "that
bourne from whence no traveller returns," long before Campbell made his
compilation - and Downman among the rest; - the ommission of whose name in
Campbell's specimens I cannot account for. Surely his Lucius Junius
Brutus is one of the finest Dramatic pieces of modern days. It is in
Shakespeare's best manner.
Any corrections or additions to the preceding list, or biographical
anecdotes, or critical observations, will be accepted with due
acknowledgments.
AN OLD CORRESPONDENT.
{title- Gents Mag 1822 part 1 p.558}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1822 part 1 p.558}
{image = G822A558.jpg}
Wednesday, June 19.
The cause of Olive, Princess of Cumberland, respecting his late Majesty's
will of 15,000l. in her favour, was heard in the Prerogative Court,
which was crowded to excess. At ten o'clock Sir John Nicholl took his seat,
and shortly after Dr. Dodson and Dr. Lushington, accompanied by Gen.
Desseux, soi-dissant Capt. Fitz-Strathern, cousin of the Princess
Olive, and others. Dr. Dodson addressed the Court in support of the
arguments urged last Court day, and concluded by earnestly entreating the
Court, on the score of justice, humanity, and fair dealing that ought to
exist between man and man, to grant the motion of his worthy Colleague. Dr.
Haggard, on the same side, supported the other learned Civilians, and
contended that the motion ought to be made absolute, namely, that the will
now read be propounded as the last will and testament of his Majesty George
III. Sir Christopher Robinson, the King's Advocate, addressed the Court at
great length against the claim, contending that it was a matter not for the
interference of that Court. Dr. Adams followed on the same side. A few
minutes before one o'clock, Olive, the Princess of Cumberland, entered the
Court, and took her seat on the bench behind the Proctors. Dr. Lushington
replied in a very long and eloquent speech. Sir J. Nicholl said, he should
take time to consider the case, and on the next Court day he gave judgement
against the application, as not coming within the jurisdiction of that
Court.
{title- Gents Mag 1822 part 2 p.33}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1822 part 2 p.33}
{image = G822B033.jpg}
MRS. OLIVIA WILMOT SERRES,
Soi-disante Princess of Cumberland.
THIS Lady having recently excited considerable attention, owing to her
aspiring pretensions, we propose to devote a few pages to the subject of
her claims. We feel more induced to notice this illustrious Lady, on
account of her being an occasional Correspondent of ours. We have been
frequently favoured with her productions both in prose and verse; but from
motives of delicacy we abstained, at the time of its receipt, from the
publication of a paper, containing some extraordinary statements. This
paper we have accidentally found among our bundles of postponed letters. On
re-perusal, we consider it, at this time, a document so important (if
true) to the cause of the soi-disante Princess, that in justice
to her high claims, we do not hesitate to give it publicity. Lege et
crede!
Aug. 18, 1818.
Mr. URBAN,
THE inclosed extraordinary facts are sent for insertion in your Magazine.
Any further particulars may be obtained of myself,
{image = G822E01.jpg}
P.S.
* Those who have been accustomed to see the hand-writing of the
Princess, would doubtless be ready to affirm that this was her signature;
but we beg to inform them that there is a simple process for imitating
autographs, which we have adopted in this case; it might perhaps be of
great utility to dealers in documentary evidence! We will give a specimen
of its powers, by copying the signature of 'good Queen Bess;' the boldness
of whose hand-writing Olive, in all her official instruments, seems
desirous of imitating.
{text- This tiresome issue, which probably has nothing to do with
Cumberland excepting the assumed title, continues in the magazine.}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.92 part 2 p.33-38, 1822.}
{image = G822B034.jpg}
{image = G822B035.jpg}
{image = G822B036.jpg}
{image = G822B037.jpg}
{image = G822B038.jpg}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.92 part 2 p.290, 1822.}
{image = G822B290.jpg}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.93 part 1 p.560, 1823.}
{image = G823A560.jpg}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.93 part 1 p.637-639, 1823.}
{image = G823A637.jpg}
{image = G823A638.jpg}
{image = G823A639.jpg}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.93 part 1 p.642, 1823.}
{image = G823A642.jpg}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine vol.93 part 2 p.174, 1823.}
{image = G823B174.jpg}
{text- Also see a review:-}
{text- in Gents Mag 1873 part 2 pp.170-177.}
{title- Gents Mag 1822 part 2 p.358}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1822 part 2 p.358}
{header- The Heliotrope}
{image = G822B358.jpg}
THE HELIOTROPE, A NEW INSTRUMENT.
When Professor Gauss was engaged in 1820 at Luneberg, in trigonometrical
observations, to combine the Hanoverian with the Danish triangles, he
perceived that when he directed his telescope towards the steeple of St.
Michael's Church at Hamburgh, which was seven German (32 English) miles
distant, the little round window in the upper part of it reflected the
image of the sun towards him, and thus impeded him in his operations. This
gave him the idea of using the sun's light for signals, by catching it with
a mirror, and reflecting it to the place to which a signal was to be given.
He made a calculation of the strength of the sun's light, and of the
diminution it suffers in the atmosphere; from which it appeared a small
mirror, two or three inches in diameter, was sufficient to reflect the
sun's image to the distance of ten or more German miles. This is the
Heliotrope, described to be of great imprtance in the measureing of large
triangles, and as likely to supersede the methods hitherto employed. These
consisted of placing or fastening by night several Argand lamps, with
reflectors, at those places which it was intended to observe from a great
distance. This measuring by night is very inconvenient, and by day the
light of the lamps is much too faint to be always seen at the distance of
several miles through a telescope. The inventor of the Heliotrope, on the
other hand, had full proof of the great advantage to be derived from it,
when he was last year on the summit of the Brocken Mountain, to determmine
the three corners of the triangle for measuring the meridian of the North
of Germany; on which occasion Professor Gauss gave signals with this
instrument to his assistants, stationed at 14 German miles from him, upon
the Inselbergh, in the forest of Thuringia.
But the great use of the Heliotrope is not confined to such operations. It
will be found greatly to excel the telegraph for giving signals, and in
time will probably supersede it (provided the Professor could ensure the
appearance of the sun). As the reflected image of the sun is visible at so
great a distance, the signal stations may be much fewer. the mode of using
it is likewise more simple, it being merely necessary alternately to shew
and hide the mirror; the intervals, measured by a stop watch, are the
signals.
{title- Gents Mag 1823 part 2 p.173}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1823 part 2 p.173}
{header- Rush Bearing, Ambleside}
{image = G823B173.jpg}
On the 26th and 27th of July, the antient custom of Rush-bearing took place
at Ambleside in Westmoreland. About seven o'clock on the Saturday
evening, young girls, to the number of about forty, formed the procession
to the Church, preceded by a band of music. Each of the girls bore in her
hands the usual rush-bearings, the origin and signifacnce of which
has so long puzzled the researches of all our Antiquaries. These elegant
little trophies were disposed in the church round the pulpit,
reading-desks, pews, &c. and had a really beautiful and imposing
effect. They thus remained during the Sunday till the service was finished
in the afternoon, when a similar procession was formed to convey these
trophies home again. We understand that formerly in some parts of
Lancashire a similar ceremony prevailed, under the same designation, in
which the rush-bearinsg were made in the form of females, with a
fanciful rosette for the head; and on looking at those at Ambleside,
some faint resemblance to the female form may be traced in the outline. At
least, they nearly all possessed the flowing outline of a petticoat. No
satisfactory explanation of this ceremony has ever yet been given: the
attempt at one is, that it is remnant of an antient custom, which formerly
prevailed, of strewing the church floors with rushes to preserve the feet
from damp; but we cannot conceive what resemblance there is between the
practice of strewing the church with rushes, and the trophies which are now
carried, and which have been carried from time immemorial. We should rather
incline to refer its origin to the days of heathenism, as a representative
of some offering to their gods. Whatever may have been its origin, we are
happy to see that the darkening and desolating spirit of puritanism has not
yet destroyed this little innocent festivity, along with morris dances,
wassail bowls, and May-poles: and we trust that the Gentlemen of Windermere
and Grasmere will long preserve this last relick of the days that are gone.
{title- Gents Mag 1823 part 2 p.323}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1823 part 2 p.323}
{header- Schools, Westmorland}
{image = G823B323.jpg}
Rosegill, Oct. 2.
Mr. URBAN,
BY the Parliamentary Enquiry in 1819, respecting the Education of the lower
classes in England, it was found that Westmoreland was the best educated
County in the kingdom. The following is a brief account of Schools with
endowment in this County; some of them are in high repute for classical
acquirements, and have produced many eminent characters both in Church and
State.
APPLEBY, founded by Queen Elizabeth, in 1574, and endowed by her with
5l. 10s. 8d. a year, payable out of the rents accruing
to the Crown within the County of Westmoreland. Numerous benefactors have
since contributed to increase its revenues. The amount of the Master's
salary is now estimated at about 3000l. a year. This School has
valuable exhibitions to Queen's College, Oxford.
AMBLESIDE, in the parish of Windermere, founded in 1723, by John Kelswick
of Ambleside, and endowed by him with an estate at Ambleside.
ASHBY, built by George Smith, Citizen of London, a native of this parish,
in 1688, and endowed by him with 20s. a year. Dr. Thomas Smith, his
cousin, and Bishop of Carlisle, and a native of this parish, left
100l. for the benefit of this School.
BAMPTON, founded in 1623, by Thomas Sutton, D.D. a native of this parish,
and Rector od St. Saviour's, Southwark, and endowed by him with
500l. which was expended in the purchase of tithes of corn and hay
in the parish of Bampton. Iin 1724 the Rev. Wm. Stephenson, a native of
this parish, and Rector of Laxton, in the county of Nottingham, bequeathed
the sum of 150l. equally between the Church and School at Bampton,
which was laid out in the purchase of lands at Bomby in this parish. In
1816 John Noble, esq. of London, a native of this parish, gave 500l.
in the 3 per cents. the interest of which to be paid to the Master for the
time being.
BARTON, founded in 1649, by Dr. Gerard Langbaine, and Dr. Lancelot Dawes,
and who, with the assistance of Dr. Adam Airey, Dr. Wm. Lancaster, and a
contribution among the parishioners, endowed it liberally. The money with
which this School was endowed is now invested in a dwelling house and field
at Barton, an estate at Slowgill in the county of York, and another at
Firbank in Westmoreland.
BOLTON, in the parish of Morland, founded in 1721, and endowed with
190l. given and bequeathed by various individuals at different
times.
BROUGH, founded in 1506, by John Brunskill, and at the time of the
dissolution of Monasteries (1535), 7l. 11s. 4d. was
directed to be paid to the School-master by the King's Auditors, out of the
rents and revenues which formerly belonged to it as a Chapel, which had
been endowed by the above founder, and other benefactors.
BURTON, founded about the year 1657, and endowed by John Hutton with the
residue of the rents and profits of an estate at Hindon, in the parish of
Cockfield, in the county of Durham, after paying thereout 40s. a
year to the poor in the parish of Cockfield. A subscription amounting to
about 117l. was also raised for increasing the endowment of this
School.
CROSBY RAVENSWORTH, founded about the year 1630, by the Rev. Wm. Willan,
Vicar of this parish, who gave 100l. to it, which was afterwards
laid out on land. In 1784 the School was rebuilt at the expence of Wm.
Dent, esq. of London, a native of this parish, who, with his brother
Robert, and Anne Viscountess of Andover, contributed to increase its
revenues by the gift of 500l. which was invested in South Sea
Annuities.
DUFTON, founded by Christopher Walker, in 1670, and endowed by him with the
interest of 40l. and by Michael Todd, with 4l. a year,
payable out of lands at Knowle Green, in the parish of Staines, Middlesex.
GREENHOLME, in the parish of Orton, founded in 1733, by George Gibson, esq.
and endowed by him with 400l. original Bank Stock.
HEVERSHAM, founded in 1613, by Edward Wilson, esq. of Heversham Hall, and
endowed by him with the yearly rent charge of 21l. 3s.
10d. issuing out of certain burgage messuages and tenements in
Kendal, and a rent charge of 3l. a year, issuing out of a field in
Strickland Ketel called Dawson's Close. In 1773 the sum of 230l. was
raised by subscription by the Rev. Henry Wilson, Vicar of this parish, for
the better endowment of this School, which was laid out in the pur-
chase
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[pur]chase of a dwelling house, out-houses, and two fields in Heversham.
This School has several exhibitions both to Oxford and Cambridge.
KABER, in the parish of Kirkby Stephen, founded by Thomas Waller, about the
year 1680, and endowed by him with 133l. And in 1727 Miles Munkhouse
gave 5l.; and in 1744 George Petty of Kalver gave 20l. for
the benefit of this School.
KENDAL, founded about the year 1525, by Adam Pennyngton of Boston, and
rebuilt 1592. Edward the Sixth, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, were
benefactors to it; their respective grants amounting together to
19l. 5s. 4d. yearly, are payable out of the Crown
revenues in Westmoreland. Mr. Richard Jackson (the Schoolmaster here, and
removed to Appleby), gave 100l. to be applied to the benefit of the
School-master. Dr. Airay was another benefactor. There are several
exhibitions to Queen's College, Oxford, for scholars from this School.
KIRKBY LONSDALE, founded by letters patent, granted by Queen Elizabeth, in
1591, and endowed by Mr. Godsalve of Newton, in the parish of Whittington,
with 100l. to which was added another 100l. raised anomg the
parishioners; with which 200l. was purchased of Mr. Tenant, rent
charge of 20l. a year, payable out of the manors of Bedale and
Scotton, in the county of York. Lady Elizabeth Curwen, heiress of the
family of Carus, gave the ground upon which the School was built, and also
certain parcels of land to the same, lying near to a place called the
'Biggins.' In 1628 the School was rebuilt at the expence of Mr. Henry
Wilson of London, a native of this parish, who also gave 120l. for
the support of an usher here, which was laid out upon the demesne lands of
Thurland Castle in the parish of Tunstall. In 1808, when the inclosure of
the common lands in the manor of Kirkby Lonsdale took place, an allotment
was awarded to this School. There are exhibitions at Christ's College,
Cambridge, and at Queen's College, Oxford, for scholars educated here.
KIRKBY-STEPHEN, founded in 1566, by Thomas Lord Wharton, and endowed by him
and others with various benefactions. There are exhibitions both to Oxford
and Cambridge for scholars educated here.
LOWTHER, founded in 1638, by Richard Lowther, esq. and his nephew Sir John
Lowther, and endowed by this Richard Lowther, esq. with 100l. and by
this Sir John Lowther, with 'one piece of ground in the Slacke.' A rent
charge of 10l. a year is paid to the Master from the Priory of
Lambly in Northumberland, supposed to have been purchased with the above
100l. given by Richard Lowther, esq. The School was built at Lowther
in 1640, and in the year 1810 was removed and rebuilt near the village of
Hackthorp, by the present William, Earl of Lonsdale.
MEASAND, in the parish of Bampton, founded in 1711, by Mr. Richard Wright,
and endowed by him with a messuage and lands at Nether Scales in the parish
of Orton. In 1723 Richard Law of Cawdale in this parish (great uncle of
Bishop Law), gave a garth, in which the school stands.
MORLAND, founded in the year 1780, by the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, who
endowed it with an estate in the township of Morland.
ORTON, built in 1730, and rebuilt in 1808, was originally endowed with an
acre of land in Orton High-field by Agnes Holme, and afterwards Robert
Wilson gave 5l. Thomas Addison 5l. and Henry Bland
10l. for the benefit of this School; and in 1781 Frances Wardale
bequeathed 400l. to it, which was laid out by trustees in the
purchase of houses and lands at Orton.
RAVENSTONEDALE, founded about the year 1668, and endowed by Thomas
Fothergill, B.D. Master of St. John's College, Cambridge (a native of this
parish), and others of his name and kindred. With the money given by the
founders and others, were purchased three estates for the sum, of
447l.; viz. with 140l. was purchased 84 acres of land at
Blaterne, called Horngill, which the trustees improperly sold iin 1703 to
Thomas Pattinson of Breeks, subject to the trifling rent charge thereout of
6l. a year. Another estate was purchased at Foxell-rigg, in the
parish of Sedbergh, for 112l. which the trustees in like manner
sold, subject to the inadequate rent charge of 5l. a year. Another
estate was purchased at Bowsfield, in the parish of Orton, for 195l.
which
remains
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remains for the benefit of the School. A rent charge of 5l. a year
was also left to this School by Philip Lord Wharton, payable out of an
estate at Raine, in the parish of Orton.
STANEMORE, in the parish of Brough, founded in 1594, by Cuthbert Buckle,
who by his will left 8l. a year, payable out of his estate at
Spittle. In 1699 Thomas Earl of Thanet repaired the Chapel, and built a
School-house near it, and enclosed a large track of waste land for the
benefit and profit of the Curate and Schoolmaster.
SWINDALE, in the parish of Shap, founded in 1703, by Thomas Baxter of Truss
Gap in this place, who gave to it an estate, consisting between two and
three hundred acres of land, called Wastdale Foot, adjoining the Spa of
Shapwells. The trustees, in 1750, improperly sold it to John Brown of
Wastdale Head, subject to a rent charge of 10l. a year; he sold it
along with his estate of Wastdale Head to the the late Sir James Lowther,
who, about the year 1775, from some cause or other, refused the payment of
this 10l. a year, and witheld it during his life; but when the
present William Earl of Lonsdale came to the Lowther estates in 1802, he
agreed with the trustess henceforth to allow 25l. a year out of the
Wastdale Foot estate, instead of paying up the arrears due from his
predecessor.
TEBAY, in the parish of Orton, founded by Robert Adamson, esq. in the year
1672, and endowed by him with estates at Ormondil Biggin and Blacket-Bottom
in Grayrigg.
THRIMBY, in the parish of Morland, founded in 1681, by Thomas Fletcher,
esq. and endowed by him with a rent charge of 10l. a year, issuing
out of his messuage and lands called Bryham Tenement, and High and Low
Sandriggs.
WAITBY, in the parish of Kirkby Stephen, founded in 1680, by Mr. James
Highmore, Citizen of London, and a native of this place, and endowed by him
with 400l. which was laid out in purchasing an estate called Cantley
Thwaite, in the parish of Sedbergh.
WINTON, in the parish of Kirkby Stephen, built in 1659, at the expence of
the Rev. Wm. Morland and other principal parishioners, and endowed in 1681,
by Robert Waller of Winton with divers parcels of land in the neighbouring
township of Kaber; and in 1722, Richard Munkhouse, esq. of Winton, gave the
sum of 100l. for the benefit of the School at Winton, on condition
that the nomination of the Schoolmaster should be vested in his family.
H.L.
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{header- Poet, Susan Blamire}
{image = G823B486.jpg}
Kellington, Dec. 12.
Mr. URBAN,
THAT human life is short, fleeting, and uncertain, every circumstance
around us sufficiently evinces. How apt we in general are to neglect this
admonition, and how prone we all are to flatter ourselves that it possibly
may be our lot to extend life to its most protracted limits, every day's
experience confirms.
The following elegant lines by Sir Thomas More-
'Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem,
Rides, cum non sit forsitan una dies'-
were as elegantly and feelingly paraphrased by a lady, at p.360 of your
Magazine for last October. Permit me to offer to your readers another
translation of these impressive lines from the pen of a Cumberland poet
(Ralph), whom I have before noticed in your pages; and whose poems,
perhaps, from the provincial dialect in which they are for the most part
written, are, it is presumed, less generally known than their merits seem
to deserve.
'Wretch! man would cry,
If sure to die
Before a month is past;
Yet laughs away
This poor short day,
Which is perhaps his last.'
When we are upon the subject, Mr. Urban, of Cumberland Poets, you
may perhaps recollect that you did me the honour to insert in your pages
some time ago a copy of verses, entitles 'To-morrow,' which I believed at
that time, and still have strong reasons to believe, proceeded from the pen
of a Miss S. Blamire, of Thuckwood-nook near Carlisle, and
accordingly communicated them to you as such. M.H. the authoress of
'Affection's Gift' however, claimed them as the production of a Miss
Parker, upon the authority of Dr. Styles, who, in his 'Early Blossoms,'
has published them as the effusions of that lady's Muse. In consequence of
this charge, I made every inquiry in my power to ascertain their real
author. I communicated the result of my researches to you, and which seemed
fully to satisfy the inquiries of M.H. as far at least as I was concerned,
and who also at the same time, with her acknowledgments for my candour in
communicating the sources from which I derived them, added a hope that Dr.
Styles would act with the same frankness and liberality. Whether, however,
the Doctor has never seen this appeal (which I can scarcely suppose),
whether he is so much rapt up in evangelical rhapsodies, or whether
he is so much dazzled with the glare of Royal splendours, as to be utterly
incapacitated from giving any attention whatsoever to the certainly just
request of an amiable lady, I am unable to say; or whether he is so much
engaged in the contemplation of his own academical honours, as altogether
to disregard the giving satisfaction to one who can claim no higher
distinction than that of a regular member, late Fellow, and, for nearly
twenty years, a resident, in what he flatters himself may justly be esteem
the first College (Trinity) of the first University of Europe.
No disparagement is here meant to the late publications of Dr. Styles. The
elegant language in which they are written, and the sacred principles of
morality and true religion which they inculcate, are certainly well
calculated to implant in the youthful mind the desire of attaining whatever
is prasieworthy, and whatever is conducive to dignify their nature, and to
make them useful members of society.
I subjoin another copy of verses from the plaintive Muse of Miss Blamire,
and to the legitimacy of which, it is presumed, there can be no objection
whatever.
Written on a gloomy Day in Sickness at Thuckwood, in June 1786.
'The gloomy lowering of the sky,
The milky softness of the air,
The hum of many a busy fly,
Are things the cheerful well can spare.
But to the pensive, thoughtful mind,
Those kindred glooms are truly dear,
When in dark shades such wood-notes wind,
As woo and win Reflection's ear.
The birds that warble over head,
The bees that visit every flower,
The
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The stream that murmurs on its bed,
All aid the melancholy hour.
Added to this, - the wasting frame,
Thro' which life's pulses slowly beat,
Would fain persuade that naught's the same
As when health glow'd with genial heat.
Where are the spirits light as air,
That self-amus'd would carrol loud,
Would find out pleasure everywhere,
And all her paths with garlands strew'd?
Nature's the same,- the Spring returns,
The leaf again adorns the tree,-
How tasteless this to her who mourns,
Or she who droops and fades like me!
No emblem for myself I find,
Save what some dying plant bestows,
Save when its drooping head I bind,
And mark how strong the likeness grows.
No more sweet Eve, with drops distill'd,
Shall melt o'er thee in tender grief,
Nor bid Aurora's cup be fill'd
With balmy dew from yonder leaf.
What tho' some seasons more had roll'd
Their golden suns beneath thine eye?
Yet, as the flower of mortal mould,
'Twas still thy lot to bloom and die.'
Yours, &c.
OMICRON.
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{header- Shap Abbey}
{image = G823B515.jpg}
Rosegill, Nov. 20.
Mr. URBAN,
HAVING been led into some enquiries respecting the Abbey of Shap, in
Westmoreland, I have collected the following account of its establishment
and dissolution, which is at your service.
The Abbey of Shap was transferred hither from Preston-Patrick, in the
parish of Burton, near Kendal, probably for the sake of the situation,
which is in a retired vale on the margin of the River Lowther, and about a
mile West from Shap. It was founded by Thomas, son of Cospatrick. The
following is an extract from its grant, which is without date, but is
supposed to have been made about the year 1119, and 20th of Hen. I. - 'To
all sons of our holy mother the Church, as well present as to come, who
shall see or hear this present writing, Thomas, son of Cospatrick, sendeth
greeting. Know ye, that I have given and granted, and by this my present
charter have confirmed, to God and St. Mary Magdalene, and the Canons of
Preston, who are of the order of Premonstratenses, in free, pure, and
perpetual alms, for the health of the soul of myself, my wife, and all my
ancestors, one portion of my land in Preston in Kendal, to make a mansion
of Canons, to wit, my whole demesne park below Lackslost,' &c.
proceeding to specify the boundaries of other lands and privileges granted.
A few years afterwards this Thomas, son of Cospatrick, removed the
Monastery to Shap, and 'granted to God and the Church of St. Mary
Magdalene, of the Vale of Magdalene, and the Canons of the order of
Premonstratenses, serving God there, all that his land, which was Karl,
(that is out lands held by his ceorles or farmers) by these bounds,
from the Ford of Carlwath, ascending by the river on the South as far as
Langeshaw-beck, and so ascending by Langeshaw-beck to the road which comes
from Kendal, and so following that road Northwards till it come to
Stanirase, nigh Rafland;
and
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and so by that road unto Rasate; and so going down on the other side of the
hill to the great stone where they were wont to stand to watch the deer as
they passed, and so going down to the River Lowther, and further as far as
the division of Rosegill towards the East; and so all along Southward to
the top of the hill of Creskeld, and so to Alinbalike. He grants to them
also the vale with brushwood in the Eastern part over against their own,
stretching along the top of the hill to the house which was William King's,
and so to the land which belonged to Matthew de Hepp, and so going down
Westward to the said ford of Carlwath. He also grants to them pasture in
common with the tenants of Rasate, and pasture at Thamboord, and at
Swindale on both sides, (to the top of Binbash on one side, and on the
other side beyond Thengeheved) for 60 cows, 20 mares to run in the woods,
and 500 sheep, with their young till the age of three years; and for five
yoke of oxen; and wood also for the Abbey, timber, fire, hedging, and other
necessaries, without the control of his foresters.'-
Dugdale's Monasticon, p.594.
This Thomas Cospatrick, the founder, died Dec. 7, 1152, and was buried in
this Abbey, as were also several of the Veteriponts and Cliffords, who were
great benefactors to it.
Various messuages and lands, both in Westmoreland other counties, were
given to this Abbey by numerous individuals. At the time of the
dissolution, in 1540, its revenues were valued at 154l. 7s. 7
1/2d. a year. Though the first attack of Henry the Eighth on the
Monasteries was by the act he got passed in 1535 to dissolve all whose
revenues were under 200l. a year, yet the Abbey of Shap, though
under this value, by some means or other suffered not by it. Perhaps the
reason might be because the act that year speaks of those which contained
under the number of 12 persons, whereas in this Abbey there were 20
religious. Or perhaps Henry Earl of Cumberland, the patron thereof, who was
highly in favour with Henry the Eighth, might have interest to save it in
that first attack.
It surrendered on Jan. 14, 1540, under the act passed 1539 for the
suppression of Monasteries. The last Abbot was Richard Evenwode, who for
some reason or other signed the surrender of the Abbey by the name of
Richard Baggot. Its possessions were granted, in 1544, with the monasteries
of Gisburn and Rival, in Yorkshire, to Thomas Lord Wharton, at the yearly
rent of 41l. 11s. with reversion in the Crown, which James
the First in 1610 granted Philip, Lord Wharton, and his heirs male, with
whom they continued till about the year 1730, when they were sold with
other Westmoreland estates of the notorious and profligate Duke of Wharton,
to Robert Louther, esq. of Mauldsmeaburn, and are now attached to the
Lowther estates.
In Henry the Eighth's grant of the possession of this Abbey to the Wharton
family, were reserved and excepted Sleddale grange, Milbourn grange, and
all those lands in Rosegill in the tenure of Thomas Salkeld, and the
several lands and tenements in Sleagill, Melkinthorpe, and Great
Strickland; and except also the lead and bells in and upon the Church and
scite of the said late Monastery, the leaden gutters and pipes, and lead in
the windows.
Richard Baggot, alias Evenwode, the last abbot, was living in the first
year of Queen Mary, i.e. 1553, and enjoyed a pension of 40l. a year.
And of the canons and officers there were then surviving 13 person, each of
whom had pensions as follows, - Hugh Watsonne, Robert Barlonde, John
Addison, Edward Machael, and Edmund Carter, 6l. each; Martin
Mackerethe, John Dawston, and Richard Mell, 5l. each; John Bell,
5l. 6s. 8d.; George Ellerston, Anthony Johnson, John
Rode, and Ralph Watsonne, 4l. each.
The length of the Abbey Church, including the tower, was about 75 yards,
outside measure. Its tower, which is yet standing, exhibits a specimen of
excellent masonry. It has been built of white freestone, and so exceedingly
durable as to preserve the marks of the chisel to this day. Some fragments
of the chancel walls, which are washed by the river Louther, also still
remain. The ground adjoining the South side of the Abbey Church is coverd
with the relics of its cloisters and offices, many of them vaulted
underneath.
The house here, now occupied as a farm-house, seems to have been one of the
offices. About 100 yards below the Abbey are the ruins of an
old
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{text- }
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old bridge. Shap Grange, which belonged to it, stands in rich pastures, a
mile to the East, and has vestiges of a considerable village around it.
Speed, after mentioning this Abbey, adds, 'where there is a fountain or
spring which ebbs and flows many times in a day;' it is called Skuskill
well, and at present throws out a copious, but apparently a regular flowing
stream.
The Premonstratenses, or Monks of Premonstre, vulgarly called White Canons,
had 27 Monasteries in England.
GEORGE HALL.
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{header- Obituary, William Green}
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{text- obituary}
MR. WILLIAM GREEN.
April 28. At Ambleside, aged 62, Mr. William Green of Keswick and
Ambleside. He had lived twenty years at the last two places, in the midst
of beautiful scenery. It was the business of his life to study Nature, and
to that business he brough talents, perseverance, and enthusiasm. He knew
the recesses of the groves and woods, as well as the stock-doves, and the
cliffs and recesses of the fells, as well as the ravines. He was witty and
pleasant, and there was a simplicity, a naivitié and
bonhommie, about the man himself, which any one who conversed with
him, or perused his works, could not fail to be pleased with. - He
published "Studies from Nature, containing 78 outline engravings of scenery
in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, with descriptions," fol. 1809.
- "The Tourist's New Guide; containing a Description of the Lakes,
Mountains, and Scenery in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire; with
some account of their bordering Towns and Villages," 2 vols. 8vo. 1822.
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{header- Karl Lofts, Shap}
{image = G824A003.jpg}
CARL LOFTS AT SHAP, WESTMORELAND.
Rosegill, Jan. 12.
Mr. URBAN,
AT Shap is a stupendous monument of antiquity called Carl Lofts, i.e.
"the liftings of the Ceorles or husbandmen." It is composed of two
rows of large stones of unhewn granite, from six to twelve feet in
diameter. The form is a gentle curve, or something like the head of a
well-formed mason's hammer. It commences about half a mile south of the
town, and runs parallel with the Kendal road, on the east side, for about
three quarters of a mile, when it turns off in a north-west direction for
about the length of a mile and three quarters, or perhaps about three
thousand yards. At the south end, about twenty yards from the south-west
corner, on the outside of the stones, was a small tumulus, which, since the
inclosure of Shap common in 1815, is now levelled and destroyed. When this
tumulus was opened into, it was found to be composed of granite and cobble
stone: as the strata of stone here is lime-stone, the granite must have
been gathered on the surrounding surface, and the cobble must have been
brought from some distance. At about the distance of 100 yards from the
turn at the south end, on the outside, was a circle about eighteen feet in
diameter of similar stones, each about one yard and a half in diameter, and
in the centre thereof was one about one yard and a half high from the
surface of the ground that tapered to a point. This has also been destroyed
since the inclosure of the common.
The distance of the stones in the lines was eight, ten, or twelve yards;
but at the turn at the south end, which remains perfect, they are something
nearer, being from three to eight yards. The distance between each line at
the south end is eighty-nine feet. This distance seems gradually to have
diminished about one yard in every hundred, till it came to a wedge-like
point at the north end, near to the field called Skellaw. In this field
called Skellaw, which signifies "the hill of the skulls," is a small
tumulus on an eminence, which no doubt is connected with the monument,
though it deviates about 190 yards to the north-east from the last stone
now remaining; but it highly probable the stones were continued a little
further northward; this deviation, however, may be accounted for from the
eligibility of the situation for prospect, as from this spot the tumulus at
the south end could be seen, and nearly the whole line of the monument.
A few years ago a countryman wanting stones for the highway, dug into this
tumulus, thinking to find stone; but not finding the appearance of any, he
soon desisted. In his attempt, however, he found human bones.
When the antiquary now views the remains of this remarkable monument, he
cannot but regret at what, perhaps, he may call the barbarous treament it
has met with. The southern end, which extended about half a mile on the
common, had both rows tolerably perfect till the inclosure of the common in
1815; since then these stones have nearly all been blasted and removed into
the walls, excepting fourteen, which compose the turn at the south end,
which are on a plot of land alloted to the Earl of Lonsdale, and which he
has given orders to be preserved. The northern end, for nearly the length
of a mile, lying amongst old inclosed and arable land, had generally been
removed at former periods before the recollection of any person now living.
There are, however, four on a piece of land, which cannot be tilled for
limestone rock, which seem to form the terminating point, or at least part
of it, at the north end. They are respectively 11, 25, and 20 yards distant
from each other. Probably two may have been
removed
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removed from among these, as the two latter distances seem to admit of such
a supposition. Between these four and the fourteen at the south end, only
fifteen now remain in their original position. They are left here and
there, and serve as a sort of guide to trace the course of the monument.
The blasted and broken fragments of the others maya be seen in the walls
adjoining.
One of the most prominent that remains, is called Guggleby stone, which
formed part of the west line, and stands on its small end near the footpath
leading to the village of Keld; it is eight feet high and 37 feet in girth
at its middle. The stone next remaining north of it, which formed part of
the east line, is about 13 feet long, and six feet in diameter; but it is a
different kind of stone to all the rest; this is basalt or whinstone, and
all the others are granite. This stone probably once was placed upon its
end; for one end seems to have been squared with a chisel, and it has the
appearance of having been overturned by digging limestone from beneath it.
In the middle of the part squared is a hole four inches over, and two
inches deep; about two feet therefrom, on a sloping corner, is another hole
of about the same size. on one of the corners at the other end is a rude
circle, eight inches across, and a shallow hole in the centre. By minute
examination, other inscriptions of this kind, perhaps, might be found here,
as on the obelisks at Aubrey described by Dr. Stukeley.
These masses of granite were, no doubt, originally from Wastdale, which is
about two miles from the south end of the monument: for here a bed of
similar granite is found, the only bed I believe in Westmoreland. It is
remarkable that, for the distance of three miles eastward from the low end
of Wastdale, an immense quantity of rounded worn-like granite stones of all
sizes, up to four yards in diameter, are found scattered over the face of
the country to the above distance or further, which is wholly of a
limestone and freestone strata. They seem to be spread in a fan-like form
from Wastdale, and are more thickly scattered, and also of smaller size, as
the distance increases. These primary stones being found on the surface of
secondary ones, demonstrate that they have been thus thrown by some
convulsion of nature of which we have no record; or, according to Professor
Buckland, in his Reliquiae Diluvianae on similar appearances, they have
thus been transported and drifted by a diluvial current. He, indeed,
supposes, that a diluvial current is the only adequate cause that can
account for these appearances. See also Edin. Rev. for Oct. 1823, No.77.
Whether the stones which composed the Carl Lofts were brought direct from
Wastdale, or whether they were gathered from among the scattered ones, can
only now be a mater of conjecture; but probably they were some of the
scattered ones; as they might be found nearer for carriage and already
detached. But how such immense blocks (several being from 3 to 4 yards in
diameter) could be carried and placed in the regular manner they were, it
is difficult to form an idea.
"That the monument was Danish, may be inferred from the custom of the
northern nations of arranging their recording stones in forms that they
seemed to determine should be expressive of certain events; those that were
placed in straight and long order commemorated the emulations of champions:
squares shewed equestrian conflicts: circles the interments of families:
wedge-shaped a fortunate victory."* Pennant agrees in this opinion,
and supposes that "success might have attended the northern invaders in
this place, which gave rise to their long arrangement."† Hence, if
this be correct, they have been placed here between eight or nine hundred
years. Dr. Burn in his History of Westmoreland, says, "undoubtedly this
hath been a place of Druid worship, which they always performed in the open
air within this kind of inclosure, shaded with wood, as this place of old
time appears to have been, although there is now scarce a tree to be seen,
(Shap Thorn only excepted, planted on the top of a hill for the direction
of travellers). At the high end of this place of worship, there is a circle
of the like stones about 18 feet in diameter, which was their sanctum
sanctorum, as it were, and place of sacrifice." But Dr. Burn seems only
to have taken a limited view of the monument. He only speaks of the south
end upon the com-
* Olaus Magnus de Gent. Septentr. l.1. c.18.
† Pennant's Northern Tour, i. 297.
mon,
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{image = G824A005.jpg}
[com]mon, which was perfect in his day, and does not appear to have traced
its extent northward through the old inclosed land. That so extensive a
space as is here occupied should have any reference to a place of worship,
seems hardly probable. That it was to commemorate some event, and probably
a victory, seems more likely, and the name of Skellaw, i.e. the Hill of
Skulls, strengthens the conjecture.
GEORGE HALL.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1824 part 2 p.245}
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{header- William Wordsworth, a mention}
{image = G824B245.jpg}
{text- William Wordsworth mentioned in a review of The Library Companion by
T F Dibdin, 1824}
'The fame of Mr. WORDSWORTH was first established by his Lyrical
Ballads, 1798, 1802, 12mo. 2 vols.: with additions and improvements in
1815, 8vo. 2 vols. The most imprtant work was his larger poem of The
Excursion, 1820, 4t0. The third, the White Doe of Rylstone,
&c. 1819, 4to. These, with Peter Bell, the Wagoner, &c.
appear in the collected works of Mr. Wordsworth, published in 1820, 12mo. 4
vols. The muse of this poet is of a singular cast and temperament. Objects
the most simple, and themes the most familiar, are treated by her in a
style peculiarly her own: but if these objects and these themes have been
such as, with a great number of readers, to excite surprise and provoke
ridicule, this must have arisen rather in compliance with the tone of what
is called fashionable criticism, than from an impartial perusal of the
poems themselves. The purest moral strain, and the loftiest feelings of
humanity, pervade the productions of Mr. Wordsworth: and these; at times,
are united with so much sweetness of diction, and with such just and
powerful views of religion, that that bosom must be taxed with
insensibility which is impervious to their impression.'
{title- Gents Mag 1824 part 2 p.392}
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{header- Drunken Barnaby, a mention}
{image = G824B392.jpg}
FLY LEAVES - No.XXII.
Drunken Barbaby
AMONG the penny merriments forming the singular collection in the Pepysian
Library, at Cambridge, one of No.362 is a 'Variety of new merry riddles:
written for the benefit of those that are disposed to pass away some part
of their time in honest mirth and delight, whereby to avoid drunkenness,
gaming, whoring, and other such like vice. Here is also several excellent
verses, and a resemblance of love between young men and their sweethearts,
which was never invented, as may appear, nor printed before this present
year, 1655. By Lawrence Price.' In the 'excellent verses' occur the
following lines (without title), which serve to confirm the popularity of
the character of Barnaby at that period.
I heard a proverb often told
Of a custom that is like to hold
'Mongst rich and poor, both young and old,
To pay a groat i' th' morning
And Barnaby hath his summons sent
Throughout all Christendom and Kent,
Cause all fudlers should be content
To pay a groat i' th' morning.
God Bacchus also doth agree
That never a one shall be set free
That goes home drunk to bed, till he
Hath paid a groat i' th' morning.
The shoo-makers and Taylors they
Take Monday for a holy-day,
But if known drunk, they're forc'd to pay
Their groat o' th' Tuesday morning.
Thus Barnaby hath ordain'd a feast
Of Beer and nappy ale o' th' best,
And evry one tht is his guest
Must pay a groat i' th' morning.
Sir George Etherege, in the comedy of 'Love in a Tub,' (first printed 1664)
gives the reeling ripeness of our hero to his Sir Nicholas Cully, one of
Oliver's knight, who says: 'Let me go, I am not so drunk but I can stand
without your help, Gentlemen. Widow, here is musick, send for a parson, and
we will dance Barnaby within this half-hour.'
These notices may be added to the gathering made on the same subject in the
Barnabae Itinerarium, vol.I. ed.1820.
EU. HOOD.
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{title- Gents Mag 1824 part 2 p.548}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1824 part 2 p.548}
{header- Horseshoe, Carlisle}
{image = G824B548.jpg}
A very ancient horse-shoe was recently found, embedded in solid clay, four
feet deep, in Mr. Cowen's brick-field, on the banks of the Eden, near
Carlisle, a little beyond where the Roman wall crossed that river. It is of
an extraordinary size, weighing no less than twenty-eight ounces. There
were originally thirteen nails in it, extending all round the front, eight
of which still remain in an almost perfect state. It is much wider than the
modern shoe; and the hollow is filled up by a thick plate of iron, as if
destined to protect the foot of the horse from the spikes used in ancient
warfare, and continued down to the Border contests, in order to check the
operations of cavalry. The situation in which it was found, buried so deep
in pure clay, implies an antiquity much greater than the period of the
moss-troopers, or the wars of the Bruces and the Edwards.
PHILO.
{title- Gents Mag 1825 part 1 p.386}
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{header- Fingerposts}
{image = G825A386.jpg}
F.B. observes, "A material improvement, with little additional trouble,
might be made in the common guide post, especially at important positions.
It might consist of a board with a coarse map of the adjoining country,
containing the boundaries, &c."
{title- Gents Mag 1825 part 1 p.410}
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{header- County History, Westmorland}
{image = G825A410.jpg}
COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY.
WESTMORLAND.
'In Calgarth's sole domain a mansion stands,
Which down the lake* a partial view commands,
Young fattening herds the rounded pastures fill,
Each flank is covered by a wooded hill,
Near whose gay sides the silver Troutbeck flows,
[ ] having left that source whence she arose,
Impetuous rushing her rough rocks among,
And in the lake's deep bosom glides along,
Pleas'd to partake in her extended fame,
She yields her tribute and becomes the [same].'
SITUATION AND EXTENT.
Boundaries, North, Durham and Cumberland: East, Yorkshire and
Durham: South, Lancashire and Yorkshire: West, Cumberland and Lancashire.
Greatest length, 40; greatest breadth, 32; square, 844
miles.
Province, York; Diocese, Chester; Circuit, Northern.
* Winandermere.
ANTIENT
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ANTIENT STATE AND REMAINS.
British Inhabitants, Brigantes, Voluntii and [Sistontii].
Roman Province, Maxima Caesariensis. Stations, Alone,
Ambleside; Brovonacis, Brough; Brovacum, Brougham; Concangium, Natland;
Gallacum, Kendal; Voreda, Whelp Castle.
Saxton Octarchy, Northumbria.
Antiquities. British Earthwork, Penhurrock. British
Encampments: Milbourne and Haderwain. Druidical Remains of
Ellerbeck (called Cock Stones); Helston-cop-stone, and the Druid's cross;
Mayborough; Moord[yvv]ock Oddendale, (exactly half the size of Stonehenge);
near Pooley, (called the White Raise); near Rothay Bridge, and near Shap
(called the Druid's temple). Roman Encampments of Castle-hows,
Borrowdale; Castle-steads and Coney beds (exploratory camps to Water
Crook); between Crackenthorpe and Crossfell are several (one 300 yards long
and 150 broad); Haderwain (opposite the British Encampment); Maiden-castle,
Sandford,[ ]; Water-crook (supposed a Station). Roman Temple at
Levins (supposed of Diana). Saxon Earthwork, Castle-how or
Castle-law-hill. Danish Remains at Shap called Carl-lofts (a most
stupendous monument of antiquity). [ ] There are Camps on the banks
of the Eden, opposite Pendragon-castle; and at Kendal (semi-circular).
Abbeys of Preston Patrick (founded in 1119 by Thomas, son of
Gospatric, removed to Shap); Shap (removed from Preston Patrick a few years
after 1119). Priory of Battleburgh (founded in 1281 by the Lords
Clifford, Percy and V[ ]cy). Churches old Asby (an antient edifice,
much diminished by repairs); Askham (enumerated by Grose among the
remarkable edifices of the county); Barton; Brough; Crosby Ravensworth
(founded by Torphin de Alverstain, temp. Hen. I.exhibited curious specimens
of architecture); Kendal; Kirbyshore (very antient); Kirkby Lonsdale (120
feet long and 102 broad); Kirkby Stephen; Sisergh (in ruins).
Chapels of Appleby (in ruins in 1482, afterwards converted into the
county gaol); Applethwaite, on St. Catharine's brow (converted into a
dwelling-house); Asby; Betham; Brougham; Burneshead; Crackenthorpe;
Crosthwaite; Grasmere; KENDAL, in Chapel-lane, another on Chapel-hill;
Kentmere; Kirkbergh, near Newbiggen; Patterdale (dedicated to St. Patrick);
Reagill; Sandford (had one on 1353); Skelsmergh; Smardale (destroyed for
several centuries); Stainton (founded temp. Ric. I. by Anselm de Furness,
son of first Michael le Fleming); Stavely (handsome steeple); Temple
Sowerby; St. Mary Holme, on an island in Winandermere; Wyth; (stood between
King's Meaburn and Morland). Stone Pulpit at Brough.
Castles of APPLEBY (of great antiquity); Betham; Borrowdale (in
ruins); Brough (built before temp. Wm. I.); Brougham (Keep supposed Roman
by Grose); Buley (belonged to the Viteriponts and Bps. of Carlisle);
Hartley (scarce a vestige remains); Haverback; Howgill; KENDAL (erected on
the site of some Roman fort); Maiden; Pendragon, at Mallerstang (erection
attributed to Utter Pendragon, the fabled builder of Stonehenge); Warcross;
and Whelp, Kirbythore. Mansions of old Calgarth-hall, Kentmere-hall,
Preston-hall (a farm-house); Rosgill-hall (now a farm-house, but the
remains shew its former importance); Rydall Old-hall (in ruins);
Sizergh-hall (the seat of the Stricklands). Caves, Coop-Karnel-hole,
&c. at Stenkrith Bridge; Pate-hole ( a remarkable cavern in a
lime-stone rock, two furlongs South of Great Asby).
PRESENT STATE AND APPEARANCE.
Rivers. Barrow; Bertha or Bela; Eamont; Eden; Helle-beck; Hunna;
Kent; Lowther; Lune or Lon; Lyvennate; Mint; Rowtha; Sleddale; Sprit; Tees;
Winster (the boundary between Westmoreland and Lancashire).
Inland Navigation. Wigan and Kendal Canal.
Lakes. Ais-water; Angle-tarn *, about 5 acres of water;
Broadwater; Elterwater, larger than Grasmere; Grassmere, four miles in
compass; Grisedale-tarn; Hause-water, three miles long; Kent-mere, small,
fed by the river
* A tarn is a small lake
Kent;
{title- Gents Mag 1825 part 1 p.412}
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Kent; Kepel-cove-tarn; Red-tarn, a mile long, of a brownish red;
Rydal-water, one mile long; Skeggles-water; Small-water; Sunbiggin-tarn;
ULLSWATER (the lower end of which, called Ousemere), about nine miles long;
Wa[ ]dale-beck; Winfell-tarn; WINANDERMERE, in which are 12 islands, is 10
miles and a half long.
Eminences and Views. The high land about Askham affords a most
charming and extensive prospect; BOWFELL, 1036 yards high; Brougham-hall,
beautiful prospect from the terrace; Carlton-hall, extensive and varied
prospect; Crossfell mountain, 1000 yards above the level of the sea;
Curwen's island, one of the loveliest and most sacred seats of simplicity;
Farlton-knot, a bold and high mountain; Grassmere, 'as sweet a scene as
travelled eye ever beheld;' Hall-hill; Hard-knot-hill; Hartsop-high-field,
from whence Broadwater is seen to great advantage; Haverback Castle-hill;
Helsington Chapel, from whence a romantic prospect of the 'sea, woods,
rocks, and fertile valley below;' HELVELLYN, 1070 yards high; Kirkby
Lonsdale Church-yard, celebrated for its fine view; LOWTHER PARK, compared
by Lord Macartney to the park of the Emperor of Chinas, called
'Van-shoe-yuen, or the paradise of 10,000, or innumerable trees;' 'so rich,
so various, so beautiful, so sublime a prospect, my eyes had never beheld;'
Mell-fell; Murton-pit; Naddle Forest; Orton Scar, on its top are remains of
a beacon; Patterdale, much admired for the beauty and diversity of its
scenery; Rydal Head, 1030 yards high; from its summit the Lakes of
Winandermere, Elter-water; Grassmere, and Rydal-water are seen;
Stanmore-dale; Storr's Point, whence a delightful prospect; Wallow Cragg;
Whinfell, 500 yards high, on its top was a beacon communicating with Orton
Scar; Whitbarrow Scar, affords a romantic prospect; Wildboar-fell, soaring
to a great height, and impending with a cape-like head over the country;
from its base the prospect is exceedingly interesting; Winandermere, the
prospects along which are very picturesque; Wrynose-hill, so denomiinated
from its crookedness.
Natural Curiosities. Asby wells, one called St. Hellin's; and the
other near Grange-hall; Betha, or Bela waterfall, one of the
Catadupae of Camden; Black-dub at Crosby-gill, the source of the
Lyvannate; Brough Well, fomerly much resorted to, and the Vicar of Brough
had a diploma from the Pope to receive oblations from the pilgrims
resorting to it; Burneshead Well, reputed sacred; Burton Well; Clayborrow
Heath, the source of the Winster; Clifton Well, at which a great concourse
of people assemble annually on May-day; Eagle Crag, Borrowdale; Gell-forth
Spout, in Longlesdale, the fall about 100 yards in an unbroken sheet;
Gonsdike, which continually casts up small silver-like spangles; Grassmere
Well; Helvellyn Spring; the side of the Kent is famous for petrifying
springs that incrust vegetable bodies; one of them is called the 'dropping
well;' Leven's park waterfall, one of the Catadupae of Camden;
Mallerstang, the source of the Eden; Pate-hole, petrifying spring;
Ravenstonedale, the source of the Lune; Shap wells, one called Auney well,
the other a petrifying well; Ullswater, the commencement of the river
Eamont; Witherslack holy well, discovered to be medicinal in 1656.
Public Edifices. APPLEBY Bridge; County Gaol; Free Grammar School,
founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1574; Hospital founded by Anne, Countess of
Pembroke and Montgomery, in 16[ ]; House of Correction; Market-house,
erected in 1811, from a design by Mr. Smirke; New Gaol, erected in 1771;
Town Hall. Ashby School, founded in 1688 by Mr. George Smith. Bampton Free
Grammar School, founded in 16[23] by Dr. Thos. Sutton; Measand School,
'Richard Wright founder, [1711], Richard Law benefactor, 1713.' Barton
School, founded in 1649 by Doctors Gerard Langbaine; Lancelot Dawes,
&c. Betham Bridge. Bulness Grammar School, built by contribution about
1637. Crosby Ravensworth Free School, founded about 1617. Heversham School,
founded by Edw. Wilson in 1613. KENDAL, Blue-coat School, 3 Bridges;
Dispensary commenced in 1783; Free Grammar School. endowed in 1525 by Adam
Pennyngton of Boston, re-built 1592; Hospital and Charity School, founded
Sept. 6 1670, by Thomas Sandes; Obelisk on Castle-law-hill, erected in 1788
in commemoration of the Restoration; School of Industry instituted 1799;
Town Hall re-built 1759; Workhouse,
large
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large and airy building. Kirkby Lonsdale Bridge, of singular beauty, and
very lofty; Free Grammar School, founded in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth. Kirkby
Stephen Free Grammar School, founded in 15[56] by Thomas Lord Wharton.
Milthorpe Bridge over the Betha. Morland Free Grammar School, founded about
1730 by the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. Old Hutton Free School, built in
1613 by Edward Milner. Orton Free Grammar School, founded about 1730 by
subscription; Greenholme School, founded in 1733 by George Gibson, gent.;
Tefay School, founded in 1670 by Robert Adamson, gent. Ravenstonedale
Grammar School, founded in 1688 by Thomas Fothergill, B.D. re-built in
1759. Stanemore Chapel, built as a school-house in 1594. Stenkrith Bridge,
over the Eden. Temple Sowerby Bridge, over the Eden, re-built in 1575, and
again in 1748. Thrimby School, founded by Thomas Fletcher in 1681. Whitby
Free School, founded by James Highmore, about 1630. Winandermere School,
built about 1637. Winton Grammar school, founded in 1659 by Rev. William
Morland.
Seats.
Lowther Castle, Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Lieutenant.
Appleby Castle, Earl of Thanet, Hereditary Sheriff.
Askham Hall, Earl of Lonsdale.
Belfield, Bowness, Mrs. Fleming.
Bratha Hall, Ambleside, J. Harden, esq.
Brough Castle, Earl of Thanet.
Brougham Hall, Henry Brougham, esq. M.P.
Brig Steer Park, near Sizergh, T. Strickland, esq.
Calgarth, Mrs. Watson.
Carleton Hall, Rt.Hon. Thos. Wallace.
Casterton Hall, W. Carus Wilson, esq. M.P.
Croft Lodge, Ambleside, Mrs. Pritchard.
Curwen's Island, H. Curwen, esq.
Dallam Tower, D. Wilson, esq.
Dalton Hall, Edm. Hornby, esq.
Elleray, J. Wilson, esq.
Ferney Green, Bowness, R. Graves, esq.
Grimes Hill, W. Moore, esq.
Harley Castle, Sir Philip Musgrave, bart.
Holly Hill, Bowness, H. Bellar, esq.
Howgill Castle, Earl of Thanet.
Leven's Park, Hon. Col. Howard.
Meaburn Hall, Earl of Lonsdale.
Oddendale, John Gibson, esq.
Orrest Hall, J. Braithwaite, esq.
Orton Hall, late John Burn, esq.
Pendragon Castle, Earl of Thanet.
Rayrigg, Rev. J. Fleming.
Rydal Hall, Sir Richard Fleming, bart.
-- Mount, W. Wordsworth, esq.
Shaw End, A. Shepherd, esq.
Skirsgill, Hugh Parkin, esq.
Stors Hall, Bowness, J. Bolton, esq.
Summerfield, T. Tatham, esq.
Wharton Hall, Earl of Lonsdale.
Whittington Hall, T. Greene, esq.
Wreston Hall, Rev. Mr. Strickland.
Peerage. Appleby Barony to Southwell; Kendal and Brough Baronies to
Herbert and Lowther; Lonsdale Earldom to Lowther; Westmorland Earldom to
Fane; Westmoreland Vipont of, Barony to Clifford Lord Clifford.
Members to Parliament for the County 2; Appleby 2; total 4.
Produce. Sheep, cattle. Corn. Fish. Fine hams. Copper; gypsum;
limestone; freestone; porphyry; granite; basalt, or whinstone; lead; coal;
and slate.
Manufactures. Coarse woollen cloth, called Kendal cottons; slates;
tanned hides; gunpowder; hoops; charcoal; wool; stockings; silk and worsted
waistcoat pieces; flannels; hats; and paper.
POPULATION
Baronies 2. Wards 4. Parishes 32. Parts of
Parishes 2. Market Towns 10. Inhabitants, Males 25,513;
Females 25,846; total 51,359.
Families employed in agriculture 5,096; in trade 3,801; in neither
1,541; total 10,438. - Baptisms. Males 7,604; Females 7,284; total
14,888. - Marriages. 3,385. - Burials, Males 4,345; Females
4,713; total 9,058.
Places having not less than 1,000 inhabitants.
... / Houses. / Inhab.
Kendal / 1,990 / 17,417
Kirkby Kendal / 1,929 / 8,984
Heversham / 701 / 8,996
Kirkby Lonsdale / 693 / 8,769
Kirkby Stephen / 540 / 2,712
Morland / 342 / 1,911
Brough / 284 / 1,[ ]87
Grasmere / 354 / 1,778
Burton in Kendal / 224 / 1,642
Beetham / 276 / 1,618
Arton / 302 / 1,525
Windermere / 295 / 1,441
Bongate / 209 / 1,275
Barton / 234 / 1,212
Ravenstone Dale / 2[ ] / 1,059
Kirkby Thore / 191 / 1,051
HISTORY
{title- Gents Mag 1825 part 1 p.414}
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{image = G825A414.jpg}
HISTORY.
1st or 2d century. Marit[ ], King of the Britons, defeated Roderic, or
Rotheringer, a Pictish general from Scythia, upon the mountain now called
Stanemore; in memory whereof Reicrois or Rerecros (a red or royal cross)
was erected, and from him Westmorland takes its names.
791. Ethred slew Elf and Edwin, sons of Elfwald at Winandermere.
946. Edmund wasted Cumbria, and having put out the eyes of the two sons of
Dunmail, gave that province to Malcolm, King of Scotland. Dun-mel-wrays is
supposed to have been erected in memory of it, or as a boundary of
Dunmail's kingdoms.
1176. King William of Scotland surprised Appleby castle, and utterly
destroyed the town. In this inroad he sacked Brough Castle.
1388. The Scots by a second conflagration destroyed the town of Appleby.
1617. James I. magnificently entertained at Brougham Castle for three days
in August, on his return from his last journey to Scotland.
1641. Anne, Countess of Pembroke, 'in spite of her disloyal Simpleton',
fortified Appleby castle for the King, and gave the government of it to Sir
Philip Musgrave, who held out till after the battle of Marston Moor.
1645. In this year, probably, Colonel Briggs besieged Holme House,
Winandermere, eight or ten days, until the raising of the seige of Carlisle
brought Mr. H. Philipson of Crooke, to whom it belonged, to the relief of
his brother Robert in Holme House. The next day Mr. Robert, with three or
four companions, rode to Kendal to take revenge on the adverse party there;
he passed the watch, and rode into the church, in expectation of finding
Colonel Briggs, but did not succeed. Robert was unhorsed by the guards on
his return; but being relieved by his companions by a desperate charge, he
vaulted into the saddle without girth, and killing a sentinel galloped
away. For this, and other adventures, he obtained the appellation of
Robin the Devil.
1648. Oct. 16. Appleby castle surrendered to the Paraliament under
Lieutenant Gen. Ashton.
1651. General T. Harrison came to Appleby with his forces. The war was then
hot in Scotland, and many places in this county were full of soldiers. King
Charles II. came to Crosby-gill, where he halted and dined. He partook of
the waters of Black-dub.
1663. A party of friends of the Commonwealth met on Kabergh Rigg, and
endeavoured to stir up an insurrection against the Restoration; but being
dispersed by the militia, Capt. Atkinson, a turbulent republican, was taken
and hanged at Appleby in 1664.
1745. At Clifton Moor a smart action took place between the rebel forces
and the Duke of Cumberland, in which the former were driven from their
advantageous posts. When the rebels, to the numbers of 110, entered Kendal,
they were attacked by the inhabitants with clubs, stones, and any thing
they could get, which greatly harassed them.
(To be continued.)
{title- Gents Mag 1825 part 1 p.489}
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{header- Song on the Death of Lord Derwentwater}
{image = G825A489.jpg}
Westmoreland, May 12.
Mr. URBAN,
THE following is an Old Song on the death of RATCLIFFE, Earl of
DERWENTWATER, who was beheaded as a Traitor, on Tower-hill, Feb. 24, 1716.
It was one of the most popular in its day, in the North of England, for a
long period after the event which it records had taken place. I took it
down from the dictation of an old person who learned it from her father. In
its oral descent, from generation to generation, it had got a little
corrupted. But a poetical friend of mine has assisted me in restoring it to
something like poetical propriety. My dictator could not go further than
the 17th verse, and supposed that it ended there; which seemed defective.
The four last verses are now added to give a finish. There is a pathetic
simplicity in the song at once affecting and interesting; and which renders
it, I think, deserving of preservation in your columns.
G.H.
King George he did a letter write,
And sealed it up with gold,
And sent it to Lord Derwentwater,
To read it if he could.
He sent his letter by no post,
He sent it by no page;
But sent it by a gallant Knight,
As e'er did combat wage.
The first line that my Lord look'd on,
Struck him with strong surprise:
The second more alarming still,
Made tears fall from his eyes.
He called up his stable groom,
Saying, 'Saddle me well my steed;
For I must up to London go,
Of me there seems great need.'
His lady hearing what he said,
As she in child-bed lay,
Cry'd, 'My dear Lord, pray, make your will,
Before you go away.'
'I'll leave to thee, my eldest son,
My house and my land;
I'll leave to thee my younger son,
Ten thousand pounds in hand.
'I'll leave to thee, my lady gay,
My lawful married wife,
A third part of my whole estate,
To keep thee a lady's life.'
He knelt him down by her bed-side,
And kissed her lips so sweet;
The words that pass'd, alas, presaged!
They never more should meet.
Again he call'd his stable groom,
Saying, 'Bring me out my steed,
For I must up to London go,
With instant haste and speed.'
He took the reins into his hand,
Which shook with fear and dread;
The rings from off his fingers drop't;
His nose gush'd out and bled.
He had but ridden miles two or three,
When stumbling fell his steed;
'Ill omens these,' Derwentwater said,
'That I for James must bleed!'
As he rode up Westminster-street,
In sight of the White Hall;
the lords and ladies of London town,
A traitor they did him call.
'A traitor!'
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'A traitor!' Lord Derwentwater said,
'A traitor! how can I be,
Unless for keeping five hundred men,
Fighting for King Jemmy?'
Then started forth a grave old man,
With a broad-mouth'd axe in hand.
'Thy head, thy head, Lord Derwentwater;
Thy head's at my command.'
'My head, my head, thou grave old man,
My head I will give to thee:
Here's a coat of velvet on my back,
Will surely pay thy fee,
But give me leave,' Derwentwater said,
'To speak words two or three;
Ye lords and ladies of London town,
Be kind to my lady.
'Here's a purse of fifty sterling pounds;
Pray give it to the poor:
Here's one of forty-five beside,
You may dole from door to door.'
He laid his head upon the block,
The ax was sharp and strong;
The stroke that cut his sufferings short,
His memory cherished long.
Thus fell proud Derwent's ancient lord,
Dread victim to the laws;
His lands fell forfeit to the Crown,
Lost in the Stuart's cause.
His weeping widow's drooping heart
With sorrow burst in twain;
His orphan'd children, outcast spurn'd,
Deep felt th' attainted stain.
The Derwent's far-famed Lake alone,
Its noble name retains,
And of the title, thence extinct,
Sole monument remains.
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COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY.
WESTMORLAND.
EMINENT NATIVES.
Addison, Lancelot, learned Dean of Lichfield, Crosby Ravensworth, 1632.
Airey, Dr. Adam, principal of Edmund Hall, one of the founders of Barton
School in 1649, Barton.
--- Christopher, 1609.
--- Dr. Henry, author of some Calvinistic works, Kentmere, 1560.
Appleby, Roger de, Bishop of Ossory (ob. 1404).
--- Thomas de, Bishop of Carlisle (ob. 1395).
Askew, Anthony, eminent physician, Kendal, 1722.
Bainbridge, Christopher, Cardinal, Abp. of York, poisoned at Rome, 1514,
Barton.
Barlow, Dr. Thomas, Bishop of Lincoln, Orton, 1607.
Barwick, John D.D. eminent divine and loyalist, Witherslack, 1612.
--- Peter, M.D. brother of the above, whose life he wrote in elegant Latin,
Witherslack, 1619.
Braithwaite, Richard, the well-known facetious and eccentric author of
'Drunken Barnaby,' Burneshead (ob. 1678).
Buckle, Sir Cuthbert, Lord Mayor of London in 1598, Stanemore.
BURN, Dr. RICHARD, author of 'Ecclesiastical Law,' &c. Winton (ob.
1785).
CHAMBERS, EPHRAIM, author of the Encyclopedia, Kendal (ob. 1740).
Chambré, Sir Allan, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, Abbot
Hall, near Kendal (ob. 1823).
Clifford, George, Earl of Cumberland, Brougham Castle, 1558.
Close, Nicholas, Bishop of Lichfield, Birbeck (ob. 1453).
Crackenthorpe, Richard, controversial divine, Strickland, 1587.
Dawes, Lancelot, one of the founders of Barton School, and Prebendary of
Carlisle, Barton, 1580.
Fothergill, Dr. Geo. principal of St. Edm. Hall, Ox. Lockholme in
Ravenstonedale, 1705.
Fothergill, Thomas, benefactor to his native parish, Brounber in
Ravenstonedale.
Garnett, Dr. Thomas, physician and natural philosopher, Casterton, 1766.
GIBSON, EDMUND, the learned and esteemed Bp. of London, High Knype, 1669.
--- Thomas, uncle of the Bishop, and son-in-law of Protector Richard
Cromwell, High Knype.
Gibson,
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Compendium of County History. - Westmorland.
Gibson, William, self taught mathematician of the most wonderful powers,
Bolton, 1720 *.
GILPIN, BERNARD, eminent divine and reformer, called the 'Apostle of the
North,' Kemtmire, 1517.
Hudson, Wm. one of the earliest Linnaean botanists in England, 1780.
Johnson, Samuel, eminent divine, 1649.
Kendal, Richard de, excellent grammarian (flor. temp. Hen. VI).
Lancaster, Dr. William, Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and one of the
founders of Barton School, Sockbridge.
Langbaine, Gerard, linguist, antiquary, scholar, and one of the founders of
Barton School, Barton Kirke, about 1608.
Langhorne, Dr. John, the poet, and brother of William, Kirkby Steven, 1785.
--- William, brother of above, and joint translator of Plutarch's Lives,
Winton.
Mill, Dr. John, editor of the Greek New Testament, Harderdale in Shap,
1645.
Monkhouse, Dr. Richard, eminent divine, Winton.
Morton, Charles, learned physician and antiquary, 1716.
Otway, Sir John, eminent lawyer, Middleton.
Philipson, Robert, for his military achievements nicknamed Robin the
Devil, Crook-hall.
Potter, Barnaby, called the Puritanical Bishop of Carlisle, Kendal, 1578 or
9.
--- Christopher, nephew of above, and loyal divine, who sent his plate to
the King, saying he would drink as Diogenes did, in the hollow of his hand,
before the King should want. Kendal, 1591.
Robertson, Joseph, a critic of celebrity, learning, and industry, High
Knype, 1726.
Saunderson, Randal, divine and benefactor to his native village, Reagill.
Shaw, Dr. Thomas, author of 'Travels in Barbary and the Levant,' a work of
high celebrity, Kendal, 1692.
Smith, George, founder of the school in his native parish, Asby.
--- Dr. Bishop of Carlisle, cousin of the above, Asby.
--- John, a divine, particularly versed in Septentrional literature and in
antiquities, Lowther, 1659.
Stephenson, Rev. William, benefactor to his native place, Bampton.
Strickland, William de, Bishop of Carlisle, Great Strickland, 1[ ]96.
Sutton, Dr. Thomas, benefactor to his native parish of Bampton, Sutton Gill
in that parish.
Viteripont, Thomas de, Bishop of Carlisle, 1255, Appleby.
Walker, Adam, natural and experimental philosopher, Windermere.
--- William, lecturer on astronomy, son of above, Kendal, 1766.
Wastal, Simon, learned author of 'Microbiblion, or an Epitome of the Bible
in Verse,' 1629, Wastelhead in Shap.
WATSON, RICHARD, excellent and learned Bishop of Llandaff, Heversham, 1737.
Wharton, Sir George, Baronet, astronomer and loyalist, Kendal (ob. 1681).
Whitehead, George, learned and zealous Quaker, Newbigg, about 1633.
Wilson, John, celebrated botanist, originally stocking knitter, Kendal (ob.
about 1750).
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.
This county has little or no advantage from navigable rivers.
At AMBLESIDE have been found innumerable Roman antiquities. Part of a Roman
Bridge still remains.
At APPLEBY, in 1598, the plague raged. - The castle was the residence of
the Clifford family, of whom the high-spirited Countess of Pembroke
frequently resided here. Here is a copy of the great family picture; the
original of which is at Skipton Castle, co. York. There are four
half-lengths of the Countess in the drawing-room. Here is also preserved
the magnificent suit of armour worn by the Earl of Cumberland in the
tilt-yard as champion to his Royal mistress Elizabeth; and his horse-armour
of equal splendour lies by it. - In St. Lawrence Church are some noble
monuments to the Cliffords; among which is one to the Countess of Pembroke.
- The School has produced a number of eminent characters in Church and
State. It has also furnished nearly half the students on the foundation of
Queen's College, Oxford. Upon the front of a little building of stone
erected by Reginald Bainbrigg, the friend of Camden, in 1602, then Master
of the School, were placed by him stones to the number of 24, having Roman
inscriptions.
The chancel of ASBY Church is singularly separated from the nave by two
arches.
In ASKHAM Church are several old monuments; and a stone coffin has been
found of the date of 1346.
* A very curious account of him may be seen in vol.LXI. p.1062.
BAMPTON
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Compendium of County History. - Westmorland.
BAMPTON Vicarage House was rebuilt at the expence of the celebrated and
very learned Bishop Gibson, who also erected a monument in the church to
his father and mother, with a modest Latin inscription. - In the Free
Grammar School, besides an innumerable list of eminent characters, were
educated Dr. John Mill, famous for his edition of the New Testament; and
Bishop Gibson. - Bishop Law obtained his classical rudiments at Measand
School.
IN BETHAM Church are the monuments of Sir Thomas de Betham and lady. - Of
this parish was Vicar Mr. William Hutton, who wrote a folio book of
collections for a history of the parish, which he deposited in the vestry
for the information of posterity; with blank pages to be filled up as
materials should occur *.
The windows of BROUGH Church were formerly full of extraordinary painted
glass.
At BROUGHAM many Roman antiquities have been discovered. Brougham Hall, for
its beautiful prospects, has been called the Windsor of the North.
CALGARTH was the property of the learned Bp. Watson, who added greatly to
the natural beauties of the estate. Some of the rooms in the old hall have
remains of their former elegance. Amongst the spirits which haunted these
melancholy walls, was one which had the custody of two sculls, which could
nether be broken to pieces, or carried to any place, but their guardian
would be able to re-unite them, or recover them to their dormitory on one
of the window-sills.
CROSS-FELL is reported to have been formerly called Fiend's Fell,
from evil spirits haunting its top, till St. Austin erected there a cross
and an altar, by which he broke their haunts; hence its present name.
At the South end of the village of EAMONT is a curious circle, consisting
of a high dyke of earth and a deep foss within, commonly called Arthur's
Round Table. Various are the conjectures respecting it.
FARLTON KNOT is said to bear a strong resemblance in form to the rock of
Gibraltar.
At HEVERSHAM Free Grammar School were educated Bp. Watson, Ephraim
Chambers, author of the Encyclopedia; Bishop Preston, and many others.
Bishop Watson's father was head master 40 years, and educated Chambers. He
was also born here, as were his father, grandfather, &c. - In the
church is interred the mother of Ephraim Chambers.
KENDAL was one of the first provincial towns which printed a
Newspaper. - Among the eminent men educated at the Free Grammar
School, may be mentioned Bp. Law, Dr. Fothergill, and Dr. Shaw, the
celebrated traveller.
At KENTMERE Hall flourished the Gilpin family, of whom was Bernard Gilpin,
'the Apostle of the North.' It is a tower-like edifice, under a
mountain browed with mighty craggs. When it was building, the Cork lad
of Kentmere, a barbarian of the name of Herd, lifted a chimney beam of
the kitchen into its place, 6 feet from the earth: it still remains, and is
30 feet long and 13 inches by 12 1/2 thick. At the age of 42 this man
killed himself with the Herculean task of tearing up trees by the roots.
In KIRKBY LONSDALE Church was a fine alabaster monument to one of the
Middletons, temp. Henry VIII. On the South porch was formerly curious
inscriptions respecting its erection, &c. - Of this parish, was vicar
one George Buchanan, a Scotchman driven out of Scotland for refusing the
covenant and suffered greatly from the Parliamentarians. - At the Free
Grammar School was educated Mr. Bell of the Chancery Bar.
AT LOWTHER College were educated the Earl of Selkirk, and late Duke of
Athol. The college was coverted into a manufactory for most beautiful
carpets, &c. of strength and lustre little inferior to those of Persia;
intended chiefly for the owner's use, but a few were sold from 63l.
to 105l. - The church contains several tombs of the Lowther family.
MILLTHROPE is the only town in the county visited by the tide, which flows
* I should be obliged if any of your Correspondents would inform me
whether the volume is still in being. S.T.
from
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Compendium of County History. - Westmorland.
from the estuary of the Kent up the river Betha; making this the only
seaport town in the county.
Of MORLAND Dr. Brown, author of the 'Essay on the Characteristics,' was
Vicar.
NEWBIGGIN HALL stands in a wooded sequestered vale. It is a low unique
building, with a poetical inscription over its front door. - The church is
small and contains but little remarkable. In one of the windows is a monk
with a pastoral staff. - Upon the rocks, at a place called Craw-dun-dale,
were formerly found characters and inscriptions, now obliterated and
mouldered away. Camden mentions one or two, but Burn doubts their
authenticity.
OLD HUTTON Free School has a library of several hundred volumes,
established in 1767 by Dr. Bray and associates.
Near PENDRAGON Castle is a well which commemorates a piece of history
respecting Uter Pendragon. It is said the treacherous Saxons who dared not
face him in the field, flung poison into the well. He drank of this his
favourite spring, and with a hundred of his courtiers fell victim to the
Saxon villany.
One of the customs at RAVENSTONEDALE is very peculiar. If any tenant being
of the age sixteen die, not having a child born in wedlock, and without a
will attested by at least 4 tenants of the manor, his estate escheats to
the lord. The Earl of Lonsdale offered to enfranchise the tenants, but such
was their attachment to ancient customs as to refuse the offer.
RERECROSS on Stanemore is the boundary between Westmorland and Yorkshire.
Only a fragment of it now remains. At the neighbouring turnpike house is a
cylindrical stone with COH . V. probably a Roman miliary.
Of SHAP Abbey became tenants at the dissolution, the Hoggerd family,
ancestors of the inimitable HOGARTH.
At SIZERGH Hall are several excellent portraits, and the tapestry and
carvings are exceedingly curious.
At Spying How, TROUTBECK, there was a large heap of stones called the
Raise, which contained a kistvaen full of men's bones, and another
called Woundal Raise , supposed British sepulchres.
ULLSWATER or Ousemere, when the day is uniformly overcast, and the air
perfectly still, like many other lakes, has its surface dappled with a
smooth oily appearance, which is called a Keld.
Of the Pearson's of WHINFELL, the learned Dr. John Pearson, Bishop of
Chester, was descended. - The forest was famous for its prodigious oaks,
one of them nearly 300 years old. The hart's-horn tree which grew by the
way-side near Hornby Hall had its name from a pair of horns hung up in it
about 1333 or 1334, after a memorable chase. The stag was started by a
grey-hound, and after chasing it to a considerable distance and back again,
the stag vaulted the park paling, but instantly died. The dog, in
attempting to clear it, fell backwards and expired. One of these horns were
broken out of the tree in 1648, and the other in 1658. On the East side of
the park is Julian's tower, celebrated for being the residence of the
mistress of Roger de Clifford, temp. Edw. III.
WINANDERMERE is the greatest standing water in England. On Longholme Island
is a remarkable echo. - Rayrigg Hall is said to resemble Ferney, the seat
of Voltaire on the Lake of Geneva. - The church contains monuments and
inscriptions to the Philipsons of Calgarth and other eminent families in
the neighbourhood. Its chancel window belonged to Furness Abbey. It
consists of seven compartments, representing the Crucifixion in the 3d,
4th, and 5th. In the 2d is St. George; in the 6th, St. Catharine, and in
the 7th, two mitred abbots and two monks. The colouring is very fine.
At WINTON Free Grammar School the author of Burn's Justice, &c. was
educated. - One of the rooms of the Hall is hung with very beautiful
tapestry; and amongst the pictures is a fine one of the late Countess of
Desmond.
Upon WRYNOSE HILL are placed the Shire-stones, in a triangle a foot from
each other, where Westmorland, Cumberland, and Lancashire, meet in a point.
S.T.
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{header- Obituary, Earl of Carlisle}
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OBITUARY.
EARL OF CARLISLE.
Sept. 4. At his seat, Castle Howard, co. York, Frederick Howard,
Earl of Carlisle, Viscount Howard of Morpeth, Baron Dacres of Gillesland,
K.G. &c.
This distinguished Nobleman was the eldest son of Henry fourth Earl of
Carlisle, by his second wife, Isabella, daughter of William fourth Lord
Byron, who died Jan. 22, 1795; was born May 28, 1748. Being intended for a
public life, he was early sent to Eton College, where he became the
contemporary of Hare, Fox, and of the Duke of Lancaster. Here too he also
formed a particular intimacy with Mr. Storer, who engaged his attention and
rivetted his friendship so much, that they were considered the Pylades and
Orestes of Eton. Some of his school-fellows he celebrated while there in
some superior verses.
From Eton his Lordship went to King's College, Cambridge, and afterwards
repaired to the Continent, making a grand tour of Italy, France, &c.
During his travels he was , although not a Peer of Scotland, elected one of
the Knight Companions of the Order of the Thistle, and was invested with
the Ensigns thereof, Feb. 27, 1768, at Turin, the King of Sardinia
representing his Majesty on that occasion. On the expiration of his
minority, he returned to England, and his father having died Sept 4, 1758,
took his seat in the House of Peers in 1769, and became one of the gayest
noblemen of the capital. Possessing a small but elegant figure, in which
symmetry was happily blended with agility and strength, he shone one of
those meteors of fashion. Elegant in his dress and manners, with his green
ribband across his vest, and a brilliant star sparkling at his side, he was
considered one of the chief ornaments of the Court. At this period, his
Lordship and Mr. C. Fox, though it will scarcely be believed, were
considered as two of the best dressed men of their times.
After dedicating a few years to fashion, we find him resuming the original
bent of his nature and education, and contending in the lists of Parliament
for the meed of fame and the prize of eloquence. Previous to entering upon
his literary character we shall notice a few incidents in his political
career, which he commenced in 1777, by being appointed, June 13, Treasurer
of his Majesty's Household, and Sworn Member of the Privy Council. In April
1788 he was chosen, on account of his acknowledged moderation, on of the
Commissioners to treat, consult, and agree upon the means of quieting the
disorders subsisting in his Majesty's colonies, plantations, and provinces
in North America. With the rest of the Commissioners, among whom were
Governor Johnstone and Mr. Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland, he went to
America, but the disposition of the Colonies being adverse to a
reconciliation, the object of his mission was defeated, and he returned
without being able to render any service to his country; though it was
universally acknowledged that he had executed the important office
entrusted to his care in a manner that redounded greatly to his honour.
On the 6th of November 1779 he was appointed a Lord of Trade: on Feb. 9,
1780, made Lord Lieutenant for the East Riding of Yorkshire; and in October
following appointed Viceroy of Ireland. On this occasion he was accompanied
by his friend Mr. Eden, who, in the capacity of Secretary, managed the
interests of England in the Irish Parliament, at this peculiarly arduous
and critical period. Notwithstanding numerous adverses, his administration
was accompanied with many circumstances calculated to conciliate popular
favour and meliorate the condition of an unhappy people. A national bank
was established, and many excellent plans formed and bills passed for
increasing the trade of Ireland. About the end of March 1782, an entire
change of administration taking place, Ireland fell to the share of the
Duke of Portland, a nobleman at that moment one of the most popular men in
the kingdom. This event occurred when Lord Carlisle was negotiating the
repeal of so much of the statute of George I. as affected the legislative
independence of Ireland, and was accompanied with some circumstances that
rendered his recal particularly disagreeable. The Irish Parliament,
however, on the 15th of April passed a vote of thanks to him 'for the
wisdom and prudence of his administtration, and for his uniform and
unremitted attention to promote the welfare of this Kingdom.'
In consequence of the demise of the great and disinterested patriot, Lord
Rockingham, we find Lord Carlisle enjoying the honourable appointment of
Steward of the Household; and he soon after obtained the more dignified one
of Lord Privy Seal. But a variety of important alterations ensuing, it was
difficult to preserve a firm footing amidst the frequent volcanic
explosions.
In
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In 1789, during the disputes relative to the Regency Bill, in consequence
of the severe illness of his late Majesty, Lord Carlisle took an active
part against the restrictions imposed on the heir-apparent, and when it
came before the House of Peers, Dec. 23, 1789, his Lordship in a brief but
elegant speech, asserted the claims of the Prince of Wales.
On Monday, March 28, 1791, we find his Lordship once more acting in
opposition to Mr. Pitt's administration, in a very powerful speech, on the
King's message respecting the failure of the pacification between Russia
and the Porte. He declared that in the course of parliamentary attendance,
he had often witnessed the contemptuous behaviour of the ministry, but
never in so insulting a manner as on this occasion.
In 1793 he was honoured with the Order of the Garter.
In 1794, he published a 'Letter to Lord Fitzwilliam, in reply to his
Lordship's two Letters;' and in 1798 a spirited tract entitled 'Unite or
Fall,' for general distribution.
It now remains to speak of Lord Carlisle as a votary of the Muses and a
patron of the Arts. At a very early period he was inspired with and
cultivated a taste for poetry; indeed, if we are rightly informed, he may
be said to 'have lisped in numbers.' Many of these compositions may be
found in 'The Foundling Hospital for Wit;' and 'The Asylum,' both published
by Mr. Almon. Four Poems written by his Lordship were published in 1773 in
a 4to volume; the first of these was an Ode on the death of Gray; the
second and third, verses destined for the monument of a favourite spaniel;
and the fourth a translation from Dante. The Ode appears to have been
written in 1771, when the noble author had scarcely attained his
twenty-third year, and contains a recapitulation of all the works of that
rapture-breathing bard. The translation from Dante contains an account of
Count Ugolino.
In 1783 appeared 'The Father's Revenge, a Tragedy, and other Poems,' 8vo;
and a new edition, 4to, 1800. This tragedy is founded on an incident so
interwoven with our passions, and followed by a punishment so
disproportionate to the offence, that human nature shudders at the
catastrophe. The scenery, consisting of palaces, gothic chapels, &c.
with a view of Mount Vesuvious in the back ground, is grand, suitable to
the occasion, and calculated to inspire awe; while the dramatic characters
are formed to keep up the interest and prepare the mind for some important
event. Some if his Lordship's friends applied to Mrs. Chapone to prevail on
Dr. Johnson to read and give his opinion of this tragedy, which he did in a
letter to that lady, dated Nov. 28,1783; printed in Boswell's Life, vol.II.
p.470. A limited impression of the 4to edition of this tragedy, decorated
with engravings from the pencil of Westall, was circulated by the noble
author among his friends.
In 1800 appeared the tragedy of 'The Step-mother;' in five acts. The plot
of this is less involved than that of the former; but the catastrophe is
equally shocking. In the one we behold a parent presenting the fresh torn
heart from the bosom of her lover to the agonized sight of a distracted
daughter. In the other we find a father and son, instigated by a cruel and
revengeful woman, inflicting mutual death. In both cases the scene,
perhaps, is too afflicting for representation.
In 1801 appeared a splendid edition, from the press of Bulmer, of the
'Tragedies and Poems of Frederick Earl of Carlisle, K.G.' One of his
Lordship's best poetical productions in this collection is that inscribed
to Sir J. Reynolds on his resignation of the President's chair of the Royal
Academy; but it is much to be lamented that he should have concluded this
pretty little Poem with a line from Churchill, as it exhibits a poverty of
thought wholly inconsistent with his acknowledged talents.
In 1804 he addressed some lines to the Archbishop of York, on inclosing the
tomb of Archbishop Grey with a beautiful gothic railing of cast iron. See
vol.LXXIV, p.954.
In 1806 he published Verses on the death of Lord Nelson; and in 1808
'Thoughts on the present condition of the stage, and the construction of a
new theatre,' anonymous.
His Lordship also wrote some lines advising Lady Holland not to accept of
the snuff-box left her by Napoleon. A copy of these eight stanzas,
'written,' as Lord Byron says, 'by a bore,' may be seen in vol.XCI. ii.
p.457.
In the 'Hours of Idleness,' published by Lord Byron in 1808, his noble
relative's works are said 'to have long received the meed of public
applause; to which, by their intrinsic worth, they were entitled.' This
forms a striking contrast to Lord Byron's subsequent asperity. On his
coming of age, Lord Byron, wishing to take his seat in the House of Lords,
wrote to Lord Carlisle to introduce him. Just at that moment Byron was
engaged in writing his satire 'The English Bards,' &c. and he
introduced these lines into his manuscript:
On one alone Apollo deigns to smile,
And crowns a new Roscommon in Carlisle.
The noble subject of this adulation, how-
ever,
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[how]ever, unfortunately declining to volunteer his service as an
introductor to Parliament, Byron substituted the following heartless
sarcasm on his relation's age:
No more will cheer with renovating smile
The paralytic puling of Carlisle.
And speaking of his tragedies, he says:
'So dull in youth, so drivelling in his age,
His scenes alone might damn our sinking stage;
But managers for once cried, hold, enough!
Nor drugged their audience with the tragic stuff.'
In 1804 his Lordship presented to the Dean and Chapter of York, for the
embellishment of their Minster, a beautiful window of painted glass,
purchased during the troubles in France, from the Church of St. Nicholas at
Rouen; see vol.LXXIV. p.1065, and an engraving of it in vol.LXXVI. p.401.
In 1811 his Lordship presented to York Minster another beautiful window of
stained glass in a pure gothic style. His Lordship's Museum at Castle
Howard abounded with antiques of all kinds, while the gallery, 160 feet
long, contained a noble collection of pictures, medals, and spars,
collected at a great expense.
On the 12th of March, 1770, his Lordship married Margaret-Caroline,
daughter of Granville-Leveson Gower first Marquess of Stafford. She died
January 25, 1824. By her he had issue George, present Earl; and nine other
children, six daughters and three sons.
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{header- Biography, John Paul Jones}
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{text- book review}
The Life of John Paul Jones, from original Documents in the
Possession of John Henry Sherburne, Esq. Register of the Navy of
the United States. 8vo. pp.320. Murray.
BEFORE entering upon the review of this work, we beg to lay down certain
premises. 1. That Paul Jones was not an American. 2. That the
American war was a civil war. 3. That American war naval-fighting was, with
very few exceptions, not spirit-proof. 4. That our American war ministry
was a feeble one. 5. That the merit of Jones, and of all the officers in
the American service, is and must be English, and is not greater nor so
great as that of many gallant warriors who fought under the British flag in
the subsequent revolutionary war.
John Paul (Jones) was the son of John Paul, a gardener, and was born July
1747, at Abergland in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright in Scotland. He
received the rudiments of his education at the parochial school of
Kirkbean. The contiguity of his residence to Solway Firth, gave him an
early predilection for a seafaring life; and at the age of twelve he was
apprenticed to a merchant in the American trade. When his apprenticeship
was expired, he made several trading voyages, and suffered from the ill
conduct of his partner. In 1773 he was arranging the affairs of a brother
who had died intestate in Virginia, and was (probably through pecuniary
difficulties) then living in a very retired manner in America. About the
time mentioned he adopted the name of Jones. In the 28th year of his age,
he offered his services to Congress, and was appointed a first Lieutenant
in the American Navy. The Alfred, in which he was employed, proved
unsuccessful, but the courts-martial held in consequence were so
advantageous to the reputation of Jones, that he was appointed to the
command of the Providence, a sloop of 12 six-pounders. When Congress
directed the building of thirteen frigates, he was, however, disappointed
in obtaining the command of one. He was not discouraged, but wisely
exhibited zeal, by memorializing the American Government concerning the
improvement of their Navy, and cruizing very successfully against our
trade. He also planned expeditions against the Newfoundland fishery, the
coast of Africa, &c.
Such was American war fighting on our part, that he escaped in his humble
sloop two frigates, after a sharp contest with one of them. In 1776 he
commanded a squadron against Isle Royal, made several captures, and soon
after was promoted to the rank of Captain. In his command of the Ranger, he
made a descent upon Whitehaven, spiked the cannon in the fort, landed a
boat's crew in St. Mary's Isle (which crew without his approbation carried
away the Earl of Selkirk's plate), and captured the Drake of Twenty guns,
off Carrickfergus, the Captain and Lieutenant being both killed.
That a single frigate could effect all this in the very chops of the
channel, was evidently neglect in our Government. The steed was stolen,
because they did not lock the stable door. But there was another error. The
treatment of the American prisoners of war in England was so impolitically
harsh *, that every American sailor was thus stimulated to prefer
death to captivity; and as the naval tactics of the two countries were the
same, and as locality of birth was the only distinction between English and
Americans, it is not to be wondered at that the latter were successful: but
could they have been so, if they had not been of English character and
habits? The merit of success is due to Great Britain, if the answer
to this question be the just one. It appears also, that they would have
been much more mischievous to us, if there had not existed in their Navy
the very evil which certain of our popular Reformers want to introduce into
our own, and which would have the same result, as their pretended
amelioration of the Combination Laws. - We allude to the proposed Trials by
Jury, and
* Subscriptions were raised for them in the towns of England.
abolition
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{image = G825B428.jpg}
abolition of corporal punishment in regard to naval and military service.
'Splendid as had been his (Jones's) successes, he was convinced that, had
he been properly supported, much more might have been done. A great want of
subordination had been always apparent in his men; the American common
sailors carrying their notions of Civil Government on board a man-of-war,
imagined that they had a right to be consulted whenever any extraordinary
duty was to be performed. Jones had been formed in a very different school;
he was a strict disciplinarian, and required everything to be performed
with the most rigid punctuality and obedience. But he was well acquainted
with the faults of the American naval system, and his ambition was to
reform it. His patience was, however, somewhat taxed, when on making
signals to his consort the Drake, he found them totally disregarded, and
that Lieutenant Simpson, who cammanded the prize, did not consider himself
amenable to his authority' p.41.
Jones then proceeded to Brest, the American Commissioners (though the
descendants of John Bull in the old country would have died first) having
landed to solicit the aid of France; and certain it is that a man who could
fight an English vessel of war, at par, was deemed a wonderful acquisition
by both countries, indicative of the possibility of kicking Great Britain
into the sea like a foot-ball. Sir Richard Grenvill (says Evelyn,
Miscellanies, 664) with but 180 soldiers (of which 90 were sick and
useless) in the ship Revenge, maintained a conflict for 24 hours against 50
Spanish galleons, sinking four of their best vessels;' but, compared with
Paul Jones, Grenville was only Tom Thumb to King Arthur.
After Jones landed (for he delighted in the union of Mars and Venus), he
wrote a polite letter to the Countess of Selkirk, in order to effect a
restoration of the plate, an honourable delicacy of feeling, which it seems
philosopher Franklin (p.48) did not think it worth Jones's while to
consult. It was, however, placed within the reach of Lord Selkirk. Jones
next tried to obtain rewards for his men, but his adopted countrymen had no
money to do so. He was not, however, disgusted. He required fast-sailing
ships of force sufficient to repel cruizing frigates, and proposed to
harass and plunder our coasts; and that the interests of Religion and
Morals might not be forgotten also, he writes that he was in great want of
a chaplain. We think so too; but as it may amuse our readers to see Paul
Jones in the character of a Bishop, we shall give his own account of the
sort of religionist he desired to have:
'I should wish him to be a man of reading and of letters, who understands,
speaks, and writes the French and English with elegance and propriety; for
political reasons, it would be well if he were a Clergyman of the
Protestant profession, whose sanctity of manners, and happy natural
principles, would diffuse unanimity and cheerfulness through the ship; and
if to these essentials were added the talent of writing fast and in fair
characters, such a man would necessarily be worth the highest confidence,
and might therefore assure himself of my esteem and friendship: he should
always have a place at my table, the regulation whereof should be entirely
under his direction.' p.59.
Thus the chaplain was not to be Jones's spiritual instructor, but Captain's
clerk and ship's steward besides. A command in the French service was not,
however, so easily to be obtained; for the native officers did not like to
serve under a foreigner, nor was it prudent to put one over their heads.
Jones, who he said himself, 'drew his sword only from the principles of
philanthropy, and in support of the dignity of human nature!! but
spoiled these heroics by an honest confession that his desire for fame
was infinite,' had received a foolish promise from the Prince of
Nassau, that he would accompany him (Jones) as a volunteer, and had the
vexation to find the Prince retreat. Jones then wrote a letter to the King
(Louis XVI.) and such was the effect of his appeal, that he was appointed
to the command of the Duras of 40 guns. This appellation of the ship
Jones, from his respect to Franklin, begged to change to the 'Bon Homme
Richard,' from Franklin's authorship of 'Poor Richard's Almanack,'
though 'Bon Homme Benjamin' would evidently have been more
intelligible. Difficulties and delays, however, occurred again. The object
of Jones's expedition was to land suddenly near all important towns of
Great Britain that were within a reasonable march, and put them to high
ransoms, under the threat of burning them (p.78); but the French Court
thought the scheme improveable into a general invasion, 'which
they
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{image = G825B429.jpg}
they sapiently inferred, from the lucky descents of Jones, whom they
thought another Coriolanus, had a great chance of being successful. (p.79.)
However, as it would be useful diversion in favour of the grand project, on
the 19th of April, 1779, the American squadron, Bon Homme Richard, 42 guns,
Alliance 36 guns, Pallas 30 guns, Cerf 18 guns, and the Vengeance 12 guns,
sailed from L'Orient, under the command of the Honourable Commodore John
Paul Jones. The object was to surprise Leith, and extort a ransom of
200,000l. from his brother Scotchmen; but want of co-operation in
the French officers, and a large body of troops at Edinburgh, prevented the
execution of the scheme. The next event was the celebrated action with the
Serapis, the parallel of which is not to be found in the naval annals of
any nation. (p.87) Now this is really too much for any one acquainted
with the exploits of Nelson, and of many other heroes of the late
Revolutionary War. The fact was, that Jones being a British subject, would,
if captured, have been hanged as a traitor, and therefore chose the least
of two evils: and that Captain Pearson struck his flag because the Alliance
sailed up to support Jones. Though the French commander of that ship did
not do his duty towards Jones *, Capt. Pearson could not tell that,
and to him it must have appeared a waste of life without object, to
continue so unequal a contest; especially as his main-mast had gone
overboard, and he could not escape. Let us suppose that he had not struck,
and that the Bon Homme had sunk, - what then? The Alliance would have borne
down upon him with impunity. In fact, as stated in p.101, 'the Serapis
struck to Jones's ship and the 32 gun frigate.'
Jones made further depredations at Hull among the merchantmen, and then
sailed to the Texel. Here he found our Ambassador Sir Joseph Yorke
demanding of their Mightinesses the restitution of the English ships, and
the delivery unto the King his master of a certain Paul Jones, a subject of
the King, who, according to treaties and the laws of war, could only be
considered as a rebel and a pirate. P.104.
The Dutch Government declined interference, and Jones and the Americans
were successfully intriguing with them, as they had done with the French,
'to declare war against Great Britain, and join the common cause.'
Now there is a simple mode of trying the effects of physick; i.e. by taking
it. The French and the Dutch, by taking American physick, brought down
upoin themselves a revolution and a military despotism, which hurled the
Bourbons and the Orange family from their thrones.
'Verily (says our author), the French Cabinet had their reward. The very
men who, authorized by their secret instructions, hastened to assist
rebellion in the colonies of a friendly power, returned to exercise in
their own country a retributive vengeance.' P.18.
Jones escaped to France; and we suppose, through not having a Chaplain with
him there, thought only of Fielding's addition to the code of honour,
arising from the connection of Mars and Venus, viz. 'that challenges to
love and to fight are both to be accepted.' He had acquired much fame as a
warrior, and of course was a favourite with the women. In p.143, we have an
erotical poetical effusion to a Miss Dumas. In p.153, a love-sick Delia, a
sentimental lass, who would willingly have been the lowest of his crew, if
he would but take her with him to America. Jones. however, left her
to wear the willow, in order to gain a Countess de Lavendahl. This coquet,
after having flirted with him, handed Jones over to her husband, as soon as
the former proposed a secret correspondence, 'being astonished as his
audacity' p.156), but nevertheless, not willing to draw either into a duel,
concluded her letter with a request that he would shew the Count, her
husband, every civility as he passed through L'Orient. The real object
seems to have been a joint expedition of the Count with Jones, by sea and
land (see p.58), for which the fair Countess was tickling Jones like a
trout. Several Frenchmen, glad of opportunities to display, wanted also to
join him as volunteers; the meaning of all which is, that, as the Baron de
Stael informs us, the public service is on the Continent the sole means of
acquiring rank and fortune. By the
* Apparently he wished Jones to be sunk or taken, and then capture
the Serapis himself easily.
favour
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{image = G825B430.jpg}
favour of Franklin, Jones was put in command of the American frigate
Alliance; and as soon as he was in that situation, found that a Mr. Arthur
Lee, a bitter enemy of Franklin, and a M. Landais, had laid various plots
to ruin him. Jones, however, got over it, and in his efforts so to do,
rests his claim to patronage upon his hostility to the English, and the
mischief to be done to them through their commerce, and incursions on their
coasts. A greater man than Jones, Napoleon himself, made the attempt with
the whole power of France, and that of all the Continent. In the American
war, the French, &c. (&c. only) were the mastives engaged
with the lion Nero; but in that which followed, they found that they
had Wallace to deal with; and we can certainly veture to say, with
regard to Jones's preposterous derogations of Great Britain, that Nelson
would have punished his presumption by suspension at the yard-arm as a
traitor, at the end of a month. The conquest of America by Great Britain
was a physical impossibility; and, because this was seen through, they
persuaded the French that the subjugation of the parent country was only to
burn a fishing town without a garrison, - armies after armies vanquished in
Spain, - fleets after fleets destroyed, - the tremendous Napoleon chained
upon the rock of St. Helena; - 'and yet nothing can parallel the
engagement of Paul Jones with the Serapis!' We really are terrified by
this bombastic gorgon's head. But the Americans confess that they
never had a naval officer equal in valour and talent to Jones. True;
but that man was not an American. God send them as many brave
officers and as many blessings as they desire, as long as they have
natural feelings towards the glorious land of their fore-fathers. To
talk now of the tyranny of Great Britain, is utter nonsense; and had his
father, uncle, or brother, or cousin, been in service on board the Serapis,
and killed by the fire of the Bon Homme Richard, John Paul Jones would have
buried them with funeral honours, and vindicated treason.
These, however, are matters of principle; and we should not notice them, if
these American narratives did not shew an insuperable propensity to degrade
their ancestors, and with such trumpery conquests as that of Paul Jones, -
a traitor fighting to prevent being hanged, and canting with the Americans
and French under the ostentation of patriotism, to gratify his own
ambition. We are forced into these remarks by insulting misrepresentations.
Every body knows, that after Rodney set the example of breaking the line,
victory attended the English. Paul Jones represents this very circumstance
in the following light, viz. that the English did so from ignorance of
superior French naval tactics; that is, that they broke the line from
ignorance! Clarke's quarto volume of course never had existence. Paul
was artfully persuading the French, that they might gain victory by keeping
the line of battle; and to support this, he tells some bouncing stories.
'The English, who boast so much of their Navy, never fought a ranged battle
on the ocean before the war that is now ended. The battle off Ushant was,
on their part, like their former ones, irregular; and Admiral Keppell could
only justify himself by the example of Hawke in our remembrance, and of
Russell in the last century. From that moment the English were forced to
study and to imitate the French in their evolutions. They never gained any
advantage when they had to deal with equal force, and the unfortunate
defeat of the Count de Grasse, was owing more to the unfavourable
circumstances of wind coming a-head four points at the beginning of the
battle, which put his fleet into the order of echequier, when it was too
late to tack, and of calm and currents afterwards, which brought on an
entire disorder, than to the Admiralship or even the vast superiority of
Rodney, who had forty sail of the line against thirty, and five
three-deckers against one. By the accounts of some of the French officers,
Rodney might as well have been asleep, not having made a second signal
during the battle, so that every Captain did as he pleased.' P.183.
We are acquainted with officers who were in that action. It is true that
after Rodney had broken the line, a calm sprung up, and our ships were left
in the midst of the enemy, without power on either side to avail themselves
of tactics. The french had taken on board the day before a quantity of live
oxen for fresh provisions, and had not had time to stow them. When the
broadsides commenced, the poor distracted animals on the decks, in their
wild motions, baffled all order, and gave that advantage
to
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to our Admiral. But this is all of which we could ever hear. Paul Jones
adds,
'The English are very deficient in signals as well as in naval tactics.'
P.184.
Sir Home Popham has, we believe, most importantly improved the former; and,
for the latter, let the late war speak. Pauls says, that he never knew any
thing of naval tactics till he was acquainted 'with that great
tactician Count d'Orvilliers and his judicious assistant the Chevalier
du Pavillion.' p.185. Now those tactics were merely to escape defeat, not
to gain victory; but the English broke the line, and what became of the
great tacticians?
Here ended Paul's days of glory. Except as a diplomatist, and a Rear
Admiral under the Russian service, in which he defeated the Turks (as the
Greeks have done by fire-ships only), we hear no more of Paul Jones. The
Proditori nulla fides followed him wherever he went. His bravery and
talent were respected, but his principles were questioned. The Court
of Denmark pensioned him, to buy off a dangerous man; and the Empress
Catharine made a tool of him as long as he was wanted: but to suppose that
the Monarchs of Europe would entangle themselves with him and the
republican doctrines of America, was utterly absurd. Catharine soaped his
nose with the order of St. Anne, then pulled it, and he retired into
France, assigning his dismissal to the intrigues of the English, and died
at Paris in June 1791. The National Assembly went into mourning on account
of his death, and no doubt wore the same clothes for many of their own
relatives, whom the flattery of Paul Jones and the politics of America had
brought to an untimely end by the guillotine.
We will, however, do justice to the really great personal merits of Paul
Jones. Born in obscurity, with the consciousness of superior talents,
America presented an opening for the exertion of them, which he never could
have found in the old countries, without going through the usual routine of
service, which at the age of twenty-eight was impracticable. In commerce he
had been unsuccessful; and desperation made him an adventurer. Qualified
for a hero, as a warrior, a statesman, and as a gentleman, he showed
invincible bravery, masterly diplomacy, and chivalrous courtesy; but what
shall we say to his unnatural hostility to his native country, - a country
remarkable for nationality. He was a Scotchman, who formed a plan
for plundering Edinburgh; he was a fighting Fauntleroy, instead of a
banking one; and would have preyed upon the funds and vitals of his
relatives, his friends, and countrymen. Most Scotchmen would prefer death.
Bernadotte never entered France, and him Napoleon had tried to depose. What
had Scotland done to Paul Jones?
In short, as an officer, his conduct is a good exemplar, and for
that object his life ought to be studied. In all other respects, he was an
unnatural parricide. He had not suffered by the American war; nor had his
country injured him in any shape.
{title- Gents Mag 1826 part 1 p.194}
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{header- Music for James VI and I}
{image = G826A194.jpg}
MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.
The Editor of the 'Progress of King James I.' again ventures to inquire
whether a copy exists of 'The Ayres that were sung and played at Brougham
Castle, in Westmorland, in the King's Entertainment; given by the Right
Honourable the Earle of Cumberland, and his Right Noble Sonne the Lord
Clifford. Composed by Mr. George Mason and Mr. John Earsden. London,
printed by Thomas Snodham, cum privilegio, 1618,' folio, mentioned by Sir
John Hawkins in his History of Music, and by Dr. Whitaker in his History of
Craven. A speedy answer will much oblige, - The Editor still has among his
desiderata the London Pageants of 1611, 1612, 1614, 1617, and 1624.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1827 part 1 p.178}
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{header- Obituary, Septimus Collinson}
{image = G827A178.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
SEPTIMUS COLLINSON, D.D.
Jan. 24. At his Lodge, aged 87, the Rev. Septimus Collinson, D.D
Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, Margaret Professor of Divinity,
Prebendary of Worcester, and Rector of Dowlish Wake and Dowlish West in
Somerset.
Dr. Collinson was educated at Queen's College. He took the degree of M.A.
in 1767, was presented to his rectories in 1778 by J. Hanning. esq.,
proceeded to B.D. in 1792, and D.D. in the following year. He was for some
years one of the City Lecturers, and resigned in 1795. He succeeded Dr.
Fothergill as Provost of Queen's in 1796, and was elected Margaret
Professor of Divinity, in the place of Dr. Neve of Merton College, in 1798.
The duties of his Provostship, to which situation Dr. Collinson was
unanimously elected, and which he enjoyed for a longer period than any
former Provost, were discharged by him with great ability, diligence, and
discretion. In his office of Professor he labouored with unexampled
efficiency and zeal. The Lectures on the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church
of England, which he delivered in that capacity, evinced deep research,
sound judgment, correct and enlarged views of religion, and great
moderation. He was justly esteemed by the University, as having rendered a
most important service by those Lectures. So great was his anxiety to be
useful in that department, that he delivered a course of Lectures at the
age of eighty. He frequently preached before the University, even when he
had arrived at a very advanced age. The sermons which he delivered before
that audience, exhibited decisive proofs of a vigorous and acute mind,
habituated to calm and accurate reasoning. His delivery was peculiarly
impressive, and he never failed to produce a very powerful effect on the
minds of his numerous hearers.
His character was marked by very high independence. To all public
institutions of acknowledged utility he was a liberal benefactor. In social
intercourse he exhibited a disposition singularly benevolent. No
uncharitable nor unkind expression fell from his lips. He possessed
remarkable equanimity; and retained, even to the conclusion of life,
{text- (Septimus Collinson endowed a school at Great Musgrave.)}
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unabated cheerfulness and unimpaired energy of mind. Though his frame was
weak and delicate, yet he enjoyed almost uniterrupted health, the reward of
the reguar habits to which he had adhered from his earliest years. After a
very short illness, he closed a long and useful life, which had been
uniformly distinguished by unaffected piety.
{header- Obituary, John Dent}
JOHN DENT, ESQ.
Nov. 14. In Hertford-street, Mayfair, John Dent, esq. F.A.S. late
M.P. for Poole, and formerly for Lancaster.
The father of Mr. Dent is stated to have been the master of the scholl of a
small town in Cumberland. Accident and superior penmanship introduced the
son to Mr. Child the banker, who engaged him as a clerk, from which
situation he rose, according to the custom of that eminent house, to reap,
as a partner, a large share of the profits of the business.
Mr. Dent was first elected to the House of Commons in 1790, as
represenataive of the Borough of Lancaster, for which he sat during five
successive pariaments, till the dissolution in 1812. He was first chosen
for Poole in 1818, and represented that borough in two parliaments, till
the dissolution in 1826. As a member of the legislature, ...
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1827 part 2 p.274}
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{header- Obituary, Sir Philip Christopher Musgrave}
{image = G827B274.jpg}
... ...
SIR P. C. MUSGRAVE, BART. M.P.
June 26. At Eden-Hall, Cumberland, aged 33, Sir Philip Christopher
Musgrave, eight Baronet of that place, M.P. for Carlisle, a Justice of the
Peace for Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the West Riding of Yorkshire,
Alderman of Carlisle, &c.
He was the eldest son of Sir John-Chardin, the seventh and late Baronet, by
Mary, daughter of the Rev. Sir Edmund Filmer, sixth and late Baronet of
East Sutton in Kent. He succeeded his father July 24, 1806; and was first
returned to Parliament as M.P. for Petersfield about 1819. He was re-chosen
for that borough at the General Election of 1820, and obtained the
representation of Carlisle on the death of Sir James Graham, bt. in 1825.
His return at the General Election in 1826 was not without great opposition
and serious riots.
Sir Philip married, Oct. 21, 1824, Elizabeth, third daughter of George
Fludyer, of Ayston in Rutlandshire, esq. formerly M.P. for Appleby, and
brother to Sir Samuel Fludyer, bart. by Lady Mary Fane, sister of John
present Earl of Westmoreland, and K.G. and grand-daughter of Cosmo Duke of
Gordon. We are not aware whether Sir Philip has left any children by this
alliance.
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 1 p.399}
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{header- Speculations on Literary Pleasures}
{image = G828A399.jpg}
... ...
Wordsworth has his admirers, and he doubtless has also his beauties; but
these beauties are so frequently solitary and isolated, and so thinly
scattered through a series of verbose and languid dissertations, which have
not much of either grace or dignity to recommend them, that their effect is
lost.
When we read Wordsworth, indeed, we are not unfrequently reminded that
there was a person named Dr. Darwin, who, a few years before him, wrote
poetry in a very mediocritous and questionable style of excellence; and
that the Della Crusca school of sentiment, which certainly favours Mr.
Wordsworth with an occasional archetype, is by no means a safe model for a
poet who wishes to reach posterity.
If it is admitted that one of the chief ends of a poet, if he is to
pretend to classical honours, should be at once the general improvement of
society, and the establishment of a standard of taste among his countrymen,
we cannot afford to lavish any high approbation on him who has not
eminently accomplished either of these ends, unless his beauties of another
kind are of a very high redeeming order.
But the warmest encomiasts of Wordsworth will, it is probable, admit that
he not unfrequently sinks to puerilities below the standard here mentioned;
and on the other hand, often rises to a sublimated sort of cloudiness, ill
according with that positive kind of beauty recognized in our best
classical writers.
Wordsworth may in some respects be termed the Sterne of poetry. He has,
like his predecessor, endeavoured to extract sentiment where nobody else
ever dreamt of looking for it, and has often exalted trifles into a
consequence which nature never intended them to
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occupy; and may therefore be said to have, with Sterne, lent his aid in
implanting, in certain literary departments, a tone not always auspicious
of true and genuine feeling.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 1 p.599}
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{header- National Schools}
{image = G828A599.jpg}
... ...
June 25.
Mr. URBAN,
THE establishment of Charity Schools on Dr. Bell's plan, is one of the
institutions which characterizes the English nation as "the ex-
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[ex]cellents of the earth." The National Society for promoting the
Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Church of England, which
principles undoubtedly ought to be cherished and advanced, not only in
every city and town, but also in every village through the kingdom, has
examined and found the fountain pure; but the streams flowing therefrom,
meeting with heterogeneous bodies on the way, have been, and are still
sadly tainted. The work is begun, noble is the undertaking, to chrystalize
the spring, so that no foreign matter can sully the transparency of its
rills. To shew the necessity of further zeal and vigorous activity in such
a cause, and that something on a wider scale can be done to forward the
education of the poor in every corner of the island, a member of the Church
of England offers the following considerations, which may be evident to
every thinking man.
1. Though in several towns and some villages there are Charity Schools, yet
Ignorance (the mother of Dissent) prevails among the lower classes, even in
such places, for want of visitors, to see that the children of the poor
attend properly, and are educated in the principles of the Established
Church.
2. Such Charity Schools, being suppported by donation or bequest of an
ancient date, no one knows by whom given or bequeathed, are generally
reckoned and looked upon as things of no great consequence, like sinecures;
so that any sort of master, if he can read and write, whether he be a man
of learning, principles, or conscience, no matter, having friends to sign a
testimonial, is appointed, and he finds himself firm and unmoveable,
therefore acts as he pleases.
3. The want of a mode of education (say Dr. Bell's) conformable to the
liturgy of the Church of England, is a prevailing evil in most, if not all,
of these Charity Schools. The pupils are generally taught reading and
writing, and sometimes arithmetic, but all in a very careless manner,
without making them to understand what they read and write, and the use of
arithmetical rules.
4. in most places where such Schools are, at a certain age the children are
dismissed, or ordered to leave the School, perhaps not more learned than
when they entered, only they can read a little, without emphasis or accent,
not knowing the name and use of a point; and can write their names, but in
such a slovenly way, that one cannot tell whether they have been at school
a week, or two or three years.
5. Owing to such non-improvement, the parents, seeing their children
spending their time in vain at such Schools, neglect to send them, and
argue it is of very littele use; and say, they may as well help them in
their respective callings, or exercise themselves as they please, playing
about the streests, &c.
6. The masters of such Charity Schools neglect to take their pupils in
order to church on Sundays and holidays, according to canon 79; and to see
they behave well there during service, by attending on them in person, to
shew them how to follow the clergyman in every part of the common prayer,
&c.
7. Where deficiencies of this sort take place, very ready are those who
dissent from the church to avail themselves of the opportunity of shewing
more diligence in weaning the minds of youth from the doctrine of the
Establishd Church, by enticing them to attend the preaching of laymen in
their meeting-houses, and the private instructions they pretend to give
them in the time of church service, when not only are the children deprived
of the use of the liturgy, but also the pretended teachers in these
conventicles are by such employment pleading for an excuse, that they are
more religiously exercised than if they attended the service of the
Established Church. This I can prove from facts, and it grieves me that I
have been, and am now an eye-witness of such proceedings; for I anticipate
the consequence, unless vigorous means of prevention are found and used. I
need not myself say what, as a worthy magistrate in his letter, published
some time ago in the Oxford Journal, has told us, that a "very leading
member of a dissenting congregation in his neighbourhood put his hand on
his heart, and solemnly said what the dissenters intend, the overthrow
of the Church of England."
In order to forward the national design, in so laudable an undertaking as
the education of the poor in the principles of the Established Church, I
beg
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 1 p.601}
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{image = G828A601.jpg}
leave to suggest a few hints, which appear to me, and those whom I have
consulted, indispensably necessary to effect the desired end.
1. When there are Charity Schools, whether in towns or country villages,
they should be modelled after Dr. Bell's plan, and let there be visitors
appointed to see that the children attend properly, and be educated in the
doctrines and principles of the Church of England (Dissenters' Schools
excepted), and to superintend the master, and give an account annually to
the Bishop of the diocese, or the Archdeacon, at the yearly visitation, how
the schools are conducted, and what improvement the children have made in
the course of the year. The Visitor may be the Rectors, Vicars, or
officiating Ministers, with the Churchwardens, or whom the Diocesan may
think proper.
2. Let no master be appointed to any Charity School without proper
examination by the Bishop, or his Official; nor without subscribing to the
declaration, taking the oaths, and other qualifications, 13 and 14 Geo. II.
c.4; and let every master be under the advice and control of the visitors.
3. Let the writings, whether will or deed, pertaining to the Schools, be
lodged and kept in the church coffers, or in the care of the visitors, that
they may refer to them on any emergency; and let the visitors annually
inform the Bishop, or his Official, at the visitation, on oath, that the
said writings (wills or deeds) are safe delivered to any new visitors the
Bishop may appoint, or are in the church coffer. The visitors, if not
ministers, may be changed at every visitation.
4. The mode of education being according to Dr. Bell's plan, or strictly
conformable to the liturgy of the established church, let the children be
taught how to find out the psalms and lessons, with the collects for the
day; and let them, when able, read in classes, and go through the psalms
and lessons for the day, morning and evening, before and after the exercise
of the School. If the officiating minister, or one of the visitors, can
attend on these occasions, so much the better, but by all means they must
know that the children do so.
5. Let the visitors have power to admit to and dismiss from all Charity
Schools, the children at proper age, without favour or partiality, and give
proper account thereof yearly to the Bishop, or his Official; and to see
that the master brings his pupils to church every time divine service is
performed, morning and evening; and cause those who are able to read out
with the clerk all the responses, &c. without any excuse but real
illness. It is to be supposed that those who, through poverty, cannot
provide themselves with Prayer-books and Bibles, may obtain them from the
National Society at a low rate, or gratis, through some charitable
hand.
6. Let the visitors consider it an incumbent duty to advise poor parents
never to neglect sending their children to School; telling them, that all
care shall be taken to educate them in an effectual, but lenient manner;
and that learning is the best fortune they can possess.
7. Where there are no Charity Schools, as many villages, and some towns in
the country are without them, if no means can be devised to establish a Day
School, a Sunday one alone will prove very beneficial; and if the National
Society will give encouragement, I have no doubt the inhabitants of most
parishes, if not of all, will readily come forward, and willingly subscribe
for the same purpose towards the education of their resepctive poor. I have
established Sunday Schools in several parishes, and have met with no one
who refused to subscribe more or less toward the institution. Nothing short
of spirited activity will ensure success.
If the Bishops would give injunctions to the officiating Clergy of their
respective diocese for inquiring into these matters, they would soon learn
the casue of the falling away from the doctrine of the church; and I am
ready to say that, if the above plan, or something similar to it, do not
shortly take place, by the highest authority, through the empire,
the time will come (it may not be far off) when the established chuch will
be desolate, as "a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of
cucumbers, as a besieged city," if not utterly overthrown, and lost in the
fanaticism which daily increases. See the meeting-houses which are erected
in almost every village, or old houses and barns converted into
conventicles.
Yours, &c.
BEHOLDER.
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 2 p.53}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1828 part 2 p.53}
{text- This is not exactly a Cumbria reference, but is of general interest
to the whole of the border region.}
{header- Northumberland History, Border Reivers}
{image = G828B053.jpg}
{text- Book review}
A History of Northumberland, in three Parts. By John Hodgson,
Clerk, Vicar of Whelpington, &c. &c. Part ii. vol.i. 4to.
THE History of such a lawless county in the Marches as Northumberland,
briings to our recollection the chivalrous events connected with
Chevy-chase, and that valorous Knight, who
- "When his legs were smitten off,
Still fought upon his stumps."
The existence of such disorder is ascribed to the natural consequence of
overloading the population through small farms.
"The true cause of the disorders that prevailed in both districts is very
reasonably and forcibly deduced from its being over-stocked with
population. Three or four families lived upon a farm of noble rent. The
consequence of this poverty was, they went into the disorderly districts of
England and Scotland to steal. Idleness and early associations had endeared
to them every field, and wood, and stream, and dell, in their native
valley, so that they had rather lived poorly in it, than more wealthily in
another country. Besides which, when any of them had settled in distant
places, they so frequently became abettors of their friends at home in
plans of plunder, that people were afraid to employ them. Sir R. Bowes (the
agent employed by the Government) therefore recommended, that the
superfluous population should be sent southward, to places too far distant
for their relations and countrymen to resort to. They were divided into
clans, each of which had a rank and precedence in the country according to
its numerical strength. If a thief of any great surname, or kindred, was
lawfully executed by order of justice, for stealing beyond the limits of
his own province, the rest of his clan would visit the prosecutor with all
the retributive vengeance of deadly feud, as bitterly and as
severely as if he had killed him unlawfully with a sword. This method of
seeking revenge, had before that time frequently bred a kind of civil war
in the country; whole townships were burnt; gentlemen and others, of whom
they sought revenge, were murdered; great garrisons established to check
their outrages, and raids and incursions made against them, and by them,
"even as it were between England and Scotland in time of war." Hence
parties that were plundered generally chose, when they discovered the
thieves who carried off their goods, to take a part of them back again by
way of composition, rather than go against them in the extremity of
justice." P.70.
And these habits obtained also among the Gentry and Clergy; for, continues
Mr. Hodgson,
"But we are most inclined to a merciful review of the manners of these
people from the consideration that thieving was a fashionable
accomplishment among them - the employment in which they most delighted;
and especially because their clergy were as vicious and disorderly as
themselves; and the crimes for which they were holden up, as infamous, were
constantly committed by the heads of the best families in Northumberland,
not only without any sense of shame, but even with feelings of rivalry in
courage and dexterity, and as feats which they boasted in. Bishop Fox, in
1498, had, on informations being taken to him of the great number of
robbers which infested these parts, issued his mandate to all the clergy of
Tindale and Redesdale, charging them to visit with the terrors of the
greater excommunication, all the inhabitants of their several cures, who
should, excepting against the Scots, presume to go from home, armed in a
jack and salel or knapescull, or other defensive
armour, or should ride on a horse worth more than six shillings and eight
pence; or should wear in any church, or church-yard, during the time of
divine service, any offensive weapon more than a cubit in length. And the
same prelate elsewhere describes the chaplains here, the good Sir Johns of
Redesdale, as publicly and openly living with concubines, irregular,
suspended, excommunicated and interdicted, wholly ignorant of letters, so
much so, that priests of ten years standing did not know how to read the
ritual. Some of them were even nothing more than sham priests, having never
been ordained, and performed diocese service, not only in places dedicated
to divine worship, but in such as were unconsecrated and interdicted. Of
the example which they had from the laity of the county, Sir Robert Bowes
has left us this description. The whole country of Northumberland is much
given to wildness and riot, especially the young gentlemen, or headsmen,
many of whom are guilty of thefts and other greater offences; and then
regard for truth in depositions about their quarrels is so indifferent,
that it were perilous to give credence to them without the evidence of the
complaining party being confronted with that of the accused." P.74.
Such were (in great part), says Mr. Hodgson, the consequences of
"parcelling out the lands into very small farms." P.75.
We are rejoiced to give the following results of educating the poor.
"The inhabitants of this parish (Elsden) show a very praiseworthy zeal in
forwarding, according to the best of their ability, the education of their
children. They have schools to suit the convenience of every part
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 2 p.54}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1828 part 2 p.54}
{image = G828B054.jpg}
of it; and at Birness, where twelve might attend gratis, that number, so
great is their displike to pure ellemosynary assistance in rearing their
families, very rarely attend it in that capacity. Reading has been a
favourite occupation among them; and the poor-rates, generally speaking,
are low, and the poor contented, honest, and thrifty." P.86.
We have a relick of Anglo-Saxon usages in the paragraph next ensuing.
"To these parishes resort the Witeiriding men (supposed
Witreding from ƿite, a chief lord, and ræden, a
council) otherwise called Thanes of that English March." P.91.
In P.95 we find the mullions of a Gothic window taken out, to make way for
a modern sash one, "by an Archdidiaconal command." P.95.
Mr. Hodgson doubts the authenticity of Richard of Cirencester's work, "De
situ Britanniae;" 1st because no manuscript of it could ever be found; 2d.
because the pretended fac-simile of the first page is not in the style of
any manuscript of Richard's time, but is a clumsy imitation of the
hand-writing of a centruy before him, and contains abbreviations
unwarranted by ancient examples; 3dly. because the Latinity is too pure and
classical for a Monk of the 15th cent., especially one "whose acknowledged
historical works are, in point of language, scarcely on a level with the
dull and ignorant productions of his contemporaries." P).146.
The following account of a Peel House at Whelpington shows the ancient mode
of living in this country.
"The only Peel house remaining in the place is called "the Bolt House," and
consists of a byer or cow-house below, and the family apartments above,
viz. an upper room with a boarded floor, and a garret, both approached by
stone stairs on the outside, and the whole covered with thatch. The
door-way to the cow-house is under the landing of the stairs, and
the door of it was fastened with a strong bolt in the inside, for
which purposes the byer and the upper-room had communication by a
trap-hole, that is, by a horizontal door in a corner of the floor,
and a trap or ladder; for the English word trap, in
the terms, a trap-way, trap-hole, trap-door, and a trap-rock,
has the same origin as the Swedish and German words trap and
treppe, which means stairs, and seem to owe their origin to
some obsolete inflection of the German and English verbs treten and
to tread. This was the character of the principal farm-houses in
Northumberland a hundred years since. The peels of the lairds or
yeomanry proprietors had each a stone arch over the byer, and were
frequently covered with free-stone slate, which made them more secure, than
houses with thatchced roofs, from being burnt in the plundering irruptions
of the Scotch, and their no less troublesome neighbours, the people of
Redesdale. The cottage next to the Bolt-house, on the right, is a good
specimen of an inferior farm-house, the room at the entrance of which was,
and still continues in many places to be, a byer in winter and a
bed-room in summer, and is called the out-bye: the
in-bye, or inner room, with three small windows to the left of the
out-door, was the dwelling of the family, and often partitioned by two
press-beds into two apartments." P.189.Shakespeare's and Milton's use of
the Fairy Mythology is well illustrated, as once a matter of serious
credibility, in the following account of Rothley Mill.
"The old mill, with its black water wheel, and heathery roof, far from
human habitations, and shut up in a glen narrow and thick with wood, was
the haunt of a family of fairies, and had many a marvelloous tale about it.
For old queen Mab and her train, they say, with the help of the miller's
picks, formed out of the rock the numerous circular basins which are still
to be seen here in the bed of the Hart, and were every moonlight summer's
evening seen like so many water-fowls, flickering and bathing in them. The
mill itself was their great council-hall; and the eye of the kiln their
kitchen, where, in boiling their pottage, they burnt the seeds or
husks of oats the miller laid up for drying the corn he had next to
grind. The meal and firing thus made use of, they took as an old customary
claim for guarding and cleaning the mill and other useful services; but the
miller thinking them too extravagant, was determined to disturb them; and
while they were preparing their supper one night, threw a sod down the
chimney and instantly fled. The falling mass dashed soot, fire, and boiling
pottage amongst them; and the trembling fugitive, before he could reach the
dingly verge of the glen, heard the cry, "burnt and scalded! burnt and
scalded! the sell of the mill has done it;" and the old mother of the
family set after him, and just as he got to the style, going into Rothley,
touched him, and he doubled up, was bow-bent, and a cripple to his dying
day." 305.
Mr. Hodgson has been indefatigable in his researches;and has enlivened his
book with numerous biographical matters, respecting the proprietors of
estates in more modern areas, a practice which is not sufficiently regarded
in topographical works. The pedigrees are remarkably full, elaborate,
minute, and well-authenticated. General anti-
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 2 p.55}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1828 part 2 p.55}
{image = G828B055.jpg}
[anti]quities are treated according to good authorities; and thoough we are
not satisfied with all the etymological deduction, this is a very trifling
ground of complaint, and appears to have originated in a right principle,
that of leaving nothing unexplained. We shall anxiously expect the
remaining parts.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1828 part 2 p.420}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1828 part 2 p.420}
{header- The Debateable Lands}
{image = G828B420.jpg}
{text- Review of an article in Archaeologia vol.22 part 1:-}
XII. copy of a Manuscript Tract, addressed to Lord Burghley,
illustrative of the Border Topography of Scotland, A.D. 1590; with a Platt
or Map of the Borders, taken in the same year.
Communicated by Henry Ellis, esq.
The military spirit of the Borderers was kept up, it seems, by mutual fears
of incursion; and 'diamond cut diamond.' - A curious elucidation of
surnames, taken from clans, and in England, occurs in this documentand it
shows that families, like hares and rabbits, kept together in the same
district.
'Eske. - Upon both sides of the river dwell the Grames, which is the
greatest surname at this day upon the West Border. For the Grames of Eske
and Leven are able to make vC. serviceable men. There dwelleth also a
surname of Stories, but they are sore decayed.'
'Leven. - Upon this river also dwelleth many Grames, and above
Kirklynton on Sompert dwelleth a great surname of Fosters, and about
Hethersgill is a surname of Hetheringtons.' P.169.
The private life and demoralized habits of these Borderers we have recently
exhibited and explained in our Review of Mr. Hodgson's Redesdale. (See
p.53)
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 1 p.178}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 1 p.178}
{header- Obituary, John Christian Curwen}
{image = G829A178.jpg}
J. C. CURWEN, ESQ. M.P.
Dec. 11. At Workington Hall, Cumberland, aged 72, John Christian
Curwen, esq. M.P. for the county of Cumberland.
This gentleman's paternal name was Christian. He was a member of the
ancient and very respectable family of M'Christen, of the Isle of Man,
"who," says Lysons, "for several generations were Deemsters or Judges of
that Island. They appear first to have written their name Christian about
the year 1600. Ewan Christian, esq. the fist of the family, who settled at
Unerigg, (or Ewanrigg) died in 1719." At the age of about 20, Mr. Curwen,
then Mr. Christian, married miss Taubman, of the Isle of Man, by whom he
had issue the present John Christian, esq. now one of the Deemsters of that
Island. On the death of his first wife, Mr. Curwen married his cousin, Miss
Curwen, only daughter of the late Henry Curwen, esq. of Workington Hall,
and the last of the family of that name; Mr. Curwen therefore added Curwen
to his name of Christian in 1790, by the King's sign manual.
Mr. Curwen served the office of High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1784. He
began his political career in 1786, in which year, on a vacancy for the
city of Carlisle, he stood a warm and at first unsuccessful struggle, but
was established in his seat after a petition. His fortune was similar at
the general election in 1790; when, after a double return, he was declared
duly elected. At the general elections of 1796, 1802, 1806, and 1807 he was
again chosen; and he retained his seat till 1812. The tide of popular
favour then beggan to flow against him; he was opposed by the late Henry
Fawcett, esq., and very early quitted the field, in just anger, his friends
alleged, at the fickleness of that many-headed master whose humours it had
been his pride and pleasure to serve. On Mr. Fawcett's death in 1816,
however, Mr. Curwen was prevailed upon again to offer himself; and he was
elected again after a sharp struggle with the late Sir Philip Musgrave,
Bart., who on that occasion made his first essay in public life - and ,
young as he was, fought a good fight against the political veteran. In June
1818, Mr. Curwen, in conjunction with the late Sir James Graham, Bart. of
Edmund Castle, was re-elected for Carlisle, without any other impediment
than that opposed by the trifling pretensions of Mr. Parkins. In the
succeeding week, Mr. Curwen made a demonstration in favour of the county
representation, much to the disrelish of his old friends in Carlisle; and
even offered to contest the county, in union with Lord Morpeth, but his
Lordship declined, and Mr. Curwen retired, satisfied with showing that he
possessed an influence which he did not then think it prudent to exercise.
This very naturally laid the foundation of a schism among the Whig or Blue
party, which is still in existence. At the general election which shortly
followed the King's death in 1820, Mr. Curwen, to the public surprise, once
more presented himself to the freemen of Carlisle, and was at first very
coolly received, but was eventually returned. At the Cumberland election,
which shortly followed, Mr. Curwen declared himself a candidate for the
county representation, and succeeded in ousting Lord Morpeth without a
contest. In 1826, he was again returned for Cumberland, and met with no
opposition. These choppings and changings did Mr. Curwen much injury in the
popular estimation.
Mr. Curwen was in early life actuated by a just sense of the importance of
rural improvement. This incessantly engaged his attention. By subduing the
sterility of his own estate - fertilizing the barren waste - stimulating
the inert - meliorating the durid and tenacious - draining the swamp - and
by giving depth and superior qualities to the staple of the land, he
insured a luxuriance of crop, in spite of an ungrateful soil, and cold
rainy climate. He also introduced every kind of improvement, which, under
his superin-
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 1 p.179}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 1 p.179}
{image = G829A179.jpg}
[superin]tendancy, became still further improved - calling forth the
capabilities of the land by every practical and judicious mode of
cultivation, and by rearing and feeding in the most economical way, every
kind and breed of animals which experience had approved, and which
assiduity or money could procure. Mr. Curwen seems to have been
particularly attentive to assist that general law of nature, by which
animals and vegetables reciprocally exchange their substance or qualities
with each other; on this circumstance he founded the necessity and
propriety of his "Soiling System" - that is, by confining the animals to
the spot where they are fed; by which means a more abundant quantity of
dress is collected and prepared to be returned to the partly exhausted
soil, whence the food has been produced. Hence Mr. Curwen was called "the
Father of the Soiling System." He also studied, and successfully practised,
the means of rendering the food of cattle more nutritious, by preparing it
for their use by steaming, in preference to simple boiling, thereby
retaining the saccharine qualities of the roots, &c., which would, by
boiling, be extracted and lost. The drill husbandry Mr. Curwen also adopted
successfully; in short he neglected no expedient, or rational practice,
which could in any way tend to the perfection of agricultural science. His
skilful operations may be said to have given a new character to the
business of farming. His excellent example has imparted an impulse to
agricultural exertions all over the kingdom; many old prejudices and
erroneous customs have been banished, and his improvements have amply
compensated every farmer who had the spirit to adopt them.
Active and temperate from youth, and strongly attached to rural pursuits,
he enjoyed an almost uninterrupted flow of robust health during his long
life, till within about the last two years, when his constitution exhibited
symptoms of decay. In the Session of Parliament 1826-7, he bagan to
experience the inconvenience of late hours and crowded houses. The
freshness of the Cumberland breezes produced a beneficial effect upon him
in the summer and autumn of 1827; but as winter approached his debility
returned, and he found himself unable to encounter his senatorial duties
during the whole of the last session.
By his second marriage he had three sons, Henry, William, and John; and two
daughters, all living, except William. Mrs. Curwen died in 1820. The
Unerigg property goes to the Deemster: the Workington-hall estate descends
to Henry Curwen, esq., who for many years past has lived in comparative
retirement at Bell Isle, Windermere.
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.116}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.116}
{header- Monument, Sandys Family}
{image = G829B116.jpg}
... ...
Hawkeshead, Aug. 2.
Mr. URBAN,
I SEND you two epitaphs which I transcribed from monuments of the Sandys
family, in the parish Church
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.117}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.117}
{image = G829B117.jpg}
of Hawkshead, Lancashire: one from the monument of William and Margaret
Sandys, parents of the celebrated Edwyn Sandys, who in 1565, being then
Bishop of Carlisle, was one of those appointed to translate the Bible, was
Bishop of London in 1570, and Archbishop of York in 1576, and founded the
Free Grammar School here in 1585. The other is from a monument erected to
the memory of five of the infant children of Myles Sandys, son and heir of
Samuel Sandys of Graithwaite. This Myles was deputy Lieutenant for the
county of Lancaster in 1700, and High Sheriff in 1708; he lies interred in
the Sandys' choir. William, mentioned in the former epitaph, was nephew of
Thomas Rawlinson, Abbot of Furness, and married Margaret daughter of John
Dixon of Wooderslacke, co. Westmorland. They lie also in the Sandys' choir,
under a table monument, upon which are represented, in alto relievo, their
effigies, in full proportion, with their hands raised in a praying posture.
At the head, and on the side, are the Sandys' arms, between the letters
E.S. (the initials, I suppose, of the Archbishop), with a crescent of
distinction. The epitaph runs round the verge of the tomb, and is in some
parts much contracted. Over the choir door, on the outside, are the Sandys'
arms, between the same initials, and underneath the date 1578.
I shall feel much obliged to any of your readers who will transmit you a
correct copy of the epitaph of Miles Magrath, first protestant Archbishop
of Cashel in Ireland, who was buried in that city. His epitaph, I
understand, was privately erased about twenty-six years ago, by some person
to whom it seemed to give offence.
D.B.H.
"Conditur hoc tumulo Gulielmus Sandus, et uxor
Cui Margaretae nomen et omen erat:
Armiger ille fuit percharus regibus olim:
Illa sed exemplar religionis erat.
Conjugii fuerant aequali sorte beati,
Foelices opibus, stemmate, prole, fide:
(Pignora divini fuerant haec magna favoris;
Haec tamen Edwini cuncta retundit honos:
Qui doctor, rectorque scholae, censor quoque, praesul
Ter fuerat, merito Phoebus in orbe sacro),
Quos amor et pietas lecto conjunxit eodem.
Hoc sub spe vitae continet iste lapis."
"Hoc monumentum Mylo Sandys armiger, filius natu maximus Samuelis Sandys de
Grathuethia generosi, ab antiqua nobilitatis familia oriundi, erexit in
perpetuam pulchrae suae sobolis memoriam in ipso vere juventae mortem
obeuntis, viz. Samuelis, Bathshebae, Elizabetae, Catherinae, et
Mylonis, morti succumbentis decimo nono die Februarii, Anno Domini 1698,
aetatis suae nono."
"Threnodia, in mortis victoriam.
Mors fera terribili vulta pia corda virorum
Concutit; heu! nulli parcit avara manus.
Falce metit, velutense ferox bellator in armis,
Nunc validos juvenes, mox miserosque senes.
Quaque ruit, furibunda ruit: non sanguinis ordo,
Nec virtutis honos fata movere valet.
Nullaqueat differre diem medicina statutum:
Si mors dura jubet, nescit habere ducem."
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.357}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.357}
{header- Roman Tomb, Carlisle}
{image = G829B357.jpg}
ROMAN ANTIQUITIES NEAR CARLISLE.
As the cutting down of Gallow-hill, near Carlisle proceeds, many
interesting remains of former ages are brought to light; but especially
memorials of the dominion of the Romans, whose chief northern stations, as
is well known, were in this district. A discovery was made lately, of a
well-executed and neatly designed Roman tomb, in fine preservation, five
feet four inches long, and two feet nine inches and a half wide. It
contained a female figure, in alto relievo, three feet in length, holding
in her left hand a rudely sculptured flower; in her right a scarf, or some
emblematical ornament, which is thrown over the shoulder. Underneath is the
inscription: 'D. M. Avr. aurelia vixit annos xxxxi: mil. Pius Apolinaris
coniugi carissime posuit.' Probably:- Diis Manibus Aureliae. Aurelia vixit
annos 41: Memoriae loco Pius Apolinaris conjugi carissimaae posuit.' Near
the stone was also discovered a roughly executed capital of a Corinthian
column, 24 inches by 10, in red free-stone; also six Roman urns, of various
dimensions, (one of them full of ashes), a lachrymatory, and three jet
rings; the largest three inches in diameter, and in an extraordinary
perfect state.
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.501}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.501}
{header- Bellringing}
{image = G829B501.jpg}
London, Nov.
Mr. URBAN,
THERE is, I am grieved to find, a spirit methodistically set against
Fairs, Wakes, Morris-dancing, Maying, Bell-ringing, and all old English
sports and pastimes, without distinction. These innocent amusements are
worthy of some respect, were it only because they were the delight of our
ancestors of the olden time, who were certainly as well meaning and orderly
people as their posterity.
Being a lover of the noble science of Campanology, and knowing that it is
not only healthful and tranquillizing to those who are its students, but
has a most enlivening and joyous effect on all who can appreciate the sweet
undulating melody, I am concerned to observe a strong desire in some
quarters to 'put down' this truly national and Christian recreation. I have
rung in many a peal, and can safely say, that I never found my companions
ought but good fellows, and had any one of them been in an unpleasant
humour when he came to the pull, he never failed to be in good spirits when
he retired, nay the village itself became more hilarious as the peal
increased in its intricate chimes.
England has been for ages justly famous for the art, from which in former
times it was denominated 'the Bell-ringing country,' an appellation that I
trust it will still continue to deserve, maugre the heartless enemies of
tinnulous melody. Meantime I cannot refrain from saying somewhat in
defence of this innocent and scientific amusement; for I view the hostility
to this appropriate and almost sole use of the steeple, as an
insidious attempt on the Church itself. Enemies to this diversion
appear, indeed, not to be confined to the present day; for in the curious
work entitled 'Campanalogia,' published in the time of Charles II. it is
regretted that, 'many malicious aspersions were cast upon this diverting,
ingenious, harmless, and healthful art, by partial and extrajudicial
persons;' but in this advanced state of society it is discovered that
ringing the bells shakes not only the steeple but the whole fabric of the
church, and adjacent buildings; and St. Mary le Bow, with her celebrated
bells, dear to all natives of the land yhent Cockayne, is silenced without
a peal. To be sure the 'rocking of the steeple' may not be very
agreeable to its near neighbours. Those sensitive people who are unable to
bear a slight vibration are much to be pitied, in being still subjected to
the grating noise and heavy incessant rattling of some thousand carriages.
Alas! I have heard, when the world had not the light afforded by the high
civilization of the present age, that when the tower shook it proved the
goodness of the masonry, the walls being well cemented, solid, and all of a
piece as it were, but these were old-fashioned notions. I, however, should
like to know whether a tower was ever actually pulled down by ringing the
bells?
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.502}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.502}
{image = G829B502.jpg}
This much I do know, that where Acts of Parliament have been obtained for
rebuilding some churches, the chief reason assigned has been 'the ruinous
and dangerous state of the tower;' yet when proceeding to pull down the
fabric, the same tower has been found in best repair, although the most
ancient part, and in some cases has actually been allowed to stand rather
than the expence and trouble of removing so firm a mass should be incurred!
This, I believe, is the case with Mitcham in Surrey, where the tower is
left in a most awkward position by the chancel wall.
An old author says of the English, that when they get together and become
merry, 'they are wont to adjourn to some neighbouring church, and ring a
merry peal,' surely an unobjectionable mode of divertisment. Most of us
know that bells were in early ages, as they are still, I believe, in
Catholic countries, baptised and consecrated with much ceremony, and
dedicated to some particluar saint, for a curious account of all which
Stell's 'Beehive of the Roman Church,' 1580, may be consulted. The tolling
of a bell had powerful effects. It kept the spirits of darkness from
assaulting believers; it dispelled thunder, and prevented the Devil from
molesting either the church or congregation, and hence the bells were rung
with due ardour and devotion, in time of storm. To insure these valuable
services many, in the 'dark ages,' were induced to bequeath property for
the support of favourite bells, which could be rung at their funeral to the
discomfiture of the arch fiend, whose attempts to get possession of the
deceased's soul were paralyzed by the hallowed sound; and to what purpose,
can you inform me, are the funds devoted, if the terms of the bequest are
not complied with?
Old bells have generally inscriptions detailing their wonderful properties.
We are first informed to what Saints they were dedicated, and then we are
reminded of the less important duties: 'sabbata pango, funera plango,
solemnia chango.' Since we have been emancipated from the 'damnable
doctrine and heresy' of Popery, to be sure we have no such veneration for
bellringing, but there are occasions on which it would be grievously
vexatious, both to the performers and the public, if the exercise was
interdicted, and the exhilerating harmony of treble bobs, grandsire bobs,'
or any sort of bobs from 'Cripplegate chorus,' to 'St. Dunstan's doubles,'
were no longer to be heard. Many anecdotes of bellringers might be related,
and many stories illustrative of the beneficial effect of this 'very
delightful and pleasing exercise;' but I fear I have already intruded
myself too far, and shall conclude with a few short extracts from the work
to which I have referred. 'While other sports,' says the enthusiastic
campanologist, are 'unaccompanied by melody, nothing can yield a more
pleasant and harmonious sound than eight or ten merry bells, well rung by
ringers well skilled and practised. There have been,' he continues, 'many
noble and ingenious persons that have been very ambitious and desirous of
attaining a knowledge in the art, and, moreover, at this time, to our
certain knowledge, there are several learned and eminent persons, both
clergy and laymen, of good estates, that are members of several societies
of ringers, inhabiting within this city, and think themselves very much
respected and highly favoured, that they can attain so great a happiness
and honour. Nor is it less esteemed and admired by foreigners, who have
acknowledged that in all parts, wherever they have been, the like is not
known; and therefore they have named England 'the ringing country.' This we
hope will satisfy the judicious, that the scandalous aspersions cast upon
this art are erroneous, and malicious, and that other exercises are not in
the least to be compared with it, because not so artful, or requiring so
thoughtful and ingenious a head-piece.'
L.
{text- the subject is continued:-}
THE earliest peal of Bells which we read of was at the Abbey of Croyland,
put up soon after the Conquest; it consisted of five, but we are not
acquainted with their weights.
'At the Abbey of St. Peter's, Westminster,' says an author of the
fourteenth century, 'are two bells, which, over all the bells of the world,
obtain the precedence in wonderful size and tone.'
A writer of the twelfth century says, that Conrad, Prior of Christ Church,
Canterbury, fixed in the clock house five exceedingly great bells, of which
one required eight men to ring it,
{title- Gents Mag 1829 part 2 p.503}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1829 part 2 p.503}
{image = G829B503.jpg}
two others ten each, the fourth eleven, and the fifth twenty-four. A
succeeding Prior in the same century set up a bell in the clock house,
which required thirty-two men to ring it.
'In the Abbey of St. Edmondsbury,' says John Major, the Scots historian,
'is reported to be the greatest bell of all England, though in England is a
vast number of bells of the finest tone.'
'In the priory church of Christ Church, Aldgate, London,' says Stowe, 'were
nine bells well toned.'
The glory of Oxford was the peal of Oseney Abbey, consisting of five. Their
names were Douce, Clement, Hautileve, Gabriel, and John.
Stowe gives the following account of the celebrated bells of St. Paul's
Cathedral:
'Near unto the schoole in St. Paul's Church yarde belonging to the
Cathedral church was a great and high clochier or bell house, four square,
builded of stone, and in the same a most stronge frame of timber, with
foure bells, the greatest that I have heard. These bells were called Jesus
bells, and belonged to Jesus Chappel of the Cathedral. The same had a great
spire of timber covered with lead, with the image of St. Paul at the top,
but was pulled down by Sir Miles Partridge, knight, in the raigne of Kinge
Henry VIII. The common speech then was, that he did set 100l. upon a
cast of dice against it, and so won the said clochier and bells of the
King, and then causing the bells to be broken as they hunge; the rest was
pulled downe.'
Of the great size and weight of conventual bells, we may form some notion,
from the accounts of the Commissioners, at the Dissolution, of the various
sales of bell-metal. In that of Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury, in
1540, is the following memorandum:
'Parcel of five bells late in the great belfraye, containing 24,600 lb.'
The greatest bell of York Minster, before the Reformation, weighed 6600lbs.
The heaviest bells now in England are the following:
Clock bells not rung in Peal.
Christ Church, Oxford ... 17000lb.
Exeter ... 12500
Lincoln (the best in England) ... 9894
St. Paul's Cathedral ... 8400
Gloucester ... 6500
Canterbury ... 7500
Beverley ...
Of these, four belonged to great conventual Churches, viz. Christ Church,
which came from Oseney Abbey; St. Paul's, which originally, it is said,
belonged to Westminster; Gloucester, and Canterbury.
There are some other clock bells remaining, but of inferior weights and
size. There is a bell of this sort at Tonge Church in Shropshire, which was
a collegiate church. It weighs about 4000lbs.
Some of the heaviest bells now rung in Peal.
Exeter Cathedral, in the south tower, a peal of ten; tenor ... 7552lbs.
St. Mary le Bow, London, peal of ten; tenor ... 5300
York Minster, peal of ten; tenor ... 5300
St. Saviour's, Southwark, peal of twelve; tenor ... 5100
St. Mary Radcliff, Bristol, peal of eight; tenor ... 5100
Wells Cathedral, peal of ten; tenor ... 4400
St. Peter's, Mancroft, Norwich, peal of twelve; tenor ... 4100
Christ Church, Spitalfields, London, peal of twelve; tenor ... 4400
Sheffield, peal of ten; tenor ... 4100
St. Michael, Cornhill, London, peal of twelve; tenor ... 4000
St. Martin's, Birmingham, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3600
St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3600
Shrewsbury, St. Chad, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3400
St. Martin's in the Fields, London, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3400
St. Michael, Coventry, peal of ten; tenor ... 3100
St. Maragaret, Lynn, peal of 8; tenor ... 3000
St. Leonard, Shoreditch, London, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3000
Cambridge, St. Mary's, peal of twelve; tenor ... 3000
There are in the kingdom some very heavy ancient peals of six and five
bells. Amongst the most remarkable are those of Sherbourne, Abbey, Dorset,
the tenor of which weighs about 3600lbs; Bampton, Oxfordshire, tenor 3000;
St. Mary's, Oxford, &c.
Weights of some foreign Clock Bells.
The famous bell of Moscow ... 43200lbs.
St. Peter's, Rome (recast in 1785) ... 18667
Florence Cathedral ... 17000
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.290}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.290}
MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.
... ...
H. PIDGEON says, that in the statement of the weights of several Church
bells, p.503, pt.ii vol.xcix. there is an error in the weight of the tenor
of St. Chad's at Shrewsbuy, which in fact weighs upwards of 4600lbs.
instead of 3400lbs. as mentioned; so that it may be considered to rank as
the sixth heaviest peal in the kingdom, instead of the thirteenth.
... ...
{header- The Dissolution, Armathwaite Nunnery}
{image = G830A290.jpg}
INVESTIGATOR wishes to be informed whether the surrender of the Priory of
Armathwaite, Cumberland, is extant. It is not in the Augmentation Office,
nor in the Chapter House of Westminster. He also will be glad to know if
there is any other copy of Cromwell's Ecclesiastical Survey than the one in
the library of Lambeth Palace.
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.359}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.359}
{header- Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, Corby Bridge}
{image = G830A359.jpg}
DOMESTIC OCCURENCES.
... ...
The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway has commenced by the laying of
the first stone of the intended bridge from Wetheral to Corby, across the
river Eden, near to Corby Castle. The edifice when completed will be a most
stupendous piece of workmanship. It will consist of five arches; and the
viaduct or carriage road will be no less than 95 feet above the bed of the
Eden. About a fifth part of the quantity of stone used in Waterloo Bridge,
will be required for this.
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.498}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.498}
{header- Monument, Earl of Westmorland}
{text- In an article relating a walk from Wanstead, Essex:-}
{image = G830A498.jpg}
{text- In a description of the church at East Ham, Essex:-}
... ...
... On the opposite [north] of the altar is one of those interesting
monuments, not infrequently to be seen in our parochial churches, but which
often unexpectedly present themselves to the ardent topographer, in
requital of his toils,†
† The vexatious annoyances to which the topographer was subjected in
the prosecution of his labours in the days of the first James are thus
alluded to by old Weever, in his "Discourse on Funeral Monuments;" and the
writer of these crudities can bear witness to the teasing interruptions
sometimes encountered even at the present time, by the disciples of John
Leland; although hitherto he has escaped the mortification of affording
amusement to the village urchins by an exhibition of his meagre visage in
the cage, or resting his weary legs in the stocks. "Having found," says
Weever, "one or two ancient funeral inscriptions, or obliterated
sculptures, in this or that parish church, I have ridden to ten parish
churches distant from that, and not found one. Besides I have been taken
up in divers churches by the churchwardens of the parish, and
not suffered to write the epitaphs, or take view of the monuments as much
as I desired."
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.499}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.499}
{image = G830A499.jpg}
sometimes even, as in the present instance, affording him a motive for an
inquisitive research into the history of his country, to resolve some
obscure or doubtful point.
The monument here referred to, bears, with two others, the following
inscription:-
"In memoriam sacrum.
"To the memory of the Right Honourable Edmond Nevill, Lord Latimer, Earl of
Westmoreland, and Dame Jane his wife; with the memorials of their seven
children. Which Edmond was lineally descended from the honourable blood of
kings and princes, and the seventh Earl of Westmoreland of the name of
Nevill." The effigies of the Earl and his Countess are about the size of
life, and are represented with uplifted hands, as in prayer, kneeling at a
desk or altar, on which are open books. The Earl is in armour, over which
is a mantle, with his helmet lying beside him. His Countess is attired in
sweeping robes, and the coronet on her head denotes her dignity. On the
lower step of the monument are figures representing their seven children in
black dresses, and in white hoods, and, as is usual on these occasions,
their heights are nicely graduated. This monument is exceedingly rich in
heraldry, there being no less than eleven separate escutcheons of arms,
showing the alliances of this illustrious house, whose name has been
assoicated with the annals of their country for so many generations. Those
most conspicuous, from being emblazoned on much larger shields, are,
1st. Gules, a saltire Argent, for Nevill.* 2d. Or, fretty Gules, on
a Canton party per pale, Argent and Sable, a ship of the second with sails
furled.
I remember to have seen it stated somewhere that the latter is the ancient
coat of Nevill. It is, however, certain that it was borne, but without the
canton, by the de Verdons, a powerful baronial family of Norman descent,
who flourished for several centuries after the Conquest in the northern
counties.†
But it is the circumstances attending the history of the personage here
commemorated, that render this monument more than ordinarily curious.
Although the undoubted representative of his ancient line, this Edmond
Nevill was only the the titular Earl of Westmoreland. Charles, the sixth
Earl of Westmoreland, and thirteenth Baron Nevill of Raby, having conspired
with the Earl of Northumberland (Thomas Percy, seventth Earl), against the
government of Elizabeth, and not improbably with a view to place her rival,
Mary, on the Throne, these powerful nobles, having called together their
friends and vassals, met at the Castle of Brancepeth, in Durham, an ancient
stronghold of the Nevills, where they suggested to their followers, "That
all the English Nobility were resolved to restore the Romish religion; and
that they did thus put themselves in arms to prevent upstarts from
trampling on the old nobility; and so appeared in open rebellion."‡
But upon the President of the North (Thomas Ratcliff, Earl of Sussex)
marching against them with a superior force, they fled into Scotland, from
whence the Earl of Westmoreland escaped to Flanders; and being attainted of
high treason by outlawry in the Parliament of the 13th of Elizabeth, 1570,
his dignity and possession were forfeited.§ He died
* The Right Honourable Henry Nevill, Earl of Abergavenny, Baron
Bergavenny, or as it is now spelt, Abergavenny, premier Baron of England,
who is descended from Edward Nevill, sixth son of Ralph, first Earl of
Westmoreland, bears this coat with a difference; viz. Gules, on a saltire
Argent a rose of the First, barbed and seeded Proper.
† During the last summer I observed the arms of the de Verdons, on a
shield attached to the monumental effigy of a knight, half buried in the
ground, among the picturesque ruins of Calder Abbey, Cumberland.
‡ See Dugdale.
§ the Castle of Brancepeth was vested in the Crown by a special act.
In the reign of Charles I. it was sold, under the authority of letters
patent, to Lady Middleton and others, since when it has passed, by
alienation, through several families, and is now the seat of William
Russell, Esq. M.P. for the County of Durham. Brancepeth came to the Nevills
by marriage with the heiress of the Bulmers. (A view of Brancepeth Castle
will be found in vol.XCVII. i. p.305.) Raby Castle, in the same county, was
the chief residence of this great family, and was among the estates
forfeited by Charles, the last Earl, for the rebellion in the north. On the
grand entrance to Raby there are three shields, bearing the arms of the
Nevills.
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.500}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.500}
{image = G830A500.jpg}
abroad at an advanced age, without issue male.
In the second year of the reign of James the First, Edmond Nevill (whose
name is recorded on the monument above-menntioned) the lineal descendant of
George Nevill, fifth son of Ralph, first Earl of Westmoreland, who was
created to that dignity by letters patent in 1397, and next heir male of
Charles the last Earl, having assumed the title of Earl of Westmoreland,
notwithstanding the attainder, was summoned to appear at Witehall, before
the Lords Commissioners for executing the office of Earl Marshall, which he
answered on the 3d of March, 1605, by his attorney, who prayed for time. It
appears that the case was afterwards, by the command of the king,
propounded to the judges, who decided against the claim, on the ground that
the attainder had caused all the honours to be forfeited to the Crown as an
estate of inheritance.* To the untoward circumstances attending his
suit, he may be supposed to allude, in the following rhyming epitaph on his
tomb:
"From princely, and from honourable blood,
By true succession was my high descent;
Malignant crosses oft opposed my good,
And adverse chance my state did circumvent."†
Edmond Nevill, although entitled to the Earldom of Westmoreland (barring
the attainder), as representative of the eldest male line of his family,
the assumption by him of the title of Latimer was surely erroneous, the
ancient Baronies of Latimer having long before passed by females into other
families according to the law of descent of Baronies in fee, by which the
females of each generation are preferred to the males of the preceeding
generation. The Barony of Latimer, constituted by writ of summons of the
28th Edw. I. 1299, though it has not been taken out, is vested in the
present Lord Willoughby de Broke, by the marriage of his ancestor, Sir
Thomas Willoughby, with the sister and sole heir of John Nevill, the fifth
Baron, who died in 1430.
The Barony of Latimer, by writ of the 10th of Henry VI. 1430, upon the
death of John Nevill, fourth Baron, in 1577 (who was great-great-grandson
of George Nevill, first Baron, fifth son of Ralph, first Earl of
Westmorland, from whom Edmond Nevill deduced his descent), fell into
abeyance between his four daughters; and the present Duke of
Northumberland, by the marriage of his ancestor, Henry Percy, eighth Earl
of Northumberland, with Katharine Nevill, is the representative of the
eldest of the four coheirs of that honour. It would appear rather that
Edmond Nevill should have styled
* A copy of Edmond Nevill's claim, which is a curious document, may
be found in the Lansdowne MSS. 254, p.376. See Mr. Nicolas's Synopsis of
the Peerage of England, a work of great labour and research, and one of the
most valuable "Helps to History" which has appeared for many years. May I
venture to hope that Mr. Nicolas will undertake a similar elucidation of
the Peerage of Scotland and Ireland. (The latter, we have some time since
announced, is promised by the best authority, Sir William Betham, the
present Ulster King at Arms. - EDIT.)
† Edmoond Nevill might, probably, feel the disallowal of his
ancestral honours the more acutely, from the circumstance of the Earldom of
Northumberland being vested, in his day, in the family of Percy,
notwithstanding the attainder in 1571 of Thomas Percy, Earl of
Northumberland, on account of his participation with Charles Nevill, Earl
of Westmoreland, in the rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, mentioned above.
The Earldom of Northumberland and other dignoities, were by Letters Patent
conferred (the ancient Earldom was under forfeiture) on Thomas Percy, in
1577, and in default of heirs male, with remainder to his brother Henry,
and the heirs male of his body. The said Thomas Earl of Northumberland, was
attainted of high treason in 1571, and had he left issue male, so long as
such issue male existed, these dignities would have been forfeited; but on
the extinction of the issue male of his body, the remainder would
immediately take effect; as, however, he died without issue male, the
dignities instantly devolved on his brother, in consequence of the
limitations of the Patent. (Vide Nicolas.)
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 1 p.501}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 1 p.501}
{image = G830A501.jpg}
himself, instead of "Lord Latimer," "Lord Nevill of Raby," that ancient
dignity, held originally by tenure in the reign of Henry II. by Geoffrey de
Nevill, grandson of Gilbert de Nevill, Admiral of the Coqueror's fleet,
being vested in him, excepting always the impediment of the attainder, and
provided also there were no representatives in the female line nearer than
himself in blood to Charles, the sixth and last Earl of Westmoreland, and
thirteenth Baron Nevill of Raby.*
... On the Nevill monument there is no date, but I find that Jane Nevill
died in 1641, and left, together with some charitable bequests, five
shillings to be laid out annually in repairs to her husband's monument.
In the parish is an ancient mansion, supposed to have been the residence of
the Nevills.
That famous antiquary, Dr. Stukeley, lies buried in this quiet churchyard,
in a spot which struck him whilst on a visit to the vicar a short time
before his death in 1765. He was many years Secretary to the Society of
Antiquaries, and published the Itinerarium Curiosum, ... ...
... ...
* It may be here observed, that the Right Honourable John Fane, the
present and tenth Earl of Westmoreland of his family, is descended from
Francis Fane, son of Sir Thomas Fane, by Mary Nevill, daughter and heir of
Henry Nevill, Baron Bergavenny, Despencer, and Burghersh, who descended
from Edward, sixth son of Ralph Nevill, first Earl of Westmoreland (that
ancient tree from which sprung so many nobke scions). This lady challenged
the Barony of Bergavenny against the heir male, which led to the celebrated
anomolous decision of the House of Lords in respect of that Barony, in the
time of James the First. See 3d Report of Lord's Committees on the Dignity
of the Peerage, p.216.
{title- Gents Mag 1830 part 2 p.24}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1830 part 2 p.24}
{header- Poor Susan, Willliam Wordsworth}
{image = G830B024.jpg}
Scraps from a Notebook.
about London
... ...
It may seem hypercritical, but I cannot help thinking that the effect of
Wordsworth's affecting little piece, "Poor Susan," is injured, in the minds
of Cockneys at least, by the making of "bright volumes of vapour down
Lothbury glide," since it is impossible, from "the corner of
Wood-street" (the scene of the ballad) to catch a glimpse of that place,
especially if "a river" is to be seen "flowing through the vale of
Cheapside" at the same time. Does not Lothbury too, sound in unaccustomed
ears as something pleasant and countryfied? - I know nothing so exquisitely
pathetic as the short piece in question in the whole range of British
poetry, except a song in the "Life of Mausie Wauch," entitled "There's nae
hame like our ain hame," I would rather be the author of that one little
poem, than of all the fashionable novels that have followed one another
into oblivion for the last fifty years.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 1 p.3}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 1 p.3}
{header- Tithes}
{image = G831A003.jpg}
Jan. 1.
Mr. URBAN,
I HAVE read with regret in No.XI of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,
which has rather an extensive circulation, two articles on the subject of
TITHES. The first purporting to be "On the History of Tithes;" and the
second, "On the Commutation of Tithes," headed by the title of the Bill
introduced by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury; both of which are
filled with misrepresentations, disingenuous arguments, and groundless
conclusions, and are calculated to excite a feeling of hostility in the
breast of laymen against the Established Clergy. You would oblige one who
is perfectly disinterested, by inserting this Letter, containing an
impartial epitome of the History of Tithes, &c.
Allow me, in the first place, to bring forward a few proofs, from the
fore-named articles, of the truth of my assertions. The former writer
acknowledges, that charters are extant, by which different proprietors
granted Tithes, &c. to the Clergy; that canons relating to Tithes are
found in records long before any regular statute was enacted. His words
are, "In England as well as abroad, canonical regulations on this subject
existed before any regular statutes, a circumstance which is of itself
sufficient to explain the fact, that even the earliest of these statutes
speak of Tithes, not as a new exaction, to which the people were strangers,
but as one which they were previously well acquainted." He is also
compelled by Ethelwolf's statute, which he presents, as he says, in full
length in a note (but he takes one part from Ingulph, and the
other from Matthew of Westminster,) to acknowledge that it "confers
on the clergy a full and inalienable gift of Tithes of all England, to be
held by them in their own right for ever;" and that the right of Tithes is
amply provided for, at and after the Conquest.
Though he has acknowledged all this, and asserted that in cases of doubt
"there still remains one sure and invariable principle to guide our
researches - the principle of human nature," he so far forgets himself as
to combat what he had before allowed, viz. the private endowments of
individuals, in these words: "Had such endowments in reality been made, the
Clergy would neither have urged Ethelwolf to pass this grant; nor would the
Barons have sanctioned a gift on his part, of what they themselves had
already bestowed." Such is this writer's opinion of the principle of human
nature, that he concludes that men will feel no anxiety to have property
secured to them by statute; and that it is unlikely that the Barons would
allow Ethelwolf to convey and secure to the Clergy what they had already
given them; but that they would doubtless very coolly suffer him to give
away one tenth of their property without the slightest opposition!! And
mark, Sir, the logic of this learned writer, as the Editor is pleased to
style him; because there are private charters extant, by which
individual proprietors gave tithes, &c. to the Clergy; because
"canons relating to Tithes are found in the records before any regular
statute was enacted;" because Ethelwolf conferred the Tithes on the
Clergy, "to be held by them in their own right for ever;" because
the right of Tithes was amply provided for at the Conquest; because
each of our Kings on his accession to the throne solemnly swears this oath,
and binds and obliges himself
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to observe the laws, customs, and franchises granted to the Clergy;"
therefore "the main conclusion to be drawn from the preceding
statements is, that the civil right of Tithes emanated originally and alone
from the ancient Legislature of the Nation!! This point being established,
the title of the existing Legislature to alter, to modify, or to
annul this right, whenever circumstances or the general wellfare of
the country demands such a measure cannot be denied!!!" This writer has a
wonderful system of logic; for, with about two or three syllogisms, he
would square the circle, reverse Kepler's law, and Newton's theorems, and
make each of the planets dance a hornpipe.
The writer of the second article commences by asserting that the revenues
of the Church of England, "though ample, are not excessive." He afterwards
enters into a very partial examination of the origin of Tithes; in which he
eulogizes Selden, so far as his testimony favours his
favourite hypothesis, viz. that Government gave the Tithes to the
Clergy, and therefore may "take them away," or "justly secularize them;" by
styling him "the learned and ingenious John Selden," the "profound
Antiquary, who, with great learning, traces the origin and progress of
Tithes from the earliest times." But when this learned and ingenious John
Selden states that originally the Tithes "were gifts of the laity conveyed
by grants and charters to the different Churches by their patrons and
founders," he immediately exclaims, "the whole hypothesis, however, is
opposed to historical fact, and to the known history of the Tithes!!" This
opposed to historical fact! when Hume says, "and the nobility preferring
the security and sloth of the cloister to the tumult and glory of war,
valued themsleves chiefly on endowing monasteries;" when King
John, in a letter to Pope Innocent, claims the right of his Barons, &c.
to found Churches within their seignories by the custom of the
realm; and when the writer of the first article acknowledges, that
charters are extant by which the nobility gave Tithes to the Clergy prior
to any regular statute. This opposed to the known history of the Tithes!
when this very writer, a few pages before, has said that Tithes were
demanded on pain of excommunication, nearly 300 years before the first law
was enacted. But, after all this partial and disengenuous reasoning, he is
compelled to conclude thus: "On whatever pretence then a right to the tenth
part of the produce of the country was at first obtained, and however
unwise the laws may be held to be which confirmed the claim, the right of
the property is now in the Church as an incorporated body, and by laws as
valid and as ancient as those which any property in this country is
inherited or possessed." Notwithstanding this conclusion, he proceeds to
rail against the Tithes as "an impost upon property," an "impost of the
worst kind," as "a tax grievous and offensive in its nature," &c.!! -
How an impost or tax, if such well-secured property? Again, a great want of
candour may be observed in his arguments to show the effect of Tithes on
agriculture. "It used to be (he writes), and still is over a great part of
the country, a common calculation, that one third part of the whole produce
of the land is paid as rent; one third as expenses; and that one third is
left to the farmer for profit, the risk of his stock, and the expenses of
his own maintenance. Now a tax (adds he) equal to a tenth part of the whole
produce, would in such a case be a tax equal to thirty per cent. on the
portion which remains to the farmer." Thus he insinuates that the Tithes
are taken from a farmer's profit; when every one who reflects at all, knows
that they are taken from the part which would go to the landlord. As a
well-informed country gentleman has observed, "The farmers are the only
persons who generally complain on this head; but if they are wise, they
will never wish for the abolition of Tithes; for what they now contingently
get from the moderation of the Clergy, the landlords would immediately put
into their own pockets; and the farmers, burdened with increased rents,
rates, and taxes, would feel how indiscreet were their former complaints."
Lastly, after starting the purport of the Archbishop's Bill, which is, that
an Archbishop or Bishop, as a guardian of the Church property, shall name
one commissioner, and the parishioners another, to fix a rate of
composition for 21 years, to be regulated every seven years, by the
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price of the produce of land, he has these interrogatories. "Why, we ask,
is all to depend on the will of any Archbishop or Bishop? Why is the
cumbrous and costly machinery to be renewed at intervals? Why these partial
provisions in favour of the receiver of Tithes, and none in favour of the
payer?" He thus intimates that there is partiality where none exists, and
endeavours to induce the farmers to consider any thing short of an eternal
lease on their own terms, without consent of the guardians of the property,
an intolerable hardship. This may suffice to justify my expressions.
I now proceed to an impartial epitome of the history of Tithes, &c.
The priests under the Mosaic dispensation were supported by Tithes and
offerings. It was evidently the will of the Divine Founder of the Christian
Religion, that the ministers of the Gospel should be supported by the
laity, which appears from his charge to the 70 missionaries. "Carry neither
purses nor scrip, nor shoes, &c. for the labourer is worthy of his
hire." From many passages in the New Testament we have strong grounds for
concluding, that He designed that Christian ministers should be maintained
as the priests had been under the former dispensation, i.e. by Tithes and
Offerings; for instance, "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it
a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? Do ye not know that they
which minister about holy things, live of the things of the Temple? and
that they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so
(Ούτω) hath the Lord ordained, that they
which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." Hence we find the early
Fathers exhorting their hearers to contribute Tithes for the support of the
Clergy. So early as A.D. 356, it was decreed at a Council, that Tithes were
due to ministers of the Gospel as the rents of God (Dei census).
Again, it was decreed at the Consilium Romanum, A.D. 375, "That Tithes and
First fruits should be given by the faithful, and that they who refuse
should be stricken with the curse." (Ut decimae atque primitiae a
fidelibus darentur; qui detrectant anathemate feriantur.) After the
Christian Religion had been embraced by the majority of the English people,
the Barons and nobles, in obedience to the injunctions of Augustin and his
successors, gave tithes and glebe lands for the endowment of Churches,
&c. as certain charters now extant, and the claim made by King John of
the right of his nobles to found Churches with their seignories, by the
custom of the realm, plainly evince. Such Tithes were regularly paid
according to ancient usage and decrees of the Church, previously to any
regular statutes, which is evident from a canon of Egbert, Archbishop of
York, A.D. 750, and from the 17th canon of the General Council held for the
whole kingdom at Chalcuth, A.D. 787. About A.D. 793, Offa, King of Mercia,
passed a law to secure the Tithes of his kingdom to the Church (Offa Rex
Merciorum nominatissimus, Decimam omnium rerum Ecclesiae concedit), and
ordered his subjects to pay them regularly under sever penalties. Again,
about A.D. 855, Ethelwolf, immediately after the union of the kingdoms of
the Heptarchy, secured by a regular statute the Tithes of the whole land to
the Church, to be held by them in their own right for ever (jure pepetuo
possidendam). From this time to the Conquest many statutes were enacted
for enforcing the payment of Tithes, &c. and when William the Conqueror
framed a code of laws for the government of his English subjects, the
Tithes were secured to the Clergy, according to laws already enacted, and
he solemnly swore to observe the laws and customs granted to the people by
the Kings of England, his lawful and religious predecessors, and
particularly the laws, customs, and franchises, granted to the Clergy by
the glorious St. Edward his predecessor. The original guardians of this
property were the King, with his council of Bishops and chiefs of the realm
(Rex cum consilio Episcorum ac principum): but in process of time,
during the four centuries subsequent to the Conquest, the Pope gradually
usurped the sole authority over ecclesiastical affairs, as is evident by
resolutions entered into by King Edward the First and his Barons at a
Parliament held at Carlisle; when the King, by the assent of his Barons,
denied the Pope's usurped authority over the revenues of the Church "within
England," alleging, that
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"they were founded by his progenitors, and the nobles and others of the
realm, for the service of God, alms, and hospitality." When the Pope
through his legates, &c. had applied the property given to the Church
to a purpose foreign to the intention of the donors, the statute 26 Henry
VIII. deprived him of his power, and apointed the King as sole guardian of
ecclesiastical affairs; and it was enacted, that the King our Sovereign
Lord, his heirs and successors, Kings of the realm, shall be taken,
accepted, and reputed the only supreme head on earth of the Church of
England ... And shall have power from time to time to visit, repress,
redress, reform, order, correct, restrain, and amend, all such errors,
heresies, abuses, offences, contempts, and enormities, whatsoever they be,
which by any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction may lawfully be
reformed, repressed, redressed, corrected, restrained, or amended, most to
the pleasure of Almighty God, to the increase of virtue in Christ's
religion, and for the conservation of the peace, unity, and tranquillity of
the realm; any usage, custom, foreign laws, foreign authority,
prescription, or any other thing to the contrary, notwithstanding." And the
Clergy, in convocation, acknowledged his Majesty as the only protector and
supreme lord, and as far as accords with Christ's law the supreme head of
the Church (ecclesiae et clerci Anglicani, cujus singularem protectorem
at supremum dominum, et, quantum per Christi legem licet, etiam supremum
caput ipsius majestatem recognoscimus). This prerogative was exercised,
though often improperly, by each of Henry's successors, until the glorious
Revolution of 1688; when the supremacy was limited, and it was decreed as
illegal for the King alone to enact any law, &c. "without the advice
and assent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons in Parliament
assembled, and by authority of the same." From that time to the present,
the King, Lords and Commons, combined, have been guardians over the rights,
&c. of the Established Church, "to preserve (according to the
Coronation oath) unto the Bishops and Clergy committed to their charge, all
such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or any
of them," and (according to the oath of the Union with Scotland) "to
maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England,
and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law
established;" and they have exercised their authority as guardians,
consistently, in enacting divers laws and regulations. Finally, by 39 and
40 Geo. III. the Churches of England and Ireland, as now by law
established, were united into one Protestant and Episcopal Church, called
"the United Church of England and Ireland."
From the preceeding statements it appears that the Government, as
constituted of King, Lords, and Commons, is guardian over the Established
Church of England and Ireland; with power to visit, repress, redress,
reform, order, &c. most to the pleasure of Almighty God, the increase
of virtue in Christ's religion, &c. but that it cannot alienate its
revenues, or take away its rights and privileges, without being guilty of
robbery, sacrilege, and perjury.
Doubtless the present system of taking Tithes acts as a prohibition on the
less fertile soils, often occasions strife between masters and their
flocks, gives arbitrary and litigious men a power to harass and perplex
others; and causes the deserving Clergy, for the sake of peace, to be
deprived of half their incomes. If, according to the principle of his Grace
the Archbishop of Canterbury's Bill, it were enacted that two
commissioners, one chosen by each party, should fix a rate of composition
every 21 years, subject to regulation every seven years by the price of the
produce of land, and that the Clergyman's churchwarden or other deputy,
should collect the same yearly for the minister, by a summary process
similarly to other parochial rates, it would remove all cause of
contention, and be a benefit; and it ought to satisfy both the receiver and
payer of Tithes. But an eternal lease, as recommended by the writer of the
article "on the Commutation of Tithes," is impracticable; and it would be
unjust toward both parties; because the farm, which is now in the highest
state of cultivation, may by overcropping or neglect become so unproductive
in fifty years time, that it would scarcely produce
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the Tithes at the present valuation; and the contrary.
In our ancient law books, Tithes are briefly defined "to be an
ecclesiastical inheritance or property in the Church, collateral to the
estate of the lands thereof;" and no other support for the Clergy appears
so likely to produce efficient ministers to preach "right things" rather
than "smooth things," and thus keep up a sound tone of religion and morals
in the country.
A FRIEND OF IMPROVEMENT, BUT A LOVER OF JUSTICE AND GOOD FAITH.
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WESTMORELAND. - At Kendal, age 41, Mr. Richard Lough, printer and
proprietor of the Westmoreland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle
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Mr. URBAN,
THE village of Saint Bees is situated on the coast of Cumberland, in that
quintuple division of the county called Allerdale Ward* above
Derwent. Its position is remarkable. From Saint Bees to Whitehaven, a
distance of about four miles, there is a narrow vale entirely separating
the high lands on the coast from the interior. From the general appearance
of the soil, and the discovery of an anchor some years since, about the
centre of this vale, it is probable that it was formerly an arm of the sea.
This opinion is corroborated by the descent of the ground each way, which
is evinced by the small rivulet Poe, or Poe-beck, rising about the middle
of the vale, and flowing with an easy current into the sea at Whitehaven,
while the other part of it, rising at nearly the same spot, falls into the
ocean at Saint Bees. In fact, the hilly ground supposed to be thus formerly
isolated, is distinguished in ancient deeds by the appelation of Preston
Isle. Proceeding along the summit of Preston Isle, or, as it is now
called, Preston Quarter, a distant view of the Isle of Man, with its
northern bicephalous mountain, may be obtained with the naked eye. Here too
is the disjointed rock standing at some distance from the rest, separated
by a tremendous chasm called "Lawson's Leap," some adventurous Nimrod of
that name having formerly cleared it in the excitation of the chase. Nature
has been here exerting herself in the formation of the rocks into the rude
semblance of the ruins of a church, called Kelsoe Kirk. As-
* When England was divided in 878, the subdivisions in Cumbria were
called wards, and not hundreds as in most other counties, from the
watching and warding necessary against the incursions of the Scots and
Irish.
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[As]ssisted by the ebon tints of evening, and the roaring of the ocean, the
fanciful may picture to himself worshippers bending amid the massy ruins,
though here "the sound of the church going bell" was never heard. Passing
Keswick Bay (where the lapidary may find pebbles of every hue, susceptible
of a beautiful polish, and suitable for snuff-boxes, brooches, &c.),
Saint Bees head, the ancient Barugh, presents itself 220 feet above the
level of the sea. On this height the new light-house, with nine reflectors,
was erected in January 1822. The parish of Saint Bees is large, as will be
evident from the number of inhabitants at the following periods, especially
when it is considered that in this remote part of England, the habitations
are generally far apart:-
1688. : 1801. : 1811. : 1821.
3,345. : 13,246. : 16,520. : 19,169.
It was part of the kingdom of Cumbria or Strath Cluyd Britons, which was
first inhabited, says Mr. Carte, by a Celtic race about 2000 years before
the Christian aera. That the genuine ancient Britons posted themselves
here, we have the authority of Marianus himself,* not to mention
that there are many names purely British. Although every part of it, where
liable to aggression, was fortified by the Romans, as appears from the
ancient ruins, it was frequently the scene of bloody contention. Speed,
speaking of Cumberland, says that it was strengthened with twenty-five
castles, and preserved by the prayers of six religious houses, in which
latter enumeration that of Saint Bees is mentioned. The village was
formerly known by the names of BEGOCK, BEGOTH, or BEGHES, and the Church is
styled in ancient evidences Kirkby Begog. The derivation of Begoth seems to
be, from two ancient British words BEG OG; by our interpretation, little,
young, like the Gaelic oig, little. The name is supposed to have
originated from the Holy Bega, a pious woman from Ireland, who is said to
have founded a small monastery here about the year 650.† Respecting
this holy woman, tradition is not entirely silent. It is said, that on her
voyage from Ireland she was in imminent danger of being wrecked upon the
rocks below the mountain called Tomlyne, on the coast of Saint Bees, and,
according to the custom of those days, vowed to build a religious house,
should she be fortunate enough to escape. To her vow and escape the origin
of the ancient monastery of Saint Bees is attributed. The mists of
revolving centuries dwell upon her memory, and many are the romantic
stories attached to her name, fit subjects for the novelist and the poet.
This religious house was destroyed by the Danes most probably about the
year 873, for at that time history mentions a very formidable irruption of
them. It was restored by William de Meschines, brother of Ranulph, first
Earl of Cumberland, a family then lately brought over from the continent by
William I. by whose grant they became possessed of the earldom of Cumbria.
Saint Bees now became the cell of a prior and six Benedictine monks, to the
abbey of St. Mary at York. Bishop Tanner mentions ‡ that under this
cell there was a small nunnery situate at Rottington, about a mile from
Saint Bees. This is confirmed by the ancient names of places still retained
there, but few other vestiges are now to be found.
Ranulph de Meschines, the son of William, by his charter,§ confirmed
his father's grants to the prior and monks, and still further increased
them. William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, who married a descendant of
William de Meschines, by his charter ‖ confirmed and still further
increased his ancestor's grants. Amongst other distinguished names, that of
the prior of Saint Bees appears as a witness to "the rules and orders for
the burghers of Egremont," by Richard de Lacy, about the reign of King
John. In the reign of Henry IV. a Richard Hunte was appointed to Saint
Bees, as a free chapelry in the gift of the Crown, but the abbot of Saint
Mary's remonstrated with the King, and the grant was revoked. After the
dissolution of monasteries, 7 Edward VI. Sir Thomas Chaloner became
possessed of the monastic property, paying to the Crown yearly the fee farm
rent of 143l. 16s. 2 1/2d.. This yearly rent was
afterwards granted (4 and 5 William
* See Camden, p.1002.
† Tanner's Notitia, No.73.
‡ Notitia, No.72.
§ 1 Dugd. Mon. 395.
‒ 1 Dugd. Mon. 397.
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and Mary) to Cuthbert Bishop of Chester and his successors, paying thereout
to the Crown yearly 43l. 8s. 4d. From Sir Thomas
Chaloner these rich possessions passed into the highly respectable family
of the Wyburghs, long resident at Saint Bees, but afterwards removed to
Clifton in Westmoreland, in consequence of marriage with an heiress. Being
great sufferers in the reign of Charles I. from the civil wars, these
estates were mortgaged to the Lowther family, and on a suit in Chancery,
instituted by Sir John Lowther in 1663, the estates passed into the family
of the Earl of Lonsdale, their present noble and munificent possessor.
The parish of Saint Bees being extensive, the church is the Mother Church
for a distance of many miles, including the populous town of Whitehaven,
and five other chapelries, namely, Ennerdale, Eskdale, Nether Wasdale,
Wasdale Head, and Lowswater, together with numerous other townships. Some
of these have been considered to have distinct parish churches, but they
are in fact nothing more than chapels of ease. There is an order extant of
the time of Bishop Bridgman (A.D. 1622), by which these five chapelries are
enjoined to contribute to the repair of the Mother Church,* and at
the present time yearly payments are made by them respectively.
The old abbey is built of free-stone. The western part or nave, erected in
the reign of Henry I. is fitted up as the parish church, the great door of
which is ornamented with grotesque heads and chevron mouldings.† In
1705 the church was certified at 12l. per annum by James Lowther of
Whitehaven, esq. the impropriator. It is at present a perpetual curacy of
small value, held by the Rev. Dr. Ainger.
There was formerly in the body of the church, on the south side, an effigy
in wood of Anthony the last Lord Lucy of Egremont, which, if a true
portraiture, showed him to be a large bodied man, upwards of six feet high,
and proportionably corpulent. This monument was removed to make way for
modern improvement some time since. The other monuments now existing are
comparatively modern, and not worthy of any particuclar notice.
The eastern part of the abbey was built in the thirteenth century, and had
been for many years in ruins, till 1817, when it was fitted up as a
college, containing one large hall for the students, and a lecture room,
the end of the ancient cross aisle being converted into another. Near the
steps leading up to the college, are two mutilated stone figures, to which
common report has given the names of Lord and Lady Lucy. This institution
or college was commenced under the auspices of the Right Rev. George Henry
Law, D.D Lord Bishop of Chester, and intended for the education of those
candidates for ordination in the northern diocese, who are termed
"LITERATES." With the assistance of the Earl of Lonsdale, the college was
fitted up, and the house built for the principal. One of the lecture rooms
is likewise used as a library, and contains a very useful collection of
divinity works. In this room is a full-length likeness of the principal,
executed by Lonsdale, and presented by the students, as a testimonial of
their high respect. The students, previous to admission, are expected to be
well versed in the Classics, so that the course of study does not exceed
two years. In this period the standard divinity works are diligently
studied, and such principles inculcated as are likely to form faithful
ministers of the Gospel, who, as far as their spheres for exertion will
permit, may be able to preserve the Church in its original purity, free
from those errors which indistinct notions are apt to engender. The present
principal is the Rev. William Ainger, D.D.; lecturer, the Rev. Richard
Parkinson, M.A.
A short distance from the church and college is a respectable farm-house
standing on part fo the ancient monastic premises, and retaining to this
day the name of "The Abbey." In this immediate neighbourhood, separated
only by the high road to Whitehaven, is the grammar school, which has been
long eminent in the north, and has produced many very learned characters,
amongsts whom was Bishop Hall, Master of Trinity College, Dublin. It was
founded in
* See Burn's Westmoreland and Cumberland, vol.II. p.47.
† Well engraved by Coney in Dugdale's Monast. iii. 574.
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the year 1587, by Edmund Grindall,* Archbishop of Canterbury. Over
the door of the school is the date 1583, as there is likewise on the
battlements of the bridge leading to the school, with the arms, so that it
is probable that the school house was built in that year, though the school
was not fully established till afterwards. The benevolent founder obtained
letters patent from Queen Elizabeth, dated 24 April, 1583; and on 3d of
July, he solemnly delivered and published the Statutes for the regulation
of the school, in the presence of eight witnesses. During the life of the
founder, certain lands called Palmer's Fields, at Croydon in the County of
Surrey, of the value of 50l. per annum, were purchased in the names
of the Governors. This estate was afterwards improperly leased for 1000
years, without fine or premium to the school! King James considerably
increased the revenues of the school, and several patents were granted and
Acts of Parliament passed in its favour, so that the present annual value
of its lands is supposed to be at least 8000l. while the income
arising from them to the school is stated to be less than 100l. The
royalty of Saint Bees still belongs to the school, and a court is yearly
held at the school house. To the school is attached a good library, which
has been greatly improved at various periods by Sir Joseph Williamson,
Secretary of State to Charles II. Dr. Lamplugh, Archbishop of York, Bishop
Barlow, Bishop Smith, the Earl of Lonsdale, &c. - By the Statutes only
the inhabitants of Cumberland and Westmoreland are eligible for instruction
here, but custom has rendered it the same as if free to every county in
England; every scholar making a yearly offering to the master, according to
his ability, which is termed "Cock-Penny." The master is to be a native of
Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, or Lancashire, and is nominated by the
provost of Queen's, or in default by the master of Pembroke-hall. There
have been between 150 and 200 scholars at one time. The present Governors
are the Earl of Lonsdale, John Fox, D.D. Provost of Queen's College,
Oxford, ex officio, the Rev. Mr. Scott, Rectorof Egremont, ex officio, and
four others.
The School has been long in a declining state, and probably at the present
time has a smaller number of scholars than it ever had. Time will best show
the cause of this, when under other care it may again attain its pristine
celebrity. Its present condition, however, must be lamented by every friend
of literature, but especially by those who knew it as the scene of their
youthful days, - by those now occupying situations of rank and affluence,
for which they were fitted within its walls. ‡
GEORGE C. TOMLINSON.
* It may not be improper to mention that Archbishop Grindall is the
Algrind of Spenser, by transposition of the letters of his name. He
was born in Hensingham near Saint Bees in 1519, died in 1583, and was
buried in the chancel of Croydon Church in the county of Surrey, where
there is a monument to his memory. - See Biog. Brit.
† See Carlisle's Endowed Grammar Schools, vol.I.
‡ Since the above was written, a new Master has been appointed to
the School, in the person of Rev. John Fox, M.A. of Queens' College,
Oxford, the nephew of the worthy Provost.
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.195}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.195}
{header- Lord Brougham}
{image = G831B195.jpg}
THE NEW PEERAGES.
ON the creation of several new Peerages in January 1828, some remarks on
the history or origin of their titles were made in this miscellany, and
proved sufficiently interesting to attract considerable attention. The
writer is in consequence induced to pursue the same train of remark on
those which have been conferred since the accession of his present Majesty.
... ...
The first peerage conferred in the present reign was that on the Lord
Chancellor. It was a remarkable circumstance that the two lawyers most
directly in opposition to the Crown at the commencement fof the last reign
should be the first to be prominently promoted in this; and that without
any intention on the part of the new sovereign to censure the conduct of
his predecessor, and entirely without any reference to the bahaviour of the
gentlemen in that particular. It was merely the result of the alteration in
the position of political parties; when the same commanding talents
naturally placed their possessors, whose circumstances had not in the
interval materially changed, at the head of the legal members of their own
friends. ... Queen Caroline ... Mr Brougham, her Attorney, is elevated to
the woolsack and a peerage. His title is Baron Brougham and Vaux, of
Brougham, in the county of Westmoreland. "Vaux," it was announced in the
Times newspaper, "is an old barony which Mr. Brougham's family have always
laid claim to, though they have never proceeded to establish the title. Mr.
Brougham, at the request of his friends, will retain his name, and be
called Lord Brougham, the Vaux being added by way of protest, and saving
his right." - It was not, however, any old Barony that the Chancellor could
lay claim to; as it does appear that he is himself descended from the
family of Vaux. There was a marriage in his family with that of Richmond,
the heirs of Vaux of Catterlen in Cumberland (a junior branch of the Vauxes
Barons by tenure ante Hen. III.); but the present Broughams are not
descended from that marriage. I believe, however, that the estate of
Catterlen was brought into the Brougham family by the marriage with
Richmond; but was sold by the Chancellor's father, I think, to Charles Duke
of Norfolk.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.197}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.197}
{header- Lord Burlington}
{image = G831B197.jpg}
THE NEW PEERAGES.
... ...
We have now arrived at the Coronation Peers.
... ...
... Lord George Cavendish, who is now in the seventy-eighth year of his
age, is grandson of the last Earl of Burlington. That eminent nobleman, so
celebrated for his taste in architecture, died in 1735, after the title,
which was first conferred on his great-grandfather, Richard second Earl of
Cork, in 1664, had existed about seventy years. The late member for the
University of Cambridge, now elected for Devonshire in the place of his
grandfather, assumes, as his grandfather's heir apparent, the title of Lord
Cavendish, of Keighley.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.399}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.399}
{header- Countess Pillar, Penrith}
{image = G831B399.jpg}
Oct. 22.
Mr. URBAN,
PASSING a day this autumn at the pleasant town of Penrith, I visited some
of the objects of interest in its vicinity, and amongst them was the Pillar
erected by the Countess of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery, to commemorate
the last parting with her mother, called by the people in the
neighbourhood, the Countess's Pillar. It stands on a little green eminence
on the right of the high road from Penrith to Appleby, which is also the
road to Appleby from Brougham Castle, whence no doubt the two ladies set
out, the mother - who appears to have been left at Brougham, as she died
there seven weeks after the parting, - accompanying the daughter so far on
her journey. The distance from Brougham Castle is about half a mile. The
home view from the spot on which it stands, is not in any respects
striking: but in the distance, looking east-
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.400}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.400}
{image = G831B400.jpg}
[east]ward, we see the vast range of Cross Fell, a line of lofty hills
extending for many miles, while behind, Saddleback appears raised above the
other hills.
The pillar consists of an octagonal shaft, each of the faces being twelve
or fifteen inches in breadth. On this is raised a cube, over which is a
kind of capital.
The shaft is plain; but on the face of the cube which is toward the road,
are two shields of arms, which appear to have been recently repainted. The
one presents Clifford impaling Vesci, Gules, 6 annulets Or, the marriage
which gave the Cliffords their great northern possessions. The other is
Clifford impaling Russell, the achievement of the father or the mother of
the lady by whom the pillar was erected; but plainly intended for the lady,
since there is no crest, while the red griffin of the Cliffords is given
over the other shield.
There is also on this face the date 1654.
The three other faces of the cube serve as the plates of sun-dials; but in
that on the side from the road is inserted a brass-plate containing the
well-known inscription, of which the following is an exact copy:
THIS PILLAR WAS ERECTED ANNO 1650 / BY YE RT HONOLE ANNE COUNTESS DOWAGER
OF / PEMBROKE, &C. DAUGHTER AND COHEIR OF YE RT / HONOBLE GEORGE EARL
OF CUMBERLAND, &C. FOR A / MEMORIAL OF HER LAST PARTING IN THIS PLACE /
WITH HER GOOD & PIOUS MOTHER YE RT HONOBLE / MARGARET COUNTESS DOWAGER
OF CUMBERLAND, / YE 2D OF APRIL, 1616. IN MEMORY WHEREOF / SHE ALSO LEFT AN
ANNUITY OF FOUR POUNDS / TO BE DISTRIBUTED TO THE POOR WITHIN THIS /
PARRICH OF BROUGHAM EVERY 2D DAY OF APRILL / FOR EVER, UPON THE STONE TABLE
HERE HARD BY. / LAUS DEO.
The inscription appears to be an addition to the original design, and not
to have been put up until after the death of the Countess of Pembroke. It
is awkwardly placed in the face of the sun-dial, and it is so much raised
above the eye of the spectator, that it is read with difficulty.
The stone-table no longer exists, but a stone still fixed firmly in the
ground very near the pillar, seems to mark the place where it stood; and a
flat stone lying in the ditch under the hedge at a short distance, is what
appears to have been the table slab. One cannot but regret that a monument
of a very interesting character should not be kept up, and that since soome
cost has been recently bestowed upon it, the table on which the benefaction
of the Countess ought to be dispensed, has not been restored.
Brougham Castle is a ruin, but it is the ruin of a magnificent edifice. The
room which is the most entire, was evidently the chapel, a room of good
proportions, on the south side of the castle, and having apartment beneath
it.
Brougham-hall, the seat of the Chancellor, is about a mile from the castle,
in a beautiful situation; commanding extensive views of this fine country.
The house itself has an air of ancestral pretension; the decorations of the
old ceilings being the arms and quarterings or impalements of the
Broughams. Great improvements are now in progress; and in making them,
regard has been shown to the preservation of the Roman inscriptions which
have been found here. They are inserted in one of the walls, and in a
situation where they are protected from the weather.
The taste for inscriptions prevails in this district. I observed several
(some of a recent date) at the little village of Gamont Bridge (sic). But
there is one which invites attention, not more by the words themselves,
than by the careful manner in which the letters have been cut:
OMNE SOLUM FORTI / PATRIA EST. H. P. 1671.
I could learn nothing of the person who placed this over his door. Perhaps
some of your Correspondents may be able to say by whom the words were
inscribed.
ANAMNESTES.
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.482}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.482}
{header- Tithes, Kendal}
{image = G831B482.jpg}
... ...
The Rev. ROBERT UVEDALE, Vicar of Fotherby and Hogsthorpe, having learned
from the public prints that Mr. Sadler and Mr. Hume have presented to the
House of Commons petitions from Kendal, complaining of an attempt to levy
Tithes in kind, begs to state he that has a M.S. in small quarto respecting
Trinity College, Cambridge, which belonged to his great-grandfather, the
Rev. R. Uvedale, LL.D. one of the Fellows, and which comprises copies of
Charters, Statutes, and King's Letters, and Accounts of Masters,
Benefactors, Estates, &c. From a passage in this book, it is evident
that the holders of land in the parish of Kendal were, 300 years ago,
not liable to such demands as have been lately set up by Trinity
College.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.537}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.537}
{header- Samuel Tymms, Family Topographer}
{image = G831B537.jpg}
{text- Book review}
The Family Topographer; a Compendious Account of the ancient and present
state of the Counties of England. By Samuel Tymms. Vol.I. Home
Circuit. 12mo, pp.224.
HE who knows how to make the most of time; to form his own unprejudiced
opinions of objects; to revive the memory of things forgotten; to possess
memoranda of interesting matters; to disburden the mind of treasuring mere
dates; to anticipate what he is likely to find, and to acquire numerous
incidental aids to his knowledge, will easily understand the value of a
Compendia; and it is with science, as with money, the next thing to having
it, is to know how to get it. This Compendium comes under such a character.
It is a guide for the benefit of all persons who take an interest in
topography, statistical and archaeological; or in history, national and
biographical. In fact, it is a work that will be found useful and
interesting to every individual, of whatever rank or pursuit, in the
country. This recommendation will be found just, from an enumeration alone
of the heads of the divisions under which each county is treated; viz. 1.
Situation and Extent. 2. Ancient State and Remains. 3.
Present State and Appearance. 4. Historical Events. 5.
Eminent Natives. 6. Miscellaneous Observations.
As to the execution of the work, we can only say that he who used needles,
and would be obliged to seek for them in bottles of hay, must receive an
important service by having them collected, and brought to him in a case;
and where things are necessary or useful, every on ought to praise the
{title- Gents Mag 1831 part 2 p.538}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.538}
{image = G831B538.jpg}
patience and industry by which he is supplied with them. We further think
good workmanship is a better test than quantity; but both together, the
most desirable thing of all. Therefore we only act justly towards our
author; who has converted a colossus into a portable image, perfect
notwithstanding, though in miniature, as to all its leading parts.
This Volume contains the Counties of Essex, Herfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and
Sussex; and is introduced by the following account of the plan of
arrangement, and a little history of its progress. After mentioning his
intention of annexing to the last volume an historical and descriptiove
explanation of the plan on which the history of the Counties has been
written, the Editor says, the arrangement was "originally suggested by Mr.
ROBY, of Tamworth, under the signature of 'BYRO,' in the 'Gentleman's
Magazine' for October, 1816. The plan and notices were at first but slight
and imperfect, the two counties of Bedford and Berks occupying only four
pages of that Miscellany; but in the progress of the series, as far as
Shropshire, many improvements were effected, till the plan nearly reached
its present extent. The discontinuance of the series by that gentleman in
1821, and the frequent enquiries respecting the cause of the apparent
non-completion, induced the present Editor to think of compiling the
remainder of the counties; and on their completion, to rewrite the whole
for distinct publication."
The benefit of a more extended research are multifarious and important. The
following apology is unnecessary.
"The merits of the plan are due to Mr. Roby: the present Editor seeks for
nothing beyond the credit due to his industry; and this humble need of
approbation he feels confident will not be withheld, when it is considered
that considerably more than a hundred volumes - some of which, as the
antiquarian and topographical reader will be aware, are of no mean bulk -
must have been carefully perused to effect the abridgment of the Home
Circuit alone. This may be ascertained by the 'List of Works consulted,'
which is appended to each county, to enable the curious reader to extend
his enquiries further with facility and pleasure."
We shall conclude with observing that other Compendia of County Histories
are only selections - this is an epitome and synopsis of all their
more prominent features.
{text- Compendia of county history for Westmorland and Cumberland appeared
in the Gentleman's Magazine}
{title- Gents Mag 1833 part 1 p.4}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1833 part 1 p.4}
{header- Stone Circle and Alignment, Shap}
{image = G833A004.jpg}
Jan. 13.
Mr. URBAN,
IN the Reliquiae Galeanae, p.387, is the subjoined interesting passage, in
a letter dated Stamford, Sept. 24, 1743, from Dr. Stukeley to Mr. Gale:
'I have got a vast drawing and admeasurement, from Mr. Routh of Carlisle,
of the Stones of Shap' (in Westmoreland,) 'which I desired from him. They
give me so much satisfaction that verily I shall call on you next year to
take another religious pilgrimage with me thither. I find it to be, what I
always supposed, another huge serpentine temple, like that of Aubury. The
measure of what are left extends a mile and a half, but, without a doubt, a
great deal of it has been demolished by the town, abbey, and every thing
else thereabouts.'
I send you the above for insertion in your Magazine, with the hope that
some of your correspondents may be able to inform you whether the drawing
and plan which it mentions, were ever published or not: if they were, in
what work? and if not - whether they exist, and where?
The inclosure of Shap Fell made sad havoc in the temple. Traces of it,
however, still exist, and the recovery of Mr. Routh's plans might go far to
find out its original form, and throw much light upon the history of the
neighbourhood, which abounds in Druidical remains.
Dr. Stukeley is certainly right in calling the whole collection of stones a
temple. It is not, as has been commonly and idly conjectured, a Danish
monument. Similar works abound in parts of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland,
where the Danes never settled. Neither is there any evidence, or probable
ground of conjecture, that the Danes ever erected any such monuments in
Britain as this. They were too intent upon plunder and securing their
conquests, to have either time or inclination to get up monuments in their
glory.
It is a remarkable feature of Westmoreland and Cumberland, that their
uncultivated hills and plains are scattered all over with Druidical
remains; while in Northumberland and Durham, which adjoin them on the east,
scarcely anything of the kind exists. There is, indeed, good historical
evidence to show, that Cumberland and Westmoreland were inhabited by the
Celtic race, called Cumbri, or Cimmerii, for several centuries after the
Romans left Britain; whereas the eastern shores of the island, in
Northumberland and Durham, were inhabited by German tribes before the Roman
aera. The rude masses of stone, of which the temple is made, consist
chiefly of the granite and grauwacke, which abound in the mountains to the
west of Shap. They are all diluvial; and immense numbers of similar sorts
of blocks are found all over the hills about Shap and Orton, and as far
east as about Appleby and Brough. Some blocks of the Wastdale granite (a
district to the south west of Shap) are even left upon the bare limestone
strata on Stanemore; one lies as a curiosity in the street of Darlington;
and rounded fragments of the same kind are often found in the
{title- Gents Mag 1833 part 1 p.5}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1833 part 1 p.5}
{image = G833A005.jpg}
gravel-heaps of the south-western parts of the county of Durham. Near to
the ancient beds from which all the granite blocks were torn, the
Wastdale-beck rolls over prodigious quantities of them; and about three
years since, when the workmen were employed in improving the road from Shap
to Kendal, they had a great many of them to remove just on the north side
of Wastdale beck; and under some, found considerable quantities of Roman
coins, all belonging to emperors, prior, as I understood my informant, to
the reign of Trajan, but principally of Vespasian and Domitian. There were
19 of gold, and about 580 of silver, and all in fine preservation. Several
of them found there way into the cabinet of Sir Christopher Musgrave, Bart.
of Eden Hall, in Cumberland. This discovery is highly interesting, inasmuch
as it serves to show that the route of Agricola's army from Wales, was by
that way into Caledonia. I hope this notice may be the means of procuring
you some further and more particular account of the coins themselves, and
of the circumstances under which they were found.
V.W.
{title- Gents Mag 1833 part 1 p.25}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1833 part 1 p.25}
{header- Jesters}
{image = G833A023.jpg}
PROGRESS OF ANECDOTAL LITERATURE.
(Continued from vol.CII. i. p.586.)
Ancient Jesters.
{image = G833A024.jpg}
{text- Much of this article is not relevant to Westmorland or Cumberland,
but see pp.26-27}
{image = G833A025.jpg}
... ...
The following are some of the titles of Jest-bookes published during the
foregoing periods:-
Baldwin's Treatise of Moral Phylosophye, containynge the Sayinges of the
Wyse, Worthye Preceptes, Pithy Meeters, and Proverbs. b. l. imp. by R.
Tottel, 1561.
The Flowers of Sencies, gathered out of Sundry Writers, printed by T.
Kynge, 1552.
Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte, quicke, wittie, and sentencious
sainges, verie pleasant and profitable to reade. b. l. 1564.
The Wonderful Year 1603, with certaine tales cut into sundry fashions, to
shorten the Lives of Long Winter Nights. 4to.
Jack a Lent, his Entertainment, with the Mad Prankes of the Gentleman
Usher.
Jacke of Dover, his Quest of In-
{title- Gents Mag 1833 part 1 p.26}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1833 part 1 p.26}
{header- Archibald Armstrong}
{image = G833A026.jpg}
[In]quirie for the veriest foole in England, 1604.
Wit and Mirth, chargeably collected out of Tavernes, Bowling Greenes,
Allyes, Alehouses, Water-passages, &c. made up into Clinches, Bulls,
Quirkes, Yerkes, &c. b. l. 1629.
There have always been persons who have made it their business to note down
whatever witticisms they hear, for the purpose of retailing them elsewhere
as their own. A living punster, who can afford to honour drafts on his
talent at sight, happening to detect a purloiner of this kind, in repeating
old stories with new applications, told him that he trusted to his memory
for his wit, and to his invention for his facts. ...
... ...
Additions to Anecdotal Literature.
Vol.XCI. part i. p.23. Archibald Armstrong, commonly called Archy, is said
to have been born in Cumberland, but a tradition is preserved in the south
of Scotland of his having resided in Wauchopedale, and stealing sheep
there.[14] It appears that he was at Madrid with Prince Charles in 1623;
for Howell, in his Familiar Letters, says, "our cousin Archy hath more
privilege than any, for he often goes with his fool's coat where the
Infanta is with her meninas and maids of honour, and keeps a blowing
and blustering among them, and blurts out what he lists."[15] (He may have
gone as a sort of spy). King James seems to have been partial to Archy, and
to have diverted himself with him frequently; at his supper-time, says Sir
A. Weldon, "Goring was master of the game for fooleries: sometimes
presenting David Droman, and Archer Armstrong, the king's fools, on the
back of other fools, to tilt one at another, till they fell together by the
ears."[16] Ben Jonson, in his Discoveries, tells us a Heare-say
newes, "That an Elephant, 1630, came hither Ambassadour from the great
Mogull (who could both write and reade) and was every day allowed twelve
cast of bread, twenty quarts of Canary sacke,
[14] Irving's Scottish Poets, i. 200.
[15] P.136.
[16] Memoirs, p.91, edit. 1689.
{title- Gents Mag 1833 part 1 p.27}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1833 part 1 p.27}
{image = G833A027.jpg}
besides nuts and almonds the citizens' wives sent him. That he had a
Spanish boy to his intepreter, and his chiefe negotiation was, to conferre
or practise with Archy, the principall foole of State, about stealing,
hence Windsor Castle, and carrying it away on his back if he can."
In the Banquet of Witty Jests, No.312, a story is attributed to Archy which
has been told of various others:
"ON KING CHARLES AND ARCHEE. - King Charles ordered some thousands of
crowns to be delivered (to) a French Monsieur to buy horses, whose skill
therein was accounted extraordinary, and departed the court with great
splendour; which one of his Majesty's jester observing, takes his pen and
ink and puts his Majesty in his catalogue of fools, which was not long
after found out by his Majesty, and the reason demanded thereof? To which
he thus answered:- Charles, thou hast given many thousands crowns to buy
horses, and if he return with either, I will scratch thee out, and put him
down for the fool indeed."
Echard, in his History of England, says that in 1641, when the King
conceded to the Parliament, that they "should not be adjourned, prorogued,
or dissolved without their own consent;" this was not only reflected on
abroad, "but condemned at home by his own fool Archy, who said he did not
know whether the King was the greater fool to grant it, or the Parliament
the greater knaves to ask it."[17] The remark may have been made, but Archy
was not then the King's fool.
That Armstrong acquired a competency during the time he enjoyed his office,
is certain; for it is mentioned in the verses prefixed to his Jests, and
alluded to in Lord Stafford's Letters, as well as in the Preface to the
Tales of Hugh Peters, where it is said, "And believe me, let the world say
what it will, Archee was a fool to him, as appears by his fulfilling
the proverb, Fortune favours fools; for he got a good estate, and so
did our author too, you'll say." When he died is not known.
The office of Court Jester was probably abolished at the Restoration; ...
[17] Vol.ii. p.241.
{image = G833A028.jpg}
{series- fine art}
{title- Gents Mag 1834 part 1 p.141}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1834 part 1 p.141}
{header- Thomas Green on William Gilpin}
{text- Thomas Green's diary for 23 October 1801 - comments on William
Gilpin.}
{image = G834A141.jpg}
Diary of a Lover of Literature.
... ...
Oct. 23. Finished Gilpin's Observations on the Lakes of
Cumberland, &c. In the 16th Section he maintains that masterly but
unfinished sketches please beyond finished performances, because "they
leave to the imagination the power of creating something more;" and not, as
Burke affirms, "from the promise of something more in themselves." The
difference does not appear very material; both mean that the imagination is
stimulated to supply what is not represented. In the 18th Section he
contends that beauty and sublimity are both mingled in Ullswater
Lake, without destroying each other, as Burke predicts they must. The
mediation of Price's doctrine of the picturesque seems adapted to
set the whole right. Delighted as I am with Gilpin, I begin to think that
for purposes of liberal gratification he views nature too exclusively with
an artist's eye, and thus deprives of just praise, many grand and striking
scenes in his Tour, while he overrates others. His sketches by no means
correspond to the refinement of his ideas; and they are any thing but
portraits of the places. Some of his little historical digressions are
eminently pleasing; they are judiciously introduced, and most gracefull
treated.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1834 part 1 p.176}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1834 part 1 p.176}
{header- Library, Naworth Castle, and King Arthur}
{image = G834A176.jpg}
{text- The scene is first set by an observation in Gloucestershire:-}
MR. URBAN, - In a journey I made a few since to Bristol, I passed through
Newport, about 16 miles from Gloucester, and whilst the horses were
changing, I saw from the window of the inn, where I was sitting, a board on
the opposite side of the way, inscribed - "Here is to be seen the tomb of
King Arthur." Attracted by this enticing inscription, I knocked at
the door of a humble cottage, which was opened by an old woman, whom I
desired to show me the tomb; on which she pointed to a large and ponderous
stone coffin, between 7 and 8 feet long, and weighing as was said 3 tons.
in it was a well preserved human skeleton, supposed to have been deposited
in an inner wooden coffin, that was found to be almost decayed from time
and moisture. At the bottom of the stone chest, I noticed two small bronze
shovels, a fragment of a bronze hinge, a Roman key of the same materials,
and some fragments of pottery. There was also the handle of a large vessel
with the latters L. A. S. stamped upon it, which had most learnedly
interpretted by the old dame to mean "Lord Arthur Sovereign." She informed
me that this stone coffin was found at Gloucester, on the premises of a Mr.
John Sims, of whom she purchased it on speculation for 16l. I should
have mentioned that the edges of it are lined with a thick coating of lead,
and a printed paper given to the visitors, replete with ignorance, mentions
a leaden coffin, &c. This wonderful tomb of "the Lord Arthur," is
certainly Roman, and of the same kind as some that have been described in
Archaeologia.
This specimen of popular ignorance would have better suited Glastonbury
than either Gloucester or Newport. The monkish fraud of the supposed tomb
of Arthur and his wife Guinevra, at Glastonbury, is too well known to your
readers to require any enlargement concerning it in this place.
It has been said, that at the dissolution of the monasteries in England,
several articles belonging to Glastonbury Abbey were transferred to Naworth
Castle, in Cumberland, then in the possession of Lord William Howard, the
friend of Camden, who seems to have believed in the monkish fable and in
the cross with Arthur's name, which he has given in the Britannia.
Mr. Ritson, in his Life of King Arthur, p.139, states that there is still
preserved at the above-mentioned castle a huge volume of three vellum
leaves, standing on the floor, being the original legend of Joseph of
Arimathea, which Leland beheld with admiration on his vist to Glastonbury
Abbey. It would be very desirable to know whether this volume still exists,
and to have a particular account of it, as well as of any articles formerly
in Glastonbury. A catalogue too of the ancient library at Naworth Castle,
if it could be obtained by permission of the noble owner, would also be a
most acceptable present to many a bibliomaniac of the present day.
D.
{title- Gents Mag 1834 part 2 p.544}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1834 part 2 p.544}
{header- Obituary, Samuel Taylor Coleridge}
{image = G834B544.jpg}
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, ESQ.
July 25. At Highgate, aged 62, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Esq.
Mr. Coleridge was born in 1773 at the market town of Ottery St. Mary, in
Devonshire. His father, the Rev. John Coleridge, was for many years Vicar
of that parish, after having been an eminent schoolmaster at South Moulton,
on the northern side of that county. He was also the author of some
Scriptural Dissertations, and of a critical Latin Grammar, which was by no
means an ordinary production. He died in 1782, having had a numerous
family, of whom the male survivors were: 1. Colonel Coleridge; 2. the Rev.
Edward Coleridge, of Ottery; 3. the Rev. George Coleridge, of the same
place; and 4. the distinguished Poet and Philosopher now deceased.
It may well be supposed that with so large a family, and having had only a
small living, Mr. Coleridge could not leave much behind him; and
accordingly, some friends procured admission for the youngest son in
Christ's Hospital, where he soon distinguished himself as a boy of acute
parts and eccentric habits. To his master, The Rev. James Bowyer, he
expressed the deepest obligations; he was a severe disciplinarian, but
produced excellent scholars. Mr. Coleridge says - "He early moulded my
taste to the preference of Demosthenes to Cicero, of Homer and Theocritus
to Virgil, and again of Virgil to Ovid. He habituated me to compare
Lucretius, Terence, and above all, the chaster poems of Catullus, not only
with the Roman poets, of the, so called, Silver and Brazen ages, but with
even those of the Augustan era; and on grounds of plain sense and universal
logic to see and assert the superiority of the former, in the truth and
nativeness, both of their thoughts and diction. At the same time that we
were studying Greek Tragic Poets, he made us read Shakespeare and Milton as
lessons; and they were the lessons too which required most time and trouble
to bring up, so as to escape his censure. I learned from him that
poetry, even that of the loftiest, and seemingly that of the wildest odes,
had a logic of its own, as severe as that of science, and more difficult,
because more subtle, more complex, and dependent on more, and more fugitive
causes. In our English compositions (at least for the last three years of
our school education) he showed no mercy to phrase, metaphor, or image,
unsupported by sound sense, or where the same sense might have been
conveyed with equal force and dignity in plainer words. Lute, harp, and
lyre, muse, muses, and inspirations, Pegasus, Parnassus, and Hippocrene,
were all an abomination to him. In fancy, I can almost hear him now
exclaiming - "Harp? Harp? Lyre? Pen and ink, boy, you mean! Muse, boy,
muse? Your nurse's daughter, you mean! Pierian spring? Oh, aye! the
cloister-pump, I suppose!"
Another friend, to whom Mr. Coleridge acknowledges his obligations, while
on that noble foundation, was Dr. Middleton, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta,
who was then in the first form, or, in the language of the school, a
Grecian. From him, among other favours, he received a present of Mr.
Bowles's Sonnets, with which our student was so enthusiastically delighted,
that in less than eighteen months he had made more than forty
transcriptions of them, for the purpose of giving them to persons who had
in any way won his regard. The possession of these peoms wrought a great,
and indeed radical, change in the mind of our author, who hitherto, and
even before his fifteenth year, had bewildered himself in metaphysical
speculation and theological controversy.
"Nothing else," says Mr. Coleridge, "pleased me. History, and particular
facts, lost all interest in my mind. Poetry (though for a school-boy of
that age, I was above par in English versification, and had already
produced two or three compositions, which, I may venture to say, without
reference to my age, were somewhat above mediocrity, and which had gained
me more credit than the sound good sense of my old master was at all
pleased with,) poetry itself, yea, novels and romances, became insipid to
me. in my friendless wanderings, on our leave days, (for I was an
orphan, and had scarce any connections in London) highly was I delighted,
if any passenger, especially if he was dressed in black, would enter into a
conversation with me. For I soon found the means of directing it to my
favourite subjects.
"Of Providence, fore-knowledge, will, and fate,
Fix'd fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute,
And found no end, in wandering mazes lost."
At the age of nineteen our author removed to Jesus College, Cambridge; but
of his academical history we know but little; nor does it appear, indeed,
that he either graduated or stood a candidate for the literary honours of
the university. While there, however, he assisted one of his friends in the
composition of an
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essay on English Poetry, intended for a society at Exeter, but which piece
is not inserted in their published volume.
We presume that it was at this period of his life that he enlisted as a
common soldier in the Dragoons. Upon this singular fact, or what might be
called in the metaphysician's own language "psychological curiosity," the
following authentic account has been communicated to the public by the Rev.
W. L. Bowles, who is, perhaps, the only person now living who could explain
all the circumstances from Mr. Coleridge's own mouth, with whom he became
acquainted after a sonnet addressed to him in his poems; and who, moreover,
was intimate with that very officer who alone procured Coleridge his
discharge:
"The regiment was the 15th, Elliott's Light Dragoons; the officer was
Nathaniel Ogle, eldest son of Dr. Newton Ogle, Dean of Winchester, and
brother of the late Mrs. Sheridan; he was a scholar, and, leaving Merton
College, he entered his regiment a cornet. Some years afterwards - I
believe he was then a Captain of Coleridge's troop - going into the
stables, at Reading, he remarked written on the white wall, under one of
the saddles, in large pencil characters, the following sentence, in Latin -
'Eheu! quam infortunii miserrimum est fuisse felicem!'
"Being struck with the circumstance, and himself a scholar, Captain Ogle
inquired of a soldier whether he knew to whom the saddle belonged. 'Please
your honour, to Comberback,' answered the dragoon. 'Comberback!' said his
captain; 'send him to me.' Comberback presented himself, with the inside of
his hand in front of his cap. His officer mildly said, 'Comberback, did you
write the Latin sentence which I have just read, under your saddle?'
'Please, your honour,' answered the soldier, 'I wrote it?' 'Then, my lad,
you are not what you are not what you appear to be. I shall speak to the
commanding officer, and you may depend on my speaking as a friend.' The
commanding officer, I think, was General Churchill. Comberback* was
examined, and it was found out, that having left Jesus College, Cambridge,
and being in London without resources, he had enlisted in this regiment. He
was soon discharged, - not from his democrratic feelings; for, whatever
those feelings might be, as a soldier he was remarkable orderly and
obedient, though he could not rub down his own horse. He was discharged
from respect to his friends and his station. His friends having been
informed of his situation, a chaise was soon at the door of the Bear Inn,
Reading, and the officers of the 15th cordially shaking his hands,
particularly the officer who had been the means of his discharge, he drove
off, not without a tear in his eye, whilst his old companions of the tap
room gave him three hearty cheers as the wheels rapidly rolled away along
the road to London and Cambridge.
"It should be mentioned, that by far the most correct, sublime, chaste, and
beautiful of his poems, meo judicio, his 'Religious Musings,' was
written, non inter sylvas academi, but in the tap room at Reading. A
fine subject for a painting by Wilkie."
In 1794, Coleridge ventured to publish a small volume of juvenile Poems,
which were very favourably spoken of by the periodical critics, as the buds
of hope, and promises of better works to come: though the same reviewers
concurred in objecting to them, obscurity, a general turgidness of diction,
and a profusion of new-coined double epithets. The same year he published
"The Fall of Robespierre, an historic drama," in which the Conventional
speeches were happily versified, and the sentiments expressed in language
classically correct, and uncommonly vigourous. The French Revolution had at
this time turned the heads of many persons, and this was the case with Mr.
Coleridge, who became such a zealot in the cause of universal liberty as to
abandon the friendly cloisters of his college to embark in the quixotic
enterprise of reforming the world. he had, at this time, formed a close
intimacy with Mr. Southey and Robert Lovell, on a visit to Oxford; and,
their sentiments being perfectly in unison, the triumvirate began to
project schemes for ameliorating the condition of human society. They began
their operations at Bristol in a course of Lectures delivered by our young
adventurer, with considerable applause from certain classes in that
renowned trading city. Here, also, in 1795, Mr. Coleridge published two
political pamphlets, one entitled, "Conciones ad Populum, or Address to the
People;" and the other, "A Protest against certain Bills then pending for
Suppressing Seditious Meetings."
In an inauspicious hour he was also persuaded to commence a weekly paper,
"The Watchman;" and as the object of
* When he enlisted he was asked his name. He hesitated, but saw the
name Comberback over a shop door near Westminster-bridge, and instantly
said his name was "Comberback."
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it was to diffuse the new political doctrines, he set out like Wildgoose in
Mr. Grave's admirable novel, to make proselytes, and above all, to procure
subscribers. No "Diffusion Society" had then prepared his way in the
manufacturing towns; the Watchman languished on the tenth number, and then
its warning voice was heard no more.
This woeful disappointment in his political expectations was in some
measure relieved by the favourable reception given to a volume of Poems,
the quick sale of which induced him to a republication, with the addition
of some communications from his friends, Charles Lamb and Charles Lloyd.
Still the ardour of liberty, and the establishment of a perfect order of
things, continued to prevail, and Mr. Coleridge, with his friends Southey
and Lovell, were bent upon trying their skill as political philosophers,
not in correcting the evils of a old state, but in the settlement of a new
one. This Utopia, which was to bear the high-sounding name of PANTISOCRACY,
they proposed to found on the banks of the Susquehanna, where all property
was to be held in common, and every man in his turn to be a legislator. But
while preparations were making to carry out this fine project into
execution, the whole scheme blew up by a spark of another description; for
in the midst of their dreams of immortality, these rivals of Solon,
Lycurgus, and Numa, became enamooured of three sisters of the name of
Fricker. Thus the business of Love thrust out the mighty concern of what
Jeremy Bentham was wont to call the science of Codification, and in a short
time our author and his two associates, instead of seeking happiness in the
wilds of America, were content to sit down in the bosom of domestic
enjoyment, according to the laws and usages of their fathers. In plain
terms, all three married; and the scheme of foreign colonization being
given up, they began to think about settling in their own country. Mr.
Coleridge went to reside at Nether Stowey, a small town near Bridgewater,
where he contracted an acquainance with Mr. Wordsworth.
At this period the circumstances of our author were far from being
comfortable, and his principal subsistence depended upon literary labours,
the remuneration for which, at such a distance from the metropolis, could
not be adequate for the necessities of a growing family. In this perplexity
he was relieved by the generous and munificent patronage of Mr. Josiah and
Mr. Thomas Wedgwood, who enabled him to finish his education in Germany,
where he began to study the language at Ratzeburg; after acquiring which he
went through Hanover to Goettingen. Here he diligently attended the
lectures of Blumenbach on physiology and natural history; and those of
Eichhorn on the New Testament: but his chief application was to philosophy
and polite literature. This important event in the life of Mr. Coleridge
occurred in 1798, and during his residence abroad he had the satisfaction
of meeting Mr. Wordsworth, then on a tour in Germany with his sister. Soon
after the return of our author from Germany, he undertook the literary and
political department of the Morning Post, on entering into which
engagement, it was stipulated that the paper should be conducted on certain
fixed and announced principles, from which the editor should neither be
obliged nor requested to deviate in favour of any party or circumstance.
This connexion continued during the Addington Administration, after which,
the paper being transferred to other proprietors, Mr. Coleride relinquished
the management. While he was in this concern he published translations of
two of Schiller's Dramas, on the story of Wallenstein.
Mr. Coleridge now became Secretary to Sir Alexander Ball, whom he
accompanied to Malta, of which island that distinguished officer was
appointed Governor; but this situation our author did not long retain, nor
did it prove any otherwise advantageous to him than by extending his
knowledge of the world, and giving him an opportunity of treading the
classic ground of Italy. During his wanderings, his wife and family resided
under the roof of Mr. Southey, at Keswick, and thither our poet bent his
course on his return to England.
We next find him lecturing on poetry at the Royal Institution, and an
occasional writer in the Courier, his political principles having now
undergone a complete transmutation. In 1812 he produced a series of
miscellaneous essays entituled "The Friend;" which, though they had but a
very limited circulation, he subsequently revised, enlarged, and
re-printed. The year following appeared "Remorse;" a tragedy.
This was originally written some years before at the suggestion of his
friend Mr. Bowles, in consequence of a wish expressed by Sheridan, but who,
when he saw it, had considered it unsuitable for performance.
In 1816 Mr. Coleridge published Christabel, &c.; and the Statesman's
Manual, a Lay Sermon; in 1817 his Bibliographia Literaria, in two vols.; in
1818
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Sibylline Leaves, a collection of Poems; and a Second Lay Sermon; and in
1818 Zapolya, A Christmas Tale.
For many years he continued his lectures at Literary institutions, though
with repugnance to the task. In a letter written in 1819, he says -
"Wo is me! that at forty-six I am under the necessity of appearing as a
lecturer, and obliged to regard every hour that I give to the
permanent, whether as a poet or philosopher, an hour stolen from
others' as well as from my own maintenance; so that, after a life (for I
might be said to have commenced in earliest childhood) - a life of
observation, meditation, and almost encyclopedic studies, I am forced to
bewail, as in my poem addressed to Mr. Wordsworth -
Sense of past youth and manhood come in vain,
And genius given and knowledge won in vain,
And all which I had culled in wood-walks wild,
And all which patient toil had reared, and all
Commune with Thee had opened out, - but flowers
Strewed on my corse, and borne upon my bier,
In the same coffin to the self-same grave.
Wo from without, but well for me, however, from within, that I have been
'more sinned against than sinning.' My lectures are, though not very
numerously, yet very respectably attended - and as respectably attended to.
My next Friday's lecture will, if I do not grossly flatter-blind
myself, be interesting, and the points of view not only original, but new
to the audience. I make this distinction, because sixteen, or rather
seventeen, years ago, I delivered eighteen lectures on Shakespeare at the
Royal Institution - three-fourths of which appeared at that time startling
paradoxes, which have since been adopted by men who at the time made use of
them as proofs of my flighty and parodoxical turn of mind - all tending to
prove that Shakespeare's judgment was, if possible, still more wonderful
than his genius: or rather, that the contra-distinction itself between
judgment and genius, rested on an utterly false theory. This, and its
proofs and grounds have been, I should not have said adopted, but produced
as their own legitimate children - nay, the merit given to a foreign
writer, whose lectures were not given orally till two years after mine -
rather than to their countryman, though I dare appeal to the most adequate
judges - as Sir G. Beaumont, the Bishop of Durham, Mr. Sotheby, and
afterwards to Mr. Rogers and Lord Byron, whether there is one single
principle in Schlegel's work (which is not an admitted drawback from its
merits) that was not established and applied in detail by me."
This letter has been lately published in the "The Canterbury Magazine;" and
in the Literary Gazette another has appeared on the same subject, which was
addressed in the same year to John Britton, esq. with reference to some
lectures Coleridge then delivered at the Russell Institution. This contains
the following interesting passage, describing his method and
management in these compositions:
"The fact is this: during a course of lectures, I faithfully employ
all the intervening days in collecting and digesting the materials;
whether I have or have not lectured on the same subject before, making no
difference. The day of the lecture, till the hour of commencement, I devote
to the consideration, what of the mass before me is best fitted to answer
the purposes of a lecture - i.e. to keep th audience awake and
interested during the delivery, and to leave a sting behind -
i.e. a disposition to study the subject anew, under the light of a
new principle. Several times, however, partly from apprehension respecting
my health and animal spirits, partly from the wish to possess copies that
might afterwards be marketable among the publishers, I have previously
written the lecture; but before I had proceeded twenty minutes, I have been
obliged to push the MSS. away, and give the subject a new turn. Nay, this
was so notorious, that many of my auditors used to threaten me, when they
saw any number of written papers on my desk, to steal them away; declaring
they never felt so secure of a good lecture, as when they perceived I had
not a single scrap of writing before me. I take far, far more pains than
would go to the set composition of a lecture, both by varied reading and by
meditation; but for the words, illustrations, &c. I know almost as
little as any one of my audience (i.e. those of any thing like the
same education with myself) what they will be five minutes before the
lecture begins. Such is my way, for such is my nature; and in
attempting any other, I should only torment myself in order to disappoint
my auditors." In a subsequent passage of the same letter he says, "Were it
in my power, my works should be confined to the second volume of my
'Literary Life,' the Essays from the third volume of the 'Friend,' from
page 67 to page 165, with about fifty or sixty pages from the two former
volumes, and some half-dozen of my poems.
There has been still another interesting letter lately published in the
newspapers, which was written in 1826 in reply to an application for
pecuniary relief from a brother poet, and in which he thus describes his
own situation:
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"September 2, 1826.
"O, it is sad, sir, to know distress, and to feel for it, and yet have no
power of remedy! Conscious that my circumstances have neither been the
penalty of sloth, nor of extravagance, nor of vicious habits, but to have
resulted from the refusal, since earliest manhood, to sacrific my
conscience to my temporal interests, and from the practice of writing what
my fellow-citizens want rather than what they like, I suffer no pang of
shame in avowing to you that I do not possess so many shillings as you
mention pounds, and that if I were arrested for a debt of eight sovereigns,
I have no other means of procuring the money but by the sale of my books,
that are to me the staff of life. The whole of my yearly income does not
amoount to the prime cost of my necessary maintenance, clothes, shelter,
food, and medicine; the rest I owe to the more than brotherly regard of my
disinterested friend, Mr. Gillman, to whose medical skill I owe, under God,
that I am alive, and to whose, and his amiable wife's unceasing kindness I
am indebted for all that makes life endurable. Even when my health is at
the best, I can only exert myself for a few hours in the twenty-four, and
these I conscientiously devote to the completion of the great works, in the
matter of composition of which I have been employed the last twenty years
of a laborious life - if hard thinking and hard reading constitute labour.
But for the last six months, such has been the languor and debility of my
frame - languor alternating with severe pain - that I have not been able
even to maintain the scanty correspondence with the few friends I possess.
By Publications I, or rather two or three generous friends, have lost about
300l. - for I cannot, at least will not, write in reviews - and what
I can write the public will not read, so that I have no connexion with any
magazine, paper, or periodical of any kind, nor have I had interest enough
to procure any review or journal even the announcement of my own last work
- the Aids to Reflection. I neither live for the world nor in the world."
The last memorable circumstance in Coleridge's life, was the publication of
a complete edition of his Poems, on which his fame will rest, in three
volumes by Pickering. It may not be amiss to point out their threefold
nature; as works of passionate and exalted meditation, witness his 'Sunrise
in the Valley of Chamouni,' his 'Lines on an Autumnal Evening,' his
'Religious Musings,' his 'Ode to the Departing Year,' and many other of his
earlier poems; - as out-pourings of the wild inspiration of old romance,
his 'Ancient Mariner,' his 'Genevieve, and his 'Christabel' - and his
latest verses, as treasuring in a few lines, matured philosophy - mingling
wisdom with retrospect, and intimations of holy truths with pleasant and
simple images. Nor must we forget his version of 'Wallenstein,' a
master-translation of a master work; or his original dramatic compositions,
too full of deep thought and delicate imagery for a stage.
After all, however, it was in his conversation that Mr. Coleridge
was most remarkable. In an admirable article on his poetical and peculiar
genius, which appeared just before his death, in No.103 of the Quarterly
Review, are the following remarks on this subject:
"Perhaps our readers may have heard repeated a saying of Mr. Wordsworth,
that many men of his age had done wonderful things, as Davy, Scott,
Cuvier, &c.; but that Coleridge was the only wonderful man he
ever knew. Something, of course, must be allowed in this, as in all other
such cases, for the anithesis; but we believe the fact really to be, that
the greater part of those who have occasionally visited Mr. Coleridge, have
left him feeling akin to the judgment indicated in the above remark. They
admire the man more than his works, or they forget the works in the
absorbing impression made by the living author. And no wonder. Those who
remember him in his more vigourous days can bear witness to the peculiarity
and transcendant power of his conversational eloquence. It was unlike
anything that could be heard elsewhere; the kind was different, the degree
was different, the manner was different. The boundless range of scientific
knowledge, the brilliancy and exquisite nicety of illustration, the deep
and ready reasoning, the strangeness and immensity of bookish lore - were
not all; the dramatic story, the joke, the pun, the festivity, must be
added - and with these the clerical-looking dress, the thick waving silver
hair, the youthful-coloured cheek, the indefinable mouth and lips, the
quick yet steady and penetrating greenish grey eye, the slow and continuous
enunciation, and the everlasting music of his tones, - all went to make up
the image and to constitute the living presence of the man. Even now his
conversation is characterized by all the essentials of its former
excellence; there is the same individuality, the same
unexpectedness, the same universal grasp; nothing is too high,
nothing too low for it: it glances from earth to heaven, from heaven to
earth, with a speed
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and a splendour, an ease and a power, which almost seem inspired.
"So much of the intellectual life and influence of Mr. Coleridge has
consisted in the oral communication of his opinions, that no sketch could
be reasonably complete with a distinct notice of the peculiar character of
his powers in this particular. We believe it has not been the lot of any
other literary man in England, since Dr. Johnson, to command the devoted
admiration and steady zeal of so many and such widely differing disciples.
The fulness, the inwardness, the ultimate scope of his doctrines, has never
yet been published in print, and if disclosed, it has been from time to
time in the higher moments of conversation, when occasion, and mood, and
person begot an exalted crisis. More than once has Mr. Coleridge said, that
with a pen in hand he felt a thousand checks and difficulties in the
expression of his meaning; but that - authorship aside - he never found the
smallest hitch or impediment in the fullest utterance of his most subtle
fancies by word of mouth. His abstrussest thoughts became rhythmical and
clear, when chaunted to their own music."
Mr. Coleridge died under the roof of his invaluable friend Mr. Gillman, at
Highgate, and his body was laid in the ground in the vaults of the new
church there. His funeral was strictly private, and his hearse was followed
by a very few intimate friends only. Many of the admirers of his great
attainments and his high literary fame and reputation would have wished to
attend, but they were not invited, some even excluded, by the friends who
had the conduct of his funeral, and who were best acquainted with the
dislike of the deceased to empty ostentation, and with the just but meek
and Christian feelings and sentiments of his last moments.
A month or two before his death, he wrote his own humble and affectionate
epitaph:-
Stop, Christian passer by! Stop, Child of God!
And read with gentlest breast. Beneath this sod
A poet lies, or that which once seemed he;-
O, lift a prayer in thought for S.T.C.!
That he who many a year with toil of breath
Found death in life, may here find life in death!
Mercy for praise - to be forgiven for fame -
He asked, and hoped through Christ. Do thou the same.
{header- Obituary, Rev Edward Tatham}
REV. EDWARD TATHAM, D.D.
April 24. At Coombe rectory, Oxford-shire, aged 85, the Rev. Edward
Tatham, D.D. Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, Rector of Whitchurch,
Salop, and Perpetual Curate of Twyford, Berks.
Dr. Tatham was a native of Cumberland, and was originally of Queen's
college, where he took his degree of M.A. in 1776. He was afterwards
elected Fellow of Lincoln, and proceeded to B.D. 1783, D.D. 1787. In 1778
he published in 8vo., an Essay on Journal Poetry; and in 1780, Twelve
Discourses introductory to the study of Divinity. In 1789 he preached the
Bampton Lecture; and his discourses delivered on that occasion, were
published under the title of "The Chart and Scale of Truth," in two
volumes, the first of which appeared in 1790, the second not until 1792.
Dr. Tatham was at that time deeply interested in politics. He addressed
through the public prints, a remonstrative Letter to the Revolution
Society. In 1791 he published "Letters to Edmund Burke, on Politics." 8vo;
and in 1792,a Sermon preached before the University, Nov. 5, the
anniversary of the Revolution of 1688. In the year 1792 he was elected
Rector of Lincoln College, with the annexed living of Twyford. In 1793 he
published a "Sermon suitable to the Times," which he had then recently
preached four times; and in 1797 he published "Letters to Mr. Pitt, on the
National Debt and a National Bank;" in 1807, "An Address to the Members of
Convocation, on the proposed new statute respecting Public Examinations;"
in 1811, "An Address to Lord Grenville on Abuses in the University;" in
1813, "Oxonia Purgata, consisting of a series of addresses on the subject
of the new discipline in the University of Oxford; in 18-- "Oxonia Ornata,"
treating of the architectural improvements of Oxford; and in 1816 a
pamphlet containing "Observations on the Scarcity of Money, and its effects
on the Public." He was presented in 1829 to the rectory of Whitchurch in
Shropshire, a living in the patronage of the trustees of the Bridgewater
estate, it having been held until that time, for nearly fifty years, by the
late Earl, the Prebendary of Durham.
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{header- Eclipse}
{image = G836A533.jpg}
ANNULAR ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.
In the afternoon of the 15th inst. there will be an unusually large and
visible annular Eclipse of the Sun, which will be central in the North of
England, Ireland, and in the South of Scotland. It will begin at Greenwich
at 50 min. 59 sec. past one o'clock, and will end at 39 min. 8 sec. past
four. Over England and the adjacent parts the light and heat of the annular
obscuration will be little more than one-tenth of the full sun; and should
the atmosphere prove to be clear at the time of the greatest magnitude, it
may be expected that several of the largest stars will be visible. The
breadth of the annulus for England will be about 142 miles. The whole body
of the moon will appear on the disc of the sun, leaving a small ring or
circle of light on the external edge of the sun. The annexed is a
representation of its appearance in London and its neighbourhood, - the
letter B denoting where the eclipse begins, and E where it ends.
{image = G836E01.jpg}
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{header- Black Lead Mine}
{image = G837A534.jpg}
Domestic Occurrences.
... ...
[March]
The black-lead mine in Borrowdale (the only one known in the world), from
which all Europe is supplied with that commodity for the manufacture of
pencils, has been recently closed, owing to the death of Mr. Dixon, the
late steward. Twelve men have been employed in the mine for the last 15
months, without falling in with one single sop of this valuable mineral.
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{header- Diocese of Carlisle}
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PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.
... ...
Nov. 28. Sir H. Verney moved for leave to bring in a Bill to
relieve the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England and Wales from the duty
of laying before Her Majesty in Council a scheme for uniting the sees of
Carlisle and Sodor and Man. The motion, which was supported by Sirs R.
Inglis and E. Codrington, and opposed by Lord John
Russell and Sir Robert Peel, was lost on a division, by a
majority of 159 against 53.
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{image = G838A416.jpg}
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.
HOUSE OF LORDS, ...
... ...
Feb. 22. The Earl of Ripon, in moving the order of the day
for the second reading of the SODOR AND MAN BISHOPRICK BILL, was happy to
state , that in consequence of communications which had taken place between
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and the authorities of the Isle of Man,
the former had come to the determination to recommend, not the union of the
bishoprick with that of Carlisle, but its continuance as a separate see.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, in giving his consent, under these
circumstances, to the passing of the present Bill, said he wished it not to
be supposed that he was ready to yield on other points to alterations of
the Bill passed two sessions ago for effecting a new distribution of the
dioceses. He felt bound to state that he should resist any propositions
which might have any tendency to interfere with the general principles of
that measure. - The Bishop of Exeter said there was one part of the
statute to which the most Rev. Prelate had just alluded, which he thought
most unconstitutional and most dangerous to the spiritual interests of the
Church - he meant that part which related to the constitution of the
commission, which he deplored as fatal to the security and dignity of the
Church. He therefore hoped that better times would come, when that Act
would be removed from the statute book. - The Bishop of London
defended the Commissioners; they had not made one step from the Act; and it
was impossible for them to originate any measure that would affect the
general interests of the Church.
... ...
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{header- Topographical Prosings}
{text- Hints for Antiquarian Tourists}
{image = G838B375.jpg}
Hints for Antiquarian Tourists.
... ...
TOPOGRAPHICAL PROSINGS.
THERE are few person, however incurious, who have not felt the want of
information respecting districts through which they have travelled, and of
the features which, from the absence of some association of the mind, they
quickly lose all distinct recollection. The peculiarities of a country, to
witness which is the usual reason for travel, are best observed and
remembered by those who have cultivated some branch of natural science or
history, - some liberal art, - or who have learned to employ their pencil.
The general survey or vague recollection of beautiful scenery, rich
foliage, picturesque ruins, or a foreign tongue, affords no present or
future enjoyment equal with that of the traveller whom Botany or Geology,
Drawing, Architecture, or the science of language, provide at every step
with matter for inquiry, and who returns home with his inquisitive
functions in healthy vigour, seeking a fuller knowledge upon the many
subjects which an entire novelty has offered to him, and tasting the sound
and lasting satisfaction given to the acquisition of truth without any
reference to its utility.
The best way to enable a traveller to profit to any extent by his travel,
would probably be to give him a manual or hand-book of those branches of
knowledge, instances of which were likley to come within his reach, and so
to point out their more particular features, as not only to satisfy a
transient curiosity, but to excite a desire for information upon matter of
permanent interest. Such a book should point out what is best to be
observed and committed to memory upon the spot, and in what quarter more
diffuse information may be obtained, if required, afterwards at home.
It would occupy more space than can be spared to explain even the leading
feature of the plan above mentioned; we shall, therefore, as more in
accordance with the tenour of this Journal, confine our remarks at present
to the subject of Gothic Architecture, and more particularly to the best
method of examining ancient ruins with exactness and rapidity.
An antiquary is generally a person
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{image = G838B376.jpg}
who has some other and more important business pursuit, from which he is
now and then able for a short time to escape. He is of course anxious to
make the most of his time, and should therefore be prepared to
observe as many things as possible. Let him remember Miss Aikin's
admirable tale of "Eyes and No Eyes."
In his capacity of Dryasdust, he has of course acquainted himself with the
general archaeology of his own country, and has gained, by an attentive
perusal of Rickman, and by turning over the accurate plates of Britton, a
competent knowledge of the styles and dates of English Architecture, the
heads of which information may easily be written in a fly-leaf of his
note-book. He is also a herald, or at least he has read enough of Edmondson
to be able to note down any coat of arms that he may observe. He should
also be a fair draughtsman, and much time will be saved if he be expert at
the use of the camera-lucida. Some smooth thin paper, and a ball of
wash-leather, slightly oiled, with some powdered black-lead, will enable
him to take accurate rubbings of the sepulchral brasses, or even to trace
some of the architectural mouldings, &c. Our traveller will have ample
opportunities of profiting by a knowledge of geology, botany, and
ornithology, with which branches of science we shall suppose him to be more
or less acquainted; and if he wishes to appreciate the skill and ingenuity
of ancient carpenters and architects, he must have made some proficiency in
geometry, and know something of the strength of materials. In truth, the
more universal his acquirements the better; for there is scarcely any kind
of knowledge that does not come into play during a ramble through an
English county. He must, however, beware lest the worlds of the father of
poetry concerning a distinguished pantologist of antiquity be applied to
him:
"Πολλ
ήπιστάτο
έργα,
κακως ο
ηπι-στάτο
πάυτα."
In many parts of England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales, an etymological
knowledge of Celtic is useful. Our antiquary must also be a tolerably
active climber, possess a good pair of eyes, and be not afraid of standing
in wet feet.
Before setting out on a tour, the outline of the history of the district
should be gained, with as much information as possible respecting the
ancient buildings that it contains. This may be sought in the county
history, or, in its absence, in the county collections usually to be found
in the British Museum, in Camden's Britannia, King's Munimenta, Grose,
Lysons, and the Appendix to Rickman. He will take short notes of sieges, of
the erection or destruction of buildings, and of such events as are likely
to have left physical traces behind them; but it will be better to postpone
research into the general history until his return. He may also, if he can
afford it, purchase at the print shops Buck's Views, or any engravings
relating to the topography of the district he is to visit.
These general notes, forming a sort of epitome of the memorabilia of the
district, should be entered into a quarto or octavo memorandum-book, to be
referred to before or after a day's work. Detailed notes are to be entered
on the spot in a portable clasped field-book, carrying a pencil in a tight
sheath, and upon the ass's skin fly-leaf of which are entered various
memoranda, such as the dates of different styles from Rickman, sketches of
characteristic mouldings or ornaments, abbreviations, forms of arches, and
other symbols; of the form and expediency of which the individual is
himself a sufficiently good judge.
The ordnance sheet for any district may be purchased for a very moderate
price, and is a very important addition. It informs you of the principal
antiquities, and points out the shortest road to them, and upon it lines of
trackway, geological observations, or the locality of particular plants,
may be marked down. The map should be mounted, with open joints, to a
portable size, and in single sheets at least, if not in smaller divisions,
so that no more need be carried than is absolutely required.
With the camera-lucida it will be convenient to have a light iron frame, 13
inches by 9, covered with tin-plate, and provided with an open flap of tin-
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[tin-]plate - being, in fact, a drawing-book of metal. Upon this frame the
camera may be screwed, and the whole will then rest steadily almost any
where.
Much depends upon a proper selection of dress or appointments. A frock coat
with outside and inside pockets will hold much, and is not so singular as a
shooting coat; into the pockets of the coat should go a small but strong
geological hammer, a 30 feet tape, a folding foot-rule, a Schmalkalder
compass, a clinometer, one of Dollond's small telescopes, and a sheet of
ass's skin folded into four.
The shoes should be strong and worn with stout gaiters, permitting you to
stand in a moat, or some such place, up to the middle in nettles, to draw.
Besides these, an india-rubber cape should accompany the baggage, together
with an umbrella, under the shade of which you may draw in wet weather.
It is important to adopt a good method of description. First a general plan
of the building should be sketched; and to this a subsequent description of
details will be conveniently referred. The forms of the arches, mouldings,
and other particulars from which a date may be inferred, should next be
noted, together with the leading particulars of any tombs of founders or
others likely to throw light on the age of the building. Next may be drawn
general elevations of the different faces of the building, on which may be
noted any observations not referable to the plan. These need be but
sketches; a few leading dimensions may be taken with the tape; but for the
rest it will be sufficient to trust to the eye. After having made a general
survey of the building, corrections in the plan may often be made by
ascending some of the towers. The bearings of walls, &c. should be
taken with the compass.
When your examination is completed, it will be well to look round into the
neighbouring cottages and farm-houses for fragments of carved oak, stained
glass, enamelled tiles, &c. The houses near a ruin are frequently
constructed from its materials. Old shafts, broken mullions, &c. are
generally in such cases to be discovered, with the font, or perhaps a stone
coffin or two, in the gardens of farmyards.
In examining a military remain, the features of castellated architecture in
different ages should be borne in mind, since it is by these rather than by
ornaments that the date of such buildings is to be inferred. The Norman
castles, for example, are known at a glance by their keeps, the Edwardian
by their concentric defences and their larger windows, and so on. Sometimes
the earthworks round the castle are of barbarian date, and therefore older
than the building itself. Sometimes they are of the same date; and
sometimes they have been thrown up to render the building tenable since the
introduction of gunpowder.
However mutilated a castle may be, it is generally possible with some some
attention to discover traces of ornament; the style of the battlements may
be known from an examination of the wall upon which it terminated, the
stumps of the door or window mouldings are often to be found overgrown with
grass or covered with the top soil; and the tablets and strings, though
elsewhere defaced, are usually found perfect in the re-entering angles of
the buildings.
In examing ecclesiastical structures, there is the less difficulty, that
the relative positions and uses of the different buildings are generally
known; but this guide does not exist in castles: still the great hall, the
kitchen, the stables and guard-rooms, and the gate-house, are apartemnst
that must have existed, and may therefore be sought for.
In examining a religious house, we should expect to find at least three
styles of buildings; those of the original structure, those introduced at a
subsequent period by the monks, and those added by the grantee at the
Reformation to make the place suitable for a private residence.
The antiquary will not always be suffered to conduct his researches in
peace; nor indeed is it desirable to neglect the information of the
Cicerone of the place. If possible, however, let him make his own
examination unmolested, and then compare his own deductions with the local
traditions.
The Ciceronoe should be paid properly; from sixpence to a shilling is
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{image = G838B378.jpg}
about the mark; and care should be taken in trampling over gardens,
entering houses, &c. which you will sometimes find it advisable to do,
by the help either of money or civility, or both, to avoid hurting the
feelings of the people, and thereby doing wrong yourself and injuring the
next visitor also. Do as you would be done by, is not less applicable to
ruin-hunting than to matters of higher importance.
An intelligent man who is employed upon the antiquities of a county, is
generally a welcome guest at the tables of country gentlemen. In such a
case do not ride you hobby against your host; he probably will turn the
conversation upon your subjects, but you should not bore him; give what
information you can, but modestly; not shewing that you hold his theorires
or notions on the subject to be erroneous, but stating your own views
quietly, by way of query, and with the deference due to his superior local
knowledge.
... ...
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{header- Topographical Prosings II}
{image = G839A385.jpg}
TOPOGRAPHICAL PROSINGS. - On Local Guides.
... ...
TOPOGRAPHICAL PROSINGS,* No.II.
IT may be assumed that there are few persons in this country whose time is
sufficiently at their own disposal to permit them to pay more than the most
general attention to the curiosities of any place through which they may
chance to pass; a hasty visit to the cathedral, a glance at the castle or
bishop's palace, a walk round the interior of the principal churches, and
perhaps a peep into the museum of local fossils and antiquities, is the
very utmost that can be achieved, and is a feat that leaves in the heads of
those who perform it little more than a confused notion of the whole, of
which, perhaps, the principal features are retained, but that exact
impression that can alone render a visit to such places valuable is never
acquired.
It is possible, however, to turn such a visit to good account. The visitor,
either before or upon his arrival, should make himself acquainted with the
general outline of what is to be seen, determine upon what parts he will
bestow more particular attention, in what order he will visit them, and
arrange his time accordingly. Knowing beforehand what to look for, and what
is more particularly worth remembering, the mere sight of the objects will
so fix them in the memory that they may be at any time, by a glance at the
note book, recalled with tolerable freshness.
Such a method involves, however, the possession of a "Guide" or "Handbook,"
to the construction of
* See our Magazine for Oct. p.357.
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which we shall therefore draw the attention of our readers.
This book should be titled A GUIDE. This word expresses the visitor's
wants, which the usual titles of "Sketches," "Description," "History, and
Antiquities, &c." do not; being, in fact, applicable to a species of
book nearly useless as a Guide. This title should stand on the back and
side; the book should be of small 8vo size, covered with canvas, if it does
not increase the thickness inconveniently, and a few copies should be kept
interleaved. Travellers who take notes would prefer such a copy.
A map of the place, upon which the objects described are clearly located,
and including if possible a circle of suburb about a mile radius, should
invariably accompany the Guide.
The next points, and those upon which almost all Guide-books are grossly
deficient, are style, general arrangement, and description.
The style must be concise. Figures of speech, flourishing periods,
epithets, should especially be avoided. Nothing is more common in a Guide,
and nothing can be more offensive. The words employed should be those in
every-day use, the construction of the sentences simple, the periods brief;
the phrases former and latter, if possible, should be
avoided; the terms of art explained in foot notes; the study of the writer
being to carry the reader forward with the description. The style employed
by Mr. Rickman in his "Architecture" is well suited to the purposes of a
Guide-book.
Much depends on the arrangement adopted; and this, which in a general
history should be chronological, must here be strictly topical. The visitor
is to be led from place to place in that order that shall cause the loss of
as little time as possible on the way, and in such order he will visit the
cathedral, castle, &c; but, when safely landed at one of these
stations, the arrangement of its details should be that pointed out under
description.
A Guide should commence with an epitome of the local history, containing as
many facts and as concisely stated as possible, and followed by such
general remarks in confirmation as the local evidences may warrant.
The reader thus prepared for what to expect, will tax his memory for such
passages as the several history of the country as may bear upon the local
history before him. At Bolton-le-Moors, for example, or in Craven, the
traveller might not remember that James Earl of Derby was beheaded, or that
Anne Countess of Dorset and Pembroke resided; but if his attention were
drawn to these facts, his memory would probably put him in possessiojn of
much of the general history of those persons, and therefore of their aera;
and it is needless to say how much additional gratification the visit would
then afford.
After the general history, it will be proper to place, in the order
recommended, the local curiosities in a succession of sections, which will
of course form the bulk of the volume.
In a following chapter should be enumerated those objects that present few
or no peculiarities, and which, from their being found in equal or greater
perfection or magnitude elsewhere, are not commony visited by strangers.
Such would probably be the infirmary, the jail, the gasworks, or the
manufactories; objects which it is very proper to enumerate, briefly
stating their leading particulars.
Another chapter should give the statistics of the place, its general
commerce and manufactures, its institutions, societies, and religious
sects; and a final chapter should be bestowed upon the natural history and
general geological position of the place, with lists of local fossils.
minerals, and plants.
Much depends upon the employment of a proper method of description; meaning
by description the arrangement and account of the details, more
particularly of the buildings to be visited. This part of the volume cannot
be fitly executed without the addition of a few well-selected vignettes of
the general plan, elevation, and any peculiarities of detail not admitting
of verbal description; and for these purposes mere line drawings are more
intelligible and less expensive. The description should also include any
remarkable armorial bearing, especially such as are carved upon or coeval
with any part of a building.
In the description of all English
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ecclesiastical architecture the nomenclature of Rickman will necessarily be
adopted.
Mr. Rickman has excluded military structures almost, if not altogether,
from his valuable work; but his rules may nevertheless be applied to the
determination of their date in almost every case with success; since the
architecture of different periods differs not less in the distribution and
fashion of the ornaments, than in the arrangement and proportion of the
parts.
We are not aware of any instance of Guide-book in which we can seek for an
illustration of what has been advanced; but if the reader will turn over
half a dozen pages of any one of these performances that may be within his
reach, he will find ample instances of the errors to which we have been
objecting.
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{header- History and Antiquities of Carlisle}
{image = G839A516.jpg}
{text- book review}
The History and Antiquities of Carlisle: with an account of the Castles,
Gentlemen's Seats, and Antiquities in the Vicinity, and Biographical
Memoirs of Eminent Men connected with the Locality. 8vo. pp.460.
THIS is, on the whole, a work of considerable merit. The publisher, Mr.
Samuel Jefferson, of Carlisle, has been more than usually fortunate in the
amount and quality of the literary assistance he has received from a
variety of able contributors; and has executed his own editorial task with
much judgment and good sense. There was not before any History of Carlisle
beyond a few summary guide-books; and the only former accounts of it worthy
of mention, are those in the Histories of Cumberland, by Nicolson and Burn,
by Hutchinson, and by the Lysons's.
From its peculiar and very important situation as a border fortress,
Carlisle mixes more than most places in the general history of the kingdom;
and for this part of the subject the foundation was broadly laid in
Ridpath's Border History, and in other works. We feel bound, however, to
add that our author appears to have availed himself very industriously of
all sources within his reach, and to be generally alive to the additional
materials which have been afforded by modern works.
His architectural descriptions have been very ably supplied by an anonymous
contributor. This was a subject which his predecessors of the last
generation were entirely unacquainted; a flood of new light was, however,
brought into Cumberland by the brother authors of the Magna Britannia. We
may here incidentally mention that Mr. R. W. Billings, a well-known
architectural artist, and author of a very complete work on the Temple
Church, is now engaged in engraving a series of plates descriptive of
Carlisle cathedral, after the manner of Britton's Cathedral Antiquities. It
is an edifice shorn of its due proportions, battered alike by time and
border warfare, and imperfect from unfinished reconstructions; but it has
curious portions, and its east window, in particular, is perhaps the finest
existing specimen of the Decorated style, being
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preferred by Rickman even to the celebrated west window of York Minster.
Apart from architecture, Hutchinson had a good talent for observation and
description; and his account of Carlisle furnishes a striking example of
the value which accrues even in less than half a century to minute and
apparently trifling remarks, especially when they are made in a transition
period of society - and what period, in this ever-changing world, is not
more or less a period of transition? It is true, however, that in the
present instance the change has been rapid; for in the course of half a
century Carlisle, from being a dull and silent military garrison, quietly
sleeping within its girdle of ramparts, has been converted into a strictly
manufacturing town, throwing out its various arms of communication, and
gathering in its vicinity a teeming and busy population. Mr. Hutchinson's
details are somewhat long, and Mr. Jefferson has judiciously compressed
them. In the following extracts we shall beat the field still more
cursorily, as our only object will be to bring forward the more striking
points of this picture:
"Carlisle after this period (the period of the rebellion in 1745, when it
was first occupied by the Pretender's adherents, and afterwards became the
scene of the execution of many of them), continued to present the
appearance of an important military garrison. Sentries were posted at every
gate, besides those at the castle and the house of the governor. The gates
were closed and locked every night with the usual military parade; and guns
were fired morning and evening, when they were opened or shut. The
draw-bridge at the outer gates of the castle was drawn up every night at
ten o'clock, and thus all communication with the city was cut off. There
were towers or turrets, at intervals, along the whole line of the city
walls,and upon these cannon were placed and sentinels posted. The greater
part of the soldiers and artillery-men who formed the garrison were
quartered on the citizens.
"At this time the trade of Carlisle was very limited, and a large part of
it was transacted at two great annual fairs, at which numbers of persons
attended from different parts of England and Scotland. Provisions and other
necessary articles were very cheap, and the industry of the citizens
provided them with wearing apparel of their own spinning. In consequence of
the little trade carried on, there were at this time no public carriers
from this city. Coals were brought in sacks on ponies, which were allowed
to graze in Fisher street, which was then quite green with grass.
"The office of Mayor was considered to be of no great consequence; he
seldom appeared in public without some of the insignia of his office, and
was generally attended by one of his serjeants. The citizens were
industrious and hospitable, and a friendly and neighbourly intercourse
pervaded the whole city.
"The Market-place was disfigured and rendered incommodious by the
Guard-house and the Shambles. The latter were private property, built of
wood, and covered with slates of different kinds, which gave them an
unsightly and grotesque appearance. At the north end of the shambles was a
draw-well, over which was a building supported by pillars, called Carnaby's
Folly. Adjoining this was the Fish-market. The Shambles and Folly were
taken down about the year 1790; the (former) having been purchased, at a
great price, by the corporation; the (latter*) was their own
property. There were also two or three public draw-wells in Scotch-street.
There were two stone bridges over the Eden, one of four, the other of nine
arches.
"The houses of the citizens bore no marks of taste, or even what would now
be considered requisite for comfort. Most were built of wood and clay, in
few instances exceeding one story in height, and generally covered with
thatch. The gable-ends of many fronted the street, in the old style of
domestic architecture, and presented long rows of porches at each door. The
rooms were miserably lighted by the small windows, which were irregularly
placed; and the strong outer doors were arched, and fastened together by
wooden pins projecting from the surface. Those houses which were two
stories high, had the upper rooms floored with oak, but without any ceiling
beneath. They were not painted, either within or without. "The lanes and
avenues, even the church road, were not paved; and in many places entirely
covered with weeds and underwood. The streets, not often trod upon, were in
many parts green with grass. The centre part or causeway, rose to
considerable height. The fronts from the
* We have altered these two words former and latter,
having the authority of Hutchinson for doing so. Besides, our present
author had just above stated that the shambles were private property. REV.
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houses were paved in the same manner; the consequence of which was that the
kennels or gutters were deep trenches, and stone bridges were placed in
many different parts, for the convenience of passing from one side of the
street to the other. These gutters were the reservoirs of all kinds of
filth, which, when a sudden heavy rain happened, by stopping the conduit of
the bridges, inundated the streets so as to render them impassible (sic) on
foot. Manure was of such little value, that the corporation gave a man
40s. per annum, and a new cart occasionally, to remove it every
week. Goods were brought into the city on pack-horses, as the roads were so
bad as to be almost impassable for other conveyances. The staple trade was
in whips and fish-hooks, but there was also a small linen manufactory. As
there were no public breweries, the publicans brewed their own ale, and
many of them made their own malt. * * *
"About the year 1747, a company of Hamburgh merchants selected Carlisle as
a suitable place in which to carry on an extensive woollen manfactory,
although at such a distance from those parts of the kingdom where this
branch of business had generally been cultivated. This manufactory was of
great consequence to Carlisle and its neighbourhood, but in a few years
declined, and the company became insolvent. About the year 1750 Aldermen
Richard and William Hodgson established a manufactory of coarse linen
cloths, called Osnaburghs, and also a woollen manufactory, which, however,
was of short duration.
"At this period the military road from Carlisle to Newcastle was commenced,
chiefly on the line which was formerly the Roman road. When this was
completed, carts and waggons were more frequently used. Soon after,
manufactories of linen and cotton began rapidly to increase, and
improvements in the city continually took place. Houses were built in a
greatly improved manner, and every year an additional number, which
gradually replaced those on the old construction. In 1756 a public brewery
was established near the Irish Gate. * * The balls and
assemblies were held in a large room in the castle, which occupied the site
of the new magazine. At this time there were four private carriages
kept in the city, - a coach and four belonging to Dr. Waugh, Dean of
Worsester (sic); another coach and four, the property of General Stanwix;
and two single horse chaises belonging to Major Farrer and Mr. Dobinson.
About this period post chaises were first kept at the Inns. *
* *
"In 1761 a company from Newcastle commenced the calico-printing in this
city, under the firm of Scott, Lamb, and Co., and an extensive manufactory
was established soon after. In consequence, land increased in value, rents
were heightened in proportion, and prices in general rose considerably.
Familes who before had been unable to earn more than eight shillings
weekly, were now receiving from twenty to thirty shillings. This increase
of business brought numbers of Scotch and Irish in search of employment.
* * In 1794 there were four print-fields, which employed
about one thousand persons. * * There were also two hundred
persons employed in spinning cotton. * * Three breweries, at
this time, paid upwards of 6000l. annually in duty, and a soap
manufactory paid 1500l. * *
"After the introduction of manufacturing into Carlisle, the population of
this city was considerably increased. In 1763 the inhabitants were
numbered, on a suggestion of Bishop Lyttelton, and found to be 4158. In
1780 they were again enumerated under the inspection of Dr. Heysham, when
they were found to have increased to 6299, and the number of houses was
891. In 1801 the inhabitants were found to be 10,221; in 1811, 12,531; in
1821, 14,....; in 1831, 19,069."
Such is a sample of the curious particulars and valuable statistical
remarks for which we are indebted to the observations of Mr. Hutchinson;
and of his correspondent Mr. R. Longrigg, a resident in the city. A few
lines, from a subsequent part of the present volume, in which the
commercial history of the place is more fully detailed, will complete the
picture in its main features:
"From the introduction of the cotton manufactory, Carlisle commenced a
steady course of posperity; since 1761 it has three times doubled its
inhabitants, and besides the employment given to the native population, it
sends forth work to the inhabitants of the towns and villages at a distance
of twenty, thirty, and even forty miles around. The principal fabrics are
ginghams and checks (for the West Indian market), calicoes, carpets,
table-cloths, &c. There are eleven or twelve cotton-mills in the town
and immediate vicinity; three print-fields, several dye-houses,
bleacheries, hat-manufactories, three iron-foundries, and four public
breweries.
"The Ship Canal, extending from Carlisle to the Solway Frith near Bowness,
was commenced in 1819, and completed in 1823, at the cost of about
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90,000l.. It is eleven miles and a half in length, has eight locks,
and is navigable by vessels of less than a hundred tons burden. *
* The warehouses have been bonded since 1832, and at present
contains goods to the value of upwards of 40,000l.
"Carlisle is destined to form the point of concentration for four
Railroads, or the centre from which four Railroads will diverge:- east, to
Newcastle; west, to Maryport; north, to Glasgow; and south, to Liverpool,
Manchester, and London; thus becoming the intersecting point of a cross,
which will extend from sea to sea, and lay the country under contribution
to augment its commercial prosperity and importance."
We must now remark that the judgment shown in the general selection and
arrangement of the contents of this volume, is not attended by equal care
in its language, or skill in its correction. There is neither the polish of
a scholar nor the minute accuracy of the antiquary. The Latin inscriptions,
modern as well as ancient, are full of misprints. Of the monuments in the
cathedral mentioned in p.185, we should say that in a History of Carlisle
the epitaphs should have been given at length, or at least their dates. A
poetical or a philosophical antiquary would have thought it worth his while
to have decyphered more completely the rhyming legends of saints, painted
in the cathedral by Prior Senus, or Senhouse, at the commencement of the
sixteenth century; but they are merely transcribed from Hutchinson. The
sepulchral portrait of Bishop Robinson should have been engraved from a
tracing of the brass in the cathedral, which would have nearly as easy as
copying the engraving already published of his duplicate brass at Queen's
College, Oxford.
To notice the inaccuracies of the epitaphs would occupy more space than we
can afford; but we will say something on one or two other ancient
inscriptions. In p.173 we are told that two ancient copes,
"together with the cornu eburneum (an ancient tenure horn) are
preserved in an old almery or closet in St. Catharine's Chapel;
where there are several other of these ancient receptacles* for the
benefactions of the charitable, all of which have been richly painted and
ornamented with carved work; and on one of them was an inscription in old
English characters, now defaced:
En doms. hec floruit Godibour sub tegmine Thomae.
cu~ bonus immensis merces sint dimida lusis."
Now, by the engraving in Hutchinson, p.130, we perceive that this
inscription was very different to the above, though there is one word we do
not decypher,
Cum domus hec floruit gudebowr sub tegmine thome,
cum bonis immensis merces sint d... a lucis.
which corrects an error in the orthography of the Prior's name, several
times spelt in this book Gondibour, but it is shown by the inscription to
have been Goudebour, or in modern spelling Goodbower.
In p.112 we find an inscription on a tower of the castle correctly given,
but quite misunderstood in a translation -
Sumptibus hoc fecit propriis opus Elizabetha Regina occiduas dominus Scroop
dum regit oras.
"Which may be read (says our author), Lord Scroop, while Warden of the
Western Marches, erected this at his own expense, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth."
But this would have been quite contrary to the usual practice, of the Crown
bearing the charge of maintaining its own castles. The Latin is by no means
involved, all the difficulty being created by the translator; and we need
scarcely add that the proper sense is, "Queen Elizabeth made this work at
her own expense, whilst Lord Scroop was Warden of the West Marches."
At p.324 is engraved a small silver buckle, or fibula, found in 1829, said
to inscribed IHESVS H. R. Jesus Hominum Redemptor; but the two last
letters are NA. the first syllable of Nazarenus.
We will now make a few observations on a matter of greater importance,
namely, "The Earldom of Car-
* This is a specimen of the carelessness of our author in the
construction of his sentences. The reader would hardly understand what are
the receptacles meant: but from Hutchinson we ascertain that the
inscription was on one of the almeries.
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[Car]lisle," of which we are told at p.438 that it "was given to Ranulph de
Meschines by William the Conqueror, but surrendered by his son of the same
name, to Henry I.;" that it was "revived in the person of Sir Andrew
de Harcla, in 1322, but was extinct in the following year, when he was
executed;" that "in 1622 Sir James Hay was created Earl of Carlisle; but in
1660 the title again became extinct by the death of James the second
Earl, without issue;" and lastly, that "the Earldom of Carlisle was
again revived in 1661, in the person of Charles Howard," in which
family it still remains.
Now, we are aware that the above statement is the same which has long been
copied from book to book; but the fault we have to find is, that in a
History of Carlisle so important a feature as the earldom (if an Earldom
there was) should not be more fully investigated.
With respect to the person first mentioned, we find it stated in Brooke's
Catalogue, 1619, p.51:
"Randolphe de Meschines, sonne of Randolphe Viscount of Baieulx, and Alice
his wife, base daughter of Richard the third Duke of Normandy, came into
England with William the Conqueror, who gave him the Earldom of Carlisle."
and of his son, the second Randolph (in p.38) that, succeeding in right of
his mother to the Earldom of Chester, he "surrendered Carlisle, his
father's earledome, to king Henry the first." But Sir Harris Nicolas, in
his Synopsis of the Peerage, remarks, without noticing the first Ranulph,
"Ranulph de Meschines, afterwards Earl of Chester, is by many writers
called Earl of Carlsle, though there is but little, if any, authority for
the statement."
Then, with regard to Sir Andrew de Harcla, it would have well become our
historian to have inquired what authority there is for attributing to him
the title of Earl, beyond the circumstance of his having been Governor of
the royal castle of Carlisle; and if Edward II. really did, in the warmth
of his favour, confer that dignity upon him, whether or no it should not be
considered the creation of Cumberland into an earldom, for in
ancient times the dignity of Earl always implied jurisdiction over a
considerable district or county; and though some Earls might chose (sic) to
be designated by the name of their chief residence, yet that was merely the
head, of which the county at large was the body. Thus the Earl of Salisbury
was, in fact, Earl of Wiltshire; the Earl of Striguil was Earl of
Pembrokeshire; the Earl of Arundel was Earl of Sussex, and sometimes, if he
moved his residences, was called Earl of Chichester.
History seems to mention no Earl of Cumberland until that dignity was
conferred on the Clifford family by Henry the Eighth: but Brooke states
(ubi supra) that John Duke of Bedford (the Regent of France), and
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (afterwards King Richard III.) both bore among
their titles that of Earl of Carlisle, which is not mentioned by our
author. The fact of the latter being governor of the castle and
sheriff of the county is noticed by Mr. Jefferson at p.96; and its
memory is preserved to modern times by a tower called after his name. We
may here remark that the chronological list of the governors at page 119
should have been made more complete by the additions of such dates as might
have been ascertained.
With respect to the title of Earl as enjoyed by the families of Hay and
Howard (by the way, "Sir James Hay" was previously Lord Hay and Viscount of
Doncaster), it had been evidently a mere nominal dignity, like all
those of modern origin, the creation of which has been found compatible
with the existence of other earldoms derived from the county; so much so
that we have now a Duke of Buckingham and an Earl of Buckinghamshire; an
Earl of Devon, a Duke of Devonshire, and a Marquess of Exeter, and indeed
there are few counties that do not furnish many titles of earldoms instead
of only one.
These remarks we have made merely to point out a line of research which an
historian of Carlisle should have taken: to pursue it further is beyond
both our limits and our means; but our author will, probably, allow there
must be some relation, if not identity, in the titles of earl of Cumberland
and Earl of Carlisle, when we merely point out to him in the second page
onwards
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in his own book, the title of a MS. in the British Museum.
"Genealogies and Historical Incidents in the lives of the Earls of
Carlisle from Ranulph de Meschines to George de Clifford, 1569."
Before we conclude, we should state that this volume is rather rich in
biography; though we do not think the lives of the Bishops particularly
well given. We may also remark that, besides the distinguished persons who
figure in this volume, there are several other literary and scientific
characters and artsist briefly noticed in Hutchinson, vol.ii p.66; and
among them Dr. Heysham, and the present Royal Academician Mr. Smirke.
And now we must take leave of Mr. Jefferson and Carlisle, only adding that
the history of one of our ancient cities, the scene of many important
historical events, and the theatre of many generations once active in the
affairs of this busy world, fully merits the expanse of two quarto volumes.
The best model for such a history is the Shrewsbury of Blakeway and Owen.
We may repeat our general satisfaction with this work, as a popular
history; but at the same time we will add out hopes that it is merely a
prelude to a larger and more satisfactory work.
{title- Gents Mag 1839 part 2 p.170}
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{header- History and Antiquites of Carlisle Cathedral}
{text- Book review.}
{image = G839B170.jpg}
The History and Antiquities of Carlisle Cathedral. By Robert William
Billings. 4to. pt.I. 15 plates.
MR. Billings, an artist whose works have often come under public notice,
and whose talents as an architectural draughtsman are well known by his
engravings illustrative of the Temple Church, St. Stephen's Chapel, and
other ancient structures, has announced his intention of completing such of
the English Cathedrals which are not included in the Cathedral Antiquities
of Mr. Britton: a publication which, we are compelled with unfeigned regret
to add, is now brought to a termination, with the omission of several of
these noble relics of ancient art and piety, which to the antiquary are not
the least interesting of our national temples.
The author has commenced with Carlisle Cathedral, which, from the
remoteness of its situation, in addition to its unfinished and mutilated
state, has received but little attention from the hands of the antiquary -
still, although it is destined to hold an inferior rank amongst our
Cathedrals, to occupy a place inferior to the grand and splendid structures
at Canterbury and Lincoln, and to yield in proportion and beauty to Wells,
Lichfield, or Salisbury, it possesses many features which are beautiful to
the eye of the antiquary, and valuable to the student of our ancient
architecture. The choir, for instance, is a rich specimen of the
architecture of the fourteenth century, and is perhaps not surpassed by any
existing structure of equal magnitude.
Mr. Billings proposes to illustrate this Cathedral by forty-five
engravings, to be accompanied by an historical and architectural account,
which
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at the conclusion of the work is to be presented gratis to the subscribers.
The first part of the proposed publication has appeared, containing fifteen
plates, etchings executed by the author from his own drawings, in a bold
and free style, and though not so highly and expensively finished as the
plates in the early published Cathedrals of Mr. Britton, well calculated to
display the features and architecture of the structure pourtrayed.
This Cathedral affords an instructive lesson on the mode pursued by the
ancient prelates and churchmen in rebuilding their churches: a work which
was constantly going on, and the progress of which was only stopped by the
arrival of the day of spoilation. The Cathedral was originally of Norman
architecture, and of small dimensions, when compared with the existing
choir, which appears to have been the commencement of a grand design for
rebuilding the whole church in the splendid and beautiful architecture
which then prevailed about the junction of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. The architect contemplated the preservation of so much of the
old church as he could use use to advantage in his new design, not sweeping
away the ancient structure to its very foundations, according to the
practice of modern architects, when any new-fangled building is to be
raised on the ruins of an older one. He intended to preserve the south
transept with the corresponding piers of the tower, meaning to work them
into the new edifice; but as the north transept would, in consequence of
the extension of the choir in breadth, have been within the walls of the
new choir, he rebuilt that branch of the cross, and on the east side of it,
made provision for the addition of an aisle, which has not been carried
into effect, although its commencement is manifested by the existence of
the angular pier of the eastern aisle, which was completed before the
removal of the wall of the transept, and now remains partially embedded in
such wall. If this plan had been fully executed, the present tower, no way
grand enough for a structure of so great magnificence, would with the
Norman nave have been entirely taken down; but the work never proceeded
beyond the choir, which, as we before remarked, is a resplendent specimen
of architecture. The inspection of Mr. Billings' ground plan will plainly
shew the commencement of the intended aisle, and Plate III. being the
elevation of the north aisle, shews with equal distinctness the profile of
the eastern wall of this aisle, set out upon the face of the wall of the
choir aisle.
The elaborate and tasteful design of the eastern window, one of the purest
and most elegant examples of the flowing and foliated tracery of Edward the
Third's reign in existence, is exhibited in elevation, accompanied with
sections, plans, and details, and a diagram, in which the construction of
this curious piece of workmanship is shewn geometrically.
The remain plates exhibit the detail, which includes some objects of the
most curious description; among other masonic freaks displayed in the
structure, are seen two corbels in which the terminations are made to
appear as if they were ribbons tied in knots.
The windows of the church, which are partly lancet-shaped and partly
foliated, are detailed with measurements in correct style, and the
contruction of the tracery is shewn geometrically.
Two curious winding staircases are worthy of notice; the newels end in ribs
resembling the bars of a crown: they form the subject of two perspective
views. One of the plates contains the detail of a structure styled a
Confessional: if it be correctly designated, it is an almost unique example
of this appendage, which, however commonly met with in the Roman Catholic
churches of the present day, either did not exist in our ancient churches,
or the remains must, in every other instance, have been so completely
removed as to leave a reasonable ground for doubting their presence, a
circumstance far from probable, if they had formed permanent structures of
stone like the one here represented.
Perspective views of the exterior, and of portions of the interior of the
cathedral, are given, as well as of a plain but bold circular arched
gateway of the Norman period, known as the Abbey gate. The whole form a
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very good collection of views of the church, and afford a good example of
the entire illustrations, which we hope to see completed with an equal
degree of merit.
We need not add how highly we approve of Mr. Billings' praiseworthy attempt
to complete Mr. Britton's undertaking. He has our good wishes, and we trust
he will receive from the hands of the public sufficient patronage to enable
him to fill up the entire series, which will then truly deserve the
character of a national work; one that in extent, as well as in the object
it embraces, will be a credit to the enterprise of both gentlemen by whose
exertions the work was projected, carried on, and finished.
{title- Gents Mag 1839 part 2 p.509}
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{header- Guide to Naworth and Lanercost}
{image = G839B509.jpg}
{text- Book review.}
A Guide to Naworth and Lanercost; or, Historical and Descriptive
Accounts of Naworth Castle and Lanercost Priory, and a Life of Lord William
Howard. Carlisle: by Samuel Jefferson. 12mo.
THIS is a pleasing guide-book, offered by the author of the History of
Carlisle (which was reviewed in our May number, p.516), to those of his
friends who devote a summer's holiday to a visit to the towers of Naworth,
or the mouldering arches of Lanercost.
Naworth Castle, the chief residence of the Dacres lords of Gilsland, has
been characterised by Sir Walter Scott as "one of those extensive baronial
seats which marked the splendour of our ancient nobles, before they changed
the hospitable magnificence of a life spent amongst numerous tenantry, for
the uncertain honours of court attendance, and the equivocal rewards of
ministerial favour." It was here that the celebrated Lord William Howard,
better known as Bold or Belted Will Howard,* a man
* "Lord William," says Mr. Howard, in his Memorials of the Howard
Family, "is in the Lay of the Last Minstrel called by Sir Walter Scott
Belted Will Howard, meaning, I apprehend, that he was in the habit
of wearing the baldrick, or broad belt, which was formerly worn as a
distinguishing badge by persons of high station. But this, as to him, is
not at all founded on fact, as the belts which he wears in his pictures are
particularly narrow. But the characteristic epithet with which his name has
come down to our time is Bauld, meaning 'Bold Wyllie.' That of his
lady is 'Bessie with the braid apron;' not, I conceive, from any
embroidery of that part of her dress, but using the word broad, which is
often so pronounced, in allusion to the breadth or extent of her
possessions."
{title- Gents Mag 1839 part 2 p.510}
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of superior talents, as well as extensive territory, passed a long life in
the exercise of vice-regal power: and what renders the place particularly
interesting, is the circumstance that, from the death of that distinguished
personage in the year 1640, "This castle has undergone little alterations,
either in respect of the buildings, furniture, ornaments, or appearance. It
seems, like few fortresses of so much strength, to have escaped during the
ensuing season of devastation and bloodshed, as no record exists to show
that it was held either for the King or Parliament." (P.14.)
The castle of Kirkoswald being dismantled about the year 1604, by Lord
Dacre of the South, the ceilings of the hall and chapel, with their curious
paintings, were purchased by Lord William, who applied them to the same
uses at Naworth, and the repairs were proceeding when the castle was
visited by Camden in 1607." (P.23.)
At the end of the picture gallery, a massive iron-grated door, secured with
huge bolts, forms the entrance to the rooms which remain as Lord William
Howard left them.
"After passing through a short dark passage, the first apartment is
entered. It is a bedchamber, retaining its original furniture, measuring 14
feet by 18 feet; the floor is formed of a hard composition, and the
mantlepiece has sculpted on it three shields, with the arms of Dacre
quartering those of Vaux, Lancaster, and de Morville; Dacre impaling
Greystock (modern); and Boteler of Wemme impaling ---, supposed to be Vaux.
The shields are all surrounded by the garter, and on labels between them is
the motto Fort en loialte. The walls are wainscoted with oak and
covered with tapestry. On pushing aside a panel of the wainscot near the
fire-place, there is a dark apartment vaulted with stone, and guarded at
the entrance by a strong door of oak.
"Above the bedchamber and secret room are two other apartments, forming a
library and a private chapel. A circular stone staircase, dark and narrow,
admitting only one person to ascend at a time, conducts us to these rooms.
The library is of the same size as the bedchamber beneath it, but more
gloomy. It is fitted up with plain closets, filled with a valuable
collection of old works on history, school-divinity, &c. There was
formerly a good collection of MSS. in this library, but only a few of them
now remain, and those of little value.*
"There is, however, one extremely curious document, containing a life of
Joseph of Arimathea ('extractus de libro quem invenit Theodosius imperator
in Jerusalem') and his twelve disciples; together with a history of saints,
with the number of years or days for which each could grant indulgences in
the monastery of Glastonbury. It is written on six large skins of fine
vellum, beautifully illuminated, and is pasted in a wooden case, with two
folding leaves, the dimensions of which are two feet by three feet. There
is an old reading desk of four sides, in the form of a pyramid, with a
flattened apex; which, by means of a screw passing through the centre, can
be raised or depressed at pleasure.
"The windows of this chamber are narrow, and are reached by an ascent of
three steps. The ceiling is richly carved, in a similar manner to the
ceiling in the deanery of Carlisle. The corbels and bosses are embellished
with armorial devices. Here Lord William spent much of his time; 'a lover
of the venerable antiquity,' as he was styled by Camden, having closed his
door, he could pursue his favourite study without interruption."
Mr. Jefferson has presented us with the copy of a catalogue of the library.
From the dates of some of the books, it appears to have been made some time
subsequently to Lord William's day; though the greater number of them are
the best historical and learned works that were published in his life-time.
One volume, a Treatise on the Real Presence, contains the autograph of
John Fisher, Episcopus Roffensis; another was a present from an
Abbat (sic) of Fountains. On the title-page of most of the books is the
autograph of Lord William Howard, written in a good hand, and, in some
cases, a short remark is added. For instance, in a
* Lysons states that most of these MSS. are now in the library of
the Heralds' College.
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book of Martin Luther's is written William Howarde. Volo sed non
valeo (the family motto), non possum quod desidero. On a copy of
Calvin's Institutes, 1569, is Qui sibi videtur stare videat ne
cadat. On a copy of Galatea is, for thear glory is to change, and
thear liberty is to rainge. On another volume is the softer language of
conjugal affection, Merces amoris amor. Mary Howarde. W. Howarde.
1582.
The three officers, the diary of whose tour in 1634 is preserved among the
Lansdowne manuscripts, were hospitably entertained by Lord William Howard
and his lady at Corby castle. The writer says -
"These noble twain (as it pleas'd themselves to tell us themselves) could
nott make above 25 yeares both togeather when first they were marry'd, that
now can make above 140 yeares, and are very hearty well and merry, and long
may they continue soe, for soe have they all just cause to pray, that live
neere them; for their hospitality and fre entertainment agrees with their
generous and noble extraction, and their yeares retains the memory of their
honourable predecessor's bountifull housekeeping."
This little book includes a very interesting biography of Lord William
Howard, for which the materials have been furnished in the elaborate and
very magnificent volume, of Memorials of the Howard family, recently
printed by Mr. Howard of Corby.
The ancient MS. relative to the abbey of Glastonbury, described in the
extract we have given respecting the library, is the same which was
inquired after by the late Mr. Douce, in our Magazine, shortly before the
publication of Warrer's History of Glastonbury. We are happy to find that
it is still preserved.
In p.37 we find mentioned four large carvings of wood, in the great hall,
"representing a griffin, a unicorn, a dolphin, and a bull; these" it is
added, "formed the crests of the Dacre, Multon, Greystock, and
Grimthorp families, and have evidently been made to carry banners
with the same arms." Gigantic carvings of this kind are seen over the
gateways of several of the castles in the North, as at Hilton, and
elsewhere. We notice the present description, to remark upon the inaccuracy
of the term crests; they would more properly be called supporters.
At the time of their execution they used to be called "beasts," and only
one was used, which bore the arms on a banner, as mentioned in the
present case. The ancient crests of these families, it will be found
on inquiry, were something different: for all ancient crests are such as a
knight might really carry on his head, not an entire animal, neither an
elephant nor a castle, - though very frequently an animal's head.
In p.39 we find mentioned the name of an old painter, who adorned the
panels of the ceiling of the chapel with the heads of the genealogy of
Christ, springing from the root of Jesse, in fifty-four compartments. It is
given "Magister Lucas Egliement, Pictor MCXII." But we suspect there may be
some trifling error. Can the artist be the same with Cornelius Engelbert,
who, as noticed by Walpole in his Anecdotes of Paintings, came to England
and was made painter to Henry the Eighth? The date appears full early for
him; but in that also there may be some mistake.
We have not time to accompany Mr. Jefferson to Lanercost abbey, though he
appears to have described the ruins of its architecture in a very
satisfactory manner; but we will now conclude with the following very
elegant verses, by the present heir apparent of Naworth, who appears to
inherit the poetical talents of his late grandfather, Frederick, Earl of
Carlisle:
LINES TO A JASMINE TREE IN THE "COURT OF NAWORTH CASTLE,"
Written by Viscount Morpeth.
My slight and slender jasmine tree
That bloomest on my border tower,
Thou art more dearly loved by me
Than all the wreaths of fairy bower.
I ask not, while I near thee dwell,
Arabia's spice or Syria's rose;
Thy light festoons more freshly smell,
Thy virgin white more freshly glows.
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My mild and winsome jasmine tree,
That climbest up the dark grey wall,
The tiny flowrets seem to glee
Like silver spray-drops down to fall;
Say, did they from their leaves thus peep
When mail'd moss-troopers rode the hill;
When helmed warders paced the keep,
and bugles blew for Belted Will?
My free and feathery jasmine tree,
Within the fragrance of thy breath
Yon dungeon grated to its key,
And the chain'd captive pined for death.
On border fray, on feudal crime,
I dream not while I gaze on thee;
The chieftans of that stern old time
Could ne'er have loved a jasmine tree.
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.155}
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{header- History and Description of Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G840B155.jpg}
{text- Book review.}
Architectural Illustrations. - History and Description of Carlisle
Cathedral. By R. W. Billings, 4to. 1840.
An attempt to define the Geometric proportions of Gothic Architecture,
as illustrated by the Cathedrals of Carlisle and Worcester. By R. W.
Billings.
MR. BILLINGS' very excellent series of illustrations of the unfinished,
mutilated, and decayed cathedral of Carlisle, is now brought to a
conclusion, and completed by the addition of a letter-press description of
the plates. The representations of the church are most copious. In the
words of the author, "the comparatively unknown church of St. Mary at
Carlisle has now a more extended architectural survey published than any
other cathedral in Britain; by which means the whole mass of the building
might be rebuilt." This cathedral boasts a choir, which, in point of
architectural effect, is perhaps unrivalled in this country. The eastern
window is probably the most beautiful example of the flowing tracery of the
14th century in existence. The author has drawn a very minute and accurate
comparison between this splendid example and the celebrated west window of
York Minster. The dates of the two are nearly coeval; - that at Carlisle
being erected shortly after 1292, and the York specimen between 1291 and
1330. Although the Carlisle window is, so far as respects a great portion
of the interior face of the tracery, in an unfinished state, it is
manifestly superior in point of design to its better known and more admired
contemporary. The laborious investigation which Mr. Billings made of this
window is evinced by his elevation of the tracery, in which the stones and
their joints are distinctly marked out and numbered.
The plates of the choir exhibit a display of architecture so beautiful,
that the spectator cannot help viewing it with a feeling of regret when he
finds that it is the only portion of the structure which has been completed
in this exquisite style; and of indignation when he sees that the legal
guardians of the pile are so blind to its merits as to suffer it to fall
into ruin by almost total neglect. The gable over the principal eastern
window was almost unique in its ornaments. The parapet in its original
state was crocketed and ornamented with no less than nine crosses, of which
one was placed on the apex, and the other eight on the side of the raking
parapet. All the crosses have been destroyed; more, perhaps, from the
effects of time than the hands of fanaticism; but one is preserved in the
cathedral, and from which Mr. Billings is enabled to make an elevation in a
restored state.
The stalls and woodwork of the
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.156}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.156}
{image = G840B156.jpg}
interior of the choir are equally rich; and until the end of the last
century it presented one of the most splendid displays of carved work in
this country, at least. A considerable portion of this most beautiful
carved work was removed, to allow of a series of arches of carpernter's
Gothic design to be substituted. So lamentably are our finest churches
injured, more effectually by those who are bound to take an interest in
their preservation than by actual outrage.
We cannot think the structure depicted in plates xl. xli. xlii. and xliii.
is rightly styled a confessional. Judging from the position of the monk and
the penitent represented in plate xliii. the confession must have been
anything but auricular.
Surely Mr. Billings does not give the stained glass coloured after the
original in plate xv. as an example either of beauty or purity. The glass
must have been set up in very recent times, and that by the meanest glazier
in Carlisle.
Pl..xxxix. shows a perspective of a very fine crypt under the Fratery. It
is of early date, and the architecture very interesting and curious.
The following passage evinces great carelessness in allusion to a carving
of some roses in the cathedral. We are told in a note that "when
whitewashed they may have been emblematical of the house of Lancaster: but
that coating being taken away, instantly changed the rose (from the colour
of the stone) into Yorkist." Surely Mr. Billings does not suppose that the
white rose was the Lancastrian badge!
The ingenious author of the present illustrations has announced his
intention of proceeding with all the cathedrals left undone by Mr. Britton.
We truly hope he will receive the support he justly merits, and that he
will be enabled to complete the series in the same style as the present. We
believe Durham will be the subject of the next illustration.
The second work which stands at the head of this review is devoted to the
excellent purpose of tracing out the geometric rules by which the
architects of the ancient churches proceeded to construct their wondrous
fabrics.The theory of Mr. Billings may be best understood by giving his own
words:
"The application of the circle, or intersecting circles, to the plan of
Gothic buildings, is not new; but the application of scales, composed of a
regular division of parts of that figure, fixing both the position and
substance of the columns within the building, besides the various parts of
the elevation, has hitherto been unknown; and the author, consquently,
claims the invention or re-discovery of this principle, if it be really
that which the ancient architects used, as his own. From the variety in the
proportion of every part of our cathedrals, he cannot possibly conceive how
any other rule could have regulated the design."
Mr. Billings works out his theory by an analysis of the cathedral of
Carlisle, the first structure on which he applied successfully his system
of circles. A single division of Worcester cathedral, traced from Mr.
Britton's work, he also finds to contain within it equal evidence of the
same principles.
Whatever may have been the profound ignorance of the architects and writers
of the last two centuries, who have condemned the Gothic style, of the
merits of the architects of our ancient churches, no one will be found at
the present day to controvert the position that in the general form, as
well as in the detail of a Gothic structure, the utmost harmony prevails in
every part: no one will be hardy enough to assert that the Gothic
architects worked without rule, or to bestow on them the name of
barbarians. Some difficulty may exist in discovering the rules which guided
them, and in laying them down with sufficient precision to enable a workman
to carry them out in an intended design. Mr. Billings considers that he has
effected this. We receive with great satisfaction his attempts at so useful
and desirable an object; and though, when the various irregularities in
Gothic buildings thrust themselves before our vision, a doubt will arise
whether the author's rules will in all cases apply, yet we hopes that he
will, when he "elucidates the more perfect and gorgeous specimens scattered
over the country," find his theory fully confirms; and that the
irregularities are, in fact, exceptions to
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.157}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.157}
{image = G840B157.jpg}
the general rule. The attempt to trace out the harmony and the proportions
of Gothic architecture to their true source is creditable to Mr. Billings,
and will be sufficient to place his name high upon the list of the
scientific writers on the architectural styles.
One extract more and we will conclude:-
"We allude to the east end of the cathedral, (the author is apeaking of
Carlisle) the gem of the building. By examination it will be found that an
equilateral triangle, whose base is the whole width of the cathedral,
comprised the total height of the east end to the point of the gable. This
cannot be refuted; and if it were attempted, we could refer triumphaantly
to the upper window in the gable, where that form is repeated four times.
Although it may be as well to avoid the question of symbolical forms, the
idea that this window was intended to convey a type of unity of the Trinity
- all coequal, neither superior or inferior, so forcibly strikes the
imagination, that we cannot refrain from expressing our belief that the
architect designed it with that intention."
We have no doubt that the window in question was designed with the very
object which Mr. Billings alludes, - the architectural "three in one;" so
aptly designated by the late John Carter, and to be met with in some shape
or other in every early structure, was by that eminent writer always judged
to be an emblem of the sacred Trinity. The doctrines of the Trinity and the
Atonement were never lost sight of in our ancient churches. The repeated
occurrence of the triplication of parts, held and bound together by a
common band of union, is seen in the windows, the cusps, the columns, the
mouldings, and the ground plan; and the form of a cross is equally
conspicuous and predominating, showing incontrovertibly that even the
fabric of an ancient church bore testimony to the Catholicity of the
doctrines which it was erected to support and promulgate.
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 pp.218-219}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 pp.218-219}
{header- Obituary, Jane Barwise, Mary Bardgert, and Jane Redmond}
{text- Obituaries}
{image = G840B218.jpg}
CUMBERLAND. - June 14. At Langrigg Hall, aged 95, Jane, relict of
the Rev. John Barwise, late rector of Niton, in the Isle of Wight, and of
Langrigg Hall, Carlisle.
June 25. Aged 86, at Chapel House, near Whitehaven, Mary, wife of
the Rev. Joseph Bardgert, Rector of Melmerby, near Penrith.
July 11. In Christ's Hospital, Wigton, aged 66, Jane, widow of the
Rev. John
{image = G840B219.jpg}
Redmond, Vicar of Orton, Westmorland.
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.226}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.226}
{header- Longevity, Cumberland}
{image = G840B226.jpg}
MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.
IN the Obituary of our last Magazine, p.218, the death of Mrs. Jane Barwis,
relict of the Rev. John Barwis, of Langrigg Hall, Cumberland, and Rector of
Niton, in the Isle of Wight, was briefly noticed. Messrs. Daniel and Samuel
Lysons, in their Topographical Account of Cumberland, state, "It is
remarkable that two ladies of this family attained the age of 100
years: Mrs. Anne Barwis, buried at Dearham in 1686, and Mrs. Elizabeth
Barwis, mother of the late Mr. Barwis, who died at Langrigg Hall, in 1814."
His widow, who died at Langrigg Hall, on the 12th of June last, was born on
the 24th of July 1744, o.s., and consequently had nearly attained the age
of 96. Mr. Daniel Lysons, in a letter to the Vicar of Bromfield written in
1811, says, "It is extremely difficult to account for the cause of the
extraordinary longevity observable in certain districts. The whole of
Cumberland we have ascertained to be remarkable for it. Bromfield is among
the parishes that are most so, but the same is observable in some of the
parishes on the borders of Northumberland. Some think the climate of the
North particularly favourable to longevity, but in Cornwall the only part
particularly not for it is on the southern coast. Temperance is
generally, and I believe justly, supposed to contribute to longevity, and I
dare say it may be the general character of the Cumberland people; but in
the course of our enquiries we heard of several instances of extraordinary
longevity among persons who had accustomed themselves to a contrary habit.
Whatever has been the cause, the fact is very curious and remarkable: the
general calculation is, that one in 32 attain the age of fourscore; in
great towns about one in 40. In Cumberland we have found the general
average in the country to be about one in 7 or 8; in Bromfield, and some
other villages, more than one in 8; in great towns, even in Whitehaven,
notwithstanding great ravages of the small-pox, about one in 16: indeed, a
very extraordinary proportion in every part of the county." It should be
remarked, that Mrs. Jane Barwis was born in the parish of St. Andrew's,
Holborn, and passed the greater part of her early life in London. In 1788
she removed to Niton, in the Isle of Wight, where she lived till 1822,
after which time she resided at Langrigg Hall. Her father and mother were
both natives of the same part of Cumberland.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.277}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.277}
{header- Funeral Sermon for Lady Anne Pembroke}
{image = G840B277.jpg}
{text- book review}
A Sermon preached at the Funeral, April 14, 1676, of Anne Countess of
Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, by Edward Rainbow, D.D. Lord Bishop
of Carlisle. Reprinted from the edition of 1677; with Memoirs of the
Countess and of Bp. Rainbow. By S. Jefferson, Carlisle.
THE lady here commemorated is probably as well known as any female
character of former times, that is not absolutely mixed up with political
history. This was the lady of whom Dr. Donne said in her youth (as is
related in the Sermon before us) "That she knew well how to discourse of
all things, from predestination to slea-silk." Her biography has been ably
written by two modern authors, Dr. Whitaker and Mr. Lodge: by the former
she is termed "one of the most illustrious women of her own or any age;"
and by the latter her character is delineated as worthy of the highest
praise and admiration.
Respecting such a personage, even a Funeral Sermon becomes interesting.
Though it is true that the pulpit compositions of the period were tedious
and conceited, yet they abound in personal allusions and even anecdotes,
and hence their historical value. The few extracts we shall now make will
fully show that neither Dr. Whitaker nor Mr. Lodge have exhausted the
interest of the composition before us.
"She was not ignorant of knowledge in any kind, which might make her
conversation not only useful and gracious, but also pleasant and
delightful; which that she might better do, she would frequently bring out
of the rich storehouse of her memory things old and new, sentences or
sayings of remark, which she had read or learned out of authors, and with
these her walls, her bed, her hangings, and furniture must be adorned;
causing her servants to write them on papers, and her maids to pin them up,
that she, or they, in the time of their dressing, or as occasion served,
might remember and make their discants on them. So that, though she had not
many books in her chamber, yet it was dressed up with the flowers of a
library." (p.40.)
"She had six houses; in each of which she used, at her prefixed times, to
keep her residence. None can call this an unsettledness, or humour of
mutability; it was not onely that she might the better hold up and keep in
repair those houses which commonly in the owner's absence
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.278}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.278}
{image = G840B278.jpg}
(who is the soul of the house) turn to carcases, ready to be dissolved,
fall to ruine and dust; but she resolved by her presence to animate the
houses which she had built, and the places where she lived; to dispense and
disperse the influences of her hospitality and charity in all the places
where her patrimony lay, that many might be made partakers of her comforts
and kindness.
"In her frequent removals, both going and coming, she strewed her bounty
all the way. And for this end it was (as may be charitably conjectured)
that she so often removed; and that not only in the winter season (less fit
for travelling), but also that she chose to pass those uncouth and
untrodden, those mountainous and almost impassable ways, that she might
make the poor people and labourers her pioneers, who were always well
rewarded for their pains. Let the season be never so bad, the places never
so barren, yet we may say it by way of allusion, Psalm. 65. II. She
crowned the Season with her goodness, and her paths dropped fatness, even
upon the pasture of the wilderness, the barren mountains. If she found
not mines in these mountains, I am sure the poor found money in good
plenty, whenever she passed over them." (p.46.)
The Bishop then proceeds to detail at length as "an instance of her
constancy" of purpose, "a known story in these parts," that about three
years before her death, during a misty frost in January, she had appointed
to remove from Appleby to Brougham Castle. Just before her departure, she
turned into the chapel, as was her practice, to offer her private prayers,
and there fell into a swoon. When recovered she could not be persuaded to
forego the journey, "having before fixed on that day, and so much company
being come purposely to wait on her;" nor yet when she had been seized with
another fit, when she first came to her horse litter. And no sooner was she
came to her journey's end (nine miles) but a swooning seized on her again;
still she would not allow that she ought not to have undertaken the
journey. "She replied she knew she must die, and it was the same thing to
her to die in the way, as in her house; in her litter as in her bed;
declaring a courage no less than the great Roman general, Necesse est ut
eam, non ut vitam: She would not acknowledge any necessity why she
should live, but believed it becessary to keep firm to her resolution."
"Of a humour pleasing to all, yet like to none; her dress not disliked by
any, yet imitated by none. Those who fed by her, might be full; if with
her, starved, to eat by the measures she took to herself. She was absolute
mistress of herself, her resolutions, actions and time; and yet allowed a
time for every purpose, for all addresses, for any persons; none had access
to her but by her leave, when she called; but none were rejected: none must
stay longer than she would, yet none departed unsatisfied. Like him at the
stern, she seemed to do little or nothing, but indeed turned and steered
the whole course of her affairs." (p.51.)
Such was this energetic and masculine woman, the Elizabeth of the peerage.
The extracts now given will be sufficient to justify us in tendering the
public thanks to Mr. Jefferson for this interesting reprint:* but we
wish he would exert himself to procure for us a fuller copy of his
heroine's DIARY, of which some very curious passages were first published
in Seward's Anecdotes. We believe it was a different MS. to "the private
memoirs of the Countess, written by herself,"† which occupy a large
portion of one of the three
* In the preface, p.ix. is a slight mistake respecting Mary Sidney,
Countess of Pembroke, that "her epitaph in Salisbury Cathedral,
which is so much admired records her as Sidney's sister, Pembroke's
mother." The epitaph was never placed in Salisbury Cathedral, but only in
the works of Ben Jonson, whence the copies of it have been derived.
† The Diary was evidently made as events arose; and afterwards "some
parts of these Diaries were summed into Annals." (Bishop Rainbow's Sermon,
p.50.) Of the folio memoir the full title will be found, together with some
extracts, in the last edition of the Biographia Britannica, vol.ii p.640,
whence the more recent writers have derived them. A transcript of the
narrative was communicated to Dr. Kippis by Mr. Baynes; and its contents
are described by the former as a "few things which relate to the general
events of the times," and "every incident, how trifling soever, which
happened to herself or any of her family. The different places of her
residence, the time she staid in them, the repairs of her houses, her
journeys from one castle to another, the marriages of her daughters, the
births of her grand-children and great-grand-children, the deaths of the
great persons she was connected with, the visits she received from her
noble relations, the way by which they came and returned, the number of
nights they lodged with her, the rooms in which they lay, her repeated
entertainment of the Judges of Assize, and many other particulars of the
like nature, are recorded with the most circumstantial exactness;" and,
though too minute and full of repetitions to be available to Dr. Kippis, we
cannot imagine a more interesting record of ancient manners, (now rendered
more remote by the lapse of nearly sixty years since Dr. Kippis wrote,) or
one better deserving the attention of either the Surtees or the Camden
Society.
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part 2 p.279}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part 2 p.279}
{image = G840B279.jpg}
folio volumes that she collected of her family documents, and that are now
preserved in Appleby Castle. (preface p.xii.) Gilpin, in his Tour to the
Lakes, ii. 191, says he had been informed that "the late Earl of Thanet
destroyed" her Journal, "as it contained many severe remarks on
several characters of those times, which the earl supposed might give
offence to their families." But it was about the same time that Mr. Seward
published his extracts. We have heard that the MS. was mutilated, and for a
somewhat different though equally foolish reason, that is to say, on the
score of some coarsenesses, repugnant to modern delicacy; but that it was
not wholly destroyed. There can be no question that a judicious selection
from all that remains of her memoirs would form a valuable addition to our
materials of domestic history. As Bishop Rainbow himself remarked, the
Countess of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery is a subject "fitter for a
History than a Sermon."
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part p.401}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part p.401}
{header- Life of Sir Philip Musgrave}
{image = G840B401.jpg}
{text- Book review.}
The Life of Sir Philip Musgrave, Bart. of Hartley Castle, co.
Westmorland, and of Edenhall, co. Cumberland, Governor of the City of
Carlisle, &c. Now first published from an original MS. by the Rev.
Gilbert Burton, Vicar of Edenhall, 1669-1683. S. Jefferson,
Carlisle. 8vo.
SIR Philip Musgrave was one of the noble cavaliers whose devoted loyalty
and disinterested patriotism embellishes the otherwise disastrous history
of Charles the First. He was naturally of a grave and studious temperament.
Iin his younger days, before the troubles,
"He had a melancholy disposition and
{title- Gents Mag 1840 part p.402}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1840 part p.402}
{image = G840B402.jpg}
weak body, not much addicted to those pleasures which young gentlemen
commonly accustom themselves to. His genius led him most to ye repairing of
his houses, and bringing his estate into some better order than he found
it, for he paid many debts which his father left upon it, and endeavoured
to stock his grounds, thereby to bring his revenue to ye hight from which,
in the time of his Wardship, it was much fallen. About ye space of seven
years following, hee lived in this sort, suitable to his quality and
fortune," - at Hartley Castle, as Justice of the Peace and Quorum in ye
Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland."
Subsequently he was made a Deputy Lieutenant, an office of far greater
importance than at present, inasmuch as it was not devolved on many
persons, and actually incurred the duties of the Lord Lieutenant, during
his absence.
In 1644 Sir Philip Musgrave was, by the Marquess of Newcastle, made
Commander-in-chief of the two counties of Cumberland and Westmorland. At
the battle of Rowton-Moor (where the Earl of Lichfield was slain) he was
among the prisoners taken by the victorious Parliamentarians. After a few
months imprisonment at York and Pontefract castles, he was again actively
engaged in the royal cause, until all was lost.
Ye next day after ye King was put to death, hee left London, went to Dover,
and staying a few hours, shiped himself to France and landed safely at
Calice ye next morning. There he found Sr Marmaduke Langdale, and stayed
with him six weeks; in which time ye English Parliament voted him to be one
of ye eleven persons excepted for their lives and estates. Of this number
ye young King and his brother ye Duke of York were named ye two first."
In 1650 the King, then at Breda, signed a warrant for the title and dignity
of a Baron, to be conferred on Sir Philip Musgrave, (which warrant is
appended to this publication,) but this never passed the great seal.
Shortly after, he accompanied the King to Scotland, and was present at his
coronation at Scone. He was hardly ever at rest even during the
Protectorate, being engaged in most of the attempts made for the
restoration of his sovereign. He sufferd various imprisonments; but, on the
whole, appears to have been fortunate in the leniency of his treatment from
the regnant authorities, chiefly through the interference of his kinsman,
Lord Wharton.
"Then came ye actions of ye once great Lambert, who rebelled against the
thing yt called itself a Parliament, and wch he and his souldiers had owned
by yt title, yet turned ym out of ye honor, and did appoint a certain
number of men which were stiled a Committee of Safety to do as he would
have ym, until, when he was at Newcastle, and upon his march toward
Scotland, against Genl Monk, God put a hook in his nostrills, and turned
him back by the way yt he came, untill his men, without feeling yr blow or
seeing ye face of an enemy, dropt away from him like snow melting wth ye
summer heat."
This is, we think, on the whole, the most eloquent passage with which the
worthy family chaplain has favoured us. His composition cannot be termed
exceedingly entertaining, for the writer is a very matter-of-fact person,
detailing his events in a dry circumstantial style. But when we say that
his narrative is full of exact particulars of the occurrences in the north
of England, particularly during the eventful period of the civil war, and
that great reliance may be placed on their authenticity and precision, it
will be allowed that Mr. Jefferson has done good service in giving it to
the world; only, to secure its utility, he should have added an Index to
the persons and places which occur in such abundance.
Sometimes the names have not been carefully printed. The Earl of
Lanerick in p.12 and Lord Laurick in p.14, both mean one
person; and who is he? The Earl of Clewland in p.18 should be
Cleveland. Barclif, p.27, is previously Racliff.
The narrative is continued to near the time of the good old cavalier's
death, which occurred in 1678, at the age of seventy. A very beautiful
letter is appended, written to his wife when under arrest at Carlisle in
1655, under imminent danger of his life.
{title- Gents Mag 1841 part 1 p.338}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1841 part 1 p.338}
{header- Royal Coat of Arms in Churches}
{image = G841A338.jpg}
CLERICUS would be glad to be informed, whether there is not some old law,
and where it is to be found, requiring the SOVEREIGN'S ARMS to be set up in
every parish church in the kingdom? Such appears to have been the fact
originally.
{header- Thornburghs of Hamsfeld}
T. asks, Was John Thornburgh, Bishop of Worcester, who died 1641, descended
from the Thornburghs of Hamsfeld Hall, near Cartmel, co. Lancaster? He bore
the same arms, viz. Ermine, fretty and chief gu. with a mullet for a
difference.
{title- Gents Mag 1841 part 1 p.603}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1841 part 1 p.603}
{image = G841A603.jpg}
Islington, April 8.
MR. URBAN,
THE following observations on the custom of setting up the Royal arms in
churches, may serve as a reply to the question of your correspondent
CLERICUS (Minor Corr,. April 1841).
Dr. Burn, having mentioned the great Bible, and book of Common Prayer, the
font, communion table, pulpit, and chest for alms, with other things
required by the Canons and Rubric, says, "Besides what hath been observed
in particular, there are many other articles for which no provision is made
by any special law, and must therefore be refered to the general power of
the churchwardens, with the consent of the major part of the parishioners
as aforesaid, and under the direction of the ordinary; such as the erecting
of galleries, adding new bells ... organs, clocks, chimes, King's
arms, ... and such like." Eccl. Law, 1824, I. 374.
Amongst the records at Lambeth (Chartae Misc. tom. ii. No.13.) is a curious
document, of which I send a transcript. It seems to confirm the opinion,
that the practice under consideration is not required by law, but only
observed from custom. It is a grant from Abp. Abbot, to one John Sergent,
to paint the King's arms, &c. together with a prayer for the
King, in all the churches within the province of Canterbury.
The custom does not seem to be mentioned by Fuller, Collier, Sparrow,
Strype, Burnet, or Cardwell, nor have I ever seen any allusion to it in
articles of inquiry or visitations.
Yours, Amp;c.
HENRY GOUGH.
To all Christian people to whome this preasant wrightinge shall come to be
read, harde, or understood, George by God's providence Archbishop of Cant.
Primate and Metrapolitan of all England (*within the province of
Cant.) sendeth greetinge in or Lorde God Everlastinge.
Forasmuche as we, understandinge that greate deformytie appeareth in divers
Churches and Chappells wthin this his Maties Realme
of England (and or province of Cant.) they beinge verie
negligently kepte, And not in such decent manner as they oughte to be, And
for that in or late Soveraignes Raigne of famous memorie we have
observed that her Maties Armes weare aptlie placed in all or
moste part of the Churches and Chappells wthin this saide
Realme, (and or province) And for that or Soveraigne
Lord and Kinge James hath in like manner moste zealouslye and constantlie
declared his princley care, providence, and protection of God's Church, And
the true and Christian Religion established amongest us. Knowe ye that we
have lycenced, and by these preasants doe lycence and aucthorise,
or wellbeloved in Christe John Sergent of Hytchen in the Countie
of Hertford Paynter stayner, to Survey and paynte in all the Churches and
Chappells wothin this Realme of England (wthin
or province) the Kinges Maties Armes in due forme
wth helme crest mantell and supporters as they oughte to be,
together wth the Noble younge princes, And to wright in fayre
text letters the tenn Commaundements the beliefe and the Lords prayer
wth some other fruitefull and profitable sentences of holye
scrypture, And prayer for his most excellent matie as to hym is
Directed, wth the advise of the mynister of suche Churces and
Chappells where he shalbe so employed, as may serve for the better ornament
of the same, And for the edifyeing and instrucc'on of all Christian people
useinge and resortinge unto them, whose skyll experience and understandinge
in
* These words, and the others within parentheses, are interlined in
paler ink.
{title- Gents Mag 1841 part 1 p.604}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1841 part 1 p.604}
{image = G841A604.jpg}
this busynes we knowe to be most sufficient and very good, Chargeinge and
commaundinge all Churchwardens and sidemen presently upon the sight heareof
to ayde further and assiste the saide John Sergent or his sufficient
deputie in the performemabce of his premisses where neede shall require,
and where such ornaments are wantinge, as they tender theire duetie to
Allmightie God, and the King's most excellent Matie, accordinge
as we expect, or upon yor contempt ye shall heare from us in
Another kinde. And this or Lycence to contynue so longe as he
shall lawdiblye and honestlye behave hymselfe in this service, takeinge for
his worke and paynes no more then he shall well deserve, And shall
reasonablie agree for wth the Churchwardens of every such Church
and Chappell, And untill we shall understand all the said Churches and
Chappells, togeather wth theire Chauncells, so to be Decently
Adorned as aforesaide. In withnesse whereof, we have heare-unto set
or hand and Seale of Office this [blank] of [blank] 1614. And in
the Twelveth yeare of the Raigne of or Soveraigne Lorde and
Kinge James, by the grace of God of England, Fraunce, and Irelond, And of
Scotland the Eight and fortieth, Defendor of the Faythe, &c.
(ENDORSED.) The letter to be sente by Norwich Cart to be left at the syne
of the Bell in Thetforde, to be sent to Mr. Wm. Barret, of Mones ... in
Norff.
The seal and signature are wanting. The latter was probably upon the slip
of vellum to which the seal was affixed.
... ...
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{header- History and Antiquities of Leath Ward}
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{text- Book review.}
The History and Antiquities of Leath Ward, in the County of Cumberland;
with Biographical Notices and Memoirs. By Samuel Jefferson.
Carlisle, 8vo. pp.516.
THE county of Cumberland is divided, not into Hundreds but into Wards, an
arrangement which, according to this author, is owing, in common with the
subdivision of other counties into hundreds, "to the wise policy of Alfred
the Great." But had Alfred any jurisdiction over Cumberland? We rather
imagine not. And if so, in what ancient record are the Wards first
mentioned? This should be one of the first questions to be investigated by
a Cumberland historian. Dr. Burn gives a more satisfactory account of this
peculiar division of Cumberland and Westmorland. He says the Wards were
"the districts of the like number of High Constables, who presided over the
wards to be sustained at certain fords and other places, for
repelling the plundering parties out of Scotland." (Burn's Westmorland,
pp.12, 13.)
A very recent alteration has taken place in the division of Cumberland. The
five Wards of which it consisted have been formed into six. Leath Ward,
however, remains unaltered (p.496.) It comprises the south-eastern portion
of the county; is about thirty-five miles in length east and west, and in
breadth north and south very irregular, in no part exceeding fourteen
miles. It contains twenty-one parishes, of which that of the town of
Penrith is first noticed in the present volume. The history of Cumberland
has been described by a very competent judge, (Mr. Hodgson, the historian
of Northumberland,) as "a wide and rich, but uncultivated field." It has
only been surveyed, not cultivated, by Messrs. Nicolson and Burn, by
Mr. Hutchinson, and the Messrs. Lysons. But we should not forget another
survey made by the historian of Northumberland himself, and contributed to
"The Beauties of England and Wales," - an early evidence of his love of
topography, and his patriotic affection towards his native county. Mr.
Jefferson discloses the circumstance, that
"The History of Cumberland which bears Mr. Hutchinson's name is
usually attributed to him; but that gentleman appears merely to have
written a few parts, furnished notes for some parishes, and left the
management and editorship to others. His Histories of Northumberland and
Durham have established his fame as a writer, he lent his assistance and
countenance to that of Cumberland, which now bears his name."
And now we are called upon to give our opinion of Mr. Jefferson's own
performance: We could not conscientiously give it the highest praise: for
to bring it into a comparison with the erudition and taste of Mr. Hodgson
would be extravagant. We think its compilation has been rather hurried; but
life is short, and topographers are not immortal. On the tomb of too
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many a county historian the motto may be inscribed
Magnis ille excidit ausis
The world, in one sense, is more indebted to publishers than to collectors,
that is, to the publishers of their own generation who diffuse the
collections of preceding times, rather than to the collectors of their own
generation, who bury their stores for posterity. The former process Mr.
Jefferson is very laudably engaged in accomplishing. He has the use of a
MS. history of the diocese, compiled towards the close of the seventeenth
century, by the Rev. Hugh Todd, D.D.; of the MS. collections of Bishop
Nicolson, and others in the library of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. He
also pays greater attention to the Church architecture than has previously
been done, and publishes copies of the sepulchral memorials.
Among these, in the church of Skelton, we find the following:
"To the memory of HENRY RICHMOND BROUGHAM, Esq. who died 23rd April 1749,
and lies near this place, where his father Peter Brougham, Esq. and his
mother Elizabeth, his brother John, and sister Mary, are likewise interred.
Erected by John Gale, Esq."
The Peter here mentioned was the great-uncle of Lord Brougham. He married
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Christopher Richmond, esq. which
Christopher's mother was Mabell, elder daughter and coheiress of John Vaux
of Catterlen. The children of the marriage of Brougham and Richmond all
died without issue, as above noticed; and the remarkable part of the matter
is, that Lord Brougham and Vaux is not descended from the
heir of the latter family. We think, however, that Mr. Jefferson, on
concluding his pedigree of Vaux of Catterlen in p.149, should have
mentioned that Lord Brougham's title was derived from that family, in the
way that we have mentioned.
Another object of interest in the volume is the castle of Greystoke, which
our author states is at present undergoing a very extensive repair, from
designs of A. Salvin, esq. F.S.A. architect.
The volume is closed with biographies of several eminent natives or
residents of the district, among which is one of Father Huddleston,
contributed by Dr. Lingard.
On the whole, though it is obvious that twenty-one parishes cannot be fully
discussed in 500 not very large octavo pages, we have no hesitation in
saying that Mr. Jefferson's book is, and ought to be, very acceptable to
the county, and that it is published at a price which will meet the
convenience of all purchasers. The embellishments are of an inferior kind;
and, without increasing his expences materially, the author might certainly
obtain more correct drawings and more interesting subjects. In this respect
we shall hope to see an improvement in Mr. Jefferson's next volume, which
will contain the history of Allerdale Ward above Derwent.
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{header- Wordworth Poems of Fancy and Imagination}
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WORDSWORTH. POEMS OF THE FANCY. POEMS OF THE IMAGINATION.
FEW readers of English poetry can be ignorant of the distinction which the
poet, whose name we have placed at the head of this article, endeavours to
establish between the Fancy and the Imagination - as faculties or powers of
the human mind: and some have perhaps exercised their critical perspicacity
in attempting to ascertain with what consistent accuracy the poet, in the
composition of the poems, arranged under the heads respectively of these
two supposed faculties, may have observed his own distinction.
For our own parts, we must candidly confess, however the confession may
derogate from our pretensions to a nice perception and lively sensibility,
that if we had not chanced to entertain some long-cherished preconceptions
of our own upon the classification of poetical imagery, we should have been
so satisfied with the beauties so profusely scattered through these poems,
and our minds so absorbed in the contemplation of them, that we should have
cared little to investigate, whether they were intended by their author to
be considered as the progeny of the one faculty or the other.
In the course of our brief dissertation, we shall have occasion to present
(to the no small gratification, we doubt not, of many readers of the
Gentleman's Magazine,) some few choice specimens of the passages with which
we have been more particularly delighted.
That elegant and ingenious writer, Mr. Dugald Stewart,* appears to
have been the first who, on modern days, proposed to place the Fancy
and the Imagination over separate provinces, and to assign to each a
peculiar jurisdiction. The professor, after a lapse of about forty years,
was followed by Mr. Taylor,† of Norwich; who, without animadverting
upon the refined speculation of Mr. Stewart, expounds to us a
discrimination of his own. It is very remarkable - that this latter
experiment is cited and commented upon by the POET, while the former,
though an earlier and more elaborate effort, is not even referred to, and
was, not improbably, either forgotten or unknown. If the POET had taken
into his consideration the opinions of the Professor, he would, it may be
believed, have found no occasion to start the objection, which he urges
in limine against those of Mr. Taylor, viz. that the author's mind
"was enthralled by etymology." Objections of this kind are too frequently
intended (though they cannot here be suspected of being so) to
supersede the trouble of a more careful and minute examination, and also to
mark the mind of the individual, against whom they may be advanced, with
the character of being too partial and limited in its views to deserve any
greater share of attention. For our own parts, however, we should not be
discouraged by any fear of a similar imputation from resorting to
etymology, and availing ourselves of its assistance, if it would serve our
purpose so to do, nor shall we, at
* Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, ch.v.
† English Synonyms discriminated.
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any other time, when we think we can derive from it any advantage to the
inquiries upon which we may be engaged.
Reverting to the supposition of Mr. Stewart's originality, it may be
observed, in confirmation of it, that Dr. Reid, who is to be considered,
though of a different university, to have been the praelector of Scotch
moral and metaphysical philosophy, expressly states, that what he
denominates the IMAGINATION, was formerly called the FANCY, or PHANTASY:
and suggest no change in the usage. Dr. Akenside introduces his eloquent
poem on the Pleasures of Imagination, with an address to "indulgent
Fancy," and in the progress of his work the names are interchanged,
as it suited the taste or covenience of the author. Addison had before him,
in his admirable essays under the same title, used the two names
indiscriminately.
It is not at all necessary for our instant purposes to enter into a
discourse on the doctrines maintained by sects of ancient Greek
philosophers with respect to Fancy, or Fantasy. The word
(Φαυτασια) was,
together with the philosophy of Greece, transferred to Rome by Cicero; but
he renders it into Latin, not by Imaginatio, so long recognised by
us as its synonym, but by Visum; and Quintillian by Visio.
Imaginatio does not appear to have acquired in its native soil that
"philosophical import" which has been bestowed upon its English descendant,
but it becomes common in "that golden volume, not unworthy of the leisure
of Tully or Plato," the Consolatio of Boethius.* It had probably
acquired a current conversational familiarity in the English language long
before the translation of this volume had been contemplated by the
venerable Father of English Poetry; but we may very plausibly pretend that
the pen of Chaucer enrolled it in our vocabulary in all the philosophic
dignity with which he found it invested in the original Latin. It must not
be omitted that Alfred, "the most glorious of English Kings," had before
translated the writings of the Roman senator and consul into Anglo-Saxon of
his own time.
It will be interesting, and may be instructive to our more curious readers,
if we give them an opportunity of learning in what philosophic acceptation
this same word, now so variously interpreted,† was thus introduced
to the acquaintance of the English scholar.
Boethius was an Eclectic, and endeavoured to combine the philosophy of
Plato with that of Aristotle. ‡ And, agreeably to the system which
it was his ambition to construct, he severally explains the four terms -
SENSUS, IMAGINATIO, Ratio, and Intellectus. (Lib. v. Pr.4.)
SENSUS enim figuram in subjecta materia constitutam; IMAGINATIO vero
solam sine materia judicat figuram: "For the WIT§ (SENSUS)
comprehendeth without the figure (of the body of man) that is
unstablished‖
* Gibbon.
† Johnson has (suo more) eight interpretations of the noun
Fancy, and four of Imagination: and (suo more) he says, Fancy, 1.
Imagination: and Imagination, 1. Fancy. Webster has nine of Fancy, and five
of Imagination. His first of the verb "to imagine," is, to form a notion or
idea in the mind; to fancy. We can imagine, he adds, the figure of a
horse's head united to a human body. In this sense, fancy is the
more proper word. And in the New English Dictionary, it is said that to the
FANCY, as distinguished from IMAGINATION, may be ascribed the province of
personifying, and of investing the personification with qualities of real
beings, supplied by memory or imagination.
‡ Brucker, v. iii.p.525.
§ And so the old expression, "Bless your Five Wits," i.e. Senses.
‖ The original is constitutam, which requires us to explain
unstablished, to mean enstablished; as untrimmed, in
K. John, means entrimmed. See untrimmed and unstablished, in New
English Dictionary.
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in the matter subject. But the IMAGINATION comprehendeth only the figure
without the matter. Reason," continues the old Bard, "surmounteth
Imagination, and comprehendeth, by universal looking, (universali
consideratione,) the common Speces;* but the eye of
Intelligence (INTELLECTUS) is higher, for it surmounteth the
environning (ambitum) of the universitie (universe), and
looketh over that by pure subtilty of thought."
And afterwards, in fuller description:-
"IMAGINATION, albeit so that it taketh of wit (ex sensibus visendi),
the beginning to be seen and formen the figures, algates, although that wit
ne were not present, yet it environneth and comprehendeth all things
sensible, not by reason sensible of deeming, but reason imaginative." (Non
sensibili, sed imaginaria ratione judicandi.)
In these passages, which exhibit some of the earliest efforts in the
English language to stammer out the accents of philosophy, the word
Imaginatio is used as the name of a power of the mind; it is
the Imagination, - literally from the original; but in a subsequent
passage, our countryman, - as if in apprehension of failing to express the
true meaning of the word with which he, perhaps, was intimately acquainted,
but which is wholly unwarranted by the Latin text. (Met. 4).
"Philosophers" (he writes) "that highten Stoiciens" (i.e. are called
Stoics) "wend that Images and sensibilities, that is to say,
sensible imaginations, or els, imaginations of sensible
things, were imprinted into souls fro bodies without forth." Now for this
repetition of "sensible imaginations, or els, imaginations of sensible
things," there are in Boethius no other words than sensus and
imagines.
It was not, indeed, till a far later period that that which includes the
Roman philosophy, that the Latin IMAGINATIO was advanced to an equal
fulness of importance with the Greek PHANTASIA. In the middle ages, we find
their co-efficiency completely established; and the questions very formally
discussed, whether this power differed at all from memory, or
could, in any respect, be distinguished from the common sense. All
this was, no doubt, well known to the learned of our own country; but the
old steel-capt philosopher of Malmesbury, though he employs the two nouns
to be the same signification, yet, following the steps of Aristotle. he
defines Phantasy, or Imagination, to be - "Conception remaining, and by
little and little decaying from and after the act of sense."†
The words are now traced from their native homes, and implanted as synonyms
in our own language; but, that they were not unanimously received as such,
the poem on the Immortality of the Soul, by Sir John Davies, a contemporary
of Hobbes, is sufficient proof. Davies, who was undoubtedly a very learned
man, had a system to maintain, and in accordance with it, after devoting a
section to each of the Senses, Seeing, Hearing, Taste, Smell, and
Touch, he allots one to the IMAGINATION, or the Common Sense,
and another to FANTASY. Of the former he writes:-
"These are the outward instruments of sense;
These are the guards which every thing musts pass,
Ere it approach the mind;'s intelligence,
Or touch the fantasy, wit's looking glass.
* The edition of Islip, 1598, reads Speache, and this is
followed by Chalmers. The original is Speciem.
† Ή δε
Φαυτασια
εστι
αισθησις
τις
ασθευης. Aristotle Opera.
Du Val, ii. 536.
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And yet these porters (i.e. the senses), which all things admit,
Themselves percieve not, nor discern the things;
One common power doth in the forehead sit,
Which all their proper forms together brings.
For all these nerves, which spirits of sense do bear,
And to those outward organs spreading so,
United are, as in a centre, there;
And there this pow'r those sundry forms doth know.
Those outward organs present things receive,
This inward sense doth absent things retain;
Yet straight transmits all fomrs she doth receive
Unto an highier region of the brain."
Such is described to be the province of that common power, that inward
sense, to which the Author assigns the name of IMAGINATION only, or
Common Sense. And that higher region of the brain, to which she
transmits "all forms she doth preceive," is then described to be the IBI,
"Where Fantasy, near handmaid to the mind,
Sits and beholds, and doth discern them all;
Compounds in one, things different in their kind,
Compares the black and white, the great and small.
Besides, those single forms she doth esteem,
And in her balance doth their values try,
Where some things good, and some things ill do seem,
And neutral some, in her fantastic eye.
This busy pow'r is working day and night;
For when the outward senses rest do take,
A thousand dreams, fantastical and light,
With fluttering wings do keep her still awake.
In a following stanza, of a section entitled Sensitive Memory, it is said
of this Fantasy,
"Yet always all may not afore her be,
Successively she this and that intends;
Therefore such forms as she doth come to see
To Memory's large volume she commends."
And of WIT, the looking-glass of Fantasy, our Author writes -
"The Wit, the pupil of the soul's clear eye,
And in Man's world the only shining star,
Looks in the mirror of the fantasy,
Where all the gath'rings of the senses are."
The Poet of Paradise has his distinctions likewise, which our readers must
compare for themselves with that of Davies, and those of the middle ages,
--- "But know, that in the soul
Are many lesser faculties, that serve
Reason as chief; among these, FANCY next
Her office holds; of all external things
Which the five watchful Senses represent,
She forms imaginations, aery shapes,
Which Reason, joining or disjoining, frames
All that we affirm, or what deny, and call
Our knowledge or opinion: then retires
Into her private cell. When Nature rests
Oft in her absence mimic Fancy wakes
To imitate her; but misjoining shapes
Wild work produces oft, but most in dreams,
Ill matching words and deeds long past or late."
Paradise Lost, b.5.
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FANCY here is the sovereign power; and imaginations are her
workmanship. So, also, he places Satan close to the ear of Eve:-
"Assaying by his devilish arts to reach
The organs of her Fancy, and with them force
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams."
Ib. b.4.
And where Adams relates, how "gentle sleep first found him." and he thought
himself about "to pass into his former state, and forthwith to dissolve,"
"When suddenly at my head a dream,
Whose inward apparition gently mov'd
My fancy to believe I yet had being,
And liv'd."
Ib. b.8.
So again, where Adam
"Dazzl'd and spent, sunk down, and sought repair
Of sleep ----
Mine eyes he clos'd, but open left the cell
Of Fancy, my internal sight.
Ib. b.4.
And in the same book, Fancy, or Mind, are joined as univocal
-
"But apt the Mind, or Fancy, is to rove
Unchect, and of her roving is no end."
Ib. b.4.
In the second book, our divine Poet uses imaginations as in the
passage we have first quoted from him; and in the sixth, (and there, we
think, only,) HUMAN IMAGINATION appears as a power of the mind: it is in
the description of Michael and Satan preparing for battle.
"They ended parle, and both addressed for fight,
Unspeakable; for who, though with the tongue
Of angels, can relate, or to what things
Liken on earth conspicuous, that may lift
Human imagination to such height
Of godlike power."
Ib. b.6.
But neither did the formal division of Davies, nor the practical example of
Milton, control the course of subsequent writers, whether philosophers or
poets; and from this time forth the words became, and continued to be,
employed indiscriminately, until Mr. Stewart projected the discussion, of
which we have above made mention.
To Mr. Stewart, therefore, it is now necessary that we should direct our
attention.
"It is obvious (he writes*) that a creative imagination, when a
person possesses it so habitually that it may be regarded as forming one of
the characteristics of his genious, implies a power of summoning up, at
pleasure, a particular class of ideas; and of ideas related to each other
in a particular manner; which power can be the result only, of certain
habits of association, which the individual has acquired. It is to this
power of the mind, which is evidently a particular turn of
thought(!), and not one of the common principles of our nature, that
our best writers refer, in general, when they make use of the word FANCY."
"Whatever they" (i.e. the particular relations by which the ideas are
connected) "may be, the power of summoning up at pleasure the ideas so
related, as it is the groundwork of poetical genius, is of sufficient
importance to the human constitution to
* Elements, ut supra.
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deserve an appropiate name, and, for this purpose, the word FANCY would
appear to be the best that our language affords."
"According to the explanation (he proceeds) which has now been given of the
word FANCY, the office of this power is to collect materials for the
imagination; and thus the latter power presupposes the former, while
the former does not necessarily suppose the latter.
"A man whose habits of association present to him, for illustrating or
embellishing a subject, a number of resembling or of analogous ideas, we
call a man of FANCY; but for an effort of imagination,
various other powers are necessary, particularly the powers of taste and of
judgment; without which, we can produce nothing that will be a source of
pleasure to others. It is the power of fancy which supplies the poet
with the metaphorical language, and with all the analogies which are the
foundation of his allusions; but it is the power of imagination that
creates the complex scenes he describes, and the fictitious characters he
delineates. To fancy, we apply the epithets of rich and luxuriant:
to imagination, those of beautiful or sublime."*
As regards this application of epithets, it may be very reasonably asked,
may they not be interchanged? Is not the imagination of Thomson rich and
luxuriant? Is not the fancy of Collins beautiful and sublime? And if these
queries be answered in the affirmative, what becomes of this [l]aboured
effort at distinction?
Mr. Stewart's meaning, however, requires illustration: and a poet of his
own country shall supply it.
"Yet such the destiny of all on earth:
So flourishes and fades majestic man;
Fair is the bud his vernal morn puts forth;
And fost'ring gales awhile the nursling fan:
O smile, ye heavens, serene:- ye mildews wan,
Ye blighting whirlwinds, spare his balmy prime,
Nor lessen of his life the little span!
Borne on the swift, though silent wings of Time,
Old Age comes on apace to ravage all the clime."
Minstrel, st. 2.
According to Mr. Stewart's interpretation of nature, it is the office of
fancy to collect materials for the imagination, to supply the analogies
that are the foundations of his allusions, and also to supply the language.
In the above poetic pourtraiture, then, we find man and his destiny,
vegetable nature and its destiny, to be the materials which fancy
has collected: the analogy between the two, as being both exposed to sudden
and resistless destruction, was supplied by fancy; and by
fancy also the language. What is wanting to the completion of the
picture? the scenes or materials (for what are the materials but the
scenes?) are created, and are delineated and described by fancy.
What then is left for imagination to perform? her aid may be
dispensed with as superfluous. And yet Mr. Stewart insists that it is she
who created the scenes.
Other objections present themselves against the views of Mr. Stewart; but
the above will probably be deemed sufficient: for, unless distinctions of
this kind are clear and determinate, they are worse than nugatory. We must
proceed therefore to the Author of the Synonyms; who writes thus:
"A man has IMAGINATION, in proportion as he can distinctly copy in idea the
impressions of sense; it is the faculty which images to the mind the
phenomena of sensation. A man has fancy in proportion as he can call
up, connect, or associate, at pleasure, these internal images,
(φανταςειν
is to cause to appear,) so as to complete ideal representations of absent
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objects. Imagination is the power of depicting; - fancy, of
evoking and combining. The imagination is formed by patient
observation: the fancy by a voluntary activity in shifting the
scenery of the mind. The more accurate the imagination, the more
safely may a painter or a poet undertake a delineation or description,
without the presence of the objects to be characterised. The more versatile
the fancy, the more original and striking will be the decorations
produced." Syn. 242.
Fancy, it is said, evokes - imagination depicts - consequently imagination
is inert; she has nothing to depict, until fancy has evoked the images
which are to be depicted. Imagination is a portrait painter, with her
pencil and palette in her hand, her canvas on her easel, awaiting the
arrival of her sitter. A result surely never contemplated by this very
ingenious writer; but one as assuredly inevitable from his mode of
expressing himself.
Before we proceed to state the sentiments of the POET upon the matters at
issue, we are induced to communicate our own; and, at the outset, we beg
our more learned readers to call to remembrance, that the two most eminent
critics of the Roman empire, Longinus and Quintillian, the one as
remarkable for the ardour of his genius as the other for his taste and
judgment, never thought of this distribution of the mind into separate
critic and poetic powers. They do not talk of the fancy or
the imagination, but of fancies and images. And to
these names, the one of phantasiai, and the other of
visiones, they give pretty closely the same explanation. "We," says
Quintillian, "give the name of visio to that which the Greeks call
φαντασια, by which
the images of absent things are so represented to the mind that we seem to
discern them with our eyes, and have them before us."* The Grecian,
"by all the Nine inspired," produces the appeal of Orestes to the mother
whom he had murdered; - And the pitiful and affectionate reply of his
sister deserves to be added.
"ORESTES. Oh! mother, I implore thee, goad not against me the blood-eyed
and snake-haired Virgins. They themselves are leaping close against me.
"ELECTRA. Stay, O wretched one! stay quiet in thy bed! For thou seest
nothing of those things which thou seemest to see."
"Here," exclaims the critic, "the Poet himself saw the Furies; and what he
fancied he compelled also the auditors also to see." Another example of
poetical imagery, given by Longinus, is from a lost drama of Euripedes, in
which Phoebus is described giving his last instructions to his ambitious
son.
Σειριου νωτα,
and with warning voice exclaims, 'Drive that way, now this, turn your
chariot. Here!'"
"May you not say," observes Longinus, "that the mind" (not the
fancy, not the imagination, but the whole mind) "of
the writer ascends the chariot with Phaeton, and that, sharing his danger,
he flies along with the horses."
Plutarch had before referred to the scene in Orestes, in illustration of
the distinction drawn by himself between phantasy and phantasm; and for the
same purposes he refers to the vision of Theoclymenus, when the Seer
perceives the suitors moved to unspontaneous laughter; and
altogether dementated by Pallas Minervae.
* Has imagines quisque bene conceperit, is erit in affectibus
potentissimus. Hinc quidam dicunt
έυφαντασιωτον,
qui sibi res, voces, actus, secundum verum optime finget. Lib. vi. c. 2.
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"Ah, miserable men! what curse is this
That takes you now? Night wraps herself around
Your faces, bodies, limbs; the palace shakes
With peals of groans - and, oh! what floods ye weep!
I see the walls and arches dappled thick
With gore! The vestibule is throng'd, the court
On all sides throng'd with apparitions grim
Of slaughtered men, sinking into the gloom
Of Erebus! The sun is blotted out
From heaven, and midnight whelms you premature."
Cowper, Od. b.20.
The visions selected by the two Grecian critics are as different as raving
madness, prophetic enthusiasms, and poetic fury could create; and yet they
do not dream of any classification of them under different powers of mind.
The phantasia of the inspired Ithacan forces upon our memory the Bard of
Gray, to whom we must listen for a moment:
"Dear lost companions of my tuneful art,
Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes,
Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, -
Ye died amid your dying country's cries."
After this bold apostrophe, the Bard, entranced by the overpowering energy
of thought, sees these his lost companions in the character of avengers of
their native land, sitting upon the distant cliffs, and weaving with bloody
hand the tissue of Edward's line.
The prophetic images continue to pour themselves upon him in so rapid and
multitudinous a presentment, that, as if unable longer to gaze upon the
spectacle, the Bard exclaims, in a burst of almost frenzied deprecation,
"Visions of glory! spare my aching sight;
Ye unborn ages, rush not on my soul!"
We cannot forbear to add a short quotation from an old divine, in whose
writings our POET takes just delight.
"A man is sometimes so impressed with the false fires and glarings of
temptation that he cannot see the secret turpitude and deformity; but when
the cloud and veil is off, then comes the tormentor from within. Then the
calamity swells, and conscience increases the trouble, when God sends war,
or sickness, or death. It was Saul's case, when he lost that fatal battle
in which the ark was taken. He thought he saw the priests of the Lord
accusing him before God. And this hath been an old opinion of the world,
that in the days of their calamity, wicked persons are accused by those
whom they have injured. Then every bush is a wild beast, and every
shadow is a ghost, and every glow-worm is a dead man's candle, and every
lantern is a spirit."*
The practice of these so highly and so justly esteemed instructors in the
principles of criticism has the merit, in our opinion, of being established
on good sense and sound philosophy. The invention of new powers or
faculties, and new operations of the mind, to support systems, or to answer
an emergency, has been the ignis fatuus by which founders of sects
or teachers of neoteric refinements have suffered themselves to be misled,
from the earliest days of metaphysical subtilty to the present hour.
Anxious, however, as we are to escape from these erroneous paths, and
pursue the course of our ancient masters, we shall far conform ourselves
* Bp. Taylor's Rule of Conscience, B. i. c. 1.
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to the phraseology of the different writers, whose creeds we are
canvassing, as to ascribe a fancy to the fancy, and an
imagination to the imagination; thus reducing the discussion to some
palpable form, inasmuch as we have now to determine, what is a
fancy, and what is an imagination; or what is that to which
fancy may distinctively be applied, and what that to which
imagination: for the whole dispute is about the imposition of a
name.
If we resort to Bacon, and it is rarely that we can do so in vain, he will
supply us with a clue. Speaking of imagination, by which, as he is
then considering it, he understands, "the representation of a particular
thought," he says, that it is, inter alia, "of things present, or as
if they were present; for," he adds, "I comprehend in this,
imagination feigned, and at pleasure; as if one should
imagine such a man to be in the vestments of the Pope, or to have
wings."
Now, instead of saying, we imagine a man to have wings, or the
imagination presents to us a man having wings, the appropriate
distinctive expression seems to be, we fancy a man to have wings, or
the fancy presents to us a man having wings. The imagination
presents the man and the wings separately: the fancy presents them
combined in the same impersonation. And this we shall contend to be the
peculair province of fancy; and we shall do so from a conviction,
that we are thus led to a distinction, which may be always clearly
preserved in poetical imagery.
It is an observation of a great historian of Nature (Buffon), that whatever
it was possible for his goddess to produce had been produced.
Suppose then an enthusiastic admirer of her works, giving free play to his
speculations, should present to his mind - in one conformation - the
constituent parts, some of a bird and some of a beast; that he should
engraft the beak of a duck on the head of a quadruped; that he should give
to it webbed feet, and clothe its body with a thick, soft, beaver-like fur;
and, in many minuter particulars, should unite in one animal the features
of more, of bird and beast: this presentation to the mind, a creature and
creation of its own, seems properly to deserve the denomination of a
fancy; and the creative power, since it is to be ascribed to a
monarchic power, the fancy.
But suppose such an animal should actually be detected in existence, (and
such we are told is the fact),* should be seen and described; then
the representation of it, whether to him who had seen, or to him who had
only read the description, would be an imagination; and the
representing faculty, the imagination.
On the first supposition, the existence of an animal with such a
conformation of parts is the work of fancy; but yet
imagination must supply every one of those parts. Every fancied
whole must be constructed of imagined parts. Imagination, exclusive of her
own domain, is thus a subsidiary potentate in that of fancy.
So in the famous conceit of Horace, that a painter should unite in one
picture the neck of a horse to the head of a man; and that he should cover
the limbs, collected from animals of divers kinds, with variegated
feathers. The existence of a creature, conformed of parts so alien to each
other, would be the painter's fancy; and the creation of his
fancy. But when the finished picture should be exposed to beholders,
then the subsequent representation of the painted monster to the mind of a
beholder would be an imagination, and the representing faculty
the imagination.
To the fancy we ascribe the visions of the Greek Madman, the Greek
* Shaw's General Zoology, Art. Platypus.
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Prophet, the English Bard, and the English Divine: these are the
phantasmata of Plutarch. To the imagination, the vision of the
father following the son, and shouting to warn and guide him in his
perilous course: this is the phantasia of Plutarch.
But we have to deal with the POET, and we therefore again resort to poetry
for aid in illustrating and confirming our opinions.
Mr. Taylor remarks, and the remark may be true, that Macpherson had more
fancy than imagination. It is, indeed, quite possible, that a writer may
create by impersonation; and that he may not be able to adorn his own
creation with characteristic attributes.
Collins was a poet of a different order; and his far-famed Ode on the
Passions, once so familiar to the ear of youth, will enable us to display
in comparison the peculiar characteristics of fancy and imagination, acting
in concert to produce one scenic effect.
The Passions, as so many exisitencies, thronging to the cell of Music,
snatching the instruments of sound from the myrtles upon which they hung;
and their mad resolution, each to prove his own expressive power; the
several impersonations of Fear and Anger, Despair and Hope, Revenge and
Jealousy, of Pity, of Melancholy and of Cheerfulness, are the pure
creations of Fancy; but she must resort to the aid of
Imagination for a supply of imagery, from which she may borrow the
appropriate attributes, actions, passions, with which she may endow these
her creatures. It is from these that she must select the picture of Fear,
recoiling at the sounds himself had made; of the rude clash and hurried
hand of Anger, and of the enchanted smile and waving golden hair of Hope;
of the low sullen sounds of Despair; of the numbers of Jealousy, fixed on
nought; of the notes, in which, by distance made more sweet, Melancholy
poured through the mellow horn her pensive soul; and, lastly, of the
inspiring air, ringing through dale and thicket, blown by Cheerfulness,
with bow across her shoulder, and buskins gemmed with morning dew.
We now approach the preface of our POET, in which he explains his tenets,
and to the poems which he professes to have composed in consistency with
them. Here we are to encounter a combination of precept and practice, with
the experto credite of a consummate master in his art. We shall not,
we suspect, gain much ground, either in the estimation of the author, or
that of our reader, when we commence with an acknowledgment that we suspect
ourselves unable to understand the tenets sufficiently to reduce them to
precepts by which the practice might be tried; or to discriminate whether
each poem can, in conformity with them, pretend to be composed under the
influence of one poetic power in preference to the other. We are perfectly
sure that the manly and liberal mind of the Poet will not fancy that
under this acknowledgment it is intended to couch the slightest disrespect;
and we can as confidently assure him that it is, on the other hand, from
respect, a just respect, to opinions entertained by him, that we have
thought it worth while to continue so prolonged a discussion, as, we are
apprehensive, this must now begin to appear. Our readers, however, will
begin to revive their flagging attention (if any have permitted it to flag)
when we apprize them that it is to Wordsworth, and to him almost alone, to
whom they will now be called to lend their ears.
The POET remarks, upon the explanation of Mr. Taylor which we have above
quoted, "It is not easy to find how imagination, thus explained, differs
from distinct remembrance of images, or fancy, from quick and vivid
recollection of them; each is nothing more than a mode of memory."
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"if the above words bear the above meaning, and no other, what term is left
to designate that faculty of which the poet is all compact; he whose eye
glances from earth to heaven, whose spiritual attributes body forth what
his pen is prompt in turning into shape; or what is left to characterize
fancy as insinuating herself into the heart of objects with creative
activity?
"Imagination," he continues, "in the sense of the word, as giving a title
to a class of the following poems, has no reference to images that
are merely a faithful copy, existing in the mind, of absent external
objects, but is a word of higher import, denoting operations of the
mind upon those objects, and process of creation or of composition,
governed by certain fixed laws."
It is to be feared, that, according to this expurgatory ban, even the two
"wonderful stanzas," as they are reporrted to have been called by Gray,
must be placed, in something like disgrace, to the score of memory alone:
indeed, it seems scarcely possible to fix upon any saving clause in our
Poet's edict by which we may rescue from the same debasement the lines in
which Eve describes the sweetness of rising morn and grateful evening mild.
But if memory be pronounced commensurate to the office of performing so
much that is excellent, it may, perhaps, be possible to associate her with
sentiments and feelings - not powers - not operations of the mind - that
will enable her to render the supposition of any superior power entirely
superfluous.
Let the reader judge - here are the lines:
"Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the Sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glist'ring with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful Evening mild: then silent Night,
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heav'n, her starry train:
But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends
With charm of earliest birds, nor rising Sun
On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glist'ring with dew, nor fragrance after showers,
Nor grateful Evening mild, nor silent Night,
With her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,
Or glittering star-light, without thee is sweet."
P. L. b.6.
"But who the melodies of morn can tell?
The wild brook babbling down the mountain side;
The lowing herd, the sheepfold's simple bell;
The pipe of early shepherd dim descried
In the lone valley; echoing far and wide
The clamorous horn along the cliffs above;
The hollow murmur of the ocean tide;
The hum of bees, the linnet's lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove."
"The cottage curs at early pilgrim bark;
Crown'd with her pail, the tripping milkmaid sings;
The whistling ploughman stalks afield; and, hark!
Down the rough slope the pond'rous waggon rings;
Through rustling corn the hare astonish'd springs;
Slow tolls the village clock the drowsy hour;
Deep mourns the turtle in sequestr'd bower,
And shrill lark carols clear from her aerial tour."
The Minstrel b.1.
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The POET proceeds to illustrate his meaning by some very common instances
of metaphorical usages of words; and it is our intention to accompany him
with a running commentary, to explain and enforce our own notions, as they
have been above set forth; and at the same time shew how easily all his
instances will accommodate themselves to those notions.
"A parrot," says he, hangs from the wire of his cage; a monkey from
the bough of a tree. Each creature does so literally and actually." In
Virgil, the shepherd sees his goats hang from the rock. In
Shakespeare "hangs one who gathers samphire." According to our
interpretation, both the latter are in such positions as to seem to require
that, or a similar support, from above, which the two former possess, to
prevent their fall.
Again, in Milton:
"Far off at sea a fleet descried
Hangs in the clouds;"
that is, from its distance, we are unable to discern the sustaining waters,
upon which, says the POET, "we know and feel it pursues its track;" and it
seems therefore to require, and from the apparent proximity and
substantiality of the clouds, it seems to posses, a support from above: and
it is the imagination, according to our POET, which suggests and supplies
it. So far as to the impressions of sight. Instances of correspondent
nature succeed - of impressions from sound. And then the poet remarks,
"Thus far of images independent of each other, and immediately endowed by
man with properties that do not inhere in them, upon an incitement
from properties and qualities the existence of which is inherent and
obvious."
The manifest effect of this "endwoment by man with properties not
inherent," is to change the identity of the object in view of the mind; to
change its personality.
From the imagination "acting upon an individual image," we are led "to a
consideration of the same faculty employed upon images in a conjunction by
which they modify each other." And an example is selected, from our
author's own poem, entitled, "Resolution and Independence:"
"As a huge stone is sometimes seen to lie
Couch'd in the bald top of an eminence;
So that it seems a thing endued with sense,
Like a sea beast crawled forth, which on a shelf
Of rock or sand reposeth, there to sun himself.
Such seem'd this man: not all alive or dead,
Nor all asleep, in this extreme old age."
The stone is here, by comparison, impersonated into the likeness of
a sea beast; and that sea beast is supposed in a place or state, having
some affinity to that of the stone, to render the likeness more complete;
and the old man is supposed in a similar place and state:
"Motionless as a cloud the old man stood,
That heareth not the loud winds when they call,
And moveth altogether when it move at all."
Here the cloud is so far imnpersonated as to be endowed with "the property
not inherent," a sense of hearing.
"Thus far," says the POET , "of an endowing or modifying power - but the
imagination also shapes or creates:-" and in no process "does it more
delight than that of consolidating numbers into unity, and dissolv-
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[dissolv]ing and separating unity into number." And this is illustrated by
the fleet descried far off - sailing compact as one person; then the
merchants representing this unity separated into number: and then again,
the comparison of the flying fiend to the ships re-combined in a body.
These are indeed all images brought into juxta position by Imagination.
The POET forbears to consider "the Imagination as it deals with thoughts
and sentiments, as it regulates the composition of characters, and
determines the course of action:" and in our own observations we have used
the same forbearance. He distinguishes enthusiastic and meditative
Imagination, or poetical, from human and dramatic; a subdivision of powers
capable of subdivisions, to which it would be difficult to prescribe an
end. The Scriptures, Milton, and also Spenser, are the store-houses of the
former, and Shakespeare of the latter.
Spenser, - as at one time incited to the allegorical spirit, "to create
persons out of abstractions," i.e. to impersonate; and still impersonating,
"to give - as in the character of Una - the universality and permanence of
abstractions, by means of attributes and emblems that belong to the highest
moral truths and purest sensations."
The exclamation of Lear, quoted as an illustration of human or dramatic
imagination, is an impersonation of the boldest and yet simplest character:
"I tax not you, ye Elements, with unkindness;
I never gave you kingdoms, called you daughters."
To Mr. Taylor's definition of Fancy, by which it characterised as the power
of evoking and combining, the POET objects, and very justly objects, that
it is too general. "To aggregate and to associate, to evoke and to combine,
belong as well to the Imagiination as to the Fancy." It is the same
objection that may be urged against the language in which the two are
discriminated by the POET: it is too general, the qualities ascribed are
too super-essential, if we may borrow a scholastic term, for use, or even
common comprehension. Our POET is indeed himself aware that there are times
and occasions when "Fancy ambitiously aims at a rivalship with Imagination,
and Imagination stoops to work with the materials of Fancy."
It is now time to have done with the Preface, and to proceed to the Poems.
And the first thing that strikes us is their titles - brute animals, of
earth, air or sea; inanimate objects, from the towering oak to the lowly
daisy, from the mountain to the grain of sand, - have been the common
resource of the fabulist, from antient AEsop to our own Gay: and our author
himself, when about to find employment for his fancy, immediately resorts
to this exhaustless Treasury. All these small productions it is our
intention to pass; and after one short extract from the Song at the Feast
of Brougham Castle; in which - though allotted to Imagination - Fancy seems
to have intruded herself; we shall conclude with some quotations from the
longest poem, under the same head of Imagination, in which also Fancy is
repeatedly guilty of taking the pen out of the hand of Imagination and
guiding it herself.
From Song at the Feast of Brougham Castle:-
"He knew the rocks which Angels haunt,
Upon the mountains visitant;
He hath kenn'd them taking wing;
And into caves where Faeries sing
He hath entered; and been told
By voices how men lived of old."
In the exquisite Poem, On the Power of Sound, Fancy commences her
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career in the very first stanza, and appears at intervals boldly sustaining
it to the utmost close. The organ of vision is addressed in person;
and then a spirit aerial is supposed to exist, who
"Informs the cell of Hearing, dark and blind;
Intricate labyrinth, more dread for thought
To enter than oracular cave:
Strict passage, through which sighs are brought,
And whispers for the heart, their slave;
And shrieks, that revel in abuse
Of shivering flesh; and warbled air,
Whose piercing sweetness can unloose,
The chains of frenzy, or entice a smile
Into the ambush of despair."
In the second stanza, the invisible Spirit is again addressed; and at the
close of it we have a new personification -
"Toll from thy loftiest perch, lone bell-bird, toll!
At the still hour to Mercy dear,
Mercy from her twilight throne
List'ning to nuns' faint throb of holy fear,
To sailor's prayer breathed from a dark'ning sea;
Or widow's cottage lullaby."
In the third stanza, again personification!
"Ye Voices, and ye Shadows,
And images of Voice - to hound and horn,
From rocky steep and rock bestudded meadows
Flung back, and in the sky's blue caves reborn!
On with your pastime! 'till the church tower bells
A greeting give of measured glee;
And milder Echoes from their cells
Repeat the bridal symphony."
In the fourth, the blessings of song are described by very lively images of
its effects.
The lute of Amphion, the harp of Arion, and the pipe of Pan, with their
respective fancies or fabled effects, are also well described, and the Poet
tunes his strains, at the call of Imagination, to paint the saddest images
of reality:-
"Ye, who are longing to be rid
Of fable, though to truth subservient, hear
The little sprinkling of cold earth that fell
Echoed from the coffin lid!
The convinct's summons in the steeple's knell.
'The vain distress-gun,' from a leeward shore,
Repeated - heard - and heard no more."
Then we are again thrown into the hands of Fancy, who introduces us to the
"wandering utterances" of earth and sky; and who teaches that -
"The towering headlands, crowned with mist,
Their feet among the billows, know
That Ocean is a mighty harmonist;
Thy pinions, universal Air,
Ever waving to and fro,
Are delegates of harmony, and bear
Strains that support the seasons in their round;
Stern Winter loves a dirge-like sound."
In the two superb stanzas with which this too short poem concludes, Fancy
and Imagination play alternately before us, and leave us at a loss which we
should admire most, the manifest beauty and approaching sublimity of the
one, or the brilliancy and richness of the other.
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We are unwilling to throw any check upon the pleasing emotions which the
perusal of these lines is calculated to raise in the mind of the reader, by
any grave, prosaic reflections of our own: but we must be permitted to say,
that we are the more anxious to impress our own doctrine, because we are
conviniced that the habit, so universal in all climes and ages of the
world, of speaking metaphorically, of endowing objects with properties not
inherent, of personifying, has had a too important influence upon all
systems of logic and metaphysic; in which langauge has been unduly treated
rather as the mistress than the interpreter of philosophy.
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Hartburn, Morpeth.
MR. URBAN,
YOU will, I am sure, be glad to hear, that a Roman Altar has been lately
found at OLENACUM, or Old Carlisle, concerning which I am enabled to
send you an interesting Letter, and correct drawings, forwarded to me by
the Rev. William Matthews, of Wigton Hall, proprietor of this celebrated
station, and a Magistrate of the county of Cumberland. The only observation
I would make is, that, on another consideration, he may find the puzzling
lines on the first and second line were intended for FVLG.; for altars to
"Juppiter Optimus Maximus Fulgerator" are far from uncommon, and even under
the names of "Fulminator, Fulgurator, Tonans." On his emendations on the
altars printed by Camden, and in Horsley, and noticed under Olenacum,
numbers 6 and 12, in my last volume on Northumberland, I am very much
indebted for his critical care and observations; and respecting his inquiry
about a second edition on the Roman Antiquities I have published in that
volume, I am happy to mention to himself and other Antiquarian scholars,
that a very few copies of the whole of it may be obtained under the title
of "THE ROMAN WALL and SOUTH TINDALE."
Yours, &c.
JOHN HODGSON.
Wigton Hall, Aug. 5.
DEAR SIR,
I SEND you a drawing of an Altar which was found a few weeks ago in the bed
of a small stream, which runs into the Wiza, a little to the south of the
Roman Station at Old Carlisle. The letters upon it are very perfect, with
the exception of those in the last line, which are injured to the extent
shown in the drawing. I am unable to explain the abbreviation VLK; but the
numeral VII expresses, I think, the number of times that Gordian was
saluted Augustus, or Imperator, which terms, after the reign of Octavius,
be-
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[be]came synonymous. I read the inscription thus:-
I.O.M. ET VLK.
Pro salute Domini Nostri Marci Antonini Gordiani
Pii Felicis, Augusti septimum, magnam Aram
Cohors prima Augusta dedit.
If I read the last line correctly, this is the only Inscription recorded to
have been found at Old Carlisle which make mention of a Cohort, and
which in doing so distinctly informs us of what before was merely a matter
of conjecture, - that the Ala Augusta was a military body composed of horse
and foot. And this, it appears to me, is the only new historical
information that can be gathered from it.
After an attentive examination of the original, I am of opinion, that No.6,
in your list of Inscriptions found at Old Carlisle, cannot be read
otherwise than thus:-
I.O.M
Pro salute domini nostri Marci Antonini pii felicis Agusti - (Rufus
Colegius cui Praefectus est) - Ala Agusta - Quartum Imperatore
Antonino et Balbino secundum Consulibus.
The peculiarities of this Inscription are - Cui Praefectus est,
instead of Cu Praest, and Quartum before the name of the
Consul, instead of after it; but it agrees fully with all similar
Inscriptions found at Old Carlisle, in being dedicated by the Ala,
and not its Praefect.
Allow me to offer for your consideration a conjectural reading, somewhat
different to yours, of No.12 in your Old Carlisle list:-
Deae AEternae Romae
Templum
L. Vaternus Marcellus
Restituit.
Romae AEternae occurs in two Inscriptions found at Ellenborough; and
this reading agrees tolerably with the remaining letters, and the probable
dimensions of the stone when perfect.
If correct drawings of this, and the preceding Inscription, would be of any
use to you, I will endeavour to have them made, and send them to you.
If my recollection does not deceive me, a wish was expressed in the
Gentleman's Magazine, that you would publish that portion of your History
of Northumberland which relates to Roman Antiquities in a separate form.
Unfeignedly concurring in this wish,
I remain, Dear Sir, yours truly,
RICHARD MATTHEWS.
Rev. John Hodgson,
Hartburn, Northumberland.
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Heavitree, Dec. 5.
MR. URBAN,
I BEG to correct the interpretation of the first and second lines of the
Inscription noted in your Magazine for this month. The Rev. R. Matthews
will not err in altering it to I . O . M . (JOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO) ET .
VOLKANO (VLK contraction): To the most benficient and almighty Jupiter and
Vulcan, who was the son of Jove.
The "Deo Volkano" occurs on some of the coins of P. Lic. Valerianus,
brother to Gallienus; and Mr. Akerman gives a silver one of his, DEO .
VOLKOAN. rev. Statue of Vulcan within a temple. (Descr. Cat. vol.ii p.14.)
Valerian erected a temple to Vulcan, as his brother did to Mars; from his
skill in fabricating armour, he was as needful to war as any other deity -
perhaps more so: had the Emperor Julian not forgotten to put on his
cuirass, he would not have fallen by the Persian lance, by the same mishap
which terminated the career of the immortal Sir P. Sidney, near Zutphen,
namely, omitting to buckle on his cuishes, or thigh-armour.
It is not suprising, therefore, that the Augustan band or cohort should
dedicate their votive altar to the great MULCIBER as well as to Jove - viz.
"Pro Salute," for the health and safety of Valerian - to what little
purpose his unfortunate exit will bear testimony; but armour of proof would
be the best guarantee, of course, for how could he enjoy health, or be in
safety if incurring the peril of wounds, without the aid of Vulcan, who
presided over the fabrication of armour?
An inscription occurs
I . O . M . ET . GENIO . P . R . ET . VENALIC .
which proves it was usual to couple the omnipotent Jove with other members
of the heirarchy of the times.
The Augustan cohort of the days of Gordian the Third must have been of the
same rank and routine of service as the Cohors Praetoria, which was
especially attached to the body-guard of the Praetor of the province where
it was stationed.
The latter was also composed of horse and foot, and of what, in modern
warfare, were denominated reformadoes or chosen men, similar to the
"Cuneus Armaturarum," at Brementeracum (Brampton, Cumberland), who were,
properly speaking, "Milites in Comitatu Imperatoris," belonging to
the Emperor's train or body-guard, and not "a body of troops in armour," as
some writers have designated armatura, which is found in Ammianus,
and was composed of cavalry.
Yours, &c.
W. T. P. SHORTT.
P.S. I shall be glad to hear of any discoveries relating to the ALA HER
{image = G843A036.jpg}
[HER]CULEA of the Notitia, stationed at Olenacum in the
latter days of the empire.
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{header- Stone Circles, Cumberland}
{image = G843B361.jpg}
Huddersfield.
MR. URBAN,
IN some former papers relating to those groups of massy stones, once
existing in such great numbers, and still to be found in many parts of
Britain, I endeavoured to shew that these ancient British remains, which we
still call cromlechs, cairns, logan stones, tolmens, or humberd stones,
derive from the patriarchal times recorded in scripture. And I have shewn
that the names themselves are in many instances significant in the Hebrew
language. But the object of my present paper is to draw your attention to
those most important of all the monuments of the ancient Druids, the
circular temples, which are no where met with in such number and
magnificence as in the British isles. This form of structure too is
recorded in scripture, for the word לגלג (or
Gilgal,) is equivalent to a circle, and gave name to that famous camp or
forrtress, where the host of Israel first pitched their tents in the land
of Canaan, after they passed the river Jordan in a miraculous manner
dryshod. We have moreover existing monuments in Cornwall, which were
erected by the Phoenician miners in that part of Britain. The curious
cluster of stone circles at Botallac, in Cornwall, is the first of
these stone circles to which I shall advert. The very word itself is a
compound of the Hewbrew word Bethel, which was changed by the Phoenicians
to Bothel, and the Saxon name for the oak. In the seeming disorder of some
parts of this circular monument, some antiquaries have thought they could
trace a mystical meaning - and that to each part was assigned some
appropriate use; but as this forms no part of the object of my present
paper, which is simply to notice the circular form of the singular
structure, I shall forbear any conjectures on this head. Every antiquary
has some theory of his own. The open temple of a circular form at
Rowldrich is another instance, which has given name to the adjacent
town. The word roileag, in the old Irish language, signifies a
church. There are many barrows of different shapes within sight of
Rowldrich, particularly near a place called Chapel. On the heath is
a large flat and circular tumulus ditched about, with a small stump in the
centre.* No antiquary has yet doubted that this most interesting
remain was originally a Pagan temple. Whoever is of opinion that these
Druidical circles, in the number of stones of which they consist, have some
relation to the ancient astronomical cycles, will find this subject very
ably discussed by one of the most learned antiquaries of the present
day,† and the proofs he adduces will by some be regarded as
conclusive. But that able author is decidedly of opinion that these stone
circles were places dedicated to Pagan worship. Indeed the circular form
was highly reverenced by the Greeks, as appears from the following passage
of Homer's Iliad, lib. xviii.
Κηρυκες δ΄
αρα λαον
ερητυον,
οί δε
γεροντες
Είατ' επι
Σεστοισι
λιθοις
ίερω ενι
κυκλω.
Here the heralds are described as sitting within a sacred circle in
order to give judgment, the circle being formed of rough-hewn stone. But I
intend to show that these sacred circles, in use before the Christian aera,
were in various parts of Britain resorted to for ages by the early
Christian converts, and that in some instances they got the name of
kirk-stones. And it is not improbable that from these places of Druidical
worship many of our parishes, which have the name of Kil prefixed, have
originally sprung, the Gallic Cil denoting the circle inclosing the temple
of the Druids. Many of the names of our hills have the same syllable
prefixed to their names, and it usually happens in such instances that
either some actual remains of Druidism are to be found, or, if not,
traditions recorded of the former settlements of that ancient priesthood in
some part of the neighbourhood.
In Cumberland we may find examples of remains of Druidical monuments, of a
circular form. In the parish of Whitbeck several such exist. I will
mention one, near Gutterby. which at the present day bears the name
of kirk-stones. It is composed of thirty stones, which form parts of
two circles, an interior and exterior one, similar in position to
those of Stone-henge. In
* Vide Dr.Stukely.
† Godfrey Higgins, esq. on the Celtic Druids.
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the parish of Millum, in the same county, there did exist the
remains of a Druidical temple, which the country people called sunken
kirk, i.e. a church sunk into the earth. It is nearly a circle
of very large stones, pretty entire, only a few fallen upon sloping ground
in a swampy meadow. At the entrance there are four large stones, two on
each side, at the distance of six feet. Through these you enter into a
circular area, twenty-nine yards by thirty. The entrance is nearly
south-east. It seems probable that the altar stood in the middle, as there
are some stones still to be seen there, though sunk deep in the earth. The
situation and aspect of the Druidical temple near Keswick is in
every respect similar to this, except the rectangular recess, formed by ten
large stones, which is peculiar to Keswick.
And I am informed that there are other remains of stone circles in these
northern districts, where there yet exist so many popular superstitions and
customs. Indeed, we find in Camden's account of Westmoreland allusion made
to the ruins of one ancient round structure, which has always been
considered to have been a temple dedicated to Diana, but which is now known
by the name of Kirkshead. Many such instances will be found in the
ancient monuments of Scotland. Sometimes there are two circles of stones,
at others three circles, having the same common centre.
From the general arrangement of the stones, one of the largest having a
cavity, at the bottom of which there is a passage for any liquid sacrifice
to run down the side of it, nothing can be more evident than that the
triple circle of stones was intended as an heathen temple, where
Pagan priests performed their idolatrous ceremonies; and what is most
remarkable is, that most of these singular structures are still known by
the name of chapels or temple stones; and one of them, we are told,
in the parish of Enesallen, is full of groves, and was
formerly an ordinary place of burial, and continues to be so, for children
who die without baptism and for strangers. There is mention made of
one* in the shire of Inverness, which consists of two circles of
stones, and was formerly known by the name of Chapel Piglag, from a
lady of that name who used to repair thither for the exercise of her
devotion, before a church was built in that part of the country. What adds
to the interest of this account, which I have extracted from Camden, is the
extraordinary sanctity in which a neighbouring grove of trees was
held. So sacred indeed was it reputed, that no one would cut a branch out
of it, and the women who dwelt near it, when they recovered out of
childbed, were wont to repair thither, to return their thanks to God, as in
other places of the kingdom they attend churches for the same purpose. In
the midst of this grove there is a well or fountain, called the well of the
chapel, which is also held sacred; and Dr. Jamieson, in his Historical
Accountof the Culdees, relates a singular instance of an old man in the
North of Scotland, who, though very regular in his devotions, never
addressed the Supreme Being by any other title than that of arch
druid, accounting every other derogatory to the divine Majesty.
It is clear that, for many ages after the introduction of Christianity into
Britain, the firm hold which Druidism had upon the mind of her inhabitants
was a source of much annoyance to the first missionaries to this country.
Some pagan monuments were overthrown, but others were maintained inviolable
for ages. But, in order to render the transition from a false to a true
worship less difficult, it was no uncommon practice with the early
missionaries, not merely in Britain but in other parts of the world, to
convert the temples dedicated to idolatrous uses into Christian churches.
This circumstance will account for the situation of many of our churches,
which actually occupy the ancient sites of Druid temples. It is probable
that in many instances stone circles existed on the site of some of these
churches, and were the scene of religious worship of the first converts to
Christianity: of all figures the Druids most affected the circular.
The druidical Kir-rock, or circle of stones, gradually was
contracted into kirk, which is now pronounced church. A kirk, church, or
place of worship in dru-
* Vide Camden's Britannia.
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[dru]idical times, was literally no more than a circle of stones.
These stones, circularly placed, had always an high stone for the presiding
priest or judge. This stone usually stood single, therby serving
occasionally for the altar or high stone of sacrifice. Though in most
instances, as Christianity flourished, other more eligible sites for
Christian churches were afterwards found, yet the ancient kirk or temple
stones were visited for ages, though no worship was performed there. Where
no regular church was built in the district, as was too much the case for
many ages, these ancient stone circles were probably resorted to, and a
congregation formed for the celebration of Christian worship. If such was
the case, it affords a sufficient reason why the term kirk-stones should
still be attached to these venerable relics; and, though few of them still
exist, yet who can look with indifference on those once hallowed rocks,
where the early Christains were accustomed to meet, and to celebrate the
worship of the newly-preached Saviour, perhaps in those very temples which
had in still earlier times been dedicated to the mysterious and bloody
ceremonies of the Druidic religion; thus turning the altars of perished
Paganism into the hallowed temples of the living God? There are many such
stone altars of Druidism in this and the neighbouring counties; and I am
much deceived if some of them were not subsequently used as places of
worship for the primitive Christians of this district. There is a
collection of rocks in Ogden, in the parish of Halifax, still known
by the name of "Ogden Kirk," which surely indicates that something
more than mere Druidism was the origin of its present name. There is a wood
in the vicinity called Snake Hill, or Snag Hill.*
Not far from this place are still visible the remains of a camp, but it is
not so evident by what people it was formed. It is of a circular
shape, surrounded by a ditch or agger still to be traced, and a vallum of
earth; the whole divided in two parts. It may have been Roman, for
it was the policy of that people to extirpate all vestiges of Druidical
sway; and there is abundance of evidence to show that this now dreary
district was occupied by the aboriginal Britons, or their Druids. This part
of the parish of Halifax, when it has undergone a more searching
examination, will probably afford us further light on this subject. Celts
and arrowheads, I believe, have been found formerly within a few miles of
the place.
Nor can I omit to mention, as one more example of stone circles in the
parish of Halifax, a ring of stones, which is not altogether destroyed, in
the township of Bankisland. The stones of this circle are not
now erect, but lie in a confused heap, like the ruins of a building,
and it is probable that many of the largest may have been taken away. It
gives the name of Ringstone Edge to the adjacent moor. No one can
doubt, I apprehend, but that this stone circle was originally constructed
by the aboriginal Britons, under the superintendence of the Druids, either
a a temple or a court of justice or both, as Druidical circles were used
for worship and for seats of judgment. We find the same thing said of
Bethel and Gilgal† in the days of Samuel, who made them the annual
seats of judgment. There is also a Roman camp in the neighbourhood of
Ringstone; so apparently desirous were the Romans of extirpating the
Druidical priesthood. There is also very near to this camp a place called
The Crays, which, both by its British name and the remains dug up
from time to time, seems to have been a retreat in
* A tradition is said to prevail in the neighbourhood to the
following effect:
"In days of old, there lived in the valley of the Holy Brook a cottager,
whose child, an exceedingly lovely one, had for its companion a snow-white
serpent. One morning however the cottager saw the child sharing its pottage
with the serpent, giving to it (as the tradition represents) each alternate
spoonful; a movement of the latter however to come nearer the dish was
mistaken by the father for a hostile attack, and he instantly struck it
with a bill, severing the snake in two. From that time the "faerie
child" pined away, and speedily died. The record of the event is still they
say preserved in the name of an adjoining wood "Snakehill, or
Snaghill."
† לב is a roundish heap of stones.
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very ancient times for man or for wild beasts, as it once exhibited the
resemblance of a large cavern. This may have been a Druidical asylum, as it
formerly was covered with oaks, of which immense roots are
continually brought to light in every direction. As this interesting
district is contiguous to my own summer residence, I hope at some future
day to have it in my power to bring to light some further evidence of
Druidical occupancy, especially in that part of the district called
Weystone Edge. In this part of the country there are still standing
many rocks of various shapes and sizes, such as may once have formed a
circular temple, and call for a more patient examination than from their
remote situation they have hitherto received. It has been mentioned in the
earliest records under the name of Booth Dean. The mosses hereabout, when
cut into for fuel, exhibit in great abundance the fragments of trees, which
makes it probable that it was once woody. Tacitus in his Annals mentions a
grove in Germany which bore the name of Baduhenna, and it may be
that the etymology of both names is the same, meaning a temple of Diana.The
monosyllable both or booth corresponds in some degree with
the Hebrew beth - a prefix often used in Scripture to signify a temple. The
Brimham rocks of this county were probably dedicated to the god
Rimmon, under the title of Beth Rimmon, corrupted into Brimham.
The circular temples of Abury and Stonehenge are known to
all. I shall not therefore say more than that they appear to be of
Phoenician origin - that the adytums or interior circles of both
these grand but rude remains of British magnificence bear such an analogy
to the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple, as to induce a belief that they
were formed subsequently to the temple of Jerusalem, which was built about
a thousand years before Christ by Solomon, who applied to Hiram King of
Tyre for assistance in building the temple. It seems probable, therefore,
that the same country that supplied workmen to build the one, suggested the
construction of the other. There was this difference however, one was
dedicated to Jehovah, the only true God, the other to the worship of
Canaanitish idols. I have already in former papers described the character
of the ancient British mythology. At Abury and Stonehenge the priests and
people met at stated periods to try the causes that were brought before
them, and to sacrifice to the sun and moon, under the title of Baal and
Bealta, or Moloch. This double object was exactly in unison with the
patriarchal custom. One observation more I will make, that, however rude
and desolate be their appearance at the present day, we have no proof
they were so when used for places of worship. They might have been
plastered or magnificently ornamented. The Druidical stones were whole
stones, like those stones of memorial recorded in Scripture. The
Egyptians, we know, were in the earliest ages addicted to the idolatrous
custom of engraving allegorical emblems, and may it not have been one
motive for the strict command of Moses to the Israelites, who lived so long
in Egypt, when he forbad that the stones should be worked or engraved, to
prevent them from adopting the example of the Egyptians? Nor do we find the
Israelites, though guilty of idoleatry in repeated instances, ever accused
of imitating the hieroglyphical models of the Egyptians. The ordering of
them to be covered with plaster may perhaps have been designed to prevent
this practice, which led to such degrading superstitions in other
countries. I might enumerate other circular temples in Ireland, in
Anglesey, and Cornwall, all tending to shew that the form of a circle was
most usually adopted in the temples of the first inhabitants of these
islands. It is to be lamented that so few documents exist from which we may
learn the period when the light of Christianity first dawned on this
island, though we have reason to believe, as I have shewn in a former
paper, that Christian missionaries visited this country at least as early
as the second century. Some have asserted that it was planted by St. Paul
himself, under the auspices of the family of Caractacus. "It is a
remarkable and interesting fact," says a distinguished prelate,*
"that the detention of the British hostages should have been coincident
* Bp. Burgess' Sermon, 1812.
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with St. Paul's residence there as a prisoner; and it was not a less
favourable coincidence that they should be released from confinement in the
same year in which St. Paul was set at liberty. Nothing could be
more convenient for St. Paul's mission to the Gentiles than the opportunity
which their return must have offered him of introducing the Gospel into
Britain, and nothing more probable than that he should readily embrace such
an opportunity." But, whatever was the period of the first promulgation of
Christianity in Britain, it is quite clear that the professors of Druidism
were in existence, and displayed some vigour, until the twelfth or
fourteenth century. They took refuge in many of the wild and unfrequented
districts of Wales, and even of this and the neighbouring counties. But we
have reason to believe that in this district at least, long before any
regular church was erected for the more decent observance of Christian
worship, there was a little flock of followers of a crucified Saviour, who
left the ancient superstitions of Druidism, and, though the habits of many
generations prejudiced them in favour of their ancient place of worship,
yet they no longer participated in the bloody rites of their forefathers.
The rocking-stone at a short distance from the Roman town of Cambodunum,
situate at the borders of Scamonden, near Huddersfield, which has
retained the name of Holy Stone to this day, no doubt gave name to
the neighbouring township of Golcar, which is a contraction from
Godle-scar, for so it is spelt in some copies from the earliest writers. It
was the name given to it by our Saxon ancestors, though it is, like many
other names in Domesday, incorrectly spelt. To render Christianity
palatable to the Anglo-Saxons, Augustine was instructed by the Pope to
permit the exercise of some of their ancient peculiarities, by
incorporating into the purer faith the less offensive tenets of their own
superstition, and he permitted the conversion of their temples into
Christian churches, by merely destroying the idols and consecrating the
altars. We have no conclusive evidence to shew the precise period when a
fabric for the celebration of Christian worship was first erected in this
part of the kingdom; but, from the abandonment of the Roman station of
Cambodunum by the Saxons, who occupied the less bleak and more defensibel
position at Almonbury, and subsequently perhaps the present site of
Huddersfield, we have every reason to believe that the timber edifice was
constructed in both those places in the early Saxon times. Camden was
incorrect in supposing that a basilica was built at Almonbury by Pauklinus,
which could not be the case, as at some future opportunity I hope most
satisfactorily to shew.
J. K.WALKER.
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{header- Landscape Painting}
{image = G843B451.jpg}
{text- Book review.}
{text- This extract is included, though it is not directly about The Lakes,
because such a lot is made of the qualities of Claude, Poussin. and
Salvator Rosa, in discussing the picturesque in this geographical area. The
views of this author are, thus, interesting. They also provide an insight
into the art criticism of the age; and perhaps the exclusiveness of art
criticism today.}
Modern Painters: their Superiority in the Art of Landscape Painting to
the Ancient Masters. By a Graduate of Oxford. 8vo. Vol.I.
IF the lovers of poetry were to be suddenly informed that they had been all
their lives worshipping at the shrine of false gods, and mistaking the
effusions of ignorance and weakness for the inspirations of genius; if they
were told that our elder poets - those venerable names that appeared in
such unrivalled lustre in the reigns of Elizabeth and James - were ignorant
of the art they professed, unacquainted with its essential principles, and
working in feebleness and error; that in their delineations of human
passion and character they deviated from nature and truth; that we must
cease to look on them as the models of excellence, but turn our admiration
to the modern school; that Shakespeare and Milton were not to be compared
for power, or truth, or splendour of genius, or richness of invention, to
Southey, or Shelley, or Sheridan Knowles; if such startling assertions were
advanced, they could not well be more surprised than the connoisseurs and
critics of a sister art will be, who have been bred up in admiration of the
works of the old masters, and who have looked on their high reputation as
authentic and undeniable, when they find the hitherto illustrious names of
Claude and Poussin, of Titian and Salvator Rosa, of Vandevelde and Cuyp,
placed, in very essential points, below those of Stanfield and Harding, of
Fielding and Prout; while one single and illustrious name is elevated above
all modern or ancient, and the assemblage of every excellence discovered
and illustrated in the works of Mr. J. W. Turner. Such is the purpose of
this work; and the boldness of its design is well supported by the
diligence, and knowledge, and skilfulness displayed in the execution. The
author has laid a solid foundation in the broad and philosophical
principles he applies to the art; while, in the very minute, exact, and
delicate criticism he delivers, he shows a practical and artist-like
acquaintance with the details of the subject. If his theory is wrong, if
his reasonings are incorrect, and his conclusions not warranted, it must
arise from other causes than from unacquaintance with his subject, from
indolence in the collection of his materials, or unskilfulness in using
them; for undoubtedly he has deeply investigated the laws and principles of
the art he discusses; he has dwelt on it with a lover's fondness, and
studied it with a critics attention. He is also an eloquent and impressive
writer; he has a command of expression adapted to the sentiments he wishes
to convey, and can describe the captivating beauties of painting in the
brilliant colour of poetic diction. It is the work of one who confidently
believes in the opinions he maintains, and who is armed against any
argument that can be brought to oppose him. It is not the production of a
flimsy theorist, content to obtain a temporary reputation by shallow
paradoxes and startling assertions, nor of one who from some partial motive
is desirous to raise the reputation of a particular artist or school of
artists above their rivals; but of a person who, having devoted a very
great attention to a favourite subject, and having acquired an intimate
knowledge of its productions at home and abroad, has pronounced to the
world the truths he has discovered
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and established, prepared to meet and contravert all the prejudices and
partialities that will oppose its reception: in short, it is the work of a
very clever man and skilful connoisseur, if not artist, and the questions
he raises, and the opinions he delivers, whether right or wrong, are well
worthy of attention, and should be examined in the same spirit and feeling
in which they are delivered. They are too profound to be refuted by a
cavil, and too honest to be dismissed with a sneer.
The author begins by a consideration of the ideas conveyable by art; and,
as his investigations in the art of painting have led him to dispute the
opinions which are generally received, and which have been so long
maintained, that denial of them would appear either the result of ignorance
or the desire of paradox, he states, as a proposition not to be doubted,
that public opinion is no criterion of excellence except after long periods
of time; that what is great in art does not address itself to uncultivated
faculties, and that no man can be really appreciated but by his
equals or superiors. As the merits of a work are of a higher order, fewer
in proportion can judge of it; from these few the decision is communicated
to those below, and by these to a wider and lower circle, till at length
the right opinion is communicated to all, and held as a matter of faith,
the more positively in proportion as the grounds of it are less perceived.
This argument is peculiarly strong in the case of painting, because much
knowledge of what is technical and practical is necessary to
a right judgment, so that those persons are alone competent to form a
judgment who are themselves the persons to be judged.* In no city of
Europe is painting in so hopeless a state as in Rome, because there the
authority of their predecessors in art is supreme and without appeal, and
the mindless copyist studies of Raffaelle but not what Raffaelle studied.
The author, believing that there are certain points of superiority in
modern artists which have not yet been fully understood, in this
work purposes to institute a close comparison between the great works of
ancient and modern landscape art, and to shew the real relations subsisting
between them: but, as regards the art of the 14th and 15th centuries, he
does not class the hsitorical and landscape painters together as possessing
anything like equal rank in their respective walks of art.
"It is," he says, "because I look with the most devoted veneration upon M.
Angelo, Raffaelle, and Da Vinci, that I do not distrust the principles
which induce me to look with contempt on Claude, Salvator, and G. Poussin.
Had I disliked all, I should have believed in and bowed before all;
but in my admiration of the greater I consider myself as having a warrant
for the repudiation of the less. I feel assured that they cannot with
reason be admired together; that the principles of art on which they worked
are totally opposed, and that the landscape painters of the old school have
been honoured only because thay had in them a shadow and semblance of the
manner of the nobler historical painters, whose principles in all important
points they directly reversed. ... Speaking generally of the old masters, I
refer only to Claude, G. Poussin, S. Rosa, Cuyp, Berghem, Both, Ruysdael
Hobbima, Teniers, (in his landscapes,) P. Potter, Canaletti, and the
various Van somethings and Back somethings, more especially
and malignantly those who have libelled the sea."
* Not exactly so. There are portions of a picture, and of the means
used to form it, of which none but a painter can accurately judge; but
there are also others which the feelings of the enlightened connoisseur can
perhaps more correctly estimate. Thus, to secure a just decision on the
merits of the cartoons lately exhibited in Westminster Hall, the judges
were chosen both from artists and from gentlemen whose taste and knowledge
of art were generally admitted, and Mr. Rogers and Sir Robert Peel were
very properly joined with Eastlake and Etty. - REV.
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He then lays down the principles on which all right judgment of art must be
founded, in order that the terms and language in which his critical
judgments and comparisons are expressed, may be thoroughly understood. He
distinguishes between the painter's intellectual power and his technical
knowledge; that mere technical painting or colouring is to the artist what
the power of versifying is to the poet; but yet the thought, whether in
painting or poetry, is intimately connected with the language in which it
is conveyed: he then distinguishes between language that is expressive, and
that which is merely decorative or ornamental. As, for instance, most
pictures of the Dutch school, excepting those of Rubens, Vandyck, and
Rembrandt, are ostentatious exhibitions of the artist's power of speech,
the clear and vigourous elocution of useless and senseless words; while the
early efforts of Cimabue and Giotto are the warning messages of prophecy
declared by the stammering lips of infants. We must therefore carefully
distinguish what is language and what is thought, considering the
former as an inferior excellence.
"The picture which has the nobler and more numerous ideas, however
awkwardly expressed, is a greater and better picture than that which has
the less noble and less numerous ideas, however beautifully expressed. No
weight, nor mass, nor beauty of execution can outweigh one grain or
fragment of thought. Three pen-strokes of Raffaelle are a greater and
better picture than the most finished work that ever Carlo Dolci polished
into inanity. A pencil scratch of Wilkie's on the back of a letter is a
greater and better picture - and I use the term picture in its full sense -
than the most laboured and luminous canvass that ever left the easel of
Gerard Dow. A finished work of a great artist is only better than its
sketch if the source of pleasure belonging to colour and charioscuro,
vauable in themselves, are so employed as to increase the impressiveness of
the thought. But, if one atom of thought has vanished, all colour, all
finish, all execution, all ornament, are too dearly bought. Nothing but
thought can pay for thought, and the instant that increasing refinement or
finish of the picture begins to be paid for by the loss of the faintest
shadow of an idea, that instant all refinement or finish is an excressence
and a deformity."
The author then gives his definition of what he calls "the greatest art,"
that which conveys to the mind of the spectator, by any means whatsoever,
the greatest number of the greatest ideas; and consequently he is the
greatest artist who has embodied such ideas in his works. He then considers
that all the sources of pleasure or good to be derived from works of art
may be referred to five distinct heads - ideas of power, of imitation, of
truth, of beauty, of relation, - the nature of each of which he
distinguishes. After having briefly considered the principles respecting
ideas of power, he commences the second part of his work with the
idea of truth, which he continues through the remainder of the
volume, leaving, we presume, the consideration of beauty and relation for
the portions of the work that are to follow. In this discussion there are
many sound principles laid down, many accurate distinctions drawn, many
judicious rules enforced, and many elegant illustrations brought to the
subject. In the application of his principles he divides all painters into
two great and distinct classes, - those who aim at the development of
truth, and those who look no higher than mere imitation. The old
masters he ranks in the latter category. "They had neither love of
nature nor feeling for her beauty; they looked for her coldest and most
commonplace effects because they were easiest to imitate, and for her most
vulgar forms because they were most easily to be recognised." He then
observes that the principles of selection by modern artists is
different, seeking not what is easiest to imitate, but for what is most
important to tell, and that there is
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consequently a greater sum of valuable, essential, and impressive truth in
the works of two or three of our leading modern landscape painters, than in
those of all the old masters put together.
"It appears strange," he says, "to me that any one familiar with Nature,
and fond of her, should not grow weary and sick at heart among the
melancholy and monotonous transcripts of her which alone can be receieved
from the old school of art. A man accustomed to the broad wild seashore,
with its bright breakers, and free winds, and sounding rocks, and eternal
sensation of tameless power, can scarcely but be angered when Claude bids
him stand still on some paltry, chipped, and chiselled quay, with porters
and wheelbarrows running against him, to watch a weak, rippling, bound and
barriered water, that has not strength enough in one of its waves to upset
the flower-pots on the wall, or even to fling one jet of spray over the
confining stone. A man accustomed to the strength and glory of God's
mountains, with their soaring and radiant pinnacles and surging sweeps of
measureless distance, kingdoms in their valleys, and climates upon their
crests, can scarcely but be angered when Salvator bids him stand still
under some contemptible fragment of splintery crag, which an Alpine
snow-wreath would smother in its first swell, with a stunted bush or two
growing out of it, and a Dudley or Halifax-like volume of manufactory smoke
for a sky. A man accustomed to the grace and infinity of Nature's foliage,
with every vista a cathedral, and every bough a revelation, can scarcely
but be angered when Poussin mocks him with a black round mass of
impenetrable paint, diverging into feathers instead of leaves, and
supported on a stick instead of a trunk. Who that has one spark of feeling
of what is beautiful or true, would not turn to be refreshed by the pure
and extended realizations of modern art?" &c.
He then gives examples of these truer and higher aims of the moderns from
the works of D. Cox, Copley Fielding, J. D. Harding, Stanfield, and, above
all, John Turner, whom he calls "glorious in conception, unfathomable in
knowledge, and solitary in power," and compares him to the angel in the
Apocalypse, and other similar persons, whom out of respect we shall forbear
to mention. Having thus applied his general principles to the respective
works of earlier and later times, he proceeds through the remainder of his
volume to illustrate each separate truth from the pictures of those artists
by whom it is most generally given, commonly from those of the father of
modern art, J. M. W. Turner. He first takes into consideration those truths
that are productive of what is called "effect," that is to says, truths of
tone, general colour, space, and light; and then he investigaes the truths
of specific form and colour in the four great component parts of landscape,
sky, earth, water, vegetation. In these very ingenious and eloquent essays,
the author draws numerous comparisons between the general principles and
particular works of the old masters and the modern, and with such an
acquaintance with his subject, that he who is not convinced by his
reasoning, or satisfied with his specimens of excellence, will still be
instructed by the particular examples through which the general principles
are worked out. It is, however, quite impossible for us to follow him
through such lengthened investigations, especially as the force and truth
of his argument must depend not only on the accuracy of his general
principles, but on the minute specification of particular examples. We
shall therefore extract such passages from the work as may afford some not
inadequate views of the author's estimate of the old painters, of the
proper and legitimate purposes of the art he comments on, and of the merits
and defects of the old painters as compared with the modern school.
"I shall endeavour," he says, "in the present portion of the work to enter
with care and impartiality into the investigation of the claims of the
schools of ancient
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and modern landscape to faithfulness in representing nature. I shall pay no
regard whatsoever to what may be thought beautiful, or sublime, or
imaginative. I shall look only for truth, bare, clear, downright
statement of facts, shewing in each particular, as far as I am able, what
the truth of nature is, and then seeking for the plain expression of it,
and for that alone, and I shall thus endeavour, totally regardless of
fervour of imagination or brilliancy or effect, or any other of their more
captivating qualities, to examine and judge the works of the great living
painter,* who is, I believe, imagined by the majority of the public
to paint more falsehood and less fact than any other known master. We shall
see with what reason."
The author, as a preliminary step to prove the importance of accurate and
scientific investigations of the subject, considers how far the truth of
nature is to be discovered by the uneducated senses. "Cannot we," say the
public, "see what nature is with our own eyes, and find out for ourselves
what is like her?" Now, in the first place, he considers that men derive
pleasure from art, and discern the beauties of art, in proportion to their
natural sensibilty to colour and form, and in connection with a healthy
state of moral feeling, and then he adds,
"Next to sensibility, which is necessary for the perception of facts, come
reflection and memory, which are necessary for the retention of them, and
recognition of their resemblances. For a man may receive impression after
impression, and that vividly and with delight, and yet, if he take no care
to reason upon those impressions and trace them to their sources, he may
remain totally ignorant of the facts that produced them; nay, may attribute
them to facts with which they have no connexion, or may coin causes for
them that have no existence at all. And the more sensibility and
imagination a man possesses, the more likely will he be to fall into error:
for then he will see whatever he expects, and admire and judge with his
heart, and not with his eyes. How many people are misled by what has been
said and sung of the serenity of Italian skies, to suppose they must
be more blue than the skies of the north, and think that they see
them so; whereas the sky of Italy is far more dull and grey in colour than
the skies of the north, and is distinguished only by its intense repose of
light: and this is confirmed by Benvenuto Cellini; who, I remember, on his
first entering France, is especially struck by the clearness of the sky, as
contrasted with the mist of Italy; and, what is more strange still,
when people see in a painting what they suppose to have been the source of
their impressions, they will affirm it to be truthful, though they feel no
such impression resulting from it. Thus, though day after day they may have
been impressed by the tone and warmth of an Italian sky, yet not having
traced the feeling to its source, and supposing themselves impressed
by its blueness, they will affirm a blue sky in a painting to be
truthful, and reject the most faithful rendering of all the real attributes
of Italy as cold or dull. And this influence of the imagination over the
senses is peculiarly observable in the perpetual disposition of mankind, to
suppose that they see what they know, and vice versa,
in their not seeing what they do not know. ...
Barry, in his sixth lecture, takes notice of the same want of actual
sight in the early painters of Italy. 'The imitations,' he says, 'of
early art are like those of children - nothing is seen in the spectacle
before us, unless it be previously known and sought for: and numberless
observable differences between the age of ignorance and that of knowledge,
show how much the contraction or extension of our sphere of vision depends
upon other considerations than the mere returns of our natural optics. The
people of those ages only saw so much, and admired it, because they knew no
more;' and the deception which takes place so broadly in cases like these
has infinitely greater influences over our judgment of the more intricate
and less tangible truths of nature. We are constantly supposing that we see
what experience only has shown us, or can show us, constantly missing the
sight of what we do not know beforehand to be visible; and painters to the
last hour of their lives are apt to fall in some degree into the error of
painting what exists, rather than what they can see. ...
Be it also observed that all these difficulties would lie in the way, even
if the truths of nature were always the same, constantly repeated and
brought before us. But the truths of nature are one eternal change - one
infinite
* J. W. Turner.
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variety. There is no bush on the face of the globe exactly like another
bush, there are no two trees in the forest whose boughs bend into the same
net-work, nor two leaves on the same tree which could not be told one from
the other, nor two waves on the sea exactly alike. And, out of this mass of
various but agreeing beauty, it is by long attention only that the
conception of the constant character - the ideal form - hinted at by
all, yet assumed by none, is fixed upon the imagination for its standard of
truth. It is not singular, therefore, nor in any way disgraceful, that the
majority of spectators are totally incapable of appreciating the truth of
nature, when fully set before them; but it is both singular and disgraceful
that it so difficult to convince them of their own incapability. Ask a
connoisseur, who has scampered all over Europe, the shape of the leaf of an
elm, and the chances are ninety to one that he cannot tell you, and yet he
will be voluble of criticism on every painted landscape from Dresden to
Madrid, and pretend to tell you whether they are like nature or not. Ask an
enthusiastic chatterer in the Sistine Chapel how many ribs he has, and you
get no answer; but it is odds that you do not get out of the door without
his informing you that he considers such and such fgure badly drawn. A few
such interrogations as these might indeed convinct, if not convince the
mass of spectators of incapability, were it not for the universal reply
that they can recognise what they cannot describe, and feel what is
truthful, though they do not know what is truth. And this is, to a certain
degree, true: a man may recognise the portrait of his friend, though he
cannot, if you ask him apart, tell you the shape of his nose or the height
of his forehead, and every one could tell Nature herself from an imitation;
why not then, it will be asked, what is like her from what is not?"
The author allows that, in effects of tone, the old masters have
never yet been equalled: a concession he says that is the first and nearly
the last he has to make to them; he then considers "tone" first, as "the
right relation of objects of shadow to the principal light," and secondly,
"as the quality of colour by which it is felt to owe part of its
brightness to the hue of light upon it." He then enters into the following
criticism on the subject.
"The finely-toned pictures of the old masters are, in this respect, some of
the notes of nature played two or three octaves below her key, the darks
objects in the middle distance having precisely the same relation to the
light of the sky which they have in nature, but the light being necessarily
infinitely lowered, and the mass of the shadow deepened in the same degree.
I have often been struck, when looking at a camera-obscura, on a dark day,
with the exact resemblance the image bore to one of the finest pictures of
the old masters, all the foliage coming dark against the sky, and nothing
being seen in its mass but here and there the isolated light of a silvery
stem, or an unusually illumined cluster of leafage. Now if this could be
done consistently, and all the notes of nature given in this way, an octave
or two down, it would be right and necessary so to do; but be it observed,
not only does nature surpass us in power of obtaining light, as much as the
sun surpasses white paper, but she also infintely surpasses us in her power
of shade. Her deepest shades are void spaces from which no light whatever
is reflected to the eye; ours are black surfaces from which, paint as black
as we may, a great deal of light is still reflected, and which, placed
against one of nature's deep bits of gloom, would tell as distinct light.
Here we are, then, with white paper for our highest light, and visible
illumined surface for our deepest shadow, set to run the gauntlet against
nature, with the sun for her light and vacuity for her gloom. It is evident
that she can well afford to throw her material objects dark against
the brillian aerial tone of her sky, and yet give in those objects
themselves a thousand intermediate distances and tones before she comes to
black, or to any thing like it - all the illumined surfaces of her objects
being as distinctly and vividly brighter than her nearest and darkest
shadows as the sky is brighter than those illumined surfaces. But if we,
against our poor, dull obscurity of yellow paint, instead of sky, insist on
having the same relation of shade in material objects, we go down to the
bottom of our scale at once; and what in the world are we to do then? Where
are all our intermediate distances to come from? - how are we to
express the aerial relations among the parts themselves, for instance, of
foliage, whose most distant boughs are already almost black? - how are we
to come up from this to the foreground, and, when we have done so, how are
we to express the
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distinction between its solid parts, already as dark as we can make them,
and its vacant hollows, which nature has marked sharp, and clear, and
black, among its lighted surfaces? It cannot be but evident at a glance,
that, if to any one of the steps from one distance to another we give the
same quanitity of difference in pitch of shade which nature does, we must
pay for this expenditure of our means by totally missing half a dozen
distances not a whit less important or marked, and so sacrifice a multitude
of truths to obtain one. And this accordingly was the means by which the
old masters obtained their (truth?) of tone. They chose those steps of
distance which are the most conspicuous and noticeable, that, for instance,
from sky to foliage, or from clouds to hills, and they gave these their
precise pitch of difference in shade with exquisite accuracy of imitation.
Their means were then exhausted, and they were obliged to leave their trees
flat masses of mere filled-up outline, and to omit the truths of space in
every individual part of their picture by the thousand. But this they did
not care for; it saved them trouble; they reached their grand end -
imitative effect - they thrust home just at the places where the common and
careless eye looks for imitation, and they attained the broadest and most
fiathful appearance of truth of tone which art can exhibit; but they are
prodigals, and foolish prodigals, in art: they lavish their whole means to
get one truth, and leave themselves powerless, when they should seize (sic)
a thousand. And is it indeed worthy of being called a truth, when we have a
vast history given us to relate, to the fulkness of which neither our
limits nor our language are adequate, instead of giving all its parts
abridged in the order of their importance, to omit or deny the greater part
of them, that we may dwell with verbal fideleity on two or three? Nay, the
very truth to which the rest are sacrificed is rendered falsehood by their
absence; the relation of the tree to the sky is marked as an impossibility,
by the want of relation of its parts to each other.
Turner starts from the beginning with a totally different principle.
He boldly takes pure white (and justly, for it it the sign of the most
intense sunbeams) for his highest light, and lamp-black for his deepest
shade, and between these he makes every degree of shade indicative of a
separate degree of distance, giving each step of approach, not the exact
difference in pitch which it would have in nature, but a difference bearing
the same proportion to that which his sum of possible shade bears to the
sum of nature's shade, so that an object half way between his horizon and
his foreground will be exactly in half tint of force, and every minute
division of intermediate space will have just its proportionate share of
the lesser sum, and no more. Hence where the old masters expressed one
distance he expresses a hundred, and where they said furlongs he says
leagues. Which of these modes of procedure be most agreeable with truth I
think I may safely leave the reader to decide for himself.
He will see in this very first instance one proof of what we have asserted,
that the deceptive imitation of nature is inconsistent with real truth; for
the very means by which the old masters attained the apparent accuracy of
tone which is so satisfying to the eye, compelled them to give up all idea
of real relations of retirement, and to represent a few successive and
marked stages of distance, like the scenes of a theatre, instead of the
imperceptible, multitudinous, symmetrical retirement of nature, who is not
more careful to separate her nearest bush from her farthest one than to
separate the nearest bough of that bush from the one next to it.
Take, for instance, one of the finest landscapes that ancient art has
produced - the work of a really great and intellectual mind, the quiet
Nicholas Poussin, in our own National Gallery, with the traveller washing
his feet. The first idea we receive from this picture is that it is
evening, and all the light coming from the horizon. Not so. It is full
noon, the light coming steep from the left, as is shown by the shadow of
the stick on the right hand pedestal, (for if the sun were not very high,
that shadow could not lose itself half way down; and if it were not
lateral, the shadow would slope, instead of being vertical.) Now, ask
yourself, and answer candidly, if those black masses of foliage, in which
scarcely any form is seen but the outline, be a true representation of
trees under noon-day sunlight, sloping from the left, bringing out, as it
necessarily would do, their masses into golden green, and marking every
leaf and bough with sharp shadow and sparkling light? The only truth in the
picture is the exact pitch of relief against the sky of both trees and
hills, the intricacy of the foliage, and every thing indicative either of
the nature of the light or the character of the objects is sacrificed. So
much falsehood does it cost to obtain two apparent truths of tone. Or take,
as a still more glaring instance, No.260 in the Dulwich Gallery, where the
trunks of the trees, even those farthest off, on the left, are as black as
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paint can make them, and there is not, and cannot be, the slightests
increase of force or any marking whatsoever of distance by colour, or any
other means, between them and the foreground. Compare with these Turner's
treatment of his materials in the 'Mercury and Argus.' He has here his
light actually coming from the distance, the sun being nearly in the centre
of the picture, and a violent relief of objects against it would be far
more justifiable than in Poussin's case. But this dark relief is used in
its full force only with the nearest leaves of the nearest group of
foliage, overhaninging the foreground from the left, and between these and
the more distant members of the same group, though only three or four yards
eparate, distinct aerial perspective and intervening mist and light are
shown, while the large tree in the centre, though very dark, as being very
near, compared with all the distance, is much diminished in intensity of
shade from this nearest group of leaves, and is faint compared with all the
foreground. It is true that this tree has not, in consequence, the actual
pitch of shade against the sky which it would have in nature, but it has
precisely as much as it possibly can have to leave it the same
proportionate relation to the objects near at hand. And it cannot be but
evident to the thoughtful reader, that, whatever trickery or deception may
be the result of a contrary mode of treament, this is the only scientific
or essentially truthful system, and that what it loses in tone it gains in
aerial perspective."
We shall now give some detailed criticisms on the works of those who have
been hitherto considered the masters of their art, and the guides of public
taste; for the author, whether in commendation or censure, always puts the
reader in possession of the reasons by which he is governed, and the
established principles which he keeps steadily in view. He says, speaking
of a well known painter,
"The effect of a fine Canaletti is in its first impression dioramic;
we fancy we are in our beloved Venice again, with one foot by mistake in
the clear invisible film of water lapping over the marble steps in the
foreground. Every house has its proper relief against the sky, - every
brick and stone its proper hue of sunlight and shade, - and every degree of
distance its proper tone of retiring air. Presently, however, we begin to
feel that it is lurid and gloomy, and that the painter, compelled by the
lowness of the utmost light at his disposal to deepen the shadows, in order
to get the right relation, has lost the flashing, dazzling, exulting light,
which was one of our chief sources of Venetian happiness. But we pardon
this, knowing it to be unavoidable, and begin to look for something of that
in which Venice differs from Rotterdam, or any other city built beside
canals. We know that house, certainly; we never passed it without stopping
our gondolier, for its arabesques were as rich as a bank of flowers in
Spring, and as beautiful as a dream. What has Canaletti given us for them?
Five black dots. Well, take the next house; we remember that too; it was
mouldering inch by inch into the canal, and the bricks had fallen away from
its shattered marble shafts, and left them white and skeleton-like, yet
with their fretwork of cold flowers wreated about them, still untouched by
time: and through the rents of the wall behind them there used to come
along sunbeams, greened by the weeds through which they pierced, which
flitted and fell one by one round those grey and quiet shafts, catching
here a leaf and there a leaf, and gliding over the illumined edges and
delicate fissures, until they sank into the deep dark hollow between the
marble blocks of the sunk foundation, lighting every other moment one
isolated emerald lamp, on the crest of the intermittent waves, when the
wild sea-weeds and crimson lichens drifted and crawled with their thousand
colours and fine branches over its decay, and the black, clogging,
accumulated limpets hung in ropy clusters from the dripping and tinkling
stone. What has Canaletti given us for this? One square red mass composed
of - let me count - five and fifty - no - six and fifty - no - I was right
at first - five and fifty bricks of precisely the same size, shape, and
colour, one great black line for the shadow of the roof at the top, and six
similar ripples in a row at the bottom! And this is what people call
'painting nature.' It is indeed painting nature as she appears to the most
unfeeling and untaught of mankind. The bargeman and the bricklayer probably
see no more in Venice than Canaletti gives, - heaps of earth and water,
with water between; and are just as capable of appreciating the facts of
sunlight and shadow, by which he deceives us, as the most educated of us
all. But what more is there in Venice than brick and stone - what there is
of
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mystery and death, and memory and beauty - what is there to be learned or
lamented, to be loved or wept - we look for to Canaletti in vain."*
The author then contrasts the celebrated painter's works with those of some
of our living artists; and, as the contrasts are striking, and the peculiar
merits of each brought out by a critical hand, we shall follow him in his
judgments.
"Let us pass to Prout; the imitation is lost at once. The buildings
have nothing resembling their real relief against the sky. There are
multitudes of false distances; the shadows in many places have a great deal
more Vandyke brown than darkness in them; and the lights very often more
yellow-ochre than sunshine. But yet the effect on our eye is that very
brilliancy and cheerfulness which delighted us in Venice itself, and there
is none of that oppressive and lurid gloom which was cast upon our feelings
by Canaletti. And now we feel that there is something in the subject worth
drawing, and different from other subjects and architecture: that house is
rich and strange and full of grotesque carving and character, - that one
next to it is shattered, and varied with picturesque rents and hues of
decay, - that further off is beautiful in proportion, and strong in purity
of marble. Now we begin to feel that we are in Venice. This is what we
could not get elsewhere: it is worth seeing, and drawing, and talking, and
thinking of - not an exhibition of common daylight or brick walls. But let
us look a little closer; we know those capitals very well; their design was
most original and perfect, and so delicate that it seemed to have been cut
in ivory."
We now turn to another painter whose works are highly esteemed in this
country, though introduced at a late period; but who has been placed in the
very foremost rank of eminence in the Flemish school of landscape.
"For expression of effects of yellow sunlight, parts might be chosen out of
the good pictures of Cuyp, which have never been equalled in art;
but I much doubt if there has been a single bright Cuyp in the
world, which, taken as a whole, does not present many glaring solecisms in
tone. I have not seen many fine pictures of his which were not utterly
spoiled by the vermillion dress of some principal figure, a vermillion
totally unaffected and unwarmed by the golden hue of the rest of the
picture, and, what is worse, with little distinction between its own
illumined and shaded parts, so that it appears altogether out of sunshine;
the colour of a bright vermillion in dead, cold daylight. It is possible
that the original colour may have gone down in all cases, or that these
parts may have been villanously repainted, but I am the rather disposed to
believe them genuine, because, even throughout the best of his pictures,
there are evident recurrences of the same kind of solecism in other colours
- greens for instance - as in the steep bank on the right of the largest
picture in the Dulwich gallery; and browns, as in the lying cow in the same
picture, which is in most visible and painful contrast with the one
standing beside it, the flank of the standing one being bathed in breathing
sunshine, and the reposing one laid in with as dead, opaque, and lifeless
brown as ever came raw from a novice's pallet. And again in that marked 83,
while the figures on the right are walking in the most precious light, and
those just beyond them in the distance leave a furlong or two of visible
sunbeams between us and them, the cows are deprived entirely, poor things!
of both light and air, and have nothing but brown paint to depend upon: and
these failing parts, though they often escape the eye when we are near the
picture, and able to dwell upon what is beautiful in it, yet so injure its
whole effect, that I question if there be many Cuyps, in which vivid
colours occur, which will not lose their effect, and become cold and flat,
at a distance of ten or twelve paces, retaining their influence only when
the eye is close enough to rest on the right parts without including the
whole. Take for instance, the large one in our National Gallery, , seen
from the opposite door, where the black cow appears a great deal nearer
than the dogs, and the golden tones of the distance look like a sepia
drawing rather than like sunshine, owing chiefly to the utter want of
aerial greys indicated through them. Now there is no instance in the works
of Turner of anything so faithful and imitative of sunshine as the
* The author allows that Canaletti's mechanism is wonderful;
but he casts aside all mechanical excellence as unworthy of praise.
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best parts of Cuyp, but at the same time there is not a single vestige of
the same kind of solecism. It is true that in his fondness for colour
Turner is in the habit of allowing excessively cold fragments in his
warmest pictures; but these are never, observe, warm colours with no light
upon them, useless as contrasts, while they are discords in the tone, but
they are bits of the very coolest tints, partially removed from the general
influence, and exquisitely valuable as colour, though, with all deference
be it spoken, I think them sometimes slightly destructive of what would
otherwise be perfect tone. * * * The best proof of the
grammatical accuracy of the tones of Turner is in the perfect and
unchanging influence of all his pictures at any distance. We approach only
to follow the sunshine into every cranny of the leafage, and retire only to
feel it diffused over the scene, the whole picture glowing like a sun or
star, at whatever distance we stand, and lighting the air between us and
it, while many even of the best pictures of Claude must be looked close
into to be felt, and lose light every foot that we retire. The smallest of
the three sea-ports in the National Gallery is valuable and right in tone
when we are close to it, but ten yards off it is all brickdust, offensively
and evidently false in its whole hue," &c.
Let us now pass on to another great name; the name of one who has been long
ranked as the foremost in his branch of the art, and the productions of
whose pencil are not to be purchased except by the affluent.
"I wish Ruysdael had painted one or two rough seas. I believe, if he had,
he might have saved the unhappy public from much grievous victimizing, both
in mind and pocket, for he would have shown that Vandevelde and Backhuysen
were not quite sea-deities. As it is, I believe there is scarcely such
another instance to be found in the history of man of the epidemic
aberration of mind into which multitudes fall by infection, as is furnished
by the value set upon the works of these men. All others of the
ancients have real power of some kind or other, either solemnity of
intention, as the Poussins, or refinement of feelings, as Claude, or high
imitative accuracy, as Cuyp and Paul Potter, or rapid power of execution,
as Salvator; there is something in all which ought to be admired, and of
which, if exclusively contemplated, no degree of admiration, however
enthusiastic, is unaccountable or unnatural. But Vanddevelde and Backhuysen
have no power, no redeeming quality of mind: their works are neither
reflective, nor eclectic, nor imitative; they have neither tone, nor
execution, nor colour, nor composition, nor any artistical merit to
recommend them; and they present not even a deceptive, much less a real,
resemblance of nature. Had they given us staring green seas with hatchet
edges, such as we see 'Her Majesty's ships so-and-so' fixed into by the
heads or sterns in the outer-room of the academy, the thing would have been
comprehensible; there is a natural predilection in the mind of man for
green waves with curling tops, but not for clay and wool; and the colour,
we should have thought, would have been repulsive even to those least
cognizant of form. Whatever may be the chilliness or mistiness or opacity
of a Dutch climate and ocean, there is no water which has motion in it, and
air above it, which ever assumes such a grey as is attributed to sea
by these painters; cold and lifeless the general effect may be, but at all
times it is wrought out of variety of hue in its parts; it is a grey caused
by coldness of light, not by absence of colour. And how little the
authority of these men is worthy of trust in matters of effect, is
sufficiently shown by their constant habit of casting coal-black shadow
half-way across the picture on the nearest waves, for, as I have before
shown, water itself never takes any shadow at all, and the shadow
upon foam is so delicate in tint and so broken in form as to be scarcely
traceable. The men who could allow themselves to lay a coal-black shadow
upon what never takes any shadow at all, and whose feelings were not hurt
by the sight of falsehood so distinct and recoiled not at the shade
themselves had made, can be little worthy of credit in any thing that they
do or assert. Then, their foam is either deposited in spherical and tubular
concretions, opaque and unbroken on the surfaces of the waves, or else, the
more common case, it is merely the whiteness of the wave shaded gradually
off, as if it were the light side of a spherical object, of course
representing every breaker as crested, not with spray, but with a puff of
smoke. Neither let it be supposed that in so doing they had any intention
of represent-
* We saw last summer a sea-piece of Vandevelde sold at the Earl of
Lichfield's sale at Shugbrooke for 1200l. to a dealer; we believe,
to Mr. Smith of Bond Street. - REV.
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[represent]ing the vaporous spray taken off wild waves by violent wind.
That magnificent effect only takes place on large breakers, and has no
appearance of smoke except a little distance; seen near, it is dust. But
the Dutch painters cap every little cutting riple with smoke, intending it
for foam, and evidently thus representing it because they had not
sufficient power over the brush to produce the broken effect of real spray.
Their seas, in consequence, have neither frangibility nor brilliancy; they
do not break, but evaporate; their foam neither flies, nor sparkles, nor
springs, nor wreathes, nor curdles, nay it is not even white, but of a
dirty effloresence or exhalation, and their ships are inserted into this
singular sea with peculiar want of truth; for, in nature, three
circumstances contribute to disguise the water-line upon the wood; where a
wave is thin, the colour of the wood is shown a little through it; when a
wave is smooth, the colour of the wood is a little reflected upon it; and
when a wave is broken, its foam more or less obscures and modifies the line
of junction; besides which, the wet wood itself catches some of the light
and colour of the sea. Instead of this, the water-line of the Dutch vessels
is marked clear and hard all round; the water reflecting nothing, showing
nothing through it, and equally defined in edge of foam as in all other
parts. Finally, the curves of their waves are not curves of
projection, which all sea-lines are, but the undulating lines of
ropes, or other tough and connected bodies. Whenever two curves dissimilar
in their nature meet in the sea, of course they both break and form an
edge; but every kind of curve, catenary or conic, is associated by these
painters in most admired disorder, joined indiscriminately by their
extremities. This is a point, however, in which it is impossible to argue
without going into high mathematics; and even then the nature of particular
curves, as given by the brush, would be scarcely demonstrable; and I am
therefore less disposed to take much trouble about it, because I think that
the persons who are really fond of these works are almost beyond the reach
of argument. I can understand why people like Claude, and perceive much in
their sensations which is right and legitimate, and which can be appealed
to, and I can give them credit for perceiving more in him than I am at
present able to perceive; but when I hear of persons honestly
admiring Vandevelde or Backhuysen, I think there must be something
physically wrong or wanting in their perceptions - at least, I can form no
estimate of what their feelings or notions are, and cannot hope for
anything of principle or opinion common between us which I can address or
understand. The seas of Claude are the finest pieces of water-painting in
ancient art. I do not say that I like them, because they appear to me
selections of the particular moment when the sea is most insipid and
characterless; but I think that they are exceedingly true to the forms and
time selected, or, at least, that the fine instances of them are so, of
which there are exceeding few. Anything and everything is fathered upon
him, and he probably committed many mistakes himself, and was occasionally
right rather by accident than by knowledge. Claude and Ruysdael, then, may
be considered as the only two men who could paint anything like water in
extended spaces, or in action. The great mass of the landscape painters,
though they sometimes succeeded in the imitation of a pond or gutter,
display, wherever they have space or opportunity to do so, want of feeling
in every effort, and want of knowedge in every line."
Now we must place in contrast to this the author's description, or at least
a portion of it, of Turner's power in the same department of painting.
"Beyond dispute, the noblest sea that Turner has ever painted, and
therefore the noblest ever painted by man, is that of the Slave Ship, the
chief Academy picture of the exhibition of 1840. It is a sunset upon the
Atlantic, after prolonged storm; but the storm is partially lulled, and the
torn and streaming rain-clouds are moving in scarlet lines to lose
themselves in the hollow of the night. The whole surface of sea included in
the picture is divided into two ridges of enormous swell, not high, nor
local, but a low, heaving of the whole ocean, like the lifting of its bosom
by deepdrawn breath after the torture of the storm. Between these two
ridges the fire of the sunset falls along the trough of the sea, dyeing it
with an awful but glorious light, the intense and lurid splendour which
burns like gold and bathes like blood. Along this fiery path and valley the
tossing waves by which the swell of the sea is restlessly divided lift
themselves in dark, indefinite, fantastic forms, each casting a faint and
ghastly shadow behind it along the illumined foam. They do not rise
everywhere, but three or four together in wild groups, fitfully and
furiously, as the under strength of the swell compels or permits them,
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leaving between them treacherous spaces of level and whirling water - now
lighted with green and lamp-like fire - now flashing back the gold of the
declining sun - now fearfully dyed from above with indistinguishable images
of the burning clouds, which fall upon them in flakes of crimson and
scarlet, and give to the reckless waves the added motion of their own fiery
flying. Purple and blue, the lurid shadows of the hollow breakers are cast
upon the mist of the night, which gathers cold and low, advancing like the
shadow of death upon the guilty ship,* as it labours amidst the
lightning of the sea, its thin masts written upon the sky in lines of
blood, girded with condemnation in that fearful hue which signs the sky
with horror, and mixes its flaming flood with the sunlight, and, cast far
along the desolate heave of the sepulchral waves, incarnadines the
multitudinous sea," &c.
Of Rubens he thus speaks:-
"It is curious, after hearing people expose themselves in maligning some of
Turner's noble passages of light, to pass to some really ungrammatical and
false pictures of the old masters, in which we have colour given without
light. Take, for instance, the landscape attributed to Rubens, No.175 in
the Dulwich gallery. I have never spoken, and will never speak, of Rubens
but with the most revential feeling. I look upon him, taken merely as an
artist, alone and incomparable, and I fully expect that the world will see
another Titian and another Rafaelle before it sees another Rubens.
Whenever, therefore, I see anything attributed to him artistically wrong,
or testifying a want of knowledge of nature, or of feeling for colour, I
become instantly incredulous, and, if I ever advance anything affirmed to
be his as such, it is not so much under idea that it can be his as to show
what a great name can impose upon the public. The landscape I speak of has
beyond a doubt high qualities in it: I can scarcely make up my mind whether
to like it or not; but at any rate it is something which the public are in
the habit of admiring and taking upon trust to any extent. Now the sudden
streak and circle of yellow and crimson in the middle of the sky in that
picture, being the occurrence of a fragment of a sunset colour in pure
daylight, and in perfect isolation, while at the same time it is rather
darker when translated into light and shade than brighter than the rest of
the sky, is a case of such bold absurdity, come from whose pencil it may,
that if every error which Turner has fallen into in the whole course of his
life were concentrated into one, that one would not equal it; and, as our
coinnoisseurs gaze upon this with never-ending approbation, we must not be
surprised that the accurate perceptions which thus take delight in pure
fiction should constantly be disgusted by Turner's fidelity and truth."
We now approach the illustrious names of G. Poussin and Claude, the reputed
masters of the art of representing nature on canvas, and flinging round her
beauties and illuminations not her own. When these names were pronounced,
we have never been accustomed to listen except to the voice of praise and
admiration; but we must now learn a different language.
"There is in the first room of the National Gallery landscape attributed to
Gaspar Poussin, called sometimes 'Aricia,' sometimes Le or
La Riccia, according to the fancy of the catalogue printers. Whether
it can be supposed to resemble the ancient Aricia, now La Riccia, close to
Albano, I will not take upon me to determine, seeing that most of the towns
of these old masters are quite as like one place as another; but at any
rate it is a town on a hill, wooded with two and thirty bushes of very
uniform size, and possessing about the same number of leaves each. These
bushes are all painted in with one dull opaque brown, becoming very
slightly greenish towards the lights, and discover in one place a bit of
rock, which of course would in nature have been cool and grey beside the
lustrous hues of foliage, and which, therefore, being moreover completely
in shade, is consistently and scientifically painted of a very clear,
pretty, and positive brick red, the only thing like colour in the picture.
The foreground is a piece of road, which, in order to make allowance for
its greater nearness, for its being completely in light, and, it may be
presumed, for the
* She is a slaver, throwing her slaves overboard to escape. The near
sea is encumbered with corpses.
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quantity of vegetation usually present on carriage roads, is given in a
very cool-green grey, and the truthful colouring of the picture is
completed by a number of dots in the sky on the right, with a stalk to them
of a sober and similar brown. Not long ago I was descending this very bit
of carriage road, the first turn after you leave Albano, not a little
impeded by the worthy successors of the antient prototypes of
Veieto.* It had been wild weather when I left Rome, and all across
the Campagna the clouds were sweeping in sulphurous blue, with a clap of
thunder or two, and breaking gleams of sun along the Claudian aqueduct,
lighting up the infinity of its arches like the bridge of Chaos. But as I
climbed the long slope of the Alban Mount the storm swept finally to the
North, and the noble outline of the domes of Albano, and graceful darkness
of its ilex grove, rose against pure streaks of alternate blue and amber,
the upper sky gradually flushing through the last fragments of rain-cloud,
in deep palpitating azure, half aether and half dew. The noonday sun came
slanting down the rocky slopes of La Riccia, and its masses of
entangled and tall foliage, whose autumnal tints were mixed with the wet
verdure of a thousand evergreens, were penetrated with it, as with rain. I
cannot call it colour - it was a conflagration. Purple and crimson and
scarlet, like the curtains of God's tabernacle, the rejoicing trees sank in
the valley in showers of light, every separate leaf quivering with bouyant
and burning life - each, as it turned to reflect or to transmit the
sunbeam, first a torch and then an emerald. Far up into the recesses of the
valley the green vistas, arched like the hollows of mighty waves of some
crystalline sea, with the arbutus flowers dashed along their flanks for
foam, and silver flakes of orange spray tossed into the air around them,
breaking over the grey walls of rock into a thousand separate stars, fading
and kindling alternately as the weak wind lifted and let them fall. Every
blade of grass burned like the golden floor of Heaven, opening in sudden
gleams as the fooliage broke and closed above it, as sheet lightning opens
in a cloud at sunset. The motionless masses of dark rock - dark though
flushed with scarlet lichen - casting their quiet shadows across its
restless radiance; the fountain underneath them, filling its marble hollow
with blue mist and fitful sound; and over all, the multitudinous bars of
amber and rose - the sacred clouds that have no darkness, and only exist to
illumine, were seen in fathomless intervals, between the solemn and orbed
repose of the stone pines, passing to lose themselves in the last, white,
blinding lustre of the measureless line where the Campagna melted into the
blaze of the sea."
After discussing the difficulty of representing foliage with truth
and elegance, and showing the laws common to all forest trees as regards
their branches, and the cause of the diminuation of them, by throwing forth
little twigs and sprays, and the degree of tapering which may be considered
as continuous, the critic proceeds to observe:-
"And therefore we see at once that the stem of Gaspar Poussin's tall tree
on the right of 'La Riccia' in the National Gallery is a painting of a
carrot or a parsnip, not the trunk of a tree; for, being so near that every
individul leaf is visible, we should not have seen in nature one branch or
stem actually tapering. We should have received an impression of
graceful diminution, but we should have been able on examination to trace
it joint by joint, fork by fork, into the thousand minor supports of the
leaves. Gaspar Poussin's stem, on the contrary, only sends off four or five
minor branches altogether, and both it and they taper violently, and
without showing why or wherefore - without parting with a single twig -
without showing one vestige of roughness or excrescence, and leaving,
therefore, their unfortunate leaves to hold on as best they may. The
latter, however, are clever leaves, and support themselves as swarming bees
do - hanging on by each other. But even this precious piece of work is a
jest to the perpetration of the bough at the left-hand upper corner of the
picture opposite to it - the 'View near Albano.' This is a fine example of
the general system of bough drawing of the Italian School. It is a
representation of an ornamental group of elephants' tusks, with feathers
tied to the ends of them. Not the wildest imagination could ever conjure up
in it the remotest resemblance to the bough of a tree. It might be the
* "Caecus adulator - / Dignis Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes, /
Blandaque devexae jactaret basia rhedae."
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claws of a witch - the talons of an eagle - the horns of a fiend; but it is
a full assemblage of every conceivable falsehood which can be told
respecting foiliage - a piece of work so barbarous in every way that one
glance at it might prove to the mind of any man of the slightest knowledge
of or feelings for nature the complete charlatanism or trickery of the
whole system of the old landscape painters; for I will depart for once from
my usual plan of abstaining from all assertion of a thing's being beautiful
or otherwise: I will say here at once that such drawing as this is as ugly
as it is childish, and as painful as it is false; and that the man who
could tolerate, much more who could deliberately set down, such a thing on
his canvass, had neither eye nor feeling for one single attribute or
ecellence of God's works. He might have drawn the other stem in excusable
ignorance, or under some false impression of being able to improve upon
nature; but this is conclusive and unpardonable. Again, - take the
stem of the chief tree in Claude's Narcissus; it is a very faithful
portarit of a large boa-constrictor, with a handsome tail - the kind of
trunk which young ladies at fashionable boarding-schools represent with
nosegays at the top of them, by way of forest scenery. But let us refresh
ourselves for a moment by looking at real art. We need not go to Turner; we
will go to the man who, next to him, is unquestionably the greatest master
of foliage in Europe - J. D. Harding. Take the trunk of the large stone
pine (Plate 25) in the 'Park and the Forest.' For the first nine or ten
feet from the ground it does not lose one hair's-breadth of its diameter;
but the shoot, broken off, just under the crossing part of the distant
tree, is followed by an instant diminution of the trunk, perfectly
appreciable by both the eye and the compasses. Again, the stem maintains
undiminished thickness up to the two shoots on the left, from the loss of
which it suffers again perceptibly. On the right, immediately above, is the
stump of a very large bough, who loss reduces the trunk suddenly to about
two-thirds of what is was at the root. Diminished again, less considerably,
by the minor branch close to this stump, it now retains its diameter up to
the three branches broken off just under the head, where it once more loses
in diameter, and finally branches into the multitude of head-boughs, of
which not one will be found tapering in any part, but losing themselves
gradually by division among their off-shoots and spray. Now this is nature
and beauty too," &c.
Again he proceeds on the same subject:-
"But it is only by looking over the sketches of Claude in the British
Museum that a complete and just idea is to be formed of his capacities of
error; for the feeling and arrangement of many of them is that of an
advanced age, so that we can scarcely set them down for what they resemble
- the work of a boy of ten years old; and the drawings being seen, without
any aids of tone or colour to set it off, shows in its naked falsehood. The
windy landscape of Poussin, also opposite the Dido and AEneas in the
National Gallery, presents us in the foreground tree with a piece of
atrocity which, I think, to any person who candidly considers it, may save
me all further trouble of demonstrating the errors of ancient art. I do not
in the least suspect the picture - the tones of it, and much of the
handling, are masterly. I believe it will, some time or another, if people
ever begin to think with their own heads, and see with their own eyes, be
the death-warrant of Gaspar's reputation, signed with his own hand. That
foreground tree comprises every conceivable violation of truth which the
human hand can commit, or head invent, in drawing a tree - except only that
it is not drawn root uppermost. It has no bark - no roughness nor character
of stem; its boughs do not grow out of each other, but are stuck into each
other: they ramify without diminishing, diminish without ramifying, are
terminated by no complicated sprays, have their leaves tied to their ends
like like the heads of Dutch brooms, and finally and chiefly they are
evidently not made of wood, but of some soft elastic substance that which
the wind can stretch out as it pleases, for there is not a vestige of an
angle in any one of them. Now the fiercest wind that ever blew upon the
earth could not take the angles out of the boughs of a tree an inch thick.
The whole bough bends together, retaining its elbows and angles and natural
form, but affected throughout with curvature in each of its parts and
joints; that part of it which was before perpendicular being bent aside,
and that which was before sloping being bent into still greater
inclination, the angle at which the two parts meet remains the same; or, if
the strain be put in the opposite direction, the bough will break long
before it loses its angle. You will find it difficult to bend the angles
out of the youngest sapling, if they be marked, and absolutely impossible
with a strong bough. You may break it,
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but you will not destroy its angles. And if you watch a tree in the wildest
storm, you will find that, though all its boughs are bending, none lose
their character, but the utmost shoots and sapling spray. Hence Gaspar
Poussin, by his bad drawing, does not make his storm strong but his tree
weak; he does not make his gust violent, but his boughs of India-rubber,"
&c.
After comparing the superior truth of Turner is his delineation of trees,
and that of other modern artists, as Harding and Creswick, and showing how
amid intricacy they have marked and preserved nature's unity and harmony of
shade, the perfect repose and quiet resulting from the whole, he goes on to
say,
"Now it is here that Hobbima and Both fail. They can paint oak leafage
faithfully, but do not know where to stop, and by doing too much lose the
truth of all, - lose the very truth of detail at which they aim, for all
their minute work only gives two leaves to nature's twenty. They are
evidently incapable of even thinking of a tree, much more of drawing it,
except leaf by leaf; they have no notion or sense of simplicity, mass, or
obscurity, and when they come to distance, where it is totally impossible
that leaves should be separately seen, yet being incapable of conceiving or
rendering the grand and quiet forms of truth, they are reduced to paint
their bushes with dots and touches expressive of leaves three feet broad
each. Nevertheless there is a genuine aim in their works, and their failure
is rather to be attributed to ignorance of art, than to such want of sense
for nature as we find in Claude* or Poussin; and when they come
close home, we sometimes receive from them fine passages of mechanical
truth," &c.
In one of his concluding chapters the author concentrates his remarks on
the truth of his favourite artist Turner, whose works he has delighted to
illustrate, and to whose genius he has laboured to raise a monument of
glory, composed of the ruins of his predecessors, and of those false
shrines which he considers to have been so unworthily frequented by
worshippers.
"The difference in the accuracy of the lines of the Torso in the
Vatican, (the Maestro of M. Angelo,) from those in one of M. Angelo's
finest works, could perhaps scarcely be appreciated by any eye or feeling
undisciplined by the most perfect and practical anotomical knowledge. It
rests on points of such traceless and refined delicacy, that, though we
feel them in the result, we cannot follow them in the details. Yet they are
such and so great as to place the Torso alone in art, solitary and
supreme, while the finest of M. Angelo's works, considered with respect to
truth alone, are said to be only on a level with antiques of the second
class, under vthe Apollo and the Venus, that is, two classes or grades
below the Torso. But suppose the best sculptor in the world,
possessing the most entire appreciation of the excellence of the Torso,
were to sit down pen in hand, to try and tell us wherein the peculiar truth
of each line consisted? could any words that he could use make us feel the
hairs-breadth of depth and distance on which all depends? or end in
anything more than bare assertions of the inferiority of this line to that,
which, if we did not perceive for ourselves, no explanation could ever
illustarte to us? He might as well endeavour to explain to us by words some
taste or other subject of sense of which we had no experience. And so it is
of all truths of the highest order; they are separated from those of
average precision by points of extreme delicacy, which none but the
cultivated eye can in the least feel, and to express which all words are
absolutely meaningless and useless. Consequently, in all that I have been
saying of the truth of artists, I have been able to point out only coarse,
broad, and explicable matters: I have been perfectly unable to express (and
indeed I have made no endeavour to express) the finely-drawn and
distinguished truth in which all the real excellence of art consists. All
those truths which I have been able to explain and demonstrate in Turner
are such as any artist of ordiinary powers of observation
* The author owns that the foliage of Claude in his middle
distances is the finest and truest parts of his pictures, and on the whole
affords the best examples of good drawing to be found in ancient art,
though he says that it is false in colour, and has not boughs enough
amongst it.
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ought to be capable of rendering. It is disgraceful to omit them; but it is
no very great credit to observe them. I have indeed proved that they have
been neglected, and disgracefully so, by those men who are commonly
considered the fathers of art; but, in showing that they have been observed
by Turner, I have only proved him to be above other men in knowledge
of truth, I have not given any conception of his own positive rank as a
painter of nature. but it stands to reason, that the men who, in broad,
simple, and demonstrable matters are perpetually violating the truth, will
not be particularly accurate or careful in carrying out delicate and
refined undemonstrable matters; and it stands equally to reason, that the
man who, as far as argument or demonstration can go, is found invariably
truthful, will, in all probability, be truthful to the last line, and
shadow of a line. And such is, indeed, the case with every touch of this
consummate artist; the essential excellence - all that constitutes the real
and exceeding value of his works, is beyond and above expression: it is a
truth inherent in every line, and breathing in every hue, to delicate and
exquisite to admit of any kind of proof, nor to be ascertained except by
the highest of tests - the keen feeling attained by extended knowledge and
long study. Two lines are laid on canvass; one is right and another wrong.
There is no difference between them appreciable by the ordinary eye - one
which can be pointed out, if it is not seen. One person feels it; another
does not; but the feeling or sight of the one can by no words be
communicated to the other: it would be unjust if it could, for that feeling
and sight have been the reward of years of labour. And there is, indeed,
nothing in Turner - not one dot nor line - whose meaning can be understood
without knowledge; becasue he never aims at sensual impressions, but at the
deep final truth, which only meditation can discover, and only experience
recognize. There is nothing done or omitted by him, which does not imply
such a comparison of ends, such rejection of the least worthy, (as far as
they are incompatible with the rest,) such careful selection and
arrangement of all that can be united, as can only be enjoyed by minds
capable of going through the same process, and discovering the reasons for
the choice. And, as there is nothing in his works which can be enjoyed
without knowledge, so there is nothing in them which knowledge will not
enable us to enjoy. There is no test of our acquaintance with Nature so
absolute and unfailing as the degree of admiration we feel for Turner's
painting. Precisely as we are shallow in our knowledge, vulgar in our
feelings, and contracted in our views or principles, will the works of this
artist be stumbling blocks or foolishness to us; precisely in the degree in
which we are familiar with Nature, constant in our understanding of her,
will they expand before our eyes into glory and beauty. In every new
insight which we obtain into the works of God, in every new idea which we
receive from his creation, we shall find ourselves possessed of an
interpretation and a guide to something in Turner's works which we had not
before understood. We may range over Europe from shore to shore; and from
every rock that we tread upon, every sky that passes over our heads, every
form of local vegetation or of soil, we shall receive fresh illustration of
his principles - fresh confirmation of his facts. We shall feel, wherever
we go, that he has been there before us - whatever we see, that he has seen
and seized before us; and we shall at last cease the investigation, with a
well-grounded trust, that whatever we have been unable to account for, and
what we still dislike in his works, has reason for it, and foundation like
the rest; and that, even where he has failed or erred, there is a beauty in
the failure which none are able to equal, and a dignity in error which none
are worthy to reprove. There has been a marked and constant progress in his
mind; he has not, like some few artists, been without childhood; his course
of study has been as evident as it has been swiftly progressive, and in
different stages of the struggle, sometimes one order of truth, sometimes
another, has been aimed at or omitted. But from the beginning to the
present height of his career he has never sacrificed a greater truth to a
less. As he advanced, the previous knowledge or attainment was absorbed in
what succeeded, or abandoned without a gain; and his present works present
the sum and perfection of his accumulated knowledge, delivered with the
impatience and passion of one who feels too much, and has too little time
to say it in, to pause for expression or ponder over his syllables. There
is in them the obscurity, but the truth of prophecy; the instinctive and
burning language, which would express less if it uttered more, which is
indistinct only by its fulness, and dark with its abundant meaning. He
feels now, with long-trained vividness and keenness of
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sense, too bitterly, the impotence of the hand, and the vainness of the
colour to catch one shadow or one image of the glory which God has revealed
to him. He has dwelt and communed with Nature all the days of his life; he
knows her now too well, he cannot palet over the material littleness of her
outward form; he must give her soul, or he had done nothing, and he cannot
do this with the flax, and the earth, and the oil," &c.
Now, the question will arise if, after all this novelty of remark, this
ingenuity of reasoning, this profuse display of examples and illustrations,
this elaborate richness of description and imagery, the author has proved
his point, and established the superiority of the modern school of art over
the ancient? The first objection that will naturally arise in the general
mind will be, that, if he is right, not only the common and public taste
has been in error, but even those who have written scientifically on the
subject, our guides and teachers, have been as wanting in knowledge as
ourselves. Many minute investigations have been made into the peculiar
excellenece and characteristic merits of the old painters, and detailed
descriptions given of their works by Reynolds, and Fuseli, and Opie, and
other learned professors of the art among our compatriots, not to speak of
works of authority and excellence in other countries; yet the language of
praise and admiration is almost the only one that has reached our ears. We
have been directed to those illustrious artists as the very models of
excellence, whom we may endeavour to imitate, but never hope to excel; and
we certainly have few intimations given of those defects which are now for
the first time so broadly and boldly laid before us. We naturally ask, has
the author detected what escaped the practised eye of Reynolds, or eluded
the vigilant and acute penetration of West and Fuseli? It may be so - we
respect authority, but never blindly follow it, - yet he who thus advances
such startling opinions, and throws down at once the gauntlet of defiance,
must be prepared to find the public mind slow to believe, and unwilling to
abandon the guidance of those whom thay have long looked up to with respect
and confidence, and whose decisions have been confirmed by the consenting
voice of time. Secondly, we should require an appeal to the respective
works of the rival masters, - an actual comparison drawn from observation,
- we should place the landscapes of Claude and Poussin beside those of
Turner, so that the eye of the spectator might contemplate their respective
merits. We should let his mind receive the full impressions they suggested,
penetrate the principles on which they were composed, and apply the effects
they produced to the objects which painting has in view; we should tell him
to dismiss and forget the glowing descriptions and too partial comparisons
he has read in this volume, and turn from the visionary splendour of the
writer's page to the real colours and composition before him, and then
practically form his own decision. We confess, that, to our minds, we
should be prepared to believe that what has pleased so many and so long,
has not pleased on insufficient grounds; nor should we be ready to admit at
once the broad distinctive line drawn by our author between the works of M.
Angelo, Rafaelle, and the historical painters, and those of later schools
in the same country, because we think we could point out the different
links of resemblance between theirs and other works that have one by one,
in successive periods of time, by insensible changes, united one to the
other, till we could find the germs of Poussin's manner and style in
some of the slightest sketches of the Roman or Florentine school. We should
not be unwilling to allow the great genius which Turner has displayed in
his art,
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and which gives him an undisputed eminence over all his competitors; we
should allow, and gladly, the maigical effects of his pencil in the most
difficult and daring compositions, - the skilfulness and success of his
combinations, - the extent of his resources, - the astonishing brilliancy
of his colouring, - his imaginative powers, - his creative thought; and we
should not deny that in the power of seizing and describing some of the
most awfull and appalling scenes on which the human eye can gaze, when
nature herself seems gasping in the throes and convulsions of elemental
wrath, in the black and brooding tempest, in the ocean maddened into fury,
and the sky robed with thunder, and threatening ruin and destruction; - in
such scenes the old masters must yield all attempt at competition; but we
also believe that these were effects which they, for adequate reasons,
considered it not judicious to represent, and which they avoided, not
because they were unable to pourtray them, but because they considered them
unsuitable to their design, and unfitted to the principles of their art.
The mind is affected by the impressions made on it, as the landscape is by
the shadows that pass across its bosom; if these impressions are too
powerfully drawn, they are liable, after a certain time, to lose their
attraction, and subsequently pass away in langour and indifference.
Permanent pleasure is derived from the gentle impulse of soft and agreeable
emotions rising without effort, and succeeding each other without
distraction. We also should agree with the author of this work in his
assertion that in his acquaintance with the different forms of nature, as
the various strata of the earth and the shapes which they assume, - the
varieties of clouds, the peculiarities of foliage, - Turner excelled the
masters of the Italian school - just as the poets of the present day
surpass the ancients in their descriptions of the individual forms of
natural objects. In this point the Seasons of Thomson are far more graphic
and exact than the Georgics of Virgil, or the Eclogues of Theocritus; bit
it was not because the ancient poets had no eye to observe, or no power to
describe, but because they adopted and maintained certain principles which
did not admit this mere transcript of natural imagery into their works of
imagination. Nature, and the forms of nature, when they appear in the
descriptive passages of the ancient poets, do not as seen in the
transparent mirror of absolute truth, which every minute delineation that
can realize the object; but as reflected back from the hearrt of man,
accompanied and modified and changed by the associations and images lent to
them from the mind, and which give them an impressive power and interest
that is not their own. All art, whether poetical or pictorial, becomes more
and more descriptive as it advances. Such is the fact; but the
causes of this change and movement, though not difficult to investigate,
lie beyond our present scope and purpose; and we must therefore hasten to
conclude, by saying, that comparing the ancient masters to Turner, as the
great leader and example of the moderns, the object they have respectively
in view does not appear the same; the latter manifesting their great
acquirements in their art, and their pictorial powers, by producing the
most forcible impressions on the mind from different aspects of nature, and
comprehending everything, from the greatest to the minutest object, that
can lend them assistance; and thus, as it were, filling the mind of the
spectator with great impressions, that he has passively to receive.
The ancient painters appear to us rather to endeavour to act on the mind by
calling out its own activity; by suggesting some leading ideas to be
pursued by it into minuter investigations; by awakening associations
connected with general forms and objects; by
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avoiding all impressions too forcible and overwhelming, and such as would
impair the calmness and serenity of the mind; and by imparting to it only
such gentle emotions as may enable it to preserve unimpaired its powers of
judgment and taste, and by its own suggestions fill up the outline which
the artist had only sketched, - to multiply its beauty into a thousand new
and unexpected forms, and, by the prevailing tone and general harmony of
the whole, to give, as it were, the hint, the key-note of the impression
which they desired to produce; and to this point, both in the treatment of
the composition and in the tone and harmony of colour, their aim was
directed; and, while the main purpose was in view, we allow that they
sometimes neglected those particular forms and exact delineations, which
has called forth such sever criticism in the present work.
...
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{header- Philemon Holland to William Camden}
{image = G843B489.jpg}
Sept. 26.
MR. URBAN,
MANY of our antiquaries have doubted whether Philemon Holland's translation
of Camden's "Britannia" was countenanced by Camden himself. The editor of
"Original Letters of Eminent Men of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and
Eighteenth Centuries," recently published by the Camden Society, has given
substantial evidence that Camden's own maps accompanied Holland's
translation, and that the work was published by Camden's bookseller.
The question, however, is placed entirely at rest by the following letter
from Philemon Holland himself to Camden, preserved in the Museum in one of
the Cottonian Manuscripts; whence it will be clearly seen that Camden took
the pains to revise the sheets of Holland's translation as they gradually
issued from the press, and that Holland consulted Camden upon every
difficult passage.
Yours, &c.
B.M.
(MS. Cotton. Jul. C. v. fol.58.)
1609, 25 Aug.
My very good friend, Mr. Camden, It appeareth, now that my Translation of
your Britannia is under the presse, that you have taken paines in perusing
the written sheets, and that they mean to use you still in that kind. I
must confesse now that I mistook in the 2. pag. the latter verse of the
twain, as touching the true sense, for finding it without any comma, and
knowing there were many British Ilands more, I made comparison between our
Britanny and all other British Isles; so that you have done me a pleasure
in altering my latter verse. The printer should have done well to have
printed your verse true, which I suppose went in this number,
(And, seek through Iands all, none may with British Isles compare.)
Let me I pray you be further beholden unto you in the copie new set up: and
namely in some ffew places here under noted, wherein I am not satisfied.
Pag. 181, lin. 46, Canonici,) whether a secular priest or regular? because
to Canonicus els wher is added regularis, as pag. 349. I have in Colleges
termed them secular, and in Monasteries regular. As you meet with such
places beside, I pray correct them to your own sense.
239, lin. 2, DOMINUS AUGUSTINUS,) Sr Austen or Lord Augustin, and so in
DOMINUS HEUBERTUS in another place.
280, lin. 42, ffor Leckhamsted) I find written in my Latin copie over head
(Thornton), by whose hand I know not, but it hath made me to doubt therof.
And in truth that Latin copie which I followed in perusing my Translation,
differeth from that which I went by in my Translation, but especially in
that passage of Th'Earles of Richmond; which did put me to a new labour.
293, lin. 45, Lugubri Barbarorum divortio. I doubt that I misse the true
sense.
355, 12, Infra Banna~ Leucam. What I should call it properly I wote not.
Yet in Lauca Brionij, yow interprete Leuca in the margin (The Lowy). But
what is Banna?
419, 20, Πυρογνή,
και Βρόμον
οΰ Βρόμιον.
Spicigenam Bromon, haud Bromium,) I stick here because of the comma and
copulature in the Greek, but not in your Latin. May it please yow to supply
that place with your English.
222. In the epitaphicall inscription of HENRY FITZ-ALAN,) I do not well
conceive the author's meaning in thes words, Sui generis ab Alani filio
cognominatus,) nor in (MORINIS,) whether is ment PONTHEAU or PICARDIE
generally taken? Nor yet in DOMUS REGIAE PRAEFECTUS,) whether it be not the
same that after ward SENescallus.
What els where shall occurre, let me intreat you to certify. Bold I am and
{image = G843B490.jpg}
overbold. But your candor and love approved promiseth me thus much and more
to. And so commending your selfe, your good studies and endevors to God's
blessing, I take my leave for this time.
Coventry, 25 August, 1609.
Your loving and affectionate ffreind,
PH. HOLLAND.
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{header- St Theobald's Church, Great Musgrave}
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{text- Bottom left, right, centre:-}
R. W. Billings del. / G. B. Smith sculp. / GREAT MUSGRAVE CHURCH,
WESTMORLAND.
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{header- St Theobald's Church, Great Musgrave}
{image = G843B571.jpg}
GREAT MUSGRAVE CHURCH, WESTMORELAND.
(With a Plate.)
THE church of Great Musgrave is neither celebrated for its extent nor the
style of its architecture; in the first respect it would only vie with a
good sized room. But it is celebrated as the scene of the early Labours of
William Paley, some of whose justly appreciated works were written in the
parsonage adjoining. More recently it was marked by the ministry of the
Rev. John Bowstead, B.D. the uncle and preceptor of the late Bishop of
Lichfield. This venerable "Father of the Church" regularly performed his
parochial duties until near the age of ninety, and died on the 1st Nov.
1841.
Musgrave gave its name to the family who resided there for several ages,
and finally settled at Eden Hall in Cumberland, which family is now
represented by Sir George Musgrave, Bart. As to the church, it is of Norman
foundation, the arch dividing the nave and aisle being of that period. The
other parts are of the early-English, Decorated, and Perpendicular periods,
but there is nothing of importance to mark these differences of style,
excepting the remains of the Decorated chancel screen,shewn in the plate.
Previous to 1248 the church was appropriated to St. Mary's Abbey at York,
but it was then transferred to the bishopric of Carlisle, saving a small
pension to St. Mary's reserved out of its revenues.
There is a brass in the chancel ornamented with the four evangelists at the
angles (in roundels), of the early Decorated period, to Thomas Ouds, who
was rector previous to 1298. On the north wall of the nave is a monument to
the founder and endower of Musgrave Grammar School, the Rev. Septimus
Collinson, Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, who was a native of this
parish, and died Jan. 24, 1827 (of whom a memoir will be found in the
Gentleman's Magazine, vol.XCVII. i. 178).
Externally there is nothing material to notice, but the churchyard formerly
had several carved coffin-lids belonging to the Musgraves, of ancient date.
The counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland contain many, and there are
some specimens engraved in Lyson's Cumberland, but only one is now left at
Musgrave, and that is built into the eastern wall of the church. When an
enquiry was made after some
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{continues last paragraph}
others which were in existence here only some twenty years back, the quiet
answer of the mason who "did the job" was that he had "mashed" them up and
built the remains in the wall.
Over the chancel screen and walls are several garlands. These denote an
ancient annual custom which takes place in July, called "Rush-bearing,"
when female children of the village go in procession to the church, and
each deposits an offering of flowers, which remains there until the
following year. A representation of this ceremony is given in the work
known as "Westmoreland and Cumberland illustrated," accompanied by the
following account of it:-
"In some places, to the present day, the church floor is annually strown
with rushes; and in several others, as at Ambleside, the ceremonial is
still preserved. We have collected from various sources the characteristic
features of recorded rush-bearings, in which, though the object is the
same, the materiel of the festivity is somewhat different.
"At Rochdale in Lancashire, the rushes are laid transversely on the
rush-cart, and are cut with sharp knives into the desired form. When the
cart is finished, the load of rushes is decorated with carnations and other
flowers in various devices, and surmounted by branches of oak, and a person
rides on the top. The cart is sometimes drawn by horses, but more
frequently by men, to the number of twenty or thirty couple, profusely
adorned with ribands and finery. They are generally preceded by men with
horse-bells about them, grotesquely jumping from side to side, and jingling
the bells. After these is a band of music, and sometimes a set of
morris-dancers (but without the ancient appendage of bells), followed by
young women bearing garlands. Then comes the rush-banner of silk,
tastefully adorned with roses, stars, and tinsels; this is generally from
four to five yards broad, by six or eight yards long, having on either
side, in the centre, a painting of Britannia, the King's arms, or some
other device. The whole procession is flanked by men with long cartwhips,
which they keep continually cracking to make a clear path. A spirit of
rivalry exists amongst the neighbouring villages, as to which shall produce
the best cart and banner, and sometimes a serious fracas takes place
between the parties.
"At Warton, in Yorkshire, they cut hard rushes from the marsh, which they
make up into long bundles, and then dress them up in fine linen, silk
ribands, flowers, &c. Afterwards the young women of the village who
perform the ceremony for that year, take up the bundles erect, and begin
the procession, which is attended with multitudes of people, with music,
drums, and ringing of bells. When they arrive at the church, they go in at
the west door, and setting down their burdens in the church, strip
them of their ornaments, leaving the heads or crowns of them decked with
flowers, cut papers, &c. in some part of the church, generally over the
cancelli, or chancel(-screen). The company on their return partake of a
plentiful collation, and conclude the day, weather permitting, with a dance
round a Maypole tastefully decorated.
"The church of St. Oswald, at Grasmere, is annually strown with rushes, and
paper garlands, tastefully cut, are deposited in the vestry by the girls of
the village.
"The custom is still extant of strewing Norwich cathedral on the mayor's
day, when all the corporation attend divine service. The sweet-scented flag
was accutomed to be used on this occasion, its roots, when bruised, giving
forth a powerful and fragrant odour; but the great consumption of the roots
by the brewers (under the name of quassia) has rendered it too valuable,
and the yellow water-iris is therefore substituted in its stead. The flags
were formerly strewn from the great west door to the entrance of the
mayor's seat; but they are now laid no further than the entrance to the
choir. Twelve shillings per annum are allowed by the dean and chapter for
this service.
"The strewing of rushes was not, however, confined to churches; private
houses, and even palaces, had no better garniture for the floors in olden
times, as we may gather from fragments of history. In 'Newton's Herball to
the Bible,' mention is made of 'sedge and rushes, with the which many in
the country do use in summer time to strawe their parlors and churches, as
well for coolness as for pleasant smell.' Hentzner, in his Itinerary,
speaking of Queen Elizabeth's presence-chamber at Greenwich, says, 'The
floor, after the English fashion, was strewed with hay.'
"At Ambleside, the tasteful and elegant garlands are deposited in the
church on Saturday, and remain there during divine service on the Sunday,
when each girl takes her respective garland, and all the bearers walk in
procession, preceded by a band of music. The children receive a penny-worth
of gingerbread, and a small gratuity at the door of the church."
The site of Musgrave church is extra-
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[extra]ordinary; for, instead of being in the village, which is about a
quarter of a mile distant from the river Eden, on a high rising ground, it
is actually within a few yards of the water's edge, and the rectory, a
little westward of the church, is on still lower ground. Whenever,
therefore, there is a flood, or the "beck is out," as the local term has
it, a case often occurring suddenly, owing to the rapid fall of water from
the fells in rainy weather, the church is sometimes, and the rectory
generally, flooded. Thus many have been the unlucky inmates, who have, on
walking quietly down stairs on a dark morning, found themselves suddenly in
two or three feet depth of water. The late rector was one of these.
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{header- Sir John Barrow}
{image = G844A246.jpg}
New St. Spring Gardens, Feb. 12.
MR. URBAN,
IN your last month's Magazine you have given what the writer truly terms an
"imperfect catalogue" of articles by various authors in the Quarterly
Review, from its commencement to vol.XIX. with an intention to continue the
catalogue.
Now, as the contributions of my father Sir John Barrow to that incomparable
work appear thus "curtailed of all fair proportion," and as I am possession
of a complete list of his contributions, I send you, with his permission,
in a general way, the extent to which his assistance has been afforded to
his late excellent friend Mr. Gifford, one of the best scholars and most
able critics of the age.
The writer of your former essay is no doubt aware that a committee of
gentlemen, consisting of Mr. Canning, Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Hookham Frere,
Mr. George Ellis, and one or two more, originated the Quarterly Review, and
were, with the aid of Mr. Gifford, the chief contributors to the first two
or three volumes. But as this could not long continue without further
assistance, Mr. Canning urged my father strongly on this point, who was not
disposed, either on public or private grounds, to refuse compliance with a
request so reasonable from one who had always acted towards him with
cordiality and kindness, and as my father had just published a volume on
China and the Chinese, he selected for his first essay of reviewing
De Guigne's Account of the Dutch Embassy to Pekin, which appeared in
vol.ii. No.4, and from that time to vol.xix. inclusive, instead of 9
articles, which in your catalogue are correctly ascribed to Sir John
Barrow, he actually furnished, as appears by my list, no less than 75
articles, and from the commencement to the end of vol.xxxi (No.62) the
number he supplied amounted to 134. At this period Mr. Gifford's illness
obliged him to resign his editorship.
Mr. (now Sir John) Coleridge succeeded him for a short time, during which
my father continued as a contributor, and also with Mr. Lockhart, the
present editor, but to no great extent, having only supplied from No.62 to
No.145 for January of the present year, 1844, 69 articles, the last of them
being, as the first was, on Chinese affairs.
Thus then the whole number supplied in the course of 35 years amounts to
203, of which you would not thank me for a detailed account, nor do I
consider myself entitled to give it; but, if the following summary will
answer your purpose, you are at liberty to insert it:-
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{image = G844A247.jpg}
Voyages and Travels in every part of the Globe, British and Foreign. ... 86
Asiatic Nations; India; Persia; Asiatic Islands, &c. ... 28
North America and the Americans ... 15
Africa; Expeditions into the Interior - Slave Trade, &c. ... 23
Polar Voyages, and Arctic Expeditions by land ... 10
Papers on Ship-building; Dry Rot, &c. ... 12
Miscellaneous subjects connected with the Arts, Sciences, Inventions, and
Projections. ... 29
Making in the whole ... 203
They contain but little of general politics, and nothing of party warfare.
Yours, &c.
JOHN BARROW
{title- Gents Mag 1844 part 2 p.295}
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{header- Roman inscriptions, Hadrian's Wall}
{image = G844B295.jpg}
Mr. Smith read an extract from a letter from Mr. R. Weddell, of
Berwick-upon-Tweed:-
"I was recently at Gilsland, and from thence took several short trips to
examine the Roman wall in the vicinity. At Caervoran not a vestige remains.
The tenant has recently filled up the baths, &c. and the site of the
camp is covered in potatoes and turnips! Notwithstanding all that has been
done and said, down to Hodgson, (Hist. of Northumberland) much remains for
investigation, and I hope some of the Members of the Association will soon
direct their steps to that district. At Caervoran I saw an inscription
which I suspect has never been printed. It is on a stone with fluted sides,
ornamented on the top with a vase, and reads
{image = G844E02.jpg}
At Burdoswald another stone has been recently found, but the inscription is
much defaced, and part of the upper side has been lost. All I can make out
of it is,
{image = G844E03.jpg}
The tenant also shewed me a small brass coin of the emperor Licinius, much
defaced, which he lately found on his farm. The entrance to the camp
through the west wall is distinctly seen, and about midway between it and
the wall to the north are several large stones clasped together with iron
rods."
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{header- Kemp Howe, Shap}
{image = G844E01.jpg}
DRUIDICAL TEMPLE NEAR SHAP, WESTMORLAND
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{header- Kemp Howe, Shap}
{image = G844B381.jpg}
Druidical Temple near Shap.
MR. URBAN,
NOTWITHSTANDING the alleged increase in good taste at the present day, I
find it is the intention of the projectors of the Lancaster and Carlisle
Railway to carry their line through, and destroy, a most interesting
remnant of antiquity, the remains of a Druidical Temple situated in a field
the property of the earl of Lonsdale, on the road from Kendal to Shap, and
about 2 miles from the latter place. I am surprised that the noble Earl
should permit such barbarity, with such influence as he possesses over the
Company.
The accompanying sketch (Plate II.) of this curious monument, which
will probably be in a very short time no longer in existence, may be
interesting to your readers. It consists of 13 stones of Shap granite, the
largest of which is 7 or 8 feet high, placed on a circle about forty feet
in diameter.
Yours, &c.
DRUID.
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{header- Obituary, John Dalton}
{image = G844B431.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
JOHN DALTON, D.C.L., F.R.S.
July 27. John Dalton, D.C.L. Oxon., F.R.S. Lond. and Edinb.,
President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.
Dr. Dalton was born at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, in Cumberland, on the
5th of September, 1766, of respectable parents, members of the Society of
Friends. He gave early indications of mathematical ability. In 1781 he
became a mathematical teacher in Kendal, from whence he contributed largely
upon mathematical, philosophical, and general subjects, to the two annual
works called the "Gentleman's" and "Lady's Diary." In 1788 he commenced his
meteorological observations, which he continued throughout his life. In
1793 he published an octavo volume of "Meteorological Observations and
Essays." In the same year he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and
Natural Philosophy in the New College, Mosley-street, Manchester, and
continued to hold his office until the college was finally removed to York.
In 1808 he published "A New System of Chemical Philosophy," and a second
Part in 1810. He also frequently contributed to Nicholson's Journal, the
Annals of Philosophy, and the Philosophical Magazine, as well as to the
Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, of which,
for half a century, he was an active member, having, altogether with his
friend Dr. Edward Holme, M.D., F.L.S., been elected on the 25th of April,
1794. Indeed they were the oldest surviving members of the society, with
the sole exception of Sir George Philips, Bart., who became a member in
1785. Dr. Dalton had been President of this society since 1817. He was
elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821 or 1822, and was also a member
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of several foreign colleges. In 1826,
he was presented with a gold medal by the Royal Society for his scientific
discoveries; and in 1833 the sum of 2,000l. was raised by his
friends and townsmen for the erection of statue to perpetuate his
remembrance. The task was entrusted to Sir Francis Chantrey, who brought to
the execution of subject a warm admiration of the man, and a proportionate
desire to do him justice; and the statue when completed was depo-
{title- Gents Mag 1844 part 2 p.432}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1844 part 2 p.432}
{image = G844B432.jpg}
[depo]sited in the entrance hall of the Royal Manchester Institution.
The University of Oxford did itself high honour in conferring on the
septuagenarian philosopher the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. During Dr.
Dalton's visit to London, about 1833, it was thought by his friends that it
would be proper (if not consistent with his private feelings,) that he
should be presented to the King, and in that case the robes to which his
academic degree entitled him would be the fittest costume for him at the
levee. The Lord Chancellor (Brougham) being made acquainted with these
feelings, not only immediately approved of them, but offered himself to
present Dr. Dalton to the King. Dr. Dalton having been made acquainted with
the usual forms, agreed in the propriety of the view taken by his friends,
and attended the levee. King William received the philosopher very
graciously, and kindly relieved the little embarrassment of such an unusual
position, by addressing to him several questions respecting the interests
of the town of Manchester.
The mortal remains of this highly-esteemed individual were interred on the
12th August in a vault in Ardwick Cemetery, about a mile and a half distant
from Manchester. The body lay in state at the Town Hall, on Saturday, Aug.
10, and the public were allowed to pass through the room during the greater
part of the day. At 11 o'clock on Monday the procession moved from the Town
Hall in the following order:- About 500 members of various societies, 22
carriages, 330 gentlemen, 10 carriages, 100 members of the various
institutions, 36 carriages, the last of which contained the Mayor of
Manchester. The hearse, drawn by six horses. Six mourning coaches, drawn by
four horses each, containing the relatives and friends of the deceased,
followed by the members of the Philosophical Society. The procession moved
through the principal streets of the town, and was joined near the cemetery
by a large body of the Society of Friends. Most of the mills and workshops
were closed, as were also the whole of the shops in the principal streets
of the town. The vault in which the body was laid was allowed to remain
open until five o'clock in the evening, during which period many thousand
persons viewed the coffin.
{title- Gents Mag 1844 part 2 p.548}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1844 part 2 p.548}
{image = G844B548.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
JOHN DALTON, D.C.L. F.R.S.
We are now enabled to append to the brief particulars of this distinguished
philosopher, given in our last Magazine, p.431, the following more
connected account, delivered by the Very Rev. the Dean of Ely, in his
address as President of the recent meeting of the British Association at
York:
"Dr. Dalton was one of that vigourous race of Cumberland yeomen amongst
whom are sometimes found the most simple and primitive habits and manners
combined with no inconsiderable literary or scientific attainments. From
teaching a school as a boy in his native village of Eaglesfield near
Cockermouth, we find him at a subsequent period similarly engaged at
Kendal, where he had the society and assistance of Gough the blind
philosopher and a man of very remarkable powers, and of other persons of
congenial tastes with his own. In 1793, when in his 23rd year, he became
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the New College in
Mosley Street, Manchester, a situation which he continued to hold for a
period of six years, and until the establishment was removed to this city
(York), when he became a private teacher of the same subjects, occupying
for the purposes of study and instruction the lower rooms of the Literary
and Philosophical Society in George Street, rarely quitting the scene of
his tranquil and unambitious labours, beyond an annual visit to his native
mountains, with a joint view to health and meteorological observations.
He made his first appearance as an author in a volume of 'Meteorological
Observations and Essays,' which he published in 1793, and which contains
the germ of many of his subsequent speculations and discoveries; and his
first views of the Atomic Theory, which must for ever render his name
memorable as one of the great founders of chemical philosophy, were
suggested to him during his examination of the olefiant gas and carburetted
hydrogen gas. His theory was noticed in lectures which he delivered at
Manchester in 1803 and 1804, and much more explicitly in lectures delivered
at Edinburgh and Glasgow; it was, however, first made generally known to
the world in Dr. Thompson's Chemistry in 1807, and was briefly noticed in
his own System of Chemistry which appeared in the following year; and
though his claims to this great generalization were subject to some
disputes both at home and abroad, yet in a very short time both the
doctrine and its author were acknowledged and recognized by Wollaston,
Davy, Berzelius, and all the great chemists of Europe.
"But the atomic theory is not the only great contribution to chemical
science which we owe to Dalton; he discovered contemporaneously with
Gay-Lussac, with whom many of his researches run parallel, the important
general law of the expansion of gases - that for equal increments of
temperature, all gases expand by the same portion of their bulk, being
about three-eighths in proceeding from the temperatures of freezing and
boiling water. His contributions to meteorology were also of the most
important kind.
"Dr. Dalton was not a man of what are commonly called brilliant talents,
but of a singularly clear understanding and plain practical good sense; his
approaches to the formation of his theories were slow and deliberate, where
every step of his induction was made the object of long-continued and
persevering thought; but his convictions were based upon the true
principles of inductive philosophy, and when once formed, were boldly
advanced and steadily maintained. It is always unsafe, and perhaps unwise,
to speculate upon the amount of good fortune which is connected with the
time and circumstances of any great discovery, with some view to detract
from the credit of its author; and it has been contended that Wollaston,
Berzelius, and others, were already in the track which would naturally lead
to this great generalization; but it has been frequently and justly
remarked, that, if philosophy be a lottery, those only who play well are
ever observed to draw its prizes.
"Though Dalton's great discovery,' says the historian of the Inductive
Sciences, was 'soon generally employed, and universally spoken of with
admiration, it did not bring to him anything but barren praise, and he
continued in his humble employment when his fame had filled Europe, and his
name become a household word in the laboratory. After some years he was
appointed a Corresponding Member of the Institue of France, which may be
considered as a European recognition of the importance of what he had done;
and in 1826, two medals for the encouragement of science having been placed
at the disposal of the Royal Society by the King, one of them was assigned
to Dalton, 'for his development of the atomic theory.' In 1833, at the
meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which
was held at Cambridge, it was announced
{title- Gents Mag 1844 part 2 p.549}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1844 part 2 p.549}
{image = G844B549.jpg}
that the King had bestowed upon him a pension of 150l.; and at the
preceeding meeting at Oxford, that the University had conferred the degree
of Doctor of Laws, a step the more remarkable since he belonged to the sect
of Quakers. At all the meetings of the British Association he has been
present, and has always been surrounded with the reverence and admiration
of all who feel any sympathy with the progress of science. May he long
remain among us, thus to remind us of the vast advance which chemistry owes
to him.' This was written in 1837, the year in which a severe attack of
paralysis seriously impaired his powers; he last appeared among us at
Manchester, when he received the respectful homage of the distinguished
foreigners and others who were there assmebled."
At a recent meeting of the inhabitants of Manchester the following
resolution was come to:- "That it is desirable that a simple and suitable
memorial should be placed in the ecemetery at Ardwick over the mortal
remains of this illustrious philosopher and exemplary Christian; and that
it is most desirable to found a professorship of chemistry in some public
place in Manchester, to be named the 'Daltonian Professorship,' one object
of which shall be to illustrate the atomic theory, and the discoveries of
Dalton in connexion with other branches of physical science."
{title- Gents Mag 1844 part 2 p.660}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1844 part 2 p.660}
{image = G844B660.jpg}
Pp.431, 548. The will of Dr. John Dalton, of Manchester, has been
proved in Doctors' Commons, by William Nield, esq. Peter Clare, esq. and
the Rev. W. John, the executors, each of whom has a legacy of ninteen
guineas. The deceased gives the sum of 2,000l. to his executors "to
found a Professorship of Chemistry at Oxford" (but this is afterwards
revoked). To the Society fo Friends at Wigton, Cumberland, 300l. To
the school of the Society of Friends at Ackworth, York (attended by
deceased for twenty years), 500l. To Dr. Henry, late of Manchester,
but now of Hertford, all his manuscripts, &c. His gold and silver
medals presented to him "by the Royal Societies of London," he bequeaths to
the Manchester Philosophical Institution, of which he was President. To his
housekeeper he gives 200l. and the remaineder of his property to
various relations. The personal property is sworn under 4000l. -
The provision under the will (dated Dec. 22, 1841) relative to the
foundation of a Professorship of Chemistry at Oxford is as follows: "I also
give and bequeath to my executors the sum of 2,000l. and I request
my executors to found, endow, or support a Professorship of Chemistry at
Oxford, for the advancement of that science by lectures in which the Atomic
Theory, as propounded by me, together with the subsequent discoveries and
elucidations thereof, shall be introduced and explained." - However, in a
codicil (dated 26th June, 1843), Dr. Dalton revoked his bequest, with the
object, it is believed, of increasing the number and amount of several
legacies. In this codicil, he directs the 2,000l. to fall into the
general residue of his effects, and among other legacies gives the sum of
100l. to Dr. Daubeny, Professor of Chemistry and Botany in this
University. It is thought that one of Dr. Dalton's motives in making this
bequest was to testify the gratification he felt, to the last period of his
life, at the reception he met with from the Univesity, at a time when he
obtained the distinction of a Degree of D.C.L. during the meeting of the
British Association, at Oxford, in 1832, and as an acknowledgement to Dr.
Daubeny, for having been the means of persuading him to visit the
University at that time. Some years ago, Professor Daubeny published a work
on "The Atomic Theory," in illustration of Dr. Dalton's views, which he
dedicated to that philosopher, who expressed himself much gratified with
the contents, and pleased with the compliment.
{title- Gents Mag 1846 part 2 p.192}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1846 part 2 p.192}
{header- Effigy, Robert Southey}
{image = G846B192.jpg}
June 30. A new Church at Upperby was consecrated by the Lord
Bishop of the diocese, and the next day his lordship consecrated
Renwick Church, which has been rebuilt and enlarged.
A recumbent effigy of the poet Southey, executed in marble, by Mr. Lough,
of Newcastle, has been place in Crosthwaite Church, at the expense
of James Stanger, Esq. The costume is a plain gown or academical robes. The
right hand rests on a volume by his side; the left is placed on his breast.
This is the third monument erected to the memory of the Poet, there being a
bust in Bristol cathedral, and another in the Poet's Corner of Westminster
abbey.
{title- Gents Mag 1846 part 2 p.526}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1846 part 2 p.526}
{header- Lancaster and Carlisle Railway}
{image = G846B526.jpg}
Sept. 28. The first portion of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway,
to Kendal (Commenced in the latter part of September, 1843), was opened on
Monday. It extends twenty-two miles. On arriving at Kendal, the directors,
with their officers, and a large party of friends, repaired, by special
invitation from the directors of the Kendal and Windermere railway, to the
White Hall, where a handsome dejeuner awaited their arrival.
Cornelius Nicholson, esq. mayor of Kendal, presided.
{title- Gents Mag 1846 part 2 pp.632-633}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1846 part 2 pp.632-633}
{header- Knight Templar, Brougham}
{image = G846B632.jpg}
Mr. W. Brougham gave an account of the discovery of the supposed remains of
a knight-templar, during the late repairs of Brougham church, Westmoreland.
The sword (of which a drawing was shown) was in a perfect state; but Mr.
Brougham stated that only one spur had been found; a circumstance which may
possibly be attributed to the difficulty of adjusting the legs, which were,
as usual, crossed, to the dimensions of the wooden coffin in which the body
had been originally inclosed. It was remarkable that a fragment of glass of
undoubted Phoenician fabric was found with these remains. The general
opinion seemed to be, that it had been worn by the deceased as a talisman;
and it, in some degree, corrobo-
[corrobo]rated a tradition which, according to Mr. Brougham, had always
associated the interment in question with an ancestor of the family, said
to have joined one of the Crusades during the twelfth century
{title- Gents Mag 1847 part 1 p.593}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1847 part 1 p.593}
{header- Roman Altar, Clifton}
{image = G847A593.jpg}
ROMAN ALTAR FOUND IN CUMBERLAND.
{image = G847E01.jpg}
IN making the excavation of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Clifton,
the Roman Altar here represented was recently discovered. It is now the
property of Mr. G. Mould, esq. of Coldale Hall, near Carlisle; who, for the
inspection of the curious, has kindly deposited it in the yard of Mr.
Thomas Raper, stone-cutter, in Botchergate, previous to its being placed in
the private grounds adjoining his residence. The annexed engraving is
copied fror the Carlisle Patriot. The two figures of a vase and
praefericulum are on the sides of the altar; the back of it is plain and in
a rough state.
The inscription may be read thus:-
JOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO
GENIO LOCI
BRITANNICO
SOLVENS VOTUM AP-
OLLINA-
RIS PRIN-
CIPI CURAVIT FACIENDUM.
The nearest parallel inscription to this, found in Britain, with which we
are acquainted, is one on an altar found at Walton Castlesteads, in the
parish of Haltwhistle, on the line of the Roman Wall, (Hodgson,*
p.215) -
I O M ET G
LOCI G VI ...
In justification of our reading, "Genio loci Britannico," we may refer to
another altar, found at Achindavy, also on the Roman Wall, (Hodgson, p.266)
- Inscribed GENIO TERRAE BRI-
{title- Gents Mag 1847 part 1 p.594}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1847 part 1 p.594}
{image = G847A594.jpg}
TANNICAE M. COCCEI FIRMUS > (centurio) LEG II AUG.
A celebrated altar, found at Virosadum, now Elenborough, and which was
esteemed by Horsley as "the finest and most curious Roman altar that ever
was discovered in Britain," was erected by Gaius Cornelius Peregrinus,
"GENIO LOCI, FORTUNAE REDUCI, ROMAE AETERNAE ET PATO BONO." (Hodgson,
p.241.)
A votive tablet found at York, and now in the museum of the Yorkshire
Philosophical Society, is inscribed GENIO LOCI FELICITER. (See it described
and discussed in Wllbeloved's Eburacum, 1842, p.93.)
{header- Roman Altar, Old Carlisle}
Before we conclude we may take notice of another altar found at Olenacum,
or Old Carlisle, discovered since Mr. Hodgson wrote, and recently
communicated by Mr. John Rooke, of Akehead, near Wigton, through Mr. Saull,
to the British Archaeological Association. It bears the following
inscription,
DEAE BEL
LONAE RUF
INUS PRAE
EQ. ALAE AUG
ET LAINIA
NUS FIL
On this occasion it was remarked by Mr. C. Roach Smith, that this
inscription is the only one yet found in this island dedicated to Bellona,
although we learn from one of the old Roman historians, that there was a
temple of Bellona at York.
{title- Gents Mag 1847 part 1 pp.645-646}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1847 part 1 pp.645-646}
{header- Carlisle Cathedral, Restoration}
{image = G847A645.jpg}
CUMBERLAND.
The Dean and Chapter are proceeding with the restoration of Carlisle
Cathedral. A Handsome parapet has been erected along the front of the
gallery over the triforium on the north side of the choir. The design is an
open quatrefoil, and adds much to the beauty of one of the most richly
decorated choirs in England. Work-
{image = G847A646.jpg}
[Work]men are now employed in repairing the window on the west side of the
transept, preparatory to the insertion of a stained glass memorial of the
late Chancellor, the Rev. W. Fletcher, M.A.
{title- Gents Mag 1847 part 2 p.529}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1847 part 2 p.529}
{header- Lanercost Priory, and Christ Church, Whitehaven}
{image = G847B529.jpg}
CUMBERLAND.
Sept. 16. During a high wind the roof of Lanercost Abbey fell
in with a loud crash, bearing everything down beneath it. The unfortunate
event happened during the night, and is attributed to the ruined state of
the rafters.
The new church named Christ Church, Whitehaven, has been consecrated
by the Lord Bishop of Chester, assisted by the Rev. Richard Parkinson,
principal of St. Bee's college, and about thirty other clergymen.
{title- Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.369}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 1 p.369}
{header- Visit to Brougham Hall}
{image = G848A369.jpg}
...
A VISIT TO BROUGHAM HALL,
In a letter addressed to James Dearden, Esq. of the Orchard and Handle
Hall, Lancashire.
MY DEAR DEARDEN - You ask me for some account of the old embattled mansion
of Brougham Hall, the seat of the ex-Chancellor Lord Brougham, and which
through the kindness of his lordship I visited last autumn.
The domain is in Westmorland, though upon the extreme border and nigh unto
Cumberland, and is situated amid a succession of gradually diminishing
woody hills and green headlands, which connect the open country with the
mighty mountainous chain surrounding the lakes.
The nearest town is Penrith, and from hence a pleasant walk of a mile or so
on the Shap road brings you to the gate, after passing through a succession
of inclosures sprinkled with old gabled cottages and farm-houses, clothed
in a most luxuriant garb of wild rose and honeysuckle, intermingled with
the darker ivy. The first distinct view from the road is immediately after
passing the old British remain "King Arthur's round table," and before
ascending the celebrated and no less picturesque bridge of Lowther, so well
known as the spot where Cluny Macpherson engaged the advanced guard of the
Duke of Cumberland in 1745, and brought off the artillery belonging to the
Highland army. From this place the old hall assumes a very imposing
appearance. Grey, venerable, and massive, it crowns the summit of a
precipitous bank, and from its resemblance has been not inaptly termed the
Windsor of the North.
The principal feature from this point of view is a huge square tower,
embrasured and machicolated, rising above and connecting itself with
various masses of embattled buildings, and grouping in the most pictorial
fashion with the aged trees which feather the steep descent to the river.
Nothing could be more picturesque than it was as I first saw it, sometimes
for a moment reposing its darkened and shadowy mass of battlements and
towers upon the white, driving, fleecy clouds, and the next standing out in
high relief upon a back-ground of deep blue sky or deeper cloud, with all
its small irrregular and diamond-paned casements sparkling and glittering
in the sun. Crossing Lowther Bridge, the vsitor leaves the main road
through the park gate, and passing for a short distance through the wood,
finds himself beneath the terrace immediately in front of the great tower,
which seems to have been constructed, from the situation and direction of
the machicolations, with the intention of defending this part of the
approach.
The road now winds round the base of the buildings, splayed down and but-
{title- Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.370}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 1 p.370}
{image = G848A370.jpg}
[but]tressed at intervals, and in some parts discovering portions of
scarped rock, revealing the foundations of the edifice. A narrow ribbed
bridge over head at one point connects the terrace with the chapel, beneath
which the road advances, and thence through the upper part of an old
avenue, between the ruins of the castle and the hall, to the principal
gateway, a low heavy tower, partially covered with ivy, through which peer
out two or three most significant loop holes, giving assurance of and
bearing winess to the warm reception unwelcome visitors might have got in
the days of yore. Beneath the arch swings an ancient and most formidable
pair of iron-studded oak-plank gates, four inches thick, with a small
wicket for foot passengers. These gates are now so much dilapidated that
they are suffered to repose against each side, and a modern, frail, barred
gate usurps their ancient occupation.
The old oaks in the avenue are getting stag-headed, and seem fast dying
away, more's the pity, forming as they do so desirable an accompaniment,
with their shattered and knarled branches twisted in all manner of
fantastic forms, so delightful to the artist. What a strange charm there is
in these stunted, doddered old trees, and still more so in the feudal and
embattled halls of the ancient gentry, hoary with age and the war of
elements and of man, with all their historic and romantic associations;
crisp with partially decaying masonry, and tinted by lichen, mosses, and
all the small vegetation which so much delights in old walls.
Passing through the archway, the antiquary is delighted with the large
venerable courtyard into which he thus gains admittance, surrounded by
buildings of various ages, though none to appearance later than the time of
Henry VII. and arranged in the most picturesque and irregular manner,
partly covered with ivy, and the walls gray with the weather-stains of
centuries. The edifice is in great part built of the limestone of the
district, which assumes a variety of tone and colour after long exposure to
the atmosphere. The windows, doorways, &c. are of sandstone. From this
court a stone-groined arched passage beneath a tower large enough for
carriages leads into a second court, appertaining to the offices, stables,
&c. and having a clock tower, and another arched gatehouse leading into
the park. The principal suite of apartments occupies three sides of the
large court first entered, and in the centre a porch, embattled and with
buttresses, admits through a most hospitable-looking archway into a sort of
cloistered passage running along the entire front of this range of the
buildings, and through it into the great hall, a magnificent apartment, and
worthy to banquet the best of all its noble and learned owner's most
distinguished friends. Its dimensions are from forty to fifty feet long by
twenty wide and high, with an oaken roof resting on spandrils, the whole
illuminated with gold and brilliant colours, lately renovated. The walls
are paneled with napkin paneling some twelve feet high, and above hang
demi-suits of armour, intermixed with weapons and stags' antlers. At the
upper end of the hall is the fireplace, richly carved in stone, and beneath
its wide yawning arch is a reredos and andirons or dogs, bearing the arms
of Henry VII, for burning wood, Above are two full suits of armour, one
bright, and the other allecret, and between them a beautiful demi-suit of
bright steel inlayed with gold. Grouping with these military accoutrements
are pennoncels and banners. In a recessed part of the wall, upon the court
cupboard, stand various old pieces of silver-gilt plate and other matters
of antiquity, and upon the paneling are suspended guns, old matchlocks,
swords, and other weapons, which, from their family associations and
interest, are hung low for greater convenience of examination; the most
particular of which is the old Saxon horn, a very interesting relic, by
possession of which some how or other the lands were anciently held. At the
bottom of the hall is a screen of richly-carved oak, perforated; and here
stand other three full cap-à-pie suits of bright armour; one a very
fine suit, temp. Henry VI., another, a fluted suit, time of Henry VIII.,
and the third of Elizabeth's reign. The old flagged stone floor has been
recently replaced by encaustic tiles, having the armorial devices of the
family inlaid upon quar-
{title- Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.371}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 1 p.371}
{image = G848A371.jpg}
[quar]ries; and the windows, six in number, are filled with painted glass
of old German manufacture, seemingly of the date of Emperor Maximillian. In
a quiet corner, near the screen, hangs a Crusader's sword, said to be the
sword of Udard de Broham, temp/ Henry II. A.D. 1175, and of intense
interest, from its having been brought with a prick spur from his tomb in
the chancel of Brougham church. Through the hall and looking out upon the
terrace, over the woods and up the vale of Lowther, is the dining-room, a
low-roofed wainscoted room, also of napkin paneling, but much finer and
more delicately executed than that of the hall, of the time of Henry VI.
and with an elaborately-carved chimney-piece, representing some battle
scene, carved oak doors, &c. Above this room, and approached by a
staircase carved in oak, with twisted bannister rails, is the old
drawing-room, exactly of the same size, perhaps thirty feet long, but
somewhat loftier, and with numerous heraldic achievements emblazoned in the
spaces between the heavy cross beams at their intersections. The walls are
hung with tapestry of the time of Charles II. and in capital preservation;
the colouring as good and brilliant as new. Over the carved fireplace are
the arms of Edward VI. with his initials. Opposite to the door of the
dining-room is Lord Brougham's own room, also paneled, but with plain
panels painted white, crammed with books and papers, pictures, prints, and
a most delightful and comfortable room, having one of the richest views
imaginable of woods, water, patches of green and cultivated land, in
endless variety, and backed by the range of mountains hemming in and
forming the eternal barriers of the lakes.
A flight of steps within the screen leads to a small drawing-room, which is
fitted up in the modern fashion, but with an old oak mantlepiece, carved
doors, and ribbed roof, with windows opening out into the gardens. Beyond
this room is the library, - as may be supposed the most imposing and
sumptuous apartment in the house, of large but unequal form, and fitted
around with heavy oak carved book-presses, well filled with books, of the
quality of which it is superfluous to speak. Above these presses the wall
is hung with Cordovan leather, gilt and painted, and upon this costly
ancient material hang a series of family portraits of various ages and
costumes. The roof is highly enriched with carvings, illuminated
missal-wise.
Retracing our steps down the cloistered stone passage, through the screen
and up the great hall, an iron clenched door opens upon the grand
staircase, with stone-arched doorways and openings to galleries from the
various landings on the ponderous oaken stairs. In one upper corner the
walls show a gathering-up of masonry upon corbelled projections, which
seems to betoken some covered-up secret chamber or private stair; or
perhaps the support of some superstructure in the shape of a tower or
turret above the roof, all giving evidence of Edwardian character. In
recent repairs of this staircase, much old oak has been brought from
Scailes Hall, another old property long in the possession of the family,
and now also belonging to his lordship. Curious ancient glazing in plain
glass, but much infinity of pattern in leaded forms, lights the staircase;
and the roof is very rich and handsome, with a brass chandelier of
flamboyant character, and perhaps Spanish or French origin.
Many of the bed-rooms are hung with tapestry, wainscoted, or decorated with
stamped or gilt leather, and furnished with antique oak, marquetrie, and
buhl furniture. In one room, hung with dingy, faded tapestry, beside a
carved oaken bedstead furnished with thick old silk, the carpet upon being
displaced shows a trap-door in the wormed oaken-planked floor, and this
leads down a flight of stone steps, through the centre of the house, in the
thickness of an inner wall, down into a small stone vault, and eventually
out amongst the brushwood under the terrace; a very significant feature of
the frail tenure upon which men held their lives and lands in the "good old
days." However much and deservedly we may admire this most pictureque and
interesting of all styles of architecture, we most certainly ought to feel
thankful we live in an age when so romantic an adjunct to a bed-room is no
longer necessary.
Another of these bed-rooms, the
{title- Gents Mag 1848 part 1 p.372}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1848 part 1 p.372}
{image = G848A372.jpg}
walls decorated with Dutch leather, brilliantly gilt and painted, contains
a magnificent, ponderous, old bedstead of carved oak, covered thick and
thicker with all the heraldries of all the Talbots. It came originally from
Sheffield Castle, through various possessors, until purchased by Mr. Watt
of Aston Hall, Birmingham, and presented by him to his lordship. How many a
tale of romance does this frowning old bed seem cognizant of, perhaps
occupied by Mary Queen of Scots during her long confinement under the Earl
of Shrewsbury; her eyes fixed upon the heraldic pomp of her lordly keeper,
but her heart far away, either in her own land of blue mountains, or in gay
and regretted France.
Its modern occupant, if endowed with thought, may doze and dream away a
thousand and one tales of terror and love in connection with this fine old
relic of domestic economy, and yet perhaps, after all, not the least
interesting part of its history may be its having been presented by James
Watt to Henry Brougham.
From the "armourie" chamber, a flight of corbel stone steps, projecting
from the wall, leads to a strange sort of gallery, which appears to be
immediately over the machicolations of the great tower, and from which
missiles of offence had in ancient times been projected. Since the armoury
has been converted into a sleeping room, the openings of the machicolations
have been closed, and the passage now assumes quite a Udolphoish dreamy
character, and worthy of Mrs. Radcliffe. This room, though divested of its
ancient appurtenances, still boasts a fine,old, timbered roof with the
tooth ornament of Edward III's. time, and the bed of oak is hung with faded
embroidered curtains of no modern date; the window, fire-place, all
speaking of distant years.
This grim old apartment was described to me as being before its change a
strange old-world scene, such as rarely now can be met with; armour
hanging, decayed and rusty, piecemeal upon its walls; in some places
dropped upon its floor, and struggling with accumulated dust and cobwebs
for the slightest chance of being visible, intermingled with ragged
pennoncels dropping from their hooks, bundles of pikes and other weapons;
in fact a scene to which George Cattermole's pencil alone would have done
justice.
The muniment room I have a vague suspicion is most quaint and redolent of
iron-clasped, worm-eaten coffers, with clumsy, cankered locks, and all the
other decaying interests usual in such matters - musty parchments -
charters - huge seals - brazen-clasped books - inventories, &c. Of
these things rumours are afloat, but few know the truth, and I, alas! know
not even the situation thereof. I suspect, like the similar room in the
Castle of Glammis of Shakespearian and Macbeth notoriety, no person but the
lord, his heir, and the senechal of the castle, are allowed to know its
security.
Throughout the various dressing and sleeping rooms there is an endless
variety of ancient decoration, tapestry, leather, panelling, faded brocade,
and embroidered silks, oaken carved grotesque bedsteads, garderobes, chairs
of all shapes and conveniences, chimneys with raised hearths and with
andirons; and yet all made choicely convenient by the addition of modern
utilities our ancestors knew not of, but so admitted as to harmonize as
much as possible with the more ancient arrangements.
In making some alterations in one of the towers, some Norman work in the
shape of an arched recess was found, and this room is now being repaired to
give it a character somewhat in accordnace with the date of the ancient
work there discovered. A large stone arch divides the room, or rather forms
a sort of recess for the bed, which is to be made from old drawings and
illuminations, and a piece of tapestry of high antiquity will be drawn
across the inside of the arch instead of having curtains to the bed. The
chimney-piece is of Norman zigzag work with inlaid tiled hearth; the walls
of wattled work in stone, part tinted azure, with an intermixture of gold;
and above the arch in the spandrels are two of the Norman kings on thrones,
painted from original drawings, and the whole surmounted by a heavy carved
and painted roof. This is and will be one of the most singular rooms in the
kingdom when completed.
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Returning once more to the baronial hall, with its fifteenth century gloom
and chivalric recollections, and passing thence along the stone cloistered
passage, access is gained by a postern door heavily hinged and bolted to
the terrace, at one end of which the bridge before mentioned as passing
high overhead above the principal approach leads to the chapel - a low and
very ancient building, apparently sunk in the earth, and grey with lichen
and moss, but inside of uncommon splendour. Dr. Markham, a prebendary of
Carlisle, in a MS. which relates principally to the ecclesiastical matters
of the diocese, and written about 1680, says, "At the mansion of Browham
stand a chapel of a very anctient erection. In the year 1377 Johannes de
Burgham is said to have had 'Capellam apud Browham Scte. Wilfrido sacram
antiquis temporibus fundatum,' and that a chaplain attended divine
offices at it.
The roof is an open timbered one, consisting of a series of arches, and
carved with armorial insignia of the family. The seats are open benches,
that standards and poppy heads all richly carved, and the pulpit a piece of
very fine late work. One part of the chapel is divided from the rest by an
elaborate parclose screen, forming an ante-chapel, in which is placed the
organ and choir. There is a fine altar-piece of the most gorgeous
character, brought from the continent, and placed by Mr. William Brougham
in its present situation, the original one of very old carved oak being
removed to the west end of the chapel. There is also a very curious old
lace altar-cloth. In an ambry are a collection of antique ecclesiastical
vessels of silver gilt, with sundry relics of enamelled crosses, pyx,
monstrance, &c. The windows contain much good painted glass,
particularly that in the eastern one, which bears a very strong resemblance
to the glass in the celebrated transept window known as the Five Sisters in
York Cathedral. The discarded stone flag, formerly the altar, I searched in
vain for among the flags of the floor, where it is so frequently found,
with its five crosses, in old churches; but the piscina yet remains. There
is a traditional story that the chapel was built over the holy well of St.
Wilfred, from which water is said to have risen up inside the font, by what
in all other fonts is the drain to carry off the water to the earth. This,
however, if it ever did exist, has long since ceased to act. The chapel,
hall, terrace, court-yard, &c. stand upon the site of the ancient Roman
station Brovacum or Brovoniacum, from which it is supposed by Camden and
others that the name arises; and behind the chapel, the Roman altars, and
other remains of inscriptions, now built up in the walls of the great court
to preserve them, were found. Dr. Markham, in the MS. before quoted, A.D.
1680, thus writes:- "That Browham was a Roman station is evident from the
many Roman altars which have been frequently dug up here. In the year 1602
one was discovered near the confluence of the rivers Lowther and Eamont,
with these letters inscribed,-
IMP
C. VAL
CONSTAN
TINO
PIENT
AUG
and of late years several of the like kind have been found in the fields,
but so shattered and defaced by the rashness and negligence of the workmen
and labourers, that the characters are not legible." These are now, as
before stated, in the great court near the entrance gate tower, in a quiet
snug corner, not exposed to any danger. Gale, in his edition of the
Itinerary of Antoninus, ed. 1719, p.97,- the latter part of the fifth
journey from London to Carlisle,- gives "Brovaco," Brougham, the
intermediate station between Brough and Carlisle. Camden and Stukeley also
mention the station. In Caxton's Chronicle, "The Description of Englande,"
&c. is the following passage:- "Other men wolde suppose yt Alcluid was
that cite that now is called Burgham, in the north cou~tre of
Westmorlonde, fast by Comberland, and standeth by the river Eden. The cite
is there wondrously seen."
The family burial aisle is not in the chapel at the hall, but in the
chancel of Brougham church, or as sometimes called "Nine Kirks;" and here
from
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the Saxon times have the family constantly deposited their dead. A quieter
and more peacable resting place could not well be imagined. It is between
three and four miles from the hall, lying apart from any habitation in a
sequestered nook of land occupying the bend of the river, and altogether is
one of thoses little quaint old-world spots consecrated by religion which
are more frequently mentioned in books than to be found in reality.
The church itself is a very similar structure to the chapel at Brougham,
but not near in so good repair, and has a musty, mouldy smell of decay so
usual in such out-of-the-way churches. Beside the chancel door lie three
stone coffin-lids, seemingly kicked out of the chancel to make room for
some subsequent memorials, since become also antiquated, and till of late
years but little either noticed or cared for. The church has an open
timbered oaken roof, arches with wind braces, &c. and, in spite of
repairs circa 1660, which have destroyed and nearly obliterated the
original architecture, it has a solemn gloom, from the smallness of its
round-headed windows, filled with dim old dingy and smudged green glass.
The principal object of attraction is the disinterment made in the year
1846, and so well described in the Archaeological Journal by Mr. Brougham,
with attendant notes by Mr. Albert Way. Oaken trap-doors have been
contrived, in the most judicious manner, which lift up with rings, and now
disclose the remains, as discovered, but minus the relics of the spur,
metallic end of horn, and sword, now at the hall. The first skeleton
discovered was cross-legged, and with the spur in question upon the
left-heel, but with none on the right, or any trace of there having been
any. This curious fact, in opposition to the well-known importance attached
to a pair of spurs, has caused much speculation. One similar instance is
mentioned by Mr. Way, but of a more remote period. Some of the figures
amongst the anceint decorations of the Painted Chamber at Westminster are
so portrayed in the Vestuta Monumenta. This skeleton is known to be that of
Udard de Brougham, who flourished in the 12th century, and is surmounted by
a flag or coffin-lid, incised with a cross flory and a cross-hilted sword,
with what appears to be a sort of circular shield. This stone tradition has
always pointed out as the "Crusader's tomb." Upon another incised flag,
with a cross and sword upon it, is a rough incision of the letter B, and
this is supposed to cover the remains of Gilbert de Broham, who succeeded
Udard, and died 1230. Nine of these skeletons were examined, and with one
supposed to be Saxon, was discovered a circlet seemingly of silver gilt,
and apparently the end of a horn. It is about three inches in diameter and
three quarters of an inch broad, and covered with interlacing work,
intermingled with a sort of cherub with the hands raised. As only two
incised flags are remaining, it may not be improbable that those on the
outside may appertain to these remains. It would at all events be
interesting to lift them from their present resting-place, and examine what
is beneath.
In the family vault, close by where these skeletons lay, are several
coffins of lead of various ages, and one large one of stone filled with
bones; collected into this no doubt to make room for others.
What storms have passed over the land since the remote period when these
lifeless figures lorded it over the surrounding country in all the pomp and
circumstance of barbarous power! How peaceful now, with not a sound to
dispel their rest, but the gurgling of the adjacent river, or the sighing
of the breeze! The stillness is so solemn that the opening of the
rusty-hinged heavy chancel door is quite startling, and the harsh grating
of the trap-doors sounds enough to awaken the sleepers of the six and eight
centuries below.
Dr. Markham further says, "From Browham or (as it was sometimes
writ) Burgham, an ancient and warlike family took their surname and
designation. They resided and flourished at this place for several ages. In
or about the reign of Edward I. Gilbertus de Burgham was in possession of
the whole, which he held in drengagio, a sort of military service,
from the Danish word drenge, which signifies a servant. One moiety
of the estate and manor he remits and gives up with the mill and advowson
of the
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Church, and all his land in the forest of Whinfell and Hamels, to Robert de
Veteripont, on condition that the other half should be free from that
tenure to him and his posterity. Of late years Henry Browham, esq. a
descendant of the said Gilbert, sold the possession, and removed to
Scailes, with the parish of Skelton, co. Cumb. where some account has been
given of the family." In the margin is added in a later hand, "In this year
1716 John Browham, esq. repurchased the estate, and is now in possession of
it."
The first of the names is Walter de Browham, antecedent to the Conquest,
and the next Wilfred, whose cross-legged skeleton was discovered in the
church. In the records of the Exchequer is a document showing that he was
fined in the 22d year of Henry II. for joining the rebels Barons, and he is
there called "Udardus de Broham." He was governor of Appleby castle, and
was beaten, together with Gospatrick, son of Orme, at Appleby, by William
King of Scots, who had entered the northern provinces 1174, with an army of
80,000 men, during the absence of Henry in France. He took the castles of
Carlisle, Penrith, and Appleby, the last being then considered the key to
England, being the guard of the mountain pass of Stainmore. In fact Udard,
his kinsman De Morville, Earl Gospatrick, and others were at this time
rebelling against Henry, so that their opposition to the King of Scotland
was not likely to be very strenuous. These internal disturbances brought
Henry back from France, who quickly defeated the Scotch, and brought the
rebellious Barons under subjection, Udard and others escaping abroad, and
joining the second Crusade. Gilbert de Broham his son gave up half his
estate to Robert de Veteripont, who was then sheriff of Westmorland, but
not in the time of Edward I., as stated in the Markham MS., but in the
reign of King John, as shown by a deed now in the Rolls Chapel. He paid a
fine for his non-attendance upon that monarch into Normandy, and his name
appears on the "oblata roll" of the 2nd of King John, preserved in the
Tower of London, amongst the Drenges of Westmoreland,- "Walter de Harcla,"
"Tailboys Baron of Kendal," "John de Morvill," and "Gilbert de Broham." In
the deed with Veteripont he spells his name "de Burgham," but here "de
Broham." It appears that the Norman tower forming the keep to the castle of
Brougham (afterwards so long one of the residences of the powerful family
of the Cliffords, Earls of Westmorland, but now in ruins), together with
the advowson of the church and a considerable estate, at this time passed
from the family; but they never parted with the manor.
To Gilbert succeeds Henry de Burgham, less celebrated than his modern
namesake, and to him John de Burgham, sheriff of Westmoreland in 1351. Sir
John de Burgham, knight, the next in descent, settles a disputed boundary
with Sir Roger Clifford, knight; and their instrument, dated 2nd of Richard
II., is in the Rolls Chapel. In 1383 Sir John de Burgham was knight of the
shire for the county of Cumberland. His son, John de Burgham, also sat in
Parliament for Carlisle, 1394 and 1396, and was succeeded by Thomas de
Burgham, who in 1486 also was member for Cumberland. Succeeding him, we
have John Burgham, the prefix "de" being now laid aside, who, by post
mortem inquisition in 1494, is found seized of the manor of Brougham.
John his son, 1504, married a daughter of Dudley of Yanwath Hall; succeeded
by Gilbert Burgham, temp. Henry VIII. Thomas Burgham next follows, Lord of
Brougham, A.D. 1553; married Jane, daughter of John Vaux of Catterlen and
Tryermayne - hence the title Lord Brougham and Vaux. Henry Burgham,
temp. Elizabeth. Thomas Browham demises to Agnes, his widow, "all that
manor, capital, messuage, and demesne lands called Brougham Hall," &c.
He died childless, and was succeeded by Peter Brougham, his uncle, who
married Anne, daughter and heiress of John Southaic, of Scailes Hall, in
Cumberland, representative of the Boyvills, feudal barons of Levington, and
descended also from Ivo de Tailboyes, lord of Kendal. Henry Brougham, of
Scailes and Blackhall, about 1622. Thomas Brougham, of Scailes Hall,
sheriff of Cumberland, died 1645. Henry Brougham, esq. of Scailes Hall, his
son, is thus mentioned in Bishop
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Nicolson's MS. collections relative to ancient neighbouring families,
written in 1675. "Next adjoining Squire Browham, ancient heir male of all
the Squire Browhams of Browham Hall, in Westmoreland, built him a very fine
house at Scales, and lives there," &c. He married the heiress of the
Lamplughs, and was succeeded by his grandson, John Brougham, of Brougham,
Scales Hall, and Highhead Castle, in Cumberland, the latter property coming
by his mother, the heiress of the Richmonds. John Brougham died 1756, and
was succeeded by Henry Brougham, his brother, whose son Henry was father to
the present representative of the family, Henry Lord Brougham and Vaux,
ex-Chancellor, &c. His Lordship's grandmother was sister to Robertson
the historian.
The panoramic views from the towers and the terrace over the richly wooded
and picturesque neighbourhood embrace also many objects of great historic
interest: the more ancient fortress of Brougham Castle, in ruins, forfeited
in King John's stormy reign, and subsequently a favourite residence of of
the Cliffords, Earls of Westmorland; the druidical circle of Mayburgh, of
such uncertain and remote antiquity; the moated mound called "Kiing
Arthur's Round Table:" the village of Clifton, celebrated for the skirmish
interwoven by Sir Walter Scott into the charming romance of Waverly;
Clifton Hall, an old border tower; Yanwath Hall, also embattled, and with
two towers; Penrith, with its ruined castle, Beacon Hill, and Giant's
Gravestones; the Countess's Pillar, where the celebrated Anne, Countess of
Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery, the heiress of the Cliffords and the
Vescis, so well known for her reparation of her castles, even during
Cromwell's lifetime, and her subsequent stern answers to the political
application from the corrupt court of Charles II., last parted with her
good and pious mother.
These are a few, hastily enumerated, amongst the many scenes and objects of
interest which present themselves within view from the leads of this
favoured mansion; and when we remember that the hall, as before stated,
stands upon the Roman station from which its name is derived; that the
family have been here located from the time of the Heptarchy; that the
various buildings show remains of architecture, from the ponderous Norman
workmanship, through successive centuries, to the renovations of the
present day; and, in addition to this, that the domain is in the far-famed
county of Westmorland, and within a bowshot of Cumberland, and surrounded
by scenery scarcely equalled, certainly not excelled, whether we take the
rich home views or the more distant serrated ridges of its mountain
horizon, - it must be allowed that, either in historic or romantic interest
of situation, scenic beauty of locality, or picturesque character of the
edifice, Brougham Hall has few rivals.
Faithfully yours,
GEO. SHAW.
St. Chad's Uppermill, Saddleworth, Manchester.
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MR. URBAN,
WE were sorry for the sake of truth, - we grieved on account of the
violence done to archaeological science, - as, in your number for April
last, we silently perused a most inflated letter of fine writing
descriptive of Brougham Hall, so called, in the county of Westmoreland, the
estate of Lord Brougham. This letter purports to come from the pen of a Mr.
George Shaw, St. Chad's Upper Mill, Saddleworth, who, it appears, had been
on a visit to Brougham Hall, and who seems to have taken upon himself the
office of sponsor, not only for the description of external objects which
he pretends he did see there, but also for other wonderful
revelations of family antiquity which he did not see, and which
never had existence, save and except in the fertile
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inventions of those interested, who furnished him with the spurious
information. This letter first appeared in the Manchester Guardian, and was
thence transferred, with proper emendendations and additions, to the
pages of your long-established and useful periodical; and we have only to
say that, if this ridiculous letter was thus industriously published for
the purpose of conveying to the public mind certain high notions as regards
the antiquity of Brougham Hall, the thing is a perfect hoax from beginning
to end.
It would be tedious to follow Mr. Shaw step by step in all his turnings and
windings through this enchanted castle. We shall therefore content
ourselves with merely selecting a few specimens, in order to satisfy you of
the imposition intended to be put upon the public by the epistle of Mr.
George Shaw of Saddleworth.
In the first place, the house in question never had a tower at all
belonging to it till the year 1832, when the "huge square tower," as Mr.
Shaw calls it, was built;* and therefore, when Mr. Shaw mentions the
"huge square tower," or the great tower, which is the same thing, as
evidently constructed to defend the pass in the approach," and the "strange
sort of gallery, which appears to be over the machicolations of the great
tower (the same again), and from whence missiles of offence had in ancient
times been projected," - we say, when he was so describing this apology of
a tower, he knew perfectly well such tower was entirely new in 1832, and
that consequently nothing but chamber missiles would, in all human
probability, be thrown from that tower since the said year of our Lord
1832; yea, and the more likely to be so as this strange, queer gallery, we
are told, has since that time been turned into a bed-room "with quite a
Udulphoish, dreamy character!"
Then as to the "low, heavy-towered gateway," with its "significant
loop-holes," which were to give the "unwelcome visitors of yore a warm
reception," and the out-offices in the yard, with which "the antiquary is
delighted, of various ages, though none to appearance later than the time
of Henry VII." - "covered with ivy and the weather-stains of centuries,"
and "stone-groined arched passage," &c. - would you believe they were
all erected in the reigns of George III. George IV. William IV. and
Victoria, but principally in that of our most gracious queen Victoria!!
But the remarkable discovery which it was reserved for Mr. George Shaw to
make was "some Norman work in the shape of an arched recess, in making some
alterations in one of the towers; and this room now being repaired (mark
the word!) to give it a character somewhat in accordance with the date of
the ancient work there discovered." Good gracious, Sir! this small room
(there is no tower), called the Norman room, under which is the
before-named groined arch, was only newly erected in 1844. Now this is a
discovery indeed, for which Mr. George Shaw desrves a gold medal! The
"gathered-up masonry" upon corbelled projections of "Edwardian character,"
together with the grand staircase, were totally new erections in the years
1843-44; and the "trap-door in the wormed oaken-planked floor leading out
amongst the brush-wood," notwithstanding Mr. Shaw's melting soliloquy,
never existed, except in his pompous letter, and if sought for will be
found in the Greek calends, but not till then.
As to the nicknackery displayed on the inside walls of the house, such as
suits of armour, match-lock guns, military accoutrements, spears,
pennoncels, banners, &c. "objects of interest, from their family
associations," (hear'st thou, Mars!) they have all been brought down from
the various curiosity shops in Wardour Street and elsewhere since 1830; and
the same may be said of nearly every like article in the house. And as to
the cow-horn lately hung up - we beg pardon, the "old Saxon horn, a very
interesting relic, by possession of which, somehow or other, the
lands were anciently held;" and the "Crusader's sword, in a quiet corner,
of intense interest from its having been brought, with a prick-spur, from
the tomb of Udard de Brougham, in the chancel of Brougham church," are two
of the most rampant and audacious fictions ever attempted in modern times
to be foisted on public credulity.
The account of the chapel is equally
* See Cobbett's Register, 17 Nov. 1832.
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absurd. This edifice was erected for the accommodation of the inhabitants
of Brougham Village, which is situated near three miles from the parish
church, and was up to 1833 quite a plain building, with a common barn-like
roof. It has since been ceiled to the slates, and each side of the roof
divided into many compartments, and each division contains an escutcheon of
stucco, not carved, but plain plaster, not one of which coats of arms can
we find has any reference to the Brougham family whatever. Bedecked with
gold and ornaments, the whole affair is but gilt gingerbread; it is
gingerbread still. The fiction about St. Wilfred's Well in this chapel was
never before heard of. The "open carved benches and pulpit," the "parclose
screen," the "old lace altar-cloth," the "ambry," and "collection of old
ecclesiastical vessels, processional cross, and pyx," are all inventions
and importations here since 1833; nor was there a vestige of stained glass
in it prior to that date: since which time Lord Brougham has appropriated,
or wishes to appropriate, this chapel to his own use.
Then, as to the Crusader's grave, so wonderfully discovered in the parish
church of Brougham, belonging to Udard de Broham, it is the most puerile
creation ever set up, particularly as bones bear no inscriptions nor dates;
and it was shrewdly observed by one of the London daily papers at the time
of the supposed discovery, that from the cross-legged position in
which the skeleton was found it was as likely to have been the timbers of
an ancient knight of the thimble as a crusader. We are of the same opinion.
Lastly, the "Castle of Brougham in ruins," which has now been in the Earl
of Thanet's family for about 644 years, was not forfeited by the Brougham
family in the reign of King John. Neither was Udard de Broham governor of
Appleby castle temp Hen. II. Nor have that family been located there from
the time of the Heptarchy. The hall does not stand upon the Roman station;
nor is the manor of Brougham theirs, but the estate of the Right Honourable
the Earl of Thanet.
We have written thus a plain statement of facts, in order to set the public
right, and to prevent if possible the spread of untruths, such as those
circulated under the mask of Mr. George Shaw of Saddleworth's letter most
undoubtedly are, and which ere long will be copied into every
four-and-sixpenny gazetteer in England; and we think it is high time such
outrageous perversions of historical facts for family gratification should
cease and determine.
We are, &c.
OLD SUBSCRIBERS.
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MR. URBAN,
ALTHOUGH the anonymous form of the very extraordinary attack by your OLD
SUBSCRIBERS (vol.XXIX. p.618) on my description of Brougham Hall might well
excuse my replying to it, yet I feel it due both to my own character and to
your readers to request the insertion of the following remarks.
The point-blank denials, - such as, "the hall does not stand upon the Roman
station," "there was no tower," "Udard de Brougham was not governor of
Appleby Castle," &c. - it would be easy for me to answer in like manner
by re-insisting upon those facts detailed in my letter, and with quite as
much propriety; for if you must in common justice allow my description,
although compiled in great measure from memory, and for the amusement of a
friend, is quite as likely to be true as the ostentatious accusations put
forth by your correspondents, without even a shadow of an attempt at proof.
They say that I wish to impress upon your readers that Brougham Hall, as it
at present exists, has done so for centuries; and yet, if they had not read
my letter with jaundiced eyes, they must have noticed that I repeatedly
speak of renovations and alterations as having taken place, and still
taking place. I knew that the house had been extensively re-edified, and
never wished to convey a contrary impression, or for a moment supposed I
was doing so; neither do I think iin looking over my letter that such an
impression is at all given.
It is ridiculous to say, because a house has been repaired and in part
rebuilt, that therefore the whole is a modern structure; and it is anything
but just to accuse me of falsifying, because I have not stated the exact
time when such repairs were made. Who, in popularly describing Warwick
Castle or any other old mansion, is expected to name the different periods
when every late alteration was made?* I am not
* Since writing the above, I have received a note from a person to
whom I applied for information to rebut your correspondents' charges, and I
send you an extract: "Bearing always in mind that some parts, particularly
the upper portion of the old tower, the old kitchen, and part of the west
front, had, from decay, been [continued on next page] repaired, and in some
parts wholly rebuilt, but with the old materials, between the years 1828
and 1830. The kitchen part fell down, and was replaced by what is now the
great staircase in 1842. The timbering of the old tower was uninjured, as
was the trap-door part, and is now in its old place. It is of very early
date, as anybody who knows anything of old woodwork can at once see. In the
same way the ceiling of the old drawing room was saved, being suspended by
ropes fixed to the rigging while the defective portion of the west wall was
repaired."
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the only person who has written upon Brougham Hall as an ancient residence.
In the "Baronial Halls," published by Chapman and Hall, from drawings by J.
D. Harding, George Cattermole, and others, there is a lengthened account of
the place accompanied by prints; also in Fisher's Northern Counties,
&c. and in other similar works.
It would occupy too much of your valuale space to follow your
correspondents through all their assertions; though I have no doubt, if it
were necessary, that I could substantiate every material fact I have
stated.
If the writers re-read my letter, they will find that the fiction, as they
term it, of St. Wilfred's Well I myself disapprove of, and object to in the
very article in which they say it is first heard of, but which more
extensive reading would have shown them was ascribed in S. C. Hall's
"Baronial Halls."
How facetious they grow about the armour, and then boldly say it all came
from Wardour Street; and yet in a will dated 1565, Henry Brougham leaves
his arms and armour, &c. ("hearst thou, Mars!") to his son and
heir Thomas (with Brougham) as heirlooms. How do your daring correspondents
know that the armour came from Wardour Street?
Their rampant assertion, to use their own words, about the Crusader's grave
and the prick-spur, &c. I leave in the hands of Mr. Albert Way and the
other gentlemen connected with the Journal of the Archaeological Institute,
in which work what they term "the most puerile creation ever set up," was
first given to the public.
The genealogical part of the question appears also to be regarded as
equally spurious with the hall, notwithstanding Mr. Justice Wightman's
remarks at the trial which took place at Appleby assizes in August 1843 to
the contrary. At this trial every feature of consequence which I have
mentioned in the descent was proved before a special jury by the production
of deeds and records, and the observation of the judge was, "that he
never had in his experience seen a pedigree carried back so far, and with
such clear proof." As to the manor, in the Rolls Chapel is preserved a
roll headed "Le Bownder de Burgham," which ends thus: "And so thys
ambulacyon was viewyd and merkett in the preserved in the Chapter House,
Westminster, in the book endorsed Inquisitions post Mortem in 9, 10, and 11
Elizabeth, taken after the death of Henry Brougham, who died 6th Dec. 11th
Eliz. the jurors find that he died seised of various lands, &c.; and,
amongst others, "quod predictus Henricus Brougham fuit seisitus in Domenico
suo et de feodo de et in manerio de Brougham, et la demeyne lands de
manerio predicto," &c. and that he held this manor of the sheriff of
Westmoreland (i.e. of the King) by knight's service. The father of
this Henry is found to have died 18th Nov. 6th Edw. VI. and that he was the
King's tenant by knight's service. This record is also in the Chapter
House, Court of Wards and Liveries, 1st Mary to 1st Eliz.
In an Act of Parliament passed in the year 1776 for inclosing Brougham
Moor, Henry Brougham is described as lord of the manor of Brougham, and in
that character the principal allotment is made to him. If he had not been
lord of the manor his claim would have been opposed before the
commissioners. This Henry was Lord Brougham's grandfather, and died in Dec.
1782. Burn in his History of Westmoreland, p.391, says that the third part
of the manor was held "by cornage," and, notwithstanding the sneers at the
"old cow-horn," I should like to hear your correspondents' disproval of the
antiquity of this tenure.
The fact of the family having been seated at Brougham from the Hep-
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{image = G848B033.jpg}
[Hep]tarchy is pretty well borne out, independently of the pedigree, by the
name mentioned by Horsley as a Saxon compound, - burgh and ham, -
designating the family, the parish, the castle, the manor, and the hall,
and in addition having an echo of the much older Roman name of Brovocum.
Stukeley, in his Itinerary, 1725, says, "I saw many fragments of altars and
inscriptions at the Hall near the bridge, all exposed in the
courtyard to weather and injuries of every sort." Your veracious
critics deny the existence of both Roman station and courtyard,
particularly of the latter, as only being an erection of the present
century.
Mistakes such as these ought to have been avoided by writers who have used
the lash with an unsparing hand, because they induce a very natural
suspicion either of indifference as to statement of carelessness in
research when facts are concerned; neither do I think that the periodical
literature of the day is improved by the pungent acrimony of criticism, or
the carping or sneers of anonymous correspondents.
Yours, &c.
GEO. SHAW.
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MR. URBAN,
IT is strange that families cannot content themselves with probable
antiquity; for by doing so, they might gain some credit for the claims they
put forth - whereas by aiming at too much, their vaulting ambition
oftentimes "overleaps itself and falls on the other side." However, most
noble families in England are satisfied to trace their descent to the time
of the Norman conquest; a period which has long been considered the
satisfactory goal of a pedigree in this country; - while a few, more
adventurous, push their pretensions somewhet further into the regions of
romance, and the era of dragons, relying on fictions which may be classed
with Jack the Giant-Killer, or the Arabian Nights' Entertainments: the
French stock of Levi Mirepoix is said to claim their descent from the
Virgin Mary! But enough of this; our business at present is ostensibly with
MR. GEORGE SHAW, of St. Chad's Upper Mill, Saddleworth, Manchester, who has
written a most elaborate letter about Brougham Hall, occupying nearly eight
pages in your valuable Magazine, and which epistle, when the architectural,
the historical, and genealogical subjects which it contains are considered,
would give ample employment to a philosopher for one month properly to
indite; but which Mr. George Shaw would fain persuade us he executed off
hand, and "compiled from memeory to amuse a friend." - Well, this letter
gravely informs us that Lord Brougham's family have been "located at
Brougham Hall from the time of the Heptarchy," and makes many other
startling announcements which we confess are quite new to us; and because
we dared to doubt the truth of these statements, Mr. George Shaw accuses us
of making an "extraordinary attack" - of "acrimony of criticism" -
"carelessness of research" - and "indifference as to statement," -
reproaches which certainly come with a bad grace from one who tells us his
description was "compiled from memory," but does not say it was not for
publication. Now, Sir, we assure Mr. George Shaw and all whom it may
concern, that we entertain no ill feelings in this matter. We have no
selfish vanity to gratify - no personal animosity to indulge - our sole
object is the maintenance of historical truth: and if we have expressed
ourselves strongly here and there, it merely arose from the feeling that
the cheat was attempted to be put upon us along with the rest of the
community.
In this free country men may build and alter houses as they please - they
may erect castle composed of all the known orders of architecture, and
garnish them with every accompani-
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[accompani]ment characteristic of the age they were intended to represent -
and so long as they say nothing about them, we will venture to say that no
one will, either by word or deed, attempt to disturb their harmless
amusements; but, if on the other hand, such parties, or others for them,
will needs indiscreetly volunteer grandiloquent letters in periodicals
chiefly appropriated to antiquarian subjects, setting known history at
defiance, and recklessy throwing down right and left the established
land-marks of antiquity, those letters henceforth become public property;
and neither Mr. George Shaw nor any one else in the like position has just
grounds of complaint, if the public take the liberty of making their own
fair comments upon them, which we have done; and Mr. George Shaw need not
think our remarks less worthy of attention because he does not know our
names. We advise him not to estimate us too cheaply, for we may chance turn
out more awkward customers than he anticipates; and instead of complaining
of our "point-blank denials, without even a shadow of an attempt at proof,"
let him answer our objections - he is on his trial. We it was who taxed him
with writing false history; therefore the onus probandi rests with
him. And how does he answer? He could, or he would, or he might reply if he
chose, "by re-insisting on the facts detailed in his letter, which are
quite as likely to be true as our ostentatious accusations." Be it so. But
we do not intend to let him ride off in that way; we shall see anon. As to
ssaying that he did not wish to impress upon your readers that Brougham
Hall, as it at present exists, "had done so for centuries, because he
repeatedly spoke of renovations and repairs," that is not the question
(though it is pretty well to tell us that "missiles of offence had in
ancient times been projected" from a tower, which was newly built
from the ground in 1830), the question is, did not Mr. George Shaw intend
in his letter to convey notions of great antiquity as regards this house in
general by such passages as these? "that the various buildings show remains
of architecture from the ponderous Norman workmanship through successive
centuries." How do you construe that? It certainly looks to us to point
at something like the Norman Conquest, as the age of the structure - or his
description of the offices in the yard, "with which the antiquary is
delighted, none to appearance later than the time of Henry VII. gray
with the weather-stain of ages." But Mr. G. Shaw says he did not
intend to convey such an impression, and that is quite enough for us. At
the same time we must say, had he only made the smallest inquiry when at
Brougham he would have discovered that the carcass of the present Brougham
Hall was built by Henry Brougham, esquire, about the year 1767; that there
was no tower of any sort then, save a small summer-house at the front of
the west end, about as high as the first-floor windows, with an out-door
entrance, as may be seen in a print in Hutchinson's History of Cumberland.
The trap-door which was described as a thing in existence when Mr. G. Shaw
wrote his letter, not as having been, is attempted to be explained by a
foot note which makes matters more difficult. It was not spoken of as being
in a tower before; now it is in its old place, we fancy, in the
new tower, but where is the flight of stone steps, and where
the stone vault? We fear Mr. G. Shaw has laid a trap and fallen into it
himself. The times of 1767 required no such secret escape for personal
safety.
Next comes the armour "hanging decayed upon the walls, and in some places
dropped upon the floor, struggling with accumulated dust and cobwebs,
ragged pennoncels, dropping from their hooks, bundles of pikes" (the
Chartists must have left these). We are surprised there are no long bows in
the collection, as it appears a weapon in much use in this locality. Well,
we said all these matters came from Wardour Street, London, and
elsewhere. And how is that rebutted? Merely by saying that one Henry
Brougham by will in 1565 (8 Eliz.) left his harness, "arms and armour," to
his son and heir Thomas (with Brougham) as heirlooms. We should like to see
a copy of that will, because our forefathers were particular in the
disposal of their armour, and most likely every suit will be specified. Did
he leave two full suits of armour, one
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bright, the other allecret, and a demi-suit of bright steel inlaid with
gold, over the fire-place, and three full cap-a-pie suits of bright armour
against the screen; one a very fine suit temp. Henry VI.another a fluted
suit temp. Henry VIII. and the third of Elizabeth's reign? George
Clifford the renowned Earl of Cumberland flourished at this time, and was
born in Brougham Castle at a time when Brougham Hall did not exist, who
died possessed of no more than one suit of armour in Westmoreland. Henry
Brougham left five full suits and a demi, certain; besides other demi suits
which hang "twelve feet high above the paneling." Majority of iron suits
over George Earl of Cumberland seven! Hear'st thou, Mars! - We are then
asked how we know these chattels came from Wardour Street. When our
statement is contradicted we will give answer to that question; that is the
regular way of doing business. Now we will ask Mr. Shaw a question. He says
this Thomas Brougham, who was so well off for armour, and who was Lord
Brougham, died childless, and was succeeded by his uncle Peter Brougham -
of where?
We never denied there was a Roman station at Brougham, we only denied it
was at Brougham Hall; nor did we say there was not a court-yard at
Brougham Hall; we only said the out-offices were not as old as Henry VII.
and "grey with the weather-stain of ages;" as to a yard, few houses are
without a curtilege of some sort.
We doubted the story about the crusader's grave, the sword, the prick-spur,
"of intense interest," and Mr. G. Shaw's absolute statement, that a
skeleton found in Brougham church was the remains of Udard de Broham,
because bones bear neither names nor dates. Not a word is said upon this;
but we are handed over to Mr. Albert Way and the gentlemen of the
Archaeological Institute. We can have no objection to that - but this is no
answer; for these parties can only judge after all of what is placed before
them. All our strictures on the chapel are un-noticed, except the well of
St. Wilfred, which Mr. G. Shaw says he disapproved of. We cannot find he
has; but he gave us a hint we might, if we extended our reading to Chapman
and Hall's "Baronial Halls," find this well mentioned: we have no
doubt of it. Such recent works as specimens of pictorial art are many of
them an honour to this country; but no one ever considered them as much
authority in an historical point of view. We never read of it in any
standard book, nor ever heard of it before.* We believe we did speak
disrespectfully of the horn, and said it was a recent visitor at Brougham.
But, instead of contradicting us, Mr. Shaw backs out of it, by asking us a
question about tenure by cornage, and does not state about what time
this horn was exalted.
We have now run over most of Mr. Shaw's answers to the minor points of our
last letter, and leave it to your readers to judge whether they are really
any answers at all; and we propose next to handle the main points at issue,
as to which Mr. George Shaw, instead of answering, "re-insists on the facts
detailed in his letter as quite as likely to be true as our ostentatious
accusations."
1st. "The Castle of Brougham in ruins was not forfeited," "nor passed
from them" (the Broughams, for it is differently worded in Mr. G.
Shaw's first and second letter), in King John's reign. We learn from an
uncertain bundle, temp. Hen. III. in the Tower of London, that an
inquisition of waste was taken on the Veteripont estate during the minority
of Robert de Veterippont. "Inq' de vastis fact' durante minoritate sua," in
which the house of Bruhame (Bruhame domus) is mentioned as having been
suffered to go to decay. From this it is evident the King's licence had not
then been obtained to embattle; consequently the castle of Bruhame, if not
in existence temp. Hen. III. most assuredly was not so in the prior reign
of King John, and therefore could not be forfeited or passed from any one.
Indeed this castle is with good reason supposed to have been built by Roger
de Clifford in the latter part of the reign of Henry the Third, and the
commencement of that of Edward the First, from the inscription formerly
* We shall be obliged if Mr. G. Shaw will inform us where he picked
up this Dr. Markham, prebendary of Carlisle, who says this and that so
opportunely about this chapel, &c. in a MS. written in 1680. There was
no such prebendary at that time that we can find.
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over the gateway in old English characters, "This made Roger."
2nd. "Neither was Udard de Brohan or Broham Governor of Appleby
Castle temp. King Henry II." but Gospatrick son of Orm, as is clearly
shown by the following entry in the Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire, 23 Hen.II.
rot.5, m.2, the year that Appleby Castle was taken by the King of Scots,
"Gospatricius, filius Orm, reddit compotum de cc. et xxvj. li. et xiil. s.
et iiij. d. de misericordia, quia reddit castrum Regis de Appelbi Regi
Scottie." Jordan Fontosme says, "The King very soon had the castle of
Appleby; there were no people in it, but it was quite unguarded. Gospatric,
son of Orm, an old grey-headed Englishman, was the constable; he soon cried
mercy." But no mention of Udard de Brohan or Broham is to be found at that
time as in any way connected with Appleby Castle.
3rd. "Nor have that family been located there from the time of the
Heptarchy." Where is there a shadow of evidence that they were? Hugh de
Morville, a "kinsman" too! (see April, p.875), who forfeited the barony of
Westmorland in 18th Hen. II. A.D. 1171 for the murder of Becket, possessed
Brougham, for in that reign he converted tenure by drengage into free
tenure at Brougham,* and it is clear that Gilbert de Broham (if ever
there was such a person at Brougham) had not thrown off that slavish
service in the 2nd of King John; for Mr. G. Shaw tells us that he then
appears as a drenge. After the forfeiture of Hugh de Morville, the
honour of Westmorland remained in the crown till the 4th of King John, when
it was, with the castles of Appleby and Brough, intrusted to the keeping of
Robert de Veteripont, to whom in the next year it was given in perpetuity,
and from him it has descended, without alienation, to the present Earl of
Thanet. Brougham Castle has always accompanied it; and, this being so, how
can Mr. G. Shaw pretend "to compile from memory" that the Broughams have
been here "located since the time of the heptarchy!" with not even the help
of a Domesday Book† to shed its dim twilight on the tangled path
which would lead him to the time of the Confessor, say A.D. 1050, much less
to that of the heptarchy, say A.D. 600 or 700! Nor is the name de Broha,
which is as often spelt Brohan as Broham, any more connected with Brougham,
that we can find, than that of Robert de Broi, which appears near the same
year in the same Pipe Rolls for Westmorland. The reasoning in this case
much resembles that of Fluellin, who thought the birthplace of Alexander
the Great was like Monmouth, because there was a river at Monmouth and
another in Macedon - or like Mr. G. Shaw's own illogical conclusion in his
last letter - that because Horsley in his Britannia says the word Brougham
is a compound of Burgh and Ham, argal, as the grave-digger has it,
the family have been located there since the time of the heptarchy!
particularly as it smacks of the much older Roman name Brovocum, -
which is incorrect, for Horsley calls it Brocavum.
4th. "The Hall does not stand on the Roman station." This point we
need not dwell upon, for the station itself is still in existence, and
rises up in evidence against Mr. G. Shaw's history. Brougham Castle
stands close on its north vallum, and is three-quarters of a mile from
Brougham Hall. Horsley says, "Brocavum I conclude to be Brougham Castle, in
which I have the general concurrence of others." See Roy's Military Roads,
fol. and various authors passim. So much for Brougham Hall standing
on the Roman station!
5th. "Nor is the manor of Brougham theirs." The first evidenece
which is adduced in support of this assertion is a riding of the boundary
of Brougham in the reign of Richard the Second, when it is said Sir John
Burgham was present along with Sir John Clifforth. We have seen a copy of
this boundary perambulation quite different from the one quoted from by Mr.
G. Shaw. There is no Sir John Burgham there, but plain John. Nor are the
words alike. But supposing this to be a genuine document, of which we have
some doubt, it does not prove that John Burgham had
* Mag. Rot. 24 Hen. II. rot.5.
† The Domesday Book of William the Conqueror does not extend to this
part of Westmoreland and the three other northern counties.
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any thing more to do with the manor more than a steward or as a trustee;
nor does it prove he lived at Brougham. It was the habit of the Cliffords,
on going to the wars, to make over their estates in trust as a provision
for their wives in case they fell in battle; as in the preceeding reign,
for instance, Roger de Clifford feoffed William de Cornbrigg and others in
the castle and manor of Brougham, 47 edw. III.* - and what do we
find in the following reign of Hen. IV. after the boundary riding of Rich.
II? Why that by inquisition of 4 Hen. IV. No.37, Matilda, wife of Roger de
Clifford, Knight, died seized of Brougham castle and manor. Again, in 34
Hen. VI. by inquisition taken at Brougham, 28 Sept. before William Parr,
escheator for Westmoreland, Sir Thomas Clifford, Knight, is found to hold
of the king in capite the castle and manor of Brougham.
But an inquisition is found in 10 Eliz. 1567, which is to shew that the
Broughams were lords of Brougham. And Thomas Brougham, in 1553, is termed
by Mr. Shaw Lord of Brougham. Unfortunately again, the castle and manor
were in Elizabeth's reign included in the marriage settlement of George
Earl of Cumberland with Lady Russell. We will only put in another
inquisition and have done. By inquisition post mortem, Dec. 20, 6 James I.
1609, taken before William Hutton and Thomas Carleton, escheators to the
king, on the death of George Earl of Cumberland, it was found he died
seized of the castles and manors of Brougham, Appleby, Brough, and
Pendragon, with the church of Brougham to the said manor belonging.
Next, Mr. Justice Wightman is made to say at the trial at Appleby assizes,
Brougham v. Bird, Aug. 1843, "that he had never in his experience seen a
pedigree carried back so far and with such clear proof." Mr. Justice
Wightman said nothing of the kind. There was no pedigree put in nor any
required beyond the year 1727, when the Broughams bought the property of
the Birds. Here is, from the report of the trial, what Mr. Justice Wightman
did say, - "It was seldom so clear title could be established (not a
pedigree); possession had been proved for 117 years." This is "compiling
from memory."
Now comes the last stake. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1776 for
dividing Brougham moor, in the pre-amble of which Bill Henry Brougham is
styled lord of the manor - admitted - and passing strange it is that it
should be so, but so it was. But the pre-amble of a Bill does not go for
much - it only proves extraordinary negligence in drawing up that Bill -
the award is the evidence at the long run. Mr George Shaw thinks he has
floored us at last by this awkward home-thrust, and certainly it looks like
a poser; but we shall call up the surveyor who divided the common to the
rescue. Mr. James Clarke, land surveyor, who published a useful book,
called a "Survey of the Lakes," in 1789, fol. at p.6 makes the following
statement, -
"The next remarkable place upon the road is Brougham Hall, called till
lately the Bird's Nest, the seat of Henry Brougham, esq. Dr. Burn calls
this estate a manor, but very erroneously; it lies within the manor of
Oglebirds, and is held of the Earl of Thanet as part of the forest of
Whinfield. This was not well ascertained till after the division of the
common in 1775, when the commissioners were directed to set out such a
proportion of ground as they thought proper to Henry Brougham, esq. for the
signory of Brougham Hall. Mr. Brougham made no claim, knowing he had no
manor, and the Commissioners upon inquiry found that the manor belonged to
the Earl of Thanet, and that the tenants were all freeholders. Mr. Brougham
therefore took his share among the other tenants without ever attempting to
establish any claim as lord."
Now Mr. George Shaw of St. Chad's Upper Mill, "take," as Hume says, "your
change out of that;" nay moreover, there are only two customary tenants
left within the manor of Brougham, and Lord Brougham is one of them. Need
we go any further, Sir?
From the above evidence it will be seen that the history of the manor of
Brougham in Nicolson and Burn's History of Westmoreland has been written by
some Mr. George Shaw of
* See Rot. Orig. 47 Edw. III. ro.30; also Inq. Post Mortem same
year, No.26.
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that day, and is false from beginning to end, for thay do not mention the
Cliffords once as lords of the manor!
We could ask Mr. George Shaw how he makes John de Burgham sheriff of
Westmoreland in 25 Edward III. when we know Thomas de Bellocampo was
sheriff - that in Brown Willis's Notitia the member for Cumberland in Rich.
II. is John de Bronham not Burgham - that John de Brugham (Brigham) by the
same author sat for Carlisle in 1394 - that instead of Thomas de Burgham
sitting for Cumberland in 15 Hen. VI. it is on Willis's list John Broughton
- that Thomas Brougham of Scales, who died 1648, was not sheriff of
Cumberland at all - his name does not appear in the list in Eliz. James, or
Charles the First, if that list be correct. We could ask far more questions
than these, but we fear we have already trespassed too much on your
valuable space, and we only give one solitary word of admonition to Mr.
George Shaw at parting, who we think cannot accuse us this time of any
thing but pleasantry towards him - that the next occasion in which he goes
from St. Chad's to write history in Westmoreland, he will andeavour to make
huimself more master of facts, and "compile less from memory."
Yours, &c.
OLD SUBSCRIBERS.
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{header- Obituary, Earl of Carlisle}
{image = G848B537.jpg}
{text- Obituary}
THE EARL OF CARLISLE, K.G.
Oct. 7. At Castle Howard, Yorkshire, aged 75, the Right Hon. George
Howard, sixth Earl of Carlisle, Viscount Howard of Morpeth, co.
Northumberland, and Baron Dacre of Gillesland, co. Cumberland, Knight of
the Garter. a Privy Councillor, D.C.L. and F.R.S.
His Lordship was born in London on the 17th Sept. 1773, the eldest son of
Frederick the fifth Earl of Carlisle, K.G. by Lady Margaret Caroline
Leveson-Gower, second daughter of Granville first Marquess of Stafford. He
received his early education at Eton, where he excelled in the favourite
pursuit of that school, the composition of Latin verse; and from thence he
was transferred to Christ Church, Oxford, where the degree of M.A. was
conferred on him in 1792 and that of D.C.L. in 1799. On his coming of age
in 1794, room was made for his sitting in Parliament for the family borough
of Morpeth, for which he was rechosen in 1796 and 1802. In 1796 he moved
the address at the opening of Parliament, and in the same year he
accompanied Lord Malmesbury in his diplomatic mission to France.
"In the House of Commons Lord Morpeth displayed a strong and well-cultured
uunderstanding, a full knowledge of every subject which he undertook to
handle, a tasteful and judicious adaptation of the manner to the matter,
joined to liberality of sentiment, and, upon the whole, a manly spirit.
These were qualities to make him an orator of no trivial note, yet such was
the mauvaise honle which afflicted him, that speeches "dropt
unimpressive from his tongue" which, delivered in a more confident tone,
would have awed the house into respect and roused it into admiration. ...
At the general election in December 1806, he was returned for the county of
Cumberland, but when his friends quitted office he of course resigned his
place at the India Board, and did not at the ensuing election again offer
himself for Cumberland, which county, however, he had represented for a
portion of three Parliaments. To the House of Commons which was elected in
1820, he was not returned, for the near prospect of succeeding to a seat in
the Lords made it scarcely worth his while to struggle for a place in the
representative body, though for the greater part of his life previous to
1820 he enjoyed a seat in that assembly. ...
On the 4th. Sept. 1825, Lord Morpeth, being then in the 52nd. year of his
age, succeeded his father as sixth Earl of Carlisle; and in 1827, when the
Canning ministry was formed, the noble Earl just deceased received the
appointment of Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests. This office was
held by his Lordship till the death of Mr. Canning led to the formation of
the Goderich ministry, in which he was
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article than is quoted here.}
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appointed Lord Privy Seal, which he held until Jan. 1828.
When the Whigs came into office under Lord Grey, in December 1830, Lord
Carlisle, though he accepted no place in that ministry, took a seat in the
cabinet, but did not long continue to hold that unusual mark of royal and
ministerial confidence, for his Lordship withdrew altogether from public
life in 1834. Although at that time not much more than 60 years of age, yet
it became evident that he was falling into the decrepitude of age.
Thenceforward he resided principally in the country, his name ceased to be
mentioned in poiltical circles, and at length he sank into the grave,
doubtless as much beloved by his family and personal friends as he was
respected by his political associates. His Lordship was elected of the
Order of the Garter in the year 1837. ...
The Earl of Carlisle married, on the 25th March 1801, Lady Georgina Dorothy
Cavendish, eldest daughter of William 5th Duke of Devonshire; and by that
lady, who survives him, he had issue six sons and six daughters: ...
{text- Sons, daughters, spouses and children are detailed.}
The body of the late Earl was deposited in the mausoleum at Castle Howard.
There is an engraved portrait of him by J. Jackson, R.A.
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{header- Obituary, Sir John Barrow}
{image = G849A093.jpg}
SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
Nov. 23. In New Street, Spring Gardens, in his 85th year, Sir John
Barrow, Bart. LL.D. F.R.S. formerly Secretary to the Admiralty.
The name of John Barrow will occupy an honourable place in the list of
those highly gifted individuals who, by their original genius and energetic
minds, have, in their different walks of life, rendered eminent services to
their country. The friends of his childhood and youth did not provide him
with more than the ordinary means of instruction, but he seized on those
means with avidity and industry, and it was his self-education that mainly
conferred on him those powers which, when the day of trial arrived, he
turned to so good an account.
He was born on the 19th June, 1764, in a small cottage at the village of
Dragleybeck, near Ulverstone, North Lancashire, (as he has stated in his
Autobiography published last year,) "being the only child of Roger and Mary
Barrow. The said cottage had been in my mother's family nearly 200 years,
and had descended to her aunt, who lived in it to the age of 80, and in it
my mother died at the advanced age of 90. The only scholastic education I
received was at the Town Bank Grammar School, under the Rev, William Tyson
Walker, curate of the parish church, and an excellent classical scholar,
educated at Trinity College, Dublin. I was entered when in my eighth year,
and continued under his instruction until my thirteenth, when I had
advanced to the head of the school; having read Homer, and Xenophon's
Anabasis, Livy, Horace, Virgil, &c. From an old gentleman, who, being a
sort of perambulating preceptor, used to pay his annual visit of about
three months, I received instruction in those branches of mathematics which
are most easily obtained under a master, such as algebra, fluxions, conic
sections - Euclid needed no master; and I very soon had an opportunity of
acquiring the practical application of many of the theorems and problems to
the common purposes of life."
At this early age he was engaged in taking a survey of Colonel Braddyl's
estates in Yorkshire, and acquired so much knowledge of the theodolite, and
the several mathematical instruments, then and subsequently, that, on
arriving in London some years after, he drew up and published a small
treatise to explain the practical use of them; this, he says, "being my
first introduction to the press, for which I obtained 20l. and was
not a little delighted to send my first fruits to my mother."
Sir John Barrow's parents had some idea of educating him for the clerical
profession, but he persuaded his father to give up the intention. A
situation was then obtained for him at Liverpool as superintendent and
clerk at an iron-foundry, in which he remained for two years, when he
quitted it for a voyage to Greenland in a whaler, where he had some
initiation in practical navigation and the duties of a seaman. His next
employment was as mathematical teacher at Dr. James's academy, Greenwich,
where among his pupils were two or three belonging to, or destined for, the
navy, one the son of Lord Anson, and another the son of Lord Leveson Gower.
From this service he was, through the interest of Sir George Staunton, who
was secretary to the embassy destined for China, appointed on the effective
list of Lord Macartney's suite, as "comptroller of the household," and
nominally in that capacity, proceeded with his patron to China.
He was thus enabled to put his foot on the first step of the ladder of
ambition; but every subsequent step of his advancement in his distinguished
career may be fairly said to have been achieved by himself. His talents and
his zeal for the public service, when once known and placed in a fair field
for action, could hardly fail of being appreciated and duly fostered by
those distinguished statesmen under whom he successively served.
It so happened, that the chiefs of the British mission to China in 1792,
the Earl of Macartney and the late Sir George Staunton, were, in some
respects, not so happily provided with active and talented associates as
might have been wished; but in Mr. Alexander, the draughtsman of the
embassy, they were fortunate in possessing a very able and diligent artist;
and Mr. Barrow, from his various talents, and the zeal and alacrity with
which he applied himself to every department of the service, although his
own was only a subordinate one, was a host in himself. The authentic
account of the embassy, published by the late Sir George Staunton, records
many of Mr. Barrow's valuable contributions to literature and science
connected with China. This work, therefore, together with his own
subsequently published supplemental volume of travels, is ample evidence
how well his time had been employed. Had no unpropitious political events
occured to prevent the views and plans of the mission being carried out, it
is not too much to say that the able and ingenious men who were employed in
it would most probably have effected, by peaceful means, all those
improvements in the terms of our intercourse with China, which, some fifty
years after,
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have cost us such a painful expenditure of blood and treasure. It was not
to be expected that any person of mature age could within a space of a few
months overcome all the practical difficulties of such a language as the
Chinese; but Mr. Barrow had already begun to converse in it, and he had
acquired a complete knowledge of its theory. His papers on this subject in
the Quarterly Review contain probably the best and most popular account of
that singular language and character which was ever presented to the
British public.
Although Mr. Barrow ceased to be personally connected with our affairs in
China after the return of the embassy in 1794, he always continued to take
a lively interest in the varying circumstances of our relationship with
that empire. On the occasion of the second embassy under Lord Amherst, in
1816, he was of course consulted by the ruling powers; but, unfortunately,
although his advice was asked, it was not taken; and in consequence of the
injudicious rejection of the proposal which his prophetic sagacity had
suggested for getting rid of the vexatious question of the Chinese
ceremony, Lord Amherst and his colleagues were compelled to abandon the
personal reception of the mission for the sake of preserving the
honour and real interests of the English in China, which would have been
essentially damaged by the acceptance of the terms on which it was offered.
Mr. Barrow was likewise consulted, and, we believe, it is to be hoped, has
secured our future peace with that country.
Lord Macartney was naturally anxious to secure the aid of such a man as Mr.
Barrow in his next public service, his important and delicate mission to
settle the government of the our newly acquired colony of the Cape of Good
Hope. Mr. Barrow accompanied his lordship as private secretary, in Jan.
1797; and having been entrusted to conduct our first communication with the
Caffre tribes, was occupied during the latter six months of that year in
traversing the country in all directions, during which he travelled more
than three thousand miles, usually sleeping in his own waggon. It would
have been well for the public interests if the spirit, judgment, and
humanity which he displayed in this service had more uniformly governed our
subsequent transactions with that remarkable race. Lord Macartney, when he
quitted the colony in Nov. 1798, left Mr. Barrow in the post of
"auditor-general of public accounts, civil and military." He returned to
England on the evacuation of the Cape in 1803, and shortly after published
the fruits of his observations, under the title of "Travels in South
Africa," printed in 4to. 1801.
At the Cape Mr. Barrow had acquired the zealous friendship of General Frank
Dundas, Lord Macartney's successor; who, after having unsuccessfully urged
to Lord Hobart, the Secretary of State for War and Colonies, the claims of
the late auditor for a retiring allowance, brought his merits under the
consideration of his uncle Mr. Henry Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville.
At the house of Mr. Dundas at Wimbledon, Mr. Barrow was introduced to the
notice of Mr. Pitt, who, though then out of office, encouraged him by
expressing his approbation of his recent work, and suggested some further
detail of the political, geographical, and commercial advantages of that
part of Africa, considered as the "half-way house" to India. Mr. Barrow
took the hint, and immediately set about the composition of the second
volume of his "Travels," which was published in 1804.
Lord Melville did not lose sight of Mr. Barrow; but, on taking office as
First Lord of the Admiralty, in May 1804, he immediately appointed him,
without solicitation, to the office of Second Secretary to the Admiralty,
as the colleague of Mr. Marsden, and in the room of Mr. Tucker.
Mr. Barrow was continued in office by Lord Barham, Lord Melville's
immediate successor; but when the Whigs came into power, in Feb. 1806, he
was informed by the Right Hon. Charles Grey, then appointed First Lord,
that he must retire, and that Mr. Tucker was to be restored.
The recapture of the Cape of Good Hope at this time brought Mr. Barrow's
services in that quarter of the world more prominently before the
government, and he was offered any colonial appointment that he might
select for himself. Upon consideration, however, he determined not to leave
England, and at the suggestion of Earl Grey, and with the expressed
understanding that it would be favourably entertained by the premier, he
was ordered to draw up a memorial of his various services, the result of
which was a grant of a pension of 1000l. a year, to be abated from
the emoluments of any place he might afterwards hold under government.
In the short space of eight months the dissolution of the Grenville
government brought Mr. Barrow again into the Admiralty, on Lord Mulgrave
succeeding Earl Grey as First Lord. "From this day, the 8th April 1807, to
the 28th Jan. 1845, I continued (he remarks) without intermission, as
Second Secreatry of the Admiralty; when I retired, having completed
altogether, from my first appointment in
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that capacity, forty years, under twelve or thirteen different naval
administrations, Whig and Tory, including that of the Lord High Admiral,
his royal highness the Duke of Clarence; having reason to believe that I
have given satisfaction to all and every one of these naval
administrations; and I am happy in the reflection that I have experienced
kindness and attention from all."
He was created a Baronet during the short administration of Sir Robert Peel
in 1835.
At length, in 1845, Sir John Barrow retired from public life, in
consideration of his advanced years, although he was still in vigourous
possession of all the mental and bodily powers required for the due
discharge of the functions of his office. In the course of the succeeding
three years his vital energies became gradually somewhat weaker, but he
seemed on the whole so hearty, and so fully in the enjoyment of his
faculties, that his friends and relatives entertained no apprehension that
his end was so near.
As an author, Sir John Barrow was exceedingly industrious and very
successful. The general aim of his writings has been to convey information,
to promote and advance the arts and sciences, and to stimulate research and
inquiry; and he has the great and rare privilege to live to see the most
beneficial effects produced by his honest and faithful endeavours. In
enumerating his works, he modestly "disclaims all pretensions to the
literary character," and says he gave them "only as a statement of facts;
at the same time they have been more productive of profit than he could
have expected." They may thus be summed up:
Articles in the Quarterly Review, on almost every subject (excepting
political), mostly asked for by Mr. Gifford, 195; in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, requested by Professor Napier, ten of twelve; by particular
desire of the same, a "Review of the Life of Admiral Lord St. Vincent," in
the Edinburgh Review; the Life of Lord Macartney, in 2 vols. 4to.; Travels
in South Africa, 2 vols, 4to.; Travels in China, 1 vol. 4to.; Voyage to
Cochin China, 1 vol. 4to.; The Life of Lord Anson, 1 vol. 8vo.; The Life of
Lord Howe, 1 vol. 8vo.; in the "Family Library" the Life of Peter the
Great, and the Mutiny of the Bounty; Chronological History of Arctic
Voyages, 1 vol. 8vo.; Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic
Regions, 1 vol. 8vo.
Sir John Barrow was the constant and successful advocate at the Admiralty
of those voyages of discovery which have enlarged the bounds of science and
conferred so much honour to the British name and nation. Appreciating those
services, the officers who had been employed on the various Arctic
expeditions presented to him, in March 1845, a magnificent candelabrum,
with a suitable inscription on the pedestal.
Sir John Barrow married at the Cape of Good Hope in Aug. 1798, Maria,
daughter of Peter John Treutter, esq. member of the court of justice in
that colony, and had issue four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, now
Sir George Barrow, is a senior clerk in the Colonial Office; the second,
John Barrow, esq. is at the head of a very important department, the charge
of the records in the Admiralty, and the author of Travels, &c. His
third son, Commander Willliam Barrow, R.N. died at the Cape of Good Hope in
Feb. 1838, after having served for three years on the East India station in
command of H.M. sloop Rose. The youngest, Mr. Peter Barrow, is British
Vice-Consul at Caen. His daughters are Johanna, who has recently become a
widow by the death of Lieut.-Colonel Robert Batty, and Mary-Jane who is
unmarried.
The body of Sir John Barrow was interred in the Camden-Town cemetery,
belonging to the parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. The mourners were,
the three sons, and Mr. Robert Barrow Batty (a scholar of the London
University,) grandson of the deceased; the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker,
Sir George Staunton, Bart. M.P. and Sir Benjamin Brodie, Bart.
Sir George Barrow, the present Baronet, married in 1832, Rosamund, daughter
of William Pennell, esq. formerly Consul-general of the Brazils, and sister
to the wife of the Right Hon. Wilson Croker.
We cannot close this brief memoir of Sir John Barrow more appropriately
than by the following pleasing extract from the account of his decease in
the Ulverston Advertiser, a provincial journal, published in his native
district in Lancashire: "Sir John never forgot the spot that gave him
birth. By his will the annual subscription which he had been in the habit
of contributing for a long series of years to the support of the school in
which he was educated, is to be continued, and his cottage at Dragley-beck
given over in perpetuity to trustees, that the rent may be appropriated to
the education of the poor at the same school. His memory will long survive,
and his example be held up for imitation by all who derive their birth or
education from the same locality. The name of Sir John Barrow is a
household word amongst us; although he who bore it is departed, his memory
still lingers lovingly about our hearths, and will con-
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[con]tinue to be cherished by our children through many generations.
Yesterday, being the day of his interment, it was observed at Ulverston by
the tolling of the bells of the old church; and a blue ensign, half-pole
high, waved over the cottage where he was born."
There are three good portraits of Sir John Barrow. One by Jackson, which is
in the possession of Mr. Murray of Albemarle-street, for whose father it
was painted to form one of a collection which that gentleman made of the
officers who commanded the expeditions to the Arctic regions. There is an
excellent copy of this portrait in possession of Sir George Barrow, painted
by Maclise, and a smaller copy by the same artist in in the possession of
Mr. Barrow of the Admiralty. The second portrait alluded to was painted by
Lucas, about three years ago, and it has been engraved in mezzotinto by G.
T. Payne. The original was presented to the collection of portraits of
Secretaries of the Admiralty in the official residence of the First
Secretary. The third portrait was painted by Mr. Stephen Pearce, a very
promising young artist, for Mr. Barrow. They are all of the kit-kat size.
{text- Kit-cat size is less than half length, but including the hands.}
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{header- Brass, St Ninian's Church}
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J. C. writes thus,- "On the floor of the church of Brougham or
Ninechurches, in Westmerland, is a brass to the memory of Henry Burgham,
who it appears died 20th Sept. 1570, and of Catharine his wife, who is
described as daughter and heiress of Sir Ralph Nevile, Knight. I should be
obliged to any of your readers who can give me some information as to who
this Sir Ralph Nevile was, and of what family he was a member."
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{header- St Kentigern's Church, Great Crosthwaite}
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CROSTHWAITE CHURCH, CUMBERLAND,
THE BURIAL-PLACE OF SOUTHEY.
Something in this aspiring world we need
To keep our spirits lowly,
To set within our hearts sweet thoughts and holy.
'Tis for this they stand,
The old grey churches of our native land.
- MARY HOWITT.
THE town of Keswick, in the parish of Crosthwaite, is situated in one of
the largest and most beautiful vales in Cumberland, at the northern
extremity of the lake district, on the high road, and nearly midway between
the towns of Ambleside, Cockermouth, and Penrith. It is so well known, on
account of the many scenes of picturesque loveliness with which its
immediate neighbourhood abounds, heightened as they are by the romance
which encircles the name of Derwentwater, and the glory reflected from the
laurels that grace the tomb of Southey, that any further description is
unnecessary. It will only be added, that, on the authority of one who knew
the place about a century ago, it has been "more considerable formerly than
now." The aspect of the country around has also undergone much change since
that time, and many of the vestiges of its earlier years have almost wholly
passed away. The translucent lakes and the majestic hills, in all their
imposing durability of feature, are still as of old; but the wide amd
magnificent forests, which, within a century, covered the land between the
town and the lake, have long since fallen beneath the ruthless axe, which
has caused so many of the finest woods in this country to disappear without
leaving a trace behind. "Ah!" exclaims Walker the philosopher, a native of
this alpine district, in his Tour from London to the Lakes in 1791, "how
fallen is the scenery around the lake and vale of Keswick since I saw it in
the year 1749, when Crow Park, Friar's Crag, Lord's Island, and indeed all
the shores and islands of this beautiful lake, were covered with tall oaks.
The view must have been striking when a child of ten years old, as I was
then, had such an impression made by it as not to be erased for forty
years, - nay, I think I could draw it from memory at this hour, if I had
time. The wood was so even at top, each tree being about eighteen yards
high and very thick, that it looked like a field, and the branches so
interwoven, that boys could have gone from tree to tree like squirrels." We
must not, however, dwell with lengthened regret on that which in the wisdom
of the present day, may we deemed an unwise lament for the extinction of
the ancient sylvan glories of the scene, but hasten to the immediate
subject of this sketch.
In the second volume of "Sir Thomas More, or Colloquies on the Progress and
Prospects of Society," its learned author, whose residence in this charming
vale has so strongly connected it with every classic remembrance of his
age, in a brief notice of the church of Crosthwaite, assigns it an
antiquity as far back as Norman times; and, in the story of its patron
saint, he exhibits one of those fanciful creations of monastic romance
which formerly received the meed of universal credence. "Alice de Romeli,"
says Southey, "heiress of Egremont and Skipton, who, in the reign of
Stephen or his successor, married the Lord of Allerdale, is supposed to
have been the person by whom it was founded and endowed, and who
subsequently gave it to Fountains Abbey. It was soon after appropriated to
that monastery, the collation being reserved to the Bishops of Carlisle.
Wiliam Fitz Duncan, the husband of this Alice, was son to the Earl of
Murray, and brother to David, King of Scotland; and this may perhaps
explain why the church was dedicated to the Scotch saint, Kentigern, Bishop
of Glasgow, and patron saint of that cathedral, a personage once high among
the saints of that age, though now utterly forgotten here, in the parish
where, during so many generations, his festival used to be celebrated on
the thirteenth of January. Here followeth his legend, which hagiologists
have related without scruple, and which
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during many ages was believed without hesitation. The saint in question
was, as the romance says of Merlin the son of the devil, a gentleman on his
mother's side, his mother, Thermetes or Themis, being the daughter of King
Lot of Lowthean and Okenay, a personage well known in the annals of the
Round Table, by Anna, daughter to Uther Pendragon, and half-sister to King
Arthur: a more illustrious stock could scarcely be found in chivalrous
genealogy. The time of his birth has been fixed in 514; and, after living
and flourishing in holiness and miracles, none of which, however, seem to
have had any relation to, or been performed in, this parish, he died at the
prodigious age of 185 years. ... When our calendar was purged at the
Reformation, directions were given that respect should be had to saints of
the blood royal. This must have been the chief reason why Saint Kentigern's
name was inserted, though not in red letters, in the calendar prefixed to
that liturgy which gave occasion to the Scottish covenant. Perhaps another
motive was, that, as his other name, Mungo, had become not uncommon in
Scotland, his memory, owing to that circumstance, might still have been
popular. Yet we may reasonably wonder that any motives should have
prevailed for its insertion, seeing how entirely fabulous the legend is in
all its parts." Coinciding in this opinion, it is not therefore necessary
to attach further consideration to a "legend," which, as the author just
quoted has truly observed, "is a better word than history for such tales."
The Lady Alice before named was the only child and heiress of Robert de
Romeli, Lord of Skipton in Craven, by Alice, daughter and sole heiress of
William, surnamed le Meschien, or the younger, who in the various histories
of the county is called "Des Meschines," but whose correct appelative a
recent and more careful spirit of antiquarian research has ascertained to
be as first written. He was the earliest Norman Baron of that portion of
Cumberland which before his day was called Coupland, or Allerdale above
Derwent, but which denominative, shortly after his investiture with that
extensive fief, he changed to Egremont or Egremond, on the occasion of
building a castle of that name upon the lofty eminence which rises above
the rapid current of the Egre or Ehen.
Her husband was William Fitz Duncan, son of Duncan Earl of Murray, and
nephew to that David, King of Scotland, whom one of his impoverished
successors, when alluding to the vast extent of lands which David had
alienated from the throne to enrich the numerous abbeys and religious
houses he had built, feelingly emphaticized as "a sair sainct for the
crown." Fitz Duncan, who after his marriage was also called William de
Romeli, was lord of the adjoining Cumbrian barony of Allerdale below
Derwent, and of the honour of Cockermouth, both of which had descended to
him from his mother Octreda, who inherited them from her grandfather
Waldeof, to whom they had been granted by Randolph du Briquesard, also
surnamed le Meschien, Comte du Bessin, elder brother of William le
Meschien, and the first Norman paramount feudatory of Cumberland, By this
alliance the baronies of Skipton and Egremont became united in the same
family with the barony of Allerdale below Derwent and the honour or
seignory of Cockermouth. By her marriage she had one son, who died under
age and unmarried, and three daughters, who, on their brother's death, fell
heirs to those large estates, which, after their mother's decease, were
accordingly parted among them.
Her son, who was named William, was drowned returning home from hunting or
hawking, as he crossed the Wharf, near Bardon Tower in Craven. His hound
being tied to his girdle by a line struggled to get free, as they passed
one of the deepest pools, pulled the youthful lord off his horse, and
drowned him. When the report of her bereavement reached his mother,
tradition avers her answer was couched in that memorable expression,
"Bootless bayl brings endless sorrow," whose obsolete quaintness has passed
on to our days, not alone in the pages of the historian, but as the
affecting theme of many a poet's lay, and within recent years has again
been embodied in that pathetic poem of Wordsworth's, entitlted "The Force
of Prayer."
Lady Alice seems always to have been of those pious dispositions whose
impulses were in unison with the
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votive practices of the age, and, her devotional feelings being probably
heightened by the overwhelming melancholy which had taken possession of her
heart, she founded and endowed the Priory at Bolton, in Yorkshire, whose
legendary history, by assigning to her wounded spirit the fanciful form of
a milk-white doe, appearing at stated intervals after the Reformation, to
grieve over the destruction of an edifice raised for the health of the soul
of her son "the noble boy of Egremond," has furnished the leading poetic
incident in that imaginativley beautiful ballad of "The White Doe of
Rylstone."
Lady Alice also bestowed much of her lands and goods upon the abbeys of
Pomfret and Fountains, and upon other religious confraternities, Thus,
among other donations, she gave the church at Crosthwaite to the last named
institution; but though a supposition on the subject is hazarded by the
luminous writer already quoted at length, the county historians are silent
as to her being the foundress thereof, their narratives being merely to the
effect that "the church of Crosthwaite was anciently rectorial, and was
given to the abbey at Fountains by Alice de Romeli, and soon after made
appropriate, the Bishop of Carlisle reserving to the see the right of
collating a vicar."
Leaving, however, the unrecorded era of its primary foundation involved in
that historic doubt, which the absence of unimpeachable authority for
elucidation renders obligatory, and passing over the long interval of
nearly four hundred years posterior to the days of Lady Alice, the current
of time flows onward to the epoch when the fabric, now standing, is
supposed to have been built.
Dating its construction from an age, when, as Rickman says, "there
prevailed a very rough mode of executing the details of the different
styles in the north of England, and particularly with respect to the
Perpendicular examples in this county," the edifice of which an account is
here essayed is one of those old structures erected in the times of the
last Henries, when strength and durability were regarded as important
considerations, especially in those churches on the exposed frontier of
Cumberland, which, until the union of the crowns, was continually
re-echoing to the slogan of border warfare. It is a spacious fabric of very
late and very poor Perpendicular architecture, mixed with some very
trifling portions of preceding styles, and on whose ornate embellishment
architectural taste has until recently, been but sparingly bestowed; the
walls, which are coated with roughcast and whitewash (the parapets and
battlements, and dressings of the doorways and windows being alone
uncovered,) are thick, with buttresses, and a strong square tower at the
west end, which imparts an air of dignity to the exterior. It stands on a
slight elevation near the centre of the vale, about midway between the
lakes of Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, half a mile from the town, and
somewhat further from the foot of Skiddaw. Apart from its associations, it
is an object on which the eye rests with pleasure, and many a sketch-book
will have preserved it, as one of the conspicuous features in a scene,
second to none for the picturesque richness of landscape adornment.
When proceeding from the town, as the eye, travelling along the meandering
vista, takes in all the turnings of the road, till it meets with the
distant tower of the church, the ornate porch, and ancient free-school,
with Skiddaw raising his solemn head above the grey mists that roll along
his verdant sides, it presents an aspect of much effective beauty; or when
beheld from the corner of that beautiful footpath which leads by the
grounds at Lairthwaite, with the soaring fells of Grisdale and Grasmire
looking down upon it through the long green vale of Braithwaite, and its
dim lone tower amid the intervening trees looking
Upward fixedly,
Like stedfast hope beneath some careless wrong,
it is likewise a rich subject for pensive and admiring contemplation, and
truly constitutes what a learned foreigner, when speaking of a somewhat
similar object, has designated as "one of the thought-deservingnesses of
the scene."
In some distant era, but at what exact period it is not easy to discover, -
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for the materials that might disclose the desired information are not
readily available, a chantry was founded in this church, and endowed with
lands and tenements for the support of the priest appointed for the objects
specifically named in the instrument of foundation. It was dedicated to
Saint Mary Magdalene de Keswyke; and, from the circumstance of the eastern
end of the south aisle, which had been taken for the pupose of this
subsidiary institution, being also used as the place of interment of the
old Derwentwaters, and adorned with their monuments, it is sufficiently
probable that it was founded by that ancient race. An attentive observer of
the fabric of the church may without difficulty detect where such chantry
was established, by the piscina at the eastern extremity of the aisle, and
by the head of the Magdalen in stained-glass, in the east window, in a
head-dress of the fashion of the fifteenth century, still, with benignant
aspect, looking down upon the effigies of those who, in the days of "the
old faith," sought in their prayers her intercession with the God of all
comfort.
For the last century the external form of the church has undergone little,
if indeed until recently any, change. A drawing in pencil of its appearance
in 1745, with the yew-trees that waved their sombre foliage over the low
green mounds beneath, was taken in that year, and is to be seen in that
interesting repository of the antiquities and natural and artificial
curiosities of the country, known as Crosthwaite's Museum at Keswick. This
drawing, made when he was a mere youth, was the work of Mr. Peter
Crosthwaite, the founder of that institution, who died in 1808, after a
useful life, chiefly devoted to the careful, philosophical, and antiquarian
examination of a district whose native productions and picturesque beauties
he was one of the first scientifically to investigate and point out for the
guidance of successive generations of admiring tourists. It is interesting,
as preserving the appearance of the edifice at a period so far back, with
those umbrageous ornaments of its churchyard,
The warlike yew, with which, more than the lance,
The strong-arm'd English spirits conquer'd France.
"Those trees," says Mr. Southey, in a foot-note to the "Colloquies," "were
some of the oldest and finest yew-trees in the country. The vicar of that
day cut them down, thinking the wood might serve to make a pew for the
singers, for which purpose it was found unserviceable when too late;
where-upon they were used as props for the gallery. One of them grew beside
the school-house, and was so large that an old man more than fifty years
ago told my excellent friend, whose name I now write with regret as the
late Sir George Beaumont, he had seen all the boys, some forty in number,
perched at one time upon its boughs."
From 1745 to 1812 no change seems to have taken place in the appearance of
the church. In the last-mentioned year, however, the old leaden roof, which
had become full of holes and crevices, through which the wind whistled at
liberty, and the rain found unchecked admittance, was stripped off and
sold, and a covering of slate substituted. About the same date also much of
the ancient stained glass that formerly adorned the windows was found to
have been removed by the galzier, who, during a long course of years, acted
under orders to keep the windows in repair. Not being looked after, he was
in the practice of taking out bits of the painted glass; so that in process
of time he contrived to carry away all except the figure of St. Anthony,
the head of Magdalen, and the Ratciffe arms; and with the pieces thus
abstracted he formed or covered a clock-case, which is in the possession of
some of his descendants, in a distant part of the county.
Previous to 1829 the church had fallen into a state of great dilapidation.
The pews, roof, and other important portions, hade become very defective,
and in consequence it was found necessary in that year to undertake what
was deemed a sufficient repair, in the execution of which the wooden bar,
painted red, which extended from the second pier on the north side of the
chancel to the second pier on the south side, and formed a transverse
division between the nave and the chancel, was removed.
In 1841 damp and other atmospheric
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inroads had again made hurtful attacks on the stability of the structure,
and its general state of decay was such as to afford matter for serious
consideration. The roof of 1812 had become infirm, and in danger of falling
in; and the exterior walls likewise proclaimed it to be in a rapidly
progressive state of decrepitude. The rude old pews and forms, which were
placed in every variety of position, had become rickety with age. An
ossuary, or charnel vault, filled to the top with the remains of mortality,
occupied the west end of the north aisle. The mullions and glass in the
windows were broken, and otherwise defective, in many places. The
Derwentwater effigies, removed from their original situation, lay exposed
to harmful treatment near the door at the principal entrance. The Lord's
Table was a plain massive plank of oak, set on four equally unornamented
legs; and the whole interior was deeply encrusted with the plastering and
whitewash of centuries. The stone-seated porch was old and crazy. The door
was of strong oaken plank, three inches thick, studded with iron nails, and
braced with long strong hinges, both internally and externally, of the same
material. Embedded in it were found several leaden balls; and there
appeared marks in two or three places as if at some distant day it had been
pierced with cannon shot, it being considered that nothing but a circular
missile, projected with extreme force, could have cut holes so clean and
round where the shot had struck and splintered on the inside, where, with
exhausted impetus, they had torn the wood. Of the time in which such
violence was committed record and hearsay are alike silent, leaving it to
be surmised as not unlikely to have occurred during the disastrous epoch of
the civil wars in the seventeenth century, when , it is known, even this
retired district did not escape outrage from the conflict of parties.
Such was the condition and aspect of the church, when Mr. Stanger of
Lairthwaite, a gentleman of wealth, returned to the parish, of which his
forefathers had been inhabitants - induced by those pious impulses which in
earlier ages urged the great and humble alike to contribute to the erection
of religious houses, proposed to restore and embellish it, principally at
his own expense. Like as unto the Holy David, to whom it appeared unseemly
that the Ark of God should "remain under curtains" whilst he "dwelt in a
house of cedar," Mr. Stanger lamented to behold the fabric sanctified in
the affections of so many generations in such a state of dilapidation and
decay; with a munificence therefore that might vie with the most earnest
feelings of those zealous ages when men were not niggardly of their means
to make the house of God worthy of the holy object for which it was
designed, he resolved on its perfect renovation, and from thenceforth until
its completion the undertaking was a principal subject of his thought and
care.
Having obtained the consent of the parishioners, as well as the necessary
ecclesiastical authorization, the commission of restoration was entrusted
to Mr. George Gilbert Scott, an eminent architect, whose taste in church
architecture is only equalled by his knowledge and skill; and from his
designs the church has arisen to its present finished state of renewed
beauty and adornment; the whole cost, with the exception of 400l.
subscribed among the parishioners for the expense of the roof of the nave,
being defrayed by Mr. Stanger.
The plans for the restoration having been decided upon, the first operation
engaged in was to empty the charnel vault of the collection there heaped up
of the relics of frail humanity, which were all carefully removed, and
deposited in deep holes on the east side of the churchyard. The walls which
separated this osseous receptacle from the nave and aisle were then taken
down, and the space occupied thrown open to its pristine use. The singers'
gallery, the pews, the altar-table and rails, the reading-desk and the
pulpit, were taken away and sold; the last mentioned article, which was of
oak elaborately carved, being bought for the chapel in Newlands. The flags
were taken up, and the underlying earth, which for unnoted generations had
been used as a place of sepulture, excavate, and transferred with all its
contents - except the remains in the vaults of the families of Stephenson
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and Jackson, which were left undisturbed - to the same side of the cemetery
where the bones from the charnel vault had been interred, and there covered
deeply with fresh mould. In the progress of these cuttings, some old coins
of silver, so worn as not to be deciphered, and a leaden coin of Stephen's
reign, depositied in Crosthwaite's Museum, were discoverd near the west end
of the nave. Numbers of small encaustic tiles about six inches square, and
nearly an inch thick, of a deep red brick colour, inlaid with figures of
yellowish white, and evidently once forming a decorative pavement, were
also exhumed, at the east end of the north aisle of the chancel. When
hollowing out that part of the ground at the east end of the south aisle of
the chancel, regard was particularly bestowed upon it, under the impression
that as the brasses commemorative of Sir John Ratcliffe and his lady rested
on their tomb in that portion of the church, and where also the more
ancient marble effigies of some of the earlier Derwentwaters had reposed
before their removal, their burial vault, or at least some of their coffins
might be found. However, after a careful sifting of the ground to the depth
of four feet, nothing was brought to light beyond a quantity of bones,
which were also consigned to the churchyard, and the small piscina of the
chantry in the south wall, now concealed under a seat. The dilapidated
porch and time-worn oaken doors were taken down, and the latter burned. The
heads of Saint Anthony and Mary Magdalen, and the Ratcliffe arms in stained
glass, the only remnants left of the ancient fenestral decoration, were
likewise carefully displaced.
A correct drawing of the large east window was made, which threreupon,
together with a considerable portion of the adjoining wall, was entirely
broken away previous to its reconstruction. The roofs of the nave, chancel,
and aisles were stripped off, and the piers, arches, walls, and mullions of
the windows denuded of their plaster and whitewash.
Here it may be mentioned, that on the occasion of putting up in 1839 on the
flank wall of the north aisle of the chancel, between the first and second
wiindows from the east end, the white marble mural tablet to the memory of
Lieut.-Gen. Peachey, of Derwent Island, a painting on an inner coat of
plaster, of a circular form, and aboout eighteen inches in diameter, was
revealed underneath the space now occupied by that obituary memorial. It
was composed of a series of rings or concentric circles, each being about
an inch broad; the outer one was coloured black, the second red, and the
third yellow; the centre was white, and painted thereon in black letters
and figures of the old character, were on different lines the words "and,"
"my," "thy," with, on a line below, the numerals "191," which were all that
were legible. Investigation has not elicited anything satisfactory relative
to the purport of this inscription, though it has been assumed to have
reference to the era of the building of the Norman church; but a conjecture
nearer to its true intention may be hazarded, that it had regard not to the
foundation, but was a portion of one of those texts of scripture, which in
Edward the Sixth's time were by the 82nd canon ordered to be painted upon
the walls of churches.
A low semi-circular arched doorway, supposed to have been used in Roman
Catholic times as an entrance through which penitents were admitted, and
which was supposed to have been walled up at the Reformation, was under the
same process of denudation exposed to view near the west end of the flank
wall of the north aisle of the nave. The was also uncovered on the stone
frame-work on the left-hand of each of the windows a carved circle about
four inches in diameter; containing a cross within, and which figure was
likewise found on the stone dressings on the left-hand side of each window
on the exterior.
All things being thus prepared, the renaiscence of the whole structure
commenced, and continued in a style designed to harmonise in wall and
window, roof and pillar, glass and carvings, as nearly as possible,
consistent with arrangements of a reformed place of worship, to the style
of the latter end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century,
the era when the present edifice is supposed to have been erected.
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As it now stands, the plan of this church consists of a tower; nave, with
north and south aisles; a sacristy or vestry taken off the west end of the
south aisle; a south porch; a chancel with north and south aisles, that on
the south being loftier and wider than the northern aisle; and a chancel
door. Viewed on the exterior it presents an embattled square tower, about
sixty feet in height, supported by diagonal buttresses at the north-west
and south-west angles, of three stages each, which die away into the walls
about half-way up the tower. On the north and south side, beneath the
battlements, are two rude stone water-spouts. At the south-west corner is
the stair turret, which rises a few feet above the roof, and is likewise
surmounted with battlements. In this angle a spiral stone staircase,
lighted by slits, winds to the leaden roof, from whose lofty summit start
into view -
A thousand beauties at one charming sight!
No pencil's art can such a landscape feign,
And Nature's self scarce yields the like again;
the whole forming a picture replete in every direction with attractions of
unequalled beauty.
The belfry carries a set of six sweet-toned bells, hung up about seventy
years ago, whose harmonious carillons, "the most exhilirating and
the most affecting of all measured sounds" on a calm Sabbath morn, break
upon the air of the romantic vale with a melody that was ever listened to
with a holy pleasure by the late Laureate, to whom it spoke of an
immortality brighter by far than that of Fame. On the western front of the
tower, about midway from the ground, is a large window of four lights,
whose four upright mullions and embattled transom assign its date to the
latter period of the Perpendicular or Tudor style, and on each side of the
story above is a small stone-mullioned, circular-headed, belfry window of
three lights.
A handsome south porch, too elaborate, indeed, for the style of the church,
occupies the site of the old one. It is built of hammer-dressed dark grey
stone, with dressings of reddish-coloured sandstone at the quoins and
buttresses, and round the doorway. The gable is terminated by a handsome
floriated cross, and the high-pitched roof is supoorted by four small
buttresses of one stage each, that rise from plain bases at the corners on
each side of the portal, and die under the eaves' courses. The doorway has
small clustered columns, from which spring a pointed arch of many
mouldings, surmounted by a hood moulding, resting on carved heads. The roof
is open to the framing, and the inner doorway has a plain Tudor arch devoid
on any ornament. There is likewise a small chancel door, having a flat top
and sides, supported by a quarter circle from each side of the jamb, and on
the right-hand, outside, is a small niche and mutilated stoup. The doors
are all of oak, studded with nail-heads, and have large scroll hinges, or
ornamental character and ancient design.
The church is 47 yards long, and exteriorly consists on the south side of
two bays, separated by three graduating buttresses, each of several unequal
stages, which all die into the wall below the parapet, one at each end, and
one near the centre of the flank wall. In the first bay from the west is
the porch, and in the second is the chancel door. The windows of the aisle
on this side are six in number, and are all of the same size and form,
being of three stone-mullioned, semi-circular-headed lights, each under
square-headed frames. At the west end of the south aisle of the nave, under
an upright, square-headed frame, is an ogee-arched stone-mullioned,
two-light, trefoiled window.
At the west end of the north aisle, in the re-entering angle formed by the
north wall of the tower and the west wall of that aisle, is a plain narrow
buttress of one stage only. On the north side are three buttresses of
similar form and dimensions to those on the south. They support the flank
wall of the north aisle of the chancel only, and, dividing it into two
nearly equal-sized bays, die into the wall below the eave course of the
roof. On the north side of the north aisles there are eight stone-mullioned
windows, set within square-headed frames; three, in the north aisle of the
nave, being of two lights each, with trefoiled heads under ogee arches;
two, of two lights each, with cinquefoiled heads, under lancet arches; one
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three-light trefoiled window under an ogee arch; and two round-headed
windows of two and three lights each; the irregularity of position and
variety of form and dimensions observable being the consequence,
apparently, of enlargements and alterations which this side of the building
has undergone at different periods.
On the east side two plain, narrow, lofty buttresses, of unequal thickness,
but of only one stage each, and which die into the wall under the
battlements at the junction of the lean-to roofs of the aisles to the walls
of the chancel, divide this end into three bays. In the centre is the large
pointed east window of the chancel, which is an exact copy of the old one.
It is divided by stone mullions into three lights, the head being filled by
plain intersecting tracery, adorned with trefoils, and surmounted by a
weather moulding which runs down into carved flowers. The northernmost bay
on this side has a heavy stone-mullioned window of two trefoiled lights
under ogee arches. It has apparently been of greater size formerly. The
south bay contains a square, stone-mullioned window of three round-headed
lights.
The roofs are covered with slate, and those on the nave and chancel on the
south and east have an embattled parapet resting upon a plain, slightly
projecting cornice. The battlements, which harmonise with those of the
tower, are of equal intervals, and the capping runs along the top alone.
The finish to the roof of the south aisle is less imposing, there being
only a slightly overhanging parapet terminated by a similar capping. The
roofs on the north side are also finished in a plainer manner, that of the
nave and chancel having merely a stone parapet with the same kind of
capping, while the roof of the aisles has only a dripping eave projecting a
few inches beyond the wall, and the east end of the roof of that aisle is
furnished with a parapet like that on the east end of the south aisle.
On the north side, placed at nearly equal intervals, are six clerestory,
stone-mullioned windows, of three semicircular-headed lights each, and on
the south are seven clerestory windows, five of which, over the nave, are
of three round-headed lights, while the two eastermost, which are more
deeply recessed, are square-headed, and of two lights only.
The interior consists of a tower, which is open to the nave by a lofty,
pointed arch of two chamfered orders, springing from half or engaged
octagonal piers, on a line with those that flank the nave. Its soaring apex
reaches nearly to the tie-beams of the roof, and its wide span, which is
equal to that of the breadth of the nave before the gallery was put up,
gave to view the interior of the tower, together with the large window in
its eastern front.
A nave and chancel, which open into their lateral aisles by arches of
similar orders and design, rest upon six plain octagonal piers, and two
engaged piers at each end. The two westernmost arches are filled with
wooden paneling, so as partly to inclose the vestry taken off the south
aisle, and the corresponding portion of the north aisle. The bases of the
piers are of the plain reversed ogee form, and all have capitals to match.
The chancel is raised two steps above the floor of the nave, from which it
is further distinguished by the reading pew and pulpit, and the high backs
of such of the stalls as from their transverse position face twoards the
east, and make a marked distinction between these two principal divisions
of the church. A wainscot or screen of oak, open on the upper part, which
forms the backs of the remainder of the stalls, and is adorned with plain
shields in the expanded heads of the rails that support a heavy, embattled
cornice, extends between the the first arches from the nave, and, flanking
the chancel on the north and south, further indicates the separation of
that division of the church from its lateral aisles.
The windows have been already noticed, and their appearance when viewed
from within offers but little that calls for remark, save upon those that
are filled with stained glass, which will hereafter be more particularly
described.
The nave, chancel, and aisles were newly flagged, leaving a vacant space of
about three feet clear between the flags and the surface of the earth
beneath. The piers, bases, and capitals, mouldings of the arches, mullions,
and jambs of the windows were chiseled
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anew, and the natural reddish hue of the stone brought to light with warm
and becoming effect, to which the plaster on the walls was tinted to
harmonize.
The roofs, which are of low pitch, were entirely reconstructed, the expense
of that of the nave, which is open to the ridge, being defrayed at the
general cost of the parishioners. It is, together with the wood-work of the
whole, save the exceptions already and afterwards mentioned, composed of
the best Baltic deal, stained and varished to look like oak. The tie-beams,
which are triangular in form, with the point hanging down, have many convex
and ogee mouldings; they rest on the walls, where their ends are hidden by
projecting architraves or cornices of wood, of similar mouldings, that
flank each wall and give an appearance of greater height to the roof. Short
curved braces, resting on the tie-beams, support the moulded ribs of the
principal rafters, immediately underneath the intersections of the purlins
or bars; these, lying horizontally, divide each bay into panels, that are
subdivided into narrow longitudinal divisions by the plain inclined
rectangular bars forming the common rafters, over which they are boarded.
The chancel roof presents a continuity of form and design, but the
architraves and tie-beams being more massive and ornately moulded, as well
as embattled on their upper edges, it offers a bolder and more enriched
construction. It is divided into four bays, and the first and last
tie-beams partly rest on curved spandrils that die away below into stone
corbels, which rest on carved heads that spring from the walls.
The roofs of the aisles are like that of the nave, except that there are
neither tie-beams nor braces, and that the architrave which flanks the top
of each wall is of lighter dimensions; they are likewise formed into panels
by moulded horizontal purlins, which, at the intersection of the principal
rafters, and also at the joining of the rafters to the walls, are tied with
ornamental bosses of carved flowers and foliage, mingled with church
emblems, and the shields of arms of gentry in the neighbourhood. The roof
at the east end of the north aisle of the chancel, over the pew belonging
to Ormathwaite Hall, is more elaborately adorned, the architrave on the
flank wall of that part of the aisle being deeper and more profusely
moulded, and terminated at each end by the graceful figure of an angel,
finely carved in wood; such enrichments being intended to replace the ruder
style of decoration that formerly distinguished this pew.
At the western end of the south aisle is the vestry, separated from the
aisle by a high, close-paneled wainscot or scrren, of characteristic
design, surmounted by a cornice, whose upper edge is likewise embattled.
The interior was newly seated; the benches in the nave, which are all open
except two, have plain, slightly-raised frame-ends, and all but one face to
the east.
The stalls in the chancel are twenty in number; eight of them likewise look
towards the east, and the remaineder, together with the open benches in
that division of the church, which are further distinguished by high raised
ends terminated by carved finials, and those in its aisles which have only
slightly rasied ends, face either north or south. The benches in the
chancel have carved panels in front, of uniform design, and, with the other
seats and fittings-up in this portion of the church and its aisles, are all
of oak. The turn of the arms of the stalls, and of the benches in the
chancel and its aisles, together with the poppy-heads of the chancel seats,
are adorned with carvings of foliage, fruit, and flowers, intermingled with
the heads of saints and angels, and mystical devices symbolic of Scriptural
subjects, finely and even delicately executed, the whole thus preserving an
agreeable unity of style with the architectural and ornamental
embellishments throughout the church.The Lord's table, chairs, and rails,
are carved in a corresponding pattern, and the cloth and cushions on the
table and around the rails are of murrey-coloured velvet, the former being
edged with gold-lace and fringe. The area within the rails is boarded, and
covered with a carpet of the same colour; and in the south wall, near the
angle formed with the east endwall, is a plain and perfect piscina with a
segmental head. The screen or
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wainscot behind the altar extends across the entire width of the chancel;
it is divided into nine narrow, upright, square-headed panels, containing
cinquefoiled arches, with trefoils in the corners, and is surmounted by an
architrave embattled on its upper edge. The middle panel, which is of a
purple diapered ground, bordered by a broad illuminated edging of oak and
vine leaves, following the course of the arch, contains a cross flory,
highly emblazoned in gold and colours, within whose radiated centre is
displayed the sacred monogram, I.H.S. surrounded by a white and gold
circle, on which is painted in black and rubricated letters this sentence,
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the Sin of the World." The two
next panels on each side, within similar enriched borders surrounding white
grounds, contain the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Commandments in
black letters, with rubricated illuminated capitals and other
illuminations. The remaining compartments are without ornament.
The pulpit and reading pew are features of the interior which add much to
its general effect, and cannot but of themselves attract admiration.
The latter is a little elevated, and placed near the north pier, at the
junction of nave and chancel. It is an irregular pentagon of handsome
Gothic design. Light pillars, which rise from an appropriate base, support
cinquefoil arches, that form small open panels; above which the book-board
rests: and beneath, springing from the west, south-west, and south sides,
are the half-length figures and heads of the four Evangelists, each holding
before it a shield, on which is carved the emblem symbolic of the holy man.
The other sides of the pew are void of adornment.
The pulpit, which is hexagonal, is of good shape and expression. It stands
near the south pier, at the separation of the nave and chancel, and on a
line with the reading pew, thus keeping up architectural symmetry. It
terminates in a single pedestal of similar form, that rests upon a plinth
of the same design. The sides are paneled, and enriched with sunken pointed
cinquefoil arches, that rise from small circular pillars; and above them
the shelf or book-board supports an eagle with expanded wiings. The
cushions and draperies, like those in the reading pew, are of
murrey-coloured velvet.
The organ, which was likewise the gift of Mr. Stanger, and the singers'
gallery, occupy the west end of the nave, and conceal the west window and
lofty arch, which opens from the tower into the nave, thus giving occasion
for regret that the ancient arrangement of leaving the entire space of the
tower, nave, and chancel clear to the view has not been adhered to. Was
this beautiful arch restored and thrown open, the whole character of the
interior would be greatly improved; and, though in this particular case the
obstructions have been made as inoffensive as could possibly be, yet it
might have been more desirable, with due regard to architectonic expression
and effect, not to have closed up the arch, or admitted a gallery before it
at all.
The font, displaced from its ancient symbolical position near the door,
stands a little towards the north side of the west end of the nave, and
immediately below the gallery. It is of stone, about four feet high, and
has a pyramidal cover of deal, painted to look like oak. Through the efflux
of time and much rough usage it is partially defaced, and further
disfigured by continuous applications of lime and white paint. The head,
which is octagonal, rests upon a stem, whose lower portion is of similar
shape, though the upper part is quadrangular, and it rises from an incline
placed upon a square base. The four sides of the incline have each had
carving of some grotesque figure, now all but obliterated; and beneath the
head are four other sculptures, all likewise so much mutilated as not to be
defined, but whose position, exactly over the sculptures at the base, cause
them to be regarded as having been the capitals of four small columns, that
afforded further ornamental support to the overhaninging head. Seven of the
faces of the lower part of the stem are ornamented in high relief with
carvings of windows of the Decorated period of architecture, of three
lights each; and the remaining face is carved in the same bold manner, top
represent a window
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of the like number of lights, but of Early Perpendicular style. Above the
upper set of sculptures are inscriptions in Latin in old characters, that
extend round the bottom of the bowl. They have been deeply cut; but so few
of the letters are now legible that nothing can be learnt from them, though
probably they had reference to the subjects rudely sculptured in raised
figures on each of the compartments or faces in the head. On the first of
these faces is a representation of the tree of life. The second, upon a
triangular shield, displays the emblems of the crucifixion. The third face
represnts the wod proceeding out of the mouth of the Almighty to all parts
of the world. The fourth symbolizes the Trinity. The fifth is difficult to
decypher, but some appearances like vine leaves may be traced. The sixth,
within a triangular shield, has Aaron's rod, and in the corners are smaller
shields of the same shape, that on the dexter base of the larger shield
being charged with the armorial bearings of the Multons, lords of Egremont
and Cockermouth; but the one next the sinister base is not to be deciphered
with precision. The seventh face represents the tree of knowledge of good
and evil, with the tempter of mankind in the form of a dragon passing
through the trunk, the meaning of which rudely executed symbols are by the
intelligent sexton of the church quaintly construed to be, "the effects of
a good sermon cut through, and rendered to no avail, by the Devil." On the
eighth face, within an escutcheon of triangular form, are the royal arms of
England as borne by Edward III.; and in the corners are two smaller
shields, that next the dexter base of the royal achievement being charged
with the armorial coat of Gilbert Umfreville, Earl of Angus; while the
other, next the sinister base, shows the arms of the Lucys, successors to
the Multons in the lordships above named. From these various architectural
and heraldic devices it has been inferred that the font is as old as the
reign of the chivalric sovereign above named, and that it was given to the
church by the Earl of Angus and his wife Maud, the lineal descendant of
Alice de Romeli, and sister and sole heiress of Anthony Lucy, feudal lord
of the barony of Egremont and seignory of Cockermouth.
(To be continued.)
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CROSTHWAITE CHURCH, CUMBERLAND,
THE BURIAL-PLACE OF SOUTHEY,
(Concluded from page 259.)
THE east end of the south aisle of the chancel, generally known as the
Derwentwater aisle, is divided from the chancel by an arch whose span is
considerably wider than that of the opposite arch on the north aisle. Here,
for unnumbered generations, for the origin and antiquity of the family is
lost in the obscurity of unrecorded times, the ashes of the Derwentwaters
reposed until exhumed previous to the renovation of the church. In this
sanctuary also rested two of those attractive remnants of antiquity, their
sculptured monumental figures, which erstwhile lay side by side upon
enriched altar tombs long since destroyed; and in the same spot they are
again replaced, to be, it is hoped, no more disturbed. The marble effigies
are the oldest, and to secure them from further injury, as well as to gain
additional accommodation for new sittings, they have been laid next to the
south end of the altar rails, upon a deep slab of red sandstone placed upon
the floor, and within an open screen-work of the same sort of stone. On the
top lies a heavy slab of dark grey marble, and into it the sepulchral brass
hereafter described is inlaid. The effigies which lie extended at full
length are those of a knight and his lady, supposed to commemorate one of
the Derwentwaters and his wife. Tradition however being altogether silent,
and no relics or legend having been discovered that could throw light upon
their history, all knowledge of the particular individuals whom such
memorials were intended to honour would seem to be lost; though an
antiquary familiar with the genealogical records of the northern counties,
and versed in the history of the ancient periods of costume, might assign
them as the effigies of Sir John de Derwentwater, the last of the name, and
his wife, who lived in the reign of Henry IV. The male figure is habited in
a long, high, loose, tunic or robe, with wide sleeves, secured round the
waist by a belt, from which a pouch, or aulmoniere as it was called, hangs
at the right side. The head is bare. The hair, formally parted on the
forehead, is worn long behind, and an enriched collar is about the neck.
The long, embroidered mantle of knighthood is secured on the shoulders by a
band across the chest, and the hands are upraised upon the breast in that
expressive attitude of humility and supplication which is so peculiarly
affecting in the monumental effigies of other times.
The lady's dress is a kirtle or close-bodied garment, low on the bosom,
with long tight sleeves, and a long skirt. The head is surmounted by a sort
of coronet, from underneath which a veil or hood, concealing the hair,
flows down each side upon the shoulders. An ornamental collar and necklace
are around the throat, from which a pendent jewel rests upon the bosom; and
the waist is encircled by a girdle, attached to which is along cord, whose
broken ends and tassels descend in front nearly to the feet. A long open
mantle falls from the shoulders, where it is secured by a band across the
bosom, fastened on each side to the mantle by a fermail or brooch, and the
hands are likewsie joined in attitude of prayer. The heads repose on
tasseled cushions once upheld by angels, and the knight's feet rest on the
broken form of a hound, but what support the lady had for the feet has long
since been worn away and destroyed. The countenances of both are defaced,
and almost all the finer parts of the sculpture flattened and mutilated.
the effigies seem originally to have been painted and gilt, the application
of such polychromatic enrichment being still slightly perceptible,
especially on the lady's collar.
The other spulchral momento is a brass, laid down on a slab of dark grey
Kendal marble. It is in tolerably perfect preservation, and its value is
largely enhanced from the fact of its being one of the very few monumental
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brasses that remain in the churches of Cumberland - a county so singularly
poor in such ancient enriched obituary memorials, that there are but four
others to be met with. The brass therefore in this church, though not of
the most beautiful period of the art, is nevertheless valuable not alone
from its local rarity, but as one of the very few material relics of a
family whose sway through many centuries so widely extended around this
their narrow bed. The knight is sheathed in the complete armour of plate
worn at the period of his decease; the head, face, and hands alone being
uncovered. The hair is parted on the forehead, and falls in tresses behind.
Round the neck and shoulders are ornamental chains, pendent from one of
which a jewelled decoration rests upon the chest. The hands are raised in
prayer; and on the heels are the spurs of knighthood. A dagger is slung
behind the right side, and behind the left is a long straight cross-handled
sword. On the head of the lady is that peculiar head-dress worn by females
of distinction in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. called a coif,
which totally conceals the hair. The embroidered neck of an under-garment
encircles the throat; over this is a high and close-bodied gown, falling in
long ample folds from the waist, where it is secured by a girdle clasped in
front by an ornament composed of three roses, from which, suspended by a
long chain reaching nearly to the feet, hangs another ornament of a
circular form. The arms of the dress are tight, and finished at the wrists
with ruffles, and over them is drawn the wide, loose, hanging sleeves so
common at the time. A wrought chain is on the shoulders, and around the
neck is another, fastened to an ornament on the bosom similar to that worn
by the knight; and, like those of the male figure, the hands are also
raised in a supplicatory attitude. The legend engraven on brass at the foot
of the figures runs thus:
"Of your charitie pray for the soule of Sir John Ratcliffe, knight, and for
the state of Dame Alice his wife, which Sir John died the 2nd of Februere,
A.D.1527, on whose soule Jesu have mercie."
From this inscription it would appear that Lady Ratcliffe was not deceased
at the time when the brass was laid down; and most probably not only this
graven record, but likewise that other mark of hereditary honour - the
escutcheon in stained glass, which formerly was seen in the great east
window - were set up by her direction in Henry the Eighth's reign. At the
knight's head is a shield bearing, Argent, a bend engrailed sable, the
armorail coat of the Ratcliffes; and at his feet another, charged with, Or,
two lions passant in pale gules, the arms of Dame Alice. The shield at the
head of Dame Alice carries her paternal coat; and on the shield at her feet
are the Ratcliffe arms repeated, with the additional charge of a rose in
the sinister corner of the chief, for a difference of houses.
The knight to whose memory this brass was laid down, and who was the last
person of importance of his family that was interred in this church,
reckoned in his lineage a long line of illustrious ancestors. He was
maternally descended from the Derwentwaters, being the great-grandson of
Margaret de Derwentwater, the daughter and sole heiress of Sir John de
Derwentwater, who in Henry the Fifth's reign married Sir Nicholas Ratcliffe
of Dilston, a Northumbrian knight; and from which union sprung the
Ratcliffes of Dilston and Derwentwater. His immediate progenitor was Sir
Edward Ratcliffe, of whom he was the second or seventh son; and he is
supposed to have held the Derwentwater estate in this vicinity by
settlement or devise. He was a person of much consideration in his day, and
was ofttimes selected by his successive sovereigns Henry the Seventh and
Henry the Eighth to fill the then more actively important and warlike
office of sheriff of Cumberland, which at that time was incessantly
harassed by the predatory inroads of the bordering Scots, his last year of
office being scarcely completed in 1527, when he died. He likewise several
times held the King's commission to treat, on peace and other matters
affecting the realm, with his gallant but restless neighbours. He was the
last of his family who served any office of note in Cumberland, as from
thenceforward
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The Ratcliffes were connected with this county only by their landed
possessions and their name, afterwards ennobled as Earls of Derwentwater,
to which title circumstances in a subsequent age gave a romantic interest.
By his wife Dame Alice he had not any issue; and, dying a childless man,
the estates of the Derwentwaters reverted to his elder brother, Sir
Cuthbert Ratcliffe, of Dilston; as it appears from a survey made in the
thirty-fifth of Henry the Eighth of knight's fees in Cumberland, these
estates were held by Sir Cuthbert of the King by the service of two
knights' fees and the rendition of various other obligations incident to
the feudal régime. In that family they continued until, for
conspiring, in the words of one of the most spirited Jacobite songs of the
period, to bring "the auld Stewarts back again," they were forfeited to the
Crown, on the attainder and execution in 1716 of the last Earl of
Derwentwater, the traditionary stories of whose youth, gallantry, and
misfortunes have thrown so magic an interest over the neighbourhood around.
The windows adorned with stained glass are but six in number. They are all
the production of that tasteful artist Mr. Wailes of Newcastle-upon-Tyne:
and it will probably not be devoid of interest if an enlarged description
is afforded of what has been done by the judicious introduction of this
resplendent material, harmonized by taste and skill in the execution, to
give effect and character to the sacred building. They are designed in
conformity with the style of the window decoration which prevailed at the
end of the fifteenth century; and to an observer learned in the history and
genius of of ancient fenestral embellishment, each of them in accordiance
with the depths of those expressive times the Middle Ages, when a regular
system of the mystical meanings of colours was in use, will be found to
have been made to tell some tale of local feeling, or convey a truth in the
typical language of this beautifully revived Christian art.
The large east window, and also the windows at the east and west ends of
the south aisle, are the gifts of the liberal individual at whose expense
the church has been restored. The large window, from its size and happy
combination of colours and designs, is a splendid effort of gorgeous
colouring. The seven scriptural subjects, which, among the blaze of hues
that fascinate and overpower the eye, bestow its chief character, are
incidents of the last days of the Saviour upon earth: 1, Christ washing the
Apostles' feet; 2. The Last Supper; 3. The agony in the garden; 4. Christ
bearing his cross; 5. The Crucifixion; 6. Angels at the sepulchre. In the
tracery in the head is the Ascent into heaven, with figures of angels
holding labels and harps; and above all, an Agnus Dei; the whole of these
stories representations being interspersed with various elegant devices,
which, by the disposition and tones of the predominating colours, produce a
brilliant picture, full of the finest effects and devotional influences.
The east window of the south aisle, called the Derwentwater Chapel, or
Magdalen's Chantry, contains the appropriate pictorial subjects of Mary
Magdalem washing the Saviour's feet, the three Marys at the tomb of Christ,
and Christ and Mary Magdalen. Above the second of these pictures appears,
in ancient stained glass, the head of the Magdalen; and at the foot is now
correctly placed the armorial escutcheon of the Ratcliffes, impaling
quarterly 2 and 3 Dame Alice's paternal coat, and 4, Argent, two bars
gules, on a canton of the first a cinquefoil of the second, Derwentwater;
through whose blazonry the mellowed light falls with jewelled radiancy upon
the brasses and motionless effigies of the families whose remains were
entombed beneath. It is apprehended that in the cleansing of this
escutcheon, previous to its being set up in the situation it now occupies,
the Ratcliffe arms in the first quarter of the shield have inadvertently
been blundered, as a difference is perceivable between the blazon and the
arms of the same house engraven on the brazen shields in the slab beneath.
The vestry window, at the west end, contains the figures of St. Cuthbert
and St. Kentigern, and attracts admiration, not only for the perfect tones
of its solemnly contrasted colouring, but for its striking position when
seen
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through the doorway of the close oaken wainscot which separates the vestry
from the south aisle.
The east window of the north aisle, known as the Hulton window, from its
having been put up at the cost of a gentleman of that name resident in the
neighbourhood, has illustrations of the Adoration and the Transfiguration.
Amid the variegated tracery which adds to the expression of this window are
also noticeable the heraldic bearings and name of the generous-minded
donor, by whom, together with a full, handsome silver gilt service of plate
for the altar, it was offered as a further enrichment to the church.
The adjoining window on the north side of the same aisle is, from the name
of its donor, likewise a gentleman resident in the vicinage, called the
Spedding window, and engages attention for the gracefulness of its drawing,
and the chaste richness of its colouring. It is of three lights: the first
is adorned with the figure of the Virgin Mary, holding her emblem, the
lily, in one hand, and a bible in the other, with this text at her feet:
"Ecce ex hoc beatam me vocant omnes generationes;" the second light has the
Saviour of the world, bearing the sceptre and the globe, surmounted by a
cross, with this sentence underneath: "Ego sum resurrectio et vita;" and in
the third light is Saint John, with the eagle and a reed in his hands, and
the words "Ecce filius tuus" at his feet. Beneath the figure of the Saviour
is a circle, bearing on its outer rim an inscription, setting forth by
whose generosity this handsome and impressive addition to the fenestral
decoration of the hallowed fane was given.
The sixth or remaining stained glass window, called "The Memorial Window,"
is the second from the east end of the south aisle. It was put up at the
charge of the parishioners, as a testimonial to perpetaute their grateful
appreciation of the liberality and estimable qualities of the restorer of
the church; and the story its pictorial imagery tells, is by the
subscribers felt to be not less truthfully applicable than worthily
merited. The window is of three lights, each adorned with two subjects
taken from the sacred page. Those in the first light are illustrative of
the following sentences in Matthew, chap. XXV. 35: "I was an hungred, and
ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink." The second light
displays subjects from the same Evangelist, verses 35, 36 of the same
chapter: "I was a stranger, and ye took me in; I was naked, and ye clothed
me;" - and in the third light are illustrations from the same chapter and
verse: "I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto
me." Running underneath the whole, the following text from the same
inspired writer, verse 40, - "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me," - forms a significanet and fully acknowledged enumeration of the
virtues and benevolent disposition of the individual to whose honour this
window was set up. Affixed on the ledge of the window beneath is a brass
tablet, on which the following record is engraved:-
"A Memorial Window by the Parishioners, gratefully to commemorate the
munificent restoration and embellishment of this Church by James Stanger,
esquire.
A.D. 1845.
The Rev. JAS. LYNN, Vicar.
HENRY WOOD, GEORGE WILLIAMSON, Churchwardens."
In the second window from the east end of the north aisle is the
half-length figure of that eremite Saint Antony, with his bell and book, in
ancient stained glass, the colours of which have all faded except the black
and bright yellow, but leaving the outlines of the countenance and habit
still clearly visible.
But, rich and pleasant to behold, and wooing to high devotional feeling, as
the interior is, that which crowns it with transcendent interest is the
monument of the late Robert Southey, whose mind, an Argosy laden with the
treasures of wisdom, and whose life, all virtue, through the long years of
his residence, had knelt in lowly-minded piety and prayer within these
sacred walls, the majesty of intellect, and innocence chastened by the
spirit of religion, humbling itself, to quote his
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own affecting expression, under the soul-touching truth "that they who are
wise unto salvation know feelingly when they have done best that their best
works are worth nothing." With a reverence therefore for intellectual
greatness, especially when devoted, as its mighty powers ever were, to the
advantage and instruction of mankind, Mr. Stanger was further desirous that
an appropriate memorial should be placed inside the church, to perpetuate
the resemblance of one who, as characterized in the heartfelt panegyric of
one of his noble admirers, was so "splendid an instance of a poet, a
philosopher, an historian, and even a statesman, chastened and yet elevated
by the spirit of the gospel." This, it was especially felt, would be a
dignified tribute of regard in the place where his genius, by giving to the
things and objects around an interest beyond their own, had sanctified the
locality in the associations of his sympathetic and admirimng
fellow-countrymen. With this object a subscription was opened for the
purpose of defraying the cost at the estimated expense of 400l. in
Caen stone of a tomb and effigy. Subsequently, however, it was decided upon
that the figure should be sculptured in the beautiful though more costly
material of Carrara marble, at the increased charge of 1,100l. A
numerous list of subscribers, (whose subscriptions, however, being far from
sufficient to cover the entire expense of the monument, have left a
considerable deficit, which, it is understood, will fall upon the
munificent restorer of the church,) anxious to mark their sense of the
genius and virtues of the man, having been obtained, the execution of the
memorial was confided to the celebrated sculptor Mr. Lough, whose
liberality of feeling, under the circumstances, has entitled him to no
little applause, and from his hand has thus proceeded the monument of one
who occupies so prominent a place in the history of the literature of his
country.
The situation selected for it is in the south aisle of the chancel,
opposite the door, and close to the oaken screen which separates the
chancel from its southern aisle. The altar tomb is of Caen stone, the sides
of which are divided into five square compartments or panels. Four of these
have their centres enriched with carved leaves of different kinds,
surrounded by double foliated circles, and the corners of each panel are
likewise decorated with ornaments of the same description on a smaller
scale. The centre of the middle panel alone displays a vacant shield,
intended for the armorial escutcheon of the deceased, and the ends of the
tomb, devoid of other embellishment, are filled only with the inscription
and lines hereafter recorded. On the top reclines upon a couch, the head
and shoulders supported on double tasseled cushions, the full-length
effigy, clad in academic robes, of the late laureate. The left hand rests
upon the bosom, and the face, turned towards the spectator, wears an
expression of meditation, as if musing on the contents of the open volume,
which, in the intensity of mental abstraction, has, together with the hand
that held it, dropped listlessly by the side. The position best adapted for
viewing the figure is in the first seat next the wall, on the left-hand
side after passing the chancel door. From thence, in the judgment of those
relatives and friends by whom he was most intimately known, the features
and character of expression are beheld with the most truthful effect, and
this is especially the case when the low-arched door that leads into the
aisle is opened, and a ray from the sun, streaming in upon the gloom, casts
a brilliancy across the chancel and its aisles, and, bringing into bold
distinctness and relief the prominent lineaments of the face and figure, a
picture is displayed, which for concentrated beauty and effect is eminently
affecting. The west end of the tomb bears this inscription:
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"Sacred to the memory of Robert Southey,
whose mortal remains are interred in the adjoining churchyard.
He was born at Bristol,
August XII, M.DCC.LXXIV,
and died, after a residence of nearly XL years, at Greta Hall,
in this parish, March XXI, M.DCCC.XLIII.
This monument was erected by friends of Robert Southey."
At the east end of the tomb are the following lines from the muse of
Wordsworth, his friend in life, and successor to the crown of bays, who,
with his son-in-law, Mr. Quillinan, stood in sorrow by the grave of their
brother poet in the north side of the cemetery.
Ye hills and vales, whose beauty hither drew
The poet's steps, and fixed him here, on you
His eyes have closed! And ye, loved books, no more
Shall Southey feed upon your precious lore,
To works that ne'er shall forfeit their renown
Adding immortal labours of his own.
Whether he traced historic truth with zeal,
For the State's guidance, or the Church's weal,
Or Fancy, disciplined by studious art,
Informed his pen, or wisdom of the heart,
Or judgments sanctioned in the patriot's mind
By reverence for the rights of all mankind,
Wide were his aims, yet in no human breast
Could private feelings find a holier nest.
His joys, his griefs, have vanished as a cloud
From Skiddaw's top, but he to heaven was vowed.
During the celebration of that portion of the funeral service which is
appointed to be read at the grave one of those trivial incidents occured
which fall with such creative effect upon a feeling and poetic mind. It was
wild and dreary weather in the early spring, before the trees had yet
ventured to shew their tender leaflets, or the heather on the tall fells to
protrude its first green tufts above their crests of snow. All was bleak,
and chill, and desolate, as the hearts of the mourners who drooped in
sadness above the minstrel's bier. The day, both before and after the
obsequies, was full of gloom and tempest, yet, during that part of the
solemn rites alluded to, the storm seemed suddenly to lull, and die away in
sobs of fitful quietude. The rain ceased to beat, the clouds to threaten,
and a deep stillness fell over the whole scene. A cheering ray of sunshine
struggled through the the murky atmosphere, and two small birds perched
upon a tree which then overhung the retired corner selected for the last
house of mortality, unscared by the presence of the sorrowing train,
warbled with tiny pipe their "wood-notes wild." The requiem of genius thus
chanted by those "blossoms of the air," as some sweet bard has so
poetically called them in his own melodious strain, was a fact every way
too graceful in sentiment for the imagination of a poet to overlook, and it
consequently gave occasion to some verses by Mr. Quillinan, which, it is to
be regretted, the limits assigned to this paper preclude introducing here.
When "all the work that had entered into the heart to make for the house of
the Lord was so ended," the church, displaying more than the the beauty of
its early days, was rendered not only worthy to rank amongst the most
splendid restored monuments of ecclesiastical antiquity in Cumberland, but
a more suitable temple for the public worship of Him who inhabiteth
eternity, than the dilapidated structure from which it has arisen.
Having been in all things completed, and rendered a lasting memorial of the
zeal and piety of its restorer, a plate of brass, commemorative of the
under-
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[under]taking, was affixed into the third pier in the south aisle, on which
is engraved the following record:-
"On the 22nd day of June, 1844, a faculty was granted in the consistry
court at Carlisle to the Rev. James Lynn, vicar of Crosthwaite, and James
Stanger, of Lairthwaite, esquire, for the restoration of the chancel, the
roof, and other portions of this church, according to certain plans thereof
exhibited, and for the erection of a tomb and sculptured monumental figure
of the late Robert Southey, poet laureate, in accordance with which faculty
these restorations were completed under the direction of George Gilbert
Scott, architect, and the church was re-opened for divine service on the
3rd day of August, 1845, and the monument erected A.D. 1846."
To a grave and recondite antiquary, this description of Crosthwaite church,
and the objects of interest connected with it, will appear deficient in
that fulness of information which a sedulous research through our national
and diocesan archives alone can unfold. It is briefly mentioned in some of
those valuable records whose pages illustrate the annals of our older
churches. As such documentary evidences however, besides lying beyond the
opportunities for research of the writer of these pages, are chiefly of a
statistical and financial nature, which, though useful in themselves, would
swell this sketch beyond reasonable limits, they are omitted without more
than this concise allusion to their existence.
The vicarage house, seated upon an eminence between the church and the
town, commands that beautiful view of the Lake of Derwentwater, and the
surrounding mountain scenery, with which the poet Gray, who visited this
country in 1769, was so much enraptured. "From hence," says he in those
delightful letters which were the medium of giving to his fellow-countrymen
the first familiar account of the romantic loveliness of a region then so
little frequented, "I got to the parsonage a little before sunset. and saw
a picture, which if I could transmit it to you, and fix it in all the
softness of its colours, would fairly sell for one thousand pounds." The
point of view from which Gray beheld this fascinating prospect was from the
horsing stone which then and for a long time after stood without the right
hand side of the garden gate, in front of the house. It was removed several
years ago, much to the regret of Mr. Southey, who often used playfully to
reflect on the little sympathetic feeling shown in the destruction of a
memorial so intimately associated with the author of "The Elegy."
As this memoir of the venerable parish church of Crosthwaite was in
commencement graced with a quotation from one of the most instructive works
of that eminent writer whose spirit pervades the scene, and every spot on
which the eye can rest is vocal with the associations of his life, so it
cannot be more fitly concluded than with another extract borrowed from the
same delightful book, after which, it would be sacrilege to add one word
more.
"I was walking alone in Howrah looking upon the church and upon Skiddaw
behind it, which was then in the glory of a Midsummer sunset. The weight of
time and eternity was on my spirit; I had been also thinking of the change
in human institutions, a thought naturally connected with any permanent
monuments of nature or art. The shadows glide over that mountain, and the
clouds collect there, and the sun glorifies it, as they did when the Druids
performed their rites within yonder circle of stones, when the Romans and
romanised Britons erected altars to Jupiter and Belatucadrus, and when the
Danes offered up victims to Thor and Woden. The church too has undergone
its changes. The rood loft has disappeared; not a bell rings on Saint
Kentigern's Day, and not a trace of the saint remains in his own parish. I
was contemplating that church and yonder mountain. Seven centuries have
gone by since the church was founded; and there Skiddaw has stood since the
foundations of the hills were laid. My years will presently be like a tale
that is told. These will remain; the one unchangeable, the other, I trust,
never to be changed in its destination and uses, whatever renovations the
structure may require."
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April 2, 1849.
MR. URBAN,
A COPY of the inscription of the gravestone of the Southey family in the
north-west corner of the churchyard, seems almost essential to the
completeness of the very beautiful account of Crosthwaite Church with which
two of the late numbers of the Magazine have been enriched. I send it you
therefore as it was transcribed in August, 1839.
The Lord gave and the Lord / hath taken away, blessed / be the name of
the Lord.
Sacred to the memory / of / EMMA SOUTHEY, / who departed in May, 1809, aged
/ 14 months.
And of HERBERT SOUTHEY, who / departed April 17, 1826, / in the tenth year
of his age.
Also of GEORGE FRICKER their / uncle, aged 26, 1814.
Also of ISABEL SOUTHEY their / sister, who departed on the / 16 of July,
1826, aged / 13 years.
Also EMMA SOUTHEY their / mother, who departed / in Nov. 1837, aged 63.
Requiescat in pace.
I remember the sexton pointing out the seat which the poet occupied in the
church, where, according to him, he sat absorbed in meditation, and
abstracted from everything but the course of the service in which he was
taking part.
Yours, &c. J.H.
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{header- Calgarth Hall}
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CALGARTH HALL, WESTMORLAND.
And is not this a haunted hall?
Are not the spells of time
Still lingering round its hoary walls
With eloquence sublime?
THE tourist, or in the older fashioned phraseology of the dalesman the
laker, who in his light skiff glides o'er the azure depths of the wide
clear waters of Windermere, when at the close of day the rays of the
westering Sun glorify with the witchery of eventide the whole of the
eastern shore, cannot fail at such an hour of surpassing loveliness to have
had his attention drawn to the remains of an old manor house, situate on
the side I speak of, about midway between the head of the lake and the
pretty-looking village of Bowness. Should the beholder be one of who "in
thir present days," as Edie Ochiltree says, "when things o' the auld warld
sort are na keepit in mind round winter fire-sides as they used to be," has
a feeling for old names and events, he perchance may find his fondness for
the spirit of by-gone ages gratified by a visit to the mansion in question,
and his inquiries after the family who once owned it not unattended with a
portion of that interest which the examination of the fading things of a
remote era always more or less excites.
Landing in the nearest of the tiny bays that indent the margin of this
lovely lake, the stranger may proceed along a plain until the gables and
round buttressed chimneys of the mansion, overgrown by ivy of the richest
foliage (and which, by the way, I may observe grows in more luxuriant
profusion in Westmerland than in most other parts of England, verifying the
saying in the sweet old ballad, that -
- the oak, the ash, and the bonnie ivy tree,
That flourish best at home in the north countrie.)
attract observation to where the Hall of Calgarth, rearing those lofty
remnants of its former state, amidst still more stately trees, stands in
the glittering flood of sunshine a ruined monument of times that are no
more.
The situation of the house, whose history belongs to the world of shadows,
but whose ruins still form an object of interest, is within a short
distance of the water, upon the narrowest part of the small and pleasant
plain; and I know of but few spots in the neighbourhood where the lover of
picturesque antiquity could so lose himself in dreams of the past as in
contemplating this dilapidated fabric.
Of old, the country around was comprised within a park belonging to the
crown; and here and there may yet be met with, thinly scattered in hoary
magnificence, the trunks of massive trees, whose giant forms bear testimony
to the dignity of the primaeval forest, of which they are alone the
solitary remains. Centuries have gone by since it was disparked, and, from
being the lair and covert of the wild animals which erstwhile were almost
its only tenants, its inhabitancy by man has long converted it to more
benficial purposes.
Alas! for the woodland glories of Windermere; like the forest shades of
Rydal, where but a score or so survive of those old dwellers of the woods
which saw its earliest lords, the Norman de Lancasters, they will soon have
no existence, save in the recorded recollections of some enthusiast who,
like me, has loved their green retreats, and feelingly laments their
indiscriminate destruction. The changeful utilitarianism of the age has
invaded and much altered the landscape around since the days of the
original owners of Calgarth. The Dryads of its forests have forsaken their
desecrated abodes, and the lake country, no longer what it was, even but a
quarter of a century ago, is fast surrendereing the remaining vestiges of
its ancient picturesque appearance. It is true it is environed by the
mountains and valleys with which past generations were familiar; but those
indestructible features, the majestic fells, do not present the same
alluring garb upon which our forefathers loved to look. In losing the
wilder and more untrimmed
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luxuriance of its fresher years - in the sweeping away of its primal woods,
and in the eradication of the furze and heath which decked every height
with the gorgeous colouring of those incense-breathing shrubs - it has lost
something for which the so-called improvements afford no substitute. Few
are now the old and gnarled trees, and fewer still the tall dense woods
which for ages shaded the lonely shores and promontories of the lake, or,
amid grey fern, plumed rocks waved o'er the mountains' sides.
It was about 1790 that Rydal - which, within the memory of persons yet
alive, looked so grand in umbrageous honours - ceased to be considered a
wondrous scene of woodland beauty; the grey oaks of Gowbarrow, which
rendered the Cumberland shores of Ullswater so glorious to behold, fell
under the exterminating axe in 1780. The woods which clothed all the shores
and islands of Derwentwater with the sylvan nobility of centuries, and
which, according to the record furnished by an eye-witness, exhibited, not
a century ago, a picture of wide-spread leafy splendour, succumbed beneath
the same relentless fate some twenty years before. About the same period,
also, the memorable Westmerland forest of Whinfell - the ground of so much
legendary story, which had seen the huntings of a Baliol and a Clifford,
and beheld the enamoured Clifford of a later generation, with a faithful
and life-long love, devoting himself to that peerless mistress whose memory
is preserved by the lone farmstead that occupies the site of his fair
"Julian's Bower" - was stripped of its stately trees and consigned to its
present unsheltered state. Where are the long green shady lanes, with their
many windings and hawthorn-scented hedges, rich with wild roses and
fragrant honeysuckle, tall hazels, and glistening hollies, and the creeping
ivy, which, hanging from tree to tree in graceful wreaths, screened the
passer-by from each rude blast? Where the moss-covered dwellings, with
their picturesque porches, low mullioned windows, and buttressed chimneys
of the stalwart and independent statesmen? And where is now the ancient
hall of the manorial lord, whose charities, after the bountiful old
fashion, were the comfort of those who once felt that they would not be
deserted while the antique manor-house stood? Most of those landmarks of
other days have long disappeared, together with the cells of the holy
eremites of Troutbeck, St. Katharine's, and St. Mary's Holme, without
leaving more than some broken ruins, or here and there a solitary shattered
tree to greet the eye, and tell that such things were. Trim hedge rows,
homely kept square fields, their formal plantations and garish modern
villas, usurp their places, while other novelties proclaim that the outward
air of the land, as well as its age of romance and adventure, is altogether
changed and passed away for ever. It is M. Montalembert who, in his work on
the "Historical Monuments of France," with true antiquarian conservatism,
feelingly alludes to the changes taking place in its external appearance;
and, as his sentiments, with some allowance, are applicable to a similar
conditions of things in England, the following eloquent passage in the book
in question may not imaptly close these brief observations on the yearly
increasing impoverishment of the fairest beauties of the land:-
"It is impossible not to be struck with the contrast which the actual world
presents with the world of that period (the middle ages) in reference to
beauty. The beautiful is one of the wants of man - one of his noblest wants
- a want that is less satisfied from day to day in this our modern society.
I imagine that one of our barbarous ancestors of the fifteenth or sixteenth
centuries would complain bitterly, if, returning from the tomb, he compared
France, such as he had left it, with the France that we have made it, a
country then dotted over with innumerable monuments as marvellous for their
beauty as for their inexhaustible variety, but whose surface is now
becoming daily more and more flat and uniform. Those towns that were
discerned from afar by their forest of steeples, by their majestic ramparts
and gates, would, in his view, contrast strangely with our new quartiers
erected on the same model in all the subprefectures of the kingdom - those
chateaux on every hill, and abbeys in every valley, with our shapeless
manufacturing masses - those churches and steeples in every village,
abounding with sculptures and original pictures, with the hideous products
of official architecture in our own times. Let us then at least leave
things
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as they are; the world is sufficiently plain and homely of itself; let us
guard at least the too rare vestiges of its ancient beauty, and hinder a
senseless vandalism from continuing to obliterate the recollections of our
history, and officially grub up and clear away those monuments that have
been planted on the soil of our country by the strong hands of our
forefathers."
As it is vain, however, to grieve over the annihilation of the former
aspect of the world, let the hope arise that the alterations wrought by the
fashion of the times may have that in them which will reconcile to their
introduction those who regret the extinction of the ancient character of a
scene once so perfect of its kind. But to my story:-
To whatever point the gaze is directed the scenery is soft and delicious,
filling the mind with sensations of delight, yet combining with its serene
beauty so many strikingly grand features as entirely to redeem it from any
approach to tameness. Gentle eminences, scarcely higher than its tall
chimneys, one one side thickly tufted with thriving copses of oak and
hazel, mingled with timber of larger growth, and on the other sprinked with
aged trees, legitimate relics of the times of its early lords, shelter the
house on the north and south, whilst the bounding hills that partially
encircle the smooth expanse on which it stands, rising in a fine and varied
succession of wooded uplands, present a semi-circular landscape of great
extent and grandeur. Looking to the west, where the Lake spreads out its
blue mirror beneath the pine-clad heights of the overhanging Heald, a view
is unfolded in which the promontory of Low Wreay, crowned by the dark grey
masses of its feudal-looking castle, reposing on an appropriate back-ground
of frowning mountains, likewise forms a noble picture, charming and
diversified beyond description.
The house, whose style of building was such as prevailed in these parts in
the reign of Elizabeth and her father Henry VIII., at one time must have
been a fine old place to behold. Though greatly injured, it is still
picturesque; but it has known its troubles, having been for a long period
in the possession of farmers, for whose accommodation the useful but
in-elegant offices of a modern farmery have been erected with part of the
materials, it has been despoiled of all its pride, and the integrity of its
appearance lost in the additions and alterations of later days. So great
indeed has been the curtailment of its original proportions, that it is
impossible to make out what its precise form has been. It is said to have
been designed somewhat after the manner of those venerable halls at Levens
and Sizergh, which yet remain to gratify the antiquarian enthusiasm by the
architectonic display and ornamental embellishments that so unequivocally
illustrate the conceptions of medieval art. If this be true, the reduction
of that has reduced an edifice, which, even so late as 1774. Dr. Burn the
learned historiographer of Westmerland states was "a fair old building," to
its present condition, has indeed been complete. What is now called the
kitchen, and the room over it, are the only portions of the interior
existing, from which a judgment may be formed of the care and finish
applied to its internal decoration. In the former, which appears to have
been one of the principal apartments, though now divided and associated
with humble uses, the armorial achievements of the Philipsons, or
Phillisons as the name seems sometimes to have been formerly spelled,
crested with the fine ostrich plumes of their house, and surmounted with
their motto, "FIDE NON FRAUDE," together with the bearings of Wyvill
impaling Carus, into which families the owners of Calgarth intermarried,
are represented in stucco over the fire-place, by the coarse skill of some
provincial artificer of yore, and still serve to connect their names with
the place itself, though the large old fire-place has made way for the most
miserable of modern ones. The window likewise retains some fragments of its
former display of heraldic honour; for, "glowing with gem-like radiancy in
the light of the sun's brilliancy," the arms of the early lords of the
place, impaling those of Wyvill, and the device of the Briggs, another
Westmerland family, with whom the Philipsons were also matrimonially
connected, yet appear in their proper blazon. Heretofore the windows were
more richly dight with other armorial cognizances of the family and their
alliances,
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for in Mr. Machel's time, who visited the hall about 1680, and was curious
in such matters, the following arms, described by him, were then to be
found as fenestral enrichments, some of which, Dr. Burn says, were
remaining when he wrote the History of the County in 1777:-
"1. Philipson. Gules, a chevron between three boar's heads couped,
ermineé, tusked or; impaling, Azure, a chevron between ten
cinquefoils 4,2,1,2,1, argent, charged with three mullets gules, by the
name of Carus.
"2. Philipson, impaling Laburne, Azure, six lioncels rampant argent.
"3. Barry of ten, or and sable, a canton of the second, by the name of
Briggs.
"4. Philipson, impaling Wyvill; Gules, three chevronels braced vair, on a
chief or, a mullet pierced of five points sable.
"5. Carus, impaling Wyvill.
"6. Philipson, single;
and both of these, say the authorities I have named, are also in plaster
work over the hall chimney very complete, and over Philipson's is this
mottoo, FIDE NON FRAUDE."
All these intelligent memorials of other days are now gone, save thoses of
the Briggs' and of Philipson impaling Wyvill, which, as has been poetically
observed in relation to similar adornments elsewhere, "yet remain to attest
by their presence that the former owner had made the very light subservient
to his state, and pressed the sun itself into his list of flatterers,
bidding it, when it shone into his chamber, reflect the badges of his
ancient family, and take new hues and colours from their pride."
In the same window, underneath the emblazonry, is this inscription,
likewise on painted glass:
ROBART . PHILIPSON
AND . JENNET . LAIBOR
NE . HIS . WIFE . HE DIE
D . IN . ANNO . 1539 .
SHE . ZZ . DECE
MBAR . 1579.
The room over the kitchen has been nobly ornamented after the fashion of
the day by cunning artists, and it still retains, in its dilapidated
oak-work and richly adorned ceiling, choice, though rude, remnants of its
ancient splendour. It has a dark polished oak floor, and is wainscoted on
three sides with the same tough wood; which, white and bleached with age,
is elaborately carved in small and regular intersecting panels, inlaid with
scroll work and tracery, and surmounted by an embattled cornice. In this
wainscot two or three doors indicate the entrances to other rooms, whose
approaches are walled up, the rooms themselves having been long since
destroyed. The ceiling is flat, and formed into compartments by heavy
intersecting moulded ribs, the intermediate spaces being covered with
cumbrous ornamental work of the most grotesque figures and designs
imaginable, amidst which flowers and fruits and other products of the
earth, moulded in stucco, yet exist to tell how many times the fruitage and
the leaves outside have come and gone, have ripened and decayed, whilst
they endure unchanged.
So late as 1789, when Clarke wrote his Survey of the Lakes, there was
remaining over the fireplace, in what was then called the dining-room, two
devices remarkably well carved in oak. One exhibited Samson asleep upon
Delilah's lap, while the Philistines were cutting off his hair; the other
was a representation of Jeptha, after his rash vow, meeting his daughter.
In the room then designated the parlour, there were also upon the ceiling
several devices moulded in stucco, in which the figure of the wyverne, the
crest of the ancient family of Wyvill, was frequently repeated. And even
down to so recent a period as 1820 the walls of one of the rooms were
covered with various paintings in fresco or distemper, of the Virgin and
other saints.
But of all these perishing evidences that were so characteristic of the era
of its youth and freshness, the only things indeed associated with the
period of its former state which were left to tell of its interior
decorations, how scanty are now the remains; most of what was existing
within the last half century is gone, and the few abiding fragments, being
liable to continued damage from the weather and want of care, are likely
soon to vanish also.
The fretted roof looks dark and cold
And tatter'd all around,
The carved work of ages old
Dropp'd wither'd on the ground.
The casement's antique tracery
Was eaten by the dew,
And the night-breeze whistling mournfully
Crept keen and coldly through.
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On musing the fate of this time-stricken memorial of a departed race, a
peculiar melancholy takes possession of the heart, and it cannot but be
regretted that it was not so repaired to prevent it falling into such
decay. Had attention been bestowed on the preservation of its original
figure and uniformity, it might, from the strength of its walls, have
remained for ages to come an interesting monument of the domestic
architecture formerly used in the construction of their mansion-houses by
the gentry of note in Westmerland, and still be a place to attract the
regard of the reflective antiquary, who, in beholding these vestiges of its
fallen grandeur, will haply call to mind the following lines, as applicable
to its present state:-
Such were the rooms in which of yore
Our ancestors were wont to dwell,
And still of fashion known no more
These ling'ring relics tell.
The oaken wainscot richly graced
With gay festoons to mimic flowers,
The armorial bearings now defaced,
All speak of proud and long past hours.
The ceiling quaintly carved and groin'd
With pendent pediments reversed,
A bye-gone age recalls to mind
Whose glories song hath oft rehearsed.
Its hard fate, however, fell upon it in an age when the stately structures
of our ancestors, that reminded posterity of the former importance and
condition of things, were looked upon with ignorant contempt, and neglected
as unworthy of notice or preservation. Thus it has happened that our
venerable edifices, noble relics of those middle ages when the picturesque
architecture of England flourished in all the original harmony and strength
of character of its most interesting phases, became progressively
deteriorated, and eventually destroyed, through the ill-taste or want of
care in those who ought to have taken an interest in preserving them; and
thus, to use the melodious expression of a gifted Bard,-
The house is gone,
And, through improvidence, or want of love
For ancient faith and honourable things,
The spear and shield are vanished, which the knight
Hung in his rustic hall.
It had many years ago a more desolate and drear appearance, and its
melancholy aspect seemed heightened by the mysterious tradition of its
human sculls. This famous legend was a tale full of the superstitious
notions once so common in country places, and which, - everywhere
strengthened by sights and sounds that confounded the limited intelligence
of the rustics, to whom even a faint shadow frequently becomes a palpable
ghost, and the mere pasing of a churchyard after nightfall, or the
remembrance of a nursery story, often filled the dark and lonesome void
with spectral illusions, - probably gave rise to the report that the house
was haunted.
"Airy tongues that syllable men's names" were heard in every blast that
moaned along the mountain sides, or rustled through the woods. Strange
shapes and fantasies, dim and shadowy objects which required no great
effort of imagination to invest with the outlines of form, were presented
in the vapoury atmosphere of the lakes and vallies, affecting even the
strongest minds as consequently the frightful visits and fearful deeds
which the unquiet spirits of the place were said to have performed to
terrify and distress the neighbourhood. Gradually have the tales of spirits
and apparitions become less frequent and more vague, and fictions such as
these have long since grown cold and powerless on the faith of even the
simple out-dwellers in the country. Yet the story of the skulls, to whose
reputed properties and mysterious movements so much horrific infallibity
was once attached, is a legend of the dark ages of ignorance, too whimsical
and improbable to deserve being recorded otherwise than as an instance of
the never failing credulity of superstition.
Wild as this localized tradition may appear, it was a popular tale of
immemorial standing, of which however there are other versions with a
difference to be picked up, that the skulls belonged to an old man and his
wife who, in times long ago, were unjustly put to death for an alleged
crime. These ancient persons lived on their own small property adjoining
the lands of the Philipsons, whose head coveted to number it among his
extensive domains, and long endeavoured by every
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fair means to obtain the possession. The owners however not being willing
to part with it, he determined in an evil hour to have it at any cost, and
awful was the price he paid.
The old people, as the story runs, were in the habit of going every day to
the hall to share in the viands that fell from the lord's table, for he was
a bountiful man to the poor, and it happened once when they went that a pie
was given them into which had been put some articles of plate. After their
return home the valuables were missed, and their cottage being searched the
things were found upon them. the result was as the author of the mischief
had plotted, they were accused of theft, tried, and sentenced to be hanged,
and their prosecutor got their inheritance. The story goes on to relate
that on their way to execution, after denouncing in the words of the 109th
Psalm the conduct of evil doers like Philipson, they pronounced a curse
upon the owners of Calgarth, which the gossips of the neighbourhood say has
ever since cast its blight upon the ownership of the estate, and that,
notwithstanding whatever authentic records may prove to the contrary, the
traditionary malediction has been regularly fulfilled down to the present
time. After the death of his victims, Philipson was sadly tormented, for,
as if to perpetuate the remembrance of such injustice, and as a momento to
their innocence, their skulls came and took up a position in the window of
one of the rooms, from whence they could not by any means be effectually
removed; the common belief being that they were for that end
indestructible, and it was stoutly asserted that to what place soever they
were taken, they invariably reappeared in their old station; they were
buried, burnt, powdered, dispersed to the winds, and upon the lake several
times, but all to no effect as to their removal or destruction. In 1775,
when Mr. West visited the Hall, they still remained in the place where they
were said to have lain as long as could be remembered, and it was then
thought an impeachment of the taste and curiosity of the inhabitants of the
surrounding country, if they could not say they had seen the skulls of
Calgarth. "Some person, however," says Clarke, has lately carried one to
London, and, as it has not found its way back again, I shall say nothing
more on so very trivial a subject." "As far as can be learned," adds
another informant, "the story is simply this. In former times, when the
Roman Catholic clergy were compelled to seek safety in retirement from the
persecution of the Reformers, one of them retreated to Calgarth, where he
occiupied one of the rooms as a cell, and the skulls were brought to him
thither as objects for reflective contemplation." A different account,
though still lame and unsatisfactory, has it that there formerly lived in
the house one of those famous wise women, who, as may be collected from
passing remarks in the early English chroniclers, were once among the lower
class of our country people consulted as the general medical advisers, but
who in too many instances professed to cure by the more questionable agency
of those charms and spells of which the adjacent vale of Troutbeck yet
vaunts its professors. This person had two skeletons by her for purposes
connected with her profession, and the skulls, happening to meet with
better preservation than the rest of the bones, they became in time
accidentally invested with their singular reputation. Such is the essence
of this goblin story, which Mr. Green in the "Tourist's New Guide,"
published in 1819, has totally dissipated by informing us that "time has
proved more than a match for the invisible agent that sought to perpetuate
these monuments of wrong, that one of the skulls has turned to dust, and
the other was fast mouldering away;" and now even that one has also
- gone with the old belief and dream
That round it hung.
The fame of these redoubtable relics is, however, as living as ever, for
the respectable tenants of the house, who even in these days, when the
spread of knowledge had almost banished from the glens and recesses of the
North the dreams of superstition, had not been able to shake off entirely
the secret influence of the old credulity, maintained with a slight love of
the marvellous, that though the skulls have disappeared they believe them,
invisible indeed to mortal eyes, to
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haunt their accustomed place in the window. While mentioning this fading
remnant of an ancient mystery it may be added, that on conversing with a
man who was working in the garden at the back of the house, he stated he
had that morning, when trenching deeply into the ground, as if to verify
this dismal tradition, turned up a quantity of human bones, and from the
numbers he had dug up and reburied, he conceived there must have been a
burial ground, or "some queer wark," on the site in former times.
A grave historian might have overlooked this bit of private family history,
but
When granite moulders and when records fail,
A peasant's plaint prolongs the dubious tale.
And thus the story of the skulls of Calgarth lives to this day.
It has been said by a recent critic that, "without directly abandoning the
miraculous legends, which form so large a part of our early history, Dr.
Lingard, in his work on the Anglo-Saxon Church, takes a low view of them,
though he justly ascribes many of these relations to the intensity of the
belief of the people in providential interpositions." With the following
quotation therefore, taken from that eminent historian, I will leave this
part of my subject, on which it may probably be thought there has been
already too much said.
"Hence was generated a predisposition to invest every unexpected or
wished-for event with a supernatural character - to see in it the evident
hadiwork of the Almighty - a dream often would be taken for a vision, or a
warning from Heaven - a conjecture afterwards verified by the event, be
converted into a prophecy - an occurrence in conformity with the object of
their prayer, be pronounced a special interposition of the Divine power,
and narratives of distant surprising cures be admitted without inquiry, and
on the mere testimony of the relators. It cannot be denied that this remark
will apply to many of the facts recorded as miracles in our ancient writers
- their previous disposition of mind has led them into error. It was,
however, an error of the head not the of the heart; one which might argue a
want of science and discernment, but not of religion and piety."
(to be continued.)
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(Continued from page 143)
THE history of this ancient hall is soon told. Like many other houses of
its class throughout Westmerland, it was once the residence of a
true-hearted race of cavaliers, who in those days of civil strife when in
the hearts of the majority of the nation "loyalty was a creed" were, like
the Stricklands of Sizergh, the Laybournes of Cunswick, the Rawlinsons of
Cark, the Prestons of the Abbey, the Kirkby's of Kirkby, the Flemings of
Rydal, and most of the other families of ancient descent in the county,
distinguished in all their branches for a proud faithfulness to the royal
standard through the baleful commotions of those evil times. Their cause,
however, overthrown, ruin pressed hard upon them, and the survivors
suffered severely in their estates from the fines and sequestrations
imposed by the predominant party, in revenge for their unsubdued loyalty,
or, as the ruling powers were pleased to term it, "their former
delinquencies," in consequence of which they had been declining ever since
the period of those unhappy broils. their descendants in the male line are
now extinct; and their cherished home, where their ancestors had lived, and
been memorable for their hospitality, has, like them, undergone ruinous
changes also. "Its old hearths have grown cold," and passed into other
hands; it alone remains a scathed and ivy-grown memorial of the direful
ravages and harsh realities of intestine warfare.
The family to whom in the days of its early pride this old hall on the
sunny banks of Windermere belonged were of a race whose genealogy had been
counted back for centuries. They owned not only it and extensive demesnes,
which reached some miles along the shores of the lake from Low Wood to
Rayrigg, consisting of beautiful woods and rich pasture grounds, but also
Crooke and Holling Halls, with much of the surrounding country. The local
historians tell us it has a traditionary account in their almost forgotten
story that they derived their descent from Philip a younger son of the
ancient Northumbrian house of De Thirlwall, who settled in Westmerland in
the reign of Henry the Fourth, and whose heir from his father took the name
Philipson, it being about that period that the termination "son," at the
end of a Christian name, began to be first used, and hence arose their
surname. More recent research through ancient archives has nenertheless
ascertained that the family was settled in Westmerland at least so far back
as the reign of Edward the Third; for, in an inquisition relative to the
possessions of the chantry of St. Mary Holme, taken in 1355, the name of
John Philipson is mentioned as the holder of certain lands belonging to
that foundation.
In the course of time their alliances connected them with most of the chief
families in the county; and, having become possessed of large estates, they
fixed the principal places of their residence at Holling, and Crooke or
Thwatterden Halls, which latter abode in the time of Queen Elizabeth again
became the seat of a younger branch of the house of Calgarth.
The learned historian whom I have before cited says:-
"The two branches long retained a considerable rank in the county of
Westmerland. It was, however, long a matter of dispute which of the houses
belonging to the Philipsons was the ancientest; some say the ancientest
house was Holling Hall, about half-way between Kendal and Bowness, on the
right of the road leading from the latter place, near Strickland Ketel;
others affirmed that Thwatterden, or Crooke Hall, not very far from Holling
Hall, but on the left-hand side of the same road nearer to Bowness, was the
ancienter house of the two, though it was afterwards given to a younger
brother."
Be this as it may, in Edward the Fourth's reign Rowland Philipson, of
Holling Hall, was the head of his race. His family consisted of two sons,
Edmund and Robert, by his wife Katharine, the daughter of Richard Carus of
Astwaite. Contiguous to the Philip-
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[Philip]sons lay the lands of Thomas Laybourne of Cunswick Hall, a
descendant from that bold baron who for his uncompromising spirit is
described with such raciness in the old Norman poem of the Siege of
Caerlaverock as "a valiant man, without but and without if,
sans mes et sans si."
In the annals of the Philipsons it is recorded that an agreement,
subsequently confirmed by a deed, bearing date A.D. 1480, was entered into
between the principal men of these two families, to the effect that Edmund
Philipson should marry Janet the daughter of the said Thomas Laybourne, and
if Edmund should die before such event then that she should be given in
marriage to his brother. As this union with Edmund does not appear to have
taken place, he must have died before its celebration, whereupon Robert
became her husband.
These are the persons to whom the inscription remaining in the hall window
refers, and it is probable that on the occasion of their marriage the hall
at Calgarth was built - though the existing enrichments of the interior may
on various grounds be considered the productions of a later period, and the
family then settled there, as in the early part of Henry the Eighth's reign
they are styled "of Calgarth." Previous to the time of this last named
sovereign, it was the practice of the monasteries and abbeys throughout
England to have all considerable donations secured and confirmed to them,
by every descent, from the first donor or benefactor; and hence it is
accounted for that there are found in some of the chartularies and lieger
books of the old religious houses the regular pedigrees of every family of
any note or consequence up to the period of the dissolution of such
institutions. From the records of the religious communities it was that the
distinguished genealogist and herald, Sir William Dugdale subsequently laid
the foundation of his great work on the Baronage of England.
When after the Reformation such monastic records were discontinued, it
became the duty of the heralds to perambulate the several counties at
certain intervals, when they received and examined the pedigrees of the
several families, approved the genuine, rejected the spurious, and respited
the doubtful for further consideration, blazoned the arms, and granted new
bearings to new families, or new marks of distinction to different branches
of the same family. The last visitation for these purposes, in Westmerland
and Cumberland, was made in the years 1664 and 1665, by the accomplished
herald I have named, who was the particular friend of that Mr. Machel whose
genealogical collections towards a history of Westmerland were enriched in
no small degree by his intimacy and correspondence with Sir William.
Dr. Burn (who subsequently was extensively indebted to Mr. Machel's
labours), for the information of individuals curious in the minute
circumstances of the lives of those who long ago formed the important body
of the ancient gentry of England, has in the pedigree given of the
Philipsons preserved, among other particulars relating to them, the form by
which in Queen Elizabeth's time the herald confirmed the arms of De
Thirlwall to Rowland Philipson of Calgarth, and granted him a crest to the
same; and in this age, when a critical study of heraldry, once stigmatised
as "the science of fools with long memories," though as has been justly
said "it should rather be designated as a science which, if properly
directed, would make fools wise," is reviving throughout England, it
perhaps may have interest if here inserted.
"To all and singular, as well nobles, gentles, as others, to whom these
presents come, to be seen, heard, read, or understood, Robert Cooke
esquire, Clarencieulx King of Arms of the East, West, and South parts of
this realm of England, sendeth greetings. For as much as Rowland Philipson,
alias, Therlwall, of Calgarth, in the co. of Westmerland, and Miles
Philipson, alias Therlwall, of Thwatterden Hall, in the co. aforesaid,
brothers, sons to Christopher Therlwall of Thwatterden Hall aforesaid,
which Rowland was descended of a younger brother forth of the house of
Thirlwall, in the co. of Northumberland, which said Rowland, by reason of
the Christian name of one of his ancestors was called Philip, the younger
son of the said Philip was called Philipson, and so continueth the same
surname, which Rowland their ancestor
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was the bearer of these arms, which likewise to them by just descent and
prerogative are duly received, unto which no crest or cognizance is known
properly to belong, as unto many ancient coats of arms there be none - have
therefore required me, the said Clarencieulx King of Arms, to assign unto
their ancient arms not only a crest, but such difference of the crests, as
also a difference in the arms of Miles Philipson, younger brother as
aforesaid to Rowland, which mey be meet and lawful to be borne without
prejudice or offence to any other person or persons. In consideration
whereof, and at their instant request, I, the said Clarencieulx King of
Arms, by virtue of my office, and by the powers and authority to me
committed by letters patent under the great seal of England, have assigned,
given, and granted unto the said Rowland Philipson, alias Therlwall, his
ancient arms, being, Gules, and a chevron between three boars' heads
coupey, ermine, tusked d'or; and for his crest or cognizance, upon the
helme five ostrich feathers, three argent, two gules, set in a crown mural
d'or. And to Miles Philipson, alias Therlwall, younger brother to the said
Rowland, the same coat of arms with a border gold, the crest to the same
coat as the other crest, differing only in the feathers, - that is to say,
three gules and two feathers argent, mantled gules, doubled or, lined
whyte; which arms and crests or cognizances, and every part and parcel of
theem, I the said Clarencieulx King of Arms do by these presents ratify,
confirm, give, and grant unto the said Rowland Philipson and Miles his
brother, gentlemen, and to their issue and posterity for ever, they and
every one of them; the same to have, hold, use, bear, enjoy, and show
forth, at all times and for ever hereafter at their liberty and pleasure,
with the distinctions and differences due, according to the laudable custom
and usage of bearing arms, without impediment, let, or interruption of any
person or persons. In witness," &c.
"18 May, 1581."
Besides their other large estates, the Philipson owned the rocky islet in
Windermere, called Saint Mary's or the Ladyes Holme, hitherto reputed to
have formed part of the conventual domains of the abbey at Furness, and to
have had its name from a chantry or small chapel dedicated to the Virgin
Mary, which was existing so late as the reign of King Henry VIII. When at
the Reformation all such minor institutions were swept away as
superstituious, and the attendant priests driven forth, the building fell
into so utter a state of ruin that no trace even of its foundations is left
to procalim to the stranger who meditates upon the fleeting change of times
and creeds that here in former ages stood a hallowed fane, from whence at
eventide and prime unceasingly, for more than three centuries, "the hymn of
intercession rose, and prayers were wafted through the dewy air," where now
are only heard the festal sounds of life's more jocund hours. Lately
renewed antiquarian investigation has however disclosed the erroneousness
of the generally received statement respecting early ownership of this tiny
spot. In vol.xxxii fo. 23, of that celebrated collection of ancient
evidences gathered by the untiring perseverance of the profound antiquary
Roger Dodsworth, now in the Bodleian library, there is contained an
inquisition, or the copy of one, found at Kendal, so far back as the Monday
after the Feast of the Annunciation, in the 28th year of King Edward III.;
which explanatory document shews that this retreat amid the waters of our
English Como appertained not to Furness Abbey, but to the house of Segden,
in Scotland, which was bound always to provide two resident chaplains for
the service of Our Ladyes Chapel in this island solitude. For the
maintenance and support of these priests certain lands and tenements were
given by the founder, who most probably was that Ingelram de Guisnes, Lord
of Coucy, in France, who, in the thriteenth century, married Christain, the
heiress of William de Lyndsey, and in her right became the feudal lord of
that portion of the barony of Kendal called the Richmond Fee, within which
lies Saint Mary's Holme.
The Philipsons were lords also of the large island in the centre of the
lake, opposite to Bowness; which, with its stately trees and splendid
prospects, entrancing the eye with their exquisite loveliness, is such an
earthly paradise. No fairer scene in truth can be met with throughout the
broad realm of England than this lovely and elegant retirement. In looking
on it one feels it scarcely possible to suppose that the aspect of so much
bright tranquillity could ever have been disturbed by the clangor of war
and sounds of deadly
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strife - but so nevertheless it was; and the island is not more attractive
by its beauty than for the memory of one of the most gallant actions
performed by the Royalists in the troublous epoch of the civil war. The
olden name of this sweet spot was Wynandermere Isle, afterwards changed to
Lang Holme; the latter word signifying in the provincial dialect an island
or plain by the waterside. In the middle the Philipsons had a plain country
house of the old fashioned Westmerland kind, strongly secured and
fortified, called Holme House; and , like the gallant Wyndhams of
Somersetshire, whose uncompromising principle of loyalty it was "to stand
by the Crown, though it should hang on but a bush," the owners of the
island were not more distinguished for their steady support of the King
than for the resolute bravery and romantic spirit of heroism with which
they fought and suffered in the royal cause. With them, as with a poet of
the period -
Loyalty was still the same,
Whether it win or lose the game;
True as the dial to the sun,
Altho' it be not shone upon.
Whoever has wandered into the Bellingham chapel, in the large and curious
church at Kendal, a fabric, which from its component parts, though more so
for the plan than its details, seems almost out of the pale of
ecclesiastical architecture (it having a nave and no less than four aisles,
features in its construction so peculiar that there are but the churches of
St. Michael's in Coventry and St. Mary Magdalen in Taunton, with one or two
others, of similar arrangement in England, to be met with), will have seen
suspended high over an ancient altar-tomb a battered helmet, through whose
crust of whitewash the rust of ages is plainly to be discerned. The learned
in such display of warlike or heraldic insignia, after hearing the usual
information which is there detailed, are left pretty much after all to form
their own opinions from their own observation and knowledge, whether this
antique casque belonged to Sir Roger Bellingham, who was interred, A.D.
157-, in the tomb beneath, and exalted as a token of the distinction he had
received at the hand of his sovereign, in being made a knight banneret on
the field of battle, - or was obtained by the puissant burgesses of Kendal
from one of the Philipsons, and elevated to its present position as a
trophy of their valour. Nevertheless, whichever of these accounts may have
truth for its foundation, the helmet in question is strangely enough called
"The rebel's cap;" and its history forms the theme of the following bold
and sacrilegious action, which, though "an old tale and often told," ought
not to be refused a place in these pages.
The Philipsons, as before said, were staunch Royalists, and during the wars
between Charles I. and the Parliament there were two brothers of the family
at Crooke Hall who had espoused the royal cause. Hudelston the elder, to
whom the island belonged, held the rank of Colonel, and his brother Robert
that of Major, in the King's army. The latter, who is still renowned in
county tradition for many daring acts, was a man of high and adventurous
courage; and, from his desperate exploits, had acquired among the
Parliamentarians the significant but not very reputable cognomen of "Robin
the Devil." At that time there resided in Kendal a leading partisan of the
Parliament, named Briggs, who was also an active officer in their army. He
was a distant kinsman of the Philipsons, of whom notwithstanding he was a
bitter enemy; and, having heard that Major Philipson was in his brother's
house on the island, in charge of the valuable property of the family, he
invested the place, with the view of making prisoner so obnoxious a
character. The Major, however, was too old a soldier to be caught for want
of vigilance; he was on the alert, and, with his usual fearless hardihood,
defended the isle, during a siege of ten days with a courage worthy of his
reputation, though subjected to severe privation; as Briggs, having seized
all the boats upon the lake, had stopped the supplies. Colonel Philipson,
who was at the siege of Carlisle, hearing of his brother's beleaguerment,
hastened to the rescue, with a force which obliged the Parliamentarian to
abandon his attempt; and since that time the echoes of this brightest of
our English lakes, unroused by the angry sounds of warlike conflict, have
slumbered in peace. The attack being thus repulsed, Major Philipson was not
the
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man to remain quiet under the injury he had received. He quickly assumed
the offensive, and having, as the song says,
-- -- gathered a band
Of the best who would ride at his command,
the day after the siege was raised, rode to Kendal to make reprisals;
passing the watch on duty at the outskirts, he was told that Colonel
Briggs, it being Sunday, was at prayers, whereupon, without a moment's
hesitation, he proceeded to the church. Having stationed his men to guard
the approaches, he rode directly forward into the building in search of
Briggs, dashing down the principal aisle into the midst of the
congregation. Whatever were his intentions, whather to shoot the Colonel on
the spot, or merely to carry him off prisoner, they were defeated; his foe
was not present. The people were at first too much surprised at the
appearance of such a warlike appartition to offer opposition, and in the
confusion into which they were thrown the dauntless intruder, discovering
that his object could not be effected, was suffered to ride out of the
church through another aisle. In making his exit his head struck violently
against the arch of the doorway, which was much lower than that under which
he had entered, when his helmet, unclasped by the blow, fell to the ground.
Stooping to recover it, the saddle-girths gave way, or as some have said he
was assaulted, the griths cut, and himself unhorsed. The congregation,
recovering from their amazement, and taking advantage of his discomfiture,
hastened to seize him; but his followers, rushing in to his assistance,
drove back the assailants, and rescued him by their vigorous charge. In the
melée the major killed the man who had seized him, threw the saddle
upon his horse, and, ungirthed as it was, vaulted into the seat. His men
closed around, and riding full speed through the streets, by an early hour
in the afternoon made good his retreat to the strong-hold on the lake. The
captured helm was afterwards hung aloft as a momento of the action, and to
this incident the world is indebted for the following poetical description
in "Rokeby" of a similar scene:
All eyes upon the gateway hung,
When through the gothic arch there sprung
A horseman armed, at headlong speed.
Sable his cloak, his plume, his steed;
Fire from the flinty floor was spurn'd,
The vaults unwonted clang return'd!
One instant's glance around he threw,
From saddle bow his pistol drew,
Grimly determined was his look,
His charger with his spurs he struck.
All scattered backward as he came,
For all knew Bertram Risingham.
Three bounds that noble courser gave,
The first had reach'd the central nave,
The second clear'd the chancel wide,
The third he was at Wycliffe's side.
While yet the smoke the deed conceals,
Bertram his ready charger wheels,
But floundered on the pavement floor
The steed, and down his rider bore,
And bursting in the headlong sway,
The faithless saddle-girths gave way.
'Twas while he toil'd him to be freed,
And with the rein to raise the steed,
That from amazement's iron trance
All Wycliffe's soldiers waked at once.
This exploit of the Major's was long held in general rememberance by the
country round, and the fame of its excessive temerity preseved in a ballad
of the times, entitled "Dick and the Devil," which is exceedingly rare
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and difficult to be met with. Having in vain made inquiries after a copy,
in order to introduce it here, I am obliged to signify my despair at
finding one.
Contests such as these continued incessantly to harass the country, until
Cromwell was declared Protector, during whose domination Briggs rules in
the ascendancy; but on the accession of Charles II. he was obliged to fly,
and for a long period hide in what at that time was a rugged and secluded
region - the wilds of Furness.
As for Robin (who has also, though unjustly, been calumniated of having
murdered the persons to whom the skulls belonged, as before related in
p.141, and of whom it is said many other desperate adventures are related,
but of which I have not been able to collect any particulars,) after the
final defeat at Worcester had, by depressing the hopes of the Royalists for
the time, in some degree restored a sort of subdued quiet to the kingdom,
finding a pacific life irksome to his restless spirit, he passed over into
the sister country, and there fell in some nameless recontre in the Irish
wars, sealing by a warrior's fate a course of long-tried and devoted
loyalty - in life and death affording a memorable illustration of the fine
sentiment embodied in this touching quotation,
Master lead on, and I will follow thee
To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty.
Two hundred years have rolled their course since the generation that saw
these events has vanished from the earth, and every tangible memorial of
the hero of the island has been thought to have perished with him.
Nevertheless, time has spared one fragile though little noticed relic, for
in the library of that large and most interesting structure, the parish
church of Cartmel, whose age-stricken walls, so rich in examples of all the
styles of Gothic architecture, rise but a few miles from the foot of the
lake, in the centre of a vale of much monastic character of beauty, there
is retained upon the shelves a small volume in Latin entitled "Vicentii
Lirinensis Haeres. Oxoniae, 1631;" one of the blank leaves in the beginning
of which contains this inscription in MS. the signature to which has been
torn off:
"For Mr. Robert Philipson:
Inveniam, spero, quam vos peregrinus, amicos
Mite, peto tecum, communis hospitium."
It is pleasing to reflect on this enduring testimony of regard for one
whose portrait, as painted on the canvas of history, has hitherto only been
looked upon as that of a bold unnurtured ruffler in an age of strife. Seen
under the effect of this touch by the hand of friendship, a gentler grace
illumes the aspect of one whose unswerving principles and firm temper well
fitted him to encounter the troubles and disasters of a direful epoch, and
whose actions, as long as the island itself shall endure, will cast the
enthralling interest of romantic association upon a scene so captivating by
its natural loveliness.
That the individual to whom the inscription is addressed was our Robin of
satanic notoriety, there cannot reasonably be a doubt, as the pedigree of
the Crooke Hall Philipsons does not recognise any member of the family of
that name living between the date of the publication of the book and the
death of their last male heir. Neither is the genealogical tree of the
Calgarth family enriched with the name after 1631, so to the dashing
cavalier of my story must the inscription alone have been directed; the
evidence afforded by its affectionate style furnishing another illustration
of the saying that "the devil is not always as black as he is painted."
Noted as all the Philipsons were for their unwavering loyalty, there is yet
one among them who exhibits a title to estimation for the possession of
acquirements suited to less harassing times. This was Christopher Philipson
of the house of Calgarth, who amid the struggle of parties seems to have
been devoted to the cultivation of letters. In the pleasures derived from
study and the enlargement of his understanding, he would feel a continual
source of calm and high-toned
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enjoyment; and, when the turmoil of political discord then raging called
for more energetic exertions, it may be inferred he was found strengthened
by a religiously regulated frame of mind, and that dignity of soul which
rareley deserts the mentally adorned in seasons of difficulty, to endure
the rough and painful doings of the period better than lighter characters
and less thoughtful intellects. Deeply read in classical and theological
lore, a similarity of tastes rendered him the intimate friend of Thomas
Preston of Holkar Hall, a gentleman of ancient descent, and another of
those ripe scholars of the seventeenth century whose congeniality of
opinion on the momentous questions which then shook the land caused him
also to share in the attachment and sufferings for the royal cause. That
such were Philipson's cherished pursuits, and such the friendship which
subsisted between these loyal men, has lately been pleasingly manifested by
an examination of the library at Cartmel, where amid its treasury of
ancient wisdom, which were chiefly presented by Mr. Preston, the books
hereafter ennumerated are remaining. Most of these seem to have been tokens
of the interchange of literary amity, and all but one have the name and
signature of their learned donor, with some manuscript notes, and dates in
his handwriting, or in that of his friend. There is, however, one among
them which demands a more than ordinary portion of regard, from its having
belonged to Charles I. when Prince of Wales, an assumption which the royal
arms as borne by that Sovereign and his father James I. stamped in gilt
characters on the back, renders not improbable, though the initials letters
C.P. on the sides of the royal achievement may be held to signify
Christopher Philipson, rather than Charles "Prince."
{subhead- 51.
}
Latin. Clerke's translation of Balthasaris Castilionis Comitis de Curiali
sive antico. 1571. Londini. (In one of the fly-leaves of this little vol.
is the following MS. note, apparently in Mr. Preston's hand-writing:
{
}
"Mr. Mason's booke, schoolmr of Ambleside, wch,
wth divers other small books, I borrd of him, and
instead of them hee had my Shakesp. comedies and ye rest of his
workes in a large folio vol. lent him by Mr. Philips of Calgarth, of much
greater value than all his.")
{
}
{subhead- 58.
}
Latin. Sleidani Opuscula. 1608. Hanoviae. - MS. "Ex dono Chr
Philips armiger."
{
}
{subhead- 70.
}
Bilson on the true Difference between Subjection and un-Christian
Rebellion. 1586. London. - MS. "Non est mortale quod opto. Chr
Philipson possidet. Tho. Preston, ex dono Christo. P. Chr. Philipson
Possidet."
{
}
{subhead- 157.
}
Latin. Camden's Britannia. 1590. Francofurti. - MS. "Ex dono Chr
Ph. Non est mortale quod opto. Chr Philipson possidet."
{
}
{subhead- 189.
}
Latin. Crackenthorpe's Defensio Ecclesiae Angli. 1625. Londini. - MS. "Ex
dono Christophori Philipsoni, armigeri, ad Bibliotheca Cartmeliensis, Anno
Dnj. 1648. Thomas Strickland his booke."
{
}
{subhead- 205.
}
Morton on the Mass. 1631. London. - MS. "Mors Christi vita mihi.
Chr Philipson."
{
}
{subhead- 292.
}
Fox's Actes and Monumentes. 1610. London. Chr Philipson, 1618."
(On the sides and back are the royal arms, stamped and gilt, with the
initial letters C. P.)
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}
At the latter end of the seventeenth century John Philipson was lord of
Calgarth. In 1688 he married Mary, youngest daughter of Sir Robert Patton,
of the city of London, knight, by whom he had four daughters, who, as
co-heiresses, sold the hall and remnants of the estates, and they have
since fallen through the hands of several intermediate possessors into the
ownership of the present proprietor.
In 1705 Sir Christopher Philipson, the last male-heir of the family of
Crooke Hall, died, leaving a daughter and heiress named Frances (according
to Dr. Burn, in page 155 of his History of Westmerland, though, in page
141, he mentions Elizabeth and Clara, two other daughters, as selling their
joint estate to Major Pigeon, a natural son of Charles II.), who, in 1714,
sold the heritage of her ancestors to various purchasers, and disposed of
the island to a Mr. Braithwaite. After its possession by several subsequent
owners, it was, in 1775, sold to a progenitor of the present inheritor, who
changed its ancient name to that of Christian's Isle, afterwards altered to
Belle Isle by which it is now known. Subsequently the ground, which, from a
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description left by a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1748, appeared
"one of the loveliest and most sacred seats of simplicity, almost covered
with noble trees, amidst which was the ancient mansion of the Philipsons,"
was, from the designs of a celebrated landscape gardener, laid out in its
present style of park-like elegance; and the old fortified house of its
early lords was made to give way to an edifice whose classic appearance has
occasioned its being, with more harmony of versification than architectural
descrimination, poetically noticed as -
A Grecian temple rising from the deep,
erected from the designs of the late eminent architect, Sir William
Chambers. On sinking the foundations of this handsome building, many pieces
of armour, weapons, and cannon-balls, indubitable memorials of the days of
its hero Robin, were found embedded in the soil; and other curiosities,
reminiscences of that more distant aera when Roman domination governed
England, testifying the former existence on this insular paradise of a
structure of that powerful people, were likewise disinterred from their
long repose of ages.
Like most of the other neighbouring families of ancient lineage and local
prominence, the Philipsons are gone also. Their race has died out, and been
forgotten in the very place which they once occupied with all the authority
of feudal lords. Their mouldered dust lies beneath the pavement in
Windermere church, and their homes, for the most part but grey and naked
ruins, know them no more. Perishing, however, as these fabrics are, thay
have outlived the power of their early possessors; and, though mute and
motionless in their desolation, they yet stand to proclaim the instability
of all earthly greatness. Now, save this shattered remnant of their antique
hall, the monument which covers their last resting-place beside the altar
in the neighbouring church, some scanty records of their genealogy gathered
by the local historians, the literary relics in Cartmel church, and the
vanishing traditions floating about the vicinage or preserved in a
contemporary ballad - all vestiges have disappeared of a family who for
ages exercised an important influence over the surrounding country.
H.C.M.
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M. C. requests us to mention the authority on which one of our northern
counties is written Westmerland. In answer, we beg to say that the
county derives the etymology of its name decidedly from its being the "land
of the western meres," - not the moors, as the modern mode of
writing it seems to have suggested. In no old authority, either written or
printed, will the name be found spelled otherwise than Westmerland.
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WINDERMERE, OR BOWNESS, CHURCH, WESTMERLAND.
IT was one of those variable days so characteristic of the early spring,
that, in furtherance of my object of collecting information respecting the
old family of the Philipsons who in feudal state formerly owned the
adjoining hall of Calgarth, I made an excursion to the parish church of
Windermere, to examine the monument it was understood to contain,
commemorative of an individual of that extinct house. The weather was
bitingly cold, with frequent showers of snow and hail, which for moments
totally obscured the face of the country. The gale whitened the dark waters
of the lake, and caused their tiny billows to lash the sounding shores with
the mimic fury of an ocean tempest; yet, immediately succeeding these
violent gusts, the vernal sun shining in the blue heavens, would again
light up the wide-spreading landscape with a brilliancy the more remarkable
by its contrast to the gloom of the hurricane, which soon had swept afar.
Much and often as I had admired the scenery of the justly-celebrated lake,
which has become almost a proverb for its attractions, I never beheld its
glorious expanse to greater perfection than from the road which, branching
from the highway to Kendal, leads along an undulating elevation to Bowness;
and never did the appearance of its upper reach so strongly impress me with
its resemblance to the luxuriant glory of those Italian lakes, which have
been so exquisitely rendered by the pencil of that glowing transcriber of
nature - our English Stanfield.
The church of Windermere, a venerable and spacious erection, dedicated to
St. Martin, is in the centre of the small and somewhat foreign-looking
village of Bowness. It is the only relic remaining of our forefathers in
this pleasing spot, though Bowness can lay claim to a considerable
antiquity, it having been known as a town or village in Saxon times; and in
the Melrose Chronicle it is mentioned as the place where, in 791, Eldred, a
thane of that race, slew Elf and Edwin, the sons of Elfwald. Seen from the
lake, in the brightness of summer's eventide, its sunlit tower, rising
among trees, Gothic gables, and the campaniles of tasteful buildings,
"Like one that seeketh, through the years gone by,
For some lost hope that was surpassing fair,"
has a beautiful and picturesque effect. It stands almost on the margin of
the water, on the edge of what was once the village green, and within a
burial ground, whose verdant sward is nearly surrounded by the sombre
foliage of a number of flourishing yew trees, under whose shade the
sumptuous tombs, which human pride has erected over its kindred dust, are
glaringly contrasted with the numerous grassy hillocks that mark the
resting places of the simple forefathers of this pretty hamlet. Few of
those lowly graves are distinguished by head-stones or other sepulchral
memorials, yet on one that is to be met with, the following inscription,
calculated from the quaintness of its conclusion to attract attention, is
perhaps worth transcribing:-
In memory of
Thomas Ullock,
who died 19 October, 1791,
aged 71 years.
Poor Tom! came here to lie
from battles of
Dettingen and Fontenay
in 1743 and 1745.
Of the date when the church was founded there are not, it is supposed, any
records in existence that speak with certainty. In ages long ago, the
parish, like that of Grasmere, was a chapelry only, within the parish of
Kendal; but through the length of time, and little or no communication with
the mother church, by reason of the distance, it acquired the reputation of
a distinct parochial division. It is nevertheless stated that in token of
subjection to the mother church, the rector of Windermere pays to this day
an annual pension of 13s. 4d. to the vicar of Kendal. At the
appropriation of the church of Kendal to the abbey of St. Mary, in York, by
Ivo de Tailbois, first baron of Kendal after the Conquest, the patronage of
Wynandermere chapel, as it was called, was excepted. In Edward the Third's
time the patronage was in Ingelram de
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Guisnes and his wife Christian, who were grantees of the Crown, but subject
to a pension of 33s. 4d. payable to the said abbey. It
appears to have become subsequently vested in Joan de Coupland, as by an
inquisition taken in 49 Edw. II. after her death, it was found that she
held by grant of the king during her life the advowson of Wynandermere,
then valued at 100s. The patronage afterwards reverted to and
continued in the Crown till the seventh year of Queen Elizabeth, when it
was granted to William Herbert and John Jenkins, to hold of the queen in
free socage by fealty as of the manor of East Greenwich. After several
mesne conveyances it was in the last century purchased by Sir William
Fleming, of Rydal, bart. who devised it to his four daughters, from who it
has descended to the Rev. Sir Richard Fleming, of Grasmere, baronet.
The church consist of an embattled square tower, carrying a peal of three
bells, into which a low recessed arched doorway, not now used, gives access
to the western front. A vestry, of modern addition, at the west end of the
north aisle, whose original integrity of form it totally mars. A nave, with
north and south aisles. A porch, at the south side, through which is the
principal entrance into the church. A narrow arched door is near the east
end of the same aisle, and a door of like design near the west end of the
north aisle. The south aisle is lighted on the flank wall by four square
stone-mullioned windows of four round-headed lights each, while the windows
in the wall of the north aisle are five in number with three lights only.
At the west end of the south aisle and east end of both aisles there are
larger windows of similar form of four lights each, in some of which a few
remnants of ancient coloured glass are observable. Besides these windows
additional light is admitted from six clerestory windows on each side of
three lights each; but that which contributes most to illuminate the
interior is the large semicircular-headed east window, which is of great
size, of the latest and most debased Perpendicular, and divided by plain
stone mullions into seven lights.
On entering I found myself within a large structure devoid of any
particular architectural distinction, but interesting from its antiquated
and hallowed character. The arches dividing the nave from the aisles are
pointed and square-edged, and spring from square multangular piers that are
without imposts or mouldings. So much however are they enveloped with the
defilement of plaster and whitewash, that their original form or ornamental
details, if of the latter they ever had any, cannot be defined.
Like many of the old churches and chapels in this part of the country, it
has once, in obedience to the directions of the eighty-second canon, been
profusely embellished with texts of Scripture painted on the walls, and
towards the west end of the flank wall of the north aisle sentences from
Colossians, c.iii. v.5, and James, c.iv. v.7,8, are still legible. The date
of these admonitory texts, which are all that have escaped the hands of the
whitewasher, are about Edward VI. or Elizabeth's reign. They are
rubricated, and each is enclosed within an ornamental scroll or border
crowned with the winged heads "of rudely painted Cherubim." Formerly the
spaces between the windows in both aisles were covered with similar chosen
quotations, or, as an eminent poet has called them,
"Scrolls that teach thee to live and die,"
but through want of care some were obiterated, while others were broken to
make room for modern monumental tablets. Close to the door, near the east
end of the south aisle, there had been on the wall an ancient painting,
either on parchment or leather, my informant could not recollect which.
That not long since was also removed and carelessly thrown by in the
vestry, in order to afford space for other displays of mundane ostentation.
The disfigurement of pews and seats of all shapes and sizes are also to be
seen; and a gallery has been introduced into this part of the church. A
mean wooden altar-piece, painted light blue, on which the Lord's Prayer,
Creed, and Commandments are inscribed, occupies the space underneath the
great window, and hides the lower portion of it from observation.
The roof, which is open to the framing, is of oak, black through age, and
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covered on the outside with lead. Some years since it narrowly escaped
being altogether concealed from view; as a wealthy individual, desirous to
render the church snugger, and more in accordance with modern ideas of
comfort, proposed to shut out this dark-looking roof, by putting up a
smooth lathe-and-plaster ceiling at his own expense. The tasteless attempt
however was fortunately frustrated by the zealous care of one of the
churchwardens, to whom the antique appearance and keeping of the sacred
edifice was an object of reverential regard.
In the church is kept, it cannot be said preserved, chained to a seat
underneath the reading-pew, a copy of Erasmus's "Paraphrase on the New
Testament," which Cranmer caused to be introduced into all the parish
churches in England, and which book was one of the first of those
successive publications by whose aid he restored and built up the Reformed
faith of his country. There is also a copy of Jewels' "Defence of the
Apologie of the Church of England," which in Queen Elizabeth's reign was
likewise ordered to be similary placed. These books are in bad condition,
as some of the leaves have been loosened, the title pages of both partly
torn out, and deprived of their clasps and bindings; they are tossed
together upon a seat, as things altogether disregarded and abandoned to the
pleasure of every spoiler. Through similar want of care the Coverdale
Bible, printed in 1535, a copy of which was in Henry the Eighth's reign,
A.D. 1538, enjoined by Cromwell, the King's Vicar-general, to be deposited
in the choir or chancel of all the Reformed churches in England, for every
one to read at his leisure, has been removed and lost.
The chest for alms, which at one time was so general an article of church
furniture, fixed on a stone or pillar in some convenient situation at the
west end of the nave, near the entrance, is now likewise thrown by in the
vestry.
Pity it is, that those to whom the church and its appendages are by the law
yearly entrusted should so little appreciate these old and faithful
remembrances of the pious anxiety of the Fathers of our Reformation, that -
"The book of life, and the principles which guided them in reforming the
church, should be largely and publicly distributed, for the use and
enlightenment of the people in times of great ignorance of true religious
information, in order that those who, by reason of their poverty or other
causes, were not able to purchase such books themselves, should have the
Word of God, made free of access to them in their own mother tongue."
Time was, after the first placing of such books in churches, that
multitudes, "long thirsty for the Word, rushed to the waters of life and
drank freely;" and what a sight, full of the deepest interest and
reflection, it must have been to see those hallowed structures - our parish
churches - which in the elder days were always kept open, crowded with the
laity, to whom the Bible had hitherto been as a sealed volume, flocking in
- not alone at the stated hours of public prayers, but at other times, to
read or hear read, by some one of themselves more literate than his
fellows, that divine word which maketh wise unto salvation. How sublime a
subject for the utmost reach of the artist's creative skill.
The pride of our church is, or rather was, the gorgeous east window, which
yet retains abundant though sorely mutilated remains of the stained glass
with which it was superbly filled. It is said that this interesting
specimen of ancient decoration formerly belonged to the abbey of Saint Mary
in Furness, and that after the destruction of that celebrated institution
in A.D. 1537 it was purchased by the parishioners of Windermere, and
removed hither. In 1775, when Mr West wrote, this noble window was much
more perfect, as the following description, taken from his "Antiquities of
Furness," will testify:-
"The east window of the church of Furness Abbey has been noble; some of the
painted glass that once adorned it is preserved in a window in Windermere
church. The window in that church consists of seven compartments, or
partitions. In the third, fourth, and fifth are depicted in full proportion
the Crucifixion, with the Virgin Mary on the right, and the beloved
disciple St. John the Evangelist on the left side of the cross. Angels are
expressed receiving the sacred blood from the five precious wounds. Below
the cross are a group of monks in the proper habits, with the abbot in a
vestment. Their names are written on labels issuing from their mouths. The
abbot's name is defaced, which would have given a date to the
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whole. In the second partition are the figures of St. George and the
Dragon. In the sixth is represented St. Catharine with the emblems of her
martyrdom, the sword and the wheel. In the seventh are two figues of the
mitred abbots, and underneath them two monks dressed in vestments. In the
middle compartment, above, are finely painted, quarterly, the arms of
France and England, bound with garter and its motto, probably done in the
reign of King Edward III. The rest of the window is filled up by pieces of
tracery, with some figures in coats armorial, and the arms of several
benefactors to the abbey, amongst whom are Lancaster, Urswick, Fleming,
Harrington, Millum, Kirkley, Preston, and Middleton."
Such, until very lately, has been the generally received history of this
lauded window. Its authenticity has, however, in some measure been recently
called in question by the author of the highly erudite and interesting work
on the history and antiquities of Furness Abbey, entitled "Annales
Furnesienses,"* wherein, after describing the dimensions of the east
window of the abbey church to have been 23 feet 6 inches in breadth, and 47
feet in height, proportions infinitely more imposing than those of the
window in Windermere church, he questions the authority Mr. West may have
had for his assertion that the stained glass was obtained from the abbey.
"That part of it," says the author I quote, "may once have filled some of
the windows is probable; but it is equally certain that other portions have
been procured from Cartmel Priory, as the name of a prior and sub-prior,
and the arms of that house, are yet discernible therein."
When first set up in Windermere church, it must have been a splendid
fenestral embellishment, full of the finest effects, and worthy of either
of the noble edifices from which it was removed, as several of the figures
are as large as life, the colours very fine, and the drawing of the hands,
feet, heads, and remaining parts very perfect. Since that time it has met
with much rude treatment; the names of the monks, except those of William
Hartley and Thomas Housen, are all effaced, and even so lately as the past
year portiosn have been dashed in. Were it not, therefore, for the help
afforded by the above description, but little of its former elegant
composition and resplendent colouring could now be made out against the
confused wreck of its magnificence, so strangely jumbled in chaotic
assemblage with square and lozenge panes of plain uncoloured glass, and if
the work of spoilation is permitted to continue without endeavour to
prevent repetitions of such desecration, in a short time the account above
cited will be all that will be left to shew that such a characteristic
record of the pious feelings of bygone ages ever existed.
In one of the windows in the north aisle are some significant devices -
armorial they can scarcely be called - in painted glass, usually known as
"the Carriers' Arms." They may be described as a rope and five
packing-needles or, with a wantey hook gules, on a pane of uncoloured
glass, such being the implements and materials used by carriers to fasten
their packing sheets together. Near these industrial emblems, in the same
window, but upon another pane, are representations of other instruments
likewise used in the same business; and as the tradition current in the
parish respecting this piece of emblazonry has reference to an incident in
the history of the church, I am tempted to record it. When the church
required to be rebuilt, together with the chapels of St. Mary Holme,
Troutbeck, and Applethwaite, which had all been destroyed or rendered unfit
fot divine worship, the parish was so extremely poor that the parishioners
determined that one church should serve the whole. The next question was,
where should it stand? The inhabitants of Undewnilbeck (sic) were for
having it at Bowness, while others contended that as Troutbeck Bridge was
about the centre of the parish it should be built there. Meetings were in
consequence held, and many discussions arose; at last a carrier proposed
that
* The author of this work was Thomas Alcock Beck, esq. He died in
1846, and is thus commemorated in a mural mounument in Hawkshead church,
Lancashire:
"Thomas Alcock Beck de Esthwaite Lodge in hac parochia, Arm. juxta borealem
cemterii angulum tumulitus jacet, Qui Antiquitatum Indagator si quis aliius
felicissimum Annales Furnesienses summa elegantia composuit. In ipso
literarum cursu adhuc occupatus decessit XXIV. die Aprilis, an. Dom.
MDCCCXLVI. aetat LI." - EDIT.
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whoever would make the largest donation towards the building should choose
the site. An offer so reasonable could hardly be refused, and many gifts
were accordingly named. The carrier, who had amassed wealth by his
business, heard them all, and then declared he would cover the cover the
church with lead. This offer, which the rest were either unable or
unwilling to outdo, at once decided the affair. The carrier therefore chose
the old site, and his arms, or more properly some of the instruments of his
trade, were, in accordance with the ancient custom of thus perpetuating the
remembrance of benefactors, painted on one of the windows of the north
aisle. Tradition adds that this man obtained the name of Bellman, from the
circumstance of his having been the first to introduce the bells worn by
the fore horse of a gang of pack horses; and the singularity of the church
being covered with lead when all the others in the neighbourhood are
covered with slate gives probability to the story.
The Font, which is of pale red sandstone, is of an octagonal form, and on
some sides of the bowl or head small and rudely sculptured faces may be
traced. On occasion of putting up additional pews against the west end of
the nave, it was found partly built into the wall, and encrusted with
plaster. Having been cleansed and purified of its disguise, and placed on a
new shaft of lighter coloured stone, raised on steps of a corresponding
form, it has lately been removed to the position it now occupies near the
principal entrance.
There is also to be noticed at the east end, on the soffit of the second
arch of the south aisle, within a coloured and rudely ornamented label, the
following inscription in black letters, which is partly effaced by the
whitewash brush:-
[ ]
[ ] est ille dies renovari
celebrior anno
[ ]em facit, et proprio
[ ]gnat amore deus
[ ]boni stigiis quae
coniurata tenebris
[]unc mala divina
fabula facta manu
Anglia mole suae mox
aspicienda ruinae
[ ]ut aetherea
libera mansit ope.
Exultat Anglia.
Faucibus eripior Fauxis
quasi carcere mortis,
Gloria in excelsis
hinc mea tecta salus.
Christoferus Philipson
Junior Generosus, 1629.
The walls, especially in the chancel, are thronged with many neat and
handsome marble tablets commemorative of individuals connected by birth or
property with the surrounding country - over two or three of which the
funeral hatchments of the deceased are suspended, as if to testify it were
wished that even in the grave the distinctions of life should follow and
overshadow them. Among these monuments the divine and man of learning will
single out the elegant memorial to Dr. Watson, the eminent Bishop of
Llandaff, who died in 1816, on which the following tributes are engraven:-
Quod mortale fuit
Ricardi Landavensis
juxta coemeterium habet,
quod immortale est
faxit Deus
ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩ coelum
habeat.
Vitam obiit IV. non. Jul. A.D. MDCCCXVI.
AEtat LXXIX.
Hoc marmor, parvulum licet, egregii in conjugem
amoris monumentum, poni curavit Dorothea Watson.
Et ipsa
aevo haud brevi sine labe perfuncta,
tumulo eodem sepulta requiescit.
Excessit III. Id. April. A.D. MDCCCXXXI.
Aetatis suae LXXXI.
The bishop's remains are entombed within an inclosed space in the burial
ground, at the east end of the church, where, on the stone that rests upon
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the grave, this brief and simple record:-
Ricardi Watson
Episcopi Landavensis
cineribus scarum.
Obiit Julii 4, A.D. 1816,
AEtatis 79.
Hic etiam conjugem prope
depositae sunt reliquiae
Dorothea Watson,
maximae natulum
Edwardi Wilson de Dallam Tower, Arm.
Vitam obiit III id.
Aprilis A.D.
MDCCCXXXI.
aetatis suae LXXXI.
Another marble tablet, surmounted by an urn and anchor, commemorates many
melancholy events which occurred in a short space of time in one family.
"On the 7th of June 1832 was lost, with all the crew of her Majesty's brig
Recruit, in a gale of wind, on the passage from Halifax to Bermuda, Henry
C. Poulett Thompson, aged 14 years, youngest son of Andrew Henry Poulett
Thompson, esq. late of Belfield.* On the 7th Sept. 1834 Sophia
Poulett Thompson, his mother, died at Belfield, aged 41. On the 2d June,
died at Greenwich, aged 20, Andrew John Poulett Thompson, eldest son of the
above. On the 28th April 1839 was drowned in the river Thames, by the
upsetting of a boat, Andrew Henry Poulett Thompson, esq. late of Belfield,
and of Austin Friars, London, aged 52 years. On the 5th Sept. 1840 died at
Mortlake, Surrey, Charlotte Weguelin, only daughter of the above, and wife
of Thomas Matthias Weguelin, of Mortlake and Austin Friars."
In the north aisle is a tablet, surmounted by a fine white marble bust, to
the memory of
"Fletcher Raincock, esq. A.M. who died 17 Aug. 1846, in the 72nd year of
his age. He was the second son of the late Rev. W. Raincock, rector of
Ouseley, Cumberland, by Agnes, eldest daughter of the late Fletcher
Fleming, of Rayrigg, and formerly senior Fellow of Pembroke Hall,
Cambridge, and F.S.A."
Passing these and other modern erections, the antiquary will pause before
the oldest monument in the church, erected on the south side of the altar,
over the place where the dust of many generations of the Philipsons has
long been mingled with its kindred earth. It is a simple slab of black
marble, let into a bed of stone, placed upon a square high stone pedestal,
and adorned with some ornamental mouldings, which are so much clogged with
whitewash as to be almost undefinable. It is surmounted with their armorial
cognizances, and bears the record of one of the owners of Calgarth:-
The author's epitaph upon
Himselfe, made in the
Tyme of his sickness.
A man I was, worms meate I am,
To earth return'd, from whence I came.
Many removes on earth I had,
In Earth at length my Bed is made.
A bed which Christ did not disdaine,
Altho' it could not him retaine,
His deathlie foes might plainlie see
Over sin and death his victorie.
Here must I rest till Christ shall let me see
His promised Jerusalem, and her felicitie.
Veni Domine Jesu, veni cito.
Robert Philipson, Gent. xiiiito Octo-
bris Ano Salutis 1631. Anno AEtatis suae 63tio.
There are also several sepulchral memorials on brass, but none of any
interest or far-off date; and on the floor are numerous tombstones and
incised slabs, charged with the heraldic badges, and obituary epitaphs of
those who rest beneath.
Affixed to the wall, under the window at the east end of the north aisle,
is an iron bracket, ornamented with some scroll work, and painted in
several colours, with the date on it of 1619. I was told this is considered
to have been an ancient candlestick, found some years ago among a pile of
rubbish in the bottom of the Tower. With deference however for such
accredited
* Belfield is a neat modern house in the village of Bowness. - EDIT.
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opinion, it seems more likely part of an hour-glass stand of the Puritan
period, or to have been used for suspending over the tomb of some knight of
old - probably one of the elder Philipsons - those mouldering trophies of
his martial pride, the banner of his house, and the arms used by him in
war; which of yore it was the custom of the English chivalry to have hung
"as honours o'er their graves."
In the southern aisle his coat of mail
Hangs o'er his marble shrine;
And his tilting-spear is resting there,
His helm and gabardine.
Returning from this excursion, I was much struck with the splendid
accessary to the scenery presented by the broken outlines of the grey walls
and towers of Wray Castle, which, placed on a commanding elevation,
harmonizes magnificently with the background of lofty mountains, and
contributes, more than any other of the recent architectural embellishments
which adorn Windander's lake, to impress a character of peculiar grandeur
on its upper reach.
H. C. M.
{header- Calgarth Hall}
{marginal = Calgarth}
MR. URBAN,
IN the August Number of the Magazine, page 140, your Correspondent says, in
speaking of Calgarth,-
"So late as 1789, when Clarke wrote his Survey of the Lakes, there was
remaining over the fireplace, in what was then called the dining-room, two
devices remarkably well carved in oak. One exhibited Samson asleep on
Dalilah's lap, while the Philistines were cutting off his hair; the other
was a representation of Jephtha, after his rash vow, meeting his daughter."
This must allude to the carved oak chimney-piece now in the library at
Greystoke Castle, and which was given to Charles Duke of Norfolk by the
Bishop (Watson) of Llandaff.
Under Jephtha's vow is the motto -
An unlawful vow is ill made,
But wors performed.
Under Samson and Dalilah -
He that slepes in sin must looke
To awake in losse and wariness.
There were originally four shields with following coats carved upon them:
viz. Philipson, Wyvill, Carus, and Briggs. These have now given place to
Howard, Brotherton, Warren, and Mowbray.
Yours, &c. L.
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{header- Holme Coultram Parishes}
{image = G850A070.jpg}
CUMBERLAND.
In a Convocation holden at Oxford on the 3rd Nov. the instruments
authorising the division of certain portions of Hulme Cultram, into
three several districts, were sealed. The patronage of this widely extended
parish belongs to the University, and by a former grant of 50l. per
annum to each of the three churches of St. Paul, St. Cuthbert, and St.
John, three resident clergymen will now be secured, in a district the
greater part of which was several miles from the parish church, and so
dispersed as to render an attendance on divine worship during the greater
part of the year utterly impossible.
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{header- Christian Monuments in England and Wales}
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CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES.*
MR. BOUTELL is really indefatigable in his illustrations, both by the pen
and pencil, of our interesting monumental antiquities. In our Magazine for
Dec. 1848 we had the pleasure of noticing two works by him on parts of this
subject: the one his "Monumental Brasses and Slabs," published in 1847, and
the other his beautiful series of "Monumental Brasses," selected with much
judgement, and represented with remarkable fidelity and delicacy of
execution. ...
... ...
* Christian Monuments in England and Wales: an historical and
descriptive Sketch of the various classes of Sepulchral Monuments which
have been in use in this Country from about the era of the Norman Conquest.
By the Rev. Charles Boutell, M.A. Rector of Downham Market, Norfolk. 8vo.
Parts I. and II.
... ...
{text- The entry in the Magazine for December 1848, pp.597-608, has no
direct reference to Westmorland, Cumberland, etc.}
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{text- }
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In a review of the 'Christian Monuments of England and Wales' by Mr
Boutell, speaking of cross slabs:-
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No accompaniment to the cross is more common than a sword, as might be
presumed from the military character of feudal times. Mr. Boutell has
placed side by side the very similar stones at Brougham, in Westmorland,
and at Newton Rigney, in Cumberland, the former ascribed to Udard de
Broham, who, having taken the cross in the second crusade, died about the
year 1185; and the latter bearing the arms of Vaux of Catterlen, whose name
has been associated in the title of peerage conferred on the ex-chancellor.
The circular figure on the Brougham stone is supposed to represent a
target-shield. ...
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{header- Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey}
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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ROBERT SOUTHEY.*
IT is fortunate for the world that Mr. Southey was possessed so strongly by
what he calls the disease of epistolising, for it has given us a
copious and interesting work of autobiography, which, as it proceeds, will
probably afford much curious information on the poetry and literature of
the times, as well as contain an account of his opinions on questions
connected with social condition, the political changes, and religious state
of society during the period in which he was so careful and anxious an
observer. People will differ in their sentiments in regard to the merit of
Mr. Southey's poetry, and to the rank which he may be entitled to hold
among his contemporary rivals; but no one can justly refuse praise to the
general excellence of his various writings when separated from the
temporary influence of party, and when connected with subjects of deeper
and more permanent interest. In variety of knowledge, in earnestness of
purpose, in animation of feeling, in elegance and purity of language, and
in flowing harmony of style, he was not easily to be surpassed. On graver
subjects he wrote with a vigour and strength that commanded attention even
when it did not win assent; and on lighter, with a sportive grace, a
liveliness, and a spirit that were never extinguished or impaired by the
quantity of matter they were called upon to enliven and illume. The present
work, if it proceeds with the fullness with which it has commenced, will
probably present us with a very adequate resemblance and portraiture of the
original; for already, and even in its commencement, it has exhibited him
both in the strength and weakness of his character. It has shown alike the
excellence of his principles, and the waywardness of his fancy; the
sterling goodness of his disposition, and the unalterable eccentricity of
his conduct. Nothing could be more strange and imprudent than the course of
his early life; nothing more pure and virtuous than the disposition which
impelled him by honourable exertions to win his independence and his fame.
The opening scenes of his youthful years certainly were not very promising,
or full of much augury for future good.
He was expelled from school for a satire on the master. He left a
university, which he hated and ridiculed, without benefit by its
instruction, sharing its honours, or profiting by its rewards. His
religious opinions spread into the barren regions of Unitarian and Socinian
dissent. In politics he was a leveller, to the extent of a communion of
property. When just of age he made a marriage which for ever offended those
on whose bounty and care he had depended from his birth; and, to crown all,
he declined entering any profession by which, with his industry and
abilities and connexions, he might have assured to himself an honourable
maintenance and a distinguished station. To most men such a morning of life
would soon have closed in hopeless darkness and distress, but Southey's
genius and goodness saved him from this miserable fate. He had always, it
appears, a firm reliance on his own powers, an ambition of literary and
poetical fame, and a steady industry which could enable him to obtain them.
Thus he compensated by subsequent application, for the loss he suffered for
his foolish contempt of the valuable instruction which academical studies
would have afforded him; while sounder reflection and deeper knowledge in
time set him right in his theology and political theories. His marriage
seemed to bring him a greater portion of happiness than could have been
obtained by a wealthy dower, or other gifts of fortune. He acquired
valuable friends, whose assistance was extended at the very time it was
most urgently needed,† when the bounty of his relatives was
withdrawn, and his own
* "The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. Edited by his Son,
the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, M.A. Curate of Plumbland, Cumberland.
Vols. I.and II. (To be completed in six volumes.)"
† Without Mr. Wynn's allowance of 160l. a year, it does not
appear how Mr. Southey could have derived an existence, or from what
quarter it could have been supplied. REV.
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exertions could hardly have afforded him a support. With him at this
period,
The modest wants of every day
The toil of every day supplied;
and he soon found in the occupations of literature and the pleasures of
poetical composition something far more congenial to his mind and more
productive of happiness than could have been obtained by the reluctant
toils and slow rewards of a more lucrative profession.
We now proceed to a very brief recapitulation of the early events of his
life, which however would be better received from his own hand.
He made his appearance, he tells us, in the world as a red fat child in
August 1774. As he grew up he slept half the night with the maid, the other
half with his aunt. No wonder that between these females and a warming-pan
in addition, he soon lost his plumpness, and became the lean lank figure he
ever afterwards continued. His dress was a suit of nankeen trimmed with
long green fringe. In this dress he was sent successively to two
day-schools, the first kept by a Baptist, the second by a Socinian. This
was not a very hopeful start in life for the future laureate. But the
girl's schools at the time were still worse. Mrs. Siddons sent her
daughter to one of them near Bristol, which was thought the best, where the
mistress, when asked after a former pupil, used to say "Her went to
school to we." His aunt intended to educate him according to
Rousseau's Emilius, but, not being able to understand it, the plan was
given up, and so, instead, he read Shakspere, and began with "Titus
Andronicus;" then, before he was eight, went through Beaumont and
Fletcher, being a little puzzled by the "Knight of the Burning Pestle;" and
he saw more plays before he was six years old than he "has ever seen
since." Such were his early studies; for his amusement he was
required to prick playbills with a pin, so that, when held up to the light,
they might look like a fairy illumination in miniature. In his
eighth year he wrote a play on the subject of the continence of
Scipio; - "Cymbeline" and "The Morning Bride" being his archetypes. In
Latin he had reached Justin and Nepos, and the waters of Helicon he first
sipped in Hoole's Tasso. Afterwards he read Spenser, and Pope's Homer, and
the Lusiad. In Virgil's Eclogues he was long detained because the usher
could not construe the Georgics, so that he grew sick of them, and never
looked into them afterwards, giving up all acquaintance with Corydon
aud Thyrsis and Alexis. He was doubtless a very clever boy; for
when he was aksed what "i.e." stood for, in the pride of his
knowledge he answered - John the Evangelist.
Young Southey had a natural incapacity for that one of the fine arts on
which Adam Smith has left us a discourse under the name of "Dancing." The
fiddle-stick having no power over his feet was applied to his head; but
dancing, like reading, being "a gift of God," was not to be acquired, and,
as persons are apt to hate those things they cannot possess, Southey has
shewn his rooted dislike of this science by saying that if it were
in his power he would hamstring all those gentlemen whose fame and
fortune are concentrated in the tendon Achilles, and who, indeed, as Lear
says, "make their toe what they should make their heart." Having, now that
he had arrived at twelve years of age, got possession of Bysshe's Art of
Poetry, he bagan some epic poems, the first called Arcadia, the hero
of which was Alphonzo who had caught the Hippogriff; the next was the
Trojan Brutus. The Death of Richard the Third was the last. In the
intervals of these more solid dishes he introduced some lighter fare in the
shape of heroic epistles, translations, satires, Elysian visions, and at
last a poem on Cassibelan. It must be confessed that his youthful brain was
kept in an unusual state of fermentation; but probably much benefit
resulted from this exercise of his juvenile powers in an early acquired
facility of invention and execution. When he was fourteen years of age he
was placed at Westminster School, of which he has given some graphic
recollections. His first appearance in print was in a paper called the
Trifler, got up by the Westminster boys in rivalry of the Eton
Microcosm; a more ambitious work of the same kind, called "The Flagellant,"
awoke the wrath of Dr. Vincent, against whom it was directed. The
doctor commenced
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an action against the publisher, and Southey was dismissed the school. This
dismissal shut the doors of Christ Church against him, and he entered at
Baliol, where he remained, receiving little instruction from a place whose
doctrines he did not approve, and whose discipline he little regarded. To
row and swim, he said, was all he learnt at university. We remember the
late Bishop of Llandaff, who was his contemporary, telling us that Southey
was distinguished for his opposition to all academical authorities; and
indeed he says in one of his letters "never shall a child of mine enter a
public school or a university." In one of the vacations, when he was just
twenty years old, he resumed and completed his Joan of Arc in six weeks. He
says, in looking over his poetical portfiolio at this time, "he burnt above
10,000 verses, 10,000 preserved, and about 15,000 are worthless." His
religious creed was "Unitarian," to which he soon added Pantisocracy, and
Aspheteism, or communion of property in all things, except in a Miss
Fricker, the daughter of a gentleman who dealt in sugar-pans, whom he
married and made his own; till his aunt at length heard of these projected
schemes, and turning him out of doors in a wet night on the 17th of
October, 1794, he saw himself without a penny - in Utopia. It may be
gathered from this that he had ceased to reside in Oxford, but the exact
time when he left is not told us.
To support himself, he now gave historical lectures at Bristol, looked
forward to settle in Wales "living on brown bread and raspberries," began
his poem of Madoc which was to be the pillar of his reputation, paid a
visit to Hannah More at the time that Cowslip Green had made it up with
Strawberry Hill,* then visited his uncle, Mr. Hill, at Lisbon,
where he wrote Thalaba, projected novels, romances, tragedies, and epic
poems, of which the list may be found at p.287, determining to begin the
study of the law, and settled at Prospect Place, Newington Butts. He says
(p.383) he now entered on a new way of life, which would lead him to
independence, and that he never either lightly undertakes any scheme of
lightly abandons what he has undertaken. But, as Francis Quarles saith,
there is little love between the poet and the lawyer's study, and so
Southey earned his daily bread in reviews and magazines, as Dr. Johnson and
other good men had done before him. He edited the Annual Anthology, went to
Lisbon on a second visit, and at length burnt his law books and settled at
Greta Hall, near Keswick, where we must for the present leave him, working
and fretting, and mending his pens; but feeling that "bread and cheese is
the business of the first necessity," and resolving to show how "history
should be written, and to exhibit such indefatigable honesty as the world
has ever yet seen." We now proceed to give a few illustrations of some of
the literary subjects mentioned in the Correspondence, which the editor,
presuming on the knowledge of his readers, has passed over in silence; but
we think he may have erred in his calculations, and that the race of DODOS
is not yet extinct.
P.31 "At one of these (watering places) she fell in with Armstrong
the physician and poet - a writer deservedly respectable for his poem on
Health, and deservedly infamous for another of his productions."
This other poem was called "The Economy of Love," which it is said injured
him essentially in his practice as a physician, but it was translated into
Italian by a churchman of that nation, - "L'Economia d'Amore tradotta dell"
Abbate Luigi da Fiesole. 1755." A drawing by B. Rossi was intended to be
prefixed to this as a frontispiece, but was left unexecuted on account of
the expense. In Campbell's History of Scottish Poetry, 4to. p.222, is some
account of Armstrong. He took his "Ramble through France and Italy," which
he published in 1771, with the late Mr. Fuseli the painter, who always
spoke highly in favour of the great benevolence of his character. Sir
Joshua Reynolds and Armstrong were Fuseli's best friends, the latter of
whom frequently noticed him in the news-
* We mean when Hannah More visited and spoke well of Horace
Walpole, and introduced him to the table of the Bishop of London. See more
of this in Hannah More's life by Mr. Roberts.
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papers. Mr. Northcote said that he recollected one of Armstrong's
paragraphs running something like this:- "Parry may learn from Reynolds,
but there is one, now unknown and unpatronized, who will astonish, terrify,
and delight all Europe" (meaning Fuseli). There is a violent passage
against Armstrong in one of Churchill's poems (The Journey, vol.iii.
p.229); but the author of the Pursuits of Literature says, "Armstrong's Art
of Health is a poem which can never be sufficiently praised, read, and
recommended." We could add much more information which never has been
collected respecting this clever and eccentric poet; but at present only
remark that in Knowles's Life of Fuselei some account of him will be found,
vol.i. pp.47-59. We possess a Latin ode written by J. Theobald, 1747,
"Adingenuum Virum, tum Medicis tum Poeticis facultatibus
praestantem,Joannem Armstrong, M.D." beginning -
Artisque Coae, O et Citharae sciens,
Utroque mire dexter Apolline
Quem Musa nascentem Deusque
Arcitenens studiosiori
Finxere cura, &c.
P.136. "Hayes it was who edited those sermons which Dr. Johnson is
supposed to have written for his friend Dr. Taylor."
We believe that sufficient evidence exists, internal and external, to
authorise us to use a more decisive expression than supposed.
Murphy, in his Biography, has recorded them as Johnson's. He says, "The
best of the discourses are the few which Dr. Taylor from time to time
carries with him to his pulpit. He had the LARGEST BULL in England, and
some of the best sermons." See also Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol.vi.
p.326; and Bishop Porteus's letter to Beattie, in which he says, "Taylor
was no more capable of writing them than a horse of making an epic poem."
(1788.) Besides which, "Concio pro Tayloro," a "Sermon for Taylor," appears
in one of Johnson's Diaries. This we think conclusive.
Vol.ii. p.101. "I have lately read 'The Man of Feeling;' if you have never
yet read it, do now from my recommendation. Few works have ever pleased me
so painfully or so much."
See on this novel, which we think inferior to Julia de Roubignáe,
the remarks of Sir Walter Scott, in his Lives of the Novelists, vol.ii.
p./149. On Mackenzie's charming story of La Roche, in the Mirror,
being a view of David Hume's character, see Burton's excellent Life of
Hume, vol.i. p.58. In No.30 of the Lounger, it is said of Mackenzie, "His
writings have been long read with admiration and delight, and his exquisite
pencil every reader of taste and discernment must distinguish," &c.
P.194. "Martinus Scriblerus bore too strong a resemblance to Woodward,"
&c.
Perhaps few of our readers are aware that the chapter of "The Double
Mistress" in this work has been translated, altered, enlarged, the humour
injured and destroyed, and the grossest indecency introduced, by Pigault Le
Brun, in his Melanges Litteraires et Critiques, vol.ii. p.73-144, called
Causes Celebres. He has cantharidised the story to suit French
tastes. The original chapter might have been much enriched by quotations
from Swan's Speculum Mundi, 4to. 1643.
P.195. Mr. Lovell has very great abilities, he writes well," &c.
Robert Lovell's poems were published by Mr. Park in 1808, among which is
"Bristol, a satire." He married one of the sisters of Southey's wife.
P.252. "I have made a discovery respecting the story of the Mysterious
Mother. Lord Orford tells it of Tillotson. The story is printed in a
work of Hall's 1652. He had it from Perkins the clergyman, whom Fuller
calls an excellent chirurgeon at curing or adjusting a broken limb. He
would pronounce the word 'damn' with such emphasis as left a doleful echo
in his auditor's ears a good while afterwards. Hall adds that he
afterwards discovered the story in two German authors, and that it really
happened in Germany. If you have not had your transcription of the legend
bound, here is a curious piece of information to annex to it."
It was the editor's duty to have informed his readers about the work of
Hall, which is here referred to, but not identified. It falls therefore on
us to perform his unfinished task. It occurs in "Cases of Conscience
Practically Resolved," 3d edition, 1654, p.412, additional Case iii. -
"Whether an incestuous marriage contracted in
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simplicity of heart betwixt two persons ignorant of such a defilement, and
so form a consummation as that children are borne without wedlock, ought to
be made known and prosecuted to a dissolution." The story is told at too
great a length for us to give.
P.316. "Neither the best friends nor the bitterest enemies of
Chapelain could have felt more curiosity than I do to see his poem.
Good it cannot be, for, though the habit of writing satire, as
indeed the indulgence of any kind of wit, insensibly influences the moral
character, and disposes it to sacrifice anything to a good point, yet
Boileau must have had some reason for the extreme contempt in which he held
this unfortunate production," &c.
P.318. "I thank you for Chapelain. I read his poem in the hope of
finding something good, and would gladly have reversed the sentence of
condemnation, which I must in solemn honesty confirm. It is very bad
indeed, and can please only by its absurdity," &c.
This celebrated poem, which is not commonly to be met with, is in twelve
books, and occupies no less than 400 pages, printed in 1665. The best
edition is that we have, printed in 1655. In the opening of the poem a
divinity appears to Charles IX. and promises him deliverance from the
English, "par le main d'une fille," which promise is loudly applauded by
the whole court, who hear it; as for the Pucelle herself, we are told,-
Le Ciel, pour la former, fit un rare meslange
Des vertus d'une fille, et d'un homme, et d'un ange;
D'ou vint parestre au jour cet astre des Francois,
Qui ne fut pas un d'eux, et qui fut tous les trois.
The names of the English warriors are formed of an ingenious
nomenclature, as ex. gr. Glifford, Vindesore, Cecile, Rambert,
Burlingham, Markerfield, Unford, and Rameston, to say nothing of Fascot,
Termes, and Glacidas. in the twelth and last book, when the fate of the
heroine is to be decided, the divinity - we are almost ashamed to write
this nonsense - reteats into a kind of private three-cornered study to
deliberate upon the subject. The lines are these,-
Plus haut que tous les cieux, une loge secrete,
Sert a l'Estre incráe de profonde retraite,
Quand par ses soins veillans et ses pensáe couverts,
Il veut deliberer du sort de l'univers:
De trois costáe egaux le loge inconcevable,
Forme un triangle unique, en tout sens admirable,
Et d'un lieu si sacrá le mystere inconnu
Confond le contenant avec le contenu.
Should any of our readers wish to be acquainted with the literary history
of this poem and the opinions of the learned upon it, they may consult the
following books in the places marked: La Harpe, Cours de Litterature,
vol.v. pp.139, 151, 195; D'Artigny, Mámoires de Litterature,
tom.vii. p.336; Melanges de V. Marville, tom.ii. p.8; Menagiana, vol.i.
pp.15, 38, 45; vol.ii. p.44; vol.iii. pp.23, 108, 315; vol.iv. p.179;
L'Esprit de Guy Patin ( a curious volume), p.80. Add Segresiana, pp.5, 223.
Carpentiana, pp.127, 360, 454, 469. Longueriana, p.32. Bolaeana (Boileau),
pp. 135, 151. Ducateana, vol.ii. p.226. Huetiana, p.51. Valesiana, p.44.
(Eng. trans.); and Melanges de Litterature par Chapelain (the author of the
poem), pref. p.iii. Those better acquainted with French literature than
ourselves will easily enlarge this list of works, in which the critical
opinions and judgments will repay perusal. We may add that there were
four commissioners appointed to try the Pucelle, and we believe only
four reports of the trial were officially made. We have seen the one
here described. "Receuil contenant toutes les pieces interrogatoires,
&c. du proces de la Pucelle d'Orleans, avec le sentence rendue contra
elle, par M. Hector de Coquerelle, Nicolas Dubois, &c. in 1456, le tout
en Latin, MS." vellum, folio. Coll. cum MS. in Biblliotheca M. F. Didot.
P.325. "You will be surprised perhaps at hearing that Cowper's poem does
not at all please me. You must have taken it up in some moment when you
mind was pre-
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disposed to be pleased, and the first impression remained. Indeed I think
it not above mediocrity. I cannot trace the author of the Task in one
line." The editor has not thought it necessary to tell us the poem to which
his father alluded; but by the date, 1797, we presume he means the "Lines
on the Yardley Oak," first printed by Hayley. While speaking of Cowper, we
may as well mention a slight mistake, which has remained, we believe,
undiscovered and uncorrected to the present edition. In his "Retirement," -
I praise the Frenchman - his remark was shrewd,
How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude;
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper - solitude is sweet.
The name of La Bruyàre is put as the name of the Frenchman, but it
ought to have been Balzac. In the Entretiens de Balzac, p.62, ed. Elzevir,
"La solitude est certainement une belle chose, mais il y a plaisir d'avoir
quelqu'un qui sache respondre a qui on puisse dire de temps en temps, que
c'est une belle chose."
Vol.ii. p.24. Of Mr. W. Savage Landor's poem Mr. Southey always spoke in
terms of the highest eulogy.
"There is a poem called Gebir, of which I know not whether my review
be yet printed (in the Critical), but in that review you will find some of
the most exquisite poetry in the language. The poem is such as
Gilbert,* if he were only half as mad as he is, could have
written. I would go an hundred miles to see the anonymous author."
Again he says, p.56, "I like Gebir more and more; if you ever meet
its author, tell him I took it with me on a voyage." P.64. "I read Gebir
again; he grows upon me;" and in a letter published in the memoirs of Mr.
Taylor of Norwich, he writes, p.352, "I have Gebir with me, and read it
daily." P.26. Of that genuine though neglected poet,
Bampfylde,† a very interesting notice occurs, which, however,
is too long for us to insert; it seems but a partial extract, and yet we do
not know where so full an account of his most melancholy story is told.
P.153. "Pye's Alfred, to distinguish him from Alfred the Pious (Cottle's
Alfred), I have not yet inspected, nor the wilful murder of Bonaparte
by Anna Matilda, nor the high treason committed by Sir James Bland Burgess,
Bart. against our lion-hearted Richard. Davy is fallen stark mad
with a play called the 'Conspiracy of Gowrie,' which is by Rough,‡
an imitation of Gebir, with some poetry, but miserably and hopelessly
deficient in all else, every character reasoning and metaphorising and
metaphysicing the reader most nauseously," &c.
P.172. "Last evening we talked of Davy. Rickman also fears for him.
Sometimes he thinks he has (and excusably, surely) been hurt by the
attentions of the great; a worse fault is that vice of metaphysicians -
that habit of translating right and wrong into a jargon which confounds
them - which allows everything and justifies everything. I am afraid, and
it makes me very melancholy when I think of it, that Davy will never
* William Gilbert was author of a poem called "The Hurricane, a
Theosophical and Western Eclogue," published in 1796. "The poem," Southey
says, "contains passage of exquisite beauty." Soon after this time he
placarded London with long bills announcing the Law of Fire. His madness
was of the most incomprehensibe kind, as may be seen in the notes on the
Hurricane. See concerning him Southey's Life of Wesley, ii. p.467; Sir
Egerton Brydges' Autobiography, ii. p.293; Retrospective Review, vol.x.
p.160.
† On Bampfylde, see Southey's Specimens of English Poets, vol.iii.
p.414; Censura Literaria, vol.iv. p.301. We suppose the Stanzas to a Lady
in Bampfylde's Poems were addressed to Miss Palmer, the niece of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, with whom he was madly in love, and with which passion
commenced his madness. He was twenty years in confinement, when he
recovered his senses, to die then of a rapid decline. "In hac habitavit
platea, quae est in nostra urbe primaria omnium amoeissima, et quae nomen
honorandum adhuc retinet fundatoris Sir Hans Sloane."
‡ By the late Mr. Serjeant Rough. We read the play many years ago,
and think Southey's criticism correct. We possess a MS. poem called "The
Holy Land," composed by him, we believe, for the Seatonian Prize at
Cambridge in 1800; in his writings the poetry is, in its beauties and
faults, much as Southey describes the play.
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be to me the being that he has been. I have a trick of thinking too well of
those I love, better than they generally deserve, and better than my cold
and containing manners ever let them know; the foibles of a friend always
endear him, if they have coexisted with my knowledge of him; but the pain
is - to see beauty grow deformed - to trace disease from the first
infection. These scientific men are indeed the victims of science. They
sacrifice to it their own feelings, and virtues, and happiness."
It would be a pleasing and by no means an unprofitable occupation to
compare the substance of this passing sketch of Southey with the valuable
and well-considerd biographies of Sir Humphrey Davy by Dr. Paris, and by
his brother. They were both writers worthy of the subject, and Sir Humphrey
Davy stood, for originality of mind, depth of thought, and acuteness of
itellect, among the foremost of his age.
P.203. "If they buy me any books at Gunville (Mr. Wedgwood's seat)
let them buy the Engleish Metrical Romancees, published by
Ritson."
On these romances of Ritson, see Annual Review, vol.ii. p.515-522. Sir
Walter Scott says, in his Lady of the Lake, that Ritson published the
"Orfee and Heusodius" from a bad MS. vide p.393. Sir Frederick
Madden is in possession of a third English version of the "Gest of
King Horn," not known to Ritson; vide Quart. Rev. No.LXVIII. p.172. On the
MS. of the Earl of Thurlass, see Brit. Bibliograph. vol.vi. p.95. Sir
Frederick Madden says, "The opinion of Tyrwhitt, repeated by Ritson,
Warton, Ellis, Scott, that no English romance existed prior to
Chaucer that was not a translation from the French, must be read with
considerable caution." King Horn is decidedly English growth; vide
Conybeare's Ang. Sax. Poetry, i. 46; Madden's Intr. to Havelok, p.xlvi. Sir
Frederick Madden discovered in the Bodleian a copy of King Horn of the same
date as MS. Harl. (about 1300), which gives in many respects preferable
readings; vide Pref. to William and the Werwolfe, p.vi.; see also Havelok,
p.182. See on the Preliminary Dissertation by Ritson to these romances,
Nichols's Illust. of Literature, vol.vii. p.113, 121, 122.
P.203. "Cowper's Life is the most pickpocket work of its shape and price,
and author, and publisher, that ever appeared. It relateds very little of
the man himself. This sort of delicacy seems quite groundless towards a man
who has left no relations or connections who could be hurt by the most
explicit bibliographical detail. His letters are not what one does expect,
and yet what one ought to expect, for Cowper was not a strong-minded man
even in his best moments. The very few opinions he gave on authors are
quite ludicrous. He calls Mr. Park,
- that comical spark,
Who wrote to ask me for Joan of Arc,
'one of our best hands' in poetry! Poor wretched man" the Methodists among
whom he lived made him ten times madder than he could else have been."
list, This opinion became much modified and softened before Southey became
himself the editor of these Letters and the bibliographer of the poet. In
the Qtrly Review, No.LXIX. in a review of Dr. Sayers, by Southey, will be
found his judgment of the merits of Cowper's poetry. Miss Seward had a
great dislike to the poetry of Cowper, and perhaps to Cowper himself - her
copy of Hayley's Life was crowded with critical remarks of the severest
kind. In the Memoirs of Hayley may be seen what Lady Hesketh, whose
intimate knowledge of the poet caused her judgment to be well formed,
thought of Hayley's Life. See vol.i. p.465; vol.ii. pp.34, 92, 223.
But our limits are exhausted. We shall shortly resume this subject with a
notice of vol.iii. and will only add, at the present, that, with respect to
the BUTLER mentioned at p.335, the editor seems but imperfectly informed.
His portrait, and that of his man William, are now hanging on the
walls of our study. His Life is on our table. He himself has long since
returned to the "august abode" from which he came.
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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. *
WE left Mr. Southey in our last article (Gent. Mag. for April, 1850, p.353)
settled in his new habitation at Keswick. The third volume contains a
history of the six years which he passed there, from 1806 to 1812. His
habitual manner of life, from which he seldom deviated, is thus described
by him:
"Three pages of history after breakfast (equivalent to five in small quarto
printing), then to transcribe and copy for the press, or to make my
selections and biographies, or what else suits my humour, till dinner time;
from dinner till tea, I read, write letters, see the newspaper, and very
often indulge in a siesta: for sleep agrees with me, and I have a good
substantial theory to prove that it must. For as a man who walks much
requires to sit down and rest himself, so does the brain, if it be the part
most worked, require its repose. Well, after tea, I go to poetry, and
correct and re-write and copy till I am tired, and then turn to anything
else till supper. And this is my life; which, if it be not a very merry
one, is yet as happy as heart could wish. At least I should think so if I
had not once been happier, and I do think so, except when that recollection
comes upon me. And then, when I cease to be cheerful, it is only to become
contemplative,- to feel at times a wish that I was in that state of
existence which passes not away; and this always ends in a new impulse to
proceed, that I may leave some durable monument and some efficient good
behind me."
list, During the progress of this period his politics were becoming
conservative,† and his religious views orthodox; his visionary
projects had floated away, and he was content to earn his daily bread "in
peace and privacy."‡ He now wrote for the Annual Review, and was one
of its best contributors; but the proprietors (the Aitkins), who perhaps
had heard of what Barretti mentions of a Spaniard translating at five
shillings a sheet, were too brazen-bowelled to their scribes,
and fixed their remuneration at so low a standard that he went over to the
more liberal establishment of the Qtrly. Besides King Arthur used to
play many editorial tricks, and cut out what was displeasing to the
booksellers; whereas Mr. Gifford, caring nothing about booksellers, used
only to expunge what was displeasing to himself. In 1807 he edited the
interesting remains of Henry Kirk White; translated the Romance of Palmerin
in England; published Espriella's Letters; and the Chronicle of the Cid, an
interesting book, the only fault of which was its not being printed in the
octavo form.§ But we must not forget to mention, in the hurry of
enumerating the multiplicity of his works, that Mr. Southey, instead of
weaving, as the ancient writers did, a wreath of myrtle or laurel round his
brows to animate his composition, used to appear at his desk in an old
green velvet bonnet of his wife's, which covered all his face except the
nose,
* "The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. Edited by his Son,
the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, M.A. Curate of Plumbland, Cumberland.
Vols.II. and III. (To be completed in six volumes.)"
† His political opinions at the time (1811) may be found
concentrated in the following sentence:- "Of three great points I have now
convinced myself, that the great desideratum in our own government is a
Premier instead of a Cabinet,- that regular opposition is an
absurdity which could not exist anywhere but in an island without
destroying the government,- and that parliamentary reform is the shortest
road to anarchy." - P.303. To this text we had for some years a running
commentary, not to be studied without advantage.
‡ What was his situation at the time of his marriage (which that
part of the world who are not poetsdo not think of engaging in till
they have some means of support) may be seen from a letter to Mr. Cottle,
April 1808:- "Your house was my house when I had no other. The very money
with which I bought my wedding-ring and paid my marriage fees was supplied
by you. It was with your sisters I left Edith during my six months'
absence, and for the six months after my return it was from you that I
received, week by week, the little on which we lived, till I was enabled to
live by other means," &c.
§ Mr. Southey justly says, "The translations in the Appendix are by
Frere, and they without any exception the most masterly I have
seen."
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and "that," he says, "is so cold, that I expect every morning to see the
snow lie on the summit of it."
The Specimens of the English Poets, intended as supplementary to Mr.
Ellis's book, deserved its fate, for it was very negligently and hastily
prepared; the list of poets was very defective, and the critical notices of
them short* and superficial. Mr. Campbell's Specimens are executed
in a different manner, with judgment and taste; but notices of the minor
poets, whose writings are necessary to complete the history of our
poetry, are still wanting. Southey became acquainted with Walter Scott and
Mr. Savage Landor, the latter of whom in his love for the muses, offered to
print Kehama at his own expense.† The history of a man of letters is
for the most part a history of his works, and, if this is generally true,
it is emphatically so of the one before us. In 1809 we find him correcting
the sheets of his History of Brazil, commencing his poem Pelayo (Roderick),
getting twenty guineas a sheet for his Life of Nelson, and having a
profitable engagement in the historical department of the Edinburgh Annual
Register, and, as this was not enough, he brooded over a poem upon Philip's
war with the New Englanders, which was the decisive struggle between the
red and white races in America. One of his chief characters - his hero -
was to be a Quaker, and the rest Puritans, and he says he was writing that
and Pelayo together - being probably the only poet who would venture on two
epic poems at the same time - a kind of poetical polygamy, as dangerous and
difficult to manage as the social one. And now, having accompanied our
indefatigable scribe thus far in our second journey, we must say farewell,
and continue our notes on literary subjects mentioned by him, for which, if
an apology were necessary, we should find it in the following passage,
p.332. "One thing which I will do, whenever I can afford leisure for the
task, will be to write and leave behind me my own memoirs: they will
contain so much of the literary history of the times as to have a
permanent value on that account." Let us then endeavour to perform the
humble and dutiful task of shewing our gratitude to the author by making
his literary history as clear and useful as we can.
Vol.ii. p.210. "Do you see - and if you have seen the Morning Post you will
have seen - that a poem upon Amadis is advertised. This is curious
enough. It seems by the advertisement that it only takes in the first
book."
The editor should have mentioned that the poem alluded to was "Amadis de
Gaul, a poem in three books, formerly translated from the first part of the
French version by Nicolas de Heberay, Sieur des Essars, with Notes by
William Stewart Rose, esq. 1803." It is a very elegant and classical
publication, dedicated to Dr. Goodall; with two Epistles in Latin verse by
Hon. and Rev. William Herbert, - Elisena Perioni - Guendolena Locrino. It
was reviewed in the Edinburgh Review.
P.211. "I have just gone through the Scottish Ballads. Walter Scott is
himself a man of great talent and genius; but wherever he patches an old
poem it is always with new bricks. Of the modern ballads, his own fragment
is the only good one, and that is very good."
On what appeared for the first time in Scott's "Minstrelsy of the
Scottish Border," see Motherwell's "Ancient Minstrelsy," p.lxxix. In a
letter from Dr. Anderson to Bishop Pervy on Scott's ballads and Minstrelsy
in June 1800, Anderson calls Scott "an ingenious friend;" he says the
first edition of this work was printed at Kelso, in one volume. See
Prior's Life of Goldsmith, ii. p.78.
* Ex. gratia - "Thomas Sprat, the Bishop of Rochester, aptly
named sprat, as being without exception one of the least among the
poets." i. 168.
† We had no competent idea before of the voracious nature of
the biped called bookseller and publisher, though we have suffered a little
from some bites we have received. Mr. Southey says, "The
bookseller's share is too much like the lion in the fable, 20 or 33 per
cent. They first deduct as booksellers, and then half the residue as
publishers." No wonder that the single sermons we are in the
habit of composing and printing produce us so little that we find it
difficult to live on the produce. "Librarius, ait Plutarchus, est
animal quod dentibus incedit."
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P.213. "I sall be very glad to see the Sir Tristrem which Scott is
editing. The old Cornish knight has been one of my favourite heroes for
fifteen years."
list, On this very curious poem of Sir Tristram see Campbell's History of
the Poetry of Scotland, p.52; Warton's History of English Poetry (new ed.)
vol.i. 00.78,181-189, in which it is proved not to be the work of
Thomas the Rhymer; see also Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol.i. pp.331,
413-417; also vol.ii. p.20; Guest's History of English Rhythm, vol.ii.
p.174. Whether Ercildoun told the tale in prose or verse, in English or
Romance, we have no means of ascertaining; from him the Westmorland poet
had the story, and this seems to be the extent of his obligations. This
edition was reviewed by Wm. Taylor in Critical Review, vol.iii. 1804. See
also Campbell's Specimens of the English Poets, vol.i. p.32. Mr. Wright
says, "The English romance preserved in Auchinleck MS. was published by Sir
Walter Scott, not very accurately; he had formed some wrong notions
as to its history." See Biog. Br. Lit. p.343. The poetical romance of
Tristrem in French, in Anglo-Norman, and in Greek, composed in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was edited by M. Michel, 2 vols. 1815;
while for a German poem on Sir Tristrem, see Dibdin's Bibliog. Tour,
vol.iii. p.126; also Chalmer's edition of Sir David Lindsay, vol.iii.p.199;
and the Foreign Qtrly Review, No.vii. p.143, may be consulted for an
account of a German version of this poem, published by Professor
Vander Hagen. Pinkerton, in his edition of the Maitland poems, mentions
this poem as lost; see vol.i. p.lix.
P.214. "If Cumberland must have a Greek name, there is but one that
fits him - Aristophanes - and that for the worst part of his character. If
his plays had any honest principle in them, instead of that eternal
substitution of honour for honesty, of a shadow for a substance - if
his novels were not more profligate in their tendency than Matthew Lewis's
unhappy book - if the perusal of his Calvary were not a cross heavy enough
for any man to bear who has ever read ten lines of Milton - if the man were
innnocent of all these thinigs, he ought never to be forgiven for his
attempt to blast the character of Socrates. Right or wrong, no matter, the
name had been canonized, and God knows wisdom and virtue have not so many
saints that they can spare an altar to his clumsy pick-axe. I am no blind
bigot of the Greeks; but I will take the words of Plato and greater
Xenophon against Richard Cumberland, Esq."
Mr. William Mitford, the learned historian of Greece, has animadverted most
justly on this misrepresentation of the character of Socrates by Mr.
Cumberland, and he shows that "the life and manners of Socrates remain
reported with authority not to be found for any other character of heathen
antiquity, by two men of the best ability and best reputation who lived
familiarly with him; each bears the fullest testimony to the integrity of
Socrates, to the purity of his manners, purity beyond even the precepts of
that age, as well as to the excellence of his doctrine. On the contrary,
the foul aspersions on his character which the author of the
Observer has now in our days thought it worth his while to seek, to
collect, and to exhibit in group in a daylight which they had not before
known, are reported neither on authority to bear any comparison with the
single evidence of Plato or Xenophon, much less with their united
testimony, nor have they any probability to recommend them," &c. The
entire note, which is eminently conclusive on this interesting subject, is
too long to give, but let the reader consult the History of Greece, vol.v.
p.129, note.
P.228. "Amadis is most abominably printed. Never book had more
printers' blunders. How it sells is not in my power to say."
This work was reviewed in the Critical Rev. July 1804, by Mr. Wm. Taylor.
Southey says, in a letter to that gentleman, "My name has got into the
papers as the translator of Amadis. I am endeavouring still to conceal the
truth. John Southwell, esq. will claim the book, and explain the mistake."
See Memoirs of William Taylor, vol.i. pp.440, 516-529.
P.253. "It has occurred to me that I could make a good companion to Ellis's
very excellent book, under the title of 'Specimens of the Modern English
Poetry,' beginning exactly wher he leaves off, and following exactly his
plan; coming down
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to the present time, and making death the time where to stop," &c.
The editor should have informed his readers that this work was executed,
(not so well as it should have been,) and published in three volumes, in
1807. The selections were chiefly made by Mr. Grosvenor Bedford from Mr.
Heber's library, then in Pimlico. Ellis's work alluded to is of a very
superior kind, and the result of much research and care. Yet Ellis's
knowledge of Anglo-Saxon was very imperfect, and the ode on
Athelstan's Victory, p.14 of the Introduction, is imperfectly printed, and
has numerous mistakes in the interpretation. In Lockhart's Life of Scott,
vol.i. p.368, will be found a character of G. Ellis in verse, by Dr.
Leyden. He died April 10, 1815, aged 70.
P.267. "That ugly-nosed Godwin has led me to this. I dare say he
deserved all you gave him. In fact, I have never forgiven him his abuse of
William Taylor, and do now regret with some compunction that in my reviewal
of his Chaucer I struck out certain passages of well-deserved severity. ...
If he had not married again I would have still have had (sic) some bowels
of compassion for him, but to take another wife with the picture of Mary
Woolstonecraft in his house! Agh!"
Mr. D'Israeli, in his Amenities of Literature, vol.i. p.253, says, "After
Godwin had sent to the press his Biography of Chaucer, a deposition on the
poet's age in the Heralds' College detected the whole erroneous
arrangement;" and see Hippesleys' Chapter on Early English Literature,
p.85. Yet we must add that Mr. Hallam says, "Another modern book may be
named with some commendation - Godwin's Life of Chaucer." See Middle
Ages, vol.iii. p.81.
P.275. "Why have you not made Lamb declare war upon Mrs. Barebald? He
should singe her flaxen wig with squibs, and tie crackers to her
petticoats, till she leapt about like a parched pea for very torture. There
is not a man in the world who could so well revenge himself."
This denunciation of wrath was directed against Mrs. Narbauld for her
review in the Annual Register of Lamb's play, some account of which the
editor should have given. The reviewers paid her off when she published her
poem "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven" and her editor and biographer complains
that "its venerable and female author was exposed to contumely and insult,
which could only have been anticipated by those throughly acqainted with
the intents fo the hired assassin of reputation, shooting from his coward
ambush." - See Life, p.71, by Miss Aikin.
P.292. "I dined with Sotheby, and met there Henley, a man every way
to my taste."
The person here mentioned, concerning whom the editor has given no
explanation whatever, was the Rev. Samuel Henley, rector of Rendlesham in
Suffolk, for some years principal of the East India College at Hertford. He
was a person of varied and curious learning. He translated Mr. Beckford's
Vathek, and added the learned and interesting notes to it. We think also
that he had been Mr. Beckford's tutor. He published "Observations on the
Four Eclogues of Virgil" in 1788; also a specimen of a new translation of
Tibullus; and at the period of his death had engaged to print at the
University Press at Cambridge "A Dissertation on the Natural Rising of the
Dog Star as connected with the 'Star in the East.' His learning has
received its reward of praise from the hands of Professor Heyne of
Gottingen, who calls him "Vir elegantis ingenii," and adds, "Ingenium et
acumen viri docti facile probes." See Tibulli Carmina, ed. Heynii, p.xx.
P.294. "Sharpe has announced his approach."
Here again the editor leaves his readers to be their own commentators, -
Richard Sharpe, esq. commonly called, for the fluency, elegance, and
knowledg he possessed, "Conversation Sharpe," - of whom see the high eulogy
given in a letter of Sir James Mackintosh (Life, vol.i. p.196): "I owe much
to your society. Your conversation has not only pleased and instructed me,
but it has most materially contributed to refine my taste, to multiply my
innocent and independent pleasures, and to make my mind tranquil and
reasoanble. I think you have produced more effect on my character than any
man with whom I have lived," &c. We may here mention that Mr.
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Townshend, in his Lives of the Judges, vol.ii. p.195, has made a mistake in
giving the words, - "If you should abandon your Penelope and your home for
Calypso, remember that I told you of the advice given in my hearing at
different times to a young lawyer by Mr. Windham and Horne Tooke, not to
look out for a seat (in the House of Commons) till he had pretensions to be
made Solicitor-General," - to Mr. Granville Sharp, whereas they
occur in Mr. Richard Sharpe's letter to a Law Student, p.47.
Vol.iii. p.36. "Beausobre's Book (History of Manicheism) is one of the most
valuable I have ever seen; it is a complete Thesaurus of early opinions,
philosophical and theological."
This eminently learned and curious work was published in 2 vols. 4to. 1734
and 1739. There is a remarkable letter of the King of Prussia to Voltaire
on the death of Beausobre in 1738 (see OEuvres de Voltaire, t.lxxxiv.
p.344.) The late Professor Porson had a very high opinion of the
merits of this work, and it forms one of the books in the list of those
works which he wrote out as necessary to the scholar, and indispensable in
a well-chose library. See Beloe's Sexagenarian, vol.ii. p.297.
P.42. "There are two poets who must come into our series, and I do not
remember their names in your list: Sir John Moore, of whom the only
poem which I have ever seen should be given. It is addressed to a lady, he
himself being in a consumption. If you do not remember it, Wynn will, and I
think I can help you to it, for it is very beautiful.
The name of this poet, notwithstanding the admiration here given, does
not appear in Mr. Southey's Specimens. The third edition of Sir John
Moore's poems was printed in 1703, with a note penned by Mr. Jerningham,
saying that ONE poem was omitted in deference to the intention of the
author. "The following lines however," he says, "are too beautiful not to
claim an exemption:
If in the web of life entwin'd
Some mingled threads of love we find,
O let unskilful hands forbear
Lest with rude touch the work they tear;
And wound some kindred virtue there."
The poem to which Mr. Southey alludes, as being the only one he had seen,
is probably the following:
L'AMOUR TIMIDE.
To -----
If in that breast, so good, so pure.
Compassion ever lov'd to dwell,
Pity the sorrows I endure;
The cause I must not - dare not tell.
The grief that on my quiet preys,
That rends my heart, that checks my tongue,
I fear will last me all my days;
But feel it will not last me long.
We add one more, as a specimen of the talent of one, whose name seldom
occurs in the poetical list.
SONG.
Cease to blame my melancholy,
Though with sighs and folded arms
I muse in silence on her charms;
Censure not - I know 'tis folly.
Yet, these mornful thoughts possessing,
Such delights I find in grief,
That could Heaven afford relief
My fond heart would scorn the blessing.
P.57. "Have you seen the Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson? If not, by all
means read it: it is the history of a right Englishman; and the sketch of
English history which it contains from the time of the Reformation is so
admirable, that it ought to make even Scotchmen ashamed to mention the name
of Hume. I have seldom been so deeply interested by any book as this."
This praise is well deserved. These memoirs of two person of extraordinary
excellence of disposition, talent, and virtue, unite all the spirit of a
romance into the fidelity of history. The early part can hardly be
surpassed in the interest it excites; but the work, we think, falls off
towards the conclusion. As regards what Mr. Southey says, "that
Scotchmen should be ashamed to mention the name of Hume," we beg leave
to say, that it is not in loose and general language like this that the
merits and defects of that great writer should be weighed. Whoever may
hereafter take his place, for it is still empty, whenever the great mass of
original records and manuscript documents, which are now reposing in our
museums and national libraries, and on which alone, as on a solid basis,
authentic history can be formed; we say, whenever they shall be unfolded
and made publici juris, then when
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some future historian shall arise to give life and motion to the animated
mass, who, uniting the learning of Seden to the eloquence of
Clarendon, shall for the first time scatter the darkness and
disclose the majestic face of truth, even then David Hume will still retain
the honourable title of the English Livy.
P.90. "I might perhaps have done something by applying to Fellowes,
the Ant-Calvinist, a very interesting man, - such a one, indeed, that,
though I never met him but once, I could without scruple have written to
him."
This was the Rev. Robert Fellowes, to whom towards the end of his
life, we think, Baron Maseres left his large fortune. He was much
distinguished by a note in Dr. Samuel Parr's Spital Sermon, for Parr's
extreme liberality of opinion led him to select for his praise those
who loved to tread a little wide of the narrow path of orthodoxy. He says,
"Mr. Fellowes has written several books, both on political and
theological subjects, and in my opinion the ablest of them is the 'Picture
of Christain Philosophy,' a third edition of which was published at the
beginning of this year. He is curate of Hanley, in Warwickshire, where I
have often seen him employed among a well-chosen collection of books, and
have been much pleased with his conversation upon many interesting points
in ethics, literature, and divinty. Now, in consequence of some reproaches
that have been thrown lately on his intellectual and moral character, I am
bounden to say that I am acquainted with no clergyman in this or any
neighbouring county who is more respectable than Mr. Fellowes for diligence
in his understanding, for purity in his principlaes, for regularity and
earnestness in the discharge of his clerical duties, or integrity in the
whole tenour of his life. He possesses only a scanty income, and has no
prospect, I believe, of ecclesiastical preferment; but he adminsters
medicine to the sick, he gives alms to the needy, he offers instruction to
the ignorant, he vists the fatherless and widow in their afflication, and
keeps himself in no common degree unspotted from the world," &c. (p.8.
P.104. "I have been told by persons most capable of judging, that the
old translation of Don Quixote is very beautiful. The book has never
fallen my way. If it be well translated, the language of Elizabeth's reign
must needs accord better with the style of Cervantes than more modern
English would do," &c.
The translation to which Mr. Southey alludes is that by Thomas Skelton,
4to. 1620. "The venerableness of Skelton's style, the rich and easy
eloquence with which it steals the soul, are such as no modern language
can equal." See Godwin's Life of J. and E. Philips, pp.255 and 260.
Skelton says, in his dedication to "The Lord of Walden," that he translated
the whole in forty days, and then cast it aside, and published it
only on request of his friends."
In A. Wood's Athenae Oxoniensis, under the article "James Mather," Wood
says he does not know who was the translator of a volume we possess, -
"Delight in several Shapes, drawn to the Life in six pleasant Histories, by
the elegant pen of that famous Spaniard, Don Miguel de Cervantes. Saavedra,
1654, folio;" nor does he know the name of him who translated the second
part of the History of Don Quixote, 4to. 1628. J. Mather translated the
"extempore novels of M. de Cervantes" in six books, folio, 1640; but
Skelton is at the head of all Cervantes translators, and next to him
Motteux. It is probable that Miss Hawkins was quite ignorant both of
Skelton's and Motteux's translations; when she says Tonson put Jarvis's Don
Quixote into the hands of the Rev. Mr. Broughton, reader at the Temple
church, to finish, or she could not have known the extraordinary
beauty and fidelity of what is called Jarvis's translation. It is to be
wished that it had been appreciated as it deserves, in order to rescue the
English reader from the travestie of Smollett, which is disgraceful
and disgusting. See Hawkins' Memoirs, vol.i. 0p.104. I presume our readers
are well aware that Smollett set up the Critical Review in
opposition to the Monthly, from Mrs. Carter's review of his Don Quixote,
pointing out his ignorance. See the allegorical frontispiece to the first
volume. As a casual observation, we may be pardoned mentioning that the
second edition of the Spanish Don Quixote of 1614 is rarer than the
first of 1605.
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P.105. "It gives me very great pleasure to hear that you have engaged for a
genuine version of the Arabian Nights,- which I consider one of the
greatest desideratums in modern Oriental literature."
This desideratum has been supplied by Mr. Lane from MS. and also by Mr.
Henry Torrens from the Arabic of an Egyptian MS. as edited by Mr. W. H.
Macnaughten, Calcutta, 1838. This MS. was purchased from the heirs of Mr.
Salt, British consul in Egypt. It contains the full number of one thousand
and one nights, with many tales entirely new to European readers. It is
interspersed with poetry, and it is considered to be one of the most
perfect copies hitherto found. On Mr. Lane's translation the reader may
consult with advantage Mr. Henry Bohn's Catalogue, 1847, vol.i. p.66,
&c.
P.108. "Mr. Park could supply the poets, and, indeed, manage the
whole better than any other person."
Mr. Thomas Park, editor of a small edition of the British Poets, of the
Heliconia, &c.; his notes are also incorporated into the last edition
of Warton's History of English Poetry, of which work he once intended
continuation. His knowledge of curious and rare books of poetry was very
considerable. He died in 1835.
P.128. "K. James, who is the best (of the Scotch poets) has not been well
edited; Blind Harry but badly; Dunbar, and many others, are not to
be procured," &c.
Since this was written, 1807, the poems of William Dunbar, the
greatest poet that Scotland has produced, have been edited with learning
and diligence by David Laing, esq. in 2 vols. 1834, with a memoir of the
poet and copious illustrations. "This darling of the Scottish muses (says
Sir Walter Scott) has been justly raised to a level with Chaucer by every
judge of poetry to whom his obsolete language has not rendered him
unintelligible."
P.180. "He (Wordsworth) is about to write a pamphlet upon this precious
convention (of Cintra), which he will place in a more philosophical point
of view than any body has yet done."
Of this pamphlet we heard Mr. Canning say, that he considered it the most
eloquent production of the kind since the days of Burke.
list, P.188. "I hope Malthus will not be a contributor (to the Qtrly
Review). His main principle is that God makes men and women faster than He
can feed them, and he calls upon Government to stop the breed," &c.
This is unlike Malthus's doctrine as the wrong side of a piece of tapestry
is unlike the right. What he really says is as follows: - "I never
have recommended, nor ever shall, any other means than those of explaining
to the labouring classes the manner in which their interests are affected
by too great an increase in their numbers, and of removing or
weakening the positive laws which tend to discourage habits of prudence and
foresight." See Principles of Political Economy, p.420. One who always
wrote with due care and consideration of his subject says, speaking of Mr.
Malthus, "A more philosophical candour, calm love of truth, and ingenious
turn for speculation in his important branch, I have seldom met with. It is
quite delightful to find how closely he has taught himself to examine the
circumstances of the lower classes of society, and what a scientific turn
he gives to the subject." See Life of Horner, vol.ii. p.406. Doctor Samuel
Parr adds the weight of his testimony when he says, speaking of this work
of Malthus, "Gladly do I bestow the tribute of my commendation on the
general merits of this work, in soundness of matter, accuracy of reasoning,
elegance of diction, and usefulness of effect. I admit unequivocally the
fundamental principles of the writer, that by those general laws of
nature which constitute all our experience, and therefore should regulate
all our inquiries, 'Population, under certain circumstances, will
increase in a geometrical proportion, and the produce of the earth in an
arithmetical only," &c. Vide Spital Sermon, p.142. Had we space, and if
it were necessary, we could erect a heavy battery of authorities on the
same side of the subject; but the reader who is interested in it will be
more gratified in his own researches into the works of Humboldt and
Sismondi and other writers. We add one short but weighty authority.
"La population croit en raison geometrique, et n'a point de bornes. Les
subsistances croissent en raison arith-
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[arith]metique, et la fertilite de la terre a un terme. Cette reflexion de
M. Malthus, dans son excellent Essai sur la Population, doit
etre un sujet de meditation pour les hommes d'etat." See Bonald's Pensees
Diverses, i. 76.
P.194. "Coplestone, the Oxford Poetry Professor (a great admirer of
Madoc)."
list, This excellent and learned man, when at Oxford, engaged in his
laborious duties both as tutor and professor, had little time or
inclination to look into modern poetry, and the general sentiments of
Oxford were too orthodox to regard with favour the new school that had
arisen, when their own Lowth and Warton were no more; but, touching the
immediate point before us, we can speak with absolute and authentic
information. Mr. Professor Coplestone never possessed a copy of Madoc, nor
ever read the entire poem; but soon after its appearance, when it was
talked of in the common room and elsewhere, he asked us to mark a few
passages for him in our own copy, and send the volume to his room, and
we believe this is all he knew of it. He smiled when he read the
introductory lines "Come listen to a tale of times of old," &c. and
said, "Though Mr. Southey has despised the classical school of
poetry, he has not disdained to borrow from Virgil here;" and he praised
the simile with which the eighteenth book of Madoc in Wales, concludes, "No
nobler crew filled that heroic bark," &c. and ending "And Oriana freed
from Roman thrall!" We never heard him afterwards mention the poem. In
regard to Mr. Professor Coplestone's contributions to the Qtrly Review,
they were very few. We remember that of Dr. Whitaker "de Motu Civico" was
one.
P.205. "Bye-the-by, a very pretty piece of familiar verse, by Cowper,
appeared, about two years ago, in the Monthly Magazine."
This poem we believe to be "The Distressed Travellers, or the Journey to
Clifton," a poem in Cowper's easy, light, and best style of humour.
P.234. "Campbell's poem has disappointed his friends, Ballantyne tells me.
It is, however, beter than I expected, except in story, which is meagre,"
&c.
This poem was Gertrude of Wyoming, - a poem, in spite of its want of
incident and character, that must please from its poetical taste and
feeling. Bad as the story is, it appears that it was taken from a work of
fiction, Barneck and Saldorf, by Aug. la Fontaine, 1804. We confess that we
do not perceive what Campbell has borrowed from Wordsworth's "Ruth" and
"The Brothers," as Southey alleges.
P.248. "Old Dutens has had the office (of English Historiographer) with a
salary of 400l. a-year, for many years - upon what plea, they who
gave it him can best tell."
The history of this and of the other preferments and pensions,
ecclesiastical and civil, enjoyed by this person, may be read in his work,
"Memoirs of a Traveller in Retirement." An account of him may be found in
Biographie Universelle, vol.xii. p.395.
P.266. "Your first book reminded me of an old pastoral poet - William
Brown: he has the same fault of burying his story in Flowers." - (Letter to
Eb. Elliott.)
This is true, for all Brown's poetry seems to have been written before he
attained his thirtieth year. Sir Egerton Brydges published a volume of his
poetry from MS. in 4t0. Some interesting information concerning him and his
works will be found in Drake's Shakspere, vol.i.p.604; Warton's History of
English Poetry, vol.i. p.ccxxix; Todd's Milton, vol.v. p.395; the
Retrospective Review, vol.ii. p.149; and the Gentleman's Magazine for March
1848; not to mention many other notices worthy of attention when the works
of Brown are re-edited; the edition by Davies, 3 vols, 12mo. being very
imperfect.
P.310. The poems of Lucien Bonaparte obtained translators in the late
Bishop Butler and the Rev. Francis Hodgson.
P.333. Dr. Stanier Clarke. - He was brother of Dr. Edward Clarke, the
traveller, Rector of Tillington, in Sussex, canon of Windsor, editor of
Falconer's Shipwreck, Life of Lord Nelson, and other works, as King James's
Memoirs, &c.
P.346. "Mr. Morritt's father bought the house of Sir Thomas Robinson, well
known in his day by the names of Long Robinson and Long Sir Thomas. You may
recollect a good epigram upon this man:-
Unlike to Robinson shall be my song.
It shall be witty - and it sha'nt be long."
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There were two Sir Thomas Robinsons living at the same time. One was a man
of talent, particularly in architecture, and he added a wing to Castle
Howard. When the one called Long Sir Thomas was in his last illness,
someone mentioned it to Lord Chesterfield, and said, "He is dying by
inches." "Then," said Lord Chesterfield, "it will be some time
before he dies." In the Walpoliana, Horace Walpole mentions his being at
dinner in Paris with a party of French people, when Sir Thomas came in, in
leather breeches, green jacket, and jockey cap; and a French abbé,
after staring for some time at this unwonted appearance, asked his
neighbour, "Peut-etre ce Monsieur est le fameux Robinson Crusoe."
We have now only room to add one short passage, partly for itself and
partly that we may add a comment.
"Coleridge and Wordsworth," says Mr. Southey, "visited Klopstock in the
year 1797. He wore a great wig. 'Klopstock in a wig,' they said,
'was something like Mr. Milton.'"
Now, though Klopstock's fame as a poet has declined in Germany and is
almost zero in England, yet his lyrical poems are not without merit, and
will please those who, like ourselves, confess we never could get through
the Messiah. We advise those who wish to form a correct opinion
about him to consult the admirable work of his compatriot, the Isagoge of
J. M. Gesner, in which he will find the merits and defects of Klopstock
critically and impartially discussed. We point out the places: vol.i.
pp.221, 242, 308, 327; and give the following epigram, which exactly states
the truth as it was:-
Wer wird nicht einen Klopstock loben?
Doch lesen wird ein jeder? Nein.
Wir wollen weniger gelobt, und mehr gelesen seyn.
Which we may thus endeavour to represent in the mirror of our own
language:-
Who does not Klopstock praise? Not one.
Who is it studies Klopstock? None.
We think 'twould better be, before
We praise so much, to read him more.
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{header- Obituary, William Wordsworth}
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WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, ESQ.
April 23. At his residence at Rydal Mount, near Ambleside, aged 80,
William Wordsworth, Esq. D.C.L. Poet Laureate.
William Wordsworth was born on the 7th of April, 1770, at Cockermouth, in
Cumberland. His parents were of the middle class, but of ancient descent,
in Yorkshire,* and he was educated, together with his brother,
afterwards Dr. Wordsworth, at the Hawkshead Grammar School. It is stated
that at thirteen years of age he first made an effort at composition, but
it was not until ten years had elapsed from the time of his boyish efforts
that he ventured to appear in print. In 1787 he entered St. John's College,
Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1791. Shortly after he visited the
continent.
He was designed by his parents for the Church - but poetry and new
prospects turned him into another path. His pursuit through life was
poetry, and his profession that of Stamp Distributor for the Government in
the counties of Cumberland and Westmerland: to which office he was
appointed by the joint interest, as we have heard, of his friend Sir George
Beaumont and his patron Lord Lonsdale.
Mr. Wordsworth made his first appearance as a poet in the year 1793, by the
publication of a thin quarto volume entitles "An Evening Walk: an Epistle
in Verse, addressed to a young Lady from the Lakes of the North of England,
by W. Wordsworth, B.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge. Printed in London,
and published by Johnson in St. Paul's Churchyard;" from whose shop seven
years before had appeared The Task of Cowper. In the same year he published
"Descriptive Sketches in Verse taken during a Pedestrian Tour in the
Italian, Grison, Swiss, and Savoyard Alps."
What was thought of these poems by a few youthful admirers may be gathered
from the account given by Coleridge in his Biographia Literaria: "During
the last year of my residence at Cambridge, 1794, I became acquainted with
Mr. Wordsworth's first publication, entitled Descriptive Sketches; and
seldom, if ever, was the emergence of an original poetic genius above the
literary horizon more evidently announced." The two poets, then personally
unknown to each other, first became acquainted in the summer of 1796, at
Nether Stowey, in Somersetshire. Coleridge was then in his twenty-fourth
year and Wordsworth in
* "From the branch of this family of Wordsworth, which was planted
at Falthwaite, near Stainborough, spring the two brothers whose names are
so highly distinguished in the literature of the present times, Dr.
Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity college, Cambridge, and William
Wordsworth the poet." (Hunter's South Yorkshire, vol.ii. p.492.) We learn
from a recent Yorkshire paper that the old press or armoire, made by
William Wordesworth, of Peniston, in 1525, the inscription upon which is
given by Mr. Hunter in the same volume, p.334, was restored by the late Mr.
Beaumont to the Wordsworth family.
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his twenty-sixth. A congeniality of pursuit soon ripened into intimacy; and
in September, 1798, accompanied by Miss Wordsworth, they made a tour in
Germany.
Wordsworth's next publication was the first volume of his Lyrical Ballads,
published in the summer of 1798 by Mr. Joseph Cottle, of Bristol, who
purchased the copyright for thirty guineas. It made no way with the public,
and Cottle was a loser by the bargain. So little, indeed, was thought of
the volume that when Cottle's copyrights were transferred to the Messrs.
Longman the Lyrical Ballads was thrown in as a valueless volume in the
mercantile idea of the term. The copyright was afterwards returned to
Cottle; and by him again transferred to the poet, who lived to see it of
real money value in the market of successful publications.
Disappointed but not disheartened by the very indifferent success of his
Lyrical Ballads, years elapsed before Mr. Wordsworth again appeared as a
poet. But he was not idle. He was every year maturing his own principles of
poetry, and making good the remark of Coleridge, that to admire on
principle is the only way to imitate without loss of originality. In the
very year which witnessed the failure of his Lyrical Ballads, he wrote his
Peter Bell - the most strongly condemned of all his poems. The publication
of this when his name was better known (for he kept it by him till, he
says, "it nearly survived its minority,") brough a shower of contemptuous
criticisms on his head.
Wordsworth married in the year 1803 Miss Mary Hutchinson of Penrith, and
settled among his beloved Lakes - first at Grasmere, and afterwards at
Rydal Mount. Southey's subsequent retirement to the same beautiful county
and Coleridge's visits to his brother poets originated the name of the Lake
School of Poetry - "the school of whining and hypochondriacal poets that
haunt the Lakes" - by which the opponents of their principles and the
admirers of the "Edinburgh Review" distinguished the three great poets
whose names have long been and will still continue to be connected.
Wordsworth's fame increasing, slowly it is true but securely, he put forth
in 1807 two volumes of his poems. They were reviewed by Byron, then a young
man of nineteen, and as yet not even a poet in print, in the Monthly
Literary Recreations for the August of that year. "The poems before us,"
says the reviewer, "are by the author of Lyrical Ballads, a collection
which has not undeservedly met with a considerable share of public
applause. The characteristics of Mr. Wordsworth's muse are, simple and
flowing, though occasionally inharmonious verse, strong and sometimes
irresistible appeals to the feelings, with unexceptionable sentiments.
Though the present work may not equal his former efforts, many of the poems
possess a native elegance, natural and unaffected, totally devoid of the
tinsel embellishments and abstract hyperboles of several contemporary
sonneteers. The Song at the Feasting of Brougham Castle. The Seven Sisters,
The Affliction of Margaret ---, of ---, possess all the beauties and few of
the defects of this writer. The pieces least worthy of the author are those
entitled Moods of My Own Mind. We certainly wish these moods had been less
frequent." Such is a sample of Byron's criticism, - and of the criticising
indeed till very recently of a large class of people misled by the caustic
notices of the Edinburgh Review, the pungent satires of Byron, and the
admirable parody of the poet's occasional style contained in the Rejected
Addresses.
His next publication was The Excursion, dedicated to the Earl of Lonsdale.
This was originally intended for the central portion of a poem to be called
The Recluse, in which the author proposed to pursue his musings.
On Man, on Nature, and on Human Life.
The Excursion was printed in quarto in the autumn of 1814. The critics were
hard upon it. "This will never do," was the memorable opening of the
reviewer in Edinburgh. Men who thought for themselves thought highly of the
poem; but few dared to speak out. Jeffrey boasted wherever he went that he
had crushed it in its birth. "He crush The Excursion!" said Southey, "Tell
him he might as easily crush Skiddaw." What Coleridge often wished, that
the first two books of The Excursion had been printed separately, under the
name of The Deserted Cottage, was a happy idea, and one, if it had been
carried into execution, that would have removed many of the trivial
objections made at the time to its unfinished character.
While The Excursion was still dividing the critics, Peter Bell appeared, to
throw amongst them yet greater differences of opinion. The author was
evidently aware that the poem, from the novelty of its construction, and
the still greater novelty of its hero, required some protection, and this
protection he sought behind the name of Southey, with which, he tells us in
the Dedication, his own hand had often appeared "both for good and evil."
The deriders of the poet laughed still louder
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than before - his admirers too were at first somewhat amazed - and the only
consolation which the poet obtained was from a sonnet of his own, in
imitation of Milton's sonnet, beginning -
A book was writ of late called Tetrachordon.
This sonnet runs as follows:-
A book came forth of late, called Peter Bell;
Not negligent the style; - the matter? - good
As aught that song records of Robin Hood;
Or Roy, renown'd through many a Scottish dell;
But some (who brook these hacknied themes full well
Nor heat at Tam O'Shanter's name their blood)
Waxed wrath, and with foul claws, a harpy brood,
On Bard and Hero clamorously fell.
Heed not, wild Rover once through heath and glen,
Who mad'st at length the better life thy choice,
Heed not such onset! Nay, if praise of men
To thee appear not an unmeaning voice,
Lift up that grey-hair'd forehead, and rejoice
in the just tribute of thy poet's pen.
Lamb, in thanking the poet for his strange but clever poem, asked, "Where
is The Waggoner?" - of which he retained a pleasant remembrance from
hearing Wordsworth read it in MS. when first written in 1806. Pleased with
the remembrance of the friendly essayist, the poet determined on sending
The Waggoner to press, and in 1815 the poem appeared with a dedication to
his old friend who had thought so favourably of it. Another publication of
this period which found still greater favour with many of his admirers was
The White Doe of Rylstone; founded on a tradition connected with the
beautiful scenery that surrounds Bolton Priory, and on a ballad in Percy's
collection called The Rising of the North.
His next work of consequence is The River Duddon, described in a noble
series of sonnets, and containing some of his very finest poetry. The
volume is dedicated to his brother the Rev. Dr. Wordsworth, and appeared in
1820. It contained a "topographical description of the country of the
Lakes," which had been previously published as an introduction to some
Views of the Lakes by the Rev. Joseph Wilkinson; see the review of the work
in Gentleman's Magazine for Oct. 1820, p.344. In his notes (edit. 1845)
Wordsworth mentions that this series of sonnets was the growth of many
years; the one which stands the 14th was the first produced; and others
were added upon occasional visits to the stream, or as recollections of the
scenes upon its banks awakened a wish to describe them.
In Dec. 1820 he commenced his series of Ecclesiastical Sonnets, which he
completed in Jan. 1822. They were composed at the same time that Southey
was writing his History of the Church.
Wordsworth's last publication of importance was his "Yarrow Revisited, and
other Poems," published in 1835. The new volume, however, rather sustained
than added to his reputation. Some of the finer poems are additions to his
memorials of a tour of Scotland, which have always ranked among the most
delightful of his works.
In the same year Mr. Wordsworth received a pension of 300l. a-year
from Sir Robert Peel's government, and permission to resign his office of
Stamp distributor in favour of his son. He seems henceforth to have
surrendered himself wholly to the muse, and to contemplations suitable to
his own habits of mind and to the lovely country in which he lived. This
course of life, however, was varied by a tour to Italy in company with his
friend Mr. Crabb Robinson.
In July 1838 he received the honorary degree of doctor in civil law from
the university of Durham. At the commemoration in 1839 he received the same
degree from the university of Oxford, together with the Chev. Bunsen. An
occasion which had such double claims upon Dr. Arnold drew him back to
Oxford after an absence of one-and-twenty years: "remembering," he remarks,
"how old Coleridge inoculated a little knot of us with the love of
Wordsworth, when his name was in general a by-word, it was striking to
witness the thunders of applause, repeated over and over again, with which
he was greeted in the theatre by undergraduates and masters of arts alike."
(Arnold's Life, ii. 160.)
On Southey's death in 1843, Wordsworth was appointed Poet Laureate. Once
and only once did he sing in discharge of his office - on the occasion of
her Majesty's Visit to the University of Cambridge.
In 1845 he collected his poems into one large volume published by Moxon.
They are arranged in the following divisions: those written in youth,
inclcuding The Borderers, a tragedy, composed in 1795-6; pieces referring
to the period of childhood; poems founded upon the affections; poems on the
naming of places; poems of the fancy; The Waggoner; poems of the
imagination; Peter Bell; miscellaneous sonnets; memorials of a tour in
Scotland, 1803; of another Scottish tour, 1814; poems dedicated to national
independence and liberty; memorials of a tour on the continent, 1820; of a
tour in Italy, 1837; the river Duddon; the White Doe of Rylstone;
Ecclesiastical Sonnets; Yarrow
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Revisited, and other poems composed during a tour in Scotland and on the
English border in the autumn of 1831; Evening Voluntaries; poems composed
or suggested during a home tour in 1833; poems of sentiment and reflection;
sonnets dedicated to liberty and order; sonnets upon the punishment of
death; miscellaneous poems; inscriptions; selections from Chaucer
modernised; poems referring to the period of old age; epitaphs and elegaic
pieces; and The Excursion. Altogether the volume contains some seven
hundred distinct poems.
If Wordsworth was unfortunate - as he certainly was - in not finding and
recognition of his merits till his hair was grey, he was luckier than other
poets similarly situated have been in living to a good old age, and in the
full enjoyment of the amplest fame which his youthful dreams had ever
pictured. His style is simple, unaffected, and vigorous - his blank verse
manly and idiomatic - his sentiments both noble and pathetic, - and his
images poetic and appropriate. His sonnets are among the finest in the
language: - Milton's scarcely finer. "I think," says Coleridge, "that
Wordsworth possessed more of the genius of a great philosophic poet than
any man I ever knew, or as I believe has existed in England since Milton;
but it seems to me that he ought never to have abandoned the contemplative
position which is peculiarly - perhaps I might say exclusively - fitted for
him. His proper title is Spectator ab extra."
"The illustrious poet breathed his last by the side of that beautiful lake
in Westmerland which his residence and his verse has rendered famous. We
are not called upon in his case to mourn over the untimely fate of genius
snatched away in the first feverish struggles of development, or even in
the noon-day splendour of its mid-career. Full of years, as of honours, the
old man had time to accomplish all that he was capable of accomplishing ere
he was called away. Removed by taste and temperament from the busy scenes
of the world, his long life was spent in the conception and elaboration of
his poetry in the midst of sylvan solitudes to which he was so fondly
attached. His length of days permitted him to act as the guardian of his
own fame - he could bring his maturer judgment to bear upon the first
bursts of his youthful inspiration, as well as upon the more measured flow
of his maturest compositions. Whatever now stands in the full collection of
his works has received the final imprimatur from the poet's hand,
sitting in judgment upon his own works under the influence of a generation
later than his own. It is sufficiently characteristic of the man, that
little has been altered, and still less condemned. Open at all times to the
influences of external nature, he was singularly indifferent to the
judgment of men, or rather so enamoured of his own judgment that he could
brook no teacher. Nature was his book; he would admit no interpretation but
his own. It was this which constituted the secret of his originality and
his strength, at the same time that the abuse of the principle laid him
open at times to strictures, the justice of which few persons but the
unreasoning fanatics of his school would now be prepared to deny.
"It is well when the fashion of virtue is set by men whose rare abilities
are objects of envy and emulation even to the most dissolute and
unprincipled. If this be true of the statesman, of the warrior, of the man
of science, it is so in a tenfold degree of the poet and the man of
letters. Their works are in the hands of the young and inexperienced. Their
habits of life become insensibly mixed up with their compositions in the
minds of their admirers. They spread the moral infection wider than other
men, because those brought within their influence are singularly
susceptible of contamination. The feelings, the passions of imagination,
which are busy with the compositions of the poet, are quickly interested in
the fashion of his life. From 'I would fain write so' to 'I would fain live
so' there is but a little step. Under this head the English nation owes a
deep debt of gratitude to William Wordsworth. Neither by the influence of
his song, nor by the example of his life, has he corrupted or enervated our
youth; by one, as by the other, he has purified and elevated, not soiled
and abased, humanity." - Times.
Wordsworth's best likeness is a bust by Chantrey, from which an engraving
is prefixed to his collected Poems of 1845. His other portraits are not so
characteristic.
It is announced that Wordsworth has left a poem, consisting of fourteen
cantos, descriptive of his life, reflections, and opinions, with directions
that it should be published after his decease, together with such
biographical notices as may be requisite to illustrate his writings, under
the editorial care of his nephew, the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D.
Canon of Westminster, whom he has appointed his literary executor, so far
as his biographical memoir is concerned, with the expression of a desire
that his family, executors, and friends would furnish his biographer with
such materials as may be useful for his assistance in the preparation of
the work.
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{image = G850A672.jpg}
Mr. Wordsworth was very well and vigorous for his age during the last
autumn, and was, in some degree, recovering his spirits, which had suffered
a severe shock in the death of his only daughter, some time ago. About a
month before his death he was attacked with serious illness, from which he
never more than partially rallied. His remains were consigned to the earth
at the little church of Grasmere. The funeral was intended to be as private
as possible, but many persons assembled to pay honour to the remains of the
illustrious dead. There was a long procession of carriages and horsemen,
and the church was filled with ladies and gentlemen of the neighbourhood,
attired in deep mourning. A meeting of persons desirous to do honour to his
memory was held on Monday, the 13th of May, at the house of Mr. Justice
Coleridge. It was attended by the Bishop of London, the Bishop of St.
David's, the Dean of St. Paul's, Archdeacon Hare, Mr. Rogers, Mr.
Cavendish, and several other gentlemen.
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{header- Wordsworth Genealogy}
{image = G850B043.jpg}
THE OLD GENEALOGICAL OAK PRESS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE POET WORDSWORTH.
(IN illustration of the following very acceptable communication from the
historian of Hallamshire, we may remind our readers, that in our biography
of the poet Wordsworth, contained in our last number (p.668), allusion is
made to an old press or armoire made in the year 1525 at the expense
of an ancestor of the poet, one William Wordsworth of Peniston. Carved upon
that same oak press is an inscription which furnishes a pedigree of the
family for several generations anterior to the William of 1525. This
singular relic of family history was formerly in the possession of the late
Mr. Beaumont, but as we stated, upon the authority of a recent Yorkshire
newspaper, it was restored by him to the Wordsworth family about ten years
ago.)
June 10.
MR. URBAN,
THE old oak press or armoire, with the genealogical inscription of
the family of Wordsworth, of which you speak at p.668, is a very singular
and perhaps unique work of its kind. The inscription may be rendered thus:
"This work was made in the year 1525, at the expense of William
Wordesworth, son of William, son of John, son of William, son of Nicholas,
husband of Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William Proctor (or the
proctor), of Peniston, on whose soul may God have mercy."
It seems to shew what brought the Wordsworths to Peniston, in Yorkshire,
where the family existed for several centuries in different branches, where
this singular work was executed, and where it remained till towards the
close of the eighteenth century. They were in all their generations, and in
all their branches, leading people in the parish affairs; and those of the
family who removed from Peniston and were settled in neighbouring parishes,
or in towns at no great distance, as at Sheffield and Doncaster, maintained
a highly respectable social position. Their descendants attained a
distinction far in advance of those who remained at Peniston, who seem,
indeed, not to have been so fortunate as their ancestors and more distant
relatives.
Of the branches of the family which had become planted in the neighbourhood
of the parish of Peniston, the Wordsworths of Sheffield became ultimately
represented by the families of two ladies who married Sir Charles Kent,
Bart. and Mr. Verelst, the governor of Bengal. The Wordsworths of
Falthwaite, in the adjoining parish of Silkston, produced the late Master
of Trinity, and his brother William Wordsworth, whose name would give a
distinction and lustre to any family however otherwise illustrious it might
be.
The information which you have gathered from a recent Yorkshire paper
respecting the possession of the oak press by the late Mr. Wordsworth is
perfectly correct, and perhaps you may think a short account of the manner
in which he became possessed of it not unworthy a place in your Miscellany.
I am able to give it, having myself had something to do in the transaction.
In the autumn of 1831, when spending week or ten days in the lake-country,
I had an introduction to Mr. Wordsworth, which was the first opportunity I
enjoyed of conversing with this remarkable man. In the course of one of our
conversations I happened
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{image = G850B044.jpg}
to mention the existence of this ancient memorial of people of his name who
had lived in the parish to which his family traced its origin, when he
expressed a strong desire to know more respecting it, and particulary
whether it was still in existence, in whose possession it then was, and
whether there might not be a possibilty that he, a descendant of the
family, might become the possessor of it. To none of these questions was I
then able to return an answer, but I promised that I would institute the
necessary inquiries, and report to him the result. I did so, and by the
assistance of an old friend, the late Mr. Gamaliel Milner, of Thurlston, a
hamlet of Peniston, it was ascertained that the oak press had remained at
Peniston, in possession of persons, either Wordsworths or descended from
the family, but in reduced circumstances, till the period from 1780 to
1790, when it was sold by them to Sir Thomas Blackett, Bart. of Bretton
Hall, and removed by him to that house. On further inquiry it was
ascertained that it was then at Bretton, where it had descended to Mrs.
Beaumont, and her son, the late Mr. Beaumont, who was then the owner of it.
Some correspondence, I believe, passed between Mr. Wordsworth, or some one
on his behalf, and Mr. Beaumont. Mr. Beaumont, I have heard indirectly,
expressed his sense of the reasonableness of Mr. Wordsworth's claim, and of
the satisfaction which it would give him to render in any proper way homage
to so distinguished a man, but intimated, at the same time, the high
pecuniary value in the Wardour-street markets of works of this rare and
curious class.
The affair was then laid to rest for several years; but Mr. Wordsworth's
wishes having been made known to a friend and neighbour of Mr. Beaumont, a
lady of whom Dr. Dibdin, in his Northern Tour, says that her eloquence was
so persuasive that in half an hour she could turn any Whig into a Tory, she
undertook to prevail with Mr. Beaumont, and managed the affair so
successfully that in 1840 the press was removed to Rydal Mount, and
received with great satisfaction by Mr. Wordsworth.
Yours &c. JOSEPH HUNTER.
{title- Gents Mag 1850 part 2 p.256}
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{image = G850B256.jpg}
{text- book review}
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ROBERT SOUTHEY*
list, THE present volume opens with Mr. Southey's relinquishment of the
hopes of being the historiographer royal, or even receiver of the rents of
Greenwich Hospital; he therefore settled contentedly on the surer
foundation of the Qtrly Review, which had lately commenced its career of
rivalry with its elder brother in the North. He was also proceeding with
his poem of Roderic and his popular Life of Nelson, which brought him in
300l. In this year, 1813, the office of poet laureate became vacant
by Mr. Pye's death. The somewhat faded laurels were offered to Sir Walter
Scott, who handed them over to Southey, and the Prince Regent, observing
that "he had written some good things in favour of the Spaniards, said the
office should be given him."
Coming to London for this purpose, he dined at Holland House, and met Lord
Byron, and was introduced to Mr. Rogers and Sir James Mackintosh. He had
90l. a-year in his pocket from the office, and was in high spirits;
when Ben Jonson held it there was no income tax nor land tax, and so
he received the full hundred. His first official effort, his Carmen
Triumphale, was much injured "by advice of friends," for he was not
permitted to abuse Bonaparte, and was sadly afraid he might be called on to
praise Mrs. Clarke; however, he relieved himself by a stanza against
Jeffrey and the Edinburgh Review. He also wrote three odes without rhyme,
in Thalaba's verse, to the three greatest sovereigns of Europe. In 1814,
writing to Bernard Barton, he thus sketches the character of
Wordsworth:
"Wordsworth's residence and mine are fifteen miles assunder, a sufficient
distance to preclude any frequent interchange of visits. I have known him
nearly twenty years, and for about half that time intimately. The strength
and character of his mind you see in The Excursion, and his life
does not belie his writings, for in every relation of life, and every point
of view, he is a truly exemplary and admirable man. In conversation he is
powerful beyond any of his contemporaries, and as a poet - I speak not from
the partiality of friendship, nor because we have been so absurdly held up
as both writing on one concerted system of poetry, but with the
* "The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. Edited by his Son,
the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, M.A. Curate of Plumbland, Cumberland."
Vol.IV. (To be completed in six volumes.)
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most delicate exercise in impartial judgment whereof I am capable - when I
declare my full conviction that posterity will rank him with Milton."
He says, in a following page, "that Wordsworth is a poet of the same class
with Milton, and of equal powers!" Soon after he writes to Sir
Walter Scott:
"Jeffrey I hear has written what his admirers call a crushing review
of The Excursion. He might as well seat himself on Skiddaw, and fancy that
he crushed the mountain." I heartily wish Wordsworth may one day meet with
him, and lay him alongside, yard-arm and yard-arm, in argument, &c."
In 1815 we find Southey has begun his Quaker's Poem, in irregular rhyme;
the principal character being a Seeker (in the language of the day) rather
than Quaker, a son of Goffe the King's judge, a godson of Cromwell, a
friend of Milton, and a companion of William Penn. The plan, he says, is
sufficiently made out.
"But I have no longer that ardour of execution, which I possessed twenty
years ago. I have the disheartening conviction that my best is done, and
that to add to the bulk of my works will not be to add to their estimation.
Doubtless I shall go on with the poem and complete it if I live; but it
will be to please others, not myself, and will be so long in progress, that
in all likelihood I shall never begin another."
Whatever might become of his poetical talent, his prose powers at
least were in full vigour. He was writing at once a History of the Spanish
War, a History of Brazil, and projecting a History of Portugal, which last
was to be "the most interesting of his historical works." Indeed, he adds,
"for thorough research, and a range of materials, I do not believe that the
History of Portugal will ever have been surpassed." He also intended
writing the Age of George the Third, "the most promising project which
occurred to him," being nothing less than "a view of the world during the
most eventful half-century of its annals; not the history, but a
philosophical summary with reference to the causes and consequences of all
these mighty revolutions. There never was a more splendid subject, and I
have full confidence in my own capacity." In the autumn of 1815 he made a
short tour in Belgium, and then visited the field of Waterloo, "red with
Gallic blood." His journal has not been printed, but his poetical
pilgrimage to Waterloo is well known. In 1816 he writes to thank Sir Walter
Scott for his Lord of the Isles, in which he says, "There are portions
which are not surpassed in any of your poems, and, in the first part
especially, a mixture of originality, and animation, and beauty, which is
seldom found." For his religious opinions we may refer to another passage
in a letter at nearly the same period.
"Christianity exists no where in so pure a form as in our Church; but even
there it is mingled with much alloy, from which I know not how it will be
purified. I have an instinctive abhorrence of bigotry. When
Dissenters talk of the Establishment, they make me feel like a high
churchman; and when I get among high churchmen I am ready to take shelter
in dissent."
list, We must here pass over with a soft and light footstep the melancholy
loss of his son, in his tenth year, "the head and flower of his earthly
happiness, the central jewel of the ring, and the pure blossom of his
bones," and rejoin the poet as he again enters into the business of life.
By nature, he says, he was a poet, by deliberate choice
anhistorian, and a political writer by accident or the course
of events; and, as a political writer, his articles in the Qtrly Review had
drawn the attention of Lord Liverpool, who entertained a wish to see him,
it is supposed, for the purppose of hearing his sentiments or securing his
assistance as a writer on the side of authority, and order, and legal
government, for it was truly said there was muchun-English spirit
abroad then, as there is now. Such was Hazlitt, whom even Mr. Justice
Talfourd's kindly pen describes as "staggering under the blow of Waterloo,"
and as "hardly able to forgive the valour of the conquerors." "Such was my
father's friend, William Taylor of Norwich, who called Waterloo a victory
justly admired, but not in its tendency and consequences satisfactory to
a cosmopolitan philosophy, and says, that liberty, toleration, and art
have rather reason to bewail than to rejoice at the presence of trophies
oppressive to the interests of man-
{title- Gents Mag 1850 part 2 p.258}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1850 part 2 p.258}
{image = G850B258.jpg}
kind." As Mr. Southey stood in the foremost ranks of those who denunciated
all such doctrines as totally subversive of government, and law, and order,
and even of general security and liberty, and as he never desisted from
speaking boldly what he strongly felt, and using terms fitted to the
necessities of the occasion, he was marked out for peculiar enmity, and, as
the hatred of party is not conducted or guided by any principles but such
as will best effect its immediate purpose, so the means were now adopted of
annoying his feelings, injuring his character, and if possible neutralising
the effect of his writings by evidence of his inconsistency and want of
principle, by the republication of a youthful work called Wat Tyler,
written in 1794. The whole affair was disgraceful only to those who schemed
it; it gave Southey some uneasiness; it caused a temporary excitement; and
it died away, leaving no path behind it; but no less than 60,000 copies
were sold at the time. Such is the disposition of society to batten upon
unwholesome food. Among whom these copies went it would be curious to
enquire. Mr. William Smith, the member for Norwich, went out of his way to
attack him in the House of Commons, and, with Mr. Southey's animated reply,
the matter may be said to close. In the autumn of 1817 he took a tour on
the continent, visiting Switzerland and the Italian lakes. On his return he
writes:
"The Life of Wesley is my favourite employment just now, and a very
curious book it will be, looking at Methodism abroad as well as at home,
and comprehending our religious history for the last hundred years. I am
sure I shall treat the subject with moderation. I hope I come to it with a
sober judgment, a mature mind, and perfect freedom from all unjust
prepossessions of any kind. There is no party which I am desirous of
pleasing, none which I am fearful of offending; nor am I aware of any
possible circumstance which might tend to bear me one way or the other from
the straight line of impartial truth. For the bigot I shall be far
too philosophical, for the libertine far too serious. the
ultra-Churchman will think me little better than a Methodist, and the
Methodists will wonder what I am. "Αγια
άγίοις" will be my motto."
Poor laws, police, and politics, and the libels of the press seemed to have
occupied at this time most of Southey's attention. He declined the office
of Librarian to the Advocates Library at Edinburgh, with a salary of
400l. a-year, because he disliked great cities, and was free, as he
supposed, from pecuniary anxieties. His picture of Mr. Wilberforce and his
family, as he met them about this time, is amusing:-
"Wilberforce has been here with all his household; and such a household!
The principle of the family seems to be, that, provided the servants have
faith, good works are not to be expected from them, and the utter
discord that prevails in consequence is truly farcical. The old coachman
would figure upon the stage. Upon making some complaint about the horses,
he told his master and mistress that since they had been in this country
they had been so lake, and river, and mountain, and valley mad, that they
had thought of nothing which they ought to think of. I have seen nothing in
such pell-mell, topsy-turvy, and chaotic confusion as Wilberforce's
apartments, since I used to see a certain breakfast table in Skeleton
Corner. His wife sits in the midst of it like Patience on a monument, and
he frisks about as if every vein in his body was filled with quicksilver;
but withal there is such constant hilarity in every look and motion, such a
sweetness in all his tones, such a benignity in all his thoughts, words,
and actions, that all sense of his grotesque appearance is presently
overcome, and you can feel nothing but love and admiration for a creature
of so happy and blessed a nature."
In a letter dated in 1808 to his friend Mr. May, he mentions his being
expelled Westminster School for the fifth number of a periodical paper he
wrote against flogging, "proving it to be an invention of the devil,
and therefore unfit to be practised at schools;" and on the same account he
was refused admission at Christchurch, where otherwise he would not have
been refused a studentship. He seemed, however, to retain more enmity to
his old master, Dr. Vincent, than the latter did to him; or at least to
believe that the pedagogue looked at the matter more as a personal offence,
than as a breach of discipline which could not be overlooked. We
knew Dr. Vincent sufficiently to vouch for the amiableness of his temper,
and the liberality of his opinions. We shall now close
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{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1850 part 2 p.259}
{image = G850B259.jpg}
this portion of our notice by extracting a short passage in which Southey
has given a few touches of his own portrait, and that of another poet of
the age:
"I am no Methodist, no sectarian, no bigot, no formalist. My natural
spirits are buoyant, beyond those of any other person, - man, woman, or
child, - whom I ever saw or heard of.They have had enough to try them and
to sink them, and it is by religion alone that I shall be enabled to pass
the remainder of my days in cheerfulness and hope. Without hope
there can be no happiness, and without religion no hope but such as
deceives us. Your heart seems to want an object, and this would satisfy it,
and if it has been needed this and only this can be the cure. ... ...
Scott is very ill: he suffers dreadfully, but bears his sufferings
with admirable equanimity, and looks on to the probable termination of them
with calmness and well-founded hope. God grant that he may recover! He is a
noble and generous-hearted creature, whose like we shall not look upon
again."
Notes. P.59. "Some unkown author has sent a me a poem called 'The
Missionary,' not well arranged, but written with great feeling and beauty."
Was not this unknown author the Rev. Mr. Lisle Bowles?
P.192. "Your comments upon the 'Castle of Indolence' express the feeling of
every true poet. The second part must always be felt as injuring the first.
I agree with you also as respecting the Minstrel. Beautiful and
delightful as it is, it still wants that imaginative charm which Thomson
has caught from Spenser, but which no poet has ever so entirely possessed
as Spenser himself."
As regards the Castle of Indolence, Professor Dugald Stuart says, quoting a
letter of Gray's, "Thomson has lately published a poem called The Castle of
Indolence, in which there are some good stanzas.' Who could have expected
this sentence from the pen of Gray? In an ordinary critic, possessed of
one-hundredth part of Gray's sensibility and taste, such total indifference
to the beauties of this exquisite performance would be utterly impossible."
See Philosophical Essays, p.513. 8vo. But had Gray written, several
or many good stanzas, instead of some, we should be inclined
to agree with his judgment against his critic. It is not generally known
that Mr. Mathias translated this poem into Italian, under the following
title;- "Thomson (James) Il Castello dell Ozio, poema in due canti, recento
in verso Italiano detto ottava rima da Tommaso Jacopo Mathias. Napoli.
1826." (Privately printed.) There is a very interesting letter on Thomson
from Dr. Murdoch in Dr. Wool's Memoir of Joseph Warton, p.252. The style of
the "Seasons" was ridiculed in Martinus Scriblerus. Mr. Hazlitt says,
"Berni's description of himself and his friend in the last canto of the
Orlando Innamorato, seems to have been the origin of the general idea of
Thomson's Castle of Indolence, and the personal introdcution of himself
into poetry, as exemplified in that delightful little work." See Round
Table, i. p.184. On Gray's opinion of Beattie's Minstrel, see Forbes's Life
of Beattie, vo.i. p.197. Let. xlv. 4to. Beattie is said to have taken his
first idea of the poem from Dr, Percy's Ancient Ballads. See a letter from
Mr. Forbes to Dr. Percy, in Nichols's Illustrations of Literature,
vol.viii. p.376.
{title- Gents Mag 1850 part 2 p.412}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1850 part 2 p.412}
{header- Furness Abbey}
{image = G850B412.jpg}
{text- Reports from the British Archaeological Association.}
... ...
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, an excursion was made to Furness Abbey, when
a lecture was read by Mr. Edmund Sharpe, architect, of Lancaster. He first
developed the principles of his system, by which he divides our ancient
ecclesiastical architecture into seven periods, two of them during the
Romanesque style, the Saxon and Norman, and five of them during the Gothic
style, the Transitional, Lancet, Geometrical, Curvilinear, and Rectilinear.
The Norman period prevailed for seventy years, from 1066 to 1145; the
Lancet for forty-five, from 1145 to 1190; the duration of the remaining
periods are stated in our report of Mr Sharpe's lecture at Lincoln, in our
{title- Gents Mag 1850 part 2 p.413}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1850 part 2 p.413}
{image = G850B413.jpg}
Magazine for Sept. 1848. He next proceeded to describe the features of a
Cistercian abbey. The rules of this order, originally drawn up by the early
abbots, and from time to time enlarged, related not only to disciplne and
mode of life, but also to the choice of site, the architecture and form of
their buildings, and the degree and nature of their ornament and internal
decoration; and from these rules there was scarcely a single variation
within the first two centuries of the existence of the order. First, as to
site, it was ordained that abbeys should never be built in towns, or even
in hamlets, but in secluded valleys, remote from the haunts of men. All who
remember any of our Cistercian abbeys will notice how strictly this rule
was complied with - they generally lie high up in the valley, often in the
narrowest part; and the monks appear to have generally cleared out the
bottom of the valley for pasturage and cultivation, leaving the sides
clothed with wood. Any one who has approached Furness Abbey from Dalton
must have noticed how truly Cistercian this approach is. He need scarcely
mention Fountains, Rievaulx, and Tintern in support of this rule, which is
most stringently complied with in France and Germany; and although in
England situations of this kind would be in some parts difficult to meet
with, yet he knew of no instance in which the rule had been departed from,
or the valley deserted for the high land. Next, as regards the church, they
prohibited everything that had a vaunting ambitious character. Thus towers,
which abounded in the abbey churches of the Benedictines, were eschewed by
the Cistercians. They permitted, indeed, a low tower at the intersection of
the arms of the cross, or over the crossing, as it was called, rising one
stage only above the building, but nowhere else; and the tower we now see
at the west end of Furness Abbey Church stands like that at the end of the
north transept of Fountains, a monument of the degeneracy, so to speak, of
the order, and an example of their departure in the sixteenth century from
the rules thay had laid down and observed in the twelfth and thirteenth.
The churches were invariably dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and to her
alone. They were nearly all uniform in plan, built without exception in the
form of the cross, having a nave with side aisles, north and south
transepts, and choir, and having also three small chapels, forming a sort
of eastern aisle to the transepts, but separated from one another commonly
by a partition wall. They permitted no sculptures of figures or of the
human form, no images, no carvings save that of crucifix, no pictures, no
gold ornaments, no stained glass - that is to say, of a pictorial character
- and no prostration in their churches. Now, although the period in which
these rules were strictly carried out was possibly short, yet there is not
one of their churches of early date upon which great severity of treament
is not plainly stamped. He had searched in vain for such sculptures as are
here prohibited in many of the Cistercian churchs of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, whilst comtemporaneous buildings of Benedictine
origin abound with such carvings. So also in the chancel of Furness Abbey
you will find an almost complete absence of sculptured ornament, and the
effect made, dependent upon excellent proportion and purity of design,
along with great varieties of detail. So far as regards this church, the
conventual buildings were laid out with the same regularity and uniformity.
Of these the principal were - 1. the chapter house, where all the business
of the convent was transacted; 2. the common refectory and day-room of the
monks; 3. the kitchen; 4. the principal refectory; 5. the hospitum, or
guest house. These were the most important buildings of a Cistercian
monastery. There were others of less importance; but these were always
disposed round the quadrangle of the cloister in certain fixed situations,
where we always know where to look for them in a ruined convent. The
chapter house point always adjoined the south transept of the church, a
small apartment used as a sacristy alone intervening; it was usually the
building most ornamented next to the church. Next to the chapter house came
a passage leading from the cloisters and offices at the back. Next to the
passage came the common refectory or day room of the monks, a building
generally of more plain character than the rest, and which extended beyond
the length of the cloister to some distance, according to the number of
inmates. the general features, which exactly correspond with Furness Abbey,
he had described from a plan of the Cistercian abbey of Brombach on the
Maine, in Franconia. Furness was founded in 1129, and the church could not
have been commenced before 1160, belonging to the earlier part of the
transitional period, and completed according to the original design. In
this church, in compliance with rule, the whole of the arches of
construction are pointed, all those of decoration are circular; a capital
peculiar to the period, and in use for a period of not more than twenty
years, also marks the exact date of the building.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1850 part 2 p.459}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1850 part 2 p.459}
{header- The Prelude, William Wordsworth}
{image = G850B459.jpg}
{text- book review}
WORDSWORTH'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL POEM.*
IN noticing "The Prelude by William Wordsworth," we must become for a while
retrospective reviewers; for this poem is not of to-day, nor even of this
generation. Five times, since its concluding lines were written, has the
period enjoined by Horace for the revision and retouching of the original
manuscript passed away; nor, in the meanwhile, has the work been remodeled
by its author. It is, as it were, virgin from his pen. It is now printed as
Wordsworth conceived and transcribed it nearly half a century ago. It
relates, objectively, to the England and Europe of 1800; and, subjectively,
to the vernal prime of him who, but a few months ago, died full of years
and honours. Both historically and psychologically, therefore, this
posthumous yet youthful work is of the highest interest.
Historically, it carries us back to the very threshold of the nineteenth
century. "It was commenced in 1799, and completed in the summer of 1805."
It speaks to us across a gulf of fifty years. Nor is the circumstance of
its real date alone impressive; for during that interval of fifty years,
while the manuscript slumbered in its author's desk, or was partially
communicated to his friends, more complete and comprehensive mutations were
enacted in the world than vcan be recorded of any equal period of time,
without excepting even the half-century that followed the victory at
Plataea, or that which succeeded the burning of the Papal bull and
decreatals at Wittnebergh. In literature as well as in history most things
during that interval have "become new." For the Prelude is elder than the
meridian products of Goethe's genius, than the deepest thoughts of Jean
Paul, than the criticism of the Schlegels, than the philosophical works of
Coleridge, than the poetry and the prose of Byron, Shelley, Southey, and
Carlyle. And, as regards history, the Prelude is anterior to the greatest
war and to the most appalling catastrophe the world has ever seen. It is
elder, too, than all the mechanical strides of science, and all the
political and social developments which have rendered the nineteenth
century an epoch far more momentous and marvellous than any epoch of equal
duration "in ancient or in modern books enrolled." We approach, therefore,
this record of a poet's mind with a feeling of two-fold homage - in part to
his genius, and in part to the age; and, in relation to the Prelude itself,
the sources of this homage are so intimately connected with each other,
that in our abstract and survey of it we shall not attempt to separate
them. The octogenarian bard may be fitly regarded as a representative of
the acts and thoughts of the last half-century.
The Prelude, as its title-page indicates, is a poetical autobiography,
commencing with the author's earliest reminiscences and experiences, down
to the year 1805. It consists of fourteen books. Two of these are devoted
to the childhood and school-time of the
* "The Prelude, or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; an Autobiographical
Poem, William Wordsworth." London: Moxon. 1850.
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poet; four to his university career and his first continental travels; two
to a brief residence in London after quitting Cambridge, and to a
retrospect of his intellectual being and progress up to that time. The next
three books record his residence in France, partly at Paris, but
principally in the Loire, during the eventful period of the king's flight
and capture, and the deadly struggle of the Girondins with Robespierre. The
three remaining books treat of the detrimental effects of artificial life
upon imagination and taste, and of the healing process of nature in
regenerating them, by bracing the intellectual nerves, and restoring the
inner eye and power of intuition for the mysteries and microcosm of
external and human nature. In the fourteenth book - The Conclusion - the
reconcilement and restoration have been effected, and the basis of the
poetical life is at length built upon broad and perdurable foundations.
Such is the general outline of the Prelude. Its component parts - its tone
and impasto, to borrow a painter's phrase, are at least equal to the best
of Wordsworth's earlier published works, and, in our opinion at least,
superior to all of them except his best lyrical ballads, his best sonnets,
and his Ode to Immortality. Reynolds's earlier pictures possess a vigour
and truth of colouring which are not always found in his later efforts. He
went astray after a theory. Wordsworth, in like manner, by a perverse
crochet about diction, shackled the strength and freedom of his more mature
works. Because English poetry, since the age of Charles the Second, had
been over-run by gaudy exotics, none but indigenous words - "the language
of rustic life" - should be admitted, if he adhered to his theory, into his
parterre. Fortunately his practice and his maxims were generally at
variance, or instead of Peter Bell, the Waggoner, and the sonnets, the
world might have been cumbered with a repetition of Ambrose Phillips's
pastorals. His imagination and his taste were too potent and pure for the
laws he would have imposed upon them. They broke the new cords; they burst
into green wyths; they triumphed by disobedience; and while professing to
speak in the language of common life, they attained to "the large utterance
of the early gods."
In the Prelude, however, as well as in Wordsorth's poetry generally, there
are peculiar and characteristic defects. There is an occasional laxity of
phrase, there is a want of precision in form, and there is an absence of
deep and vital sympathy with men, their works, and ways. Wordsworth in many
of his sonnets, as well as in the poem now before us, represents himself as
roused and enkindled in no ordinary degree by the dawn and earlier
movements of the French revolution; and in the Excursion, under the
character of the Solitary, he transcribes his own sensations at that
momentous epoch. Yet in each of these cases he utters the sentiments of the
philosopher rather than the citizen; of the Lucretian spectator more than
of one himself caught and impelled by the heaving and boiling billows. His
lyric emotion is brief; his speculative contemplation is infinite; he
evinces awakened curiosity rather than spiritual fellowship. In Shelley's
poetry, especially his "Prometheus" and "Revolt of Islam," we seem, as it
were, to be confronted by that yawning and roaring furnace into which the
opinions and institutions of the past were being hurled. In Wordsworth's
most excited mood we have rather the reflexion of the flame than the
authentic or derivative fire itself. Its heat and glare pass to us through
some less pervious and colder lens. In Shelley again - we are contrasting
not his poetry but his idiosyncrasy with that of Wordsworth - we encounter
in its full vigour the erotic element of poetry, the absence of which in
Wordsworth is so remarkable, that of all poets of equal rank and power in
other respects, he, and he alone, may be said to have dispensed with it all
together. The sensuous element was omitted in his composition. His
sympathies are absorbed by the magnifience and the mystery of external
nature, or by the vigour and freshness of the human soul when under
immediate contact with nature's elemental forms and influences. Neither was
there ever any poet of his degree less dramatic than Wordsworth. All the
life in his ballads, in his narative poems, in his Excursion, is the reflex
of his own being. The actors in his scenes are severe, aloof, stately,
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and uniform; grand in their isolation, dignified in their sorrows. They are
not creatures of the market or the haven, of the senate or the forum. His
lovers do not whisper under moonlit balconies; his heroes are not the
heroes of war or the tournament. To this exemption or defect in his mind
may be ascribed, in some measure, the tardy reception of his earlier
poetry. It was not merely that its unadorned diction proved insipid to
palates long vitiated by a conventional phraseology. It was not merely that
his occasional negligence of structure seemed bald and shapeless to eyes
accustomed to the eleborate architecture of Pope and Gray. But even the
more imaginative and indulgent portion of his audience perceived a want in
one of the prime aliments of poetic inspiration, at least in Christian
literature. Wordsworth therefore, in consequence of this want, was enforced
beyond any poet on record to create and discipline the sympathies of his
readers before he could receive his merited "Plaudite." His Prelude reveals
the secrets of his idiosyncrasy, and in the growth of his mind and his
early circumstances, we discover many of the conditions which his works
require and presuppose in the readers of them.
We will now, under the guidance of Wordsworth's own disclosures, proceed to
trace the progress and maturity of that imagination, which having at a very
early period banished from his verse all traditional and meretricious
ornament, replaced English poetry upon the solid and lofty basis that it
occupied under the dynasty commencing with Chaucer and closing with Milton.
We say from a very early, but not the earliest period of his writings. For
the "Descriptive Sketches," which were afterwards condemned by Wordsworth
himself as vicious in their principles of composition, were in the general
character of their diction more nearly allied to the style of Goldsmith,
and the best portions of Darwin, than to any subsequent productions of the
Lake school.
"His soul," he tells us, "had a fair seed time." Fairer indeed had none for
the mission it was hereafter to fulfil. Chaucer in the centre of a spledid
court and amid the symbols of a gorgeous ritual; Spenser lapped in
chivalrous romance and familiar with the stately paladins and ceremonial of
the "western Gloriana;" Shakespere "full of dealings with the world, yet
shielded from its grosser contacts by the saturnian orb of his compact
imagination; or Milton surrounded by scrolls and volumes of all time, and
nerved by the stern zealotry of Puritanism - had none of them more
befitting training for his vocation than the poet of Helvellyn, Glaramara,
and Borrowdale. The Derwent, "fairest of rivers,"
Blended its murmurs with his nurse's song,
And from its alder shades and rocky falls,
And from its fords and shallows, sent a voice
That flowed along his dreams.
He was "ere he had told ten birthdays" a keen sportsman, setting springes
to catch woodcocks on the open heights, bearing his rod and angle into the
heart of solitary glens: bold and fearless a rider as the erl king himself,
and yet he would beguile a long summer day as willingly as Walter Scott
himself in listening to the simple annals of the dalesman or the legends of
village schoolmasters and garrulous dames. Bird-nesting is a part of most
boys' education. But few boys would seem to have run more imminent risks,
and none certainly have given a more graphic description of them than is
contained in the following lines, -
Nor less when spring had warmed the cultured vale
Moved we as plunderers where the mother-bird
Had in high places built her lodge: though mean
Our object and inglorious, yet the end
Was not ignoble. Oh! when I have hung
Above the raven's nest, by knots of grass
And half-inch fissures in the slippery rock
But ill sustained, and almost (so it seemed)
Suspended by the blast that blew amain,
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Shouldering the naked crag. Oh! at that time,
While on the perilous ridge I hung alone,
With what strange utterance did the loud dry wind
Blow through my ear! The sky seemed no a sky
Of earth - and with what motion moved the clouds!
Nor was Wordsworth, as a school-boy, less fortunate in the scene or the
character of his education. The first great revulsion in life is generally
the exchange of spontaneity and gentleness of home for the restraint and
roughness of school life. It is often a needful, not always a salutary
change. It may tame and discipline the stubborn and the selfish; but it as
frequently hardens the susceptible and discourages the timid neophyte. But
Wordsworth, according to the Prelude, seems to have led a luxurious
schoolboy life, if we take into consideration his peculiar tastes. As
regarded diet, it had somthing indeed of Spartan strictness. But the
dsicipline which permitted so much robust and healthy exercise cannot, we
surmise, have been very strict. Neither "longs nor shorts," neither Cocker
nor Euclid, interfered with boating, riding, or skating; and the future
poet, like his own Michael, was in the heart of many thousand mists, and
suffered to disport himself at earliest dawn, and in the long summer noon
when the sun bronzed the mountain sides, and when the stars came forth
behind the black peaks and ridges of the mountains. he tells us of his
co-mates and himself:-
We were a noisy crew; the sun in heaven
Beheld not vales more beautiful than ours;
Nor saw a band in happiness and joy
Richer, or worthier of the ground they trod.
I could record, with no reluctant voice,
The woods of autumn, and their hazel bowers
With milk-white clusters hung; the rod and line,
True symbol of hope's foolishsness, whose strong
And unreproved enchantment led us on
By rocks and pools shut out from every star,
All the green summer, to forlorn cascades,
Among the windings hid of mountain brooks.
Unfading recollections! at this hour
The heart is almost mine with which I felt,
From some hill-top on sunny afternoons,
The paper kite, high among fleecy clouds,
Pull at her rein, like an impertuous courser;
Or, from the meadows sent on gusty days,
Behold her breast the wind, then suddenly
Dashed headlong, and rejected by the storm.
But we pass from this robust and healthy boyhood - not unmindful that
Cowper, at Westminster, "dared not look above the knee-strings of the
tyrant who bullied and tortured him" - to the description of Wordsorth's
life at Cambridge.
The change of home for school is often a yearning sorrow: that of school
for college is frequently a vague surprise. The freedom of manhood is at
once realised, its responsibilities are remotely apprehended. There is a
touch of humour as well as of deep melancholy in the account of
Wordsworth's university career. The hardy and uncouth lad became at once
what in those days was called, we believe, "a maccaroni." But Wordsworth
could not even be "dandified" without an allusion to nature. He describes
himself after visiting "tutor and tailor," as
--- atired
In splendid garb, with hose of silk, and hair
Powdered like rimy trees, when frost is keen.
It is remarkable too that for the first and only time in his life
Wordsworth got "bouzy" at Cambridge. Nor was the occasion less strange than
the fact itself. He sacrificed to Bacchus in honour of John Milton the
water-
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list, [water-]drinker. It should be added however in justice both to the
idol and the victim, that he was in time for evening chapel, "albeit long
after the importunate bell had stopped." The reader, whether actually an
alumnus or likely to be a visitant of Cambridge, may be glad to learn that
"the evangelist St. John" was Wordsworth's patron: that his rooms
were in the first of the three Gothic courts which composed the old
red-brick college ere Mr. Rickman's stately corridors and supplement had
crossed the Cam and rendered the New Court the cynosure of all gowns-men's
eyes. Had Wordsworth been a severe student, and ambitious of mathematical
distinction, he might have reasonably murmured at the garret assigned to
him by the Johnian tutors. Near him was the clock of Trinity college with
its qtrly momentoes of the lapse of time: beneath him were the college
kitchens with their shrill-tongued manciples and "humming sound less
tuneable than bees:" and hard by was the Trinity organ rolling, at morn and
even, its melodious thunder over lawn and court. But of what Cambridge
might in those days have taught him, there was little that Wordsworth cared
to learn. The roving pupil of Hawkshead grammar-school probably brought
with him to the university strong indispositions to the study of fluxions
and conic sections, although in after life at least he was a profound
admirer of the higher geometry. After the first novelty had worn off,
Wordsworth felt what so many intellectual but non-reading men both before
and after him have felt at Cambridge - the flatness and unprofitableness of
University life to all not actually engaged in the strife for college
prizes and fellowships. Since Wordsworth was an undergraduate, indeed,
Cambridge has widened its stadium, and latterly has thrown down most of the
barriers that excluded from honours all who did not combine the soul of a
ready reckoner with the strength of a coach-horse. Still so much remains in
the Uuniversity course either illiberal in spirit or palsying in its
effects, that we trust the Royal Commission will inaugurate its inquiries
into the studies of the university by pondering upon Wordsworth's
experiences as narrated in his Prelude. His confessions are verified by
scores of youthful and hopeful spirits in each returning year. The
beginning of the race is radiant with hope: apathy arrives ere half the
course is over: and the goal is - a blank. Professor Sedgwick in the last
edition of his "Discourse on the Studies of the University," a work in
which the comment overlays the text and the chaff buries the wheat - says
indeed that Wordsworth, having declined the combat himself, was no fair
judge of the system of training or the value of the prize. But if the
general effect of Cambridge studies be, as we believe it to be, to deaden
the imagination, to enfeeble the intellectual energies, and to create even
in active and ingenuous minds a mental, if not a moral, apathy, there must
be something rotten in the state of Alma Mater, which if the Commission can
discover and remove, it will deserve heartier thanks than were ever paid to
"captain or colonel, or knight in arms" for deliverance wrought or victory
achieved. We may infer what Wordsworth about the year 1788 thought of the
then actual Cambridge by the speculations in which he indulges of what a
university might and ought to be:-
--- Yet I, though used
In magesterial liberty to rove,
Culling such flowers of learning as might tempt
A random choice, could shadow forth a place
(If now I yield not to a flattering dream)
Whose studious aspect should have bent me down
To instantaneous service; should at once
Have made me pay to science and to arts
And to written lore, acknowledge my liege lord,
A homage frankly offered up, like that
Which I had paid to Nature. Toils and pains
In this recess, by thoughtful fancy built,
Should spread from heart to heart; and stately groves,
Majestic edifices, should not want
A corresponding dignity within -
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The congregating temper that pervades
Our unripe years, not wasted, should be taught
To minister to works of high attempt -
Works which the enthusiast would perform with love.
Youth should be awed, religiously possessed
With a conviction of the power that waits
On knowledge, when sincerely sought and prized
For its own sake, on glory and on praise
If but by labour won, and fit to endure
The passing day; should learn to put aside
Her trappings here, should strip them off abashed
Before antiquity and stedfast truth
And strong book-minded-ness; and over all
A healthy sound simplicity should reign,
A seemly plainness, name it what you will,
Republican or pious.
"The long vacation" restored Wordsworth to haunts more congenial to his
temper that either the gaieties or solemnities of Cambrdige. But we must
pass over the fourth chapter entirely, and merely extract from the fifth a
dream of the poet's which for its clear and sublime vision is surpassed, in
our opinion, by nine of his later creations, and has few rivals in the
entire cycle of verse, Christian or heathen. We have said already that
Wordsworth fervently admired the sublimer mathematics. The poet and
geometrician are in fact correlates of one another: both reign over a realm
of order: both are independent of the fleeting forms and fashions of social
existence, and divide, as it were, between them the world of human power.
The dream is this: the poet had been reading "Don Quixote" by the sea side,
and while his brain was still impressed with the delicate tracery of
Cervantain fancy, he wandered, as if by an unconscious antagonism of
thought, into speculations upon pure geometry; at length "his senses
yielded to the sultry air," and he passed into a dream.
I saw before me stretched a boundless plain
Of sandy wilderness, all black and void,
And, as I looked around, distress and fear
Came creeping over me, when at my side -
Close at my side - an uncouth shape appeared
Upon a dromedary, mounted high.
He seemed an Arab of the Bedouin tribes:
A lance he bore, and underneath one arm
A stone, and in the opposite hand a shell
Of a surpassing brightness. At the sight
Much I rejoiced, not doubting but a guide
Was present, one who with unerring skill
Would through the deseert lead me; and while yet
I looked and looked, self-questioned what this freight
Which this new comer carried through the waste
Could mean, the Arab told me that the stone
(To give it in the language of the dream)
Was "Euclid's Elements;" and "This," said he,
"Is something of more worth;" and at the word
Stretched forth the shell, so beautiful in shape,
In colour so resplendent, with command
That I should hold it to my ear. I did so,
And heard that instant in an unknown tongue,
Which yet I understood, articulate sounds,
A loud prophetic blast of harmony:
An ode, in passion uttered, which foretold
Destruction to the children of the earth
By deluge, now at hand. No sooner ceased
The song, than the Arab with calm look declared
That all would come to pass of which the voice
Had given forewarning, and that he himself
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Was going then to bury those two books:
The one that held acquaintance with the stars,
And wedded soul to soul in purest bond
Of reason, undistrubed by space or time:
The other that was a god, yea many gods,
Had voices more than all the winds, with power
To exhilarate the spirit, and to soothe
Through every clime the heart of human kind.
The Arab proceeds on his mission: the dreamer attends him across the waste,
until looking backwards he descries
-- O'er half the wilderness diffused,
A bed of glittering light: I asked the cause;
"It is," said he, "the waters of the deep
Gathering upon us;" quickening the pace
Of the unwieldy creature he bestrode,
He left me: I called after him aloud;
He heeded not; but, with his twofold charge
Still in his grasp, before me, full in view,
Went hurrying o'er the illimitable waste,
With the fleet waters of a drowning world
In chase of him.
Our last extract has been long; but it is an extract from Wordsworth, and
we were unwilling to mutilate the dream-machinery by stricter compression.
We must now hurry onwards. Nine books of the autobiography remain, of which
our limits permit only a meagre outline, although we could easily
transcribe beauty or wisdom from every page. The society of Cambridge
became less attractive to Wordsworth; he resumed in great measure his
communings with nature, and even felt those blind motions of the spirit
that whispered to him his future vocation as a poet. He wandered during his
second summer vacation.
Between romantic Dovedale's spiry rocks,
Pried into Yorkshire's dales, or hidden tracts
Of my own native region -
and when the third summer had freed him from restraint accompanied a
youthful friend, mountain-bred like himself, on an excursion through France
and northern Italy. The first aspect of the continent, even now when
steamboats and railways have nearly banished all startling or picturesque
distinctions, is an epoch in every man's life; and most especially so if
the man should by some millionth chance be a poet. But it was no ordinary
phase of diversity that greeted Wordsworth upon landing in France. It was
the Jubilee of the great Federation: the whole land wore a face of joy, -
joy for the moment as deep as being, and as universal as light - joy
springing from the certainty of one great deliverance, and from the
unconsciousness at the moment that tyranny, unlike destiny, is not one form
under many names, but that both her names and her aspects are myriad and
multiform. We are tempted by the narrowness of our limits to deviate for an
instant from chronological order, and to bring into one view, and into this
place, the general results of Wordsworth's tour and residence in France
upon his character and poetry. We have already observed that his sympathies
were not readily moved; we have seen that at Cambridge, after a brief
interim, his bias to lonely communings with nature and his own heart
returned upon him; and that he was rather a spectator of life than an actor
in any of its scenes. But the French Revolution was an electric shock to
his whole spiritual being, perversive in its immediate, and permanent in
its remote effects. It led him, both in its transit and catastrophe, to
meditate deeply on the destinies and capacities of man; upon the powers and
duties of the poet; upon the relations of society and nature; upon all that
keeps man little, and upon all that might render him great. The lyrical
ballads, the critical prefaces, and the
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renown of Wordsworth, have wrought one of the greatest literary revolutions
the world has ever seen: and the nerve and purpose to work it were braced
and formed under the influence of a corresponding convulsion in politics.
Men had already asked themselves the question, shall we continue to obey
phantasms, or shall we search for realities; and poets also were beginning
to say, at least in Germany and England, is our vocation for the apparent
only, or for the true? Verse was regarded no longer as an elegant
accomplishment, or the poet merely as one who could amuse a vacant
hour, but not instruct a thoughtful one. Childish things were put away; and
poetry resumed the dignity, and almost the stature, of its first manhood.
His residence in France may be as much regarded as the discipline, as
external nature had been the nurse of Wordsworth's mind. France afforded
what Cambridge had denied. It aroused in him, for a while at least, an
intense sympathy with mankind. His inward eye was turned upon the practical
world. He studied society as well as solitude. In the whole range of
Wordsworth's writings, we have met with no individual portraiture which, to
our feelings, can for an instant compete with his sketches of the royalist
and republican officers of the garrison, we presume, of Orleans. We have
not room for both; and we therefore extract the picture of the royalists as
comprising at least one Shaksperian touch, and as being in itself better
adapted to our narrowing limits. The reader of Tennyson will recal one of
those parallels which occur, without derivation from each other, in the
world of first-rate poets. Of these officers -
--- One, reckoning by years,
Was in the prime of manhood, and ere while
He had sate lord in many tender hearts;
Though heedless of such honours now, and changed;
His temper was quite mastered by the times,
And they had blighted him, had eaten away
The beauty of his person, doing wrong
Alike to body and to mind; his port,
Which once had been erect and open, now
Was stooping and contracted, and a face,
Endowed by nature with her fairest gifts
Of symmetry and light and bloom, expressed,
As much as any that was ever seen,
A ravage out of season, made by thoughts
Unhealthy and vexatious. With the hour,
That from the press of Paris duly brought
Its freight of public news, the fever came
A punctual visitant, to shake this man,
Disarmed his voice, and fanned his yellow cheek
Into a thousand colours; while he read,
Or mused, his sword was haunted by his touch
Continually, like an uneasy place
In his own body.
General Beaupuis, the republican counterpart of the royalist portraiture,
might have been the original of Wordsworth's "Happy Warrior," although his
end was infelicitous, since in the Vendian war
He perished fighting, in supreme command,
Upon the borders of the unhappy Loire.
By birth Beaupuis ranked amongst the most noble: but in his sympathies with
mankind he resembled Clarkson, Howard, and Las Casas, rather than either
the ordinary members of his class or the ordinary sharers of his opinions.
His character, its depth and benignity, was one of those spiritual births
which are rife in revolutionary eras. There are social as well as spiritual
regenerations, and this was one of them. As captain of the guards under
Louis XIV. Beaupuis would have been marked as a benevolent and enlightened
man; in the stormy era of the Grand Monarque's ill-fated descendant he
appears as the apostle of general humanity. His compassion to the
individual was great; but his sympathy with the race transcended feeling
and
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soared into the sternest and most serene regions of duty. The following
anecdote, which Wordsworth has perpetuated, will illustrate our meaning:
--- And when we chanced
One day to meet a hunger-bitten girl,
Who crept along fitting her languid gait
Unto a heifer's motion by a cord
tied to her arm, and picking thus from the lane
Its sustenance, while the girl with pallid hands
Was busy knitting in a heartless mood
Of solitude, and at the sight my friend
In agitation said, "'Tis against that
That we are fighting," I with him believed
That a benignant spirit was abroad
Which might not be withstood.
Of the immediate predecessors of Wordsworth two alone can be regarded as
original poets of any large dimensions, Churchill and Cowper. From the
former, and perhaps the most vigorous of the two, Wordsworth, both as a man
and as an artist, would recoil, for Churchill was a coarse worldling and an
offset in verse of Dryden. Between Cowper and Wordsworth there existed a
nearer political kindred, although the latter in his critical prefaces has
been rather too chary in his acknowledgments of the relationship. For
Cowper, with a feebler will and less adventurous temper, was a zealous
opponent of poetic diction and a stickler for representing rural objects in
unadorned simplicity. But the author of the Task enjoyed few or none of the
educational advantages possessed by the author of the Lyrical Ballads. He
lived in a conventional age; his travels did not extend beyond a trip in
Sir Thomas Hesketh's yacht to the mild scenery of the Isle of Wight; his
literary connexions were few and trivial; and his gloomy religion affected
his contemplation of external nature. We have been much struck, however,
while reading the Prelude, with its numerous resemblances to the Task. The
structure and cadence of the blank verse, which differ considerably from
the pauses and measure of the "Excursion," are very similar to the metrical
peculiarities of Cowper. There is also, though in a very inferior degree,
an irony in the Prelude in which Cowper delighted over much, and Wordsworth
has nearly excluded from his later productions. Let the reader judge
whether the following description of the tradesmen's signs in London might
not be placed in the same category with "Katterfelto wandering for his
bread."
--- The string of dazzling wares,
Shop after shop, with symbols, blazoned names,
And all the tradesman's honours overhead:
Here fronts of houses, like a title-page,
With letters huge inscribed from top to toe,
Stationed above the door, like guardian saints:
There, allegoric shapes, female or male,
or Physiognomies of real men,
Land-warriors, kings or admirals of the sea,
Boyle, Shakespeare, Newton, or the attractive head
Of some quack-doctor, famous in his day.
We have extracted liberally: but, if we have studied the Prelude rightly,
not too liberally for the approval of our readers. It is seldom that we
have the privilege of noticing so masterly a work as this poem, still less
seldom do we meet with one so rich in both historical and psychological
interest. But we must now conclude, partly rejoicing, and partly
regretting, that the late venerable Laureate should not have printed, in
his lifetime, this record of his mind's growth. It is after all but a
propylaea to a much more majestic and comprehensive design. For the Prelude
was intended to be introductory to the Recluse, and the Recluse, if
completed, would have con-
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[con]sisted of three parts. Of these the second part alone - The Excursion
- was finished and given to the world by the author. The first book of the
first part of the Recluse still remains in manuscript; but the third part
was only planned. The Prelude, therefore, complete as it is with regard to
a brief period of the poet's life, is only a fragment, and one more example
of the many which the last generation could produce of the uncertainty of
human projects and of the contrast between the promise of youth and the
accomplishment of manhood. Such as it is, we rejoice to welcome it, while
we regret that the greeting and applause with which it has been universally
hailed, can no longer soothe and strengthen the soul of the great
regenerator of English poetry - William Wordsworth.
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LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF ROBERT SOUTHEY.*
THESE two volumes extend from the year 1820 to the period of Mr. Southey's
death in 1843. As the history approaches nearer to our own times, the
interest of the subjects increases. His opinion is given on most works of
learning or talent that appeared; and few events of importance occurred,
certainly none affecting the happiness and welfare of the community, in
which his active mind and benevolent disposition did not take a commanding
interest. His reading in this period of life had been very extensive, in
some branches of literature almost complete, - his taste refined and
elegant, and his observations and reflections those of a person of
sagacity, clearness of view, and much experience. His favourite subjects,
next perhaps to poetry, were those connected with history, with all that
related to the religious opinions and the social being of the community, to
political theories and the various interests which bear on the state of
civilised life; and if the result of his long observation and manifold
reflections produced a feeling of the unsatisfactory state of the present
and gloomy apprehensions of the future, it was, we believe, what was then
and is now shared by many who are looking with anxiety and sorrow to the
unsettled principles, to the conflicting interests, and to the visionary
projects, which are endangering all stability, weakening all authority, and
placing the most valuable institutions of the country at the feet of
selfishness, violence, and worldly cunning. Great, no doubt, have been the
sins of our fathers, and various their errors. The bad seed then sown seems
now springing up into rank and profuse growth. The eternal and unbroken law
is, that the son suffers for the father's works, and heavy may be the
penalty that we shall pay for them and for ourselves. It is not the part of
a good man to despair of the republic; but it is hardly the part of a wise
one to feel confident against all the dictates of experience, when we at
once distrust the power of the present and disregard the wisdom of the
past. During this period many of Mr. Southey's most popular works were
published: his Life of Wesley, his Colloquies, his Book of the Church, his
Life of Nelson, The Doctor, and the latest employment of his mind, the Life
and Works of Cowper. To these are to be added many learned and valuable
reviews of books; but his
* "the Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey. Edited by his Son,
the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, M.A. Crate of Plumbland, Cumberland."
Vols. V. and VI.
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but his poetry, we think, received no accession but that of the "Vision of
Judgment." The result of this entire work is interesting and instructive,
and we can scarcely regret its length, or the insertion of many unimportant
portions. The career of a man of virtue and genius cannot be contemplated
without benefit. In Mr. Southey the strictest principles and soundest views
of religion were softened and rendered amiable by a lightness and
cheerfulness of temper and mind, to which certainly they are not too
often united. He wrote very warmly because he felt very strongly, and
the depth of his impression was commensurate with the weight of the
subject. He hated the mischievous and the mean, for he felt how much their
evil doings would affect the public happiness and private welfare; but he
never "broke butterflies on a wheel," and certainly his later works, as his
Book of the Church and his Colloquies, shew with what force the realities
of present things pressed upon him. Without saying that his views were
always right and his opinions always justly formed, we must allow that his
approaches to the discovery of truth shew a sagacious, clear, and
reflective mind. To his poetic creed we have little to object, though we
think there is in it a silent disparagement of the school of Pope,
which we do not approve. We believe his political opinions to be in the
main just, though perhaps if carried into practice they would have
possessed, from a fond and just admiration of the past, too little
flexibilty and accommodation for the rapidly advancing progress of the
present. His theology was formed out of the great stores and
treasure-houses of our best divinity in its best days, and consequently
took root in the sound and stedfast doctrines of the Church of England.
Mr. Southey has filled a very eminent station in the literature of his day.
Two poems, more especially Kehama and Roderick, bear lasting witness to his
poetical talent. His prose writings are distinguished for their natural,
idiomatic, and truly English style; his literature was formed of the very
nest and most solid materials. Even mention of the books which he
recommended must have been of service; and if he too early and too
constantly left the waters of Elyssus and the banks of the Tiber to wander
by his own wilder and more beloved streams, it arose from the impossibility
in the present day of any one, however industrious, however indefatigable,
being able to do more than select some partial and separate province from
the boundless realms of knowledge, where his employment may be advantageous
because commensurate with his strength - his discoveries, however bounded,
far more useful and more praiseworthy than casual and uncertain glances
over a wider sphere, ambitious sketches of unfinished projects, and a dream
of intellectual conquests, magnificent indeed to the view, but requiring
time, and leisure, and opportunities not often granted by the necessary
duties, the varying occupations, and the uncertain tenure and general term
of "our little life."
Vol.v. p.21. "A fashion for poetry has been imported which has had a great
run, and is in a fair way of being worn out. It is of Italian growth, and
adaptation of Pulci, Berni, and Ariosto in his sportive mood. Frere
began it. What he produced was too good in itself, and too inoffensive, to
become popular, for it attacked nothing and nobody, and it had the fault of
his Italian models, that the transition from what was serious to what was
burlesque was capricious," &c.
list, The poem alluded to, "The Monks and Giants. Prospectus and Specimen
of an intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft, &c."
was designed with admirable skill and elegant wit, but was far too refined
and delicately executed to excire any feeling from the public, who did not
understand it. As a composition, its beauties have been felt and
acknowledged by all whose estimation is of value. See for instance Rose's
Introd. to "Orlando Inamorato," p.xvii.; "Retrospective REview," vol.xii.
p.107: "The glowing contrasts of which (Don Juan), compared to the easy
shadowing of Whistlecraft, seem to illustrate the difference between a
natural mode of writing and an unnatural one." See also another work,
"Thoughts and Reflections, by One of the Last Century," pp.211-237; and
"Qtrly Review," No.clxxiv. p.293: "Mr Frere, but for pension, indolence,
and Malta, might have bequeathed a name second to few in the English
library." Per-
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[Per]haps few readers of this poem are aware of a curious mistake on it in
a German literary history, "Grosse Lehrbuch einer Algemeiner
Litteratur-Gescichte." This poem of Mr. Frere's is inserted among the
endeavours to clear up the mystery of the Grosse Artus sage!! Such
are the mistakes, even in good books, when they treat on the subject of
foreign literature.
P.63. "Like Warton, I shall give the poem an historical character
(alluding to the Birthday Ode), but shall not do this as well as Warton,
who has done it very well. He was a happy, easy-minded, idle man, to whom
literature in its turn was as much an amusement as rat-hunting, and who
never aimed at anything above such odes."
Can it be said with justice that the author of the laborious "History of
English Poetry," the editor of "Theocritus," with all its Scholia, &c.
in two volumes, 4to., of the "Anthologia," and of various other works, was
an idle man? Or can it be properly observed the the author of "The Suicide"
never aimed at anything higher than a Birthday Ode? And perhaps to him also
the praise is due of having been the first of our poets who introduced into
his scenery and descriptions the embellishment of Gothic
architecture. In the attack which Mason, the Swan of Cambridge, most
unmercifully made on him and his university, a great authority has
pronounced the victory to be with the Oxford poet. "The general reader,"
says Mr. Hallam, "will remember 'The Isis' of Mason, and the 'Triumph of
Isis,' by Warton; the one a severe invective, the other an indignant
vindication; but, in this instance, notwithstanding the advantage which
satire is supposed to have over panegyric, we must accord the laurel to the
worst cause, and, what is more extraordinary, to the worst poet!" See
Hallam's Constitutional History, iii. p.335. But surely this character of
the respective poets is given with too strong an opposition. We doubt if
Mason's fame would at the present day stand at all higher than Warton's,
did we not recollect the "Heroic Epistle." In Warton's poem there is, at
verses 109-128, an elegant character of Dr. King, the public orator of the
university, whose Latin orations are well known to scholars:-
Hark! he begins, with all a Tully's art,
To pen the dictates of a Cato's heart, &c.
In Dr. King's Apology for himself, subsequently published, p.14, he says,
"I can now justly say that I have been libelled by the worst and celebrated
by the best poet in England." Mr. Mant's edition of Warton is very
elaborate, without being perfect. He ought to have given the various
readings, alterations, and omissions in the impressions of this poem, many
of which are interesting: we give two -
See Chillingworth the depths of doubt explore,
A Selden ope the roles of ancient lore.
This couplet is wanting in the first edition. Again -
Lo! these the leaders of thy patriot line,
A Raleigh, Hampden, and a Sonners shine.
In the first edition -
Hamden and Hooker, Hyde and Sydney shine.
Again -
See sacred Hamond, as he treads the field,
With godlike arm uprears his heavenly shield.
In such an edition as Mr. Mant professed to give, almost cumbrous with
illustrations of the text, these variations should not have been omitted;
but, what is still more curious, he does not seem to be aware of, for he
has never mentioned Tyrwhitt's "Epistle to Florio," printed the same year
as Mason's "Lament," though Warton alludes to it in his "Triumph of Isis,"
and his character of Dr. King is directly opposed to that by Tyrwhitt, as
the two lines we have quoted above from Warton seem formed from the couplet
in this poem, -
Or tyrants foiled by Tully's peaceful tongue,
No more we glow with all the Cato thought.
As this poem is rare and but little known, we shall extract the latter part
fo the character of Dr. King, whom he calls Mezentius: -
Go on, vain man, thy empty trophies raise,
Still in a schoolboy's labours waste thine age,
In fulsome flattery or in pointless rage.
Still talk of Virtue which you never knew;
Still slander all to her and Freedom true.
Though crowded theatres with Ioss shook,
And shouting faction hailed her hero's joke,
Who but must scorn applause which King receives?
Who but must laugh at praise which Oxford gives?
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Since this edition in 1802 a valuable addition has been made to T. Warton's
works in Chalmer's edition, by the discovery of five pastoral
eclogues, the scenes of which are laid among the shepherds of Germany.
They were published in 1745, and ascribed to T. Warton on the authority of
Isaac Reed. He was only eighteen years of age when they were
printed. We do not enter on the subject of T. Warton as an editor of
Theocritus or of the Anthologia, or we could give such information on that
head as we believe would be quite new to his admirers and editors; but we
may observe, that there are a few poems by him at present not placed
in his collected works, and a new edition would be useful both of him and
his contemporary Collins. On Southey's proposed plan of
continuing Warton's History of Poetry, see p.245 of this volume.
P.82. "The evidence concerning its authenticity (The Eikon Basilike) is
more curiously balanced than in any other case, except perhaps that of the
two Alexander Cunninghams. but the internal evidence is strongly in
its favour," &c.
list, The controversy concerning the authorship of this celebrated work is
in much the same state as that of Junius, only that the rival disputants on
the former work are more dogmatic and decided than the latter. Lord
Melbourne used to say of a celebrated poetical and party writer of the
present day, "M--- is always so cock-sure of every thing." That this
is the case with some of the Eikon disputants, may be seen by a few
extracts from the fly-leaves of our copy of the work. We give them just as
they occur, and as they were written down. "The arguments concerning this
work, whether it was written by Charles or Bishop Gauden, may be seen in
Hume's History of England, vol.vii. p.154, &c. See also Zouch's edition
of Walton's Lives, p.463; and Bishop Warburton's works, vol.vii. p.920, who
says, "It is the most uncertain matter I ever took the pains to examine.
There is strong evidence on both sides, but I think the strongest and most
unexceptionable is on that which gives it to the King." See also the
General Dictionary, vol.iii. p.389, and vol.x. p.76. "Clarendon is silent
on the subject. Burnet against it. It passed through fifty editions in a
twelvemonth." In Burnet's introduction to Milton's Prose Works, vol.i.
p.xxxv. "it has been proved, beyond the possibilty of a doubt, that it
was written by Dr. Gauden; as the evidence is detailed in Laing's
History of Scotland, and Symmons's Life of Milton, it need not be
repeated." Mr. Southey's opinion seems to be stated in an article in the
Qtrly Review, No.L. October, 1821, p.298 note: "The authenticity of this
book has been attacked and defended with such cogent arguments and strong
assertions, that, as far as relates to external proofs, perhaps
there is scarcely any other question in bibliography so doubtful. The
internal evidence is wholly in its favour. Had it been the work of
Gauden, or any person writing to support the royal cause, a higher tone
concerning episcopacy and prerogative would have been taken. There would
have been more effort at justification, and there would not have been that
inefficient but conscientious defence of fatal concessions, that penitent
confession of sin when weakness had been sinful, that piety without alloy,
that character of mind and even magnanimity, and that heavenly-mindedness
which render Eikon one of the most interesting works in our language." In
this argument of Mr. Southey's it may be observed, that he seems to have
overlooked, or rather not sufficiently remarked, that Gauden was writing in
the assumed character of the King, and that he would of course carefully
and studiously adopt the sentiments and even copy the expressions which
would characterise the original with the utmost fidelity and
verisimilitude. In such a work as this, we must give the fictitious
writer credit for deep and careful study of his subject, as we do to a
first-rate actor, as well as for abilities equal to his undertaking. If
Gauden wrote in the character of Charles, he would endeavour to assume the
qualities which he well knew were conspicuous in Charles, which would be
expected to appear in a work attributed to him, and which would establish
in the mind of the reader its claim to authenticity. More of this subject
may be read in Todd's Life of Walton, pp.139-147, who is said to have
proved that the work is written
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by Gauden. See on that point Edinburgh Review, lxxi. p.7. See also ibid.
lxxxvii. p.1-47. Mr. Todd also published a letter addressed to the
Archbishop of Canterbury on this subject, p.168. See also Hallam's
Consitutional History of England, vol.ii. p.314, and a Letter to a Friend,
by Mr. Grant Broughton, pp.92. Our last extract shall be as follows:
"Todd came to one conclusion, Wordsworth to another, on the
existing evidence. Wordsworth, after a painful examination of all
the evidence, has decided. Hallam summarily disposes of it as
no longer a question at all. Pearson never spoke without considering
his reasons, and his words remain, 'None could pen it but himself.'
See Churton's Life of Bishop Pearson, p.xliii. May we ask our readers
Quae sit dubiae sententia menti?
P.81. "The two Alexander Cunninghams."
This is another story admitting much dubiety and scepticism. Every one
knows that there was an Alexander Cunningham who edited Horace in 1721, the
purpose of his edition being to attack Bentley, which he did with equal
acuteness and abuse; his frontispiece being a figure of Truth forcing the
mask off the face of Bentley and his followers, while she holds up a mirror
to Bentley, who contemplates in it a very ugly visage of his own; his
followers being still more hideous. Under the print is the following motto:
Detrahit et pellem nitidus qua quisque per ora
Ambulat, introrsum turpis.
But who was this Alexander Cunningham has been long the question, and
perhas "adhuc subjudice lis est," for there were two Cunninghams,
both of the name Alexander, both lived at the same time, both travelling
tutors, both eminent for their skill in chess, both scholars, both lived to
an advanced age, and how they are to be distinguished no one has told. The
reader may consult Chalmer's Life of Ruddiman, p.191; Irving's Lives of the
Scottish Poets, i. p.161. Beloe, in his Anecdotes, ii. 400, says Alexander
Cuningham (which?) died at the Hague, December, 1730. In a note on Ovid
(Ep. ex Ponto) lib.ii. ep.iii. 2, ver.33. vol.iii. p.767, col.i. I perceive
that Burman, the editor of Ovid, was well acquainted with the
Cuningham who edited Horace, for he says, "Vetus et certissimus amicus
Cuninghamius;" and again in his Val. Flaccus, ii. 7, 77. "Doctissimus et
mihi longa amicitia conjunctissimus Alexander Cuninghamius;" as these
passages have never been noticed, they may perhaps throw some light on the
controversy, if it is not yet determined. Cuningham was much more
successful, I may add, in finding fault with Bentley's conjectures, than in
proposing his own.
P.83. "The only person whose face was familiar to me was Dr.
Tatham."
Master of Lincoln college, Oxford, and author of "The Chart and Scale of
Truth by which to find the Cause of Error." Bampton Lectures, 1790, 2 vols.
On this work see Mackintoosh's Vindicae Gallicae, p.372; Encyclopaedia
Britan. vol.x. p.214, 3rd. ed. and see a curious statement by Dr. Tatham on
the disputed verse in St. John, i. 7, on the Three Witnesses; and see
Porson's Letters on the subject to Arch. Travis in a vindication of the
literary character of Porson by Crito Cantabrigiensis (Dr. Turton), pp.333,
359. I do not know who was the author of the following piece if
badinage against the Doctor, which appeared in 1794. "Error Detected
and Fiction Rebuked, in a letter to E. Tatham, D.D. so called, and Rector
of Lincoln College, Oxford, on his Sermon, 1st ep. of St. John, iv. 1,
which for its excellence was read in four parish workhouses in 1792, and
published under the title of 'A Sermon Suitable to the Times, by T.
Haddock, 12mo."
p.95. "The Rev. Neville White."
This correspondent of Southey's had, we believe,, the living of Tivetshall,
in Norfolk, where he unfortunately met with death by his own hand.
P.179. "Hayley has been worried, as schoolboys worry a cat: I am
treating him as a man deserves to be treated who was in his time by popular
election king of the English poets, who was moreover a gentleman and a
scholar, and a most kind-hearted and generous man, in whose life there is
something to blame, much to admire, and most of all to commiserate. My
first introduction to Spanish literature
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I owe to his Notes. I owe him therefore some gratitude."
list, We do not know Hayley's life intimately enough to say on what Southey
forms his conclusion upon it. The "something to blame may probably
allude to his apparent conviction, "Ne sitancillae tibi amor
pudori." The something to admire may be his kind disposition and his
unwearied attachment to literature. The most to commiserate, the
loss of his children - the separation from his wife - and the diminution of
his fortune. It was with great reluctance that Gifford admitted Southey's
review of Hayley's Memoirs into the Qtrly, and after long dispute and
delay. I can remember him, riding about the Sussex lanes, in a green
veil, to defend his eyes from the sun. His last intimate friend was Mr.
Mason, the respectable bookseller of Chichester. It is said that Hayley
published two editions of his Life of Milton, one addressed to the
King, and free from the leaven of democratical principles; the other
for his friends, with notes strongly tinctured with their pernicious
infatuation. See Seward's Letters, vol.iv. p.46; and see Wrangham's
Life of Zouch, vol.i. p.lxxxv. In his Bible, he had transcribed, we are
informed by a friend, the following lines from Tasso, as expressive of his
faith.
Da cui s'impara
La via di gir al ben perfetto e vero
Fuggir l'ira del tempo, e della morte,
Felice cui, che son si fide scorte
Mandano al ciel il suo gentel pensiero
Vive la sua vita soave e chiara.
P.190. "I am reading Scaliger's Epistles at this time, treading in my
uncle's steps. Not long ago I finished Isaac Casaubon's. Oh! what
men were these," &c.
The Letters of Casaubon, which Southey read, were those printed in a folio
volume in 1719, and edited by Almeloveen. The answers of his learned
correspondents to these letters have never been published, though extant in
several folio volumes. They were in the library of the late Dr. C. Burney,
and are now in the British Museum. His Ephemerides or Diary has been lately
printed by the University of Oxford, and edited by Dr. Russell, of which we
shall shortly give an account to our readers.
P.202."Bishop Law, the present Bishop's father, advances an opinion that
the true nature of revealed religion is gradually disclosed as men
become capable of receiving it. Generations, as they advance in knowledge
and civilisation, out-growing the errors of their forefathers, so that in
fulness of time there will remain neither doubt nor difficulties. He was a
great speculator, whether, like one of his sons, he speculated too far I do
not knnow, but in this opinion I think he is borne out by history," &c.
See on this Theory of Progress or Development put forth by Bishop Law,
Palmer's Treatise on the Doctrine of Development (called forth by Mr.
Newman's book on the same subject), 1846, p.96. See also Grant's Bampton
Lectures for 1844, p.310, On Law's statement, "that the improvement of the
natural faculties and the cultivation and refinement of natural genius are
necessary to the reception of Christianity." Bishop Watson refers to a
short book of Law's on the Nature and End of Death. See his Life, ii.
p.408. The object of Law in this treatise, if I recollect rightly, was to
impugn the physical immortality of man.
P.236. "My after supper book at present is Erasmus's Letters, from which I
know not whether I derive most pleasure or profit."
In one of Erasmus's Letters I found a notice of Sir Thomas More and his
well-known wife, which, so far as I know, has not been drawn into the
biographhies of that celebrated man. Erasmus is writing to Quirino Talesio,
a pensionary of Harlem and a learned man, and he says, "Quod viduam
duxisti, non est, quod te poeniteat. Id malunt, qui uxorem ad usum
rei domesticae ducunt, potius quam ad voluptatem. Et qui equos ad usum
quaerunt, malunt domitos, quam indomitos. Quod si illa genuit priori
marito, tu magni mali liberatus es, ne sterilem duxeris. MORUS, mihi
saepenumero narrare solet, se, si centum, uxores ducturus, nullam ducturus
esse virginem. Nunc habet vetulam nimium vivacem, quae si migrasset,
potuisset ille opulentissimae clarissimaeque feminae maritus ess." This
desirable migration of the old lady, however, like many other
forlorn husbands, More did not live to see.
P.283. "Here is a volume of Jackson's
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works, in my judgment the most valuable of all our English divines."
Mr. Southey has in another place mentioned Jackson "among the very best of
our divines." See Life of Blanco White, vol.i. p.452. See also Atterbury's
Works, vol.i. p.27; and Bichol's Illustrations of Literature, vol. ult.
p.244, in a letter from Sir John Hawkins to Dr. Percy, stating Mr.
Merrick's high approbation of these works, and that in consequence he
had raised the price a third! "They are a treasure of curious and
valuable learning and sound theology, and, for strength of argument and the
style of writing, which is nervous and eloquent in a high degree, are, in
my judgment, admirable." In Jones's Life of Bishop Horne he speaks of
Jackson's Works as a magazine of theological knowledge, everywhere penned
with great eloquence and dignity, and that his style is a pattern of
perfection. Bishop Horne was much attached tio this admirable writer. Above
all, George Herbert in his "Remains" this alludes to him:- "I speak it in
the presence of God, I have not read so hearty, vigorous a champion against
Rome, as convincing and demonstrative, as Dr. Jacksonis. I bless God
for the confirmation he has given me in the Christian religion against the
Atheist, Jew, and Socinian, and in the Protestant against Rome." We add
that he who reads the works of this writer will willingly agree in the
praise thus bestowed upon him.
P.332. "You may get the whole of Sir T. Brown's works more easily perhaps
than the Hydrotaphia in a single form. The folio is neither scarce nor
dear, and you will find it throughout a book to your heart's content. If I
were confined to a score of English books, this I think would be one
of them - very probably, indeed, be one of them if the selection were cut
down to twelve. My library, if reduced to these bounds, would
consist of Shakspere, Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton, Lord Clarendon,
Jackson, Jeremy Taylor, Smith, Isaak Walton, Sidney's Arcadia, Fuller's
Church History, and Sir Thomas Browne; and what a wealthy and well-stored
mind would that man have, what an inexhaustible reservoir, what a Bank of
England to draw upon for profitable thoughts and delightful associations,
who should have fed upon them!"
Among this delectus we lament to find absent the names of Bacon, and
Hooker, and Donne, and Ben Jonson; and perhaps, with this addition, the
select circle is complete. - "Exactis completur mensibus orbis."
P.342. Mr. Southey here recommends the sermons of South, a divine whose
name never comes from his pen without the high praise justly due to him.
See his Colloquies, vol.i. p.250. "South, who had the strongest arm that
ever wielded a sledge-hammer in this kind of warfare," &c. We could
fill our pages with similar commendations of this writer from men whose
praise was worth receiving; but space is wanting, and his writings are the
best monument of his fame. We will therefore make only two remarks on the
subject: one is, that South, in his sermon on Worldly Wisdom, adduces
Cromwell as an instance of habitual dissimulation and imposture, and
South was an acute observer of mankind; the other is, that Mr. Todd, in his
most judicious and able Essay on the Apocalypse, p.4, observes that, "No
writer has expressed himself more objectionably on the Apocalypse than
South; his language is scarcley reconcilable with a belief in its
inspiration. See South's Sermons, Oxf. 1823, ii. p.184. If we recollect
rightly, the opinion of Dr. S. Parr on this the Omega of scripture was not
very different; but we do not mean to shackle the doctor's orthodoxy with
the fetters of our fallible memory.
P.351. "With regard to others whom his Lordship accuses me of
calumniating, I suppose he alludes to a party of his friends whose names I
found written in the Album de Montanvert, with an avowal of atheism annexed
in Greek, and an indignant comment in the same language underneath it.
These names, with that avowal and the comment, I transcribed in my
note-book, and spoke of the circumstance at my return. If I had published
it, the gentleman in question would not have thought himself slandered by
having that recorded of him which he has so often recorded of himself."
This extract from the Album at Montanvert, or Chamouny (we do not exactly
know which), is, we believe, now in England. The following is an exact copy
of it as it stands in the book:-
"1806. 23 Juillet. Percy B. Shelley,
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{image = G851A016.jpg}
Sussex, England. (L'Enfr.) #x0395;ιμι
φιλανθρωπος,
δημωκρατικος,
αθεος. - #x039F;
αφρων
ειπεν εν τη
καρδια
αυτου, ουκ
εστι θεος."
We have given in our extract merely a copy of the name of Mr. Shelley,
without adding those of his travelling companions. The word in brackets is
of course by some other hand, and is placed in that column appropriated to
the name of the place to which the traveller is going.
Vol.vi. p.54. The account given of that eccentric man of genius, James
Barry, the painter, by Mr. Southey, is interesting, and, being the result
of personal acqaintance, authentic and valuable. There is in Prior's Life
of Goldsmith an account of him by a lady in Pembrokeshire, see vol.ii.
p.468. Mr. Payne Knight reviewed his works published in two vols. quarto,
in the Edinb. Rev. vol.xvi. p.243, &c. In a manuscript letter of Horace
Walpole, in our possession, he says (writing to Mason), "Barry has
expounded all in a book, which does not want sense, though full of passion,
and self, and vulgarism, and vanity. It is an essay to recommend himself to
an establishment. - He calls Mortimer superior to Salvator Rosa,
though his best merit is being Salvator's imitator. But there is one
thought that pleased me extremely. He says, that in his Elysium (which I
did not observe, for it is impossible to see a tenth part of it in one
view), he has represented Titian offering his palette to Raphael." May 11,
1783.
p.91. "Bishop Hacket - his are comical sermons, half Roman Catholic in
their conceits, full of learning, which would be utterly unprofitable, if
it did not sometimes call forth a shrewd remark, &c."
This singular writer will richly repay the reader's time and attention, but
more amply in his Life of Archbishop Williams than in his Sermons, though
they also have sense and learning enough to make a library of modern
divinity. Lord Campbell says of the Life of Williams, "One of the most
curious pieces of biography in our language, and should be studied by all
who would understand the history of James I. and Charles I.; full of rare
quotations and quaint illustrations," vol.ii. p.508. See also Mr.
Coleridge's Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit, p.49, and his Literary
Remains. Doctor Johnson is the only writer, whom we remember, who has
spoken contemptuously of this writer and his work. He says in his
Life of Ambrose Philips (who abridged the volume of Hacket), "The book is
written with such depravity of genius, and such mixture of the fop and
pedant, as has not often appeared." Hacket was also author of two Latin
plays, Loyola, Stoicus Vapulans, &c.
P.100. "He (Sadler) has trampled upon the Malthusian theory, proving
its absurdity and falsehood, &c."
Mr. Southey usually uses the language of indignation when alluding to this
writer, who in place he designates as a "wretched Philistine." We, on the
other hand, hold his argument to be impregnable, but that, like other
subjects of political economy, it is difficult to bring it out clear of the
multiplicity of details and exceptions which spread over the large surface
on which it must be contemplated. We have no room to enter into such
discussions now; but we may refer to Sismondi Etudes de l'OEconomie
Politique, p.131, on the population of Geneva, and we will quote the
following passage from Humboldt. "We know that, by the multiplication of
one family, a continent previously desert may reckon in the space of
eight centuries more than eight millions of inhabitants; and yet these
statistics found on the hypothesis of a constant doubling in
twenty-five or thirty years, are contradicted by the history of every
country already advanced in civilization." See Personal Narrative, vol.vi.
P.i. p.125. The weight of this argument lies in the last words, advanced
in civilization, for, from the first settlement of America to the year
1800, the periods of doubling have been but very little above 20 years,
i.e. before civilization was advanced, or when it was scarcely
begun.
P.20. "I am greatluy obliged to you for your edition of Burnet's
Lives, made still more valuable by your Introduction, &c."
Addressed to Bishop Jebb. This little book is worthy of all praise, both in
design and execution, and was the pleasing employment of the amiable
Bishop's declining life. The affectionate
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picture drawn by him of his friend, Alexander Knox, in the Introduction, is
particularly attractive. The Rev. T. C. Robertson, in his Tract, How shall
we Conform to the Liturgy? p.69. justly says, "The late respected Bishop
Jebb, whom, notwithstanding certain connexions, and his share in certain
speculations, no one would consider a puritan or latitudinarian."
P.332. "If you have never read Roger North's Lives of Lord Keeper Guilford
and his other two brothers, let me recommend them to you," &c.
These two volumes of biography are so quaint and amusing in their manner,
and so full of anecdote, observation, and instruction, that they are not
surpassed in this branch of our literature. Mr. Welsby, in his excellent
volume, Lives of Eminent Judges, p.57, says, "That most amusing and
therefore best of all biographies that we have any knowledge of - the Life
of Lord Guilford." On Lord Guilford see Campbells' Lives of the
Chancellors, vol.iii. p.429; on North's Examen, praised by Southey, see
Retrosp. Rev. vol.vii. p.183-217. See also Coleridge's Literary Remains, i.
p.237. Roger North's Mem. of Music has been lately published from MS. and
our learned friend Mr. Crossley of Manchester, possesses the original MS.
of the Life of Lord Guilford, in its authentic and enlarged state, among
his other curious treasures of literature, which he well understands and
enjoys.
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{header- The Roman Wall}
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{text- book review}
THE ROMAN WALL.*
EVERY new year brings us fresh assurance that archaeology is being studied
in a proper spirit, and is gaining some little hold on the sympathies of
the public. The researches and discoveries which have been made during tha
last few yaers have very properly been promptly published, and in a manner
which has placed the acquisitions to antiquarian science within the reach
of all. The advantages arising from the comparative accessibility of
antiquarian publications are obvious. One of the most palpable is a more
extended familiarity with the various branches of the study
* The Roman Wall: a Historical Topographical, and Descriptive
Account of the Barrier of the Lower Isthmus, extending from the Tyne to the
Solway. By the Rev. John Collingwood Bruce, M.A. London and Newcastle.
1851. 8vo.
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of antiquities, and the consequent detection of errors by the accumulation
of facts; unsound theories and deductions are corrected, a check is placed
upon the wanderings of fancy, and archaeological pursuits are placed under
the same wholesome laws which govern inquiries in other sciences. Another
benefit which may be expected to arise is the preservation of the objects
themselves, the materials upon which archaeologists work. If the government
does not come forward speedily to stay the progress towards total
annihilation to which may of our most valuable remains are hastening, the
labours of the antiquary in certain fields of research will soon be
rendered needless and futile. If the popular voice, which has been won in
support of archaeology, should not be stenuously directed towards this
important end, the vantage-ground will be lost, and lost never to be
regained.
Reflections such as these naturally arise when we contrast the
archaeological advantages of the time present over the time past; when we
survey the rapid spread of societies, the zealous labours of individuals,
and the books we have recently reviewed, and which now demand our
attention. The work before us will afford abundant illustrations in support
of our opinions. The chief writers on the Roman wall, one of the most
stupendous and least known of our ancient national monuments, are Horsley
and Hodgson. But their works are expensive and scarce, and almost as little
known as the remains of which they treat. Let the reader picture to himself
a wall of stone from sixteen to twenty feet high and ten wide, carried over
hills and plains, along precipices and through valleys, for a distance
somewhat equal to that from London to Southampton, and he will form some
notion of what the Roman wall was which extended from the Tyne to the
Solway.* Let him accompany Mr. Bruce through his lucid and animated
description, travel with him in imagination along its varied course,
pausing here and there to examine the more remarkable points, its castles,
towers, and ruined altars, and he will be able to judge of its present
condition, and learn that down to the present day from the middle ages this
wall has been used as a quarry for the building of farm-houses, churches,
and villages, and by the government for the construction of a military
road. By means of excellent illustrations he will be enabled by his own
fireside to keep pace with his guide, to see the first fragment of the wall
at East Denton, and to follow it on, stage by stage, to its termination at
Bowness, examining the watch-towers and the stations which are attached to
it, resting at intervals to ponder over the sculptures, altars, and
inscriptions which have been found along its course, and which in many
instances are still to be found lying about upon the ground, or worked up
into the walls of houses, barns, cow-sheds, and pig-styes. There appears to
be hardly a house along the wide range of the Roman wall in the walls of
which may not be found inscriptions or mutilated sculptures, and no
gentleman's garden and pleasure grounds unadorned with monuments which one
cannot help thinking would be much safer and more useful in the museum of
the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle. At every step it will be felt how
much of real historical value has been destroyed, and how much is still
going fast to destruction.
Mr. Bruce modestly observes, that his book may be regarded as introductory
to the elaborate productions of Horsley and Hodgson. But the antiquarian
world will assign a much higher standard to its merits; for, although it
does not profess to give all the inscriptions contained in those elaborate
works, it possesses requisites towards a full comprehension of the wall and
its auxiliary buildings which are not to be found in any other treatise
upon the subject. Among these may be mentioned numerous well executed
lithographic views of the surrounding country at particular points along
the line of the wall, as well as views of the details of the wall itself,
and of the castra or stations. This we are enabled to show by the
* Mr. Bruce calculates that the wall and the vallum must have
occupied ten thousand men for two years in the construction, and that the
cost, estimated at the present day value of labour and materials, would be
1,079,446l.
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{image = G851E01.jpg}
{inscription- AT THE STATION OF AMBOGLANNA}
{image = G851E02.jpg}
{inscription- AT THE STATION OF BORCOVICUS}
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{image = G851A149.jpg}
intoduction of a few of the cuts. The first is a view of the junction of
the west wall of the station Amboglanna with the great wall, to show the
different character of the stones used in the two structures. (See the
Plate.)
"The stations," the author observes, "appear to have been built before the
wall, and, as the necessity of the case required that they should be run up
as quickly as possible, a smaller class of stone was allowed to pass muster
here than was used in the wall. The workmanship is also of inferior
quality. The front of the stones, both of the wall and stations, is roughly
'scrabbled' with the pick. In some parts of the line this tooling takes a
definite form; when this is the case, the marking called diamond broaching
is most common. Sometimes the stone is scored with wavy lines, or with
small
{image = G851E03.jpg}
squares, or with nearly upright lines. ... It was not until I had become
tolerably familiar with the wall, that my attention was called to this
peculiar kind of tooling. ... Cuttings resembling mason's marks
occasionally occur. Sometimes they consist
{image = G851E04.jpg}
of a single or double stroke, sometimes of a diagonal cross, sometimes a
rectangular. The other marks which are here represented are less frequently
met with."
{image = G851E05.jpg}
We shall not attempt in this notice to follow the author pari passu,
and therefore, to convey some faint notion of the architectural
peculiarities of this vast building and its adjuncts, shall proceed to
Borcovicus, the midway station, now called Housesteads. Gordon calls this
the most remarkable and magnifient station in the whole island, and he
speaks of "the marks of streets and temples in ruins, inscriptions, broken
pillars, statues, and other pieces of sculpture, all scattered along the
ground." Stukeley calls it "the Tadmor of Britain." Mr. Bruce, who examined
it in 1849 and 1850, observes
"Let not the visitor, however, approach it with expectations too greatly
excited. There is very much to admire, but not a great deal to strike the
eye at first sight. The altars and sculptured figures which lay in
profusion on the ground when Gordon and Stukeley were there, have been
removed, but the ruins of the place remain as complete and vast as ever.
The city is, in a great measure, covered with its own debris, but the
excavations which have recently been made show us that, when they are
continued throughout the entire station, the ancient Borcovicus will be the
Pompeii of Britain."
The area is about five acres, half lying on a slope, the other on a flat;
on the north it is bounded by the wall. The west wall of the station
instead of coming up to the great wall in a straight line as is usual,
makes a curve such as is common in the corners of castra built
independent of the wall, as is shown by the annexed woodcut (see Plate):
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"All the gateways except the north have been explored, and present very
interesting subjects of study to the antiquary. The western part is in the
best condition, and is specially worthy of attention. Its arrangements will
readily be understood by an inspection of the ground plan, which is here
introduced. ...
{image = G851E06.jpg}
This gateway, as well as the others which have been, is, in every sense of
the word, double. Two walls must be passed before the camp can be entered;
each is provided with two portals, and each portal has been closed with
two-leaved gates. The southern entrance of the outside wall has alone as
yet been entirely cleared of the masonry that closed it. The jambs and
pillars are formed of massive stones of rustic masonry. The doors, if we
may judge from the fragments of corroded iron which have been lately picked
up, were of wood, strengthened with iron plates and studs; they moved, as
is appaprent from the pivot-holes, upon pivots of iron. In the centre of
each portal stands a strong upright stone, against which the gates have
shut. Some of the large projecting stones of the exterior wall are worn, as
if by the sharpening of knives upon them. ... The guard-chambers on each
side are in a state of choice preservation, one of the walls standing
fourteen courses high. Were a roof put on them, the antiquary might here
stand guard, as the Tungrians of old, and for a while forget that the world
is sixteen centuries older than it was when these chambers were reared. At
least two of the chambers in this part of the camp have been warmed by
U-shaped flues running round three of their sides beneath the floor. These
chambers, when recently excavated, were found to be filled with rubbish so
highly charged with animal matter as painfully to affect the sensibilities
of the labourers. The teeth and bones of oxen, horns resembling those of
the red deer, but larger, and boars' tusks were very abundant; there was
the usual quantity of all the kinds of pottery used by the Romans."
The Vignette subjoined to this article (in p.154) represents the western
portal of the station Amboglanna, now called Birdoswald, as seen from the
inside.
"It exhibits the pivot-holes of the gates, and the ruts worn by the
chariots or wagons of the Romans. The ruts are nearly four feet two inches
apart, the precise gauge of the chariot-marks in the east gateway at
Housesteads. The more perfect of the pivot-holes exhibits a sort of spiral
grooving, which seems to have been formed with a view to rendering the gate
self-closing. The aperture in the sill of the doorway, near the lower jamb,
has been made designedly, as a similar vacuity occurs in the eastern
portal; perhaps the object of it has been to allow of the passage of
surface water from the station. The whole of the area of the camp is marked
with the lines of streets and the ruins of buildings."
In addition to these stations the wall was provided with castella,
now called Mile Castles, quadrangular in form, and measuring usually from
60 to 70 feet in each direction; and subsidiary to these were turrets or
watch-towers of about eight to ten feet square; the latter of these have in
comparatively recent times, been destroyed, and the castella have
not shared a much better fate. In all these buildings it is remarkable that
no tiles, so common in the Roman structures in the south, have been used;
they are only to be found in the foundations and hypocausts of the domestic
edifices within the stations. By comparison, many other points of
difference will also be noticed. The fortresses erected by the Romans on
the line of the "Littus Saxonicum" are of more imposing appearance, of
wider area, and possess higher architectural pretensions; but these two
great chains of stone fortresses, the maritime to repel the Saxons and
Franks, the inland to defend against the Picts and Scots, were both
admirably adapted for those purposes. In the north, the wall itself was the
main protection, and the number of the castra was requisite to sustain
intercourse and rapid communication. In the south, the sea was to a certain
extent a defence,
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so long as the chief posts were well guarded.
But the great wall must not be viewed in detached pieces, and compared
disparagingly with finer architectural examples which may easily be found.
It must be viewed in its entire extent, with its vallum, castra, and
outposts, to do justice to the bold conception and admirable completion of
this stupendous barrier. The Pfahlgraben, in Germany, is a very
similar work, twice the extent, we believe, of the Picts' wall, and
probably of contemporaneous origin. And here we may direct attention to the
advantage of studying continental antiquities simultaneously with those of
our own country. One of the greatest achievements of the Society of
Antiquaries was that of sending its draftsman, the late Mr. Charles
Stothard, to Bayeux to copy the celebrated tapestry preserved there, and
afterwards engraving and publishing it; and we think the Society might,
profitably, depute some one or two of its members to make a careful survey
of the Pfahlgraben with a view to illustrate the analogous monument of our
own land.
Mr. Bruce having given a very full description of the wall as it exists at
the present day, together with the stations in rotation, and the
inscriptions and other antiquities found in and about them, proceeds to
discuss the question of who was the builder of the wall. Popularly it is
called the wall of Severus. Antiquaries have been divided in their opinions
respecting its date, some assigning it to Hadrian, others to Severus, while
the same conflicting theories prevail with regard to the date of the vallum
or turf wall which runs parallel with the stone wall to the south. The
testimony of ancient writers Mr. Bruce weighs with an impartial hand; but
it is chiefly on the remains themselves, on the course of the vallum and
its peculiar connexion with the wall, and, mainly, on inscriptions, that he
forms his belief that both works are coeval, and are to be ascribed to the
genius of Hadrian; to Severus he gives the credit of making the repairs
which time and the enemy had rendered necessary.
list, While the great castra on the Littus Saxonicum have not
supplied us with a single inscription, except the stamps on tiles found at
Lymne,* along the line of the wall a great variety have from time to
time been discovered, and are yet occasionally brought to light. They
include many of historical importance, identifying the ancient names of the
stations, and showing what soldiers were qtred in them at particular
periods. Among them we find numerous auxiliary bodies from foreign
countries. Nowhere do we see mention made of the Britons; but in Germany
are similar records, which show that Britain contributed her share of
support to the Roman legions stationed in that province, as, for example,
the two inscriptions cited in our last number (pp.48,49.) None of the
inscriptions found on the line of the wall, it is remarkable, are of a very
late date, and Mr. Bruce correctly notes that not one bears any allusion to
Christianity. That represented on the annexed cut is of comparatively
{image = G851E07.jpg}
* Antiquities of Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne, p.258.
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early date, and refers to the second legion, LEG. II. AUG. F. Legio
Secunda Augusta fecit. It was found at the station called Hunnum, and
was doubtless erected to commemorate the work done by the legion at that
castrum. It resembles in style those erected by the same legion on the
barrier of the Upper Isthmus or Wall of Antoninus. The next example shows a
stone lately
{image = G851E08.jpg}
found among the fallen stones of the wall at Cawfield Crags, where a tract
of the wall is to be seen in an excellent state of preservation. It bears
the mark of the twentieth legion. Mr. Bruce observes, -
"This sculpture cannot have been derived from the Vallum, in the
construction of which, in the time of Hadrain, the twentieth legion is
acknowledged to have been employed; for the Vallum is here distant more
than three hundred yards from the wall. The reader will of course perceive
the bearing which this fact has upon the question of the contemporaneous
origin of the two structures, and the construction of the wall, as well as
the Vallum, by Hadrian."
The Romans usually retained the various divisions of their troops at
particular stations over a long period of time. At the time of the
compilation of the Notitia Imperii (the latter part of the fourth
century), the first cohort of the Asti was in garrison at AEsica, on the
wall. Here, in 1761, was dug up an inscription, from which it appears that
during the reign of Severus Alexander (A.D. 222 to A.D. 235), the second
cohort rebuilt the granary of this station, which had become dilapidated.
We are enabled to introduce here a cut of the large mural tablet lately dug
up near the eastern
{image = G851E09.jpg}
{inscription- J. STOREY. DEL / [RB] UTTING. SC}
gate way of this station. It is dedicated to Hadrian, and supplies powerful
testimony in support of Mr. Bruce's theory on the date of the wall.
Another class of inscriptions, more numerous and not less interesting, are
those relating to worship. They embrace, as may be supposed, a wide range
of divinities, the objects of adoration of the various troops stationed
along the wall, from Jupiter, the Optimus and Maximus, down to Epona, the
protectress of horses. They are usually inscribed on altars, which were set
up not only in temples, but also in the open places, and even in the
fields. Hodgson states that within the limits of one modern parish four
important fortified places were furnished with temples to different
deities; and he adds that he felt it difficult to refrain from both
admiring the piety and pitying the superstition that reared them. Sometimes
the dedications are
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{image = G851A153.jpg}
accompanied with sculpture, as in the case of the great Mithraic group
found at Housesteads. We are disposed to think the fragment shown in the
annexed cut may have belonged to a
{image = G851E10.jpg}
kindred myth, especially as in the representation given by Hodgson there
appears upon the pedestal what would seem to have been a serpent entwined
round the legs of the bull. This fragment, which was dug up on the site of
Cilurnum, is in a fine-grained sandstone, and measures six feet two inches
in length.
The mythic personages called Deae Matres and Matrones. whose
worship was probably introduced from Germany,* figure in the
mythology of the Wall. On an altar found at Habitancum, and engraved in Mr.
Bruce's volume, they are addressed as Matres Tramarinae, and Mr.
Bruce remarks that it appears by another inscription the person who
dedicated the altar was a tribune of the Vangiones. We select a fragment of
one of these scultures, in which the three
{image = G851E11.jpg}
figures have been apparently represented as seated in distinct chairs,
whereas they are usually placed together on a kind of settle. It was found
at Netherby with another example in which the three deities are placed
close together, but, as is usual with Roman sculptures in the north of
England, Mr. Bruce observes, that the figures have suffered decapitation.
At
{image = G851E12.jpg}
* See on this subject papers in vol.i.of the Journal of the
Archaeological Association, and in vol.i. of the Collectanea Antiqua, in
which is figured a remarkable example found in London.
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the same place were also discovered two other groups, one of which is shewn
on the preceeeding page, probably of a somewhat analogous character,
although the figures are obviously male, and not female. It is not
improbable this peculiarity may be owing to the ignorance of the sculptor.
If it were intentional, we have something yet to learn in the topical
department of the heathen mythology.
The volume closes with a descriptive account (illustrated by fifty cuts),
of gold and silver consular and imperial coins found in 1837 near
Thorngrafton. Of these one of the rarest is the aureus of Nero which bears
on the reverse the head of Claudius. We believe the discovery of coins on
the line of the Wall has in more than one instance led to the disastrous
consequences of lawsuits,* and thus the question of the
treasure-trove law and its pernicious tendency as regards the
preservation of antiquities naturally suggests itself for consideration.
Something was done at the Oxford meeting of the Archaeological Institute
relative to this question, and it is to be hoped it did not end as matters
mooted by public bodies often do, in passing a resolution.
In taking leave of Mr. Bruce's work we may express a hope that our brief
notice of some of its attractions may promote its circulation. The author's
style renders it highly readable, the facts he has collected will make it
useful for reference, and its portability and clear arrangement of the
subject-matter should introduce it as a companion to all who may desire to
study fully one of the noblest monuments of our country.
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WEST PORTAL OF AMBOGLANNA (FROM THE INSIDE).
(Described in p.150).
* Not only coins but other objects of value have been repeatedly
secreted from the lord of the manor, who keeps a close watch on
discoveries. The late Mr. Brumell's silver paterae were found in this
district; they constituted only a small part of the hoard which was melted
by the Newcastle silversmiths.
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{header- Hartley Coleridge}
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HARTLEY COLERIDGE.*
IT is a common weakness in persons who are not so handsome as they would
be, or have been, to abhor a faithful portrait-painter; and a still
commoner weakness in their friends to prefer what they call an "idealised"
likeness of them, by which they mean, not one in which the true and
permanent character prevails over the accidental peculiarities of the face,
but one which. being sufficiently like to be recognised, approaches
otherwise as nearly as may be to the academical standard of beauty. A
similar weakness prevails with regard to men's lives and characters, and a
biographer who so portrays his subject that those who did not know the man
may know what he was like, must not expect to escape popular censure. Yet
we all long to have some definitite image both of the features and the
character of any man in whom we are interested, whether the interest be
excited by his writings or his actions; and it is only when a faithful
record of the face or the life destroys some cherished ideal that the
minutest personal details are unwelcome. Then, indeed, when the real
man falls short of the idea formed of him from his writings, people are apt
to exclaim, "Why undeceive us? Why publish what might have been kept
private? That part of his life and character which his works reveal is all
the the world has interest in; why not leave it to speak for itself?" To
this appeal the obvious and sufficient answer is, that if the works bespeak
a life and character which does not correspond with the fact, they speak
falsely, and those who so interpret them are living in a false belief,
which to hold unconsciously is an eveil, to cherish deliberately is a sin.
Some provinces of the intellect there are, indeed, which may be said to be
independent of the moral character. We may inherit the full fruits of a
life devoted to science, for instance, without caring to imagine or to ask
what sort of man he was who bequeathed them to us. In such cases, if the
life be otherwise unworthy of rememberance, let it by all means be
forgotten. But it is not so with the poet. All poetry which is worthy
anything is a voice out of a human heart, and every human heart beats in
some individual man. We must sympathise, and we cannot sympathise with an
abstraction. If we do not know what he was like, we imagine him - we make a
picture of him in our mind - and if we imagine him other than he was, we
deceive ourselves, and, so far, the truth is not in us.
To us, therefore, when a poet dies whose works are worthy or likely to
live, a candid account of his personal history shall always be welcome,
and, provided it reveals the truth, it shall not be the less welcome though
the truth be painful. Indeed we are persuaded that, even where the truth is
most painful, it is for the interest of the poet's own memory that it
should be frankly told. To estimate the strength of a man's virtue we must
* Poems by Hartley Coleridge; with a Memoir of his Life, by his
Brother. In two volumes. Lond. 1851.
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know the constitutional weakness against which it had to struggle. In them
we shall find at once the explanation and the excuse of his short-comings;
and far better it is that they should be fairly expounded by a friend who
understands the whole case, than that scattered evidences of them should be
picked up one by one and exhibited as curiosities and fragments of "truth
brought to light by time," - such fragments being often only scandals and
errors which truth had in their own day disowned and dismissed to oblivion.
All this we believe to be eminently true with regard to Hartley Coleridge,
and in the copious and candid memoir attached to these volumes we think the
Editor has not only rendered a service to literary history, by contributing
to it the portrait of a man in all ways interesting and in many ways
remarkable, but has also performed an office of piety to the memory of his
brother. We should have preferred, indeed, a tone less elaborately
apologetic, a more sparing introduction of censures and regrets, and
generally a style of narrative more concise, and simple, and
straight-onward. But when we remember the relation iin which the Editor
stands to his brother and his family on one side, and to a jealous and not
very reasonable public on the other, we feel that it would be rash to
pronounce judgment on the execution of a task so very delicate and
difficult. Enough that the story he has recorded is full of interest and
instruction, and as we have good reason to believe that no material part of
the case has been suppressed or misrepresented, those who are dissatisfied
with his treatment of it may treat it better for themselves.
Hartley Coleridge was born at Clevedon on the 19th of September, 1796, the
eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and therefore with a hereditary
title both to gifts of the intellect and infirmities of the will. About the
end of his fourth year his home was transferred from the banks of the
Severn to the lakes of Cumberland and Westmerland, and fixed in the house
which will long be remembered as the residence of Southey. He appears to
have been distinguished from other children at a very early age by a
certain oddity of manner and absence of mind, and by a constitutional
inaptitude for all games requiring attention and manual dexterity. This,
rather than any premature devotion to books or aversion from the society of
playmates, prevented him from mixing in childish sports, and caused him to
spend the greater part of his time in an imaginary world of his own,
strangely peopled with shadows abstracted from the real world in which he
lived, and of the concerns of which he was at the same time no inattentive
observer. How far he was distinguished from others of the same age by any
extraordinary powers of mind it is not easy to gather. There is hardly any
child whose mind, when subjected to the inspection of poets and
metaphysicians is not full of wonders; and we may more confidently infer
that Hartley was an extraordinary child from the fact that he certainly
grew up to be no ordinary man, than from the impressions he made on
Wordsworth at six years old, or from his father's report of the
metaphysical mysteries with which his childish understanding perplexed
itself.* Though a clever boy, and not idle, it seems that he made no
remarkable progress in his school-studies, and it is rather singular that
the faculties by which he was most decidedly distinguished from other boys
were not those which he much cultivated or much excelled in afterwards.
That he lived a great deal in a phantom-world we should not mention as
anything singular - all children do so. Chairs are turned into carriages
and
* "Hartley, when about five years old, was asked a question about
himself being called Hartley. 'Which Hartley?' asked the boy. 'Why, is
there more than one Hartley?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'there's a deal of
Hartleys.' 'How so?' 'There's Picture-Hartley (Hazlitt had painted a
portrait of him) and Shadow-Hartley, and there's Echo-Hartley, and there's
Catch-me-Fast-Hartley,' at the same time seizing his own arm with the other
hand very eagerly, and action which shews that his mind must have been
drawn to reflect on what Kant calls the great and inexplicable mystery,
viz. that man should be both his own subject and object, and that these two
should be one." - p.xxvii.
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horses, passages into turnpike roads, sofas into market-towns, faster than
by the slap of Harlequin's sword. But in ordinary cases these
brain-creations are abstracted from the simple events of everyday life, and
pass like the day-dreams of maturer age in swift succession, having no
coherency, and leaving no trace. The instances must be very rare in which
this imaginative faculty is equal to the foundation, peopling, and
government of an empire; rarer still in which it can maintain the illusion
for years together, and carry on the history of the ideal people through
all the vicissitudes of peace and war and social progress. Yet it seems
that Hartley Coleridge not only imagined such a kingdom at a very early
age, and made a map of it, and peopled it with "many nations, continental
and insular, each with its separate history, civil, ecclesiastical, and
literary, its forms of religion and government, and specific national
character," but actually continued to govern it, as seriously as an
ordinary child rides his stick, for years together, till he was on the
verge of manhood. This fact rests on no vague or doubtful tradition, but
upon the distinct testimony of the Editor, who was his brother's companion
and confidant all the time, and to whom the substance of all "letters and
papers from Ejuxria" was regularly imparted as they were supposed to
arrive. Probably this process of imparting the news to a listener who seems
to have been almost as much in ernest as himself, helped to feed and
stimulate the fancy and preserve the outward form of the fiction from its
natural dissolution; and the brother of twelve years old may have fancied
the brother of sixteen more in earnest than he really was. But, when all
allowances have been made, there still remains a very singular and
interesting story, well worth recording for the consideration of
psychologists. It will be found at p.xxxvi-xliii. of the memoir. From this,
and other singular amusements of his childhood, it might have been supposed
that the creative imagination was unusually strong in Hartley; and yet the
productions of his after-life show scarcely any traces of such a gift.
His tenth year must have contributed largely to the history of Ejuxria. In
the days of the terror of Napoleon and the glory of Grimaldi (not to
mention the abolition of the slave trade, and the noises of a change of
ministry, a dissolution of Parliament, and a general election,) he passed
the spring of 1807 at Sir George Beaumont's in Leicestershire, where
Wordsworth and Wilkie were; the summer in London with Mr. and Mrs. Montagu;
the autumn at Bristol with his mother's family. He "read every word about
the battle of Aylau, and was enraged if a doubt were hinted of the Russian
victory." He saw the Wood Demon and Jack Bannister at Drury Lane, Mother
Goose and Grimaldi at Covent Garden; went over the Tower in company of
Wordsworth and Walter Scott; and was introduced to the wonders of chemistry
by Sir Humphry Davy: a year of impressions never to be forgotten.
In the summer of 1808 he was sent with his brother to a small school at
Ambleside, kept by a gentleman of manly character and vigourous
understanding, but no great scholar; fortunate, it seems, in the character
of his schoolfellows, and in an ample allowance of leisure and
mountain-liberty; eminently fortunate in the neighbourhood of some of his
father's most distinguished friends; not very fortunate into the nicer
mysteries of Greek and Latin. Here he remained for seven or eight years,
composing themes and verses, not in any remarkable degree superior to those
of his schoolfellows, and with visible effort; wandering at large among the
hills with one intimate companion, or gathering desultory knowledge from
the libraries and conversation of Wordsworth, Wilson, De Quincey, and
Charles Lloyd; helping his school-mates to construe their lesons, or
entertaining them with tales; say rather with one continuous tale, having
for its moral the injustice of society, which he spun on night after night
(we are told) for years together; admired and loved, yet suffering the
penalty of his small stature and odd ways in being plagued and teased;
joining in no school-games, and forming no intimacies; but "reading,
walking, dreaming to himself, or talking his dreams to others."
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The immediate result was such as might have been anticipated. He went to
Oxford in his nineteenth year with no very accurate knowledge of Greek and
Latin, therefore no match for Eton-trained scholars in competition for
distinctions awarded according to Etonian standards, but with a mind full
of original thoughts and general knowledge, and a rare gift of lively and
eloquent discourse. "He would hold forth by the hour (for no one wished to
interrupt him) on whatever subject might have been started, either of
literature, politics, or religion, with an originality of thought, a force
of illustration, and a facility and beauty of expression, which I question
(says Mr. Dyce, writing in the year 1849) whether any man living except his
father, could have surpassed." Whether the popularity at wine-parties which
was the inevitable consequence of such a gift, interfered much with his
reading during the first year or two of his residence, we are not informed.
But in the summer of 1818, as we learn from Mr. C. H. Townshend (who then
first met him, and has recorded his impressions in a long and interesting
letter) he was certainly reading hard. At Michaelmas following he took a
second class in in literis humanioribus; his deficiencies in what is
exclusively, and somewhat arbitrarily, called "scholarship," sinking him
below the place which his "talent and general knowledge" would have raised
him. Soon after, he obtained an Oriel fellowship with great distinction;
and it seems as if he were now honorable providied for, and as if the
kindness of the friends by whose help he had been sent to college had
received its best reward.
Had it turned out so, it is probable that the brief outline which we have
given of his school and college life might have been thought to contain all
that needed to be remembered of it. It might not have been suspected that
any material feature of his character remained unnoticed. But a
fellow-elect of Oriel has to pass one year of probation, at the end of
which, in case of misconduct, his election may be cancelled. At the close
of this probationary year, Hartley Coleridge was judged to have forfeited
his fellowship, "on the ground mainly of intemperance." Great efforts were
made in vain at the time to get the decision reversed; and sever comments
have been made upon it since. We have ourselves heard it confidently
asserted by a very high and grave authority, - a man by no means given to
think indulgently of intemperance, or suspiciously fo dignities, and one
whom the question must have deeply interested at the time, - that the
charge of intemperance was in fact a pretext only, and that the real
offence was of quite another kind, less venial perhaps in the eyes of
college authorities, though not so easily reached by their statutes, and,
in the eyes of the world, no offence at all, - namely, an indiscreet
freedom of speech with regard to University reforms. Upon this point we can
only say that the narrative before us gives us no means of forming an
opinion. We have no account either of the specific charges, or of the
evidence, or of the answers. Judging, however, from the tenor of Hartley's
subsequent life, we can hardly assume that he had been guilty of no
irregularities which formed a fair pretext for rejecting him, and
(remembering how just his views were, and how pungent his remarks, upon
established institutions in general,) we can have little doubt that he had
said many things extremely offensive to the ears of authority,
though perhaps not on that account the less wholesome, had they been
weighed and considered.
But what, it will be asked, were these irregularities? And how did
they come upon him? For hitherto we have heard of no evil tendencies of any
kind. To this question neither his brother's recollections nor the evidence
which he has collected from others, enable us to give a satisfactory
answer. We cannot attach much weight to early manifestations of "intense
sensibility" not under proper control; of "impatience of constraint;" of a
disposition to "shrink from mental pain;" of occasional "paroxysms of rage,
during which he bit his arm or finger violently;" of a proneness "to yield
unconsciously to slight temptations, as if swayed by a mechanical impulse
apart from his volition;" for not only are such infirmities incident more
or less to the youth of all large and sensitive natures, but it does no
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appear that they overcame him in the struggle. Where he was left to
himself, they led him into no evil that we can hear of. Where, as in the
duties of school, he had work to do or constraint to endure, it seems that
he did the work and submitted to the constraint. Where his sensibility was
most cruelly tried by the thoughtless persecutions of bigger boys -
persecutions the remembrance of which became the ever-recurring torments of
his dreams in later life - he must have borne them with great patience and
sweetness; for we are told that he retained the admiration and love of his
school-fellows, though he did not share their amusements. In what respect
then was it that "a certain infirmity of the will, the specific evil of his
life, had already manifested itself?" It is possible that a school or
college companion of his own age, or a little older, could have explained
this to us. His brother was too much the younger to "look into him with
inquiring eyes;" and we have no report from any other observer who was
intimate with him during those years. Nevertheless it is undoubtedly true
that "a certain infirmity of the will" did constitute the specific evil of
his later life, and it was in all probability connected in some mysterious
way with that specific peculiarity of his boyhood, to which we have already
alluded. "He never played. He was indeed incapable of the adroitness and
presence of mind required in the most ordinary sports. His uncle used to
tell him that he had two left hands." Could science anatomize the
material organisation through which the mind acts upon the body - through
which
--- the brain
Says to the foot, now move, now rest again.
it would perhaps be found that in such cases the will also has two
left hands. That such a constitutional infirmity should prevail more
against the grown man than the growing boy, is not surprising. The full
flow of hope and youth counteracted but did not extinguish it. Youth and
hope ebbing. left the man without energy enough to continue the struggle.
However this may be, Hartley Coleridge - whose spirits were subject to
those vicissitudes which so often affect the genus irritabile vatum,
especially where the nature is exquisitely tender and affectionate, and a
strong thirst for sympathy is irritated by a depressing consciousness of
personal disadvantages - had occasionally found a temporary relief from
painful sensations in wine. His popularity as a guest exposed him to the
temptation; and his constitution was such that a small quantity excited
him. Hence a fair prretext, if not a just ground, for taking away his
fellowship; and he left Oxford (with 300l. given him by the college
by way of mitigation) for London, meaning to support himself by his pen.
This he could easily have done; for there were few departments of popular
literature in which he was not eminently qualified to shine. But
infirmities which are not eradicated in youth commonly increase with age.
The very habit of introspection, though it be with the purpose of
understanding and ejecting them, makes a man familiar with their company,
and agravates the evil. The direction which Hartley's infirmity took was
not one of the worst either for body or mind, - certainy not so bad as
opium-eating, - but it had a worse name. And though his health was little
if at all injured, and his mind not at all corrupted by it, his
self-respect (with which self-command is closely allied) was shaken. Then
came (to use his own significant words) "that helpless consciousness of
faults which conduces to anything rather than amendment." A habit of
procrastination followed - part of the same disease. After two year's
trial, during which he resided chiefly with Mr. and Mrs. Montagu, it
appeared plainly that London was not the best place for him. He returned to
Westmerland; and (yielding against his own judgment at the urgency of
friends) endeavoured to establish himself as a schoolmaster at Ambleside.
But, after four or five years' trial, he was obliged to abandon the scheme
as a failure.
This was his last attempt to achieve a position in the world. After this he
submitted to his destiny, as "a waif of nature:" and, though perhaps no man
ever felt a stronger yearning for the blessings from which his "fault or
fate" excluded him, it was probably the best condition which his very
peculiar case admitted. Here he lived
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(with one or two short intervals which we need not stay to describe) the
life of a solitary student by the banks of Grasmere and Rydal; dependent
indeed upon the help of his relations for what small provision he needed,
but requiring no more than they could cheerfully supply; condemned indeed
to hopeless poverty and (which to him was a sadder thought) to hopeless
celibacy - but everywhere a welcome guest to the high and the low, the
learned and the ignorant; producing little indeed which brought him money,
but much which will be found to be of more real worth than the most
marketable produce which he could have raised. For it was part of his
singular case that the conditions which steady the character and stimulate
the powers of other men had the contrary effect upon him. By some strange
misdirection of the moral sensibility, which seems indeed to have been
hereditary, a formal engagement to do a thing frightened him from his
purpose, and paralysed his power of perfomance. It is Cowper, we think, who
somewhere says he could sit in his room all day without desiring to go out,
until the door were locked upon him; but the moment he felt that he could
not let himself out when he pleased, it became a misery to him to stay in.
So Hartley Coleridge could read and write assiduously and copiously, so
long as he did not feel himself under an obligation to go on; but a promise
to finish took away his power to proceed.
The lot therefore upon which he had at last fallen, with all its privations
and disadvantages, gave probably the freest scope to his peculiar faculties
of which they were capable. Here his defects could do least injury to
himself or others; here his genius could bear its best fruit. His
wanderings were but transient eclipses. The shadow past, he came forth as
pure and bright as before. Never, perhaps, was a man who was so unlike
other men more justly appreciated by those among whom he lived. We doubt
whether they could have understood him half so well at Oriel. The breeze
which is so healthful and so refreshing in its native mountains would
spread consternation through the Combination Room; and Hartley's mind
flowed where it listed, obedient to the inner impulses, with little respect
for persons or places. What the tutors might have thought of it we do not
know; but the "untutored dales" were charmed with the various stream of his
talk, so singular yet so unaffected, so familiar yet so unvulgar, so full
of drollery yet so full of wisdom, so keen and pungent and yet so truly
genial, liberal, and humane. Those who never heard him talk will get the
best notion of his manner from the letters of Mrs. Thomas Blackburn
(pp.cxv. cxxxii.), who has the art of picturesque narration, and from whom
we should be glad to have a fuller reminiscence and a more complete
delineation. But no report of what he said can convey the effect, or even
the true meaning of his words, unless a notion could at the same time be
given of the rapid transitions of his eye and voice from boisterous mirth
to thoughfulness, tenderness, or sadness, as one idea called up another.
Therefore the peculiar charm of his conversation will probably live only in
tradition. It was not in his conversation however, only or chiefly, that
the real spell lay. It was his affectionate and large-hearted sympathy with
man, woman, and child, of whatever degree - his true delicacy and
generosity of nature - that endeared him to all hearts. Several years ago,
when some of his friends thought of asking him to visit them in the south
of England, the project being mentioned to Wordsworth, he strongly
disapproved of it: "It is far better for him," said he (we heard the words
ourselves), "to remain where he is, - where everbody knows him, and
everybody loves and takes care of him." What can we add to such
testimony from such a witness?
The literary produce of these later years, when all is gathered together,
will amount to something very considerable, both in quantity and quality.
The excitement of conversation did not exhaust, but rather stimulated him,
and he would often on returning from a party fall to his desk and continue
writing far into the night.
"The quantity, (says his brother, p.cxliv.) the variety, and I venture to
add the quality, of the thought which passed through his mind during these
latter years,
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judging only from his note-books and miscellaneous papers, and taking no
account of that which persihed with him, would surely have ranked him among
the most copious and most instructive, as well as the most delightful,
writers of his age, had he exerted the resolution or possessed the faculty
of combining his materials on any considerable scale or on any given plan.
The hope and intention of turning his literary talent to account in this
way he never ceased to cherish, and he was not wanting in exertion. He
mastered several modern languages, French, Italian, and German, which it
had not fallen in his way to acquire in youth. He had commenced the study
of Hebrew, expressly with a view to theological investigation, and had
begun to apply his knowledge, rudimental as it was, to good purposes. He
read and wrote incessantly; he made copious collections; the margins of his
books are filled with carefully-written annotations, evidently intended for
future use, to which in some few cases thay had been actually applied; but
by far the largest portion is unpublished. His note-books, which are very
numerous, and bear quaint names, are full of original matter, little cycles
of speculation, sometimes profound, often acute and sagacious, almost
always original and characteristic, but thrown together without an attempt
at method. There (sic) are always written in the first person, somewhat
after the manner of Montaigne, Even extracts from books, lexicography,
facts in natural history, &c. are interveined with something of his
own, and not unfrequently of himself."
From these note-books, &c. it is intended to publish a selection. We
hope it will be a copious one; for we expect to find in such dispersed
observations some of the very best fruits of his mind. We do not anticipate
the less from them, because they are desultory and without method. Thick
books are imposing things, and treatises which comprehend and exhaust the
subject they treat of have a value of their own; but in most cases the
reader has to pay for the completeness of the whole in an inferior
treatment of many parts. The thought which rises to the surface without
pressing, generally contains all the cream. And, after all, what worse name
do such scattered contemplations deserve that that of essays? Essays they
are, according to the true meaning of the word and truest use of the thing:
not prize essays, in which the writer labours to say all that can be said,
but natural essays, in which, without binding himself to any formal method,
he sets down whatever occurs to him as worthy of saying. From these
promised selections, therefore, we hope to derive new and important
evidence as to the scope and character of Hartley Coleridge's mind, and it
would be premature to attempt an estimate of it until they appear.*
We have expressed a hope that the selection will be copious. Let us hope
also that it will not be timid. He was a devout Christian, but a great foe
to sectarianism within the Church as well as without, and if he has spoken
his mind freely on the religious questions of the day, he must have said
much that neither Oriel nor Exeter Hall will willingly sanction. We trust
the editor will remember that he is not responsible for his
brother's opinions, but that he is responsible for giving a faithful
representation of them. The views of a devout layman, who has bound himself
by no articles, are very valuable just now; and the editor should consider
what his views were, not what will be thought of them.
As a poet, his character must be judged by the volumes before us, which
contain all he left which has been thought worth publishing. The peoms in
the first volume have been familiar to us for the last sixteen years; and,
as we find that our interest in them has not abated, we cannot doubt that
their worth is genuine and their
* Since this was written, the "Essays and Marginalia" have appeared,
in two volumes; the first consisting of papers formerly contributed to
magazines and annuals, with a few others found among the author's MSS.; the
seond, chiefly of notes written in margins of books; but some extracts from
the note-books are interspersed. These quicken our appetite for a second
selection, which is to follow "if the reception of the present volumes
justify the undertaking." Of this we trust there can be no doubt. The
Essays, though printed before, have lost none of their interest, and to
nine readers in ten are new. The Marginalia are all well worth preserving.
And the Note-books promise to be better still; for Hartley Coleridge,
naturally concise and pithy, writes best when he has most room.
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charm will last. We have left ourselves but little room to speak of them;
but they stand in no need of a lecturer to show them off. If we should
attempt indeed to fix their exact place in the scale of poetical merit we
should have to begin a long discussion. But why trouble ourselves to fix
their place? They advance no pretensions; they demand of no man to admire
them beyond their worth; but they have a beauty of their own, which those
who have a sense for it will feel at once, without being told why or how.
Only we will say, by way of warning, that Hartley Coleridge's excellence
lies, not in the creative, but in the reflective department of the
imagination. He reveals no new worlds; but he can set the profounder
emotions suggested by his own epxerience to a peculiar and delicate music;
and when a thought strikes him - an intellectual perception, which
if drily told in prose would be accepted as a fine and striking observation
- he can deck it out with a profusion of illustrative imagery, so apt, so
fanciful, and so graceful, that it becomes doubtful where the charm most
lies - in the sense, the sentiment, or the setting forth. We must content
ourselves with two or three specimens, taken almost at random, for the
variety of choice perplexes us.
First, however, let us hear his own estimate of his pretensions as a poet -
an estimate we have reason to believe contains his real and deliberate
judgment - before we form an opinion of our own:-
POIETES APOIETES.
No hope have I to live a deathless name,
A power immortal in the world of mind,
A sun to light with intellectual flame
The universal soul of human kind.
Not mine the skill in memorable phrase
The hidden truths of passion to reveal,
To bring to light the intermingling ways
By which unconscious motives darkling steal.
To show how forms the sentient heart affect,
How thoughts and feelings mutually combine,
How oft the pure impassive intellect
Shares the mischances of its mortal shrine.
Nor can I summon from the dark abyss
Of time the spirit of forgotten things,
Bestow unfading life on transient bliss -
Bid memory live "with healing on its wings."
Or give a substance to the haunting shades
Whose visitation shames our vulgar earth,
Before whose light the ray of morning fades,
And hollow yearning chills the soul of mirth.
I have no charm to renovate the youth
Of old authentic dictates of the heart -
To wash the wrinkles from the face of truth,
And out of nature form creative art.
Divinest poesy! 'tis thine to make
Age young - youth old - to baffle tyrant time;
From antique strains the hoary dust to shake,
And with familiar grace to crown new rhyme.
Long have I loved thee - long have I loved in vain,
Yet large the debt my spirit owes to thee.
Thou wreath'dst my first hours in a rosy chain,
Rocking the cradle of my infancy.
The lovely images of earth and sky
From thee I learnt within my soul to treasure,
And the strong magic of thy minstrelsy
Charms the world's tempest to a sweet sad measure,
Not fortune's spite, &c.
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Take next a sonnet, as an example of his moral vein:-
Pains have I known that cannot be again,
And pleasures to that never can be more.
For loss of pleasure I was never sore,
But worse, far worse it is, to feel no pain.
The throes and agonies of a heart explain
Its very depth of want at inmost core;
Prove that it does believe, and would adore,
And doth with ill for ever strive and strain.
I not lament for happy childish years,
For loves departed that have had their day,
Or hopes that faded when my head was grey;
For death hath left me last of my compeers;
But for the pain I felt, the gushing tears
I used to shed, when I had gone astray.
Vol.ii. p.7.
As an example of thought playing with fancy perhaps we cannot choose a
better than the lines on "Fairy Land:"-
My fairy land was never upon earth,
Nor in Heaven to which I hoped to go;
For it was always by the glimmering hearth,
When the last faggot gave its reddest glow,
And voice of eld waxed tremulous and low,
And the slow taper's intermittent light
Like a slow-tolling bell declared good night.
Then could I think of Peri and of Fay,
As if their deeds were things of yesterday.
I felt the wee maid in her scarlet hood,
Real as the babes that wandered in the wood.
And could as well believe a wolf could talk,
As that a man besides the babes could walk
With gloomy thoughts of murder in his brain;
And then I thought how long the lovely twain
Threaded the paths that wound among the trees,
And how at last they sank upon their knees,
And said their little prayers, as prettily
As e'er they said them at their mother's knee,
And went to sleep. I deemed them still asleep,
Clasped in each other's arms, beside a heap
Of fragrant leaves; so little then knew I
Of bare-bone famine's ghastley misery.
Yet could I weep and cry and sob amain
Because they never were to wake again.
But if 'twas said "they'll wake at the last day,"
Then all the vision melted quite away;
As from the steel the passing stain of breath,
So quickly parts the fancy from the faith.
And I thought the dear babes in the wood no more true
Than Red Ridinghood - aye, or the grim loup-garou
That the poor little maid for her granny mistook.
I knew they were both only tales in a book.
Vol.ii. p.173.
We cannot attempt to give samples of each variety of excellence which the
book exhibits, but we must make room for one specimen of the
playful-pathetic, which might be mistaken for Cowper:-
TO A CAT.
Nelly, methinks, 'twixt thee and me
There is a kind of sympathy;
And could we interchange our nature -
If I were cat, thou human creature -
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I should like thee, be no great mouser,
And thou, like me, no great composer;
For, like thy plaintive mews, my muse
With villanous whine doth fate abuse,
Because it hath not made me sleek
As golden down on Cupid's cheek;
And yet thou canst upon the rug lie,
Stretched out like snail, or curled up snugly,
As if thou wert not lean or ugly;
And I, who in poetic flights
Sometimes complain of sleepless nights,
Regardless of the sun in Heaven,
Am apt to dose till past eleven.
The world would just the same go round,
If I were hanged and thou wert drowned;
There is one difference, 'tis true,-
Thou dost not know it, and I do.
Vol.ii p.252.
Beautiful and touching as these poems are, we are by no means sure that the
editor is right in supposing that it as a poet that his brother will be
best remembered. He was a clear, earnest, and original thinker; and he
delivered his thoughts in a manner so perspicuous and lively, with a
peculiar humour of his own character so shining through, that his essays,
which would be worth studying for the sense they contain, though the style
were dull, are among the pleasantest things to read in the language. When
all are gathered together they will fill, we suppose, several
moderate-sized volumes. If so, and if we are not greatly mistaken as to the
quality of the volumes which are to come, we may surely (without raising
vain questions as to what he might have done if he had not been what he
was,) say that the last half of his life, though spent in cloud and shadow,
has not been spent in vain.
He died on the 6th of January, 1849, after a short illness, the consequence
of an attack of bronchitis. Wordsworth marked out a space for his grave,
next to the spot destined for his own, and they now lie side by side in the
quiet churchyard of Grasmere - all that was mortal of them. But
The sage, the poet, lives for all mankind,
So long as truth is true and beauty fair;
The soul that ever sought its God to find,
Has found him now - no matter how or where.
Vol.ii p.58.
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WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
Memoirs of William Wordsworth, Poet-laureate, D.C.L. By Christopher
Wordsworth, D.D. 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1851.
THE structure of these two volumes would alone exempt them from any very
rigid censorship, even if the biographer had played his part less
efficiently. For, as respects their substance, they may be regarded as a
testamentary annotation upon Wordsworth's poetry, and, as respects their
spirit, they are, in some measure, the swan-song of the revered bard whose
life and conversation they record. In his "Letter to a Friend of Burns,"
published many years ago, Mr. Wordsworth, among other profound observations
upon the duties of literary biography, maintained that "our sole business
in relation to authors is with their books - to understand and enjoy them."
He deprecated "Boswellism" in all its degrees; and were some chance to
bring to upper air "Memoirs of Horace and his contemporaries by a
Grammarian of the Augustan age," he, for his part, would regret rather than
welcome the waif from classical shores, as one likely "to disfigure with
incongruous features the beautiful ideal of those illustrious personages."
In the autumn of 1847, Mr. Wordsworth seems to have repeated these
sentiments to his present biographer, accompanying them with the desire
that he would prepare any personal notices requisite for the illustration
of his poems. Upon this request, as his guiding principle, Dr. Wordsworth
has acted in the composition of his uncle's memoirs, which are accordingly
to be viewed as a record of the poetic rather than of the personal history
of the deceased.
A biographical commentary upon Wordsworth's poems differs indeed but little
from an abstract and brief chronicle of his life. The author of the Lyrical
Ballads did not present to the world, as so many poets have done, a twofold
aspect - one in their books another in their actions and temperament. To
comprehend Milton thoroughly, his prose writings and the times in which he
lived must be studied. Byron and Gray are known better by their letters
than by their verse. From the Seasons we should not guess Thomson to be
profoundly indolent: or from the Task, Cowper to have been profoundly
humorous. But in Wordsworth there is little or none of this Janus aspect.
"He wrote," says his biographer, "as he lived, and he lived as he wrote.
His poetry had its heart in his life, and his life found a voice in his
poetry."
We must therefore presume, in the following notice of these Memoirs, upon
our readers having some acquaintance with Wordsworth's poems, as well as
some interest in their production and progress. The Memoirs and the
Poetical Works should, in fact, be open at the same time: for then, and
then only, will become completely apparent the consonance of the man and
the poet. Sophocles indeed did not more entirely reflect in his character
and genius the severity of the ethnic artist, dwelling apart from all
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disturbing forces in order that he might fully embody the statuesque pomp
of the Hellenic legend, than Wordsworth abstracted himself from the rougher
contacts of society in order that he might plenarily discharge his
functions as the interpreter and priest of external nature.
The principal documents employed in these memoirs are the poet's own
autobiographical dictations to an intimate female friend; brief sketches of
dates and facts for Dr. Wordsworth's instruction; a few of his uncle's
letters - strangely few indeed they would seem for a veteran in literature,
did we not learn from more than one of them that Wordsworth regarded his
pen and desk as scarcely preferable to an oar and bench in the galleys;
letters and memoranda contributed by his family and friends, among which
those of Mr. Justice Coleridge are particularly graphic; and, finally,
extracts from Miss Wordsworth's Journal, which for grace, expression, and
veracity, are the prominent gem, as well as the principal nucleus, of these
volumes. The poet's sister was indeed, in all respects, a most gifted and
admirable lady - worthy of the affectionate mention of her in her brother's
letters and conversation, worthy of the more permanent tribute of his
verse, and worthy of being held by all to whom his verse is precious in
reverent and grateful memory - a "clarum et venerabile nomen," wherever the
English language ministers to the instruction, the consolation, or the
imagination of mankind. She was the sister of his intellect, whose native
fervour and occasional ruggedness were tempered and refined by her superior
sensibility; she catered for his eye and ear at all seasons of travel or
seclusion; she was a consellor well fitted to advise in either fortune; she
was assured of his coming renown when the name of Wordsworth was almost
bandied about by the public as a bye-word; and her earnest faith was at
length rewarded by the increasing homage of his admirers and by the
certainty of his present and posthumous triumph.
We have so recently, in our notice of the "Prelude," surveyed the earlier
portions of Wordsworth's life, that, on this occasion, we shall merely
refer briefly to the favourable character of his education among mountains
and a people of simple yet picturesque manners, to the slight restraints of
his school-days, to his own active and hardy habits in boyhood, to the
unfavourable aspect which Cambridge presented to him, to his residence in
France, and to the absorbing interest he felt in the first French
Revolution. All these circumstances, indeed, are so fully and graphically
delineated in the "Prelude," that the reader, with that aurobiographical
poem and the Memoirs before him, would scarcely thank us for anticipating
or abridging so interesting a narrative of the life poetic. For
emphatically "poetic," as regards its plan and details, Wordsworth's
life deserves to be called. We doubt, if the ends and aims which he set
before himself be kept in view, whether a more consistent life was ever
led, or a happier or more honourable lot ever assigned to man. Chequered it
doubtless was by the ordinary accidents of mortality, by narrow means, by
hope deferreed, and by the visitations of death. But "against the ills
which the flesh is heir to," Wordsworth opposed a sterne heroism of content
which enabled him to mate and master poverty, disapppointment and
bereavement. And in his devotion to poetry as his vocation, there was
nothing emasculate; no merely selfish exaltation; no petty claims for
exemption from ordinary duties and courtesies. Even a propensity to speak
of himself and his writings was not in Wordsworth an appetite for praise or
a habit of self-complacency, so much as an unconscious betrayal of his
efforts to realise his superb ideal of the life-poetic.
From the moment when his poetic vocation became clear to himself,
Wordsworth's days were as uniform in their features as it is possible for
periods of time to be when environed by the accidents of mortality. His
naturally robust constitution was invigorated by rigid temperance:
"strength from wine," he says in one of his letters, "is good, but strength
from water is better." He lived much in the open air; and his daily feats
as a pedestrian would probably surpass the endurance of most men in these
days, when wheels would seem to have nearly supplanted the exercise of
legs. For a complete
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understanding of all the mysteries and all the majesty of the beautiful
land in which he dwelt, daily contemplation of nature under every aspect of
turbulence and repose was essential to the poet. His habits of composition
more nearly resembled those of an ancient Scald than of an English bard of
the nineteenth century. He went "booing" his verses, as his Cumbrian
neighbours phrased it, under solstice and equinox indifferently, and
through each intermediate change of the rolling seasons, over the
mountain-lawns and beside the mountain-torrents, in the heart of mists and
under the clear mirror of brumal frost, at earliest dawn when the
sheep-fold was opening, and when "Hesper issued forth from the fulgent
west." One day a stranger, having walked round the garden and grounds of
Rydal Mount, asked one of the female servants, who happened to be at the
door, permission to see her master's study. "This," said she, leading him
forward, "is my master's library, where he keeps his books; but his
study is out of doors." After long absences from home, his
cottage-neighbours would say, "Well, there he is; we are glad to hear him
'booing' about again." Long before the pen of the female inmates of his
household was called in requisition to transcribe, his murmured verse had
been poured forth, formed and polished; and could it, like Retif de la
Bretorme's novels, have been transferred at once to type, Wordsworth would
probably have left as few manuscripts as "blind Melesigenes" himself. Yet,
in despite of his method of composition, he was anything rather than an
improviser. At times, indeed, when forcibly impressed by new objects, or by
a familiar scene under unusual irradiation, the "divine afflatus" would
seize him, and he would pour forth streams of unpremeditated verse. But
these occasions were rare: and still more rarely were such impromptus
exposed to the public eye. As regarded harmony of sound, Wordsworth
describes himself as "an Epicurean." We should not have accorded him this
especial attribute, since his blank verse we think on the whole inferior to
Cowper's, and his lyrical poems occasionally display both laxity and
roughness of cadence. In one so devoted to his art, however, such
inequalities may have been as much the result of a theory as of haste or
negligence; and that they were not undesigned, but purposed breaks of
smoothness, is the more probable from their recurring most frequently in
the poems which he composed according to the doctrine of his critical
prefaces. In English poetry, Wordsworth was very deeply read. It was,
perhaps, his only very profound learning; and his "booing" was as often
bestowed upon repetition of favourite passages as upon original
composition. He had, however, studied critically the most artistic of the
Latin poets, and his poems entitles "Dion," and "Laodamia," and "Lycoris,"
afford abundant proofs that whatever his scholarship may have been, he
entered profoundly into the spirit of antiquity. But no verse had he so
deeply explored or would so willingly analyse in conversation as his own.
Vanity, we believe, had little or no share in this introspection of his own
productions. He had consciously aimed at, he had partially achieved, a
great revolution in poetic diction, and the purity of his own idiom, or the
truth and beauty of his own images, were the documents and title-deeds of
his claim to be a reformer of poesy.
Of comtemporary poets, indeed, Wordsworth seems to have spoken with but
cold approval, - always, indeed, with the exception of Coleridge, whom he
appears to us to overrate. Coleridge was endowed with the metrical faculty
in a very unusual measure, and, to speak in tripos-phrase, might be
bracketted with Fletcher for the sweetness and variety of his modulations.
In this respect Wordsworth was by no means equal to the author of
"Christabel," and accordingly by no unnatural inference ascribed to him
other poetic functions in proportion. Wordsworth thought that metaphysical
speculations had kept Coleridge from verse; but no poet was ever long
turned aside from his vocation, if the "mens divinior" were really part of
his being. The whole phalanx of school-men, banded with all the iterminable
squadrons of French and German metaphysics, would not drive Tennyson from a
single outpost. Scott, Southey, and Crabbe, receive very slender praise
from the oracle of Rydal Mount.
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list, Southey he accuses justly enough of a want of sympathy with the
dealings and the passions of men; yet, considering the qtr from which it
comes, the accusation is somewhat strange. Scott he describes as
unveracious in his representations of nature, and terms him a poet only to
the ear. Byron he could scarcely be expected to like, - for Wordsworth's
canons of composition had been fashioned in a very different school, and
were fixed ere Childe Harold, like a strong fever-fit, seized upon the
general mind. Of Keats we find nothing recorded; but we can imagine that
the liberties he took in "Endymion" with idiom, metre, and even words,
would offend so zealous a purist in style, as Mr. Wordsworth was, quite as
much as, by his own confession, Mr. Carlyle's prose aggrieved him. We were
agreeably surprised to find that Wordsworth thought Shelley "one of the
bests artists of us all; I mean in workmanship of style;" and were equally
amazed when we read his depreciation of Goethe. But, on this point, the
late Laureate was so pertinaciously heretical, that we must leave the
reader to wonder at his verdict, since we should speedily exhaust our
remaining columns by any attempt to move for a new trial.
To reviewers, and especially those who clothe their thoughts in blue and
yellow, Mr. Wordsworth bore no good will. He certainly had received some
shrewd thrusts from the craft, and the late Lord Jeffrey did not hold his
sword like a dancer. Nevertheless we cannot but think the poet "paulo
iniquior" when he speaks of the Edinburgh Aristarchus as having taken "a
perpetual retainer from his own incapacity to plead against my claims to
public approbation." In 1816 this little bravura was confined to the poet's
"Own Correspondent;" but by printing it in 1851 the editor has very
unnecessarily exposed it to public gaze. We presume that the "incapacity"
spoken of is confined to a supposed insensibilty in the critic to poetic
sensations. In any other sense the imputation is incredible even from a
victim under the scourge. But in his protest against critical asperities
Wordsworth overlooked more than one cause of the "retainer." He did not
sufficiently take into account that if he were not exactly a hardy
experimentalist he was at least commencing a very sweeping reform in
poetry. Since the lasts chords of Milton's harp had sounded, poetry had
been too much the creature of books and artificial life. Among Wordsworth's
own contemporaries it had assumed new vigour and alacrity, but it was a
dramatic energy with which for the most part he had little sympathy. In the
applause which he bestows upon his successor in the laureateship, he
discloses unconsciously the secret of his own early unpopularity.
"Tennyson," he writes in 1845, "is decidedly the first of our living poets.
You will be pleased to hear that he expressed in the strongest terms his
gratitude to my writings. To this I was far from indifferent, though
persuaded that he is not much in sympathy with what I should myself most
value in my attempts, viz. the spirituality with which I have endeavoured
to invest the material universe, and the moral relations under which I have
wished to exhibit its most ordinary appearances." Now at once to "call upon
the age to quit its clogs," to withold its admiration from Scott and
Campbell and Byron - for such, virtually, was Wordsworth's demand - was a
kind of poetical "stand and deliver," for which the said public was by no
means prepared. And when this summons was followed by a request to see with
Wordsworth's eyes and to hear with his ears, if people aspired to any skill
in the moral intimations of nature, it is not surprising that both critics
and readers turned refractory and demanded their preremptory monitor's
credentials. Dr. Wordsworth makes heavy complaints of the wrongs inflicted
upon his uncle by men who had never studied his art with any earnestness,
and who therefore had no rights to dictate to him. And on the heel of his
complaints he preaches a sermon to future critics, warning them, on the one
hand, against rash judgments, and the "pensive public," on the other,
against following such false shepherds. This may be good counsel: but it is
of the kind which will never be acted upon. For to the end of poetic time
the genuine poet will not be welcomed with instantaneous acclaim, but must
discipline his
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age to his teaching. His triumph over adverse days and tongues is the very
truth that his mission is authentic: as, on the contrary, the facility of
his early progress is generally a token that he is fashioned for the hour
and not for the ages. For has not the reverend author of "Satan" passed
through more editions than the "Lyrical Ballads," and in one fourth of the
time? And does not "The Christian Year," from causes independent of poetry,
number impressions by ten, where "The Excursion" counts them by units?
Like so many of his distinguished friends and contemporaries, Wordsworth's
political opinions underwent in the course of years a considerable change.
He entered manhood a republican, and in his senescence was a strenuous
advocate of Church and State doctrines, greatly to the satisfaction of his
nepotal biographer. We are however far from convinced that this revolution
in sentiment was as complete as the latter represents it. Wordsworth,
indeed, was opposed to the concession of the Catholic claims to the Reform
Bill, to any large amount of popular education, and to the release of
manufacturing interests from their peculiar burdens. But in what portions
of his uncle's writings can Dr. Wordsworth discover any abstract reverence
for mere antiquity in institutions, or any particular sympathy with the
higher classes of society? The attempt indeed to prove the total conversion
of the poet to the faith of Oxford and the Carlton Club is singularly lame
and impotent, although to substantiate it the Doctor has burdened his
volumes with long extracts from obsolete pamphlets by his uncle about
Cintra, and the Westmoreland elections, and the Catholic claims. Neither
these citations, however, nor all the biographer's sermonising, will
persuade the public that Wordsworth's changes of opinion on politics,
education, and Church discipline, were uniformly improvements; that, for
example, his letter to Mr. Rose (in his second volume, p.190) is conceived
in a healthier and nobler vein than his letter to Mr. Fox (in his first
volume, p.166); or that his pamphelts will extract the sting of lofty and
liberal hopes for mankind out of the "Prelude" and "Sonnets to Liberty."
Such changes of sentiment are intelligible enough. Ardent minds begin "in
joy and gladness" to speculate upon the improvement and elevation of their
fellow-men. But when they set themselves earnestly to remove the "time's
abuse," they are met, on the one hand, by apathy, or, on the other, by
direct opposition. Some ruder plan of reform finds favour with the
multitude, and the effect upon spirits of nobler mould is too often
despondency, and enforced acquiescence in unamended institutions, or a
growing distaste for remedies proposed. Political reformers too are mostly
cut out of sterner stuff than that which goes to the composition of poets
and philosophers. Even Mackintosh faltered before, while Burke recoiled
from, the "rushing mighty wind" that winnowed the institutions of the last
and the present century. In Wordswoth's circumstances there were other
causes for indifference to progress and for acquiescence "in the things
that be." He was drinking deeply of the calm with which external nature and
contemplation brood upon the spirit of the student. Systematically, and in
quest of high and holy thought, he had almost secluded himself from the
world. Its ruder sounds alone pierced the loop-holes of his retreat: the
compensations which political change brings with it were not presented to
his eyes; and at the distance from which he surveyed the conflict between
the past and the present, he may well have mistaken the steady breeze for a
howling tempest. In matters appertaining to religion, again, Dr. Wordsworth
is too much of the ritualist and the schoolman to enter very cordially into
the poet's faith in the power of the human will and intellect - nay, he
once goes very near to tax his relative with Pelagianism! In short, could
their respective positions have been reversed, and the biographer have
trained the poet in the way he would have had him go, we might have
rejoiced in the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," but we must have lacked the
"Lyrical Ballads," and in place of the large and lofty "Excursion" have
been favoured with a Church and State poem, which Oxford would have
commended, and the rest of the world would have shelved with
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"Tracts for the Times" and "Commentaries upon the Apocalypse."
We have now arrived at the pleasanter part of our task. Most reluctantly we
have differed from many of the opinions which Dr. Wordsworth has thought
fit it express in these Memoirs of his illustrious relative. In despite of
that difference however we thank him for the volumes now before us. He has
piously, if not always discreetly, acted upon the poet's wish to be known
by his works alone, and has furnished the public with a very useful
commentary upon those works. Of Wordsworth himself it is scarcely possible
to speak with too much reverence. His integrity as a man, his sincerity as
an artist, his exemption from the passions which so often deform, and from
the follies which so often degrade, men of genius, his honourable poverty,
his studious energy, his almost scriptural simplicity of life, and
demeanour, invest, perhaps beyond any poet of the present century, with
claims to the homage of his countrymen. We have already remarked that the
proper employment of these Memoirs is to serve as a running commentary upon
Wordsworth's poems. We shall now accordingly avail ourselves of their
contents to illustrate, so far as our remaining space permits, the
character of the poet by extracts relating to his habits of life, of
thought, and composition.
The following passages from Wordsworth's memoranda exemplify the structure
of his poems.
Speaking of the poem "We are Seven," he says:-
"This was written at Alfoxden, in Somersetshire, in the spring of 1798,
under circumstances somewhat remarkable. The little girl, who is the
heroine, I met with in the area of Goderich Castle, in the year 1793.
"I composed it while walking in the grove at Alfoxden. I composed the last
stanza first, having begun with the last line. When it was all but finished
I came in and recited it to Mr. Coleridge and my sister, and said, 'A
prefatory stanza must be added, and I should sit down to our little
tea-meal with greater pleasure if my task was finished.' I mentioned in
substance what I wished to be expressed, and Coleridge immediately threw
off the stanza thus:
A little child, dear brother Jem.
I objected to the rhyme 'dear brother Jem,' as being ludicrous; but we all
enjoyed the joke of hitching in our friend James Tobin's name, who was
familiarly called Jem. He was the brother of the dramatist. The said Jem
got a sight of the 'Lyrical Ballads,' as it was going to press at Bristol,
during which time I was residing in that city. One evening he came to me
with a grave face, and said, 'Wordsworth, I have seen the volume that
Coleridge and you are about to publish. There is one poem in it which I
earnestly entreat you will cancel, for, if published, it will make you
everlastingly ridiculous.' I answered that I felt much obliged by the
interest he took in my good name as a writer, and begged to know what was
the unfortunate piece he alluded to. He said 'It is called, We are
Seven,' 'Nay,' said I, 'that shall takes its chance, however;' and he
left me in despair."
The Idiot Boy. - Alfoxden, 1798.
"The last stanza, 'The cocks did crow, and the moon did shine so cold,' was
the foundation of the whole. The words were reported to me by my dear
friend Thomas Poole; but I since heard the same reported of other idiots.
Let me add, that this long poem was composed in the groves of Alfoxden,
almost extempore; not a word, I believe, being corrected, though one stanza
was omitted. I mention this in gratitude to those happy moments, for, in
truth, I never wrote anything with so much glee."
"Peter Bell was founded upon an anecdote which I had read in a
newspaper of an ass being found hanging his head over a canal, in a
wretched posture. Upon examination a dead body was found in the water, and
proved to be the body of its master. In the woods of Alfoxden I used to
take great delight in noticing the habits, tricks, and physiognomy of
asses; and I have no doubt that I was put upon writing the poem of 'Peter
Bell' out of liking for the creature that is so often dreadfully abused.
The countenance, gait, and figure of Peter were taken from a wild rover
with whom I walked from Builth, on the river Wye, downwards, nearly as far
as the town of Hay. He told me strange stories. It has always been a
pleasure to me, through life, to catch at every opportunity that has
occured in my rambles of becoming acquainted with this class of people. The
number of Peter's wives was taken from the trespasses, in this way, of a
lawless creature who lived in the county of Durham, and used to be attended
by many women, sometimes not less than half-a-dozen as disorderly as
himself;
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and a story went in the country, that he had been heard to say while they
were quarelling, 'Why can't you be quiet, there's none so many of you?'
Benoni, or the child of sorrow, I knew when I was a school-boy. His mother
had been deserted by a gentleman in the neighbourhood, she herself being a
gentlewoman by birth. The crescent moon, which makes such a figure in the
prologue, assumed this figure one evening while I was watching its beauty
in front of Alfoxden House. The worship of the Methodists or Ranters is
often heard during the stillness of the summer evening, in the country,
with affecting accompaniments of rural beauty. In both the psalmody and
voice of the preacher there is, not infrequently, much solemnity likely to
impress the feelings of the rudest characters under favourable
circumstances."
We have mentioned already the salutary influence which Miss Wordsworth's
genius exercised upon her brother's mind. He was scarcely less fortunate in
the character and sympathy of his brother John, a captain in the East India
Company's service. John Wordsworth had been sent early to sea, and his
education had been the common training of nautical men fifty years ago. But
he was a man of earnest aspirations for knowledge and of the most active
and tender sensibilities. Like their sister, he felt no misgivings as to
his brother's future fame, and contributed, as far as lay in his power, to
secure for him the exemeptions from professional labour which his devotion
to the one object poetry required, or was supposed to require.
"It had been," says his nephew, "Captain Wordsworth's intention," after one
more voyage to the East, "to settle at Grasmere, and to devote the surplus
of his fortune (for he was not married) to his brother's use; so as to set
his mind entirely at rest, that he might be able to pursue his poetical
labours with undivided attention." But in February 1805 this fair prosepct
was at once destroyed by the wreck of his ship, the Abergavenny
East-Indiaman, on the shambles of the Bill of Portland. "A few minutes
before the ship went down Captain Wordsworth was seen talking with the
first mate, with apparent cheerfulnss; and he was standing on the hen-coop,
which is the point from which he could overlook the whole ship, the moment
she went down, dying, as he had lived, in the very place and point where
his duty stationed him." The elements of the character of "Wordsworth's
Happy Warrior" were many of them taken from this excellent brother. In 1801
Captain Wordsworth thus wrote to a friend respecting his brother's Lyrical
Ballads.
"I do not think that William's poetry will become popular for some time to
come; it does not suit the present taste. I was in company the other
evening with a gentleman who had read the 'Cumberland Beggar.' 'Why,' says
he, 'this is very pretty; but you may call it anything but poetry.' The
truth is, few people read poetry; they buy it for the name, read about
twenty lines, the langauge is very fine, and they are content with praising
the whole. Most of William's poetry improves upon the second, third, or
fourth reading. Now, people, in general are not sufficiently interested to
try a second reading."
In another letter, from which our limits will not permit us to extract, the
same prediction is repeated in even stronger terms. Captain Wordsworth's
love of nature, and his study, during his long voyages, of the elder
English bards, has imparted to him a prescience in which, at the time, he
had few copartners.
From the following passage in Miss Wordsworth's Journal we learn the origin
of her brother's exquisite poem,
Sweet highland girl, a very shower
Of beauty is thy earthly dower! &c.
"When we were beginning to descend the hill towards Loch Lomond we overtook
two girls, who told us we could not cross the ferry till evening, for the
boat was gone with a number of people to church. One of the girls was
exceedingly beautiful; and the figures of both of them, in grey plaids
falling to their feet, their faces only being uncovered, excited our
attention before we spoke to them; but they answered us so sweetly that we
were quite delighted, at the same time they stared at us with an innocent
look of wonder. I think I never heard the English language sounds more
sweetly than from the mouth of the elder of these two girls, while she
stood at the gate answering our inquiries, her face flushed with the rain;
her pronunciation was clear and distinct, with difficulty, yet slow, as if
like a
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foreign speech. They told us that we might sit in the ferry-house till the
return of the boat, went in with us, and made a good fire as fast as
possible to dry our wet clothes. We were glad to be housed with our feet
upon a warm hearth-stone, and our attendants were so active and good
humoured that it was pleasant to have to desire them to do anything. The
elder made me think of Peter Bell's Highland girl:-
As light and beauteous as a squirrel, As beauteous and as wild."
In the next extract we find the genesis of a very important portion
of Wordsworth's poetry:-
"In the cottage of Town End, one afternoon in 1801, my sister read to me
the Sonnets of Milton. I had long been well acquainted with them, but I was
particularly struck on that occasion with the dignified simplicity and
majestic harmony that runs through most of them - in character so totally
different from the Italian, and still more so from Shakspeare's fine
sonnets. I took fire, if I may be allowed to say so, and produced three
sonnets the same afternoon, the first I ever wrote, except an irregular one
at school. Of these three the only one I distinctly remember is 'I grieved
for Bonaparte,' &c. one of the others was never written down; the
third, which was I believe preserved, I cannot particularise."
And in a sentence or two from a letter of recollections of a Tour in Italy
in 1837, addressed to the editor by Wordsworth's accomplished friend Mr. H.
C. Robinson, we have a glimpse of the manner in which objects of universal
interest brought to his mind absent objects dear to him:-
"When we were on that noble spot, the amphitheatre at Nismes, I observed
his eyes were fixed in a direction where there was least to be seen; and,
looking that way, I beheld two very young children at play with flowers;
and I overheard him say to himself, 'Oh! you darlings, I wish I could put
you in my pocket and carry you to Rydal Mount."
With one more specimen of Mr. Wordsworth's studies we must bring
this portion of our extracts to a close -
"I have been often asked," writes Mr. Robinson, in the letter from which we
have just cited, "whether Mr. W. wrote anything on the journey, and my
answer has always been 'Little or nothing.' Seeds were cast into the earth,
and they took root slowly. This reminds me that I once was privy to the
conception of a sonnet, with a distinctness which did not once occur on the
longer Italian journey. This was when I accompanied him into the Isle of
Man. We had been drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Cookson, and left them when
the weather was dull. Very soon after leaving them we passed the church
tower of Bala Sala. The upper part of the tower had a sort of frieze of
yellow lichens. Mr. W. pointed it out to me and said 'It's a perpetual
sunshine.' I thought no more of it till I read the beautiful sonnet,
Broken in fortune, but in mind entire;
and then I exclaimed, I was present at the conception of this sonnet, at
least of the combination of thought out of which it arose."
We have already observed Wordsworth's willingness to make his own writings
the subject of discourse and even piercing disquisition. He was, however, a
generous and even profound critic of the works of others; and the following
remarks are at once valuable in themselves and characteristic of their
author. They are selected from many more of equal worth which the reader
will find in the sixty-third chapter of the second volume. His observations
upon Homer anticipate briefly some of the most genial paragraphs in Colonel
Mure's recent history of Greek literature.
"The first book of Homer appears to be independent of the rest. The
character of Achilles seems to me one of the grandest ever conceived. There
is something awful in it, particularly in the circumstance of his acting
under an abiding foresight of his own death. One day, conversing with Payne
Knight and Uvedale Price concerning Homer, I expressed my admiration of
Nestor's speech, as eminently natural, where he tells the Greek leaders
that they are mere children in comparison with the heroes of
old whom he had known. 'But,' said Knight and Price, 'that
passage is spurious!' However, I will not part with it, it is interesting
to compare the same characters (Ajax, for instance) as treated by Homer,
and then afterwards by the Greek dramatists, and to mark the difference of
handling. In the plays of Euripedes, politics come in as a disturbing
force; Homer's characters act on physical impulse. I admire Virgil's high
moral tone; for instance, that sublime 'Aude, hospes, contemnere opes,'
&c. and 'His dantem jura Catonem!' What courage and independence of
spirit is there! There is
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nothing more imaginative and awful than the passage
Arcades ipsum
Credunt se vidisse Jovem," &c.
"In describing the weight of sorrow and fear on Dido's mind, Virgil shews
great knowledge of human nature, especially in that exquisite touch of
feeling,
Hoc visum nulli, non ipsi effata sorori."
"The ministry of confession is provided to satisfy the natural desire for
some relief from the load of grief. Here, as in so many other respects, the
Church of Rome adapts herself with consummate skill to our nature, and is
strong by our weakness."
"I cannot account for Shakspeare's low estimate of his own writings, except
from the sublimity, the super-humanity, of his genius. They were infinitely
below his conception of what they might have been and ought to have been."
"The mind often does not think when it thinks that it is thinking. If we
were to give our whole soul to anything, as the bee does to the flower, I
conceive there would be little difficulty in any intellectual enjoyment.
Hence there is no excuse for obscurity in writing."
"One of the noblest things in Milton is the description of that sweet quiet
morning in the 'Paradise Regained,' after that terrible night of howling
wind and storm. The contrast is divine."
"The works of the old English dramatists are the gardens of our language."
"The influence of Locke's Essay was not due to its own merits, which are
considerable; but to external circumstances. It came forth at a happy
opportunity, and coincided with the prevalent opinions of the time. The
Jesuit doctrines concerning the Papal power in deposing kings, and
absolving subjects from their allegiance , had driven some Protestant
theologians to take refuge in the theory of the divine right of kings. This
theory was unpalatable to the world at large, and others invented the more
popular doctrine of a social contract in its place; a doctrine which
history refutes. But Locke did what he could to accomodate this principle
to his own system."
"The Tragedy of Othello, Plato's records of the last scenes of the career
of Socrates, and Isaac Walton's Life of George Herbert, are the most
pathetic of human compositions."
The biographical details of these volumes are so few in number and so
little varied in character that we have not attempted to abridge them, and
in the foregoing remarks have nearly confined ourselves to the
consideration of the memoir as a commentary on the words of Wordsworth. A
few changes of abode, frequent wanderings in Great Britain, occasional
tours on the continent, a ceaseless round of study in the open air, and
reading the best books at home, family duties and pleasures, the
cultivation and improvement of his plot of ground at Rydal Mount, and the
society of wise and good men, compose the simple yet noble annals of the
self-sustained and art-devoted poet. His honours accumulated with increase
of age; and it was no ordinary addition to the claims of the late Sir
Robert Peel to his country's gratitude that he was mainly instrumental in
procuring for Southey his second and larger pension, and for Wordsworth the
laureate wreath as the visible crown and consummation of the "unfading
bays" he had already earned for himself. Dr. Wordsworth's memoirs of his
relative are sufficient for immediate purposes; with some defects, which we
have freely exposed, they present us with a faithful outline of their
original. But the lives of both Southey and Wordsworth remain to be
written, and, perhaps,cannot be written satisfactorily until a generation
or two have passed away. We will conclude our account of the volumes before
us with Wordsworth's touching reflections, in a letter to an American
correspondent, upon his own survivorship among the poets of his generation.
"My absence from home was not of more than three weeks. I took the journey
to London solely to pay my respects to the Queen upon my appointment to the
laureateship upon the decease of my friend Mr. Southey. The weather was
very cold, and I caught an inflammation in one of my eyes, which rendered
my stay in the south very uncomfortable. I nevertheless did, in respect to
the object of my journey, all that was required. The reception given me by
the Queen at her ball was most gracious. Mrs. Everett, the wife of your
minister, among many others, was a witness to it, without knowing who I
was. It moved her to the shedding of tears. This effect was on part
produced, I suppose, by American habits of feeling, as pertaining to a
republican government. To see a gray-haired man of seventy-five years
kneeling down in a large assembly to kiss the hand of a young woman is a
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sight for which institutions essentially democratic do nor prepare a
spectator of either sex, and must naturally place the opinions on which the
republic is founded, and the sentiments which support it, in strong
contrast with a government based and upheld as ours is. I am not,
therefore, suprised that Mrs. Everett was moved, as she herself described
to persons of my acquaintance, among others to Mr. Rogers the poet. By the
by, of this gentleman, now, I believe, in his eighty-third year, I saw more
than any other person except my host, Mr. Moxon, while I was in London. He
is singularly fresh and strong for his years, and his mental faculties
(with the exception of his memory a little), not at all impaired. It is
remarkable that he and the Rev. W. Bowles were both distinguished as poets
when I was a school-boy, and they have survived almost all their eminent
contemporaries, several of whom came into notice long after them. Since
they became known Burns, Cowper, Mason, the author of 'Caractacus' and
friend of Gray, have died. Thomas Warton, laureate, then Byron, Shelley,
Keats, and, a good deal later, Scott, Coleridge, Crabbe, Southey, Lamb, the
Ettrick shepherd, Cary, the translator of Dante, Crowe, the author of
Lewesdon Hill, and others of more or less distinction, have disappeared.
And now, of English poets advanced in life, I cannot recall any but James
Montgomery, Thomas Moore, and myself who are living, except the
octogenarian with whom I began."
The list of eminent departed contemporary poets would have been complete if
the name of Felicia Hemans had not escaped for the moment the recollection
of the venerable survivor.
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NOTES OF A TOUR ALONG THE ROMAN WALL.
BY CHARLES ROACH SMITH, F.S.A.
MR. URBAN,
AS the Roman Wall has been lately brought before your readers in a review
of the Rev. J. C. Bruce's volume on that remarkable work, and as the
subject is one of real national importance, invested with novel interest by
the popular manner in which it has been treated by the author of the book
referred to, I venture to offer you the result of a tour I have recently
made along the line of the remains, in company of the Rev. Mr. Bruce and
Mr. E. B. Price.
Although the brief space of one week was all the time I could afford to an
investigation which would well have repaid a much more extended survey, I
was enabled practically to test the accuracy of Mr. Bruce's examination, to
derive the greatest assistance from his labours (taking his book as my
guide), and to concur with him in the conclusions to which his researches
have led, as to the period at which this gigantic fortification was
constructed. Much is due to Mr. Bruce for the honest and earnest manner in
which he has collated the testimony of preceding writers, and compared it
with existing remains, following the wall step by step, and only diverging
when it was necessary to seek in private collections inscriptions and
monuments which had in past times been discovered in the district, and
which so materially serve in support of his main argument, which is that
the wall and the great earthworks, running parallel on the north and south,
were not constructed, as has generally been supposed, at different times,
but that they were conceived and executed at one and the same period,
namely, during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.
Camden, Stukeley, Horsley, Hodgson, and others who have preceded Mr. Bruce,
have zealously laboured on this classic ground. To the last mentioned
historian belongs the credit of smoothing the path of the present
generation of antiquaries, and of guiding them along the entire line of the
wall, by easy stages, from Wallsend to Bowness. Such an index as his book
was wanted; for, although the student by his fireside could read and study
the inscriptions collected by Horsley and others, the tourist must
necessarily have passed by many interesting localities, and many portions
of the wall itself, and have been ignorant of the whereabouts of numerous
remains, which have luckily been preserved in private mansions, had he not
been furnished with the details given by Mr. Bruce. Now, with this book in
his pocket, with time at his command, and a moderate share of strength of
constitution, he may study, as it can only properly be studied, the
grandest and most valuable in the entire range of our ancient national
monuments.
It is quite impossible to convey by the most elaborate description a
correct notion of this stupendous undertaking. The mere wall itself,
extending from sixty to seventy miles, of the width of from ten to twelve
feet, and of the probable height of from fifteen to twenty feet, forms only
a portion of the picture which the mind has to frame of the work in its
original state.
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list, The ground chosen by the Romans to separate Britain from the
barbarian tribes of the north is a tract of high land, often mountainous
and precipitous, intercepted by ravines or gaps, as they are now
called, rivers, and marshes. With consummate engineering skill the vast
natural difficulties of the rugged district have been conquered; no crag or
hill turns aside the progress of the great mural defence; upon the steepest
heights the stones are as nicely squared and cemented as upon the lower
level ground, and the labour of the workmen has in no instance been spared
by the use of materials close at hand, for the stones were quarried at a
considerable distance from the wall, and brought up hills and precipices by
manual force to preserve a unity of construction. The vallum, a deep ditch,
runs alongside, and is only interrupted where steep cliffs render it
needless. In one place this vallum is formed out of a solid rock, and the
huge masses of stone lie upon its banks as if some superhuman agency had
ploughed through the rock and shivered it into pieces, as the plough in the
hands of the ploughman turns up a furrow in a field. We are as yet only
upon the threshold of contemplation. Military stations (castra),
mile-castles (castella), and watch-towers, flank the wall throughout
its course. They are the stationes linei valli, the stations of the
line of the wall, of the Notitia. in them were qtred bodies of
auxiliary troops, chiefly foreigners, who in numerous inscriptions have
left traces of their abode over a long period of time. In the
castella were placed smaller bodies of troops; while the
watch-towers, of more circumscribed dimensions, were guarded as outposts by
detachments renewed daily from the adjoining stations. A scheme so grand
and extensive was the conception of a master mind; its accomplishment and
maintenance through two centuries, in the face of hostile and warlike
people, and in a climate which must have proved even more destructive to
soldiers from the south than the weapons of the enemy, impress us with
admiration of the discipline, the fortitude, and the enthusiasm which held
together for so long a period so extensive an empire. The scenes of blood
and violence which are suggested by conquest are softened by the reflection
that in the wake of the sword followed the benign influence of order, laws,
arts, and civilization.
A survey of the great wall and its military appendages is absolutely
necessary before we can obtain a clear insight into the state of Britain
during the Roman occupation. Everything which remains, throughout this
northern tract, is more or less of a military character. From the Tyne to
the Solway the constructions bespeak the purposes for which they were
erected, and the inscriptions are usually more or less relating to soldiers
and military matters. The castra and the subsidiary forts are
guarded by strong walls void of decoration or ornament. The domestic
villas, spacious and well constructed for counteracting the rigours of long
winters, present none of the refinements of luxury to be noticed in those
of the middle and southern parts of Britain. The beautiful tessellated
pavements which adorned the towns and villas of the peaceful and
undisturbed parts of Britain are no where to be met with; but in their
stead the floors are composed of large slabs of smoothed stone laid in
cement upon square columns of stone masonry of the most substantial kind.
Cilurnum, now Walwick Chesters, the seat of the Messrs. Clayton,*
offers the first example of the internal arrangements of one of the
stations upon the line of the wall. A suite of at least ten rooms has been
here laid open. The
* I cannot name these gentlemen without acknowledging the very
courteous and kind attentions we received from them during our tour of the
Wall. By their friendly services we were enabled to inspect comfortably and
leisurely some of the most important localities and monuments. The
antiquarian intelligence, classical learning, and liberality of Mr. John
Clayton is gracefully recorded by Mr. Bruce in the dedication of his book.
Mr. Nathaniel Clayton, the elder brother, will not, I hope, be offended by
my introducing here a reminiscence of his schoolfellow, Lord Byron, which
[continued on p.385] my fellow-traveller, Mr. Price, has identified as
applied to him: "Clayton was another school-monster of learning, and
talent, and hope; but what has become of him I do not know. He was
certainly a genius." - Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron, page 21.
Murray, 1838.
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floor of one of the largest of these is supported by no less than
forty-eight columns of masonry of about two feet square; another room has
twenty-four; in a third the floor is laid upon pillars of tiles
interspersed with some of stone, a few of which had apparently previously
joined the capitals of columns in some decayed or destroyed building; the
floors are composed of large slabs of stone. These apartments were heated
by hypocausts, and many of them have been provided with double doors.
The houses both here and at Borcovicus are pretty clearly indicated in the
pasturage, and it would be raising expectation too high or promising too
much were I to say that, as at both these great stations the foundations of
the buildings appear to have been undisturbed, it is probable pretty
correct plans of the entire distribution of the areas might be obtained by
excavations. On the outside of these castra, chiefly on the south,
were villas and houses, indications of which are so numerous as to warrant
our using the terms villages and towns. Beyond these are the burial-places,
where the greater part of the inscriptions are found. It is in these
memorials we read much of the history of the places. To cite, for example,
one found at Chesters many years ago. It commemorates the restoration of a
temple, which had become decayed through age, by soldiers of the second
wing of the Astures, a people of Spain, in the time of Elagabalus, under
the consulate of Gratus and Seleucus, answering to our A.D. 221. Now
upwards of one hundred years after this date we find the same wing of the
the Astures located here, a coincidence between the Notitia and
inscriptions which occurs frequently along the line of the wall. The great
importance of monuments such as these must beget a desire that the stations
on the line of the wall should be thoroughly excavated, as it is more than
probable there are numerous inscribed stones still remaining buried,
especially when it is considered that those hitherto discovered were
brought to light through accidental circumstances, and not from intentional
research. At Chesters Mr. Clayton has preserved numerous interesting
remains discovered there and at Housesteads. The following mutilated
inscription is worthy of notice, as recording a soldier of Pannonia
(Dagvaldus) and a female, Pusinna, probably a near relative:
D. M.
.. DAGVALD . MI ..
.. PAN . VIXIT . A ..
.. PUSINNA ..
.. XXIT . VI .
Few travellers will be induced to seek the eastern terminus of the wall in
the busy scene of Wallsend, the site of Segdunum, where but little either
of the Roman wall or the station is to be seen above ground. The site of
the latter is, however, with some difficulty to be traced upon the brow of
a rising ground overlooking the Tyne, like that of Lymne in Kent, in
relation to the Romney marshes. From Wallsend to Newcastle every stone has
been removed for cottages and houses; but the foundation of the wall still
obstructs the plough, and by means of its accompanying vallum its course
can still be traced almost up to Newcastle. Westward, therefore, from this
great and populous town the antiquary will probably commence his tour of
the wall. He must first be apprised that for nineteen miles the wall has
been levelled by order of the Government to form a high road, and that, for
this extent, with some few exceptions caused by the obstructions of
farm-houses, hills, and other impediments, the modern road is constructed
upon the foundations of the wall. Walking in the centre of the road he may
detect the facing stones of the Roman structure on his right and left. This
great legalised piece of vandalism throws into the shade a century of petty
pilferings and almost makes venial a thousand acts of destruction
perpetuated by ignorant individuals. It is in this district where
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the wall has been so effectually pulled down that Mr. Bruce's volume is
particularly useful, enabling the traveller to recognize the sites of
stations which he must else necessarily pass by without noticing, for they
are now either covered with the greensward or with the annual produce of
the husbandman. Condercum, the third station of the line, adjoins the
village of Benwell, about two miles from Newcastle. Here was found among
others a dedicatory inscription to the Matres Campestres and the genius of
the first wing of the Astures, on the restoration of a temple. The
inscription also confirms the Notitia, in which valuable muster-roll we
find this body of troops stationed at Condercum. At East Denton, a little
beyond Benwell, the first glimpse of a fragment of the wall is to be seen
on the left of the road. This and a few more similar vestiges have been
preserved, owing to some insurmountable obstructions having caused the
engineers of the Government road to swerve a little from the straight line.
All along the course of the wall the traveller may recognize the facing
stones worked into walls of modern houses. Indeed it is not exaggeration to
say that most of the farm-houses and villages are almost wholly constructed
of Roman materials taken either from the wall itself or from the stations
and their buildings. A close examination of every house, stable, cow-shed,
and hut on the line would doubtless repay the search for inscribed stones,
as some of the most important we now possess have been recovered from such
"vile uses;" others still continually detected, while it is known from
experience that altars and votive tablets are often built up in the houses
with the inscribed sides concealed. At West Denton, Mr. G. Clayton Atkinson
pointed out to us in his garden wall an inscription which he had discovered
a short time previous to our visit, recording the termination of an
allotment of work in the construction of the great wall by a body of
soldiers under the command of one Julius Primus. Similar commemorations are
to be noticed at intervals throughout the entire line. At Rutchester, a
little beyond the eighth mile-stone, we observed in a wall part of a
sepulchral inscription and a stone inscribed COH. VI. APRILIS, in two
lines, with the usual centurial mark prefixed to the word Aprilis.
Rutchester is supposed to be the Vindobala of the Notitia, where a chort of
the Frisians* was located. Here were found a few years since by the
tenant of the property while searching for building materials, the four
altars published by Mr. Bell and the late Mr. Hodgson, in the Archaeologia
AEliana, vol.iv. They are exceedingly interesting as referring to the
prevalence in Britain of the worship of Mithras, to whom a temple was also
erected at Vindabala. The dedications commence severally "Deo Soli
Invicto," "Deo Invicto Mythrae," "Soli Apollini," and "Deo," simply; the
last having been dedicated by a soldier of the sixth legion.† Mr.
Bell considers that if further search were made other inscriptions would
probably be found.
Rutchester is the scene of one of the amusing incidents in Hutton's
pedestrian Tour of the Wall, made at the commencement of the present
century, in a spirit of enthusiasm, and with a physical energy, seldom
united in a man of eighty years. His personal appearance often subjected
him to suspicion in the inmates of the few and scattered houses of this
wild district, but good humour and a little philosophy soon dispelled
distrust, and the veteran, if he had some difficulty in making his object
understood, usually succeeded in leaving friends behind him. Our friend and
companion, who, in his more laborious researches tested the hospitality of
the inhabitants of the farmhouses and cottages, observes, "there is
scarcely a latch in the wilder regions of the country that I would not
freely lift, in the assurannce of a smiling welcome."
Beyond Rutchester we noticed in the walls of an inn, called the Iron Sign,
some inscribed stones, two of which I read V OS.LVPI, and CON.VIII. BRIT,
the century of Hostilius Luus,
* Frixagi.
† These altars are now in the possession of Mr.James of Otterburn. A
hope is entertained that he will present them to the valuable collection of
the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, for as Otterburn is upwards of
forty miles distant the relics are almost inaccessible.
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list, and the eighth cohort of the Britons. Hunnum is the next station,
under the modern name of Halton-Chesters. It has suffered perhaps more than
any. The walls have been entirely destroyed, and, a few years since, a
systematic search was made for the stones of which the temples and villas
which covered the area now occupied by a lonely hut, built, as the
farmhouses of the neighbourhood are, with stones cut by the hands of Roman
masons. Pottery strews the surface of the ground; but the general aspect of
the site is uninviting, so completely have the modern rural Vandals
ransacked the ground. Here the Notitia places the Ala Savinia
or Sabiniana, a body of troops to whom this appellation had probably
been given by Hadrian in compliment to his empress, Sabina. Camden found
here an inscription to a soldier of this ala, and a slab recording
the operations of the second legion, also dug up on the same spot, is now
preserved at Alnwick Castle. Mr. Bruce speaks of busts of Emperors and
Empresses from Hunnum in the house and grounds at Matfen, a place we did
not see, and of some interesting discoveries made a few years ago to the
north of the turnpike road, in a section of the station now known by the
significant name of "Brunt-Ha'penny Field." He also mentions an aqueduct,
traced for three-qtrs of a mile. Our tour has added to these and other
records a new feature of much interest in a very perfect aqueduct, which
carried the water of a rivulet under the great wall which passed through
the station, and which, as before observed, has been converted into the
present high road. It still serves its original purpose, and is in
excellent preservation.
It is after leaving this station for some distance, that the traveller for
the first time forms a clear notion of all the parts of the great
fortification. The land now opens on each side, and he perceives before him
all the world stretching out and converging towards the horizon in bold and
clear outline. Straight before him is the road with the two rows of
facing-stones of the wall; on the northern side is the deep ditch, and the
vallum or mound with its wide trench. As he advances he will descry the
mile-castles, and at longer intervals the great stations. "I climbed over a
stone wall," says Hutton, "to examine the wonder; measured the whole in
every direction; surveyed them with surprise, with delight; was fascinated
and unable to proceed; forgot I was upon a wild common, a stranger, and the
evening approaching. Even hunger and fatigue were lost in the grandeur
before me. If a man writes a book upon a turnpike road, he cannot be
expected to move quick; but, lost in astonishment, I was not able to move
at all." Advancing, we find at Plane-tree field a fragment of the wall
nearly forty yards in length, with five courses of the facing stones, and a
little below, at Brunton, is another fragment seven feet high, with nine
courses of facing stones; against it rests an altar, the sides of which
have been sculptured with foliage and other ornaments, but the inscription
has perished, and no wonder, for the altar in former times served for a
gate post. The turn-pike road here leaves the wall and crosses the North
Tyne at Chollerford, a little above Chesters (Cilurnum), which in the time
of the Romans was reached by a bridge in the strait course of the wall. It
is here the antiquary commences the most delightful part of his journey.
Interested more and more as he has gradually seen the great fortification
developing itself in all its parts and accessories, he has hitherto drawn
on his imagination for the fillings-in of the picture. At Chesters he
approaches the walls of Cilurnum; he enters, and is in the midst of
dwelling-houses, roofless and dilapidated, but still sufficiently perfect
for him to form a good notion of their arrangement, the distribution and
peculiarities of the apartments, and indeed the general plan of the
castrum, although it is but partially excavated. He crosses thresholds worn
by the tread of Roman feet, and as he walks through room after room upon
the strong flagged pavements, built as if to last for ever, he revolves in
his mind the revolutions of empires and the courses and vicissitudes of
human affairs. A city lies buried before him. During a brief period in the
world's age the scene around him was full of life, enterprise, and hope; a
dense population has spread along the hills from the Tyne to the Solway;
camps, villas, and towns marked its growth; some few centuries later nature
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entombed their remains, and solitude again resumed her dominion. A river
god, the genius probably of the North Tyne, which rolls among rocks and
woods by the side of the station, is now enshrined in the mansion at
Chesters with numberless other vestiges of ancient Cilurnum and of
Borcovicus, the great station next but on towards the west. "The Astures,"
says Hodgson, "in exchanging the sunny valleys of Spain for the banks of
the tawny Tyne, might find the climate in their new situation worse, but a
lovelier spot than Cilurnum all the Asturias could not give them."
list, Procolita, now Carraburgh, is the next halting place of the
traveller. When the Notitia was compiled the first cohort of the Batavians
was in garrison here. In 1838 an inscribed slab was found which shews that
this cohort occupied the same qtrs in the time of the Emperor Maximinus,
A.D. 237. The outline of the station can be traced, but the walls and the
foundations of the buildings both within and without remain to be
excavated. The irregularities in the ground indicate the ruins to be very
extensive. The scenery now increases in breadth and wildness, and the
pedestrian, if the weather should should be stormy, and he be not throughly
imbued with the true sentiment of antiquarianism, may at times feel lonely
and apprehensive of his destiny at night. But the difficulties of the tour,
and some there will be under the most favourable circumstances, contribute
towards a proper and complete conception of the Roman wall in all its
stages, such as can only be attained by walking. The most timid adventurer,
however, need not fear such dangers as in times past made this district
almost impassable, and deterred Camden and Sir Robert Cotton from advancing
eastward beyond Carvoran. Camden only speaks of the castra from hearsay; he
durst not venture to inspect them for fear of "the rank robbers
thereabouts." Busy-gap, near Sewing-shields, was a noted place of resort
for thieves and marauders. Mr. Bruce tells us that "the offence of calling
a fellow-freeman 'a Busy-gap rogue,' was sufficiently serious to attract
the attention of a guild; a case of this kind being recorded in the books
of the Bakers and brewers Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1645." The
Newcastle Merchants' Company, in 1564, enacted that no apprentice should be
taken from these parts, on pain of a fine of 20l. becaue "the
parties there brought up are known, either by education or nature, not to
be of honest conversation; they commit frequent thefts and other felonies,
proceeding from such lewde and wicked progenitors."
I must now suspend my rambling notes on an inxhausted subject, fearing I
have exceeded all reasonable bounds; but convinced of the importance of our
national monuments and feeling how little they are regarded in comparison
with those of remote countries, I could not refrain from seeking, through
the medium of your pages, to draw public attention to the researches of Mr.
Bruce and simultaneously to the Great Wall itself, certainly the most
stupendous and interesting of our historical antiquities.
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NOTES OF A TOUR ALONG THE ROMAN WALL.
BY CHARLES ROACH SMITH, F.S.A.
(Concluded from p.388.)
HOUSESTEADS, the Roman Borcovicus, is one of the most interesting of the
wall stations, and has deservedly been eulogised by Gordon and Stukeley,
and described in its present state at considerable length by Mr. Bruce.
Stukeley calls it "the Tadmoor of Britain." Its last historian, with more
sober judgment, cautions the visitor against approaching it with
expectations too greatly excited; but he admits that the buried ruins
remain as vast and complete as ever, and that when they are fully excavated
Borcovicus will be the Pompeii of Britain. It is fortunate for the lovers
of anti-
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[anti]quity, it is fortunate for the honour of our country, that
Housesteads is now the property of the enlightened owner of Chesters, who
fully appreciates its historical worth. The area of the station contains
about five acres. It is situated upon elevated ground, bounded on the north
by the great wall; on the east by a ravine, through which runs a stream;
and on the south by a valley and a ridge, where was found an altar
dedicated to Jupiter by the first cohort of the Tungrians, and the
celebrated Mithraic cave. The walls are in a good state of preservation,
from nine to sixteen courses of the facing-stones yet remaining. Like most,
if not all, of the wall stations, they shew no traces of having been
flanked with towers, and they are constructed wholly of stone without the
bonding courses of tiles so common in the castra in the south of England.
The gateways have double entrances, and are built of massives stones and
flanked with guard-rooms. That on the western side, at the period of our
visit, was being further and carefully excavated. It presented the
appearance of having been hastily walled up or barricaded for the purppose
of defence. As the entrances were defended with double doors of great
strength, this inner wall was probably added after their destruction, but
when and under what circumstances it is impossible to determine. Its speaks
forcibly, however, of invasion, and of battles lost and won, such as the
lower barrier must often have witnessesed in the days of Rome's decline and
fall. The guard-chambers are well preserved; on the side wall of one of
them is a phallus cut in the stone; the effluvium from animal matter with
which those rooms were filled is still oppressively strong. It is probable
that the station was occupied after the departure of the Romans, and the
guard-rooms used as receptacles for refuse of all kinds. It is very easy to
trace the course of the streets running from east to west and from north to
south, and the remains of buildings cover the entire area. What these may
be, and what they may contain, it is useless to speculate on; the pickaxe
and spade are the only keys that can unlock the buried treasures. One Roman
house has however survived the general overthrow; the external walls remain
probably almost to their original altitude, and the foundations of the
internal ones are distinct. The preservation of this rare extant example of
a Roman house may be attributed to its having been found useful as a
sheepfold - a purpose it has apparently been applied to for centuries.
Leaving Housesteads we turned towards the south to visit Chester-Holme, the
site of Vindolanda, situated on the ancient military road, at a
considerable distance from the wall. A Roman mile-stone is yet standing by
the side of the road, and numerous inscriptions and sculptured stones are
preserved in the house belonging to the late Rev. A. Hedley, who made
considerable researches in the station, and collected numerous objects of
antiquity, all of which, except the inscribed stones, are now dispersed and
probably lost. The cottage inhabited by Mr. Hedley, its offices and
out-houses, are all built of stones taken from the station. Many of them
have belonged to edifices of importance, and these are carefully walled up,
and saved at least from any immediate danger. Inscriptions found here
mention the fourth cohort of the Gauls, corresponding as in other instances
with the order of the Notitia.
As inns are but seldom to be met with in the wall district, it is important
for the traveller to know that one called the "Twice Brewed," about two
miles from Chester-Holme, on the roadside, affords good though homely
accommodation. He will derive additional gratification in knowing that here
Hutton took shelter in company with fifteen carriers, and gathered some
laughable incidents for his amusing if not very antiquarian History of the
Roman Wall. "A more dreary country," writes the octogenarian pedestrian as
he approached the "Twice Brewed," "than this in which I now am, can
scarcely be conceived. I do not wonder it shocked Camden. The country
itself would frighten him, without the troopers." Dreary the country
doubtless is, but it is not the dreariness of monotony, or of richer tracts
of land without historical associations. The wall now exhibits a succession
of
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changing and interesting views, and we returned eastward from the "Twice
Brewed," a considerable distance, in order to secure an examination of the
portion we had divaricated from in visiting Vindolanda. Crag after crag,
rough and precipitous, acclivities steep and apparently insurmountable, are
all traversed equally. In no stage of difficulty or danger did the Roman
soldiers turn aside from their task, and up steep hills, which we had some
difficulty to climb, the wall is as carefully and firmly built as upon
level ground; the materials nowhere differ; the whin rock, or stone of the
hills, is used only for the body of the work, the facing stones are as
neatly cut as usual, and brought as usual from distant quarries. Passing
Milking-gap, a mile-castle called Castle-nick, Peel-crag, Winshields-crag
(the highest spot between the two seas), and Bloody-gap, we rested at a
small farm-house at Shield-on-the-wall. On the south, near the modern
military road, are two large stones, probably the remains of a circle,
called "the mare and foal." At Bogle-hole, the vallum is seen inclining
towards the wall to assist in defending the pass. This is one of the many
similar adaptations noticed by Mr. Bruce, in support of his opinion as to
the unity and contemporaneous origin of the fortifications. The wall has
its traditions, and spirits are still supposed to haunt the neighbourhood
of Bogle-hole. In our walk we were told of the hunter's dogs turning back
from the pursuit of animals which were something more than what they seemed
to be, and of a man who attempted to fly from a high crag and was killed.
Our informant did not attribute his fall to any defect in the provision he
had made for his flight, but solely from his having neglected to make an
offering of barley-cake to the rocks. Surely there lingers in this story a
vestige of the old belief which assigned to every mountain its guardian
divinity, and to rivers, woods, and fields, their gods and goddesses.
The mile-castle (castellum) near Caw-fields is the best preserved
along the line of the wall, and has been cleared of the accumulated earth
by order of its owner, Mr. Clayton. It is situated on a gentle slope, the
great wall forming its northern boundary. It has two entrances, of great
strength, and with double doors, opposite to each other on the north and
south, without any postern gate. The walls are from nine to upwards of ten
feet thick, and are rounded off on the south. Previous to the excavation of
this mile-castle it was doubtful whether there were openings from them
through the wall. On this point much has yet to be determined. In this
castellum was found a fragmentary inscription referring to Hadrian and the
second legion, and, I believe, the sepulchral stone of the Pannonian
soldier, of a much later date, previously mentioned as preserved at
Chesters. Near it an altar dedicated to Apollo was discovered in the summer
of last year.
AEsica, the tenth great station, now called Great Chesters, may justly be
said to be buried in its own ruins, and, like many of the others, has never
been investigated. Accident has brought to light, very recently, a large
slab, bearing a dedication to Hadrian, and, many years since, an
inscription mentioning the rebuilding of a granary by a cohort of the
Astures, in the reign of Alexander Severus. It affords one of many similar
proofs of the permanent residence of particular bodies of troops at fixed
stations, the Astures being located at AEsica, according to the Notitia,
nearly 200 years after the date of this monument. The description of the
watercourse which supplies AEsica with water, and its long circuitous
route, forms one of the many striking features in Mr, Bruce's volume. It is
six miles in length.
Beyond AEsica a second mountain ridge is entered upon. The defiles, gaps,
and crags, are as remarkable as those before alluded to, and the Nine Nicks
of Thirlwall are perhaps even more precipitous, broken, and wildly
picturesque. The wall too is here seen in larger and more continuous
masses, and the external facing stones are preserved in many places to the
extent of ten and twelve courses.
Magna, now Carvoran, lies about 250 yards to the south of the wall and
vallum near the village of Greenhead. The site is elevated ground,
evidently chosen to avoid a swampy flat near the wall. The area, about four
acres and a half, is entirely cultivated. In the garden of the farm-
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[farm-]house are numerous fragments of architecture, altars, and mutilated
inscribed stones, which have as yet escaped complete destruction. One of
the altars is inscribed DeO . BELATUCADRO . VOTU. S.; another, in a wall,
is dedicated to the god Veteres, probably the Vithris of the north; a
third, much weather-worn, seems addressed to Jupiter, Helius and Rome.
list, list, The traveller on leaving Carvoran will, from necessity, rest at
Glenwhilt, a village at no great distance on the line of the Newcastle and
Carlisle railway. He will then be prepared to encounter the somewhat
difficult access to Birdoswald, (Amboglanna,) one of the noblest of
the stations of the wall. To avoid a very circuitous route the river
Irthing must be forded, and the steep banks of a ravine covered with
thickets and underwood must be surmounted. Under the most favourable
circumstances this is a serious task. With us it was rendered more
formidable by the rain, and, had not our fearless guide animated us by
example, we should possibly have remembered the warning precept of Hodgson,
that "the attempt is very dangerous, and should never be tried by those
whose life and existence are in any way useful." The site of the station is
one of great natural strength, as on every side except the west it is
protected by deep scars and inland cliffs, and by a detour of the
Irthing. Amboglanna was the head qtrs of the first cohort of the Dacians,
styled AElia, probably in compliment to Hadrian, and subsequently
termed in addition, Gordiana, from the Emperor Gordian, and
Tetriciana from Tetricus the successful usurper in Britain and Gaul
in the time of Claudius Gothicus and Aurelian. Numerous inscriptions have
been dug up in and about the station. One is built up in a wall of the
farm-house within the area, and fragments of others are lying about the
garden. Most of these are dedications to Jupiter. Others record the second
and sixth legions. We were gratified with the sight of a fine piece of
sculpture three feet high, in the farm-house, representing one of the
Deae Matres. The goddess is repesented seated in a chair and covered
with drapery, the folds of which are very elaborately worked; the hands,
which probably held a basket of fruit, and the head, have been broken off.
But since our return Mr. Bruce has found the head in the possession of a
person at Newcastle, and a hope may now be entertained that head and body
will be united in the museum of the antiquaries of Pons AElii. It is
not creditable to private individuals to abstract solely for their own
gratification that which by right and reason belongs to the public. But
unfortunately there are hundreds of Roman monuments found along the line of
the wall which have been carried away from the places where they were
discovered and rendered totally inaccessible to the artsit and to the
antiquary. It is also to be noticed that that persons who for a mere
selfish object carry off antiquities are the last to communicate notices to
the proper qtrs where records would be made of the discoveries for the use
of those whose tastes and acquirements qualify them to appreciate the true
value of works of antient art. The remains at Birdoswald are,
comparatively, well preserved, and the arrangement of the camp, together
with the position of the streets and buildings, can yet be well understood,
encumbered as they are with earth and their own ruins. For some distance
westward of Birdoswald the wall is in excellent condition, but as Carlisle
and the western extremity are approached it becomes more and more
indistinct, and is in many places entirely destroyed. The antiquary,
however, will never find a dearth of materials. The great barrier itself
has been pillaged by everybody, from the Government down to the humble
tenant of a few acres, and its substance is now in high roads, churches,
farm-houses, and cottages. But an extraordinary number of valuable
monuments have escaped the hands of the plunderers, and are to be found in
private collections along the site of the wall and its appendages. Some I
have mentioned. The chief of those which belong to the western extremity of
the wall are at Lanercost Priory and at Mr. Senhouse's near Maryport.
Besides the great stations, to which, in this brief notice, I have
referred, there are others both north and south of the wall not less
interesting, and abounding in sculptures and inscriptions. We were only
able to visit
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one of these, called Old Carlisle, about two miles from Wigton. It is
supposed to be the Roman Olenacum, but the confirmation of
inscriptions is wanted to support this appropriation. Among the remains
from this station which are preserved by Miss Matthews of Wigton, we
noticed an altar dedicated to Jupiter and Vulcan, for the health of the
emperor Gordian, which appears to me to be unpublished; and the following
curious specimen of orthography:- TANCORIX MULLIER VIGSIT ANNOS
SEGSAGINAT:- "Tancorix, a woman; she lived sixty yers (sic)." The memorial
is also remarkable for the mode adopted to express the sex of Tancorix, a
British or Gaulish name, which from its termination would have been
considered masculine.
I have in this slight sketch only been able to allude to the inscriptions
which have strewed the ground from Bowness to Wallsend. They form a chapter
in the history of our country which has been but little consulted by the
historical antiquary, and is altogether unknown to the public in general.
Referring for the present to the most limited range of these records, I may
observe that they very clearly explain the origin of the wall itself, and
settle the questions which have so long been raised as to its date. They
prove that to Hadrian this honour is due, and that Severus, who has shared
the credit with Hadrian, did nothing more than repair the fortresses and
the public buildings which had become dilapidated; that Hadrain brought
together for this work the entire military force of the province, and that
the British states or communities also contributed workmen. The mythology
of the wall, as shewn by inscriptions, is another highly interesting
subject of inquiry. We find a considerable number of deities, apparently
both of Celtic and Teutonic parentage, incorporated with the well-known
gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome; and topical divinities, whose
influence was restricted to particular localities, are also very numerous.
The latter seem to have held an intermediate place, and to have exercised a
mediatorial or connecting relation between the higher gods and their
worshippers, and every where we trace marks of the popularity in which they
were held.* But it is rather singular that in no instance do we
recognise any monument or inscription bearing reference to Christianity; a
fact which, coupled with a similar void in the early monuments of the south
of Britain, tends to iinduce us to place the general diffusion of the
gospel in Britain at a much later date than is commonly assigned.
* A monument of this class, found on the line of the wall near Burgh
by Sands, has been communicated to me by my friend Mr. Rooke, of Wigton,
since my return. It reads:
MATRI .
D . O . M .
V . E . X .
VI .
Matribus Domesticus, Vexillatio. leg. vi.
It has been noticed, I see, by Mr. Hodgson.
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{header- Market Cross, Sedbergh}
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OLD MARKET CROSS, AT SEDBERGH, IN YORKSHIRE.
MR. URBAN, - AS our national and local antiquities are fast disappearing,
would it not be well to bring before the antiquarian world every instance
of their destruction; and, where this has taken place long ago, to collect
such accounts as may serve as some index of the past? With this object, I
venture to send for insertion in the Gentleman's Magazine an instance of
the destruction of a market cross two centuries since; which at the same
time may afford some idea of the rancorous spirit which actuated all ranks
during the middle of the 17th century, and hold up a vivid contrast to the
much happier state of things in the present day. It is extracted from an
old work without date, entitled, "The Faithful Testimony of that antient
Servant of the Lord, and minister of the everlasting Gospel, William
Dewsberry; in his Books, Epistles, and Writings, collected and printed for
future Service." He was one of the most eminent of the ministers of the
early Quakers, and the above volume I apprehend to have been published
shortly after his death, which took place at Warwick, 17 April, 1688, O.S.
It commences with "A Testimony concerning that faithful servant of the Lord
William Dewsberry, from us who have long known him, and his faithful
Travels and Labours and sufferings, in and for the Gospel of Christ," dated
London, nineteenth, twelfth month 1689, and signed George Whitehead, Steven
Crisp, Francis Camfeild, Richard Richardson, Richard Pinder, James Parkes.
Subjoined to this, is the following memorandum:
"One remarkable passage I often remember: about the year, 1653, upon a
market-day, at Sedbury (Sedbergh) in Yorkshire, as W.D. was publishing the
Truth at the Market Cross, and warning the People to turn from the evil of
their ways to the Grace of God, and to the Light in their Consciences,
&c. some rude persons endeavouring with violence to push him down, and
setting their Backs against a high stone Cross, with their hands against
him, the pusht down the cross, which with the fall broke in pieces, many
being about it; yet it missed the People, and little or no hurt was done
thereby, whereas, if it had fallen upon them, divers might have been
killed. This preservation I and divers more observed then as a special
Providence of God attedning him in his Labour, though I was then but a
youth of sixteen years old, or thereabouts, being convinced of Truth above
a year before." - G.W.
Dr. Whitaker, in his elaborate History of Richmondshire, has surveyed the
parish of Sedbergh, with its Saxon fortifications, church, and well-endowed
Grammar school, but makes no mention of this ruined cross, so we may fairly
conclude that all trace of it has disappeared, or that it was afterwards
supplanted by another,
Yours, &c.
C. J. ARMISTEAD.
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{header- Finds at Hartley Castle}
{image = G852A071.jpg}
Sir George Musgrave exhibited, by the hands of the Director, two small
slabs of hone-stone, found in the ruins of Hartley Castle, an old seat of
the Musgrave family, down to the year 1700. They are engraved with the
characters of the alphabet, and contrived for casting abecedaries, or
miniature horn-books, in lead.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.73}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.73}
{header- Finds in Westmorland}
{image = G852A073.jpg}
{text- Report of a meeting of the Archaeological Institute, 5 December
1851:-}
The Rev. G. Weston sent drawings of a fine ring-fibula and torc, both of
silver, found in Westmerland.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.144}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.144}
{header- The Skirmish at Clifton}
{image = G852A144.jpg}
SKIRMISH AT PENRITH IN 1745.
Springfield Mount, Leeds, 12 Jan.
MR URBAN, - AS the accounts of eye-witnesses of memorable transactions are
always the most valuable, especially so when, as in the present instance,
they were not immediately concerned in the affairs related, and, as much as
may be, unswayed by prejudices of party, the following letter from Clifton,
near Penrith, detailing the last struggles of the House of Stuart in the
year 1745 to regain a lost throne, is both interesting and valuable, not
only as showing the position and anxieties of a private individual at that
fearful crisis, but also in a national and historical point of view. As the
document has never before been published, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, you will probably not deem it unworthy a place in your Magazine.
The writer, it will be perceived, was a member of the Society of Friends, a
circumstance which will amply secure the credibilty of all he relates, -
the peaceable principles of the denomination to which he belonged (without
diminishing in the least from their feelings of loyalty) not allowing him
to take part in sanguinary conflicts. I need only add that the original
letter is in the possession of his grand-daughter, now resident near
London; and the son-in-law he alludes to was the great-grandfather of a
lady of Penrith who kindly transcribed it for me.
Yours, &c. C. J. ARMISTEAD.
Letter from a Friend at Clifton, written in 1745, relating to a skirmish
with the Rebels near Penrith.
Clifton, 29th of 11th mo. 1745.
Esteemed friend, Richd. Partridge, -
By this know thine I received, and shall hereby give thee hints of the
affair here, as it was from the beginning to the end; I being both eye and
ear-witness to the truth thereof. But in the first place I cannot easily
omit acknowledging the great favour and protecting hand of power to us
manifested in so great a danger, as thou by the following account may
understand.
First, as to the rebels: when they came south we did not suffer much, but
they seemed to have great assurance that they would proclaim their king in
London on the 24th of last month, and crown him on New Year's Day, and then
they would send Geordey, as they called him, over to Hanover, and would
tread down his turnip-field dikes, highly dis-esteeming the Duke, calling
him Geordey's lad and Geordey's Wolly, with many more opprobrious speeches.
But on their return north they were cruelly barbarous and inhuman when
here; for their leaders gave them liberty to plunder for four hours, and
then to burn Lowther, Clifton, Bridge, and Penrith, and some say for six
miles around; but, thanks to the Most High, whose power is above the power
of man, often preventing the wicked from prosecuting their wicked designs,
it certainly was the Lord's doing in bringing forward the noble Duke and
his men in the very hour of great distress; as for my part, I must ever
love and esteem him as a man of worth.
Now I shall give thee to understand the beginning and the end of the
engagement:-
First the rebel Hussars, being gone part way to Penrith, came riding back
by my door in haste, between one and two in the afternoon; then in an hour
came back again, driving up the rear of their army with whips to my door,
and then others took their place, and they wheeled off, and set themselves
to ambush against my barn side, being so enclosed with cross houses that
our King's men could not see them until close to them, we not knowiing
their designs, but I firmly believing them to be evil, and so went into my
house, yet could not long be easy there, and ventured forth again, and
looking about me I espied the commanders of the King's men appearing on the
hill, about 400 yards south of my house, for whom my very heart was in
pain; for believing that a great number might be cut off before they were
aware, so our care was to give the King's men notice, for which my son
ventured his life, and gave them notice about 300 yards before they came to
a place where in the meantime a second ambush was laid, about 100 yards
nearer
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.145}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.145}
{image = G852A145.jpg}
to our King's men; and the King's Hussars, with some of the Yorkshire
Hunters, came down, and so soon as they came opposite to the first ambush
the rebels fired upon them, but did no execution, and then issued out of
the ambush at my doors, and a furious firing they had, the King's men
acting the nimblest and quickest that ever my eyes beheld, not one of them
receiving any harm. Some horse followed the former, so that in a few
minutes the rebels ran away like mad-men; and just by my doors one of the
rebels was brought down and taken, and a Captain Hamilton was also taken at
the same time (afterwards executed at York); they were both had up to the
Duke. Then it was still about an hour, in which time I abode in the house;
the King's troops still standing up on the common, in which time my son
went over a little green to see if we could get the cattle brought into
their houses, but seeing that in vain, came homewards again, when four
rebels on horseback seized him, calling him a spy, and had him down under
their horses feet, swearing desperately many times they would shoot him,
and three of them commanded the fourth to shoot him, which he attempted
with his gun, and then pistol, but neither would fire, so he escaped, and
came in; a little after I was again grown uneasy to go out, which I
ventured to do, and looking about me I saw the King's men as before,
standing on the common; turning me about I saw the rebels filling the
town-street north of my house, as also running down and lining the hedges
and walls, even down to my house on both sides; then I was in great pain
for the duke and his men, who could not see them, it beginning to grow
darkish; but I ventured my life, and stood a little off, and waved my hat
in my hand, which some of them discovering, one came riding down towards
me, and I called to him, bidding him cast his eye about him and see how the
town was filled, and hedges lined; after which he returned, and then a
party was dismounted and sent down to meet the rebels; and in the time of
quietness as above, the rebels had sent off a party of their horse to
plunder and burn Lowther Hall and town, and they were also plundering our
town, leaving nothing they could lay their hands on, breaking locks, and
making ruinous work, even to all our victuals, and little children's
clothes of all sorts. Now it beginning to grow dark, and the rebels so
thick about my house, we had no hopes of saving ourselves, but concluded to
leave the house and go into the fields, if we could but get there. In the
middle of the orchard we were parted by the rebels, one part of us driven
into the fields, the other back into the house, severely threatening our
lives, never expecting to see one another alive again. A son-in-law and his
family were in like circumstances, for they seemed more severe upon us then
upon others. Now come to the matter above again: we were not all got to the
fireside again before the firing on all hands was dreadful, which continued
half an hour, in which time were killed ten of the King's men, and
twenty-one wounded, and the Duke's footman taken prisoner, who was
recovered, and of the rebels, five were killed, and many wounded that
night. Early next morning were seventy prisoners under custody; and after
the heat of firing was over all seemed still a little space, after which
some came, and broke in at my court door, calling sharply to open; but we
believing it to be the rebels, I would not open, when they began to be
sharp, and orders were given to fire, they supposing the house to be full
of rebels, but I called and said I would open as fast as I could, and the
first words said to me were, could the Duke lodge here tonight, to which
with pleasure I answered yes; and a pleasant and agreeable company he was,
a man of good parts, very friendly, and no pride in him. Much on this I
could say if it would not be tedious to thee, yet shall mention one thing
very remarkable, which was, our cattle were all standing among the slain
men, and not one of them hurt, as also them that were banished from our
house came in again next morning; the Duke's men said it was a wonder they
were not killed, our next neighbour being shot at that same time. Thou
mayst also know I had the Duke of Kingston and the Duke of Richmond to
lodge, with about a hundred more, and as many horses. I have not yet
mentioned a scaffold erected by the rebels behind a wall, at a corner of my
house, as we believe to cut off any that might come into my court, which if
it had not been that they had fled, the noble Duke had stood a bad chance
there.
I am afraid thou can scarcely read this; but if thou think proper to shew
it to any, I would have thee copy it fair over, and shew it to whom thou
wilt, even if it be to the King. I conclude with my true love,
THOMAS SAVAGE.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.175}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.175}
{header- Find at Birdoswald}
{image = G852A175.jpg}
{text- Report of a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, 8 January 1852:-}
Mr. C. R. Smith also exhibited a drawing of the head of a female seated
figure, excavated by Mr. H. G. Potter at Birdoswald. The head is draped and
crowned with a wreath, and the body enveloped in ample vestments. Mr. C. R.
Smith considers the figure to represent one of the Deae Matres, or
possibly the Magna Mater.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.481}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.481}
{header- Observations on the Roman Wall}
{image = G852A481.jpg}
FRESH OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROMAN WALL,
BY THE REV. JOHN COLLINGWOOD BRUCE, M.A. AUTHOR OF THE ACCOUNT OF "THE
ROMAN WALL, 1851."
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, April 15.
MR. URBAN, - I have just returned from a re-investigation of the great
Roman Barrier in this neighbourhood, accompanied (as often previously) by a
friend well acquainted with the peculiarities of Roman masonry, William
Kell, esq. town-clerk of Gateshead. In the course of my ramble, I have
picked up some scraps of information, which may be acceptable to your
antiquarian readers.
ROMAN WAY-SIDE WATCH-TOWER AT BEWCASTLE. - The station at Bewcastle is
placed upon a slightly elevated platform at the bottom of a valley through
which the small river Kirkbeck flows. There can be little doubt that it was
planted here to guard the Maiden Way, which crosses the valley on its path
to the Scottish border. As the station is situated in the low ground, the
prospect is very limited towards both north and south. The hill to the
north of the station
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.482}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.482}
{image = G852A482.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
is called Pelaw Hill. Here stands a farm-house, which was formerly a border
fortress or peel. We may readily suppose that in Roman times it was the
site of a look-out or beacon-tower connected with the station.
list, The Maiden Way is but doubtfully traceable in the northern vicinage
of the camp; but southwards the remains of it are distinctly visible for a
considerable distance, as it crosses the high grounds of Side Fell and
Gillilee's Beacon. Under the guidance of the incumbent of the parish, we
tracked the interesting work. When first met with, it is only to be
distinguished by the "trail" of the stones that have composed it, most of
the neighbouring fences having been made at its expence. For nearly a qtr
of a mile it is in a perfect state, which is the more remarkable as all the
neighbouring ground is a peaty bog.
After crossing the crown of the hill we came to what is undoubtedly the
foundation of a Roman watch-tower. It stands close by the edge of the road
on its western side. It is eighteen feet square, and has walls four feet
thick. The doorway seems to have been on its north side. Its wall are
formed of regular masonry; the stones possessing the characteristics of
those uniformly employed in constructing the stations on the line of the
Roman wall. If the rubbish were removed the building would probably stand
five feet high. No one who is familiar with the masonry of the
wall-district can for a moment doubt that it is of Roman construction. On
the Watling-street - the Roman road which twenty miles to the east of this
intersects the mural region from north to south - some traces of wayside
towers have been noticed; but none, I believe, to be at all compared with
this in distinctness. The Romans have had a more thorough grasp of the
Lower Isthmus than we are apt to imagine. Besides the wall, which merely
forms the base line of their operations, and the stations to the north and
south of it, to intercept the progress of an enemy in either direction,
there seems reason to believe that picket camps were planted on advanced
points and beacon-towers stationed on the most elevated summits. The
watch-tower which I have now described has a very extensive prospect in
every direction except the north. The line of the wall is distinctly in
view all the way from Sewingshields to the Solway. Signals could therefore
be communicated with the stations of Borcovicus, AEsica, Amboglanna, and
others to the west. The Maiden Way, in its progress south, is in view for
miles. Even now its track can be clearly made out, as after having crossed
the wall it boldly ascends the heathy heights of Knaresdale.
On the western slope of the hill on which this Roman turret stands are some
earthworks which we took to be temporary camps. They are of limited size,
and may have been occupied by the troops whilst superintending the
construction of the road.
BEWCASTLE MEN. - Traditional stories often outlive the manners they depict.
The following anecdote is still told in the north country. A stranger
visiting Bewcastle noticed that the tombstones in the churchyard
commemorated the decease of females only, and expressing his astonishment
to a woman who accompanied him as his guide, received the response, most
feelingly uttered, "Oh, Sir! they're a' buried at that weary Caerl
(Carlisle)!" The fit of grief being over, the vistor elicited from her the
startling information that every "mother's son" of the district was sooner
or later hanged at the border city. At the union of the kingdoms of England
and Scotland the hardy warriors of the "debateable land" could not at once
betake themselves to the occupations of quiet industry; and, as the best
substitute for the practices of war, addicted themselves to sheep and horse
stealing, crimes at that time punishable with death. The little intercourse
which we had with the rustics whom we met upon the road convinced us that a
vast moral change had been effected upon the district since the days of
border warfare. To every question which we put we received a distinct and
satisfactory answer, expressed in language which even a southern might
understand. Still we felt curious to know what the testimony of the
churchyard was as to the character of past generations. It was most
satisfactory, and proved that the anecdote in question, if not altogether
calumny, refers to a very remote period. Many of the tombstones commemorate
the departure (no doubt in a natural way, for when you say of a man that he
died you do not mean that he was hanged) of persons whose youth was spent
in the latter part of the seventeenth century. For example there is one to
George Nixon, who died 1732-3, aged 83 years; another to Thomas Nixon, who
died in 1719, aged 26; one to Francis Forester, who died in 1760 at the age
of 72; one to Thomas Armstrong, who died in 1728, aged 77; and another to
Adam Routledge, who in 1728 died at the age of 54 years. Let no one
henceforward say that the men of Bewcastle do not some to an honest death.
Besides observing that the names of these parties are regular border
designations, the reader will perhaps note the age to which most
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 1 p.483}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 1 p.483}
{image = G852A483.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
of them attained. Notwithstanding the severity of the climate the Waste of
Bewcastle is not inimical to health. The incumbent, the Rev. John Maughan,
told us that he had occasion three or four years ago to send to the
Registrar General of Health a return of the deaths in his parish during the
preceding ten years, when it appeared that three-fourths of the people
contained in the roll had attained the age of upwards of sixty years.
A SECOND LATERAL GATEWAY IN THE STATION OF AMBOGLANNA, BIRDOSWALD. - The
stationary camps on the line of the Roman wall are constructed very much
upon one uniform plan. Amongst other things, they seem to have been
provided with a gateway in the centre, or near it, of each side. The
gateways are usually double; a pillar of strong masonry separating the
entrance into two parts. Each part has been closed by folding doors, as is
proved by the pivot-holes which remain.* When the eastern and
western gateways of Birdoswald were recently exposed by Mr. Potter, some
surprise was expressed that they should consist of only a single portal.
The reason of this is now made apparent. There are two distinct gateways in
the eastern side, and also probably in the western. The farm-tenant,
requiring stones to build a fence (so we were informed on the spot) began
to remove the loose materials which incumbered the eastern wall of the
station. The result of his operation has been to display a gateway in a
most satisfacctory state of preservation. It is situated as far from the
north wall of the station as that formerly discovered is from the south (68
yards) while there is a space of about 60 yards between them. This gateway,
as well as that already exposed on the western side, as also each of the
portals of the south gateway, which is double, is about 11 feet wide. The
masonry of this gateway stands nearly six feet high; the pillars which form
the jambs of the gate are, as usual, composed of stones of cyclopean
character: several voussoirs and a springer lie upon the ground, thereby
proving that the gateway has been spanned by an arch. It would seem also as
if a separate opening had been provided for foot passengers, for a large
stone with a semicircular cutting in it, two feet wide, has been found,
which may have been used as the arched heading of such a passage.
It is most satisfactory to know that the farmer has procured a sufficiency
of stones for his purpose without disturbing one in situ. For the
first time probably since the Romans abandoned Britain the wants of the
rural population have contributed to the advancement of our knowledge. The
party deserves all praise for the intelligence which he has exhibited in
his operations. - Yours, &c.
JOHN COLLINGWOOD BRUCE.
* In our review of the Account of the Roman Wall published by our
Correspondent, we extracted his view of the West Portal of Amboglanna. See
our Magazine for Feb. 1851, p.154. - Edit.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 2 p.52}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 2 p.52}
{header- Sonnet on Coleridge}
{image = G852B052.jpg}
SONNET
IN REMINISCENCE OF THE POET COLERIDGE.
COLERIDGE, of Boyhood in the early dawn
Oppress'd I felt not, nor of hope forlorn,
Grasping your hand. You spake, as though our School
Were of a sep'rate world the vestibule;
And we its inhabitants. - In cloister'd walk,
While such of opening scenes your cherish'd talk,
I listen'd breathless; - and I saw you prove
Your boded triumphs in the College grove. -
Thence, by a sudden plunge, amid their strife
You sprang into the waves of this world's life;
Nor paused. - Far, far away 'twas mine to hear
Fame of your struggles, and th' applauding cheer. -
At last of wound'rous Boy, of Bard, of Sage
Sank beneath Friendship's roof the shelter'd Age.
C. V. LE GRICE.
Trereise, Cornwall, June 16th, 1852.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 2 p.191}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 2 p.191}
{header- Reclamation in Morecambe Bay}
{image = G852B191.jpg}
The reclaiming of Morecambe Bay in Lancashire is at length about to
be carried into effect. The right has been purchased from the Admiralty by
Messrs. Brogden and Co. and the undertaking will be carried out conjointly
with the formation of the Ulverstone and the Lancaster Railway (sic). The
rivers Crake and Leven will be confined to a fixed channel, and the bay
will no doubt be left in a great measure to silt up. This vast tract, which
extends from Tridlea-point (near to the Ulversone Canal foot) to Greenodd,
comprises an area of about 145,000 acres.
{title- Gents Mag 1852 part 2 p.396}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 2 p.396}
{header- Lead Mines, Alston Moor}
{image = G852B396.jpg}
{text- antiquarian meeting:-}
...
Mr. Thomas Sopwith, of Newcastle, read a paper on the Lead Mines of the
North of England, arranging his notices under the separate heads of a
description of the districts in which the principal mines are situated, of
notices of the various charters under which lead mines were worked in the
early periods of English history, and the gradual stages by which
successive improvements were introduced. The Romans occupied the lead mines
at Alston Moor, and one of the most perfect of their stations now remaining
is at Whitley, three miles north of Alston. There could be no doubt that
they exercised, during their occupation of our mining districts for three
or four centuries, the knowledge which they possessed of the metallurgic
arts. Caesar, indeed, expressly mentioned as one of his reasons for
invading Britain, the assistance which the inhabitants rendered to the
Gauls from their treasures. The terms upon which mining operations were
permitted by the lords of the soil at various periods form a curious class
of records. In 1426 Henry VI. granted to John Duke of Bedford "all mines of
gold and silver within his kingdom of England for ten years, paying the
tenth part to the holy church, to the king the fifteenth, and to the lord
of the soil the twentieth part." One of the prominent features illustrated
by Mr. Sopwith was the former abundance of wood in the mountainous
districts, which are now almost treeless, and the rapid removal of which
was owing to the vast quantities of fuel required by the miners. The
several rates of duty under which the mines were held, and other
conditions, were noticed, and a general view was taken of the introduction
of successive improvements connected with the lead mines of Northumberland
and the adjacent counties. The paper was illustrated by diagrams, showing
the produce of the mines at different periods, and by tables of detailed
statements relating to mining statistics. Mr. Sopwith adverted, in
conclusion, to the paucity of mining records of past times, and the value
of them in connexion with mining interests.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.73}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.73}
{header- Excavations at Birdoswald}
{image = G853A073.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
...
Mr. H. G. Potter read a paper on his recent excavations at Burdoswald,
which have brought to light a fourth gateway, far surpassing the others in
style of architecture and finish. The first trace of it was discovered
during the last winter, by Mr. Boustead, the farmer on the spot, who cane
upon one of the piers while digging the foundation of a bull-shed. Mr.
Potter, with his brother, subsequently assumed the work of excavation; and
the result of their labours may now be seen by visitors. A noble double
gateway has been laid bare. One of the gates has been walled-up, not by the
Roman themselves, as is proved by the difference of level between the floor
of the Romand gate and that on which the barrier now stands. Many
circumstances, which presented themselves during the researches at
Burdoswald, have led Mr. Potter to believe that this camp was occupied as a
town long after the departure of the Romans. The floors, for example, of
some of the houses are about four feet above the flagged Roman footpath
inside the walls; and the ruins of (apparently) Roman structures form the
foundation of later edifices - which, in their turn, have been destroyed,
or suffered to go to ruin, and earth and herbage cover their remains.
Gildas and Bede tell us in what manner the Picts and Scots conquered the
Britons after the last Roman legion had left the island, and how they
ravaged the country, drove the inhabitants before them, and made their
habitations like the abodes of wild beasts; and tradition adds, that near
Burdoswald (Amboglanna), at a place called "The Gap," the Picts
broke through the Wall. The station, it is probable, was reduced to ruins,
and so remained until the country became more settled; when, tempted by its
commanding position, and the fact of its being traversed by the Maiden Way,
some Saxon chief of the name of Oswald may have repaired its walls and
gates, and built a town within - the Burgh of Oswald - easily corruptible
into Burdoswald, Birdoswald, or (as it is now often called) Bridussel. Here
also, there is reason to suppose, the Danes more recently dwelt. The wreck
of Harrows (or Harold's) Castle still survives. Its stones were removed
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.74}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.74}
{image = G853A074.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
some years ago to build the Hill Head House, now occupied by Mr. Ramshay.
In Mr. Potter's quarto tract on Aboglanna, printed in 1851, is a
restoration of the "Decuman Gate," in which he has thrown arches over the
gateway; and the truth of the vision which, with learned and sagacious eye,
he then imagined, has been vindicated by his late discoveries. To one of
the piers of the gateway, 8 1/2 feet high, the projecting impost is still
attached, and the first stone of the arch rests thereon. The voussoir is
two feet long, and 15 inches thick at the broad, and 11 1/2 at the narrow
end. At the outside of the southern tower of the gate, on the ground, was
found a broken slab. It appears to have fallen from its place, and to have
been fractured by a stone which had afterwards fallen upon it - and which,
indeed, was found lying upon it still. This slab bears an inscription which
may be thus given (two or three of the letters being conjectural):-
SVBMO DIO IV
LIO LEG AVG PR
PR COH I AEL DC
CVI PRAEEST M
CL MENANDER
TRIB
Mr. Potter extends the inscription as follows:- "Sublimo Dio Julio Legato
Augusti Propraetori Cohors Prima AElia Dacorum cui praeest Marcus Claudius
Menender Tribunus." Julius Severus, the noble Roman who he supposes to be
here named, was propraetor of Britain in the time of Hadrian, and was
recalled, as "the most courageous of his generals," to go against the Jews.
This was in 132 or 134 A.D.; and it may safely be concluded that about that
time was the gate erected by Julius Severus, and the slab inserted in the
wall by the first AElian cohort of the Dacians, over whom Menander was
tribuune. Mr. Potter, however, does not ascribe the formation of the camp
to Hadrian. The gate now laid bare is of a later and superior style of
architecture to the camp generally - more highly finished, the work of a
more refined age. The camp is of the time, Mr. Potter inclines to think, of
Agricola. The suburbium lay without the present gate, and its ruins
may still be traced with ease, although covered with vegetation. Mr. Potter
expects to find the foundation of a similar gate on the opposite side of
the camp; and if so, the number of the gates would be six. Four have been
already described; one remains to be excavated; the sixth or Praetorian
gate was destroyed some time ago, to form a barn. Of the four gates that
have been exposed, only one gateway has not been walled-up. Stones, it is
conjectured, were subsituted for soldiers. Mr. Potter's interesting paper
concludes with a few remarks on the rude representations of a palm branch
and sword, emblems of Peace and War, which are engraven on the inscribed
stone.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.123}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.123}
{header- The Roman Wall}
{image = G853A123.jpg}
{text- book review}
THE ROMAN WALL.
The Roman Wall; an Historical and Topographical Description of the Barrier
of the Lower Isthmus, extending from the Tyne to the Solway. Deduced from
numerous personal surveys. By the Rev. John Collingwood Bruce, M.A. one of
the Council of the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Second and
enlarged edition. London, J. R. Smith. 1852. 8vo.
IT is rare to find a work of an exclusively antiquarian character reaching
a second edition after the lapse of so brief a space of time as two years.
Our volume for 1851 contains a review of Mr. Bruce's first edition of his
Roman Wall, and our Magazine of the same year also contains some notes on
the same subject by Mr. Roach Smith, who, in company with the late Mr.
Price, passed a week in examining the remains of this remarkable structure,
and the castra connected with it, from Walls-End to Carlisle.
On the present occasion we shall restrict our notices to some of the recent
discoveries, and to the more remarkable portions of the novel matter
introduced into this new and revised edition, premising that, although it
appears a champion on the side of Severus has entered the lists against our
author, who supports the claim of Hadrian as builder of the wall,*
we seen no reason, from any new fact or from any new view of historical
evidence, to change our opinion on this question, which is in favour of Mr.
Bruce's theory. There are certain discrepancies in the statements made by
ancient writers; but, when they are carefully weighed with conclusions
drawn from the remains themselves, coupled with the powerful arguments
drawn from inscriptions, we cannot resist believing that Hadrian
constructed the wall and its attendant lines of earthworks, and that
Severus made many reparations, and added, probably, some of the walled
castra along the line of the great fortification.
To inscriptions we cannot attach too much importance, and the careful
manner in which Mr. Bruce has collected them, and authenticated their
discovery, adds much to their value. The following, for instance, an
unpublished one copied by Stukeley, seems to fix the heretofore undecided
situation of Morbium at Moreseby. Its preservation is fortunate, and its
history is the more curious as Stukeley does not seem to have been aware of
its peculiar value. Mr. Bruce, speaking of Moresby, remarks:-
list, Considerable uncertainty exists as to the ancient name of this place.
Camden says, "There has been no inscription yet found to encourage us to
believe that this was the MORBIUM where the Aquites Cataphractarii
qtred; though the present name seems to imply it." This difficulty no
longer exists. Horsley saw an inscription (LXXV Cumb.) in a field, a little
east
* See our Review department, hereafter.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.124}
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{image = G853A124.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
of Moresby Hall, "but pretty much effaced and broken." He says, "'Tis
sepulchral, and has contained the name of the person deceased, with his
age, and the years he has served in the army." His copy of it, however,
differs from one which Stukeley made upon the spot, and whose original note
is in the possession of Mr. C. Roach Smith. The two readings are these:-
Horsley's
D M
SMERT
[O]MAC
MCoHI
HRAC
Q STII
XVICSIT
XXX QV
Stukeley's
D M
S.MERT
O.MACS
M.CATAP
HRACTAR
Q STI
X.VICSIT
XXX D.V.
I cannot but think, with Mr Roach Smith, that Stukeley's reading is the
correct one, and that a prima facie case is made out for Moresby to
be the MORBIUM of the Notitia. Horsley, for reasons which have not been
generally acquiesced in by antiquaries, places ARBEIA, which follows
MORBIUM in the Notitia, at Moresby.
An inscription very recently discovered at High Rochester confirms that
place to have been the Bremenium of the Itinerary of Antoninus. It is
represent in the cut below.
{image = G853E01.jpg}
It may be read -
G[ENIO] D[OMINI] N[OSTRI] ET
SIGNORVM
COH[ORTIS] PRIMAE VARDVL[ORVM]
ET N[VMERI] EXPLORA
TOR[VM] BREM[ENII] COR[NELIVS]
EGNATIVS LVCILI
ANVS LEG[ATVS] AVG[VSTALIS] PR[O]PR[AETOR]
CVRANTE CASSIO
SABINIANO TRIB[VNO]
aram posuit.
To the genius of our Emperor and
of the Standards
of the first cohort of the Varduli
and of a Numerus of the Explora-
tores of Bremenium, Cornelius
Egnatius Lucili-
anus, the imperial Legate, propraetor,
under the superintendance of Cassius
Sabinianus, the Tribune,
erected this altar.
list, Two inscriptions had been found at this station many years since. In
one the first cohort of the Varduli is mentioned; in the other the
duplares of a detachment of the Exploratores, and the fact of
their being stationed at Bremenium. The former is of the time of Elagabalus
(not of Caracalla as inferred by Horsley). From that recently found we
learn that these two bodies of soldiers were qtred together at this station
in the time of Gordian, for it is elsewhere shewn that Egnatius Lucilianus
was legate of this emperor. The Varduli, as appears by the Sydenham
rescript, were in Britain in the time of Trajan; the second cohort of them
is mentioned in it as surnamed Fida, a title which is also shared by
the first cohort, as is proved by another inscription also very recently
excavated at Bremenium, and a copy of which we here introduce from Mr.
Bruce's second edition of his volume. (See the next page.)
We think with Mr. Bruce that the erased name is most probably that of
Elagabalus. The word ballis we may read balneis, signifying
that the public baths were restored from their foundations by the first
cohort of the Varduli. Another inscription has been lately afforded by
excavations. It is a votive tablet to Antoninus Pius, erected by the first
cohort of the Lingones, under Lollius Urbicus, on the occasion apparently
of the completion of some building. This is the Lollius Urbicus who,
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.125}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.125}
{image = G853A125.jpg}
{image = G853E02.jpg}
IMP[ERATORI] CAE[SARI]
P[IO F[ELICI]
C[O]H[ORS] I F[IDA] VARD[VLORVM]
BALLIS A SOLO REST[ITVIT]
SVB C[AIO] CL[AVDIO] APELLINI[O] LEG[ATO] AVG[VSTALI]
INSTANTE AVR[ELIO] QVINTO TR[IBVNO].
In honour of the Emperor Caesar,
Pious, happy,
The first Cohort of the Varduli, styled the Faithful,
--- from the ground restored,
under Claudius Apellinus, imperial legate;
Aurelius Quintus, the Tribune, superintending the work.
{continues last paragraph}
Capitolinus says, built the upper barrier or Antonine Wall.
The station Bremenium, now High Rochester, where the precited inscriptions
have been found, lies about twenty-two miles north of the wall, upon
Watling Street. As it is now being excavated a fuller account of the
discoveries cannot be unacceptable to our readers, especially as many of
them, on a late occasion, visited the site. Mr. Bruce thus describes it:-
It (the station) has evidently been placed here for the protection of the
road. When viewed in relation to the ground in its immediate vicinity, the
station seems to stand high, and to be very much exposed to the weather;
but, if it be looked upon from the hills to the east of it, it will be seen
to occupy a defile in the mountain chain, through which the Military Way is
very skilfully taken in its progress to the north. Watling Street passes
the station on its eastern side, and shoots boldly forward towards Chew
Green. The pavement of the road may be traced in a very complete state for
miles together, though there are portions of it which seem never to have
been paved at all. South of the station the road may in most places be
distinguished, until, on the southern rim of the basin of the Rede Water,
the modern turnpike coalesces with it. Several pieces of black oak,
perfectly sound, have been got out of the river near to the place where the
road crossed it, and some portions are imbedded in the bank in such a way
as to encourage the belief that the road was here supported on timbers.
In a military point of view the site of the station is very strong. On all
sides, excepting near the south-east corner, the ground slopes from it; and
on the north side, it sinks so rapidly as to give the camp the protection
of a bold breast-work. The walls of the station are stronger than those of
the forts on the line of the Wall; they are not only thicker, but are
composed of larger stones. In one place the station wall measures seventeen
feet in thickness; the interior of it seems to have been filled with clay.
The wall, at the north-west corner, has been laid bare; seven courses of
stones are standing in position. Here some repairs have evidently been
effected after the original erection of the station, the newer part being
composed of stones of a larger size than the rest of the wall. Between the
walls of the station and the moat a space of ground, of twelve or fifteen
feet in width, has been levelled and bedded over with clay and gravel, as
if to form a platform for military operations. The position of the gateways
in the north and south ramparts may easily be discerned; some portions of
their masonry remain. There have probably been two gateways on the eastern
and western sides of the station. One gate, on the western side, has
recently been cleared. It stands upwards of six feet high. The entrance is
a single one; it is wider on the outer than the inner margin,
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.126}
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{image = G853A126.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
but exhibits an average width of about eleven feet. The north jamb of this
gateway is crowned with a rudely-moulded capital, above which is the
springer of an arch. Underneath the threshold is a regularly-built drain,
which has brought the waste water from the station; several other sewers
have been observed between the south-west and north-east angles of the
station, the inclination of the ground being towards the north. A
succession of grooved stones, covered with flags, lie in the threshold of
the south gateway; by this channel clean water has probably been brought
into the station from the mossy ground, on the south-east of it. This
ground is above the level of the station, and, before being drained,
yielded water in abundance. In those parts where the station is naturally
strongest a single fosse has environed the walls; in those which are less
strong the moat has been double; but at the south-east angle, which is the
weakest point, it has been quadruple. A portion of this four-fold
entrenchment has been levelled, for the purposes of cultivation. Last year
(1851) the field was in wheat; after the crop had been cut it was pleasing
to observe, in the comparative rankness and strength of the stubble on the
"made ground," the precise lines of the ditches.
The stations on the line of the Wall were for the most part abandoned after
the Romans quitted Britain. Some of them, especially those to the north,
were probably given up anterior to that event. In the course of time they
fell into ruins, over which earth and herbage gradually accumulated, and up
to the present day many of them have remained unmolested, with the
exception of parts of the outer walls and more exposed portions of the
buildings within, which have served for building materials through many
centuries. Still the foundations were untouched. In the south of England,
on the contrary, where the population was denser, and the land of greater
value for agricultural purposes, the interior of the Roman stations and
castles have been almost denuded of the remains of buildings. It is
therefore in those of the north that we may expect the more interesting
results from well-directed excavations, such as those now being made at
Bremenium and one or two other places. It is to be hoped that what has been
brought to light will induce the Duke of Northumberland to proceed with the
researches which form so interesting a part of the new edition of Mr.
Bruce's volume, as an abstract will demonstrate.
On entering the station the spectator is struck with the mass of buildings
it contains. They are not, Mr. Bruce decides, of the same character or age.
Some, from their superior masonry, indicate that they belong to the
original plan; others are referable to later periods. Two distinct layers
of flag-stones, both much worn, with a mass of rubbish between them, are to
be noticed in some of the houses and streets. The chief street, twenty feet
wide, runs through the station from east to west. Another street, to the
south, runs in the direction of those points of the rampart where the
second lateral gateways are supposed to be; this is eight feet wide.
Precisely in the centre of the camp is a square plot of building (A, in the
following plan), which subsequent investigation may prove to be the
praetorium. The portal (E) leading into it from the via
principalis has been crowned by an arch; many of the wedge shaped
stones which composed it were found upon the ground. Advancing a few feet
inwards, we meet with what appears to be a second portal, the basement
course of two strong pillars of masonry (P.P.) remaining in position; these
too may have been spanned by an arch, or they may have been surmounted by
statues of Victory. The latter supposition is suggested by the discovery,
already referred to, of a nearly complete figure of the favourite goddess
of the Romans, and a small fragment of a second, within the eastern gateway
of BORCOVICUS. In the chamber which is entered after passing these
pediments the most striking object is an underground tank (F) about eight
feet square, and six feet deep. The masonry of its walls bears the
character of the second, rather than of the first period. Two narrow
apertures on its south side near the top seem intended for the admission of
water, and a shallow trough and gutter on the edge of one of the opposite
corners, having apparently been intended to carry off the superfluous
liquid. There is now lying at the bottom of it the stone lintel of a
doorway, upwards of six feet long; before being precipitated into the tank,
it would seem to have long lain upon the ground of the station, for it is
much worn, as if by the sharpening of knives upon it. Proceeding in a
straight line onwards, and at the southern extremity of this range of
buildings, another underground receptacle (G) is seen. It
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.127}
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{image = G853A127.jpg}
{image = G853E03.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
is nearly of the same size as the former, but its masonry is evidently that
of the earliest period. The woodcut represents it as it appears to one
standing on its southern edge. Three of its sides consist of strong
masonry, the fourth has been formed by three flags of large dimensions,
backed up with clay; two of the flags remain in their position; but the
third (the middle one) has been laid prostrate by the pressure from behind.
A flight of steps leads to the bottom of the vault, and the entrance is
closed by a stone slab moving in a groove upon two pairs of small iron
wheels. A slit in the neighbouring wall allows of this door being pushed
back into it. In many modern railway stations we see doors of similar
construction.
{image = G853E04.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.128}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.128}
{image = G853A128.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
There is an opening at the bottom, in one corner of the building, having
much the appearance of a conduit: it is arched by a single stone, roughly
marked with diamond tooling. The course of this channel has not been
examined. The whole vault has evidently been provided with a covering. In
its western wall is a projecting ledge, which is shewn in the woodcut; on
this one or two courses of stones have probably rested, stretching inwards.
The top by this means would be soon contracted that it might be covered
over by long flat stones; one suitable for the purpose, though broken in
two, lies on the spot.
On the western side of the central block of buildings is a double range of
barracks (B, C); each compartment is sixty feet long and fifteen broad. The
masonry is exceedingly good, and evidently belongs to the first period. In
the centre of the range between the apartments a deep passage runs (K),
flagged at the bottom, and apparently communicating with flues (N) beneath
the rooms. This passage shows five courses of masonry in situ. The
outer walls of these buildings have erections resembling buttresses placed
against them (I, I), and the same number, eight, is appended to each. It is
probable, however, that they were not intended to strengthen the walls, but
were connected with the heating of the apartments, for a flue goes under
the floor from the centre of each bay. The floors of the rooms consist of a
doubleset of flagstones with an intervening layer of clay between them. The
floors are not supported on pillars as is usually the case in hypocausts,
but upon dwarf walls; by this means the heated air would be carried along
the passages with some of the precision we see manifested in the galleries
of a coal mine. In one of the bays formed by the projecting buttresses of
this building the cranium and several other bones of a man were found. The
remains of an archway (M) leading into one of the dwellings (C) were
discovered; it is probable that the other was similarly provided.
There are indications that a range of houses (D), of the same character as
that which has now been described, stood upon the eastern side of the
central square.
In the via principalis, is another vault (H in the plan),
incroaching on
{image = G853E05.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
the line of the street. It is thirty feet long, eight broad, and six deep.
At the bottom of it was discovered a piece of sculpture representing three
nymphs bathing. Mr. Bruce asks what can have been the object of so many
pit-like chambers, and pauses in deciding them to have been baths. But it
is difficult to conceive them constructed for any other purpose, and this
piece of sculpture, as well as the inscription containing the word
ballis (p.125), seem to support this opinion.
Considerable discoveries have also been made at Housesteads (Borcovicus) by
Mr. Clayton, and at Burdoswald (Amboglanna), by Mr. Potter,* both of
which are described by Mr. Bruce with new illustrations. One of the most
interesting features of the excavations at the latter place is the doorway
leading from the northern gate-
* See p.73 of our January number. We take this opportunity to
suggest that the first two words of the inscription found by Mr. Potter
(p.74) would be better read as Sub Modio.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.129}
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{image = G853A129.jpg}
{image = G853E06.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
{marginal = clay pipes}
way to the guard chamber shewn in the annexed cut. The circular door-head
is formed of a single block of stone, which had been broken and thrown from
its original situation. Similar stones have often been found near the
gateways of stations, and their use is now fully determined. In the
department alloted to minor antiquities will be found many objects of
interest. With respect to the little tobacco-pipe bowls, we may observe
that their comparative diminutive size may well be explained by the fact
that in the time of Queen Elizabeth tobacco was sold at five guineas the
ounce, and that in after-times those who indulged in the expensive luxury
of smoking were accustomed in buying it to throw five shilling pieces into
the opposite scale.
{header- Sonnet for William Wordworth}
SONNET.
On my first and only visit to the Poet Wordsworth, shortly previous to his
death, when he regardfully presented me with a walking-stick, which had
been an old and much-used favourite.
WORDSWORTH, bard of the heart! my pulse beat high
To meet the tearful welcome in thine eye.
We ne'er before, and ne'er again could meet;
The meeting tender, and the greeting sweet.
Each had the other known, but as a dream:
Our sympathy soon kindled with our theme -
COLERIDGE:- the wonders of whose bygone days
Each had in ample share the power to praise.
Thine were his later years: mine, when as boys
We tasted first of life, it's cares, and joys.
We parted: and at parting paused to bless.
Ere the deep farewell of our last caress
A staff thy gift, as with a friend to roam. -
Ah! No. It bides, for aye, the glory of my home.
C. V. LE GRICE.
Trereise, Cornwall.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.179}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.179}
{header- Hadrian, Builder of the Roman Wall}
{image = G853A179.jpg}
{text- book review}
Hadrian the Builder of the Roman Wall: a Paper read at the Monthly
Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 4
Aug. 1852, in reply to "The Roman Wall: an attempt to
substantiate the claims of Severus to the authorship of the Roman Wall. By
Robert Bell." By the Rev. John Collingwood Bruce, M.A., F.S.A.
London and Newcastle. Pp. 38. 1852. - The pamphlet published by Mr. R.
Bell, to which this is a reply, has not reached us; but we gather from Mr.
Bruce's tract what may be considered as the substance of his arguments. The
first, and on which he appears to lay the greatest stress, is founded on
the well-known inscription on the upper part of an ancient quarry on the
banks of the river Gelt, which mentions a vexillation of the Second legion,
with the date of the consulship of Aper and Maximus, A.D. 207, about four
years previous to the death of Severus, and shortly before his coming to
Britain. From this inscription he maintains that the building of the wall
was contemporaneous, and adds that "the Hadrianites endeavour to
evade this powerful proof that the wall was built by Severus by the
supposition that the inscription was made when the wall was only repaired
by Severus, in the year 207. But it must be observed that the inscription
is nearly at the top of a rock, and the quarry has been worked to an
enormous extent down to the bed of the river, a depth of at least fifty
feet."
Mr. Bruce meets this objection to his own conclusions in favour of Hadrian
by observing tha, "because a vexillation of the Second legion carved some
lines upon the face of a quarry on the Gelt, we are not necessarily to
infer that they were engaged in extensive operations there, - that
it is admitted on all hands that the Second legion was extensively employed
upon the Wall, and so was the Sixth, and so was the Twentieth. The
inscriptions on the Wall itself do, indeed, prove that the second legion
was engaged in the erection of that structure, and in three instances the
name of Hadrian is coupled with that of the Second legion on those
inscriptions, whilst the inscription at Gelt merely establishes the fact
that a part of that legion was in Cumberland in the reign of Severus."
Mr. Bell ridicules Mr. Bruce's notion that most of the inscriptions
recording the Second legion (as well as others) may, from their peculiar
character, be supposed to have been executed prior to the reign of Severus.
In this he will hardly be supported by any one who has closely studied the
general shape of the letters and their ligatures, and has compared the
earlier inscriptions with those of a later date. The matter also is
essential to be observed, and the form varies as much as the letters. Had
Mr. Bell attended to this important key, he would probably have paused
before he had cited on his side of the question the suppostitious
inscription in Gordon's Itinerarium Septentrionale, SEPT. SEVERO. IMP.
QVIMVRVM HVNC CONDIDIT.
The evidence of ancient writers in reference to the building of the Wall is
rather obscure and conflicting; but we are inclined, upon taking a careful
review of it, to strike a balance in favour of Mr. Bruce. Neither Xiphiline
nor Herodian, the latter of whom gives a pretty minute account of the
campaign of Severus in Britain, make any mention of Severus as builder of
the Wall, which probably they would have done had he really been its
constructor. Xiphiline speaks of the Maeatae as dwelling near the barrier
wall, a mode of expression which implies its existence at the time of the
coming of Severus. Spartian, a writer of inferior merit, who is quoted by
Mr. Bell in favour of the claims of Severus, says that this emperor
fortified Britain with a wall drawn across the island, ending on each side
at the sea, which was the chief glory of his reign, and for which he
received the name of Britannicus. But the same author, in a passage
overlooked by Mr. Bell, states that Hadrian went to Britain, where he
corrected many things, and first drew a wall eighty miles long to sepearate
the Romans from the barbarians. Aurelius Victor uses precisely the same
words as Spartian in attributing the wall to Severus. Eutropius is on the
same side, but he makes the wall one hundred and thirty-two miles in
length. Cassiodorus and Paulous Diaconus are late writers, and equally
unsatisfactory on this point. Paulus lived five hundred years after
Severus, and borrowed the very words of Eutropius, substituting XXXV for
CXXXII, M.P. as the length of the wall.
But whatever credit may be attached to the evidence of ancient writers,
their testi-
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.180}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.180}
{image = G853A180.jpg}
[testi]mony cannot be allowed to weigh against the remains as they now
exist, and the conclusions deduced from a careful examination of them.
Hodgson, the illustrious historian of Northumberland, gave more time and
attention to the subject than any one since the days of Horsley, and he
came slowly, and in spite of prejudices, to the belief that Hadrian
constructed at one and the same time the stone wall, with its ditch on the
north and the earthern vallum to the south. In any other point of view they
were to him unsatisfactory makeshifts, and misapplied and incomplete
fortifications. Considered as one grand work they could be understood and
admired as a consummate effort of engineering skill. The circumstances
under which Hadrian visited Britain, and the inscriptions discovered along
the line of the works, support this view. On the contrary, the insurrection
of the Caledonians cost Severus 50,000 men, and it is probable he was
hardly in a condition to have projected and completed a work requiring so
much labour. But he evdiently did what many of his inscriptions prove; he
repaired the fortifications, and probably strengthened them with additional
castra. Mr. Bruce has surveyed and re-surveyed the Wall from end to end,
conjoining with it a study of the inscriptions, and he arrives, in
consequence, at the same conclusion as Hodgson. Mr. Bell does not, it
appears to us, attempt to follow him in so extended a view of the question;
and, with regard to inscriptions, confines himself to those of his own
neighbourhood. In no respect are his objections to Mr. Bruce's theory
conclusive, while most of his arguments are forcibly refuted in the reply.
But truth is served by discussion, and, as Mr. Bell is evidently an ardent
antiquary, we trust he will continue and extend his searches in
co-operation with Mr. Bruce, who candidly acknowledges services rendered,
and who evidently does not allow difference of opinion to lessen
friendship.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.414}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.414}
{header- Seal of Carlisle}
{image = G853A414.jpg}
Sir Henry Ellis exhibited impressions of the ancient Seal of the city of
Carlisle, still in use, of the work of the latter end of the 13th or
beginning of the 14th century. The obverse presents the Virgin and Child,
and the counterseal a cross flory between four roses. On each side is the
same ungrammatical legend: S. COMUNIS CIVIUM KARLIOLENSIS: with an inner
legend on the obverse, AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.488}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.488}
{header- Ancient Commerce in Westmorland}
{image = G853A488.jpg}
{image = G853E07.jpg}
Nunc as Kendal, propter pannum,
Coetum, situm, aldermannum,
Virgines pulchras, pias matres,
Et viginti quatuor fratres,
Vere clarum et beatum,
Mihi nactum, notum, natum.
Now to Kendal, for clothmaking,
Sight, site, alderman awaking;
Beauteous damsels, modest mothers,
And her four-and-twenty brothers;
Ever in her honour spreading,
Where I had my native breeding.
Drunken Barnaby's Journal.
THE ANCIENT COMMERCE OF WESTMERLAND.
AT the first view it appears strange and surprising that one of the chief
woollen manfactures of England in ancient times should have been seated in
the remote county of Westmerland. Yet such we are assured was the case. The
cloths made at Kendal were famous as early as the 13th Ric. II.* if
not before, and are the subject of continual legislative regulations during
the reign of Henry IV.† Leland‡ speaks of Kendal as
emporium laneis pannis cele-
* See the Rotuli Parliament. iii. p.271.
† Ibid. pp.437, 498, 541, 614, 693.
‡ "In Westmerland is but one good market towne caullid Kendale,
otherwise as I wene Kirkby Kendal. Yt hath the name of the ryver caullid
Kent, unde et Kentdale, sed emporium laneis pannis celeberrimum."
- Itinerary.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 1 p.489}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 1 p.489}
{image = G853A489.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[cele]berrimum. Speed and Camden repeat the same eulogium;
and Drayton re-echoes it in the lines,
--- where Kendal town doth stand,
For making of our cloth scarce match in all the land.
Camden adds further that the townsmen of Kendal exercised an extensive
merchandise of woollen cloths throughout all England.*
It would, perhaps, be as little expected that the principal market of these
Westmerland clothiers should have been at Cambridge; yet so it was. A fair
annually held in the outskirts of that town, called Sturbridge Fair, proved
so convenient as a central point of concourse for the manufacturers and
retailers throughout the kingdom, that for some centuries it was the
greatest fair in England, and especially for cloth.† So much was the
mart indebted to this branch of trade that Fuller, in his History of
Cambridge University, relates a story that Sturbridge Fair originated with
the clothiers of Kendal, who first exposed there for sale some cloths which
had been accidentally wetted on their journey to the South. This anecdote
is scouted by a subsequent historian of Sturbridge Fair as having been
invented only for the ears of silly rustics: still, if the fair itself was
not originated in this way, its great repute for cloth may possibly have
arisen from some such circumstance.
The staple produce of the Kendal looms was evidently of that coarse quality
which was required in large quantities for the lower classes of the
community. We know from various passages of old authors that it was
consumed especially by foresters and countrymen, being so commonly dyed of
a green colour, that the name of the place was ordinarily used to express
that colour.‡ Skelton, in his poem
* We find, however, no recognition of the above facts in Mr. C.
Knight's "Pictorial History of England, being a History of the People, as
well as a History of the Kingdom." In a chapter on the "national industry,"
Vol.ii. p.192. edit.1839, it is stated that "When the woollen manfacture
first began to assume importance as the great staple of the nation, it was
chiefly carried on in London and the immediate neighbourhood, but it soon
spread itself into the adjacent counties of Surrey, Kent, Essex, Berks,
Oxford, and subsequently into Dorset, Wilts, Somerset, Gloucester, and
Worcester. These were the counties which produced the best wool, and in the
imperfect state of the means of communication, the manufacture naturally
became located within reach of the raw material. The woollen manufacture
had not yet found its way into Yorkshire, though in Devonshire, the
wool of which was of an inferior description, it had existed long before
the present period." The "period" intended we understand to be that of the
kings of the house of Lancaster, commencing in 1399: some time before
which, in 1336, the weavers of Brabant who had settled in York are
mentioned (Rymer's Foedera, iv. 723). We may conclude that Anderson and
Macpherson, the authorities relied upon for commercial matters by the
compilers of the Pictorial History, are not very accurate in their details
of the early annals of the woollen manufacture. Nor do we find on
consulting Mr. Bischoff's History of Wool and the Woollen Manufactures,
1842, 8vo. that either he, or Smith in his "Memoirs of Wool," has admitted
the manufactures of Kendal to their due place in the subject. There is,
however, an agreeable article on Kendal and its Manufactures in No.86 of
Dickens's Household Words, Nov. 15, 1851: but we apprehend not fully
authenticated in the early historical details. What is the authority for
setting forth John Kemp as the founder of the Kendal woollen manufacture?
† A spacious square, formed by some of the largest booths, was
occupied by woollen-drapers, tailors, and others concerned in the cloth
trade; and always retained its ancient appellation of the Duddery, which is
mentioned in connection with a house of lepers called the "Fratres de
Sterebridge, ubi nunc domus vetus eo loco ubi nunc pars fori lanarii, Angl.
the Duddery." (Leland's Collectanea, i. 444, from the Liber
Bernwelensis coenobii.) Carter, who published his short account of
Cambridgeshire just a hundred years ago (in 1753), after the trade of
Sturbridge fair had begun to decline, says that 100,000l. worth of
wool had been known to be sold in less than a week's time in the Duddery.
‡ In an old poem on the battle of Flodden Field are these lines:-
With him the bows of Kendal stout,
With milke-white coats and crosses red;
upon which Mr. Cornelius Nicholson, in his Annals of Kendal, 8vo. 1832,
p.26, makes
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called the Bouge of Court, when describing the costume of Riot, tells us
that-
His cote was checkt with patches rede and blewe,
of Kirkeby Kendall was his short demye,
And ay he sange, "In fayth, decon thou crewe,"
His elbow bare, he ware his gere so nye.
It seems to be doubrful, from the commentators Warton and Dyce, what
article of dress was designated by the term "demye;" but both agree that by
"Kirkeby Kendall" in this passage was intended the colour green.
So too in Hall's Chronicle, where we are told that king Henry VIII. with a
party of noblemen, "came sodainly in a mornyng into the queen's chamnre,
all appareled in shorte cotes of Kentish Kendal (a misprint probably for
Kirkby Kendal) ... like outlawes, or Robin Hodes men," the allusion is
evidently to the same colour.
In later writers it is uaually termed "Kendal green," and it is frequently
mentioned by our dramatists and poets, being the recognised dress of
foresters.
In Anthony Munday's play of "Robin Hood, or Robert Earl of Huntington,"
1601, occurs this passage,
--- all the woods
Are full of outlaws that, in Kendall green,
Follow'd the utlaw'd Earl of Huntington.
Falstaff was attacked at Gad's Hill by "three mis-begotten knaves in Kendal
green," (1st Part of Henry IV. ii. 4); and Ben Jonson in his "Underwoods"
attires Greenhood
--- in Kendal green
As in the forest colour seen.
From some lines in Hall's Satires it appears also that this was the colour
worn by agricultural labourers, as blue was usually that of serving-men:
The sturdy plowman doth the soldier see
All scarf'd with pyed colours to the knee
Whom Indian pillage hath made fortunate;
And now he 'gins to loathe his former state,
Now doth he inly scorne his Kendall greene
Hall's Satires, iv. 6, p.76.
The most recent account of the Kendal manufactures is as follows:
This town, nearly as late as the beginning of the last century, exported
largely of coarse woollens to America, but the machinery in
Yorkshire and Lancashire (inter alia) have nearly destroyed it (the trade).
The Kendal green, superseded by the Saxon green,* was
produced from a plant with a small yellow flour (sic), and producing, when
boled, a beautiful yellow extract provincially known as woodas or
sarrat (the genista tinctora of Linneaus), and from a blue
liquor extracted from woad. These cottons (as such coarse
woollen were called) have yielded to coarser things: floor-cloths,
horse-cloths, linseys, and the like. The manufacture of carpets has
recently become popular and flourishing. Hosiery, wool-card making, and
horn-comb making, as trades, still exist to some extent. - Atkinson's
Worthies of Westmoreland, 1851, vol.i. p.32.
The traders of Kendal were formerly associated in twelve free companies,
which are this enumerated in an ancient "boke of recorde" belonging to the
corporation of the borough:-
1. Chapmen, Marchants, and Salters; 2. Mercers and Drapers, Linen and
Woollen; 3. Shearmen, Fullers, Dyers, and Websters; 4. Taylors,
Imbrodyrers, and Whilters; 5. Cordyners, Coblers, and Curryers; 6. Tanners,
Sadlers, and Bridlers; 7. Innholders and Alehousekeepers and Typlers; 8.
Butchers and Fishers; 9. Cardmakers and Wyerdrawers; 10. Surgeons,
Scryvyners, Barners, Glovers, Skynners, ... (obliterated), and
Poyntmakers; 11. Smyths, Iron and Hardwaremen, Armerers, Cutlers, Bowyers,
Fletchers, Spuryers, Potters, Panners,
this note, with reference to the public room in Kendal, called the White
Hall: "It seems not improbable that White Hall (originally perhaps White
Cloth Hall) has taken its name from the manufacture of milk-white cloth."
But this remark is founded upon a misapprehension. The old poet was not
here describing a colour peculiar to the manufacture, or to the archers of
Kendale. White coats with St. George's cross were worn by all the infantry
of our English armies; and the White Coats of London - that is, the trained
bands of the city - are as often mentioned as any others. Mr. Nicholson
repeats this misconception in p.203, where he imagines that "spots might be
easily, by poetic fancy, magnified into crosses red." In correction of this
idea it is to be remarked that the white coats were not besprinkled with
crosses, but every bowman, or soldier, exhibited only one cross back
and front, displayed upon the whole of his body, as may be seen in the
illuminations to the manuscripts of Froissart and other old historians.
* This change took place about the year 1770. - Nicholson's Annals
of Kendal.
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Plumbers, Tynkers, Pewterers, and Metallers; 12. Carpenters, Joyners,
Masons, Wallers, Slaters, Thatchers, Glassers, Paynters, Pleysterers,
Dawbers, Pavers, Myllers, and Cowpers. These incorporated companies
gradually became extinct, the last of them (the cordyners or Cordwainers)
being "broken up" - i.e. dissolved - in 1800, in consequence of one
Robert Moser refusing to recognise any legal power in the company to impose
a fine upon persons, not being freemen, commencing business within the
borough.
There is, in our estimation, something more than an ordinary local interest
in such notices as we have now put together. Not only do the packhorses of
Kendal clothiers again, in our mind's eye, tramp along the highways of Old
England, but the knaves in Kendal-green again start forth from the
wood-side, and the tattered hood of the same dye again barely shades the
head of the labouring swain.
In Kendal itself the townsmen were prosperous in their industry, and
bountiful in their charity; sometimes laying the foundation of families of
landed gentry, and sometimes the more lasting structure of an almshouse or
hospital. In the seventeenth century, like other traders, they felt the
want of a currency of small value; and it was supplied, partly by the
trading companies and partly by individuals, in the form of various tokens,
of which some eight or ten varieties are known. It is by these tokens that
our attention has been directed to the ancient manfactures of
Kendal,* to the illustration of which they will be found to lend
some further assistance.
{image = G853E08.jpg}
1. The earliest in point of date is that of "Thomas Sandes of Kendal,"
1656. The obverse presents the figures of a teasel and a wool-hook; and the
reverse a wool-comb.
Thomas Sandes, who was mayor of Kendal in 1647-8, made a fortune as a
manufacturer of "Kendal Cottons." He resided in the front house of the
Elephant yard, (now the Elephant inn, which was rebuilt about thirty years
ago,) using the back premises as his warehouses. His mint, consisting of
two coining presses and other instruments, was a few years ago found in
making alterations to these premises. He founded, in 1670, Sandes Hospital
in Kendal, endowing it with considerable property for the maintenance and
relief of eight poor widows, and for the support of a school for poor
children until they should be fitted for the free school of Kendal or
elsewhere. The hospital premises consist of the master's house,
school-house, library, and eight dwellings for the widows, with gardens and
crofts. He also bequeathed a collection of books, including a valuable
series of the ancient Fathers of the Church. He died, aged 75, on the 22nd
Aug. 1681; and there is a handsome monument to his memory in Kendal church.
It was originally erected against a pillar at the west end of the
"aldermen's pew," but was moved last year (1852) in consequence of a
renovation of the church, to an appropriate position immediately over the
south-west entrance door, in the interior of the edifice.
list, 2. in 1657 a farthing token was issued under the name of the Mercer's
Company. On one side it bears their arms, the Virgin's head, - the arms of
trading companies being the same throughout the country as they were in
London. On the reverse are the arms displayed by the town (as shown more at
large in the woodcut at the head of this article), qtrly of teasles and
wool-hooks. Above the shield are the letters K K, for Kirkby Kendal,
{image = G853E09.jpg}
which are placed in like manner on the
* "The Trademen's Tokens (of the 17th century) of Cumberland and
Westmoreland. By William Henry Brockett. Gateshead-upon-Tyne, 1853." 8vo.
pp.14. We are indebted to Mr. Brockett for the loan of the woodcuts which
illustrate this pamphlet. He had previously published, "The Tokens of
Durham and Northumberland. 1851."
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seal of the town. The seal is of silver, circular, and one inch and a half
in diameter; it has the date 1576, being the year following that of a
charter granted to the town by Queen Elizabeth, and its device is a view of
the town - the same as is shown on the annexed shield.
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The dies of this token, much worn, were found in 1803, among the ruins of
the New Biggin, where the company of Cordwainers had their hall, and they
are now in the museum of the Natural History Society in Kendal.
In 1659 two other farthing tokens were issued in Kendal by Oliver Plat and
Edmond Adlington.
{image = G853E11.jpg}
3. Oliver Plat was a gentleman of considerable property, both in Kendal and
its neighbourhood, and lived on his estate at Summer How in Skelsmergh. The
Rainbow inn in Kendal belonged to him; and an oak table and an oak panel,
bearing the inscription (boldly carved), "O.P. x E.P. 1638," were
discovered when the house was rebuilt about twenty-five years ago. Some
other articles, bearing the same initials are preserved by Mr. John Fisher,
jun. of Kendal. Mr. Plat was a Roman Catholic, and hence, probably, the use
of the Maltese crosses.
{image = G853E12.jpg}
4. Edmond Adlington displays the arms of the Dyers (as in London and
elsewhere), Sable, a chevron between three bags of madder argent, corded
or. Edmond Adlington was sworn as a shearman-dyer in the year 1649, and
followed that business in 1655 and 1657, as evidenced in the corporation
books. The family originally from Yealand in Lancashire, and carried on
business there and at Kendal simultaneously. They were Quakers, and
tradition says that Edmond was a man of immense bulk, weighing upwards of
24 stone, and that his wife was of little inferior weight, being upwards of
22 stone. He retired, and died, probably at his native place, at a great
age. Francis Higginson, vicar of Kirkby Stephen, a pamphleteer against the
early Quakers in the time of Cromwell, says that some of them stood naked
upon the market cross on the market days, preaching from thence to the
people; and particularly mentions the wife of one Edmond Adlington, of
Kendal, who went naked through the streets there. The initial of the name
of this over-zealous lady, "in virtue bold," accompanies that of her
husband on the token, as we often find the case on these coins.
5. In 1666 the token here figured was issued by the company of Shearmen.
{image = G853E13.jpg}
The two implements it represents are now almost entirely disused, having
been superseded by machinery, which does the work better and cheaper. The
large shears were used by the croppers to cut all the long hairs off the
cloth; and, unless great care and precision were applied, there was danger
of cutting the cloth, so that none but experienced workmen were employed,
and they earned great wages. During the Luddite riots in the West Riding of
Yorkshire in 1812, many of these artisans were implicated, some of them
having been thrown out of employment by the improvements in manufacture,
and many by their intemperate habits. The long hairs are now removed by a
spiral thread fixed on a revolving cylinder, which gives a fine even nap to
the cloth. The hand teasel brush, which appears on the reverse of
the token,
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was used for brushing the cloth - a brush being held in each hand. This
operation is now also performed by machinery, the teasels being placed in a
long, narrow iron frame, which is worked by steam-power. The vegetable
teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) continues still to be used - no
artificial brush having yet been found better than the natural one.
6. In the same year a token was issued conjointly by Thomas Wilson and
Thomas Warde of Kirkland. Though
{image = G853E14.jpg}
there are other Kirklands elsewhere, the arms of the town show that the
token is rightly assigned to Kirkland in Kendal, which is thus described by
Nicolson and Burn:-
Adjoining to the town of Kendal on the south is Kirkland, which is
commonly reckoned part of Kendal (it now forms part of both the
parliamentary and municipal borough), but it is a distinct township,
separated from the town of Kendal by a little brook, which having but a
small current, and as it were seeking a passage, is called
Blindbeck. This place, being out of the mayor's liberty, is much
resorted to by tradesmen that are not free of the corporation. Kendal
church stands in Kirkland.
Whether Messrs. Wilson and Warde were partners in trade, or merely
joint-issuers of the token, has not been ascertained; but instances of
joint-issue by neighbours in trade are not unfrequent.
7. In 1667 James Cocke junior of Kendal issued a halfpenny token, ex-
{image = G853E15.jpg}
hibiting a rebus upon his name.* This Mr. Cocke was sworn a member
of the Mercer's Company in 1655, and became mayor of Kendal in 1681. His
residence was in the Park; and a house which stood on the site of that now
occupied by Mr. Hudson, druggist, in Butcher's Row, belonged to the family,
and before it was rebuilt in 1812, had the figure of a cock in stained
glass in one of its windows.
8. Richard Rowlandson of Grayrig in Kendal parish issued a Halfpenny in
1669. The device is described by Mr. Brockett as "a pair of scales on a
pedestal," but the pedestal looks exceedingly like a shovel.
Richard Rowlandson was a fellmonger and woolstapler, and lived on
{image = G853E16.jpg}
his own estate at Lambert Ash, Grayrig, where he carried on his business.
Grayrig is at a few miles distance from Kirkby Kendal; but Rowlandson had a
branch establishment in the town, and others at Kirkby Stephen and Kirkby
Lonsdale. It is related that he walked to London and back on business three
times, and that he was there in the time of the Great Plague of 1665.
This was probably the last Token coined for Kendal, as the tokens struck by
towns, trading companies, and individual tradesmen, at the period in
question, "for necessary change," range for about 24 years, that is, from
1648 to 1672, and were checked as early as 1669. In that year the citizens
of Norwich had a pardon granted them for all transgressions, and in
particular for their coinage of halfpence and farthings, by which they had
forfeited their charter, all coinage being declared to be the king's
prerogative.† In 1672 all such currency was "cried down" by royal
proclamation.
The remaining Westmerland tokens described by Mr. Brockett are -
Two for Appleby, 1. the halfpenny
* The obverse is nearly identical with that of the token of John
Cocke of Leeds, the reverse of which is inscribed "William Balley, 1666, a
half peny." Snelling, fig.12.
† Blomefield's History of Norfolk, vol.ii. p.290.
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of Christopher Birkbecke (the King's head); and 2. the farthing of Edward
Guy, rev. "I SERVE FOR CHANGE." Both these are dated 1666.
Six for Kirkby Stephen:-
1. Heart-shaped, with the arms of the Merchant Adventurers. The initials
are probably W.R.R. not W.H.R. as here engraved.
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2. That of "John Fallowfield and R.P. mercers."
{image = G853E18.jpg}
3. H.R. 1659. Device, a pair of scales.
4. The halfpenny shown above (but KIRBY is spelt in the original without
the K.)
5. The farthing of "Margre Sanderson;" device, a crown.
6. Jeoffrey Thompson. Obv. a crown; Rev. a heart pierced with two arrows,
with an eye above.
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{header- Cloth Manufacture, Kendal}
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MR. URBAN, - You are entitled to many thanks for the interesting paper in
your last Magazine on the"Ancient Commerce of Westmerland," including the
history of the woollen manufactures of Kendal, yclept Kendal cottons; and,
as the whole subject is capable of much further illustration, I now offer
to your notice a few observations. I engage with the greater alacrity in an
endeavour to elucidate the early history of Kendal cottons becauseI am just
now gleaning fresh materials for a new edition of my "Annals of Kendal."
The two points of interest more immediatley called in question are, first,
Whether the woollen manufactures were introduced into Kendal so early as
Edward III.? and how John Kemp is idenitifed therewith? 2ndly. As to the
"milk-white cloth" worn by the Kendal bow-men at Flodden Field, and the
derivation thence of "White Hall."
Firstly, You ask on what authority John Kemp is declared to be one of the
founders of the woollen manufactures; and by implication you inquire how I
claim John Kemp for Kendal when the Pictorial History of England, and some
other authorities, omit the mention of Kendal altogether?
In regard of John Kemp nothing more can be required than the proofs I here
forward you in the copy of the "Letter of Protection" granted by King
Edward III. to Johnn Kemp, as translated from Rymer's Foedera, vol.ii.
p.823.
A.D. 1331, 5 Edw. III.
On behalf of John Kempe, of Flanders, cloth weaver, concerning the
exercise of his craft.
The king to all bailiffs, &c. whom it may concern, greeting. Know ye
that whereas John Kempe of Flanders, weaver of woollen cloths, hath come to
dwell within our kingdom of England for the purpose
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of practising his craft therein, and of instructing and informing such as
might desire to learn it of him, and hath brought with him certain men and
servants, and apprentices to the said trade, we have taken the same John,
and his aforesaid men, servants, and apprentices, and all his goods and
chattels whatsoever, under our protection, &c. (according to the
tenor of similar letters as far as these words; viz.) for we promise to
cause similar letters of protection to be issued to other men of the same
craft, and to dyers and fullers, who wish to come from parts beyond the
seas to dwell within the same our kingdom for the aforesaid object. In
witness whereof, &c. these letters are to hold good during the King's
pleasure. Witness the King at Lincoln, the 28th day of July.
Next, as respect John Kemps' locus in quo. I have the authority of
the Encyclopaedia Londinensis for stating the John Kemp was established in
Kendal. "where (says the Cyclopaedia, p.725) his descendants still remain,
and the woollen trade is at present carried on." Kemp was a family name in
Kendal down to the present generation. Then it is to be observed that
tradition has always spoken, with the most confident tone, of John Kemp's
connection with Kendal, and even in cases where history is wholly silent
tradition is an acknowledged authority. For these reasons I have not
hesitated to assert that the woollen manufactures were established in
Kendal by John Kemp temp. Edward III. I have not said that there were not
woollen manufactures in the same reign (I believe at a later date though)
in York,* Halifax, &c., but I challenge the annalists of these
and other towns to set up a better claim to John Kemp than I have put forth
in favour of Kendal. The art of weaving might be known and practised, in a
small and rude way, before the 13th century, in some of the towns in
England; but there could be nothing worthy to be dignified as a manufacture
till this period; for Fuller, alluding to the time of Edward III. says
"Englishmen were then so little instructed in the art of cloth-making, they
knew no more what to do with their wool than the sheep that wear it."
(Church History, book iii. p.111.)
Secondly. With regard to the white coats worn by the Kendal men at the
battle of Flodden Field:-
"The left-hand wing, with all his route,
The lusty Lord Dacre did lead;
With him the bows of Kendale stoute,
With milk-white coats and crosses red."
Upon this stanza I had observed, in the "Annals of Kendal," that it seemed
to me not improbable that the public building called White Hall, in the
town of Kendal, might have been designated "White Cloth Hall" originally,
from the manufacture of this white cloth, and so the name afterwards
changed to "White Hall." This, you object, is founded "upon a
misapprehension, because the old poet (you say) was not describing a colour
peculiar to the manufacture or archers of Kendal." My derivation is in no
wise grounded or dependent upon the white cloth being "peculiar to Kendal."
You observe that there were also "the white coats of London." So, I answer,
there is the White Hall of London! And why may not the original of this
have been White Cloth Hall, where the white cloths for the "trained bands
of the City" were made, or more likely only exposed for sale? In the town
of Leeds there are at this day two Cloth Halls, - a "White Cloth Hall" and
a "Coloured Cloth Hall," which helps materially, in my humble opinion, to
strengthen, if not to confirm my case.
Again, I observed, that these white cloths, the Kendal cottons, were
spotted by hand with colours red, blue, green, &c. and that such spots
might easily, by poetic fancy, be magnified into "crosses red." This you
incline to regard as a misconception, "because white coats with St.
George's crosses were worn by all the infantry of our English army," and
"every bowman or soldier exhibited only one cross back and front, displayed
upon the whole of his body." In reply, I have to observe that it is not a
matter of controversy but a fact that the early Kendal cottons, made for
home consumption, were mostly white, and some were spotted red, blue,
green, &c. by the hand.† This species of manufacture was called
ermines, or "spotted cottons." I have an idea (which, however, needs
confirmation) that these "spots" might be designed as the rude armorial
bearings of the different barons, for the purpose of distinguishing their
respective retainers, and hence, perhaps, a reason for some being spotted
red, some blue, some green. Well, then, if
* In respect to York, we append to this communication an extract
from an Essay by Mr. Davies, the late Town Clerk of that city, giving the
most authentic information that could be discovered by his well-directed
researches. - Edit.
† Annals of Kendal, p.203.
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my supposition is correct, these "milk-white cloths" were spotted with the
local baronial mark. On the other hand your statement may be correct too,
the white cloths in your case being spotted* with the national mark.
However this may be, you will hardly doubt that the Kendal men were the
wearers of the "spotted cottons" and the manufacturers of their own wear at
the battle of Flodden Field, and that is the main point of my history.
Yours, &c.
CORNELIUS NICHOLSON.
The Hill, Hornsey, May 23, 1853.
... ...
* The "crosses of Saint George" were clearly not "spotted" or
printed on the coats of the soldiery, but formed of red cloth sewn over the
white. - Edit.
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{header- The Ancient Mariner}
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THE ORIGINAL ANCIENT MARINER.
HOW many readers have been delighted, and we trust improved, by the Lay of
the Ancient Mariner, we pause not to enquire; but we will venture to say
that few indeed of those many are aware they are indebted not exclusively
for their enjoyment to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but in part also to
Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, the secretary of that great Ambrose, who, in the
latter half of the fourth century wore, so proudly and manfully, the
archepiscopal mitre of Milan. In an epistle of the said Paulinus, addressed
to Macarius the vice-president of Rome, will be found the origin of that
immortal song. The epistle takes its origin in the following circumstances.
A vessel laden with corn, the property of one Secundinianus, was driven by
stress of weather into harbour on the coast of Lucania: the land adjoining
to which belonged to Postumianus - a Christian senator. The factor of
Postumianus, looking on the vessel as a wreck, had seized upon the cargo,
and being summoned before the provincial judge had repelled by force the
summoning officers and fled to Rome. The letter of Paulinus entreats the
vice-prefect to represent the matter in such a light to Postumianus as
would induce him to surrender the cargo without further litigation: the
ground for claiming this indulgence being the miraculous preservation of
the vessel from the perils of the ocean - a story probably trumped up by
Secundinianus and the survivor of the crew.
It is a story good enough indeed for Secundinianus to relate to Paulinus,
Paulinus to Macarius, and Macarius to
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 2 p.372}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 2 p.372}
{image = G853B372.jpg}
Postumianus, and for Postumianus on the strength of it to give up the wheat
which his factor had seized; but though good for these purposes; it will
not, we conceive, gain much belief at the present day. Such as it is,
however, it was manifestly the origin of Coleridge's Poem, and as such we
lay it before the reader without more apology.
Last winter the scarcity of corn in Rome was so great that out merchants
attempted the voyage from Sardinia before the usual season for navigation
had set in, hoping to supply the wants of the famishing city. A numerous
fleet sailed, but scarcely had they left harbour, so Secundinianus told me
the story, when a violent storm arose, that drove the ships back and dashed
them on the rocky coast of the island. Secundinianus's vessel would have
shared their fate, had not the crew thrown out anchors that kept it steady
for a time, but the storm no what abating, they soon parted their cables,
and the men, now panic-stricken, let down the life-boat, intending either
to carry out anchors or to excape from the wreck which seemed near
impending. The hurricane, however, in a moment split their frail bark upon
the rocks, and the men lost their lives in the waves. One only, an old man
who was working at the pump, was left behind, being either altogether
forgotten or looked on as one whose life or death was of little importance.
Meanwhile the ship, thus bereft of crew and anchors, drifted out into the
open sea. The old man, who knew nothing of what had happened, felt the
vessel pitching and rolling, and coming up from the hold found there was no
object within view but the sea and the sky. The feeling of loneliness
increased the terror which the perils that surrounded him naturally
inspired, Six whole days and nights he passed without breaking bread,
making, as the Psalmist saith, his tears his meat, and longing only for
death to close the dreary scene.
Here we pause to compare the following stanzas from Coleridge:
But now the North wind came more fierce,
There came a tempest strong;
And Southward still for days and nights
Like chaff we drove along.
* * * *
Alone, alone - all, all alone,
Alone on the wide wide sea:
And Christ would take no pity on
My soul in agony.
* * * *
I clos'd my lids, and kept them close,
Till the balls like pulses beat;
For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky,
Lay like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.
We now resume the narrative of Paulinus.
At length our dear Lord, ever kind and compassionate, not only deigned to
visit the old man in his misery, but gave him new life with the food of His
Word. His sufferings were now ended, and blessed was their end; he shed
tears as he told me how the Lord called him by name, and comforted him; how
he bade him lighten the vessel by cutting away the mast. This indeed was a
task which many strong men could not execute without danger to themselves
and the vessel, but which he, lonely and weak as he was, and strong ony in
the Word of God, feared not to undertake. He struck only two blows with his
axe - blows that were weak enough, as an old man's would be - and the mast
fell at once quite clear of the vessel, and at some distance off into the
sea. After this, whatever service was needed, whether to hoist the sails or
to work at the pump, the Lord, calling him by the name of Victor, would bid
him put his hand to the work. And with reference to this name of Victor, I
must not omit to state that among the ineffable mercies which the Lord
heaped upon him, it was not the least, that He gave him a name to be sealed
with in his New Birth - a name by which he is now known not only amongst
men but amongst men but amongst angels - for his heathen appelation being
Valgius, he has now the name of Victor from the Lord, being a Victor in the
Lord, who made him by His Grace victorious by sea over shipwreck and
tempest, and by land over Sin and the Devil. Wonderful indeed were the
steadfastness and loving mercy of Jesus. If at any time the old man was
sluggish in rising to his duties, he would first tap him gently with his
hand, (molli manu ante praepalpans) then softly pluck his ear,*
fearing lest He should alarm him by waking him on the sudden.
* This was a not unusual way of calling a person's attention among
the Romans. Thus Virgil, in the Bucolics,
Cynthius aurem
Vellit et admonuit.
And Milton, imitating him, in Lycidas,
Phoebus replied, and touched our trembling ears.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 2 p.373}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 2 p.373}
{image = G853B373.jpg}
Thus tenderly summoned, the mariner would rouse himself, but scarce could
he leap forward when he saw that angelic hands were about his task. No
sooner did he touch a rope than the sail ran along the yard, and stood
swelling out, the mizzen was set and the ship made way. If at any time
again the vessel took in water, the old man needed only once or twice to
raise the handle of the pump and no longer did any trace of moisture remain
on the planks, and nothing was left for the mariner to do but sit admiring
while his labour was forestalled by invisible hands. Perhaps though I am
wrong in calling those hands invisible whose works were so manifestly
visible. Sometimes indeed it was vouchsafed him to behold an armed band -
one may suppose of heavenly soldiers - who kept their watches on the deck
and acted in all points as seamen. What crew indeed but a crew of angels
was worthy to work that vessel which was streered by the Pilot of the
world? At the helm sat our dear Lord, one while, as described in the
Apocalypse, with his hair white as snow and his eyes as a flame of fire,
and another while wearing the venerable aspect of His friend and Confessor
Felix,* our patron saint. What wonderful good fortune was that old
man's ill fortune! in the place of his mates he had for a companion the
Martyr of the Lord, or the Lord of the Martyr. Tears of joy ran down his
cheeks while he told me how, reclining at his feet, he dared to lay his
head on those divine knees, and felt his hair scented by that divine
breath.
Here Paulinus at some length points out how the goodness of God was
displayed in each incident of this transaction; fortifying and illustrating
his argument, as he proceeds, with numerous passages from the Scriptures.
We take the opposrtunity to bring forward other passages from Coleridge:
The helmsman steer'd: the ship mov'd on:
Yet never a breeze upblew:
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes
When they were wont to do.
'Twas not these souls that fled in pain
Which to their corses came again,
But a troop of spirits blest.
* * * *
Till noon we silently sail'd on,
Yet never a breeze did breathe;
Slowly and smoothly went the ship,
Mov'd onward from beneath.
* * * *
To return once more to the narrative of Paulinus:
Devious was the course of that vessel, driven by tempests from sea to sea.
First it drew near the Imperial City, where the lighthouse at the harbour
caught the wanderer's eye; next, ran along the coast of Campania; then,
seized by a whirlwind, was carried across to the African shore. There
another whirlwind caught it and bore it back to the Sicilian coast, where
the sea is made rough and boisterous by the numerous islands. Those waters
indeed are dangerous even for ships steered by the most able pilots; yet
this vessel, undirected save by the Holy Spirit, avoided every shoal and
quicksand, and kept to the deep water, skilfully choosing each needful turn
and winding. At length, after twenty-three days, by God's good grace, it
made an end of its perilous course on the Lucanian shore. When now near to
land the Eternal Lord did not again neglect to display His enduring
mercies. Inspired by Him, some fishermen put forth from land; they were in
two small boats, and seeing the ship in the offing, were in the utmost
terror and attempted to fly, for it looked, as they afterwards said, just
like a ship of war. With loud and repeated shouts the old man called them
back; they took counsel with each other, and, the Lord inspiring them, they
understood they might approach the vessel without fear. When they came
alongside, though the old man assured them there were no soldiers on board,
they would not believe him, and at last hardly credited the evidence of
their own eyes. He set before them a breakfast which, at the Lord's
bidding, he had prepared long before; besides which he presented them with
a great many loaves, the provision of the men who were drowned. The
fishermen took these gifts very kindly, and in requital of the favour towed
it in triumph into the harbour, as if it were returning from a conflict
with wind and wave, and had its prow wreathed with the garlands of victory.
We here bring forward the parallel stanzas:
O dream of joy! is this indeed
The light-house top I see?
* * * *
I turned my eyes upon the deck,
O, Christ! what saw I there?
Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat;
And, by the holy rood!
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corse there stood.
* Not far from Nola was the tomb of the Confessor and Martyr Felix,
over which a church had been built, with a few cells attached; one of these
cells formed the abode of Paulinus, and here he afterwards joined by
Macarius, to whom this Epistle was addressed.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 2 p.374}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 2 p.374}
{image = G853B374.jpg}
This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
It was a heavenly sight;
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light.
* * * *
But soon I heard the dash of oars,
I heard the pilot's cheer;
My head was turn'd perforce away,
And I saw a boat appear.
The pilot and the pilot's boy,
I heard them coming fast.
* * * *
The skiff-boat near'd, I heard them talk:
"Why, this is strange, I trow!
Where are those lights, so many and fair,
That signal made but now?"
"Strange, by my faith!" the Hermit said,
"And they answered not our cheer."
We think we have sufficiantly made out our assertion that the secretary of
Ambrose has afforded no small assistance to the English bard. The leading
idea - that the duty of treating animals with humanity - Coleridge has
indeed drawn from some other source, but for the circumstances he seems to
have been almost entirely indebted to the Bishop of Nola. With respect to
the epistle itself, what influence it had upon the person to whom it was
addressed, whether it induced him to intercede with Postumianus, and, if
so, what were the results of his intercession, we have now no means of
knowing; but, whatever its success, regarding it merely as containing the
germ of a poem elevated in sentiment and forcible in expression, we have no
reason to regret that the wanderings and adventures of the aged Valgius
gave an hour's occupation to the learned pen of the devout Paulinus.
{title- Gents Mag 1853 part 2 p.391}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1853 part 2 p.391}
{header- Carlisle Cathedral, Restoration}
{image = G853B391.jpg}
... ...
Tenders for the restoration of Carlisle Cathedral have been received
from four competitors. Messrs. Dove and Vasey, for 11,631l.
7s. 7d. were the successful parties, their offer being
5,000l. below the highest. The alterations contemplated are
extensive. The groined ceiling of the choir is to be removed, and the
ancient circular ceiling restored. This alteration alone will cost about
1,000l. The window in the north transept is to be replaced by one in
harmony with the style of the building. The present entrance from
Castle-street will be closed, and a main doorway made in the south
transept, facing the abbey. The removal of houses in front of the large
east window will afford space for an ornamental entrance; but this is not
included in the specifications. The eastern window is to be taken down and
restored, and the flat roof of the transept will be removed. The ground
surrounding the cathedral is to be lowered. these alterations are to be
completed in three years, the service going on without interruption.
Builder.
{header- Excavations on The Wall}
... ...
New discoveries are continually being made along the line of the Roman
Wall. Housesteads (Borcovicus) is being gradually laid open by the
workmen of its proprietor, Mr. John Clayton, to whose good taste and
liberality the remains of this and other stations owe their preservation.
The gate-ways and guard-chambers are remarkably well preserved, and the
whole of the interior is a mass of ruins which only require very slight
excavation, for the foundations are solid, and reach almost to the present
surface of the soil. A castellum (or mile-castle as they are called) to the
west of Borcovicus is also under process of excavation. It presents some
very interesting features. On the north it is bounded by the great Wall
itself, and through it was a wide entrace opening upon a narrow platform of
the precipitous crag over which the wall runs. In after-times this opening
was narrowed by inserted walls, and the level of the floor was raised. A
similar continuance is noticed at Housesteads and at Birdoswald. Birdoswald
(Amboglanna), under the auspices of Mr. Glasford-Potter, is also disclosing
its long-concealed treasures, among the last of which was a valuable
inscription recording the cohort of Dacians, surnamed, from Hadrian, the
AElian. The excavations at High Rochester (Bremenium) are at present
suspended.
{title- Gents Mag 1854 part 1 p.512}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1854 part 1 p.512}
{header- Fresco of St Cuthbert, Carlisle}
{image = G854A512.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.
March 30. ...
Dr. Augustus Guest, F.S.A. communicated an account which he had recieved
from Mr. C. H. Purday, accompanying a drawing of a fresco recently
discovered on the north-east pier of the central tower of Carlisle
cathedral. Dr. Guest suggested that this painting was intended to represent
an incident in the life of St. Cuthbert as related by Beda, where the death
of St. Aidan was revealed to the holy man while tending his flocks. This
explanation, however, was not considered satisfactory, inasmuch as there is
no flock represented in the picture. At the head of the sleeper are two
horned animals, seated in something like heraldic postures. The Almighty is
appearing to him, and an angle, now partially obliterated, is making some
direct communication to his ears.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.51}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.51}
{header- Statue, William Wordsworth}
{image = G855A051.jpg}
A pleasing statue of Wordsworth, by Thrupp, has been erected in the
Baptistry of Westminster Abbey. The poet is represented in a loose
classical robe, sitting on a mossy bank, and has a very characteristic
aspect. The monument is next to that of Secretary Craggs, the friend of
Pope and Addison.
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.65}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.65}
{header- Hadrian's Wall, Carlisle}
{image = G855A065.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE.
Oct. 4. ...
Dr. Bruce stated the substance of a further communication from Mr.
M'Lachlan as to the recent discoveries at Carlisle in connection with the
Roman Wall, giving rise to a surmise that possibly the traces had been
detected of works constructed by the Celtic predecessors of the Britons.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 opp p.143}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 opp p.143}
{header- Sir John Barrow Monument}
{image = G855E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.143}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.143}
{header- Sir John Barrow Monument}
{image = G855A143.jpg}
THE BARROW MONUMENT,
ON THE HILL OF HOAD, ULVERSTON.
(With a Plate.)
list, THE name of the late Sir John Barrow will ever occupy an honourable
place in the list of those highly gifted men of whom England is justly
proud, and who, by their original genius and energetic minds, have, in
their different walks of life, rendered eminent services to their
country.As a public officer, as an author, and as a Qtrly Reviewer, he is
equally memorable among the foremost of his contemporaries.
At the time of his death, which occurred on the 23d Nov. 1848, a memoir
appeared in The Times from the pen of his friend Sir George Staunton, which
was transferred to the pages of our Obituary, and will be found in our
magazine for January 1849. As there stated, Sir John Barrow was born in
1764 in a small cottage at the village of Dragleybeck, near Ulverston, in
the extreme north of Lancashire, which cottage had been in his mother's
family for nearly 200 years. He received his early education in the Town
Bank Grammar School at Ulverston, and ever cherished an affectionate regard
for the town: not have the townsmen forgotten the honour which his name
reflects upon it.
Shortly after his death, his friends determined to raise a public monument
to his memory, and the Hill of Hoad, near Ulverston, was fixed upon for its
erection. The site was selected by Captain Washington, R.N., and approved
by Sir Francis Beaufort, the Hydrographer of the Admiralty, as also by
Trinity House; and the
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.144}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.144}
{image = G855A144.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
Trustees of the Town Lands, and Mr. Postlethwaite, (the Lessee,) gave their
willing consent, - the latter gentelman allowing free access to the Tower
at all times, and obligingly taking it under his own charge.
The first stone was laid, in the presence of 8000 people, on the 15th May,
1850, and the Tower completed at the close of the same year. The following
description of the structure was written by Mr. Andrew Trimen, its
architect:
The plan of the tower is circular, with a spreading base, the general form
being similar to that of the Eddystone; the lantern however in this case is
of the same material as the general structure, and forms a consistent
architectural feature.
The structure is based on the solid limestone rock, of which the Hoad Hill
is composed, and which was found immediately under the turf at the summit.
The ring immediately above the surface is 150 feet in circuit, being
wrought in stone, and forming a set-off or base, two feet in width, from
which the surrounding panorama, one of the most beautiful in England, may
be contemplated in all directions. The thickness of the wall, at the
surface, is twelve feet six inches, intersected with a dry chamber five
feet at the base. The wall diminishes in thickness from twelve feet six
inches to two feet at the cornice, which is wrought of massive limestone.
The whole of the lantern and the dome is formed of the same material, being
wrought within and without. The steps of the door, and window jambs, the
several rings of set-offs, are all in the durable wrought limestone of the
neighbourhood. The general walling is in the same stone, and hammered to a
sufficiently correct form. The lime of the mortar is from the same
material, and set so hard, that, as the whole is compactly built (every
stone being completely bedded in the mortar, and every joint completely
flushed or filled,) in a short time the walls, it is expected, will form
one thickness, of a most strong and lasting character.
Probably no stone and mortar with which we are acquainted is better
calculated to resist all influences of weather than that of Furness, and
this monument, we trust, bids fair to stand as lasting a record as any in
the island of an event of the age.
The interior is approached from due south by a wide flight of steps, on the
right of which will be observed the "First Stone," with its inscription:-
ON THE 15TH MAY, A.D. 1850,
IN THE 13TH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF
HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY, QUEEN VICTORIA, SIR GEORGE BARROW, BART.
AND JOHN BARROW, ESQ. F.R.S.
DEPOSITED THIS STONE TO RECORD THE
COMMENCEMENT OF THE
TESTIMONIAL TO THE LATE SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
ANDREW TRIMEN, ARCHITECT.
Over the entrance door are cut in bold relief the words:-
IN HONOUR OF
SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
ERECTED A.D. 1850.
The saloon, or principal floor, is elevated about seven feet from the hill,
thus furnishing a basement beneath. This apartment is eighteen feet nine
inches in diameter, having deeply recessed windows to the cardinal points,
the view from each of which can be scarcely equalled, either for sublimity
or variety of beauty. A stove and range are formed in the recess of the
west window.
Iron girders form the skeletons of the several floors, so that the whole
may be fireproof. The lantern is gained by a solid flight of stone stairs,
protected by an ornamental iron balustrade, cast on the spot from the
valuable ore procured from the base of Hoad. The pattern is of the
fifteenth century, each exhibiting the initials J. B. The visitor, while
winding the surface of the interior of the cone, is cheered by an
occasional peep from the several windows with which the sides are pierced,
and reminded of the reward of the beautiful prospect that awaits him at the
summit.
The interior of the lantern is nine feet four inches in diameter, and
perforated with eight circular openings: the same number of pilasters
support the entablature and dome; around the interior are graven the words
Soli Deo Gloria.
A flag-staff of due proportions is fixed from the lantern, from which the
flag of the nation, (a line-of-battle ship's Union Jack, presented by the
Lords of the Admiralty, as a mark of their respect to the memory of Sir
John Barrow,) wafted by his native mountain breezes, will announce to
generations yet unborn that the day of birth of true greatness excites a
na-
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.145}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.145}
{image = G855A145.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[na]tion's joy, while that of his death is felt with a nation's regret; and
the tower beneath will, it is to be hoped, stand as a monument of the
events of a life passed in the service of his country, and extending over
every hemisphere, honoured and appreciated by all classes of his fellows.
To this we may add that the armorial bearings of the family have lately
been placed above the doorway, beatifully sculpted in bold relief by Mr.
Young of Ulverston; who has also executed a handsome centre stone in the
ceiling of the lower apartment, of a rich rose pattern, with this motto
round the outer circle -
VIVAT POST FUNERA VIRTUS.
Over the arched windows of the same apartment the family crest - a squirrel
cracking a nut - with the appropriate motto PARUM SUFFICIT, richly sculpted
by the same clever hand, will not escape the notice of visitors.
The tower stands at the very entrance of the mountain range of Westmerland
and Cumberland. To the north, the large form of Coniston Old Man appears,
lifting his pointed peak into the sky; while around him on either hand, but
at a greater distance, the mountains of Westmerland and Cumberland - a
banded brotherhood - stretch their vast proportions over many miles of the
distant landscape. Nearer at hand are hills of inferior altitude, between
which, like opening vistas into fairy land, the eye runs up long defiles,
catching in its course the smile of many white-washed cottages, standing in
the midst of pleasant meadows and verdant valleys. To the east, appear the
waters of the Bay of Morecambe, confined between the shores at Greenodd on
the one hand, and the Cartmel chain of hills on the other, the opposite
shore fringed with trees - a glorious mirror with a foliated frame; while
on the south, the waters of the same bay gleam over an ampler area, between
indented shores, and bordered by luxuriant meadows, like the queen of
beauty with a zone of emeralds, its shining surface reflecting a lustre as
unspotted and untarnished as the silver shield of Oberon.
The cost of building the Tower by the original contract was 800l.;
but including the expenses incurred on the day of its foundation, and other
incidental charges, the total outlay hasexceeded 1200l.* The
injury it sustained from lightning before a month had elapsed from the
removal of the scaffolding, occasioned an expense of 136l. for
repairs. Directions had been given by the Committee two months before for
fitting one of Sir Wm. Snow Harris's Lightning Conductors; but the order
had not been carried out. At that season of the year (January) no risk was
suspected: but the event proved otherwise, and may serve as a caution in
similar undertakings, to provide temporary conductors during the progress
of buildings so much exposed to injury. Since the lightning conductor has
been fixed no damage has happened, although the lightning has been
frequently seen to play around the Tower, and little fear need now be felt
for its security, whilst protected with one of those simple contrivances,
the general introduction of which into the Royal Navy Sir John Barrow at
all times most strongly advocated.
* The sum of 100l. was contributed towards the cost of the
Monument by the Corporation of Trinty House. Among the subscribers were,
The Queen Dowager 25l.; Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Peel 10l.; Lrd
Viscount Melville 20l.; the Earl of Minto 10l.; Rt. Hon. Sir
James Graham 10l. 10s.; Rt. Hon. Sir George Cockburn
10l.; Adm. Sir Wm. Parker 20l.; Adm. Sir W. H. Gage
10l. 10s.; Adm. Sir Francis Beaufort 10l.; Rt. Hon. J.
W. Croker 10l.; the Earl of Howe 25l.; the Earl of Haddington
20l.; the Marquis of Northampton 10l. 10s.; the Earl
of Burlington 20l.; Capt. Sir John Franklin (through Lady Franklin)
25l.; Capt. Beechey 5l.; Lady Barrow, 50l.; Sir George
Barrow 50l.; John Barrow, esq. F.R.S. 82l.; Miss Barrow
35l. &c. &c.
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.281}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.281}
{header- Historical Sketch of Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G855A281.jpg}
{text- book review}
... ...
An Historical Sketch of Carlisle Cathedral. A Lecture delivered at the
Carlisle Mechanics' institution, Jan. 9, 1855. By the Very Rev. A.
C. Tait, D.C.L. Dean of Carlisle. - In the present day the devoted
student of archaeology meets with many encouragements which were denied his
less favoured predecessors of former generations. His pusuits are no longer
despised by the supercilious scholar and consequently no longer ridiculed
by the
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.282}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.282}
{image = G855A282.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
frivolous multitude. The antiquary, having taken courage, and ventured
forth from his cell in Somerset House, finds himself courteously received
in all the provinces, where well-educated men of every class co-operate
with him to the best of their power, expressing their sense of the merits
and utility of his pursuits, and only lamenting their own comparative
inexperience of his peculiar lines of study. This honour has he received a
hundred times during the last few years, from men of talent and judgment,
as well as rank and education; and the result has been to the mutual
advantage and pleasure of those who have thus overcome unreasonable
distastes and antipathies. In some cases men of accomplished scholarship,
though not hitherto versed in archaeological enquiries, have been tempted
themselves to embark on the illustration of our national antiquities, and
have at once discovered in their pursuit a greater interest than they have
previously suspected. In the present instance, we have the late learned
Master of Rugby coming forward to instruct the townsmen of Carlisle upon
the historical antiquities of their ancient church and town, disclaiming at
the outset any pretensions to adequate architectural knowledge of his
subject, or sufficient antiquarian research, and yet producing a
composition which will diffuse instructive information, and cherish a just
appreciation of the treasures of antiquity, more efficiently than many a
strictly professional dissertation, because offered in an attractive form,
and from an authority to which all would be predisposed to listen and pay
respect. Important repairs are now in progress in the cathedral church of
Carlisle, under the superintendence of Mr. Christian; and any proceeds that
may arise from the sale of the present Lecture will be appropriated to
stained glass for the windows. It presents an interesting review of the
early history of the North, particularly in the time of our Norman kings,
connecting the progress and influence of public events with the rise and
increase of the city and church of Carlisle.
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.288}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.288}
{header- Cross, Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G855A288.jpg}
The Dean of Carlisle communicated the recent discovery of part of an
ancient cross, or head-stone, built into the wall and brought to light
during the works now in progress at Carlisle Cathedral. A representation of
this interesting relique was sent by Mr. Purday, the clerk of the works,
and he stated that it had been found in the walls of the south transept,
and had probably been placed there about the year 1300. It has been
supposed that this cross, which is rudely formed and of singular fashion,
may be assigned to the period when the Cathedral was rebuilt by Egfrid king
of Northumberland, in the seventh century. Several objects of the Roman age
have been discovered during the restoration now in progress at Carlisle
Cathedral. An historical sketch of that ancient fabric has been lately
published by the Dean.
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 1 p.619}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 1 p.619}
{header- Runes, Bewcastle Cross}
{image = G855A619.jpg}
{text- At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute.}
... ...
The Rev. J. Maugham, of Bewcastle, sent careful drawings of the richly
sculptured cross at that place, with a memoir on the Runes inscribed upon
it, hitherto wholly unexplained, and now in great part legible through the
results of an ingenious process long carried on under his care, in order to
detach the lichens with which the stone is encrusted.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.177}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 2 p.177}
{header- Saxon Coins, Scotby}
{image = G855B177.jpg}
In draining some fields at Scotby, near Carlisle, a number of Saxon
coins and some bars of silver have recently been found, together with
an iron instrument of the shape of a small billhook. The coins are in an
excellent state of preservation, and their examination will probably afford
some information to numismatists.
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.276}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 2 p.276}
{header- British Library Documentation}
{text- There is a previous note 1855 part 2, pp.157-159 to which this is an
answer; which is not transcribed.}
{image = G855B157.jpg}
{image = G855B158.jpg}
{image = G855B159.jpg}
{image = G855B276.jpg}
...
REMARKS ON THE MUSEUM CATALOGUES.
MR. URBAN, - As to the proposal of a General Catalogue of Printed Books in
the British Museum, arranged according to subject, it is confessedly a most
desirable addition to the New Reading Room. But there appear to me to be
several serious difficulties attending its accomplishment.
I. The Catalogues are various:-
1. The General Printed Catalogue, with MS. Additions.
This is arranged, like all the others, under the names both of authors and
subjects. Thus many subjects will be found without the name of the author,
as is the case of hundreds of pamphlets during the 17th and 18th centuries,
when it was inexpedient and even dangerous to give a name. They are chiefly
political and theological. Here also will be found the immense collection
of pamphlets, sermons, broadsides, &c. written and collected during the
Civil Wars, from 1640 to 1660, and commonly known, though erroneously,
under the title of "The King's Pamphlets." These are arranged in this
catalogue under both author and subject. Thus a battle or event at Bath
will be found under Bath, and again perhaps under the name of the
General who commanded at it. Again, the biographical particulars relative
to Burton and his works will be found under Burton. Some others
perhaps under Anglia, Ecclesia, Parliament, or Carolus I.
This Catalogue has a distinct set of press-marks,, (sic) by which alone the
books can be found.
2. The New General MS. Catalogue.
Bound in blue, with general divisions of subject, - as Biblia, Great
Britain, Periodical Publications, &c. With indexes to the several
general divisions. This has only been commenced within the last few years,
and is a decided improvement on the former Catalogue. It is continually
increasing. This is also distinguished by a distinct set of press-marks.
3. The King's Library Catalogue.
This has a distinct set of press-marks. Tickets should be headed "King's
Library."
4. The Grenville Library Catalogue.
This is in two parts, and has numerous manuscript additions. Both parts are
required for reference. This has a distinct set of press-marks. Tickets
should be headed "Grenville Library."
5. The King's Pamphlets Catalogue.
This is in manuscript, and recently made. The collection consists of the
pamphlets which belonged to the library of George III. and came into the
Museum with the "King's Library," but were kept separate, and never
catalogued till recently. They have a separate set of press-marks. Tickets
should be headed "King's Pamphlets."
Now here several difficulties present themselves:-
By what means could a Catalogue ac-
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.277}
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{image = G855B277.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[ac]cording to subject be constructed; which should distinguish:-
1. Subject and title, without author's name.
2. Subject and title, with author's name.
3. The collection, library, and catalogue in which the book is to be found.
If more than one, which they are.
4. The various press-marks of the several catalogues where the book is to
be found.
5. The heading required for the ticket.
Watt, in the construction of his Bibliotheca Britannica, found the first
and second of these difficulties, and it led him to the expedient of his
two volumes of Subjects, and his page-numbers and letters of reference to
his two volumes of Authors.
This was the only plan which could be pursued; but he had to deal with a
General Catalogue. Here, however, we have to deal with five distinct and
separate Catalogues of as many separate and distinct libraries or
collections, kept thus distinct by the wills of the donors; and which,
therefore, cannot be combined into one collection, of which a general
catalogue, either of subjects or authors, or both, might be made. Hence the
necessity of a separate set of press-marks for each catalogue, and the
advantage to the reader in heading the ticket with the name of the library
where the book is to be found, in saving of time in the search for it;
since the ticket will immediately go to the library to which it belongs.
This especially concerns particular editions; since that required may exist
in only one out of five libraries.
I have purposely omitted to notice the Folio Catalogue, Letter A, printed
in 1841, as it was a confessed failure, and is never used.
It appears to me that there is no way out of this difficulty, except it be
one too complicated for popular use. For example, take the subject of
Agriculture. Suppose a reader to require the same book by the same
author, with or without a name, but of various editions. He would have to
make out tickets with different press-marks, from a general catalogue of
subjects, each of which must be distinguished by some mark, initials, or
name, for the several libraries in which they are to be found. Now this
would only add to his embarrassment; and yet, as the Museum Library is
arranged, it would be unavoidable.
As to the general arrangement of subjects in such a Catalogue, that of the
Encyclopedia Metropolitana might be adopted, which is accessible to all,
and the divisions might be printed on a guide board, and hung up on the
wall over the catalogues.
General Catalogue according to Subject.
Having now stated what I conceive would be the difficulties of the
undertaking, I shall proceed to consider more in detail the desiderata of
readers, and what means there are under existing circumstance of satisfying
these demands.
Though the readers at the Museum are so numerous, they may be divided into
two grand classes: 1. Literary; 2. Scientific. Some, and perhaps many,
attend simply for amusement, but for such the Institution was not
originally intended, I therefore omit them in my enumeration.
1. Literary. These are of various kinds, and they demand a supply of
books of several descriptions in all languages and of all dates. History,
Chronology, Geography, Biography, Topography, Voyages and Travels, Belles
Lettres, Poetry, Biblical Literature, and an ample stock of Maps, Plans,
Prints, Dictionaries, and Grammars.
2. Scientific. These again require books in all langauges and of all
dates, on every branch of science, even to the most minute discoveries of
modern date. To these will have to be added all periodical Scientific
Publications, British or Foreign, with Scientific Biography, and a large
supply of Plates, Drawings, Music, and Dictionaries.
The Catalogue to satisfy these demands.
1. in its first grand division it should be literary, and classified in
something like the departments I here enumerated.
2. It must be in manuscript, to admit of daily accruing additions.
3. Each separate subject should have one or more volumes devoted to it.
This is already partly done in the new manuscript catalogue, which may
remain as it is at present; but additional volumes would have to be formed
from the contents of other catalogues, in the same manner, and their
contents entered into the general indexes already existing.
4. A printed guide board should be attached to this division, stating the
several volumes in which the departments would be found. Thus:
Division I. ... Vols. Suppose.
LITERATURE.
History ... 1 - 5
Chronology ... 5 - 7
Geography ... 7 - 10
Biography ... 10 - 13
Topography ... 13 - 16
Voyages and Travels ... 16 - 20
Belles Lettres ... 20 - 26
Poetry ... 26 - 30
Biblical Literature ... 30 - 36
Maps and Plans ... 36 - 39
Prints ... 39 - 42
Dictionaries .. 42 - 44
Grammars ... 44 - 50
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.278}
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{image = G855B278.jpg}
This appears a large Catalogue, but it will be found rather under than over
the number required.
The board should be printed in large captials, for distant view; under it
should be placed a date box, with moveable cards.
Yours, &c. E.G.B.
THE LIBRARY CATALOGUES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
MR. URBAN, - I think that the change of the present Alphabetical Catalogue
at the British Museum for a Classified one, as proposed by Dr. Bell in your
last agazine, is one that ought to be considered with great care and much
deliberation before it is put into execution. If I understand Dr. Bell's
letter, he proposes that a classified catalogue should entirely superseded
the present one. Now, although I consider that a good catalogue, on the
plan suggested by Dr. Bell, would be a very acceptable acquisition to the
Reading Room, and much desired by many readers, yet I believe the majority
of thoses who frequent the Museum would prefer the catalogues at present in
use to those arranged by classification of subjects.
Dr. Bell lays some stress upon the difficulty experienced by a person
searching for a book by an auther of whose name he knows only the
pronunciation, and not the orthography. But in a classified index a
difficulty occurs as great, if not greater, than this, for many works bear
titles so at variance with their contents, that a person knowing the title,
but not the nature of the work, would be utterly at a loss in searching a
classified catalogue.
Most frequenters of the Museum, who are engaged in genealogical and
biographical pursuits, are continually looking for works published by a
particular author; but if those works are upon various subjects, of which
the inquirer is ignorant, it is vain to endeavour to discover them in any
catalogue compiled on any system other than the alphabetical.
Yours, &c. N.R.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.455}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 2 p.455}
{header- Biography, Katherine Parr}
{image = G855B455.jpg}
...
KATHARINE PARR was the wife of many husbands. She was a learned young lady,
with some sprinkling of royal blood in her; and was wooed by Lord Scrope,
married to Lord Borough, and became a widow before she had completed her
fifteenth year. Neville lord Latimer admired her, her understanding, and
her needlework, and forthwith espoused her, to speedily leave her again a
widow. The handsome Sir Thomas Seymour, most gallant of admirals, next
offered himself for the acceptance of this accomplished young lady, but his
pretensions were set aside by the irresistible courtship of a king who had
divorced two wives, beheaded two more, and killed a fifth by his cruelty.
She had no choice, but to take thankfully the terrible gift imposed upon
her; and Katharine became the last and the luckiest, and perhaps the wisest
of the wives of Henry. She was a tender mother to his children, an
incomparable nurse to himself, and was so esteemed by him that she only
nearly lost her head. She had touched upon religious questions, and
probably, had the king not recollected that it would be difficult for him
to find her match at rubbing in lotion, all her submissiveness would not
have saved her from the scaffold. What a happy woman she must have been
when she again became a widow, and her old lover, Seymour, once more came
with the offer of his hand. Katharine accepted it because she thought that
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.456}
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{image = G855B456.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
there was not only a hand but a heart in it. What a jovial wooing must that
have been when Seymour hurried down to Katharine's suburban palace on
Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, and beneath the trees in the secluded garden there
persuaded her that he had remained a bachelor for her sake, and induced her
to consent to wed him, before her royal husband was well buried at Windsor!
The lovers had to keep the matter secret for a good half-year. At the end
of that time, weary, perhaps, of the little restraint which they were
compelled to observe, Seymour addressed a note to the Princess Mary,
praying for permission to wed with the queen-dowager. Mary replied with a
fair admixture of dignity, satire, and good humour. She affected to believe
that interference in such matters little became her as a maiden; presumed
to imagine that Katharine herself might have too lively a recollection of
whose spouse she had been, to care to wed with an inferior mate; and
finally left the enamoured pair to follow their own inclinations, as she
very well knew that had alrready done, with her blessing or good wishes
upon any conclusion which they might honestly arrive at. The private
marriage was soon after made public, and Seymour, with his fine person,
heavy embroidery, and light head, had no further occasion to creep to the
postern at Chelsea by sunrise, and leave it again, all his day's wooing
completed, by seven o'clock P.M.
The marriage was not a happy one; and the first trouble was about money.
The Protector Somerset, brother of Seymour, withheld the ex-queen's jewels,
and sub-let her lands, to the great disgust of the bridegroom, who, with
marital complacency, looked upon these things as his own. Further,
Katharine was made to feel her altered condition by the proud Duchess of
Somerset, who refused any longer to bear the train of one who was now only
her sister-in-law, wife of her husband's younger brother. The haughty
duchess talked of teaching "Lady Seymour" better manners, and, in short,
the two ladies kept up so unwearied a quarrel that all people prophesied
that ill would come of it. The brothers themselves were at as bitter
antagonism as their wives.
It was not a very godly house which Katharine kept at Chelsea; but this
circumstance was not exactly Katharine's fault. She had resident with her
the Princess Elizabeth, then a lively young lady in her sixteenth year. At
first, the ex-queen encouraged her husband to rather boisterous play with
that by no means reluctant young lady. But she grew jealous as she found
the play running to extremities which she had not contemplated. From
romping in the garden, the admiral and Elizabeth got to romping and hiding
in the house. Thus we hear of tickling-matches and a world of consequent
laughter and screaming. Seymour grew so fond of this sport that he would
rush into Elizabeth's sleeping-chamber ere she had risen, tickle her till
she was speechless, and then kiss her to keep her from complaining.
Occasionally she would conceal herself, or her attendants would
remonstrate, whereupon he would revenge himself by chasing, tickling, and
embracing the maids. Altogether, such a household was a scandal to Chelsea,
and Katharine did well when she got rid of Elizabeth, and, with Lady Jane
Grey in her company, went down to Gloucestershire to inhabit Sudeley
Castle. Her chief occupations here were in making splendid preparations for
the little heir that had been promised her by the star-readers, and in
observing a grave demeanour. She had prayers twice a-day, to the great
disgust of her husband, whose union with her in this respect was as
ill-assorted as would have been a marriage between Lord Chesterfield and
Lady Huntingdon. While Parkhurst was reading prayers, Seymour was winking
at the dairy-maids, and poor Katharine was sorely vexed at the ungodliness
of her mate. At length a girl was born, shaming the sooth-sayers, and
bringing death to her mother. The mother left all that she possessed to her
very graceless spouse, with some hints, natural to a wife who had been so
tried, that such generosity on her part was more than he deserved. And so
ended the year-and-a-half's unqeened condition of Katharine Parr. In
another half-year the admiral himself had passed under the axe of the
executioner, his
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.457}
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{image = G855B457.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
brother the Protector having driven him thereto under the double persuasion
that Seymour was a very bad man, and that Somerset was virtuous enough to
be his heir. Latimer appears to have thought so too, for he said as much,
or rather much more, in a sermon before King Edward, for which he has been
censured by Milton and Miss Strickland, each of whom seems to have
forgotten that Seymour was the greatest libertine in England, and that
Latimer had good ground for the hard truths uttered by him.
Let me add a word of little Mary Seymour, the only child of Katharine and
the admiral. By her mother's forgetfulness and her father's treason, the
poor, tender orphan found herself stripped of her inheritance. Her
relatives, however, exhibited a great alacrity, not to serve her, but to
cast the little burthen each upon the other. The only reluctance they felt
was in extending charity to her. She was grudgingly entertained by a harsh
grandmother, and was scurvily treated by a close-fisted uncle. But, amid
the trials of a gloomy youth-time, the little bud went on growing into full
bloom, till finally attracting the eyes and affections of one who cared for
her far more than any kinsman, the daughter of Queen Katharine married a
Sir Edward Bushel, and settled quietly down (we hope) a happy country lady.
The grave of her mother at Sudeley has been disturbed more than once; but
Death has conferred upon the unconscious queen a crown of his own - and
yet, not Death, but Life. The irresistable ivy has penetrated into the
royal coffin, and wound a verdant coronet about the brows of her who sleeps
therein.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.631}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 2 p.631}
{header- Diocese of Carlisle, Northumbrian Property}
{image = G855B631.jpg}
Societies of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
... ...
Nov. 7. The Chairman, John Hodgson Hinde,esq. laid before the
members a transcript of returns of Dean and Chapter property belonging to
the diocese of Carlisle in Whittingham, Corbridge, and Newcastle, made in
the year 1654. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.632}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1855 part 2 p.632}
{header- Runes, Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G855B632.jpg}
Dr. Charlton then read a paper on the Runic Inscriptions from Carlisle and
Falstone. Introducing his subject he noticed the paucity of Runic
inscriptions in Britain, although many parts of the island were long under
Scandinavian rule. ...
... ...
... Dr. Charlton next took up the Runic inscription recently found in
Carlisle cathedral, surrounded by marks of the working masons. ... The
Carlisle inscription is pure Scandinavian - one of the few Norse records
that have been discovered in the island. ... In the present year, upon an
ordinary wall-stone inside of the west wall of the south transept of
Carlisle cathedral, near to the S.W. angle, and about three feet above the
floor, was discovered, by Mr. C. H. Purday, the intelligent clerk of the
works now in progress, the inscription already mentioned. It had been
covered over with plaster and white-wash; and to this, in all probability,
it owes its present state of preservation - for the letters are but faintly
scratched with a tool. The words appear to be - "TOLF(O)HN(AR) RAITA THEKSI
RUNR A THISI STAIN" (the letters between parentheses being doubtful). No
proper name, known to Dr. Charlton, answers to
{title- Gents Mag 1855 part 2 p.633}
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{image = G855B633.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
the first word, or any part of it; and perhaps no name is intended; but, in
allusion to the masons' marks around the inscription, some waggish workmen,
using characters not commonly understood, may have inscribed - "Tolf
(twelve) ohnar (idlers) cut these marks on these stones." And yet, in that
case, the last word should be plural, stainr, and not stain; but such
violations of grammar are not uncommon in Runes. The inscriber of the
puzzle may have come from the Isle of Man; for it is to this period (the
tenth and eleventh centuries) that the inscriptions now existing there, in
Scandinavian Runes, are referred by Professor Munsch.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.170}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.170}
{header- Runes, Bewcastle Cross}
{image = G856A170.jpgq}
... ...
Dr. Charlton then read a paper "On the Runic Inscription on the Cross at
Bewcastle." This cross stands on the line of the celebrated Roman road, the
Maiden Way, in the wastes of Cumberland, near the Borders, and is about 14
1/2 feet high, and 21 inches square at the base, tapering upwards to about
15 inches square at the top. At the summit is a socket in which a cross was
doubtless placed. The pillar bears on its four faces various figures and
ornaments (as may be seen engraved in Lyson's Cumberland), and also
inscriptions in Runes. The first notice of this relic of antiquity appears
in Camden, two centuries and a half ago; and various attempts have since
been made, from time to time, to decipher the inscription - one of the
latest being that of the zealous incumbent of Bewcastle, Mr. Maughan.
Having, with great care, cleansed the stone of its lichens and moss, Mr.
Maughan took careful casts of the characters, and communicated copies to
several archaeologists; amogst others, to the Rev. Daniel Haigh, of
Erdington, near Birmingham. On the north side of the cross is inscribed,
very plainly, "Kyniburuk," or Cyneburg, the name of a queen of Northumbria,
being the wife of Alchfrid son of Oswiu king of Northumberland. On the
western face, the inscription, as deciphered, is - THIS SIGBECUN SETTAE
HWAETRED, WITGAER, FELWOLD, & ROETBERT, UMAE KYNING ALCFRITHAE GEBIDAED
HISSUM SAULA - intimating that the four persons first named had set up this
cross to king Alcfrith, and requested prayers for his soul. Roetbert is
commemorated in the Falstone inscription [Northumberland] as dead. Here he
is named, with three other "thegns," as raising a stone to the memory of
the good king Alcfrith, eldest son of Oswy, who succeeded St. Oswald, as
king of Northumbria, in 643. Alcfrith, or Alchfrid, married Cyneburg,
daughter of Penda, the pagan king of Mercia. Oswy and Alcfrid were zealous
Christians; and to the influence of the latter was owing the conversion of
Peada, son of Penda, and eventually that of the Mercians or Middle Angles.
... Not to follow Dr. Charlton into the controversies of Oswy and Alcfrid
... we return to the Runes. Mr. Haigh's interpretation of the inscription
on the western face - (which, however, he gives subject to correction, his
opinion being that the characters may not, all of them, have been
accurately deciphered) - is remarkably confirmed by the occurence of
Cyneburga on the cross, as read by Mr. Smith and others some years ago. On
the south face is a Runic inscription, interpreted by Mr. Haigh - OSWU
KYNING ELT - or Oswy the king. "Elt" may possibly refer to his being the
elder (or head) of the family. This inscription confirms the supposition
that the cross was reared in the lifetime of Oswy. No prayers being asked
for the souls of Oswy and Cyneburga, as for the soul of Alcfrid, it may be
inferred they are still living. If so, the memorial must have been erected
between 644, when we last hear of Alchfrid, and 670, when Oswy died; and we
have then a good date for fixing the age of the Falstone inscription, and
of the many similar crosses which have escaped the ravages of time and man
in the remote districts of Cumberland. In a note to his paper, Dr. Charlton
refers to a new version of the Bewcastle inscription, published by Mr.
Maughan in December, viz. - This sigbeacthon saetta Hwaetred, Withgar,
Allewolthu, aft Alcfrithu, ean Kunig eak Oswiuing. Igebid heo sinna
sawhual, i.e. "Hwaetred, Withgar, and Alfwold, erected this little
beacon in memory of Alcfrid, at one time king with, and son of, Oswy. Pray
for them, their sins and their soulds." The Doctor thinks the version of
Mr. Haigh the more probable of the two, and nearer the truth.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.276}
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{header- Carlisle Cathedral, Restoration}
{image = G856A276.jpg}
Notes of the Month
... ...
Some differences of opinion having been entertained as to the best manner
of redecorating the waggon-roof of Carlisle Cathedral, it was at
length determined to call in the advice of Mr. Owen Jones. Accordingly that
gentleman visited Carlisle, and has sent in his recommendations, which have
been adopted. The panels are to have a groundwork of bright azure, powdered
with gold stars; the ribs and bosses are to be painted various colours,
red, blue, &c. and the coats of arms and other armorial bearings
accurately restored; the angles which surround the cornice are to be gilded
and coloured, and the large angels on the hammer-beams are
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.277}
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{image = G856A277.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
to be treated in a similar manner. When completed, there will be nothing in
this country that will exceed it for elegance and beauty. The cost will not
be less than 700l. or 800l. The restoration of the other
portions of the cathedral is progressing rapidly, and it is expected that
before the close of the year the service of the Church of England will be
resumed within its walls. A new organ will be placed in the gallery at the
end of the choir, where the old one stood.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.380}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.380}
{header- Hugh de Morville, the Morville Family}
{image = G856A380.jpg}
THE FAMILY OF MORVILLE.
MR. URBAN, - A little work has recently fallen my way, entitled "Memorials
of Canterbury," containing, amongst other matters, an account of the
martyrdom of Archbishop Becket, afterwards called Saint Thomas of
Canterbury, with some particulars of his murderers, amongst the rest Hugh
de Morville.* I think the author will feel obliged to me for
pointing out in your pages an error into which, following in the steps of
Dugdale and others, he has fallen.
He states correctly enough that Hugh de Morville the murderer must not be
counfounded with his namesake, the founder of Dryburgh Abbey; but he is
himself led into the mistake of confounding him with another namesake, who
held the barony of Burgh, in Cumberland, as late as the reign of king John.
I wish to point out that there were three individuals of this name -
1. Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, who founded Dryburgh Abbey, and
* Our correspondent refers to the highly interesting volume by the
Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, which is doubtless already well known to many
of our readers.
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.381}
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{image = G856A381.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
whose death is recorded in the Annals of Melrose A.D. 1162.
2. Hugh de Morville, who was implicated in the murder of Becket A.D. 1170.
3. Hugh de Morville, Lord of Burgh, and the husband of Helwise de
Stuteville.
The following notices of each of these parties, from authentic records,
will substantiate and illustrate the above statement:-
1. Hugh de Morville was attached to the court of David Earl of Cumberland,
before the latter succeeded to the crown of Scotland. We find his name as
witness to the celebrated "Inquisitio Davidis," relating to the property of
the see of Glasgow, as early as the year 1116. In 1131 we find his name
amongst the landed proprietors of the counties of Huntingdon, Northampton,
and Rutland, who were excused from the payment of Danegeld. In each of
these counties his master, David, King of Scotland, was also possessed of
property, and in each case the name of Hugh de Morville immediately follows
that of King David in the Pipe Rolls of the above year.
On the establishment of peace between David and King Stephen in 1139, the
sons of five Scotch Earls were given the former as hostages for the
observance of the treaty, amongst whom is mentioned a son of Hugh de
Morville.* Hugh assisted David in the following year in his
unsuccessful attempt to impose on the church of Durham a Scotch clerk,
William Cumin, as Bishop.† From this period till his death his name
occurs only as a witness to charters, in his signature to which he
describes himself as Constable. In this high office he was succeeded by his
son Richard de Morville.
2. The second Hugh de Morville was probably a son of the first, although
this cannot be stated with certainty. On the early part of the reign of
Henry II. he was the possessor of the honour of Westmerland. This was in
the hands of David King of Scotland during the reign of Stephen, as a
member of the earldom of Carlisle, which was not restored to the English
crown till the third of Henry II.‡ As there is no trace of any grant
of Westmerland to Hugh de Morville after this date, it is probable that he
derived his title from a grant of David; and of this the presumption is
much stronger, if he was, as suggested, the son of one of the chief
officers of the Scotch crown. He seems however from the very first to have
stood equally high in the favour of Henry, from whom, in the fourth year of
his reign, he had a grant of manors of Boroughbridge and
Knaresborough.§ In the sixteenth of the same reign he was a justice
itinerant in the northern counties;‖ this was in 1170, before the
close of which year he was implicated in the murder of Becket. It was not
till three years later that (sic) Westmerland was seized into the hands of
the crown.¶ The author of the "Memorials of Canterbury" discredits
the concurrent statement of the biographers of Becket, that three of
his murderers perished in the Holy Land within three years of his death,
chiefly on the ground that Hugh de Morville was living and in favour at
court in the reign of King John. The fallacy of this assumption has already
been pointed out; but we may further direct attention to the singular
confirmation here furnished to the narrative of the old biographers. They
tell us that Morville did not survive his crime three years, and precisely
at that interval we see the crown taking possession of his escheated
estates.
3. Hugh de Morville the third was the grandson of Simon de Morville, which
Simon was the contemporary of the second Hugh, and not improbably his
brother. In the fourth of Henry II. (the very year in which Hugh had the
grant of Knaresborough) Simon became possessed of the barony of Burgh in
right of his wife Ebria, the daughter of Ranulph Engaigne.**
Of Hugh de Morville the grandson we have no notice till the 6th of Richard,
when he succeeded in establishing his right to the forestership of
Cumberland, as appertaining to his barony of Burgh, under a grant of
Ranulph de Meschines to Turgis Brundis, the ancestor of Ranulph
Engaigne.††
The family of Morville, although thus influential at so early a period,
does not occur under this surname in Domesday Book. Turning, however, to
the Domesday account of Morville in Shropshire we find that Richard, the
Constable of the Earl of Shrewsbury, held two knight's fees there. There
can be little doubt that this Richard was the princeps familiae, and that
his descendants, among whom Richard was a family name, adopted, as
* Richard of Hexham.
† Continuation of Symeon's History of Church of Durham.
‡ Pipe Roll, Cumberland.
§ Pipe Roll, Yorkshire.
‖ Pipe Roll, Northumberland and Cumberland.
¶ Pipe Roll, Westmerland.
** Pipe Roll, Cumberland.
†† Pipe Roll, Cumberland; Testa de Nevill.
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.382}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.382}
{image = G856A382.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
was usual, the local designation of De Morville.
In the Pipe Roll of the 31st of Henry I. besides Hugh we meet with the
names of Herbert, Guher, and William de Morville. Herbert was forester in
the district between the Ribble and the Mersey, Guher held lands in Surrey,
and William in Devonshire. From one of the Scotch charters* above
referred to it appears that Hugh de Morville had a brother William.
Yours, &c. I. H. H.
{image = G856E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.407}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.407}
{header- Inscriptions, Bewcastle Cross}
{image = G856A407.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
March 5. A paper was contributed by the Rev. Daniel H. Haigh, of
Erdington, "On the Inscribed Cross at Bewcastle in Cumberland," - a
four-sided column, about 14 1/2 feet high, tapering gently from its base to
the top. As a monument of our language, it is positively the very earliest
we have of Anglo-Saxon times; and it belongs to a class of mounuments of
which very few now remain - the memorials of the kings of England anterior
to the Norman Conquest. Moreover, the inscription derives additinal
interest from the fact that the king whom it commorates played a most
important part in the ecclesiastical transactions of his age. In the
inscriptions on the stone, the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, appears
in a Latin form,
GESSUS
CRISTTVS
as it was only from missionaries, to whom the Latin language was as their
mother tongue, that His name became known to our Saxon forefathers. The
other inscriptions are in the early Saxon dialect of Northumbria. An
inscription, in nine lines, on the western face, commemorates the
personages to whose memory the monument was erected:-
+ THIS SIGBEC
VNSETTAE H
WAETRED EOM
GAER FLWOLD
V ROETBERT
YMB CYNING
A;CFRIDAE G
ICEGAED HE
OSVM SAWLVM
This inscription, like others of the same class and age, resolves itself
into couplets of Alliterative verse, thus
This sigbecun
Settae Hwaetred
Eom gaer felwold
Ymb Roetbert
Ymb Cyning Alcfride
Gicegaed heosum sawlum.
(This memorial set Hwaetred, in the great pestilence year, to Roetbert, to
King Alcfride. Pray for their souls.) The letters LW in the fourth line may
possibly be AEB. If so the meaning of EOM GAERFAE BOLD may be "also carved
this building."
On the southern face these names occur each in a single line -
CRIST
EANFLAED CYNGN
ECGFRID CYNING CYNIBVRVG CYNGN
OSWV CYNING ELT
And on the following -
GESSV
OSLAAC CYNING
WILFRID PREAST R
CYNIBVRVG
Alchfrid was the eldest son of King Oswiu the Bretwalda, by his first wife
Riemmelth the daughter of Rum - his second being Eanflaed, daughter of
Edwin. While yet these inscriptions were a mystery, the tradition of the
country, now confirmed, declared that a king was buried at Bewcastle. The
same tradition points out the locality from which the stone was taken; and
here, again, it is verified by a fact. On White Lyne Common, about five
miles from Bewcastle, near the centre of a ridge of rocks called the
Langbar, a stone is still lying, the very counterpart of of this monument,
15 feet in length, and of the same hard white freestone, marked with spots
of grey, which is found at the Langbar, and the adjacent rocks on the south
side of the White Lyne river, and in no other part of the district. This
stone shows most distinctly, on its western side (which is much fresher
than the others), the marks of the chisel which were used in splitting the
block when the monument
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.408}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.408}
{image = G856A408.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
was taken from it which now stands in Bewcastle churchyard. (Rev. J.
Maughan.)
Soon after their marriage, the "Alcfrith" and "Cyneburga" of the monument
agreed to live together as brother and sister; and she gathered round her
many young women, of noble as well as plebeian rank, who regarded her as
their spiritual mother. "Oswu cyning elt" (Oswiu King the elder), father of
Alcfrid, succeeded S. Oswald in 642. In many respects a good king, his
memory is stained with the murder of S. Oswin, who had governed the
provinceof Deira for seven yeras, in 650. By Oswiu's persuassions,
Sigebert, King of the East Saxons, was converted to Christianity, and
baptised at Walbottle, A.D. 654. "Eanflaed Cyngn," also named on the
column, was the second wife of Oswiu, and the early patroness of St.
Wilfrid - the "Wilfrid preaster" of the stone. "Ecgfrid cyning," son of
Oswiu, appears to have borne the title of king in the lifetime of his
father - to whose throne he succeeded in 670, and ruled one of the largest
and most powerful kingdoms in the heptarchy. Of "Oslaac cyning," whose name
is written on the monument, we have but one notice in history. Under the
year 617, the Saxon Chronicle names him as an AEtheling driven out by
Edwin, after his victory over Ethelfrid. Thus, as in a Saxon charter, after
the act of donation, we have the names, in order of their dignity, of the
witnesses thereto, so here, on the funeral monument of King Alcfrid, after
the inscription to his memory, we have the names of those who, we may
believe, assisted at his obsequies - his father Oswiu, his mother-in-law
Queen Eanfled, his widow Cyneburga, his uncle Oslac, his brother Ecgfrid,
and his chaplain Wilfrid, bishop-elect of York; and, above them all, the
holy name of Jesus, reminding us of that beautiful prayer which is to be
found in some ancient liturgies:- "Almighty and everlasting God, who hast
created and redeemed us, mercifully regard our prayers, that, Thy grace
being poured into our hearts, we may rejoice that our names are written in
heaven beneath the glorious name of Jesus, the head of the book of eternal
predestination, through the same Jesus Christ out Lord."
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 1 p.505}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 1 p.505}
{header- Coin, Cockermouth Castle}
{image = G856A505.jpg}
Dr. Bruce, on the part of His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, presented
to the society a copper coin, intended to serve as the representative of
half-a-crown, and issued to replenish the ebbing exchequer of Charles the
First. The piece was found at Cockermouth Castle.
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 2 p.207}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 2 p.207}
{header- Licences to Crenellate}
{image = G856B207.jpg}
HOUSES OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
MR. URBAN, - You are doubtless aware that I have been for some years
engaged upon a work on the "Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages in
England," of which a portion has already appeared; and as I belive that
your readers are as much interested in this subject as myself, I have no
scruple in asking your assistance in rendering my work as complete and as
accurate as possible. With that view, most important information is to be
obtained from the Licences to Crenallate, as few houses of any consequence
were built in those days without being fortified, and that could not be
done without a licence from the suzerain. All such licences granted by the
crown in England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, are recorded in
the Patent Rolls preserved in the Tower of London; and as but little
reliance can be placed on the printed copy of those Rolls for such a
purpose, where minute accuracy is necessary, I applied to Mr. Duffus Hardy,
the Deputy-keeper of the Records in the Tower, and he very obligingly
employed competent persons, accustomed to the reading of these Roles, to
make out for me a complete list of all such licences as occur in them. This
list I now beg you to present to your readers, and ask them to give me such
information as the local knowledge of each enables him to supply, as to
what remains there are still existing of any of these houses; or if there
are no remains, what vestigesthere are to mark the spot where the house
formerly stood. I believe that in almost every instance, it will be found
on investigation, that some traces exist - either the moat or the mound; or
in cases where the site has been built upon, the name has most commonly
been preserved. In some instances, I know that the houses remain almost
entire, and of course the date of the licence to fortify it gives us within
a very few years the exact date of the building. This is of great
assistance in the history of architecture, and may in some instances enable
us to correct erroneous notions, and shew that the changes of style began
to take place at an earlier period than is commonly supposed. I have not,
however, at present found any instances in which the actual date has
differed materially from that which I should have assigned to it from the
style alone, or such as I have already assigned to similar buildings in the
"Glossary of Architecture."
Your obedient servant,
J. H. PARKER.
Oxford, July, 1856.
P.S. - I have already obtained information respecting a few of these
houses, but hope now to be able to carry on the investigation more
thoroughly, and purpose devoting a part of my time during the summer months
to seeing such examples as appear to be most worthy of notice. I have added
a few short notices respecting some of these houses, and it would be easy
to enlarge them, but I fear that the bare list of licences will occupy more
of your valuable space than you may be willing or able coveniently to
spare. I shall be glad to know from any of your learned readers whether the
variations of form which occur in the Rolls, such as manerium, mansum
manerii, &c., imply any different kind of house of greater or less
importance, or are mere variations of the scribe, and therefore not worth
noticea.
a A Survey of old houses which still exist, or an account of
what remains of any others, will be most useful; and we shall be glad to
find that Mr. Parker's appeal to our readers meets with a ready response. -
ED.
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 2 pp.208-215}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 2 pp.208-215}
{text- Only buildings in Westmorland, Cumberland, etc are transcribed from
the pages of lists.}
{image = G856B208.jpg}
{image = G856B209.jpg}
{image = G856B210.jpg}
{image = G856B211.jpg}
{image = G856B212.jpg}
{image = G856B213.jpg}
{image = G856B214.jpg}
{image = G856B215.jpg}
LICENCES TO CRENELLATE GRANTED BY
KING HENRY III. A.D. 1256. Oct. 28. 1272. Nov. 16.
...
EDWARD I. A.D. 1272. Nov. 20. 1307. July 7.
...
EDWARD II. A.D. 1307. July 8. 1327. Jan. 20.
Anno Regni.
1. Ricardus le Brun mansum suum Drombogh in marchia Scotiae ...
Cumbr.
1. Willielmus de Dacre mansum suum Dunmalloght in marchia Scotiae
... Cumbr.
1. Robertus de Tylliol mansum suum Scaleby, in marchia Scotiae ...
Cumbr.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 2 pp.323-330}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 2 pp.323-330}
{image = G856B323.jpg}
{image = G856B324.jpg}
{image = G856B325.jpg}
{image = G856B326.jpg}
{image = G856B327.jpg}
{image = G856B328.jpg}
{image = G856B329.jpg}
{image = G856B330.jpg}
MR. URBAN, - I herewith send you a continuation of the list of licences to
crenellate, of which the first part appeared last month, and shall be glad
to receive any more answers that your readers may favour me with. I have
already received some valuable information.
Your obedient servant,
J. H. PARKER.
Welshpool, August 20, 1856.
LICENCES TO CRENELLATE, FROM THE PATENT ROLLS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON.
[Edward II continued]
...
12. Hugo de Louthre mansum suum de Wythehope in Derwente-felles ...
Cumbr.
...
15. Robertus de Leyburn mansum Dykhurst ... Cumbr.
...
EDWARD III. A.D. 1327. Jan. 25. 1377. June 21.
...
9. Ranulphus de Dacre mansum Nawardh ... Cumbr.
9. Johannes de Hodleston mansum Millumi ... Cumbr.
...
h The celebrated Naworth Castle, - a portion of which is of this
period.
i Millum. There are some remains of this house.
{title- Gents Mag 1856 part 2 pp.467-475}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1856 part 2 pp.467-475}
{image = G856B467.jpg}
{image = G856B468.jpg}
{image = G856B469.jpg}
{image = G856B470.jpg}
{image = G856B471.jpg}
{image = G856B472.jpg}
{image = G856B473.jpg}
{image = G856B474.jpg}
{image = G856B475.jpg}
{text- Gents Mag 1856 part 2 pp.467-475}
MR. URBAN, - I now send the completion of the list of Licences to
Crenellate, and shall be glad of further information respecting what may
remain of any of the places name.
Your obedient servant,
J. H. PARKER.
Oxford, Sept. 1856.
LICENCES TO CRENELLATE, FROM THE PATENT ROLLS IN THE TOWER OF LONDON.
(Continued from p.330.)
[Edward III continued]
...
20. Homines villae de Penereth villam predictam
Penerethz.
...
z There are some remains of the castle at Penrith,
Cumberland, but they appear to be of a later date.
...
22. Abbas de Holmcoltran manerium infra limites de Holmcoltran
Wolmsty ... Cumbr.
...
27. Willielmus, Baro de Craystock mansum Craystockr ...
Cumbr.
...
r This is identified with Graystock by Inq. p.m. an.34 E.I.
No.40.
...
RICHARD II. A.D. 1377. June 22. 1399. Sep. 29.
3. Gilbertus de Culwen, miles domum apud maneriuma
Wirkyngtonb ... Cumbr.
...
a The Roll explains "quandam domum per ipsum ut dicit apud
manerium suum de Wirkyngton in Com. Cumbr. juxta Marchiam Scociae muro de
petra et calce edificatam firmare et kernellare," &c. b
Wigton?
...
20. Willielmus Stukeland, clericus quandam cameram suam in villa de
Penreth ... March. Scociae.
...
22. Willielmus de Stirkeland unum mantelettumk Penreth
... March. Scociae.
k The Roll recites the previous grant thus: "nuper," &c.
"concessimus," &c. "licentiam," &c., "kernellandi quandam cameram
in villa de Penreth super March. Scociae. Nos de uberiori gratia nostra
concessimus," &c., "licentiam quod ipse unum mantelletum de petra et
calce facere et camerae praedictae conjungere et mantelletum praedictam
kernellare," &c. The name is misspelt in both instances: there can be
no doubt it ought to be Strickland.
...
HENRY IV. A.D. 1399. Sep. 30. 1413. March 20.
...
HENRY V. A.D. 1413. March 21. 1431. August 31.
...
HENRY VI. A.D. 1422. Sept 1. 1461. March 4.
...
EDWARD IV. A.D. 1461. March 4. 1483. April 9.
...
LICENCES BY PRIVY SEALz.
EDWARD III.
...
z The greater part of these have been already noticed under
Licences from the Patent Rolls, and are therefore omitted.
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 1 p.337}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 1 p.337}
{header- Painting, Greystoke Castle}
{image = G857A337.jpg}
{text- At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute.}
... Mr. Cumming exhibited an ancient portrait of our Saviour, on panel,
with a gold ground, from the gem said to have been sent to Innocent VIII.
by the Sultan. A similar painting exists at Greystoke-castle.
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.107}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.107}
{header- Thomas de Quincey, Biography}
{image = G857B107.jpg}
THOMAS DE QUINCEYa.
THIRTY-SIX years ago, within a month or two, the reading public were
delighted and perplexed by an article from a new contributor, which had
appeared in two consecutive numbers of the "London Magazine." Just at that
time the "London" was amongst the most popular and prosperous of monthly
periodicals, and it well deserved its reputation and success. Its
celebrated editor, John Scott, had indeed fallen in a duel six months
before; but there still remained amongst the writers whom he had enlisted
in the work, men as able as Cary, Cunningham, Hazlitt, and Charles Lamb,
who were contributing to it some of their most powerful and charming
compositions. Even in this company the new contributor's article held to
distance all competitors both in brilliancy and depth; and even the
masculine vigour of the "Table-Talk," and the inimitable delicacy of
"Elia's Essays," were slighted for a while in the tumultuous burst of
approbation with which "The Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" were
receieved.
This was Mr. De Quincey's first effort as a writer for the public, and it
was a noble harbinger of the long series of his subsequent productions. All
the characteristic qualities which an examination of the whole collection
of his writings would incline us to attribute to him, may be found, in
greater or in less degree, in the "Confessions." It was obvious then - and
the little work, in its original form, bears witness to the same facts now
- that the author had at his command far larger stores of knowledge, and
powers of mind which had been subjected to a far richer and completer
culture, than those which the common herd of men of letters wield; that he
combined, in a word, philosophey, and scholarship, and science, and
imagination, with an almost unequalled mastery of the arts and ornaments of
speech. We believe, indeed, that it would be hard to find, in all our
recent literature, another first work as stikingly indicative of
genuine and mature strength.
But the "Confessions" were far from being confined to the one subject of
Opium-eating. Indeed, for any parallel to the absolute unreservedness of De
Quincey's communications concerning himself, we question whether it would
not be almost necessary to go back to the Essays of Montaigne or the
"Confessions" of Rousseau. Along with the history which he gave of his own
indulgence in the "accursed drug," he associated a pretty complete
a "Selections, Grave and Gay, from Writings Published and
Unpublished, by Thomas De Quincey." (Edinburgh: James Hogg. London: R.
Groombridge and Sons.)
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.108}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.108}
{image = G857B108.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
account of all that had been most interesting in his life, both with regard
to outward influences and inward development, up to the very time at which
the "Confessions" were composed. The early loss of an accomplished father,
and subsequent contention with an unaccomodating guardian, plunged the
precocious boy into "a sea of troubles," from which he only escaped at
last, tempest-tost, and sorely hurt in body and in mind. The description of
his sufferings during that period of his youth in which the worst of his
privations were experienced in is painfully eloquent, not merely because it
discloses an appalling stress of hardest physical ills, but also because it
gives us more than one accidental glimpse of the singularly loving,
sensitive, and thoughtful nature which the poor boy bore with him in the
bitterness of his destitution. By a hollow reconciliation with his
guardian, he was eventually rescued from that perilous state, and enabled
to return to the studies which, even at age, he passionately loved. The
wish that he had faithfully clung to was gratified by a residence at
Oxford, where, amongst the multitude of his enjoyments, not the least,
assuredly, arose out of the intimacy which he formed with John Wilson. Two
or three years afterwards he is found tenanting a cottage at Grasmere - a
cottage which Wordsworth had before inhabited - the "white cottage,
embowered with flowering shrubs, so chosen as to unfold a succession of
flowers upon the walls and clustering around the windows, through all the
months of spring, summer, and autumn, - beginning, in fact, with May roses,
and ending with jasmine," - which he has described with so much beauty in
the "Confessions," and which it was his lot to taste by turns the pleasures
and dread pains his opium-eating brought. His half-playful and half-loving
picture of this home, rich only in its books and beauty, is as faithful as
it it is charming. In this "humble cot," placed upon "the calmest, fairest
spot on earth," he resided twenty years, enjoying the society of the many
gifted men who were then living in the lake-country, studying subjects of
philosophy from which most of his comntemporaries would have shrunk,
drinking his ruby-coloured laudanum freely, dreaming glorious dreams of
loveliness and awe unspeakable, and pouring forth the treasures of his rich
intelligence in contributions to the periodical press.
But of the peculiar force and splendour of the opium-dreams, it should be
remembered that scarcely anything can be attributed to the opium. It might,
by its specific influence, assist in concentrating and increasing activity,
but it would add nothing either to the organic power of the individual, or
to the element of new combinations which might be already hoarded in his
memory. Yet it is out of these, in their relation of material and
constructive faculty, that any new creation must proceed. Give the drug, in
quantity sufficient to produce sleep, to an ignorant, unimaginative man,
and you will probably get from him in his dreams nothing grander than
Charles Lamb's "Ghost of a Fish-wife;" but give it, under the same
condition, to Coleridge, and his imagination would have bodied forth the
"sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice" of Kubla-Kahn, the stately palace -
"Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
Through caverns measureless to man,
Down to a sunless sea."
Or give it to De Quincey, and he shall dream of some Sabbath-scene of
loveliness expanding into the magnificence of mountains raised to more than
Alpine height, with interspace between them of savannahs and forest-lawns,
and some unforgotten grave amidst it; or some solitary well-remembered form
of one whom he had lost in early youth, "sitting upon a stone shaded
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.109}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.109}
{image = G857B109.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
by Judeam palms," silent and solemn as a spiritual presence, and vanishing
in dimness and thick darkness, as the scenery of his dream is changed into
the lamp-light of a London night, where he walks, with the lost one he had
wept for walking again with him, just as he had done "eighteen years
before, along the endless terraces of Oxford-street." With great truth
"Elia" tells us, in one his excellent essays, the "degree of the soul's
ceativeness in sleep might furnish no whimsical criterion of the quantum of
poetical faculty resident in the same soul waking."
The "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" were published in a small
volume, which sold well, and was for a few years a somewhat scarce book.
Besides this reprint from the pages of the "London," we believe that the
novel of "Walladmor," "Klosterheim," and The Logic of Political Economy,"
are the only works of Mr. De Quincey which his readers have had access to
in the form of separate publications. His other voluminous writings were
contributed to various periodical works, - to the "Encyclopedia
Britannica," the "North British Review," the "London Magazine," the
Magazines of Tait and Blackwood, and to "Hogg's Instructor." Many,
possibly, may have been buried in repositories less popular than those
which we know of and have named. In any cse, it is quite time that essays
which are for the most part possessed of many of the best and rarest
qualities of literature - effusions of one of the subtlest intellects and
most powerful imaginations of the age - should be collected and preserved,
before the task becomes in reality, as the author himself is said to have
once declared it to be, "absolutely, insuperably, and for ever impossible."
The five volumes now before us are a good beginning of the work which,
according to Mr. De Quincey, neither "the archangel Gabriel nor his
multipotent adversary" durst attempt.
It is a good beginning of the work; for though many a choice paper remains
of necessity not gathered in at present, the selection has been made in
such a manner as to embrace examples, collected without regard to time or
place of original publication, of most of Mr. De Quincey's great and
various literary powers. After the "Confessions of an Opium-Eater," the
brief biographies of Coleridge and Wordsworth, which made their first
appearance more than twenty years ago in "Tait's Magazine," will be likely
to attract, and they will assuredly well reward, the attention of the
reader. Of these illustrious writers, nothing equal in merit to Mr. De
Quincey's essays has been ever before written in so small a space. Enjoying
an intimacy with them, probably the more unreserved because of that very
depth and wide range of sympathy with their respective modes of thought
which made him the most congenial of all companions to them, and the most
competent of all commentators on their genius to us, he has, in these
papers, produced the truest and most interesting estimation of them that we
ever have seen, or ever expect to see. His reverence for them had grown
with his own growth:-
"At a period," he tells us, "when neither the one nor the other writer was
valued by the public - both having a long warfare to accomplish of
contumely and ridicule, before they could rise into their present
estimation - I found in these poems (Lyrical Ballads) 'the ray of a new
morning,' and an absolute revelation of untrodden worlds, teeming with
power and beauty as yet unsuspected amongst men."
It was, moreover, a crowning interest in the case of Coleridge, to hear, a
few years later, that he "had applied his whole mind to metaphysics and
psychology," which was at that time De Quincey's own pursuit. In his
delineations of these extraordinary men, whom he studied with a zeal pro-
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.110}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.110}
{image = G857B110.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
portioned to the fervour of his admiration, it is not merely the inner
being that is analyzed and set before us; not merely their knowledge that
is strictly measured, and their understandiings and imaginations that are
faithfully appraised; and their moral natures, in the weakness and the
strength of each, that are weighed in the critic's scale; but a crowd of
interesting circumstances of their outer life, graphic outlines of their
habits and environments, and social and domestic influences, are grouped
about the main design, giving to it a new value from the grace and the
appropriateness of these beautiful accessories. As an instance of Mr. De
Quincey's happy management of these subordinate particulars, we give the
reader, from the sketch of Coleridge, a passage which describes - as a
contrast to the attics of the "Courier" office, which the philosopher had
not long left - his mode of life in Mr. Wordsworth's home at Allan Bank, in
which he was a guest:-
"Here, on the contrary," says our author, "he looked out from his study
windows upon the sublime hills of Seat Sandal and Arthur's
Chair, and upon pastoral cottages at their feet; and all around he
heard hourly the murmurings of happy life, the sound of female voices, and
the innocent laughter of children. But apparently he was not happy: opium,
was it, or what was it, that poisoned all natural pleasure at its sources?
He burrowed continually deeper into scholastic subtleties and metaphysical
abstractions; and, like that class described by Seneca, in the luxurious
Rome of his days, he lived chiefly by candle-light. At two or four
o'clock in the afternoon he would make his first appearance. Through the
silence of the night, when all other lights had disappeared in the quiet
cottages of Grasmere, his lamp might be seen invariably by the
belated traveller, as he descended the long steep from Dunmailraise; and at
seven or eight o'clock in the morning, when man was going forth to his
labour, this insulated son of reverie was retiring to bed."
In turning reluctantly away from these delightful sketches of the two most
distinguished men, as philosopher and poet, which have adorned our present
age, there is one striking difference between them which we must allow our
author to point out. Coleridge, as the passage we have just quoted might
suggest, was an earnest and insatiable student of books: he read everything
that was worth reading; and, during his temporary residence in the valley
of Grasmere, borrowed as many as five hundred volumes from the library of
his neighbour, Mr. De Quincey. Books, indeed, were to the great philosopher
necessities of life: but it was not so with Wordsworth:-
"Very few books," we are told, "sufficed him; he was careless habitually of
all the current literature, or, indeed, of any literature that could not be
considered as enshrining the very ideal, capital, and elementary grandeur
of the human intellect. In this extreme limitation of his literary
sensibilities, he was as much assisted by that accident of his own
intellectual condition - viz. extreme, intense, unparalleled
onesidedness [einseitigkeit] - as by any peculiar sanity of
feeling. Thousands of books that have given rapturous delight to millions
of ingenuous minds, for Wordsworth were absolutely a dead letter, closed
and sealed from his sensibilities and his powers of appreciation, not less
than colour from a blind man's eye. Even the few books which his peculiar
mind had made indispensable to him, were not in such a sense indispensable
as they would have been to a man of more sedentary habits. He lived in the
open air, and the enormity of pleasure which both he and his sister drew
from the common appearances of nature, and their everlasting variety -
variety so infinite, that if no one leaf of a tree or shrub ever exactly
resembled another in all its filaments and their arrangement, still less
did any one day ever repeat another in all its pleasurable elements. This
pleasure was to him in the stead of many libraries:-
'One impulse, from a vernal wood,
Could teach him more of man,
Of moral evil, and of good,
Than all the sages can.'
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.111}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.111}
{image = G857B111.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
And he, we may be sure, who could draw
'Even from the meanest flower that blows,
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears;'
to whom the mere daisy, the pansy, the primrose, could furnish pleasures -
not the puerile ones which his most puerile and worldly insulters imagined,
but pleasures drawn from depths of reverie and meditative tenderness, far
beyond all powers of their hearts to conceive; that man would hardly
need any large variety of books."
Besides his rare scholarship, his very extensive reading, and his singular
familiarity with that German literature with which - in an article on Jean
Paul, in the "London Magazine," in 1821 - he was the first to make the
English public acquainted, Mr. De Quincey's genius appears to be
distinguished chiefly by his rich and strange humour; his great analytic
power, and subtlety of understanding; his extraordinary, almost unequalled,
imaginative eloquence; and a mastery over language, both in regard to
precision and magnificence, which has no parallel at all amogst his
contemporaries. In some of his best papers these various phases of his
genius are made to succeed and relieve each other with brilliant effect;
others, again, are cast in one mood, and characterised throughout their
whole extent by the predominance of one power. In the "Confessions" -
although the greater part of the narrative has an atmosphere of sadness
shed around it from the depths of agony which it discloses - the reader
will have no difficulty in recognising the acute logic and the genial
humour which shew themselves, from time to time, struggling upwards, as it
were, out of the grief and grandeur of the author's eloquent revelations.
His compositions in a single key are numerous enough. In one of the volumes
now before us there are three or four productions, severally manifesting
genius of a separate, special kind, such would be sufficient of itself for
the foundation of an ordinary writer's fame. There is the lecture on
"Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts," which runs over, in a manner,
with a ripe and laughter-moving humour from the first page to the last;
there is a history of the "Revolt of the Tartars," as splendid and
sustained as one of Gibbon's chapters, and as good an imitation of a
narrative of true events as any of Defoe's, yet which has, nevertheless,
not a word of truth in it from one end to the other; there is the
"Dialogues of Three Templars, on Political Economy," which is terse, and
logical, and subtle, and at the same time so simple as to make some of the
abstrusest principles of that important science easily understood by any
attentive reader, however absolute his previous ignorance may have been;
and there is, lastly, a "Dream-Fugue" on sudden death, so full of the
sweetest and the choicest inspiration of imagination, so rich in trembling
tenderness, with inserted symphonies of grandeur, as to require only the
accident of metre, if indeed it requires even that, to deserve a place
among the choicest and most charming specimens of genuine poetry. These,
let it be remembered, are only a portion of the contents of one of
the collected volumes, and that one not by any means undoubtedly the best.
Among the articles not yet hived in the collection, we are sure that we
could point to several which are at least equal, and to one or two which
are superior, to the most admirable of those which are contained in these
volumes.
Mr. De Quincey's mastery of language, which we have already mentioned, is
worthy of a somewhat further notice, since it is, in fact, from its very
perfection, one of his most wonderful accomplishments. Both his choice of
words, and his mode of arranging them into sentences, is, as nearly as can
be, faultless. Professor Wilson, as we are told by Mr. Gil-
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.112}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.112}
{image = G857B112.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[Gil]fillan, once said of him,- "the best word always comes up."
There seems something of an intuition in this felicity in the choice of
words; but it presupposes a vast acquaintance with the vocabulary of all
knowledge, which is the storehouse that he chooses from. It is, we suspect,
mainly to make use of the one best word, that he affects "a frequent use of
scolastic terms, and the forms of logic," - a peculiarity which has been
objected to as a fault in his style. It is where these terms and formulae
give to the expression of his ideas an exactness not obviously attainable
by other means, that he employs them, not else. A merit scarcely less
marvellous than his invariable choice of the best word, is the clearness
which he maintains amongst the successive clauses of his long sentences,
and the accumulated force and fulness with which every period closes. In
this respect, as well as in his subtlety of thought and frequent use of
parenthetical qualifications and limitations, he will sometimes remind the
reader of the late John Foster, although Mr. De Quincey's style has a
clearness, ease, and brilliancy, to which that of the profound and powerful
Foster never, in his noblest passages, made the least approach. Still less
does the style of that writer - or of any other we know of amongst the
memorable authors of the age - ever soar into harmonies so glorious as
those which sometimes burst on the enraptured reader's ear in Mr. De
Quincey's best imaginative works.
In one of the volumes now before us there is an article on Joan of Arc,
which we remember reading with great delight when it was first published in
"Tait's Magazine," not very many years ago, and which we refer to at
present as an example of a class of Mr. De Quincey's writings in which
moral earnestness - earnestness, in this instance, of admiration of the
heroic girl - keeps, as it were, midway between his humorous and his
imaginative moods, yet through a path so narrow as hardly to keep clear of
either. The passage we are about to quote comes after the specification of
a few great intellectual heights which woman has not strength to scale, and
it goes on to do eloquent and ample justice to the patient and enduring
courage which she can die grandly in a good cause. The passage is as
follows:-
"Yet, sister, woman, though I cannot consent to find a Mozart or a Michael
Angelo in your sex, cheerfully, and with the love that burns in depths of
admiration, I acknowledge that you can do one thing as well as the best of
us men - a greater thing than even Milton is known to have done, or Michael
Angelo - you can die grandly, and as godesses would die, were godesses
mortal. If any distinct worlds (which may be the case) are so far
ahead of us Tellurians in optical resources as to see distinctly through
their telescopes all that we do on earth, what is the grandest sight to
which we ever treat them? St. Peter's at Rome, do you fancy, on Easter
Sunday, or Luxor, or perhaps the Himalayas? Oh, no! my friend: suggest
something better; these are baubles to them; they see in other
worlds, in their own, far better toys of the same kind. These, take my word
for it, are nothing. Do you give it up? The finest thing, then, we have to
shew them is a scaffold on the morning of execution. I assure you there is
a strong muster in those far telescopic worlds, on any such morning, of
those who happen to find themselves occupying the right hemisphere for a
peep at us. How, then, if it be announced in some such telescopic world by
those who make a livelihood of catching glimpses at out newspapers, whose
language they have long since deciphered, that the poor victim in the
morning's sacrifice is a woman? How, if it be published in that distant
world that the sufferer wears upon her head, in the eyes of many, the
garlands of martyrdom? How, if it should be some Marie Antoinette, the
widowed queen, coming forward on the scaffold, and presenting to the
morning air her head, turned grey by sorrow, daughter of Caesars, kneeling
down humbly to kiss the guillotine, as one that worships death? How, if it
were the noble Charlotte Corday, that in the bloom of youth, that with the
loveliest of persons, that with hommage waiting upon her smiles wherever
she turned her face to scatter them - homage that followed those smiles as
surely as the carols of birds, after showers in spring, follow the reap-
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.113}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.113}
{image = G857B113.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[reap]pearing sun and the racing sunbeams over the hills - yet thought all
these things cheaper than the dust upon her sandals, in comparison of
deliverance from hell for her dear suffering France? Ah! these were
spectacles indeed for those sympathetising people in distant worlds; and
some, perhaps, would suffer a sort of martyrdom themselves, because they
could not testify their wrath, could not bear witness to the strength of
love, and to the fury of hatred that burned within them at such scenes;
could not gather into golden urns some of that glorious dust which rested
in the catacombs of earth."
The eloquence of the passage we have just quoted is not much above the
ordinary tone of Mr. De Quincey's serious Essays. It is quite as sure that
many passages - both of the papers which are included in these volumes and
of the greater number which have yet to be collected - rise into a far
higher strain than this, as that any sink very much below it. It is, in
fact, one of Mr. De Quincey's conspicuous characteristics to be not at all
chary of his ample intellectual wealth. He lavishes the treasures of his
learning, and his humour, and his logic, and his eloquence,
indiscriminately, on all occasions, not from any petty motive of display,
or any craving after admiration, but in absolute unmixed prodigality of
nature. He has never learned economy from limitation of his means. He talks
as well as he writes, as freely and as fluently, and with just as unsparing
an expenditure of his immense resources. We have even heard, on an
authority that seemed not unworthy of credit, that the proofs of his
Magazine contributions have been not seldom returned to the printer with
their margins enriched with a profusion of notes of comment, caution, and
complaint, so rich in fancy, fun, and knowledge, that they alone - had they
been collected and arranged - would have composed an article quite as
entertaining, and almost as instructive, as the text about which they were
so sportively accumulated.
There is one other circumstance concerning Mr. De Quincey and his works
which the briefest notice of the man or his writings would be blameable in
leaving unrecorded. In our speculative age it is almost a distinction for a
scholarly and subtle thinker to have kept the simplicity of his childish
faith and love unimpaired, and to have been able to sustain his piety on
the grounds of adamantine evidence, without sacrificing any of its
sweetness. Yet this has been our author's enviable good fortune. With
learning and philosophy enough to be a meet antagonist for the ablest of
the assailants of Christianity, he has never wavered in his own steadfast
reverence for its divine truths. Over and above all their other signal
merits, the great body of his writings are, on this account, imbued with
the beauty of religious feeling. There is nothing sanctimonious or austere
in them - no injudicious headlong introduction of religious topics at
unseasonable times - no unbecoming assumption of the preacher's office -
not often, even, any direct or recogniseable digression for a moment's
space, in order to exhibit or enforce a sentiment or doctrine of the faith;
but there is, nevertheless, an indefinable flavour in the stream that bears
eloquent witness to the nature of the spring from which it flows. There is
not a serious article - scarcely, perhaps, a humorous one - in the whole
collection, that we can carefully read through without carrying from it,
along with something to increase our knowledge, or improve our taste, or
animate our reason or imagination, a persuasion that we have been enjoying
the companionship of a loving and believing mind,-
"Not for reproof, but high and warm delight,
And grave encouragement."
As far as this republication extends at present, it has been carefully and
well done. The addition of double title-pages, so that the volumes might
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.114}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.114}
{image = G857B114.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
be distinguished by respective numbers, would have been a convenience to
those who may happen to have occasion to refer others to any particular
portion of the collection, as well as to the readers to whom such a
reference may be given. In the important matter of editorial revision, the
various articles have generally fared well. Large sections, Mr. De Quincey
tells us, have been added, "and other changes made, which, even to the old
parts, by giving very great expansion, give sometimes a character of
absolute novelty." It is certain that, where the old text was familiar to
our ear, and sometimes also to our heart, there is nothing in the new
matter that does not easily associate itself with the old agreeable
impression. The rifacciamento, as Mr. Coleridge was pleased to call
the result of his kindred labours on "The Friend," is not such as to
displease the admirers of the Essays as they first appeared. Mr. De
Quincey, indeed, has too much of poor Goldsmith's gift of touching
nothing without adorning it, to allow of any apprehensions being
seriously entertained as to the effect of his revisions, be they ever so
unsparing or extensive. We shall look, therefore, with a confident hope for
the improvement of the old favourites which have yet to appear. Even papers
like those on the Essenes and the Caesars may possibly come forth with a
new value conferred upon them by his further care. Nor would it be a matter
of surprise though the Suspira themselves - solemn, glorious, and
surpassing affecting as they now are - should come to us with a deeper
pathos in their grief, or with grander harmonies of speech, or more
magnificence of imaginative beauty, when they come to us newly touched and
tuned by him whose spiritual nature they disclose.
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.303}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.303}
{header- Roman Forts, Hadrian's Wall}
{image = G857B303.jpg}
{text- At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute.}
The next paper was read by the Rev. W. H. Gunner, for the Rev. J. Maughan,
rector of Bewcastle, Cumberland, entitled, "An attempt to Allocate the
Etymology of the Stations per Lineam Valli in Cumberland,"
illustrated by a survey of the district, executed by order of his Grace the
Duke of Northumberland.
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.316}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.316}
{header- Placenames in the North}
{image = G857B316.jpg}
THE NORTHMEN IN ENGLAND.
MR. URBAN, - We are indebted to you for a recent notice of Ferguson's
interesting work on the Northmen in Cumberland and Westmoreland. As,
however, the author has attributed or suggested a Scandinavian origin to
many words which were undoubtedly Celtic or Anglo-Saxon, I was induced to
submit a list of them to a distinguished foreign philologist, Dr. Leo of
Halle, and he has come to the rescue; remarking generally, that unless Mr.
Ferguson could give the names in question as they were written in the tenth
century, the whole of his theory must be considered as conjectural, so
great were the changes in the subsequent centuries. A knowledge of the
primitive elements and the primitive sense of the words can alone give us
certain data.
The changes in names of places from the time of granting our Anglo-Saxon
charters to the compilation of the Domesday Book were very considerable. I
only trouble you with the more important instances, wishing to avoid
debateable ground; but we must not give Helvellyn to the Northmen, -
and the Irish will not readily surrender O' Connell.
I am, &c.
THE TRANSLATOR OF DR. LEO'S LITTLE WORK ON ANGLO-SAXON NAMES OF PLACES.
Dresden, July 3, 1857.
The name Konall, p.4, is not Scandinavian, but Celtic. The
Scandinavians, who for a long period had great possessions in Ireland, the
Isle of Man, and other Celtic Regions, received a quantity of Celtic
elements into their language, especially proper names, - as Fian,
Hamlett, (probably a corruption of Amhlaidh,) Konall, and
many others. Mention is frequently made in the Scandinavian chronicles of
the northern warriors bringing home Irish wives. "I am of opinion," (says
Dr. Leo,) "that the artificial politeness of the Scandinavian poetry
originated in the intercourse between the Scandinavians and the Irish, for
the points in which the Scandinavian poetry differs from the poetry of
other Teutonic races (Anglo-Saxons, Old Saxons, and Germans,) are
peculiarities of the Irish poetry; for example, the artificial mingling of
assonances with alliterations."
Porting, p.31, seems to be Celtic, for in general all words in the
Teutonic language beginning with P may be presumed not to be true
Germanis or Teutonic words, but introduced from a foreign langauge.
Caermot and Moutay, p.33, seem to be also Celtic. Mota
in Irish signifies "a mount," "a mile-hill," (which well describes the
place in question).
Cot, p.46, is Celtic, and from the Celtic received into all the
Teutonic lan-
{text- The 'recent notice of Ferguson's interesting work' has not been
found in the two previous month's issues of the Magazine.}
{title- Gents Mag 1857 part 2 p.317}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1857 part 2 p.317}
{image = G857B317.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[lan]guages, - German, Saxon, Frisian, Scandinavian.
Daker, or it s Norman form Dacre, seems Celtic also. In the
Irish, deacair, and in the Gaelic, docair, means "severe,"
"gloomy," "sad," &c.; deakra, "separated."
Cyric, p.49. This word is Celtic, and was brought into Germany and
the northern district of the Anglo-Saxons by Irish missionaries. It comes
from the Irish, coirch, Welsh cyrch, or cylch, that
is, the point which forms the top or centre of anything. (In South Germany
the word kilche is still used in this sense.) Cyric,
therefore, is the point of gathering for a diocese, the ecclesiastical or
religious centre.
Knock, p.84, is Celtic. In Irish, cnoc signifies "a hill."
Helvellyn, p.96, is undoubtedly Celtic; helv-elyng, or
helf-elyng, signifies in Welsh "disbanding of the hunt," "ending of
the hunt," - a very proper name for a mountain.
Ehen, Edin, p.122, and all names of rivers ending in en and
on, seem to be of Celtic origin.
The Danish tackle, p.156, is also derived from the Welsh
taclu. All names and words in the Teutonic languages which have a
relation to nautical affairs are not true Teutonic, but Celtic and
received; for the Celts were earlier in Europe than the Germans, and the
Germans came through the midst of the continent of Asia and East Europe and
vanquished the Celts, and learned from them the German words, skiff,
barke, koche, kahn, steur, ruder, segel, tau, bord, ebbe, takeln,
&c., all of Celtic origin.
Solway , p.102, from the Anglo-Saxon svegl, sygl, syl, that
is aether, sol, luna, gemma, and Anglo-Saxon vaeg, vag, aqua
undulans, mare solis.
Ey, p.10, cannot be derived from the Danish ö, but
only from the Anglo-Saxon ege, eie, which signifies the same as
ö. The words vic, nes, thorp, and gard are also
from the Anglo-Saxon; so are ray and reay, scale (sceale,
corbex), cove (cof or cova), cubile, laith, (hladan, hauriri, hlad,
cumulus, agger,) staca, pike, cam, rigg, lad, laeg, and gap.
Striding-edge, like the Anglo-Saxon striding-eeg, from
stridan, grandibus gradibus ascendere, equum ascendere.
Mire, p.120, is the Anglo-Saxon mere; stagnum, not
mare.
The old Norse bali, monticulus, p.96, has nothing in common with the
Anglo-Saxon bal, flamma.
The ar in Isar, p.114, is certainly not a plural
inflexion; whilst the final a, p.34, only signifies a river when it
is long. In other cases it is a simple inflexion, a sign of the nominative
- in the Anglo-Saxon for the masculine, in the old Norse for the feminine.
{title- Gents Mag 1858 part 1 p.68}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1858 part 1 p.68}
{header- Roman Finds, Westmorland etc}
{image = G858A068.jpg}
{text- At a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries.}
December 10. ...
... ...
SIR GEORGE MUSGRAVE, Bart., exhibited, through Mr. W. A. Franks, a
collection of Roman remains, found chiefly in the county of Westmoreland.
They consist of several objects discovered at Kirkby Thore, on the river
Troutbeck, on making the foundations of a new bridge, in the year 1838, -
comprising a bronze ligula, five bow-shaped fibulae, and four
ring-shaped fibulae. Also four bow-shaped Roman and two enamelled fibulae,
one of them crescent-shaped, the other in the form of a cock - and the
upper ornament and the chape or lower end of a scabbard of Romano-Celtic
workmanship. With these was included a very fine gold Roman ring found near
Thursby, in Cumberland, in the year 1836. This interesting collection is
destined by the liberal owner as a present to the British Museum.
... ...
{series- society & religion}
{title- Gents Mag 1858 part 1 p.188}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1858 part 1 p.188}
{header- Cross, Carlisle Cathedral, and Roman Finds, Kirkby Thore}
{image = G858A188.jpg}
{text- Archaeological Institute?}
... ...
Mr Maclauchlan, Dr. Bruce observed, is actually engaged on further surveys
of ancient Northumbrian vestiges, by direction of his Grace [the Duke of
Northumberland], who has, moreover, most liberally encouraged the
publication, by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, of a complete
Corpus Inscriptionum of the Roman age in Northumberland, more
especially in connexion with the Roman Wall and its stations ... These
inscriptions, Dr. Bruce remarked, are scattered throughout the district,
many of them being in private houses difficult of access. ...
... ...
Mr Purday exhibited a drawing of an inscribed fragment of a cross found
lately at Carlisle Cathedral, and pronounced by Mr. Westwood to be of the
seventh century, and a relique of unusual interest.
... ...
... Mr. Franks exhibited an extensive assemblage of Roman reliques from
Kirkby Thore, Westmoreland, which have subsequently been presented to the
British Museum by the liberality of Sir G. Musgrave, Bart.
{title- Gents Mag 1858 part 1 p.418}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1858 part 1 p.418}
{header- Roman Inscriptions, Lanercost Priory, and a Portrait, Greystoke
Castle}
{image = G858A418.jpg}
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
Feb. 5. ...
... ...
The Rev. John Maughan, Rector of Bewcastle, sent rubbings of six Roman
inscriptions preserved in Lanercost Priory. 1. An altar dedicated to
Jupiter, by the first cohort of Dacians. This altar, which appears to have
been first noticed in 1744, when it was published in the GENTLEMAN'S
MAGAZINE, had been lost sight of till it was re-discovered by Mr. Maughan.
The stone is placed as the key-stone of an arch in the clerestory of the
priory, in the S.E. corner of the choir, having been either found on the
spot, or brought from one of the neighbouring stations by the founders of
Lanercost. 2. An altar found at Burdsoswald, preserved in the crypt. It
records a dedication to Silvanus, by the huntsmen of Banna. 3. An altar
also in the crypt, dedicated to the god Cocidius, by the soldiers of the
twentieth legion, named Valeria Victrix. Mr. Maughan noticed that the
initials of these titles (V.V.) had been generally misread Valens Victrix,
and that the true reading appears from a passage in Dion Cassius. 4. An
altar dedicated to the same god, Cocidius, by the soldiers of the second
legion. 5. A centurial stone recently found in the east wall of the crypt,
about two feet from the ground, near the S.E. corner. It reads, "C. CON. X.
P. F." 6. Another centurial stone, on the outside of the eastern wall of
the refectory, reading "C CASSII PRISCI."
... ...
Mr. C. E. Long exhibited a small portrait painted on a panel of high finish
and considerable artistic merit. It appears to be the original of an
engraving by Hollar, purporting to be a portrait of Thomas à Becket,
by Van Eyck. It was then in the possession of the Earl of Arundel, and now
belongs to Mr. Henry Howard, of Greystoke Castle. There is great reason to
believe that this painting is a fragment of a large devotional picture, and
that it represents the head of the donor of the picture, probably a canon.
In Hollar's engraving a knife is represented as sticking in the skull. It
has apparently been added to supply a defect in the original. Mr. Scharf
thinks that the painting might be attributed to Justus von Ghent.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1858 part 1 p.423}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1858 part 1 p.423}
{header- Cumberland and Westmorland, Ancient and Modern}
{image = G858A423.jpg}
HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS REVIEWS.
Cumberland and Westmorland, Ancient and Modern. By J. SULLIVAN.
8vo., 171pp. (Whitaker & Co.) - "Through the names of places, the
oldest and most enduring monuments," remarked William Von Humboldt, "a
nation long passed away relates as it were, its own destiny; and the only
question is, whether we yet understand its voice." The interpretation of
these names is often biassed by the peculiar studies and views of the
writer. Referring to Mr. Ferguson's "Northmen in Cumberland and
Westmorland," we have, says Mr. Sullivan, Norse against all England; whilst
he is perhaps scarcely aware of his own tendency to seek for derivations
too exclusively in the Irish branch of the Celtic language. This field has,
however, been rarely trodden of late, at least in England, for our cousins
the Germans have lately produced a very valuable Celtic work, Zeuss'
Grammatica Celtica. With this exception, Mr. Sullivan has given due
prominence to the claims of each of the immigrant nations, and he brings to
bear on the examination of his subject an acquaintance with no ordinary
range of languages, Eastern and European. Indeed, we consider this as a
most suggestive and interesting book. It is to be lamented that we know
nothing of Celtic, as formerly spoken in England, some remnants of Cornish
excepted; and that we can only form conjectures concerning it from the
kindred dialects of Brittany, Wales, and Ireland, for it is by no means
certain that Welch was spoken throughout England.
Mr. Sullivan considers that the earliest immigrants of Europe came in two
streams, - the Tatars along the large rivers and islands of the north,
whose descendants were the Finns, Lapps, Esthonians, and Livonians; and the
other, consisting of the Iberians, the Etruscans, and the Illyrians, by the
coasts of the Mediterranean. The Tatars probably migrated from the north of
Asia; the Celts, who came in contact with the Iberians, and the Latins, who
followed the Etruscans, belong to the great Indo-European family, whose
home was between the northern slope of the Himalayas and the Caspian. Of
this family there were four great divisions - the Celtic, the Greek-Latin,
the Gothic, and the Slavic. Probably the Caspian divided them, and gave
them different directions.
Our author supposes that the first immigrants to Britain were some of the
Tatar tribes of the stone period, who spread along the north coast of
Denmark until they could get no further (north), and then took to the sea.
The date he places at about five centuries before the Christian era. We
give Mr. Sullivan's reasons for this opinion in his own words:-
"Every consonant in standard Irish is capable of two pronunciations, a
broad and a narrow; the eastern dialect still preserves the distinction
clearly audible. The vowels are divided into broad and narrow; a, o,
u being of the former kind, e, i of the latter. If there be no
other overruling cause, the consonant takes its sound from the following
vowel; and according to a practice now ancient, the kind of the medial or
final consonant is indicated, if necessary, by a preceeding vowel. Thus the
a vowel in cean only shews the broad sound of the n.
Some of the Celtic dialects, and many of the European languages that
received this influence, did not preserve its original condition; its
existence is now, therefore, at least traced in its effects, which form
many of the most striking changes in modern dialects. Traces of this
organic peculiarity are strong and general in Russian, partial in Danish
and Latin, scarcely to be found in the Welch, and non-existent in German.
Its effects are sufficiently ample in the Romance languages, in Anglo-Saxon
orthography, and in the pronunciation of modern English. That this
influence belongs to the North is tolerably evident; and seeing it is
almost prefect in Magyar, and more or less traceable in all the langauges
of the same stock, we may concude that it has come to us through the Tatar
peoples."
The immigrants probably arrived in Aberdeenshire: that they first reached
Scotland infers from the name of the whole island, and the present name of
Scotland in the Irish language - Albion and Alba, the
hill-country. (Compare the old Italian Alba Longa, the long hill,
Albanus, &c.) But foreseeing a difficulty as to the arrival of
these tribes in canoes hollowed out by fire, (or even, we suppose, in
skin-covered coracles,) he presumes that they must have arrived in company
with the Celtic tribes. It is certain, we may ask, that the
cromlech-builders had no tools of metal, or was it a point of their
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religion that no tool should be lifted up on such sacred sepulchral
edifices? Nothing more is certainly known respecting the cromlech-builders,
than that they did not practise cremation: the urns that are found
in the cromlechs only contain food, as limpets, or bones of fowls and
sheep; but as much cannot always be said of the so-called Giants' graves;
indeed the state of these tumuli is so altered from successive openings,
that it is impossible to say positively what they did contain. As early as
the ninth century, the Charters speak of the tumuli "that had been dug
into." Many of the early British barrows contain both stone and bronze
weapons. It is though that the stones of one of the largest stone circles
in Cumberland, on Black Combe, a mountain near the coast, shew signs of
morticing for the reception of horizontal slabs. The Finns are described as
making arrows with bone points as late as the time of Tacitus, - and they
were not very distant from workers in metal.
About the same time as the arrival of the tribes from the north of Denmark,
a Teutonic tribe from the south of Jutland, who were probably Celts,
arrived in Scotland, and left their name to the river Tweed. The arrival of
this tribe is referred to in ancient Irish history. They were said to be a
tribe of enchanters, called the Tuads, or Tueds, from the Dan country,
(Denmark). The ancient name of the land of Ditmarschen at the south of
Jutland, was Thiat-mares-gaha,a Gothic form for the people (Goth.
theod) of the marshy gau, or province. Mr. Sullivan says that
the arrival of these Tuads would account for the original name of Britain.
We are not sure that we gather his meaning. We may remark that the old
chronicler Nescorus, referring to the heathen practices of these people,
mentions amongst others their "Hochzeitfeierlichkeiten auf
brut-kampen," their marriage festivities at the field of gathering.
It is curious to remark this national custom of gathering leading to
political results.
Independently of the Danish migration, and probably a little earlier, a
part of the Celtic tribe from the Sequana, in Gaul, left the continent, and
missing England, arrived at the west of Ireland, in that part now known as
Connaught. They were subsequently called the Senones by their neighbours on
the east, from the river Shannon, Senus. As a proof of the identity
of the earliest British and Irish colonists, our author adduces the fact of
the names of the five great headlands on the east of Britain having been
formed from the word Kent, modern Irish, cean, head; the
lands of the Cantii, Iceni, and Cantae, with Canty-bay and the Pentland
Hills, in Haddingtonshire, both of which last, as well as Pembroke in
Wales, were formerly Kentland and Kentbroke. Possibly the headland of the
Cangani, in North Wales, might be added to the list.
An immigration of a people whom Mr. Sullivan designates as Cambro-Celts
took place some two centuries later than the arrival of the Tuads. These
landed on the south and west of Britain. We do not think this immigration
is placed sufficiently early, for Gaulic coins which are known to have been
struck soon after the reign of Macedon, have been found in Berkshire, and
Herodotus speaks of the tin-works as being in operation in his time.
"During the European transit of the Celts, the Cambrian division fell under
an influence that altered the initial c of a number of words into
p; Irish cean, Welsh pen. The Greek dialects have
suffered under a similar mixture or influence."
All North Wales was colonised by this division, as well as Cumberland, and
a part of Scotland, although the Irish Celts had arrived in Cumberland
before them. Many Irish names of places are certainly found in Cumberland,
- for instance, Caermot and Moutay, as well as those that Mr. Sullivan has
given; but we cannot pronounce that they are not, at least in part, English
celtic also. The Cumberland word arles, the earnest of a servant's
wages, Mr. Sullivan derives from the Irish iarlas, earnest; but as
the southern French have the word arrhes with a similar meaning, it
is probable there was some Celtic root common to both words. "South Wales
was peopled by the Gwythelians, (Irish,) according to a tradition which
still exists. The unaccountable antiquities are called Cytian y
Gwyzelod, Irish cots. the name of the heroic and ill-used Queen of the
Iceni is reducible to modern Irish, Bean-duci, the woman-leader;
Vortigern, to Fear tigherna, vir tyrannus; and his son Vortimer to
Fear timthere, his minister or lieutenant." We merely remark en
passant that the letters on the coins attributed to Boadicea are
BODUOC.
The Christmas carol commencing -
"As I sat anonder yon green tree,"
given as a Cumberland song, was to our knowledge popular in Cork forty
years ago, with a variation in the second verse which seems the better
reading, -
"I saw three ships a-sailing by;"
in which there appear to be a mystical allusion to the Trinity.
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The invasion of the Belgae our author considers to have been
inconsiderable, and to have produced but little impression. He traces the
settlements of these Fir Bolg, principally in the West of England
and Wales, by a peculiar prefix of the word caer, car,
(cathair, city) to the celtic names of places they found in the
land. Strabo states that these Belgae were not Celts:-
"The origin of the Scots is involved in some obscurity, but various
traditions confirm a belief that they came into Ireland from Spain. They
land in the south and south-east, and, some time during the Roman
occupation of Britain, passed over from the north into Caledonia. thus they
traversed the entire island, Connaught apparently excepted, and made so
deep an impression on their new country as to give it the name that it bore
for some centuries, Scotia. Their invasion of Caledonia finally transferred
the name to that country. It is very probable that they were Celtiberians,
as their migration from Spain would lead us to suppose; and it is certain
that the Scottish Highlanders and the Basques strikingly correspond in many
important characteristics."
This was Burke's opinion, and we remember a conversation said to have taken
place between him and a Highlander in confirmation of it, - of too coarse a
character, however, for insertion in these pages.
This correspondence was pointed out as early as the twelfth century by
Giraldus Cambrensis. the cloth bonnet or berret of the modern
Basques closely resembles that on the coin of James V. of Scotland called
the bonnet-piece. The music of the two countries has a strongly marked
similarity and originality; the cornamusa, or bagpipe, (corn
being Celtic for horn,) is common to both; and they alike use the
sword-dance, put the stone, (French, ruer la barre,) and toss the
caber. the game of golf is but a modification of the Basue Jeu de
paume, a game that creates intense interest, and draws strangers to
visit it from distant provinces. The superstitions respecting sneezing,
sitting down thirteen to a table, spilling the salt, and commencing a
journey on Friday, are similar; but the most striking identity is found in
the funeral customs. In the basque provinces, as in Ireland, a woman is
hired to sing the andecha, the funeral lament - the coronach
of the Highlanders, and the caoine of the Irish. The friends present
at a Basque funeral strike the widow, with loud cries and lamentations, as
the Irish strike the coffin; and the Irish refrain has a decided Basque
character. the well-known Irish refrain Lilli-burlero may be
compared with the Lelo il leloaof the Basques, meaning voici,
with the addition of the well-known word bolero, a Spanish dance.
That the Basques came in Contact with the Celts is evident. Their word for
river, gave, may be compared with our Avon, with the
Ave of Portugal, and with the Tave of Devonshire, (the
t being inserted for the sake of euphony,) and their border river,
the Adour, is the same as our river Adur in Sussex, and the Dour in
Ireland, Celtic dwr, water. Many names of places compounded with
Llan are found near the Basque Province, several cols and
pens, as the Pen d'hyeris and Pen d'escot, also a Lugdunum
Convenarum, Celtic lug, a marsh. The Basques are excessively
indignant at being compared by Doctors Latham and Trench with the Finns and
Lapps. They have scarcely one element in common, and M. Michel, (Sur le
Pays Basque) after a careful resume of the numerous works that have
been written on the subject, declares that their language differs
substantially from all other known languages, notwithstanding it has some
radicals in common with the Finnish, and with other languages of southern
and middle Asia, especially the Turkish, a proof of its primitive
character, and of the common parentage of all tongues. Mr. Sullivan refers
the Mendip Hills to the Basque mendia, a hill, and considers the
i in Iceni, and the bi in Bibroci, to be Iberian prefixes.
Eden, formerly ituna, he claims as Celtiberian. It is evdient,
however, that since the Basque immigration some succeeding tribes have
swept over Ireland, amongst others the Brigantes and Silures.
We have endeavoured to give a sketch of our author's views, without
accepting all his conclusions, for want of further data. We have not space
to follow him in his narrative of the successive invasions of the Saxons,
Angles, and Danes, whose settlements in Cumberland and Westmorland he
traces with considerable precision. He gives at least due prominence to
Hiberno-Celtic derivations of names of places, but we know not whether that
of the famed Watling-street from widhe leana, the road of the marsh,
he remarks, was Wadling, preserved in Wadling Tarn. The question deserves
ventialtion, as the phrase is. The Anglo-Saxon Deoraby (Saxon
Chronicle) was the nearest approximation to the Celtic name for the town of
Derby that the language offered; there are many towns to be found in the
charters compounded with the Anglo-Saxon word deor, the modern
Schleswig word deert, animals. The Angle word worth is merely
a piece of ground raised up above the surface of the water. (See Census
Daniae in Langebek, vol.vii.) There are several such on the Danube.
Scale, shaw, bos and wath are not necessarily Danish; they
may be An-
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[An]glo-Saxon. The Angle element in Cumberland was not so very
inconsiderable, as the long list of peculiar words of Angle in derivation
in Ferguson's "Northmen in Cumberland" shews. To this we might add the name
Bootle, from Angle bodl, or botl, a dwelling; also many names
of places ending in ton; the verb laik, from lacan. to
play (whence a lark;) ment, maengan, mixed; mean, menan, to
bemoan; won, wunnian, to dwell, &c. We agree with our author as
to the Celtic origin of Nelson, but cannot for a moment allow that
Shakspere was Jacques pierre! Idem sonans is a deceitful
guide. The Danish word rise is simply great, and not necessarily
gigantic.
Mr. Sullivan's disclaimer of any reference to Baal in the Beltein is just
and important, although we do not preceive why they who erred in company
with Calmet should be called "silly," or "benighted idolaters." We should
not have heard so much of the connection of the worship of Baal with these
northern fires, had it not been for our acquaintance with the word Baal of
the sacred Scriptures, - which, however, means simple dominus,
sometimes only magister, or maritus. There can be no doubt
that our "bale-fires" were the funereal pyres in which, till the close of
the ninth century, the heathen Northmen consumed their dead, generally on a
raised structure of stones. To this purpose the Yevering Bell, the Bell
Hills and Hill Bells of Cumberland, were, we conceive, set apart. We think
it impossible that any one who has read Kemble's paper in No.54 of the
"Archaeological Journal" can be sceptical on this subject. He points out
the Bael, rogus, of the Saxon charters, in one instance on a hill;
also the ad the strues rogi, and the brandes-beorh,
the hill of burning. The towns or hamlets, Balsham and Belsham, were named
as he infers, from the word bael, flamma, names given by the
Christian Anglo-Saxons. We think the reviewer in "Blackwood" (No. for
March, 1857,) might have spared his banter on Mr. Sullivan as to this and
one or two other points, especially as he confesses to ignorance of
archaeology and Northern literature. We wonder if he would claim Chaucer's
allusion in the following lines for his favourite Baal! -
"Thou shalt be burnt in baleful fire,
And all they sect I shall destrie."
Ploughman's Tale
He will find no trace of Baal-worship in Celtic Brittany, no proper name of
a place beginning with Bel, although plenty of pens. On the other
hand, in the Eastern Pyrenees, whither the Germans repaired when they
invaded Spain under Charlemagne, there are several bels and
bals. We would refer the second syllable of Beltein to the
Anglo-Saxon tynan, claudere. The dragon referred to by Mr. Sullivan
which is carried in procession at Burford in Oxfordshire, is supposed to be
commemorative of a great victory recorded in the Saxon Chronicle to have
been gained there over a Saxon enemy, whose banner was a dragon.
We are not sure that Dunmallet, near Ullswater, pronounced Dunmwland, is
not from dun and mallum, the commune placitum for the
Thing, which we believe its form shews it may have been used for. We
agree with Lord Dufferin that to these Things, and to the Norse
invasion that implanted them, more than to the Wittanagemotes of the
Latinized Saxons, must be referred the origin of those parliaments which
are the boast of Englishmen. The finest placitum remaining is at
Penrith. The derivations of carrock and Helvellyn were well
explained in the September number of the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.
The Roman invasion of Cumberland is placed a century too late: it was
garrisoned under Agricola, a lieutenant of Vespasian; and the objection to
Wolf, as the name of a man, cannot have been made seriously.
The chapter on Antiquities may be enlarged with advantage: no counties are
richer in sepulchral remains of many nations, and in Roman roads and
stations, than these. Mr. Sullivan's remarks on the phonetic structure of
the language are original and important. We are pleased to see that he has
paid attention to the comparison of names of places in different countries.
His chapters on Superstitions and Customs are full of amusement, and will
amply repay perusal.
We learn from the Preface that the work was first written in the shape of
detached letters to the "Kendal Mercury," which would account for the want
of connection, and occasionally of lucidness; but we have no doubt that
these slight imperfections will be corrected in a second edition, which we
hope shortly to see. The price of the book, we may mention, is very modest.
If we are rightly informed, our author is the head of a small provincial
academy; and if so, this work, which embraces so wide a field of
philological investigation, does him the more credit, proving that he must
have surmounted obstacles which would have deterred not a few similarly
situated.
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{header- Cathedrals}
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CATHEDRALS PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WARS.
THE earliest printed description of an English cathedral does not date
further back than the eighteenth century. Drake and Dart, the respective
historians of York and Canterbury, were pioneers on a field which for years
remained unoccupied, till such men as Gosling, Bentham, and Harwood
appeared. It was not, however, their plan to take any extended view of a
subject so interesting, they confined their attention and researches to a
single church and city: Browne Willis, who had acquired his love of
architecture and monuments of the middle ages, while a boy at Westminster
school, in the aisles of the neighbouring abbey, was the first to publish a
survey of cathedrals. His notices, meagre, alas! as they are valuable,
suggested the works of Storer, Buckler, and Winkles, and the admirable, but
imperfect illustrations of Mr. Britton. If we add the last edition of the
Monasticon Anglicanum. we shall exhaust the list of any general
survey of all the cathedrals comprised in one work previous to the present
year.
For the long period which intervened between the Reformation and the
accession of the House of Hanover, we have only the partial and cursory
observations of detached writers, and the narrative, in the "Mercuries" of
the day, of the sacrilegious outrages committed by the unscrupulous
Hazelrigge and Waller. These, necessaily, permit us rather to guess than
see the actual state of the cathedrals at a period of great importance,
that immediately preceding the wars of the King and Parliament, -
"That violent commotion, which o'erthrew,
In town, and city, and sequestered glen,
Altar, and cross, and church of solemn roof."
Fortunately, a MS. which now lies before us affords a curious, and at
times, a minute insight into the actual state of the churches, the number
and order of the ornaments, the efficiency of the choir, the behaviour of
the clergy, the aspect of the structure and its adjacent close, with
glimpses of everyday life, customs, and manners, long fallen into
desuetude.
In the year 1634, three gentlemen of "Merry Norwich," a Captain,
Lieutenant, and Auncient, took their journey a-foot to see, not foreign
lands, or make the grand tour, but with the better and more patriotic and
sensible purpose of acquainting themselves with the beauty and antiquities
of their own country. They were persons of observant miinds, devotional
temper, and a considerable fund of quiet humour; in fact, the very
companions we should choose for good fellowship in the long vacation, on a
long bright summer's day. Their journey lay through twenty-six of the
English counties, and commenced on August 11. Persons whose daily life is
spent in a cathedral town, are very frequently those least acquainted with
its history and architecture; what we can do any day we very often put off
to an indefinte period; Westminster Abbey is more familiar to strangers
from the country, we are bold to say, than to the two millions who dwell
within the sound of Bow bells: our worthy officers are no exception, for
not a syllable occurs in reference to the chief ornament of their native
city.
The triumvirate were voluntary members of the military company of Norwich,
officers of train band or militia. The Lieutenant, from the little hints
that peep out of the narrative, was clearly the chronicler, and the hand-
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writing is conclusive in a sort of autobiography of some rambles on his own
account, at which we shall glance presently. The Captain and the Ensign we
find arrayed in Lincoln green, a garb at that time-honoured city involving
the party in difficulty, as a Mr. Taylor, who is dubbed for his pains, but
with good reason, a "meddlesome coxcomb," suspects them from their
forester's livery of being "Clerks of the Board of Green Cloth," (oh! the
facetious wag with his Caroline pun,) "come down to inquire about the
monopolies."
We remember to have heard of a gentleman in the civilian department of the
royal navy going over in his full-dress to the grand reviews at Paris on
the occasion of the Queen's visit to our faithful ally, Napoleon III., and
returning with great exultation, bursting with self-congratulation, and
boasting to all who were so unfortunate as to fall in his way of the
respect that was paid to him, for that he never till then knew the value
and recommendation that lay in the uniform of a British officer. Our good
worthy citizens set out with the same design, their language, if not
bellicose, constantly smacks of the military. Having "opportune and vacant
leisure to take a view, they hold a parley, and set out with soldiers
journeying ammunition;" when they take a long walk they "march;" they are
"properly accoutred" when dressed; inspect like general officers forts and
garrisons, cavalry and infantry, little thinking, poor souls, of the wars
about to burst on their unhappy country, and in which they will be called
upon to take their share; and the sight of "the black scarf of the mayor of
Sandwich" suggests a suitable ornament for an offending sentinel.
But we are forgetting the main object of their quest, the churches, -
"Whose towers bear heads so high they kiss the clouds,
And strangers ne'er beheld but wondered at:
... ... to satisfy their eyes
With the memorials and things of fame
That do renown each city."
Their route lay across the fens of Lincolnshire, and leaving Sleaford, "we
hasten! says our lieutenant, "to LINCOLN, and found the way for the major
part thither pleasant, healthy, and champaign, and good sociable way for
travellers, but such as notably deceives them, if they be weary; for when
we first espied the high towers of the cathedral, we thought it near, but
it proved to our pains and patience a full jury of miles ... ...
The next cathedral town is that of YORK ... ...
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{text- Carlisle Cathedral}
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... ...
The three travellers were sorely disappointed at their next cathedral
stage, CARLISLE, "nothing so fair and stately as those we had seen." There
were sixteen petty canons and singing-men; there are now two minor canons
and eight lay vicars. The worthy Lieutenant now fairly looses his temper:-
"It is like a great wild country church, and as it appeared outwardly, so
was it inwardly, neither beautified nor adorned one whit. The organs and
voices did well agree, the one being like a shrill bagpipe, the other like
the Scottish tone; the sermon in the like accent. The communion was
administered and received in a wild and irreverent manner." Merry Carlisle
had not forgotten the days of forays, when the Black Wills of the Border
carried off cattle from under its castle walls.
... ...
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{header- Roman Inscriptions, Carlisle}
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ROMAN INSCRIPTIONS DISCOVERED AT CARLISLE.
Two remarkable inscribed slabs have recently been found in excavating a
foundation for the new office of the "Journal," in English-street,
Carlisle. Unfortunately they are both imperfect, and the purport if their
inscriptions is therefore doubtful. Dr. Collingwood Bruce, the historian of
the Roman Wall, has, however, suggested explanations, in papers read before
the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-on-Tyne, in February and March last.
The following are his remarks on the slab first discovered:-
The slab is of a large size, 5 feet 3 inches long and a foot thick.
Unfortunately the upper portion is gone. The stone has suffered from that
vengeance, on the part of the Caledonians, on the occasion of a successful
onslaught, which so many of the relics of Rome in these parts bear marks
of. That part of the inscription, which no doubt told of the occasion of
its being cut, is lost; but there can be little doubt that it was to
commemorate the erection of some building of importance, probably a temple.
The names of the chief officials engaged in the work are also lost, with
the exception of the fragments of four letters. Notwithstanding these
ravages, the stone is of great value, and that part of the inscription that
is left gives us information which we did not possess before.
The inscription may, I think, be thus read:-
... ... ... ...
... ... LVCA[NVS]
PRAEF[ECTVS] ALAE AVGVSTAE
PETRIANAE TORQ[VATAE] M[ILLIARIAE] C[IVIVM] R[OMANORVM]
D[E]D[ICAVERVNT] (or D[E]D[ICAVIT]).
'(This temple) was dedicated to --, by Lucanus (?) the Prefect of the
Petriana Cavalry, surnamed Augustan, entitled to wear the torque,
consisting of a thousand men, all Roman citizens.'
The notices which we have previously had of the Ala Petriana have been very
scanty. Its name appears on the Riveling rescript, along with other troops
then in Britain, under the charge of Aulus Platorius Nepos. This rescript
belongs to the eighth tribuneship of Hadrian, answering to A.D. 124.
In Camden's day a stone - which was lost before Horsley's time - had an
inscription, which has been thus read by Horsley:-
... ... ...
GADVNOVLP[IVS] TRAI[ANVS]
EM[ERITVS] AL[AE] PET[RIANAE]
MARTIVS
F[ACIENDVM] P[RO] O[VRAVIT].
'Ulpius Trajanus Martius, a veteran of the Petriana cavalry, caused this to
be erected to (the memory of) Gadnus.'
This stone was found at Old Penrith.
Last summer, a carving upon the side of an old limestone quarry at Banks-
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{image = G860A347.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[Banks]burn, near Lanercost, was discovered, which also mentions the Ala
Petriana. The inscription may be read:-
I[VNIVS] BRVTVS
DEC[VRIO] AL[AE] PET[RIANAE].
'Junius Brutus, a decurion (commander of ten men) of the Petriana cavalry.'
Lastly, we have in the Notitia list, after the mention of the
Tribune of the first AElian Cohort of Dacians at Amboglanna, the following
entry:-
Praefectus Alae Petrianae Petrianis.
From this circumstance it has been inferred that Walton House, the station
next west from Amboglanna, is the Petriana of the Notitia.
Unfortunately we have met with no stony record of Ala Petriana at Walton
House, though we have three of the Second Cohort of the Tungri, and one of
the Fourth Cohort of the Gauls.
By comparing the stones found at the various stations with the
Notitia list, the names of the stations on the Wall between Wallsend
and Birdoswald have been ascertained with certainty; westward of this, all
is involved in comparative doubt. Had this stone been found at Walton
House, it would have gone far to confirm the reasonings of antiquaries that
this was Petriana. In all probablity this ala had not then taken up
its position upon the Wall. The Wall at the time this slab was cut was
probably only in the process of erection. The letters are clearly cut and
well formed; no ligatures are introduced; even the letters composing the
diphthongs are not tied together. The style of the lettering indicates an
early date, probably not later than the Riveling rescript in the time of
Hadrian.
If, as it seems probable from the size and character of the slab, it was
attached to a building erected by the Prefect of the Ala, we may infer that
this body of troops were at this time resident in Roman Carlisle. Had the
inscription occurred on an altar, it might have been made when they were
only resting there for a brief space.
list, In no other inscription found in Britain except this are we informed
that the Ala Petriana was entitled to the epithet of Augustus; that it
consisted of a thousand men; that it was composed solely of Roman citizens;
and for the first time the epithet Torquata occurs, as applied either to
this body of troops or any other in Britain. As the troop was in Britain
when Hadrian was, it may have received the epithet of Augusta for some deed
of valour done in his presence. It seems too, to have consisted of 1,000
strong. It must have been much reduced in size before it took up its qtrs
in the Walton House station, which has an area of only 2 3/4 acres. It was
at this time only recruited from the ranks of persons who, like the Apostle
Paul, could boast of being Roman citizens. In the lower periods of the
Empire this rule was probably departed from; though, indeed, the privilege
was then so widely diffused as to become of little value. The epithet
torquatus has not before been found in Britain as applied to any
body of troops. It was a distinction of great rarity. In Ortelius's
collection of Roman inscriptions the term only once occurs, and then,
strangely enouigh, it occurs as applied to this same body of troops. It is
an inscription which was found in Italy, and was erected to commemorate the
merits of Caius Camurius Clemens, who, along with several other important
commands, is said to have been "Prefect for the Administration of Justice
of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Augustus, and Prefect of the Ala Petriana, a
military troop, consisting of Roman citizens, and twice
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 1 p.348}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 1 p.348}
{image = G860A348.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
rewarded with the torque (bis torquata)." It is quite evident,
therefore, that the Ala Petriana was what would be called now-a-days a
crack regiment, and must have taken an important share in the events
transacted in the north-west of England in Hadrian's time. Although the
Italian inscription does not say that the Ala was then in Italy, the
feeling which the reading produces is that it was. It probably came to
Britain with Hadrian.
We first of all hear of the torque in Roman history in connection with
Titus Manlius. Having vanquished a Gaul whose neck was adorned with a
twisted band of gold, he took it from his foe and placed it on his own
person. He was called Torquatus from the circumstance. Permission to wear
the torque was afterwards accounted a mark of honour. We need not suppose
that in the case of a whole regiment each individual wore a neck-band of
gold or bronze. The torque may have been adapted to the arm or wrist, or
may have even degenerated to a medal with one or more clasps: or perhaps
the torque may have been appended to the standard. Some bronze armlets,
very uncomfortable to wear, have been found in some of our Roman stations.
I have two in my possession, which are said to have been found in
Birdoswald. Perhaps they have been worn by some members of the Ala
Petriana when entitled to claim the distinction of torquata.
list, The origin of the name Petriana is uncertain. It seems clear now that
the ala did not take its name from the station (Walton House or
Cambeck Fort) in which it was qtred, but that it had it before coming to
Britain. How it arose is not known.
It may be necessary to remark that the ala or wings of the Roman
army were always cavalry, and were auxiliary troops, not native Italians.
{image = G860E01.jpg}
A second, but smaller stone, found near the former, furnished the subject
of another paper by Dr. Bruce. We are indebted to the courtesy of P. H.
Howard, Esq., of Corby, and John Gough Nichols, Esq., for the accompanying
accurate representation of the slab.
Dr. Bruce exhibited drawings of Roman and Ancient British Remains, sent to
him by Mr. Mackie of Carlisle, and then said:-
"At our last monthly meeting, I had the pleasure of laying before the
members an interesting fragment of an important Roman inscription
discovered at Carlisle. Since that period another inscribed stone has been
exhumed on the same spot - (the site where the buildings for the new
offices of the 'Carlisle Journal' are
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 1 p.349}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 1 p.349}
{image = G860A349.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
being erected). As usual, the stone is fractured. In the last example we
had the lower lines of the inscription complete. In this case, the fracture
is vertical, and the right hand portion of the stone is altogether wanting.
Hence, though we have a portion of every line of the inscription, we have
not one copmplete. In all probablity, the present fragment is only half of
the original. When whole, it has, seemingly, been a square tablet, with a
circular recess at the bottom. It may have been placed over a statue, the
head of which occupied the recess. The stone, as we now have it, is 1 ft.
11 in. long, 1 ft. 3 in. broad, and 4 in. thick. The sides are panelled.
The margin of the face of the tablet is tastefully adorned by a moulding of
the cable pattern. The letters of the inscription are very clearly cut, and
possess a beauty of form well worty the attention of modern type-founders.
The following is the inscription:-
DEI HERC ...
VICTI COI ...
TrBVS PRO S ...
COMMiLiTON ...
BARBARORV ...
OB VIRTV ...
P SEXTANiV ...
TAT TRAIA ...
Some ligatures (or tied letters) are introduced in the inscription, but
they are of a very simple description. They are indicated in the foregoing
copy by a smaller type. Judging from the character of the letters and the
simplicity of the ligatures, the inscription is probably not later than the
time of Heliogabalus. The inscription is quite new in its character; and
hence, if complete, would probably present some fresh phase of society in
Roman Britain. Judging from the portion of the circular recess at the
bottom which is deficient, we have as yet got only half of the inscription.
It is a hazardous, and, for historical purposes, an unsatisfactory thing in
such circumstances, to draw upon the imagination for the remainder. The
stone was probably set up in a temple of Hercules, who, among his other
titles, reckoned those of Invictus and Conservator, traces of which appear
in the inscription. One peculiarity of the stone is that the name of the
deity is in the genitive case. The word governing it is wanting, so that we
do not know the precise form of dedication. Perhaps the word numini
(to the majesty of the god) is to be supplied; or perhaps the dedication is
to some fellowship of the priests or worshippers of the god - Sodalicio
cultorum Herculis; or it may be that the word fanum is on the
missing part of the stone; in which case the first lines of the inscription
would simply announce the fact that this was a temple of Hercules. Our
chairman, Mr. Clayton, informs me that he saw at Verona a slab containing
the words Fanum Herculis. This slab, or the statute which probably
accompanied it, had evidently been set up 'for the safety' (pro
salute) of some individual or body of men. If we take the words as they
stand before us, they read, 'for the safety of our foreign fellow-soldiers,
on account of their valour.' In this case the inscription has been made by
Italian troops, in honour of some auxiliary cohort or ala with whom they
had co-operated. This interpretation breathes a more kindly feeling than we
should expect from Latin soldiers. The word barbarus, as applied to
foreign troops, is exceedingly rare in Roman inscriptions, if, indeed,
another example besides this can be found. It is not impossible that,
should the remainder of the inscription turn up, the occasion of its
erection may prove to have been a successful onslaught of the
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 1 p.350}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 1 p.350}
{image = G860A350.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
Romans on the barbarians of Caledonia. It will be in the recollection of
most of us, that at Kirkandrews, a village to the west of Carlisle, there
is an altar which has been erected to some deity whose name is lost - ob
res trans vallum prospere gestas - on account of achievements
prosperously performed beyond the Wall. Of the remainder of the Carlisle
inscription little is certain, excepting that one Publius Sextanius, or
Sextantius, seems to have some hand in it. This is not a name known in
Roman story. The discovery of another inscription, so soon after the one
described at our last meeting shews how rich the site of Carlisle is in
historic relics of the Roman era. Should any event, toward or untoward,
require the rebuilding of the present city, a mass of historic lore would
probably be disinterred which in real value would amply repay the cost of
the operation."
Though, as we have said, these inscriptions are so imperfect, and therefore
leave a wide field for conjecture, we can hardly doubt but that Dr. Bruce
or some other of our Roman antiquaries will eventually succeed in
satisfactorily determining their meaning. The discovery of two inscriptions
so near to each other raises a presumption that the soil of Carlisle must
be rich in such remains, and if so, it will contrast strongly with other
Roman sites that have been recently explored. The great excavations at
Chesterford did not produce a single inscription, and little more can be
said of those at Uriconium, though most interesting and important in their
revelation of other matters.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 2 p.398}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 2 p.398}
{header- Excursion to Furness Abbey}
{image = G860B398.jpg}
LIVERPOOL ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
July 9. The annual excursion was this year to Furness Abbey. The
abbey is well known for the scope it presents to the labours of the
archaeologist, whilst at the same time it is replete with a variety of
points of high interest to the architect.
In A.D. 1127, Stephen, then earl of Mortaign and Boulogne, erected the
abbey on the banks of a rivulet near Dalton, in Furness, as a place of
refuge for Cistercian monks who had removed here from Tulketh, in Amoun-
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 2 p.399}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 2 p.399}
{image = G860B399.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[Amoun]derness, but originally from Savigny, in France. The ruins of the
abbey are of Norman and Early English architecture; the whole length of the
church is said to be 287 ft., the nave 70 ft. broad, whilst the walls are
in some places 54 ft. high and 5 ft. thick, the windows and arches being
unusually lofty. There are also the remains of the chapter-house and
cloisters, and of the school-house, a large building detached from all the
rest. The immediate precincts of the abbey, which comprehend a large space,
are enclosed by a stone wall, covered by the ruins of numerous small
buildings, and in one part is an arched gateway. The stone employed in the
building was originally of a pale red colour, but from the action of time
and weather it has now assumed a dusky-brown tint. In the visit to the
abbey the party received valuable aid from Mr. Paley, architect, of
Lancaster, and a member of the Liverpool Society.
After a dinner at the Furness Abbey Hotel, many beautiful photographs,
shewing various portions of the ancient abbey, were exhibited. They were
taken by Mr. Keith, photographer, of Liverool.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1860 part 2 p.601}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1860 part 2 p.601}
{header- Scene in Cumberland}
{image = G860B601.jpg}
A SCENE IN CUMBERLAND.
EARTH hath not many a fairer spot I ween
Than this lone vale, approached by paths as rude
As ever led to Alpine solitude!
From early morn to noon my steps have been
Still wending upwards through a stern wild scene
Of shaggy fells, besprinkled here and there
With many a marshy pool or sullen mere;
Till, having passed these portal rocks between,
My eyes were gladdened by this soft green vale,
Smiling in silent beauty, far apart
From town or highway. There's no poet's tale
Need'st to revisit oft the gazer's heart,
Fairest yet loveliest of the mountain dells
My devious steps have traced on Cumbria's fells.
X.
{series- archaeology}
{title- Gents Mag 1861 part 1 p.684}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1861 part 1 p.684}
{header- Excavations, Furness Abbey}
{image = G861A684.jpg}
The Note-book of Sylvanus Urban.
... ...
The excavations at the ruins of Furness Abbey are to be resumed, attention
being particularly directed towards the mound of earth and debris
adjoining the chapter-house. The exploration, it is hoped, will result in
laying bare more of the foundations than are at present exposed; so that
the work, although conducted on a comparatively small scale, will prove
eminently interesting and suggestive to the antiquary.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1861 part 2 p.529}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1861 part 2 p.529}
{image = G861B529.jpg}
{text- Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne:-}
Dr. Bruce, F.S.A., gave some information and exhibited sketches obtained
from Mr. Henry T. Wake, of Scotby, of some Roman remains discovered in May
last, on the site of Mr. Thomas Blair's house, near the "Journal" Office,
in English-street, Carlisle, in rebuilding which office, it will be
remembered, former discoveries took placea. There are three
inscribed stones. One, with a sunk square at the top, evidently for the
reception of statues of the goddess mothers, The Fates, is inscribed -
MATRIB. PARC PRO SALVT
SANCTIAE. GEMINAE.
Another, a votive altar with the name IANVARIVS amongst other lettering, is
very mutilated. The third, though mutilated, has a perfect inscription :-
PARCIS
PROBO
DONATALIS
PATER. V. S.
L. M.
The coins found were corroded and unim-
a GENT. MAG., April, 1860, p.346.
{title- Gents Mag 1861 part 2 p.530}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1861 part 2 p.530}
{image = G861B530.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[unim]portant. One seemed to be a small brass of the Lower Empire. Among
other fragments of Samian there was one stamped AEMILIANVS. Some large oak
cisterns, puddled with clay brought from a distance, were also found. The
first two were supposed to be coffins, but a third proved to be six feet
square. Their boards were about 1 3/4 in. thick, and were fastened tgether
with wooden pegs.
In the same street some other relics of Roman dominion had also been found
not long before. There was a little glass lachrymotary entire, and many
fragments of Samian and other pottery, among them the following:- a
mortarium, with the spout; a large piece, stamped in two places with
AVSTIMANV; a Samina mortarium with a hole through it, and a lion's mouth
through which the liquid ran; a piece of vessel made of a dark
slate-coloured material, glazed, very hard and thin, slightly ornamented
with diagonal dashes placed close together, and, to Mr. Wake's eye, of
finer pottery than the best Samian ware that he had seen.
... ...
{header- Cross, St Bridget's Church, Beckermet}
Mr. L. [Longstaffe] also exhibited careful rubbings of the cross in
Beckermont churchyard, Cumberland. They were made by the Rev. Frederic
Addison, of Cleator, who has no theory on the subject, but who is decidedly
of opinion that the inscription remains to be read, and that the versions
of Haigh and Maughan cannot be supported. Mr. Haigh's drawing was compared,
and the members confessed themselves unable to trace or consider possible
some of the principal features therein delineated. The identification of
Piegbalech, the burial place of Tuda, bishop of Lindisfarne, with
Beckermont, cannot therfore be accepted without better evidence of the
stone being his monument.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 1 p.242}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 1 p.242}
{header- William Blamire, Obituray}
{image = G862A242.jpg}
{text- obituary}
Jan. 12. At Thackwood, near Carlisle, aged 71, Wm. Blamire, esq.,
late Chief Tithe, Copyhold, and Inclosure Commissioner, and formerly M.P.
for the eastern division of Cumberland, in conjunction with the late Right
Hon. Sir James Graham. He relinquished his seat in Parliament on being
appointed head of the Tithe Commission, and only retired from the public
service in the summer of 1860. He was a large landowner in his native
county.
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 1 p.470}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 1 p.470}
{header- Blamire Memorial}
{image = G862A470.jpg}
THE BLAMIRE MEMORIAL.
IN our pages a short time agoe was duly recorded the decease of
Mr. Blamire, late Chief Tithe, Copyhold, and Inclosure Commissioner, a man
whose merits as a public servant have been often acknowledged in Parliament
and elsewhere. His friends have now resolved to take steps to institute
some lasting tribute to his memory, and accordingly a meeting was held at
the Bush Hotel, in Carlisle, on the 1st of March, at which Philip Henry
Howard, esq., of Corby Castle, presided; Captain James, of Barrock Park,
the Rev. J. Monkhouse, of Lyzzick Hall, and several other gentlemen, took
part in the proceedings. From the statement of the Chairman it appeared
that Mr. Blamire was the son of Dr. Blamire, of the Oaks, a highly-esteemed
physician, and was christened by his father's intimate friend, Dr. Paley,
whose views, as expressed in the second volume of his "Principles of
Political and Moral Philosophy," it was afterwards his task to work out.
His mother was the sister of Mr. Christian Curwen, of Workington Hall, and
under the eye of his uncle the young man acquired that intimate knowledge
of agriculture and that enlightened regard for the general interests of the
community which at all times distinguished him. He went into Parliament,
and when Lord Althorp brought in his bill for the commutation of tithes,
Mr. Blamire, in a most luminous speech, and in a friendly manner,
criticised the bill and threw out some hints by which it might be
remodelled. The Government immediately adopted his suggestions, and Earl
Russell, unsolicited, asked him to take charge of the bill when it should
have passed the legislature. Having been appointed to the office of Chief
Tithe Commissioner, many other kindred occupations or branches of local
improvement were naturally in time attached to that office. There was
enclosure, and everything connected with drainage, and there were other
local improvements which were all naturally connected with the Tithe
Commission. Mr. Blamire was intimately acquainted with customary as well as
the copyhold tenure of land, and in carrying out these measures - which
were at first voluntary - he conferred lasting benefit on his countrymen.
Throughout his life his conduct was thoroughly disinterested; he used his
official means to promote the benefit of his fellow-countrymen, and not to
lay by treasures; for, he might say, like Pitt he died poor. But his memory
would be embalmed in the recollection of a grateful posterity. Captain
James, after a remark that the clergy were as much interested in the happy
result of the labours of Mr. Blamire as the land-owners and occupiers,
moved a resolution, "That in recognition of the many kind and disinterested
services rendered by the late Mr. Blamire to the people of Cumberland for a
long series of years, and of the arduous and faithful discharge of most
important public duties as Chief Tithe, Copyhold, and Inclosure
Commissioner, rendered by him to the country at large, this meeting is of
opinion that steps should be taken to institute a lasting tribute to his
memory." which was unanimously carried; and on the proposition of the Rev.
Mr. Monkhouse, a subscription was at once opened, and about £70 was
contributed before the close of the meeting. Beside the county friends and
admirers of Mr. Blamire, Earl Russell, and Mr. Josiah Parks, C.E., are
contributors; and Henry Robinson, Esq., solicitor, Carlisle, will receive
any sums forwarded on account of the Blamire Memorial. The form of this
must of course depend on the amount subscribed, but a tablet in
Raughten-Head Church, and an annual Blamire prize at the East Cumberland
Agricultural Show, have been suggested.
e GENT. MAG., Feb. 1862, p.242
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 1 pp.578-579}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 1 pp.578-579}
{header- Roman Sculpture, Carlisle}
{image = G862A578.jpg}
Antiquarian and Literary Intelligence.
... ...
Mr. Ferguson, of Carlisle, gave an account of the recent discovery there of
a sculpture of the Roman period, part of the figure possibly of a soldier
in one of the auxiliary cohorts; a torque and crescent appears round the
neck, in one hand appears to be a short sword, and in the
{image = G862A579.jpg}
other a small casket, with some long-hafted weapon. The figure was about
two-thirds life size.
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 1 pp.592-593}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 1 pp.592-593}
{header- Font, Bridekirk}
{image = G862A592.jpg}
{image = G862A593.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.
March 5. ...
A short paper by Mr. Monkhouse, was read on the font on Bridekirk Church.
Mr. Monkhouse, after careful investigation, came to the con-
[con]clusion that the carving was Old-English, the language Old-English,
and that the inscription was carved by Richard, Lord of Bridekirk, in the
thirteenth century.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 2 p.48}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 2 p.48}
{image = G862B048.jpg}
list, THE LATE. MR. BLAMIRE. - We some time agoa referred to the
memorial that was proposed to be raised to the memory of this lamented
gentleman. The subscription, we learn, progresses satisfactorily; the Land
Improvement Society appears on the list for the sum of L50, which is a very
considerable tribute to the worth and talent of the deceased, from a qtr
well able to judge of his merits. Dr. Lonsdale has issued a memoir of his
friend (London: Routledges), which we heartily commend to the attention of
our readers, with the expression of our regret that other demands on our
space oblige us to forego our intention of extracting some portion of it.
a GENT. MAG., April, 1862, p.470.
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 2 p.762}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 2 p.762}
{header- The Lifeboat, and Weather Forecasts}
{image = G862B762.jpg}
Historical and Miscellaneous Reviews.
list, The Life-Boat, for October. (Office, 14, John-street,
Adelphi.) - The storms that so lately swept our coasts, and the details
that still fill our newspapers, give a painful interest to a paper by
Admiral Fitzroy contained in this little periodical, which is published
qtrly, and costs by twopence. It is entitled "Weather Reports and
Forecasts in the Daily Newspapers," and with its dia-
{title- Gents Mag 1862 part 2 p.763}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1862 part 2 p.763}
{image = G862B763.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[dia]grams is enough to convince the most sceptical of the extreme value of
the cautionary signals employed by the Meteorological Department of the
Board of Trade. From another paper we learn that there were no less than
1,494 shipwrecks on the British shores in the course of the year 1861, with
the loss of 884 lives, but during the same time 4,624 were rescued from the
most imminent peril, and a considerable proportion of those owed their
deliverance to the truly benevolent Society which keeps up 123 life-boats
in readiness at any moment for active srvice, and also liberally
recompenses the crews of any other craft that may co-operate in its works
of mercy. It has, since its formation in 1824, saved 12,680 lives, laid out
L64,000 in life-boats, &c. distibuted 84 gold and 713 silver medals,
and paid L16,000 in rewards. If these simple facts are not enough to ansure
such a degree of public support as shall give permanency to the
institution, we really do not know what will suffice.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.69}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.69}
{header- Abbot of Beaulieu}
{image = G863A069.jpg}
{text- Meeting of the Christchurch Archaeological and Natural History
Society, 25 Sept.}
... ...
Several abbots of Beaulieu were distinguished men in their day. The second
abbot was appointed third Bishop of Carlisle, and built the choir of
Carlisle ...
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.205}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.205}
{header- Kirkby Lonsdale and Kilkenny, Ireland}
{image = G863A205.jpg}
Kilkenny and S.-E. of Ireland Archaeol. Soc.
... ...
Mr. Robertson reported a rather curious and interesting circumstance to the
Society - the fact of a portion of a townland in the county of Kilkenny
forming a part of the glebe pertaining to an English vicarage. He had been
recently professionally engaged by the Vicar of Kirkby Lonsdale, in
Westmoreland, to survey and report on the dilapidations of two farm-houses
and out-offices on the lands on Ballinabouola, parish of Tullaherin; and
considering the circumstance of an English clergyman possessing land in
Ireland somewhat strange, had mentioned the matter to the Rev. James
Graves, who suggested that he (Mr. Robertson) should inquire of the agent
of the incucmbent under what circumstances these lands had become attached
to his vicarage. He accordingly had written to ask the question, and the
following was the answer he had received:-
"With regard to your inquiry about the connection between Kirkby Lonsdale
and the land in Kilkenny, it seems that when Cromwell was in Ireland he
marched through Kilkenny, part of his forces being led by a general called
Redman. He laid siege to the old castle you might have seen on the south
wing of the lands, and took it. For his services Cromwell gave him the
lands, and Redman married his daughter to the then vicar of Kirkby
Lonsdale, and gave the lands as a grant for ever to the vicars of that
parish, who have since held them."
Mr. Prim remarked that the old castle alluded to was obviously that of
Ballinaboula, which, however, he understood from Mr. Robertson, was not
situated on lands pertaining to the vicarage of Kirkby Lonsdale. The
castle, with a considerable portion of the townland, had been from a remote
period, and he supposed still was, part of the see-lands beloning to the
bishopric of Ossory. ... The Cromwellian officer referred to in the letter
was doubtless Colonel Daniel Redman, who had acquired property in Kilkenny,
but apparently not by a direct grant from Cromwell. A document quoted by
the author of the "Memoirs of the Grace Family" - who
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.206}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.206}
{image = G863A206.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
speaks of it as "a very ancient and curious original MS.," but does not
tell where it is preserved - states that "Ballylinch, Leogan, Raduth,
Killarney, &c. were at the same time given (amongst the forfeited
estates of the Grace family) to Captains Rogers and Joyner. ... Joyner had
been cook to King Charles, though not his friend; wherefore to secure said
estate he conveyed it to his brother-in-law, Colonel Daniel Redman, who
gave Ballylinch and Leogan to his daughter, the lady Kerin, and the
remainder to his other daughter married to Sir John Meade." It was thus
that Ballylinch came to be the property of the Carrick family; but no
mention is here made of a third daughter of Redman, or any marriage with a
Vicar of Kirkby Lonsdale; and it would be a singular arrangement that lands
given as a marriage portion should descend not to the children of the
marriage, but to the husbands successor's in the church living which he
chanced to hold. The information obtained by Mr. Robertson is certainly
most curious and interesting; but it would be very desirable that a more
detailed and circumstantial account of the matter should be ontained if
possible.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.220}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.220}
{header- Hugh de Beaulieu, Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G863A220.jpg}
THE ABBOTS OF BEAULIEU AND THE CHOIR OF CARLISLE.
MR. URBAN, - In your report of the meeting of the Christchurch
Archaeological and Natural History Society, held on the 25th of September,
1862d, you state "the second abbot of Beaulieu was appointed
third bishop of Carlisle, and built the choir of Carlisle." Although the
name of this dignitary is not stated I presume Hugh de Bello Loco is meant.
He was elected bishop in 1218, on the application of King Henry III. to the
then reigning pontiff. He alienated several of the possessions of the see,
and died miserably at the abbey of La Ferte, in Normandy, in 1223. I
therefore conjecture (and, as Mr. Clayton very justly remarked at the last
monthly meeting of our Society of Antiquaries, "it is the business of an
antiquary to conjecture,") that De Bello Loco had no hand in the erection
of the present choir, which was not commenced until the time of Silvester
de Everdon, who became bishop in 1245. It was approaching completion when,
in 1292, a disastrous fire occurring, rendered extensive reparation
necessary. The arches which escaped destruction were propped up by what Mr.
Parker calls a clever piece of engineering, until the piers were rebuilt.
The choir was elongated one bay in the fourteenth century, and the
beautiful east window erected. It may, perhaps, be objected that the abbot
of Beaulieu might have designed a previous choir; this I would meet by
inferring that the Norman choir, which was finished in 1101, remained
intact until the time of De Everdon. - I am, &c.
EDWARD THOMPSON.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Jan. 12, 1863.
d GENT. MAG., Jan. 1863, p.69.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 pp.321-322}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 pp.321-322}
{header- St Kentigern's Church, Great Crosthwaite}
{image = G863A321.jpg}
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON.
Jan. 22. ...
... ...
AUGUSTUS W. FRANKS, Director, communicated some remarks on
{image = G863A322.jpg}
a font and a brass in Crosthwaite Church, Keswick. The inscription on the
font had never been deciphered (so far as is known) till Mr. Franks visited
the church, and with his usual sagacity detected the key to the right
reading.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.356}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.356}
{image = G863A356.jpg}
HUGH DE BEAULIEU AT CARLISLE.
MR. URBAN, - In your last Number Mr. Thompson takes exception to a
statement made by the Rev. F. W. Baker, at the meeting of the Christchurch
Archaeological Societyd, that Bishop Hugh built the choir of
Carlisle Cathedral; and infers that "the Norman choir, which was finished
in 1101, remained intact until the time of De Everdon." The latter
statement is confuted by entires for works about the altar in 1188
(Nicolson and Burn, 252; Jefferson, p.123, note); and Mr.
Baker, it is fair to add, has Mr. A. G. Poole on his side: but as the
learned disagree, I subjoin a catena of opinions.
Mr. Billing. - "The priory church became the cathedral and remained
in the state in which it was erected till the year 1292 ... The columns and
arches of that part (the choir) and the whole of the aisles are of the
style termed Lancet, which prevailed from 1200 to 1300, and were it not for
the fire fixing the date of the reconstruction of the choir-aisles, we
should be inclined to give it an earlier date than the year 1292." -
(Carlisle, Hist. Acc., pp.2,3.)
Mr. Purday. - "All who have before written upon this subject ...
consider that the immediate cause which led to the rebuilding of the choir
was the destructive fire which occurred in the year 1292. But the remains
of this choir prove it to have been commenced at an earlier date, and in
absence of any historical proofs of the fact except those afforded by the
building itself, I shall assign its erection, or rather commencement, to
Sylvester de Everdon, who came to the see in 1245, and held it till his
death in 1255." - (Arch. of Carlisle Cathedral., p.13.)
Dean Tait. - "The examination of the architecture shews that the
walls of both the south and north aisles, with their arcades and windows,
were erected about 1250, in Henry the Third's reign." - (Hist. Sketch
&c., p.21.)
Lysons. - "Thirteenth Century. The aisles of the choir of Carlisle
... and the pointed arches ... are in the style of the latter part of this
century." - (Mag. Brit. Cumb., p.cxc.)
Mr. J. H. Parker. - "The choir was entirely rebuilt in the
thirteenth century." - (Rickman, p.152.) "A.D. 1292, a great fire
occurred at Carlisle, in which the cathedral was burnt: this destroyed the
timber vault over the central space of the choir, but the vaulted roof of
the aisles preserved the outer walls from injury. ... The piers were
obliged to be rebuilt; this was skilfully done without disturbing the
arches or the vaults, &c." - (Ibid. 323.)
Re. G. A. Poole. - "The history must
d GENT. MAG., Jan. 1863, p.69.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.357}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.357}
{image = G863A357.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
be wrong in declaring that no changes were made till 1292, and I believe
you will infer with me that Hugh de Beaulieu is the prelate who is deprived
of his just claim on the thanks of the church of Carlisle ... We conclude
that the choir ... was really the work of Hugh de Beaulieu soon after
1218." (Table of Eng. Bish., p.16, North. Arch. Soc. Publ.)
No doubt the correct date is the latter half of the thirteenth century, to
whatever manipulation the works may have been subsequently subjected.
Still, as your correspodent is an advocate for conjecture, Bishop Hugh, as
Mr. Poole suggests, fired with the remembrance of the rising beauty of
Beaulieu, may have commenced building at Carlisle even during the short
tenure of the see.
I am, &c.
MACKENZIE E. C. WALCOTT, M.A., F.S.A.
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.495}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.495}
{image = G863A495.jpg}
THE CHOIR OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.
MR. URBAN, - The authorities quoted by Mr. Mackenzie Walcott in your last
number agree in ascribing the choir of Carlisle to the latter half of the
thirteenth century, with the exception of the Rev. G. A. Pole. who assigns
it, without quoting any authority, to Hugh of Beaulieu, which must be an
erroneous supposition. It is the most beautiful choir of its style that we
possess, and was erecetd at the time the early English was fully developed,
which was not until at least fifty years after the death of Hugh. Besides,
having alienated the possessions of the see, it is not at all probable that
he would have the welfare of the convent so much at heart as to design
(even supposing he were capable) so beautiful a structure.
The quotation from Nicholson and Burn of entries for works about the altar
in 1188, so far from confuting my opinion of the Norman choir remaining
until the commencement of the present one, rather confirms it, by presuming
that the structural choir having been completed, the attention of the monks
was directed to the decorations of the altar. - Iam, &c.,
EDWARD THOMPSON.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
March 16, 1863.
{series- society & money}
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 1 p.571}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.571}
{header- Trade Token, Appleby}
{image = G863A571.jpg}
APPLEBY TOKEN.
WE copy the following from the "Kendal Mercury" of March 28, 1863,
conceiving it of interest, as tending to settle a question of numismatics
upon which different opinions have been entertained.
"In taking down the old dwellings on the south side of Allhallows'-lane,
Kendal, consequent on the widening of that street, the workmen turned up a
small brass token of the seventeenth century, issued at Appleby, in
Westmoreland, in the year 1669.
"Mr. Brockett, in his 'Tradesmen's Tokens (of the seventeenth century)
issued in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland,' 1853, and
republished in the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for May of that year, has omitted
any notice of this specimen; it is however engraved and described in the
latter publication for March, 1792, p.209, without, we believe, being
assigned to any county. In Mr. Boyne's elaborate work, 'Tokens issued in
the Seventeenth Century in England, Wales, and Ireland,' 1858, and also in
Mr. North's 'Leicestershire Tokens.' 1857, it is given, but in both
dubiously appropriated to Appleby in Leicestershire.
"We think, however, there can be no question that we are right in claiming
this token for our Appleby, from the fact of its occasional - though
it must be admitted rare - occurence in this part of the country, and also
that William Smith (doubtless the issuer of the token now under
consideration) was Mayor of Appleby, in this county, in the years 1667 and
1673.
"If any of our Appleby correspondents could identify the pigeon chosen for
his obverse by the William Smith of the token as having any reference or
allusion to the trade or occupation of their Mayor of that name, it might
further tend to confirm our assumption, and finally decide the question of
this token's parentage.
"The token just discovered is of brass, of the farthing size, and is in
excellent preservation. It contains on the
"Obverse - WILLIAM SMITH* = A pigeon pecking.
"Reverse - IN-APPLEBYE-1669* = .*. / W S. / .*.
And is now in the possession of John Hudson, Esq., of Larch How.
"We believe this to be the first time the above token has been accurately
delineated, as in all the descriptions we have met with the name of the
town is spelled APPLEBIE, instead of APPLEBYE.
Kendal, March 25, 1863.
"K.K."
{title- Gents Mag 1863 part 2 p.42}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 2 p.42}
{header- Ratcliff Brass, Great Crosthwaite}
{image = G863B042.jpg}
BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.
May 27. ...
... ...
Mr. Powell delivered in a pedigree of Derwentwater of Castle Rigg upon
Derwent, and accompanied it by a rubbing of the brass of Sir John Ratcliff
and Alice his wife, in Crosthwaite Church, the heraldic bearings on which
were peculiarly placed.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1864 part 1 p.351}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1864 part 1 p.351}
{header- Inscriptions using Gutta Percha}
{image = G864A351.jpg}
{text- Meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 6
January:-}
... ...
Dr. Bruce then submitted and explained a plan for taking impressions of
sculptured stones. the modus operandi, the Rev. Dr. explained, was
by placing upon the stone thin sheet of gutta percha, upon which is placed
a blanket, wrung out of warm water, and pressed upon the gutta percha,
which very soon takes the impression of the stone, and in the most perfect
manner, even to the tool-marks.
{title- Gents Mag 1864 part 1 p.607}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1864 part 1 p.607}
{header- Bronze Dagger, Westmorland}
{image = G864A607.jpg}
Society of Antiquaries of London.
... ...
March 17. ...
The Rev. R. N. GANDY exhibited ... a bronze dagger found in the peat-moss
in Westmoreland.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1864 part 1 p.643}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1864 part 1 p.643}
{image = G864A643.jpg}
DEVICES ON BELLS.
SIR, - in the number of the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for March last (p.351) I
see a notice of an ingenious method employed by Dr. Bruce for taking gutta
percha impressions of sculptured stones. I have found the same substance
very convenient for taking devices on bells. I heat a small quantity of
water in a tin saucer over a spirit lamp; in the boiling water, pieces of
the required sizes can be readily softened. In applying them to the bell,
care must be taken to keep the fingers well wetted so as to prevent their
sticking. The moulds thus produced are very durable, any number of plaster
casts may be made from them without injuring them.
My whole apparatus can be carried in the pocket. It is simply a sort of
small tin lantern, which contains the lamp and supports the
saucera
... ...
a There are some valuable observations on the use of gutta
percha in the Archaeological Journal, vol.v. p.332.
... ...
I am &c. J. T. FOWLER.
The College, Hurstppierpoint.
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 1 p.28}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 1 p.28}
{header- Effigy of a Deacon, Furness Abbey}
{image = G865A024.jpg}
ON SOME RARE AND CURIOUS SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN WARWICKSHIRE, OF THE
THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES
A paper by M. H. Bloxam, Esq., read at the Warwick meeting of the
Archaeological Institute, July 26, 1864.
{image = G865A028.jpg}
... ...
I only know of one other sepulchral effigy of a deacon in this country.
That is a mutilated recumbent effigy in relief among the ruins of Furness
Abbey, Lancashire. This is somewhat rudely, at least formally, sculptured
in relief from a block of lias or limestone, and from the hardness of the
material the artist has altogether failed to give anything like effect or
breadth to the drapery. The head has been broken off, the body of the
effigy is represented vested in an alb with close-fitting sleeves, the alb
is represented in parallel puckered folds. In front of the alb near the
skirt, in front of the feet, appears the parura, or apparel. The cuffs of
the sleeves are also covered with parures or apparels, but these are quite
plain. The alb is girt above the loins by a girdle, "cingulum, seu zona,
seu baltheus," the tasselled extremities of which hang down to the apparel
or skirt of the alb. This is the only instance I have met with in the
sepulchral effigy of an ecclesiastic in which this vestment, the girdle, is
apparent. From the wrist of the left arms hangs, in somewhat oblique
position, the maniple; and crossing diagonally from the left shoulder to
the right hip, and thence falling straight down by the right side, with
both extremities hanging down, is worn the stole. In front of the body a
book is held with both hands.
The slab out of which this effigy has been sculptured is coffin-shaped,
wider at the upper part than the lower, and I should infer is of the
fourteenth century.
This effigy at Furness Abbey is illustrative of that at Avon Dassett, for
the mode of wearing the stole over the left shoulder, with the extremities
hanging down on the right side, was peculiar to the office of deacon, and
is alluded to by Durandus, who, in treating of this office, tells us that
the stole was placed upon the left shoulder, "supra sinistrum humerum stola
imponitur." The book represented is evidently that of the Gospels, for the
same writer tells us that when the deacon was ordained there was delivered
to him a stole, and the book of the Gospels: "Dyaconus cum ordinatum
traditur sub certis verbis stola et codex Evangelii." In a Manuscript
Pontifical in my possession of the latter part of the fifteenth or early
part of the sixteenth century, but which does not, probably, materially
differ from the Pontificals of an earlier age, the bishop at the ordination
of a deacon is represented as putting the stole over the left shoulder of
the deacon and adjusting it under his right arm: "Hic Episcopus sedens cum
mitra ponit stolam supra humerum sinistrum, reducens eam sub alam dextram,"
&c. He, the bishop, is also represented as delivering to the deacon the
book of the Gospels: "Hic tradit episcopus librum Evangeliorum."
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 1 p.29}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 1 p.29}
{image = G865A029.jpg}
{image = G865E01.jpg}
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 1 p.99}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 1 p.99}
{header- Obituary, Earl of Carlisle}
{image = G865A099.jpg}
{text- obituary}
THE EARL OF CARLISLE, K.G.
Dec. 5, 1864. At Castle Howard, aged 62, the Earl of Carlisle, K.G.,
late Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
The deceased nobleman, George William Frederick Howard, was the eldest son
of George, sixth Earl of Carlisle, by Lady Georgiana Dorothy Cavendish,
eldest daughter of William, fifth Duke of Devonshire, and was born in Hill-
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 1 p.100}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 1 p.100}
{image = G865A100.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
street, Berkeley-square, April 18, 1802. He was educated at Eton and Christ
Church, bearing the courtesy title of Lord Morpeth, and earned a high
reputation as a graceful scholar. He was especially distinguished for his
skill in versification, and in 1821 he obtained two of the University
prizes for his poems - the Chancellor's prize for Latin, and the Newdigate
prize for English verse. He took his degree in 1823, and was first-class in
classics. In 1826 he accompanied his uncle, the late Duke of Devonshire, on
his vist to Russia at the coronation of the Emperor Nicholas; where his
high rank, his youth, and his engaging manners, made him a great favourite
in St. Petersburgh society. He was afterwards returned to the House of
Commons from the family seat of Morpeth; and one of his earliest speeches
was in defence of the character of the Russian Emperor, who had been made
the subject of severe attacks in consequence of the cruelties practised on
the Poles after the suppression of the Polish insurrection of 1830. This
was not calculated to endear him to the Liberal party, to which, in
accordance with the politics of his family, he had given in his adhesion;
but in the agitation which took place on the Reform Bill he banded himself
on the side of Earl Grey, and on the dissolution of Parliament which
followed the success of General Gascoyne's motion he was returned for
Yorkshire, which seat he held until the passing of the Reform Act in 1832.
He afterwards represented the West Riding from 1833 to 1841, when he was
defeated, but he was subsequently returned on the elevation of the Hon. J.
S. Wortley to the dignity of Lord Wharncliffe. Lord Morpeth then sat for
the Riding from 1846 to 1848, when the death of his father caused his
elevation to the peerage. His Lordship was Chief Secretary for Ireland from
1835 to 1841; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1849 to 1851; and
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1855 to 1858, when during Lord Derby's
Ministry he was superseded; but on the fall of the Conservative
Administration he resumed the office, and he held it until the August of
1864, when his failing health compelled him to retire from the public
service. Both as Chief Secretary and as Viceroy he was very popular, as
indeed he was wherever he was known, his manner being particularly gracious
and conciliatory, and his deep interest in everything that concerned the
well-being of the working classes leading him, it may almost be said, to
originate the now common practice of men of rank and high literary
attainments taking an active part in the proceedings of mechanics'
institutes, and similar bodies.
Lord Carlisle was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire
in 1847; he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen in 1853,
and he received the freedom of the city of Derry in 1863.
During the time that he was out of Parliament Lord Morpeth paid a
lengthened visit to the United States, and he made this tour the subject of
a lecture which he delivered on several occasions, especially in Yorkshire,
and which gave a very favourable picture of the Americans. Another lecture
that gained equal popularity was one on "The Life and Writings of Pope."
Some years afterwards he visited the East, and this gave rise to a very
graceful and pleasant volume, entitled "A Diary in Turkish and Greek
Waters;" and he was also the author of a work on Prophecy.
Lord Carlisle paid great attention to the subject of juvenile criminals,
and one of the best-conducted reformatories for them is that which was
established on his estate at Castle Howard. He also set on foot the
building of a church at Welburn, in the neighbourhood, but he did not live
to see it finished. His remains were interred in the mausoleum in his park,
on Dec. 13. He was unmarried, and is succeeded by his brother the Hon. and
Rev, William George Howard, who was born in 1808, and has held the rectory
of Londesborough, in Yorkshire, ever since 1832.
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 1 p.101}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 1 p.101}
{image = G865A101.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
The earldom of Carlisle was created in 1661, in favour of the
great-grandson of Lord William Howard (the famous "Belted Will"), who was
the second son of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, attainted and beheaded in 1572.
Through seven generations, extending over two centuries, the title has
descended direct from father to son till now, and the marriage connections
of the respective holders have been exclusively aristocratic. The third
earl married a daughter of the Earl of Essex; the fourth married a daughter
of Lord Byron; the fifth married a daughter of the Marquis of Stafford; and
the sixth married a daughter of the Duke of Devonshire. The late Earl's
sisters, six in number, became allied by marriage with the houses of two
dukedoms, two earldoms, and two baronies.
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 2 p.171}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 2 p.171}
{header- Early Records, Carlisle Cathedral}
{image = G865B171.jpg}
Documentary History of English Cathedrals.
... ...
CARLISLE.
1292. The Church burned. - Tota Civitas Karleolensis concremata est
et combusta cum tota abbatia. - Hemingford, i. 39.
1133. The See founded. - Ann. Wav., Gale, ii. 151.
1090. The Church restored. - Hemingford, c. xv.;
Ibid., 463.
... ...
{text- (Other cathedrals have their entries in ascending date order.)}
{title- Gents Mag 1865 part 2 p.725}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1865 part 2 p.725}
{image = G865B725.jpg}
... ...
CARLISLE.
1318. Archbishop Melton says in an indulgence that a sudden fire had burned
the church of Carlisle, with houses and buildings "ad extremam
consumptionem." - Raine's Hexham, i. p.lxiii.
1359 Cum dilecti filii Prior et Capitulum Ecclesiae nostre Cathedralis B.
Mariae Karliol. Chorum dicte Ecclesie nostre ad decorem Domus Domini
inceperint opere construere sumptuoso, ad quod noverimus fidelium subsidium
opportunum; cum ad tanti operis consummationem dictorum Prioris et Capituli
proprie non sueditant facultates, &c. - Reg. Welton, fol.64.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 1 p.50}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 1 p.50}
{header- French Poem, Carlisle Cathedral}
{text- At a meeting of the Archaeological Institute:-}
{image = G866A050.jpg}
... ...
The Rev. Mackenzie Walcott, precentor of Chichester Cathedral, brought
eight leaves of a French poem, a fragment of valuable MS. of the 13th
century. This curious relic of early literature had been found in some
French music books in the Chapter Library of Carlisle Cathedral.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 1 p.56}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 1 p.56}
{header- Dialect, Westmorland and Cumberland}
{text- At a meeting of the Royal Society of Literature:-}
{image = G866A056.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[The Rev.] Mackenzie E. C. Walcott, F.R.S.L., read observations on
Archbishop Nicolson's MS. Glossary of the Dialect of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, which is now preserved in the library of the Dean and Chapter
of Carlisle. The excellent prelate drew up this curious MS. with the view
of vindicating the northern dialect from the charge of barbarism brought by
the English of the south. About one hundred new words, after comparison
with the works of Brockett and Jamieson, and the "Promptorium Parvulorum,"
were adduced; and a spirited discussion followed on may of the derivations.
On the word "holm," Sir Patrick Colquhoun and Mr. Greenwood offered some
interesting observations, showing that it occured in Hamburgh, meaning
insula in Flumine sita, and possibly in Opperheim. Mr. Nash stated that
"ham" was well known in the west, meaning enclosed land, usually that
reclaimed from the river, and left moist. Mr. Nash and Sir Patrick
Colquhouon showed that "stark" usually signified stiff, rather in the sense
of strong. "Lift" appears in the sense of spoiling in Scotland. Mr. Birch
observed that some few of these words appeared to be High German, whilst
others were of Low German origin. In relation to "Antwerp," Sir Patrick
Colquhoun showed that, according to a legend, the word meant the
hand-thrower, in relation to a destructive giant, and Mr. Birch noticed
that "Jack the Giant Killer" was the representative of "Thor." The Greek
derivations were shown to be pure Celtic, embodying common roots, and Mr.
Birch said that "khen," a goose, and "zeph," a sword, - Egyptian words, -
like many others, reappear in Greek; and suggested that the study of the
former language would throw great light on philological studies. A
discussion occured on the derivation of the word "Belten," which was
considered to be of Phoenician origin. Sir Patrick Colquhoun said that on
St. John Baptist's-day, in Greece, the children camp out all night in the
fields, revelling, and light fires, through which they jump, and eat figs.
Mr. Beresford observed, that on St John's-eve, in Ireland, the young men
having drawn lots by a piece of black bread, leap through the fires after a
leader who has jumped through the fire surrounded by a circle of turf. Mr.
Nash said that on Midsummer-day, in Germany, a wheel of fire is rolled down
from a hill-top into the river below, and contended that these rites were
of Phoenician origin.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 1 p.201}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 1 p.201}
{header- Roman Inscription, Cockermouth Castle}
{image = G866A201.jpg}
Antiquarian Intelligence and Proceedings of Learned Societies.
-- Quid tandem velat
Antiqua miscere novis?
Notes of the Month
Cockermouth Castle, Cumberland. - The Rev. Dr. Bruce has brought
before the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, an inscription
upon a stone slab, excavated last summer at Cockermouth Castle, which is
generally believed to be indebted for most of its material to the ruins of
Papcastle, once a strong Roman fortified post, the original name of which
has not been satisfactorily ascertained. The upper part of the inscription,
apparently to the extent of three or four lines, is entirely wanting: the
first line of what remains is very defective, and a word in the fourth has
been so mutilated as to be rendered almost, if not quite, illegible; but
the most material part is perfectly clear, and is as follows, with the
exception that some of the letters are combined or in ligature:
....G AVG. II....
NVM. FRISON
VM. ABALLAV
ENSIVM .....
. XIIII KAL ET XIII KAL
NOV. GOR. II. ET POMPEI.
COS. ET ATTICO ET PRETE
XTATO COS. V. S. L. M.
- numerus Frisonum Aballavensium ..... decimo quarto Kalendis et decimo
tertio Kalendis Novembris Gordiano secundo et Pompeiano consulibus et
Attico at Pretextato consulibus votum solventes (or solverunt)
lubenter ,merito.
The G in the first line has probably formed part of LEG (legatus);
and it is equally probable the letters indicated after AVG. were PR. PR.
(propraetor) followed by ET; the full sense being that some person
of official rank on some public occasion had dedicated, in discharge of a
vow to some deity or deities, a building, in conjunction with a
numerus of the Aballavensian Frisiones, on the fourteenth and
thriteenth calends November, in the consulates of Gordian (second time
consul) and Pompeianus, and of Atticus and Pretextatus, answering to A.D.
214, when Gordianus Pius was emperor.
list, The inscription enables us to understand that a body of Frisiones had
been qtred sufficiently long at a station called Aballava to acquire the
surname Aballavenses. This Aballava is recorded in the Notitia among
the stations per lineam valli as being garrisoned, under a praefect,
by a numerus of Moors, called Aurelian. But it is somewhat remark-
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 1 p.202}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 1 p.202}
{image = G866A202.jpg}
[remark]able that, while all the stations upon the wall from the first or
easternmost have been identified without much, if any, doubt, Aballava has
hitherto baffled the inquiries and explorations of the most active and
expert invesigators. Horsley placed it at Watch-cross or Watch-close, a
locality altogether wanting in the indicia of a permanent military
post. The late Rev. John Hodgson, with more show of reason, locates it at
Stanwix, but chiefly from its position in the Notitia, the
fourteenth station from Wallsend; Petriana, the thirteenth, being Walton
Chesters. He remarks "that it had its name from contiguity to the wall, I
cannot doubt; for alla, falla, and balla, in the old language
of Britain and the present speech of Ireland, are synonymous to
vallum in Latin and wall in English." a Dr. Bruce,
who more than any one has studied the wall and its stations, hesitates to
identify the site of Aballava, and also of some other stations to the west
of Petriana. Papcastle, where, no doubt, the inscription under
consideration was originally found, is away from the the line of the wall,
and of course has no claim to be considered as Aballava; but it falls into
another series of the Notitia stations, the sites of most of which
have by no means been positively ascertained; and, notwithstanding
researches from Camden to the present day, much remains to reward careful
and personal explorations. A valuable instalment will no doubt be given in
Dr. Bruce's third edition of his "Roman Wall," now passing through the
press, which will contain, among much additional matter, a full and
illustrated of Mr. Clayton's discovery of the remains of a Roman bridge
over the North Tyne at Chesters, the Cilurnum of the Notitia.
The Frisiones of this inscription are no doubt the Frisiani of the rescript
of Trajan found at Sydenham, of whom lapidary records have been dsicovered
at Binchester and at Melandra Castle; and at the same time they are
probably the same as the Frixagi of the Notita stationed at
Vindobala on the Wall.
... ...
a The Roman Wall and South Tindall, p.219.
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 1 p.217}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 1 p.217}
{image = G866A217.jpg}
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE.
Dec. 20. - Sir PATRICK COLQUHOUN, LL.D. in the chair.
... ...
The Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott, F.R.S.L., read observtions "On a MS.
Glossary on the Dialect of Cumberland and Westmoreland," in the possession
of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, drawn up by Archbishop Nicolson, the
author of the "Historical Library," with the laudable object of showing
that the dialect was not so barbarous as the English of the south imagined.
A very interesting discussion followed these remarks, upon several
derivations advanced, in which the Chairman, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Nash, Mr.
Birch, and Mr. Beresford took part. ...
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 2 p.470}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 2 p.470}
{header- Roman Altar, Skinburness}
{image = G866B470.jpg}
... ...
Cumberland. - A portion of an inscribed Roman altar has recently
been discovered by Mr. Wilkinson of Kendal. It was lying amongst boulder
stones on the sea-shore, to the south of a small haven called Skinburness,
on the Cumberland coast. It reads:
MATRIBV.
PARVITI.
VAC.IM ? ...
... ...
which Dr. Bruce reads, no doubt correctly, Matribus Parcis, etc.
Inscriptions to the Parcae were heretofore so rarely found in this country,
that Horsley does not appear to give a single example. Yet Dr. Bruce,for
the third edition of his "Roman Wall," has collected no less than three,
including the above. The others were discovered a few years since at
Carlisle, so that they seem somewhat confined to a particular district. In
one these deities are addressed simply as the Parcae (PARCIS):
PARCIS PROBO
DONATALIS
PATER . V . S .
L.M.
In the third, as in the first, they are style Matres:
MATRIBVS . PARC . PRO . SALVT(e)
SANCTAE . GEMINAE
and all are dedications for the health, and well-being of children or other
relations. It is not strange that the Fates, being three, should, in the
north of Britain, be addressed as mothers, considering how very common was
the worship of the Deae Matres, and how very pliable the Roman mythology
could be made, especially in the provinces. They were styled also
Dominae and Victrices. Upon the gold coins of Diocletian and
Maximian, the Parcae are represented standing, each holding a torch upon a
rudder in their right hands joined together, and they are here inscribed
FATIS VICTRICIBVS.
The whole of these interesting inscriptions are engraved, and will appear
in the forthcoming new edition of Dr. Bruce's "Roman Wall," which contains
a considerable number of new inscriptions and sculptures, which cannot be
fully understood without the help of correct drawing and engraving. The
discovery of the first of these altars is also of some topographical
interest. In a private letter Dr. Bruce writes: "In the second edition of
my book on the Wall, p.347, I say:- 'A military way ran along the coast
from this station (Moresby, near Whitehaven), by way of Maryport, to the
extremity of the Wall at Bowness.' This altar is confirmatory of my
statement. I have no doubt that the Romans used the creek or harbour of
Skinburness. in the 13th century, Skinburness was a considerable
market-town (founded, I have little doubt, upon Roman remains); but in
1301, by a great irruption of the
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 2 p.471}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 2 p.471}
{image = G866B471.jpg}
sea, the town was destroyed, and never after attained to its former
prosperity. The reason of the altar's turning up just now is this: A new
harbour has been formed at Silloth, a little to the south of Skinburness;
and its piers have caused the sea to scour the shore between the two places
more thoroughly than before. By this means the sand has been washed away,
and the boulders below exposed: hence the discovery of the altar!
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1866 part 2 p.641}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1866 part 2 p.641}
{header- Skinburness}
{image = G866B641.jpg}
INSCRIBED ROMAN ALTAR FOUND NEAR SKINBURNESS.
... MR. URBAN, - I have read with much interest in your October number,
bearing particularly on the inscribed Roman altar which I lately picked up
on the sea-shore between Silloth and Skinburness. The finding of this relic
confirms, I think, Dr. Bruce's statement referred to at page 34 of his
second edition of "The Roman Wall," viz., "A military way ran along the
coast from this station (Moresby, near Whitehaven), by way of Maryport, to
the extremity of the wall at Bowness."
I also think it very probable the Romans used the creek or harbour at
Skinburness. In confirmation of this, the following extract from the second
volume of Nicolson and Burn's "History of Westmorland and Cumberland,"
p.117, would almost lead to the infernce that the town and harbour of
Skinburness existed in the time of the Romans:-
"In the year 1301, Bishop Hatton being informed that the inhabitants of the
village or town near the port of Skinburness were at a great distance from
all manner of Divine service, grants a power to the abbot and convent of
Holm Cultram to erect a church there which should be endowed with all
manner of tithes and enjoy all parochial rights. The abbot and convent to
have the power of advowson, and the bishop of Carlisle and his successors
all ordinary jurisdiction."
The town of Skinburness was at this time not only privileged with a market,
but seems also to have been the chief place for the king's magazines in
these parts for supplying the armies then employed against the Scots. But
the case was most miserably altered very soon after. For in 1305, we find
it thus mentioned in the parliament records:-
"At the petition of the abbot, requesting that whereas he had paid a fine
of 100 marks to the king for a fair and market to be had in Skinburness,
and now that town, together with the way leading to it, is carried away by
the sea, the king would grant that he may have such fair and market at his
town of Kirkeby Johan instead of the other place aforesaid, and that his
charter upon this may be renewed. It is answered, Let the first charter be
annulled, and then let him have a like charter in the place as he desireth.
... And for the same reason, as it seemeth, the church was also removed to
Kirkeby Johan or Newton Arlosh."
So much for the interest which the finding of a portion of an inscribed
Roman altar near Skinburness has already led to. - I am, &c.
CHARLES WILKINSON.
Bank House, Kendal,
Oct. 16, 1866.
{title- Gents Mag 1867 part 1 p.65}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1867 part 1 p.65}
{header- Coulthart Arms, Boltongate}
{image = G867A065.jpg}
The Peerages, Blazon, and Genealogy.
{continues last paragraph}
list, ... another development which has grown apace lately, the emblazoning
of false arms in memorial windows, !Ad Gloriam Dei!" Of this worst species
of lie, we fear too many examples are to be found throughout the land.
Glasgow Cathedral in its restored beauty is unfortunately somewhat marred
by it; and the latest accounts we have of the ever recurring Gallovidian
"House of Coulthart" presents us with a woodcut of a window in the church
of Bolton-le-Gate, Cumberland, comprising, besides "figures of Zacharias,
Amos, and Jeremias," the coat "qtrly of eight" ascribed to the late
"William Coulthart, Esq. of Coulthart." Surely the angels in the upper
tracery of the widow must weep as being thus made to share in a sham! We
venture to feel pretty confident that this window would not have been put
up within Lyon King's jurisdiction. We may note en passant, for the
edification of persons interested in the study of surnames, that the "Chief
of Coulthart," finding himself in danger of losing a collateral member of
his distinguished "house," William Coulthart, "who represented the burgh of
Wigton in Parliament from 1692 to the Union, of which he was a staunch
supporter," now advances fresh claims. The able author of "Popular
Genealogists," had shown that the real commissioner of that period was
William Cultraine, provost of Wigton, whose name is well-known in
connection with that cause celebre, the "Wigton Martyrs." In Mr.
Anderson's "Genealogy and Surnames,"e the following remarkable
statement is made: "The Galloway name of Culthart is one of great
antiquity, and has assumed many forms: Coulthart, Coulthurst, Coulter,
Coultram, Coltran, Coltherd, Colthurst, Coltart, Coltman, Colter, and
Cather, are but variations of the same name." Mr. Anderson, however, takes
the wise precaution of stating in his preface that the account given in his
text rests entirely on the authority of the privately printed "genealogy"
of the family, by Mr. Parker Knowles.
... ...
e "Genealogy and Surnames." by Wm. Anderson, Editor of the
"Scottish Nation." Edinburgh. 1865.
{title- Gents Mag 1867 part 2 p.362}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1867 part 2 p.362}
{header- Oak Apple Day}
{image = G867B362.jpg}
OLD SONG FOR OAK-APPLE DAY.
9. MR. URBAN, - I send you a song which you may perhaps remember as better
known in your early youth (in 1731) than it is now. Alas! and well-a-day!
Even in my own infancy (a century later) it was annually sung by and
"learnt" to all the rustic population of Wooley, a little village near
Bath. The clerk's wife prided herself on teaching it to the little flock
who met at her house for Sunday-school, and on the 29th of May they walked
in procession, headed by the biggest boy, carrying an oak bough, into which
a smaller one mounted on their arrival at our house in the neighbouring
village of Swanswick, and the ancient song was begun, I think, as a solo,
and finishing in chorus whenever the 29th of May was mentioned. I possess
an accurate copy, transcribed "by the unlettered muse," which preserves the
local pronunciation of some words; and glad I am to have it, for I find the
remembrance is fast dying away, now that good Mrs. Caswell is laid to her
rest in the quiet little churchyard.
"Oh! let us sing of ancient days, and never to forget,
For the martyrs of our Royal King it makes us to regret,
In consequence of the Papist race, and to maintain their pride
The Royal King of England they kill'd and sacra-fi-d.
"This Villany people was determin'd the family to destroy,
But the kind hand of providence Did their evil works annoy.
For the great Escape of the Royal Prince which happenend on this day,
A loyal day for to Be Kep is the twenty-ninth of May.
"For when the King his Father he was condemned to die,
He called for his Children, and wished them all good-bie.
{title- Gents Mag 1867 part 2 p.363}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1867 part 2 p.363}
{image = G867B363.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
We never forget the tears that fell upon that fatal day.
King Charles the Second restored the Crown on the twenty-ninth of May
"Now when the King was dead and gon, the Prince could not be found,
Altho' they searched ev'ry where with many a huge a sound:
He was preserved in a Oak, in a Royal Oak, I say;
King Charles the Second enjoy'd his own on the Twenty-ninth of May."
I am, &.
M. J.
10. MR. URBAN, - The observance of the 29th of May under the above name is
so common as not to need mention in the pages of the GENTLEMAN'S mAGAZINE;
but I believe the name applied to the day in this part of the country has
not hitherto been recorded by you.
The juvenile community hold up this day by the name of "Oak-Bob Day;"
which, I understand, is so applied because, in case of any being found
without "saplings" on that morning, they are compelled to take a "bob" - in
Lancashire parlance - by having their hair pulled till the obeisance is
deemed satisfactory. This seems to have escaped the notice of writers on
the Lake District, although it is said to be a very ancient local custom.
The word "oak" is here pronounced "yak."
Hoping you can find space, - I am, &c.
WILLIAM MURRAY BROOKES.
The Schools, Egton-cum-Newland, Newton-in-Cartmel.
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.34}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.34}
{header- Memorial to Miss Howard}
{image = G868A034.jpg}
THE LATE MISS HOWARD, OF CORBY. - A monument has lately been erected in the
Cemetery of St. Lorenzo at Rome to the memory of the late Miss Mary Francis
Howard, eldest child of P. H. Howard, Esq., of Corby Castle, Cumberland,
whose death occured at Rome on the 24th of June last (see the GENTLEMAN'S
MAGAZINE, N.S. vol.iv., p.257). The following is a copy of the inscription:
"[alpha chi-ro omega] Hic in pace Christi quiescit Maria Francisca,
Philippi Henrici Howard, F., Nobili Anglorum genere; quae Romam concedens
ut Petri, Apostolorum principis. solemnibus saecularibus interesset, febri
praecipiti absumpta est, viii. Kal. Quintil. an. MDCCCLXVII. an. na. XX
M.V.D.XII. Moriens Christi Jesu, quem unice adamarat cordi se suamque vitam
obtulit. Vale, et vive in Deo, Maria Francisca.
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.223}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.223}
{header- Roman Site, Nether Denton}
{image = G868A223.jpg}
Cumberland. - Dr. Bruce announced the discovery of Roman foundations
at Nether Denton, about two miles south of the Roman Wall, nearly opposite
Lanercost. They were brought to light by the rector, the Rev. T. Trafford
Shipman, while building on a plot of ground marked in the Ordnance map
(with questionable correctness) as the site of a camp. Dr. Bruce could
trace the lines of walls and those unmistakeable appearances in the ground
which denote the remains of buildings. All sorts of speculations have been
made as to the actual character of these remains, and the object of the
camp, if a camp it were; but the pickaxe and spade, those truthful
expositors of the buried mysteries of the past, would do more in one day to
determine the real nature of the place than an age of conjectures based on
outward appearances.
At some little distance from this supposed camp, at the base of the hill,
Mr. Shipman has made further discoveries, which go towards indicating the
establishment of residences over a considerable period. Dr. Bruce
observes:- "I cannot suggest a better theory than that the spot has been a
burial ground; but the quantity of articles found in it belonging to the
abodes of living men seems rather inconsistent with the idea. The quantity
of the remains found in so small a spot is quite remarkable. The quality of
them also struck me; they seemed to indicate that the Romans located in
this vicinity were richer and of more luxurious habits than those living in
the central and eastern districts of the Wall. Several coins have been
found. Amongst them are four denarii; one I take to be a Grecian coin;
another is a false coin of Domitian. Most of the brass coins are too much
corroded to admit of recognition; amongst them, however, are three of
Trajan. So far as these coins go, they are quite consistent with a period
of occupation equivalent to that of the early part of Hadrian's reign. Some
exceedingly fine bowls of Samian ware have been found. There are specimens
of Caistor ware and other kinds of pottery; some mortaria and fragments of
glass bottles of the usual square shape and green colour; and five large
green glass beads. Amongst the remains were the fragments of several wine
amphorae. The only use these could be of in a burying ground would be to
hold the ashes of the individuals who perhaps had themselves imbibed their
previous contents. The most curious earthenware utensil which I noticed was
one that had a perforated strainer placed in front of the spout, out of
which the liquid was intended to be poured or sucked. I have seen none like
it. I noticed portions of three millstones formed of Andernach stone. The
metallic remains found are considerable. There is a small bronze cylinder,
apparently intended for some other use, but which appears to have been
presed into service as a lamp. It is about half full of a wax-like
substance, with a cotton wick in the centre. Can it be of the same age as
the other articles? There is an iron vessel of the shape of a Roman lamp,
but of larger size. I do not remember ever seeing an iron lamp; and Mr. C.
Roach Smith suggests to me (which I have no doubt is the correct view) that
it is a
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.224}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.224}
{image = G868A224.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
candelabrum - a receptacle for the common earthenware lamp, which has been
suspended from the roof or side of the house. Several nails have been
found, portions of bits, a prick spur, several knives, spearheads, and a
mason's chisel. There is one curious implement, which I never saw before
amongst Roman remains - an instrument five inches long, having at one
extremity a receptacle for a wooden handle, and terminating at the other in
three whirls like a modern corkscrew. There are also two formidable
insttruments, which look uncommonly like fetter-locks."
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p314.}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p314.}
{header- Stone Circles}
{image = G868A314.jpg}
NOTES ON STONE CIRCLES. / BY J. T. BLIGHT, F.S.A.
... ...
{text- The article, pp.308 to 319, has some idiosyncratic ideas about stone
circles, mostly in Cornwall, and, page 314:-}
... ...
... there are many circles whose diameters are so great that it cannot be
conceived that there ever existed within them mounds so vast as to occupy
all the enclosed space. These larger circles should rather be regarded as
great enclosing outworks for the protection of a group of barrows, or
lesser circles, as was probably the case with Long Meg and her Daughters in
Cumberland, ...
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.364}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.364}
{header- Longevity, Longmire, Margaret}
{image = G868A364.jpg}
LONGEVITY.
7. MR. URBAN, - Several correspondents have, in recent numbers of your
magazine, noticed cases of this class; and I may with propriety add an
instance within my own personal knowledge. The name of the individual I
allude to, who is now in her 104th year, is Maragaret Longmire, a widow, in
humble life, residing at Troutbeck, in the parish of Windermere. I have
tested her case myself, and there cannot be a question that her age is as
stated. Her Majesty the Queen, with her accustomed generosity and
condescension, graciously remitted 3l. in Oct. last to the Rev. W.
Sewell, to be applied by him to the poor aged woman's comforts. - I am,
&c.,
JAMES NICHOLSON.
Thelwall Hall, Warrington,
January, 1867.
... ...
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.639}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.639}
{header- The English Traveller}
{image = G868A639.jpg}
THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER.a
ONE of the most marked features in these times of progress is the
persistence with which English people take their annual holiday. We are not
now speaking of the professed traveller, who, discarding civilisation and
beaten tracks, flings himself into the wilds of unknown prairies and
primaeval forests, as if the one object of his life was to carve out a way
hitherto unknown to the Geographical Society, but rather of the great mass
of easy-going middle-class folk, who, as the summer draws near, experience
a feeling of restlessness, only to be mitigated by Alpine climbs and canoe
voyages, or the less exciting but safer visits to Scotland or the Lakes.
There is no country in which this peculiar longing is so periodic, or so
habitually satisfied, as it is in England. Perhaps, of all others, Russia
sends the most polished, and America the greatest number of travellers; but
these, albeit met with in most places, are the very salt of their class,
bent either on pleasure or with some political object. In France, too, the
Baths of Bigorre and Biarritz attract great numbers; but these are nearly
all fashionables who go to avoid the heat of Paris, and because it is en
regle. None of these countries have anything to compare with that great
Hegira which the English summer and autumn call forth; nor does there seem
to be that love of travel, for travel's sake, which is so innate in the
Anglo-Saxon. One reason is, that in England we work hard for our livelihood
and our amusement. Whether we are statesmen, merchants, or professional
men, we stick to our last for nine months in the year at the least, before
we consider that we have earned the right to our holiday; and when we do
take it, we take it with the same desperate earnestness with which we have
worked for it.
With most Englishmen of the present day, a holiday is relaxation, but not
repose - relaxation simply of the head and mind, which have been for many
months at high pressure and which require the remedy of stimulant - the
stimulant of change and active exertion. What the Sunday walk is to the
bleached, asphixiated weaver, the annual holiday is to the over-worked
middle-class man, who gains in a short time more benefit from his outing
than he would from a year's dosing with quinine and iron. To the mind the
restorative action is still greater, and were it not for this opportunity
of discarding for a time all worry and anxiety, by becoming as it were dead
to business, many a
a
"Handbook for Wilts, Dorset, and Somerset." John Murray. 1856.
"Handbook for Devon and Cornwall." John Murray. 1859.
"Handbook for Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire." John Murray. 1860.
"Handbook for South Wales." John Murray. 1860.
"Handbook for North Wales." John Murray. 1861.
"Handbook for Durham and Northumberland." John Murray. 1864.
"Handbook for Surrey, Hants, and Isle of Wight." John Murray. 1865.
"Handbook for Glucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire." John
Murray. 1867.
"Handbook for Yorkshire." John Murray. 1867.
"Handbook for the Lakes." John Murray. 1867.
"Handbook for Ireland." John Murray. 1866.
"Handbook for Scotland." John Murray. 1867.
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.640}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.640}
{image = G868A640.jpg}
father of a family would soon be a candidate for the lunatic asylum. Happy
is the man who has the determination and the power of leaving no address
behind him, so that letters, and what are still worse, telegrams, cannot be
sent after him to poison his pleasure and disturb his mental recovery;
though in the complicated relations of the present day, very few can afford
thus to isolate themselves for a whole month. Some day a future Macaulay
will point out the extraordinary effect that this travelling habit has had,
not only upon our domestic matters, but upon society at large: and the work
has yet to be written which treats on this particular phase of English
locomotion. The present generation has little conception of the changes
that have taken place since the day when the mail-coach was the only medium
of communication between town and country. To the bulk of quiet villages,
the arrival of a Londoner was a thing to talk about, while few members of a
family ever looked upon the metropolis as a place of resort, except for a
state visit once or twice in their lives. But now London is identical with
the country, as far as the intercourse of society and public opinion go;
and, au contraire, the country is too often London. The great cause
of this change is the facility of locomotion, which, like the effects of
the penny postage on correspondence, has induced people to leave their
homes so much, that it has now become a confirmed habit. We learn from Mrs.
Manley's journey in 1725, that the stage coach between London and Exeter
occupied four summer days in the trip; and that the passengers had to get
up at 2 A.M., left the inn at 3, and dined at 10 A.M. each day. Under such
circumstances travelling would certainly have remained a proceeding only
dictated by dire necessity, the due accomplishment of which was thought
worthy of a public prayer in church, as in Ralph Thoresby's case. But, even
with improved roads and excellent coaching, the Englishman, except when
bent upon business, was a fixture at home; and it was not until after the
full development of the railway system, that the excursionist became a
person of importance, and a class to be conciliated. With the excursionist
came the guide-book; but whether the former was instrumental in the
appearance of the latter, or whether improved guide-books helped to create
the excursionist, is immaterial; no doubt the one influenced the other.
There is the same difference between the handbook of the present day and
the old post-chaise companion, as there is between an express train and the
carrier's waggon. Amidst the cloud of local guides that beset the traveller
to any place of general resort, it is often perplexing which to choose; but
taking the country as a whole, it may be said that there is but one
handbook, and "Murray" is its name. Not that we mean to ignore the claims
of others, but simply to express an opinion as to the consistency and value
of the twelve red volumes that at the present time form Mr. Murray's
British series. For years they have had on the continent a sway which no
other works pretend to rival, and now we are glad to see that the British
Isles have not only been invaded, but are in a fair way of being
successfully conquered. It was until of late years a reproach to the
English that they knew foreign countries better than their own. Nor was it
underserved, for, with the exception of those districts which from beauty
of scenery or fashion were sought
{title- Gents Mag 1868 part 1 p.641}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1868 part 1 p.641}
{image = G868A641.jpg}
after by gregarious tourists, the greater portion of the country remained
unvisited, few people being aware of the mines of interest contained in the
provinces. In fact, Murray's Handbooks to the British Isles are the popular
and portable exponents of county histories, which from their size and
dryness have been confined to the libraries of antiquaries and
book-collectors. Now, however, their contents have been ransacked by
indefatigable editors, and offered up in a compact and readable form, as an
epitome of all that is worth visiting in the historic and scenic features
of the country, and forming moreover a valuable addition to the standard
works of reference. If the price of each volume is somewhat high, it must
be remembered that their matter is sterling, and not ephemeral; and that
they appeal to the most polished and educated section of English
travellers, which is naturally the smallest in point of number. Armed with
a "Murray" in one pocket, and an Ordnance map in the other, the tourist,
whether by rail, carriage, or on foot, may go through the whole of the land
without asking a single question, or at least will be able to do so when
both maps and guide-books are completed in their respective series. On the
"Survey," in itself a national work which cannot be too highly valued,
England and Wales are finished, so is Ireland, with the exception that the
mountains are not projected; and although they are correctness itself, it
requires a good deal of imagination to realise the physical features of the
country. Scotland is completed as far as the borders of Perthshire, but the
difficulties are very great, and it will be a long time before the corries
and peaks of the Highland ranges are in the engraver's hands.
The counties hitherto published by Mr. Murray are Devon, Cornwall, Dorset,
Wilts, Somerset, Hants, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Bucks, Oxford, Berks,
Gloucester, Hereford, Worcester, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland,
Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the Lake District, North Wales, South Wales,
and Monmouthshire, the whole of Ireland and Scotland. The remaining
nineteen counties are more or less advanced in preparation. Probably the
first thought that occurs in glancing over these volumes is the
extraordinary extension of the railway system, and the changes it has
produced in the outward appearance of the land. Highways, such as the Great
North road or the Holyhead road, which once teemed with traffic, and
swarmed with coaches, might now have grass growing on them so far as the
traffic is concerned. Villages situated on these roads, which contained
coaching-inns of repute, are comparatively deserted, and the inns shut up.
But the balance of compensation is seen in the creation of entirely new
centres of habitation - such as Swindon on the Great Western, Wolverton and
Crewe on the London and North-Western railways. Indeed, the latter place is
so utterly a mushroom of the last twenty-five years, that it was some time
before a name could be found for it; the proper parochial name of Monk's
Coppenhall being judged too long for a station which was intended to
receive half the travelling population of England. From the same cause,
monster hotels have sprung up, in some cases without any apparent object
but to make a railway to them, and thus attract a residential population;
while our towns and cities are inhabited by a daily ebbing and flowing
crowd, which for the most part shuns them at night as though they were
infected with a plague. Whether the beau-
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[beau]tiful pleasure spots in England are any the better for the influx,
daily, weekly, or monthly, of these spasmodic residents, is a question
which will probably be answered in the negative by those to whom the
softness and silence of nature are so dear. Fortunately nothing can spoil
our mountains, and we certainly are indebted to the railways, not only for
taking us to them without loss of time, but for putting in the power of so
many to visit them, who otherwise could not do so, so that we must take the
good with the bad, and not feel too severe as we hear the engine whistle
through the Pass of Killiecrankie. What lovely pictures do the pages of the
handbooks bring back to our recollection? Snowdon, with its grand cwms and
its (un)Righi-like refreshment rooms; Cader Idris, with its volcanic
precipices; the ridges and stern peaks of the Cuchillins, or those
wonderful corries of Braeriach and the Cairngorms; the Twelve Pins of
Bunnabeola, and the venerable frosted-pate of Helvellyn. Or, if we prefer
less exalted and more accessible scenery, there are the Malvern Hills with
their fringe of water villas; the hanging woods of Clovelly and Lynmouth;
the soft beauties of Loch Lomond, or the more savage ones of Loch Maree;
the georgeous purple tints of Killarney and Glengariff; do they not one and
all bring back to the mind pleasure of the most charming kind? Even our
more homely and prosaic scenery, such as that of the Thames at Maidenhead,
the irregular outlines of Edinburgh Old Town, the fresh breezes and
swelling ridges of the Sussex Downs, are all things to look forward to, and
to look back upon.
But the railway system has done more than bring this scenery to our doors,
it has given us some of the highest triumphs of modern days. The art of
building bridges, which, when road-making was in vogue, was brought to the
height of perfection by Telford, is now-a-days joined with the most
astonishing originality and boldness; and the English railway-bridges may
fairly challenge the world. Stephenson's Britannia Bridge, that carries the
Chester and Holyhead railway over the Menai Straits side by side with
Telford's work, his high level bridge at Newcastle, Robertson's Llangollen
viaduct, the bridge over the Tweed at Berwick, Brunel's Albert viaduct over
the Tamar at Saltash, the Crumlin bridge in Monmouthshire, that spans an
entire valley, at a height of 200 feet, and more recently the Clifton
suspension-bridge, begun years ago by Brunel, and completed by Messrs.
Hawkshaw and Barlow, are severally worth a journey to see, and stand
prominently forward as the giant works of the age, all emanating from the
little locomotive at Killingworth. Not only has a race of engineers been
bred up to laugh at difficulties, but we are accustomed to look at such
gigantic undertakings as those of the Liverpool docks, the Plymouth
breakwater, and the Holyhead harbour, with the same indifference that we
shall probably feel ten or fifteen years hence, when the tunnel between
France and England is completed. To these, and such as these, will our
future historians point as instances of the prodigious growth of the
country in ideas and riches, and we cannot be surprised when we see our
manufacturing towns and seaports bursting their bonds and spreading in all
directions with their ever-increasing population. Leeds, Manchester, and
Bradford, although at the present moment suffering with the rest of the
land under an exceptional stagnation of trade,
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are each historical centres of the cloth, cotton, and woollen trades, round
which new towns are yearly - we may almost say, daily - springing up.
Witness the rise and progress of Saltaire, which contains a population of
3000, all dependent upon a single mill. Some of the most interesting points
in English social life arise from the examination of our more scattered
industrial pursuits, which from their nature are localised in some
particular district, and give a peculiar stamp to those employed in them.
The lead mines of Alston, the copper mines of Anglesea, the black country
of South Stafford, the china clay of St. Austell, the glass-works of the
Tyne, the tin mines of Botallack, the gold mines of Merionethshire, the
slate quarries of Penrhyn or Llanberis, and the ironworks of South Wales,
are each worthy of the close attention of the man of science, or the
student of race and character. Of all these do the handbooks tell us, with
a fulness that is wonderful, considering the mulitplicity of subjects with
which they deal; nor do they omit the more limited, but equally interesting
specialities, such as the china works of Worcester, the glove trade of
Yeovil, or the marmalade manufacture of Dundee; we even read of the little
town of Cumnock, in Ayrshire, which is devoted to snuff-boxes, and that of
Knockcrogherty, in Roscommon, the fortune of which hangs on tobacco-pipes.
To the thoughtful observer all these sights and sounds, modern as they are,
have an additional interest when compared with the relics of former ages;
and although the antiquary will naturally prefer to linger over the quiet
spots where the latter sleep undisturbed, he will never shut out from his
mind the comparison between the past and the present. Nor, indeed, taking
our engineering works as an example, can we afford to sneer at the
engineering knowledge or capacity of the old builders of Stonehenge, be
they Celts, Druids, Danes, Antediluvians, or Belgae. We can only marvel at
the transportation and arrangement of these wondrous monoliths, or at the
skill with which so many of the rocking-stones that still exist were
poised. The study of early remains has very much increased within the last
few years, and many a tumulus and many a lake has been forced to reveal its
secrets and give up its dead. The excavations of the Derbyshire barrows by
the late Mr. Bateman, and more lately of the Yorkshire barrows by Canon
Greenwell, have thrown much light on the ethnology and some of the customs
of these early races. For variety of early antiquarian research there is no
country like Ireland, with its elaborately sculptured tumulus of Newgrange;
its Ogham stones; its forts, such as Dunaengus, in Arran, and Staigue, in
Kerry; its innumerable raths; its primitive oratories, such as the Beehive
Oratory of Gallerus; its crannoges, or lake dwellings; and its early towns,
whether inhabited by Tuath Danaans, Fenians, or any other aborigines. Of
later date than these are its numerous rude churches and its round towers,
those never failing sources of discussion, all presenting a feastof
antiquarian matter, the salient points of which are given us in the Irish
Handbook; while Dr. Petrie and Sir William Wilde must be referred to for
the minutiae of their subject. Scotland, also, has yielded of late years a
profitable harvest to the explorer; and the burgh of Mousa, the Pict's
houses, the stones of Stennis, the shell mounds of Wick, the sculptured
rocks of Fife, - on which Sir James Simpson has lately made his mark - the
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Moat of Urr, and the vitrified forts of Aberlemmo, are good examples of
early Scotch remains. Wales, for obvious reasons is not so prolific in this
particular class of antiquities, but she can show a goodly store of
cromlechs, meinhirions, and Celtic forts. And, by the way, why is it that
cromlechs, both in Wales and Ireland, are almost always placed where they
overlook the sea - or, at all events, a large body of water? The fact is
too persistent to be accidental, and it is one worth notice. The Welsh
marches too are made interesting by Offa's Dyke, while in all parts of the
country Roman remains abound. There is plenty of material for a Roman
handbook to Britain. They were the great road-makers, wall-builders, and
miners of their day. Their camps are scattered all over the land, although
there are very few so perfect as those of Ardoch, In Perthshire, and
Lanchester, in Durham. Their roads, such as the Watling Street, Ikenield
Street, and the Fosse-way, were so well engineered that they are, in many
cases, identifical with our modern turnpike-roads; and as for mines, both
gold and iron, traces of Roman ocupation abound in Wales and the Forest of
Dean. Heaps of Roman slag and cinders attest the diligence with which they
smelted the iron for the use of the armourers' forges at Aquae Sulis or
Bath; while the neighbourhood of Gogofau gold mines, in Carmarthenshire,
abounds with Roman names and associations. But the greatest interest is
undoubtedly centred in the excavations at Wroxeter (Uriconium), the
pavements and treasures found at Caerleon, where the second Augustan legion
so long lay in garrison; and in more limited detail, in the Roman villas
exhumed at Stowell Park, in Gloucestershire, or at Bognor in Sussex. Even
within the last month, a temple to Minerva has been discovered underneath
the White Hart inn, at Bath, while fresh additions to our Roman antiquarian
knowledge are being made daily in different parts of the country.
It is, however, when we come down to later times that we find how replete
the country is with historical and architectural remains, and how difficult
it is for the student of mediaeval buildings to deal with the subject in
detail, from its great extent. Of Saxon churches there are very few. Those
in best preservation are Earl's Barton in Northamptonshire, and Worth in
Sussex; although we ought not to omit mentioning the exquisite double
aisles in St. John's, Chester. But from Saxon times downwards, the
ecclesiologist will find work in plenty in every county in England. A
single cathedral (say Canterbury), is in itself an epitome of Gothic
architecture; Durham, perhaps, being the most original and consistent of
all our cathedrals and abbeys. Amidst such a glorious collection of
churches and monastic remains, - such as Fountains, Melrose, Furness, and
Tintern, - it is impossible even to enumerate those which are worth
attention, and we can only mention what seems the most striking point in
the mediaeval architecture of the British Isles, and that is, the
variations in point of time between England, Ireland, and Scotland. Ireland
can show numbers of churches possessing mouldings and decorations usually
thought to be of Norman character, but which are really of a date anterior
to the 11th century. Rahin, Killeshin, Cashel, and Freshford churches, are
examples of this ornamentation, which, Norman in style, is yet ante-Norman
in date. Scotland, on the other hand, has kept her architectural features
long
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after the English had done with them. When the round arch was dismissed
from England, the Scotch were using it with all vigour, and the same thing
occured with the Early English style, which pleased them much more than did
the Decorated, and which they were exceedingly loth to give up. Add to
this, the prevailing tendency to French patterns, and we see how it is that
Scotland possesses such a distinctive architectural fashion. To the French
taste must be attributed the fine examples of flamboyant windows in many of
the Scottish abbeys. Another fact that strikes us in glancing over the
church buildings of the various English counties is the difference in style
which prevailed in different parts of the country, when the erection of
churches was in a flourishing condition - as, for instance, in
Somersetshire and Devonshire, where almost all the churches were
Perpendicular of so distinctive a character as to be known as the West of
England type. Fortunately for our modern churches we have no style, the
last in which we indulged being a mixture of the pump-room with pure
churchwarden; and such a debased mixture arose from this union, that it
brought us all back again to seek the principles of true Gothic art. To
this fact we owe a number of successful restorations and the rebuilding of
some of our finest churches, - Doncaster, for instance, which would be a
credit to any age.
What would perhaps strike a foreigner most in reading the handbooks would
be the number of fine seats which give England that peculiar charm of home
residence. From the ducal palaces of Chatsworth. Belvoir, Alnwick, or
Dunrobin, to the quiet, comfortable country house, there is every variety
of mansion, breathing more or less the atmosphere of home, and showing at a
glance the secret of that influence which the landed proprietors have
always exerted in the country, and which it is hoped it will be very long
ere they surrender. One scarcely knows which to admire most, the glowing
parks and gardens that surround the seats of our gentry, or the works of
art that embellish the interior. We are as a nation deficient in public
galleries of pictures, but we doubt whether any country in the world can
show a larger number of private collections. And fortunatlely for the
lovers of art, the same spirit of liberality that presided over the
acquisition of these art treasures, in most cases prompts their owners to
throw them open for the gratification of the tourist. The number of
show-places mentioned in the handbooks sufficiently attests this. There is
one more feature to which we must allude before we close our brief summary.
These red volumes address themselves to the specialist as well as to the
general traveller, and the way in which the science of geology is handled
in them proves that this fascinating study has gained a considerable hold
over a large section of tourists. Indeed, our English geology is so varied,
and so bound up with the scenery, that it is almost impossible for any
observant or educated man to admire the one without taking an interest in
the other; and such works as those of Mr. Geikie in the scenic geology of
Scotland, or of Professor Ramsay on North Wales, are almost as necessary
vade-mecums as handbooks themselves. To whatever part of Great
Britain the annual "outing" is directed, the scientific traveller need
never be at a loss for interest. The Woolhope Silurian valley of elevation
in Herefordshire, the Dudley coalfield, the limestone gorges of Cheddar,
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and St. Vincent's Rocks, or the more striking beauties of the Craven
limestones and the Clapham caves, the Cleveland limestone district, the
extinct bone caves of Kent's Hole and Gower, the cliffs of the Yorkshire
coast, so fast encroached upon by the sea, the white escarpments of the
Portland quarries, the wondrous pebbles of the Chesil Bank, the trap
terraces of the Scuir of Eig, and the Laurentian rocks of the North
Highlands - the Connemara marble, with its Eozoon, the earliest known
symtom of life in the world's history - each one of them is a study in
itself, and we cannot read the account of them in any of their respective
hand-books without feeling an irresistible desire to pack up our hammer,
sketch-book, fern-box, map, and whiskey-flask, and take at once to the
tramp.
G. P. BEVAN.
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{header- Fire, Greystoke Castle}
MONTHLY CALENDAR
...
May 4. - Greystoke Castle, Cumberland, destroyed by fire.
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{header- Thirlmere Reservoir}
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TABLE-TALK.
DUNMAIL RAISE and the Valley of Wythburn are threatened next year with an
invasion which has excited the indignation not only of the principal
dwellers in one of the loveliest nooks in the very heart of the English
lake district, but has awakened painful surprise and opposition all over
the country, wherever the love of natural beauty, and the reverence for
famous men whose footsteps have doubly hallowed it, are not yet quite
extinct. A ruthless piece of vandalism is contemplated which it is to be
hoped may yet be baffled by a firm and united resistance. Parliament is to
be asked in the approaching session to empower the Manchester Corporation
to turn the beautiful lake of Thirlmere into a reservoir for supplying with
water, not Manchester alone - for that city, they own, has an ample supply
for the next twenty years to come - but the various towns en route.
Only dire and extreme necessity, and an absolute impossibility of obtaining
water elsewhere, could justify this proposal. Neither of these conditions
fortunately exists. "Not one tithe," as Mr. Somervell, the chief and
indefatigable opponent of the scheme, has pointed out, "of the moorland
available for the supply of water of Manchester, between the Lune and South
Lancashire, has been utilised as yet." To carry out the scheme proposed a
huge embankment would have to be reared to the height of at least 70 feet,
thus lengthening the lake from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 miles, and deepening it to
the extent of 60 or 70 feet. This would have the effect of placing under
water the whole valley, and the beauties of the spot would be buried in a
deep dark reservoir. "It is the intention of the Waterworks Committee,"
naively remarks the Cumberland Times, "to substitute for the
present tortuous up-and-down track a straight road cut on a level line
around the slopes of Helvellyn. Below it the lake, enlarged to more than
twice its present dimensions, will assume a grandeur of appearance in
more striking accordance with its majestic surroundings. HOW THE VALLEY
WILL LOOK IN THE DRY SUMMER SEASON, WHEN THE RESERVOIR IS HALF EMPTIED, HAS
YET TO BE ASCERTAINED." Another ground of opposition to the scheme is its
danger as well as it unsightliness. In the very possible and even probable
event of
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one of the floods or heavy rainfalls to which the district is peculiarly
liable bearing down the embankment, the whole surrounding district,
Keswick, Grasmere, and every bridge along the Cockermouth Keswick and
Penrith railway would be swept away. Mr. J. F. Bateman, the engineer to the
Corporation, is pleased to assert in his report, that "the uses to which
the water can be locally applied are small and insignificant." Upon the
same principle the inhabitants of Bethnal Green might propose that we
should, in the ensuing winter, fell down the trees in Kensington Gardens
and in Richmond Park to supply them with firewood, because "the uses to
which the wood can be locally applied are small and insignificant." This
is, surely, utilitarianism run mad. Mr. Robert Somervell, of Hazelthwaite,
Windermere, has just published a pamphlet in which the chief arguments
against the scheme are ably and forcilbly stated. This is entitles, "The
Manchester and Thirlmere Scheme: An Appeal to the Public on the Facts of
the Case." Mr. Somervell will, I believe, be happy to afford further
information to anyone desirous of aiding to oppose the scheme, for which
purpose an influential committee of gentlemen of the district, among whom
we are somewhat disappointed not to find the name of Mr. Ruskin, has also
been formed, and subscriptions for the "Thirlmere Defence Fund" have
already been raised to the amount of over a thousand pounds.
... ...
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...
AMONG the many reasons, most of them valid ones, against making Thirlmere,
one of the most charming of the English Lakes, a Manchester reservoir, is
that such a proceeding will probably destroy one of the few specimens of
haunted houses we have still left in England. It is Miss Martineau who
tells us of that lonely residence under Armboth Fell, where the lights are
seen in the empty banqueting-chamber, and the spectral dog welcomes the
invisble
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guests. If the lake is raised, as intended, forty feet, those lights will
be put out, and the dog will be drowned! May Cottonopolis be sent nearer
home for its water supply, and not interfere with the public pleasure in
things on which it has itself never set any value: the solemnity of
solitude, the unruffled aspect of Nature, the glories of the mountain, the
peacefulness of the mere!
There was a certain sonnet written once, which has a very direct reference
to this untilitarian invasion:
Is there no nook of English ground secure from rash assault,
... ... ... ... ... ...
Plead for thy peace, thou beautiful romance
Of Nature; and if human hearts be dead
Speak, passing winds; ye torrents with your strong
And constant voice protest against this wrong.
If Wordsworth had lived to hear of the present outrage, he would have
claimed (almost) with Lear, "Ye Aqueducts, burst."
...
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{header- Index, Gentleman's Magazine}
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...
A GENERAL INDEX FOR THE "GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE."
THE work meditated by the Index Society of supplying a complete index to
the Gentleman's Magazine is worthy of all possible encouragement. To
those engaged in any form of historical,
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{image = G884A618.jpg}
antiquarian, and biographical research the Gentleman's Magazine is
indispensable. Owing to the exceedingly slovenly manner in which the
previous indexes are compiled the task of reference is as arduous as it can
be. Take it, for instance, that the reader wishes to inquire concerning a
certain writer, say Thomas Ramsay, of whose date he is uncertain. In the
existing indexes, in which the Christian name is not given, he will have to
turn through all the Ramsays, probably one to two hundred in number, who
ever dissolved partnership, became bankrupt, or in any fashion whatever
brought themselves within the scope of the work. As the society depends for
the completion of its task upon the number of subscriptions it receives, I
am gald to recommend to my readers an undertaking which promises beneficial
results to scholarship.
...
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{header- Mountain Sheep}
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MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
SCATTERED along the slopes of many of the northern valleys, there still
lingers a last remnant of the yeoman or "statesman" class. Their houses are
strongly built of stone, and are essentially those of a utilitarian age.
Each homestead has about it a few fertile fields - meadows which margin the
valley stream. These are sufficient to afford "keep" for a dozen milch
cows, and in summer yield abundant crops of hay. The young cattle graze the
"Grassing-heads" in summer; but are brought to the coppice belts of birch
and hazel to pick a scanty winter fare. There is but little ploughing, and,
therefore, few horses are required. But, although the "statesman" with all
his virtues, is rapidly becoming extinct, neither political nor
agricultural economy can alter nature's decree that these small holdings
must ever remain sheep farms. Each farm in the dale has its "Lot," or
Allotment, on the fell, which feeds from five hundred to a thousand sheep.
This number is about the normal one, though some of the largest farms have
most extensive "heafs" and graze from two to four thousand sheep. These are
of the Black-faced, Scotch, and Herdwick breeds. All have coarse, hair-like
wool; the Scotch and Black-faced have horns, whilst the Herdwick is polled.
Yet each wears what the hill-farmers call "a jacket and waistcoat," that is
long wool without, with a soft, thick coating beneath. And this is one of
the great characteristics which fits the animal for its life among the
mists. All the breeds indicated are small-boned, and produce the best and
sweetest mutton. It is the tending of these that constitutes the chief work
of the dalesman throughout the year.
We have said that each farm of the valley has allotted to it its hundreds
or thousands of acres upon the fells, and it is wonderful how the sheep
know their own ground. Of course this was the more remarkable before the
enclosure of the commons, when only a stream, a ridge of rock, or a heather
brae formed a nominal boundary. Now hundreds of miles of wire fence
stretches its dividing influence over the wild fells, and is the means of
destroying great numbers of grouse. One of the provisions for localising
the sheep upon their
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own "Lot" is as follows: When a retiring tenant is leaving his farm, he is
allowed to sell or take with him, say, three-fourths of his flock of 2,000
sheep, but the remaining 500 must be left on the old ground. It is
imperative upon the retiring farmer that this nucleus be left, though
sometimes the whole flock is taken by the incoming tenant, and so remains.
In any case he must purchase the number to be left upon the "heaf" at a
valuation by one of the dalesmen, mutually agreed upon by the landlord and
himself.
In each parish there still exists at some farm a "Shepherd's Guide,"
setting forth the tar-marks, smits, and ear-slits peculiar to the sheep of
each farm in the township. This is in the keeping of some responsible
person, and is used as a reference-book in cases of dispute. It sets forth
the name of each farm, the number of its heaf-going sheep, a rough
definition of their range, and, finally, the account of each flock
illustrated by cuts. These show, to take an example, "J. B. on the near
shoulder, a red smit down the flank, with the near ear slit down the
middle. The "smits and slits" are essential, for although the initials of
the owner may, and frequently do, become blurred and indistinct, the former
are lasting, and, in cast the animals have strayed, they may be at once
identified. With enclosure of the commons, this "Smit-book" is now rarely
used, and no recent edition has been printed.
Most of the sheep winter on the fells. On the highest of these in severe
winter they have to be foddered through three or four months of the year.
Hay is taken in peat "sleds," and bundles are thrown down at intervals.
Failing this the sheep are expert in scraping away the snow to get at the
buried herbage. This they do with their feet and noses, and as the sheep
clear away the snow the grouse (though this applies only to the lower
ranges) follow and eat the heather seeds from beneath the bushes. Sometimes
a whole flock is buried deep and have to be dug out. Even taking it for
granted that the whereabouts of the entombed flock is known, the task of
rescuing them is one of great difficulty. In attempting it the shepherds
have occasionally lost their lives. The animal heat given off by the sheep
thus buried thaws a portion of the snow about them. Stretching their necks
over this limited area, they devour every blade of green, even the turf
itself. This exhausted, they eat the wool from each other's backs. under
these circumstances the tenacity of life shown by the sheep is marvellous,
and many have been rescued after being buried alive for twenty-eight days.
When brought to the light these poor creatures are in a week and emaciated
condition. During the long and terrible winter of 1886 the fell sheep
suffered
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severely. On the higher runs they perished by hundreds. The farmers (four
in number) of the farms lying contiguous to Sca Fell alone lost fifteen
hundred sheep out of an aggregate of about six thousand. The whitened bones
and fleeces of these were dotted everywhere about the fells, and to the
hill farmers in these times of depression this fact almost spells ruin. The
skeletons were bleached, and the only things that profited by the
protracted snows were the peregrines and ravens of the crags. These birds
still find an asylum in the deepest recesses of the mountains.
In these desolate hill tracts winter usually lasts through seven months of
the year. Layer upon layer of snow becomes hard frozen, and upon the
highest peaks of Skiddaw and Sca Fell this often lies till June or July.
During the mid-summer day of 1888 the mountains were lashed in blinding
snow-storms. But for the most part April clears the summits of the mists,
and a better time is at hand. The snows have cleared from the lower
grounds, and the sparse vegetation comes sweet and green. This grows
quickly, and the flock rapidly gains in condition. Now the sheep are ever
active; by the torrent sides, by the leas of the boulders, and along the
rock ledges they seek the freshest grass. And in search of this they
sometimes become crag-fast - that is, they climb and climb from one narrow
ledge to another, sometimes placing their fore feet upon even a jagged
splinter. If a face of rock intervene, and they cannot climb out to the top
of the crag, they turn to descend. But here, too, retreat is cut off.
Sometimes the sheep remain in this position for two or three days, eating
whatever is within reach, and then one of two things happens: either they
are rescued by the shepherds, who are let down to them by ropes, or they
fall prey to birds and foxes. The raven, the peregrine, and the buzzard
freely appreciate the creature's position and await their chance. Sometimes
the birds so terrify the sheep that in its fright it makes one mad leap,
and is dashed to pieces as it descends the crag. The raven hardly waits
till death has come, but immediately goes dallying round and round the
carcass, and soon falls to work upon brain, lip, or palate. The peregrine
feeds only so long as the flesh is sweet, though the hill foxes and crows
visit the spot for a week.
Snow lines are yet sketched along the stone fences of the fells; but this
is all that remains of winter. Everything testifies to the coming of
spring. The foaming fell "becks" sparkle in the sun and the climbing sheep
are sprinkled over the crags. A breadth of blue is overhead, and towards
this the sheep always climb. When the weather is fine their heads are
infallibly turned towards the skyline. From
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this time they rapidly improve in condition; with the new grass their
strength returns; they are ever and ceaselessly nibbling. And now the
shepherds are very busy with their flocks. The ewes are drafted out and
quietly driven to the lowlands. These are distrtibuted among the fields of
the hill farmers, and for a time have better fare. An anxious time is
approaching; but here the lambing season comes fully two months later than
in the lower and cultivated valleys. Daily attention is paid to the ewes,
and about mid-April the lambs begin to make their appearance. The
Black-faced and Herdwicks are hardy; there is no folding, no extra feeding,
and they come through the critical time in a manner that would astonish the
southern farmer. The mortality is exceedingly small; the lambs are strong
and quickly on their legs. As soon as the lambing season is over, and the
little strangers are strong enough to bear the journey, the whole flock is
driven back to the fells. Each year the farmer breeds two varieties of
lambs. The Black-faced and Herdwick ewes produce both, one of which is
half-breed the other pure. The pure portion is to keep the blood of the
farm; the half-breeds, which are heavier and larger lambs, are intended for
sale. At this time the barren ewes are also drafted from the flock, they
too being fatted for the market.
As the warm days of May pass to those of early June, the shepherds commence
to "gather" their flocks for the washing. In this they are aided by collies
- small wiry creatures, almost inconceivably intelligent. They in nowise
resemble the sheep-dogs of the show-bench, but are mostly built on the
lines of the hill fox. They can be hounded for miles - as far as they can
see the action of the shepherd directing them. In fact they are quite
knowing enough to work without his direction; and I have seen them scaling
a crag and carefully bringing a flock of sheep from the rocks and gullies
where not a single thing was apparent to the eye. "Devil's Dust," "Wily,"
and "Fleet" were three of the most intelligent brutes that ever ran. I have
spent weeks among the mists with the lovable trio. When a head-strong
Herdwick gets upon the shelving rocks of the crags, the dogs never force.
They crouch, using the utmost patience, and rather guide the sheep than
drive it. That these dogs become fascinated in their work there can be no
question. It is clear, too, that the work is difficult, and always more or
less painful; for after a hard day's running upon the fells their feet are
dreadfully cut up by the sharp stones, which in summer blister the hand if
laid upon them. These beds of flat tinkling stones give out their not
unmusical notes as the men, sheep, and their canine guardians, rush over
them. It is usual on the hill farms, where a great number of sheep are
kept,
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to work the dogs in relays. A brace are taken out one day and rest the
next. But at times of gathering for washing or shearing this plan is not
always practicable, and all the dogs are working at once. Upon one such
occasion, when a week of hard work had left an intelligent little bitch
only two legs to run upon, she disappeared in a bracken bed under the
crags. Thence she was not seen to emerge, nor could she be found. It was
afterwards dscovered that she had brought forth five puppies, each of which
she carried separately in her mouth a distance of five miles, returning, of
course, over the same distance. Her treasures she snugly stowed away among
the hay in the old barn.
I have said that it is at the time of gathering in the sheep for washing or
shearing that the dogs are hardest worked. When a fine spring has reduced
the fell "becks" and the clear water lies deep in the pools, then it is
that the washing of the sheep takes place. The water is now tepid; and by
the side of the deepest pool a bit of bright turf is encircled by wooden
hurdles, and a fold constructed. The shepherds have been out on the fells
through the short summer night, and now down the corries long lines of
sheep are seen approaching, though all converging to the rugged mountain
road. The sheep and shepherds are met by a group of fell folk who have come
to assist. These are the "statesmen" and their sons, dalesmen from the next
valley, neighbouring herds, and often wome women. Sorting the sheep and
depriving them of their lambs is gone through, the scene being meanwhile
most animated - men shouting, dogs barking, sheep stamping and fighting the
dogs, whilst others lightly top the hurdles, and attempt to make back to
the fells. Two strapping yeomen wade into the pool to their middle, and the
business of the day commences. The washing of six hundred sheep means a
long summer's day work; and now all exert themselves to the utmost. Two men
take each sheep by both hands and heave it into the pool. Here it is caught
by the washers, well soused, and then allowed to swim to the opposite bank,
where for a moment it stands dripping; then moves off to the sunny sward.
Weighted with water, the creature is stunned for awhile, but soon begins to
nibble the short herbage. During the whole of this time a constant bleating
is kept up between the lambs and their dams; nor does it cease until they
are brought together after the washing, when they are driven back to the
fells. By this time every one engaged in the day's work has imbibed much
strong ale; but hard work has rendered them none the worse for their deep
draughts. Seeing the sheep sprinkled over the fells a few days after this,
their coats are observed to be whiter and the wool more "fleecy."
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list, Washing, of course, is preparatory to shearing; and this comes in a
fortnight. All the dale responds. Goodwill is one of the characteristics of
the "statesmen." For shearing, as for washing, the sheep have to be
gathered in; and this sometimes takes two days and a night to accomplish.
The animals are brought down the mountain-road to the farm and placed in
rude stone folds, each holding perhaps a hundred sheep. The shearers arrive
from up and down the dale, and among them come the parson and the squire,
all in white "overalls." The shearers seat themselves on "creels" ranged
round the main fold, and a dozen stout lads come as "catchers" to supply
their elders with sheep. Bright bands are produced to tie the goat-like
legs of the Herdwicks, and the flash and the metallic "click" of the shears
are seen and heard afar. Soon the scene is one of the most picturesque
animation. A turf fire is lighted, and upon this a pan or tar bubbles and
boils. Standing by it are the owner of the flock and the parson. They stamp
the former's initials and the smit-marks upon the sleek sheep just freed
from their cumbersome coats. The squire goes round among the sheaers and
acts as "doctor." He carries a small can of mixed salve and tar, which he
applies to the cuts accidentally made in shearing. These snips are common,
but arise more frequently from the sheep's kicking than from carelessness
in the shearer. Two or three girls rid the clippers of the stripped
fleeces; and these, together with the fallen wool, are place upon unhinged
barn-doors by two portly dames from down dale; they are then stowed away in
the wool-loft. When all the flock is stripped, comes the banquet. And such
a one! huge rounds of beef, legs of veal and of mutton, qtrs of lamb, hams
and pies of every description. There are sweet puddings and pies, and all
things else in keeping. Then the company withdraw to the barn, where creels
are ranged round against the hay-mows, and strong ales and trays of tobacco
are passed among the guests. A long table is placed down the middle. the
parson presiding at one end, the squire at the other. Glasses are filled,
smoke-wreaths begin to ascend, and the ballads of the dalesfolk are sung.
Most of these ditties have for their subject-matter some "Bet Bouncer," or
commemorate remarkable foxhunts in the district, and are all productions of
the company's immediate ancestors; and on such occasion the parson drank,
sang, and smoked in as orthodox a manner as the rest. This is said in
nowise disrespectfully. The parson was one of ourselves, tilled his glebe,
and had a sheep-run on the fells. These constituted part of his "living."
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At the sheep shearing the lambs are separated from their dams, and receive
the impress of their owner's initials as well as smits and ear-slits. The
half-breed lambs - those bred for the production of mutton - are now weaned
from the ewes, and are not allowed to return to the fells. They are kept
until autumn, sold at the northern sheep fairs, and then sent ot be fatted
on southern grass-lands. Here they feed quickly and make excellent mutton.
Only the pure-bred lambs - Black-face or Herdwick - the future heaf-going
sheep of the home farm, are retained. After the "clipping" and while the
yeomen are carousing in the old barn, the shepherds start on the return
journey with the fleeceless flock. As the lambs are brought to the ewes
there is a perfect babel of bleats. Turned into the long lanes, the white
fleeceless flocks present an indescribable picture of pastoral beauty.
Every sheep hangs upon the hazel-clad slopes, stretching its quiet neck to
the tender herbage. Not a foot of the banks seems unoccupied - two long
lines of sleek, browsing sheep reach away till the bend in the road hides
them. Soon the bleating becomes less general, then it ceases, and a strange
stillness fills the lanes. A breeze brings up the left lambs' voices, and
all is confusion. And thus we plod slowly on to the fells in the sultry
summer afternoon, and turn the flock again upon the green slopes. Soon few
are to be seen; they have dispersed, but seem to have dissolved. Then we
turn homewards, oursleves and the three dogs - not down the long dale road,
but by the "forest" - "forest" only by name now, and thick with peat,
having traces of birch and mountain ash. Our way lies along the "Grassing
heads" running parallel to the valley, but high up above it. Coming through
these rushes prevail, and hidden springs. Among them gadflies rest, and
grasshoppers make harmony with the hidden waters. Then we come into scrub
of oak, birch, and hazel. Flies abound and a few birds.
From what has been said of the farms of the fell dales, it will be seen, as
already remarked, that these are essentially sheep farms, and that wool is
one of the chief products of the "statesmen." Among the many quaint
buildings of the hill folds, one is usually set apart as the wool loft; and
it is deplorable to have to records that many of these, and even the
teeming barns themselves, are full of wool, the produce of many seasons
"clips." For the hill farmer has felt depression in trade as well as his
southern neighbour, though in a different way. Some of the yeomen tell me
that they have four, five, and even six years' wool harvests in their
barns, and cannot sell it at present prices. Time was when the wives and
daughters of
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the "statesmen" spun the wool, and even wove it into cloth. This at one
time was done in almost every house, and by the light labour the long
winter evenings were pleasantly beguiled. And it is somewhat strange that
the occupation was one much indulged in by the poorer clergy who guided the
spiritual lives of the yeomen. Of one of these as a type of the rest we
shall speak. He assisted his neighbours at hay and at shearing; and instead
of receiving money reward he was paid "in kind." He made wills, butter
prints, and was Notary Public to the whole parish. And for little offices
as his reward "in kind," he invariably chose wool; and for a reason. The
tributaryv fleeces he was wont to collect with the aid of a shaggy white
"galloway," with which he always tramped the fells. Across the back of the
old horse were two panniers carried crosswise, in which the fleeces were
conveyed. The annals of this quiet neighbourhood tell how, for eight hours
in each day, he was occupied in teaching the children, his seat being
within the Communion rails. While they repeated their lessons by his side,
he was busily engaged with his spinning wheel; and every evening, too, he
continued the same labour, exchanging, by way of variety, the small wheel
at which he had sat, for the large one on which wool is spun, the spinner
stepping to and fro. And thus the spinning and winding wheels filled up the
interludes of his evening labour. The elder of his children assisted in
teasing and spinning the wool; and at the whole trade it was well known
that both he and his family had become proficients. When the various
processes were completed, and the whole ready for sale, the good man would
lay on his back by 16 or 32 lbs. weight, and on foot would convey it to
market, seven or eight miles, even in the depth of winter.
And yet this primitive parson was a pronounced type of his contemporaries.
He, as they, not only cultivated the glebe about the house, but had, like
the rest of his neighbours, a sheep "run" on the fell. In his live he held
three "livings," and occupied the last sixty years; he died aged
ninety-three, and during the time he was busily employed as we have stated,
he never once neglected his more important spiritual duties. These he
discharged zealously and faithfully, brought up, educated, and established
well in life a large family, and died "universally lamented." His fortune
at his death, amassed by this great industry, amounted to L2,000, besides a
large quantity of linen and woollen cloth spun by himself, and chiefly
within those Communion rails of which we have spoken. The following extract
is from a letter describing him "at home":
"I found him sitting at the head of a large square table, such as [i]s
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commonly used in this country by the lower class of people, dressed in a
coarse blue frock trimmed with black horn buttons, a checked shirt, a
leathern strap about his neck for a stock, a coarse apron, and a pair of
great wooden-soled shoes, plated with iron to preserve them - what we call
clogs in these parts - with a child upon his knee, eating his breakfast,"
&c. Spinning and weaving the wool of the Herdwicks was at this time
performed in almost every house in the dales, and this process provided
clothes both for the male and female portion of the household.
A HILL SHEPHERD.
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{header- Moorland Sheep}
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A MOORLAND SHEEP-FARM.
I HAVE at last found a man who does not love the moors. It was quite by
accident, and consequently the shock was a little more severe. But it came
out so gently, and I was taken into confidence so simply as a
fellow-thinker, that I nearly proved a traitor to my best beloved. I had
just sufficient bravery to refer with apology to the summer flush of the
heather, and memory enough to recall Mr. Ruskin, whose words are ever our
best rallying cries - "beds a foot deep in flowers, and close in tufted
cushions, and the mountain air that floated over them rich in honey like a
draught of metheglin."
I may be wrong, but I think that one who loves the moors is not content
with their artistic glories alone; he lives in sympathy with all the
tiresome routine and startling vicissitudes of the numerous denizens of the
airy and bleak uplands; he is a moor bird, and, to parody Terence,
everything connected with the moors is most interesting to him. Are there
any others, I wonder, who will share with me an interest in the affairs and
in the sorrows of a moorland farmer?
A moorland farm is not necessarily situated entirely on the moors. Many of
the farmers who go by this name have land which, while it lifts its face
into the sky to smile, stoops down also to the riverside to drink under the
shade of trees. The lower ground is invaluable for supplementing the use of
the moors. The produce of these "beds a foot deep in flowers" may be
divided into three parts, namely, mutton and wool, game, and honey, yielded
by sheep, grouse, and bees. The mention of these items in connection seems
to us somewhat incongruous, for what has a moorland farmer to do with
grouse and bees? And yet the three seem to go so well together, they sound
so much like a northern promised land, that we feel disposed to cast the
burden of incongruity rather upon circumstances and ordinances than upon
the idea itself.
Before speculating further on this matter let us inquire a little into the
stock and methods of one of these farmers, whose sheep run
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{continues last paragraph}
on the moors. After speaking of a sheep-farm I can scarcely with propriety
postpone the consideration of the case of the woolly ones, even in
deference to the more noble animals which are associated with them. The
names and nicknames given to sheep by shepherds are numerous. I can only
mention a few. Hogs, or tegs, are the sheep one year old, which are
distinguished as wethers and gimmers, according as they are male or female.
A ram is usually called a tup, and a ewe is pronounced something like
"eowe." Barren gimmers are fed with wethers, and become prime at four years
old. I do not know why I am writing this: it is not meant as a compliment
to butchers, whom I do not consider literary, nor to instruct them, for
they know the ages at which animals are prime. The use of what I am
detailing will best be seen when some town bird visits the moors and begins
to talk to the shepherds. A careful use of the words "tegs," "gimmers," and
"tups" will soon gain the Yorkshire moorland heart.
Shearling is an adjective applied to the various classes after the first
shearing; for instance, a "shearling gimmer," "shearling wether,"
"shearling tup" are expressions used. The corresponding terms after the
second and third shearings are "two-shear," "three-shear" gimmer or wether,
as the case may be, and so on. The age may be learnt from the teeth: a
shearling casts his two front middle incisors, and the two next to them in
the following year. This shedding of the teeth is not always at the same
age for each sheep, but varies a little according to health and condition.
Those jolly old batchelors among sheep, who know all the runs, and take to
each class of food exactly in the right season, are styled "old cock
birds." They are favourites because they thrive on poor food, stand the
wintry blasts bravely, and yield good fleece. But alas! when they become
very old cock birds they are extremely tough eating. "Old crocks" are old
ewes whose teeth have begun to open, and whose fate it is to be sold to go
to lower lands to receive more shelter in their old age.
I am now speaking of a millstone grit moor, and one can readily understand
why the sheep do so much better on limestone than here: for it appears
that, while on the grassy hills they have a continuous and uniform pasture,
on the moors they only take to the food provided for them because they
cannot obtain anything better. When they have become accustomed to dead
ling, with an occasional dry rush, they are recommended to leave these and
to try the louk grass and moss-cops; and when they have habituated
themselves to that vegetation, their guardian will again force the ling
upon their notice. The fact is that, though the sheep do not appear to see
it
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clearly at the time, one class of herbage comes in as the other dies out.
There is on the edge of the brows of the grit formation, in the early bloom
of summer, a fine grass called "mountain fesk," to which the young animals
must be brought to give them a start in life. They soon take to it, but
even when they have eaten the gound bare, and have before them the prospect
of starvation, they must be driven off repeatedly and shown other food
before they will relinquish the old ground. Yorkshiremen are like their
sheep - a real native would almost prefer to die rather than leave the old
spot: once "earthed" you cannot drive him from his home!
It is perhaps well for us that the silly sheep do not fancy the ling during
the summer, when we and the bees enjoy it so much; but, when the "back-end"
comes, we - the bees and ourselves - are more indifferent, and they - the
sheep - less so. We might here, too, "point a moral": for do we not often
neglect, in its glorious beauty, that which we turn to in its withered old
age? "That harvest of amethyst bells; what substance is there in it, yearly
gathered out of the mountain winds, stayed there as if the morning and
evening clouds had been caught out of them, and woven into flowers; 'Ropes
of sea-sand' - but that is child's magic merely, compared to the weaving of
the heath out of the cloud. And once woven, how much of it is for ever worn
by the Earth? What wieght of that transparent tissue, half crystal and half
comb of honey, lies strewn every year dead under the snow? No one is less
likely than Mr. Ruskin to forget the sheep, and I need not therefore ask
his permission to disturb some of this snow. We shall have to bring up some
harrows, and with much labour draw them over the white sheet; but fodder is
scarce and dear, and if the sheep starve their master is likely to pine
too. So this dead, ungathered "harvest of amethyst bells" is garnered under
the snow, to feed the hungry flocks and enrich the toiling farmer, after it
has performed the proud part of its task for us and for the bees.
When the cold season sets in immediatly after the warm weather it affects
the sheep with blindness unless special precautions are taken to shelter
them in huts. It would be well if in this matter it were more usual for
farmers to benefit themslves, while bestowing a greater boon upon their
charges, by arranging for some rude shelter to which the flocks "might run
and be safe." As soon as the frost and snow begin to disappear the ling
becomes drier and less relishing, and we have to inquire what diet Nature
provides next. Accident, the old cock birds, and artifice, all conspire to
point out the newest dish. In working among the ling the young sheep now
begin to pull
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up by chance a few louk shoots, which the older ones recognise with
pleasure as soon as they see them. The shepherd himself, if he be a
considerate one, also pulls them up and strews them on the ground, because
he is really anxious for the inexperienced to learn their value. The louk
grass soon makes this value known by the increased healthiness which it
imparts: the clear, bright faces, the good complexions are very soon to be
noticed, and when once the flock have accepted the new food they begin to
thrive and do well.
The pulling-up of this grass is not a pulling-up by the roots, but a
drawing out of a sheath - a process which is only possible after February.
Birds, moor-game, and others understand this. Possibly the same sensations
which occur to man from well-cooked asparagus are present with the sheep
and birds; and Nature, being the most correct of cooks, will not serve her
dainties up until they are ready for the palate. The wily shepherd
therefore attempts to present the soft, juicy end to his saucy youngsters
by the method referred to, and the smart way in which the old hands can
draw out and nobble from the bottom upwards is worth observing. The
moss-crops are the young flowers of the louk, which are bitten off at a
time when the parent stem begins to be drawn out.
Afterwards the bents succeed, and carry the nibblers through the summer, at
the close of which an adventure awaits many of them, to which I must now
refer.
Those farmers who have not lower grounds suitable for wintering young sheep
are compelled to make terms with others, who undertake the care of them at
a certain price per head. This custon of "festing," "gisting," or
"joisting" (all these terms I have found confirmed by Halliwell) seems to
have been in use from early times. The period of agistment commences at
Michaelmas, and ends in some places on the 6th, at others on the 24th, of
April. The sending-away of the young flock is as pathetic and anxious a
matter almost as sending lads away from home to school. The masters who
supply nourishment at from six shillings to seven shillings per head are as
varied in their characters as are the gentlemen of whose profession Dr.
Arnold and Mr. Squeers are acknowledged types. Sheep are not to all
Yorkshiremen mere representatives of wealth; the farmers take care of them
from goodness of heart as well as from greed, and while they deeply regret
the death of the poor dumb beasts, they can, when the money-sore is healed,
laugh as heartily over their own mischances as over some humorous tale at
another's expense. I knew one very careful farmer, so careful that his
friends said that, if it were only sixpence which came into his possession,
"it were a prisoner." This
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man had, some years back, taken a nice little crew of about thirty sheep
down to their alloted ground; but he only brought one back. To elicit this
miserable information piece by piece - as the old man paused between spells
of slicing turnips with part of an old scythe - and to see his countenance
assume every aspect of pain, sadness, anxiety, until the final catastrophe,
which compelled him to bubble out in shouts of mirth, perhaps slightly
hysterical, was a sight well worthy to be seen.
The rule is that if a sheep dies the man who joists it receives the wool,
the owner the horns. This latter arrangement is a necessary safeguard,
because, the horns being branded with the shepherd's name, he knows that
the missing sheep has not been disposed of. The young flock are not fit for
market, and therefore the temptation to dispose of them is partly removed.
But I am not prepared to swear that sheep-stealing has yet entirely
disappeared.
Some of the places to which farmers are induced to send their sheep do, in
fact, turn out very poor indeed. One of my friends, who had a confiding
appearance about him, took a flock to a man at the back-end, and set of
blithely for them in the April following. He found the number complete, but
something about them, which it does not require much freemasonry to
explain, caused him to follow them home profoundly and sorrowfully
ruminating. They were mere skeletons; and the old country blacksmith, who,
no doubt, had passed many a remark" about them during their residence near
his smithy, threw himself in the way of the youth. "Are they all alive, my
man?" "They are." "Then they've ony just come out bat-i'-hand." "I thought
the same," said my informant. It appears that the old smith meant, "They
have stayed in, indeed, which is something; but they have done nothing -
they have made no score." And he hinted that sheep-owners would do well in
future to inquire as to the antecedents of the schoolmaster, whether he
were a Dr. Arnold or a Mr. Squeers.
Among the chief enemies of sheep are holes. I said that the louk grass
keeps them free from disease, and that they thrive well upon it, and I
might have added that the flocks which inhabit swampy peat soil are free
from "foot-rot." To go further, sheep which are already infected with this
disease may be cured by turning them out upon the bog. I may explain that
there is a species of bog which is not peaty, but of a clayey, tenacious
character. It produces a grass called by the shepherds "fluke grass": a
seductive but most pernicious food. But in the bogs are holes - how they
get there we shall perhaps see later - and when the sheep is quietly
nibbling off
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the moss-crop which overhang them, deceived by the heather and ling which
grow over the side, the dog suddenly startles it and causes it to fall into
the pit. As many as five victims have been found at the same time in one of
these traps.
The fact that we use steel monitors to illustrate what rams can do in the
way of warfare is some indication of our opinion of their prowess. There
were two rams of similar styles which met one morning on the moor. One,
just purchased, bore a bad character; the other had actually, on this very
moorside, killed several competitors. The owner of the latter is suspected
of causing the meeting; the owner of the former saw it. At first they
walked round each other, and then they marched off twenty or thirty yards,
as if it was all over and the business ended. But now they commenced to
pull and champ or chew a piece of ling stubble. One bleated to the other
and was promptly answered. They faced towards each other, putting themself
into attitude, and, like arrows, shot together. Being old pugilists, or
batterers, they ran with their bodies almost touching the ground, so that
the shock might find them glued to the earth. This is all-important,
because anything so spindle-like as legs would disappear like a spider's
web. With all the art and crouching of the home ram, however, he flew in a
somersault over the stranger's head, and the heart of the onlooker was in
his mouth. They were both alive, in spite of the shock, and the one who had
stuck to, rather than stood, his ground went back to see how his adversary
fared. Then they separated for a second time, but did not go so far apart.
Then they met, and a third time retired to the end of the lists, and
finally withdrew for a fourth encounter, on each occasion the distance
being less. In the end they grazed amicably together, and for the future
the one who turned somsersault admitted his rival to be the conqueror,
although there was nothing further to denote the reason. Thenceforward it
would be said in sheep-circles, when alluding to this encounter, as the
slave of Aufidius said of Coriolanus, "I do not say 'thwack our general,'
but he was always good enough for him."
In the majority of such engagements one of the combatants is killed.
The farmer, besides his flock of sheep, keeps a few milch cows, from which,
in his forefather's days at least, if not now, butter was produced of high
esteem. The buttermilk, mixed with a little meal, helps feed the small
stock of pigs which in summertime must "find themselves."
He keeps a horse, and occasional rears a colt. The work of the
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list, horse is varied. He does a little ploughing for potatoes and turnips'
"leads" the hay and procures bracken for bedding; and assists in getting
peat. Formerly, little else but this peat was used for fires. On
some farms the stock has not been entirely cleared out for a qtr of a
century. The digging of peat accounts for the numerous holes which I have
referred to as dangerous to sheep. The depth of the cutting varies greatly.
In earlier times each farmer had his own appropriated breadth which it was
his right to cut.
It is said that no bread tastes so well as that baked on the live peat coal
itself, and the ashes of the peat make a splendid tillage: which fact
neutralises a few of the strictures of the press - whether Tory or not is
not my duty to say - regarding some of the methods of the Irish tenants.
The Yorkshire, as well as the Irish, tenant has his troubles, and I may
venture to refer to them again. But the moors of heather themselves seem
ever full of joy: "Continual morning for them and in them; they
themselves are Aurora, purple and cloudless, stayed on all the happy
hills."
II.
The sorrows of a moorland farmer are not a few. I must not speak of the
arrival of mutton from the River Plate and from New Zealand, but of one or
two matters which make this struggle with these imports more difficult and
distressing. The simplest way of putting these difficulties is to say that
a tenant-farmer is not his own master. He cannot grow the crops which he
thinks best, and when his crops are grown he cannot deal with them to the
greatest advantage.
The question of game introduces itself into this important discussion on
crops. A farmer wishes to produce a little wheat straw for bedding and
thatching; he can also do with a little wheat, in order that he may get his
batch ground for his household and his cattle. I will for a moment imagine
him to be more confiding and less suspicious than he really is. I will
imagine him to be so driven by blind fate as to put in a little wheat, in a
suitable situation, and I will ask the world to watch the result with me.
If we were ourselves to walk over the ground, we should simply remark -
"How well the wheat looks!" and after a certain time we should say - "It
seems to be in a fair way for a good crop if the rains keep off." But the
gamekeeper, prowling over the land, looks at the green sprouts with very
different feelings. At first he cannot believe his eyes, but afterwards he
feels "it must be, it is wheat." As soon as he is quite satisfied
about this, he scarcely confers with flesh and blood, but he writes out an
advertise-
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[advertise]ment which he forwards to a suitable paper. This advertisement
intimates that a good price will be given for hares of a certain age. The
appeal is well responded to, and forthwith a colony of hares are "taken,
and brought, and clapped down upon the land," to use the elegant words of a
friend. The entire crop is thus devoted to the feeding of these strange
hares, in which he has not the slightest interest; not as much as the value
of the seed is produced from the field. It must be remembered, too, that a
hare will sleep on the moors, and come down daily from his couch, miles
away, to eat from any crop which is specially pleasant to his taste.
It may be thought that the farmer has himself power to destroy the hares
which infest his wheat. He has this power, but the landlord has also an
out-balancing power of finding another tenant if the hares suffer. Most of
the farmers to whom I allude are on the annual tenancy system, and the
tenant is, as a matter of fact, entirely in the gamekeeper's hands. One of
the items, therefore, in out northern paradise is wanting: the game is
entirely the property of the landlord, and is in his eyes the most valuable
living thing upon the estate, not excepting the tenant himself. In any
northern paradise this cannot be: the farmer must have entire control over
the game, and must be able to deal with it as he thinks best. Without a
doubt he will take care of it within due limits, and re-let or sell the
shooting to the best bidder or to his favourite sportsman. The keeper will
be the servant of the farmer, not his enemy and tyrant; and probably a more
scientificl method of preserving some of the rare species will
arise; sport will become a better test of skill, poaching will be less
possible; while shooting will give health to greater numbers of workers
than it does at present.
It is curious to note how the older men are much more nervous about their
landlord's displeasure than the younger ones are. The older Israelites
longed more ardently for the flesh-pots of Egypt than the younger ones, and
the generation of Aaron had to die out before the generation of Joshua and
Caleb could enter the promised land.
The farmer may not dispose of certain of his crops without his landlord's
leave, and consequently a dull, monotonous routine is necessitated, which
is good for no one. The man who has to contend with American wheat and
beef, with Australian mutton, with foreign hay and oats and beans, cannot
do so with shackled hands, nor by means of a cut-and-dried system which is
supposed to safeguard the interests of the landlord; but he can only
survive by means of keen
l Much might be added here as to the great variety of game which
could be encouraged on the land by using the different kinds of ground
available.
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wit and active energy, which adopt every advantage of chemistry, and adapt
themselves to every demand of the townspeople who are close to his fields.
I was about to obtain relief in somethings like Donald's method - "I shall
tamm the Boat if you will, and the Trouts - and the Loch too!" - but it is
better not.
Perhaps the revelations which have been made in Ireland will prevent any
strong representations appearing as to the dwellings which are thought
suitable for some of the Yorkshire tenant-farmers. I can only judge from
the limited number of instances which I have seen, and I must say that this
fine old stronghold of the English yeoman is not without its tenements
which are only partially roofed, destitute of every necessary adjunct of
civilised life, and utterly uninviting.
But even in the least luxurious farm-house, where the inmates one and all
have a hard struggle to earn a living, there is much to interest and
attract. The horse which makes its weekly journey to the market town
carries generally an alluring assortment of produce. After an interval of
decay, butter-making is improving rather than declining of late years;
poultry-keeping is increasing; mushrooms and blackberries are becoming
staple articles of sale; and we hope soon to see game and honey added to
the list. Fruit has been neglected, although it would do much to assist the
weekly income; vegetables and flowers are now very rarely grown. Let the
traveller point out any human race throughout the world whose members are
more naturally formed to bring about a perfect state of farming than the
race of Yorkshire dalesmen. They are strong and active, careful, shrewd,
and persevering. If once started and filled with a little cheerful
confidence, some member of the family of the moorland farmer would know
each bee, be familiar with the haunts of every hare, select good fruit
trees, put in the most suitable vegetables, and have a plentiful supply of
eggs and poultry at all times, besides being easily first in all the larger
branches of the business - horse, cattle, and sheep. No one like a
Yorkshireman can understand entirely the pleasure of "the trivial round,
the common task"; and he would soon take earnestly to the only means of
meeting foreign competition. To encourage and assist him would not be an
unworthy effort of the landlord class and of the public.
So much for the potentialities of this worthy tenant race. Some of their
ways are strange. I do not find them very much at church. The question is
worth asking - how far his necessary duties to his stock excuse this
abstinence, and how far the clergy trouble themselves to interest and
attract their parishioners. Their absence from
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church on Sundays is somewhat made up for by the very great regularity with
which they appear at all funerals. One of my friends, who happened to be
clad in his best clothes for some excursion of a semi-holiday kind, was
passing the old stone-breaker, by whom he was accosted in these words:
"Now, John, thou'st meade a mistack; they're not buryin' him to-day." the
squire had, indeed, died, and nothing but a funeral could properly account
for the very respectable clothes.
At some of the funerals there used to be singing as the procession moved,
and in one instance the minister lost his book, causing the party to be
thrown into a slight state of confusion. The chief mourner - perhaps a
little self-conscious, as rural folk sometimes are - called out in
impatience, "Now, come, sing something and gang on; we look very okward
standing here." So that it has become a saying when anything puzzles,
"Come, let's sing something and gang on, as Tom Anderton said at t' buryin'
of his mother."
A few relics of superstition may still be found in these regions. The
kitchen chimney in an old farm-house having taken fire, two lads were
poking it to put out the smouldering soot, when, to their surprise, a
bottle fell down; when they had wiped this bottle they saw that it
contained hair, pins, and needles. They did not open it at the moment, but
later, after showing it to their father, they expressed their intention of
either breaking or opening it. This, with much fervour and excitement, he
forbade them to do, lest the charm or spell, which he declared emphatically
must depend on this bottle, should be broken also.
Naturally many of the superstitions are connected with their stock, on
which the farmers have to depend for existence. A calf which dies under
certain circumstances is buried feet upwards under the groupstone, after
having been stuck full of pins and needles. This is done to prevent a
recurrence of a similar calamity.
A fine old man, now living in decent retirement and comfort, was accustomed
to bind the church with withies to drive out the witch when the milk was
too cold to turn: the scientific temperature of Dr. Voelcker was not then
arrived at. I knew this good old man well.
It was considered unlucky not to scratch a cross upon the cheese at
Christmas time; but this ancient usage belongs to a class other than thoese
referred to. The most remarkable case of survival of superstition which I
have myself encountered is the following, which is true of a neighbour of
mine within the last ten years. It was considered unlucky if, after the
birth of a calf, the owner did not distri-
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[distri]bute the "beastings" (the first milk) to the surrounding farmers'
wives. It was a most essential detail that the can or jug in which the milk
was sent should be returned unwashed. But details were nothing if the
original presentation was not made: the omission of this courtesy was a
most unlucky error. The farmer to whom I refer, through some oversight or
neglect, did not send the customary beastings to one of the neighbours,
and, "as ill luck would have it," he was very soon visited by a series of
disasters, which he attributed, with all the energy of heartfelt belief, to
the witchcraft of the woman whom he had overlooked.
We may still hear of the celebrated "barguest," or "guytrash" - the animal
with great saucer-eyes, which walks on the tops of walls and jingles
chains. Wonderful stories are yet told of these creatures, and descriptions
are given as to how they walk round the house, and look in at the windows,
while, for fear of their eyes, some will draw down the blinds as soon as
darkness falls. Now that the animal itself has become extinct the name is
applied to any ill-conditioned horse or beast.
A personality less imaginary, but more illusive, than the last is the
"Will-o'-the-wisp," or "Peggy-wi-th'-lantern." Thomson says:
Drear is the state of the benighted wretch
Who then, bewilder'd, wanders thro' the dark,
Full of pale fancies, and chimaeras huge;
Nor visited by one directive ray,
From cottage streaming, or from any hall.
Perhaps impatient as he stumbles on,
Struck from the root of slimy rushes, blue,
The wildfire scatters round, or gather'd trails
A length of flame deceitful o'er the moss;
Whither decoy'd by the fantastic blaze,
Now lost and now renew'd , he sinks absorb'd,
Rider and horse, amid the miry gulf.
The case which I am about to mention is not so bad as this, but the light
must in reality be very deceptive when it misleads the moorland farmers and
shepherds. One of these men was out in a heavy, damp, foggy night, when he
saw a light across the field which he took to come from the lamp of some
poachers. He went towards it, but found it shifted its position rather
rapidly. He thought it wiser, therefore, not to waste his breath by
running, so he called out, "Now, you've no need to run, I see who it is";
but the poachers made no reply. Consequently, he "made after them" as fast
as he could, to try and overtake them, but when he got near the fence the
light seemed to make a circle round almost to the spot
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which he had just left. So he went to the nearest farmer's house, and
acquainted the inmates that certain poachers were in the fields, and a
party set out to take them. "But," he said, "wherever we went,
'Will-o'-the-wisp' was always somehwere else." "Peggy-wi'-th'-lantern" -
this ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire" is like Bardolph's nose in
the matter of moisture; it prefers a wet meadow of tenacious soil, in
November, on a still night. The deep ones who have studied her think that
she is neither more nor less than a conflict of gases arising from the
earth. The philosopher adds that the world is a large "Peggy" - its bright
things are never to be realised; following her is like going
Straight down the crooked lane
And all round the square.
I must not forget the sheep, which have to endure what the "fantastic
blaze" exults in. The damp atmosphere infects them with a kind of catarrh,
and makes them what the shepherds call "phantom-headed." And they appear to
be most susceptible to all coming changes in the weather - before a winter
storm, for instance, they are seen to become very nervous.
In the list of living things among which the moorland farmer lives I have
omitted my old friends the dogs, two of which find a place near him, when
his work is over, not far from the fire. In one of the characteristic
letters which I sometimes receive from my "Yorkshire shepherd" occurs a
passage which I will venture to introduce in this place. Speaking of a
celebrated Scotch dog, he says a photograph would greatly assist those who
wish to study this breed of Collie: "it would bring symmetry and
intelligence together, as he has a good head. The late Duke of Wellington,
I have been told, used to say that he liked to see a man with a long head -
it bespoke a long memory, and I quite think so in sheep-dogs. I am sorry to
say that many of the dogs we have lack that propensity, although they are
descendants of the dog Rik, whose offspring were kept in this
neighbourhood, and were so highly esteemed that they had them stuffed and
put into a glass case (of course, after they were dead); but I think we
have not many here that merit that bestowal." I am not quite sure whether
my friend means the phrase in parenthesis for a joke, or to correct any
suspicion I might have that the dogs were killed before time in order that
they might be conveniently stuffed.
I do not think that I wish any evil to landlords; I am sure that I wish
every blessing on good ones, of whom I could name many;
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but I wish that the system did not stand so grievously in the way, in many
districts, of better farming and more successful English, as opposed to
foreign, work. I should like to see a combination of all classes to bring
about good and cheap mutton; plentiful game, butter, and eggs; vegetables
and fruit in perfection and in plenty. Lastly, from the game- and
sheep-stocked moors let us hope soon to hear the drowsy hum of bees, whose
various homes shall be, with the other living things, on every farm. If
town and country are neither of them misled by any "Peggy-wi'-t'-lantern,"
but combine for the benefit of all, we may yet attain a golden prime, both
in our cities and on our moorland farms.
GEORGE RADFORD.
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{header- The Shepherd's Year}
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THE SHEPHERD'S YEAR.
TO a casual observer no alteration in the life and practice of the shepherd
seems possible which does not involve the destruction of the rugged silence
and the atmosphere distinctive of the fells as well, and few will have
noticed that the system of mountain sheep-farming has been completely
revolutionised within the last half-century. On every fell considerable
areas have been enclosed, at first a few acres at a time by dry stone
walls, and later wholesale by wire fencing, parish boundaries being first
defined across the open moor, and the ground subdivided among the farms in
proportion to their claims to heaf. The wilderness of peaks crowded round
the Langdales, Wastdale, Borrowdale, Ennerdale, and Eskdale is still
undivided, but even there the danger of loss is so reduced that the
shepherd's vigilance has been greatly relaxed.
Within the last seventy years the indigenous mountain sheep of Westmorland
and Cumberland has been improved out of all knowledge. It is still below
average size, though much larger than it once was - standing about thirty
inches at the shoulder, and weighing about fifteen stones when fully grown
and in fair condition - carrying more and better wool, and being of a more
robust constitution - the result of patient cross-breeding with the larger
southern and the hardier Scottish breeds.
Anyone who has visited the great sheep fairs within a day's march of the
fells will remember two distinct types of animals - black-faced and
grey-faced, together with an alarming number of crosses. Though cramped and
hampered in their movements, these little grey-coated sheep show their
alertness in repeated dashes for the open, some even showing open defiance
of the dogs in charge of them. At these fairs the difficulty of keeping
flocks separate is great, and only possible by the help of the most
intelligent and well-trained canines in the world. An instance of this rare
intelligence is well remembered. Two farmers, returning from a fair,
allowed their flocks to mix. After their ways parted, one discovered that
three of his number were missing, and therefore next morning called
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upon the other. He had not noticed the addition, having straightway turned
the whole drove into a large field among the others. How to pick out the
missing ones seemed impossible, as they had no distinctive brand mark, till
one noticed his neighbour's dog, which had followed him.
"Dosta think t' ahld dog 'll ken 'em?"
"Ah don't knah, but mebe she will. Nell, tell mine!"
The dog chased round the flock and almost immediately singled three for
special attention; the humans, it may be added, accepted this verdict.
The sheep-dogs of the fells are sheep-dogs alone, seldom descending to the
chase, and bearing themselves on all occasins with dignity and decorum. In
breed they are chiefly Old English, or that crossed with the Scotch collie,
very handsome animals both of them. The pure-bred collie, being incapable
of withstanding the exposure of a life on the mountain side, is lost to its
natural duties and instincts.
The dreary grey-green slopes of the mountains are the best grazing ground,
and these affording few picturesque views are avoided by the popular
touring routes. Yet in an excursion between Little Langdale and Eskdale,
over a pack-horse trail now little used, a flock of sheep, under the
control of a shepherd and two dogs, may be met. Passing over Wrynose, a man
is seen coming up the narrow valley. In irregular strings, grey fleeces
wander along at different levels, over scree and boulders, in and out of
craggy ghylls, across patches of damp, wiry bent-grass, and it is difficult
to understand that this crowd of animals is under complete command of the
heavy-booted dalesman. Two dogs, one grey, the other black, are barely
visible, yet so alert that at the first shrill whistle they will instantly
drive the sheep nearest them more quickly forward (and what one sheep does
the rest follow), or bring the wings of the flock nearer the centre as
desired. They are always on the look-out for stragglers, and it is indeed a
smart animal that can break back without being caught.
The Shepherd's Year may be said to begin in the spring after the Shepherd's
Meet. This festival was founded when communication between outlying
districts was very difficult for the return to their owners of strayed
sheep. When a wander was found during autumn or winter the shepherd
incorporated it in his flock till the Meet, which was held at some secluded
place among the fell-heads. The institution is now almost dead - its glory
has departed, and the work-a-day fells do not tolerate useless cere-
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[cere]monies. The fells were then a wide stretch of open land, and no one
had the right to count the eatage of another's sheep, but with the
consolidation of the heaf-going rights, these free and easy dealings came
to an end.
The grass grows longer on the moors, the skylark loudly trills the signal
of departure to the fell, and every day at daybreak the sheep collect at
the gate at the head of the intakes, waiting for it to be opened. At last
the day of liberation arrives, the shepherd climbs the dank slope and opens
the way. In an instant the pathway is jammed by a hurrying, struggling mass
of sheep anxious to forget the privations of winter in the liberty of the
spring; the shephard affectionatley, but in vain, exhorts the mob "to tak'
time"; the dogs wander about whimpering with delight at the prospect.
When the last sheep has darted past, the shepherd drives slowly along the
hillside, with his dogs to right and left, within easy signalling distance.
In a piece of country much broken by crags and ghylls, where there are
abundant places for an idle sheep to be hidden and left behind, the dogs
are rarely more than 300 yards away from their master, dividing the ground
very skilfully and watching it completely. When, however, a gentle sloping
basin of green moorland is reached, they often take up positions near the
horizon, trusting to hear the commanding whistle. At such times the
distance will be over a mile from the shepherd. One would think that, in
such dead silence as that settled upon the fells, oral instructions would
be easily transmissible, but few good shepherds employ this method of
command, except when "folding in" for the evening. Instead, successive
generations have developed a code of whistles which are intelligible at
immense distances, coupled with a system of motions with arms and body
which is equally effective. A very pretty exhibition of the complete
control exerted by the shepherd over his dogs was the following. We were
walking up a narrow valley: in front was a farmhouse; on either side and
behind it rose the cliffs, with a few slacks (or less severe slopes) by
which approach was to be made to the open moor. A man standing in the fold
was whistling commands to an unseen dog. We stopped to chat with him - for
fell-head dwellers are not averse to a few minutes with the very occasional
visitor - but he motioned us to silebnce. We could than hear his dog
barking on the moor above. A sheep appeared on the sky-line followed by
quite half a hundred more, after the last of which came a black-and-tan
dog. As soon as they were in view, the farmer gave no more signals; "t' dog
could drive 'em haem," he said. His
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apology for not speaking at first was that "Ah was working t' sheep doon
frae the t' fell, and ah couldn't see what me dog was dewen!"
As spring dies into early summer, the lambing season commences, and this is
the most exhausting of all periods for the shepherd. While the sheep in the
valleys bring forth their young in March and April, May is often here
before the first lambs are born on the fells, and this is much earlier than
it used to be, thanks to the cross-breeding previously mentioned. The chief
anxiety at this time is to keep away the foxes, the presence of which
terrifies the ewe and may do it serious harm. The fox is also very partial
to new-born lambs. The gun is used freely, and dozens of animals are
annually killed in those districts cursed by an "earth." The hawks,
carrion-crows, and ravens are rarely troublesome in these days of strict
game-preserving, and the taking of nests among the crags is no longer an
arduous necessity. Fell sheep have only one lamb each as a rule, and this
gains strength and size to a certain degree very rapidly. After the lambs
have all come the shepherd is more at liberty to wreak vengeance upon the
foxes. The fox-cubs are now playing about the "earths," and the shepherd
plots against them. When the first gleams of sunshine are illuminating the
fells, he crawls as near as possible, sheltering among the boulders. Under
his coat he carefull carries a terrier, which at some convenient juncture
he releases. Then commences a scurry towards the nearest hole. The
squealing cubs dash in, the terrier - now lusting for blood - follows.
Subdued subterranean thunder commences - the dog has met the female fox and
is fighting for its life. It may come out blood spattered and breathless,
with a ludicrous consciousness of victory, or the silence which follows
becomes a proof that Grip has been borne down and killed.
As summer advances, the smoky-grey fleeces grow long and the sheep pant
wearily along the slopes. Night feeding is resorted to, and the blazing
noon sun sheltered from as far as possible. In the dale-head, in a basin
abutting the moor, a dam is put across the beck, which, though a raging
muddy torrent in winter, has shrunk to such a tiny trickle that a week
often passes before sufficient water collects to wash the sheep. As a rule,
a fold is chosen which, from its situation in some upper valley, allows a
number of farmers to join forces for the washing. The flocks are driven
across the fells, and skilfully manoeuvred into the outer fold. From this
they are thrown into the water, where some of the shepherds stand
waist-deep to receive them and prevent their drowning. When their coats are
thoroughly saturated they are lifted out and examined for foot-rot and
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other ailments. The smell of strong disinfectant lingers about the place,
with that of tobacco and ale, so that the air becomes almost rancid if no
breeze is stirring. A sheep-washing is the most picturesque of all
fell-land events. The restless sheep waiting to undergo their dipping, the
sheep-dog
Patient, full of importance, and grand in the pride of instinct,
Walking from side to side with a lordly air and superbly
Waving his bushy tail ... ...
the shepherds, heaving the sheep into the water or, waist-deep, standing
there to catch them, the intent groups turning the animals over to examine
their feet for the hated "rot," the released sheep spreading out over the
wide hillside, with clean fleeces contrasting strongly against the green,
and above all the great green hills and crags echoing back the occasional
bark, the frequent bleat, the murmur of conversation. While the washing is
going on, opportunity is taken to give the lambs the mark of the branding
iron, and to see that the older sheep are correctly marked. Fell sheep are
branded with their owners' initial burnt into hoof or horn - the farms
differing in the location of these marks according to the rules of the
dale. The usual tar fleece-mark is palpably of little use on an animal
which is constantly wandering or lying among moisture-beaded tussocks of
grass or soaking patches of heather and bracken. The iron is now seldom
used for marking the face of the sheep, but ear-punching has frequently to
be resorted to for distinction of flocks.
On the day following the washing, the shearers take up their work, and very
rapidly they do it. According to unwritten law, the day after shearing is
over is given up to sports. These are as in the days of "Chistopher North"
and the Lakeland Poets, who frequently joined in with the dalesmen.
Everyone tries his hand at wrestling, and some ludicrous contest take
place. A couple of white-haired veterans get up to decide the victor in
some bout which ended in a draw half a century ago. A ring is formed, a
referee chosen, and the contest begins. They prance around, get holds and
slip them a dozen times, then settle to work. After a good deal of
struggling they topple over, the worthy underneath averring that he
stumbled over a tussock of grass or slipped on a stone. "else he was just
gahen to bring him ower t' buttock." The referee's decision is disputed,
and, egged on by their laughing partisans, the lower challenges the other
to another bout.
"Na, na, lad, ah've licked the' fair enew."
After "t' clippin'" the routine of the shepherd's work begins
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anew, but the summer mists have now to be contended with. Generally
speaking, nowadays the shepherd's chiefest dangers - and so far as actual
casualties are concerned they are quite mild - lies in this. At any other
season the day shows ar early morn what it will be. The night mists
dissipate, and the sky becomes clear "as a bell" in spring, the jags and
crannies of the distant mountains being very distinct; in autumn, the west
wind piling billow upon billow of dense cloud on to the mountain foretells
to the shepherd that the valley cannot be left to-day. For weeks together
in winter the mist hangs over the fells, soaking the spongy moss; but the
shepherd does not need to venture forth then. When a gale is blowing on the
hill-tops - and what is a barely perceptible often is of immense strength
there - the sheep are very loth to go up, and the shepherd therefore drives
them on the more sheltered side and into the ghylls of the mountain.
When feeding, sheep have often to cross considerable beds of scree from one
patch of herbage to another. So long as their footing does not give way
there is no danger, but "with the slip of a sheep's feet goes its head,"
and very often they struggle wildly down hill with the debris they are
dislodging. Terror robs them of all power of climbing. A boulder from the
crags above may hasten the final fall into the rock basin or "doup,"
hundreds of feet below, where the scree bed ends. On other occasions they
become crag-fast while climbing. The sheep dare climb no further up the
stiff angle, and the shepherd must not descend lest a gathering momentum
should carry him past the animal and over the cliff. A rope is used, and
once a man is lowered, the animal regains courage and, guided by hand and
voice, makes a final effort to get back to safety. Only occasionally are
sheep blown over the cliffs during gales, but this is not so entirely due
to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs in keeping them from such
dangerous situations as to their natural aversion for windy positions. The
comparative immunity does not, however, apply with so much force to some of
the lower crags, especially those surrounding the deep pools of the
mountain becks. The rocks in such a place are apt to be treacherous, not
only being loose and broken, but masked with long fringes of rotten heather
and bracken. Near the level of the cascade by which the water enters the
"dub," the slope becomes more abrupt, and it is here that sheep lose their
footing, fall into the water, and, help not being at hand, they are
drowned. So many as half a dozen carcases have been observed floating in
the pool beneath a mountain waterfall.
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The shepherd may be driving, on what appears to be a settled summer day,
along an elevated valley, walled in by rocky ridges, when a cloud drives in
behind and beneath him, completely blotting out dogs and flock in a filmy
veil. At such time young shepherds may lose their bearings and wander into
an adjacent valley, but the dogs will bring their charges safely home.
Sheep do not move far when the mist hangs, but as soon as it rises make off
like the wind. Experienced men, therefore, simply halt and wait for the
clearing, which may be some hours distant. But even if he abandoned his
flock, the shepherd would come to no harm. The novice at traversing fells
under cloud may suddenly find himself on a ledge where an incautious
movement threatens a fall into a tremendous chasm, but there have been
signs of this far back. Occasionally a shepherd who has been caught in the
mist walks home in front of his flock, having passed through without seeing
or hearing them. It is obvious that the air, being surcharged with
particles of moisture so fine and dense as to convey a white impression to
the eye, will not readily carry sound.
There are many opinions as to whether sheep-dogs are ever at a loss to
determine their position as well as that of the flock. My own idea is that
they locate themselves perfectly by hearing - and it is acknowledged that
their sense in this direction has a wider range than ours. Some of the more
observant shepherds, too, use this power. They are aware of wide
differences in the sound of wind and streams at different points of their
beats, and of this we have a proof. We were wandering over Bowfell with an
old shepherd. The mist hung in ragged edges half way down the Band; the
ill-marked path ceased at the summit, and we blundered along towards
Esk-hause. The old man allowed us to guide until we came to where sheer
cliffs seemed to drop in every direction, and we in despair appealed to
him.
"Listen," he said.
A curlew whistled far above, the wind lisped among the crags and screes
around, the merry rattle of a distant rill rose from beneath. The old man,
without a word, of explanation, took us round the hillock, and again we
listened. The curlew was silent, the wind a trifle more boisterous, and the
sound of rushing waters more clear.
"The sound heard on the far side of the hill was that of the outlet of
Angle Tarn" (which, indeed, was almost sheer below), "whereas you now hear
the infant Esk."
The weeks pass on - the days are sultry and the newly shorn
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sheep, on a fine afternoon, commence to huddle towards the walls and under
the crags, the foxes run slily towards their earth, the hawks and ravens
congregate round their unclimbable nesting-places and scream derision at
the deepening silence. A thunderstorm is approaching. For the past few days
a dense bank of vapour has been collecting in the south-west, heavy and
black at sunrise, dissipating into a distant dancing blue at midday, and
massing again at sunset. A slight breeze rustles among the grass and
heather, cooling the feverish air; a sound like the slaking of quicklime
rolls up the valley. The sky grows still darker, and the shepherd seeks a
shelter whence he can see his flock. There is a momentary lifting of the
clouds, and then, dark grey with falling rain, they swoop along the distant
fells. A ragged flash of lightning illumines the valley-head, a peal of
thunder crashes, and the storm begins. Every half-minute the scene is lit
up, and crash and roar re-echo through the glens. Now to the parched
slopes, the dingy crags, and the shrunken rills comes the rain in sheets.
In half an hour every defile is full of water, and it is a time of great
danger to the sheep who have sheltered there. Trapped by the flood on some
grassy level they are swept away and drowned, and the screaming, wheeling
scavengers of the fells mark where the body lies. The storm ceases almost
as abruptly as ir began, the sun shines out, and the mountain sides are
redolent of new life.
Now summer draws to a close; frost rime covers the grass at daybreak, the
days get perceptibly shorter, high winds are frequent. At first the
shepherd drives his flock along the higher ground, to conserve the more
convenient forage for days when fog banks and snow will not permit a visit
to the tops. The heather on the moor dies from purple to brown, the grassy
slopes assume a flabby yellow, the becks swell out under the liberal rains,
and everywhere the approach of winter is enclosed. A very anxious period to
the shepherd is this. So long as there is grass he must drive his flock
along those wide upland plains where the cold north-easter races, over
which snow and rain squalls hover. The work is one of inconceivable
discomfort, the most harassing side of a disagreeable calling. During these
patrols one or two sheep may elude the vigilance of the shepherd and his
dogs, and these are seldom folded home. The fox and the raven squabble over
the carcases.
Occasionally the dogs bring the flock home through the whirling flakes
without the shepherd's aid - he has walked in the semi-darkness associated
with a mountain snowstorm on to the treacherous fringe of a ghyll, and been
hurled fifty feet or more into its bed.
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Sometimes the fall is followed by unconsciousness, and this means death.
One of the world's most plaintive scenes is that of a flock being guided
home without human aid. The dogs halt at the head of the intake waiting for
the gate to be opened, the sheep in dumb terror huddle towards the bars.
Backward and forward the faithful collies wander, with an eye towards the
mist-enveloped higher ground, expectant of their master's return. When this
state of affairs is noticed from the farmhouses, a search-party is
instantly organised, and news of the mishap spreads like lightnining far
down the dale. In half an hour a dozen resolute men and a score of dogs are
ready to face the white horror of the fells, and all night long, whether a
screeching blizzard hold revel or the bright moon shines over quiet banks
of snow, the search is carried on. The dogs are most useful now; their
sense of smell allows them to mark down any body lying beneath the wreaths,
and usually a rescue or recovery of the body is effected ere the party turn
towards home and rest.
The following record of searches for sheep among the snow-drift gives an
idea of the way in which recoveries of the wanderers are sometimes made.
"The snow abated before morning, when word came round that about fifty
sheep were missing from Crag Forset Farm. Our friends straightway prepared
to go and see if their services would be of use, but before the farm in
question was reached we saw a party of men and dogs making towards the open
fell. By cutting across one or two intakes, knee-deep in snow and slush, we
intercepted them before they divided to examine the likeliest hollows and
ghylls to right and left. Here and there a wind-swept summit or tall bleak
crag loomed above the glittering white, a few dark lines alone showing the
deeper ghylls. The wind was 'quiet' or 'lown'd,' as the shepherds call it,
or we would have been unable to cope with the drifting snow. ... The men
stopped where they said was a buried ghyll, and the dogs began to smell
over the frozen crust. In a few minutes one barked, then followed a most
exciting burrowing as the whole pack got together. Our party began to dig a
few yards away from the place the dogs had located, for the ghyll was deep,
and if the sheep were at its bottom a tunnel might have to be made. The
powdery drift flew before the quickly-plied spades, and soon the foremost
worker was below the level of the snow. As we scarambled down to take a
turn with the tools (for the work was most exhausting), we found the heat
in the excavation already great. In one corner a frozen mass was presently
encountered. This was carefully dug round, and in a few seconds a sheep was
liberated. 'No worse; it
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has only been one night in the snow,' was reported as we settled again to
work. No further signs of life being found, a dog was brought down. After
careful smelling around in the semi-darkness he selected a particular
corner and began whining and scraping a hole. He was instantly hauled away,
and digging commenced anew. More sheep are found; then, with a sigh of
relief, we climbed out into the open air. How fresh and biting after the
smoor of the tunnel! More gullies and hollows were traversed, but the dogs
gave no more alarms till we approached a point where a boundary wall dipped
out of sight into the snow. After glancing along the surface, the shepherds
opened a small trench, and in less than ten minutes had exhumed almost a
score of sheep. Seeing neither smear nor wrinkle on the glittering
snow-crust, we asked how it was possible to locate the sheep so nearly, and
the following explanation was vouchsafed. 'When caught in a snowstorm, a
sheep immediately lies down in the shelter of a boulder, wall, or gully,
broadside on, so to speak, to the gale. Its breath rises through the porous
covering, and being partially condensed on reaching the air, a damp place
is made on the surface of the drift. When the animals are barely covered
the shepherd looks for this sign, but when they are deep below, the damp
points are so minute that they cannot be discovered.'
Now let the calendar move to the thirty-ninth day after the events already
described.
"The scene on the fell is in strong contrast to the huge snow-bed we were
last upon. There is a lingering beauty in the glittering levels, an
impending horror in the awesome cliffs and the thin straight lines which
marked ghylls too deep for the snow to fill. But to-day, after a prolonged
thaw (for December), the dead yellow grass appears between long narrowing
swathes of grimy snow - the contrasts have toned down considerably, and
only on distant mountains is there a wreath of unpolluted white. Yesterday
morning we were wandering over the forest with the shepherd and his dogs,
when old Sam - a cur of vast intelligence, but with so savage a temper that
his fangs have long since been broken to prevent him injuring such sheep as
he drives - gave that low whine inseparably associated in our minds with a
sheep-rescue.
"'Drat it, Sam, what is ther?' cried the shepherd; then, turning to us,
'That's t' third time t' ahld dogs "set" when it's cum be't fell edge.'
"We walked to the edge of a rugged crag, below which a few tree-tops stuck
through a mass of snow so firmly plastered that only an inappreciable
quantity had yet thawed. The dog was now beside
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list, itself with delight and excitement - clearly some sheep were buried
here. In a short half-hour a force of diggers had collected, and the
necessary shafts rapidly made, but not for four hours of stern hard work
did we come against the steep cliff face and find - nought. We had taken a
wrong direction. Old Sam (the dog) was brought down to indicate anew the
whereabouts of our quest, and after digging some yards to our left we
encountered one of those hardened blocks which we knew contained a sheep.
After being entombed for almost forty days the poor creature was in a
deplorable state. Its stommach seemed to have shrunk almost entirely away,
its eyes were glazed and sightless, its whole body limp and powerless. The
mouth opened, but so low had ebbed the stream of vigour that no sound
issued. The sheep was barely alive. A little gin was at once administered
to rouse the digestive organs so that nutrition might be given freely,
after which blankets were brought up from the house. Wrapped in these the
sheep - a very light burden indeed - was transported to the warm kitchen,
where it was fully brought round. The dogs gave great trouble at this
point, and we were told that the quietest of them would not hesitate to
worry and kill any sheep it found in so emaciated a condition. It has been
remarked that sheep-worrying is always most rife during the early spring
after such a mishap as an early winter storm. Digging again, more dead than
alive, another two were reached together. Though so closely imprisoned in
the snow, one of them had been able to reach its companion, and had torn
and eaten the wool from its qtrs. The surgical skill at command could not
remove the wool clogging its vitals, and a few hours after the rescue the
sheep had to be killed. The last gallery cut in the snow enables us to
reach a sheep which had squeezed itself during the storm close to the
cliff. The moss, so far as it could reach, had been devoured, the soil had
been sucked from the crevices of the rock, and the bare stone had been
polished by much licking. The sheep was the best in condition of those
rescued that day."
Sheep which have been buried in the snow for such lengths of time are very
slow to recover from the effects, and few of them are sent again to graze
on the fell. They are fattened at all hazards and sold to the butcher.
When it is observed that the average mountain sheep-farm has twelves acres
of land on the tops to one in the bottom, it will be apparent that the
sheep turned off the grass in autumn would over-stock the other land if a
large number of the lambs or "hogs" were not wintered at other places than
on their owner's farm. On the
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moss land near the sea farmers are open to take them and keep them alive
till spring, and to these places a good many are annually driven. Before
this system was broached the mountain farmer could only hope to raise
one-half of his lamb crop - about one-sixth succumbing to the perils of
early days on the moors, and one-third more during their first winter of
sheeer hunger; for the hay crop in these elevated situations is a very
small one, and other food is scarce. The sudden change of level and diet
involved in wintering out has invariably a bad effect on these immature
animals, and often a considerable number die.
For the ewes at home the winter is a time of privation. It makes the heart
ache to see them follow the shepherd with his load of hay, greedily
consuming whatever may fall; to see them, when snow is on the ground,
endeavouring to scoop something eatable out of a frozen, half-rotten
turnip; to see them lying against the walls for shelter when the blizzard
runs riot up the valley, chewing their cud in quiet misery, perhaps
thinking of the awful storm that is raging on the higher ground. The
shepherd is having a hard time, too, in carrying food through the knee-deep
slush, but there is a warm kitchen for his shelter when his work is done.
Still, he approaches his hungering flock with genuine pity; he knows that
sheep which left the moorland weighing over a couple of hundredweights will
only carry half that weight back again, and that many will never range the
mountains again. he feels savagely the hardship of it all, but he is
powerless to alter it. Therefore he is glad when anything happens which can
make him forget the dumb suffering of his flock. Card-playing at night and
fox-hunting during the day are the only recreations possible in the dales.
Everyone, male or female, has sworn death to the foxes, and hounds always
have an eager following. The whole population joins in the hunt, and more
than one female has been chosen "Hunt Mayor" in different valleys. As this
appointment requires a correct knowledge of "earths" and how they may be
stopped, as well as of the especial propensities and whereabouts of the
local foxes, it must be conceded that the ladies so honoured could at least
hold their own with the men in knowledge of the technicalities of hunting.
The "Mayor" is the local deputy M.F.H., having complete direction in the
field when hunting in his own district. A new "Mayor" is usually chosen at
the supper after the last hunt of the season in a particular district, and
this feast is a great event in the shepherd's diary.
While in the district the hounds are maintained by the subscriptions of the
farmers, many of whom contribute in kind, one sending
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in a sheep, perhaps, and another a bag of meal. The huntsmen's wages are
quickly raised, and the farmers vie in offering to kennel the pack. At some
ancient farmhouse a meet is called at the earliest hour there is light
enough to see properly. Retiring by day into the most out-of-the-way parts
of the mountains, the fell fox is forced to run some distance ere
committing his depredations. He makes nightly sorties into the outlying
valleys and distant levels, and in his attacks on fowl-houses is even less
merciless than his brother of the shires. A single fell fox once raided a
goose-hovel, no fewer than sixteen of which were missing when when the
place was visited by the owner next morning. Clearly the fox could not have
deported this number of birds, and eventually the dead bodies were found
buried in the midden, not twenty yards from the hut in which the geese had
been kept. Bearing in mind, therefore, Master Reynard's propensity to
wander far of nights, the huntsman is early afoot, and attempts to
intercept his return. He draws the "lown'd" side of the fell (i.e.
that side on which the breeze is least felt) first, and rarely fails in
getting a chase, for, as previously noted, the game is numerous. Striking a
trail, the hounds race merrily into the fell-heads - Reynard in front,
hearing their music, makes forward to gain his home before they can
overhaul him, but finds his way baulked by a number of shepherds and their
dogs, who have climbed to the earth while it was still dark. He turns to
make for another "earth" more distant, but is often rolled over in his
stride. As the morning goes on, more and more scents are struck, with the
inevitable result that the pack splits up into threes and fours, each bevy
hunting for all it is worth with a detachment of the field chasing after
it. No fewer than seven foxes have been known to be afoot in the hinterland
surrounding Buckbarrow earth at one time, within a radius of half a mile.
The "earth-stoppers," it may be remarked, are often disappointed of a view
of the hunting after all. I knew one man of over seventy climb from Sacgill
(sic) to the top of Buckbarrow before daylight. Arrived there, he stopped
all the holes he could find, lit a small fire of peat, and stayed till
nightfall, with his two dogs for company. This was on a day when February
rain-clouds closed thick about the fells, and his position could only have
been one of great discomfort. Meantime the huntsman, in a farmyard half a
dozen miles away, was disconsolately wandering about alone, for on the
previous day, when the hounds were walking across the mist-piled division
between two valleys, the majority of them had bolted on a hot scent, and
could not be traced. However, they turned up at the kennels (at Ambleside
some ten miles
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off in a line), having apparently run to Swarthfell earth, near the foot of
Ullswater, a distance of at least a dozen miles as the crow flies. Whether
they killed the fox they pursued so far and so well cannot be told, but I
have a great desire to believe that it escaped and is still ranging the
fells. May it be in front of our pack next time I go fox-hunting with the
shepherds! With such incidents as these to pass the time in the happening
and their recounting, the shepherd's winter drags slowly through, and
longer, brighter days at length proclaim the advent of another year.
WILLIAM T. PALMER.
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.435}
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{header- Ghylls}
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GHYLLS.
NEARLY the most miserable class in society contains those who have just
fallen below distinction, while their efforts have raised them high above
mediocrity. These persons are unjustly described by the brilliant as "the
rank and file."
In crag-climbing there are a few who seem to successfully emulate a fly or
spider in negotiating slippery rock walls, who can scramble unmoved along
the sheerest precipices, or climb untiringly at the steepest ascents; then
come "the rank and file," whose deficiency of nerve or strength does not
permit such risky work. Where do we find this class during the holiday
season? Squatting under some towering crag maybe, which it is their
ambition to ascend, in the vain hope that familiarity with its outline will
breed contempt for its dangers; or spread-eagled in some dangerous
situation, as the man who, many years ago, attempted to climb Piers Ghyll,
a narrow deep chasm in the side wall of Scawfell Pike (Cumberland). He
scrambled on a ledge nearly level with the waterfall which closes the
direct ascent of this most majestic ghyll, then lost confidence and dared
neither advance nor retreat. Twenty-four hours exposure made him desperate
enough to leap into the pool thirty feet beneath, in which manner he
escaped.
"A good cragsman is a good mountaineer" is a proved axiom, and it has been
the habit to advise all failures in the higher branches of crag work to try
this art; but when the fells are so thoroughly and accurately mapped out,
and paths are so distinctly traceable as they now are, few adventures
happen to the careful man, and the fierce struggles which form the chief
delight of crag-climbing are wofully lacking. There is another branch of
British fellscraft, however, which may meet with the favour of such
persons, and which should be better known to every one; but to discuss this
it must be assumed that every climbing machine; every rock scrambler, has
found his natural sport, for the man to whom this pastime is open must be
able to discern grace and symmetry in the waterhewn
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rocks, picturesqueness in the beetling crags, and lively interest in the
many charms of the ghylls of the fells.
A ghyll, it may be explained, is the hacked-out course of a fell beck or
stream, and may be divided into three scenic sections: first, the approach
- generally by a wide moorland glen, narrowing into a defile at its head
and choked with boulders of all sizs and shapes. The succeeding portion is
the gully proper. The deepest waterfalls are here, as is also the hardest
climbing. The lofty cliffs surrounding the fosse are split into irregular
chimneys and negotiable angles, aiguilles abound, yards wide rise
spray-washed slabs without the slightest irregularity on their polished
surfaces. The head of the ghyll is a return to the natural scenery of the
fell; in some places this is reached by an easy grass ascent, in others
after a rough scramble over piled fragments of rock. A steep cornice may,
however, bar the way, or the ghyll bebouch into the hollow of a scree
basin. Then comes a struggle upwards, the grit slides away at every step.
The wide scree gully in which the stream of debris originates is reached,
and progress becomes not a little dangerous. The rotten "mountain delights"
which your feet have set in motion slip away from loose rocks on the higher
slopes, and down they bound at fearful rates. Keep in the shelter if you
can, and wait for the solid rain to cease. You cannot dodge the flying
pieces, for however quick your eye may be in marking, the treacherous
foothold does not permit rapid movement. And the speed some of these
dislodged stones attain is wonderful. The writer remembers, when climbing a
scree under Fairfield, seeing a portion of cliff topple over, some hundred
feet in front. It simply bounced through the air, struck a spur from the
parent rock some dozen yards from him, and burst into dust and splinters.
The crash was louder than the explosion of a fair-sized cannon, and the
very mountain seemed to quiver at the shock. Had not a crevice afforded
shelter from the mass of shingle which for some ten minutes whistled down
the side, these lines would never have been written.
Some ghylls are mere fissures in the mountain sides, with lofty cliffs
rising sheer from their beck beds. In these the imprisoned water races down
without a break on its surface, a yard wide, perhaps four deep. You
scramble along the wall of rock and look down upon the scene, or
laboriously work a way along the ledges, at every turn leaping the stream,
leaving insecure foot- and hand-hold on one side for points equally
insecure on the other. Then you come to a cataract, the brook tumbles over
an abrupt scar into the deep and narrow basin, hollowed by and for itself.
The gorge is closed,
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.437}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.437}
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{continues last paragraph}
advance is at an end, retreat impossible, for there is not room on the
narrow ledge in which to face about. There against the sky-line, forty feet
up or more, is a splinter of hard rock which has presented more resistance
to weather and water than the rest of the cliff. Follow its bold outline to
the water where it forms a promontory between two minute bays. A tiny crack
shows in the angle at the head of the cove, up which is the best way out,
but there are five yards of mossy damp crag between you and that. Carefully
the body is pressed against the slippery surface, and a sidle forwards
commences, a notch, a microscopic chink affording precarious hold. The tiny
bay is reached, and a few feet further is the crevice desired. An outcrop
of felspar now forms a tiny escarpment above your head, and holding to this
you drag along the sheer smooth breast of rock - your whole weight on your
arms. If the ledge presents the slightest irregularity your fingers will
fail to grasp it, and with a mighty splash you go into the dimpling pool.
But the worst predicament is not eternal, and in ten seconds you have got
into the cranny. After a short breather, up the chimney you struggle,
wrist, forearm, thigh, and calf all working at their fullest power. A
gathering light comes in from the left through the cleft between the
aiguille and the cliff. A lightning flash, more powerful than wind or
weather, has cracked the former in many places, making it dangerus to
ascend. The platform behind, however, affords foot-hold, and you have
another welcome rest. The road of the waterfall fills your ears, and you
look through the gap at it. How curiously near it seems! - you can almost
step into its creamy spout. Splash, splash, thud, crunch, splash, splash,
thud, crunch, in wearying reiteration, comes up from the well below. Across
the gulf a sheer cliff rises, lines and broken in its upper part as its
twin on which you are clinging, but dropping, a broad smooth slab, into the
whirlpool beneath.
In other ghylls, the climbing is less severe - these are the pretty
secluded glens by which the effluent of many a mountain tarn finds its way
to the parent river. The first two miles of the one in mind are between
bracken-covered slopes. Willows, mountain ashes, and hollies flourish, the
clear water rushes down rock slides from pool to pool, but further up the
scenery becomes wilder. The bed of the beck is strewn with large fragments
of rock fallen from aloft, which are happily adapted to the many-shaped
waterfalls displayed in the first short gully. There is some hazard in
frequenting these places, as many a man has had proof. The shepherd has
possibly seen the fall of an immense mass of rock into the shallow where a
day or two previously his charge made halt to drink. I know one ghyll which
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.438}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.438}
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{continues last paragraph}
in a single night was choked by the fall of a bordering cliff, so that a
lovely waterfall was formed with a deep pool above and another below the
obstruction. Many a natural bridge of "choked" rock is formed by such an
event. In the higher portion of this stream is a large tarn, and just
before it is sighted, the waters of the outlflow are pent into a gorge
between two mountains, and cascade after cascade breaks upon the view.
Climb along the river bed here - it is difficult and tiresome work, but the
vantage is unique. The water churns round in a mad whirlpool here, a few
yards in front it races towards us on what appears to be a lofty rock shoot
but which later discovers itself in the form of a dozen tiny falls. The
water does not seem to fall from one to another of these - it is more of a
single roll or a bound. Alert bright trout dart about in transparent water,
devouring whatever food the beck brings down - a hard-cased bracken clock
which has attempted a flight beyond its power and perished, a soft mollusc
torn from its rock-home, or a caterpillar dislodged by the passing breeze
from some twig. Carefully coasting round a mossy corner into a recess from
which the cheerful thunder of water proceeds, we enter a crag basin of
remarkable charm. We find footing on a slab which almost spans the stream.
It has peeled from the cliff above and has been caught in its descent on a
narrow ledge. The brook splashes against its sides and grumbles under it at
the outlet. The spray-damped cliffs are green with moss; down the gaps by
which the springs from above reach their bourne, hang long streamers of
water-weed; a wren has taken possession of a dry pocket among the rocks
opposite and is surveying us suspiciously. It twitters and scolds, defies
and threatens, but its trouble is for nothing. The niche in which it homes
is impossible to reach, even if we were so minded. Green and grey and
yellow, white and crimson and brown, are imparted to the drier precipices
by the lichens; silvery birch boughs sway above, green yellow roots hang
into the turmoil of the water. A dipper dashing up the gully sees a human
presence, hesitates a flash, then passes at accelerated speed, its wild
song echoing over the drone and boom without a tremor or a pause. This rock
hollow is merely one among many equally pretty, and pen, pencil, or brush
fails to convey half its delights. As the slippery cliffs afford no
handhold on this side, we cross the ghyll and attack a cleft down which
dangle, as so many ropes, the roots of a mountain ash. Holding to these we
easily gain the higher level of the glen, and make forward. Passing the
mountain tarn, we enter the upper col, and among my many climbs this has
been the most unsatisfactory. It is a wild delve in the mountain side,
steep banks
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.439}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.439}
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of scree slope into it, with here and there a tongue-like benk of tawny
grass. The little stream purls and rattles by your side as you force your
way over the yielding debris, promising a rocky and picturesque source.
Higher and higher you struggle, and the water correspondingly shrinks in
volume. The fanlike streams of shale and dust have here invaded the narrow
dell, and you may hear the beck grumbling and spouting beneath the feet.
Further up the ground seems to rise more abruptly, and your hopes rise, to
be quickly dashed, for the stream is now too weak to burrow a course for
itself. The moisture from a wide grassy basin percolates through the dank
green moss, trickles in thin lines down the inequalities, or in wide glassy
sheets slides - it cannt be said to flow - among the steeper rock faces,
accommodating itself to all angles without a sound or a splash. And this is
the source of the stream you have so laboriously traced.
Another fine gully is entered from an old quarry. After carefully
negotiating a succession of dripping slabs, on hands and knees, you reach
the darkened bed of a chasm. On the right the light is excluded by
perpendicular rocks crowned with a plantation of dark firs, on the left a
less abrupt slope, covered with dainty oak-fern and evil-smelling "ramps,"
rises to a thicket of hazel, overtopped by ash sapplings. A couple of these
have fallen and form a living bridge high above the stream. Climb carefull
here and shun the ferny slope, for the thin bed of leaf mould slides down
with the slightest pressure. A misty gleam in front shows that the chasm
widens, the noise of falling water proclaims a cataract, and soon its
trough is reached. The tiny stream is descending in a succession of mossy
steps, now close to one bank, now to the other, wandering as it wills over
the wide face of rock. In winter, when the spongy fell is thoroughly
saturated, a huge volume crashes through this defile. Then the gorge is
impossible to scale, the trough is a churn of angry yellow-brown waters,
and the tiny tinkle deepens to a majestic roar. Above the fall the water
still descends in picturesque cascades, at one moment rushing pell-mell
down a tiny crevice between smooth black rocks, playfully diving into a
deep black dub at another. In one corner it divides round a green boulder
on which a few whisps of grass and a foxglove find sustenance; further up
it passes an abrupt ledge in a pretty spout. The merriment of the brook
seems to infect you, and you feel that you have lost a companion when you
reach its source in the
"Mere of the moorland
Boulder-environed."
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.440}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.440}
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Entering a ravine which has a most unpromising opening near the top of a
slate quarry, we notice stupendous crags which augur hard work. Their lower
stratas are however much broken, and the first emerald green basin of water
is easily passed, but further up a giant mass overhangs the ghyll. After
carefully surveying both sides, a tiny jut is tried and - found wanting.
The adventurer loses hold on the rock and is immediately immersed in about
ten feet of water. The other bank is examined more carefully and a long
traverse discovered. Along this we happily sidle, making holds for hands
where possible. At a most awkward point the traverse comes to an end, and
the way back has to be crawled at some risk.
The most dangerous "gully" incident was met when climbing by a waterfall.
The rock (ironstone) was steep, but rotten. We directed our climb towards a
block apparently about five feet in diameter. Perhaps this was finely
poised on a bed of yielding sand or clay, for as soon as we got weight upon
it over it toppled, narrowly missing crushing us against the wall. The
boulder fell into the deep water, and of course we fell too. A wetting was
a lucky finish to this adventure.
I well remember descending a very pretty ghyll - or was it the splendid
conditions which made it so? It was a lovely morning, and we had climbed
High Street during the hours of dusk in order to see the sun rise. A long
bank of purple haze had lain along the horizon, but the sun rapidly rose
above this and flooded hill and valley, mountain and lake, in a very blaze
of glory. At 5.30 we made a move towards Mardale, where we hoped to get
some breakfast. Down the steep mountain-shoulder, where the path was a
dodge among the boulders, we made rapid progress to Blea Water, the waters
of which were rippling in a slight breeze. At the foot of the tarn we sat
for a while on the grey lichened slabs, enjoying the bright warm morning
sunshine. Then down the bracken-covered slope again to a small waterfall
most picturesquely situated. The sun shone directly into its deep rocky
basin, and every surge of the tumbling water was telegraphed to the eye in
flash and glitter. Some mountain-ash trees clung round the steep rock,
their long roots, white and green, hanging dripping into the clear pool
below. Seen under these indescribable circumstances the sight was a very
memorable one. It was only the pangs of hunger that forced us to move on.
One of the best expeditions for one who has a real liking for the smaller
beauties of water and rock scenery is Sacgill (sic). This is at the head of
Longsleddale, a long narrow valley of the usual lakeland
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.441}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.441}
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{continues last paragraph}
type, with an unusually cramped defile at the foot. Right in front, as you
cross the narrow switchback bridge from the cluster of ancient houses known
as Sacgill (sic) and turn up the edge of the torrent, are Harter and Grey
Crags, the abrupt front of the former continuing in Goat Scar, a pile of
rough fox-haunted crags. Grey Crag is a pyramid of huge cliffs where the
more daring dalesmen annually climb to the nests of hawks accused of
harassing the sheep. Carrion-feeders these undoubtedly are, but hardly
guilty of this heinous crime. As the walk is proceeded with, a curious
depression in the dale-head is reached - a flat entirely covered with
stones, which at some distant time had evidently been a tarn. Portions of
this level are still banked up to make pools for sheep washing, and a
strong wall has been built across at the foot to prevent loose debris
washing at flood time upon the cultivated valley below. At the head of the
depression comes our ghyll. At first the usual succession of small
cataracts, each with its clear pool where the water swirls awhile ere
escaping down the water-worn green slabs which constitute the steep river
bed. The path, or rather the sheep track, which serves this purpose,
becomes steeper, and the falls correspondingly higher. You rise from the
valley in a succession of mighty steps; the shelf on which you are standing
prevents your seeing the route by which you came, giving in return a
distant view of the valley shimmering in the bright sunshine, with still
further, range after range of moorish hills, with here and there a rough
cliff, till the distant sea closes the view. You are now in the very jaws
of the pass; a spur of Goat Scar approaches the stream from the left, and a
tall corner of Gray Crag forces itself into the narrowing glen opposite.
Now the more immediate river banks rise higher, the rolling waters in front
come by a swiftly descending curve. At this point we climb round the foot
of the rocky bank, here some fifty feet high, and find a standing place on
a small beach. This is the only place in the rock basin where such a
foothold is possible. Behind us the crags rise, covered with tiny clumps of
mountain sage and fringed at their tops with waving bracken fronds. Beyond,
higher and higher rise the stony ridges to the crags, which strike the eye
in whichever direction it is turned. The beck tumbles into the small cleft,
and as yet its unbroken descent is out of sight, but the soft, liquid,
churning sound betrays its presence.
As other venues fail us, a tough scramble up the grass hung bank commences.
From the bank of the gorge are several grand vertical views through
luxuriant mountain ashes of the stream dimpling in the deep crevice, and
then of the waterfall, with its brink twenty feet
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 1 p.442}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 1 p.442}
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{continues last paragraph}
beneath, its chasm full fifty. Further on comes a number of pretty
cascades, then you emerge from a water-hewn gallery on a level with the
stream. As the pass widens, a belt of tough slaty rocks is approached, and
down these the beck shoots. Not a bush grows near - we are at too high an
elevation, and the view savours the desolation. Watery-green rocks pall;
the succession of streams sliding almost noiselessly down long smooth
surfaces becomes monotonous; ridge after ridge of stony fells gives a
dreary impression, but just where the pass opens into the swampy moor is
its redeeming feature. Threading along the course of the beck, we see a
stream issuing from a crag-guarded ghyll, and on approach find that the
stream fills it from bank to bank. A few stepping stones allow one to reach
a place where some advance can be made along the foot of the cliffs. Then
ford the stream at the shallow, and climb the jutting crag to the right.
You are now in an amphitheatre of rocks. In front is the waterfall, its
spray damping you through; almost beneath is the chink-like passage through
which the water escapes. On either hand tall crags rise, all dripping with
spray, and hung with luxuriant mosses. Here and there a fern, hart's tongue
or similar slime-loving variety, find roothold; a huge fragment, torn down
maybe by lightning, reclines precariously in a corner, ready, it seems, to
fall and block up the pool. An active person can spring easily across the
narrow gulf to the cliff over which the stream is pouring, and there find
sufficient hold to climb out. But it allows of no mistakes. A fall into the
well of the cascade is to be dreaded, as the unfortunate could only trust
to the stream carrying him into the outflow passage; there is no handhold
within reach by which a good position could be secured again. After this
ghyll, not more than fifty yards in length has been explored, the tour is
finished, and it cannot fail to have been a most pleasing one.
WILLIAM T. PALMER.
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.356}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.356}
{header- Nights in Lakeland}
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NIGHTS IN LAKELAND.
TO understand a district properly it must be seen under widely varying
conditions of weather and season. Probably few of the crowds who annually
visit the English Lakes have any adequate idea what their surroundings are
like when the last gleam of purple has died in the west, and the grey of
the distance has thickened into night. To some, natives as well as
visitors, the district is as interesting during the hours between sunset
and sunrise as when the sunshine renders every detail of hill and valley
clear and distinct. If you are not likely to be nervous, and are not afraid
of loneliness, cross the width of the district, say by the coach road from
Windermere to Keswick, under cover of night, and you will fully understand
the beauty of darkness. It was at one o'clock on a semi-dark June morning
when I walked through Windermere village on this trip. Once clear of the
houses, the rustle of the rabbits as they plunged deeper into the woods,
the endless craik-craik-craik of the landrail, the occasional deep whistle
of an otter from the beck or the lake, were the only sounds to break the
silence. The lake was without a ripple as I passed along its shores at
Lowwood, the night-glow reflected on its steel-like bosom; a charfisher sat
in a motionless boat towards the middle of the lake, a disturbed
white-throat scolded from the reed beds. I felt inclined to go no further -
to sit down on the low wall here and wait for daybreak. Surely it would be
a noble sight to watch the early sunbeams stream over Kentmere fells and
light up this beautiful lake. Not a soul was astir as I passed through the
market-place at Ambleside, but a man walked stealthily from a side street a
little further on, and set off towards Rydal. I tried hard to overhaul him,
but could not; ultimately he evaded me by entering a copse near Rydal Hall.
By two-thirty I reached White Moss; by this time the light had so much
improved that the fell beyond Rydalmere was clearly visible. Here the first
skylark sang, and as I struck along the old road to Grasmere, birds rose
from every meadow and mountain-pasture, and the air rapidly filled with
warblings. Looking towards Seat Sandal I noticed the upper clouds
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.357}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.357}
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{continues last paragraph}
were tinged with golden sunshine, and by four o'clock I met the cold breeze
which at sunrise drives over Dunmail Raise. Past Wythburn the wind became
stronger. The waters of Thirlmere dashed in white spouts against its rocky
shores; the fells behind Armboth were clear of mist, but only the lower
slopes of the mighty Helvellyn could be seen. As I passed into the wider
valley, the sunshine seemed to filter through the clouds, and the last five
miles to Keswick, which was reached before half-past seven, will always be
a pleasing memory. The contrast of mist-hung mountains and sunny green
woods and valleys was most striking.
A different side, as well as aspect, of the country has been rendered
familiar by mountain ascents at night. For our last - a climb of Scawfell
Pike - we left Windermere at seven o'clock and strolled on to Elterwater,
near which we stayed till after eleven. Then, under light of a pale
half-moon, we plodded into Langdalehead. My brother was suffering from
tender feet, so after picking a way among the rough cobbles to the foot of
Rossett Ghyll, he called a halt till the light should allow our getting an
easier path. Then, taking off his boots, he went to sleep for an hour and a
half. This place was very quiet, yet it seemed that its very silence had a
basis of sound, for inarticulate whispers and murmurings rolled up the
dale, and more than once I patrolled the sheepfold, inside and out, to make
sure no one was near. By half-past two we were able to proceed towards
Eskhause. Angle Tarn was passed still in the shadow, and we only caught the
sunshine streaming through a break in the mist-banks when a long way up the
pass. A strong westerly wind drove grey cloud-masses among the distant
northern mountains. For a moment Helvellyn would break itself clear of the
whirling mist; Skiddaw and Saddleback seemed to revel in the reek,
occasionally throwing up a summit or a shoulder as though to mark their
whereabouts. Not till the shelter at the pass's head was reached could
anything be seen of the mountains beyond Styehead. Then we turned from a
view of Bowfell, rising supreme through a sunlit patch of mist, to see
Great Gable mounting in grand outlines into the masses which, as smoke from
a volcano, seemed rolling out of Ennerdale. The fells beyond and around
Honister were visible, but in a few moments the white cloud-tide eclipsed
them. Would this wind-swept stream envelop Scawfell Pike before we could
reach it? As we toiled into view of the crags this seemed very likely.
After a drink from the infant Esk, we passed into Ill Crag. The path for
about a hundred yards wound among huge blocks of rocks, and striding from
one to another of these we continued the climb.
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.358}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.358}
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{continues last paragraph}
Between the distant Catbells and the nearer Great End was a splendid vista
of Borrowdale with Derwentwater - a well of green, on which floated several
darker patches. A sullen waste of water among savage, rocky mountains - the
older guide-book writers would have described Styehead Tarn. The Gables
stood in a mighty wall across the valley, their foot in depths unseen,
their summits now wreathed in swirling cloud. The crest a few seconds ago
sheered clear and bright, but a wave of mist overcame it. On Broad Crag we
again encountered the horrible pave of oblong blocks piled at all
angles, for which this range is notorious. As we got along the ridge - and
though laborious, the pace was fast - Wastwater came into view over
Lingmell Crags, and we then saw that the Pike, the highest summit in
England, was clear of mist. For the last hour a steady drizzling rain had
been falling, and we had been wet through for some time, but we faced that
last loose slope eagerly. The boulders round the summit attest to patience
and ingenuity, for level paths have been made to the half-score low
shelters dotted among the crags. From this point we got our only tolerable
view of the west. The cauldron of Ennerdale still poured its vapour over
Great Gable to roll in long irregular volumes eastward, but through the gap
of Wastwater was a darker band - the Irish Sea. At the most favourable
moment, almost the whole coast-line from St. Bees to the Lune was in view.
Wide expanses of glittering sands marked the estuaries of Kent, Leven, and
Duddon, but further out a dense blue mist shut out all possibilities of the
view of Man, Ireland, Scotland, and Snowdonia, for which this peak is
famous. We did not stay long by the cairn, as at any moment the western
breeze might whip an outlying cloud over us; indeed, we had not gone more
than halfway towards Broad Crag when this did happen. It was, however, so
thin that we hunted saxifrages among the rocks, and had a look down Piers
Ghyll before going on. What a tremendous gulf this is! Half a mile down was
the main gully, with a few of its cliffs, tiny with distance, visible.
Crossing the crags to Great End was an easier task than before, and soon
after half-past five we were near Eskhause. Just as we entered the basin of
Angle Tarn a big black raven wheeled past with a threatening croak. I made
towards the crags it had left, imagining I heard the cries of young, but
the sound evaded me. The parent, however, was marked by my brother, who,
through his field glasses, distinctly saw it enter a gully in the crags of
Pike o' Stickle, and even so distant its angry voice was plainly heard. As
we got into Langdalehead, a horseman who had that morning (it was not yet
seven o'clock) ridden from Seathwaite, in the Duddon
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.359}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.359}
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{continues last paragraph}
valley, asked us the direction for Borrowdale. He had ridden up the valley,
which ends in Wrynose Pass, and across the boulder strewn Blea Tarn Moor,
but he was concerned at the sight of Rossett Ghyll, over which he fancied
his track lay. He was, however, much relieved at having only to face the
easier slope of the Stake. We last saw him leading his pony near the top of
the climb.
More than once we have been all night in the mist - and one such occasion
we particularly remember. Though clear when we started the tops were
smothered in clouds, from which a fine rain descended before we reached the
reservoir under Hill Bell, on our way to Kentmere High Street. Soon after
we commenced the ascent, we were completely enveloped. The grassy path up
which we had hoped to reach Thornthwaite Crag was lost, but the ascent of
the scree required little extra energy. In about half an hour, during which
we spread out to avoid the stones dislodged by those in front, my attention
was called to a huge face of rock against which our progress had brought
us. I shall not forget that council; in varying distinctness were eleven
faces, some anxious, more reliant, one or two careless. Behind us was the
abrupt rock-ledge with beards of misty rain crossing along its breast;
below, a great scree which, in stones of all sizes interspersed with
luxuriant parsley fern, shelved down into a great white blank. When we
reached the column on Thornthwaite Crag, it was apparent that the mist was
deep above us, and therefore no view of sunrise was possible. It was three
o'clock, and very cold; the damp collected on our limbs as we rushed about
at leap-frog; one of our party routed out some damp-looking timber from the
ruins of an old hog-house, so we decided for a fire. To coax the wood to
burn required unliimited patience, but after long and deft manipulation of
moist paper and matches, a tiny flame came flickering through the dense
curls of smoke. At six o'clock the light was much better, so we moved for
home - except for two who elected to stay with the fire, which was now
blazing merrily. It was particularly galling to me to hear a day or two
later that a party, while we were shivering on High Street, had witnessed a
magnificent sunrise from Scawfell Pike. They had climbed into clear weather
soon after they left Eskhause.
The spending of a night by the waterside few people envy the angler, but in
reality no one could wish for a finer experience than all night on
Ullswater. Starting from Howtown, paddle slowly out into the middle of the
lake and wait for the fish to begin biting, for you must try your luck at
night-fishing, otherwsie your friends will believe you are thirsting for
notoriety. Trout come on the feed
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.360}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.360}
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{continues last paragraph}
about midnight and continue gorging, with few lulls, till daybreak. It is
not necessary to be expert in fishing, and many, who do not think they
possess enough patience for the sport, will be surprised how interesting
they find such a night on the water. Often incidents of an amusing or
exciting nature happen. We were once rowing along the top reach of
Windermere in pitch darkness when our oarsmen suddenly put on a spurt. For
a few secons, the boat simply tore through the water, then from out of
space, or maybe the bottom of the lake, sprang a rock, and we crashed into
it with tremendous force. We were shot over the thwarts into a confused
heap on the boat's floor, and I well remember that someone's red hot pipe
reclined for one agonising second on my ear. The difficulty of gauging
distances across water is always great, but when night comes on it is
doubly hard. Yet a sunrise viewed from a boat is well worth the amount of
discomfort incurred. To some, the silence reigning over the waters is an
unspeakable delight - when the shadows drop like a curtain into the
valleys, and the night glow fringes the northern mountains, the lights
begin to glow in the houses by the shore, and the utter loneliness becomes
oppresive. But when light after light goes out and the faint whisperings
cease to come from the land, your spirits recover and a happy time
commences. Don't, however, go to sleep in your boat while waiting for
daybreak. When walking early by the shore of Windermere Lake I glanced over
a wall and saw, hard and fast on a miniature sandbank, a boat in the stern
of which two figures were lying fast asleep. I passed quite close and for a
moment thought to waken them, then, thinking that the increased power of
the sun would arouse them without the start inseparable to my call, I
passed on.
One July night we went "sugaring" for moths. We were not a trio of
experienced entomologists; indeed, our leader only would have known the
difference between "an old lady" and a "hay-time moth."
By nine o'clock it was thought sufficiently dark for our purpose. At the
first hitch, while my brother went back for some requisite, I was left in
charge of the tin containing our lure. With a small paint brush I dabbed
this fairly over some nine square inches of a sycamore. Retiring to the
bridge, in a few minutes I noticed some large moths fluttering among the
outside leaves of the tree; doubtless the strong scent of sugar, rum, and
beer had attracted them. In less than three minutes my brother returned,
and we had the pleasure of finding on the tree a good specimen of the
swallow-tailed moth, not a common insect with us. As we passed up the
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.361}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.361}
{image = G900B361.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
lane a whitish moth dashed past, and a gallant though unsuccessful attempt
was made to capture it. Our leader was sure it was a tiger-moth, a rare
vistant to our valley in July. The insect havingh escaped, the next best
thing was to "sugar" freely the adjacent railings and tress in the hope
that it might return. In the next coppice two copper beeches were selected,
as their exceptionally smooth bark does not dry up the mixture quickly,
after which we took a narrower road into a district reputed to be thickly
populated by nocturnal moths. The evil-smelling lure was splashed on one or
two of the sycamores lining the beck-edge before we turned into an ideal
country lane, where dense tall hedges towered above trailing, clutching
blackberry brambles, and nettles, raspberries, and tall grasses bank to
bank. A night-jar churred from an overhanging oak; a gibbous moon, covered
by thin clouds, sent a wan, wicked light over wood and hayfield. Now we
passed, ever sprinkling our compound on suitable trees, the offshoots of an
oak copse - a collection of giants which had starved out their undergrowth
- and in another half minute reached a widening where more blackberries and
stinging nettles cluddered from hedgeside to roadway. "Sugar" was spread on
a number of trees, after which we retraced our steps, intending to pick up
the insects adhering to the traps laid at the other end of our beat half a
mile away. It was pitch dark, and a light would be required for the
assortment of the moths captured. Our lamp, however, failed to keep alight
for more than a minute, and investigation proved that the oil in the tank
had become solid; subsequent inquiry showed that it had not been looked at
for six months. After this discovery hopes fell, it was hard that such a
splendid evening should pass unproductive. We made one round of the blazed
trees, but, when a match was struck, all the moths not powerlessly
intoxicated were very quick at flying away. Old ladies stick moths,
hay-timers, and such like remained in plenty, and we managed to catch with
them a few of the smaller night-fliers. The time passed without further
incident. All the time we were out the dogs from every farmhouse within a
mile of our beat were barking; their owners would bemoan a sleepless night.
We were, however, free from the one mishap common to entomological
pioneers. Others on similar expeditions have been shadowed and interfered
with by gamekeepers, who mistake the motives of midnight rambles, and even
the odour of the poison-bottle often fails to prevent confiscation, as an
original and terrible poaching instrument, of the frail white net.
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.362}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.362}
{image = G900B362.jpg}
It is a far cry, even in memory, from a balmy July night's ramble to a
night when deep snow lies on the silent fells, and a million stars glower
upon the freezing earth. I have elsewhere spoken of the summer midnight and
the silence of Mickleden, but this is vaster, more complete quietude. Our
point was a fine moorland tarn at a fair elevation, a well-known haunt of
waterfowl. Scrambling along the steep grassy road to the moor was
exhausting, but when we reached the bracken track of the open fell the
energy required to move along at all was enormous. At every step the deep
snow attached itself to our shoes, so we crashed into the deepest belt of
heather. The frost was inching when we started, but though the air must
have been colder at this elevation, its bite was unfelt in the heat of our
struggle. Passing a marshy corner a pair of ducks rose - what a lovely
night for snaring! The tarn was not yet completely frozen, and wavelets
were plashing against the extended sheets of ice. Between us and the
fir-crowned island, as we stood thigh deep in the snow-drift by the
boat-house, was the stream feeding the water, and it was to watch the birds
here that we had ventured out to-night. We climbed round the hill, sliding
about among the beds of dead bracken, then skirted the rocks commanding the
tarn and its surroundings. Miles away to the south-west glittered an
estuary with the sea beyond; to the north a mist-bank hid a long line of
mountains, while to the east a dreary white chain of hills stood beyond
Lunesdale. Dotted near and far were gems - mountain tarn and open
river-reach, with the bright moonlight glinting up from them. We proceeded
cautiousy towards a bank from which we might watch the birds. The snow
stuck to our boots, and quiet progress was almost impossible. However,
after a long chilly crawl down a hollow sledge track, which led from the
moor to the river-bed, we gained the desired situation. Not a bird was in
sight. We lay in the deep snow awhile, for there was a faint splash and a
squawking in the reed-beds, than a gaunt heron waded slowly up the stream.
We almost held our breath lest he should take alarm, and scare away the
rarer ducks. Meanwhile the air was getting colder and colder - it was
recorded in the valley below as five degrees below zero. There was no wind,
however, through our lair, and the position was not very uncomfortable. In
a few minutes a squad of ducks came from the tarn to join the heron's feast
- a garrulous crew to a taciturn leader. A curlew, probably startled by a
prowling fox, whistled across the water; the heron took his warning signal,
and flapped over the corner of the hill to a quieter feeding ground. My
companion made a sudden movement, and a sheep which, unknown to us, had
been lying within a yard of my
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.363}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.363}
{image = G900B363.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
hand jumped up and galloped away, crackling the heather as he went. With a
shrill alarm the ducks - we never discovered their variety - rose in a
body, and at the same moment bang, bang, rang two shots down the ghyll. We
were astounded that the keeper should be so near, and lay quite still till
he should leave the spot; as yet he might be unaware of our presence. His
shots had both been successful, for he walked leisurely in view to pick up
a brace of fine birds. Ten minutes later we ventured for home, passing
round the opposite side of the tarn to the gamekeeper. He never knew that
we had been so near him, though had he been accompanied by his dog it could
hardly have missed us.
Another night's frolic was a skate on Windermere in 1895, the last time the
whole length and breadth of it was bearable. I had already done the
thirty-mile round of the lake, before leaving the brilliantly lighted pier
at Waterhead for the heavy black woods of Wray. The ice, it will be
remembered by those who at this time visited the lake, was furrowed between
Bowness and Ambleside by two enormous cracks, and to cross these a course
had first to be taken down the Pull shore, not, however, so near as to
reach the thin ice around the mouth of the becks. The first seam was about
a mile from Waterhead. As I approached it a few skaters were still gliding
near me - apparently they were goning as far as the crack and back. Now a
long gurgling crackle travelled along the ice; a lady screamed and made for
the shore, fourscore yards away. I called out that we were quite safe, but
she did not heed, and rushed towards a dangerous bay which I had
reconnoitred earlier in the day. I spurted in pursuit and caught up to her;
barely in time, however, for the thinning crust rocked like a raft before I
could arrest our impetus and swerve to sounder ice. I did not fear drowning
for the water was shallow, yet an immersion would have been very
unpleasant. The crack now loomed in front like a feathery surf. In daylight
it was easily passed, but at night things look different. Across this, the
widest part of the lake, gleamed the many windows of Lowwood; at various
houses by the shore lamps had been hoisted into the trees, and figures were
gliding on the lighted area beneath them; but out with me was utter
darkness, loneliness, and silence save for the quiet rasp of my skates.
Wray Castle and a few farmhouses showed occasional gleams of light through
the black fir woods and narrow snow fields. Suddenly in front appeared
something black, a huge dog squatting on the ice it seemed to be. But as I
neared, the mass seemed to dwindle in size - was it the head and shoulders
of a man clinging for dear life to a splintered ice-egde? I put on speed,
{title- Gents Mag 1900 part 2 p.364}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1900 part 2 p.364}
{image = G900B364.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
then the bulk seemed again to increase, but not till I was within thirty
feet did I recognise the outline of a man kneeling and rebuckling his
skate-strap. I hailed him with relief - a companion under such
circumstances could not be wearisome - and while the ice roared and snapped
in peals like thunder (a common night occurrence on large frozen sheets) we
made for the second crack near Rawlinson's Nab. To cross this it was
necessary to land and walk or slide a couple of yards. My companion shot
round with ease, but my skates struck a chunk of ice or stone and came off,
throwing me on my head and partially stunning me. Till this I had not
noticed anyone standing by the wood-edge. Two farm servants picked me up,
but I was no worse save for a bruise or two. The ice was bad here; at many
places it was broken through, so that for a few score yards we had to
follow our leader cautiously. Then we spread out again - the gang was now
eight in number - and made for the row of lights at Bowness. It became a
mad race in, for we were sure of the surface. In Bowness Bay we found about
a hundred persons skating about in the light of a tall electric standard in
front of the Old English Hotel. It was grand travelling round Belle Isle
where only a few were plying the steel: a concertina squeaked as one party
swept by; an ice-yacht whizzed along, its sole occupant clinging
precariously to the frail structure; a distant hum of voices crept across
the island from the bay we had just left. A few miinutes more of easy
skating, and, as we landed at the Ferry Hotel, the kennelled hounds gave
out a merry chorus, which echoes along the fir-covered bluffs, in happy
augury of hunting days yet to come.
WILLIAM T. PALMER.
{title- Gents Mag 1901 part 1 p.102}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1901 part 1 p.102}
{header- Placenames and King Arthur}
{image = G901A102.jpg}
ARTHURIAN PLACE-NAMES.
FROM the Rev. Sabine-Gould, Dr. Dickinson gives a list of Arthurian
localities in Cornwall, Britanny, Wales, and Northern England, extending to
Scotland. Some are, of course, well known in legend, as King Arthur's
Castle at Tintagel, where the king is said to have been born;
Caerleon-upon-Usk, where, according to Nennius, a great battle was fought;
and Arthur's Seat, to which it has been vainly sought to give a Gaelic
meaning. According to the latest authorities, the district between Penrith
and Strathmore is the richest in such associations. There are three
Arthur's Seats, and two Arthur's Round Tables, besides Arthur's Stone,
Arthur's Oven, Arthur's Chair, Arthur's Camp, &c. &c. There are
also Merlin's Fountain and Grave and Mordred's Castle. This is far indeed
from exhausting the list. Are we, then, to suppose that all these names are
bestowed in connection with people who never lived?
As I stated at the outset, I shall not attempt to decide a question still
eagerly contested. Every sympathy I have is in favour of establishing
Arthur as King of the Silures, and accepting as real personages Sir Bors,
Sir Gawaine, Sir Galahad, Sir Tristram, Sir Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin,
Vivien, the Knights of the Table Round, and even the
Faery damsels, met in forest wide
By Knights of Logres, or of Lyones,
Lancelot or Pelleas or Pellinor.
Not without pang would I sacrifice the stories which are among the fairest
things in literature, which inspired the prose of Malory and the poetry of
Tennyson, Morris, Swinburne, and a score others, and were selected by
Milton as a fitting subject for an epic poem.
Concerning these beings, Miss Jessie Weston very pleasingly says, "Children
of a land of eternal youth, Arthur and his knights are ever young. It is
indeed a special attraction about the heroes of the Arthurian cycle, which
roused the bile of splenetic Roger Ascham, that they consitute a domain in
which one is never weary. As Thompson says in "The Castle of Indolence":-
A pleasing land of drowsy-hed it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye;
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
For ever flushing round a summer sky.
To employ once more an assertion of Leigh Hunt concerning "The Fairy
Queen," which is equally applicable to the Arthurian romances, a lover of
poetry would no more tire of them than he would of
{title- Gents Mag 1901 part 1 p.103}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1901 part 1 p.103}
{image = G901A103.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
repose on summer grass. The are written as if the "world would never grow
old," and as the lady I quote above says, they never do grow old. The
knights themselves are said to have died. Witness the lament of Sir Ector
over the death of Sir Lancelot in Malory, one of the most priceless things
in literature; but the world preferred to believe them still in Avalon,
whence the return of Arthur was for centuries anticipated.
The Celts are naturally the firmest upholders of the view that Arthur and
his principal knights are real, and efforts are made to connect Gawaine
with the Cuchullin of Irish legend. If we could indeed transfer the scene
of the Arthurian exploits from Cornwall to Ireland many difficulties would
vanish, but the references to Cornwall and South Wales are too numerous and
too direct to permit any such transference of scene.
KING ARTHUR IN SCOTLAND.
ONE school of antiquaries would find in Cumbria and Scotland the scene of
Arthur's principal exploits, and notably that of his death. According to
its members, Glein is Glen in Ayrshire; Dubglas is not, as held by Geoffrey
of Monmouth, in Lincolnshire, but Douglas in Lennox; Coit Cebidon is on the
Carron in Tweedale, Castle Guinnion is in Wedale, Leogis is at Dumbarton,
Treuroit on the banks of the Forth, near Stirling, where Arthur's Round
Table is still shown. Agnet is a name for Edinburgh, and Badon Hill is not
Bath on the English Avon, but Bowdon Hill in Linlithgow, on the Scottish
Avon. These views, expounded in Mr. W. F. Skene's "Four Ancient Books of
Wales" and Mr. Stuart Glennie's "Arthurian Scotland," are well summarised
by Mr. C. F. Keary in the life of Arthur in the "Dictionary of National
Biography." Dr. Dickson favours the view that Arthur's last battle, which
was fought, it must be remembered, against a confederacy of Picts, Scots,
and Saxons, or renegade Britons, took place at Camelon on the river Carron,
in the valley of the Forth. That names and superstitions connected with
Arthur and his associates abound in Southern Scotland is clearly shown.
...
{title- Gents Mag 1901 part 2 p.66}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1901 part 2 p.66}
{header- Samuel Taylor Coleridge}
{image = G901B066.jpg}
THE COLERIDGE COUNTRY.
AMONG the many vicissitudes of the life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, there
was only one spot that possessed for him the true affinities of home. Not
the Lake District, not Nether Stowey, not the dreamed-of elysium on the
banks of the Susquehanna, but a village among the hills that cradle the
brawling Otter, and the scenes of which that village is the centre, can
alone claim the distinctive appelation of "The Coleridge Country." "For the
world in general," says a biographer of the poet, "the name of Coleridge is
so indissolubly connected with the Lake country and the Lake poets, that
the fact of his being by birth a Devonshire man is almost forgotten." It
was in the village of Ottery St. Mary that he first saw the light; in point
of the time the place can claim but a few years of his existence, but it
remained to him, throughout his life, the dearest spot on earth, and
however Ulysses-like his subsequent wanderings may have been, a lengthening
chain of memories and associations kept his mind in touch with the scenes
among which his earliest ties were formed. It was, so to speak, the
metropolis of his affections. and thither until the end all the avenues of
his fancy and his thoughts tended.
...
{text- The rest of the article, to p.73, concerns Devon.}
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.417}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.417}
{header- Fell Sketches}
{image = G902B417.jpg}
THREE FELLS SKETCHES.
BY WILLIAM T. PALMER.
I. - THE FIGHTING SCHOOLMASTER.
THE schoolhouse is situate some five miles from the rock-fringed bay into
which the tiny stream descending the valley empties its waters. It is a
grey-walled, mouldy, low building; from the plenteous smoke-marks, from the
stones into which the tethering rings are still fastened, it may possibly
at some time have been the blacksmith's shop of the dale. This is grand,
primitive, peat-burning, superstition-reeking countryside. High, rocky
mountains gather round its head, coppices hang among the scaurs and slacks,
and deep beds of bracken and heather occupy the hillsides.
I had been told that the place was worthy a visit, and after a long, rough
tramp over screes and rocks, and by storm-rent ghylls, on an almost
imperceptible path, I reached the valley-head. From the upper hillsides
hardly a dwelling was visible, and for a time I wondered whether, in that
sea of mountains, my route had brought me correctly. Then a farmhouse
appeared amid a cluster of sycamores, and, as I came near, my inquiry was
answered in the affirmative. "Yes, this was Mirdale." Among the trees, as I
passed down the dale, appeared the tiny belfry of an ancient church, and
close to it was the school. The buildings were bounded on three sides by a
bend in the river, though they stood thirty feet above the water,
commanding a grand view to seaward.
"Where will I find Schoolmaster John?" I demanded from my host (for I had
been advised to seek this man out to hear a strange story)
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.418}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.418}
{image = G902B418.jpg}
"Oh, he'll be up at t' skuil-hoos noo; he's lowsing t' bairns" (dismissing
the children from their afternoon's lessons). To the school I therefore
repaired.
"The schoolmaster, I believe?"
"Yes, sir, at your service!"
For a while we talked of olden, golden days in the dales, when the mines
were wealthy, and the sheep-grazing on the fells profitable. The old man -
he must have been over sixty - talked intelligently on these and other
matters, while I took stock of him, his school, and, through the open
doorway, the surrounding country. War maps of various campaigns hung on the
walls side by side with the charts requisite to school work; on a
blackboard stuck on the mantel-piece was inscribed in fine handwriting the
full text of "Rule Britannia."
The old man noted my look at this, and said quietly, "Yes, I like to have
it there. The children all know the song by heart, but I hope by placing it
there before their eyes to familiarise them with the spirit of the grand
old war-song."
The spirit with which he repeated half sadly to himself the refrain, "Rule
Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!" caused me to glance up in surprise.
No! it was surely no longer the grey-harired man of sixty, with bent
shoulders and threatening rheumatism; he had become alert-looking, and the
frayed black coat seemed for the moment to cling like a military tunic to a
stalwart young figure.
"Yes," he said, "we trust too much to our supremacy at sea, which a single
storm might wreck. I know you are aware of my views on this matter. They
are laughed at to-day; but to-night, to-morrow, the French may land their
troops at Bonton, and Mirdale, like the rest of England, is not ready to
resist."
I had been told that the ancient prophecy of John Paul Jones the pirate,
when his privateering fleet was driven from the adjacent coast, that he
would return with the French and put the whole countryside to the sword,
had still one believer in Mirdale - and he the schoolmaster, the last of
his family.
"Would you care to see my guns?"
He opened what appeared to be the door of a slate cupboard, and from the
recess produced, each carefully wrapped in oiled cloth, firearms of every
recent military period, beginning with the obsolete flint-lock and ranging
up to the newest Lee-Enfield. Of most patterns he had three or four
specimens - "I had three brothers here once" - and these spare weapons he
was particularly careful of. then he called me into the recess, where he
had made a loophole com-
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.419}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.419}
{image = G902B419.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
[com]manding a good piece of the dales road. The school wall here must have
been six feet thick, and the old man's fort would be impenetrable to
ordinary rifle fire. Ammunition boxes of all descriptions were piled high
in the little magazine.
Next the old man asked me to stroll with him to his rifle range, in a gully
about a mile distant.
"I practice early in the mornings; the people round here are accustomed to
it, and strangers, as you see, are not likely to ramble at so early an
hour."
After bidding the old man farewell, I wandered slowly back to my lodging;
the elaborate preparedness I had seen, and the determination of the
scholmaster to resist to the death within the precincts of his old
schoolhouse, made me inclined to ponder awhile. As I sat watching the
evening shadows deepen over rugged crags and pastoral coves, I mused upon
what might happen if the old man's fears were realised.
... ...
The school was being carried on as usual; one class was droning over a
reading-book, the master's voice came distinctly above all others in his
dictation to the remainder. The sound of a galloping horse is heard on the
road, and Schoolmaster John hurries to the door to see who and what it is.
"The French - The French have landed at Bonton."
I can see in my mind's eye old John, with unusual activity, step across the
small room, open the American organ, and play, with the children's voices
joining in, his favourite war-song. This over, the children are called out
of their classes to make two short rows down the room. The -
"You must hasten away home, children. Good-morning."
John the fighting man is now aroused; parcels of cartridges, and what other
weapons there are, are handed to fleeing neighbours as they call to urge
him make temporary retreat. But John is to defend Mirdale, not by firing at
random from unseen nooks among the rocks, but by holding the schoolhouse
against the whole invading army.
... ...
A short half-hour has passed; the enemy's scouts meet with no resistance.
Inside the old school John's eye runs along the rifle barrel time after
time; yes, his aim is certain, and the first foe in sight will die. A half
company of infantry round the corner, and instantly the rifle speaks; down
goes the leading man. Shot after shot is delivered with deadly precision;
as yet the soldiery cannot
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.420}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.420}
{image = G902B420.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
see the direction of the leaden hail, and in a few seconds they seek cover.
For two hours the old man within that grey-walled structure forbids
advance. Then, after an officer, while incautiously exposing himself to
reconnoitre, has been killed, a field gun is ordered to open fire and drive
the enemy from his hold. Two shells crash into the old building - its thick
grey walls are pierced easily as paper - and after each there is an
appalling explosion. Then the rifle fire ceases.
The fighting schoolmaster is dead.
{marginal = Story of a Climb; Blea Tarn Crag}
II. - THE STORY OF A CLIMB.
THOUGH it was not yet sunrise, Joe Graves was discussing his simple
breakfast. He was alone, for his sister had long since married and gone to
a distant home of her own, but he never seriously thought of engaging a
substitute. "I can fend best for mesel'," was his invariable reply to all
who suggested the matter to him. Jem Bate opened the door and walked in.
"Will you go to Blea Tarn Crag to-day, Joe?" he asked, without even a
prefatory greeting; "the ground is in rare fettle for cragging."
"Too dry," was the reply, "but I'll go. It's ower bonnie a day to stop in
the boddem. We mustn't take too much rope, or we may have a smash. Half a
dozen yards should be about enough. There's no pitch on Blea Tarn Crag
as'll want more."
After this they talked awhile of the different routes by which this crag is
scaled, and determined to try one which was as yet unclimbed. His meal
finished, Grave produced an assortment of ropes, out of which the most
suitable was selected; then, without further delay, they started. Once
clear of the semi-wild garden, the pair put on a pace, for the time at
their disposal was limited, considering the object in view. The sun rose as
they followed up the bent-grown slack which forms the quickest approach to
the mountain of High Street, and by five o'clock they were walking across
the summit. The panorama extended for miles over mountains, dales, lakes,
and plains, in unequalled grandeur. Far way, with splashes of purple and
grey swirling over its tops, was the great mass of Lakeland mountains; to
the west Windermere wound away among the quiet, wooded hills, and beyond
this shimmered the sea. This clearness was a sure sign of an impending
thunderstorm. Their practised strides rapidly bore the pair to the corner
where Long Stile extends from the parent range, and beneath which slumbers
the ink-like Blea Water. Down the rough rocks they threaded their
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.421}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.421}
{image = G902B421.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
way to the narrow belt of grass by the tarn's outlet. The crag was now
close at hand, and they eagerly scanned its fifteen-hundred-feet sheer
face. A fault in the rock, cleaving it from base well-nigh to summit, was
the point of attack they had selected, and they climbed up the scree to its
lowest point. At the foot of the crag the rope was adjusted, and Bate led
up a narrow gully, which a few yards above seemed to lose itself in the
wall of rock.
The toilers gradually climbed up till the ravine narrowed, and the gully
was blocked above by a huge cornice. Here footholds must continue either to
right or left - it might mean a perilous hand-traverse across the face of
the cliff, but having warmed to their work this peril could not daunt them.
The rock above was virgin, human foot had not yet been placed on it; hence
its conquest, after so many failures would be a feat.
Hour after hour the pair laboured on, trying anew grip here, or a tiny
foothold there, till one with less patience might have judged the attempt a
failure. Meanwhile the whole aspect was changing. In the west the misty
blue had deepened into blackness, the light of the sun was sensibly
diminished as the veil of mists extended, the glinting of the ripples on
the tarn beneath ceased, and the bleak slopes around looked still more
depressing. The minutes passed, and the storm-hiss on the moor above was
succeeded by a distant mutter of thunder. Though this change was perfectly
well known to them, they did not speak of it to each other.
"Stop?" queried Bate, "dinner-time."
Graves spragged a leg crossways the gully and looked up.
"Ay! Is there a ledge handy?"
"No, two good toe-grips here, and another pair higher up. Shall I get to
'em?"
Very cautiously Jem Bate continued his scramble; his knees outspread could
now touch both sides of the crack; arm pressure had to be lifting power. At
last he succeeded in reaching the point he had spoken of, and prepared to
give a helping haul to his companion. The position which he was forced to
stand in was very uncomfortable, his shoulders were bent by the hanging
mass above; so he looked around for an easier position. A narrow gap close
above promised a little, and into it he crawled; it was a drain-like crack
scoring the base of the pinnacle. Crag-instinct pointed to the possibilty
of this traverse continuing into a higher gully, and this hope was
strengthened by the tiny stream trickling down. In a few words Jem conveyed
the discovery to Graves, who was eating his lunch twenty feet below.
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.422}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.422}
{image = G902B422.jpg}
With their backs against the wall of rock, the climbers were looking at a
distant patch of sunlit cloud over Kidsty Pike when from the west, black as
the smoke from a manufacturing city, dropped a cloud of rain. Thunder in
magnificent melody roared, boomed, sang, and rattled; lightning clove the
semi-darkness with fitful gleams; the rills and gullies continued and
intensified the blast till fell and dale, tarn and sky seemed in the very
climax of an exterminating war.
There was now no time to be lost if the climbers were to reach safety at
all; for the heavy rain descending would soon fill the tiny channel up
which they must escape. Six hundred feet of sheer cliff below, thousands of
tons of rock above, each threatened in vain direst vengeance upon the pair
crawling between. The rock shelved outward and upward, and this
characteristic saved them. It was a wearying climb; the water, in ever
increasing volume, oozed through their clothes and lapped their faces when
at particularly narrow corners their bodies dammed it back, but at length
Bate reached the head of the semi-tunnel and found himself in a very steep
and rough gorge, Graves had not followed him closely, for if the track had
proved useless such action would have created a nasty position. The summit
could hardly be more than two hundred feet above, and the edge of a cliff
is usually so weather-worn that its ascent is not difficult, though the
crumbling nature of the rock makes it extremely dangerous. Bate gave a
whistle for his companion to finish cimbing the hollow way, and and a
judicious strain on the rope helped him to do so. A stream of blue fire
flickered from a low-flying cloud and struck the rugged crag above their
heads. Ten thousand tons of shale, felspar, and slate crumbled away, and
parted with a terrible crash from its base.The ghyll in which Bate was
standing was swept by an avalanche of scree, and when it cleared a
bleeding, crushed body jammed in a crack showed that some fragment had
struck home a fearful blow. Graves was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was
crushed under the mighty weight, perhaps hurled among the falling rock into
the tarn.
High up beyond the range of human sight the battered form still breathed.
No one came to succour as evening died among the crags and slopes - in
these localities a rock-fall is not so extraordinary as to invite minute
exploration. The quietude of night passed, daybreak and broad day came. The
body still breathed, though it did not move. Would another be added to the
ghastly tale of skeletons lying on the moors and cliffs? Day blazed to its
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.423}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.423}
{image = G902B423.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
close, and the body slowly recovered consciousness and seemingly
appreciation of its position. Tortured by thirst and hunger, with crushed
shoulder and side, Jem Bate rose to survey, with all his old defiance, the
shattered cliff above. As he began to drag himself up the rough passage,
his nerve steadied, but just as he seemed to reach safety, a few loose
fragments hurtled down, and struck him to the ground. The shock was
fearful, but the hardihood of a thousand scrambles enabled him to survive
it. For an hour he lay on the shelving broken rock, while a wanderer who
had seen the man in the ascent climbed the rugged gable of High Street and
walked along the summit to the top of the gully. This man had a keen
interest in scrambling among uncoventional climbs, and therefore essayed a
descent to meet the other. But fifty - one hundred feet down he carefully
climbed, at every moment his position becoming more dangerous, signalling
again and again without hearing any response. Then, as he traversed a
rough, projecting rock, he came upon the still breathing body of Jem Bate.
Tenderly, yet with consummate skill and strength, he lifted it and bore it
up the terrible steep. How he managed it in safety none can tell, but the
shepherd who hastened from Lingmell at the sound of the danger-cry of his
kind found the two lying together so still that he thought both were dead.
In an hour assistance was at hand, and the cragsman and his rescuer were
being carried towards Mardale.
{marginal = Legend of the Fells}
III. - A LEGEND OF THE FELLS.
IN the days of King Stephen, Church, Crown, and Barons were struggling in a
quagmire of petty strife and intrigue, but the attendant horrors were only
noted in the vale of Kent by the extraordinary number of guests of high
rank - barons whose little armies had been destroyed, whose castles had
been sacked, and who could not return to their estates for fear of their
lives - who came and went at Kendal Castle. The Baron had too many troubles
in his own domain to think of engaging in the struggles raging throughout
the country. Westmorland was not yet fully subjugated by the Normans, and
bands of outlawed Saxons - men whose fathers had fallen on the ridge at
Senlac or by the Isle of Ely, bequeathing deathless hatred of the foe to
their sons, or men whose worst passions had been excited by the treatment
received from their conquerors - his by day in caves or rude huts far away
among the mountains where the Norman infantry could not reach, and at
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.424}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.424}
{image = G902B424.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
night sallied into the half-settled vale, burning the hovels of the
peasantry, driving off the cattle, and ruthlessly putting to the sword
every man they met. According to the outlaws' fierce tenets, a man of Saxon
lineage who would bow to the Norman forfeited all his rights to be
considered a Saxon, and to such they meted accordingly. But ere daylight
brought the possibility of being attacked by a concentrated force the
outlaws had retired. Nor were the occasional keeps scattered here and there
among the dales any great safeguard, for at dead of night a shower of
arrows would often rattle against the walls, killing anyone who was abroad,
and picking a way to loopholes and casements.
One night in June, under cover of a fierce thunderstorm, a Saxon band stole
down the valleys and set ablaze the woods clothing Harter Fell - to this
day the ground remains barren, for the spell of the Saxon witch-familiar
has never been broken. At Kendal the blaze was seen, and a small band set
out to punish the offenders. Along the road, an old one even then, they
marched to the foot of the dale, and here they met a group of peaceful
villagers fleeing from the outlaws. Brutally the soldiers ill-treated them
- to the Norman the Saxon was a slave of little value, a burden carried
with the land - till a Saxon youth, his blood aflame with the coarseness
around him, struck one man to the ground with his bare fist.
"A fight-rally," shouted the captain in irony, as with the point of his
sword he touched the boy's thigh, and laughed at the pain he caused. The
rough warriors followed his example, till, maddened, the youngster turned
on them, and calling on prodigious strength, with a stone killed the
nearest of his tormentors. Instantly the joke dropped, and in a second,
from a steel torn body, the Saxon's soul went to commune with his God.
"You have wronged" said a hollow voice, and the superstitious soldiers fell
back from their hacking of the dead. No one save the trembling villagers
was to be seen, but this awful voice seemed to proceed from the bleeding
corpse.
"You have wronged!" came the words again, in a voice now triumphant, and
over the dead man appeared a woman of middle age. Her face was smirched
with ashes and soot, as though her breweing of hell-kail were blackening
her skin as foully as her soul; her dress was a shapeless cloak of
homespun, but so ancient and dirt-stained that its original hue had
vanished.
A jeering laugh now arose from the group of armed men.
"And who gave thee to be our judge?" asked the captain. "I am responsible
to the Baron of Kendal alone."
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.425}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.425}
{image = G902B425.jpg}
"And to me," aswered the witch calmly; "thou wilt not return to Kendal till
thou hast taken each Saxon of the fourscore who set the woods on fire."
"Ah, marry," laughed the captain, "then I return not empty handed. The omen
is a good one, gentle witch, for I have vowed to clear out, root and
branch, the dog Saxons of the fells. I am going to burn every house in
Kentmere, in Longsleddale, and in the valley beyond, ere I return to my
lord. Fair witch, wilt thou go with us and see our triumph? The smell of
reeking blood will be homely breath to thy hell-filled nostrils. Come with
us, and cast a charm over the Saxon fools, that they escape not the wrath
of my lord the Baron."
"The charm is cast these three hours - before you left the courtyard of
your Norman keep. Look for the Saxon between the mist and the dale, for
till you force him of his lair, you cannot return to your home."
"Ha, ha, fair augur, gentle dame. We are provided with horses and
provisions, and ere long the life of the robber band will be past."
"The mist hangs low, the dale in sunset purple lies, the crags are riven,
but not by storm. The robber band is at peace long since, but the Norman
warrior walks the hills for evermmore."
Uttering these prophetic words, the witch seemed to melt into thin air; the
dalefolk trembled, but the captain turned to his men and said in jest:-
"My men, the witch has gone, but her spell is good. See yonder"" and he
pointed toward Harter Fell, where rainclouds hung dense and black. "Yonder
we find our prey, 'twixt mist and dale. Forward to conquer. The churlish
Saxon is already undone."
The little company marched rapidly up the dale, plundering and burning the
few homesteads they met. The inhabitants had fled, some across the fells to
the monastery at Shap, some to seek comfort at a famous witch's cave in
Loughrigg, some by devious ways, by which they did not meet the feared
expedition from Kendal.
After sacking the hovels without mercy, the Normans made for the open fell,
where clung the dense mist, and as they approached the veil of white, the
zip of an arrow falling among the ranks warned them of danger. The soldiers
did not hesitate to grumble at the hard climb, and to curse the Saxons who
thus showed their ability to strike home without being seen. The Captain
ordered a retreat, but now dense and white the pall had fallen below, and
neither backward for fear of the cliffs, nor forward for fear of the
advantage held by the enemy, dare they move.
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.426}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.426}
{image = G902B426.jpg}
"You have wronged," came a voice as of a syren gloating over its prey. The
hardy men shivered, and turned to discern, if possible, whence the voice
came.
Not fifty yards away, a sheer spur of rock towered up, and here in majestic
state stood the witch, with the scurrying wreaths of mist around her head.
The Captain sprang to the foot of the cliff and addressed her:-
"Friend witch, a plague to these stone-covered slopes and craggy cliffs.
Show us the way to the valley again, if thy magic avail aught, and thou
shalt have treasure to satisfy thee."
"Canst thou bribe the devil, whose is all gold and silver? Thou and thy
band are condemned to find the fourscore Saxons who fought for their rights
at Ely and at Northallerton,l and till Norman eyes can see the
fox among the bent, and Norman feet can outclimb all upon scree and crag,
you cannot reach them. From this to that," the witch held out her hands
towards the heavens above and towards the moving mist-wreaths below, "you
cannot find solace or rest. The curse of the fells is upon you. in the
coming time I see you riding betwixt mist and dale, restless, silent,
capturing none."
"A Saxon pig, by God! and a heathen. Upon her, and hew her to pieces."
Obediently his men sprang forward, but, with a roar and a rattle, the cliff
in front of them crumbled to pieces, and they had to retreat for their
lives. The Captain, sword in hand, stood nearest the flying fragments, and
in silence waited for the witch to speak again.
But she had gone; the rock on which she had stood when last seen slowly
crumbled and, in a succession of mighty avalanches, rolled down the
mountain side.
"You have wronged," came a thunder of defiance from the surging clouds
above, "and be ye punished."
Days passed on; the expedition did not return, so the Baron of Kendal sent
forth another force. Not a trace, not a sign, of the lost men could be
found. The mist still hung close on the hills, and the Saxon rebels, more
accustomed to the conditions of the ground and air than the Normans, were
unremitting in their attacks. The bowmen of the invaders could not shoot
without a mark, and the arrows cleaving the mists were the only signs of
life. Now came the breaking up of the Saxon terror. An army was sent in
succour, and the last bitter struggle began. Round Buckbarrow and Grey
Crag, round
l Men of the northern marches fought for the Scots at the battle
of the Standard.
{title- Gents Mag 1902 part 2 p.427}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1902 part 2 p.427}
{image = G902B427.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
Branstree and Harter Fell the Normans swarmed, and among the precipices of
Goat Scar came the final tragedy. Forcing their way up a grassy slack, the
invading host reached the top of Harter Fell and the battle was won. The
Saxons had no other resource but fight, and against the iron-disciplned
troops their valour was of little use. It was a fight to destruction. with
no mercy, and the Normans won at awful cost. The lost expedition was never
found; no trace of a horse or steel of foreign make was to be discovered in
the Saxon caves, and the Baron of Kendal, who personally conducted the
final siege, had to leave the mystery unsolved.
Yet on fine summer evenings, when the purple shades are on the mountain
sides, and the glittering mists hang on the summits, the dalesman has often
been surprised to see, marching between the mist and the dale, sometimes
high, sometimes low, a body of armed horsemen. With scouts in front,
behind, below, above, they sweep along in disciplined order. They are the
Norman band, condemned to walk the fells till they capture eighty Saxons
slain some eight hundred years ago.
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.169}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.169}
{header- Muncaster Castle and Hardknott}
{image = G907A169.jpg}
...
Muncaster Castle and Hardknott
THERE is, perhaps, no more beautiful dwelling-place in this country than
the Castle of Muncaster. It is a solid pile of red sandstone and granite
buildings clustered round an old tower of Roman origin, called Agricola's
Tower, the walls of which are nine feet, or thereabouts, in thickness. It
stands high on the fellside on a kind of shoulder of the hill, gazing out
over the valley of the Esk, out to sea to the west, away up to the mountain
land, Sca Fell and his brethren, to the east.
The origin of Muncaster fades away into the mists of tradition. The
original Roman Tower was said to have been built to guard St. Michael's
ford over the Esk, which is just below the castle, as a bridge has been
built "by men of
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.170}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.170}
{image = G907A170.jpg}
Grasmere." Formerly the river was crossed by means of stepping-stones at
low tide. As the two churches of Muncaster and Waberthwaite, on opposite
sides of the river, were served by the same cleric, the reverend gentleman
had to fit in his discourse with the state of the tide, and it is related
that on more then one occasion he was urged by the clerk to hasten as the
tide was coming in over the bar.
The family of Pennington (the family name of the Lords of Muncaster) came
originally from Pennington in Lancashire, and most of the Penningtons
served their country in some way or another. The first Pennington who
emerged into history was Gamel de Pennington, he who first removed from
Lancashire to Muncaster, or Moelcastre, as it was originally called.
Tradition says that the family at first took up its abode at a residence
now known as Walls Castle, quite close to the ancient harbour of
Ravenglass, then an important place. Walls Castle is in itself most
interesting. For many years it was believed that it was merely a relic of
medieval times. However, the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian
Society took the matter up, and by a series of excavations in 1881 they
proved beyond doubt that the ruins are those of Roman house. The walls
still stand some fourteen feet high in places, so it is evident that the
original Roman who built it could not have been of the tribe of Jerry with
which we are so cursed to-day. Here, probably, the Penningtons dwelt till
some time in the Middle Ages, when they betook themselves to the Roman
Tower, a mile further up the hill, which by this time had become
metamorphosed into the usual "pele tower" style of residence adopted by the
nobles and gentlemen of the Border country. Northumberland, Cumberland,
Westmoreland, and North Lancashire have many fine examples of these
fortified manor-houses and castellated residences, whose existence is due
to the proximity of the lawless moss-troopers, who pillaged the border
counties. None of them, however, can compare with Muncaster for beauty of
situation.
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.171}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.171}
{image = G907A171.jpg}
About half a mile from the Castle, high on the fellside, is perched a
curious old tower known as "Chapels." This building has a room at the
bottom and an upper story, which can only be reached by a ladder from
outside. It is said that King Henry VI., when he fled from his enemies in
1461, was refused asylum at Irton Hall, and was found by a shepherd
wandering on the fell at the spot where Chapels now stands. The shepherd
brought him in
{image = G907E01.jpg}
safety to Muncaster, whose master, Sir John Pennington, took him in and
concealed him. "Henry VI.'s room" is still at the Castle, and there is also
a portrait of him painted on a wooden panel, in which he is represented as
holding the glass goblet known as the "Luck of Muncaster" in his hand.
The Luck of Muncaster is still in existence. It is a curiously-shaped
vessel of greenish glass, studded with gold and white spots. It has no
stem, being more of a bowl than anything else, and is about six inches in
diameter by two and a half in height. It has been used at baptisms
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.172}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.172}
{image = G907A172.jpg}
of members of the noble family to which it was given as a token of the
gratitude of the fugitive King Henry.
The first of the Penningtons to be elevated to the peerage was Sir John,
fifth baronet, who was created Baron Muncaster in 1783. It is said that
when he entered into possession of Muncaster Castle on his elevation to the
peerage, he found it still surrounded by a moat and defended by a
portcullis. The house was in such a ruinous condition that he was obliged
to rebuild it almost entirely, with the exception of the pele tower.
The present Lord Muncaster fought in the Crimea: he is a worthy
representative of the powerful ancestors who have ruled the valley of the
Esk since the days of King Henry II. Their great influence has always been
wielded for good. His domain is a notable one, full of antiquities and
archaeological interest, for it includes Ravenglass, Walls Castle and
Hardknott, a country saturated with memories and traditions not only of the
Romans but of the Norse conquerors, and of those mysterious folk who
inhabited our land before History had birth, the people of the Stone Age.
On the moor near Devoke Water are the remains of a prehistoric village;
barrows, tumuli, and standing stones are dotted here and there; one never
knows what will be found. Fortunately, Lord Muncaster is interested in
matters archaeological, and is the President of the Antiquarian Society of
Cumberland and Westmoreland, and the different relics of Roman occupation
that have been discovered from time to time are preserved in safety at
Muncaster.
It is probable the "Hardknott Castle" was not a popular post with the
officers whose duty it was to take charge of the desolate fort perched high
on the shoulder of Hardknott, a craggy mountain looking over the upper
valley of the Esk to Sca Fell.
The camp can be traced easily to-day, and it is very interesting. It is
some 500 feet above the river, and was evidently built to guard the road
which winds on its right over the pass away to Keswick, Ambleside, and
thence to York. Some ten miles to the westward this
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.173}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.173}
{image = G907A173.jpg}
{image = G907E02.jpg}
{text- Chapels.}
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.174}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.174}
{image = G907A174.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
list, road ends at Ravenglass, a tiny village now, but in those far-off
days an important military port where very likely troops were landed for
the great headqtrs of the Roman army at York. It is conjectured that this
camp is identicial with Maia, a station whose situation is judged to
probably to be in south-west Cumberland. Of the actual history of the camp
little is known. It is mentioned by Camden, who suggests that though it may
be a castle, it is possibly the remains of some church or chapel. It is
also mentioned in "Hutchinson's History of Cumberland," and other works,
but it was not systematically explored till 1889, when Mr. H.
Swainson-Cowper, F.S.A., began the work of excavation by clearing the north
tower. Sir Herbert Maxwell, in 1890 and 1891, continued the work thus
begun, and a regular system of continuous operations was adopted in 1892 by
the late Rev. W. S. Calverly, F.S.A., with Mr. Dymond, F.S.A., as engineer
and surveyor.
They found much of great interest, tracing out the shape of the fort and
determining its materials, and the relics enshrouded by its debris.
The fort itself is almosts square in shape with four gates and a tower at
each angle, N., S., E. and W., each being about twelve feet square. The
north tower is the highest of these, and commands a magnificent view up the
valley of the Upper Esk away to Sca Fell, and also down to the sea, in
which on clear days the Isle of Man is visible.
The walls were originally built of the granite stone of the neighbourhood,
but the angles were made of dressed red sandstone, which must have been
brought from at least ten or eleven miles away. Mortar was used; it can be
seen in the walls if carefully looked for. The walls were about five feet
in thickness.
The porta principalis sinistra (the gate on the north-east side) has
a road which leads to the Parade Ground, some six hundred feet beyond the
fort. The Parade Ground is nearly three acres in extent; the boulders have
been cleared away, and it has been roughly levelled for the
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.175}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.175}
{image = G907A175.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
troops to exercise. On its north side is a great mound (of artifical
construction) probably a kind of grand stand from which the officers could
watch the manoeuvres of their men.
At the south side of the camp, about two hundred feet below the east tower
on the side of the road leading to the south-east gateway (the porta
praetoria), are two buildings which were cleared under the immediate
direction of Mr. Calverley. One of these buildings contains three large
rooms and one small one. It is provided with the usual hypocausts for
heating. The small compartment is supposed to be either a cistern or a
bath; it is in the room at the north end of the building. At the southern
end of the house is a large praefurnium for heating the hypocausts.
Adjacent, but quite separate, is a circular building some fifteen feet in
diameter, which has evidently been plastered with a red-coloured plaster.
Its use has not definitely been ascertained, though the late Chancellor
Ferguson suggested that it might be a shrine to the goddess Feronia, while
the building nearby was a wayside tavern.1
list, list, Inside the walls are three groups of buildings, the praetorium
being in the middle; east of the praetorium is a smaller building that
might have been officers' qtrs, and west of it is another structure that
some believe to have been stables, while other authorities incline to think
that it formed soldiers' qtrs.
Water for the camp was probably obtained from a stream issuing from the
fell behind. In an account of the camp in Hutchinson's History given by
Abraham Marshall, for many years incumbent of Eskdale (he rests now in the
churchyard beside the river Esk), we read that pieces of a leather
water-pipe were found leading to the fort from a well called Maddock How. I
have not heard, however, that the excavations yielded any further traces of
water-pipes or conduits.
During the excavations many relics were found both of
1 See "Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland
Antiquarian Society," vol.xii. p.389.
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.176}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.176}
{image = G907A176.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
bronze and iron; also various kinds of pottery, though there was very
little of really fine Samian ware.
Many fragments of glass and lead showed that the windows of the fort were
glazed. Several pieces of jewellery were found, one being a fish with an
enamelled red eye. In the three-roomed house outside the fort remains of a
cat and kittens (or dog and puppies) were found under the debris of
the roof and walls. Slates were discovered amongst the ruins showing that
the dwellings had all been roofed with slates.
How the camp was overthrown after the departure of its Roman occupants we
do not know, but its ruin was evidently completed by fire. Perhaps the
barbarian hordes lurking among the grim fastnesses of the mountains around
descended upon it. History, at any rate, is silent upon this point.
Many of the sandstone door-posts, corner-stones, etc., were carried away in
later times. Some of them were found by Mr. Calverley in use as
cheese-presses, etc., at farms in the neighbourhood. Still sufficient of
the camp is left for us to build up in the imagination what it once was. We
can see what an imposing edifice it must have appeared to the wild hillmen,
perched in mid-air on the edge of a crag round which mists swirled and snow
drove. It must have been a dreary spot in winter for those Roman soldiers,
with the north wind from Sca Fell and Bow Fell howling round it, and wild
boars and wolves prowling, perhaps, outside its gates.
A wild boar's tusk was found amongst its debris, and portions of the
antlers of red deer. To-day hares and foxes may be found amongst its ruins,
while ravens still have a nesting-place in the crags above, and buzzard
hawks and peregrine falcons hover above it in its bleak desolation.
The view from the camp on a fine day is so beautiful as to make it well
worth a visit independently of the great interest of its relics from an
antiquarian point of view. It is doubly interesting, perhaps, by reason of
the mystery which enshrouds it. Of its builders we know
{title- Gents Mag 1907 part 1 p.177}
{text- Gentleman's Magazine 1907 part 1 p.177}
{image = G907A177.jpg}
{continues last paragraph}
definitely nothing save that they were Romans: of its subsequent history we
know nothing. It was just a hill station, a fort - probably one of a chain
- guarding an important highway. With that we must rest content; but in
imagination, sitting up there, we may picture many
{image = G907E04.jpg}
things, trying to piece together its history. At present it is undisturbed.
Doubtless in future times a railway will run to Keswick and Ambleside by
way of Hardknott, and the ghosts of the Roman sentries will marvel as they
pace outside the overthrown gates. But in our day it is a place of peace, a
spot to wonder over and to think upon, a piece of Forgotten History.