Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Westmorland: Camden 1789 Gough


included in:-	Westmorland
	Westmorland: Camden 1789 Gough
evidence:-	old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) item:- parishes; Westmorland, size; climate, Westmorland; sheep; fish; mineral; lead; coal; copper; ochre; silver; slate trout; eels; bass; perch; tench; roach; pike; char; woods; helm wind; pele towers; roman roads; turnpike rods; schools; feudal tenure; military tenure; military service; border service; game; Scotch and English game; border raid; wards; high constable; Domesday Survey homage; fealty; cornage; white rent; scutage; ferndell; virgate; carucate; hide; knight's fee; land measure; drengage
source data:-	Book, Britannia, or A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by William Camden, 1586, translated from the 1607 Latin edition by Richard Gough, published London, 1789. goto source Page 150:- "..." "WESTMORLAND is about 40 miles long by as many broad, and 140 miles in circumference, contains 510,000 acres, four wards, seven market and two borough towns, 32 large parishes, and about 6500 houses. The air is sharp and healthy. The soil in the hills is barren and moory yet affording pasture for store of sheep; the vallies are fertile in corn and near the rivers in grass.." "Mr. Camden's description of the county answers only to that part from Lancaster through the barony of Kendal to Workington in Cumberland, which is a mountainous tract. Whereas the barony of Westmorland, commonly called from its low situation the bottom of Westmorland, is a large open champion country, not less than 20 miles long and about 14 broad, affording great plenty of arable land and corn. Nor do mores in the north parts signify wild barren mountains, but generally common of pasture, in opposition to fells or mountains; so that in Kendal barony where they have most mountains, there are few or no mores, their commons being generally called fells, and in the bottom of Westmorland there are few mountains (except that ridge which binds the county like a rampire or bulwark), but many mores which have ridges that still appear and shew to have been formerly plowed, having probably been deserted for situations more favourable to agriculture." "Archbishop Usher does not so much controvert the history of king Marius whatever becomes of the derivation of the name of Westmorland from him." "Dr. Burn correcting Mr. Camden's etymology denies that the name of this county is derivable from moors, it being universally written in old records Westmerland. He does not seem to have been aware that it might imply the land or county of the Western mere or boundary between England and Scotland." "Though mountains, or as they are called in the language of the country, fells, compose a large part of it, they are not altogether unprofitable. They feed large flocks of sheep, produce plenty of grouse or moor game, abound with rivulets which water the vallies beneath, and yield a great fund of minerals, lead, and coal, copper, and oker, and Silver-band fell silver; and in the western fells is found fine blue slate which supplies several parts of the kingdom, not to mention the spars and imitations of diamonds, coralloids, fossils, and marbles." "The rivers of this county are but small, and only three that can properly be called rivers carry their name to the sea: ... Eden ... Lune or Lon ... Kent ..." "..." "In the hollows among the mountains are found divers large lakes, having small rivulets running through them, which preserve the water clear, the lakes having commonly a pebbly or rocky bottom." "... All these bodies of water abound with divers species of fish, as trout, eels, bass, perch, tench, roach, pike, char and divers others. The south coast is pretty well furnished with sea-fish, of which upwards of thirty different sorts have been brought to Kendal market, till by the improvement of the town and port of Lancaster the market for fish is considerably drawn that way." "This county long after the Conquest appears to have been covered with wood: but it was probably destroyed on purpose to prevent it affording shelter to the Scotch invaders. Large trunks of oak, fir, birch, and other trees, which shew the mark of the ax, lie near to their respective roots in the mosses which have formed over them by the stoppage of the water." "The helm wind is a phoenomenon peculiar to this county and the confines of Yorkshire and Lancashire, about Ingleborough, Pendle, and Penigent. A rolling cloud hovers over the mountain tops for three or four days together when the rest of the sky is clear, and continues notwithstanding the most violent hurricane and profound calm alternately succeeding each other." "The gentlemen's houses in this county are large and strong, generally built castlewise for security of themselves and their tenants with their goods against the inroads of the Scots." goto source Page 151:- "The great Roman road passed through this county from Stanemore to Brougham castle, ... Maiden way, ... Beside these two Roman roads there are in this county eight good turnpike ones." "The country though barren is populous, and the inhabitants civilized; which advantage Dr. Burn ascribes to the institution of small schools in almost every village. Here are large remains of the antient feudal policy, retained longer in these parts by reason of the particular military tenure against the Scots. These lands were first granted out in large districts by William the Conqueror and his successors to certain great Norman barons. These parcelled them out to inferior lords, and they again granted them to individuals. And they seem to have extended this regulation as far as it would go. The soldier's estate from the number of antient tenements in the several manors appears to have been small, as what would now let for about 10 or 12l. per annum. And besides the general military service in the king's wars at home and abroad, the tenants in the borders were liable to be called out in the particular service against the Scots, at the command of the lords wardens of the marches. Even the very diversions of the children still have a reference to this border enmity. The boys to this day have a play called Scotch and English, an exact picture in miniature of the raid or inroad, and a very active and violent recreation." "The common people eat oaten bread as in Scotland, and oats are imported weekly out of Cumberland and the adjoining counties of York, Lancaster, and Durham. They breed great numbers of cattle, and export largely butter and hams." "This county is divided into the barony of Kendal and the barony of Westmorland, in later times called the barony of Appleby. The former belongs to the diocese of Chester, the latter to that of Carlisle. In each barony we find two wards, being districts of the like number of high-constables, who presided over the wards to be sustained at certain fords and other places for repelling plundering parties out of Scotland. Two of these wards are in Kendal Barony, Kendale and Lonsdale wards; and two in the bottom called East and West wards. There was antiently a middle ward between the two last, but since watching and warding ceased it has fallen into the other two." "It is a mistake that in antient times these parts paid no subsidy, being sufficiently charged in the border service against the Scots; for we find all along collectors of the subsidies here granted both by clergy and laity from the reign of Edward III. downwards, and taking all the taxes together we shall find this country pays more to government in proportion to the wealth of the inhabitants than any county in the kingdom." "In the Domesday survey an account is taken of many places within the barony of Kendal, together with the adjoining places in Lancaster and Yorkshire, whereas of Westmorland properly so called no survey was made, it being all wasted and destroyed and worth nothing. This barony extended a good way into that part which is now called the bottom of Westmorland, particularly into almost all the west part comprehending the greatest part of the parishes of Barton, Lowther, and Morland. But now the boundary of Kendal barony as distinguished from the bottom of Westmorland is the same nearly as the boundary of the several parishes of Gresmere and Kendal on one side and Barton, Shap, and Orton on the other. It is in the diocese of Chester, and has two rural deaneries of Kendal and Kirkby Lonsdale, both of which extend into the adjoining parts of Lancaster. The bottom of Westmorland is in the diocese of Carlisle, and is all one rural deanry called the deanry of Westmorland." "The general military tenure of this county was by homage, fealty, and cornage; which last seems peculiar to the border service, and drew after it wardship, marriage, and relief, and the service of this tenure was knight service. Cornage was early converted into pecuniary payment, and White rent was the lord's rent paid in silver. Scutage was another service or compensation in money instead of personal service against the Scots. A knight's fee in these northern counties according to the register of Wetheral priory was estimated not according to quality but quantity of the land. According to that register 10 acres made one ferndell, four ferndells a virgate (which is half a carucate), four virgates one hide, and four hides a knight's fee: so that the knight's fee in this case would amount to 640 acres. The value of these appears to have been ascertained at the time of Magna Charta, which fixes the relief to be paid for a knight's fee at 5l. and as the relief in all the cases there specified was after the rate of a quarter of the yearly value of the fee, it follows that knight's fee was then estimated at 20l. per ann.." "The last tenure to be explained in this county, and which has puzzled former antiquaries, is drengage, which Dr. Burn proves to be the most servile of all tenures, in opposition to the free tenants, who were so called because they were not villains or bondmen. For other customary tenures in this county I must refer to Dr. Burn." ""In Westmorland is but one good market town called Kendale, otherwise, as I wene, Kirkby Kendale. ..."

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