THE EVOLUTION OF AN ENGLISH TOWN

Being the story of the ancient town of PICKERING in Yorkshire fromPrehistoric times up to the year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred & 5

BY GORDON HOME

TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR GENEROUS HELP IN THE COMPILATION OF THISBOOK

PREFACE

The original suggestion that I should undertake this task came from theVicar of Pickering, and it is due to his co-operation and to the greathelp received from Dr John L. Kirk that this history has attained itspresent form. But beyond this I have had most valuable assistance from somany people in Pickering and the villages round about, that to mentionthem all would almost entail reprinting the local directory. I wouldtherefore ask all those people who so kindly put themselves to greattrouble and who gave up much time in order to help me, to consider thatthey have contributed very materially towards the compilation of thisrecord. 

Beyond those who live in the neighbourhood of Pickering, I am particularlyindebted to Mr Richard Blakeborough for his kind help and the use of hisinvaluable collection of Yorkshire folklore. Mr Blakeborough was keen oncollecting the old stories of hobs, wraithes and witches just long enoughago to be able to tap the memories of many old people who are no longerwith us, and thus his collection is now of great value. Nearly all thefolklore stories I am able to give, are those saved from oblivion in thisway. 

I have also had much help from Mr J. Romilly Allen and from Mr T. M. Fallowof Coatham, who very generously gave his aid in deciphering some of theolder records of Pickering. 

To Professor Percy F. Kendall who so kindly gave me permission toreproduce his map showing the Vale of Pickering during the Glacial Epoch, as well as other valuable help, I am also greatly indebted; and I have tothank Professor W. Boyd Dawkins for his kindness in reading some of theproofs, and for giving valuable suggestions. 

GORDON HOME. 

EPSOM, _May 1905_. 

CONTENTS

PREFACE. 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ICONCERNING THOSE WHICH FOLLOW

CHAPTER IITHE FOREST AND VALE OF PICKERING IN PALÆOLITHIC AND PRE-GLACIAL TIMES

CHAPTER IIITHE VALE OF PICKERING IN THE LESSER ICE AGE

CHAPTER IVTHE EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE FOREST AND VALE OF PICKERING

CHAPTER VHOW THE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF BRITAIN AFFECTED THE FOREST AND VALE OFPICKERING, B. C. 55 TO A. D. 418

CHAPTER VITHE FOREST AND VALE IN SAXON TIMES, A. D. 418 TO 1066

CHAPTER VIITHE FOREST AND VALE IN NORMAN TIMES, A. D. 1066 TO 1154

CHAPTER VIIITHE FOREST AND VALE IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS, A. D. 1154 TO 1485

CHAPTER IXTHE FOREST AND VALE IN TUDOR TIMES, A. D. 1485 TO 1603

CHAPTER XTHE FOREST AND VALE IN STUART TIMES, A. D. 1603 TO 1714

CHAPTER XITHE FOREST AND VALE IN GEORGIAN TIMES, A. D. 1714 TO 1837

CHAPTER XIITHE FOREST AND VALE FROM EARLY VICTORIAN TIMES UP TO THE PRESENT DAY, A. D. 1837 TO 1905

CHAPTER XIIIConcerning the Villages and Scenery of the Forest and Vale of Pickering

CHAPTER XIVConcerning the Zoology of the Forest and Vale

 * * * * *

Books of Reference

List of the Vicars of Pickering

Index

THE PURPOSE OF THE FOOTNOTES

Having always considered footnotes an objectionable feature, I haveresorted to them solely for reference purposes. Therefore, the reader whodoes not wish to look up my authorities need not take the slightest noticeof the references to the footnotes, which in no case contain additionalfacts, but merely indications of the sources of information. 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Pickering Church from Hall Garth (_Coloured_)

Pickering From The North-West

Rosamund Tower, Pickering Castle

Kirkdale Cave

Hyænas' Jaws

Elephants' Teeth

Bear's Tusk

Pickering Lake in Ice Age

Newtondale in Ice Age

Pickering Lake, Eastern End

Scamridge Dykes

Pre-Historic Weapons

Leaf-shaped Arrow Head

Lake Dwellings Relics

Remains of Pre-Historic Animals from Lake Dwellings

Skeleton of Bronze Age

A Quern

Urns in Pickering Museum

Sketch Map of Roman Road and Camps

The Tower of Middleton Church

Ancient Font and Crosses

Saxon Sundial at Kirkdale

Saxon Sundial at Edstone

Pre-Norman Remains near Pickering

Saxon Stones at Kirkdale

Saxon Stones at Sinnington

South Side of the Nave of Pickering Church

Norman Doorway at Salton

Norman Work at Ellerburne

The Crypt at Lastingham

Norman Font at Edstone

Wall Paintings in Pickering Church

The Devil's Tower, Pickering Castle

Wall Painting of St Christopher

Wall Painting of St Edmund and Acts of Mercy

Wall Painting of Herod's Feast and Martyrdom of St Thomas À Becket

Effigy of Sir William Bruce

Effigies in Bruce Chapel

Holy Water Stoup in Pickering Church

Sanctus Bell

Cattle Marks

Section of Fork Cottage

Details of Fork Cottage

Pickering Castle from the Keep

Pre-Reformation Chalice

Font at Pickering Church

Alms Box at Pickering Church

House in which Duke of Buckingham Died

Maypole on Sinnington Green

Inverted Stone Coffin at Wykeham

Magic Cubes

Newtondale, showing the Coach Railway

Relics of Witchcraft

A Love Garter

Horn of the Sinnington Hunt

Interior of the Oldest Type of Cottage

Ingle-Nook at Gallow Hill Farm

Autographs of Wordsworth and Mary Hutchinson

Riding t' Fair

Halbert and Spetum

Old Key of Castle

Pickering Shambles

The Old Pickering Fire-Engine

Market Cross at Thornton-le-Dale

Lockton Village

The Black Hole of Thornton-le-Dale

Hutton Buscel Church

Sketch Map of the Pickering District

INTRODUCTION

Every preface in olden time was wont to begin with the address "LectoriBenevolo"--the indulgence of the reader being thereby invoked and, it washoped, assured. In that the writer of this at least would have his share, even though neither subject, nor author, that he introduces, may stand inneed of such a shield. 

Local histories are yearly becoming more numerous. In few places is theremore justification for one than here. 

I. The beauty of the scenery is not well known. This book should dosomething to vindicate its character. There is no need on this point to goback to the time of George III. 's conversation at the levée with MrsPickering's grandfather. "I suppose you are going back to Yorkshire, MrStanhope? A very ugly country, Yorkshire. " This was too much for mygrandfather--(the story is told in her own words)--"We always considerYorkshire a very picturesque country. " "What, what, what, " said the King, "a coalpit a picturesque object! what, what, what, Yorkshire coalpitspicturesque! Yorkshire a picturesque country!"[1] Only within the last fewmonths one of us had a letter refusing to consider a vacant post: thereason given being that this was a colliery district. There is no pit tobe found for miles. Many can, and do, walk, cycle, or motor through theVale. Others, who are unable to come and see for themselves, will, withthe help of Mr Home, be in a better position to appreciate at its trueworth the charm of the haughs and the changing views of the distant Wolds, and of the russet brown or purple expanse of the upland moors. 

[Footnote 1: "Memoirs of Anna M. W. Pickering. "]

II. The stranger on a visit, no less the historian or antiquary, has tillnow often been puzzled for a clue, and ignorant where to turn forauthentic data, would he attempt to weave for himself a connected idea ofthe incidents of the past and their bearing on the present. There has beenno lack of material buried in ancient records, or preserved in the commonoral traditions of the folk: but hitherto no coherent account that hasbeen published. Speaking for ourselves, we are glad the task of dealingwith the "raffled hank" of timeworn customs and obscure traditions as wellas the more easily ascertained facts of history is falling to the author'spractised pen. For the future, at any rate, there should be lessdifficulty in understanding the manner of life and method of rule withwhich past and present generations belonging to the Town of Pickering havebeen content to dwell. 

III. "Foreigners"[1] are sometimes at a loss to understand the peculiarspirit of those who in York, for instance, are known as "Moor-enders. "This spirit shows itself in different ways; but perhaps in nothing so muchas the intense attachment of the townsmen to their birthplace. This localpatriotism is no whit behind that to be found in Spain--"seldom indeed aSpaniard says he is a Spaniard, but speaks of himself as being fromSeville, Cadiz, or some forgotten town in La Mancha, of which he speakswith pride, referring to it as 'mi tierra. '"[2] Our readers will learnthere is some reason for this attachment; and may, like some of us, whotho' born elsewhere claim adoption as citizens, fall under the witchery ofits spell. 

[Footnote 1: C. R. L. Fletcher in his "History of England" tells us thattownsmen of the thirteenth century were wont to brand their brethren inall the neighbouring towns as "foreigners. " Those we call foreigners, theycalled aliens. The expression itself was made use of not long ago at ameeting of the Urban Council. ]

[Footnote 2: R. B. Cunninghame Graham, "Hernando de Soto. "]

May the venture to compass these ends succeed, to use an old saying, "ezsartin ez t' thorn-bush. "[1]

[Footnote 1: It used to be the custom for the parson to collect the titheby placing a branch of thorn in every tenth stook; he choosing the stooksand sending his cart along for them. R. Blakeborough, "Yorkshire Humourand Customs. "]

E. W. D. 

The Vicarage, Pickering. 

_25th September_ 1904. 

THE EVOLUTION

OF AN

ENGLISH TOWN

CHAPTER I

_Concerning those which follow_

 "Brother, " quod he, "where is now youre dwellyng, Another day if that I sholde you seche?" This yeman hym answerde, in softe speche: "Brother, " quod he, "fer in the north contree, Where as I hope som tyme I shal thee see. "

_The Friar's Tale. Chaucer. _

In the North Riding of Yorkshire, there is a town of such antiquity thatits beginnings are lost far away in the mists of those times of which nowritten records exist. What this town was originally called, it isimpossible to say, but since the days of William the Norman (a pleasantersounding name than "the Conqueror, ") it has been consistently known asPickering, although there has always been a tendency to spell the namewith y's and to abandon the c, thus producing the curious-looking resultof _Pykeryng_; its sound, however was the same. 

In his Chronicles, John Stow states on the authority of "divers writers"that Pickering was built in the year 270 B. C. , but I am inclined to thinkthat the earliest settlements on the site or in the neighbourhood of thepresent town must have been originated at an infinitely earlier period. 

But despite its undisputed antiquity there are many even in Yorkshire whohave never heard of the town, and in the south of England it is difficultto find anyone who is aware that such a place exists. At Rennes during thegreat military trial there was a Frenchman who asked "Who is Dreyfus?" andwe were surprised at such ignorance of a name that had been on the lips ofall France for years, but yet we discover ourselves to be astonishinglylacking in the knowledge of our own little island and find ourselvesasking "why should anyone trouble to write a book about a town of which sofew have even heard?" But it is often in the out-of-the-way places thathistorical treasures are preserved, and it is mainly for this reason andthe fact that the successive periods of growth are so well demonstratedthere, that the ancient town of Pickering has been selected to illustratethe evolution of an English town. 

I have endeavoured to produce a complete series of pictures commencingwith the Ice Age and finishing at the dawn of the twentieth century. Inthe earlier chapters only a rough outline is possible, but as we come downthe centuries and the records become more numerous and varied, fullerdetails can be added to the pictures of each age, and we may witness howmuch or how little the great series of dynastic, constitutional, religiousand social changes effected a district that is typical of many others inthe remoter parts of England. 

[Illustration: Pickering from the North-West. ]

Built on sloping ground that rises gently from the rich, level pastures ofthe Vale of Pickering, the town has a picturesque and pleasant site. Atthe top of the market-place where the ground becomes much steeper standsthe church, its grey bulk dominating every view. From all over the Valeone can see the tall spire, and from due east or west it has a surprisingway of peeping over the hill tops. It has even been suggested that thetower and spire have been a landmark for a very long time, owing to thefact that where the hills and formation of the ground do not obstruct theview, or make road-making difficult, the roads make straight for thespire. 

With few exceptions the walls of the houses are of the same weather-beatenlimestone as the church and the castle, but seen from above the whole townis transformed into a blaze of red, the curved tiles of the localityretaining their brilliant hue for an indefinite period. Only a very fewthatched roofs remain to-day, but the older folks remember when most ofthe houses were covered in that picturesque fashion. 

Pickering has thus lost its original uniform greyness, relieved here andthere by whitewash, and presents strong contrasts of colour against thegreen meadows and the masses of trees that crown the hill where the castlestands. The ruins, now battered and ivy-mantled, are dignified andpicturesque and still sufficiently complete to convey a clear impressionof the former character of the fortress, three of the towers at angles ofthe outer walls having still an imposing aspect. The grassy mounds andshattered walls of the interior would, however, be scarcely recognisableto the shade of Richard II. If he were ever to visit the scene of hisimprisonment. 

Since the time of Henry VIII. When Leland described the castle, wholetowers and all the interior buildings except the chapel have disappeared. The chief disasters probably happened before the Civil War, although weare told, by one or two eighteenth century writers, as an instance of thedestruction that was wrought, that after the Parliamentary forces hadoccupied the place and "breached the walls, " great quantities of papersand parchments were scattered about Castle-gate, the children beingattracted to pick them up, many of them bearing gilt letters. During thecentury which has just closed, more damage was done to the buildings andin a short time all the wooden floors in the towers completelydisappeared. 

Stories are told of the Parliamentary troops being quartered in Pickeringchurch, and, if this were true, we have every reason to bless the coats ofwhitewash which probably hid the wall-paintings from their view. Theseries of fifteenth century pictures that now cover both walls of the navewould have proved so very distasteful to the puritan soldiery that it isimpossible to believe that they could have tolerated their existence, especially when we find it recorded that the font was smashed and thelarge prayer-book torn to pieces at that time. 

[Illustration: Rosamund Tower, Pickering Castle. ]

Pickering church has a fascination for the antiquary, and does not fail toimpress even the most casual person who wanders into the churchyard andenters the spacious porch. The solemn massiveness of the Norman nave, theunusual effect of the coloured paintings above the arches, and the carvedstone effigies of knights whose names are almost forgotten, carry one awayfrom the familiar impressions of a present-day Yorkshire town, and almostsuggest that one is living in mediæval times. One can wander, too, on themoors a few miles to the north and see heather stretching away to the mostdistant horizon and feel that there, also, are scenes which have beenidentically the same for many centuries. The men of the Neolithic andBronze Ages may have swept their eyes over landscapes so similar that theywould find the moorlands quite as they knew them, although they would missthe dense forests of the valleys and the lower levels. 

The cottages in the villages are, many of them, of great age, and most ofthem have been the silent witnesses of innumerable superstitious rites andcustoms. When one thoroughly realises the degrading character of thebeliefs that so powerfully swayed the lives of the villagers andmoorland-folk of this district, as late as the first twenty years of thenineteenth century, one can only rejoice that influences arosesufficiently powerful to destroy them. Along with the revolting practises, however, it is extremely unfortunate to have to record the disappearanceof many picturesque, and in themselves, entirely harmless customs. Theroots of the great mass of superstitions have their beginnings so far awayfrom the present time, that to embrace them all necessitates anexploration of all the centuries that lie between us and the pre-historicages, and in the pages that follow, some of these connections with thepast may be discovered. 

CHAPTER II

_The Forest and Vale of Pickering in Palæolithic and Pre-Glacial Times. _

The Palæolithic or Old Stone Age preceded and succeeded the Great GlacialEpochs in the Glacialid. 

In that distant period of the history of the human race when man was stillso primitive in his habits that traces of his handiwork are exceedinglydifficult to discover, the forest and Vale of Pickering seem to have beenwithout human inhabitants. Remains of this Old Stone Age have been foundin many parts of England, but they are all south of a line drawn fromLincoln to Derbyshire and North Wales. In the caves at Cresswell Craggs inDerbyshire notable Palæolithic discoveries were made, but for some reasonthese savage hordes seem to have come no further north than that spot. Weknow, however, that many animals belonging to the pre-glacial periodstruggled for their existence in the neighbourhood of Pickering. 

[Illustration: A plan and section of Kirkdale Cave. ]

It was during the summer of 1821 that the famous cave at Kirkdale wasdiscovered, and the bones of twenty-two different species of animals werebrought to light. Careful examination showed that the cave had for a longtime been the haunt of hyænas of the Pleistocene Period, a geologicaldivision of time, which embraces in its latter part the age of Palæolithicman. The spotted hyæna that is now to be found only in Africa, south ofthe Sahara, [1] was then inhabiting the forests of Yorkshire and preying onanimals now either extinct or only living in tropical climates. The watersof Lake Pickering seem to have risen to a sufficiently high level at oneperiod to drive out the occupants of the cave and to have remained staticfor long enough to allow the accumulation of about a foot of alluviumabove the bones that littered the floor. By this means it appears that thelarge quantity of broken fragments of bones that were recent at the timeof the inundation were preserved to our own times without any perceptiblesigns of decomposition. Quarrying operations had been in progress atKirkdale for some time when the mouth of the cave was suddenly laid bareby pure accident. The opening was quite small, being less than 5 feetsquare, and as it penetrated the limestone hill it varied from 2 to 7 feetin breadth and height; the quarrying had also left the opening at aconsiderable height up the perpendicular wall of stone. At the presenttime it is almost inaccessible, and except for the interest of seeing theactual site of the discoveries and the picturesqueness of the spot thecave has no great attractions. 

[Footnote 1: Dawkins, W. Boyd. "Early man in Britain, " p. 103. ]

Not long after it was stumbled upon by the quarrymen Dr William Bucklandwent down to Kirkdale, and although some careless digging had taken placein the outer part of the cave before his arrival, he was able to make amost careful and exhaustive examination of the undisturbed portions, giving the results of his work in a paper read before the Royal Society in1822. [1] Besides the remains of many hyænas there were teeth or bones ofsuch large animals as the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, tiger, bear, urus (Bos primi-genius) an unknown animal of the size of awolf, and three species of deer. The smaller animals included the rabbit, water-rat, mouse, raven, pigeon, lark and a small type of duck. Everythingwas broken into small pieces so that no single skull was found entire andit was, of course, impossible to obtain anything like a complete skeleton. From the fact that the bones of the hyænas themselves had suffered thesame treatment as the rest we may infer that these ferocious lovers ofputrid flesh were in the habit of devouring those of their own speciesthat died a natural death, or that possibly under pressure of hunger wereinclined to kill and eat the weak or diseased members of the pack. Fromother evidences in the cave it is plain that its occupants were extremelyfond of bones after the fashion of the South African hyæna. 

[Footnote 1: Buckland, The Rev. Wm. "Account of an assemblage of fossilteeth and bones . . . At Kirkdale. "]

[Illustration: Jaws of Kirkdale (above) and Modern Hyæna (below). TheKirkdale Hyænas were evidently much more powerful than the modern ones. ]

Although the existing species have jaws of huge strength and theseprehistoric hyænas were probably stronger still, it is quite improbablethat they ever attacked such large animals as elephants; and the fact thatthe teeth found in the cave were of very young specimens seems to suggestthat the hyænas now and then found the carcase of a young elephant thathad died, and dragged it piecemeal to their cave. The same would possiblyapply to some of the other large animals, for hyænas, unless in greatextremes of hunger never attack a living animal. They have a loud andmournful howl, beginning low and ending high, and also a maniacal laughwhen excited. 

[Illustration: Teeth of young Elephants found at Kirkdale. ]

It might be suggested that the bones had accumulated in the den throughdead bodies of animals being floated in during the inundation by thewaters of the lake, but in that case the remains, owing to the narrownessof the mouth of the cave, could only have belonged to small animals, andthe skeletons would have been more or less complete, and there are alsoevidences on many of the bones of their having been broken by teethprecisely similar to those of the hyæna. 

We see therefore that in this remote age Britain enjoyed a climate whichencouraged the existence of animals now to be found only in tropicalregions, that herds of mammoths or straight-tusked elephants smashed theirway through primæval forests and that the hippopotamus and the woolly orsmall-nosed rhinoceros frequented the moist country at the margin of thelake. Packs of wolves howled at night and terrorised their prey, and inwinter other animals from northern parts would come as far south asYorkshire. In fact it seems that the northern and southern groups ofanimals in Pleistocene times appeared in this part of England at differentseasons of the year and the hyænas of Kirkdale would, in the opinion ofProfessor Boyd Dawkins, prey upon the reindeer at one time of the year andthe hippopotamus at another. 

Following this period came a time of intense cold, but the conditions werenot so severe as during the Great Glacial times. 

[Illustration: Canine tooth or tusk of a Kirkdale bear (Ursus spelacus)]

CHAPTER III

_The Vale of Pickering in the Lesser Ice Age_

Long before even the earliest players took up their parts in the greatDrama of Human Life which has been progressing for so long in this portionof England, great changes came about in the aspect of the stage. Thesetransformations date from the period of Arctic cold, which caused ice ofenormous thickness to form over the whole of north-western Europe. 

Throughout this momentous age in the history of Yorkshire, as far as wecan tell, the flaming sunsets that dyed the ice and snow with crimson werereflected in no human eyes. In those far-off times, when the sun wasyounger and his majesty more imposing than at the present day, we mayimagine a herd of reindeer or a solitary bear standing upon someice-covered height and staring wonderingly at the blood-red globe as itneared the horizon. The tremendous silence that brooded over the face ofthe land was seldom broken save by the roar of the torrents, thereverberating boom of splitting ice, or the whistling and shrieking of thewind. 

The evidences in favour of this glacial period are too apparent to allowof any contradiction; but although geologists agree as to its existence, they do not find it easy to absolutely determine its date or its causes. 

Croll's theory of the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit[1] as the chieffactor in the great changes of the Earth's climate has now been to a greatextent abandoned, and the approximate date of the Glacial Epoch of between240, 000 and 80, 000 years ago is thus correspondingly discredited by manygeologists. Professor Kendall inclines to the belief that not more than25, 000 years have elapsed since the departure of the ice from Yorkshire, the freshness of all the traces of glaciation being incompatible with along period of post-glacial time. 

[Footnote 1: "Climate and Time. " James Croll, 1889. ]

The superficial alterations in the appearance of these parts of Yorkshirewere brought about by the huge glaciers which, at that time, choked upmost of the valleys and spread themselves over the watersheds of the land. 

In the warmer seasons of the year, when the Arctic cold relaxed to someextent, fierce torrents would rush down every available depression, sweeping along great quantities of detritus and boulders sawn off andcarried sometimes for great distances by the slow-moving glaciers. Thegrinding, tearing and cannonading of these streams cut out courses forthemselves wherever they went. In some cases the stream would occupy anexisting hollow or old water-course, deepening and widening it, but inmany instances where the ice blocked a valley the water would form lakesalong the edge of the glacier, and overflowing across a succession of hillshoulders, would cut deep notches on the rocky slopes. 

Owing to the careful work of Mr C. E. Fox-Strangways and of Professor PercyF. Kendall, we are able to tell, almost down to details, what took placein the Vale of Pickering and on the adjacent hills during this period. 

In the map reproduced here we can see the limits of the ice during theperiod of its greatest extension. The great ice-sheet of the North Sea hadjammed itself along the Yorkshire coast, covering the lower hills withglaciers, thus preventing the natural drainage of the ice-free countryinland. The Derwent carrying off the water from some of these hills foundits outlet gradually blocked by the advancing lobe of a glacier, and thewater having accumulated into a lake (named after Hackness in the map), overflowed along the edge of the ice into the broad alluvial plain nowcalled the Vale of Pickering. Up to a considerable height, probably about200 feet, the drainage of the Derwent and the other streams flowing intothe Vale was imprisoned, and thus Pickering Lake was formed. 

The boulder clay at the seaward end of the Vale seems to have been cappedby ice of a thickness of nearly 100 feet which efficiently contained thewaters of the lake until they overflowed through a depression among thehills to the south of Malton. If the waters escaped by any other outlet tothe west near Gilling and Coxwold, it can scarcely have been more than atemporary affair compared to the overflow that produced the gorge atKirkham Abbey, as the Gilling Gap was itself closed by the great glacierdescending the Vale of York. The overflow of the lake by this route, southof Malton, must have worn a channel down to a lower level than 130 feetO. D. Before the ice retreated from the seaward end of the Vale, otherwisethe escape would have taken place over the low hills blocking the valleyin that direction and the normal course of the drainage of the countrywould have been resumed. The southern overflow evidently dug its waythrough the hills fast enough to maintain that outlet, and at the presenttime the narrow gorge at Kirkham Abbey is only 50 feet above sea level, and the hills through which the Derwent passes at this point are from 200to 225 feet high. 

[Illustration: A Map of North-Eastern Yorkshire showing Lake Pickeringduring the maximum extension of the ice. The area covered by ice is leftunshaded. The arrows show the direction of the glacier movements. (Reproduced from the _Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society_, bypermission of Professor Percy F. Kendall. )]

As the waters of the lake gradually drained away, the Vale was left in amarshy state until the rivers gradually formed channels for themselves. Inrecent times drainage canals have been cut and the streams embanked, sothat there is little to remind one of the existence of the lake save forthe hamlet still known as The Marishes. The name is quite obviously acorruption of marshes, for this form is still in use in these parts, butit is interesting to know that Milton spelt the word in the same way asthe name of this village, and in Ezekiel xlvii. II we find: "But the miryplaces thereof, and the marishes thereof, shall not be healed. " The easewith which a lake could again be formed in the Vale was demonstrated inOctober 1903 after the phenomenally wet summer and autumn of that year, bya flood that covered the fields for miles and in several places halfsubmerged the hedges and washed away the corn stooks. 

The evidence in favour of the existence of Lake Pickering is so amplethat, according to Professor Kendall, it may be placed "among thewell-established facts of glacial geology. "[1]

[Footnote 1: _Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society_, vol. Lviii. Part 3, No. 231, p. 501. ]

We have thus an accredited explanation for the extraordinary behaviour ofthe river Derwent and its tributaries, including practically the whole ofthe drainage south of the Esk, which instead of taking the obviouslysimple and direct course to the sea, flow in the opposite direction to theslope of the rocks and the grain of the country. After passing through theravine at Kirkham Abbey the stream eventually mingles with the Ouse, andthus finds its way to the Humber. 

The splendid cañon to the north of Pickering, known as Newton Dale, withits precipitous sides rising to a height of 300 or even 400 feet, musthave assumed its present proportions principally during the glacial periodwhen it formed an overflow valley from a lake held up by ice in theneighbourhood of Fen Bogs and Eller Beck. This great gorge is tenanted atthe present time by Pickering Beck, an exceedingly small stream, which nowcarries off all the surface drainage and must therefore be only remotelyrelated to its great precursor that carved this enormous trench out of thelimestone tableland. Compared to the torrential rushes of water carryingalong huge quantities of gravel and boulders that must have flowed fromthe lake at the upper end, Newton Dale can almost be considered a dry andabandoned valley. 

[Illustration: A Diagrammatic View of Newton Dale during the Lesser IceAge. The overflow of the glacier dammed lakes at the head of the dale camedown Newton Dale and poured into Lake Pickering. ]

At Fen Bogs, where there is a great depth of peat, Professor Kendall hasdiscovered that if it were cleared out, "the channel through the watershedwould appear as a clean cut, 75 feet deep. " The results of the gougingoperations of this glacier stream are further in evidence where the valleyenters the Vale of Pickering, for at that point a great delta was formed. This fan-shaped accumulation of bouldery gravel is marked in thegeological survey maps as covering a space of about two square miles southof Pickering, but the deposit is probably much larger, for Dr. ThorntonComber states that the gravel extends all the way to Riseborough and isfound about 6 feet below the surface, everywhere digging has taken placein that direction. The delta is partly composed of rounded stones about 2feet in diameter. These generally belong to the hard gritstone of themoors through which Newton Dale has been carved. Dr. Comber also mentionedthe discovery of a whinstone from the great Cleveland Dyke, composed ofbasaltic rock, that traverses the hills near Egton and Sleights Moor, twomiles above the intake of Newton Dale at Fen Bogs. 

The existence of this gravel as far towards the west as Riseborough, suggests that the delta is really of much greater magnitude than thatindicated in the survey map. It has also been proved that Newton Daleceased its functions as a lake overflow, through the retreat of theice-sheet above Eskdale long before the Glacial Period terminated, andthis would suggest an explanation for the layer of Warp (an alluvialdeposit of turbid lake waters) which partially covers the delta. Thefierce torrents that poured into Lake Pickering down the steep gradient ofthis canon would require an exit of equal proportions, and it seemsreasonable to suppose that the gorge at Kirkham Abbey was chiefly worn atthe same time as Newton Dale. 

[Illustration: Diagrammatic view showing the presumed position of the iceat the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering during the Lesser Glacialepoch. The river Derwent is shown overflowing along the edge of theglacier. ]

Another delta was formed by the upper course of the Derwent to which Ihave already alluded. In this instance, the water flowed along the edge ofthe ice and cut out a shelf on the hill slopes near Hutton Buscel, and thedetritus was carried to the front of the glacier. This deposit terminatesin a crescent-shape and now forms the slightly elevated ground upon whichWykeham Abbey stands. The Norse word Wyke or Vik means a creek or bay, andthe fact that such a name was given to this spot would suggest that theVale was more than marshy in Danish times, and perhaps it even containedenough water to float shallow draught boats. Flotmanby is anothersuggestive name occurring at the eastern corner of the lake about fourmiles from Filey. In modern Danish _flotman_ means a waterman or ferryman, and as there is, and was then, no river near Flotmanby, there is groundfor believing that the Danes who settled at this spot found it necessaryto ferry across the corner of the lake. Before the Glacial Period, theVale of Pickering was beyond doubt from 100-150 feet deeper at the seawardend than at the present time, and even as far up the Valley as Malton therock floor beneath the deposit of Kimeridge clay is below the level of thesea. 

CHAPTER IV

_The Early Inhabitants of the Forest and Vale of Pickering_

 Almighty wisdom made the land Subject to man's disturbing hand, And left it all for him to fill With marks of his ambitious will. . . . 

 Urgent and masterful ashore, Man dreams and plans, And more and more, As ages slip away, Earth shows How need by satisfaction grows, And more and more its patient face Mirrors the driving human race. 

_Edward Sandford Martin. _

THE NEOLITHIC OR NEW STONE AGE Succeeded the Old Stone Age and overlapped the Bronze Age. 

THE BRONZE AGE Succeeded the New Stone Age and overlapped the Early Iron Age. 

THE EARLY IRON AGE Succeeded the Bronze Age and continued in Britain until the Roman Invasion in B. C. 54. 

_(All these periods overlapped. )_

The Palæolithic men had reached England when it was part of the continentof Europe, but after the lesser Glacial Period had driven the hairysavages southwards a slow earth movement produced what is now the EnglishChannel and Britain was isolated. Gradually the cold relaxed andvegetation once more became luxuriant, great forests appeared and Englandwas again joined to the continent. Possibly the more genial climate whichbegan to prevail in this country and the northward movement of thereindeer brought the first Neolithic men into England, and it has beensuggested that some of these earlier tribes whose implements have beendiscovered in White Park Bay, County Antrim and the MacArthur Cave, nearOban, form a link between the Palæolithic and Neolithic people. 

The culture of the New Stone Age was a huge advance upon that of theearlier races, although it is more than probable that the higherdevelopment existed in different parts of the world simultaneously withthe lower, the more primitive people becoming influenced by the moreadvanced. A wave of great progress came with the Iberians of Spain whospread across France and reached Britain by means of boats at a time whenit was probably once more an island. 

Armed with bows and arrows and carefully finished stone axes and spears, clothed in skins and wearing ornaments of curious coloured stones orpieces of bone threaded on thin leathern cords, these Iberians orNeolithic men gradually spread all over the British Islands. Theyevidently liked the hills overlooking the fresh waters of Lake Pickeringfor their remains have been found there in considerable quantities. 

The hills on all sides of the Vale are studded with barrows from whichgreat quantities of burial urns and skeletons have been exhumed, andwherever the land is under cultivation the plough exposes flint arrow andspear-heads and stone axes. 

Many of the numerous finds of this nature have disappeared in smallprivate collections and out of the many barrows that have been exploredonly in a certain number of instances have any accurate records beentaken. It is thus a somewhat difficult task to discover how much or howlittle of the plunder of the burial mounds belongs to the Neolithic andhow much to the Bronze and later ages. The Neolithic people buried in longbarrows which are by no means common in Yorkshire, but many of the roundones that have been thoroughly examined reveal no traces of metal, stoneimplements only being found in them. [1] In Mr. Thomas Bateman's book, entitled "Ten Years' Diggings, " there are details of two long barrows, sixty-three circular ones, and many others that had been alreadydisturbed, which were systematically opened by Mr. James Ruddock ofPickering. The fine collection of urns and other relics are, Mr. Batemanstates, in his own possession, and are preserved at Lomberdale; but thiswas in 1861, and I have no knowledge of their subsequent fate. 

[Footnote 1: Greenwell, William. "British Barrows, " p. 483. ]

One of the few long barrows near Pickering, of which Canon Greenwell givesa detailed account, is situated near the Scamridge Dykes--a series ofremarkable mounds and ditches running for miles along the hills north ofEbberston. It is highly interesting in connection with the origin of theseextensive entrenchments to quote Canon Greenwell's opinion. He describesthem as "forming part of a great system of fortification, apparentlyintended to protect from an invading body advancing from the east, andpresenting many features in common with the wold entrenchments on theopposite side of the river Derwent. . . . " "The adjoining moor, " he says, "isthickly sprinkled with round barrows, all of which have, at some time orother, been opened, with what results I know not; while cultivation has, within the last few years (1877), destroyed a large number, the very sitesof which can now only with great difficulty be distinguished. On thesurface of the ground flint implements are most abundant, and there isprobably no place in England which has produced more arrow-points, scrapers, rubbers, and other stone articles, than the country in theneighbourhood of the Scamridge Dykes. " The doubts as to the antiquity ofthe Dykes that have been raised need scarcely any stronger refutation, ifI may venture an opinion, than that they exist in a piece of country sothickly strewn with implements of the Stone Age. These entrenchments thusseem to point unerringly to the warfare of the early inhabitants ofYorkshire, and there can be little doubt that the Dykes were the scene ofgreat intertribal struggles if the loss of such infinite quantities ofweapons is to be adequately accounted for. 

[Illustration: The Scamridge Dykes above Troutsdale. ]

The size and construction of the Scamridge Dykes vary from a series ofeight or ten parallel ditches and mounds deep enough and high enough tocompletely hide a man on horseback, to a single ditch and mound barely afoot above and below the ground level. The positions of the Dykes can beseen on the sketch map accompanying this book, but neither an examinationof the map nor of the entrenchments themselves gives much clue as to theirpurpose. They do not keep always to the hill-tops and in places theyappear to run into the valleys at right angles to the chief line. Overlooking Troutsdale, to the east of Scamridge farm, where the ground iscovered with heather the excavations seem to have retained their originalsize, for at that point the parallel lines of entrenchments are deepestand most numerous. In various places the farmers have levelled cart tracksacross the obstructions and in others they have been almost obliterated byploughing, but as a rule, where cultivation touches them, the trencheshave come to be boundaries for the fields. 

The Neolithic people were only beginning to emerge from a state ofabsolute savagery, and it is possible that even at this time they werestill cannibals. The evidence in support of this theory has been obtainedfrom the condition of the bones found in long barrows, for, in manyinstances, they are discovered in such a dislocated and broken state, thatthere can be little doubt that the flesh was removed before burial. Thelong barrow at Scamridge is a good example of this, for the remains of atleast fourteen bodies were laid in no order but with the component bonesbroken, scattered, and lying in the most confused manner. Half a jaw waslying on part of a thigh-bone and a piece of a skull among the bones of afoot, while other parts of what appeared to belong to the same skull werefound some distance apart. Canon Greenwell, who describes this barrow withgreat detail, also mentions that this disarrangement was not due to anydisturbance of the barrow after its erection, but, on the contrary, therewere most certain indications that the bones had been originally depositedexactly as they were found. He also points out that this condition ofthings is obviously inconsistent with the idea that the bodies had beenburied with the flesh still upon them, and goes on to say that "itappeared to Dr Thurnam that there were in these broken and scatteredfragments of skulls and disconnected bones the relics of barbarous feasts, held at the time of the interment, when slaves, captives, or even wiveswere slain and eaten. " But although this argument appeared to CanonGreenwell to have some weight, he is inclined to think that the brokencondition of the bones may have been due to the pressure of the moundabove them after they had been partially burnt with the fires which werelit at one end of the barrow and so arranged that the heat was drawnthrough the interior. 

As the centuries passed the Neolithic people progressed in manydirections. They improved their methods of making their weapons until theywere able to produce axe-heads so perfectly ground and polished and withsuch a keen cutting edge that it would be impossible to make anythingbetter. These celts like the arrow-heads were always fitted into clefthandles or shafts of wood, and it was probably at a later period that thestone hammer, pierced with a hole, made its appearance. Spinning andweaving in some extremely primitive fashion were evolved, so that thepeople were not entirely clothed in skins. They cultivated wheat to asmall extent and kept herds of goats and horned sheep. The pottery theymade was crude and almost entirely without ornament. The skeletons of thisperiod show that although they led a life of great activity, probably ashunters, they were rather short in stature, averaging, it is thought by DrGarson, less than 5 feet 65 inches. Their jaws were not prognathous as innegroes, and their brow ridges were not nearly so prominent as in the menof the Old Stone Age, and thus their facial expression must have beenmild. 

[Illustration: PRE-HISTORIC WEAPONS IN THE MUSEUM AT PICKERING. 

 Flint arrow head of unusual shape. Bronze Spear head. Bronze celt found at Kirby Moorside. Flint arrow head found at Yeddingham (_half size_). Flint arrow heads found at Moorcock and Wrelton (_half size_). Highly polished celt of a bluish-white stone found at Scamridge. Bronze celt found at Scamridge. Stone hammer found at Cawthorne. A flint knife, 4-1/8 inches long. ]

[Illustration: Leaf-shaped arrow head found by Dr J. L. Kirk. ]

A most interesting discovery of lake-dwellings was made in 1893 by MrJames M. Mitchelson of Pickering, but although the relics brought to lightare numerous, no one has yet been able to make any definite statement asto the period to which they belong. The Costa Beck, a stream flowing fromthe huge spring at Keld Head, on the west side of Pickering, was beingcleaned out for drainage purposes at a spot a little over two miles fromthe town, when several pieces of rude pottery were thrown on to the bank. These excited Mr Mitchelson's interest and at another occasion hisexamination revealed more pottery and mixed up with the fragments were thebones of animals. Some piles forming two parallel rows about 4 feet apartwere also discovered crossing the stream at right angles to its course. 

The diagram given here shows the position of the piles as far as they wererevealed in one of the excavations and it also shows their presumedcontinuation, but no reliance can be placed on anything but those actuallydug out and indicated with a solid black spot. The piles were made of oak, birch and alder, with very rough pointed ends, and they measured from 6 to10 inches in diameter. Three other rows cross the Costa in the sameneighbourhood separated by a few hundred yards and as they lie at rightangles to the stream which there forms a concave bend, they appear toconverge upon one point. This would be what may roughly be termed anisland between the Costa and a large drain where water in ancient timesprobably accumulated or flowed. 

There can therefore be little doubt that the island was the home ofprehistoric lake-dwellers who constructed their homes on rude platformsraised above the water or marshy ground by means of piles after thefashion of the numerous discoveries in Switzerland, and the present habitsof the natives of many islands in the Pacific. Among the quantities ofskulls and bones of animals, pottery and human skeletons, no traces ofmetal were brought to light and the coarse jars and broken urns were, withone exception, entirely devoid of ornamentation. The ground that wasremoved before the chief discoveries were made, consisted of about 8 or 10inches of cultivated soil, below which came about 2 feet 6 inches of stiffblue clay, and then about 6 feet of peat resting on the Kimmeridge claythat formed the bottom of Lake Pickering. Most of the relics were foundresting on the clay so they must have remained there for a sufficient timeto have allowed these thick deposits to have formed, and it is possiblethat they may be associated with some of the Neolithic people who took tothis mode of living when the Celtic invaders with their bronze weaponswere steadily driving them northwards or reducing them to a state ofslavery. A complete account of the discoveries was in 1898 read by CaptainCecil Duncombe at a meeting of the members of the AnthropologicalInstitute and in the discussion which followed, [1] Mr C. H. Reid gave it ashis opinion that the pottery probably belonged to a period not muchearlier than the Roman occupation. Against this idea we have a mostinteresting statement made on another occasion by Professor Boyd Dawkinsconcerning one of the human bones; on examining the femur illustrated herehe said that it could only have belonged to an individual possessingprehensile toes, and he also pointed out that the ends of this bone showsigns of having been gnawed by dogs or similar animals. Captain Duncombe, who was to some extent quoting Professor Boyd Dawkins, said that the boneswere "apparently those of a very small race. " The complete skeleton of ayoung woman was found with the exception of the skull. "Though an adult, "he says, "she could not, judging from the thigh-bones, have exceeded 4feet 6 inches in height, and the owner of the longest thigh-bone would nothave exceeded 5 feet. Though the bones are those of a people of shortstature they are remarkable for their very prominent ridges for theattachment of the muscles, such as are quite unknown at the present day inEngland. They denote a race inured to hard toil, or one leading a life ofconstant activity. " On the breast bone of the woman were found the twoornaments illustrated. They were made from the tines of a red deer's horn. 

[Footnote 1: _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, New Series(1899), vol. I. P. 150. ]

[Illustration: DETAILS OF THE DISCOVERIES IN THE LAKE DWELLINGS. 

 A vase of black earthenware. Two pieces of horn, one showing attempts to cut with some instrument. The lower piece has been neatly cut at both ends. A whorl stone for weaving. A human femur (thigh bone). The ends show signs of having been gnawed by wolves. Ornaments made from deer's horn, found with the skeleton of a woman. Fragment of a large earthenware jar or urn. A sketch plan of the excavations (_from the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Society_). ]

Another interesting discovery was the evidence of different attempts tocut some pieces of deer's horn. The shallow grooves were probably made byrubbing with a rib bone or some other sharp edge and sand and water. Asmall black vase unornamented but in perfect condition was dug up near theremains of the young woman. There were numerous skulls of the prehistoricox or bos longifrons and also of the straight-horned sheep. A piece of theantlers of a great palmated deer now extinct tends to place thediscoveries at an early time, but until more evidence is forthcoming theperiod to which these lake-dwellers belong must remain uncertain. 

A list of the bones discovered includes the following:--

 Human (of at least four individuals). Deer (of three species). Horse (a small variety), numerous. Ox (Bos longifrons), numerous. Sheep (straight-horned), numerous. Goat (one skull). Pig (both wild and domesticated). Wolf. Fox. Otter. Beaver (one skull). Voles (of different kinds). Birds. 

[Illustration: Some examples of remains of Pre-historic Animals discoveredin the Lake Dwellings by the river Costa. 

 The skull of a Wolf. Part of the horns of a Great Palmated Deer. Part of the skull of a Straight-horned Sheep. The skull of a Bos Longifrons or Pre-historic Ox. ]

The introduction of metal into Britain was due to the successive waves ofCeltic Aryans who by means of their bronze weapons were able to overcomethe Neolithic people. The Brythons or Britons, one of these Celticpeoples, seem to have succeeded in occupying the whole of England. Theyburied their dead in the round barrows which are to be found in most partsof the country but are particularly numerous on the hills immediatelysurrounding Pickering and on the wolds to the south of the Vale. 

Some of the round barrows, as already mentioned, contain no traces ofmetal but in a number of those near Pickering have been found bronze Celtsand spear-heads accompanied by beautifully finished weapons of stone. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the use of metal crept in slowly, and that stone, horn and bone continued to be used for many centuriesafter its introduction. 

The Celtic people were possessed of a civilisation infinitely moreadvanced than that of the Neolithic or Iberian races. They were theancestors of the "Ancient Britons" who offered such a stout resistance tothe Roman legions under Julius Cæsar. 

Not only are there innumerable barrows or burial mounds constructed bythis early race on the hills above the Vale, but on Beacon Hill, theslight eminence just to the west of Pickering Castle, at Cawthorne andalso at Cropton, there are evidences of what may be their fortifications, while the plough is continually bringing to light more relics of theperiod. A fine collection of these have been brought together and are tobe seen in Mr T. Mitchelson's private museum near Pickering Church. Twolarge cases contain a most remarkable series of burial urns, incense cupsand food vessels all found in barrows in the neighbourhood. The urns aregenerally ornamented with bands of diagonal or crossed markings and otherdesigns as well as with the impressions of twisted pieces of hide orgrasses. The bases are usually very small for the size of the urns, afterthe fashion of those in Canon Greenwell's examples in the British Museum. In that collection may be seen several cinerary urns, incense cups andfood vessels from Hutton Buscel, Ganton, Slingsby, Egton and other placesin the vicinity of Pickering. They belong to the same period as those inMr Mitchelson's museum and are, on account of the simplicity andcomparative rarity of the bronze implements that have been discovered withthem, considered to belong to the earliest bronze period, that is, to thetime of the first Celtic invasions. Many of the objects in Mr Mitchelson'smuseum are not labelled with the place of their origin, the manuscriptcatalogue made some years ago having been lost; but with a few exceptionsthe entire collection comes from barrows situated in the neighbourhood, having been brought together by Mr Thomas Kendall more than fifty yearsago. 

[Illustration: A COMPLETE SKELETON IN A STONE CIST BELONGING TO THE EARLYBRONZE AGE. 

It was discovered by a farmer in a field between Appleton-le-Moor andSpaunton, and is now in the Museum at Pickering. [_Copyright reserved byDr J. L. Kirk. _]]

A complete skeleton in a stone cist is now lying in a glass case in themuseum. It was discovered accidentally by a farmer betweenAppleton-le-Moor and Spaunton. He had decided to remove a huge stone thathad been an obstacle when ploughing, and in doing so found that he hadremoved the top stone of a cist belonging to the early Bronze Age. The manhas a round or brachycephalic skull with the prominent brow-ridges andpowerful jaws of the Celtic people, and his right arm was arranged so thatthe hand was beneath the skull. By his left hand was the food vessel thatis now placed on the left side of the skull, and at his feet are a numberof small bronze studs or rivets. 

These Bronze Age men seem to have had a very general belief in the spiritworld, for the dead warrior was buried with his weapons as well as food, so that he might be sustained while he hunted in the other world with thespirit of his favourite axe or spear. The museum contains examples ofsocketed bronze celts and spear heads, as well as an infinite variety ofarrowheads, flint knives, stone hammers and celts, and also coloured beadsand other ornaments. 

Thus we find that in these early days mankind teemed in this part ofYorkshire. From all points around the shallow lake the smoke of firesascended into the sky, patches of cultivation appeared among the trees, and villages, consisting of collections of primitive wooden huts, probablysurrounded by a stockade, would have been discernible. 

A closer examination of one of these early British villages would havediscovered the people clothed in woven materials, for an example of clothof the period was discovered by Canon Greenwell in this locality and isnow to be seen in the British Museum. The grinding of corn in the stonequerns, so frequently found near Pickering, would have been in progress;fair-haired children with blue eyes would be helping the older folk inpreparing food, dressing skins, making bows and arrows, and theinnumerable employments that the advancing civilisation demanded. 

[Illustration: A Quern, now in the Pickering Museum. ]

It is at this period that we reach the confines of history, records of anextremely unreliable character it is true, but strangely enough there arereferences by very early writers to the founding of Pickering. That theplace should be mentioned at all in these fabulous writings is aninteresting fact and gives Pickering an importance in those distantcenturies which is surprising. John Stow in his "Summarie of EnglysheChronicles, " published in 1565, gives the following fanciful story of thefather of the founder of Pickering. 

"Morindus, the bastard son of Danius, began to reigne in Britain: he (asour Chronicles saye) fought with a kynge, who came out of Germanye, andarrived here, and slew hym with all his power. Moreover (as they write) ofthe Irishe seas in his tyme, came foorthe a wonderfull monster: whichedestroyed muche people. Wherof the king hearyng would of his valiauntcourage, needes fyght with it: by wh[=o] he was cleane devoured, wh[=e] hehad reigned viii. Yeres. "

[Sidenote: B. C. 311]

His two youngest sons were Vigenius and Peredurus, and of them Stow writes:--

"Vigenius and Peredurus, after the takyng of their brother [Elidurus, theformer King] reigned together, vii. Yeres. Vigenius th[=a] died, andPeredurus reygned after alone, ii. Yeares. He buylded the towne ofPyckeryng after the opinion of divers writers. "

[Sidenote: B. C. 270]

Raphael Holinshed, who was a contemporary of Stow and used many of hissources of information, gives the following account of the sameperiod[1]:--

[Footnote 1: Holinshed, Raphael; "Chronicles of England, Scotland andIreland, " p. 461. ]

"Vigenius and Peredurus, the yoongest sonnes of Morindus, and brethren toElidurus, began to reigne jointlie as kings of Britaine, in the year ofthe world 3701, after the building of Rome 485. . . . These two brethren inthe English chronicles are named Higanius and Petitur, who (as Gal. Mon. [Geoffrey of Monmouth] testifieth) divided the realme betwixt them, sothat all the land from Humber westward fell to Vigenius or Higanius, theother part beyond Humber northward Peredure held. But other affirme, thatPeredurus onelie reigned, and held his brother Elidurus in prison by hisowne consent, for somuch as he was not willing to governe. 

[Sidenote: Caxton. ] [Sidenote: Eth. Bur. ]

"But Gal. Mon. Saith, that Vigenius died after he had reigned 7 yeares, and then Peredurus seized all the land into his owne rule, and governed itwith such sobrietie and wisedome, that he was praised above all hisbrethren, so that Elidurus was quite forgotten of the Britains. But otherswrite that he was a verie tyrant, and used himselfe verie cruellie towardsthe lords of his land, whereupon they rebelled and slue him. But whetherby violent hand, or by naturall sicknesse, he finallie departed this life, after the consent of most writers, when he had reigned eight yeares, leaving no issue behind him to succeed in the governance of the Kingdome. He builded the towne of Pikering, where his bodie was buried. "

[Illustration: BURIAL URNS AND OTHER VESSELS IN PICKERING MUSEUM. 

They were found in barrows in the following places, reading from left toright, top row:--(1) Blansby Park (containing bones and ashes); (2)Cawthorne; (3) Hutton Buscelmoor; (4) Cockmoor Hall Warren; (5) SnaintonMoor; (6) Raindale, "No Man's Land. " Lower Row:--(1) Blansby Park; (2)below Ebberston; (3) Newton Towers, near Helmsley; (4) Fylingdales (a foodvessel); (5) Cawthorne (contains ashes. )

[_Copyright reserved by Dr John L. Kirk. _]]

Whatever memorial was raised to this legendary king of the Brigantes, hastotally disappeared. It may have been a mighty barrow surrounded withgreat stones and containing the golden ornaments worn by Peredurus, but ifit existed outside the imaginations of the Chroniclers it would probablyhave been plundered and obliterated during the Roman occupation or bymarauding Angles or Danes. 

Mr Bateman tells us that in 1853, two Celtic coins in billon or mixedmetal of the peculiar rough type apparently characteristic of and confinedto the coinage of the Brigantes, were found by quarrymen engaged in baringthe rock near Pickering. 

There may have been two British fortresses at Pickering at this time, oneon the site of the present castle and one the hill on the opposite side ofthe Pickering Beck, where, as already mentioned, the circular ditches andmounds indicate the existence of some primitive stockaded stronghold. 

At Cawthorne, a few miles to the north, there are British enclosuresadjoining the Roman camps; and at Cropton, on the west side of the villageand in a most commanding position, a circular hill-top shows palpableevidences of having been fortified. 

Of the megalithic remains or "Bride Stones, " as they are generally termedin Yorkshire, it is difficult to say anything with certainty. ProfessorWindle, in his list of those existing in the county, [1] mentions amongothers--

1. "The Bride Stones" near Grosmont (Circle). 

2. "The Bride Stones, " Sleights Moor (Circle). 

3. Simon Houe, near Goathland Station. 

4. "The Standing Stones" (three upright stones), 1-3/4 miles S. -W. OfRobin Hood's Bay, on Fylingdales Moor. 

[Footnote 1: Windle, Bertram, C. A. , "Remains of the Pre-historic Age inEngland, " pp. 203-4. ]

CHAPTER V

_How the Roman Occupation of Britain affected the Forest and Vale ofPickering_

B. C. 55 to A. D. 418

The landings of Julius Caesar, in 55 and 54 B. C. , and the conflictsbetween his legions and the southern tribes of Britain, were little more, in the results obtained, than a reconnaissance in force, and Yorkshire didnot feel the effect of the Roman invasion until nearly a century after thefirst historic landing. 

The real invasion of Britain began in A. D. 43, when the Emperor Claudiussent Aulus Plautius across the Channel with four legions; and after sevenyears of fighting the Romans, taking advantage of the inter-tribal feudsof the Britons, had reduced the southern half of England to submission. 

Plautius was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula in A. D. 50, and from Tacitus[1]we learn that he "found affairs in a troubled state, the enemy makingirruptions into the territories of our allies, with so much the moreinsolence as they supposed that a new general, with an army unknown tohim, and now that the winter had set in, would not dare to make headagainst them. " Scapula, however, vigorously proceeded with the work ofsubjugation, and having overcome the Iceni of East Anglia and the FenCountry, he was forcing his way westwards into Wales when he heard oftrouble brewing in the North. "He had approached near the sea which washesthe coast of Ireland, " says Tacitus, "when commotions, begun amongst theBrigantes, obliged the general to return thither. " The Brigantes were thepowerful and extremely fierce tribe occupying Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, and Westmorland, and among them were the people whose remainsare so much in evidence near Pickering. They had probably been undertribute to the Romans, and their struggle against the invaders in thisinstance does not appear to have been well organised, for we are told thatwhen the Romans arrived in their country, they "soon returned to theirhomes, a few who raised the revolt having been slain, and the restpardoned. " We also know that in A. D. 71 Petilius Cerealis attacked theBrigantes and subdued a great part of their country; and as the Romansgradually brought the tribe completely under their control, theyestablished the camps and constructed the roads of which we find so manyevidences to-day. The inhabitants of the hills surrounding the Vale ofPickering were overawed by a great military station at Cawthorne on a roadrunning north and south from that spot. It may have been the Delgoviciamentioned in the first Antonine Iter. , and in that case Malton would havebeen Derventione, and Whitby, or some spot in Dunsley Bay, would have beenPrætorio, but at the present time there is not sufficient data for fixingthese names with any certainty. It has also been supposed by GeneralRoy[2] that Cawthorne was occupied by the famous 9th legion after they hadleft Scotland, owing to the similarity of construction between the mostwesterly camp at Cawthorne and the one at Dealgin Ross in Strathern, wherethe 9th legion were supposed to have had their narrow escape from defeatby the Caledonians during Agricola's sixth campaign. But this also issomewhat a matter of speculation. 

[Footnote 1: Tacitus, the Oxford Translation, revised 1854, vol. 1, bookxii. Pp. 288-90. ]

[Footnote 2: Roy, Major Gen. William: "The Military Antiquities of theRomans in Britain, " 1793, Plate xi. ]

[Illustration: A Sketch Map of the Roman Road from Malton to the Coast, and a Plan of the Camps on the Road at Cawthorne. (_From the OrdnanceSurvey_. )]

Coming to the firmer ground of the actual remains of the Roman roads andcamps, we find that traces of a well-constructed road, locally known asWade's Causeway, have been discovered at various points on a line drawnfrom Malton to Cawthorne and Whitby. Some of these sections of the roadhave disappeared since Francis Drake described them in 1736, [2] and at thepresent time the work of destruction continues at intervals when a farmer, converting a few more acres of heather into potatoes, has the ill-luck tostrike the roadway. 

[Footnote 2: Drake, Francis: "Eboracum, " p. 36. ]

In the month of January this year (1905), I examined a piece of groundnewly taken under cultivation at Stape. It was about half a mile north ofthe little inn and just to the west of Mauley Cross. The stones were allthrown out of their original positions and a pile of them had been takenoutside the turf wall for road-mending and to finish the walls against thegate posts, but the broad track of the roadway, composed of largeodd-shaped stones, averaging about a foot in width, was still strikinglyin evidence--a mottled band passing straight through thechocolate-coloured soil. 

All who have described the road state that on each side of the causewaywhere it remains undisturbed there is a line of stones placed on theiredges in order to keep the stones in place, but in this instance thestones were too much disturbed to observe their original formation. Amongthe furrows I discovered quantities of flint-flakes, indicating themanufacture of stone implements on this site, no flints being naturallyfound in the neighbourhood. 

The road went through the most perfectly constructed of the three squarecamps at Cawthorne from west to east, cutting through one corner of theadjacent oval camp. It then seems to have passed down the slack a littleto the north-east, and crossing the stream below (probably in Roman timesby a wooden bridge) it takes a fairly straight course for the littlehamlet of Stape just mentioned. The slope from the camps is extremelysteep, and in 1817, when Dr Young wrote his "History of Whitby, " he tellsus that there were no traces of the road at that point. Going back to1736, however, we find that Drake, in his "History of York" published inthat year, says, "At the foot of the hill began the road or causeway, veryplain"; he also tells us that he first heard of the road, with the campupon it, from Mr Thomas Robinson of Pickering--"a gentleman well versed inthis kind of learning. " Drake, enthusiastically describing his examinationof the road, says, "I had not gone a hundred paces on it, but I met with a_mile stone_ of the _grit kind_, a sort not known in this country. It wasplaced in the midst of the causeway, but so miserably worn, either bysheep or cattle rubbing against it, or the weather, that I missed of theinscription, which, I own, I ran with great eagerness to find. Thecauseway is just twelve foot broad, paved with a flint pebble [probablyvery hard limestone], some of them very large, and in many places it is asfirm as it was the first day, a thing the more strange in that not onlythe distance of time may be considered, but the total neglect of repairsand the boggy rotten moors it goes over. In some places the _agger_ isabove three foot raised from the surface. The country people curse itoften for being almost wholly hid in the ling, it frequently overturnstheir carts laden with turf as they happen to drive across it. It was agreat pleasure to me to trace this wonderful road, especially when I soonfound out that it pointed to the bay aforesaid. I lost it sometimes by theinterposition of valleys, rivulets, or the exceeding great quantity ofling growing on these moors. I had then nothing to do but observe theline, and riding crossways, my horse's feet, through the ling, informed mewhen I was upon it. In short, I traced it several miles, and could havebeen pleased to have gone on with it to the seaside, but my time would notallow me. However, I prevailed upon Mr Robinson to send his servant, and avery intelligent person of _Pickering_ along with him, and they not onlymade it fairly out to _Dunsley_, but brought me a sketch of the country itwent through with them. From which I have pricked it out in the map, asthe reader will find at the end of this account. "

I have examined Drake's map but find that he has simply ruled twoperfectly straight parallel lines between Cawthorne and Dunsley, so thatexcept for the fact that Mr Robinson's servant and the intelligentPickeronian found that the road did go to Dunsley we have no informationas to its exact position. Young, however, describes its course past Stapeand Mauley Cross over Wheeldale and Grain Becks to July or Julian Park. Inthe foundation of a wall round an enclosure at that point he mentions thediscovery of an inscribed Roman stone of which a somewhat crude woodcut isgiven in his "History of Whitby. " The inscription appears to be ILVIVILVX, and Young read it as LE. VI. VI. L. VEX, or in full LEGIONIS SEXTÆVICTRICIS QUINQUAGINTA VEXILLARII, meaning, "Fifty vexillary soldiers ofthe sixth legion, the Victorious. " This rendering of the abbreviations maybe inaccurate, and some of the letters before and after those visible whenthe stone was discovered may have been obliterated, but Dr Young thoughtthat the inscription was probably complete. On Lease Rigg beyond July Parkthe road cuts through another Roman camp of similar dimensions to thewestern one at Cawthorne. In the map reproduced here a much clearer ideaof the course of the road can be had than by any description. I havemarked the position of the road to the south of Cawthorne as passingthrough Barugh, where Drake discovered it in 1736. "From the camp"(Cawthorne), he writes, "the road disappears towards York, the _agger_being either sunk or removed by the country people for their buildings. But taking the line, as exactly as I could, for the city, I went down thehill to _Thornton-Risebrow_, and had some information from a clergyman ofa kind of a camp at a village called vulgarly BARF; but corruptly, nodoubt, from BURGH. Going to this place, I was agreeably surprised to fallupon my long lost road again; and here plainly appeared also a smallintrenchment on it; from whence, as I have elsewhere hinted, the _Saxon_name _Burgh_ might come. The road is discernible enough, in places, to_Newsam-Bridge_ over the river _Rye_; not far from which is a _mile-stone_of _grit_ yet standing. On the other side of the river the _Stratum_, orpart of it, appears very plain, being composed of large blue pebble, someof a tun weight; and directs us to a village called _Aimanderby_. _Bartonon the Street_, and _Appleton on the Street_, lye a little on the side ofthe road. " Drake then proceeds to speculate as to the likelihood of theroad still making a bee-line for York, or whether it diverged towardsMalton, then no doubt a Roman station; but as his ideas are unimportant incomparison with his discoveries, we will leave him to return to the campsat Cawthorne. The hill they occupy forms part of a bold escarpment runningeast and west between Newton upon Rawcliff and Cropton, having somewhatthe appearance of an inland coast-line. On the north side of the camps thehill is precipitous, and there can be little doubt that the position must, in Roman times, have been one of the strongest in the neighbourhood. Thisis not so apparent to-day as it would be owing to the dense growth oflarch and fir planted by Mr James Mitchelson's father about forty yearsago. There are, however, peeps among the trees which reveal a view of thegreat purple undulations of the heathery plateau to the north, and thesquare camp marked A on the plan is entirely free from trees althoughcompletely shut in by the surrounding plantation. In the summer it is anexceedingly difficult matter to follow the ditches and mounds forming theoutline of the camps, for besides the closely planted trees the brackengrows waist high. The _vallum_ surrounding each enclosure is still offormidable height, and in camp A is double with a double fosse ofconsiderable depth. Camps C and D are both rectangular, but C, the largestof the four, is stronger and more regular in shape than D, and it may havebeen that D was the camp of the auxiliaries attached to the legion or partof a legion quartered there. The five outer gates of C and D are protectedby overlapping earthworks, the opening being diagonal to the face of thecamp, but the opening between these two enclosures is undefended. Camp Bmay have been for cattle or it may have been another camp of auxiliaries, for unlike the other three it is oval and might even have been a Britishencampment used by the Romans when they selected this commanding site astheir headquarters for the district. 

To fix the origin of a camp by its formation is very uncertain work and noreliance can be placed on statements based on such evidence; but Camp Abears the stamp of Roman work unmistakably, and the fact that the Romanroad cuts right through its east and west gates seems a sufficientlyconclusive proof. It is also an interesting fact that between forty andfifty years ago Mr T. Kendall of Pickering discovered the remains of achariot in a barrow on the west side of Camp A. Fragments of a wooden pole11 feet long, and of four spokes, could be traced as well as the completeiron tyres of both wheels, and portions of a hub. These remains, togetherwith small pieces of bronze harness fittings, are now carefully arrangedin a glass case in Mr. Mitchelson's museum at Pickering. 

There is a mill just to the south of Pickering known as Vivers Mill, andnear Cawthorne there is a farm where Roman foundations have beendiscovered, known as Bibo House. Both these names have a curiously Romanflavour, but as to their origin I can say nothing. 

The three or four plans of these camps that have been published are allinaccurate; the first, in Drake's "Eboracum, " being the greatest offender. General Roy has shown camps B and C in the wrong positions in regard to A, and even Dr. Young, who himself notices these mistakes, is obliged topoint out that the woodcut that is jammed sideways on one of his pages isnot quite correct in regard to camp C (marked A on his plan), althoughotherwise it is fairly accurate. 

A small square camp is just visible in a field to the east of Cawthorne;there is an oval one on Levisham Moor, and others square and oval dottedover the moors in different directions, but they are of uncertain origin. There can be little doubt that subsidiary camps and entrenchments wouldhave been established by the Romans in a country where the inhabitantswere as fierce and warlike as these Brigantes, but whether the dominantpower utilised British fortresses or whether they always built squarecamps is a matter on which it is impossible to dogmatise. 

A number of Roman articles were dug up when the cutting for the railway toSinnington was being made, and the discoveries at this point areparticularly interesting as the site is in an almost direct line betweenCawthorne and Barugh. 

We are possessed, however, of sufficient evidence to gain a considerableidea of Pickering during the four hundred years of the Roman occupation. We have seen that the invaders constructed a great road on their usualplan, going as straight as the nature of the country allowed from theirstation at Malton to the sea near or at Whitby; that on this road theybuilt large camps where some hundreds, possibly thousands of troops werepermanently stationed, although the icy-cold blasts from the north-eastmay have induced them to occupy more protected spots in winter. Romanchariots, squads of foot soldiers, and mounted men would have been acommon sight on the road, and to the sullen natives the bronze eagle wouldgradually have become as familiar as their own totem-posts. Gradually weknow that the British chiefs and their sons and daughters becamedemoralised by the sensual pleasures of the new civilisation and thus theinvaders secured themselves in their new possessions in a far moreefficacious manner than by force of arms. 

The Britons remained under the yoke of Rome until A. D. 418, when theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that "This year the Romans collected allthe hoards of gold that were in Britain; and some they hid in the earth, so that no man afterwards might find them, and some they carried away withthem into Gaul, " and in A. D. 435 we find the record that "This year theGoths sacked the city of Rome and never since have the Romans reigned inBritain. " The Brigantes were thus once more free to work out their owndestiny, but the decay of their military prowess which had taken placeduring the Roman occupation made them an easy prey to the daring Saxonpirates who, even before the Romans finally left England, are believed tohave established themselves in scattered bodies on some parts of thecoast. The incursions of these warlike peoples belong to the Saxon eradescribed in the next chapter. 

CHAPTER VI

_The Forest and Vale in Saxon Times_

A. D. 418 to 1066

There seems little doubt that the British remained a barbarous peoplethroughout the four centuries of their contact with Roman influences, forhad they progressed in this period they would have understood in somemeasure the great system by which the Imperial power had held the islandwith a few legions and a small class of residential officials. Havingfailed to absorb the new military methods, when left to themselves, therewas no unifying idea among the Britons, and they seem to have merelyreverted to some form of their old tribal organisation. The British citiesconstituted themselves into a group of independent states generally at warwith one another, but sometimes united under the pressure of some externaldanger. Under such circumstances they would select some chieftain whoseperiod of ascendency could be measured only by the continuance of thedanger. 

From Bede's writings we find that the Scots from the west and the Pictsfrom the north continually harassed the Britons despite occasional helpfrom Rome, and despite the wall they built across the north of England. Inthese straits the British invited help from the Angles and Saxons, whosoon engaged the northern tribesmen and defeated them. The feebleness ofthe Britons having become well known among the continental peoples, theAngles, Saxons and Jutes began to steadily swarm across the North Sea inpowerful, armed bands. Having for a time assisted the Britons they beganto seek excuses for quarrels, and gradually the Britons with brief periodsof success were beaten and dispossessed of their lands until they weredriven into the western parts of the island. The Angles occupied most ofnorthern England, including the kingdom of Northumbria, of which Yorkshireformed a large part. These fierce Anglo-Saxon people, with an intermixingof Danish blood, a few centuries later were the ancestors of a great partof the present population of the county. Sidonius Apollinaris, a Bishop ofGaul, who wrote in the fifth century, says, "We have not a more cruel andmore dangerous enemy than the Saxons: they overcome all who have thecourage to oppose them; they surprise all who are so imprudent as not tobe prepared for their attack. When they pursue they infallibly overtake;when they are pursued their escape is certain. They despise danger; theyare inured to shipwreck; they are eager to purchase booty with the perilof their lives. Tempests, which to others are so dreadful, to them aresubjects of joy; the storm is their protection when they are pressed bythe enemy, and a cover for their operations when they meditate an attack. Before they quit their own shores, they devote to the altars of their godsthe tenth part of the principal captives; and when they are on the pointof returning, the lots are cast with an affectation of equity, and theimpious vow is fulfilled. "

Gradually these invaders settled down in Britain, which soon ceased to becalled Britain, and assumed the name Angle-land or England. In A. D. 547Ida founded the kingdom of Northumbria, one of the divisions forming theSaxon Heptarchy, and among the villages and families that owed allegianceto him were those of the neighbourhood of Pickering. The firstfortifications by the Anglo-Saxons were known as _buhrs_ or _burgs_. Someof them were no doubt Roman or British camps adapted to their own needs, but generally these earth works were required as the fortified home ofsome lord and his household, and there can be little doubt that in mostinstances new entrenchments were made, large enough to afford a refuge forthe tenants as well as their flocks and herds. 

Pickering itself must have been an Anglo-Saxon village of some importance, and the artificial mound on which the keep of the castle now stands wouldprobably have been raised during this period if it had not beenconstructed at a much earlier date. It would have palisades defending thetop of the mound, and similar defences inside the entrenchments thatformed the basecourt. These may have occupied the position of the presentdry moat that defends the castle on two of its three sides. If Pickeringhad been founded by the Anglo-Saxons we should have expected a name endingwith "ton, " "ham, " "thorpe, " or "borough, " but its remarkable position atthe mouth of Newton Dale may have led them to choose a name which maypossibly mean an opening by the "ings" or wet lands. It is, however, impossible at the present time to discover the correct derivation of thename. It probably has nothing whatever to do with the superficial "pike"and "ring, " and the suggestion that it means "The Maiden's Ring" from theScandinavian "pika, " a maiden, and "hringr, " a circle or ring, may beequally incorrect. The settlements in the neighbourhood must have occupiedthe margin of the marshes in close proximity to one another, and most ofthem from the suffix "ton" would appear to have been the "tuns" orfortified villages named after the family who founded them. Thus we findbetween Pickering and Scarborough at the present time a string of elevenvillages bearing the names Thornton, Wilton, Allerston, Ebberston, Snainton, Brompton, Ruston, Hutton (Buscel of Norman origin), Sawdon, Ayton and Irton. In the west and south there are Middleton, Cropton, Wrelton, Sinnington, Appleton, Nawton, Salton, Marton, Edston or Edstone, Habton, (Kirby) Misperton, Ryton, Rillington, and many others. OtherAnglo-Saxon settlements indicating someone's ham or home would appear tohave been made at Levisham, Yedingham and Lastingham. Riseborough seems tosuggest the existence of some Anglo-Saxon fortress on that very suitableelevation in the Vale of Pickering. Barugh, a little to the south, canscarcely be anything else than a corruption of "buhr" or "burg, " for theAnglian invaders, if they found the small Roman camp that appears to havebeen established on that slight eminence in the vale would have probablyfound it a most convenient site for one of their own fortifications. Namesending with "thorpe, " such as Kingthorpe, near Pickering, also indicate anAnglo-Saxon origin. Traces of the "by" or "byr, " a single dwelling orsingle farm of the Danes, are to be found thickly dotted over this part ofEngland, but in the immediate neighbourhood of Pickering there are onlyBlansby, Dalby, Farmanby, Aislaby, Roxby, and Normanby. To the east nearScarborough there are Osgodby, Killerby, Willerby, Flotmanby, andHunmanby, so that it would appear that the strong community of Anglo-Saxonvillages along the margin of the vale kept the Danish settlers at adistance. 

[Illustration: The Tower of Middleton Church near Pickering. 

The lower portion, owing to the quoins which somewhat resemble the "longand short" work of the Saxons, has been thought to be of pre-Norman date. The blocked doorway appearing in the drawing has every appearance of Saxonworkmanship. ]

Goathland, which was often spelt Gothland, has a most suggestive sound, and the family names of Scoby and Scoresby seem to be of Danish origin. The "gate" of the streets of Pickering is a modification of the Danish"gade, " meaning a "way, " for the town was never walled. The influence ofthe Danes on the speech of this part of Yorkshire seems to me apparent inthe slight sing-song modulation so similar to that of the present daypeople of Denmark. 

In A. D. 597 Augustine commenced his missionary work among the Saxons, andKing Ethelbert of Kent was baptised on June the 2nd of that year. Twenty-seven years later Edwin, the powerful king of Northumbria, marriedEthelburga, daughter of Ethelbert. When she accompanied her husband to hisnorthern kingdom she took with her Paulinus, who was ordained bishop ofthe Northumbrians. "King Aldwin, therefore, " Bede tells us, [1] "togetherwith all the nobles of his nation, and very many of the common people, received the faith and washing of sacred regeneration, in the eleventhyear of his reign, which is the year of the Lord's incarnation, 627, andabout the year 180 from the coming of the Angles into Britain. Moreover, he was baptised at York, on the holy day of Easter, the day before theIdes of April, in the church of the holy apostle Peter, which he himselfbuilt of wood in that place with expeditious labour, while he was beingcatechised and prepared in order to receive baptism. " The Northumbriansfrom this time forward were at least a nominally Christian people, and theseventh century certainly witnessed the destruction of many of the idolsand their shrines that had hitherto formed the centre for the religiousrites of the Anglo-Saxons. Woden or Odin, Thor and the other deities didnot lose their adherents in a day, and Bede records the relapses intoidolatry of Northumbria as well as the other parts of England. There canbe no doubt that fairies and elves entered largely into the mythology ofthe Anglo-Saxons, and the firmness of the beliefs in beings of that naturecan be easily understood when we realise that it required no fewer thantwelve centuries of Christianity to finally destroy them among the peopleof Yorkshire. In Chapter XI. We see something of the form the beliefs andsuperstitions had assumed at the time of their disappearance. 

[Footnote 1: Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, "translated by Gidley, Rev. L. , 1870, p. 152. ]

In the seventh century most of the churches erected in Yorkshire wereprobably of wood, but the example of King Edwin at York, who quicklyreplaced the timber structure with a larger one of stone, must soon havemade itself felt in the country. Nothing, however, in the form ofbuildings or inscribed stones for which we have any evidence for placingat such an early date remains in the neighbourhood of Pickering, althoughthere are numerous crosses and traces of the masonry that may be termedSaxon or Pre-Conquest. 

[Illustration: The early font in the Chapel of Ease at Levisham, that was serving only recently as a cattle trough in a farmyard. The BROKEN CROSS by the ruins of WYKEHAM ABBEY. Scarcely any traces of carving are visible. A carved cross built into the wall of the tower (interior) of Middleton Church. The head is hidden in the angle of the wall. ]

The founding of a monastery at Lastingham is described by Bede, and withthe particulars he gives we can place the date between the years 653 and655. Bishop Cedd was requested by King Oidilward, who held rule in theparts of Deira, "to accept some possession of land of him to build amonastery to which the king himself [Æthelwald] also might frequently cometo pray to the Lord, and to hear the Word, and in which he might be buriedwhen he died. " Further on we are told that Cedd "assenting to the king'swishes, chose for himself a place to build a monastery among lofty andremote mountains, in which there appeared to have been more lurking placesof robbers and dens of wild beasts than habitations of men. " This accountis of extreme interest, being the only contemporary description of thispart of Yorkshire known to us. "Moreover, " says Bede, "the man of God, studying first by prayers and fastings to purge the place he had receivedfor a monastery from its former filth of crimes, and so to lay in it thefoundations of the monastery, requested of the king that he would give himduring the whole ensuing time of Lent leave and licence to abide there forthe sake of prayer; on all which days, with the exception of Sunday, protracting his fast to evening according to custom, he did not even thentake anything except a very little bread and one hen's egg, with a littlemilk and water. For he said this was the custom of those of whom he hadlearnt the rule of regular discipline, first to consecrate to the Lord byprayers and fastings the places newly received for building a monastery ora church. And when ten days of the quadragesimal fast were yet remaining, there came one to summon him to the king. But he, in order that thereligious work might not be intermitted on account of the king's affairs, desired his presbyter Cynibill, who was also his brother, to complete thepious undertaking. The latter willingly assented; and the duty of fastingand prayer having been fulfilled, he built there a monastery which is nowcalled Læstingaeu [Lastingham], and instituted rules there, according tothe customs of the monks of Lindisfarne, where he had been educated. Andwhen for many years he [Cedd] had administered the episcopate in theaforesaid province, and also had taken charge of this monastery, overwhich he set superiors, it happened that coming to this same monastery ata time of mortality, he was attacked by bodily infirmity and died. Atfirst, indeed, he was buried outside, but in process of time a church wasbuilt of stone in the same monastery, in honour of the blessed mother ofGod, and in that church his body was laid on the right side of the altar. "Cedd's death took place in 664, and Ceadda or Chad, one of his brothers, succeeded him as he had desired. 

[Illustration: Saxon Sundial at Kirkdale. (_From a rubbing by Mr J. Romilly Allen, F. S. A. _)]

Nothing remains of the buildings of this early monastery, and whathappened to them, and what caused their disappearance, is purely a matterof conjecture. We can only surmise that they were destroyed during theDanish invasions of the ninth century. 

At Kirkdale church, which is situated close to the cave already described, there was discovered about the year 1771 a sundial bearing the longestknown inscription of the Anglo-Saxon period. The discoverer was the Rev. William Dade, rector of Barmston, in the East Riding, and a letter ofgreat length, on the stone, from the pen of Mr J. C. Brooke, F. S. A. Of theHerald's College, was read at the Society of Antiquaries in 1777. 

The sundial, without any gnomon, occupies the central portion of thestone, which is about 7 feet in length, and the inscription is closelypacked in the spaces on either side. 

It reads as follows, the lines in brackets having the contractionsexpanded:--

[Transcriber's Note: The "|"s below are my best rendition in plain ASCIIof a Saxon ampersand, which is a long vertical bar with a short horizontalbar at the top, pointing to the left. ]

 + ORM · GAMAL · SVNA · BOHTE · SC[=S][ + ORM · GAMAL · SUNA · BOHTE · SANCTUS]

 GREGORIVS · MINSTER · ÐONNE HIT[GREGORIUS · MINSTER · THONNE HIT]

 PES ÆL TOBROCAN · | TOFALAN · | HE[WES ÆL TOBROCAN · & TOFALAN · & HE]

 HIT IET · MACAN · NEPAN · FROM GRVNDE[HIT LET · MACAN · NEWAN · FROM GRUNDE]

 XPE: | SCS GREGORIVS · IN EADPARD[CHRISTE: & SANCTUS GREGORIUS · IN EADWARD]

 DAGVM C[=N]G | N TOSTI DAGVM EORL +[DAGUM CYNING & IN TOSTI DAGUM EORL +]

Completed under the dial. 

 + | HAPARÐ ME PROHTE · | BRAND P[=RS][+ & HAWARTH ME WROHTE · & BRAND {PRÆPOSITUS] {PRESBYTERS]

The modern rendering is generally accepted as: "Orm, the son of Gamal, bought St Gregory's minster (or church) when it was all broken and fallen, and caused it to be made anew from the ground for Christ and St Gregory inthe days of King Edward, and in the days of Earl Tosti, and Hawarthwrought me and Brand the Prior, (priest or priests). "

Along the top of the dial and round the perimeter the inscription reads:--

+ PIS IS DÆGES SOL MERCA THIS IS DAY'S SUNMARKER

ÆT ILCVM TIDEAT EACH TIDE OR HOUR. 

It is interesting to know that the antiquaries of a century or more agorendered this simple sentence as: "This is a draught exhibiting the timeof day, while the sun is passing to and from the winter-solstice. " Theyalso made a great muddle of the words: "& HE HIT LET MACAN NEWAN, " theirrendering being "CHEHITLE AND MAN NEWAN, " the translation being supposedto read: "Chehitle and others renewed it, etc. " With Mr Brooke's paper isgiven a large steel engraving of the stone, but it is curiously inaccuratein many details. At Edstone church there is another sundial over the southdoorway as at Kirkdale, and there is every reason to believe that itbelongs to the same period. The inscription above the dial reads:--

OROLOGI VIATORUM. 

On the left side is the following:--

LOTHAN ME WROHTE A. 

[Illustration: Saxon Sundial at Edstone. (From a rubbing by Mr J. RomillyAllen, F. S. A. )]

From the drawing given here the inscription is palpably incomplete, asthough the writer had been suddenly stopped in his work. Nothing is knownof Lothan beyond the making of this sundial, so that the fixing of thedate can only be by comparative reasoning. At Kirkdale, on the other hand, we know that Tosti, Harold's brother, became Earl of Northumbria in 1055, we know also that the Northumbrians rose against Tosti's misgovernment andhis many crimes, among which must be placed the murder of the Gamalmentioned in the inscription, and that in 1065 Tosti was outlawed, hishouse-carles killed, and his treasures seized. After this we also knowthat Tosti was defeated by the Earls Edwin and Morcar, and having fled toScotland, submitted himself to Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, who hadarrived in the Tyne with his fleet early in September 1066, that they thensailed southwards, and having sacked Scarborough defeated Edwin and Morcarat Fulford near York only eight days before the landing of William theNorman at Pevensey. Harold having made forced marches reached York onSeptember the 24th, and defeated his brother and the Norwegian king, bothbeing slain in the battle which was fought at Stamford Bridge on theDerwent. Harold was forced to take his wearied army southwards immediatelyafter the battle to meet the Frenchmen at Hastings, and the great disasterof Senlac Hill occurred on October the 14th. This stone at Kirkdale isthus concerned with momentous events in English history, for the murder ofGamal and the insurrection of Tosti may be considered two of the links inthe chain of events leading to the Norman Conquest. 

A great deal of interest has centred round an Anglo-Saxon cross-slab builtinto the west wall of Kirkdale church. At the time of its discovery thelate Rev. Daniel H. Haigh[1] tells us that a runic inscription spelling_Kununc Oithilwalde_, meaning "to King Æthelwald, " was quite legible. Thiswould seem to indicate that the founder of Lastingham monastery was buriedat Kirkdale, or that the site of Bede's, "Læstingaeu" was at Kirkdale ifthe stone has not been moved from its original position. 

[Footnote 1: _Yorkshire Archæological Journal_, v. 134. ]

[Illustration: Saxon or Pre-Norman Remains at and near Pickering. ]

The inscription has now perished, but Bishop Browne tells us[1] that whenhe had photographs taken of the stone in 1886 "there was only one runeleft, the 'Oi' of the king's name. " "I have seen, however, " he says, "thedrawing made of the letters when the stone was found, and many of themwere still legible when the Rev. Daniel Haigh worked at the stone. " Thereseems little doubt that this most valuable inscription might have beenpreserved if the stone had been kept from the action of the air andweather. 

[Footnote 1: Browne, Rt. Rev. G. F. : "The Conversion of the Heptarchy, " p. 151. ]

There are several other pre-Norman sculptured stones at Kirkdale. They aregenerally built into the walls on the exterior, and are not very apparentunless carefully looked for. In the vestry some fragments of stone bearinginterlaced ornament are preserved. 

Not only at Kirkdale are these pre-Norman stones built into walls thatappear to belong to a date prior to the Conquest, but also at Middletonthere is a fine cross forming part of the fabric of the church tower. Thewest doorway now blocked up is generally considered to be of Saxon work, but the quoins of the tower, though bearing much resemblance to the pure"long and short" work that may be seen at Bradford-on-Avon, are composedof stones that are almost equal in height. 

[Illustration: Cross Slab inserted in West Wall of Kirkdale Church. 

The runes which gave rise to the belief that this was the gravestone ofKing Æthelwald have perished. 

Slab with Interlaced Ornament at Kirkdale Church. 

(_Both crosses are from the Associated Architectural Societies' Reports_. )]

The Rev. Reginald Caley has suggested that the original Saxon tower ofBrompton church may have been incorporated into the present structurewhose walls are of unusual thickness, the stone work in some placesshowing characteristics of pre-Norman workmanship. At Ellerburne thecurious spiral ornaments of the responds of the chancel arch have alsobeen attributed to pre-Norman times, but in this case and possibly atMiddleton also, the Saxon features may have appeared in Norman buildingsowing to the employment of Saxon workmen, who did not necessarily forseveral years entirely abandon their own methods, despite the fact thatthey might be working under Norman masters. There is a very roughly hewnfont in the little chapel of Ease, in the village of Levisham. It bears across and a rope ornamentation, and may possibly be of pre-Norman origin, although it was being used as a cattle trough in a neighbouring farmyardbefore the restoration in 1884. The parish church of Levisham, standingalone in the valley below the village, has a very narrow and unadornedchancel arch. This may possibly belong to Saxon or very early Normantimes, but Mr Joseph Morris[1] has pointed out that a similar one occursat Scawton, which is known to have been built in 1146, and the evidence ofa Saxon stone built into the south-east corner of the chancel of Levishamchurch supports my belief in the later date. On the south wall of thechancel of Lockton church I have seen a roughly shaped oblong stonebearing in one corner the markings of a very rude sundial, and I find thatthere is another on the wall of a cottage in the same village. [2] I amunable to give its position, but from a drawing I have examined, itappears to be of more careful workmanship than the one built into thechurch wall. At Sinnington church another of these very crude sundials hasbeen discovered, and what may be part of a similar one is high up on theeast wall of the chancel of Ellerburne church. At Kirby Moorside a finecross with interlaced work is built into the porch of the vicarage. AtWykeham there is a very plain cross of uncertain age, and Ellerburne, Lastingham, Sinnington, Kirkdale, Kirby Misperton, and Middleton are allrich in carved crosses and incised slabs. Pickering church only possessesone fragment of stone work that we may safely attribute to a date prior tothe Conquest. It seems to be part of the shaft or of an arm of a cross, and bears one of the usual types of dragon as well as knot or interlacedornament. The font, which has been thought by some to be of Saxon origin, seems to be formed from part of the inverted base of a pillar, and thoughcomposed of old material, probably dates in its present form of a fontfrom as recent a period as the restoration of Charles II. , the originalfont having been destroyed in Puritan times (Chapter X. ). It would appearthat when it was decided to build a large Norman church at Pickering thedesire to put up a building that would be a great advance on the previousstructure--for we cannot suppose that Pickering was without a church inSaxon times---led to the destruction of every trace of the earlierbuilding. 

[Footnote 1: Morris, J. E. : "The North Riding of Yorkshire, " p. 33. ]

[Footnote 2: Illustrated, facing p. 209, "Associated ArchitecturalSocieties' Reports, " vol. Xii. 1873. ]

[Illustration: Two Crossheads at Sinnington Church. The one on the leftshows a Crucifixion. ]

Hinderwell mentions a curious legend in connection with the cave in asmall conical hill at Ebberston, that has since been destroyed. Thecountry people called it Ilfrid's Hole, the tradition being that a Saxonking of that name took shelter there when wounded after a battle. Aninscription that was formerly placed above the cave said: "Alfrid, King ofNorthumberland, was wounded in a bloody battle near this place, and wasremoved to Little Driffield, where he lies buried; hard by hisentrenchments may be seen. " The roughly built stone hut with a domed roofthat now crowns the hill is within twenty yards of the site of the cave, and was built by Sir Charles Hotham in 1790 to preserve the memory ofthis legendary king. In the period that lay between the conversion ofNorthumbria to Christianity in 627, and the ravages of Dane and Northmanin the ninth and tenth centuries, we know by the traces that survive thatthe Saxons built a church in each of their villages, and that they placedbeautifully sculptured crosses above the graves of their dead. Thechurches were small and quite simple in plan, generally consisting of anave and chancel, with perhaps a tower at the west end. Owing to theimportance of Pickering the Saxon church may have been a little in advanceof the rest, and its tower may have been ornamented as much as that ofEarl's Barton, but we are entering the dangerous realms of conjecture, andmust be reconciled to that one fragment of a pre-Norman cross that is nowcarefully preserved in the south aisle of the present building. 

CHAPTER VII

_The Forest and Vale in Norman Times_

A. D. 1066-1154

In the early years of the reign of William I. , when the northern countiesrose against his rule, the Pickering district seems to have required moredrastic treatment than any other. In 1069 the Conqueror spent the winterin the north of England, and William of Malmesbury describes how "heordered the towns and fields of the whole district to be laid waste; thefruits and grain to be destroyed by fire or by water . . . Thus theresources of a once flourishing province were cut off, by fire, slaughter, and devastation; the ground for more than sixty miles, totallyuncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to the present day. " This isbelieved to have been written about 1135, and would give us grounds forbelieving that the desolation continued for over sixty years. A vividlight is thrown on the destruction wrought at Pickering by the record inthe Domesday Book, which is as follows:--

"In _Picheringa_ there are to be taxed thirty-seven carucates of land, which twenty ploughs may till. Morcar held this for one manor, with itsberewicks _Bartune_ (Barton), _Neuuctune_ (Newton), _Blandebi_ (Blandsby)and Estorp (Easthorp). It is now the king's. There is therein one ploughand twenty villanes with six ploughs; meadow half a mile long and as muchbroad: but all the wood which belongs to the manor is sixteen miles longand four broad. This manor in the time of King Edward was valued atfourscore and eight pounds; now at twenty shillings and four-pence. "[1]

[Footnote 1: "Dom Boc, " the Yorkshire Domesday. The Rev. Wm. Bawdwen, 1809, p. 11]

This remarkable depreciation from £88 to £1 and 4d. Need not be, asBawdwen thought, a mistake in the original, but an ample proof of thevengeance of the Conqueror. All the lands belonging to the powerful SaxonEarls Edwin and Morcar seem to have suffered much the same fate. 

The Domesday account also mentions that "To this manor belongs the soke ofthese lands, viz. : _Brunton_ (Brompton), _Odulfesmare_ ( ), _Edbriztune_(Ebberston), _Alnestune_ (Allerston), _Wiltune_ (Wilton), _Farmanesbi_(Farmanby), _Rozebi_ (Roxby), _Chinetorp_ (Kinthorp), _Chilnesmares_ ( ), _Aschilesmares_ ( ), _Maxudesmares_ ( ), _Snechintune_ (Snainton), _Chigogemers_ ( ), _Elreburne_ (Ellerburne), _Torentune_ (Thornton), _Leuccen_ (Levisham), _Middeletun_ (Middleton) and _Bartune_ (Barton). Inthe whole there are fifty carucates to be taxed, which twenty-sevenploughs may till. There are now only ten villanes, having two ploughs: therest is waste; yet there are twenty acres of meadow. The whole length issixteen miles and the breadth four. "

The unrecognisable names all end in mare, mares or mers, suggesting thatthey were all on the marshes and Bawdwen is probably incorrect in calling_Locte-mares_--Low-moors. Associated with each place the Domesday recordgives the names of the former landowners. 

I give them in tabular form:--

Manor in Domesday Modern Name Held by

Bruntune Brompton UlfTruzstal Troutsdale ArchilAlurestan Allerston GospatricLoctemares Low-moors or marshes ArchilTorentun Thornton-le-dale Torbrand, Gospatric and TorElreburne Ellerburne Gospatric

Dalbi Dalby "Chetelestorp Kettlethorp "Lochetun Lockton UlchilAslachesbi Aislaby GospatricWereltun Wrelton "Caltorne Cawthorne "Croptune Cropton "Abbetune Habton Ulf and CnutRitun Ryton CanuteBerg. Barugh LigulfBerg " EsbernWellebrune Welburn GrimNormanebi Normanby GamelBragebi Brawby UlfChirchebi (?) Kirby Moorside TorbrantChirchebi (?) Kirkdale GamelLestingeham Lastingham "Spantun Spaunton "Dalbi Dalby GamelSevenicton (?) Sinnington TorbrandHotun Hutton-le-hole or Torbrant Hutton BuscelAtun Ayton GamelMicheledestun Great Edstone "Parva Edestun Little Edstone TorbrantMispeton, now Belonging to Kirby Misperton Chirchebi

The number of ploughs, of oxgangs and carucates, and of villanes andbordars in each manor is given in Domesday, but to give each extract infull would take up much space and would be a little wearisome. 

We know that the impoverished country was, like the rest of England, givenby the Conqueror to his followers. The village of Hutton Buscel obtainsits name from the Buscel family which came over to England with Williamthe Norman. Hinderwell, quoting[1] from some unnamed source, tells us that"Reginald Buscel (whose father came over with the Conqueror) marriedAlice, the sister of William, Abbot of Whitby, and at the time of hismarriage, gave the church of Hotun, which his father had built, to themonastery of Whitby. " This was before the year 1154, and the lower part ofthe tower of the present church of Hutton Buscel, being of Norman date, may belong to that early building. 

[Footnote 1: Thomas Hinderwell: "History of Scarborough, " p. 331. ]

On Vivers Hill to the east of the village of Kirby Moorside there areindications among the trees of what is believed to have been the castle ofthe Stutevilles. Robert de Stuteville is said to have come over with theConqueror, and to have received land at Kirby Moorside as a reward for hisservices. 

The country having received the full fury of William's wrath very slowlyrecovered its prosperity under Norman rulers. On the slope of the hillsall the way from Scarborough to Helmsley, castles began to make theirappearance, and sturdy Norman churches were built in nearly every village. 

[Illustration: The South Side of the Nave of Pickering Church. ]

The arches on the north side are of much simpler Norman work. The nearestpainting shows the story of the legendary St Katherine of Alexandria. 

[Copyright is reserved by Dr John L Kirk. ]

The great Norman keep of Scarborough Castle with its shattered side stillfrowns above the holiday crowds of that famous seaside resort, but of theother strongholds of the district built in this castle-building age it isnot easy to speak with certainty. But the evidences of Norman work arefairly plain at Pickering Castle, and there seems little doubt that afortress of some strength was built at this important point to overawe theinhabitants. Mr G. T. Clark in his "Mediæval Military Architecture"[1] saysthat he considers Pickering Castle to represent "one great type ofAnglo-Norman fortress--that is, a castle of Norman masonry upon anEnglish earthwork, for the present walls, if not Norman, areunquestionably laid on Norman lines. " He thinks that the earthworks wouldbe taken possession of and fortified either late in the eleventh or earlyin the twelfth century, and that the keep, the chief part of the curtainwalls, and the Norman door near the northwest corner are remains of thisbuilding. The gateways may be Norman or they may belong to the time ofRichard II. (1377-99) but Mr Clark inclines to the earlier date. It ispossible that the Norman doorway just mentioned may have been an entranceto one of the towers mentioned by Leland but now completely lost sight of. The architrave has a beaded angle ornamented with pointed arches repeated, and if it is of late Norman date it is the only part of the castle whichMr Clark considers to be "distinctly referable to that period. "

[Footnote 1: George T. Clark: "Mediæval Military Architecture in England, "p. 372. ]

There is no doubt at all that the arcades of the present nave of Pickeringchurch, were built at this time, and the lower part of the tower is alsoof Norman date. The north arcade is earlier than that on the south side, having perfectly plain semi-circular arches and massive columns withfluted capitals. On the south the piers are much more ornate, the contrastbeing very plainly seen in the photograph reproduced here. 

To have necessitated such a spacious church at this time, Pickering musthave been a populous town; possibly it grew on account of the safetyafforded by the castle, and it seems to indicate the importance of theplace in the time of the Norman kings. 

One of the most complete little Norman churches in Yorkshire is to be seenat Salton, a village about six miles south-west of Pickering. It appearsto have been built at the beginning of the twelfth century, and afterwardsto have suffered from fire, parts of the walls by their redness showingtraces of having been burnt. A very thorough restoration has given thebuilding a rather new aspect, but this does not detract from the interestof the church. The chancel arch is richly ornamented with two patterns ofzig-zag work, the south door of the nave has a peculiar decoration ofdouble beak-heads, and though some of the early windows have been replacedby lancets, a few of the Norman slits remain. 

[Illustration: The South Doorway of the Norman Church of Salton. It isornamented with very curious double beak-heads. In the upper corners aregiven two of the curious corbels on the south side of the nave. ]

[Illustration: Curious Ornament in the Norman Chancel Arch at Ellerburne. The crude carving suggests Saxon work, and it was possibly the productionof Saxon masons under Norman supervision. ]

Middleton church has already been mentioned as containing what appears tobe a Saxon doorway in the tower. This may have been saved from an earlierbuilding together with the lower part of the tower, but if it did not comeinto existence before the conquest the tower and nave were built in earlyNorman times. The south arcade probably belongs to the latest phase ofTransitional Norman architecture, if not the commencement of the earlyEnglish period. Running along the west and north walls of the north aisleis a stone bench, an unusual feature even in Norman churches. 

Ellerburne church has some very interesting Norman work in the chancelarch. The ornament is so crude that it would seem as though very primitiveSaxon workmen had been working under Norman influence, for, while themasonry is plainly of the Norman period, the ornament appears to belong toan earlier time. There must have been a church at Normanby at this period, for the south door of the present building is Norman. Sinnington churchalso belongs to this time. The Norman chancel arch was taken down manyyears ago, but the stones having been preserved in the church it was foundpossible to replace them in their original position at the Restoration in1904. There are remains of three doorways including the blocked one at thewest end. The south doorway is Transitional Norman, and is supposed tohave been added about 1180. The porch and present chancel belong to thethirteenth century, but during the Restoration some interesting relics ofthe earlier Norman chancel were discovered in the walls of the fabric thatreplaced it. A small stone coffin containing human remains with severalwild boars' tusks and a silver wire ring was found in the nave. 

[Illustration: The Transitional Norman Crypt under the Chancel ofLastingham Church. It is a complete little underground church, havingnave, apse, and aisles. ]

Lastingham church as it now stands is only part of the originalTransitional Norman church, for there are evidences that the nave extendedto the west of the present tower which was added in the fifteenth century. It appears that the western part of the nave was destroyed or injured notmany years after its erection, and that the eastern part was repaired inearly English times. The chancel with its vaulted roof and circular apse, and the crypt beneath, are of the same date as the original nave, andthough the capitals of the low columns in the crypt might be thought to beof earlier work, expert opinion places them at the same TransitionalNorman date. The crypt has a nave, apse and aisles, and is therefore acomplete little underground church. Semi-circular arches between thepillars support the plain vaulting only a few feet above one's head, andthe darkness is such that it requires a little time to be able to see thefoliage and interlaced arches of the capitals surmounting the squatcolumns. 

At Brompton the Perpendicular church contains evidences of the building ofthis period that once existed there, in the shape of four Norman capitals, two of them built into the east wall of the south aisle and two in thejambs of the chancel arch. In the massive walls of the lower part of thetower there may also be remains of the Norman building. 

At the adjoining village of Snainton the old church was taken down in1835, but the Norman stones of the south doorway of the nave have beenre-erected, and now form an arch in an adjoining wall. The font of thesame period having been found in a garden, was replaced in the church on anew base in 1893. In Edstone church the Norman font, with a simple arcadepattern running round the circular base, is still to be seen, and atLevisham the very plain chancel arch mentioned in the preceding chapter isalso of Norman work. Allerston church has some pieces of zig-zag ornamentbuilt into the north wall, and Ebberston church has a slit window on thenorth side of the chancel, and the south door built in Norman times. Thenave arcade at Ebberston may belong to the Transitional Norman period andthe font also. 

Most of the churches in the neighbourhood of Pickering are, therefore, seen to have either been built in the Norman age or to possess fragmentsof the buildings that were put up in that period. The difficulty ofpreventing the churches from being too cold was met in some degree byhaving no windows on the north side as at Sinnington, and those windowsthat faced the other cardinal points were sufficiently small to keep outthe extremes of temperature. 

[Illustration: The Norman font at Edstone. ]

The written records belonging to the Norman period of the history ofPickering seem to have largely disappeared, so that with the exception ofthe Domesday Book, and a few stray references to people or places in thislocality, we are largely dependent on the buildings that have survivedthose tempestuous years. 

Pickering appears to have been a royal possession during the whole of thistime, and it is quite probable that the Norman kings hunted in the forestand lodged with their Courts in the castle, for a writ issued by Henry I. Is dated at Pickering. 

CHAPTER VIII

_The Forest and Vale in the Time of the Plantagenets_

A. D. 1154 to 1485

The story of these three centuries is told to a most remarkable extent inthe numerous records of the Duchy of Lancaster relating to the maintenanceof the royal Forest of Pickering. They throw a clear light on many aspectsof life at Pickering, and by picking out some of the more picturesqueincidents recorded we may see to what extent the severe forest laws keptin check the poaching element in the neighbourhood. We can also discoversome incidents in connection with the visits of some of the English kingsto the royal forest of Pickering, as well as matters relating to therepair of the castle. 

In the Parliament of 1295, in Edward I. 's reign, Pickering, for the firstand only occasion, sent representatives to the national assembly. Theparliamentary return states[1] that the persons returned on that occasionwere

 Robertus Turcock Robertus Turcock, but whether this is a mistake by the recorder or whether two men of thesame name were returned is uncertain. 

[Footnote 1: G. R. Park, "The Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire, 1886, " pp. 266 and 283. ]

Among the High Sheriffs of Yorkshire in the fourteenth and fifteenthCenturies were

 1390 Richard II. Jacobus de Pykering. 1394 " " " 1398 " " " 1432 Henry VI. Sir Richard de Pykering. 1450 " Sir James de Pykering knt. 

In 1311 Johannes de Cropton was one of the members for Scarborough inEdward II. 's Parliament of that year. 

Pickering was held as royal property by William the Conqueror, and with afew short intervals it has remained crown property until the present day. It is therefore no matter for surprise to find that several of thePlantagenet kings came to hunt in the forest. It appears to have been aroyal possession in the time of Henry I. , and also in February 1201, whenKing John visited the castle, [1] for a charter granted by him to the nunsof Wykeham is dated at Pickering. In 1248 William Lord d'Acre was madekeeper of the castle, but towards the close of his reign Henry III. (1216-1272) gave the castle, manor, and forest of Pickering to his sonEdmund Crouchback, and from him the property has descended through theLancastrian branch of the royal family, so that it now forms part of thepossessions of the Duchy of Lancaster. 

[Footnote 1: Young's "History of Whitby, " vol. Ii. P. 733. ]

From other records we find that King John was also at Pickering for atleast a day in August 1208 and in March 1210. 

In 1261 Pickering Castle was held against Henry III. By Hugh le Bigod, andsome of the wardrobe accounts of the reign of Edward II. Have reference toa visit to Pickering. The place must have had painful memories for theking in connection with the capture of his favourite Piers Gaveston atScarborough Castle in 1312. This visit was, however, separated from thatfateful event by eleven years. 

"3 August 1323, at Pickering. Paid to William Hunt, the King's huntsman, by way of gift at the direction of Harsike--£1; to Agnes, wife of Roger deMar, porter of the chamber, gift--10s. : to Guillot de la Pittere, groom ofthe Queen's chamber, gift--£1; to Dighton Wawayn, valet of Robert Wawayn, carrying letters from his master to the king, gift--2s. To John, son ofIbote of Pickering, who followed the king a whole day when he hunted thestag in Pickering chase, gift by order--10s. ; to Walter de Seamer, Mariner, keeper of the ship called the Magdalen, of which Cook atte Wosewas master, a gift, the money being given to John Harsike to give him--£1. 

"23 August, at Egginton, on Blakey Moor. Paid to Sir Roger de Felton, Knight of the King's Chamber, for his ransom at the time when he was takenby the Scots at Rievaulx in company with the Earl of Richmond, in October, 1322, a gift by the hands of John Harsike, who delivered the money to SirRoger in the King's presence, £100. 

"To Edmund Dorney, the King's palfrey man, who always followed the Kingwhen he hunted--£1. 

"31 August, at Glascowollehouse. Paid to Ernest, running footman of SirRobert del Idle, who carried letters to the King, a gift 6s. 8d. ; to DanThomas de Broghton, monk of Rievaulx, to buy him a coat, a gift--10s. "

The entries show that the king journeyed to Whorlton Castle to stay withNicholas de Meynell. He seems to have gone by way of Lockton and SpauntonMoor, and appears to have stayed a night at Danby. The accounts mention anamount paid on September 1st to certain foresters' servants who set theking's nets to take roe-deer in Whorlton Park, and we also discover thatthe day's sport was varied by the singing of Alice the red-haired andAlice de Whorlton, who gave "Simon de Montfort" and other songs before theking, and received a gift of 4s. 

The poor of Pickering profited by the royal visits. Here are two items inthe accounts. 

"26 September [1323] at Skipton. Paid, by order of the King, to LorchonSewer alms distributed by the King at Pickering--3d. "

In 1334 Edward III. Was more generous than his predecessor, for we find"26 May. Alms--to Sir Walter de London, King's Almoner, for food for 100poor on the feast of Corpus Christi at Pickering, at the hands of hisclerk Henry--12s. 6d. " During the hunting in the forest a hound was lostand recovered as follows:--

"June, (at Beverley), given to Robert de Bridgegate, leading to the King ahound lost at Pickering, a gift the same day 6s. 8d. "

The reference to the Scottish raid as far south as Rievaulx Abbey touchesan event of great interest. In 1322 the Scots, led by Robert Bruce, hadentered England and plundered many places, including the splendidCistercian monastery just mentioned, and the following record shows thatthe Vale of Pickering purchased immunity for 300 marks. 

"John Topcliffe Rector of Semer Wm. Wyern & John Wickham with others ofPickering with the assent of the whole community, on Tuesday 13th Oct. 1322 purchased from Robert Bruce through the Earl of Moray for 300 marks, to be paid at Berwick, half at Candlemas next & the other half at Trinitynext, the immunity of the Vale of Pickering from the River Seven on thewest to the sea on the east. Further they say that Nich's Haldane, Wm. Hastings and John Manneser, at the request of the men of the wholecommunity, surrendered at Rievaulx to Robert Bruce on Saturday the 17th ofOct. Following, to sojourn as hostages in Scotland until the 300 markswere paid. Further they say that the 300 marks are still unpaid, forafterwards the men of the community refused payment and once for all. Further they said that the said Nicholas William and John are still inprison in Scotland, and all the men and all townships, manors, hamlets, lands and tenements of the said Vale within the bounds aforesaid werepreserved from all damage and injury whatsoever through theabove-mentioned ransom. "

From the Chronicle of John Hardyng we find that Richard II. Was imprisonedat Pickering before being taken to Knaresborough, and finally toPontefract. The lines in his quaint verse must have been written between1436 and 1465. 

 "The Kyng the[n] sent Kyng Richard to Ledis, There to be kepte surely in previtee, Fro the[n]s after to Pykeryng we[n]t he nedes, And to Knauesburgh after led was he, But to Pountfrete last where he did die. " [1]

[Footnote 1: The Chronicle of John Hardyng, edited by Henry Ellis, 1812, p. 356. ]

There seems little doubt that the story of the murder of the king atPontefract Castle by Sir Piers Exton is untrue, but "nothing is certainlyknown of the time, place, or manner of his death. "

The records of the Coucher Book contain a mass of interesting and oftenentertaining information concerning the illicit removals of oak trees fromthe forest, hunting and killing the royal deer and other animals, as wellas many other offences. 

At the forest Eyre, a sort of assizes, held at Pickering in 1334 to dealwith a great accumulated mass of infringements on the rights of theforest, the first case is against Sir John de Melsa, Lord of Levisham, whowas, according to the jury, "in the habit of employing men to make andburn charcoal out of browsewood and dry sticks in his woods at Levisham, which are now within the bounds of the forest, and he exposes the charcoalfor sale, injuring the lord and annoying the deer, by what right they knownot. Sir John is summoned, appears, and pleads that he and his ancestorsand the tenants of the Manor of Levisham have from ancient time taken thebrowsewood and dry sticks in the said woods and burnt them into charcoal, and afterwards exposed them for sale, and given them away at pleasure aspart of his and their manorial rights. He asks that the officers of theforest may try the question. As it clearly appears to the Court by theanswer of Sir John that he is making a claim to take a profit in theforest which he did not claim on the first day of the Eyre, as the customis, and as proclamation was made, judgment is given that the liberty beseized into the Lord's hands, and Sir John is to answer for its value inthe meantime. Afterwards Sir John appears, and prays that he may beallowed to pay a composition for making his claim, and a composition of6s. 8d. Is fixed. Surety, Richard de Naulton. The jury also present that abridge called Friar Bridge, beyond the Costa, across which people are wontto pass on horseback and on foot going from Pickering to Malton, is insuch bad repair that people cannot pass over, but have to make adivergence of about a mile and a half in the forest, treading down andinjuring the pasturage of the deer. The Abbot of Rievaulx and all Abbotsof that place are bound to repair it. He is summoned, appears, and doesnot deny that he and they are bound to repair it, but he says that thebridge is not in such bad repair that people cannot pass over it as theyare wont and ought to do without doing harm to any one. He asks that aninquiry may be made by the officers of the forest. An inquiry is directed. The foresters, verderers, and regarders, sworn and charged, say on theiroaths, that after the summons for the Eyre was issued, the bridge was insuch bad repair that people being unable to pass over it made a divergenceinto the forest, annoying the Lord's deer and treading down theirpasturage. Afterwards the Abbot repaired it so that it requires nothingfurther, and people can quite well pass over it. Therefore as to thepresent repair of the bridge the Abbot is acquitted, but he is to beamerced because he did not repair it before. 

"The jury also present that the present Prior of Bridlington erected asheepfold at Newland in the forest, 100 feet long and 12 feet broad, injuring thereby the Lord's deer, notwithstanding that on another occasionat the last Eyre of the Justices the sheepfold was ordered to be takendown. By what right they know not. The Prior appears and prays to beallowed to compound with the Lord, and that he and his successors may rentthe sheepfold in perpetuity, inasmuch as it no longer injures the deer. Since the foresters, verderers, and regarders prove that it is so thePrior is permitted to compound by the payment of 13s. 4d. (surety Ralph deMorton), and he is likewise given a grant for ever of the sheepfold at ayearly rent of 6d. At Michaelmas. The Prior is to hold it for ever quit ofregard. The jury also present that the bridge and road of Pul within theforest, which are common highways for carriages, carts, drifts, andpacksaddles are in such bad repair that none can pass over them. The Priorof the Hospital of St John, by reason of his tenure of lands whichformerly belonged to the Knights Templars, and the Prioress of Yedingham, are bound to repair and maintain them. They are summoned. The Prioressappears in person, the Prior by his attorney, Walter de Trusseley. ThePrioress says that neither she nor any of her predecessors ever fromancient time repaired or ought to repair it, because she says that thePrior, by reason of his tenure of the lands which belonged to theTemplars, is bound to repair and maintain the bridge and road as often asneed requires, in the same way that the Templars, before the abolition oftheir Order, from ancient time, by reason of their tenure of their landsat Foulbridge, which the Prior now holds, repaired and maintained thebridge and road. She asks that an inquiry may be directed. " The Prior, byhis attorney, denies most of the charges seriatim, but the judgment of theCourt is that "the Prior be distrained to compel him to repair and makegood the bridge and road to the east, and is to be amerced because he hasnot done it sooner, and the Prioress is to be acquitted because the roadto the west of the bridge is not at present out of repair. "

[Illustration: Some of the Wall Paintings on the South Side of the Nave ofPickering Church. 

The upper left-hand corner shows what is apparently the funeral of theVirgin Mary with the miserable Prince astride the coffin. On the longstrip and on the two spandrels are scenes from the Death and Resurrectionof Our Lord. 

The last of seven acts of corporal mercy is shown here. 

[Copyright reserved by Dr John L. Kirk. ]]

This is a typical example of the manner of recording these quarrels overresponsibilities and delinquencies in connection with the forest, eachside seeming to deny in detail most of the charges brought forward. Mostof the cases relating to the stealing of oaks and brushwood and topoaching matters generally are compounded for. 

The following is a case of officers of the forest making themselves anuisance with the local people. "The jury also present that whereas Johnde Monmouth has 20s [? a year], a toft and two oxgangs of land, with theappurtenances in Pickering, John Scot 30s a year, and William Courtman 5sat the Earl's expense for being fosterers in the West Ward [of PickeringForest], yet they surcharge all the inhabitants with their living and thatof their servants, annoying the country. They are summoned, appear, andcompound. . . . The jury also present that Richard Cockard of Helmsley, Johnde Harlay, and William Gower, forester, of Scalby, Langdale, and Fullwood, under colour of their office, collect sheaves in autumn and wool and keepservants on board in the country. They are summoned, appear, and makecomposition. . . . " "The jury also present that John de Shirburn drew thetimber of a house in Pickering within the forest of Shirburn without theforest, and John Beal of West Heslerton drew the timber of a barn inPickering within the boundery of the forest to West Heslerton without theforest, and John de Shirburn and Thomas Bret likewise drew the timber of ahouse at Pickering within the boundaries of the forest to Shirburn withoutthe forest, injuring the Earl and contrary to the assize of the forest. They are summoned, appear, and each makes composition. "

"Henry the Fowler, of Barugh, Adam the Fowler, of Ayton, William Hare andWilliam Fox, catch birds in the forest by means of birdlime-nets and othercontrivances. " The Clergy were frequently involved in the taking of timberfrom the forest. "Robert de Hampton, Rector of Middleton, took atdifferent times three green oaks below Cropton Castle, and on a thirdoccasion took there a green oak, without the demesne, without livery ofthe foresters or warrant. --

"In mercy:--

"The Abbot of Whitby took a green oak in Goathland within the demesne, value 3d, and was let out on bail. He has not surrendered and does notappear to judgment with his bail, and he is responsible for the value anda fine of 3s. Afterwards it appears that his bail are dead, so proceedingsagainst them are stayed. 

"Eldred of Ellerburne, deceased, carried off a green oak within thedemesne, value 7d. His successor, Edmund de Hastings, is responsible forits value, a fine of 7d and also 7d, the value of vert likewise taken inthe Hay. 

"Hugh, Vicar of Ebberston, deceased, took a green oak without the demesnewithout livery of the foresters or warrant; John, son of Geoffrey, andJohn de la Chymyne, his executors, are responsible. --

"The Lady Beatrice of Farmanby, deceased, took a green oak without thedemesne, without livery of the foresters or warrant. Her successor, William Hastings, is responsible. 

"The Rector of Brompton, deceased, felled two green oaks without thedemesne, without livery of foresters or warrant. The same personsresponsible. 

"The Preceptor of Foulbridge felled and carried away four green oaks infence month. The Prior of the Hospital of St John is responsible. 

"The Prioress of Wykeham claims for herself and her tenants in Wykeham andRuston to receive and take housebote and hedgebote in the woods of NorthCave heads and Barley, according to the assize of the forest, and commonof pasture for all animals except goats in the same woods and the wastesand moors adjoining, that is to say, northwards from Yarlesike. . . . TheJustices consider that before allowing her claims an inqury should be madeas to how the Prioress and her predecessors have exercised their rights. "

"Sir John de Meaux claims to have housebote and hedgebote for himself, hismen and tenants of Levisham in his woods of Levisham, in accordance withthe assize of the forest, and reasonable estovers of turves in hisdemesnes of Levisham, for himself, his men and his tenants, and ironstoneand a smelting-place in his woods of Levisham, paying to the Earl anannual rent of 2s and aeries of falcons, merlins and sparrow-hawk, andwhatever honey is found in his woods at Levisham, and he claims to have awoodward in such woods. He is ready to prove that all these rights havingbeen exercised by himself and his ancestors from ancient time, thehousebote and hedgebote being appurtenant to his free tenement inLevisham, and brousewood and dry wood being taken to feed his furnaces. Aninquiry is directed, and it is found that Sir John and his ancestors havefrom ancient time enjoyed the rights so claimed without interruption. Judgment is given in accordance with the verdict. "

"Ralph de Bulmer claims to have a free park at Thornton Riseborough, andto keep hounds to hunt there. He claims that King John by deed granted toone Alan de Winton, then holder of the park, and his heirs, liberty toinclose and make a free park, and to keep his hounds to hunt there; byvirtue whereof Alan, whose estate he now holds, exercised the rights. Hesays that Edward II. Inspected the grant of John, and granted to Ralph, that he and his heirs might hold the park with its appurtenances as Alanheld it, without let or hindrance on the part of the King or his Justices, Escheators, Sheriffs, or other bailiffs, or officers whatsoever. 

"Thomas de Pickering and Margaret, his wife, claim to have a woodward tokeep their demesne wood at Lockton, and that no one may lop branchestherein or fell any tree without their consent, and that they may fell andgive away at pleasure green trees and dry, and give and sell dry trees atpleasure without view of the foresters. " In the following claim a mentionis made of the "wildcat. " "Thomas Wake of Liddell claims to have a freechase for fox, hare, wildcat, and badger, within the boundaries of hisbarony of Middleton, namely, from the place called Alda on the Costa tothe standing stone above the Spital Myre of Pickering, etc. "

"Hugh de Nevill is indicted, for that whilst he was bailiff of Pickering, under colour of his office, he arrested one Robert the Dyer, latelyresiding in Ebberston, bound his hands as if he were a felon, though hehad not been indicted, and took from him a horse, harness, and other goodsand chattels to the value of 20s. Afterwards he entrusted him to the careof his servant to take to York, but when they reached Malton, the servantlet his prisoner escape. 

"Henry de Rippley, sub-bailiff of Pickering, fined for having seized goodsand chattels of Sir Robert de Scarborough, at Ebberston, for which he wasindicted and found guilty on his own confession, 3s 4d. "

A case in which the poachers showed their total disregard for the officersof the forest is given as follows. 

"Stephen son of Richard of Eskdale, Nicholas the Taylor of Whitby, andJohn de Moorsholm of Sneaton Thorpe, were indicted for having, onWednesday 23rd March 1334, at Blakey Moor [near Saltersgate], within theforest, hunted with bows, arrows and greyhounds, and taken sixty-six hartsand hinds, of which they cut off the heads of nine and fixed them uponstakes in the Moor. "

"As regards those who caught hares and wandered in the forest with bowsand arrows contrary to the assize of the forest, Mathilda de Bruys isaccustomed to hunt and catch hares. " She compounded for 5s, Robert Bruceand John Perot being sureties. 

The Coucher Book mentions that Henry I. Issued a writ dated at Pickering. This would suggest that Pickering Castle was standing between 1100 and1135, for the king would scarcely have visited the place unless he had hadproper quarters for himself and his suite, and the castle alone could haveafforded this. A record of 1347 mentions the pillory at Pickering, andsuggests a lively scene that took place in the august presence of the Earlof Lancaster. "William de Kirkby and others conspired amongst themselvesto indict John de Buckton, Hugh de Neville, John de Barton, and others forthat they on Monday, 25th June 1347, took six harts in Pickering Forestand set up the head of one in the sight of the Earl of Lancaster upon thepillory in Pickering town, in consequence of which John de Buckton, Hughde Neville and John de Barton were taken and imprisoned in PickeringCastle and suffered great loss of their goods. Afterwards, in the sametown, William appeared in the King's Bench and asked to be allowed tocompound for the offences presented against him, as well as those to whichhe had already pleaded as the rest. The request was granted, and he paidthe fine entered in the rolls. "

"The jurors of the several wappentakes of Yorkshire presented that Davidde Wigan and others on Wednesday, 11th July 1347, violently entered bynight the house of Thomas, Vicar of Ebberston, seized him and led him toPickering Castle until he compounded with them for £2, though, " adds therecord, "he had never been indicted for any offence" (!) This David deWigan must have terrorised the neighbourhood at this time, for he andothers scarcely a week later "seized Adam del Selley Bridge at SelleyBridge [near Marishes Road Station] and led him with them until hecompounded with them for £4. " On the same Tuesday they violently seizedRobert de Sunley at Calvecote and led him to Pickering Castle until hepaid £2. On the 30th July Thomas Oliver of Sawdon was taken in the samemanner and detained for five days. After all this David was summoned andhe pleaded guilty. By trustworthy witnesses, however, it was proved thathe was penniless and had nothing wherewith to satisfy the king for hisoffences, and "having regard to the state of his health and condition hewas let off. " We wonder what the Vicar of Ebberston thought of thislenient treatment of such a Barabbas. Geoffrey de Wrightington, a latebailiff of Pickering, seems to have taken part in these offences, and hewas also responsible for having seized Hugh de Neville in PickeringChurch, and for having imprisoned him "in the depths of the gaol in ironfetters for seven weeks, though Hugh had never been indicted. " John Scottof Pickering also spent nine weeks in prison at the pleasure of thisdesperate fellow. On the 30th August 1346 he took £4 by force from Henryde Acaster, the vicar of Pickering, when he was journeying betweenConeysthorpe and Appleton le Street. His methods are well shown by thefollowing. "Geoffrey also on Sunday, 17th September 1346, seized Adam deSelley Bridge by force at Pickering and imprisoned him until he hadcompounded with him for 6 [? £] and when Adam paid the fine Geoffrey madehim swear on the Book that he would tell no one how he came to pay thefine or to be imprisoned. " After all this Geoffrey was let off with a finewhen called to account three years later. 

In the minister's accounts for 1322 appear the "wages of a forester tokeep Pickering Forest, a door-keeper and a watchman in the castle, each 2da day for 34 weeks. " There are references to thatch for the porter'slodge, the brewhouse, the kitchen, and small upper apartment within thecastle. This thatching took a man three days with two women to help himall the time; the man received 9d and the women 2d each for the work. 

The chaplain of the castle chapel received a yearly salary of £3; repairsby contract to the seven glass windows in the chapel cost 10d, and wineand lights 2s. Under the heading of Small Expenses comes "making 14hurdles to lie on the draw bridge and other bridges to preserve them fromthe cart-wheels 1s; making a hedge round the fishpond, cutting andcarrying boughs, wages of the hedger--4s 6d; making a long cord of hemp 20ells long weighing 6 stone of hemp for the Castle well--4s 9d; burningafter Feb. 2 old grass in Castle Ings that new grass may grow--8d; 8 mencutting holly, ivy and oak boughs in different parts of the forest for thedeer in a time of snow and ice, 9 days at 2d a day--12s 2-1/2d; wages of aman sent to the king [Edward II. ] with a letter from the bailiff toacquaint the king with certain secrets by letters of privy seal, going, residing there and returning, 9 days at 3d a day for food and wages--3s9d. "

In the Close Rolls of 1324, there is an order to "John de Kelvington, keeper of the Castle and honor of Pickering, to cause to be newlyconstructed a barbican before the Castle gate with a stone wall and a gatewith a drawbridge in the same, and beyond the gate a new chamber, a newpostern gate by the King's Tower and a roof to a chamber near the smallhall; to cover with thin flags that roof and the roof of the smallkitchen, to remove the old roof of the King's prison and to make anentirely new roof covered with lead, and to thoroughly point, both withinand without, the walls of the castle and tower, and to clean out andenlarge the Castle ditch. All this to be done out of the issues of thehonor as the King has enjoined him by word of mouth, and the expenseincurred therein when duly proved will be allowed him in his accounts. Pickering, 10th August, 1323. "

About the year 1314 there is an item in the accounts of eighty planksbought at Easingwold and carried to the castle and laid in the gangwayleading from the chamber of the Countess to the chapel. The nails for thiswork cost 5s. 6d. 

[Illustration: The Devil's or Dyet Tower on the South-East side ofPickering Castle. This is often called the Rosamund Tower, but the recordscall it the Dyet Tower. ]

Soon after this comes the cost of the new hall in the castle. "Clearing, digging and levelling the place within the castle where the bakehouse wasburnt to build there a hall with a chamber 14s 1-1/2d, building the stonewall of the hall and chamber, getting and carrying 400 cartloads of stone, digging and carrying soil for mortar, buying 27 quarters of lime--£5 19s11d; contract for joiners' work, wages for those employed to saw planksand joists, 152 planks for doors and windows, 80 large spikes, 600 spikenails, 1000 broad headed nails and 20, 000 tacks, 22 hinges for the doors, 28 hinges for the windows and 2600 laths with carriage for the same--£9 0s1-1/2d; roofing the buildings with thin flags by piece-work, collectingmoss for the same [to stop up the crannies] plastering the floor of theupper room and several walls within the chamber, making a chimney piece ofplaster of Paris (plastro parisiensi), together with the wages of thechaplain who was present at the building--£5 1s 10-1/2d. " A few yearslater came some more repairs to the castle: "a carpenter 4 days mendingthe wind battered roof of the old hall with old shingles 1s, 300 nails forthat purpose 9d; a man 10 days roofing with tin the small kitchen, thegarderobe at the corner of the kitchen, the cellar, outside the new hall, within the tower and porter's lodge--2s 6d. " Hay and straw for the roofswas brought "from the Marsh to Pickering"; two men were employed to cleanout the castle well which had been so blocked up as to become quite drythat year and another charge 1s for a new rope and for repairing thebucket of the well. 

In 1326 there is a reference to the King's patent writ, dated 7thDecember, by which the Castle was committed by Edward II. "to his belovedcousin Henry, Earl of Lancaster, " and the keeper, John de Kilvington, was"to deliver the Castle and Honour to the Earl together with its militarystores, victuals and other things. "

From a small green-covered foolscap volume lent me by Mr Arthur Hill ofThorton-le-dale, I have taken the following description of the "Bounds ofthe Forest of Pickering, as far as the waters are concerned. "

"From How Bridge along the Rye to where the Seven falls into the Rye, thewhole length of the Seven. 

"Wheeldale Beck to

"Mirke Esk to

"The Eske and along the Eske to where Lythe Beck falls into the Eske

"Where the Derwent springs and along the Derwent to where Tillabeck fallsinto the Derwent. 

"Along Tillabeck to King's Bridge. 

"Along the Harford to the Derwent. 

"Along the Derwent to where the Rye falls into the Derwent. 

"Along the Rye to Howe Bridge. "

The records relating to Pickering are all so accessible since theirpublication by the North Riding Record Society that those who want to readmore details of these picturesque mediæval days can do so with very littletrouble, but from the extracts that I have made, a general idea of theclass of information contained in the Duchy Records may be obtained. Inthis period many additions and alterations were made to Pickering church. The Transitional Norman tower was largely rebuilt, and the spire was addedin the Decorated style of Gothic prevalent in the fourteenth century. Below the battlements of the tower there are shields, but the details havealmost entirely weathered away. The reticulated windows of the churchbelong to the same period. They are very fine examples of the work of thattime. The north aisle, the chancel, and probably the north window of thenorth transept also belong to this period, so that work of an extensivenature must have been progressing on the church as well as the castle atthe same time. The walls of the nave and chancel appear to have beenraised in the latter half of the fifteenth century, and this would beshortly before the remarkable series of wall paintings came intoexistence. The date of these pictures can be brought down to fairly narrowlimits, for the arms carried by the four knights who are shown about tomurder St Thomas à Becket belong to the years between 1450 and 1460, according to Mr J. G. Waller. The Rev. G. H. Lightfoot, a former vicar ofPickering, mentions[1] the discovery of traces of earlier paintings ofsuperior execution when the present ones were being restored, but of theseindications no sign is now visible. 

[Footnote 1: Yorkshire Archæological Journal, 1895. ]

[Illustration: One of the Wall Paintings in Pickering Church. 

St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers with the Infant Christ onhis shoulder. The saint is shown treading upon the serpent and graspinghis staff, which is growing at the edge of the stream. 

[The copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk]

When the church was re-opened after the restoration in 1879, the walls ofthe nave were covered with a thick coat of yellow wash, but there weremany living who remembered the accidental discovery of the strangepictures that were for a time exposed to the wondering gaze of thecongregation. The distraction caused by this novelty led to the coat ofyellow wash that undoubtedly did infinite harm to the paintings. At thesubsequent restoration, which was carried out by degrees as the necessaryfunds were forthcoming, it was found that portions of some of the figureshad perished, and it is a most regrettable fact that the restorationincluded the painting in of certain missing parts whose details could onlybe supplied by analogy. From Mr Lightfoot's description it seems that inthe large picture of St George and the Dragon a considerable part of theSt George's body was missing; that the representation of Herod's Feast andthe lowest scene of the life of St Katherine of Alexandria were very badlydamaged by the attachments of mural tablets. On the whole, however, thepaintings when uncovered were in a good state of preservation, and thecolours were more vivid than they were left after the re-touching by MrJewitt. 

[Illustration: Some of the Wall Paintings in Pickering Church. 

THE SEVEN CORPORAL ACTS OF MERCY. 

They are, from left to right:--(1) Feeding the hungry (partly missing inphotograph)[A]; (2) Giving drink to the thirsty; (3) Compelling thestranger to come in; (4) Clothing the naked; (5) Visiting those in prison;(6) Visiting the sick; (7) Burying the dead. 

[Footnote A: This appears in another photograph showing scenes from thelife of our Lord. ]

The martyrdom of St Edmund. 

[_The Copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk. _] ]

Taking the pictures along the north wall in order, the first is the hugerepresentation of St George, then facing the porch entrance on a stilllarger scale is the figure of St Christopher, bearing on his left shoulderthe infant Christ. This position, facing these who enter the church, isthe usual one for St Christopher, for he was the patron-saint oftravellers, and the size is in keeping with the tradition which speaks ofthe saint as standing twelve cubits high. He is shown using a tree as hisstaff, and the Evil One is being trampled underfoot in the form of aserpent. 

Adjoining St Christopher is the curious painting showing Herod's Feast, avery rare subject to be chosen for wall paintings. Although this picturehas been so much restored the figures were very carefully traced out whereonly faint indications could be seen, so that it now presents the originalwork where it was not totally destroyed with considerable accuracy. It isreally three scenes, although it appears as one. Herod's daughter is onthe right performing a mediæval tumble dance before the king and queen andtheir two guests, and on the left St John the Baptist is shown, stillkneeling, although his head lies on the pavement. Salome is holding thecharger against her breast. In the central portion of the picture sheappears carrying the head of St John in the dish. The picture above thisshows the coronation of the Virgin Mary, and the wall of heaven is higherstill. 

The martyrdom of St Edmund in the next spandrel is a most realisticpicture. The saint is tied to a tree and is pierced by fourteen arrows. The black-letter inscriptions read "Edmund Prync and martyr. "

 "Heven blys to hes mede Hem sall have for hys gud ded"

Above this picture is the painting already mentioned of St Thomas à Becketbeing approached by the four knights who are about to murder him. 

On the south side of the nave the chief part of the wall is given up tothe legend of St Katherine of Alexandria. She was said to be the daughterof Costus, King of Alexandria, and was married to a son of ConstantineChlorius, the Roman Governor of York. 

The upper panel shows the temple of Serapis, and St Katherine endeavouringto convert the Emperor Maximin to Christianity. Further to the right sheis shown entering the prison into which she was cast. The emperor, impressed both by her beauty and her arguments, endeavours with the helpof several philosophers to persuade her to give up her belief inChristianity; they are, however, all converted by her, and soon after theyare executed at the emperor's command. St Katherine is then stripped tothe waist and beaten in the presence of the emperor, who is shown on theextreme right as well as the left of the second panel. After furtherimprisonment the saint is joined by the Empress Faustina, a new convert, who comforts the prisoner, and is shown joining with her in prayer. 

Further on, the emperor is shown testing the saint's faith by the wheel, but two angels appear, and having broken the wheels the attendants areoverthrown. The last scene, in which St Katherine is kneeling, is so much"restored" that its interest is very much impaired. 

[Illustration: SOME OF THE WALL PAINTINGS ON THE NORTH WALL OF THE NAVE OFPICKERING CHURCH. 

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST THOMAS À BECKET. 

The Four Knights are seen approaching the "Turbulent Priest. "]

HEROD'S FEAST. 

It is composed of three pictures. On the right, Salome is performing a"Tumble" dance before Herod, his queen, and two guests, while St John theBaptist is holding up a warning hand: In the centre, Salome has the headof St John in a charger, and on the left the execution is shown. 

[_The Copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk. _]]

The long and narrow series of pictures over the arches represents theseven corporal acts of mercy, namely, feeding the hungry, giving drink tothe thirsty, compelling a stranger to come in, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, visiting the sick, and burying the dead. Continuing in the same line appear representations of Christ in the Gardenof Gethsemane, healing the ear of Malchus, Christ before Pilate, thescourging of our Lord, and then follow scenes of the Crucifixion, followedby the burial and resurrection. In the spandrel over the third pillar fromthe west the descent of Christ into Hades, represented by a great dragon'sjaw, is shown. Adam holding an apple, and followed by Eve and many otherspirits, is shown coming to meet our Lord. Between the clerestory windowsthere are three paintings which seem to belong to a series associated withthe Virgin Mary. The first, which may represent the Assumption, has notbeen restored, and very little remains to be seen. The second, accordingto Mr Keyser, shows the burial, and on the coffin appears the JewishPrince Belzeray, who is said to have interfered with the funeral byraising himself astride the coffin. The legend says that he became fixedto the pall, and only escaped after repentance and the united prayers ofthe apostles. 

Of the third picture only a portion remains, the upper part being newplaster, but the figures of some of the apostles who are shown may havebeen standing by the deathbed of the Virgin. The coronation scene alreadymentioned on the north side of the nave would thus complete a series offour pictures. 

Just by the lectern at the north-east corner of the nave is a recumbenteffigy of a knight wearing armour of the period when chain-mail was beingexchanged for plate armour. This was during the fourteenth century. Thearms on the shield are those of Bruce, and belonging to this period therehas been discovered a license to Sir William Bruce to have a chantry inPickering Church. There can therefore be little doubt that this namelesseffigy is that of Sir William Bruce. The deed is dated "Saturday, thefeast of St John the Evangelist, 1337, " and it states that a license wasgiven in consideration of one messuage and two bovates of land in thevillage of Middleton near Pickering for a certain chaplain to celebrate"Divine (mysteries) daily in the Church of St Peter, Pickering (the fulldedication is to God, St Peter, and St Paul), for the souls of themasters, William and Robert of Pickering, Adam de Bruce and Mathilda hiswife. " The two beautifully carved figures of a knight and his lady thatlie in the Bruce Chapel are not Bruces for the surcoat of the man isadorned with the arms of the Rockcliffes--an heraldic chess-rook and threelions' heads. Both the knight and his lady wear the collar of SS, theorigin of which is still wrapped in obscurity. Traces of gilding arevisible in several places on the wings of the angels that support theheads of both figures, as well as in other parts of the carving where thedetail is not obliterated. The date of these monuments is believed to havebeen either the end of the fourteenth or the very beginning of thefifteenth centuries. In the south-east corner of the north transept, almost hidden by deep shadows, there lies a truncated effigy of a man inarmour of about the same period as that of Sir William Bruce, but there isnothing to identify these mutilated remains. The sedilia in the chancelseem to be coeval with that part of the church. They are ornamented withsome curious carving and some heads, one of them, very much restored, representing apparently a bishop, priest, and deacon; the fourth head is adoubtful quantity. 

[Illustration: The Effigy of Sir Willeam Bruce in Pickering Church. 

The arms on the shield are drawn separately on the right. ]

[Illustration: The richly carved Effigies in the Bruce Chapel of PickeringChurch. 

The man bears the arms of Rockcliffe on his surcoat. Both figures wear thecollar of SS. ]

[Illustration: The holy-water stoup in Pickering Church. ]

Close to the sedilia is a piscina decorated in a similar manner. 

Near the porch, in the usual position, is a holy-water stoup that has thefront part of the basin broken off. This may possibly have happened at thesame time as the smashing of the font in Puritan days mentioned in a laterchapter. The curious little recess in the west wall of the Bruce Chapelmight have been utilised for more than one purpose, but it is difficult tosay whether it was for holding a lamp, whether it may at one time havebeen a low side window, or whether it was at any time used as an openingfor a bell rope to be pulled from within. 

[Illustration: The Sanctus Bell, formerly used by the Town Crier ofPickering. It bears the name "Vilyame Stokeslai, " and probably dates fromthe fourteenth century. ]

A hospital of St Nicholas at Pickering is often mentioned among therecords of this time, but I am unable to discover the site, unless it wasnear to where there was a burying-ground in Westgate. The castle chapelwas also dedicated to St Nicholas, and some confusion may thus havearisen. 

Up to about the year 1880 the town-crier of Pickering was using a smallmediæval bell that has since been handed over to the authorities of theBritish Museum by the Registrar of the Duchy of Lancaster. The bell isengraved with four figures--a crucifix, St George and the Dragon, theVirgin and Child, and St John the Baptist, and round the haunch runs theinscription "Vilyame Stokeslai. " As nothing at all is known of the historyof the bell it is difficult to say much as to its origin, but it appearsto belong to the fourteenth century, and _may_ be associated with aWilliam Stokesley of Whitby whose name appears at that date. 

Much more could be written about this period from many standpoints, butfrom what has been given some of the salient facts of these centuriesstand out clearly. It is plain that the people--rich and poor--drewlargely upon the forest for free supplies of timber and venison, despitethe severity of the laws. It also appears that the officers of the forestfrequently abused their power to the damage and often at the expense ofthe personal security of the townsfolk and villagers. , The importance ofPickering at this time is emphasised by many royal visits and to someextent by the sending of members to Parliament on one occasion. Muchbuilding at the church and castle took place in the period described, andit is quite possible that some of the oldest cottages with fork frameworkdate from Plantagenet times, and that the fallen beams we see lying amongthe nettles of the ruined cottages were taken from the forest withoutpayment or permission. 

CHAPTER IX

_The Forest and Vale in Tudor Times_

A. D. 1485 to 1603

The Wars of the Roses had allowed the royal possessions to fall into astate of great disorder, so that the Duchy of Lancaster records belongingto the early years of the reign of Henry VII. Contain many references tothe necessity for vigorously checking infringements on the forest that hadbeen taking place. A patent dated 26th of October 1489, [1] says, "To ourt[rusty] and w[elbeloved] Brian Sandford Stuard of our honnor of Pykeryngin our Countie of York and Constable of our Castle there and masterForster of our game within the said honnor and to al forsters and keperswithin the same and in their absence to ther deputies ther and to every ofthem gretyng. Forasmuch as it is common unto our knowledge that our gameof dere and warenne within our seid Honnor is gretly diminnisshed byexcessive huntyng within the same and likely to be destroied, withoutrestreynt in the same be had in that behalf, we desire the Replenisshyngof our seid game, not only for our singler pleasure but also for thedisport of other our servantes and subgettes of Wirshipp in theis parties. And therfor we wol and straitly charge you all & every of you that fromhensforth ye suffre no manner of personne or personnes of what estatedegree or condicion soever he or they be, to have shot sute ne course atany of our game within our seid Honnor duryng the space of iij years nextensuyng after the date herof, without special warraunt undre our seale ofoure seid Duchie and if any personne or personnes presume or attempt inany wise the breche of this our special restreinte and commandment, weeftsounes wol and straitly charge you al and every of you, that withoutdelai ye certifie us of theire name or names so offendyng, to thententthat we maye provide for their lawful punycion in that behalf, which weentend sharply to execute and punysshe in example of al othre likeoffenders, not failyng herof as ye wol avoide our grevous displeasure andanswher unto us at their perell. "

[Footnote 1: "North Riding Records, " vol. I. , New Series, p. 123. ]

[Illustration: CATTLE MARKS OF THE PICKERING DISTRICT. 

Copied from a MS. Book dated at the close of the sixteenth century and inthe possession of the Rev. A. Hill of Thornton-le-dale. The names arespelt as they are written, but are not given in facsimile. The book is acopy of an earlier one that is still in existence. ]

There are many other commissions of this character made out to "Sir RaufEvers knight, " "Sir Richard Cholmeley knight, " "Sir John Huthem, " "JohnPykeryng knyght, " "Leon Percy [Lionel Percehay] squyer, " and many otherinfluential men of the sixteenth century. 

[Illustration: CATTLE MARKS IN THE PICKERING DISTRICT]

During the reign of Henry VII. There was a prolonged dispute between SirRoger Hastings of Roxby and Sir Richard Cholmley concerning the allegedriotous and unlawful conduct with which each side accused the other. Thepleadings on either side are by no means easy to follow, but the beginningof the trouble seems to date from Sir Roger Hastings' succession to theestate of Roxby. Mr Turton, who has transcribed all the documents relatingto the quarrel, thinks that Sir Roger attempted to shift the death dutiesfrom himself to one of his tenants named Ralph Joyner, who refused to pay. "After an abortive attempt to recover the sum by distrain" says Mr Turton, it "resulted in an appeal to the Earl of Surrey, and Sir Roger wascompelled to pay it himself. " The records tell us that this Ralph Joynerwas often "in Jeopardy of his liff; And how he was at diverse tymez chasedby diverse of the menyall servantes of the said Sir Roger Hastynges, wheruppon the said Roger Cholmley sent to the said Sir Roger Hastynges incurteyse waise desyring hym to kepe the kynges peax, whiche he effectuellypromysed to doo, uppon truste wherof upon Christmas day now Laste pastethe said Rauff Jenore cam to his parisshe chirche, called Elborne[Ellerburne] chirche, as belonged to a christenman to doo, in peassiblemaner, not fearing the said Sir Roger Hastynges, because of his saidpromyse, Howbeit soon after that comme thedir the said Sir Rogeraccompenyed with the numbre of xx [twenty] persons diffencible arrayedwith bowes, billes and other weponz, And then as sone as the said Rogercame nyghe unto the Chircheyerd of the foresaid Chirche, And hadundirstandyng that the said Rauff was within the said chirche, he manassed[menaced] and threted the said Rauff and said that he wolde slee hym. Andin a great fury wolde have entred the said chirche to have complisshed thesame. " This bloodthirsty desire was checked for a time by the vicar, who"knellyng upon his knees before the said Sir Roger, " and with other "welldissposed personez, " induced him to delay his purpose. 

"Theruppon the wif of the said Sir Roger Hastynges cam into the saidchirche & said unto the said Rauff, 'Woo worthe man this day! the chirchewolbe susspended and thou slayn, withoute thou flee awey and gette theoute of his sighte' wheruppon the said Rauff Jenore flede oute of the saidchirche by a bakke doore and cam to Pykeryng, and petyously desired of thesaid Roger Chalmley that in so muche as he was the Stewardes deputie thereand hadde rewle of the Countre, that he myght be in suertie of his liff. "The records then describe how Ralph Joyner induced Roger Cholmley, "beyngthere Bailly, " with "Sir Rauff Evers & other jointly & severally" to bindSir Roger Hastings to "Maister Bray" for the sum of a hundred pounds tokeep the king's peace within the liberty of Pickering. The aggrieved sidedid not dare to deliver the deed with only their usual personal servants, but had to call upon a number of others owing to the fact that Sir Rogerwas "a worshipfull man of the said libertie & of great myghte havyng manyRiottous personez aboute hym" When the little cavalcade of mounted men andservants reached Roxby they found that Sir Roger Hastings had left forScarborough. He describes the procedure of the Cholmley party in a mostpicturesque fashion, stating that within an hour after the delivery of thePrivy Seal they "came Ryottously with the nowmbre of xii persons, withbowis arrowes longe sperys in maner and furme of warre. " In another placehe details their armour and arms saying that they were arrayed with "Cures(cuirass) Corsettes (armour for the body) Brygendyns, Jakkys, Salettis (alight helmet), Speris, Bowes, Arrowes, Sourdis, byllys and Launcegays, (asmall lance) with other maner of wepyns defencive. " As Sir Roger and hiswife rode towards Scarborough they met "Sir Rauf Ivers, which in Curtes(courteous) maner then departed. " When he was thought to be on the roadhomewards to Roxby, however, Sir Ralph Evers was accused of having laid"in a wayte to have murderyd" Sir Roger Hastings at Brompton, for at thatplace Evers and eight of his servants came upon Sir Roger's men who werebeing sent ahead to discover the ambush that they had reason to fear. When Sir Ralph found that the men who reached Brompton were only servantsand messengers, he was accused of having said to them "ye false hursonKaytyffes, I shall lerne you curtesy and to knowe a gentilman. " ThereuponSir Ralph "set his arowe in his bowe, seying these wordes, 'And yourMaster were here I wolde stoppe hym the wey. '" When they reached Snaintontwenty persons issued from the house of "one Averey Shymney, servant tothe seid Sir Rauf . . . Arrayed with bowys bent, arrowis, billis andGleyvis. "

There is also a complaint against some of the servants of Sir Ralph Everswho were held responsible for "an assaute and Fraye made upon my ladyHastynges. " Thomas Thirlwall, on being examined, said that "my lady camerydyng that ways with vi horses with hir, and oone of hir servantz thetrode afore, had a male [a portmanteau] behynd hym, and with a bowe in hishand bent, and that the said servant rode soo nygh hym th[at] the maletouched hym and he bade hym ryde forther and asked, why his bow was bent, and he said that was mater to hym, and the sayd deponent with I^d knyff[in another place it is called a dagger] which he had in his hand cut thebow string, bicause he rode soo nygh hym with horse that he had almoststroken hym downe; And forther he deposith that my lady light downe fromhir horse hirself and said that, 'and she liffed, she would be avenged';and thereupon Ric: Brampton came to hir and said, 'Madame be not afferd, for here shall noo man trouble you nee yours. '"

The accusations of attempts on the part of Sir Ralph Evers and theCholmleys to stir up trouble between their servants and those of Sir RogerHastings are very numerous and involved, but despite the elaborate detailsgiven by the owner of Roxby the case went against him at the court of theDuchy of Lancaster at Westminster Palace. Sir Roger seems to have been toohigh handed in his dealings with his neighbours, even for the unsettledtimes in which he lived. Some of the items against him throw a vivid lighton his proceedings. "Itm the said Ser Roger Hastynges with hys householdservants, daily goyng and rydyng trough the Countrey more like men of warrthen men of peas, in ill example to other, thrught the Kinges markettz andtownez of hys liberte of Pykeryng lith, with bowes bent and arrowes inther handes, feryng [frightening] the Kinges people and inhabitauntes ofthe same, whereupon the Countrey diverse tymes hath compleyned thame toRoger Cholmeley, there being hys brother's depute and baylly etc. "

"Itm the wyeff of the said Sir Roger Hastynges with here awn company ofhoushold servants as forcaid (?) come into Blandisby Park, and there founda Fat Stott [a young ox] of Rauff Bukton, and with dooges toke the saidStott and slowe hym and ete hym and no mends will make etc. 

"Itm that the said Sir Roger Hastynges the xiii day of October last past[circa 1496] with Force and armz of the nyghtertall [night time] sent hishoushold servantes to the Castell of Pykeryng, and abowt mydnyght withlothus [qu: ladders] clame ore the walles, and then and there brake thekinges prison, and toke owt with them oon John Harwod, the which was setthere for diverse Riottes by hym made agayns the kinges peas, wherefore hewas indited; and aftirward the same nyght when he for thought that he haddone, prively sent hym in agayn; howbeit the kings prison and hys Castellwas broken. "

[Illustration: A Section of one of the Oldest Type of Cottage to be foundnear Pickering. 

Some of these ancient buildings are still inhabited; several of thesurvivors are in ruins. The details given in this drawing are taken from acottage at Thornton-le-dale; one end has already been demolished (Oct. 1905). The low walls appear to have been built after the framework, andthe house may have been thatched to the ground at one time. ]

[Illustration: The usual Plan of the Fork-framed Cottages in existencenear Pickering. The exterior (viewed from C on the plan) is generally asshown. The small window by the door (B) lights the ingle-nook, and isnever missing in the oldest type of cottage. It can be seen blocked up inthose that have been remodelled. ]

Such incidents as these enliven the pages of the Duchy of LancasterRecords, and if there were more space available it would be interesting togive many more of these graphic incidents that took place four hundredyears ago. In many places one finds references to the illegal taking ofoaks from the forest for building houses. Big boughs or the stems of smalltrees were placed together in the form of an A with the ends resting onthe ground. These beams, that formed the bays of a house, are locallycalled "forks, " the name by which they are known in the records of thereign of Henry VII. In 1498 we find that "The abbot of Whitby had as manyoakes taken in Godlande [Goathland] as made aftre the maner of the Coutreyiij pair of forkes, with other bemes and wall plaites as were mete for therepairalling of an hows of his in Godlande. "

The great legal case between Sir Roger Hastings and the Cholmleys seems tohave impoverished the turbulent owner of Roxby, for after the adversedecision Hastings seems to have had difficulty in raising the moneys tomeet all the heavy expenses of the trial, and Mr Turton thinks that Roxbywas at first mortgaged and afterwards sold to Roger Cholmley, brother ofSir Richard, who had received knighthood in 1509. Sir Richard Cholmley maybe considered the founder of the Yorkshire families of Cholmley, and hewas in his time a man of great power and influence, holding the four chiefoffices in the Honor of Pickering, and at the commencement of the reign ofHenry VIII. He was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London. He had nolegal offspring, and his illegitimate son, a Sir Roger, who must not beconfused with his uncle, was successively Chief Baron and Lord ChiefJustice, died without issue. Sir Hugh Cholmley[1] tells us many factsconcerning his great-grandfather Sir Richard, who was a nephew of theformer Sir Richard. "His chief place of residence, " he says, "was atRoxby, lying between Pickering and Thornton (now almost demolished), wherehe lived in great port, having a very great family, at least fifty orsixty men-servants, about his house, and I have been told by some who knewthe truth, that when there had been twenty-four pieces of beef put in amorning into the pot, sometimes not one of them would be left for his owndinner: for in those times, the idle-serving men were accustomed to havetheir breakfast, and with such liberty as they would go into the kitchen, and striking their daggers into the pot, take out the beef without thecook's leave or privacy; yet he would laugh at this rather than bedispleased, saying, 'Would not the knaves leave me one piece for my owndinner?' He never took a journey to London that he was not attended withless than thirty, sometimes forty men-servants, though he went without hislady. There was a great difference between him and his brother-in-law, theEarl of Westmoreland; and, as I have heard upon this cause: That, afterthe death of his sister, the Lady Anne, the Earl married the secondsister, Gascoigne's widow, which occasioned continual fighting andscuffles between the Earl's men and Sir Richard's, when they met, whetherin London streets or elsewhere, which might be done with less danger oflife and bloodshed than in these succeeding ages; because they then foughtonly with buckler and short sword, and it was counted unmannerly to make athrust. . . . This Sir Richard was possessed of a very great estate worth atthis day to the value of about £10, 000 a year; . . . He died in the sixtythird year of his age, at Roxby, . . . And lies buried in the chancel ofThornton church [the monument there to-day bears the effigy of a lady andis nameless], of which he was patron, May 17th, 1599. He was tall ofstature and withal big and strong-made, having in his youth a very active, able body, bold and stout; his hair and eyes black, and his complexionbrown, insomuch as he was called the great black Knight of the North;though the word _great_ attributed to him not so much for his stature, aspower, and estate, and fortune. He was a wise man, and a great improver ofhis estate, which might have prospered better with his posterity, had henot been extra-ordinarily given to the love of women. " There isunfortunately nothing left above the ground of the manor house of Roxby, the grass-covered site merely showing ridges and mounds where thebuildings stood. It is therefore impossible to obtain any idea of theappearance of what must have been a very fine Tudor house. That a gallerywas built there by Sir Richard Cholmley, the Great Black Knight of theNorth, in the reign of Elizabeth, appears from the record which says "thatthe saide S^r Rychard Cholmley did send Gyles Raunde and George Raude twomasons to the Quenes Castell of Pyckeringe whenn he builded his galleryeat Roxbye to polle [pulle] downe the chefe stones of Masonn work owt ofone howse in the same castell called the King's Haull, and took owte ofthe pryncypall and cheffest Towre of the same castle the stones of thestayres which they did and the said S^r Rychard caused xiiii wayne lodesof the same stones to be caryed by his Tenantes to his owne house atRoxbye. "

[Footnote 1: "Memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley, " p. 7. ]

Leland, [1] who wrote in the reign of Henry VIII. , tells us that at Wiltonthere was "a Manor Place with a Tower longging to _Chomeley_. " He alsosays "This _Chomeley_ hath a Howse also at _Rollesley_ (_Rottesby_): and_Chomeley's_ Father that now is was as an Hedde officer at _Pykeringe_, and setter up of his name yn that Quarters. " "Thens to _Pykering_: andmoste of the Ground from _Scardeburg_ to _Pykering_ was by Hille and Dalemeate (metely) plentifull of Corn and Grasse but litle Wood in sight. 

[Footnote 1: "The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary, " Thomas Hearne, 1745. Vol. I. Pp. 64 and 65. ]

"The Toune of _Pykering_ is large but not welle compact togither. Thegreatest Part of it with the Paroch Chirch and the Castel is on the SouthEst Part of the Broke renning thorough the Toune, and standith on a greatSlaty Hille. The other Part of the Toun is not so bigge as this: the Brookrennith bytwixt them that Sumtyme ragith, but it suagith shortely agayn:and a Mile beneth the Toun goith into Costey [the Costa]. 

"In _Pykering_ Chirch I saw 2 or 3 Tumbes of the Bruses wherof one withhis Wife lay yn a Chapel on the South syde of the Quirr, and he had aGarland about his Helmet. There was another of the Bruses biried in aChapel under an Arch of the North side of the Body of the Quier: and thereis a Cantuarie bering his Name. 

[Illustration: Pickering Castle from the Keep, looking South-West. 

The gate tower is just shown on the left. In the centre is the Mill orMiln Tower, with the circular stone staircase projecting like a turret atone corner, and in the foreground is one of the ruined towers that guardedthe inner gateway. In the distance is the broad Vale of Pickering. Thehigh ground is behind one's back to the north. ]

"The Deane of _York_ hath by Impropriation the Personage of _Pykering_, tothe which diverse Churches of Pykering Lith doith Homage. 

"The Castelle Stondith in an End of the Town not far from the ParochChirch on the Brow of the Hille, under the which the Broke rennith. In thefirst Court of it be a 4 Toures, of the which one is Caullid Rosamunde'sToure. 

"In the inner Court be also a 4 Toures, wherof the Kepe is one. TheCastelle Waulles and the Toures be meatly welle. The Logginges yn theynner Court that be of Timbre be in ruine, in this inner Court is aChappelle and a cantuarie Prest. 

"The Castelle hath of a good continuance with the Towne and Lordshiplonggid to the _Lancaster_ Bloode: But who made the Castelle or who wasthe Owner of afore the _Lancasters_ I could not lerne there. The CastelleWaulles now remaining seme to be of no very old Building. 

"As I remembre I hard say that _Richard_ the thirde lay sumtyme at thisCastelle, and sumtyme at _Scardeburgh_ Castelle. 

"In the other Part of the Toune of _Pykering_ passing over Brook by aStone Bridg of v Arches I saw 2 thinges to be notid, the Ruines of a ManorPlace, caullid _Bruses-Haul_ and a Manor Place of the _Lascelles_ at _Keldhead_. The Circuite of the Paroch of _Pykering_ goith up to the veryBrowes of Blackmore [Blackamoor was the old name for the moors north ofPickering], and is xx miles in Cumpace. 

"The Park by the Castelle side is more then vii Miles in [qu: circuit], but it is not welle woodid. "

The site of the Manor House of the Bruces appears to be in a field to thewest of Potter Hill where hollows and uneven places in the grass indicatethe positions of buildings. The fine old Tudor house of Wellburn nearKirby Moorside until recently was in a ruinous state, and might possiblyhave disappeared after the fashion of Roxby and this Hall of the Bruces, but it has lately been completely restored and enlarged, and although itspicturesqueness has to some extent been impaired owing to the additions, they are in the same style of architecture as the original building, andin time will no doubt mellow down to a pleasanter companionship. 

It was in the first year of the reign of Elizabeth that the registers ofPickering were commenced. The yellowish brown parchment book is in fairlygood preservation, and commences in the usual manner with this carefullywritten inscription. 

"The Register Boke of these [_p]sons whiche Haithe bene Babticed Maryedand Buried at Pickeringe sence the firste yere of O^r Sou'ange LadyeElizabeth by the grace of god Quene of England ffrance and Irelanddefender of the ffaithe etc. Anno dñi 1559. 

There are no entries of any particular interest belonging to this period;the unusual occurrences belong to the seventeenth century and are recordedin the next chapter. Kept with the registers of Pickering parish there is, however, a book containing the records of some Elizabethan visitationsmade between 1568 and 1602. The entries, which have been transcribed by MrT. M. Fallow, are in a mixture of Latin and English and some of them areexceedingly interesting. The following describes a curious scene inPickering Church. 

"Item they saie that vpon Sondaie being the iij of November 1594 in tymeoff evynnyng praie [sic] Richarde Haie being parishe clerk of Pickring andbegynnyng to rede the first lesson of the saide evynnyng praier, RobertLeymyng did close and shutt the byble to geither whereupon he was to redat, and so disturbed him frome reding it, and therevpon John Harding reddthe first lesson. And so hindred and disturbed the saide Richard Haieparishe clerke who was readye and abowteward to rede the same/ And thesaide John Harding did likewise disturbe and hinder the saide RichardeHaie vpon All Saynts dais last when he was to haue helped the vicar tosaie devyne service and so hindred him being commanded to the conrye[1] bythe churche wardens, and having the admission of the saide Richard Haieopenly redd with a revocation of the former granted to the saide Hardyng. Wherebye he was commanded and enioyned to surcease frome execution of thatoffice. "

[Footnote 1: This word is doubtful, but is perhaps "conrye, " for"contrary. "]

[Illustration: The Pre-Reformation Chalice that formerly belonged toPickering Church. 

It is now in use at Goathland Church, which was formerly included inPickering Parish. 

(_Reproduced by permission of the Society of Antiquaries_. )]

In 1602 when Edward Mylls was vicar of Pickering, complaints were made ofhim "that he for the most parte, but not alwaies dothe weare a surplessein tyme of dyvyne service / they present there vicar for that they arvncerteyne whether his wif was commended vnto him by justices of peace norwhether he was licenced to marrye hir according to hir Maiestiesiniunctions/" This vicar was deprived of the living in 1615, for omittingto preach sermons and for not properly instructing the people and as willbe seen in the next chapter he appears to have been a most reprehensiblecharacter. 

At the same time as this "Richarde Nicoll, Widow Kitchin, Robert Skayles, John Flaworthe, and widow Shorpshier are presented for deteyning theclerkes wages/ Elizabeth Dodds ffor having a childe in adultery withe oneAnthonye Boyes, which Boyes is now fledd/ William Steavenson ffor aslanderer. And also Frances Fetherston the wif of Robert Fetherston for ascowlde/ Richard Hutchinson for harboring a woman which had a childebegotten in fornicacion They saie that [_blank_] Lavrock and [_blank_]Wilson did by the apoyntment of Richard Parkinson there master carryeturffes in to the house vpon the Sabboth daie The rest is all well. "

The rigid observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest is vividly shown bythis last complaint, and at Allerston we find that "Isabell Rea wiffe ofWilliam Raie" was reprimanded--"ffor workyng on the Sabbothe daie viz'tfor washing and dressing of hempe at the hemppe pitt vpon Sondaie wasseavenyght/"

In 1592 appears the following/ "The chancell of Pickering in decaie bothethe windowes and the leades and to be repaired as we suppose by Mr Deane/[The Dean of York] Mr Deane for want of the quarter sermons and for notgeving the xl^tie part of his lyving of the parsonage of Pickering to thepoore people of the said parishe Agnes Poskett wif of William Poskett ofPickering for a scold. "

In the following year we find presented at Pickering "Elizabeth Johnsonwif of Frances Johnson of Kinthorpe for an obstynate recusant in notcomyng to the churche to here dyvyne service by the space of ij^o yeareslast past and more/ Anne Browne wiffe of William Browne of Pickering foran obstinate recusant in not commyng to the churche to here dyvyne serviceand so haithe done by the space of ij^o yeares and more/ Rauffe Hodgesonof Pickring for an obstinate recusant and haithe absented him self ffromethe churche by the space of ij'o yeares and more. Anne Clerke being inJohn Wright his house of Blansbye and haithe meate and drinke there, ffornot commyng to the church to here dyvyne service by the space of half ayeare/ Rychard Hutchinson sonne of William Hutchinson of Kinthorpp fforabsenting him self from the churche by the space of halff a yeare andmore/. And he is excommunicate. "

Elizabeth Dobson was presented in 1600 as "a slaunderer who saide toThomas Gibson that he was a Mainesworne ladd /"

To call anyone "mansworn" was evidently a very serious offence, for in1527 the Newcastle-on-Tyne corporation of weavers decreed that any memberof the corporation who should call his brother "mansworn" should incur aforfeit of 6s. 8d. "without forgiveness. " To _manswear_ comes from theAnglo-Saxon _mánswerian_ meaning to swear falsely or to perjure oneself. Among the men of note of this period mention must be made of Ralph Dodmerson of Henry Dodmer of Pickering who was a mercer and Lord Mayor of Londonin 1521. [1]

[Footnote 1: Thomas Fuller's "Worthies. "]

The visitation book shows that it was no uncommon thing to accuse a womanof being a scold in these times and the following written in 1602[1]throws a lurid light on the methods for removing the effects of a witch'smalice. 

[Footnote 1: The original is stuck in Calvert's MS. Book of Folklore. ]

"To cure an ill caste by any Witch putt upon any childe be y^t y^e evileye, an overglent, spreeking, an ill birth touche or of a spittle boultbut do as here given & alle shalle be overcome letting no evil rest upony^m Take a childe so ill held & strike y^t seven times on y^e face & likeupon y^e navel with y^e heart of a blacke cat then roast y^e heart & giveof y^t to eat seven nights at bed meale & y^t shalle be well butt y^e catmust be seven years olde & y^e seventh dropped at birth otherwise y^tshalle faile to overcome any Witch spell soever ill worked y^e blood fromsuch an heart laid to any witches dorepost or thrown over nighte upon herdorestep will cause a sore & great paine in her belly. "

In the period which includes the momentous defeat of the Spanish Armada(1588) it is fitting to describe the beacons of Pickering and theneighbourhood that must have helped to spread the news to the inhabitantsof Yorkshire of the coming of that "Invincible" fleet. A contemporarymanuscript book dated 1580 to 1590, and discovered by Mr J. G. Constable, tells us how Pickering beacon, which was presumably situated on BeaconHill opposite the castle, gave light to the neighbouring heights. 

[Sidenote: "Pickering Lythe 7 Beacons]

Pickering beacon giveth light to Setrington beacon, in the East Riding, and to Ampleforth beacon, in Rydall. Seamer two beacons do give light toPickering, Susfeld, in Whitby Strand, and Setterington beacon. Waipnessebeacon, within the liberties of Scarborough, do give light to MustonBeacon, in the East Riding, and to the west of the beacons before named

"Charnell, three beacons, within the town of Scarborough adjoining to thecastle, do give light to Waipnesse and Muston beacon. "

[Sidenote: "Rydal 1 Beacon]

There is a beacon in Rydall called Ampleforthe beacon well repaired. Ittaketh light from Pickering beacon. It giveth light to the Sumclifebeacon, in the Wapentake of Birdforth, three miles distant from itwestward"

In 1598[1] the streets of Pickering are given as, Easte Gaite andHallgarthe, Ungate, Birdgate, Borrowgate and Weste Gate. 

[Footnote 1: MS. Book of Pickering Records in possession of the Rev. Arthur Hill of Thornton-le-dale. ]

Two interesting monuments of this period are to be found in Brompton andKirby-Moorside Churches. The first is carved on stone in the north wall ofthe Church. It reads:--

"I. W. 1580. E. W. 1547. HEIR LIETH IAMES WESTROP WHO IN WARS TO HIS GREITCHARGES SARVED OIN KYNG AND TOW QVENES WITH DV_{O}BE_{O}IENS AND WITH OWTRECVMPENS. "

The brass at Kirby-Moorside is to the memory of Lady Brooke and bears thisverse as well as the inscription:--

 "Prepare for death for if the fatall sheares Covld have bene stayd by prayers, sighes or teares They had bene stayd, and this tombe thov seest here Had not erected beene yet many a yeare. "

"Here lyeth the body of my Lady Brooke, who while she lyved was a goodwoman, a very good mother, and an exceeding good wife. Her sovle is atrest w^th God, for she was svre y^t her Redemer lyved, and that thovghwormes destroyed her body, yet shee shovld see God in her flesh. She diedthe 12th of Jvly 1600. "

From the different aspects of life at Pickering in the Tudor Period thatwe have been able to give, something can be seen of the manner of livingat this time; but to have done justice to the materials that may be drawnupon would have required a volume for what has of necessity been limitedto a chapter. 

CHAPTER X

_The Forest and Vale in Stuart Times_

A. D. 1603 to 1714

As in the two preceding chapters the records belonging to the Stuartperiod are so numerous that one is almost embarrassed at the mass ofdetailed information that has been preserved, and it is only possible toselect some of the most interesting facts. Commencing with the parishregisters, however, we are confronted with a gap of about thirteen years. After having been kept with regularity since 1559, there appears on p. 48of the earliest book this curious entry: "Edward Milnes Vicar of Pickeringrent out all these following leaves. " The missing pages contained theentries from 1602 to 1615, and this coincides with the years of Milnes'stenure of the living, for he appears to have come to Pickering in 1602, and he was deprived in 1615. The reasons for removing this vicar arerecorded as follows in the last pages of the register, but the motivesthat prompted him to tear out these thirtyfive parchment pages from theregister do not appear:--

"A true copie of the Order of the Councel ther in Pickering Lith asserted?obtained by Mr Lawrence Trotter attornie at the Common law Año do[=m]i1615. 

[Sidenote: [Much thumbed at the edge. ]]

"At the Court at Greenewich on Sunday the 21 of May 1615 in the afternoone:present L. Archbishop of Canterburie, L. Chancelor, L. Knolls, L. Treasurer Mr Secretarie Winwood, D. Of Linnox, Mr Chanceler of the Excheq, E. Of Worcester, L. Chiefe iusice, E. Of Pembrooke, Mr of y^e Rolles, L. Souch, Sir Thomas Lake. 

[Transcriber's Note: [_P] and [_p] was used to represent a P or p with ahorizontal stroke through the lower part of the stem. ]

"Complaint having bin made unto the boarde by the Inhabitants of the towneand parish of Pickering in the Countie of Yorke. That that personage nowin possession of the bishop of Bristoll Deane of Yorke (it being anindowment of the said Deanerie) such slender care hath bene had by him forthe preaching of the Gospell unto the said parishioners, and giving themthat Christianlike and necessarie instru[~c]on which is fitting, as for along time they scarce had any sermon at all amongest them. Where upontheir Lordships were pleased to direct their Letters unto the s^d LordBishop admonishing and requiring him to give speedie order for theredresse of so great an inconvenience and so scandalous to his ma^tiesmost Christian goverm^t. But receaving answer from his Lordship that inrespect the said [_P]sonage being an impropria[~c]on is indued w^th aVicarage and a Viccar presented thereunto he held him selfe freed in Lawfrom any further charge, and that the said [_P]snage was in Lease w^th. Such other like excuses but that notwithstanding he was contented toprocure them 12 sermons every yeare, their Lordships thought fitting thisday to call him to the boarde, and to let him sea in reason of State, besides the great obligacon they had as Christians it behoved them topresse his Lordship notwithstanding the former excuse to have yet afurther care of the teaching so great a multitude (they being 4000 people)considering how busie the priestes and Jesuits are in these dayes(especially in these quarters) not only laboring to corrupt his ma^tiessubjects in their religion but also infecting them with such damnableposiciones and Doctrine touching the valew . . . (?) unto his ma^ties sacredperson where upon the said bishop made offer unto the boarde that he wouldforthwith (?) remove the vicar now there present and place in his roomesome lerned and religious pastor who should as it was desired weekelypreach unto the people and carefully instruct them in the points of faithand religion of which their Lordships were pleased to accept for thepresent, and accordingly inioyned him to the performance thereof andwithall ordered the said preacher now to be presented should first beapproved and allowed by the lorde Archbishop of Yorke in respect ofabilitie and sufficiencie. " This entry is thus attested:--

 "CONCORDAT CUM REGISTRO FFRANCIS COTTINGTON LAURENCE TROTTER ATTORNIE EDWARD BRIGHT VICARIUS DE PICKERING SCRIPTOR HUIS EXEMPLARIS. "

[Illustration: The Font of Pickering Church. 

It dates in its present form from 1644, but the upper portion, which showstraces of painting, appears to be of very much earlier workmanship, andhas been thought to be of Saxon origin. ]

Edward Bright succeeded to the living in 1615. We may believe that he wasselected as being a "lerned and religious pastor. " He appears to haveremained in possession until his death in 1659, though there is an entryof the baptism of a son of a certain Robert King in 1644, who is describedas "minister. " There must have been some exciting scenes in Pickering atthis time, for in the year 1644, when many other churches suffered asimilar fate, the registers record the breaking up of the font and thetearing to pieces of the church Prayer Book on the same day. The entriesare in very small pale writing at the back of one of the books and read:--

 "Baptisterii Pickerensis Demolitio, Septemb. 25, 1644. "

And in another hand:--

 "Liturgia ecclesie ibidem lacerata eodem die 1644. "

Edward Bright had several children whose names appear in the registers, and one of them, Joseph Bright, was on the 11th of July 1652 "elected anddeclared to be the parish clerk of Pickering. " He was then twenty-fiveyears old. On the night of August the 26th, 1634, there was a fire in thetown which burnt down two houses and caused great fear among theinhabitants. Then among other entries on the back pages of register No. 2, 1615-53, appear recipes of this character:--

"A [cure?] for the dropsie in ye winter. Take a gallon of white wine andbroome ashes to the quantitie [a few indecipherable words] sifted anddrinke a pint thereof morning and [cause?] it [to?] be drunken also atmeale times with ones meats and at other times when one is drie a littlequantitie. Matthew Mitso . . . E. "

"For the same in Summer. Take a pecke of sage and bake it in a riddon (?)pastie, and when it is baked to a hard crust breake there crust and all init . . . And . . . Unne it up all into a barrell of drinke, and drinke it inthe Su[=m]er time especially in maye. "

"_A remeadie for the stich. _

"Take a j^d. Of treacle a j^d of aqua-vite and a j^d of sal . . . And applythem to the place. "

"_A medicine for wormes. _

"Take lavander c . . . Unset leekes an ox ('or bull' _inserted above_) galland cu[=m]in seed, fry these togither with . (?) . And lay them warme in alinnen clath to the childes belly. "

Some other remedies that belong to this period were discovered by MrBlakeborough[1] in this neighbourhood. I have taken them from the originalseventeenth century writing:--

[Footnote 1: Calvert's MS. Book in the possession of Mr RichardBlakeborough. ]

"Take for to clear the eyes 1 ounce of dried batts bloode groude to powder& white hens bloode & dung sift & when they be well mixed & quite dry thenblowe a little in the ill eye & yt shall soon be well. "

_"For a pinne or ivebbe in ye eye. _

"Take ye galle of an hare the gall of a mowerpate and of a wild cat andhoney and hogs lard a like quantity mix all together and annoynt y^e eyew^th a feather dipped in yt and yt shalle be soon cured. "

The details of a remedy "For a fallynge sickness" though possiblyconsidered very efficacious are too repulsive for modern ears. 

The following recipe, "For the making of Honey Cakes. Certayne to beacceptable to y^e Fairy Folk, " is from the same source and is dated 1605:--

"Taike of wilde honey thre ounce, of powder'd dill sede half ounce sweteviolet roote in fine powder 2 drachmes and six ounces of white wheatenmeal which you will bringe to a light dowgh these thinges being all mixedtogether with faire water. This done with a silver spune helde in ye handof a sure maid one be you sure who hath not as yet owther yielded her ownor do then or ever hath worn a garter band there bound by her lover forsuch be not fitt and proper maids for the maykinge of Fairy Cakes. TheCakes thus mayde be they to the number of seven unbaked and mayde to thebiggness of a marke. These cakes thus mayde may be used by any onewishfull to intercede with or begge a boon from the Fairy folk alwaiebeing mindfull of this matter be she passing as a maid lett her not dareto mayke use of the cakes. " Then follows the story of the evils thatbefell "one Sarah Heugh who well knowing herself alacking her maiden-head"tried to pass herself off to the fairies as a "true" maid. 

Coming back to the registers of Pickering we find that on the 13th August1694 Archbishop Sharp held a confirmation in the church and confirmedabout a thousand persons. The note is given in Latin as follows:--

"Memorandum. 13^o die Augusti 1694 Johannes Divina providentia EboracensisArchiepiscopus in ecclesia parochiali de Pickeringe Mille (aut eò circita)Baptizatos Xti Relligioni Confirmavit. 

"Joshua Newton. 

"_Vicarius Ib. _"

The parcel gilt Chalice still in use at Pickering Church belongs to thisperiod. It is dated 1613, and was made by Christopher Harrington, thegoldsmith of York. The paten was made in 1712 by Seth Lofthouse of London. 

During the Commonwealth Levisham and Pickering parishes seem to have beenjoined from 1653 to 1661. The Levisham burials and births appear in thePickering registers. Among the regular entries of deaths at Pickering arerecorded:--

"1619. Jane Greenwood a stranger buried March. 1631. Ellen Kirbye a poore Girle buried. 1634. A poor traveller buried here the 3 day of June. 1636. Gawen Pollard pauper Generosus 30th May. "

It would be interesting to know how a pauper came to be a "generosus. "

A bequest dated 1658 that seems to have been entirely forgotten appears inone of the registers. It says: "Be it Remembred that Robert Huggett ofgreat Edston In the County of yourke Labourer did by his last will andTestamente bearinge date the Eleaventh day of January in the yeare ofGrace one Thousande Sixe hundred fifty Eight give & bequeste untoElizabeth Huggett his Mother in Law all that his Cottage or Tennemente attPickeringe with all & singular the Appurtenances theirunto belongeingduringe hir life Naturall and No longer and then to Come unto James Coatesof little Barugh Husbandman all the Right & Title of the above saideTennemente in Pickeringe aforsaide after the death of my saide Mother inLaw Hee payinge theirfor year by & every yeare for Ever the some of Twelveshilling of Lawfull money of Englande to be paide unto the Poore ofPickeringe att the feaste of Sainte Martin the bishopp in winter to beginethe firste paymente at Martinmas after the death of my saide Mother in Law& not before which Twelve shilling shall be distributede at the discretionof the saide James Coats or his assignes Togeather with the advice of theChurch wardins & overseers of the saide towne of Pickeringe for the timebeinge. "

[Illustration: THE JACOBEAN ALMS BOX IN THE PORCH OF PICKERING CHURCH. ]

The briefs collected at Pickering for various purposes were very numerousbetween 1661 and 1665; they are set out elaborately at the back of one ofthe registers, but they are given below in condensed form:--

BRIEFS COLLECTED IN PICKERING CHURCH. 

1661. July 28. 6s. 6d. For Condover Church, Shropshire. Sept. 8. 6s. Parish Church of Pontefract. Nov. 10. 4s. 2d. For the losses of Henry Harrison, mariner. Nov. 3. 13s. 7d. For the poor Protestants of Lithuania. 1661 Aug. 11. 5s. 10d. For the Parish Church of Scarborough. Dec. 15. 5s. For the Parish Church, Dalby-Chalcombe, in the County of Leicester. Dec. 29. 5s. For the reparation for the Collegiate Church of Rippon. Jan. 29. 3s. 4d. For the loss of Christopher Greene of Beighton, in the County of Derby. Feb. 23. 4s. 4d. Brief by his Majesty's special order for promoting the trade of fishing. 1662. April 6. 4s. For the loss of Thomas Welby in the County address. " 13. 4s. 4d. For the loss of William Copperthwaite. No date. 5s. For the relief of John Wolrich of (erased) County of Staffords. 1665. April 16. 4s. 2d. For the repairing of the Parish Church of Tinmouth, in the County of Northumberland. 

The system of briefs became subject to great abuses, and in 1828 it wasabolished. Most of the Pickering collections were very small, but thepeople evidently had some sympathy for the poor Protestants of Lithuania, for they gave nearly three times as much as usual. 

Despite the statement made by Clark in his valuable book on "MediævalMilitary Architecture in England" that "Pickering was held for the king inthe Parliamentary struggles, " I can find no records to show that this wasso or that any fighting took place there during the Civil War. I havesearched many volumes of tracts relating to the period for any referenceto Pickering, but although Scarborough on the east and Helmsley on thewest are frequently mentioned, and details of the sieges and surrendersgiven, yet I have fourd no statement concerning Pickering. I must, however, mention that at least two iron cannon balls have been discoveredin recent times embedded in the ground beneath the western walls of thecastle. 

In a Cromwellian survey found by Mr R. B. Turton, among the records of theDuchy of Lancaster, [1] there is, however, a most valuable account of thecastle dated July 15th, 1651. It mentions damage done by the soldiers "inthe time of the late warrs, " but it also tells us that much lead, wood andiron was taken to Scarborough Castle by Sir Hugh Cholmley, which seems toshow conclusively that the place was not defended. The Cromwelliansoldiers were probably quartered in the somewhat ruined castle and usedwhat timber they could find for lighting their fires. The survey of 1651is as follows:--

[Footnote 1: "North Riding Record Society's Publications, " vol. 1, NewSeries, p. 65. ]

"The capital Messuage is scituate on the North side of Pickering Towne andknowne by the name of Pickering Castle; the Entrance whereof lyeth on theSouth through a Gatehouse which is somewhat (qu: decayed) in respect thatall the covering is taken away. The outside gate you enter into a SpatiousCourt contayneing one Acre and three Roodes more or less; on which (on theEast side) close adjoyning to the said Gate standeth a ruynous howsepartly covered with Slate, in which were lately three severall Roomesbelow Staires, and as many above. But in the time of the late warrs, allthe floares for the chambering have been pulled down by the Souldiersinsomuch the whole howse is ready to fall, there being hardly any thingleft to support the Roofe; The owt walles being partly built of Stone andpart of Timber and the sparrs which are fastned to the mayne wall of theCastle do still remayne. Further eastward to the said howse along the wallstandeth a Towre knowne by the Name of Dyet Towre, in which there hathbeene three severall Roomes with other Conveniencyes thereunto belonging, which with litle Cost may bee made habitable, but the Lead Wood and Ironwas by S^r Hugh Cholmley (as we are informed) carryed to ScarbroughCastle. Further along the said Wall standeth an other Tower North to theaforesaid howse and knowne by the Name of Rossimund Towre, the walls ingood repaire, but the Wood Leade and Iron quite taken away. On the Westside of the aforesaid Gate along the Wall standeth an other Tower knowneby the Name of Milne Tower, built within all of hewen stone with a staireCase of the same, conteyneing one Roome above lately used for a lodgingchamber, but within these six or seven yeares all the Iron Lead and woodhave been taken away and nothing left besides the out walles which are invery good repaire and one Rotten beame which lyeth cross the topp of thesaid Towre. On the North side of the said Court opposite to the Gatestandeth an other Gate which is the Entrance over a decayed bridg into themidle Castle and leadeth into an other spatious Court conteyneing twoRoodes more or less. On the North east of the said Gate standeth a fourthTower knowne by the name of Coleman Towre contenyneing two Roomes, but thefloars covering and all the wood is taken away. On the West side of thesaid Court standeth a Large Ruyned hall almost all fallen to the groundnothing of the Timber remayneing. At North end of which hall Eastwardstandeth one howse covered with slate and in indifferent good repaireconteyneing one Roome and knowne by the Name of the Chappell which is nowused for keepeing of Courts for the Honor aforesaid. On the backside ofwhich lyeth a third Court conteyneing two Roodes more or less in whichhath been diverse buildings but now ruyned and fallen to the ground. Inthe midst of the whole Castle standeth a mount conteyneing one Acre onwhich there is a spatious, ruyned, and old decayed building being nothingbut ruyned walls which in many places begin to fall downe. The saidbuilding is commonly knowne by the name of the Moate. The Materialles ofthe said Castle (which are there now remayneing), as the Timber hewenstone and slate, wee estimate to bee worth in ready money (besides thecharge of takeing them downe)--CC li. The Ground lying within the wallsand Ditches of the Castle aforesaid conteyne in the whole three Acres andthree Roodes which is worth upon Improvem^t p. Ann. --C s. "

[Transcriber's Note: The "CC li. " and "C s. " refer to 200 libra (pounds)and 100 shillings respectively. Several previous transcribers wereconfused by this, causing this note to be added. ]

The story which has already been mentioned of the wanton destruction bythe Parliamentary soldiers of ancient documents that had been preserved inthe Castle may quite reasonably be true, but unfortunately Hinderwell, whoseems to have been the first to record the tale, [1] does not give anyauthority for his statement. Another story which is sometimes mentionedamong the people of Pickering states that Parliamentary soldiers werequartered in the church during the Civil War, but we can place no relianceupon the legend. Some details of the raising of train bands in thedistrict are given in the memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley, the gallantdefender of Scarborough Castle. Writing of the year 1636, he says, "I wasat this time made Deputy-lieutenant and Colonel over the Train-bandswithin the hundred of Whitby Strand, Ryedale, Pickering, Lythe, andScarborough Town. " Three years later Sir Hugh tells us that in preparationfor the king's march against the Scots, he had much business in musteringand training the soldiers of the Train-bands, and many journeys to York toconsult with the Vice-President and other Deputy-Lieutenants. "About Junethe king sent down his army into Yorkshire, and himself came to it inAugust. The Earl of Northumberland was General from whom I had acommission. Divers of the colonels of the Train-bands, with theirregiments, were called to march with the king into Northumberland; amongstwhich I had been one, but at that time I had caught cold and a dangeroussickness, in raising and training my whole regiment together onPaxton-Moor near Thornton, where one Hallden, a stubborn fellow ofPickering, not obeying his captain, and giving me some unhandsomelanguage, I struck him with my cane, and felled him to the ground. Thecane was tipped with silver, and hitting just under the ear, had greateroperation than I intended. But either the man was ill or elsecounterfeited so, to be freed from service; which I willingly granted, andglad when he was well: but it was a good monition not to be hasty in thelike or any other provocation, for passion doth not only blind thejudgement but produceth other ill effects. "

[Footnote 1: Thomas Hinderwell, "History of Scarborough, " 1811, p. 350. ]

In 1640, when Sir Hugh (as a burgess for Scarborough) was attending theShort Parliament in London, his regiment was commanded to march to theScottish Border. His brother Henry Cholmley, being Lieut. -Colonel, wentwith it, but at Durham they were ordered back. 

In November 1641 Sir Hugh was again attending Parliament, and at that timehe feared the advance of the Scots into Yorkshire, "which, " he says, "didnot a little disquiet my mind and thoughts for my dear wife and children;the snow being so great, I could not possibly remove them so soon as Idesired"; "but at the latter end of February, as soon as the ways werepassable, I had her and all my family in London. " It must have been anunusually prolonged period of snow to keep Sir Hugh and his family apartfor two or three months. Roxby Castle was his birthplace, and his accountof his early years there includes an accident which might have had fatalresults. 

 [1]JC _________|_________ | | [2]SR [3]SRC ___________|_____________ | | | | [4]SR [5]J [6]A [7]M __________________________|______________________ | | | | | | | | [8]F [9]R and [10]R [11]M [12]J [13]E | | | [14]M [15] __|______ | | [16]K [17]SH | [18]SRC | [19]SHC

[1]John Cholmley of Cheshire. 

[2]Sir Richard, Lt. -Gov. Of the Tower in the time of KingHenry VIII. ; d. Without issue; m. Elizabeth, one of the daus. Of ---- Nevill of ThorntonBridge; probably bought land there. 

[3]Sir Roger Cholmley, First to settle in Yorkshire; m. Catherine, dau. Of Sir Marmaduke Constable of Flamborough. Sir Roger knighted 5th of Henry VIII. , whenEnglish had a great victory over the Scots;died April 28th, 1538; bought Roxby. 

[4]Sir Richard, Called "The Great Black Knight of theNorth"; inherited property; knighted atbattle of Musslebury Hill, 5th of Edw. VI. ;m. 1st Margaret, d. Of Wm. Lord Conyers. 

[5]John, Slain inhis youth. 

[6]Anne, m. To the Earlof Westmoreland. 

[7]Margaret, m. HenryGascoigne ofLedbury, nearRichmond. 

[8]Francis, m. Mrs. JuneBoulmer; diedwithout issue. 

[9] and [10]Richard and Roger, m. 2 bastard daus. Of Dallrivers. [Both set on one side. ]

[11]Margaret. 

[12]Jane. 

[13]Elizabeth. 

[14]Marmaduke. 

[15]Purchased many lands in Yorks, Manors of Whitby, Whitby lithe, and Stakesby purchased in 1555;lived at Roxby; m. 2nd Katherine(d. 1598), dau. Of Henry, 1stEarl of Cumberland, widow ofLord John Scrope of Bolton. 

[16]Katherine. 

[17]Sir Henry, m. Margaret, dau. Of Sir Wm. Babthorpe; succeeded Francis. 

[18]Sir Richard Cholmley, Born 1580, succeeded 1617, died 1632. 

[19]Sir Hugh Cholmley, the defender of Scarborough Castle. Born 1600, succeeded 1632. 

GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE CHOLMLEYS OF ROXBY, NEAR PICKERING. 

(Taken from the details given in the memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley. )

"I was, " he says, "the first child of my dear mother, born upon the 22ndof July, being a Tuesday, and on the feast day commonly called MaryMagdalen's day, in the year of our Lord God 1600, at a place called Roxby, in the country of York, within the Hundred of Pickering lythe near toThornton, now much demolished, but heretofore the chief seat of mygreat-grandfather, and where my grandfather, Sir Henry Cholmley, thenlived, which place (since I was married was sold by my father and self, towards the payment of his debts). "

Sir Hugh then describes his weakness as a child due to the fault of hisnurse. This gave him such "a cast back" that he was a weak and sicklychild for many years. 

"At three years old, the maid which attended me let me tumble out of thegreat chamber window at Roxby, which (by God's providence) a servantwaiting upon my grandfather at dinner espying, leaped to the window, andcaught hold of my coat, after I was out of the casement. Soon after I wascarried to my father and mother, who then lived with her brother Mr JohnLegard, at his house at Ganton nine miles from Roxby, where I continuedfor the most part until I was seven years old; then my father and mothergoing to keep house at Whitby, went with them, and beginning to ride alittle way by myself, as we passed over a common, called Paston moor [?Paxton, above Ellerburne] one of my father's servants riding beside me, Ihad a desire to put my horse into a gallop; but he running away, I criedout, and the servant taking hold of my arm, with an intention to lift mefrom my horse, let me fall between both, so that one of them, in hisgallop, trod on my hat; yet, by God's protection, I caught no harm. "

When his father was living at Whitby he had another narrow escape. "Thenext year, " he writes, "being 1608 upon my very birth-day, being the feastof Mary Magdalen, and I just eight years old, by God's great Providence, Iescaped as great, if not greater danger than this; which was, that, at myFather's house, at Whitby aforesaid, there was a great fierce sow, havingtwo pigs near a quarter old, which were to be reared there, lying closetogether asleep, near to the kitchen door, I being alone, out of folly andwaggery, began to kick one of them; in the interim another rising up, occasioned me to fall upon them all, and made them cry; and the sowhearing, lying close by, came and caught me by the leg, before I could getup, and dragged me half a score yards, under the window of the room nowcalled the larder, and what in respect of the age and the amazement I wasin, could not help myself; from the leg she fell to bite me in the groinwith much fierceness; when the butler, carrying a glass of beer to myfather (then in his chamber) hearing me cry, set down the beer on the halltable, and running out, found the sow passing from my groin to my throat. "

Another famous name connected with this period is that of George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham. After the death of Charles II. The royalfavourite retired to his seat at Helmsley, his strength being very muchimpaired by the vicious life he had led at Court. He seems to have devotedhimself to hunting and open-air sports. Certain stories connected with theDuke and mixed up with the usual superstitions were told to Calvert nearlya hundred years ago. 

"Near the Checkers' Inn at Slapstean, " he says, "there stood until a fewyears agone the cottage in which there lived many years sen one Isaac Haw, who in his day did hunt the fox with George Villiers, and many a queerstory did he use to tell. Here be one. There lived on the moor not over anhour's ride from Kirkby Moorside, one Betty Scaife, who had a daughterBetty, a good like wench. " George Villiers seeing this girl one day issaid to have induced her to become his mistress either by force or withher mother's consent. After having a dream she told Villiers to come nearher no more, foretelling at the same time the time and death he would die. He was so affected by this that he is said to have ridden away and neverseen her again. 

Haw also tells how he once rode on the moor with the spirit of the Duke ofBuckingham, being not aware at the time that his Grace was dead. Villiersmade an arrangement that when both were dead and the devil gave them aholiday they would both hunt together on a certain moor. 

"There be those whose word has been handed down to us, " continues Calvert, "who sware to having seen these two ahunting of a spirit fox with a spiritpack of a moonlight night. I know one who hath in memory a song of thatday anent these two but it be so despert blasfemous that for the very fearof injuring the chance of my own soul's salvation I do forbear to give it, but if it be that you wish to copy on't, one Tom Cale a cobbler living inEastgate Pickering hath to my knowledge a copy on't. "

[Illustration: THE HOUSE AT KIRBY MOORSIDE IN WHICH THE 2ND DUKE OFBUCKINGHAM--THE FAVOURITE OF CHARLES II. --DIED. 

The window of the bedroom is shown in the illustration. It is on the firstfloor at the right hand side of the house. ]

The Duke lived to the age of sixty in spite of his life of unbridled vice, and it seems that a sudden illness seized him after a hard day's hunting, and he died at the house in Kirby Moorside where he was taken instead ofto Helmsley. The house is still standing, and one may even see the room inwhich the reckless Duke expired. As may be seen from the illustration thehouse is a good one, and at that time must have been, with one exception, the best in the village. The lines by Pope descriptive of the favourite'sdeath are, therefore, quite unwarranted:--

 "In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half hung, The floors of plaster and the walls of dung. "

It never was an inn, and the Rev. R. V. Taylor[1] has discovered that thehouse was in the occupation of one of his tenants. I have carefullyexamined the house without finding anything to suggest that such squalorcould have ever existed there. The staircase is very picturesque, and oneof the brass drop handles on the bedroom doors shows that the building wasa good one. The bedroom in which the Duke died has the fireplace blockedup; there is a recessed window containing a seat, and the walls, wherethey are panelled, are of fir, although the larger beams throughout thehouse seem to be of oak. 

[Footnote 1: "Yorkshire Notes and Queries, " May 1904, p. 68. ]

The sudden demise of this famous man must have created a sensation in thevillage, and although the body was not buried at Kirby Moorside, theparish register of that time has this illiterate entry[2]--

_"buried in the yeare of our Lord 1687Marke Reame . . . . . Aprill y^e 12Gorges viluas Lord dooke of bookingam etc. 19"_

[Footnote 2: The third volume of the registers at the top of page 4. ]

A letter from Lord Arran to the Duke's late chaplain, dated April 17th, 1687, says, "I have ordered the corpse to be embalmed and carried toHelmsley Castle and there to remain till my Lady Duchess her pleasureshall be known. There must be speedy care taken; for there is nothing herebut confusion, not to be expressed. Though his stewards have received vastsums, there is not so much as one farthing, as they tell me, for defrayingthe least expense. " From this it appears that he died on or before the17th of April, and that after the embalming process had been performed theintestines were buried at Kirby Moorside on the 19th and not on the 17th, as stated by Gill in his "Vallis Eboracensis. "

One of the tattered registers[1] of Kirby Moorside also contains thefollowing remarkable entry:--

"Dorythy Sowerbie of Bransdales (slayne with 6 bullett by theeves in thenight) was buryed the 23th (sic) Day of May 1654. " A few years before thisin 1650 the burial is recorded of "a stranger that y^t sold stockins. "

[Footnote 1: Vol. Ii. P. 2]

On the first page of the register dated 1704, the vicar, "M. JamesMusgrave, " gives a list of "things belonging to the churich--a surplus, aHud, a challis, a patton, tow-flaggons [these are of pewter and are keptin the church], a putter Dubler, a Tabill clorth, on napkin. A dubler forchristening. "

During this period the Duchy records show that Pickering Forest was stillbeing robbed of its oaks, some of them being used to repair the defencesof Scarborough Castle during the Civil War. 

"Wee are informed that there were xxx^tie Trees or } thereaboutes cut downe in Newton dale within the } said fforest and carried to Scarbrough Castle by } 20 0 0" Order from Sir Hugh Cholmley then Gouernor of } the same, to the value of }

Some of the other entries at the same time are given below. [1]

"Wee are informed that divers olde trees are cut downe } within the fforest of Pickeringe in a place called }lib. Deepdale and Helley Greene by Robert Pate by the } 6 0 0 Appointment of Mathew ffranke Esquire to the } value of }

Likewise wee are informed that John Hassell gent } hath cut downe diuers trees in Dalbye within the } 19 0 0 said fforest to the value of }

Wee are likewise informed that Beatrice Hassell widdow } hath cut downe diuers trees in Dalbye Hagges } 12 0 0 within the said fforest, to the value of }

Wee are likewise informed That seuerall Tennantes of } Goatland haue cut downe two hundred Trees and } more within the fforest in the North part of } 30 0 0 Newtondale and Gillwood to the value of }

And that Robert ffranke gent did take Composicions and summes of money of seuerall of the said Tennants of Goatland for the same wood. 

And allso we are informed that there hath bene cut } downe Two hundred Trees in Haughe Hagge } within the said fforest, And that the said Trees were } l. S. D. Cut downe and Carried away by the poore people of } 40 0 0 Pickeringe in the yeares 1647 and 1648 to the } value of }

[Footnote 1: From a thin foolscap book containing, inter alia, thefindings of the Juries of the Courts Leet, etc. , in the possession of theRev. Arthur Hill of Thornton-le-dale. ]

From the same book we discover that

"George Grayson holdes by Copie of Court Roll oneCottage in Pickeringe and one Garth thereunto belonging, dated the 11th of Aprill 1659 And wasadmitted Tennant thereof by John Syms thenSteward and paid ffine 0 0 4"

This is of considerable interest in view of the fact that the Graysonfamily are still tenants of the Duchy. 

Tenants are mentioned as holding property in "Smiddiehill" and "HungateGreene, " and the entry given below is interesting on account of themention of the market cross that has completely disappeared. 

"Jane Moone widdow holdes one Messuage and oneparcell of waste ground in Pickering neare to theMarket Crosse and was admitted Tennant thereofby John Sym, now deputie Steward, by Copie datedthe 22d of November 1659: And paid ffine for perAdmittance . . . 0 8 1"

Many of the small houses of Pickering must have been built at this time. One near the castle gateway has a stone in the gable end bearing theinitials E. C. W. , and the date 1646, another with a thatched roof on thesouth side of Eastgate, dated 1677, is now fast going to ruin. The roofswere no doubt at that time chiefly covered with thatch, and the whole townmust have been extremely picturesque. The stocks, the shambles, and themarket cross stood in the centre of the town, and there were none of theunpleasant features that modern ideas, unchecked by a sense of fitness andproportion, bring in their wake. 

The castle, we have seen, was in a far more perfect state than at thepresent time, but the church must have appeared much as it does to-day. The circular wooden pulpit is Georgian, and thus the one that preceded ithas disappeared. Two of the three bells that still hang in the tower bearthe date 1638. The treble bell is inscribed "Praise the Lord, " and soundsthe note G sharp. The middle bell gives F sharp and the inscription is"Soli deo gloria. " Hanging in the bellcote of the schools adjoining thechurch is the small bell dated 1632 that was removed from the Bruce Chapelin 1857 when the schools were built. Before that date children were taughtin the Bruce Chapel. 

In Archbishop Sharp's manuscripts (page 106) preserved at Bishopthorpethere is a detailed account of the parish of Pickering. It is dated 1706, and is given under the heading of "Dean of York's Peculiars. " There arenumerous abbreviations, but the meaning is plain in most instances. 

"_Pickering Vic. St Peter and St Paul_. 

"1706. No Papist. 

"A[nno] R[egni] Edw. I. 13. The Manor, Castle, Forest of Pickering weregiven to Edmund E. Of Lancaster and so became thenceforward part of thatDutchy. The Church of Pickering was by Hen. I. Given to the Deanery ofYork, w^th the soke thereof and all the chappells and tithes belonging. Itis let at the rent of 100 li. 

"The Vicarage consists of a house &c. And the tithe Hay of Garths w^ch mayyield 7 or 8 Load in a year to the vicar, and all the small tithes of theParish. Besides an augmentation of 20 li p an. Made since theRestauration. 

"This is a large parish in which are 2 Chappells neither of them endowedas the minister Mr Newton tells me, but he allows 5th to a neighboringminister to serve the one and the other he goes to himself. This vicarage, of the D^ns Collation is val in my B at 28 li. It is I hope worth 60 li[not above 40 K. B. 8. 3. 9. T 16-40b. ] _The Deans Tenant pays 20 li ofit. _

"Within this Parish are the Towns of Newton upon Rocliff, Blansby Park, Kinthorp. Here also is Dereholm Grange and Loft Maress Grange. 1707. 41(indistinct) John Pickering Vr. ; 1715 Robert Hargreaves, Vicar; 1740 Sam^lHill Vicar. 

"1745. George Dodsworth. 

"1706 Papists 9. £ S. D. 

"The Chappell of Goteland. 1716 4 0 0

"Being distant above 8 miles from the Parish Churchwas by Dean Scot A. D. 1635 allowed the privilege ofSepulture for the inhab. Saveing to the MotherChurch all its dues 1706 Certifyd by ye (indistinct) tothe Dean to be worth 4 0 0 Arising out ofSurplice Fees and Voluntary Contribution WilliamProwde, Curate 1722 Jonathan Robinson, Curate. "

[Illustration: The Maypole on Sinnington Green. The centre of many villagefestivities in the past centuries. ]

The country folk were in much the same state in regard to their morals andsuperstitions as in the Georgian Era described in the next chapter, but itis of great interest to know that efforts towards improvement were beingmade as early as the year 1708. The following account given by Calvert ofan attempt to stop the May dance at Sinnington would show either thatthese picturesque amusements were not so harmless as they appear at thisdistance, or else that the "Broad Brims" were unduly severe on theinnocent pleasures of the time. The account is taken by Calvert "from oneNares book. "

[Illustration: An inverted stone coffin of much earlier date used as aseventeenth century gravestone at Wykeham Abbey. ]

"In the year 1708 there did come a great company of Broad Brims for tostop the May Dance about the pole at Sinnington, and others acting byconcert did the like at Helmsley, Kirby Moorside and Slingsby, singing andpraying they gat them round about the garland pole whilst yet the mayQueen was not yet come but when those with flute and drum and dancers camenear to crown the Queen the Broad Brims did pray and sing psalms and wouldnot give way while at the finish up there was like for to be a sad end tothe day but some of the Sinnington Bucks did join hands in a long chainand thus swept them clean from the pole. At Slingsby there was a greatdordum of a fight, but for a great while the Broad Brims have set theirfaces against all manner of our enjoyment. "

Fine examples of the carved oak cabinets, chests, and other pieces offurniture of this period still survive in some of the houses of Pickering. The cabinets generally bear the date and the initials of the maker, andthe I. B. To be seen on some of the finest pieces from this district arethe initials of John Boyes of Pickering, whose work belongs chiefly to thetime of William and Mary. 

CHAPTER XI

_The Forest and Vale in Georgian Times, 1714 to 1837_

With the accession of King George the First in 1714 we commence a newsection of the history of Pickering, a period notable in its latter yearsfor the sweeping away to a very large extent of the superstitions andheathen practices which had survived until the first quarter of thenineteenth century. 

The town had probably altered very little in its general appearance sincethe time of the Restoration. Most of the roofs were thatched; the castlewas probably more dismantled within the outer walls, but the church of theGeorgian period must have been almost identically the same as during thecentury that preceded it, and as it remained until the restoration in1879. 

At the top of the market-place stood the stocks at the side of the oldstone-built shambles that disappeared in 1857, having for many generationsformed a background to the groups of buyers and sellers in the steep andpicturesque street. We can people the scene with the quaint costumes ofthe eighteenth century; knee-breeches and long waistcoats are to be seenin every direction, the three-cornered hat and the wig tied with a blackribbon are worn by the better classes. The wives and daughters of thesquires and lesser gentry reflect in a modified form the fashionsprevailing in London, and to be observed in actuality among the gay crowdsthat thronged the Spa at Scarborough, assuming and discarding thehooped-petticoat according to the mode of the moment. We can see thefarmers of the Vale and those from the lonely dales discussing the news ofthe week and reading the scarce and expensive newspapers that found theirway to Pickering. How much they understood of the reasons for the greatEuropean wars and alliances it is not easy to say, but when the reportscame of victories to the British armies, assisted although they may havebeen by paid allies, the patriotic feelings of these Yorkshiremen did notfail to manifest themselves in a heavier consumption of beer than usual. We can hear the chink of glasses and the rattle of pewter tankards in thecosy parlours of the "White Swan, " the "George, " and the rest; we can hearas the years go by the loud cheers raised for Marlborough, for Wolfe, forNelson, or for Wellington, while overhead the church bells are ringingloudly in the old grey tower. These were the days of the highwaymen, andeven as late as 1830 a postman was robbed near the moorland village ofLockton, on his way to Whitby. The driver of the mailcart at that timeused to carry a large brass-mounted cavalry pistol, which was handed tohim when he had mounted his box by one of the two old ladies who acted asthe post-mistresses of Pickering. It is not much more than ten years sincethe death of Francis Gibson, a butcher of East Ayton, who was over ahundred years old and remembered the capture of the last highwayman whowas known to carry on the old-time profession in the neighbourhood. He wastracked to an inn at East Ayton where he was found sleeping. Soonafterwards he found himself on the road to York, where he was hanged. 

The road across Seamer Moor between Ayton and Scarborough was consideredsufficiently dangerous for those who travelled late to carry firearms. Thus we can see Mr Thomas Chandler of the Low Hall at West Ayton--aJustice of the Peace--having dined with some relations in Scarborough, returning at a late hour. The lights of his big swinging barouche drawn bya pair of fat chestnuts shine out on the white road; the country on eitherside is unenclosed, and masked men may appear out of the shadows at anymoment. But if they are about they may have heard that Mr Chandler carriesa loaded pistol ready for emergencies, for they always let him reach hishouse in safety. 

To the simple peasants highwaymen were probably considered of smallaccount in comparison to the apparitions that haunted many parts of thelonely country. Nearly every part of the moor had its own wraith orboggle, and the fear of these ghosts was so widespread that in many casesthe clergy were induced to publicly lay them, after which were seen nomore. 

To record the advent of these strange beliefs is impossible, for who cantell how or when they originated? We can only describe them at the time oftheir destruction. Chaucer, writing in the fourteenth century, seemed toimagine that belief in elves and fairies had received its death-blow inhis own time, for in "The Wife of Bath's Tale, " he says--

 "In tholdé dayés of the Kyng Arthour, Of which that Britons speken greet honour, All was this land fulfild of faïrye. The elf queene with hir joly compaignye Dauncéd ful ofte in many a greené mede. This was the olde opinion as I rede, -- I speke of manye hundred yeres ago, -- But now kan no man se none elvés mo, For now the greté charitee and prayeres Of lymtours, and othere hooly freres, That serchen every lond and every streem, As thikke as motés in the sonné beem, -- Bléssynge hallés, chambres, kichenes, boures, Citees, burghes, castels, hyé toures Thrópés, bernés, shipnes, dayeryes, -- This maketh that ther been no faïryes. "

Five hundred years, however, had to pass before the most implicit beliefin hobs, wraiths, and boggles was to disappear, and even at the presentday those who have intimate associations with the population of the NorthYorkshire moors know that traces of the old superstitions still survive. 

Several books have been written on the folklore of Yorkshire and from themit is possible to get a rough idea of the superstitions common to manyparts of the county, but these do not particularly concern the districtsurrounding Pickering. We should probably have never heard of many curiousfacts specially belonging to this part of the county if a small manuscriptbook of closely written notes had not been discovered by Mr RichardBlakeborough of Stockton-on-Tees, who has kindly allowed me to quote fromit. The stories were collected by one George Calvert, who writes in 1823, and frequently mentions that the customs he describes were rapidly dyingout. Under the heading of "Witch Hags who have dwelt hereabouts" hewrites--

"They be so great in number that mayhap it will shew the more wisdom, ifmention be made only of those who in their day wrought some wondrous deedor whose word cast fear upon all. "

From this list I have picked out those that belong to the neighbourhood ofPickering, and by the letters placed after each name one can discover inthe key given below the special arts practised by each "hag. "

"Nancy Nares o' Pickering" [T V Z W Y]. "Nanny Pearson o' Goathland" [X]. "Nan Skaife o' Spaunton Moor, " called also Mary or Jenny. "Aud Mother Migg o' Cropton" [Z]. (Her real name was Sabina Moss). "Sally Craggs o' Allerston" [V Z]. "Dina Sugget o' Levisham" [W Z]. "Hester Mudd o' Rosedale" [T V]. "And Emma Todd o' Ebberston [Y]. 

KEY TO LETTERS AGAINST THE WITCHE'S NAMES. 

T Did also use the evil eye. U Could turn thersels into a hare. V Could turn thersels into a cat. W Had a familiar. X Could cripple a quickening bairn. Y Well up in all matters of the black art. Z Did use ye crystal. 

"All these, " says Calvert, "were at one time of great note and did intheir day work great deed and cast many an evil spell and charm and wereheld in great fear by great many good and peaceful folk. It be not for meto here put an argument in the favour of what do now be doubted andscorned by some. I will but say that I have seen and know that which hathbeen wrought by these hags o' the broom and of their power which they heldat their beck and wink the which is not to be set on one side at the flipand flout of our young masters and misses, fresh from some teaching droveinto their brain pans by some idiotick and skeptick French teacher. Itherefore say no more on this matter. "

Nancy Skaife of Spaunton Moor had a wonderful receipt for making a magiccube, and as she was a famous witch of her time and was reputed to possessmost remarkable powers of foretelling events to come, it will beinteresting to learn the ingredients of her magic cubes. 

[Illustration: Two ways of marking Magic Cubes. (_From Calvert's MS. Bookof Folklore_. )]

"Get you of the skull the bone part of a gibbetted man so much as oneounce which you will dry and grind to a powder until when searced it be asfine as wheatenmeal, this you will put away securely sealed in a glassvial for seven years. You will then about the coming of the end of thattime (for your cube must be made on the eve of the day come seven years ofhis gibbetting) get you together these several matters, all well dried andpowdered and finely searced so much as three barley corns weight of each

Bullock blood. Moudy [mole] blood. Great Flitter mouse blood. Wild Dove blood. Hag-worm head. Toade heart. Crab eyes. Graveyard moss and worms. 

These being all gotten together on the eve of that day make a stiff doughof wheaten meal to the which you will add all the other powders workingthem to a stiff mass and into cubes of one inch square, to be pressed to ahollow, then they are to be set away to dry in a warm place for sevenmonths to the day when with a sharp screever you shall deeply screeve thelike of these upon each side, but be you mindful to screeve in the orderas here ordered always turning the cube over and towards the left hand, the fifth side by turning the cube towards you, the sixth from you andthus you make your magic cube. "

"The proper way to draw the virtue from and read a forecast with suchcubes, " says Calvert, "as yet I know not, but I learn that one JaneCraggs, a mantu maker of Helmsley, not only owns a cube but does at timesplay the craft for the entertainment of her lady visitors who wish theirfortunes casting. I learn from Betty [Ellis] that these cubes were tossedupon the table and then used by the consultation of a book like unto thatof the witche's garter but this book Betty kens nothing of itswhereabouts. She aims one of her grandchilder must have gone off with it. "

In the chapter devoted to Tudor times I have given an Elizabethan cure foran "ill caste" by a witch, but Calvert also tells us of a method forremoving the spell from a "witch-held" house. "Of one thing I hear, " hesays, "which be minded unto this present day the which be that a bunch ofyarrow gathered from off a grave and be cast within a sheet that hathcovered the dead and this be setten fire to and cast within the door ofany house thought to be witch held or having gotten upon it a spell ofill-luck, it shall be at once cleansed from whatsoever ill there be comeagain it as I hear even fevers and the like are on the instant drivenforth. And this, " he quaintly adds, "be worth while of a trial. "

Of the awesome sights to be seen at night time Calvert gives many details. 

"There be over anenst Cropton towards Westwood seen now and again at timeswide asunder a man rushing fra those happening to cross his road withflaming mouth and having empty eye sockets, a truly terrible apparitionfor to come across of a sudden. 

"At Bog Hall at times there is seen a plain specter of a man in brightarmour who doth show himself thus apparrelled both on the landing and in acertain room. 

"At that point where the Hodge and Dove mix their waters there is to beseen on Hallow Een a lovely maiden robed in white and having long goldenhair down about her waist there standing with her bare arm thrown abouther companion's neck which is a most lovely white doe, but she allowednone to come near to her. 

"To the west of Brown Howe and standing by a boulder there be seen of asummer's eve a maiden there seated a-combing out her jet black tresses soas to hide her bare breast and shoulders, she looking to be much shamed tothere do her toilet. 

"And at the high end of Carlton anenst Helmsley there be seen at times alovely maiden much afrighted galopping for very life oft casting her eenbehind her. "

[Illustration: A SCENE IN NEWTON DALE WHEN THE COACH RAILWAY BETWEENPICKERING AND WHITBY WAS IN USE IN 1836. (_From Belcher's book on thePickering and Whitby Railway, 1836_. )]

Concerning the existence of this lovely maiden we have indisputableevidence given us, for Calvert says that in the year 1762 "Jim Shepherd o'Reskelf seed the maiden galloping. "

Then there was the figure of "Sarkless Kitty"; but this spectre, we aretold, "having been public laid will now be seen never again and has thevery mention of her name be now a thing forbid by all it must soon come topass that the memory of this lewd hussey will be entire forgot and it of atruth be better so. "

But this only rouses one's curiosity, for the spectre must have beensurpassingly terrible to require the suppression of its very name. 

It was in August in the year 1807 or 1809 (the manuscript is too muchsoiled to be sure of the last figure) that either the Vicar of Lastinghamor his curate-in-charge publicly laid this spirit, which had for manyyears haunted the wath or ford crossing the river Dove where it runs at nogreat distance from Grouse Hall. 

The ceremony was performed at the request of the whole countryside forthere was a widespread outcry over the last victim. He was a farmer's sonwho, having spent the evening with his betrothed, was riding homewardssomewhat late, but he never reached his house. On the next day his cob wasfound quietly grazing near the dead body of its master lying near theford. There were no signs of a struggle having taken place, there were nowounds or marks upon the body, and his watch and money had not beentouched, so every one concluded that he had seen Sarkless Kitty. 

In the year 1770 the ford "had come to be of such ill repute that menfeared to cross after dark and women refused to be taken that way, "although as far as is known it was only men who came to harm from seeingSarkless Kitty. The apparition was that of an exceedingly lovely girl whoappeared "as a nude figure standing upon the opposite bank to that of theapproaching wayfarer. " Her beauty was so remarkable that those who had theill-luck to come across the spectre could not refrain from gazing at it, and all who did so were believed to have died either at the same moment orsoon afterwards. 

Calvert, however, tells us that one Roland Burdon, who possessed a "HolySeal, " came face to face with Sarkless Kitty, but fortified by its virtueshe survived the vision; then he adds: "This same Roland did slay in singlecombat the great worm or Dragon which at one time did infest Beck Hole tothe loss of many young maidens the which it did at sundry times devour. Heslew it after a fierce battle lasting over half a day throw the greatpower of the Holy Seal being about his person. This worm did also infestSneaton Moor. "

If we are to believe anything at all of this prodigious story we mustplace it among those which have been handed down from the time of theDanes and have become somewhat confused with later superstitions. 

Coming back to the story of the beautiful spectre we find that in 1782 acertain Thomas Botran wrote down all the information he could find out inhis time concerning the story of Sarkless Kitty, and Mr Blakeborough hasadded to it everything else that he has discovered relating to it. 

It seems that there lived near Lastingham towards the close of theseventeenth century a girl named Kitty Coglan whose beauty was soremarkable that "folk at divers times come much out of their way in thepleasant hope of a chance for to look upon the sweetness of her face. " Shewas, however, extremely vain, and her mother seems to have heard storiesof her bad conduct, for she began to worry herself over her daughter'sbehaviour. Having had a curious dream she asked Takky Burton, the wise manof Lastingham, to tell her what it meant. He told her that the wonderfulgem of her dream was her daughter Kitty, who like the gem had blemishesbeneath the surface. Soon after this Kitty married the only son of a smallfarmer, but after they had lived together about four months hedisappeared, and then Kitty seems to have gone from bad to worse. How longafter this it was that the tragedy occurred is not known, but one dayKitty's naked dead body was found by the wath that her spirit afterwardshaunted. 

Two other stories that were at one time well known in the neighbourhood ofPickering must be mentioned. One feature of these old time legends is verynoticeable, that is, how each ends with a moral usually of virtueovercoming vice. This was probably in some instances a new touch of colourgiven to the stories during the time when a religious wave swept over thedales. 

"The White Cow of Wardle Rigg" is a good example of an old time legend, that owing to a natural process of alteration became gradually fitted tothe beliefs and superstitions of each age in which it was told. How thestory came to be localised is not known, but in its last phase it hadreached this form. 

Once an old couple lived near to Wardle Rigg, and bad seasons and othermisfortunes had brought the wolf very near to their door. One night therepassed by the humble cottage a little old lady driving along a thin andhungry looking white cow, she craved a crust and a drink of water forherself and shelter for the poor beast, this was readily granted by theold couple, they gave the old lady the easy-chair by the fire, and gaveher of the best from their poor larder. She learnt from them how poor theywere, and sorrowed with them. 

In the middle of the night she called to them, as she stole silently outof the house, that for their kindness she left them all the worldlypossessions she had, namely her white cow. This they were in no wisegrateful for, because they could scarcely afford to feed it and it was toopoor to sell or to hope to draw a drop of milk from. 

But in the morning what was their surprise to find not a poor three partsstarved cow, but a plump well fed animal, and with a bag full of milk, itindeed gave more milk than any cow they had ever known or heard of, theirhay had also during the night grown to be quite a huge stack. 

It was soon found that their butter was the best in all the dales, and wassought after far and wide, so that the old people were gradually fillingtheir stocking with money. Added to this it was presently discovered thatall who drank of the white cow's milk were cured, almost instantly, of adreadful plague, which in the dales at that time was sending many youngfolk to an early grave. The fame of this wonderful cow soon spread. Theold couple had given the milk to all those who fell ill of the plague, andpeople came to them from far off places. 

It was then that their landlord determined by wicked arts to gainpossession of this wonderful white cow, and sell the milk at a greatprice. His own child, his youngest daughter, falling ill of the plaguedetermined him to carry out his evil design, and it was with sorrow andtears that the old folk watched their landlord lead their cow away. 

When half way over the moor he was met by an old dame, "Where drivest thoumy cow?" she demanded. Getting but a surly reply, and a threat to driveover her, she cried, "Let me teach thee how to milk my cow. " So saying sheseized hold of the cow's udder, crying out, "There's death in thee, there's death in thee, " and then ran away. The landlord on reaching homewas taking a cupful of the magic milk to his daughter, but setting it downfor a moment a cat unseen commenced to lap from the cup and diedinstantly. The landlord then saw that in his greed he had outwittedhimself. The good dame was brought to milk it under a promise ofrestoration, and all ended well. 

The other story is known as "The Legend of Elphi. " Elphi the Farndaledwarf was doubtless at one time the central figure of many a firesidestory and Elphi's mother was almost equally famous. The most tragic storyin which they both play their leading parts is that of Golpha the badBaron of Lastingham and his wicked wife. The mother helped in hiding someone Golpha wished to torture. In his rage he seized the mother, andsentenced her to be burnt upon the moor above Lastingham. 

Elphi to save his mother, called to his aid thousands of dragon-flies, andbade them carry the news far and wide, and tell the fierce adders, theants, the hornets, the wasps and the weasels, to hurry early next day tothe scene of his mother's execution and rescue her. Next morning when thewicked Golpha, his wife, and their friends gathered about the stake andtaunted the old dame, they were set upon and killed, suffering greatagonies. But Elphi and his mother were also credited with all the power ofthose gifted with a full knowledge of white magic, and their lives seem tohave been spent in succouring the weak. Mr Blakeborough tells me that theremembrance of these two is now practically forgotten, for after mostcareful enquiry during the last two years throughout the greater part ofFarndale, only one individual has been met with who remembered hearing ofthis once widely known dwarf. 

The hob-men who were to be found in various spots in Yorkshire were fairlynumerous around Pickering. There seem to have been two types, the kindlyones, such as the hob of Hob Hole in Runswick Bay who used to curechildren of whooping-cough, and also the malicious ones. Calvert gives along list of hobs but does not give any idea of their disposition. 

Lealholm Hob. Hob o' Trush. T'Hob o' Hobgarth, Cross Hob o' Lastingham. Farndale Hob o' High Farndale. Some hold Elphi to have been a hob of Low Farndale. T'Hob of Stockdale. Scugdale Hob. Hodge Hob o' Bransdale. Woot Howe Hob. T'Hob o' Brackken Howe. T'Hob o' Stummer Howe. T'Hob o' Tarn Hole. Hob o' Ankness. Dale Town Hob o' Hawnby. T'Hob o' Orterley. Crookelby Hob. Hob o' Hasty Bank. T'Hob o' Chop Gate. Blea Hob. T'Hob o' Broca. T'Hob o' Rye Rigg. Goathland Hob o' Howl Moor. T'Hob o' Egton High Moor. 

The Hob of Lastingham was presumably named after the cross above thevillage, and not on account of his disposition. 

Elphi we have seen had an excellent reputation and some eulogistic verseson him, written in a "cook book" and signed J. L. , 1699, give furtherevidence of his good character. 

Elphi bandy legs, Elphi little chap, Bent an wide apart, Thoff he war so smallNeea yan i, this deeal [dale], War big wi deeds o' kindness, Awns a kinder heart. Drink tiv him yan an all. Elphi great heead Him at fails ti drain dry, Greatest ivver seen. Be it mug or glassNeea yan i' this deeal Binnot woth a pescodAwns a breeter een. Nor a buss fra onny lass. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century the people of Cropton weresadly troubled by "a company of evil water elves having their abode in acertain deep spring at the high end of that village, " and in order to ridthemselves of the sprites, a most heathen ceremony was conducted at thespring, "three wenches" taking a prominent part in the proceedings whichare quite unprintable. 

[Illustration: RELICS OF WITCHCRAFT FOUND IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OFPICKERING. 

The little figure shown in the centre is made of pitch, beeswax, bullock'sblood, hog's lard, and fat from a bullock's heart. It was used for castingspells or people, the pin being stuck in the figure wherever the"ill-cast" was required to fall. The magic cube and ring are made ofsimilar ingredients to the figure. The sigils or charms are made of lead. ]

Belief in the power of the witches and wise men was universal, and youthsand maidens applied to the nearest witch in all their love affairs. Themagic cube, the witches' garter, leaden charms known as sigils, and thecrystal were constantly in use to secure luck, to ward off evil and toread the future. 

One of the witches was believed to have fallen out with the Devil for, says Calvert, "John Blades, ironmonger of Kirby Moorside, tells me he wellminds hearing of a despert fierce fight which on a time did happen betweenye Devil and an old witch over their dues, over anenst Yaud Wath (ford)and whilst they did so fight, one by stealth did slip himself over and inthat wise did for ever break her spell. "

I am able to give an illustration of one of the figures made by a witch ofthese parts for causing some bodily injury to happen to her client'senemy. The custom was a common one in the circles of witchcraft. A youthhaving a rival for the hand of some attractive maiden and wishing himevery imaginary evil he would apply to "Aud Mother Migg" or one of theother hags of the neighbourhood and explaining his position the witchwould prepare a small figure of the rival. The ingredients would be of thesame class as the magic cube already fully described (generally pitch, beeswax, hog's lard, bullock's blood, and fat from a bullock's heart), andin order to cause his rival to lose an eye, or to go lame, or deaf, or tohave any particular complaint in any particular part of his body thejealous lover had merely to stick a pin in that portion of the littlebrown figure. The ceremony was elaborate, especially in regard to thedisposal of that part of the mixture not used to make the figure, for inevery case the cunning old women worked on the imaginations of theirdupes. There can be no doubt that the morals of the country folk duringthe eighteenth century were at an exceedingly low ebb. The practice ofcompelling girls who had misconducted themselves to stand in church forthree Sundays was only given up at Pickering in the first quarter of thenineteenth century. Calvert describes how the miserable girl was firstrequired to go before the parson or the squire or anyone of the "quality"to name the child's father, and "be otherwise questioned, and if it sohappened that the squire was one of the hard-drinking class it was morethan likely that he came well on in his cups. If so it would be more likethan otherwise that he would put the lass and all present to shame by thecoarse . . . Questions he would ask the poor wench. I have heard shame criedaloud myself by those who then came together. 

"On the Sunday when the poor lass had to do her first penance it was inthis wise--She had to walk from her home to the church porch with a soiledwhite sheet cast over her head to her feet, and there stand from theringing of the first bell calling to morning prayer, and as the good folkdid so pass her to ask of them for to pray for her soul and forgiveness ofher great sin and frailty; and thither did she have to stand until theparson, after the reading of the morning prayer, did go to her and bringher into the church with the psalm of _miserere mei_ which he shall singor say in English. Then shall he put her before all those present, butapart from them, when he shall publicly call upon her to confess her faultwhich, be she a single wench she did say aloud, 'wherefore I . . . Puttingaside my maiden duty to Almighty God have yielded unto the vile sin offornication with . . . Who is the true father of my child, may Almighty Godforgive me my sin. ' But be it a wedded woman then she shall standbareheaded and barelegged, and instead of fornication she shall say theword adultery, she being nobbut covered with a sheet from the shoulders. At this day (1824) I cannot but say I am glad to say that there be a goodfeeling abroad for its abolishment, indeed, there be in many places sostrong a feeling again this way of judging our daughters for a fault ofthis kind that they have bidden the clergy to set their faces against anylass ever being so judged, and though our clergy be in the main but adespert reckless lot, I hear that mostly they are of the same mind asthose they do hold as their flock. Indeed, at one village not far fromhere a father set his back against his lass standing at the church, thoughshe had been so judged to do, and the whole of thereabouts siding with thelass it was held by the parson and his fox-chasing, wine-bibbing crew forto pull in their tongues a piece which they most wisely did, or, for atruth, they would have found themselves astride of the wrong horse. It isnow time this shameful practice was for ever laid on one side for it benot for the good of our own daughters that they witness such sights evenin a place called God's house, but it oft be ought but that to our shameand the greater shame of all who hold its government of it. I could heregive you a good list of curious cases of the which for the most part I didwitness myself of both the hearing and of the standing of both many wedand single so browten to public shame, but as it would be to no goodpurpose I will hold from the putting pen to paper in this matter, lettingwhat hath been wrote end this matter, for of a truth it is to a betterpurpose that both pen, ink, paunce box and paper, can be putten. "Concerning the innumerable customs and superstitions associated with thedead and dying, Calvert collected a number of interesting facts. "It beheld by many, " he writes, "that a dying body cannot quit this life if theydo be lying upon a bed which happen to have pigeon feathers gotten in bychance. 

"A body cannot get their time over with ease to themselves if there be onein the room who will not give them up. It be better for all such whocannot bring themselves to part with those they love to withdraw from theroom so that death may enter and claim his rights. 

"It be held to be a sure sign that an ailing body will die if there be adowncome of soot. 

"It be also a sure sign that death be awaiting for his own if an ullot[owlet] do thrice hoot so that the ailing one do hear it and remarkthereon. 

"It be an ill sign if a death glow be seen to settle upon the face of anailing one or if such cry out they do see a shroud o' the quilt. 

"If there be a death watch heard, then the ailing one need not longer holdon to hope, for it be for that time gone from that house and will notenter again until a corpse be hugged out. 

"It be an ill sign to the dying if a dark winged moth make at the bedlight and fall at it, but it be a good sign should a light winged one comethrice and go its way unharmed. Even if it do fall at it, it doth saynothing worse than the ailing one will soon die but that the death shallbe the freeing of a happy soul. 

"An ailing one shall surely die if a dog come and howl thrice under thewindow. 

"It be a good sign of peace to a parting soul if there do come near to thewindow a white dove. 

"It be the custom as soon as death doth enter the chamber for one presentto immediate rake out the fire, turn the seeing glass to the wall and onthe instant stop the clock, but this stopping of the clock in thedeath-room be not at all places a common practise. After the boddy hathbeen attended to in all its proper officies it be a good sign if the eyesdo shut of themselves, if not then but a few years sen it was held to bethe work of some evil spirits in some cases owing to a misspent life. Inthose days it was the common thing for to get or borrow a pair of leadensigs (charms) from some wise dame or good neighbour, the like of thosemade by Betty Strother and others wise in such matters. They being magicmade did ward off not only from about the bed but from the room itself allthe deamons of every sort and kind and did hold the een fast shutten sothat neither witch or hellspell could get aback of their power and cungelthem open again. 

"Many there be who yet do grace their dead with a salt platter putten uponthe breast of the corpse, and all those friends who do view the dead andit be the common custom for all so to do, do first touch the corpse on theface or hands and then lay their own hands upon the platter first havingfull and free forgiven the dead any fault or ill-feeling they had in lifeheld as a grudge again the dead. 

"In some spots it is a common thing for the wake wail to be sung over theboddy each night it be in the house as also for a rushlight to be keptalight from sunset to sunrise and for the death watchers for to tend thedead throw the night owther in the same room or in one so held that thosewatching could see the corpse, and they due at this day deggle the quiltand floor with rue water. 

"It be always most carefull seen to that no four-footed thing come nighhand, for it would be a despert ill thing if such by any mishap did runjust across or loup over the corpse. 

"There be always a great arval feast after the funeral to which allfriends are bidden. "

The remedies of this period were not greatly superior to those of theseventeenth century if one may judge from the gruesome concoction thedetails of which were given to Calvert by William Ness of Kirby Moorside. 

"For the certain cure of a cancer take a pound of brown honey when thebees be sad from a death in ye house, which you shall take from the hivejust turned of midnight at the full of the moon. This you shall set by forseven days when on that day you shall add to it the following all beingready prepared afore. One ounce of powdered crabs clawes well searced, seven oyster shells well burnt in a covered stone or hard clay pot, usingonly the white part thereof. One dozen snails and shells dried while theydo powder with gently rubbing and the powder of dried earth worms from thechurchyard when the moon be on the increase but overcast, which you willgather by lanthorn which you must be sure not to let go out while you beyet within the gate or there virtue be gone from them. All these make intoa fine powder and well searce, this been ready melt the honey till itsimmer then add three ounces each of brown wax, rossin, and grease of afat pigg, and when all be come at the boil divide your powders to sevenheaps and add one at a time. Do not shake your paper on which the powderhath been put but fold it carefully and hurry it at some grave as there beamong what be left some dust of ye wormes which have fed upon ye dead. Soboil it till all be well mixed and then let cool and if it be too stiffadd swine grease till it work easy. When you would use it warm a little ina silver spoon and annoint the sore holding a hot iron over till it benearly all soaked in, then sprinkle but a little finely doubled searcedpowder of viper where there be matter. This hath been tried many times andon different folk in these dales and hath done wonderous cures when allelse failed them. And these words wrate on lambs skin with lambs blood andhung above the ill one's head hath wrought a most magick wonders ofhealing and some I do find ready to take oath on it. I leave it so. "

But Pickering was not very much behind the rest of England when wediscover that in the second edition of "A collection of above 300 receiptsin Cookery, Physick and Surgery" published in 1719, and printed and soldin London is given the following:--

"A _very good_ snail-water _for a_ consumption. Take half a peck ofShell-snails, wipe them and bruise them Shells and all in a Mortar; put tothem a gallon of New Milk; as also Balm, Mint, Carduus, unset Hyssop, andBurrage, of each one handful; Raisons of the Sun stoned, Figs, and Dates, of each a quarter of a pound; two large Nutmegs: Slice all these, and putthem to the Milk, and distil it with a quick fire in a cold Still; thiswill yield near four Wine-quarts of Water very good; you must put twoounces of White Sugar-candy into each Bottle, and let the Water drop on it;stir the Herbs sometimes while it distils, and keep it cover'd on theHead with wet Cloths. Take five spoonfuls at a time, first and last, andat Four in the Afternoon. "

It was only about eighty years ago that the old custom of racing for thebride's garter on wedding days was given up. In the early years of lastcentury an improvement in public morals showed itself in a frequentlyexpressed opinion that the custom was immodest, and gradually the practicewas dropped the bride merely handing a ribbon to the winner of the race. 

[Illustration: A LOVE GARTER, DATED 1749. 

The spaces were for the initials of the wearer of the garter and herbetrothed. These garters were raced for on wedding days, the winner of therace being allowed to take the bride's garter. ]

Immediately after the wedding-ring had been put on, the youths of thecompany would race from the church porch to the bride's house, and thefirst who arrived claimed the right of removing the garter from her leftleg, the bride raising her skirts to allow him to do so. He wouldafterwards tie it round his own sweetheart's leg as a love charm againstunfaithfulness. The bridegroom never took part in the race, but anyoneelse could enter, runners often coming from distant villages to take part. 

At the time of the outcry against the custom it is interesting to findone, William Denis of Pickering, writing to a friend and stating that"this racing for the bride's garter and the taking of the same from theleg of the bride, is one of the properest public functions we have so faras modesty is concerned. "

Elaborately worked garters were worn "by any lass who would be happy inher love. " The one illustrated here is drawn from a sketch given byCalvert. It bears the date 1749 and the two spaces were for the initialsof the lovers. 

A Pickering man named Tom Reid who was living in 1800 but was an old manthen, was in his day a noted runner and won many races. He must have ownedseveral of these garters which are now so difficult to find. It is saidthat one of the vicars of Pickering did much to put an end to the beliefin the powers of the garters as charms, collecting them whenever he had anopportunity. He also put his foot down on every form of superstition, forbidding the old folk to tell their stories. 

The village maidens considered it a most binding vow to remain true totheir sweethearts if they washed their garters in St Cedd's Well atLastingham on the eve of St Agnes. Other practices performed at the samespot are, like the spectre of Sarkless Kitty, better forgotten. 

There can be little doubt that the death blow to this mass of ignorantsuperstition came with the religious revival brought about by theMethodists. Despite the hostile reception they had in many places theexample of their Christian behaviour made itself felt, and as the yearswent by parents became sufficiently ashamed of their old beliefs to giveup telling them to their children. This change took place between about1800 and 1840, but the influences that lay behind it date from the days ofJohn Wesley. 

The sports common in the early part of last century include:--

Fox-hunting. Badger-drawing. Duck hunting with dogs and sometimes duck and owl diving. Cock-fighting. Cock-throwing at Eastertide. Bull baiting and sometimes ass baiting. Squirrel-hunting. Rat-worrying. 

"To make it quite sure to you howe greatly cocking was in voge seventyyears agone, " says Calvert, "I have heard my own grandfather tell how heand others did match their cocks and fight em for secret sake in the cryptof Lastingham Church. "

The entrance to the crypt was not at that time in the centre of the nave, and the fact that it could be reached from the north side without goinginto the church would make the desecration seem a far less scandalousproceeding than it sounds. 

It has also been supposed that Mr Carter, curate-in-charge of Lastinghamat a time prior to 1806, allowed his wife to keep a public-house in thecrypt. There is only one authentic account[1] of this parson-publican asfar as I have been able to discover and although it makes no mention ofthe crypt it states that Mr Carter used to take _down_ his violin to playthe people a few tunes. If this did not indicate the crypt it may havemeant that he took his violin down from the vicarage to the inn, which mayhave been the "Blacksmith's Arms" that adjoins the churchyard on the eastside. The parlour is certainly a much more cheerful place for refreshmentthan the dark and chilly crypt, and it is interesting to find that thebenches in the inn are composed of panelling which I am told was formerlyin the church. 

[Footnote 1: Anonymous booklet entitled "Anecdotes and Manners of a fewAncient and Modern oddities, etc. " Published at York, 1806. ]

As the whole idea of the parson's wife conducting a public-house issomewhat preposterous, although we have already been told that the clergyat that time were on the whole "a despert reckless lot, " it is interestingto read the original account. "The Rev. Mr Carter, when curate ofLastingham, " it says, "had a very large family, with only a small incometo support them, and therefore often had recourse to many innocentalternatives to augment it; and as the best of men have their enemies--toooften more than the worst, he was represented to the Archdeacon by aninvidious neighbour, as a very disorderly character, particularly bykeeping a public-house, with the consequences resulting from it. TheArchdeacon was a very humane, worthy, good man who had imbibed theprinciples, not only of a parson, but of a Divine, and therefore treatedsuch calumniating insinuations against his subordinate brethren, with thatcontempt which would ultimately accrue to the satisfaction and advantageto such as listen to a set of sycophantic tattlers. . . . Therefore at theensuing visitation, when the business of the day was over, he in a verydelicate and candid manner, interrogated Mr C. As to his means ofsupporting so numerous a family . . . Which was answered as related to me byone well acquainted with the parties, in nearly the following words:--

"'I have a wife and thirteen children, and with a stipend of £20 perannum, increased only by a few trifling surplice fees, I will not imposeupon your understanding by attempting to advance any argument to show theimpossibility of us all being supported from my church preferment: But Iam fortunate enough to live in a neighbourhood where there are manyrivulets which abound with fish, and being particularly partial toangling, I am frequently so successful as to catch more than my family canconsume while good, of which I make presents to the neighbouring gentry, all of whom are so generously grateful as to requite me with somethingelse of seldom less value than two or threefold. --This is not all: my wifekeeps a Public-House, and as my parish is so wide that some of myparishioners have to come from ten to fifteen miles to church, you willreadily allow that some refreshment before they return must occasionallybe necessary, and where can they have it more properly than where theirjourney is half performed? Now, sir, from your general knowledge of theworld, I make no doubt but you are well assured that the most generaltopicks, in conversation at Public-Houses, are Politics and Religion, withwhich, God knows, ninety-nine out of one hundred of those who participatein the general clamour are totally unacquainted; and that perpetuallyringing in the ears of a Pastor, who has the welfare and happiness of hisflock at heart, must be no small mortification. To divert their attentionfrom those foibles over their cups, I take down my violin and play them afew tunes, which gives me an opportunity of seeing that they get no moreliquor than necessary for refreshment; and if the young people propose adance I seldom answer in the negative; nevertheless when I announce ittime for their return they are ever ready to obey my commands, andgenerally with the donation of sixpence, they shake hands with mychildren, and bid God bless them. --Thus my parishioners derive a tripleadvantage, being instructed, fed and amused at the same time: moreover, this method of spending their Sundays being so congenial with theirinclinations, that they are imperceptibly led along the path of piety andmorality . . . '" with many other arguments Mr Carter supported his case sothat "the Archdeacon very candidly acknowledged the propriety of Mr C. 'sarguments in defence of his conduct, and complimented him on hisdiscernment in using the most convenient vehicle for instruction. "

Concerning a case of bear-baiting we have a most detailed account whichCalvert heads with "The Baiting of a Bear at Pickering, Tuesday, Aug. 15th, 1809, which I did myself witness. " Then he begins: "A week Wednesdaysenight there did with drum and pan pipes parade publickly the streets ofthis town two mountebanks leading by a chain a monster brown bruin which, as well as it being a good dancer and handing of its pole, its master didaclaim it to be the master of any dog of no odds what be its breed andwhich they would match for a crown to come off conqueror if given fairplay and a fifteen-foot chain. Now it happening that in these parts therebe living several sporting men some of which be owners of bull dogs ofgood courage and nowther dog nor master ever shirking a fight more thanone dog was entered for to test its skill. "

A day was fixed for the contests which were to take place in thecastleyard, and soon the news was so handed from mouth to mouth that thedemand for seats in the rough wooden stand, erected for those who chose topay, was so great that another stand was built and the first one wasenlarged. 

On the appointed day a huge concourse including "farmers, butchers, hucksters, badgers, cadgers, horse-jobbers, drovers, loafers and scampsand raggels of all kinds" assembled in the castleyard. 

There were "not a few young sparks and bespurred and beruffled bucks comethither from as far as Hull" who had brought with them certain overdressedwomen. 

The first dog matched against the bear was owned by one Castle Jack "aworthless waistrel. " The bear received the rush of the dog standing on hishind legs and gripped him in his forepaws, biting and crushing him todeath. After this no one seemed inclined to let their dogs go to suchcertain death and the assemblage gradually became disorderly and manyquarrels and fights took place before the crowd finally dispersed. 

Calvert says, "and so when I did withdraw myself, the whole crowd seemedto be owther cursing, fighting, or loudly proffering for to fight any one. As I took my steps back to my uncle I could not help but consider thatthose of the Methodist holding, who did as we went towards the green [atthe west end of the market-place] beg and pray of us to be mindfull of oursinfull pleasures and of the wroth to come and who did pray us to thenturn from our sinfull course, and though we who did pass them did so withscoffs and . . . Gibes in some cases, yet I could not help but in my heartconsider that they were fully in the right on't. "

There is a remarkable story recorded of the fatal result of hunting ablack-brushed fox found at Sinnington. It was on Thursday, January 13th, 1803, that "a black-brush'd fox was setten up at the high side ofSinnington. Some there were who left the hounds the instant they seed thecolour of its brush for they minded that one who lived in those parts overa hundred years agone and who was held to be wise in dark things had owneda black-brushed reynard as a companion and which being on the moor on atime when hounds came that way they gave chace and presently killed, w^chdid so vex the wise dame that she was heard to cast a curse upon all thosewho should ever after give chace to one of its offspring and it hath beingnoted that by times when there be a black brush and it do be hunted thatit is never catched and there be always some ill fall upon him who doesfirst clap eyes on't and set the hounds on its scent. On this very day didsome then present give chace and followed for ower three good hours whilebaith men, horses and hounds were all dead beat and just when they did aimfor to claim its brush one Holliday fell from his horse and brake hisneck, and he it was who had first set een on't. They were then close uponChop Yatt ower forty mile by the course they had run. It was then broughtto mind that one Blades a score years afore had been suddenly called toaccount on the same venture. 

"One verse of an old hunting ditty which tells a tale of four bold riderswho came by their death ower a cragg afollowing one of this same breedmany years agone now, it tells in this wise:--

"Draw rein and think, bold hunter halt, Sly Reynard let go free, To ride ahint yon full black brushMeans death to you or me. No luck can come so get you homeAnd there tie up your steed, Yon black brush is ye devil wandIt scents ye grave to feed. "

The Sinnington hounds have long been famous in the North Riding, and theirhistory goes back to the earliest days of fox-hunting in these parts. TheBilsdale being the only pack that claims an earlier origin. WilliamMarshall, the agricultural writer (mentioned a few pages further on), hunted with the Sinnington pack for many years, and Jack Parker, huntsmanof last century, was a very notable character whose witty anecdotes arestill remembered. The silver-mounted horn illustrated here bearing theinscription "Sinnington Hunt 1750" is preserved at Pickering. Until abouttwenty-five years ago the pack was "trencher fed, " the hounds beingscattered about in twos and threes at the various farms and houses in theneighbourhood. The kennels are now at Kirby Moorside. 

[Illustration: THE OLD HORN OF THE SINNINGTON HUNT. It is dated 1750 onone of the silver bands. ] A curious "Dandy Horse" race was held atPickering on June 22, 1813. Calvert describing it in his quaint way says:"On this day, Tuesday, June 22, 1813, Robert Kitching, Hungate, Pickeringand S. Hutchinson of Helmsley, did bring off the wager they had laid often guineas apiece for their men to race from Pickering to Helmsleyastride each of his master's dandy horse, which is a machine having twowheels in a line afixed with forks to a support beam upon which thereresteth a saddle so high from the ground that the rider hath a grip on theground, for it be by the pressure of the foot upon the ground that thisnew horse is shoved along, there be also a handle to hold by with a softpad, this is for to rest the chest against as to gain a greater grip withthe feet, the two Gladiators started fair away at ten of the clock, therebeen then come together from all parts upwards it was held of two thousandpeople, many on horseback arriving for to see this novel race from startto finish. " However, when the opponents had covered about half thedistance, one of them overstrained himself and gave up and the otheradmitted that "he was ommaist at the far end" so that the crowd assembledat Helmsley to see the finish waited in vain for the riders. 

Although Pickering is several miles from the sea some of the moreimportant people of the town were for many years closely interested in thewhaling industry. It was about the year 1775, that Mr Nicholas Piper andsome of his friends made a bold financial venture in the purchase of the_Henrietta_ which became in time one of the most successful Greenlandwhalers sailing from the port of Whitby. Some of the ship's logs and alsoan account book are preserved by Mr Loy at Keld Head Hall, and from them Ihave been able to obtain some interesting facts. For a year or two theship yielded no profits, but in 1777 there was a sum of £640 to be dividedbetween the partners in the enterprise. Gradually the profits increaseduntil they produced an annual total of about £2000. 

Some of the entries in the account book are curious. These are some of theitems in the preliminary expenses:--

"Jowsey's Bill for harpoon stocks and seal clubs, £3 2 8To ye master to get hands in Shetland, 21 0 0To ye sailors to drink as customary ye first voyage, 1 1 0A crimp shipping seamen, 0 6 0

Then in 1776 comes:--

"By ye crimp's bill Sept. Ye 20th, 225 0 6

Each voyage meant an advantage to Pickering, for it supplied the salt porkfor the sailors. These are some of the entries:--

"1776. Paid for piggs at Pickering, £65 5 0 1777. Do. Do. 59 19 6 Tom Dobson for carriage of do. , 1 11 0 Window broke by firing a signal gun for sailing, 0 4 61778. Cheeses at Pickering, £ 2 10 9 Paid for Piggs at Pickering, 55 14 5 Tom Dobson for carriage of piggs, 1 3 01779. James Gray's lodging ashore time of ye smallpox, 0 15 0 Paid for piggs at Pickering, 51 2 0 Paid at Saltergate for boys eating, etc. , 0 4 6

[Illustration: A Typical Cottage of the Oldest Type. 

This is at Hutton Buscel. The small window lighting the ingle-nook isinvariably in this position in the oldest cottages, and the recess and thecarved oak cupboard door are usually to be found in the wall as in theillustration. In this, as in most of the cottages, a kitchen range hastaken the place of the open hearth. ]

One imagines that these boys were in charge of the pigs. But they musthave been pork by that time for the next entry is:--

"To Tom Dobson for carriage of pork, £1 16 0

and another entry mentions that it was packed in barrels at Pickering. 

"1780. Grundall Saltergate for lads eating, etc. , £0 8 6

Then comes a gap of about eight years, several pages having been torn out. 

"1789. Robt. Dobson for carriage of pork, £1 4 0 1792. Lads at Saltergate as they came home, 0 2 6 1793. A man coming to Pickering to bring news of ship--be ashore, 0 8 0

This apparently means that a man was sent to Pickering to tell the ownersthat the _Henrietta_ had arrived. 

"1799. Piggs at Pickering, £125 9 8 1801. Do. , 181 8 8 1802. Do. , 208 4 6 1815. Old Tom's expenses, turnpikes at Pickering, 0 6 6

In 1785 when the _Henrietta_ made her annual voyage to the northern seasshe had on board William Scoresby who in five years' time was to becomecaptain of the vessel. He was the son of a small farmer at Cropton and wasborn on the 3rd of May 1760. His parents wished him to keep toagricultural pursuits and after a very brief education at the villageschool he commenced this arduous form of labour at the age of nine. Hekept to this work until he was twenty when he could no longer resist hislongings for a broader sphere of work. To obtain this he went to Whitbyand apprenticed himself to a ship-owner. He acquired a thorough knowledgeof seamanship with great rapidity and in his second year of service at seadetected an error in the reckoning which would otherwise have caused theloss of the ship. For this, his only reward was the ill-will of the matewhose mistake he had exposed. He therefore joined the _Speedwell_ anordnance ship carrying stores to Gibraltar but falling in with the Spanishfleet the _Speedwell_ was captured. Her men having been taken to Cadizthey were sent inland to San Lucar de Mayor. From that place, throughbeing somewhat carelessly guarded, Scoresby and one of his companions weresuccessful in making their escape. They reached England after variousadventures and Scoresby having endured many hardships at sea settled downagain to farm work at Cropton for two years. Although having only the verysmallest means he was married at this time to Lady Mary Smith (she wasborn on Lady-day), the eldest daughter of Mr John Smith, a landedproprietor in a small way and a native of Cropton. 

Having reached the position of skipper of the famous _Henrietta_, in 1790, when only thirty years of age, Scoresby was saved from the financialextremes to which he was likely to have been reduced, owing to his smallincome and the increasing expenses of his family. Having successfullycommanded the _Henrietta_ for seven seasons and having augmented in thisway the incomes of the half-dozen Pickeronians interested in the successof the ship, Captain Scoresby's reputation stood high in the Greenlandtrade. In 1798 he accepted the more advantageous offers of a London firmto command the _Dundee_. It was on his third voyage in that ship that, having called at Whitby as usual to say good-bye to his wife and children, Scoresby allowed his third child, William, to go on board the ship as shelay in the roads. When the time came for him to go ashore he was nowhereto be found, for having taken into his head the idea of going the voyagewith his father the little fellow had hidden himself. The shouts for"Master William, " however, brought him to the top of the companion at thelast moment, but his father, understanding the boy's great desire to stayin the ship, decided to take him. 

The voyage was notable on account of a very exciting incident on meetingwith a foreign privateer. The _Dundee_ was armed with twelve guns and wasmanned by a crew of between fifty and sixty men, so that if brought toextremities the ship could have made a good defence. Scoresby, however, had every reason for avoiding a conflict, so keeping his ship in anapparently defenceless state, with all the ports closed, he sent the mento their quarters to prepare the guns for immediate action. No sign ofexcitement or commotion was allowed to appear on deck so that when theprivateer came within shouting distance Scoresby walking the quarter deckand the helmsmen steering were the only living beings visible to thestranger. Suddenly, however, the six gun ports on each side of the_Dundee_ are raised and a row of untompioned cannon are seen pointingtowards the enemy's broadside. The stratagem, according to the accountgiven by the younger Scoresby, [1] was such a huge surprise for the enemythat he suddenly hauled off under full sail and not a shot was fired oneither side. 

[Footnote 1: Scoresby, the Rev. William, D. D. , "My Father, " p. 108. ]

After this voyage young Scoresby went back to school again until 1803 whenhe became an apprentice on board the _Resolution_, a new ship of Whitby, commanded and partly owned by his father. For several years he made theGreenland voyage in the _Resolution_ and was chief officer when, in theyear 1806, his father forced the ship through the pack ice, as far northas 81° 3O'. This was for long the highest point reached by any vessel andthe ship's cargo was completed in thirty-two days with twenty-four whales, two seals, two walruses, two bears and a narwhal. The elder Scoresby whowas about six feet in height was a man of extraordinary muscular power. His many successful voyages reveal his first-class qualities as a seamanand navigator and his good judgment in emergencies seems to have beenalmost instinctive. Although he is described[1] as an Arctic navigator, exploration was only incidental to whale-catching, but his inventions ofthe ice-drill and the crow's-nest did much to make Arctic voyages morefeasible. 

[Footnote 1: "Dictionary of National Biography. "]

The versatility of his son William was remarkable, for he may be describedas master mariner, author and divine and even then his varied scientificknowledge is overlooked. During his latter years he was particularlyinterested in magnetism and in 1856 made his last voyage in order to carryout a series of systematic observations. 

His life, written by his nephew R. E. Scoresby-Jackson, is of greatinterest and Cropton may well be proud that it gave Dr Scoresby to theworld. 

The memory of the _Henrietta_ is not likely to be forgotten so easily asthat of the Scoresbys, for gateposts made from whale jaws are common nearthe coast of north eastern Yorkshire, and one on the road from Pickeringto Scarborough, between the villages of Hutton Buscel and East Ayton, bears the name of the famous ship. 

A contemporary of the Scoresbys was John Jackson, R. A. He was the son of atailor of Lastingham and was born at that very remote village on the 31stMay 1778. As a boy he showed a predilection for portrait-painting in thesketches he made of his companions, although his father discouraged hisefforts in that direction, not wishing to lose his boy's services as anapprentice to the tailoring business. When he was about nineteen he hadthe good fortune to be introduced to Lord Mulgrave who brought him to thenotice of the Earl of Carlisle and soon after we find him studying thegreat collection of pictures at Castle Howard. 

Jackson's first attempt at a painting in oils was a copy of a portrait bySir Joshua Reynolds lent to him by Sir George Beaumont. Lastingham wasunable to supply him with proper materials, but he managed to obtain somevery rough paints and brushes from the village house-painter and glazier, and with these crude materials made such an admirable copy that Sir Georgeor Lord Mulgrave or both together advised him to go to London, promisinghim £50 a year during the time that he was working as a student. From thistime his progress was rapid. In 1804 he exhibited at the Royal Academy forthe first time, in 1815 he was elected an associate and in 1817 hereceived the full honours of the Academy. Although he was a WesleyanMethodist, Jackson was broad-minded in his religious opinions, for he madea copy of Correggio's "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane" (with thefigures increased to life size) for Lastingham parish church. The pictureis now on the north side of the apse but its original position was abovethe communion table and in order to give the picture sufficient space andlight the apse of Transitional Norman date was very roughly treated. Jackson contributed £50 towards the alterations, but the restoration at alater date has fortunately wiped out these disfigurements. 

Another boy destined to become a tailor was Francis Nicholson who was bornat Pickering in 1753. His father, who was a weaver, gave young Francis agood education in Pickering, and wisely abandoning the tailoring idea theboy was sent to Scarborough for instruction from an artist. After threeyears he returned to Pickering and occupied himself in painting portraitsand pictures of horses, dogs and game for local patrons. Then followed aperiod of study in London, where Nicholson made great progress andeventually began to devote himself to water colours, for which in his longlife he was justly famous, well deserving the name generally given to himas the "Father of water colour painting. "

William Marshall, the agricultural expert and writer to whom we owe theestablishment of the Board of Agriculture was baptised at Sinnington on28th July 1745. He was in his own words "born a farmer" and used to saythat he could trace his blood through the veins of agriculturists forupwards of four hundred years. After fourteen years in the West Indies, heundertook, at the age of twenty-nine, the management of a farm nearCroydon in Surrey. It was there, in 1778, that he wrote his first book. Heshowed the manuscript to Dr Johnson who objected to certain passagessanctioning work on Sundays in harvest time, so Marshall omitted them. Hisgreatest work was "A General Survey, from personal experience, observationand enquiry, of the Rural Economy of England. "

The country was divided into six agricultural divisions, the northern onebeing represented by Yorkshire in two volumes. In the first of these, thepreface is dated from Pickering, December 21st, 1787, and the secondchapter is devoted to an exceedingly interesting account of the broadvalley to which Marshall gives the title "The Vale of Pickering. " When hedied in 1818 he was raising a building at Pickering for a College ofAgriculture on the lines he had laid down in a book published in 1799. 

His proposal for the establishment of a "Board of Agriculture, or moregenerally of Rural Affairs" was carried out by Parliament in 1793, and sovaluable were his books considered that in 1803 most of them weretranslated into French and published in Paris under the title of "LaMaison rustique anglaise. " The inscription on Marshall's monument in thenorth aisle of Pickering church which states that "he was indefatigable inthe study of rural economy" and that "he was an excellent mechanic, had aconsiderable knowledge of most branches of science, particularly ofphilology, botany and chemistry" is not an over statement of his merits. 

[Illustration: The Ingle-Nook in Gallow Hill Farm near Brompton. WhereWordsworth stayed just at the time of his marriage with Mary Hutchinson. ]

In the year 1800 the little farm at Gallow Hill near Brompton was taken byone Thomas Hutchinson whose sister Mary kept house for him. She was almostthe same age and had been a schoolfellow of the poet Wordsworth at Penrithand had kept up her friendship with his family since that time, havingvisited them at Racedown and Dove Cottage, while the Wordsworths hadstayed at the Hutchinson's farm at Sockburn-on-Tees. There was nothingsudden or romantic therefore in the marriage which took place at Bromptonin 1802. Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy went down from London to thepretty Yorkshire village in September, and stayed at the little farmhouse, whose parlour windows looked across the Vale of Pickering to the steepwolds on the southern side. The house, as far as I can discover, has notbeen altered in the century which has elapsed, and the cosy ingle-nook inthe room on the right of the entrance remains full of memories of the poetand his betrothed--his "perfect woman, nobly planned. " On the fourth ofOctober the wedding took place in Brompton Church. The grey old steeplesurrounded and overhung by masses of yellow and brown foliage in thecentre of the picturesque, and in many respects, ideal little village, must have formed a perfect setting for the marriage of one who wasafterwards to become the Poet Laureate of his country. The register forthe years 1754-1810 contains the following entry:--

"_Banns of Marriage_ . . . 

William Wordsworth of Grasmere in Westmoreland, Gentleman, _and_ MaryHutchinson _of_ Gallow Hill in the Parish of Brompton _were married inthis_ Church _by_ Licence _this_ fourth _Day of_ October _in the year onethousand_ eight _Hundred and_ two _by me_ John Ellis officiating min^r. 

This marriage was solemnized between us. "

[Illustration: Facsimile of the Signatures in the Register. ]

"In the presence of THOMAS HUTCHINSON. JOANNA HUTCHINSON. JOHN HUTCHINSON. "

The same day Wordsworth with his wife and sister drove to Thirsk and twodays afterwards reached Grasmere, where they soon settled down to anuneventful life at Dove Cottage. Dorothy Wordsworth could not "describewhat she felt, " but we are told that she accepted her sister-in-lawwithout a trace of jealousy. 

There is still preserved in Pickering one of the parchments on which wereenrolled the names of all those who were liable for service in themilitia. It is headed

"Militia Enrollment 1807-8"

and begins:--

"An enrollment of the names of the several persons who have been chosen byballot to serve in the Militia for five years for the west part of thesub-division of Pickering Lyth in the North Riding of the County of Yorkand also of the several substitutes who have been produced and approved toserve for the like term and for such further term as the Militia shallremain embodied, if within the space of five years His Majesty shall orderthe Militia to be drawn out and embodied and are enrolled in the place ofsuch principals whose names are set opposite thereto in pursuance of anact of the 47th of King George III. , Cap. 71, entitled an act for thespeedily completing the Militia of Great Britain and increasing the sameunder certain delimitations and restrictions (14th Aug. 1807). "

The thirty-six men were taken as follows:--

 8 from Middleton. 5 " Kirby Misperton. 16 " Pickering. 1 " Ellerburne. 1 " Levisham. 3 " Sinnington. 1 " Thornton. 

Jonathan Goodall, a farmer of Middleton, induced Geo. Thompson ofPickering, a farmer's servant, 30 years old, to stand for him, paying him£42. 

Wm. Newton, a farmer of Middleton, had to pay Geo. Allen, a linen draperof Richmond, £47, 5s. As substitute. 

The smallest amount paid was £20, and the largest sum was £47, 5s. 

Substitutes seem to have been hard to find in the neighbourhood ofPickering, and those few whose names appear had to be heavily paid. GeorgeBarnfather, a farm servant of Kirby Misperton agreed to serve as asubstitute on payment of £42, and a cartwright of Goathland agreed for thesame sum, while men from Manchester or Leeds were ready to accept halfthat amount. 

The extreme reluctance to serve of a certain Ben Wilson, a sweep ofMiddleton, is shown in a story told of him by a very old inhabitant ofPickering whose memory is in no way impaired by her years. She tells usthat this Wilson on hearing of his ill-luck seized a carving-knife andgoing to the churchyard put his right hand on a gate-post and fiercely cutoff the two fingers required for firing a rifle. He avoided active servicein this way and often showed his mutilated hand to the countryfolk who mayor may not have admired the deed. 

In 1823 Pickering was kept in touch with Whitby, York and Scarborough bycoaches that ran three times a week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday acoach (Royal Mail) left the "Black Swan" in the market place for Whitby atthe painfully early hour of four o'clock in the morning; another RoyalMail left Pickering for York at half-past three in the afternoon onSunday, Tuesday and Thursday. The stages were from

Whitby to Saltergate. Saltergate to Pickering. Pickering to Malton. Malton to Spital Beck. Spital Beck to York. 

There was also what was called the "Boat Coach" that ran between Pickeringand Scarborough. 

One of the last drivers of these coaches became a guard on the NorthEastern Railway, and he still lives in Pickering at the time of writing. 

The parish chest in the vestry of Pickering Church contains among otherpapers a number of apprenticeship deeds of a hundred to a hundred andfifty years ago, in which the master promises that he will educate the boyand "bring him up in some honest and lawful calling and in the fear ofGod, " and in most cases to provide him with a suit of clothes at thecompletion of his term, generally at the age of twenty-one years. 

The odd papers registering the arrival of new inhabitants in the districtinclude one dated 1729, and in them we find a churchwarden possessing sucha distinguished name as Hotham, signing that surname without a capital, and in 1809 we find an overseer of the poor only able to make his markagainst the seal. 

The largest bell in the church tower is dated 1755 and bears theinscription, "First I call you to God's word, and at last unto the Lord. "It is said that this bell was cracked owing to the great strength of oneof the ringers, and that the date 1755 is the year of the re-casting. Theflagon is the only piece of the church plate belonging to this period. Itwas made in 1805 by Prince of York. 

In the year 1837 the Rev. Joseph Kipling, grandfather of Mr RudyardKipling, was living at Pickering, and on the 6th of July of that year ason, John, was born. Mr Joseph Kipling was a Wesleyan minister, and hisresidence at Pickering was only a temporary one. 

Another Wesleyan who was living at this time was John Castillo, the authorof many quaint poems in the Yorkshire dialect, and an original localpreacher as well. He died in 1845, and his grave is to be seen in theburial-ground of the Wesleyan Chapel. It bears a verse from "Awd Isaac, "the poem by which he is best known--

"Bud noo his eens geean dim i' deeath, Nera mare a pilgrim here on eeath, His sowl flits fra' her shell beneeath, Te reealms o' day, Whoor carpin care an' pain an' deeath Are deean away. "

In 1720 a new chapel was built at Pickering for Protestant Dissenters, butbefore that time--as early as 1702--Edward Brignall's house was set apartfor divine worship by Dissenters. An Independent Church was formed in1715, the people probably meeting in private houses for several years. After this, little is known until 1788, when the Independent Church wasagain established, and in the following year a chapel was built, and itwas enlarged in 1814. 

It is an interesting fact that about 1862 the small manual organ in theIndependent church was played by a Mr Clark, who was organist at theParish church in the morning and at the chapel in the afternoon andevening. Before this time the Independents had contented themselves withviolins and a bass viol, and for a time with a clarionette. 

In 1801, the population of Pickering was 1994, and at the last censusbefore the accession of Queen Victoria it had increased to 2555. 

During the Georgian period Pickering's only external illumination at nightwas from that precarious "parish lantern, " the moon. The drainage of thetown was crude and far too obvious, and in all the departments for thesupply of daily necessities, the individualistic system of wells, oil-lamps or candles and cesspools continued without interference from anymunicipal power. 

The houses and cottages built at this time are of stone among the hills, and of a mixture of brick and stone in the vale. Examples of cottages canbe seen in the village of Great Habton. They are dated 1741 and 1784, andare much less picturesque than those of the seventeenth century, thoughvillage architecture had not then reached the gaunt ugliness of the earlyVictorian Age. 

The parish registers throughout the district were regularly kept, and as arule contain nothing of interest beyond the bare records of births, deathsand marriages. The great proportion of villagers, however, who at thistime signed their names with a mark, shows that the art of writing wasstill a rare thing among the peasantry. The church account books of theperiod reveal many curious items such as the frequent repairs of the_thatch_ on the vestry at Middleton (thatched churches are still to beseen in Norfolk and Suffolk), and "£5, 19s. 6d. In all for the Violin orBase Musick" of the same church. 

Churchwarden architecture of the deal boards and whitewash order madehideous many of the village churches that required repairs at this time, and if one discovers a ramshackle little porch such as that just removedat Ellerburne, or a big window with decayed wooden mullions cut in a wall, regardless of symmetry, one may be quite safe in attributing it to theearly years of the nineteenth century. One of the staple industries ofPickering and the adjoining villages at this time was weaving, and a greatnumber of the cottages had the room on the opposite side of the passage tothe parlour fitted up with a loom. 

We have now seen many aspects of the daily life in and near Pickeringduring the Georgian period. We know something of sports and amusements ofthe people, of their religious beliefs, their work, their customs atmarriages and deaths, and we also have some idea of the dreadful beingsthat these country folk trembled at during the hours of darkness. We havediscovered more than one remarkable man who was born and bred in theseprimitive surroundings, and we have learnt something of one of the tradesthat helped to make Pickering prosperous. 

CHAPTER XII

_The Forest and Vale from Early Victorian Times to the Present Day_

A. D. 1837 to 1905

This most recent stage in the development of Pickering is marked by theextinction of the few remaining customs that had continued to exist sincemediæval times. One of the most hardy of these survivals was the custom of"Riding t' fair, " as it was generally called. It only died out abouttwenty years ago when the Pickering Local Board purchased the tolls fromthe Duchy of Lancaster, so that it has been possible to obtain aphotographic record of two of the Duchy tenants who used to take part inthe ceremony. On market mornings the Steward of the Duchy armed with asword in a richly gilt scabbard would repair to the castle on horseback, where he would be joined by two freeholders of Duchy land, also mounted;one carrying the antique halbert and the other the spetum that are nowpreserved in a solicitor's office in Eastgate. [1] They would then ridedown to the top of the market-place, where the steward would take out ofhis pocket a well-worn piece of parchment and read the followingproclamation. 

"_O'yes! O'yes! O'yes!_

"Our Sovereign Lady the Queen and the Reverend John Richard Hill, Lord ofthis Manor, proclaim this fair by virtue of Her Majesty's writ of _ad quodDamnum_, for establishing the same for buying and selling of horses, geldings, cattle, sheep, swine, and all sorts of merchandise brought hereto be sold, and do hereby order and direct a court of Pye Powder to beheld at the house of Robert Simpson, where all matters in Difference willbe heard and determined according to Law and Justice, and that no persondo presume to buy or sell anything but between the rising and setting ofthe Sun, and they do strictly charge and command all persons to be of goodbehaviour during the continuance of this Fair. 

"God save the Queen and the Lord of the Manor. "

[Footnote 1: Mr Arthur Kiching's office. The sword is kept by Mr Boulton. ]

[Illustration: THE OLD CUSTOM OF RIDING T' FAIR AT PICKERING. 

Two of the Duchy tenants carrying the halbert and spetum as they used toappear when the market proclamation was read. ]

[Illustration: THE HALBERT (7 feet long) and SPETUM (6 feet 2 inches)that were carried by the men who accompanied the Steward of the Duchy whenhe declared the markets open. ]

The parchment is now in the possession of the present steward of the Duchyproperty, Mr J. D. Whitehead, who was appointed in 1887 and was the last toread the proclamation. From the market-place the steward with his armedattendants rode to the east end of Hungate, and to one or two other pointsin the town, reading the proclamation at each place. 

The Court Leet, or, as its full title appears, the Court Leet, View ofFrank Pledge, Court Baron, Copy-hall and Customary Court of the CastleManor and Honour of Pickering, still meets every second year in October orNovember. Twenty-seven out of thirty-eight townships used to berepresented by a constable and four men. Appointed annually and with muchsolemnity were the following list of officials:--

2 Constables. 2 Market Searchers. 2 Yarn Tellers. 2 Reeves. 2 Ale Tasters. 2 Leather Searchers. 2 Pinders (for stray cattle). 2 Water Searchers. 

Of all these only the two pinders are now appointed to deal with straycattle, and the sole use of the court at the present time is that of theenforcement of the clearing out of the drains and ditches on the Duchyproperty. The fines levied average from 6d. To 5s. , but I have seen therecord of as large an amount as 10s. Imposed on a tenant who had allowed atree to obstruct the flow of the water. The importance of keeping thelevel fields of the Vale properly drained is obvious, for a permanentobstruction might easily mean the flooding of a considerable area. 

The jury dines at the expense of the Duchy of Lancaster at each meeting, and there is a "View Supper, " as it is called, a week before the meeting, when the jury, having spent the whole day examining the ditches and drainsbetween the fields, gather in the evening at one of the inns. The stewardcontributes a quarter of mutton, and the Lord of the Manor a couple ofhares for soup. 

[Illustration: AN OLD KEY BELONGING TO THE CASTLE. 

(_Now kept by Mr John, Westmoreland, Bailiff_. )]

The Court Leet still appoints the town's bellman in an informal manner;until lately he was reappointed and sworn in every year. At the presenttime the holder of the office is Levi Massheder, who has painted over thedoor of his house the curious inscription, "His Honourable Majesty'sbellman. "

In July 1857 the old shambles that stood at the top of the market-place, and in which three bullocks a week were killed by the six butchers, camedown to be replaced by the unsightly building that now disfigures the mainstreet of the town. It is a matter for surprise that the townsfolk did notutilise a valuable opportunity and put up in its place something thatwould have added to the attractiveness of the place and at the same timehave commemorated the reign of Queen Victoria. The building might have hadan open space beneath that would have been useful in bad weather on marketdays. The disappearance of the shambles occurred about the same time asthe sweeping away of the stocks that stood on the north side of them, forthese were the years of a great municipal awakening in Pickering, anawakening that unfortunately could not distinguish between an insanitarysewer and the obsolete but historic and quite inoffensive stocks; both hadto disappear before the indiscriminating wave of progress. 

[Illustration: The Shambles at Pickering. A sketch plan and elevationdrawn from details given by old inhabitants. ]

In October 1846 the railway between Whitby and Pickering, that had beenbuilt ten years before for a horse-drawn coach, was opened for steamtraction, and although this event is beyond the memories of most of thepresent-day Pickeronians, there is still living in the town a man namedWill Wardell who is now seventy-seven, and as a boy of twelve acted aspostillion to the horse railway. Postillions were only employed for ashort time, the horse or horses being soon afterwards driven from thecoach. 

As a rule they employed one horse from Pickering to Raindale, where therewas a public-house; then two to Fenbogs, and one to Bank Top aboveGoathland. If the wind were fair the coach would run to Grosmont byitself, after that one horse took the coach to Whitby. If more than onehorse were used they were yoked tandem; five were kept at Raindale, whereWardell lived. There were two coaches, "The Lady Hilda" and the "Premier";they were painted yellow and carried outside, four in front, four behind, and several others on the top, while inside there was room for six. Wardell helped to make the present railway, and has worked for fifty-fiveyears as a platelayer on the line. He remembers Will Turnbull of Whitbywho used to act as guard on the railway coach, and in the same capacity onthe stage-coach from Pickering to York. He made the journey from Whitby toYork and back daily, the coach running in conjunction with the railwaycoach; the two drivers were Mathew Groves and Joseph Sedman. 

Gas, which must have been a perpetual wonder to the village folk when theycame into Pickering, made its appearance in 1847; but even at the time ofwriting the town is only illuminated from the 10th of August until the endof April, and even in that period the streets are plunged in darkness at11 p. M. The drainage of the town was taken in hand to some extent aboutfifty years ago, and the pestilential ditches and sewers that existed towithin thirty years of the present time have gradually disappeared. Thenbetween thirty and forty years ago the great spring in the limestone atKeld Head was utilised to give the town a water-supply, and thus the wellsand pumps were superseded. Before the Local Board came into being abouthalf a century ago, piles of timber were allowed to lie in Eastgate, andgenerally one may imagine the rather untidy quaintness so stronglycharacteristic of the engravings that illustrate country scenes in thatperiod. 

In 1841 or thereabouts there was a great gale that carried away the sailsof the windmill which stood near the railway station, and a year or twoafterwards the brick tower was demolished. 

The early years of Queen Victoria's reign saw the destruction of severalpicturesque features, and they also witnessed the decease of some more ofthe old customs that were still fighting for their existence. Some of theold folks can just remember hearing their fathers tell of "the standing inchurch, " described in the last chapter, and they quite well remember whenthe children used to receive prizes for saying poetry in front of theCommunion-table in the parish church. Stang-riding continued up totwenty-five years ago in spite of the opposition of the police. Twofigures to represent the individuals who had earned popular disfavour wereplaced in a cart and taken round the town for three successive nights, accompanied by a noisy crowd, who sang--

"Arang atang atangHere do we ride the stang, Not for my cause nor your causeDo we ride the stang, But for the sake of old. . . . "

On the third night the effigies were burnt. 

There was formerly a gallery at the west end of the church where the choirand organ were situated so that during the musical portions of theservices the congregation turned towards the west to face the choir. Aboutfifty years ago the leader who started the tune with a trumpet was JamesRuddock "a bedstuffer. " An old pitch-pipe used for starting the tunes wasrecently discovered by Mr J. Grant James, vicar of Marske-in-Cleveland. 

Hungate Bridge, an iron structure, having made its appearance in 1864, is, as may be imagined, no ornament to the town. 

In November 1851 the weathercock on the spire of the church was blown off, and in the following year it was replaced. 

The restoration in 1878-79 included the very difficult work of renewingthe Norman foundations of the tower, which were quite unable to continueto support the crushing weight of the spire. Sir Gilbert Scott, whoinspected the tower and was pointed out several of the results of theunequal strains on the fabric, solemnly warned those concerned not to bestingy with cement if they wished to save the tower. The advice was taken, and after the removal of the crushed and rotten stones and many otherrepairs the tower and spire were left in a state of greatly increasedsecurity. The framework supporting the bells dated from about 1450, and asthere were no louvres to the windows for a long time, rain and snow musthave been blown in upon the woodwork, for it was found to be entirelyrotten, and it was astonishing that the timbers had not given way underthe great weight of the bells. 

[Illustration: THE OLD FIRE-ENGINE AT PICKERING. ]

It is an old custom that is still preserved to ring the biggest, or the"pancake" bell, as it is often called, at eleven in the morning on ShroveTuesday. At that welcome sound the children are allowed to leave schoolfor the day, the shops are closed, and a general holiday is observed inthe town. The work bell is rung every morning from 5. 55 to 6. 0, and from6. 0 to 6. 5 every evening from March to November, and the bells are rungbackwards to call out the fire brigade. The curious little fire-engineupon which the town used to rely is still preserved in a shed inWillowgate. It is one of those primitive little contrivances standing onvery small solid wheels, suggesting those of a child's toy horse. 

Until the restoration of the church the pulpit was of the two-decker type, the clerk's desk being under the pulpit, with the reading-desk at theside. The inlaid sounding-board which was taken out of the church at therestoration is now preserved in the vicarage. It was in these days, namelyabout thirty years ago, that the sexton and his deputy used to visit thepublic-houses during church time in order to fetch out those who werewasting the precious hours. At Christmas time the waits still enliven theearly hours with their welcomes to each individual member of every family. The two men, whose names are Beavers and Stockdale, carry a concertina andgreet the household after this well-known fashion, "Drawing to -----o'clock and a fine frosty morning. Good morrow morning, Mr -----. Goodmorrow morning, Mrs -----, " and so through the entire family. This processcommences a week before Christmas and is continued until a weekafterwards. In the villages the custom of "lucky birds" still survives. The boy who first reaches any house on Christmas morning is called a"lucky bird, " and unless great misfortune is courted some small coin mustbe given to that boy. On New Year's Day the same process applies to girls, but they have no particular designation. Badger-baiting in the castle isstill remembered, but at the present time lawn-tennis is the only gamethat is played there. This brings one to the everyday facts of Pickeringlife, which may sound almost too prosaic for any record, but taken incontrast with the conditions of life that have gone before they are themost recent page of that history which continues to be made day by day inthe town. 

The Pickeronian can no longer call himself remote in the sense ofcommunication with the rest of the world, for the North-Eastern Railwaytakes him to York in little more than an hour, and from that great stationhe can choose his route to London and other centres by the Great Northern, the Great Central, or by the Midland Railway, and he can return fromKing's Cross to Pickering in about five hours. But this ease ofcommunication seems to have made less impression upon the manners andcustoms of the town and neighbourhood than might have been imagined. Itmay perhaps show itself in the more rapid importation from London of apopular street tune or in the fashions of dress among the women-kind, butthere are still great differences in the ways of living of the countryfolk and in the relations of squire and peasant. 

Superstitions still linger among the moorland folk, and the custom ofplacing a plate of salt upon the breast of one who is dying is stillcontinued here and there in a covert fashion. Clocks are still stopped, fires raked out, and looking-glasses turned to the wall at the moment ofdeath, but such acts of deference to the world of fancy are naturally onlyseen by those who have intimate experience of the cottage life of theseparts, and the casual visitor sees no traces of them. 

The town at one time had a newspaper of its own. It was known as the_Pickering Mercury_, and was started in the summer of 1857; but it perhapsfound Scarborough competition too much for it, for now it is almostforgotten, and an evening paper produced in the big watering-place isshouted round the streets of the town every night. 

The changes that the present century may witness will possibly workgreater transformations than any that have gone before, and not many yearshence this book will no doubt be described as belonging to the rough andready, almost primitive times of the early part of the twentieth century. The historian of a hundred years hence will sigh for the complete pictureof daily life at Pickering at the present day, which we could so easilygive, while he at that very moment may be failing to record the scenes ofhis own time that are to him so wofully commonplace. 

CHAPTER XIII

_Concerning the Villages and Scenery of the Forest and Vale of Pickering_

 "Wide horizons beckoning, far beyond the hill, Little lazy villages, sleeping in the vale, Greatness overhead The flock's contented tread An' trample o' the morning wind adown the open trail. "

H. H. Bashford. 

[Illustration: The Market Cross at Thornton-le-Dale. 

The stocks are quite modern, replacing the old ones which were thrown awaywhen the new ones were made. ]

The scenery of this part of Yorkshire is composed of two strikinglyopposite types, that of perfectly wild, uncultivated moorlands broken hereand there by wooded dales, and the rich level pasture lands that occupythe once marshy district of the Vale. The villages, some phases of whosehistory we have traced, are with a few exceptions scattered along thenorthern margin of the Vale. Lastingham, Rosedale Abbey, Levisham, Lockton, and Newton are villages of the moor. Edstone, Habton, Normanby, Kirby Misperton, and Great Barugh are villages of the Vale; but all therest occupy an intermediate position on the slopes of the hills. Ingeneral appearance, many of the hamlets are rather similar, the grey stonewalls and red tiles offering less opportunity for individual taste thanthe building materials of the southern counties. Despite this difficulty, however, each village has a distinct character of its own, and in thecases of Thornton-le-Dale and Brompton, the natural surroundings of hill, sparkling stream, and tall masses of trees make those two villages unique. A remarkable effect can sometimes be seen by those who are abroad in theearly morning from the hills overlooking the wide valley; one is at timesable to see across the upper surface of a perfectly level mist throughwhich the isolated hills rising from the low ground appear as islets in alake, and it requires no effort of the imagination to conjure up theaspect of the valley when the waters of the Derwent were held up by ice inthe remote centuries of the Ice Age. Sometimes in the evening, too, apleasing impression may be obtained when the church bells of the villagesare ringing for evening service. At the top of Wrelton Cliff, the sound ofseveral peals of bells in the neighbouring villages floats upwards acrossthe broad pastures, and it seems almost as though the whole plain beneathone's feet were joining in the evening song. Along the deep ravine ofNewton Dale, in all weathers, some of the most varied and richly colouredpictures may be seen. If one climbs the rough paths that lead up from thewoods and meadows by the railway, the most remarkable aspects of theprecipitous sides are obtained. In a book published in 1836, [1] at thetime of the opening of the railway between Whitby and Pickering, a seriesof very delicate steel engravings of the wild scenery of Newton Dale weregiven. One of them shows the gorge under the deep gloom of a storm butrelieved with the contrast of a rainbow springing from one side of therocky walls. This effect may perhaps seem highly exaggerated, but on oneoccasion when I was exploring part of the Dale, between Levisham and FenBogs, I was astonished to see a brilliant rainbow backed by dense massesof indigo clouds and occupying precisely the position of the one shown inthe old engraving. In such weather as this, when sudden rays of sunlightfall upon the steep slopes of bracken and heather and on the precipitousrocks above, the blazing colours seem almost unreal and the scenerysuggests Scotland more than any other part of England. From the edges ofthe cañon, purple heather and ling stretch away on either side to the mostdistant horizons, and one can walk for miles in almost any directionwithout encountering a human being and rarely a house of any description. The few cottages that now stand in lonely isolation in different parts ofthe moors have only made their appearance since the Enclosures Act, sothat before that time these moors must have been one of the most extensivestretches of uninhabited country in England. From the Saltersgate Inn, some of the most remarkable views that the moorlands present are allcollected together in a comparatively small space. One looks towards thewest across a remarkably deep ravine with precipitous sides that leads outof Newton Dale towards the old coach road upon which the lonely hostelrystands. At the foot of the steep rocks, a stream trickles into a basin andthen falls downwards in a small cascade, finding its way into thePickering Beck that flows along the bottom of Newton Dale. From the innalso, the great ravine we have been describing appears as an enormoustrench cut through the heathery plateau, and we are led to wonder how itwas that no legends as to its origin have survived until the present time. The Roman road, which is supposed to have been built by Wade and his wifewhen they were engaged on the construction of Mulgrave and PickeringCastles, seems uninspiring beside the majestic proportions of Newton Dale. To the south of the Saltersgate Inn lies the remarkable circular hollowamong the hills known as the Hole of Horcum, and the bold bluff known asSaltersgate Brow rises like an enormous rampart from the smooth brown orpurple heather. To the west lies the peculiarly isolated hill known asBlakey Topping, and, a little to the south, are the Bride Stones, thoseimposing masses of natural rock that project themselves above the moor. The Saltersgate Inn has lost the importance it once possessed as thestopping-place for the coaches between Whitby and Pickering, but is stillthe only place of refreshment for many miles across the moors, and itsvery isolation still gives it an importance for those who seek sport orexercise on these breezy wastes. 

[Footnote 1: Henry Belcher, "The Scenery of the Whitby and PickeringRailway, " facing p. 51. ]

Levisham and Lockton, the twin villages that stand upon the very edge ofthe heather, are separated by a tremendous valley, and although from abovethey may seem so close as to be almost continuous, in reality they are asremote from one another as though they were separated by five or sixmiles. To reach Levisham from Lockton means a break-neck descent of a verydangerous character and a climb up from the mill and lonely church at thebottom of the valley that makes one marvel how the village ever came to beperched in a position of such inaccessibility. The older inhabitants ofLevisham tell you that in their young days the village was more populous, and their statements are supported by the pathetic evidence of more thanone cottage lying in ruins with the interior occupied by a jungle ofnettles. The Vicarage is the only new building that breaks the mellowedgrey tones of the wide, grass-bordered street. 

[Illustration: LOCKTON VILLAGE. The ash tree that grows on the churchtower can be seen in the drawing. ]

Lockton is a larger and better preserved village. The little church withits grey tower is noticeable on account of the vigorous ash-tree thatgrows from the parapet. It has been there for many years, and I am toldthat the roots have penetrated for a very great distance among the stones, and may even be drawing their sustenance from the ground. In order toprevent the undue growth of the tree, it is periodically cut down to onebranch, but even with this wholesale lopping the tree has forced many ofthe stones from their original positions. 

The interior of the church is a melancholy spectacle of churchwardenmethods, but probably Lockton will before many years receive that carefulrestoration that has taken place at Ellerburne and Sinnington. The font isone of those unadorned, circular basins which generally date from thethirteenth century. One of the village inns is known as "The Durham Ox, "and bears a sign adorned with a huge beast whose pensive but intelligenteye looks down upon all passers-by. The village stocks that used to standoutside the churchyard wall on the east side, near the presentschoolhouse, are remembered by the older inhabitants. They were taken awayabout forty years ago. The few thatched cottages that remain in thevillage are unfortunately being allowed to fall into disrepair, but thisis the case in most of the villages. 

Newton, or, as its full name should be given, Newton-upon-Rawcliff, standson the verge of Newton Dale. Its small modern church has no interest forthe antiquary, but the broad roadway between the houses and thewhitewashed cottages thrown up against the strip of grass on either sideis picturesque enough. 

Northwards from Newton lies the minute moorland hamlet of Stape, itshouses and its inn, "The Hare and Hounds, " being perched indiscriminatelyon the heather. Some miles beyond lies Goathland, that formerly belongedto the parish of Pickering. The present church was built in 1895, but itis here that the fine pre-Reformation chalice that originally belonged toPickering is still in use. The village has a large green overlooked hereand there by pretty cottages, and the proximity of the richly colouredmoorland scenery that lies spread out in every direction makes the placeparticularly fascinating. The railway in the valley has brought a few newhouses to the village, but there seems little chance of any greataccretions of this nature, although the existence of the railway stationis a permanent menace to the rural character of the place. 

Middleton, the hamlet immediately to the west of Pickering, lies along themain road to Helmsley. Its interesting old church is surrounded by trees, and might almost be passed unnoticed. The post-office is in one of theoldest cottages. Its massive oak forks must have endured for manycenturies, and the framework of the doorway leading into the garden behindmust be of almost equal antiquity. 

Between the years 1764 and 1766, John Wesley, on his northern circuit, visited this unassuming little village and preached in the pulpit of theparish church. A circular sun-dial bearing the motto "We stay not, " andthe date 1782, appears above the porch, and the church is entered by afine old door of the Perpendicular period. A paddock on the west side ofthe graveyard is known as the nun's field, but I have no knowledge of anymonastic institution having existed at Middleton. Aislaby, the nextvillage to the west, is so close that one seems hardly to have leftMiddleton before one reaches the first cottage of the next hamlet. Thereis no church here, and the only conspicuous object as one passes westwardsis the Hall, a large stone house standing close to the road on the southside. Wrelton is only half a mile from Aislaby. It stands at thecross-roads where the turning to Lastingham and Rosedale Abbey leaves theHelmsley Road. The cottages are not particularly ancient, and there are nostriking features to impress themselves on the memory of the passer-by. AtSinnington, however, we reach a village of marked individuality. The broadgreen is ornamented with a bridge that spans the wide stony course of theriver Seven; but more noticeable than this is the very tall maypole thatstands on the green and appears in the distance as a tapering mast thathas been sloped out of perpendicular by the most prevailing winds. It wasaround an earlier maypole that stood in the place of the existing one thatthe scene between the "Broad Brims" and the merry-making villagers thathas already been mentioned took place nearly two centuries ago. Thepresent maypole was erected on May 29th 1882, replacing one which had comeinto existence on the same day twenty years before. The recently restoredchurch of Sinnington stands slightly above the green, backed by the treeson the rising ground to the north of the village. The new roof of redtiles would almost lead one to imagine that the building was a modern one, and one would scarcely imagine that it dates chiefly from the twelfthcentury. A custom which is still remembered by some of the older villagerswas the roasting of a sheep by the small bridge on the green on November23rd in Martinmas week. The children used to go round a few days before, collecting money for the purchase of the sheep. Although these quaintcustoms are no longer continued at Sinnington the green has retained itspicturesqueness, and towards evening, when the western sky is reflected inthe rippling waters of the Seven, the scene is a particularly pleasingone. 

Between Sinnington and Kirby Moorside about three miles to the west is thesite of the priory of Keldholm, but there are no walls standing at thepresent time. Kirby Moorside is one of the largest villages in theneighbourhood of Pickering. It has been thought that it may possibly havebeen in Goldsmith's mind when he described the series of catastrophes thatbefell the unfortunate household of the Vicar of Wakefield; but although Ihave carefully read the story with a view to discovering any descriptionsthat may suggest the village of Kirby Moorside, I can find very little insupport of the idea. Before the construction of the railway connectingPickering and Helmsley, this part of Yorkshire was seldom visited by anyone but those having business in the immediate neighbourhood; and even nowas one walks along the wide main street one cannot help feeling that thevillage is still far removed from the influences of modern civilisation. The old shambles still stand in the shadow of the Tolbooth, the somewhatgaunt but not altogether unpleasing building that occupies a centralposition in the village. Adjoining the shambles is the broken stump of themarket-cross raised upon its old steps, and close by also is the entranceto the churchyard. The church occupies a picturesque position, andcontains, besides the Elizabethan brass to Lady Brooke, a _parvise_chamber over the old porch. This little room is approached by a flight ofstone steps from the interior of the church and possesses a fireplace. Ithas been supposed that the chamber would have been used by the monk whoserved from Newburgh Priory when he had occasion to stay the night. Thebrick windmill, built about a hundred years ago, that stands on the westside of the village, is no longer in use, and has even been robbed of itssails. At the highest part of the village street there are some extremelyold thatched cottages which give a very good idea of what must have beenthe appearance of the whole place a century ago. The "King's Head" Inn andthe house adjoining it, in which the notorious Duke of Buckingham died, are two of the oldest buildings of any size that now remain. An inn, alittle lower down the street has a picturesque porch supported by carvedposts, bearing the name "William Wood, " and the date 1632. Kirby Moorsidehas preserved, in common with two or three other villages in theneighbourhood, its Christmastide mummers and waits. The mummers, who gotheir rounds in daytime, are men dressed as women. They carry a small dollin a box ornamented with pieces of evergreen and chant doggerel rhymes. 

The beautiful scenery of Farndale and Kirkdale comes as a surprise tothose who visit Kirby Moorside for the first time, for the approach byroad in all directions, except from the north, does not lead one tosuspect the presence of such impressive landscapes, and from some pointsFarndale has quite a mountainous aspect. The moors no longer reach theconfines of Kirby Moorside, as its name would suggest, for cultivation haspushed back the waste lands for two or three miles to the north; but fromthat point northwards all the way to Guisborough the wild brown moorlandis broken only in a few places by the fitful cultivation of the dales. Thechurch of Kirkdale, and what quarrying has left of the famous cave, standjust at the point where the Hodge Beck leaves its confined course andflows out into the flat levels of the Vale of Pickering. It is only, however, after very heavy rains that the stony course of the stream atthis point shows any sign of water, for in ordinary weather the streamfinds its way through underground fissures in the limestone and does notappear above the ground for a considerable distance. The little church ofKirkdale, remarkable for its Saxon sun-dial and other pre-Norman remains, is surrounded by masses of foliage, and the walk up the dale from thispoint to the romantically situated Cauldron Mill is one of remarkablebeauty. As one follows the course of the beck higher and higher towards itsource north of Bransdale, the densely wooded sides become bare, and wideexpanses and the invigorating moorland air are exchanged for the rich landscents and the limited views. 

[Illustration: The "Black Hole" of Thornton-le-Dale. An underground cellbeneath some cottages which was formerly the village prison. ]

The village of Lastingham is surrounded by beautiful hills and is almosttouched by the moors that lie immediately to the north. The Church hasalready been described, and we have heard something of the strange storyof the ingenious methods for increasing his income of a formercurate-in-charge. Cropton occupies a position somewhat similar to that ofNewton, being on high ground with commanding views in all directions. Thelittle church is modern, but it has the stump of an ancient cross in thegraveyard, and commands a magnificent view towards the west and north. Itis in connection with this cross that a curious old rhyme is mentioned inan old guide. 

 "On Cropton Cross there is a cup, And in that cup there is a sup; Take that cup and drink that sup, And set that cup on Cropton Cross top. "

There is a cottage on the east side of the street bearing the date 1695, and the motto "Memento Mori, " with the initials N. C. , but moreinteresting than this is one on the same side but at the southern end ofthe village, and standing back more than the rest. This was used as amadhouse at a time well remembered by some of the villagers. People fromPickering and the surrounding district were sent here for treatment, andI am told that the proprietor possessed a prescription for a veryremarkable medicine which was supposed to have a most beneficial effectupon his partially demented patients. I am also told that thisprescription was given to one, Goodwill of Lastingham, who still possessesit. Cropton is only a short distance from the Roman camps that lie allsurrounded and overgrown with dense plantations, so that it is impossiblefor a stranger to discover their position unless he be lucky enough tofind some one close at hand to carefully describe the right track. 

West of Pickering lies that long string of villages, generally less thantwo miles apart, that extends nearly all the way to Scarborough. The firstpoint of interest as one goes towards Thornton-le-Dale from Pickering isthe grass-grown site of Roxby Castle, the birthplace of Sir Hugh Cholmley, and the scene, as we know, of those conflicts between the retainers of SirRoger Hastings and Sir Richard Cholmley. The position must have been amost perfect one for this ancient manor house, for standing a littlehigher than the level ings and carrs of the marshy land, it was protectedfrom the cold northern winds by the higher ground above. From the top ofthe steep hill west of the village, Thornton-le-Dale has an almost idyllicaspect, its timeworn roofs of purple thatch and mellowed tiles nestlingamong the masses of tall trees that grow with much luxuriance in thissheltered spot at the foot of the hills. The village is musical with thepleasant sound of the waters of the beck that flows from Dalby Warren, andripples along the margins of the roadways, necessitating a specialfootbridge for many of the cottages. The ancient stocks that stood by thecrossroads have unfortunately disappeared, and in their place may be seenthe pathetic sight of a new pair that are not even a close copy of the oldones. The old stone cross that stands by the stocks has not been replacedby a modern one, and adds greatly to the interest of the central portionof the village. On the road that leads towards Ellerburne there stand someold cottages generally known as the Poorhouse. They are built on slopingground, and on the lower side there is a small round-topped tunnel leadinginto a little cell dug out of the ground beneath the cottages. This littlevillage prison was known as the "Black Hole, " and was in frequent useabout fifty years ago. An old resident in the village named Birdsall, whois now in the Almshouses, remembers that the last woman who was placed inthe Black Hole was released by four men who forcibly broke their way in. The quaint little church of Ellerburne and the few antique cottages thatmake up the hamlet lie about a mile from Thornton up the steep valley tothe north. The hills on either side are crowned with plantations, butfarther up the dale appear the bare slopes of the edge of the moors. Allerston lies at right angles to the main road. It is full of quaintstone cottages, and is ornamented by the square tower of the church andthe cheerful brook that flows along the road side. The church at Ebberstonstands aloof from the village at the edge of the small park belonging tothe Hall. The situation is a very pleasant one, and the building attractsone's attention on account of the wide blocked-up arch that is conspicuousin the south wall west of the porch. 

The next village westwards is Snainton, a more compact and town-likehamlet than most of the others in the district. The church having beenrebuilt in about 1835, the place is robbed of one of its chiefattractions. 

Brompton has already been mentioned in connection with Wordsworth'swedding. The view over the bright green pastures of the Vale when seenfrom the church porch is of conspicuous beauty, and the ponds that arenumerous in the village help to make picturesque views from many points. The Hall is a large building possessing a ponderous bulk but little charm, and it is only by the kindly aid of the plentiful trees and an extensivegrowth of ivy that the squire's house does not destroy the rural sweetnessof the village. 

Wykeham has a new church with a massive spire, but the tower of the oldbuilding has fortunately been allowed to remain, and now answers thepurpose of a lich-gate. Only a few walls of the abbey now remain in closeproximity to Lord Downe's recently enlarged house. 

[Illustration: HUTTON BUSCEL CHURCH. 

The lower part of the tower is of Norman work. The head of the churchyardcross is modern. ]

The church of Hutton Buscel is externally one of the most picturesque inthe district, and the pretty churchyard on steeply falling ground is acharming feature of the village. The old Hall of the Osbaldestons is onlyrepresented by the massive gates that give access to the schools built onthe site of the house that was burnt down about a century ago. 

A curious story is told of Bishop Osbaldeston, whose monument is to beseen in the church. During his stay at Hutton Buscel he often amusedhimself with riding about the neighbourhood and conversing with any one hehappened to meet upon the road. "One morning he saw a chimney-sweeper'sboy laid on the roadside, whom he accosted as follows:--'Well, my lad, where hast thou been this morning?' 'Sweeping your chimnies, ' replied thelad. 'And how much hast thou earned then?' said his lordship. 'Fifteenshillings, my lord. ' After his lordship had observed that he thought it avery good business, the lad says, 'Yes, my lord, you see that _we blackcoats_ get good livings for very little work. '"

The smaller villages of the Vale are without any particular interest inthemselves, apart from the wide and expansive landscapes that stretch awayin all directions to the enclosing hills that in distant times formed theboundaries of the lake. 

Great Habton has a small chapel of ease of very recent erection. 

Ryton is chiefly composed of two or three farms and a dilapidated littlered brick building that scarcely deserves the name of church. The lane tothis hamlet from Great Habton is remarkable for the series of about adozen gates across the roadway. 

Brawby and Butterwick have no particular features that impress themselveson the mind, and Great Barugh, though more picturesque than either ofthese, is chiefly interesting on account of its past. 

Normanby lies on the dead level of the plain, and is watered by the Seven, that flows between high embankments throughout most of its course afterleaving the high ground at Sinnington. 

Salton lies a little to the west and is interesting on account of itsbeautiful little Norman church. The cottages are situated on a patch ofgreen, and the whole place has a cheerful and tidy appearance. 

At Kirby Misperton there is a very green pond by the church, and theremains of the stocks may still be seen by the pretty rose-covered cottagethat contains the post-office. Many of the cottages were rebuilt between1857 and 1877, the dates being conspicuous on their big gables. 

CHAPTER XIV

_Concerning the Zoology of the Forest and Vale_

The great expanses of wild moorland, the deep, heavily wooded valleys, andthe rich and well-watered level country included in the scope of this bookwould lead one to expect much of the zoology of the Pickering district, and one is not disappointed. That the wild life is ample and interestingwill be seen from the following notes on the rarer varieties which MrOxley Grabham of the York Museum has kindly put together. 

On THE MOORS _the Curlew, the Golden Plover_, and the _Merlin_ nestregularly together with other more common species. 

In THE WOODS _the Woodcock, Pied Flycatcher_, and _Wood Wren_, togetherwith the _Green_ and _the Great Spotted Woodpeckers_, breed by no meansuncommonly. 

In THE MARSHY AND LOW-LYING LANDS _the Snipe_ and _the Redshank_ findcongenial breeding quarters. 

Many rarities have been obtained in the district such as _the Kite, theGreat Plover, the Smew_, and _the Golden Eagle_, and numerous varieties ofwildfowl during the winter months. I have seen large flocks of_Crossbills_ and _Bramblings_ hunting for food in the severe weather, andoccasionally a small flock of _Waxwings_ appears in the district. 

There is a well-protected _Heronry_ in the neighbourhood, and these finehandsome birds may frequently be seen in the vicinity of the Costa, astream famous for the size and quality of its _Trout_ and _Grayling_. 

From a sporting point of view there are few better districts in the northof Yorkshire. _Grouse_ are abundant on the moors, and there is some mostexcellent _Partridge_ ground at hand, whilst certain of the coverts arefamous for _Woodcock_ during the winter months. 

_Foxes_ are numerous, and three packs of regular hounds, Lord Middleton's, Sir Everard Cayley's, and the Sinnington, hunt the country, whilst the oldestablished trencher-fed Goathland pack accounts for a goodly number everyseason. 

_Otters_ and _Badgers_ are far more plentiful than most people have anyidea of; but, unfortunately, they are generally killed whenever a chanceof doing so presents itself, the trap and the gun being regularly employedagainst them. 

The usual smaller mammals are present in goodly numbers, and present nospecial or peculiar features, with the exception of _the common Rat_, which has been of late a perfect pest in some parts of the country; thehedge bottoms have been riddled with rat holes. Gates and posts and railshave been gnawed to bits, and in one instance a litter of young pigs wereworried during the night. On one farm alone, during the year 1904, overtwo thousand rats were killed. 

OF REPTILES, _the common Adder or Viper_, locally known as the Hag-Worm, is numerous in the moorland districts. It seldom if ever attacks humanbeings, but occasionally dogs and sheep get bitten with fatal results. _The Slow or Blind Worm_ is also to be found here, as are the other usualforms of reptiles. 

OXLEY GRABHAM, M. A. , M. B. O. U. 

 * * * * *

The famous breed of horses known as the Cleveland Bays come from thisdistrict of Yorkshire. They are bred all over the district betweenPickering, Helmsley, Scarborough, and Middlesborough, and although effortshave been made to raise them in other parts of England and abroad, it hasbeen found that they lose the hardness of bone which is such acharacteristic feature of the Cleveland bred animals. The Cleveland baycoach horse is descended from the famous Darly Arabian, and preserves in awonderful manner the thoroughbred outline. 

BOOKS OF REFERENCE

Akerman, J. Yonge, Remains of Pagan Saxondom, 1852-55. 

Allen, J. R. , Monumental History of the Early British Church, 1889. 

Anecdotes and Manners of a few Ancient and Modern Oddities, 1806. 

Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Journal of. 

Associated Architectural Societies' Reports, vol. Xii. 

Atkinson, John C, A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect, 1876; Forty Yearsin a Moorland Parish, 1891. 

Bateman, Thomas, Ten Years' Diggings, 1861. 

Bawdwen, Rev. W. , Domesday Book, 1809. 

Belcher, Henry, The Pickering and Whitby Railway, 1836. 

Blakeborough, Richard, Wit, Character, etc. , of the North Riding ofYorkshire, 1898. 

Brooke, John C, Illustration of a Saxon Inscription at Kirkdale, 1777. 

Brown, Gerard Baldwin, The Arts in Early Britain, 1903. 

Browne, G. F. , Bishop of Bristol, Theodore and Wilfrith, 1897; TheConversion of the Heptarchy, 1896. 

Buckland, Wm. , Dean of Westminster, Account of Fossil Bones at Kirkdale, 1822. 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, Canterbury Tales, 1902. 

Cholmley, Sir Hugh, Bart. , Memoirs of, 1787. 

Clark, George Thos. , Mediæval Military Architecture in England, 1884. 

Codrington, Thos. , C. E. , Roman Roads in Britain, 1903. 

Collection of above 300 Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery, 1719. 

Corlass, R. W. , Yorkshire Rhymes and Sayings, 1878. 

Croll, James, Climate and Time in their Geological Relations, 1885. 

Dawkins, Boyd, Early Man in Britain. 

Domesday Book, Facsimile of the Survey by Col. Sir H. James, 1861-63. 

Drake, Francis, Eboracum, 1736. 

Eastmead, William, Historia Rievallensis, 1824. 

England, Annals of, 1876. 

Fawcett, Rev. Joshua, Church Rides in the Neighbourhood of Scarborough, 1848. 

Frank, George, Ryedale, North Yorkshire Antiquities, 1888. 

Fuller, Thomas, The History of the Worthies of England, 1840. 

Gidley, Lewis, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Church, 1870. 

Giles, J. A. , Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Church, 1840. 

Gould, S. Baring, Yorkshire Oddities, 1874. 

Hailstone, Edward the Elder, Portraits of Yorkshire Worthies, 1869. 

Hatton, W. H. , and Fox, W. E. , The Churches of Yorkshire, 1879. 

Henderson, William, Notes on the Folklore of the North Counties, 1879. 

Hinderwell, Thomas, History of Scarborough, 1798. 

Holinshed, Raphael, Chronicles of England, 1807-8. 

Jackson, R. E. Scoresby, The Life of William Scoresby, 1861. 

Jewitt, Llewellyn, The Ceramic Art in Early Britain, 1883; Grave Moundsand their Contents, 1870. 

Leland, John, The Itinerary of. 

Marshall, William, The Rural Economy of Yorkshire, 1788. 

Morris, Joseph E. , The North Riding of Yorkshire, 1904. 

Morris, M. C. F. , Yorkshire Folk Talk, 1892. 

Murray's Handbook for Yorkshire, 1904. 

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Parkinson, Rev. Thos. , Yorkshire Legends and Traditions, 1888. 

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Stow, John, A Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles, etc. , 1565. 

Strangways, C. E. Fox, Geology of Oolitic and Liassic Rocks North ofMalton, 1881; Geology of Country between Whitby and Scarborough, 1846; TheJurassic Rocks of Britain, 1846. 

Tacitus, P. C. , The Works of, Oxford Translation, 1848. 

Windle, B. C. A. , Remains of the pre-Historic Age in England, 1904; Life inEarly Britain, 1897. 

Yorkshire Archæological and Topographical Association, Record Series, 1894and after. 

Yorkshire Archæological Journal, Vol. V. , 1879. 

Young, George, A History of Whitby, 1817. 

APPENDIX

A LIST OF THE VICARS OF PICKERING

The living itself, at the time of the Norman Conquest, came into thepossession of the Crown, and remained at the king's gift till Henry I. Annexed it to the Deanery of York. It thus became one of the Dean'speculiars, until in the last century his property was vested in theEcclesiastical Commissioners, and the patronage transferred to theArchbishop. 

1150 Hugh13--? Midelton, Thos de. Resigned for the Church of Scalton1341 Acaster, Hen de. Dismissed1349 Queldriks, Robert de Pokelington, Robert de. Resigned for the Church at Holtby1388 Laytingby, Will de1568-1570 Coleman, William1581-1600 Owrome, William1602-1615 Mylls or Milnes, Edward. Deprived 16151615-1659 Bright, Edward. Died 16591661-1690 Staveley, Robert. Died 16901691-1712 Newton, Joshua, A. M. Died 17121713-1740 Hargreaves, Robert. Died 17401740 Hill, Samuel1745 Dodsworth, George1764-1784 Harding, Samuel. (Blind. ) Died 17841784-1786 Robinson, John1786-1804 Harding, Samuel J. Died 18041804-1809 Laye, W. T. Died 18091809-1814 Graham, C. R. 1814-1857 Ponsonby, F. 1858-1863 Cockburn, G. A. , M. A. 1863-1875 Bennett, Edward (Curate-in-charge)1875-1881 Lightfoot, G. H. (Curate-in-charge)1881-1902 " " (Vicar)1902 Drage, E. W. 

_"Here taketh the Makere of this Book his Leve. "_

 * * * * *

_"Now preye I to hem alle that herkne this litel tretys or rede, that . . . If ther be any thyng that displese hem, I preye hem also that they arretteit to the defaute of myn unkonnynge, and not to my wyl, that wolde fulfayn have seyd bettre if I hadde had konnynge. "_

_Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. _

[Illustration: A Sketch Map of the Pickering District]