Chapter VI: Part 6

Locomotion was still more difficult and costly in the early part of the seventeenth century. In the Household Books of Naworth, extending from 1612 to 1640, are found such significant entries as the following:--"March 22, 1626. Hewing a way for the coach beyond Gelt Bridge, 2s. 3d." On one occasion, Sir Francis Howard, being sick, hired a coach for his journey from London to Bowes, which cost L18. Lord William Howard's journeys to London were always taken on horseback, and he was generally ten or twelve days on the road, the travelling expenses varying, according to the number of his retinue and the direction of the route taken. A journey by way of Shiffnal and Lydney occupied eleven days, and cost L30 7s. 1d.; whilst the expenses of another, from Thornthwaite to London with twenty-four men and twelve horses in his train, came to L20 15s. 4d.

In addition to the coaches, people often travelled by what were termed "expeditious wagons," which carried goods. One notice dated November 24th, 1790, concerning these vehicles may be quoted:--

"In ten days from Carlisle to London, and the same in return by way of
York every week. Messrs. Handleys respectfully inform their friends
and the public in general that they have erected stage waggons which
leave Carlisle early on Tuesday morning and arrive at York on Thursday
night, and Leeds on Saturday morning (where goods for all parts in the
south are regularly forwarded by the respective carriers), arrive at
the White Bear, Bassinghall Street, on Friday night, and set out every
Monday morning, and arrive at and leave York on Tuesday morning,
Bedal, Richmond, Barnard Castle, Burgh, Appleby, Penrith, and arrive
at Carlisle on Friday evening, where goods are immediately forwarded
to Wigton, Cockermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, and any other place in
Cumberland; also to Annan, Dumfries, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and
all other principal towns in Scotland. They hope by their attention
to business to merit the favours of all those who please to employ
them. N.B.--Their waggon leaves Sheffield on Saturday, and Leeds on
Monday. For further particulars apply to Robert Wilson, book-keeper,
or J. Birkett, innkeeper, Carlisle."

A writer in 1812, on the manners and customs of the people of Westmorland during the preceding century, stated that wheel carriages were very little used for private intercourse or trade; for persons of both sexes made short journeys on horseback, the women being commonly seated on pillions behind the men. Very few made long excursions from home, except the manufacturers of Kendal, many of whom travelled on foot in quest of orders for their worsted stockings and linsey-woolsey. Carriers did not employ wagons, but drove gangs of pack-horses, each gang being preceded by a bell-horse, and the owners reckoned a young woman equivalent to half a pack in loading their beasts of burden. The predilection for transporting all kinds of commodities on horseback was so general, that the fuel consumed in Kendal came to the town in this manner. Coals were brought in sacks upon galloways from Ingleton, and the turf or peat was conveyed from the mosses in halts. These were a pair of strong wicker hampers, which were joined by a pack-saddle, and hung across a horse's back. They were put to various uses in husbandry, which offices are now performed by carts. Halts gave way to carts in the progress of general improvement. These vehicles were ill-contrived, particularly the wheels, which consisted of two circular boards fixed without spokes immovably to the ends of a cylinderical axle. The injudicious nature of the construction required the axle itself to revolve beneath the cart, where it was kept in its place by two pairs of parallel wooden pins, that projected downward from the frame of the bottom.

A question concerning these old "tummel wheel'd cars" was asked in the _Carlisle Journal_ a few months ago, and a correspondent supplied this answer:--"I have seen at least two of these old-time machines of locomotion. They had then been many years out of use. I speak now of a date say 58 years gone past. One of them was stored in an open shed in the farmyard of its venerable owner--the other had less respect shown to its remains, for it stood in a neglected and unsheltered corner. Of course, I never saw either of them in use. The wheels were funny, not to say clumsy, looking affairs. Without spokes or felloes, they consisted of three segment-shaped blocks of wood, fastened together rudely but strongly with 'dowels' of the same material, so as to form a circle. The wheels again were similarly fastened to the axle, and the whole revolved in one solid mass. The harness consisted mostly of ropes or girthing with loops at the ends, and having cleets like the modern 'coo-tee' to hold them in position. Very little leather was used, and but few buckles. Here is Mr. Dickinson's description, 'In old times the horse was yoked to the cart by a rope from the shoulders, and an iron ring sliding on the shaft held by a pin. This was hammerband yoking. The tummel wheelers referred to were seen by me in the Lake District (Ullswater) in the early forties.'"

Before turnpike roads were made, or wagons came into use, the merchandise of Kendal was transported by the following pack-horses:--

One gang of pack-horses to and from London
every week, of about 20

One gang from Wigan weekly, about 18

One gang from Whitehaven, about 20

From Cockermouth 15

Two gangs from Barnard Castle 26

Two gangs from Penrith twice a week, about 15 each 60

One gang from Settle twice a week, about 15 each 30

From York weekly, about 10

From Ulverston 5

From Hawkeshead twice a week, about 6 12

From Appleby twice a week, about 6 12

From Cartmel 6

Carriages three or four times a week to and
from Milnthorpe, computed at 40 horse load 40

From Sedbergh, Kirkby Lonsdale, Orton, Dent,
and other neighbouring villages, about 20
----
Total 294

Besides 24 every six weeks for Glasgow.

Less than sixty years ago the pillion was in constant use in the two counties, and only the well-to-do yeomen thought of taking their wives and daughters frequently to market in the "shandry cart." It is only a quarter of a century since the old pack-horses ceased to traverse some parts of Westmorland and its borders. Mr. H. Speight, in one of his books,[20] deals with a state of things which existed, not only in the Hawes district, but considerably northward of that place. Handloom weaving was an old local industry, and when a sufficient number of pieces were ready, they were gathered up and conveyed by teams of pack-horses over the mountains to the various West Riding towns. Discharging their loads they would return laden with warp, weft, size, and other articles. When the traffic ceased, hundreds of these sonorous pack-horse bells were sold for old metal, and the brokers' shops for a time were full of them. Each bell weighed from 1lb. to 2lbs. An old resident in North Westmorland not long ago recalled very vividly the scenes to be witnessed, and confirmed the accuracy of the following description from Mr. Speight's volume: "In the old pack-horse days it was a sight worth remembering to witness the procession of men and horses with miscellaneous goods, making their way out of the Yorkshire dales, to Kirkby Stephen and the north. The drivers from Garsdale and Grisedale came over the moor to Shaw Paddock, and thence on to Aisgill, and to the old Thrang Bridge in Mallerstang, where they were met by strings of pack-horses and men coming from the east country by Hell Gill. It was a busy and picturesque scene, and the Thrang Bridge was well named. Sometimes on special occasions, as during Brough Hill Fair, the thrifty wives and daughters of the dales used to go up to Hell Gill Bridge, and spread out stalls and baskets, stored with cakes, nuts, apples, and bottles of home-made herb beer, and other non-intoxicants, to sell to passing travellers. And a good business they did too, for there was a continuous stream of wayfarers, who were glad, particularly if the day were hot, to linger awhile and hear the gossip of the country-side, cracking many a joke along with many a nut bought from the buxom stall women. Occasionally herds of Highland cattle passed this way, and when the far-travelled animals showed signs of fatigue, it was no uncommon thing to see one of the men who carried a bagpipe play some lively air as he marched in front of the drove. The animals seemed to enjoy the music, and evidently appreciated this relief to the tediousness of the journey, by walking, as they often would, with a brisker step, while some of them that had lain down in the road would quickly rise at the novel far-sounding strains, which brought many a cottager also to his feet from his home in the echoing glen."

Old Customs.

Possibly the custom associated with Westmorland which can claim to be at once among the oldest, as well as having been the most carefully followed, is that connected with the familiar Countess's Pillar in the parish of Brougham. The famous Countess Anne of Pembroke erected this structure in 1656, as the still perfect legible inscription on the southern side tells us, for a laudable purpose: "This pillar was erected in 1656 by Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, etc., for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, the 2nd day of April, 1616, in memory whereof she has left an annuity of L4, to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham every second day of April for ever, upon the stone placed hard by. _Laus Deo._" The custom is scrupulously observed, the money being distributed on April 2nd as directed, except when that day falls, as this year, on a Sunday, and then the little ceremony is conducted on the following day. When asked as to the regularity of the observance shortly before this year's distribution, the Rev. W. S. Salman, the venerable Rector of Brougham, said the details were carefully attended to; and, he added, "we should soon hear about it if they were not."

How far the custom of rush-bearing goes back there is nothing in local records to show, but there are some very old entries in the registers concerning the practice. In spite of the Puritans the villagers were keeping up the festival at Kirkby Lonsdale; there is this item among the churchwardens' accounts for 1680: "Paid at the rush-bearing in drink, 3s." Although the ceremony had in each place the same general features, different parishes varied the proceedings. Flowers as well as rushes were carried by the children, many of the blooms being made into garlands. After the sermon, the roses and rushes brought the preceding year were taken out, and the fresh ones put in their places. An old writer made the following suggestion as to the origin of the custom: "That our forefathers appointed a day on which they rendered public thanks to the Almighty for His kindness in causing the earth to bring forth fruit for the sustenance of man and beast, and that on these occasions they brought rushes, or other productions of the soil, to the sanctuary, which they spread out as a memorial before the lord." The theory is doubtless correct, as is proved by the fact that at Warcop and other places where "rush-bearings"--minus the rushes--are still kept up every summer, the service and other proceedings are in the nature of a public thanksgiving.

_From a Photo by Mr. John Bolton, Penrith._]

Nut Monday has passed into the region of forgotten things, even at such places as the schools, where it was once a popular observance. It was, however, kept so recently as 1861, when September 12th was held in Kendal as a general holiday, almost every shop being closed. Possibly the failure of the nut crop in several successive years was a factor in changing the holiday to another time, and thus the day losing its distinctive character. This, it will be noted, had nothing in common with another custom observed in some other parts of the country--Crack Nut Sunday. The latter was simply a desecrating practice, without a single good feature.

"Sunday observance" had more than a nominal meaning in bygone days, though there is nothing to indicate that the people of the two counties had any particular liking for the restrictions imposed. It was the practice in nearly every town and village for the churchwardens to leave the church during service time and walk through the town in search of people who ought to have been at church, and special attention was paid to licensed premises. Possibly, by the time the hostelries were reached, the churchwardens felt the need of liquid refreshment; at any rate, they frequently obtained it. Carlisle, in 1788, was divided into districts, through each of which two constables and two of the principal inhabitants, who took it in rotation, patrolled the streets from ten in the morning till one, and from three to five in the afternoon, during which hours the doors of all the public-houses were kept shut, the patrol having first visited them to see that no person was tippling in them. "So much respect is paid to this regulation," wrote a chronicler of the period, "that during these hours no person is seen in the streets but those who are going to or returning from some place of worship." Fines were occasionally imposed for non-attendance at church; that does not seem to have been the rule, moral suasion apparently sufficing to meet most requirements. The Corporation of Kendal took powers to inflict what were then--three hundred years ago--heavy fines for selling ale during service hours.

Among the customs and beliefs noted as prevalent at Whitbeck, in West Cumberland, in 1794, were these: "Newly-married persons beg corn to sow their first crop with, and are called corn-laiters. People always keep wake with the dead. The labouring ox is said to kneel at twelve o'clock at night, preceding the day of the Nativity; the bees are heard to sing at the same hour. On the morn of Christmas Day breakfast early on hack-pudding, a mess made of sheep's heart mixed with suet and sweet fruits. To whichever quarter a bull faces in lying on All Hallows' Eve, from thence the wind will blow the greater part of the winter." It has been surmised that the hack-pudding resembles sweet-pie, which is not unlike a mince-pie on a large scale, mutton being used instead of beef, and the ingredients not finely chopped.

Here, as in other parts of the country, beating the bounds, both of parishes and manors, was a popular, though oft-times toilsome, observance. In a few registers, records have been preserved of the old-time landmarks, a precaution of special value in days before the Ordnance Survey was thought of. Dalston registers not only supply this information, but a description of the ceremony of perambulation. Curiosities of divisions are not lacking. An old man, once a parishioner of Dalston, told the Rev. J. Wilson[21] that he had a vivid recollection of taking part in the ritual of beating the bounds many years ago, and throwing a rope over a house, part of which stands in Castle Sowerby, in order to mark the division of the contiguous parishes. The walls of the house exist still, though unroofed, where the inhabitants were wont to say, half a century ago, that they always slept in Dalston and breakfasted in Castle Sowerby.

"Furth" was a word used by the inhabitants of Orton long ago. In those days, before the era of coal burning, most of the houses had what were called hearth fire-places, with big open chimneys but no fire-grates. Householders had the privilege of getting turf on the moors, and during the winter nights neighbours used to assemble in one another's houses in succession. Orton and Ravenstonedale were famous places for knitting, and the folks all sat round the blazing turf fire knitting away at top speed. Both men and women were thus occupied, and made a peculiar rattling noise with so many needles working at once. The conversations at these Furth Neets were very amusing, the talk ranging from the state of the crops, such as they were in those days of what would be called low farming, to the prices of produce and the latest doings of Mary Baynes, the local witch.

Formerly some of the inhabitants of Orton had what were called penthouses in front of their dwellings. It was a custom on Candlemas Day for those who had money to lend to appear under the sheds or penthouses, with neckcloths tied round their heads, and if the weather was cold, while the money-lenders were shivering beneath the scanty shelter, the borrowers frequented the public-houses, where there was much carousing. This curious custom has long been discouraged, and only one penthouse is now standing.

Reminders of Border service remained in the two counties long after the Act of Union had been passed. Thus the secluded hamlet of Kentmere was divided into sixty tenements for the maintenance of as many soldiers, and so recently as the middle of this century it was written: "The vestiges of this ancient regulation still remain, for the township is divided into four parts, and each of these parts into fifteen tenements. For each tenement a man serves the office of constable, and pays 2s. per annum to the curate."

Public affairs in the village of Torpenhow used to be managed by "the sixteen men," elected by the householders in the four quarters into which the parish was divided, the vicar and churchwardens being apparently _ex officio_ members of this early Parish Council. The last nomination of the sixteen took place about 1807; they had a great variety of duties, carrying out functions that are now discharged by School Boards, Parish, District, and County Councils. So far as is known, the most detailed information concerning the duties of the "sworn men" is given in the Orton (Westmorland) registers, where, following the fourteen names of "the sworne men of Orto' anno d'ni 1596," is this statement, so far as it can be deciphered:--

"_Imprimis_ that thes be diligent and careful to see and provide that
the people be ... and behave the'selves honestlie ... feare of God
according to the Holie word of God and the Good and wholesome laws of
this land. _Secondlie_ to see that the Churchwardens be careful and
diligent in executinge their office, ioyne with thes in suppressing of
sinne and such as behave the'selves inordinatlie to reprove and
rebuke those who be found offenders, and if they will not amend to
p{e}sent the' to be punished. _Thirdlie_ to se that the Church and
Churchy{d} be decentlie repaired and mainteyned. Also we as agreed
y{t} everie p'sonnis beinge found faultie by the Churchwardens and
p'sented to the sworn me' shall paie xij{d.} to the poor ma's box. And
that whosoever doth not come p'sent the'selves lawfull warning being
given either of the xij or Churchwardens to the place appointed shall
lose xij to the poore ma's box without a sufficient cause to the
contrarie whereof thes are to certifie the rest assembled at ...
appointed to their meetinge. Lastly that the Churchwardes ... and take
the sam forfat ... p'sent the offenders."

Another kind of Parish Council existed at Helton, near Lowther, about a century ago. A chronicler of seventy years since gives this account of it:--"At Helton, at the end of the Tythe Barn, was formerly a stone seat, where the inhabitants met for the purpose of transacting their parochial affairs. He who came first waited till he was joined by the rest; and it was considered a mark of great rudeness for anyone to absent himself from the meeting. After conferring on such matters as related to the parish they separated, and each returned home."

There was a very noteworthy Council at Watermillock, called the Head Jurie, and Mr. W. Hodgson, a former schoolmaster in the parish, did good service some years ago by transcribing the records of that body, from 1610 to more than a century later. They performed all the duties--and more--now delegated to Parish Councils; indeed they seem to have had control of everything pertaining to the government of the parish. Among the contents of the book on "Paines and Penalties laid by the Head Jurie" is this entry concerning a Court held in 1629:--

"We find for a good amongst ourselves that all the inhabitants within
the hamlet of Weathermelock shall amend all the church ways and all
other ways yearly, and every year, upon the first work day in
Christmas, if the day be seasonable, at ye sight of ye Constables and
Churchwardens for the time being upon paine of sixpence of everyone
that maketh default. And alsoe all as aforesaid shall meet and mend
the peat way always upon Whitsun Wednesday, and everyone to meet where
his way lyeth, and everyone to send a sufficient man to the sight of
the Constable for the time being upon paine of sixpence of everyone
that maketh default. And that the Constable be there upon paine of
sixpence to see who make default."

In the old manorial halls fools or jesters were frequently to be found among the members of the households. The late Dr. Taylor suggested that when Yanwath Hall was a very important link in the chain of Border defences, such a servant was kept; and Mr. R. S. Ferguson once reminded the members of the Archaeological Society that, in 1601, both the Mayor of Carlisle and Sir Wilfred Lawson kept fools, as probably did also the Bishop of Carlisle. The Mayor's fool got a coat for Christmas, while Sir Wilfred's appears in the accounts of the Corporation as being "tipped" for bringing messages to Carlisle. A fool was also kept at Muncaster Castle.

There was a custom very common in connection with the apprenticeship system at the beginning of the century. In a pamphlet written by John S. Lough, a former Penrith printer, appeared this paragraph:--"Burying the Old Wife is a custom still prevalent among the operatives in the north at the expiration of the term of apprenticeship. The late apprentice is taken into a room adjoining that where the party is met to celebrate the loosening, and after an old woman's cap is put on his head, the body is enveloped in a white sheet. He is then taken upon the shoulders of his comrades into the banqueting room, round which he is carried a few times, in not very solemn procession, and finally placed upon the boards whereon the figure of a grave is chalked. A kind of funeral service is gone through, and the old wife is buried."

"The simple annals of the poor" in the two counties contain many pathetic accounts of their condition and treatment ere the public conscience was awakened to the necessity of a more humane method. Here, as in many other parts of the country, the poor were often let out to contractors. Among the churchwardens' accounts at Hayton for 1773 there is a copy of a contract between the churchwardens and Thomas Wharton, of The Faugh, "for letting the poor for a year" to the latter. The Rev. R. W. Dixon, vicar of the parish, about twenty years ago went into the history of this transaction. A vestry meeting was called for the purpose, and conditions were entered into between the churchwardens and the overseers on the one part, and Thomas Wharton on the other. The parish overseers were to find bedding and apparel for the paupers, but Wharton was to mend their clothes and stockings, and be allowed 5s. for the purpose. A child not a year old was to be counted as one person with the mother, and be fed and clothed by the parish; and if a pauper died in the house he was to be buried at the expense of the parish. Wharton was to find sufficient meat, drink, washing, lodging, and firing for the paupers, to the satisfaction of the parish officers, who had authority to visit the house as often as they pleased. He was to receive a yearly salary of L12 10s., and a weekly allowance of 1s. 2d. for each pauper, but if a pauper stayed under a week a deduction was to be made accordingly. On these terms Wharton was declared master of the workhouse.

The children who used to attend the ancient Robinson's School at Penrith were sent out each day to beg, and that there might be no mistake as to their identity, each was obliged to wear what was locally called "the badge of poverty."

It is decidedly an unfortunate thing, from the point of view of the antiquary, that so many of the old plague stones which used to be found in different places should have disappeared. Penrith had two; and one of them remains, but from observations occasionally heard it is to be feared that only a small proportion of the townspeople have an idea of the use of the old font-like erection. It is interesting to quote the account given by a Penrith land surveyor and innkeeper, who wrote more than a century ago[22] on this subject:--"Nearly half-way between Eamont Bridge and Penrith stands an house, called from its situation Half-way House, but formerly _Mill_ or _Meal Cross_, from the following circumstance. During the dreadful plague which visited this country in the year 1598, and almost depopulated Penrith (no less than 2,260 in the town falling victims to this merciless disease), the Millers and Villagers refused to bring their commodities into the town to market for fear of infection. The inhabitants, therefore, were under the necessity of meeting them here, and performing a kind of quarantine before they were allowed to buy anything. This was said to be almost at the option of the country people. This much is certain: No man was allowed to touch the money made use of on these occasions, it being put into a vessel of water, whence they had a method of taking it without touching it with their fingers. For this purpose they erected a cross which remains to this day. For greater conveniences they erected a cross at the town's-head, and erected shambles, etc.; the place still retains the name of the Cross-green: they built a third cross near the Carlisle road a little above the second, where black cattle, sheep, hoggs, and goats were sold; and it retains yet the name of the Nolt-Fair [Nolt: Oxen, cows, etc.], and continues to be the market for cattle."

The road was widened and improved in 1834, when the water trough was found, and afterwards placed where it now stands. There was a somewhat similar structure in the park at Eden Hall, and is said to mark the site of the former village. The base is still retained, but some decades ago there was put a memorial cross upon it. Going over the border of Westmorland a short distance are other reminders of these old-time epidemics. In the parish registers of Hawkshead it is stated that in 1721 the sum of 1s. 6d. was paid to the apparitor for a book concerning the plague. Here is material for several queries. Was there an outbreak of some disease which obtained that name so late as 1720, or was the volume meant for a record of what had gone before? Again, if the book was ever written, what became of it? The records of the le Flemings, the Earls of Lonsdale, the Earls of Westmorland, and others published by the Historical Manuscripts Commission abound in references to the plague.

A stone in the remote hamlet of Armboth, above what is now the great reservoir of the Manchester Corporation, marks the place where the local commerce was carried on when personal intercourse was dangerous on account of the plague. The custom existed after the epidemic had passed away, the people from the fells and dales continuing to take their webs and yarn to what is still known as "the Webstone."

The registers of Dalston are particularly valuable for purposes of local history, partly owing to the fact that Rose Castle, the residence of the Bishops of Carlisle, is in that parish. There are also many other ways in which they are interesting. One of the earliest houses mentioned in the books is Bell Gate or Bellyeat. Miss Kupar, who closely studied the records of this and some other parishes, wrote a few years ago with regard to this house: "The people will have it that a bell hung here to announce the arrival of the pack-horses _en route_ for Keswick, and some maintain that it served to warn the neighbourhood of the approach of the moss-troopers."

Although the old custom of ringing the curfew is gradually dying out, in several places in Cumberland and Westmorland the practice is kept up still. In the hall at Appleby Castle there is an interesting reminder of the custom. This is the curfew-bell which was found in the tower at the Castle, and it finds an honoured place now among the family possessions. When swung to and fro the bell is found to have a very sweet tone, but while it was vigorously rung in the evenings long ago the burgesses would not have any difficulty in hearing its loud and peculiar warning note. The inscription is not very easy to decipher, but it appears to run thus:--

"Soli Deo Gloria. Pax Homibus, S.S. Fecit, 1661. W.S."

Nothing is known at the Castle as to the maker, though it is possible that experts in bell-lore might be able to trace its record from the inscription.

Old School Customs.

The chequered histories of the old schools at Appleby, Kirkby Stephen, Kendal, Crosthwaite, Carlisle, Penrith, and several other towns in the two counties, would suffice to make a large book of an interesting character. Some of the rules which governed the institutions in bygone days were decidedly quaint. The nineteen long paragraphs which make up the "Constitutions, Ordinances, and Statutes for the Free Grammar School at Kirkby Stephen," as drawn up in 1568 by Lord Wharton, included this curious stipulation:--

"I will that the said Schoolmaster shall have and receive yearly L12
as his Hire and Wages, at two Terms of the year, if he teach in manner
and form following, viz., At the Feast of Pentecost and St. Martin, by
equal portions, by the hands of my Son, Heir, and Heirs, and the
Governours. And the said Schoolmaster shall, within ten dayes after he
hath taken upon him and be installed in the said Office, before the
said Governours, or two of them, and before my Son and Heir, or Heirs
of my House of Wharton, for the time being, and in presence of the
Churchwardens and Twelve men of Kirkby-Stephen Parish, or six of them,
in the Parish Church there, make this Oath following: 'I do swear by
the holy Contents of this Book that I will freely, without exacting
any money, diligently teach and instruct the Children of this parish,
and all others that resort to me, in Grammar and other Humane
Doctrine, according to the Statutes thereof made; And shall read to
them no corrupt or reprobate Book, or Works set forth at any time
contrary to the Determination of the Universal Catholic Church,
whereby they might be infected in their youth with any kind of Heresy
or corrupt Doctrine, or else be induced to an insolent manner of
Liveing; And further shall observe all the Statutes and Ordinances of
this School, now made or that hereafter shall be made, which concern
me; and shall do nothing in prejudice thereof, but help to maintain
the same, from time to time, dureing my abode herein, to the best of
my power. So Help me God, and the Contents of this book.'"

At six o'clock in the morning, and at the same hour in the evening, master and scholars had to march from school to church, for prayers, afterwards going to the tomb which Lord Wharton had erected in the quire and sing one of fifteen psalms. This was the order for working hours:--"And the same Scholemr., every Work-day at the least, shall begin to teach from Six a Clock in ye morning in Summer, and from Seven a Clock in Winter; and so shall continue in teaching until Eleven a Clock. The self same thing shall he diligently do after Dinner, from One of the Clock till Six in Summer and five in Winter."

The history of Appleby School extends over nearly four and a quarter centuries. In 1478 Thomas Whinfell, one of the chantry priests, was bound "to keep yearly a sufficient Grammar School, taking of the scholars of the said school _scolagia et custumaria secundum antiquam consuetudinem scoloe praedictae_." Old school-boys living within the present decade remember that the _scolagia et custumaria_ included a cockpenny, which had to be paid by each boy on Easter Tuesday, for the purpose of enabling the master to provide the pupils with a cock-fight. One of the regulations for Kendal School was that it should be "free to all boys resident in the parish of Kendal, for classics alone, excepting a voluntary payment of a cockpenny as aforetime at Shrovetide." The "Literary Rambler," who contributed a series of papers to the _Kendal Chronicle_ in 1812 (when the custom was commonly observed), remarked:--"A stranger to the customs of the country will suspect something whimsical in this name, but it has its foundation in reason; for the boys of every school were divided into parties every Shrovetide, headed by their respective captains, whom the master chose from amongst his pupils. This was probably done in imitation of the Romans, who appointed the _principes pivenum_ on certain occasions. These juvenile competitors contended in a match at football, and fought a cock-battle, called the captains' battle, in both which contests the youthful rivals were not more interested than their parents." Though the barbarous sport had disappeared, the payment of a cockpenny survived certainly until the middle of this century. This is shown by Mr. W. Sayer, who, in his History (1847), says that the endowments of Bowness (Westmorland) School, "together with a cockpenny given by each scholar on Shrove Tuesday," amounted to about L60 per annum.

George Smith, a relative of Dr. Smith who became Bishop of London, built and endowed the school at Asby, and left L10, the interest of which (about 12s.) was to be disposed of on St. George's Day yearly for ever in the following manner: 6s. to the poor of the parish; 5s. to be spent in ale by the feofees of the school; and the remaining shilling to purchase a football for the scholars. A custom which seems to have been peculiar to Appleby was for each pupil leaving to pay half-a-guinea towards the library, and Mr. R. E. Leach, the headmaster, some years ago compiled a most interesting list of these donations. It was also an occasional occurrence that "old boys" gave money when they were married.

It was by the ancient Parochial Council of Sixteen that the first attempt to supply elementary education in Torpenhow was made, it being recorded that on May 12th, 1686, a resolution was passed in favour of founding a free school for the Bothel district. The "sixteen" from time to time drew up various rules for the conduct of the school, one of which would greatly astonish the present generation of certificated masters, because, in 1689, the master of the institution at Bothel (locally pronounced "Bohl") was ordered to "keep school from 6 in the morning till 11, and from 1 till 6 from Lady Day till Michaelmas," practically the same rule as was enforced by Lord Wharton at Kirkby Stephen.

An instance of the uncertain position occupied by the village schoolmaster in former days may be found among the records of Holme Cultram. In 1607 there being some controversy concerning the payment of the parish clerk or sexton, which previously had been paid in no regular manner, and the clerk claiming to be paid in meal, though no certain measure of it had been ascertained, it was agreed and ordered by the sixteen men, with the consent of the other parishioners, that for the future there should be one person who should be both parish clerk and schoolmaster, and that he should have for his wages for every copyhold tenement and lease within the parish paying above 18d. rent, fourpence, and for every cottager and under-tenant twopence, to be collected yearly at Easter by the clerk, who was to be chosen by the sixteen men and approved by the ordinary. In addition, the schoolmaster was to have a quarterly sum for each scholar as the sixteen men from time to time directed. That scheme was recorded in 1777 as being still in operation.

In another place it has been shown how the sworn men had often a great share in the selection of the churchwardens and other officials. Their duties also extended to the procuring of money for educational purposes. It was ordered by Commissioners in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth, concerning the endowed school at Keswick, "that whereas two pence for every fire-house hath been paid to the parish clerk yearly, and also certain ordinary fees for night-watch, burials, weddings, and, moreover, certain benevolences of lamb wool, eggs, and such like, which seem to grow up to a greater sum than is competent for a parish clerk; the eight men shall herafter take up the said two pence a house for the use of a schoolmaster, paying thereout to the parish clerk yearly 46s. 8d." In the time of King James it was found on inquiry by a Commission of Pious Uses, "that the eighteen sworn men had from time immemorial laid a tax for the maintenance of the schoolmaster, and other occasions of the parish, and appointed the schoolmaster, and made orders for the government of the school, and that the inhabitants had by a voluntary contribution raised a school stock of L148 2s. 3-1/2d., nevertheless that Dr. Henry Robinson, Bishop of Carlisle, Henry Woodward, his Chancellor, and Giles Robinson, brother of the said Bishop, and Vicar of Crosthwaite, had intermeddled, and that the said Bishop, sometimes by authority of the High Commission for Ecclesiastical Causes, sometimes as a justice of the peace for the county, and sometimes by his power as ordinary, had interrupted the orders of the eighteen men, and had committed thirteen of them to prison. Therefore the commissioners restore the eighteen men to their authority concerning the appointing of a schoolmaster, and the government of the school."

Among the curious bequests known to have been made at various times by residents in the two counties, not the least noteworthy was that of the Vicar of Raughton Head, Mr. Sevithwaite, who, at his death in 1762, left L20 to the school; and another L20, the interest whereof, after the death of his widow, was to be laid out yearly in purchasing Bishop Beveridge's "Thoughts upon Religion," and the Bishop of Man's "Essay for the Instruction of the Indians," to be given to the poor housekeepers of the parish.

Among the curiosities of tenure in addition to those already mentioned in a previous chapter, was that of surrendering by the rod. In the summer of 1750 "John Sowerby surrendered to the lord of the manor (of Castle Sowerby) by the hands of his steward _by the rod_ a messuage at Sowerby Row ... to the use and behoof of Joseph Robinson and his assigns according to the custom of the manor; conditioned to pay yearly to three trustees L5 for the use of a schoolmaster within the liberty of Row Bound to be chosen by the trustees." As in most other places, the schoolmaster had to teach certain children for a very small sum per quarter, and the parents in better circumstances had to pay 2s. 6d. per quarter for each child.

How faithfully some of the clerical schoolmasters performed their duties during long periods may be proved from numerous sources. One entry, a burial, will suffice--from the Mardale register of 1799:--

"Richard Hebson, in ye 75th year of his age. He was 53 years master of
the Free School at Measand, and 51 years the pastor of this Chapelry.
Singularly remarkable for his faithful, assiduous, and conscientious
discharge of the duties of both these stations."

At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were in the diocese of Carlisle few schools other than those held in the all too frequently dilapidated parish churches. In most cases the curates were the only schoolmasters, and it was as an encouragement to those clerics that the parishioners took it in turn to provide the curate with a "whittlegate." Much interesting information about the old-time schools and schoolmasters may be found in Bishop Nicolson's Visitation Miscellany. One man, who afterwards became examining chaplain to Bishop Law, used to keep school at Sebergham in a mud hut. Of another cleric, the Rev. T. Baxter, who was incumbent of Arlecdon in the first half of last century, it is recorded, in Mr. W. Dickinson's "Reminiscences of West Cumberland," that he "taught the parish school in the chancel of the parish church, on an earthern floor, without fire either in summer or winter." Bishop Nicolson's descriptions speak eloquently of the poverty of some parishes:--"The quire at Warwick, as in many other places, is shamefully abused by the children that are taught in it. Their present master is Thomas Allanson, a poor cripple, remov'd hither from Rockliff, who has no settled salary, only 12d. per quarter and his diet, and would be thankful for ye commendum of ye clerk's place; which, he saies, would bring him an addition of about six shillings p. an."

Of Irthington he wrote:--"The quire is here (as before) miserably spoil'd, on the floor, by the school boyes; and so vilely out of repair in the roof that 'tis hazardous comeing in it."

Crosby-on-Eden was a little better than the former place:--"Mr. Pearson, the school master, has no certain and fixed salary. He teaches the children in the quire; where the boys and girls sit on good Wainscot Benches, and write on the communion table, too good (were it not appointed to a higher use) for such a service." Here is a picture with regard to Cumwhitton, not calculated to make people really wish for the old days about which some grow enthusiastic:--"The south window is unglazed and starves the whole congregation as well as the poor children; who are here taught (for the present) by the parish clerk, a man of very moderate qualification. Mr. Robley, their new curate, is not yet resident among them; but will shortly come, and take the office of teaching out of this illiterate man's hand."

In a parish not far from the Cumberland border--Allendale--the curates of West Allen High and St. Peter's Chapels were certainly as recently as 1835, and probably still later, obliged to teach the miners' children for 1s. 6d. per quarter each, in consideration of certain annual payments. These were five shillings from each miner of one description, and half-a-crown from those of another, which they, in common with the incumbent of Allenheads Chapel, received as ministers of the respective chapels.

It was certified in 1717 that while at that time there was no divine service performed in the parish of Clifton, some three miles from Workington, "formerly every family in the two hamlets [of Great and Little Clifton], being about forty in number, paid 6d. each to one that read prayers, and taught the children to read, and the rector gave L2 a year, and officiated there every sixth Sunday, but that these payments had then ceased for above 40 years last past."

Reference was made in a previous paragraph to the custom of whittlegate as applying to schoolmasters. From the former chapter on church curiosities it will have been noted that the clergy occasionally had recourse to that method of supplementing their scanty incomes. As it often happened that the schoolmaster and parson were one and the same individual, difficulties were thereby removed. At any rate the following extract from Clarke's "Survey" of over a century ago has an interesting bearing on the subject. Writing of Ambleside, of which the Rev. Isaac Knipe, M.A., was curate and schoolmaster, he remarks:--

"The chapel is a low, mean building, and stands in the parish of
Grassmere. The inhabitants (who are land owners), as well as those in
the parish of Winandermere, as those in the parish of Grassmere, have
the right of nominating and presenting the curate. The rector of
Grassmere usually nominated the curate, but the inhabitants of this
and many other perpetual curacies in the north have, by custom, gotten
it from the rectors of vicars; the reason is this: before the death
of Queen Anne, many of the chapelries were not worth above three
pounds a year, and the donees could not get persons properly qualified
to serve them, so they left them to the inhabitants, who raised
voluntary contributions for them in addition to their salary, with
clothes yearly and whittlegate. Whittlegate is to have two or three
weeks' victuals at each house, according to the ability of the
inhabitants, which was settled amongst them so as that he should go
his course as regular as the sun, and compleat it as annually."

The custom prevailed so late as 1858 in some country parishes; it is not a little curious that it has not been found to exist in any counties except Cumberland and Westmorland, though the Rev. J. Wharton, Stainmore, has informed the writer that it is recognised still in some parts of the United States.

The custom of barring out is probably unknown to the present generation of Cumbrian and Westmerian school-boys--at any rate in the sense in which it used to be observed. There exist numerous stories of the thoroughness with which the boys formerly maintained their supposed rights in this direction. The Rev. E. H. Sugden's sketch of the history of Arlecdon and Frizington shows how the observance was followed there every Christmas:--"The old men of the parish tell with delight their experiences and adventures in carrying out this old custom. One says he remembers the master entering the school by creeping down the chimney. Another tells of a boy hiding himself in the chimney when the master had forced the door open. It appears that during this period of expulsion the doors of the school were strongly barricaded within, and the boys who defended it like a besieged city were armed in general with elder pop-guns. In the meantime the master would make several efforts, both by force and stratagem, to regain his lost authority. If he succeeded, heavy tasks were imposed, and the business of the school went on as usual; but it more commonly happened that he was repulsed and defeated. The siege was continued three days, after which the terms of capitulation were proposed by the master, who usually pushed them under the door, and as a rule the boys accepted. These terms stipulated what hours and times should for the ensuing year be allotted to study, and what to relaxation and play. Securities were given by each side for the due performance of these stipulations, and the paper was then solemnly signed by both master and pupils.

"Mr. Sibson, of Whitehaven, formerly of this parish, relates the two following incidents in connection with this custom. On one occasion, Mr. C. Mossop endeavoured to enter the school. As soon as he put his hand on the window sill, intending to enter that way, a boy hit his hand with a red-hot poker, so that for many days he went about with it in a sling. On another occasion, Mr. Hughes, the master, took some slates off the roof, and succeeded in getting his legs and part of his body past the rafters, but he could get no further, and the boys with red-hot pokers burnt him severely before he could be rescued by his friends. In those days many young men attended the school during the winter time."

At Appleby, the "barring out" sometimes lasted for days, and the scholars slept in the schoolrooms. In most places the mutiny was apt to break out early on the morning of the day fixed for breaking up for the holidays. They defied the master by means of sundry cries, that at Kendal being:--

"Liberty, liberty, under a pin,
Six weeks' holiday or _nivver_ come in."

Apparently the custom was killed in the old grey town at the beginning of this century by the then master, Mr. Towers meeting with a distressing mishap. He was contending with them, apparently for admittance, when his eye was accidentally destroyed, and the disaster served to bring about the abolition of the old custom.

Fine warm days of that Indian summer so often experienced in the two counties in September and October were devoted to "going a nutting," and the headmaster of Appleby Grammar School never refused a holiday at that season, provided that each scholar brought him a quart of "leamers"--nuts sufficiently ripe to leave the husks without compulsory treatment. As Christmas approached, the schoolmaster was "barred out" in orthodox fashion, until he agreed (and he only pretended to be loth to make the contract) to extend the coming holidays as long as his pupils demanded.

THE END

Index.

Acorn Bank, Privileges of tenants of, 67

Ale possets, 202

Allendale, Old school-days at, 250

Alms corn, Payments of, 88

Altar, Horn of the, at Carlisle, 74

Ambleside--curious church tradition, 49

Appleby, Privileges of burgesses of, 69;
Barring out custom at, 254-255;
Curious assize incident at, 7;
Bull-baiting at, 195;
Excommunication at, 102;
Grammar School, 242;
Public whipping at, 126-128;
Stocks at, 125

Appleby Castle, Old corn measures at, 159-160;
Curfew bell at, 238

Applethwaite (Windermere), Curious regulations at, 89

Apprentices and salmon, 178

Apprenticeship custom, An, 233

Archdeacon's Court, 59-60

Archery, 196-199

Arlecdon, Rector of, chasing a parishioner, 42;
Church font used as water-trough, 50;
Church, Dogs in, 63;
Tradition concerning buried church, 133;
An old school at, 249;
Barring out custom at, 252

Armathwaite, Gibbeting of Whitfield at, 94

Armboth Hall, Skulls at, 147

" Web-stone at, 237

Armour in churches, 13, 34

Assessors of bread and ale, 89

Assize incident, A curious, 7

Atkinson, Execution of Captain, 97

Bampton, Arrangement of families in church, 53;
Punishment of Quakers, 107-109

Barguest, The, 141

Barring out custom at school, 252-255

Barton, Probable fortified church at, 34;
Curious manorial custom at, 80

Beacons, 10-13

Beating the bounds, 227

Bees, Telling the, 138

Beetham Church, Penance at, 111

Bell-gate at Dalston, 238

Bell-horses, 217, 238

Bell legends, 132

Bell, Mayor of Wreay's old silver, 201

Bells, Carlisle racing, 191

Bishop of Carlisle and cock-fighting, 195

Bishops excommunicated, 100

Bishops, Fighting, 22-28

Blackmail rent, 75

Bode, bodesmen, bodeword, bode-hill, 14

Boggles, 139

Bongate--A reminder of serfdom, 66

Boon services, 76-79

Bootle, Beacon at, 15

Border service, 9-16, 68-70, 229

Bridekirk, Excommunication at, 101

Brigham, Fortified church at, 33

Brough, Probable fortified church at, 34;
Church font in private grounds, 50;
Holly Night at, 205

Brougham, Curious horn at, 73;
Countess's Pillar at, 223

Bull and boar, Obligation to keep, 87

Bull-baiting, 195

Burgh Barony Cup, Races for, 190

Burgh-by-Sands, Fortified church at, 30

Burrell Green, Luck of, 151

Burton, Curious dispute at, 40

"Burying the old wife" custom, 233

Calgarth skulls, 146

Caldbeck, Manorial customs at, 83

Carleton--A reminder of serfdom, 65

Carlisle, Watch and ward at, 19;
Cathedral, Rioting in, 37;
Cathedral used as a prison, 37;
Charter Horn at, 74;
Pillory and stocks at, 124;
Racing Bells, 191

Cartmell Church, Troops quartered in, 37

Carriage money service, 89

Castleward, Service of, 71

Charms, 136

Charter Horn at Carlisle, 74

Chimney and hearth tax, 182-186

Church curiosities, 38-63;
Stock, 51, 52;
Holding manorial courts in, 58;
Dog-whippers in, 60-63;
Legends, 131-133, 139;
Fined for not going to, 226

Churchwardens' duties, 51, 52, 107, 108, 226;
Selection of, 245

Churchyards, Keeping swine out of, 60;
Announcing sales in, 158

Churches, Fortified, 28-37;
Armour in, 13, 34;
Division of sexes in, 53;
Seating arrangements in, 51;
Swallowed by the earth, 131-132

Churning, Superstitions about, 137

Christmas festivals, 202

Clergy, Old-time, 40-46

Clergymen as publicans, 41;
as schoolmasters, 248-252

Cliburn, A probable fortified church at, 34

Clifton, Old school-days at, 251

Clogs, 171

Cloth searchers, 164

"Clothe Dightinge," 163

Coaching days, The old, 213-216

Coals carried on horse-back, 217

Cockermouth tolls dispute, 83;
Old manorial officers at, 90

Cock-fighting, 192-195, 201, 242

Cockpenny, 242, 243

Corby Castle, Radiant Boy of, 146

Cordwainers, Rules for, 164

Cornage, Service of, 15, 69, 70, 73

Coronation festivities, 205

Corryhole at Great Salkeld Church, 32

Councils, Old Parish, 230-232

Countess's Pillar at Brougham, 223

County guinea incident near Penrith, 20

Courts in church, Holding, 58

Courts, Old, 58, 90, 181

Crack Nut Sunday, 225

Croglin, Manorial customs at, 82

Crosby Garrett, A probable fortified church at, 33

Crosby-on-Eden, Old school-days at, 249

Crosby Ravensworth Church, Keeping dogs out of, 61

Cross Fell, Legend of, 132

Crosthwaite, Rivalry between Cockermouth and, 157

"Culyet," 52

Cumin tenure, 85

Cumwhitton, Manorial customs at, 82

Curfew Bell, Ringing the, 238

Customs, Old, 223-239;
Old School, 240-255

Dacre Church, Curious custom at, 55

Dalston Church, Whipping dogs from, 61-62;
Holy well at, 207

"Dalston Black-reeds," 194