Chapter VIII: Part 8

Our steps finally take us back to Britford church, and a last look at the cenotaph of the restless, unscrupulous, short-sighted, ill-fated Buckingham. At the end of the tomb the decaying angels still support the proud escutcheons of Stafford and Widville, names here, in the funeral pomp of the grave, linked in the closest and most loving tie of human relationship, but in the olden life precedent, opposed to each other with a bitterness that death alone could appease. Time has now gathered themselves and all their actions into his lap, the fierceness of their strife is hushed into silence, and all the suspense and agony that haunted their lives and tracked them to its last resting-place, is over; and the wayfarer who contemplates their sadly-incidented story, and seeks to identify the few wrecks left to perpetuate their memory, as he turns away, mutters to himself the prayerful entreaty doubtless once inscribed over their dust, "_cujus anime propicietur Deus, Amen_."

We linger a moment to catch a glance at the remarkable Saxon doorways still preserved in the nave,--relics coeval with the age when _Old_ Sarum was in its best estate, and centuries before the glorious fane that adorns its _new_ namesake was born or thought of,--and then emerge into the pleasant evening sunlight. How delightfully-reviving the communion with the purity of Nature, after our thoughts have been saddened by a contemplation of the self-sought miseries of her children. We saunter quietly along under the fine trees that overhang our path, loiter awhile to survey an old moated house, and then pass on by a winding path through mead and lane to Salisbury. Before us is the bright, busy little city, and above it is upreared the remarkable feature that has made its reputation world-wide, the glorious spire of its Cathedral. Higher and still more heavenward, its faultless proportion rises at every step, until standing within its shadow, our thoughts are lost in admiration of those men, who, when they had built an earthly home "to the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," reared this shaft of beauty from its midst, in testimony that their aspirations were not satisfied until they had placed its top-stone as near His heavenly home as human hands could raise it.

SALISBURY SPIRE.

Eyes of the soul,--turn from thought's busy realm,
And dwell awhile on yon height-piercing spire,
The sight is none that all things overwhelm,
But one that bids us rise to all things higher.
Delved from the earth a rude and shapeless thing,
Rended by force from the deep quarry's breast,--
Behold from such, a pure form upward spring,
In beauty's fairest vesture aptly drest.

So may'st thou ravish thought's uncultured mine,
From the rude mass harmonious outlines blend,
Clothe with true beauty all the fair design,
That based on earth shall to the heaven ascend
Like Babel's tower,--but no confusion show,
By one grand purpose raised from all that's low.

UNHORSED AT BOSWORTH.

The "silent finger that points to heaven" has, beyond all comparison, its finest exemplar at Salisbury, and this record, although common as a household word, is, notwithstanding, none the less true and impressive, and ever returns with Tithonic vigour at each renewed contemplation. Graceful in the happiest degree in proportion, its great altitude gives a power to its slender beauty of form, altogether beyond the rivalry of its sister spires that spring with humbler charms from this land of ours. Thus it stands in grand isolated dignity, amid the long-swelling undulations of the Wiltshire hills, with base trending earth-ward, yet lost before touching the ground amid the blue mist that creeps with shrouding haze along the wolds,--but its fine-drawn point pierces with no uncertain intention the quiet amber of the evening sky.

It would be perhaps difficult to find any where, taken in sympathy with its peculiar associations, a picture more impressive and delightful. The purpose of its builders,--the object of its dedication,--its majesty of size and height, lifting itself as it were far from the busy haunts and homes of those, who living, nestle at its feet, or in death are laid beneath its protective shadow,--its dark-tinted, yet well-defined, heaven-ward rising, beautiful outline,--so suggestive in its form of the design of this life, scarce rooted in the earth, yet with apex cleaving the sky, and tinctured too akin with the gloomy tints of human uncertainty, summon a host of thoughts from the inner recesses of the soul, and bids the gazer on its fair proportion and upward glance ask himself as he views it, how far the resemblance reflects his own condition, what he was designed for, what he has made himself.

And now the attraction of its wonderful presence has drawn us nearer, and we are sitting contemplatively under one of the large elms in the Close where the grand proportions of the fine cathedral are before us. Almost oppressive for a while, is the realization of its great size, and the glance upward from the spirelets of the west front to the apex of the glorious spire, vanishing in the blue ether. But the eye must not dally with, nor dwell too lovingly on the delicate interlacery it is arrayed in, for however beautiful in itself, or when viewed alone, its decoration scarcely harmonizes with the bolder and more largely-defined ornamental details of the structure below; and the comparison at once assures us that this splendid addition was the offspring of a somewhat later age, but redolent of the truest and purest perception of architectural beauty, and was placed there with feeling akin to the tasteful hand that completes the cluster of gathered flowers with a tall spikelet of harmonious form, but of otherwise almost imperceptible contrasting beauty.

What words may appropriately describe this almost unrivalled picture? Two lines from one of our greatest bards suggest themselves,--

"Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime--
Relic of nobler days, and noblest arts!"

to which may be added that rare impression of unbroken harmony, and the pleasant satisfaction of this feeling clothes gratefully every aspect presented.

Singularly pleasant to the eye, also, and giving a sense of stability to this fine building, is the noble base-line of strong moulding that follows every length, angle, and recess, and adds the finish of completeness from spire to basement.

We enter, and within as without all is pure, severe, and uniform, the offspring of an age before men's minds and hands were wooed of their strength by the blandishments of ornament, and while yet they relied on the rare and noble simplicity of perfected outline, ever the most difficult of achievement, and, consequently when attained, ever the more enduring of pleasure. Those dark, slender shafts, with their deep-cut capitals, stand with airy but decided purpose from jutting quoin, or flank the strong arches, perfectly harmonizing with the contour of all about them; and while they relieve the monotony or severity of their surroundings, do not intrude on the eye, nor distract the attention further, but quietly and unobtrusively fill the true subsidiary position that should ever be assigned to ornament, and nothing beyond.

Were it possible to take a stranger into the cathedral, and, ignorant of its existence, place him under the spire, the wildest flight of imagination could not conjure within his mind the possibility of the existence of the noble finial that rises above his head. The piers of the arches on which it rests afford no clue, and although somewhat larger than those near them, are nevertheless so comparatively slender that they would attract no notice unless carefully pointed out, and then a glance outside, and another survey within would startle him into an almost awe-struck realization of the consummate boldness that planned, and ability that carried to completion, this wonderful afterthought, and impress him that there were indeed giants in architectural resource, even in those "dark days," as we are sometimes pleased to call them.

Another and most distinguished charm too, finds striking witness at Salisbury. Its chaste and simple grandeur has fairly put to the rout the modern decorator, with his paint-pots and gold leaf,--that sturdy and well-patronized defacer of the real, with the garniture of the cheat. No room for him here, or but scant and in soberest guise, and his meretricious attractions are met everywhere with the declaration mirrored in the gleaming Purbeck, or nestling in the ghost-like shadows that haunt the deep-cut foliage that crowns it,--there is no beauty like reality.

Thus much for our short survey of the stately fabric. Our next inquiry is, what is the special purpose of our visit to-day--where is the object we are in search of? It is for the memorial of one of those half-courtier, half-soldier chieftains, so many of whom threw their fortune in with his, and afterward found distinguished place and occupation at the Court and government of the first Tudor king. Where shall we find it? With a sort of shudder we take a survey of the assemblage of monuments lying so regularly and suspiciously disposed, in lines under the arches of the nave. In the long array we note effigies of templars, bishops, and knights--interposed here and there with brassless stones--reclining for the most part on nondescript-looking tombs, composed of heterogeneous and patchwork materials, having little or no relationship apparently to the figures they support. Instantly we apprehend in its fullest sense, the sacrilegious barbarism of Wyatt, who removed almost the whole of them from their original places in other parts of the edifice, to their present incongruous positions, making up the tombs piecemeal from such fragments out of the general destruction, as happened to fit, or be available,--probably the most deplorable desecration of its kind to be found in the annals of archaeological record, and which we wish we could not further think of.

Singularly, almost uniquely rich was this cathedral in tombs of every age, before this ruthless resurrectionist and invader of sepulchres was let loose therein, toward the close of the last century to wreak his fury. Dowsing was almost a hero in desecration, compared with the callous and equally destructive energies of Wyatt, for while the fanatic iconoclast had that fiercest of all flames, ignorant bigotry, to urge him on, it was left to the 'cultivated' imagination of one, who aspired to be thought an architect and man of taste, to set himself up as a rival in the detestable business of spoliation, and scarce any escaped him from the Founder downward, for Bishop Poore was meted out the same fate, impartially as others.

Emerging from under the modern brass screen that separates the choir from the nave, slowly we pass down the south aisle. There, is the beautiful effigy of William Longspee, the first Earl of Sarum, son of Henry II. and fair Rosamond, reclining on his glorious tomb, once covered with exquisite mosaic work, the embossed lions on his enamelled shield, chafing at the indignity of their master having been ousted from his olden station of honour in the Lady Chapel,--Bishop de la Wyle the founder of St. Edmund's Collegiate Church in this city at the close of the thirteenth century,--the tomb of the unfortunate Lord Stourton of murderer's fame and silken halter,--the martial proportions of the second Lord Hungerford, brought hither from the demolished Chantry erected by his wife the last Bottreaux, on the north side of the retro-choir,--next, the tomb of Bishop Beauchamp, the "Wykeham of his age" (for he superintended the building of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle), taken from his beautiful Chantry, that once had place opposite to Lady Hungerford's; and following him, the interesting effigies of two other early and distinguished Bishops, Roger, and Joceline, A.D. 1184, and brought from old Sarum! The face of Bishop Joceline, although so old and denuded, still exhibits the marvellous placidity of sleep, all the more so from the partial effacement of the features, but displaying an effect no modern sculpture could imitate.

But he whom we seek is not found among this long succession of departed greatness, and we carefully proceed with our investigation up the north aisle.

Here the first we meet with, is the unique and mysterious "Boy Bishop,"--lying at length and much denuded beneath his protective iron grating. Then we pass two "unappropriated" tombs, and next a mail-clad effigy said to be William Longspee, second Earl of Salisbury, son of the William on the other side,--then a fine figure of a knight in bascinet and surcoat, John de Montacute, with fortunately a considerable portion of the original tomb below him. Whom does this desolate-looking pair of brassless stones, side by side record, with indent of man and wife still apparent on them? Ah! the emblem powdered on the stone,--the _harvest sickle_,--unravels their story, and a feeling of sadness pervades us, as we recognize in them the memorials that once covered the dust of Walter, the first Lord Hungerford--father of Robert on the opposite side--and Katharine Peverel his wife, shifted here about a century since, as an inscription on them informs us, "by Jacob C. Radnor," when he removed the beautiful iron-work Chantry in which they originally had appropriate place, and carried it away to the east end of the choir to do duty as a 'family pew.'

There is but one more effigy, you say,--as we turn from this last memorial of the long sequence of departed and 'translated' worthies--and that must be him whom we seek. A glance at the tall armoured figure immediately assures us that he is found, Sir John Cheney, Baron of that name; and a stout adherent of the first Tudor sovereign, Henry VII.

The family of Cheney, as we have previously noted,[26] was a wide spreading one in the south of England, and, according to Burke, derived their descent from a common ancestor, Ralph de Caineto, who came to England with the Conqueror.

[26] See page 4.

Sir John, of the monument before us, was of Kentish extraction. William, the son of Sir Alexander Cheney, married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Shurland, of Shurland in the parish of Eastchurch, in the Isle of Sheppey. He died 8 Edward III., 1333, leaving issue Robert, who left issue Sir Richard of Shurland, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Cralle, of Cralle, Sussex, by whom he left two sons, William of Shurland, and Richard of Cralle.

Sir William Cheney of Shurland, Sheriff of Kent, 13 Henry IV., 1412,--1 Henry V., 1414,--2 Henry VI., 1424, Knight of the Shire for Kent, 3 Henry V., 1418, died 21 Henry VI., 1443, and was buried with Margaret his wife in St. Benet's church, Paul's Wharf, London.

He was succeeded by his son Sir John, Knight of the Shire for Kent, 27 Henry VI., 1449, and Sheriff 33 Henry VI., 1455. He married Eleanor, daughter and coheiress of Sir Robert de Shottisbroke, knt., and sister to Margaret, Duchess of Somerset. There were two sons, John and William.

Sir William, second son, was Sheriff of Kent 7 Edward IV., 1467, and I Henry VII., 1486, was appointed Constable of Queenborough Castle, the same year. He was twice married; by his first wife had one son, Sir Francis Cheney, who succeeded his father as Constable of Queenborough Castle, and died without issue; and by his second wife one son, Thomas, who became his uncle John's heir. (Hasted.)

Sir John Cheney, the eldest son, of Shurland, is the subject of our narrative. He appears to be the first of this numerous and influential race that reached the honour of the peerage.[27]

[27] Sir William Cheney, Chief Justice of England, had summons to
Parliament among the barons of the realm,--4, 5 and 6 Henry VI.,
1426-8. (Hasted.) Query if the Sir William who died 1443. His
name does not appear among the extinct peerages. In the church of
"Saint Michaels Pater-noster in the old Royall," Weever notes the
following inscription:--"_Prey of yowr cherete for the souls of
Agnes Cheyney, wydow, late wyff vnto William Cheney, somtym
Esquyr for the Body vnto King Harry the seuenth. Whyche Agnes
dyed the fyfteenth day of July in the yere of our Lord God on
thowsand four hundred eyghty and seven. And for the souls of
William Cheyney, Robert Molyneux, and Robert Sheryngton her
husbands, and all Cristen souls._"

We first hear of him in 1465, when he was one of the Commissioners sent to treat with the King of Denmark, accompanied by Dr. Goldwell, Dean of Salisbury. He is here called "_strenuus miles_," probably from his great stature and strength.

In 1475, where he is termed Esquire of the King's body, with a retinue of seven men at arms, including himself, he accompanied the English army to Calais, in the expedition to France by Edward IV., when that king was first deceived and then out-manoeuvred by the Dukes of Brittany and Burgundy, and afterward bought off from all his martial intentions by the French king Louis XI., promising to pay him seventy-two thousand crowns down, and a yearly pension of fifty thousand crowns for life,--marry his son the Dauphin to Edward's daughter Elizabeth (afterward wife to Henry VII.), and a further sum of fifty thousand crowns as a ransom for the release of the widowed Queen Margaret. Louis, remembering Crecy and Agincourt, was exceedingly anxious to see the backs of the English turned on France, and besides all this money, or the promise of it, sent to Edward "three hundred waggon loads of wine," and further cartloads for the use of his army; and "at length the French king's fears vanished with the departure of the English, who went away extremely pleased with the French gold and wine, while the pensions assigned to Edward's principal courtiers amounted to sixteen thousand crowns a year."

Among the "principal courtiers" who were recipients of this inglorious spoil, Sir John Cheney's name is given as one, and associated with him were Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset, William, Lord Hastings, his wife's father-in-law, the King's Chamberlain, and Dr. Thomas Morton, born at Bere-Regis, in Dorset,--then Master of the Rolls, and afterward Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury; all west-country names of great interest connected with our little annals. It was however stipulated by his French majesty, after seeing Edward, and swearing the treaty, that John, Lord Howard, and Sir John Cheney, Master of the Horse, should be left as hostages, until the King of England (after receiving the seventy-two thousand crowns) had passed the seas with his army. Edward, after receiving the money, embarked his forces with all expedition, and Howard and Cheney remained until his arrival in England, during which interval they were entertained "very nobly" by the French king.

We do not find him further mentioned during the reign of Edward IV., or the short rule of his unfortunate son, but soon after the usurpation of Richard III., he was among those who gave his adhesion to the Countess of Richmond (mother of Henry VII.) being won over to the interest of her son by her trusty envoy, Sir Reginald Braye, and with him was Sir Giles Daubeney, and other influential men.

This being so, in due time, which occurred almost immediately, in 1483 he joined in the movement--so unfortunate as it turned out--of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and was associated with the Courtenays, the Marquis of Dorset, and others forming the western contingent, being in arms against the king, near Salisbury. On the dispersion of Buckingham's followers through the Severn inundation, Sir John Cheney and his companions made their escape safely across to France, where they joined the Earl of Richmond. His name was included in the Proclamation issued against the insurgent fugitives by Richard, with rewards offered therein proportionate to their station, on apprehension.

It is probable Sir John remained with, or near Richmond, in France, until his final expedition to England, in which he doubtless accompanied him, and on landing, proceeded with the Earl's army on their march through Wales to Bosworth.[28]

This memorable engagement which took place on the 22nd of August 1484, has been ably described by many pens, and its incidents, beyond those having reference directly to our story, need not be

[28] Among the "Knightes made at the landinge of Kinge Henry the
Seventh at Mylforde Haven," fourth on the list occurs Sir John
Cheney. His arms are thus given,--Quarterly 1 and 4, _Azure, six
lioncels rampant argent, a canton ermine; 2 and 3, Ermine, a chief
per pale indented or and gules, in the dexter side a rose of the
last_ (SHOTISBROOKE). Crest, _Two bull's horns argent, separated
from the scalp, roots or, "fixed to the mantels without torce_."
(Metcalfe's _Book of Knights_.) recapitulated here. Our hero has
special traditional fame connected with the fray, if not of the
most fortunate kind, as will be seen.

In addition to the stream of deserters from his own army to that of his rivals, which met Richard's eyes on that eventful day, the defection of Lord Stanley, a misfortune of the first magnitude, assured Richard that no time was to be lost, if he hoped to save his crown. So, gathering a muster of as many as remained true to him, he made a direct and magnificent charge into the centre of his foes' line, striving gallantly to recover his fortune. Leading them in person, he fought his way directly to his adversary's standard, and "in his furie he manfully overthrew Sir William Brandon, the Earle's Standard-bearer, and Sir John Cheney, both men of mightie force and knowne valiancie," and he nearly reached Richmond himself. Hollingshed thus describes it,--

"King Richard set on so sharplie at the first brunt, that he
ouerthrew the Erles standard, and slue Sir William Brandon, his
standard bearer, (which was father to Sir Charles Brandon by King
Henrie the eight created Duke of Suffolk,) and matched hand to
hand with Sir John Cheinie, a man of great force and strength,
which would haue resisted him, but the said John was by him
manfullie ouerthrowen. And so he making open passage by dint of
sword as he went forward, the Earle of Richmond withstood his
violence, and kept him at the sword's point without aduantage,
longer than either his companions thought or judged, which being
almost in despair of victorie, were suddenly recomforted by Sir
William Stanlie, which came to his soccour with three thousand
tall men. At which verie instant King Richard's men were driven
back and fled, and he himself manfullie fighting in the middle of
his enemies was slaine."

The old chronicler, as a matter of course, pays Richmond the compliment of his "keeping him at the sword's point without advantage," but other accounts relate that the Earl was in no hurry to cross weapons with his redoubtable and now desperate antagonist, and was doubtless greatly "recomforted" at Stanley's opportune defection, with his "soccour of three thousand tall men."

That Richmond had a narrow escape is evident, Sir William Brandon his Standard-Bearer, was killed, and Sir John Cheney, giant in stature as he was, was unhorsed--"manfully overthrown"--by the comparatively diminutive, deformed King himself. Then a swarm of assailants closed round Richard, and he was hurled to the earth, and remorselessly despatched with many wounds.

Whatever may be said of Richard as to the degrading characteristics of his previous career, one thing stands out in strong relief, his undoubted courage, which on this decisive occasion was of the highest order, and claims its full meed of admiration, especially considering the disadvantages of his person, and he closed his life with the fate of a hero.

Simultaneously with Richard's death, if it was not its actual cause, Sir William Stanley following the example of his brother, just at that juncture crossed over with his forces to Richmond's side, which virtually decided the combat, and the battle was ended. The grateful Henry requited Stanley's inestimable service, thus so opportunely given, by putting him to death a few years later, on a very questionable and frivolous charge.

The naked, bloody, dirt-begrimed corpse of the last King of the White Rose, having been picked out from amongst the slain, was thrown contemptuously over the back of a horse,--"like a calf,"--head hanging down on one side and legs on the other, behind a pursuivant of arms called _Blanc Sanglier_, being the officer called after Richard's own badge, the _White Boar_, or _Boar argent_, doubtless so done in derision, and sent off to Leicester, and the battered, blood-stained helmet-crown of the Plantagenet usurper was lifted from the mud and placed upon the head of the Tudor invader.

But had fortune favoured Richard a little further, so that he could have got within weapon's length of his adversary, the untoward fate that befell him, may have been Richmond's instead, and a different chapter altogether substituted as to the future sovereignty of England.

In common with the associates of conquerors, the adherents of the first Tudor king got their due proportion of rewards and honours at his hands, and Sir John Cheney was not forgotten.

The first distinction he received was conferred a short time before Henry's coronation, which took place in October, 1485. Three of the king's highest adherents received patents of nobility, and twelve others were created Knights-Banneret; among these Sir John Cheney stood second on the list. He was also soon after created a Knight of the Garter, being the two hundred and thirty-seventh in the succession, and Dodsworth says, "it was on St. George's Day preceding the coronation, and that he sat at the first table in the right aisle of St. George's Hall, Windsor." At the end of the first Parliament, toward the end of the year, the king called him to his Privy Council.

But the most considerable honour yet awaited him, which took place in 1487, when by writ of summons dated the first of September in that year he was raised to the dignity of a Baron, and summoned to Parliament as such from that period to the 14 October, 1495. He held the office also of Royal Standard-Bearer to Henry VII.

In 1487, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, "a man of talents and enterprise, nephew to Edward IV., Richard III., and Margaret, widow of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy," Henry's uncompromising and implacable enemy, accompanied by Francis, Viscount Lovel (who had been Lord Chamberlain to Richard III.) Fitz-Gerald, Earl of Kildare, the redoubtable Martin Swartz, with a large contingent of veteran Germans, and Irish, having crossed over from Ireland, landed on the fourth of June at Fourdrey in Furness in Lancashire. There they were joined by Sir Thomas Broughton, and the English adherents, and with this motley army was Lambert Simnel, and his tutor Richard Simons the Oxford priest; they marched into Yorkshire, and thence bent southward to Newark. Henry had assembled as numerous an army as he could muster and marched to Nottingham, but was not in sufficient force to give his antagonists battle. There he was reinforced by the Earl of Derby and a body of troops, and also by Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Strange, Sir John Cheney, "and other knights and gentlemen at least three score," bringing with them large additional forces. The king succeeded in occupying Newark before the Earl of Lincoln could reach it, and advanced to East-Stoke, about three miles south of Newark. Here the determined battle of Stoke took place on the sixteenth of June; the Germans fought with great determination, but the Earl's forces were totally routed and all their leaders, except Lord Lovel, slain, fighting to the last sword in hand.

Lord Lovel is reported to have escaped, and his fate has been enshrined in a halo of romance. By some he is said to have been killed in the battle, by others "that he fled and swam over the Trent on horseback, but could not recover on account of the steepness of the bank, and so was drowned in the river." But there is also this remarkable story of his disappearance,--

"On the 6th of May, 1728, the present Duke of Rutland, related in
my hearing, that about twenty years there before, in 1708, upon
occasion of new laying a chimney, at Minster Lovel, there was
discovered a large vault or room under ground, in which was the
entire skeleton of a man, as having been sitting at a table,
which was before him, with a book, paper, pen, &c., &c., in
another part of the room lay a cap all much mouldered and
decayed. Which the family judged to be this Lord Lovel, whose
exit, has hitherto been so uncertain." (Banks.) While another
account adds, "that the clothing of the body, seemed to have been
rich; that it was seated in a chair, with a table and mass-book
before it; and also that, upon the admission of the air, the body
soon fell to dust." (Gough.)

Previous to the battle another honour was conferred on him,--for among the "Banerettes made by the Kinge at the batell of Stoke besydes Newarke-upon-Trent the IX. day of June Anno Sec'do, whereof the first three wer made before the batell,"--the second name occurring is that of Sir John Cheney. (Metcalfe.)

In 1488 Sir John "received orders with other persons in Hampshire to levy archers for the relief of Brittany then threatened by the French," and in 1492 appears to have accompanied Henry's grand expedition to France, the flotilla being under the command of Lord Willoughby de Broke, as Admiral of the Fleet, and with Lord Daubeney as one of the principal commanders and ambassadors.

Here again money, and not the sword, decided the fortune of war, and it is curious, that one of the articles of this treaty of Etaples should be, that "the king of France (Charles VIII.) should pay the king of England the arrears of the yearly pension of fifty thousand crowns paid by Louis XI. to Edward IV., amounting in all to one hundred and twenty-five thousand crowns, which is twenty-five thousand pounds sterling."

This was the payment of the old debt contracted by the French king in 1475, to Edward IV., who was also to have the English king's daughter Elizabeth for his wife. Now, however, Henry was married to the lady instead, but he did not forget, when opportunity offered, to press for the arrears of the pension, due to her late father. Sir John Cheney was credited with getting a little plunder out of the first transaction in 1475, and it is probable that he did not come empty-handed out of this, the second, although he does not seem to have been one of the English ambassadors chosen to meet the astute Marshal d'Esquerdes.

No further record appears of Lord Cheney's services, and he died without issue in 1496, when the title became extinct. He devised his estates to his nephew Sir Thomas Cheney, of Toddington, Bedfordshire.

Lord Cheney "was the friend, if not the relation of Bishop Beauchamp, for he was appointed one of his executors, and was buried in the Chapel erected by that prelate, in Salisbury Cathedral" (Dodsworth). He now lies under the first arch from the choir, in the north aisle of the nave. The Chapel of this prelate as it appeared before its destruction by Wyatt is thus described in Sir R. C. Hoare's _Modern Wiltshire_,--

"The Beauchamp Chapel as a specimen of art, was in every respect
worthy of the builder of the Collegiate Chapel of St. George at
Windsor. It was larger than that of Lord Hungerford, and
displayed the elaborate and richly ornamented style of the age.
It was lighted by three windows to the south, with buttresses
between, and a large window at the east end, and was finished
with an embattled parapet. The remains of the prelate reposed
under a plain marble tomb in the centre, and in the wall on the
north side, separating it from the Lady Chapel, beneath canopies
of exquisite tabernacle work, were those of his father and
mother. An altar tomb in the south-west corner, surmounted also
with a florid canopy covered those of Sir John Cheyney, his
friend, and one of his executors. The Chapel was divided into two
compartments, by an arch, on which were the armorial bearings of
the Founder. Round the wall ran a cornice of delicately wrought
fan-work and foliage, and the ceiling of carved oak, assimilated
perfectly with the rest of the edifice."

Some portions of this "delicately wrought fan-work" is still to be seen among the _debris_ of sculpture remaining in the cloisters. Bishop Beauchamp was younger son of Walter Beauchamp (younger son of John, Lord Beauchamp of Powyke), by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Roche, and brother to William Beauchamp, Lord St. Amand. He is supposed to have been the first Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, was consecrated Bishop of Salisbury in 1450, afterward translated to Hereford; and died 1481.

The effigy of John, Lord Cheney, sculptured in alabaster, is of large size, and the costume is of most interesting military character. He appears clad in complete plate armour, with skirt and collar of mail, and armed with sword and misericorde. The Garter is around the left leg, and he wears a large dependant collar of S.S., from which hangs, instead of the usual figure of St. George and the Dragon, an unique Tudor jewel, or badge, formed of a Portcullis, on which is super-imposed a Double Rose. Over the armour is the robe or mantle of the Order, fastened across the chest with cordon and tassels. On the left shoulder is embroidered the Garter. The head is bare, and the hair parted in the centre of the forehead, descends in large waves to the shoulders. The fingers and thumbs of both hands are adorned with rings, the feet rest on a lion, and behind the sole of the left foot is sculptured an oak leaf, on the right is apparently a scroll. Angels support the head.

The structure on which the effigy reclines is composed probably of no portion of the original tomb. It partly consists of traceried panels of Purbeck marble, having shields in their centres, on which were formerly brasses.

As has been observed, Lord Cheney was interred in the beautiful Chantry of his friend, Bishop Richard Beauchamp, which was situate on the north side of the Lady Chapel, opposite Lady Hungerford's. The Bishop, who died in 1481, was also buried within it, and according to Leland, with his father and mother on either side of him "in marble tumbes." Wyatt demolished the Chantry, and removed both Bishop and Knight to the nave, and during the confusion of the desecration, the Bishop's tomb appears to have been lost or mislaid, his bones now rest in some one else's, taken from one of the transepts, wherein no remains at all were found. The Knight's tomb, probably formed of Purbeck marble, was too far gone with decay to bear 'translation.'

"In the last repairs," says Dodsworth, "the effigy (Sir J. Cheney's) was removed, and as the original tomb was totally decayed, the present base was formed from part of the ornaments that belonged to the Beauchamp Chapel. His skeleton was found entire, and justified the fame of his extraordinary stature and strength. The thigh bone measured above twenty-one inches, or near four inches longer than the natural size. These bones were enclosed in a box, and entrusted to the care of the writer, until the tomb was replaced, when they were deposited within, and the name of the deceased, with the date of the removal, inscribed on the cover." The act of a true and reverential man.

The substituted tomb of Sir John Cheney's friend the Bishop, is on the other side of the nave.

The arms of Cheney (of Shurland) are recorded as, _Argent, on a bend sable, three martlets or_, quartering, _Azure, five lioncels argent, a canton ermine_,--or according to another authority, _Azure, six lioncels, three, two, one, argent_ (SHURLAND). No arms are visible at Salisbury.

At the death of Lord Cheney, his property devolved to his nephew and heir, Sir Thomas Cheney, son of his brother Sir William Cheney.

The scene of our little history now shifts from the broad chalk downs of south Wilts, to the kindred chalk measures of south-west Bedfordshire, and for a short time intermediately to northern Kent, the original seat of the family of Cheney.

Sir Thomas Cheney, nephew and heir of John, Lord Cheney, K.G., married first Frideswide, daughter and coheiress of Sir Thomas Frowyke, knt., Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. By her he had three daughters: Catherine married to Thomas Kemp, Esq., of Glendich, Kent; Frances, to Nicholas Crips, Esq., son and heir of Sir Henry Crips, knt.; Anne, to Sir John Perrot, knt.; and Margaret, to George Nevill, Lord Abergavenny. (Burke.)

Secondly, he married Anne, daughter and coheiress of Sir John Broughton, knight, of Toddington, Bedfordshire, by his wife Mary daughter and heiress of Thomas Peyvre, lord of the manor of Toddington, by whom he acquired the estate. By her he had one son Henry (afterward Lord Cheney), his successor.

Sir Thomas is described as having been "a person of great gallantry and note in the reign of Henry VIII., accompanied that monarch to the field of the Cloth of Gold, where he was one of the challengers against all gentlemen, who were to exercise feats of arms on horseback or on foot for thirty days."

He was created by Henry VIII. Knight of the Garter, Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Treasurer of the Household. Upon the death of Edward VI., he espoused the interests of Queen Mary, and was called to the Privy Council by Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her reign, which same year he died, 1558-9, and was buried at Minster in Kent.

Hasted (_History of Kent_) has the following notice of this Knight,--

"Sir Thomas Cheney was a man of great account in his time; 7
Henry VII., he was Sheriff of this county, and served in
Parliament for it 6 Edward VI., and 1, 2, and 5, Queen Mary. He
was elected a Knight of the Garter in the reign of Henry VIII.,
by whom he was appointed Constable of Queenborough Castle,
Governor of Rochester, Warden of the Five Ports, and Treasurer of
the Household, in which office he continued in the next reign of
K. Edward VI., of whose Privy Council he was one, and at his
death, espousing the cause of Queen Mary, he was again made
Warden of the Five Ports. Queen Elizabeth continued him Treasurer
of her Household, and made him of her Privy Council. He resided
at Shurland, the mansion of which he had new built, with great
hospitality and sumptuous housekeeping, till the time of his
death, which happened in the Tower on Dec. 8, in the first year
of that reign, and was buried with great pomp and magnificence in
a small chapel adjoining the parish church of Minster in the Isle
of Sheppey. He had been twice married, first to Fridwith,
daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Frowike, Lord Chief Justice of
England, by whom he had issue one son John, married to Margaret,
daughter of George Nevill, Lord Abergavenny, and three daughters
at length his coheirs, Katherine married to Sir Thomas Kempe,
knt., Frances to Nicholas Crispe, Esq., and Anne to Sir John
Perrott, knt. His second wife was Anne daughter and coheir of Sir
John Broughton of Toddington, in the county of Bedford, knt., by
whom he had an only son Henry, who became his heir.

"He was buried in great state in a chapel which had been the
Conventual church, adjoining to the north-east part of the parish
church of Minster, but his son Henry, Lord Cheney, having on 22
October, 1581, anno 24 Elizabeth, obtained a license to remove
the coffins and bones of his father and ancestors from thence, he
having sold the materials of the said chapel to Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, and placed them in the parish church, the coffin of his
father was, among others removed, and deposited in the north
chancel of it where a handsome monument was erected over him."

Sir Henry Cheney, knt., his only son and heir, was of Toddington. He married Jane, daughter of Thomas Wentworth of Nettlested, Suffolk, created Baron Wentworth in 1529, and Lord Chamberlain of the Household to Edward VI.; by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Andrew Fortescue, knt.

Sir Henry was created by Queen Elizabeth BARON CHENEY OF TODDINGTON, by Writ of Summons dated 6 May, 1572, and had summons to Parliament from 8 May, 1572, to 15 October, 1586.

Hasted, speaking of this nobleman and his Kentish possessions, narrates,--

"Henry Cheney, Esqr., succeeded his father at Shurland, among his
other Estates in this County, and in the third year of Queen
Elizabeth he had livery of it with the rest of his inheritance;
in the fifth year of it, he kept his Shrievalty for this County
at his seat, in which year he was knighted, in the fourteenth
year of that reign he was created Lord Cheney of Toddington in
the County of Bedford. By his expensive method of living he
acquired the name of "_the extravagant Lord Cheney_," and before
his death had dissipated the great possessions which his father
had left him and died without issue 30 Elizabeth, anno 1587.
However, long before his death, having removed to Toddington,
where he had built a most magnificent seat, he exchanged the
manor and seat of Shurland, with other estates in the
neighbourhood of it, with the Queen, and the fee of it remained
in the hands of the Crown, till King James I., in his second year
granted it to Philip Herbert, younger brother of William, Earl of
Pembroke, who the next year was created Lord Herbert of Shurland,
and Earl of Montgomery. Sir Thomas Cheney--his father--seems to
have had some foreknowledge of his son's future extravagance, for
by his last will he devised his lands and manors to his son Henry
and the heirs of his body, remainder to Thomas Cheney of Woodley,
Esqr., and to the heirs male of his body, upon condition, that he
or they or any of them should not alien or discontinue.

"Henry, Lord Cheney was possessed of much land in this parish,
which with all the rest of his estates, through his profuse
manner of living he was obliged to alienate from time to time.

"The Cheneys bore for their arms, _Argent, on a bend sable, three
mullets or_, which coat on their marrying the heiress of
Shurland, they bore in the second place. But the Lord Cheney bore
his own coat in the first place, and that of Shurland second, and
afterwards those of Shottesbroke, Broughton, Beard, Foster,
Pevre, Loring, Beaple, Blaine, Manseck, Perrott, Hemgrave,
Stonham, Burgat, Barneck, Neame, Engaine, Dawbney, Denston, and
Wanston. For his supporters, _Two Thoyes vert, spotted gules and
or, collared and chained or_. Sir Thomas Cheney bore for his
crest, _on a wreath argent and vert, two horns of a bull argent
on the curled scalp or_;--but the Lord Cheney changed it to '_a
Thoye passant, collared with a ducal collar or_. Arms of
Shurland, _Azure, five lions rampant argent, a canton ermine_,
which arms are on the roof of the cloisters of Canterbury
Cathedral.'"

Lord Cheney was one of the peers who sat on the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. He died without issue in 1587, leaving the whole of his remaining property to his widow. He erected a magnificent seat at Toddington, concerning which Lysons adds,--

"Lord Cheney built a noble mansion at Toddington, about half a
mile from the church, of which nothing now remains but the
kitchen, which is remarkably spacious, having two fireplaces,
each twelve feet in width, and a few rooms fitted up as a farm
house. The greater part of the building was pulled down by the
Earl of Strafford about the year 1745. It appears by an antient
plan of the house (in 1802 on a fire-screen at the farm) that it
occupied four sides of a quadrangle, at each corner of which was
a turret; the north and south fronts were two hundred and ten
feet in length, the chapel was thirty feet by twenty-four, the
tennis court was sixty-five feet in length, and a marble gallery,
fifty-eight."

Thus this fine edifice shared the fate of its predecessor erected by the Peyvres, from whom, through Broughton who married their heiress, Lord Cheney inherited the manor of Toddington, by marrying the heiress of Broughton.

From the dismantled earthly home of the extinct Cheneys to the final one appointed for all, is but the natural sequence of this world's history of human life. The olden possessors of Toddington, successively Peyvre, Broughton, and Cheney, are all gathered together in death, in the south transept of the church. Of them, and the fate of their memorials, a few words.

The Peyvres were an antient family, holding the manor of Toddington, as early as the reign of Henry III. Paulinus Peyvre, Steward of the Household to Henry III., was, says Lysons,--

"a man of mean origin, and when he went to Court, was not
possessed of two carucates of land; but by means lawful and
unlawful, (as Matthew Paris observes) acquired such wealth, that
he soon became possessed of five hundred carucates; a most
insatiable purchaser of lands (says the historian) and a most
incomparable builder. Not to speak of those in other places, his
house at Toddington was like a palace, with a chapel, chambers,
and other buildings, covered with lead, which raised the
admiration of all beholders. His workmen are said to have
received a hundred shillings, and more than ten marks for their
wages."

So much for the grandeur of Paulinus Peyvre's mansion, and then the same authority significantly adds,--

"The site of this noble mansion is not known. Near the church at
Toddington is a mount called Conger Hill, which seems to have
been the keep of a castellated mansion, and there are
considerable earthworks near it. This might have been the site of
Sir Paulinus Peyvre's mansion. This favourite of fortune died in
1251."

Thus perished the mansion of the Peyvres, and it is curious to reflect, a like fate awaited the noble building erected by their successors the Cheneys. It was Mary, daughter of Thomas Peyvre, sixth in descent from Sir Paulinus, that brought the property to her husband Sir John Broughton, and his daughter and coheir Anne to Sir Thomas Cheney.

The Peyvres are buried in the south transept of Toddington church, which was antiently a Chantry, as there is a piscina in the south-east corner.

Continuing his description, Lysons (writing in 1806) thus speaks of the then shameful condition of the transepts and monuments of this fine old church,--

"In the south transept are some antient monuments of the Peyvres
as appears by their arms: one of them was a crusader. In the same
transept are monuments of Anne, wife of Sir Thomas Cheney,
K.G.--1561,--Henry Lord Cheney, 1587,--and his widow, Jane Lady
Cheney, 1614. On each of these were the effigies of the deceased,
now much mutilated lying on the ground, mingled with the broken
ornaments of the tombs, and the dung of birds and bats. The north
transept which was the burial place of the Wentworths is not in a
much better condition. The costly monument of Henrietta, Lady
Wentworth, the Duke of Monmouth's mistress, who died in 1686, on
which her mother who survived her ten years, directed the large
sum of two thousand pounds to be expended, and another monument
which appears to have been no less costly in memory of Lady Maria
Wentworth, who died at the premature age of eighteen, in 1632,
are in a state little better than those of the Cheneys. The
windows of the aisle being without glass, and the roof much
decayed, they are daily receiving much injury, by being exposed,
to the ravages of the weather, and the depredations of children."

Notwithstanding the damage the Cheney monuments have sustained through this miserable neglect (they were buried in the same transept) the interesting memorials of the Peyvres have not suffered quite so badly. There are three effigies to them, and the indents on some brassless stones in the floor. One figure is a crusader, he is considerably mutilated, was originally a very fine example, on his shield are sculptured the arms of Peyvre,--_On a chevron, three fleurs-de-lys_. Under monumental arches in the south wall are, singly, two well-preserved and most interesting effigies. The knight in chain and plate armour, with bascinet. He wears a rich baudrick, and his surcoat is embroidered with the arms of Peyvre. A lion is at his feet, and angels support the head, holding with one hand an inscribed label which passes across the neck of the effigy under the chin, an unusual arrangement. The lady is in long robes, with rich reticulated head-dress. These figures being sheltered by the arches over them, have not suffered so much by exposure to the weather as did the unprotected effigies of the Cheneys.

It should be mentioned that the transepts have of late for a long period been roofed and restored, and the remains of the monuments carefully got together and looked after.

Sir Thomas Cheney, K.G., who married Anne Broughton of Toddington, appears to have been buried as before mentioned in Minster church, in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, where he held the manor of Shurland, as descendant of that family.

In Minster church, says Weever,--

"I saw some antique monuments of the _Shurlands_, sometime lords
of the mannor of Shurland, hereunto adioyning: of whom the
inhabitants have many strange relations. Sir _Robert Shurland_
flourished in the raigne of King _Edward_ the first."

He then gives the following inscription,--

HIC IACET DOMINUS THOMAS CHEYNE INCLITISSIMI ORDINIS GARTERIJ
MILES: GUARDIANUS QUINQUE PORTUUM, AC THESAURARIUS HOSPITIJ,
HENRICI OCTAVI, AC EDWARDI SEXTI, REGUM: REGINAEQUE MARIAE, AC
ELIZABETHAE, AC EORUM IN SECRETIS CONSILIARIUS, QUI OBIJT ...
MENSIS DECEMBRIS: ANN. DOM. M.D.LIX. AC REG. REGINAE ELISAB.
PRIMO.

and continues,--

"This Sir _Thomas Cheyne_ was also Constable of Queene-Borough
Castle, a strong fortresse in this Isle, pleasant for sight,
built by King _Edward_ the third; to the terrour of his enemies,
and solace of his people; unto which he adioyned a Burgh, and in
honour of _Philip_ the Queene his wife, called it Queene-Borough,
or as one would say the Queenes Burgh. This hath been an office
ever thought worthy of many great personages."

Among these "great personages" three of the Cheneys followed each other as Constables,--Sir William, as thirteenth; Sir Francis, as fourteenth; and Sir Thomas aforesaid, as fifteenth, in their succession.

The three effigies of the Cheneys in the south transept, formerly a Chantry of Toddington church, are ranged facing the east wall, on the site of the antient altar. The remaining portions of the tombs have been built together to the shape of the originals, as near as may be, and the mutilated figures laid on them.

The first of the series from the south wall is Dame Anne Cheney, wife of Sir Thomas Cheney, K.G., buried at Minster, and daughter of Sir John Broughton. She survived her husband two years, and was buried at Toddington.

The effigy, of white stone, is greatly denuded,--she wears a close-fitting cap, small ruff, long gown buttoned down in front, collar edged with fur, full sleeves puffed and slashed at the shoulders. The head rests on two embroidered cushions, the hands are raised in prayer.

Underneath, on each side are three panels, in one is a crest, apparently _a squirrel sejant cracking a nut_ (BROUGHTON?)--the others have blank matrices of shields, surrounded by scroll-work. The brass shields which originally covered them are gone.

Around the cornice of the tomb is this inscription,--

HERE LYETH DAME ANNE CHEYNE DAVGHTER AND HEYRE OF S^R. JOHN
BROVGHTON KNIGHT MARRYED TO S^R. THOMAS CHEYNE KNIGHT L^O. WARDEN
OF THE CINQ PORTES TREASOROR OF HER MAIESTIES HOVSHOLD OF THE
ORDER OF THE GARTER AND ONE OF HER MAIESTIES PRIVIE COVNSELL WHO
HAD BVT ONE ONLY CHYLDE THE SAME BEING THE LORD HENRY CHEYNE AND
SHE DYED THE 16 DAIE OF MAIE THE THYRD YEARE OF Q ELIZABETH HER
RAIGNE ANNO D'NI 1561.

On the panel at the end of the tomb is an escutcheon with these arms,--Quarterly of fifteen:--1. _A chevron between three mullets_ (BROUGHTON).--2. _Three moor's heads._--3. _A chevron between three bird-bolts._--4. _On a chevron, three fleurs-de-lys_ (PEYVRE).--5. _Quarterly, over all a bend._--6. _Quarterly per fess indented._--7. _A bend vaire between six escallops._--8. _A saltire engrailed._--9. _On a cross, five escallops._--10. _Paly of six._--11. _A barnacle._--12. _A fess dancette between six cross-crosslets._--13. _A cross engrailed._--14. _Two lions passant guardant._--15. _On a chevron, a fleur-de-lys._

The next tomb in the succession is that of Sir Henry Cheney, son of the foregoing, created Baron Cheney of Toddington, 6 May, 1572.[29]