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diff --git a/old/52367-0.txt b/old/52367-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0befba0..0000000 --- a/old/52367-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10920 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the East Riding of Yorkshire, by -Horace Baker Browne - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Story of the East Riding of Yorkshire - -Author: Horace Baker Browne - -Release Date: June 18, 2016 [EBook #52367] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE EAST RIDING *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Bold and -blackletter fonts, used for inscriptions, are delimited with ‘=’. - -Illustrations and maps are indicated as [Illustration: caption], and -have been positioned to fall between paragraphs. On several occasions, -the order of the illustrations is reversed, to better follow the text. - -The footnotes, which were marked using the typical symbols (e.g., -asterisks), have been numbered consecutively for uniqueness, and placed -following the paragraph where they appear. On several occasions (44.8, -48.10, 59.13, 259.59), a single footnote is referenced multiple times in -the text. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - - THE STORY OF THE - EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE - - _A COMPANION VOLUME._ - - _304 Pages, Crown 8vo, with 56 Illustrations._ - _Cloth Boards_, =1/8= _net_. - - - YORK - IN ENGLISH HISTORY - - BY - - J. L. BROCKBANK, M.A., - - AND - - W. M. HOLMES. - - - _A typical Press Opinion._—"We have nothing but praise for this -charming book. It has well been said that ‘to master thoroughly the -story of the city of York is to know practically the whole of English -history,’ and the authors of this new history have demonstrated the -truth of this opinion. No pains have been spared by the publishers to -give the letterpress a perfect setting; binding, paper, illustrations, -and general finish are alike admirable." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - LONDON: A. BROWN & SONS, Ltd., 5 Farringdon Av., E.C. - And at Hull and York. - -[Illustration: - - THE PRIDE OF THE EAST RIDING. - BEVERLEY MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. -] - - THE STORY OF - THE EAST RIDING OF - YORKSHIRE - - BY - - HORACE B. BROWNE, M.A. - - _WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY - ILLUSTRATIONS_ - - - - - LONDON - - A. BROWN & SONS, LTD., 5 FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C. - AND AT HULL AND YORK - - --- - - 1912 - - - - - PRINTED AT BROWNS’ SAVILE PRESS, - SAVILE STREET AND GEORGE STREET, HULL. - - - - - TO THE - BOYS AND GIRLS - OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, - - IN THE HOPE THAT THE STORY OF THE LIVES OF THEIR - FOREFATHERS MAY INSPIRE THEM TO HELP IN - ROLLING ONWARDS THE WHEELS OF - PROGRESS THAT HAVE BEEN IN - MOTION EVER SINCE THE - FIRST LIVING BEING - CAME INTO - EXISTENCE. - - - - - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - - - The author wishes herein to acknowledge his indebtedness:— - - (1) To the published works of local historians, and to the -publications of local learned societies, into all of which he has -delved, and from many of which he has ‘lifted’ such local records as it -served his purpose to use. - - (2) To MR. JOHN BICKERSTETH, of the East Riding County Council, for -valuable help in the chapter on _How the East Riding Governs Itself_, -and in the general planning of the book; to MR. JOHN SUDDABY, for much -information that is embodied in Chapters XXIV.-XXVII.; to the WARDENS OF -THE HULL TRINITY HOUSE, and MR. E. J. HESELTINE for extracts from the -records of the Trinity House; to MR. J. H. HIRST, Hull City Architect, -for the draft of the illustration on p. 167; and to MR. W. G. B. PAGE, -for revising the proofs of _The East Riding Roll of Honour_. - - (3) To COL. MARK SYKES, M.P., CANON GRIMSTON of Stillingfleet, -ALDERMAN JOHN BROWN, DR. J. WRIGHT MASON, MRS. WATSON, of Hedon, MR. W. -MORFITT of Atwick, the CURATOR of the Hull Museums, and others, for -permission to take photographs of objects in their possession. - - (4) To the EDITOR of the Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian -Society, the Hull Scientific Club, and the Hull Museum Publications, for -the loan of several blocks; to PROFESSOR COLLINGWOOD and the EDITOR of -the ‘Yorkshire Archæological Journal’ for the loan of blocks for the -illustrations on pp. 55, 63, 64; to MR. T. A. J. WADDINGTON of York, and -the EDITOR of the ‘Port of Hull Annual’ for that of the blocks used on -pp. 236 and 248; and to the HEAD-MASTERS and HEAD MISTRESSES of the East -Riding Schools for that of the blocks used in Chapter XXX. - - (5) To his friend, MR. E. HAWORTH EARLE, and to his colleagues, MR. C. -BAZELL and MR. J. V. PUGH, for reading the proofs of the entire book and -correcting many errors that would otherwise have escaped detection. - - (6) To his friend and old pupil, MR. C. W. MASON, for the great amount -of time and care which he has bestowed upon the taking of special -photographs. - - (7) To the PUBLISHERS of the book, who have placed in his hands every -possible facility for enriching its pages with whatever illustrations -they thought would prove of interest, and who have thereby produced a -book which it is hoped will reach the high-water mark of excellence in -artistic production. - -HYMERS COLLEGE, HULL, - -1912. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - - I. WHAT THE EAST RIDING IS 1 - - II. HOW THE EAST RIDING WAS MADE 3 - - III. MEN OF THE STONE AGE 8 - - IV. MEN OF THE BRONZE AGE—THE ANCIENT BRITONS 20 - - V. MEN OF THE IRON AGE—THE ROMANS IN EAST YORKSHIRE 29 - - VI. OUR ANCESTORS 40 - - VII. HOW THE MEN OF THE NORTH BECAME CHRISTIANS 47 - - VIII. THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN 56 - - IX. IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 892 65 - - X. TWO FAMOUS BATTLES OF LONG AGO 74 - - XI. HOW THE NORMANS CAME TO YORKSHIRE 85 - - XII. HOW OUR ANCIENT PARISH CHURCHES WERE BUILT 95 - - XIII. THE BIRTH OF HULL AND THE ROMANCE OF THE DE LA POLES 111 - - XIV. MONKS, NUNS, AND FRIARS 123 - - XV. SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY AND HIS MINSTER 135 - - XVI. SANCTUARIES 145 - - XVII. HOW TWO KINGS OF ENGLAND LANDED AT SPURN 155 - - XVIII. LIFE IN A MEDIÆVAL TOWN 162 - - XIX. THE TRADE UNIONS OF THE MIDDLE AGES 179 - - XX. THE SUPPRESSION OF THE MONASTERIES AND THE PILGRIMAGE 188 - OF GRACE - - XXI. HOW THE GREAT CIVIL WAR BEGAN AT HULL 202 - - XXII. HOW HULL WAS TWICE BESIEGED 212 - - XXIII. SOME ANCIENT EAST RIDING FAMILIES 223 - - XXIV. STAGE COACH AND RAILWAY 238 - - XXV. ENGLAND’S THIRD PORT—THE MODERN GROWTH OF HULL 253 - - XXVI. FAMOUS SONS OF THE EAST RIDING 269 - - XXVII. SHIPS OF THE HUMBER 284 - - XXVIII. FOLK-SPEECH OF THE EAST RIDING 301 - - XXIX. HOW THE EAST RIDING GOVERNS ITSELF 311 - - XXX. EAST RIDING SCHOOLS 321 - - XXXI. THE EAST RIDING ROLL OF HONOUR 344 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - THE PRIDE OF THE EAST RIDING _Frontispiece_ - - THE THREE RIDINGS OF YORKSHIRE 2 - - ONE OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE EAST RIDING 4 - - RELICS OF THE ICE AGE 6 - - SKULL AND ANTLERS OF A RED DEER 7 - - BONE IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS FROM BARROWS ON THE WOLDS 9 - - SECTION OF HOWE HILL, DUGGLEBY 12 - - POLISHED FLINT KNIFE FOUND IN DUGGLEBY HOWE 14 - - FLINT IMPLEMENT AND WEAPONS 15 - - UNFINISHED STONE ADZE HEAD AND WHINSTONE AXE HEAD 16 - - FOOD VESSEL FROM A BARROW ON ACKLAM WOLD 17 - - THE RUDSTONE MONOLITH 18 - - THE EARLIEST KIND OF AXE USED IN EAST YORKSHIRE 19 - - BRONZE CELT OR AXE HEAD FOUND AT SWINE 21 - - PLAN OF A BARROW ON CALAIS WOLD, AND IDEAL RESTORATION - OF THE SITE OF BURIAL 23 - - BRITISH GOLD COIN FOUND AT ATWICK 24 - - HOW A BRITISH CHIEFTAIN’S WIFE WAS BURIED IN GARTON - SLACK 25 - - A BRITISH WAR CHARIOT 26 - - EARTHWORKS AT SKIPSEA BROUGH 28 - - STATUE OF A ROMAN SOLDIER IN THE YORK MUSEUM 30 - - SECTION OF A ROMAN MILITARY HIGHWAY 31 - - ROMAN ROADS AROUND THE HUMBER 35 - - ROMAN PIG OF LEAD FOUND AT SOUTH CAVE 36 - - ROMAN ‘PENS’ FOUND AT BROUGH 36 - - RELICS OF ROMAN FEASTS FOUND AT EASINGTON 37 - - A ‘SAFETY-PIN’ SIXTEEN HUNDRED YEARS OLD 38 - - DESIGN OF THE PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN VILLA AT HARPHAM 39 - - IRON KNIFE AND BRONZE SPOON FROM AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY 45 - - CHILD’S TOYS FOUND IN A BURIAL VASE AT SANCTON 45 - - ‘FINDS’ IN AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY NEAR GARTON GATEHOUSE 46 - - GOODMANHAM CHURCH (From an Old Engraving) 52 - - TWO SIDES OF AN ANGLIAN CROSS SHAFT AT LEVEN 55 - - DANISH SETTLEMENTS IN A PORTION OF NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE 60 - - DANISH CROSS HEAD AT NORTH FRODINGHAM 63 - - DANISH SUN-DIAL BUILT INTO THE WALL OF ALDBROUGH - CHURCH 64 - - PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE 81 - - HOLDERNESS IN THE DOMESDAY BOOK 93 - - A NORMAN FONT IN KIRKBURN CHURCH 96 - - A PISCINA IN PATRINGTON CHURCH 97 - - PART OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE TOWER OF HOLY TRINITY - CHURCH, HULL 99 - - FILEY CHURCH, SHOWING THE LINES OF THE ORIGINAL ROOF 100 - - THE ‘BEVERLEY IMP’—ST. MARY’S CHURCH, BEVERLEY 101 - - DIFFERENT FORMS OF ARCHES 103 - - ‘NORMAN’ AND ‘EARLY ENGLISH’ SOUTH DOORS 105 - - PART OF THE SOUTH WALL OF THE CHURCH AT - GARTON-ON-THE-WOLDS 106 - - ‘CHURCHWARDEN’ RESTORATION AT WELWICK CHURCH 108 - - A GROTESQUE ‘POPPY-HEAD’ AT HOLY TRINITY, HULL 109 - - BRASS OF THOMAS TONGE, RECTOR OF BEEFORD 110 - - ARMS OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 111 - - SILVER PENNY COINED AT HULL IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. 112 - - PHOTOGRAPH OF THE HULL CHARTER 113 - - EFFIGIES OF SIR WILLIAM AND DAME KATHERINE DE LA POLE 117 - - ARMS OF THE DE LA POLES 118 - - COMMON SEAL OF THE CORPORATION OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 119 - - SEAL OF EDMUND DE LA POLE 121 - - PEDIGREE OF THE DE LA POLES 122 - - ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON PRIORY 123 - - A CISTERCIAN MONK 124 - - A BENEDICTINE NUN 125 - - PLAN OF THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL 127 - - THE PRIORY CHURCH, BRIDLINGTON 129 - - A CORNER OF THE CLOISTER COURT AT KIRKHAM PRIORY 131 - - THE BAYLE GATE, BRIDLINGTON 132 - - A WHITE FRIAR IN HIS STUDY 133 - - ARMS OF BEVERLEY MINSTER 135 - - BEVERLEY MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 137 - - ‘EARLY ENGLISH’ DOORWAY IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT 138 - - SMALL ‘DECORATED’ DOORWAY AT THE WEST END 139 - - PART OF THE ARCADING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE NAVE 141 - - ‘HEY-DIDDLE-DIDDLE, THE CAT AND THE FIDDLE’ 142 - - PLAN OF BEVERLEY MINSTER 143 - - SANCTUARY CROSS AT BISHOP BURTON 147 - - THE BEVERLEY FRITH-STOOL 150 - - SANCTUARY KNOCKER AT ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH, YORK 151 - - HENRY OF LANCASTER’S CROSS 161 - - PRESENT SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF HEDON 162 - - NORTH BAR WITHOUT, BEVERLEY 163 - - PART OF A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY PLAN OF HULL 165 - - HIGH STREET, HULL 166 - - SECTIONS OF A MEDIÆVAL AND A MODERN STREET 167 - - PARISH STOCKS PRESERVED IN BEVERLEY MINSTER 169 - - ARMS OF THE HULL TRINITY HOUSE 172 - - A MIRACLE PLAY IN THE OLDEN TIME 174 - - NOAH’S ARK 175 - - A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY ‘SHOW’ 177 - - BEAR-BAITING 178 - - THE BEVERLEY MINSTRELS 185 - - ARMS OF THE HULL MERCHANTS’ COMPANY 186 - - THE GATEWAY OF KIRKHAM PRIORY 190 - - RUINS OF THE EAST END OF THE CHURCH 191 - - BADGE OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE 193 - - HOWDEN CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH 196 - - HOWDEN CHURCH—RUINS OF THE CHAPTER HOUSE 198 - - ALL THAT REMAINED OF MEAUX ABBEY IN 1900 201 - - A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF KYNGESTON-VPON-HVLL, A.D. 1640 206, 207 - - KING CHARLES I. AT THE BEVERLEY GATE, - KINGSTON-UPON-HULL 211 - - SIR JOHN HOTHAM 216 - - MEDAL STRUCK IN MEMORY OF SIR JOHN HOTHAM 219 - - HULL’S WATER GATE 221 - - WRESSLE CASTLE 225 - - THE PERCY TOMB, BEVERLEY MINSTER 230 - - BURTON CONSTABLE HALL 232 - - BRASS OF SIR THOMAS DE ST. QUINTIN IN HARPHAM CHURCH 233 - - BURTON AGNES HALL 234 - - EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN PLATE ARMOUR AT SWINE 235 - - EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN CHAIN ARMOUR AT HOWDEN 236 - - COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE STRICKLANDS 237 - - ON THE ROAD IN 1812 238 - - HULL AND YORK COACHING BILL, A.D. 1787 241 - - COACHING ROADS AND EARLY RAILWAYS 243 - - PISTOLS AND HOLSTERS FORMERLY USED ON THE HULL AND - PATRINGTON COACH 245 - - THE FIRST TIME-TABLE OF THE HULL AND SELBY RAILWAY 248 - - THE HULL AND BEVERLEY STAGE COACH 251 - - ON THE ROAD IN 1912 252 - - WHITEFRIARGATE BRIDGE AND THE VICTORIA SQUARE, HULL 255 - - PLAN OF DOCKS WEST OF THE RIVER HULL 258 - - PLAN OF DOCKS EAST OF THE RIVER HULL 259 - - THE WILSON LINER ‘ESKIMO’ GETTING UP STEAM 260 - - GRAIN SHIPS DISCHARGING THEIR CARGOES 261 - - AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY ON THE WAY TO RUSSIA 264 - - A STEAM TRAWLER 265 - - N.E.R. RIVERSIDE QUAY 267 - - THE GARDEN VILLAGE, HULL 268 - - JOHN ALCOCK, BISHOP OF ELY 270 - - JOHN FISHER, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 272 - - ANDREW MARVELL 273 - - BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE 275 - - WILLIAM WILBERFORCE 277 - - SIR TATTON SYKES 281 - - CHARLES WILSON, FIRST BARON NUNBURNHOLME 282 - - ARTHUR WILSON 283 - - AN ANCIENT ‘DUG-OUT’ FOUND IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE 285 - - A VIKING SHIP ON A CHURCH DOOR 286 - - ANCIENT SEAL OF THE CORPORATION OF HEDON 287 - - ENGLISH WARSHIPS IN THE TIME OF THE ARMADA 289 - - A NEWS SHEET OF 1837 291 - - THE HULL WHALER ‘TRUELOVE’ 293 - - THE FIRST STEAMSHIP BUILT ON THE HUMBER 295 - - A HUMBER PILOT BOAT 297 - - SHIPS OLD AND NEW—THE ‘SOUTHAMPTON’—‘BAYARDO’ 299 - - ENTRANCE TO THE OLD HARBOUR 300 - - ANCIENT ARMS OF BEVERLEY 311 - - MODERN ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON 313 - - LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN THE EAST RIDING 314 - - THE HEDON MACE—THE OLDEST CIVIC MACE IN BRITAIN 316 - - CREST OF THE EAST RIDING COUNTY COUNCIL 318 - - COUNCIL CHAMBER AT THE COUNTY HALL, BEVERLEY 320 - - ARMS OF BEVERLEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL 322 - - ARMS OF HOWDEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL 322 - - ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 323 - - ARMS OF HULL GRAMMAR SCHOOL 324 - - ARMS OF POCKLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 325 - - AT SCHOOL IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 325 - - PART OF THE SEAL OF A LINCOLNSHIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOL 326 - - ANCIENT COCK-FIGHTING BELL OF POCKLINGTON SCHOOL 328 - - A BOYS’ PLAY-GROUND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 330 - - THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HULL 333 - - THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, BRIDLINGTON 335 - - SEAL OF THE GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, HULL 336 - - BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL 339 - - ARMS OF HYMERS COLLEGE 340 - - HYMERS COLLEGE 341 - - A TYPICAL SCHOOL ON THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS 342 - - A MODERN CITY COUNCIL SCHOOL 343# - - MAP OF THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE _End Cover_ - - - - - THE STORY OF - THE EAST RIDING OF - YORKSHIRE. - - - - - I. - WHAT THE EAST RIDING IS. - - -That an English county which is nearly as large as the ancient kingdom -of Wales should become divided into separate portions for the purposes -of local government is only what one would expect. But it is not obvious -why the number of these portions should be three, and there is even an -air of mystery about the name given to them. ‘North Riding,’ ‘West -Riding,’ ‘East Riding’—what is this word ‘Riding’? - -For the answer to this question we must go back many centuries, to the -time of the hardy Norsemen who, as we shall see, settled in such large -numbers in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It was common among the Norsemen -of old to divide lands into three portions for the purposes of -government, and their name for each portion was _thrithjungr_.[1] - -Footnote 1: - - _Thríth-yunger_ - -This mysterious word means in our tongue ‘a third part,’ and from it -arose the English word THRIDING as companion to _feorthing_, another -word which we use to-day in a very slightly altered form. But the -difficulty of pronouncing distinctly and easily the combination ‘North -Thriding’ is evident, and the troublesome word suffered the same fate as -commonly then befell the troublesome man—it got, quite naturally, -beheaded. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: THE THREE RIDINGS OF YORKSHIRE.] - -A glance at the small map on this page will show how the county of -Yorkshire is divided. By no means are the three Ridings equal in area, -the East Riding being far the smallest. In order of size they stand as -follows:— - - West Riding 2,766 square miles. - North Riding 2,128 " " - East Riding 1,172 " " - —-—-—-—-—-—-— - 6,066 square miles. - -The map shows another point of contrast between the three Ridings. -Whereas the West and North Ridings have numerous ranges of hills and -correspondingly numerous water-channels, the East Riding is, with the -exception of its northern extremity, an eastward extension of the ‘Vale -of York’ and very nearly as flat as the proverbial pancake. Its only -rivers are the Hull and the Derwent, and the latter for more than half -its course forms the boundary of the Riding. - -An uninteresting part of the county it looks to be, does it not? But, -nevertheless, it has an interesting history behind it, and men and women -have been born and bred in it—men and women who have helped to make our -country what it is to-day. Who they have been, how they have lived, and -what they have done in the ages before we ourselves were born, it is the -purpose of the following pages to show. - - - - - II. - HOW THE EAST RIDING WAS MADE. - - -Stand on the very highest point of the white limestone cliffs that -stretch northwards from Flamborough Head, and realise that you are -standing on what was once the bed of the sea. - -Strange though this be, it is nevertheless true. Countless ages ago what -now towers up 450 feet above sea-level had over it the ceaseless rolling -of the waters of the ocean, and during countless ages it was slowly -formed out of the shells and teeth and bones of the creatures that lived -in these waters. - -Men who know tell us that the layer of chalk at the bottom of the ocean -to-day is composed principally of the remains of creatures so minute as -to be visible only by the aid of a microscope, and that this layer grows -in thickness at the rate of not more than one-tenth of an inch per year. -They tell us also that the layer of chalk which extends under our county -is not less than 1200 feet in thickness, and thus a simple calculation -will help us to form some idea of the extent of time necessary for its -formation. But however long this time actually was, it came to an end -with a tremendous upheaval of a portion of the ocean bed, and the -formation of a new area of ‘dry land.’ - -All the coast line of the East Riding, however, does not consist of -chalk cliffs. North of Bempton and Speeton lie cliffs of sandstone and -clay, which have yielded the fossil remains of living beings that once -inhabited the water and the shore. Such are the belemnites and -ammonites—the ‘thunderbolts’ and ‘St. Hilda’s snakes’ we may have heard -them called—and the _Ichthyosaurus_, whose skeleton was recently -discovered embedded in the clay cliffs at Speeton and may now be seen in -the Hull Museum. Not a very handsome gentleman in the flesh he must have -been, unless appearances are deceptive. - -[Illustration: - - ONE OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF THE EAST RIDING. - Actual length about twelve feet. -] - -Again, walk southwards from Flamborough Head, and the chalk cliffs are -found to get less and less in height until they disappear altogether, -and their place is taken by cliffs of clay. Then these disappear, and -are succeeded by the long, flat bank of sand and shingle which is known -as Spurn Point; and if we round this point and follow the river bank, we -find it nothing but mud and clay until we get past the mouth of the -river Hull. At Hessle the chalk cliffs break out once more, and we know, -from investigations, that the bed of chalk comes to the surface -completely westwards of a line drawn from Flamborough to this point. - -Draw on a map of the East Riding a line from Sewerby, through Driffield -and Beverley, to Hessle, and you are drawing the line of the old -sea-beach when the upheaval previously mentioned had taken place. This -was the shore of a land inhabited by races of animals now found living -only in tropical regions. The elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and -hyena ranged the land for food, and bones of these creatures have been -found in considerable numbers in the caves that exist at Kirkdale in the -North Riding. - - * * * * * - -Then came a great change. The climate of Northern Europe became colder -and colder till there prevailed what scientists call the ‘Great Ice -Age.’ This was the time of formation of huge glaciers which spread from -the mountains of Scandinavia, Scotland, and north-west England -southwards and eastwards into the sea, until they met and made its whole -area a slowly moving mass of ice. With the ice were carried sand, -gravel, clay, boulders torn from projecting rocks, and bones of Arctic -animals, such as the walrus, the reindeer, and the Irish elk; and as the -ice gradually melted, all these were deposited at the base of the line -of chalk cliffs, or even on the summit of the cliffs where these were -low. From the gravel pits at Burstwick excavations of ballast for the -embankments of the North Eastern Railway brought to light animal bones -in such quantities that many tons were sold to chemical manure -manufacturers, and it is probable that many tons still remain -undiscovered. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Relics of the Ice Age. [_C. W. Mason_ - -] - -A walrus tusk from Kelsey Hill and the tooth of a mammoth from the -cliffs at Atwick.[2] - -Footnote 2: - - The weight of this tooth is 9½ lbs. One side has been worn down and - polished smooth by the friction of the ice in passing over it. - -In this way was formed the ‘great mass of gravel, clay, and sand ... -east of the Yorkshire Wolds’ which we know as the Plain of Holderness. -Here is what one of our foremost local geologists has to say of its -beginnings:— - -‘Let us imagine the probable appearance of East Yorkshire on the final -melting of the ice. Huge fans or sheets of gravel occur at Bridlington -and other places as a result of the floods. Rounded hillocks of gravel -and clay stand out in all directions; the hollows in between are filled -with water, forming miniature lakes or meres. Of animal or plant life -there is little or none. The climate gradually becomes milder; at first -Arctic plants and animals exist in small numbers. Later, the margins of -the meres become clothed in vegetation; peat is eventually formed, and -huge trees of Oak and Fir thrive. The Red Deer, Beaver, Short-horned Ox, -Otter, and Wild Horse, haunt the woods, and finally primitive man makes -his appearance.’ - -[Illustration: - - SKULL AND ANTLERS OF A RED DEER FOUND IN THE HORNSEA - PEAT-BED. -] - - - - - III. - MEN OF THE STONE AGE. - - -What sort of man was it who first inhabited Holderness and how did he -live? Artists in his day were few and far between, and the few who did -exist in Europe gave pleasure to themselves and to their companions by -drawing portraits of reindeer and horses on pieces of bone. To draw -portraits of their fellows was probably the last thing they would think -of doing. Reindeer and horses are graceful creatures, but the artists’ -fellows were anything but graceful. - -As far as we know, the first inhabitants of Holderness were a race of -short, dark-haired men, who depended for their food and clothing on the -animals of the forest and the mere, who pursued their prey and fought -one another with weapons of stone, and who lived in dwellings built on -piles driven into the bed of a lake in exactly the same way as the New -Guinea islanders live to-day. - -Something definite about their dwelling-places we know; for what is -appropriately called a _lake-dwelling_ was discovered thirty years ago -at Ulrome. This was a structure made of tree trunks laid side by side -and held together by piles driven into the bed of what was then a large -mere. - -[Illustration: BONE IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS FROM BARROWS ON THE WOLDS.] - - A, B. Hammer head and pick made from the shed antlers of - a red deer (1/1, 1/4). - - C. Bodkin or needle (1/1). - - D. Dagger made from a man’s thigh-bone (1/3). - -On this rough sort of platform, which measured 90 feet by 60 feet, -dwelling-places had been constructed, and a ‘popular watering-place’ it -must have been; for there was evidence that it had been built in the -first place by a race of people whose tools were of flint and bone, and -that this race had been ousted many years later by another more advanced -race who had weapons and tools of bronze. That the dwellers here were -mighty hunters and mighty eaters was proved by enormous accumulations of -animal bones under and around the platform. That they were also -cannibals is likely from the presence of human bones among this refuse. - - * * * * * - -So much for the ‘lake-dwellers’ of Ulrome. Up on the Wolds there were -men living a somewhat different life. These hunted and ate the same -kinds of creatures, and they used the same kinds of weapons, but their -dwellings were dug out of the soil—shallow circular or elliptical pits -each covered over with a conical roof of branches and turf, supported on -a central post; or deeper troughs covered over with sods and scrub laid -on slabs of chalk, so that the roof was level with the surrounding earth -and indistinguishable from it. - -Of the former kind of _pit-dwelling_ an example has been discovered in -the hollow known as Garton Slack, the pit measuring rather less than 9 -feet by 6 feet in length and breadth, and 5 feet in depth; while one of -the latter kind has come to light under Kemp Howe, a few miles north of -Driffield.[3] The underground chamber here measured 25 feet by 4½ feet, -had a depth of 6 feet at its deeper end, and was approached by a sloping -passage 11 feet in length, the entrance to which would doubtless be -hidden with scrub. The roof had been supported on six upright posts, and -for twelve feet along one side of the chamber ran a stone ledge—this -last being evidently a luxury. - -Footnote 3: - - Groups of circular _pit-dwellings_ have been discovered at Bempton and - at Atwick—the latter by Mr. William Morfitt, whose house at Atwick - contains many ‘treasures’ which he has unearthed in the district - around Hornsea. - -It is probable that these two kinds of dwellings may have been -respectively the summer and winter houses of the same people. For the -Roman historian Tacitus says of the ancient tribes on the other side of -the North Sea:— - - Besides their ordinary habitations, they have a number of - subterranean caves, dug by their own labour and carefully covered - over with soil, in winter their retreat from cold and the repository - for their corn. In these recesses they not only find a shelter from - the rigour of the seasons, but in times of foreign invasions their - effects are safely concealed. - -Of the men who lived on the Yorkshire Wolds we know a great deal; for it -was their custom to raise over the burial places of their chiefs -circular mounds of earth, some still very large, others now only a foot -or two high. The relative size of a burial mound, which we speak of -either by the Latin name _tumulus_ or by the English names _barrow_ and -_howe_, marks the importance of the chieftain whose body or ashes once -lay under it. - -These _tumuli_, or barrows, are very plentifully strewn over the -Yorkshire Wolds, and for more than fifty years the late Mr. J. R. -Mortimer, of Driffield, devoted all his leisure time to their -excavation. The results of his labours are to be seen in his private -museum—the Mortimer Museum—and details of his ‘finds’ are recorded in -his large book on the _Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire_, some of the -illustrations in which are here reproduced. - -A general idea of how a barrow has been constructed, and of what it may -contain, can be gained from the illustration on the next page. - -Howe Hill, Duggleby, is one of the larger barrows, built on a sloping -hillside, and having at its base a diameter of 125 feet and at its -flattened top one of 47 feet. - -[Illustration: SECTION OF HOWE HILL, DUGGLEBY.] - - A-K. Skeletons in position as buried. - O. Cremated remains. Y. Band of blue clay impervious to - water. - - W. Inner mound of clay. Z. Outer mound of chalk. - - X. Bed of chalk grit. * Probable summit of the barrow when - built. - -From the diagram we see that the bodies first interred have been placed -at the bottom of a cavity dug out of the solid chalk. This hole not -proving large enough for the numbers to be buried, an extension has been -begun, but not finished. Time was evidently pressing, for some bodies -have been buried above the surface of the ground. They have been placed -in different positions, but the legs of all have been bent at the knees -and all are enclosed in a low mound of clay. Above this lie the remains -of numerous other bodies, which have been burnt before burial; and over -them comes a twelve-inch layer of a blue clay which is impervious to -water. Then a large mound of soil and pieces of chalk has been raised -over all, the mound being originally much higher than it is to-day. - -Such has been the building of Howe Hill. But it must not be thought that -all barrows contain the remains of a large number of bodies. Most -contain one only, and the body has either been buried as it was when -life left it or been burnt and the calcined bones gathered up in an -earthenware vessel, or pinned in a skin garment. The eight full-grown -skeletons discovered under Howe Hill are those of men, and we may -suppose that they represent a chieftain and his relatives killed in the -onslaught by a hostile clan. The cremated bodies, forty of which were -discovered in the digging of a trench through the barrow, would be those -of his dependants, who died fighting in defence of their lord and -master. - - * * * * * - -But the barrow contains evidence of the lives of the people of the time -as well as of their deaths. Scattered through the soil under the band of -blue clay were found many broken bones of the ox, roebuck, red deer, -fox, goat, and pig, the remains of the burial feast; and among these -were human bones which had quite evidently been broken and cooked. It is -horrible to think of the people of our East Riding as having once been -cannibals, but the evidence to that effect is indisputable. - -Here and there were also found portions of the weapons with which the -defenders of the settlement had fought—the hammer head shown on page 9, -made from the shed antler of a red deer, and the broken javelin head of -flint shown on page 15. In this barrow was also found the wonderfully -made flint knife represented below—an implement fashioned out of a piece -of flint with no other tools than such as are mentioned below, and yet -fashioned so delicately that its greatest thickness is only -one-sixteenth of an inch. - -[Illustration: - - POLISHED FLINT KNIFE FOUND IN DUGGLEBY - HOWE (1/1). -] - -A clever workman he must have been who made this wonderful knife. But -such beautifully wrought implements are very rare. Only one similar -knife—found in a barrow at Aldro—was known to its discoverer, and he had -himself superintended the excavation of no fewer than two hundred and -eighty-eight barrows. - -The weapons and tools which have been buried with their owners are more -commonly of the rougher types figured on the opposite page. They include -knives, chisels, spear heads, saws, and arrow heads, all made from -flints by the processes of chipping and flaking, with hammer heads, -picks, needles and daggers of bone. - -Compare the figures A and B given on page 9 with the illustration of the -antlers of a red deer on page 7, and see how cleverly the hammer head -and the pick have been fashioned. Equally clever has been the adaptation -of a bone in the making of the very primitive dagger figured at D on the -same page. But in this case it has been not the antler of a red deer -that has been brought into use, but the thigh-bone of a man. - -[Illustration: - - FLINT IMPLEMENT AND WEAPONS. - - A. Chisel from Aldro (1/1). B. Barbed arrow head from - Grimston (1/1) C. Javelin head from Duggleby Howe (1/1). -] - -So far we have spoken of weapons and implements of bone and of flint. -Others were then in use made of whinstone and greenstone, such as the -axe heads figured overleaf. Notice the different arrangement of the -cutting edge in these two implements, and notice also that in the first -one the hole intended for the insertion of a wooden handle has, for some -reason or other, not been finished. Perhaps the maker was killed before -he had time to finish it, or perhaps he grew tired of his work and threw -it away. At any rate this unfinished adze head was found loose on the -surface of the ground, and not buried under a howe as was the other. - -[Illustration: - - UNFINISHED STONE ADZE HEAD - PICKED UP ON ACKLAM WOLD (1/1). -] - -[Illustration: - - WHINSTONE AXE HEAD FROM - A BARROW ON CALAIS - WOLD (2/3). -] - -Weapons and implements of stone! May we not justly call their makers MEN -OF THE STONE AGE? They lived before man knew how to dig metals from the -earth, and how, having obtained them, to melt and mould them to his -wish. - -But besides these weapons which have lain buried with their owners for -some thousands of years, there are yielded up by the barrows earthenware -vessels of different sizes and shapes. Some, like that shown below, are -wide-mouthed and have a thick rim; others are narrower, and their rim is -not thickened. Then others have an overhanging rim; and others, again, -are small, only an inch or two in height, and have from two to six holes -perforated in their sides. All are marked with simple patterns, made by -pressing the pointed end of a stick or the thumb-nail into the moist -clay, or by pressing round it a twisted thong of hide. There has been no -glazing and no attempt to make use of artificial colour. - -[Illustration: FOOD VESSEL FROM A BARROW ON ACKLAM WOLD (1/2).] - -Each of these vessels has had its particular use. The first-named -vessels, which are by far the most common, are always found to be -stained with some decomposed matter on the inside of the bottom, and -their use has undoubtedly been as _food vessels_. So also we may -consider the second group to be _drinking vessels_. The food and drink -which these two contained when they were buried have been intended for -their owners in the new life to come, when food and drink would be again -required. The vessels of the third kind are always found to contain -remains of a body which has been cremated before burial—hence their name -_cinerary urns_—and the last-named and smallest, which are found with -them, have probably been used to hold the precious spark of fire which -lit the funeral pyre. - -[Illustration: THE RUDSTON MONOLITH] - -Let us leave these howes and barrows and examine another example of the -work of the Men of the Stone Age. Close to the wall of the village -church at Rudston stands a huge upright stone, or monolith. Twenty-five -feet is its height above the ground, and sixteen feet its girth, while -it is said to be embedded in the ground as deep as it is high above the -surface. Its weight is estimated as not far short of forty tons. What is -it doing in a village churchyard, and who put it there? When and how was -it placed where it now stands? - -[Illustration: THE EARLIEST KIND OF AXE USED IN EAST YORKSHIRE.] - -It is impossible to give any definite answers to these questions. A -century ago, however, the village people answered them all very easily. -The Devil, they said, objected to the building of the church, and flung -this stone to destroy it before its completion. But his aim was not so -accurate as it was intended to be, and the missile missed its mark. -Asked for a proof of their wonderful story, they would point to the -stone itself. There it was for everyone to see. What further proof could -be needed?[4] Whether we believe this legend or not, two things are -certain. First, that the stone is as old as the barrows in the -surrounding wolds; secondly, that there is no rock of the same nature -nearer to it than Filey Brig and the Brimham Rocks. Was it brought down -by the great ice sheet and then erected by the men of the Stone Age to -serve some purpose in their heathen rites, or did they bring it up from -Filey or down from the hills of the North Riding on wooden rollers? -Perhaps it is not more difficult to conceive of their doing this than of -their raising such a huge barrow as that which stands unopened at the -foot of Garrowby Hill—a mound 250 feet in diameter at its base and 50 -feet in height. - -Footnote 4: - - The ‘Devil’s Arrows’ is the name by which three similar huge stones - are known at Boroughbridge. - - - - - IV. - MEN OF THE BRONZE AGE. - - THE ANCIENT BRITONS. - - -With the coming of Julius Caesar to Britain in the middle of the first -century before the birth of Christ, we reach the time in the history of -our country when definite facts about its people begin to be recorded. - -Thus we know from Caesar’s own writings that the Britons lived in houses -like those of the Gauls, that they had great numbers of cattle, that -they used copper coins, that many of the inland tribes did not grow corn -but lived on milk and flesh and went clothed in skins, that in war time -they dyed their bodies with a blue stain to give them a more terrible -aspect, and that they wore long hair on their heads and their upper -lips. - -So also, with regard to their religion, Caesar tells us that their -priests were called Druids; that if any crime had been committed, or if -there were any dispute about an inheritance or a boundary, it was the -Druids who gave judgment; that they had vast stores of learning, all of -which was committed to memory and none committed to writing; and that -their chief doctrine was that the soul of man did not perish, but passed -after death into another body, so that no man should fear death. - -[Illustration: - - BRONZE CELT OR AXE HEAD FOUND AT SWINE. -] - -From these accounts we see that there had been great progress made since -the times described in the last chapter. This was due to the migration -westwards of a new race of people—the Kelts—who had gained a knowledge -of the use of metal, and who, consequently, had weapons and implements -made of bronze instead of stone. Their greater knowledge gave them -greater power, and the extinction of the men of the Stone Age was only a -question of time. For not often was the bronze-weaponed warrior slain by -a weapon of stone. - -But the account written by Julius Caesar refers to the inhabitants of -the southern parts of our island. ‘Many of the inland tribes do not grow -corn, but live on milk and flesh and go clothed in skins.’ This passage -may be taken as true of the tribes living north of the Humber, known—so -later Roman writers tell us—as the BRIGANTES, the wildest and most -savage of the tribes inhabiting Britain. - -Let us see what Mr. Mortimer’s discoveries have to tell us of these -BRIGANTES. The most interesting discovery, perhaps, was that made in a -barrow on Calais Wold, the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds, 807 -feet above sea-level. Here, on the mound being removed, a double row of -stake-holes was exposed in the surface of the ground. These were from 3 -to 15 inches in diameter, and were arranged in circles having diameters -of 21½ and 28 feet. Outside these were four other stake-holes, and -beyond these again a circular trench 100 feet in diameter, 3 feet 9 -inches deep, 9 feet across at the top, and 1 foot across at the bottom. -Within the double circle of stake-holes was a cavity cut in the chalk -and containing a skeleton lying on its side, with its knees bent. - -The plan on the opposite page shows the arrangement exactly, and the -drawing which accompanies it gives Mr. Mortimer’s clever conjecture of -the meaning of the stake-holes. The space enclosed between the inner and -outer walls would be used, Mr. Mortimer thought, as a storage place for -food, skins, and weapons. It would also serve to keep the inside -living-room warm in winter. - -[Illustration: IDEAL RESTORATION OF THE SITE OF BURIAL.] - -[Illustration: PLAN OF A BARROW ON CALAIS WOLD, SHOWING THE ENCIRCLING -TRENCH AND STAKE-HOLES.] - -‘We will bury our chieftain in his home, which no one after him shall -have power to defile.’ So, probably, thought those who buried him. But, -if so, time has played them false; for men of a race undreamt of and -speaking a tongue of which he would understand hardly one word, have -ruthlessly laid bare his burial place, and have carted away his bones to -be measured with tape and pencil, and his skull to have its brain cavity -estimated with grains of millet seed. What an insult added to injury! - -A mighty chieftain he had doubtless been, and it must be his favourite -weapon that lies buried with him, so placed that he should be buried as -he slept—grasping its handle firmly in his right hand. One wonders how -many of his enemies’ skulls that weapon of his had beaten in before its -master ceased to use it. Perhaps it had been wielded against the Roman -legions brought north of the Humber by Ostorius Scapula in A.D. 50. Who -knows? If you would see the head of the weapon you must go to the museum -at Driffield; its likeness you will find on page 16. - -The Brigantes buried their dead chiefs just as the earlier tribes had -done, and the photograph on page 25 shows very clearly the curious way -in which the legs were doubled and the head bent back. This skeleton was -obtained from a barrow in Garton Slack, and here is what its discoverer -says of the pains taken to obtain it:— - -‘Being desirous of possessing this skeleton in its entirety, we obtained -a quantity of stiff, mortar-like material, scraped from the adjoining -high road, with which we covered the remains, in order to keep all the -bones in position. We then passed three broad pieces of sheet iron under -it without displacing any of the bones. The remains were then lifted on -a prepared board, and conveyed to Fimber. After being carefully cleaned, -the skeleton was mounted in a glass case, and now, with its relics, and -part of the ground on which it was found, forms a highly interesting -relic in the museum at Driffield.’ - -The skeleton is that of a woman, and with it, you will notice, are two -objects. There is no need to say what has been the use of the bone -ornament lying behind the head, but the use of the flint implement -placed before the jaw is not so obvious. This is one of a class of -implements known to us as _scrapers_—roughly chipped pieces of flint -used by the women of a household in scraping the insides of animal skins -when preparing them for human wear, and in scraping the roots that went -into the ‘stock-pot’ with the flesh of the animals that provided also -garments and beds for the household. - -[Illustration: HOW A BRITISH CHIEFTAIN’S WIFE WAS BURIED IN GARTON -SLACK.] - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - British Gold Coin. - Found at Atwick by Mr. W. Morfitt (1/1). - -] - -In neither of these two barrows was there any sign of a bronze -implement. Weapons and implements of bronze are rare among those found -in the barrows of East Yorkshire, and the few discovered are dagger or -knife heads and prickers. The Brigantes were far behind the Britons of -the south in their knowledge of the use of metal; and at the time when -the latter were making use of bronze, the wild and savage tribes of the -north were content still to make use of greenstone and flint. - -Personal ornaments, too, are rare, and were found accompanying only -fifty-seven out of eight hundred and ninety-three burials that Mr. -Mortimer excavated. They include dress-fastenings, such as rings and -links of jet, and buttons of amber, jet and bone. With only one British -interment was gold found, and of silver ornaments none were discovered -at all. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: A BRITISH WAR CHARIOT.] - -Especially interesting to a Yorkshireman are the discoveries of what are -called ‘chariot burials.’ The Britons were renowned for their -war-chariots, of which the chieftain Caswallon is recorded to have had -4000 when he fought against Julius Caesar. To the Briton himself his -chariot was known as an _essa_, a word which his Roman conquerors -latinised as _essedum_. An _essedum_ was drawn by two horses, and driven -by a charioteer who was very expert at running out along the pole -between the horses. The _essedarii_, or charioteers, were held in high -esteem among the tribal armies, and when they happened to be captured by -the Roman soldiers were great favourites among the spectators of the -gladiatorial shows. - -On the death of a British chieftain who was a renowned chariot warrior, -it was the custom for him to be buried in his chariot together with his -horses and their trappings; and the East Riding has given more evidence -of this custom than any other part of our country of equal area. The -‘Yorkshireman’ even then, it seems, loved a horse. - -Remains of British chariot burials have been discovered at Hesselskew -and Arras, near Market Weighton; at Beverley Westwood; at Danes’ Graves; -and, most recently, at Hunmanby. In all these instances there have been -interred two horses standing in their harness, and in the barrow opened -at Danes’ Graves in 1897 there were _two_ human skeletons, proving that -in this case the charioteer, as well as his chieftain, was buried. - -Of course in all these interments the remains of the chariots themselves -have been small, little existing but fragments of the bronze naves and -iron rims of the wheels, and of the bridle bits of the horses. But these -have been sufficient to show that the diameter of the wheels varied from -2 feet 8 inches to 2 feet 11 inches, and that the horses themselves were -of a much smaller breed than those of to-day. - -With three, at least, of these chariot burials, were also found remains -of an iron mirror, a thing not found elsewhere. We are accustomed in -these days of motor-cars to make use of mirrors for a knowledge of what -is happening on the road behind the driver, and these remains point to a -similar practice among the charioteers of the Brigantes. Really we are -not, perhaps, so far advanced in the twentieth century as we thought we -were. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Earthworks at Skipsea Brough. [_C.W. Mason_ - -] - - * * * * * - -Further evidence of the Brigantes in the East Riding is to be seen in -the wonderful series of entrenchments that are so noticeable in the Wold -districts. Dikes, double dikes, and treble dikes once covered the whole -of the Wolds, says Mr. Mortimer; in fact, in the area of 75 square miles -which he explored there are 80 miles of earthworks existing to-day. -These consist sometimes of one ditch and one rampart only, but commonly -of three ditches and four ramparts; and in one case, in the -neighbourhood of Huggate, the entrenchment consists of a series of six -parallel ditches and seven ramparts. - -By far the most remarkable of these ancient entrenchments is the -so-called ‘Danes’ Dyke,’ which, 2½ miles in length, cut off the rocky -promontory of Flamborough Head, and converted it into an impregnable -fortress 5 square miles in area. In making it, advantage was taken of a -natural ravine—a relic of the Ice Age—which ran down to the south; but -in its northern portion, where the ground was naturally level, a huge -ditch roughly 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep was dug, the soil from this -being thrown up to form a dyke or rampart on its eastern face. - -At Skipsea Brough, near Hornsea, may be seen other British earthworks, -consisting of a central mound 70 feet high, having a flat top one acre -in extent, and covering altogether an area of 5 acres, together with a -series of entrenchments forming the segment of a circle. The outer -rampart is half a mile in length. Other much smaller earthworks exist at -the ‘Castle Hill,’ Sutton, and the ‘Giant’s Hill,’ Swine. - - - - - V. - MEN OF THE IRON AGE. - - THE ROMANS IN EAST YORKSHIRE. - - -In the last chapter we saw that the later Britons had some knowledge of -iron, as well as of copper and tin. But with the Romans the use of iron -was much more extensive, and hence they may be called MEN OF THE IRON -AGE. - -The first Roman general to enter the territory of the Brigantes was -Ostorius Scapula, who came north in A.D. 50. Twenty-eight years later -came Julius Agricola, who penetrated as far north as the rivers Forth -and Clyde. By Agricola the ancient British camp CAER EBURAC—the camp on -the Ebura, or, by its modern name, the Ure—was made into a Roman walled -city under the latinised name Eburacum. - -From this time EBURĀCUM,[5] or EBORĀCUM as later Roman writers spelt its -name, became the proud capital of Britain—_altera Roma_, a second Rome -in importance. Here died the great Roman Emperor Severus in A.D. 211, -and here was born the still greater Emperor Constantine, under whose -reign Christianity was established in the Roman Empire. - -Footnote 5: - - Pronounced _Eb-oo-ráh-kum_. - -[Illustration: - - STATUE OF A ROMAN - SOLDIER IN THE YORK - MUSEUM. -] - -For nearly three and a half centuries the Roman armies ruled the land of -the Brigantes, during which time great alterations were taking place in -the lives of its people. Northwards came troop after troop of German and -Italian soldiers to subdue and enslave the people of the land north of -the Humber, and to wage incessant war against Rome’s enemies still -farther north. And southwards marched troop after troop of the men of -the Brigantes, on their way to Gaul and Italy and Spain, there to serve -as Roman soldiers. In A.D. 117 came to Eboracum the famous Sixth -Legion—LEGIO SIXTA, surnamed VICTRIX, the ‘All Conquering’—and Eboracum -was its headquarters thenceforth till A.D. 406, when it was withdrawn to -help in defending Rome against the enemies mustering on her threshold. - - * * * * * - -For the constant movement of troops the Roman invaders needed roads, and -the military highways which they constructed across Britain remain -foremost among the evidences of their occupation of the country. The -fact that their roads have existed for so many centuries—centuries of -hard use but of constant neglect—is due to the great care bestowed upon -their construction. - -When a Roman road was made, the first thing done was to mark out its -course by the digging of two parallel ditches. This course was from 15 -to 21 feet wide, and on it as the _gremium_, or foundation ground, was -placed a layer of large stones 5 inches deep. This, known as the -_statumen_, was followed by a fifteen-inch layer of broken stones -cemented with lime. The _rudus_ thus formed was succeeded by the -_nucleus_, a similar layer 10½ inches thick and constructed of small -fragments of brick and pottery. Last came the _pavimentum_, made of -large irregularly-shaped blocks of very hard stone fitted together and -cemented with lime so as to form a perfectly even surface. The -pavimentum was 5 inches thick, thus making a solid road raised about 3 -feet above the level of the surrounding land. - -[Illustration: SECTION OF A ROMAN MILITARY HIGHWAY.] - -Such was the usual method of construction of a Roman highway. Where the -natural surface of the ground passed over was hard rock, the two lowest -layers, or _strata_, were dispensed with; but where no safe natural -foundation existed, the labour was increased by the driving of piles -into the soft ground to afford this. - -Over hill and down dale were constructed these wonderful roads. No -obstacle save an impenetrable marsh or an unbridgeable river baulked the -Roman engineer; and the outward distinguishing mark between the Roman -road constructed sixteen centuries ago and its modern successor is often -the fact that whereas the latter goes round a hill, and thus makes -things easy for the traveller, the former climbs in a straight line -right over the summit. - -What engineering skill the Romans must have possessed to build their -roads! Straight from one military station to another miles distant over -the hills did they succeed in driving their road. How did they judge its -direction so accurately? We know not. And what immense labour was needed -for the construction of their roads! Think of the cohorts of Roman -soldiers engaged in building them, and of the slave-gangs of Britons -toiling under the lash of the task-master as they quarried the materials -for the use of the soldiers working many miles away. So hard was the -work of the Roman soldiers in Britain, we read, that they ‘wished for -death to relieve them from their insupportable toil.’ - -But human life stood for little in those days. What Roman engineer cared -whether thousands of lives were spent in the making of his road? His one -concern was to build it in such a way that for centuries to come the -Roman legions should be able to march, and the Imperial Post to ride, -along its hundreds of miles at the greatest possible speed. One hundred -and sixty-five English miles were covered by Caesarius, a Roman -magistrate, in the space of one day on a journey from Antioch to -Constantinople, the whole distance of 665 miles taking less than six -days. There is little wonder that Rome had become ‘Mistress of the -World.’ - - * * * * * - -Let us now see what the Roman road-makers did in East Yorkshire. -Stretching north from Londinium ran the military highway known in later -times as ERMIN STREET. At Lindum Colonia this branched in two -directions, both branches meeting eventually at Eboracum. Skirting the -impassable marshes around the meeting-places of the Yorkshire rivers and -the Trent, one branch reached Eboracum by bridges or fords across the -Trent, the Don, the Aire, and the Wharfe, where now stand Littleborough, -Doncaster, Castleford, and Tadcaster. The crossing-places were protected -by military stations which have since grown into these towns. - -But directly north from Lincoln the second branch reached the Humber at -Winteringham, whence the river was crossed by ferry to Brough, where -also was a military station, named Petuaria. From Brough to York the -road passed through South Cave, South Newbald, Houghton Woods, Thorpe le -Street, Barmby Moor and Stamford Bridge. Along this second branch would -travel the Roman Emperors and Generals, the Imperial Post, and the -slave-carried litters and chairs of the Roman aristocracy; round by the -former would march the foreign troops drafted to Eboracum to replace the -wastage in the Sixth Legion, and the British levies on their way to -fight and die in other parts of the Roman world. - -At South Newbald this Roman road branched to the right, passing by -Londesborough, Warter, Millington and Acklam, to a camp at Old Malton. -From Stamford Bridge eastward ran another road by Garrowby, Fimber, -Cottam and Kilham to a Roman station on the cliffs at Sewerby. Higher up -on the Wolds ran an alternative route by Fridaythorpe, Sledmere, Octon -and Rudston. These two roads are to-day known as the Low Street and the -High Street. - -Smaller roads ran from Stamford Bridge to Old Malton, and from the -latter to Fimber and possibly farther south in the direction of -Beverley. Round the coast from Bridlington there was probably a -road—long since washed away—to a military station on the headland which -then existed about a mile to the east of the present Kilnsea. - -In North Lincolnshire Ermin Street is a typical Roman military road, and -for the greater part of its course it is to-day the ‘king’s highway.’ -But its northerly portion has, since the establishing of the Ferry at -New Holland, been disused, and is now but a green lane, whose very -surface is lost to view as we approach the Humber. - -When we enter the territory of the Brigantes the road is not so -distinguishable, and its course is in some parts uncertain. But even -then the name of ‘Street’ given by the successors of the Romans to the -Roman paved way—the way made of _strata_—survives; and on the map of the -East Riding we shall find Garrowby Street, Humber Street, Wharram le -Street, and Thorpe le Street, each name being significant of a Roman -road. In some instances the road itself has been uncovered, as in the -building of Drewton Bridge 60 years ago, and in building operations at -Londesborough Park, where it was found to be 24 feet wide, and to show -plainly the marks of wheeled carriages. - - * * * * * - -At many places in the East Riding have been discovered evidences of -Roman commerce and domestic life. Bronze and silver coins buried in -vases or boxes have been unearthed at Cowlam, Warter, Nunburnholme, -Skerne, Wetwang, and Brough. At the first-named place more than 10,000 -coins had been buried in a large black vase, the finds at Warter and -Nunburnholme numbered about half that at Cowlam, and the Copper Hall -Farm at Skerne owes its name to a similar find. - -So also Roman coins have been unearthed at Hornsea, Aldborough, -Withernsea and Hollym, on the line of a coast road from Bridlington to -Kilnsea, though the road itself has long since been washed away. - -[Illustration: ROMAN ROADS AROUND THE HUMBER] - -Of particular interest, as pointing to the fact that the road leading -southward to Brough was an export trade route, is a ‘pig’ of lead -weighing 9 stone 9 lbs. discovered twenty years ago in a field adjoining -the road at South Cave. This bears in raised letters an inscription, -which, written in uncontracted form as - - CAII IVLII PROTI BRITANNICUM LVTVDAE EX - ARGENTO - -would mean in our tongue [The lead] of Caius Julius Protus, British -[lead] from Lutuda, [prepared] from silver. - -[Illustration: ROMAN PIG OF LEAD FOUND AT SOUTH CAVE.]] - -The lead mines of Derby were famous in Roman times, and much lead was -exported from Britain to Italy; so we may easily suppose that this -particular pig was lost in transit to the place of shipment. - -As evidences of domestic life we have _hypocausts_, or underground -heating-chambers for the supply of hot air and hot water to the rooms of -Roman villas. These must once have been numerous—for no wealthy Roman -could do without his warm bath—but so far only a few have been -discovered. Again, we have examples of the Roman writing-implements, -_styli_ by name, two of which, found at Brough, are illustrated below. - -[Illustration: ROMAN ‘PENS’ FOUND AT BROUGH.] - -When a Roman wished to write, his implements were very simple—a tablet -of wax and a _stylus_. With the pointed end of the latter he scratched -his letters on the surface of the wax; and if he made mistakes he had -only to smooth them out by using the other end, which was flattened for -the purpose. The Roman schoolboy probably found the stylus a very -convenient instrument. - -[Illustration: RELICS OF ROMAN FEASTS FOUND AT EASINGTON.] - -Humbler evidences of domestic life have been discovered in the ‘kitchen -middens,’ or refuse heaps, which the incursions of the sea have exposed -at Easington and Kilnsea. From these have been obtained numberless -oyster shells and fragments of pottery, the relics of dining-room feasts -and kitchen breakages. The former are very interesting, because they -show the method by which the Roman cook overcame the natural reluctance -of the creatures within them to ‘come out of their shells.’ - - * * * * * - -How very curiously such discoveries of ancient relics may be made is -seen in the recent case of an inhabitant of South Ferriby. A half-witted -man, by name Thomas Smith, but known locally by the more familiar name -‘Coin Tommy,’ made it his practice for several years to walk along the -shore of the river just after the periods of high tide, and to pick up -all metal objects which he happened to see. Whether horse-shoe or -brace-button did not matter to ‘Coin Tommy.’ Into his pocket went -everything of metal which he found; and on his reaching home after each -of these expeditions, his ‘finds’ were transferred to a stock of tin -canisters, and packed away on the shelves of his cupboard never again to -be looked at by their finder. - -Now it was known by Coin Tommy’s associates that his finds were not all -horse-shoes and brace-buttons. But few of his friends expected that -after his death would-be purchasers of these finds from distant parts of -the country would vie with one another for their possession. Yet so it -happened; for Coin Tommy’s miscellaneous collection included no fewer -than 3000 Roman coins of gold, silver and bronze, and bronze brooches, -finger-rings, bracelets, tweezers, spoons, earpicks and styli -innumerable. - -The explanation of the occurrence of all these objects along this -portion of the south bank of the Humber is that there had been at this -spot a Roman cemetery, and that changes in the currents of the Humber -have caused each high tide during the last few years to wash away some -portion of the bank, and thus bring to light treasures buried sixteen -centuries ago. And though South Ferriby is not in East Yorkshire, Coin -Tommy’s finds may fitly be mentioned in the story of the East Riding; -for it is probable that many of the owners of the bracelets and brooches -and finger rings had lived at Petuaria, on the Yorkshire side of the -river. - -Very interesting are the _fibulae_, or brooches, here discovered. Some -have engraved upon them the name of their maker, AVCISSA, and one, -having blue enamel let into the bronze surface, is constructed in the -form of a fish. - -[Illustration: A ‘SAFETY PIN’ SIXTEEN HUNDRED YEARS OLD.] - -This may be taken as evidence of its wearer’s being a Christian, for in -early days the fish was an emblem of Christianity. In other cases the -brooch is made of a single piece of bronze wire, twisted to form a -spiral spring, and having one of its ends flattened out and bent over to -form a catch for the pin—an illustration of the oft-quoted saying ‘There -is nothing new under the sun’; for here is an exact model of the -safety-pin invented, or rather re-invented, in the nineteenth century. - -[Illustration: DESIGN OF THE PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN VILLA DISCOVERED AT -HARPHAM.] - -To come back to the East Riding, our last mention of relics of Roman -times shall be that of the mosaic pavement which was discovered in a -ploughed field at Harpham in 1904. This pavement formed the floor of the -_atrium_, or square hall of a Roman villa, and was in use probably about -the year A.D. 300. It is constructed of small _tessarae_, or cubes, of -red sandstone and chalk, with a few others of dark blue clay, red clay, -and yellow limestone in the centre-piece of the design, and makes an -ingenious piece of work in the form of a maze. - -This Roman pavement has been removed to Hull and reconstructed in the -Hull museum. On it when found lay the flat sandstone slabs which had -once formed the roof over it. Many iron nails with large flat heads were -also found, and in one instance the nail remained fast in position -through a hole in one of the slabs. - - - - - VI. - OUR ANCESTORS. - - -From the time when Roman soldiers first penetrated into the territory of -the Brigantes, the land which we name Holderness was troubled by the -piratical attacks of a people from the other side of the North Sea; and -in the early years of the second century the low-lying marshes of this -district were inhabited by a tribe whom the Romans called PARISII. In -our language they would be called FRISIANS. - -These early Frisian settlers have left us evidence of the places they -chose for settlement in the village names Arram, Newsom, Hollym, and -Ulrome. Their settlements would probably be peaceful, for the lands -taken would be unoccupied pieces of ground rising just above the level -of the surrounding marsh. - -But as time went on, the eastern and southern shores of Britain were -assailed by numerous other bands of plunderers and would-be settlers; -and in the later Roman times we find that, beside the army stationed at -York under the command of the _Duke of Britain_ to repel the Picts and -Scots of the north, there was an army under the _Count of the Saxon -Shore_ whose duty it was to defend against invaders the coast from the -Wash to the shores of Sussex. - - * * * * * - -Under Roman rule Britain as a whole prospered exceedingly. Agriculture -and commerce were extended, so that we find the lead-merchants of Derby -exporting lead to Italy, the chalk-merchants of Tadcaster exporting -chalk, and the corn-merchants of the Rhine provinces importing corn from -Britain in large quantities. - -But beside the export of lead and chalk and corn, another export of -trade was going on—the export of the warlike youth of the country, who -went to furnish with men the Roman armies in Spain and Gaul and Germany. -Those left at home were forbidden by law to carry arms; so there is -small wonder that when the Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain -Roman towns were sacked and burnt, and Roman civilisation blotted out by -hostile invaders. ‘Tragedies can still be guessed at from heaps of ashes -and from skeletons of men, women and children found ... in crouching -attitudes in hypocausts and other places of concealment; and the human -bones frequently discovered at the bottoms of wells ... enable us to see -the ruthless savage removing the traces of a murderous raid.’ - -Petuaria, Praetorium, Derventio—all were sacked and burnt by the hosts -of ENGLE who sailed up the Humber and the Derwent, or landed at -Bridlington Bay. Roman houses were generally one-storied buildings -roofed with tiles or thatch, and the destruction of a town by fire would -be complete. It was also, in most cases, lasting; for the destroyers -were men who cared not for a life passed within walls and -fortifications. ‘They liked better to hear the lark sing than the mouse -squeak.’ So the Roman cities, towns and camps ‘remained in ruins, to be -haunted by the owl and the fox.’ - -But an exception was made by the invaders in the case of the greatest of -the Roman cities. Eboracum, Londinium and Lindum Colonia became the -chief centres of life for the tribes that captured them; and thus the -EBORACUM of the Romans became the EOFERWIC[6] of the Angles—a -dwelling-place in the haunts of the wild boar. Smaller towns were -blotted out; and their sites are known to us only by the finding of the -family store of coins, or the personal treasures once placed for safety -in a little recess in the wall or buried in a vase under the floor—to be -overwhelmed with debris, and to remain undiscovered for many centuries. - -Footnote 6: - - Pronounced almost as _Yóv-er-wik_. - - * * * * * - -The hostile tribes who invaded Britain during the fifth and sixth -centuries in such numbers as to conquer the whole country from the Isle -of Wight to the Firth of Forth, except the mountainous districts of the -west, were known as the _Engle_, the _Seaxe_ and the _Iute_.[7] Angles, -Saxons and Jutes these are to us. The IUTE landed on the shores of, and -established colonies in, Kent and the Isle of Wight, the former of which -developed into a kingdom; the SEAXE established three kingdoms -distinguished from one another in name by the adjectives South, East, -and West; and separate bands of ENGLE formed the kingdoms of East -Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. - -Footnote 7: - - _Eń-gla_, _Sék-sa_, and _Yóo-ta_, in pronunciation. - -It is with the last-named of these ‘Seven Kingdoms’ that we are most -particularly concerned. The huge kingdom of Northumbria stretched -northwards from the Humber to the Forth, and was at different times -either ruled by one king or divided into two separate kingdoms—Deira, -from the Humber to the Tees, and Bernicia, from the Tees to the Forth. - -How complete was the conquest of Britain by these invading tribes is -seen in the account written by Bede, the eighth century monk of Jarrow:— - - They burned and harried and slew from the sea on the east to the sea - on the west, and no one was able to withstand them.... Many of the - miserable survivors were captured in waste places and stabbed in - heaps. Some because of hunger gave themselves into the hands of - their enemies, to be their slaves for ever in return for food and - clothing; some departed sorrowfully over the sea; some remained - fearfully in their native land, and with heavy hearts lived a life - of want in the forests and waste places and on the high cliffs. - -The completeness of the conquest may be seen also in the fact that the -language of the Britons was replaced by that of the invaders. The -Angles, Saxons and Jutes spoke a language entirely different from the -Keltic language of the Britons; but except in the Highlands of Scotland, -in Wales, and in the Isle of Man—the parts to which the invaders did not -penetrate—the language spoken to-day is ENGLISH and the name of the -country itself is ENGLA-LAND, the land of the _Engle_. - - * * * * * - -Very definite evidence of the places chosen by the Angles for settlement -can be found on the map of the East Riding. Where the head of the -household decided to ‘pitch his tent’ a piece of land was enclosed with -a _tūn_,[8] or hedge, and the dwelling erected within it became his new -_hām_,[8] or home. Such was the origin of our numerous towns and -villages whose names now end in the syllables _ton_ and _ham_. In many -cases the name of the family is enshrined in the name of the settlement. -Thus the Locings—the sons of Loc—the Essings, the Brantings, the -Eoferings, and the Hemings gave their names respectively to Lockington, -Easington, Brantingham, Everingham, and Hemingbrough. - -Footnote 8: - - Pronounced, respectively, _toon_ and _hahm_. - -Besides the endings _ton_ and _ham_, others which tell of Anglian -settlements are _worth_ and _bald_ (a dwelling), _cote_ or _coate_ (a -mud cottage), _stead_ (a place), _brough_ or _borough_ (a fortified -place), _wick_ (a village), _wold_ (woodland), _field_ (a place where -trees have been felled), _ley_ (an open place in a wood), _mere_ (a -lake), _fleet_ (the mouth of a river) and _ford_. Examples of all these -can be found on a map of the East Riding. - - * * * * * - -In their burial customs the Angles were little different from the -peoples whom they dispossessed. Like them they often cremated the bodies -of their dead, afterwards collecting the charred bones and burying them -in earthen vessels, accompanied with the weapons or personal treasures -which were to be used again in the life to come. A man was buried with -his spear and shield, or with the long one-edged knife whose -name—_seax_—gave rise to the tribal name of the Saxons; a woman with her -knife, shears, bronze box containing thread and needles, and beads of -glass and amber; a child with his toys, such as the tiny tweezers, knife -and shears found with a child’s bones in a burial vase at Sancton. - -[Illustration: - - IRON KNIFE AND BRONZE SPOON FROM AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY - NEAR GARTON GATE HOUSE (1/2). -] - -Not always, however, did the Angles cremate the bodies of their dead. -More often they buried them near the surface of a British burial mound. -From one of the mounds at Driffield, known as ‘Cheesecake Hill,’ was -taken a necklace consisting of 219 beads, of which 141 were of amber, -two of glass, three of carefully cut crystal, and five of cowrie shells. - -[Illustration: CHILD’S TOYS FOUND IN A BURIAL VASE AT SANCTON.] - -Not very far from Garton Gatehouse, and near the memorial to Sir Tatton -Sykes some three miles farther north, were accidentally discovered two -Anglian cemeteries, one of which contained more than sixty bodies of -men, women and children. Here all but a few had been buried not with -their limbs bent, as was the custom among the Britons, but with their -limbs stretched out at full length; and all but one had been buried with -their heads to the west. Probably these were Christian burials. - -[Illustration: - - ‘FINDS’ IN AN ANGLIAN CEMETERY NEAR GARTON - GATE HOUSE. - A. Bronze ring (1/1). B. Silver brooch (1/1). C. Bone comb (1/2). -] - -From this Anglian cemetery at Garton were obtained many implements and -personal ornaments—iron knives and bronze spoons, bronze ankle-rings and -buckles, necklaces of glass, amber and amethyst, silver ear-rings, a -gold button set with a precious stone, and, luxury of luxuries, a bone -comb. What a great advance is thus shown to have taken place in the -centuries between the British burial at Garrowby and the Anglian burials -at Garton! With the former were weapons of flint and bone; with the -latter, implements of bronze and iron, and personal ornaments of silver, -gold, and precious stones. - - - - - VII. - HOW THE MEN OF THE NORTH BECAME - CHRISTIANS. - - -During later Roman times the worship of God had been introduced into -Britain, and the discovery of the Roman bronze brooch figured on page 38 -shows that Christianity had reached the shores of the Humber. - -But the invaders who were to give a new name to the country and to -become our ancestors were heathens, and chief among their gods was -Woden. We of the twentieth century still preserve, the names of Wōden, -Tīw, the god of war, and Frīg, the wife of Wōden, in our ‘Wednesday,’ -‘Tuesday,’ and ‘Friday’—the _Wodenesdaeg_, _Tiwesdaeg_, and -_Frigedaeg_[9] of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. - -Footnote 9: - - Pronounced, respectively, _Wóh-den-ez-dag_, _Tée-wes-dag_, and - _Frée-ga-dag_. - -In the passage from Bede’s _Ecclesiastical History of the English -People_ which was partly translated in the last chapter, we are given an -insight into the way in which the heathen Angles and Saxons despoiled -the worshipping-places of the Christian Britons:— - - Everywhere priests were slain and murdered by the side of the - altars. Bishops together with their people were slain without mercy - by fire and sword, and there was none to give the rites of burial to - those who were so cruelly murdered. - -Thus Britain became again a country entirely pagan, and it was not until -the closing years of the sixth century that Christian missionaries from -Rome once more set foot in it. - - * * * * * - -To understand the events leading up to the arrival of these -missionaries, we must bear in mind that among the Angles and the Saxons -slavery was a common custom. Social ranks of life were very marked, and -all men belonged to one of three distinct classes. He who could trace -back his descent from the gods ranked as an _eorl_,[10] or man of noble -birth, and all others were divided into two classes—the free and the -unfree. A free man, who had the privilege of owning land by virtue of -his freedom, was known as a _ceorl_[10]; but he who was, body and soul, -the property of another was called a _theow_,[10] or slave. - -Footnote 10: - - _É-orl_, _ké-orl_, and _thái-ow_ in pronunciation. - -Slaves must have been very numerous in our country during Saxon days; -for wars were constantly being waged between the different tribes, and -prisoners of war naturally became the slaves of their captors. So also, -a man who had fallen into debt and who could not release himself became -the theow of the man to whom he owed money; and when he became a slave, -his wife and children became slaves likewise, and could be sold by his -master. Worst of all, a free man had the right to sell his own children -into slavery until they reached the age of seven. - -Now it so happened that this horrible custom of selling children as -slaves was the direct cause of Christianity’s being re-introduced into -our country. A regular export trade in English children was carried on, -and about the year 580 there were one day standing exposed for sale in -the market of Rome some boys of fair complexion and beautiful hair. -Along the market chanced to pass a monk, who was struck with their -light-coloured hair and blue eyes, so different from the dark hair and -brown eyes of the South European peoples. On his asking the slave-dealer -from what country they had been brought, he was told that they came from -Britain, and that the people of that island had fair complexions. -Unsatisfied with this information, he asked of what race they were, and -was told that they were Angli. - -‘_Non Angli, sed Angeli_,’ replied the monk. ‘For their look is -angelical, and it is meet that they should become joint heirs with the -angels in heaven.’ - -Then he sought further information concerning them. - -‘What do you call the province from which the boys were brought hither?’ - -‘Deira,’ was the reply given him. - -‘Deira!’ said the monk; ‘that is well said. _De ira eruti_—they shall be -snatched from the wrath of God!’ - -Again he asked: ‘What is the name of their king?’ - -‘Their king is named Aelle.’ - -‘_Alleluia!_’ replied the monk, playing on the name of the king. ‘It is -most fit that the love of God our Creator be sung in those parts.’ - -Fifteen years after this conversation took place in the market of Rome, -the monk had become famous as Pope Gregory the First. Then, in -fulfilment of the plans he had formed for rescuing the Angli from the -wrath of God, he chose a monk named Augustine to make a journey to -Britain with some companions. Augustine, with his small band, set out, -but on reaching Gaul was so dismayed by the reports of the savage -character of the people to whom he was bidden to go, that he turned -back, and sought release from the task which had been imposed upon him. -This Gregory refused, reminding him that ‘the more difficult the task, -the greater is the reward.’ - -Augustine once more set out, and landed at Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of -Thanet, in the Spring of the year 597. The king of Kent was then -Aethelberht, who had married a Christian princess, the daughter of the -king of the Franks. Thus the way had been made clear for the mission of -Augustine, and Kent soon became a Christian kingdom. - -King Aelle of Northumbria died in 588, and thirteen years later his son -Edwin became king. Edwin had married the daughter of Aethelberht of -Kent, Aethelburga by name, and with her there came to Eoferwic Paulinus, -a monk. - -For long this monk was unable to persuade Edwin to become a Christian; -but in 626 there was called a meeting of the king’s _Witan_, or ‘wise -men,’ each of whom was asked what he thought of the new doctrines then -being preached by Paulinus.[11] After Coifi,[12] the king’s high priest, -had expressed his opinion that the gods they worshipped had no power, -one of the king’s counsellors broke in with these words:— - - ‘Thus it seems to me, O my king, that the life of man on earth, in - comparison with the life unknown to us, is just as if you were - sitting at table with your ealdormen and thegns in wintertide—when - the fire was kindled and your hall made warm, while it rained and - snowed outside—and there came a sparrow and quickly flew through the - hall, coming in by one door and passing out by the other. During the - time that he is passing through the hall he is safe from the - winter’s storm, but it is only for the twinkling of an eye, and in - the shortest space of time he passes from winter into winter. - - ‘So seems the life of man—it is ours for a little while, but what - goes before it and what follows after we know not. Therefore if this - teaching makes anything clearer and more certain, it is meet that we - follow it.’ - -Footnote 11: - - The place of meeting was either York or Londesborough. - -Footnote 12: - - _Kóh-i-fi_ in pronunciation. - -What an apt comparison—the life of a man is like the brief flight of a -sparrow through a pleasant room! Many a time must those present when the -words were spoken have seen a bewildered sparrow fly swiftly through the -king’s hall, entering it to seek shelter from the storm without, and -leaving it to seek safety from the smoke of the fire and the noise of -men’s voices within. And what more suitable illustration of man’s -ignorance of the hereafter could have been chosen? We can imagine its -effect upon Coifi, who, on hearing the words of the king’s counsellor, -exclaimed:— - - ‘I see clearly that what we have been worshipping is but naught. For - the more earnestly I have sought the truth through our worship, the - less I have found it. Therefore, O king, I now advise that we - speedily destroy and burn with fire the altars which we hallowed - without receiving any benefit.’ - -Thus were King Edwin of Deira and his _Witan_ converted to the true -religion, and the temple which contained the heathen altars destroyed. -Coifi himself sought permission to be the first to cast down the idols -it contained, and the king granted him weapons and a horse for the -purpose. Riding to the temple, he first cast his spear against the -altar, and then called to his companions that they should pull down the -idols and burn them. ‘The place is yet pointed out,’ wrote Bede one -hundred years later, ‘not far east from Eoferwic beyond the river -Derwent, and is to-day called Godmundingaham, where the high priest, -through the inspiration of the true God, cast down and destroyed the -altars which he himself had previously hallowed.’ - -‘Not far east from York, beyond the river Derwent’—such was Bede’s -description of the place of this memorable deed. GODMUNDINGAHAM, he -says, was its new name, and GOODMANHAM it is in our own day. Tradition -says further that the present church, dedicated to All Saints, stands on -the exact site of the heathen temple which Coifi, the heathen high -priest, was the first to profane. But whether tradition speaks true we -have no means of knowing. - -[Illustration: - - GOODMANHAM CHURCH. - (_From an old Engraving_). -] - - * * * * * - -The immediate results of the adoption of Christianity at Goodmanham were -the building of a wooden church at York, and the baptism in it of King -Edwin on Easter Day 627. This wooden church, dedicated to St. Peter, was -shortly afterwards succeeded by a larger and loftier church of stone, -which, in its turn, was destined to be succeeded by another yet larger -and loftier—the Minster that we count to-day as one of the glories of -Northern England. - -Six years later King Edwin was slain in battle against Penda, the -heathen king of Mercia, and Cadwallon, a British king, ‘more fierce and -cruel than the heathen, for he was a barbarian.’ The head of Edwin was -taken to York and buried in the stone church of St. Peter which he had -begun to build; and Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York, fled by sea -southwards to Kent with Edwin’s widowed queen and their two children. -Then for the whole of an ‘unhappy and godless’ year Northumbria was -wasted by Cadwallon. - -At the end of the year Edwin’s nephew Oswald, with an army small but -strengthened by belief in Christ, fought against Cadwallon. Now Oswald -was ‘a man dear to God,’ and before the battle he caused to be made a -hastily-constructed cross of wood, which was erected in a pit dug in -front of his army. With his own hands he set up this cross and held it -till his men had made it firm with heaped-up soil. Then did Oswald call -to him all his men and gave them his command: ‘Let us all bend the knee -and together ask the almighty, living, and true God to defend us with -His mercy from this proud and cruel foe; for He knows that we are justly -fighting for the safety of our people.’ - -This they all did; and in the fight which followed, Oswald gained a -complete victory, and Cadwallon was slain. The place of Oswald’s victory -was called ‘Heavenfield’; and, says Bede, ‘many people to-day take chips -and shavings from the wood of that holy cross and put them in water, and -sprinkle the water on sick men and beasts, or give them it to drink, and -they are at once cured.’ - - * * * * * - -With the accession of King Oswald Christianity returned to the people of -the north. This time, however, it was brought not by the monks of Rome, -but by British monks from a monastery which had been established by -Columba, an Irish saint, on the tiny island of Iona, lying off the west -coast of Scotland. - -It was to this monastery that Oswald sent asking for teachers for his -people. In reply there was sent him a monk of hard and stern nature, to -whom the people would not gladly listen; so that he was able to effect -little, but returned to Iona and reported that he could do nothing -because the people of Northumbria were unteachable. ‘Was it not, -brother,’ said one of his fellow monks, ‘you who were not sufficiently -patient and gentle with those untaught men?’ The question made all -present turn to the speaker, and they quickly decided that he was worthy -to be sent as teacher to their friend, King Oswald. - -So came to Northumbria the saintly Aidan, whose success in converting -the heathen Angles was due chiefly to the fact that as he taught so he -himself lived. For, says Bede, - - he in no way desired or sought after the things that are of this - world; but all the worldly goods that were given him by kings or by - rich men he gladly gave to the poor and needy who came to him. - Through all the land he travelled, visiting towns and wayside - villages, and never on horseback, unless there were special need, - but always on foot. And wheresoever he came and whomsoever he met, - whether rich or poor, he turned to them. If they were unbelievers, - then he invited them to believe in Christ; if they were believers he - strengthened them in their belief, and with word and deed stirred - them up to almsgiving and the performance of good deeds. - -By the labours of Aidan and his fellow monks the men of the north again -became Christians; and such earnest Christians were they that they -hallowed with the ‘Sign of the Cross’ the places at which they held -their meetings for the purposes of government. - -A British burial mound was often found convenient for an Anglian _mōt_, -or meeting,—whence the name ‘Moot Hill’—and its purpose was marked by a -large trench in the form of a cross cut through the mound down into the -chalk. The four arms of the trench were made roughly equal, and always -pointed north, south, east, and west. Cowlam Cross, near which the -village church was afterwards erected, is cut seven feet deep in the -solid chalk, and another similar cross with arms twenty-one feet long -has been discovered at Helperthorpe. - -[Illustration: TWO SIDES OF AN ANGLIAN CROSS SHAFT AT LEVEN.] - -Where no convenient mound existed, the place of meeting was sometimes -marked in the opposite way. Instead of cutting a deep trench they raised -at right angles two ridges of earth and stones, entirely surrounded by a -shallow ditch. - -Such crosses have been named _Embankment Crosses_, and eleven have been -discovered within a radius of fifteen miles from Driffield. A favourite -name for them among the country folk is that of _bield_, or shelter, -because they were supposed to have been built up to serve as shelters -for the cattle. There is one near East Heslerton, known locally as the -‘Old Bield,’ the arms of which measure 45 yards each, north and south, -and 50 yards east and west. Another formerly existed near the site of -the ancient village of Haywold. Ploughing operations have caused -this—and probably many others—to be destroyed; but its name, ‘Christ -Cross,’ is still preserved. - -With the introduction of Christianity there took place great development -of the arts of peace in home and village life. ‘The English forged the -ploughshare rather than the sword. They built weirs, and fished, and set -up watermills by the rivers. Boat-building, brewing, leather-tanning, -pottery, dyeing, weaving, the working of gold and silver, and -embroidery, grew and soon began to flourish. The days of merchandise -succeeded the days of plunder; life became gentler, nearer in spirit to -the homes of England as we now conceive them.’ - - - - - VIII. - THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN. - - -Two hundred years pass onwards from the coming of Saint Aidan to -Northumbria, and we are again among scenes of famine, sword, and fire. -Let us see what the records of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles have to tell. - - A.D. 787. In these days first came three ships of the Northmen, and - when the bailiff rode down to them, and would take the men - to the king’s town—for he knew not who they were—he was - slain. Those were the first ships of the Danish men that - came to the land of the Angles. - - A.D. 833. In this year King Egbert fought against the crews of - thirty-five ships at Charmouth, and there was great - slaughter, and the Danish men possessed the battlefield. - - A.D. 851. In this year the heathen men first remained over the - winter, and in the same year came three hundred and fifty - ships into the mouth of the Thames, and broke into - Canterbury and London, and put to flight Beorhtwulf, King - of Mercia. - - A.D. 867. In this year the heathen army went from East Anglia over - the mouth of the Humber to York ... and there was immense - slaughter of the Northumbrians, some within York, and some - without, and the survivors made peace with the heathen - army. - -These records show that the history of the fifth and sixth centuries was -being repeated at the close of the eighth century, and during the ninth. -They tell us of the inroads of a new race of free-booters, men of -Northern Europe—coming from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—men among whom -was a passionate love of the sea and an overwhelming desire for the -plunder of other lands. Sea-pirates they are now often called, but we -must remember that among them what we should call piracy was looked upon -as the most honourable career in life. - -Each year as Spring came round these Danish sea-rovers would gather -together their men, take advantage of the north-east winds, and sail -away to Britain, or the northern coast of France, or even to the shores -of the Mediterranean Sea, and return laden with plunder on the coming of -Autumn. - -One thing the records which have been quoted make very clear. In 787 -‘first came three ships of the Northmen’; less than fifty years later -King Egbert of Wessex was fighting against the crews of thirty-five -vessels; and in 851 the fleet of ships entering the Thames numbered no -fewer than three hundred and fifty. What does this astonishing increase -in numbers mean? It can mean only one thing—that the Northmen found -their marauding expeditions to England profitable. England, in other -words, was worth plundering. In fact, England was so prosperous a -country, and its churches and monasteries contained such treasures of -gold and silver, that the Northmen found it worth their while to build -more ‘long-ships’—as their ships of war were called—in order that they -might plunder it more completely. - - * * * * * - -But as time passed away the Northmen came not merely to plunder and -return home, but to seek new homes in the fertile lands of Britain. In -later records we find mention of peace being made between the Angles and -the Danes without the fighting of a battle:— - - A.D. 872. In this year went the heathen army into Northumbria. They - also took up winter quarters at Torksey, and the Mercians - made peace with the invaders. - - A.D. 876. In this year Healfdene divided the Northumbrian land, and - the Danes gave themselves up to ploughing and tilling the - land. - -Two years after the last record Alfred, King of the West Saxons, made -with Guthrum, the Danish leader, a treaty by which all Northern and -Eastern England—all England, that is, north of Watling Street, the Roman -road leading from London to Chester—was ceded to the Danes to be ruled -according to their laws. Henceforth this district becomes known as the -DANELAGH. - -So history goes on repeating itself. For just as the Angles and Saxons -had warred against the Britons, and then made settlements and turned to -forest-clearing and ploughing, sowing and reaping; so a few centuries -later came the Danes to make war upon them in turn, and finally to take -possession of uncleared and hitherto unclaimed lands whereon to make for -themselves new homes. - -Very numerous settlements were made by the Danes in the part of England -known as the Danelagh, and most of these may be recognised by the -village names of to-day. What to an Angle were a _tūn_ and a _wīc_[13] -were to a Dane a _bȳr_[13] and a _thorp_. Hence the name-endings _by_ -and _thorp_ denote respectively the sites of a Danish farmhouse and a -Danish village; and it is interesting to pick out such names on a -large-scale map, and see how they occur in groups or succeed one another -along the line of an old highway. - -Footnote 13: - - Pronounced _week_ and _beer_, respectively. - -Thus in the East Riding, within a radius of five miles of the Anglian -settlements of Bridlington and Hessle, we shall find the Danish names -Hilderthorpe, Wilsthorpe, Fraisthorpe, Haisthorpe, Caythorpe, Carnaby, -Bessingby, Sewerby; and Anlaby, Willerby, Skidby, Wauldby, Tranby, -Ferriby. Other groups will be found round York, Malton, and Pocklington. -The best example of the occurrence of a succession of Danish names along -the line of an ancient highway is to be found on the other side of the -Humber. Here, along the road from the Humber to the old Roman station at -Caistor, passing through the Anglian settlements of Horkstow and Brigg, -there are no fewer than fifteen villages whose names end in _by_, and -one of them has in addition the suffix _Thorpe_.[14] - -Footnote 14: - - There are more Danish place names in Lincolnshire than in all the rest - of England south of the Humber. North of the Humber the largest number - is to be found in the East Riding. - -[Illustration: DANISH SETTLEMENTS IN A PORTION OF NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE.] - -Place names ending in _by_ and _thorp_ by no means exhaust the list of -Danish settlements. A complete list of name-endings which are Norse in -origin would include the following:— - - beck a stream. - by a farmstead. - fell a hillside. - force or foss a waterfall. - garth an enclosure. - gill a ravine. - holm } an island, or a piece of firm land rising - holme } out of the surrounding marsh. - how a hill. - lund a sacred grove. - ness a headland. - scar a cliff. - tarn a small mountain lake. - thorp or thorpe a village. - thwaite a forest clearing. - toft an enclosure. - wick or wyke a bay or creek. - -Examples of all these can be found on the map of Yorkshire, and most of -them occur in the East Riding. But it must be remembered that the modern -place name is not always a sure guide in this direction. Names have in -many cases changed during the course of centuries. For example, the name -‘Nunburnholme,’ which looks Danish in origin, was originally _Brunham_; -while, on the other hand, ‘Kilnsea’ and ‘Withernsea’ have replaced the -older Danish names _Hornes_ and _Witfornes_. - -The two name-endings which conclude the list given above are very -interesting, because it was the Danish word _vīk_[15] that gave rise to -the name by which the sea-rovers became generally known in our country. -_Vikings_, or men of the creeks—so they were called; and so may we call -them, if we remember that their letter _v_ stood for the sound of our -_w_, and that their name is to be pronounced _Wik-ings_ and not, as it -is so commonly mispronounced, _Vi-kings_. - -Footnote 15: - - Pronounced exactly like the Anglian word _wīc_. - - * * * * * - -A hardy and a daring race were these old Vikings. There were no -‘wasters’ and few ‘slackers’ among them. When a Viking’s son was born, -the babe was shown to its father for his approval or disapproval. If the -father liked the look of his babe, and thought that it showed signs of -growing up into a manly and sturdy boy, it was taken back to its mother -to be ‘raised.’ But woe betide the babe that looked puny and sickly, or -that showed signs of deformity! The father’s orders were that it should -be taken outside his dwelling and exposed to the cold so that it died. - -‘What a cruel custom!’ you will think. Yes, so it was. But the Vikings -lived in an age when men looked upon things very differently from the -way in which we look upon them. In a cruel age the Northmen were so -cruel, and the fear that they inspired in the hearts of the people whose -lands they plundered was so great, that the monks inserted in their -Litany the prayer:— - - A FURORE NORMANNORUM, LIBERA NOS, DOMINE! - (From the fury of the Northmen, O Lord, deliver us!) - -There is little wonder that, with such a rearing as the children of the -Vikings received, a race of warriors grew up among whom was the -unwritten law that ‘a Dane who wished to acquire the character of a -brave man should always attack two enemies, stand firm and receive the -attack of three, retire only one pace from four, and flee from no fewer -than five.’ - -Social distinctions among the Danes were similar to those among the -Angles. In place of the Anglian _eorl_, _ceorl_, and _theow_ were the -Danish _jarl_,[16] _karl_, and _thrall_; with this difference—that the -Danish _jarl_ was a military commander and not a man who could pride -himself on being descended from the gods. It is from the word ‘jarl’ -that our English word ‘earl’ has arisen. - -Footnote 16: - - Pronounced _yarl_ - - * * * * * - -Like their cousins the Angles, the Northmen were heathens when they -invaded our shores. - -The Wōden, Tīw, and Frīg of the Angles were the Odin, Tȳr and Freya of -the Danes. But their greatest god was Thor, the Thunderer, whose name -will be recognised in the name for the fifth day of the week. - -[Illustration: - - DANISH CROSS HEAD AT NORTH - FRODINGHAM. -] - -Like the Angles, also, the heathen Northmen eventually became -Christians, and evidences of their Christianity have come down to us. In -the vicarage garden at North Frodingham is a broken cross head of Danish -tenth-century workmanship, and in the churchyard at Nunburnholme is -preserved a broken cross shaft sculptured with figures of men, women, -children, and animals. - -But the most interesting relic of Danish Christianity is a sun-dial now -built high up in one of the interior walls of the church at Aldbrough. -Round it, in Anglian letters, is the inscription:— - - ULF LET ARÆRAN CYRICE FOR HANUM AND - GUNWARA SAULA. - -Put into modern English this would read:— - - Ulf caused to be built a church for himself and for - the soul of Gunvör. - -[Illustration: - - _ALDBROUGH_ - _Danish Sun-Dial Built into the Wall of Aldbrough Church._ -] - -Though written in Anglian letters, the names Ulf and Gunvör are both -Danish names, and the word ‘Hānum’ is likewise a purely Danish word. Who -this Ulf was we do not know, for the name was a common one. One jarl Ulf -married the sister of King Cnut, and another was the owner of lands at -Aldbrough and Brandesburton during the reign of King Edward the -Confessor. - - - - - IX. - IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 892. - - A PICTURE OF LIFE IN THE EAST RIDING DRAWN FROM - DETAILS IN THE OLD NORSE SAGAS. - - -The year of Our Lord is eight hundred and ninety-two, and the scene lies -a couple of miles north of the village of Hessle, on the Yorkshire bank -of the Humber. - -Twenty-five years before this date a heathen army had crossed over the -Humber on their march to York, and a good number of broken heads and -hewn-off limbs had been the result of their visit to the province of -Deira. Then, like sensible people, the invaders and the invaded had come -to terms. Villages of the Angles were not too numerous in the district. -At any rate there was plenty of unoccupied land lying around them, and -this was just what the invaders wanted; for their brothers and sisters -had grown so numerous in the lands across the sea that those who had -left their homes had no great desire to go back to them. - -Among the band of heathen Northmen had been a jarl named Anlaf, and -between Anlaf and the ealdorman at Beverley it had been agreed that the -former should choose land whereon to settle his men somewhere in the -four miles of unoccupied country lying between Hessle and Cottingham. -Also his men were to be allowed to choose wives from among the maidens -of these two villages or the neighbouring ones of Weighton and -Riplingham. In return the Northmen were to give their attention to -clearing and tilling the land they had chosen, and to conduct -themselves, as far as could reasonably be expected, in a manner harmless -to the people of all the surrounding villages. - -Such had been the beginnings of Anlafsbyr. The land for settlement was -chosen—nice dry land on rising ground with a natural drainage to the -river—rough shelters for the men were first made, and the ground was -then marked out for the building of Anlaf’s hall. Three times was the -ground measured for this, and each time after the first the measurements -proved slightly larger than the previous ones. This boded good luck, and -the work was therefore entered upon with spirit. - -In the course of time the building of the hall was finished. Then came -the rewards to Anlaf’s men for their labours. The surrounding land was -marked out and divided up, each karl receiving a portion, large or small -in accordance with his own worth; and a considerable portion was left -over to belong to all the karls in common. The thralls of course got no -land—they did not count as men but as cattle. Probably some of them were -exchanged with the ceorls of Hessle for four-legged cattle. - -In three years’ time Anlafsbyr was a thriving settlement. The omens had -promised good luck and the good luck came. Meanwhile Ketil, the son of -Anlaf, chose himself a wife from Riplingham. So did others for -themselves; and some, not finding the looks of the maidens of Hessle and -Beverley and Weighton and Riplingham to their liking, went farther -afield and made raids on the villages of Hotham and Sancton, only to -retire with several cracked heads and broken arms for their pains. - -But this was an exception to the general rule. In most cases the Anglian -maidens were quite willing to wed the handsome strangers, even if their -language was at first difficult to understand, and their methods of -wooing somewhat rough and unpolished. In fact they rather approved of -the roughness than disapproved of it, and to be singled out for one’s -good looks and carried off by one of those bold Northmen was something -for a maiden to be proud of. - -The result of the frequent marriages between the Northmen and the Angles -quickly became apparent. Husband and wife spoke languages sufficiently -alike for one to make out the other’s meaning in most cases. But the -children were, quite naturally, brought up to speak the tongue of their -mother and not that of their father; so that as time went on the -language of the Northmen disappeared, or rather became merged in the -language of the Angles. Thus although Anlaf and his karls spoke the -Norse tongue, their grandchildren spoke the English. But for all that, -they lived in the Danelagh, where Danish customs and Danish laws were -observed. - -When Anlaf died in 871, Ketil Anlafsson began to rule his father’s -settlement. His two sons, Ulf and Hrafn, went, as custom decreed they -ought to go, on Viking raids as soon as they reached the manly age of -fifteen or sixteen. Four years of these raids sufficed to prove the -prowess of Ulf Ketilsson, and his right eventually to succeed his father -as jarl. Then he settled down to help his father, who had become a man -past middle age; but Hrafn his brother continued at sea. In 890 Ketil -Anlafsson died, and his son Ulf was proclaimed jarl. Hrafn was then -away. But now in the Spring of 892 he has just returned, to be honoured -by all men as the first among them to make the perilous voyage to an -island lying far to the north-west, whose name was spoken of as -‘Iceland.’ - - * * * * * - -Great therefore are the rejoicings at Anlafsbyr. Jarl Ulf has ridden at -full speed to the river-shore on hearing that three ships have been -sighted coming up the river with red, blue and green sails like those of -his brother’s ships. Before he leaves home he has given instructions to -his wife Helga that the hall is to be got ready for a great feast in -case the ships are his brother’s. A messenger has quickly brought back -the good tidings, and preparations are being pushed on rapidly, that the -welcome Hrafn and his men receive shall be one fitting to the occasion. - -Let us now glance round the hall built by Anlaf and see what it is like. - -Picture to yourself an oblong hall built entirely of wood, and with a -steep roof supported by upright and cross beams. It is built east and -west and at each end is a door, one the men’s door, the other the -women’s door. Along each side there is a low aisle, which is partitioned -off into small sleeping-rooms for the jarl’s family and guests. - -Down the middle of the hall are long stone hearths on which are -smouldering three fires of wood and turf. Above each fire is a hole in -the roof through which the smoke makes its escape after eddying round -the rafters, which are covered with a thick layer of soot. The windows -are high up, of just sufficient size for a man’s body to be able to -squeeze through, and the holes are covered with the membrane obtained -from the inside of a cow, which is almost as transparent as glass. - -Along the hall will be two long tables, constructed of planks resting -upon trestles. At the middle of the south side stands the high seat of -the jarl, and opposite it is another which is always reserved for the -most honoured guest. Thralls in white woollen clothes are now running -hither and thither placing the long tables in position, and coaxing the -smouldering fires into a big roaring blaze; for the nights are still -very cold. - -Adjoining the hall are numerous other buildings—the women’s sleeping -rooms and the kitchens and storehouses. The last two are a scene of -bustle. Bondwomen are hurrying about in all directions. If you look at -this one you will perhaps notice that she has lost an ear. It has been -cut off for an act of pilfering, but she tries to hide her loss by -arranging her hair over the place where the ear should be. In the -distance is another bondwoman who cannot possibly hide the marks of her -punishment. Three times has she been caught pilfering, with the result -that she now has to manage as best she can without an ear at all and -without a nose. - - * * * * * - -But outside there is a great noise of shouting and the trampling of -horses and of men. Hrafn Ketilsson has arrived with his men, and welcome -is being given him by Jarl Ulf and his wife, Helga Eiriksson. It is not -yet time for the meal now being prepared, and Hrafn declares that he is -not hungry one little bit; so sports are hastily arranged on the green -in front of the hall. There shall be a great horse-fight; for two of -Ulf’s karls have horses which have been thoroughly trained to fight, and -neither of which has yet been beaten. - -The horse-fight takes place accordingly. Each karl makes his horse rise -on its hind legs and attack the other, biting it wherever it can. As the -contest goes on, the horses get enraged and their masters incite them by -blows on their hind quarters. Finally one of the horses gives in and -runs away, leaving the other the victor. - -Then there is a running contest. Hrafn the Viking has among his troop a -man from Ireland, named Gilli, whom he wagers to beat any horse in -speed. A dozen horses are immediately offered, and the best of them, a -horse belonging to a karl named Hrolf, is chosen. Gilli will race -Hrolf’s horse; and if the horse wins, its owner shall have a gold ring -given him by Hrafn. For half a mile they race along, Gilli being all the -while at the horse’s shoulder, and the result being therefore a dead -heat. - -‘But,’ says Hrolf, ‘you had hold of the strap of my saddle-girth, and my -horse pulled you along.’ ‘Then,’ replies Gilli, ‘we will have it over -again.’ - -This time Gilli starts a yard in front of the horse, and at the end of -the half-mile he is still the same distance in front. ‘Did I this time -take hold of your saddle-girth?’ asks Gilli. ‘No,’ is Hrolf’s answer, -‘but my horse had no chance. You were just in front of him all the way, -and I was afraid of riding you down.’ - -‘Very well,’ says Gilli, ‘we will have the race over again.’ - -So for the third time they race, and this time the horse is given twenty -yards start. But Gilli catches Hrolf up, passes him, stands still till -the horse is again in front, then starts again, and finishes ten yards -in front. There is tremendous cheering, and Jarl Ulf gives Gilli a gold -ring of weight equal to that offered by his brother to the horse’s -owner. - -Next a game of ball. Sides are chosen, and a hard wooden ball and two -wooden bats are brought forth. The bats are given to one man on each -side. The ball is thrown up into the air, and one of the batsmen hits it -with all his force in the direction of the other. The second batsman -tries to hit it back and not let it pass him, but before he can hit it -he is pulled down by the men of the other side. So the game goes on. It -is by no means a gentle game, for the occasion is a special one and all -the players are on their mettle. When ‘time’ is called and bruises and -wounds are reckoned up, it is found that the players have sustained -three broken arms, a broken thigh-bone, and the loss of one eye. Lesser -injuries go uncounted. - - * * * * * - -By this time the feast is ready, and so are the men. If good appetites -are any indication of good health, the uninjured men are all in a state -of very vigorous health. Jarl Ulf Ketilsson leads the way to his high -seat, and Hrafn the Viking is shown to the high seat opposite. Swords, -shields, and axes are hung on nails driven into the walls above the side -benches. By the side of Ulf sits his wife Helga. The scene is one of -varied colour, the blue, red, green, scarlet, and purple kirtles of the -freemen contrasting strongly with the white garments of the thralls who -serve the food. - -Huge joints of beef and pork are brought in from the kitchens, and there -are numerous calls for the former; for there has been little or no fresh -meat since the beginning of last November, and men’s stomachs have a way -of getting tired of salted pig, when they have fed on it for five months -without a break. Plates are of wood, fingers serve for forks, and each -man cuts off with his knife-dagger the amount of meat and of bread that -he feels himself capable of eating. Ale is served to the jarl and his -family in bullock’s horns adorned with gold and silver bands, to the -others in wooden drinking-cups. Half-way through the feast Helga leaves -her seat, fills a horn with wine, and offers it to Hrafn. As the Viking -drains it at a draught there is a great cheer, which takes a long time -to die down. - -So the meal goes on. There is little variety in the food, but there is -plenty of it, and that is the important thing where hungry men are -concerned. As they eat, all are talking. This karl is describing to -another how he has just been ‘had’ by a fellow at Weighton, who sold him -a thrall guaranteed sound in wind and limb. But the thrall cannot run -twice round Jarl Ulf’s hall without getting the stitch. His new master -is vehemently explaining that he intends to get his money back. - -Another is telling how he has seen a karl’s wife and her bondwoman take -the ordeal at Hundmansbyr. The bondwoman had accused her mistress of -wrong-doing, and the mistress had challenged her bondwoman to go to the -ordeal. - -So the priests had got ready a bucket of boiling water, at the bottom of -which were placed two sacred stones. In sight of all, the mistress had -plunged in her hand and brought up one of the stones. And her arm showed -no signs of a hurt. Then the bondwoman had attempted the same. But her -arm had been frightfully scalded. Thus the innocent had been -distinguished from the guilty, and the bondwoman had been taken to the -nearest ditch and drowned. - -Meanwhile Hrafn the Viking’s karls have been pouring into eager ears -tales of their adventures among the snow and ice of the seas far away to -the north. One has a walrus tooth to show, and others have the claws of -a huge white beast that can walk on its hind legs and can squeeze a -man’s body in its arms till every bone is broken. They have the skin of -one of these fearsome creatures on board down at the river-shore, -intended by their Viking chief as a present to his brother’s wife. A -fine bed it will make, but it cost the lives of three men to obtain. -Would their listeners hear wonders? There are plenty to tell. In the -seas from which they have returned they sailed for four days without a -night, while the sun went round and round in a great fiery ring. - -While this talk is going on, a shame-faced fellow is trying to slink in -unobserved at the men’s door. But he is greeted with cries of -‘Nithing!’[17] and receives a volley of beef bones that first bowls him -over and then makes him depart more hurriedly than he had come in. Some -of Hrafn’s men follow him, for he has been guilty of stealing from a -comrade on one of the ships. His head will be shaven to-morrow, then -dipped in tar and covered with eider down, so that he may remember for -the future that honourable karls do not steal the belongings of their -comrades. - -Footnote 17: - - This is the old Norse word for our ‘Villain!’ - -Tables are eventually cleared much more quickly than they were filled. -Places are now changed. The jarl and his brother play chess, others play -at dice. A wrestling-match is soon fixed up, in which the combatants are -strapped together at the waist and each will try to throw the other. - -Following this there is a tug-of-war across the fire. An ox-hide is -brought in and an end seized by each of two men standing on opposite -sides of the hearth stones. Each tries to pull the other into the fire. -But they are fairly equally matched, and for some time neither succeeds. -Then tempers rise. The shouts of the supporters of each urge them on, -and one succeeds in pulling the other on to the fire. As he has drunk -deeply of strong ale, he is not content with his victory, but throws the -ox-hide over his fallen opponent and then jumps upon him to mark his -defeat. When the defeated karl’s friends succeed in pulling him out of -the fire, he is, naturally, somewhat scorched. - -Now comes in a juggler. He can perform many tricks, and among them is -that of keeping three daggers in motion, so that one is always in his -hand and the two others in the air. Further, he offers to show his skill -on the following day by stepping from oar to oar on the outside of a -ship while it is being rowed. He will step thus from stem to stern and -back again, and moreover will keep his three daggers moving all the -time. The challenge is accepted and he shall have his choice of presents -from Hrafn if he can succeed in doing what he says he will. - -Challenges are in the air, it seems. Here is Bersi, one of Hrafn’s -karls, challenging Egil, a karl of Ulf, because he finds that while he -has been away from home Egil has married the maiden to whom he was -betrothed. And Bersi is not at all pleased with the course of events, so -he has challenged the other karl for his wife. To-morrow they will go to -the _holmgang_,[18] and fight it out; and if Egil is not the victor, he -will lose his wife and Bersi will gain one. - -Footnote 18: - - The _holmgang_ was a duel fought according to fixed rules on a piece - of ground specially marked out for the purpose. In earlier times it - was fought on a _holm_, or island, whence the name. - -The excitement caused by Bersi’s challenge is dying down when further -excitement arises from the entrance of a karl with news of a strange -sight to be seen in the sky. It had been a dark, cloudy night, but -suddenly the clouds broke up and there between two clouds appeared a -star with a long light streaming from it like a tail of fire. It is -there for all to see if they don’t believe him. - -So a rush is made for the men’s door and the hall is left deserted. -Outside there are groups of wondering men looking upwards at a bright -‘hairy star,’ and asking one another with bated breath what evil fortune -to their land this marvellous sight portends. - - - - - X. - TWO FAMOUS BATTLES OF LONG AGO. - - -In 901 died Alfred, King of the West Saxons, and Edward, his son, -succeeded him, to be succeeded in turn by his son Aethelstan in the year -925. King Alfred had, it will be remembered, agreed with Guthrum the -Dane to divide England into two parts, one of which each of them should -rule. - -But Alfred’s son Edward enlarged his power so greatly that he was in 924 -‘chosen to father and lord by the Scots King and all the Scots people, -by all the men of Northumbria—both English and Danes and Northmen—and by -the King of the Strathclyde Welsh.’ To Aethelstan was accorded still -greater honour, for it fell to his lot to be the first king crowned as -‘King of England.’ - -Now in the reign of Aethelstan there took place the greatest battle that -had yet been fought between the English and the Northmen. The compact of -Edward’s reign was short-lived; for in 937 the Danes of Northumbria -entered into a league with Constantine, King of the Scots, and Owen, -King of the Strathclyde Britons, against the King of England. Their -league was joined also by two Norse Kings from Ireland, named Anlaf, one -of whom had married the daughter of Constantine. To meet these -disturbers of the peace Aethelstan marched north, and at a place known -as BRUNANBURH the famous battle between them was fought. - -So great was the victory here won by King Aethelstan that the chronicler -who records it bursts into song when he tells how - - Aethelstan the King, the lord of Earls, - The bestower of gifts, and his brother also, - Edmund the Prince, life-long honour - Won in combat, with the edges of swords, - At Brunanburh. - - All day, from the rising of ‘God’s candle’ until its setting, went - on the fight; so that the battlefield streamed with blood, and many - a Northman lay on the ground struck down with spears. Weary and - sated with the fight fled the Scots, pursued by the West Saxons with - swords new-sharpened on the grindstone. To none of those who, doomed - to death, accompanied Anlaf over the sea did the Mercians refuse the - hard hand-play. On the battlefield there lay five young kings put to - sleep by the sword, with seven of Anlaf’s jarls and an uncounted - host of shipmen and of Scots. Then fled the Northmen to the shore of - the yellow flood; and so also fled Constantine, who had left behind - his son, borne down with many wounds. - - Thus departed in their nailed ships those of the Northmen whom the - spears had left alive, and the King and his brother sought again the - West Saxon land, exulting in victory. Behind them they left the - dusky-coated kite, the swart, horny-beaked raven, the white-tailed - eagle, and the grey wolf—all eager to feast upon the corpses of the - slain. - -Such is the picture of the battlefield painted in words by the Saxon -chronicler. And when we read it we wonder to ourselves: ‘Where was -Brunanburh, at which this great battle was fought?’ But the question is -one to which no certain answer can be given. The name ‘Brunanburh’ is -lost, and the nearest approach to it among the village names of to-day -is Bromborough, on the Cheshire shore of the Mersey. - -This may possibly be the site of the battle; but it is curious that two -writers of old chronicles, both living within two hundred years of the -actual date of the battle, agree in saying that the Norse fleet invaded -England by the Humber. So also said the Bridlington monk, Peter of -Langtoft, who certainly ought to know; and a Lincolnshire hermit, who -translated Peter’s Norman-French into English, is very definite about -it:— - - At Brunesburgh on Humber thei gan tham assaile, - Fro morn unto even lasted that bataile. - -If Brunanburh did lie ‘on Humber,’ on which side of the river was it? -Some claim that the battle took place at Kirkburn near Driffield, and -others put it at Little Weighton, nearer the river. - -But one thing is certain. King Aethelstan and his men must have marched -north by either the Watling Street or the Ermin Street. If the Norse -fleet did come into the Humber, he must have come north by the Ermin -Street, and his army could hardly have crossed the river under the -circumstances. However much, therefore, we should like to assert that -the greatest battle of olden times was fought in the East Riding of -Yorkshire, it would be wiser not to do so, but to let our somewhat -despised sister-county of Lincolnshire have the benefit of the doubt. - -A glance at the map given at the end of this book will show about four -miles from the Humber, on the road from Barton to Caistor, a village -named Burnham. At this village there are still to be seen the remains of -an ancient entrenchment enclosing a space of about 64 acres. One of the -half-dozen ancient spellings of the name of the manor of Burnham is -_Brunan_, and the suffix _burh_ means ‘a fortified place.’ - -Further, men’s bones, Saxon coins, and a Saxon sword have been ploughed -up on the adjoining fields; while just south of Burnham there was in the -eighteenth century a road known as ‘Bloody Gate’ and just north of it -there is still a ‘Dead Man Dale.’ So we shall have to concede that the -southern bank of the ‘yellow flood’ has some considerable claims to the -possession of the site of the famous battle of Brunanburh. - - * * * * * - -Let us pass on to the middle of the next century. For twenty-eight years -England had been ruled by Danish Kings, when, in 1042, the Saxons came -into their own again and the third Saxon Edward began to rule in London. - -But Danish jarls still ruled at JORVIK[19] and Jarl Siward, the eighth -of these, was the greatest of them all. In 1054 he took a large army and -a fleet into Scotland, where he fought against the Scots in -Aberdeenshire, and slew their king Macbeth. Siward’s son Osbern was also -slain in the battle, and when news of his son’s death was brought to the -old jarl, he rejoiced that his son had died a worthy death. In -Shakespeare’s play _Macbeth_ it is put thus. Ross, a Scots nobleman, has -just broken to Siward the news that his son ‘has paid a soldier’s -debt’:— - - _Siward._ Had he his hurts before? - - _Ross._ Ay, on the front. - - _Siward._ Why then, God’s soldier be he! - Had I as many sons as I have hairs, - I would not wish them to a fairer death. - -Footnote 19: - - Pronounced _Yór-wik_. - -One year later Siward’s own death took place, and these were his words -when he felt that he was fated to die not on the battlefield but in his -bed:— - - ‘I feel shame not to have fallen in one of the many battles that I - have fought, and to have been preserved to die like a cow. Close me - in my mail of proof, gird my sword on me, fit the helmet on my head, - and put a shield in my left hand and a gilded axe in my right, that - I may die like a soldier.’ - -So died the lord of the manors of Barmston and Holmpton, and the -greatest of the Anglo-Danes of Northumbria. After his death his earldom -was given by King Edward to Tostig, the son of Earl Godwin the West -Saxon; and if one-half of the stories told about him by the old -chroniclers are true, the Northumbrians must have felt the change -acutely. - -One of Tostig’s little jokes was played at his half-brother Harold’s -hall at Hereford. The two had quarrelled at Windsor in the presence of -King Edward, and Tostig, expelled from the Court in disgrace, had ridden -to Hereford, where he found his brother’s servants busily making ready -for a visit from the King. To vent his anger on his brother he killed -the servants—so the story goes—chopped up their bodies, threw the legs, -arms and trunks into hogsheads of wine and barrels of cider, and gaily -sent word to the King that ‘he had provided against his coming plenty of -salt meat.’ - -Small wonder that the proud Anglo-Danes of the north refused to submit -for long to such a one of the despised West Saxons. In 1064 they -rebelled against their unpopular jarl, outlawed him, slew his servants, -both English and Danes, seized all his weapons and his gold and silver -in Jorvik, and sent for Morcar, the son of Jarl Aelfgar, to be their -jarl. Tostig fled to Baldwin, Count of Flanders, vowing vengeance on his -half-brother Harold, who had advised the King to fall in with the wishes -of the Northumbrians. - -Two years passed away. Edward had died and Harold, Tostig’s -half-brother, had been chosen by the Witena-gemōt to be King of England. -Now was the time for Tostig to have his revenge. So he enlisted the aid -of another Harold—Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, a warrior huge of -stature and dauntless in courage, who had, when an exile from Norway, -won fame in Sicily, Greece and Africa, and who had formed at -Constantinople a bodyguard to the Emperor, consisting of five hundred -Northmen. Together they would conquer England, and Harold of Norway -should be its king, as Cnut, King of Denmark, had been before him. - -With a fleet of 240 warships Harold of Norway set out for the conquest -of England, his royal banner, the ‘Land-Waster’ proudly flying aloft. -But omens of misfortune to come were not wanting; for he and his men had -bad dreams at night—dreams of the English host marching down to the -sea-shore led by a wolf on whose back was seated a ‘witch-wife.’ -Moreover, the witch-wife fed the wolf with the corpses of Northmen; and -as fast as one was eaten, another was ready. - -To a superstitious people, such as the Northmen were, these omens must -have seemed to bode terrible ill-luck. But Harold had never yet turned -back from an expedition, and he did not mean to start turning back now. -So over the sea to the Shetlands and the Orkneys his fleet sailed, then -down the eastern coast of the mainland till they reached the mouth of -the Tyne. Here they were joined by Tostig, and soon afterwards the -‘Land-Waster’ was unfurled in the North Riding of Yorkshire. - -So far Harold of Norway had met with no resistance. But the fisherfolk -of Scarborough did withstand the attack made upon their little town; -whereupon, so the old Norse account of Harold’s invasion tells us— - - He went up on a high rock near the town, and set fire to a large - pile which he made. They took large poles and lifted it up and threw - it down into the town; soon one house after the other began to burn, - and the whole town was destroyed. The Northmen slew many people, and - took all the property they could get. - -Then southward along the coast the fleet sailed, until they reached a -place called by the Northmen _Hellornes_, which was probably our -Hornsea. Here a pitched battle was fought; but the men of the East -Riding were no match for the invaders, and Harold and his Northmen got -the victory. - -Next the mouth of the Humber was reached. Sailing up this and up the -Ouse they cast anchor at Riccall. Here one-third of the Norwegian host -was left to guard the ships while the remainder set out on a march to -Jorvik. - -[Illustration: - - BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE - SEPᵀ. 25ᵀᴴ 1066. -] - -But at Fulford, two miles from the city, they were met by the forces of -Morcar and his brother, Edwin of Mercia. The ensuing battle was fought -on a strip of land lying between the river Ouse and a ditch which was -‘deep, broad, and full of water.’ As at _Hellornes_, victory lay with -the North men; and so great was the slaughter of the Northumbrian and -the Mercians that the Northmen walked across the ditch ‘with dry feet on -human bodies.’ Four days later—September 24th—Jorvik surrendered, and -the Northmen moved their forces along the Roman road leading to the -Derwent, and took up their quarters at STANFORDBRYCG. - -Meanwhile news of the invasion had reached Harold of England. Gathering -together what forces he could muster, Harold hurried north. Up the Ermin -Street, and round by Doncaster, Castleford and Tadcaster, he marched. On -the day on which York surrendered he was at Tadcaster; the next day he -had passed through York and had surprised the Northmen at Stamford -Bridge. - - * * * * * - -The battle that took place between the two Harolds was preceded by -negotiations. To his half-brother, Tostig, Harold of England sent envoys -offering peace:— - - ‘Harold thy brother sends thee greeting, and the message that thou - shalt have peace and get Northumberland; and rather than that thou - shouldst not join him he will give thee one-third of all his realm.’ - - ‘Then something else is offered than the enmity and disgrace of last - winter,’ answered Tostig. ‘If this had been offered then, many who - are now dead would be alive, and the realm of the King of England - would stand more firm. Now if I accept these terms, what will my - brother Harold offer to the King of Norway for his trouble?’ - - ‘He has said what he will grant King Harold of Norway. It is a space - of seven feet, and it is so long because he is taller than most - other men.’ - -Tostig’s reply to his half-brother’s terms was a noble one: - - ‘Go and tell my brother, King Harold, to prepare for battle. It - shall not be said among Northmen that Jarl Tostig left Harold, King - of Norway, and went into the host of his foes when he made warfare - in England. Rather will we all resolve to die with honour, or win - England with a victory.’ - -After the failure of these negotiations, both sides made ready for -battle. And then happened another omen boding ill-luck for the Northmen; -for their King, who was riding a black horse with a white mark on its -forehead, was thrown to the ground by the stumbling of his horse. - -In Roman times the passage across the Derwent at the spot where the -battle took place had been made by a stone-paved ford; but this had, in -later times, been replaced by a wooden bridge, whence the name it then -bore—‘Stone-ford-bridge.’ - -At the outbreak of hostilities some of the Northmen were on the right -bank of the river, and were gradually forced back over the bridge by -Harold of England’s men. The last of them to cross was a second -Horatius, for he kept the bridge against the whole English army. -Wielding his huge battle-axe, he had slain no fewer than forty of his -enemies before he was himself slain by a soldier in Harold’s army, who -floated down the river in a tub and stabbed him with his spear through -one of the spaces between the wooden planks of the bridge. - -The old Norse account of the battle reads very much like the accounts of -the battle of Hastings, which was so shortly to follow. Harold of Norway -ordered his men to take up their positions with shield against shield on -all sides. The outer rank were to press the spikes of their spears into -the ground and to point the heads against the breasts of the attacking -horsemen; the next rank were to point their spear heads against the -breasts of the horses. If all of them stood firm and took care not to -break away, Harold of England’s onset might be completely checked. - -But what the English would be unable to do in the battle to come, the -Northmen were unable to do at Stamford Bridge. They broke their lines in -pursuit of the English, and the battle was lost. Harold Hardrada rushed -hither and thither dealing such blows with his battle-axe that ‘neither -helmet nor coat of mail could withstand him; he went through the ranks -of his foes as if he were walking through air, for all who came near him -fell back.’ But to no purpose, and an arrow which struck him in the -throat brought him his death-wound. Soon afterwards fell Jarl Tostig, -and though the Northmen who had been left in charge of the fleet at -Riccall hurried to the battle, they were not able to prevent the -‘Land-Waster’ from falling into the hands of Harold of England. - -When darkness had set in, the victorious army was on its way back to -York. Thither came Olaf, the son of Harold Hardrada, and the Jarls of -Orkney to swear peace and give hostages. And thither also came at full -speed a messenger who brought news that William of Normandy had landed -with his army on the southern coast of Harold’s kingdom. - - - - - XI. - HOW THE NORMANS CAME TO - YORKSHIRE. - - -The tale of the Northmen’s invasions of England could be matched by the -tale of their invasions of the northern coasts of France. Early in the -tenth century a Viking known among his people as Rolf the Ganger[20] -made a descent upon Rouen and entered into a treaty with Charles the -Simple, King of Paris, by which a large tract of land around Rouen was -ceded to him and his followers, in return for their aid against Charles’ -enemies. - -Footnote 20: - - To ‘gang’ meant to walk, and Rolf the Ganger was given this nickname - because, being extra tall, he found it more comfortable to walk when - on land than to ride one of the small ponies of his native country. - -Such was the beginning of the province of Northern France known in later -history as Normandy. After forty years of sea-roving Rolf settled down -to rule his new and fertile dukedom; and as with the Northmen in -England, so with him and his men in France. The Northmen married wives -of their new country, and their children grew up to speak the mother’s -tongue rather than the father’s. Thus the descendants of heathen -Northmen became Christian Frenchmen. - -To Rolf the Ganger’s dukedom there succeeded in turn William Longsword, -Richard the Fearless, Richard the Good, Robert the Devil, and William, -whom his enemies called William the Bastard—‘the Tanner’s Grandson’—but -who was destined to become famous as William the Conqueror of England. - -How Harold of England, after hearing of William’s landing on the coast -of Sussex, marched southward to his death at Hastings, and how William -of Normandy was crowned King in his stead at Westminster on Christmas -Day in the same year, does not concern us here. But what we are -concerned with is the course of events that led to William’s coming -north to the city of York. - - * * * * * - -The events of the last three months of the fateful year 1066 by no means -proved that England was a conquered country. True, the Witena-gemōt had -accepted William as their king; but that was only because there was no -one else fit to lead the Saxon forces, and because Anglo-Danes and -Saxons mistrusted each other. Edwin of Mercia and his brother Morcar -submitted to William and were allowed to retain their earldoms. Oswulf, -who now ruled Northumbria, did not submit, so William appointed a -certain Copsige[21] to supplant him. Copsige came north to dispossess -Oswulf, and was immediately slain. - -Footnote 21: - - Pronounced _Kóp-si-ga_. - -In 1067, during William’s absence in Normandy, rebellions broke out in -the south and west of England; and when the King returned, he began the -conquest of the western portions of the country. Exeter submitted after -a siege lasting eighteen days, but no sooner had the western rebellion -been subdued than Mercia and Northumbria were in revolt. - -Next year the King marched north and reached York, the inhabitants of -which rather unexpectedly surrendered their city; and on William’s -departure he left William de Malet, one of his Norman knights, in charge -of it. But after a few months the men of York again rose in revolt and -Malet was hard pressed, although he succeeded in holding out till -relieved by the King. - -All over England these rebellions were going on. But none was more than -partly successful; and for the reason that ‘Englishmen could not agree -to act together. One district rose at one time and one at another. Some -were for Sweyn, some for Edgar, some for the sons of Harold; Edwin and -Morcar were for themselves. So there was no common action against -William, and the land was lost bit by bit.’ - -In the autumn of 1069 it seemed as if there really was to be made in the -North of England a united effort to throw off the yoke of the Frenchmen. -Sweyn Ulfsson, King of Denmark, sent a large fleet of ships into the -Humber under the command of Jarl Asbiorn, his brother. Outside the walls -of York the Danish shipmen were joined by Edgar the Aetheling, by -Gospatric, the dispossessed successor of Oswulf, and by Jarl Waltheof, -Siward’s son. - -Then began a second siege of York. The French garrison, under William de -Malet and Gilbert of Gaunt, retreated to the two wooden castles which -William had caused to be erected, and set fire to the portions of the -city surrounding these in order to give themselves greater security. For -two days the flames raged, destroying many houses and the Minster of St. -Peter. Meanwhile the allies entered the city. Then the Normans attempted -a sally from their castles, but unsuccessfully. Their forces were cut to -pieces, and William de Malet and Gilbert of Gaunt were taken prisoners. - -So far all had gone well with the armies of Jarl Asbiorn and Jarl -Waltheof, and had they only held the city when taken and awaited the -arrival of King William, they would have had every chance of repeating -their success. But a fatal dissension once more broke out, and Asbiorn’s -men went back to their ships and sailed first to North Lincolnshire and -then to Holderness, while Waltheof withdrew his men to the marshes -between the Trent and the Ouse. - -For the third time King William marched north to York; and this time he -determined on vengeance. ‘Par splendeur Dex,’ he swore that he would -utterly root out the Northumbrian people; and in fulfilment of his oath -he carried out that ‘Wasting of the North’ which changed the fertile -Plain of York into a desolate waste. For sixty miles north of York every -town and village was sacked and burnt, every inhabitant slain or driven -out, all farming-stock and farming-implements destroyed, and nothing -spared save only what belonged to St. John of Beverley. Then, having -wreaked his revenge, William caused himself to be re-crowned at York, -and there he kept his Christmas feast. - - * * * * * - -The system followed out by William the Conqueror after his subjugation -of a district was everywhere the same. Lands were taken from their -English owners and given to the King’s Norman followers, while strong -castles were built to afford protection to the Norman lords. - -Thus Drogo de Bevrere, a Flemish knight who had married the King’s -niece, was rewarded for his services with the _Isle of Holderness_, and -built himself a castle at Skipsea, where the earthworks of a long-dead -chieftain were still standing. No remains of Drogo’s castle now exist, -nor have we in the East Riding the remains of any Norman castle such as -those existing at Knaresborough, Helmsley, Pontefract, Scarborough, -York, and elsewhere in the other Ridings of Yorkshire. - -With this parcelling out of the land among William’s Norman followers -there became fixed two principles on which the whole ‘Feudal System’ was -based:— - - (1) All land belonged to the King by virtue of his conquest of the - country; - - (2) All land was held in return for services rendered. - -Under the Feudal System the King would make a large grant of land to one -of his followers, who thus became a _tenant-in-chief_ of the King. This -tenant-in-chief would sub-divide his land among his particular -followers, each of whom might sub-divide his portion. Thus Drogo de -Bevrere was a tenant-in-chief, and one of his tenants was a certain -Lanbert, who held lands at Sutton ‘two miles long and a half a mile -broad.’ Drogo, Earl of Holderness, was a vassal of the King; Lanbert, a -vassal of Drogo. - -For these lands no regular rent was paid. Instead, there was the -obligation of military service, each holder of land being bound to serve -the King in war for forty days every year as his services were required. -This service had to be performed at the vassal’s own cost, and with -proper equipment. By this means the King could always be assured of an -army equipped at short notice, and at no cost to himself. - -In addition to this military service there were money payments to be -made at certain irregular intervals. An _aid_ was due from a vassal to -his overlord on each of three occasions:— - - (1) The knighting of the lord’s eldest son; (2) The marrying of - his eldest daughter; (3) The ransoming of his own person. - -Of these occasions the first and second would, as a rule, occur only -once in a vassal’s life-time, while the third might not occur at all. -For all tenants-in-chief it did occur when King Richard I. had to be -ransomed from his enemy, the Emperor Henry VI., into whose hands he had -happened to fall. The monks of the Abbey of Meaux, being -tenants-in-chief, then found themselves called upon to pay, as their -share of the total ransom of 150,000 marks, the sum of 300 marks; to -raise which they were compelled to sell their stock of wool and their -church plate. - -On the death of a vassal and the succession of his heir, another money -payment became due to the vassal’s overlord. This was known as a -_relief_. Again, if on a vassal’s death his heir or heiress had not yet -come of age, his estate passed for the time being into the hands of the -overlord, who managed it and took the profits. This right was known as -_wardship_, and it might be rather dangerous for the ward. - -Thus, in the early years of the thirteenth century, Thomas, the parson -of Routh, held certain lands under William de Stuteville, the lord of -the manor. Thomas died, and the lord of the manor claimed wardship over -his young daughter Agnes. But before Agnes had come of age, William de -Stuteville died also, and the wardship passed into the hands of his -widow Cecilia. Unfortunately for Agnes her new guardian was not -overburdened with principles of honour; for, having two daughters of her -own—who were, we may suppose, not sufficiently good-looking to find -husbands readily—she offered with them as dowry the lands of Agnes. Thus -two lucky bridegrooms, Stephen of Pokthorpe and Henry of Hutton, were -enriched by Dame Cecilia, each with one-half of the lands of Agnes, the -parson’s daughter. And poor Agnes never succeeded in getting her lands -back, though she tried her best. - - * * * * * - -The various money payments due to a vassal’s overlord depended as to -their amount on the value of the estate held. Therefore, in order that -the King should know exactly what sums were due to him from his -tenants-in-chief, he caused a great survey of England to be made. The -vastness of the undertaking may be gauged by the fact that each estate -in all the counties of England except Northumberland, Cumberland, -Westmorland, Durham, and Monmouth—which last was then reckoned as a -Welsh county—was to be reported on by the King’s officers, who were -instructed to make enquiries as to its value and to record the result of -their enquiries. - -These officers were to set down the area of each estate, great or small, -the area of that part of it which was ploughed land, the area of that -part which was grass land, the name of its holder, the name of its -holder in the last year of the reign of King Edward the Confessor, the -amount of stock and of farming-implements on it, the number and -condition of the people living on it, its annual value in the time of -King Edward, and its annual value at the time of the investigation—the -last two items being the most important of all. - -In this manner was constructed what is known as THE DOMESDAY BOOK—the -book by which a judgment could be made as to the amount of the money -payments due to the King from each of his tenants-in-chief. The work was -planned at the Witena-gemōt held at Christmas 1085, and was carried out -during the following year. - - * * * * * - -The Domesday Book is one of the most valuable historical records -possessed by the nation, and much information as to the England of 1086 -has been gleaned from its parchment leaves. The entries in it are of -course in Latin, and the following translation of the portion dealing -with the manor of Patrington will serve as an example of the facts -recorded in it. - - LANDS IN HOLDERNESS. - - LAND OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. - - In _Patrictone_ with the four berewicks _Wistede_, _Halsam_, _Torp_, - _Toruelestorp_, there are thirty-five carucates and a half, and two - oxgangs and two parts of an oxgang to be taxed. There is land to - thirty-five ploughs. - - This manor was, and is, belonging to the Archbishop of York. - - There are now in the demesne two ploughs and eight villeins and - sixty-three bordars, having thirteen ploughs. There are six sokemen - with two villeins and twenty bordars, having five ploughs and a - half. There are thirty-two acres of meadow there. Two knights have - six carucates of the land of this manor; and two clerks two - carucates and three oxgangs, and the third part of an oxgang. They - have there four sokemen and five villeins, and three bordars with - five ploughs. - - In the time of King Edward the value was thirty pounds, at present - ten pounds and five shillings. - - Arable land three miles long and one mile and a half broad. - -All this reads very strangely to us living in the twentieth century. Put -into present-day language it would read something like the following:— - -The manor of Patrington, with the neighbouring hamlets of Winestead, -Halsham, [Welwick] Thorp, and Tharlesthorp,[22] measures 4300 acres,[23] -and its thorough cultivation would provide work for thirty-five teams of -oxen, reckoning eight oxen to each team. - -Footnote 22: - - Tharlesthorp is one of the ‘lost towns of the Humber.’ Its probable - site is marked on the map on the opposite page. - -Footnote 23: - - A ‘carucate’ was the amount of land that a team of eight oxen could - plough each year. It varied in size according to the nature of the - soil, but may be roughly taken as being equal to 120 acres. An oxgang - was one-eighth of this. - -It belonged to the Archbishop of York in the reign of King Edward the -Confessor, and is still held by him. - -Attached to the lands of the manor-house there are eight serfs who have -among them sixteen oxen, and sixty-three cottagers, who own 104 oxen. -There are also six small farmers who have under them two serfs and -twenty cottagers, and work forty-four oxen. Parts of the manor lands are -held by two knights and two parsons. The former are tenants of 720 -acres, the latter of 290 acres. On their lands there are four small -farmers, three cottagers and five serfs, possessing among them forty -oxen. - -[Illustration: - - HOLDERNESS IN THE DOMESDAY BOOK -] - -The land on which wheat, barley and oats are grown measures three miles -by one and a half miles, and there are thirty-two acres of meadow land. - -In King Edward’s time the annual value of the manor was £600, but is now -only £205.[24] - -Footnote 24: - - The value of money was in 1086 approximately twenty times its value at - the present day. The Domesday ‘pound’ meant, not a coin, but a pound - weight of silver. - -The value of the manor of Patrington was, in 1086, only just over -one-third of its value twenty-five years earlier. This is one example of -the results of the ‘Wasting of the North.’ Others are to be found in the -records given of the manors of Burstwick and Kilnsea, each of which had -been worth fifty-six pounds, but was then worth only ten pounds. The -manors of Withernsea and Hornsea had similarly decreased in value from -fifty-six pounds to six pounds. All these belonged in 1086 to Drogo de -Bevrere, Lord of Holderness. The manor of Beeford had experienced a -still greater decrease in value; for it had sunk from twenty pounds to -ten shillings. Others again, such as estates at Barmston, Drypool, -Routh, and Sigglesthorne are recorded by the ominous word ‘waste.’ Such -entries tell a very sure tale of the effects of King William’s -vengeance. - -On the map on page 93 are shown most of the manors and a few of the -hamlets recorded in that part of the Domesday Book which deals with the -Holderness division of Yorkshire. In many cases the spelling is very -quaint; but most of the names are recognisable if we remember that U and -V are different forms of the same letter, and that our letter W was then -what, according to its name, it ought still to be. We must remember also -that the men who took down the records were Frenchmen, who found it -difficult in many cases to pronounce the names they heard the English -witnesses use, and who had to spell these names as best they could -according to their sound. - - * * * * * - -For more than nine hundred years the Domesday Survey remained the only -survey made of English lands as a whole, and not till 1910 was an -attempt made to compile the second Domesday Book. In that year -commissioners started on the same task as was performed by the King’s -officers in the year 1086; and the task has been undertaken for the same -purpose—to enable the King’s taxes to be gathered in correctly. - - - - - XII. - HOW OUR ANCIENT PARISH CHURCHES - WERE BUILT. - - -In these days of bicycles most of us have experienced the pleasure of -seeing, over the tree-tops in the distance, the spire or the -square-capped tower of one of our village churches. For us on that -occasion, perhaps, it marked the goal of a long journey, and we -therefore hailed it gladly. Then probably we thought no more about it. - -Yet that village church was worth a few minutes of our thoughts. To one -who knows how to see it was worth walking round, and worth also looking -into. For it had a tale to tell—a tale that stretches back into the -centuries long past, a tale of the joys and sorrows of the people whose -places we now fill, a tale which ought to make us realise that we of the -twentieth century are not the only clever people who have lived in the -East Riding of Yorkshire. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - A Norman Font in Kirkburn Church. - -] - -Let us learn how to read the tale aright. In the first place we must -know the names of the different parts of a church. If it is small, it -will be simply a rectangular building, running east and west, and -divided by an open arch or by a woodwork screen into two parts, a _nave_ -and a _chancel_. The former is, on service days, occupied by the -congregation of worshippers, the latter by the clergy and the choir. At -the east end of the chancel is the _altar_ or _communion-table_, at the -east end of the nave are the _lectern_ and _pulpit_, at the west end of -the nave is the _font_. - -If the church boasts a _tower_, this will be at the west end, where also -will probably be the main entrance door. This may, however, be on the -south of the nave near the west end. On the south of the chancel may be -another smaller door, once the _priests’ door_; and by it in the wall -may be the _sedilia_, or priests’ seats, three in number. Close to these -may be the _piscina_, or drain, at which the holy vessels were once -washed; and in the wall on the opposite side may be the _aumbry_, or -cupboard, in which the holy vessels once stood. - -But such small churches are not common. Generally the nave has along -each side what is called an _aisle_, in which case its central roof is -supported on a double row of pillars. Possibly the chancel also has -aisles. The walls above the lines of pillars may be pierced with -windows, which thus look out above the roofs of the aisles. These -windows are known as _clerestory_ windows. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C. W. Mason_ - - A Piscina in Patrington Church - -] - -In cathedrals and very large churches there is a story which runs along -each side of the nave and chancel, between the capitals of the pillars -and the clerestory. This is called the _triforium_. Beverley Minster has -a triforium, but there is no passage round it, and it is really a blind -story. A portion of it can be seen in the photograph of the Percy Tomb -on page 230. Bridlington Priory Church has a triforium on the north side -only. - -In churches of large size the building is not simply a rectangular one -with or without aisles, but is formed of two rectangular buildings -crossing each other at right angles. The nave and chancel have added to -them a _north transept_ and a _south transept_, and above the -crossing-place rises a _central tower_ on four huge _piers_. - -These transepts, as well as the nave and chancel, may have aisles. But -this is customary only in cathedrals. Holy Trinity Church, Hull, the -third largest church in Britain,[25] has aisles only to the nave and -chancel; Patrington Church—the ‘Queen of Holderness’—has aisles to the -nave and to each transept; and Hedon Church—the ‘King of Holderness’—now -has aisles only to its nave, though its transepts formerly had an aisle -on the east. - -Footnote 25: - - The following are the _internal areas_ of the three largest churches - in Britain:— - - St. Nicholas’, Great Yarmouth 25,023 sq. ft. - St. Michael’s, Coventry 24,015 " - Holy Trinity, Hull 21,756 " - - * * * * * - -Many were the difficulties that the builders of our ancient churches had -to overcome. In the East Riding one difficulty was the obtaining of -suitable building-material. Stone blocks were costly, for these had to -be brought by water from the quarries of the West Riding. So usually the -builders had to make the best use they could of the materials they -obtained locally—boulders from the cliffs of the sea-shore, blocks of -chalk from the Wolds, or clay bricks from the low-lying bank of the -Humber.[26] - -Footnote 26: - - The brickwork of the chancel and transepts of Holy Trinity, Hull, is - probably the ‘earliest existing example of mediæval brickwork in - England.’ These portions of the church were built during the first - quarter of the fourteenth century. - -Another difficulty was sometimes encountered in obtaining suitable -foundations. The clay soil on which the church of Holy Trinity, Hull, is -built was not of sufficient depth to afford foundations for the heavy -central tower which it was intended to build. - -Twentieth-century builders would drive piles down into the clay to make -a firm foundation; the fourteenth-century builders solved the problem by -constructing four huge rafts of trimmed oak trunks, each consisting of -two rows of trunks crossing at right angles. On these rafts they raised -the piers for their tower; and when, in 1906, it became necessary to -take out the tree-trunks and replace them with steel girders and cement, -many of the trunks were found to be as sound as on the day that they -were placed in position six hundred years ago. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_J. Ball_ - - Part of the Foundations of the Tower of Holy Trinity Church, Hull. - -] - -The greatest charm of our ancient churches lies in the fact that, except -in a very few instances, a church is not built in the same style -throughout. It is quite evident, if we have a seeing eye, that additions -and alterations have been made at different times. The nave and the -chancel were plainly not designed by the same architect; the north side -of the church differs from the south; here has been added a new door, -there a new window; the roof has been taken off, the worn ends of the -rafters sawn away, and the rafters used again, so that the roof has to -be of less slope than it was before. - -[Illustration: FILEY CHURCH, SHOWING THE LINES OF THE ORIGINAL ROOF.] - -All these are the signs of life and growth. If we wish, we can read by -them how our forefathers prospered in their worldly business, and how -they gave thanks to God for their prosperity; or how the coming of the -Plague brought them poverty and distress, and perhaps put a stop to -their building operations, which were not completed till many years -afterwards, and then in a style quite different from that in which they -had been begun. - -Often these alterations and rebuildings were put on record, and some of -the records remain to our day. Thus John Skinner, of Westgate, Hedon, by -his will made in 1428, left the sum of forty shillings towards the -building of the new tower of St. Augustine’s Church. On the south face -of the tower of Aughton Church is an inscription which is now illegible, -but which once told in the Anglo-French language that Christopher Aske, -the second son of Sir Robert Aske, rebuilt the tower in 1536. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - The ‘Beverley Imp’—St. Mary’s Church, Beverley. - -] - -Cut into the stone of the same tower is in two places the likeness of an -_aske_ or newt, a punning allusion to the name of the builder. In the -same way, the tower of Hemingbrough Church is ornamented with a row of -‘dolly-tubs’ or ‘weshing-tuns’—an allusion to the name of Prior -Wessington, in whose period of rule the tower was rebuilt. - -Most interesting of all such records are the inscriptions on the pillars -of the north side of the nave in St. Mary’s, Beverley. They show that -when the tower fell in 1520 and destroyed that side of the nave, the -destruction was repaired by a combined effort on the part of the -parishioners. A family named Crosslay provided the wherewithal for -rebuilding the half pillar at the west end, and the two pillars next to -it towards the east; the ‘good wives’ of the parish rebuilt the next two -pillars; and, as will be shown later, the remaining pillar was rebuilt -by the Gild of Minstrels.[27] - -Footnote 27: - - See page 185. - -Hence the inscriptions which we may read to-day high up on the pillars:— - - XLAY AND HIS WYF TO PYLLORS - FE MADE THES AND A HALFFE - - THYS TO PYLLO WYFFYS GOD - RS MADE GVD REWARD THAYM - -But though no written or inscribed record may exist, it is yet possible -to tell approximately the date at which either a church was built, or -some particular portion of it was rebuilt. This is so because men built -in different styles at different times—the fashionable mode of building -changed as the centuries went on. Let us see how we can recognise these -styles. - - * * * * * - -When the Normans came to England, they brought with them great zeal for -church-building, and many churches built by them remain to our day on -the Wolds of the East Riding. - -The NORMAN style of building was one of round-headed arches and of -narrow round-headed windows with the sides widely splayed, so that the -window-opening inside is very much larger than the narrow slit which -appears on the outside of the wall. The walls were very thick, the -masonry was rough, the joints between the stones were very clumsy, and -the buttresses, if used at all, did not project more than a few inches -from the walls. The early Norman churches had very plain chancel or -tower arches, such as we see at Speeton, Reighton, and Rudston; but -those built later had arches magnificently carved with zigzags or -_chevrons_, and with animal forms. Good examples of these may be seen at -North Newbald, Kirkburn, Nunburnholme, Etton, and Garton-on-the-Wolds. - -[Illustration: DIFFERENT FORMS OF ARCHES.] - -The Norman style of building lasted from 1066 to 1190. Then came a -change. Instead of using a semi-circular or one-centred arch, architects -found out the advantages of a two-centred arch. They also made the -discovery that the walls need not be so thick, if the thickness of the -buttresses was increased. Thus came about what we call the EARLY ENGLISH -or LANCET style of building, which was fashionable for the ninety years -from 1190 to 1280. Beautiful examples of this style can be seen in the -churches of Filey, Hedon, Middleton-on-the-Wolds, and Kirk Ella. - -Again came a change, a growth of ideas. Men grew tired of the simple -form of _Lancet_ window, which we to-day consider so beautiful because -of its simplicity. First they experimented by piercing an ornamental -hole through the stonework above a group of lancets. This gave what we -call _Plate Tracery_, examples of which are not numerous in our Riding. - -Then a further experiment was made. Instead of building the head of a -group of lancets in solid stone, some architect-builder hit upon the -idea of making a pattern of shaped bars of stone, and of filling in the -pattern with glass cut to fit the spaces. This at once proved popular, -and an entirely new fashion in window designs set in. - -At first the patterns made in stone were simple _Geometrical_ ones, such -as those in the chancel windows at Rudston. But gradually, as one set of -builders vied with another in building the most beautiful church, the -patterns became more complicated and _Curvilinear_ in form. These last -two styles together made up what is usually known as the DECORATED style -of building, and were in fashion from 1280 to 1380. - -[Illustration: - - ‘NORMAN’ AND ‘EARLY ENGLISH’ SOUTH DOORS. - - STILLINGFLEET. HESSLE. -] - -Lastly came another great change, due to the discovery of methods for -producing stained glass. The windows of Norman churches had been very -small, and the interiors of the churches had been very dark. How dark -they were may be judged from the present interior of the church of -Garton-on-the-Wolds when the doors are both shut. Very early the -worshippers experienced a desire for more light, and at Garton they -solved the problem by knocking down some of the wall and inserting a -much larger _Decorated_ window. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C. W. Mason_ - - Part of the South Wall of the Church at Garton-on-the-Wolds. - -] - -But when stained glass became reasonably cheap, there were few -church-people who could endure the thought that some neighbouring church -had stained-glass windows when their church had none. So there began a -competition among them as to who should be able to show the greatest -area of stained glass in their church windows. Walls were therefore -pulled down, and windows enlarged, or perhaps a nave or chancel was -entirely rebuilt, for the reception of this glass; until where there had -once been a stone wall with a few narrow slits in it, there was now a -series of wide expanses of glass separated with narrow strips of wall. - -For convenience also, the bars of stone which formed the window tracery -were made straight instead of curved. This is the style which we call -the _Perpendicular_ style, and it grew in popular favour from 1380 until -1547, when the Reformation put an end to further growth. - - * * * * * - -All the three styles, _Early English_, _Decorated_, and _Perpendicular_, -make up what is known as GOTHIC architecture. The name is unfortunately -a meaningless one; for it does not in any way refer to the architecture -of the Goths, as the name NORMAN does to the architecture of the -Normans. - -The great difference between the two styles is that whereas the roof of -a _Norman_ building was supported by the walls, the roof of a _Gothic_ -building was supported not by the walls, but by the buttresses, some of -which might be constructed in the form of bridges. Such buttresses are -known as _flying buttresses_. - -It would be almost true to say that we might knock down every inch of -wall in Beverley Minster or Patrington Church and yet leave standing the -framework and roof of the buildings, with the western towers of the one -and the central spire of the other. Such buildings are perfect in -design, and their perfectness is due to the knowledge and skill which -were possessed by their architect-builders. - -Gothic architecture grew like a plant, and reached its full development -in the _Perpendicular_ style, when the enthusiasm for church-building -was at its height. Most of our village churches show signs of having -been in part rebuilt during the period when the _Perpendicular_ style -flourished, and one of its most marked features is a lofty central or -western tower, such as we see at Hedon, Howden, and Driffield. - -For a long time after the Reformation there was no fresh -church-building, and little church-repair. What little attention our -ancient parish churches had at the repairers’ hands was often of the -kind that is called ‘churchwarden’ restoration, an example of which we -see in the accompanying photograph of a portion of Welwick Church. Now, -happily, such is a thing of the past, and our church restorers aim at a -restoration which is true to its name. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - ‘Churchwarden’ Restoration at Welwick Church. - -] - -It is unusual to find an ancient parish church built in one style -throughout. But Filey Church is almost entirely on the border-line -between _Norman_ and _Early English_; Patrington Church is almost -entirely _Decorated_; and Skirlaugh Church, which was built by Walter -Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, about 1403, is entirely _Perpendicular_. - -Modern churches are, on the other hand, usually in one style throughout. -The churches of Kilnwick Percy, East Heslerton, and Sledmere will serve -as good examples of modern _Norman_, modern _Early English_, and modern -_Decorated_ styles. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - A Grotesque ‘Poppy-Head’ at Holy Trinity, Hull. - -] - -In and about many of our ancient parish churches are preserved features -which remind us of the customs and beliefs of long-past days. At -Easington we may see the ancient tithe barn, in which was stored the -parson’s tithe of corn when tithes were paid not in money but in kind. -At Barmby-on-the-Marsh, North Frodingham and Swine are preserved the -church chests in which the parish records were kept. Holy Trinity, Hull, -has only recently parted with the library of which its parishioners -enjoyed the use long before the days of ‘Free Libraries.’ - -In the churches at Barmston, Burstwick, Goodmanham and Thwing may be -seen the _squint_, or hole cut through a pier of the tower so that the -people worshipping in the transept might see the ‘elevation of the host’ -before the high altar. At Millington, Nunburnholme and Sancton there -remain the _low-side_ or _lepers’ windows_, so built that the poor -unfortunates outside the walls of the church might not be deprived of -the sight of the same. - -[Illustration: BRASS OF THOMAS TONGE, RECTOR OF BEEFORD. A.D. 1472.] - -Just within the south door of the church at Great Givendale stands the -_stoup_ or holy-water vessel, from which all worshippers were once -sprinkled; and across the chancel arches at Flamborough and Winestead -stand the ancient _rood screens_. At Kirkburn we may see a modern -replica of an ancient rood screen in all the glory of brilliant colours; -and the interior surface of the walls and roof of the church at -Garton-on-the-Wolds reproduces the ancient custom of painting in colours -every square inch of available space within a church. - -In several churches there are grotesque carvings in wood and -stone—gargoyles, corbels, poppy-heads, and misericords—carvings so -grotesque and irreligious that we can only wonder at the feelings which -prompted their construction. - -Brasses and altar tombs show us plainly how the lords and ladies were -dressed in former days, and an occasional brass of a parish priest -serves to point out the differences between the parish priest of the -fifteenth century and his successor, the ‘parson’ of to-day. - - - - - XIII. - THE BIRTH OF HULL - AND - THE ROMANCE OF THE DE LA POLES. - - -[Illustration: ARMS OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL.] - -To say exactly the date of birth of the city which to-day the -inhabitants proudly call ‘The Third Port’ is one of the things that are -beyond man’s power. It used to be thought that Hull was founded by King -Edward I., but we know now that this was wrong; for there are in -existence old title deeds which show that the city goes back in point of -time more than one hundred years before ‘Edward of the Long Shanks’ -became King of England. - -On the other hand, we are certain that there was no town of Hull in the -time of William the Conqueror. Had there been, we should find mention of -it in the Domesday Book. Hessle is mentioned in this, and so is Ferriby. -But, though we find in the Domesday Book no mention of Hull, we do find -mention of Myton, a hamlet belonging to the Manor of North Ferriby, and -recorded at the time of the survey as ‘waste.’ - -Later on we find this hamlet grown into a manor, and meanwhile there was -growing up alongside it another small settlement to which became -attached the names _Wyke_, _Wyke-upon-Hull_, and _Hull_. Its position -was the angle formed where the small river Hull empties itself into the -mighty Humber, and its first inhabitants would doubtless be fishers and -other sea-faring men, who found the place convenient for beaching their -boats. Whether they were Angles or Danes we cannot definitely tell, for -its name, _Wyke_, might have been given by either of these peoples. - -The first mention of Wyke is in a grant of land made in the year 1160, -and after this date its growth must have been rapid. Less than forty -years later it was one of the ports to which was given the privilege of -exporting wool; and in 1203 the taxes collected on wool and other -exported goods at Hull amounted to no less than £344, while those -collected in London amounted to only £836. - -[Illustration: SILVER PENNY COINED AT HULL IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD I.] - -The export trade in wool grew by leaps and bounds during the thirteenth -century, and Hull was the port in the north of England that derived most -benefit from this growth. At the close of the century there were ‘some -sixty houses in the town, mostly built of clay and timber, and -one-storied, with perhaps a chamber or two in the thatched roof; a gaol; -a court-house; a church[28] ...; a monastery of White Friars; with some -seven acres of land set apart for markets and fairs, and lying around -and about where the Market-place now runs.’ - -Footnote 28: - - This was a chapel, dedicated to the ‘Holy Trinitie,’ which James - Helward, a townsman, founded in 1285. It stood where the chancel of - Holy Trinity church now stands, and was pulled down when the present - transepts and chancel were built a few years later. - -Such was Wyke, or Hull, when in 1293 the monks of Meaux Abbey, its -owners, sold the greater part of it to King Edward I., in exchange for -other lands. Its annual value was £81 12s. 4d., and that of the part -sold was £78 14s. 8d. With it were sold some farm lands and buildings at -Myton, worth not quite half as much. - -When the town thus passed into the King’s hands, he had to appoint a -Warden to collect his rents, and the first King’s Warden rejoiced in the -name of Richard Oysel. Six years later the townsmen obtained from the -King a charter granting them all the privileges belonging to the -inhabitants of a ‘Free Borough.’ Among these was the right of holding a -market twice weekly, and a fair lasting for thirty days each year. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_J.R. Boyle_ - - Photograph of the Charter granted by Edward I. to the Townsmen of Hull - in 1299. - (One-fifth actual size). - -] - -Under its new name of the _King’s Town upon Hull_ the port naturally -drew to itself merchants from the less-privileged towns of the -neighbourhood, and among those who came to take advantage of its -privileges was a wealthy merchant of Ravenser named William de la Pole. -With the migration of this Ravenser merchant began an uninterrupted -course of prosperity both for his family and for the King’s Town. - -William de la Pole’s two elder sons, Richard and William, came into -great prominence as merchants. The ‘great Hull Firm of De la Pole -Brothers’ has been a modern description of their business enterprise, -and the adjective ‘great’ is rightly used. For not only was Richard de -la Pole King Edward III.’s wine merchant, but the two brothers were also -for many years the King’s bankers. As royal wine merchant, Richard had -some twenty deputies in other ports of England, and as royal bankers the -‘Firm’ lent large sums of money to the King for the carrying on of his -wars with Scotland and France. - -In 1327, for instance, these Hull merchants lent the King sums amounting -to £10,200; and in February of the next year the King, while at York, -paid two wine bills, one of two thousand marks and the other of £1,200. -Later on in this year, the brothers undertook to find £20 per day for -the upkeep of the King’s household, and as much wine as was necessary. - -In 1337 Edward declared war against France, and that war was carried on -mainly with supplies of money provided by the De la Pole Brothers. - -Within two years of the opening of war, the King had borrowed money on -the crown jewels, on the crown itself, and even on his own person. -Edward was actually stranded in France unable to move for lack of money, -when his ‘beloved merchant,’ William de la Pole, came to his assistance -with new supplies; and the King acknowledged himself bound to him for -the astonishing sum of £76,180, a sum equal to more than a million -pounds in our money. - -‘How was this immense sum raised?’ we may quite naturally ask. Probably -a large portion of it was borrowed by the lender from others who were -quite ready to put their spare cash into the hands of such a far-sighted -and reliable man of business as William de la Pole. And how was the loan -repaid by the King? - -The answer to the second of these questions gives the secret of the -wealth of the ‘Hull Firm.’ Edward repaid his loans not with money but by -grants of the customs and duties payable on exported goods at the -various ports of the kingdom. In other words, if the King borrowed -£1000, he gave to the lender of this sum permission to collect all the -dues at, say, the port of Bristol, for the next five years; and as the -trade of Bristol was then rapidly growing, the lender very probably -received during those five years twice as much value in dues as he had -lent in money to the King. - -Such services as these, rendered at a critical moment, did not go -unrewarded in other ways. In 1332 Edward visited his new ‘King’s Town’ -on his way to Scotland, and was the guest of William de la Pole, whom he -knighted before his departure. - -At the same time the townsfolk were granted the dignity of having a -Mayor and four Bailiffs instead of a Warden, and Sir William was, -naturally, the man chosen by them to hold this office. Thus the long -line of Mayors of the city of Hull goes back to Sir William de la Pole, -who was Mayor for three years, 1332–1335. Later on other honours were -showered upon him, and when he died his body was buried in the church of -the Holy Trinity, where the alabaster effigies of himself and Dame -Katherine his wife may still be seen. - -As William de la Pole was a great favourite of King Edward III., so his -son Michael was equally a favourite of Edward’s grandson, King Richard -II. Michael de la Pole had gone to Spain in the train of John of Gaunt, -Edward’s third son, and his retinue had consisted of 140 men-at-arms, -140 archers, 1 knight banneret, 8 knights bachelor, and 130 esquires. - -In 1376 Michael was not only Mayor of Hull but also ‘Admiral of the -King’s Fleets in the Northern Parts.’ Seven years later he became a -Knight of the Garter and Lord Chancellor of England. In another two -years he was raised to the peerage as Earl of Suffolk, the first example -in our history of a prosperous merchant becoming a peer of the realm. As -Earl of Suffolk, Michael began the building at Kingston-upon-Hull of a -mansion which was known when finished as Suffolk Palace, and which stood -on the ground where has recently been built the General Post Office. - -But the first Earl of Suffolk was by no means a favourite with -Parliament, whatever he might be with the young King; and though he had -as Lord Chancellor advised the members of Parliament to ‘avoid all -corruptions,’ he was accused by them of enriching himself at the expense -of the nation. As the result of the charges laid against him by his many -and powerful enemies he was exiled, and died at Paris four years after -the creation of his peerage. - -[Illustration: - - EFFIGIES OF SIR WILLIAM DE LA POLE AND DAME KATHERINE IN HOLY TRINITY - CHURCH, HULL. - _From Gough’s ‘Sepulchral Monuments.’_ -] - -[Illustration: ARMS OF THE DE LA POLES.] - -Richard II.’s deposition by Parliament followed ten years after his -favourite’s death, and Henry IV. became King. This King’s son, Henry V., -attempted to rival in France the exploits of his great-grandfather; and -in his retinue when the English army sailed from Harfleur were two -Michael de la Poles, father and son. Both were of high honour in the -King’s train, both set out in hopes of winning still higher honour in -the glorious conquest that was to be, but both were fated to die a -soldier’s death on the soil of the country which they had hoped to -conquer. The elder Michael, second Earl of Suffolk, died of dysentery -before the walls of Harfleur in September 1415; the younger Michael, -third Earl of Suffolk, fell mortally wounded in the battle of Agincourt, -five weeks after the death of his father. His body was brought home to -England, and lay in state in Saint Paul’s Cathedral before it was buried -in Oxfordshire. - -You will find an account of the Earl of Suffolk’s death in Act IV., -Scene 6, of Shakspeare’s play _Henry the Fifth_; and when you next read -of the wars of Edward III. and Henry V. in France, do not fail to -remember, if you yourself belong to the city of Hull, that good silver -crowns from Kingston-upon-Hull provided the wherewithal for the battle -of Crecy, and that good honest men from Kingston-upon-Hull fought, -and—in one case at least—died in the battle of Agincourt. - - * * * * * - -Two years after this battle, King Henry was again fighting in France, -and in his retinue was again an Earl of Suffolk. This was William, the -fourth Earl, brother of him who had been slain at Agincourt. ‘Thirty -lancers and four score and ten archers’ was the portion of the army -furnished by this Earl, and for seventeen consecutive years he served in -France as a soldier of the King. While Henry VI. was the infant King of -England, Suffolk was in command of the English army in France, and it -was his misfortune to be beaten by the ‘Maid of Orleans.’ In this war he -was taken prisoner by the French, and ransomed for the sum of £20,000. - -After Suffolk’s return home as a defeated soldier we find him playing -the part of a successful ambassador. The marriage of King Henry with -Princess Margaret of Anjou was arranged by him, and for his services he -was raised to the dignity first of a Marquis and secondly of a Duke. At -the same time his heirs were granted the privilege of carrying at the -coronation of all the King’s successors a golden sceptre with a dove -upon the top—a privilege embodied in the design of the Common Seal of -the Corporation of Kingston-upon-Hull. - -[Illustration: COMMON SEAL OF THE CORPORATION OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL.] - -But this marriage brought the newly-created Duke of Suffolk into great -disfavour with Parliament; for he was accused of having delivered the -important province of Maine into the hands of the French, this being one -of the conditions of the marriage treaty. His enemies also accused him -of having murdered the Duke of Gloucester. - -To save his favourite Duke the King banished him for five years, but his -enemies were determined that he should not escape their vengeance. -Realizing the danger he was in, he set sail from Ipswich, and hoped to -reach Calais in safety. Before his departure he wrote, on the 30th of -April, 1450, the following letter to his young son:— - - My dere and only welbeloved sone, I beseche oure Lord in Heven, the - Maker of alle the world, to blesse you, and to sende you ever grace - to love hym, and to drede hym; to the which, as ferre as a fader may - charge his child, I both charge you and prei you to ... do no thyng - for love nor drede of any erthely creature that shuld displese - hym.... - - Secondly, next hym, above alle erthely thyng, to be trewe liege man - in hert, in wille, in thought, in dede, unto the Kyng ... to whom - bothe ye and I been so moche bounde to.... - - Thirdly, in the same wyse, I charge you, my dere sone, alwey, as ye - be bounden by the commaundement of God to do, to love, to worshepe - youre lady and moder, and also that ye obey alwey hyr - commaundements, and to beleve hyr councelles and advises in all - youre werks.... - - Wreten of myn hand, - The day of my departyng fro this land. - - Your trewe and lovying fader, - - SUFFOLK. - -It was indeed the day of Suffolk’s ‘departyng fro this land,’ as the -following portion of a letter written in London on the 5th of May of -that year will show. The writer tells first how news had then reached -London that on April 31 the Duke of Suffolk had been captured off Dover -by a ‘shippe callyd Nicolas of the Towre,’ whose master ‘badde hym -“Welcom, Traitor.”’ Then— - - Yn the syght of all his men he was drawyn ought of the grete shippe - yn to the bote ... and oon of the lewdeste of the shippe badde hym - ley down his hedde, and he should be fair ferd wyth, and dye on a - swerd; and toke a rusty swerd, and smotte of his hedde withyn halfe - a doseyn strokes, and toke awey his gown of russet, and his - dobelette of velvet mayled, and leyde his body on the sonds of - Dover. - -Although the first Duke of Suffolk suffered this ignominious death, the -tide of fortune for his family still rose. John, his son, the second -Duke, married the sister of King Edward IV.; and in the year 1484 their -son John, Earl of Lincoln, was declared heir-presumptive to the throne -of England. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - SEAL OF EDMUND DE LA POLE - EARL OF SUFFOLK. -] - -This is the high-water mark of the family fortunes. The battle of -Bosworth, and the accession of King Henry VII. a year later, altered -everything. The Earl of Lincoln took up arms against King Henry on -behalf of the pretender, Lambert Simnel, and was killed at the battle of -Stoke in 1487. His younger brother, Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, -was considered a man too dangerous to be allowed to live and was -beheaded by Henry VIII. in 1513; and his remaining brother, Sir Richard -de la Pole, having fled to Italy, was killed in the battle of Pavia in -1525. - - =Sir WILLIAM DE LA POLE.= - A merchant of Ravenserodd, who migrated to Hull. - | - +-------------------+------------------+ - | | - =Sir Richard de la Pole.= =Sir William de la Pole.= - A merchant of Hull; A merchant of Hull, founder - d. 1346. of the Hull Charterhouse and - | first Mayor of Hull (1332–5); - | d. 1366. - | | - =Michael de la Pole, - Earl of Suffolk.= - Mayor of Hull 1376, and Admiral - of the King’s Fleets in the Northern - Parts; Italian Ambassador and - | Lord Chancellor of England; - | d. 1389 in exile at Paris. - | | - =Richard, Duke =Michael, Earl of Suffolk.= - of Buckingham and Fought at Harfleur, and - Chandos.= died of dysentery, Sept. - d. 1889. 18, 1415. - | - +-------------------------------------+---+ - | | - =Michael, =William, Earl of Suffolk.= - Earl of Suffolk.= Commander of the English army - Slain at Agincourt, in France; became =Marquis=, and - Oct. 25, 1415. later =Duke, of Suffolk=; was accused - of various crimes, exiled, - and murdered at sea, 1450. - | - =John, - Duke of Suffolk.= - Married Elizabeth, - sister of Edward IV. - and of Richard III.; - d. 1491. - | - +-------------------------+----------+---------+ - | | | - =John de la Pole, =Edmund de la Pole, =Sir Richard - Earl of Lincoln.= Earl of Suffolk.= de la Pole.= - Declared heir-presumptive Beheaded by Fled to Italy, - to the English throne Henry VIII., 1513. and was killed - 1484; Commander-in-Chief at Pavia, 1525. - in Lambert Simnel’s - rebellion; killed at Stoke - 1487. - - PEDIGREE OF THE DE LA POLES. - -In all English history there is no stranger family history than that of -the De la Poles. For had there been no battle of Bosworth, the -great-great-great-great-grandson of a Hull merchant would, in all -probability, have become King John II. Such, however, was not to be, and -there is now living no descendant of the first William de la Pole in the -male line. A few years ago the female line was represented in the Duke -of Buckingham and Chandos, who was lineally descended from Richard de la -Pole, the elder partner in the ‘great Hull Firm of De la Pole Brothers.’ - - - - - XIV. - MONKS, NUNS, AND FRIARS. - - -[Illustration: ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON PRIORY.] - -Scattered over some of the pleasantest parts of Yorkshire are to be -found the ruined homes of men and women who centuries ago formed a very -distinct class among the people of our country. These men and women were -the monks, friars, and nuns of mediæval England, and their homes were -known as monasteries and friaries. - -The foundation of monasteries was due to the growth of an idea that men -and women could serve God better by withdrawing entirely from worldly -affairs, and by giving themselves up to a life of continual prayer and -worship. Many were established in England during the tenth and eleventh -centuries, but the great period of their foundation was that from 1066 -to 1216. During these years no fewer than 556 monasteries were founded -in our country, and 65 of these were in Yorkshire. - -[Illustration: A CISTERCIAN MONK.] - -According to whether a monastery was independent of all others or not, -it ranked as an Abbey or a Priory; and according to the particular code -of rules under which its inmates lived, it was inhabited by -BENEDICTINES, CISTERCIANS, or CARTHUSIANS. The monks of the Order of St. -Benedict were popularly known as _Black Monks_, and their three Abbeys -in Yorkshire were at Whitby, Selby and York. They had no House in the -East Riding, but there were Benedictine nunneries at Nunburnholme, -Nunkeeling, Wilberfoss and Yedingham. - -The Order of the Cistercians, or _White Monks_, received its name from -the Abbey of Citeaux in Normandy. In this the rules were stricter and -the life harder than among the Benedictines. The Cistercians believed -that the work of a man’s hands was as acceptable an offering to God as -the recitation of prayers and the chanting of psalms, and hence they -became great farmers and wool-growers.[29] Yorkshire was particularly -their county, and the great Abbeys of Fountains, Rievaulx, Jervaulx and -Byland were some of the wealthiest and most powerful in England. In the -East Riding the Cistercians had an Abbey at Meaux and a nunnery at -Swine. - -Footnote 29: - - In 1280 the monks of Meaux owned 11,000 sheep and 1000 beasts. - -[Illustration: A BENEDICTINE NUN.] - -A still stricter Order of monks was that of the Carthusians, who -received their name from the Abbey of Chartreuse in the south-east of -France. From the popular corruption of the word ‘Chartreuse’ into -‘Charterhouse,’ their monasteries became generally known as -_Charterhouses_. One of these was established at Hull by Sir Michael de -la Pole,[30] and there was in the North Riding another at Mount Grace, -near Northallerton. - -Footnote 30: - - Close to this Carthusian monastery Sir Michael also built—in 1384—a - _Maison Dieu_, or Hospital, for twenty-six poor men and women, ‘feeble - and old.’ Its buildings were pulled down during the second siege of - Hull, but afterwards replaced by others. This is the ‘Charterhouse’ - that exists to-day, the present buildings dating from 1780. - -The life of a monk or a nun was one spent apart from the world but, at -the same time, in common with all other inmates of the monastery or -nunnery. The inmates worked together, prayed together, had their meals -together, and slept in a common dormitory. - -Their life was also one of absolute devotion to carrying out the rules -of their Order. Each inmate took, on entering the religious life, the -three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. By the first, no monk or -nun might own separate possessions except the necessary clothing and -bedding. Thus, one mattress, two pairs of blankets, two counterpanes, -one cowl and frock, two tunics, two pairs of vests, four pairs of -breeches, two pairs of shoes, four pairs of socks, two pairs of -day-boots, one pair of night-boots, one night-cap, two towels, one -soiled-linen ‘pokett,’ and one shaving cloth formed the wardrobe of a -Black Monk. In addition he might possess a silver spoon, and then his -outfit was complete. By the second vow he bound himself never to marry, -and by the third to obey implicitly the orders of his superiors. - - * * * * * - -The Houses of these monks and nuns were, with slight exceptions here and -there, constructed on certain definite lines, which can best be -illustrated by a plan of the Cistercian Abbey of Kirkstall, near Leeds. -Surrounding all was a wall, not shown in the plan. - -The arrangement of the various buildings was very simple. Foremost in -importance ranked the _church_, which was always the first building to -be erected and that on which the greatest wealth was lavished. To the -south of this were attached the domestic buildings, grouped round a -central _cloister court_. Of these the most important were the _chapter -house_, in which the monks assembled each morning to hear a chapter from -the Latin rules of their Order; the four _cloisters_ or covered walks in -which the daily tasks of the monks were performed; the _frater_ or -_refectory_, in which their midday meal was served; and the _dorter_ or -_dormitory_, in which they slept. This last ran above the line of -buildings to the south of the south transept, and had a staircase -leading directly into this as well as one leading into the east -cloister. - -[Illustration: - - THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL. - - _From ‘Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian Society,’ Vol. - III._ -] - -The other buildings included the _sacristy_ or treasure-house; the -_library_; the _locutorium_ or parlour, which was a meeting-place for -conversation as well as a school for the novices; the _infirmary_ for -sick monks; the _calefactory_, or warming-house, where a fire was kept -burning from the first day in November till the following Easter; the -_kitchen_; the _cellarium_ or store-room; the _hospitium_ or -guest-house; and the _Abbot’s house_. - -Attached to each House of the Cistercians was a band of _conversi_, or -lay brethren, the uneducated portion of the community, who did all the -rough work of the House. Their frater and dorter were separate from the -other buildings, the dorter running over the cellarium; and they -attended service in the nave of the church, whereas the monks used the -choir or chancel. - -Such was the general plan of a Cistercian monastery or nunnery. That of -the Benedictines did not differ from it except that their churches were -larger and more magnificently built than those of the Cistercians, and -their fraters ran east and west instead of north and south. - -Look at the outer wall of the south aisle of Bridlington Priory Church, -and you will at once notice something strange. The windowless wall and -blocked arches are due to the fact that the Abbot’s house adjoined the -church at this spot. Look along the wall farther to the east, and you -will see plainly the brackets on which once rested the roof beams of one -of the four cloisters. - -In some cases the domestic buildings lay to the north of the church, but -this was exceptional. Advantage was usually taken of the protection -afforded by the church against the biting north winds of winter, an -advantage not to be despised by those who had to live in unwarmed stone -buildings on the bleak moorlands of Yorkshire. One can imagine a -shivering monk returning from his two hours’ service in the church at -two o’clock on a cold winter’s morning, and piling on the bed his whole -wardrobe in a vain endeavour to keep the marrow of his bones from -freezing into solid ice. It was worth something to be an Abbot. For the -Abbot’s house had fire-places, and there would be little fear of his -forgetting to make use of such a comfortable privilege. - -[Illustration: THE PRIORY CHURCH, BRIDLINGTON.] - - * * * * * - -As was mentioned earlier in the chapter, the monk lived in common with -his fellows. In winter his time-table was as follows:— - - 7 a.m.—Prime—a prayer,[31] hymn, and three psalms. - 8 a.m.—Mixtum or breakfast. - 8–30 a.m.—Morning mass. - 9 a.m.—Chapter, followed by confession of sins and punishment for - faults. - 10 a.m.—High mass. - 11 a.m.—Dinner. - 12 noon.—Manual work. - 5 p.m.—Vespers. - 6–30 p.m.—Collation—a short reading in the chapter house. - 7 p.m.—Compline—a service in the church. - 7–30 p.m.—Bed. - 12 midnight—Matins and Lauds—services in the church. - 2 a.m.—Bed. - -Footnote 31: - - The prayer with which the daily life began was this: ‘O Lord God - Almighty, Who hast brought us to the beginning of this day, so assist - us by Thy grace, that we may not fall this day into sin, but that our - words may be spoken and our thoughts and deeds directed according to - Thy just commands.’ - -Strict regulations were made with regard to the church services, manual -work, and meals. Each monk had some definite occupation for his working -hours. He was a stonemason, a carpenter, a worker in metals, a scribe, -or a farmer; and his work must be carried out in silence—a very needful -exception being made in the case of the blacksmiths. - -Each monk’s dinner allowance was one pound of bread and a pint of wine -or ale, with two cooked dishes and fruit or salad. Mondays, Wednesdays, -Fridays, and all the days in Lent were fast days, when no meat might be -eaten. On these fast days there were allowed as cooked dishes to every -two monks either two plaice or mackerel, or four soles, or eight -herrings or whiting, or ten eggs. No breakfast was the rule on fast -days, and to avoid excess of blood due to good living, each monk was -‘cupped’ four times a year. - -Table manners were also looked after. ‘No one was to clean his cup with -his fingers, nor wipe his hands, or mouth, or knife, upon the -tablecloths.... Salt was to be taken with a knife, and the drinking-cup -was to be held always in both hands.’ - -[Illustration: - - A CORNER OF THE CLOISTER COURT AT KIRKHAM PRIORY. - - The two arches at the back formed the lavatory, where the monks - washed their hands before passing into the frater by the door - on the left. -] - -More severe by far was the life of the Carthusians. They lived solitary -lives, each in his separate two-roomed cell, never talking to others, -and not even seeing others except at matins and vespers. A Carthusian -never ate meat and always wore a hair shirt next his skin. It is -therefore not surprising that this Order did not become a popular one. - - * * * * * - -So far we have been dealing with monks and nuns. Besides these there -were the REGULAR CANONS—men who lived under a _regula_, or rule, as did -the monks, and who took the same three vows, but who were generally -priests, while the monks were generally laymen. The Augustinian Canons -had priories at Bridlington, Haltemprice, Kirkham, North Ferriby and -Warter, and there was a Gilbertine nunnery at Ellerton and a House for -both Gilbertine Canons and Benedictine Nuns at Watton. Here the canons -and nuns had each their separate domestic buildings, but they shared the -church, the canons using one half of it and the nuns the other half. - -[Illustration: - - THE BAYLE GATE, BRIDLINGTON. - - Formerly one of the gateways to the Priory grounds. -] - -Quite distinct from monks and canons were the FRIARS. Monks were -concerned with one thing only—the salvation of their own souls. Hence -their monasteries were, as a rule, built in desolate spots, far removed -from the centres of population. The churches of the canons were, in most -cases, partly used as parish churches, the prior of the convent being -also the rector of the parish. Friars were concerned with the salvation -of the souls and bodies of other people, hence they established -themselves in populous towns. _Fratres_, or _frères_, they were to all -poor people, whether they were Dominican Friars, Franciscan Friars, -Carmelite Friars, or Austin Friars. - -[Illustration: - - A WHITE FRIAR IN HIS STUDY. - (_From Abbot Gasquet’s ‘English Monastic Life.’_) -] - -The followers of St. Dominic were the teachers, the followers of St. -Francis the doctors, of the middle ages. _Black Friars_ and _Grey -Friars_ they were in the language of the common people. Beverley had its -Dominican and Franciscan Friaries, while Kingston-upon-Hull had its -Carmelite and Austin Friaries—the names of the two latter remaining -to-day in our ‘Whitefriargate’ and ‘Blackfriargate.’ - - * * * * * - -It is difficult for us to realise what enthusiasm there was in the olden -days for that which was called ‘the religious life.’ ‘It is good for us -to be here, for here a man lives more purely, falls more rarely, rests -more safely, and dies more happily’ was the honest thought of each of -the _religious_ in early days. - -But as with all other human institutions, these good ideals perished in -the course of time. Men did not continue to live up to the rules of -their Order. Even in Chaucer’s time—that is, before the year 1400—the -typical monk had travelled far away from his vows of poverty and -obedience. - - Full many a dainty horse had he in stable. - * * * * * * - Greyhounds he had as swift as fowls in flight; - Of riding and of hunting for the hare - Was his delight, for no cost would he spare. - * * * * * * - He was not pale as a tormented ghost, - A fat swan loved he best of any roast. - -Chaucer’s friar was likewise a wanton and merry man, who knew the -taverns well in every town. - - His tippet was aye stuffèd full of knives, - And pins also, fit for to give fair wives. - And certainly he had a merry note, - Well could he sing and play upon a rote.[32] - -Footnote 32: - - A violin with three strings. - - - - - XV. - SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY AND HIS MINSTER. - - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF BEVERLEY - MINSTER. -] - -Each of two East Riding villages, Harpham and Cherry Burton, claims to -be the birthplace of Saint John of Beverley. His date of birth is even -more uncertain than his place of birth; but we know that he was sent to -school at the monastery at Canterbury, and afterwards became an inmate -of the famous monastery of St. Hilda at Whitby. Then he was for nineteen -years Bishop of Hexham, and finally, in 705 or 706, was ‘translated’ to -York, and thus became the fifth in the long line of eighty-nine -Archbishops from Paulinus to Cosmo Lang. - -While John was Bishop of Hexham he purchased a plot of ground in -Beverley, and on it built a church which he placed in charge of a small -number of canons. The surrounding country was then nothing but swamp and -forest—the swamps of the river Hull and the wild woodland whose name has -come down to us as ‘Beverley Westwood.’ So fond of this church was John, -that in 718 he gave up his Archbishopric and retired to Beverley, where -he died three years later. - -John’s church suffered the fate which came to nearly all the monasteries -and churches of those far-off times. The ravaging Northmen fell upon it, -and it was not till the reign of King Aethelstan that it recovered from -their attacks. - -Then its fame began to grow. In 934 Aethelstan was marching north to -make war upon the Scots, and when at Lincoln met—so the story runs—a -band of pilgrims who joyously declared that they had been healed of all -manner of diseases by visiting the tomb of the blessed John of Beverley. -Their story induced the King to pay a visit to the same tomb; so he -journeyed directly north, crossed the Humber, and went on to Beverley, -while his army went round by the longer branch of the old Roman road to -York. - -Arriving at Beverley, Aethelstan besought the aid of the holy Bishop -John, and placed his knife on the high altar as a pledge of the rewards -that he would bestow upon the church if he were successful in his -journey. Thereupon a vision of John of Beverley appeared before his -eyes, and he heard the words, ‘Pass fearlessly with your army, for you -shall conquer’—words which certainly came true enough. - -Believing that his success was due entirely to the power of the holy -Bishop whose banner he had brought with him from Beverley, the King, on -his return, liberally fulfilled his pledge, and endowed John’s church -with grants of lands, tolls, and the right of Sanctuary. - - =Swa mickel fredom give i ye,= - =Swa bert may think or egbe see=— - -is the way in which a charter of much later date than the time of -Aethelstan describes the King’s gifts to John of Beverley’s church. - -[Illustration: BEVERLEY MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, FROM THE -NORTH-EAST.] - -So great after this became the fame of the miracles performed at the -tomb of the founder of the church, that in 1037 the Pope ordered that -John of Beverley should thenceforth be ranked as a Saint. His bones and -other relics were then laid in a magnificent shrine in front of the high -altar, and the story of the fate which came upon the sacrilegious -Toustain in 1069 is sufficient evidence of their power.[33] - -Footnote 33: - - See page 152. - - * * * * * - -The charter of Aethelstan was renewed by Edward the Confessor, Henry I., -and Stephen; and in the reign of the last-named King the banner of St. -John was for the second time in the forefront of a battle against the -Scots. This was the _Battle of the Standard_, when the banners of the -four northern Saints—St. Peter of York, St. Cuthbert of Durham, St. -Wilfrid of Ripon, and St. John of Beverley—brought victory to the -English host. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - ‘Early English.’ Doorway in the South Transept of Beverley Minster. - -] - -Once again an English King visited Beverley and carried north with him -the banner of St. John. The King was Edward I., the ‘Hammer of the -Scots,’ and the Household Accounts of his reign show that in 1299 there -was paid: - - To master Gilbert de Grimsby, vicar of the collegiate church of St. - John de Beverley, for his wages, from the 25th day of November, on - which day he left Beverley to proceed, by command of the King, with - the standard of St. John, in the King’s suite aforesaid, to various - parts of Scotland, until the 9th day of January, both computed, 46 - days, at 8½d. per diem ... - - £1 8s. 9d. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Small ‘Decorated’ Doorway at the west end of Beverley Minster. - -] - -Edward II., Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI. all paid visits to the -shrine of St. John of Beverley, and his power was once more demonstrated -in the victory of the English army at the battle of Agincourt. For -during the time that the battle was being waged, did not the tomb of the -Saint sweat drops of holy oil? So at least said the pilgrims to the -shrine, and certainly they ought to have known whether it did or not. - -Royal gifts and pilgrims’ offerings brought great prosperity to the -church of St. John of Beverley. But evil days were fast approaching, and -in 1547 Royal Commissioners were sent to report on it. They reported -that there were attached to the church a Provost, 9 Canons, 7 Parsons, 9 -Vicars, 15 Chantry Priests, 4 Sacristans, 2 Incense Bearers, 8 -Choristers, and 22 others, a total of 77 officers, who shared among them -an income of £900 derived from lands and tithes. Two years later its -revenues were declared confiscated to the Crown, and its inmates reduced -in number to 1 Vicar and 3 Assistants. - - * * * * * - -Of the building as it was in its earliest days we know little. In -Aethelstan’s time it was probably entirely of wood. The erection of a -stone church is believed to have taken place in the reign of Edward the -Confessor, but we know that in 1188 the chancel and transepts of this -church were destroyed by fire. - -Rebuilding was commenced shortly afterwards, and a lofty tower was built -on the weak foundations of the older one. As a result the new tower soon -fell, and about 1225 the building of an entirely new church was taken in -hand. This was the time when what we call the _Early English_ style of -building was in vogue, and there is nothing of this style in all England -finer than the chancel and transepts of Beverley Minster.[34] - -Footnote 34: - - The name _Minster_ became attached in mediæval times to the great - churches which were not parish churches but were governed by a - _College_, or body of secular canons. - -If you look at the old engraving of the Minster given on page 137 you -will notice that this one style of building was not followed throughout -the church. Just past the transepts the style changes into the -_Decorated_ style. The reason is that there was a long interval of -nearly one hundred years during which the canons had not enough money to -continue their building operations, so that the work came to a -standstill. Meanwhile the Norman nave was still standing; and when at -last money again became plentiful, a larger nave in the new and -fashionable style was built around the old one. A curious result of this -mode of building is seen to-day in that the pillars of the nave are not -exactly opposite to one another, because the builders were not able to -measure directly across from one to the other. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Part of the Arcading on the south side of the Nave in Beverley Minster, - showing the change of style from ‘Early English’ to ‘Decorated.’ - -] - -Another glance at the old engraving will show that a further change in -men’s ideas of building took place before the church was finished. The -ravages of the ‘Black Death’ stopped progress for a time; and when the -great twin towers of the west end were built, the _Perpendicular_ style -of building had become fashionable. Then, in order that the east window -should be in fashion with the west window, it was rebuilt ‘in the latest -style.’ Thus we have in the church three successive styles of building, -quite different from one another, and yet so blended that they make one -harmonious whole. - -After the confiscation of the church property in 1549, the Minster fell, -naturally, into sad disrepair. Its beautiful octagonal chapter house was -sold and pulled down. One hundred and ten years ago the Minster was -reported to be almost a ruin. So bad was its condition that the -beautiful gable of the north transept had bulged outwards no less than -four feet, and was saved from destruction only by the skill of a -carpenter named Thornton, who erected a huge screen of timber, and -forced the wall back to its upright position. - -[Illustration: - - ‘_Hey-diddle-diddle, - The cat and the fiddle._’ - - A WOOD-CARVING IN BEVERLEY MINSTER. -] - -In 1886 a great architect, Sir Gilbert Scott, was employed to make -necessary restorations. First of all he took down the dome-like roof, -with gilded ball above it, seen in the old engraving of the Minster. -True, the Minster still lacks the central tower which, like the -cathedrals of York, Durham, and Lincoln, it was originally planned to -have; but better none at all than the unsuitable dome which our -ancestors built a century ago. The beautiful choir screen was designed -also by Sir Gilbert Scott, and was carved by a Beverley craftsman, Mr. -James Elwell. - -Since 1886 the main work of restoration has been the filling in of the -numerous niches around the walls, each of which before the Reformation -had its statue, great or small. Only one of these ancient statues -remains, a statue of one of the Percy family, on a buttress of the north -face of the north tower. There are now in position on the walls of the -Minster 182 statues—108 outside and 74 inside—most of which have been -provided through the generosity of Canon Nolloth. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF BEVERLEY MINSTER] - -There is much of interest to see around the Minster. The best view of -the great towers is obtained from the entrance to Minster Moorgate; that -of the interior of the nave from the upper floor at the west end, which -is reached by a staircase in the north tower. - -Climb to the top of the tower and you will, if the day is fine, be -rewarded with a wide-reaching view over Beverley Westwood and the Plain -of Holderness. Go into the chancel and examine the Percy Tomb. You are -looking at the most magnificent stonework of the fourteenth century in -the whole of Europe. Lift up the seats in the canons’ stalls and you -will see the best collection of carved _miserere_ seats in England. Sit -in the ancient _Frith-Stool_ and you can imagine yourself to be either -an innocent victim of oppression or a criminal of the deepest -dye—whichever you prefer. Stand before the great east window, and admire -the beauty of the old stained glass of which it is composed. Or stand -before the great west window and you will see portrayed in its coloured -glass Augustine and Aethelberht of Kent and St. John of Beverley, the -marriage of Edwin and Ethelburga, the baptism of Edwin by Paulinus, and -Coifi, the heathen high priest, with his broken idols—an epitome of the -early church history of our country. - - - - - XVI. - SANCTUARIES. - - -The Church in the Middle Ages had a tremendous hold over people’s minds, -and this was largely due to the power which it wielded over their -bodies. Foremost amongst the rights then possessed by it was the right -of ‘Sanctuary,’ by which the poor and injured could gain safety from the -attacks of their oppressors, and one who had unwittingly committed a -crime might save himself from a criminal’s death. This right belonged, -in greater or less degree, to all the churches scattered up and down the -country. - -Let us imagine a by-no-means uncommon event in the years just after the -Black Death. A husbandman is working for his master as a free labourer -and small cottager. His father before him had also been a free labourer, -but his grandfather had in his youth been a serf of the lord of a -neighbouring manor. This grandfather of his, because the serfs had -increased beyond their lord’s requirements, had been allowed with others -to go free; and taking advantage of his freedom he had sought and -obtained work as a free labourer under a new master. But now, after the -Black Death, labourers are scarce; and the present lord of the manor is -causing to be looked up all the descendants of those serfs whom his -ancestor had set free. Thus the lord’s bailiff has been making enquiries -about our freeman, and has sent two servants to arrest him and take him -back to the serfdom that his grandfather had once suffered. - -But our freeman is a man of spirit, and will not be taken without -resistance. Knives are drawn, and he defends himself. In the scuffle one -of his assailants stumbles and falls, and unluckily for himself and for -our freeman, he happens to fall upon his own weapon, which pierces his -body and so causes his death. His comrade, chicken-hearted, fears to -continue the struggle alone, and makes off to the village for help. - -What is our freeman to do? If he remains where he is and allows himself -to be taken, not only will he be claimed as a serf by the lord of the -neighbouring manor, but he will also be charged with causing the death -of the lord’s servant. - -Little chance is there of his proving himself innocent of his -assailant’s death; for the dead man’s companion will not fail to swear -that the death-blow was struck by him. In any case he will be thrown -into the town jail for an indefinite length of time, perhaps not to come -out alive, or to come out maimed for life. Were not three prisoners, two -men and a woman, thrown into the jail last year on suspicion of having -been concerned in a murder, and were they not kept there till one of the -men died, the other lost a foot, and the woman lost both feet, from -disease produced by the foul condition of the cell into which they were -cast? - -So thinks our freeman to himself. It is little comfort to him to -remember that when the two prisoners who remained alive were eventually -tried, they were found ‘not guilty’ of the charge laid against them, and -were told by the justices that they could depart. - - * * * * * - -What can our freeman do? In a short while the lord of the manor’s other -servant will come up with help against him, and he must then be -overpowered. He can only flee. But whither? In the distance he can just -distinguish the outline of the great church of St. John of Beverley. If -he can only reach that church and knock on the small door that holds the -sanctuary knocker he will be safe. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Sanctuary Cross at Bishop Burton. [_C. W. Mason_ - -] - -So off he sets on a six-mile run, with life before him and death behind. -He has a good start over his pursuers, whom he can just make out -half-a-mile or so away, but will he be able to hold out till he reaches -the goal set before him? Nearer and nearer becomes the church, and -although his pursuers are gaining on him, yet his heart is cheered by -the sight of the boundary cross which tells him he has little more than -a mile now to run, and which in itself gives him a certain amount of -protection. For should he now be taken, he is under the protection of -St. John, and his pursuers will lay hands on him at the risk of a fine -of eight pounds payable to the Church. - -Spurred on by fresh hope he reaches his goal, and has just sufficient -strength to clang the knocker before he falls heavily against the heavy -door. ‘Oh that the door may be opened quickly!’ His prayer is answered; -for a watching priest has seen the pursuit. He draws back the bolt, -drags in the senseless form, and clangs to the door again just as the -pursuers reach it. - -For a space of thirty days our freeman will now be safe, and during -these thirty days he will be fed and lodged by the canons of the -Minster. But first he will be required, with his hand placed on the -great written copy of the Bible possessed by the Minster, to take an -oath read out to him by the Coroner in the following words:— - - ‘Sir, take hede on your oth— - - Ye shalbe trew and feythfull to my Lord Archbisshop of York, Lord - off this towne.... - - Also ye shall bere gude hert to the Baillie and xij governars of - this town.... - - Also ye shall bere no poynted wepen, dagger, knyfe, ne none other - wapen, ayenst the Kynges pece. - - Also ye shalbe redy at all your power, if ther be any debate or - stryf, or oder sothan case of fyre within the towne, to help to - surcess it. - - Also ye shalbe redy at the obite[35] of Kyng Adelstan ... at the - warnyng of the belman of the towne, and doe your dewte in - ryngyng....’ - -Footnote 35: - - A service held in memory of the death of a benefactor. - -Then having taken the oath he will be required to ‘kysse the book.’ - -But in the eyes of the law our freeman is a felon—a man over whose head -there hangs a charge of murder, and who will have little chance of -proving his innocence of this charge. He must avail himself of the law -established of old and confirmed by King Edward II.— - - Let the felon be brought to the church door, and there be assigned - unto him a port, near or far off, and a time appointed to him to go - out of the realm, so that in going towards that port he carry a - cross in his hand, and that he go not out of the King’s highway, - neither on the right hand nor on the left, but that he keep it - always until he shall be gone out of the land; and that he shall not - return without special grace of our lord the King. - -Such were the rights of sanctuary possessed by the Minster at Beverley. -For the space of a mile around the church in every direction the peace -of St. John extended, and within this circle—the boundaries of which -were marked by the erection of a ‘sanctuary cross’ on each of the roads -entering Beverley—partial safety was assured to all fugitives. But the -nearer a fugitive got to the high altar of the Minster the safer he -became. Seated in the _Frith-Stool_ that stood by the side of the altar -he was absolutely safe; for none—not even the King himself—dare violate -its sacred peace. - -The Beverley frith-stool now stands in the chancel near the north-east -transept. A plain, massive seat of stone it is, so massive and so simple -in design that its age seems greater than that of the Minster itself. -Possibly it dates back to the days of the Saxon King Aethelstan. It was -once engraved, we know, with a Latin inscription, the translation of -which ran thus: - - This stone seat is called FREEDSTOLL, that is, chair of peace, on - reaching which a fugitive criminal enjoys complete safety. - -A frith-stool very similar to the Beverley one exists at Hexham Abbey in -Northumberland, and in the village church of Halsham in our East Riding -there is what is thought to be another. Here, however, the ‘chair of -peace’ is built into the wall of the chancel between the sedilia and the -priests’ door. No other examples are known in Yorkshire. - -[Illustration: THE BEVERLEY FRITH-STOOL.] - -Of sanctuary knockers still existing the finest is the Norman one on the -north door of Durham Cathedral, but nearer home there is a good example -on a door of All Saints’ Church at York. That which once existed, and -which was so freely used, on a door of Beverley Minster has long ago -disappeared, nor is there any known example in the East Riding. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_W. Watson_ - - Sanctuary Knocker on a Door of All Saints’ Church, York. - -] - -As an instance of the protection afforded to the people by the existence -of this right of sanctuary, and of the power of the Church over the -minds of even such Kings as William the Conqueror, may be given the -story told by Alured,[36] a priest of the Minster of St. John in the -reign of William’s son, Henry I.:— - - At the time when William was engaged on his ‘Wasting of the North’ - he had once pitched his camp seven miles from Beverley, and had - caused all the people of the district to flee to the church for - protection. Certain soldiers coming up intent on plunder made their - way to the church, and their leader, Toustain by name, did not - hesitate to spur his horse within its open door. But the vengeance - of St. John came down upon him for his impious deed, his horse - stumbled on the threshold, and Toustain fell with broken neck. - Moreover, when his men picked him up, his head was found to be - twisted towards his back, and his feet and hands were distorted like - those of a mis-shapen monster. Fear came upon all the Norman - soldiers, and when William was informed of the miracle that had - happened, fear came also upon him; so that he confirmed all the - privileges of the church, gave it a grant of lands at Sigglesthorne, - and decreed that the lands of the blessed Saint John should be - everywhere spared from the ‘Wasting.’ - -Footnote 36: - - An old spelling of ‘Alfred.’ - -In affording protection to the innocent, the injured, and the oppressed, -the Church was carrying on a good work. But we must remember that the -same protection was afforded to those actually guilty of all possible -crimes. The registers kept at Beverley show that during a space of sixty -years in the reigns of King Edward IV., Richard III., Henry VII. and -Henry VIII., those who claimed the right of sanctuary included:— - - 186 who were charged with murder, - 54 ” ” ” ” felony, - 1 ” was ” ” horse-stealing, - 1 ” ” ” ” treason, - 1 who was charged with receiving stolen goods, - 7 ” were ” ” coining, - 208 ” ” ” ” debt, - 35 ” ” ” ” other crimes. - —-- - 493 who were charged with various offences. - -In the Beverley registers there are 469 entries, of which all but a few -are written in Latin. One of the English entries will give an idea of -the kind of record kept:— - - John Spret, Gentilman. - - Memorandum, that John Spret, of Barton upon Umber, in the Counte of - Lyncoln, gentilman, com to Beverlay, the ferst day of October, the - vij yer of the reen of Keing Herry the vij, and asked the lybertes - of Saint John of Beverlay, for the dethe of John Welton, husbondman, - of the same town, and knawleg[37] hymselff to be at the kyllyng of - the saym John with a dagarth,[38] the xv day of August. - -Footnote 37: - - Acknowledged. - -Footnote 38: - - Dagger. - -It is evident from these 469 entries that the Beverley Sanctuary must -have been of special repute. For the criminals who asked the liberties -of Saint John of Beverley came from parts of Britain as wide apart as -Lowestoft, Honiton, Haverfordwest, Anglesey, and Durham. No fewer than -thirty came from London, Beverley itself provided five, _Preston in -Holdernes_ three, and _Kyngestone super Hull_ ten; while others came -from _Heydon_, _Hezell_, _Hoton Cransewik_, _Hogett super le Wolde_, -_Otteryngham_, _Wetherwyk_, and fifty other towns and villages in the -East Riding. - -All ranks and conditions of life are represented among these entries, -from the _armiger_ or knight, and _generosus_ or person of noble birth, -down to the common _laborer_. The _goldsmyth_, the _surgyon_, the -_grosiar_—an alderman of London—the _yoman_, the _chapman_, the -_shepard_, and the _husbondman_ are there. So, sad to relate, is the -_capellanus_, or chaplain; and among the tradesmen there are the -_berbrower_, _bocher_, _bowyer_, _brykemaker_, _capper_, _coke_, -_flecher_,[39] _fysshemonger_, _payntour_, _pewterer_, _plommer_, -_pursor_, _pynner_, _saddiler_, _salter_, _syngyngman_, and -_tawlowchaunler_. - -Footnote 39: - - A _flecher_, or _fletcher_, was an arrow-maker. - - * * * * * - - Under such circumstances as these, it is not wonderful that complaints - of the misuse of sanctuary rights became frequent. In 1324 ten - prisoners escaped from Newgate Jail, of whom five took refuge in one - or other of the London churches, and thence escaped out of the - country. In 1376 Parliament complained to the King that certain people - got money or goods on loan, made pretended gifts of all their property - to their friends, then went into sanctuary, and stayed there till - their creditors were glad to accept some small portion of the debt in - payment for the whole; after which they came out, received back their - pretended gifts, and lived merrily on their ill-gotten wealth. Cases - even occurred in which thieves and murderers left their place of - sanctuary at nightfall, committed fresh crimes during the night, and - returned to the ‘chair of peace’ again before daybreak. - - So great did the scandal of this misuse of the privileges afforded by - sanctuaries eventually become, that in 1623 Parliament passed a law - that: - - No sanctuarie or priviledge of sanctuary shal be hereafter admitted - or allowed in any case. - - The law was again passed in 1697, but it was not until the reign of - George I. that the last sanctuary in our country was demolished. - - - - - XVII. - HOW TWO KINGS OF ENGLAND LANDED - AT SPURN. - - -In the old Norse account of the life of Harold Hardrada it is stated -that after the battle of Stamford Bridge Olaf, the King’s son, ‘led the -fleet from England, setting sail from _Hrafnseyri_.’ This is the -earliest mention that we have of the bank of sand and shingle which is -known to-day as Spurn Point, and the name of the place—‘Hrafn’s -gravel-bank’—is evidence of both its general appearance and its -ownership in the year 1066. - -For two centuries after this we have no mention of it, but in the -meanwhile there had grown up two settlements to each of which the name -Ravenser was attached. _Ald Ravenser_—that is, Old Ravenser—was ‘inland, -distant both from the sea and the Humber’; while _Ravenserodd_, or as we -should write it, Ravenser Point, lay ‘between the waters of the sea and -those of the Humber,’ and was ‘distant from the main land a space of one -mile and more.’ Connecting the two was a sandy road ‘covered with round -and yellow stones, thrown up in a little time by the height of the -floods, having a breadth which an archer can scarcely shoot across, and -wonderfully maintained by the tides of the sea on its east side, and the -ebb and flow of the Humber on its west side.’ - -Of the birth of the former of these towns we know nothing, but the birth -of the latter was described by one of the jurors in a lawsuit brought in -the year 1290 by the men of Grimsby against the men of Ravenserodd. -Several years before a ship had stranded on a sand bank, and the wreck -had been taken possession of by an enterprising fellow who used it as a -store for meat and drink which he sold to sailors and merchants. Then -others came to dwell on the sand-bank, and in 1235 or thereabouts the -Earl of Albemarl, Lord of Holderness, began there the building of a -town. - - * * * * * - -The growth of this town must have been rapid; for in 1251 the King -granted to the Earl of Albemarl the right to hold in Ravenserodd a -weekly market and a fair lasting sixteen days. Then trouble began -between the men of the town and the men of Grimsby, and the latter -complained that - - the men of the said town of Ravenserodd go out with their boats into - the high sea, where there are ships carrying merchandise, and - intending to come to Grimsby with their merchandise. The said men - hinder those ships from coming to Grimsby, and lead them to Ravenser - by force when they cannot amicably persuade them to go thither. - -So we see that ‘peaceful picketing’ was not altogether unknown in these -parts six hundred years ago. - -At intervals during the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. the men of -Ravenser were called upon to provide a ship for the King’s wars against -Scotland. In each case the ship was to be furnished with from thirty to -a hundred of ‘the stoutest and strongest men of the town, with armour, -victuals, and other necessaries.’ In 1332, also, an expedition of five -hundred men-at-arms and two thousand archers set sail from Ravenser for -Scotland, having on board Edward Baliol, Lord Beaumont, Lord de Wake, -and others who wished to see Baliol crowned as King of Scotland. Their -wishes were fulfilled, for the expedition was successful and Baliol was -crowned at Scone. - -From about this time the fortunes of Ravenser began to decline. -Probably the superior privileges granted by King Edward to his -_Kyngstown-svper-Hvll_ provided very largely the cause of the decline. -The climax of its misfortunes came with a succession of extremely high -tides about the year 1356—tides which ‘sometimes exceeding beyond -measure the height of the town, and surrounding it like a wall on -every side,’ caused its absolute destruction. In 1400 Ravenserodd was -recorded to be ‘altogether consumed,’ while nothing remained of Ald -Ravenser but a single manor-house. - - * * * * * - -Such was the condition of the once prosperous port when in the month of -June, 1399, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, and grandson of King Edward the -Third, landed on its site with sixty followers. As Henry of Bolingbroke, -Earl of Hereford, he had in 1398 been banished by King Richard II. for a -term of six years, in order that a duel between him and the Duke of -Norfolk might be prevented. As Henry, Duke of Lancaster, he now returned -to claim the estates of his father, John of Gaunt, which estates Richard -had confiscated on their holder’s death. - -When Henry of Lancaster landed at _Ravenserespourne_, he found its sole -occupant to be a hermit, by name Matthew Danthorpe. This hermit was -engaged in building a chapel on the desolate bank of shingle; and great -must have been his surprise when a ship carrying a company of well-armed -men bore down upon his hermitage instead of passing up the river, as -ships were accustomed to do. - -Still greater must his surprise have been when he found that the ship -belonged to a royal Duke, and that its arrival was shortly followed by -arrivals from inland of the great Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, -and the Earl of Westmorland. His surprise was, probably, not unmixed -with fear. For he was building his chapel without having obtained a -license from the King, and rumours were soon flying about that Henry of -Lancaster had come to claim something more than the estates which were -his by right of descent. - -These flying rumours soon became certainties. Other lords and barons -rallied round the standard of Henry, and before long his sixty followers -had become as many thousands. At the time of his landing King Richard -was in Ireland; and when, after being long delayed by contrary winds, he -landed on the coast of Wales, he soon fell into the hands of Henry and -was taken a prisoner to the Tower of London. On the 30th of September -Henry, addressing the Members of Parliament, spoke as follows: - - ‘In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of - Lancaster, challenge this realm of England ... as I am descended by - right line of the blood coming from the good lord King Henry the - Third.’ - -Then Parliament declared the abdication of King Richard the Second and -the accession of King Henry the Fourth. - -And what meanwhile of the hermit of _Ravenserespourne_? Had Henry -forgotten him? On the last day of September Henry was proclaimed King, -on the first day of October he signed at Westminster a royal license -making known that: - - Of our special grace we have pardoned and remitted to the said - Matthew all manner of trespasses and mistakes committed by him in - this matter.... - - And moreover, of our more abundant grace, we have given and granted - to the said Matthew the aforesaid place, to hold to his successors, - the hermits of the aforesaid place, together with the chapel - aforesaid, when it shall be built and finished, and also the wreck - of the sea, and waifs, and all other profits and commodities - contingent to the sands for two leagues round the same place, for - ever. - -The landing of King Henry IV. at Ravenser Spurn was commemorated by the -erection of a cross at the place of landing. Was it a grateful Matthew -Danthorpe who erected it? Very possibly. At any rate it was erected -within fourteen years of Henry’s landing. Many years afterwards it was -removed to Kilnsea; later still it was removed to Burton Constable, and -finally to Hedon, where it stands to-day in the garden of Holyrood -House. - - * * * * * - -The reign of Henry IV. was followed by that of his son and that of his -grandson. Then came in 1471 one of the most curious parallels in history -that it is possible to imagine. The ‘Wars of the Roses’ had been -discomforting the land for sixteen years. Henry VI. had been deposed in -1461, and Edward IV. had been elected in his place. But in 1470 Henry -had once more been placed upon the throne and Edward had fled to -Holland. A year later the latter returned, and landed on the same spot -where Henry Bolingbroke had landed seventy-two years earlier. - -The parallel, however, does not end with his landing. As Henry of -Lancaster proclaimed that he had come merely to claim his ancestral -lands, so Edward of York proclaimed that he had returned for this same -purpose only. As a Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was the chief -supporter of Henry of Lancaster, so a Henry Percy, Earl of -Northumberland, came to the support of Edward of York. And as Henry of -Lancaster was fated to depose and put to death King Richard II., so -Edward of York was fated to overthrow and cause to be murdered King -Henry VI. - -It had been Edward’s intention to land on the coast of Norfolk. But -finding a landing there impossible because of the guard kept by the -Earls of Warwick and Oxford, he had headed his four large and fourteen -small ships for the mouth of the Humber. The following is part of the -account of his landing given by Ralph Holinshed, a chronicler living in -the reign of Queen Elizabeth:— - - The same night following, a great storme of winds and weather rose, - sore troubling the seas, and continued till the fourteenth day of - that moneth being thursday, on the which day with greater danger, by - reason of the tempestuous rage and torment of the troubled seas, he - arriued at the head of Humber, where the other ships were scattered - from him, each one seuered from other; so that of necessitie they - were driuen to land in sunder where they best might, for doubt to be - cast awaie in that perillous tempest. The king with the lord - Hastings his chamberleine, and other to the number of fiue hundred - men being in one ship, landed within Humber on Holdernesse side, at - a place called Rauenspurgh, euen in the same place where Henrie erle - of Derbie, after called king Henrie the fourth landed, when he came - to depriue king Richard the second of the crowne, and to vsurpe it - to himselfe. - - Richard, duke of Glocester, and three hundred men in his companie, - tooke land in another place foure miles distant from thence, where - his brother king Edward did land. The earle Riuers, and with him two - hundred men, landed at a place called Pole, fourteene miles from the - hauen where the king came on land. The residue of his people landed - some here, some there, in place where for their suerties they - thought best. On the morrow, being the fifteenth of March, now that - the tempest ceased, and euerie man being got to land, they drew from - euerie of their landing places towards the king, who for the first - night was lodged in a poore village, two miles from the place where - he first set foot on land. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Henry of Lancaster’s Cross. - Now in the garden of Holyrood House, Hedon. - -] - -The landing of Edward IV. at Ravenser Spurn was not entirely to the -liking of the men of Holderness. At first he was opposed by forces -raised by ‘Syr John Westerdale,’ the vicar of Keyingham, and by a -certain Martin atte See, or Martin de la Mare, a descendant of the first -inhabitant of Ravenserodd. The vicar of Keyingham was afterwards cast -into a London prison for his opposition, but Martin de la Mare was won -over to Edward’s side, and was knighted eleven years later. - -By his will Sir Martin de la Mare directed that he should be ‘beried in -the queere of the parissh churche of Alhalowes in Barneston in -Holdernes;’ and on the left-hand side of the chancel in this church -there is an altar tomb, with a beautiful alabaster effigy, which until -recently was thought to be his. It is, however, now known to be that of -another knight who was buried at Barmston some fifty years before the -death of Sir Martin de la Mare. - - - - - XVIII. - LIFE IN A MEDIÆVAL TOWN. - - -[Illustration: - - PRESENT SEAL OF THE - BOROUGH OF HEDON. -] - -What sort of life did the townsfolk lead five centuries ago? Suppose the -townsfolk of to-day could suddenly be transported back five hundred -years, what would be the things likely to strike them as most strange? - -One of these would certainly be the way in which the town was cut off, -as it were, from the surrounding district. Thus Hedon was cut off by two -Havens, one natural, the other artificial, and by another artificial -watercourse called the Town Moat. Beverley was entirely surrounded by a -similar moat, part of which remains in our own day, and entrance to the -town was gained by _Bars_ spanning the roads. Those at Beverley were -known respectively as the North Bar, Newbiggyn Bar, Keldgate Bar, -Norwood Bar, and South Bar. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] North Bar Without, Beverley. [_C.W. Mason_ - -] - -How early these Bars were built we do not know, but there have recently -been discovered the complete accounts for the rebuilding of North Bar in -1409. This is the Bar which exists to-day, and it has, in its five -hundred years’ existence, undergone little change, except for the -cutting through it of two side-passages for foot traffic. It still has -the massive oak folding doors which were shut every night at sunset, and -the groove can yet be seen in which the portcullis worked. If you ride -on through the Bar to York, you will enter that city by the Walmgate -Bar, and above your head as you pass through this you may see the bottom -spikes of its still remaining portcullis. - -Hull was defended even more strongly than Beverley; for in 1322 the King -granted to its townsfolk leave to defend themselves with a wall as well -as a moat. A portion of the wall which they built is represented on the -old plan of Hull reproduced in part on the opposite page. - -This plan shows the town as it was about the year 1380, and makes very -clear the difference between a town and a village five centuries ago. On -the left bank of the river Hull is the village of _Dripole_, with its -church and few scattered houses; on the right bank is the town of -_Kyngeston-upon-Hull_, with its churches, houses, and gardens closely -packed together within a castellated wall, and protected by a riverside -battery armed with three small cannon. The shipping on the river is seen -to be also protected, and this with an iron chain drawn across the mouth -of the river. - -In the part of the plan not here given, there is shown a more ominous -sign of authority. Outside the Beverley Gate stands a gibbet on which -hang the bodies of three culprits as warnings of the fate that comes to -evil-doers. - - * * * * * - -To those accustomed to the wide and well-paved streets of our modern -towns, the streets of a mediæval town would appear very strange. On the -plan of Hull the two main streets, then known as _Aldgate_ and -_Lowgate_, are shown fairly wide. But _High Street_, which follows -regularly in its course the windings of the river Hull, is much -narrower; and the by-streets of the town are so narrow as not to appear -at all. - -[Illustration: PART OF A FOURTEENTH-CENTURY PLAN OF HULL.] - -[Illustration: - - HIGH STREET, HULL. - Showing the ancient _King’s Head Inn_, now pulled down. -] - -Streets in mediæval times were astonishingly narrow. The ‘High Street’ -of Hull has changed little during the last five hundred years, and -to-day there are portions in which two carts cannot pass each other. The -extreme width of the western half of Grimsby Lane, one of the by-streets -connecting High Street and the Market Place, named after Simon de -Grymesby, Mayor of Hull in 1391, is only nine feet. So also the main -street in Beverley now barely allows two vehicles to pass each other, -and some of the side lanes entering it, such as Laundress Lane and -Tindall Lane, are even narrower than the Grimsby Lane just mentioned. - -In all these cases the roadway has remained practically the same width -for a space of five centuries. But five centuries ago the condition of -the road and the amount of air-space above it were very different from -what they are to-day. Mediæval houses were built of thick beams of -timber, with the intervening spaces filled in with brick and plaster, -and security of the floors was obtained by making the second story -project a foot or two beyond the first, and the third project similarly -beyond the second. The result was a very firmly built house, but a very -narrowly confined roadway. - -[Illustration: SECTIONS OF A MEDIÆVAL AND A MODERN STREET.] - -The difference between the mediæval and the modern style of road -planning is shown in the above diagram, which gives to scale the -building-lines of High Street and King Edward Street—the oldest and the -newest business streets in the city of Hull. - -Mediæval streets were paved with round cobble stones—such stones as -still form the pavement of the market-places of Beverley and Hedon. It -is on record that in the year 1400 two Dutch ships brought into Hull -cargoes of these stones amounting to 56,000 in number. But the method of -drainage was then exactly the opposite of what it is to-day; for the -middle of the road was the gutter, or _kennel_. If we imagine that there -were then no ‘dust-carts,’ and that each householder got rid of refuse -by the simple process of casting it out into the kennel for the next -shower of rain to wash away, we shall come to some idea of the general -condition of the streets in a mediæval town. - -Little wonder that in mediæval towns were bred foul diseases that broke -out at intervals and sometimes carried off half the population in the -course of a few months. In 1349—the year of the ‘Black Death’—1361, -1369, and 1451 the _Plague_ visited the East Riding, and there are to be -seen in the chancel floor of Holy Trinity Church, Hull, the tombstone -and brasses of a merchant named Richard Byll, who was one of its victims -in the last-mentioned year. - - * * * * * - -Five centuries ago one of the privileges of a free borough was the -holding of a market for the sale of goods by people who were not -burgesses of the town. Every free borough had its market-place, which -usually lay under the shadow of the parish church, as it does to-day at -Beverley, Driffield, Hedon, Howden and Hull. The markets were held on -certain fixed days of the week, and Tuesdays and Fridays have been the -market-days at Hull since the granting of King Edward I.’s charter in -the year 1299. - -While the position of the market, and probably also its general -appearance, have not altered during all these centuries, certain of its -adornments have entirely disappeared. Beverley is the only town in the -East Riding that has preserved its market cross. From all the towns of -the East Riding have disappeared the stocks, the pillory, and the -ducking-stool. - -[Illustration: PARISH STOCKS PRESERVED IN BEVERLEY MINSTER.] - -To the stocks and the pillory went in former times such men and women as -‘John Fleshewer, butcher,’ of Hedon, who in 1420 was brought before the -town bailiffs on the charge that he ‘did sell flesh not useable, old, -useless, and worthless,’ and ‘Agnes, wife of John Piese, schipman,’ also -of Hedon, who ‘did sell two penny wheat loaves of bread, not useable and -fusty.’ In the ducking-stool went to the town moat or the river the -scolding woman whose temper and tongue were equally beyond their owner’s -control. So the stocks, pillory, and ducking-stool proved themselves to -be not only ornamental but also very useful. - -The daily work of wage-earners five hundred years ago was very different -from what it is to-day. There were then no such things as our huge -factories in which thousands of ‘hands’ are employed day after day at -the same monotonous toil. Work was more varied and the conditions were -much freer. But hours were longer and pay was considerably less. The -legal hours of the day labourer from March to September were 5 a.m. to 7 -p.m., with two hours allowed for breakfast and dinner. On the other -hand, ‘Bank Holidays’—or Holy-Days, as they were then called—were far -more numerous. _Holy-days_, in fact, reduced the working-days of the -year to only 264 in number. - -The building-accounts for the Beverley North Bar in 1409 give a record -of all the wages paid; and from these we find that the wages of a -bricklayer were 6d. per day, of a labourer 4d., and of a carter with his -horse and cart 12d.[40] What would the ‘British workman’ of to-day think -of the following scale of wages, which formed the _statute yearly wages_ -in 1444:— - - With food and - clothing. - - s. d. s. d. - - Bailiff of husbandry 23 4 or 5 0 - - Hind, carter, shepherd 20 0 ” 4 0 - - Labourer 15 0 ” 3 4 - - Woman servant 10 0 ” 4 0 - - Child under 14 6 0 ” 3 0 - -Footnote 40: - - The total cost of the building operations, from the surveying of the - ground to the ‘roseynyng’ of the doors, was £96 17s. 4½d.—about £2000 - in our money. - -The work of the _Trade Gilds_ in regulating the trade and industries of -a town will be described in another chapter, but here is the place to -refer to the work of the RELIGIOUS or SOCIAL GILDS which were so -prominent a feature of mediæval town life. These were voluntary -associations of men and women, who undertook to pay sums of money into a -common fund, on which all members could draw during old age or during -periods of sickness. In other words they were the Friendly Societies—the -‘Hearts of Oak,’ ‘Ancient Order of Foresters,’ and ‘Oddfellows’—of our -own times. - -At Hull there were six of these Gilds, the most important being the Gild -of St. John Baptist, the Gild of Corpus Christi, and the Gild of the -Holy Trinity. In the case of the first of these a member undertook to -pay two shillings of silver each year, in four instalments, and derived -the following benefits, on becoming ‘infirm, bowed, blind, deaf, dumb, -maimed, ... either in youth or age.’:— - - (1) weekly, one halfpenny of silver; - - (2) at the Festival of St. Martin in winter 5s. of silver for one - garment. - -The entrance fee to this Gild was 13s. 4d., but that to the Gild of -Corpus Christi was 3 lbs. of silver. Here, however, the ‘sick pay’ was -correspondingly higher, being 14d. weekly; and if any brother or sister -was in need 20s. was ‘granted on loan.’ - -In the reign of Edward VI. nearly all the Religious Gilds came to an -end. Henry VIII. had intended their suppression, but it fell to the lot -of Protector Somerset to be their actual destroyer. On the plea that -they were engaged in religious services not in accordance with -Government ideas, they suffered the fate of the monasteries; and their -property in lands, houses, and plate—their invested funds we should call -it to-day—was diverted to other purposes. - -Of the Gilds at Hull the sole one to survive was the _Gild of the Holy -Trinity_, which was founded in 1369 and later became identical with the -_Shipman’s Gild_. This identity with the Shipman’s Gild in 1547 saved -its life, and in place of being swept away its privileges were -increased. It had many private benefactors, chief among whom was Thomas -Ferries, who in 1631 gave it the estate of the Whitefriars on which its -buildings now stand. King Charles II. granted it a charter in which it -is stated that the Gild - - hath much tended to the furtherance of Navigation, the increase of - shipping, and the well breeding of Seamen in that Town and Port. - -[Illustration: ARMS OF THE HULL TRINITY HOUSE.] - -The Corporation of the HULL TRINITY HOUSE consists of twelve Elder -Brethren, six Assistants, and an indefinite number of Younger Brethren. -From the Elder Brethren two Wardens are chosen annually. They maintain -several almshouses for mariners and their dependents, and one of the -best navigation schools in the country; they also grant out-pensions to -a large number of worn-out seamen. - - * * * * * - -We have dealt with the work of the townsfolk in the fifteenth century, -but what of their amusements? Here they were certainly nothing like so -well off as their descendants of the twentieth century. Of theatres and -kinematograph shows they had none. Football matches they had -occasionally. But it was with this difference—that a football match then -was not one in which thirty men played while thirty thousand looked on -and yelled their applause or disapproval. A football match in those days -meant one in which the ‘field’ was the main street of the town, the -‘goals’ were the town wall or moat at either end of the street, and the -‘players’ were the whole body of townsfolk. Such a match is still played -annually in at least one town of Northern England. - -For the rest the people had their Church-Ales, their Miracle Plays, and -their Fairs. CHURCH-ALES were parish feasts held in and around the -church on the eve of the church’s saint’s-day; and to them each -parishioner contributed his share—a dozen loaves, a cheese, or a few -gallons of ale—the whole being then sold as required, while all present -made merry. Church-Ales were, in other words, the ‘Parish-Teas’ and the -‘Knife-and-Fork Suppers’ of our own degenerate days. - -As has been said, there were in mediæval towns no theatres. Still the -townsfolk had their plays. In very early times the play-house was the -church, the plays were representations of events recorded in the -Scriptures, and the performers were the clergy. - -In the thirteenth century, however, it became the custom for these -MIRACLE-PLAYS, as they were called, to be performed no longer in the -church, but on moveable platforms, known as ‘pageants,’ in streets and -market-places, or on village greens, at the different fairs and -festivals throughout the country. Yorkshire seems to have taken a -prominent share in their creation; for we have to-day a manuscript of -forty-eight plays performed regularly at York for two hundred years, and -another of thirty plays performed at Wakefield. We know also that at -Beverley such plays were produced each year on the festival of Corpus -Christi—the Thursday after Trinity Sunday—from 1407 to 1604, and that at -Hull the play of _Noah_ was performed in the streets once each year for -a space of three centuries. - -[Illustration: A MIRACLE PLAY IN THE OLDEN TIME.] - -What the performance of a Miracle Play was like may be judged pretty -well from the accompanying illustration. The pageant was a large -‘two-decker’ vehicle, which could be drawn by men or horses from one -‘station’ to another. - -[Illustration: - - NOAH’S ARK. - (_From an old French Miracle Play_). -] - -It was the custom at York for the first play in the series—_God the -Father Almighty Creating and Forming the Heavens_—to begin on Corpus -Christi morning at 5 o’clock. This was at the gates of the Priory of -Holy Trinity. When this part of the Creation had been satisfactorily got -through, its pageant passed on to take up its second station ‘at the -door of Robert Harpham’; while another play showing _God the Father -Creating the Earth_ took its place. And so on through the whole series, -each play being thus performed at twelve different stations during the -course of the day. - -The performers of these plays were the members of the various Trade -Gilds of a town. So far as the number of plays allowed, each Gild might -have its own play, and the plays were as far as possible appropriately -distributed. Thus at York the Goldsmiths had allotted to them _The Three -Kings Coming from the East_, the Vintners had _The Turning of Water into -Wine_, and the Butchers had _The Crucifixion_. At both York and Hull the -Shipmen, or Mariners, had the play of _Noah_. - -Stage properties were well looked after. The ‘ark’ used in a French -performance of _The Deluge_ is here shown, while that used in the -corresponding play produced each ‘Plough Monday’[41] by the Hull Shipmen -was equally elaborate though built more in resemblance to an ordinary -ship. It had mast and rigging, and pictures of the animals that ‘went in -two by two’ hung round its sides painted on boards. From one festival to -another it remained suspended from the roof of Holy Trinity Church. - -Footnote 41: - - The first Monday after ‘Twelfth Night,’ _i.e._ the Monday following - January 6th. - -Some curious items occur in the old accounts of the Hull Trinity House -in this connection:— - - To Robert Brown, playing God 6d. - - To Noah and his wife 1s. 6d. - - To a shipwright for clinking Noah’s - ship, one day 7d. - - For three skins for Noah’s coat, making - it, and a rope to hang the ship in the - kirk 2s. 5d. - -When, in 1494, the Gild of the Holy Trinity had to purchase a new Ark, -the accounts show also that the cost amounted to the tremendous sum of -£7 4s. 11d. - -The lower stage of the pageant is, in the illustration, shown to be -curtained off. This lower stage was the actors’ dressing-room, and also -served very conveniently as the ‘lower regions’ from which through a -trap-door the Devil would emerge with horns and tail complete. God was -stationed on a raised platform at the back of the upper stage, and -appeared in the full dress of a Pope, saints had gilded hair and beards, -and angels were dressed in white surplices through which their gilded -wings projected. - -Most impressive and realistic these must have seemed in the eyes of the -beholders. But there were also ‘realistic effects’ to be seen—lightning, -earthquakes, and the destruction of the world by fire—as the following -items show:— - - Payd for the baryll for the yerthequake iiij_d._ - Payd for starche to make the storm vj_d._ - Payd for settynge the world of fyer v_d._ - -How realistic also must have been the crossing of the Red Sea! For the -children of Israel did actually cross it in the sight of all. ‘Halfe a -yard of Rede Sea’—there it is down in black and white among the -properties belonging to _Israel in Egypt_. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - A FOURTEENTH CENTURY ‘SHOW.’ - (_From an old Manuscript_). -] - -The mediæval Miracle Plays have long been dead in our country, but we -still have with us the remains of the great mediæval FAIRS. In the days -when few people travelled if they could possibly stay at home, and when -for the whole of the winter months the state of the country roads -prohibited all travelling except that on horseback, fairs were a -necessity. The right to hold an annual fair was therefore an eagerly -sought privilege. - -Thus Beverley, Bridlington, Hedon, Howden, Hull—all these towns very -early obtained the right to hold annual fairs. The Hedon townsfolk had -their fair every year ‘on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen, and for seven -days after,’ from the year 1162; and this fair continued to be held on -Magdalen Hill down to 1878. The charter for the holding of a fair at -Hull was granted in 1299, and the eleventh day of October, 1911, saw -Hull Fair still in full swing. - -To these mediæval fairs would come a large concourse of merchants, -minstrels, pedlars, jugglers, and rogues. To them would come also -householders and the stewards of manor-house and castle, eager to buy -cloth, silks, ribbons, pots and pans, boots and shoes, wine, wax, malt, -a store of butter to last over the winter, or a store of salt for -preparing the winter meat supply. - -[Illustration: - - BEAR-BAITING. - A fifteenth century wood-carving in St. Mary’s Church, Beverley. -] - -Among the entertainment providers would come the owner of the ‘wild -beast show’—the show consisting of a solitary elephant or dromedary, or, -much more frequently, an ape and a bear. If it is a bear that is the -showman’s stock-in-trade, then there will be a chance for dogs that have -grown sated with indulgence in the sport of bull-baiting to experience a -new sensation.[42] - -Footnote 42: - - The old ‘bull ring’ to which bulls were tethered at a bull-baiting in - the market-place of Kilham is now built into the bank of the - churchyard wall. - -Hither also would come that strange product of the middle ages—the -pardoner. He professes to have from the Pope power to grant pardons for -sins committed, or even for sins to be committed, if only satisfactory -payment is forthcoming. To prove his genuineness he has a wallet full of -parchments, brought straight from Rome, and all duly stamped with large -seals. And if that is not enough for his credulous audience he has holy -relics to show—a piece of the sail of St. Peter’s boat, and a feather -from the wing of the angel Gabriel. - -He has also the shoulder bone of a holy Jew’s sheep, which is guaranteed -to cure disease in any cow, calf, ox, or sheep, if the bone be but -washed in a bucket of water and the sick animal’s tongue well cleaned -with this water. ‘One penny’ is all his charge. ‘Bring your buckets full -of water. Now’s your chance! If you lose it, your sick cow, calf, ox, or -sheep may be dead in the morning, and you’ll be sorry ever afterwards -that you didn’t take my advice.’ - -Thus does the rascal do a roaring trade. - - - - - XIX. - THE TRADE UNIONS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. - - -With the Trade Unions of our days almost everyone is to some extent -acquainted. Certainly everyone who lives in a town is acquainted with -them. For, in the first place, most workmen in a town belong to a trade -union; and, in the second place, many who are not ‘workmen’, in the -usual meaning of the word, are made uncomfortably aware of the existence -of one or other of the Trade Unions when what is called a ‘Strike’ takes -place. - -Many people, if asked their opinion, would say that Trade Unions are a -purely modern institution—that it is only in our own times that workmen -have found the usefulness of binding themselves together in a ‘Union’ -for the obtaining of benefits which singly they could not expect to -gain. But such an opinion would be wrong. Trade Unions, though called by -a different name, existed in our country six, seven, and even eight -hundred years ago. - -What we call by the name of Trade Unions were in former times known as -CRAFT GILDS. They had this name because they were clubs, or -fraternities, or brotherhoods, of men who were engaged in some branch or -branches of handicraft, and who paid a fine—originally known as -_gildi_—to obtain the privileges of membership. - -In all towns there were found these Craft Gilds. Thus in 1406 Beverley -had thirty-eight, and the Craft Gilds of Kingston-upon-Hull in the -sixteenth and seventeenth centuries included those of the Weavers, the -Tailors, the Glovers, the Joiners, the Carpenters, the Shipwrights, the -Bricklayers, the Cobblers, the Shoemakers, the Coopers, the Brewers, the -Innholders, the Bakers, and the Barber Chirurgeons. Each of these crafts -had its own Gild. But, on the other hand, the Goldsmiths, Pewterers, -Plumbers, Glaziers, Painters, Cutlers, Musicians, Stationers, -Bookbinders, and Basketmakers had to be content with one Gild among -them; and a strange medley their Gild must have been. - -There was one great difference between these Craft Gilds and our Trade -Unions. Whereas the men who belong to the latter are the employed -workmen, those who belonged to the former were both the employers and -the employed, both the masters and the men. Hence the rules of the Gilds -were framed not only to protect the workmen against hard and unjust -masters, but also to protect the masters against dishonest and careless -workmen, and, in addition, to protect the public from being defrauded by -either dishonest masters or idle workmen. How each of these good results -was effected will be seen from the following extracts, taken from the -rules of different Craft Gilds belonging to Kingston-upon-Hull. - - * * * * * - -First, we will consider the protection of the workman. Before a _Weaver_ -might set up in business for himself he must pay xij_d._ to the Alderman -of his Gild for the inspection of his workhouse by the searchers, who -would search whether his workhouse were ‘good and able’ or not. If they -were satisfied on this point, then the owner was permitted to begin -business on payment of an ‘upsett’ of iij_s._ iiij_d._ No woman was -allowed to work at this trade within the town upon pain of xl_s._ Nor -might a _Tailor_ keep any manner of workman tailor employed within his -dwelling-house. Again, no _Joiner_ might withhold his servant’s wages -over the space of six days after the same were due. If he did, the -servant could get from the Warden an order for their payment, and the -master’s penalty for disobeying this order was xij_d._ - -For the protection of the masters there were corresponding laws:— - - If any of the brotherhood of the _Bricklayers_, being at work with - any man, do, in the time of his work, resort unto the alehouse or do - play at dice, cards, or any other unthrifty game, he shall forfeit - and pay for every time so doing viij_d._ - -So also, in the rules of the _Shipwrights_, a very heavy penalty was -imposed upon the workman who for mere caprice threw down his tools and -left his work unfinished:— - - If any person shall be lawfully retained in work by the day, and - shall unjustly and unlawfully leave or depart from the same until - such time as the same work shall be fully finished, he shall forfeit - and pay to the master warden for every such offence forty shillings - of lawful money of england. - -The protection of the public was equally well looked after. No person -might set up or keep an Inn, unless he could make and furnish four -comely and decent guest beds; and every _Innholder_ was obliged to have -in his house, ready-made, four bottles of hay, to be shown to the -searchers at all times when they came to make search. Thus the comfort -of both man and beast was ensured to travellers. - -All manufactured goods were to be open to inspection by the searchers of -the particular Gild, and any scamped or fraudulent goods were ‘seized -and forfeited.’ Thus a rule of the _Shoemakers’ Gild_ stated that— - - The searchers shall well and diligently search and try all boots, - shoes, buskins, slippers and pantoufles,[43] whether they be made of - leather well and truly tanned and curried, and well and - substantially sewed with good thread, well twisted and made and - sufficiently waxed with wax well rosined, and the stitches hard - drawn with hand leathers. - -Boots and shoes made under these regulations were intended to last in -wear for a substantially long time, and brown paper inner soles and -wooden heels would stand a poor chance of passing the inspection of the -searchers. On the shelves of the Hull Museum may be seen some pairs of -boots made and worn two hundred and fifty years ago, and still almost -‘as good as new.’ - -Footnote 43: - - The French name for slippers. - -A rule of the _Brotherhood of Cobblers_ reads quaintly. But, doubtless, -it proved a very useful rule:— - - If any cobbler shall keep any work brought to him longer than two - days, without consent of the owner, he shall forfeit for every - offence the sum of two shillings and sixpence. - -One is bound to imagine that there was in those days a brisk trade in -‘Boots Mended While You Wait.’ - -Prices were also well looked after. ‘That no one presume to sell a pound -of candles for more than one penny, or a gallon of the best ale for more -than the same, or a gallon of small ale for more than a half-penny’—so -runs one of the laws as to prices. Bakers’ charges were regulated -according to the price of wheat. A farthing and a half-penny were fixed -as the price of loaves, but the weight of the loaf varied. Thus in 1267, -when wheat was one shilling a quarter— - - White bread cost ½d. per 13 lbs. - Wheat bread ” ” ” 20 ” - Horseloaves[44] ” ” ” 27 ” - -Footnote 44: - - Horse loaves were coarse bean bread, something like the modern - dog-biscuit, and used as a winter food for horses. - -The employment of cheap unskilled labour was expressly guarded against. -In general, no master might keep more than one or two apprentices, and -each apprentice must serve for a space of seven years. By the latter -rule there was a kind of guarantee that an apprentice would learn his -craft thoroughly before becoming a journeyman. No alien might be taken -as an apprentice, and in many towns night-work was forbidden, as being -usually inferior to day-work. - - * * * * * - -When an apprentice had ‘served his time’ and learned his craft, he -might, in his turn, become free of his Gild and so earn the right to -sell the product of his hands. But this right to sell was carefully -guarded, as the following regulations of the _Coopers_ and the _Bakers_ -show:— - - No cooper, unless he be first free burgess of this town and free of - this company, shall keep any shop in this town upon pain of 5s. - weekly. - - No person or persons dwelling without this town shall sell any bread - or cakes within this town otherwise than on the Tuesdays and - Fridays, market days, in open market. - -If a craftsman was thus protected against undue competition from -outsiders, so he was protected against undue competition from those who -had a desire to encroach on someone else’s preserves. Carpenters might -not work as joiners or as shipwrights, cobblers might not work as -shoemakers, nor might shoemakers work as cobblers. ‘Every man to his own -trade’ was a maxim of the middle ages, and there was then no call for a -‘William Whiteley’ or a ‘Selfridge’s, Ltd.’ - -Sunday labour and Sunday trading were expressly forbidden in all Gilds:— - - No shopwindows of the fraternity of _Shoemakers_ shall be opened - upon the sabbath days in pain of every default viij_d._ - - No brother exercising the crafts or mysteries of a _Barber_ or - _Peruke-maker_ shall upon the Lord’s day, commonly called Sunday, - either out or in time of divine service, work, or keep open his - shop, on pain to forfeit for every time he shall be found so doing - the sum of ten shillings. - -Again, it is interesting to find that ‘Sunday Closing’ was provided for -in the following regulation:— - - No _Vintner_ or _Aleseller_ shall sell any ale or wine unto any one - before 11 o’clock on Sunday, unless to strangers, under penalty of - vj_s._ viij_d._ - - * * * * * - -Most interesting of all the thirty-eight Craft Gilds of Beverley is that -of the Minstrels. The charter of this Gild was confirmed by ‘the -gracious goodness of our most virtuous sovereign Lord and Lady, King -Philip and Queen Mary,’ and is said to date ‘from the time of King -Aethelstan, of famous memory.’ - -[Illustration: THE BEVERLEY MINSTRELS.] - -In 1520 the tower of St. Mary’s Church, Beverley, fell, and destroyed in -its fall the greater part of the nave of the church. Various families of -the town undertook the rebuilding of some portion of this, and one -portion—the north-east pillar and the wall and roof above it—was rebuilt -at the expense of the _Gild of the Minstrels_. This fact is recorded on -a tablet placed high up on the pillar, where may be read these words:— - - THYS PYLLOR - MADE THE - MEYNSTYRLS. - -Attached to the east face of the pillar are also figures of five -‘meynstyrls,’ each gaudily coloured and holding his particular musical -instrument—a tabor and pipe, a large viol, a shawm, a cittern, and a -wait or hautboy. - -Besides these numerous Craft Gilds there were MERCHANT GILDS, or, as we -should call them to-day, ‘Trading Companies.’ - -The distinction between the two kinds of Gilds is not always clear, and -in some cases a trader belonged to both. But in general the Craft Gilds -contained men who by their daily work changed the form of a thing, while -the Merchant Gilds contained those whose daily work consisted of trading -in a thing without changing its form. Thus, the Merchant Tailors bought -and sold cloth, but the Tailors made the cloth into clothes. And just as -to-day it is ‘much more respectable’ to be an egg-merchant than to be a -pastry-cook, so, five centuries ago, it was equally ‘more respectable’ -to be a merchant-tailor than a tailor pure and simple. - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF THE HULL - MERCHANTS’ - COMPANY. -] - -Chief among the Merchant Gilds of Kingston-upon-Hull were the _Gild of -the Merchant Adventurers_, originally known as the ‘Brotherhood of St. -Thomas of Canterbury,’ and the _Hull Merchants’ Company_. During the -reigns of the Tudor and Stuart Kings, these did much to foster the trade -of Hull with the great ports on the other side of the North Sea. - -A charter was granted to the Hull Merchants’ Company by Queen Elizabeth, -and King Charles II. renewed it on receipt of ‘fifty pounds of good and -lawful money of England.’ The members of the Company met in the -Merchants’ Hall—the upper story of the red-brick building on the south -of the Market Place, now known as the Choir School—and a ‘merchant’s -mark’ is still to be seen cut in three stone panels in the front wall of -the building. They were a wealthy Company, and at one time had much -power. Fines or ‘upsetts’ for the privilege of membership ranged from -6s. 8d. to £20. - -It is interesting to find that the Hull Merchants’ Company acted as a -Post Office for foreign correspondence. ‘Masters of ships’—so ran one of -the laws governing their Exchange—must - - hang up a bagg a week before their sailing, that merchants may putt - their letters therein, and soe the masters to take the same away the - night before they intend to saile. - -Equally interesting is it to find that the Hull merchants of the -seventeenth century were, evidently, firm believers in the modern -doctrine of ‘Protection.’ For, by one of the statutes regulating the -trade of the port, all alien merchants must bring their goods to the -Exchange and must pay one penny in the pound for the privilege of sale. - - * * * * * - -What an insight into the working-lives of the townspeople, whether -traders or craftsmen, we have given us in the ancient documents of the -Merchant Gilds and Trade Gilds! As Canon Lambert says in his _Two -Thousand Years of Gild Life_, they ‘bring back into view the everyday -life of the town in the centuries of which they treat. As we study them -we can mingle again in the vigorous life of the narrow streets. We can -learn how it was that the men of that time built houses of which the -mortar stands to-day as hard as stone; we can picture the barber looking -askance at the upstart man who presumed as surgeon to molest his ancient -right of letting the blood of his customers at the fall of the leaf; we -can look into the mysteries of the brewing-vat as it was before tea had -usurped the time-honoured place of the pewter at the breakfast tables of -society; we can see the shipwrights who made the ships of Elizabeth at -work; we can walk, as it were, along the small booths and shops, and -judge of the quality of the goods which had come from Hamburg or -Muscovy, or which had been fashioned with such care in the workshop -behind the parlour.’ - -Of the _Religious_ or _Social Gilds_, which existed at even earlier -times than the Merchant and Craft Gilds, something was said in Chapter -XVIII. The fate which overwhelmed the Religious Gilds during the reign -of Edward VI. had, doubtless, some effect on the Trading Companies and -Brotherhoods of Craftsmen. But the last-named were very largely excepted -from the Suppression of the Gilds in 1547, and their gradual decay and -final extinction were due to the introduction of new industries and new -methods of working. The _Hull Merchants’ Company_ became extinct in -1706, there was still existing at Beverley in 1752 the _Brotherhood of -the Barkers or Tanners_, and the last entry in the Book of the _Hull -Fraternity of Coopers_ is dated 1788. - - - - - XX. - THE SUPPRESSION OF THE MONASTERIES - AND - THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. - - -In a previous chapter were described the various buildings of a -monastery and the mode of life of its inmates. And at the end of the -chapter reference was made to the gradual loss of those high ideals -which had been the origin of the many hundred monasteries that existed -in our country at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The results of -that loss will now be described. - -The benefits to the country at large arising from the establishment of -these religious houses had been great. They served as hotels for the -rich and as almshouses for the poor. The Cistercian monks were pioneers -in agriculture. Both monks and friars got together libraries of -books—that at Meaux Abbey contained 324 volumes in 1539—and were mostly -diligent scribes. Thus they helped to spread the means of learning. - -But by the beginning of the sixteenth century many Houses had outlived -their usefulness. Their inmates had decreased in numbers until only six -monks remained where sixty had once been. Laxity of discipline crept in -with this decrease of numbers. Hence it seemed right to suppress the -small and useless religious houses, and to apply their revenues to other -useful purposes. - -This was the thought in the minds of both Cardinal Wolsey and the Pope -of Rome when in 1524 the one applied for a certain Papal Bull and the -other granted it. It was to the effect that various small monasteries to -the annual value of three thousand ducats should be suppressed, and -their revenues used to endow the new ‘Cardinal College’ which Wolsey was -then planning to build at Oxford. Four years later permission was -granted to suppress others to the annual value of eight thousand ducats. -In the following year King Henry VIII. was given permission to suppress -others to the annual value of ten thousand ducats, and to apply their -revenues to the foundation of new cathedrals. - -‘Very right and proper,’ you will probably think. ‘The money was going -to be put to a better use.’ Yes, but these suppressions might point out -to some unscrupulous adviser of the King a means whereby large supplies -of money could easily be obtained; and if the King happened to be in -need of money and was not very scrupulous as to the manner in which that -money were obtained, it might become a very dangerous precedent. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] The Gateway of Kirkham Priory. [_H.F. Farr_ - -] - -This is just what it did become. King Henry VIII. was not a particularly -scrupulous man in more ways than one, and his chief adviser after -Cardinal Wolsey’s death was particularly unscrupulous. Acting on the -advice of Thomas Cromwell, Parliament, at the close of 1535, ordered a -‘Visitation’ of the monasteries throughout the country, and the -presentation of a report based on the results of this. Accordingly, two -‘Visitors’ were appointed, who in the short space of six weeks visited, -or were said to have visited, eighty-eight monasteries in the dioceses -of Coventry, Lichfield and York. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Ruins of the East End of the Church of Kirkham Priory. - -] - -The report presented to Parliament was named THE BLACK BOOK, and its -nature was such that in February, 1536, Parliament ordered the -suppression of all monasteries that had an annual income of less than -£200. As a result 376 religious houses were suppressed, their inmates -were transferred to the larger houses or left to shift for themselves, -and their lands, to the annual value of £32,000, were forfeited to the -King. All the monasteries and nunneries in the East Riding thus came to -an end except those at Kirkham, Meaux, Watton and Bridlington, whose -annual incomes amounted to £269, £299, £360 and £547 respectively. - - * * * * * - -In most parts of the country this suppression of the smaller monasteries -caused no great stir. Undoubtedly some of them needed suppression. -Undoubtedly, too, the report which got about, that the confiscation of -the wealth of the religious houses would provide so much money for the -government that there would thenceforth be no taxes for the common folk -to pay, tended to prevent an outcry from being raised by the people. But -in two counties there were rebellions. The first, in Lincolnshire, -proved of little account; but the second, which had its origin in -Yorkshire, was a formidable rising to which was given the name of _The -Pilgrimage of Grace_. - -In this rising all the north of England was concerned. The great Abbeys -of Yorkshire exercised a powerful influence over the minds of the -people, and a widespread religious ferment broke out. Lord Darcy, Earl -of Holderness, Sir Robert Constable of Flamborough, Sir Thomas Percy, -brother of the Earl of Northumberland, and many other northern nobles -threw in their lot with the rebellious commoners. Soon forty thousand -men were enrolled under the command of Robert Aske, a Westminster lawyer -and brother of John Aske, the lord of the manor of Aughton-on-Derwent. - -The demands of Aske and his followers were:— - - (1) The restoration of the suppressed monasteries; - - (2) The expulsion of counsellors of low birth from the King’s court; - - (3) The holding of Parliament and of a Court of Justice at York as - well as at London.[45] - -Footnote 45: - - This third demand resulted in the formation of the ‘Council of the - North,’ which met at York during the next hundred years. - -Thus the rebellion had both a religious and a political aspect, but the -former was that which was most apparent. The suppression of the smaller -monasteries was to be followed by the closing and pulling down of the -smaller parish churches, and the church plate was to be confiscated as -had been that of the abbeys and priories. That was—so people said—the -intention of Thomas Cromwell, the counsellor of low birth against whom -their second demand was aimed. So the men of the North were up in arms -in defence of their religious liberties; and as they marched behind the -processional crosses brought from their parish churches, they wore on -their sleeves a roughly-made badge of the ‘five wounds of Christ.’ - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - BADGE OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE. - The letters ‘I G’ stand for the Latin - words _Itinerarium Gratiae_—the - Pilgrimage of Grace. -] - -Robert Aske had been crossing by the ferry from Brough to Barton at the -close of the ‘long vacation’ of 1536 when he was told by the boatmen -that the Commons were ‘up’ in Lincolnshire. Another London barrister, -William Stapleton, the son of Sir Brian Stapleton of Wighill, similarly -heard of the Lincolnshire rising while he was waiting at Hull to cross -the river. He had been staying with his eldest brother, ‘a very weake, -craysid and ympotent man’, in the Grey Friary at Beverley. This was -apparently a much-frequented health resort; for his brother was ‘lying -there for chaunge of ayer as he had doon the somer before from Maye till -after Mydsommer.’ - -It was three o’clock on the morning of October 5th when Christopher -Stapleton’s servant brought word to William that - - all Lyncolnshere was up from Barton to Lincoln ... and that - Grauntham way was stopped as well as Lincoln, so that no man could - passe to london vntaken. - -So William Stapleton had perforce to remain waiting in Hull. - -Meanwhile Robert Aske was sending out letters to the men of the East -Riding, and on Sunday, October 8th, the town bell at Beverley was set -ringing and the townsmen ‘took oathe to the comons.’ Then - - with greate noyse, showtes, and cryes they made proclamation everye - man to appere at Westwood grene the morrowe after with suche horse - and harnes as they had upon payne of death. - -Great was the alarm of the ‘weake, craysid’ Christopher at these doings, -and he gave orders to his people that they should keep themselves within -doors. But his wife had determined otherwise, and went out to talk over -the hedge and learn what was happening. ‘Where is your husband and his -folkes that he cometh not as other dooth?’ she was asked, and her reply -made quite clear which way her sympathies lay. ‘They be in the freers, -goo pull them oute by the heddes.’ - -Christopher Stapleton’s wife had evidently paid more heed to the advice -of a certain Carthusian monk, ‘Sir Thomas Johnson, otherwise called -Bonadventure,’ who was at that time an inmate of the Grey Friary, than -she had to the commands of her husband. - -The lady’s suggestion came very near being carried out on the following -morning. But appearances were saved by William Stapleton and his brother -Brian’s coming out on the ‘Westwood grene’ to take their oath, while -‘certayne honnest men’ were sent to record the oath of Christopher. -Whereat Christopher’s wife and the Carthusian monk were ‘very joyous and -merye,’ while outside on the ‘grene’ there were unanimous cries: -‘Maister William Stapulton shelbe our Captayne.’ - - * * * * * - -William Stapleton thus became one of the leaders of the insurgents. By -his orders Hunsley beacon and Tranby beacon were fired; men came in from -_Newbalde_ and _North Cave_, _Brantyngham_, _Cottingham_ and _Hassell_; -and a small army of nine thousand marched to _Wighton Hill_, there to -meet Robert Aske, who had ‘raysed all Howdenshire and Marshelande.’ - -Following the plan of campaign decided upon at Weighton, Aske with the -main part of the army of insurgents marched to York, which surrendered -on October 16th, and thence to Pontefract, which he captured four days -later. Meanwhile Stapleton laid siege to Hull, encamping his men close -to the Beverley Gate. The city was being held for the King by Sir Ralph -Ellerker and Sir John Constable, neither of whom would hear of -surrender; for they were determined, as Sir John Constable put it, -rather to ‘dye with honneste than lyve with shame.’ - -An easy way to effect the capture of the town was pointed out by one of -Stapleton’s men, who said that - - with one barell of pyche fiered and sent downe with the tyde he - would sett on fyer all the shippes in the haven. - -But Stapleton would have none of such methods, and, much to the disgust -of the more unruly of his men, he even forbade the firing of the -windmills near the Beverley Gate. - -The leader of this besieging force was a strict disciplinarian. He would -allow no pillaging, and gave orders that every man must pay honestly for -what he took. But ‘spoylinges and prevy pickinges’ did happen, -nevertheless; - - wheruppon he badde watche and take some therewith, and prove what he - shuld doo. And theruppon they toke one Barton a fletcher whiche the - said William had put in trust to kepe their vittall, and also one - nawghty fellow a saynetewary[46] man of Beverley and a comen picker - taken with picking muche thinges. - - Wheruppon ... he cawsed to take the same twoo, and made them beleve - they shulde dye, and theruppon assigned a freer to them being in his - companye, advysing them to make them clene to God ...; after the - whiche so doon the said William callid for one Spalding a waterman - and in the presence of all men causede them to be called oute, and - the seyntuary man was tyed by the middell with a rope to thende of - the bote and so haled over the water and seuerall tymes put downe - with the oore over the hedde. And thother seeing him thought to be - so handiled, howbeit at the request of honest men he being a - howsekeper, he was suffered to goo unponyshed and so bothe bannyshed - the hoost. - -Footnote 46: - - Sanctuary. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Howden Church from the South. - Showing how the east end of the church has been destroyed. - -] - -A very satisfactory mode of punishment it turned out to be. For after -this ‘there was never spoile in the company of the said William.’ - -The conclusion of the _Pilgrimage_ must be briefly told. The defenders -of Hull finally surrendered on honourable terms. Aske, after taking -Pontefract, went south to Doncaster, where negotiations were opened with -the Duke of Norfolk, Commander-in-Chief of the King’s forces. As a -result of these negotiations Aske was granted a safe-conduct to visit -the King in London, and returned home on January 8th, with a promise -that the King would visit York next Whitsuntide and hold there a -Parliament at which all grievances should be considered. Satisfied with -this success Aske disbanded his men. - -All might now have gone well. But unfortunately for those who had been -concerned in the rebellion, a certain Sir Francis Bigod and John Hallam, -a servant of Sir Robert Constable, formed plans for seizing the towns of -Scarborough, Beverley, and Hull, and beginning the rebellion again. -Their attempts failed, and were made the occasion of a withdrawal of the -terms previously offered by the King, and the taking of ruthless -measures to stamp out the insurrection. - - * * * * * - -The results of the Pilgrimage of Grace proved terrible for the -ringleaders. Robert Aske was decoyed to London, arrested, tried at -Westminster, exhibited as a traitor in each of the towns where he had -been welcomed as a deliverer of the people, and finally hanged, drawn, -and quartered at York. Sir Robert Constable was hanged in chains on the -Beverley Gate of Hull, Lord Darcy was beheaded on Tower Hill, Sir John -Bulmer was hanged at Tyburn, and his wife was burnt at the stake. The -abbots of Fountains, Rievaulx, and Jervaulx, together with the Prior of -Bridlington, were also hanged at Tyburn; and an excuse was thus made for -the forfeiture of their Houses to the King. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Howden Church—Ruins of the Chapter House. - -] - -When, in 1536, the decree for the suppression of the smaller monasteries -was issued, Parliament thanked God that ‘in divers and great solemn -monasteries of the realm, religion is right well kept and observed.’ The -Abbots of some of these were induced to surrender voluntarily—‘willingly -to consent and agree’ to the destruction of their Abbeys and the -confiscation of all their property. The Abbots of others were convicted -of high treason, and their Abbeys declared forfeited. One hundred and -fifty surrendered during 1538–9, and by 1540 all had been suppressed. - -The sale of the Abbey lands realised a sum of money equal to £8,500,000 -in the money of to-day, and the value of the plunder from the -shrines—gold, silver gilt, and silver crosses, chalices, and -candlesticks—was not less than another million pounds. The total cash -value to the King amounted to nearly £15,000,000 in our money. Of this -huge sum about one-half was spent on public purposes—the foundation of -new bishoprics, the building of schools, and the organisation of -harbours and other national defences.[47] The remainder went into the -pockets of the King’s courtiers, many of whom rose from comparative -poverty to a position of wealth. - -Footnote 47: - - See page 208 for an example of this. - - * * * * * - -What the _Suppression_ meant to the religious houses of the East Riding -may be judged from the following letter, written in 1538 by a servant of -Thomas Cromwell to his master:— - - Pleasythe your good Lordshipp to be advertysed. I have taken downe - all the lead of Jervayse,[48] and made itt in pecys of half-foders, - which lead amounteth to the numbre of eighteen score and five - foders,[49] with thirty and foure foders, and a half, that were - there before. And the said lead cannot be conveit, nor caryed unto - the next sombre, for the ways in that contre are so foule, and deep, - that no carrage can passe in wyntre. And as concerning the raising - and taken downe the house, if itt be your Lordshipps pleasure I am - minded to let itt stand to the Spring of the yere, by reason of the - days are now so short it wolde be double charge to do itt now. And - as concerning the selling of the bells, I cannot sell them above - 15s. the hundreth,[50] wherein I would gladly know your Lordshipps - pleasor, whether I should sell them after that price, or send them - up to London. And if they be sent up surely the carriage wolbe - costly frome that place to the water. And as for Byrdlington I have - doyn nothing there as yet, but sparethe itt to March next, bycause - the days now are so short, and from such tyme as I begyn I trust - shortly to dyspatche itt after such fashion that when all is - fynished, I trust your Lordshipp shall think that I have bene no - evyll howsbound in all such things, as your Lordshipp haith - appoynted me to doo. And thus the Holy Ghost ever preserve your - Lordshipp in honor. At York this fourteenth day of November by your - most bounden beadsman. - - RICHARD BELLYCYS. - -Footnote 48: - - Jervaulx Abbey, in the North Riding. - -Footnote 49: - - A _foder_ equals 2400 lbs. - -Footnote 50: - - Hundredweight. - -That Cromwell’s ‘most bounden beadsman’ faithfully kept his promise we -see to-day in the condition of Bridlington Priory. What we call the -‘Priory Church’ is merely the nave of the church of the Augustinian -Priory. Chancel and transepts have equally disappeared. So have the -cloisters, chapter house, frater, dorter, Abbot’s house, and the -numerous farm buildings which once stood within the Priory walls. Of the -walls themselves nothing remains but the ‘Bayle Gate.’ - - * * * * * - -A worse tale has to be told of the wilful destruction of the other -monasteries, nunneries, and friaries in our Riding. - -Of Kirkham Priory, on the bank of the river Derwent, there are remains -only of the once beautiful gateway, the cloister court, and the east end -of the church. What is now the Swine parish church was once the chancel -of the nunnery church. Of the Black Friary at Beverley there are remains -of the boundary wall. The oriel window of the Prior’s house is to be -seen built into the modern ‘Watton Priory,’ and a few stones of the -Priory of Haltemprice are built into a farmhouse which now occupies part -of its site. Of the great Abbey of Meaux—founded in 1150 by William le -Gros, Earl of Holderness, in redemption of a vow that he would make a -pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and rebuilt four times during the next hundred -years—there now remains not one stone in place above ground. And of the -Friaries once flourishing in Hull nought remains but their mere names. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - All that remained of Meaux Abbey in 1900. - -] - -‘Even where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, even there shall the -dogs lick thy blood also, O King.’ Such was the text which a certain -Grey Friar used when he had occasion to preach before King Henry. A bold -man he must have been thus to take his fate into his hands. What the -fate of Friar Peto actually was is not recorded, but we know that the -Grey Friars and the Carthusian Monks were treated with particular -brutality. - -Of the monks of the London Charterhouse five were hanged at Tyburn, and -their bodies afterwards cut up. Ten were removed to Newgate on May 29th, -1537. Sixteen days later the following report was issued:— - - There are departed 5 - There are even at the point of death 2 - There are sick 2 - There is healed 1 - -Later on all but one are reported as dead, and three years afterwards -that one was hanged at Tyburn. With his name we are already -acquainted—‘Sir Thomas Johnson, otherwise called Bonadventure.’ Surely -never was monk given a less appropriate name than his turned out to be. - - - - - XXI. - HOW THE GREAT CIVIL WAR BEGAN AT HULL. - - -In four different centuries has England suffered the pangs of that -deplorable kind of war which we are accustomed to describe by the -adjective ‘Civil.’ And in each case has the cause of the war been the -same—a disagreement as to who should be the ruler of the country’s -destinies. In the twelfth century it was a struggle between the King and -a would-be Queen, in the thirteenth a struggle between the King and his -barons, in the fifteenth a struggle between two royal families, and in -the seventeenth a struggle between King and Parliament. It is the fourth -of these wars that has gained, from the bitterness of the struggle and -the catastrophe which ended it, the additional description of ‘Great.’ - -Both King and Parliament are among the oldest of our national -institutions. In the days of the Angles and Saxons the head of the -Government was the King, but his power had not been absolute. There was -a body of King’s Counsellors, the _Witena-gemōt_, who had power to -depose the King if necessary, and in whose hands rested the elections to -the throne. - -No idea of hereditary right to the throne then existed, and after the -Norman Conquest the same right of election by the people—expressed -through the _Great Council_—remained. It was not, in fact, till the -accession of Edward I. that the principle of hereditary succession to -the throne of England became firmly recognised. Edward I. was the first -of our sovereigns to become King simply because he was the son of his -father, and without an expression of the will of the nation. - -On the death of Queen Elizabeth it happened that the throne of England -fell to the King of Scotland—a King who may be described as one-fourth -English, one-fourth French, and one-half Scots, in blood. It is, -therefore, not altogether strange that James I., ‘the wisest fool in -Christendom,’ should fail to see things from an Englishman’s point of -view, or that he should be unable to understand English customs and -English institutions. - -Thus it was that the King began to quarrel with his Parliament, and when -Charles I. became King in his father’s stead things grew rapidly worse. -According to his view, he was King of England by the manifest will of -God, and as the elect of God he was bound to consult none but God; while -all his subjects were bound to obey his will, as they would the will of -God. - -But according to the view taken by Parliament, the King was one factor -only in the Government. Commons, Lords Temporal, Lords Spiritual—the -‘Three Estates of the Realm’—had the King for their head. He was, as it -were, the keystone of the arch, of no power by himself, but of very -great power when fitted into his place in the government of the country. -Such was the view of Parliament in the early years of King Charles’ -reign. Later on the Members of Parliament thought they had made a new -discovery—that the arch would hold itself up without the help of its -keystone. - - * * * * * - -When Charles came to the throne, England was engaged in a war upon the -Continent. From his first Parliament the King demanded supplies of money -to carry on this war, but was told that he must first redress the -‘grievances’ under which the nation suffered. This not being the reply -that he had expected, he dissolved Parliament and began to raise money -by a system of compulsory loans obtained from all townsfolk who were -deemed wealthy enough to provide them. From the town of Hull the two -Commissioners, who attended at the Town Hall for the purpose, demanded -and received the sum of £332 13s. 4d. - -At the same time seaport towns were ordered to provide armed vessels -towards a fleet of one hundred ships which was being equipped. Hull’s -share was three ships large enough to transport 1350 men. - -As his second Parliament proved no more tractable than his first had -been, the King now decided to govern without a Parliament at all; and -this he did from 1629 to 1640. During this time he continued to raise -money by what many people considered to be illegal taxes—such as _ship -money_, or money provided by seaport and inland towns for the fitting -out of imaginary fleets; and _tonnage and poundage_, a levy on every tun -of wine imported and every pound’s worth of merchandise bought and sold. - -It was only to be expected that some people would object to pay taxes -which were said to be illegal. In fact many people were to be found who -said, ‘We will pay no taxes which we, through our Members of Parliament, -have not sanctioned.’ The famous John Hampden was one of these; and when -the King’s Judges said to Hampden, ‘You and everybody else must pay,’ -there were scores of people up and down the country who proclaimed -openly in the market-places, 'Well, we won’t pay, that’s all.’ - -Matters were thus getting into a very unpromising condition when, in -1639, the King levied an army of 22,000 men to make war upon the Scots, -who had shown just as strong objections to using the King’s prayer-book -as the English people had shown to paying the King’s taxes. At the head -of this army Charles marched north, and took up his quarters for a time -at York, from which place he paid a visit to Hull. - - * * * * * - -Let us now see what Hull was like when Charles visited it for the first -time. - -The plan of _Kyngeston-vpon-Hvll_ given overleaf is reproduced from the -very carefully drawn plan of a famous Dutch engraver named Hollar, and -shows the appearance of the town in 1640. Surrounding the town to the -north and west are the town wall and the moat, repaired and cleaned out -by royal orders the previous year. North Gate and Hessle Gate span the -moat and thus prevent ingress from both the Humber and the Hull. At each -of the intervening three gates—Low Gate, Beverley Gate, and Myton -Gate—the moat is spanned by a draw-bridge, and at the ends of Postern -Gate Street and Blanket Row there are in the moat stakes for the support -of bridges. - -[Illustration: - - A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF KYNGESTON-VPON-HVLL - (_From Hollar’s Plan. A.D. 1640_.) -] - -Within the town wall are plainly to be seen the chief streets and -buildings. What was called _The Ropery_ is our Humber Street, which then -formed the actual bank of the Humber. Holy Trinity Church is far and -away the largest of the buildings. St. Mary’s Church has now no tower, -this having fallen in 1540—or, as tradition puts it, having been ‘pulled -down to ye bare ground’ by order of the King. The sites of the Black -Friary and White Friary are yet unbuilt upon.[51] The Suffolk Palace, -begun by Michael de la Pole in 1384, confiscated to King Henry VIII., -and converted by him into a ‘Sitidell and a special kepe of the hole -town,’ rented of the Hildyards of Winestead by King Charles I. in 1639, -and used as a magazine for military stores, forms an imposing pile of -buildings. Its gardens stretch almost as far as the Beverley Gate. - -Footnote 51: - - The church of the Black Friary and the tower of St. Mary’s Church are - very plainly shown in the older plan given on page 165. - -On the opposite side of the river Hull, the ancient village of _Dripole_ -has disappeared, and its place is taken by a new line of fortifications -consisting of a ditch and wall, the latter strengthened by the addition -of two ‘Blockhouses’ and a ‘Castle.’ - -This line of fortifications, together with a strong bridge over the -Hull, was constructed by order of King Henry VIII. when he visited Hull -in 1541; and its cost, £23,000, was provided by the King from the -revenues of the suppressed monasteries. Large quantities of building -materials from the White and the Black Friaries were used in its -construction.[52] - -Footnote 52: - - In 1681 the North Blockhouse was abandoned, and a new Citadel built - enclosing the Castle and the South Blockhouse. The whole was - demolished about the middle of last century, with the exception of a - small turret, which still remains built into the walls of the Humber - Transport Company, but is shortly to be taken down and rebuilt in the - West Park. - -The welcome accorded to King Charles on this his first visit to Hull was -most cordial. Outside the Beverley Gate he was met by the Mayor, -Aldermen, and Recorder, who delivered to him the keys of the town, to be -received back from the King’s hands with gracious words. In the speech -made by the Recorder to his ‘Most Gracious Sovereign’ occurs this -promise:— - - ‘We make bold, with the utmost zeal and fidelity that can be, to - give your Majesty a full assurance of our most sincere loyalty, and - will adhere to you against all your enemies with the utmost of our - lives and fortunes.’ - -Then came the turn of the Mayor, who, in presenting the King with a long -ribbon, which Charles at once tied in a knot and placed in his hat, -said:— - - ‘Vouchsafe, great Sir, to accept the emblematic bond of our - obedience, which is tied as fast to your Majesty, your Crown, and - the Church, as our souls are to our bodies, and we are resolved - never to part from the former until we part from the latter.’ - -But how hollow and insincere these words were was very shortly to be -made apparent. Probably Charles himself recognised their tone of -insincerity, and was doubtless much better pleased with the ‘purse of -curious workmanship, containing one hundred guineas’ which accompanied -the giving of the ‘Hull favour.’ That night the King lodged at the house -of Sir John Lister[53] in High Street—that known to us as ‘Wilberforce -House’—the next night he lodged at Beverley, and the following day he -again reached York. - -Footnote 53: - - The King knighted his host during his visit. - - * * * * * - -These events were happening in the month of April, 1639. On the -twenty-third of the same month three years later, Charles paid his -second visit to Hull. And what a different reception was then to await -him! - -During these three years the relations between King and Parliament had -been steadily growing more strained. Each recognised the possibility of -there being in the future an appeal to arms; and each recognised, too, -the importance of possessing ‘the most important fortress in the whole -kingdom, and its vast magazine, which far exceeded the collection of -warlike stores in the Tower of London.’[54] - -Footnote 54: - - In 1639 the military stores at the King’s Manor in Hull included 50 - cannon, 200,000 muskets, carbines, pistols, and swords, 1,800 spades, - shovels, and wheelbarrows, with powder, shot, and match to the value - of upwards of £6000. Other stores of armour, powder, cannon balls, and - musket shot purchased in Holland were added in the same year. - -It was the King’s misfortune that Parliament, and not he, secured -possession of Hull. Early in 1642 the Commons appointed Sir John Hotham, -Member of Parliament for Beverley, to be Governor of Hull; and sent him -down to take possession of the town, with orders not to deliver it up -without the King’s authority ‘signified by both Houses.’ On April 23rd -the King himself set out from York on the same errand, taking care to -send forward from Beverley an officer charged with the message that the -King would shortly arrive to dine with the Governor of the town. - -But the result of this message was not what the King had expected it to -be. Having consulted Mr. Pelham, one of the two Members of Parliament -for the town, Sir John Hotham caused the bridges to be drawn up, the -gates to be closed, and the walls to be lined with soldiers. The Mayor -and townsfolk were ordered to keep within their houses. - -It was eleven o’clock in the morning when the King, with a bodyguard of -some three hundred soldiers, arrived before the Beverley Gate, where -only three years before he had received such a cordial welcome. Now, -when he commanded Sir John Hotham to open the Gate, he was met with a -polite refusal. The Governor was very sorry to have to disobey the -King’s command, but ‘he durst not open the gates to him, being intrusted -by the Parliament with the safety of the town.’ - -[Illustration: KING CHARLES I. AT THE BEVERLEY GATE, KINGSTON-UPON-HULL, -A.D. 1642.] - -To the offer of the King, that he would leave all his train outside the -Gate, with the exception of twenty horse, the Governor proved equally -unresponsive. - -From eleven o’clock till four o’clock the parleying of King and Governor -went on. Then the King ‘retired to a little house without the walls, and -after an hour’s stay returned’ and demanded a final answer. Would Sir -John Hotham admit the King to ‘a town and fort of our own, wherein our -own magazine lay;’ or would he forthwith be proclaimed a traitor? - -Sir John chose the latter alternative, and was at once proclaimed guilty -of high treason by the King’s heralds. Then the King withdrew to -Beverley, and the first act of open hostility between Parliament and -King was ended. The Great Civil War had, in fact, begun. - - - - - XXII. - HOW HULL WAS TWICE BESIEGED. - - -The events of April 23rd, 1642, were immediately followed by the sending -of letters to Parliament. Sir John Hotham forwarded an account of how he -had obeyed the orders of Parliament to the best of his ‘understanding -and utmost endeavours, though with some hazard of being misconceived by -His Majesty’; while the King wrote demanding that ‘his said town and -magazine might be immediately delivered up unto him, and that such -severe exemplary proceedings should be taken against those persons who -had offered him that insupportable affront, as by the law was provided.’ - -To the King’s letter no reply was given. But in reply to that of Sir -John Hotham a deputation of members was sent to thank him and the -soldiers under him for their services. Two warships were ordered to sail -immediately to Hull under the command of the Earl of Warwick; and the -following resolutions were passed by the two Houses:— - - (1) That Sir John Hotham has done nothing but in obedience to the - commands of both Houses of Parliament. - - (2) That this declaring Sir John Hotham a traitor—being a Member of - the House of Commons—is a high breach of the privilege of - Parliament. - -Copies of these resolutions, and of the ‘Declaration’ which accompanied -them, were printed and spread abroad among the people. So also, from a -printing-press established in St. William’s College at York, were issued -pamphlets giving the King’s version of recent affairs. In one of these -King Charles states his views in these words:— - - We would fain be answered, what title any subject of our kingdom has - to his house or land that we have not to our town of Hull? Or what - right has he to his money, plate, or jewels, that we have not to our - magazine or munition there? If we had ever such a title we would - know when we lost it? And if that magazine and munition, bought with - our own money, were ever ours, when and how the property went out of - us? - -The answer of the Houses of Parliament to the King’s questions was -contained in _A Declaration of the Lords and Commons on the 26th of -May_:— - - By the known law of the kingdom, the very jewels of the Crown are - not the King’s proper goods, but are only intrusted to him for the - use and ornament thereof; as the towns, forts, treasure, magazine, - offices, and people of the kingdom, and the whole kingdom itself, - are intrusted to him, for the good and safety, and best advantage - thereof; and as this trust is for the use of the kingdom, so ought - it to be managed by the advice of the Houses of Parliament, whom the - kingdom has trusted for that purpose. - -While letters, pamphlets, and declarations were thus being composed, -both King and Parliament were making preparations for actual warfare. -And herein are seen the far-reaching effects of the prologue to the -drama of the Great Civil War. The King had not—so the Royalist -historian, the Earl of Clarendon, tells us—‘one barrel of powder, nor -one musket, nor any other provision necessary for an army; and, what was -worse, was not sure of any port to which they might be securely -assigned; nor had he money for the support of his table for the term of -one month.’ - -To purchase a supply of arms and ammunition by the sale of her own -jewels, as well as of the Crown jewels, which Parliament was shortly to -declare were ‘not the King’s proper goods,’ the Queen had sailed to -Holland; and as the result of her journey a small ship, named the -_Providence_, arrived in the Humber and was run ashore in Keyingham -Creek. Sir John Hotham, hearing of its arrival, sent out from Hull a -party of soldiers to seize its cargo. But his men were unsuccessful, and -thus a small supply of military stores reached the King at York. - -Meanwhile Parliament was busy in borrowing money ‘to raise forces which -should defend the Protestant religion ... and the privileges of -Parliament.’ - -These few words show us what was really the cause of the trouble. There -had been growing up in the country a strong religious spirit which we -call Puritanism, and the Puritans hated everything that savoured of -Roman Catholicism. The Queen, Henrietta Maria, was a Roman Catholic, and -the King was thought to have leanings to ‘idolatry’ himself. It was -feared, in fact, that King Charles’ intention of raising an army of -22,000 soldiers for service in Ireland, and of arming them from the -magazine at Hull, was only a subterfuge. What he really intended, so the -Puritans said, was to overawe Parliament, and make England again a Roman -Catholic country. - -By the judicious spreading abroad of such pamphlets as the following— - - More news from Hull; or a most happy and fortunate prevention of a - most hellish and devillish plot, occasioned by some unquiet and - discontented spirits against the town of Hull, endeavouring to - command their admittance by casting balls of wild fire into the - town, which by policy and treaty they could not obtain - -—Parliament succeeded in borrowing a large sum of money, and large -quantities of plate. - -On June 3rd there assembled on Heworth Moor, close to the walls of York, -a huge gathering of the King’s adherents, whose help was asked in ‘the -defence of true religion, and of the laws and constitutions of this -kingdom.’ The King was here accompanied by his son, Prince Charles, a -bodyguard of 150 knights in armour, and some 800 soldiers. A month later -the Court was moved to Beverley, where the King took up residence in the -house of Lady Gee, a short distance within the North Bar. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: SIR JOHN HOTHAM.] - -Now began the first of two sieges which the town of Hull sustained -during the war. The King’s forces are said to have amounted to 3,000 -foot soldiers and 1,000 horsemen. Two hundred of the latter, under the -command of Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Sir Thomas Glemham, were sent -to establish forts at Paull and Hessle, on the shore of the Humber, -above and below the town. A similar number of the former were employed -in digging trenches to divert the stream which gave the town its -water-supply. - -But the Royalists were no match for the defenders of the town. The -Governor called a Council of War, and the Council decided on a bold -stroke of defence—nothing less than the cutting of the banks of the -Humber and the Hull. This was immediately carried out, with the result -that the low-lying lands surrounding the town were submerged, and any -widely-planned measures of attack were rendered impossible. Sir John -Meldrum, a Scots officer whom Parliament had sent down to assist the -Governor, also organised a surprise attack on the King’s forces. The -foot soldiers fled at the first blow, and the horse soldiers, thus left -unsupported, were compelled to retreat to Beverley. - -Luck was, it seemed, entirely against the King. Off Paull one of the -Earl of Warwick’s ships of war fought with and sank a vessel bringing -guns and ammunition to him, and in an engagement in the village of -Anlaby a barn was set on fire which contained a large portion of the -ammunition which he then possessed. These reverses caused the King to -decide on raising the siege, and on retiring to York. - -The measures adopted by the Governor for the defence of Hull thus proved -entirely successful. But an interesting side-light on these measures is -thrown by _The Humble Petition of the Gentry and Inhabitants of -Holderness_, which was signed by ‘neer three hundred’ of his ‘Majesties -most loyall and oppressed subjects,’ and ‘delivered to His Majestie at -Beverley the sixth of July, 1642.’ The petitioners declare that they -have - - for the space of four moneths (with much patience and prejudice) - endured great and insupportable Losse ... - - They further complain that the cutting of the river banks Drowning - part, and indangering the rest of the Levell of Holderness, is a - Presumption higher than was ever yet attempted by any Subject. - -The answer of ‘the Kings most excellent Majestie,’ signed by Lord -Falkland, contains many fair words, and a promise that he will - - by drawing such Forces together as he shall be able to leavie, - endeavour the Petitioners Relief in their present sufferings— - -a promise which the ‘Gentry and Inhabitants of Holderness’ probably did -not consider altogether satisfactory. - -Queen Henrietta Maria, who had during all this time been raising -supplies of money for her husband, set sail from Holland on February -2nd, 1643, bringing with her a supply reckoned by popular rumour at -£2,000,000. For nine days the small fleet accompanying her battled -against a storm, and the Queen’s personal bravery was shown when she -kept up the spirits of her terrified attendants with the jest that -‘Queens of England are never drowned.’ - -After a second start she eventually reached Bridlington Quay, and slept -once more on land. But in the early hours of the February morning the -little seaport was awakened with the noise of guns, and the crashing of -shot among the houses. Four ships of the Parliamentarians were outside -the harbour firing at the Dutch vessels which had brought over her and -her supplies. - -Once again the Queen showed her courage. For, hurrying to a place of -safety in what scanty clothing she could lay hands on, she remembered -that she had left behind her little lap-dog, and would not rest content -until she had returned to her bedroom and rescued it. The rest of that -night the Queen spent taking refuge in a ditch, but the morning brought -to her aid some of the forces of the Earl of Newcastle, and the journey -to York was accomplished in safety. - - * * * * * - -Less than twelve months after the first siege of Hull, the town came -within an ace of falling into the hands of the King, and this through -treachery on the part of its former defender. - -Sir John Hotham, who had on more than one occasion shown a certain -amount of indecision, and who was credited by some with secret leanings -to the King’s party, was greatly angered by the decision of Parliament -that its forces in the North of England should be under the command of -another Yorkshireman, Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax. Considering himself and -his services slighted, he now, with his son, Captain Hotham, plotted to -give up the town to the Queen. - -But the plot was discovered, owing to counter-treachery on the part of -one of his relatives; and on June 29th Captain Mayer, in command of the -_Hercules_, then lying in the Humber, landed a hundred men and seized -the castle and block-houses. - -[Illustration: MEDAL STRUCK IN MEMORY OF SIR JOHN HOTHAM.] - -Meanwhile the Mayor, Mr. Thomas Raikes, had placed a guard over the -Governor’s house, and had secured possession of Captain Hotham. The -Governor himself effected his escape, passed out of the town by the -Beverley Gate, attempted unsuccessfully to cross the river Hull at -Stoneferry and at Wawne, decided to attempt to reach his house at -Scorborough, was met in Beverley by his nephew, Colonel Boynton, and was -knocked off his horse and captured by one of the latter’s soldiers. - -Both father and son were sent to London on board the _Hercules_, and -were then committed to the Tower. After an imprisonment lasting for -seventeen months they were tried at the Guildhall, and condemned to -death on a charge of ‘traitorously betraying the trust imposed upon them -by Parliament.’ New Year’s Day, 1645, saw the execution of Captain -Hotham on Tower Hill, the following day saw that of his father. - -To return to the events of 1643—Lord Ferdinando Fairfax was appointed -Governor of Hull in place of Sir John Hotham, and to raise money for the -payment of his soldiers sold to the Trinity House his store of family -plate. The agreement made on the occasion runs as follows:— - - Whereas I Ferdinando Lord Fairfax, Lord Gen̄all of the Northerne - forces raised for the Kinge, & Parlmᵗ; and Governor of the Towne of - Kingston upon Hull, have received the some of ffoure hundered - pownds, & foure shillings of the Guild, or Brotherhood of Maisters - Pilotts, & seamen of the Trynity howse of the said Towne, for the - use of the King, & Parlmᵗ: I doe hereby grant, bargaine, & sell - sev̄all peices of silver plate conteining in weight one thousand six - hundered ffiftie six ownces, to the said Trynity howse, & their - successours for ever and have delivered the said plate to Willm - Peck, & Willm Rayks Wardens of the said howse to the use thereof. In - witnesse whereof, I have hereto sett my hand & seale the 4th day of - September, Anno dni 1643 - - Fer: fairfax. - -Two days before the signing of this agreement the second siege of Hull -had been begun by the Marquis of Newcastle, with a force of 4,000 horse -soldiers and 12,000 foot. This had been rendered necessary by the fact -that Newcastle’s _Cavaliers_ would not leave their Yorkshire homes on a -march southward, while the hated _Roundheads_ remained in possession of -a stronghold from which they could with ease ravage the surrounding -country. Hence Newcastle wanted, above all things, to gain possession of -the town. - -The second siege of Hull was very largely a repetition of the first. The -besiegers cut off the water-supply, and also succeeded in mounting guns -within half-a-mile of the town walls. With these guns much damage was at -first done; for by constructing a furnace for the heating of balls, the -gunners were enabled to fire red-hot balls over the walls of the town. -But this was not for long, Lord Fairfax’s erection of a flanking battery -soon putting these guns out of action. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Hull’s Water Gate.[55] - -] - -At the beginning of the siege the Governor’s son, Sir Thomas Fairfax, -who had been driven out of Beverley, had taken refuge within the walls -with a large body of cavalry. But horse soldiers are not of much use in -repelling a siege, and their horses are likely to be a severe hindrance. -So it was in this case; and when the opportunity was afforded by the -arrival of some of Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers at Barton, Sir Thomas and -his ‘twenty troops of horse’ were ferried across to Lincolnshire. - -Footnote 55: - - This passage, which connects Blackfriargate and Little Humber Street, - was, in the seventeenth century, the only entrance to the town from - the landing-place on the Humber. It is less than seven feet wide. - -On the 22nd of September—a day being held in the town as one of fasting -and humiliation—Cromwell himself crossed over the Humber, bringing a -fresh supply of muskets and powder. The town was now once more entirely -surrounded by water. For a fortnight before this the former Governor’s -plan of cutting the rivers’ banks had been carried out, and the -Royalists thus compelled to abandon their positions. - -Things were going badly for the besiegers. On September 28th their -powder magazine at Cottingham was blown up, but whether by accident or -by treachery is not known. On October 5th a reinforcement of 500 men -crossed over to Hull from Lincolnshire, and six days later the garrison -made a successful sally and captured one of a pair of huge guns known -familiarly as ‘the Queen’s pocket pistols.’ That night the Marquis of -Newcastle determined to raise the siege, and on the 12th of October the -besieging army withdrew to York, smaller by one-half than it had been -six weeks earlier. - - * * * * * - -The importance of the two sieges of Hull cannot be overestimated. Had -the first been successful, the King would have been in the position to -strike a decisive blow before the forces of Parliament were organised. -In 1643 the King’s plan of campaign was that his three armies—his own at -Oxford, that under Sir Ralph Hopton in Cornwall, and that under the Earl -of Newcastle in Yorkshire—should converge on London, the headquarters of -Parliament. - -But for this plan to succeed two obstacles must be removed. The -Parliamentarians held the seaport towns of Plymouth and Hull. The siege -of each was undertaken; and the siege of each failed, mainly because -Parliament held ‘the command of the sea.’ Thus, in the words of the -great historian of the Great Civil War, ‘Hull and Plymouth saved the -Parliamentary cause.’ - - - - - XXIII. - SOME ANCIENT EAST RIDING FAMILIES. - - -‘My ancestor came over with William the Conqueror,’ boasts one who is -proud of his long line of ancestors. ‘So did mine’—‘and mine’—‘and -mine’—might say a good number of us. Perhaps we could not prove our -statement, but never mind. If we cannot prove that an ancestor of ours -did come over with William the Conqueror, no one can prove that he -didn’t. - -Of course we all of us had ancestors living somewhere or other in the -year 1066, but there are very few who can identify those ancestors. How -many of us can trace back our pedigree for a couple of hundred years? -Few probably. But the family descent of some of our countrymen and -countrywomen can be traced back for several hundred years. These are our -nobles and landed gentry. - -Thus the descent of the present Baron Hotham of South Dalton can be -traced back, through the Sir John Hotham who defied King Charles I., to -an ancestor who in the twelfth century changed his name from De Trehouse -to Hotham; that of Major Chichester-Constable of Burton Constable to an -Ulbert Constable who lived in the reign of Henry I.; that of the Duchess -of Norfolk to a William Fitz Nigel, who was Lord of Flamborough in the -same reign; that of Mr. W. H. St. Quintin of Scampston Hall to a Sir -Herbert de St. Quintin who was one of the companions-in-arms of William -the Conqueror; and that of the Duke of Northumberland and Earl of -Beverley to a Willelmus de Perci, who ‘came over with the Conqueror’ in -the year 1067. - - * * * * * - -Proudest of all the proud nobles of the North were the PERCYS, whose -descent from Willelmus de Perci has just been mentioned. Willelmus took -his surname from the village of Perci in Normandy, and himself boasted a -descent from one of the companions of that Rolf the Viking who sailed up -the Seine in the year 912. _Als Gernons_ he was nicknamed, from his -habit of wearing whiskers, whence the name ‘Algernon’ which was given -generation after generation to the male members of the family. - -In the Domesday Book Willelmus de Perci is recorded as the -tenant-in-chief of more than a hundred manors in Yorkshire, and of -twenty-three in Lincolnshire. Among the former were Leconfield, -Scorborough, and Nafferton; among the latter Immingham. Willelmus was -one of the Norman knights who accompanied Duke Robert of Normandy in the -First Crusade, and he died at Mountjoy within sight of the Holy City. - -Century after century the Percys took part in all great affairs of -state. A Percy fought in the Battle of the Standard, another took part -in the signing of Magna Carta at Runnymede, another was taken prisoner -with the King at the battle of Lewes, another fought in the great naval -victory of Sluys, and helped to win the battle of Neville’s Cross six -years later. - -The thirteenth Baron Percy was created Earl of Northumberland on the day -of Richard II.’s coronation. But he and his son ‘Harry Hotspur’—the hero -of the famous battle known as ‘Chevy Chace’—befriended Henry of -Lancaster when he landed at Ravenser Spurn. Afterwards, however, both -father and son rebelled, and Hotspur met his death at Shrewsbury, while -his father was slain at Bramham Moor, in Northumberland. Hotspur’s son, -the second Earl, fell at the battle of St. Albans which opened the ‘Wars -of the Roses,’ and his grandson, the third Earl, fell at Towton six -years later. Such a race of fighters were the Percys. - -Most princely of the line was Henry Algernon Percy, the fifth Earl, -nicknamed ‘Henry the Magnificent.’ He took part in the Field of the -Cloth of Gold, and ruined himself by the expense there entailed. This -Henry Percy possessed a castle at Wressle, and a fortified manor-house -at Leconfield—the latter a large house standing ‘withyn a great Mote,’ -and built ‘three partes ... of tymbere,’ the fourth part being ‘of stone -and some brike.’ The ‘Mote’ remains, but all traces of the ‘large House’ -with its eighty-three rooms have disappeared. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Wressle Castle. [_C.W. Mason_ - -] - -Wressle Castle, or rather a part of it, still exists—the only ancient -castle in the whole of the East Riding. Built in the closing years of -the fourteenth century, it remained the chief Yorkshire seat of the -Percys till the time of the Great Civil War; when orders for its -destruction were issued by a Parliamentary Committee at York, although -the owner—the tenth Earl of Northumberland—had sided with Parliament -against the King. - -The castle was built round a central courtyard, and in 1650 three sides -of the square were pulled down, only the south side being left standing. -A fire which broke out about 120 years ago completed the destruction of -the interior of this remaining side, so that what exists to-day is a -mere shell. - -This block of buildings contained the Great Chamber or Dining Hall, the -Drawing-Chamber, and the Chapel. The last was afterwards used as the -Parish Church. On its ceiling was painted the Percy motto:— - - =Esperance en Dieu ma Comforte.= - -Above the chapel was a small chamber which is thus described by a -visitor in the reign of Henry VIII.:— - - One thing I likid exceedingly yn one of the Towers, that was a - Study, caullid Paradise; where was a Closet in the midle, of 8 - squares latised aboute, and at the Toppe of every square was a Desk - ledgid to set Bookes on Cofers withyn them, and these semid as - yoinid hard to the Toppe of the Closet; and yet by pulling, one or - al wold cum downe briste higthe in rabettes,[56] and serve for - Deskes to lay Bokes on. - -Footnote 56: - - _Rabbets_ are grooves cut in the edge of a piece of wood. - -Much interesting information as to life in a mediæval castle can be -gleaned from what is known as _The Northumberland Household Book_.[57] -The original manuscript of this was prepared in 1512 by the orders of -Henry the Magnificent, and gives a detailed account of the estimated -household expenditure for a year and of the regulations of the -household. - -Footnote 57: - - A reprint was published in 1905 by A. Brown & Sons, Ltd. - -From this book we learn that the staff at Wressle Castle consisted of -166 persons, of whom eleven were priests, and that ‘the Hole Expensys -... for oone hole Yere amounted to DCCCCXXXIIJ_L._ VJ_S._ VIIJ_D._’ It -is strange to find that beds, hangings, and furniture were moved from -one residence to another when the Earl travelled, and that there is no -mention of glass among the table requisites, vessels for eating and -drinking being solely of wood or pewter. - -For travelling and for hunting the Earl’s stables contained _vj Gentle -Hors_, _iiij Palfreis_ (one for my Lady and three for my Lady’s -gentlewomen), _iij Naggs_, _iij Sumpter Hors_ and _Mail Hors_ (for -carrying the bed, coffers, and coats of mail), vij Hors for the use of -servants, and _vij Charriot-hors to drawe in the Charriot_. - - * * * * * - -Very precise rules are given for the serving of meals. Breakfast was -served at eight, and dinner at eleven, each morning. Among the rules to -be observed for the serving of meals are these:— - - First when they go to Cover, Hee [the Usher] must go before them - through the Hall, crying ‘By your leaves Gentlemen, stand by.’ - - If any unworthy Fellow do unmannerly sett himself down before his - Betters, he must take him up and place him lower. - - Let the best fashioned and apparrelled Servants attend above the - Salte, the Rest belowe. - - If one Servant have occasion to speak to another about Service att - the Table, let him whisper, for noyse is uncivil. - -What my Lord and Lady had to eat for breakfast is shown in the following -extracts:— - - BRAIKFASTIS OF FLESCH DAYS DAYLY - thorowte the Yere. - - BRAIKFASTIS for my Lorde and my Lady. - - FURST a Loof of Brede in Trenchors ij Manchetts[58] j Quart of Bere - a Quart of Wyne Half a Chyne of Mutton or ells a Chyne of Beif - boilid. - -Footnote 58: - - Small loaves of white bread. - -During Lent no breakfast was allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, -but on the other days of the week there were provided in place of -‘meitt’:— - - ij Pecys of Saltfisch vj Baconn’d Herryng iiij White Herryng or a - Dysche of Sproits. - -What the Earl’s children had for breakfast in the nursery is similarly -shown:— - - BRAIKFASTS for the Nurcy for my Lady Margaret - and Mr. Yngram Percy. - - ITEM a Manchet j Quarte of Bere and iij Muton Bonys boilid. - -Or, during Lent:— - - ITEM a Manchet a Quarte of Bere a Dysch of Butter a Pece of - Saltfisch a Dysch of Sproits or iij White Herryng. - -Among the household necessaries to be provided are:—_Wheet_, _Malte_, -_Beefis_, _Muttuns_, _Gascoin Wyne_, _Poorks_, _Veelis_, _Lambes_, -_Stokfish_, _Salt Fishe_, _Whyt Hering_, _Rede Herynge_, _Sproits_, -_Salmon_, _Saltt Elis_, _Fieggs_, _Great Rasins_, _Hopps for Brewynge_, -_Hony_, _Oile_, _Waxe_, _Weik for Lightys_, _Bay Saltte_, _White -Saltte_, _Parishe Candell_, _Vinacre_, _Lynnon Clothe_, _Brass Pottis_, -_Mustarde_, _Stone Crusis_, _Rughe Pewter Vessel_, and _All Manner of -Spices_—_Piper_, _Rasyns of Corens_, _Prones_, _Gynger_, _Clovvez_, -_Sugour_, _Allmonds_, _Daytts_, _Nuttmuggs_, _Rice_, _Safferon_, and -_Coumfetts_—_See Cholys_, _Char Cholis_, _Fagoots_, and _Greet Woode_, -‘bicause Colys will not byrne withowte Wodd.’ - -For the great feasts during the year xx _Swannys_ were to be provided -from the Earl’s Carr at Arram, in addition to xxix _Does_ and xx _Bukks_ -from his Parks at Leconfield and elsewhere. So also for my Lord’s table -were to be bought _Capons_, _Geysse_, _Chekyns_, _Pegions_ (‘iij for -j_d._’), _Cunys_ (‘ij_d._ a pece’), _Pluvers_ (j_d._ a pece’), -_Mallardes_, _Woodcokes_, _Seegulls_ (‘j_d._ a pece so they be good and -in season’), _Styntes_ (‘vj for j_d._’), _Quaylles_, _Snypes_, -_Pertryges_, _Redeshankes_, _Dottrells_, _Bustardes_ and _Larkys_ (‘xij -for ij_d._’). _Hearonsewys_,[59] _Bytters_,[59] _Fesauntes_ and -_Kyrlewes_ were to be paid for at the rate of ‘xij_d._ a pece’; but the -most expensive dish was one of _Cranys_, which cost ‘xvj_d._ a pece.’ - -Footnote 59: - - Herons and Bitterns are known to-day in the East Riding as - ‘herrin-sews’ and ‘buttherbumps.’ - -What high junketings there must have been at Wressle Castle in the days -of ‘Henry the Magnificent’! Did the feasters afterwards pay for their -over-indulgence in rich food? An answer may perhaps be supplied from the -purchase of ‘xxx Saks of Charcoill for Stilling of Bottells of -Waters’—_Water of Roses_, _Water of Harts Tonge_, _Water of Parcelly_, -_Water of Walnott Leeffs_, _Water of Prymeroses_, _Water of Cowslops_, -_Water of Tandelyon_, _Water of Marygolds_ and many others—‘all worth,’ -each penitent would doubtless declare, ‘xxj_s._ a bottell.’ - - * * * * * - -In chapter XV. mention was made of the _Percy Tomb_ in the chancel of -Beverley Minster. The magnificent canopy of this was built in memory of -Eleanor Fitz Alan, wife of Henry Percy of Alnwick, who died in 1328. -Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland, lies buried in the _Percy -Chapel_ at the extreme east end of the Minster, and the wife of another -Henry Percy lies buried in Hessle Church. But of her burial there is no -record but a simple brass inscribed:— - - =Here vnder lieth Daim an percy wyff= - =to sir Henry percy=.... - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.D. Holmes_ - - The Percy Tomb, Beverley Minster. - -] - -Other proud nobles of our Riding were the WAKES and the CLIFFORDS. Hugh -Wac married the daughter of Gilbert of Gaunt, the first Earl of Lincoln, -and his son Baldwin assisted at the coronation of King Richard I. A -descendant, the first Baron Wake, fought in the Scots wars of Edward I. -Thomas, the third Baron, was granted by Edward III. leave to convert his -manor-house at Cottingham into a castle. From him the Wakes of Somerset -claim descent. - -On the chancel floor of Londesborough church may be seen the brass of -Margaret, Lady Clifford and Vescy, the wife of the Lord Clifford whom -Shakspeare calls ‘bloody Clifford.’ This Lord Clifford fought on the -Lancastrian side at the disastrous battle of Towton, and was one of the -many nobles there slain. During twenty-four years after the battle -Henry, Lord Clifford’s son, lived in disguise as a shepherd on the moors -round Londesborough and on the hills of Cumberland, thus earning the -name of ‘shepherd lord.’ But the battle of Bosworth Field restored the -fortunes of the family, and the ‘shepherd lord’ then regained ‘the -estates and honours of his ancestors.’ - -The descendants of Henry, Lord Clifford, became Earls of Cumberland, and -the heiress to the Earldom married Richard Boyle, the first Earl of -Burlington. Their great-grandson, the third Earl of Burlington, was -famed for the rebuilding of Burlington House, London, and for the -planting of the ‘Londesborough Clumps.’ This was between the years 1703 -and 1753. - -From the third Earl of Burlington the Londesborough estates passed in -descent to the Dukes of Devonshire, one of whom pulled down its ancient -Hall, and afterwards sold the estates to George Hudson, the ‘Railway -King.’ By further purchase they devolved upon the present Earl of -Londesborough. - - * * * * * - -Older than the Cliffords are the CONSTABLES, of whom there are in the -East Riding two distinct families. Robert Constable, the son of Ulbert, -possessed the manor of Halsham in the reign of King Stephen; and from -him is descended Major Chichester-Constable, Lord of the Seigniory of -Holderness, and owner of Burton Constable Hall. - -[Illustration: BURTON CONSTABLE HALL.] - -In the year 1133 was living a certain William Fitz Nigel, Constable of -Cheshire and Lord of Flamborough. From him descended Sir Marmaduke -Constable of Flamborough, who, when seventy-one years of age, fought -together with his four sons in the battle of Flodden. Sir Marmaduke lies -buried in the church at Flamborough, where, on his tomb, is a brass -inscription recording his exploits. Part of it is here given:— - - =Here lieth Marmaduke Cunstable, of fflaynborght, knyght,= - =Who made aduentore into ffrance, and for the right of the same= - =Passed over with Kyng Edwarde the fouriht, yt noble Knyght;= - =And also with noble King Herre, the seuinth of that name.= - . . . . . . . . - =But for all that, as ye se, he lieth under this stone.= - -[Illustration: - - BRASS OF SIR THOMAS DE ST. QUINTIN IN HARPHAM CHURCH. ABOUT A.D. 1420. -] - -The Sir Robert Constable who took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace and -was hanged in chains over the Beverley Gate at Hull was Sir Marmaduke -Constable’s eldest son. With his execution the fifty-one manors that he -held were forfeited to the King, but some of these were restored to his -descendants by Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth. The last of the -Constables of Flamborough took the side of the Parliamentarians in the -Great Civil War, and signed the death-warrant of the King. - -From the second son of Sir Marmaduke Constable descended the Constables -of Everingham, to which house belongs the Duchess of Norfolk, daughter -of the late Baron Herries. From Sir Marmaduke’s nephew descended the -Constables of Wassand, whose representative to-day is Mr. Henry -Strickland Constable of Wassand Hall. - - * * * * * - -Another East Riding family whose ancestor ‘came over with the Conqueror’ -is that of the ST. QUINTINS, whose name is derived from a town in the -north of France. Sir Herbert de St. Quintin held the manors of Skipsea, -Mappleton and Brandesburton in the reign of Henry I. On the floor of the -chancel of Brandesburton church are the brasses of Sir John de St. -Quintin, who died in 1397, and his wife Lora. - -Several members of the family lie buried in Harpham Church, where are -the altar tombs of Sir William de St. Quintin, who died in 1349, and his -wife; the brasses of Sir Thomas de St. Quintin and his wife Agnes, -dating from about 1420; and the brass of another Thomas de St. Quintin, -who died in 1445. - -Sir William St. Quintin was Member of Parliament for Hull in the reigns -of William III., Anne, and George I.; and Mr. William Herbert St. -Quintin, of Scampston Hall and Lowthorpe Lodge, is the present -representative of the family. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: BURTON AGNES HALL.] - -[Illustration: - - EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN PLATE - ARMOUR IN THE HILTON CHAPEL AT - SWINE CHURCH. ABOUT A.D. 1350. -] - -The ancient family of BOYNTONS took its name from the East Riding -village of Boynton. By marriage with the heiress of the Sir Martin de la -Mare mentioned at the close of Chapter XVII., the family became -possessed of the manor of Barmston; and in 1614 Matthew Boynton married -Frances, daughter of Sir Henry Griffith of Burton Agnes. Four years -later he was created a baronet by James I., and forty years later his -son, Sir Francis Boynton, succeeded to the Burton Agnes estates. Sir -Griffith Henry Boynton of Barmston, and Mrs. T. L. Wickham-Boynton of -Burton Agnes Hall, are his descendants. - -Burton Agnes Hall is famed as being ‘one of the most beautiful Tudor -houses in Yorkshire.’ Parts of a building to the west of the Hall go -back to about the year 1170, and some of its woodwork dates from the -middle of the fifteenth century. But the Hall itself was built in the -early years of the seventeenth century, and the date 1601 and the -initials of Sir Henry Griffith and his wife are carved in the stonework -over the main doorway. - - * * * * * - -Taking part in the Wars of the Roses was a Robert Hildyard of Winestead, -famed widely as ‘Robin of Redesdale.’ Winestead came into possession of -the HILDYARDS by the marriage of this Robert with the heiress of the -HILTONS, three of whose altar tombs remain to-day in the Hilton chapel -of the church at Swine. - -Another Robert Hildyard had command of a King’s regiment of horse in the -Great Civil War, and for his services in this was knighted and -afterwards created a baronet. There are in Winestead Church fragments of -large brasses, an altar tomb, and a wall monument, to different members -of this family; to a younger branch of which belong the Hildyards who -have for many generations been rectors of Rowley. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - EFFIGY OF A KNIGHT IN - CHAIN ARMOUR IN THE - SALTMARSHE CHAPEL AT - HOWDEN CHURCH. - ABOUT A.D. 1280. -] - -How early the SALTMARSHES of Saltmarshe, near Howden, took their name is -not definitely known. Sir Edward de Salso Marisco was Member of -Parliament for Beverley in 1299, and a Geoffrey de Saltmersc held lands -at Swinefleet about 1170. Their ancestor is said to be Lionel -Saltmarshe, who was knighted by William the Conqueror in 1067. Colonel -Philip Saltmarshe is the representative of the family to-day. - - * * * * * - -Last to be mentioned here are the STRICKLANDS of Boynton. The family had -its origin at Marske, in the North Riding, and a Sir Thomas de -Strickland bore the banner of St. George at the battle of Agincourt. - -William Strickland, who purchased the manor of Boynton in 1549, sailed -when a youth to the New World with Sebastian Cabot, and helped to -discover Labrador and Newfoundland. He is said to have introduced the -turkey into our country—a deed commemorated in the family crest. His -descendant was created a baronet by King Charles I., and the present Sir -Walter William Strickland, of Boynton Hall, is the ninth holder of the -title. - -[Illustration: COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE STRICKLANDS.] - -Readers of _Tom Brown’s School-Days_ will all remember the hero’s friend -Martin, his second in the historic fight with Slogger Williams. ‘The -Madman’ was his name among his fellow school-boys, but it was as Sir -Charles Strickland that he was known in the neighbourhood of Boynton. - - - - - XXIV. - STAGE COACH AND RAILWAY. - - -Travelling for pleasure is something that we all understand. But our -forefathers a few centuries ago would have thought a person mad if he -had said he was going to take a journey for pleasure. Merchants had to -travel, and so had messengers; but ordinary folk stayed at home, unless -the burden of their sins moved them to undertake a pilgrimage to some -far-off shrine. Such journeys were performed on horseback or afoot, but -invalid women and infirm old men might use a horse-litter. - -[Illustration: - - ON THE ROAD IN 1812. - AN EAST RIDING STAGE WAGGON. -] - -Until the reign of Queen Mary I. there was in England no such thing as a -coach. The lumbering _stage waggon_ with wheels ten or twelve inches -wide, and drawn by eight or ten horses attended by a driver who rode on -the back of a pony, came into use during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. -Its successor, the _stage coach_, was not invented till the time when -King Charles paid his first visit to Hull. - -Two years before the accession of Charles II., a regular coach service -from London to York was announced, the coaches to make the journey three -times a week in the advertised time of four days. But this time was -largely exceeded as a rule, and at nearly the close of the century we -find the coach taking six days to reach London from York. - -The development of road travel may be said to date from the year 1662, -when an Act of Parliament was passed for improving the condition of the -main roads, permission being granted to those local authorities that -desired it, to erect toll bars and charge travellers for the privilege -of using the roads when put into repair. Yorkshire roads in particular -were notoriously bad, as the letter written to Thomas Cromwell in 1538 -shows.[60] - -Footnote 60: - - See pages 199–200. - -But few local authorities stirred themselves in the matter of road -improvement, and an old coach bill still preserved at the _Black Swan_ -in Coney Street, York, has a very significant reminder of the dangers -attending the journey to London in 1706:— - - All that are desirous to pass from London to York, or from York to - London ... may be received in a Stage Coach every Monday, Wednesday, - and Friday, which performs the whole Journey in Four Days (_if God - permits_). - -As an example of the TURNPIKE ACTS which became numerous as the -eighteenth century slipped away, may be taken the ‘Act for Repairing the -Road between the Town of Kingston upon Hull, and the Town of Beverley in -the East Riding of the County of York.’ This came into force on May 1st, -1744. By it Trustees were appointed - - for the surveying, ordering, amending, and keeping in Repair, the - said Road ... and they ... shall and may erect, or cause to be - erected, a Gate or Gates, Turnpike or Turnpikes, in or cross any - Part or Parts of the said Road, and also a Toll-house or Toll-houses - in or upon the same; and shall receive and take the Tolls and Duties - following, before any Horse, Mare, Gelding, Mule, Ass, Cattle, - Coach, Chariot, Landau, Berlin, Chaise, Calash, Chair, Hearse, - Litter, Waggon, Wain, or Cart, or other Carriage whatsoever, shall - be permitted to pass through the same. - -The tolls payable varied from one-and-sixpence for a six-horsed coach, -or a waggon drawn by five or more oxen, to three half-pence for an ‘Ass, -not drawing.’ A drove of oxen was charged tenpence, and one of swine or -sheep fivepence, per score. - -Thus the users of a road paid for its upkeep, the very necessary -reservation being made that no tolls were to be demanded in the case of -men and vehicles engaged in farming operations; nor for waggons carrying -hay or straw to be laid in the houses of the people in the neighbouring -parishes and townships;[61] nor from persons attending the funeral of a -parishioner, or attending ‘Church, Chapel, or other Place of Religious -Worship on Sundays’; nor from voters going to and returning from the -poll. - -Footnote 61: - - The floor of the Council Chamber at the Hull Trinity House is still - strewn with rushes, these being changed about every six weeks. - -As the result of such Turnpike Acts’ being enforced, stage coaching -increased considerably; and the year 1760 saw the birth of _Flying -Machines on Steel Springs_, that got through the journey from Leeds to -London in the short space of three days. But the journey was still -accomplished at some considerable amount of personal discomfort; for the -‘outside’ passengers had to stand all the time in a kind of huge basket -slung behind the body of the coach. - -From 1785, in which year the Royal Mails began to be conveyed by stage -coach, travel increased by leaps and bounds; and stage coaching may be -said to have reached the height of its prosperity about 1835. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: Royal Mail Schedule] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -The old coaching roads of the East Riding are shown on the map given on -the opposite page. Most frequented of all was that from Hull to York—in -part the Roman road over Barmby Moor. From Beverley to Bridlington there -were alternative routes used by rival coach proprietors. The -announcement of one of these reads as follows:— - - The BRITISH QUEEN leaves the Stirling Castle, Bridlington Quay, at - Seven every morning (Sundays excepted), by way of Brandsburton and - Beverley, and arrives at the Kingston and Vittoria Hotels, the - George and Bull and Sun Inns, Hull, at Eleven in the Forenoon. The - Coach returns in the afternoon, at four, by the same route, after - the arrival of the Barton Packet with the Express Passengers from - London, and arrives at the Stirling Castle, Bridlington Quay, at - Eight o’clock in the evening. - - The BRITISH QUEEN will be found a delightful conveyance to - Bridlington Quay, on account of the Road for the last Six Miles - being close to the Sea Side, and passing through a most beautiful - part of the country. - -So say the proprietors of the _British Queen_. But what have those of -the rival coach to tell us? - - The Public are respectfully informed that the WELLINGTON leaves the - Cross Keys General Coach Office, Hull, every morning, at Six, to - Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington and Quay, Hunmanby, and Filey, and - arrives at the Bell Inn and Blacksmith’s Arms, Scarbro’, at Twelve; - proceeds at Four to Whitby, Guisbro, Stockton, Sunderland, Shields, - Durham, Newcastle, and Edinbro’. Seats secured at any time. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: COACHING ROADS AND EARLY RAILWAYS] - - The Road by Driffield is so well known as to be universally - recommended. The Sea having made such dreadful havoc of the - Brandsburton Road during the last few years as to render it - dangerous travelling that way, being, for five or six miles, quite - at the edge of the cliff. - -Both these advertisements appeared in the columns of the _Hull Packet_ -in 1833; and timorous old ladies who wished to journey from Hull to -Bridlington in that year were no doubt very thankful to the proprietors -of the _Wellington_ for making so clear the dangers of the road -traversed by that ‘delightful conveyance,’ the _British Queen_. - -Still standing by the side of what is now Cardigan Road at Bridlington, -there is a mile stone informing all who desire the information that -Beverley is distant 22 miles. It is on the old coaching road once -traversed daily by the _British Queen_. But a few hundred yards past -this relic of the old coaching days the road now reaches the sea-shore, -and the remaining portion as far as Barmston has long since disappeared -under the waves of the North Sea. - - * * * * * - -Very pleasant it must have been in the ‘Thirties’ to travel by a -well-appointed stage coach—say the _Rockingham_, _Rodney_, _Trafalgar_, -_Wellington_, _True Briton_, _Express_, _Telegraph_, _King William_, or -_Queen Adelaide_, all of which coaches were running from Hull in 1832. - -But this would be, of course, provided the weather were fine, and one -could afford to travel ‘first class.’ It would not be pleasant to have -to get out and walk uphill as the ‘second class’ passengers were -expected to do in the case of a coach running from North Cave to Hull -through Brantingham and Hessle; and it would be decidedly unpleasant to -have to get out and push behind, as was demanded of the ‘third class’ -passengers by this coach. - -But there was always the danger of highwaymen to be faced, and the Royal -Mail travelled ‘with a guard well armed,’ as the coaching bill -reproduced on page 241 shows. - -And what of winter travelling, with the thermometer down below -freezing-point and the risk every minute of the coach’s being stuck fast -in a snow-drift on a part of the road ‘five miles from anywhere’? Here -are two local records which testify to the existence of such -discomforts:— - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - Pistols and Holsters formerly used on the Hull and Patrington Stage - Coach. - (Now in the possession of Dr. J. Wright Mason, Hull) - -] - -1839. Jan. 7. A dreadful storm visited the country.... For an hour and a - half the Scarbro’ mail coach horses could not contend against the - wind. The inside passengers of the Beverley coach had to get out - and support the vehicle from being overturned. - -1846. Dec. 15. Turnpike roads impassable with snow. Scarborough mail - coach unable to proceed beyond Bridlington. Narrow escape of - several persons from being frozen to death on the highways. - -Ten years before stage coaches reached the height of their prosperity, a -new era had begun—the era of the RAILWAY. The first railway to be used -for passenger traffic was one between Stockton and Darlington, and in -the year of its opening another from Leeds to Selby was being planned by -the great engineer, George Stephenson. - -This, as originally planned, was to be of a length of 20 miles. Near -Leeds there were to be three inclines, up each of which the train was to -be hauled by a fixed engine stationed at the summit. The rest of the -line was to be worked either by a travelling engine or by a horse. - -The latter could, it was calculated, be very profitably employed. For -his work would only be needed on the flat and up the slight inclines; -and for six or seven miles on the journey from Leeds to Selby he could -be ‘thrown off’ and could ride ‘in his own carriage behind the train of -waggons,’ until his services were again required. Such was Railway -Engineering in its infancy. - -The Leeds and Selby Railway Company having been formed, work was -proceeded with on plans drawn up by another engineer, Mr. James Walker, -and the line was declared open for traffic in 1834. - -In the following year a new Company, known as the Hull and Selby Railway -Company, was formed, with Mr. Henry Broadley as Chairman. An Act of -Parliament ‘for making a Railway from Kingston-upon-Hull to Selby’ was -then obtained, and the work of constructing the new railway was pushed -forward rapidly. - -This, the first terminal railway to be constructed in the Riding, was -expected to bring with it great advantages. By it Hull would be linked -to Manchester, and Manchester was already linked to Liverpool. Thus -there would be direct railway communication across England from the -North Sea to the Irish Sea. - -But, for all this, the scheme met with great opposition. Hull and Selby -were already served by steam packets travelling along the Humber and the -Ouse, and this service was deemed so satisfactory that there was little -chance of the new railway’s proving a commercial success. - -Objections were also raised by some of the large landowners, who feared -that the introduction of the railway would very largely decrease the -value of their properties along its route. Such objectors had, of -course, to be conciliated—as was Mr. Raikes of Welton, by a gift of -£10,000 and an undertaking to build a station at Brough instead of at -Welton. - - * * * * * - -July 2nd, 1840, saw the opening of the first terminal railway in our -Riding, amid scenes of wild enthusiasm at both Selby and Hull, as well -as at the various stations along the line. The first train from Hull to -Selby—as reported in the _Hull Packet_—‘started about a quarter past -twelve, and was nearly two hours in going to Selby. In returning, -however, the Prince performed the trip, 31 miles, in one hour and five -minutes.’[62] - -Footnote 62: - - The _Prince_ was one of the five engines employed on the new line. The - fastest non-stop run in the British Isles to-day is that made on the - N.E.R. from Darlington to York, when 44-1/4 miles are covered in 43 - minutes—an average speed of 61.7 miles per hour. - -The first East Riding time-table was a very modest affair, as will be -seen from the reproduction overleaf. The order of arrangement of the -train is seen to be:—Engine and tender, goods waggon, second-class -carriage, first-class carriage, and third-class carriage; but the -last-named is on this occasion occupied by four-legged passengers. It is -recorded that when the passengers in this were two-legged cattle, ‘a -great number of hats were lost’ and many ‘colds and inconveniences’ were -caught—facts at which we shall probably not be surprised. - -Several of the regulations of the Hull and Selby Railway seem very -quaint. It was the duty of a _station-keeper_ ‘to conduct himself -civilly,’ and ‘to enter on a waybill the number, class, and destination -of the passengers sent by each train.’ - -[Illustration: THE FIRST TIME-TABLE OF THE HULL AND SELBY RAILWAY.] - -The _guard’s_ duties were very numerous. Among them— - - He shall not allow any of the passengers to smoke in the trains, nor - in any manner to endanger themselves by imprudent exposure. No - passenger shall be allowed to ride on the outside of a carriage - without leave from the general superintendent. In the event of any - passenger being intoxicated, or disorderly, so as to annoy other - passengers, the guard shall use all gentle means to stop the - annoyance, and if he does not succeed, he shall set him down at the - next or most convenient station, and report the circumstance. - -The new method of travelling proved very popular. In 1841 the number of -passengers carried by the Hull and Selby Railway amounted to 212,000, -‘without the slightest accident to any of them.’ This was the beginning -of the days of the ‘cheap tripper,’ and it is recorded that on August -22nd, 1844— - - A pleasure train from Hebden Bridge and Luddington Foot brought - 3,200 persons [to Hull] in 82 carriages; being the longest train - that ever visited the town. - -In many cases the railway train, steam packet, and stage coach ran in -conjunction. Thus the journey from Hull to Knaresborough was completed -in the following three stages:— - - Hull to Selby by steam packet, - Selby to Micklefield by railway, - Micklefield to Knaresborough by stage coach. - -The fares for this journey were ‘6s. 6d. outside and fore-cabin,’ and -‘10s. 6d. inside and best cabin.’ Certainly the traveller could not -complain that he did not get plenty of variety for his money. - -As an instance of the success of the new Railway in transporting ‘live -stock’ may be given another extract from the _Hull Directory_:— - -1842. December 9. A cow, which arrived here by the same steamer as the - Post Office bags, outstripped those bags, 14 hours in her arrival - at Manchester. - -It is to be presumed that the cow travelled from Hull to Manchester by -train, while the Post Office bags went by mail coach. But this is left -to the imagination of the readers of the Directory. - -In 1845 the Hull and Selby Railway was leased to the York and North -Midland Company, a powerful company under the control of Mr. George -Hudson, the ‘Railway King.’ - - * * * * * - -This year and the next saw what was called the ‘Railway Mania,’ when -promoters vied with one another in preparing schemes for new railways -which people with money to invest were only too anxious to support. Two -hundred and seventy-two Acts of Parliament authorizing new railways were -obtained during the ‘boom;’ and when the ‘crash’ came, many lost the -whole of the money they had so rashly invested. - -The Hull and Bridlington Branch Railway was opened in 1846, and -continued to Scarborough the following year. In 1847, also, the York and -Market Weighton Branch Railway was opened; and the following year saw -the opening of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway ferry -from Hull to New Holland. Hull and Withernsea were joined by the Hull -and Holderness Railway in 1854. - -[Illustration: THE HULL AND BEVERLEY STAGE COACH—WILSON’S ‘SAFETY.’] - -Among the projected railways not carried out were the Hull and Market -Weighton Railway, via Brough, and the Hull, South and West Junction -Railway. One of the objectors to the former was the Vicar of South Cave, -whose objection was that if there were a station at South Cave, ‘the -scum of Hull would make it one place for their Sunday revels.’ His -summary of the results of the introduction of railways was that— - - The country youths go to some neighbouring town for a ‘lark,’ and - the tag-rag-and-bob-tail of towns come into the country, not for - sober enjoyment, but for Sunday dissipation. - -Although this line of railway was not built, an alternative route from -Hull to Market Weighton has long been provided. But the Hull, South and -West Junction Railway, which was to cross the Humber by a tunnel at -Hessle nearly forty years ago, remains as a project which will some day -be successfully carried out. - -[Illustration: - - ON THE ROAD IN 1912. - THE BEVERLEY AND BEEFORD MOTOR OMNIBUS. -] - - - - - XXV. - ENGLAND’S THIRD PORT. - - THE MODERN GROWTH OF HULL. - - -We have seen in some of the foregoing chapters how the small town of -Wyke, or Hull, was born early in the twelfth century, how it received a -charter of privileges from King Edward I., and how it was afterwards -fortified with walls and ditches that withstood successfully a couple of -sieges during the Great Civil War. It remains to see how the small, -insignificant ‘King’s Town upon Hull’ has grown into a city so important -as to take rank after London and Liverpool as ‘England’s Third Port.’ - -Six hundred years ago Hull was much smaller than, and nothing like so -important as, its neighbours, Beverley and Hedon. Yet to-day its -inhabitants number twenty-one times those of Beverley, and two hundred -and thirty-nine times those of Hedon. Why should this be? - -The answer is that in the first place Hull owes its greatness to its -position on the northern shore of the mighty Humber. When ships were -small, they could pass up the river Hull to Beverley, and could reach -Hedon by its Haven. But as ships grew in size this became no longer -possible, and Beverley and Hedon were left behind in the race, while -Hull, because of its deep water, went ahead. For it is situate at the -only spot on the north bank of the Humber where there is water -sufficiently deep to allow large ships to approach the shore. - -But there is one remarkable thing about the growth of Hull. This has -taken place almost entirely within the last two hundred years. For 450 -years after its walls were built, its inhabitants lived within them. Not -till nearly the close of the eighteenth century did their houses begin -to stretch out beyond its walls. In 1812 the area of the town was about -three times that within these walls. But in 1912 the city has extended -its arms so far beyond them that there are along its main roads six tram -routes, each measuring from one and three-quarters to two and a half -miles, while the houses of its inhabitants extend still farther. - -The rapid growth of Hull within the last hundred years may be seen also -by comparing the numbers of its inhabitants in different years:— - - In 1811 its inhabitants numbered 37,000 - ” 1841 ” ” ” 67,000 - ” 1871 ” ” ” 122,000 - ” 1901 ” ” ” 241,000 - ” 1911 ” ” ” 278,000 - -These figures show that during each period of thirty years from 1811 to -1901 the population almost doubled itself, and that the greatest actual -increase was between the years 1871 and 1901. - -And why this sudden growth? Because of the introduction and perfection -of the railway and the steamship, which together have enabled merchants -to reap full benefit from the great advantages that nature herself -bestowed upon their city. - - * * * * * - -If you turn to the fourteenth-century plan given on page 165, you will -see that trading ships are moored in the river Hull—the ‘Old Harbour,’ -as we call it to-day—on the right bank of which are the cranes for -removing their cargoes. For another four centuries the river continued -to be the only place for the mooring of ships. - -[Illustration: WHITEFRIARGATE BRIDGE AND THE VICTORIA SQUARE, HULL.] - -But when, by the revival of the whale-fishing industry in 1765, the -amount of shipping greatly increased, need was felt for more -accommodation. An Act of Parliament was therefore obtained in 1774 -giving permission to ‘the Dock Company, of Kingston-upon-Hull,’ to make -a dock extending from the river Hull to the Beverley Gate along the line -of the town moat.[63] - -Footnote 63: - - The Hull Dock Company became extinct in 1893, when its property was - purchased by the North Eastern Railway Company. - -The first stone of this dock was laid in the following year, amid scenes -of great enthusiasm. Saluted with the firing of nine cannon and -accompanied by ‘a large band of music, constables and flags,’ the Mayor -and Corporation walked in procession to the _Cross Keys_, where they -had, we read, ‘an excellent dinner.’ Nor did they forget their humbler -townsfolk, for the workmen were given ‘fifteen guineas to drink.’ - -In 1778 the work of building the dock was finished, and Hull had the -honour of possessing the first enclosed trading dock in Great Britain. -It proved a great success, paying to its 120 shareholders good dividends -out of the dues which were collected from the owners of vessels using -it. - -These varied from two pence per ton for a coasting vessel trading as far -north as Holy Island or as far south as Yarmouth, to one shilling and -ninepence per ton for vessels trading with Greenland, Africa and -America—foreign vessels paying in all cases double dues. - -THE DOCK measured nine acres in water area. In 1809 another dock was -built, with an entrance direct from the Humber. This became known as the -NEW DOCK, the corresponding adjective ‘Old’ being then applied to the -earlier one. In 1829 a JUNCTION DOCK was built between the two. The line -of the town moat was now entirely replaced with a line of docks. - -In 1840 the railway came to Hull. The station was at that time in -Kingston Street—on the site of the present Goods Station—and to give -greater access to it for ships, the RAILWAY DOCK was built off the New -Dock. - -But the four docks that Hull then possessed proved quite incapable of -dealing with the volume of trade to which they gave rise. So new ground -was tapped, and in 1850 the VICTORIA DOCK, with a water area of 20 -acres, was built. At the same time the names of the three old docks were -changed, and became thenceforth the QUEEN’S DOCK, HUMBER DOCK, and -PRINCE’S DOCK. - -For nineteen years this provision was sufficient. Then there was opened -the ALBERT DOCK, four acres larger than the Victoria Dock, and in 1880 -and 1883 this was followed by the WILLIAM WRIGHT DOCK[64] and the ST. -ANDREW’S DOCK. - -Footnote 64: - - The Albert Dock and the William Wright Dock are now combined into one, - known as the ALBERT AND WILLIAM WRIGHT DOCK. - -All this building of new docks was intended to provide greater -facilities for shipping, and as these were provided the volume of trade -went on increasing. Meanwhile new shipping companies were formed to cope -with the increase of trade. - - * * * * * - -Most famous of all the shipping companies is that known to us as ‘Thos. -Wilson, Sons & Co., Limited,’ which was started by Mr. Thomas Wilson -about the time of the opening of Junction Dock. ‘Beckinton, Wilson & -Co.’—as the firm was then called—possessed one or two sailing ships and -traded with Sweden in iron ore. ‘Thos. Wilson Sons & Co.’ possess a -fleet of nearly one hundred steamships, and trade with all the chief -ports of the world. - -[Illustration: PLAN OF DOCKS WEST OF THE RIVER HULL.] - -[Illustration: PLAN OF DOCKS EAST OF THE RIVER HULL.] - -The history of the Wilson Line has been called a romance of the shipping -world. Trade with Sweden was followed by the opening out of trade with -Russia. When the building of the Suez Canal gave added importance to the -Mediterranean, the Wilson Line began to trade with the ports of the -Adriatic Sea, and later with Odessa and Constantinople. Next came trade -with India, the _Orlando_, built at Hull in 1870, being the first -steamship to arrive at Hull from India direct. - -After this was laid the foundation of trade with New York. The success -of the new venture seemed very doubtful at first, but the Wilson Line -now carry more cargo to and from England and New York than the vessels -of any other line of steamships. Together with all these new enterprises -has gone the organisation of weekly services to the Belgian ports, and -of fortnightly services to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea. - -[Illustration: THE WILSON LINER ‘ESKIMO’ GETTING UP STEAM.] - - * * * * * - -Early in this chapter it was stated that in the first place Hull owes -its greatness to its geographical position. It is this position which -has made it a great distributing centre for imported goods, and a great -collecting centre for exported goods. The Port of Hull has thus become -‘the gateway for the world to the great manufacturing centres of -Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Midlands.’ - -[Illustration: GRAIN SHIPS DISCHARGING THEIR CARGOES INTO LIGHTERS.] - -Much of the transfer and despatch of goods is carried on over the side -of the ocean-going steamships into or from the river-going lighters and -keels, which are able to make use of two systems of inland waterways. -One of these, the _Aire and Calder Navigation_, dates from the year -1698, and is the oldest as well as the most up-to-date waterway in Great -Britain. The other system is known as the _Trent Navigation_. - -The relative cheapness of transit by water makes these inland waterways -of very great importance for all heavy traffic in which speed is not -required. For fast traffic Hull is served by three railway systems, the -North Eastern Railway, the Hull and Barnsley Railway, and the Great -Central Railway; and other Companies have running powers over the lines -of the North Eastern. - -The coming of the first railway to Hull in 1840 was described in the -preceding chapter. Five years after this event the merchants of Hull -sought to establish a Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway; but the -project fell through, and it was not till 1885 that the line now known -as the Hull and Barnsley Railway was constructed. - -With this new line was also constructed a new dock. This, the ALEXANDRA -DOCK, is the deepest dock on the east coast of Great Britain, and has a -water area of 53½ acres. - -The opening of this huge dock gave a great impetus to the export trade -in coal. In 1884 not more than 600,000 tons were exported, but in 1910 -the quantity exported reached the enormous total of 5,000,000 tons.[65] -Most of this went to North Russia, Germany, Holland, Sweden and South -America. - -Footnote 65: - - It is expected that this amount will be greatly increased within the - next few years by the opening of new collieries around Doncaster, and - the tapping of a new ‘Eastern Coalfield,’ which is believed to extend - deep down under the Humber and the Wash, right out into the North Sea. - - * * * * * - -Let us take a walk round some of the Hull docks, and try to realise what -the import and export trade really means. - -Here, in the Alexandra Dock, is a huge iron steamship into which coal is -being shipped by means of electric coal hoists or by transporter belts. -Its cargo of 5,000 tons is being taken on board at the rate of ten tons -a minute. From the hold of another equally large ship grain is pouring -into lighters ranged alongside. It will require five working-days of ten -hours each to discharge its cargo of 6,000 tons. Then the ship will take -its place under the coal hoists, and its empty hold will be filled with -an outgoing cargo of ‘black diamonds.’ - -The Victoria Dock is mainly given up to vessels unloading timber from -the White Sea and the Baltic, a large proportion of it being ‘pit props’ -for the coal mines of Yorkshire and Lancashire. - -In the Albert and William Wright Dock, as well as in the Alexandra Dock, -are vessels discharging hundreds of cases of bacon and hams from the -United States, or of frozen carcasses of sheep from South America. From -the hold of another vessel are being brought up crate after crate of -eggs from North Russia, from another bale after bale of wool from -Australia. Lined up alongside another big steamship are dozens of -agricultural engines and machines made by workmen in Gainsborough and -Lincoln. In a few weeks’ time they will be at work in the corn-fields of -Russia. - -[Illustration: AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY ON THE WAY TO RUSSIA.] - -Every day of the week we shall find ships giving up their cargoes of -linseed and cottonseed from India, Egypt, or South Russia. But if we -want to see the ‘butter boats’ emptied, we must be on the spot in the -very early hours of a Monday morning. For these boats arrive from -Denmark during the Sunday, and the work of transporting their cargoes to -the lines of railway waggons that await their arrival begins with the -last stroke of midnight. By four or five o’clock on the Monday morning -the butter is on its way to all parts of the north of England. The cargo -of one ship alone is sometimes consigned to as many as 300 separate -stations. - -[Illustration: A STEAM TRAWLER.] - -Come for a walk along the Humber Dock or on the Riverside Quay and, -according to the season of the year, we shall see unshipped cargoes of -plums from Germany; new potatoes and other vegetables from Jersey, -France, and Holland; cranberries from Russia; bananas from the Canary -Isles; apples from Australia, Canada, and the United States; oranges, -lemons, grapes, nuts, tomatoes and onions from Spain, Portugal and -Italy. - -Last of all we will pay a visit to the St. Andrew’s Dock, and watch the -entrance and unloading of the steam trawlers and steam carriers of the -Hull fishing fleets. From the fishing-grounds of the North Sea, the -White Sea, and the stormy seas around Iceland each brings its ‘catch.’ -As quickly as it can be brought up from the hold—tubs of plaice, turbot, -halibut, codfish, ling, hake or herring—it is sold at auction to the -fish buyers who attend from all the large towns of the north of England; -and as quickly it is packed on board the waiting ‘Fish Trains,’ which -will distribute it among the fifteen million people who live within -reach of the port of Hull. - - * * * * * - -We shall now be able, perhaps, to understand what is meant when we call -Hull ‘England’s Third Port.’ The following table shows the position of -Hull in comparison with the other large ports of Great Britain:— - - Annual Value of Imports - Name of Port. and Exports in 1910. - - London 360 million pounds. - - Liverpool 341 " " - - Hull 73 " " - - Manchester 47 " " - - Southampton 46 " " - - Glasgow 44 " " - - Grimsby 32 " " - -The growth of Hull’s shipping industry has meant a corresponding growth -of its manufacturing industries. Most of these find their home on the -banks of the river Hull, along whose winding course we can find oil and -cake mills, flour mills, saw mills, paint, colour and varnish works, -starch, blue and black-lead works, coal tar works, and cement works—all -one after another. - -Among these mills and works are some that rank as the largest in the -British Isles. Thus the ‘British Oil and Cake Mills, Ltd.’ have the -largest oil refinery, the ‘Hull Oil Manufacturing Co.’ are the largest -producers of castor-oil, and the firm of ‘Blundell, Spence & Co.’ own -the largest paint works. There are forty different firms engaged in the -saw-milling industry, and an equal number in the manufacture of paints, -colours and varnishes. - -[Illustration: THE N.E.R. RIVERSIDE QUAY.] - -That ‘England’s Third Port’ is still going ahead may be seen in recent -shipping and industrial developments. One of these has been the building -of a new RIVERSIDE QUAY, available for large ships at any state of the -tide, and the inauguration of a daily service of steamers to and from -the Belgian ports. Another is the construction of a new JOINT DOCK by -the North Eastern and the Hull and Barnsley Railways. This is planned to -have eventually a water area of 83 acres, and to be thus an imposing -rival of the Great Central Railway’s new dock at Immingham on the -Lincolnshire shore of the Humber. - -The year 1910 saw the beginning of a new direct steamship service -between Australia and Hull, a service which is expected to open out a -large trade in the import of Australian wool for the looms of the West -Riding. March, 1909, saw the arrival in Hull of the first large cargo of -soya beans sent out from China, and the beginning in Europe of a new -industry—the crushing of soya beans and the manufacture of soya oil and -feeding cake. - -Another new industry was started in 1907, when the ‘National Radiator -Co.’ opened a branch of their American works. They have extended their -buildings each year since the opening, and now employ nearly 1000 hands. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] The Garden Village, Hull. [_C. Bennett_ - -] - -Most noticeable of all recent developments in Hull, however, have been -the destruction of slum districts and the opening out of wide -thoroughfares in the heart of the city—a work that was carried out -during the five years’ mayoralty of Sir Alfred Gelder—the securing of an -unfailing supply of pure drinking-water; the construction of a tramway -system that is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in Great -Britain; and the planning of Garden Villages and Public Parks on the -outskirts of the city. - - - - - XXVI. - FAMOUS SONS OF THE EAST RIDING. - - - - -First in the list of those who may justly be called ‘Famous Sons of the -East Riding’ stand the names of ROGER OF HOWDEN, WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, -and PETER OF LANGTOFT. All these were men of learning in an age when -knowledge was difficult to obtain, and each devoted himself to the work -of spreading the knowledge of which he became possessed. The work that -each of them bequeathed to us is a history of our country, the histories -of the first and second being written in Latin, and that of the third in -Norman-French rimed verse. - -Roger of Howden and Peter of Langtoft took their surnames—_i.e._, -additional names—from the places at which they were born. But William of -Newburgh was born at Bridlington in 1136, and gained his surname from -the fact that he became an inmate of the monastery at Newburgh in the -North Riding. Peter of Langtoft was a Canon of the Priory at -Bridlington. - -Peter of Langtoft’s _History of English Affairs_ takes rank as the -‘finest historical work left us by an Englishman of the twelfth -century.’ It is interesting because there are introduced several of the -songs sung by the peasantry and the townsfolk of Yorkshire in the -thirteenth century. - -But most interesting to us is the _Annals_ of Roger of Howden. Roger was -a clerk, or secretary, to King Henry II., and later became one of the -King’s Justices in Yorkshire. He records several facts about his -birthplace—among them that King John spent Christmas, 1191, as a guest -of Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, at the latter’s palace or manor-house -at Howden, and that in 1200 the King granted Bishop Hugh the right to -hold there an annual fair. - - * * * * * - -Next in our list come the names of two famous churchmen, JOHN ALCOCK and -JOHN FISHER, who were both destined to become Bishops of Rochester. - -[Illustration: JOHN ALCOCK, BISHOP OF ELY.] - -John Alcock was born at Hull about 1428, and became Bishop of Rochester -in 1472. Four years later he was promoted to the see of Worcester, and -after another ten years received further promotion to the see of Ely. In -his time it was customary for churchmen to be at the head of all affairs -of the State, and twice was Bishop Alcock appointed by the King to be -Lord Chancellor of England. On the second occasion he had the duty of -opening the first Parliament of Henry VII. - -Hull folk have reason to be proud of the memory of their great townsman, -John Alcock. For not only did he reach the highest position in the -country next to the King himself, but he was also famed as a great -architect and a great patron of learning. As ‘Comptroller of the Royal -Works’ he designed the wonderful ‘Henry VII.’s Chapel’ in Westminster -Abbey, and as a patron of learning he founded Jesus College, Cambridge, -and the Hull Grammar School. - -Bishop Alcock died in 1500 at Wisbech Castle, the palace of the Bishops -of Ely, and was buried in the chapel of Ely Cathedral which he caused to -be built, and which is to this day known as ‘Bishop Alcock’s Chapel.’ - -John Fisher was twenty-nine years younger than the Bishop of Rochester -whose life has just been described. He is said to have been the son of a -Beverley mercer, and to have owed his high office in the Church to the -favour of Margaret, Countess of Richmond. - -So eager was he for the advancement of learning that he started to study -Greek when quite advanced in years; and so upright and sincere was he -that when confessor to Queen Catherine of Aragon he was ‘the only -adviser on whose sincerity and honesty she could rely.’ - -Fisher was the only bishop who opposed the divorce of Henry VIII. and -Catherine of Aragon, and hence he incurred the enmity of the King. This -was increased fourfold when, further, he refused to recognise Henry as -the ‘Supreme Head of the Church of England.’ And when, as a result of -this refusal, the Pope sent Fisher a Cardinal’s hat, Henry’s wrath -became ungovernable fury. - -‘Yf the Cardinal’s hat were layed at his feete, he wolde not stoupe to -take it up, he did set so little by it,’ were Fisher’s words when he -heard of the Pope’s present to himself. But for all that he was declared -to be guilty of treason, and was sentenced by the King to be hanged at -Tyburn as a common felon. - -[Illustration: JOHN FISHER, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.] - -Nothing would move Fisher from the position he had taken up. Come what -might, the King was not in his eyes the ‘Supreme Head of the Church.’ So -at the age of 76 he suffered the fate of most of those who ventured to -oppose the will of Henry VIII. The indignity of a death at the hangman’s -hands was spared him, and he was beheaded on Tower Hill, his head being -afterwards spiked on London Bridge, and his body buried in St. Peter’s -Chapel, by the side of that of his friend, the great statesman Sir -Thomas More. - - * * * * * - -‘A pure-minded patriot in the most corrupt times.’ Such has been the -description of ANDREW MARVELL—son of a rector of Winestead and master of -the Hull Grammar School—who was assistant to John Milton, the Latin -Secretary to the Council of State in the time of the Commonwealth, and -Member of Parliament for Hull during nineteen years. - -[Illustration: Andr. Marvell] - -Andrew Marvell was born in 1621 at his father’s rectory, and, as an ‘old -boy’ of the Hull Grammar School, passed on to Cambridge at the age of -fifteen. When he was nineteen years old, his father was drowned in -crossing the Humber by the ferry-boat, and as a result he was adopted by -a Mrs. Skinner of Thornton, in North Lincolnshire. - -In 1657 Marvell entered the service of the Commonwealth, and two years -later he was elected a Member of Parliament for Hull, which post he -continued to hold until his death. It was then the custom for Members of -Parliament to be paid for their services by their constituents, and -Marvell thus received from the townsfolk of Hull the sum of six -shillings and eightpence per day ‘for knight’s pence.’ It is curious to -notice that he was the last member for Hull to be paid for his services -in Parliament until the year 1911. - -Notwithstanding this payment Marvell’s means were always very limited, -and for some years he lived in a state bordering upon actual poverty. -But the scantiness of his means did not cause him to swerve from what he -considered to be the path of honesty, and the tale is told of how Danby, -the Lord Treasurer, tried unsuccessfully to bribe him with the offer of -£1,000. ‘Up two pair of stairs in a little court in the Strand’ Marvell -was found by the Lord Treasurer’s messenger. And there he was also left, -incorruptible in his honesty. - -Marvell earned considerable fame as a writer of political satires, and -also as a poet. The poems by which he is best remembered are probably -those entitled _Thoughts in a Garden_ and _An Horatian Ode upon -Cromwell’s Return from Ireland_. - -In the latter poem occur the famous lines in which the author, himself a -strong Parliamentarian, honours the way in which King Charles I. met his -death:— - - He nothing common did or mean - Upon that memorable scene, - But with his keener eye - The axe’s edge did try; - - Nor called the gods, with vulgar spite, - To vindicate his helpless right; - But bowed his comely head - Down, as upon a bed. - -Marvell died in 1678, so poor that his funeral expenses were paid by the -Corporation of Hull. How great his worth was may be judged from the -words of the great statesman William Pitt:—‘Every man has his own price; -I know of but one exception, and that is Marvell, in the past.’ - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - WILBERFORCE HOUSE, HIGH STREET, HULL. - The Birthplace of William Wilberforce. -] - -The house in which Sir John Lister entertained King Charles on his visit -to Hull in 1639 was also that in which was born Hull’s greatest son, -WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. Tradition states, further, that he was born in the -room in which the King had slept. - -William Wilberforce was born on August 24th, 1759, the grandson of -another William Wilberforce, who had been a Baltic merchant and an -alderman of the town. Delicate as a child, and reared in luxury, he yet -grew up filled with an understanding of the earnestness of life; and -after leaving Cambridge he entered Parliament at the age of twenty-one, -as a member for Hull. Four years later he was chosen a member for both -the county of York and the town of Hull. The former of these -distinctions was the one that he selected, and thenceforth for -twenty-eight years he remained one of the two members of Parliament for -the ‘Shire of Broad Acres.’ - -Just at that time the minds of thoughtful Englishmen were beginning to -be stirred by feelings of horror at the evils of the slave-trade. It had -been an English seaman of Queen Elizabeth’s time who had started the -traffic in human beings. And, curious as it may seem to us, that traffic -had been blessed by the Church; since the negroes who were taken across -the Atlantic to the West Indies were being given a chance to learn the -truths of Christianity. - -It had been, also, an English crew of seamen who had on one occasion -thrown overboard a hundred and forty ‘niggers’ to lighten their vessel. -But it was also Englishmen who first set to work to put an end to the -unholy traffic. - -In 1787 a small band of thinkers—Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, -William Wilberforce, and a few others—started to labour with this end in -view. The great statesmen of the time, Pitt, Burke, and Fox, all -supported their efforts, and piles of information were obtained. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.] - -They got together details of the bartering of prisoners by African -chiefs for supplies of rum; details of voyages across the Atlantic -during which the slaves lay chained on decks which had only a couple of -feet of space between them, and were so closely packed together that -they had hardly room to move their limbs; details of the cruel treatment -meted out to them when they were eventually sold to work in the sugar -plantations of the West Indies. - -But the slave-trade was a very profitable one. Merchants did not feel -anxious to give up profits of one hundred and twenty per cent.; so the -opposition met by Clarkson, Sharp, and Wilberforce was great. Eleven -times during the years 1791–1805 was a Bill introduced in Parliament for -the abolition of the slave trade, only to be either rejected by the -House of Commons, or thrown out by the House of Lords. - -However, in 1806, the Bill was passed by the Lords, and afterwards -carried in the House of Commons by two hundred and eighty-three votes to -sixteen. Royal assent to the Bill followed on March 25th, 1807. - - * * * * * - -Almost immediately after this the Ministry resigned, and a General -Election took place. This was the occasion of the historic contest -between William Wilberforce, the Hon. Henry Lascelles (son of the Earl -of Harewood), and Viscount Milton (son of Earl Fitzwilliam). Wilberforce -and Lascelles stood as Tories, Viscount Milton as a Whig. - -For fifteen days the polling went on in the Castle Yard at York, to -which the voters from the whole county had to travel by stage coach or -post chaise, on horseback, or afoot. From the East Riding there were -3,556 voters, and at the close of the poll the figures stood:— - - Wilberforce 11,806 - Milton 11,177 - Lascelles 10,989 - -Thus William Wilberforce and Viscount Milton became the two members for -Yorkshire. The defeated candidate owed his position at the bottom of the -poll largely to the fact that his father owned slaves on his West Indian -estates, and one of the election cries against him was ‘No Yorkshire -votes purchased with African blood!’ The election cost Wilberforce -£28,000, and each of the other two candidates about £100,000—a striking -example of the difference that has come over our political life during -the last century. - -In 1812 Wilberforce retired from his old constituency, and thenceforth -sat for a small borough in Sussex until 1825, when he withdrew from -Parliament. But the good work which he had helped to start was continued -by others, and two weeks after his burial in Westminster Abbey—August -5th, 1833—an Act of Parliament was passed for the Abolition of Slavery -in the British Colonies, the sum of money paid as compensation to -slave-owners being £20,000,000. - -The memory of our great philanthropist has been perpetuated at York by -the building of the Wilberforce School for the Blind, and at Hull by the -erection of the Wilberforce Monument near Whitefriargate Bridge, and the -opening of his birthplace in High Street as a Public Museum of Local -Antiquities. The Wilberforce Monument, which towers up 102 feet above -the roadway, bears on one of its sides the simple yet effective -inscription:— - - NEGRO - SLAVERY - ABOLISHED - I. AUGUST - MDCCCXXXIV. - -From William Wilberforce we turn to SIR TATTON SYKES—‘t’owd Squyer’ of -Sledmere. Sir Tatton was born in 1772, the second son of Sir Christopher -Sykes, and succeeded to the title and the family estates on the death of -his brother, Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, in 1823. - -Before this he had become widely known as a breeder of sheep and -racehorses, and as a fearless sportsman. At the age of twenty-three he -rode his first race at Malton, at the age of sixty he rode his last; and -on both occasions he came in the winner. - -Under Sir Christopher Sykes the cultivation of the bleak, desolate Wold -country was successfully begun, and under Sir Tatton Sykes great -improvements were wrought by the introduction of bone manure. Sir Tatton -was for forty years a master of fox-hounds, and the discovery of the -usefulness of bone manure was due to his observing that on the places -near his kennels at Eddlethorpe where the hounds were fed, the grass -grew more luxuriantly than it did elsewhere. - -Throughout his long life of ninety-one years Sir Tatton Sykes continued -to dress in the fashions of his early days—‘a long frock coat, drab -breeches, top-boots, and a frilled shirt.’ And such was his reputation -that sixty years ago the three things best worth seeing in the county -were said by Yorkshiremen to be ‘York Minster, Fountains Abbey, and -t’owd Squyer.’ - -Absolutely ‘straight’ in all that he did, he takes rank as a true -specimen of ‘The Fine Old English Gentleman’—the Sir Roger de Coverley -of the nineteenth century. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_Henry Thelwell_ - - Sir Tatton Sykes. - -] - - * * * * * - -Last on our list of Famous Sons of the East Riding stand the names of -CHARLES AND ARTHUR WILSON. - -The younger sons of Thomas Wilson, founder of the great shipping firm of -‘Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co., Limited,’ they were born at Hull in 1833 and -1836 respectively. On the retirement of their eldest brother David in -1867, the control of the firm came into their hands, and how it grew and -prospered, and how the town of Hull grew and prospered at the same time -have been described in a previous chapter. - -The parallel between the ancient family of the De la Poles and the -modern family of the Wilsons has been noted by more than one writer. It -may rightly be said that as the former were the founders of the -commercial prosperity of the town of Kingston-upon-Hull, so the latter -were the founders of the commercial prosperity of the city of Hull. - -For thirty-two years—from 1874 to 1906—Charles Wilson sat in Parliament -as a representative of the burgesses of his native place. Then his -political services were recognised by the Ministry, and he became the -first Baron Nunburnholme of Kingston-upon-Hull. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_Barry, Hull_ - - Charles Wilson, First Baron Nunburnholme. - -] - -Arthur Wilson did not, like his brother, enter political life, but -became widely famed as a sportsman. For twenty-five years he was Master -of the Holderness Hunt, and the most famous Meet under his rule was that -at Brantingham Thorpe, then the residence of Mr. Christopher Sykes, in -January 1882, when more than four thousand people assembled to greet the -Prince of Wales. - -Charles, Baron Nunburnholme, died at Warter Priory, on October 27th, -1907, and his brother, Mr. Arthur Wilson, at Tranby Croft, on October -21st, 1909. The body of the latter was drawn to its resting-place in -Kirkella Churchyard on a farm rulley by a team of farm horses, and -public feeling at the time may be gauged from the following passage in -one of the newspaper reports of his death:— - - In Hull Mr. Wilson was known and respected as a just and honourable - merchant and a philanthropist; in the county he was known and - admired as a model landlord, and a keen and fearless sportsman. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Arthur Wilson. [_Barry, Hull_ - -] - - - - - XXVII. - SHIPS OF THE HUMBER. - - -Let us ask ourselves what is our idea of a ship. However we express this -in words, it will be vastly different from the idea of a ship that -possessed the minds of those early inhabitants of Holderness of whom we -read in Chapter III. Theirs was that of a tree-trunk hollowed out partly -by fire and partly by hand labour with implements of flint, until it -would balance itself on the water, and could be pushed along by its -occupants with some sort of paddle. - -Such were the ships that men first used on the Humber. Not long ago one -of them was found buried six feet below the surface of the ground at -Brigg in North Lincolnshire. - -At a time when the river Ancholme spread widely over the surrounding -land, this boat had been deserted on the river bank, and as years went -by it sank into the mud of which the bank was composed. Then the river -gradually silted up, so that what had once been a wide expanse of water -became merely a narrow water-channel. - -This ancient ‘dug-out’ is now one of the treasures of the Hull Museum. -It has been constructed of the trunk of an oak tree, split lengthwise, -and is nearly forty-eight feet long from stem to stern. Its width is -from four to five feet, and its depth roughly two feet six inches. There -is probably no oak tree growing in our country that would be tall enough -to make a similar boat of equal length. - -The stern board of the boat is a separate piece of timber, fitted into a -groove along each side; and originally the sides were bound across with -leathern thongs to keep the board in position. - -[Illustration: AN ANCIENT ‘DUG-OUT’ FOUND IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE.] - -Think of the immense amount of labour that the making of this early -‘ship of the Humber’ cost. The patience that its makers must have -displayed would put some of us to utter shame in our frantic haste to -finish a thing in the shortest possible space of time after its -beginning. - - * * * * * - -Long after the days of the builders of this boat, the Romans and the -Angles came to our shores. With them the knowledge of shipbuilding had -greatly increased, and their ships were propelled with both oars and -sails. - -Later again came the Northmen, against whose attacks the Angles prayed -in vain. A true sea-faring race were these Vikings of old, and they -could boast, as their lineal descendants in Norway boast to-day, that -they possessed more ships than any other nation in the world. - -_Long-ships_ was the name given to the Northmen’s ships of war, they -being thus distinguished from the wider and clumsier merchant ships. But -the Northmen were a poetic race, and to a Viking his ship was a ‘black -horse of the sea,’ a ‘deer of the surf’ or a ‘raven of the wind.’ - -The largest ships of the Vikings were ornamented with a dragon’s head at -the stem, and often a dragon’s tail at the stern, whence their name -_Dragons_. The dragon’s head and tail might be covered with thin sheets -of gold, if its owner were a great king. Its prow and sides might also -be coated with iron to aid in ramming other vessels. - -[Illustration: - - A VIKING SHIP ON A CHURCH DOOR. - Norman Ironwork at Stillingfleet. -] - -These ships were driven along by the use of a large square sail, and -also by the use of oars. Twenty or thirty rowers’ benches was the usual -number allowed for, and the space between two benches was known as a -‘room.’ Each ‘room’ would hold seven or eight men; so that a -thirty-seater, which would be in length about 150 feet, would have a -crew of something over two hundred men. Cnut the Great had a monster -ship 300 feet long, and containing sixty ‘rooms.’ - -The Norsemen were very fond of bright colours, and the sails of their -long-ships were made of woollen material striped red, blue, green, and -white. The sides were painted red, purple, and gold, and along each were -ranged the warriors’ shields, alternately yellow and black. - -Picture to yourself what a fleet of some two or three hundred of these -long-ships must have looked like when it sailed up the Humber. What -terror it must have struck into the hearts of those who watched its -arrival! - -Then picture another scene. A single ship, the home of a renowned -Viking, drifting slowly down the Humber on an ebb tide, with sail set, -bearing in its bosom the dead bodies of its owner and his favourite -horses, and alight from stem to stern with blazing tallow, tar, and oil. -This is the picture that a great English poet has painted for us in his -poem called _Balder Dead_:— - - Soon, with a roaring, rose the mighty fire, And the pile crackled; - and between the logs Sharp, quivering tongues of flame shot out, and - leapt, Curling and darting, higher, until they licked The summit of - the pile, the dead, the mast, And ate the shrivelling sails. But - still the ship Drove on, ablaze above her hull with fire. - -[Illustration: - - THE ANCIENT SEAL OF THE - CORPORATION OF HEDON. -] - -With the passing of centuries came more peaceful times, when the ships -that passed up and down the Humber were no longer ships of war, but -ships of peace. They were ships ‘that sailed from Hull ... to Bergen -with English wares, and brought back cargoes of salt fish; that fetched -iron from Sweden, and wine from the Rhine vineyards, and oranges and -spices and foreign fruits from Bruges; and that carried out the English -woollen cloths to Russia or the Baltic ports, and brought back wood, -tin, potash, skins and furs.’ - -What the ships of the fourteenth century were like we can judge from the -old plan of Hull on page 165, and from the drawing of the seal of the -Corporation of Hedon here shown. The Humber was then noted for its -ships, and in the year 1346 furnished the following ships and men to the -expedition fitted out by King Edward III. for the siege of Calais:— - - TOWNS SHIPS MARINERS - Kingston-upon-Hull 16 466 - Grimsby 11 171 - Barton 3 30 - Ravenser 1 27 - -For the same expedition London provided only twenty-five ships and 662 -mariners. - -Gradually the ships of the Humber increased in size; and when in 1598 -the seamen of Hull first engaged in whale fishing, the kind of ship they -had was one much more seaworthy than the ‘cockle-shells’ of previous -centuries. - -In the hall of the Hull Trinity House hangs a strange relic of the early -days of the whale fishery. This is an Esquimaux canoe, built entirely of -whalebone and sealskin, and picked up off the Greenland coast by the -captain of a Hull whaler in 1613. - -When sighted, the canoe held the dead body of its owner sitting strapped -upright with his paddle across his knees. The ‘Bonny Boat’ the English -sailors christened it, and there in the Trinity House it may be seen -to-day, with what at first glance appears to be its owner still sitting -as he sat when he died of starvation on the wide Atlantic Ocean. - -During the time of the Dutch wars of the reign of Charles II., the -whaling industry passed into the hands of the Dutch, but a century -later—in 1765—it was resumed by the Hull seamen. A shipowner named -Captain Standidge took a great part in this revival of the Greenland -fisheries, and for his services in this direction received the honour of -knighthood. - -[Illustration: ENGLISH WARSHIPS IN THE TIME OF THE ARMADA.] - -From 1772 to 1852 the WHALING INDUSTRY flourished. To the icy seas -around Spitzbergen, or to the Greenland seas and the Davis Straits, -there went each year ships of the Humber in number from three to -sixty-five. Often they were unlucky, and had to return ‘clean’—that is, -with nothing in their holds to repay their owners and their crews. -Sometimes they were still more unlucky, and did not return at all, -having been gripped in the ice or captured by French privateers. Out of -ten ships that sailed from the Humber in 1775, six came back ‘clean,’ -and two were lost. - -One of the most disastrous years known was 1835, when five of the Hull -ships were frozen up, three of them being eventually lost, one with all -hands. - -In the following year a Hull vessel, named the _Swan_, was frozen up -much farther north than the whalers usually went; so that it was the -midsummer of 1837 before she got free. Meanwhile she had been given up -as lost; and on Sunday, July 2nd, a memorial service was held on the -Dock Green, and a collection of £47 taken on behalf of the families of -the crew. In the midst of the service, however, news arrived that the -‘missing’ vessel was entering the mouth of the Humber. - -We can imagine the excitement caused by her arrival. Among other things -it meant, of course, a ‘Hextra Speshul’ edition of the News Sheet, as -the photograph on the opposite page shows. - -As a rule, however, a voyage resulted in fair profits for both owners -and crews. The thirty-one ships that went to Greenland in 1821 took -between them 204 whales, and the twenty-one that went to Davis Straits -took 294 whales. These 498 ‘fish’ produced whalebone and oil to the -value of £150,000. The average return per ship was here slightly lower -than that for the whole period 1772–1852, which works out to £3,500. - -[Illustration: - - A NEWS SHEET OF 1837. - (_Presented to the Wilberforce Museum, Hull, by Mr. John Suddaby_). -] - -Occasionally a ship would be particularly fortunate. In the Greenland -Sea in one day the _Gibraltar_ killed eleven whales, the _Manchester_ -ten, and the _Molly_ six. In 1794, also, the _Egginton_ arrived from -Greenland with the produce of fifteen whales, 3,021 seals, and five -bears. She had been away from home only a hundred days, and created a -record by afterwards making two trading voyages to St. Petersburg the -same season. - -Such luck as this was quite exceptional. Usually the capture of a single -whale meant much hard work and many dangers for the boats’ crews. In -1821 the _Baffin_ - - struck a whale which ran out fifteen lines of 240 yards each, and - dragged two boats and fifteen men for a long time. When the ‘fish’ - was killed, it was found to have been also dragging under water six - similar lines and a boat belonging to the _Trafalgar_, of Hull. The - 5,040 yards of line weighed a ton and a half. - -Most famous of the ships of the Humber that passed to and fro in the -whaling industry was the _Truelove_. This was a three-masted barque with -a length of 96 feet and a width of 27 feet. Built at Philadelphia in -1764, the _Truelove_ was captured by the English in the American war, -and eventually sold to a merchant of High Street, Hull. - -The _Truelove’s_ first whaling voyage was to Spitzbergen in 1784. From -that year till 1868 she made seventy-two voyages to Spitzbergen, -Greenland, or the Davis Straits, and accounted for about 500 whales. In -1873 she was taken to her birthplace, where the captain and crew were -fêted; and for several years afterwards she made trading voyages to -Norway until eventually she was broken up as no longer seaworthy. - -The peculiar build of the _Truelove_ accounted to a large extent for her -many hair-breadth escapes from the danger of being ‘nipped’ in the ice. -Her sides bulged outwards like a barrel; or, as sailors put it, they -‘tumbled home’ to the deck. - -One of the saddest events in the Hull whaling industry was the return -home of the _Diana_ in 1867. This was the first steamship to go to the -whaling-grounds, and in her voyage of 1866 she had the misfortune to -become locked in the ice for six months. The sufferings of her crew can -be imagined. Captain Gravill died in December, one of her crew died in -February, five died in March, and five more died in April. - -[Illustration: THE HULL WHALER ‘TRUELOVE’.] - -The _Truelove_ was sent out from the Humber as a relief ship for the -_Diana_, but the two vessels passed each other. With thirty-six men down -with the scurvy, and only seven left fit to work the ship, the -unfortunate _Diana_ eventually reached home, her dead captain’s coffin -on the ship’s bridge. - -The following year this ill-fated vessel was wrecked on the treacherous -flats of Donna Nook, off the Lincolnshire coast at the mouth of the -Humber. With her loss the whaling industry of the Humber seamen came to -an end. - - * * * * * - -During many of the years when the whale fisheries were providing work -for East Riding seamen, France and England were at war. Men were -consequently needed to man the English navy, and such notices as the -following were frequently issued in seaport towns:— - - RECRUITING FOR THE NAVY. - - =WANTED.= - - For the parishes of _Sculcoates_, _Cottingham_, and _Little - Weighton_, A few able-bodied SEAMEN or LANDMEN to serve in His - Majesty’s Navy during the present War ONLY.... The Families and - Friends of Volunteers will receive Monthly Pay, and the Volunteers - themselves will have a bountiful supply of Cloathing, Beef, Grog, - Flip, and Strong Beer, also a certainty of Prize Money, as the men - entered for this service will be sent to capture the rich Spanish - Galleons, and in consequence will return loaded with Dollars and - Honour, to spend their Days in Peace and Plenty. - - * * * * * - - May the constitution of _England_ endure for ever, and - the Parishioners of _Sculcoates_, _Cottingham_ and - _Little Weighton_ live to see it. - - Hull, November 28th, 1796. - -But the results of this ‘Recruiting for the Navy’ were not always -satisfactory, notwithstanding the ‘certainty of Prize Money’ and the -‘bountiful supply of ... Grog, Flip, and Strong Beer.’ So recourse was -had to the _Press Gang_, and many were the tricks practised by the -captains and crews of Hull whalers to reach home safely. - -[Illustration: THE FIRST STEAMSHIP BUILT ON THE HUMBER.] - -A ship of war was stationed in the Humber to board incoming whalers and -impress men for service in the navy. To escape, numbers of the men were -landed at Easington or at lonely spots farther north, and these would -make their way home as best they could by land. - -Another very ingenious trick was worked successfully by the captain of a -whaler which was boarded by a revenue cutter off Flamborough Head. This -is how Captain Barron in his _Old Whaling Days_ tells the story:— - - A revenue cutter hove in sight off Flambro’ Head when Captain - Scoresby was returning home with a full ship. When he saw it in the - distance, he let four or five feet of water into the hold through a - large brass tap which some whalers had in their counters on purpose - to fill their casks for ballast. This was kept running, so that the - pumps could not gain upon it, and when the officer boarded the ship - he was told she made so much water that the crew would not be able - to keep her afloat if he took any away. The officer sounded the - pumps, and was satisfied in finding when they stopped pumping the - water rose in the hold. He took his departure. The tap was at once - turned off, and the water pumped out. This clever trick saved his - men from being forced on board His Majesty’s ships. - -On another occasion—in 1798—the _Blenheim_ was boarded in the Humber by -_H.M.S. Nonsuch_, and a free fight followed, in which two of the -warship’s crew were slain. For this the captain of the whaler was -brought to trial at York. But he was acquitted on the charge of murder -laid against him; and when the York coach brought him safely home to -Hull, ‘the crowd took out the horses, dragged it to the Market Place, -and ran it three times round the statue of King William’ by way of -showing their joy. - -The warships of this period, were, of course, vastly different from the -battleships of which English seamen are so proud to-day. Many were built -in the Humber; the largest being the _Humber_, an eighty-gun ship, -launched at Hessle Cliff in 1693. _H.M.S. Hector_ was built by Hugh -Blaydes fifty years later. During the years 1739–1774 three warships -were built at Paull, six at Hessle, and fifteen at Hull. A memento of -the _Hyperion_, built at Hull in 1806, still exists in the name of a -small street running off Great Union Street, and a neighbouring street -bears the name of a very popular whaler, the _Aurora_. - -[Illustration: A HUMBER PILOT BOAT.] - - * * * * * - -The first steamship used on the Humber was one built in Scotland, and -hence appropriately named the _Caledonia_.[66] This steam packet ran -between Hull and Selby in 1815. Five years later the _Rockingham_ was -built at Thorne, and the following year the _Kingston_ began the -‘expeditious and easy conveyance’ of passengers from Hull to London. - -Footnote 66: - - The first steamboat built in England was constructed in a yard off - Wincolmlee, Hull, and was launched in the river Hull. This was in the - year 1787, and the engine was patented the next year. The makers, - Messrs. Furness & Ashton, afterwards built a larger steam-boat, which - was put together in London and bought by the Prince Regent, who - rewarded them with a pension of £70 each. - -The _Kingston_ was, of course, looked upon as a wonderful vessel. Its -owners proudly announced to the public:— - - In the construction of this elegant vessel, which will be propelled - by an engine of sixty horse power every attention has been paid to - render the conveyance expeditious, commodious, and safe. - -‘Expeditious’, however, it did not prove to be—at any rate on its first -voyage. For when twenty miles from the Humber, the axis of the paddles -broke; and instead of reaching London in thirty hours, as the passengers -had expected, the _Kingston_ found its way back to Hull some forty-eight -hours after its triumphant start. - -These early steam packets were somewhat different from the ocean liners -of our own day. Compare the portrait of the _Rockingham_ on page 295 -with that of the _Bayardo_ on page 299. Launched in 1910 from Earle’s -Shipbuilding Yard, at a cost of £67,000, the latter was for its short -life the ‘Queen of the Wilson Line.’ - -The fate of the _Diana_ and the _Bayardo_ illustrates the dangers of the -Humber. The latter vessel left Gothenburg on a Friday evening in -January, 1912, with a cargo worth £30,000 and a small number of -passengers. On the Saturday evening she was making her way up the Humber -in a dense fog when she ran hard aground on a sandbank almost opposite -the dock which was her destination. By the following evening her back -was broken, and the ‘Queen of the Wilson Line’ was a hopeless wreck. - -[Illustration: The ‘Southampton.’] - -[Illustration: - - The ‘Bayardo.’ - SHIPS OLD AND NEW. -] - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_C.W. Mason_ - - The Entrance to the ‘Old Harbour.’ - -] - -Stand on the Victoria Pier at Hull on a clear day, and watch the ships -of the Humber. Of all sizes and shapes and speeds they are. There we see -the keel, with its one square sail, making its way slowly along, the -peaceful descendant of the square-sailed long-ship of Viking days. There -are the schooners and barques that are survivals from the days when all -ships depended on the wind for their motive power. There is a tug-boat -taking out to its moorings the light-ship on which the safety of many -other ships will depend. - -There also are the ‘fast-sailing’ steam trawlers and carriers coming -from, or going to, the fishing-grounds off Iceland and north of the -White Sea—the representatives of the whalers of a hundred years -ago—there the scurrying pilot boats and revenue cutters. And there is a -great ocean liner riding at anchor and waiting the turn of the tide to -allow it to enter the dock and discharge the cargo it has brought from -the other side of the world. - - - - - XXVIII. - FOLK-SPEECH OF THE EAST RIDING. - - -There is a tale told of a Yorkshireman on a visit to London that he fell -into argument with a bus conductor over the correct way of pronouncing -the simple word ‘road.’ The cockney bus-conductor had, in his usual way, -called out ‘’Toria Rowd; ’Toria Rowd!’ and the Yorkshireman was highly -displeased with this obvious murder of the King’s English. ‘Rowd!’ said -he in his disgust; ‘whah dooant ya speeak English? R-o-a-d—that’s hoo -it’s spelt, beeant it? Whah dooant ya ca’ it Roo-ad?’ - -The story will serve to illustrate the fact that a man born and bred in -the heart of England’s biggest shire, and one born and bred in the heart -of England’s biggest city, do not sound all their words in the same -manner, though they may at the same time spell them alike. Moreover, -neither of the two will perhaps sound his words in the way in which -custom says it is correct to sound them. - -Such differences are to be found in many parts of the country. The -Northumberland miner, the Sheffield steel-worker, the Nottingham -lace-worker, the Norfolk grazier, and the ‘Zummerzet’ farm-labourer all -speak ‘English’; but yet they would have no little difficulty in making -one another understand what their respective English words meant. In -other words, the districts to which they belong have each a DIALECT or -FOLK-SPEECH of their own. - - * * * * * - -Let us see what are some of the peculiarities of the Folk-Speech of our -East Riding:— - -(1) An East Yorkshireman sounds his vowels in his own peculiar way. With -him I is pronounced as _ah_, warm as _wahrm_, night as _neet_, road as -_rooad_, cow as _coo_, know as _knaw_, pound as _pund_, come as _coom_, -and ought as _owt_. He is, moreover, very fond of the EEA sound; for he -makes cake into _keeak_, meat into _meeat_, home into _heeam_, sure into -_seear_, school into _skeeal_, look into _leeak_, enough into _eneeaf_, -and plough into _pleeaf_. - -(2) He finds it too much of an effort to sound the whole word ‘the,’ and -therefore clips it into _t’_; so that with him ‘the cow is in the close’ -becomes _t’ coo is i’ t’ clooase_. If he is a Holderness man even that -effort will probably be too great for him, and what he will say is _coo -is i’ clooase_. - -(3) In the same way he finds it much easier to drop the final G of words -ending in ING and to drop an initial H. To make up for the latter, -however, he may very possibly put in an occasional H somewhere where it -would not be expected. Thus he may tell us, speaking of his companions, -that _hivvry yan on em is gannin t’ ’Ool t’ morn_. - -(4) He has a very simple method of dealing with the inflections of the -verb. I am, thou art, he is; and I do, thou dost, he does, are levelled -into:— - - _Ah is_ _Ah diz_ - _Thoo is_ _Thoo diz_ - _He is_ _He diz_ - -—while, in speaking of his sheep, he may even tell us that _Them’s good -uns_. - -(5) The plural words cows, eyes, children, are not at all to his liking. -He much prefers to speak of such things as _ky_, _een_, and _childer_. -Nor does he take kindly to the ‘apostrophe s’ as a sign of the -possessive case; but will tell his boy to _stan bi t’ hoss heead_. - -(6) He is very fond of doubling his negatives, and occasionally he is -not even satisfied with the doubling process. It is said of an East -Yorkshireman whose apple trees were the aim of many a schoolboy’s stone, -that his lamentation took the form of _neeabody’s neea bisniss ti thraw -nowt inti neeabody’s gardin_. - -(7) He is also very fond of ‘strong’ past tenses and of past participles -ending in EN. The past tenses beat, crept, snowed, are with him _bet_, -_crop_, and _snew_; while the past participles burst, fought, got, held, -let, put, become _brussen_, _fowten_, _gotten_, _ho’dden_, _letten_, and -_putten_. So firmly fixed in popular favour are these forms in EN that -it is told of a small boy who had been receiving a lesson on their -incorrectness, that in a state of momentary excitement he informed his -mistress: _Pleease, miss, Billy Jooanes ha’ putten ‘putten’ wheer he owt -ti ha’ putten ‘put.’_ - -(8) The East Yorkshireman has a host of words that are all his own. Thus -he will tell us that _theer war nobbut yah coo i’ t’ helm at t’ far-end -o’ t’ pastur_; and that he _doots t’ awd meer’s boon ti dee, but happen -she mud live whahl Moon da_.[67] - -Footnote 67: - - _nobbut_=only. _boon_=ready. - _helm_=shed. _happen_=possibly. - _far-end_=opposite side. _mud_=might. - _doots_=fears. _whahl_=until. - -(9) He has likewise his own way of expressing his thoughts, and no other -will serve his purpose so well. ‘Well, my boy, who are you?’ a country -parson freshly arrived from the South is said to have asked a village -boy. _Ah’s weel, hoo’s yersen?_ was the unexpected reply that the parson -received. But, of course, he should have known that in East Yorkshire -the correct way of asking his question is ‘What do they call you?’ - -There are very many of these special modes of expression. To spread a -report is _to set it aboot_, to scold a person is _to call_ him, to call -a person is _to call of_ him, to pour hot water on tea-leaves is _to -mash t’ tay_, to be going to the bad is _to be at a loose end_, to leave -off doing a thing is _to give ower_, and to give good promise of success -is _to fraame middlin_. - -If an East Yorkshireman wishes to make known that he saw his brother -Sam, he will say _Ah seed oor Sam_. Of one who cannot look after himself -he will say that _t’ awd chap canna fend for hissen_, and of one who is -not getting better from an illness it will be said that _he dizn’t mend -onny_. - -Sometimes the result of the change of expression becomes ludicrous, as -it was in the case of the cottager who, telling of a lodger that he -prepared his own food and she did his washing for him, explained: _He -meeats hissen an’ ah weshes him_. - -The East Yorkshireman, like many other people, likes making comparisons; -but he has his own idea of what forms a fit and proper comparison. Thus, -in speaking of the steepness of a cliff he will tell us that it is _as -brant as a hoose sahd_, or he will explain that his grandfather is _as -deeaf as a yat-stowp_.[68] Concerning a person of whose capabilities he -does not think highly, he will tell us that he is _as fond as a -billy-gooat_, or _as green as a yalla cabbish_, or even _as soft as a -boiled tonnap_. - -Footnote 68: - - _Yat-stowp_=gate-post. - - * * * * * - -Many other examples of the peculiarities of the East Yorkshire -Folk-Speech might be given. What shall we say about them? Shall we smile -at what we are pleased to consider mis-pronunciations and awkward -attempts to speak the English language? When the farm-labourer, who had -been beguiled into buying a ‘solid gold-plated keyless watch jewelled in -seven holes’ from a cheap-jack in Beverley Market Place, was told by his -companion to _ax_ where the key was, and proceeded to bawl out _Wheer’s -t’ kay?_ was he to be laughed at for murdering the King’s English? - -If we wish to laugh at those who thus speak ‘broad Yorkshire’ let us do -so. But at the same time let us remember that what we are pleased to -call ‘broad Yorkshire’ is often much truer English than what we -ourselves customarily use. - -A thousand years ago our ancestors called a key _cæg_ (pronounced -_kaig_), and used the verb _acsian_ where we should use ‘ask.’ They also -used the word _cy_ (pronounced _kee_) for the plural of _cu_ (pronounced -_koo_), and the word _cilder_ (pronounced _kilder_) for the plural of -_cild_. - -So really the East Yorkshire farm-labourers are speaking the language of -their ancestors much more truly than we who mis-pronounce words and make -them into _cows_ and _ask_, and who manufacture such a double plural as -the word _child(e)r-en_. - -In numerous instances is the East Yorkshire Folk-Speech nearer to the -true English than is the commonly accepted ‘English’ of to-day. The -following examples might be multiplied indefinitely:— - - OLD ENGLISH WORDS. STANDARD ENGLISH WORDS. EAST YORKSHIRE - WORDS. - - (IN USE A.D. 912). (IN USE A.D. 1912). - - AFYRHT (pron. afraid AFEEARD - _afeert_) - - GIF if GIF - - GRAFAN (pron. to dig GRAAVE - _grahvan_) - - HAGOL hail HAGGLE - - HRYCG (pron. _hrig_) back or ridge RIG - - LICGAN (pron. to lie LIG - _liggan_) - - SETL seat SETTLE - - SWELAN to gutter (of a candle) SWEEL - - THAEC (pron. _thak_) thatch THAK - - WANCOL unsteady WANKLE - -At Beverley there are three very interesting examples of the survival of -old English words, which have elsewhere dropped entirely out of use. The -Beverley _Frith-Stool_ has preserved its name unchanged from the days -when the word which meant peace was _frith_. The street known to-day as -_Toll Gavel_ preserves memories of the time when _gafol_ meant a tax or -toll, and it is clear that tolls continued to be paid in it long after -the original meaning of this word had become forgotten. Similarly the -_Hurn_, or freemen’s pasture which was once a corner of Beverley -Westwood, has kept its name from the days when _hyrne_ meant a corner. - -Another example of how the original meaning of a word may be kept in one -instance only occurs in the descriptive name which is so commonly -applied to England’s largest shire. Yorkshire is known far and wide as -the ‘Land of the Broad Acres.’ But to how many who use this expression -does it convey any meaning? Are the acres in Yorkshire ‘broader’ than -they are elsewhere in Britain? If they are not, what sense is there in -the expression? - -As a matter of fact, the expression is a most suitable one. But it is so -only if we know that the word _aecer_ (pronounced _akker_)[69] -originally meant not a certain area of land, but merely a ploughed -field. Yorkshire is still the ‘Broad-acred Shire,’ for in no other part -of our country shall we find _fields_ of waving corn that measure as -much as a hundred acres in extent. - -Footnote 69: - - The local pronunciation of ‘acre’ in the East Riding is _yakker_; so - that the old sound of the word has been here kept, even though its - meaning has universally changed. - - * * * * * - -In Chapter VIII. we read how the fierce Northmen settled in our land, -and on pages 59–61 it was shown how numerous are Danish place-names in -the East Riding of Yorkshire. But it is not only in the place-names of -the district that we find proofs of the presence of the Northmen. There -are in common use among the inhabitants of the East Riding scores of -words that are purely Danish words, handed down from father to son, -almost or quite unchanged during more than a thousand years. Some are as -follows:— - - WORDS USED BY THE MODERN STANDARD WORDS USED IN EAST - NORSEMEN 1000 YEARS ENGLISH. YORKSHIRE TO-DAY. - AGO.[70] - - AT that (conjunction) AT - - BAND string, cord BAND - - BARN child BA’AN or BARN - - BELJA to cry, shout out BEEAL - - BUINN ready BOON - - DALIGR dismal, lonely DOWLY - - DENGJA to strike DING, DENG - - FLYTJA to change one’s abode FLIT - - FRA from FRA - - GARTHR yard GARTH - - GATA road, way GATE - - GAUKR cuckoo GOWK - - GYMBR female lamb GIMMER - - HLAUPA to leap LOWP - - HNEFI fist NEEAF - - KETLINGR kitten KITLIN - - KJARR low-lying land CARR - - KLEGGI horse-fly KLEG - - LEIKA to play LAIK - - MEGIN very MAIN - - MOLDVARPA mole MOODIEWARP - - MUNU must MUN - - REYKR smoke REEK - - SKAELA to overturn SKEL UP - - SKJAPPA basket SKEP - - SLAKKI hollow SLACK - - SLEIPR slippery SLAAPE - - STIGI ladder STEE - - THETTR watertight THEET - - THRONGR busy THRONG - -Footnote 70: - - In reading these, it should be remembered that the Norse J=_y_, - AU=_ow_, EI or EY=_ai_, and V=_w_. - -Other proofs of the great influence of the Old Norse tongue on the -language of East Riding folk are seen in their liking for the sound of K -where modern standard English demands that of CH. The words _benk_ (or -_bink_), _birk_, _breeks_, _caff_, _kirk_, _kist_, _pickfork_, and -_thack_, are commonly heard used in place of the Southern English forms -bench, birch, breeches, chaff, church, chest, pitchfork, and thatch. So -also _hask_ or _’ask_ is the East Riding pronunciation of harsh, and -_brig_ is universally used for the different meanings of the word -bridge. - - * * * * * - -In the Rev. M. C. F. Morris’s history of Nunburnholme the author gives -an amusing example of the East Riding Folk-Speech. But it is really -something more than this. For we can see from it very clearly how much -truer English is spoken by the East Yorkshire farm-labourer than by the -fine fellow who prides himself on his knowledge of the English language. - -Let us take Mr. Morris’s story—the Fable of ‘The Bear and the Bees’—in -two forms. Here is one of them:— - - ‘A bear happened to be stung by a bee, and the _pain_ was so _acute_ - that in the madness of _revenge_ he ran into the _garden_ and - overturned the hive. This _outrage_ _provoke_d their anger to a high - _degree_, and brought the _fury_ of the whole swarm upon him. They - _attack_ed him with such _violence_ that his life was in _danger_, - and it was with the utmost _difficulty_ that he made his _escape_, - wounded from head to tail. - - ‘In this _desperate_ _condition_, _lament_ing his mis_fortunes_ and - licking his sores, he could not forbear _reflect_ing how much more - _advisable_ it had been to have _acquiesce_d _patient_ly under one - _injury_ than thus by an un_profitable_ _resentment_ to have - _provoke_d a thousand.’ - -Now this version of the fable contains just over eighty different words; -and, if we turn over the pages of a French dictionary, we shall find -that twenty-one of the twenty-five words printed in italics were not -originally English words at all, but are words introduced into our -language from the French. Some of them ‘came over with the Conqueror’ -undoubtedly. Others were introduced in more recent times. The remaining -four words—_acute_, _desperate_, _reflect_ing, and _acquiesce_d—are -purely Latin words. - -Let us now take the East Yorkshireman’s account of what happened:— - - ‘Yah daay yan o’ them girt beears gat hissen sadly tenged wi’ a bee. - He wer seea _despe’t_ly ho’tten was t’ beear at he wer wahld - ommeeast. Noo, they’re a varry _lungeous_ thing is a beear, an’ seea - ti mak ’em think on t’ next tahm, he maks nowt ti deea bud he off ti - t’ _gardin_ an’ clicks t’ beeskep ower wi sikan a bat. Noo, by that, - mun, ther was a bonny ti-deea; t’ bees was sairly putten aboot, an’ - seea they all com at t’ beear, an’ leeted on him; an’ he wer that - tenged all ower, whahl it leeaked agin they wer boun ti rahve him i’ - bits; an’ he wer hard set ti ger awaay frev ’em wick. - - ‘Varry seean he was swidgin’ an’ warkin’ awhahl he could hardlins - bahd; bud, hooivver, he set hissen doon upo’ t’ grund an’ started ti - beeal, an’ he shakk’d his heead an’ scratted his lugs an’ sike - leyke. Eftther he’d gotten sattled doon a bit, thinks he tiv hissen, - ah mebbe mud as weel ae tae’n neea _noatis_ eftther t’ fo’st bee - tenged ma, as ti a’e meead sikan a _durdam_ amang t’ others, awhahl - they were fit ti modther ma; an’ it wer all ti neea use at t’ - _finish_.’ - -All the long French words have disappeared, and in the whole account -only five French words and one Latin word are used. The difference is -striking, and the reason for the difference is not far to seek. - -The language of the former version is that which has come down to us -from the Court, and the Court language was for centuries Norman-French. -The words used by the East Yorkshire farm-labourer are those of his -humble forefathers who knew no _bewk-larning_, and who learned their -English tongue by word of mouth, picking up here and there only an -occasional French word. - -In other words, the language of the farm-labourer is almost exactly the -same as that used by his ancestors four or five centuries ago. In fact, -as Mr. Morris puts it, ‘if old Tommy Smith who died in 1500, aged 80, -and old Willie Ward who died in 1900, aged 80, could come to life again -and hold converse with one another, they would understand each other -perfectly.’ - - - - - XXIX. - HOW THE EAST RIDING GOVERNS ITSELF. - - -Every ten years a census is taken of the people inhabiting the British -Isles. The latest counting of the people took place in 1911, when it was -found that there were living in the East Riding of Yorkshire 432,804 -persons. This large number of people is made up of men, women, and -children who live in groups or communities very greatly varying in size. -The number of persons living in the great city of Hull was 278,024; the -number living in the little village of Wilsthorpe was only one. - -[Illustration: - - ANCIENT ARMS - OF BEVERLEY. -] - -But whether the inhabitants of the East Riding are living together in -large communities or in small ones, they live at peace with one another; -and any disorderly person who disturbs the peace of the community is -quickly brought to book. Now, seeing that man is by nature somewhat -inclined to be a quarrelsome animal, how is this very desirable state of -affairs brought about? - -The answer to this is that all the men, women, and children of the East -Riding are living under certain wise laws by which their lives are -governed. Probably they do not often recognise the fact that their lives -are being governed or ruled. If they did, they would almost certainly -begin to kick against the rules and say that it is an Englishman’s -privilege to do just as he likes. - -But that is just the secret of the quiet, peaceful lives led by the -great majority of English people. They submit to be governed without -their knowing it; and they do not realise that they are being governed -because, very largely, they govern themselves. - -The laws by which the lives of the inhabitants of the East Riding are -ruled are made at Westminster by the British Parliament. This consists -of two ‘Houses’—the House of Commons and the House of Lords. - -Among the 670 men who make up what is called the House of Commons there -are six who are chosen by the people of the East Riding to represent -them in Parliament. The city of Hull supplies three of these; and the -remaining portion of the East Riding supplies the other three. For -voting purposes, when the elections of these _Members of Parliament_ are -held, Hull is split up into three Divisions—East Hull, West Hull, and -Central Hull; and the rest of the East Riding is similarly split up into -the Buckrose Division, the Holderness Division, and the Howdenshire -Division.[71] - -Footnote 71: - - Hedon sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward I. until - 1832, when it was disfranchised as one of the ‘rotten boroughs.’ - Beverley also was represented by two members till 1870. - -In what is known as the House of Lords the East Riding is -represented—though not through the process of election—by the Earl of -Londesborough, Baron Middleton of Settrington House, Baron Leconfield, -Baron Deramore of Heslington Hall, and Baron Nunburnholme of Ferriby -Hall. - - * * * * * - -But the British Parliament only says what the laws of the whole country -shall be. To see that these laws are rightly administered, there are in -London what are called ‘Government Departments,’ such as the Board of -Trade and the Board of Agriculture. A great deal of the work of these -Departments, however, cannot be conveniently carried on from London, and -the country is therefore split up into _Shires_, or _Counties_, to each -of which is given the work of seeing that certain of the laws made by -Parliament are properly kept. - -The East Riding of Yorkshire is one of these counties, and in addition -to seeing that the laws of the country are properly kept, it has the -duty of making less important laws which concern only its own -inhabitants. The latter are known as _by-laws_, or, as the word is often -written, _bye-laws_. - -[Illustration: - - MODERN ARMS OF - BRIDLINGTON. -] - -Again, just as Britain is split up into different counties, each of -which makes for itself the by-laws which it considers best, so the East -Riding is split up into different portions, each of which makes its own -by-laws. - -This sort of arrangement is by no means a modern invention. A thousand -years ago each ‘town,’ or group of farm dwellings, in the East Riding -had its meeting to arrange the rules by which it should be governed. So -also each ‘wapentake,’ or wider district, had its meeting, which was -attended by representatives from the different ‘towns’ composing it. -Lastly the whole ‘shire,’ the East Riding itself, had its meeting, -attended by representatives from the different wapentakes. - -Now we will see how this very ancient system is followed out to-day; but -first we must put on one side the city of Hull, and the towns of -Beverley, Bridlington, and Hedon. - -Taking the rest of the East Riding, what was the _tūn mōt_ of the Angles -is our PARISH COUNCIL. There are in the East Riding 131 Parish Councils, -each of which is attended by chosen representatives of the village or -township, and each of which looks after its own good management of -affairs. - -Similarly the _waepentac_ or _hundred mōt_ of the Angles is our URBAN or -RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL. In the East Riding there are eight groups of -townships to which the name ‘Urban District’ is given; these have for -their respective centres Cottingham, Driffield, Filey, Hessle, Hornsea, -Pocklington, Norton, and Withernsea. There are also twelve groups of -townships which we know as ‘Rural Districts.’ - -[Illustration: - - LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN THE EAST RIDING -] - -As you will see from the map on this page, the difference between an -Urban and a Rural District is that in the latter the people are spread -over a much wider area than in the former. The Urban Districts are, in -other words, the more thickly populated parts of the country. - -Similarly, too, the _scīr mōt_ of the Angles is the COUNTY COUNCIL of -our day. This exercises authority over both the smaller Councils. - - * * * * * - -The EAST RIDING COUNTY COUNCIL is made up of representatives from -different districts throughout the County, and consists of:— - -/* Members elected for Beverley 4 Members elected for Bridlington 3 -Members elected for the rest of the East Riding 45 — Total of Elected -Members 52 County Aldermen 17 — Total of Members 69 */ - -For purposes of local government the city of Hull is entirely, and the -towns of Beverley, Bridlington, and Hedon are partly, outside the East -Riding. Hull ranks as a COUNTY BOROUGH, its full title being the ‘City -and County of Kingston-upon-Hull,’ and it is governed by a Corporation, -consisting of a Mayor, sixteen Aldermen, forty-eight Councillors, a -Recorder, and a Sheriff. - -Beverley, Bridlington, and Hedon rank as MUNICIPAL BOROUGHS. That is -equal to saying that at some time or other each has received from the -reigning Sovereign a charter granting it the right to rule its own -affairs. Each Municipal Borough has a Mayor for its chief townsman. - -In addition to their Mayors, Beverley and Bridlington have each six -Aldermen and eighteen Councillors, while Hedon is governed by its Mayor, -three Aldermen, and nine Councillors. For the election of Councillors -Bridlington is divided into three wards—Bridlington Ward, Quay Ward, and -Hilderthorpe Ward—and Beverley into two. The latter are named -respectively Minster Ward and St. Mary’s Ward. - - * * * * * - -The work to be got through by a County Council or a Town Council is so -large in amount that the members would not be able to carry out their -duties satisfactorily if they did not arrange themselves in groups or -_Committees_, each of which can undertake one kind of work. Often these -Committees are again arranged in _Sub-Committees_. - -[Illustration: - - THE HEDON MACE—THE - OLDEST CIVIC MACE IN - ENGLAND.[72] -] - -Footnote 72: - - This mace dates from the reign of Henry VI. In the enlarged portion - are shown the _lions_ of England quartered with the _fleur-de-lis_ of - France. - -Thus the sixty-nine members of the East Riding County Council arrange -themselves in the following nine groups, each of which has its Chairman -and Deputy Chairman:— - - 1. Finance Committee. - 2. Highways and Bridges Committee. - 3. Asylum Committee. - 4. Cattle Plague Committee. - 5. General Purposes Committee. - 6. Public Health Committee. - 7. Small Holdings Committee. - 8. Education Committee. - 9. Old-Age Pensions Committee. - -Each Committee conducts the affairs entrusted to it, and makes reports -to the whole Council at stated intervals. - -The _Finance Committee_ examines and recommends for payment all bills -and accounts; it also has the management and control of all County -Council buildings. - -The _Cattle Plague Committee_ deals with the outbreak of contagious -diseases on farms—such as swine fever, foot and mouth disease, sheep -scab, and the most dreaded anthrax. It has to see that the various Acts -of Parliament concerning these are fully carried out. Hence it may have -to order the immediate slaughter of all the cattle or sheep on a farm, -or perhaps to order that no animals are moved from one farm to any -other. Should there be during a hot summer a plague of destructive -insects, it issues instructions to farmers how to fight the plague, and -moreover it can compel farmers to carry out these instructions. - -The work of the _General Purposes Committee_ is very varied. It is -concerned with the protection of wild birds during the nesting-season, -the testing of the weights and measures used in some seven thousand -shops, the inspection of places where ‘Living Pictures’ are shown, the -granting of licenses for these, and the choice of places at which men -and women shall record their votes at the time of an election. - -Under the notice of the _Public Health Committee_ come all proposals for -the planning of new town-districts and all those dealing with -sanitation; under the _Small Holdings Committee_ come all requests for -allotments. The applicant for an old-age pension must prove to the -_Old-Age Pensions Committee_ that he or she is seventy years old, and -has not a greater income than £31 10s. a year. The control and repair of -roads and bridges, and the management of the County Asylum at -Walkington, are in the hands of the _Highways and Bridges Committee_ and -the _Asylums Committee_. - - * * * * * - -But of greatest influence over the lives of schoolboys and schoolgirls -is the work of the _Education Committee_. The work is felt to be so -important that the Committee is divided into Sub-Committees. These are -called respectively:— - - The Higher Education Sub-Committee. - The School Management Sub-Committee. - The School Attendance Sub-Committee. - The School Buildings and Sites Sub-Committee. - The Finance Sub-Committee. - -[Illustration: - - CREST OF THE EAST RIDING - COUNTY COUNCIL. -] - -Each of these Sub-Committees has its particular work, the nature of -which can be recognised from its name. The Sub-Committee which -exercises, perhaps, the greatest amount of influence is that whose name -stands first in the list. It is the _Higher Education Sub-Committee_, -which provides funds for the carrying on of the Bridlington, -Pocklington, and Beverley Grammar Schools; which founded the Bridlington -and Beverley High Schools for Girls; which provides the villages of the -East Riding with lectures on Dairy Farming, Poultry Keeping, Gardening, -and Beekeeping; which organises classes for Cookery, Laundry-Work, -Dressmaking, Carpentry, Wood-Carving, and Domestic Economy; which grants -Scholarships to deserving boys and girls who wish to continue their -education at a Secondary or a Technical School. - -A very special kind of work carried on by the East Riding County Council -is that known as the _Registration of Deeds_. As a result of this work -the Council possesses a record of all sales of land in the East Riding -since the year 1706. There are only two counties in Britain that keep -such records, Yorkshire being one and Middlesex the other. - -For carrying on its numerous branches of work the County Council needs -large supplies of money. In the year 1901–2 its total receipts were -£61,760; in the year 1910–11 they had grown to £190,927. These figures -show how the work of the Council increased during the nine intervening -years. - -About one-fifth of this large sum of money is provided by the -Government, the rest of it by the inhabitants of the Riding. The latter -is made up of rates, rents, licenses for traction engines and motor -cars, fees for pedlars’ and chimney sweeps’ certificates, fines imposed -by magistrates, and so on. - -Of course very accurate accounts have to be kept of all items of Income -and Expenditure. In the accounts for 1910–11 there are such items as the -following:— - - _Income Account_:— £ s. d. - Charge for Loan of Hose Pipe 0 15 0 - Sale of Old Hurdles, etc. 0 8 3 - Cash found on Drowned Person 0 16 6 - _Expenditure Account_:— - Caution Posts—Painting and Repairing 18 9 6 - Skerne—Tree-Topping 2 9 0 - Taking Samples of Bread and Expenses 0 0 1 - -All moneys received and all moneys paid away must be accounted for, and -the accounts for 1910–11 show that for the whole year the _Receipts_ -amounted to £190,927, while the _Payments_ amounted to £191,161. You -may, perhaps, think that you see in these figures something like a -mathematical impossibility; but that is only because you have not -reached the higher stages of commercial arithmetic. - - * * * * * - -The meetings of the County Council and those of its different Committees -and Sub-Committees are held at the COUNTY HALL, Beverley.[73] That is -the reason Beverley, though only a small town, is called the ‘Capital of -the East Riding.’ - -Footnote 73: - - The meetings of the Hull City Council, and the Beverley, Bridlington - and Hedon Town Councils are held in their respective _Town Halls_. - -[Illustration: THE COUNCIL CHAMBER AT THE COUNTY HALL, BEVERLEY.] - -The full meetings of the Council take place in the _Council Chamber_ -four times each year—in the months of January, May, July, and October. -Each meeting is presided over by the Chairman, or in his absence, by the -Deputy-Chairman; and the conduct of the meeting is in accordance with a -set of rules known as the _Standing Orders of the East Riding County -Council_. To each resolution brought forward and put to the vote the -members give their assent, or refuse it, by the words _Aye_ and _No_. - -Both the County Council and the Town Councils have a body of officers to -see that their wishes are properly carried out. They comprise a _Clerk_, -_Treasurer_, _Accountant_, _Surveyor_, _Medical Officer of Health_, -_Inspector of Weights and Measures_, _Analyst_, and so on, down perhaps, -to the _Gardener_. In the case of the County Council the adjective -_County_ is prefixed to the name of the office; in the case of a city or -town, the word _Borough_. The chief officer in each is known as the -_Clerk of the Council_ and the _Town Clerk_. - -The Urban and Rural District Councils, and also the Parish Councils, -have each a smaller body of officers whose duties resemble those of the -officers mentioned above. - - - - - XXX. - EAST RIDING SCHOOLS. - - -To have behind it a history that goes back certainly for eight hundred -years, and in all probability for a thousand, is something of which a -school may be proud. Such is the rightful boast of the BEVERLEY GRAMMAR -SCHOOL. - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF BEVERLEY GRAMMAR - SCHOOL. -] - -As far back as the year 1100 there is mention of the schoolmaster in the -Minster records. But the earliest known mention of the school is -contained in a letter written in 1276 by Walter Giffard, Archbishop of -York, to his bailiff at Beverley. In this letter the bailiff is directed -to - - maintain John Aucher and his two companions attending school at - Beverley from Michaelmas last, with 2s. a week, and their small - necessaries in fitting style; and pay 36s. for three gowns for their - use. - -But centuries before this the Beverley Grammar School must have been in -existence. For it was part and parcel of the Collegiate Church of Saint -John of Beverley, and one of the first duties of a collegiate church was -to establish and maintain a school for the education of youth. -Therefore, just as the Minster of St. Peter at York maintained a -school—and a very famous one too—as early as the year 730, so the -Minster of St. John of Beverley will undoubtedly have maintained a -school for many years before the Norman Conquest. Its foundation is, in -fact, believed to date from the eighth century. - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF HOWDEN - GRAMMAR SCHOOL. - (_Originally the Arms of Bishop Skirlaw_) -] - -Beverley Grammar School is, far and away, the oldest school in the East -Riding. But not long after, if not before, the date of the first written -evidence of it, there was in existence another East Riding School—the -HOWDEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Its origin was similar to that of the Beverley -school, for in 1265 the parish church of Howden was turned into a -collegiate church, and the rector was replaced by a body of canons, -whose duty it became to establish a school. This duty they fulfilled, -and the Howden Grammar School thus came into being some time before -1312. - -[Illustration: ARMS OF BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL.] - -The beginnings of BRIDLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL are shrouded in mystery. It -was originally a school attached to the Bridlington Priory, and its -earliest mention occurs in a document promising that a royal grant -formerly paid to the ‘Prior and Convent of St. Marie, Byrdlington,’ -should be continued, whereas other similar grants were then being -withdrawn. This was in the year 1450. - -The fact that this document was issued by King Henry VI. gives the -Bridlington Grammar School some claim to the title of ‘A Once Royal -School.’ The royal grant was made—using the King’s words—‘for the great -affection and singular devotion that we have to the glorious confessor, -Saint John of Bridlington’; and by it the Prior and Canons of -Bridlington were bound - - as in finding of XII. Quarasters, and a maister to teach them both - gramer and song. - - * * * * * - -The HULL GRAMMAR SCHOOL is a notable example of a chantry school. It -owes its existence to the piety of John Alcock, Bishop of Rochester, who -in 1482 founded ‘The Chauntrie of Bisshoppe Alcocke in the parish -churche of the Trinities in Hull.’ - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF THE HULL - GRAMMAR SCHOOL. -] - -This means, in other words, that the founder purchased lands and gave -them to the Church, on the understanding that the rent of these lands -was for ever to be used for the stipend of a priest who should each day - - at th’aulter of Our Ladie and St. John the Evangelist ... pray for - the soules of King Edward IV., the founder, and all christien - sowles. - -But Bishop Alcock’s chantry priest was to do more than this. For the -license granted by the King states that he - - is bounde to kepe a fre scole of grammer within the saide towne of - Hull, and teche all scolers within the saide towne of Hull, and - teche all scholers thither resorting, without taking any stipend or - wages for the same, and should have for his own stipende £10, and - shoulde paie yerelie to the clarke to teche children to sing 40s., - and to 10 of the best scolers in the scole every of them 6s. 8d. by - yere. - -The Grammar Schools of Hull and Pocklington resemble each other in that -each was founded by a distinguished churchman and associated with a -parish church. As John Alcock, Bishop of Worcester, founded the one, so -John Dowman, Canon of St. Paul’s and Archdeacon of Suffolk, founded the -other. - -But whereas the Hull school was founded in connection with a chantry, -the POCKLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL was closely associated with a Religious -Gild. Its foundation deeds—dated 1514—speak of it as the foundation of - - the Master, Wardens and Brethren of the Brotherhood or Gild of the - Name of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas in the - parish church of Pocklington. - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF POCKLINGTON - GRAMMAR SCHOOL. -] - -The same deeds state that the founder, John Dowman, endowed the school -with lands sufficient to pay £13 6s. 8d. a year to the Master and -Wardens of the Gild for - - finding with the same a fit man sufficiently learned in the science - of grammar to teach and instruct all and singular scholars resorting - to the town of Pocklington for the sake of education. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: - - AT SCHOOL IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. - (_From an old Manuscript_). -] - -Each of the five East Riding Schools mentioned has been spoken of as a -_Grammar School_. This name exactly describes their purpose; for they -existed in order that boys might learn the mysteries of Latin Grammar. -Together with the study of this went the reading of Latin authors, -usually taken in the following order:—Aesop and Terence, Vergil, Cicero, -Sallust and Cæsar, Horace and Ovid. - -If you should find yourself wondering why this great attention to the -study of Latin, there is a very simple explanation to be given. Latin -was then the universal language of professional men. It was written, -spoken, and read by all those of the educated classes. Priests, doctors, -lawyers, merchants—all used it. The building-accounts for the Beverley -North Bar are written in Latin, the Minster records are written in -Latin, the Town records are written in Latin. A knowledge of Latin Cwas -the gateway to a commercial as well as a professional career. - -[Illustration: - - PART OF THE SEAL OF A - LINCOLNSHIRE GRAMMAR - SCHOOL, A.D. 1552. -] - -Until 1349 it was the custom for boys to translate their Latin authors -into Norman-French, this being the ordinary language of ‘gentlefolk.’ -But then the change of making English the medium of translation was -introduced; and thirty-six years later an English chronicler lamented -that, because of the change, ‘grammar-school children knew no more -French than did their left heel.’ - -What a lively time the schoolboy had in those ‘good old days’! Hours of -study, from early morning till bedtime; subjects taught, Latin grammar -and Latin authors—these being plentifully varied with such pleasant -interludes as that pictured in the seal of Louth Grammar School. Little -wonder that Shakespeare, himself an ‘old boy’ of the Stratford-on-Avon -Grammar School, had memories of - - ... the whining schoolboy, with his satchel - And shining morning face, creeping like snail - Unwillingly to school. - -Little wonder, also, that in the churchwardens’ accounts for Howden -there occur numerous payments for ‘glasse for repairing the schollehouse -windows.’ Boys will, of course, be boys, as long as the world lasts, and -even in the seventeenth century they had to work off their excess of -high spirits somehow or other. - - * * * * * - -_Grammar Schools_ were not the only class of schools in existence during -former days. There were two other kinds. _Song Schools_ were closely -connected with the services in large churches. They ranked below the -Grammar Schools, and their scholars were taught to read, write, and -figure, as well as to sing the various portions of the church service. -The Choir School attached to Holy Trinity Church, Hull, is a modern -representative of the mediæval Song School. - -Of less rank, again, were the _Reading Schools_. Populous towns might -possess a school of each kind, as did Howden in 1401. But often the Song -School and the Reading School were combined in one; and sometimes, as at -Bridlington, the Grammar School was also a Song School. - -But generally the vicar or the chantry priest was the master of the -Grammar School, while the parish clerk was the master of the Song -School. Any decrepit old man who had sufficient learning, but who had -fallen on evil days, might be the master of the Reading School; where it -would be his duty to teach the _petits_, or little ones, their ABC. -Sometimes the _petits_ had their name changed into English, and were -then known as the _Petties_, or as the _ABCies_. The latter of these two -names was usually written in a very quaint form—_abseies_. - - * * * * * - -In the extracts from the foundation deeds of the Hull and Pocklington -Grammar Schools given on pages 325 and 326 are two noticeable points. -First, in both the master is to teach all boys who may come to the -school, and in the one first quoted it is expressly stated that he is -not to take ‘any stipend or wages for the same.’ The school was to be a -_Free Grammar School_. - -This does not mean that no charges at all were to be made. The teaching -was free; but all boys were expected to pay for luxuries, such as fires, -candles, writing and washing materials, cock-fights, and birchings. -Cock-fights, especially on Shrove Tuesday, were a regular school -institution, and Pocklington Grammar School still preserves its silver -cock-fighting bell. Doubtless school cock-fights were well worth a -special fee, but fancy having to pay a fee for the privilege of being -birched—a sure case of insult added to injury! - -[Illustration: - - ANCIENT COCK-FIGHTING BELL OF - POCKLINGTON SCHOOL, A.D. 1666. -] - -Boarders, too, were not kept for nothing. Far from it. John Aucher and -his two companions at Beverley Grammar School had their board paid for -at the rate of 8d. each per week, and they were also provided with -pocket-money for their ‘small necessaries.’ - -The foundation of a Free Grammar School was looked upon as a great -benefit to the town in which it was established. This we see clearly in -the complaint made in 1660 by the Vicar of Pocklington on behalf of the -inhabitants of the town. The complaint stated that there were then - - not above eight or nine little boys in the school, whereas formerly, - by the pains and industry of some former masters, there had been six - or seven score scholars in our school, of which three or four score - of them hath been _tablers_, gentlemen’s sons, which was a great - benefit to this our town. - -Secondly, the salaries paid to the masters of the Hull and Pocklington -Grammar Schools are interesting. The Pocklington master was to be paid -£13 6s. 8d. a year, the Hull master £3 6s. 8d. less. But in a few years’ -time the salary of the latter had risen to be almost as high as that of -the more-favoured master at Pocklington. - -In 1548, ‘John Olyver, Bachelor of Artes, incumbente, being of thaidge -of 46 yeres, of honeste conversacione and lyvinge, and well lerned,’ was -to receive a ‘yerely stipend of £13 2s. 3d.’ Shameful to say, this was -not paid in full, the amount actually received by John Olyver being -first £13 2s. 2¾d., and later £13 2s. 2½d. Then, the source of income -becoming stopped, the poor master got nothing, until the Mayor and -burgesses took up his cause and successfully sued the Court of Exchequer -for the amount due yearly. - - * * * * * - -With the Reformation there came in 1548 what was called the CHANTRIES -ACT. This, by confiscating their revenues, put an end to all such -chantries as that founded by Bishop Alcock. It proved also a death-blow -to all Song Schools and to many Grammar Schools. Their ancient -endowments were seized by the Government, which engaged itself to -replace the endowments of the Free Grammar Schools with fixed annual -payments; but as it promptly forgot all about its engagements these did -not prove of much value. - -[Illustration: A BOYS’ PLAY-GROUND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.] - -Under these circumstances the inhabitants of Beverley made known their -grievances to King Edward VI. Their town was, they said— - - a market towne and the greatest within all Estryding of your - Majesties countie of York, having a grete nombre of youthe within - the same, and fife thowsaund persons and above, whereof some of them - be apte and mete to be brought up in learning, whiche are not, for - so much as there is neither gramer schole, or any other schole, as - yet founded, wherewith they might be brought up in any vertuous - studdie. - -No satisfactory reply was forthcoming to the inhabitants’ petition that -the King would, out of the confiscated revenues of the Minster of St. -John, found ‘one Fre Gramer Scole’ in their town. So it was left to the -Town Governors to take over the finances of the old school. The school -which had its origin in the Minster was thus re-established by the -Town—an historic event which is embodied in its modern coat-of-arms. - -The town records contain mention of many interesting payments made on -behalf of the school by the Town Governors. In 1567 there occur the -following:— - - Item gyven to the Schole maister his players 17s. - - Item payd to the waits for playing when the 3s. 4d. - Schole maister’s players played - -In 1606 a new school was built in the Minster Garth, and during the -following years there are several records of the purchase of books for -the school:— - - Item for a dictionary for the Schollers 3s. 4d. - - Item for another booke bought at Crossfaier, 6s. 6d. - and for bringinge one fro Cambridge - - Item for a booke and for chaines for two 18s. 10d. - other bookes in the schole - -The Beverley Grammar School still possesses its ancient library of -books; among which are an edition of _Vergil_ printed in black letter at -Florence, one of _Terence_ printed at Paris in 1552, one of _Cicero_ -printed at Basle in 1553, and a very early edition of Foxe’s _Book of -Martyrs_, containing gruesome illustrations of practical methods of -torture. But there is now no need for chains to preserve these books -from being surreptitiously ‘borrowed.’ - - * * * * * - -The Grammar School at Hull also had its revenues confiscated, but these -were afterwards in part restored. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the -school was rebuilt, mainly at the expense of Alderman Gee, who -contributed for the purpose the sum of eighty pounds and twenty thousand -bricks. In his will, Alderman Gee put a further bequest thus:— - - I give and bequeath to the schoole of Hull which I builded through - God’s goodnes, two houses in the Butchery.... I give these houses - for ever for and towards the said Schoolmaster’s fee for his good - teachinge and bringinge upp youth. - -Pocklington Grammar School was saved through the efforts of Thomas -Dowman, the nephew of its founder, who obtained a private Act of -Parliament to continue the existence of the school. - -What happened to Bridlington Grammar School is uncertain. But we know -that in 1636 an inhabitant of Bridlington, by name William Hustler, gave -‘forty pounds yearly out of his estates for the maintenance of a -schoolmaster and usher in a school-house, by him to be founded and -erected.’ This endowment still forms a part of the revenues of the -school. - -Howden Grammar School also managed to survive, and lives to-day in the -side chapel of the parish church that has been its home for several -centuries. - -Other smaller Grammar Schools, founded by private individuals, formerly -existed in the East Riding. Marmaduke Langdale founded one at SANCTON in -1610, Lord D’Arcy founded another at KILHAM in 1633, and John Blanchard -in 1712 left funds for the salary of a grammar school master at -BARMBY-ON-THE-MARSH. - - * * * * * - -We have now reached the beginning of the eighteenth century, and there -has so far been no mention made of Girls’ Schools. The reason is not far -to seek. There were no schools for girls in the far-off days when the -Grammar Schools of Beverley, Howden, Bridlington and Hull came into -being. - -[Illustration: THE OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, HULL. BUILT 1583.] - -Girls were then not considered to need any more education than that -which they could get at home. To know how to cook a meal, to make wool -into cloth, and to make cloth into clothes—what more was it possible for -girls to learn? These very useful lessons they could learn at home. A -few specially favoured girls of high birth were probably brought up and -taught book-learning in some of the nunneries of the East Riding; but of -this there are no records. - -The first endowed school for girls as well as boys was founded in 1655, -and from this date onward numerous girls’ schools came into existence. -Some of these were styled _Boarding Academies for Young Ladies_; others -of a humbler nature were known as _Charity Schools_. - -One of the latter was that founded by Alderman Cogan at Hull in 1753. -This provided clothing and instruction for twenty poor girls, each of -whom could remain at the school for three years. The number of girls was -afterwards increased to sixty. They wore white straw bonnets, brown -merino frocks, and blue cloth cloaks, all trimmed with orange. The COGAN -CHARITY SCHOOL still flourishes, but the old-time charity costume is no -longer worn. - -Several old charity schools formerly existed in the towns of the East -Riding. Bridlington had a SPINNING SCHOOL in which twelve poor girls -were taught ‘carding, spinning, and knitting.’ Beverley had its -BLUE-COAT SCHOOL for boys, a school afterwards amalgamated with the -Grammar School; and three other Spinning Schools were in existence in -Hull at the close of the eighteenth century. - -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_Turner & Drinkwater_ - - The High School for Girls, Bridlington. - (_Founded 1905_). - -] - -Of the same class is the MARINE or NAVIGATION SCHOOL belonging to the -Hull Trinity House. This, founded in 1786, now provides board, clothing, -and education for about 150 boys, who are intended for a sea-faring -life. So valuable is the education they receive in all that belongs to a -sailor’s life, that each of the ‘white-ducked’ boys is said to ‘carry a -captain’s certificate in his pocket’ when he leaves the school. - -[Illustration: SEAL OF THE GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL, HULL.] - -A school of a very special kind was that conducted on board the H.M. -TRAINING SHIP ‘SOUTHAMPTON.’ The _Southampton_, an old ‘three-decker,’ -after serving as a battleship in the early years of last century, was -sent to the Humber to become a floating _Industrial School_. For -forty-three years it fulfilled its duty, during which time some 2,600 -boys were educated on it for a life at sea.[74] - -Footnote 74: - - A photograph of the _Southampton_ is given on page 299. - - * * * * * - -In towns private schools of all classes were increasing rapidly when the -nineteenth century opened. _A Directory of Hull_ for the year 1831 shows -that there were then in the town seven Ladies’ Boarding Academies, four -Gentlemen’s Boarding Academies, twelve Classical and Commercial -Academies, and no fewer than seventy-four Day Schools. - -The following is the advertisement issued by the Principal of a -_Commercial and Mathematical Academy_ in the year 1787. In it the -mysterious letters appended to the Principal’s name may be taken to -stand for ‘Writing Master.’ - - HULL, JULY 11th, 1787. - - _At the Commercial and Mathematical Academy._ - - On the SOUTH-SIDE of the DOCK, - - Facing the NEW-BRIDGE; - -GENTLEMENS’ CHILDREN are instructed in the first principles of English, -so as to be enabled to read and write their native Language with -elegance and propriety; the English Grammar agreeable to the strictest -rules of Syntax, resolving a sentence into its different parts of -speech. The free and natural method of Writing, and striking by command -of hand; Arithmetic, Merchants’ Accounts, or the Italian Method of -Book-Keeping; Mensuration; Gauging; Surveying of Land; Plain and -Spherical Trigonometry; Euclids Elements; Navigation; Algebra, and the -Use of the Globes. - - By _J. WATSON_, W. M. - -YOUNG GENTLEMEN are Boarded and taught Geography, by familiar lectures, -founded on rational principles and demonstration, and such as are of age -and capacity taught to read Milton and Young, with proper emphasis and -cadence. - - N.B. A separate Apartment for YOUNG LADIES. - - * * * * * - -Meanwhile many of the old Grammar Schools in England had fallen on very -evil days. In 1840 some of those to which the term ‘decayed’ could be -most fitly applied were converted into _Elementary Schools_. Twenty-four -years later a Schools’ Enquiry Commission was appointed by the -Government to enquire into the condition of the Grammar Schools -throughout the country. The following are details from the report of the -Commissioners. - -At Beverley in 1865 there were only fifteen boys, and the school -premises were ‘dirty and the furniture out of repair.’ At Hull no -classics were taught; only two boys out of sixty-seven were learning -French, and two German; Algebra and Euclid were ‘not attempted.’ At -Sancton the children paid nothing, and ‘received instruction which was -worth nothing.’ At Barmby-on-the-Marsh the vicar was receiving £97 from -the Grammar School endowment, and out of it paying £2 to the village -school. - -Bridlington Grammar School was, we know, held in 1866 in a room near the -Corn Exchange in the ‘Old Town’; and some eight or ten scholars were in -attendance. It was then temporarily closed, and its funds were carefully -nursed by Mr. Thomas Harland, who meanwhile succeeded in interesting -others in its refoundation. - -As the result of Mr. Harland’s labours, various funds were amalgamated, -including those of the Spinning School previously mentioned; and -eventually a site for the school was obtained, and new buildings were -erected. These were opened in 1899 by Lord Herries, the Lord Lieutenant -of the East Riding, and have since been twice enlarged. - - * * * * * - -It has been shown how Hull and Pocklington owe their Grammar Schools to -pious founders. That the days of pious founders are not wholly past and -gone, we have proved to us in the existence of HYMERS COLLEGE at Hull. - -‘Hymers’ owes itself to two brothers, John and Robert Hymers, each a -native of the North Riding and an ‘old boy’ of Sedbergh School. -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_Turner & Drinkwater_ - - Bridlington Grammar School. - -] - -[Illustration: - - ARMS OF HYMERS - COLLEGE. -] - -The elder of these two brothers, who was born in 1803 at Ormesby in -Cleveland, became a distinguished mathematical scholar, and a Fellow of -St. John’s College, Cambridge. Somewhat late in life he was appointed -rector of Brandesburton, where he spent his last thirty-five years. On -his death in 1887 it was discovered that he had left almost his whole -fortune for the foundation of a Grammar School. The wording of a portion -of his will ran as follows:— - - And, subject to the payment of my debts ... I give and bequeath all - the residue of my real and personal estate and effects whatsoever - and wheresoever to the Mayor and Corporation of the port of - Kingston-upon-Hull, in the county of York, wherewith to found and - endow a Grammar School in their town on the model of the Grammar - Schools at Birmingham and Dulwich, for the training of intelligence - in whatever social rank of life it may be found amongst the vast and - varied population of the town and port of Hull. - -The amount of money thus bequeathed was roughly £200,000. But, -unfortunately for the testator’s wishes, the will was declared to be -null and void, because by the use of the words ‘found and endow’ it -violated an ancient law. By the _Statute of Mortmain_, passed by -Parliament in the year 1279, money might not be left to found and endow -what was really a religious institution. Had the will said ‘to found -_or_ endow,’ things would have been all right. But, as it was, the -_Statute of Mortmain_, though passed six hundred years before, was then -still the law of the land; and in the eyes of the law the testator’s -wishes counted for nought. [Illustration: - -_Photo by_] Hymers College. [_Turner & Drinkwater_ - -] - -However, by the goodwill and generosity of the younger of the two -brothers, a sum of £50,000 was devoted to the carrying out of Dr. John -Hymers’ wishes. With this the estate known as the Botanic Gardens was -purchased and the College buildings erected, a portion being set aside -to provide the necessary endowment for carrying on the school. Within -the last few years the Mayor and Corporation have provided funds for the -addition of a wing devoted to the teaching of Science and Art. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: A TYPICAL SCHOOL ON THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS—LUTTONS AMBO.] - -Right through the nineteenth century efforts were being made to give a -real education to the poorer classes. The great force at work during the -early years of the century was the _National Society for Promoting the -Education of the Poor_. This Society was established in 1809, and by -1831 had more than 1300 schools; all of which were not only built but -also carried on by voluntary subscriptions. Ten years ago there were 173 -NATIONAL SCHOOLS in the East Riding. - -By the _Education Acts_ of 1870 and 1880 a system of elementary -education was established, and in 1891 this education became free. -[Illustration: - -_Photo by_] [_Parrish & Berry_ - - A Modern City Council School, Southcoates Lane, Hull. - -] - -Since the last-mentioned year the strides made have been enormous. The -education of the children of the East Riding has been taken in hand by -the East Riding Council, the Hull City Council, and the Town Councils of -Beverley and Bridlington. Old and useless schools have been replaced by -new and up-to-date ones; new Elementary, Secondary and Technical -Schools, and High Schools for Girls have been built and equipped; and a -School of Art and a Navigation School for adults have been established. -Most important of all, however, is the system of _Scholarships_ by which -many boys and girls are now climbing from the village school to the -‘Varsity’ college. - - - - - XXXI. - THE EAST RIDING ROLL OF HONOUR. - -_A brief record of the most famous lives in local history. Each of the -persons named was born in the East Riding, and living persons are -excluded._ - -SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY. Born at Harpham, and died in A.D. 721. Became -Bishop of Hexham and of York. Was canonised by the Church in 1037, and -afterwards became one of the most famous saints of the north of England. -_See pages 135–140._ - -ALURED, OR ALFRED, OF BEVERLEY. Born at Beverley in 1109. Became -Treasurer of the Church of St. John of Beverley, and Abbot of the -Cistercian Abbey of Rievaulx. Wrote a history in Latin, entitled _Annals -of the Deeds of the Kings of Britain_, and a _Life of St. John of -Beverley_. - -ROGER OF HOWDEN. Born at Howden, and died in 1201. Became a Clerk, or -Secretary, to Henry II., and later a King’s Justice for Yorkshire. Was -the author of a Latin history of England from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201. - - _See pages 269–270._ - -WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. Born at Bridlington in 1136. Was brought up at the -Priory of Newburgh, and wrote in Latin a _History of English Affairs_, -which takes rank as ‘the finest historical work left to us by an -Englishman of the twelfth century.’ _See page 269._ - -PETER OF LANGTOFT. Born at Langtoft, and died in 1307. Was a Canon of -Bridlington Priory, and author of a _Chronicle of England_, written in -Anglo-Norman verse. _See page 269._ - -JOHN HOTHAM. Born at Scorborough, and died in 1336. Became Bishop of -Ely, and twice Lord Chancellor of England. - -JOHN OF BRIDLINGTON. Born at Thwing about 1324. Was successively -Precentor, Almoner, Sub-Prior, and Prior of Bridlington Priory. Became -so famed for his piety that after his death many miracles were believed -to be wrought at his tomb. - -SIR MICHAEL DE LA POLE, first EARL OF SUFFOLK. Born at Hull, and died in -1389. Became, successively, Mayor of Hull and Admiral of the King’s -Fleets in the Northern Parts, a Knight of the Garter, Lord Chancellor of -England, and the first Earl of Suffolk. His is the first example in -British history of a prosperous merchant’s becoming a peer of the realm. -_See page 116._ - -WALTER SKIRLAW, LL.D., Born at South Skirlaugh, and died in 1406. Became -Bishop, successively, of Lichfield, Bath, and Durham. Built the tower -and chapter house of Howden, and Skirlaugh Chapel—now the parish church. -Also built several bridges in the north of England, and helped to build -the central tower of York Minster. - -JOHN ALCOCK, D.D. Born at Hull about 1428. Became Bishop, successively, -of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely. Was a Privy Councillor and twice Lord -Chancellor of England. Founded the Hull Grammar School and Jesus -College, Cambridge. _See pages 270–271._ - -JOHN FISHER, D.D. Born at Beverley in 1459. Became Chancellor of the -University of Cambridge, and Bishop of Rochester. Was famed for his -‘grete and singular virtue,’ and was beheaded on Tower Hill for refusing -to acknowledge Henry VIII. as the ‘Supreme Head of the Church.’ Was -largely instrumental in founding St. John’s College, Cambridge, and -formed a library which was considered to be ‘the finest in Christendom.’ -_See pages 270–272._ - -SIR JOHN PICKERING, Kt. Born at Flamborough in 1544. Was the son of very -poor parents, yet became a Privy Councillor and Lord Keeper of the Privy -Seal. Was twice chosen Speaker of the House of Commons, and was knighted -by Queen Elizabeth. - -SIR JOHN LISTER, KT. Born at Hull in 1585. Became twice Mayor of Hull, -and was five times elected M.P. for his native city. Entertained King -Charles I. on his visit to Hull in 1639. Founded in 1642 the ‘Lister -Hospital’ for six poor men and six poor women. - -LUKE FOX. Born at Hull in 1586. Was a Younger Brother of the Trinity -House, and revived the attempt to discover the North-West Passage, -whence he gained the nickname ‘North-West Fox.’ Explored in 1631 the -Channel west of Baffin Land which now bears his name. - -THOMAS LAMPLUGH, D.D. Born at Octon, near Thwing, in 1615. Was a Fellow -of Queen’s College, Oxford, and became successively Dean of Rochester, -Bishop of Exeter, and Archbishop of York. - -SIR PHILIP MONKTON, Kt. Born at Cavil, near Howden, about 1620. Was a -devoted supporter of King Charles I., for whom he fought bravely at the -battles of Atherton Moor, Naseby, and Rowton Heath. Was knighted for his -bravery in 1644. - -ANDREW MARVELL. Born at Winestead in 1621. Was an ‘old boy’ of the Hull -Grammar School, became Assistant Latin Secretary to the Council of -State, and was M.P. for Hull for nineteen years. Also gained -considerable reputation as a poet, but is best remembered as ‘a -pure-minded patriot in the most corrupt times.’ _See pages 272–275._ - -CHRISTOPHER NESSE. Born at North Cave in 1621. Was the son of a -husbandman, but became a notable Non-conformist preacher, and suffered -much persecution after the Restoration. - -THOMAS WATSON, D.D. Born at North Ferriby in 1637. Was the son of a -seaman, and an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School. Became a Fellow of -St. John’s College, Cambridge, and afterwards Bishop of St. David’s. Was -a liberal benefactor to his old school, and rebuilt the alms-houses -known as ‘Watson’s Hospital.’ - -RICHARD BOYLE, K.G., third EARL OF BURLINGTON. Born at Londesborough in -1695. Was Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Lord High -Treasurer of Ireland. Became famous as an amateur architect. Rebuilt -Burlington House, London, and carried out large schemes of plantation at -Londesborough Hall. - -RICHARD OSBALDESTON, D.D. Born at Hunmanby, and died in 1764. Became -successively Dean of York, Bishop of Carlisle, and Bishop of London. - -JOHN GREEN, D.D. Born at Beverley in 1706. Was an “old boy” of Beverley -Grammar School, and became Dean of Lincoln and later Bishop of Lincoln. -In 1772 was the only Bishop in the House of Lords ‘to vote in favour of -the Bill for the relief of Protestant Dissenters.’ - -WILLIAM MASON. Born at Hull in 1724. Was a son of the Vicar of Holy -Trinity and became a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Chaplain -to the King. Gained considerable renown as a poet, and would have been -appointed Poet Laureate but for his political opinions. - -SIR SAMUEL STANDIDGE, Kt. Born at Bridlington Quay in 1725. Took a -leading part in establishing the Greenland Fishery Trade, and fitted out -a ship for the discovery of the North Pole. Was knighted when Mayor of -Hull in 1795, and was four times elected Warden of the Hull Trinity -House. - -SIR CHRISTOPHER SYKES, Bart. Born at Roos in 1749. Was distinguished as -a mathematician, architect, banker, and M.P. for Beverley. Refused a -baronetcy from Mr. Pitt, but asked that it should be given to his -father, the rector of Roos. - -ROBERT THEW. Born at Patrington in 1758. Was the son of an innkeeper, -and became engraver to the Prince of Wales. - -WILLIAM WILBERFORCE. Born at Hull in 1759. Became M.P. for his native -town at the age of twenty-one, and was for twenty-eight years one of the -two M.P.’s for Yorkshire. Devoted his whole life and all his wealth to -obtaining the Abolition of Slavery in the British Colonies, the Act for -which was passed a few days after his death in 1833. _See pages -275–279._ - -ADRIAN HARDY HAWORTH. Born at Hull in 1767. Became a renowned botanist -and entomologist, and formed a collection of 40,000 insects, the most -important of which are now in the British Museum. - -SIR BENJAMIN F. OUTRAM, Kt., M.D. Born at Kilham about 1770. Entered the -Medical Naval Service, and became Medical Inspector of Naval Hospitals. -Was knighted in 1850. - -SIR MARK MASTERMAN SYKES, Bart. Born at Sledmere in 1771. Was M.P. for -the city of York for thirteen years. Raised in 1802 two squadrons of -Yeomanry, known as the ‘East Yorkshire Wold Yeomanry.’ Was a great lover -of books, and formed at Sledmere ‘one of the finest private libraries in -England,’ which in 1824 was sold for £20,000. - -SIR TATTON SYKES, Bart. Born at Sledmere in 1772. Devoted himself to -sheep-farming and the breeding of race-horses, and, by the introduction -of bone manure, wrought great improvements in the cultivation of the -Wolds. Was a fearless sportsman, and a true specimen of ‘The Fine Old -English Gentleman.’ _See pages 279–281._ - -THOMAS JACKSON. Born at Sancton in 1783. Was the son of a farm labourer, -and became ‘in spite of the adverse circumstances of poverty and lack of -education,’ a famous Wesleyan divine. Was twice elected President of the -Wesleyan Conference. - -WILLIAM SPENCE, F.R.S. Born at Bishop Burton in 1783. Was an ‘old boy’ -of Beverley Grammar School, and became one of the founders of Blundell, -Spence, & Co., Ltd., Hull. Was deeply interested in Entomology, and was -one of the authors of Kirby and Spence’s _Introduction to Entomology_, -the most popular natural history book of its day. - -SIR JAMES ALDERSON, Kt., M.D., F.R.S. Born at Hull in 1795. Succeeded -his father as physician of the Hull Royal Infirmary, and became -President of the Royal College of Physicians. Was knighted by Queen -Victoria in 1869. - -FREDERICK HUNTINGDON, M.D. Born at Hull in 1796. Was surgeon of the Hull -Royal Infirmary for thirty-four years, and is recorded on his monument -in Christ Church, Hull, as ‘one of Nature’s gentlemen, whose life was -passed in doing good.’ - -JAMES HALL. Born at Scorborough in 1801. Was a ‘model country squire ... -and a devoted upholder of English field sports,’ and held the Mastership -of the Holderness Hunt for thirty years. - -SIR HENRY COOPER, Kt., M.D. Born at Hull in 1807. Was physician of the -Hull Royal Infirmary for twenty-seven years, and as Mayor of Hull was -knighted when Queen Victoria visited the town in 1854. Was the first -Chairman of the Hull School Board, and has his memory perpetuated in the -‘Sir Henry Cooper Schools.’ - -THOMAS EARLE. Born at Hull in 1810. Was a gold medallist of the Royal -Academy, and designed the statue of George the Fourth in Trafalgar -Square, London, and that of Queen Victoria in Pearson Park, Hull, beside -many others. - -SIR JAMES HUDSON, K.C.B. Born at Bessingby in 1810. Entered the -Government Service and held many important posts in the United States, -South America and Italy. Was created a Knight Commander of the Bath in -1855. - -HENRY DAWSON. Born at Hull in 1811. Was the son of poor parents, and -became a self-taught artist. Struggled hard against adversity, and -gained renown as a landscape painter only towards the end of his life. - -HUGH EDWIN STRICKLAND. Born at Reighton in 1811. Was a notable student -of natural history, and became Reader in Geology at the Oxford -University. Was accidentally killed in a railway tunnel. - -CHARLES HENRY BROMBY. Born at Hull in 1814. Was a son of the Vicar of -Holy Trinity, and an ‘old boy’ of the Hull Grammar School. Became the -first Bishop of Tasmania. - -SIR JOSEPH HENRY GILBERT, LL.D. Born at Hull in 1817. Became a -distinguished scientist, and was knighted by Queen Victoria for his -discoveries in agricultural chemistry. - -HUMPHRY SANDWITH, C.B., D.C.L. Born at Bridlington in 1822. Travelled -widely, became Inspector-General of Hospitals in the Russo-Turkish War, -and helped to defend the fortress of Kars. Was decorated by Queen -Victoria as a Companion of the Order of the Bath. - -JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, Mus. Doc. Born at Hull in 1823. Was a grandson of -the Vicar of St. John’s, and became Minor Canon and Precentor of Durham -Cathedral. Composed more than two hundred hymn tunes, and was joint -editor of _Hymns, Ancient and Modern_. After his death, a public -subscription of £10,000 was raised in his honour to found musical -scholarships. - -CHARLES ALFRED LEE, M.D. Born at Hull in 1825. Took a large share in the -support of the Hull Royal Infirmary and the Newland Orphan Homes, and, -on his death in January 1912, bequeathed £150,000 for the foundation of -‘Rest Houses’ for the aged poor. - -SIR WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER LENG. Born at Hull in 1825. Was an ‘old boy’ of -the Hull Grammar School. Took up journalism after some years spent as a -chemist, and became the editor of the _Sheffield Daily Telegraph_. Was -knighted for his public services in 1887. - -THE HON. SIR JOHN HALL, K.C.M.G. Born at Hull in 1824. Emigrated to New -Zealand, entered Parliament, and became Premier in 1879. Was decorated -by Queen Victoria as a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and -St. George. - -JOHN ROBERT MORTIMER. Born at Fimber in 1825. Devoted more than fifty -years of a long life to the most thorough exploration of the earthworks -and burial mounds around Driffield, and did more than anyone else to -extend our knowledge of the early inhabitants of the East Yorkshire -wolds. - -CHARLES HENRY WILSON, first BARON NUNBURNHOLME. Born at Hull in 1833. -Became, in 1867, senior partner in the shipping firm of Thomas Wilson, -Sons & Co., and built up the largest privately-owned fleet of steamships -in the world. Sat in Parliament as M.P. for his native town for -thirty-two years, and was raised to the peerage in 1906. _See pages -280–283._ - -ARTHUR WILSON. Born at Hull in 1836. Became a partner in the firm of -Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co. in 1867. Was a great sportsman, and was M.F.H. -to the Holderness Hunt for twenty-five years. _See pages 280–283._ - - - - - PRINTED AT BROWNS’ SAVILE PRESS, - SAVILE STREET AND GEORGE STREET, HULL. - -[Illustration: - - THE EAST RIDING - OF - YORKSHIRE - - _Copyright of_ - A. BROWN & SONS, LTD., - HULL AND LONDON. -] - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcription of Royal Mail Schedule on p. 241 - - * * * * * - - HULL, JULY 1787. - - HULL AND YORK - _ROYAL MAIL-COACH_, - WITH A GUARD, - _WELL ARMED._ - -Sets out every Day about _Half-past Three_ in the Afternoon, from Mr. -_BAKER’s_, the _Cross-Keys_, in the _Market-Place_, _HULL_, and arrives -at Mr. _PULLEINE’s_, the Tavern in _YORK_, in SIX HOURS; returns from -thence about _Half-past Twelve_ at Night, or immediately after the -Receipt of the LONDON MAIL, and arrives at _HULL_ early in the Morning. - -No more than _Four Inside_ and _Two Outside_ Passengers will be taken. - - Fare, 10s. 6d. INSIDE; OUTSIDE 5s. 3d. - Short Passengers Threepence-halfpenny _per_ Mile. - -Parcels from 3d. to 6d. if above a Stone Weight One Halfpenny _per_ -Pound. - -For Places or Entry of Parcels, apply to _Henry Cawood_, at the -Post-Office, _Hull_, Mr. _Pulleine_, _York_; Mr. _Bland_, _Beverley_, -and to Mr. _Gill_, King’s Arms, _Market-Weighton_, from those Towns -respectfully for _Hull_, _York_, _London_, _or_ _Edinburgh_. - -Conveyance may be secured for Passengers and Parcels from _Hull_ to -_London_ (Fare 3l. 13s. 6d.) by the MAIL COACH, the whole Way, except -the Places be previously disposed of at _York_, in which Case Mr. -_Pulleine_ engages to send the Passengers forward in a Post-Chaise at -the same Expence and accompanying the MAIL COACH; the same from _Hull_ -to _Edinburgh_, 3l. 13s. 6d. or any intermediate Places at Fares in the -Proportion of Distance. - - ⁂ The Proprietors give Notice, that they will not be accountable for any - Parcel exceeding - the Value of Five Pounds. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcription of Document on p. 248 - - * * * * * - - HULL AND SELBY, OR HULL AND LEEDS JUNCTION, RAILWAY. - - OPENING OF THE LINE - - =FOR PASSENGERS AND PARCELS ONLY,= - - ON THURSDAY, JULY THE 2nd, 1840 - -The Public are respectfully informed that this RAILWAY will be OPENED -THROUGHOUT from HULL to the JUNCTION with the LEEDS and SELBY RAILWAY, -at Selby, on WEDNESDAY, the First Day of July next, and that PASSENGERS -and PARCELS only will be conveyed on THURSDAY, July 2nd; thus presenting -a direct Railway Conveyance from Hull to Selby, Leeds, and York without -change of Carriage. - - TRAINS WITH PASSENGERS WILL START FROM HULL AS UNDER - - AT SEVEN O’CLOCK, A.M. AT THREE O’CLOCK, P.M. - AT TEN O’CLOCK, A.M. AT SIX O’CLOCK, P.M. - - ON SUNDAYS, AT SEVEN O’CLOCK, A.M., AND SIX O’CLOCK, P.M. - -The Trains from LEEDS and YORK, for HULL, will depart from those Places -at the same Hours; and Passengers and Parcels may be Booked through at -the Leeds, York, and Hull Stations. Arrangements are also in progress -for Booking Passengers to Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, and London. - - THE FARES TO BE CHARGED ARE AS UNDER: - - _First Class._ _Second Class._ _Third Class._ - Hull to Selby 4_s._ 6_d._ 4_s._ 0_d._ 2_s._ 6_d._ - Hull to York 8_s._ 0_d._ 6_s._ 6_d._ 4_s._ 6_d._ - Hull to Leeds 8_s._ 0_d._ 6_s._ 6_d._ 4_s._ 6_d._ - -No Fees are allowed to be taken by the Guards, Porters, or any other -Servants of the Company. - -The Trains, both up and down, will call at the Stations on the Line, -viz.:—Hessle, Ferriby, Brough, Staddlethorpe, Eastrington, Howden, and -Cliff. - -Arrangements for carrying Goods, Cattle, Sheep, &c., will be completed -in a short time, of which due Notice will be given. - - By Order, - - GEORGE LOCKING, Secretary. - -_Railway Office, Hull, June 24th, 1840._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -The table of illustrations has the wrong page (p. 116) for the image on -p. 117, and has been corrected. - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. - - 52.5 we have no means of knowing[.] Added. - - 100.12 the records remain[s] to our day. Removed. - - 115.28 to hold this office[.] Thus Added. - - 116.2 Edward III[.], so his son Added. - - 118.16 Shakspeare’s [P/p]lay Replaced. - - 134.2 themselves in populous towns[.] Added. - - 148.30 your dewte in ryngyng....[’] Added. - - 187.31 of the building[.] They were a wealthy Added. - - 215.32 [s]ustained during the war. Added. - - 227.24 Let the best fashioned and apparrell[ /e]d Replaced. - Servants - - 231.21 This was between the years 1703 and 1753[.] Added. - - 245.11 horses could not[,] contend against the wind. Removed. - - 296.1 and Strong Beer.[’] Added. - - 324.20 teche all [scholers] thither _sic_ - - 330.14 to the inhabitants[’] Added. - - 331.24 at Paris in 1552[./,] one of _Cicero_ printed Replaced. - - 332.33 Bridlington and Hull came into being[.] Added. - - 349.11 R[o/a]ised in 1802 two squadrons of Yeomanry Replaced. - - 350.22 Royal A[d/c]ademy Replaced. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the East Riding of -Yorkshire, by Horace Baker Browne - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE EAST RIDING *** - -***** This file should be named 52367-0.txt or 52367-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/3/6/52367/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, MWS and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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