but from the pointed roof of the choir, which must have terminated westward in some building of superior height to the ridge." p. 184. A rural chapel, neatly drest. "The nave of the church having been reserved at the dissolution, for the use of the Saxon Cure, is still a parochial chapel; and at this day is as well kept as the neatest English cathedral." P. 184. Who sate in the shade of the Prior's Oak. "At a small distance from the great gateway stood the Prior's Oak, which was felled about the year 1720, and sold for L.70. According to the price of wood at that time, it could scarcely have contained less than 1400 feet of timber." 5 18. When Lady Aliza mourn'd The detail of this ti adition may be found in Dr Whitaker's book, and in the poem, "The Force of Prayer," p. 418. ». 188. Pass, pass who will, yon chantry door. "At the east end of the north aisle of Bolton Priory Church is a chantry belonging to Bethmesly Hall, and a vault where, according to tradition, the Claphams (who inherited this estate, by the female line, from the Mauliverers) were interred upright." John de Clapham, of whom this ferocious act is recorded, was a name of great note in his time; "he was a vehement partisan of the house of Lancaster, in whom the spirit of his chieftains, the Cliffords, seemed to survive." p. 189. Who loved the Shepherd Lord to meet. See note (p. 522) on song at the feast of Brougham Castle. p. 195. Ye watchmen upon Brancepeth Towers. Brancepeth Castle stands near the River Were, a few miles from the city of Durham. It formerly belonged to the Nevilles, Earls of Westmoreland p. 200. Of mitred Thurston, what a host He conquered! See the historians for the account of this memorable battle, usually de nominated the battle of the standard. P. 206. An edifice of warlike frame Stands single (Norton Tower its name). It is so called to this day, and is thus described by Dr Whitaker: "Rylstone Fell yet exhibits a monument of the old warfare between the Nortons and Cliffords. On a point of very high ground, commanding an immense prospect, and protected by two deep ravines, are the remains of a square tower, expressly said by Dodsworth to have been built by Richard Norton. "But Norton Tower was probably a sort of pleasure-house in summer, as there are, adjoining to it, several large mounds (two of them are pretty entire), of which no other account can be given than that they were butts for large companies of archers. "The place is savagely wild, and admirably adapted to the uses of a watch-tower." D 215 -Despoil and desolation O'er Rylstone's fair domain have blown. "After the attainder of Richard Norton, his estates were forfeited to the Crown, where they remained till the second or third of James; they were then granted to Francis Earl of Cumberland." P. 217. In the deep fork of Amerdale. "At the extremity of the parish of Burnsall, the valley of Wharf forks off into two great branches, one of which retains the name of Wharfdale to the source of the river; the other is usually called Littondale, but more anciently and properly Amerdale. Dernbrook, which runs along an ob scure valley from the north-west is derived from a Teutonic word, signifying concealment."-Dr Whitaker. p. 218. When the bells of Rylstone played Their Sabbath music-" God us apde." On one of the bells of Rylstone church, which seems coeval with the building of the tower, is this cypher, J.. for John Norton, and the motto, "God us apde.' P 219. The grassy rock-encircled pound. Which is thus described by Dr Whitaker;-"On the plain summit o the hill are the foundations of a strong wall, stretching from the south-west to the north-east corner of the tower, and to the edge of a very deep glen. From this glen, a ditch, several hundred yards long, runs south to another deep and rugged ravine. On the north and west, where the banks are very steep, no wall or mound is discoverable, pailing being the only fence that would stand on such ground. From the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," it appears that such pounds for deer, sheep, &c., were far from being uncommon in the south of Scotland. The principle of them was something like that of a wire mousetrap. On the declivity of a steep hill, the bottom and sides of which were fenced so as to be impassable, a wall was constructed nearly level with the surface on the outside, yet so high within, that without wings it was impossible to escape in the opposite direction. Care was probably taken that these enclosures should contain better feed than the neighbouring parks or forests; and whoever is acquainted with the habits of these sequacious animals, will easily conceive, that if the leader was once tempted to descend into the snare, an herd would follow. I cannot conclude without recommending to the notice of all lovers of beautiful scenery Bolton Abbey and its neighbourhood. This enchanting spot belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. p. 286. MISCELLANEOUS. There were two springs which bubbled side by side. The impressive circumstance here described actually took place some years ago in this country, upon an eminence called Kidstow Pike, one of the highest of the mountains that surround Hawes Water. The summit of the Pike was stricken by lightning; and every trace of one of the fountains disappeared, while the other continued to flow as before. p. 333 To the Daisy. This poem, and two others to the same flower, were written in the year 1802; which is mentioned, because in some of the ideas, though not in the manner in which those ideas are connected, and likewise even in some of the expressions, there is a resemblance to a poem (lately published) of Mr Montgomery's, entitled, "A Field Flower." This being said, Mr Montgomery will not think any apology due to him. I cannot, however, help address ing him in the words of the father of English poets, D. 346. "Though it happe me to rehersin That ye han in your freshe songis saied, The Seven Sisters. 1807 The story of this poem is from the German of FREDERICA BRUV. p. 362. The horn of Egremont Castle. This story is a Cumberland tradition; I have heard it also related of the Hall of Hutton John, an ancient residence of the Huddlestones, in a sequestered valley upon the River Dacor. v. 392. Song at the feast of Brougham Castle. Henry Lord Clifford, &c., &c., who is the subject of this poem, was the son of John, Lord Clifford, who was slain at Towton Field, which John, Lord Clifford, as is known to the reader of English history, was the person who after the battle of Wakefield slew, in the pursuit, the young Earl of Rutland, son of the Duke of York, who had fallen in the battle, "in part of revenge" (say the authors of the History of Cumberland and Westmorland); "for the Earl's father had slain his." A deed which worthily blemished the author (saith Speed); but who, as he adds, "dare promise anything temperate of himself in the heat of martial fury? chiefly, when it was resolved not to leave any branch of the York line standing; for so one maketh this lord to speak." This, no doubt, I would observe by the bye, was an action sufficiently in the vindictive spirit of the times, and yet not altogether so bad as represented; "for the Earl was no child, as some writers would have him, but able to bear arms, being sixteen or seventeen years of age, as is evident from this (say the Memoirs of the Countess of Pembroke, who was laudably anxious to wipe away, as far as could be, this stigma from the illustrious name to which she was born); that he was the next child to King Edward the Fourth, which his mother had by Richard Duke of York, and that King was then eighteen years of age: and for the small distance betwixt her children, see Austin Vincent in his book of Nobility, p. 622, where he writes of them all. It may further be observed, that Lord Clifford, who was then himself only twentyfive years of age, had been a leading man and commander, two or three years together in the army of Lancaster, before this time; and therefore would be less likely to think that the Earl of Rutland might be entitled to mercy from his youth. But, independent of this act, at best a cruel and savage one, the family of Clifford had done enough to draw upon them the vehement hatred of the house of York: so that after the battle of Towton there was no hope for them but in flight and concealment. Henry, the subject of the poem, was deprived of his estate and honours during the space of twenty-four years; all which time he lived as a shepherd in Yorkshire, or in Cumberland, where the estate of his father-in-law (Sir Lancelot Threlkeld) lay. He was restored to his estate and honours in the first year of Henry the Seventh. It is recorded that, "when called to parliament, he behaved nobly and wisely; but otherwise came seldom to London or the Court; and rather delighted to live in the country, where he repaired several of his castles, which had gone to decay during the late_troubles." Thus far is chiefly collected from Nicholson and Burn; and I can add, from my own knowledge, that there is a tradition current in the village of Threlkeld and its neighbourhood, his principal retreat, that, in the course of his shepherd life, he had acquired great astronomical knowledge. I cannot conclude this note without adding a word upon the subject of those numerous and noble feudal edifices spoken of in the poem, the ruins of some of which are, at this day, so great an ornament to that interesting country. The Cliffords had always been distinguished for an honourable pride in these castles; and we have seen, that after the wars of York and Lancaster they were rebuilt. In the civil wars of Charles the First they were again laid waste, and again restored almost to their former magnificence by the celebrated Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, &c. &c. Not more than 25 years after this was done, when the estates of Clif ford had passed into the family of Tufton, three of these castles, namely Brough, Brougham, and Pendragon, were demolished, and the timber and other materials sold by Thomas Earl of Thanet. We will hope that, when this order was issued, the Earl had not consulted the text of Isaiah, 58th chap., 12th verse, to which the inscription placed over the gate of Pendragon Castle, by the Countess of Pembroke (I believe his grandmother), at the time she repaired that structure, refers the reader:-" And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the founda tions of many generations, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in." The Earl of Thanet, the present possessor of the estates, with a due respect for the memory of his ancestors, and a proper sense of the value and beauty of these remains of antiquity, has (I am told) given orders that they shall be preserved from all depreda tions. p. 392. Earth helped him with the cry of blood. This line is from the Battle of Bosworth Field, by Sir John Beaumont (brother to the dramatist), whose poems are written with so much spirit, elegance, and harmony p. 394. And both the undying fish that swim It is imagined by the people of the country that there are two immortal fish, inhabitants of this Tarn, which lies in the mountains not far from Threlkeld. Blencathara, mentioned before, is the old and proper name to the mountain vulgarly called Saddle Back. P. 395 Armour rusting in his halls On the blood of Clifford calls. The martial character of the Cliffords is well known to the readers of English history; but it may not be improper here to say, by way of comment on these lines, and what follows, that, besides several others who perished in the same manner, the four immediate progenitors of the per son in whose hearing this is supposed to be spoken all died in the field. |