Filiodess Peak Scenery.
Crosses used to be placed in the centre of
parishes, at which places the people worshipped in
the early periods of Christianity.

Page 14, Line 15.

The hlazing x)i^tch on Peniglient fell down.

" These four mighty hills, having a view of each
other, would undoubtedly be provided with beacons,
to give warning of the approach of the enemy, and
remains of such places are to be seen on their
summits."

Page 15, Line 10.

The field, eve noon, was quickhj changed to red.

There can be little doubt, that, independent of the
followers, tenants, and dependents of Henry Lord
Clifford, who are enumerated in the list belonging
to Craven, many of the surrounding knights, with their
followers., would accompany them in the defence ot
their families and property.

Page 10, Line 13.

Old Scotland's army had marched boldly forth.

Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, while King Henry
YIII. was in France, had the command of the

Enghsh; and James, King of Scotland, attended



250 NOTES.

with the earls Lennox and Argyle, marched with his
nrmy and met them at a httle town called Brankston,
under Flodomi hill. The battle being so well known
hi history, will be remembered by almost every reader.

Page 17, Line 21.

The eagles from Helvellyns craggy height ,

"Before the battaill black cloudes ponred down
npon them store of fmierall teares, enarching the ayre
with a spatious rainebowe, and discharging sundry
tyre and peale of thmider. The sunne also would
gladly have hid his face, b}' thrusting it under a par-
tial eclypse. At the same time also, sholes and
cloudes of baleful ravens, and other birdes of prey
and ravin, as foreshevv'ing the harvest of carcases,
came flying over the hostes."

Old History of England, 1605.

Page 19, Line 29.

Hundreds of names with care great Clifford kept.

This is literally true, as his household book testi-
fies. These curious manuscripts were in the posses-
sion of the late Eev. W. Carr, of Bolton priory.

Dr. Whitaker, in the History of Craven, makes the
following observation : —

" The enumeration of Lord Clifford's followers, on
this occasion, in the old metrical history of Flodden
Field, is so local and exact, that it would be unpar-
donable to omit it."

' From Penigent to Pendle Hill,
From Linton to Long Addingham,
And all that Craven coasts did till,
They with the lusty Clifford came ;



NOTES. 251

All Staincliffe hundred went with hmi,
With striplings strong from Wharfcdale,
And all that Hauton hills did climb,
With Longstroth eke and Litton Dale,
Whose milk-fed fellows, fleshy bred,
Well brown'd with sounding bows upbend ;
All such as Horton Fells had fed
On Clifford's banners did attend.'

'' He survived the battle of Flodden ten years, and
died April .'^ 8, 1523, aged about 70.— By his last will,
he appointed his body to be interred at Shap, if he
died in Westmorland ; or at Bolton, if he died in
Yorkshire."

Page 20, Line 19.

Helmets their kettles, and a spear their fork,
To turn the chop, the steak, or roasting pork.

'• In the civil wars of the 17th century, the village
of Broughton, situated between the hostile garrisons
of Skipton and Thornton, had its full share of devas-
tation and misery. It was a tradition at Broughton
Hall, that the village had been so completely pillaged
of common utensils, that an old helmet travelled in
succession from house to house for the purpose of
boiling broth and pottage. And an ancient poet has
hit upon this veiy circumstance.

In days of old our fathers went to war
Expecting sturdy blows and hardy fare.
Their heef they often in their morions stened,
And in their basket-hilts their beverage brewed."

Page 24, Line 2.

Her garland soon ivas in the ahhey hung.

Garlands Avere in some instances made of paper,
and carried at the funerals of voung unmarried



252 ' NOTES.

women, inscribed with the age and name of the de-
ceased ; which custom is followed at the present day,
in Bolton, and most other churches of Wharfedale,
where garlands may be seen hung upon the lattice-
work of the choirs.

" A garland fresh and fair,
Of lillies there was made,
In sign of her virginitie,
And on her coffin laid."

Dr. Fercijs old Songs.

Page 29, Line 27.

Ilkley, thy healthy mountains, ivells, and air,
Can cure the nervous, trembling in desjKiir.

As a 2)lace where health is likely to improve, none
is better situated than this rural and romantic village.
There are antiquities, a river, mountains, rocks, and
one of the finest wells in the kingdom, independent
of its vicinity to the beautiful ruins of Bolton, and
the enchanting scenes of fifteen miles in one of the
most beautiful valleys of the north ; and where real
rural pleasure, and purity of air, with everything
reasonable that can strengthen the weak and delicate
are the objects, Ilkley claims the precedence of every
■other watering place.

Page 30, Line 15.

Denton, tliou rural village, little known,

Thou once hadst warriors who coidd shake a throne.

The family of the Fairfaxes resided here, but their
history being so Avell known to every reader, I will
only mention the great and last decisive battle oi
Marston Moor. After this conflict, the countrpnen
who were ordered to bury the dead, gave out that
they interred 4150, two-thirds of whom were gentle-
men and persons of quality.



NOTES. 253

At Marston Grange, are many hundreds of cannon
and miisketballs,, which have been found in the fields-
within these hist forty years.

Page 35, Line 10.

Then icith near thirty wounds brave Graham hied.

" Sir Richard Graham, of Norton Conyers, a very
active officer on the side of royahy, after receiving
twenty-six wounds in this battle, fled, when all was
lost, towards his own house, which he reached that
night, and expired about an hour after his arrival."

Page -49, Line 15.

Vowed from his monarcli he would never part,
Then plunged the weapon to his charger s heart.

" After Lord Clifford had overcome Fitzwalter at
Ferrj'bridge, the Earl of Warwick mounted his
coiu'ser, and riding up to King Edward, said, ' I pray
<Tod have mercy on their soules which in the begin-
ning have lost their lives ; I see no succom- in the
world but God, to whom I remit the vengeance.'
And so alighting from his horse, slew him with his
sword, saying, •' let him flie that flie will, I will tarrie
Avith him that will tarrie with me :' and confirmed his
words by kissmg the cross of his sword."

Page 42, Line 27.

Whoever shedl such trembling dastard slag,
Shall be promoted when we gain the dag.

'• The next day more fatall for England's bloud,
was celebrated with speares instead of palmes, usually
borne on that Saboth of Lent, in whose dawning, the
Lord Fauconbridge, who commanded tbe foreward
(the Duke of Norfolke being sicke) tooke the field on
a plaine, betwixt the townes of Towton and Saxton,



;^54 NOTES.

Avliere King Edward joining liis whole forces (being
forty eight thousand, and six himdreth sixty persons,
as King Henries were also threescore thousand)
caused proclamation to bee made, that hee who feared
to fight, might forthwith depart, but if any Souldier
abiding, should seek to flie or turn backe, hee should
bee slain by his next fellow, and the slayer to receiue
a great reward, besides the stipend of a double pay."

Page 48, Line 12.

A}id drown the terrors of the day in uine.

" After the battle of Towton, the Imightes as if it
had been a daye of myrthe and sporte, spent the
ni"iit in their castilles talking' of amies and amoures."



ON THE POACHEE.



Page 54, Line 3.

They act such deeds as make e'en harons swear,
Break down their Jine 2J(irk ivalls and take the deer.

The poachers in the southern parts of Craven, a
few centuries ago, seem not to have meddled with the
hare, pheasant, grouse, &c., but to have stolen the
deer out of the parks, and nothing seems to have
given the lords greater offence.



^'OT£s. 255

Page 55, Line 4.

A better irorkman seldom took the Jield.

AYliellier as Iiusbandmen, or employed in manufac-
tures, there are few better or abler workmen than
poachers, who are used to hardships and great bodily
exertion, and can perform their labour with the great-
est expedition.

Page 63, Line 11.

How oft have I, ivith exultation ffreat,
Stood Usfning to the siugiufj of his feet.

Some dogs never bark when in pursuit of game, and
can only be heard by the noise which they make with
runnmg, styled by poachers, •' Singing at the feet.''

Page 64, Line 13.

Not to the alehouse did the group retire,

But drunk and sr,iok'd around the poacher' s fire .

It is well known that there are two distinct classes
of poachers, one of a desperate description, who,
having been fined or imprisoned several times, are
determmed to be revenged, laiowing that if they again
be taken, they need not expect anything else but a
heavier penalty or a longer imprisonment. The other
class are those who are afraid of e^'ery bush, and will
lly even at their own shadow. These, in general,
commit their depredations in their o^Yn neighbour-
hood ; while the other range perhaps in a circuit ot
twenty miles, — to whom rivers are no obstacle, nor
are they hindered by the most stormy nights. They
can obtain game in such c[uantities, that they have
sometimes even a superfluity of money, which they
spend in the poacher's lonely cot. It not unfrequently
happens, that to make money, the veteran poachers
sell their tackling to the junior ones, at much above



556 ^■0TES.

Avliat it really cost, and, in tlie cliaracter of game-
keepers, take it from them the next night.

Page 67, Line 14.

Here stands the tree to n-hhl • '/" cord is tied,
A)ul there my f/ame across titc river ride!
The)! I the hridf/e securely travel o'er,
And none take oath that viurder'd yanie I hare.

Suppose three are in a gang, who are going into a
gentleman's grounds, between them and which there
is a river which cannot he forded, and they have to
pass over a bridge which is guarded. Being provided
with a large oil-case, and a string which will go three
times over the river, they tie a leaden ball to the end
of it, and throAV it over the stream. Their implements
are then put into the oil-case, and fastened to the cord,
while one goes over the bridge to the place where
the ball is thrown, and draws the oil-case over, con-
taining shot, powder, nets, &c., which by this means,
are all kept perfectly dry. In the same manner is all
the game they get drawn over, though the river
should be swollen to a great degree. In passing the
bridge, should they be searched, nothing suspicious is
found upon them.



NOTES. 257



ON AIEEDALE.



Page 71, Line 15.

To sing of Gordalc — its tremendous source.

" The approach to Gordale, on the east side of the
village of IMalham, is through a stony and desolate
valley, without a single object to divert the attention
from the stupendous scene before it. Gordale is one
solid mass of limestone rock, nearly of erjual height
with Malham Cove, cleft asunder by some great con-
\Tilsion of nature, and opening its ' stony jaws' on the
right and left. The sensation of horror is increased
by the projection of either side from its base, so that
the stupendous rocks admit only a narrow line of day-
light from above. But to attempt a description of
this romantic place would be presumption ; for, after
all that can possibly be said, Gordale must be seen
to be conceived. Bishop Pococke, who had seen all
that was great and terrible in the rocks of Judea and
Arabia, declared he had never seen any place compa-
rable to Gordale,"

Page 72, Line 26.

Stands, rudehj great, old Malhanis lofty Cove.

" The Cove is an immense assemblage of rocks,
208 feet in height, stretched in the shape of the
segment of a circle across the whole valley, and fomi-
ing a tennination at once so august and tremendous,
that the imagination can scarcely figure to itself any



95B NOTES.

form or scale of rocks, within the bounds of probahih-
tj,that can go beyond it. In rainy seasons, the
overflowings of the Tarn are precipitated from the
summit of the Cove in one of the most stupendous
cataracts tha^can be conceived."

Page 72, Line ^^'.). •

Here the brave Percies, foremost hi the chase,
Were followed by the sons of Clifford's race ;
Listers and Tempests, on the jocund morn,
Ohey'd the cheerfnl suminons of the horn;
Mai hams and Marions, on their hunters fleet,
Scatter d the moorland moss beneath their feet.

The loiights of Craven were undoubtedly brave,
bold, and resolute followers of the chase ; they not
only had the fox and hare, but the wolf and wild boar
Avere not extinct in Craven at the commencement of
the 14th century. A hunter, together with hounds,
was kept at Bolton. The Knights of Craven, from
the 12th to the 15th centuries, were Tempest, Ham-
merton, Pudsay, Lister, Marton, Malham, Hebden.
Hartlington, Eilston, Middleton, and Eshton : and
imagination sees them and their sons pursuing the
chase with many of the illustrious Cliffords.

Page 73, Line 17.

u4s when the sons of Gar grave sallied forth
To meet the fierce invaders from the north.

After the fatal battle of Bannockburn, the Scots
overran the North of England ; and Craven, abound-
ing with cattle, was oft the scene of their depredations.
In the year 1810, and three or four following ones,
they often repeated their unwelcome visits. In 1320,
they so complet^'ly ruined the Priory of Bolton, that
the prior and canons dispersed. The next year, these
marauders paid a third visit, when the movables of
Bolton were carried to Skipton Castle. In one of



NOTET. 259

these invasions, the men of Gargrave near Skipton,
met a party of the plunderers on the north-west side
of Coniston Moor, at a phice called Sweet-Gap, and
were almost cut off to a man.

Page 73, Line 21.

Death through Northumhrias fields had mark'd their way.

*' In the year 1138, while David, king of Scotland,
was engaged in the siege of Norham, he detached the
Picts, and part of the Scottish army, under the com-
mand of William , son of Duncan, his nephew, into
Yorkshire. There they laid waste the possessions of a
celebrated monastery, and thejjrovince called Craffna,
(now Craven,) with tire and sword. In this work oi
devastation, no rank, nor age, nor sex was spared.
Children were butchered before the face of their pa-
rents, husbands in sight of their wives, and wives in
the presence of their husbands : matrons and virgins
of rank were carried away indiscriminately with other
plunder ; they were stripped, bound together with
ropes, and goaded along like cattle with the points of
swords and lances."

Page 73, Line '^l.

Their divellings plunder d, and their churc]ie>>fird.

'• Not content with plunder and death, the Scots
set fire to their churches, though they had dearly paid
for their depredations at the Battle of the Standard,
fought near North- Allerton, Yorkshire ; at which place,
David, king of Scots, was completely routed. The
real Standard was there displayed. — This v>'as a huge
chariot upon wheels, with a mast of prodigious height
fixed in it, on the top of which was a cross, and un-
derneath a banner. This was a signal used only in
the greatest expeditions, and was looked upon as a
sacred altai'."



260 KOTES.

Page 75, Line 6.

heel to the altar Cklhj the fair.

The fee of Skipton before the Conquest, was the
property of the Earl Edwin, the son of Leofwine,
and brother of Lsofric, earls of Mercia. After
Edwin had forfeited the estates, the family became
possessed of them again, by the marriage of Wm.
de Meschines with Gicily de Eomili. The history
of tlie Romilis, their founding Bolton Priory, and
the untimely fate of the boy of Egremont, are so
well known that they need not be copied here. — See
Dr. Whltahers Hlotory of Craven.

Page 75, Line 17.

Banners, ivhich ivavd when shields and helmets rung,
Were all to Skipton brought, and safely hung
High in the toivr.

It was customary, in the dnys of chivalry, to deposit
shields, banners, helmets, Szq., in the strong towers of
castles.

Page 75, Line f24.

And silve/d robes the ancient Cliffords wore.

For an account of the splendour of the dresses of the
Cliffords, see Dr. Whltakers Hist. Craven, j). 291, et
seq.

Page 75, Line 99.

Upon each dish the dragon was ijortrayd.

See the valuation of the plate at Skipton Castle, in
Dr Whitaker's Craven, from which the following is
an extract : —

" Item, XX silver plates, some with dragons, and
the rest with iyberds' heads. One standyng cup, with
a like image of a boy standing upon three eagles."
There were likewise other pieces of plate, with the



NOTES.



261



portcullis, &c., engraven upon tliem, of which we can
no'.v foim no conception.

Page 76, Line 32.

The valley shone in robes of golden hue.

The v/ild ranunculus grows in such profusion in
the valley above and below Skipton, that it appears
clothed in a beautiful robe of yellow during the months
of May and June.

Page 83, Line 7.

There ivinding Aire, enamour' d of the j^lace,
Ivloves on so slow, it seems to stoj) and gaze.

The fall in the course of the Aire, from Gargrave
to Bingley, is so little, that the river seems to labour
with diiiicuhy in pursuing its course ; in many places
creeping slowly in the opposite direction, as if it wish-
ed to return to its source. This has a very beautiful
effect in a morning or evening, when the rays of the
sun are thrown upon it. The resplendent reflections
are seen in a variety of points, so as to make the
valley appear as though it was fiUed with various
small lakes.

Page 83, Li>'e 22.

There once a castle stood, tho' lost to fame.

Dodsworth, who visited Bingley inlG21, says there
was a park there, and a castle on a hill, called Bailey-
Hill, of which nothing more than the name and tra-
dition now remains.

Page 83, Line 32.

Since on its hanks the ancient Druids rang'd.

To give the history of the Druids would swell the
volume beyond its intended limits, and only be super-
fluous. They had, undoubtedly, an altar vvestof Bing-



562 NOTES.

ley. The rocks wliicli still retain tlie name of ■'• The
Altar," situated upon a lofty eminence, cleei^ly marked
with the fire of sacrifice ; the beautiful valley beneath,
favourable to the growth of the oak, and eligible for
their sacred groves, j)lace it beyond all doubt that the
valley of Bingley was once the residence of the ancient
priests of the Britons. — For full particulars respecting
the Druids, see TolancVs History of the Druids, and the
notes to Mallets Xorthern Antiqiuties.

Page 84, Lin'e 1.

The fords, irliich once tJie Fionian cohorts crossed.

These must have been, according to the line of the
Roman road from Oiicano to Mancunium, (Ilkley and
Manchester of the present day,) between Eiddlesden
Hall and Marlev. in the parish of Bin<>lev ; as the two
remaining fragments, one on Eomili's moor, and the
other near Cullingworth, are in tliat direction. Por-
tions of Pvoman strata are only to be found on the un-
cultiv-ated wastes ; they are long since destro^'ed in
the inclosures.

Page 85, Line 16.

As thoirr/h a far more dulcet peal ivere near.

Few peals in the West-Riding of Yorkshire are
placed among so many different points of echo as the
one at Bingley. A stranger, not seeing the tower of
the church, vv-ould often be at a loss to know from
whence the sounds proceeded.

Page 80, Line 7.

Your fatliers met their Maker to adore.
Devoutly read the Psalmist's verses o'er,
And from the priest words of affection flow' d —
He pray d, he wept, — until the list'niny croivd



notp:s. 263

MeJtfd to team ; and tears that ivere not feigned,
Like crystal drops from all the av.diei'ice raiyid.

As an instance of the exceeding hmnility and un-
feigned piety of some of the ahhots of Kirkstail in the
13th century, I here insert a copy of a letter written
by John de Birdsall, ahbot, to the prior and convent
of the monastery of Kirkstail, about the year 130C,
from Dr. Whitaker's History of Craven. —

•'' To his reverend brethren, the prior and convent
of the monastery of Kirkstail, John, styled abbot
of the same, v/Lshes health and grace, and that
tliev mav labour more earnestlv after the thimrs
which concern religion, peace, and charity.

" Beloved, Ave have written this letter in haste from
Canterbury, knowing that an account of the success
of our journey will be pleasing to you.

" In the first place, our dear brother, who was pre-
sent, vrill inform you, that on the morrow of St. Law-
rence, we V\ere met by letters from the King, in a very
threatening style ; that we were apjjrized of robbers
who laid wait for us in the woods, under a rock ; and
that we were bound, under the penalty of forfeiting all
our goods, to abide the king's pleasure. However,
having been at length dismissed from his presence
with honour, we proceeded on our Avay, and, notwith-
standing the delay in London, arrived at Canterbury
on jMonday evening, ourselves, our servants, and
horses, being all well. We are not without hope,
therefore, that our feeble beginnings will be followed
by better fortune. On Wednesday morning, the vvind
blovv^ng fair, we put the horses on board a ship - - -^

" For the time to come, we commend you, dear
brethren, to God, and our bodily safety to your
prayers. But especially pray for the salvation of our
soul ; for we are not greatly solicitous if this earthly
part of us be delivered into the hand of the wicked
one, so that the spirit be saved in the day of the Lord,
which we hope for, through the assistance of your in-
tercessions; yet we should wish, if it be the will oi
God, to be com.mitted to the earth by your hands,
wherever you shall dispose.



^64 KOTES.

"But know, assuredly, that, if wc return, whosoever
appears to have been most humble in conversation,
and active in business, during our absence, shall
receive an ample measure of grace and recompense
from God, and shall every hour be more alfectionately
regarded by us.

'•'We entreat and enjoin brother E. Eckisley to pre-
pare himself for the duty of preaching on the Nativity
of our Lord, unless vve return in the meantime, that
so great a festival may not pass v\4thout a sermon, a
thing which hath never yet happened, nor, by the grace
of God, ever shall do.

" We wrote unto certain persons, ' abstain from
every appearance of evil, and avoid it beforehand,
whatever is, or can be pretended in its behalf.'

'' God shall give you the knowledge of these things.

" We adjure you, brethren, by the bowels of mercy
in Jesus Christ, that, if ye hear of our departure, ye
will pray for us faithfully, remembering the labours
and distresses which we have endured in the beginning
of our creation, and of which ye are now reaping the
fruits in peace.

" We know, dearly beloved, that worldly occupations,
such as we have long been entangled in for your sakes,
are not without danger to the soul. But we derive
great hopes from your compassion, seeing that v/e aim
at no earthly advantage, nor consume the revenues oi
the monastery Avithout cause.

" Sidute our dear friends : - - - - - '■- - -'' ■- -

and especially our dearest companion,- to whom we
would have some one interpret this letter. When he
hears it, he will scarcely be able to refrain from tears,
which he shed abundantly at our parting.

" We commend our poor mother to your compassion.

*' The salutiition of me, John, your minister, such
as I am, and studying to do everything in my power
for your advantage and honour.

" We commend you again and again to God and
theB.V.

" Written at Canterhury with many tears."

* Some illiterate but affectionate fi ion d whom he does not name.



NOTES. 265

Page 88, Line 0.

And hIou-Ji/, an the clouds of incense roll,

The frarirant grateful scent x>erfmnes the whole.

" The use of perfumes," says Dr. "^Tiitaker, " is a
pleasin,!? and elegant part of the Gatliolic ritual; which,
if it could he adopted in our congregations, without
offending the higotry of Puritanism, might have a
pleasing and wholesome effect in correcting the effluvia
arising from crowded congregations.

" The power of show in religion, the pomp and
pageantry of the Romish church, steal insensihly upon
the imagination, in defiance of enlightened reason and
Protestant principle ! How easy then must it have
heen to hrihe the senses of rustics, who saw no other
spendid scenes hut those of earth and heaven, heard
little music hut that of hirds, and inhaled no other
perfumes than those of the field, especially when it is