ESTMORLA 
 
 BY THE
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 
 X<e 
 
 ttuvfhs
 
 \
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY AND TRADITIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE 
 
 WESTMORLAND. 
 
 REV. W. N I C H O LLS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 
 
 MANCHESTER : JOHN HEYWOOD, 141 AND 143, DEANSGATE. 
 
 LONDON : Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. KIRKBY STEPHEN : J. W. Braithwalte. 
 APPLEBY : J. Whitehead. PENRITH : J. Hodgson. KENDAL : Atkinson & Pollitt, 
 and E. Gill. SEDBERGH : Jackson & Sons. SETTLE : Wildman & Son. HAWES : 
 J. Hunter. 
 
 [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I HAD intended to publish my researches into the various features of 
 the traditions and history of Ravenstonedale, rearranged, and composed 
 in a written rather than a spoken style ; but, after mature consideration, 
 I have determined, for several reasons, to present my lectures to the 
 public in the style in which they were delivered, except that they have 
 undergone careful revision, and several additions have been made to 
 them which could not be introduced when they were delivered for want 
 of time. I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of expressing my 
 obligations to the Rev. R. Robinson, of Mallerstang ; Mr. John 
 Robinson, of Ash Fell, who is in possession of some of the most 
 important MSS. ; but most of all to Mr. A. Metcalfe, of Park House, 
 wno was my chairman each evening, and through whose invariable 
 kindness; and courtesy I have been able to obtain much of the information 
 contained in the following lectures. To my critics I may say that I am 
 responsible for the blunders, and that my rushing into print has not 
 arisen from the cacoethes scribendi of which one has so often heard, and 
 the disease from which one would wish to be free, but from the desire 
 to comply with the unanimous request of a crowded audience to which 
 the last lecture was delivered, and to preserve, if possible, in a permanent 
 form, facts and traditions which might otherwise be lost to the finest 
 drag-net of any chronicler who might come at all remotely after me. 
 The following record is a contribution to English history, although an 
 atom, still an atom, and so a part of the mass, and thus furnishing the 
 reader with an insight into the self-contained and independent rule in 
 some of the more highly favoured dales, such as Ravenstonedale was. 
 
 In the Appendix the reader will find some notes containing valuable 
 information. My aim has been to notice the facts connected with the 
 parish which have been hitherto unrecorded. 
 
 The Manse, Sept. i^th, 1877.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Lecture 1 7 
 
 Lecture II 40 
 
 Lecture III 78 
 
 Appendix 103 
 
 List of Subscribers , 123
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 "N presenting you with the history of Ravenstonedale I 
 shall first attempt the etymology of its name by noticing 
 the different derivations which have been suggested, 
 and then furnishing you with the one which I accept, 
 together with my reasons for accepting it. 
 
 The derivation given by Burns and Nicholson, in their 
 " History of Westmorland," is that our Dale takes its name 
 from a brook flowing through it, called the Raven; but, 
 after careful inquiry and the examination of the oldest MSS. 
 of the parish, I cannot learn that there is, or ever has been, 
 a beck in the dale called by that name. Then another 
 attempted etymology is that there is a dark grey stone in 
 our dale called the Raven stone, and for this etymology I 
 have the influential authority of the Rev. R. Robinson, of 
 Mallerstang ; but concerning this, too, I have made inquiry, 
 and cannot find that in Scandale Gill, where it is said to be, 
 there is any such stone. These are the only two etymologies, 
 I believe, which have appeared in print, and neither of them 
 is satisfactory. But some of you with whom I have con- 
 versed have asked, " Does it not refer to a raven on a stone? " 
 and, though I was at first sceptical of such an etymology and 
 was disposed to look for an explanation less manifestly on
 
 8 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 the surface, I am now inclined to think that the easiest and 
 most apparent etymology is the true one. I was not aware 
 until informed of it by Mr. William Metcalfe, in a note 
 written to his father on this subject, that the word " Raven- 
 stone" is used by Lord Byron, but I find it is in the 
 following passage : 
 
 " Do not think 
 
 I'll honour you so much as save your throat 
 From the Ravenstone by choking you myself." 
 
 And in a note, explanatory of Ravenstone, Lord Byron says 
 that " The Ravenstone (Rabenstein) is the stone gibbet of 
 Germany, and so called from the ravens perching on it." 
 
 To this day we have Gallows Hill as a feature in our 
 dale, where, up to comparatively modern times, capital 
 punishment was inflicted, and possibly in very early days, of 
 which we have no historical record, executions were fre- 
 quent here; and the essential stone was often occupied by 
 the raven, which is a carrion bird. Hence the distinguishing 
 name of our dale came to be Ravenstonedale. 
 
 Since delivering the preceding, I have received a com- 
 munication from Mr. Cornelius Nicholson, who is an 
 authority on such questions. He says, " Rafen-stan-dale 
 (for that is the true spelling) is one of many names left in 
 the northern counties of England by the Danes. The 
 / and v are interchangeable. The raven was, perhaps still 
 is, the national symbol of Denmark. It figured, still figures, 
 I believe, on the national standard, until the standard itself 
 is called the Rafen. The bird was esteemed to be sacred 
 in Scandinavia, in pre-Christian times, as the dove was 
 among the Slavs. In England the raven was held to be a 
 bird of ill omen, and this arose, I believe, from the terror 
 with which the Danish standard filled the minds of Picts,
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 9 
 
 Scots, and Angles, in the piratical invasions of the North- 
 men. The second syllable would be added to Raven when 
 the first road was made, and by the same people. Dale is 
 English and comparatively modern." 
 
 This is as much perhaps as can be said of the derivation 
 of the name of our dale. 
 
 We have evidence that in the remote past our dale was 
 well wooded. Roots are constantly being found in different 
 parts, wherever there is sufficient soil to preserve them ; 
 and they are generally found to be those of oaks and firs, 
 and branches of hazelnut bushes, embedded in mosses, in a 
 state of wonderful preservation. Then some of our local 
 names still in use indicate the prevalence of wood. 
 Thwaite, which means wood, is, you know, a part of several 
 compound names of places, as, e.g., Adamthwaite, Narth- 
 thwaite, and Murthwaite. And then I have been informed 
 that a hill under Green Bell is called Nout-(nut)-berry, 
 and that nuts covered up in the moss have there been 
 found. There can be no doubt that the fells which are now 
 so bare were at one time covered with wood; as, indeed, 
 only 100 years ago they were covered with ling, and, in con- 
 firmation of this, Burns (in speaking of the county of West- 
 morland generally) says, " It is very certain that long after 
 the Conquest this county was overrun with wood. We read 
 of nothing but forests, and chases, and parks, and mastage, 
 and pannage, and vert, and venison, and greenhue, and 
 regarders, and foresters, and verderers, and a hundred 
 other names and titles respecting the keeping or preserva- 
 tion of the woods and game therein. And the reason why 
 it is now so scarce he ascribes to the fact that it was 
 industriously destroyed to prevent its affording shelter to 
 Scotch invaders.
 
 10 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 If I may at this point venture a word of suggestion, it is, 
 that as trees are most useful for protection from storms on 
 these wind-swept hills, whenever a landowner cuts one down 
 he should plant two in its stead. It is to me always a 
 matter of regret to see fine timber prone on wood carts, and 
 being hauled out of the parish. 
 
 Fifty years ago there was a circle of stones on the high 
 road leading from Kirkby Stephen to Sedbergh, near 
 Rawthey Bridge, supposed to be a monument of Druid 
 worship. These stones, I have been informed by Mr. Wm. 
 Alderson, of Brigg, were blocks of limestone, about three 
 feet high, and were inconsiderately removed for the purpose 
 of helping to build the abutment on the Ravenstonedale 
 side of the present bridge which spans the Rawthey, and 
 bears date 1822. The holes in which the stones stood are, 
 however, yet visible, although overgrown with grass. Col- 
 lectively they form a circle. On Windy Hill, at a still 
 higher elevation, and against our boundary wall, though 
 outside of it, there are two barrows, which were opened by 
 the Rev. Canon Greenwell and others about ten years ago, 
 in each of which they found a skeleton, one being in a 
 sitting posture. The skulls were supposed to indicate the 
 race and period of the Ancient Britons. We know that in 
 those early times the chiefs ruled each over his own district 
 with kingly sway, and that when buried the summit of some 
 lofty hill was chosen that their tombs might be conspicuous. 
 
 And now we come to what is perhaps the greatest ancient 
 curiosity in the dale, although it is one, probably, which 
 many of you have not noticed the earthen dyke within the 
 park. It is two miles in circumference, and at the base 
 fifteen feet wide. When constructed this dyke must have 
 been nine feet high, and at present it is in several places
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 1 j 
 
 six feet. It encloses a rough, rocky, woody gill, together 
 with a considerable quantity of level land. On close 
 inspection we find that in its day it was an important work, 
 for the completion of which in twelve months the labour of 
 several hundred men would be required. Many theories as 
 to its design and use have been suggested, and without 
 giving you all I will mention one or two of the most 
 probable. One is that the dyke was thrown up for self- 
 defence. The objection to this conjecture is, that it sets 
 the assailed at a disadvantage, as in most places the dyke 
 runs below the crest of the hill. Then, another theory is 
 that the enclosure was intended for religious purposes, and 
 so comprises a vast temple. The objection to this is found 
 first in the dimensions of the enclosure, and secondly in the 
 rocky nature of the ground enclosed. Another theory, and 
 the one which to myself seems most probable, is that it was 
 used as an enclosure for game, whither they were driven and 
 despatched as they were needed, very much as in Africa 
 the corrall is used in the present day. For whatever pur- 
 pos the enclosure was made there is abundant evidence of 
 its antiquity. Within it there is no ploughed land, although 
 there is ploughed land outside and right up to it; 
 and on the ploughed land, too, we have the oldest system 
 of cultivation, viz., traces of ploughing sideways (crossways), 
 not up and down, as at present. This system has thrown 
 the land into very deep ridges, forming, in fact, terraces, 
 which is to-day the evidence of the style of ploughing at a 
 very early date. Then there are abundant traces of the 
 succeeding or modern style of ploughing, which commenced 
 at an early period, but no trace of either the ancient or 
 modern style of ploughing exists within the aforesaid dyke, 
 although, as I have said, on the outside both methods are
 
 12 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 seen close against it. Within a few hundred yards of this 
 important enclosure we come to the foundation of a town, 
 now called Severals, consisting of many scores of dwellings. 
 The foundations prove that these dwellings were of a very 
 primitive construction. The foundation stones, being set up 
 edgeways, show that the walls of the houses were very low, 
 and that the ground floor was probably excavated and the 
 timber then placed on the stones, as it was formerly on old 
 thatched houses. If the period of the construction of these 
 dwellings be as far back as the ancient Britons then we 
 have a corroboration in the writings of Diodorus Siculus, 
 who says, " The Britons dwelt in wretched cottages, which 
 were constructed of wood, covered with straw." At the 
 present day the openings for the doorways are visible, and 
 there are also traces of the roads leading from the town, as 
 also of a wall by which it was surrounded, just outside of 
 which there is a barrow, similar to the one on Windy Hill, 
 but which has not as yet been opened. The probability is 
 that it contains the skeleton of the chief of the town or 
 district. Foundations of other dwelling-houses of the same 
 period are found in that part of the park grounds. These 
 foundations have all been found on the dry hills. They extend 
 beyond all local history, or even tradition, and, judging from 
 their position and the character of their foundations, must 
 be very ancient. Tradition tells us that the inhabitants, for 
 some cause of which we are not informed, were banished 
 from their homes, and they took up their abode at Newbiggen. 
 Tradition also states that they called it Newbiggen it was 
 a new beginning. Here I should be disposed to say that 
 tradition was at fault and that the word meant "new building." 
 Other objects of interest of about contemporary date are 
 found in the "Giants' Graves,"* situated in the neighbourhood 
 
 *See Appendix, page 105.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 1 3 
 
 of the dyke and the remains of the town. They are from 
 twenty to thirty in number, and consist of huge mounds in 
 the shape of gigantic graves, fifteen feet in width, and from 
 thirty to forty-five feet in length, and, when made, were 
 probably from six to eight feet high. Some are found in the 
 level, others on the slope. Many have been the suggestions 
 as to their origin and their use ; but, judging from their form 
 and traditional name, the most probable seems to be that 
 they were burial-places the only difficulty we see in this 
 being that on the opening of several of them no remains of 
 any kind were discovered. But as their probable date is so 
 remote this difficulty is not insuperable, since bones, and 
 even teeth, decay. 
 
 No doubt some of you are aware that no notice of this 
 part of Westmorland is made in Domesday Book. Burns, 
 in his history, says : " In the Domesday Survey an account 
 is taken of many places within the barony of Kendal, 
 together with the adjoining places in Lancashire and York- 
 shire, whereas of Westmorland, properly so called, no 
 survey was made, being all wasted and destroyed, and worth 
 nothing." From which I conclude we are to understand 
 either that it was the scene of border conflicts, and so 
 devastated, or that the land was in a swampy and uncul- 
 tivated state. The probabilities are that at about that 
 period the inhabitants of this dale were in a barbarous 
 condition. 
 
 We have evidence of the existence at an early period of 
 * several fishponds here. There was one near Garshill, at 
 the bottom of the present Ash Fell turnpike road. The dam 
 which was cut through in constructing the present road was 
 found to be artificial, the remaining portion of which may 
 be seen close against the right-hand side of the road in
 
 14 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 ascending, and has growing upon it a few slender firs. 
 Within that dam there was doubtless at one time a large 
 sheet of water. 
 
 Greenside and Sunbiggen Tarns still exist. These and 
 other large pieces of water were stocked with fish, and 
 supplied the early inhabitants with food. Traces of red 
 deer have also been found the antlers of one, now in the 
 possession of Mr. Anthony Metcalfe, being found in the High 
 Wood Mire in the park. Boars were known also to abound 
 in this dale, and I am indebted to the same gentleman for 
 information respecting the discovery which men, working 
 under his direction at Dogbar, made of the teeth and tusks 
 of wild boars, whilst digging for the foundation of the 
 schoolroom, which has since been removed. 
 
 The majestic hill forming the head of our dale is, as you 
 know, called Wild-boar Fell.* Upon it is a place called 
 Dauphine Stve. and for several years the tradition has been 
 current that the last boar seen in this part of the country 
 was shot on Wild-boar Fell by Sir Richard Musgrave ; and in 
 remarkable confirmation of this tradition I have been 
 informed that when the grave of the late Sir Richard 
 Musgrave was removed, owing to alterations occasioned by 
 the restoration of the Kirkby Stephen church, it was 
 discovered that the tusk of a boar had been buried with him. 
 
 We have evidence therefore of several large tarns stocked 
 with fish, and that boars and red deer abounded here. The 
 probability is that the people lived by fishing and the chase, 
 and that it was not until a later period that the land was 
 brought under cultivation, and cattle fed. 
 
 In the time of William the Conqueror we know that this 
 
 *See Appendix, page 104.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 15 
 
 part of Westmorland was given to Ranulph de Meschines, 
 one of the Norman knights, and that the people were in 
 due time brought under the rigour and order of feudal law. 
 
 I shall now call your attention to the roads,* a proof and 
 necessity of advancing civilisation. 
 
 The ancient road or high street from Borrowbridge to 
 Brough entered this parish at Hanskew, and so along to 
 Riggs, now in the occupation of Matthew Bell, where there 
 was an inn. From thence, through Brownber, over Badger 
 Hill, it passed Friar Bottom, and over Smardale Bridge, 
 where there has been a bridge for the last three hundred 
 years, but previous to that there was a ford, the marks of 
 which remain until this day.. Near that bridge there was 
 another inn, the foundation-stones of which have been 
 removed for building purposes, though the corner-stone still 
 remains. 
 
 Then there was another main highway which entered the 
 parish of Rawthey Bridge, and came through Fell End and 
 along the street immediately in front of the house at present 
 occupied by William Bradberry, and so along past Stenner- 
 skeugh, where there is still an old county bridge. It then 
 goes forward on the high side of Flass and across Tarn 
 Mire, and past Tarnwath Hole, a well-known boundary- 
 mark of this parish ; from thence over Ash Fell End, and 
 so along the tracks which are still visible to Kirkby Lane 
 Head. 
 
 And now I come to the cross-roads, leaving the old 
 king's highway at Rigg End, past Sandwath, up Scot Rake, 
 past Hunt Hoof, over Green Bell, down Spen Gill, past 
 Adamthwaite, past Murthwaite, down Sally Brow, the 
 
 *See Appendix, pajfe 107.
 
 1 6 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 steepest of all roads, over Bow Bridge, and so on to the 
 ancient highway from Kirkby Stephen to Sedbergh.* 
 
 The present road between Newbiggen and the town was 
 made 100 years ago. The old road previous to that time 
 left the old highway at High Lane, came down past Cause- 
 way End, and across the swamp on a paved causeway to 
 the village of Newbiggen. The paved causeway may still 
 be seen, being now laid to the pasture belonging to Mr. 
 William Dixon, and running alongside of the present 
 causeway. Another piece of pavement of the same date 
 can be distinctly seen at the present day at Foul Dubbs, 
 where the old road passed over the marshy ground at that 
 place. All the roads at that time were over green tracks, 
 or, as they were called, " rakes." The road came through 
 Coldbeck, where there was no bridge, up High Dykes (this 
 part doubtlessly called High Dykes on account of a wall or 
 dyke which enclosed the church and church road), thence 
 on to the town. From here there were three roads to the 
 highway between Sedbergh and Kirkby Stephen one up 
 the town to Cross Bank, and so on to the Street; the 
 second, by way of Back of Hobers, past Mr. John 
 Robinson's residence at Ash Fell, and over the fell, past 
 Waitby Scar, and down to the said old way at Kirkby 
 Lane Head ; and the third went past Banks, over Adam- 
 thwaite Cross, through Murthwaite and Murthwaite Park, 
 over the river Rawthey, and up Blue Caster, where it 
 joined the highway. t 
 
 * Connected with this cross-road I have had the following incident handed to me : 
 The Scots, in passing over Scot Rake, looked back and discovered, as they thought, 
 a village which they had neglected to plunder. On their going back they found that 
 the village was nothing but rocks. These rocks were the " Bents Craggs." 
 
 t There is a tradition that the inhabitants of the town, hearing that the Scots 
 were in the neighbourhood, and fearing their depredations, many of them fled with 
 their pewter to Adamthwaite Cross, intending to bury it there in the earth; but 
 whilst they were digging the Scotch came out in numbers from ambush in which they 
 had concealed themselves, and seized the pewter which the Ravenstonedale people 
 left in making their escape.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 1 7 
 
 We now come to a monastery, which I think there can be 
 little doubt at one time existed here. Unfortunately we 
 have few documents, but we have evidence which, with the 
 documents we possess, is quite as good, viz., the names of 
 the places. There is Friar Bottom, and Capel (chapel) 
 Rigg, Capel (chapel) Butts, an archery ground, Saint Helen's 
 Well, and near it the foundation of a building which was 
 undoubtedly St. Helen's Chapel, and, contiguous to Friar 
 Bottom, a fishpond, now dry. 
 
 Documentary evidence shows that in the year 1336 the 
 manor of Ravenstonedale, with the advowson, was given by 
 one Torphin to the Priory of Watton, of the order of Sem- 
 pringham. Burns and Nicholson, in their valuable history, 
 say, "The tenor of Torphin's grant, including the manor, 
 with the advowson appendent, is set forth in an account 
 given to the Rev. Thomas Machel by Mr. Anthony Prockter, 
 curate of Ravenstonedale, and Mr. George Fothergill of 
 Tarn house, as also in a manuscript, written in the year 1645, 
 by Anthony Fothergill, of Trannahill, great grandfather of 
 the late Mr. Anthony Fothergill, of Brownber, whose 
 account was taken from an office copy of the charter of 
 donation remaining amongst the evidences in the tower or 
 palace of the late abbey of St. Mary, without the walls of 
 York ; which tower was blown up with gunpowder by Oliver 
 Cromwell in the year 1644, and this, with many othe 
 valuable . charters belonging to the religious houses, was 
 thereby destroyed and lost. The said charter was in English 
 as follows : ' Know all men present, and to come, that I, 
 Torphin, son of Robert, son of Copsus, have given, and by 
 this my charter confirmed to God and the blessed virgin, 
 and all the holy men serving God in the monastery of 
 Watton, all the whole vill. of Ravenstonedale, with that
 
 l8 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 part of the vill. called Newbiggin, with the boundaries 
 and limits thereof, as well without the vill. as within ; that 
 is to say, from the head of Beversdale, as the water of 
 Beversdale runs, till it comes into the water of Tebey ; and 
 from thence by Hanscus to the Blea Tarn ; and from thence 
 into Rasett, and so to Couling stones, and from Couling 
 stones to Skeat beck runs into Smerdale beck ; and so 
 by Smerdale beck till it comes to Smerdale flatt, and from 
 thence till it come to the highest place on Ash Fell ; * and 
 so to Tarnwarth hole ; and from Tarnwarth hole, as Kirkby 
 way goes, till it come at Scandal water, and so going up 
 that water into a path-way that goes to Mallerstang scarth ; 
 and then on the top of Wild-boar Fell to the head of the 
 water of Ulnedale ; and as the water of Ulnedale runes till it 
 comes into the water of Rothay, and as the water of Rothay 
 runs till it come betwixt Washingham and Keldon, and 
 from thence to the head of Beversdale.' " 
 
 From this viz., the manor and advowson we learn that 
 there was a church here at that early period, but of its minister 
 we have no record. On the completion of the transfer of this 
 manor from Torphin to the Priory of Watton it would seem 
 that the monks of that order came and settled down here, in 
 all probability at Friar Bottom, as Newbiggen is especially 
 mentioned in the deed of gift ; and we are also told that 
 King Henry III., in the 36th year of his -reign, granted to 
 the monks of Watton a privilege of free warren in Watton 
 and Staneton, in the county of York, and Ravenstonedale 
 and Langdale, in the county of Westmorland, which would 
 not have been of much use to them had there not been some 
 residents here. At Newbiggen they built a chapel near a 
 
 * The ancient foundation of the boundary-mark at this point is plainly visible at 
 the present day.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 19 
 
 spring, to which they no doubt attached some healing 
 qualities, and which they dedicated to St. Helen. Chapel 
 Rigg they cultivated, for we have evidence of the crosswise 
 ploughing upon it, which I mentioned in the first part of this 
 lecture. On the Chapel Butts they recreated themselves by 
 shooting at a target, and perhaps, seeing that the bow and 
 arrow was the weapon of war at that day, they taught others 
 to shoot with power and accuracy. We wonder whether 
 they had an orchard or a garden in which they worked. We 
 know they had a fishpond where they used to breed fish in 
 abundance, which they could easily catch for their fast-day 
 meals. Years ago some men were lowering the beck, at the 
 outlet of what was once the fishpond, when they came upon 
 a sluice which conveyed away the surplus water from the 
 pond, but which, by its weight, has in the course of years 
 sunk lower and lower until it became lost beneath the bed 
 of the stream, where it is, as I can testify from personal 
 inspection, to this day. The monks, at that comparatively 
 early date, were most likely earnest and devoted men ; they 
 taught the people and very considerably civilised them ; they 
 were, in common with the occupants of other such houses, 
 the almoners to the poor; they protected the weak and 
 defenceless, and it was owing to them that we had as a parish 
 the privilege of sanctuary. The parish church has never been 
 an incumbency, but its pulpit now, as in the past, supplied 
 as a perpetual curacy, and in former times it was occupied 
 by the monks, who were ordained. 
 
 The old church was pulled down one hundred and 
 twenty-five years ago. It stood near the site of the present 
 church, built in 1744, but the tower stood alone, and on the 
 town road side of the path. This tower, tradition says, 
 rested on pillars, leaving openings at equal distances on
 
 20 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 each side, while from the centre hung the bell rope of the 
 refuge bell. Any person who had committed an offence 
 worthy of death, and in those days there were many such, 
 besides murder, after ringing this bell could not be seized 
 by the sheriff, or any other king's officer, but must be tried 
 by the court here, composed at first, no doubt, of the 
 monks, and afterwards of the tenants, presided over by the 
 lord of the manor's steward. And as a proof that this was 
 no dead letter we have the testimony of Mr. Anthony 
 Fothergill that in his time if a murderer fled to the church, 
 or sanctuary, and tolled the holy bell, as it was called, he 
 was free ; and that if a stranger came within the precints of 
 the manor he was safe from the pursuer. And he adds, " Of 
 our own knowledge, and within our own memory, no felon, 
 though a murderer, was to be carried out of the parish for 
 trial, and one Holme, a murderer, lived and died in 
 Ravenstonedale, whose posterity continued there for two 
 generations, when the family became extinct.* In the old 
 church there were two rows of seats below the communion 
 table, where, it is said, the steward of the manor and jury 
 sat formerly in their court of judicature. The malefactors 
 were imprisoned in a hollow-arched vault, the ruins whereof 
 were to be seen until recently on the north side of the 
 church. Further particulars have come to hand respecting 
 the old parish church since I delivered the foregoing, and 
 which, owing to the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Simpson, of 
 Kirkby Stephen, in calling my attention to it, I am able to 
 insert. It is taken from the primary visitation of Bishop 
 Nicholson, of Carlisle, which he made on July i2th, 1703 ; 
 forty-one years, therefore, before the building of the present 
 church. He says : 
 
 * The privilege of sanctuary was abolished in this as in all other places by Act of 
 Parliament in the reign of James the First.
 
 JRAVENSTONEDALE. <2 1 
 
 " Ravenstondale, Jul. 12. 
 
 " Here's a large and handsome church ; the quire part the worst, but 
 all repair'd (as one continued pile of building) at the common charge of 
 the parish. The altar has no rails, and stands at a distance from ye 
 east window, having two rows of seats, or benches, betwixt it and that 
 for the scholars. They have a tradition that ye steward and jury of ye 
 mannour sate formerly on these benches in judgment (of life and death) 
 upon such malefactors as were arraign'd for any capital crime, who were 
 imprison'd in a hollow vault (some part whereof is still to be seen) on 
 the north side of the church. 
 
 " They have three good bells and a clock in the tower, besides the 
 saints' bell, which hangs near that part of the south isle which is 
 appropriated to the use of a school. In the dayes of Mr. A. Proctour, 
 who was a great many years curate here, and is now rector of Dean, in 
 Cumberland, this bell used to be rung in ye conclusion of ye Nicene 
 Creed, to call in the Dissenters to sermon. 
 
 " The body of the church looks pretty well, and will appear better as 
 soon as they have gotten it whiten'd, the Queen's arms and sentences (on 
 ye walls) renew'd, &c. The reading pew and pulpit are very good, and 
 the late addition of a wainscot seat for the clark is an improvement very 
 commendable. There are some old clumsie benches over against the 
 pulpit, which still belong to some of the most considerable men of the 
 parish, and were antiently their best seats. They are now the worst, 
 and would be thought so were it not for the convenience of their place. 
 
 " In ye east end of the south isle, near ye entrance into the school, lye 
 two blew marble stones, whereon are ye following epitaphs : 
 
 I. 
 
 " ' Here lyeth the body of George Fothergill, 
 
 Of Tarn House, Esqr., the Queen's Majesty's 
 
 Receiver for Westmorland, Lancashire, 
 
 And Cumberland, who departed 
 
 this life Apr. 26, 1681.' 
 
 II. 
 
 '"Nov. 19, A.DnL 1681. 
 Was interr'd under this stone, Julian, 
 
 the wife of George Fothergill, of 
 
 Tarn House, second daughter of Richard 
 
 Skelton, of Armethwaite Castel, in the 
 
 County of Cumberland, Esqr. * * Issue 
 
 3 sons * * * * daughters.'
 
 22 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 " Under each of these inscriptions there are some fragments of Hebrew, 
 half worn away, the composure of Mr. Medcalf, who is now school- 
 master at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, whither he removed from this place. 
 ****** 
 
 "The parish register begins at Jun. 12, 1577. They have a good poor 
 stock, well preserv'd and employ'd. ' Excepting the vicar and school- 
 master,' said one of the churchwardens, 'we have not a gentleman 
 among us ; nor can any remember the time that we had a beggar.' " 
 
 This valuable extract, which at the time I delivered this 
 lecture was in the press, most fully confirms the statements 
 I then made. But to resume. 
 
 In the time of Henry VIII., many monasteries, and 
 especially the smaller ones, were a disgrace to Christianity. 
 These were first suppressed. Whether the monastic insti- 
 tution at Newbiggen was in existence then we are not 
 informed ; but this we know, that the dale was ecclesiastical 
 property, and was given, together with the advowson, by 
 King Henry VIII. to the Archbishop of York, and that 
 after the death of that prelate it was sold to Lord Wharton 
 for ^935 1 6s. 8d., which was paid to the Crown in three 
 different instalments the first payment being made at the 
 Nativity of St. John the Baptist, of .^235 i6s. Sd. ; at the 
 following Christmas, ^350 was paid; and at the Christmas 
 after, ^"350; and this continued for 121 years, until the 
 last heir in succession to the Wharton estates became a 
 rebel against the Government and was outlawed, and his 
 lands confiscated, and the manor and advowson of Raven- 
 stonedale were sold to Robert de Lowther, Esq., except the 
 great and small tithes and oblations within the parish, which 
 were sold to the inhabitants and landowners. You will 
 perceive then that there was here as elsewhere the practice 
 of the feudal system. In the old writings the landholders 
 are called tenants of the lord of the manor. The dale was
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 23 
 
 divided into small holdings, and the holder was supported 
 by it. He was required to pay fines of recognition from 
 time to time to the lord. He was also required to teach his 
 children, under a penalty of a fine, the use of the bow and 
 arrow, and practice their use himself ; and he held himself 
 liable at any time to be called out by his manorial chief to 
 engage in war. Indeed, in one of the ancient writings, we 
 are directly told that the farms were divided in such a way 
 that each should support the farmer who was the soldier. To 
 this end, up to a comparatively recent period, no tenant 
 could sell a part of his estate, or sell it altogether, without 
 the consent of the lord, although he could mortgage it. The 
 eldest son was the heir, and if there were no son, but a 
 daughter, and she were married, she, by consent of the lord, 
 could succeed ; and the tenant had the power to will the 
 land to one not belonging to his own family, if he 
 died without lawful issue of his own body though such 
 an one was required to pay a series of heavy fines to the 
 lord so heavy, indeed, that it almost amounted to a purchase ; 
 and should a tenant die intestate and without a direct heir, 
 the property reverted to the lord. In this way the present 
 vicarage, which belonged to John Robinson, who died 
 intestate, fell to the lord of the manor. At this stage I may 
 notice that the feudal system, whilst an oppressive one, 
 arose partly out of the necessities of the times, and had this 
 advantage, that it secured a more careful cultivation of the 
 land. Almost all the enclosed land was more or less under 
 arable cultivation, and grew wheat; whereas, in the present 
 day, small farms are thrown together, and the rent-paying 
 farmer has not the time, or the money, or the interest to 
 bestow the same amount of pains upon the farm buildings 
 or the land. Then, again, in ancient times, -if we may so
 
 24 .RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 call them, the population of this parish was much larger than it 
 is now. There are standing at present the ruined skeletons 
 of houses which were once the centre of farms, but now 
 belong to such as have been joined to others; and frequent 
 are the remains of foundations of houses which once 
 sheltered honest yeomen and their families, the chronicles of 
 whose inmates are gone for ever. Take, for example, park 
 lands, especially towards Gallows Hill. In reading over the 
 old legal documents of the parish I have been convinced 
 that Ravenstonedale, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was 
 of more importance nationally and politically than it is now. 
 This is partly owing to the fact that agricultural England 
 extends now, by means of our imports, to the corn-growing 
 countries of France and America, and partly also to the 
 overwhelming importance of manufactures, which afford 
 such lucrative employment to tens of thousands of the 
 people, and constitute the mainspring of the prosperity of 
 our great towns. 
 
 But now I must proceed to notice the " Peculiar Court," 
 as it was called, of Ravenstonedale. This, let me once 
 more remind you, arose from the ecclesiastical ownership of 
 the dale, which extended from 1336 to 1547. The earliest 
 reliable original record we have is in the hands of Mr. 
 Anthony Metcalfe. It is only, however, a precious fragment 
 bearing date 1689. The next in age, and which contains 
 much information, gives an account of the making and 
 walling of the Deer Park for Lord Wharton; but this 
 is a copy, the original document being lost. It begins as 
 follows : 
 
 " The means by which Lord Wharton got the parks of Ravenstondale. 
 
 " In 1560, the second year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady (Eliza- 
 beth), the several tenants who were possessed of any part of Ravenston- 
 dale Parks, Hagge, Westerdale, Tadwray, &c., came before Michael
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 25 
 
 Wharton, Ambrose Lancaster, Charles Wharton, and Philip Machel, 
 gentlemen, the commissioners of Thomas, Lord Wharton, and sur- 
 rendered into their hands for the use of the Lord, their shares in the said 
 parks, &c., receiving in return some new improvements and lands before 
 enjoyed by other tenants, who had surrendered them up for that pur- 
 pose, so that the oppressive burden might be somewhat more equal, and 
 that the tenants of the parks, &c., might not sustain the whole loss. 
 The different parks each surrendered and the recompense they received 
 hereafter follow : 
 
 " ' I. The nth of October, Thomas Chamberlain surrendered a parcel 
 of land in Vincent Park, of the yearly rent of 33. 4d., and another 
 parcel in Wheatfield, containing 8 acres, for the use of the lord for 
 ever ; and received in consideration for the same, 2 acres above 
 Ilowbers in Scandaling ; 2 acres upon Stowp Hill and Newclose, in 
 the possession of Lancelot Murthwaite ; 5 acres I rood in Newbiggen 
 field, in the possession of Martin Fothergill and John Robinson.' 
 
 " '2. Same day and year, Leonard Chamberlain surrendered as afore- 
 said a parcel of land in Vincent Park and Hagge, of the yearly rent of 
 6s. 8d., and another parcel in Wheatfield, containing 10 acres, and 
 received IO acres in recompense, viz., 5 acres upon Howber, lately in the 
 possession of Hugh Shaw, Geoffry and John Fothergill; I acre in Keldsike, 
 in the possession of Hugh Shaw ; I acre upon Howber, in the possession 
 of Rowland Perkin ; acre upon Maddock Bank ; I acre upon Claylands, 
 in the possession of Thomas Folhergill ; Ij acre in Scandaling, in the 
 possession of George and William Fawcett ; also 6J acres of new 
 improvement above Greenside Head and Lockbank ; and 2 acres above 
 Slacknext, Adamthwaite.' 
 
 "'4. Dec. 6th, 1560. John Chamberlain surrendered, as aforesaid, 
 IO acres in Wheatfield, and the land which he possessed in Vincent Park 
 and Hagge, of the yearly rent of 6s. 8d., and received 10 acres of 
 Greensett, in the possession of Rowland Perkin, and 7 acres at Rossgill 
 Beck.' 
 
 "'5. Dec. 6th, 1560. Edward Milner surrendered the land he pos- 
 sessed in New Park, alias Ash Fell Park, of the yearly rent of 365., and 
 received 3 acres in Croke, in the possession of James Fothergill ; 2 acres 
 upon Stoophill and Hayber, in possession of Richard Fothergill ; I acre 
 upon Howbers, hi possession of John Nicholson ; 23 acres, new 
 improvement, at Whitwall, Borwen Hills, and upon Ash Fell, adjoining 
 to his house ; and i \ acre in Bleaflatt Bottom, in possession of Cuthbert 
 Swinbank ; and to get stones, lead them, and wall 10 rood of park 
 wall.'
 
 26 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 " ' 6. Same day and year, Robert Shaw surrendered his land in New 
 Park, under Ash Fell, and received 2\ acres of new improvement. Paid 
 40 wathers as a fine. Led stones, and walled 10 roods of park wall.' 
 
 " ' 7- Same day and year, Roger Todd surrendered, as aforesaid, his 
 land in New Park, as aforesaid, and received l^ acre in Scandaling, in 
 the possession of George Fawcett and William Fawcett ; \\ acre in 
 Croke, in the possession of Rowland Swinbank and Thomas Fawcett ; 
 I acre at Blayflatte Yeate, in possession of Cuthbert Fothergill ; I acre. 
 I rood in possession of Richard Cooke j 5 acres in Ellergill Marsh ; 
 and I acre adjoining to his house.' 
 
 " ' 8. The 6th day of October, the same year, George Fawcett sur- 
 rendered 2 acres in Scandaling, as aforesaid, and received 2 acres of new 
 improvement at Supling Hill and With Hill, and 3 acres at Cannon 
 Holes. He walled 60 roods of park wall.' " 
 
 Similar entries follow to No. 69. 
 
 These contributions of land in different and scattered parts 
 were in some cases an equivalent, and in others they were not. 
 In some cases, too, they were bestowed. But this was not all. 
 The landowners were required to build a piece of the wall 
 of the outside enclosure, in proportion to its size and the 
 land which they possessed, and these were called by a touch 
 of irony, I should think " love boons." The demand was 
 one which could only be made in feudal times, and in it we 
 have a striking example of the evil of the system ; and it 
 would appear that the people were so far rising into self- 
 reliance and liberty as to feel it, for the copyist of the 
 original document says, "The above viz., a note of the 
 manner how the said park were unjustly obtained was 
 copied from the original memorandum of the same, made at 
 the time they were done, by me, J. R., 1777." 
 
 The land was enclosed with a wall nine feet high, which, 
 with the exception of the upper stones, remains as it was 
 until this day. The quarry from which most of the stones 
 were hewn is the Hagge Pasture; and the entrance gate, 
 which, at the time the park was made, stood on one of the
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 2 ^ 
 
 principal roads viz., that leading from Tebay to Brough 
 still has over it two uprights, nine feet high, crossed on the 
 top by a transverse beam. 
 
 Authorities differ whether there were ever deer in the park 
 or not. If there were, we can picture the cavalcade 
 crossing Smardale Bridge, winding up the hill, and entering 
 the park at the aforesaid gate, and giving themselves up to 
 the excitement of the chase. But the picture has another 
 side. Many of the honest yeomen were uprooted to secure 
 the park, for at that time it was the most thickly populated 
 part of the parish, and they were compelled to be satisfied 
 with parcels of land widely separated from each other and to 
 live in a very precarious way. Indeed, in reading the old 
 records, I have been impressed with the fact that the appro- 
 priation of the land was a sore trial to the inhabitants, which 
 was remembered with bitterness. 
 
 And here I will mention a fact of some historical interest 
 to this dale. There is a stone standing out from the 
 boundary wall adjoining Ling Intack, which is called 
 " Jarvis's Cross," but which, perhaps, few of you have heard 
 of or seen. Previous to the building of the park, at a 
 boundary riding, one Jarvis carried the flag. This was, 
 and still is, considered a great feat. The circumference of 
 the manor is about 30 miles. He started from Sunbiggen 
 Tarn, and on reaching Ling Intack, about three miles from 
 Sunbiggen, and so close to his destination, overcome 
 with excitement and fatigue, he suddenly dropped down 
 dead. This circumstance at the time produced a profound 
 impression on the people who had been following him and 
 the dwellers in the dale generally ; and so, to commemorate 
 it, they erected a sandstone with a double cross roughly cut 
 out upon it, which remains to this day, and which is called
 
 28 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 Jarvis's Cross. There are also to be seen at the present day 
 two of the lord of the manor's tables, one in a bottom 
 beside Scandale Beck in Park-lands, and the other at Cote 
 Moor. They are circular, and the ground is cut round in a 
 trench deep and wide enough to sit to the table and partake 
 of food. There the lord of the manor assembled with his 
 followers, and, erecting tents, settled down for a few days. 
 They occupied the time in shooting, and the tenants were 
 summoned to a meeting with the lord. The father of Mr. 
 Metcalfe remembered the last gathering of the kind in the 
 dale, which took place when he was a boy. The tents and 
 the assembling of the inhabitants produced an indelible 
 impression upon his mind. And to assure you of the correct- 
 ness of this statement, I am informed that the remains of 
 the tents and some of the eating and drinking utensils 
 employed on such occasions are at present laid up in the 
 lumber-room at Lowther Castle. 
 
 We must not pass over the manners and customs of the 
 people two or three centuries ago, which differed widely from 
 those of the present time. The people of this date consti- 
 tuted a little kingdom of themselves. They had their court, 
 which at first sat in the old church. But we read in a book 
 still extant, that there was so much wrangling over cases and 
 the manifestation of such a bad spirit, which they felt was 
 unbecoming and unsuited to such an edifice, that they 
 petitioned Lord Wharton to have the trying of cases 
 removed to a house belonging to him which stood near the 
 west end of the old church, but which was destroyed, no 
 doubt, when the church was taken down. The suit was 
 granted, and there the cases were tried until the old church 
 was taken down. From thence the court was removed to 
 the inn, which stood near the highway, close against
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 29 
 
 Smardale Bridge, and from thence to the house at Town 
 Head, now in the occupation of Mr. Robinson Moor. 
 
 The power of this court in the time of the Plantagenets 
 was very considerable. Prisoners were here tried for 
 capital offences, and the condemned were executed on 
 Gallows Hill, which is in the park, not far from High 
 Wood. It bears the same name at the present day. Sub- 
 sequently this power ceased, but at what date I have not 
 ascertained. In the manuscript book of which I have had 
 the loan, and which is dated 1581, we learn that the grand 
 jury had power to try cases of contention, variance, debts, 
 demands, titles, claims, and tenant-right. The names of 
 the jurymen at that time were : Stephen Bousfield, George 
 Green, James Taylor, Anthony Pindar, Christopher Roger- 
 son, Richard Wilson, William Adamthwaite, Robert Todd, 
 John Adamthwaite, John Fothergill, Edward Fawcett, John 
 Ewbank, and Vincent Cautley. From the same document 
 we learn that the jurors were summoned by the steward of 
 Lord Wharton, and unless there were lawful cause for 
 absence, such as sickness or military duty, such an one 
 absenting himself was fined i2d. Then follow other laws 
 pertaining to the jury and defendant in a suit. I shall 
 content myself with selecting the more particular and 
 remarkable, such as the following, which shows the acute- 
 ness of the framer of the revised laws as we have them : 
 " If the jury do not agree, but be divided into two parties, 
 each party shall represent their view to counsel, and the 
 party in the wrong pay all the expenses, and the other 
 party go free." The trifling cases, we learn, referring to 
 disputes about hedges, ditches, highways, gutters, and water 
 races, were referred to private but respected individuals. 
 " If a sworn trial be demanded the plaintiff or defendant,
 
 30 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 according to whether of the two lost the trial, was required 
 to pay i2d. fine, one-half of which go to the lord and 
 one-half to the jury. Any one going out of the parish 
 for trial to be fined 6s. 8d. J ' The grand jury entered 
 upon their duties by taking an oath, of which the following 
 is a copy: "We ye grand jury for renewing and better 
 establishing from henceforth of the order of correction of 
 slanderers and givers forth of unlawful words against their 
 neighbours which hath been and still ought to be executed 
 within this lordship of Ravenstonedale, do by virtue of our 
 charge deem and award that at all times hereafter every 
 person or persons within this lordship which shall be con- 
 victed before the grand jury for the time being and by 
 them be found to have offended against any person or 
 persons within this lordship either by slanderous words 
 or other unlawful speech or report that the same offender 
 or offenders shall, upon such a Sabbath Day, before the 
 celebration of the general Communion then next following 
 the conviction, and in such manner before the people 
 assembled in the church, as the minister and such men 
 as be in the church, having due consideration of the 
 quality of the fine, shall appoint the said offender or 
 offenders, in penitent manner, to confess their fault, and to 
 ask the party aggrieved forgiveness for the same, upon pain 
 every such offender or offenders to forfeit to the lord of this 
 manor, so often as they shall contemptuously or obstinately 
 deny or defer to make their reconcilement to the party 
 aggrieved when and as they shall be enjoined and appointed 
 by the minister and all the whole assembly of them that be 
 in charge for this church of Ravenstonedale, as is aforesaid, 
 every one of them, the said offenders, for every default until 
 they have done the same enjoined on them, 33. 4d. ; and
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 3! 
 
 the men in charge of the church, upon their part and behalf, 
 not to fail in execution hereof at any time hereafter, upon 
 pain to forfeit to the lord every one of them, for every 
 default, i2d. Given forth at the court holden at Raven- 
 stonedale the 24th day of November, 1584, ye 2 6th year of 
 the reign of our sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, by us the said 
 juries, whose names are hereunder written and subscribed." 
 And then follows this significant addition : " This ancient 
 order of correction of the misdemeanors of the tongue by 
 you, the jury, now renewed and fortified by penalties, I 
 confirm and allow of, and will that the curate and men in 
 charge of the church there shall always hereafter uprightly, 
 without all partiality or intermission, put the same in 
 execution within that my lordship accordingly, and thereunto 
 I set my hand. PHILIP WHARTON." 
 
 Such a law as this one would expect to be a very whole- 
 some check against slander. There is a tradition that the 
 culprit was compelled to stand up, wrapt in a white sheet, and 
 confess his fault ; but, whether this were so or no, the confes- 
 sion must have been a terrible ordeal, and I can understand 
 that the fine was often paid. A 33. 4d. fine must have been 
 equal to $ or ^4 at the present day. From the manuscript 
 book, it would seem that, notwithstanding the fine or penalty, 
 the vice was a prevalent one, as its mention is followed by a 
 homily against the sin of slander, in which many passages of 
 Scripture are cleverly and skilfully incorporated. Then, in 
 laws again revised in 1587, we learn that the fine for slander 
 is doubled, and is 6s. 8d. 
 
 We also learn that " if any person rail at another in the 
 church or churchyard he shall pay in default 33. 4d." 
 
 " No juryman shall upon the Sabbath Day deal with any 
 trial, or enter upon any worldly cause on the Sabbath Day. 
 Fine 6d."
 
 32 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 "No inhabitant shall keep in his house any woman 
 begotten of child out of wedlock before that she be first 
 delivered of child and have also suffered the penalty of the 
 law for her offence. Fine 6s. 8d." Here was a punishment 
 inflicted upon the woman whilst her shame, one would think, 
 would have been sufficient, and that it should have descended 
 with more severity on her seducer would have been only 
 just. 
 
 " Any one who enters upon the goods of orphans shall be 
 liable to be called to account on pain of penalty, 6s. 8d." 
 
 And now we come to a remarkable entry. Eavesdroppers 
 to be fined 6s. 8d. These are the exact words of the law : 
 " There shall neither man or woman within this lordship lie 
 or hearken in any man's doors or windows after the manner 
 of an caving dropper, to forfeit for every default 6s. 8d." 
 This shows that there must have been some curious ones at 
 that time in this kingdom of Ravenstonedale. But I must say, 
 to the honour of the Ravenstonedale of to-day, that I believe 
 that race amongst us to be extinct. We have witnessed 
 practical jokes in our day, and although they are not very 
 pleasant to those who are operated upon they are infinitely 
 better than sly, crafty, stealthy, un-English eavesdropping. 
 
 Now here is an entry which I was scarcely prepared to 
 find in the reign of Queen Elizabeth : " There shall no 
 person or persons within this lordship play at foot-ball within 
 the precincts of the same upon pain, every player to for- 
 feit for every default izd." Had this occurred under the 
 rule of the Puritans, I could have understood it, for with all 
 their excellence they leaned, no doubt, too much towards 
 gloom and sternness. Here is another law of your ancestors 
 of a similar character with which I can find no fault, but 
 which some of you, perhaps, would regard as a hardship :
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 33 
 
 " No one shall play at dice or cards, except it be within the 
 twelve days of Christmas, and then only for a pot of beer, 
 but at no time shall any play for a wager." 
 
 " None shall milk any kine but their own, except by per- 
 mission of their owner." This law will, I suppose, receive 
 our ready assent. This also : " That if any tenant enter 
 into any other lands and tenements and cut down there any 
 wood, or underwood, without consent first obtained of the 
 owner of the same lands and tenements, shall forfeit for 
 every such fact and offence, in all 6s. 8d." Then there are 
 laws which give us a glimpse of bygone customs which have 
 been for a long time abandoned. For example, here is one : 
 
 " Every one within this lordship, being neither lame nor 
 decrepid, nor having any other lawful reasonable excuse, 
 between seven years of age and threescore, shall not be with- 
 out, but shall provide, and have in his own house, longbow 
 and arrows, exercise the same accordingly to the statute, and 
 shall bring up his children and servants in the same exercise, 
 and not suffer any of them to want bow or arrows for one 
 month together, contrary to the statute, upon pain to forfeit 
 to the lord of this manor for every default against any part 
 of this order, 6s. 8d." And I have been informed by some 
 of the residents that yewtrees were grown in our church- 
 yard to enable the inhabitants to obtain bows for their 
 arrows. For sometime they have disappeared, but the 
 recollection of them has been handed down. 
 
 We can imagine the farmer in one of his pastures, with 
 his boys and servant-man about him, giving lessons in the 
 use of the longbow a weapon which won the brilliant 
 victories of Poictiers and Cressy, and in which the English 
 excelled. And if tradition may be trusted, the Ravenstone- 
 
 dale men could use the bow to some purpose, for it is said 
 c
 
 34 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 that when the park was being fenced in the lord of the 
 manor meant to carry the wall not only down to the bottom 
 of Dog-bar, where it now goes, but on beside what 
 is now the main turnpike road, but that the owner of that 
 property was what in modern parlance may be called " an 
 ugly customer," and he vowed that he would shoot anyone 
 who dared to come one inch beyond the bottom of the 
 slope. The man was ploughing at the time, with his bow 
 and arrows fastened to the plough, and of the wallers, no 
 one liking to be first, they turned off at right angles, and 
 left the man with bow and arrows unmolested. And if you 
 will look carefully when next you pass that way you will see 
 a loophole for arrows left in the wall by the builders, 
 whereby, perhaps, they could harass their surly and deter- 
 mined neighbour. 
 
 Then we have the following interesting law: "Any 
 female in a house, from 7 to 50, shall bring to the church a 
 burthen of bent and rushes according to the time appointed 
 by the curate. In default, 6d." These rushes were laid 
 down in the aisles of the church, and were used in the 
 manner we employ matting. The sight of the women and 
 girls bearing their offerings in this form to the church was 
 no doubt picturesque and pleasing. But there seems to 
 have been some danger of the aforesaid rushes being stolen, 
 and so it was distinctly specified that "if anyone take 
 away the rushes for barn hams (horse collars) he shall be 
 fined 6d." Again, "None shall go from Ravenstonedale 
 Mill who have been accustomed to use it without payment 
 of a fine ;" the reason for this law being that the keeping 
 up of a mill was a considerable expense, and it was a great 
 advantage to the people, and unless they all supported it it 
 would not pay, and so the people were bound to carry their
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 35 
 
 corn to the Ravenstonedale Mill, and not elsewhere. The 
 present mill at Coldbeck is, I am informed, very old. The 
 fields near it, still bearing the names Mill Holme and Mill 
 Croft, were probably enclosed when all around it the land 
 was common. There was also a corn mill at Bowderdale, 
 which stood in a field, and is still called Mill Close, and the 
 mill race which carried the water to the mill is still visible. 
 It has not been used for hundreds of years. We only 
 possess traces of its former existence and its name. 
 
 " None shall sell meat after the manner of tippling 
 houses without a fine." In the present day we should think 
 such a restriction very hard. 
 
 " No improvement must be made except by permission 
 of the lord of the manor." That we should not like, nor 
 the following : 
 
 " There shall none cut down any great timber of either 
 oak or ash without licence of the lord or his officer, upon 
 pain for every default of every general tree, 35. 4d." And 
 again 
 
 " Neither shall any fell down any ash spars, upon pain of 
 every default, 2od." "Neither shall any cut down any 
 sapling upon pain of every default, 6d." " Neither shall 
 any cut down any birks upon pain of every default, 6d." 
 
 And now we come to the estimate in which outsiders 
 were held. They are in this code of laws denominated 
 foreigners. At the time intercourse with the surrounding 
 parishioners was very occasional, and no doubt from the 
 exceptional privileges which the people of Ravenstonedale 
 enjoyed, they wished to keep themselves distinct Indeed, 
 in those days a young man could not commit a greater 
 offence against the general feeling of society than to marry 
 a lass from another parish. This, notwithstanding, was
 
 36 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 becoming common about one hundred years ago, and the 
 damsels of the dale issued a written protest, a copy of 
 which is subjoined. 
 
 " Whereas, we, ladies of Ravenstonedale, have for many 
 years past been much injured and abused by the illegal 
 practice of our neighbouring parishioners, are no longer able 
 to contain and bear the sufferings of this insupportable 
 damage : 
 
 " Notice is hereby given To all gentlemen bachelors of 
 the said parish of Ravenstonedale, who attempt to contract 
 the banns of marriage, or try any experiment instrumental 
 to the same, and not with a lady of their own parish, shall 
 immediately pay the sum of ^20, to be distributed amongst 
 the poor of the said parish ; and if any such offenders shall 
 refuse to pay the said sum justly liable to their offence, shall 
 be imprisoned during the first ten months after their marriage. 
 Given under our hands this sth day of September, 1776. 
 Majority of Females." 
 
 I regard this document as a playful statement of dis- 
 approbation of the growing custom. 
 
 " There shall no stranger or foreigner get peats, turves, 
 or ling, either break any soil within the precincts of this 
 lordship, without licence of the lord, or his officer, upon 
 pain of every default, 6s. 8d." 
 
 " There shall be no inhabitant within this lordship sell 
 either peats, turves, or ling to any foreigner upon pain of 
 every default, 6s. 8d." 
 
 " There shall" no person within this lordship, without 
 licence of the lord, take or keep any cottager in any part of 
 his houseing, the same being not proveable and known 
 before to be a dwelling-house, or a lawful cottage ; neither 
 shall any person within this lordship let any dwelling-house,
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 3 7 
 
 or cottage, to any person or persons, but only to such as be 
 born within this lordship, or that have continued with us 
 three years before the date of these orders, so as they cannot 
 be avoyded but be accounted for our own parish poor by 
 statute, upon pain to forfeit to the lord for every default, 
 6s. 8d." 
 
 Some of these laws sound strange to our ears, but we 
 must not forget the change which has taken place in 
 society generally since they were framed. The queen was 
 not Victoria, but Elizabeth. The population of the whole 
 country at that time would not be more than six or seven 
 millions, and whilst there were a few incipient manufacturers, 
 the country, as a whole, was agricultural, and the age of 
 great cities had not arisen. Bristol was the only city of 
 commercial importance after London. Manchester, Liver- 
 pool, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, names which at the 
 present day represent hundreds of thousands of the 
 inhabitants, and the springs and sources of our national 
 prosperity, were then unknown. Hence, the agricultural 
 districts were of much greater relative and actual 
 importance. And I do not hesitate to say that Raven- 
 stonedale was at that period more thickly populated, and 
 of much more national importance than it is now. It 
 was, indeed, a little kingdom of itself. The houses 
 of to-day were most of them standing, but were more 
 numerous formerly, and the roofs, instead of being slated, 
 were neatly thatched. The clothing of the people was 
 coarser, but much more warm and durable. They carded 
 their own wool, and they wove it themselves, and made it 
 up into coats and dresses. They grew their own corn in 
 the fields, and subsisted on their own flour and meal. They 
 drank no tea. It was before the age of tea and potatoes
 
 38 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 and tobacco. Their drink was either milk or a simple 
 home-brewed ale. They were superstitious even to bondage, 
 every gill being haunted by some old woman or some old 
 man on mischief bent. The highways were occasionally 
 the scenes of robberies by men of the Dick Turpin stamp. 
 
 In a cottage within the enclosure of Tarn House is the 
 original door of Tarn House, and in it, near the latch, may 
 be seen two bullet holes, which, through Mr. Furness's 
 kindness, I have seen ; and in the stone lintel of the door- 
 way there is the cut of a sword, which is supposed to have 
 been made by a highwayman when pursuing a traveller who 
 fled to Tarn House for shelter. 
 
 At the period at which we are considering Ravenstone- 
 dale great national events were transpiring. The Spanish 
 Armada had been defeated, Frobisher, and Hawkins, and 
 Drake were gaining brilliant naval victories, and the nation 
 was rising from a third to a first-rate power, possessing a 
 supremacy at sea which from that time it has never lost. 
 
 That the people of our dale were acquainted with these 
 facts we cannot doubt, inasmuch as the great arteries of 
 communication passed through it in three different direc- 
 tions; and when the pack-horses halted at a public-house, 
 which they did frequently, the traveller would not be slow 
 to communicate the glorious news ; and if news travelled as 
 quickly then as amongst us it does now, it would soon be 
 known all over the dale. 
 
 Scotland at that time was a distinct kingdom, and was in 
 a very uneasy state under the reign of its Queen Mary. The 
 Protestants and Papists were each struggling for supremacy. 
 In case of war between the two countries Westmorland and 
 the sister county of Cumberland were invaded, and at all 
 times a Border war of plunder was carried on, which was
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 39 
 
 continued until comparatively recent times. Hence, in the 
 names of our parish, we have traces of outpost defences, such 
 as Brackenbar, Whitebar, Brownbar, Rammingbar. They 
 stand well for defence or signals. Within those bars, more 
 up in the dale and nearer the town, stands Dogbar. Go 
 beyond the valley, towards Crosby Garrett, and you come 
 to Stockbar and Stobar, and another Brackenbar. 
 
 There are also remaining the enclosures into which the 
 farmers drove and kept their stock, and defended them, too, 
 when the Scotch depredators were about. One is Stephen 
 Miller's, Newbiggen, another at Lithe Side, and another at 
 Brownbar ; and I am informed that when the cattle were 
 let out to graze it was with the following charm : 
 
 '" If you come, they come not, 
 If they come, you come not." 
 
 I have ample material for another lecture, which will bring 
 us to more recent times. Let us learn from the past to 
 appreciate the larger privileges of the present, and know to 
 how great an extent we are indebted for these to men who 
 served their generation well, and then fell asleep men of 
 integrity and intelligence, and some of them of considerable 
 administrative power. In our next lecture I hope to be able 
 to treat of some of them of those who left their native dale 
 and became famous, and also of those who remained at 
 home, regarding whom you may feel equally thankful and 
 equally proud.
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 T the commencement of this, my second lecture, I 
 purpose calling your attention to the lords of the 
 manor, who, in the time of Henry VIII. and Queen 
 Elizabeth, and even later still, were to parishes like 
 this as little princes. For one hundred and eighty-seven years 
 the Whartons, of Wharton Hall, were the lords of the 
 manor of Ravenstonedale, and although it is not my 
 intention to furnish you with a history of the family I shall 
 be tempted into some details respecting them, and especially 
 in their relations with this parish. 
 
 From a manuscript book in the possession of Mr. John 
 Robinson, of Ash Fell, I learn that the first of this family 
 in whom we have any interest was Sir Thomas Wharton, 
 knight. He was governor of the town and castle of Carlisle. 
 He was warden of the west marches, and in the thirty-fourth 
 year of the reign of Henry VIII. (A.D. 1543) he came to the 
 assistance of Sir William Musgrave, in a celebrated battle 
 which took place between the English and Scotch, known 
 as the battle of Sollom, or Solway Moss an account of
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 41 
 
 which is given by Hume in his well-known " History of 
 England." As a result of this battle letters, copies of 
 which are still extant, passed between Sir Thomas Wharton 
 and King Henry VIII., who rewarded him for his 
 distinguished and useful service on the occasion by making 
 him a baron, and so raising him to the peerage. 
 
 Dr. Burns, in his "History of Westmorland," says: " In the 
 reign of King Henry the Eighth, at the famous rencounter at 
 Sollom Moss, Sir Wm. Fothergill, of Ravenstonedale, was 
 standard-bearer to Sir Thomas Wharton. His arms were : 
 Vert, a stag's head couped within a bordure inverted." 
 Here we have the record of the presence of a distinguished 
 Ravenstonedale man. We are not told of his following, but 
 we may be pretty sure that he was not there alone. He 
 would have his troop of Ravenstonedale men, who would 
 march under their own flag out of the parish, amidst the 
 plaudits of the people, to engage in a war with the Scots, 
 which was at that time most popular. And although we 
 have not a minute account of the celebrated fight preserved 
 to us, we may be sure that the men from our own dale 
 gave a good account of themselves on their return. 
 
 Philip, the third Lord Wharton, was closely associated 
 with Ravenstonedale. He it was who, in the 22nd year of 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, signed the indenture con- 
 cerning tenant-right, extracts from which I read to you in the 
 first lecture ; and he also signed the indenture concerning 
 wood, &c., on the 27th of August, 1592, in the 34th year of 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. His income, the chronicler 
 tells us, amounted to .2,107 IIS - 4d. The exactness is 
 remarkable. Which of us know the amount of our income to 
 a farthing? At that day ^2,107 was a very handsome sum, 
 and would be quite equal to ^10,000 at the present time.
 
 42 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 ^216 133. 4d. of this sum he received from Ravenstonedale, 
 and from the following sources : 
 
 s. d. 
 Ravenstonedale Park and Lord grounds there loo o o 
 
 Rectory and Vicarage of Ravenstonedale in profits 
 
 by the calves and broken tithes 3 6 8 
 
 In oblations and other duties collected at Easter ... 1 6 o o 
 
 Tythe lambs and odds thereof 30 o o 
 
 Tythe corn at the Old Barn* II 6 8 
 
 Tythe wool 40 o o 
 
 Tythe corn at the New Barn .. 1600 
 
 ^216 13 4 
 
 The next event in the history of the Wharton's interesting 
 to us occurs in the reign of Charles I., in which we learn 
 that Philip, fourth Lord Wharton, was active against the 
 Royalists. He was a colonel of a regiment of horse. The 
 lord of the manor in those days, we know, regarded all the 
 landholders as his tenants; and they held their land on 
 condition that they would render " suit and service ; " and 
 as the whole of the Wharton lordship, in this immediate 
 locality, only included our own dale, Nateby, and a part of 
 Kirkby Stephen, the strong probability is that many of the 
 men composing this regiment were drawn from Ravenstone- 
 dale ; and doubtless in some of the farmhouses, where to- 
 day are hung up the sword and spurs and horse-gear of the 
 yeomanry cavalry, there was the stronger and rougher equip- 
 ment of the horses and the men who were preparing to fight 
 under the leadership of our uncrowned King, as he has been 
 called, Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 It was this same Philip, fourth Lord Wharton, also, who 
 bequeathed Bibles to the poor, which are to be found 
 
 * It is not now known what buildings are referred to as the " Old Barn " and 
 " New Barn." Perhaps they were demolished many years ago.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 43 
 
 bearing his name in, I suppose, every house in the dale 
 to-day. The following is the wording of his will in regard 
 to this legacy : 
 
 "Instructions by me Philip Lord Wharton, Baron of Wharton, in 
 the county of Westmorland, to my trustees for the time being for 
 managing the trust expressed in a deed bearing date July I2th, 1692, 
 and made between myself of the one part, and Sir Edwd. Harley, Sir 
 Thomas Rokeby, Edward Harley, son of the said Sir Edward, John 
 White, Esqre., Thomas Benlowe, Esqre., Wm. Taylor, Gent., and Wm. 
 Mortimer, Gent., on the other part. As to the disposal of the clear 
 yearly rents, issues, and profits, which shall from time to time arise out 
 of Synithwaite, and other lands in the county of the city of York, in 
 the said deed mentioned, I do hereby appoint as followeth 
 
 ' ' First That one thousand and fifty Bibles, with the singing Psalms 
 bound up therewith, shall be yearly provided, of the English translation, 
 ' Published by authority,' in a large I2mo, with a fair print, well bound 
 in calves' leather, with strong brass clasps, each Bible not exceeding the 
 price of 2/6 or near thereabouts, as they can be bought at best hand for 
 ready money. 
 
 " Secondly That the like number of Catechisms shall be yearly 
 provided, now entitled, ' The Grounds and Principles of the Christian 
 Religion, with the Proofs thereof out of the Scriptures.' The same to 
 be well bound in sheep's leather, not exceeding the price of 2/6 per 
 dozen, or thereabouts. 
 
 " Thirdly That an inscription be on the middle of the outside cover 
 of each Bible, and each Catechism, and each of the two other books, 
 hereby appointed to be provided, with these words, ' By the will of 
 Philip Lord Wharton;' and added under the same, the year of our 
 Lord, in figures, in which each of the said books were given out. 
 
 " Fourthly That on the inside of the upper out-cover of each of the 
 said Bibles there shall be some words in a printed paper to this or the 
 like effect : 
 
 "'These reading Psalms, in the English translation, are to be 
 learned, without book, by the child to whom this Bible is given, 
 namely : 
 
 " 'I., XV., XXV., XXXVIL, CL, CXIII., CXLV., in figures, and 
 not in words at length.'" 
 
 In the old document I find a comment on the above, 
 which I heartily endorse. The annotator says, "The
 
 44 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 hallowed subjects of these poetic compositions ought to be 
 duly observed and personally applied ; nor can any rightly 
 appreciate them but for purposes of designed and profitable 
 instruction." 
 
 " Fifthly The bookbinders having advised that the Bibles and other 
 books will be made more serviceable if they be six or eight months in 
 quires to sweat, rather than that they should be bound immediately after 
 they are had out of the press, I desire and appoint that the same be 
 provided in October, so as to be bound timely before they are to be put 
 up in boxes to be sent to the respective persons who are instructed to 
 deliver the same, the said 1,050 Catechisms being to be delivered on 
 or about the second or third Tuesday in July. 
 
 " Sixthly The said books to be delivered out yearly, at such times as 
 is hereafter appointed, by such person or persons respectively as my 
 trustees for the time being, or the major part, shall respectively nominate 
 for the purpose, to such children who can read of poor people of good 
 report, in the cities, towns, or places hereafter appointed, as the said 
 persons so nominated, upon their knowledge, upon good testimonials, or 
 enquiries to their satisfaction, shall have reasonable ground to hope that 
 the said books will not be embezzled or abused, but made use of for the 
 good and lawful benefit of every the said children. 
 
 " Eighthly That, at the delivery of the said Bibles, notice to be given 
 that, upon or about the 2nd or 3rd Tuesday in October, in the year 
 following, the said children must produce their Bibles and Catechisms at 
 a place appointed, and that a reward of twelve pence shall be given to 
 the parent, or other person who hath the care of the education of each 
 child, who shall give the best account of his or her improvement in 
 reading the Bible and repeating the Catechism and the said Psalms ; 
 and that also other books, well bound in sheep's leather, shall be then 
 given to the said child whose parents or guardians will undertake to 
 instruct such child therein. 
 
 "The said rewards to be given to so many children, as hereafter 
 appointed in the places following : 
 
 Bibles. Bibles. 
 Doncaster 20 Pontefract 30 
 
 Leeds So Halifax 40 
 
 Bradford 40 Wakefield... 30 
 
 Sheffield 50 Richmond 40 
 
 Northallerton 10 Bedale 10 
 
 Thirsk . 10 Swaledale... 60
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 45 
 
 WESTMORLAND. 
 
 Bibles. Bibles. 
 
 Appleby, . , 20 Manors and lordships of Shap, 
 
 Kendal 20 Reagill, Seagill, Bampton, 
 
 Kirkby Stephen 20 Carshillan, and Lang Martin. 50 
 
 Russen, or Ravenstonedale. 30 Lordships of Langdale, Tenby, 
 
 Brosherdale, and Preston 
 Patrick 30 
 
 CUMBERLAND. 
 
 Bibles. Bibles. 
 Carlisle 20 Coldbeck 16 
 
 Cockennouth 30 Lordships of Dean, Whinfell, 
 
 Croglin 4 Broughton, Birkby 20 
 
 Penrith 40 
 
 Eight places also in Bucks and Beds. 
 
 " In conclusion That the Bibles and Catechisms be packed up in 
 boxes by so many, and so many tens in each box, and sent to the 
 persons who are to deliver the same, together with one of the said 
 Mr. Lye's Catechisms, 
 
 and of the said 
 
 Jos. Alleine's book, ' Sure Guide to Heaven,' 
 
 to every ten Bibles, to be paid to such child as shall make the best 
 proficiency as above said ; and that 2/6 for every ten Bibles shall be 
 then sent in every of the said boxes to the person or persons respectively 
 entrusted to the nominating of the said children enquiring after their 
 proficiency, who shall desire or accept the same. 
 
 " Lastly That my said trustees may give 2/6 more to each person 
 so employed for every ten Bibles they deliver out, if my said trustees do 
 find that the pains and care of the said person or persons shall deserve 
 this said other 2/6, which, among other places, may probably be found 
 requisite in Halifax, Swaledale, and Ravenstonedale." 
 
 Speaking on the whole question of the distribution of the 
 Wharton Bibles amongst us, I must say that the conditions 
 of the original deed are, in many respects, not attended to ; 
 and it will be within the recollection of some of you present 
 that formerly the Bibles were given out by the Hewetsons 
 of Ellergill, and afterwards by the Hewetsons of Street, both 
 at the time Nonconformist families, and, of course, without a 
 Prayer-Book accompanying it, as now.
 
 46 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 In the year 1662, and therefore during the lifetime of this 
 Philip Lord Wharton, a law was passed which required that 
 every clergyman in the Established Church, parson, vicar, 
 or other minister whatsoever, should, before the Feast of 
 St. Bartholomew, openly and publicly, before the congre- 
 gation assembled for religious worship, declare his unfeigned 
 assent and consent to all and everything contained in and 
 prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer, and administra- 
 tion of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies, 
 according to the use of the Church of England, &c. And 
 it further enacted that none would be recognised who had 
 not obtained episcopal ordination. 
 
 Now many of the clergy had spoken out against some of 
 the doctrines and rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer 
 as savouring too largely of Popery; and. in consequence, 
 2,000 English clergymen, on Sunday, the 24th August, 
 1662, were wanting in their pulpits, left their homes, and, 
 like the patriarch Abraham, went forth, not knowing whither 
 they went. 
 
 One of this noble army of men, of whom we all, as 
 Englishmen, might be proud, was the Rev. Christopher 
 Jackson, the incumbent of Crosby Garrett.* He, no doubt, 
 repaired to Wharton Hall, and conversed with Philip Lord 
 Wharton, who was a Presbyterian Dissenter. The people of 
 Ravenstonedale at that time, under such high influence, 
 were doubtless largely Parliamentarian and Nonconformist 
 in their sympathies, and they set to work and built the 
 present meeting-house in a very eligible site ; and there 
 Mr. Jackson ministered, sustained by the lord of the manor, 
 and listened to Sunday after Sunday by the most influential 
 
 *See Appendix, page 112.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 47 
 
 families in the dale. Lord Wharton, at his death, left ^"100 
 in trust towards the minister's salary, to be invested in land 
 in the dale, which was done, and has been, and still remains, 
 the foundation of an endowment. 
 
 This was when the old church was standing, and one 
 hundred years before the new church was built, and of 
 which I shall speak presently. And although Philip, fourth 
 Lord Wharton, was a Presbyterian, the possession and gift 
 of the living were in his hands ; and the following anecdote 
 is preserved of him showing the conscientiousness of his 
 bestowment A clergyman applied for it, to whom his 
 lordship said : " Sir, it is my custom to dispose of the living 
 that 1 am patron of to those who perform three conditions 
 viz. : In the first place, the minister must pray in my family 
 I don't mean read prayers, for any one of my servants who 
 can read is able to do that. In the next place, he must preach 
 in my family, that I may have a taste of his talent that way. 
 And then he is to go to the parish, and if the people 
 approve him the living is his." And the chronicler tells 
 us that the worthy clergyman fulfilled the conditions to the 
 satisfaction of the parties, and was inducted. And the 
 chronicler, who was none other than the grandfather of Mr. 
 John Robinson, of Ash Fell, who is with us this evening, 
 says : " Comparing present with ancient things, we can 
 hardly forbear exclaiming in the words of Virgil, where 
 Anchises, in the latter part of ^Eneas's posterity, breaks out 
 with the exclamation, " Heu, pietas ! heu, prisca fides ! " 
 
 " Ah, the piety ! ah, the faith of ancient times ! " 
 
 I shall pass over Thomas, the fifth Lord Wharton, as 
 not introducing to our notice anything of interest concerning 
 Ravenstonedale ; and shall conclude the Wharton dynasty
 
 48 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 of the lords of the manor of Ravenstonedale with his 
 son Philip. He was, the historian tells us, about seventeen 
 years of age at the death of his father. He was a person 
 of unbounded genius, eloquence, and ambition ; had all the 
 address and activity of his father, but without his steadiness ; 
 violent in parties, and expensive in cultivating the arts of 
 popularity which, indeed, ought to be in some measure 
 charged to his education under such a father, who, it is said, 
 expended ^80,000 in elections (an immense sum in those 
 days), by which the estate became encumbered, and the son 
 was not a person of economy enough to disengage it. In a 
 word, if the father and son had been one degree higher 
 in life, and lived in Macedonia at the time of Philip and 
 Alexander, they would have done just as Philip and 
 Alexander did. 
 
 The young marquis set out in the world a violent Whig, 
 and for his extraordinary services in Parliament and out of 
 it was created Duke of Wharton. After that he set up in 
 opposition to the Ministry, then became a Tory, then a 
 Jacobite, then a rebel to his king and country, and accepted 
 a commission in the King of Spain's army against Gibraltar. 
 He died at the age of thirty-two in a Bernardine convent, 
 in a small village in Spain, where the charitable fathers' 
 hospitably took him in; and was buried in the same 
 poor manner in which they bury their own monks. 
 
 He was in his early days a brilliant courtier, and so did 
 not pass unnoticed by Pope, who writes of him 
 
 " The scorn and wonder of our days, 
 Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise." 
 
 And again 
 
 " Poor Wharton ! nipped in folly's broadest bloom ! 
 Who praises now ? His chaplain on his tomb."
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 49 
 
 And so ends the history of a family who bulked largely 
 in the eyes of your fathers, and whose names were con- 
 stantly on their lips ; who ruled here with feudal and 
 despotic sway indeed with a power which you, their great 
 great grandchildren, would not stand, no, not for one hour. 
 Whilst we talk, then, about the old times, which are very 
 picturesque, and which are the roots of the present, let 
 us not cast a wistful eye upon the past, but say sincerely, in 
 the language of that grand Book which we all reverence, 
 " Surely the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places : we 
 have a goodly heritage." 
 
 After the confiscation of the Wharton estates to the 
 Crown, they were purchased by Robert de Lowther, Esq., 
 of Meaburn Hall, who bought all the Westmorland property 
 for 26,000. Ravenstonedale was, of course, included, 
 except that I wish you to notice that the purchase did not 
 include the great and small tithes. These were sold to the 
 landowners of the parish. The Lowthers seem to have been 
 popular as lords of the manor, although we have evidence 
 in the old books to show that they never had the absolute 
 power here which the Whartons possessed. The spirit of the 
 feudal age was passing away. The towns were rising into 
 importance, and the merchants were rapidly becoming a 
 new element in the constitution, which was silently, though 
 effectively, undermining the feudal customs, and inducing the 
 spirit so nobly uttered by Burns many years afterwards : 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
 The man's the gaud for a' that. 
 
 For a' that, and a' that, 
 Their tinsel show and a' that, 
 
 The honest man, though e'er so poor, 
 Is king o' men for a' that."
 
 50 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 There seems to have been one serious quarrel between 
 the lord of the manor, Robert Lowther, Esq., and the 
 tenants in the year 1736. It seems to have arisen from the 
 fact that the lord of the manor refused to pay land-tax. 
 Consequently the jury of four-and-twenty determined to pay 
 the land-tax on the rectory, which had been separated from 
 the rest of the lord of the manor's estate, but no more; 
 and they bound themselves to resist the claims of Robert 
 Lowther, Esq., and to stand by one another. The docu- 
 ment reads thus : 
 
 " September y e 7th, 1736. Whereas, Robert Lowther, Esqre., Lord 
 of this mannor of Ravenstonedale, has occasioned to this parish a vast 
 trouble and expense for several years past by refusing to pay his Land 
 Tax, tho' (as farr as we are able to judge) he was not overcharged : but 
 the last year, upon his appeal, the Commissioners then sitting did order, 
 under their hands and seals, tenn shillings of his the said Robert 
 Lowther's assessment to be laid equally upon the tennants, upon account 
 of the rectory, supposing that the then assessors had under rated the said 
 rectory in their said assessment, being then but newly purchased by the 
 tennants, and thereby parted from the Lord's Parks, which both had 
 been united in one estate in the Lord's hand till that time. Now this 
 may certify whom it may hereafter concern that we, the four and twenty 
 of Ravenstonedale aforesaid,- do (by our hands hereto subscribed) bind 
 ourselves to stand by and bear and pay our proportionable shares of 
 charge which Mr. Lowther's appeal may now or hereafter occasion the 
 said land sessors from time to time rating and assessing him, the said 
 Robt. Lowther, to the best of their skill and judgment, according to law, 
 and the said assessors from time to time managing the said affair 
 according to the direction of the said four and twenty or the major part 
 of them. 
 
 " Godfrey Milner. " Hugh Shaw. 
 
 " Anthony Knewstubb. " Peter Gyles. 
 
 "Anthony Ffothergill. "James Bayliff. 
 
 " James Richardson. " William Knewstupp. 
 
 "John Bousfield. "Thomas Elliotson. 
 
 "John Hewetson. "Anthony Fothergill. 
 
 " Robert Ffothergill. " James Alderson. 
 
 " Richard Ffothergill. " Stephen Dent. 
 
 "John Spooner. "John Robinson. 
 
 "Thomas Fothergill. 
 "Thomas Fothergill."
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 5 1 
 
 In the year 1808 an Act was passed by which a purchase 
 could be made of the lord's rent. This Act was taken 
 advantage of, and most of the lord's rent in the parish was 
 enfranchised, and since then the whole of it. So little by 
 little the ties between the lord of the manor and the land- 
 holders were removed, until now the claims are practically 
 nothing that we can complain of; and perhaps the title 
 which those of us who hold land in Ravenstonedale possess 
 is as good as any in the kingdom. The only question at 
 present awaiting settlement is the taking in of the commons, 
 and that in due time, which means a reasonably short time, 
 will come.* 
 
 We now come to another period and aspect of "the 
 peculiar court " of Ravenstonedale. 
 
 The grand jury, as we have seen, was composed of 
 twenty-four of the most influential men in the parish. The 
 first record we have in the parish book, and which was kept 
 by the public notary, now in the possession of Mr. A. 
 Metcalfe, is an account of how the jury were chosen, and 
 their names. It appears that if there were vacancies by 
 death or old age they were filled up in the following manner : 
 If they occurred on the west side of Coldbeck, by those 
 living on the south side ; and if on the south side, by those 
 living on the west side. On February 20th, 1667, the 
 following vacancies were filled up : Instead of Michael Todd, 
 deceased, Robert Hunter; instead of Robert Fothergill, 
 deceased, Robert Shaw; instead of Henry Pindar, being 
 unable, Philip Bousfield, which, the chronicler says, makes 
 up the four-and-twenty with those that were remaining of 
 former elections, whose names are under written : 
 
 * See Appendix, page loS.
 
 5 2 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 TOWN ANGLE. FELL END ANGLE. NEWBIGGEN ANGLE. 
 
 Thomas Dodson. Richard Fothergill. Thomas Parkin. 
 
 George Fothergill. Simon Alderson. John Alderson. 
 
 Ralph Milner. Stephen Dent. John Cantley. 
 
 William Shaw. Wm. Fothergill. Anthony Fothergill. 
 
 James Rogerson. Richard Robinson. 
 
 Chris. Fawcett. Robert Shaw. 
 
 STENNIS KEUGH. BOWDERDALE ANGLE. 
 
 Edwd. Adamthwaite. Chris. Bousfield. 
 
 James Parkin. Peter Pindar. 
 
 Robert Hunter. James Clarkson. 
 
 Philip Bousfield. 
 
 These, including the public notary, make up the four-and- 
 twenty. And now we come to evidence that the four-and- 
 twenty had plenty of legal work upon their hands. Five 
 writings were in the hands of John Fawcett, of Town Head. 
 
 1. " A decree in Chancery in the suit of some kind against 
 Chamberlain." 
 
 2. " Pleadings in the Exchequer ' concerning the hay tyth exemplifyed 
 under the great seal.' " 
 
 3. " Depositions in ' the Starr Chamber about the hay tyth.' " 
 
 4. " Another exemplification and pleadings in the Exchequer about 
 the ' hay tyths.' " 
 
 Here I should explain that one of the first expressions of 
 independence on the part of the tenants was the desire to 
 commute the hay tithe to the lord of the manor, and which 
 doubtless had its influence in eventually securing the 
 purchase by the tenants of the tithes altogether. 
 
 5. " An exemplification of a decree in the Court of Requests. Papers 
 concerning the maintaining of our customs subscribed by all the tenants." 
 
 Other legal documents were intrusted to Henry Cantley. 
 I select some of the most interesting : 
 
 1. " Pleadings in the Starr Chamber in the suit for hay tyth." 
 
 2. " The deed to the minister for payment of $ 8s. out of Blea-tarn 
 yearly by Geo. Fothergill and his heirs." 
 
 3. " An exemplification, interrogatories, depositions, and a decree in 
 the Court of York,"
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 53 
 
 Writings in the hands of Henry Bousfield : 
 
 1. In one box the indenture of customs, dated the 22nd Elizabeth, 
 with the Lord Wharton's hand and seal. (A copy of this we have.) 
 
 2. The indenture of wood. (A copy of this we have.) 
 
 3. The old articles under Thos. Lord Wharton's hand. (Lost.) 
 
 4. An indenture betwixt Philip Lord Wharton, Sir Thos. Wharton, 
 and the tenants, concerning a general fine. (Lost.) 
 
 The next document of interest is one which states that 
 some of the ancient rights were lost, or were in danger of 
 being lost, and that the four-and-twenty were determined to 
 support each other in preserving and defending them. It is 
 as follows, verbatim : 
 
 "An agreement of the four and twenty entrusted for the good and 
 benefit of the parish of Ravenstonedale have been much neglected, and 
 that there hath been and dayly is incroachments made upon our just 
 rights and priviledges whereby we and our posterity are in great danger 
 to be very much damnified and in a manner inslaved to private persons' 
 wills, and covetous desires. Wherefore in pursuance of former presi- 
 dents of our ancestors, and prevention of so apparent ruins and 
 inconveniences for the future, we the four and twenty elected and 
 chosen for the good and welfare of this parish do think fitt to oblige 
 and engage ourselves every one to other, and every one of us for our- 
 selves by those presents, oblige and engage ourselves one to other, to 
 stand to and maintain according to law and equity our indenture, and 
 all other our antient customs and priviledges belonging to our parish 
 aforesaid, against all opposers whatsoever, the care of concernment 
 being first considered on and determined to be of public good and 
 advantage, to the said parish by the four and twenty or the major part of 
 them, to which agreement as aforesaid, we, the now four and twenty 
 have hereunto subscribed our hands and names this 27th of February 
 1667, and by these presents do faithfully engage to stand close and sure 
 one to another in all concernments for the woole publick of our selves 
 and neighbours and for the better manageing of our just rights and 
 privilidges and for the satisfaction of all the tennants of Ravenstonedale 
 afforesaid and for having their assent and consent hereunto we do 
 hereby order this agreement assent and consent for the woole public 
 of the said parish to be published, that if there be any tennant or 
 tennants that have not a mind to be included or concerned in this our 
 agreement that he or they come at our next Publick Meeting and give
 
 54 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 us his or their exeptions to the contrary that so we may know who to 
 rely in time of need and public concernment and to leave all such 
 persons to themselves, and we shall take silence for all others their 
 consent and rekon them as members of this agreement and act in all 
 public matters for them as for our selves. In witness whereof we have 
 hereunto subscribed our hands and names as we stand chosen in every 
 Angle of the said Parish. 
 
 " TOWN ANGLE. " FELLEND ANGLE. 
 
 " Thomas Dodson. " Richd. Fothergill. 
 
 " Geo. Fothergill. " Simo. Alderson. 
 
 " Edw. Adamthwait. " Step. Dent. 
 
 " Jam. Perkins. " Willm. Fothergill. 
 
 " Ralph Milner. " Jam. Rogerson. 
 
 " Willm. Shaw. " Chris. Fawcett. 
 " Robert Hunter. 
 " John Fawcett. 
 
 " NEWBIGGEN ANGLE. " BOWDERDALE ANGLE. 
 
 " Tho. Parkin. " James Clarkson. 
 
 " John Alderson. " Chris. Bousfield. 
 
 " John Cantley. " Phillip Bousfield. 
 
 " Anth. FothergUI. " Piter Pinder." 
 " Richd. Robinson. 
 " Robt. Shaw. 
 
 And then follows the following interesting entry, which I 
 also give verbatim : 
 
 " The day next afforesd the four and twenty did appoint George 
 Fothergill, James Rogerson, Thomas Parkin and Christopher Bousfield 
 to call on John Fawcett for that legacy of ^27 given by Richard 
 Fawcett for building a stone bridge over Coldbeck and to call for or 
 secure the same for the good and benifitt of the parish. A.D. 1667." 
 
 Previous to this there was no bridge at Coldbeck, but a 
 ford. 
 
 We ought to thank Richard Fawcett for providing so 
 valuable and so useful a bridge at Coldbeck, and to feel 
 grateful to an ancestry which has laid us under such 
 substantial and useful obligations. 
 
 The first case in which I can find that judgment is given
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 55 
 
 in this ancient book is in the case of James Fawcett, who 
 died at sixteen years of age, and was therefore, legally, an 
 infant ; and the four-and-twenty decided that his tenement 
 should go to his cousin, James Fawcett, of Newbiggen ; and 
 this they were determined to stand to. It is as follows : 
 
 "Memorandum, that this sixth day of January, 1674, that the major 
 part of the four and twenty did this day meet and did confirm all orders 
 made heretofore by the said four and twenty for the maintaining the 
 indenture and custom of the said parish according to law and equity. 
 And whereas it hath pleased God to take to his mercy one James 
 Ffawcett, an infant without issue of his own body, under the age of 
 sixteen years, a tenant of the said parish, and that John Ffawcett, of 
 Newbiggin, his cousin, is conceived to be his next heir at law, we do 
 therefore order the said John Ffawcett to enter into the premises whereof 
 the said James Ffawcett died tennant, and to keep possession of the same 
 to his own use, he paying to the lord of the manor all rents, fines, and 
 services of right due to the same, and we, the said four and twenty, or 
 the major part of us, whose names are hereunto subscribed, having 
 taken the present case and its concernment into our consideration, do 
 conceive it to be of public concernment, as also all others that shall 
 happen of like nature for the future. And therefore we do in the 
 behalf of our selves and the parish and whole tennants therein residing, 
 promise to defend the same against all claims that shall be made, or 
 pretended to be made, by the lord or his officers, to make the same or 
 any that shall fall or happen for the future an escheat or forfeiture to 
 the lord, and that all charges expended in or about the premises shall 
 be paid of the public charge of the said four and twenty, and the said 
 parish. Witness our own hands, the day and year abovesaid. 
 
 " TOWN ANGLE. " FELL END ANGLE. 
 
 " Geo. Ffothergill. " Richard Fothergill. 
 
 " Ralph Milner. " Tim. Alderson. 
 
 " Edwd. Adamthwait. " Chris. Fawcett. 
 
 " John Ffawcett. " James Rogerson. 
 
 " Thos. Parkin. " Step. Dent. 
 
 " Robert Hunter. 
 " Will. Ffothergill. 
 " Richd. Robinson. 
 " Henry Bousfield. 
 Wm. Shaw.
 
 56 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 "NEWBIGGIN ANGLE. "BowD. ANGLE. 
 
 " Thos. Parkin. " Chris. Bousfield. 
 
 " John Cantley. " James Clarkson. 
 
 " Thos. Sympson. " Phil. Bousfield. 
 
 " Robert Shaw. " Jarnes Hall." 
 " Ralph Alderson. 
 
 The next is dated April i6th, 1651, from which we learn 
 that one William Chamberlain left his tenement to his son 
 Stephen, on condition that he paid 60 out of it towards 
 the maintenance of the minister, and which was to be 
 invested in the manner which Stephen Chamberlain and the 
 four-and-twenty thought fit, which was in land in Hober and 
 Mufflegill, and the lord's rent on it was to be 23. per 
 annum. The aforesaid Stephen Chamberlain, it was alleged, 
 retained one rood from the minister, the Rev. Mr. Dodson, 
 which was the cause of another meeting being called, and the 
 four-and-twenty decided against him. Whereupon Stephen 
 Chamberlain was requested to yield the rood. 
 
 These two cases I give you as specimens of verdicts 
 which were given by the four-and-twenty; and against 
 which, practically, there was no appeal. 
 
 And now I come to the poor stock money, and although I 
 cannot give you the first sum set apart for this object I can 
 furnish you with an account of some early and interesting 
 contributions. In the parish book I find the following 
 entry : 
 
 "On Thursday, the 2oth November, 1701, there were ten pounds 
 privately put into the hands of Mr. John Dalton, minister, to be for an 
 augmentation of the stock to the poor of this parish, Ravenstonedale, 
 together with the letter which was thought fat to be copied and set down 
 at large." 
 
 "Novr. 1st 1701. 
 
 " Revd. Sir, We have entrusted and requested a friend privately 
 and carefully to deliver to your own hand the sum of 10, designed as an 
 augmentation to your stock for the poor, and for the use of the sd poor,
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 5 7 
 
 within the several townships or divisions of your parish, and do desire 
 your receipt may be given to the bearer hereof for the same ; and your 
 particular care and assistance, together with the church wardens, is 
 earnestly requested, that good and substantial security may be taken for 
 the said sum ; and that the yearly consideration thereof may be equally 
 and duly distributed to the poor within your whole parish. We think 
 it needless to subscribe our names for the matter of this nature ; it is 
 altogether unnecessary, and therefore beg to be excused." 
 
 " Again, there were also five pounds more given in like manner to 
 Mr. Thomas Toulmin, curate of Ravenstonedale, on the 22nd day of 
 January, 1 708. As witness my hand, 
 
 (Signed) "THOMAS TOULMIN. 
 
 "And with the said ^"5 came the following letter to me : 
 " ' Revd. Sir, A friend is intrusted and requested carefully to deliver 
 unto your own hand the sum of five pounds, designed as an augmenta- 
 tion to your stock for the poor within the several townshipps or divisions 
 of the parish, and do desire your recipt may be given to the barer hereof 
 for the same, and your particular care and assistance, together with the 
 churchwardens, is earnestly requested that good and substantial security 
 may be taken for the said sum, and that the yearly consideration thereof 
 may be duly and equally distributed to the poor within your whole 
 parish as aforesaid. Dated the 22nd day of January, 1708.'" 
 
 There are other similar entries in the parish book, the 
 details of which I need not give you ; but there seems for 
 three hundred years past to have grown up, by small 
 additions, a sum of money given or left by the benevolent 
 for the poor of the parish, who were at that time, we must 
 remember, entirely dependent upon the inhabitants of the 
 parish for relief. In our day it has reached a good sum, and 
 the items respecting it are as follow : 
 
 Date unknown Founder not known ... .196 I2s. Div. <) 7 I 
 ,, John Giles, cornfactor, 
 
 London 40 I 17 4 
 
 Mr. Fawcett, for poor 
 
 west of Coldbeck 
 
 Bridge 34 I II 9 
 
 April, 1855. Thomas Airey, Esq. ... 150 ) 
 1859. John Airey, Esq 105 \ "
 
 58 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 In this place I shall remark that I find entries of moneys 
 left for the poor in the hands of private individuals, mostly 
 relatives, and on inquiry I learn that it is lost ; and I 
 understand that there are two or three ;io in the parish at 
 this moment in the hands of people who are as anxious to 
 help the poor, and especially in the education of their 
 children, as their departed relatives were ; and, although 
 they may not think so, judging from entries in the book 
 their money is held for the poor on a very precarious tenure. 
 
 In the year 172; the ruling four-and-twenty had the 
 following fact brought before their notice : Aged and infirm 
 people applied to them for parish relief, and at the time of 
 such application they often possessed a moderate quantity 
 of furniture, but often previous to their decease it was 
 removed piece by piece by relatives and others ; and 
 although the aged people had in some instances received a 
 weekly allowance for years none of the aforesaid furniture 
 came to the four-and-twenty for sale, after the aged people's 
 death, to in some measure repay them for the responsibility 
 of their maintenance which they had undertaken. It was 
 therefore resolved, and, in my humble opinion, justly, "That, 
 as soon as any poor person applied to the ruling four-and- 
 twenty for relief, an inventory should be taken of their 
 furniture by their clerk, the public notary." And I am 
 happy to inform you I can supply you with a few specimen 
 inventories of the poor people's furniture 170 years ago: 
 
 Town Angle. Goods of Elizabeth Riddin. 
 
 s. d. 
 A cupboard and ornery ... 040 
 
 A pan and dishes 020 
 
 A table and odd things o 2 6 
 
 2 course bedds of cloaths o 3 o 
 
 A pair of beddstocks 020 
 
 o 13 6
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 59 
 
 " Old Roger Barber, only a great Bible for his life." 
 Surely he was without this world's goods, for the goods he 
 possessed belonged essentially to another. The next : 
 
 Goods of Michael Taylor. Town Angle. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 2 pewther dubbers * o 3 6 
 
 A line wheel and other things o 5 
 
 A table, dishes, and other houshold stuff o 4 o 
 
 Bedding 046 
 
 o 17 o 
 
 Besides this inventory I find the following memorandum : 
 "Town Angle. Goods viewed and apprized by James 
 Richardson, Robert Fothergill, and Hugh Shaw. 1729." 
 
 Then the next inventory shows the fairness and con- 
 sideration of the four-and-twenty. It is of the goods of 
 Richard Robinson, which amount to 283. 6d., and besides 
 which I find the memorandum : " Those goods of Richard 
 Robinson's are resigned by the four-and-twenty on account 
 of Richard Robinson now taking care of maintaining 
 himself. " A. FOTHERGILL." 
 
 I will only give you one specimen more, which gives a 
 good many odd things no longer in use, and which affords 
 us an insight into the manner of life of the people of that 
 day: 
 
 Household Goods and other things belonging to Robert Robinson in 
 
 ye year 1 729. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Girdle, brandrath, and girdle-piece 026 
 
 Long settle 026 
 
 2pairoftongs o o 10 
 
 3 stools ,, 003 
 
 An hour glass o o 10 
 
 A chist 060 
 
 A spinning-wheel o I o
 
 60 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 Cords and hotterel 006 
 
 Asaltpie o o I 
 
 A stand yarn and hotterel 004 
 
 Yarn windies o o 6 
 
 A chaff bed 020 
 
 5 happins o II 6 
 
 A brass pott and kilps 040 
 
 A dish pink and knopp 042 
 
 25 clues of yarn 043 
 
 A can, a stand, and a mungarelt o 2 o 
 
 3 dishes and a piggen 004 
 
 3 trenchers and a wood dubber 003 
 
 An ark and a desk o I 8 
 
 A stone of wool o I 3 
 
 A peat spade and a flaying spade o 2 o 
 
 13 yards of cloth, at is. per yard o 13 o 
 
 I also have an account of their weekly allowance : 
 
 Elizth. Riddin received gd. per week. 
 
 Michael Taylor pd. 
 
 Richd. Robinson gd. 
 
 Richard Fawcett is. 2d. 
 
 Jane Whitehead 6d. ,, 
 
 John Fawcett 9d. 
 
 Then in some cases the parish relief was lumped. Hence 
 we read : 
 
 "Allowance was made the day of the date above (March 3 1st, 1730) 
 to poor pensioners, besides beggars, boarders, and those other poor, 
 which have relief upon occasion, but not weekly, which follow here 
 below : 
 
 " Stephen Fawcett, Greenslack, 6s. lod. till Michaelmas ; Elizth. 
 Bale, 55. ; Chris. Alderson, 2s. 6d. ; Thomas Bowerbank, per year 
 2 155., besides clothes." 
 
 We must not forget the difference in the value of money 
 now and then; gd. would be quite as good as 23. 6d. now, 
 and 2 153. would be equal to ;io. In examining these 
 and other similar records in the parish book I have come
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 6 1 
 
 to the conclusion that the poor were well cared for, and I 
 believe that in our day it would be a blessed thing for them 
 if we could go back to the custom of the olden times and 
 keep our aged poor amongst us. As it is they are taken 
 away ; and although the appointments of the Workhouse are 
 clean and comfortable our aged poor feel that they are 
 exotics there, and, like an old tree uprooted and trans- 
 planted, they soon begin to wither, and fade, and die. Here 
 let me say a word to the young men. You will soon be the 
 men of influence. A change cannot be made now ; but we 
 ought to have our aged poor with us, to live, and to die, in 
 their native dale. 
 
 I now come to the following interesting entry : 
 
 "May 26th, 1791. It appears by the a/c then given in that the 
 interest of the apprentice money was all accounted for, as witness my 
 hand, "ARTHUR BOUSFIELD." 
 
 From this we learn that there was money left for appren- 
 ticing boys, but which is now, I understand, employed for 
 the education of poor children. In the parish book I find a 
 list of apprentices, beginning in 1763. They are as follow: 
 
 " Richd. Hubbs, app. to Joseph Hanson, Mole Catcher, Northum- 
 berland, June 1 8th, 1772. Richd. Shaw, app. to James Clogston, 
 Weaver, Ravenstonedale, March, 1774. Wm. Adamthwait, app. to 
 James Thompson, Barber, Kendal, April 23rd, 1789. Geo. Richardson, 
 app. to Richd. Doby, Watch-chain Maker, Wolverhampton, July nth, 
 1798. Wm. Hastwill, app. to John Robson, Husbandry, Ravenstone- 
 dale, Nov. nth, 1799. Richd. Birtall, app. to James Birtall, Black- 
 smith, Ravenstonedale, Jan. loth, 1801." 
 
 And then follow 22 others with similar particulars. 
 
 We now come to the legacy for the distribution of bread 
 to the poor in the parish church. It will be known to some 
 of you that ^200 were left, by will, by John Robinson, of 
 Coldbeck, for the aforesaid object. He died on the i;th
 
 62 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 day of August, 1842. The following is an extract from the 
 will: 
 
 " I give and bequeath the sum of two hundred pounds unto the vicar 
 or incumbent and churchwardens of the parish of Ravenstonedale of 
 the time being, to be paid to them at the expiration of six months after 
 my decease, upon trust to invest the same in the public funds of Great 
 Britain, or on good and sufficient real security at their discretion, and 
 upon trust to lay out the annual interest, dividends, and produce of the 
 same in the purchase of bread, and distribute the same weekly, on every 
 Sunday morning, in the parish church of Ravenstonedale, after divine 
 service, to such poor, aged, and indigent persons, resident within the 
 parish of Ravenstonedale, as they, the vicar and churchwardens aforesaid, 
 shall think most deserving and necessitous, without any regard being had 
 whether such persons have their parochial settlement in Ravenstonedale 
 or not. It being my wish that this bequest shall not be applied in aid 
 of the poor-rates of this said parish." 
 
 The 200 have been invested, and the interest amounts 
 to ;6 2S. 5d., which is duly and conscientiously expended 
 by the vicar and churchwardens in gifts of bread to the 
 poor. 
 
 I will now read to you a tabulated and complete list of 
 the Ravenstonedale charities as they exist to-day.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 
 
 
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 64 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 This money was invested in the names of Matthew 
 Thompson, Esq., Kirkby Stephen, deceased; William 
 Stowell, Esq., Darlington; John Fothergill, Esq., Greenside, 
 deceased. After the death of Mr. Matthew Thompson, 
 Mr. Stowell wished that new trustees should be appointed. 
 A public meeting was accordingly called, and the three 
 following trustees were appointed : Mr. Barnes, Mr. J. 
 Fothergill, jun., and Mr. William Dixon. And a few months 
 after the change was made it was discovered that the power 
 over the poor stock money on the part of the parish had 
 gone by its being vested in the Charity Commissioners. 
 
 I now come to the rebuilding of the parish church ; and 
 I regret to say that whilst there is in the parish book a full 
 account of the building of the steeple there is not any more 
 than an occasional allusion to the building of the church. 
 The first item we have is 
 
 1738. s. d. 
 
 July 5. Paid to Ralph Alderson, in part for pulling 
 
 down the steeple 500 
 
 To ditto 33 
 
 July 1 8. When the foundation of the steeple was laid, 
 
 spent at each of the four alehouses, 2s o 8 o 
 
 Sept. 8. Paid to Matthew and Partners for finding lime 
 
 for the steeple 29 II 3 
 
 Sept. 8. The same day, to Robert Robinson and John 
 
 Richardson, for pulling down part of the 
 
 church wall and walling up again, drawing 
 
 up steeple timber and bells, and other things 2 14 IO 
 Dec. 2. Paid to Zach. Wright, for casting lead and 
 
 covering steeple 490 
 
 Paid Richard Todd, for calling the bargains... 026 
 Without giving you any more particulars I may say that 
 the whole cost of the steeple was ^264 33. s|d. Apart 
 from documentary evidence the tradition seems to be that 
 the church was built before the tower, and the tower after- 
 wards built up against it. There is an interesting fact
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 65 
 
 connected with the church, which in this place I should 
 mention, that the south porch (i.e., the porch nearest the 
 town) was built stone by stone the same as the south porch 
 in the old church, not a fac simile^ but the same porch 
 which was taken down, and put up again in the new 
 church. 
 
 You will be interested to know how the money was 
 raised to pay the expense of rebuilding the church. There 
 was an assessment laid on the land, and a brief seems to 
 have been given by the Bishop to the Rev. Mr. Mounsey, 
 curate of the parish, by means of which collections were 
 
 secured in the neighbouring churches. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Crosby Garrett sent I 3 nj 
 
 Kirkby Stephen 4 13 4 
 
 Appleby I 9 7 
 
 Musgrave o 6 10 
 
 Kirkby Thore o 5 nj 
 
 Through Mr. Amory 200 o o 
 
 Sedbergh 6 10 o 
 
 Dufton 027 
 
 Received of John Winder on account of the brief.. 50 o o 
 
 And so other sums are enumerated, great and small, and 
 the final result was that the treasurer received ^"57 IDS. 
 more than was laid out in the building. I find, under date 
 six years later, the following entry : 
 
 " The vestry order the present church wardens to pay to James 
 Richardson I4/- (arrears) over 2 2s. given generously gratis by 
 James Richardson for building the vestry on the west side of the 
 church." 
 
 There is also the following interesting entry : 
 
 " Also be it further remarked that the said Revd. George Fothergill, 
 
 Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, and eldest son to Henery Fothergill, 
 
 of Lockholm, in Ravenstonedale, for the great and honourable regard to 
 
 the place of his nativity, and for his high and valuable respect to tiie 
 
 K
 
 66 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 parish in general, has generously given a silver chalice, or cup, with a 
 cover of the same ; as also a silver decantor, for the use of the new 
 church, together with a box to preserve the same, in all to the value of 
 twenty pounds. Also be it further remarked that the Revd. Mr. Henery 
 Fothergill, another son of the said Henery Fotbergill, of Lockholm, 
 Master of Arts, did likewise give three guineas to seal over the chancel 
 in the new church in Eavenstonedale abovesaid, as witness my hand 
 this 9th day of July, 1 746. Also be it further remarked that ye two 
 silver salvers, for bread, at ye communion, was the gift of John Spooner, 
 of Greenside, to ye new church." 
 
 There is no account of the pewing of the church, but I 
 have been told on the best authority that all the oak of 
 which the pews are made came from Lowther, and was a 
 handsome present of the lord of the manor. There is in the 
 parish book a long account of the appropriation of the 
 seats "showing how the seats in the new church, in 
 Ravenstonedale, were chosen according to a rule agreed 
 upon unanimously in vestry ist June, 1744, by those that 
 paid cess towards the rebuilding the said new church in 
 pursuance of a former vestry held for rebuilding the said 
 new church, and settling the seats therein." 
 
 Numbered Pew. 
 To Robert Lowther, Esqre., by his steward, 4 whole 
 
 P ews 23, 24, 25, 72 
 
 Curate's family, 5 seats 26 
 
 Henery Fothergill and Sons, 5 seats 27 
 
 John Bousfield, 5 seats 22 
 
 And so the appropriation goes on. 
 
 Some Quakers in the dale Thomas Thornborough and 
 Thomas Close objected on conscientious grounds to pay 
 the assessment, and so did not possess pew No. 95, which 
 would otherwise have fallen to them. It was therefore 
 bought by the Rev. George Fothergill, and set apart for the 
 poor and lame. There was also a dispute respecting the 
 appropriation of the seats, and the disaffected parties wrote 
 to the bishop, who sent the letter to the curate with the
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 67 
 
 inquiry as to the wish of the parishioners, and the following 
 
 was the curate's reply : 
 
 "March 24th, 1746. 
 
 " May it please your Lordship, Upon the receipt of your Lordship's 
 letter of the 1 2th March, 1746, with a petition therein enclosed for our 
 church wardens, I gave public notice for the parishioners to meet in 
 vestry to consider of the same, on Tuesday, the 24th inst.,-when and 
 where I read to them the petition, and your Lordship's letter, which, 
 when considered about, the said parishioners voted as follows." 
 
 And then follow two columns of names side by side. Over 
 the one is written, " For having the petition granted," and 
 then follow seven names. Over the other column there is 
 written, "Objectors against granting the petition, because 
 we think that the former settlement (in full vestry) agreed 
 upon at first choice of seats in our new church, with your 
 Lordship's approbation, to be entirely best." And then 
 follow 36 names, leaving a majority for the first appropriation 
 of 29. 
 
 There is evidence here that this was one of the burning 
 questions of the day. All the disputants in it are, as far as 
 this world is concerned, silent in death ; and we can calmly, 
 and without the smallest tinge of party feeling, inquire into 
 the particulars of this internal strife. 
 
 Here I may refer to the harmonious relations existing 
 between the two congregations of those times, for we read 
 that in the old church " there was a small bell, called the 
 saints' bell, which was wont to be rung after the Nicene 
 Creed to call in the Dissenters to the sermon." And the 
 chronicler adds, writing over 100 years ago, "and to this 
 day the Dissenters, besides frequenting the meeting-house, 
 oftentimes attended the sermon at church." I am happy to 
 state that the same friendliness still exists. The incumbent, 
 the Rev. G. Atkinson, is respected by all; and if our
 
 68 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 services were held at different times the friendliness would, 
 no doubt, be exemplified now, as it was then. 
 
 Our endowed school was endowed in the year 1668, by 
 Thomas Fothergill, B.D., Master of St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge. In the year 1758, a very good new schoolhouse 
 was built by the inhabitants and other contributors; 
 adjoining to the south end whereof was erected also a 
 dwelling-house for the master. This has lately been 
 succeeded by a new handsome building, comprising a 
 commodious schoolroom and the room in which we are 
 assembled, which was wholly the gift, and the munificent gift 
 too, of R. Gibson, Esq. ; and it is due to that gentleman to 
 say that this is only one of his many and varied gifts to the 
 inhabitants of this parish ; and I say of him, in the language 
 of one of your own wits, " would that we had a Mr. Gibson 
 planted at every mile." And let it be recorded that at 
 this point in our history of Ravenstonedale you gave him a 
 good cheer, or a good clap, or both. (Here there was a 
 storm of enthusiastic cheering.) It will be known to some 
 of you that the trust deeds of this school were lost, and the 
 trustees dead, and the only link of connection between the 
 grammar school and the land was that the rent was regularly 
 paid to the schoolmaster. At a public meeting called in the 
 year 1870 a request was made to the Charity Commissioners 
 for the power to appoint new trustees, which was granted, 
 and the appointment made at a meeting held in -the school- 
 room, and called for that purpose. The trustees have, 
 however, become the executive in the management of the 
 school, which is a first-class elementary one, at present 
 under the efficient instruction of Mr. Hainsworth. The 
 endowment at present amounts to ^58. 
 
 We can most of us recall the picturesque old schoolroom,
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 69 
 
 and to some of you it is invested with many associations 
 some of them perhaps of a not very pleasing character ; but 
 these I will ask you now to forget and call to mind the 
 excitement of barring out. It is near Brough Hill fair, and 
 the elder boys agree amongst themselves that the time has 
 come to bar the master out, and keep him out, until he 
 has agreed satisfactorily to the new terms of the new school 
 year. This is whispered through the school, and at break 
 of day on the Thursday morning the big boys assemble, roll 
 in a huge stone, which served year after year for that 
 purpose, and then these seeming young rebels fixed their 
 block of stone against the door, which they locked, bolted, 
 barred, and made perfectly secure. And now they were 
 prepared for a siege. The younger scholars were on the 
 outside to bring supplies to the youthful garrison, in the 
 shape of apples, and gingerbread, and toffy, and such 
 things as boys love. They are ready for the attack, and 
 the defenders of Gibraltar are not more resolute. Yonder 
 appears the expected foe, and the cry is heard, " Master is 
 coming." He is near, he is at the door, he raps with his 
 stick, and in angry tones exclaims, " You boys, let me in." 
 But no ; the bravest of the garrison appear at the window, 
 and a parley is held. Then the written terms are handed 
 out j and I am glad to tell you I possess a specimen : 
 
 " THE ARTICLES OF RAVENSTONEDALE SCHOOL. 
 
 " Be not surprised that these lines come to hand, 
 For by reading their meaning you'll soon understand ; 
 We hope that, dear sir, you will do us no harm, 
 And we'll show you the cause of this rude alarm. 
 
 " Long, long we have toil'd in heart and in mind, 
 To these Rules of old Syntax we've long been confined, 
 Week after week we this school do attend, 
 To Latin and Greek our minds there to bend.
 
 70 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 " Of study we've plenty, of play scarce a bit, 
 So hard is our study we are forced to submit, 
 So strict are our laws we begin to complain, 
 And we hope that, dear sir, it will not be in vain. 
 
 " Whilst we on our beds so profoundly did sleep, 
 Minerva the Great into our chambers did creep ; 
 Her dictates so sacred in mind we still hold, 
 And should we disclose them you'll think us too bold. 
 
 " But Horace and Virgil and poets all say 
 That study's more pleasant united with play, 
 And the rest of this week we think is our due, 
 And we hope, nay, we're sure, of compliance from you. 
 
 " Two days at Brough Hill, we hope you'll remember, 
 The first of October and last of September ; 
 And when nuts become ripe two days we require, 
 Or else at the outside you'll keep we desire. 
 
 " At Christmas a month is always our due, 
 And the same must be granted at Midsummer too. 
 Saturday for play we always require, 
 When we from this dungeon with pleasure retire. 
 
 " And every saint day we hope you will grant us, 
 And duly to Church we'll go, if you want us. 
 For every new scholar we ask but a day, 
 Contrary to which you nothing can say. 
 
 " Our Sovereign's birthday you cannot refuse, 
 Or else disloyal we you will accuse. 
 And a day at each fair our city does hold 
 We hope you will grant us, not thinking us bold ; 
 But if you're repugnant to this our demand, 
 Resolved we are at the door you shall stand. 
 
 (Signed) "JOHN WHARTON. 
 
 "ANTHONY METCALFE." 
 
 In the original copy which I possess the lines 
 " And when nuts become ripe two days we require, 
 
 Or else at the outside you'll keep we desire ;" 
 and also 
 
 " And every saint day I hope you will grant us, 
 
 And duly to Church we'll go if you want us " 
 have a stroke of the pen passed through them, intimating 
 that they were not agreed to by the master ; and the two
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 7 1 
 
 names given are witnesses to the agreement. And now 
 there is a holiday until the end of the week. On the 
 Monday following, on the most friendly terms, without any 
 singling out of ringleaders, or even recollection of the stormy 
 past, the school duties are resumed. 
 
 We have in the parish book a very interesting list of the 
 landholders in this dale in the year 1734, together with the 
 valuation of the property. The valuation was taken and 
 signed by eight of the heads of the parish, and amounted 
 to ^1,958. From these figures we learn two facts. The 
 first is the decrease in the number of landholders, for whilst 
 in the year 1734 there were 180, now there are 70; and, 
 furthermore, whilst in the year 1734 the property here was 
 only rated at ,1,958 per annum, it is now rated at ^8,784 
 per annum. We cannot but conclude, therefore, that, even 
 as compared with 143 years ago, we are living in a new and 
 different age. 
 
 In looking over the old writings one cannot but be struck 
 with the evidence of transition into a brighter and freer state. 
 It resembles the break of day, which is at first only just light, 
 but expands gradually into full light. In the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth the inhabitants of this dale were satisfied with the 
 feudal laws under which they lived. Still there was progress, 
 and the national quickening which was taking place was 
 producing its effects here. The Duke of Wharton wished at 
 eighteen years of age to exact a fine, only due on his attain- 
 ing his majority, but this the men of Ravenstonedale 
 resisted, and declared that they would not pay the fine until 
 he was twenty-one. A suit was instituted, but it was 
 evidently going against the lord of the manor, and so he 
 dropped it* 
 
 * See Appendix, page 109.
 
 72 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 When Mr. Lowther entered upon his estates there was 
 another dispute concerning the admittances. So far as I 
 can gather the lord of the manor would not give the 
 admittance, and until this was bestowed they would not pay 
 the fine. Again a law-suit was instituted ; the admittance 
 was granted, and the fine paid. Then there arose the 
 question of the sale or mortgage of land, and it was decided , 
 that a landholder could mortgage the whole of his tenement, 
 but not a part of it. There is consequently a caution in the 
 parish book to all landholders not to mortgage a part of 
 their property, as if they do they will forfeit the whole of it. 
 The steward of the lord of the manor also required those 
 who had mortgaged their land to bring their deeds to the 
 Lord's Court, and have a fine laid on. This they resisted, 
 and seem to have gained the day. 
 
 By this time the landholders begin to lose the term 
 tenant, and they are estates men, or as they were and still 
 are called 'statesmen. They begin to feel that they own the 
 land upon which they and their forefathers lived, and act 
 with a larger freedom. This expresses itself in litigation, 
 for the number of law-suits at this period is something 
 amazing. But the people of Ravenstonedale are working 
 out their own enfranchisement ; they are clearing their 
 properties of their various encumbrances. They pay off the 
 greater and lesser tithes. It would seem that the most 
 stubborn, and the one which cost them the most concern, 
 was the hay tithe ; but it went with the rest, and, as a con- 
 sequence, the land of Ravenstonedale to-day, every inch of 
 it, is tithe free. 
 
 But there was another contention with the lord of the 
 manor. A land-tax a national tax it seems to have been 
 was imposed, and each parish had to raise so much. The
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 73 
 
 lord of the manor refused to share this tax with the land- 
 holders. This they seem to have borne for a time ; but, 
 after awhile, they, through their ruling four-and- twenty, 
 determined that they would insist upon the lord of the 
 manor sharing his portion of tax on the park lands with 
 them. They went to law about it, and the trial lasted some 
 six or seven years, and, eventually, the inhabitants obtained 
 a favourable verdict, the lord of the manor taking his proper 
 share of the tax. 
 
 And why, you may ask, was it that the people were so 
 often triumphant as against their lord? My reply is, 
 because the whole nation was advancing in the same 
 direction. The towns which were springing up everywhere 
 were securing a free people, who were bringing a public 
 opinion to bear upon these questions, and so the people in 
 the counties were emboldened to press their demands. 
 
 The last link that bound the people of this dale to the 
 lord of the manor was the payment of the lord's rent. 
 Freedom from this was made possible by a general bill on 
 the question which had passed through Parliament ; and the 
 people of this dale, taking advantage of it in the most 
 friendly way, purchased of the lord of the manor the lord's 
 rent. With this payment the last tie was severed ; and 
 the supervision we have now is an advantage to us, rather 
 than otherwise; and I speak no words of flattery when I say, 
 that although there may have been able stewards of the 
 lord of the manor in the past, not one of them excelled the 
 gentleman who now occupies that important position amongst 
 us. But there are other aspects of this transition state to 
 which I must call your attention. The very appearance of 
 the face of the land has undergone a change. The landholders 
 ploughed a great deal of their land, and grew wheat and
 
 74 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 oats, and took it to the mill to be ground, and thus 
 provided bread for themselves and their families. Flour 
 was not imported in those days ; and when it was, some 
 years later, it had imposed upon it a protective duty. The 
 number of cattle kept was comparatively small, for there 
 was no market for the butter, and butcher's meat was a 
 luxury known in those days only to a few. Sheep were - 
 probably more numerous, as they were useful for their wool. 
 Indeed, the Ravenstonedale in those days was isolated 
 and complete in itself. The people grew their own corn, 
 wove their own wool, knit their own stockings, and tanned 
 their own leather ; and the remains of the tannery at Brant 
 Garth, may be seen to this day. Indeed, I believe that in 
 the seventeenth century Ravenstonedale could have stood 
 a siege uncommonly well a cordon of soldiers could have 
 been placed around their parish boundaries, and it would 
 scarcely have inconvenienced them. But we have evidence 
 of transition. Less land was ploughed, though up to the 
 recollection of men still living most farms had one ploughed 
 field upon it. It was gradually discovered that if a good 
 market could be found outside for the cattle and butter it 
 would pay better than growing corn in a climate where there 
 was some uncertainty as to whether it would ripen and be 
 gathered in in a satisfactory condition. The markets were 
 open, and " butter badgers " came through the parish with 
 their carts and bought up the butter for the large towns ; 
 still the price was small, but it paid, and the ploughing grew 
 less and less, and the flour came into the parish from the 
 outside it was found to be cheaper and better until the 
 speciality of our soil and climate was found to be for meadow 
 and grazing land. 
 
 To-day, with the facilities of carriage which we possess,
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 75 
 
 the prices given for your produce would have been regarded 
 by your forefathers, could they have been told of it by a 
 gifted seer, as only a vision or a dream. 
 
 The transition is equally true of the laws. The four-and- 
 twenty were to all intents and purposes a parliament under 
 the lord of the manor, who was practically the king. They 
 legislated on a wide range of subjects, from, in early days, 
 the power of life and death to restrictions as to the time of 
 getting rushes for thatching, which was stated to be " on the 
 first Tuesday after St. Bartholomew's Day, at 12 o'clock in 
 the day. In default, 35. 4d. Dated August 2ist, 1728." 
 
 Their executive officers were, in later times, constables 
 and churchwardens, and these were chosen in turn by what 
 they called "garth row," and in case of refusal a heavy fine 
 of 1 195. n^d. was imposed and rigorously exacted. The 
 condition of liability to service was living in a farmhouse 
 with four acres of land attached to it, and if any householder 
 built a house without the land about it which fulfilled the 
 requirement of the law the four-and-twenty had the power 
 to demolish it. I quote the law which is clearly laid down 
 in a case which came before the grand jury, and which is 
 given in detail in the parish book. It reads as follows : 
 
 " We, the Grand Jury, upon the petition of the major part of the 
 Four and Twenty, concerning a difference that happened this year between 
 John Hewetson and Anthony Shaw, both of Ellergill, concerning the 
 office of Ch. Warden, the said John Hewetson refusing to perform the 
 said office because his dwelling house was demolished or taken down, 
 and we having considered the matter, and taken the information of 
 several ancient inhabitants in every angle, do find that at the first 
 agreement of Constable and Ch. Warden, going by garth-row or neigh- 
 bourhood, it was unanimously agreed that every tenant within this 
 parish should serve the said office." 
 
 And then it goes on to say 
 
 " And if any has erected any new ousett since the said office went by
 
 76 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 garth-row, we order the same to serve in their turn if they let to farm 
 four acres of ground with the said new ousett or ousetts to be demolished 
 wholly, except it be for father or mother or son, and this under penalty 
 to forfeit to the lord of the manor, for every default, thirty-nine shillings 
 and eleven pence halfpenny." 
 
 The power which the four-and-twenty possessed they held 
 very tenaciously, but the spirit of the times, and the shaping 
 of circumstances and events in the outside world, were 
 against them ; and it was very well it was so, for they could 
 not hold the power of feudalism over one another and 
 throw it off in relation to the lord of the manor. Things 
 were making towards a larger freedom all round, though 
 they knew it not. In reading over the old records one 
 experiences a touch of sadness in contrasting the power of 
 the four-and-twenty in the early period and the form and 
 shadow of it in the later. 
 
 The fact is that England was at this time rapidly 
 becoming one united, consolidated, and mighty empire, 
 taking under her care the rule and regulation of her people. 
 Some of the local laws we are sorry to lose, so exactly are 
 they adapted to the people and the district ; and yet we feel 
 that the wider constitution is more in harmony with the 
 spirit of the times, and conduces most to our happiness and 
 prosperity. 
 
 There is one other feature of transition to which I must 
 refer before I conclude this lecture, and that is the change in the 
 inhabitants. As we have already seen, there were in the year 
 1734 one hundred and eighty landholders, and these nearly 
 all lived on their own estates. They were called estates- 
 men, and the people of that day said of such an one, with a 
 touch of respect in their tone, " He is a 'statesman." They 
 saved money and spent much, for those days, in bringing 
 up their families in their native dale. They furnished their
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 77 
 
 houses well, as may be seen by the handsome oak chests, 
 and presses, and wardrobes bearing the date 1580, 1700, 
 and thereabouts, and which still remain bearing their initials. 
 They were well educated in the solid elements of education. 
 They were well-read men ; they were thoughtful, and pos- 
 sessed a great deal of information on various subjects. 
 Men of integrity were they; their word was their bond. 
 They were proud of Ravenstonedale, and felt they were not 
 an insignificant unit of England. They made no pretension 
 to being gentlemen, but they were what was better, MEN. 
 Men of force of character. And we ask, where are their 
 descendants ? The children of many of them are here to- 
 night, but the Pindars, the Cautleys, the Coulstons, the 
 Eubanks, the Dents, the Giles, the Ellyotsons, and the 
 Chamberlains in name are gone. Peace to their ashes. 
 They served their generation well and then fell asleep.
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 NOW come to between eighty and ninety years ago, 
 and so within the tradition, and almost within the 
 recollection, of the fathers of the present generation. 
 Still, I shall occasionally have to refer briefly to a 
 more remote period. 
 
 The Parish Church first claims our attention. The order 
 of clergymen of which I can find any record is as follows : 
 
 June 2nd, 1691. Thomas Hunter, clerk. 
 May 22nd, 1692. Arthur Tempest, A.B., clerk. 
 Feb. 7th, 1693-4. J onn Wright, A.B., clerk. 
 May 3ist, 1697. John Dalton, A.B., clerk. 
 May 2Oth, 1706. Thomas Tolmin, clerk. 
 Sept. 22nd, 1738. Robert Mounsey, clerk. 
 July 6th, 1780. Jeffrey Bowness, clerk. 
 June 24lh, 1813. John Robinson, D.D., clerk. 
 May 3ist, 1834. Thomas Moss, clerk. 
 August, 1842. W. C. Kendall, clerk. 
 July, 1849. William Yarker, clerk. 
 May, 1871. I. Barnes, clerk. 
 March, 1873. G. Atkinson, clerk.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 79 
 
 It was the custom to have the sales and any other 
 announcements called in our churchyard from the stone 
 on which our sun-dial stands. There James Haygarth, 
 within the recollection of the present generation, used to 
 call the sales immediately after church service. This 
 kind of advertisement was the only one accessible before 
 newspapers became general. The notices were of the most 
 miscellaneous character, I understand, from the legal docu- 
 ment of the lord of the manor to the sale of a mangle. 
 The notices also came from a radius of several miles round ; 
 and one of his sons has informed me that the fee was three- 
 pence for each announcement made. 
 
 One of the old inhabitants has told me that the afore- 
 said Mr. Haygarth was an object of great interest to 
 the congregation. He used to sit on the pulpit side of 
 the church, facing the bulk of the people, and when the 
 minister was drawing towards the close of his sermon, per- 
 haps in the midst of his " Thirdly," Mr. Haygarth put his 
 spectacles on his nose and looked over the bundle of bills 
 which he had to read. And many a furtive eye was cast 
 towards the public caller and the possibilities of the budget 
 which he had before him. Indeed, I have been informed 
 that amongst the young folks there was more interest felt in 
 Mr. Haygarth, from the moment the bundle of papers was 
 being overlooked, than in the sermon of the preacher. As 
 soon as the benediction was pronounced, the congregation 
 left the church and gathered round Mr. Haygarth, who read 
 the diverse and diversified announcements. On one occa- 
 sion a legal document was presented to him, which he had 
 not time to look over carefully. It was "A Precept for 
 Calling a Court," abounding, no doubt, in legal technicalities ; 
 and tradition says that the hash he made of it was some-
 
 80 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 thing most amusing. The people looked at one another, 
 and then up at him, in blank amazement ; and when he 
 had concluded they were as wise as ever, only a little more 
 muddled. On reaching home the first question asked of 
 the church-goer was, "Well, what calls were there?" I 
 think we shall all be agreed in the judgment that this is one 
 of the old customs which we are thankful has passed away. 
 
 Outside the churchyard wall, and near the Grammar 
 School, stood the stocks. 
 
 The most remarkable man in Ravenstonedale during this 
 period was the Rev. Dr. Robinson. He came into the 
 parish as master of the Grammar School, and afterwards 
 became the clergyman here as well as magistrate. From all 
 accounts, he was a man of great force of character, and 
 owing to his own perseverance, rather than early advan- 
 tages, a man of some erudition and scholarly attainment. 
 Under him the school prospered greatly. Pupils came to 
 him from a distance, who were boarders in his house. He 
 was strict, even to, at times, excessive severity. But the 
 boys got on ; and where he discovered ability in any youth 
 he endeavoured to secure him for the services of the 
 Established Church. Hence his school was a minor col- 
 lege, and resembled in some respects the St. Bees and St 
 Aidans of the present day. For I have been furnished with 
 a list of no less than twenty clergymen who were contem- 
 porary ministers in the Church of England, some of whom 
 are alive at the present time, and who received no college 
 education other than that which they obtained here : 
 
 Rev. J. Fawcett, Mallerstang. Rev. John Hill, Rector of Scaleby. 
 Rev. S. Hutchinson, Soulby. Rev. R. Chamberlain, Congrega- 
 Rev. Henry Guy,Asby. tionalist Minister. 
 Rev. James Hunter. Rev. Dean Daws, Dean of Here- 
 Rev. Henry Robinson, Martindale. ford.
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 8 1 
 
 Rev. R. Robinson, Mallerstang. Rev. S. Daws, Long Sutton, Hoi- 
 Rev. G. Morland, Lancaster. beach. 
 
 Rev. J. Morland, Afton. Rev. George Daws, Ash Vicarage, 
 
 Rev. J. Beck, Temple Sowerby. Martock. 
 
 Rev. R. Wilson, Richmond. Rev. Thomas Dent, Clitheroe. 
 
 Rev. W. Gibson, Dubbs, York- Rev. Thomas Guy. 
 
 shire. Rev. H. Fothergill, Dr. Robinson's 
 
 Rev. Jeffery Hebden. Curate. 
 
 After reading down this list we are not surprised to learn 
 that the Bishop of Carlisle (Bishop Law) should say to the 
 Rev. R. Robinson (son of Dr. Robinson), " Your father, by 
 his college school, kept a light for the Church of England in 
 your part of the county of Westmorland, which but for him 
 would have been in a dark and destitute condition." 
 
 Now we come to the other place of worship at that time 
 in the dale " The Presbyterian Dissenters." The following 
 is a list of the ministers : 
 
 About 1735. Mr. Ritchie. 
 
 1770. Mr. William Scott, who removed to near Jedburgh. 
 
 1774. Mr. Tetley. 
 
 1775. Mr. James Somerville. 
 
 Concerning Mr. Somerville's removal the following entry 
 occurs in the church book : 
 
 " Mr. Somerville, having accepted of the call to Branton, finished his 
 ministry in this congregation on the 2 1st March. . . . Both minister 
 and people were deeply affected with sorrow at the thoughts of parting, 
 and they did part in the most cordial and affectionate manner as dear 
 Christian friends." 
 
 " 1 790. August. In this month the Rev. John Hill, minister in the 
 chapel belonging to the Hon. Lady Maxwell, Carlisle, was on a journey. 
 He paid us an unexpected visit, when he preached on a Lord's Day, 
 morning and afternoon." 
 
 After labouring amongst the people for some weeks, Mr. 
 
 Hill received a unanimous call, which was signed by 34 
 
 persons, whose names are given in the church book. Mr. 
 
 Hill's ministry here was highly prosperous. During his time 
 
 F
 
 82 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 a cottage, which stood against the road, in front of the 
 chapel, was bought and taken down, and the ground on 
 which it stood added to the burial-ground. The entrance 
 to the chapel before this time was across from a yard near 
 the north side. The house which is on the south side of 
 the chapel was also built during his ministry. This was in 
 the year 1802. The document in my possession states 
 
 "That being desirous of promoting the religious education of the 
 rising generation, and having the opportunity of purchasing a small piece 
 of land, we intend enlarging our burial-ground, likewise to build a vestry 
 room for the accommodation of the young people and children who 
 attend the Sunday school for religious education. With a view to accom- 
 plish this our design we thereunto set our names and the sum we are 
 willing to subscribe for the above purpose." 
 
 The cost of the removal of the cottage, and the enlarge- 
 ment of the burial-ground, and the building up of the house 
 at the south end of the chapel, seems to have been about 
 ^250, and was defrayed by voluntary contributions. The 
 most munificent gift I find entered with the following par- 
 ticulars : "On the ist June, 1816, a donation of ;ioo 
 was received from Mr. Robert Bousfield, No. 8, Borough, 
 London (formerly of this parish), for defraying expenses of 
 building house at the south end of the chapel for the 
 Sunday school." 
 
 Mr. Hill was contemporary with Dr. Robinson, and was 
 in his way quite as remarkable ; and it would appear that 
 their relations were not merely cordial, but intimate. Dr. 
 Robinson lived a part of the time in the house at present 
 occupied by Mr. Richard Moor, whilst Mr. Hill resided in 
 the farmhouse belonging to the chapel farm. They were 
 therefore neighbours. Both of them were smokers. Mr. 
 Hill's granddaughter, the late Mrs. Alderson, told me not 
 long before her death that each of the reverend gen-
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 83 
 
 tlemen smoked long clay pipes, and that one of their 
 favourite topics was the reading and non-reading of ser- 
 mons. Mr. Hill advised Dr. Robinson to dispense with 
 the manuscript in the pulpit. Dr. Robinson was inclined 
 to do so, but thought it not possible. Mr. Hill was a 
 devout man, and remarkable answers to his prayers have 
 been handed down. He died in the year 1809. The 
 following is the entry in the church book : 
 
 " The Revd. John Hill, for nearly 20 years pastor of the Protestant 
 Dissenting Church, Ravenstonedale, Westmorland, departed this life 
 Novr. 26th, 1809." 
 
 This is followed by an eulogium, in which, among other 
 things, it is stated "that in the year 1793 Mr. Hill formed 
 a Sunday school, which he attended himself in the intervals 
 of the services of the sanctuary." On the day of his burial 
 Mr. Hilman, of Keld, introduced the service by singing; 
 Mr. McLean, of Kendal, prayed before the sermon ; Mr. 
 Kelso, of Dent, preached ; Mr. Scott, of Park Head, prayed 
 after the sermon ; and Mr. Norris, of Aldstone Moor, spoke 
 at the grave. 
 
 After this Mr. Muscatt, of Darlington, was invited to 
 come and preach for six months, which he did, and this 
 resulted in a call, which he consented to accept "on 
 condition that the church be reorganised, and put upon the 
 Independent or Congregational Plan." This was agreed to, 
 and Mr. Muscatt was ordained on June I2th, 1811. Mr. 
 Muscatt produced an era in the history of the church. He, 
 or more strictly speaking the church under his influence, 
 changed from Presbyterianism to Congregationalism a 
 form of church polity which it has adhered to ever since. 
 
 In the year 1813 "Messrs. Richardson and Milner, two 
 worthy young men of the congregation," having heard the
 
 84 KAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 minister often complain of the late and irregular attendance, 
 collected money for a bell, which was erected. 
 The next minister was 
 
 1815 Mr. Bonner. 
 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 1836 Mr. Hasell. 
 
 1837 Mr. Sedgwick. 
 
 1844 Mr. Bryan. 
 
 1846 Mr. Matheson. 
 
 1854 Supplies. 
 
 1857 Mr. Barton. 
 
 1859 Mr. Howard. 
 
 1863 Mr. Barnfather. 
 
 1868 Mr. Pool. 
 
 1869 Mr. Nicholls. 
 
 1856 Mr. Moses. 
 
 The power of the appointment of a minister, uhen the 
 pulpit becomes vacant, is vested, according to the trust 
 deed, in the hands of the trustees, " who have first of all 
 signed the call to be given to the minister, together with 
 the church and contributing part of the congregation." 
 The doctrine to be taught, as set forth in the same docu- 
 ment, "should agree with the Catechism and Confession 
 of Faith set forth by the Assembly of Divines at West 
 minster." 
 
 I should mention that Mr. Ralph Milner, of Ash Fell, 
 in the year 1731, built the gallery, which used to have a 
 brass plate upon it, stating the fact. Nine years ago the 
 chapel was re-pewed, and floored with boards, and the 
 windows altered, and this largely through the interest and 
 energy of my predecessor, the Rev. R. Pool. 
 
 The community at the " High Meeting," as it has been 
 called of late, has passed through various vicissitudes, but 
 it has ever been faithful to the principles of evangelical 
 religion. And you will forgive me if I say of a community 
 so near my heart, in the language of Holy Writ, " Peace be 
 within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my 
 brethren and companions' sakes I will now say, Peace be
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 85 
 
 within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I 
 will seek thy good." 
 
 The Friends possess an ancient meeting-house in this 
 parish. There is no date upon it, but Mr. Thomas 
 Handley, of Narthwaite, informed me that it was pro- 
 bably erected in the year 1670, as there is a similar 
 meeting-house at Sedbergh which bears that date. If so, 
 it was built eight years after the Presbyterian meeting- 
 house, and as early as twenty years after the rise of the 
 Friends' Society. It is now, as you are aware, closed ; 
 neither has it been used regularly as a place of worship 
 within the memory of the oldest inhabitants. The permanent 
 meeting is held in a barn on the estate of Mr. Handley. 
 Formerly the attendance on the Sunday was from fourteen to 
 twenty ; now it is from six to twelve. There are occasional 
 burials in the old chapel-yard, and the simple memorials of 
 the ashes of the stern Nonconformists of the Quaker type 
 give an air of solemnity to the simple building and its sur- 
 roundings to this day. 
 
 The Primitive Methodist Chapel is comparatively modern, 
 
 and bears date 1837. The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel bears 
 
 date 1839. The Fel1 End Chapel, 1861. Into the history 
 
 of these I need not enter, as they are within the recollection 
 
 of the older men amongst you from their very beginning. 
 
 Beside our endowed day school, we have two others. 
 That at Newbiggen is a modern building, and was built by 
 voluntary contributions. The present master is Mr. A. 
 Faulkner, who is esteemed amongst us as a painstaking and 
 competent man. Fell End School has been recently rebuilt ; 
 it is on the provisions of the old deeds, having none of its 
 own. It is pledged to no creed, but is for a day school for 
 Fell End for ever. The present master, Mr. Sleightholme
 
 86 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 gives, I understand, satisfaction to the parents of the children 
 at Fell End. 
 
 Next I call your attention to the ancient market. We must 
 bear in mind that when it was held the population was greater 
 than it is now. There were houses in the back lane which 
 have since been demolished, and the main thoroughfare was 
 often called Front Street. The market was held on Thursday, 
 at the bottom of the town, for the sale of meal, flour, beef, 
 potatoes, apples, and occasionally pigs, which had been 
 brought from places at a little distance. And what is, 
 perhaps, worth recording, the boys on that day left school at 
 three o'clock in the afternoon. There were four public- 
 houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the market. The 
 Black Swan, at present conducted by Mr. Brunskill ; the 
 Pack Horse, no longer a public-house, at present occu- 
 pied by Mr. John Brown ; and the houses, now private 
 houses, occupied by Mr. John Birtle and Mrs. Shaw. But 
 as the population decreased and the facilities of intercourse 
 became greater, and shops sprang up, the market became 
 more and more unnecessary, and so passed away. Still it 
 was found that a market was needed for the inhabitants, not 
 to buy, but to sell butter, and this was established at New- 
 biggen, owing to its nearness to the railway station, and that, 
 as you know, exists as a flourishing institution to this day. 
 
 A fair was held on the first Thursday after Whitsuntide, 
 not on the green, as at present, but at the bottom of the 
 village ; neither was it called " Pot Fair," as it is now, but 
 it had the better name of "Town Fair." Blankets and 
 other such things were sold at it, though it was mostly 
 given up to pleasure. It dates from great antiquity, and 
 fell out of use in its ancient form about forty years ago. 
 
 At the period of which I am speaking there seems to
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 87 
 
 have been a great deal of quiet enjoyment amongst the 
 people. Their legal contentions were over, and there were 
 no poor, properly so called, in the parish, and life seems to 
 have been to them, on the whole, a very pleasant thing. 
 There are some jokes still extant, which are worth pre- 
 serving for their sharpness and wit, though I can only make 
 a selection. And here I would remark that the Raven- 
 stonedale wit is akin to Scotch wit, and yet it has a 
 character of its own. It is dry and condensed, very much is 
 said in a very few words, and the object of it must have felt 
 as if he had received a heavy blow. Here is a witticism of 
 that kind : John Beck, of Dubbs, asked his neighbour who 
 was at a supper given somewhere in the parish, and his 
 reply was : " There was I and Mr. Bowness (the clergy- 
 man), and a few of the heads of the parish." To which 
 John Beck replied : " If thou was one of t' heads, Lord 
 help t' tails." 
 
 Here is another, told by Robert Wilson, maternal grand- 
 father of Mr. Metcalfe, who walked to London. Whilst 
 walking down one of the main streets, one of the shop- 
 keepers, who was standing on his door-step, asked him 
 to buy, and his reply was : " Nay, but I'll swop tha, between 
 a bawk stee and a pair of creels." The effect of this reply 
 we are not told, but the Londoner must have stared. 
 
 Here is another : Mr. Rennison, of Coldbeck, went 
 away to London. After he had been there for some years, 
 on his return, he said to Richard Coates : " Well, Rissen- 
 dale town is in the very same place it was when I left." 
 To which Coates instantly replied : " Oh, aye ; we've been 
 so thrang this hay-time, we haven't had time to skift it." 
 
 Here is another: An old friend and companion of 
 Robert Brown had, after making his fortune in London,
 
 88 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 passed Robert Brown, who was sitting at the roadside, 
 breaking stones. He said to Brown : " What is the reason, 
 Robert, you have not got on?" "Why, I'll tell ye," was 
 the reply ; " my mouth was ower big." 
 
 Then it is interesting to recall the effect which the intro- 
 duction of the railway produced upon the imagination and 
 thought of our dale's folk. It is said that a small engine 
 had been puffing for two or three days before Betty Scaife's 
 house, known as Betty of the How, whereupon she 
 remarked in very compassionate tones : " Poor thing, they 
 don't feed it as they sood do." And the Rev. Mr. Holme 
 has furnished me with the following fact : Robert Noddle 
 and James Metcalfe went to Tebay to get some coals. 
 Now it so happened that Robert Noddle had never seen a 
 train. Accordingly James Metcalfe asked, on their arrival, 
 if the mail had passed. He was told it had not. Mr. 
 Metcalfe then said : " Robert, we will stand with our backs 
 to the wall, and stick our heels in the ground." Whilst they 
 were in that position, the train, without stopping, almost 
 instantaneously swept past Mr. Metcalfe, turning to Robert, 
 said : " Well, Robert, and what do you think of that ?" 
 To which he made the significant reply : " What do I think 
 on't ? Why, that it is neither man's wark, nor God's wark, 
 butt'divel's!" 
 
 And now I can give you a capital practical joke. Now 
 a practical joke, as a rule, is a very objectionable thing, 
 and especially to those on whom it is practised ; but of 
 the one I am about to tell you I think that its cleverness 
 will atone for the rest. I am informed that Thomas 
 Thompson and John Jacques, shoemakers in this parish, 
 were impressed with the fact that there was coal in this 
 dale, and thought that they had discovered traces of it in
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 89 
 
 Pinska Gill, and so they determined to dig into the earth in 
 search of it. This they could not afford to do all day long, 
 and so they worked at it overtime. When they had dug a 
 pit about the size of a small room, John Bousfield, of 
 Weasdale, while the shoemakers were at work at their trade, 
 dug deeper down and underneath, and inserted a large block 
 of his own coal. That evening, as one of them was digging, 
 he came down upon it. Their joy was unbounded. They 
 clapped their hands, they embraced each other, and they 
 threw up their work for that night ; and carrying the piece 
 of coal they had dug out to the Black Swan, told the men 
 therein assembled of their success. The fact soon spread, 
 and others were attracted in, and it was taken in sober 
 earnest by the people. Meanwhile the shoemakers chipped 
 pieces about the size of a hen's egg off the lump and burnt 
 it in the landlord's fire, and all pronounced it to be good. 
 The price was determined upon, and the happy sons of 
 Crispin received a great many orders for loads of coal. The 
 next day also, tradition says, they spent at the Black Swan ; 
 and when their lump had about gone in samples, and their 
 money was spent, they went to their mine in right good 
 earnest, when, after working for a day or two very deter- 
 minedly, they learnt that the coal discovery was all a hoax. 
 
 Here is an instance of sharpness on the part of 
 the landlord of the same aforesaid Black Swan. Willie 
 Dawson, as many of you know, had come into posses- 
 sion of two or three cows, and determined upon setting 
 up as a farmer in a small way. One of his cows he 
 wished to sell, and intimated to a cattle jobber at Kirkby 
 Stephen that if he would come over to Ravenstonedale he 
 might look at her. But Willie Dawson was not farmer 
 enough to know her value, and yet he had made an appoint-
 
 90 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 ment with the dealers to come the next day at say three 
 o'clock in the afternoon. He got out of his difficulty in the 
 following ingenious manner : Just before three o'clock he 
 went down to the shippon, and climbed up on the bawks, 
 where he could hear everything that was said below, and yet 
 could not be seen. He had left word that when the men 
 came they were to be sent down to look at the cow. 
 Accordingly soon after they entered. They examined the 
 animal carefully, and said one to another, " Well, she is 
 worth ^10 or ;n. We will try and get her for ;io, but 
 rather than lose her we will say \o los." They then 
 returned to the Black Swan. In two or three minutes 
 Willie Dawson came hurrying in. " Oh," he said, " you are 
 here before me. Now, come down and look at the cow." 
 They said, " We have seen her." " Oh, you have. Well, 
 and what do you think of her ? " " Why, what do you want 
 for her, Willie ?" "^12." " That is nonsense." And so 
 the bargaining went on. At length they came to ;io. 
 No, they would not give any more. Willie, who knew all 
 about it, was equally firm. They got on to their horses, and 
 looked as if they were injured men, that the host would not 
 take such a good and fair price for the cow. They waved 
 adieu, and departed. Shortly, one of them came back, and 
 said, " Ten shillings shall not part us. I'll have the cow." 
 I will now select a fact which goes to show the irksomeness 
 of billeting soldiers upon the publicans, which was very 
 common in those days ; and seeing that the landlord only 
 received a small sum for providing each man with bed and 
 breakfast it must have been a great loss. The following 
 fact is preserved of cleverness on the part of the land- 
 lord of the inn at Coldbeck in evading this claim : His 
 name was Joseph Breeks, and surely he must have been
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 91 
 
 sharp in looking after his own interest. One afternoon a 
 casual caller at the house told him that there was a company 
 of soldiers at Orton. Then, thought he, they are on their 
 way to Kirkby Stephen and Barnard Castle, and will most 
 likely take Ravenstonedale in their way. Instantly he shut 
 up his house, and went and sat beneath the tall hedge 
 which still grows on the other side of the road opposite the 
 inn, and from whence he could see and hear everything. 
 Shortly afterwards two officers came up ; they tried the door, 
 knocked, pounded, walked back a few steps, and looked up 
 at the windows. It was evident there was not a soul in the 
 house. Seeing a small and somewhat insignificant man seated 
 under the hedge, knitting very vigorously, they asked him if 
 he knew where the landlord was. To which he replied : " It 
 would take a cleverer fellow than I am to tell where he is," 
 and continued knitting. They went to the back of the house, 
 and examined the door there, but still no one was to be 
 seen. By this time the soldiers had come up. Again 
 turning to the man, who was still knitting in the true, 
 vigorous, Ravenstonedale fashion, they asked him if he 
 would go and look for the landlord, but they received the 
 same reply : " It would take a cleverer fellow than I am 
 to tell where he is." They then marched past the house, 
 and went to the Black Swan, where Willie Davvson, very 
 much to his disgust, was obliged to take them all in, 
 to the number of sixty. They slept in the large room, and 
 tradition says that when there the soldiers had a long 
 dispute as to who should sleep on the deal part of the floor, 
 and who on the oak ; the latter being much colder than the 
 former. 
 
 And now I will conclude this part of my lecture by telling 
 you a capital joke which was intended to be played off on
 
 92 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 the chairman's father, though Mr. Metcalfe was more than a 
 match for them. 
 
 Mr. Langhorn, the schoolmaster, and Mr. John Wilson, 
 from Scotland, though a native of this dale, agreed that they 
 would go down to Park House, and make Mr. M. a very 
 large offer for a good cow which he had. And, they reasoned, 
 he won't agree to it at once, and we will say no more about 
 it, but let the matter wholly drop after we have made a large 
 offer. Accordingly they went down and made a large offer 
 for the cow, and then proceeded at once to talk about other 
 things, and spent a very pleasant evening with Mr. Metcalfe, 
 who was, I suppose, a very genial man. They indulged in, 
 what you know I don't take, gin, and were very merry. On 
 leaving, one of them thought, " Well, it will be odd not to say 
 another word about the cow;" so in the fulness of his 
 happiness he said, whilst on the threshold, " You have said 
 nothing about the cow." Mr. Metcalfe quietly replied, 
 " You may have her." 
 
 I have had the following memorandum handed to me of a 
 marriage which took place in Ravenstonedale, in which there 
 was a great disparity of age between the parties united. It 
 is taken from a newspaper, and is as follows : 
 
 "July, 1 9th, 1796. Marriage. A few days ago, at Ravenstonedale, 
 by the Rev. Jeffrey Bowness, Mr. John Robinson, aged 84, to Miss Mary 
 Fawcett, aged 28. The parish bells were rung, all the music of the dale 
 assembled, and the whole village attended the celebration. [The people 
 said] : ' Hey, let us all go to the bridal' for there will be lilting there.' " 
 
 Also the following : 
 
 "A few days since was married, at Ravenstonedale, Mr John Robinson* 
 schoolmaster there, to Miss Shaw, of the same place, a polite and 
 agreeable young lady with a handsome fortune. Their ages together 
 make only thirty-two. Oct. II, 1766." 
 
 The next thing we have to notice is knitting. This dale
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 93 
 
 was as remarkable 60 or 70 years ago for its knitting as it is 
 now for its excellent butter. Lord Brougham, when he was 
 here on one occasion, noticed that many of the women 
 were knitting while he was speaking on political questions, 
 and remarked that this dale should be called Knitting Dale. 
 Knitting was taught to all the children in the schools. In 
 fact there were knitting schools, one of which was kept by 
 Dolly Coupland, in the Back Lane, who seems to have been 
 a character, and taught three generations of children, and 
 she thought she was as much entitled to credit for training 
 the subsequent clergymen as Dr. Robinson, because she 
 took them in the early stage. One of her favourite games 
 was to place the children in a circle, and the one placed in 
 the middle of the circle was considered out and had to try 
 and secure a place in the ring, and so went round with the 
 following formula : 
 
 " Ipsum Dipsum Day with me, 
 There dwelt a man in a famous tree, 
 His name was Ke-ka-kobler Catch'm." 
 
 Both boys and girls and men and women were accustomed 
 to knit; and I have been informed that Mr. Allen, of 
 Kendal, alone brought into this dale ^50 a fortnight as 
 the wages for knitting. In those days it was a very common 
 thing for people to "go forth," which meant for several 
 to go to the house of a neighbour, in a friendly manner, 
 and without the preparation or " fash " attendant upon a 
 party. Here is the graphic account which I received from 
 one of yourselves, Mr. James Knewstubb, of Stouphillgate. 
 He says : " Several went forth and sat in a semicircle around 
 the fire, and by firelight knitted. Often there was no sound 
 heard except the click of needles. The conversation on 
 these occasions was the ordinary gossip. Occasionally a
 
 94 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 ghost story was told." Here I may say that I think it likely 
 that sometimes a book was read, though Mr. Knewstubb 
 does not remember being present when there was a reading. 
 Professor Sedgwick, in a description which he gives of the 
 Dent knitters, informs us that one often read to the rest, 
 and meanwhile continued his knitting, and could turn over 
 the pages with very little interruption to his work, just as a 
 player on the piano can continue playing and yet turn over 
 the leaves of his music. Supper consisted of bread and 
 cheese and milk, placed upon the hearthstone. At this 
 time, and before it, there were open fire-places. The only 
 one left in the parish is at the house of Mr. William 
 Alderson, Fell End. 
 
 The superstitions seem to have been of the usual kind 
 the belief in ghosts and the power of witchcraft ; and in an 
 age when superstitions were so common it is not surprising 
 that they should prevail in a mountainous district like this, 
 where there is so much to stimulate the imagination. Since 
 living amongst you I have been struck with the impressive- 
 ness of our scenery, as seen in deep twilight. Sometimes in 
 walking one sees the summit of a mountain disclose itself 
 beyond one that is near, with a startling suddenness. The 
 sounds, too, have a weird effect upon the mind amid the 
 general stillness the cry of the pee-wit, or the roar of a 
 distant waterfall, or the soughing of the wind amongst the 
 pines. The varieties of atmosphere, too, magnify or distort 
 the appearance of objects with which we are more or less 
 familiar, and so give our fells, and our crags, aye, and even 
 a cow or a sheep, a spectral appearance. John Foster says, 
 in an article which he contributed to the Eclectic Review on 
 Highland superstitions : " When the scene of their training 
 to the belief and expectation of apparitions was a wild and
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 95 
 
 solemn region, with vast mountain solitudes, lofty or fan- 
 tastic summits, deep darkened glens, torrents and cataracts, 
 rocks, precipices, caverns and echoes, mists, meteors, and 
 storms and when some of the occupations, at some of the 
 seasons, involved considerable peril and when, besides, 
 each gloomy or dangerous locality by degrees acquired its 
 tradition of being the scene of some mysterious occurrence 
 the effect could hardly fail to be that their minds would be 
 kept in that imaginative state in which, while undefended 
 by knowledge, they would be subject to endless illusions." 
 
 Numerous as our ghost stories are, and fortified as some of 
 
 them are by evidence, I have not the smallest doubt that all 
 
 the supposed appearances could be accounted for according 
 
 to natural phenomena. To select two or three : Pinska Gill 
 
 is said to be haunted by Nanny Trotter, who murdered her 
 
 illegitimate child in that secluded gill, and, enrobed in 
 
 a grey cloak, is said to have made certain appearances 
 
 there. I can only say that, although I have passed that 
 
 way at all times and in all weathers, I have not yet 
 
 seen her. Here is another, which, perhaps, some of you 
 
 will recognise, and for the account of which I am indebted 
 
 to Mr. Harry Beck, Saridwath : An old man, whose name I 
 
 did not learn, was returning from Dubb's with a ha'porth of 
 
 milk in a pitcher. At Dubb's gate he met a boggle, who 
 
 with his stick knocked him down, split his clogs, and broke his 
 
 pitcher ! A neighbour went off to Dr. Farrar on horseback, 
 
 who returned with him, riding behind him on his horse. 
 
 Dr. Farrar said, as they were journeying, "There are 
 
 legions here, and before we can go on any farther we must 
 
 lay them," which he did. He then went to the man's house 
 
 at Rigg End, and laid the evil spirit under a large stone, 
 
 where it remained for a number of years indeed, until
 
 96 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 Robert Murthwaite required stone for building purposes, 
 and removed the stone aforesaid, thus suffering the boggle 
 to escape, which took up its residence in the surrounding 
 trees, the light of which may be seen until now. 
 
 I have not seen the light, though I believe there is a 
 peculiar phenomenon there produced by the light of the 
 setting sun. Then there are certain knockings in some of 
 your houses which you do not understand, and of which 
 you do not like to speak, but which I feel confident could 
 on careful investigation be explained according to natural 
 causes. 
 
 Then, I will select another on the supposed power of 
 witchcraft a belief which, I am happy to say, has passed 
 away from amongst us : Henry Hopes lived at the 
 " Clouds." He was peculiar in always being more or less 
 afraid of being bewitched ; and when he was in the company 
 of strangers pricked them with an awl until blood came, and 
 so prevented them, as he thought, from bewitching him. 
 He also put bits of red cloth around the horns of the cows 
 and sheep to prevent their being bewitched. On one 
 occasion a Mr. Cunningham and Thomas Hunter went to 
 see him. He was churning at the time, and fancying that 
 the process was not getting on as fast as it should he 
 thought his visitors had witched it. He declared this, and 
 his angry manner made them escape with such haste that 
 Mr. Cunningham lost his watch seals in scrambling over the 
 wall, and tradition says that they are there until this day. 
 Needfire has been employed here within the recollection 
 of the present generation. I should explain that it was 
 produced, in the first instance, by rubbing two pieces of 
 wood together. When the fire was kindled it was regarded 
 with superstitious reverence. It would have been con-
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 97 
 
 sidered sacrilegious to use it for common purposes. One of 
 the oldest inhabitants of Weasdale recollects its adoption in 
 that part of our parish. He says : "The murrain had not 
 come amongst our cattle. It was in our neighbourhood, and 
 we feared it, and employed needfire as a charm. It was 
 brought to us from Orton. With it we set fire to straw, 
 through the smoke of which the cattle were driven." In 
 olden time, I have read, it used to be the custom in West- 
 morland and Cumberland generally, previous to lighting 
 the needfire, to carefully extinguish all the fires in the 
 locality, a deputation being sent round to every house to see 
 that not a spark remained. 
 
 " The merry nights " was an institution which has now 
 passed away, and also the "thin drink nights." The former, 
 for the information of the young people present, I will endea- 
 vour to describe. To the merry night (merrie neet) party 
 relatives and friends were invited to tea, and after tea 
 dancing was engaged in, which was often kept up until a 
 late hour. It fell into disuse, owing to its affording tempta- 
 tion to drinking, and also the generally volatile and frivolous 
 spirit which it induced. 
 
 The thin drink night meant special gatherings which 
 were held, and the evening passed in one or the other of 
 the public-houses. 
 
 The old customs which remain, being not matter of 
 history or tradition, I need not refer to, though they are 
 vanishing away departure is written upon them. Even the 
 dialect, which is so deep-seated and clung to by the people 
 so tenaciously, has had rung out its death-knell. The 
 process of education is rapidly assimilating us to one 
 standard of uniformity. 
 
 It will interest you to know that the first shandry was
 
 98 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 introduced into Ravenstonedale by the Rev. John Hill 
 who sold it to Mr. Benjamin Hewetson, and it is still in the 
 peat house at " the Green." Also, Mr. B. Hewetson's sister 
 introduced the first umbrella into Ravenstonedale. Eighty 
 or ninety years ago almost everything was sold by measure, 
 and not weight, and Mr. A. Metcalfe has in his possession 
 the standard quart measure for the dale. (It was exhibited.) 
 The leading sheep of a flock used to have a bell suspended 
 from its neck, and that sheep was called the bell-wether. 
 Many specimens of these bells are still in your houses. The 
 lead mine in our dale has been worked by various companies 
 for a great many years. From forty to fifty years ago it 
 was worked very thoroughly by the London Lead Company. 
 Ten years ago, the Peases, of Darlington, began to work it, 
 and have continued it until recently, but it has never 
 paid. It may also interest you to know that the attention 
 of Sir Humphrey Davy was called to the ebbing and flowing 
 beck, at " Beck Stones," and this led Sir Humphrey Davy 
 to inquire into the ebbing and flowing wells throughout 
 the country. Also that the inventor of the electric telegraph 
 was of Ravenstonedale parentage on the mother's side. 
 This is the account given in the " Complete Peerage, &c., 
 for 1876:" "Sir William Fothergill Cook, son of the 
 late W. Cook, Esq., by Elizabeth Ann, daughter of J. 
 Fothergill, Esq., Ravenstonedale, Westmorland. Knighted 
 for great and special services in the introduction of the 
 first practical electric telegraph." 
 
 In olden times many members of the Fothergill family 
 rose to distinction in the outside world. George Fothergill, 
 of Tarn House, was clerk of the peace for the county of 
 Westmorland ; Thomas Fothergill was master of St. John's 
 College, Cambridge ; Dr. George Fothergill was principal
 
 RAVENSTONEDALE. 99 
 
 of Edmund Hall, Oxford ; and Dr. Thomas Fothergill, his 
 brother, became provost of the same college, and vice- 
 chancellor of the University. Mr. Anthony Fothergill, of 
 Brownber, without any assistance from a liberal education, 
 by the mere force of natural endowments, was the author of 
 several considerable tracts, religious and controversial, one 
 of which is extant to this day. Descendants of these 
 Fothergills are still living in the dale, though they do not 
 bear the old family name. 
 
 In more modern times, I may mention the names of the 
 prominent men, as Henry Hewetson, known as " Gold-lace 
 Harry," John Wilson, Robert Bousfield, Benjamin Hewetson 
 (from Crooks Beck), and John Hewetson. 
 
 I might mention the names of men who are still living, 
 but that would not, to say the least of it, be in good taste. 
 
 It is interesting to me to see, as I occasionally do, a lad 
 go out of the parish, with the bloom of health upon his 
 cheeks, and honesty and integrity, I can fearlessly say, in 
 his heart. For, whatever our sins may be, the Westmorland 
 people are honest And as I see such a youth driven by 
 his father in the shandry, with all his effects contained in a 
 box, or walking down to the railway station, with more slender 
 effects still, I think of the past I call to mind men who 
 were the grandfathers, or great grandfathers, of these boys, 
 who went forth in a similar way, and who took hold of things 
 by the right handle, and who by diligence and integrity rose 
 to positions of opulence and responsibility. This peculiarity 
 I have noticed, too, that the Ravenstonedale men, in common 
 with all people who are born and brought up in mountainous 
 countries the Swiss, the Tyrolese, and the Scotch preserve 
 a warm, indeed an enthusiastic love for the place of their 
 nativity ; in fact, I have found them more Ravenstonedale
 
 100 RAVENSTONEDALE. 
 
 than you are yourselves ; and if I want money for purposes 
 of education or Bands of Hope, or anything for the general 
 good of the parish, I have every confidence in writing to 
 the prosperous men who are natives of Ravenstonedale. 
 
 Some time since I received from one of them a contri- 
 bution, with the following words : "I am glad you are 
 getting on with your lecture, for Ravenstonedale, to my 
 mind, is the beauty of England." And although we may 
 have our own individual opinion with regard to the wisdom 
 of erecting such a splendid house as the late Mr. John 
 Hewetson built at Street, we must not forget that it was an 
 expression of his love for Ravenstonedale ; and it furnishes 
 a powerful proof to us that it was no idle sentiment on his 
 part when he said, " I love even the stones of this dale." 
 And this feeling extends to the children of our Ravenstone- 
 dale men, who are almost as enthusiastic as their fathers 
 were on their fathers' account. May this affection never 
 die out ! No, not even diminish ! And you, young men, 
 whether you go out into the wide world or stay at home, 
 remember you have a history of which you may well be 
 proud, and always act worthy of it. Remember, if you 
 would succeed, you too must possess those sterling 
 qualities of integrity and self-denial, and in most cases I 
 am bound to say godliness, which distinguished them.
 
 fll/l///////-, 
 
 ////// ' / / / 
 
 '//// ////// 
 
 /.' / It //./// 
 
 tiJ
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 'HE following Notes consist either of material for which 
 I could not find a place in the foregoing lectures, or 
 which I obtained after the lectures were delivered, 
 and as a result of further inquiry, and which, it 
 seemed to me, should be preserved in a permanent form. 
 
 NOTE A, p. 14. 
 
 The accompanying geological drawing, for which I am 
 indebted to C. Callaway, Esq., B.Sc., will show the reader 
 that there is a fault which runs through the bottom of the 
 valley. This has been caused by the falling down of the 
 strata. It is a part of the great Pennine fault which runs 
 down the valley of the Eden under the escarpment from 
 N.W. to S.E., bends round to the S.W. at Brough, passes 
 through Ravenstondale, and runs down to Ingleborough and 
 Settle, where it branches into the two Craven faults. The 
 form of the land is produced by sub-aerial denudation. The 
 valley has been excavated by river action, modified by the 
 fault, and by the subsequent action of glaciers, which have 
 helped to round the outlines. The order of the succession 
 of the strata on Wild-boar Fell is, beginning at the top : 
 Coal measures, millstone grit, Yoredale series, scar lime-
 
 104 APPENDIX. 
 
 stone. At Ash Fell, as shown in the drawing, the strata 
 are carboniferous (sandstone and limestone), and on the 
 western side of the fault the formation is lower Silurian 
 slates. 
 
 NOTE B, p. 15. 
 
 The mountain at the head of our dale bears the name of 
 Wild-boar Fell, and is, on the authority of the Ordnance 
 map, 2,323 feet high. The name is supposed to be 
 derived from the wild boars which used to abound there ; 
 and in confirmation of this there is a road just under the 
 summit called Dauphine Stye. From the top of this 
 mountain the helm wind occasionally descends, and is very 
 fierce and blasting so long as it lasts. 
 
 The other important mountain is Green Bell. The height 
 of it, according to the Ordnance map, is 2,047 f eet - The 
 name is supposed to be derived from the bell-like shape 
 which the mountain assumes when seen from a distance. 
 Near its summit, just under the saddle-like bend, is the 
 source of the River Lune, which consists of a small moss- 
 encircled pool of transparently clear water. It is an object 
 for picnic parties occasionally in the summer time. Owing 
 to the position of this mountain, a particularly good view 
 may be obtained on a clear day of the Cumbrian range on 
 the one side, and the Pennine range on the other. 
 
 The lowest elevation above the sea level in the parish is 
 Rawthey Bridge, which is 700 feet. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 Westmorland, it is well known, is rich in wild flowers, 
 and Ravenstonedale abundantly shares in this wealth. It 
 also produces varieties less generally distributed, such as the 
 grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris) and the mountain
 
 APPENDIX. 105 
 
 globe (Trollius ranunculacece). At the end of May and 
 beginning of June the pale purple bird's-eye primrose 
 ( Primula farinosa) is to be seen. It grows especially in 
 great abundance around Sunbiggen Tarn. The yellow 
 mountain pansy ( Viola lutea), called by the people " white 
 violet," attains a large size, and is of a very bright colour. 
 A variety of the meadow crane's-bill ( Geranium pratense), 
 with large white flowers veined with purple, is to be found 
 here. The orchids are well represented. Besides the more 
 common species, there are to be found the pyramidal orchis 
 (Orchis pyramydalis\ sweet-scented orchis (Gymnadenia 
 conopsia\ butterfly orchis (Habenaria bifolia), the tway-blade 
 (Listera ovata], and occasionally, in the parks, the bee orchis 
 (Ophrys apifera) and the fly orchis (Ophrys muscifera). 
 
 For a dissertation on the climate of this district I refer 
 the reader to a work recently published : Legends and 
 Historical Notes on Places in the East and West Wards, 
 Westmorland. By Dr. Gibson. 
 
 NOTE D, p. 13. 
 
 In my first lecture I refer to the traces there are in the 
 dale of ancient occupation and burial. Professor Rolleston 
 and others explored several barrows at Rasate two years 
 ago. The result of the investigation has been committed to 
 the press, but will not be ready in time for me. The 
 work is edited by the Rev. Canon Greenwell, and to it 
 I refer the reader for fuller particulars than those which 
 I have obtained and herewith subjoin : 
 
 i. There was found at Hard Rigg an urn composed of 
 clay paste, well fired, cylindrical in shape, about two feet 
 long and one foot in diameter, and which contained the
 
 106 APPENDIX. 
 
 bones of a female which had been burnt. A bracelet was 
 also found in the urn. 
 
 2. At Rassett Pike there was found about n or 12 feet 
 below the surface the skeleton of a very big man, who could 
 not have been less than 7 feet high. There was an upright 
 stone at his head 9 feet high and z\ feet broad. He was 
 supposed to be a man of considerable importance. The 
 direction of the grave was north and south. 
 
 3. At Sunbiggen, about 5 feet below the surface and two 
 feet into the rock, there was found the skeleton of a man 
 who had been buried with his knees against his chin, and 
 with a flint at his head. The direction here too was from 
 north to south. 
 
 4. There were also found at Sunbiggen, near the top of 
 the hill, the skeletons of two women in a grave, with stones 
 placed at the bottom, and at the sides, and over the top. 
 The direction of the cyst was north and south. 
 
 There were also human bones discovered, dispersed in 
 different directions, and intermingled with the bones of 
 cattle. 
 
 Flues were discovered two feet square, and some of them 
 seven or eight feet long. In these bodies were burnt, and 
 so fierce had been the fire that some of the stones had been 
 changed into lime. A bone here and there was found, and 
 one or two teeth. 
 
 It is not surprising that this district should have been a 
 wee bit eerie in the past, and that boggles were supposed to 
 abound there. On one occasion it is said that Richard 
 Bousfield, who was a strong-minded man, and disbelieved 
 in the existence of ghosts, was one dark night riding horse- 
 back from Blasterfield to Ravenstonedale village. Whilst 
 in the Sunbiggen district a man on horseback, it is alleged,
 
 APPENDIX. 107 
 
 mysteriously appeared at his side, whom he could not pre- 
 cede, or follow, or leave in any way until he came within 
 sight of the village. 
 Such is the tradition. 
 
 NOTE E, p. 15. 
 
 In the first lecture I refer to the ancient roads which 
 were, in the first instance, made for, and used by, pack- 
 horses. The most important coach road of modern times 
 was that between Cautley Head and Kirkby Lane Head. 
 It formed part of the main highway between Lancaster and 
 Brough, one mail coach passing each way daily through the 
 parish. This was convenient to the dale's folk who wished 
 to go abroad for a season. An anecdote is told of one very 
 striking occurrence which took place on that road. 
 
 Just before entering our parish the horses ran away with 
 the mail coach. It was in the winter time, very early in the 
 morning, hence quite dark, and the snow was lying very 
 deep upon the ground. The following is the account of it, 
 kindly forwarded to me by J. Dover, Esq., of Sedbergh, 
 who was one of the passengers at the time. He says : 
 
 " It is about forty years ago since the writer commenced a journey to 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne from the Bull Inn, Sedbergh, about one o'clock 
 one severe frosty morning in midwinter, per the old Exmouth coach. 
 The passengers consisted of myself and a lady and gentleman inside ; 
 Willy Taylor and Tom Heavyside, the driver, outside. We travelled 
 at a good speed up to Dicky Metcalfe's, the Cross Keys, Cautley, a 
 distance of about five miles ; and being a very cold morning, Willy the 
 Butcher and the driver went into the inn to have a taste of Dicky's gin, 
 but left no one in charge of the horses. Consequently they got tired with 
 waiting, and started full trot towards Kirkby Stephen. Metcalfe hearing 
 the horses, started off and ran a considerable distance after the coach, 
 clothed only in nightshirt and slippers ; but the speed of the horses 
 being so great he had to give it up. During this time I was looking 
 out of the coach windows, but never mentioned what had happened
 
 108 APPENDIX. 
 
 to either the lady or gentleman. This part of the road was narrow and 
 very dangerous, being entirely unprotected from a deep rocky river, so 
 that I decided to leave the inside and hold on behind until we reached 
 the next steep hill, called Rawthey Brow, which was about a mile 
 further on the road ; but in alighting from the step I fell upon a sheet 
 of ice, and this prevented me from again reaching the coach, or of 
 informing the occupants of what had occurred ; b'ut in their case 
 ignorance was certainly bliss in crossing the moors on that dreary 
 morning. Still I kept on running until I reached the inn at Cross 
 Bank, kept by Mr. Shaw, where I engaged a horse, and without saddle 
 followed after, expecting at the bottom of each steep hill to find the 
 coach upset ; but to my great astonishment I found it standing in front 
 of the King's Arms, Kirkby Stephen, its usual place, and the lady and 
 gentleman in great perplexity sitting in the inn, wondering what had 
 become of the driver and the person who had so abruptly left his seat 
 in the coach without speaking a word, and concluded I must have been 
 either drunk or insane, or had robbed them. But when they found 
 their money and watches all right they could not conjecture how they 
 had lost the coachman, nor what had caused me to decamp, until I had 
 revealed to them the mystery, and told of the many dangers they had 
 escaped in their journey of ten miles without any driver, while at the 
 same time the reins were dragging about the horses' legs. In con- 
 sequence of the heavy drifts of snow which occurred in several parts of 
 our journey the horses had to be driven to the very edge of the road. 
 We waited some time in Kirkby Stephen, expecting the driver ; but as 
 he never made his appearance, I was compelled to mount the coach box 
 and drove through Brough to Spittle, a distance of ten miles, at which 
 place we obtained another driver. Before again proceeding on our 
 journey I did not omit the usual practice of opening the coach door 
 and, in joke of course, tipping my hat to the lady and gentleman, who, 
 instead of bestowing the usual gift, very politely acknowledged their 
 appreciation of my exertions on their behalf." 
 
 NOTE F, p. 51. 
 
 In the second lecture I have said, " The only question 
 at present awaiting settlement is the taking in of the commons, 
 and that in due time, which means a reasonably short time, 
 will come" Here I would add that the heaf was formerly 
 recognised by the local law, and in an unstinted common
 
 APPENDIX. 109 
 
 such a provision was necessary. But the law is now obsolete, 
 and the common is unlimited, and in deciding a case of 
 dispute the magistrate or the county court judge sets aside 
 any prescriptive right ; consequently the present state of 
 things is unsatisfactory. And whilst it is quite impossible to 
 go back to the legal right of the heaf, it is the opinion of 
 most of the intelligent men in our district that the pasturing 
 of sheep, and cattle, and horses on an unstinted common 
 must necessarily be the source of much quarrelling amongst 
 the shepherds ; whilst small farmers, who cannot afford to 
 spare the time to be much on the fells with their sheep, are 
 defrauded of any benefit in the common at all. The only 
 satisfactory settlement of the matter, in such cases, is the 
 enclosure of the common. 
 
 NOTE G, p. 71. 
 
 In the second lecture I have also said, " In looking over the 
 old writings one cannot but be struck with the evidence of tran- 
 sition? &c. As the transition was going on it was difficult, 
 and in some respects painful, for the people to realise it ; and 
 in no particular perhaps to the same extent as in their giving 
 up their claim to their peat. This they regarded as their 
 own as much as their enclosed land, and when anybody and 
 everybody came and dug peats out of their peat-bog, of 
 which they had been so economically careful, it seemed to 
 them that they were being robbed. 
 
 Mr. Penrith, of Crosby Garrett, who lived many years in 
 Ravenstonedale, told me that on one occasion A. had gone 
 to what had been considered the peat-bog of B., and had dug 
 his peats, B. meanwhile watching him. On the evening of 
 the same day both these men met at a cottage prayer meeting. 
 The one who had dug the peats was the first to pray, and he
 
 HO APPENDIX. 
 
 was followed by the one whose peats had been dug, and who 
 had hard thoughts towards his brother for digging them, 
 though they legally i.e., according to broad English law 
 belonged to the Ravenstonedale public. Accordingly in 
 prayer he determined to open the matter out, and in a 
 powerful way appeal to his neighbour's conscience. He 
 began by saying, " O Lord, Thou art everywhere. In the 
 house, in the field, on the common. Thou canst see a man 
 who walks out on the fell with a peat-spade over his shoulder. 
 Thou canst see him go to his neighbour's bog, and dig out 
 his neighbour's peats, and bear them away." 
 
 Not unfrequently, I understand, the previous owner of the 
 bog resisted the unwelcome visitors. The following fact is 
 told : Mr. Edward Metcalfe, who had newly come into the 
 parish, had been ordered by his landlord, the Rev. Arthur 
 Gibson, to look after his peat-moss rights. Soon after this 
 he saw John Law, whom he did not know, trespassing, as he 
 deemed it, and asked him for his name, to which he made 
 reply, " My name is Law." The farmer thinking that Law 
 was an assumed name, and an intimation of how he would 
 act if he were disturbed, withdrew. 
 
 The following is a contribution from the pen of Mr. 
 Metcalfe, of Park House, showing the change which has 
 taken place in the stock, &c., of the parish. He says : 
 
 "A hundred years ago this parish was famed for its longhorned 
 cattle, and many ardent admirers of this ancient tribe stuck to it long 
 after the introduction of the present shorthorns. Several of the old 
 inhabitants, up to within the last thirty years, kept these cattle with 
 their fine long horns, but the shorthorns kept gradually taking their 
 places, and now they are in every hamlet and upon every farm in the 
 parish. The shorthorns are much earlier in coming to maturity, either 
 for the butcher or the breeder, and I may safely say the parish is now 
 as equally celebrated for its shorthorns as it was in former times for its 
 longhorns. There is an old saying, that ' Neither a good wife nor a good 
 cow is allowed to go out of the parish.'
 
 APPENDIX. Ill 
 
 "This parish consisting as it does of about 1 6,000 acres (6,000 en- 
 closed, and 10,000 unenclosed), it may readily be assumed that mountain 
 sheep form a great item in the grazing department. Thousands of sheep 
 are kept, principally black-faced, Herdwick's, and half-bred. 
 
 " Great changes have taken place in the prices of beef, mutton, and 
 butter during the last fifty years. Within that period legs of mutton 
 were sold at 4d. and 4|d. per pound, and beef was also sold at the same 
 price. Butter has increased in value in a still greater ratio than meat. 
 At the time mentioned, butter was selling at about 6d. per pound ; now it 
 is at least is. per pound above that price. This has in a great measure 
 been brought about by the ready access to the manufacturing towns. It 
 was then the usual practice throughout the parish to have legs of mutton 
 and legs of beef hung up in the kitchen for winter ; now we seldom see 
 anything of the kind. All this has been changed since winter feeding 
 came into fashion. 
 
 " The value of land, also, has nearly doubled since the time referred 
 to indeed rents have quite doubled and the wages of servants and 
 labourers have increased in a still greater proportion. At that time 
 servant men were getting about ^10 a year, and servant girls about ^"5, 
 with board and lodging. Men have now on an average .30, and girls 
 20 a year. Labourers, who were then glad to work for is. 6d. a day 
 and to find their own rations, have now daily wages ranging from 
 33. 6d. to 45. 6d. Women formerly had is. per day, with rations, for 
 hay-making ; now they can obtain 2s. 6d. 
 
 " Previous to the introduction of mowing machines, at least 200 men 
 were hired into the parish as hay-makers ; but since these machines came 
 into use the number of men employed has been greatly reduced, indeed 
 quite a revolution has taken place in hay-making, and, as the farmers 
 say, nothing but fine weather is now wanted. 
 
 " A couple of generations ago the hills surrounding this valley were 
 well stocked with grouse, but the heather is gradually dying, and it is 
 thought that in the course of a few years this species of game will have 
 become quite extinct. Formerly grouse-killing was effected in a manner 
 very different to that which is employed at the present day, with its 
 breechloaders and central fires. At that time the usual plan was to net 
 the birds. This was done by having large nets, which were drawn right 
 over the dogs when they were at 'point,' and in this way very frequently 
 a whole covey was captured at once. 
 
 " When guns first came into use they were of great length in the 
 barrel, so much so that the sportsman had to carry a staff with a forked 
 top, which was pushed into the ground to rest the gun upon when game
 
 112 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 were seen sitting. The first person in this parish who shot game flying 
 was Thomas Fothergill, of Brownber. This would be about 200 years 
 ago." 
 
 As another evidence of transition, in a manuscript book, 
 in the possession of Mr. Robinson, there is a copy of the 
 conveyance of the farms and tenements of Ravenstonedale 
 by King Henry VIII., in the 32nd year of his reign first 
 of all to the Archbishop of York, and six years subsequently, 
 after the death of the Archbishop, to Sir Thomas Lord 
 Wharton. The preamble is followed by a list of the land- 
 holders of the dale three hundred and thirty-six years ago, 
 and the number of acres they possessed. 
 
 It is the earliest list of the kind we have, and so may be 
 regarded very much as our Doomsday Book. The date is 
 
 The Advowson, Presentation, Disposal, and Right of *h-e Vicarage of the 
 Parish Church of Ravenstonedale. 
 
 Edward Mylner 36 acres 
 
 JohnTodde 15 
 
 Robert Shaw 20 
 
 Geo. Fawcett 8 
 
 Wm. Fawcett 7 
 
 Cuthbert Hunter 13 
 
 Miles Futhergill 6 
 
 Hugh Shaw 6 
 
 Roger Shaw 10 
 
 Edmund Shaw 10 
 
 Lancelot Shaw 6 
 
 Margaret Shaw 6 
 
 Robert Futhergill 18 
 
 Jenkyn Futhergill 7 
 
 James Paycocke 3 
 
 Rowland Paycock cottage, 
 
 &c. 
 Christopher Wharton ... 8 acres 
 
 Thomas Grene 4 }) 
 
 Leonard Grene 4 
 
 Miles Garth way te 8 acres 
 
 Wm. Peycocke 7 
 
 Thomas Sawer cottage 
 
 Henry Handley 5 acres 
 
 Reynold Fawcett 8 
 
 Hugh Handley cottage 
 
 John Grene 3 acres 
 
 George Grene 4 
 
 C h ristopher Grene 3 
 
 Rowland Dent 4 
 
 James Dent 5 
 
 Christopher Wharton ... 7 
 
 Richurd Halle 7 
 
 Robert Halle 7 
 
 Richard Nelson 5 
 
 Rowland Dent 8 
 
 Geoffry Hablethwaite ... 7 
 
 Stephen Fawcett 2 
 
 Gilbert Fawcett 6 
 
 Geoffry Fawcett 8
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Robert Fawcett 3 acres 
 
 Widow of Christ. Fa wcett 6 
 
 Jenkyn Fawcett 6 
 
 Edwa,rd Fawcett 1 1 
 
 John Hablethwaite 7 
 
 Wm. Hablethwaite 3 
 
 Reynold Goldin'gton ... 6 
 
 Wm. Alatson n 
 
 James Fawcett cottage 
 
 Thomas Goldyngton ... 
 
 Chris. Goldyngton 
 
 John Person 2 acres 
 
 Reynold Adamthwaite 4 
 Robert Adamthwaite ... 9 
 
 Martin Futhergill cottage 
 
 Miles Futhergill 6 acres 
 
 Richard Adamthayte ... 6 
 Widow of Ed.j Adam- 
 thayte cottage 
 
 Widow of Robert Adam- 
 thayte 8 acres 
 
 George Futhergill 4 
 
 John Futhergill 4 
 
 Widow of Reynold 
 
 Futhergill 4 
 
 Nicholas Futhergill 3 
 
 James Futhergill 12 
 
 Gilbert Blerthorne 6 
 
 Widow of Thomas 
 
 Swynebank 7 
 
 Cuthbert Swynebank ... 7 
 
 John Perkyn 8 
 
 Richard Coke 4 
 
 Giles Coke 4 
 
 Reynold Sy wnebanke . . . 10 
 
 Robert Todde 4 
 
 Gilbert Perkin 4 
 
 James Fawcett cottage 
 
 Thomas Heblethwaite... 5 acres 
 
 Rowland Perkin 7 ,, 
 
 Anthony Grene cottage 
 
 Lancelot Bayliff 5 acres 
 
 H 
 
 Cuthbert Swynebank 
 
 (clerk) cottage 
 
 Thomas Pynder 
 
 Geoffry Futhergill 6 acres 
 
 Widow of Rowld. 
 
 Futhergill cottage 
 
 John Nicholson 7 acres 
 
 William Shaw 8 
 
 John Paycocke (clerk).. 4 
 
 William Bayliff cottage 
 
 Richard Fawcett 8 acres 
 
 Simon Taylor cottage 
 
 Widow of Giles Fawcet t 
 Rowland Wilson... ..... 6 acres 
 
 Wm. Heblethwaite cottage 
 
 Cuthbert Swynebank 
 
 (clerk) 
 
 JohnTodd 
 
 Lancelot Grene 14 acres 
 
 Abraham Taylor 8 
 
 Rowland Taylor 20 
 
 Roger Grene 4 
 
 Richard Grene cottage 
 
 Thomas Fawcett 
 
 Chris. Wharton 8 acres 
 
 John Wharton 8 
 
 John Halle 6 
 
 Stephen Bousfell 10 
 
 James Bell 9 
 
 Reynold Bousfell cottage 
 
 John Hanley 
 
 Chris. Todde 6 acres 
 
 Lancelot Pynder 4 
 
 Cuthbert Godyngton ... 5 
 
 Matthew Dent 6 
 
 George Dent 4 
 
 Wm. Dent 7 
 
 John Bousfell 3 
 
 Henry Bousfell 3 
 
 Chris. Bell 9 
 
 Geoffrey Dent 5 
 
 George Dent 4
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Rowland Bell 
 
 9 acres 
 7 
 " 
 
 5 
 8 
 4 
 4 
 cottage 
 5 acres 
 cottage 
 
 8 acres 
 
 15 ,, 
 cottage 
 
 
 4 acres 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 8 
 cottage 
 
 >j 
 5 acres 
 cottage 
 6 acres 
 6 
 3 
 7 
 7 
 cottage 
 3 acres 
 3 
 15 
 10 
 5 
 5 
 10 
 16 
 6 
 9 
 
 .5 . 
 
 Oswald Futhergill 
 John Perkyn 
 
 6 acres 
 13 
 9 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 cottage 
 
 
 3 acres 
 
 12 
 
 cottage 
 
 10 acres 
 9 
 9 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 cottage 
 ii 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 n 
 
 n 
 i) 
 
 S'e I- 1 
 
 jjrg| 
 
 > ^S." 
 a I n 
 rr f 3 
 
 W 
 
 8 acres 
 
 ?.l 
 
 i'l 
 
 n- ft 
 
 3 & 
 
 Sg3 
 
 O 3 W 
 
 n 
 
 ?o acres 
 
 Wm. Peyres 
 
 Richard Bonselde 
 Johe Pynder 
 
 Alice Rudde 
 
 John Blankerne 
 
 Leonard Peyres 
 
 John Taylor , 
 
 Ro^er Shaw 
 
 William Petley 
 
 Adam Shaw 
 
 Edward Robynson 
 Richard Granger ., 
 
 Widow of Edw. Fawcett 
 Cuthbert Fawcett 
 Margaret Fawcett 
 Widow of Vincent 
 Taylor 
 
 Thomas Robertson 
 John Skayff 
 
 Widow of John White- 
 head 
 
 Richard Robinson 
 Wm. Myrthwaite 
 
 Thomas Whi tehead 
 Richard Perke 
 
 Rowland Myrthwaite ... 
 John Cautley 
 
 Robert Holme 
 
 Robert Thornbrughe ... 
 John Parke . . 
 
 Widow of John Cautley 
 Widow of John Lovell 
 Launcelot Myrthwaite... 
 
 Henry Holme 
 
 Widow of Thomas 
 Wharton 
 
 Richard Dent 
 
 Widow of Robert Parke 
 Alexander Wilson 
 William Ward 
 
 Wm. Robinson 
 
 
 Roger Corney 
 
 William Duckett, 
 
 Richard Walker 
 
 Widow of Cuthbert 
 Thorneboroughe 
 Rowland Fawcett 
 James Inman 
 
 Rowland Holme 
 
 Edward Pynder 
 
 
 Arthur Fawcett 
 
 Robert Thorneboroughe,^ 
 Richard Parke, 
 Robert Holme, and 1 
 Thomas Whitehead ; 
 Anthony Fawcett 
 
 Richard Cautley 
 
 Wm. Richardson 
 
 Widow of W. Robynson 
 Henry Bevell 
 
 William Chamberlayne 
 
 Thomas Chamberlayne 
 Robert Shaw . 
 
 Nicholas Clement 
 James Hablethwaite ... 
 Rowland Futhergill 
 Anthony Futhergill 
 Henry Futhergill.... 
 
 Geo. Peycocke 
 
 ' Richard Halle ...
 
 APPENDIX. 115 
 
 The above list is followed by various particulars of the 
 conveyance. And then come the words 
 
 " It agrees with the record, and was signed by me, 
 
 (Copy) " WM. ROOKE." 
 
 And this note also 
 
 " The above is a translation of a copy of the grant made by King 
 Henry ye 8th to Lord Wharton of the manor and lordship of Raven- 
 stonedale, the sd copy of which grant, writ in Latin, was attested by the 
 above Wm. Rooke to be true, and to agree with the record. It was 
 writ on nine sheets of stamp'd paper, and cost the parish of Ravenstone- 
 dale, for the copy and the stamps, 3 o6s. ood., as appears by the 
 receipt, signed July ye i8th, 1723. 
 
 " Translated by JOHN ROBINSON, Ashfell, 
 "Augt. 2nd, 1776." 
 
 " Lector, ignosce et parce erroribus. Reader, excuse and pass over 
 the errors." 
 
 All rights seem to have been included in this transfer, and 
 amongst others, of course, the right to the trees and under- 
 wood. This, however, the tenants bought of the lord of 
 the manor in the year 1592. We possess a copy of the 
 indenture of the purchase. ^80 were paid by the tenants 
 for the timber on condition that each paid a nominal sum 
 yearly, and that no one should convey or sell wood out of 
 the parish. 
 
 A comparison of the next list we have, and which I 
 subjoin, will interest the reader in showing him the change 
 which had taken place in the names and number of the 
 landholders during the intervening 192 years. It is taken 
 from the " Parish Book :" 
 
 " Ravenstonedale April ye 2Oth 1734 
 
 "The yearly vallue of all the Lands and Tenements within this 
 Manor as they were settled by us whose names are subscribed when we 
 Survay'd the whole Parish in order for laying the assessment for paying 
 for the Tythes with the names of the Tennants in whose possession the 
 said Lands and Tenements were at laying the said Sess :
 
 u6 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Francis Thompson ^ 
 
 
 19 
 
 o 
 
 John Atkinson 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 John Milner 
 
 3i 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 Hugh Shaw 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 
 Thomas Robinson 
 
 14 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 John Fawcett 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Robert Hunter 
 
 22 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 Robert Fothergill 
 
 17 
 
 8 
 
 o 
 
 Thomas Dent 
 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Richard Fothergill 
 
 2O 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 William Fothergill 
 
 31 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 James Richardson 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Ditto for Scandal Ing... 
 
 o 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 George Perkin 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 George Harrison 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 James Fothergill 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 John Chamberlain 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 o 
 
 Thomas Fawcet 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 o 
 
 George Fothergill 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 John Robertson 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 Hugh Shaw for Stenner- 
 
 
 
 
 skeugh 
 
 H 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 Robert Fothergill 
 
 36 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 Richard Hewetson 
 
 29 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 Anthony Shaw and Son 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Elizabeth Morland 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Williiam Howgill 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Richard Fothergill, Cross 
 
 
 
 
 Bank 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Anthony Perkin 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 Stephen Fothergill 
 
 IO 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Henry Fothergill 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 George Perkin, Junior... 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 George Perkin, Senior 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 George Morland 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 
 John Hewetson 
 
 45 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 William Shaw and wife 
 
 17 
 
 4 
 
 o 
 
 Elizabeth Beck 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 William Hewetson and 
 
 
 
 
 wife 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 o 
 
 Hugh Bayliff 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 John Blackburn ^3 
 
 Robert Fawcet.. o 
 
 John Perkin 7 
 
 John Bousfield 46 
 
 John Fawcet 26 
 
 Godfrey Milner and wife 15 
 
 William Bayliff 9 
 
 John Shaw 10 
 
 William Hewetson o 
 
 James Richardson 7 
 
 Anthony Fawcet I 
 
 John Milner, for Town I 
 
 Henry Barber 10 
 
 Richard Mitchel 3 
 
 John Beck 2 
 
 Thomas Green 2 
 
 James Robinson 9 
 
 George Whitehead o 
 
 Mary Robertson 2 
 
 Mrs. Lydia Atkinsofi ... 12 
 
 John Toulmin 12 
 
 Richard Howelton o 
 
 James Fothergill, for 
 
 Clouds 3 
 
 Mr. Gardiner, for Waller 
 
 field 4 
 
 John Rogerson n 
 
 Isabel Thornborough ... 4 
 
 Thomas Close 6 
 
 James Rogerson 6 
 
 Thomas Dent 12 
 
 John Robinson 8 
 
 Ditto, for Ann Robinson 8 
 James Dent, for Cold- 
 
 keld 12 
 
 Anthony Fawcet] 8 
 
 Stephen Dent 12 
 
 Robert Hall 8 
 
 John Fawcet II 
 
 William Fawcet 12 
 
 James Fawcet .... 24 
 
 4 o 
 
 8 o 
 
 6 o 
 
 8 o 
 
 8 o 
 
 9 o 
 4 
 8 o 
 8 o 
 4 o 
 4 o 
 4 o 
 o o 
 o o 
 o o 
 o o 
 
 12 O 
 
 8 o 
 
 o o 
 
 16 o 
 
 16 o 
 
 8 c 
 
 12 O 
 
 O O 
 
 4 
 
 4 o 
 
 o o 
 
 o o 
 
 16 o 
 
 o o 
 
 o o 
 
 16 o 
 
 o o 
 
 16 o 
 
 o o 
 
 o o 
 
 16 o 
 
 4 o
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 117 
 
 Thomas Fothergill 12 16 o 
 
 James Perkin 6 16 o 
 
 Mary Petty 640 
 
 James Dent and wife ... 16 8 o 
 
 Thomas Fothergill 22 8 o 
 
 Thomas Hastwell u 16 o 
 
 Thomas Fawcet 10 4 o 
 
 Stephen Fawcet ... o 8 o 
 
 William Hunter 5 16 o 
 
 Robert Hunter ... 14 8 o 
 
 James Bayliff 17 4 o 
 
 Anthony Fothergill 16 o o 
 
 Mr. Francis Bainbridge 300 
 Thomas Adamthwait ... I o o 
 William Adamth wait ... 8 16 o 
 
 William Cleminson 680 
 
 Joseph Chamberlain 600 
 
 Joseph Hanson 480 
 
 Joseph Hunter n 4 o 
 
 Isaac Handly 20 16 o 
 
 Thos. Thornborough... 4 16 o 
 
 Ralph Alderson 400 
 
 John Cock 340 
 
 John Howgill 6 16 o 
 
 George Cleasby 3 12 o 
 
 Thomas Shearman 6 8 o 
 
 John Fawcet and Wife... 940 
 
 John Udale 0160 
 
 Richard Green 10 8 o 
 
 John Atkinson 9 12 o 
 
 Thomas Green 3 4 o 
 
 James Fawcet 15 4 o 
 
 Robert Fawcet 480 
 
 John Spooner 26 16 o 
 
 Stephen Chamberlain... 15 12 o 
 
 James Alderson ... 13 4 o 
 
 John Cautly 10 4 o 
 
 James Perkin 12 o o 
 
 John Perkin 900 
 
 Michael Bovel 42 8 o 
 
 Stephen Fothergill 12 12 o 
 
 Henry Fothergill 080 
 
 George Fothergill 6 4 o 
 
 John Fothergill 600 
 
 Thomas Blackburn 6 12 o 
 
 John Blackburn 6 o o 
 
 Richard Breaks, junr 5 
 
 Richard Breaks, senr 080 
 
 Thomas Fawcet Smith... 140 
 
 Robert Breaks 2 12 o 
 
 John Breaks 0160 
 
 William Fawcet I o o 
 
 John Fawcett 080 
 
 William Wilson 080 
 
 Margaret Breaks 2 16 o 
 
 William Dixon 12 16 o 
 
 Thomas Gon 080 
 
 Anthony Finder 15 4 o 
 
 William Knewstub 12 1 6 o 
 
 Richard Murthwaite 912 o 
 
 Anthony Knewstub 22 8 o 
 
 Richard Brown 4 o o 
 
 Elizabeth Powley 5 4 o 
 
 Thomas Atkinson 6 o o 
 
 Roger Finder 12 16 o 
 
 Thomas Knewstub 6 o o 
 
 Anthony Fothergill 24 12 O 
 
 Ditto, for Newbiggen ... 5 12 o 
 
 John Fothergill 33 4 o 
 
 Thomas Fothergill 19 4 o 
 
 William Fothergill 4 8 o 
 
 William Whitehead and 
 
 Wife 24 o o 
 
 George Robinson 36 16 o 
 
 John Hastwell 13 8 o 
 
 Richard Law 3 16 o 
 
 Thomas Fawcett 780 
 
 Richard Eliotson 20 12 o 
 
 John Giles 12 12 o 
 
 Peter Giles 23 10 o 
 
 James Dent 8 12 o 
 
 John Dent 10 4 o 
 
 Richard Todd 10 o o 
 
 Isabel Todd 580
 
 n8 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Thomas Fothergill .^14 o o 
 
 Robert Fawcett 17 4 o 
 
 John Murthwaite 26 16 o 
 
 Richard Fothergill 6 16 o 
 
 Agnes Bovel 400 
 
 Stephen Dent and Wife... 12 12 o 
 Christopher Bousfield ... 6 8 o 
 Edmund Whitehead ... 5 12 o 
 
 Thomas Dent 5 12 o 
 
 John Beck 400 
 
 Simon Bousfield 5 16 o 
 
 Thomas Eliotson 14 16 o 
 
 John Eliotson 480 
 
 John Eubank 15 12 o 
 
 Ralph Bousfield 540 
 
 Christopher Bousfield... 380 
 
 John Bousfield 25 o o 
 
 Thomas Scarbrough 14 16 o 
 
 Ditto, for Newbiggen... 280 
 
 Thomas Shearman 6 8 o 
 
 John Whitehead 5 12 o 
 
 The number of names, 181 ; the total sum, .1,958 8s. od. 
 
 The said valuation made by us, 
 
 John Bousfield, John Spooner, 
 
 James Richardson, Thos. Blackburn, 
 
 Thos. Fothergill, Thos. Elliotson, 
 
 John Robinson, John Gyles. 
 
 The present list of land-holders (1877), resident and non- 
 resident, is as follows. It does not include the owners of 
 cottages : 
 James Barker, Cow Bank. 
 Robert Beck, Dubbs. 
 T. Clayton's Trustees, Lane. 
 R. Fothergill, Wath. 
 John Hewetson's Trustees, Raw 
 
 Foot. 
 
 A. Metcalfe, Park House. 
 Miss Scarbrough's Trustees. 
 M. Thompson's Trustees. 
 John Wilson, Weasdale. 
 Vicar of Ravens tonedale. 
 Mrs. Warden, Sedburgh. 
 R. Udall, Weasdale. 
 Thomas Hewetson, Lane. 
 William Alderson, Brigg. 
 Richard Shaw, Cold Keld. 
 
 John Fawcett, Murthwaite. 
 George Fawcett, Tarn. 
 Hast well's Trustees. 
 A. Hunter, Elm Pot. 
 
 R. Gibson, Coldbeck. 
 T. Handley, Back Side. 
 John Handley, Narthwaite. 
 John Handley, Narthwaite. 
 Thomas Handley, Narthwaite. 
 Miss Handley, Narthwaite. 
 Thomas Fothergill, Bents. 
 William King, Eller Hill. 
 J. Simpson, Sand Bed. 
 J. W. Sewart, Wandale. 
 R. Sedgwick, New House. 
 William Thompson, Needle House 
 Robert Thexton, Sprint Gill. 
 Rev. J, Boyd, Waller Field. 
 W. Potter's Trustees. 
 Miss Fawcett, Greenslack. 
 John Beck, Keld Head. 
 Henry Beck, Artlegarth. 
 Mrs. Burra, Lockholme Hall. 
 John Beck, Town.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 James Cleasby, Hill. 
 
 Thomas Dixon, Crooks Beck. 
 
 Eichard Fothergill, Greenside. 
 
 Rev. A. Gibson, Back Lane. 
 
 Hewetson, Street. 
 
 R. Hewetson, Ellergill. 
 
 The Misses Hewetson, Gars Hill. 
 
 Ben. Hewetson, Green. 
 
 Joseph Jackson, Black Swan. 
 
 The Earl of Lonsdale, Park Lands. 
 
 J. Moore, Tarn House. 
 
 John Robinson, Ash Fell. 
 
 J. S. Stowell, Lyth Side. 
 
 Miss Thompson, Kirkby Stephen. 
 
 Miss A. E. Thompson, Kirkby 
 
 Stephen. 
 Miss M. Thompson, Kirkby 
 
 Stephen. 
 R. Todd, Stennerskeugh. 
 
 W. Winn, Ash Fell. 
 
 W. H. Wakefield, Sedgwick. 
 
 Independent Chapel. 
 
 Rev. G. Atkinson, Coldbeck. 
 
 H. Beck, Sandwath. 
 
 W. Dixon, Causeway End. 
 
 T. Fothergill, Newbiggen. 
 
 John Fothergill, Brownber. 
 
 W. Milner, Greenside. 
 
 R. Peacock, Newbiggen. 
 
 Rev. W. Nicholls, Greenside. 
 
 J. Richardson, Brownber. 
 
 Mrs. Chamberlain, The Hole. 
 
 R. W. Hewetson, Claylands. 
 
 S. Milner, Newbiggen. 
 
 Thomas R. Fawcett, Hill. 
 
 John Fawcett, Artlegarth. 
 
 Robert Thompson, Lythe Side. 
 
 NOTE H, p. 46. 
 
 In my second lecture I have referred to the Nonconformist 
 meeting-house which was built in the year 1662 for the Rev. 
 Christopher Jackson, who was ejected from the Church of 
 England under the Act of Uniformity. 
 
 Considerable historical interest attaches to this building. 
 It is the oldest Nonconformist meeting-house in the county. 
 The date of the old meeting-house at Kendal, now in the 
 possession of the Unitarians, is 1687 ; and that at Stainton, 
 near Kendal, which was endowed by Lord Wharton, is 1693 ; 
 whilst our chapel dates from the year of the ejection, 1662. 
 In the year 1690, Lord Wharton gave a parcel of land in 
 our dale, known as " Waller-field," the rent of which was to 
 be paid to the minister of Low Row Presbyterian, now 
 Congregational Church, York, and continues to be paid up 
 to the present time. The Rev. J. G. Miall tells us, in his 
 " History of Congregationalism in Yorkshire," that " John 
 Howe was the intimate friend and travelling companion of
 
 I2O APPENDIX. 
 
 Lord Wharton." Seeing that Wharton Hall is not more than 
 four miles from our village, and that it was the rendezvous 
 for all the ejected ministers in this district, there is every 
 reason to suppose that many men of eminence have preached 
 in our chapel, and not the least among them being the great 
 John Howe, the gifted chaplain of Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 The following are miscellaneous items which should not 
 be lost : 
 
 Tradition says that when the park walls were built wages 
 were id. per day, or a peck of barley-meal. 
 
 In 1 80 1, when Napoleon had closed the foreign ports 
 against us, the people of Ravenstonedale broke up meadow 
 land and common land for ploughing. Still the newly 
 appropriated land did not yield food enough, and some of 
 the dalesmen went to Newcastle for Dantzic rye, and even 
 notwithstanding this help, there was a great deal of privation 
 and suffering in the parish, the recollection of which has not 
 yet been forgotten. 
 
 At about this period there were " Fencibles," as they were 
 called, trained in Ravenstonedale Park. 
 
 Here is a remarkable item taken from the Parish Book : 
 " 1764. Mrs. Mounsey received 55. for mending the surplice 
 34 years." Surely women's rights were not recognised in 
 those days ! Here is another item equally remarkable : 
 "1761. P d - Mr. Mounsey (the clergyman), for winding up 
 the clock, &c., i 6s. od., which sum he has received for 
 many years." 
 
 "1773. The churchwardens paid to John Robinson, for 
 two foxes, 8s." Poor foxes ! If the balance were struck, they 
 have rather been sinned against than sinning. Still in a 
 district like this, where there is so much poultry, it was 
 necessary they should be eradicated.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 121 
 
 Just below the top of Ash Fell there is a house cut out of 
 solid rock, large enough to accommodate six cows. On one 
 side of it there is cut the following inscription : 
 
 John ] 
 
 > Milner. 
 Margt. j 
 
 Mich : Knewstupp 
 Fecit 
 1720 
 
 In 1792 the wages of women, with rations, in hay-time, 
 was from 6d. to yd. per day; now it is 25. 6d. 
 
 Thomas Stubbs, the great-grandfather of Thomas Stubbs, 
 the joiner, was a good hay-time man, and used to get 303. 
 a month ; now such a man would receive &. 
 
 Mr. James Knewstubb was the first to introduce the 
 mowing machine into this Dale, in the year 1866. 
 
 During the great election contest in 1826, still fresh in 
 the memory of the old inhabitants, between the Lowthers and 
 " Harry" Brougham as he was then called, Lord Brougham 
 spoke from the gallery of the Black Swan Inn ; and in the 
 course of his speech, seeing several of the women and lads 
 knitting whilst listening to him, said, " This parish ought to 
 be called Knitting Dale. 
 
 The North-Eastern Railway passes through our dale ; it 
 enters it at Park-lands, and goes out of it, in going towards 
 Tebay, at Bowderdale. It was opened in 1861. Our station 
 bears at present the name of the parish, though from its 
 commencement until the close of the year 1876 it was called 
 " Newbiggen," after the angle of the parish through which it 
 passes. When first it was constructed, there was some pre- 
 judice on the part of the old people against it, and if they
 
 122 APPENDIX. 
 
 wished to preserve the old things, their jealousy was not 
 unfounded. But who would go back to pre-railway times ? 
 Why, I will venture to say, that could one of the fathers 
 revisit once more " the glimpses of the moon," and with 
 unprejudiced mind see the many improvements that have 
 taken place here, he would bless the locomotive and all the 
 other influences which have tended to bring the people of 
 this dale into intercourse with the outside world. 
 
 Happily, we are aside from the tourists' route, and this 
 saves us from the vulgarisation of the quiet of our noble 
 hills, and the inducement of that mercenary spirit which 
 holiday folks with their pockets full of money engender. 
 The writer walked from our dale to Sedbergh late in the 
 summer of the present year, and called in at a wayside 
 " public " for tea, and was charged the modest sum of 6d. 
 He protested at the lowness of the price, but the landlady 
 would take no more. 
 
 Should this little book fall into the hands of an outside 
 reader, he may ask What is the state of the morals of the 
 people living in your "happy valley"? and my reply is, 
 that the morals of the people are generally good. Here and 
 there you may find an exception ; but taken as a whole, they 
 are honest, truthful, religious certainly in the sense of 
 church and chapel going and sober. It is not for the 
 historian to look into the horoscope of the future. Still, 
 judging from appearances, there will be in the next genera- 
 tion men of higher education, and we might expect, there- 
 fore, of broader intelligence. The land will be more highly 
 cultivated, fruitful as it now is, and many of the peculiarities 
 of our dale-life will have gone. So true is it, as Tennyson 
 says " The old order changeth, yielding place to the new." 
 But of this I am confident, that so long as Wild-boar Fell 
 keeps watch and ward at the head of our valley, with Green 
 Bell on the one side, and Ash Fell on the other, so long shall 
 its inhabitants love Ravens tonedale not less, but more.
 
 123 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 The Earl of Lonsdale, Lowther Castle 2 
 
 The Hon. W. Lowther. M.P., Lowther Castle I 
 
 The Earl of Bective, M.P., Underley Hall 12 
 
 John Whitwell, Esq., M.P 8 
 
 Mr. John Atkinson, Adamthwaite, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Wm. Airey, Beckstones, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Robert Alderson, Green, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. James Airey, Bowberhead, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. James Akrigg, Wath, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Miss Alderson, Bridge, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Airey, Ellergill 
 
 Mrs. Allen, Hawes 
 
 E. Armitage, Esq., Stainton 
 
 Rev. J. Allatt, Newton-le- Willows 
 
 Mr. W. Atkinson, Kendal 
 
 Mr. T. Atkinson, Kendal 
 
 Mrs. Atkinson, Winderwath 
 
 Mrs. Dorothy Airey, High Lane, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mrs. Alderson, Lythe Side, Ravenstonedale , 
 
 Rev. G. Atkinson, Vicar of Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. John Bousfield, Soulby 
 
 Mr. James Bradberry, Stennerskeugh, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Joshua Brunskill, Town, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Robert Boustield, Friarbottom, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Edward Beck, Greenside 
 
 Mr. Edward Bainbridge, Town, Ravenstonedale , 
 
 Mr. Robert Beck, Dubbs, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mrs. M. Bousfield, Town, Ravenstonedale 
 
 S. Brunskill, Esq., Kendal 
 
 Mr. Christopher Bousfield, Blayflat, Ravenstonedale 
 
 M r. Bi ocklebank, Liverpool 
 
 Mr. Henry Beck, Sandwarth, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. John Bell, Riggend, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. John Blades, Intack 
 
 Mr. W. B. Birch, Bolton-le-Moors 
 
 Col. Burn, Orton Hall, Orton 
 
 Miss Bousfield, Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Mr. John Beck, Langdale 
 
 Mr. A Brunskill, Crosby Garrett 
 
 Mr. Henry Beck, Artlegarth, Eavenstonedale... 
 
 Mr. James Bell, Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Mr. Robert Blacket, Town, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. W. Bradberry, Street, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Miss Burra, Orton 
 
 Mrs. Beck, St. John's Wood, London
 
 124 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Mrs. Beck, Coldbeck, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Rev. T. W. Bowman, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Rev. W. Bowman, Gainfordj 2 
 
 Mr. Burgess, London 2 
 
 Mrs. Bradley, Isle of Man 
 
 Mr. R. Bragg, Sedbergh 
 
 Mr. John Burra, Kelleth, Orton 
 
 Miss Brogden, Whiteriggs, Brough, Sowerby 
 
 Mr. J. W. Braithwaite, Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Mr. J. Blacket, Preston 
 
 Mr. Butterworth, Kendal 
 
 Mr. W. Bell, jun., Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Miss J. Bunchy, Wensleydale I 
 
 Mr. W. E. Beck, Newcastle-on-Tyne 2 
 
 Mr. John Cowperthwaite, Stennerskeugh, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss E. Coates, Weasdale, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Edward Cowper, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. William Clayton, Bleayflat, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Joseph Capstick, Lockholm Hall, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. W. Cleasby, Eden Place, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Jarvis Close, Smardale Hall, Ravenstonedale , 
 
 W. Carver, Esq. , Manchester 4 
 
 Mr. Clark, Orton I 
 
 Mrs. Chamberlain, Bath 4 
 
 -V- Rev. T. Cain, Stubbins I 
 
 J. Carver, Esq., Brighton 8 
 
 Miss Carver, Southport , 2 
 
 Mrs. Capstick, Stramongate, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. John Clark, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Rev. A. Cran, M.A., Droylsden I 
 
 Mr. Cam, Stricklandgate, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. T. Cleasby, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Rev. T. Cocker, Stoke-upon-Trent I 
 
 Mr. W. Dixon, Causewayend, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mr. Richard Dixon, Nateby I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Dixon, Newbiggen I 
 
 Mr. W. Dixon, Wagga Wagga, Australia I 
 
 Mr. John Dickinson, Crossbank, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mrs. Dixon, Studfold, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss Docker, Kirkby There I 
 
 Mrs. Dawson, Aldcliffe Hall, Lancaster I 
 
 Mr. Dickinson, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 J. Dover, Esq., J.P., Sedbergh 4 
 
 Mr. J. Davidson, Saltburn I 
 
 Mr. W. Davidson, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Mr. A. C. Dent, Wharton Hall 2 
 
 Mrs. Elwood, Davygill, Cumberland I 
 
 Mr. Elton, Westbrook Villa, Darlington I 
 
 Mr. W. Ellison, Great Asby I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Ewbank, Duckintree I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Fothergill, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 M r. Robert Furness, Tarnhouse, Ravenstonedale I
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 125 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Mr. A. Faulkener, Newbiggen School, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Robinson Fawcett, Hill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Richard Fothergill, Wath, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Fothergill, Bents, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. John Fawcett, Artlegarth, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. George Fawcett, Tarn, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. W. Furness, Temple Sowerby 4 
 
 Mr. R. Furness, Gilmonby, Bowes I 
 
 Mrs. Fallowfield, Storrs Hall, Windermere I 
 
 Miss Fawcett, Mallerstang I 
 
 Mr. W. Fisher, Kendal 2 
 
 Mrs. Foster, Highgate I 
 
 Mrs. Fothergill, St. John's Wood, London I 
 
 Mr. R. Frankland, Great Musgrave I 
 
 Mrs. E. Fothergill, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. W. Fothergill, Macclesfield i 
 
 Capt. Grimshaw, Soulby 3 
 
 Mr. N. Grimshaw, Bank House, Burnley I 
 
 J. Gibson, Esq., M.D., Orton 2 
 
 R. Gibson, Esq., Coldbeck, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Barnard Gilpin, Scarsykes, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Hutton, Soulby 
 
 Miss Hewetson, Ellergill 
 
 Mr. A. Hainsworth, Town School, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Hodgson, Beckstones, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Richard Hunter, Coldbeck, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. George Harinson, Moss, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Handly, Settera Park 
 
 Mr. Thomas Hewetson, High Lane, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Robert Hewetson, Clay lands 
 
 Mr. Eobert Hird, Sandbed, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Handley, Narthwaite, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. John Hutchinson, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Mr. John Handley, Brigflatts, Sedbergh 2 
 
 Mr. James Hutchinson, Winton I 
 
 Mrs. Hewetson, H with House, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Rev. S. B. Handley, Stafford i 
 
 T. Hewetson, Esq., Camden Road, London 6 
 
 J. Harker, Esq., M.D., Lancaster 8 
 
 Mrs. Harrison, Earlswood, Gateshead I 
 
 Mr. B. Hewetson, The Green, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 R. Hewetson, Esq., M.D., Ellergill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. R. Horsfield, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Mr. W. Hutchinson, Rookby Scarth I 
 
 Mr. Charles Heap, Kendal 3 
 
 Mr. Robert Hewetson, Kirkby Stephen 2 
 
 Mr. Hogg, Kirkby Stephen 4 
 
 Miss A. Jackson, Ravenstonedale Station I 
 
 Mr. J. E. Johnson, Barrow-in- Furness I 
 
 Mrs. Jackson, Brownber, Ravenstonedale i 
 
 Miss M. Jackson, Narthwaite, Ravenstonedale J 
 
 J. Johns, Esq., Aberdare I
 
 126 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Rev. Slade Jones, Isle worth, London I 
 
 Mr. James Kne wstubb, Stouphillgate, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Henry Knewstubb, Murthwaite I 
 
 Mr. Thomas King, Lockholme, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Edward Kirkbride, Fellhead, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Kirkbride, Greenside, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. William King, Eller Hill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Rev. H. Kendall, Darlington I 
 
 Rev. R. G. Leigh, Farn worth 2 
 
 Mr. W. Little, Lowther Castle 4 
 
 Miss Langhorn, Penrith i 
 
 A. Metcalfe, Esq., Park House, Ravenstonedale 3 
 
 Mr. A. Metcalfe, jun., Park House, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. T. A. Metcalfe, Park House, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss Metcalfe, Park House, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss Metcalfe, Bolton-le-Moors I 
 
 Miss F. Metcalfe, Bolton-le-Moors I 
 
 Mrs. Metcalfe, Bolton-le-Moors I 
 
 Mr. E. P. Metcalfe, Ashfield, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Metcalf, Bowderdale I 
 
 Mr. James Metcalfe, Ash Fell I 
 
 Mr. William Middleton, Silverdale I 
 
 Mr. Chris. Medcalfe, Bowberhead, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Robert Murray, Gars, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Richard Medcalf, Murthwaite, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. M athan Martindale, Foggygill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. John Moffat, Streetside, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Michael Morland, Winton I 
 
 Mrs. Milner, Town, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mr. John Mounsey, Clashnevin, Nenagh, Ireland I 
 
 Rev. J. A. Macfadyan, M.A., Manchester 4 
 
 W. Milner, Esq., Haverstock Hill, London 9 
 
 Rev. R. Weston Metcalfe, Worthing! 2 
 
 Mr. Musgrave, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. A. Mackereth, Kirkby Stephen 2 
 
 Rev. W. McO wan, Wolverhampton I 
 
 Mr. W. Noble, Bampton i 
 
 Mrs. Nicholson, Bolton-le-Moors I 
 
 Mr. John Nicholson, Crosby Garrett I 
 
 Mr. J. Walker Nicholson, Crosby Garrett I 
 
 J. W. Nelson, Esq., Eden Bank I 
 
 Mr. B. Nicholls, Bristol , 6 
 
 J. Nicholls, Esq., J.P., Bewdley 2 
 
 Mr. W. J. Nicholls, Bristol I 
 
 Mr. A. G. Nicholls, London 
 
 Miss Nicklin, Isle of Man 
 
 Mr. Peter Oag, Manchester 
 
 T. H. Preston, Esq., Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Mr. Richard Potter, Back Lane, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Potter, Town, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Matthew Pratt, Piperhole, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. William Pratt, Weasdale, Ravtnstonedale
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 127 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Mr. John Potter, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale r 
 
 Mr. Ralph Peacock, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mr. James Potter, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss M. Parkin, Studfield, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss Powley, Langwathby, Penrith I 
 
 Rev. R. Pool, Shelley 2 
 
 R. Preston, Esq., Sunderland 5 
 
 Joseph Parry, Esq., Allington I 
 
 Miss Parry, Allington I 
 
 Mr. Joseph Pattinson, Brough I 
 
 Miss Potter, Kirkby Stephen i 
 
 Mrs. Robinson, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Mr. J. Raickstrow, Nateby i 
 
 Mr, Henry Richardson, Ashpot, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Rigg, King's Head, Appleby , 2 
 
 Mr. Robert Rennison, Sedbergh I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Robinson, Newbolt I 
 
 Mr. John Robinson, Ash Fell, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mr. Robert Rennison, Town, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Rudd, Town, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Miss Rigg, Melkinthorp I 
 
 Thomas Richardson, Esq., Colgarth I 
 
 Mr. T. Robinson, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. J. Robinson, Warcop i 
 
 Mr. Mathew Robinson, Skelcies I 
 
 Mr. J. Robinson, Low Lane, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Miss J. Rennison, Manchester 
 
 Miss Rowlandson, Kirkby Stephen 
 
 T. Sayer, Esq., M.D., Kirkby Stephen 
 
 Mr. William Shaw, Town, Ravenstonedale t 
 
 Mr. Robert Sharp, Greenside, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Robert Slinger, Low Lane, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. James Sanderson, Tranmoor, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. John Sedgwick, Newhouse, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Sleightholme, Fell End School, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Thomas Sedgwick, Dovengill, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. Richard Shaw, Coldkeld, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Rev. J. S. Sisson, Vicar of Orton 
 
 W. Stowell, Esq., Faverdale 
 
 Mr. John Stubbs, Tarnhouse, Ravenstonedale 
 
 Mr. John Sharp, Raine, Ravenstonedale 
 
 James Stewartson, Esq., Asby Hall 
 
 Mrs. E. Shaw, Town, Ravenstonedale l 
 
 Mr. W. Stubbs, Town, Ravenstonedale i 
 
 Rev. M. H. Sharp, Kirkby Lonsdale i 
 
 Mrs. Slade, Pulteney Street, Bath... 2 
 
 Rev. Canon Simpson, Kirkby Stephen 2 
 
 Rev. W. C. Stallybrass, Brixton, London I 
 
 Rev. T. Slevan, Kirkstall, Leeds 2 
 
 Rev. I. Spavin, Windermere I 
 
 Mr. Abraham Smith, Southport I 
 
 Mr. Salisbury, Kendal I
 
 128 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Mr. W. Slee, Sedbergh i 
 
 Mr. Edmund Taylor, Greenside, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Michael Taylor, Beckstones, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Rev. W. Taylor, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Taylor, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Michael Thompson, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. John Thompson, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Thexton, Sprintgill, Ravenstonedale i 
 
 Mr . Thomas Thexton, Sprintgill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. William Thexton, Murthwaite, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Parkin Tunstill, Elmpot, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Thompson, Stobars, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 R. Thexton, Esq., London 12 
 
 Rev. M. Timson, Bradford I 
 
 Mr. T. Timkins, Abergavenny I 
 
 Mr. W. Taylor, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. A. Townend, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Taylor, Hall Garth I 
 
 Mr. Thomas Thompson, Garshill, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Robert Thompson, Lythe Side, Ravenstonedale : I 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Taylor, Ploughlands I 
 
 Mr. J. D. Troughton, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
 Mr. Robert Udale, Weasdale, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Vaizey, Oaklands, Essex 2 
 
 R. Vaizey, Esq., J.P., Attwoods, Essex 2 
 
 Mr. Thomas Whitfield, Weasdale, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. John Wilson, Weasdale, Ravenstonedale 2 
 
 Mr. James Wharton, Weasdale, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. Robert Whitfield , Rawfoot, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. William Winn, Mountain View, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mrs. Warden, Sedbergh I 
 
 Mr. J. Woodhouse, Town, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Mr. M. Wilkinson, Town, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 Rev. B. Wilkinson, Halifax I 
 
 Rev. T. Windsor, Skipton I 
 
 Rev. R. Wilson, Richmond I 
 
 Mr. Anthony Wharton, Wharton Hall I 
 
 Mr. John Whitehead, Appleby I 
 
 Mr. George Wilson, Borranthwaite I 
 
 Miss Wilson, Town View, Kendal I 
 
 Mr. J. Watt, Newbiggen, Ravenstonedale I 
 
 J. Watson, Esq., Sunderland I 
 
 Mr. N. Wearmouth, Newbiggen-in-Teasdale I 
 
 Mr. G. Winter, Winton I 
 
 R. Winn, Esq., Bowerbank I 
 
 Miss E. Yates, Manchester I 
 
 Mr. Nathan Young, Kirkby Stephen I 
 
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