Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland Part 8

The Rev. A. R. Hall, Vicar of the parish, in a lecture delivered some time ago, gave an account of these Shrovetide observances, which made the village famous in its way. Up to 1790 the chief feature was a great c.o.c.k-fight, managed by the boys at school. A hunt of harriers subsequently took the place of the c.o.c.k-fight, this being followed by a public dinner, and the election of the mayor. Sometimes this functionary belonged to Wreay, and sometimes came from Carlisle; in the latter case, those who wished to keep up the due dignity of the office chartered a coach-and-four for the accommodation of their friends. Racing and jumping were features in the sports, the prizes for which were hats. The old silver bell used to ornament the mayor's wand of office. In 1872, unfortunately, the bell was stolen, and Wreay lost this relic, which had been connected for 217 years with its Shrovetide festivities. In 1880 the hunt and the election of mayor both came to an end.

Befitting its importance in the calendar, Christmas seems to have always held the first place in popularity among the holidays and festivals of the year. In the summer season Whitsuntide--which marks the end of one term of farm service--was the most popular. At Christmas "the treat circulated from house to house, and every table was decorated in succession with a profusion of dishes, including all the pies and puddings then in use. Ale possets also const.i.tuted a favourite part of the festive suppers, and were given to strangers for breakfast before the introduction of tea. They were served in bowls, called doublers, into which the company dipped their spoons promiscuously; for the simplicity of the times had not yet seen the necessity of accommodating each guest with a basin or soup plate. The posset cup shone as an article of finery in the better sort of houses; it consisted of pewter, and was furnished with two, three, or more lateral pipes, through which the liquid part of the compound might be sucked by those who did not choose the bread. This plentiful repast was moistened with a copious supply of malt liquor, which the guests drank out of horns and the wooden cans already mentioned. The aged sat down to cards and conversation for the better part of the night, while the young men amused the company with exhibitions of maskers, amongst whom the clown was the conspicuous character; or parties of rapier-dancers displayed their dexterity in the sportive use of the small-sword. In the meantime the youth of both s.e.xes romped and gambolled promiscuously, or sat down not unfrequently to hunt the rolling-pin."

The Gowrie Plot is brought to mind by a record in the Greystoke books that is unusually quaint in its style: "1603, August, ffrydaye the v{th} day was comnded for to be keapt holy daye yearely from cessation of laybour w{th} gyvinge of thanks for the kyngs most excelent matye for his ma{tyes} p'servation and deliverance from the Crewell Conspiracie practized against his mat{ies} pson in Scotland that v{th} daye of August, 1600." Three years sufficed for this celebration; then Gunpowder Plot came in for notice, as is seen from an item dated November 5th, 1606: "The sayde daye was Kenges holy day, and one sermon by M{r} pson the xi Isaie 2 verse."

The chronicler followed this registration of his text by a list of the names of the chief people in the parish who attended the service.

The shearing days used to be high festivals on the fells and in the dales of both counties. Now the gatherings have been deprived of some of their most characteristic features; and even the chairing is almost forgotten.

Richardson's chapter on "Auld Fas.h.i.+nt Clippins and Sec Like," in "Stwories at Ganny uset to Tell," relates how the chairing used to be done. The song, once an indispensable item in the programme, may now and again be heard, l.u.s.tily shouted by the dalesmen. After declaring that "the shepherd's health--it shall go round," the chorus continues:

"Heigh O! Heigh O! Heigh O!

And he that doth this health deny, Before his face I him defy.

He's fit for no good company, So let this health go round."

The coronation of a monarch was invariably made the occasion for merry-making by the consumption of much ale by the common folk, especially by bell-ringers and others who could have the score discharged by the churchwardens. There is such an entry in the Crosthwaite books relating to the coronation of George the First. In 1821, November 5th, there was "spent in ale at Nicholas Graves 5s." This worthy who was parish clerk at Crosthwaite for fifty-six years, was also the owner of a public-house in the town, and among his other qualifications was that of being will-maker for many of the inhabitants. At Penrith, Kendal, Carlisle, and many other places the church bells were set ringing, bonfires lighted, and ale barrels tapped--usually at the expense of the churchwardens--on very small provocation.

Among other festivals now no longer observed, and probably forgotten, was that known as Brough Holly Night. In a little pamphlet published between thirty and forty years ago the following note on the subject was printed, but the writer has been unable to ascertain when the custom was last seen in the old Westmorland town: "On Twelfth Night, at Brough, the very ancient custom of carrying the holly-tree through the town is observed.

There are two or three inns in the town which provide for the ceremony alternately, though the townspeople lend a hand to prepare the tree, to every branch of which a torch composed of greased rushes is affixed. About eight o'clock in the evening the tree is taken to a convenient part of the town, where the torches are lighted, the town band accompanying and playing till all is completed, when it is carried up and down the town, preceded by the band and the crowd who have now formed in procession. Many of the inhabitants carry lighted branches and flambeaus, and rockets, squibs, etc., are discharged on the occasion. After the tree has been thus paraded, and the torches are nearly burnt out, it is taken to the middle of the town, where, amidst the cheers and shouts of the mult.i.tude, it is thrown among them. Then begins a scene of noise and confusion, for the crowd, watching the opportunity, rush in and cling to the branches, the contention being to bear it to the rival inns, 'sides' having been formed for that purpose; the reward being an ample allowance of ale, etc., to the successful compet.i.tors. The landlord derives his benefit from the numbers the victory attracts, and a fiddler being all ready, a merry night, as it is called here, is got up, the lads and la.s.ses dancing away till morning."

There were once many wells and springs in the two counties which were held in more than common regard by the inhabitants, and corresponded to the Holy Wells of other districts. Between sixty and seventy years ago this was written of a custom once common at Skirsgill, about a mile from Penrith: "Upon the sloping lawn is a remarkably fine spring; its water is pure and sparkling, and was formerly held in such veneration that the peasantry resorted to it, and held an annual fair round its margin. In descending a flight of stone steps, you perceive inside a drinking cup, and over the door-top, neatly cut in stone, the form of a water jug."

c.u.mberland is said to have had nearly thirty Holy Wells, and of one of these Mr. Hope tells us[18] that "The Holy Well near Dalston, c.u.mberland, was the scene of religious rites on stipulated occasions, usually Sundays.

The villagers a.s.sembled and sought out the good spirit of the well, who was 'supposed to teach its votaries the virtues of temperance, health, cleanliness, simplicity, and love.'"

The various well festivals in the Penrith district have all pa.s.sed away, as has a once popular gathering of another kind, known as Giant's Cave Sunday. The a.s.semblies were at "the h.o.a.ry caves of Eamont," about three miles from Penrith, and the late Rev. B. Porteus, then Vicar of Edenhall, wrote of them nearly forty years ago: "The picnics are of frequent occurrence at this picturesque and romantic spot; and have been occasionally patronised by special culinary demonstrations by the hospitable proprietor of the estate. Giant's Cave Sunday is still observed, but the custom has dwindled into insignificance, the 'shaking bottles' carried by the children at that season being the only remains of what it has been. But it affords a pleasant walk to the people of Penrith, as it has probably done since the time when the caves were the residence of a holy man."

Among the festivities now to be numbered among bygone things must be mentioned the Levens Radish Feast, which had much more than a local fame.

In the time of Colonel Grahme there was great rivalry between the houses of Dallam Tower and Levens. The former once invited every person who attended Milnthorpe Fair to partake of the good cheer provided in the park, a piece of hospitality which irritated the Colonel very much. As a consequence, the following year when the Mayor and Corporation of Kendal went to proclaim the fair, he took them to Levens, and provided such a royal entertainment that the civic fathers gladly accepted the invitation for succeeding years. The fair s.e.x were rigidly excluded. Long tables were placed on the bowling green, and spread with oat bread, b.u.t.ter, radishes, and "morocco," a kind of strong beer, for which the Hall was famed. After the feast came the "colting" of new visitors, and various amus.e.m.e.nts that are better to read about than witness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LEVENS HALL.--_Front View._]

On the Road.

Few parts of England could have been so inaccessible as were c.u.mberland and Westmorland prior to the middle of the last century. Roads were scarce, unless the dignity of the name be given to the rough tracks which served for the pa.s.sage of pack-horses, and even these did not reach a great number, having regard to the area which they served. There was little to call the people away from home, to London and other great centres of industry. The journey from the north to the Metropolis was such a great undertaking that men who had any possessions to leave behind them almost invariably made their wills before starting out. The richer sort, of course, rode their horses, and an interesting account of the journey was left by Henry Curwen, of Workington Hall, as to his trip to London in 1726. The most accessible route was very roundabout--by Penrith, Stainmore, Barnard Castle, York, and so through the eastern counties. This journey on horseback occupied thirteen days, including four which were utilised for visiting friends on the way. The roads he described as being very bad, and a ride of thirty-two miles he declared to be equal to fifty measured miles.

People with fewer guineas to spare had of necessity to walk.

"Manufacturers made their wills, and settled their worldly affairs, before taking a long journey, and many of them travelled on foot to London and other places, to sell their goods, which were conveyed on the backs of pack-horses."[19] Even more recently pedestrian excursions from Mid c.u.mberland to London have been undertaken; there was the well-known case of Mally Messenger, who died in August, 1856, at the age of ninety-three years. Several times before she attained middle age Mally walked to London and back to Keswick, a distance of 286 miles in each direction. On one occasion she was pa.s.sed by a Keswick man on horseback, who by way of a parting message remarked, "Good-day, Mally; I'll tell them in Keswick you're coming." The pedestrian, however, was the better traveller, for she often used to boast afterwards that she reached Keswick first.

When old-time Bamptonians wanted to see the Metropolis they could not go to Shap or Penrith and thence be carried by excursions for considerably under a sovereign. This is how the vicar went on foot in 1697, as recorded in the parish registers: "Feb. the 7 did Mr. Knott set forward for London, got to Barking to Mr. Blamyres, Friday, March the fourth, to London March the seaventh, remained there 8 weekes and 2 dayes, came out May the 5, 1698, gott to Bampton Grainge, May the 20, at night."

Even apart from the perils which beset travellers during the times of the Border forays, there were many things which must have restrained the average c.u.mbrian and Westmerian from wandering far abroad. To those who were obliged to walk or ride far, the old hospitals must have been very welcome inst.i.tutions. One of these, of which all traces have long been lost, was the hospital on the desolate and remote fells of Caldbeck. "Out of Westmorland and the east parts of c.u.mberland there lying an highway through Caldbeck into the west of c.u.mberland, it was anciently very dangerous for pa.s.sengers to travel through it, who were often robbed by thieves that haunted those woody parts and mountains. Thereupon Ranulph Engain, the chief forester of Englewood, granted licence to the Prior of Carlisle to build an hospital for the relief of distressed travellers who might happen to be troubled by those thieves, or prejudiced by the snows or storms in winter." The Prior made the enclosure, and doubtless the hospice was a boon to many a wayfarer; the population increased, a church was established, and in the time of King John, the hospital being dissolved, the property of the secular inst.i.tution was handed over to the Church, and to this day the manor is known as Kirkland. The need for former protection of the kind is still preserved in a landmark in the parish, "the Hawk," or as the local p.r.o.nunciation has it, "Howk." This grotto was a noted meeting-place for thieves.

Even the King's Judges were not exempted from the perils of the road.

Hutchinson's description of Brampton says that "The judges, with the whole body of barristers, attorneys, clerks, and serving men, rode on horseback from Newcastle to Carlisle, armed and escorted by a strong guard under the command of the sheriffs. It was necessary to carry provisions, for the country was a wilderness which afforded no supplies. The spot where the cavalcade halted to dine, under an immense oak, is not yet forgotten. The irregular vigour with which criminal justice was administered shocked observers whose lives had been pa.s.sed in more tranquil districts. Juries, animated by hatred, and by a sense of common danger, convicted house-breakers and cattle-stealers with the prompt.i.tude of a court-martial in a mutiny; and convicts were hurried by scores to the gallows."

Even taxes did not, it is to be feared, prevent some of the c.u.mbrians occasionally throwing in their lot with, or a.s.sisting, the vagabonds who were the cause of all the trouble. "It was often found impossible to track the robbers to their retreats among the hills and mora.s.ses, for the geography of that wild country was very imperfectly known. Even after the accession of George the Third, the path over the fells from Borrowdale to Ravengla.s.s was still a secret carefully kept by the dalesman, some of whom had probably in their youth escaped from justice by the road." Such is the record which may be gathered from Gray's "Journal of a Tour in the Lakes"

in 1769.

Coach travelling was an expensive luxury, and those who undertook the journeys between London and the north did not do so solely for pleasure.

From an advertis.e.m.e.nt, nearly a column in length, which appeared in the London _Star_ at the end of 1795 the following is taken:--

SARACEN'S HEAD INN.

SNOW-HILL, LONDON.

SAFE, EASY, AND EXPEDITIOUS TRAVELLING.

With every accommodation that can lessen the fatigue, or add to the pleasure of the Journey, to most parts of England and the Princ.i.p.al Towns in Scotland, by the following NEW AND ELEGANT COACHES:

Carlisle and Penrith rapid Post Coach, goes with four horses, and a guard all the way, pa.s.ses through Brough, Appleby, Gretabridge, Richmond, Catterick, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Alberford, Doncaster, and Grantham (the nearest way by 18 miles) sets out every morning, and performs the journey with the greatest ease and convenience.

Pa.s.sengers desirous to stop on the road, have the advantage of their seats being secured in the next Coach (with only six Coachmen).

WILLIAM MOUNTAIN and CO. respectfully acquaint their Friends and the Public that, still emulous to deserve as well as preserve their invaluable esteem, they have provided Lamps and Guards, that travel throughout with all the above Coaches.

N.B. The Proprietors of the above Coaches from the above inn, will not be accountable for any Parcel, Luggage, Goods, &c., of more value than Five Pounds (if lost) unless entered as such and paid for accordingly.

An earlier advertis.e.m.e.nt which appeared in the c.u.mberland newspapers of 1775 shows that the journey to London was done in three days, at a cost of 3 10s. per pa.s.senger. The notice ran:--

"Carlisle Post Coach.--In Three Days for London.--Sets out from the Bush Inn, Carlisle, every Sunday evening, at seven o'clock precisely, by way of Burrowbridge, being well known to the public to be the nearest and best road to London (and is also calculated for more ease and satisfaction to the pa.s.sengers than any other coach). It also sets out from the Bell and Crown, Holborn, every Wednesday evening, at eight o'clock. Each inside pa.s.senger from Carlisle to London to pay 3 10s. From the George Inn, Penrith, 3 7s. 6d., and threepence per mile for all pa.s.sengers taken up on the road. Each pa.s.senger to be allowed 14lb. luggage; all above to pay 4d. per pound; small parcels at 3s.

each.... Performed by J. Garthwaite and Co."

Locomotion was still more difficult and costly in the early part of the seventeenth century. In the Household Books of Naworth, extending from 1612 to 1640, are found such significant entries as the following:--"March 22, 1626. Hewing a way for the coach beyond Gelt Bridge, 2s. 3d." On one occasion, Sir Francis Howard, being sick, hired a coach for his journey from London to Bowes, which cost 18. Lord William Howard's journeys to London were always taken on horseback, and he was generally ten or twelve days on the road, the travelling expenses varying, according to the number of his retinue and the direction of the route taken. A journey by way of s.h.i.+ffnal and Lydney occupied eleven days, and cost 30 7s. 1d.; whilst the expenses of another, from Thornthwaite to London with twenty-four men and twelve horses in his train, came to 20 15s. 4d.

In addition to the coaches, people often travelled by what were termed "expeditious wagons," which carried goods. One notice dated November 24th, 1790, concerning these vehicles may be quoted:--

"In ten days from Carlisle to London, and the same in return by way of York every week. Messrs. Handleys respectfully inform their friends and the public in general that they have erected stage waggons which leave Carlisle early on Tuesday morning and arrive at York on Thursday night, and Leeds on Sat.u.r.day morning (where goods for all parts in the south are regularly forwarded by the respective carriers), arrive at the White Bear, Ba.s.singhall Street, on Friday night, and set out every Monday morning, and arrive at and leave York on Tuesday morning, Bedal, Richmond, Barnard Castle, Burgh, Appleby, Penrith, and arrive at Carlisle on Friday evening, where goods are immediately forwarded to Wigton, c.o.c.kermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, and any other place in c.u.mberland; also to Annan, Dumfries, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and all other princ.i.p.al towns in Scotland. They hope by their attention to business to merit the favours of all those who please to employ them. N.B.--Their waggon leaves Sheffield on Sat.u.r.day, and Leeds on Monday. For further particulars apply to Robert Wilson, book-keeper, or J. Birkett, innkeeper, Carlisle."

A writer in 1812, on the manners and customs of the people of Westmorland during the preceding century, stated that wheel carriages were very little used for private intercourse or trade; for persons of both s.e.xes made short journeys on horseback, the women being commonly seated on pillions behind the men. Very few made long excursions from home, except the manufacturers of Kendal, many of whom travelled on foot in quest of orders for their worsted stockings and linsey-woolsey. Carriers did not employ wagons, but drove gangs of pack-horses, each gang being preceded by a bell-horse, and the owners reckoned a young woman equivalent to half a pack in loading their beasts of burden. The predilection for transporting all kinds of commodities on horseback was so general, that the fuel consumed in Kendal came to the town in this manner. Coals were brought in sacks upon galloways from Ingleton, and the turf or peat was conveyed from the mosses in halts. These were a pair of strong wicker hampers, which were joined by a pack-saddle, and hung across a horse's back. They were put to various uses in husbandry, which offices are now performed by carts. Halts gave way to carts in the progress of general improvement.

These vehicles were ill-contrived, particularly the wheels, which consisted of two circular boards fixed without spokes immovably to the ends of a cylinderical axle. The injudicious nature of the construction required the axle itself to revolve beneath the cart, where it was kept in its place by two pairs of parallel wooden pins, that projected downward from the frame of the bottom.

A question concerning these old "tummel wheel'd cars" was asked in the _Carlisle Journal_ a few months ago, and a correspondent supplied this answer:--"I have seen at least two of these old-time machines of locomotion. They had then been many years out of use. I speak now of a date say 58 years gone past. One of them was stored in an open shed in the farmyard of its venerable owner--the other had less respect shown to its remains, for it stood in a neglected and unsheltered corner. Of course, I never saw either of them in use. The wheels were funny, not to say clumsy, looking affairs. Without spokes or felloes, they consisted of three segment-shaped blocks of wood, fastened together rudely but strongly with 'dowels' of the same material, so as to form a circle. The wheels again were similarly fastened to the axle, and the whole revolved in one solid ma.s.s. The harness consisted mostly of ropes or girthing with loops at the ends, and having cleets like the modern 'coo-tee' to hold them in position. Very little leather was used, and but few buckles. Here is Mr.

d.i.c.kinson's description, 'In old times the horse was yoked to the cart by a rope from the shoulders, and an iron ring sliding on the shaft held by a pin. This was hammerband yoking. The tummel wheelers referred to were seen by me in the Lake District (Ullswater) in the early forties.'"

Before turnpike roads were made, or wagons came into use, the merchandise of Kendal was transported by the following pack-horses:--

One gang of pack-horses to and from London every week, of about 20

One gang from Wigan weekly, about 18

One gang from Whitehaven, about 20

From c.o.c.kermouth 15

Two gangs from Barnard Castle 26

Two gangs from Penrith twice a week, about 15 each 60

One gang from Settle twice a week, about 15 each 30