Four Lucks.
Closely associated with the legends of Cumberland and Westmorland, dealt with in the preceding chapter, are the stories of four “Lucks.” The best known is that of Eden Hall, which has been made the theme for poems and innumerable descriptive articles. The most popular version of the origin of the Luck is that when a servant was going for water one night to the Fairy Well, in front of the hall he surprised a number of fairies at their revels, with the goblet in the centre of the ring around which they were dancing. The servant seized the Luck, while the fairies gave the ominous warning that
“If this cup should break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Eden Hall.”
Numerous poets have woven pretty stories out of the tradition, without attempting to seek the real origin of the treasured possession. The Luck is an ancient glass vessel widening by an easy curve, and terminating in a graceful lip. Its colour is green, with enamel of red, yellow, and blue; one theory is that its origin was Saracenic, and that it was brought from Palestine by a member of the family during the Crusades. Dr. Todd, when Vicar of Penrith, supposed it to have “been used as a chalice, at a time when it was unsafe to have those sacred vessels made of costlier metals, on account of the predatory habits which prevailed on the Borders.” If absolute care can preserve it, the Luck is safe, for along with its leathern case, adorned with vine leaves, and having the sacred monogram “I.H.S.” on the top, the Luck is rarely taken from its place of security—said to be one of the strong rooms of the Bank of England. Whenever the Luck is exhibited to privileged visitors at the hall, the utmost precautions are taken to prevent even the slightest accident.
1.—ANCIENT GLASS VESSEL CALLED THE LUCK OF EDEN HALL.
2.—ITS LEATHER CASE.
3.—INSCRIPTION ON THE TOP OF THE CASE.
“The Luck of Muncaster” is reputed to have been the gift of Henry the Sixth, who stayed for a brief space with the Penningtons, either in 1461 or 1464. The King was in sore straits, for death had robbed him of the service of many of his most powerful adherents; howbeit he still held the affections of large numbers of people in Cumberland and Westmorland. The owner of Muncaster was one of those able and willing to stand by Henry in his necessity, and kept the King in safety. The room in which the monarch slept is still preserved with great care; he rested in a carved oak bedstead, which bears his initials and a crown. At parting Henry gave to Sir John Pennington a glass cup or basin, about seven inches in diameter, ornamented with some gold and white enamelled mouldings, with—according to tradition—the assurance that “the family shall prosper so long as they preserve this cup unbroken.” It is unnecessary to do more than mention that this Luck has been celebrated in verse, by way of illustrating the evil designs of a kinsman who desired to destroy both the cup and the fortunes of the Penningtons.
That such a treasured relic should have more than normal risks of misfortune can be well understood. Mr. Roby has mentioned[16] one of its escapes. “The benediction attaching to its security being then uppermost in the recollection of the family, it was considered essential to the prosperity of the house, at the time of the usurpation, that the Luck of Muncaster should be deposited in a safe place. It was consequently buried till the cessation of hostilities had rendered all further care and concealment unnecessary.” The box was allowed to fall when being brought again to the surface, which so scared the owners that they fancied that there would be a sudden end to their prosperity. The fright must have been of long duration, for the story is that forty years elapsed ere one daring member of the family, having seen no ill effects from the fall, had the box opened, and experienced the keen delight of finding the Luck uninjured. In the castle are two paintings, one representing the King giving the cup to Sir John Pennington, and another allowing the King with the Luck in his hand. On an old freestone slab in Muncaster Church is the inscription, “Holie Kynge Harrye gave Sir John a brauve workyd glass cuppe ... whyllys the famylie shold keep hit unbrecken thei shold gretelye thrif.”
“The Luck of Burrell Green,” near Great Salkeld, seems to have passed into the possession of various owners. It is an ancient brass dish of early embossed work, sixteen and a quarter inches in diameter, and one and a half inches deep. Mr. J. Lamb, formerly of Burrell Green, read a paper on the subject two or three years ago to the members of the Archæological Society, and also exhibited the dish. It is circular in form, and at one time appears to have borne two inscriptions, one in large old English letters in an inner circle around its central ornament, and the other in an outer circle, probably in the same style of lettering. Neither inscription is now legible, although on close examination certain letters may still be discerned, this being due, no doubt, to the amount of cleaning and rubbing it has undergone during late years. Thirty years ago, when greater care was taken of the Luck than has since been the case, and the inscription on the inner circle was rather more distinct than it now is, Mr. R. M. Bailey, a London antiquary, tried to decipher it, and was of opinion that it was in Latin, of which the following is a rendering: “Hail, Mary, Mother of Jesus, Saviour of Men.” Like the two other Lucks in Cumberland, the Luck of Burrell Green has its legend and couplet. This is that it was given to the family residing there long ago by a “Nob i’ th’ hurst,” or by a witch, a soothsayer, to whom kindness had been shown, with the injunction that
“If e’er this dish be sold or gi’en
Farewell the Luck of Burrell Green.”
The Luck has been in the possession of the respective families residing at Burrell Green for many generations, but its existence has not been brought very much before the public. In 1879 the late Mr. Jacob Thompson, of Hackthorpe, made a painting of the Luck. Mr. Lamb added:
“Apart from the value of the Luck as an example of ancient art, it may be said to be still more valuable from the mysterious tradition associated with it, and also as appears very probable from the rendering of the supposed inscription in the sacred use to which in all probability it has at some time been applied. From the style of the inscriptions it appears to be of as early a date as the commencement of the sixteenth century, or probably earlier. On the day Burrell Green last changed owners the Luck fell down three times in succession from its usual position, a circumstance which at that time had not been known to have occurred before, it always having been kept in a secure place.”
“The Luck of Levens” is of a kind quite different from the three already mentioned. Levens Hall has attached to it one of the oldest deer parks in England, and within its borders are some peculiarly dark fallow deer. The local people have come to believe that whenever a white fawn is born in the herd the event portends some change of importance in the House of Levens. Four such cases have occurred within living memory—when Lord Templetown came to Levens after the Crimean War, after General Upton’s death in 1883, on the day after Captain and Mrs. Bagot’s wedding in 1885, and in February, 1896, when Mrs. Bagot bore to Levens a male heir. Mr. Curwen, in his monograph on the house, mentions the following “to illustrate the superstition that had gathered round the white deer so early as Lord Templetown’s residence at Levens, between 1850 and 1860”:—
“A white buck which had appeared in the herd was ordered to be shot, but the keeper was so horrified with the deed, which he thought to be ‘waur ner robbin’ a church,’ that he actually went so far as to remonstrate with the Crimean veteran. Persuasion being of no use, he at last refused point blank to do the deed himself, and another man had to do it for him. In a few months great troubles came over the house. In quick succession it changed hands twice; the stewards, servants, and gardeners all lost their places; and the keeper firmly held to the belief that all was due to the shooting of this white deer.”