Yorkshire Dales and Fells

by Gordon Home

KNARESBOROUGH AND HARROGATE

CHAPTER VI
KNARESBOROUGH AND HARROGATE

It is sometimes said that Knaresborough is an overrated town from the point of view of its attractiveness to visitors, but this depends very much upon what we hope to find there. If we expect to find lasting pleasure in contemplating the Dropping Well, or the pathetic little exhibition of petrified objects in the Mother Shipton Inn, we may be prepared for disappointment. It seems strange that the real and lasting charms of the town should be overshadowed by such popular and much-advertised ‘sights.’ The first view of the town from the ‘high’ bridge is so full of romance that if there were nothing else to interest us in the place we would scarcely be disappointed. The Nidd, flowing smoothly at the foot of the precipitous heights upon which the church and the old roofs appear, is spanned by a great stone viaduct. This might have been so great a blot upon the scene that Knaresborough would have lost half its charm. Strangely enough, we find just the reverse is the case, for this railway bridge, with its battlemented parapets and massive piers, is now so weathered that it has melted into its surroundings as though it had come into existence as long ago as the oldest building visible. The old Knaresborough kept well to the heights adjoining the castle, and even to-day there are only a handful of later buildings down by the river margin. The view, therefore, is still unspoiled, and its appearance when the light is coming from the west can be seen in the illustration given here.

When we have crossed the bridge, and have passed along a narrow roadway perched well above the river, we come to one of the many interesting houses that help to keep alive the old-world flavour of the town. Only a few years ago the old manor-house had a most picturesque and rather remarkable exterior, for its plaster walls were covered with a large black and white chequer-work, and its overhanging eaves and trailing creepers gave it a charm that has since then been quite lost. The restoration which recently took place has entirely altered the character of the exterior, but inside everything

KNARESBOROUGH

Is one of the most fortunate of towns in having in its railway bridge a bold and decorative feature rather than an eyesore. The stranger scarcely realizes as he stands on the road bridge from which the picture is taken, that the big battlemented structure spanning the river is a railway viaduct.

has been preserved with just the care that should have been expended outside as well. There are oak-wainscoted parlours, oak dressers, and richly-carved fireplaces in the low-ceiled rooms, each one containing furniture much of the period of the house. Upstairs there is a beautiful old bedroom lined with oak, like those on the floor below, and its interest is greatly enhanced by the story of Oliver Cromwell’s residence in the house, for he is believed to have used this particular bedroom. Slight alterations have taken place, but the oak bedstead which he is said to have occupied, minus its tester and with its posts cut down to half their height, still remains to carry us swiftly back to the last siege of the castle. A very curious story is told in the Gentleman’s Magazine of March, 1791. It gives an anecdote of Oliver Cromwell which Sir John Goodricke used to relate. When he was quite a small boy, he was told by a very old woman who had formerly attended his mother, Lady Goodricke, how Oliver Cromwell came to lodge at this house when she was but a young girl. ‘Having heard so much talk about the man,’ she said, ‘I looked at him with wonder. Being ordered to take a pan of coals and air his bed, I could not, during the operation, forbear peeping over my shoulder several times to observe this extraordinary person, who was seated at the fireside of the room untying his garters. Having aired the bed, I went out, and, shutting the door after me, stopped and peeped through the keyhole, when I saw him rise from his feet, advance to the bed and fall on his knees, in which attitude I left him for some time. When I returned again I found him still at prayer, and this was his custom every night so long as he stayed at our house, from which I concluded he must be a good man, and this opinion I always maintained afterwards, though I heard him very much blamed and exceedingly abused.’

Higher up the hill stands the church with a square central tower surmounted by a small spike. It still bears the marks of the fire made by the Scots during their disastrous descent upon Yorkshire after Edward II.’s defeat at Bannockburn. Led by Sir James Douglas, the Scots poured into the prosperous plains and even the dales of Yorkshire. They burned Northallerton and Boroughbridge, and then came on to Knaresborough. When the town had been captured and burnt, the savage invaders endeavoured to burn out the inhabitants who had taken refuge in the church-tower, but the stoutness of the stone walls prevented their efforts to destroy the building. It is quite possible that the roofs at that time were thatched, for some years ago much partially-burnt straw was discovered in the roof. The chapel on the north side of the chancel contains the interesting monuments of the old Yorkshire family of Slingsby. The altar-tomb in the centre bears the recumbent effigies of Francis Slingsby, who died in 1600, and Mary his wife. Another monument shows Sir William Slingsby, who accidentally discovered the first spring at Harrogate. The Slingsbys, who were cavaliers, produced a martyr in the cause of Charles I. This was the distinguished Sir Henry, who, in 1658, ‘being beheaded by order of the tyrant Cromwell, ... was translated to a better place.’ So says the inscription on a large slab of black marble in the floor of the chapel. The last of the male line of the family was Sir Charles Slingsby, who was most unfortunately drowned by the upsetting of a ferry-boat in the Ure in February, 1869.

We can wander through the quaint little streets above the church and find much to interest us, particularly in the market-place, although quite a number of the really ancient little houses that had come down to quite recent years have now passed away. On one side of the market-place stands a most curious little chemist’s shop, with two small-paned windows, very low and picturesque, that slightly overhang the footway. There seems to be small doubt that this is the oldest of all the long-established chemists’ shops that exist in England. It dates from the year 1720, when John Beckwith started the business, and the conservatism of the trade is borne out by the preservation of some interesting survivals of those early Georgian days. There are strangely-shaped old shop-bottles, mortars, and strips of leather that were used for quicksilver in the days when it was worn as a charm against some forms of disease.

Just above the manor-house there is still to be seen one of the last of the thatched houses, at one time common in the town. It is the old Vicarage, and it still contains oak beams and some good panelling. When we get beyond the market-place, we come out upon an elevated grassy space upon the top of a great mass of rock whose perpendicular sides drop down to a bend of the Nidd. Around us are scattered the ruins of Knaresborough Castle—poor and of small account if we compare them with Richmond, although the site is very similar; where before the siege in 1644 there must have been a most imposing mass of towers and curtain walls. Of the great keep, only the lowest story is at all complete, for above the first-floor there are only two sides to the tower, and these are battered and dishevelled. The walls enclosed about the same area as Richmond, but they are now so greatly destroyed that it is not easy to gain a clear idea of their position. There were no less than eleven towers, of which there now remain fragments of six, part of a gateway, and behind the old courthouse there are evidences of a secret cell. An underground sally-port opening into the moat, which was a dry one, is reached by steps leading from the castle yard. The passage was opened out in 1890, and in it were discovered a considerable number of stone balls, probably used for the ‘balistas’ mentioned in one of the castle records. It is a dismal fact to remember that, despite the perfect repair of the castle in the reign of Elizabeth, and the comparatively small amount of destruction caused during the siege conducted by Lilburne and Fairfax, Knaresborough’s great fortress was reduced to piles of ruins as the result of an order of the Council of State not many years after its capture. Subsequently, as in the case of such splendid structures as Richard I.’s Château Gaillard, the broken remains were cheap building stone for the townsfolk, and seeing that in those days archæological societies had yet to be instituted, who can blame the townsfolk?

Lord Lytton gives a story of the siege that we may recall, seeing that there is so little to vividly bring to mind the scene during the strenuous defence of the castle by the plucky townsfolk. ‘A youth,’ we are told, ‘whose father was in the garrison, was accustomed nightly to get into the deep, dry moat, climb up the glacis, and put provisions through a hole where the father stood ready to receive them. He was perceived at length; the soldiers fired on him.’ The poor lad was made prisoner, and sentenced to be hanged in quite medieval fashion within sight of the garrison. There was, however, a certain lady who, with great difficulty, prevented this barbarous order from being carried out, and when the castle had capitulated and the soldiers had left the boy was released.

The keep is in the Decorated style, and appears to have been built in the reign of Edward II. Below the ground is a vaulted dungeon, dark and horrible in its hopeless strength, which is only emphasized by the tiny air-hole that lets in scarcely a glimmering of light, but reveals a thickness of 15 feet of masonry that must have made a prisoner’s heart sick. It is generally understood that Bolingbroke spared Richard II. such confinement as this, and that when he was a prisoner in the keep he occupied the large room on the floor above the kitchen. It is now a mere platform, with the walls running up on two sides only. The kitchen (sometimes called the guard-room) has a perfectly preserved roof of heavy groining, supported by two pillars, and it contains a collection of interesting objects, rather difficult to see, owing to the poor light that the windows allow. The small local guide-book gives us a thrill by stating that a very antique-looking chest is ‘said to have been the property of William the Conqueror.’ We hope it was, but long for some proofs. The spring mantrap is of no great age, and it was in use not many years ago, when the owner was in the habit of exhibiting it on market days with a notice upon it to inform the public that every night he adjusted its deadly jaws in some part of his orchard. There is much to interest us among the wind-swept ruins and the views into the wooded depths of the Nidd, and we would rather stay here and trace back the history of the castle and town to the days of that Norman Serlo de Burgh, who is the first mentioned in its annals, than go down to the tripper-worn Dropping Well and the Mother Shipton Inn.

When we have determined to see what these ‘sights’ have to offer, we find that the inn is a fairly picturesque one, but with scarcely a quarter of the interest of the old chemist’s shop we saw in the market-place. The walk along the river bank among a fine growth of beeches is pleasant enough, and would be enjoyable if it were not for the fact that it leads to a ‘sight’ which has to be paid for. Under the overhanging edge of the limestone crag hang a row of eccentric objects constantly under the dripping water that trickles down the face of the rock, which is itself formed entirely by the petrifying action of the spring some yards away from the river. The water being strongly charged with lime, everything within its reach, including the row of ‘curiosities’ in course of manufacture, are coated over and finally reduced to limestone, the process taking about two years. When we have come away from the well we feel we have seen all the sights we are equal to, and gladly leave St. Robert’s Chapel and the other caves to be seen at some more convenient season. The story of Eugene Aram and the murder of Daniel Clark is a page in the history of Knaresborough that may perhaps add interest to the town, but it is certainly likely to rob the place of some of its charm, so without wasting any time on a visit to the cave where the murdered man’s body was buried, we go out on the road to Harrogate.

The distance between the towns is short, and soon after passing Starbeck we come to Harrogate’s extensive common known as the Stray. We follow the grassy space, when it takes a sharp turn to the north, and are soon in the centre of the great watering-place. Among the buildings that rise up in imposing masses on each side of us we can see no traces of anything that is not of recent date, and we find nothing at all to suggest that the place really belongs to Yorkshire.

Walking or being pulled in bath-chairs along the carefully-made paths are all sorts and conditions of invalids, and interspersed among them are numbers of people who, if they have any ailments curable by the waters, are either in very advanced stages of convalescence or are extremely expert in hiding any traces of ill-health.

There is one spot in Harrogate that has a suggestion of the early days of the town. It is down in the corner where the valley gardens almost join the extremity of the Stray. There we find the Royal Pump Room that made its appearance in early Victorian times, and its circular counter is still crowded every morning by a throng of water-drinkers. We wander through the hilly streets and gaze at the pretentious hotels, the baths, the huge Kursaal, the hydropathic establishments, the smart shops, and the many churches, and then, having seen enough of the buildings, we find a seat supported by green serpents, from which to watch the passers-by. A white-haired and withered man, having the stamp of a military life in his still erect bearing, paces slowly by; then come two elaborately dressed men of perhaps twenty-five. They wear brown suits and patent boots, and their bowler hats are pressed down on the backs of their heads. Then nursemaids with perambulators pass, followed by a lady in expensive garments, who talks volubly to her two pretty daughters. When we have tired of the pavements and the people, we bid farewell to them without much regret, being in a mood for simplicity and solitude, and go away towards Wharfedale with the pleasant tune that a band was playing still to remind us for a time of the scenes we have left behind.

WHARFEDALE

CHAPTER VII
WHARFEDALE

Otley is the first place we come to in the long and beautiful valley of the Wharfe. It is a busy little town where printing machinery is manufactured and worsted mills appear to thrive. Immediately to the south rises the steep ridge known as the Chevin. It answers the same purpose as Leyburn Shawl in giving a great view over the dale; the elevation of over 900 feet, being much greater than the Shawl, of course commands a far more extensive panorama, and thus, in clear weather, York Minster appears on the eastern horizon and the Ingleton Fells on the west.

Farnley Hall, on the north side of the Wharfe, is an Elizabethan house dating from 1581, and it is still further of interest on account of Turner’s frequent visits, covering a great number of years, and for the very fine collection of his paintings preserved there. The oak-panelling and coeval furniture are particularly good, and among the historical relics there is a remarkable memento of Marston Moor in the sword that Cromwell carried during the battle.

A few miles higher up the dale stands the big ‘hydropathic,’ and the station of Ben Rhydding. The name sounds very Scottish, and the man who started the establishment came from beyond the Border. He found that the site he had selected was marked in the Ordnance maps as a ‘bean rhydding,’ or fallow land, so he decided to drop the ‘a’ in ‘bean,’ and in that way get a good Scottish flavour into the name, and now its origin is being quite forgotten. Only a short distance beyond is the considerable town of Ilkley, where hotels and vast hydropathic establishments flourish exceedingly, and villas are constantly adding to the size of the place, which had a population of only 500 half a century ago. Ilkley has an old well-house, where the water’s purity is its chief attraction. The church contains a thirteenth-century effigy of Sir Andrew de Middleton, and also three pre-Norman crosses without arms. On the heights to the south of Ilkley is Rumbles Moor, and from the Cow and Calf rocks there is a very fine view. Ilkley is particularly well situated for walks up the dales and over the moors, as a glance at the map at the end of this volume will show.

About six miles still further up Wharfedale Bolton Abbey stands by a bend of the beautiful river. The ruins are most picturesquely placed on ground slightly raised above the banks of the Wharfe. Of the domestic buildings practically nothing remains, while the choir of the church, the central tower, and north transepts are roofless and extremely beautiful ruins. The nave is roofed in, and is used as a church at the present time, and it is probable that services have been held in the building practically without any interruption for 700 years. Hiding the Early English west end is the lower half of a fine Perpendicular tower, commenced by Richard Moone, the last Prior. Followers of Ruskin speak of this as a disfigurement, and I imagine that they also despise the tower of Fountains Abbey because it belongs to the same period. The taste displayed in the architecture and decoration of Brantwood does not encourage me to accept Ruskin’s pronouncements on the latest phase of Gothic development, and I need only point to the splendid western towers of Beverley Minster in support of my intense admiration for the dispised Perpendicular style.

The great east window of the choir has lost its tracery, and the Decorated windows at the sides are in the same vacant state, with the exception of the one that appears in the illustration given here. It is blocked up to half its height, like those on the north side, but the flamboyant tracery of the head is perfect and very graceful. Lower down there is some late-Norman interlaced arcading resting on carved corbels.

There is something singularly attractive in the views of the woods that overhang the river when we see them framed by the great stone arches and fluted piers. We can hear the rich notes of a blackbird, and the gentle rush of the river where it washes the stony beach close at hand, and there is present that wonderful silence that broods over ruined monasteries.

From the abbey we can take our way by various beautiful paths to the exceedingly rich scenery of Bolton woods. Some of the reaches of the Wharfe through this deep and heavily-timbered part of its course are really enchanting, and not even the knowledge that excursion parties frequently traverse the paths can rob the views of their charm. It is always possible, by taking a little trouble, to choose occasions for seeing these

BOLTON ABBEY, WHARFEDALE

From under the arches of the central tower one is looking out over the course of the river Wharfe. The abbey was founded in the twelfth century for monks of the Order of St. Augustine.

beautiful but very popular places when they are unspoiled by the sights and sounds of holiday-makers, and in the autumn, when the woods have an almost undreamed-of brilliance, the walks and drives are generally left to the birds and the rabbits. At the Strid the river, except in flood-times, is confined to a deep channel through the rocks, in places scarcely more than a yard in width. It is one of those spots that accumulate stories and legends of the individuals who have lost their lives, or saved them, by endeavouring to leap the narrow channel. That several people have been drowned here is painfully true, for the temptation to try the seemingly easy but very risky jump is more than many can resist.

Higher up, the river is crossed by the three arches of Barden Bridge, a fine old structure bearing the inscription: ‘This bridge was repayred at the charge of the whole West R .... 1676.’ To the south of the bridge stands the picturesque Tudor house called Barden Tower, which was at one time a keeper’s lodge in the manorial forest of Wharfedale. It was enlarged by the tenth Lord Clifford—the ‘Shepherd Lord’ whose strange life-story is mentioned in the next chapter in connection with Skipton—but having become ruinous, it was repaired in 1658 by that indefatigable restorer of the family castles, the Lady Anne Clifford.

At this point there is a road across the moors to Pateley Bridge, in Nidderdale, and if we wish to explore that valley, which is now partially filled with a lake formed by the damming of the Nidd for Bradford’s water-supply, we must leave the Wharfe at Barden. If we keep to the more beautiful dale we go on through the pretty village of Burnsall to Grassington, where a branch railway has recently made its appearance from Skipton.

The dale from this point appears more and more wild, and the fells become gaunt and bare, with scars often fringing the heights on either side. We keep to the east side of the river, and soon after having a good view up Littondale, a beautiful branch valley, we come to Kettlewell. This tidy and cheerful village stands at the foot of Great Whernside, one of the twin fells that we saw overlooking the head of Coverdale when we were at Middleham. Its comfortable little inns make Kettlewell a very fine centre for rambles in the wild dales that run up towards the head of Wharfedale.

Buckden is a small village situated at the

HUBBERHOLME CHURCH

Is one of the quaintest in Yorkshire. It has Norman features, but dates chiefly from the thirteenth century. The situation on the banks of the Wharfe in Langstrothdale Chase is most beautiful.

junction of the road from Aysgarth, and it has the beautiful scenery of Langstrothdale Chase stretching away to the west. About a mile higher up the dale we come to the curious old church of Hubberholme standing close to the river, and forming a most attractive picture in conjunction with the bridge and the masses of trees just beyond. At Raisgill we leave the road, which, if continued, would take us over the moors by Dodd Fell, and then down to Hawes. The track goes across Horse Head Moor, and it is so very slightly marked on the bent that we only follow it with difficulty. It is steep in places, for in a short distance it climbs up to nearly 2,000 feet. The tawny hollows in the fell-sides, and the utter wildness spread all around, are more impressive when we are right away from anything that can even be called a path. The sheep just remind us of the civilization that endeavours to make what use it can of these desolate places, and when none are in sight we are left alone with the sky and the heaving brown hills.

When we reach the highest point before the rapid descent into Littondale we have another great view, with Pen-y-ghent close at hand and Fountains Fell more to the south. At the bottom of the dale flows the Skirfare, and we follow it past the gray old village of Litton down to Arncliffe, where there is a nice inn by such a pleasant green that we are tempted to stay there rather than hurry on to Skipton.

SKIPTON, MALHAM AND GORDALE

CHAPTER VIII
SKIPTON, MALHAM AND GORDALE

When I think of Skipton I am never quite sure whether to look upon it as a manufacturing centre or as one of the picturesque market towns of the dale country. If you arrive by train, you come out of the station upon such vast cotton-mills, and such a strong flavour of the bustling activity of the southern parts of Yorkshire, that you might easily imagine that the capital of Craven has no part in any holiday-making portion of the county. But if you come by road from Bolton Abbey, you enter the place at a considerable height, and, passing round the margin of the wooded Haw Beck, you have a fine view of the castle, as well as the church and the broad and not unpleasing market-place. Beyond these appear the chimneys and the smoke of the manufacturing and railway side of the town, almost entirely separate from the old world and historic portion on the higher ground. When you are on the castle ramparts the factories appear much less formidable—in fact, they seem to shrink into quite a small area owing to the great bare hills that rise up on all sides.

On this sunny morning, as we make our way towards the castle, we find the attractive side of Skipton entirely unspoiled by any false impression given by the factories. The smoke which the chimneys make appears in the form of a thin white mist against the brown moors beyond, and everything is very clean and very bright after heavy rain. The gateway of the castle is flanked by two squat towers. They are circular and battlemented, and between them upon a parapet, which is higher than the towers themselves, appears the motto of the Cliffords, ‘Desormais’ (hereafter), in open stone letters. Beyond the gateway stands a great mass of buildings with two large round towers just in front; to the right, across a sloping lawn, appears the more modern and inhabited portion of the castle. The squat round towers gain all our attention, but as we pass through the doorways into the courtyard beyond, we are scarcely prepared for the astonishingly beautiful quadrangle that awaits us. It is small, and the centre is occupied by a great yew-tree, whose tall, purply-red trunk goes up to

THE COURTYARD OF SKIPTON CASTLE

The buildings of this portion of the castle, although in such good preservation, are not occupied.

the level of the roofs without any branches or even twigs, but at that height it spreads out freely into a feathery canopy of dark green, covering almost the whole of the square of sky visible from the courtyard. The base of the trunk is surrounded by a massive stone seat, with plain shields on each side. The sunlight that comes through this green network is very much subdued when it falls upon walls and the pavement, which becomes strewn over with circular splashes of whiteness. The masonry of the walls on every side, where not showing the original red of the sandstone, has been weathered into beautiful emerald tints, and to a height of two or three feet there is a considerable growth of moss on the worn mouldings. The general appearance of the courtyard suggests more that of a manor-house than a castle, the windows and doorways being purely Tudor. The circular towers and other portions of the walls belong to the time of Edward II., and there is also a roundheaded door that cannot be later than the time of Robert de Romillé, one of the Conqueror’s followers. The rooms that overlook the shady quadrangle are very much decayed and entirely unoccupied. They include an old dining-hall of much picturesqueness, kitchens, pantries, and butteries, some of them only lighted by narrow windows on the outer faces of the wall. There are many large bedrooms and other dark apartments in the towers. Only a little restoration would be required to put a great portion of these into habitable condition, for they are structurally in a good state of repair, as may be seen to some extent from the picture of the courtyard reproduced here. The destruction caused during the siege which took place during the Civil War might have brought Skipton Castle to much the same condition as Knaresborough but for the wealth and energy of that remarkable woman Lady Anne Clifford, who was born here in 1589. She was the only surviving child of George, the third Earl of Cumberland, and grew up under the care of her mother, Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, of whom Lady Anne used to speak as ‘my blessed mother.’ Her reverence for the memory of this admirable parent is also shown in the feeling which prompted her to put up a pillar by the roadside, between Penrith and Appleby, to commemorate their last meeting, and, besides this, the Lady Anne left a sum of money to be given to the poor at that spot on a certain day every year. After her first marriage with Richard Sackville, Earl of Dorset, Lady Anne married the profligate Philip, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. She was widowed a second time in 1649, and after that began the period of her munificence and usefulness. With immense enthusiasm, she undertook the work of repairing the castles that belonged to her family, Brougham, Appleby, Barden Tower, and Pendragon being restored as well as Skipton. We can see in the towers where the later work begins, and the custodian who shows us through the apartments points out many details which are invisible without the aid of his candle.

Besides attending to the decayed castles, the Countess repaired no less than seven churches, and to her we owe the careful restoration of the parish church of Skipton. She began the repairs to the sacred building even before she turned her attention to the wants of the castle. In her private memorials we read how, ‘In the summer of 1665 ... at her own charge, she caus’d the steeple of Skipton Church to be built up againe, which was pull’d down in the time of the late Warrs, and leaded it over, and then repaired some part of the Church and new glaz’d the Windows, in every of which Window she put quaries, stained with a yellow colour, these two letters—viz., A. P., and under them the year 1655.... Besides, she raised up a noble Tomb of Black Marble in memory of her Warlike Father.’ This magnificent altar-tomb still stands within the Communion rails on the south side of the chancel. It is adorned with seventeen shields, and Whitaker doubted ‘whether so great an assemblage of noble bearings can be found on the tomb of any other Englishman.’ This third Earl was a notable figure in the reign of Elizabeth, and having for a time been a great favourite with the Queen, he received many of the posts of honour she loved to bestow. He was a skilful and daring sailor, helping to defeat the Spanish Armada, and building at his own expense one of the greatest fighting ships of his time, Elizabeth—who, like the present German Emperor, never lost an opportunity of fostering the growth of her navy—being present at the launching ceremony.

The memorials of Lady Anne give a description of her appearance in the manner of that time: ‘The colour of her eyes was black like her Father’s,’ we are told, ‘with a peak of hair on her forehead, and a dimple in her chin, like her father. The hair of her head was brown and very thick, and so long that it reached to the calf of her legs when she stood upright; and when she caused these memorials of herself to be written (she had passed the year 63 of her age), she said the perfections of her mind were much above those of her body; she had a strong and copious memory, a sound judgment, and a discerning spirit, and so much of a strong imagination in her as that at many times even her dreams and apprehensions beforehand proved true.’ The Countess died at the great age of eighty-seven at Brougham Castle in Westmoreland, and was buried in the Church of St. Lawrence at Appleby.

We cannot leave these old towers of Skipton Castle without going back to the days of John, the ninth Lord Clifford, that ‘Bloody Clifford’ who was one of the leaders of the Lancastrians at Wakefield, where his merciless slaughter earned him the title of ‘the Butcher.’ He died by a chance arrow the night before the Battle of Towton, so fatal to the cause of Lancaster, and Lady Clifford and the children took refuge in her father’s castle at Brough. For greater safety Henry, the heir, was placed under the care of a shepherd whose wife had nursed the boy’s mother when a child. In this way the future baron grew up as an entirely uneducated shepherd lad, spending his days on the fells in the primitive fashion of the peasants of the fifteenth century. When he was about twelve years old Lady Clifford, hearing rumours that the whereabouts of her children had become known, sent the shepherd and his wife with the boy into an extremely inaccessible part of Cumberland. He remained there until his thirty-second year, when the Battle of Bosworth placed Henry VII. on the throne. Then the shepherd lord was brought to Londesborough, and when the family estates had been restored, he went back to Skipton Castle. The strangeness of his new life being irksome to him, Lord Clifford spent most of his time in Barden Forest at one of the keeper’s lodges, which he adapted for his own use. There he hunted and studied astronomy and astrology with the canons of Bolton.

At Flodden Field he led the men-at-arms from Craven, and showed that by his life of extreme simplicity he had in no way diminished the traditional valour of the Cliffords. When he died they buried him at Bolton Abbey, where many of his ancestors lay, and as his successor died after the dissolution of the monasteries, the ‘Shepherd Lord’ was the last to be buried in that secluded spot by the Wharfe.

Skipton has always been a central spot for the exploration of this southern portion of the dales, and since the Midland Railway has lately put out an arm to the north, there are lines going in five directions. The new branch that goes into Wharfedale stops just before it reaches Grassington, and has an intermediate station with a triple name in consideration of the fact that it is placed at almost exactly the same distance from the three villages of Hetton, Rylstone, and Cracoe. Whether we go by road or rail, we have good views of Flasby and Rylstone Fells as we pass along the course of Eller Beck to the romantically situated village made famous by Wordsworth’s ballad of ‘The White Doe of Rylstone.’ The site of the old manor-house where the Nortons lived may still be seen in a field to the east of the church. Owing to the part they took in the Rising of the North in 1569 the Nortons lost all their property in Yorkshire, and among the humble folk of Rylstone who shared in the rebellion there was Richard Kitchen, Mr. Norton’s butler, who lost much more, for he was executed at Ripon. From Hetton we follow a road to the west, and passing the hamlet of Winterburn, come to Airton, where there are some interesting old houses, one of them dating from the year of the Great Fire of London. Turning to the north, we come to Kirby Malham, less than two miles off. It is a pretty little village with green limestone hills rising on all sides; a rushing beck coming off Kirby Fell takes its way past the church, and there is an old vicarage as well as some picturesque cottages.

We find our way to a decayed lych-gate, whose stones are very black and moss-grown, and then get a close view of the Perpendicular church. The interior is full of interest, not only on account of the Norman font and the canopied niches in the pillars of the nave, but also for the old pews. The Malham people seemingly found great delight in recording their names on the woodwork of the pews, for carefully carved initials and dates appear very frequently. All the pews have been cut down to the accepted height of the present day with the exception of some on the north side which were occupied by the more important families, and these still retain their squareness and the high balustrades above the panelled lower portions. One of the parish registers has the rare distinction of containing Oliver Cromwell’s signature to a marriage. There is also the entry of the baptism on November 7, 1619, of John Lambert, who became famous as Major-General in the Roundhead army.

Just under the moorland heights surrounding Malham Tarn is the other village of Malham. It is a charming spot, even in the gloom of a wintry afternoon. The houses look on to a strip of uneven green, cut in two, lengthways, by the Aire. We go across the clear and sparkling waters by a rough stone footbridge, and, making our way past a farm, find ourselves in a few minutes at Gordale Bridge. Here we abandon the switchback lane, and, climbing a wall, begin to make our way along the side of the beck. The fells drop down fairly sharply on each side, and in the failing light there seems no object in following the stream any further, when quite suddenly the green slope on the right stands out from a scarred wall of rock beyond, and when we are abreast of the opening we find ourselves before a vast fissure that leads right into the heart of the fell. The great split is S-shaped in plan, so that when we advance into its yawning mouth we are surrounded by limestone cliffs more than 300 feet high. If one visits Gordale Scar for the first time alone on a gloomy evening, as I have done, I can promise the most thrilling sensations to those who have yet to see this astonishing sight. It almost appeared to me as though I were dreaming, and that I was Aladin approaching the magician’s palace. I had read some of the eighteenth-century writers’ descriptions of the place, and imagined that their vivid accounts of the terror inspired by the overhanging rocks were mere exaggerations, but now I sympathize with every word. The scars overhang so much on the east side that there is not much space to get out of reach of the water that drips from every portion. Great masses of stone were lying upon the bright strip of turf, and among them I noticed some that could not have been there long; this made me keep close under the cliff in justifiable fear of another fall. I stared with apprehension at one rock that would not only kill, but completely bury, anyone upon whom it fell, and I thought those old writers had underrated the horrors of the place. Through a natural arch in the rocks that faced me came a foaming torrent broken up below into a series of cascades, and the roar of the waters in the confined space added much to the fear that was taking possession of me. It was owing to the curious habit that waterfalls have of seeming to become suddenly louder that I must own to that sense of fearfulness, for at one moment the noise

GORDALE SCAR

This is one of the most astonishing sights in Yorkshire. The gorge is a result of the Craven Fault—a geological dislocation that has also made the huge cliffs of Malham Cove. The stream is the Aire. It can be seen coming through a natural arch high up among the rocks.

sounded so suddenly different that I was convinced that a considerable fall of stones had commenced among the crags overhead, and that in a moment they would crash into the narrow cleft. Common-sense seemed to urge an immediate retreat, for there was too much water coming down the falls to allow me to climb out that way, as I could otherwise have done. The desire to carry away some sort of picture of the fearsome place was, however, triumphant, and the result is given in this chapter.

Wordsworth writes of

‘Gordale chasm, terrific as the lair
Where the young lions couch,’

and he also describes it as one of the grandest objects in nature.

A further result of the Craven fault that produced Gordale Scar can be seen at Malham Cove, about a mile away. There the cliff forms a curved front 285 feet high, facing the open meadows down below. The limestone is formed in layers of great thickness, dividing the face of the cliff into three fairly equal sections, the ledges formed at the commencement of each stratum allowing of the growth of bushes and small trees. A hard-pressed fox is said to have taken refuge on one of these precarious ledges, and finding his way stopped in front, he tried to turn, and in doing so fell and was killed.

At the base of the perpendicular face of the cliff the Aire flows from a very slightly arched recess in the rock. It is a really remarkable stream in making its début without the slightest fuss, for it is large enough at its very birth to be called a small river. Its modesty is a great loss to Yorkshire, for if, instead of gathering strength in the hidden places in the limestone fells, it were to keep to more rational methods, it would flow to the edge of the Cove, and there precipitate itself in majestic fashion into a great pool below. There is some reason for believing that on certain occasions in the past the stream has taken the more showy course, and if sufficient cement could be introduced into some of the larger fissures above, a fall might be induced to occur after every period of heavy rain. All the romance would perhaps disappear if we knew that the effect was artificial, and therefore we would no doubt be wiser to remain content with the Cove as it is.

SETTLE AND THE INGLETON FELLS

CHAPTER IX
SETTLE AND THE INGLETON FELLS

The track across the moor from Malham Cove to Settle cannot be recommended to anyone at night, owing to the extreme difficulty of keeping to the path without a very great familiarity with every yard of the way, so that when I merely suggested taking that route one wintry night the villagers protested vigorously. I therefore took the road that goes up from Kirby Malham, having borrowed a large hurricane lamp from the ‘Buck’ Inn at Malham. Long before I reached the open moor I was enveloped in a mist that would have made the track quite invisible even where it was most plainly marked, and I blessed the good folk at Malham who had advised me to take the road rather than run the risks of the pot-holes that are a feature of the limestone fells. This moor is on the range of watersheds of Northern England, for it sends streams east and west that find their way into the Irish Sea and German Ocean.

With the swinging lantern throwing vast shadows of my own figure upon the mist, and the stony road under my feet, I at length dropped down the steep descent into Settle, having seen no human being on the road since I left Kirby Malham. Even Settle was almost as lonely, for I had nearly reached a building called The Folly, which is near the middle of the town, before I met the first inhabitant.

In the morning I discovered that The Folly was the most notable house in the town, for its long stone front dates from the time of Charles II., and it is a very fine example of the most elaborate treatment of a house of that size and period to be found in the Craven district. Settle has a most distinctive feature in the possession of Castleberg, a steep limestone hill, densely wooded except at the very top, that rises sharply just behind the market-place. Before the trees were planted there seems to have been a sundial on the side of the hill, the precipitous scar on the top forming the gnomon. No one remembers this curious feature, although a print showing the numbers fixed upon the slope was published in 1778. The market-place has lost its curious old tollbooth, and in its place stands a town hall of good Tudor design. Departed also is much of the charm of the old Shambles that occupy a

SETTLE

This grey old town in Ribblesdale is one of the quaintest in this part of Yorkshire.

central position in the square. The lower story, with big arches forming a sort of piazza in front of the butcher’s and other shops, still remains in its old state, but the upper portion has been restored in the fullest sense of that comprehensive term.

In the steep street that we came down on entering the town there may still be seen a curious old tower, which seems to have forgotten its original purpose. Some of the houses have carved stone lintels to their doorways and seventeenth-century dates, while the stone figure on ‘The Naked Man’ Inn, although bearing the date 1663, must be very much older, the year of rebuilding being probably indicated rather than the date of the figure.

The Ribble divides Settle from its former parish church at Giggleswick, and until 1838 the townsfolk had to go over the bridge and along a short lane to the village which held its church. Settle having been formed into a separate parish, the parish clerk of the ancient village no longer has the fees for funerals and marriages. Although able to share the church, the two places had stocks of their own for a great many years. At Settle they have been taken from the market square and placed in the court-house, and at Giggleswick one of the first things we see on entering the village is one of the stone posts of the stocks standing by the steps of the market cross. This cross has a very well preserved head, and it makes the foreground of a very pretty picture as we look at the battlemented tower of the church through the stone-roofed lichgate grown over with ivy. The history of this fine old church, dedicated, like that of Middleham, to St. Alkelda, has been written by Mr. Thomas Brayshaw, who knows every detail of the old building from the chalice inscribed ‘✠ THE · COMMVNION · CVPP · BELONGINGE · TO · THE · PARISHE · OF · IYGGELSWICKE · MADE · IN · ANO · 1585.’ to the inverted Norman capitals now forming the bases of the pillars. The tower and the arcades date from about 1400, and the rest of the structure is about 100 years older.

‘The Black Horse’ Inn has still two niches for small figures of saints, that proclaim its ecclesiastical connections in early times. It is said that in the days when it was one of the duties of the churchwardens to see that no one was drinking there during the hours of service the inspection used to last up to just the end of the sermon, and that when the custom was abolished the church officials regretted it exceedingly. Giggleswick is also the proud possessor of a school founded in 1512. It has grown from a very small beginning to a considerable establishment, and it possesses one of the most remarkable school chapels that can be seen anywhere in the country. It was built between 1897 and 1901, as a memorial of Queen Victoria’s ‘Diamond Jubilee,’ by Mr. Walter Morrison, who spared no expense in clothing it with elaborate decoration, executed by some of the most renowned artists of the present day. The design of the building is by Mr. T. G. Jackson, R.A.

The museum is of more than ordinary interest on account of the very fine collection of prehistoric remains discovered in the Victoria Cave two miles to the north-east of Settle. Besides bones of such animals as the cave bear, bison, elephant, and grisly bear, fragments of pottery were discovered, together with bronze and silver coins dating from the Roman period.

An ebbing and flowing well, which has excited the admiration of all the earlier writers on this part of Yorkshire, can be seen at about the distance of a mile to the north of Giggleswick. The old prints show this as a most spectacular natural phenomenon; but whatever it may have been a century or more ago, it appears at the present day as little more than an ordinary roadside well, so common in this neighbourhood. In very dry or very wet weather the well remains inactive, but when there is a medium supply of water the level of the water is constantly changing. Giggleswick Tarn is no longer in existence, for it has been drained, and the site is occupied by pastures. The very fine British canoe, discovered when the drainage operations were in progress, is now preserved in the Leeds Museum.

The road that goes northward from Settle keeps close to the Midland Railway, which here forces its way right through the Dale Country, under the very shoulders of Pen-y-ghent, and within sight of the flat top of Ingleborough. The greater part of this country is composed of limestone, forming bare hillsides honeycombed with underground waters and pot-holes, which often lead down into the most astonishing caverns. In Ingleborough itself there is Gaping Gill Hole, a vast fissure nearly 350 feet deep. It was only partially explored by M. Martel in 1895. Ingleborough Cave penetrates into the mountain to a distance of nearly 1,000 feet, and is one of the best of these limestone caverns for its stalactite formations. Guides take visitors from the village of Clapham to the inmost recesses and chambers that branch out of the small portion discovered in 1837.

The fells contain so many fissures and curious waterfalls that drop into abysses of blackness, that it would take an infinite time to adequately describe even a portion of them. The scenery is wild and gaunt, and is much the same as the moors at the head of Swaledale, described in an earlier chapter. In every direction there are opportunities for splendid mountain walks, and if the tracks are followed the danger of hidden pot-holes is comparatively small. From the summit of Ingleborough, and, indeed, from most of the fells that reach 2,000 feet, there are magnificent views across the brown fells, broken up with horizontal lines formed by the bare rocky scars. Bowfell, Whernside, Great Shunnor Fell, High Seat, and a dozen other heights, dominate the lower and greener country, and to the west, where the mountains drop down towards Morecambe Bay, one looks all over the country watered by the Lune and the Kent, the two rivers that flow from the seaward side of these lofty watersheds.

INDEX

[A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [K], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [Q], [R], [S], [T], [U], [V], [W], [Y].

Addlebrough, 8[3], [89]
Agincourt, Battle of, [96]
Aire, river, [159], [162]
Airton, [157]
Aislabie, John, [116]
Alan Rufus of Brittany, first Earl of Richmond, [18], [29], [32], [33]
Alnwick, [35]
Alwine, Parson of Wencelaw, [107]
Anglo-Saxon population of Yorkshire, [40]
Appleby, [152]
Castle, [153]
Church of St. Lawrence, [155]
Aram, Eugene, [134]
Arkengarthdale, [60]
Arkle Beck, [63]
Armada, Spanish, [154]
Arncliffe, [146]
Aske, family of, [43]
Roger de, [59]
Askrigg, [65], [86], [89-96], [100], [115]
Aysgarth, [91], [97], [100], [102], [145]
Force, [98], [99], [102]
Bain, River, [87]
Bainbridge, [84], [86], [87], [88], [89], [94], [100]
Bangor, Matthew Hutton, Bishop of, [53]
Bannockburn, Battle of, [59], [128]
Bardale, [84]
Beck, [85]
Barden Bridge, [143], [144],
Forest, [143], [156]
Tower, [143], [144], [153], [156]
Baugh or Bow Fell, [89]
Bayeux tapestry, [40]
Beaufort, Margaret, [36]
Beckwith, John, [130]
Bedale, [13], [32], [38]
Scolland Lord of, [32]
Ben Rhydding, [140]
Benedictine nuns at Marrick, [59]
Beverley, [22]
Minster, [141]
Bishop Dale, [100], [101]
Beck, [101]
Bolingbroke, [133]
Bolton Abbey, [141], [142], [149], [156]
Canons of, [156]
Castle, [88], [103], [104], [106]
lords of, [42], [96], [103]
Hall, [104], [105], [108]
Woods, [142]
Boroughbridge, [128]
Bosworth, Battle of, [156]
Bow or Baugh Fell, [89], [171]
Bradford, water supply of, [144]
Brantwood, Coniston, [141]
Brayshaw, Thomas, [168]
Bretons, [16], [34], [39], [40]
Bridlington, [22]
British canoe, early, [170]
Brittany, Dukes of, [18], [31], [35]
Brough Castle, [153]
Hill, [84]
Brougham Castle, [153], [155]
Buckden, [144]
Pike, [102]
Buonaparte, Napoleon, [105], [106]
Burgh, Serlo de, [133]
Burnsall, [144]
Buttertubs Pass, [65], [71-76]
Buxton, [19]
Byron, Lord, [48]
Calver Hill, [61]
Cam Fell, [84]
Gill Beck, [102]
Canterbury, Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of, [53]
Carlow Stone, Semmerwater, [84]
Carperby, [97]
Castleberg Settle, [166]
Catherine, Queen, widow of Henry V., [36]
Catterick, [32]
Charles I., [129]
II., time of, [166]
Château Gaillard, [131]
Chemist’s shop, old, at Knaresborough, [130]
Chevin, The, [139]
Christianity, early, in Yorkshire, [118]
Cistercian abbeys, [115], [119]
Nuns at Ellerton, [59]
Civil War, the, of Charles I., [39], [103], [127], [129], [152], [153], [158]
Clapham, [170]
Clark, Daniel, [134]
Clarkson, C., [23], [24]
Cleveland Hills, [82]
Clifford, family of, [150], [156]
the ninth Lord, [155]
Lady, [155], [156]
the tenth Lord, [143], [155], [156]
the Lady Anne, [144], [152-155]
Clock-making in Wensleydale, [65], [92]
Cogden Moor, [58]
Commonwealth, time of, [19]
Conan, fifth Earl of Richmond, [29], [30], [31], [32], [34], [115]
Conyers, arms of, [23], [43]
Corfe Castle, Dorsetshire, [110]
Corn, lack of, in dales, [64], [81]
Cotterdale, [92]
Counterside, [88]
Coverdale, [111], [144]
Cow and Calf Rocks, Rumbles Moor, [140]
Cracoe, [157]
Cragdale, [85]
Craven Fault, the, [161]
district, [149], [166]
men of, [156]
Cromwell, Oliver, [127], [128], [129], [140], [158]
Cumberland, [37], [156]
George, third Earl of, [152], [154]
Margaret, Countess of, [152]
Cumbrian Hills, [4]
Dalesmen, [74], [106]
Dallowgill Moor, [120]
Danish population of Yorkshire, [40]
De Burgh, Serlo, [133]
De la Mare, Abbot, [108]
Decorated Gothic Period, [23], [29], [109], [132], [142]
Diamond Jubilee, the, of Queen Victoria, [169]
Dissolution of the Monasteries, [25], [26], [121]
Dodd Fell, [81], [82], [89], [145]
Domesday Book, [32]
Domfront, Normandy, [33]
Dorset, Richard Sackville, Earl of, [152], [153]
Douglas, Sir James, [128]
Downholme, [56], [57]
Moor, [55]
Dropping well, Knaresborough, [125], [134]
Duerley Beck, [81]
Durham, [14], [38], [53]
Dykes, Oswald, [108]
Early English, period of Gothic, [117], [141]
Easby Abbey, [40-43], [51], [105], [107]
Ebbing and flowing well at Giggleswick, 169
Eden, River, [66]
Edward II., [128]
reign of, [132], [151]
III., reign of, [35], [37]
IV., [109]
Prince of Wales, only son of Richard III., [110]
Edwin, Earl, [30], [33]
Eller Beck (Skipton), [157]
Ellerton, [59]
Elizabeth, Queen, [53], [154]
reign of, [131], [154]
Eugene Aram, [134]
Fairfax, Thomas, Lord, [131]
Falaise, Normandy, [33]
Fantosme, Jordan, chronicle of, [34]
Farmhouse, the, of the North Riding, [101]
Farnley Hall, [139]
‘Felon Sow of Rokeby, The,’ [26], [27], [28]
Fences, stone, [6]
Fitz-Hugh, arms of, [23]
Fitz-Randolph, Robert, [109]
Fitz-Ranulph, Radulph, [28]
Flasby Fell, [157]
Flodden Field, [156]
Fors Abbey (Jervaulx), [91]
Fountains Abbey, [41], [119], [121], [141]
Fell, [145]
Fox, George, [88]
Franciscans at Richmond, [25], [26], [28]
Gaping Gill Hole, [170]
Gaunt, John of, [36]
Gayle, [81]
Gent, Thomas, [116]
Gentleman’s Magazine, The, [127]
Geology, [45], [76], [77]
German Emperor, William II.,
III, [144]
German Ocean, [166]
Giggleswick, [167], [168], [169]
School, [168], [169]
Giggleswick Tarn, [169]
Gill Beck (Swaledale), [47]
Gilling, [33], [34]
East, wapentake of, [33]
West, wapentake of, [33]
Gillingshire, [33]
Glacial Epochs, [5], [77]
Glanville or Glanvile, Randulf de, [35]
Goodricke, Sir John, [127]
Gordale Bridge, [159]
Scar, [159], [160], [161]
Gormire (Thirsk), [85]
Grandfather-clocks, [65], [92]
Grassington, [144], [157]
Gray, Archbishop Walter, [117]
Great Central Railway, [8]
Northern Railway, [8]
Great Shunnor Fell, [72], [76], [79], [171]
Great Whernside, [111], [144]
Greyfriars, Richmond, [25], [26], [28]
Griffin, Gilbert, [28]
Grinton, [60]
Guilds, trade, at Richmond, [37], [38]
Hardraw Scar (or Force), [5], [77], [78], [79], [80], [98], [99]
Harkerside Moor, [58]
Harrogate, [19], [129], [135], [136]
Haw Beck, Skipton, [149]
Hawes, [5], [9], [64], [72], [75], [76], [77], [80], [89], [92], [93], [145]
Hawes Junction, [63]
Heather on the fells, [5]
Helvellyn, [83]
Henry II., [34]
III., reign of, [43]
V., Catherine widow of, [36]
VI., play of, [109]
VII., [36], [156]
reign of, [26]
VIII., reign of, [18], [42]
Hetton, [157]
Hexham, [118]
High Seat, [66], [171]
Hobs and wraithes, 74
Holy Rood (September 27), custom
commencing at, [88]
Hornblower, the, of Ripon, [116]
Horse Head Moor, [145]
Houses (farms) of the North Riding, [101]
Hubberholme, [145]
Hudswell, [55]
Hutchinson, John, [64]
Hutton, Matthew, Archbishop of York (1594), [52]
Hutton, Matthew, Archbishop of Canterbury (1757), [53]
Hutton, Captain Matthew, [53]
Ice action, [5]
Ilkley, [140]
Ingleborough, [3], [76], [170], [171]
Cave, [170]
Ingleton Fells, the, [139], [170], [171]
Irish Sea, [166]
Jackson family of Counterside, [88]
T. G., R.A., [169]
Jervaulx Abbey, [100], [115]
John of Gaunt, [36]
Jyggelswicke. See Giggleswick
Keld, [65], [66]
Kent River, [171]
Kettlewell, [144]
Kirby Fell, [158]
Malham, [158], [165], [166]
Kisdon Force, [65]
Hill, [65]
Kitchen, Richard, [157]
Kitchener, Lord, [65]
Knappey, [96]. See Nappa Hall
Knaresborough, [125-135]
Castle, [130-133], [152]
Manor House, [126], [130]
Knight Templars, chapel of, [106], [107]
Knitting in Wensleydale, [91], [92]
Knollys, Sir Francis (1568), [103], [104]
Lady’s Pillar, [66]
Lake District, [4], [63], [66], [82], [83]
Lambert, Major-General John, [158], [159]
Lancashire, [36]
Lancastrians, [155]
Langside, Battle of, [103]
Langstrothdale, [82], [83], [102], [145]
‘Lass of Richmond Hill, The,’ ballad of, [36]
Lead mines, [60]
Leeds Museum, [170]
Leland, John, [18], [22], [24], [26], [33], [59], [81], [97], [99]
Leyburn, [13], [55], [57], [92], [104], [109], [111], [139]
Leyburn Shawl, [104], [110], [111]
Lilburne, of Cromwellian army, [131]
Ling, growth of, on the fells, [82]
Litton, [146]
Littondale, [5], [144], [145]
Londesborough, [156]
Lune River, [171]
Lytton, Lord, [132]
Malham, [159], [165]
Cove, [161], [162], [165]
Tarn, [159]
Mare, Abbot de la, brass of, [108]
Marrick, [59]
Priory, [59]
Marske, [51], [52], [55]
Beck, [52], [54]
Hall, [52], [53], [54]
obelisk at, [53], [54]
Marston Moor, Battle of, [140]
Martel, M., [170]
Mary Queen of Scots, [97], [103], [104], [105]
Masham, [38], [115]
Mashamshire Volunteers, [106]
Mercia, [34]
Metcalfe family, [91], [96], [97]
James, [96]
Thomas, [96]
Mickleden, 63
Middleham, [28], [38], [92], [109], [110], [144], [168]
Middleton, Friar of Richmond, [26], [27]
Middleton, Sir Andrew de, [140]
Midland Railway, [9], [66], [159], [170]
Mill Gill Force, [95], [98]
Monasteries, Dissolution of, [25], [26]
Moone, Richard, Prior of Bolton, [141]
Morecambe Bay, [171]
Morris, Joseph E., [64]
Morrison, Walter, [169]
Mowbray, Vale of, [30], [31], [106]
Muker, [61], [63], [64],

[65], [71], [72], [92]
Murray’s ‘Guide to Yorkshire,’ [92], [93]
Napoleon’s threatened invasion of England, [105]
Nappa Hall, [86], [91], [96], [97]
Navy, British, [154]
Neville, Anne, [110]
arms of, [23]
family of, [109]
Ralph, first Earl of Westmoreland, [36]
Newby Hall, Ripon, [97]
Nidd River, [125], [130], [133], [144]
Nidderdale, [144]
Norman Conquest, [14], [32]
period and architecture, [18], [19], [28], [29], [31], [32], [33], [42], [50], [57], [87], [91], [109], [110], [117], [120], [142], [158], [168]
Northallerton, [128]
North-Eastern Railway, [9], [14]
North Sea, [166]
Norton family of Rylstone, [157]
Obelisk at Marske, [53]
Richmond, [23]
Ripon, [116]
Old Cam Road, [84]
Otley, [139]
Parliament, the English, [106]
Pateley Bridge, [144]
Pembroke and Montgomery, Lady Anne, Countess of, [144], [152-155]
Pembroke and Montgomery, Philip, Earl of, [153]
Pendragon Castle, [153]
Penhill Beacon, [83], [105], [106]
Pennine Range, [3], [4]
Penrith, [152]
Pen-y-ghent, [3], [145], [170]
Perpendicular Period, [18], [23], [25], [28], [43], [91], [100], [108], [117], [141], [158]
Pickering, [43]
Pisgah, Mount, [48]
Plagues at Richmond, [37]
Potholes, [67], [71], [74], [75]
Pratt, clock-maker at Askrigg, [65]
Prehistoric remains, [169]
Purbeck, Corfe Castle in Isle of, [110]
Quakers at Counterside, [88]
Queen’s Gap, The, at Leyburn Shawl, [104]
Railways in the Dale Country, [8]
Rainfall in the dales, [63]
Raisgill, [145]
Ralph of Rokeby, [26]
Randolph, Robert Fitz-, [109]
Ranulph, Radulph Fitz-, [28]
Raydale, [85]
Redmire, [103]
Reeth, [51], [52], [53], [60], [61]
Ribald, brother of a Norman Earl of Richmond, [109]
Ribble, River, [167]
Ribblesdale, [9], [167-171]
Richard I., [131]
II., [133]
reign of, [18], [36]
III., only son of, [110]
arms of, [110]
Richmond, [13-42], [49], [55], [61], [115], [116]
Barley Cross, the, 24
Richmond Castle, [15], [29-37], [39], [42], [130], [131]
walk, [19]
curfew-bell, [18]
Earls of, [18], [29], [31], [32], [35], [36], [109], [115]
gates and walls, [21], [22], [24]
Holy Trinity Church, [17], [33]
King’s Head Hotel, [17]
market-place, [16], [19], [21], [22], [30]
may-pole, [24]
Mayor and Corporation of, [15], [24], [50]
obelisk, [16], [23]
old cross, the, [23], [24]
pillory, [24]
plagues at, [37]
Rural Deanery of, [38]
Trade Guilds of, [37], [38]
whipping-post, [24]
‘Richmondshire, History of,’ by H. Speight, [60], [97]
men of, [35]
Rievaulx Abbey, [41]
Ripley, Hugh, of Ripon, [118]
Ripon, [41], [97], [115-118], [157]
Lord (1906), [119]
Minster, [117], [118]
Rising of the North, the, [157]
Road-making, [94]
Roald, Constable of Richmond Castle, [42]
Robin Hood’s Tower, Richmond Castle, [31]
Robinson, Richard, of Counterside, [88]
Rogan’s Seat, [66]
Rokeby, Ralph of, [26]
‘The Felon Sow of,’ [26]
Roman type of crypt at Ripon, [118]
Romans at Bainbridge, [84], [87]
at Catterick, [32]
Romans at Richmond, [40]
near Settle, [169]
Romillé, Robert de, [151]
Roseberry Topping, [106]
Rumbles Moor, [140]
Ruskin, John, [141]
Rylstone, [157]
ballad of the White Doe of, [157]
Fell, [157]
Sackville, Richard, Earl of Dorset, [152], [153]
Sanderson, Prior Robert, [25]
Saxon remains, lack of, at Richmond, [33]
or pre-Norman crosses, [140]
Scarborough, [39]
Scarth Nick, [105]
Scolland, Lord of Bedale, [32]
Scolland’s Hall, Richmond Castle, [32]
Scots, defeat of, at Alnwick, [35]
raids of the, [36], [37], [59], [128]
Scott, Sir Walter, ballad of ‘The Felon Sow of Rokeby,’ [26]
Scrope, arms of, [23], [108]
family of, [42], [43], [96], [103], [105], [108]
Richard, Lord of Bolton, [105]
Sir Henry le, [42]
Sir William le, [42]
ninth Lord, [103]
tombs, [42]
Sedbergh, [62]
Semmerwater, [84-88]
Settle, [9], [165-167], [169]
Shakespeare’s play of ‘Henry VI.,’ [109]
Shambles at Settle, [166]
Sharp, Roger, [38]
Sheep, Wensleydale, [115]
Shelley, Percy B., [90]
Shene, Surrey, [36]
Shrovetide, 88
Simon de Wenselawe, Sir, [108]
Skell, River, [119]
Skipton, [9], [14], [143], [144], [146], [149-157]
Castle, [150-156]
Skirfare, River, [146]
Slinger, a woman of Cotterdale, [92]
Slingsby, family of, [129]
Francis, [129]
Mary, [129]
Sir Charles, [129]
Sir Henry, [129]
Snowstorms in the dales, [83]
South Africa, [7]
Spanish Armada, [154]
Speight, Harry, [83], [87], [97]
St. Agatha’s Abbey, Easby, [40]
St. Alban’s Abbey, [108]
St. Alkelda, churches dedicated to, [110], [168]
St. Anne, chantry to, at Askrigg, [91]
St. Martin’s Priory at Richmond, [28], [42]
St. Mary’s Abbey at York, [28]
St. Nicholas, Chapel of, in Richmond Castle, [31]
St. Pancras Station, London, [9]
St. Robert’s Chapel, Knaresborough, [134]
St. Wilfrid’s Needle, Ripon, [118]
Stag’s Fell, [65]
Stake Fell, [83]
Starbeck, [135]
Starbottom, [102]
Storms in the dales, [62], [63], [83]
Stray, the, at Harrogate, [135]
Strid, the, [143]
Studley Royal, [119]
Swale, River, [20], [21], [41], [48-67]
Swaledale, [8], [13], [47-64], [83]
Swine Cross, Middleham, [110]
Tees, high force on the, [99]
Teesdale, [64]
Templars, Knight, chapel of, [106]
Thames River, [36]
Thirsk, [106]
William, last Abbot of Fountains Abbey, [121]
Thoralby, [100], [101]
Thornton, William (Askrigg), [90]
Tibetot, arms of, [23]
Tintern Abbey, [41]
Tor Mere Top, [102]
Towton, Battle of, [155]
Tudor, Edmund, [36]
Turner, J. W. M., [59], [84], [139]
Ure, River and Valley of, [43], [71], [80], [89], [97-99], [102], [107], [109], [115], and see Wensleydale
Uredale, [81], and see Wensleydale
Vale of Mowbray, [31], [106]
of York, [6]
Victoria Cave, [169]
Queen, [169]
Volunteers, Wensleydale, etc., [105], [106]
Wakefield, Battle of, [155]
Wakemen, the, of Ripon, [117], [118]
Walburn Hall, [57]
Wymer de, [57]
Waldendale, [102]
Walker, George, [91]
Warwick, arms of, [110]
the King-maker, [109]
Watershed of England, [166], [171]
Watling Street, [27]
Wayne, Christopher, [23]
Wencelaw. See Wensley
Wenselawe. See Wensley
Wensley, [105], [107], [110]
Wensleydale, [5], [43], [64], [65], [71-111], [115]
Forest of, [87]
West Burton, [100]
Westmoreland, [37], [63], [66], [101], [155]
Ralph Neville, first Earl of, [36]
Wether Fell, [82-84], 89
Whaley, Mr., of Askrigg, [91]
Wharfe, River, [139], [141], [142], [144], [156]
Wharfedale, [5], [102], [136], [139-146]
Forest of, [143]
Whernside, [171]
Great and Little, [111]
Whitaker, Dr., Historian of Craven and Richmondshire, [24], [25], [76], [154]
Whitcliffe Scar, [47-49], [53]
Whitfield Force, [96]
Widdale Fell, [89]
Wilfrid, [118]
Willance, Robert, [49], [50]
Willance’s Leap, [49], [54]
William the Conqueror, [18], [33], [34], [133], [151]
the Lion of Scotland, [34]
Winterburn, [157]
Wodenslag. See Wensley
Woodhall Park, [97]
Wordsworth, William, [157], [161]
Wraithes and hobs, [74]
Wyatt, the architect, [117]
Wyman, dapifer to the Earl of Richmond, [28]
York, [22], [28]
Archbishopric of, [53]
Minster, [139]
Vale of, [6]

THE END

BILLING AND SONS, LIMITED, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD

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