Footnotes:
[0] His father, for about 12 months, occupied the house in North Street, of late years known as the “Red House,” distinguished, it is said, as being the only house in the town having a front door of mahogany.
[1a] Mr. Jeans, in his Handbook for Lincolnshire, p. 142, says “the Roman station (here) probably utilized an existing British settlement.”
[1b] Words and Places, p. 13, note. Ed. 1873.
[1c] There are probably traces of British hill-forts in the neighbourhood, as on Hoe hill, near Holbeck, distant 4 miles, also probably at Somersby, Ormsby, and several other places.
[1d] In the name of the near village of Edlington we have probably a trace of the mystic Druid, i.e. British, deity Eideleg, while in Horsington we may have the Druid sacred animal. Olivers’ Religious Houses, Appendix, p. 167.
[2a] Words and Places, p. 130.
[2b] The meadow which now lies in the angle formed by the junction of the Bain and Waring at Horncastle is still called “The Holms,” which is Danish for “islands.”
[2c] The name Bain, slightly varied, is not uncommon. There is the Bannon, or Ban-avon (“avon” also meaning “river”), in Pembrokeshire; the Ban in Co. Wexford, Bana in Co. Down, Banney (i.e. Ban-ea, “ea” also meaning water) in Yorkshire, Bain in Herefordshire; Banavie (avon) is a place on the brightly running river Lochy in Argyleshire; and, as meaning “white,” a fair-haired boy or girl is called in Gaelic “Bhana.”
[2d] The name Waring (G commonly representing the modern W) is found in the Yarrow, and Garry in Scotland, the Geirw, a rough mountain stream, at Pont-y-glyn, in North Wales, and in the Garonne in France.
[2e] Ars Poetica, l 59.
[2f] An account of this urn is given by the late Bishop Trollope, with an engraving of it, in the Architectural Society’s Journal, vol. iv, p. 200.
[2g] De Bella Gallico, bk. v, ch. 12–14.
[2h] Some idea of the extent of these forests, even in later times, may be formed from the account given by De la Prime (Philosophical Transactions, No. 75, p. 980) who says “round about the skirts of the wolds are found infinite millions of the roots and bodies of trees of great size.” Pliney tells us that the Britons had “powerful mastiffs” for hunting the wild boar, and Manwood in an old Treatise on Forest Laws (circa 1680) states (p. 60) that the finest mastiffs were bred in Lincolnshire. Fuller, in his Worthies of England (p. 150) mentions that a Dutchman (circa 1660) coming to England for sport, spent a whole season in pursuit of wild game “in Lincolniensi montium tractu,” by which doubtless were intended the wolds. A writer in the Archæological Journal (June, 1846) says “the whole country of the Coritani (i.e. Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, &c.) was then, and long after, a dense forest.” The name “Coritani,” or more properly Coitani, is the Roman adaptation of the British “Coed,” a wood, which still survives in Wales in such place-names as “Coed Coch,” the red wood, “Bettws y Coed,” the chapel in the wood, &c. This was their distinguishing characteristic to the Roman, they were wood-men.
[3] To the skill and bravery in war of the Britons Cæsar bears testimony. He says, “They drive their chariots in all directions, throwing their spears, and by the fear of their horses and the noise of their wheels they disturb the ranks of their enemies; when they have forced their way among the troops they leap down and fight on foot. By constant practice they acquire such skill that they can stop, turn, and guide their horses when at full speed and in the most difficult ground. They can run along the chariot pole, sit on the collar and return with rapidity into the chariot, by which novel mode (he says) his men were much disturbed.” (“Novitate pugnæ perturbati.”) De Bella Gallico, lib. iv, c, 33, 34.
[5a] An account of this milestone is given by the late Precentor Venables, in his Walks through the Streets of Lincoln, two Lectures, published by J. W. Ruddock, 253, High Street, Lincoln.
[5b] Stukeley, Itinerarium curiosum, p. 28; Weir’s History of Horncastle, p. 4, ed. 1820; Saunders’ History, vol. ii, p. 90, ed. 1834; Bishop Trollope, Architectural Society’s Journal, vol. iv, p. 199, &c.
[5c] Ravennas, whose personal name is not known (that term merely meaning a native of Ravenna), was an anonymous geographer, who wrote a Chorography of Britian, as well as of several other countries, about A.D. 650. These were confessedly compilations from older authorities, and were, two centuries later, revised by Guido of Ravenna, and doubtless by others at a later period still, since the work, in its existent form describes the Saxons and Danes, as well, in Britain. As Gallio, also of Ravenna, was the last Roman general in command in these parts, it has been suggested that he was virtually the original author (Horsley’s Britannia, 1732, chap. iv., p. 489; also The Dawn of Modern Geography, by C. Raymond Beazley, M.A., F.R.G.S., 1897, J. Murray). Messrs. Pinder and Parthey published an edition of Ravennas, or the Ravennese Geographer, as did also Dr. Gale.
[5e] Life of Agricola c. xxxi.
[6a] This is a thoroughly provincial word for highway or turnpike. It is of course a corruption of “Rampart,” a fortified passage. In the marsh districts the main roads are called “rampires.” See Brogden’s Provincial Words.
[6b] The name Baumber, again, also written Bam-burgh, means a “burgh,” or fortress on the Bain, which runs through that parish.
[7a] These urns are fully described with an engraving of them in vol. iv, pt. ii, of the Architectural Society’s Journal, by the late Bishop Dr. E. Trollope.
[7b] Architect. S. Journal, iv, ii, p. 201.
[8] Gough, Sepulchral Monuments, Introduction, p. 59, says “coffins of lead and wood are believed to have been used by the Romans in Britain.”
[9] The first Danish incursions into England were in A.D. 786 and 787, specially in Lincolnshire in 838. In 869 was fought the decisive battle of Threckingham in this county, which made the Danes paramount. The name Threckingham is said to be derived from the fact that 3 kings were slain in this battle, but we believe this to be an error, and that the place was the residence, the “ham” of the Threcginghas.
[10] The prefix “Horn” is also found in Holbeach Hurn, an angular headland on the south coast of Lincolnshire. In the monkish Latin of old title deeds, we also find the patronymic Hurne, Hearne, &c., represented by its equivalent “de angulo,” i.e. “of the corner.”
[11a] Dr. Mansell Creighton, late Bishop of London. Essays, edited by Louisa Creighton, 1904, pp. 278–9.
[11b] The palace of the Bishop was on the site of the present Manor House.
[11c] Dugdale, vol. ii, p. 336. Monast. Angl., vol. ii, p. 646.
[12a] Hundred Rolls, Lincoln, No. 14, m. 1.
[12b] Hundred Rolls, Lincoln, No 14, m. 1, 3 Edward I., 1274–5.
[12c] This sale was confirmed by the King, as shewn by a Charter Roll, 14 Henry III., pt. i, m. 12 3 Ed. I., 1274–5.
[12d] Patent Roll, 14 Richard II., pt. i, m. 3. A.D. 1390.
[12e] Patent Roll, 6 Edward VI., pt. iii, m. 1.
[12f] Patent Roll, 1 Mary, pt. 8, m 2, (44) 28 Nov., 1553.
[12g] Memoirs of Sir Henry Fynes Clinton. Annual Register, 1772, p. 2.
[12h] Coram Rege Roll, Portsmouth, April 20, 14 Chas. II.
[13a] Exchequer Bills and Answers, 11 Charles V., Lincoln, No. 185.
[13b] The carucate varied in different parts of the country, in Lincolnshire it was 120 acres. Gelt was a land tax, first imposed by the Danes in the reign of Ethelred, about A.D. 991, being 2s. on the carucate. Villeins and bordars were under-tenants of two different classes, bordars being superior to villeins. (Introd. Domesday Book, by C. Gowen Smith, 1870).
[13c] Barristers are said to have been first appointed by Edward I., A.D. 1291.
[16a] Among the Lincoln Cathedral Charters is an imperfect one, which mentions her “Castle of Tornegat (can this be a corruption for Horncastle?), her land at Wicham in Chent (Kent?), at Carlton and Torleby (Thurlby) in Lincolnshire,” Architectural Society’s Journal, 1901, p. 22. There is a notice of her in the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. I.
[16b] This Geoffrey Gairmar is himself rather an interesting figure in local history. He is mentioned in the Rolls Series, 91, i, ii (Ed. Hardy and Martin, 1888–9), as the author of L’estorie des Engles, a rhyming chronicle, based chiefly on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and Geoffrey of Monmouth (between A.D. 1135 and 1147). He undertook his work at the request of Custance, wife of Ralph Fitz Gilbert; the latter held the manor of Scampton near Lincoln, and Geoffrey was probably a Norman who lived in that parish. He quotes The Book of Washingborough and The Lay of Haveloc the Dane, relating to Grimsby. He does not directly mention Horncastle, but shews acquaintance with the neighbourhood by celebrating the burial of King Ethelred at Bardney.
[16c] Camden’s Britannia, pp. 45, 288, 529.
[16d] History of Lincoln, 1816, p. 138.
[16e] Camden, p. 88. A Lincoln Chancery Inquisition (Oct. 31, 1503) shows that on the death of Anne, daughter and heir of Edmund Cheney, owning the manors of Tothill, Gayton, Riston, and Theddlethorpe, Robert Willoughby, Lord Broke, was declared to be her kinsman and heir.
[16f] Dugdale, vol. ii, p. 336. D. Mon, ii, p. 646. (Architectural Society’s Journal, 1895, p. 23).
[17a] Dugdale Baronage, p. 39.
[17b] Hundred Rolls, Lincoln, No 14, m. 1, 3 Ed. I., A.D., 1274–5. A Pipe Roll also, 1 Richard I., A.D. 1189–90, mentions “Gerbod de Escalt as paying a tale of £80 in Horncastre.”
[17c] Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 37 Henry III., No. 36 (3 Nov. 1252), and ditto, No. 38, same date. Gerard de Rhodes is also named in a Chancellor’s Roll, 3 John, A.D. 1201–1, as paying certain fees for Horncastle. He is also named in the document above quoted (Hundred Rolls, Lincoln, 14, m. 1) as succeeding to the manor on the demise of Gerbald de Escald.
[17d] Feet of Fines, 9 Henry III., No. 52, Lincoln.
[18a] Quo Warranto Roll, 9 Ed. I., 15 June, 1281, quoted Lincolnshire Notes & Queries, vol. v, p. 216.
[18b] Coram Rege Roll, 13 Ed. I., m. 10, 12 May, 1285. Lincs. Notes & Queries, pp. 219–20.
[18c] The transfer of the manor to the bishop is further proved by a Carlisle document, a chancery inquisition post mortem, dated Dec. 11, 1395, which states that a certain John Amery, owner of a messuage in the parish “by fealty and the service of 16d. of rent, by the year, holds of the Bishop of Carlisle, and the said Bishop holds of the King.”
[18d] The bishops of those days were sportsmen. It is recorded of a Bishop of Ely that he rode to the Cathedral “with hawk on wrist,” and left it in the cloister while doing “God’s service.” There it was stolen and he solemnly excommunicated the thief. Aukenleck MS., temp. Ed. II., British Museum. The extensive woods in the soke of Horncastle abounded in game, as we have already shown by the tolls charged on roebuck, hares, &c., brought into the town. The punishment for killing a wild boar, without the king’s licence, was the loss of both eyes. These feræ naturæ became extinct about A.D. 1620.
[18e] These and other privileges granted to the Bishop are first specified in a Cartulary Roll, 14–15 Henry III.; they are renewed in a Memoranda Roll of 4 Ed. III.; again in the 25th year of Henry VI., and further in a Roll attested by Charles II., in his court at Westminster, Feb. 26, 1676. The August Fair was, in late years, altered by the Urban Council to begin on the 2nd Monday in the month, and to end on the following Thursday, it really however begins on the previous Thursday.
[19a] Roll 104, Hilary Term, 24 Ed. III. (1350). County Placita, Lincoln, No. 46.
[19b] De Banco Roll, Michaelmas, 41 Ed. III., m. 621, Aug. 3, 1368, Lincoln.
[19c] Coram Rege Roll, Trinity, 13 Ed. I., m. 10, Westminster, 12 May, 1285. Given in Lincolnshire Notes & Queries, vol. v., p. 220.
[20a] Patent Roll, 14 Richard II., pt. 2, m. 47, 8 Dec., 1390. Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. v., p. 221.
[20b] Fuller’s Church History of Britain, vol. i, pp. 240, 242.
[20c] Camden’s Britannia, p. 484.
[20d] Camden’s Britannia, p. 522.
[20e] Ibid, p. 978. The name of Tibetot may possibly still survive in the family of Tibbot, who till quite recently held the manor of Thimbleby in the soke of Horncastle.
[20f] Ibidem, p. 489.
[20g] Ibidem, p. 88.
[20h] Ibidem, p. 760. This castle was built by Richard, Baron le Scrope, Chancellor of England under Richard II.
[20i] Ibidem, p. 99.
[20j] Ibidem, p. 722.
[20k] Patent Roll 6 Ed. VI., pt. 3, m. 1, 21 Nov., 1552, witnessed by the king at Westminster.
[21a] Patent Roll, 1 Mary, pt. 8, m. 2 (44), 28 Nov., 1553.
[21b] Historical MS. Commission. Calendar of MS. of the most Honble. the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., &c., p. 179.
[21c] This Earl of Lincoln would seem to have been of a particularly hot temperament. I have mentioned in another volume (Records of Woodhall Spa, pp. 14.0, &c.) several of his actions of gross violence against the Saviles of Poolham Hall, in this neighbourhood, about the same date (1578). I will merely state here that he, with a party of followers, attacked Sir Robert Savile, when on a hunting excursion, seized several of his hounds and hanged them, as Sir Robert says, “upon my own tree within my own ground.” He forced his way into the parlour at Poolham and challenged Sir Robert to fight “six to six” of their dependents. After an entertainment at Horncastle his followers, at his instigation, got hold of an unfortunate tailor, “drew their swords and sore wounded him,” saying he should “have that and more, for his master’s sake,” Sir Robert Savile’s son. One Robert Fullshaw, of Waddingworth, prayed the justices for protection against his “horrible outrages,” and it was said that his conduct “savoured of insanity.” (Illustrations of English History by Lodge. Lansdown MS., Brit. Mus., 27, art. 41.)
[21d] Patent Roll, 6 Ed. VI., pt. i, m. 11. Date 8 Dec., 1554.
[22a] Esch. Inquis. post mortem, 3–4 Henry VIII., No. 14.
[22b] It does not appear where this “Parish-fee” was situated, doubtless it was subordinate to the main manor of Horncastle, such “fees” were generally named after the owners once “enfeoffed” of them, as we have at Spalding Ayscough-fee Hall, once owned by the Ayscoughs, Beaumont-fee at Lincoln, owned by the Beaumonts, Panell-fee by the Paganels, Nevill-fee by the Nevills in Middle Rasen, &c. Architectural Society’s Journal, 1895, p. 19. There is a family named Parish at Horncastle but they are a modern importation.
[22c] Inquis. post mortem, 6 Edward III., held at Haltham, Sep. 21, 1333.
[22d] Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 32 Henry III., 21 July, A.D. 1248. Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv. p. 120. This is repeated in a Final Concord of the same date between Silvester, Bishop of Carlisle, and other parties. Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. vii., p. 114.
[22e] Cottonian Charter, v., 61, quoted Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii, p. 245.
[22f] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1896, pp. 254–257.
[22g] Court of Wards Inquis. post mortem, 3, 4 and 5 Ed. VI., vol. v., p. 91. Architectural Society’s Journal, 1896, p. 258.
[22h] Chancery Inquis. post mortem, 20 Henry VI., No. 25. Architectural Society’s Journal, 1899, p. 257.
[22i] Ibidem.
[22j] Ibidem, p. 258.
[24a] Lincs. Notes & Queues, vols. i., p. 183, and ii., p. 219.
[24b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. i, p. 47.
[24c] Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 27 Edward III., No. 158.
[24d] Originalia Roll, 34 Edward III., m. 35, A.D. 1360–1.
[24e] Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 41 Edward III., No. 94.
[24f] Inquis. post mortem, 10 James I., pt. i., No. 11.
[25a] Chancery B. and A., James I., R., r, 10, 1, 8 October, 1623.
[25b] These details are all taken from Camden’s Britannia, Gibson’s Edition, 1695.
[26a] Chancellor’s Roll, A.D. 1201–2.
[26b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii., pp. 244–5.
[27a] Ibidem.
[27b] Camden’s Britannia, p. 712.
[27c] Pipe Roll, 1160–1.
[27d] Pipe Roll, 1161–2.
[27e] Testa de Nevill, folio 348. He also held the advowson of Mareham, which was transferred to the Bishop of Carlisle, as Lord of Horncastle, in 1239 (Final Concords, p. 304) by his successor, William de Bavent.
[27f] Cathedral Charters (Calcewaith), folio 106 (a), quoted Architectural Society’s Journal, No. xxvii, p. 14.
[27g] Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 18 Ed. I., No. 34.
[27h] Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 12 Ed. II., No. 22.
[27i] Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 44 Ed. III., No. 32. These trustees were John Amery of Horncastle; Simon, Parson of Wilksby; John of Claxby Pluckacre; and others.
[27j] De Banco Roll, 5 Henry VII., Hilary, M., A.D. 1490.
[28a] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1894, p. 190. Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii., p. 204, vol. vii., p. 3.
[28b] Maddison’s Wills, 1st series, p. 360, No. 96.
[28c] Lansdown MS., British Museum, 54, 62, &c., quoted in Old Lincolnshire, vol. i., p. 118. In All Saint’s Church at Theddlethorpe is a fine brass of an Angevin and his wife of the 16th century.
[28d] De Banco Roll, 5 Henry VII., Hilary, M., A.D. 1490.
[28e] Chancery Inquisition post mortem, taken at Alford, April 28, 14 Henry VIII., A.D. 1522.
[28f] Bridge’s History of Northamptonshire, quoted Architectural Society’s Journal, 1879, p. 45, note.
[28g] Patent I Ed. IV., pt. 2, m. 59, quoted Old Lincolnshire, vol. i., p. 124.
[29a] Chancery Inquisition, 18 Henry VII., No. 34., taken at East Rasen, 26 Oct., 1502.
[29b] Commission of Peace, 13 July, 1510, quoted Lincs. Notes & Queries, Jan. 1896, p. 15.
[29c] Inquisition post mortem, 6 Henry VIII., 20 Jan., A.D. 1515. Old Lincolnshire, vol. i, p. 221.
[29d] Circa A.D. 1536. Architectural Society’s Journal, 1895, p. 14.
[29e] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1894, p. 192.
[29f] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1894, p. 215.
[29g] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1894, p. 221.
[29h] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1879. Pedigree of Fitz-Williams, p. 44, &c. A Douglas Tyrwhitt of this family, daughter of George Tyrwhitt, Esq., in 1703 left a dole of 10/-, charged on land at Belchford, to the poor of Horncastle.
[29i] Patent Roll, 19 Elizabeth, pt. iv, m. 13, 2 May, 1577.
[30a] Privately printed, from Burghley Papers, by Right Hon. Edward Stanhope of Revesby Abbey, 1892.
[30b] Works of Thomas Becon, Parker Society, p. 480, note.
[30c] Bishop Aldrich died at Horncastle in March, 1555, he was a distinguished graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, Provost of Eton, a correspondent of the great Dutch scholar Erasmus; afterwards made Archdeacon of Colchester, Canon of Windsor, Registrar of the Order of the Garter, and consecrated to the See of Carlisle 18 July, 1537.
[31a] Exchequer Bills and Answers, Chas. I., Lincoln, No. 36. Among the charges brought against Rutland Snowden (as already stated elsewhere) one was, that, besides having aided the forces of the Parliament, he had more than one wife. The Snowden Arms are given in “Yorks. Union of Honour,” Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv., p. 16.
[31b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. i., p. 106.
[31c] The valuable collections of Sir Joseph Banks are still carefully preserved at Revesby Abbey, and form in themselves almost a museum.
[32a] Leland’s Collectanea, 66, p. 300.
[32b] The stables of John of Gaunt’s House still exist adjoining the High Street.
[33a] Quoted Weir’s History of Horncastle, note p. 29, ed. 1820.
[33b] On Saturday, next the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, 21 Jan., 1384–5, held by John de Feriby, Escheator of the King, in the County of Lincoln.
[34] Most of these fragments were removed by Mr. Stanhope to Revesby Abbey. Two of them are preserved in the garden of Langton Rectory, near Horncastle.
[36] The origin of this Chantry is shewn by the following documents:—In the archives of Carlisle Cathedral is a copy, in Latin, of a Privy Seal State Paper, Domestic, vol. i, 5039, of date 5 May, 6 Henry VIII. (A.D. 1514), slightly imperfect, but running thus: “The King to all . . . greeting. Know that we, of our special grace . . . by these presents do grant . . . for us, our heirs and successors . . . to the devout woman, the Lady Margaret Copuldyke, widow, and Richard Clarke, tanner, of Horncastle, that they found a fraternity, or guild, to the honour of St. Katharine, and for the extending of divine teaching, in the Parish Church of the blessed Virgin of Horncastell, and mortain licence to acquire land of the annual value of 25 marks” (£16 15s. 4d.). Another document, a Chantry Certificate, Lincoln, No. 33 (55), Ed. VI. (1552), states that “the Guild of St. Katharine, in Horncastell, was founded by Joan Copuldyke, widow, and others, with the intention that one Chaplain for ever, should celebrate divine services in the church, for the souls of the founder, and others; the profits of the land and possessions are received by the Alderman of the Guild.” They are described as “worth yearly £13 8s. 8d., with fees, wages, rents and other reprises, £7 15s. 3d. The clear value, reprises deducted, yearly, £5 13s. 10d.,” with “goods, chattels and ornaments worth £1 10s.” It is to be observed that Gervase Holles says, that at the time of his visit, she was named “Margaret,” in a window then existing in the church. A Patent Roll, 3 Ed. VI., pt. 5, m. 4, gives various lands and tenements, with which this chantry was endowed, in Horncastle, Spilsby, Thornton and Roughton, occupied by about 100 tenants; and states that all these were granted “by the King to Robert Carr, gent., of Sleaford, and John Almond, their heirs and assigns.” Witness, the King, at Westminster, 15 July, 1549. This is further confirmed by an Inquisition post mortem, 5 Eliz., pt. 1, No. 67. [This was ‘in return for a payment by them of £1,238 11s. 10d.’] Among the signatories to a declaration of the Royal supremacy (Lincoln Chapter Housebook, B. 3, 14, p. 39) are the names of Robt. James, Vicar of Horncastle Michel Whithed, Curate of Horncastle Hugh Doddington, “Cantuarista” of Horncastle (probably Chaplain of this Chantry). It was also served by Robert Geffrey in 1552. Chantry Certificates, Lincoln 33 (55).
[37a] Harleian MS. No. 6829, p. 241. In a window in the north aisle was the inscription “Orate pro ái’â Thomæ Coppuldike armig., et D’næ Margaretæ, Consortis suæ, fundatoria gildæ cantar . . . fenestram fieri fecit. Ano D’ni 1526.” In the eastern window of the south aisle was the inscription “Orate pro benefactoribus artis sutorum, qui istim fenestram fieri fecerunt. sc’æ Nemanæ cum sera et catena. Item S’ci Crispinus et Crispinianus cum instrumentis calceariis.” Here it is distinctly stated that a Guild of Shoemakers gave the window, and that Crispinus and Crispinianus the patron saints of shoemakers, were there represented. A note in the same MS. states that Frances, wife of Gervase Holles, died at Horncastle and was buried there. (These passages are quoted in Weir’s History of Horncastle, pp. 30, 31, note, edition of 1820).
[38] Mr. Dee had formerly been a Clerk in Mr. Clitherow’s office, as Solicitor.
[39a] This was formerly the altar-piece below the east window of the chancel, before the present reredos was placed there, and dedicated at the Harvest Festival, 22 Sept., 1870.
[39b] It may here be stated, that the former font was quite as good as the present one, octagonal in form, and of perpendicular design, in harmony with older portions of the church. It was, however, discarded at the restoration, and, for some time, hidden away among rubbish, but eventually presented to the restored church of the neighbouring parish of Belchford. The bowl of the present font is too small to answer the requirements of the Rubric, and is not in keeping with the architecture of the church.
[39c] A Lectern, consisting of a large eagle, of cast iron, bronzed, on the model of one in St. Margaret’s Church, Lynn, was presented by the late Prebendary Samuel Lodge, Rector of Scrivelsby. This is still preserved in the south chancel chapel.
[40a] Walker in his Sufferings of the Clergy (1714) gives an account of Thomas Gibson, which we here abridge. Born at Keswick (in the diocese of Carlisle), he went to Queen’s College, Oxford, was appointed Master of the Free School at Carlisle, there promoted to the similar post at Newcastle, and finally preferred by the Bishop of Carlisle to the Vicarage of Horncastle in 1634. In consequence of a sermon preached by him, at the Election for Convocation, he was seized, in 1643, and carried as a prisoner to Hull. Being released after four month’s detention, and returning to Horncastle, he was charged with teaching “ormanism” (arminianism), and committed to the “County Jail” at Lincoln, a Presbyterian minister being appointed in his stead at Horncastle. In 1644 Colonel King, the Governor of Boston under the Parliament, ordered a party of horse to seize him (apparently having been released from Lincoln) and to plunder his house, but an old pupil, Lieut. Col. John Lillburn, interceded for him with his superior officer, Col. King, and the order was revoked. In the subsequent absence, however, of Lillburn in London, the order was repeated, and Mr. Gibson was made prisoner, his house plundered, and his saddle horse, draught horses, and oxen carried off. He was imprisoned at Boston, Lincoln and “Tattors-Hall Castle,” where he had “very ill-usage for 17 weeks.” He was sequestrated from his benefice and an “intruder,” named Obadiah How, put in charge. He was now accused of defending episcopacy, “refusing the covenant,” &c. He retired to a “mean house,” about a mile from Horncastle, supposed to be at “Nether (Low) Toynton,” where he and his family “lived but poorly for two years, teaching a few pupils.” He was then appointed Master of the Free School at Newark, two years later removed to the school at Sleaford, being presented by Lady Carr. There he lived until the Restoration, and then resumed his Vicarage at Horncastle, until he died in 1678, aged 84. “He was a grave and venerable person (says Walker), of a sober and regular conversation, and so studious of peace, that when any differences arose in his parish, he never rested till he had composed them. He had likewise so well principled his parish that, of 250 families in it, he left but one of them Dissenters at his death.” (Walker’s Sufferings of the Clergy, pt. ii, p. 252, Ed. 1714).
[40b] There is an error in the date, which should be Oct. 11. Further, the term “arch rebel” is inappropriate, as Cromwell was, at that time, only a Colonel, far from having attained his later distinction; the term “skirmish” is also inadequate, as the Winceby battle was a decisive engagement, with important consequences.
[41a] The origin of these scythes has of late years been a vexata questio. It has been suggested that they are not, as generally supposed, relics of the Parliamentary War, but of the earlier so-called “Pilgrimage of Grace,” or “Lincolnshire Rising,” a movement intended as a protest against certain abuses attending the Reformation, in the reign of Henry VIII. The evidence, however, gathered from various directions, would seem to be strongly corroborative of the old and more general opinion. History shows that, for many years, about the period of the Commonwealth, scythes were among the commonest, rude weapons of war. The artist Edgar Bundy, in his painting “The morning of Edgemoor,” recently (1905) purchased for the National Gallery by the Chantry Trustees, represents a soldier armed with a straight wooden-handled scythe. The battle of Edgemoor was fought Oct. 23, 1642, one year before that of Winceby. We have also contemporary testimony in the Memoirs of the Verney Family (vol. i, pp. 109–118 and 315), members of which took part in the civil war of that period, that King Charles’ forces consisted largely of untrained peasants, “ill-fed and clothed . . . having neither colours, nor halberts . . . many only rude pikes . . . few a musket.” To such the scythes used in their farm labour would be handy weapons in emergency. As a parallel to these cases Sir Walter Scott, in his preface to Rob Roy, states that “many of the followers of MacGregor, at the battle of Prestonpans (Sep. 21, 1745), were armed with scythe blades, set straight upon their handles, for want of guns and swords.” It is not without interest to note, that about 60 years ago there were exhumed, on the farm above Langton Hill, in Horncastle, the remains of 6 bodies, lying buried in a row, with scythe blades beside them. It is known that skirmishes between Royalists and Roundheads took place in this locality, and it can hardly be doubted that these also were relics of the Winceby fight. The then tenant of the farm, Mr. Dobson (as the writer has been informed by his granddaughter, Mrs. H. Boulton of St. Mary’s Square, Horncastle), carted these remains to the town and they were re-buried in the south side of St. Mary’s Churchyard, while the scythes were added to those already in the church. An incident, which further confirms their connection with the Winceby fight, is that the present writer has in his possession a pair of spurs, which were found on the field of Winceby, remarkable for the long spikes of their rowels; and he himself once found the rowel of a spur, with similarly long spikes, within a few yards of where the bodies were discovered; and in the year 1905 he also examined several bones, pronounced by a doctor to be human, which were found near the same spot, while workmen were digging for the foundations of a house since erected there. On the other hand, as against the theory of the scythes having been used in the earlier “Pilgrimage of Grace,” we are distinctly told that the mobs concerned in that movement were deprived of all weapons before they could use them. In the Lincoln Chapter House books (c. i, 20, f 193) is a letter from Richard Cromwell, dated Oct. 29, 1586, which says that he, and Admiral Sir John Russell, went to Louth, where “all the harness and weapons were seized, and conveyed to Lincoln,” and that for the same purpose Mr. Bryan had been sent to Horncastle, and Mr. Brown to Market Rasen. On the whole, therefore, the preponderance of evidence is strongly in favour of the connection of all these scythes with the neighbouring Battle of Winceby—the original tradition.
[41b] Weir, in his History of Horncastle gives the quarterings of these shields as follows:—
(1) Sable, 2 lions passant in pale, ducally crowned, or, Dymoke impaling Barry of 6 ermines, and gules, 3 crescents, sable, Waterton; a crescent for difference.
(2) Dymoke impaling Vairè, on a fess, gules frettè, or. Marmyon, in chief, ermine, 5 fusils in fess, Hebden, a crescent for difference.
(3) Argent, a sword erect, azure, hilt and pomel gules.
(4) Dymoke impaling quarterly, gules and argent, a cross engrailed. Countercharged, Haydon, a crescent for difference.
[42a] The only other theft from the church of which we have record, was when the vestry was broken into in December, 1812, and the money collected for parish purposes was stolen. A reward of £50 was offered for information of the thief, but without result. (MS. notes by Mr. T. Overton in possession of Mr. John Overton, of Horncastle.)
[42b] Details of these are given by Holles as follows:—
In fenestraInsulæ Borealis. | ||||
| ||||
In superiorifenestra Borealis Cancelli. | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
| |||
In fenestraOrientali Insulæ Australis. | ||||
| ||||
FenestraBorealis superior. | ||||
Empaled | Sa, 2 lions passant arg. crowned or. | Dymoke | ||
| Or, a lion rampant double queue sa. | Welles | ||
Empaled | Quarterly | Arg. a chevron betw: 3 bulls passant sa. B. a fesse betw: 3 goats’ heads erased arg. | Tourney | |
| Quarterly | Arg. a chevron gobony sa. Arg. on a bend g. 3 roses arg. |
| |
Quarterly | Arg. chevron betw: 3 griphons’ headserased, g. | Tilney | ||
| Arg. 3 bars g. over all a bend engrailed,sa. | Ros | ||
Quarterly | Quarterly or and g. a border sa bezanty. | Rockford | ||
| Arg. 3 crosses botony fitchy B. semy offlowres de lize |
| ||
Quarterly ermine and chequey or. and g. | Gipthorpe | |||
Arg. a chevron betw: 3 roses, g. |
| |||
Taylboys &c |
| |||
FenestraAustralis superior. | ||||
G. a fesse betw. 3 water bougets ermine | Meres | |||
Empaled. | Marchants Mark. Arg. on a Bend, G. 3 ferniers of the first |
| ||
“Orate pro a’ia Thomæ Coppuldike Armig. & D’næ Margaretæ Consortis suæ fundatoris Gildæ Cantar . . . Fenestram fieri fecit Ano Dni 1526.”
‘Gules a lion passant guardant. Arg. . . .
Sable, 3 flowres de lize betw: 6 crosses botony fitchy Arg. . . .
Gules, a cross sarcelly Arg.” . . .
Bec.
“Orate pro benefactoribus artis sutorum, qui istam fenestram fieri fecerunt stæ Ninianæ cum cera et catena. Item sti Crispinus et Crispianus cum instrumentis calceariis.” (N.B. The feminine is an error of Holles, as St. Ninian was a man. Collier’s History, vol. i. p. 100).
Hic jacet Francisca filia primogenita Petri Fressheville de Stavely, in com. Derb. arm [ex priore uxore sua Ehzabetha filia Gervasii Clifton de Clifton, in com. Nott. Militis] et quondam uxor Gervasii Holles de Burgh in cum. Lincoln. Militis, cui peperit Freschvillum Holles, et Margaretam, gemellos, et Franciscum Holles filium juniorem. Obijt Horncastell. Harleyan MS., No. 6829, p. 241.
[42c] Mr. Sellwood lived in a house on the west side of the Market Place, now occupied by R. W. Clitherow, Esq., of a family long established in Horncastle.
[44a] Mr. Fretwell was Curate of Horncastle and Rector of Winceby, (Directory of Horncastle, 1791–2). He would appear to have been, for a time, in sole charge of Horncastle, as we find that on one occasion (Feb. 23, 1790) “sensible of the distresses of the sick poor, he gave 1½ g. from the communion money to be laid out in Salop sago and Bowen’s sago powder, to be distributed at the discretion of the Faculty.” (See account of the Dispensary.)
[44b] The vault of Dr. Madeley is within the chancel rails, beneath the tablet. His son was an officer in the 68th Regiment of Foot, in which also a Horncastle man, named Walker, was sergeant.
[46] There is still, in Westminster Abbey, a chantry named “The Islip Chapel,” which is used as a Robing room, at the consecration of the Bishops.
[50] A List of Institutions given in Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. v, p. 236 has the date of C. Monke’s appointment, 24 Oct., 1558, and gives his predecessor as Henry Henshaw. In a previous notice (Ibidem, p. 201) the latter is given as Henry Henshoo.
[57a] The patronage and manorial rights (as already stated) were transferred to the Bishop of Lincoln, on the death of the Bishop of Carlisle in 1856.
[57b] We may add that Dr. Madely also left a bequest of £50 towards a much needed church at Woodhall Spa; where through the energy of the Rev. H. Walter, Vicar of the parent parish of Woodhall St. Margaret, and Rector of Langton, the Church of St. Andrew was built before that of Holy Trinity, Horncastle, the foundation stone being laid by Sir H. Dymoke, April 2, 1846, and the consecration by Bishop Kaye taking place Sep. 14, 1847; the architect in this case also being Mr. Stephen Lewin, of Boston, a vicarage being built at the same time.
[59] All the coloured windows are by Messrs. Clayton & Bell.
[60] The sister of the present writer, who was a brilliant pianist, frequently went to play to Mr. Clarke, and, as she touched the piano, he would rouse himself and take his flute and try to accompany her. It is not a little remarkable, that Mr. Clarke’s widow, after a few years married again, a Medical Practitioner, near Windsor, and committed suicide by placing herself on the railway line, near that place, her mangled remains being afterwards found on the line. Whether her mind had been affected by her first husband’s tragic death, who can say?
[61] To show Mr. White’s energy of character the writer may mention that he frequently, as a healthy diversion from his professional work, walked up to Langton Rectory before breakfast, and plied his spade in the garden, and then enjoyed a hearty breakfast with the Rector, returning to Horncastle in time for the daily service at 11 a.m. As an instance of his kindly nature we may give the following: At Horncastle a poor girl was suffering from a “white swelling” in the knee. The doctor declared that her life could only be saved by the leg being amputated above the knee. She dreaded the operation, but consented, if Mr. White would support her in his arms during the process. He was greatly averse to painful scenes, but reluctantly consented. Those were not the days of anæsthetics, when such operations can be performed without the patients feeling it; but he said to her “Let us pray,” and while the doctors were at work they prayed so fervently that she was too much absorbed to notice what was done. At length she said, “Dear Mr. White will they never begin?” His reply was “My good girl, your leg is off, and the Lord has spared you all the pain.” She lived to be a strong healthy woman and always blessed the curate.
[62] The writer had the privilege of visiting Mr. White at Jedburgh, and retaining his valued friendship through life, visiting him a short time before his death, and receiving many kindnesses from him.
[64] The Morning Post of April 8, 1889, referring to the death of Sir F. Gore Ouseley, says “He was a member of an ancient Irish family . . . which gave to the world the Wellesleys, the Wesleys, and the Ouseleys, all springing from the same stock;” all three names being only varied forms of the same. A clergyman, Rev. L. H. Wellesley Wesley, now of Folkestone, combines the two names.
[65] Samuel Wesley, the father, was himself originally a dissenter, but afterwards conformed to the established church. He was appointed to the benefice of South Ormsby in 1699 and afterwards held the Rectory of Epworth, and that of Wroot. His eldest son, Samuel, born about 1692, was an Under Master in Westminster School for several years, and later became Head Master of the Grammar School at Tiverton, in Devonshire.
[66a] This has been re-issued by Mr. A. C. Fifield, as No. 16 of “The Simple Series,” 6d., 1905.
[66b] As a proof of his regard for the church we may quote his remark (given in Christian Sects of the 19th century, W. Pickering, 1850) “The Church of England is the purest in Christendom.”
[66c] The first Conference was held in London at “The Foundry,” June 25, 1744. It consisted of only 10 persons, viz., the two brothers, John and Charles Wesley, three beneficed clergymen, John Hodges, Rector of Wenvo, Henry Piers, Vicar of Bexley, Samuel Taylor, Vicar of Quinton, and John Meriton, with four Methodist preachers, viz., John Downes, John Bennett, Thomas Richards and Thomas Maxfield. At this gathering “The Rules of a Helper” were adopted, which form to this day a part of the “discipline” enjoined on Wesleyan Ministers.
[68a] Mr. Carr Brackenbury died August 11, 1818, aged 65, and the Stamford Mercury of the time says of him, “He powerfully and eloquently preached the glad tidings of the gospel during many years, in numerous Wesleyan Chapels, in various parts of the kingdom. He had previously to his intimacy with Wesley been a celebrated character on the turf.”
[68b] The aged son of the last named is still (1905) living at Alford, and several grandsons are dispersed about the country.
[70a] Horncastle News, August 31, 1907.
[70b] The first Sunday School was held in the British School (later the Drill Hall) east of the Wong, from 1812 to 1848.
[71a] We may add that at the time of writing (1905) a Wesleyan Church House is about to be erected in Westminster, a fine building in the Renaissance style of architecture, which is to cost £140,000, the firm of Lanchester & Richards being contractors for the work.
[71b] In addition to the authorities already named, we are indebted for much of the information here given to an account by Mr. Watson Joll, in the Methodist Recorder of Aug. 27, 1903, and to an article by the late Mr. W. Pacy, in the Lincoln Gazette of Aug. 20, 1898.
[71c] Religious Worship in England and Wales, by H. Mann, from the census of 1851.
[72] Within comparatively recent times a Primitive Chapel at Thimbleby was commonly called “The Ranters” Chapel.
[73] Life of the Venerable Hugh Bourne, by Rev. Jesse Ashworth, 1888; also History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion, by Rev. H. B. Kendall, B.A.
[74] The Venerable William Clowes, a sketch, by Thomas Guttery.
[78] In connection with Robert Brown’s writings it may be of interest to note, that in the year 1907, an American scholar, Mr. Champlin Burrage, of the Newton Theological Institution, of Massachusetts, discovered in the Library of Lambeth Palace, London, a hitherto unpublished work, in MS., entitled The Retraction of Robert Brown; which the author himself describes as “A reproofe of certeine schismatical persons and their doctrine touching the hearing and preaching of the Word of God.” This was written about the year 1588. It has now been published by permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Oxford University Press, 2/6 net), and is described by the editor as “a sane and broad-minded” production. [Guardian Newspaper, June 19, 1907.]
[80a] These particulars are gathered from the volume Christian Sects of the 19th century, published by W. Pickering, 1850.
[80b] Mann’s Religious Worship in England and Wales, from the census of 1851.
[80c] Only two copies of this pamphlet are known to exist; one in the Library at Revesby Abbey; the other is in the possession of Mr. C. M. Hodgett, of Horncastle, an officer of the chapel, having been given to him by Miss Frances Robinson, a relative, presumably, of the author “W.R.,” otherwise William Robinson.
[80d] Letter of Rev. J. G. Crippen, of The Congregational Library Memorial Hall, London, Dec., 1858.
[82] A fuller notice of Rev. T. Lord appears on page 89.
[84a] Written in prison, A.D. 1675.
[84b] Under what was called “The Five Mile Act.”
[84c] The chapel generally regarded as the oldest in the kingdom is that at Highthorne, in Kent, which dates from 1650.
[84d] There is a tradition that there was a chapel near the watermill, but this was probably only a room retained for the convenience of those who were “dipped” in the pit. Under date, Aug. 7, 1889, it is recorded, as though a novel event, that at a special service in the evening, the Lay Pastor, Mr. W. P. Milns, performed the ceremony of baptism, by immersion, in the chapel, the baptized being an adult, Horncastle News, August 10, 1889.
[85a] In 1876 the Horncastle Baptists joined the “Notts., Derby and Lincoln Union,” which proved a great help to them.
[85b] Among those present were Rev. M. C. Mason from Tura, Assam, British India, a member of the American Missionary Union; Pasteur Saillens, of the French Baptist community; Dr. B. D. Gray of Georgia, U.S.A.; as well as delegates from Russia and Japan.
[91] For further information as to the origin of the school see addendum at the end of this chapter.
[92a] “Comorants,” this is the Latin “Commorantes,” meaning “temporarily resident.”
[92b] Lord Clinton was 9th in descent from John de Clinton, of Armington and Maxlock, Co. Warwick. He was born in 1512; married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Blount, and widow of Gilbert, Lord Tailbois. He was made Lord Lieutenant of the County of Lincoln, Governor of the Tower of London, had been already granted the Manor and Castle of Tattershall by Ed. VI. and was created Earl of Lincoln by Elizabeth in 1572, a title still held by his descendants, now Dukes of Newcastle. He died January 16, 1584, and was buried in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
[92c] It has already been stated that lands were given by John Neale in 1575; and by will dated Feb. 7, 1692, Mr. Nicholas Shipley bequeathed £100 to assist poor scholars, but this was lost by the Treasurer, in 1703.
[92d] By an apparently irregular proceeding, the land in Thornton was in 1704, transferred to the Hon. Lewis Dymoke of Scrivelsby, Champion of England. In 1811 the Governors decided to have their rights in this matter investigated. Application was made to the Champion for an explanation of the transaction. The case was submitted to the Charity Commissioners, no reply however was ever received from the Champion, and after a delay of 25 years, the matter was allowed to drop. The £12 a year paid in lieu of the former land does not seem to be an equivalent for the original gift.
[93] The present writer has a copy of this work.
[94] This grant amounted in 1903 to £60 19s. The income for that year, apart from the grant, was £256 11s. 4d.; fees of pupils amounting to £263 10s.; school expenses £473 3s. 8d.
[95a] Among those, formerly connected with the school, who contributed to this Magazine, were the late Head Master, Canon S. Lodge; the Senior Governor, Dr. R. Jalland; A. C. Clapin, a whilome French pupil in the days of Dr. Smith, who was son of an officer in the army of Napoleon I.; and the present writer, who wrote School Reminiscences.
[95b] To the credit and honour of Dr. Smith, he brought his aged father and mother, the former being blind, to Horncastle, and provided for them in their old age. They resided in a small cottage, close to his own house, now adjoining the Great Northern Hotel.
[99a] The writer possesses a copy of this, given to him by the author. He has also a 1st class prize, a book, signed by J. B. Smith and F. Grosvenor as 1st and 2nd masters.
[99b] His practice was always to close the school with these words. When the boys were let out for 10 minutes, to freshen up in the school yard, as was done at 11.30 every morning, the expression was varied to “exire licet.”
[99c] Among the tasks set us to do by ourselves between Saturday morning and Monday, were theses on various subjects, or original verses, on some chosen theme; the writer still possesses several of these, of varied merit. They taught us, however, the careful use of words.
[100a] The ringing of this bell was given up a few years ago, as the Governors decided not to pay for it.
[100b] The veteran, Mr. Thomas Baker, the friend of the champion cricketer, Dr. W. G. Grace, and the trainer of Sir Evelyn Wood, had not yet arrived at Horncastle, which he did a few years later, to put life and energy into our cricketers.
[106a] By Rev. T. P. Brocklehurst, Vicar of that parish, 1901.
[106b] As a similar instance to that named in the text, the school at Kingston on Thames is now called “Queen Elizabeth’s,” but it was founded by Bishop Edington, in 1364. It may here be mentioned that the grammar school of Bruton, Somerset, which was originally founded in 1519, was re-established by Edward VI., “by letters patent, dated June 20, 1549, Corpus Christi day,” on which day the Governors, Masters, and Scholars still attend a special commemoration service in the Parish Church. (Guardian, August 2, 1905, p. 1,287.)
[106c] Full details of these appointments are given in a Paper, by Mr. A. F. Leach, author of English Schools at the Reformation, for the Gazette of the Old Bostonian Club, which is reprinted in the Journal of the Lincolnshire Architectural Society, vol. xxvi, pt. ii, pp. 398 et seq, 1902.
[108a] The firm of Handley were Solicitors, of Sleaford. Their recent representative was a member of the Banking Company of Peacock, Handley & Co. Henry Handley, Esq., represented South Lincolnshire in Parliament during 9 years, after the passing of the Reform Bill, dying in 1846, much regretted, after a long illness. As a memorial of his public services a statue of him was erected in the main street of Sleaford in 1851, costing upward of £1,000.
[108b] The Swallows were a well-to-do family in Horncastle, living in the same part of the town as Mr. Watson, and the Coningtons. Members of it, within memory, have been farmers, nurserymen, victuallers, &c.
[110a] This particular plot of ground, sometimes called “fool thing,” is named in various other ancient documents connected with Horncastle.
[110b] The Governors at this date were John Thorold, M.D., Horncastle; Rev. Arthur Rockliffe, Roughton; Rev. William Boawre Coningsby; Robert Cole, Horncastle, gent; Benjamin Stephenson, Mareham-le-Fen, gent; Richard Heald, Horncastle, gent; Rev. John Wheeler, Mareham-le-Fen; Simon Draper and William Hirst Simpson, Horncastle; Francis Conington, Residuary Devisee; and Joseph Mowbound, Horncastle, clerk.
[111] Weir’s History of Horncastle, 1820, pp. 41, 42.
[112a] Professor Walter’s History of England, vol. vii., pp. 454–6.
[112b] This date is definitely fixed by the fact that the fittings of the school were sold by auction early in the following year (1877), among them being a desk, still in use, to the present writer’s knowledge, in a neighbouring village school. The premises were afterwards purchased by the late Mr. Alfred Healy, for a corn store, and they are now the warehouse of Messrs. Carlton & Sons, Chemists, of High Street.
[112c] The efficiency of the present church schools is testified to by the Report of the Government Inspector, in July, 1905, as follows: “Staff adequate, teaching energetic, boys and girls. The new library should be a great benefit. Infants, brisk and kind discipline; teaching bright and thorough.”
[113a] The Right Hon. George Joachim Goschen, afterwards Viscount Goschen.
[113b] 53 and 54 Victoria, chap. 60.
[114a] Mr. Mallet was afterwards assisted by Mr. Sydney N. Hawling, clerk to Mr. H. W. Kemp, Chemist, and also by Miss M. E. Edgar.
[114b] Horncastle News, Sept. 19, 1896.
[115] Miss Foster was an enthusiast in all her work, and being a cyclist she explored the country for many miles round Horncastle to collect fossils, besides making excursions into other counties, thus obtaining a valuable collection of specimens. The writer possesses a copy of these lectures, which are remarkable for their fulness and precision.
[120a] The Rev. John Fretwell was Rector of Winceby, and began his ministry in Horncastle, June 24th, 1782, and was Curate under the Vicars, Revs. James Fowler and Joseph Robinson. He would appear to have possessed a private income beyond his official stipend. He was probably, for some time, in sole charge of the cure, as we find him disposing of some of the “communion money,” for the benefit of the Dispensary, as recorded in a subsequent page of this chapter. There is a tablet of black marble on the north wall of the chancel, in St. Mary’s Church, in memory of Elizabeth, his first wife, who died Dec. 4th, 1784, and also of his infant son by his second wife), Matthew Harold, who died Sept. 19th, 1786.
[120b] This was the house now occupied by Dr. H. A. Howes, 30, West Street; and the writer may add, that, within his own memory, while the house was occupied by a later tenant, Mr. Jason Alison, a poor lunatic, probably a survival of Dr. Harrison’s asylum, was kept chained to the kitchen fireplace. Such treatment would now be impossible, but parallel cases are on record in the neighbourhood.
[122] Dr. E. Jenner made his first experiment in 1796, announced his success in 1798, and the practice became general in 1799.
[124] Mr. Macarthur was the most indefatigable and efficient dispenser up to that time; the Governors more than once passing a vote of thanks for his services, raising his salary, or presenting him with a cheque.
[127] Weir, in his History of Horncastle, says that lime, manure, and road material were charged half rates. This was in 1828.
[128] We refer to an admirable Paper, read before the Society of Arts, London, by Mr. Buckley, C.S.I., Feb. 15th, 1906.
[129a] See a very interesting volume, Our Waterways, by Urquhart A. Forbes and W. H. R. Ashford. Murray, London, 1906.
[133] Garnier’s Annals of British Peasantry, 1895.
[134a] As an instance of this the Horncastle Union comprises 69 parishes.
[134b] These books were inspected by the present writer a few years ago, although now (1906) supposed to be lost. In the account of Thimbleby, given in the appendix to this volume, instances are given of various forms of relief to paupers, in coals, shoes, petticoats, &c., but always on condition that they attended the church services regularly, otherwise such relief was forfeited.
[134c] In some parts of the country “black bread,” made of oatmeal, was in use, among the humbler classes, as late as in 1850.
[134d] This had been forestalled as early as in the reign of Edward I.; a Pipe Roll dated 12 Edward I. (A.D. 1284) shows that a payment of 60 shillings was made for a common oven, rented of the Bishop of Carlisle, as Lord of the Manor. Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv, p. 237.
[134e] The older ones among us will remember that in the days of our grandmothers the spinning wheel was usually to be seen in the boudoir, or drawing room. A common shrub of our hedgerows and copses is the spindle tree (euonymus europeus), so named because of its compact, yet light, wood was made the spindle of the spinster. An old MS., kept by Sarah Cleveland, shows how not only the poor but ladies of all ranks, like the Homeric Penelope and her maidens, practised spinning; the younger with a view to providing a marriage portion for themselves; whence, until marriage, they were called “spinsters,” a term still in use. [Berenden Letters of William Ward and his family, of Berenden, Kent, 1758–1821, edited by C. F. Hardy. Dent & Co., 1901.] It may be here mentioned that the ancient building in Boston named Shodfriars’ Hall, was formerly a spinning school. In the Parish Register of Wispington, in this neighbourhood, not only is the female mentioned as “spinster,” but the male is called “weaver,” and in the adjoining parish of Woodhall there is a “weavers’ close,” part of which is named “tailors’ garth,” in the same connection, and the present parish clerk’s grandmother, a Mrs. Oldfield, had herself a hand loom; and in the parish of Minting weaving is known to have been carried on extensively, an informant telling the present writer that his grandmother had a hand loom, see Records of Woodhall Spa, &c., under Minting, by the author. In Horncastle a weaver, named Keeling, formerly occupied the premises now the bookseller’s shop of Mr. Hugh Wilson; another lived in the house, 3, North Street, now occupied by Mr. G. Walkley.
[134f] The members of this committee are given as Rev. Jas. Fowler (Vicar), Joshua Towne (a well-known clock maker, whose clocks are still valued), Geo. Heald (gent), James Watson, William Maddison, Robert Boulton, John Spraggings, Francis Rockliffe, and Joshua Vickers (hatter).
[134g] In digging to lay the foundations of the building, a considerable number of ancient jars were exhumed, which passed subsequently into the possession of the Chaplain, the late Rev. E. M. Chapman, Rector of Low Toynton. After disappearing for some years, several of these were sold in 1905. They are supposed to be Cyprus ware. The present writer has three of them, others have been presented to different museums, &c.
[135] The only town constable at that time was a feeble old man (it was said) a former smuggler. He afterwards retired from this post, for which he was unfitted, and became host of the Lord Nelson Inn, close by the former scene of his duties. We may add that the sign of this inn, a good portrait of Nelson, was the work of the artist Northouse.
[140] £300 was borrowed Nov. 19th, 1901.
[142a] Robert Whelpton, the father of George, who was also a shoemaker, used to relate that he made shoes for Sir John Franklin, before he went out as Governor of Tasmania. Sir John, a native of Spilsby, was brother-in-law of Mr. Henry Selwood, who lived in the house on the west side of the Market Place, now occupied by Mr. R. W. Clitherow, which would be opposite Whelpton’s shop. Sir John was Governor of Tasmania 1836–1842.
[142b] William Thomas Whelpton took as a residence 69, Gloucester Crescent, Regent’s Park, London; and Henry Robert Whelpton resided in Upton Park, Slough.
[142c] While at Derby he revisited Horncastle, driving over in a hired carriage, with pair of horses, and it is said that a local wag, seeing his carriage in the Bull Hotel yard, wrote upon it with chalk:
“Who would have thought it,
That pills could have bought it?”
[143a] His wife’s maiden name was Barber. She was, by profession, a lady’s stay maker, and occupied a house standing on the site of the present Church National School.
[143b] The inscription on the houses states that they were erected by George Whelpton, of 1, Albeit Road, Regent’s Park, London, in 1861, in memory of his wife Elizabeth, who died Dec. 11, 1859.
[145] The present writer still has in his possession, as a cherished heirloom, the sword and sash of his grandfather, the owner of Tanshelf House, Pontefract, as well as of residences at Lofthouse and Methley.
[146] Similarly the present writer has a photograph of an uncle, who was an officer of yeomanry in 1804, and lived to join the modern yeomanry in 1860.
[155] Illustrated Police News, Aug. 18th, 1883,
[159] The Boston Guardian in an obituary notice said “all who knew him esteemed him,” and the Horncastle News said “There is gone from among us one of nature’s true gentlemen.”
[160] This ready mode of disolving the bond of wedlock was not uncommon in former times, but a similar case is recorded as having occurred in or near Scarborough in recent years, and in November 1898 a case came before Mr. Justice Kekewich, in the Chancery Court, of a man, before leaving for Australia, having sold his wife for £250.
[162] For these details, as well as many others, I am indebted to family records in the possession of the late Mr. John Overton, which I have had the privilege of consulting on many occasions. J.C.W.
[165] Mr. Isaac Taylor in his Words and Places (p. 201, ed. 1873), says “I cannot discover any indication of the place where the Lincolnshire ‘Thing’ (the Saxon ‘County Council’) assembled, unless it was at Thimbleby or Legbourne.” There are, however, several parishes containing the element “thing” in their field names; for instance there is one in Welton near Lincoln; there is a Candlesby Thyng, a Norcotes Thyng, and Ravenworth Thyng, named in a Chancery Inquisition, 20 Henry VII., No. 133, &c. (Architectural Society’s Journal, 1895, p. 38.) These were probably the localities where smaller parish meetings were held.
[166a] A superior tenant, holding under Bishop Odo, was a rather important man in the county, frequently mentioned in documents of the period, as Alan of Lincoln. He also held lands in Langton and other parishes in the neighbourhood. (Survey of Lindsey, Cotton MS., British Museum. Claudius, c. 5. A.D. 1114–1118.)
[166b] Notices of Hagworthingham.
[166c] Albemarle, or Aumarle, was a town in Normandy, now called Aumale, whence the Duc d’ Aumale, of the Royal family of France, takes his title. Probably the Earl put in a claim for this demesne indirectly, because (as already stated) Adeliza, Countess of Albemarle, was sister of Bishop Odo, the former Lord of Thimbleby.
[166d] The Gaunts took their name from Gande, now Ghent, in Flanders. Gilbert was the son of Baldwyn, Earl of Flanders, whose sister was married to William the Conqueror. He was thus nephew to the Conqueror’s consort. He held 113 manors in Lincolnshire besides many others elsewhere. Both he and his son Walter largely endowed Bardney Abbey. The name of Gaunt still survives in our neighbourhood.
[166e] Notes on Bolingbroke, &c.
[167a] Feet of Fines, Lincoln, 31 Edward I.
[167b] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1897, p. 52.
[167c] It may be nothing more than an accidental coincidence that the name of Bartholomew occurs in the Thimbleby Register in modern times.
[167d] These charters belong to the Rev. J. A. Penny, Vicar of Wispington, by whom they were communicated to Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. v, No. 38, April, 1897.
[168a] Harleian Charter, British Museum, 43 G, 52, B.M. Lincs. Notes & Queries, Oct., 1898, p. 244.
[168b] Chancery Inquisition post mortem 6 Ed. III.
[168c] Chancery Inquisition post mortem, 34 Ed. III., and notes thereon, Architectural Society’s Journal, 1896, p. 257.
[168d] Court of Wards Inquisition, 3, 4, 5 Ed. VI., vol. 5, p. 91.
[169a] Harleian Charter, British Museum, 56 B, 49 B.M.
[169b] Myntlyng MS. of Spalding Priory, folio 7 b.
[170a] At the time of the Norman Conquest, according to Sir Henry Ellis, there were 222 parish churches in the county, and only 131 resident priests. Sharon Turner gives 226 churches, about half without a resident minister.
[170b] Hundred Rolls, p. 299. Oliver’s Religious Houses, p. 78.
[171a] Lincs. Notes & Queries, 1898, p. 135.
[171b] History of Lincolnshire, p. 334.
[172a] Lincs. Notes & Queues, vol. ii, p. 38.
[172b] I have been informed of this by the Rev. Edwin Richard Kemp, of St. Anne’s Lodge, Lincoln, who is a scion of a collateral branch of the family, to be named next amongst the successive owners of the Hall-garth.
[173a] Weir’s History of Lincolnshire, p. 334.
[173b] Henry Kemp and “Elinor” Panton were married in 1723. They had a numerous family, including Michael, baptized May 2nd, 1731; Thomas, baptized 1737, married 1768; and Robert, baptized 1740, married 1766. Thomas and Robert were family names, which occurred in successive generations. There were other branches of the family, whose representatives still survive; including the Rev. Edwin R. Kemp, already referred to, whose grandfather was first cousin of the last Thomas Kemp residing at the Hall-garth. When the Kemp property was sold, a portion, at one time belonging to William Barker, was bought by the Rev. R. E. Kemp of Lincoln.
[173c] N. Bailey’s Dictionary 1740.
[173d] The Saxon word “cæmban” meant “to comb,” whence our words “kempt” and “unkempt,” applied to a tidy, neatly trimmed, or combed, person, and the reverse; or used of other things, as Spenser, in his Faery Queen, says:
“I greatly lothe thy wordes,
Uncourteous and unkempt.”—Book III, canto x, stanza xxix.
On the other hand, more than 100 years before the days of the Huguenots, there was a Cardinal John Kemp, afterwards consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 1452, born at Wye, near Ashford in Kent. In the old Rhyming Chronicle “Lawëman’s Brut,” of date about A.D. 1205, we find “Kemp” used as a parallel to “Knight,” or warrior; as
“Three hundred cnihtes were also Kempes,
The faireste men that evere come here.”(“Hengist and Horsa,” Cottonian MS., Brit. Mus., “Otho,” c. xiii.)
(“Morris’s Specimens of early English,” p. 65.)
In Bedfordshire there is a village named Kempston, which, like Campton in the same county, is supposed to be derived from the Saxon “Kemp,” meaning “battle.” Taylor’s Words and Places, p. 206.
[175] One of these Marshalls began life as the owner of property, hunting in “pink,” &c., but ended his days as the clerk of a neighbouring parish. Another had a public-house and farm in another near parish; his descendant is a beneficed clergyman in the diocese of Exeter.
[176a] There were six bells in the original church. These were sold by the said churchwarden, who would appear to have been a zealous iconoclast. According to one tradition they went to Billinghay, but as the church there has only three bells, this is probably an error. Another version is that they were transferred to Tetford church; had the removal occurred in the time of the Thimblebys, this might not have been improbable, as they were patrons of that benefice; but several other churches claim this distinction, and, further, there are only three bells in that church, so that this again is doubtless a mistake.
[176b] Gervase Holles gives the following as the inscription existing in his time (circa 1640), “Hic jacet Gulielmus Brackenburg et Emmotta ejus uxor, qui quidem Gulielmus obiit 6 die Januarii, An’o D’ni 1476, quorum a’iabus p’pitietur Deus. Amen.” There are, he adds, “figures of themselves upon the stone, and ten children, all in brasse.” Harleian MS., Brit. Mus., No. 6,829, p. 177.
[177] In Magna Britannia it is stated that he held 15 manors in this county. In connection with the Paganell family it may here be noted that a daughter, Maud, of Gilbert de Gaunt, married a Norman, Ralph Fitzooth; their son William Fitzooth married the daughter of Beauchamp Paganell; from whom sprung Robert Fitz Ooth, commonly known as Robin Hood. Stukeley, Palæol Brit., vol. ii, p. 115.
[178a] Guardian, Jan. 18th, 1905.
[178b] Monasticon, vol. i, 564–565.
[178c] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv, pp. 16, 17.
[178d] Weir’s History of Lincolnshire, vol. i, p. 335. Ed. 1828.
[179] Harleian MSS., No. 6,829, p. 342.
[180a] It contains several entries of baptisms during the Commonwealth, a period when, frequently, only births were allowed to be registered.
[180b] Testa de Nevill, folio 248 (536).
[183a] Testa de Nevill, fol. 348 (556).
[183b] Domesday Book.
[183c] Soc-men were small tenants who held their lands under the lord, on the terms of doing certain agricultural service for him. Bordars, from the Saxon “bord” a cottage, were a lower class of smaller tenants, who had a cottage and small allotment, supplying to the lord more continuous labour, and also eggs and poultry. By statute of Queen Elizabeth (31 Eliz., c. 7), which probably only confirmed old usage, at that time liable to fall into abeyance, it was enacted that any proprietor electing a new cottage should be compelled to attach thereto four acres of land. If something like this were done in these days we should probably hear less of the rural population migrating to the towns, to the increase of pauperage. There was a third still lower class of dependents, not here mentioned, named villeins, who performed the meanest labours; these were attached either to the land, or to the person of the owner, and could be transferred from one to another owner, like goods or chattels. Such a position of serfdom is unknown to the agricultural labourer of modern times; and their name, as having belonged to the lowest grade of society, now only survives as a synonym for a dishonest person, a scoundrel or villain.
[184a] A “trentall” was thirty masses for the dead to be celebrated on thirty several days.
[184b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol iv, pp. 12–13.
[185a] Weir’s History, ed. 1828, p. 335.
[185b] Mr. Taylor in his Words and Places, p. 130, says that “there is hardly a river named in England which is not celtic, i.e. British. The name Waring is British; garw, or gwarw, is welsh, i.e. British, and appears in other river names, as the Yarrow and Garry in Scotland, and the Garonne in France.
[186] This bridge was taken down and a wider and more substantial one erected in 1899.
[187a] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii. p. 218.
[187b] Ibid., pp. 87, 88.
[187c] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv. pp. 212, 213.
[188a] Canon Maddison, Architectural Society’s Journal, 1897, p. l62.
[188b] In the old Register Book of Burials, &c., of the parish of “Toynton Inferior,” is an entry of the burial of “--- Newcomen ye 17th November, 1592.” The Christian name is undecipherable.
[190a] Sewer is a common local name for a drain, or even a clear running stream. Such a stream, called the Sewer, rises at Well-syke Wood in this parish, and runs into the Witham river, nearly four miles distant, perfectly limpid throughout its course. As to the name Well-syke, “sike” is an old term for a “beck,” or small running stream. “Sykes and meres” are frequently mentioned in old documents connected with land. The word syke is doubtless connected with “soak,” and this wood was so named because the “syke” welled up within a marshy part of it.
[190b] Architectural Society’s Journal, vol. xxiii, pp. 122 and 132.
[190c] Harleyan MS., No. 6829, p. 244.
[191] It was at Roughton in 1631.
[192a] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii, pp. 245–6.
[192b] Harleyan MS., No. 6829, p. 245.
[194a] Sir Jos. Banks was Lord of the Manor.
[194b] Archdeacn Churton’s English Church; Introd. Domesday Book, by C. Gowen Smith, p. xxxii.
[195a] Harleyan MS., No. 6829, p. 218.
[195b] Burn’s Justice, vol. v, pp. 823–4.
[196a] Revesby Deeds & Charters, published by Right Hon. E. Stanhope, No. 150.
[196b] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1894, p. 214.
[196c] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1891, p. 24, and 1897, pp. 145–163.
[196d] Architectural Society’s Journal, 1897, pp. 75, 79.
[196e] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iii, p. 215.
[198a] A pamphlet on The Ayscough family and their connections, by J. Conway Walter, 1896.
[198b] Lincolnshire Wills, by Canon Maddison.
[198c] At this early period, partly perhaps owing to laxity of morals, but partly because the papal supremacy was not fully recognised, celibacy of the clergy was not strictly enforced. On the accession of Queen Mary great numbers of them were found to be married. She issued “Injunctions” to the bishops in 1553–4, ordering them to deprive all such of their benefices; although some of them, on doing public penance, were restored to their position. In the Lincoln Lists of Institutions to Benefices, at that period, many of the vacancies are stated to have occurred, owing to the deprivation of the previous incumbent; and in some cases, as at Knebworth, Herts., and at Haversham, Bucks, (both then in the Lincoln diocese), it is specified that the incumbent so deprived was married (sacerdos conjugatus). Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. v, p. 174.
[198d] One derivation of the name Revesby is from “reeve,” a fox, or rover, and we still call the fox the “little red rover.”
[201a] The Glenham family were at one time located at Miningsby; when the Revesby estates passed from the Duke of Suffolk, Thomas Glenham, Esq., with Sir Henry Sidney, and some others, succeeded to different portions.
[201b] Words and Plans, by J. Taylor.
[202] This tract of forest probably was very extensive. We know that in the north-west of the county, and extending to near Doncaster, there was the forest of Celidon; south of that was Sherwood forest. In Holland there was the forest of “Haut Huntre” (its Norman name); and there is a tradition, in our neighbourhood, of a church, not far from Old Bolingbroke, being called “St. Luke’s in the Forest,” now known as Stickney; this name itself probably meaning a “sticken,” or staked, island; a kind of preserved oasis, or clearing, in a wilderness of wood and morass. Architectural Society’s Journal, 1858, p. 231.
[203a] This has also been quoted in the Notes on High Toynton; and another case of a similar tenure of land is mentioned in the Notes on Hameringham.
[203b] Lincs. Notes & Queues, vol. iii, pp. 245–6.
[203c] Domesday Book, “Land of Robert Despenser.”
[204] In Domesday Book the chief features are “the woodland” and “fisheries,” no less than 10 of the latter are named as belonging to Robert Despenser.
[205] Harleyan MS., No. 6829, pp. 179–182, given in Weir’s History of Horncastle, pp. 50–53.
[206a] In the reign of Mary Sir Edward Dymoke married Anne, daughter of Sir G. Taillebois.
[206b] Gentleman’s Magazine, April, 1826.
[207a] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. ii, p. 108.
[207b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. iv, pp. 119–120.
[208a] Mr. Tyrwhitt, like many other clergy in his day, was non-resident; the duty being performed by a curate, the Rev. W. Robinson, who held also the rectory of Moorby, but resided in Horncastle.
[208b] Lincs. Notes & Queries, vol. ii, p. 39.
[209] The writer of these notes in his youth used to visit a farmer, living in the fen, whose father was among the first to erect his farmstead in that locality. He had first to solidify the site of his dwelling by importing soil by boat; and, when that was effected, to import by boat all the materials for the buildings; the construction of roads followed; and thus in course of time a waste of morass became one of the most fertile tracts in the country.