The Abbeys of Great Britain

by H. Claiborne Dixon

the house of Clifford, a family always friendly to the monks. It is evident that the refectory was to the south of the sacred structure, the dormitory and store cellar toward the west, and other offices on the east side. On the south side of the nave, signs of conventual buildings are to be seen. This side of the church is of more ancient date than that of the north, and boasts six beautiful lancet-windows in the clerestory. At the east end of the north aisle is a chantry to the Mauleverer family, whose bodies were, it is said, buried standing—

“There face to face and hand by hand
The Claphams and Mauleverers stand.”

An engraving of Landseer’s famous picture “Bolton Abbey in the Olden Times,” was at one time on the walls of every middle-class dwelling, and to-day it is one of the select few dear to the cottager’s heart. This throws a side-light on the affection which the toilers of the West Riding have for Bolton. Taking their history from the picture, they doubtless look upon Bolton as a place where abundant good cheer was the daily rule. Some colour is lent to this by the Compotus, or household book of Bolton Priory still in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, a list of the members of the household and its expenses during the years 1290-1325. Such items as 636 quarterns of malted oats used in one year’s brewing, and 1800 gallons of wine, bought for a similar period, naturally suggest a generous course of life, especially when it is remembered that the ecclesiastics (réligieux) did not exceed two dozen in number. But Bolton was nevertheless a large establishment. The prior was attended by twenty gentleman-retainers, each with his body servant. Scores of other servants had various duties on the priory estates, and these were daily supplied by the priory. The prior in short was a great feudal dignitary, who kept state in accordance with that position. No small part of his expenses must have been incurred in entertainment, the monastery being ever open to all and sundry, and the Compotus tells us that the visit of a single hunting party was responsible for the consumption of twenty-two quarters of wheat. We do not find that much money went on books, the purchase of but three being recorded in the thirty-five years covered by the Compotus. On the other hand Bolton did its share in the preparation of illuminated manuscripts, the same faithful authority telling of various purchases of gold, colours, and inks.

Historical criticism, so fatal to popular story, has not left Bolton unvisited. Wordsworth has consecrated the time-worn tradition of the Boy of Egremont, drowned by the straining of his dog in the leash whilst attempting to jump the Strid. Some such incident doubtless occurred, for minute detail is not wanting, as for example that young Romillé had gained the other side but was pulled into the swift stream by the resisting hound—a not improbable story when the scene is before us. Sentiment is still aroused by the story of the forester who bore the dread news to the mother and began, “What is good for a bootless bene?” receiving the prophetic reply, “Endless sorrow” in answer to that ominous opening. The first madness of grief passed, the Lady Alice de Romillé, after the fashion of those days, transferred the religious foundation of her father, William de Meschines and her mother, the heiress Cecile de Romillé, from Embsay to Bolton, housing the good monks in sumptuous quarters in memory of him who had been heir to the vast de Romillé possessions. But whatever substratum of truth there may be in the whole romantic legend, it is established by historical documents that her only son William de Romillé (and in the legend the Boy of Egremont is the younger of the two) was a consenting party to the transfer of estates whereby in 1151 the monks of Embsay entered into possession of Bolton. What of romantic tradition is further associated with Bolton lingers round the name of the Shepherd Lord, though this legend has strictly speaking no connection, save in popular fancy, with the priory itself. Most visitors to Bolton, however, naturally walk the four miles of exquisite river scenery between the abbey and Barden Tower—an old possession of the Cliffords. These fierce supporters of the Lancastrian cause came, for the moment, to grief with the triumph of the Yorkist party at Tewkesbury. The youthful heir was smuggled away into the wilds of Cumberland, and then hid and cherished by some faithful retainer. With the settlement of Henry VII., young Clifford, rough and untutored, was revealed as the heir and received the family estates. Quiet and contemplative by nature, he spent much time at Barden, and being devoted to astronomy received the reputation among the simple folk of the district of being an astrologer and magician, though his constant association with the canons of Bolton should have saved him from the imputation.

Bolton was included in the Act of 1539, and early in the next year Richard Moon surrendered his possessions into the hands of the Crown. How far Bolton was open to the grave charges levelled at monastic institutions as a whole we do not know. What is certain, is, that the number of canons in residence had declined, and with them the revenues likewise. The estates were sold in 1542 to Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, and held by his successors till 1635, when they passed by marriage to the Earls of Burlington, and by marriage again in 1748 to their present owners, the ducal house of Devonshire. There are monuments near the priory to the memory of a distinguished member of this family, the unfortunate Lord Frederick Cavendish, assassinated in the Phœnix Park, Dublin, 1882.

[KIRKSTALL (Cistercian)]

1147, Founded by Henry de Lacy—1540, Surrendered by John Ripley, last abbot, to the Commissioners of Henry VIII. Annual revenue, £329, 2s. 11d.—1889, Colonel North buys the abbey from the Earl of Cardigan, and presents it to the Corporation of Leeds.