[125] Brooke’s “History, pp. 55, 56.
[126a] Demesne is an old Norman compound word. “The Mesne” was “the Lord of the Manor” (conf. Fr. “mener” and “menager”—to command), and “de-mesne” was the land “of the lord.” In this case, the “mesne” was originally the Baron Eudo, to whom the Conqueror gave the manors of Tattershall and Kirkstead, with certain appendages, of which Woodhall, or a large portion of it, would seem to have been one; for, when his son Brito endowed the Abbey of Kirkstead, he assigned to it two parts of the manor of Woodhall, and the advowson of the benefice.
[126b] It was customary, where feasible, to thus connect the moat with running water, to avoid complete stagnation, and so to keep the water more healthy.
[127] The writer has also an old map, undated, but belonging to a Dutch History of “Lincolnshire” or “Nicolshire,” probably published in the sixteenth century; also another old map, inscribed “Fodocus Hondius cælavit Anno Domini 1610,” as well as another by Christophorus Saxton, undated; in all of which Buckland is given instead of Woodhall.
[128a] The Abbot of Bardney had a hunting establishment at Bardney Vaccary; and why not the powerful Abbot of Kirkstead also, who possessed the right of “free warren” over many thousands of acres; in the Wildmore Fen alone about 45,000 acres.
[128b] That this supposition is correct would seem to be shewn by fact that this property—High-hall wood and land adjoining—still belongs to the Earls of Fortescue, who now own the manor of Tattershall, the estates having gone together since the days of Eudo, in the Conqueror’s time. In the Award Map, one of the fields in Woodhall just outside the High-hall property, is named “Priests’ Moor,” probably as marking the limit of the Church (formerly the Abbey) estate, as distinguished from the land of the Baron. The Abbots’ land in Woodhall was, at the Dissolution, given to the Bishops of Lincoln, and only enfranchised from them in the year 1868. The writer has in his possession a copy of the deed, conveying, in the first year of Edward VI., the rectorial rights and appurtenances of Woodhall to Henry Holbeach, at that time Bishop of Lincoln, and his successors, “post mon. de Kirksted nuper dissolutum.”
[129] The pistol was originally a German invention, so named because its calibre corresponded with the diameter of the old coin, “pistole.” They were first used by German cavalry at the battle of Renty (1554), and contributed greatly to the defeat of the French. After that they were introduced into the French army, and later into the English. They were at first furnished with a matchlock, and fired by a match. This was followed by a wheel-lock, wound up like a clock, and having a piece of iron pyrite, and later, a piece of flint, for producing ignition. The wheel-lock was superseded by the trigger and the hammer, still with flint. The percussion cap, invented by the Scotchman, Alexander Forbes, was introduced about 1820 (“Notes on Arms and Armour,” by C. Boutell). The pistol found at High-hall is inscribed with the two French words “Shermand Brevete” (patentee). The earliest pistol preserved in the United Service Museum is supposed to date from Charles I. (Haydn, “Dict. of Dates”), and it is known that, at that period, the French gunsmiths were much in advance of the English.
[131] Series ii., 1600–1617, p. 30, No. 34, edited by Rev. A. R. Maddison, 1891.
[133] It may occur to some to wonder for what purpose the Lord Clinton could need so many as “1,000 kiddes”; and as a probable answer we may say that, in those days, coal was not in universal use, as it is now. Peat-sods, called in Lincolnshire “bages,” and wood, were the ordinary fuel. Hence we find frequent mention of the right of “Turbary,” i.e., of cutting turf on certain lands, as a valuable privilege. At such an extensive establishment as Tattershall Castle, then at least three times its present size, there would be no small number of persons needing fire-warmth. The old writer, William of Worcester, (“Itinerarium,” p. 162), tells us that the Lord Treasurer Cromwell’s household consisted ordinarily of 100 persons, and that, when he rode to London, his retinue was commonly 120 horsemen (Weir’s “Hist.” vol. i. p. 304, ed. 1828). The beautiful mantelpieces still remaining in the castle, embellished with his arms, and the proud motto, “Ne j’ droit?”—“Have I not right?” are famed throughout the kingdom; and on the spacious hearths beneath them the smouldering peat and blazing faggot would yield welcome warmth to guests and retainers reclining before them, wearied with the varied labours of the day: days, indeed, we may well believe, by no means monotonous, when it is remembered that, besides the sport of hunting and hawking, the Lord Clinton’s followers were not uncommonly engaged in predatory strife (of which I shall presently give instances) with neighbours hardly less powerful than himself. By way of adding note to note, I may here say that, among the poor, cheaper kinds of fuel were in use than the peat and faggot. Cow-dung was dried in brick-shaped blocks, which were called “dythes”; or sheep-dung into “brocks,” and stacked like peat for burning. I have spoken with old people, in the marsh, who remember both these being in common use.
[134] There is a prevalent tendency to pronounce, in a general and uncritical fashion, many things to be “Roman” which are only ancient and of indefinite date; an easy way of getting out of a difficulty. Possibly we may trace to this source the origin of the Lincolnshire expression, descriptive of anything or anybody out of the ordinary, that it is, or he is, or she is, “a rum un.”