Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Part 37

{108c} The bolt of a crossbow was forged square, hence its name "quarrel," from "carre," or "quarre,"-square.-"Lincs. N. & Q." Vol. IV, p. 21.

{108d} The Roman lituus is supposed by antiquarians to have been adopted from barbarous nations, the serpentine form indicating the object of their wors.h.i.+p. The serpent was held sacred among the Druids of Britain.

{110a} "Archaeological Journal," No. VII., Sept., 1845, p. 253. The dimensions of the chest were 16 inches square by 8 inches high; the interior 12 inches square. The height of the urn was 7 inches; its diameter at the widest part, 7 inches; diameter of mouth, 4 inches.

{110b} At the restoration of the Parish Church in 1864, in making some alterations in the floor of the chancel, a lead coffin was found below, said to have been that of Lady Jane Dymoke. It was temporarily removed during the operations, but orders were given that it should be re-interred. Before, however, these instructions could be carried out, it mysteriously disappeared, and doubtless found its way to the melting-pot.

{111} "Proc. Soc. Antiq." 1849, 1st series, 57. The finding of the Horncastle coffins is described in "The Reliquary and Ill.u.s.trated Archaeologist," April, 1897.

{112a} In Norwich one of the princ.i.p.al thoroughfares is named "Rampant Horse Street." To this same superst.i.tion also we owe the huge figures of the white horse cut in the turf at Bratton Castle and at Oldbury Camp, both in Wilts.h.i.+re. Tacitus speaks of "immolati diis abscissum equi caput."

{112b} Quoted, "Surtees Society Publications," vol. lxxvi.

{112c} Weir's "History of Horncastle," p. 27.

{113} "Provincial Words of Lincolns.h.i.+re."

{114a} An old Lincolns.h.i.+re term for a male elf is "Tom-tut," which may be a corruption of Tom-cat. A person in a rage is said to be "quite a Tom-tut," or spitfire, like a cat spitting. In connection with "s.h.a.g,"

we may add that there is a sea bird frequenting some of our coasts called a "Black-s.h.a.g." Another explanation of Tab-s.h.a.g, which has been suggested is that "Tab" is another word for turf sods, and sods used to be cut on the moor for fuel.

{114b} "Facts and Remarks relative to the Witham, &c." by W. Chapman, p.

18. A large anchor was also dug up at a considerable depth, indicating that large vessels also ascended the river to Lincoln.

{115a} Thompson's "Boston," p. 126.

{115b} Letter from Sir Joseph Banks to the Editor of the "Journal of Science and Art," No. ii., p. 224.

{116} There was a wood called Synker Wood, which extended from within 100 yards of Kirkby lane, westward to the Tattershall road skirting the boundary between the parishes of Kirkstead and Thornton, having at the east end of it Synker Wood House. South of this wood, near the Tattershall road, was a lee, or strip of gra.s.s land: and south of that again, and opposite the present larger farm house, there was another smaller wood called the Synker Pool Wood. Of this there is one solitary oak left still standing, about 20 yards from the road; and it was some yards eastward of this tree that the boat was found.

{118a} Account of trees found under ground in Hatfield chase.

"Philosoph, Transactions," No. 275, p. 980

{118b} Richard of Cirencester (circa A.D. 1380) says of them, Coitani in tractu sylvis obsito (habit-antes). Some writers, following Ptolemy, call them Coritani, others Coriceni, but the learned Dr. Pegge prefers Coitani, as a name in harmony with the "circ.u.mambient woods," Coed being still Welsh for wood.

{118c} "Flores Historiarum," A.D. 1377.

{118d} Brooke's "Lincoln," p. 14.

{119a} Brooke, Ibid. But the earliest record of a stone church in the British Isles is that built by St. Ninian, first Bishop of Scotland. A.D.

488, at Witherne, in Galloway. Bede, "Eccles. Hist.," book iii., ch. iv.

{119b} "Egregii opperis," Bede, "Eccles. Hist.," book i. p. 32.

{119c} Weir's "Hist. Lincolns.h.i.+re," vol i., p. 32.

{120a} A fine copy of Magna Charta, is still preserved among the Archives of the Cathedral.

{120b} In the preamble to a Charter granted to the city (4 Charles I.) Lincoln is called "one of the chiefest seats of our kingdom of England for the staple and public market of wool-sellers and merchant strangers, &c." There came into the writer's possession a few years ago a curious relic, consisting of a terra cotta cube, light red in colour, each of the six sides being 1 inches square, and having each a different, deeply-cut, pattern; crosses of different kinds, squares, or serpentine lines. It was found in a private garden in Lincoln, and was p.r.o.nounced to be a stamp for bales of wool. I exhibited it before the Linc.

Architectural Society, the Society of Antiquaries, &c.; and ultimately presented it to the British Museum.

{120c} The number of monasteries closed by Henry VIII. was 645, containing some 20,000 religious persons.

{121a} Anderson's "Pocket Guide," pp. 119121.

{121b} Anderson, p. 126.

{121c} Letter written to Mr. Page, who was Mayor of Lincoln in that year.

{122} "Brooke's "History," pp. 56, 56.

{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 a.s.signed 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 "Lincolns.h.i.+re" or "Nicols.h.i.+re," probably published in the sixteenth century; also another old map, inscribed "Fodocus Hondius caelavit 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., 16001617, 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 Lincolns.h.i.+re "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 hors.e.m.e.n (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 s.p.a.cious hearths beneath them the smouldering peat and blazing f.a.ggot 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 f.a.ggot. 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 p.r.o.nounce, in a general and uncritical fas.h.i.+on, 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 Lincolns.h.i.+re expression, descriptive of anything or anybody out of the ordinary, that it is, or he is, or she is, "a rum un."

{137} I may, perhaps, here explain that "non-jurors" were those persons who considered that James II. was unjustly deposed, and who refused to swear allegiance to William III. and his successors. Non-jurors were subjected to double taxation, and obliged to register their estates (1723); and from the first were excluded from any public office. I may also here state that the Sir Richard Morrison who is named in this epitaph was a man of great learning, and employed by Henry VIII. and Edward VI. in several emba.s.sies to the greatest princes in Europe (Camden's "Britannia," p. 302). He was also appointed "President of Mounster in Ireland." He had a brother, Fynes Morrison, who was fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, who obtained from his college permission to travel, and spent eight years in foreign parts. On his return he went to Ireland and became secretary to Sir Charles Blount, the Lord Lieutenant.

There he wrote an account, in Latin, of his "Travels through the twelve dominions of Germany, Bohemia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, England, Scotland and Ireland." These he afterwards translated into English, but they were not published till three years after his death, which occurred in 1614. His works are a treasury of old-time information, and he is named in the second volume of "Magna Britannia"

among the learned men whom our county has produced.

{138} It is a coincidence which seems to merit a note, that on the very day on which these lines were penned it was the writer's duty to unite in the bonds of wedlock a young woman whose mother's maiden-name was Fynes, to her cousin, Charles Fynes: their common grandfather, Charles Pelham Fynes, a fine sample of the old English yeoman, having been, as well as two of his sons, the tenant of land held under the writer, and under his father before him, during many years.

{139} This font which is old Norman, plain, but ma.s.sive, was, some years ago, taken away from its position at Poolham, and, by way of rescuing it from destruction, was placed as an ornamental relic in the garden of Whispington Vicarage, by the late Rev. C. P. Terrot who was, in his day, one of our greatest antiquaries. When the writer restored Woodhall Church, in 1893, the font in that church being of no architectural value, he obtained the gift of this ancient font and restored it to its original religious purpose, where it now stands, supported by four handsome columns of serpentine, the gift of the Rev. J. A. Penny, the present Vicar of Whispington. The gravestone here referred to was taken away some years ago, and now forms the sill of a cottage doorway in Stixwould.

{142a} He sold Tetford to George Anton, Esq., through whose daughter Elizabeth, married to Sir Edward Hussey, that property pa.s.sed to the Hussey family, the head of which was Lord Hussey of Sleaford, who, for his treachery at the time of the Lincolns.h.i.+re Rebellion, was attainted and beheaded by Henry VIII., as were also the Abbots of Kirkstead and Barlings, and many more. He sold Somersby to George Littlebury (to whom there is a memorial tablet in the church), a younger son of Thomas Littlebury of Stainsby. These Littleburys, again, Sir John of Stainsby, with Humphrey of Hagworthingham, and Robert his brother, were all mixed up with the Lincolns.h.i.+re Rising; so, also, was their relative, Andrew Gedney, "lord of Oxcombe and of Bag Enderby" (of whom, and his wife Dorothy, there is a mural monument in the church), who married a daughter of Sir William Skipwith of South Ormsby; so, also, were the Dightons, Robert of Stourton and Thomas of Waddingworth, all in this neighbourhood; so, also, was William Dalyson, of a very old family (D'Alencon) of Laughton; with scores more: John Savile of Poolham, Vincent Welby of Halstead Hall, Stixwould; several Dymokes, Heneages, Ma.s.singberds, Tyrwhitts, &c., &c. But these are mentioned here because the Littleburys, the Gedneys, the Dightons and the Dalysons, were connected, in one way or another, with the family, on one side, of the present writer. He may further add here, in connection with the Saviles, that when the first Napoleon was expected to invade England, a Company of Volunteer Grenadiers was raised in the loyal town of Pontefract, of which a Savile, Lord Mexborough, was Colonel Commandant, and the writer's grandfather, George Pyemont, of Tanshelf House, of Methley and Rothwell, was Major. The Major's sword hangs on the dining-room wall at Langton Rectory.

{142b} Thoroton's "Hist. of Notts.," vol. iii., p. 360.

{142c} "Collin's Peer.," vol. i., p. 207. This Denzil Hollis, or Holles, is mentioned in the list, given at the "Spittle Sessions," March 1, 15867, of those gentry who supplied "launces and light hors," as furnis.h.i.+ng ij. horse, being "captaine"; John Savile of Poolham furnis.h.i.+ng "ij. launces and ij. horse."