Sayer's History of Westmoreland, containing the substance of all the remarkable events recorded by Burn and Nicolson, together with a variety of ... information from ancient MSS. ... With illustrations by T. Gilks

Preface

TO VOL I. It might, perhaps, be regarded as an unpardonable omission if I was to allow this volume to go out into the world without a Preface ; I shall, however, say very little : my design throughout has been to make the work as lively, as agreeable, and as connected as possible, taking into account the variety of subjects, which, as a local history, it necessarily embraces. I have endeavoured (o give the genealogies of distinguished families, briefly and com prehensively, and the accounts of manors, churches, &c, with perspicuity. In short, I have aimed at giving everything neces sary, without giving anything unnecessary ; at being full in my accounts without being tedious : my readers will judge how far I have succeeded. My space at present precludes me from men tioning by name the many clergymen and other gentlemen who have been so prompt in answering my numerous interrogations, and rendering me that valuable aid in other respects, for which I feel that I owe an immense debt of gratitude.

In conclusion, allow me to say, that should any gentleman be in possession of well authenticated information relative to the Barony of Westmorland, which he deems worthy of publicity, he will, by forwarding the same to the Publisher, oblige THE AUTHOR. December 29«A, 1817. SEVERUS WITH REINFORCEMENTS. [A.D. 206. district became the scene of several sanguinary battles with the Romans. If we may take Hollinshed for an authority, it is evident that the Caledonians after passing Agricola's line, demolished part of Adrian's rampart, and ravaged the country which lay to the south. The same author says that Publius Trebellius, the Roman lieutenant, collected his legions, and hastened to the north to wreak vengeance on the maurauders. The writers of the Pictorial History observe, that about the same time (A. D. 183) a mutinous spirit declared itself among the legions in Britain.

This agrees with the ancient author above quoted, for he adds, that when Trebellius came in contact with the Caledonian plunderers, he was abandoned by the principal part of his army in the first onset, and glad to escape by flight. The Caledonians, emboldened by their good success, marched further south ;* committed the various outrages which characterize the predatory expeditions of barbarians, and then retreated to their own country, leaving little that was valuable in the devastated regions. About the close of the second and the commencement of the third century the natives of North Britain were determined, if possible, to throw off" the Roman yoke. And so terrible were the commotions caused by their anarchial movements, that in the year (A. D. 206 — 7) Severus, the iron-hearted and iron-framed old emperor, * " They harried the countreys of Westmerland and Kendal in most cruele wise, Trebellius not being so hardy as to fight again for fear of some traine which might be practised by the Brytaines."

Hist. Scot. p. 67. ROMAN ROAD. A.D. 250.] was induced to leave Rome and repair to York with reinforcements, to effect a complete conquest. Having offered sacrifice to the gods, he proceeded against his enemies. The Caledonians joined the Brigantes, who under their respective chieftains gave battle to the newly imported legions ; but were unsuccessful. Thirty thousand of them were put to the sword, and those few Brigantes who escaped the onslaught submitted to their conquerors. Severus then built a stone wall near to Adrian's rampart, of which some vestiges still remain. The miserable and uncultivated state of North Britain in the beginning of the third century may be inferred from the fact, that the district comprising the present county of Durham was an impassable wilder ness ; and it is stated that Severus in his march north ward lost 50,000 men, who were worn out by the incessant labour of draining morasses, throwing raised roads or causeways across them, cutting down forests, levelling mountains, and building bridges.

It is pro bable that the great Roman road which passes through Westmorland, coming in upon Stainmore, and entering Cumberland near Brougham Castle, was constructed about this period. This road, or causeway, like the great wall in China, has been carried in a direct line over hills and dales, through mosses and tarns, as if nothing should be able to interrupt its progress. It is about six yards in breadth, and on the level ground appears to have been made of three courses of lame square stones, the lowest course being the largest, REVOLT OF CARAUSIUS. [A.D. 288. and the other two diminishing gradually to the surface. (Machel). From the year (A. D. 207), till about the year 290, we find the Brigantes reluctantly crouching to the imperial power. In the year (A. D. 288) the Scan dinavian and Saxon pirates began to ravage the coasts of Gaul and Britain.

To repress these maurauders the Emperors appointed Carantius, named by Eutropius, Carausius, to the command of a strong fleet in the British Channel. Carausius was a bold and skilful naval commander ; a Nelson in his day. He allowed the ocean roamers to take prizes, and he again seized those prizes ; thus aggrandizing himself and his mariners with their plunder. He was soon accused of collusion with the enemy. The Emperors sent an order from Rome for him to be assassinated. Carausius, aware of the danger to which he was exposed, sailed round to the west coast of Britain, where he disembarked his men. The account of his subsequent proceedings we extract, with a few alterations in spelling, &c, from Hollinshed's History of Scotland, pages 80, 81, and 82. " Carausius entered Westmerland, where he easily persuaded the people there to submit themselves to be under his rule and obeysance, and promised to deliver them from the grievous yoke and bondage of the Romans.

Crathlynt, king of the Scottish men,* joined * " The Scots were originally Gallic Celts, who in early ages migrated from the western shores of Britain into Ireland. After having long made maurauding incursions into the Roman territories on the south-west side of Scotland, they settled in Kintyre, and fifty years after the Saxon conquest they had colonised Argyle, when a bloody struggle of 340 years ensued between them and the MARCH OF BASSIANUS. A.D. 288.] Carausius, and sent him a vast reinforcement of men into Westmerland. In the mean time Quintus Bas sianus, the Roman lieutenant in Britain, understanding how Carausius was thus revolted, and had not only caused the inhabitants of Westmerland to rebel, but also slain or chased the Romans out of the country, he was not a little disquieted, and determined with all speed to go against him, and to revenge these injuries.

A few days after having his army ready he entered into Westmerland ; but hearing that his enemies were already gone to York, and had won the city by sur render, he turned his force thitherward, on purpose to fight with them. He lodged that night in a strong place, fenced about with morasses. But Carausius understanding all the manner of his enemies by his espials, and being in camp within ten miles of them, raised his field without any great bruite, and by the leading of certain guides marched straight towards the place where Bassianus was encamped, so that soon after the spring of the day he came thither ; whereof Bas sianus being advertised, and perceiving he should have battle, made ready for action, giving the best exhorta tion he could to his people to play the men. But his natives, which terminated in the extinction of the Pictish government, and the union of the Picts and Scoto-Irish, under Kenneth McAIphin, A. D. 843."

Hollinshed says, that the Scots came over from Ireland and began to settle in Argathalia, or Argyle, (A. M. 3383), and that the Picts were a certain people of Germany, who emigrated to North Britain in the year (A. M. 3633). The Scots are not mentioned by English historians till about the commencement of the fourth century ; but, according to Harrison's Chronology, one Fergusius was crowned King of the Scots 327 years before the Christian era, and was the first of the Scots that ever ruled in Albion. VICTORY OF CARAUSIUS. 17 [A.D. 288. words were of no avail, for the most part of his army were Britons, who were desirous of seeing the utter ruin of the Roman power, and at the very point when the armies should have joined, they withdrew themselves apart, and got up into the next mountains to see what would be the issue.

The residue of the Roman army seeing themselves thus forsaken of their fellows, and their sides left bare and open for the enemy to enter in upon them, fell to plain running away ; but by reason of the marisse ground compassing them about on every side, a great number were overtaken and slain. Among whom was Bassianus, the lieutenant, and Mercius, the emperor's procurator." Carausius was now regarded by the Britons as the hero who was to deliver them from Roman bondage. Those who had deserted Bassianus in the recent skir mish rallied round his standard. In vain the Emperors sent their legions against him ; all their attempts to reduce him were repelled with disgrace to their own arms, and they were at last glad to purchase peace by conceding to him the government of Britain, of Bolougne, and the adjacent coast of Gaul, together with the proud title of Emperor.* Carausius then discharged his Scottish auxiliaries laden with riches, and, according to Hollinshed, as signed unto them, as a portion of the conquest, the cauntreys of Westmerland and Cumberland, " to enjoy as their owne proper patrimonic for evermore." * See Pict.

Hist. England, p. 57. VOL. I C TRAHERUS MARCHES INTO WESTMORLAND. A.D. 322] If Hollinshed's account be correct there is certainly some honour due to the ancient inhabitants of West morland, who were the first to join the ambitious sailor ; for under his government we see Britain figuring, for the first time, as a great naval power. Carausius built ships of war, manned them in part with the intrepid Scandinavian and Saxon pirates, against whom he had fought ; and remaining absolute master of the Channel, his fleet swept the seas from the mouths of the Rhine to the Straits of Gibralter.* Carausius, after escaping the daggers and poison designed for him by the Roman Emperors, was assassinated at York, by Alectus, his bosom friend. It appears from Hollinshed, that Westmorland, along with the other territories granted by Carausius to Crathlynt, remained in the hands of the Scots nearly a century.

We will give the substance of his account, extracting the same from the 83, 84, and 88 pages of his History of Scotland, and leave the reader to form his own opinion. About the year (A. D. 322), Octanius, a provincial King of the Britons, was vanquished by Traherus, a Roman captain, and forced to flee for refuge to Fin comark, King of the Scots, f who received him as a friend. '■' And though required by Traherus to deliver him up as a traitor and a rebel to the Roman empire, * See Piet. Hist. England, p. 51. t " When Octanius had intelligence how Trahern (or Traherus) was making great desolation in the provinces of Albania, he followed him with his forces, and encountered him in fVestmarland, but fled without the victory." British Hist. from the Latin of Jeffery of Monmouth, p. 143. DEFEAT OF TRAHERUS. [A.D. 322. yet Fincomark refused to betray him.

Therefore Tra herus, being not a little moved, marched his legions into Westmerland, which country had remained in the Scottish mens hands since the time of Carausius. Fin comark raised a puissante armie to resist the encroach ment. He had at least a force of 70,000 men ; 30,000 of his own, 20,000 Picts, and 20,000 of the followers of Octanius. Fincomark being thus furnished hastned forth to encounter his enemies before they had time to do any notable damage to his subjects, and so coming within sight of them, he sent an herald unto Traherus to know why he thus invaded his country ; but as the herald returned with an insolent answer, Fincomark brought forth his people to the field in order, ready for action, and so joining with the enemy there was fought a right sore and cruel battle, which continued for a time with unmerciful murder and slaughter on bothe partes.

At last the Romans fled, leaving the Scots and Britons victorious. Howbeit, on the Scott's side were slain, as their chronicles report, 15,000, and of the Romains, 17,000." Octanius and Fincomark pursued the Romans to York. The city yielded — Traherus fled into Gaul — Octanius caused himself to be proclaimed king of Britain, and agreed that Fincomark should continue to enjoy the cauntrys granted to his predecessor, Crathlynt. The estimation in which treaties were held by Octanius will appear from his subsequent conduct. Proud of his newly acquired dignity, he called a council at York, where it was agreed that the Scots should be RAVAGES OF MAXIMUS. A.D. 382.] driven into the barren region north of Agricola's for tified line, and that Octanius should possess himself of the whole of the country which lay to the south.

The unprincipled monarch immediately raised an army of 10,000 men, with which he invaded Westmerland, where he was encountered by Fincomark, and routed with great slaughter. At this crisis Traherus returned from Gaul with two legions of Roman soldiers, and several auxiliary cohorts. Octainus was hurled from power and Traherus again assumed his authority in Britain as the lieutenant of Constantine the Emperor ; but he was soon afterwards murdered by parties favor able to Octanius, who immediately returned from Norway, whither he had fled for safety. The Britons rallied round him, and being reinvested with power, the first thing he did was making peace with Fincomark, granting unto him and his heirs in perpetuity the pos session of the " cauntreys" of Westmorland and Cum berland. In the year (A. D. 382), Maximus, a provincial emperor, or pretender, raised his standard in Britain, and having collected an overwhelming army, he entered Westmorland, carrying devastation and ruin along with him.

The strongholds of the Scots, together with divers castles — which had probably been erected by the Romans — were obliged to surrender ; these he furnished with garrisons of his own men, and then passed over into Annandale and Galloway, plundering and burning the country wherever he went. The natives fled before him, not daring to oppose the for- DECLINE OF ROMAN POWER. 21 [A.D. 395. midable host by which he was surrounded. It appears from Hollinshed, that after this defeat, the Scots were never able to regain Westmorland and Cumberland. Maximus was exceedingly popular in Britain, and might easily have kept possession of the island ; but ambition prompted him to aim at the possession of a considerable portion of the Western Empire. " He withdrew nearly all his troops, and so many of the Britons followed him to Gaul, that the island was left almost defenceless.

Fortune for a while crowned his enterprises with success ; but he was ultimately con quered by Theodosius the Great, and put to death in the summer of 388." While Maximus was absent, conquering many lands, the Picts and Scots commenced to drive the Britons out of all those countries which he had taken from them, " as Pictland, Kyle, Carrik, Cunningham, Galloway, the Marshes, and Northumberland." They then entered Westmorland and Cumberland, wasting and spoiling the country as they proceeded ; they traversed Yorkshire, but were at last expelled by Chrysantus, an able general and lieutenant of Theodosius in Britain. Theodosius died in 395, but he was scarce cold in his grave, till Picts, Scots, and Saxons, renewed their depredatory incursions : " and while these events were passing in Britain, the withered majesty of Rome was shrouded for ever ; Africa was dismembered from her empire ; Dacia, Pannonia, Thrace, and other provinces were laid desolate ; and Alaric the Goth was devastating Italy, on his way to the eternal city.

In this extremity ROMAN INDUSTRY. A.D. 445.] some Roman troops, which had been lately sent into the island by Stilicho, were hastily recalled for the defence of Italy, and the Britons, again beset by the Picts and Scots, were left to shift for themselves." The poor Britons, unable to contend with these savage marauders, had resource to Rome for assis tance ; a legion under Gallio, was sent over for their relief ; their enemies were chased to their former limits, and Gallio returned to aid in defending the southern parts of the empire. But his retreat brought on a fresh invasion. The Britons again petitioned for aid ; another legion was sent over ; the barbarians were again repelled. The Romans assisted the Britons to repair the wall of Severus, and then, according to Lanquette, exhorted them in future " to trust to their owne manhoode."

In the year 445, the Romans renounced all power and authority in Britain, the declining state of the empire rendering it impossible for them to hold so distant a province. " The Romans, during their residence in Britain, governed the natives by a species of mild military rule ; their religion was the heathenism of the Pantheon, though, it is said, a large portion of the Britons prostra ted themselves before the altar of ' The Unknown God.' The Romans were remarkable for their industry. The troops comprising their standing army in Britain, besides performing various important military services, executed many of those noble works of utility and ornament, the vastness and durability of which, though only contemplated after numerous hordes of destroying TRADE AND COMMERCE. [A.D. 445. barbarians have swept over them, have excited the astonishment and admiration of every successive generation of mankind.* The remains of a Roman city have been found at the head of Lake Windermere, and the ploughman has driven his ploughshare over another which is buried near Kirkby Thore, in this county ; but of these we will speak more particularly at future pages.

" The trade and commerce of the Britons, before the invasion of the Romans were very insignificant but when the conquerors had established themselves in the land, civilization began to display itself in the manu facture of woolen, linen and other goods, so that the natives though subject to a foreign yoke, soon enjoyed the sweets of trade and industry. Vessels were built in Britain to export tin, corn, cattle, hides, gold, silver, lead, iron, amber, and glass vessels, horn, toys, &c, &c. : and to import brass, brazen utensils, earthenware, salt, and other articles. The commercial transactions of the ancient Britons were carried on without the aid of money, till the commencement of the christian era, when a mint was erected at Colchester, where money of gold, silver, and copper was coined, during the reigns of Augustus and Trajan, both silver and gold mines were worked in Britain.

As the Romans had suggested to the natives the method of coining, they took especial care to replenish with the industry of the Britons the exhausted treasury of Rome, by means of taxation." * See Piet. Hist., p. 60. INCURSION OF BARBARIANS. A.D. 445.]

Chapter II. The Britons Saxons And Normans

The Britons abandoned by the Romans, were now left to make their own defence. The wall of Severus extending from the Tyne to the Solway, was, of itself, an almost impassible barrier; and had the Britons been inspired with one spark of patriotic valour, they might have repelled with ease every attack of the barbarians ; but Gildas, a monk, who wrote in the sixth century, informs us that the Britons were unable to defend the northern rampart, "for their enemies pulled them down with hooked weapons, and they then took flight in a more desperate and hopeless dispersion than ever. The enemy gave them chase, and as lambs by the butcher, so were these poor creatures cut to pieces by their enemies. In these miserable and woeful times the poor Britons who were found in the mountains, were butch ered in great numbers ; and others, almost dead with famine, surrendered themselves to their enemies as slaves, some escaped and went beyond the sea, and BRITONS ESTABLISH REPUBLICS. [A.D. 448. others remained in their native country, with great fears, trusting their lives to vast mountains, dreadful preci pices, intrenchments, thick woods, &c." Such was the state of Westmorland and the other parts of North Britain in the fifth century.

The uncivilized human beings who lived in that benighted age, moved by what we may term a barbarous instinct, were ever athirst for blood, and delighted in murder, rapine, and devastation. The poor Britons in the midst of these terrible calami ties, sent a lamentable petition to Ætius (a person of great authority in the Roman state) as follows : " To Ætius thrice consul. The groans of the Britons. The barbarians drive us to the sea, and the sea drives us back to the barbarians, thus between two deaths we perish either by sword or by water." Pressed by the arms of Atilla, a foe more powerful than Alaric the Goth, Ætius was unable to assist his supplicants, so that their last hope of succour from Rome now fell to the ground. " It is conjectured that the Britons when left to themselves, established thirty republics ; but intestine wars and civil broils soon established military tyrannies, and there were kings appointed — but not of God, who in their turn gave way to men more ferocious than themselves.

The Picts and Scots taking advantage of these internal dissensions, were more frequent in their attacks on the divided Britons, amongst whom the kingdom of Strath Cluyde, called generally, the kingdom of Cumbria, was then (A. D. 448) the most considerable nation, for it comprehended all the VOL. 1. d THE SAXONS. A.D. 448.] western lowlands of Scotland as far as Dunbarton, and was further extended by the union of North Wales, when Coil married the heiress of that principality, and by the accession of the intermediate counties, on the coast of the Irish Channel, the inhabitants of which district (including Westmorland and Cumber land) had put themselves under the protection of the Strath Cluyde princes. These territories were united under Uneon Urdd, after whose death they were divided amongst his posterity, and formed the Princi palities of North Wales, Cumberland, and Galloway."* The kingdom or principality of Cumberland, which included Westmorland, was still the theatre of rapine ; season after season the goods of the effeminate Britons were carried off by the Picts and Scots; the natives flying into the forests, and leaving the barbarians to devastate their territories without molestation.

At length the distressed Britons sent an embassy into Germany inviting the Saxons to come over to their aid. Many of the present inhabitants of Westmorland are undoubtedly the descendants of the ancient Saxons, therefore, we hope a short account of the early history of that warlike race will not be unacceptable. THE SAXONS. " The Saxons were regarded as one of the most warlike of the German tribes, and had become the terror of the neighbouring nations. They had diffused * See Burn and Nicholson's Hist, of West, and Cum., vol. 2., p. 3. HENGIST AND HORSEA. [A.D. 448. themselves from the northern parts of Germany and the Cimbrian Chersonesus, and had taken possession of all the sea coast from the mouth of the Rhine to Jutland ; whence they had long infested by their piracies all the eastern and southern parts of Britain and the northern of Gaul.

In order to oppose their inroads, the Romans had established an officer, whom they called ' Count of the Saxon shore ;' and as the naval arts can flourish among a civilized people alone, they seem to have been more successful in repelling the Saxons than any of the other barbarians by whom they were invaded. The dissolution of the Roman power invited them to renew their inroads : and it was an acceptable circumstance that the deputies of the Britons appeared among them, and prompted them to undertake an enterprise to which they were of themselves sufficiently disposed. Hengist and Horsea, two brothers, possessed great credit among the Saxons, and were much celebrated both for their valour and nobility. They were reputed, as most of the Saxon princes, to be sprung from Woden, who was worshipped as a god among those nations, and said to be his grandsons ; a circumstance which added much to their authority.

We shall not attempt to trace any higher the origin of those princes. The dark industry of antiquaries, led by imaginary analogies of names, or by uncertain traditions, would in vain attempt to pierce into that deep obscurity which covers the remote history of those nations. These brothers observing the other provinces of Ger- HOSTILITY AGAINST THE BRITONS. A.D. 449.] many to be occupied by a warlike and necessitous people, and the rich provinces of Gaul already overrun by other German tribes, found it easy to persuade their countrymen to embrace the sole enterprise, which promised a favourable opportunity of displaying their valour and gratifying their avidity. They embarked their troops in three vessels ; and about the year 449 or 450, carried over sixteen hundred men, who landed in the Isle of Thanet, and immediately marched to the defence of the Britons against the northern invaders.

The Scots and Picts were unable to resist the valour of these auxiliaries ; and the Britons applauding their own wisdom in calling over the Saxons, hoped thence forth to enjoy peace and security under the powerful protection of that warlike people. But Hengist and Horsea perceiving with what facility they might subdue the Britons, were determined to conquer for their own grandeur, not for the defence of their allies. They sent intelligence to Saxony of the fertility and riches of Briton ; and represented as certain the subjection of a people so long disused to arms. The vices and pusillanimity of Vortigern, the British leader, were a new ground of hope ; and the Saxons in Germany, soon reinforced Hengist and Horsea with five thousand men, who came over in seventeen vessels. The Britons now began to entertain apprehensions of their allies, whose numbers they found continually augmenting ; but thought of no remedy, except a passive submission and connivance. This meek expedient soon failed them. The Saxons sought a THE HISTORY OF WESTMORLAND. HISTORY OF WESTMORLAND.

CHAPTER I. THE BRIGANTES DRUIDS ROMANS AND CALEDONIANS

Westmorland is a small county in the north of England, situated between 54° 11' and 54° 41', north latitude, and between 2° 10' and 3° 6', west longitude from the meridian of Greenwich. It comprehends a tract of country which cannot be surpassed for magnificence of scenery. The present inhabitants of Westmorland have not descended from the first settlers in the county ; for our Saxon ancestors exterminated the Britons in every part of the island, except Wales and Cornwall : never theless we will endeavour to furnish a brief account VOL. I FIRST INHABITANTS. of the exploits of the first human beings who inhabited this interesting region. The north-western part of Britain was originally called Albania,* and Westmorland, along with the five counties in the northern circuit of England, was peopled by the Brigantes some time prior to the Roman invasion ; for Julius Cæsar informs us that the innermost parts of Britain were inhabited by the Aborigines, or ancient Britons, and the coast by emi grants from Belgium.f It is evident from the desperate and protracted resistance which the Brigantes made when assailed by the Romans that they were a numerous and patriotic race, which would not have been the case had they been modern settlers in the country.

The Brigantes subsisted principally by hunting. The caves of the earth and the thickets of the forests were their habitations. They dyed their bodies with the juice of certain herbs and used no raiment, except when the inclemency of the weather compelled them to wear the skins of the animals which they had cap tured in the chase. Yet notwithstanding the miserable manner in which they lived, they were robust and healthy ; for, according to Plutarch, some of them reached the advanced age of one hundred and twenty * See British History, from the Latin of Jeifery of Monmouth, page 125. + The ancient Britons were a tribe of Gallic Celts, who emigrated from the continent and settled here in those remote ages of which we have but very faint historical records; and the Brigantes of the north were the most numerous and powerful of all the British tribes that possessed the island before the Roman invasion.

THE DRUIDS. years, the natural heat of the body being preserved by the coldness of the climate. The religion of the Britons was one of the most considerable parts of their government ; and it is evident from existing monuments, such as Maybrough, on the banks of the river Eamont, and Carl Lofts, near Shap, that the ancient inhabitants of this district were under the Druidical system of judicature. The horrible nature of that legislation is beautifully depicted in the following brief extracts from the inimitable Hume : — " The Druids, who were the priests of the Britons, possessed great authority among them. Besides direct ing all religious duties they presided over the education of youth ; they enjoyed an immunity from wars and taxes ; they possessed both the civil and criminal jurisdiction ; they decided all controversies among states as well as among private parties, and whoever refused to submit to their decree was exposed to excom munication ; he was forbidden access to the sacrifices ; his company was universally shunned as profane ; he was refused the protection of law, and death itself became an acceptable relief from misery.