Traditions of Lincolnshire, (First series.) Boston in the olden times; a series of legends and tales, illustrative of the history and antiquities of Boston and its neighbourhood

Front matter

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Contents

A Brown Study {preface)

The Masquers ; or, Merry Pilgrims page 1

A Legend of Kyme Tower — 104

CHAPTER I. " What noisy rogues be these

That wake the echoes of our peaceful vale ?"

The Royal Castle of Bolingbroke stood in the centre of a vast amphitheatre of hills, open towards the southeast, in which direction the prospect extended over the adjacent fens as far as Boston and the sea.

On the evening upon which our narrative commences, the setting sun was shedding a mellow radiance upon the venerable battlements of this ancient fortress, when the brow of the hill, which formed the northern boundary of the valley, became suddenly peopled with a numerous company of travellers, both male and female, in all the variety of costume peculiar to the fantastic taste of the age of which we write.

Slowly did the motley throng wend their way down the hill ; the ladies on ambling palfreys ; and the gentlemen, some on horseback and some on foot, the better to assist their fair fellow travellers in the descent. The party-coloured mantles and glittering arms of the men, blending with the flowing draperies and rich head dresses of the ladies, gave a splendid and imposing effect to the whole cavalcade : while the jingle of bells attached to the horses' bridles, the sound of drums, hautboys, and trumpets, mingled with the song, the laugh and the merry jest, combined to give life and spirit to ihe cheerful scene. Such were the appearance and demeanour of this pious company, for such they professed to be, however few the outward signs they displayed. On completing the descent the road ran along the outer verge of the fosse, so that the inmates of the Castle had a good view of the whole party, which amounted to nearly two hundred.

The unexpected arrival of such unusual visitors within the precincts of the Honour of Bolingbroke, created no small commotion amongst the peaceful inhabitants of the secluded town, who all turned out to bid them welcome- Impelled by the same motive as their more humble neighbours, the ladies of the Castle took their station in the embrasure of a window, which commanded a view of the road, to see the strangers as they passed. Many were the caps doffed to the lady Rosabel and her pretty companion ; but the gay greetings and saucy comphments of the wassailers quickly drove the blushing damsels from their post; and the evening presently after closing in» the tumult subsided into a distant murmur, interrupted only by occasional bursts of music and laughter, showing that neither wine nor travel had yet entirely hushed the noisy voice of mirth.

Christine in the mean time had tripped away to the porter'^s lodge to learn the meaning of this extraordinary procession, and on her return reported it to consist of pilgrims, merchants, mummers and wassailers, journeying to the great mart at Boston, for the various purposes of religion, pleasure, and traffic. " But what think you P'"* continued she, '' that surly old seneschal, my father, has caused the gates to be closed, and the bridge to be raised ; and vows he will allow no one to quit the Castle until the town is well cleared of these vagabonds, as his inveteracy styles this goodly company of gallant fellows and happy damsels. Really, though he is my father, he is a sad old churl."

" Well, but how can this affect you, silly girl, who certainly do not wish to join yonder riotous assembly, whose conduct so ill becomes the devotion proper to their ostensible pilgrimage ?"

*^ I know not that, lady Rosabel ; nor will I promise, despite my father's prohibition, that I will not visit them this night. Did your ladyship observe the mad tricks of the merry rogues ; and the burly old father Bluff, the jolly vicar of Horncastle ; — and his squire and lieutenant, the handsome young yeoman minstrel ? Oh ! how I should love to accompany them to the merry makings, and festivities of the royal mart of Boston."

The rebuke which hung upon the lips of Rosabel was here suspended by the approach of an ancient matron, whose shrill voice gave notice of her proximity long before she herself became visible. This old lady, whose name was Cicely Moreton, having been the nurse of Henry the Fourth in his infancy, had been allowed apartments in the Castle ever since that memorable event ; and, presuming upon the indulgence of successive governors, had become as much the tyrant of the kitchen and larder, as the old seneschal was of the garrison in general. Indeed the struggles for supremacy between these two officials

were daily and desperate, each encroaching upon the

B 2 other's domain, and each repelhng the aggression with all • the venom of wordy warfare.

" Insolent and presumptuous knave !" such were the first words distinguished in the rapid flow of her angry eloquence ; — " am I to be thus insulted by a drunken old soldier ? — Hag ! harridan ! indeed ! — are these contemptuous terms fit to be applied to Cicely Moreton, who has fondled in her arms, and cherished at her breast, the princely and glorious Harry the Fourth of England ? No ; — I will no longer endure such treatment ; — I will quickly know whether I am to be kept a prisoner in the Castle like the lowest menial at the will of a tyrannical seneschal, who takes advantage of the absence of the governor to abuse his brief authority. In the time of my good lady Blanche, the humble Simon Briton, who now bears himself so proudly, would have thought himself honoured by a kind look or a passing word from her he now treats with such contumely."

Thus speaking in bounced the old lady, tall of stature, gaunt of figure, raised on high heeled shoes, with a lofty head-geer, that added greatly to her extraordinary height, and of which her pride, notwithstanding her great age, did not allow her to lose a single inch. She flounced about and tossed her head more like a damsel of sixteen than a matron of seventy ; raising a cloud of dust and perfume in her passage, the former caused by the sweep of her long train and hanging sleeves, and the latter by the motion her vivacity communicated to the curls of her flaxen wig. But her anger had not yet exhausted itself, and she thus resumed her declamation, on being a'ddressed by Rosabel.

^« What is the matter, good nurse ?"

" Matter enough forsooth : but you will hardly believe, my dear young lady, the indignities I am compelled to put up with. You must know then that having observed my kinsman, Jerry Stalwart, and his buxom daughter Jane, in the company of godly pilgrims now foregathered in the town, I donned my braves to go and visit them this evening ; which was but seemly, for cousin Jerry is well to do in the world, and" — " Was also an ancient flame of your's nurse ;" said the roguish Christine. " Silence, vixen, and hsten to my tale of woe without any of your pert remarks. Well, as I was saying, Jerry being my near kinsman, for his mother's first husband was half brother to my good man, (whose soul God rest,) I thought it only proper to go and enquire of his welfare : but when I came to the port, lo and behold, to my utter astonishment, the gates were closed, the bridge raised, and no passage open for dame Cicely Moreton to go and visit her kinsman ! And when I told the warder to open the gates for me, the knave flatly refused, pleading the orders of the seneschal. To Master Simon Briton I accordingly repaired ; when with all the insolence of his petty office, he declared he would not let me pass the portals, under some vain pretence of suspicion as to the character of the assembly which rests this night in the town. So much for the impudence of this self-styled captain."

'' Marry, dame Moreton, you give your tongue too great a licence, to speak thus of my father, who is as truly a captain as you are the royal nurse you so often tell us of"

The old lady looked at Christine as if astonished at her presumption, yet hurt at her unkindness ; and all her

b3 ire having spent itself upon the captain, she replied only, ** And do you too, Christine, turn your sarcasms upon your old nurse ?" Hereupon her feelings being wrought up to a high state of excitement, she burst into tears, partly of spite and partly of vexation ; and was only prevented from falling into hysterics by the assiduous application of the remedies in thai case made and provided.

CHAPTER IL

" If thou lovest me, then,

Steal forth thy father's house to-morrow night ;

And in the wood a league without the town,

There will I stay for thee." SHAKESPEARE.

As the bell tolled nine, a lady was seen to issue from a small sally-port in an angle of the Castle wall, which opened upon the inner bank of the fosse.

" Who goes there ?" was her challenge addressed to a dark form which gloomed on the opposite verge.

" Love and honour:'"* was the whispered reply.— Whereupon the fair night-walker stepped into a skiff which lay near, and paddled it over the moat with a dexterity that showed her not unpractised in that clandestine mode of quitting the Castle. W^ith a light heart and a nimble foot she sprang upon the bank, and was presently shrouded in the arms and mantle of the gentleman in waiting, who led her through the wood towards the village. They had not proceeded far when they suddenly encountered four fen-men, wild and desperate looking fellows, of sallow visage, gaunt form, and rude and scanty garb. The notorious brutality of these ruffians, and their love of plunder even to blood, affrighted the maiden, and she besought her lover, if possible, to avoid

them, which the young soldier, for her sake would wil-

B 4 lingly have done, but the rencounter had now unfortu nately become inevitable, for the boors had already hailed him with a loud shout of brutal triumph, as if they had unexpectedly pounced upon a prize. On they came, — four as truculent looking fellows as ever graced a gallows-tree ; their long visages obscured by thick shaggy hair, which escaped from beneath small thrum caps ; and brandishing huge bludgeons in their hands, for the skilful exercise of which the fen-men were celebrated.

" Oh, oh, gallant sir ! — and oh, oh, fair lady ! — a fair good e'en to your worships :" said the first ruffian in a tone of mock courtesy. " Have you any pretty trifles, or paltry baubles, such as a golden rosary, or a jewelled cross, to bestow upon the poor fen-men ? We be honest men who will thankfully receive at your hands whatever your worships may be pleased to bestow."

*' Aye, aye," roared 4.he others, flourishing their clubs, and laughing loudly at the banter of their comrade; " we be humble petitioners for your bounty."

<« Why, gentlemen," said the youth, «^ as you speak so fairly, I have no objection to present you with the only trifle I have just now at your service; and here it is :" shouted he, as he drew his sword and made a thrust at one of the robbers, which laid him a corpse at his feet.

At the first flash of the weapon the lady fled, and as one of the fellows turned to pursue her, the lover flew upon him like a tiger, and passing his sword through his unguarded body, followed rapidly the receding steps of his mistress, before the two survivors had time to intercept his retreat. At the outskirts of the wood he succeeded in overtaking the damsel, who almost fainted in his arms ; but, on being assured of his safety, she recovered sufficiently to continue the flight until they found themselves amongst the tents of the pilgrims on the south side of the town. Here whilst they tarried to recover breath, two muffled strangers rode rapidly towards the Castle, but reined up their horses near them to enquire the meaning of the assemblage of such a motley multitude in so unusual a place.

'' This holy company of pilgrims, noble sirs,*'" said a sprightly youth in green, who wore the silver badge and chain of a yeoman-minstrel, " is journeying to the shrine of our Lady of Mount Carmel at St. Bodolph''s."

" And you, I presume,'' said one of the horsemen, " are their conductor and ghostly father."

" So please you, kind sir ; for the worthy shaveling who enacts that part, lies snoring in yonder booth overcome by the fervour of his devotion to the pottle-pot, I am therefore for the present bpth minstrel and friar. Should it please you to join our good company, you may depend upon my fatherly counsel and protection."

" You are a hopeful youth," quoth the younger horseman, " to take charge of so large and fair a company of damsels."

" Truly my hands are quite full of them, as you say, but I find no difficulty in obtaining assistance in that department of my important office from the young fellows who accompany me ; yet such is the glut of the bonny kirtles that I can immediately put you in commission of some lovely forlorn one, whom you shall chaperon if you will make one of us."

" We thank you for your courtesy, sir minstrel, and would gladly avail ourselves of your powerful patronage, but that at present we are otherwise engaged. You depart for Boston on the morrow ?"

" Early in the morning ;" was the reply. The strangers with a courteous " good night," resumed their journey, and immediately after crossing by a ford the small " boling-broke," from which the Castle, town and king have all derived their names^ turned into a road that led to the Castle, and were presently out of sight.

" These be gay birds, and of high feather, or I am mistaken,'' said the minstrel.

" Aye, truly," answered his neighbour. " Did you mark the jewel that sparkled in the youngster's cap .^"

" Higher perchance than you imagine," grumbled a surly fellow from behind an adjoining tree.

" Why, who may they be ?" enquired several voices at once.

" That is as it may be," responded the same ungragracious growl.

" Why, you are mysterious, brother mine ;" retorted the minstrel, " and would persuade us you know more than you are pleased to tell. 'Tis a shallow conceit, and often proceeds from as shallow a brain."

" If they be not from the court," chimed in a third, '' they are propably some of Hotspur's runaway lords, who find it convenient to travel under favour of the night."

" They cannot be rebels," replied another, " or they would avoid the Castle, and I saw them turn their horses' heads towards the draw-bridge. That would be like running into the lion's mouth."

" It may perchance prove so to them notwithstanding," was the ominous reply that again proceeded from the dark shadow of the tree, from which a tall figure presently glided away into the distant gloom.

" There be more mummers in our company, I fear, than are well disposed,*" murmured several of the stragglers, as they betook themselves warily to their several tents for the night, and left our lovers to do the same. These, on hearing the end of the preceding gossip, hastened to a small cottage in a retired part of the village.

There was neither light nor sound perceptible to give token of inhabitants, yet, after a single knock and a whispered pass-word, the door was opened, and they entered.

On a miserable bed, in a back room, lay a fine old gentleman fast asleep, whose white locks were dabbled in blood from a wound on the temple, over which was bound a silk scarf. The convulsive shudder, which occasionally passed over his pallid and deeply-furrowed brow, showed that he laboured, even in sleep, under bodily pain and mental anxiety. A splendidly embroidered doublet and cloak lay across the foot of the bed, and a richly mounted sword and dagger hung from a peg in the wall, over which also was placed a plumed velvet cap peculiar to those of high rank.

To the enquiries of the young man, the aged attendant replied, " My lord has slept soundly these two hours, and the fever has considerably abated, so that with proper care and rest I trust he will be out of danger in two or three days."

'' Out of danger, Margery ! Would to God I could think so ; but, truth to tell, perils thicken around us, for I fear that the strangers we saw just now proceeding to the Castle, come commissioned to search for, and arrest, all fugitives who may lie concealed in this neighbourhood, and then my poor father will be the first victim sacrificed to the vengeance of the enraged king.''

*' Do not indulge in such dreadful surmises, my dear Rupert/'' said the young lady, " but, that all doubt on this head may be set at rest, it is necessary that I return forthwith to the Castle, to watch the course of events, and prevent my absence from being discovered, for I shall certainly be sought for on the arrival of guests. Should danger threaten you, I will show a light from the window of my apartment, and immediately extinguish it ; but if I let it continue to burn steadily, be assured you have nothing to fear.""

*^' Ever my guardian angel, my sweet Christine !" said the young man, pressing her to his breast, — *' You were made to be a soldier's bride, for you are prompt to act upon emergency, as well as quick to discern the best way out of a labyrinth of difficulties.''

Again the loving pair issued fourth into the darkness, their hearts glowing with that generous devotion to each other, which insensible to self concentrates all its happiness in that of the beloved object.

CHAPTER III. " At the Baron of Mowbray's gate was seen

A page with a courser white." S0N«.

There was an apartment in the Castle called the Spanish chamber, which had originally been fitted up for the princess Blanche, shortly after her marriage with John of Gaunt, furnished in the most costly style, and containing every luxury that the times had introduced, or wealth could procure. This splendid room was assigned to the lady Rosabel, nor did any one presume to enter it without her special permission, except her favourite and companion, Christine, and the dame Moreton.

The former of these damsels was a blonde, tall and remarkably fair, with hair of a nut-brown shade, and her form exquisitely moulded. Her mind was strongly tinctured with romance, which the character of the age, her conventual education, and along secluded residence in the Castle of Bolingbroke, had tended to confirm. There were other causes which had heightened this feeling in an extraordinary degree, namely, the legendary tales with which dame Moreton**s memory and fluent tongue were wont to wile away the tedious hours; — to these must be added the long accounts of moving accidents by flood and field, with which the veteran Simon frequently astounded the ears, and harrowed up the feelings of his credulous hearers on a winter's night. Thus was her imagination constantly filled with dreams of love and chivalry ; or, if the genius of pandemonium were in the ascendant, all the spirits of earth and air assembled in the theatre of her mind, and enacted their fantastic horrors in all the vivid colouring of youthful fancy.

These traits, though savouring strongly of weakness, were redeemed by an energy of character, and a boldness of spirit, equal to the most trying emergency : and, indeed, it may be here remarked, that the gentlest and most feminine of the dear sisterhood, have generally displayed a higher spirit, and a more decisive character, in the day of trial, than those ladies whose general demeanour is of a more masculine order.

Her chosen companion and confidential friend, Christine, was a sparkling beauty of another order, — dark as the daughters of Spain, from one of whom she was descended, her eye had the bright glow — the fiery quickness — of an eastern glance. Her form also was faultless, but remarkably small, and her vivacity not to be repressed. She was accomplished far beyond the generality of her sex in the times of which we write, playing delightfully on the harp and citole, and executing delicate needlework, and rich embroidery with equal skill and taste.

The former of these fair maidens, wrapt in those pleasing dreams in which romantic visionaries delight to indulge, was reclining on a large sofa in the apartment above described ; fascinating pictures of handsome cavaliers, gallant knights, glorious tournaments, fairy palaces, and propitious genii, were successively flitting in charming disorder through her mind, when her reverie were suddenly disturbed by the sound of a bugle, and she sprang from her recumbent posture as if some of her wild fancies were on the instant to be realized. After a short pause the bugle sounded again, and was followed by loud and continued knocks. These were repeated at intervals for some time, and apparently without effect. Surprised at the summons not being answered by the warder, she was about to go and enquire the cause, when Christine hurried into the room, her dress disordered, and her cheeks flushed with the haste of her return from her secret expedition.

" Ah, my dear Rosabel, I am glad to find you here, for I was afraid you had retired to rest. — You must be brave, — here be noble guests at the Castle gate. But fie upon these saucy jack-men, for, knowing that my father had withdrawn to his nocturnal devotions with the chaplain, they have made the old warder drunk, and persuaded him to open the gates to allow them to quit the Castle, and join the wassaiiers in the village. The old man has from instinct fastened the inner gate, and now sleeps soundly in his great arm chair, from which I have in vain endeavoured to rouse him."

" But what can we do ?"

'' Try to open the gate ourselves."

Impelled by curiosity, and without considering for a moment what might be the consequence of the step they were about to take, the two young ladies tripped lightly down the circular stairs, crossed the court, and took from the feeble hands of the snoring porter tlia ponderous key. Still they hesitated between fear and doubt of the propriety of their conduct ; and so startled were they at the clamorous renewal of the knocking that they were on the point of flying to the apartment they had left, but resuming their courage they at last ventured to open a small grate and, parley with those without.

" Are you the governor of the castle, my pretty damsel?"" said a merry voice from without, as Christine peeped through the gratings. "Yes, so please you, for the present. But what may be your pleasure, sir ?""

" You being governor, fair one, our business is with you. We are from the court of our good king Henry, who by us greets the governor of his native Castle of Bolingbroke, which, by the bye, he little suspects is so fairly garrisoned, and so ably commanded."

" Gra^mercy, Christine ; — says he not he is from the king? — Call your father. — Or stay; — ^let us admit them.— They are perhaps some great men who will make an evil report of this want of courtesy."

" Oh, if they be noble lords, they are at least young and merry ones, by the sound of their voices," replied Christine, " therefore let us admit them by all means."

With some difficulty, Christine, assisted by Rosabel, succeeded in drawing the bolts and opening the gate, whereupon the gallants throwing the bridles over their horses'* necks, entered, apparently in no ill humour, notwithstanding their long detention at the gate.

" We are your grateful debtors, fair ladies, for your courteous admission, however tardy ; and as you are the only portion of the garrison who at present keep watch and ward, allow us, as in duty bound, to pay the salutations due."

And suiting the action to the word, the young speaker was about to kiss Christine, when his gallantry received a sudden and somewhat boisterous check.

Chapter IV

" Do not think, gentlemen, that I am drunk ; — this is my ancient ; — this is my right hand, and this my left hand : — 1 am not drunk : — vou must not think that I am drunk." Shakespeare.

In the early part of August, 1403, shortly after the death of that star of chivalry, Henry Hotspur, and the general dispersion of the rebels at Shrewsbury, Sir Owen Tudor, constable of the Royal Castle and Honour of Bolingbroke, was summoned to attend the king in his progress to the north. He left the fortress under the command of his lieutenant, Simon Briton, an approved and loyal soldier ; to whose vigilance he also confided his only and beloved daughter, Rosabel.

Simon Briton, or, as he was generally styled, " the captain," was a short portly old gentleman, of a rubicund and good-natured aspect, the rosy hue of which was rendered more striking by a profusion of snow-white hair, which covered his head and upper lip. The restless twinkle of his small eyes, and an habitual nervous twitch of his bushy eyebrows, showed him of a temperament easily excited, and extremely captious. He had been from his youth a confidential follower of the House of Lancaster, and had received the appointment he held many years prior to the date of this narrative, from no less a person than John of Gaunt himself, under whom he had served with zeal and honour in France and Spain.

He was also one of those that delight to figure as great men in the drama of life, and who make the most of the characters assigned to them ; his manner and language were consequently always pompous and imposing, and particularly so when he acquired the right to domineer by being left in command of the " Royal Castle and Hon-^ our of Bolingbroke," as he never failed to style his small kingdom.

It will be readily conceived that such a person found few who dared to thwart his imperious will, either in the garrison or the neighbouring township, for his power was indisputable, and the frequent absence of the Lord Constable left him at full liberty to exercise it according to his whim and pleasure. On these occasions the lady Rosabel was the only person who had any influence over the self-willed old soldier, for from long connexion with the great he had acquired an almost blind deference for rank, which at once commanded from him passive obedience.

The men-at-arms and other retainers about the Castle, found their principal relief from the severe discipline he generally kept up, in the old soldier''s devotion to the pottle-pot. For no sooner were they assured that he was safely ensconced behind the well-known mighty tankard, than they knew themselves secure from discovery, however wild their pranks ; for the jolly old toper on these occasions seemed to forget the world and all its vanities. Friar Philip, the chaplain of the Castle, was the only person admitted to the celebration of these Bacchanalian rites, than whom a more efficient help-mate could not possibly have been chosen.

THE MASQUERS. ft

That these two worthies were engaged in their usual symposium during the events of the preceding chapter has heen already intimated^ and the train of our narrative leads us to record a part of their edifying conversa* tion.

" Spare not the pottle-pot, brother Philip, or you are no true son of mother church. I never yet knew civilian or layman that could cope with a soldier or a priest at the wine flask."

'' Fairly spoken, jolly companion ; — nor will you find me slow to support the reputation of our several callings^ which certainly agree in that point, however dissimilar in others, for you are a man of war, and I of peace." And the good priest raising the pitcher to his lips drained its contents to the last drop ; whereupon the replenishing of the said pitcher became the subject of debate.

" May Beelzebub fly away with these knavish servingmen, who leave me, — me, the representative of his Majesty ""s Lord Constable, — nay, of Majesty itself, — to draw mine own wine."

" Fret not yourself, noble captain ; — I will undertake the office of cellarer on the present occasion, if it so please you.'*

" Aye, aye, holy father," replied the captain with a hearty laugh, " His kindly proffered. And, pray, when might I expect to see your reverence return from the lower regions ? No, no, I will even be my own knave, for I could ill support the weight of your bulky person up the cellar stairs in addition to that of the flagon ; and if you once got amongst the puncheons, your own legs I misdoubt would never bring you up again into the regions of light."