Lays and Legends of the English Lake Country

—Ambiguo lapsu, refluitque fluitque,Occurrensque sibi venturas aspicit undas.

There is no English stream to which this truly Ovidian description can more accurately be applied. From a jutting isthmus, round which the tortuous river twists, you look over its manifold windings, up the water to Blencathra; down it, over a high and wooded middle ground, to the distant mountains of Newlands, Cawsey Pike, and Grizedale."

GUNILDA;

OR, THE WOEFUL CHASE

A joyful train left Lucy's hallsAt morning, cheer'd with bugle calls,That long ere eve, a mournful train,Returned to Lucy's halls again.They went with hound and spear and bow,To lay the prowling wild-wolf low.They came with hound and bow and spear—And one fair daughter on her bier.Her prancing palfrey starting wide,She gallop'd from Lord Lucy's side,A shining huntress, gay, and bold,And fair as Dian's self of old.The quarry cross'd her lover's view;He led the chace with shrill halloo,Through brake and furze, by stream and dell,Nor stopp'd until the quarry fell.Far off aloud rang out his hornThe triumph on the echoes borne,Long ere the listening maid drew reinTo woo it to her ear in vain.Bright as a phantom, far astray,She stood where broad before her layWilton's high wastes and forest rude,And all the Copeland solitude.Far off, and farther, rang the horn:Farther the echoes seem'd to mourn."Now, my good Bay, thy frolic o'er,Thy swiftest and thy best once more!"By Hole of Haile she turned her steed:Coursed gaily on by Yeorton Mead;Glanced where St. Bridget's hamlet show'd;And down into the coppice rode.And singing on in gladness there,She pass'd beside the she-wolf's lair;When furious from her startled youngThe wild brute on Gunilda sprung.From frighted steed dragg'd low to ground,The she-wolf, with her cubs around,Made havoc of that peerless form,And heart with bounding life so warm.Clearer rang out their horn, to cheerTheir lost one; and proclaim'd them near.Proudly they said—"Gunilda's eyesWill brighten when she sees our prize!"—They found her; but their words were "Woe!""Woe to the bank where thou liest low!Woe to the hunting of this day,That left thy limbs to beasts, a prey!"With downcast faces, eyeballs dim,They bore her up that mount—to himA Mount of Sorrow evermore,Too faithful to the name it bore.They made in Bega's aisle her tomb,And laid her in the convent gloom;And carved her effigy in stone,And hew'd the she-wolf's form thereon—In pity to this hour to wakeThe pilgrim's sorrow for her sake,And his who blew the lively horn,Expecting her—and came to mourn.

NOTES TO "GUNILDA; OR, THE WOEFUL CHASE."

A traditional story in the neighbourhood of Egremont relates the circumstance of a lady of the Lucy family being devoured by a wolf. According to one version this catastrophe occurred on an evening walk near the Castle; whilst, a more popular rendering of the legend ascribes it to an occasion on which the lord of the manor, with his lady and servants, were hunting in the forest; when the lady having been lost in the ardour of the chase, was after a long search and heart-rending suspense, found lying on a bank slain by a wolf which was in the act of tearing her to pieces. The place is distinguished by a mound of earth, near the village of Beckermet, on the banks of the Ehen, about a mile below Egremont. The name of Woto Bank, or Wodow Bank as the modern mansion erected near the spot is called, is said to be derived by traditionary etymology, from the expression to which in the first transports of his grief the distracted husband gave utterance—"Woe to this bank."

Hutchinson is inclined to believe "that this place has been witness to many bloody conflicts, as appears by the monuments scattered on all hands in its neighbourhood; and by some the story is supposed to be no more than an emblematic allusion to such conflicts during the invasion of the Danes. It is asserted that no such relation is to be found in the history of the Lucy family; so that it must be fabulous, or figurative of some other event."

There are, however, yet to be seen in the burial ground attached to the Abbey Church of St. Bees, the remaining parts of two monumental figures which may reasonably be presumed to have reference to some such event as that recorded by tradition. The fragments, which are much mutilated, are of stone; and the sculpture appears to be of great antiquity. Common report has assigned to these remains the names of Lord and Lady Lucy.

In their original state, the figures were of gigantic size. The features and legs are now destroyed. The Lord is represented with his sword sheathed. There is a shield on his arm, which appears to have been quartered, but the bearings upon it are entirely defaced. On the breast of the Lady is an unshapely protuberance. This was originally the roughly sculptured limb of a wolf, which even so lately as the year 1806, might be distinctly ascertained. These figures were formerly placed in an horizontal position, at the top of two raised altar tombs within the church. The tomb of the Lady was at the foot of her Lord, and a wolf was represented as standing over it. The protuberance above mentioned, on the breast of the Lady, the paw of the wolf, is all that now remains of the animal. About a century since, the figure of the wolf wanted but one leg, as many of the inhabitants, whose immediate ancestors remembered it nearly entire, can testify. The horizontal position of the figures rendered them peculiarly liable to injuries, from the silent and irresistible ravages of time. Their present state is, however, principally to be attributed to the falling in of the outer walls of the priory, and more particularly to their having been used, many years since, by the boys of the Free Grammar School, as a mark to fire at. There can be little doubt that the limb of the wolf has reference to the story of one of the Ladies Lucy related above.

It may not however be unworthy of remark, that the Lucies were connected, through the family of Meschines, with Hugh d' Abrincis, Earl of Chester, who in the year 1070 is said to have borne azure a wolf's head erased argent, and who had the surname of Lupus.

The wife of Hugh Lupus was sister to Ranulph de Meschin.

The family of Meschines has been said to be descended from that at Rome called by the name Mæcenas, from which the former one is corrupted. "Certainly," says a recent writer, "it has proved itself the Mæcenas of the Priory of St. Bees, not merely in the foundation of that religious house, but also in the charters for a long course of years, which have been granted by persons of different names, indeed, but descended from, or connected with, the same beneficent stock." This is shown in the following extract from a MS. in the Harleian Collection:—

"Be yt notid that Wyllyam Myschen son of Ranolf Lord of Egermond founded the monastery of Saint Beysse of blake monks, and heyres to the said Meschyn ys the Lords Fitzwal, the Lord Haryngton, and the Lord Lucy, and so restyth founders of the said monastery therle of Sussex the Lord Marques Dorset, therle of Northumberland as heyres to the Lords aforesaid."

The religious house thus restored, consisting of a prior and six Benedictine monks, was made a cell to the mitred Abbey of Saint Mary, at York. And under this cell, Bishop Tanner says, there was a small nunnery situated at Rottington, about a mile from St. Bees.

At the dissolution, the annual revenues of this priory, according to Dugdale, were £143 17s. 2d.; or, by Speed's valuation, £149 19s. 6d.; from which it appears there were only two religious houses in the county more amply endowed, viz. the priory of Holme-Cultram, and the Priory of St. Mary, Carlisle; which latter was constituted a cathedral church at the Reformation.

The conventual church of St. Bees is in the usual form of a cross, and consists of a nave with aisles, a choir, and transepts, with a massive tower, at the intersection, which until lately terminated in an embattled parapet. This part of the building is now disfigured by an addition to enable it to carry some more bells. The rest of the edifice is in the early English style, and has been thoroughly restored with great taste and feeling. On the south side of the nave there was formerly a recumbent wooden figure, in mail armour, supposed to have been the effigy of Anthony, the last Lord Lucy of Egremont, who died A. D. 1368. The Lady Chapel, which had been a roofless ruin for two centuries, was fitted up as a lecture-room for the College established by Bishop Law in 1817.

The priors of this religious house ranked as barons of the Isle of Man; as the Abbot of the superior house, St. Mary's, at York, was entitled to a seat amongst the parliamentary barons of England. As such he was obliged to give his attendance upon the kings and lords of Man, whensoever they required it, or at least, upon every new succession in the government. The neglect of this important privilege would probably involve the loss of the tithes and lands in that island, which the devotion of the kings had conferred upon the priory of St. Bees.

In the library of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle is the following curious account of the discovery of a giant at St. Bees:—

"A true report of Hugh Hodson, of Thorneway, in Cumberland, to Sr Rob Cewell (qy. Sewell) of a Gyant found at S. Bees, in Cumb'land, 1601, before Xt mas.

"The said Gyant was buried 4 yards deep in the ground, wch is now a corn feild.

"He was 4 yards and an half long, and was in complete armour: his sword and battle-axe lying by him.

"His sword was two spans broad and more than 2 yards long.

"The head of his battle axe a yard long, and the shaft of it all of iron, as thick as a man's thigh, and more than 2 yards long.

"His teeth were 6 inches long, and 2 inches broad; his forehead was more than 2 spans and a half broad.

"His chine bone could containe 3 pecks of oatmeale.

"His armour, sword, and battle-axe, are at Mr. Sand's of Redington, (Rottington) and at Mr. Wyber's, at St. Bees."—

Machel MSS. Vol. vi.

THE SHIELD OF FLANDRENSIS

The Knight sat lone in Old Rydal Hall,Of the line of Flandrensis burly and tall.His book lay open upon the board:His elbow rested on his good sword:His knightly sires and many a dameLook'd on him from panel and dusky frame.High over the hearth was their ancient shield,An argent fret on a blood-red field—"Peace, Plenty, Wisdom."—"Peace?" he said:"Peace there is none for living or dead."The Autumnal day had died away:The reapers deep in their slumbers lay:The harvest moon through the blazoned panesFrom Scandale Brow poured in the stains:His household train, and his folk at rest,And most the child that he loved best:His startled ear caught up the swellOf distant sounds he knew too well.By his golden lamp to the shield he said,"Peace? Peace there is none for living or dead."The Knight he came of high degree,None better or braver in arms than he:Worthy of old Flandrensis' fame,Whose soul not battle nor broil could tame.That neighing and trampling of horses late,That hubbub of voices round his gate,That sound of hurry along the floors,That dirge-like wail through distant doors,Tempestuous in the calm, he heard:And he looked on the shield, nor spoke, nor stirr'd.From inmost chambers far remoteResponsive flow'd one dirge-like note:Loud through the arches deep and wideOne little voice did sweetly glide;Its sad accords along the gloomSwelled on towards that lordly room—"We wait not long, our watch we keep,We all are singing, and none may sleep:When stone on stone nor roof remain,The unresting shall have rest again."The Knight turned listening to the door.His little maid came up the floor.Her nightly robe of purest whiteGleamed purer in the faded light.The blazoned moonbeams slowly sweptThe spaces round, as on she stept.And lo! in his armour from head to toe,With his beard of a hundred winters' snow,Stood old Flandrensis burly and tall,With his breast to the shield, and his back to the wall.The six score winters in his eyesUnfroze, as on through the blazoned dyes,Sable, and azure, and gules, she came.Through his heaving beard low fluttered her name.But slowly and solemnly, leading or ledBy phantoms chanting for living or dead,Pass'd on the little voice so sweet—"We all are singing: we all must meet"—And into the gloom like a fading ray:And the form of Flandrensis vanished away.The Knight, alone, in his ancient hold,Sat still as a stone: his blood ran cold.For his little maiden was his delight.Then forth he strode in the face of the night.His dogs were in kennel, his steeds in stall:His deer were lying about his hall:His swans beneath the Lord's Oak Tree:The silvery Rotha was flowing free.He set his brow towards Scandale hill:The vale was breathing, but all was still.He thought of the spirits the snow-winds rouse,The Piping Spirits of Sweden Hows,That wail to the Rydal Chiefs their fate—That pipe as they whirl around lattice and gate,With their grey gaunt misty forms: but now,There was not a stir in the lightest bough:The winds in the mountain gorge were laid;No sound through all the moonlight stray'd.He turned again to his ancient Keep:There all was silence, and calm, and sleep.But all grew changed in the gloomy pile.His little maiden lost her smile.The menials fled: that knightly raceWas left alone in its ancient place:The pride of its line of warriors quailed—Those sworded knights once peerless hailed:To the earth broke down from its hold their shield.With its argent fret and its blood-red field:And they fled from the might of the powers that strodeIn the darkness through their old abode.And Sir Michael brooded an autumn day,As he looked on the slope at his child at play,On the green by the sounding water's fall:And often those words did he recall—"We wait not long, our watch we keep;We all are singing, and none may sleep.When stone on stone nor roof remain,The unresting shall have rest again."And the Knight ordained, as he brooded alone—"There shall not be left of it roof or stone."And Sir Michael said—"I will build my hallOn the green by the sounding waterfall:And an arbour cool at its foot, beside.And I'll bury my shield in the crystal tide,To cleanse it from blood perchance, that soPeace, Plenty, and Wisdom again may flowRound old Flandrensis' honours and name."And the pile arose: and the sun's bright flameWas pleasant around it: and morn and evenIt lay in the light and the hues of heaven.And Sir Michael sat in the arbour cool,Where the waters leapt in the crystal pool;Saying—"Gone is yon keep to a grim decay.And now, my little one, loved alway!Whence came thy singing so wild and deep?"——"We all were singing, and none might sleep,Till all the Unmerciful heard their strain.But now the unresting have rest again."—So the keep went down to the dust and mould.And the new pile bore the blazon of old—The pride of the old ancestral shield—The argent fret on the blood-red field;"Peace, Plenty, Wisdom"Beneath enscrolled.

NOTES TO "THE SHIELD OF FLANDRENSIS."

The ancient Manor house at Rydal stood in the Low Park, on the top of a round hill, on the south side of the road leading from Keswick to Kendal. But on the building of the new mansion on the north side of the highway, in what is called the High Park, the manor house became ruinous, and got the name of the Old Hall, which, says Dr. Burn, in his time, "it still beareth." Even then there was nothing to be seen but ruinous buildings, walks, and fish ponds, and other marks of its ancient consequence; the place where the orchard stood was then a large enclosure without a fruit tree in it, and called the Old Orchard. At the present day few indications of its site remain. Tradition asserts that it was deserted from superstitious fears.

The present mansion was erected by Sir Michael le Fleming in the last century. It stands on the north side of the road, on a slope facing the south, is a large old fashioned building, and commands a fine view of Windermere. Behind it rises Rydal Head, and Nab-Scar a craggy mountain 1030 feet above the level of the sea. The Park is interspersed with abundance of old oaks, and several rocky protuberances in the lawn are covered with fine elms and other forest trees. The Lord's Oak, a magnificent specimen, is built into the wall on the lower side of the Rydal Road over which it majestically towers. "The sylvan, or rather forest scenery of Rydal Park," says Professor Wilson, "was, in the memory of living men, magnificent, and it still contains a treasure of old trees."

The two waterfalls, the cascades of the rivulet which runs through the lawn, are situated in the grounds. The way leads through the park meadow and outer gardens by a path of singular beauty and richness. They are in the opinion of Gilpin and other tourists unparalleled in their kind. The upper fall is the finest, in the eyes of those who prefer the natural accessories of a cascade: but the lower one, which is below the Hall, is beheld from the window of an old summer house. This affords a fine picture frame; the basin of rock and the bridge above, with the shadowy pool, and the overhanging verdure, constituting a perfect picture.

The heraldic distinction, the fret, is found more than once in Furness Abbey, and is undoubtedly the ancient arms of le Fleming. An entire seal appended to a deed from Sir Richard le Fleming of Furness dated 44 Edward the Third (1371) shews a fret hung cornerwise, the crest, on a helmet a fern, or something like it. The seal annexed to another deed dated 6 Henry V. (1419) is the same as above described; the motto, S. Thome Flemin, in Saxon characters.

The present crest and motto are of modern date, and explain each other: the serpent is the emblem of wisdom, as the olive and the vine are of peace and plenty. But upon what occasion this distinction was taken does not appear.

THE ROOKS OF FURNESS

"Caw! Caw!" the rooks of Furness cry."Caw! Caw!" the Furness rooks reply.In and about the saintly pile,Over refectory, porch, and aisle,Perching on archway, window, and tower,Hopping and cawing hour by hour.Saint Mary of Furness knows them well!They are souls of her Monks laid under a spell.They were once White Monks; ere the altars fell,And the vigils ceased, and the Abbey bellWas hush'd in the Deadly Nightshade Dell."Caw! Caw!" for ever, from mornTill night they trouble the ruins forlorn:Roger the Abbot, parading in black,Briand the Prior, and scores at his backOf those old fathers cawing amain,All robed in rooks' black feathers, in vainWaiting again for the Abbey to rise,For matins to waken the morning skies,And themselves to chant the litanies."Caw! Caw!" No wonder they caw!To see—where their vigorous rule was law—Fair Love with his troops of youths and maids,With holiday hearts, through greenwood shadesCome forth, and in every Muse's name,With songs, a joyful time proclaim;And to hear the car-borne Demon's yell,The Steam-Ghoul screeching the fatal knellOf peace in the Deadly Nightshade Dell."Caw! Caw!" still over the wallsYou wheel and flutter, with ceaseless calls;Thinking, no doubt, of your cells and holes,You poor old Monks' translated souls!Sad change for you to be cawing here,And black, for many a hundred year!But haunt as you may your ancient pile,You will never more chant in the holy aisle;You never will kneel as you knelt of yore;Nor the censer swing, nor the anthem pour;And your souls shall never shake off the spellThat binds you to all you loved so well,Ere the altars fell, and the Abbey bellWas hush'd in the Deadly Nightshade Dell."Caw! Caw!" In the ages gone,When the mountains with oak were overgrown,Up the glen the Norskmen came,Lines of warriors, chiefs of fame—With Bekan the Sorcerer, earthward borne,By toil, and battle, and tempest worn—Crowding along the dell forlorn.Over the rill, high on the steep,There in his barrow wide and deep,With axe and hoe those armed menBuried him down, by the narrow glen,With the flower, at his feet, of wondrous spell:Buried him down, and covered him well,And left him hid by the lonely Dell."Caw! Caw!" O would the wise Monks had knownWho slept his sleep in that barrow alone,When they gathered the bekan he made to grow,And bore it to bloom in the dell below.For they pulled at the heart of the mighty Dead;And they broke his peace in his narrow bed;And on fibre and root the Sorcerer's powerFasten'd the spell that changed the flower;From sweet to bitter its juices pass'd;And the deadly fruit on the poisoned blastScattered its sorcery ages down.And where once with cowl and gown,Hymning the Imperial Queen of Light,Went forth the Monks—the shade of nightWas spread more deadly than tongue can tell.Witchery walked where all had been well:Well with all that hymned and prayed;Well with Monk, and well with maidThat sought the Abbey for solace and aid.But the lethal juices wrought their spell:One by one was rung their knell:One by one from choir and cellThey floated up with a hoarse farewell;And the altars fell, and the Abbey bellWas hush'd in the Deadly Nightshade Dell.

NOTES TO "THE ROOKS OF FURNESS."

In the southern extremity of Furness, about half a mile to the west of Dalton, a deep narrow vale stretches itself from the north, and opens to the south with an agreeable aspect to the noonday sun; it is well watered with a rivulet of fine water collected from the adjacent springs, and has many convenient places for mills and fish-ponds. This romantic spot is the Vale of Deadly Nightshade, or, as it is sometimes called, Bekangs-Gill.

The solitary and private situation of this dell being so well formed and commodious for religious retreat had attracted the attention of Evanus, or Ewanus, a monk, originally belonging to the monastery of Savigny in Normandy, from which he and a few associates had migrated, and had recently seated themselves at Tulket, near Preston in Amounderness, where Evanus was chosen to be their first abbot. Accordingly, they were induced to change their residence; and exactly three years and three days after their settling at Tulket on the fourth of the nones of July, 1124, they removed to the sequestered shades of Bekangs-Gill, and there began the foundation of the magnificent Abbey of St. Mary in Furness, in magnitude only second of those in England belonging to the Cistercian Monks, and the next in opulence after Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, being endowed with princely wealth and almost princely authority, and not unworthy of the style in which its charter records the gifts and grants, with all their privileges, of its Royal founder, "to God and St. Mary," in the following words:—

"In the name of the Blessed Trinity, and in honour of St. Mary of Furness, I Stephen, earl of Bulloign and Mortaign, consulting God, and providing for the safety of my own soul, the soul of my wife the countess Matilda, the soul of my lord and uncle Henry king of England and duke of Normandy, and for the souls of all the faithful, living as well as dead, in the year of our Lord 1127 of the Roman indiction, and the 5th and 18th of the epact:

"Considering every day the uncertainty of life, that the roses and flowers of kings, emperors, and dukes, and the crowns and palms of all the great, wither and decay; and that all things, with an uninterrupted course, tend to dissolution and death:

"I therefore return, give and grant, to God and St. Mary of Furness, all Furness and Walney, with the privilege of hunting; with Dalton, and all my lordship in Furness, with the men and everything thereto belonging, that is, in woods and in open grounds, in land and in water; and Ulverston, and Roger Braithwaite, with all that belongs to him; my fisheries at Lancaster, and Little Guoring, with all the land thereof; with sac10, and soc11, tol12, and team13, infangenetheof14, and every thing within Furness, except the lands of Michael Le Fleming; with this view, and upon this condition, That in Furness an order of regular monks be by divine permission established: which gift and offering I by supreme authority appoint to be for ever observed: and that it may remain firm and inviolate for ever, I subscribe this charter with my hand; and confirm it with the sign of the Holy Cross.

"Signed by

Henry, King of England and Duke of Normandy.

Thurstan, Archbishop of York.

Audin, } Bishops.

Boces, }

Robert, Keeper of the Seal.Robert, Earl of Gloster."

The magnitude of the Abbey may be known from the dimensions of the ruins; and enough is standing to show the style of the architecture, which breathes the same simplicity of taste which is found in most houses belonging to the Cistercian monks, which were erected about the same time with Furness Abbey. The round and pointed arches occur in the doors and windows. The fine clustered Gothic and the heavy plain Saxon pillars stand contrasted. The walls shew excellent masonry, are in many places counter-arched, and the ruins discover a strong cement. But all is plain: had the monks even intended, the stone would not admit of such work as has been executed at Fountains and Rieval Abbeys. The stone of which the buildings have been composed is of a pale red colour, dug from the neighbouring rocks, now changed by time and weather to a tint of dusky brown, which accords well with the hues of plants and shrubs that everywhere emboss the mouldering arches.