The Church Bells of Cumberland by Rev. Henry Whitehead File 01

Containing: Bells ... of the Deanery of Brampton (1882) ... of the Border (1883) ... of Carlisle Cathedral (1883) ... of Cumberland Ward (1885 to 1886)

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ART. XLI.-Clmrch Bells in the Deaiiery of Brampton. By the Rev. H. WHITEHEAD, M.A. Co1mmmicated at Keswick, Oct. 5th, 1882. BEWCASTLE. N Cumberland, as a rule, though not without exceptions, I the nearer the border the fewer the church bells. The border parish of Bewcastle for an unknown length of time had no church bell. Bishop Nicolson, who visited this parish on July 30, 1703, states in his Miscellany Accounts of the Diocese of Carlile (p. 56) that he found " no Bell, to call them in to Divine Service." Some fifty years later, in a marginal note to the bishop's MS., on the page relating to Bewcastle, Chancellor Waugh says:- "Nor have they yet any Bell." The terrier of 1828 informs us when the want was supplied: "There is a good Church Bell, purchased by the parish about the year 1785. Prior to that time the Clrnrch had no bell." The same story is told, with a sequel, in the terrier of 1868: "A Church Bell was purchased by the parish about the year 1785, before which there appears to have been none. This bell was broken and a new one purchased by the paris h in 1845." The new bell, which is still in use, is blank, i.e., without inscription, date, stamp, or mark of any kind. It is l9i inches in diameter, and therefore weighs nearly 2 cwt., the weight of a bell being approximately known from its diameter at mouth (Taylor's Bell Catalogue, p. 25). One would like to know whether Bewcastle prior to 1785 had always been without a church bell. On this point the experienced archreologist who drew up the terrier of 1868, the 418 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. the late Rev. J. Maughan, rector of Bewcastle from 1836 to 1874, doubtless suspended his judgment. All he would say was:-" There appears to have been none." Even had he been aware of the testimony of Bishop Nicolson and Chancellor Waugh on the subject he would probably have said that he would be glad to know what Edward VI.'s commissioners had reported concerning the church goods of Bewcastle in 1552. Unfortunately the Cumberland portion of Edward VI.'s Inventory of Church Goods, still preserved in the Public Record Office, is in this condition :

"The original MS. consists of 20 leaves, ten pages, each leaf being destroyed for about t on the inner side, so that the pages are altern­ ately deficient on the left and right hand side; in the former cases the names of the churches are all lost."-(Old Church Plate in tlie Diocese of Carlisle, p. 314.) In every case where the name of a parish in Brampton deanery has been preserved the information given by the inventory concerning the bells will be noticed in this paper. Bewcastle, however, is among the missing names.

BRAMPTON. Brampton has six bells, the only ring* in the deanery, and one of the few rings in the county, consisting of-

ft. Jn. cwt. qr. lbs. Tenor diameter 3 it weight 9 I 5 No. 5 2 rnt 7 0 14 No. " 2 8;! " I 4 " " 6 7 No. 3 2 6t 5 2 14 No. 2 " 2 " 0 " 4 " 4 3 Treble 2 2 " 4 0 0 The weight of the tenor is taken from the founder's account; the other weights are reckoned from the diameters. On each bell is inscribed T MEARS OF LONDON FECIT,

!I A set of bells is properly called a "ring;" a performance upon them a peal (Church Bells of Rutland, by T. North, F.S.A., p. 16.) and CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 419 and on N os. z, 3, 4, and 5, EX DONO THOM£ RAMSHAY BRAMPTON VICARI! MDCCCXXVI. Mr. Ramshay, vicar of Brampton from 1795 to 1841, gave these four bells on the occasion of the enlargement of the church by an extension to the east and the addition of a tower at the west end. The church thus enlarged was consecrated on July 21st, 1828. The tenor, as shewn by Mr. Mears's account, still remaining in the parish-chest, was bought by the parish, an allowance being made for " old bell, 126lbs." The treble is said by some old inhabi­ tants to have been given by Mrs. Ramshay, the wife of the vicar. But in Parson and White's Cumberland Directory for 1829 (p. 414), Brampton church is noticed as having " six bells, five of them being the handsome donation of the Rev Thomas Ramshay, vicar of this parish." Therefore, as this directory was compiled at a time when it was easy to ascertain the facts of the case, it is probable that the treble, though not inscribed with his name, was the gift of the vicar. This bell has always been called by the ringers, and is still called, the "church bell," because formerly, before the new church was built in 1878, it was the bell used for the week day services, the verger ringing it with a rope which descended through the floor of the ringing chamber to the basement of the tower. The name may outlive the remembrance of its origin. The traditions of the belfry should be collected whilst veteran past-ringers, amongst whom are two of the original band of 1828, Mr. Lee of West Hill, and Mr. J. Armstrong of Denton Nook, still survive to relate them. It would be well, for instance, if the names of all past-ringers, with the period of each one's service, could be recovered and recorded on the walls of the ringing chamber. Such a record, we may be sure, would in time to come be interesting to generations of ringers 420 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. ringers yet unborn, and not to them only, but also to all the parishioners. Bell-ringers have too often been regarded as of little or no account. Hence the uncomfortable, dark, and sometimes even dangerous chambers, to which they have been relegated. Bishop Nicolson, writing of Dalston church, as it was in his day, says (p. 19) :- "The ringers are in continual hazard." The Brampton ringers are in no such case, having as spacious and convenient a ringing chamber as they could desire. Besides the ring the parish possesses another bell from the same foundry, dated 1883, which is placed over the western gable of the ancient chancel in the burial ground. In Mr. Mears's account for this bell there is an item of allowance for "old bell 56 lbs." There is a com­ monly accepted tradition that an old Brampton church bell was taken at some unknown time to Hexham, and is there still, bearing an inscription which shews whence it came. Such traditions are often met with, and sometimes have a germ of fact, at least enough to enable one to account for the legend. No church bell from Brampton is now at Hexham. But on the fifth bell of the Hexham ring 1s in­ scribed THOMAS LESTER MADE US ALL TOBIAS BENTON HANGED US ALL 1742. Some one, whilst inspecting these bells, may have mis­ taken " Benton " for " Brampton," and jumped to the conclusion that it was originally a Brampton bell. The only old Brampton bells which have left any trace of their course after leaving Brampton were the two, weighing 126 lbs. and 56 lbs., taken away and allowed for in 1626 and 1833 by Mr. Mears, who probably soon consigned them to the furnace in his Whitechapel foundry. They were doubt­ less identical with " two bells with their frames " mentioned CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 421 mentioned in the terrier of 1749, at which time they must both have been in the tower of the ancient parish church, a mile and a half from the town, whence the larger of the two would be removed, when the nave and tower of that church were pulled down in 1788, to the hospital chapel in the town, which in that year was enlarged and consti­ tuted the parish church. One, if not both, of those bells may have been of great antiquity. Edward VI.'s inven­ tory mentions as belonging to " Branton " in 1552 " ij prch (parish) bells one hand bell." The taking of this inventory was preliminary to the issue of a commission in January, 1553, with authority to collect and convert to "ye Kinges use" all church goods except such as were deemed necessary for divine service, part of the duty of the commissioners being "to sell or cause to be sold to our use by weight all parcells or peces of metall except the metall of greate bell saunce bell in every of the said churches or chapells." The saunce or sanctus bell was that which was rung at the elevation of the host at the parish mass ; it was fre­ quently fixed on the apex of the eastern gable of the nave, but sometimes in the tower. This, with the sacring bell, hung inside the chancel, and the hand bell, used for pro­ cessions, all three probably included as " saunce bell " in the injunctions to the commissioners, would be too small to be worth selling for the king's use ; though if this com­ mission had been issued, as is sometimes supposed, for the removal of what was deemed superstitious, we might be surprised at these bells being allowed to remain. The "greate bell," for calling the people to church, was of cuurse not considered superfluous; but we may infer from the use of the singular number that where there were two or more such bells only one was to remain. Indeed it would seem from the instructions issued to the Northamp­ tonshire commissioners that all bells were to be regarded as 422 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. as liabie to be seized. The commissioners were directed to charge churchwardens and other church authorities " that they and eveyre of them do safely kepe unspoiled unembesiled and unsold all such bells as do remayne in everye of the said churches and chapells and the same to conserve untill our pleasur be therein further knowne." We shall presently, however, see cause for believing that in some cases a pair of bells or even a ring of three or more suffered no diminution at the hands of the commis­ sioners of 1553. CASTLE CARROCK. Bishop Nicolson was here on October 29, 1703, and observed "the font all broken, and but one Bell" (Bp. N. p. 112.) This bell the terrier of 1749 describes as "one Bell in good order." It had, according to Hutchinson (vol. i., p. 180), whose history of Cumberland was published in 1794, the follow­ ing inscription :- " Praise thou the Lord, 0 Castle Carrock." Parson and White, in their Cumberland Directory for 1829, say (p. 420) :- " The church was rebuilt in 1828. . . . . On the bell taken out of the old tower is inscribed, ' Praise thou the Lord, 0 Castle Carrock.'" Whelan, writing in 1860, says (p. 671) :- " The bell which was removed from the old church bears the inscrip­ tion ' Praise thou the Lord, 0 Castle Carrock.' " If \Vh"elan supposed this bell to be still in existence in 1860 he probably believed it had been " removed from the old church" to the new; but it is not there now, nor was it there in Whelan's time, as the present bell has no other inscription than the date 1828 which CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 423 which was the year of the rebuilding of the church. There is a tradition that the old bell was taken to Hayton ; but Mr. T. Armstrong, who was churchwarden of Castle Car­ rock in 1828, says he took it to a foundry in Lowther Street, Carlisle, to be exchanged for the bell now in use. This statement in itself is not inconsistent with the tradi­ tion, as the bell might subsequently have found its way to Hayton ; but we shall find, when we come to deal with Hayton parish, that this bell never went there. Some old inhabitants say that the inscription was in silver letters. Others say the bell had a silver rim. One old parishioner maintains that it was a better bell than the one they have now. Anyhow it was a more interesting bell, probably dating from the end of the 16th or the beginning of the lJth century. Had it been a pre-Reformation bell it would most likely have had a Latin inscription. Had it been of a period later than the early part of the lJth century it is nearly certain that it would have borne a date. A likely man to have presented it was Leonard Milburn, brother of Bishop Milburn, and rector of Castle Carrock from 1589 to 1636. The present bell is 18! inches in diameter, and weighs about l cwt. 2! qr. It has some exceptional uses, at all events exceptional in Brampton deanery, though not uncommon elsewhere, being rung as the "call bell " to in­ vite the parishioners to attend a funeral, and as the" after burial bell" when they are leaving the grave. Not that the " call " itself is anything unusual in these parts, since "in many of the small towns in Cumberland the custom of ' public funerals' prevails. The parish clerk, tolling his bell at intervals, in­ vites in melancholy notes the 'friends and neighbours to attend' the interment of the deceased. At the house of mourning bread and cheese and ale are placed upon the table, which are partaken of by the company in silence (Poems by Peter Burns, p. 3 n)." The exceptional character, then, of the " call " at Castle Carrock is its being given by the church bell, instead of by a hand bell "tolled " by the clerk. The Castle Carrock church 424 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. church bell is also one of only three bells in the deanery which toll the "death knell." Probably in few parts of England could such an employment of a church bell be spoken of as a peculiar usage. Of peculiar uses, in the recognised sense of the term, such as the "curfew," the "gleaning bell," "pancake bell," "morning bell," .&c., there are none nor any traditions of such throughout the deanery. CUM REW. In 1552 the royal commissioners found here "ij bells one litill bell." The "litill bell," whether sanctus or sacring, though spared by the commissioners, whose instructions did not require its removal, and perhaps again brought into use in Mary's reign, most likely disappeared in the Elizabethan warfare against "monuments of superstition."* But one of the "ij bells" remains to this day. It is 13 inches in diameter, weighs about 62 lbs., and has, just below the canons, running quite round, in Gothic capitals, the fol­ lowing inscription, with the letter N upside down :- AVE· MARIA· GRACIA· PLENA. In the space between the last and first words is an initial cross, with each of its four arms spreading out into afieur de lis, the whole surrounded by a circle ; and a fieur de lis is in each of the three other spaces. These marks may lead to the identification of the founder ; but there is nothing exactly resembling them among the founders' marks en­ graved in the only two books on church bells which I have yet seen., viz.," Rutla,nd Church Bells, by T. North, F.S.A.,'' and "Cambridgeshire Church Bells, by J. J. Raven, D.D." A rubbing of this Cumrew inscription was exhibited in the temporary museum during the visit of the Archreulogical

• Among the "relics and monuments of superstition" belon16ng to Crosthwaite (Keswick) church in 1571, and ordered in that year by Bishop Barnes to be sold, were "three hand bells." (Whelan, p. 334). Institute CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 4:25

Institute to Carlisle, and the antiquaries who examined it assigned the bell to the l4th or l5th century. So it may be 500 years old; and let us hope, its tone being still un­ impaired, that it may keep its place in the church tower at Cumrew for centuries yet to come. It had, as we have seen, a companion in 1552, doubtless a twin sister. It has a companion now ; on which is nothing but the date- 1750. Nor was it alone in 1749, the terrier of that year having this item:- "Two bells thought to weigh half a hundredweight." This, if it be not a mere guess, must mean half a hundred­ weight each, the "Ave Maria" bell being itself about that weight. The bell dated 1750, which having the same diameter is of about the same weight as the ancient bell, if cast and hung before March 25th, may be identical with the second bell of the terrier of 1749, since March 25th, on which day the terrier was signed, was until 1753 the last day of the civil and ecclesiastical year, whilst the historical year ended then as now on December 31st, so that the months of January and February, and the first twenty-five days of March, were common to the ecclesiastical year 1749 and the historical year 1750. This bell, however, whether identical or not with the second bell of 1749, had probably an immediate predecessor, as it appears fro~ entries in the churchwardens' accounts and the parish register that Cumrew church had more than one bell at the end of the l7th century. Was the second bell of these entries identical with the second bell of 1552? Not if the commission of 1553 was strictly executed. But we find Bishop Nicolson in 1704 recording at Skelton :- " In the Tower there are two pretty good Bells : on the larger whereof is Sancte Michael (ye Church's Saint) ora pro nobis: and on the lesser Ave Maria Gracia Plena" (Bp. N., p. 245). From which it appears, as both of these Skelton bells must have 426 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. have been medireval, that the injunctions of 1553, in the matter of bells, were not in all cases strictly carried out. The Skelton medireval bells, as I am informed by the rector, no longer remain, their places being occupied by two bells dated 1717 and 1844. But there were in 1860, and may be still, two pre-Reformation bells at Renwick (Whelan, p. 6r9), and four at Greystoke (ib., p. 543) ; and there still remain two such bells at Edenhall, and two at Langwathby. Mr. North says:- "I incline to think the bells were too popular with the people to allow of their being seized with impunity " (Church Bells of Rutland, p. 27). He laments, however, that the medireval bells have mostly disappeared; for which he assigns other reasons besides spoliation at the time of the Reformation, such as " ordinary wear and tear, accidents to the fabric of the church entail­ ing injury to the uells, the remodelling of rings of bells to adapt them to change-ringing. . . and the poverty or parsimony of churchmen in post-Reformation times" (ib). Thewayin which parsimonious churchmen have diminished the number of medireval bells has been by selling them to obtain money for repair of the churches. But Cumberland church bells have mostly been too few and too small to incur much risk of decrease in number from that cause. The Cumrew bell, for instance, is not larger than some sanctus bells. The inscription on this bell perhaps settles the question of the dedication of the church, which in the ordnance map is called St. John's, in the parish register (by Rector Watson) St. Michael's, and in the local histories St. Mary's. Cumrew is the second of the three parishes in this deanery which have the usage of the" death-knell". Neither here nor at Castle Carrock, however, does the bell indicate, as in many other places, the age and sex of the deceased, the age by the number of tolls, and the sex by thrice three quickly repeated tolls, called the "tellers ", for a man, and thrice two for a woman, before and after the CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 427

the knell; whence the saying" Nine tailors make a man," a corruption of" Nine tellers mark a man" (North p. 92).

CUMWHITTON. The terrier of 1749, signed by" Thomas Ritson, curate," says :- "Two bells with their frames. We know not their weight." Mr. Ritson perhaps thought it unreasonable that he should be expected to know their weight ; and it may be admitted that Chancellor Waugh, who prepared the form for the terriers of 1749, scarcely showed his usual sagacity in ask­ ing for the weights of the bells. Had he asked for their inscriptions, with what extra fervour would Mr. Ferguson have exclaimed-" Antiquaries owe a debt to Mr. Chan­ cellor Waugh!" (Old Church Plate in Carlisle Diocese, p. 6.) The terriers would then have thrown much light on the history of the bells in many places. We should have known, for instance, whether the Cumwhitton bells of 1749 were identical with '' ij prch bells " found here by the royal commissioners in 1552, or whether one or both of the ancient bells were confiscated in 1553. Such knowledge is now beyond our reach. Early in the present century the tower fell, and with it, of course, the bells. Perhaps they were injured and rendered useless by the fall. Anyhow they disappeared, and were succeeded by the present bell, which is 24 inches in diameter, weighs about 3 cwt., and is dated 1818 It was procured, from what foundry is not known, by Mr. Blacklock, a former parishioner of Cumwhitton, then resi­ dent in London, who contributed liberally towards defray­ ing its cost. Among the parish documents there is extant a printed copy of the sermon preached by the vicar, the Rev. E. Anderson, B.D., on June 2oth, 1819, the day on which this bell was first used. Text:- " In 428 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY.

" In that day shall be upon the bells of the hoDSes, Holiness unto the Lord."-Zechariah xiv., 20. Cumwhitton is the third and last parish in this deanery to be noticed as having the w~age of the "death knell". But, whilst at Castle Carrock and Cumrew the bell in no way indicates the sex or age of the deceased, at Cumwhitton it does indicate the sex, not however by triplets or doublets before and after the knell, but by the knell itself, with nine tolls for a man, seven for a woman, and five for a child. It is worth while to remark that the three parishes of Castle Car.rock, Cumrew, and Cumwhitton, lie to the south of all other parishes in the deanery. In parishes nearer the border the death knell is unknown. On behalf of which border neglect of a custom prevalent throughout the rest of the country it may be alleged that the tolling of a single bell after death is in accord neither with the letter nor the spirit of the injunctions of the Church, as laid down in the 67th canon, which authorizes no tolling but that of the " passing bell " :-

" When any is passing out of this life a bell shall be tolled, and the minister shall not then slack to do his last duty. And after the party's death, if it so fall out, there shall be rung no more than one short peal, and one other peal before the burial, and one other after the burial." Note the deviations of modern usage from these instructions. The "passing bell", dating from remote antiquity and re­ tained at the Reformation, was discontinued about the middle of last century. The" short peal" after death, now no longer rung even in parishes which have bells enough for the purpose, the object of which was to call upon friends to "give thanks for the deliverance of a soul from the miseries of this sinful world ", cannot be said to have been canonically superseded by the tolling of the " death knell". Nor is the original intention of the "peals" before and after burial fulfilled by the now general tolling before or by the occasional tolling after interment. FAR LAM. CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY, 429

FARLAM. Among the church goods of" ffarlam " in 15:'2 were " ij bells ", which in 1749, according to terrier of that year, had dwindled to " one bell ". There are now again two bells here. On one of them, diameter of which 19 inches, weight l cwt. 3 qrs., and note B, is inscribed, with the royal arms beneath- JOHN WARNER AND SONS, LONDON, 1858. The other, 18 inches diameter, weight l cwt. 2 qrs., note E, is from the same foundry, but dated 1859, and without the royal arms. Both were given, on the occasion of the re­ building of the church in 1860, by the late Mr. ] ohn Ram­ shay of Na worth Barns, steward to Earl Carlisle, and son of the donor of N os. 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the Brampton ring. Messrs. Warner, who have the Crescent Foundry, Cripple­ gate, in answer to inquiry as to what inscription or marks were on the old bell, write that they can find no entry in their books of any transaction with Farlam parish, and therefore conclude that the new bells must have been sup­ plied through some local bell-hanger; in which case they would not know in what church the new bells were hung, or what became of the old bell.

HAYTON. The terrier of 1749 mentions "two small bells with their frames". The church has now but one bell, 29i inches diameter, weight about 4 cwt. r qr., on which is inscribed- BURGESS AND HAYTON CARLISLE A.D. 183 0. We seem to have here a clue to the origin of the tradition that the old Castle Carrock bell was taken to Hayton. If this 430 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY.

this firm supplied the new bell to Castle Carrock in 1828 the old bell doubtless went to Hayton, but to the man and not the parish of that name. In 1828, as already men­ tioned (ante, p. 423), one of the churchwardens took the old Castle Carrock bell to Carlisle, and left it at a foundry in Lowther Street ; the proprietors of which foundry we identify in the following entry in Parson and White's Cumberland Directory for 1829 :- "Burgess and Hayton, iron and brass founders, Lowther Street." Their found1y in Lowther Street, as may be seen by refer­ ence to the Ordnance map of Carlisle, was known as the "Cockpit Smithy", so called from its occupying the site of the old Carlisle cockpit.* They cast the present Wethen.l bell, 33t inches diameter, weight about 8 cwt., dated 1833 ; between which year and 1837 the name of Hayton dis­ appeared from the firm. Steele's Carlisle Directory for 1837 has this entry :- " Thos. Burgess, iron founder, Water Lane, and 8 Botchergate." The Water Lane premises, known as the " Waterloo Foundry," eventually passed into the hands of Mr. Daniel Clarke, who, when the site was taken by the railway com­ panies for enlargement of the station, transferred the name "Waterloo Foundry" to new premises which he built in St. Nicholas Street, Botchergate. In what year the foundry was removed from the cockpit has not yet been ascertained; but the present foreman of the Waterloo foundry, who was in the employ of Burgess and Hayton, says that the Wetheral bell, which is dated 1833, was cast in Water Lane. The Hayton bell was the gift of the late Mr. Thomas Henry Graham of Edmond Castle, and perhaps contains the metal of the " two small bells " of the terrier of 1749, one or both of which may have been of medireval

• It occupied not merely the site but the cockpit itself, a circus-like structure which was still standing until tl1e year 1875. A model of it is in the possession of Mr. Fisher, of Bank Street. date CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 431 date. A bell at Edmond Castle, 18 inches diameter, cast at the Whitechapel foundry, is inscribed- c. & J. MEARS, FOUNDERS, LONDON, 1847. In illustration of the way in which bells are sometimes condemned without cause, it may here be mentioned that the Hayton school bell, which had been supposed to be cracked, was found, when recently taken down for repair of its woodwork, to be perfectly sound. The fault had been in the gear, and not in the bell.

IRTHINGTON. The commissioners' report on the church goods of this parish in 1552 is now in this condition :- One chales of silvr ij veste • • • . E THRYNGTON: { ij litill bells. There was room where the paper has been torn off for one other item, which may have been "ij bells" or " ij prch bells "; and, if so, the " ij litill bells " were probably the sanctus and sacring bells. But if the missing item were a "surpclothe" (surplice) "alterclothe" or some such other article, then the " ij litill bells" had to do duty as parish bells. Two bells were here in r703, as Bishop Nicolson, who visited Irthington in that year, says:- "One of their bells has long been burst" (Bp. N. p. 52). There were still two bells here in 1746, on Dec. 7th of which year it was ordered at a parish meeting "yt ye Churchwardens do take the proposels of Workmen for remov­ ing ye Bells to ye West End of ye Church and deliver ye said pro­ posels at ye next parish meeting". No record of the delivery of" ye said proposels" is extant. The terrier of 1749 has this entry:- "Two bells with their frames thought to weigh each about two hundred." As the weight of these bells seems to exclude the notion of their having been the "ij Ii till bells " mentioned in Edward 432 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY.

Edward VI.'s inventory it becomes more probable that the missing item of that inventory was " ij prch bells", which may have been identical with the two bells seen a century and a half later by Bishop Nicolson, and may still have been here in 1749, it being by no means unlikely that a bell which in 1703 was still remaining, though it had " long been burst", was in those days allowed to remain for an indefinitely longer period. At what time these beUs disappeared is not known with certainty. But Mr. Thomas Graham of Beanlands, who is a depository of much local tradition, his ancestors having owned Bean­ lands for nearly 300 years, says that the present bell was fixed when alterations were being made to the church at some time towards the close of last century. Perhaps the time in question is indicated in the following entry in the churchwardens' accounts:- " 1788-To pay Lachlan Murray for drawing a plan for a new church Writing out Rates Advertisements &c for letting the repairing of the Church £4 4s od." The reader may be surprised to learn that Lachlan Murray was the parish clerk. But Lachlan Murray was a mys­ terious man, of whose antecedents Mr. Graham says that nothing was known beyond the fact of his having come from Scotland with Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1745. Tradition is silent as to whether he remained in Irthington instead of going on with the prince to Derby, or left the army during its retreat. Certain it is that he did not re­ turn to Scotland, but settled himself at lrthington, where he kept a school, taught land surveying, and about the year 1755, as shewn by the register, became parish clerk, in which capacity he must have gained great reputation for versatility of talent, seeing that he was entrusted with the duty of "drawing a plan for a new church". Nor is it necessary to suppose, because no new church was built, that he proved himself unequal to the occasion; for the prudent vestry, whilst preferring on second thoughts a more CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 433

more economical plan, shewed unabated confidence in Lachlan Murray by requesting him to prepare " rates advertisements &c. for repairing" the old church. The bell, as nothing is said about it in the churchwardens' accounts, was probably a gift. Like most of the bells in this deanery it is rather small ; but, as it is placed where it is difficult to reach, its diameter, apparently about 17 inches, has not been ascertained. Nor is it worth while to make any attempt to reach it, since by the aid of an opera glass it is seen to be blank.

LANERCOST. The churchwardens here in 1688, in their "answers to articles of inq,uiry ", still preserved in the diocesan registry at Carlisle, reported everything, including " the bells", as " in good order as becometh the house dedicated to ye publick worship of God." The terrier of 1749 tells us their number:­ "Two bells." That of 1777 reduces them to "One bell." This is the fourth instance we have met with in this deanery of a church which had two bells in 1749 having at a lat;r period only one bell. Bishop Nicolson in his account of "Milburn Chapple", which he visited on August lgth, 1703, says:- " They have a couple of small l)itiful Bells, both miserably crack'd ; and, some time agoe, petition'd for leave to have them both founded into one good one. This I assented to ; but I do not see that anything is like to be done in it, without some sharp Treatment of the Church­ wardens in the next year's Visitation " (Bp. N. p. 65). We have here a probable explanation of what happened at the four above-mentioned churches, including Lanercost, in Brampton deanery. In each case the two bells mav have been cracked, or if not cracked may have been very small 434 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANHRY.

small, and were accordingly " founded into one". The bell now at Lanercost is inscribed :- PACK AND CHAPMAN, LONDON, FECIT, 1773. Thi~ firm, predecessors of MesRrs. Mears at the White­ chapel foundry, supplied a bell to Holme Cultram in 1771, and recast the CrosthwaitP. (Keswick) ring in 1775 (Cros­ thwaite Parish Magazine, October, 1882). At the same foundry, when in the hands of Lester and Pack, the Pen­ rith ring was recast in 1763. Thomas Lester, when sole proprietor, recast the Hexham ring in 1742 (Antiquities of Hexham, p. roo). His predecessor was Richard Phelps, the founder of the old great bell of St. Paul's, from whose time Dr. Raven traces the foundry back, through the Wightmans and the Bartletts, to "Robert Mott, or Moate, the first artificer at this very important place of whom we have any note, who died in i6o8" (Cambridgeshire Church Bells, p. 96). Pack and Chapman's Lanercost bell ?s 24 inches in diameter, and weighs about 3 cwt. It is to be regretted that Laner­ cost Abbey is one of the churches the names of which have been torn off from Edward VI.'s Inventory, as it would be interesting to know what church goods at Lanercost sur­ vived the dissolution of the monastery in 28 Henry VIII. There is at the Record Office the MS. of a long report drawn up by commissioners appointed in 3 and 4 Philip and Mary, to inquire at Shap, Carlisle, Wetheral, Appleby, and Penrith, concerning spoliation of the monasteries at those places in Henry's reign. The lead from Shap, it appears from this document, was taken by Lord Wharton. As to bells the commissioners reported :- "The inhabitants of Carlysle dothe well remember the ffreers howses in Carlysle but what became of the bells ther they knowe not And as towching the foure bells of the sairle late ffreers in Carlysle weiing D cwt weight there was none remayning in Carlysle at mighell­ mas anno xxxviii. nuper reg. H viij And for anye other knowlege we can get none, "I,.ancelot CHURCH BELLS IN BRi\MPTON DEANERY. 435

" Lancelot Saulkelde clark Deane of the Catherall Churche of Carlysle saythe that one of the thre bells pteyning to the layte sell of Wetherell came to Carlysle which bell was hanged uppon the wall called Springoll Tower in Carlysle to call the workmen to worke at the making of the new cytydale in Carlysle and mending of the cast ell ther And for the other two bells the said Lancelot Saulkelde doth confesse him self that they remayne in a house in Wetherell for the Quenes mats use unbroken to be delyvered when yt shall shall pleas her grace to comaunde an ye of her councell to call for the same two bells. "John Harper srvante unto Xpofer Crackenthropp of Newbigging esquyer decessyd deposythe and saithe that his master Xpofer Craken­ throps dyd gyve hym liijs iiijd in sylver to pay master Grene for the bell of the layte ffreers in Applebye. "Jeffrey Thomson Stephen Robinson and Anthonie Robinson of Penrithe yomen saythe that Richarde Wasshingtone besyde~ Kendal bought the late house of the ffreers in Penrithe and hadd the bell of the sayde ffreers."

Neither in the instructions issued to the commissioners, nor in the report made by them, is there any mention of the Shap bells. Local tradition says that one of them is now at Kirkbythore (Whelan, p. 753) and another at Orton (C. and W. Transactions, Vol. vi., p. 84). If Henry VIII. allowed the Shap bells to be distributed among neighbour­ ing churches, the knowledge that such had been the case would render it unnecessary for Philip and Mary's com­ missioners to make any inquiry as to what had become of them. The omission of Lanerco~t and Holme Cultram from the list of places to be reported on by these com­ missioners shews that Lanercost and Holme Abbeys were . not supposed to have been despoiled of lead or bells in Henry's reign; which was doubtless owing to their having been allowed to remain as parish churches. At Holme Cultram in 1552, according to Edward VI.'s inventory, there were "iij bells", probably the original number. One of those bells, dated 1465, remains to this day, and will be found, when the time comes for fully describing it, to be a bell of exceptional interest. Meanwhile .it points to the inference that one or bo~h of the Lanercost bells of 1749, 436 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. i749, which probably supplied the metal for the present bell, were of medireval date.

NETHER DENTON. This church in 1552 had but a poor show of goods to present to the notice of Edward VI.'s commissioners, sioners, who reported :-

"NETHER DENTON: Itm one chales of tyn ij altercl. . . " The missing item, if there be one missing, may or may not have been " ij bells" or "one bell", but there may be nothing missing, as the list may have ended with the " alterclothes ". In 1689 there was a bell here which did not give satisfaction, as the churchwardens in their "pre­ sentments" for that year say:- "We have a very bad bell." In 1719 they say:- "The steeple of our parish church is not in good repair. Neither have we any bell." Bishop Nicolson was here in the interim, on May 7th, 1703, but says nothing either about a " bad bell " or the lack of a bell ; which seems odd, especially as he found a good deal of fault in other respeds. But his attention may have been diverted from the bell by the complaints of the parishioners about another matter, seeing that they were as dissatisfied with their newly appointed rector, Thomas Pearson, as they were with their bell ; on which matter the bishop says :- " Mr P will do well enough : all they complain of being onely his Reading too fast" rBp. N. p. r). At what time they procured a bell there is nothing to show; but it must have been before 1749, the terrier for which year reports "one Bel, the weight uncertain." In 1868, when the church was rebuilt, a new bell was given CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 437 given by Mr. C. Taylor of Low Houses. There is a preva­ lent belief that the old bell went to some other church, but to what church no one can say. The present bell, 19! inches diameter, is inscribed-

J TAYLOR AND SONS LOUGHBOROUGH, 1868. Messrs. Taylor, the founders of "Great Paul", are the present representatives of the ancient bell-founders of Leicester, for an interesting account of whom, beginning as far back as the 15th century, see Mr. North's book on The Church Bells of Rutland (pp. 49-63).

OVER DENTON. That a bell may easily get a worse character than it deserves is shown by what befel the old Over Denton bell, thus described in the terrier of 1875 :- "One bell cracked and unfit for use." In 1881, when the church was restored, a new bell was got, 14! inches in diameter, weight 93 lbs., on which is-

JOHN TAYLOR & CO., LOUGHBOROUGH, 188r. The old bell, when removed to make way for the new, was deposited in the ancient pele tower near the church, the vicar very properly desiring to preserve it as a venerable relic of the past. Its supposed crack was sought for but not found, nor was there now anything the matter with its tone. Yet for several years it had undoubtedly sounded as though it were cracked. Here, as in the case of the Hayton school bell (ante p. 431), owing to some loosening of its gear, the bell at every swing had touched the wall by the side of which it was fixed. It is only 7! inches in dia­ meter, and weighs but 16! lbs. Unfortunately it is blank, so that there is nothing but its appearance to indicate its age; but if it be as old as it looks it is very ancient. Antiquaries who 438 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. who saw it in the temporary museum of the Archreological Institute at Carlisle were of opinion that it has come down from medireval times, but in the absence of marks or ·in­ scription they abstained from assigning it to any particular period. Its canon, like the west door of Lanercost Abbey,

is not in the centre, a probable sign of antiquity. Every­ thing connected with Over Denton church, prior to its restoration in 1881, was ancient. Mr. C. Ferguson, writ­ ing in 1877, said:-

"The church at Over Denton is built of stones evidently taken from the Roman Wall, and is remarkable among the churches of Cumber­ land in retaining so much of its original character untouched, pre­ senting a curious example of what was the early type of church in this diocese" (C. and W. Archceological Transactions, Vol. ii., p. 157). In CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 439

In the churchyard is the tombstone of Margaret Teasdale of Mumps Hall who died May the 5th 1777 aged 98 years What I was once some may relate What I am now is each ones fate What I shall be none can explain Till he that called call again. What she was once has been related to some purpose by Sir Walter Scott. What she is now was feebly proclaimed by the old Over Denton bell* when it sounded the funeral knell of the hostess of Mumps Ha'.

STAPLETON. Here, as at Nether Denton, Edward Vl.'s commissioners were able to complete their report in a single line :-

" STAPPLETON: Itm one chales of tyn one veste. . . " Perhaps even the single line afforded more space than they needed, and their report may have ended with the now missing syllable of the "vesteroent ". Bishop Nicolson, who was at Stapleton on July 3oth, 1703, says :- "Nor did they ever hear that they had a Bell." Doubtless both here and at Bewcastle he left strict in­ juoction that a bell should be procured. But the men of Bewcastle, as we have seen, were slow, and their Staple­ ton neighbours were still slower, to supply the want. The Stapleton terrier, not only of 1749, but also of 1828, curtly reports:- "No bell." But 1828 was the year which saw the fixing of the Bramp­ ton ring, a memorable event in the history of church bells in this neighbourhood ; and in less than two years from

• This bell has from time immemorial been used as the parish bell; but it is so small that one must think it was originally the sanctus bell. that 440 CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. that date, a short time on the borders in a matter of this kind, Stapleton had a bell of its own, 25! inches in diametu, on which is inscribed BURGESS AND HAYTON, CARLISLE, r830. This firm, as we have seen, cast t'he Cast ie Carrock bell in r828, the Hayton bell in 1830, and the W etheral bell in r833. It is worth while, in connection with the long con­ tinued lack of a church bell at Stapleton and Bewcastle, to notice that the same deficiency was observed by Bishop Nicolson in 1703, and by Chancellor Waugh about fifty years later, at Kirkandrews-upon-Esk. At Kirklinton, which he visited on October 6th, 1703, the hishop says:- "They have two small Bells, which are pretty good; and a Rarity on the Borders " (Bp. N ., p. 107). He perhaps only meant that "two bells," especially if "pretty good," were the "rarity." Nevertheless the in­ stances of Stapleton, Bewcastle, and Kirkandrews, seem to show that even a single bell was formerly a rarity in the border parishes.

TALKIN. The chapel of this township of Hayton parish was built in 1842 by the late Mr. T. H. Graham, of Edmond Castle, who also gave the bell, r7t inches diameter, weight about l cwt. If qrs., cast by

THOMAS MEARS, FOUNDER, LONDON, 1842. The Whitechapel foundry, at which this bell was cast, was for nearly a century, as shewn by inscriptions on Cumber­ land bells, in the hands of the Mears family. T. and W. Mears, the successors of Pack and Chapman (ante p. 434) , or rather of W. Chapman, who was sole proprietor in 1781, (Raven, p. 152), cast a bell fo r Egremont in 1788; Thomas Mears CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 441

Mears cast the Brampton ring in 1826, the Talkin bell in 1842, and the present fourth bell of Carlisle Cathedral ring in 1845 ; C. and G. Mears cast the Edmond Castle bell in 1847 ; Mears & Co. the St. Stephen's (Carlisle) bell in 1864; and Mears and Stainbank the St. Cuthbert's (Carlisle) bell in 1876. Mr. Robert Stainbank is now sole proprietor.

WALTON. There is here a new bell, bought by subscription, from the Cripplegate foundry :- CAST BY JOHN WARNER & SONS 1876. The terrier of 1878 describes it as "One large bell weighing about 8 cwt."

But its weight, as given in the founders' account, is IO cwt. It is therefore the largest bell in the deanery, being heavier by one cwt. than the Brampton tenor. Its note is G. The terrier of 1749 mentions " One bell weighing about a hundred and twenty pounds weight." This bell, which has been transferred to the school-room, is 15 inches in diameter, and inscribed only with date 1731. A still earlier bell had in 1703 incurred the contempt of Bishop Nicolson, who says:- "Here's only one little crack'd Bell" (Bp. N., p. 53). He seems, from what he said both here and at Castle Carrock (ante p. 422) to have expected to find more than one bell at each church ; and we have seen that at some time or other as many as seven of the churches even in this border deanery had formerly two bells. We may con­ clude, therefore, that when the bishop spoke of the Kirk­ linton bells as " a rarity on the borders " (ante p. 440) he meant 442 CHl"RCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. meant by the " borders" only the strictly border parishes. The two" pretty good" bells of Kirklinton have now given place to one bell ; and in Brampton deanery there are now but three churches which have each more than one bell. The same diminishing process has probably been going on in other parts of the county, which may be found, when its church towers and terriers have been thoroughly ex­ plored, to possess fewer bells now than it had in 1749, and to have had fewer in 1749 than in 1552. Not that there was ever any abundance of church bells in this county, for it appears, as nearly as can be ascertained from the present imperfect condition of Edward VI.'s Inventory, that in 1552 only two Cumberland churches had 4 bells each, four had 3, seventy-six had 2, nineteen had each but one bell, and twenty had no bell, making a total of r81 bells in III churches, or an average of r.6 to each church ; a poor list compared with that given in the Inventory for other coun­ ties, e.g., Herts with its average of 3.6 (Church Goods in Herts, by J. E. Cussans), Berks 3.2 (Church Goods in Berks, by W. Money, F.S.A.), and Kent 3 (Arcliceologia Cantiana). But, as a main reason for the present rarity of medireval bells in England has been the recasting of rings to adapt them to the requirements of change ringing, a compara­ tively modern innovation, it is just possibie that in Cumber­ land, for the reason that from remote times down to the present day its rings have been few and far between, there may yet be remaining in its church towers a greater num­ ber of ancient bells than are to be found in counties where from time immemorial almost every parish church has had its ring. Mr. North says :- " The old rings consisted usually of few bells and heavy ones. . . . . To ring the' changes,' introduced by Stedman and his disciples, a larger number of bells were required. This want could be met in two ways, either by adding new trebles to the existing heavy rings, which was the best but most expensive way, or by recasting, say, four heavy bells into six or eight light ones, and so increasing the number without buying more metal. This was the least expensive but CHURCH BELLS IN BRAMPTON DEANERY. 443

but more popular plan . . . It ceases, therefore, to be a matter of surprise that it is chiefly in small rural churches, with few bells, where the temptation to change ringing could not exist, that we chiefly expect and usually find ancient bells (Rutland Church Bells, p. 31). We might therefore expect to find many medireval bells still remaining in Cumberland but for the probability that their number has been considerably lessened by a practice we have already had occasion to notice, which is exactly the opposite to that spoken of by Mr. North. The ancient Cumberland bells, if we may judge from the two surviving specimens in this deanery, and from the traces on which we have come of bells formerly existing at Brampton, Hayton, Kirklinton, and Milburn, were very small, and the temptation has been to recast two bells into one. Still if there remain even as many medireval bells in each Cum­ berland deanery as in that of Brampton, it will be above the average of other counties. Publicity will be the best means of saving them from the furnace. In conclusion I beg to return my best thanks to the clergy and churchwardens of this deanery, who have kindly supplied me with much of the information contained in the foregoing paper. ( 22! )

ART. XVII.-Church Bells on the "Bgrder." By the Rev. H. WHITEHEAD, M.A. Communicated at Caldbeck, August 22nd, 1883. 1~I-IE foJlowing paper, written from information chiefly supplied by the clergy of the several churches, in con­ tinuation of what has already appeared in these Transactions (vol. vi., pp. 417-443), completes the account of the church bells of the parishes which formerly constituted the ancient ward of Eskdale :- ARTHURET. This parish contains part of what was once known as the "Debatable Land", the inhabitants of which acknowledged neither kingdom, obeyed the laws of neither country, and feared no punishment; hence they grew to such a pitch of bold­ ness as to live entirely on spoils.-Hutchinson ii., 530. Church goods in such a neighbourhood were likely to be scarce and mean. In 1552, the very year of the partition of the "debatable land" between the two kingdoms, Edward VI.'s commissioners, appointed to inquire into the amount and value of church goods throughout the country, reported as belonging to "Arthured" church one chales of tyn one veste ... The MS. in the Record Office is torn off at the middle of the word "vestement"; but there was never a second line, and perhaps not a third item. The church itself was in such poor condition that it hacl to be rebuilt in the year 1609 by the help of a charity brief, having before been a mean, low, ruinous building, often destroyed by the Scots.­ Nicolson a11d Burn ii., 472. A "charity brief" was a far-reaching institution, as may be seen from the followin·g entry in the parish register of St. John's, Margate, Kent:- Collected 222 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

Collected by virtue of his Mties Missive unto my Lord (Abp Bancroft) for the rectifying of a church and fower chappells in the parish of Arthuret in the Countie of Cumberland the 24th day of September 1606 in the parish of St. John vij ijd.-Macinillan's Magazine, No. 255, P· 195· Of the proceeds of the said brief it is unlikely that any portion was expended for the purchase of a bell, seeing that, owing to · the persons employed upon the building going off with a considerable part of the money collected, the tower was left unfinished.-N. and B. ii., 472. Nor was it until the very end of the l7th century that any further progress was made with the work. Bishop Nicolson, who visited Arthuret in 1703, says:- The Tower was little higher than the Leads of the Church when Dr Todd came to the Liveing; But, by his own generous Benefaction and the Contributions of his friends, t'is now a good way advanced.­ Bp. N., p. 135· Dr. Todd, one would think, must have put up a bell. But the bishop says nothing about it; the terrier of 1749 is not extant, and no mention of a bell occurs in any subsequent terrier.* Old inhabitants, however, remember one, said to have been small and cracked, prior to the present bell, which is 38! inches in diameter, weighs about II i cwt., and is inscribed- REV WM. GRAHAM RECTOR JOHN BLAYLOCK CARLISLE 1849. Mr. Wm. Graham, rector of Arthuret from 1829 to 1863, was a brother of the famous statesman, Sir James Graham, Bart., of Netherby.

* The years in which terriers of the old portion of Carlisle diocese were sent in to the diocesan registry were 1663, 1704, 1730, 1749, 1777, 18~S, 1867, and 1S78. In some parishes the terriers fur all tho>e year~ are extant; in others some are wanting. There are also stray terriers of various dates. 'fhere is no mention of church bells in any terrier of earlier date than 1749; before which year nothing is mentioned but the glebe. Nearly every terrier of 1749 contains an inventory of church goods. BLACKFORD. CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER. 223

BLACKFORD. Blackford church was built, and a district assigned to it, taken from Kirklinton parish, in 1873. A bell-cot of peculiar construction, viz., two walls built all the way up from the ground at right angles to the west gable inside, renders the bell very difficult of access. The difficulty, however, has been surmounted by the Rev. R. S . Green and Mr. W. C. Parker, who report the bell as being nine­ teen inches in diameter, therefore weighing about 1 ~cwt. ; secured to headstock by four bolts through holes drilled in the crown, the canons having been broken off; inscription in Roman capitals, some of which, e.g., N and S throughout, are reversed :-

ANTONY : : WELTON : : EREC : : OF : : KIRKLINTON !OS : : DECKERS : : APPELBEE : : ESQ• : : 10:-i : : LATIMOOR:: : : W:: HESLOP : : CHVRCH­ WARDINGS : : 1724 SR:: EDWARD : : MOOSGREVE ARON : : PEEVER : : FACIT : : 1724

This bell, then, originally belonged to the mother church at Kirklinton; on the re-building of which (1845) it was discarded, and is said to have hung in a tree until removed in 1873 to Blackford. As a memorial of local history it is unusually interesting. " Antony \Velton," some time perpetual curate of Laner­ cost and Walton, became rector of Kirklinton in 1722, of which he ceased to be rector in 1731, whether by death or resignation there is nothing to show. The parish register has this entry :- 1729 Antony Wilton Clerk Rector of Kirklinton and Teresa Appleby of the same by vertue of Licence married Feb. 5. Teresa Appleby was a sister of Joseph Dacre Appleby of Kirklinton Hall, the " los Deckers Appelbee Esq " of the bell inscription. Mr. 224 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

Mr. Joseph Apple'by thus acquired the prefix of "Dacre" to his surname :- Uuto this Joseph son .)f Joseph by his wifo Dorothy Dacre James Dacre Esq':: brother of the sai-:1 Dorothy left the lordship of vValton together with the C:emesne 0f Castlestea(:s and Kelwood tithes with a request that he would take and use the name of Daer<:; which he did. But believin;; he could not

He cculd n0t hav~ marrieC: a woman better qualified to keep up his crec1it in every respect. a is ign0rance iu many things she contrived t:i cover; anc:I as often to draw his good qua lities into notice . • Her hancl.-writing was said to Le so extremely like his that the diffet­ ence could hardly be discovered. Uno.er t!1is riretence she wrote all his letters. And tho' s he could not sit 011 the Btnch with him, as a Justice of the Peace, yet everything of business in that department, which c0uld be managed beliinc: the turtain, she managed fur him. His affair's too she kept in excellent order. . l3ut all she did was done without any assuming airs or appearance of superiority (ib). For further account of this remarkable woman, who" had the talents of her father", see the Gilpin Memoirs (p. 45- 50.) She long survived her husband, who "was taken off by an accident" on Nov. 5th, 1729, in his 38th year.

* "The last of the Dacres" (Tombstone in Lrrnercost Abbey). t The name of Appleby was first dropped by hi s son, Joseph Ill., who married Catherine Fleminll', daughter of the bishop of Carlisle, and was captain in the Cumberland Militia during the seige of Carlisle in 1745. " Ion CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER. 225

"Ion Latimoor" and "W. Heslop", colleagues of "Ios Deckers Appelbee Esq.", as "churchwardings" of Kirk­ linton in 1724, are thus localized in the pa~ish register:- 1723, Jane, the daughter of John Latimer of Holme-foot, bapt. June+ 172+, John, the son of William Heslop of Wide Open Dykes, bapt. Oct. lg. Between the names "Latimoor" and "Heslop" on the bell there are letters, illegible in the rubbing, which seem to record a fourth churchwarden. But the only signatures of churchwardens to the transcript of the register for the year 1724 are those of J. D. Appleby, J. Latimer, and W. Heslop; nor in any year, according to all available evidence, has the number of wardens ever exceeded three. "Sir Edward Moosgreve" seems an anachronism on a Kirklinton church bell dated 172+, in which year there was no Sir Edward Musgrave living, nor any Musgrave possessing land in Kirklinton parish. But the manor of Kirklinton had formerly belonged to three generations of the :t\Iusgraves of Hayton-viz., (1) Edward Musgrave, knight, tempore Elizabeth, lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of Cumberland, great-g-randson of Nicholas, third son of Sir Thomas l\Iusgrave by his wife Joan, heiress of the Stapletons of Edenhall; (2) \Villiam, son of Sir Edward; and (3) Edward, created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1638, son of William (Whelan, p. 207). Sir Edward I. purchased Kirklinton and Scaleby manors from Sir H. Weston, to whom they had descended from the Tilliols (Nicolson and Burn ii., 155); he built Scaleby Castle, and died in 1606 (Hutchinson ii., 572). His grandson, Sir Edward II., a zealous royalist in the civil wars, garrisoned Scaleby Castle in 1648, but had to surrender it to General Lambert (Whelan, 691); was with Charles II. at the battle of \V urcester in 165 r, and fled after the defeat into Scotland, where he was protected by the Duke of Gordon, until Cromwell finding him out despatched a message to the duke, that if he did not forthwith deliver up 226 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

up Ned Musg-rave, that arch rebel, he would send a troop of horse and storm the castle. He was then forced to flee to the Isle of Man, where he soon after died (ib. 207). The losses he incurred in the time of Charles I., when he raised and maintained a regiment at his own expense, necessitating the alienation of a great part of his estate, he sold, amongst other lands, Scaleby to Dr. Richard Gilpin, father of Susannah l\faria, wife of "Ios. Deckers Appel bee'', and Kirklinton to EdmundAppleby, grandfather of the said Joseph and of Teresa Appleby (afterwards \Vil ton). The name "Sir Edward l\loosgreve " on the bell, whether intended for the knight or the baronet, may therefore be regarded as a survival from "two small bells" seen at Kirklinton in i703 by Bishop Nicolson, who calls them" a rarity on the borders" (Bp. N., p. 107), one or both of which probably supplied the metal for the bell of 1724, and on one of ·which was doubtless an inscription in which this name occurred.* "Aron Peever", who in 1724 cast this bell for Kirklinton, in the same ye'lr cast two bells, the present tenor and No. 2, for Caldbeck; neither of which bears his name, but each, by certain peculiarities, e.g., double semicolon as intervening stop, letters N and S always reversed, churchwardens spelt "churchwardings'', as well as by the general character of its lettering, can be recognized as his handiwork. In Addingham churchyard there was lying some time ag0 a fragment of a bell, which had fallen down from its cot on the church, on which was part of an inscription-viz., DEO & ECCLESIJE ARON founder's missing surname, no doubt, PEEVER. His residence, as well as name, occurs on the Kirkoswald treble: AARON PEEVER KIRKOSWALD FA 1729; the letters FA doubtless a con­ traction of FACIT. Inquiry at Kirkoswald would probably

* l~stan~es of communion plate re-cast yd bearing names of original donors are given m the Carlisle dioce,an church plate book (pp. 104, 152, 171, 249, and 252). elicit CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER. 227 elicit further information concerning this solitary represen­ tative, as far as our present knowledge extends, of Cum­ berland r8th century bell-foun.:lers. CROSBY-ON-EDEN. Bishop Nicolson, who was here on October 6, 1703, says (p. 106) :- They have onely one bell. Nor at any time since, as far as can be learned from the terriers, has there bet.:n more than one. The present bell, 20! inches in diameter, weight about 2;!- cwt, is inscribed-- N & CO CARLISLE 1813. N. & Co. may be identified, in Henderson's Picture of Carlisle (A.D r810, p. 138), as Nicholson & Co., iron and brass founders, Botchergate. .Mr. Nicholson, on retiring from business, took the Priory Farm, \Vetheral. The bell is rung, if asked for, on the day before a funeral, from 8 to 8-30 a.m., as the "call bell". Bishop Nicolson says of Crosby Church:--- On the North side of the East Window (within) I observed the Letter R cut in stone, with a bell hanging under it, which I take to be a R<"bus for the namf. of Bishop Richard Bell ; who seems to have rebu ilt, this Quire. The like Fancy is on another work of his, Bell To wer at Rose. This reb us is not here now, having disappeared when the church was rebuilt in 1855. HEATHERSGILL. Chapel of ease to Kirklinton parish church, built in 1876. It has one bell, 20 inches diameter, weight about rt cwt, in a cot on the west gable. Inscription :-

JOHN WARNER & SONS JOHN GRAHAM GAVE ME 1876 The 228 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

The donor was Mr. Graham of Rigg Head. The Crescent Foundry, Cripplegate, at which this bell was cast, derives its name from" Jewin Crescent", so called from the site having once belonged to the Jews, on whose banishment in the r2th century it was given to the Dean of St. Paul's (North's Lincolnshire Chttrc!i Bells, p. r45i. Messrs. Vvar­ ner removed their foundry from Fore Street to this site in r850. HOUGHTON Church built in 1840; and district assigned to it, taken from Stanwix parish, in r84r. One bell, diameter 24 inches. No inscription. Death Knell if asked for; nine strokes for a man, six for a woman, three for a child.

KIRKANDREWS ON ESK. The church here, having long lain ruins, was rebuilt in 1637 (Hutchinson ii., p. 549); but in 1703 was found by Bishop Nicolson haveing neither Steeple, Belfry, nor bells. The terrier of 1749 is not extant; but Chancellor \Vaugh, annotating Bishop N icolson's MS. in :::J50, or thereabouts. says :- Nor have they yet any bell. The church was again rebuilt in 1776 (Whelan, p. 6 ~ 2), and has now a bell, 27 inches in di a meter, weight 4f cwt., which is blank, but known to have been given 'ln 1830 by the late Sir James Graham of Netherby. It is rung by means of a cord tied to the clapper, a mode of ringing which, if not discontinued, will sooner or later result in a crack.

KIRKLINTON. The church here, rebuilt in 1845 (Whelan, p. 6S4), has one bell, 24 inches in diameter, weight about 3 cwt., on which is inscribed- THOMAS MEARS FOUNDER LONDON. This CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER. 229

This bell, which is an exceptional instance of an undated bell from the \Vhitechapel foundry, must have been cast not later than 1844, in which year the foundry passed into the hands of C. and G. Mears (Mears' Bell Catalogue, p. 4). It succeeded a bell vaguely described in the terriers of 1749 and 1828 as

one bell thought to weigh about 2 or 3 hundred wt. The lesser of these weights is nearest the mark, the diameter of the old bell, now at Blackford, being 19 inches, and its weight therefore about ii cwt. (ante p. 223). Bishop Nicolson, who was at Kirklinton on Oct. 6, 1703, says (p. 107) :- They have two small bells, which are pretty good: and a rarity on the Borders. The "rarity" here noted by the bishop may have been the two bells at a church" on the borders". But if by the " borders" he meant the strictly border parishes, then, as he found no bell at Bewcastle (Bp. N ., p. 3), Stapleton (p. 32), or Kirkandrews-on-Esk (p. 142), and possibly none at Artburet, it was even a bell at all that was the "rarity" at a border church. NICHOLFOREST. Nicolson and Burn, writing in 1779, say (ii., p. 475) :­ In Nicholforest is a chapel of ease which if it ever had any endow­ ment had been lo$t (as is not at all difficult to conceive); but in the year r744 it received an allotment of [zoo of Queen Anne's bounty. The chapel was rebuilt in 18zr (Whelan, p. 683), and has now a district assigned to it, taken from Kirkanclrews-on­ Esk. It has one bell, diameter 18 inches, weight about rt cwt., in a cot on the west gable. The bell has no inscription, but is known to have been procured in 1850. It is tolled after, as well as before, a funeral. The " after burial bell", a usage" now of rare occurrence" (North's Bedfordshire 230 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

Bedfordshire Bells, p. roo), is found in only one other parish in the oid Eskdale ·ward, v1z; Castle Carrock (ante, vol. vi., p. 423). SCALEBY. Bishop Nicolson visited Scaleby on June 16, 1703, and says (p. 5) :- I found the Church here a good firm Building, with a Spacious Tower and one large Bell in it: but not beautify'd with either the Queen's Arms or so much as one sentence of Scripture on the walls. But, though he found no Scripture on the walls, he would, if he had looked for it, have found a sentence of Scripture on the bell; for that, from the Vulgate (S Luc. i, 28), is what may be seen on a bell which is now in Scaleby church tower, and must have been there long before the year 1703. It has now a companion, on which is neither sentence of Scripture nor inscription of any kind, but which is traditionally believed, and certainly appears, to be the older of the pair; which, if the bishop saw but one bell here, cannot be the case. But it may be doubted whether he even saw the one which he mentions. He calls it a " large" bell. Yet at Edenhall, a few weeks later, where he unquestionably saw the belts, as he copied from one of them a legend, Campana Sa11cti Cuthberti, which is still to be seen on the tenor there, he says in his account of the church tower (p. 58) :-" \Vithin are two small bells." But the inscribed bell at Scaleby, which is the larger of the two now there, is even smaller than the Edenhall tenor. It would seem, therefore, that he did not ascend the Scaleby tovver; which is likely enough, as the belfry is difficult of access. If, then, not ascending the tower, he saw but one rope, the other having been broken and not replaced, as has been the case in later times, he may too quickly have jumped to the conclusion that there vvas but one bell. But the rector could have set him right on this CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER. 231 this point? The rec tor, who was at the same time vicar of Crosby-on-Eden, may have been the very man who set him wrong. At Scaleby t here was "no Surplice, no C Prayer Book" (Bp. N ., p. 5), and likely enough but one of the bells in use. The rector may never have known of the existence of the other; and the bells now here may be identical with "ij bells" reported by Edward VI.'s com­ missioners as belonging to" Scailbye" in 1552. The terrier of 1749 mentions two Bells with their Frames the first weighting 300 pounds weight and the other about zoo pounds weight. These weights do not correspond with those of the present bells, which are-

Tenor, diameter rg} inches, weight about I cwt 3~ qr. Treble, diameter r4} inches, weight about 3 qr 4 lbs. But terrier weights are often very inaccurate. The treble, which is the blank bell, very closely resembles in shape the blank bell at Over Denton, engraved in Vol. vi., p . .n8, of these Transactions. Just such another bell is the blank treble at L angwathby, which has always been supposerl, and also appears, to be older than an inscribed m eclireval bell which hangs by its side. The Scaleby tenor is unmistakably an ancient bell. R oun :l its shoulder, about three inches from the canons, in f1oriated Gothic capitals, t inch high, some of which are reverserl,with a plain initi al cross, three roundlets in a vertical line as intervening ~ top, and a crown surmount­ ing the Virgin's na me, runs the Vulgate version of the angelic salutation:-

~ AVE : MARIA : GRACIA : PLE'.•L\ : DNS : TECVM

\Ve rarely find a elate on a pre-Reformation bell, and the Scale by tenor is no exception to this rule. Hut such marks as we do find on ancient bells often indicate with more or less margin a period to which they may be assigned. Gothic 232 CHURCH BELLS OF THE BORDER.

Gothic capitals are themselves indicative, though not unerringly, of the fourteenth or early fifteenth century. It may seem surprising that Scaleby church, situated but six miles from the b:)rder, has been able to keep one, if not hoth, of its bells for so many centuries. Before the union some of the border .churches, e.g., Arthuret and Kirkandrews-on-Esk, were again and again destroyed. All were liable to be continually plundered. Nor does even the union for a while seem to have much mended matters. An entry in Rocliffe p:i.rish register, recording the purchase of a new register book in 1679, says:-

There was not one before for many years, being taken away with other utensils of the church by Scottes armyes and last of all by Ld Duke Hamilton in 16+8. (Old Church Plate in Carlisle Diocese, p. 47.) But Scaleby church perhaps owes the preservation of its bells to the peculiar construction of its tower. It is a pele tower, at the west end of the church, eighteen feet square on the outside of the walls, which are four feet thick. It has no entrance but a low narrow door, opening from nave to grcund-floor chamber, which has very narrow lights, more than seven feet from the ground, on its north, south, and \vest sides; no steps from basement to first upper chamber, which has lights similar to those below, and a small aperture in its east wall towards the nave. There is now a ladder from first to second upper chamber, which was formerly the belfry; ladder thence to a third upper chamber, added in 1SzS, which now contains the bells. This tower has, no doubt, stood many a seige, and its bells have rung many an alarm. They are now rung from the basement, the ropes descending through a single hole in each of the floors; which arrangement, if it existed in Bishop Nicolson's time, and the difficulty of access to the belfry, probably explain why he did not ascend the tower, and why, if he saw but one rope, he thought there was only one bell. Among CHURCH BELLS ON THE BORDER. 233

Among the strictly border parishes Scaleby is now exceptional in possessing more than one church bell. Cumberland is, indeed, nowhere rich in church bells; but, as a rule, the nearer the border the fewer the bells. Throughout the old Eskdale ward, containing twenty-three ecclesiastical districts, there are but four churches which have each as many as two bells, only one of the four having more than two. Under these circumstances it is no matter for surprise that the border bells have no "peculiar usages", such as are continually mentioned in the pages ofEllacombe, North, Raven, and other writers on church bells. Their once peculiar use of giving the alarm-whence the name, the "fray bell", formerly applied to the Hexham tenor (Hewitt's Antiquities of Hexham, p. 100)-is now, happily, obsolete. Even the death-knell is almost unknown in Eskdale ward, being tolled in only four of its twenty-three parishes, and those, with one exception, the furthest from the border. The Scaleby treble, however, was formerly used, as the local saying is, for" publishing" a death, as well as for a funeral, and for no other purpose; on which account it was called the "dead bell". The more cheerful duty of ringing for Sunday service was reserved for the tenor. But the tenor had once a very peculiar usage, thus reported by an old parishioner :-

It was formerly the custom for a number of young men to get hold of a rope through the church window, and ring this bell during a wedding ceremony. The same custom also formerly prevailed in the adjoining parish of Kirklinton, until in 1836 there arose a rector, George Bell, who pronounced it to be an "intolerable nuisance'', and succeeded, though not without the assist­ ance of the magistrates, in putting it down. It so hap­ pened that on the death of Mr.John Hills, rector of Scale by from i826 to 1859, Mr. Bell, pending the appointment of a 234 CHURCH BELLS ON THE BORDER. a successor to Mr. Hills, was placed in charge of Scaleby parish, where during the interregnum he effected the same reform which he had brought about in his own parish ; nor has the old custom been since revived. It is a pity that a parish containing youths so addicted to bell-ringing, and a church tower so well adapted for the reception of bells, has not a ring wherewith to afford legitimate scope for the energies of these "young men". The present rector writes:- We have an unusually spacious tower, and ample accommodation for four or even six bells, were any kind friend disposed to make such a noble gift to our beautiful little church. But it may be some consolation to the rector to reflect that the desired benefactor, by delaying his coming, has in one respect done good service. Had he ere now made his appearance, the two ancient bells would in all probability have passed through the furnace to supply some of the metal for the new ring. The "spacious tower" of Scale by church, should it ever acquire the ring it deserves, ought still " for auld Jang syne" to retain the bells whose voices have been famlliar to the "forefathers of the hamlet'' for nearly five hundred years.

STANWIX. Bishop Nicolson, who was here on October 3rd, r703, says (p. 104) :- They have one good bell. A picture in Carlisle Town Hall, painted by Mathias Reid in 1720, repre~ents Stanwix church with two bell" in a double cot on the west gable. The terriers of 1749 and 1777, say:- One bell weighing about two hundred weight Item one hand bell. Among the parish documents of Sebergham there is extant a CHURCH BELLS ON THE BORDER. 235

a letter, dated Feb. 24th, 1826, from Mr. T. Burgess, of Carlisle, bell-founder, to the Rev. T. Heyshqm, perpetual curate of Sebergham, which says:-

The bell at Stanwix is 26 diam & they say 200 lbs. But I am of opinion it is 300 lbs. "They", whoever they were, seem to have blindly followed the terriers. But Mr. Burgess, one would think, should have known that a bell 26 inches in diameter would weigh nearly half as much again as 300 lbs. The terrier of 1828 copies the earlier terriers verbatim. The present bell, however, which is more than a century old, is 28 inches in diameter, and therefore weighs about 5 cwt. It is from the Whitechapel foundry, and bears this inscrip­ tion:-

PACK AND CHAPMAN OF LONDON FECERUNT 1779· These founders, we remark, seem to have taken several years to discover that the "fecit" of their earlier inscriptions, as at Holme Cultram (1771), Lanercost (1773), and Cros­ thwaite (r775), should give place to "fecerunt". The "hand bell", an exceptional survival-such bells, anciently used for processions, having mostly been des­ troyed in the reign of Elizabeth (Peacock's English Clmrch Fiwnititre, passim)-is now in the possession of Mr. R. S. Ferguson, who purchased it at a curiosity shop, whither it had found its way after the sale of the effects of the late vicar of Stanwix. It is 5-! inches in diameter, 4t from shoulder to skirt, and without inscription of any kind. The handle to the bell is clearly not original ; it is a clumsy solid cylinder of copper, 5 inches long, soldered to the crown of the bell. Stanwix is one of the four parishes in the old Eskdale ward-the other three being Castle Carrock, Cumrew, and Cumwhitton-which have the usage of the "death-knell", here tolled nine times for a man, seven for a woman, and five for a child. There 236 CHURCH BELLS ON THE BORDER.

There is a legend at Stobbs, near Hawick, that the bell of the church there was stolen by a Cromwellian soldier, who brought it to Stanwix. This may have been the bell mentioned in the earlier terriers as " weighing about two hundred weight " ; rather an inconvenient addition to a soldier's baggage. But heavier bells than this are tradi­ tionally believed to have been stolen from churches in the days of border warfare. Mr. Ferguson, however, sug­ gests that the handbell may have been the one which was stolen from Stobbs. ( 135)

ART. XV.-Tlie Bells of Ca.Ylisle Cathedral. By the REV. H. \VH!TEHEAD, M.A. Commimicated at Caldbeck, August 22nd, 1883. N the tower of Carlisle cathedral, disused and almost I forgotten, no peal rung on them withii1 li ving mem0ry, hang six bells, viz. :-

No. Note Diameter "Weight Date I -- Founders Ft. In. Cwts. Qrs. I D 2 4t 5 I 1659 Langshaws 2 c 2 9 7 3 1728 E. !:idler 3 Blz 3 0 9 3 1608 Lee~ & Wright 4 A 3 4} 13 0 1845 C. & G. Mears 5 G 3 St 17 0 I. B. 6 F 4 ot 21 2 1657 Langs haws ·-· ------A heterogeneous company, from five different foundries, and of six different dates, bt:t on that account historically the more interesting, recalling by their inscriptions, as wel l as by the traditions and associations of the belfry, some memorable episodes in the annals of Carli sle. Taking them in chronological order we begin with No. 5, which is undated, but easily recognised by its Jo;1g waist and medireval inscriµtion as the patriarch of the belfry. Its age is approximately known. L eland, speaking of " Gu!. Strikeland ", hishop of Carlisle from 1400 to 1419, says:- Hie fecit mag. campanile in cathedr. ecclesia a medietate ad sum. mum, una cum quatuor magnis campanis in eodem.- (Collectanea, vul. i. p. 472).

•The weight of a bell is approximately known from its diameter at mouth (Taylor's Bell C11 talof{ae, p. 25). Dr. 136 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

Dr. Hugh Todd, writing in 1688, and giving the episcopal register as his authority,* says:-

Willielmus de Strickland Episcopus Carliol. A.D. Meece. Turrem Conventualis a medio ad apicem extruxit et Pyramide lignea decora­ vit quam plumbo obcluci fecit. Campanile quatuor campani8 instruxit quibus Parochiani ad sacra convocarentur.-(MS. "Notitia Eccl. Cath. Carl.") These writers merely leave it to be inferred that the tower was raised and the bells placed in it at some time during SLrickland's episcopate. But Gibson, in his edition of Camden, published in 1]22, says (p. 1023), without giving his authority :- The belfry was raised, and the bells placed in it, at the charge of William de Strickland, Bishop, in the year r4or. The local historians follow Gibson in assigning this date to the tower and bells. These were not the first bells known to have belonged to Carlisle cathedral. The Lanercost chronicler, pouring out his soul in hexameters "de Combustione Karlioli ", by which in 1292 a great part of the city was laid in ruins, exclaims:- Organa campa1ue vox musica canonicorum Menti jam same sunt instrumenta clolorum. Fifteen years later-in the presence of Edward the First, lately arrived from Lanercost, where he had spent what was to prove the last winter of his life-Cardinal Petrus Hispanus, the Pope's legate, having first preached in the cathedral, revested himselfe and the other bishops which were present, and then with candels light and causing the bels to be rooiig they accursed

*Todd's reference to "Reg. Epi" in the margin of his MS., if not a clerical error, must have been based on the certainty that Leland, from whom he seems to have copied, had seen Bishop Strickl.and's register; which is known to have been ~issing before Todd's time, '.'n~ is m1~sing sllll. Mr. R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., in his "Attempt to trace the m1ss1ng registers of the see of Carlisle" (a11te vol. vii., pp. 295-9), shews clearly that Bishop Strickland's register was in existence in 1606. No doubt, then, it was seen by Leland. in THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 13/ in terrible wise Robert Bruce the vs urper of the crowne of Scotlanc with all his partakers aiders and mainteiners.-(Hollinshed, ii. 543). Bruce, whether or not in consequence of these impreca· tions, though he dreadfully ravaged the rest of Cumberland never succeeded in taking Carlisle. It was taken an( burnt, however, in 1345, by Sir W. Douglas; and wai again burnt, this time by accident, in 1392, when 1,5oc houses and a great part of the cathedral are said to hav( been destroyed. The fire of 1392 doubtless proved fata to the bells which had been " instrumenta dolorum " tc the Lanercost chronicler and Robert Bruce. It must have been in reparation of the damage done tc the cathedral in 1392 that Bishop Strickland raised th< tower,• and furnished it with" quatuor magnis campanis" one of which still survives as fifth bell of the present ring.1 It has round its shoulder, in stately floriated Gothic capi tals, this inscription :-

+rnc +IN: VOCE: SUM: MUNDA: MARIA: SON ANDO: SECUNDA From which it appears that in the Strickland ring ii occupied the second place, i.e. next to the treble. vVhethei by "voce " to understand the voice of the bell, or tc take " in voce sum " as equivalent to " vocor ", I am no1 sufficiently acquainted with monastic Latin to decide. Th< reader can choose which he prefers of the two followin~ translations of the hexameter, or make for himself a bettei than either :- named chaste Maria } . I { . smg Mary wit 11 pure accent Second in the chiming ring. In either case the fact remains that the bell's name 1~

*The reality of the fire of 1392, clc1ub tccl by Hutchinson (History of Cum!w tawl vol. ii. p. 5

Mary; which name she• received at her consecration. Before bells were hung, they were washed, crossed, blessed, and named by the bishop. . . . Some say that this custom was intro­ duced by Pope John XII I, . . . . but it is evidently of an older standing, there being an express prohibition of the practice in a capitular of Charlemagne in 780.-·(Camprwologia, by Vv. Jones, p. II). The initial cross, with three of the letters, A, M, and C, and a fleur-de-lis fringe which surmounts the sacred monogram, are engraved, full size, on the opposite page. The meaningless letter C in the sacred monogram may be thus accounted for. It would seem that medireval scribes, unaware that the monogram was a contraction of IH::OY~, besides mistaking capital eta for Roman H and small eta (71) for h, also mistook sigma when in its crescent form for Roman C. Emphasising these mistakes by reproducing them in Gothic letters, whereby the final letter loses all resemblance to crescent sigma, they have left no room for hypothesis that, whether aware or not of the original signi­ ficance of the monogram, they meant it as they wrote it to stand for "Jesus Hominum Salvator ". It is difficult, then, to conjecture what the Gothic I HC could ever have been supposed to mean. Leaving this question in the obscurity in which for ages it has rested, we pass on to notice that immediately below the sacred monogram on Bishop Strickland's bell, with initial cross and roundlets, are two Gothic capitals, viz. : +I: B. These letters, which are doubtless the founder's initials, may perhaps, together with the cross and the character of the lettering, eventually lead to his identification. How long Bishop Strickland's bells remained intact in the tower there is no direct evidence to show. Indirectly however, as we proceed, we shall get light on this point. It seems clear that none of them shared the fate which in the reign of Henry VIII befel another ancient ring of four

"A bell is always spoken of by ringers in the fcirininc gender. THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 139

~:~~~~!:!._o:_~~~~~·~:,~_.,,_-.,4·-~.:.:~~2=::____-:,_

io--:______-:...._ ,·.-__;____.~-- - -·____ ,

ffk~4t41a~~;.?z«~~~~~~r.==~~~~- v.rrwc 140 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. in the city of Carlisle. Commissioners appointed in 2 and 3 Philip and Mary to make inquiry concerning removal of lead and bells from certain Cumberland abbeys and reli­ gious houses in Henry's reign, reported :- The inhabitants of Carlysle dothe well remember the ffreers howses in Carlysle but what became of the bell s ther they knowe not And towching the foure bells of the saide late ffreers in Carlys le weiing D cwt* weight ther was none remayninge in Carlysle at Mighel lmas Anno xxxviii nuper reg Henry ,-iij And for any other know lege we can get none.--(i\.IS. in Record Office). Neither in the instructions issued to these commissioners nor in their report is there any mention of the cathedral bells, which omission implies that it was known they had not been molested down to 38 Henry VII I. U nfortunc:..tely the cathedral 'is one of several churches the names of which have been torn off from the Cumberland portion of Edward VI's. Inventory of Church Goods in 1552 (MS. in in Record Office). But, approximately knowing their places in the inventory, in which the Cumberland chur­ ches are arranged according to the county wards, we have no difficulty in deciding that the following list, the missing words of which are here conjecturally suppliedt (in italics), is that of the cathedral :- -Itm too chalesses of silv' xij copis sum Carlysle \white sum grene Ii ij vestements wU1 all of Cat/1cdra/(lgcre therto fowre gret bdles iij lytill belles oue pare of sencers. The item "fowre gret belles" is itself decisive as to this being the list of the cathedral goods, no other nameless church in the same ward being recorded as having any "gret belles" at all, let alone four. But, whilst it is thus rendered certain that Bishop Strickland's four bells survived the reign of Henry VIII, there may yet seem at first sight to

* In th e instructions to the commissioners these bells arc described as "weiiin o- in the hole vii c weight". to t The unmutilatcd lists serving as a ~uide to the missing- words. be THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 141 be room for doubting whether they all survived the reign of his son, whose commissioners were ordered in 1553 * to allow only one " f;,rett bell " to remain in each church (Seventh Report of Deputy Keeper of Public Records, p. 319). The commission, however, so far as the bells were con­ cerned, was not strictly, if at all, executed in Cumberland. To this clay several Cumberland churches retain the iden­ tical bells reported by the royal commissioners as belonging to them in 1552, the most noteworthy instance being Greystoke, the only church in the county besides the cathedral which had "fowre gret belles" in 1552; which same four it still retains. The late Mr. T. North, F.S.A., the eminent campanist, thought that in many places "the bells were too popular to allow of their being removed with impunity" (Rutland Church Bells, p. 27). Especially would this be the case in Cumberland, where the bells, in addition to their ecclesiastical use, were in olden time in constant requisition as "fray" bells, as when, in 1596, the bold Buccleugh rescued Kinmont "Willie from Carlisle Castle, and Scarce had won the Staneshaw bank \Vhen a' the Carlisle bells were rung. Sir \Valter Scott, in his Tales of a Grandfather (cap. xxx.), describing this exploit, says: " The bells of the castle rang out; those of the cathedral and Moot Hall answered them". No stress is to be laid on use of plural number by Border ballad and Sir \Valter Scott as argument for believing that the cathedral had more than one bell in 1596. But in a city which had to bear the brunt of -·------* The commission of 1552 had been confined to taking the inventory ; that of 1 553 was for the purpose of confiscating to ''ye Kinges use n such church goods as were deemed unnecessary for divine service. 1" This epithet, as applied in the; commission of 1553 to church bells, seems used to disting-uish the parish bells, of whatever size, from the Sanctus, Sacring-, and hand bells, which were expressly exempted from confiscation, probably as being too small to be worth melting- d:Hvn or selling for "ye Kinges use". Such, no doubt, were the "iij lytill hells" at Carli,(e cathedral. Bells of the latter kind mostly disappeared during the Elizabethan crusade against "monuments of superstition'' (Peacock's F;nglish Church f/urnil:tre, passim). Border 142 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

Border warfare we may be sure that any attempt on the part of Edward the Sixth's commissioners to remove three or even one of the cathedral bells would have resulted in such " disquyet of ye multitude" as they were expressly enjoined by their instructions to be careful not to provoke. It would on occasions of "soden fray" have seriously de­ tracted from from the noise to be produced by " a' the Carlisle bells " if the cathedral did not retain all its "quatuor magnas campanas ". We shall presently find other reasons besides those already adduced for believing that for a century and more after 1553 it did retain them. Next in seniority to "Maria", in the present ring, and somewhat resembling her in length of \vaist, is No. 2; on which, in tall plain Gothic capitals-one of which is

upside clown-with floriated initial cross, but without intervening stops, is inscribed :- + IE~VS BE OVR SPEED GEOR LEES EDMVND WRIGHT BELFOVNDERS WILL OR8EL Lllf 1608. The founders, Lees and Wright, are said to have 1xen of Carlisle \Lukis on Bells, p. 16); but no local knowledge of THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 143 of their foundry has yet come to hand. Their initial cross is here engraved full size. \i\Tilliam Orbell, accord­ ing to Jefferson's H istory of Carlisle (p. 297), was head master of Carlisle Grammar School from 1610 to 1612 ;· but his designation on this bell in 1608 as" L.M ",which must mean "Lucli Magister" (Cic. De N. D. l, 26), points to an earlier connection with the school, perhaps as usher, teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, which in an­ cient Rome was the special function of the " ludi magister" , who taught boys in the first stage of their education, from which they passed through subsequent stages under the the "grammaticus" and" rhetor ". But how came Mr. Orbell, whether as head master or usher of the school, to be giving a bell to the cathedral ? It is not necessary to suppose that he did give the bell. A clue to the reason why it bears his name is afforded by the following entries : 1603. Item unto 'William Orbell dcwe to the Dear: and Chapter xx•.-(Carlisle Corporatio11 Accowzts.)* 1612. Per quittance 19 December to l\fr. Bernard Robinson by the hands of Mr. \V. Orbell for the half-yeare's rent of a burgage and a garth in Fisher Gate at Carlyle clue to th o: Dean and Chapter 19 of December vj• vijd.-(Lord William Howard's Houscbook, p. 56). From which it appears that he was the chapter clerk; and, as such, in the name of his employers, he doubtless gave the order for the bell. That the initiatory suggestion as to the need of an additional bell came from the dean and chapter is unlikely, for the reason that, as shown by Mr. R. S. Ferguson in his lecture on " Carlisle Three Hundred Years Ago" (Carlisle Patriot, February 23, 1883), they were then non-resident. Mr. Orbell, therefore, as prime mover in the business, conceived that his was the name which had most right to be handed down to posterity on the bell. But what need was there in 1608 for a new bell?

* All extracts in this paper from the Carlisle Corporation Accounts have been supplied by Mr. R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., editor of the Cuml·erland all(/ /Fi_,,tmor­ land Arch

Little enough, certainly, if" Maria " had, since 1553, been the sole occupant of the belfry. There would have been no use in providing her with a single companion not much more than half her own weight. But to add a new treble to a ring of four, especially in the early years of the seven­ teenth century, was very much to the purpose. Dr. Raven says :- \Ve may mark the rise of chang-e-ringing in Cambridgeshire by the improvements in the Benet peal from 1605 to 1615, by the making of great St. Mary's from four into five in 16n, and by the addition or recasting of the two trebles in the Stetchworth peal in 1608, &c.­ (Cambridgeshire Bells, p. 77). Assuming Mr. Orbell to have been a pioneer in the change­ ringing movement, then in its infancy, we can sympathise with his feelings, if, having placed his name on the new treble, he exclaimed: " Exegi monumentum re re", if not "perennius ",at least not less durable. Yet it may be doubt­ ed whether at that time he was partial to quoting Horace. He had, for a schoolmaster, an unfortunate name, and must have been painfully conscious of his inevitable nick­ name of" plagosus Orbilius" (Hor. Ep. II. i. 70). No wonder he soon disappears from the roll of masters of the Grammar School. Henceforth, emancipated from the duties of an uncongenial office, he was able to devote more time and attention to the belfry. Proud indeetl must he have felt when he heard the bells ring out on the following occasion:- The King's most excellent majestye was here at Carliol the 4'i. daye of August 1617 when the Maiore of the city JV!r. Adam Robinson with Thomas Carleton recorder and the brethren presentyd hym firste with a speech then wyth a cup of golde valued at 301 and a Jurse of sylke with lOO jacobuses or pieces of the same: his Majestye vouchsafed very pleasantlye the speeche and gyfte thanked l'lfr. Maiore and all the citizens therefore presentlye wente to the Church accompanyed with the nobles both of England and Scotland. The next daye he did keep a feast royall wentt agayn to the Church in state with hys nobles being a saint daye where preached before hym lfobert THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 145

Robert Snowden Bishop of Carliol and the Maiore that daye goinge before hym to and from the Church att the court gate kyssed his hande att their departure. The thirde daie the Maiore and the breth­ ren took their leave of hys Majestye who used them verie graceously.­ (J efferson,* p. 46). The 5th of August, we must note, though dedicated to " St. Oswald, King and Martyr", was no "saint daye" likely to be observed by James the First ; but it was a day more likely to be observed by him than any saint's day, being the anniversary of the Gowrie conspiracy, "a day formerly kept in England as a holiday to commemorate the escape of Ja mes the First, when ruling over Scotland alone, from death at the hands of the Earl of Gowrie and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, in the year 1600 " (North's Lincolnshire Bells, p. 226). Mr. North quotes instances where the bells were regularly rung on that day. The Rev- T. Lees, in a paper on the "Greystoke Regis­ ters," says:- Neither the English nor the Scotch seem to have believed in the exist­ ence of this alleged conspiracy. The holiday was kept at Greystoke for three successive years, and then seems to have been entirely superseded by the 5th November thanksgiving for James' deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot, in the reality of which both nations believed (ante vol. i., p. 381).

No wonder Adam Robinson, after walking before King James in 1617, gave the following order, the first of its kind in the Corporation books :-

1617, Nov. 5. To the ringers at Mr. Maior command ij• vjd. Which, by the way, sixpence to each ringer, certainly seems to indicate that there were five bells. Next year Mr. Orbell pays a visit to London, and is thus welcomed home by the mayor on his return :-

*Jefferson says he took thi~ account of James the First's visit to Carlisle from "the register of one of the gmld books"; which cannot now be found. r618 146 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. r6r8. Item y• 27 of October in a present of Sacke and Sewgar bestowed at Mr. Orble's house on his cominge from London ij• vjd.

A man who could undertake a journey to London was somebody in those days, and Orbilius, no longer " plago­ sus " to unruly boys, but recipient of honour from civic authorities, could now, as he quaffed his "sacke ", quote Horace with unalloyed satisfaction :-

Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. He was back just in time for the peal on "ye gunpowder day '', as the 5th of November is called in the entry for 1618 relating to the ringing of the bells, and was doubt­ less present at a select dinner on that day :- r6r8. Item for y• alowance of a dinner upon y• V of Noveber beinge y• gunpowder treason day as a thankfulne for y• delivery of his Matie and estate of y• whole Realme xx•.

He appears for the last time in the corporation books under the following circumstances :-

1624. Item upon the next day being Tuesday after dinner in weodowe Slee plour 2 quarts of Sacke one quart of w'' one quart of Claritt Mr. Maior Mr. henrie baines Mr. Adam Robinson Mr. Orbell and othe gentlemen being then present 00-03.09.

Henry Baines had been mayor in 1622. Amongst the "othe gentlemen present", then, on this occasion, doubt­ less reviving over their " sacke" and " claritt" the memory of those halcyon days when Adam Robinson walked proudly before King James, no one but Mr. Or bell is named alongside of " Mr. Mai or" and two ex-mayors. Why was he never mayor himself? The explanation is, perhaps, to be found in the list of the rectors of Bowness on Solway :-

In the same year (1617) William Orbell was instituted, on a present­ ation by Henry Spiller of Tatham in the County of Middlesex, purchaser THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 147

purchaser from Anne Countess of Arundel.-(Nicolson and Burn's Cumberland, p. :z15). W. Orbell, L.M., if identical with Rector Orbell, who died in 1629 (ib.), was happily spared the pain of living to see the evil days which were soon to fall on the cathedral belfry. Some of the gentlemen present in 1624 in "weo­ dowe Slee plour" may have lived to see those days. If so, let us hope they survived them to rejoice in the same parlour over the completion of a considerable work in the belfry, the character of which will unfold itself as we proceed with our story. The tenor (No. 6) has this inscription in clumsy Roman capitals:-

I WARNE YOU HOW YOUR TIME DOTH PASS AWAY SERVE GOD THEREFOR WHIL LIF DOTH LAST AND SAY GLORlE IN AXCELSIS DEO ANNO DOMINI 1657. JOHN AND WILLIAM LANGSHAW WORKMEN.

The treble (No. l) has round its shoulder an ornamental band of coventional foliage in a series of semicircles, and on its waist the Langshaw initials with date- w. I. <> L., 1659. Some of the older inhabitants of Carlisle will remember a bell which for several years stood on the floor of the choir. The story of this bell, which had formerly been in the the tower, is thus told by Mr. R. W. Billings, in his book on the cathedral (p. 44), published in 1838 :-

The third bell (A sharp) was cracked while ringing during the re­ joicing for peace after the Battle of Waterloo, and was removed to the back of the altar when the belfry was re-timbered. It has the following passage on its rim: "This Ringe was made six tuneable Bells at the charge of the Lord Howard and other Gentree of the County and Citie and Officers of the garisson by the advice of Mager Jeremiah Tolhurst governor of the garisson 1658." In 148 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

In r840 this bell was "standing in the aisle of the choir " (Jefferson, p. lJI), where it remained until recast by Mears in 1845, to resume its place in the belfry. One Christopher Hodgson, who made a sketch of it-which is engraved in one of Billings' plates (No. XXX.)-says, in a MS.'" note now in possession of Mr. R. S. Ferguson, that it had on its waist the initials r. w. L. It was there­ fore, like the tenor and treble, the work of the Langshaws, to whom was evidently entrusted the work of "making the ringe six tuneable bells". Its place must have been that now filled by the Mears bell, viz., fourth, not third, as stated by Billings ;f and its note A natural, not " A sharp", in a ring with tenor in F natural. Whether, in making the ring to consist of six, the Langshaws recast three of the Strickland bells into four-for which there must have been metal enough and to spare-or substituted for them four entirely new bells, in either case they must have cast a fourth bell, which has disappeared, no record or tradition of it preserved ; the place of which must have been that now filled by the bell cast in 1728 by E. Seller. These four Langshaw bells, with "i\faria" and "Orbell ", which were allowed to remain, constituted Major Tol­ hurst's " tuneable" ring. The date on the treble, 1659, in a ring " made six tuneable bells " in 1658, looks odd, but may, perhaps, be accounted for by supposing the Langshaws, when casting the bell (No. 4) on which they placed the inscription, to have ante-dated the completion of the ring, the treble! yet remaining to be cast, and not cast till the following year. They seem to have done their work in a lei surely manner, being permanently resident in Carlisle, as is shown by the occurrence of W. Langshaw's

*Thi s MS. says that the initials and date" IS 141 7" were carved on a beam of the old oak frame, removed when the belfry was retimbered. But Arabic numerals were not used in this country at th at time. t Billings made the mistake of regarding the tenor, instead of the treble, as first bell. His mistake as to th e note is unaccountable. t On which, as beini:;- the .SI'!allest bell, they may have thought there would not he room for so long an mscnphon. name THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 149

name from 1651 onwards for plumber's work done for the corporation. Their designation on the tenor as "work­ men " implies that they were not regular bell-founders. But where all this time were the dean and chapter? Why was a work of this kind undertaken "at the charge of the Lord Howard and other Gen tree of the County and Citie and Officers of the Garisson by the advice of Mager Jeremiah Tolhurst ", with no sort of reference to ecclesias­ tical authorities? The answer is not far to seek. Mr. Ferguson, describing the condition of the diocese at that time, says :- The bishop's castle at Rose had been besieged and burnt. The revenues of the see had been assigned in commendam to support a non-resident bishop (Usher), then a fugitive from his Irish arch­ bishopric. . . . After his death no successor was appointed. . . . The dean had long been evicted from his office. The deanery had been let for manufacturing purposes. . . . The cathedral had been ruthlessly mauled ; about two-thirds of the nave had been destroyed, and the materials used to repair the castle and the main guard.-(R. S. Ferguson's M.P.'s of Cumberland, p. 2). It has even been alleged against " ye parliament officers" that they were so moved w11 zeale and somewt else against magnificent Churches that they even designed to pull down the whole Cathedral] and to have no Church but only St. Cuthbert's but y• Kinges hapie Restauracon putt an end to these and such like Sacriligious Intencon (Todd's MS. History of Carlisle). But there must be some mistake here. It would be strange indeed if the officers " designed to pull down the whole cathedrall" at the very time when they were sharing the expense of providing it with " tuneable bells": which work was moreover being done by the advice of the gover­ nor of the garrison. If at any time the rest of the cathedral was in danger of sharing the fate of the nave, it was not the Restoration in r66o, but the surrender of the city to Cromwell in r646, which " putt an end to such like sacriligious 150 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. sacriligious intencon ". The deputy town-clerk, Mr. W. Nanson, writing lately on Civic Archceology, says:-

An immense amount of destruction was prepetrated at and after the siege of r645. What with war, famine, and plague, the years from 164r to r648 were terribly disastrous to Carlisle. The city was at the mercy of the soldiers, municipal government was utterly dis­ organised, no money was in the chest, no accounts were kept by the chamberlain. . . . But by r649 order and good government had been restored, and the citizens seem to have bethought themselves of replacing what had been destroyed.-( Carlisle Journal, March 26, r883). From much interesting matter unearthed by Mr. Nanson I select, as bearing upon the subject of this paper, the following order of the Court Leet jury on the 22nd of October, 1649 :- That (accordmg to an ancient order) the Aldermen of this Citty shall attend the Maior upon every Lord's day to the Church in their gowns and likewise to attend the Maior in the Market place at or before the Sermon bell to the Church sub pena vj• viijd toties quoties and the Common Counselemen to attend likewise sub pena iij• ivd toties quoties. The institution of "sermon bell " has long been obsolete at Carlisle, and the only tradition of it elsewhere in the diocese is that recorded by Bishop Nicolson concerning one of the bells of Ravenstonedale, which place he visited in 1703 :-

This Bell used to be rung in y• Conclusion of y• Nicene Creed; to call in y• Dissenters to Sermon.-(Bishop Nicolson's Visitation of Carlisle Diocese, p. 42). In some places, as at Exeter, it was rung after the second lesson (Ellacombe's Bells of Exeter Cathedral, p. 33); else­ where during Litany (North's Rutland Bells, p. 86). The respect ordered in 1649 by the Court Leet jury to be paid to "sermon bell " at Carlisle was but characteristic of much that was to follow. The Corporation Accounts, at an early period of the Commonwealth, show a mayor en- gaged THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. l5I gaged with belfry reform, and on the best of terms with the man who was destined a few years later to remodel the cathedral ring :- r652-3 Oct 27 Payed for wine wch was bestowed on Maior Tolhurst - - oo 06 04 Nov. II Pa:yed for the belles wheeles & their repaireing as also for the gaites of the Churchyeard making and repareing - 05 17 lo Dec. 16 Pde for wine & Biskets when Mr. Maior & the Brethren wh the Capitals did goe for to visit Maior Tolhurst at the Castle - oo 18 06 March 5 Given to the ringers upon Thanksgiving Day oo 05 oo The situation may be taken in at a glance. Cathedral belfry, what with war, siege, Scotch army, and general confusion, fallen into sad disorder. No peal rung since pulling down of nave in 1646. New governor of garrison arrives at the castle; surname Tolhurst ; christian name variously given-" Jere my" by Jefferson (p. 443), "Jerome or Jeremiah " by Ferguson (p. 444.), " Jeremiah " on bell afore-mentioned; enthusiastic advocate of change-ringing movement now spreading far and wide. ' Sermon bell well enough in its way, Mr. Mayor', we may fancy him saying to the newly-elected mayor, meeting him near the cathedral on Sunday after election day/ ' but the whole ring should be set going again '. The mayor, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Kt. (Whelan's Cuniberland, p. 135), high sheriff the same year (ibid. p. 69), quite agreeable, forthwith gives orders for " wine web was Bestowed on Maior Tol­ hurst", also for new "belles wheeles ", not forgetting " gaites of eh urchyeard ". Good understanding, thus auspiciously begun, between the military and civic auth­ orities, is placed on still firmer basis a month later over "wine and biskets " at the castle. Bells now in full swing again, all five of them, as per item 5s. (one apiece) "to

11 Which at that time was " Monday first after y• feaste of St. Michael" (Old Corporation Charter). the 152 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. the ringers upon Thanksgiving Day", cent. per cent. advance on wage of pre-commonwealth times. No mis­ take about what going on in belfry up above. What going on in cathedral down below not so clear. One fact emerges from the general obscurity ; " man ir. leather breeches ", at some time during Sir \Vilfrid' s mayoralty, year but not day or month reported, preaching in the " abbey " to "pastor of the Baptists with most of his hearers" (George Fox's Joimial, 6th ed .• vol. i. p. 226), on which occasion, perhaps owing to the suddenness of his appearance, he meets with no opposition. On "first day following", when he preaches again in the cathedral, which he now calls the "steeple house", he is attacked by "rude people of the city with sticks and staves", but is protected by some" friendly people", especially" soldiers", to whom he had preached with acceptance at the castle, where a drum had been beat to call them to hear him. Great commotion in the cathedral. The " governor", name not given, but must be Tolhurst, sends down "a file or two of musketeers into the steeple-house to appease the tumult", also to see what the soldiers were about. Worse tumult in the street on Fox leaving the cathedral ; " city in uproar". The governor himself at last comes down and orders off some of the soldiers to prison ; Fox says, "for standing by me and for me against the people". \Vrong there, George, for once in your life. The governor would have served soldiers the same had they been on the other side. He must leave the imprisoning of civilians to the magistrates. Sir Wilfrid will see to that. Sir Wilfrid does see to it ; goes to what seems to him the root of the matter, and puts Fox himself in prison :- There I lay till the assizes came; and then all the talk was that I was to be hanged. The high sheriff, whose name was Wilfrey Lawson, stirred them much to take away my life; and said he would guard me to my execution himself.-(lb. p. 2z8). Fox complains much of the conduct of the magistrates. Two THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. I5J

Two magistrates, however, not of Carlisle, Gervase Ben­ son"' and Anthony Pearson, both of Westmorland, try to befriend him. They jointly, when refused permission to visit him in prison, write a letter to "Carlisle magistrates, priests, and people", concerning his imprisonment (ibid. p. 236). Anthony Pearson, baffled by the magistrates, applies to the governor of the castle ; not expressly said to have done so, but clearly did. The governor and Anthony Pearson came d!>wn into the dungeon to see the place where I was kept, and understand what usage l had. They found the place so bad and the savour so ill that they cried s hame of the magistrates for suffenng the gaoler to do such things (lb). He was not long in Carlisle goal. " The Lord's power '', he says, "came over the justices, and they were made to set me at liber!:!f." It is pleasant to think that one of the persons instrumental in procuring his release may have been our campanistic major, Jeremy Tolhurst. But to return to the belfry. In the last month of Sir vVilfrid's mayoralty, on September 6, " an arme of the chime" is mended, the item for which is our first intro­ duction to the chimes. The next date of any consequence in our story is that on the tenor, 1657; in which year Sir Wilfrid Lawson was again mayor (Jefferson, p. 417). The accounts seem to show that he did not find the bells in a satisfactory condition; apparently not more than three in use. It is evident that a more complete reform of the belfry than had been attempted in 1653 was now seen to be necessary, and by the advice of" Mager Jeremiah Tol­ hurst" was undertaken, involving a recasting of three of the bells; one of which, the original tenor in E flat, not returning to its old place, the key being changed from E flat to F, supplied more than enough metal for the two

* Probably an ancestor of the present archbishop of Canterbury, who has been making inquiry concerning his ancestors in Westmorland (Carlisle Palriot , June 29, 1883). trebles 154 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. trebles required to make up a "tuneable ring of six bells". The municipal accounts do not enable us to trace the progress of this work, which was not paid for by the corporation. Sir Wilfrid, we may presume, interested in its behalf "the Lord Howard and other Gentree of the Citie and Countie"; whilst the sympathy and support of " the Officers of the Garisson '', with the probable excep­ tion of a lieutenant who had been " convinced " by George Fox (Journal, i. 228), were secured by the major. The work, as already noticed, was done in a leisurely manner, and, though begun with the new tenor in 1657, was not completed until 1659. It was just in time for great events:-" Kinges hapie Restauracon ", as Dr. Todd calls it, in 1660 ! General election in 1661 ! Major Tolhurst a candidate for Carlisle! On which side? Not known. Mr. Ferg4son in his Cimz­ berland M.P.'s (p. 20), says:-" Tolhur~t, as to whose politics we have little clue ". No matter; victory " all along the line " for belfry reformers ! Tolhurst in for Carlisle! Lord Howard and Sir Wilfrid in for Cumberland! Light on the major's politics has been sought by some from those of his son-in-law, John Senhouse of Nether hall (Whelan, p. 327). Plenty of clue to politics of John Senhouse, captain during the civil war in Charles the First's army, hero of romantic story:-

Serving in the army when his elder brother died ..•. His parents naturally anxious . . . sent a young man, the son of a tenant at Ellenborough, who had been his playmate, to bring him home. The messenger arrived on the eve of the battle of i'vlarston Moor, with result that, instead of bringing back his young master, the latter induced him to remain and.share the danger with him.-(A 11te, vol. vi., p. 135). At Naseby "left for dead on the field", but found "still breathing" by his young friencl, "who carried him away on his back", so that " he lived to continue the race" (ibid). Quite worthy to be son-in-law to our gallant major, but THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 155

but not necessarily affording any clue to his politics, the major having served in the parliamentary army, yet proud, we may be sure, of his brave cavalier son-in-law, being a hearty admirer of courage. Writing, for instance, on July 22, 1664, from the Custom House at Newcastle, to Pepys, an old acquaintance of his in Cromwellian days, he re­ commends for "comand of some ffregott " one William Tickell, thus describing him :- A stoute galland man who in the last dutch war comanded a fire shipp If the navie bee but well ffurni shed with such comanders as hee is the dutch or any other enemy will not bee able to deal with them.-MS. in Record Office. Here with considerable respect we take our leave of Major Jeremiah Tolhurst; whom to have rescued, together with his brother officers, from the imputation cast upon them by Dr. Todd, is a source of satisfaction to the present writer. The worst thing that can be alleged against the major is that, when he ordered the recasting of three ancient bells, he omitted to hand down to posterity a record of their inscriptions. But great allowance is to be made for him : he lived in pre-Ellacombe days. Mention has been made of a bell, of which no record or tradition has been preserved, which must have occupied the second place in the major's "tuneable ring of six " (ante, p. 148). This bell, probably cracked, would seem, on the showing of Browne Willis, writing in 1727, to have been before that year removed from the belfry. He says, speaking of Bishop Strickland's tower :-

In it hang five Bells, the only peal of so great a number in the diocese, except at Penreth.-(S11rvey of English Cathedrals, i. 286).

But Willis had no personal knowledge of Carlisle cathe­ dral, the only English cathedral which he never visited,*

*' As stated, after his death, by his friend Or. Ducarel, in a paper read to the Society of Antiquaries (R. S. F.). and 156 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

and must have got his information about Carlisle and Penrith bells from Dr. Todd, who was vicar of Penrith, and some time prebendary of Carlisle, whom he mentions as his " learned friend" (ibid). Dr. Todd, had he ever seen the cathedral bells, would have known better than to impute to the commonwealth officers the design of pulling down the whole of the cathedral. Still he may never have heard but five bells, and the information he gave to Willis may be accepted as evidence that the second bell of Major Toihurst's ring may have been cracked, and if not removed from the tower was no longer in use; which is confirmed by the inscription on the present No. 2 :-

GEORG·FLEMING·DD·DECANUS { ~b~r~ller}

GLORIA IN ALTISSIMIS DEO. 1728. The letters in this inscription, except those of the founder's name and residence, are Roman capitals ; the intervening stop is a flower. Edward Seller II, successor in 1724 to his father, Ed ward Seller I, and sheriff of York in 1731, cast a good many bells for Yorkshire from 1724 to r 764 (Bell News, vol. ii. p. 183). Sir George Fleming, Bart., son of Sir Daniel Fleming, Knight, of Rydal Hall, Westmorland, born in 1677, was appointed archdeacon of Carlisle in 1707, and dean in 1727, retaining both offices until he be­ came bishop of Carlisle in 1734; he died in 1747. He had not long been dean, then, before the defect in the belfry was remedied. But he was not the donor of the bell; the order for which, dated the lSth of July, 172'), appears in the cathedral books.':' Nor, perhaps, would he have stirred at all in the matter, having been a prebendary since 1700 and archdeacon since 1707 without having done so, and being, moreover, according to his epitaph in Carlisle cathedral, remarkable for "equanimity amidst all events

•For this information I am indebted to the present archdeacon of Carlisle, Ur. Prescott. and THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 157 and occurrences", had not the chapter been reinforced in 1727 by a man of less equable temperament. John Waugh, son of the then bishop of Carlisle, appointed to the prebendal stall vacated by Fleming in 1727, and at the same time to the chancellorship in succession to Thomas Tullie, who had been both dean and chancellor, has left behind him traces of a habit of mind by no means likely to endure patiently the disuse or absence of a bell necessary to the completeness of the ring. No such terriers, for amount and exactness of information con­ cerning church goods, including the bells, which had never before been mentioned in terriers of Carlisle diocese, have ever been sent in to the episcopal registry at Carlisle as those required from the clergy and churchwardens by Chancellor 'Waugh (Old Church Plate in Cm,lisle Diocese, p. iv). No doubt, on becoming a member of the chapter and chancellor to boot, he considered it his duty to vi sit the cathedral belfry, and had much to tell the dean, when next they met, of what he had seen there. The ring "made six tuneable bells " in 1658 by the advice of the governor of the gan ison ; commonwealth officers, of all persons in the world, sharing the expense! It would never do for dean and chapter to care less for the condition of the cathedral bells than commonwealth officers. There must be a new second bell. This point settled, the chan­ cellor would relate the rest of his discoveries. They wondered who " Will Orbel L M " was; they laughed at the Latin on the tenor; they chuckled over the false quanti­ ties in the hexameter on "J\faria"; they imagined what tales she could tell were she able to speak. How thankful they were that they lived in days when Carlisle had seen its last siege, and the fray bell was no longer heard from the cathedral tower! Years roll on. They come and go, seventeen of them, and the eighteenth (1745) is following in their wake. Dean Fleming has become Bishop Fleming. His friend is still Chancellor 158 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

Chancellor Waugh. The governor of Carlisle Castle is Colonel Durand. Prince Charles Edward Stuart and his Highlanders cross the Border, and "false alarms becoming frequent in the town" Durand desired that the only signal for a general alarm might be the ringing the great bells in the cathedral; and the chancellor appointed two men to attend constantly for that purpose, and never to ring without orders.-(Mounsey's Carlisle in 1745, p. 74). They had soon to take their orders froni other quarter than either chancellor or governor; for on Monday, the 1Sth of November, Charles Edward made his entry into Carlisle seated on a white charger and preceded by not less than a hundred pipers.-(lb. p. 50). Tradition says that the peal of the cathedral bells on that occasion was the last ever rang. The story, universally believed, and still told to visitors to the cathedral, is that they were forthwith sentem.:ed to silence for a hundred years ; since the expiration of which period they have not been rung, it is supposed, for fear of injury to the tower. One would think they must have been rung when the city was recaptured by the duke of Cumberland. But, whether rung then or not, they then ran a risk of being doomed to an endless period of silence. Prebendary \Vilson, writing on the gth of January, 174~-, to Chancel­ lor Waugh, who was then in London, says:- A demand made by Major Belfour, in the Duke's name, of the bells of our Cathedral, as a perquisite to the train of the artillery, was a surprise to the members of the Chapter here, and very ill relished by them. Mr. Birkett, Mr. Head, and myself, waited on the Duke to desire his protection .... The answer given us was that the Duke would not interfere in it; that if it was a perquisite we could say nothing against it. The Chapter here wod be glad to have your sentiments in this affair.-(ivlounsey, p. 173). The chancellor's " sentiments in this affair" were on this w1se:- had heard of the demand of the bells, but would not believe it was so THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 159 so much in earnest: it surprises every person I have mentioned it to, and am fully persuaded that no law of this land, nor any military law, will justify Mr. Belfour's demand .... I dined this day with an old Lieut.-Gen. of great reputation (and others in that way of great consideration) who was out of patience at the mention of it.-(lb. p. 180). Under the influence of these "sentiments., the demand collapsed. Mr. Wilson, replying to the chancellor, says: Mr. Belfour has left the town without pressing the matter further ..• Scandalous, unprecedented, and illegal demand !-(lb. p. 181). Discussion on this matter, if instituted in Notes and Querie:., would probably elicit plenty of precedent for demand so astonishing to prebendaries, chancellor, and "old Lieut­ Gen. of great reputation". Likely enough church bells of many a captured town have been melted cown as " per­ quisite to artillery train". The duke seems to have thought it a matter of course. London Society of Ringers, at that time known as the "London Scholars", had they been aware of his royal highness's views on this subject, would have thought twice before "greeting the victorious Duke of Cumberland with a welcome home-peal on his return from the Scottish campaign" (Bell News, vol. ii. p. 66). \Vor~e still, they were-" allowed to call themselves tJ1e Royal Cumberland Youths, a medal, long in their possession, being struck as a trophy of the circumstance" (ibid). Cumberland Youths, of all names, so called after the would-be destroyer of Carlisle cathedral bells! But how is the tradition of the bells never having been rung since 1745 to be reconciled with the statement of one of them having been ·'cracked while ringing during the rejoicing for peace after the Battle of vVaterloo"? There may be no one now living who has any distinct recollection of having heard them on that occasion. But there should be persons still living who have heard them since, if the real facts of the case be as thus related in 1838 by Billings (p. 44) :- A 160 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

A few years back, from the supposition that the ringing of the bells shook the tower, it was resolved not to ring them any more. Small cords were then attached to the tongues (over pulleys) and conveyed through the groining to the floor of the tower, and one person can now comfortably make the whole give a faint sound. It was then that the bell alleged to have been cracked in 1815 was" removed to the back of the altar", to return .a few years later to the belfry, recast, as shown by inscription on the present fourth bell, at the Whitechapel foundry, by

C & G MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1845. It has now nearly reached the fortieth year of its renewed existence without ever having once been rung. vVhether it has ever been sounded by means of a cord tied to its clapper is not known. It is now subject to no such in­ dignity. For what reason, then, was it placed in the belfry, and what purpose does it now serve ? Its sole raiso1i d'etre at present is to supply the note A in the tune" St. David", played by the chimes'r. at noon and 4 P.M. But its date, exactly coinciding with the termination of the century for which the bells are traditionally believed to have been condemned to silence, looks as if the dean and chapter had intended to humour the tradition by having the ring in full swing again on the expiration of the hundredth year after the '45. Yet Billings, in 1838, writes as if he had never heard of the tradition. On the other hand, an old Cockennouth ringer has told Mr. W. C. Parker, captain of the St. Stephen's (Carlisle) ringers, that he well remembers having taken part in practising a peal at Cockermouth with a view to handling a rope in the expected ringing of the cathedral bells at the end of the hundred years. The ringing for the peace after Waterloo, Mr. Ferguson suggests, as there have been no wheels to the bells within living memory, and may have been

• The third note in "St. David '', for want of the higher F, is struck· on the treble (D). none THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 161 none in 1815, perhaps may have been an exceptional arrangement of cord and clapper work, very likely to crack one of the bells. Possibly the publication of this paper may elicit information from our venerable friend " the oldest inhabitant" which will clear up the mystery. The chimes, worked by the clock, the sound produced by hammers striking each bell on the sound-bow, have been shown to be an institution at least as old as the time of the commonwealth. But the commonwealth chimes were not the same as those now in use. Mr. Robert Wardale, curate of Stanwix, writing to Chancellor Waugh in April, 1747, says:- I think we have nothing new in Carlisle worth your hearing but the chimes, which began yesterday, the Duke's birthday, and go very well.-(Mounsey, p. 269). It is to be hoped it was only by accident, though it looks rather like deliberate choice, from the way in which Mr. Wardaie mentions it, that the new chimes "began on the Duke's birthday". The arrangement, described by Billings, whereby " one person can comfortably make the whole give a faint sound'', which must not be confounded with the chimes, has of late years been somewhat shorn of its original proportions, neither the Whitechapel bell nor the treble having now any cord attached to its clapper. Nor is the tongue of " Maria", though still retaining its cord, any longer wagged in this ignominious way, the usage of the " ser­ vice bell ", as she was formerly called when sounded whilst the clergy and choir were filing to their seats, having for some years been discontinued. The only bells now ever heard, except in connection with the clock and chimes, are N os. 2 (Fleming) and 3 (Orbell) for service, and the tenor for death knell, age or sex of deceased not indicated, The mode of ringing these three bells, however " comfortable " for the "one person " whose duty it is to pull the cords, is 162 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. is objectionable. No need to go far afield in search of warnings against it, cord and clapper having, only a few years ago, proved fatal to two church bells in Carlisle, and but a few months ago to the gaol bell. But what help is there for this if the ringing of the cathedral bells would endanger the tower? Perhaps it would do nothing of the kind. The way in which bells have been the cause of injury to towers is thus explained by Mr. Ellacombe :- In order to keep the cage steady, wedge after wedge would be driven between the timbers and the walls of the tower; and hence the irreparable damage done to many a beautiful building.-(Belfrics and Ringers, p. 34). Carlisle can furnish a case in point. St. Stephen's church was built in 1865 at the expense of Miss (now Baroness) Burdett Coutts, who also gave it a ring of eight bells; the cage of which has been made " steady " * after the manner described above, and already there is a crack in the tower. Mr. Ellacombe adds:- It is of the greatest consequence that the timbers should take their bearing independent of the masonry, i. e. not fixed into it.-(lb. p. 35). It is not only easy to avoid this mistake in Carlisle cathedral: it is difficult to make it, owing to the size of the belfry. The late archbishop of Canterbury, when dean of Carlisle, evidently anticipated no danger to the tower from the ringing of the bells. Appealing for funds for the restoration of the cathedral, he said :- The inhabitants of Carlisle will hardly wish to see their cathedral restored without having the bells put in thorough repair, which are said never to have been rung as a peal since 1745· This improve­ ment could, I understand, be made for a few hundred pounds.-(Cir­ rnlar, June 19, 1855). Dean Tait here writes as if he had taken professional

* Mr. \Varskitt, of the \Vhitechapel foundry, who hung the bells, says that this was nut dune by him. advice THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 163

advice upon the subject. It might be well if this matter were again taken into consideration ; and, if it should appear, after full inquiry, that the ringing of the bells would do no injury to the tower, there is doubtless public spirit enough in the present generation of" Gentree of the Countie and Citie" to emulate the good work clone by their forefathers in the days of the commonwealth. Nor should they be content with a ring of six, there being ample room in the belfry for a dozen or more; there should be at least eight.* The completion of the octave would not greatly increase the expense of " having the bells put in thorough repair", provided the addition were made at the treble end of the ring, in which case foe present treble in D, which weighs about s± cwt., might be recast as F, whilst two new bells, of about St and 6i cwt., would be required for E and D. The following table, in which an asterisk denotes a new bell, whether cast from old or new metal, will enable the reader better to uncferstand the successive changes which have occurred in the belfry, as well as the change now proposed:-

------1401 1608 Note Cwt.1· 1657-9 i 1728 I 1845 Note Cwt. ' /Notei Cwt./ ------___1______,

I I l':' F st ( 2:. DE 5J l'' I l l D 5} 3 6;l ~~ ~~ ~' ~~ ;':' II ;,;, ' : ; I Orbell ·I I>:: B,. 9~ r':' I 2 A7 4* 4 I 4':' A 13 6 A 13 Maria z':' I 3 G 17 5 5 5 G 17 7 G 17 I I i 3':' 14 F 6~' ! 6 16 F 21~- 8 F ' 21~ i 4':' i 5 E7 I I I I

*Hutchinson (ii., 658) mentions the cathedral as having in his time (17\14) "a ring of eight bells". Clearly a mistake. It 164 THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.

It is here assumed that the condition of the bells is such that none of them need to be recast. Possibly an expert might-I do not know that he would--suggest the recast­ ing of them all. But to such a proposal the local anti­ quarian society, and a good many other persons, would no doubt strongly object, preferring to allow them to remain as they are rather than to relegate "Maria" to the furnace. Let us hope that wh oever may be called in as professional adviser in this matter may prove equal to chvelling together in unity with archreologi sts, and refr ain from !'uggesting anything likely to impair the historical interest of bells associated with honoured names of \Villielmus de Strick­ land, Orbell L. M., Jeremy T olhurst, and Fleming D. D. Decanus.

NOTE. (Ante, p. 141).

We scarce had won the Staneshaw bank When a' the Carlisle bells were rung. Among the bells which were rung on the occasion of the rescue of Kinmont Willie in 1596 by the bold Buccleugh, when "the castle bells rang out " and "those of the cathedral and Moot Hall answered them ", were two, besides the cat hedral " Maria " , which have been described by Messrs. F erguson and Nanson in these pages (ante, vol. vii, pp. 237-244), viz., the "Old Market Bell", dated 1584, and the "Muckle Toun Bell o' Carlisle " , which bears the name of its donor, "Radulphus Comes de \Vestmorland ", who died in 1421. The market bell has the following inscnption, in Roman capitals :-

I - S - MAIORE : T - V - I - S - BA : 1584.

I - I

The initials IS, TV, and IS, are those of the" mayor and bailiffs". The initials I · I below are doubtless those of the bellfounder, whom we have not been able to identify. Nor have we yet succeeded in identifying THE BELLS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. 165 identifying the founder of the " muckle toun bell". We here en­ grave his initial cross and one of his letters, in the hope that they

may come under the notice of some campanologist who may be able to inform us to what foundry they belonged. ( 505)

ART. XLI.-Church Bells in Cumberland Ward, No. I. By Rev. H. WHITEHEAD. Communicated at Carlisle, JHly 23, 1885. 'flHE county of Cumberland was anciently divided into wards, so called from " the watching and warding that were necessary against the neighbouring incursions"; they were originally "five in number, viz: Allerdale ward above Derwent, Allerdale ward beluw Derwent, Cumber­ land ward, Leath ward, and Eskdale ward " (Burn and Nicolson, I I. 3). But " in r833 a new ward, that of Derwent, containing portions of the two Allerdales, was formed " ; and "in 1857 the ward of Allerdale above Derwent was still further curtailed, and a new division formed from it, viz: the Bootle division " (Whellan, p. 57). In these papers on church bells the old landmarks are adhered to, as there is no knowing to what further re­ arrangements the wards may be subjected. The bells of the parishes which formerly constituted Eskdale ward have already been described (ante, VI, 417- 443, and VII, 221-236). The following paper begins an account of .the bells in the parishes of the old Cumberland ward.

AIKTON. St Andrew's church, Aikton, which Browne Willis (I. 286) calls St. Michael's, is "a very ancient structure, the original architectural features of which are almost entirely gone, in consequence of the numerous alterations which succeeding ages have rendered necessary" (Whellan, p. 199). It was last restored, by public subscription, in 1869 lGatesF;ill Chronicle, March, 1884). It 506 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

It has two bells, which hang in a double cot on the west gable of the nave:-

Note Diameter cwt. qr. lb.

---·

Treble G 16t inches I 0 7 Tenor F 20& inches 2 0 14

Here, and throughout these papers, except where it is stated that information has been supplied by the founder, the weight of each bell is approximately estimated from its diameter at mouth. The treble has round its shoulder, in Lombardic letters, not grouped into words, with floriated initial cross, the following inscription :- ffi AN D R E A S I R I S T I FA M U LU S. The Rev. W. F. Gillbanks, rector of Great Orton, to whom I am indebted for the particulars of the Aikton bells, re­ ferring to the eighth letter in this inscription, which he reports as" undoubtedly an ornamented I", says: "Such an aggressive misspelling is curious to the unlearned". This letter, in the rubbing which he has sent me, is cer-

tainly I ; due, doubtless, to carelessness on the part of the founder, who must have meant it to be K. We may therefore read the inscription thus : + ANDREAS KRISTI FAMULUS CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WAKD. 507

FAMULUS. The cross and lettering are the same as on two bells at Burgh by Sands, which will be described in their place. One of the letters (M) and the cross are here engraved, full size, as affording a possible clue to identifi. cation of the founder. In the midland and southern counties, owing to the researches of Ellacombe, North, Lukis, Raven, Tyssen, L'Estrange, Stahlschmidt, and others, much has been done towards identifying the founders of medireval bells. But the works and illustra­ tions of these writers do not help us to discover the founders of ancient Cumberland bells. Dr. Raven, in a letter to me, says:-

Everything has to be done for northern campanology; and I suspect some local founders, probably at Carlisle, will turn up.

At present we have no knowledge of any Carlisle bell founders earlier than GEOR LEES AND EDMVND WRIGHT, who in 1608 cast the present third bell of Carlisle cathedral (ante, VIII., 142). Nor do we yet know the names of any founders who before the Reformation cast bells for Cum­ berland, except IOHANNES DE KVRKAM, who at some unknown early period cast the present second bell for Dacre, and IHON Tol{NOR, who cast the Greystoke tenor in or soon after 1525. But in parts of the county more remote from the border than " Eskdale" and " Cumber­ land" wards, and throughout Westmorland, there are still remaining many medireval bells, examination of which may further the work desired by Dr. Raven to be done for northern campanology. That the Aikton treble has survived the " numerous alterations" which have been " rendered necessary" for the destruction of almost all the original features of the church is a piece of great good luck, especially as it must have been already cracked at the time (1869) of the last restoration. "It had long been disused", says Mr. Gil- banks, 508 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. banks, "having a crack right through its head, whereby its note (G) is out of tone". The present rector, the Rev. G. E. Hasell, says:" It was formerly hung in wood, and no one had ever heard it rung until we had it rehung in iron and rung for the first time on St. Andrew's Day, 1879 ". The right thing to do with it, if it should ever be thought necessary to put a sound bell in its place, will be to hang it in the porch, where for ages to come it may be regarded with the respect due to its centuries of service to the parishioners. The tenor is described by Mr. Gilbanks as "long, ugly, and blank". He has " not seen one like it before". It is, if modern, the work of some inexperienced local smith ; but, on the other hand, a bell of this description may be very ancient. Of course, the treble being disabled, the tenor does all the work. Its functions, in addition to ringing for service and tolling before a funeral, are: (r) death knell, but without indicating sex or age; (2) after-burial bell; (3) after-service bell on Sunday mornings ; and (4) sacrament bell; rung immediately after the non-communicants have left the church. The death knell, sometimes erroneously called the" passing bell", is exceptional in this county, especially in parishes near the border; there are but four instances of its use in Eskdale ward (ante, vol. vii, 235). The after burial bell, a usage nearly obsolete in most counties, and observed in only one parish of Eskdale ward, viz, Castle Carrock (ante, vii, 423), but not uncommon in some parts of Cumberland, is in accordance with the 67th Canon, which orders " one short peal after the burial ". I used to think that with only one bell this injunction could not be obeyed (ib, p. 42b); but Mr. Ellacombe allows the term "peal" to be applicable to the ringing or chiming of a single bell. The after-service bell on Sunday mornings, now rung in very few places, is " probably a survival of the CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WRAD. 509 the 'knolling of the Aves', mentioned in the Injunctions of 1548 as being sounded after the service, and at certain other times", and ordered to be " thenceforth left and omitted" (North's Bedfordshire Bells, p. 93). The sacra­ ment bell, in Cumberland, as far as I yet know, is peculiar to Aikton.

BEAUMONT WITH KIRKANDREWS-ON-EDEN.

St. Mary's church, Beaumont," occupies the site of one of the mile castles on the Roman Wall, which was after­ wards made into a Saxon or Danish camp. From the churchyard no less than nine churches can be seen, and the view around well justifies the Norman name of the Beaumont, the fair hill, which we have now corrupted into Beemunt" (R .S .F). The corruption is of long standing. It is at least as old as Edward VI's Inventory of Church Goods, which has the following entry:-

B d J ltm one silvr chales ij vestem emon l litill belles ij candilstiks of br

The MS., part of which is torn off (ante, viii, 93), probably ran thus: "ij litill belles". The terrier of 1749 and all sub­ sequent terriers mention but" one bell". There is still only one; which is 22 inches in diameter, weight about 2t cwt. The Rev. R. S. Green, vicar of Cross Canonby, and Mr. W. C. Parker, who have examined this bell, describe it as having its crown shaped like a policeman's helmet, and a metal loop, as if for suspension, surmounting its canons; no date or inscription of any kind.

The shape of its crown, as will appear later on, suggests that it was probably cast at Carlisle, and m the second decade of the present century. The 510 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

The late curate, the Rev. J. Tyson, now vicar of Enner­ dale, informs me that the death knell is here understood as a general invitation for some one out of every house to attend the funeral; and as a rule they do attend. It is not rung, however, for persons belonging to Kirkandrews, which retains its ancient burial ground, though united to Beaumont for other ecclesiastical purposes. Bishop Nicol­ son, who was at Beaumont on June 29, 1703, says :-

The Parishioners desire that those of Kirk·Andrews may contribute to ye Repair of this Church; since they have none of their own, and come constantly hither. (Bp. N .'s Visitation, p. 17).

Proceeding the same day to Kirkandrews, and finding the church there " quite demolished ", he says:-

I have moved the parishioners here to a compliance with the men of Beaumont, rather than run the hazard of being put upon the Expense of Repairing their own Church. (ib., p. lg).

The Kirkandrews parishioners took the bishop's advice, and have kept to it ever since. But, whilst for nearly two centuries the people of Kirkandrews have resorted to Beaumont church, it is alleged that at some very remote time the parishioners of Beaumont had to resort to a church in Kirkandrews, but not the same as that mentioned by Bishop Nicolson as in his time "quite demolished". Hutchinson speaking of Kirkandrews, says (vol. II, p. 521) :-

In this parish there was formerly an old church, at a place called Kfrk-steads, about a mile south of the village of Kirkandrews. There is no account thereof, except a traditional one, which says that anciently the said church served the inhabitants of Kirkandrews, Beaumont, Grinsdale, and Orton, before any other churches were built at those places. . . . There is no account how long ago the said church fell or was taken down; but it must no doubt have been very long since, as the church built afterwards at Kirkandrews has now been in ruins a great number of years. Bishop CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD, SII

Bishop Nicolson, referring to Kirkandrews, says (Visitation, p. 18) :-

They have a tradition that the three little neighbouring churches (of this town, Beaumont and Grinsdale) were built by three sisters ; who I must say, were not too generous in subsisting their Chaplains. I rather think they have been (originally) small oratories, supplied by ye religious of Carlisle. The time when they superseded Kirksteads church for the three said parishes must indeed have been " very long since", seeing that Beaumont church is thought to have been " Nor man originally" (R. S. F). The bell here is rung at 8 a.m. on Sundays. The late Mr. T. North, speaking of "early Sunday peals", rung "in many parishes", says :-

In pre-Reformation times matins was said in all parish churches before breakfast as a preparation for mass. The ' first peal' was to call to matins, the 'second peal ' to tierce and mass. It is a curious proof how tenacious custom is in having continued the ringing of these bells for over three hundred years after the purposes they served were abrogated, and when few even think of, or inquire as to, the meaning of their sound. (Bedfordshire Bells, p. 90). He adds that " the two eariy peals have in many parishes merged into one" as, for instance, here at Beaumont.

BOWNESS ON SOLWAY. St. Michael's church, Bowness, seems to have been mutilated. Mr. R. S. Ferguson thinks it" has been loftier and more important than at present, and has been cut down; the parish perhaps havini; decayed in population and wealth". The present rector, the Rev. S. Medlicott, says it is " apparently the truncated end of a large chancel". The conjecture that the parish has decayed is supported by an anonymous manuscript in the British Museum, dated 1765, entitled "Dedications and Bells in the 512 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. the Diocese of Carlisle ", in which it is described as " Bownes R, M T ", the last two letters standing for "Market Town". It is no longer a market town, and and has not been within living memory. That the church is but a fragment of its former self is rendered probable by the circumstance of its having possessed in 1662 "two gret bells" (ante, viii, 193); which must have necessitated a tower. It has now, in a double cot on the west gable, two small bells, which Messrs. Greene and Parker report as Treble, diameter 18 inches, weight about r! cwt. Tenor, diameter 19 inches, weight about rt cwt. These we may identify with the bells described in the terriers of 1749 and 1777, which have the following entry:-

Two bells with their frames the lea~t thought to weigh about one hundred weight and the other a hundred and a half. This estimate of the weights, though not exactly in accord with the weights of the present bells, is near enough for purpose of identification, terrier weights being seldom accurate. The treble has no inscription but a date : 1616. The tenor is blank, but appears from its long waist to be the older of the pair. Its canons are broken off, and their stumps buried out of sight in the headstock, to which the bell is fastened by iron straps bolted through the crown. On this mode of suspension, which at first sight may seem dangerous, Mr. Lukis has the following remarks :-

It has been clearly demonstrated that a bell may be hung in this way with perfect security. I should say it was even more safe than the old way of suspending a bell by its canons. It has not unfrequently happened that in consequence of imperfect casting the canons have been broken off the crown, and the bell has fallen during ringing . . • It is impossible to test the canons previously; they may appear CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 513 appear sound outwardly, and be faulty within; whereas a wrought iron bolt can be carefully made and tested. There is also less danger of the crown of a bell being torn out by the bolt than of the canons breaking (Lukis on Bells, p. 26).

But it must not be taken for granted that the breaking of the canons of the Bowness tenor was due to imperfect casting. Tradition says that the parishioners of Bowness stole this bell from the church at Middlebie, near Eccle­ fechan; and they probably thought the easiest and quickest means of getting possession of it was by smashing the canons. The treble, however, which is traditionally be­ lieved to have been stolen from another Scotch church, Dornock, near Annan, retains its canons uninjured. The late minister of Dornock, the Rev. ] . Anderson, said in a letter:-

The tradition respecting Dornock church bell is much the same on this as on the other side of the Solway. During the last 39 years l have often heard old people speak of it as having been stolen by certain Englishmen, or, as sometimes designated, " Coomberland Scots" ; who, being chased, threw it into a pool of the Dornock burn, returning for it at some subsequent ebb tide. The pool to this day bears the name of the" Bell Pool". The stealing of church bells may seem characteristic of the Border. But this feat of " Coomberland Scots " is thrown into the shade by that of the men who "one night broke into Horning church, Norfolk, and stole five bells" ; one of which, by the way, like the Dornock bell, had to pass some time under water, as it "fell into the river", but with a different sequel, for " the thieves considerately wrote to the churchwardens, informing them of the exact spot " (L'Estrange's Norfolk Bells, p. 149). They could afford to act in this considerate way, having still four bells to melt down, whereas the Bowness men, unless they re­ turned to fish up their bell, would lose their all, and wanted it, too, for no such secular object as melting it down, 514 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. down, but for a religious purpose. Nor were they likely to be deterred by any considerations whatever from the accomplishment of their purpose if it be true, as the story goes, that their raids into Scotland were " in reprisal for other and better bells taken by the Scotch from Bowness ". The story finds support from circumstantial evidence. The earliest existing register book at Rocliffe, a parish adjacent to Bowness, has an entry, dated 1679, stating that there had been no register at Rocliffe "for many years, being taken away with other utensils of the church by Scottes armyes and last of all by Ld. Duke Hamilton in the year 1648". We can easily believe that" Ld Duke Hamilton" and his "Scottes armyes" took away the Bowness bells, because we happen to know that they were well worth taking; for in all Cumberland there were only eight churches which Edward VI's commissioners reported as possessing bells which they called "gret ". It is unlikely then that the Scotch army, which in r648 took away the "utensils" of Rocliff church, would omit to secure so valuable-and on the Border so rare-a prize as the " two gret bells" of the neighbouring church at Bowness. Bishop Nicolson, in 1703, called even "two small bells", which he saw at Kirklin ton, "a rarity on the Borders" (Bp. N ., p. 107). What sort or number of bells he found at Bowness, which he visited on July z, 1703, he does not say, though he particularly noticed their frame :- The Bells hang in a Stone Frame of an extraordinary Figure and Construction; but want ropes (ib., p. 21). No doubt he saw there the two Scotch bells. The existence of" two gret bells" in 1552, it may be remarked, so far confirms the local tradition as to establish the fact that Bowness church once had not only "other" but "better" bells than those which were procured for it by the raid into Scotland ; and we have seen that the reason alleged for that raid, viz., that it was "in reprisal " for Bowness CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 515

Bowness bells carried off by the Scotch, derives support from the known proceedings of " Scottes armyes" in 1648. It only remains to assign a probable date for such "reprisal". Mr. Anderson suggested that the Dornock bell may have been stolen in the unsettled interval between the deprivation of Mr. Alexander Rinnie at the Revolution and the return from Holland of Mr. Alexander Crawford, who had been ejected at the R~storation.

But, assuming the correctness of the conjecture that Bow­ ness church was robbed of its bells by the Scotch army in 1648, I rather incline to believe that the "reprisal " took place in 1650, the year of Cromwell's victory over the Scotch at Dunbar.

There is a legend at Stobbs, near Hawick, that the bell. of the church there was stolen by a Cromwellian soldier, who brought it to Stanwix (ante, VII, 236). Cromwellian soldiers, if they did not themselves undertake the reprisals desired by the parishioners of Bowness, must at least have brought about a state of things which ren­ dered such reprisals easy of execution. Of late years, the treble having long been without a clapper, all the ringinR at Bowness has been done by the tenor. Its " peculiar· uses " are: (1) death-knell, without indication of sex, or of age, except that fewer strokes are given for a young person than for an adult; (2) after-burial bell, when the mourners are leaving the churchyard; and (3) early Sunday bell, at 8 and 9 a.m., for explanation of which see ante (p. 511).

BURGH BY SANDS. The church at Burgh by Sands, dedicated to St. Michael, stands on the site of one of the stations " per lineam valli "; whether Gabrosentis, Alexodunum, Alionis, or Olenacum, antiquaries 5r6 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. antiquaries are not agreed (ante, III, 84). The south-east ang-le of the churchyard nearly coincides with the south­ east angle of the station (Maclauchlan's Survey of the Roman Wall, p. 82) ; of stones taken from which and from the vallum the church is largely composed (Bruce's Roman Wall, 3rd ed., p. 297). It is one of the most remarkable of the fortified border churches, the walls of its western tower being nearly seven feet thick. It had formerly also an eastern tower, " half-demolished " when seen by Bishop Nicolson (Visitation, p. ro). To the western tower there is no entrance but a small iron door, opening to the nave, 6ft. 8in. high, formerly boarded over with oak planks, which have " become decayed ; but the strong iron skeleton would still defy any ordinary efforts to force a passage " (ante, II, 48). Nor are there any windows, except two little loopholes, to its ground-floor chamber, which being vaulted would be secure against fire, and in the event of the door bein!{ forced and the lower storey carried the newel staircase could still be strongly barricaded; thus, as it would only admit of one person ascending it at a time, a stout resistance could be made, whilst the bells would be rung to give an alarm and call to the rescue any succour that might be at hand (ib).

Two of the bells which long discharged this once neces­ sary function are still in the tower, their long waists and mediaeval inscriptions attesting their antiquity. From the way in which they hang from the beams, beneath which is no floor or platform above the vaulted roof of the basement they are difficult of access, at all events for the purpose of taking casts of their inscriptions ; but the difficulty has been overcome by Messrs. Parker and Ormerod, who report them as Treble, diameter 2r inches, weight about zt cwt. Tenor, diameter 24 inches, weight about 3 cwt. If, as will presently appear probable, there were ever more than CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 517 than two bells here, it must have been at some time before 1749, the terrier for which year, the earliest which men­ tions the church goods, has this item :-

Two good bells the less thought to weigh. The writer of this terrier, the Rev. Thos. Ismay, vicar from 1739 to 1786, was right in praising the bells, which are certainly good, and perhaps right in checking himself when on the point of guessing at their weights, as the terriers in this diocese exhibit some very haphazard guesses at the weights of the church bells. Bishop Nicolson, who was here on June 29, 1703, though he mentions the bells, does not state their number, but merely says:-

The bells hang in a good square steeple at the west end (Bp. N ., p. 14). Edward Vl's inventory, in the part relating to Burgh, is in a provokingly mutilated condition (ante, VIII, 193). But, as the bells still remaining in the tower must have been there long before the inventory was taken, we cannot err in regarding them as having been among the now missing items, which are here restored in italics:-

Churche of { Imprimis Two sylver chalesses Burghe by sands Item iiij vestemrnts belles The reader will think I might safely have ventured to write " ij belles ", and perhaps will be right in thinking so, since the time when there were more than two, if such was ever the case, may be very remote. The reason for supposing that at some time or other there must have been at least a third bell is the discovery some years ago of a fragment of a bell lying six feet underground in the churchyard. This fragment has ever since lain in the vicarage garden, until recently brought to Carlisle to be examined by experts, who report that it is a piece of a bell which must have been about 26 inches in diameter at the mouth, and of similar shape to the pair still extant. The 518 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

The tenor has round its shoulder, in Lombardic letters, with a floriated initial cross, and no intervening stops, the Vulgate version of the angelic salutation:-

ffiAVEMARIAGRACIAPLENA. The cross and lettering, as before mentioned, are identical with those on the Aikton treble; for illustration of which (letter M and cross) see ante, p 506. Further illustration, an engraving of the word AVE, is here subjoined. The spacing of the letters in the inscription, which runs quite

round the shoulder of the bell, is irregular; but, as at Aikton, where also the inscription runs quite round, there is nothing, except the cross, to indicate where a word begins or ends. The legend on the treble is addressed to the patron saint of the church:-

~BATE MICA EL I ES ARC A AUN G LIS.

Spelling and grammar, correct on the tenor, run wild on the treble. The founder, no doubt, familiar with the angelic salutation, which is of frequent occurrence on ancient church bells, was evidently in great difficulty as to the name and designation of the patron saint. The letters, identical in character with those on the tenor, but placed nearer together-the bell being smaller and the inscription longer- CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 519 longer -have the same peculiarity of not being grouped into words. The cross is the same as on the tenor. \Vhere and by whom these bells and the Aikton treble were cast we have at present no means of knowing. The cross and lettering which they bear are unlike anything hitherto found in campanological books. Such books, however, have as yet dealt only with the midland and southern counties, and give no information about northern founders. Mr. Stahlschmidt, who has seen the rubbings of the Burgh inscriptions, writes:-

These two bells go far to prove that north and south differ very much as to their bells. For northern campanology, as Dr. Raven says, everything has to be done (ante, p 506). It is difficult, then, to assign a date to these bells; but, doubtless, they are very ancient. The late .Mr. T. North, to whom tracings of their inscriptions were sent a year or so before his death, said :-

They certainly shew signs of great antiquity, and I think that the bells on which they appear may have survived from the XIVth if not from the Xlllth century.

Mr. Stahlschmidt, in reference to the letters not being grouped into words, and to the epithet BATE applied to St. Michael, says :-

I should think that the absence of either stop or space between words would probably be indicative of earlier date than either stops or spaces. Also the use of BEATE instead of SANCTE indicates a decidedly early date. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong in assuming these bells and the Aikton treble to be the oldest inscribed bells in the county. The Burgh bells are doubtless at least as old as the tower in which they hang ; which Lysons says "was probably built in the reign of King Edward I" (Hist. Cumberland, 520 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

Cumberland, p. cxcii); but Mr. J. A. Cory thinks " it may be of rather later date" (ante, II, so). The eastern tower, however, if older than the western, may have originally contained the bells; one of which may h;lve been tolled as the passing bell for Edward I, who died at Burgh by Sands, on July 7, 1307. The death knell, if wanted, is tolled on the tenor ; formerly it was tolled on the tenor for males, and on the treble for females. There is here the usage of the after­ burial bell.

CARLISLE CATHEDRAL. For a full account of the cathedral bells the reader is referred to a previous paper in these Transactions (VIII, 135-165). But I take this opportunity to correct a mistake and two missprints in that paper, also to supply additional evidence that the Langshaws, by whom the ring was " made six tuneable bells" in 1658, had their foundry at Carlisle. The mistake is in the statement (p 145) that no wonder Adam Robinson, after walking before King Ja mes in 1617, gave the following order, the first of its kind in the corporation books: "1617, Nov. 5; To the ringers at Mr. Maior command, ij• vjd", Adam Robinson was mayor in 16r7, but went out of office on " Monday first after ye feaste of St. Michael'', which at that time was the day for electing the mayor (p 151). Still it is " no wonder'' that after King J ames's visit to Carlisle, in August, 1617, the new mayor in November gave the above mentioned order. The missprints are: (1) bell cast by Lees and Wright described in page 142, line 13, as " No. 2 " instead of No. 3; and (2) date of surrender of Carlisle to Cromwell stated, in the last line of page 149, as " 1646 " instead of 1648. The CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 5~1I

The additional evidence concerning the Langshaws' foundry is communicated by Mr. R. S. Ferguson, who has copied the following items from Kirkby Stephen church­ wardens' accounts:-

1658, Paid to William and John Langshaw for mettle and casting the second and third Bells . 61 oo oo Paid to Matthew Bell for carrying downe the Bell mettle to Carlisle and bringing up ye Bells . 03 06 08 The Langshaws may have been the successors of Lees and Wright; on which point, however, nothing has yet been ascertained. A church newspaper, in its report of the Congress week at Carlisle, had the following paragraph:-

Sunday in Carlisle is very quiet; it catches a little of the tor.e of the other side of the Border. I heard a solitary bell at 8-15 . . . At 10-45 it seemed most singular to hear no bells anywhere. I could hear none till just close on eleven. \Vhen they did begin, the reason of the silence was almost explained ; the drone of St. Mary's bell, the jingle of St. Cuthbert's, the jingle of the two bells at the cathedral, all close together, produced discords which must be trying to those whom use has not deadened to their infliction. At 8 a.m. a tune chimes from the tower of the cathedral, most excruciating in its intervals. (Church Bells, Oct. I 1, 1884).

The two bells (Nos. z and 3) sounded for service at the cathedral, weighing 7! and g! cwt, if rung by wheels, would not be open to the reproach of producing what the reporter calls a "jingle". But, as there is not a single wheel in the tower, the only method, apart from the clock and chimes, whereby any one of the bells is ever sounded, is by means of a cord attached to its clapper. The chiming apparatus is no doubt old-fashioned, perhaps identical with that put up in 1747, and therefore not unnaturally limps in its "intervals ". Moreover, for want of the higher F, it labours under the disadvantage of having to strike the third note of " St. David" on the treble (D); which itself IS 522 CHURCH BELLS lN CUMBERLAND WARD. is somewhat out of harmony with the other bells. But all these defects admit of being remedied ; the present treble could be recast, two additional trebles supplied, and a new chiming apparatus procured. Meanwhile I recom­ mend suspense of judgment on the cathedral bells until they shall again have been heard in peal.

CARLISLE, ST. MARY'S. St. Mary's parish church, whilst under the same roof as the cathedral, had no need of a separate bell. But when the parishioners were provided with a church of their own, outside of the cathedral, they procured a bell from the Whitechapel foundry. The position and structure of the turret in which it hangs render access to it exceedingly difficult. But the proprietors of the foundry have supplied the following particulars :- . Hemispherical bell: weight 7cwt. oqr. 2olbs ; diameter 3ft. 4in.; note about A; hung 1869. In r869 the Whitechapel firm was" Mears and Stainbank ": which names are probably inscribed on the bell. Never having heard this bell I do not undertake to decide whether its note has been correctly described as a " drone " ; which, however, may possibly not be an inappropriate term to apply to the sound produced by the ~troke of a hammer on a hemispherical bell. At "a convention of the Institute of British Architects in 1857, when the question of the practical llecessity of the bell­ shape was discussed, and the desirability of establishing gongs, large metal hemispheres, &c ", it was shewn that "they were all, as compared with a true bell, deficient in the penetrating quality which affords the main reason for the employment of bells" (Newcastle Cottrant, May ro, 1883). Messrs. Warner, of the Crescent foundry,Cripple­ gate, in their "Bell Catalogue" (p. 15), speaking of hemispherical bells, say:- Large CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 523

Large bells of this form are frequently used for cemetery purposes, as they give a full tone at short distances; and in small sizes as clock bells. But the quality of the tone is inferior to that of bells of the ordinary shape. Mears and Stainbank, of course, had to supply what was ordered. But, had they been consulted on the subject, they might not have recommended a bell of this kind.

CARLISLE, ST. CUTHBERT'S. The earliest extant mention of a bell at St. Cuthbert's is in the Carlisle corporation accounts :- 1651, Pd for mending ye bell at St. Cuthbert's, oo rn oo. The date explains the appearance of ;!n entry of this kinci in the municipal accounts. It was the time of the Com­ monwealth, when the ordering and payment of repairs at St. Cuthbert's church and the cathedral devolved upon the mayor and corporation. The terrier of 1749 mentions ''two bells their weight not known''. Hutchinson, writing in 1794, says:-

St. Cuthbert's church . . rebuilt in r778 . . has a square steeple or tower, but so confined as not to admit of a ring of bells; so that the parishioners are called together to their devotion by the weak tinklings of the old bell, which was not exchanged for one of a louder tone (Hist. Cmnb., II, 658). At what time the other bell of 1749 disappeared there is nothing to show. Hutchinson seems to imply that it was gone before l7J8. The terrier of 1777, which might have shewn whether such was the case, has no inventory of church goods. There is extant, among the Sebergham parish papers, a letter, dated Feb. 24, 1826, from Messrs. T. Burgess and Co., bellfounders, of Carlisle, to the Rev. ]. Heysham, then perpetual curate of Sebergham, which says:- St. Cuthbert's bell is 32~ inches diam. and we are informed it weighs 700 lbs. This 524 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

This does not look like the 'weak tinkler' of Hutchinson's time; which, perhaps, after 1794, was "exchanged for one of a louder tone ''. The terrier of 1878 has this item :- One Bell in the tower recast in 1876. It is 32! inches diameter; weight, according to founders' invoice, 6 cwt. 3 qrs. 12 lbs; and inscribed:-

MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON 1876. Robert Stain bank was in 1876 sole proprietor of the White­ chapel foundry, his former partner, G. Mears, having died in 1873. Mr. Stain bank died in January, 1883. The business, however, is still carried on under the names of " Mears and Stain bank". The reason why the bell had to be recast in 1876 was because it had been cracked through being sounded by a cord tied to its clapper. Perhaps the bell-rope was hitched round the clapper, a mode of ringing called "clocking ", which has cracked many a good bell. The present bell, when I saw it, some three or four years ago, was sounded by a cord, but not the bellrope, attached to the clapper, and passing over a pulley; which is an improvement upon "clocking", but quite unnecessary at St. Cuthbert's, where the bell is prcwided with a wheel. If the same method of ringing now continues, the wheel still remaining unused, no wonder the correspondent of " Church Bells " spoke of the "jingle of St. Cuthbert's"; a term which ought to be inapplicable to a bell weighing nearly 7 cwt, if run5 by a wheel. CARLISLE, ST. STEPHEN'S. Thus far we have found no cause for surprise in the " Church Bells" commissioner's report of his experience of Sunday at Carlisle. But we have now to ask : How came he to miss hearing the bells of St. Stephen's? St. Stephen's CHURCH BELLS iN CUMBERLAND WARD. 525

St. Stephen's church was built at the sole expence of Miss (now Baroness) Burdett Coutts, who also gave it a ring of eight bells:-

I No. Note Diameter cwt. qr. lbs.

I F zft. 3tin. 4 3 5 2 E zft. 4lin. 5 0 9 3 D 2ft. 6lin. 5 2 19 4 c zft. 8!in. 6 l II 5 B2 zft. ro!in. 7 ( 13 6 A 3ft. o!in. 8 0 II 7 G 3ft. 3tm. JO 0 13 8 F 3ft. 6 in. I 14 2 26 The diameters and weights have been supplied from the foundry. A verse of Scripture (Rev. vii, 12) is thus distributed over the whole ring :- (1) BLESSING, (2) GLORY, (3) WISDOM, (4) THANKSGIVING, (5) HONOUR, (6) POWER, (7) MIGHT, (8) UNTO GOD FOR EVER AND EVER AMEN HALLELUJAH. On each bell is also inscribed:- MEARS & CO LONDON 1864 .. This means George Mears, who was sole proprietor of the Whitechapel foundry from 1861 to 1865. These bells were first rung the day the church was opened, May 31, 1865. A newspaper report of the event says:- The peal of eight bells is a great acquisition to the town, and the citizens might be seen standing in groups at various points, enjoying the unaccustomed music of their chimes (Carlisle Patriot, June 3, 1865). Unaccustomed music to Carlisle ears, certainly, if the tradition be true that the cathedral bells have not been rung 526 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. rung since 1745; and no wonder the citizens enjoyed it, seeing that the peal, 5040 changes of Grandsire Triples, was rung by a band of the "College Youths", the oldest existing society of London ringers. To this society belongs the honour of having rung, at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, in 1724, the first peal on eleven bells. Two years later, " under the superintendence of their celebrated leader Mr. Benjamin Annable", they rang at the same church the first peal of twelve. In those days the ringers were often men in high position. It was very commonly reported by the old ringers that every one who rang in this last-mentioned peal left the church in his own carriage; and also that when St. Bride's bells were first set up, before 1720, and for some years afterwards, Fleet Street was thronged with the carriages of gentry, who came from far and near to listen to the ringing (Ellacombe's D~vonshire Bells, p. 233). Hence, says a writer in the " Bell News" (vol. II, p. 23), the well-known nursery rhyme :-

Gay go up, and gay go down, To ring the bells of London town. The men who, on May 31, 1865, came down to ring the bells of Carlisle town, may not have been of such high position as Mr. Annable and his band; but they were as worthy of the renowned society to which they belonged. No such peal has since been heard in Cumberland. Of late years, however, some good work has been done at St. Stephen's. At first there were great difficulties. The present captain, Mr. W. C. Parker, in answer to inquiry on the subject, says:-

Some months previous to the opening of the church a set of 12 hand. bells came for the purpose of the ringers learning change-ringing, and two sets of ringers practised for a month or two Plain Bob on 8 bells. But it was never rung on the big bells, the reason being that some got tired of learning to pull the big bells, and some left the town. About three years after the opening the ringers struck for pay CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 527

pay; the churchwardens could not comply with their dema.nds; so they turned out. I then took the matter in hand, and got together a new set of ringers, when some of the old ones rejoined. I got the assistance of an old Kendal ringer, David Harding, who is still with us. \Ve commenced as voluntary ringers, and D. Harding taught us to ring Grandsire Triples on seven bells with the tenor coYering, in which we have succeeded in ringing various touches of different lengths. These changes are rung before morning and evening service every Sunday, also for practice. Our peals for weddings, &c., are sharp merry rounds, and shooting or firing the bells, i.e., every bell pulled at the same time as the tenor. It sounds like a cannon firing. vVe generally ring also a small set of changes, and a few shots to end with. The death knell, for a person belonging to the parish, is tolled on the tenor, followed by 9 quick strokes for a man, 6 for a woman, and 3 for a child. The same usage for death knell is observed at most of the Carlisle churches.

Referring to the hand-bells, he says:~

We increased their number from IZ to ro, and afterwards to :z5, i.e., two octaves chromatic scale. They have proved to be not only use­ ful to the ringers as a means of instruction, but also a source of amusement to many other persons. We often ring at concerts for charitable purposes and at social tea parties.

Mr. Troyte, the well-known writer on " Change Ringing", says (3rd ed., p. r9), speaking of handbells :---

The use of them is quite indispensable, and all methods should be thoroughly learnt on them, before they are attempted in the steeple.

The St. Stephen's ringers are, undoubtedly, at the present time, the best in the county. The late curate of St. Stephen's, the Rev. R. S. Greene, now vicar of Cross Canonby, whilst at St. Stephen's, was one of the ringers, havin~ learnt the art from Mr. Parker· He will find his experience valuable, both to himself and his parish, should he ever become the vicar of a church which has a good ring of bells. Mr. Greene and Mr. Parker have not restricted their interest in bells to the nngrng of them, but have scaled towers 528 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. towers and gables in search of ancient bell inscriptions. To Mr. Parker, in particular, we owe the recognition of Ralph Neville, the first earl of Westmorland, as the donor of the bell which, whatever its original use, novv· hangs in the turret of Carlisle town hall (ante, VII, 240). I noticed, when visiting St. Stephen's belfry, that, in order to make tbe cage steady, wedges have been driven between the timber and the tower walls. Mr. Ellacombe, in his earlier books, strongly condemned this practice, as likely to be injurious to the tower; but, in his later writings, he has somewhat modified his opinion on this point. I must beware, then, of falling into the fallacy known as that of post hoe propter hoe. Still I may mention that at St. Stephen's, where wedges have been used to steady the bellframe, there is already a crack in one of the walls of the tower. I must also mention that the wedges were not introduced by Mr. Warskitt, of the Whitechapel foundry, who hung the bells.

CARLISLE, CHRIST CHURCH. This church, the first stone of which was laid on Sep­ tember 28, 1828, was consecrated in September, 1830. It has one bell, 25t inches diameter, weight about 3t cwt., inscribed :-

BURGESS & HAYTON CARLISLE A D 1830. Mr. Parker, describing this bell, says that "its crown is shaped like a policeman's helmet". There are several bells in the county, some blank, e.g. the bell at Beaumont, others bearing only a elate within the period 1826-9, e.g. the gaol bell, dated 1827, which have crowns of this shape, and were doubtless cast at Carlisle by " Burgess & Co " ; but it seems that not until Hayton became "Co" to Burgess, in 1829-30, did the firm put their names on any of their bells. Their foundry was known as the " Cockpit Smithy", CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERAND WARD. 529

Smithy ", so called from the business being carried on in the old cockpit, which stood in Lowther Street. Mr. Fisher, of Bank Street, has a model of it, and also a painting, on the frame of which is inscribed:-

Carlisle Cock Pit, erected 1785 by the Duke of Norfolk and Sir James Lowther. Cockfighting, which appears from the police reports to be not even now extinct in Cumberland, formerly prevailed here to a great extent, and had some curiously incongruous associations; a record of which might well find a place in these Transactions. The Christchurch bell is reported as "sounded by .1 cord passing over a pulley, and tied to the clapper, though fitted with a wheel and could be rung" ; on which practice see remarks under the heading of St. Cuthbert's. The risk of a crack is, as I have said, much lessened by using a pulley. Yet cord and clapper, in spite of a pulley, have cracked the gaol bell.

CARLISLE, HOLY TRINITY. The building of Trinity church, like that of Christchurch, was begun on September 28, 1828, and completed in Sep­ tember, r830. Its original bell, a few years ago, like the gaol bell and the predecessor of the present St. Cuthbert'g bell, was cracked through being rung by a cord attached to its clapper. It has now a very fine bell, 42 inches in diameter, weighing about 14! cwt, and rung by a wheel. Inscription:-

J TAYLOR AND CO LOUGHBOROUGH. Mr. Parker reports that this bell "never had any canons, but is attached to headstock by four iron bolts, passing through crown of bell, and secured by nuts"; which arrangement is considered, on good authority, to be" even more 530 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLANU \\'ARl>. more safe than the old way of suspending a bell by its canons" (ante, p. 512). Messrs. Taylor, of Loughborough, the founders of" Great Paul", are the present representa­ tives of the ancient bellfoundtrs of Leicester. Their chief works for Cumberland are the rings of six at Bridekirk, Cleator Moor, and Great Salkeld, and the ring of eight, the heaviest in the county, at Silloth.

CARLISLE, ST. JOHN'S. St. John's church, consecrated on March 29th, 1867, has one bell, hung in a turret, and rung by a wheel; dia­ meter, 26 inches ; weight, according to founders' invoice, 310 lbs. It has no inscription. This was the "solitary bell at 8-rs" heard on Sunday, Oct. 11, 1884, by the "Church Bells" commissioner; whose opinion of it we should have been glad to know, as it is a steel bell. It was cast by Naylor, Vickers, and Co., of Sheffield.

CARLISLE, ST. JAMES'. This church, also, has a steel bell. I have no particu­ lars of it, but doubtless it was cast by Naylor and Vickers, and is probably of about the same dimensions as the St. John's bell. Mr. Ellacombe, writing in 1872, says:-·

I must not omit to notice steel bells, which have lately been manu­ factured by Messrs. Naylor, Vickers, and Co., of Sheffield. Their cost is about half the price of ordinary bell metal, and they can be cast to almost any size ; already they report one 7 feet 6 in. diameter (Devo11shi1'e Bells. supplement, p. 415).

They seem to be lighter, in proportion to diameter, than other bells. St. John's bell, for instance, diameter 26 inches, and weight 310 lbs., is lighter by about rt cwt than a White~hapel or Loughborough bell of the same diameter. Mr. \Villiam Andrews, of Hull, author of " Anecdotal History of Bells", says :- Not CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBEL{LAND WARD. 531

Not infrequently bells are made of steel, a material which gives them an advantage in the qualities of lightness, cheapness, and brilliancy of tone, but deprives them of the penetrating quality almost indispensable (Newcastle Courant, May ro, 1883). l\feo,srs. Vickers and Co., on the other hand, in their cata­ log1,1e (p. 3), say, comparing them with bronze, that," their vibrations being much more powerful, their sound penetrates to a greater distance ". The italics are not mine. Messrs. Vickers also say that " cast steel bells last longer than bronze " (ib). Well, a good many bronze bells, still extant ii\ Cum~erland and elsewhere, have already lasted some five or six hundred years.

CARLISLE. ST. PAUL'S. Campanologists say that " not until we find church b.ells does the tower appear more than the merest stunted lan­ tern" \Newcastle Courant, May 3, 1883). Must we, then, in accordance with this dictum, say that, finding no bell at St. Paul's, we therefore find no tower? Be that as it may, let us hope that the parishioners, when they do get a bell, may procure a good one, and have it rung by a wheel. ART. XVIII.-Clmrch Bells in C11.mberla11d IV1ml, No. IT. Hy Rev. H. WHrTEHEAD. Commm1£cated a.t Kendal, Sept. 8, 1886. r11H E following paper concludes the account of the bells in the parishes of the old Cumberland \Vard; for the first part* of which see Vol. VIII, pp. 505-531, of these Transactions. COTEHILL WITH CUMWHINTON. Cotehill and Cumwhinton, which together form a town­ ship of Wetheral, were made a separate ecclesiastical district in 1869. The church, consecrated on Dec. 27 in that year, has a narrow square tower, on the top of which is a cot con­ taining one bell, inscribed :

J. W;\RNER & ~ONS LONDON r8Gg. It is q inches in diameter, wei~h s about 68 lbs., and is rung by a lever. CUMDIVOCK. The churchwardens of Nether Denton, which is about eighteen miles distant from Cumdivock, in their" present. rnents ··for the year 1719, said:- The steeple of our church is not in good repair. Neither have we any bell. The paper from which this statement is taken (ante v1. 43(1) continues:-

:\t what time they procured a bell there is nothing to shew; but it must have been before 17~9 , the terrier for which year reports " One Bel, the weight uncertain " . In 1868. when the church wa~ rebuilt.

• The title oi Part I. has ht•en acci" prefi xed to vol. "iii. CHURCH BELLS IN CU~IBERLAND WAIW. 241

a new bell was presented by ;>.Ir. C. Taylor, of Low Houses. There is a prevalent belief that the old bell went to some other church; but to what church no one can say.

But, though the Nether Denton parishioners do not know to what church their old bell went, the Cumdivock folk happen to know to what church it came. It now hangs in a cot on the west gable at Cumdivock. It is 13 inches in diameter, weighs about 62 lbs., and has no inscription but a date : 1719. From which it appears that the Nether Denton churchwardens of 1719 lost no time in remedying the defect which they reported. Cumdivock, a township of Dalston, had no church until 1871. \Ve have here, then, as at Blackford (ante vii, 223), a bell a century and a half older than the church to which it now belongs. DALSTO.N.

In Edward VI's Inventory of Church noods Dalston IS reported as having

ij prche belles one handbell.

The "ij prche belles" may have been identical with the bells seen here in 1703 by Bishop Nicolson, who however does not mention their number. He says (Visitation, p. 18) :-

The Bell-Fry, or Frame of greal timber whereon the Bells are hung, is miserably rotten and decay"d; insomuch that the Ringers arc in rnnlinual hazard. I applied to :\lr. Thomlinson and some others of the chief Parishioners, that speedy care may be taken of this matter; and I hope to prevail on them to build a Stone Tower. The bishop's use of the word "Bell-Fry .. , as synonymous with the" frame whereon the bells are hung'', is peculiar, but not more at variance than the ordinary use of it is with the word of which it is a corruption, viz. "bewfray, beffroy ", a derivative of the German "berg-frit '',a tower of 242 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLA!'D WARO. of safety, having no etymological connection with bells (Palmer's Folk Etymology) . Mr. Thomlinson, who with other chief parishioners was to be prevailed upon to build a stone tower, is mentioned with honour in i\[iss Kuper's paper on Dalston Parish Registers (a11tc vii, 185) as "a public spirited man··, to whom Bishop Smith as well as Bishop Nicolson "referred on important occasions " . There is extant a MS. of his, ;'full of quaint observations and details of family and farm life '', entitled " The Book of Robert Thomlinson ", on the first page of which is written :

'\pare not, nor spend ton much. Be this thy care: Spare but to spend, and only spend to spare.

He did not "spend too much ,. on the project of a " stone tower"; which never came off. Yet it must not be as­ sumed that he spent nothing in order to spare the ringers their "continual hazard ". :\ close examination of the west wall shews that it has been raised considerably above its original height, and that its condition has at some time been a matter of concern to the authorities; for no less than six buttresses support the wall so raised. Two of these are later additions, on one of which is the date 1736, so that the wall was raised, and four buttresses erected, before 1736, probably soon after Bishop Nicolson's visit; to which time also we may perhaps assign the erection of a double cot in which the bells now hang- on the apex of the west wall. The bells now in the cot are :

Treble, diameter 2 2 inches, weight about z,\· cwt. Tenor. diameter 2(> inchi:s. ll'cight about .J cwt. They are rung from a chamber over the porch; they were formerly rung from the porch itself, as proved, during a recent repair of the porch ceiling-, by the discovery• of holes for the ropes. The- CHU f

The treble, which is blank, was supplied by Mr. J. Blay­ lock, of Carlisle, about the year 1847, in place of a bell which was cracked. An old ringer says it had long been cracktd by boys throwing stones at it; had done so him· sdf. The tenor bears a shield~·, on which are the initials R :\ , with a bell between them, and is dated 1704; from which it appears that the bishop's visit, though not resulting in a new tower, was soon followed by the purchase of a new bell. The same initials, with bell between, occur on other Cumberland bells, sometimes with the word " \Viggan,. added; and from the Caldbeck treble we learn that the founder"s surname was "Ashton". The Rev. Theodore Owen, of Manchester, says in a letter :-

I found R A, with bell between, and elate 1703, at Llanfernic::n, Dt:n · bighshire; Luke Ashton, of \\'iga n, made the undated tt:nor of Urswick, N. Lancashire; and tht:: second bell of Bolton-le-Sands. N. Lanca>hire, was cast at \Vigan in 169~. Inquiry at Wigan, if the foundry there was of ancient standing, might lead to identification of some of the hitherto un kno'vvn founders of mt:dia:val bells in the northern counties. The Dalston terrier of I7..J.9· in its list of church goods, has this item :-

Two Bdls with their frame ~ the onc:: thought to weigh about two hundred the other about three hundred. The heavier of these, the weight of which is evidently understated in the terrier, was of cour~e the \Vigan bell, hung in 170-j., and still remaining. The other, probably the bell replaced by the present treble, may also have:: bet:n a Wigan bell of the same date. But it is quite as likely that only one new bell had to be procured in 1704, and

;; for eng raved illustration of whi<:h sec inf•·o . p 249, under heading- uf Kirk· nampton. that .Z.~4 CHUl{CH BELLS 11\ CU~ll3bl\LANlJ WARD. that the bell parted with in 1847 was identical, not only with one of the terrier bells of 1749, but with one of the bells seen by Bishop Nicolson in 1703, also with one of the" ij prche belles•' of Edward VI's inventory, and was even in 1552 a century old and more. It is a pity that, when taken down in 1847, a record of its inscription, if it had any, was not preserved. The tenor is here toiled after, as well as before, a burial, viz :-Four strokes for a man, three for a woman, two for a boy (under twelve), and one for a girl. It is tolled when the first sod is thrown on the coffin. The people then go away. The burial register has the following entries for the year r576 :-

January 24, Vidua JJrowne de Carde::w drowned herselfe. r.fartij 7, Richard Burnes hanged himself in a slipp. Martij 25, Jhon Feddon paup was hanged in the bell rope. Junij 7, John Feddon qui semet cultro jugulavit.

As to the death of " Jhon Feddon pauper" Miss Kuper remarks:-

One is in doubt whether he was killed while:: ringing the church bells, or committed suicide, though in that case it would surely be said he han~ed himself (ante vii, 163) .

It certainly appears from the above entries as if Jhon Feddon belonged to a suicidal family, and indeed to a suicidal parish. But Miss Kuper's conclusion that, if he committed suicide, "it would surely be said he hanged himself", seems fully borne out by the wording of the three other entries, especially in the case of Richard Burnes. As to the possibility of his being accidentally " killed whilst ringing the bells", it is true that men may be, and have been, so killed. Mr. 'vV. C. Parker, captain of St. Stephen's (Carlisle) ringers, thus explains how a fatal accident may occur:- In CllLl{Cl-1 HELLS I:\ CU~lllEl~L.\:--1> \1.\1\I J. 245

In pulling the rope from what is called tht: b.uk :; lrukt-, or rnpt: end pull, a man who is not accustomed to ring may not s tand in a proper position, or may bend himsdf too far forward, so that the rope in coming down might easily come on to his shoulder, coil behind hi~ neck and on the other shoulder, then come round under his chin, when, a s the bell went up, thi: rope would tighten round his neck, and dislocate it instantly. But, as all bells until st:veral years later than 1576 \Vert: only rung with half-wht:els, and Dalston bells, tht:n as now, were doubtless small, it is llnlikely that John Feddon met his death in this \Vay. If, then, he neither committed suicide, nor was killed accidentaily, how came he to be "hanged in the bell-rope ''? \Vell, he lived in troublous times, when even his neighbour at Ro~e Castle, the bishop himself, stood a chance of getting hanged. Bishop Best "received in 1564 a commission from Elizabeth, by which he was empowered to arm himself and his dependents; a measure deemed necessary in consequence of the unsettled and disturbed state of the diocese" (Whellan, p. r69). Another account says that the bishop was commissioned to arm "against the tumultuous and enraged populace'• (Hutchinson, II, 629). In Jhon Feddon's case the" en­ raged populace '' may have been the parish allthorities, who perhaps bad recourst: to the" bell-rope ., as the easiest and quickest means of getting rid of a "pauper··.

GATESGILL.

The bell here is 20 inches in diamett:r, and wt:ighs I cwt. 2 qr. 15 lbs. It is from the Loughborough foundry, and inscribed :-

TAYL01' & CO I ei]'j. Mr. James 'Wilson, steward to Colonel Salkeld, supplies the following information :-- Tht: annual picnic held at Gattsgill for many years yielclt:d a pruti1 which was devoted to buying a chest of tea to be d1stributcd among the poor at Christma~. \Vhat<.:,.er 11«1> s<1vcd went to a btll fund Evcntuall~· Eventually a new bell \\"as bought; and the.; olcl une, which had no interest, tlk church being quite modern, was sold as part price.

It is likely enough, though by 110 means to be taken for granted, that the original bell was not older than the church, which was built. as a chapel of ease to Raughton Head, in 1869.

The church for many years laid totally in ruir.s, until Joseph Dacre esquire the i111propriator about the year 1743 rebuilt it at !-.is own expense. IB. & N. II, z271.

Mr. Joseph Dacre, of Kirklinton Hall, married Catherine, third daug"hter of Sir George Fleming, Bart., bishop of Carlisle. He probably gave the bell described in the terrier of 1749 as

lllle bell thought tu weigh about half a hundred.

This is about the weight of the one bell now at Grinsdale, which i\Iessrs. Green and Parker report as being 13 inches in diameter, blank, and resembling the Beaumont bell both as to shape of crown and metal loop surmounting the canons. The shape of crown here referred to is "like a policeman's helmet" (a11tc viii, 509). The occurrence of a helmet-shaped crown on the Christ Church (Carlisle) bell, cast in 1830 by " Burgess & Hayton" at the Carlisle Cockpit Smithy (ib. p. 528), points to the inference that the Beaumont and Grinsdale bells were cast at Carlisle; but at what time, as they are both blank, there is nothing to shew. It may, however, be assumed that the Grins­ dale bell was cast in or soon after 1743·

HIGHHEAD & IVEGILL. Highhead chapel and [vegill church are in the ~ame township; which from time immemorial has been indiscriminately L:HURCH BELLS l~ C.:U:>ll:lEHLANll WAIW. 247 indisl'.riminately called Highhead or lvegill: a to\\'nship in the parish of Dalston. The chapel, until 1868 a chapel of ease to Dalston, was originally built in 1358 (Hutchinson, II, ..J27; B. & :-\ .. II, 321). The county historians, however, omit to mention that it was rebuilt in 168:!, as is indicated by an inscrip­ tion over the door:

UIHISTOPHER RIC.:H~!O:-ID ESQ ED\\'ARD HASEl.1. ESQ :\NNO DO'.\llN! 161\2.

A tablet on the outside of the ea !"> t wall l~as an undated inscription, but evidently belong-ing to the sa me time as that over the door :

C I< ESQ E !i ESQ CHRISTOPHER ROBINSO;-.; C..:H:\RLES H :\LIN HOBERT HARRISON JOHN ~10NCKHOUSE HUGH IRELAND JOHN :O.IASSON I SDIPSON THOM.-\S BRUMELL THOMAS HARHISON JOHN BRISCOE GEORGE CLARKE RERN: BARTON JOHN BAHT01' H I{ .

Whellan (p. r66), correctly describing the chapel as '' a plain and somewhat mean-looking building.,, incorrectly says it was "erected in 1836 upon the site of an older building". The present vicar of lvegill and Highhead, Canon Phillips, says it was "not rebuilt but only restored in 1836 ", and that oid inhabitants remember it as having before that time "an open roof, and seats facing one another". The bell, hung in a cot on the west gable, is i..d inches in diameter, weight a bout 9olhs, and bears this inscription:

1635 -+ .\ ll '..· I J) + s T -+ The date is preceded by incised marks of "h~rring-bone ., character. The cro55 i<. a cross-moline. The stamp between .!48 CHl'HCH BELLS IN CU~IBERLAND \\/ARD. between A D and I B is a circle inclosing a cross, and surrounded by projecting lines apparently representing the rays of tht! sun. The letters AD and I B are plain Lom­ bardic. A D may be intended for am10 domi11i. I B, from what is known of the inhabitants about that time, may stand for John Briscoe, John Barton, or John Bewley. S T, Roman capitals, and larger than the other letters, may be the initials of the bell-founder. Two letters, IW, roughly incised on the crown, may be the initials of some one who at a later period supplied the cast-iron headstock which is rivetted to the crown without canons. In r868 the Rev. Arthur Emilius Hulton, who since 1853 had been curate of Highhead, built Ivegill church at his own expense ; when a new ecclesiastical parish was formed, consisting of the township of Highhead or Ivegill, with that of Itonfield, taken from Hesket-in-the-Forest, and .Middlesceugh, a detached township of St. Mary's, Carlisle. ;\[ r. Hulton died Sept em her IJ, 1868, having only preached once in the new church, which was conse­ crated July 22 in the same year. lvegill church bell, which hangs in a closed cot on the west gable, and is inacces!iible, was most likely new in 1868. Highhead chapel, which has never been parochial, is now chapel of ease to Ivegill church.

HOLME EDEN. '' The ecclesiastical district of Holme Eden was formed by an order of Council dated October r5, rl-i45" (\Vhellan, p. 196), and comprises part of the parish of vVetheral and part of Hayton. The church has a tower no feet high, containing one bell. described in the terrier of r8f>7 as ..\ large bell. This bell is 31 inches in diameter, weighs about 6! cwt., and therefore, as Cumberland bells go, may be called " large " : CHURCH BELLS IN CU\IREHL:\::-iD \ \':\l\D. 249

"large'': though it would not be so considered in a nng;­ ing countv. It is inscribed

I~ \\'Yl'S0:-1 NEWCASTLE rS-t- .'i· Below the inscription is a shield: but \\"hether bearing a cnat of arms, or the founder"s stamp, I dn n11t knn\\'. \Ve kn~w as yet of but two other .\ewcastle bells n this county, vi1 .. one at Alston, recast by R. \\'atson 111 1845. and one at Irthington. formerly reported as blank (ante vi, .:j.)J), but now ascertained to bear this inscription : THO~l : \S C001'SO:\ '.\:E \\'C\.ST Lt ·: 1f\r 2.

KIRKH . \~IPTO.\. Two bells in double cot on \\-est g:able :----

~(). :\O"fl: Pl:\:\I. llTl

The treble, cast by \Varner & Son at the Crescent Foundry, Cripplegate, was given by the present rector on the occasion of the restoration of the church in 1883. The

tenor, dated 1705, was cast by R. ,\shton, of \\'1g-an. between whose initials, as on the Dalston ten0r (rrnlc; p 243). there is the stamp of a bell _. engraved ] size in the accompanying 250 CHURCH BELLS I?\ CU~li'ERLA'NO W.'\Rll.

accompanying illustration. Bishop Nicolson, who was here on July 2, 1703, says ~ VisitatioH , p. 20):

One of the bells 1.the larger of the t\\'O) is crack'd; and has been laid aside fnr above '.?O years. Its recasting, but for the bishop's visit, might have been yet 20 years or more postponed ; for in Cumberland country parishes in those days the status quo had p_reat vitality. How long the other bell seen by Bishop i\icolson remained there is nothing to show, as the terriers have no mention of church goods. It has not been extant within living memory, but has left its mark, as the present rector report~. on "the stones of the western gable inside, which are quite worn into a groove by a chain rubbing against them, and more so than in the opening which contains the bell of 1705 ". In 1552 a single line suftic.:ed for the inventory of church goods here:-

B ,,~To;-; . - Jtem iij ,·c stements a chales of tyn. The paper is torn off on the right hand side after the word "tyn '', so that we cannot say whether "Banton '', as Kirkbampton is here called, had any bells in 1552. But its " chales of tyn ., indicates extreme poverty, perhaps due to border raids ; and it is as likely as not that it was without a bell. Here, as at Dalston, 13owness-on-Solway, Burgh-by­ Sancls, and some other Cumberland churches, one of the bells is tolled after as well a;; before a burial.

KIRKBRIDE. In 1749, according to the terrier of that year, there were at this church two small bells. All subsequent terriers mention only one bell. Yt CHURCH BELLS I:\ Cl'~IBERL\ND \YARD. 251

It hangs in a cot on the west gable, and has not been specially examined for purpuse of description, but is re­ ported as " appearing to be about 20 inches in diameter, and thought to be blank,.. There are here the usages o! death-knell, after-burial bell, and early Sunday morning bell at S.

ORTON. ln i55:.! there were belonging- to this church ij bdls one hand bell. In 17-J.9, according to terrier of that year, they had dwindled to ont Bell thought tu weigh a hundred and a half. ~or does any later terrier mention more than one. The present bell is 17 inches diameter, weight about ri cwt., note D, inscribed :

THO~JAS HOL).IES & THU~fMi NIXON 1753. These two men, as shewn by their signatures to the pre­ sentments for r7s2-3, were the churchwardens for that year. The present rector, the Rev. \\i. ]. Gil banks, informs me that there is here the usage of "early Sunday morning bell at 9 ; no death knell ; call bell occasionally rung by ;·equest when the bidding, i.e., in\'itation to a funeral, is going on·;. · Bishop Xicolson is said to have been a native of this parish. Burn & Nicolson say:- He was burn at Orton, near Carlisle, where his father :\Jr. Joseph :-.iicolson, forrnerlv of Queen's College 111 Oxford, was then n:ctor. In 1670, being then 15 years of age, lie was aclrnittecl member of the said college. (B. & N. IL .!931. The statement that his father was rector of Orton is repeated by other local historians, e.g., Hutchinson (!L 634), Lysons (p. 143), and Jefferson (History of Carlisle, p. 2.B· ~:)3). Yet Burn & :\icolson, in their account of Plumb­ land parish, at'ter mtntioning that Lancelot Fletcher, rector of l'lumbland, was among the contributors of pro­ visions for the garrison of Carlisle during the seige, say:-- The next incumb<:nt \\"as Joseph Nicolson, who "·as ejected by Crom­ well's CDllllllissioners, and during the usurpation lived retired at his maternal inheritance at !'ark Bnm in the parish of Stanwix, and on the coming in of King Charles the Second was restored. He was father of Dr. William :.Jicolson. bishop of Carlisle. tB. & ::\.II, 120). Il is evident, then, that in 1()55, in which year the future bishop was born, Mr. Joseph Nicolson was not rector of Orton; and it is odd that such a mistake should appear in Burn & Nicolson's history, as Nicolson was the bishop's nephew. Mr. Gilbanks, in his paper on the Orton Registers, says:- The tradition that Bishup Nicobon was born in the rectory house at Orton must. unless further testimony be forthcPming. remain a tradition "·ith a cbubt 11111/c. \·iii, 25+1. He was probably born and baptized at Stanwix; but, if so, the fact cannot be verified, as neither the register at Stan­ wix nor the transcripts in the episcopal registry reach back as far as 1655. ROCLIFF. The terrier of r 7+9 mentions one bell weighing near one hundred weight. Four years later this bell was superseded by one of 15 inches diameter, weight about 9<) lbs, inscribed only with date: 1753. \\'hellan, \\'ho begins his list of Rocliff in­ cumbents with "\Villiarn Robinson 175+ ··, says (p, 578) that ,; previously to 175+ it seems not to have been a benefice but a mere curacy under the dean and chapter of Carlisle,.. \Vhatever it was, previously to 175.j., :\Ir. Robinson held it, as may be seen from his signature to transcripts and presentments. He was probably a minor canon of Carlisle, and resided there till he died in r780; for for in 1777 there \\'as still al l{ocliff" neither house nor glt:be" (B. & ?\. II, 223). It was in his time that the bell elated 1753 was procured. In tht: same year" an ;1 llotmt:nt of ['200 of Qut:en .\nne's Bounty fell t•> this chur.::h ,. (ib) . If it was on the strength of lhis windfall that the curacy was transformed into an incumbency, and a bell put up to celebrate the event, these arran~ements ,,·e re pn.:mature; as Burn and !\icolson, writing in I 777, state that the allotment "still remains in the hands of the Governors undisposed of" (ib). The sole benefit, then, tu ~lr. l{obinson fron; this matter seems tu have been a new bell, wherewilh to rillg himself in on the occasion of his induc­ tion as first incumbent of Roc\iff. This bell is nu longer in use at the church, having been transferred to the school­ room. :\Iessrs. Green and Parker report it as long-waisted: not after the fashion of long.waisted mc:di;eval bells, a~ at Buri:,h-by-Sands, the waists of which are tH:arly perpen­ dicular ; but with long slope from crown to soundbo''"­ There is a bell of similar shape, dared 1750, at Cumrew. Both were prohab:y cast al ;,ome local foundry, perhaps at Carlisle. Rodiff church \\'as rebuilt in t.S-J..S, and has now a bell 29?· inches in diameter, \\"eight about 5~ cwt., inscribed in Roman capitals:

QUOS CO:\VOCU SAL\"OS F ,\C IJO~ll:\E.

This bell, which bears no date or founder·s name, ·rnd is described as e\'idcntly modern, probably superseded the old bell in 18-J.l'-i. It is rung as invitation or call bell. if wanted, between 8 and <) a.rn. oil the clay uf a funt:ra;. ;\fr. R. S. Ferguson, in a note to ;\I iss Powley "s paper oil" The Curfew Bell in Cumberland and \\"estmorland " . says:

.\t Rocliffe an eight o"clock b<:ll i~ rung under Lhe nanw t>I the· Curfc\\' Hl:"ll ·: but this custom dates bac k nnh· I<> the rebuild1n~ of th e church 1t111lc iii, I.BI· The;; 2.)-t CHLJ{CJI BELLS !:\ CU~JIH.:.HL.\:\D \\'.-\[W.

The only instance in Cumberland of the cu.rfew as a sur. viva! is at Penrith. The: Carlisle Corporation accounts contain entries of this kind :-··

rlrn3. ltrn unto henry\\ arwicke fur curfew(: bell x111s. llIJIL 16q. ltm to 1-1.a!f Kidd for ringingc <:) of ye clockt: .xii is. iiijd.

In later years the hou; \\'as changed to" ix of ye clocke ''. But the Carlisle curfew ceased during the civil war, and has never bt·en revived.

ROSE CASTLE. The cilapd bell here, 15J inches diameter, weight about r cwt., is blank; probably given, in place of an older bell· by Dr. Percy, bishop of Carlisle from r 828 to r 8:; 6, wlw made all things ne\\' at Rose. It hangs in a cot, on the tower built in the 15th century by Bishop Richard Bell, whose rebus, the letter I\. cut in stone with a bell hanging under it, is oil a cornice of the tower; for illustration uf which sec Bp. Nicolson's '' :\Iiscellany Accounts of Carlile Diocese" (p. 106). SCOTHY. The township of Scotby, in the parish of \Vetheral, was made an ecclesiastical district in 1855. Its church has a tower, which contains a hemispherical bell, 22 inches in diameter, weight about I~ cwt, the weight of a hemi­ spherical bell being less in proportion to its diameter than thatofoncoftheordinaryshape. :\fr. \V. C. Parkerreporh 1t as attached to a "·oockn beam by on<.: iron bolt, and nut swung, but struck on the outside by a hammer. which has a hollow head, in which is inserted a wooden block. lt has. round the rim about an inch fr(lm the lip, the following inscription:- CHURCH BELLS !:\ CU~ll:lERLAND WARD. 255

G ~!EARS FOUNDER LONDO:\ THIS CHUl{CH WAS FOUNDED llY GEORGE HEAD HEAD :\ D 1855. The date is that of the building of the church, which was consecrated on September 14th, 1855. The bell must han been procured a few years later, since in 1855 the \Vhite­ chapel foundry \ms held by C. & G. :\[ears, the latter of whom did not become sole proprietor, at all events his name did not appear alone nn \Vhitechapd beils, till 1858. The church was built at the t:xpense of the late ?.Ir. G. H. Head, of Rickerby, upon ground given by \Ir. David Hodgson, who with other friends gave the endowment \Whellan, p. 1971.

SEBER

.-\tower was then built at the \\'est end. and a fairk good bell placed in it.

He adds that the tower was erected in the face of consider. able opposition from some of the parishioners, and on the nrst Sunday that the church \\'as opened after this new addition the follo\\'ing protest was found nailed to the church door:

Tht: priest and the milier built tht: church stcc:pl<.: \Vithout the consent or gooclwill of the people. :\ tax to collect they tried to impose In defiance of right and subversion of Jaws. The matter remains in a state of suspension. And likely to be a sad bone of contention. If concession be made to agree with us all 256 CH lJ l

I.et t he tax be applie ri In build the c hurc h ll'all. C hu1·ch \·anl wall now in a ruinnu>. s tat1: . Se berg ham High Bo und. Jt1l y l 2 , 11> 26. The "priest·· \\'as the l\.ev. J. 1-I eysham, instituted in 1823, the first resident incumbent sin ce I 768 (\\"i1 ellan, p. 250). The" miikr ,. \\·as \[r. Thomas Hayton. of Cronk­ holme ;\Jill , Se\1e rg ham. Tht followin~ letter. preserved a mong the parish docu­ ments, bt long:s to an early stage of negoti;itions for the new bell:-·- To l{e\·. :\lr. Heysham. Sir.- \\"c h1:n:ll'ith enclns<· yot1 a s tatc mt:nt as nea r as we p os~ ibl y can a~<.:t:rtain of T\\o He ll s. :\o 1, 2

T " a c h url'i1 h

Sm•tll bell Imm Cc:bchron ~-I lbs at 12<1 -I -I n \lo fr11111 Hi,J.;.:th :;3 lhs at 10'1 -I - Tiles<: CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 257

These would seem to be the "two bells" mentioned in the terrier of 1749, But what is meant by one of them being " from Hisketh" I do not know. The bell cast by " Burgess and lnsall " still remains. It is 29 inches in diameter, and bears no inscription but the elate: 1826. It is thus described in the terrier of 1828, signed by" J. Heysharn, perpetual curate, Thomas Hay­ ton and John Bulman, churchwardens":

One large bell weighing four hunclrccl ancl fourty·four pounds and purchased by subscriptions in the year one thousand e i ~ht hundred ancl twenty-six.

It is seldom that a terrier ventures beyond stating that a hell is" about", or is "thought to be", such and such a weight, and it seems rather oclcl that one professing to give the precise weight should not agree exactly with the founders' invoice. The fact that this bell was "purchased by subscrip­ tions" indicates considerable pertinacity on the part of "the priest and the miller"; who, according to the l9ca l poet, when "a tax they tried to impose" for building the "church steeple", had s uffered defeat lr<)l11 the parishioners. The tower, then, must have been paid for by subsc ription; yet they had enough money to spare for a new bell. It is probable, however, that the "miller", if not the "priest", only wanted the tower for the sake of the bell, and may have had himself to bear a considerable part of the cost; which, if bells were his hobby, he \\'Oulcl not grudge. This view of the case is supported by the circumstance of his succeeding Insall, two or three years later, as partner to Burgess, at the Cockpit Smithy, where the Sebergham bell was cast. The names BURGESS & HAYTON occur on several Cumberland bells of the period 1830-3, e.g. Hayton, Stapleton, Christchurch (Carlisle), and vVetheral. l\Ir. Hayton was the donor of the Sebergham school bell, which is 7'.t- inches in diameter, and blank. THURSBY. 258 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

THURSBY. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, was rebuilt in 1846, and a ring of six bells, from the Whitechapel foundry, placed in the tower. The present vicar, the Rev. \V. Galling, says that the old church, consisting of nave, south aisle, and a very large chancel higher than the nave, was thought to be so dilapidated as to be on the point of falling to pieces; but its walls, which were very thick, were found to be so strong that gunpowder had to be used to blow them down. Whellan, speaking of the new church, says (p. 251) :- The funds for its construction were raised by a rate of 3s. 6d. in the pound, aided by £500 left by the late Sir John Brisco. The cost of the bells was defrayed by a separate rate. Mr. Galling, however, states that the cost of only two of the bells was defrayed by a rate, the other four being given by Sir Wastell Brisco, son and successor of Sir John. The frame of the bells and all the other wood work in the belfry are of the old oak of the former church. On each of the bells is inscribed :-

c & G MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1846. The weights in the following table have been supplied from the foundry:-

NOTE DIAMETER cwt. qr. lbs. ------Treble F# 25:} inches 3 3 9 No. 2. E 26 inches .~ 3 21 No. 3. D 271 inches 4 I 18 No. 4. ~# 29 inches 5 0 0 No. 5. 31t inches 6 0 II Tenor A 34t inches 7 0 r6

These bells are the lightest ring of six 111 Cumberland. There CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 259

There are, however, only twelve churches in the county which have as many as six bells. There was only one old bell remaining at the church when the new bells were ordered. It was sent to the foundry, the present proprietor of which says it weighed 1 cwt. 3 qrs. 2 dbs. Whether it had any inscription he does not know. Edward Vl's Inventory of Church Goods reports as be­ longing to "Thurisbie" in 1 552 ij lttill belles. Bishop Nicolson, on June 18, 1703, found one of the Bells broken. The terrier of 1749 bas this item: Two Bells with their frames. That of 1828 : One bell with its frame One broken bell. It is uncertain, then, whether the bell sent to the White­ chapel foundry in 1846 was ancient. There is here the usage of the early Sunday morning bell, at 9-30. On the morning of the day before a funeral, if the whole parish is invited to attend, the tenor is rung as the "bidding" bell. UPPERBY. This parish, comprising several townships of the ancient potrish ot St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle, was formed into a legal district for ecclesiastical purposes in 1846; in which year the church, erected by subscription in 1840, was conse­ cratt:d (Whellan, pp. 184-5). Mr.\\'. C. Parker reports the bell, which is hung in the tower and rung by a wheel, as zot inches in diameter, weighing therefore about 2k cwt. ; with "helmet shaped crown", like the bells at Beaumont, Grinsdale, Christ church (Carlisle), and Carlisle gaol; inscribed only with date: 260 CHGRCII BELLS IN CUMDEl{LAND WAIW. date: 1840. The figure 4 is reversed; an unusal cin:um­ stance at so modern a date. The death knell, without " tellers", is tolled here. People arc bidden to funerals by a person going round the village; sometimes, when he has to go to the farmers, on horseback. WARWICK. Bishop Nicoison, when he visited \Varv,:ick, on July 30, 1703, found no Monumentti, of any Kind, either in ye Church or Churchyard (p 51). Nor \\'as he at all favourably impressed with anything he did find there, including the bell and its gear, of which he says: There ha~ formerly bet:n a Square Towt:r at the \Vest End; but, at present they have only a pittiful Lodgemellt for a single littlt: 13tll. Hutchinson (vol I, p 155), quoting from" Pennant's Tour", published in 1760, says the church "once extended above 21 foot further west, there being still at that end a good round arch, now filled up". The tower, then, like the arch, may have been Norman. The" pittiful lodgement", which succeeded it as a receptacle for the bell, was a cot on the west gable of the nave, as shevvn in a photograph prefixed to a circular (appealing for funds to restore the church) issued in 1868 by the present vicar of \Vetheral, with which parish \IVarwick has ever since 1542 been ecclesiastically united. It was intended, if funds permitted, to reopen the arch, extending the church westward on the old foundation, adding" a south-west doorway and western spirclet ". The framework of the bell, however, is now fixed against the west wall of the church. The bell seen by Bp. Nicolson has disappeared, and in its place there is one 17! inches in diameter, weighing about l} cwt, with a band of conventional foliage round its shoulder, and on its waist nothing but a date: i818. WAVERTON. CHUl{CH DELLS IN CU~IlJEl{LANlJ WAIW. 261

vVAVERTON. A township of Wigton parish. Church built in 1855. The present bell, q inches diameter, weight G4 lbs, cast by J \,Varner & Son in l81·LJ-, was given by l\lr. Edwin Banks when the church was repaired in that year. l\fr. Edwin Banks, of Highmoor, Wigton, the donor of this bell and of the Silloth tenor, is an enthusiast in the matter of bells. A carillon of nine bells, total weight about 9 tons, cast by Severin Van Aerschodt, of Lou­ vain, will shortly be placed in the clock tower at High­ moor, which bas been strengthened to receive them. Besides these there will be the hour bell, 7 ft. 5~· inches diameter, weighing nearly 9 tons, cast by :Messrs. Taylor. These bells will form a remarkable company, the hour bell taking rank as fourth among the great bells of England, as will be seen from the following table:-

. ! lJ[;J,L : NOTE I TONS CWT Ql( FOL'1'DER I DATE I 1- .. ·1 ------! - -· Great Paul I E ') i iG q 2 J Taylor 1802 Big Ben F \ 13 HJ j (i lllears 1857 IO 0 18~5 Peter of York j Al;". I, 15 C & G 111<.:ars Joe of Highrnoor' ' 8 16 0 J Taylor i8bl> Tom of Oxford A 7 12 0 C Hodgson i676

WET HERAL. There is in \,Yctheral church tower only one bell, 33} inches in di ameter, wei ghing abuut 8 cwt., in scribed:-

BURGESS & HAYTON FOUNlJEhS CAl\LlSLE 1833 REV il!R STANGEi{ IIENJ{Y IIOWAIW ESQ CHU l~Cll \V t\l{DENS R D WVlNG WM l\OIJIN!-JON GOE LITTLE JOllN DODINSON This 262 CHURCH 13ELLS IN CUMl3El\LAND WAlW.

This is the largest and latest example, as yet kn0wn, of a bell inscribed with the names of Burgess and Hayton. Their partnership, which began in 1829, or thereabout, did not last long. It probably ceased soon after the re­ moval of the foundry from the Cockpit Smithy to \Vater Lane, where the \Vetheral bell is known to have been cast (ante VI, 430). I\fr. Hayton, who since 18z9 had lived in Carlisle, then returned to Sebergham, where he died on February 26th, 1rn2, aged 80 (Gatesgill Chronicle, July, 1883). In Steele's Carlisle Directory for 1837 Thos Burgess appears as sole proprietor of the Water Lane premises, then known as the Waterloo Foundry ; which name was transferred by a later proprietor to new premises in Botchergate, where the business is still carried on. It is probable that several of the bells in Cumberland which bear only a date were cast by Burgess, who seems never to have put his name on a bell except whilst in partner­ ship with Hayton. In 1826 the firm was "Burgess and Insall" (ante, p. 256). The "Rev Mr Stanger " was vicar of Wetheral for 58 years, and his predecessor, George Gilbanks, had been vic;,r almost as long, the two together covering more than a century. " Henry Howard Esq ", of Corby Castle, was born in 1757, and "died March 1, 1840, in the enjoyment of the highest reputation for piety, patriotism, and virtue, and was not less distinguished by his courtesy and kindness than by his literary attainments and correct taste" (\Vhellan, p. 195). Evidence of his correct taste may be seen in the monument which he erected to the memory of his wife in the chapel which he added in 1791 to the chancel of \Vetheral church, "executed by the celebrated sculptor N ollekins, and declared by competent judges to be the finest modern piece of sculpture in England" (ib, p. 189). Nor was his good taste less evident in his care for ancient monuments than in his erection of new. He communicated CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 263 communicated to the Society of Antiquaries an accurate foe-simile or the Runic inscription L)il the western side of Bewcastle cross (Archceologia, XIV, 48), which Bishop Nicoison had tried in vain to decipher (Bp. N's Visitation, p. 56). He also endeavoured, unf0rtunately without suc­ cess, to save from further destruction the ruins of \¥etheral Priory. " \¥hat was left of this edifice by the zealots of Henry VIII's days was demolished, except the gateway, or lodge, by the clean and chapter of Carlisle, who built a prebendal house &c. in Carlisle with the materials. \Vhen this was in agitation Mr. Howard offered a sufficient compensation if they would suffer the building to stand; but his proposition \Vas rejected" (Hutchinson, vol. I, p. 156). Mr. George Little, whose christian name the bell­ founders carelessly abbreviated into" Goe", was not one of the churchwardens in 1833, but acted for his son, John Little, now of \Vatchcross_ Mr. John Little says that the cost of the bell was £40 and the metal of a former bell, which had long been cracked. The former bell, then, if long cracked in 1833, was not long sound, since Hutchinson, speaking of Wetheral church in 1794, says (vol. I, p. 196) :- In 1789 a:id r790 the whole was flagged, stalled, plaistered, and ceiled, and the tower was built, furnished with four spires, and a new bell hung therein. The terrier of 1777 has no inventory of church goods. That of 1749 mentions" two bells"; which, as there was then no tower, doubtless hung in a double cot on the west gable. On the east gable of the nave there still remains the ancient cot which once held the sanctus bell. Long vacant, probably ever since the reign of Elizabeth, it now contains a small bell, procured when the church was restored in 1882. There 264 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

There is extant at the Record Office a MS which g ives some information concerning the bells of Wetheral Priory, which were confiscated when the priory was suppressed in 1538. This document is the report of the commissioners appointed in 3 and 4 Philip and lVIary, A D r554-5, to inquire what had become of the lead and bells of certain Cumberland and \ Vestm orland monasteries dissolved in the reig n of Henry VIII. Among the instructions issued to the commissioners was this :-

Item to enquire whether the iij Bells of the Late Cell of Wetheral weying vi C pound weight do rcmayne wthin the same Churche or ell s were sold by any of the said layte Reccyvors \Villm Grene or Richard Bonnye or any other or ell:; wh a t became of them.

To this item of inquiry the commissioners in their report made the following answer:-

Lancelot Saulkelde clark Deane of the Catherall Churche of Carlyle saythe that one bell of the thre bell s pteyning to the laytc sell of \;v'e therell came to Ca rl ysle whiche bell was hanged uppon the wall e call ed S pringall Tower in Carlyle to call the workmen to worke al the ma king of the new cytydall in C:irlyle and mending of the castell ther but what the weyght of the said Bell was he kn oweth not And for the othe' t wo b ell~ the said Lancelot Saulkelde clo the confesse hym self that they remayne in a ho u ~e in \Vetherall fo r the Quenes mats use unbroke n to be dclyuere rl when yt shall please her grace to comaunde an ye of her councell to call for the same two bells An d as t owchin~ the weight of the sayd two bell s he dot h not ccrtaynlye kn oll'e albeit he clo the esteme t he said two bell s to be fyve hundredth pounde weight and further he knowethe not. L ancelot S alkeld, the last prior of Carlisle, and appointed the first dean by the foundation charter of H enry VIII, in which office he rem ained until the end of H enry's reiRn, was a younger son of t he Salkelds of Corby Castle. He was ejected from the deanery by Edward VI, re­ stored to it by l\fary, and again ejected by Elizabeth. The Salkelcls held Corby manor and castle from r335 to 1624, when they sold them to Lord \Villiam Howard. WIGTON CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. 265

WIGTON.

The vestry, on March 24, 1788 1 in which year the parish church was rebuilt, passed the following resolution :-

That or.e Bell is proper and necessary to be provided for the use of the parish Church of Wigton now rebuilding and that the sd Bell be of sufficient weight that its sound may be distinctly heard through­ out the parish that the weight thereof be 1200 lb or thereabout and that the Churchwardens and the Committee named in the Faculty for building the sd Church be authorised and requested to give order fo r such Bell with all appurtenances making due enquiry how and of whom the same may be purchased to best advantage and that the payment for sd Bell shall be provided for out of the Church Rates in such manner as is the payment of the Contract for building the new Church. The "due enquiry" made by the churchwardens and committee resulted in their having recourse to the 'White­ chapel foundry; from which they ordered a bell, note G, 4 t inches in diameter, and therefore weighing about 13 t cwt., £.e., 1568 lbs. thus exceeding their instructions by nearly 4 cwt. But, if called to account by the vestry for such excess of zeal, no doubt they replied:-' \i\!ell, but you wanted a bell of sujficfr11t we£ght tltnt £ts sound may be d£s t£11ctly heard tlzro11gho11t tlte parish; and the parish is large'. And they might, or could, or should have added: ' \.Vigton has now the honour of possessing the biggest bell that is in any Cumberland parish church'. To this day, leaving out the cathedral, as not being a parish church, the weight of the Wigton bell is only exceeded by that of the tenors in the rings of eight, and by that of the seventh and eighth bells at Silloth. It has on its shoulder the following names :-

THE REVD WILFRID CLARKE VICAR. CHURCHWARDENS JNO ATKINSON JOSEPH ISMAY ]NO MESSENGER ROBT MUirnAY. On 266 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD.

On its waist is:- w & T MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1789 LATE LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN. William Mears, the first of his family who had anything to do with the \Vhitechapel foundry, became connected with it in the following way:- In r762 Lester and Pack, t-he then proprietors, having to recast the great bell of Canterbury cathedral, found it more convenient to clo the work on the spot than to carry the bell to London and back again. \Nilliam Chapman, Lester's nephew, was accordingly sent down to perform the task. It was whilst engaged in this business that Chapman saw among the bystanders a young man who seemed to take great interest in the proceedings, and he offered to take him back to London and teach him to be a bell-founder. This wa:; W. Mears; he accepted the invitation, and went to London with Chap­ man to learn his profession. (Tyssen's Sussex Bells, p. 40). On Lester's death, in 1769, the firm became" Pack & Chap­ man"; on Pack's death, in r731, Chapman toPk \V. Mears into partnership; Chapman's death, in 1783, left W. Mears sole proprietor; and in 1787 the firm became " W. & T. Mears". Chapman, whatever else he may have taught \V. Mears, did not teach him Latin, though he himself and Pack had, after several years, managed "to discover that the FECIT of their earlier bells should give place to FECERUNT" (ante, VII, 235). Bishop Nicolson, who visited \Vigton on July 7, 1703, says (Visitation, p. 23) :- They have two small Bells in a good Square Steeple. The terrier of 1749 has this item:- Two Bells with their frames. That of 1777 has no inventory of church goods. The "two small bells'', seen by the bishop in 1703, probably remained until superseded in 1788 by the bell which was to be" heard throughout the parish". Nearly all Cum­ berland churches had formerly, and many still have, two small CHURCH BELLS IN CUMllERLANV WARD. 267 small bells, the largest seldom weighing as much as 3 cwt. That this has been so from time immemorial may be seen by reference to Edward VI's Inventory of Church Goodii in 1552; the Cumberland portion of which is pubii.shed in Vol. VIII, (pp. 186-204), of these Transactions. The Cumberland Inventory does not give the weights; but it only applies the epithet " gret" to the bells of eight churches, and we know from the medireval bells which still remain in the county how small, as a rule, most of the ancient Cumberland bells must have been. In the midland and soutl:ern counties the ancient bells were not only more numerous, but much heavier; so heavy, indeed, that when change-ringing began to be prevalent, for the requirements of \vhich it was necessary to increase the number of bells in a ring, it was found to be the cheapest plan to recast the whole ring, say, from three or four heavy bells into six lighter. In Cumberland, where the ancient bells were small, the process has been reversed. In many places the "two small bells" have been recast into one larger; sometimes, as at Wigton, though this is an extreme case, with a good deal of new metal added. Both of these processes have tended to diminish the number of ancient bells. It may be possible to prevent further spread of the mischief. Cumberland folk are proverbially slow to take to anything new; and, if once their sympathy be enlisted on behalf of bells which have called their fore-el'.lers to church for 500 years or more, they may be unwilling to discard them, even for a big new bell, warranted to make itself heard all over the parish. But vVigton has already got its big bell; no longer new, however, but now almost a centenarian. It has tolled the death knell of all who took part in relegating its two "small" predecessors to the \ 1\lhitechapel furnace. Those were pre-archreological days, and the vestry of 1788 had every excuse for what they d!d. At ali events, whilst they were about it, they got a thoroughly good bell, worthy to be 268 CHURCH BELLS IN CUMBERLAND WARD. be the tenor of a ring of eight. Their desceqdants, if unable to see their way to a ring of eight or even of six, would do well to act on the following advice:- If it is not possible to obtain a good peal of six or eight, why not be content with a really good tenor and one bell next above it ? Nothing can be grander than two good bells chiming thus together; witness the two bells rung daily for service at Magdalen and New College, Oxon. (Ellacombe's Devonshire Bells, pp. g, 10). The proposer of this arrangement, the Rev. H. J. Ella­ combe, late rector of Clyst St. George, Devon, was not only the most eminent campanist of his day, but also an accomplished ringer. The death knell is tolled at Wigton in case of death of an old inhabitant ; and the bell is rung at 8 and 9 on Sunday mornings. WREAY. Wreay is an ancient chapelry in the parish of St. Mary's, Carlisle; to which, by order of Council, dated January 14, 1869, were added portions of the parishes of U pperby and Hesket-in-the-Forest, and the whole was constituted a consolidated chapelry. The terriers of 1749 and 1777 mention one small bell. The present bell, which is blank, 13 inches in diameter, weight about 62 lbs., is small enough to answer this des­ cription, but was probably given when the chapel was rebuilt in 1843, at a cost of about £1,300; the whole of. which sum, with the exception of a small donation from the patrons of the living, and the contributions of a few friends, was defrayed by Mrs. Losh of Woodside. (Whellan, p. 147). At the cemetery a short distance from the chapel there is a cracked cast iron bell, blank, 15{ inches in diameter, weight about I cwt. (152)

ART. XIV.--Keswick Town Clock Bell. By the REV. H. WHITEHEAD. Communicated at A mbleside, September 4th, 1889. HIS bell, owing to its alleged antiquity, has become T famous. The earliest mention of it that has come under my notice is in W. Scott's " Beauties of the Border", published in 1821. Mr. Scott, who evidently never saw it, or he would not have cal!ed it the "church bell'', says, (p. 103) :- The church bell at Keswick is of great antiquity bearing date AD IOOI. Whellan, in his History· of Cumberland, published in 1860, speaking of Keswick Town H~ll, which was erected in 1813 on the site of the Old Court House, says (p. 345) :- The clock bell, which was taken from a building that formerly stood on Lord's Island in Derwent Lake, said to have been the manor house of the Earls of Derwentwater, has the letters and figures H D R 0 IOOI upon it; a decisive proof of its high antiquity. The Old Court House or former Town Hall of Keswick is thus mentioned in Mr. Fisher Crosthwaite's pamphlet on " The Last of the Derwentwaters " (p. 15) :-

I found a memorandum among the papers of the late Jonathan Ottley, in which he made out that the former Town Hall of Keswick was built in 1695, and some of the materials were brought from the man­ sion on Lord's Island, and the ancient bell was then removed which is still in use. In this connection it may be as well to notice that Hutchinson (II, 198), speaking of St. John's-in-the-Vale, says:-

In the chapel is an old seat, with the date 1001 on the back of it. Tradition assigns that it was formerly in St. Herbert's chapel on the island in the lake. This KESWICK TOWN BELL. 153 This old seat, which is no longer extant, if brought from an island on the lake, more probably came from Lord's Island than from St. Herbert's; there having been for centuries no chapel on St. Herbert's Island. The mansion on Lord's Island is thus described by Mr. Crosthwaite :- The large and convenient house with gardens, orchards, and other conveniences, spo ken of by the Rev. T. Rob inson, was built by Sir Thomas Radcliffe sometime about 1450. The former residence was at Castlerigg. . . . Tradition says that the stones were taken away to build the Mansion on Lord's Island. . . . For many generations the Radcliffe family resided on the island. So late as 1623 Sir Edward Radcliffe is mentioned as having his Mansion on Lord's Island. . . . It is very probable that the house was dis­ mantled during the civil war about the year t65i. The town clock bell, then, if of date roor, would have been originally at Castlerigg on the main land. Dated ancient bells are rare in this country. The late Mr. T. North, F.S.A., in his "Church Bells of Bedford­ shire" (p. 6) says:- A few early dated English bells have been found: one at S. Chad's, Claughton, Lancashire, is dated 1296; another at Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire, is dated 1317; two at South Somercoto::s, Lin­ colnshire, bear the date 1423; and two others at Sowerby in the same county tell us they were cast in the year 1431. To these may be added the tenor at Thirsk, Yorkshire, on which is inscribed ANNO MlLLENO QVATER CENTO QVOQVE DEN EST HA!:C CAMPANA IESVS, and the treble at Holme Cultram, elated MILL.cccc.Lx v. From which it appears that the Keswick town clock bell, if the figures roor really stood for a elate, would be by nearly three centuries the oidest known dated bell in England. Its claim to be regarded as of such high antiquity is encountered by two objections. I. The letters of its inscription are Roman capitals, and its figures Arabic, arranged rn this way:- HD 1001 RO But 154 KE SWICK TOWN BELL. But were Arabic numerals used in this country at so early a date as the very beginning of the eleventh century? Mr. T. Wright, F.S.A., says:-

It was only in the 14th century that these algorismic numerals be­ came generally used in books, and it is not probable that they would be used in inscriptions on buildings till long afterwards. . . . Rare examples of inscriptions in these figures may occur in the 15th century; but even in the r6th, as is well known, the prejudice was strongly in favour of Roman capitals. (British Archteological Journal, vol. II, p. 72). And if improbable in inscriptions on buildings until long after the fourteenth century, it is simply impossible in bell inscriptions of the very beginning of the eleventh century. II. The shape of the· bell is comparatively modern. Mr. Stahlschmidt, speaking of a bell at Chaldon, Surrey, which he describes as "very like a common flower pot", says he thinks "it may be certainly reckoned as not later in date than 1250, and from its archaic shape may well be much older" (Surrey Church Bells, p. 77). But there is nothing at all archaic about the shape of the Keswick bell. It is not even "long-waisted". vVhat explanation, then, can be given of the figures 1001, if they may not be regarded as indicative of a date ? Some persons have suggested that the second figure was originally 6, and that some mischievous wag by means of a file has converted it into 0. "The top of the 6 in 1601 ", writes one to me, " has been filed off, as I saw with my own eyes; and the resulting 0 is somewhat shorter than the genuine zero which follows". The accompanying illustration (full size) may seem to favour this opinion. But an engineer, with whom I examined the bell, for the express purpose of deciding this point, very confidently stated that the top of a 6 had not been filed off, and that the figure has always been 0; which opinion, by the way, seems to be cor- roborated KESWICK TOWN BELL. 155 roborated by the occurrence of the same figures on the old seat formerly in the chapel of St. John's-in-the-Vale.

Another explanation of these figures has been pro­ pounded, viz: that they indicate the 1001st bell cast by the founder. On which point it may be worth while to quote the following letter, signed Thomas Radcliffe, which appears in Notes G Queries of September 24, 1887 :-

I bought the other day an old case clock of oak, which has an orna­ mented brass face. On a round sunk shield in the usual place is engraved roughly W BARNAI

It would be almost as curious a coincidence if the Kes­ wick bell and the St.John's old seat were each the first · as it would be if each were the thousand and first specimen of the work of its maker. But indeed I doubt whether any founder ever adopted such a plan of num­ bering his bells. The only other explanation, as far as I know, which anyone has given of the figures on the bell, is that the founder by some accidental mistake substituted 0 for 6 as the second figure. But here also, as with the other hypothesis, the matter is complicated by the old oak seat. Now, what.ever may be thought of these explanations, to none of which do I commit myself, I am decidedly of opinion, looking to its shape, that the bell is of no great antiquity; and it only remains to ascertain whether any clue to its age can be obtained from the initials which it bears. I believe the initials R 0 to be those of the founder whose name occurs in the following entry in the churchwardens accounts of Haughton-le-Spring, Durham :-

1615, May 14 To Mr Robt Oldefeild bell-founder for casting of the litle bell xiiijli,

This bell is no longer in existence. But the entry shews that Robert Oldfeild was casting bells for the north in the early years of the 17th century. He was probably connected with the Oldfeilds of York, one of whom, William, cast the Dacre treble in 1606 (ante, IX, 490); the initials W 0 and R 0 occur together on a shield on the 3rd bell at Broughton, Yorkshire, dated 1615 (Whitaker's Craven, Morant's edition, p. u4) ; and on the Castle Sowerby

treble, dated 1586 (ante, IX, 486) 1 are found the initials R 0, somewhat larger than those at Keswick, which how­ ever they resemble in character, especially in the relative dimensions of the two letters. Mr. Stahlschmidt, in a J~tter to me 1 said ;- KESWICK TOWN BELL. 157 The Oldfields are a mysterious family. I have them at Canterbury, York, Nottingham, Hertford, and London; and there were besides three or four peripatetic ones with no apparent abodes at all.

My theory of Robert Oldfeild is that he was a member of the York firm, travelling at intervals during the period 1586-1615 as a peripatetic founder; and that in one of his peregrinations he cast what is now the Keswick town clock bell. The initials H D are less easy to identify. It has by some been taken for granted that D must needs stand for Derwentwater. But during the period in which the bell was probably cast there was no such person as a Derwent­ water. The initials, then, may be those of some steward or agent who gave the order for the bell to be cast; and his name might possibly be discovered in the archives of Greenwich Hospital. This document is provided for you by The Whiting Society of Ringers visit www.whitingsociety.org.uk for the full range of publications and articles about bells and change ringing