IDe 1Flo\'a Willa: OR, THE HOUSE OF NEVILL IN SUNSHINE AND SHADE, BY HENRY J. SW ALLOW FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE; TH£ Soct£TY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, &c., &c. "To visit the most remarkable scenes of history, to record the impressions thence derived in their immediate vividness, to restore as it were each place and its inhabitants to freshness, and to present them freed from the dust of ages to the genera.I reader-this is the proper labour of tht antiquary."-Howitt. u It is HrsTORIE that hath given us life in our und'e:-standing since the \V ORD itself had life, having made us acquainted with our dead Ancestors ; and out of the dei,,th and darkness of the earth delivered us their .Memorie and Fame.-Sfr \.\'alttr Raleigh. NEWCASTLE-OX-TYNE: A!\'DREW REID, PRINTING COURT BUILDI~GS, AKENSIDE HILL. LONDO:-,': GRIFFITH, FARRAN, & CO., ST . .PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 1885. [ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.] NEWCASTLF-l'PO-X-TYNE: ANDREW RErn, PRI"XTEN .,Nn PcaLISHER, PRt:-,:TJXG Cot;RT BtirLn::,;r,c: A.10·:,,.:s;nE HILL. BY KIND PERMISSION, Ubts l3ooll IS DEDICATED TO THE REPRESENTATIVE HEADS OF THE HOUSE OF NEVILL, THE MOST HONOURABLE WILLIAM NEVILL. MARQUIS OF ABERGAVENNY j AND THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES CORNWALLIS NEVILLE, BARON BRAYBROOKE. PREF ACE. Tms book is an attempt to produce a record of the Nevill family, which may be of some interest both to the antiquary and the general reader. If, in making this attempt, I have courted the fate of the proverbial person who seeks to occupy two stools, I can only say that the acrobatic performances of this person are somewhat amusing; and I, at least, have succeeded in amusing myself. Fifty-five years ago Daniel Rowland wrote his H£storical and Genealog£cal Account of tlze Noble Family of Nevi'll. Only sixty copies of this very costly work were printed ; and several of these have been destroyed. But the writer had his reward. "It has beguiled and alleviated many hours of weariness. It has occupied my mind, diverting it from the memory of pleasures, which can return no more." I have built on Rowland, esteeming him to be a tolerably sure foundation ; and I have spent three years in independent research. Several manuscripts which appear in this book have never been printed before. My sincerest thanks are oue to the Marquis of Abergavenny, and to several members of the Carlton Club, for the kindly interest they have taken in the Vl PREFACE. book-to Lord Boyne for the use of Brancepeth Castle Library; to the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and the Rev. Canon Greenwell, for the use of the Chapter Library; to John Stansfield, Esq., F.S.A., for the use of his library ; to Mr. Froude, for permission to make extracts from his invaluable History; to the Bishop Suffragan of Nottingham; to Rev. the Hon. ·Latimer Neville; to the Hon. Ralph Pelham Nevill, of Biding; to Rev. Bury Capel, Vicar of Abergavenny; to Rev. Douglas G. Blakiston, Vicar of East Grinstead; to Rev. Joseph Wix, Vicar of Little bury; to Rev. S. H. Reynolds, Vicar of East Ham; to Rev. F. Ruxton, Vicar of \V ell ; to Rev. J. F. Hodgson, Vicar of Witton-le-\Vear; to Rev. J. J. Burton, Vicar ofEridge; to Rev. T. Stevens, Vicar of Saffron Walden; to Rev. R. Wentworth Fav,kes, Rector of Frant; to \V. H. D. Longstaffe, Esq., F.S.A., of Gateshead; to Mr. C. M. Carlton, of Durham; to \Valter de Grey Birch, Esq., F.R.S.L.; and to several officers of the British Museum and the Public Record Office, who have given me assistance. I am indebted to Captain Robinson, of Hardwicke Hall, for the sketch of Barnard Castle. The block of Nevill's Cross is copied (-with some necessary altera­ tions) from a design kindly lent me by Mr. Murray1 of Albermarle Street. The portrait_ of the ill-fated Earl of \V estmoreland is from a very fine steel engraving, copied from the original picture in the possession of Lord Abergavenny. The picture was moved from Birling to Kidbrooke, and from thence to Eridge Castle. The portrait of the Countess is copied from PREFACE. Vll Sir Cuthbert Sharp's Memorials, and was originally taken from her father's tomb at Framlingham. The Kingmaker's portrait is a reproduction from Rowland's work. The Warwick engravings are from the original steel plates, in the possession of Messrs. Cooke and Sons, Warwick. The permanent photograph of Brancepeth is an adaptation from a larger one, kindly presented to me by Messrs. Frith and Co., of Reigate. To prevent the book from becoming too costly, I have been obliged to forego my intention to present the reader with engravings of the principal Nevill monuments, and. also to suppress a great quantity of matter, chiefly copies of wills and other documents, in Latin and Norman-French. For the same reason I have only ventured upon a passing notice of the minor branches of the Nevill family. vVith regard to the name Nevill, it will be noticed that the Abergavenny branch reject the final" e," whilst the Braybrooke branch retain it; and, for the sake of further distinction, the Grove, Hornby, Chevet, Hol­ beck, Skelbrooke, and W ellingore divisions omit one "1." In the old manuscripts, from De Nova Villa we get Neuville, Nevylle, Nevyll, Nevyl, Nevill, and Nevil, whilst the Latimers are frequently styled Nevell; but the prevailing form is Nevyll or Nevill. I have adopted the latter spelling, and have thereby made an incalculable saving of the letter "e." H.J. S. Branccpeth, Durham, May, 1885. ) ~·••. , ·r:·'. ...··•v ,., ...,~,:> .. -~ y • ""'-.__ .,,..., ·,vs:•,,,, A " CONTENTS. PAGE. PREFACE V INTRODUCTION xii PART I. CHAPTER. !.-Saxon and Norman IL-Settlement of the Ne\'ills in Lincolnshire 6 !IL-Lord Ralph Ne\'ill of Nevill's Cross 13 IV.-The Battle of Nevill's Cross 18 V.-Issue of Ralph Nevill of Nevill's Cross 30 VI.-Ralph Nevill, first Earl of Westmoreland 36 VIL-House of \Vestmoreland, continued 49 VII!.-The Rising in tl.e l\orth 68 IX.-The Gathering of the Clans 79 X.-Onwards for Conscience's Sake! 86 XL-Back for your Life! 95 XI !.-Vengeance 107 XIII.-Exilcd II6 PART II. !.-Issue of John Beaufort IL-Richard :Nevill, Earl of Salisbury llI.-The House of Latimer IV.--The House of \Varwick V.-Richard Nevill, the Kingmaker \'!.-White or Red ? VIL-The Fall of \Varwick VIII.-The Lady Anne :\'e,·ill IX.-The Brothers of the King-maker X.-The House of Abergavenny XL-The House of Abergavenny, continued XIl.-~evill Knights collateral with the Lords of Raby XIII.-Sheriff Hutton XIV.-The Castle of Brancepeth XV.-Raby Castle XV!.-Middleham Castle, the Home of the Kingmaker XVII.-NeYill Haunts and Homes ... • XVII!.-Nevill Monuments XIX.-Nevill Badges, Seals, and Souvenirs INTRODUCTION. THE SAXON. " Rex est qui metuit nihil; Hoc regnum sibi quisque dat." -SENECA. Thyestes, a. II. A MANUSCRIPT in the British Museum ( Harl. Collect.) carries the Nevill pedigree through \Voden and Hen gist to Adam the father of us all. In Salomon and Saturn we are also told that Adam himself was created of eight pounds by weight ; a pound of earth, whence his flesh; a pound of fire, whence his hot and red blood; (for they knew nothing about corpuscles in those good old days), a pound of wind, whence his breath; a pound of cloud, whence his unsteadiness of mood; a pound of grace, whence his stature and growth; a pound of blossoms, whence the variety of his eyes; a pound of dew, whence his sweat; and a pound of salt, whence his tears. Genealogists tell us it is useless to go back to early Saxon times, for the lines of historical fact are shrouded by a dense mythical mist, and in the dim light of superstition it is difficult to distinguish gods from men. " Geat begat Godwulf, who begat Finn, who begat Frithowulf, who begat Fritholaf, who begat Woden, who begat W ecta, who begat Witta, who begat Wictgils, who begat Hengist," and so on. An old historian ( Damd) declares that "the beginning of people and states are as uncertain is the heads of great rivers, and cannot add to our virtue, and peradventure little to our reputation to know them." Xll I~TRODL'CTIO~. "Peradventure ldtle to our reputation." \Vhat a truly terrible warning! Nevertheless, dear old Daniel. I intend to go straight back now to the wondrous days when \Voden and Thor reigned in Angleland. The history of the Nevill family is almost collateral with the history of our country. The one cannot be understood without the other. Indeed, a great portion of English history was made by the Nevills. But in order fully to understand the sources of that extraordinary vigour of character which made the name of Nevill terrible on many a well fought field in Europe, we must search among the shadowy forms of heroes haunting battle fields long since obliterated ; we must wake again the sleeping warrior gods, and the savage sanguinary priests; we must put out of sight our own civilisation, and see instead immense hordes of cruel creatures rushing to battle; we must listen to wild weird songs, set to music still wilder and more weird than the words, pourtraying war as the very gate of heaven, and the means of escape from hell; we must banish from our society every false swearer, cold-blooded coward, and sneaking assassin; we must consign all such to the serpents of Nastrond; and the man "·ho alone must be exalted, and in whose presence all other men must be abased, is he, who, strong in his ever present manhood, rejoices to find himself alone in the thick of battle, who fears no fall, who scorns a helper.