2«'» S. VIII. Nov. 26. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



435 



a pedigree, letters, and attested evidence, and 

 proved the claim of itself. 



With regard to these papers the verdict was as 

 follows : " 3. Finding unanimously that the docu- 

 ments in De Porquet's packet are not proven to be 

 forged." The italics are mine. I think I have 

 now succeeded in putting the case in a very dif- 

 ferent light from that in which Y. S. M. and M. 

 L. wished to have it viewed. I will merely add 

 that this is the last communication I shall send to 

 " N. & Q." on the subject of Lord Stirling and 

 his claims : " ex uno disce omnes." J. A. Pn. 



NORTHOMBERLAND NOTES. 



(2"'» S. viii. 348.) 



I beg to correct a few errors into which Mr. 

 Harwood Pattison has fallen in his Northum- 

 brian Notes. The churches of this county are 

 generally constructed in the Norman or Early 

 English styles. The nave of Mitford church is 

 entirely Norman : the chancel Early English, ex- 

 cepting the south door, which is round-headed 

 and ornamented with rude zig-zag. 



With regard to the crosses, those of Ryton and 

 Ravensworth are in the county of Durham : the 

 latter marks the spot where the country people 

 came with their commodities during the raging of 

 the great plague in Newcastle in 1636. 



There is a fine octagonal cross in the church- 

 yard of Morpeth. Perfect examples of the pele 

 tower are not so rare as your correspondent sup- 

 poses. There is a very fine one in the village of 

 Carbridge. The rectory houses of Rathbury and 

 Elsdon are pele towers, and are still inhabited by 

 their respective Incumbents. Not unfrequently 

 the church tower was constructed in the same 

 manner ; examples of it are seen in the churches 

 of Chatton and Longhoughton, which have evi- 

 dently been erected as places of defence. Another 

 example of the pele is Cockle Park tower, now a 

 farmhouse, figured in Grose's Antiquities and 

 Hodgson's Northumberland. Stanard Pele is 

 nothing but the fragment of a ruin — the very 

 " shadow of a shade." The Hermitage is in Lld- 

 disdale in Scotland : it was erected in the thir- 

 teenth century by the Earl of Monteith. Aydon 

 Castle is a fine example of the houses of the same 

 period, the licence to fortify it bearing date 1302. 



I cannot agree with Mr. Pattison in his re- 

 mark that the church of St. Nicholas in this town 

 is "mongrel." It is true it has, from time to 

 time, undergone repairs ; but in the main the 

 original architecture has been copied. The choir, 

 from its great length, and the remarkably wide 

 span of its arches, produces a fine effect when 

 viewed from below the organ gallery. I am, 

 however, sorry to say that within the last two 

 months the original east window, of admirable 



proportions, has been demolished, and in its place 

 has been erected a great glaring* window of de- 

 cidedly pseudo-perpendicular. St. Andrews is 

 generally considered the oldest church in this 

 town. Mention of it first occurs in the Tyne- 

 mouth Chartulary in 1218 ; the chancel arch is, 

 however, anterior to this date. Grey, in his 

 Chorographia, published 1649, says : " In this 

 church is to be seen a pardon of a Pope for nine 

 thousand years to come." Search has been made 

 among the archives of the church for this in- 

 teresting document, but without success. This 

 county is exceedingly rich in castles and eccle- 

 siastical ruins, the enumeration of which would 

 occupy too much of your valuable space. The 

 abbey church of Hexhtim, now undergoing restor- 

 ation, is well worthy of a visit, and the church of 

 Newburn, five miles west of Newcastle, is a per- 

 fect gem. The arches on the north side of the 

 nave are of heavy Norman, while the south side 

 displays the Early-pointed arch springing from 

 octagonal piers. The windows contain some fine 

 specimens of ancient stained glass. This church 

 is also interesting as the scene of Earl Copsi's 

 murder in 1067. Leslie, the Scotch general, also 

 planted nine pieces of cannon upon the tower 

 during the " sharp conflict of 28th of August, 

 1640." Edward Thompson. 



Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



BUTTS FAMILT. 



(2"'' S. iv. 257.) 



It is now indeed long since I requested a re- 

 ference to the passage in Camden from which, 

 according to E. D. B., it would appear that a Sir 

 William Butts was '* one of the knights slain at 

 Polctiers, 1356, when fighting in the van of the 

 army with Lord Audeley." 



As I proposed an intercommunication by letter 

 with E. D. B., it may be thought that I have 

 heard from him, and that ray doubts are satisfied. 

 Such, however, is not the case, as I have received 

 no communication from the reverend gentleman. 



It is only comparatively lately that I have seen 

 Mrs. Sherwood's Autobiography, to which I was 

 referred by Dr. Doran. I there found a " Table 

 of Descent," commencing with — Butts, said to 

 marry a daughter of Sir Will. Fitzhugh, Knt., of 

 Congleton and Elton, co. Chester ; his son is called 

 Sir William Butts, Knt., Lord of Shouldham 

 Thorpe, co. Norfolk, and of Congleton, co. Ches- 

 ter, slain at the battle of Poictiers, with a refer- 

 ence to Camden, but no page specified ; he is 

 married to a daughter of Sir Ranulph Cotgrave, 

 Lord of Hargrave, co. Chester ; William, Robert, 

 Edward, and William Butt, in each case described 

 as of Shouldham Thorpe and of Congleton, occur 

 in succession, marrying respectively with De 



