SIMON SENHOUSE, PRIOR OF CARLISLE. 
By Rev. J. I. CUMMINS, O.S.B. 
(Read at Maryport. ) 
Tuose who are acquainted with Carlisle Cathedral may recollect 
a large ancient tomb which stands very prominently in the north 
transept. It is an altar-tomb, covered with a plain, black marble 
slab. The inscription, which had long been defaced, was restored 
a few years ago by the present representative of his family, and 
now declares the tomb to be that of Simon Senhouse, Prior of 
Carlisle. There is always something pathetic about the last of an 
ancient line; and the last of the old Priors who for four hundred 
years ruled in unbroken succession the Cathedral Monastery of 
Carlisle has not a little of this pathetic interest gathering round 
his name. The fate of the monks of England was tragic enough 
to stir a chord of sympathy even after three centuries have passed 
away. But Prior Senhouse’s name excites our interest for other 
reasons. He is not quite a stranger to us. The scene of his life 
is laid in “‘ merrie Carlisle,” the capital of our county. In person 
he was the scion of an old Cumbrian family long and honourably 
connected with Maryport. And he lived in the early part of that 
wonderful 16th century, which saw so many changes, and which is 
still so full of interest to us as the great debateable ground of 
English history. 
The city of Carlisle, though built on the site of a Roman station, 
a British town, and a Saxon settlement, really owes its foundation 
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