91 



lung since ended all those beauties, which are to be compared to 

 the grass of the field, as Isaiah c. 40, v. 6, 7, 8. ' The voice said, 

 Cry. And he said. What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass, and all 

 the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field : the grass withereth, 

 the flower thereof fadeth : because the spirit of the Lord bloweth 

 upon it : surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the 

 flower fadeth : but the word of our God shall stand for ever.' " 



Leaving this charming young lady in charge of her courtly aunt 

 and learned tutor, we will take our leave of her for the present, 

 and, with her ancient records before us, make a sort of historical, 

 biographical steeplechase, from William the Conqueror to James L, 

 for of course no ancestors are much worth claiming who do not 

 begin with the conquering William. 



First we are introduced to a famous Robert Vetripont, whose 

 grandfather came over with the Conqueror ; and this Robert, we 

 are told, was a great friend and favourite of King John, and by 

 reason of the royal favour, by his own great abilities and force of 

 character, and last — though not least — by his marriage with a great 

 heiress, Idonea, he became a man of immense power and renown. 

 King John gave him large possessions in Westmorland, creating 

 him baron, and sheriff" of that county. These possessions, com- 

 prising the castles of Brougham, Brough, Pendraggon, and Appleby, 

 together with the sheriffdom of Westmorland, were made hereditary 

 to his heirs without the usual limitation to the male sex, so that 

 female descendants could and did assert their right to act as 

 sheriff". 



The great Vetripont, however, was evidently not a new comer 

 to the north, for his mother was Maud Moriville of Kirkoswald, 

 who in her widowhood lived at Meaburn — known to this day as 

 Mauds Meaburn. Her rents were paid in corn and victuals, which 

 she insisted upon being commuted into a money payment ; this, 

 the record says, was done "after much ado;" by which we may 

 understand that the Meaburn copyholders went on strike — but the 

 lady got her way. 



Besides being sheriff" of Westmorland, Vetripont was sheriff of 



