01 ANCIBNT HISTORY OF KIRKBY- MOORSIDE. 



confiscated. Tradition says he made his escape in- 

 to Scotland, in the time of a deep snou', and eluded 

 his pursuers by having the shoes of his horse rever- 

 sed ; and that the descendants of the blacksmith 

 who shod his horse, not long since en joyed a house 

 in Castle-gate, as a reward for their ancestor's ser- 

 vice, at the rent of a farthing a year : with the 

 privilege of shooting and hunting. There is now 

 in the chancel of the church at Kirkby-Moorside, a 

 stone reversed to preserve the device, which is said 

 to cover the remains of the blacksmith before na- 

 med ; having the blacksmith's arms on it. 



This Manor remained in the possession of the 

 crown, till the reign of James I. ; who gave it to 

 his favourite Villiers, Duke of Buckingham ; a great 

 statesman, and memorable in English history, for 

 having been the favourite of two kings ; James I. 

 and Charles I. He was born in 1592, and was ass- 

 assinated by Felton, a discontented lieutenant, at 

 Portsmouth in 1628. The manor of Kirkby-Moor- 

 side then descended to George, his son ; a very 

 distinguished statesman, a poet also, and dramatic 

 writer, born in 1627. His morals were bad, and 

 as he lived a profligate, so he died in comparatively 

 low circumstances ; in a house in this town, in the 

 market place, at the corner of a street called Tinley 

 Garth, not far from the Vicarage, and now inhabit- 

 ed by Mr. Cole, brother-in-law to Mr. Atkinson, 

 the late occupier. He died after a short illness of 

 an inflammation, in consequence of sitting on the 

 ground when fatigued with hunting; aged 60 years. 



