24 Drunken Barnaby at Neasham. 



Thence to Darlington, where I boused, 

 Till at length I was espoused. 

 All night long by th' pot I tarry'd 

 As if I had not been marry'd. 



Thence to Nesham, now translated, 

 Once a nunnery dedicated. 

 Valleys smiling, bottoms pleasing. 

 Streaming rivers, never ceasing, 

 Deck'd with tufted woods and shady. 

 Graced by a lovely lady. 



In his later days Braithwaite lived at Appleton, near 

 Richmond, upon what his biographer calls " an employment, 

 or rather a second marriage." He died there May 4th, 1673, 

 and was buried at Catterick, " leaving behind him the 

 character of a well-bred gentleman and a good neighbour." 



Hutchinson speaks of a stone coffin at Newbus Grange, 

 which had originally come from the Abbey and which was then 

 in use as a pig-trough, and Mackenzie records that " at Mr. 

 Ward's house, at the Hill top, there is a piece of sculpture 

 fixed in the wall which seems to represent the Marys weeping 

 at the foot of the Cross." 



There are two figures of Crusaders in Hurworth Church 

 which were taken from the Abbey, and Mrs. Wilkinson has in 

 her possession a Crusader's sword, which was dug up during 

 one of the excavations mentioned. 



The three brothers Wilkinson, of whom much anon, began 

 to build the present house on the site of the Abbey and it was 

 added to by future generations of the family. As one would 

 expect, there are manifold signs of the sporting proclivities of 

 the Wilkinson family, past and present, throughout the house. 

 Fox mask, and otter and badger vie with one another in the 

 entrance hall. There are pictures of the Hurworth Hunt of 

 years ago, and of the Wilkinson trio, who did so much for the 



