98 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE [iv. 



over 12,00(K, exclusive of the mansion, the park, and 

 the grouse-shooting; yet relatively the superficial 

 area is much in excess of the rent-roll. 



" The bounds of Swinton are almost identical with 

 those of the famous old inanor of Mashamshire. 

 Besides the thriving little market town of Masham, 

 they include, either entirely or in part, several 

 parishes, with sundry villages. And Mashamshire 

 recalls a long train of historical associations, going 

 back to Saxon times. It was owned at the Conquest 

 by Earl Edwin, twin brother of Morcar, grandson of 

 the great Leofric of Mercia and the Lady Godiva, 

 and brother-in-law of the unfortunate Harold. The 

 Conqueror confiscated it for the benefit of his nephew, 

 the Earl of Bretagne and Richmond. In the reign 

 of the first Edward it had passed to the Scropes, who 

 were ennobled as Lords Scrope of Masham; and 

 from the Scropes it came by marriage to the old 

 Yorkshire family of the Danbys, whose descendants 

 held it down to the present day. 



" Swinton is emphatically an ' old ' property, as one 

 of the people with whom I conversed on the estate 

 remarked very suggestively. He meant that for 

 generations it had been the pride of its owners ; that 

 they had lavished their money freely on it; and, 



