A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



oaks thrown down by the wind as they and 

 their servants can, before others, mark with an 

 axe stroke to the core : all which the canons 

 claimed by immemorial usage, producing a 

 horn which they said was given with the 

 liberties by Henry I. the founder of their 

 house. Edward III. also confirmed a writ, 

 dated 7 February 1286, whereby these 

 liberties were permitted to the canons with 

 the exception of trees blown down by the 

 wind. 1 It is probable that the horn of ivory 

 above mentioned was seen by Xonge 2 in his 

 heraldic visitation of the northern counties in 

 1530, when he described it as a 'great home 

 of venery, havyng certeyn bondes of sylver 

 and gold and the versus folowyng graven upon, 

 " Henricus primus nuster foundator opimus ac 

 dedit in teste carte pro jure foreste." : The 

 dean and chapter of Carlisle still possess certain 

 objects catalogued in the inventories of the 

 cathedral furniture as ' one horn of the altar in 

 two parts ' or ' two horns of the altar,' which 

 have given rise to much antiquarian discussion. 3 

 The property of the priory, scattered in 

 small parcels over the border and central 

 districts of the county, was frequently wasted 

 and destroyed by the inroads of the Scots. 

 Again and again the canons petitioned for 

 redress or alms on account of their poverty 

 and sufferings. The documentary evidences 

 of the fourteenth century are burdened with 

 appeals and complaints from Carlisle and the 

 other religious houses describing the woes and 

 wrongs perpetrated by the hereditary enemy.* 

 It would serve no useful purpose to recount 

 the numerous licences and gifts made in 

 response to such appeals. The strong walls of 

 Carlisle were insufficient to protect their 

 church and cloisters from fire and damage. 

 In 1316, when the Scots were particularly 

 aggressive, the canons petitioned for a grant 

 of timber to renovate their burnt cathedral, 8 



Pat. 5 Edw. III. pt. i. m. 8. 



1 Visitation of 'the Northern Counties, i53o(Surtees 

 Soc.), 1 02. 



3 Arch. iii. 223, v. 340-5, where the horns 

 so called are figured ; Trans. Cumb. and Westmld. 

 Arch. Soc. ii. 3 3 7-47 ; Cat. of the Arch. Mus. 

 firmed at Carlisle in 1859, p. 16. 



1 It was little wonder that the name of Robert 

 Bruce, the cause of many of their misfortunes, 

 was held in detestation on the English side of the 

 Border. When Cardinal Peter of Spain, the 

 papal legate, came to Carlisle, he preached in the 

 cathedral and ' revested himselfe and the other 

 bishops which were present, and then with candels 

 light and causing the bels to be roong, they accursed 

 in terrible wise Robert Bruce the usurper of the 

 crowne of Scotland with all his partakers, aiders 

 and mainteiners" (Holinshed, ii. 523). 



Anct. Petitions, No. 4897. 



and complained against the conduct of Sir 

 Andrew de Harcla, sheriff of the county, who 

 made a ' fosse ' through the prior's ground 

 under the wall of the city and set fire to all 

 the priory houses outside the walls, which 

 could not be replaced for 100. As the 

 damage had been done for the safety of the 

 priory as well as the town, owing to the 

 rigorous necessities of the siege, the brethren 

 were requested to wait for peace and the 

 king would not forget their interests. 6 So 

 heavily lay the destroying hand on the priory 

 at this period, that Edward II. sent writs to 

 the abbots of Leicester and Thornton on 

 Humber, and to the priors of Thurgarton, 

 Bridlington, Worksop and Kirkham, each 

 to receive into their houses one of the canons 

 of Carlisle to be nominated by the prior's 

 letters patent and to maintain him as one 

 of their own canons until the priory of 

 Carlisle was relieved from its present state, as 

 its goods were so robbed and wasted by the 

 Scottish rebels that they were insufficient for 

 the maintenance of the canons of the house. 7 

 It was a privilege of the Crown to exact a 

 corrody from all the religious houses of royal 

 foundation, and in times of prosperity the 

 king was accustomed to demand it from the 

 priory of Carlisle. In 1331 Richard Cham- 

 pion, in consideration of his good service to 

 Edward I. and Edward II., was sent to the 

 convent to receive such maintenance as Peter 

 de Kirkosvvald, deceased, had in that house 

 at the request of the former king. 8 But the 

 time came when the kings were obliged to re- 

 linquish the privilege. In 1386 Richard II., 

 in consideration of the great losses and 

 destruction by the Scots, remitted to the prior 

 and convent and their successors for ever the 

 right of corrody or maintenance, which his 

 progenitors were accustomed to give therein 

 and which the king in his time had given to 

 John Hobcrone.* At that time their losses 

 were exceptionally severe. As late as the 

 reign of Queen Mary it could be said that 

 the Scots ' are verey cruell at present.' 10 



The kings must have stayed several times 

 at the priory on their various visits to Carlisle. 

 Edward I. was certainly a guest there in 

 August 1 306, for on the tenth of that month 

 he requested James de Dalilegh, his agent in 

 Cumberland, to put the houses of the priory 

 in readiness for his reception as he intended 



Cal. of Doc. Scot. (Scot. Rec. Pub.) iii. 100-1. 

 i Close, 10 Edw. II. m. 2gd. 

 " Ibid. 5 Edw. III. pt. i. m. ;d. 

 Pat. 10 Ric. II. pt. i. m. 18, 35. 

 10 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii. App. vii. 9 (Rydal 

 Hall MSS.) 



