A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



select it as his burial place. The monks cannot 

 have been averse to a custom which gave them 

 a claim upon the benevolence of the deceased 

 man's descendants. Thomas son of Andrew 

 de Kirkconnell, at the request of Robert, 

 abbot of Holmcultram, where the body of 

 his father was entombed, made a grant to the 

 abbey for his father's soul. 1 In all such cases 

 the rights of parish churches were invariably 

 recognized by the payment of parochial dues. 

 When Adam de Bastenthwayt, whose will 

 was proved at Rose in January, 1358-9? 

 bequeathed his body to be buried in the 

 cloister of the monastery near to his father 

 and mother, if the consent of the convent 

 could be obtained, he stipulated that the 

 mortuary due to the parish church of St. 

 Bees, ' Bastenthwayt,' should be delivered. 2 

 These examples will be considered sufficient 

 to illustrate the custom. 



This abbey was one of the Cumbrian 

 houses at which Edward I. stayed from time 

 to time, while on his expeditions against Scot- 

 land. It was to Holmcultram that Robert 

 Wisheart, Bishop of Glasgow, came of his 

 own free will to meet the king in October 

 1300, and to renew his broken vow of 

 allegiance. For the fourth time the bishop 

 took the oath upon the consecrated Host, 

 upon the Gospels, upon the Cross of St. Neot, 

 and upon the Black Rood of Scotland, in the 

 presence of Bishop Halton of Carlisle, the 

 abbot of Holmcultram, and many of the 

 great lords of England and the envoys of 

 France. 3 It is not easy to account for the 

 king's presence at Burgh-by-Sands, where he 

 died on 7 July 1307, as it was impossible that 

 he should propose to lead his army into Scot- 

 land by that route. It is probable that as the 

 host was encamped at Carlisle, the king was 

 on his way thither from Holmcultram * when 

 he was seized with the fatal sickness. 



The position of the abbey on the southern 

 shore of the Solway jeopardized its safety at 

 every outbreak of hostilities between the two 

 kingdoms. The story of its losses and suffer- 

 ings would necessitate a detailed narrative of 

 Border feuds. The fact that the house was 

 of Scottish foundation did not save it from 

 attack or in any way mitigate its hardships. 

 As early as 1216 the Scots, in revenge for 



i Reg. of Holmcultram, MS. ff. 21, 121-2. 



" Carl. Epis. Reg., Welton, f. 30. 



s Rymer, fcedera, i. 924 ; Palgrave, Doc. and 

 Rec. (Rec. Com.), clxxviii. 344. 



4 This supposition is consistent with the official 

 memorandum of the king's death (Rymer, fcedera, 

 i. 1018). Letters patent were issued from Holm- 

 cultram on the day before and the day after the 

 fatal event (Cal. of Pat. 1301-7, pp. 535-6). 



King John's invasion, broke into Cumberland 

 by way of the Solway and pillaged the abbey 

 of Holmcultram in spite of the orders of 

 Alexander II. who had extended his peace to 

 religious houses. The chronicles of Melrose 

 and Lanercost describe the mischief done in 

 almost the same words. It was a wholesale 

 spoliation. The Scots took everything they 

 could lay hands on, the holy books, vestments, 

 chalices, horses and cattle, utensils and gar- 

 ments, going to the extremity of stripping a 

 monk who was lying at his last gasp in the 

 infirmary. But their impiety did not pass 

 unpunished. On their return homewards 

 with the spoils, nearly two thousand Scots 

 were drowned in the tide as they forded the 

 river Eden. 6 At a later date the sufferingsof the 

 monks were more protracted owing to contin- 

 uous warfare. 6 In addition to the forfeiture of 

 their Scottish possessions, the house was im- 

 poverished by losses at home. In 1315-6 

 they petitioned the king for the advowson of 

 the church of Kirkby Thore in Westmorland, 

 as the abbey was plundered, their houses 

 burned, their lands wasted, and their cattle, 

 horses and oxen were driven away. 7 The 

 strain was so great at this period that the 

 resources of the house were unable to support 

 the community as aforetime. In 1319 some 

 of the monks were dispersed in different 

 abbeys of their own order until Holmcultram 

 was relieved of its oppressions. 8 On one 

 occasion, in 1385, the monks paid ^2OO to 

 the Earl of Douglas as an indemnity for the 

 ransom of their church and lands from de- 

 struction. 9 In fact, up to the very time of 

 the dissolution, the abbey was in danger of 

 spoliation. As late as 1527 the monks petitioned 

 parliament that they might be discharged 

 from the office of collectors of tenths, aids, 

 loans and other exactions, and from the pay- 

 ment of taxes and tallages, as their house 

 was situated on the frontier and often in great 

 danger from the Scots. 10 



It must not be taken that the abbey was in 

 a perpetual state of siege and never enjoyed 



* Chron. of Melrose, in ann. 1216; Chron. de 

 Lanercost, 18. 



6 Even in times of peace the abbey was situated 

 in a dangerous locality. In 1235 the king, having 

 heard that the monks had suffered great damage 

 from malefactors in the places where their granges 

 were, granted them liberty to have, outside the 

 forest, their servants armed with bows and arrows 

 to protect their goods (Pat. 19 Hen. III. m. 5). 



' Parl. Petitions, No. 3946. 



s Close, 13 Edw. II. m. i8d. 



Parl. Petitions, No. 4165 ; Pat. 9 Ric. II. pt. 

 i. m. 5 ; Cal. of Doc. Scot. (Scot. Rec. Pub.), iv. 78. 



10 L. and P. Hen. nil. iv. 3053 (iv.) 



166 



