RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Robert de Rawbankcs 



I3 6 5, I379 1 



(?) Gregory, 2 temp. Richard II. 



(?) Robert Pym, ascribed to the fifteenth 

 century 3 



William Reddekar, circa 1434* 



Thomas York, circa 1458-65." Va- 

 cancy in 1472 e ; again in 1480 7 



Robert Chamber, 1507, 15 I2, 8 1518 



John Nicolson 10 



i Carl. Epis. Reg., Appleby, ff. 144, 314; 

 Exch. Gler. Subs. bdle. 61, No. I, diocese of 

 Carl. See also Cal. of Doc. Scot. (Scot. Rec. Pub.), 

 iv. 47. In the porch of the abbey church there 

 still exists a fragment of his tomb with the letter- 

 ing ' . . . DE RAWBANKYS ABBAS . . .' 



> Reference to Abbot Gregory is made in a case 

 for the opinion of counsel about 1720, that in the 

 time of Richard II. he demanded tithe from the 

 copyholders of Holmcultram. 



3 In the British Museum a cast of a signet bears 

 the legend : ' ROB'TI PYM ABB'TIS DE HOLME' (Cat. 

 of Seals, i. 586). These two abbots are received 

 into the list with much hesitation. 



* Fuller, Worthies of England, (ed. Nichols), 

 i. 2401. The gravestone of this abbot, dug up 

 in 1867, shows beneath a rich canopy a pastoral 

 crook with a shield on either side bearing a cross 



or Rabankes, Matthew Dyves or Deveys, 1531 " 



Thomas Ireby, Yerbye, or Jerbye, 1533, 



1536 



Thomas Carter, 15 37 



Gawen Borudale (Borrodale), last abbot, 



1538 



The seal of the convent attached to the 

 deed of surrender 18 bears a full length figure 

 of the Blessed Virgin with the Child on her 

 left arm and the inscription slightly mutilated : 

 si : COMUNE : ABBATIS : ET : CONVENTUS : 



DE : HOLM : COLTRAM. 



In the British Museum there is the cast of 

 a seal, injured in places by pressure, and 

 ascribed to the thirteenth century, 13 which may 

 have belonged to Abbot Gervase (1274, 1279), 

 or to either of his predecessors, Gregory or 

 Gilbert. It is a pointed oval. The Virgin 

 with a crown holds the Child on the left arm 

 and stands on a shield of the arms of England 

 under a trefoiled canopy supported on slender 

 shafts. At the base of the shield are two 

 busts with hands supporting it. On each side 

 is a small niche containing on the left a saint 

 with crown and sceptre, on the right a bishop 

 or abbot. In the base is a lion dormant. 

 The legend has been mutilated : s. c . . . . 



moline and lion rampant, the arms of the monas- BATIS ET CONVENTVS DE HOLMCOL- 



tery. Around the edge runs the inscription : 

 ' Hie IACET WILLMS RY(DE)KAR ABBAS xxi (?) DE 



HoLMB CoLTRAN CVIVS AlE PROPICIETUR DfiUS, 



AMEN.' 



6 Arch. &Iiana (old ser.), ii. 399. He was 

 selected in 1458 to act as one of the English 

 commissioners for the preservation of truces with 

 the Scots (Rot. Scotia:, ii. 387-8). One of the 

 bells of Holmcultram is inscribed with the legend 

 in black letter : ' + IHS : THOMAS : YORK : ABBAS : 

 DE : HOLM : cu : DOMINIO : ANNO : DNI : MILL" : 

 cccc : LXV.' There is also a fragment at one of 

 the farm houses in the parish which carries a shield 

 with his initials supported by monks. 



6 Liber S. Marie de Metros (Bannatyne Club), 

 i. 596-9. 



7 In the accounts of the diocesan registrar of 

 Carlisle for 20 Edw. IV. the following payment 

 is on record : ' Et soluti iiij clericis Karlioli exis- 

 tentibus apud Rosam ad benedictionem abbatis de 

 Holme, i]s.' 



B For the date of this abbot see ante, pp. 1 69-70. 



8 In this year, 10 Hen. VIII., he appointed 

 Thomas Lord Dacre and William his son as 

 stewards of all the abbey lands (Nicolson MS. iii. 

 107). 



10 The only notice of Abbot John Nekalson or 

 Nicolson that has been found is in a memoran- 

 dum among the family papers of Chambers of 

 Raby, dated in 1591, now in the parish chest of 

 Holmcultram, and submitted to the writer for 

 inspection by Mr. F. Grainger. It is as follows : 

 ' Lord Robt. Chambers rygned the abbet of Holem 

 lordshep 30 yeares, and after him rygned John 



TRAM. 



A counter-seal of the thirteenth century 14 

 bore a right hand vested, holding a pastoral 

 staff, embowered with foliage, with the words : 



CONTRA SIGILLUM DE HOLMO 15 



There is in the British Museum the cast of 

 a seal ascribed to Abbot Thomas, 16 of date 

 about 1350. The abbot is standing under a 

 canopy supported on slender shafts with a 

 pastoral staff in his right hand and a book in 

 his left. In the base is a lion's face and out- 

 side the shafts on each side is a wavy sprig of 

 foliage. This legend is imperfect : SIGILLUM 



ABBA . . . HOLMCOLTRAM. 



Nekalson 5 yeares, and after him rygned Thomas 

 Jerbie fower yeares and moor, and after him rygned 

 on(e) Gaven Borradell tow yeares and moor w ch 

 waes the last of all the lords (abbits cancelled in 

 the MS.). Abbet Chambers died threscore year 

 andtowell (twelve) yeares senc, 1591.' He is also 

 mentioned in another list of abbots who succeeded 

 Chamber (Nicolson MS. iii. 100). 



11 For this abbot and his successors, see ante, 

 p. 170. 



Aug. Off. Deed of Surrender. 



" B. M. Seals 3288. 



" Ibid. 3289. 



" Cal. of Doc. Scot. ii. 542. 



16 B. M. Seals 3290. There is also the signet of 

 Abbot Robert Pym used as a counterseal. It 

 shows a pastoral staff (ibid. 3291). 



173 



