A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



Adam de Appleby. 1 Among the names of the knights of the shire to 

 be found in the earlier returns are those of Mulcaster, Boyvill, Har- 

 rington, Multon, Cleter, Whitrig, Wigton, Tilliol, Joneby, Moresby, 

 Lucy, and Bampton. The name of Lowther first appears in 1324 

 in the person of Hugh de Lowther, though a scion of that great family 

 represented the county of Westmorland in 1305.* Carlisle in early 

 days was most frequently represented by the Grenesdales, two persons 

 of that name, Robert and Alan, being the burgesses in 1305. In these 

 parliaments the owners of the great baronies of Egremont, Greystoke, 

 Gillesland and Liddel sat amongst their peers. 



Before the outbreak of hostilities in 1296 none of the castles except 

 the castle of Carlisle played an important role in the political history of 

 Cumberland. The absence of great fortresses may be to some extent 

 accounted for by the geographical position of the county and the peculiar 

 dangers to which it was exposed. Protected on three sides by natural 

 defences, the outlet towards Scotland, its only vulnerable side by land, 

 was guarded by the castle of Carlisle, which watched over the safety of 

 the district with * the outlook of a sentinel.' It was the county castle, 

 under control of the sheriff, the rallying point of the posse comitatus, and 

 the key of the military strength of the western border. None of the 

 other castles, of which there were comparatively few, came into political 

 prominence before the death of Edward I. It is true that some ot the 

 great baronies like Allerdale, Coupland and Liddel had fortresses of one 

 kind or another in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but with the ex- 

 ception of the castle or peel of Liddel on the actual frontier, the district 

 depended little on them for its safety. The castles of Cockermouth and 

 Egremont were too far removed from the zone or danger to be of much 

 service in keeping the Scots in check. The international troubles which 

 arose at the close of the thirteenth century had a tendency to undermine 

 feudal methods of defence by driving the large landowners to shift for 

 their own protection, thus weakening the old obligation of ward in the 

 county castle. The safety of the county was taken out of the hand of 

 the sheriff and committed to the custody of another royal officer, first 

 called the captain and then the warden of the western march, at whose 

 call the tenants were obliged to muster for the repelling of an inroad or 

 the arrangement of a truce. 3 It was an exceptional expedient created to 



1 Rot. Parliam. (Rec. Com.), i. 188-91. In this roll the names of those who appeared by proxy are 

 recorded. In 1 309 Bishop Halton sent Adam de Appelby to represent him at Westminster, having had 

 leave of absence ' propter distanciam, temporis brevitatem, timorem invasionis Scottorum, necnon cor- 

 poris infirmitatem qua affligimur ' (Carl. Epis. Reg., Halton, f. 120). 



1 Parliaments of England (Blue Book), i. 20, 69. 



a Though the origin of the warden of the march is involved in some obscurity, there can be little 

 doubt that it took its rise as an institution or was reconstituted soon after the outbreak of the war with 

 Scotland in 1296. On 12 July 1297, Robert de Clifford was appointed ' capitaneus municionis Regis in 

 partibus Cumbrie ' against the Scots till further orders, and a writ of aid in favour of the said Robert was 

 directed to the sheriff, bailiffs, and other ministers of the county (Pat. 25 Edw. I. pt. ii. m. I ; Parl. Writs 

 [Rec. Com.], i. 294-5). In 1298 he was appointed captain in the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, 

 Lancaster, Annandale and the Marches as far as the county of Roxburgh ; all persons having lands in the 

 said counties and liberties were to assemble at ' Cardoyl ' within eight days from receipt of notice (Pat. 

 27 Edw. I. m. 41). In 1299 Clifford was called captain of the defence (municionis) in the parts of Carlisle 



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