A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



Whereas it appears upon oathe that James Bell of Corby, upon ye nth of May last, 

 had two oxen stolen from Snowdon's Close, price 8, and ye same was lawfully booked ' 

 by Matthew Whitfield, book-keeper there, Ordered that Thomas Warwick, Esq., trea- 

 surer for ye money collected for ye Border service, doe pay ye said James Bellyesume 

 of six poundes for ye s d oxen (Easter, 1668). 



It will be seen from the working of the new institution that moss- 

 trooping was not what it used to be, that is, exclusively confined to 

 Scots who made sallies into the county and retreated with their booty 

 across the Border. It had degenerated into a sneaking system of 

 brigandage and outlawry, 2 when bands of thieves concealed themselves 

 in the wild moorlands of Bewcastle or among the hills of Borrowdale, 

 where the agents of the law found a difficult entry. Not the Debatable 

 Land alone, but every inch of the county had to be watched and guarded, 

 book-keepers having been stationed in Carlisle, Wigton, Penrith, 

 Kirkoswald, Brampton, Longtown, Cockermouth, Keswick, Bootle, 

 Ravenglass, Egremont, Whitehaven, Workington, Ireby, Holmcultram, 

 and Alston Moor. Judging from the entries in the order books of 

 Quarter Sessions, the Border service was instrumental in destroying this 

 long-standing species of crime. It is said by Gray 3 that the practice 

 lingered on among the dalesmen of Borrowdale till the accession of 

 George III. 



The statutes which provided machinery * for ordering the forces in 

 the several counties of this kingdom ' present no special features in their 

 application to Cumberland. In times of scare or political unrest, the 

 forces of the county were put in array to meet the emergency. When 

 the news of the fire in London of 1 666, supposed to have been caused 

 by the French and Dutch, reached the north, Lord Carlisle called out 

 the trained bands and stationed Major Lowther's and Mr. Fleming's 

 companies at Kendal, Sir George Fletcher's at Appleby, Sir William 

 Carleton's at Penrith, Sir Francis Salkeld's and Captain Hudleston's at 

 Cockermouth, Sir Thomas Dacre's at Brampton, and the light horse at 

 Penrith. Again when troubles broke out in Scotland, in the summer of 

 1679, there was a general muster of the two counties at Carlisle, and Sir 

 Daniel Fleming was obliged to inform Lord Morpeth that there were 

 many defects and gaps to be supplied in his contingent, as it had not 

 been called out since June 1 676.* The militia played no part in the 

 affairs of Cumberland during the Revolution of 1688. After the flight 

 of King James, however, a bold initiative was taken by the local leaders 

 to hold the county for King William. On 10 December 1688, when 

 an alarm was raised of an Irish and Scottish invasion, Sir John Lowther 

 of Lowther issued warrants for a muster of militia at Penrith on 19 



* It was ordered at the Midsummer Sessions 1704 ' that only one shilling be taken for booking stollen 

 goods and nothing for a copy or certificate of the bookinge.' 



Lord Thanet, writing on 3 April 1685, told Lord Dartmouth that Cumberland was in no little 

 disorder, and if a militia were anywhere needed it was certainly there, where they were ' often alarrummed 

 by the Borderers whose trade was and ever will be fighting and stealing for their daily bread ' (Hist. MSS. 

 Com. Ref. [Dartmouth MSS.], xi. App. v. 124). 



3 Journal of a Tour in the Lakes, 3 October 1769. 



Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. (Rydal MSS.), xii. App. vii. 42-3, 159. 



294 



