His Birthplace and its Influences. 25 



premises, which present some square mul- 

 lioned windows and an apartment now di- 

 vided by separate partitions which was once 

 a portion of the old wall ; it still retains the 

 old chimney piece with a wide arch flush 

 with the wall. The house is of interest as 

 having been the ancestral home of the Rev. 

 Thomas Machell, the Antiquary, to whom we 

 have so often referred. The Machell family 

 resided here, and continued the name as 

 possessors of the Manor of Crackenthorpe 

 for at least 600 years. The pedigree and 

 succession are set forth at great length in 

 the fifth volume of MSS., now in the Dean 

 and Chapter's Library at Carlisle, by the 

 Rev. Thomas Machell, who, in his great 

 zeal for the antiquity of his name, did Latin- 

 ise it into the form of ' 4 Malus Catulus," 

 and supposes that they descended from the 

 Catuli among the ancient Romans. With- 

 out giving credit, however, for the validity 

 of these pretensions, there is no doubt that 

 this name existed at the time of the Con- 

 quest, and, in fact, it is found in Domesday ; 

 the first mention of it in connection with 

 the Manor of Crackenthorpe occurring in the 



