Mr. George Tate on the Fame Islands. 245 



Few of these endowments were in money ; but, consisting of 

 food, wine, fuel, pasturage, land and houses, they indicate the 

 little advance which commerce had made in the twelfth century. 

 From the great quantity of peat given, it would appear that it 

 was the common fuel at this period ; but the accounts of the 

 House show that as early as the fourteenth century peat had 

 been superseded by coal in the monastery. 



The House of Fame was subordinate to the Convent of Dur- 

 ham, and hence an account of its receipts and expenditure was 

 yearly sent to Durham, where the rolls from the year a.d. 1357 

 till a.d. 1537 have been preserved. Lengthened extracts from 

 them have been printed in Mr. Rayne's excellent History of 

 North Durham ; and they furnish materials for some interesting 

 illustrations of the character and history of the little fraternity 

 of Benedictine monks, who for 300 years enjoyed the solitude 

 of the Fame. 



Usually there were but two monks on the island, with one or 

 two servants ; occasionally there was but one, and, for a short 

 time, there was a third monk, but the additional burden for his 

 support was borne by the Master of Jarrow, who in a.d. 1513 

 paid £5 for " the exhibition of a third associate." 



In a.d. 1357, when the accounts commence, the revenue of 

 the House was £34 18s. 8±d., and the expenditure £34 18s. 7\d. 

 This was no small income, for, judging from the price of labour 

 at this period, it would be equivalent to about £500 at the pre- 

 sent time ; and when to this are added the endowments in kind, 

 the House must be regarded as wealthy. The ordinary revenues 

 were increased by gifts from the pious. Considerable sums, as 

 has been stated, were received for rebuilding the chapels : 

 £12 7s. lOd. were given by divers persons in a.d. 1362, " to be 

 partakers of the prayers offered up at Fame;" and a box to 

 receive donations at St. Cuthbert's Chapel yielded 10s. in the 

 year a.d. 1486. The produce of the islands themselves and of 

 the sea around them further augmented the income of the House : 

 the herbage of the Farne yielded 5s. in a.d. 1360, and for the 

 produce of the outer islands, 3s. were received in a.d. 1376. 

 A barrel of oil was sold in a.d. 1337 for 26s. 8d.; and in a.d. 

 1360 the large sum of 58s. 6d. was realized by the sale of fish 

 and oil, the " oyl " having been derived from the " celys " (seals) 

 and porpoises caught by the monks. The right of pasturage at 

 South Charlton appears to have been turned to advantage, for 

 besides there being an ample supply of beef and mutton for 

 "the House," cattle were frequently sold; in a.d. 1361, a cow 

 brought 6s., a heifer 5s., and in a.d. 1351, a bull 7s. The 

 storms which rage with violence around these islands paid their 

 tribute to the monks : in a.d. 1357, 40s. were borrowed on credit 



