cattle he has to look after!-for he is a great grazier and herdsman. Thus, in 1301, we find that there were at Bolton and the Granges no fewer than 713 horned cattle, 2193 sheep, 95 pigs, and 91 goats. He might well need the aid of John de Lambhird, the chief herdsman, Magister Bercaria.' There would be need, too, for Simon Paunch, Jolyneddy, Adam Blunder, Richard Drunkur, Tom Noght, Botchcollocke, and the other farmservants who figure on the roll of the Compotus.

"The prior was no mere cloister-monk, devoted to book and candle, but a jolly liver, gaily dressed, waited upon by well-appointed servants and gentlemen-retainers (armigeri), and huntsmen and equerries, when he went out to enjoy himself in the forest-chase. For, our prior kept his own pack of hounds, and took the field fully appointed. And a savage pack of hounds his must have been, for we find the brutes on one occasion to have seized upon a horse and worried him to death, besides grievously wounding another. The quantity of oatmeal, and other stuffs, on which these hounds were fed, is all set down in the Compotus. On some occasions, we find the prior entertains a gay hunting party at his domain. The Percys and their friends were frequent visitors; and they are right hospitably entertained at the priory, while daily hunting through the forests of the Wharfe, up Littondale and Langstrothdale chase. During one of these visits, we find twenty-two extra quarters of wheat are consumed !”

Then comes a capital description of the bishop of the diocese," with a noble pack of hounds, and an immense following of servants and armed retainers," as they sweep through the abbey gates; and a vivid picture of the bustle and preparation conse

quent upon the prior's going to London: how his best and gayest dresses are sought out, portable luxuries brought forth, and packed on the backs of sumpter horses; and then the setting off of the train, "after prayers in the chapel, escorted beyond the priory gates by the sympathizing brethren." His expenses, on one of these occasions, when called to the parliament at York, amount to £19. 48. 6d., about £200. sterling.

"Under the prior and the sub prior were many other officers; the sacristan, who was a kind of treasurer, taking charge also of the consecrated church plate and utensils, the repair and lighting of the church, the due performance of religious services, and receiving all fees, gifts, and donations made at the high altar. The cellarer, or bursar, was styled the second father of the convent," for he looked after the substantials. He superintended the hospitality of the house, and was purveyor and master of the refectory, kitchen, cellar, and bakehouse. The hospitaller, or guest-master, took charge of the guests' hall, and did the honours of the house to the visitors, saw that they had food and drink enough, and that the mats were properly spread at night,-for, in those primitive times, beds were as yet unknown. Then the infirmarer took charge of the sick in the infirmarium; he was usually well skilled in diseases and their treatment, and monks were the best doctors of that time. The dwellers in the priory, over whom these exercised their offices, consisted of from fifteen to eightteen canons, or cloister monks, besides three or four conversi, or lay-brethren, generally artists, and who did the skilled work of the establishment, as well as gave their occasional services to the wealthy families in the neighbourhood. We find one of

them making at the rate of about £100. a year, which went into the general funds of the establishment. Another of them, less unselfish, hides some of his gains in his box, where a sum of £70 is found secreted after his death, contrary to the laws of the house. Then there were the armigeri, or gentlemen-retainers, about twenty in number, each of whom had a garcio, or slave, to wait upon him; they had free board, lodging, and clothing; they attended the prior on his journeys, and guarded the priory from attack. The libri servientes, or free servants, were numerous: there was the master-carpenter, master and under-cook, brewer, baker, master-smith, nockarius (billman ?), fagota. rius (woodman ?), and the ductor saccorum (sackman?). Their wages averaged from 3s. to 10s. per annum. Of these there were about 26 in the house, and about 100 employed about the granges of the priory. John de Lambhird (from whence the name Lambert) was the head shepherd."

Then there were the endless retainers of the abbey, the garciones, slaves of the establishment, besides the higher kind of servants. The prior had twenty of the slaves set apart for his own service.

"The armigeri and conversi had each one to serve and wait upon him. The cellarer had a number employed in the kitchen, scullery, and outhouses; many attended the huntsman, the page of the stables, and the equerries; and others tended the cattle, and drove the swine among the woods. It would appear, from an entry in the Compotus, 'pro arcubus ad opus garcionum,' that these bondsmen were furnished with bows and arrows-at least such of them as tended the flocks-in order to their protection against wolves and other wild

beasts, which then roamed the forests of Bolton and Barden."

Altogether the number of persons in the priory could not have been less than 200; and the quantity of provisions they devoured was immense. In one year they consumed 319 quarters of wheaten bread; 112 quarters of barley meal; 80 quarters of oatmeal, for pottage; 80 quarters of barley, oats, and wheat mixed; 636 quarters of malted oats, of which they made their oaten ale, and large quantities of beer, and wine. The rent roll of the abbey, in farms, mills, fair dues, church dues, and the sale of wool (from which they derived immense revenues in proportion to the estate) amount to about £10,000 per annum.

The priory existed upwards of 400 years, when Richard Moon, the last Prior of Bolton, surrendered it into the hands of the commissioners, appointed by Henry VIII., at the dissolution of religious houses in England, on the 26th of January, 1540. 1542, the estates were granted to the first Earl of Cumberland, Henry Clifford, for £2490. They have since passed, by descent, into the hands of of the Duke of Devonshire.

In

Persons wishing to visit the abbey, can find ample accommodation for their horses, with plenty of good living for themselves, at a neat inn at the foot of Bolton Bridge. The old bridge has been pulled down; and in former times there was a chapel upon it, at which the pilgrim was invited to pray, and to pay, too, I have no doubt. The inscription over the chapel door is still preserved in one of the cottages near the bridge. It is as follows:

"Thow yat passys by yis way,
One ave Maria here yow say."

Not far from the bridge is the town-field, which runs down to the river, wherein Prince Rupert is said to have encamped on his way to Marston Moor, in July, 1644. A path along the fields conducts you to the abbey-close, which is surrounded by the abbey wall, in a good state of preservation.

The gateway of the priory is opposite the west-front of the church; and belongs to the perpendicular era. It seems also, to have been constructed for the purposes of defence. The outer walls of the church are still entire, and service is performed within them every Sunday.

The first part of the abbey that attracts the notice of the stranger, is the tower at the west end of the church, which was begun by Richard Moon, a native of the village of Hazlewood, hard by, in 1520. "The exterior exhibits great originality of design; but, in the inside, the detail of the arch, by which it communicates with the nave, is certainly unsatisfactory, particularly in the mouldings, which are of very insufficient projection. The arms of Clifford and of the priory, derived from these of the Earls of Albemarle, are introduced in the spandrils of the doorway. The mouldings of the niches above, after making the heads expand into the resemblance of embattled turrets, thus betraying a tendency, in the decoration of the work at least, to the cinquecento vitiation. A frieze above, contains the inscription by which alone, Moon has retained the credit of the work.

"In the yer of our lord, mdcxx. R. begaun thes foundachon on who sowl god haue marce. Amen."

On the first stage of the south-west buttress