in 1724, by Sir Thomas Bootle, of Melling, Chancellor to Frederick, Prince of Wales. He died without issue, having bequeathed his property to his niece, Mary, only daughter and heir of his brother, Robert Bootle, Esq., and wife of Richard Wilbraham, Esq., of Rode, M.P. for Chester. By this devise, the ancient and historic seat of Lathom vested in the Wilbrahams, and is now possessed by Edward Bootle Wilbraham, Lord Skelmersdale, the son and successor of the heiress of Bootle. His lordship's daughter is married to Lord Stanley, and thus the name of its former possessors has become again associated with this ancient Manor House. While the Stanleys held it, Lathom, for magnificence and hospitality, surpassed all the residences of the North, assuming, in those respects, the attitude of a Royal Court, and its possessors were regarded with such veneration and esteem, that the following harmless inversion was familiar "as household words”—God save the Earl of Derby and the King. At the period of its memorable siege, Lathom was under the government of the famous Charlotte de la Tremouille, Countess of Derby, whose husband had been commanded to leave the realm, and was then in the Isle of Man. This heroic lady, whose gallant daring in resisting the mighty power of the Parliament stands brightly forth amid all the brilliant achievements of the Royalists, was daughter of Claude, Duc de Tremouille, and, by her mother, Charlotte Brabanton de Nassau, was grand-daughter of William, Prince of Orange, and of Charlotte de Bourbon, of the Royal House of France. Thus highly born, and allied besides to the Kings of Spain and Naples, and the Dukes of Anjou, Charlotte de la Tremouille did not sully the renown acquired by so illustrious a descent. When the moment came for calling forth her energies and spirit, she rose equal to the occasion, and has left on the page of history an almost unparalleled example of female heroism. After the battle of Nantwich, the united forces of the Parliament under Sir Thomas Fairfax, accompanied by the regiments of Cols. Rigby, Egerton, Ashton, and Holcroft, marched to Lathom House, where they arrived 28th February. In the defence of this mansion, which the dangers of the times had converted into a fortress, her ladyship had the assistance of Major Farmer, and the Captains Farrington, Charnock, Chisenhall, Rawstorne, Ogle, and Molyneux. On his arrival before Lathom, Sir Thomas Fairfax obtained an audience with the Countess, who had disposed her soldiers in such array as to impress the Parliamentary general with a favourable opinion of their numbers and discipline. The offer made by Sir Thomas was, that on condition of her surrendering the house to the troops under his command, herself, her children and servants, with their property, should be safely conducted to Knowsley, there to remain, without molestation, in the enjoyment of one half of the Earl's estates. To this alluring proposal the Countess mildly but resolutely replied, that a double trust had been confided to her-faith to her lord and allegiance to her sovereign, and that without their permission she could not make the required surrender in less than a month, nor then without their approbation. The impetuous temper of the Parliamentary army could not brook this delay, and, after a short consultation, it was determined to besiege the fortress, rather than attempt to carry it by storm. At the end of fourteen days, while the works were constructing, Sir Thomas Fairfax sent a renewed summons to the Countess, but with no better success, the reply of the Countess being, that she had not forgotten her duty to the Church of Eng manors of Irlam and Urmston, near Manchester, and some possessions in co. Chester, in which county he settled, and became the founder of the family of Lathom, of Astbury. Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire. "Now is there stillness in the vale, WORDSWORTH'S Force of Prayer. ON a green meadow, raised a little above the level of the river Wharfe, which curves half round it, stand the ruins of Bolton Abbey. Its situation combines the conflicting characteristics of beauty and grandeur. Opposite the eastern window of the church the river washes the foot of a rock nearly perpendicular, the mineral veins of which display an infinite variety of tints, forcibly reminding the tourist of the rich colouring of some portions of the Allum Bay cliffs, in the Isle of Wight. To the south, the eye reposes on the expanding mirror of the tranquil stream with its luxuriant pastures. While to the north, interrupted by jutting points of grey rock, appears an oak wood, through the bottom of which the Wharfe rushes. Beyond rises Bolton Park, the fitting resort of the stately red deer; and still further, the barren heights of Simon-seat and Barden-fell crown the prospect, and (suggesting the comparison of the feudal grandeur of the past and the commercial prosperity of the present age) proudly contrast themselves with the warmth and fertility of the vale below. At the time of the Norman conquest, Bolton formed a portion of the vast estates of Earl Edwin, the son of Leofwine, Earl of Mercia. For some years the Saxon owner was permitted to retain his lands: at length, however, they were confiscated; and the Skipton-fee, of which Bolton then seems to have been the chief seat, was granted to Robert de Romille, a Norman nobleman. Robert had an only child, Cicily, wife of William de Meschines. They had two sons, Ranulph, and Matthew who died young, and a daughter Alice, surnamed after her mother de Romily. She, the heiress of her family, was married to William Fitz Duncan, and had an only son, William, called from one of the baronies of his father's family the boy of Egremond. He died early, leaving two sisters, one of whom carried the Skipton-fee to her husband, William le Gross, Earl Albemarle, and transmitted them to her daughter, the wife of William de Fortibus, who succeeded his father-in-law in the title of Albemarle. Cicily, the wife of William de Meschines, had been the foundress of a Priory at Embsay, about four miles from Bolton, to which it was soon afterwards removed. Tradition ascribes this migration to the maternal piety of her daughter Alice, who was desirous to commemorate a fatal accident said to have occurred, in the grounds of Bolton, to her only son, the boy of Egremond, and to consecrate the sad neighbourhood, by the erection of a sacred edifice, where prayers should ever be offered for the soul so suddenly and prematurely removed. Yet this tradition is refuted by Dr. Whitaker, who, referring to "Dugdale's Monasticon," alleges that the youth, whose death is said to have occasioned the removal, is himself a party and witness to the charter of translation. The learned historian of the Deanery of Craven has, however, admitted that there is little doubt that the story is true in the main but considers that it refers to one of the sons of Cicily, the first foundress, both of whom have already been stated to have died in youth, instead of the son of her daughter. It is, perhaps, more fitting to permit Dr. Whitaker to narrate in his own language the legend which he has investigated; and he thus proceeds: "In the deep solitude of the woods betwixt Bolton and Barden, the Wharfe suddenly contracts itself to a rocky channel little more than four feet wide, and pours through the tremendous fissure with a rapidity proportioned to its confinement. This place was then, as it is yet, called the Strid, from a feat often exercised by persons of more agility than prudence, who stride from brink to brink, regardless of the destruction which awaits a faltering step. Such, according to tradition, was the fate of young Romille, who, inconsiderately bounding over the chasm with a greyhound in a leach, the animal hung back and drew his unfortunate master into the torrent. The forester who accompanied Romille, and beheld his fate, returned to the lady Aaliza, and, with despair in his countenance, inquired, 'What is good for a bootless Bene?' To which the mother, apprehending that some great calamity had befallen her son, instantly replied, endless sorrow.' "The language of this question, almost unintelligible at present, proves the antiquity of the story. But bootless bene,' is unavailing prayer; and the meaning, though imperfectly expressed, seems to have been, 'What remains when prayer is useless?' "This misfortune is said to have occasioned the translation of the Priory from Embsay to Bolton, which was the nearest eligible site to the place where it happened. The lady was now in a proper situation of mind to take any impression from her spiritual comforters; but the views of the two parties were different; they spoke, no doubt, and she thought, of the proximity to the scene of her son's death; but it was for the fields and woods of Bolton for which they secretly languished." The same topics of consolation that were offered to the shade of the drowned Palinurus, might have been afforded by a prophetic sybil to the young heir of the house of Romille : "Sed cape dicta memor, duri solatia casus, Et statuent tumulum, et tumulo sollemnia mittent, And it might have been added that, many hundred years after his decease, rival poets should sing their dirges over his tomb. [ROGERS' POEM.] "Say what remains when hope is fled ?' manors of Irlam and Urmston, near Manchester, and some possessions in co. Chester, in which county he settled, and became the founder of the family of Lathom, of Astbury. Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire. "Now is there stillness in the vale, WORDSWORTH'S Force of Prayer. ON a green meadow, raised a little above the level of the river Wharfe, which curves half round it, stand the ruins of Bolton Abbey. Its situation combines the conflicting characteristics of beauty and grandeur. Opposite the eastern window of the church the river washes the foot of a rock nearly perpendicular, the mineral veins of which display an infinite variety of tints, forcibly reminding the tourist of the rich colouring of some portions of the Allum Bay cliffs, in the Isle of Wight. To the south, the eye reposes on the expanding mirror of the tranquil stream with its luxuriant pastures. While to the north, interrupted by jutting points of grey rock, appears an oak wood, through the bottom of which the Wharfe rushes. Beyond rises Bolton Park, the fitting resort of the stately red deer; and still further, the barren heights of Simon-seat and Barden-fell crown the prospect, and (suggesting the comparison of the feudal grandeur of the past and the commercial prosperity of the present age) proudly contrast themselves with the warmth and fertility of the vale below. At the time of the Norman conquest, Bolton formed a portion of the vast estates of Earl Edwin, the son of Leofwine, Earl of Mercia. For some years the Saxon owner was permitted to retain his lands: at length, however, they were confiscated; and the Skipton-fee, of which Bolton then seems to have been the chief seat, was granted to Robert de Romille, a Norman nobleman. Robert had an only child, Cicily, wife of William de Meschines. They had two sons, Ranulph, and Matthew who died young, and a daughter Alice, surnamed after her mother de Romily. She, the heiress of her family, was married to William Fitz Duncan, and had an only son, William, called from one of the baronies of his father's family the boy of Egremond. He died early, leaving two sisters, one of whom carried the Skipton-fee to her husband, William le Gross, Earl Albemarle, and transmitted them to her daughter, the wife of William de Fortibus, who succeeded his father-in-law in the title of Albemarle. Cicily, the wife of William de Meschines, had been the foundress of a Priory at Embsay, about four miles from Bolton, to which it was soon afterwards removed. Tradition ascribes this migration to the maternal piety of her daughter Alice, who was desirous to commemorate a fatal accident said to have occurred, in the grounds of Bolton, to her only son, the boy of Egremond, and to consecrate the sad neighbourhood, by the erection of a sacred edifice, where prayers should ever be offered for the soul so suddenly and prematurely removed. Yet this tradition is refuted by Dr. Whitaker, who, referring to "Dugdale's Monasticon," alleges But it is time that we should proceed with the later history of Bolton, which, as may be recollected, was a portion of the honour and fee of Skipton. In the reign of Edward I., the powerful family of De Fortibus became extinct; and in that of Edward II., their barony of Skipton was given by the Crown to Robert de Clifford. The son and the father of a race renowned in arms,—a family whose beauty had been illustrated by the Rosamond of Woodstock bower, "the fair defect" of their pedigreeDe Clifford transmitted these estates to a long line of male descendants, who in time acquired the earldom of Cumberland; and, after the lapse of five hundred years, they are still held by his posterity by a female branch. In 1540, Richard Moone, then prior of Bolton, was compelled to surrender to the King the house of Augustine monks, over which he presided. Two years later, the lands of the priory, or (as it is more commonly called) abbey, were purchased of Henry VIII. by Henry de Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland. His descendant, the Lady Elizabeth Clifford, the daughter and heiress of the last Earl of Cumberland, was born in 1613, and became the wife of Richard Boyle, who inherited the title of Earl of Cork, and was created Lord Clifford of Londsborough, and Earl of Burlington. Their great grandson, Richard Boyle,* Earl of Cork and Burlington, had a daughter and heiress, the Lady Caroline Boyle, who was married to William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. Amongst the many more dazzling claims to admiration of their grandson, William Spencer Cavendish, sixth Duke of Devonshire, and present representative of the last Earl of Cumberland, the taste which is displayed in laying out the walks through the grounds of Bolton Abbey, and the liberality with which they are thrown open to the public should not be forgotten. Before dismissing the subject of Bolton Abbey it should be remarked, that the shell of this Gothic church is nearly entire; and that the nave, having been reserved at the dissolution as a parochial chapel, has been restored from a state of dilapidation through the judicious interference of the late worthy incumbent, the Rev. William Carr, the author of "The Craven Glossary;" a work in which what is now regarded as the exclusive idiom of the peasants of Craven, is illustrated by numerous and beautifully selected quotations from standard Scottish and early English writers. Most of the habitable buildings of the priory have long since perished; but the gate-house remains entire. The great arch, by which the church was approached, has been built up with a wall at the one end and a window at the other; and has been converted into a spacious dining-room. And with the modern addition of a wing on each side, the porter's lodge of the monks of the order of St. Benedict forms a convenient shooting-box for its noble owner, when he is disposed to change the bustling splendours of London, or the princely elegance of Chatsworth, for the feudal barony of his Clifford ancestors. * "Who plants like Bathurst or who builds like Boyle ?" POPE. |
