592 Edburton, Sussex.—Ashby-cum-Fenby, Lincolnshire. knight's fee at Perching, in Edburton parish. In aftertimes, Robert de Hangleton owned this fee, then valued at 51. At Fulking, William Beamont held lands of the honour and barony of Lewes, by the service of half a knight's fee. The manor of Paisthorn was anciently held of the manor of Portslade, by one fifth of a knight's fee. The Coverts who resided at Edburton, were a collateral branch of the very ancient and respectable family of that name, anciently seated at Sullington, afterwards at Slaugham. It has been asserted, with probability, that this family could travel through their own lands from Crawley to the sea. They were possessed of estates in Crawley, Slaugham, Bolney, Twineham, Albourn, Woodmancourt, Edburton, and Hangleton, which last parish extends nearly to the sea-shore. William de Braose held at Adberton one knight's fee, by free service. (Somner on Gavelkind, p. 56.) The following are the names of the inhabitants of Perching, as contained in the Rape of Lewes, and Hundred of Poynings, who were rated to the subsidy 18 James I. 1620. William Marchant, in lands xxl. ijs. viijd. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, H. S. D. H. Grimsby, Nov. 18. THE investigations connected with ecclesiastical topography possess a charm which has ever been deeply interesting to my mind; and they consequently form one of the principal sources of amusement, to which my few hours of leisure are devoted, amidst the incessant and arduous duties necessarily connected with the cure of souls in a populous market town. The fruits of these researches have been occasionally offered to the venerable pages of the Gentleman's Magazine, [VOL.CL that they may be referred to with confidence by the future topographer historian, as a faithful transcript of the state of the respective churches and their monuments at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The village of Ashby-cum-Fenby is pleasantly situated in a romantic va ley, at the foot of the wold hills in the north-east parts of Lindsey, on the old road from Grimsby to Louth, being about twelve miles from the latter place, and half the same distance from the former. I am unacquainted with the history of this village before the Norman conquest, but at the compila tion of Domesday, we find Fenby, now only a small and unimportant hamlet, giving its name to a hundred; with out, however, possessing any manorial jurisdiction, for it was in the soke of Waltham, and belonged to Earl Alan. The manor of Ashby was the property of Wido de Credon or Croun, which formerly belonged to Aslac the Saxon, but was now occupied by Alured the vassal of Wido. It had nine acres and a half of coppice wood, and was tallaged at forty shillings. Earl Alan had also a part of this lordship, which was in the soke of Waltham, and had five acres of coppice wood. No vestiges of these woods are now remaining. Subsequently to this period, the following desultory notices appear in the State records. Thomas de Wodehars claimed and substantiated before a Jury, his right to a gallows, and infangthef, and assize of ale in Ashbycum-Fenby, and several adjoining parishes, where he possessed estates;* and at his death in 1295, the property and privileges were confirmed to his heir. Prince Henry held in Ashby and other places in the soke of Waltham, thirty-one librates of land, which were a royal donation, and he gave them to Henry the Chaplain, but the service by which they were held is not expressed in the record. About the same time, Richard de Lindon had in Ashby, Brigsley, and Waith, one knight's fee of the Constable of Chester§; and John de Santon held half + Inquis. post mort. 23 Ed. I. Testa de Nevil. *Placit. quo warr. § Alan Rufus, first Earl of Richmond, died without issue; and was succeeded by his brothers Alan Niger and Stephen, the latter of whom died in 1137. The property then became vested in Conan, whose son Conan inherited it at his death, and was succeeded by Galfrid, the next in descent. He was slain at a tournament in 1186, and his widow Constance married Ranulph Earl of Chester; and he assumed by patent the title of Dux Britanniæ, Comes Cestria et Richmondia. PART II.] Ashby-cum-Fenby, Lincolnshire. a knight's fee of the barony of Croun of the old feoffment.* Simon of Louth held a knight's fee and a half in the same village, of the Earl of Lincoln, who held of the king in chief. The Hundred Rolls record an inquiry about purprestures, in which it was deposed that the Abbot of Louth Park had taken purprestures without any authority, on the king's highway, between the fields of Ashby-cum-Fenby and East Ravendale, in length ten perches, and two feet broad, by which the inhabitants of Ashby were injured to the amount of six shillings a year; and the Jury decided that the Abbot should make restitution. The following charter, from the Originalia, relative to this parish, is worth transcribing. "Rex omnibz ad quos, &c. Sal't'm. Cum nos nup' petissem' p' bre' n'r'm in curia n'ra coram justic' n'ris in Banco v'sus Will' Gerlaud unum messuagium octo acras bosci et viginti libratas redditus cu' p'tin' in Beseby, Askeby juxta Fanneby, Hawardby, Alwoldeby, Briggesley, Wolde Newton, et North Cotes infra sokam de Waltham in com' Linc' et idem Wills in p'd'c'a curia coram p'fatis justic' recognavit p'd'c'a messuagium boscum et redditum cum p'tin' esse jus n'r'um et ea p' se et heredibz suis postq' iude seisiti fuim remiserit, et quietum clamavit nob' et heredibz a'ris imp'petuum, volentes eidem Willo' gr'am in hac p'te facere sp'alem, dedim et concessims ei p' nob' et heredibz n'ris p'd'c'a messuagium boscum et redditum cum p'tin', tenend' eidem Will'o ad totam vitam suam, &c. reddendo inde nob' p' an' quadraginta solidos, &c. Ita qd post decessum ejusdem Will'i p'd'c' messuagium, &c. ad nos et her' n'ros integre rev'tant." It may be conjectured that the church was erected some time before the date of the above recited charter, but the mutilations are at present so extensive, and a motley patchwork so prevalent, that nothing can be pronounced with absolute certainty on the subject. The plan is, a nave and north aile, the latter almost wholly blocked up with an unsightly partition wall of lath and plaister, adjoining an elegant monument in ruins; with a chancel and tower at the west end. The bell windows are circular-headed, and divided into lights by cylinders; and the parapet of the tower is embat Testa de Nevil. + Rot. Hund. Rot. Origin. 28 E. I. Ro. 17. GENT. MAG. Suppl. CI. PART II. C 593 3. Voco, veni, precare. Ebor. 1725. On the south front is a porch with a pointed arch, and three mutilated windows of as many lights, with trefoil heads, and quatrefoils in the recharacter in this face of the chancel. cesses; and two others of a similar The east end contains the remains of another, which is flanked by graduated buttresses. On the north side, the aile is in a state of perfect dilapidation, and being separated within from the body of the Church, the inside is filled with rubbish. In this receptacle of dirt and pollution is a large and beautiful slab of black marble, laid in the floor, which had been so long used by the bricklayers, as a basis on which to temper their mortar, that I had great difficulty by brushing and scrubbing to ascertain that it was purfled with a broad margin of white marble, and contained an inscription importing that this was the final resting place of Christopher Wray, esq. who represented the Borough of Grimsby in the Long Parliament, and died A. D. 1669. The interior of the Church is not imposing, though it possesses some good monuments. The north aile is supported by circular arches springing from clustered columns of four conjoined shafts, under which has been placed a monument in the Grecian style, which at its first erection must have been extremely splendid, and is a copy of that which I have already described as existing in Whaplode Church to the memory of Sir Anthony Irby, the ancestor of Lord Boston, to which family the Wrays were related by marriage; and it is probable that the two monuments were executed by the same artist, as Sir Anthony Irby died in 1623, and the Lady Frances Wray, before 1647. The Whaplode monument is kept in excellent condition, while this at Ashby has been miserably neglected. Time and dilapidation unchecked, have made sad havoc with the ornamental details; even the iron palisades by which it is surrounded, have not escaped the ruinous ef* Vide Gent. Mag. vol. xcix. pt. ii. p. 589. 594 The Family of Drury. fects of long continued inattention; and it remains a striking proof of the vanity of all human calculations, and an evidence of the decay of the family by whose munificence it was erected, and who probably intended it as a trophy which would be able to resist the encroachments of time. It consists of an altar tomb, on which lie the effigies of a knight in complete armour, and a lady in rich drapery at his right hand. It is surmounted by a canopy supported on ten pillars of the Composite order, and crested with a shield containing fourteen quarterings, as follows:-1. Argent, on a chief Azure a tau between two mullets Or. 2. Azure, seven cross-crosslets Gules, a chief dancetté. 3. Sable, six cinquefoils Azure. 4. Chequée Gules and Azure, on a fess Or three escallops. 5. Gules, an eagle displayed regardant, a crescent Sable for difference. 6. Or, three fusils in fess Gules. 7. Or, a fess Azure between three lions rampant. 8. Azure, bendy of six Gules. 9. Gules, a fess between three saltires Azure. 10. Azure, a fess between three horse-shoes Gules. 11. Gules, barry wavy of six Sable, three lozenges Azure. 12. Sable, a bend between six escallops Or. 13. Or, barry of six Gules, over all a bend Sable. 14. Argent, on a chief Azure a tau between two mullets Or. On the back of the same shield :-Quarterly, 1 and 4, Argent, on a chief three martlets Gules. 2 and 3, Argent, on a chevron Sable between 3 birds' heads erased Proper, three cinquefoils of the Field. On an escutcheon of pretence the bloody hand. Motto-Et Juste et Vray. On one of the pillars of the monument is this shield, with the arms of Wray and Drury :-Or, in chief three martlets; impaled with, Or, on a chief Azure, a tau between two mullets of the first. In these arms, the tinctures are probably in several instances erroneous, as it was difficult to distinguish between Or and Argent, Azure and Sable, from the very dilapidated state of the monument. Round the frieze is a mutilated inscription, from which the following only can be gathered : "The noble and religious Lady Frances Wray, eldest daughter and coheir to the honourable and worthy Sir William Drurie ..........Elizabeth Stafford, descended from the renowned and illustrious familie of the Staffords of Buckingham........ [VOL, CL. The family of Drury came in with the Conqueror, and were of Norman extraction, as appears from the Roll of Battle Abbey, and settled at Thurs. ton in Suffolk; where becoming rich and prosperous, in the eighth descent, the three sons of Nicholas Drury, by partition, became the heads of three several families. Sir Roger the eldest settled at Rougham; Nicholas, the second, at Hawstead; and John, the third, at Wetherden. Frances, the wife of Sir William Wray, was the fourteenth in descent from the head of the family. She resided with her husband at Glentworth and Ashby in the county of Lincoln. Her sister Susanna being on a visit at Ashby during the hunting season (so runs the legend), felt an inclination to witness the sport; but not having been instructed in the art of horsemanship, she submitted to have her person fastened to the saddle with straps, to prevent the consequences of being dismounted. The animal, however, was spirited, and perceiving his superiority over the lovely burthen which he bore, from her want of dexterity in the management of the reins, he became restive, and ultimately ran off with fury across the country, outstripping all his pursuers, and regardless of the impediments which were opposed to his progress, till at length coming in contact with the branches of a tree, the brains of the unfortunate young lady were dashed out, and the promised enjoyments of the day were changed into mourning and lamentation. She was buried in Ashby Church, and a splendid monument erected to her memory in the chancel, which occupies the greater portion of the north wall. It consists of a Corinthian arch supported by pillars, the inner part divided into compartments, and decorated alternately with mullets and Stafford knots. Underneath is the effigies of a lady reclining on a tomb supported by two greyhounds sejant, collared; accompanied by a shield with the arms of Drury, and this inscription : "Piæ memoriæ sacrum. Hic sita est virgo clara, casta, pudica, antiquæ eius nominis hær. Svsanna Druria, filia clariss. Do. Gulielmi Drurii militis, de Havsteed in comit. Suffolciensi, longâ Druriorum serie, Sede, clara, et etiam præclariss. Do. Elizabethæ Stafford prænobili Buckinga. Ducum familia orta exemplar pietatis sanct. vixit amicis quam ne PART II.] Ashby Church, Lincolnshire. cessariis æque cara. De qua doluit nihil nisi mors eius. In beatarum choro himene irrupto, ab archangelo, in festo eius, Michaele rapta, anno CDDCVI. cum numerasset annos XX.II. Hoc amoris ergo B.M. P. A." Sir William Drury,* who is named in the above inscriptions, married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir William Stafford of Grafton, knight, and was slain on the Continent in a duel with Sir John Borough, knt. A. D. 1589; and a noble monument by Nicholas Stone was erected to his memory in the chancel of Hawstead Church, consisting of a basement, upon which is a sarcophagus of black marble beneath a double arch, ornamented with warlike implements, and supported by Corinthian pillars. The whole surmounted by an oval frame with a bust the size of life, and a Latin inscrip tion. "The heirs of Sir Robert Drury + were his three sisters: Frances, married first to Sir Nicholas Clifford, afterwards to Sir W. Wray, and is interred in Ashby Church; Diana, second wife to Sir Edward Cecil, third son of the first Earl of Exeter; and Elizabeth, second wife of William second Earl of Exeter, by whom she had three daughters, and from them the noble families of Suffolk, Stamford, &c. are descended. Upon the partition of Sir Robert's estates, that at Hawstead and its environs was settled on the Lady Wray; the widow of whose only surviving son Sir Christopher, the honourable dame Albina 595 Wray, with her three sons, sold the estate in that place to Thomas Cullum, esq. for 17,6977. when the interest of the Drurys ceased at Hawstead after a continuance of a hundred and ninety years." To return to Ashby Church. At the west end lies an ancient effigy in tolerable preservation, of a crusader in the mail armour of the time of Edward I. with a pondrous sword and shield; but, as it has neither inscription nor date, I am possessed of no clue to determine the identity of the warrior who is here represented. The font (called by Chrysostom "the bridechamber of the spirit, and the port of grace,") is octagonal, placed on a clustered pedestal, and panelled with quatrefoils in niches; near which is a fore the establishment of the poor curious ancient implement, used bealms. It consists of a clustered colaws for the purpose of collecting lumn of stone, on the capital of which is a box with antique locks, surrounded with this inscription: Εφ' όσον εποιήσατε ένι τούτων των αδελφών μου των ελαχιστων εμοί εποιήσατε. On the front of the pulpit is a date carved in the oak, 1584; and on one of the pews near it is the following inscription sculptured in relief, in rude characters, accompanied by a badly executed shield of at least equal antiquity : CHRISTOFERUS POYNTON DE FENBY." Yours, &c. GEO. OLIVER. * This Sir William Drury "had the honour of entertaining Queen Elizabeth at his house at Hawstead in her progress in 1578, and her apartment there ever after retained her name. Tradition reports that she dropped a silver handled fan into the moat. It was at this time that the Royal guest bestowed the honour of knighthood upon the master of the mansion who had entertained her with such sumptuous liberality."-Cullum's History of Hawstead, in Bib. Top. Brit. vol. V. p. 130. + There is an entry in the books of the Heralds' College, recording the funeral of Sir Robert Drury, who was the last of that branch of the family, as follows: "Mem. That the Right Worshipful Sir Robert Drury of Hawstead in the county of Suffolk, knight, married Aun, daughter of the Worshipful Sir Nic. Bacon of Redgrave in the county of Suffolk, knight and baronet, and had issue two daughters, both which died young, sans issue. "The said Sir Robert departed this present life the second day of April, anno Domini 1615, and was interred in the chancel of the parish church of Hawstead aforesaid. His funeral was worshipfully solemnized by his aforesaid right worshipful ladie dame Anne Drury, Sir Henry Drury of Hewgeley in com. Buckingham, knight, being chiefe mourner, being assisted by the right worshipful Sir William Wray of Glentworth in com. Lincoln, knight baronet, Sir Robert Drury of Rougham in com. Suff. knight, Mr. Drue Drury, Ar. and Mr. Robert Drury, Ar. the said funeral being ordered by Richmond Herald, deputy to Mr. Clarencieux, King of Arms, and Chester Herald, the first of July, in the year abovesaid."-MS. in Heralds' Coll. T. 16, ful, 369, ut supra. Cullum, ut supra, p. 147. 596 Continental Sketches and Reminiscences. CONTINENTAL SKETCHES AND REMINISCENCES.No. II. The Street Organist. I ONCE had occasion to spend a winter in the capital of one of the German states, and having but a very scanty knowledge of the language, and limited acquaintanceship, I naturally enough felt somewhat solitary and gloomy in my comparatively lonely situation. What a winter in the north of Germany really is, he only knows who has experienced it. Snow that lies for weeks,-frost, that makes the snow grate like gravel, and the windows crack as if little Johnny Frost himself were getting his own fingers pinched, and wanted to come in to warm them at the stoves-and wind whetted to piercing, by traversing a long expanse of flat country, which has been chilled to zero;-with all this I had but little inducement to leave my apartment, except to take a little exercise before dinner. I lived near the Post Office, so the arrival and departure of the Schnell and Fahr posts formed a subject of some interest, especially when I hoped that some one of them might be the bearer of a letter from mine ain countrie; when contrary winds, and impassable roads, delayed the arrival of my monthly briefe. As I observed above, I was apt to be gloomy, and, as I suspect is not unfrequently the case with melancholy men, rather unreasonably so. One day I rose from a desponding fit, threw on my cloak, and sallied out to the streets, to distract my mind by observing what was passing. It was during a snow storm, and sledges, from that of the prince to the common street hack, were to be seen whisking about in all directions; some, in all the pomp and circumstance of prancing steeds, and gay garniture, flew about like arrows, and others in less gorgeous array trundled along at a more sober pace. There is something cheerful and spirit-stirring in the sight of a sledge. Its silent, rapid, gliding motion, the ease with which the proud stéed pulls it after him, the light music of the bells, impress the mind with the ideas of gaiety and activity. On happening to pass the Police Office, I was accosted in French by a poor looking fellow who had been applying about his passport. He begged some assistance. I inquired into his history, [VOL.CI. He said he had belonged to a company of mountebanks, and had wandere with them as far as Konigsberg, be that in an unlucky equestrian feat be had fallen and broken both his legs; that the expense of his conseque confinement, and medical assistance, had ruined him, and that now he w making the best of his way, feeble, solitary, and friendless, to his native country. His story carried nothing beyond probability in it-he said he had been in Italy, and spoke the lat guage fluently; but of German, though he had been a considerable time in the country, he knew hardly anything: indeed it appears to be a language peculiarly difficult to be acquired by a Frenchman; but what particularly struck me in this man, was his buoyancy of spirits under his accumulated distresses, of lameness, poverty, and solitude. He said he intended to leave the city that evening, though the snow fell fast, for he preferred lodging in the way-side hamlet, as the peasantry, though they laughed at his gibberish, willingly shared their homely fare with him. I gave him a trifle, and returned home; and when I saw my table-cloth laid for dinner, my little collection of English and foreign works, the window-curtains drawn down, my table placed snugly by the stove, from which a comfortable flow of heat was emanating, I thought of the poor Frenchman, of his melancholy condi. tion and my own happy one, his cheerfulness, and my most unreasonable discontent, and determined no longer to make myself unhappy, merely because I was too comfortable, or yield to such base ingratitude towards a kind and bountiful Providence. Among other subjects that interest the solitary stranger, that of music,I do not mean merely that of the concert-room, but street music, horrible as the phrase may seem to the Dilettante, must not be omitted. Sometimes a simple and sweet air will prove a source of heartfelt enjoyment, longlost emotions are awakened, the sympathies of the soul are touched, while "the memory of joys that are past, pleasant and mournful," springs up within. There was a little old man with a hand organ, who used to come and grind his music under my window, and as his melody, such as it was, particularly a beautiful German air, amused and enlivened me on many |