In the 43rd Elizabeth (1600) Richard Theakston conveyed to Sir Thomas Strickland all that moiety and half part or portion of the manor of Sedbergh, with the appurtenances, commonly called or known by the name of Scrope's Land; and by fine passed in the same year, Roger Otway, Esq., of Middleton, Thomas Scriven, and Richard Theakstone, granted and conveyed to Sir Thomas Strickland, Knight of the Bath, in consideration of £600 paid by him, all the manor and lordship of Sedbergh, late in the possession of Lord Monteagle, with all rights and privileges belonging to it.

In the surveyor's assessment for 27th Elizabeth (1584) of the various parishes in the wapentake of Ewecross, "Ingleton" is rated at 4s., "Dente" 4s., "Sedgbrge" 4s., and "Claphame" 2s. 8d.

Several of the monasteries had estates at Sedbergh, and in the 3rd Edward III. (1330) the church of St. Andrew, Sedbergh, a foundation of the early Mowbrays, was appropriated on a petition of the King to the Abbey of Corham or Coverham, and it continued to form part of the endowments of that house until the Dissolution. The particulars of its confirmation are recited in the Monasticon, from which I quote:

The church of St. Andrew here [Sedbergh] was given to this abbey [Coverham] by Sir Ralph le Scroope, and was appropriated thereto; but the Abbot and Convent, being apprehensive of the trouble about it, applied to King Edward III. to write to the Pope to send his protection. It was accordingly appropriated, and the Archbishop reserving the annual pension of £1 10s. 4d. per annum to him and his successors, and £2 to the Archdeacon of Richmond. In A.D. 1332, at Burton, 9th of April, this vicarage was endowed, viz.: in the lesser mansion-house of the rectory, which M. de Touthorpe, then rector of the mediety of this church had, and in £1 2s. 10d. annual rent, and in all tythes of mills, calves, foals, pigs, goats, brood geese, hens, ducks, pigeons, line, hemp, leeks, herbs, eggs, and in all mortuaries, and oblations. Also in 20 marks in money, payable by the Abbot and Convent of Coverham, quarterly, every year; for which the vicar shall, at his own costs, serve the said church, with its chapels; and the Abbot and Convent bear all other burdens, ordinary and extraordinary.

And on the Kal. (1st day) of July, A.D. 1335, William Melton, Archbishop of York, by the mediation of Galfrid le Scroope, then patron of it, and with the consent of the dean and chapter of York, made this ordination, viz. : that John de Popilton, then vicar of the church, and his successors, should receive the tythes of foals, calves, pigs, when the tythe in a whole animal is received, and when the lot by Caveling is due, and that the Abbot and Convent of Coverham, shall for ever peaceably receive the tythes that is not in an entire animal, scilicet per Caveling, or without Caveling.

The Abbot lett the whole rectory before the dissolution of monasteries, for £41 10s.

In an inventory of the effects of Thomas de Dalby, Archdeacon of Richmond, dated May 21st, A.D. 1400, is entered under "Debita non clara et non levabilia":

Pro pensione in ecclesia de Sadbargh in decanatu de Lounesdale, xls.

Pro fructibus vicariæ de Sadbergh, lxvjs. viiid.

The first item refers to the 40s. paid yearly to the Archdeaconry of Richmond, in addition to the 20s. annually received by the Archbishop of York, of whose diocese the parish of Sedbergh formed part up to the Dissolution. Connyside Priory likewise received 20s., and the canons of Eggleston Abbey 4s. annual rent from Sedbergh. At the Dissolution the tithes of the rectory amounted in all to £41 10s., viz.: in wool and lambs, £30; grain, £9 10s.; hay, £2. The patronage was then given to the master and fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, with whom it is still vested.

The church, which, as stated, is of Norman origin, and has some pillars and arches of the time of Henry I., underwent a complete restoration in 1885-6. The interior has now a most comfortable and engaging appearance, while the historic character of the building has been admirably preserved. There are a few ancient monuments, notably to Sir John Otway, Kt. (died 1693), hereafter mentioned, and John Dawson, the mathematician, whom we have noticed in our account of Garsdale; also some beautiful memorial windows.

There have been numerous charitable bequests by former inhabitants of the parish, amongst the principal donors being the families of Robinson, Harrison, Holmes, Speight, Croft, and Fawcett. Furthermore, in 1734, Richard Holme, of Lowther, gave £100 for the foundation of a Charity School for the education of poor children in the parish; and in 1854 Mr. Thomas Palmer, in his lifetime, founded and endowed six cottages, now known as the Sedbergh Widows' Hospital.

The old Grammar School at Sedbergh, founded in 1528 by Dr. Roger Lupton, Provost of Eton and Canon of Windsor, whom the great Roger Ascham praised as "a man of pious memory," is now, under the provisions of the late Endowed Schools Act, one of the best and most flourishing establishments of its kind in the country. It has had the advantage of a rich foundation, and since its reorganisation under the new trust, nearly £30,000 has been expended in the erection of buildings, which include the various premises of the school and masters' houses, throughout built and planned in the most approved style. There is a capital cricket-ground attached, which, two or three years ago, was enlarged, and at the same time an excellent gymnasium and swimmingbath were added, the gifts of Sir Francis S. Powell, Bart., M.P., and W. H. Wakefield, Esq.,-former pupils of the school.

Among the men of note of an earlier generation who have been educated at this famous school, may be mentioned, Dr. John Barwick and Sir John Otway, prominent Monarchists in the time of Charles I. and Charles II.; Dr. George Mason, Bishop of Sodor and Man, Dr. Walker King, Bishop of Rochester, Sir Isaac Pennington, professor of physic at Cambridge, Dr. Anthony Fothergill, F.R.S., Dr. Inman,

senior wrangler in 1800, Prof. Adam Sedgwick, LL.D., F.R.S., &c. In addition to these, a number of others of a later period are referred to in some very interesting sketches of former life at the school, furnished to the Sedberghian last year by Archdeacon Wilson, Principal of Clifton College, who was a pupil from 1853 to 1855. A fellow pupil of the school was W. Wordsworth, a grandson of the poet, who went to Oxford, and is now, and has been for some years, the head of the Educational Department in Bombay. The Head Master at that time was the Rev. J. Harrison Evans, who was "third wrangler, a first-class classic, and an excellent scholar of the old school." In 1857, a well-merited testimonial was presented to him, on which occasion Archdeacon Wilson acted as secretary. Nearly £300 was raised, and with it Mr. Evans built the Covered Market and Reading Room as a gift to the town. For a short time (1837-8) Hartley Coleridge, the poet, was a master at the school.

Brimhaw Farm, near Sedbergh, is the birth-place of Sir James Whitehead, who settled in London, and who, in 1888, was elected to the high office of Lord Mayor.

Sedbergh was constituted a market-town at an early period, and an old cross, which stood on the north side of the church-yard, was taken down along with the stone steps forming the base, now about twenty years since. There was formerly also a ducking-stool, as well as a pair of stocks maintained by the parish for the benefit of the unruly.

Besides the White Hart, Black Bull, and Red Lion, there was, in coaching times, another inn, the King's Arms, now a shop, which at one time was the only posting-house in the town.

CHAPTER XLIX.

ON THE YORKSHIRE BORDERLAND.

Ingmire Hall-Brigg Flatts Meeting House The oldest but one Quaker establishment in England-Historical sketch-Old coaching inn-Beckside Hall and Sir John Otway-Otway family-Middleton Hall and the Middletons -Description of the building-Ancient chapel-Grimes Hill-Middleton church-Hawkin Hall, and the poet Milton-Roman mile-stone, a rare relicScenery of Lune-Barbon and the Shuttleworths-Aspects of the villageThe church-Up Barkindale to Dent-The Dent Fault.

O complete the circle of this romantic district, I shall now notice a few places and objects but little visited, which lie between Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale, where the first division of our work terminated.

On leaving Sedbergh our road traverses the beautiful and well-kept park in front of Ingmire Hall, a handsome castellated mansion, now the seat of Mrs. Upton-Cottrell-Dormer. The house occupies a charming site, partly enclosed with fine woods, backed by the lofty purple heights of Winder, and the more distant gloom-shrouded precipices of the Howgills.

A short lane now leads off to the left, where we may obtain a peep at the secluded but famous little Friends' Meeting House at Brigg Flatts, which is said to be, with one exception, the oldest Quaker establishment in England. It was built in 1675, as the date above its original picturesque ivy-grown porch indicates. George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, had visited the neighbourhood long ere this, but about the year in question a large public gathering, numbering some hundreds, assembled to hear him preach, and this interesting little fabric was the outcome of their espousal of the new creed. In course of time increased accommodation became necessary, and ultimately it was decided that this want might be met, without disturbing the original structure, and involving the least expense, by the simple erection of a gallery. This was accordingly done in the year 1711; the Friends' clubbing together; some providing the oak from their estates, and others carting

it free of cost, while another generous-souled worker, a Quaker named Copeland, offered to put up the gallery for £5, a job which could not be done profitably at the present time for ten times the amount. John Ayrey was the prime mover in the matter, and there is a now almost illegible stone bearing his initials and the date 1712, let into the burialyard wall.

This sacred little plot of ground has been used for purposes of burial now over two centuries, and interments are still made in it. The few low headstones, it may be remarked, are recent additions to this otherwise plain and un-memorialled spot. There is an old house near, (once used for flax dressing), formerly a residence of the Ayreys, and which bears the name and date J. and E. Ayrey, 1742. This John Ayrey was the son of the above John, whose dated headstone we have noted above. The good house near is now occupied by Mr. John Handley, who is a well-known meteorologist, and a member of the old body of worshippers here. The house has a similar inscription upon it, namely, A. I. E., 1743, that is John and Elizabeth Ayrey.

Two miles from Sedbergh we pass a couple of very old mile-stones, and at the junction of the ways here there is a white house, which, in coaching days, was an inn called the Black Horse,-this being the crest of the Upton family," a horse caparisoned upon a ducal coronet.” The picturesque road now turns over the Rawthey Bridge, and we quit Yorkshire for Westmoreland.

On the Fell side, near the Hall Beck, about a mile north of Middleton Hall, is a notable old mansion called Beckside Hall, which is now a farm-house. It is celebrated as the birthplace, in 1620, of Sir John Otway, Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a great Royalist, and an eminent counsellor during the unsettled times of the Civil War. He afterwards lived at Ingmire Hall, mentioned above. He died in 1693, and there is a memorial of him in Sedbergh church, where he was interred.

The family of Otway was originally settled at Clohonan Castle, now Castle Otway, in Ireland, and one of Sir John's daughters, Anne, went to reside in Ireland, and subsequently married there. It is not improbable that this Sir John Otway was a relation of the celebrated but unfortunate poet and dramatist, Thomas Otway, who is reputed to have died of starvation in 1685. They were contemporary, and both received at the Restoration many favours from the Royal hand.

Middleton Hall, a large, fine old manor-house, is now partially in ruins, and occupied as a farm. For over three centuries it was the property and seat of one of our oldest English county families,-the Middletons, represented by branches at Warton, Ilkley, Stubham, and Stockeld. The family here had numerous distinguished connections.