Is a parish in Eskdale ward and petty sessional division, which gives name to a deanery, rural district, poor-law union, and county court district, and forms the basis of a division for the election of a member of the county council. It is bounded on the north by Lanercost and Walton, on the east by Midgeholme, and on the west by Irthington. It lies between the rivers Irthing and Gelt, and possesses, in general, a light sandy soil, producing good crops of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, etc.

The parish comprises the townships of Brampton, Easby, and Naworth, whose united area, by Ordnance survey, is 6,466 acres. The land is valued for rating purposes at £5,162 15s., and the buildings, including railway, at £11,628 10s. The population in 1891 was 5,404.

BRAMPTON TOWNSHIP - The principal owners of this part of the parish are - the Earl of Carlisle, the Exors. of Thomas Ramshay, Esq., and the resident yeomen.

The Manor of Brampton is included in the barony of Gilsland, of which more will be said at a subsequent page.

The Town of Brampton is a place of considerable antiquity, and has possessed the privilege of a market for more than 600 years. It is situated in a vale surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, whose wooded slopes and verdant sides add to the beauty of the scene. Weaving and coal mining were formerly carried on to some extent, but both industries are now extinct. The market is held on Wednesday, and is numerously attended by the farmers of the surrounding district; there are also four annual fairs for sheep and cattle, viz., on the 20th April, the second Wednesday after Whit-Sunday, the second Wednesday in September, and the 23rd October. Both the market and fairs date from an early period, being held pursuant to a charter obtained in the year 1252 by Thomas de Multon, lord of Gilsland. The Newcastle and Carlisle railway passes within a mile and a half of the town. The Brampton passengers are conveyed to and from the station in a 'bus. The old stocks are still to be seen in the market place. Perhaps we might mention here that Mr. Thomas Steel, of the Sand House Hotel, was the trainer of the greyhound Gallant, winner of the Waterloo Cup in 1897.

Camden describes Brampton as "a little market town, where is an hospital for six poor men and as many poor women, with a salary for a chaplain." Though little is known of its ancient history, Brampton is supposed to have been at one time a place of some importance. There are still visible the vestiges of a Roman camp, which Camden, misled by a slight resemblance in the names, conjectured to be Bremetenracum. This camp escaped the attention of Horsley; that, however, is not surprising, as it is situated within the ancient park of Brampton, which was, at the time he wrote, almost entirely covered with tangled brushwood and forest trees. Pottery, millstones, Roman tiles, and large numbers of Roman coins have been found here. In 1826 an earthen jar was turned up by the plough, in which were no fewer than 5,000 pieces. At the east end of the town is a conical hill, about fifty yards high, called the Moat. The summit forms a level plain, forty paces in diameter, and defended by a breastwork. We may infer from the name that on this mound the lord of Brampton, in Saxon times, held his gemote or council. On the summit now stands a bronze statue of the late Earl of Carlisle, raised by public subscription in 1870.

About two miles south of the town, on the face of a lofty perpendicular rock, rising from the river Gelt, is a Roman inscription as follows:- "VEX . LLEG . II AVG . OB . APP . SVB. AGRICOLA OPTIONE APRO. ET MAXIMO, CONSVLIBVS OFICINA MERCATI MERCATIVS FERNI PAVL . PECVL . I PRO NATIONE * ".

Another Roman inscription was discovered on the Hayton side of the Gelt, a little higher up the river, but so weather-worn and defaced, after the revolution of ages, that it could not be deciphered with any distinctness. A few years ago an urn, with some pieces of broken pottery and a small Roman millstone of granite, were turned up in a field. The latter is in the possession of Mr William Milburn, Front-street, who also owns an oblong stone inscribed thus:-

REX FORTIBN I. D. E. M. [here a sun-like symbol of a circle with four rays to left, right, top and bottom] M. V. R. V.

The proximity of the town to the Scottish border rendered it liable to the visits of the enemy during the Edwardian wars with Scotland; and during the impotent rule of Edward II the army under Bruce devastated the town and district. In 1715, the adherents of the Stuart dynasty having crossed the border made their quarters at Brampton, where Mr. Foster took formal command of the army in England and proclaimed the Pretender King before the assembled crowd in the market place. This rebellion culminated in the defeat and surrender of the Jacobite troops at Preston, where Mr. Foster, the Earls of Derwentwater, Nithisdale [sic], and Wintoun, Lord Kenmure, and other noblemen and gentlemen were taken prisoners and carried to London. Their subsequent fate is a matter of general history. Brampton figures again somewhat prominently in the next attempt of the Jacobites to place the Stuarts on the throne. In 1745, Prince Charles Stuart, the Bonnie Prince Charlie of song, at the head of a small but valiant army crossed the border into Cumberland and took up his quarters at Brampton, in a house in High Cross Street, now occupied by Mr. Robert Grange. Carlisle, after a siege of four days, capitulated, and here on their knees the Mayor and Corporation presented the keys of the city to the Cavalier Prince.

CHURCHES, CHAPELS, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

The old parish church of Brampton was situated on an eminence overlooking the vale of the Irthing, about a mile and a half from the town. What caprice led to the selection of such an inconvenient site it is impossible to say. We have no record of its foundation, but it was in existence as early as 1169 A.D., about which time it was given by Robert de Vallibus to the Abbey of Lanercost. After the dissolution of that house it was granted to Sir Thomas Dacre, from whom the advowson has descended to the Earl of Carlisle. About the year 1688, the hospital mentioned above was founded by Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of Carlisle, and the chapel attached to it appears to have been subsequently used as the parish church. The chaplain who also held the office of schoolmaster had salary of £12 a year, and each of the twelve poor inmates received £6 a year and a gown. An entry in the parish register shows that marriages were celebrated in this chapel in 1774, and about the same time the church services appear to have been chiefly held here. The hospital does not appear to have had any permanent endowment, and was discontinued previous to this date, probably from want of funds. The old parish church was at this time in such a ruinous condition that the inhabitants, in 1788, decided to abandon it entirely and convert the chapel and four of the almshouses into the parish church. The tower, nave, and aisle were taken down to supply the necessary materials, and nothing was left but the chancel, which is now used as a mortuary chapel. In 1828, considerable addition were made to the church at a cost of £1,800, when a new organ and an excellent peal of bells were added. This church has been superseded by another erected on the site, consecrated on the feast of St. Martin, 1878. It has been built from the design of Mr. Webb, and is purely English in its style. It consist of nave, chancel, north and south aisles, an unfinished tower at the west end, and will accommodate 500 persons. The ground plan is a parallelogram, 100 feet in length and 60 feet in width. The arcades which form the aisles, consist of four bays of pointed arches resting upon circular columns with moulded capitals. All the stone used in its construction was obtained from the Gelt quarries, which have probably supplied the neighbourhood with that material since the days of the Romans. Several of the windows are pictorial, and have been inserted as tributes to the memory of local worthies. The total cost of the building was about £6,800, and £1,700 more will be required to complete the unfinished tower.

The old churchyard has been enlarged and is now used as a cemetery. An old monumental slab bears the following inscription :- "Hic jacet Dominus Ricardus de Caldecoates, qui fuit vicarius istius Ecelesiæ, Obiit A.D. 1343." (Here lies Sir Richard Caldcote, who was vicar of this church. He died A.D. 1343). A fragment of an altar tomb was found in 1858, on which are three shields of arms enclosed within quatrefoil panels of the Early English period. The first shows the bend dexter, chequy of the De Vaux, the second the three escalop shells of the Dacres, and the third displays a cross fleurée, with an escalop shell, the cognizance of two old Cumbrian families now extinct, the Lamplughs and Carlisles.

In 1777, when Brampton common was enclosed, 210 acres were allotted to the vicar in lieu of all tithes; 7½d. from each house, paid in lieu of hens, hemp, flax, and smoke. He has also the surplice fees, and a rent charge of £50, the commutation value of the hay tithe of Talkin township in the parish of Hayton. There are also 105 acres of ancient glebe adjoining the old church, the whole producing an income of £350. The living is in the gift of the Earl of Carlisle, and is now held by the Rev. Thomas Armstrong.

Presbyterianism in Brampton dates its origin from 1662, in which year the vicar, the Rev. Nathaniel Burnard, was ejected for nonconformity. Many of the parishioners continued firm in their attachment to the Presbyterian discipline, and formed a separate congregation. Their first chapel, erected in 1730, continued to serve the purposes of the body until 1854, when it was superseded by a neat Gothic structure, erected at a cost of £1,400, £800 of which was contributed by Mr. Barbour, of Bolesworth Castle, Chester. The old chapel is now used as a school. The Independent Chapel in Main Street, was erected in 1818 at a cost of £1,000. The Wesleyan Chapel in Moat Street is a fine Gothic building, in the cruciform shape, surmounted by a tower and spire. It was erected in 1900 at a cost of £3,300, and has accommodation for 400 people. It is also intended to add Sunday schools. The Primitive Methodists are also represented in the town; their little chapel in Main Street, built in 1823, at a cost of £100, was superseded in 1878 by a larger and more elegant structure in the Gothic style, erected at a cost of £1,500, which was raised by subscription.

The members of the Catholic body have service on the first Sunday of the month at 11 a.m., in a room near the Gas Works.

The Board Schools, situated in Moat Side, were erected in 1856 at a cost of £1,400, under the title of National Schools. They were afterwards transferred to the School Board, and enlarged in 1875 and 1879, by which the accommodation has been increased from 300 to 600. Evening continuation and art classes are held during the winter months. There is also a boys school held in the old Presbyterian chapel.

The Market Place covers a spacious area, in the centre of which stands the Town Hall, a neat octagonal edifice, with all ornamental cupola, in the front of which a clock has been placed by the parishioners. It was erected in 1817, by the Earl of Carlisle, on the site of the old hall. The lower part of the building is formed into a piazza, under which is the poultry, butter, and egg market. The hall is a very capacious apartment, in which the Earl of Carlisle's courts for the great Barony of Gilsland are held at Easter and Michaelmas. The town also possesses a Working Men's Reading Room and Library. The Drill Hall and Armoury, in connection with the F Company Volunteers Brigade Border Regiment, is situated in Carlisle Road. Part of the old Tweed Mill is now used as a Public Hall.

St. Martin's Hall, adjoining the church, is a fine stone building, used for concerts, meetings, etc. It was erected in 1895 at a cost of £4,000, and has accommodation for 600.

The Gas Light and Coke Co. was formed in 1836, and reconstructed in 1872. Capital, £3,000, in £5 shares. There are two holders with a capacity of 18,000 and 6,000 cubic feet respectively. Retail price of gas, 4s. 2d. per 1,000 feet. The streets are lighted by 94 lamps.

The Brampton Poor Law Union was formed in 1837, and comprises the following parishes and townships, viz. :-

The Workhouse, built in 1874, at a cost of £14,000, affords accommodation for 200 inmates; the number at present in the house is 52. At the junction of the Longtown and Carlisle roads, and opposite to the Magistrates' Offices, stands a monument erected by public subscription to the memory of George John Johnson, of Castlesteads, J.P., D.L., born June 28th, 1816, died December 23rd, 1896. It is of grey granite surmounted by a gas lamp, and embellished on the east side by a medallion bust in bronze of the deceased gentleman. He was for 20 years chairman of the Brampton Petty Sessions, 28 years chairman of the Board of Guardians, and for close on 30 years held the same position in the Cattle Disease Committee.

BIOGRAPHIES. - James Wallace, Esq., a native of this parish, raised himself by his talents and industry, from very humble circumstances, to the office of attorney-general, but died at the age of 53, in the zenith of his reputation, and "when the highest honours his profession could offer, or his country bestow, were within his grasp." Dr. Guy Carlton, Bishop of Bristol, and afterwards of Chichester, was also a native of this parish. He suffered much for his loyalty, previous to the restoration, and died in 1685. William Forster, an eminent violin maker, was born here in 1739. He was by trade a spinning wheel maker (spinning was then a domestic employment followed in almost every household), but occupied his leisure time in making and repairing violins, and musical instruments generally. He removed to London in 1759, and after working some time as a musical instrument seller, he commenced business on his own account as a violin maker, in which he attained to very considerable eminence. He died in 1808.

EASBY township contains a small hamlet of the same name and one called Crooked Holme. The word "Easby" is a contraction of Eastby, and indicates by its terminal syllable that the Danes formed one of their settlements here. The land belongs chiefly to the Earl of Carlisle and the resident yeomen.

NAWORTH is a small township, the average and ratable value of which are returned in the parish. The principal landowners are the Earl of Carlisle; the Rev. T.W. Anderson, Penrith; Mrs. Thompson, Milton Hall; and C. Lacy Thompson, Esq., J.P., D.L., Farlam Hall.

Here, on a tongue of land between two rivulets, stands Naworth Castle, one of the most interesting monuments of the feudal age that can be found in England. In 1844 it was completely gutted by fire, and its restoration, under the eminent architect, Mr. Salvin, occupied several years. Sufficient of the old building still remains to convey an impression to the beholder of the strongholds erected by the great border chiefs during those troublesome times when England and Scotland were almost constantly at war. Considerable additions and alterations, from the designs of Mr. C.J. Ferguson, F.S.A., of Carlisle, have since been effected, but both in its previous restoration and later alterations, every care has been taken to preserve its antique appearance. It stands on a rocky precipice, embraced on three sides by the Castle beck and another stream, and accessible only on the fourth side, which was protected by two deep moats. But these have now been drained and converted into garden land. The ground plan is nearly quadrangular, the buildings enclosing a large open court or bailey. The grand front faces the east, and is flanked by battlemented towers carrying small watch turrets. Beneath these towers are the dungeons, in which many a poor captive from over the border has pined away his time in miserable seclusion, when the lords of Gilsland were the conservators of the peace in these northern parts.

"Doom'd in sad durance pining to abide
The long delay of hope from Solway's further side."

The roofs of these dungeons were vaulted with massive elliptical ribs, and in the walls may still be seen the rings to which the luckless prisoners were secured. But these Borderers were arrant rogues, and whether in peace or war, plunder was their game; and had there not been such fortresses as Naworth, with their frowning keeps, and men of the stamp of "Belted Will," there would have been neither peace nor security for the inhabitants who dwelt near the confines of Scotland.

Naworth or Naward is now the baronial seat of the lords of Gilsland. For some time subsequent to the arrival of the "base-born Norman" on our shores, the broad acres of Gilsland were the inheritance of a Saxon thane, whose stronghold was at the old Roman station of Castle Steads. He impressed his name on his wide domain, which was henceforth called Gill's land. The Cumbrian chief was at last dispossessed by the more powerful Norman, and Hubert de Vaux or Vallibus became the owner of Gilsland on the very easy terms of rendering military service. The maxims, "Those must hold who have the power" and "Those must get who can," were the acknowledged creed of the times, and Hubert found himself in no bed of roses. Gilles did not himself acquiesce in the confiscation of his estates, and De Vallibus held on rather insecure tenure the lands he had acquired. Robert, his son, is supposed to have erected a castle at Irthington and fixed his residence there. A story told by our county historians stains the name of this Robert with the crime of murder. It is said he treacherously invited his Saxon rival, Gilles Beuth, to a tryst at Castlesteads, and there slew him, and, in expiation of the crime, founded Lanercost Abbey; but the story seems to be without foundation.

The barony of Gilsland passed, by the marriage of Maud de Vaux, an only daughter and heiress, to Thomas de Multon, who appears to have preferred Kirkoswald Castle for his chief residence. By an alliance with Margaret de Multon, the Dacres acquired possession of Gilsland. The secret wooings of Ranulph de Dacre and the lady Margaret, and her elopement with her youthful lover from Brougham Castle, form a little love episode in the dry-as-dust genealogies of these noble families. To this family Naworth owes
its erection, the earliest notice of which appears to be a license granted by Edward III, in 1335, to Ranulph de Dacre, to crenellate his house at Naworth. Of the many stirring scenes which passed within its walls history is silent; its lords wielded the sword, and that right well and oft, but the pen was a stranger to them. Had the Dacres kept a "Household Book" like that of their noble successor, Lord William Howard, many interesting bits of gossip would probably have been chronicled. The untimely end of the last male heir of the Dacres, and the marriage of his three sister heiresses to the three sons of the Duke of Norfolk, will be fully related in the history of Greystoke. Thus Naworth passed to the Howards, a family, if not as ancient as many another English family of whom noble representatives are still extant, such has been its history, the blameless character of its great chiefs, and the splendid alliances it has contracted, that its influence has grown from generation to generation, until it has come to claim precedence of rank over every other noble family, the Royal family only excepted. Leonard Dacre, uncle to the three heiresses, disputed their title to Gilsland, but being unsuccessful in the prosecution of his claim, he tried what conspiracy would do, and joined the Rising of the North. At the head of 3,000 freebooters he seized Naworth, and held it for some time in 1570; he was, however, defeated at Gelt Bridge by a much smaller force than his own, under the command of Lord Hunsdon and Sir John Forster, warden of the middle marches. Leonard fled to the continent, and died there in exile in 1575. Of the three Dacre heiresses we are concerned only with Elizabeth, the youngest, to whom the barony of Gilsland was allotted. Her husband, Lord William Howard, the famous "Belted Will " of Border minstrelsy.

"than whom knight
Was never dubb'd more bold in fight;
Nor, when from war and armour free,
More famed for stately courtesy."

Lord William had only reached his fourteenth year, and the bride was a few months younger, when the marriage took place. His father, the Duke of Norfolk, having become for the third time, a widower, formed or assented to a project for a marriage with the beautiful Queen of Scots, then the captive of the implacable Elizabeth. The story of this perilous intrigue forms a romantic and memorable feature in the sad history of the time. Elizabeth was jealous of the superior charms of her rival, and the duke paid the penalty of his temerity. He was tried for the treasonable offence of assenting to a marriage with the captive queen, condemned, and beheaded on Tower Hill on the 2nd of June, 1572.

The young couple were soon to learn the sad lesson that, in the name of religion, have been committed many of the greatest crimes and grossest cruelties which stain humanity. Lord William and his eldest brother, the Earl of Arundel, decided on joining the Roman Catholic religion, a step which rendered it necessary for both to quit the country. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the two brothers were committed close prisoners to the tower. During their imprisonment, Francis Dacre, Leonard's third brother, thought the time opportune for despoiling his nieces of their patrimony. The case was adjudged against him; but the estates were still withheld, and were eventually redeemed from the Queen by the two brothers, by a payment of £10,000 each.

With the death of Elizabeth came better times for the house of Howard. Lord William was restored in blood; and appointed King's Lieutenant and Warden of the Marches, in 1605.^¶ He settled down at Naworth, which had, during the days of their persecution, been neglected and deserted, and began a thorough repair of the old fabric. Whatever additions or alterations had been made in the castle, during the long period it was held by the Dacres, one object was kept in view, viz., to add to its strength as a fortress; but the repairs of Lord William gave it a domestic character; it was henceforth the mansion of a nobleman, rather than a feudal fortress. He dismantled the castle of Kirkoswald, and transferred the old oak ceiling, which adorned the ancient hall, bearing its portraits of the kings of England, from the time of Brute downwards, and applied it to a similar purpose at Naworth; and his oratory he enriched with sculptured figures of alabaster taken from Kirkoswald, and paintings on panel from Lanercost priory.

Lord William was, according to Camden, a diligent student of antiquity, and rendered no small assistance to the author of Britannia, by copying the inscriptions upon the Roman altars found at Castle Steads. But amidst his varied occupations he found time to record, somewhat minutely, the expenses of his household, which consisted of fifteen sons and daughters, and when to these we add their wives and husbands and grandchildren, they make a grand total of fifty-two persons. In 1619 he was in such straightened circumstances from the plunder he had suffered by Queen Elizabeth, and from the cost of the repairs effected in the castle buildings, that he allowed himself for pocket money only 20s. a month, which scanty sum he had increased in 1627 to £36 a year. Among other items of expenditure are set down several sums of 5s. to the barber for cutting hair and trimming my lord's beard; 35s. for a pair of silken hose; 5s. for a pair of gloves for my lord; 10s. for a pair of boots; and a pair of spectacles is set down at eighteen pence. It appears from the same document that his total income from his various estates was £3,884 11s. 1½d., equivalent to about £10,000 a year of present money.

Tradition has shed a halo of glory round the name of "Belted Will," and his deeds have been chronicled in legend and song. What Cumbrian has not listened with thrilling interest to the recital of the exploits of "Bold Willie" in his raids upon the mosstroopers who infested the border land; and little mercy was often shown to the luckless freebooter who came within his clutches. He was well adapted for the task imposed upon him by virtue of his office as warden of the west marches;^¶ stern, uncompromising, vigorous, and when necessary even severe, he was the terror of the evil-doers of the district. The following story, if it be true, shows that he acted sometimes with reprehensible precipitancy. A mosstrooper having been captured, a servant entered the library to inquire what should be done with him. Vexed at being disturbed, "Hang him!" was the impatient reply. A few hours afterwards, when his labour was finished, he ordered the man to be brought before him for examination, and was surprised to find that his order had been complied with, and the man was dead. He is thus described by Sir Walter Scott, in the Lay of the Last Minstrel :-

"Costly his garb, - his Flemish ruff
Fell o'er his doublet, shaped of buff,
With satin slashed and lined;
Tawny his boots, and gold his spur,
His cloak was all of Poland fur,
His hose with silver twined;
His Bilboa blade by marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt;
Hence in rude phrase, the Borderers still
Call noble Howard, "Belted Will."

Much of the glamour which legend and story have thrown round his name has been removed by the researches of Mr. Ornsby, and though we may regret the demolition of so many of the tales we had been accustomed to believe from our childhood, his character, when "stript of its legendary aspects, stands out greater, grander, deeper, and more loveable than one ever imagined."

Lord William died in 1640, at Naworth, in his seventy-seventh year, having survived his wife little more than twelve months. Charles Howard, his great grandson, succeeded to the barony in 1642, by the speedy deaths of his intermediate ancestors. He seems to have played a somewhat prominent part in the restoration of Charles II, for which he was better rewarded than many other noble Royalists, who suffered heavily for their adherence to the crown. He was created Earl of Carlisle, Viscount Howard, of Morpeth, and Baron Dacre, of Gilsland - honours borne by the present owner of Naworth. Whilst fixity and integrity of principle marked the conduct of "Belted Will," tergiversation characterised the actions of the great grandson. He was a Commonwealth man, whilst Cromwell was in the ascendant, and as commissioner for the northern counties, was busily employed in securing and imprisoning all those who were not favourable to the Protector. In a letter to Cromwell, he says: "Besides the greate tyes off conscience, honour, and gratitude, I have a particular one, which is love to your person, and thatt I can say with bouldness is soe harty, thatt noe man thatt serves you hath more." Naworth still remains in the possession of the same family, the Earls of Carlisle, many of whom have been no less distinguished for their statesmanship, than their high literary abilities.

Our description of the castle must of necessity be brief. Passing through an ancient gateway, above which are the Dacre Arms, the bailey or courtyard is entered. On the right or north side is the great hall, ceiled in panelled oak. The old ceiling, with its portraits of the kings of England from Brute, was destroyed in the great fire of 1844. Along each side are arranged numerous family portraits and heraldic shields, on which are emblazoned the arms of all the great families with whom the owners of Naworth have formed alliances. Various pieces of armour, notably that of "Belted Will," adorn the hall, and several splendid pieces of tapestry, together with numerous relics of the past, cannot fail to be interesting to the most unsympathetic visitor. Four heraldic beasts, carved in oak life-size, will not escape observation. The hall measures 100 feet by 24 feet, and is doubtless one of the finest specimens of a baronial hall of the sixteenth century. The library was formerly the domestic chapel; it has been refitted, and a new oak ceiling put up. Over the fireplace is a relief in plaster, designed and painted by Sir Edward Burne Jones, R.A., representing in a life-like manner "The Battle of Flodden Field." The music room contains many valuable paintings, noticeable amongst them being one by Mabeuse, the subject of which is "The Adoration of the Magi." Perhaps the most interesting feature about the castle is the tower, known as "Belted Will's," in which was his bedroom, and above that a sitting-room, library, and oratory or private chapel. In the thickness of the walls were some hiding places, where priests were secreted during the ages of persecution.

The Barony of Gilsland includes Brampton, Carlatton, Castle Carrock, Cumrew, Cumwhitton, Nether Denton, Upper Denton, Farlam, Hayton, Irthington, and Lanercost Abbey. This barony took its name, as already stated, from its Saxon owner in early Norman times; this we infer from the charter of Henry II, who granted to Hubert de Vaux "totam terram quam Gilbertus filius Boet tenuit, " that is all the land which Gill or Gilbert, son of Buet, held, for which he was to provide the king with the services of two knights for forty days. Many valuable privileges accompanied the grant; he had thol or the right to levy duty on all things bought or sold; theam, or the right to try his bondsmen and serfs; soc, or the power and authority of administering justice within the limits of the barony; sac, or the power of imposing fines upon his tenants and vassals; and infangentheof, or the privilege of trying thieves caught within his boundaries. He was further to hold his possessions "free of the Noutgeld," a Crown tax originally paid in cattle. Hubert parcelled out the barony in manors among his friends and kinsmen. This barony, Mr. Mounsey tells us, has "descended from ancestor to heir, in an unbroken series, through the successive noble families of De Vallibus, Multon, Dacre, and Howard, down to its present possessor, the Earl of Carlisle. Never sold, never alienated, it has witnessed many strange vicissitudes in the fortunes of its lords, and is connected historically, as well as traditionally, with some of our most interesting national events."

The Carlisle family derive their descent from Lord William Howard, the "Belted Will" of border story, second son of Thomas, fourth Duke of Norfolk. He married Elizabeth, sister and co-heir of George, Lord Dacre of Gilsland, and through her became proprietor of Naworth Castle, and also of Hinderskelfe Castle in Yorkshire. He died in 1640, and was succeeded by his grandson, Sir William Howard. Sir Charles Howard, eldest son of the foregoing, was created Earl of Carlisle, and filled several important offices under Government. He was succeeded by his son, Edward, second earl, who died in 1692. Charles, third earl, eldest son of the above, filled the high office of First Lord of the Treasury, Constable of the Tower, and Governor of Windsor Castle. His Yorkshire castle of Hinderskelfe having been destroyed by fire, he built the magnificent pile known as Castle Howard from the designs of Vanbrugh, which henceforth became their chief residence. He was one of the original members of the Kit-Kat Club, and is mentioned in Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors as "a poet of no mean ability." Henry, fourth earl, his eldest son, married for his second wife, Isabella, daughter of William, Lord Byron, and great aunt of the poet. He died 1758, and was succeeded by his son Frederick, fifth earl, who was distinguished for his literary abilities and æsthetic taste. He was the author of several dramas and a volume of poems, and was a contributor to the Anti-Jacobin Review. He was also the purchaser from the Palace Royal, Paris, during the Revolution, of Carraci's celebrated picture of "The Three Mary's," one of the most admired pictures in the Manchester Exhibition of 1857. He was K.T., K.G., P.C., F.R.S., Treasurer of the Household, 1777; first Commissioner of Trade and Plantations, 1779; and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1780-2. He died in 1825. George, sixth earl, K.G., P.C., F.R.S., was Lord Privy Seal, 1827-8 and 1834. He was succeeded in 1848 by his eldest son, George William Frederick, seventh-earl, M.C., K.T., K.G., P.C., an orator, a statesman, and man of letters, and equally esteemed for his private virtues and amiability of character. In Parliament he introduced and carried not less than thirteen bills, including the Irish Tithe Bill, Irish Municipal Bill, and the Irish Poor-Law Bill. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1835-41; Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, 1646-50 [sic]; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1850-2; Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1855-8 and 1859-64. He travelled in the East and in America, and published a narrative of his Eastern wanderings. He was also the author of several poetical works, and lectured on the poetry of Pope and Gray. He died December 5th, 1864, and statues and monuments have been erected to his memory at Dublin, Carlisle, Morpeth, Bulmer Hill, Castle Howard, and Brampton. He was never married, and was succeeded by his brother the Rev. William George Howard, who died in 1889. On the demise of the last named, the estates passed to his nephew George James Howard, only child of the Hon. Charles Wentworth George Howard.

Brierthwaite, or Tarnhouse Forest, lies on the south side of the parish, from five to eight miles S.E. of Brampton. It was anciently given to Hexham Priory, by Adam de Tindale, but after the dissolution, was granted to the, barons of Gilsland. It was formerly considered extra-parochial, but is now annexed to the township of Naworth, and is sometimes called Tindale Forest. There are several coal mines in this neighbourhood, and zinc works were commenced some years ago.

* Dr. Brace in his history of the Roman Wall gives the following translation of the inscriptions, of which there appear to be three :-

"A vexillation of the second legion, styled the August, on account of its bravery, under Agricola the optio (lieutenant)."

"Aper and Maximus being consuls, A.D. 207. The workshop (quarry) of Mercatius. The band of Julius. Mercatius (the son of) Fernus Julius Peculiaris, a vexillation of the 20th legion, styled Valeria and Victrix."

¶ Recent researches have shown that Lord William never held the office of warden - Ed.