other proof of the intercourse which subsisted between Henry lord Clifford and the canons of Bolton has been given by Dr. Whitaker from the MS. of Thoresby, the antiquary, namely, A Treatise of Natural Philosophy, which had been presented by his lordship to the Priory of Bolton, and which, after the dissolution of that house, had reverted to the family of the donor *.

These propensities and pursuits on the part of lord Henry almost necessarily threw about his person, in the minds of the inhabitants of Craven, a high degree of mystery and awe; and though he was too much beloved by his neighbours-too pious, charitable and kind, to induce them to infer that he had any connexion with unhallowed powers; yet it was whispered round the cottage, and even by the convent fire, and firmly believed amongst them, that, during his long concealment under the garb of a shepherd, he had been the especial favourite of a fairy, who had watched over his safety, and

Who loved the shepherd lord to meet

In his wanderings solitary;

Wild notes she in his hearing sang,

That whistled like the wind, and rang
Among the rocks and holly bowers.

'Twas said that she all shapes could wear;

And oftentimes before him stood,

Amid the trees of some thick wood,

In semblance of a lady fair,

And taught him signs, and showed him sights,
In Craven's dens, on Cumbria's heights;
When under cloud of fear he lay,
A shepherd clad in homely grey;
Nor left him at his later day.—

And choice of studious friends had he
Of Bolton's dear fraternity ;

Who, standing on the old church tower,
In many a calm propitious hour,
Perused, with him, the starry sky;
Or in their cells with him did pry
For other lore; through strong desire
Searching the earth with chemic fire *.

Yet we are not to conceive from this attachment to, and cultivation of, the sciences of astronomy and chemistry, that lord Clifford led the life of a hermit. . He was, in fact, not only charitable but hospitable; and though whilst at Barden, which was the chief place of his residence when in Yorkshire, he kept not such a household as would have been

*Wordsworth's Works, vol. iii. p. 21.

necessary at Skipton or Brougham, we know, from family papers found at Londsborough, that, in the year 1517, wages were paid to nearly sixty servants at Barden, though this was reckoned, at that time, but a slender retinue for a baron. From the same authority we find, that in 1521, two tuns of wine were forwarded from Newcastle to this retreat, and that the names of nearly three hundred tenants and dependants were admitted on my lord's "Beyd Rolls" for that year*.

Nor did he neglect occasionally to visit his various castles, keeping his Christmas sometimes in one and sometimes in another; a custom which, probably owing to the carelessness of servants, brought on the destruction of his castle of Brough; for it was burnt, relates Whitaker, "that is, the roof and floors were consumed, after a noble Christmas kept there by Henry lord Clifford, the shepherd, in his later days+."

Hospitality was indeed the characteristic and the virtue of the times, and alike conspicuous in the

VOL. I.

* Whitaker, pp. 252-413.

+ Ibid. p. 351.

hall of the castle and the convent. There were few monastic establishments more splendid and hospitable than that with which lord Henry himself was almost daily conversant, the canons regular of Bolton Abbey; and as there is every reason to suppose that his lordship's own household at Barden fared not worse than that of the prior of Bolton, a statement of the mode of living of the latter, which has fortunately been preserved, will necessarily throw much light upon that of the former.

It is true that the summary which, for this purpose, I am about to transcribe from Dr. Whitaker is founded on annual household accounts at Bolton, which, occupying a space of eighty years, terminate nearly a century before lord Clifford's restoration ; but as the establishment continued, on an average as to number, nearly the same; and the routine of domestic economy had, during that period, suffered little or no change, we may consider the habits and expenses of the priory as being, during the whole of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, very closely assimilated, and forming, in fact, that era in which monastic luxury, rivalling that of kings and nobles, may be said to have attained its highest pitch.

"Their establishment," says Dr. Whitaker, who

tells us that every particular in his summary is verified by a distinct article in the Compotus of Bolton, "consisted, first, of the prior, who had lodgings, with a hall and chapel, stables, &c. distinct from those of the house. There were, on an average, fifteen canons and two conversi*; besides whom were the armigeri, gentlemen dependent on the house, who had clothing, board, and lodging; the liberi servientes within and without; and, lastly, the garciones, who were villeins in gross, or mere domestic slaves. Of the free servants, intra curiam, there were about thirty; among whom may be distinguished, the master-carpenter, the master and inferior cook, brewer and baker, the master-smith, the hokarius, the fagotarius, and the ductor saccarum. These received wages from ten shillings to three shillings each, per annum. The servants

"The lay-brethren were such as either from bodily deformity or mental dulness were incapable of holy orders. Many of the former were, no doubt, by the compensating bounty of Providence, blessed with fine understandings, and would be employed in delicaté and ingenious works. One of these earned upwards of 77., equal nearly to 1007. at present, in one year; is not said by what means. The latter often became excellent masons, carpenters, wheelwrights, &c."-WHITAKER.