In

east window of the church. Here appertained the ancient Dairy houses, the names which are still retained, the ancient moat which may still be well traced. fact it would have been the making of the place, and people would have come from all parts to see it. The site of the old tower is all that can now be seen. The Church, dedicated to All Saints, was restored before restoration was properly understood; in 1853 all the windows were filled up with stained glass, and the lofty tower at the west end contains only one bell of a ton weight. There is a Nave, Chancel, Transept, and North Aisle, also sixteen windows of good size. So much

for the church.

Nuttles, in this parish, is another curious place. Before it was rebuilt of late years, under the auspices of Mr. W. M. Stickney, the present tenant, it was like one of the old French Monasteries, ard there was an under-ground passage to Nut Hill, fully two miles long. There was also a curious tradition of a woman who had been murdered through jealousy, and the blood stains were shown altho' two hundred years ago. There was an old chapel here, and the Vicar of Burstwick receives annually 13s. 4d. for a mass to be said by him each year. There are two Board Schools in the Parish, the one in Burstwick is close to the church, and has a clock that can be heard all over the village. There are several private houses and the population is nearly 700. We may add that there is a railway station at hand. The name of the Parish was once spelt Buswyth, but I think we must all incline to" Brusten Wyke," or broken up village or Hamlet, which is given as another mode of spelling the word in several ancient Histories.

THE LORDS OF COTTINGHAM. By C. STANILAND WAKE.

IN

Nan article which appeared in No. II. of the Hull Quarterly it was stated that on the death, without issue, of Edmund de Holland, Earl of Kent, the Manor of Cottingham was divided among his four surviving sisters. In the present article I propose to trace the further descent of the Manor, first giving some account of the ancestry of Edmund Holland. The family of Holland was of great antiquity in Lancashire, but the foundations of its fortunes were laid in Edward I's reign by Robert de Holland, who was secretary to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, nephew to the King. In the following reign Robert de Holland was beheaded by the friends of the Earl of Lancaster, whom he was supposed to have betrayed when the Earl rose in insurrection against Edward II. and his favourites the De Spencers. Robert de Holland left four sons, of whom the most famous was Thomas, the second son. This knight was held in high esteem for his valour and military skill during the wars of France, and on the foundation of the Order of the Garter by Edward III., he was elected into the Society. He took to wife, Joane, the

fair maid of Kent," the sister and heir to John, Earl of Kent. This baron was possessed of the Lordship of Cottingham and its members, Hull-Bank, Doucedale, Newland, Eppelwick, Northouse, and Pileford, which he inherited from his mother, Margaret, the wife of Edmund Woodstock, Earl of Kent, second son of Edward I. and the sister and heir of Thomas Lord Wake. Sir Thomas de Holland appears to have married young, when he was Steward of the Household to William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, and there was some mystery about his marriage. On his going beyond the seas, Joane was contracted in marriage to the Earl of Salisbury. On his return home, Sir Thomas de Holland could not obtain possession of his wife, and he thereupon petitioned Pope Clement VI., who, on a full hearing of the case, gave

sentence for him, and the Earl of Salisbury was thereupon compelled to resign the fair Joane. Sir Thomas de Holland became Earl of Kent in right of his wife, by whom he had three sons, Thomas, Edmund, and John. He died in 34 Edward III. (1361) and the next year his widow, then only 32 years of age, married her cousin, Edward, Prince of Wales,* the noted Black Prince. Thomas de Holland who succeeded to the title of Earl of Kent, was brother on the mother's side to Richard II. and on the death of Joane, Princess of Wales, ing Richard II. he had livery of the lands of her inheritance, including the Manor of Cottingham, with its members, namely, Hesill, and Weton, Bentleye, Hundestaye, Wolfreton, Newton, Ettone, Rippelingham, and Brantingham. In 20 Richard II. this Thomas de Holland died, having first declared his Testament by the title of Earl of Kent and Lord Wake, and thereby directed his body to be buried in the Abbey of Brune or Bourne, in Lincolnshire, which had been founded by one of his mother's

ancestors.

He was succeeded in his titles and property by his son, Thomas, who in the year following, was created Duke of Surrey. Dugdale states that "in the ceremony of his creation and others at that time," the King sat in Parliament crowned, and that the Virga aurea was first used in the investiture. The Duke of Surrey did not long enjoy his increased dignity, however, as on the accession of Henry IV. he "was doomed to lose that his Great Title, in regard he had been one of the great prosecutors of Thomas of Woodstoke, Duke of Glocester." He had been created by Richard II. Lieutenant of Ireland, and he was in this country with the King at the time of the Duke of Lancaster's landing in Yorkshire Dugdale states that the Duke of Surrey and others who had held chief sway during Richard's reign, could not quietly submit to the new king, and therefore, "plotted to come into Windsore Castle, where King Henry then kept his Christmas, under the disguise of Mummers; so to murder him, (with his sons) and to

* Edward, Prince of Wales in 1362, presented Nicholas de Luda (Louth) to the Rectory of Cottingham.

restore King Richard. But King Henry having notice thereof, got privily to London; so that this Duke, and the rest (who thought to have accomplished their work, as they had designed) coming thither on the Sunday evening, next after New Year's day, in the twilight, with about 400 men in arms, found that they were disappointed of their purpose, whereupon they went away much displeased. But dissembling his discontent he rode to Sunning (near Reading) where King Richard's Queen then was; and, in the presence of divers of her servants, signing himself with his right hand on the forehead, said, "Bless me! What is the reason that Henry of Lancaster, who hath so much boasted of his valour, does thus shun me?" Adding My Lords and Friends, be it known to you all, that Henry of Lancaster who pursued me, is now fed to the Tower of London, with his sons and friends; and, that it is my purpose to go to King Richard, my rightful King; who, being escaped out of prison, lieth at Pontefract, with an hundred thousand men." The Duke of Surrey then proceeded to Cirencester, by the way exhorting the people to arm themselves for King Richard, but without avail, for at that place the towns-people seized him and the Earl of Salisbury, and beheaded them. This Thomas de Holland married Joane, the daughter of Hugh, Earl of Stafford, but died without issue, leaving his brother Edmund his heir then under age. For his maintenance during his minority, Edmund, Earl of Kent, obtained a grant of two hundred marks per annum payable out of the Manor of Cottin ham, and two years afterwards he had a further grant of one hundred pounds per annum more, to be paid out of the revenues of that Manor. Soon afterwards he obtained a special livery of the Castles, Manors, and Lands, of which his brother died. These he enjoyed only for a few years, for in 9 Henry IV. he was slain by an arrow from a cross-bow while besieging the Castle of Briak, in Brittany. Only the year before he had married the Lady Lucy, daughter of the

*Edmund, Earl of Kent made two presentations to the Rectory of Cottingham, one in 1383, and the other in 1396.

we shall have occasion to show, an interest in the Manor of Cottingham, and probably this led to his wishing to obtain the share of his brother Edward IV. Alianore the daughter of Thomas de Holland, Earl of Kent, survived her husband the Earl of March, and afterwards married Edward de Cherlton, Lord Powis, by whom she had two daughters, Joane and Joyce. She survived Lord Powis, and died in 7 Henry IV. in the lifetime of her brother Edmund Holland, Earl of Kent.

Joane, the second daughter of Thomas de Holland, and sister of Edmund de Holland, Earl of Kent, married as his second wife, Edmund de Langele* or Langley, the fifth son of Edward III. who was

created Earl of Cambridge and afterwards Duke of York. Surviving him she became the wife of William Lord Willoughby of Eresby, afterwards of Henry Lord Scroope, who was the Lord of the Manor of Burton Constable, and lastly of Henry Broomfleet, Lord Vesci, to whom belonged, among other lands in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the lordships of North Cave and Brantingham. Joane, Duchess of York, died without issue in 12 Henry VI. whereupon the lands of which she died seized were divided among her sisters and their heirs.

*This nobleman had a grant of forty pounds per annum out of the Customs of Wools, Skins, and Felts, in Kingston Super Hull.

(To be Continued).

THORNTON ABBEY.

Lincolnshire.

By H. GREVILLE MONTGOMERY.

IN giving a very brief sketch of Thorn

ton Abbey, we do not purpose to do more than present some idea of the fabric as it existed in its primitive state, and endeavour to afford some information to many who have visited the ruins with confused ideas, or ignorance, of the Monastic and College life and legend that so inseparably connect themselves with the place.

To those who have glanced at the massive stone ruin as they have hurried past by rail or otherwise, it has at first sight broken upon them with a pleasant surprise, while to others, who have given it a closer inspection, the walls and surroundings have been found rich in architectural and natural beauty. Authentic information of any length is scattered over more than one or two volumes, and although we do not pretend to give an exhaustive account of the founder and supporters of Thornton, it is hoped that some information of use may be laid bare.

Thornton Monastery was founded in the year 1139, by William, surnamed le Gros, who was the third Earl of Albemarle and Lord of Holderness, as a Priory of Black Canons. His Lordship was of devout and liberal disposition, and other monasteries are attributed to his beneficence. Thornton, however, was his first to build, and naturally one in which he took particular pleasure. It is said that in his voyages he would sometimes be roused at midnight, and if the troubles of his mind, or the voice of the elements kept him awake, his thoughts would run back to the Abbey, where he would picture the Friars at their nocturns, and, fancying he could catch the strains, would fall asleep

Pope Eugenius the Third. From this time the building was recognised as Thornton Abbey. The position of Abbot was one of no inconsiderable importance. He was the chief officer, having sole direction of affairs; lived apart from the Abbey amid much luxuriance, and he was titled the Lord Abbot.*

We cannot here touch upon the respective rights and wrongs of monastic life. To the Thornton Priors we do not know whether there was any reason for attributing those acts of infamy that branded so many inhabitants of the then existing monasteries, as "lazy and corrupt monks," and it is not for us to say whether Henry VIII. in 1535 set on foot his visitation of the religious houses with a legitimate desire to repress the evils that at the time undoubtedly existed, or whether his action was merely the outcome of his grasping policy. The visitors who undertook this business went over England, and found in many places monstrous disorders; the sin of Sodom was found in many houses; great factions and barbarous cruelties were in others, and in some were found tools for coining; the report contained many abominable things that are not fit to be mentioned.

These visitors may have exaggerated their report, but the almost unanimous cry of down with them" that rose from the House of Commons when the report

*The Prior was next in authority and even he was sometimes dubbed the Lord Prior.

+ Burnet.

was presented, proved that things were too generally known to cause any hesitation in the matter.

Previous to this, however, Henry had paid a visit to Thornton Abbey, where he and his Queen, Catherine Howard, were received with great ceremony, and were for some days sumptuously entertained. This fact makes us look for a moment at the profuse manner in which many of the monks of the time lived. A recently painted picture, now in Liverpool, represents them at a lenten repast, with tables laden with a brilliant array of dishes of every kind of fish and fruit, and an abundant supply of wines and other drink. The jovial, fat and flourishing" life of the monk is proverbial, and evidence. seems to pronounce it none the less true. An old writer says*:—

"Their table consisted regularly of sixteen covers or more, of the most costly dainties, dressed with the most exquisite cookery, to provoke the appetite and please the taste. They had an excessive abundance of wine, particularly claret; of mulberry wine, of meed, and of other strong liquors, the variety of which was so great in these repasts, that no place could be found for ale, though the best was made in England."

It would not be justifiable, however, to attach to Thornton such excesses as these. Henry's visit seemed to have pleased him well, and at this time (1541) the name had been changed to Thornton

Geraldus Cambrensis.