SUPPLEMENTA.

[A]This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. I wonder whether by any of the rigorous tests of modern science these “blotted out” words can be discerned. Probably they have some reference to the Plot. The late Rev. John Morris, S.J., thought they had not. But on this point I am obliged to differ,in toto, from that painstaking editor of much invaluable Elizabethan Catholic literature. See the learned Jesuit’s remarks on this letter of the 4th October, 1605, in “The Condition of Catholics under James I.” (Longmans), p. 228.Father Morris contends that for Father Garnet to have inserted a reference to the Gunpowder Plot “between two such subjects as the choice of Lay-brothers and his own want of money,” would have been for Garnet to have exhibited a disposition “to be the most erratic of letter-writers.”But, surely, Father Morris’s argument is feeble in the extreme when regard is had to the fact that poor Henry Garnet’s mind,from the 25th July, 1605, when he first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605, was a very weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons.I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James’-tide), Garnet had, by way of confession, thegeneral particularsof the Plot, because I think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, after the return from St. Winefrid’s Well, in Flintshire, Wales.It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in consequence of Garnet’s sending for Tesimondafterhe (Garnet) had received “the friend’s stay in the way.” For the old tradition was that Garnetfirsthad particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard’s “History.”) But, of course, this was an error bythree months, Garnet first receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on “Garnet after the 21st October, 1605,” but at present I have not space to pursue this matter further.)

Father Morris contends that for Father Garnet to have inserted a reference to the Gunpowder Plot “between two such subjects as the choice of Lay-brothers and his own want of money,” would have been for Garnet to have exhibited a disposition “to be the most erratic of letter-writers.”

But, surely, Father Morris’s argument is feeble in the extreme when regard is had to the fact that poor Henry Garnet’s mind,from the 25th July, 1605, when he first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605, was a very weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons.

I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James’-tide), Garnet had, by way of confession, thegeneral particularsof the Plot, because I think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact, after the return from St. Winefrid’s Well, in Flintshire, Wales.

It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst, Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in consequence of Garnet’s sending for Tesimondafterhe (Garnet) had received “the friend’s stay in the way.” For the old tradition was that Garnetfirsthad particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard’s “History.”) But, of course, this was an error bythree months, Garnet first receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on “Garnet after the 21st October, 1605,” but at present I have not space to pursue this matter further.)

Guy Fawkes.

The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster’s “Yorkshire Families,” under Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley.

Guy’s grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady, Ellen Harrington.[A]

[A]Ellen Harrington’s father was Lord Mayor of York, in the reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.

William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop of York, and died between the years 1558-1565.

William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters — Thomas Fawkes, a merchant-stapler, and Edward Fawkes, a Notary or Proctor of the Ecclesiastical Court, and afterwards an Advocate of the Consistory Court of the Archbishop of York. (Certainly it is a strange and bitter irony that an ancestry like this should have brought forth such a moral monster as poor Guy Fawkes afterwards became. But our guiding motto must be: “Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.”)

Edward Fawkes married a lady whose Christian name was Edith, but her surname is unknown. She was themother of four children — two sons and two daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man’s estate, and this was the hapless Guy.

(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guypossibly mayhave had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in November, 1605.)

Now, the exact house where Edith Fawkes gave birth to her ill-fated boy is at present not known with certitude. There are four traditions respecting the place. Two traditions say the house was on the south side of High Petergate, York; one tradition that it was on the north side, adjoining the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates’ tradition. But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing.

My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City’s antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901, that in old Thomas Gent’s “Rippon” (1733) there is mention made of Bishopthorpe as being Guy’s birthplace. Gent says, “The house opposite the church[A]is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux.”

[A]I.e., theoldBishopthorpe Church. The present Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the entrance to the village from York.

Mr. Camidge continues: “I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that Guy Fawkes was born at Bishopthorpe, and the site of the house was indicated by several persons. I found one of the descendants of the former owner of the house, who assured me that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was born in thehouse; that my informant’s great grandfather maintained the same; and that for two or three generations they had shown the house as the place of Guy Fawkes’ birth. The site of the house is now a pleasure-garden; but a stone was put in the ground to mark the site.”

Now it is a remarkable fact that in almost all, if indeed not quite all, of those places where there has been a strong local tradition to the effect that the Gunpowder conspirators had some association with a particular spot, subsequent investigation has found the tradition to be well authenticated. (This was pointed out by David Jardine sixty years ago.)

Yet the strongest argument against the Bishopthorpe tradition is that Guy’s baptismal register is to-day found at the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York.

Now, in the time of Elizabeth, as Dr. Elzé has pointed out in his “Life of Shakespeare,” a child would bebaptized on the third day after birth. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe tradition as to thebirthplaceof Guy Fawkes.

It is, however, more than possible that as a babe in arms Guy Fawkes may havelivedat Bishopthorpe. For the Act of Uniformity, whereby the York Court of High Commission had been established, would bring much legal work to his father, Edward Fawkes; and that the latter found it convenient to have a house in close proximity to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of York, a leading member of the High Commission, is one of the likeliest things in the world.

In these circumstances, then, the present-day inhabitants of Bishopthorpe may still lay the flattering unction to their souls (if they wish so to do) that Guy Fawkes drank in his mother’s milk in their picturesque Yorkshire village, on the banks of the noble Ouse.

Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in York’s antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, held a tradition that Guy Fawkes’ birthplace was in the house adjoining the Minster Gates.

Accordingly, some little time afterwards, I wrote to Mr. Watkinson, who at once kindly replied in a letter, dated 22nd October, 1901, as follows: —

“My reason for thinking that the house in High Petergate, at the corner of the Minster Gates, ... is the house where Guy Fawkes was born, is this:“Some fifty years ago I was working at the same house when an old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house.“It is an Elizabethan[A]house, but it has been re-fronted, which you would see if you went inside and looked at the wainscotting and the carved mantel-piece.”

“My reason for thinking that the house in High Petergate, at the corner of the Minster Gates, ... is the house where Guy Fawkes was born, is this:

“Some fifty years ago I was working at the same house when an old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house.

“It is an Elizabethan[A]house, but it has been re-fronted, which you would see if you went inside and looked at the wainscotting and the carved mantel-piece.”

[A]In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant, tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby, the father of “the Venerable” Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder Plot was hatched.

Edward Fawkes died, aged forty-six, when his son, Guy, was not quite eight years old. He was buried in the Minster on the 17th January, 1578-9. About twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen’s thrice hapless child — by nature a tall, athletic man, but then,by torture of the rack, so crippled “that he was scarce able to go up the ladder” — met on the shameful gallows-tree, and on the quartering block, in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster, over against the Parliament House, the terrible death of a condemned traitor. The whole world knows the reason why.

Mistress Edith Fawkes, Guy’s mother, was married a second time to a gentleman named Dennis Bainbridge. He was connected with the John Pulleyn, Esq., of Scotton, near Knaresbrough, and the probabilities are that Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Bainbridge, and that lady’s children by her first husband, namely Guy, Elizabeth and Ann Fawkes, all lived by the favour of the young squire, John Pulleyn, in patriarchal fashion, at Scotton Hall. The Pulleyns and the Bainbridges were Roman Catholics, and their names (along with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in Peacock’s “List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604,” under the title “Parish of Farnham.” The name Percy, of Percy House, is not found in Peacock’s “List.”

[If the Bainbridges did not live at Scotton Hall, they may have lived at Percy House, hard-by the Hall. Percy House is now owned by Mr. Slater, of Farnham Hall, the property of the relatives of the late Charles Shann, Esquire, of Tadcaster.]

It is, therefore, easy to understand how it came to pass that the mind of young Guy Fawkes became impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a creature of circumstances.

Yorkshire abounded in Roman Catholics in the time of Elizabeth (see the “Hatfield MSS.” and numerous other contemporary records). Such was especially the case with the district round about Knaresbrough and Ripon. And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen hadsuffered a bloody death for their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes. — See Challoner’s “Missionary Priests” and Pollen’s “Acts of the English Martyrs,” already frequently referred to.

[“The Venerable” martyrs, Robert Bickerdyke, Peter Snow, Ralph Grimston, Francis Ingleby, and John Robinson (some priests, others laymen) came from Low Hall, Farnham; “at or near Ripon;” Nidd, near Scotton; Ferensby and Ripley respectively. While the “Blessed” John Nelson came from Skelton, York, and the “Blessed” Richard Kirkeman from Addingham, near Ilkley (both priests). All these men suffered death for legal treason or felony based upon their religion between the years 1578 and 1604. And, therefore, according to the laws that govern human nature, such events were sure to tell an impressive tale to a man like Guy Fawkes. Princes and statesmen should avoid, as far as possible, inflicting punishments that impress the imagination. Moreover, an inferior but potent objection against all religious persecution is found in the wisdom enshrined in the exclamation of Horace, “O imitators, a servile crowd!”]

The following testimony of Father Oswald Tesimond, one of Guy Fawkes’ old school-fellows, along with John Wright and Christopher Wright, at Old St. Peter’s School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, York, where Union Terrace now stands, will be of interest.

Fawkes was “a man of great piety, of exemplary temperance, of mild and cheerful demeanour, an enemy of broils and disputes, a faithful friend, and remarkable for his punctual attendance upon religious observances.”His society was “sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes’ camp for nobility and virtue.” — Quoted by Jardine in his “Narrative,” p. 38.

How sad to think that such a man should have so missed his way in the journey of life as to become so demoralized as to join in the Gunpowder Treason Plot; nay,in intention, to be the most deadly agent in that Plot. What can have caused, in the final resort, such a missing of his way, and have wrought such dire demoralization? Echo answers what?

Yet nothing more clearly shows that Guy Fawkes deserved all the punishment he got than the fact that he returned to his post in the cellar, where the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were, after no less thanthreedistinct warnings that the Government had intelligence of the Plot. One warning was given him on Monday, the 28th October, at White Webbs, by Thomas Winter; a second, on Sunday night, the 3rd November, by Thomas Winter, after the delivery of the Letter to the King; and the third, on Monday, the 4th November, after the visit to the cellar of the Earl of Suffolk and Lord Mounteagle, of which visit Fawkes informed Thomas Percy. — See Lingard’s “History.”

Copies of the three following Deeds given in Davies’ “Fawkeses, of York,” will be read with interest. One of the Deeds is an “Indenture of Lease;” the second, an “Indenture of Conveyance;” and the third, a “Deed Poll,” whereby Dennis and Edith Bainbridge release all right to Dower in Guy Fawkes’ real estate that he “heíred” from his own father, Edward Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York.

In “The Connoisseur,” for November, 1901, is given a fac-simile of the “Conveyance.” Thomas Shepherd Noble, Esq., of Precentor’s Court, York, one of York’smost respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in “The Connoisseur” of the “Conveyance” is a fac-simile of one of the documents he sawmore than half a century ago.

The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (for the family spelt their name in all four ways) bore for their Arms one and four azure, on a bend between six lozenges or, each charged with a scallop of the first, five scallops sable: two and three azure, a fess between three martlets. — See Flower’s “Visitation of Yorkshire,” Ed. by Norcliffe.

Flower gives the Pulleyns, of Scotton, first, and then the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, near Harrogate.

Walter Pulleyn, the step-grandfather of Guy Fawkes, is given as a Pulleyn, of Scotton. Walter Pulleyn married for his first wife Frances Slingsby, of Scriven; for his second wife Frances Vavasour, of Weston, near Otley. One branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which, embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from Harrogate,[A]through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. Their son was William Pulleyn, who married Margaret Bellasis, of Henknoll; andtheirson and heir was John Pulleyn, almost certainly the John Pulleyn, Esquire, of Scotton, given under the Parish of Farnham, in Peacock’s “List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604.”

[A]How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright, balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from all sides the traveller’s eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!

Flower’s “Pedigree” shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried with the Ruddes, of Killinghall;the Roos, of Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherby; the Tankards, of Boroughbridge; the Swales, of Staveley; the Walworths, of Raventoftes, Bishop Thornton; the Coghylls, of Knaresbrough; and the Birnands, of Knaresbrough; one and all old Yorkshire Catholic gentry.

Flower also shows in his “Pedigree” of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, daughter of Sir William Ingleby, of Ripley; and secondly Frances Pulleyn, daughter of Walter Pulleyn, of Scotton. They must have been cousins in some degree. Amongtheirnumerous children were Joshua and William, both Roman Catholic priests.

The “Douay Registers” (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He was educated at Cardinal Allen’s[A]College in Douay. His brother, William Pulleyn, was ordained in 1583, at the same time as the future martyr, “the Venerable” Francis Ingleby, afterwards the friend of “the Venerable” Margaret Clitherow, of York, and for harbouring whom, along with her spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of 1586.

[A]Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of Rossall, near Blackpool.

In 1578 the College of Douay was transferred by Cardinal Allen to Rheims (or Reims), where it remained for twenty-one years, when it was transferred back to Douay. Fathers William Pulleyn and Francis Ingleby were educated at the College at Rheims (or Reims). — See “Order of Queen Elizabeth,” dated last day of December, 1582, in Appendixposteawhere Reims is mentioned inconnection with the popish missionary priests it was then sending forth into the City of York.[A]

[A]Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield, Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th May, 1901, that from theinq. post mortemthe above-named Walter Pulleyn died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock’s “List for 1604”) was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612. (Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr. Thrackray.)

There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, that Guy Fawkes was wont to visit that old-world village (until recently so quaint from its thatched farm-houses and cottars’ dwellings, and but little changed belike since the days of “Good Queen Bess”).

This tradition is certainly probably authentic; for a Roman Catholic family, named Walmsley, at that time lived at Cowthorpe Hall, a dignified “moated grange” between the Nidd and the historic “Cowthorpe Old Oak.” Guy Fawkes, possibly, many a time and oft, may have stabled his horse at the old Hall when, after fording at Hunsingore the shallow Nidd, he traversed the pleasant fields betwixt Cowthorpe and Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherby, where dwelt the family of Roos, who were, as above stated, allied by marriage to Guy’s friends, the Pulleyns, of Scotton.

Lastly; so intelligent a Yorkshire lad as was, beyond all doubt or cavil, the son of Edward Fawkes and Edith his wife — the lad whose manly but delicately-formed handwriting may be seen to-day by all who have the privilege of obtaining a sight of the precious document fac-similed in a well-known monthly periodical for November, 1901[A]— musthave visited, I opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe (where had been in mediæval times a celebrated Preceptory of the Knights Templars, the record of whose deeds against “the infidel Turk” may have fired Guy’s imagination from his earliest years). Moreover, Richard Goodricke, Esquire, of Ribston, had married Clara Norton, one of chivalrous, old Richard Norton’s daughters, of Norton Conyers; and this, to the popish youth, would be an additional attraction for going to view Ribston Hall, its chapel, park, and pale.[B]

[A]“The Connoisseur.”

[B]Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died. — See “Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.

The Goodrickes derived the Ribston Estate (which included the Manor of Hunsingore and the Lordship of Great Cattal) from Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle’s great-great-grandfather. The Goodrickes were akin to the Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (seeante). The Ribston branch of the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century — Sir Harry Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near Knaresbrough.

From“The Fawkes Family of York.”

This Indenture made the fourtenth daye of October in the yere of the reigne of our Sovereigne Ladye Elizabeth, by the Grace of God Queen of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of Yorke gentilmanof the one partye, and Christofer Lomleye of the cittie of Yorke taylor, of the other partye, Witnessethe that the said Guy Fauxe, for divers good cawses and consideracions him thereunto speciallye moveinge, hath demysed graunted and to farme letten, and by theis presentes doth demyse graunt and to farme lett, unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one barne and one garth on the backside of the said barn, with the appertenaunces, scytuate lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the suburbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, with the appertenaunces, in Clyfton in the said countie of Yorke, whereof halfe of one acre called a pitt lande, and one roode of lande lyinge at Newe-Close-gaite, are lyinge and beinge in the common field of Clyfton aforesaid towards Roclyffe, one half acre lyeth in the field called Mylnefeilde in Clyfton afforesaid, one rood lyinge in the flatt or field called Layres, one half acre called Layres in the Fosse-feild, one half acre called Hungrine lande, one half acre beyond the newe wynde mylne, and one half acre at the More-brottes, all whiche are lyinge and beynge in the feildes of Clyfton afforesaid; and also one acre of medowe lyinge and beynge in the ynges or medowe of Clyfton afforesaid, with all and singuler the appertenaunces in Clyfton aforesaid, nowe or laite in the tenure or occupacion of the saide Christofer or his assignes; to have and to holde the said barne, garth, three acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre of medowe, and all other the premisses, with all and singuler the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto the sayd Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, from the feast of St. Martyne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye, nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of twentye and one yeres fromthence nexte and ymediatlye ensewinge and followinge fullye to be complett fynished and ended, yeldinge and payinge therfore yerelye dureinge the said terme unto the said Guye Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie and two shillinges of lawfull Ynglish monie at the feastes of St. Martyne the Bishop in winter and Penteycost, or within ten dayes nexte after either of the sayd feastes, yf it be lawfully demaunded, by even and equall porcions. And the said Christofer Lomley, for him his executors and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenaunte and graunte to and with the said Guye Fauxe, that he the said Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, at his and their proper costes and chardges shall well and sufficyentlye repaire maintayne and uphould the said barne at all tymes dureinge the said terme in all necessarie reparacions, greate tymber onely excepted, whiche the said Guye Fauxe, for him his heires and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenaunt and graunte to and with the said Christofer Lomley his executors and assigns, to delyver upon the ground at all tymes as often as neede shall require dureinge the said terme. And the said Guye Fauxe, for himself his heires executors and assignes, doth by theis presentes covenant and grante to and with the sayd Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, that he, the sayd Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, shall or lawfully maye at all tyme and tymes, and from tyme to tyme, dureynge the sayd terme of twentye and one yeres, peacablye occupie and quyetlie enjoye the said barne and all other the premisses and every parte and parcell thereof, with all and everie their appurtenaunces, without lett disturbance or interrupcion of any person or persons whatsoever. And that the sayd barne, and all other the premisses, with the appurtenaunces, at the daye of the daite hereof are, and dureynge the saydterm of twenty and one yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged, or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases, grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley, to be observed and performed, onely excepted and foreprised. And the said Guye Fauxe and his heires all and singuler the premisses, with the appurtenances, before by theis presentes demysed to the sayd Cristofer Lomley his executors and assignes, dureigne the terme afforesayd, against all people rightfully claimynge shall warrante and defende by theis presentes. In witnes whereof, the partyes abovesaid to theis present Indentures have interchangeablie set to their handes and seales the daye and yere above written.GUYE FAWKES. L.S.Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us — DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE — JOHN JACKSON — CHRISTOPHER HODGSON’S marke ×This Indenture maide the firste daie of Auguste in the xxxiiijth yere of the reigne of our Soveraigne Ladie Elizabethe, by the grace of God Quewne of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defendour of the Faithe, &c. Betwene Guye Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of the sum of xxixlixiijsiiijdof good and lawfull English moneye to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewliecontentid and paid by the said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the appurtenaunces, and a garthe and a gardine belonginge to the same, lyeinge and beinge in Cliftone in the countie of York, and towe acres and an half of arrable lande liinge in severall feilldes in Clifton aforesaid, half an acre of medowe grounde liinge in a closse callid Huntingtone buttes, within the townshipp and territories of Cliftone aforesaid, one acre of medowe lyinge in Lufton Car, thre inges endes, and towe croftes or lees of medowe in a crofte adjoyninge on the garth endes in Cliftone aforesaid, of the easte parte of the said messuage; all which premissis are nowe in the tenure and occupation of the said Anne Skipsie; and also one acre of arable land and medowe liinge in the towne-end felld of Clifton aforesaid, nowe or late in the occupation of Richard Dickinsone; and all other his landes and tenementes in Clifton aforesaid, with all comons of pasture, more grownde, turffe graftes, and all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same belonging or apperteyninge, in whose tenures or occupations soever they nowe be, excepte thre acres and an half of arable land with the appurtenaunces in Cliftone aforesaid, whereof half an acre callid a pitt land, and a roode of land liinge at Newe Close Gate, and being in the comon felld ofClifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, one acre of land at the More Brottes; all which are lyinge and beinge in the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid; and also one acre of medow lyinge and beinge in the medowe or inges of Clifton, with theire appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid to one Cristofer Lumleye of the cittie of Yorke tailor, as shall appeare by one Indenture maid thereof betwene the said Guye Fawkes of the one partie, and the said Cristofer Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, before by these presentes bargaind and solde by the said Guye Fawkes to the said Anne Skipsie, which the said Guye nowe hathe in custodie, or which any othere persone or persones have in their custodies to his use or by his deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie come by withowte suite in lawe: To have and to holld the said messuage cotage or farme-holld, and all and singuler the premissis, with the appurtenaunces, by these presentes before bargaind and solld (except before exceptid), with all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge and belonginge, in Cliftone, and the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid, together with all the said deedes, evidences, writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge thesame, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said messuage tenement and farme-hold, with all and singuler the landes, medowes, pastures, comon of pasture, turbaries, with the same pertenyinge or belonginge in Cliftone, and within the felldes and territories of Clifton aforesaid, with other the appurtenaunces whatsoever to the same perteyninge or belonginge before bargaind and sold, and that he is lawfullie seassid thereof in his demesne as of fee in fee simple, and hath full power and lawfull authoritie to bargaine and sell the same unto the said Anne Skipeseye hir heires and assignes for ever. And also that the said messuage tenement or farme-holld, and other the premissis, with the appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely exceptid. And alsothe said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie at all tyme peacablie and quietlie possess and enjoye the same and everie parte thereof, and that all and everie persone or persones whatsoever, which doe stand seazid of the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, and from tyme to tyme, within five yeres next ensuinge the date hereof, upon the reasonable requeste and desire of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires administratores or assigneis, make, knowledge, sealle, and deliver, unto the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executores and assigneis, all such further assurance and assurances whatsoever as shall be devisid or advisid by the learnid councell in the lawes of this realme, beinge of the councell of the said Anne Skipseye, whether the same shalbe by dede or dedes inrollid, with warrantie against all men, inrollment of these present Indentures, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by the said learnid councell of the said Anne, the cost and chardges whereof in lawe shalbe at thonelie cost and chardges of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executoresor assigneis. In witness whereof, the parties abovesaid unto these present Indentures interchangable have sett there handes and seall the daie and yere abovesaid.GUYE FAWKES. L.S.Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GEORGE HOBSON — WILLIAM MASKEWE — LANCELOT BELT — THOMAS HESLEBECKE — CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE — IHON LAMB marke × — JOHN HARRISON — JOHN CALV’LEY.Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor’ generosus et Edetha uxor ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor’ spynster in sua plena pacificaque possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor’ predicto ac de et in una roda terræ arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terræ jacente in les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terræ jacente in Longwandilles inter terram Thome Hill ex parte borialiet terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente in lez shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terræ jacente in Lupstone Carre in le Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris prati jacentibus in fine prati vocati ynge endes quarum una dimidia acra jacet inter pratum Edwardi Turner ex parte boriali et Thome Burtone ex parte australi, alia dimidia acra inde jacet ex parte australi Leonardi Weddell, et tertia dimidia acra inde jacet inter Thomam Hill ex parte boriali et Henricum Granger ex parte australi, cum omnibus et singulis suis pertinentiis in Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra terræ et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terræ cum pertinentiis in campis de Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum,interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes nostri predicta omnia premissa cum suis pertinentiis universis ut prefertur (exceptis prius exceptis) prefate Anne Skipseye heredibus et assignatis suis in forma predicta contra nos et heredes nostros warrantizabimus et imperpetuum defendemus per presentes. In cujus rei testimonium nos prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha huic presenti scripto nostro sigilla nostra apposuimus. Datum xximodie mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe Dei gratia Anglie, Frauncie, et Hibernie Regine, fidei defensoris &c. tricesimo quarto.DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE (L.S.) — E.B. (L.S.) Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GUYE FAWKES — WILLIAM GRANGE — JAMES RYDING.

GUYE FAWKES. L.S.

Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us — DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE — JOHN JACKSON — CHRISTOPHER HODGSON’S marke ×

This Indenture maide the firste daie of Auguste in the xxxiiijth yere of the reigne of our Soveraigne Ladie Elizabethe, by the grace of God Quewne of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defendour of the Faithe, &c. Betwene Guye Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of the sum of xxixlixiijsiiijdof good and lawfull English moneye to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewliecontentid and paid by the said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes, whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the appurtenaunces, and a garthe and a gardine belonginge to the same, lyeinge and beinge in Cliftone in the countie of York, and towe acres and an half of arrable lande liinge in severall feilldes in Clifton aforesaid, half an acre of medowe grounde liinge in a closse callid Huntingtone buttes, within the townshipp and territories of Cliftone aforesaid, one acre of medowe lyinge in Lufton Car, thre inges endes, and towe croftes or lees of medowe in a crofte adjoyninge on the garth endes in Cliftone aforesaid, of the easte parte of the said messuage; all which premissis are nowe in the tenure and occupation of the said Anne Skipsie; and also one acre of arable land and medowe liinge in the towne-end felld of Clifton aforesaid, nowe or late in the occupation of Richard Dickinsone; and all other his landes and tenementes in Clifton aforesaid, with all comons of pasture, more grownde, turffe graftes, and all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same belonging or apperteyninge, in whose tenures or occupations soever they nowe be, excepte thre acres and an half of arable land with the appurtenaunces in Cliftone aforesaid, whereof half an acre callid a pitt land, and a roode of land liinge at Newe Close Gate, and being in the comon felld ofClifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, one acre of land at the More Brottes; all which are lyinge and beinge in the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid; and also one acre of medow lyinge and beinge in the medowe or inges of Clifton, with theire appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid to one Cristofer Lumleye of the cittie of Yorke tailor, as shall appeare by one Indenture maid thereof betwene the said Guye Fawkes of the one partie, and the said Cristofer Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare; together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, before by these presentes bargaind and solde by the said Guye Fawkes to the said Anne Skipsie, which the said Guye nowe hathe in custodie, or which any othere persone or persones have in their custodies to his use or by his deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie come by withowte suite in lawe: To have and to holld the said messuage cotage or farme-holld, and all and singuler the premissis, with the appurtenaunces, by these presentes before bargaind and solld (except before exceptid), with all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge and belonginge, in Cliftone, and the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid, together with all the said deedes, evidences, writinges, and escriptes, towchinge and concerninge thesame, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes, the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said messuage tenement and farme-hold, with all and singuler the landes, medowes, pastures, comon of pasture, turbaries, with the same pertenyinge or belonginge in Cliftone, and within the felldes and territories of Clifton aforesaid, with other the appurtenaunces whatsoever to the same perteyninge or belonginge before bargaind and sold, and that he is lawfullie seassid thereof in his demesne as of fee in fee simple, and hath full power and lawfull authoritie to bargaine and sell the same unto the said Anne Skipeseye hir heires and assignes for ever. And also that the said messuage tenement or farme-holld, and other the premissis, with the appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff, and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties, feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances, writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines, forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely exceptid. And alsothe said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever, which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste, interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie at all tyme peacablie and quietlie possess and enjoye the same and everie parte thereof, and that all and everie persone or persones whatsoever, which doe stand seazid of the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes, and from tyme to tyme, within five yeres next ensuinge the date hereof, upon the reasonable requeste and desire of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires administratores or assigneis, make, knowledge, sealle, and deliver, unto the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executores and assigneis, all such further assurance and assurances whatsoever as shall be devisid or advisid by the learnid councell in the lawes of this realme, beinge of the councell of the said Anne Skipseye, whether the same shalbe by dede or dedes inrollid, with warrantie against all men, inrollment of these present Indentures, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by the said learnid councell of the said Anne, the cost and chardges whereof in lawe shalbe at thonelie cost and chardges of the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executoresor assigneis. In witness whereof, the parties abovesaid unto these present Indentures interchangable have sett there handes and seall the daie and yere abovesaid.

GUYE FAWKES. L.S.

Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GEORGE HOBSON — WILLIAM MASKEWE — LANCELOT BELT — THOMAS HESLEBECKE — CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE — IHON LAMB marke × — JOHN HARRISON — JOHN CALV’LEY.

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor’ generosus et Edetha uxor ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor’ spynster in sua plena pacificaque possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor’ predicto ac de et in una roda terræ arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terræ jacente in les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terræ jacente in Longwandilles inter terram Thome Hill ex parte borialiet terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente in lez shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terræ jacente in Lupstone Carre in le Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris prati jacentibus in fine prati vocati ynge endes quarum una dimidia acra jacet inter pratum Edwardi Turner ex parte boriali et Thome Burtone ex parte australi, alia dimidia acra inde jacet ex parte australi Leonardi Weddell, et tertia dimidia acra inde jacet inter Thomam Hill ex parte boriali et Henricum Granger ex parte australi, cum omnibus et singulis suis pertinentiis in Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra terræ et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terræ cum pertinentiis in campis de Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes), ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum,interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere, clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes nostri predicta omnia premissa cum suis pertinentiis universis ut prefertur (exceptis prius exceptis) prefate Anne Skipseye heredibus et assignatis suis in forma predicta contra nos et heredes nostros warrantizabimus et imperpetuum defendemus per presentes. In cujus rei testimonium nos prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha huic presenti scripto nostro sigilla nostra apposuimus. Datum xximodie mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe Dei gratia Anglie, Frauncie, et Hibernie Regine, fidei defensoris &c. tricesimo quarto.

DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE (L.S.) — E.B. (L.S.) Seallid and delyverid in the presence of — GUYE FAWKES — WILLIAM GRANGE — JAMES RYDING.

HatfieldMSS. — Part VI.

[Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil.

1596, July 17. I have viewed the state of Worcester diocese, and find it, as may somewhat appear by the particulars here enclosed, for the quantity, as dangerous as any place that I know. In that small circuit there are nine score[A]recusants of note, besides retainers, wanderers, and secret lurkers, dispersed in forty several parishes, and six score and ten households, whereof about forty are families of gentlemen, that themselves or their wives refrain the church, and many of them not only of good wealth, but of great alliance, as the Windsors, Talbots, Throgmortens, Abingtons, and others, and in either respect, if they may have their forth, able to prevail much with the simpler sort.

[A]This letter will be read with interest, as affording independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester during the period of Father Oldcorne’s labours.

Besides, Warwick[B]and the parts thereabout are freighted with a number of men precisely conceited against her Majesty’s government ecclesiastical, and they trouble the people as much with their curiosity as the other with their obstinacy.

[B]This is interesting as showing that in the native county of Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.

How weak ordinary authority is to do any good oneither sort long experience hath taught me, excommunication being the only bridle the law yieldeth to a bishop, and either side utterly despising that course of correction, as men that gladly, and of their own accord, refuse the communion of the church, both in sacraments and prayers.

In respect therefore of the number and danger of those divers humours both denying obedience to her Majesty’s proceedings, if it please her Highness to trust me and others in that shire with the commission ecclesiastical,[A]as in other places of like importance is used, I will do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the uttermost of my power.

[A]Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.

First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions; next, by drawing them to private and often conference, lest ignorance make them perversely devout; thirdly, by restraining them from receiving, succouring, or maintaining any wanderers or servitors that feed their humours; and, lastly, by certifying what effects or defects I find to be the cause of so many revolting.

Her Majesty hath trusted me fifteen years since to be of thequorumon the commission ecclesiastical in Hampshire, and therefore age and experience growing, as also my care and charge increasing, I hope I shall not need to produce any further motives to induce her Majesty’s favour therein, but the profession of my duty and promise of my best service with all diligence and discretion, which I hope shall turn to her content and good of her people.

With which my most humble petition, if it please you to acquaint her Majesty; I will render you all duethanks, and make what speed I may towards the place where I long to be and wish to labour to the pleasure of Almighty God and good liking of her Majesty.

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