(FROM A BOOK BY CYRIL T OXLEY)

PAGE SEVEN OF TEN

"BELIEVE IT OR NOT"

At whose funeral were a thousand sixpence's and loaves distributed among the poor?

This was done, according to the annual register for August, 1760, at the funeral of farmer Keld at Whitby. The menu at the funeral feast which followed the interment including the following items : "One hundred penny loaves, eight large hams, eight legs of veal, twenty stone of beef, sixteen stone of mutton, fifteen stone of Cheshire cheese and thirty ankers of ale."

What is the York cap of maintenance?

The headgear worn by custom on the head of the swordbearer on ceremonial occasions. It is removed only in the presence of the King or Queen and remains on the swordbearers head during divine service and the playing of the national anthem. The trimming of ermine on the present cap was cut from the robes of King George V.

Which inn held the reputation of being the best in the north?

The Swan at Ferrybridge, which in spite of its rivals, the Angel, the Golden Lion and the Greyhound, was not only the best coaching inn in the neighbourhood but the most luxurious in the north. Scott wrote : " in 1737 and since, the best inn upon the great northern road."

Which church claimed to be the longest in Yorkshire?

That at Warmsworth, the steeple being half a mile from the rest of the building and due to the fact that both portions were built separately.

Where and when did a mob parade an effigy of an Archbishop through the streets of York?

On May 16th, 1832, when an excited crowd carried an effigy and caricature of the Archbishop on a pole through the city's streets and marched to the palace at Bishopthorpe. Here a number of the wildest spirits seriously damaged the clock at the lodge, forced the gates which were locked against them, tore up the plants and young trees in the grounds and smashed a number of windows in the palace. A large force of military were sent to quell the disturbance and the mob, having burned the effigy, dispersed.

What and where was the Bill O' Jacks?

It was a wayside tavern in the Vale of Greenfield, near Huddersfield, and where on April 2nd, 1832, William Bradbury, the landlord, and his son were found to have been mysteriously murdered. Though a number of individuals were examined and their movements carefully checked, the affair remained a complete mystery. The remains of the two victims were buried in Saddleworth churchyard.

Where was a man buried ten years after his leg had been interred?

In the churchyard at Richmond. Robert Willance, a local merchant, when riding home met with an accident which necessitated the amputation of a leg. This was buried in the churchyard and followed by the rest of the owners body after his death. Curiously enough, Willance erected memorial stones where his horse had taken leaps on Whitcliffe Scar at the time of the accident.

What was the Halifax gibbet law?

"The inhabitants within the forest of Hardwick had a custom," wrote Bentley, in his history of Halifax, "from the time immemorial that if a felon was taken within their Liberty, with goods, stolen out or within the liberty of the said forest, either hand-habend, back-berand, or confessed any commodity of the value of thirteen pence halfpenny, he should after three market days or meeting days, within the town of Halifax, next after such apprehension, and being condemned, be taken to the Gibbet, and have his head cut off from his body." The Halifax gibbet, which was a forerunner of the instrument perfected by Dr. Guillotine in France for the humane execution of felons, was fifteen feet high and erected on a stone platform. This platform, which was reached by a number of steps, is preserved on its original site at Halifax, in Gibbet Street. Gibbet law was in force from 1541 to 1650, and during that period the dread instrument claimed 49 victims.

Who was the Yorkshire Dalesman who though of humble origin became Lord Mayor of London?

Sir William Craven, who was born at Appletreewick in 1548 and who walked to London to seek his fortune, becoming a draper there and amassing considerable wealth. Never forgetting his place of birth and the Yorkshire folk at home, Sir William endowed a grammar school at Appletreewick and renovated and improved the church at Burnsall. He died in 1618.

In which Yorkshire castle did the murderers of Thomas-a-Beckett seek refuge?

In the castle at Knaresborough. The four knights who murdered the Archbishop in 1170 fled to Yorkshire after the crime and hid in the castle. They later received a pardon on condition of their performing a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Who suffered death by hanging after prophesying the downfall of King John?

Peter of Pomfret (Pontefract) who in 1213 foretold that the king would lose his crown later that year. He was arrested on the king's orders and imprisoned in Corfe Castle, afterwards being dragged behind horses to Warham where he was hanged with his son.

Which Yorkshire castles served as prisons for an English Queen in the sixteenth century?

The castles of Bolton and Sheffield. Mary Queen of Scots spent two years in Bolton Castle, 1568-1569, and was from there removed to Sheffield Castle where the ill-fated queen spent fourteen years.

Which Yorkshire City founded and built a chapel on one of its bridges?

Wakefield, where in 1356 a chapel was erected on one of the City's bridges. Leland in his "Tour," commented as follows: "The first bridge of stone of nine arches under which runneth the Calder, and on the east side of this bridge is a right goodly chapel of our lady, and two chantry priests founded in it, of the foundation of the Townsmen as some say, but the Dukes of York were taken as founders for obtaining the mortmain." In 1847 the west front was rebuilt and the window traceries renewed.

Who was the Shepherd Lord?

Henry Clifford, a son of Lord John de Clifford of Skipton Castle, also known as Butcher Clifford, a Lancastrian leader killed at Towton. After the victory of the Yorkists, Henry, a lad seven years old, was taken by his mother to her family's estate at Londesborough, as a means of protecting the boy from his father's enemies. There the boy lived, disguised as a shepherd, denied education and the refinements of culture. In 1466 he was secretly removed to Cumberland where he remained, knowing nothing but a life of the rustic until 1485. In that year the defeat of the Yorkists and the crowning of Henry VII restored the estates to the Cliffords. Henry Clifford returned to Skipton as a young man and resided at Barden Tower where his time was divided between study under the guidance of the canons of Bolton, hunting, and the study of natural history. He died in 1523 after distinguishing himself at the battle of Flodden.

Which Yorkshire mansion is connected with the founding of an American state?

Kiplin Hall in the North Riding, designed by Inigo Jones and built in 1620. Many members of a party of 300 colonists left here in 1633 for the New World and founded the state of Maryland, name after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I.

Where are kept the oldest fire engine in England and a chest with nine locks?

In Knaresborough castle. The engine is worked by hand-operated levers and is almost entirely wooden. The chest, which is Norman, could not be opened unless the nine individuals, each responsible for a lock, were present.

Who was the miser who wrecked his own property for love of money?

Sir John Cutler who acquired Harewood Castle from the Wentworths. Every removable piece of timber was sold by the old miser, in the process of which he reduced the stately pile to a mere ruin.

Where did a scroll of paper assume the form of a monkey and then that of a Turkey Cock?

At York castle in March, 1687. The story comes from the pen of Sir John Reresby who in his memoirs recorded the following extraordinary occurrence "An old woman was condemned for a witch, those who were more credulous, in points of this nature than myself, conceived the evidence to be very strong against her. The boy she was said to have bewitched fell down on a sudden before the court when he saw her, and then would as suddenly return to himself again, and very distinctly relate the several injuries she had done him. But in all this, the boy, it was observed, was free from any distortion, that he did not foam at the mouth, and that his fits did not leave him, so that on the whole, the judge thought it proper to reprieve her, in which he seemed to act the part of a wise man. But though such is my private opinion, I cannot help continuing my story. One of my soldiers being on guard, about eleven in the night, at the gate of Clifford Tower, the very night after the witch was arraigned, he heard a great noise at the castle, and going to the porch he there saw a scroll of paper creep under the door, which as he imagined in the moonshine, turned first into the shape of a monkey, and thence assumed the shape of a Turkey Cock, which passed to and fro by him. Surprised at this, he went to the prison and called the under-keeper, who came and saw the scroll dance up and down, and creep under the door, where there was scarce an opening of the thickness of half a crown. This extraordinary story I had from the mouth of the one and the other, and now leave it to be believed, as the reader may be inclined, this way or that."

Who was Mary of Romanby?

A serving-maid employed at a large house in the village of Romanby, near Northallerton, early in the eighteenth century. Mary's employer was a man of local repute and position but was secretly the leader of a gang of coiners. A chance discovery by Mary of the hidden den wherein her master and his fellow-coiners operated proved to be fateful for the girl. She made the mistake of communicating this knowledge to a third party which before long reached the ears of her master. One Sunday Mary received an urgent message to the effect that her mother was dying, and the girl, leaving her master's house at once, left her bible open at the page she had been reading. A passage which she had marked and which unhappily was only too significant was Job 7, verse 21 : "For now I shall sleep in the dust, and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be." Mary Ward was never seen again. She disappeared during her journey home. Tradition says she was murdered near Morton Bridge, a spot at which her restless spirit in the past has been seen by many.

"For Mary's spirit wanders there,
In snowy robe array'd,
To tell each trembling villager,
Where sleeps the murdered maid."

What is considered to be the finest example of a fortified medieval manor house in the North of England?

Markenfield Hall, which stands about a mile west of the Harrogate-Ripon road and dates from the fourteenth century. Although the old hall has in modern times become a farm, it still retains an atmosphere of old times. The drawbridge has gone and been replaced by a stone bridge which leads to a gatehouse, but the moat, upon which the ducks now sail happily, is still there, as are the battlements, the old courtyard and domestic buildings. The hall contains a fine old banqueting hall, a chapel and a turret, from which no doubt in unsettled times a look-out scanned the countryside. The building is a gem of its kind and period and one hopes its ancient walls will weather many long years into the distant future. Its builder was John de Markenfield, who chose the site for his house in 1310. The Markenfields were great warriors and from the old hall Sir Thomas rode away to support Bolinbroke who had landed at Ravenspur. Sir Ninian with his tenants fought at Flodden in 1513 "in armour cote of cunynge work." In 1536 a Markenfield took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace and another participated in the Rising of the North. The last event brought to an end in the Halls ownership by the Markenfields. Elizabeth, as a punishment, took it from their hands and presented it to Lord Egerton. Since then proud old Markenfield has had many owners, its present one being Lord Grantley.