The Evolution of an English Town

CHAPTER XIV. Concerning the Zoology of the Forest and Vale

Concerning the Zoology of the Forest and Vale

* * * * *

Books of Reference

List of the Vicars of Pickering

Index

THE PURPOSE OF THE FOOTNOTES

Having always considered footnotes an objectionable feature, I have resorted to them solely for reference purposes. Therefore, the reader who does not wish to look up my authorities need not take the slightest notice of the references to the footnotes, which in no case contain additional facts, but merely indications of the sources of information.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Pickering Church from Hall Garth (Coloured)

Pickering From The North-West

Rosamund Tower, Pickering Castle

Kirkdale Cave

Hyænas' Jaws

Elephants' Teeth

Bear's Tusk

Pickering Lake in Ice Age

Newtondale in Ice Age

Pickering Lake, Eastern End

Scamridge Dykes

Pre-Historic Weapons

Leaf-shaped Arrow Head

Lake Dwellings Relics

Remains of Pre-Historic Animals from Lake Dwellings

Skeleton of Bronze Age

A Quern

Urns in Pickering Museum

Sketch Map of Roman Road and Camps

The Tower of Middleton Church

Ancient Font and Crosses

Saxon Sundial at Kirkdale

Saxon Sundial at Edstone

Pre-Norman Remains near Pickering

Saxon Stones at Kirkdale

Saxon Stones at Sinnington

South Side of the Nave of Pickering Church

Norman Doorway at Salton

Norman Work at Ellerburne

The Crypt at Lastingham

Norman Font at Edstone

Wall Paintings in Pickering Church

The Devil's Tower, Pickering Castle

Wall Painting of St Christopher

Wall Painting of St Edmund and Acts of Mercy

Wall Painting of Herod's Feast and Martyrdom of St Thomas À Becket

Effigy of Sir William Bruce

Effigies in Bruce Chapel

Holy Water Stoup in Pickering Church

Sanctus Bell

Cattle Marks

Section of Fork Cottage

Details of Fork Cottage

Pickering Castle from the Keep

Pre-Reformation Chalice

Font at Pickering Church

Alms Box at Pickering Church

House in which Duke of Buckingham Died

Maypole on Sinnington Green

Inverted Stone Coffin at Wykeham

Magic Cubes

Newtondale, showing the Coach Railway

Relics of Witchcraft

A Love Garter

Horn of the Sinnington Hunt

Interior of the Oldest Type of Cottage

Ingle-Nook at Gallow Hill Farm

Autographs of Wordsworth and Mary Hutchinson

Riding t' Fair

Halbert and Spetum

Old Key of Castle

Pickering Shambles

The Old Pickering Fire-Engine

Market Cross at Thornton-le-Dale

Lockton Village

The Black Hole of Thornton-le-Dale

Hutton Buscel Church

Sketch Map of the Pickering District

INTRODUCTION

Every preface in olden time was wont to begin with the address "Lectori Benevolo"--the indulgence of the reader being thereby invoked and, it was hoped, assured. In that the writer of this at least would have his share, even though neither subject, nor author, that he introduces, may stand in need of such a shield.

Local histories are yearly becoming more numerous. In few places is there more justification for one than here.

I. The beauty of the scenery is not well known. This book should do something to vindicate its character. There is no need on this point to go back to the time of George III.'s conversation at the levée with Mrs Pickering's grandfather. "I suppose you are going back to Yorkshire, Mr Stanhope? A very ugly country, Yorkshire." This was too much for my grandfather--(the story is told in her own words)--"We always consider Yorkshire a very picturesque country." "What, what, what," said the King, "a coalpit a picturesque object! what, what, what, Yorkshire coalpits picturesque! Yorkshire a picturesque country!" Only within the last few months one of us had a letter refusing to consider a vacant post: the reason given being that this was a colliery district. There is no pit to be found for miles. Many can, and do, walk, cycle, or motor through the Vale. Others, who are unable to come and see for themselves, will, with the help of Mr Home, be in a better position to appreciate at its true worth the charm of the haughs and the changing views of the distant Wolds, and of the russet brown or purple expanse of the upland moors.

II. The stranger on a visit, no less the historian or antiquary, has till now often been puzzled for a clue, and ignorant where to turn for authentic data, would he attempt to weave for himself a connected idea of the incidents of the past and their bearing on the present. There has been no lack of material buried in ancient records, or preserved in the common oral traditions of the folk: but hitherto no coherent account that has been published. Speaking for ourselves, we are glad the task of dealing with the "raffled hank" of timeworn customs and obscure traditions as well as the more easily ascertained facts of history is falling to the author's practised pen. For the future, at any rate, there should be less difficulty in understanding the manner of life and method of rule with which past and present generations belonging to the Town of Pickering have been content to dwell.

III. "Foreigners" are sometimes at a loss to understand the peculiar spirit of those who in York, for instance, are known as "Moor-enders." This spirit shows itself in different ways; but perhaps in nothing so much as the intense attachment of the townsmen to their birthplace. This local patriotism is no whit behind that to be found in Spain--"seldom indeed a Spaniard says he is a Spaniard, but speaks of himself as being from Seville, Cadiz, or some forgotten town in La Mancha, of which he speaks with pride, referring to it as 'mi tierra.'" Our readers will learn there is some reason for this attachment; and may, like some of us, who tho' born elsewhere claim adoption as citizens, fall under the witchery of its spell.

May the venture to compass these ends succeed, to use an old saying, "ez sartin ez t' thorn-bush."

E.W.D.

The Vicarage, Pickering.

25th September 1904.

THE EVOLUTION

OF AN

ENGLISH TOWN

CHAPTER I. _concerning Those Which Follow_

Concerning those which follow

"Brother," quod he, "where is now youre dwellyng, Another day if that I sholde you seche?" This yeman hym answerde, in softe speche: "Brother," quod he, "fer in the north contree, Where as I hope som tyme I shal thee see."

The Friar's Tale. Chaucer.

In the North Riding of Yorkshire, there is a town of such antiquity that its beginnings are lost far away in the mists of those times of which no written records exist. What this town was originally called, it is impossible to say, but since the days of William the Norman (a pleasanter sounding name than "the Conqueror,") it has been consistently known as Pickering, although there has always been a tendency to spell the name with y's and to abandon the c, thus producing the curious-looking result of Pykeryng; its sound, however was the same.

In his Chronicles, John Stow states on the authority of "divers writers" that Pickering was built in the year 270 B.C., but I am inclined to think that the earliest settlements on the site or in the neighbourhood of the present town must have been originated at an infinitely earlier period.

But despite its undisputed antiquity there are many even in Yorkshire who have never heard of the town, and in the south of England it is difficult to find anyone who is aware that such a place exists. At Rennes during the great military trial there was a Frenchman who asked "Who is Dreyfus?" and we were surprised at such ignorance of a name that had been on the lips of all France for years, but yet we discover ourselves to be astonishingly lacking in the knowledge of our own little island and find ourselves asking "why should anyone trouble to write a book about a town of which so few have even heard?" But it is often in the out-of-the-way places that historical treasures are preserved, and it is mainly for this reason and the fact that the successive periods of growth are so well demonstrated there, that the ancient town of Pickering has been selected to illustrate the evolution of an English town.

I have endeavoured to produce a complete series of pictures commencing with the Ice Age and finishing at the dawn of the twentieth century. In the earlier chapters only a rough outline is possible, but as we come down the centuries and the records become more numerous and varied, fuller details can be added to the pictures of each age, and we may witness how much or how little the great series of dynastic, constitutional, religious and social changes effected a district that is typical of many others in the remoter parts of England.

Built on sloping ground that rises gently from the rich, level pastures of the Vale of Pickering, the town has a picturesque and pleasant site. At the top of the market-place where the ground becomes much steeper stands the church, its grey bulk dominating every view. From all over the Vale one can see the tall spire, and from due east or west it has a surprising way of peeping over the hill tops. It has even been suggested that the tower and spire have been a landmark for a very long time, owing to the fact that where the hills and formation of the ground do not obstruct the view, or make road-making difficult, the roads make straight for the spire.

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