gent and vert, sometimes quartering, argent a cockatrice with wings raised, sable, beaked, membered, gules. Crest,-out of a ducal crown, or, a plume of five ostrich feathers, three argent and two vert. HUTTON BUSHELL, Is situated in the wapentake of Pickering Lythe; 6 miles from Scarborough, 12 from Pickering, 15 from Malton, and 34 from York; containing a population of 419; and having in its parish West Ayton, the population of which is 229.-Collectively 648. This village is pleasantly situated on rising ground, and is adorned with the mansion and pleasure grounds of George Osbaldestone, Esq. It derived its name from the Buscel family, which came into England with the conqueror. Reginal Buscel, whose father came over with the duke of Normandy, married Alice, sister of William, abbot of Whitby; and at the time of his marriage gave the church of Hutton, which his father had built to the monastery of Whitby. Upon the site of this ancient church it is thought the present one stands. EAST AND WEST AYTON Are pleasantly situated on the opposite banks of the Derwent. On the slope of a pleasant field, on the N. w. of Ayton, are the remains of an ancient castle, History of Scarborough p. 331. once the fortified residence of the family of the Eures, or Evers. This village was the lordship of Gilbert, the son of Lagi; who soon after he became possessed of it, assumed the name of Ayton. From this place, in the reign of Henry I., his grandson Gilbert, who succeeded him in this manor, married Margery, the daughter of Warine de Vesci, a younger son of William lord Vesci; and after that by marriage came into the Clifford family. Henry, the eldest son of John lord Clifford, who was slain in the battle of Towton field, in the Lancastrian cause, was very young at the death of his father; and his, mother dreading the resentment of the house of York, placed him in an obscure retreat at Londesborough, with a shepherd who had married her nurse; charging the woman to bring him up as her own child. A report afterwards reaching the court that the young lord Clifford was alive; he was secretly removed along with the shepherd, to a farm in Scotland; and on the accession of Henry VIII. to the throne, was restored to the estates and hon. ours of his ancestors.* Three fourths of the manor of West Ayton are vested in seven trustees, for the maintenance of dissenting ministers; agreeably to the will of lady Hewley. The remaining fourth belongs to George Osbaldeston, Esq. of Hutton Bushell. HACKNESS Is a celebrated and delightfully pleasant village, in the wapentake of Whitby strand, 6 miles N. w. • Wordsworth's Poems ii. 128. of Scarborough. It contains a population of 143; and has in its parish Broxa, population 61; Harwood dale 255; Silphoe 96; and Suffield 97; in all 632. This village was once the favourite retreat of lady Hilda, the pious and illustrious abbess of Whitby. Burton, in his Monasticon, says-Hackness in Whitby strand was pitched upon by St. Hilda, in 680, a little before her death, but this house* came to ruins before the conquest. The circumstance of its being fixed upon by St. Hilda was the inducement perhaps of Serlo, second prior of Whitby, to retire thither. Serlo on finding himself annoyed by robbers and pirates landing on the coast of Whitby, requested this place of William de Perci, or Percy, his brother, the founder of the abbey of Whitby, as of greater security: and having obtained of him the church of St. Mary, or rather St. Peter, of Hackness, and some lands here, he for a time deserted Whitby, and fixed with his monks here; but some difference arising between Serlo the prior and William de Percy, the latter endeavoured to drive the monks hence, and to repossess himself of the lands granted them. Upon which the prior, Serlo, applied to king William Rufus, to whom he was personally known, as having been educated together in their youth, who not only granted Serlo and the monks his protection, but became also their benefactor, granting them 6 carucates of land; two at Hack The site of the monastic cell built under her di rection is supposed to have been where the old manor house lately stood, which was esteemed the perfect model of a monastery. Near this site the late Sir Vanden Bempde Johnstone, Bart., built a spacious mansion. ness, and four at the village of North-field. Being thus secured against his brother, and his possess. ions here enlarged, he and his monks continued in this village some time; but he returned to Whitby, leaving some of the monks to reside here, in or near the church of St. Peter; which from this time became a cell to Whitby. King Henry 1. granted or confirmed to them the church of Hackness, with the appurtenances, and the franchises of soc, sac, toll, team, and infangtheof; and Henry II. confir *The terms soc, sac, &c. are of Saxon origin and have been variously defined. According to the most probable interpretation, soc, is the power of holding courts to settle disputes, or to take cognizance of offences, arising within the bounds or manor in the district where it is enjoyed, including the power of summoning the tenants, or vassels to attend in such courts; sac, is the power of imposing fines, or forfeitures, in such courts. Thol, or toll, is the right of buying or selling, and taking custom, or toll, of such as buy, or sell, within the territory. Team is the privilege of having villains, or slaves, and of disposing of them at pleasure; and infangtheof is the power of judging thieves, or robbers, when found within the manor, or territory, and punishing them, but not to take away their life. The monks were at great pains to get their lands, possessions, and privileges confirmed to them by the most ample securities, and the grants made to them were executed with the utmost solemnity, the donor usually offered his benefaction on the altar, and deposited there in the presence of witnesses, his staff, his knife, or some other pledge, in token of giving seizin of the estate: the conveyance was then signed, sealed and witnessed in due form, warranting the premises to be the monks against all men and women for ever; and sometimes for the greater stability of the deed, pronouncing a blessing on all who should confirm it, and a curse on all by whom it should be infringed. When a grant was made by a tenant or homager, care was taken to have it confirmed at the time or shortly after by a superior under whom he held, med the same. Richard II. confirmed the same; with the addition of exemption from the payment of the tax called danegeld. William, archbishop of York, likewise confirmed their possessions here. It is uncertain what number of monks resided at Hackness; probably that was arbitrary, and depended wholly on the pleasure of the abbot of Whitby. It is most likely that the estates granted to it whilst the whole community resided here, before their return to Whitby, were on their return to that place, cast into the common stock; and that the support of the few left at this cell was derived from Whitby, the mother monastery. The church of Hackness is a very ancient fabric, with a venerable spire. It is dedicated to St. Mary, and the Rev. Thomas Irvin is the incumbent. Under an urn in the church is an inscription to the memory of lady Hilda, and upon the wall of the chancel is another; both noticing her pious, useful, and exemplary life. SCARBOROUGH, Is a place which combines utility with pleasure. It is a bathing town of very considerable resort. Nu and if that superior, was subject to some higher feudal lord, then a confirmation of the latter was also requisite.. After all a royal charter was necessary, to give permanent possession, and if churches, or tythes were bestowed, the deed was not sufficiently valid without the charter of the archbishop, and to crown all the pope's bull was sometimes superadded, as the highest possible sanction. |