we have seen it is certainly on the right bank of that river. The camp, too, called Ellenborough, is situated about a mile north of that village, which itself stands in Dearham parish, whilst the camp is in that of Cross Cannonby.

In my paper on Muncaster Camp I avoided all speculation as to what might be its ancient name, and I would on the present occasion desire, even in alluding to that subject, to be extremely cautious. Camden has not scrupled to suppose that this camp was the Arbeia of the Notitia, and taking the resemblance of nomenclature alone, it does seem remarkable that we should have a Roman camp of Arbeia corresponding to Ireby; another of Morbium closely akin in sound to Moresby; a third of Ellenborough, the first part of which name is identical with the first of Olenacum; and a fourth Derventio, which, though the modern name of Papcastle has supplanted the old one, presents a most significant resemblance to the river Derwent on which it stands. The Roman name for the Solway, Ituna, certainly means the estuary of the Eden, and the Brovonacis of the second Iter, the Brocavo of the fifth, and the Braboniaco of the Notitia, all point to Brougham. The Roman names as a rule would, we may naturally suppose, be their mode of pronouncing the ancient one with a Latin affix; the places would continue to be known by the ancient name amongst the natives, and to this survival what more natural than that their Teutonic or Scandinavian successors should append one of their own affixes, "Ham" or "By "?

187

XX.

A Reminiscence of Threapland Hall.

Reprinted from the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archeological Society, Vol. III., p. xvii.

P

ERHAPS we have never visited an old hall with less architectural beauty, or even peculiarity, to attract our attention, than the one before us; but the interest of the reminiscences connected with an ancient dwelling may sometimes be in an inverse ratio to its attractiveness; and when I inform you that what I am about to say in connection with this hall closely concerns an individual who is one of the principal saints in our archæological calendar, Ralph Thoresby, you will, I am sure, bear with me for a few moments, whilst I relate certain preliminary details, and then endeavour to describe a scene which occurred here 182 years ago.

On the 24th of March, 1694, died Richard Sykes, joint lord of the manor of Leeds, and a scion of a Cumberland stock, which, migrating from Sykes Dyke, near Carlisle, and settling in Leeds, had there prospered exceedingly; and whose members have so gone on increasing since then that we might almost apply to them the words of Scripture, and say that the bearers of that name had become, in that land of their adoption, "like the sand on the sea shore for multitude." Richard left four daughters-Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Wilson; Mary, married to Thomas Rayner ; Anna, to Ralph Thoresby; and Deborah, still unmated. The portions of these co-heiresses were very considerable, and within three months of the father's death we find Mr. Salkeld, jun., of Threapland Hall, a suitor for the hand of this very

eligible young lady. There were, however, circumstances in connection with this young gentleman which led her widowed mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Sykes, to hesitate before giving her consent. I think that the young heir was a Roman Catholic, whilst the Sykes were, I believe, Presbyterians; and I fear that there were some pecuniary embarrassments on the Salkeld side. After many family consultations, it was decided that Thoresby should visit the paternal mansion in Cumberland and make the needful inquiries on the spot.

On Monday, September 17th, 1694, Thoresby left home on horseback, reaching Long Preston that night; his next day's journey brought him to Kendal, and in the following evening, after traversing the mountain pass of Wrynose and Hardknott, he arrived at Calderbridge. His journey on Thursday was a short one, for he stayed at Whitehaven, accepting the hospitalities of William Gilpin, one of his most valued correspondents, a co-religionist, just in the same transition stage as himself, and a collaborateur in the new edition of Camden. On Friday evening he reached Threapland, but found Mr. Salkeld absent at Bothel securing his harvest. Thoresby had not been idle with regard to the main object of his journey, but had been making inquiries relating to the Salkelds wherever opportunity offered as he came along, and the results had not been very encouraging.

He spent Saturday in business conversations with the father, and in coursing with the son. In the evening Mr. Charles Orfeur, of High Close, who in the following year married Jane, daughter of Richard Lamplugh, of Ribton, and widow of John Senhouse, of Nether Hall, dropped in. Next day being Sunday, he walked to Plumbland Church, where Parson Robinson "prayed and preached very affectionately." After service there was a considerable muster of the gentry and clergy, whom Mr. and Mrs. Salkeld, the daughter of Squire Irton, had invited to meet their honoured guest. One of the most important was the son-in-law, Squire Dykes, of Warthole, the owner of the handsome new house Thoresby had passed on his way from Tallentire, and who, in reply to Thoresby's admiring comments, would state that it had been erected by himself from a design by Inigo Jones. There

upon would naturally arise the story respecting the old mulberry tree so conspicuous in front of the mansion, of which a feeble remnant was still existing a few years ago, and in which his father had secreted himself when sought for by hostile Roundheads. Thoresby, whose connections were all on that side, although his Presbyterian convictions were at that time undergoing a change, would scarcely like to listen to unfavourable comments on the party his father had fought for, and Mr. Wilfred Lawson, of Brayton, a younger branch of the Isel stem, might change a conversation touching too closely upon wounds still smarting, by an inquiry respecting his cousin, the Worshipful Mr. Godfrey Lawson, quondam Mayor of Leeds. The two parsons of Plumbland and Aspatria, by a jocular allusion to the business which brought Thoresby amongst them, would evoke a reply from their guest, who could scarcely receive a well-meant remark in a churlish spirit, and so it happened that, treated with wine, Thoresby retired to bed, feeling as many a one has under similar circumstances, that he had said some very foolish things, and committed himself further than he had intended. That this is no imaginary sketch, but the mere filling in from outline of what actually occurred in the best parlour of this very house on Sunday, September 23rd, 1694, you will acknowledge when I read to you the entry which Thoresby made with his very unsteady hand the next morning"Die Dom. It should be, though, alas, some part little like it; no prayers of any sort in the family. Many gentlemen invited to dinner; the modest parson, Esquire Dykes, etc., the day and evening spent very unsuitably to the duties of the day. Sat too late, or early rather, was foolishly cheerful and vain in my expressions, too compliant, etc." Next morning Thoresby quitted Threapland, and consideration and consultation with his motherin-law resulted in a cessation of any further negotiations as to the projected marriage. Deborah Sykes married John Hough, and died April 12, 1705, leaving three children.

XXI.

The Orfeurs of High Close, Plumbland.

Reprinted from the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archeological Society, Vol. III., p. 99.

N investigating the history of the family of Orfeur, we do not find ourselves lost in the mists of antiquity, as we should in the case of the Irtons or the Birkbys, "of that ilk," as our Scotch brethren say when the family and the manor are of the same name. The connection of the Orfeurs with the parish of Plumbland appears to have originated during the reign of Edward II., and we may suppose, judging from the name, that the patriarch of the family was the George Heriot or "Jingling Geordy" of his day. Not having had an opportunity of making researches into the original records, I have been unable to add much that is new down to the eleventh generation of the pedigree as given by Dugdale, when my additions will begin, and will in one instance, at any rate, prove to be of primary importance. I purpose throwing my remarks into the form of a chronological commentary on the pedigree given in the large sheet, the accuracy of which, in the main, I shall vouch for by an appendix of proofs from wills, registers, monuments, and other sources. It is worthy of observation in connection with the name, that one of the most common in the Plumbland Register at an early period was that of Goldsmith, which looks. as if some member of the family had Anglicised his French

surname.

One of the earliest notices we have of the family, independent of Dugdale, is found in the Abbreviatio Rotulorum Originalium