within sight of both armies. The city of Durham lay in dreadful suspense, whilst the remaining brethren of the convent poured forth their hymns and prayers from the highest towers of the cathedral. The battle was long and doubtfully contested; but at length the disorder of the Scots became irretrievable, and a gallant body, which threw themselves around their king, fought with the determination of despair, until only eighty of their number survived. David, after receiving two arrow-wounds, and resisting several attempts to take him captive, was compelled to surrender to John Copeland a Northumbrian esquire, two of whose teeth he had first dashed out with his clenched steel gauntlet. Beside the King, the Earls of Fife and Monteith, and Sir William Douglas, were made prisoners; the Earls of Moray and Strathern, John and Alan Steward, and a long list of Scotish nobility, were amongst the slain. Of the English leaders, Lord Hastings alone fell. Copeland was rewarded by the English king with 500l. a year, and was made a Knight Banneret. He was afterwards sheriff of Northumberland for six years in succession. Out of an army of thirty thousand Scots and French auxiliaries, fifteen thousand were left dead upon the field, whilst the loss of the English was very trifling. In this battle a holy cross taken out of Holyrood House was captured from the Scots: and on the very spot where the standard of Saint Cuthbert had been exhibited was afterwards erected an elegant cross of stone, which, having been built at the expense of Ralph lord Neville, was called Neville's Cross. Neville's Cross is thus described in the curious memoir of the Ancient Rites and Monuments of Durham, which was written by a contemporary shortly after the Reformation : This Cross had seven steps about it, every way squared to the socket, wherein the stalk of the cross stood, which socket was fastened to a large square stone; the sole, or bottom stone, being of a great thickness, viz. a yard and a half every way; this stone was the eighth step. The stalk of the cross was in length three yards and a half up to the boss, having eight sides, all of one piece; from the socket it was fixed into the above boss, into which boss the stalk was deeply soldered with lead. In the midst of the stalk, in every second square, was the Neville's cross, a saltire on an escucheon, being Lord Neville's arms, finely cut, and at every corner of the socket was a picture, i. e. a statue, of one of the four evangelists, finely set forth and carved. The boss of the top of the stalk was an octangular stone, finely cut and bordered, and most curiously wrought, and on every square of the nether side was Neville's cross in one square and the bull's head in the next; so in the same reciprocal order about the boss. On the top of the boss was a stalk of stone-being a cross a little higher than the rest, whereon was cut, on both sides of the stalk, the picture of our Saviour Christ crucified, the picture of the blessed Virgin on one side and St. John the evangelist on the other, both standing on the top of the boss; all which pictures were most artificially wrought together and finely carved out of the entire stone, some parts thereof thorough carved work, both on the east and west sides, with a cover of stone likewise over their heads, being all most finely and curiously wrought together, out of the same hollow stone, which cover had a covering of lead. From this minute description it is. easy to imagine what appearance this handsome Memorial Cross assumed. Mr. Hutchinson the county historian attempted to place it in a wood-engraving before his reader's eye; † and, with our present knowledge of the architecture of our forefathers and the aid of contemporary examples, it might now be rebuilt almost in fac-simile of the original. At present, nothing more remains of Neville's Cross than the almost shapeless stump which is represented in the accompanying etching. It was not until the year 1589 that it was broken down and defaced by some lewd and wicked persons." A curious contemporary ballad relative to the battle of Neville's Cross is printed in Richardson's Table Book, Legendary Division, vol. ii. p. 72. In commemoration of this circumstance it has been customary, down to modern times, for the organist and choir of the cathedral to sing the Te Deum annually on the summit of the great tower. + History of Durham, vol. ii. p. 342: the cut is repeated in Richardson's Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, vol. i. p. 123. THE OLD CHURCH AT NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT. IT has been judged requisite to take down the old church of Newport in the Isle of Wight, in order to rebuild it upon a larger scale. The town of Newport, like many others, grew up in mediæval times, without respect to parochial arrangements, and it occupies portions of three parishes, but stands principally in that of Carisbrooke. The castle of Carisbrooke (which is about two miles from Newport) was in ancient times the seat of the government of the island, and, with its contiguous town, or village, must have been considered its capital. Another town, however, was gradually formed at the landing-place of the neighbouring river (the Medina), to which a charter was first granted in the reign of Edward the First, by Isabella Countess of Albemarle and Devon, then lady of the Island. In that charter it is styled the novus burgus de Medina. It is conjectured by Sir Richard Worsley, the historian of the Island, that the church of Newport was first erected, as a chapel to Carisbrooke, about the reign of Henry II. the dedication being to the then popular saint, Saint Thomas of Canterbury, who was not canonised until the year 1172. It appears by the cartulary of the Priory of Carisbrooke that it was covenanted between William de Vernun and the monks of that house, that two of their body should perform divine service in the church of Newport. This was about fifty years before the charter of the Countess Isabella already mentioned. The inhabitants of Newport continued to bury their dead at Carisbrooke until the reign of Elizabeth, when, the plague prevailing in the town, they obtained the privilege of sepulture, on account of want of room at the mother church. The later historian, Sir Henry Englefield, describes the church of Newport as a large plain building, of about the age of Henry IV. The several trades of the town are supposed to have been at the cost of particular portions of the structure, which were distinguished by the implements of their respective handicrafts, as hammers, shears, &c. It presented to view three lines of ridged roof, of nearly equal height, and two stories of windows in the same wall, the lower pointed and the upper square-headed, an arrangement by no means elegant. A view of it will be seen in the Antiquarian Repertory, published in 1816, in which it is further described as being "very spa cious, but comparatively low, and has gal. leries in every part. It consists of a body and two aisles, one of which is separated from the rest by seven Gothic arches, and the other by six. The chancel is divided from the body of the church by small oak pillars and arches, ornamented with carving." The carved screen will be preserved for re-erection in the new church; as will the pulpit, which is a remarkable specimen of the art of carving in wood in the reign of Charles the First, an art which seems to have flourished in the large establishments for ship-building and their immediate neighbourhoods. It is of oak, ornamented with fourteen emblematical figures, arranged in two rows of panels, and intended to represent the four Cardinal Virtues, the three Graces, and the seven Liberal Sciences, characterized by their respective symbols. On the cornice of the canopy, cut in ornamental letters of fretwork, is this sentence :-" Cry aloud and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Isaiah, 58th chapter, verse 1." Over this, in front, are figures of War and Peace, the one holding a sword, and the other an olive-branch, with other suitable devices. The date of this pulpit is 1636, when it was given by one March, whose crest appears at the back. It was the work of Thomas Caper, "who lies buried in Salisbury."* The seats were erected at the same time. It is stated that the various sepulchral tablets and monuments will be preserved for re-erection, and that none of the vaults of the church will be disturbed. The most handsome monument is that of Sir Edward Horsey, who was Governor of the Isle of Wight in the reign of Elizabeth. It has an alabaster effigy, representing him attired in armour, with his hands raised in prayer: which Sir Henry Englefield pronounces to be "uncommonly well executed." The epitaph is in Latin verse, as follows: Edwardus qui miles crat fortissimus Horsey Anno Domini 1582. Sir Edward was appointed to the Captaincy of the island in the year 1565, on the nomination of the Earl of Leicester, *MS. Addit. (Brit. Mus.) 14,296, fol. 1. one of whose followers he had been. He was present at the Earl's secret marriage with the Lady Douglas Sheffield, and acted the part of the lady's father on that occasion. Sir Richard Worsley states that as a naval commander he had "performed good service by clearing the Channel of the enemy's ships, with which it had been much infested. He not only kept the island in a proper state of defence, but lived in perfect harmony with the gentlemen there. The great plenty of hares and other game with which the island is stored, is owing to his care; he is reported to have given a lamb for every hare that was brought to him from the neighbouring counties.' He was also employed on a mission to Don John of Austria in 1576-7. Sir Richard Worsley also states that he was of the ancient family seated at Melcombe Horsey in Dorsetshire: but, if so, it was of a junior branch, for Hutchins, the historian of that county, could not fix his place in their pedigree. A still more interesting circumstance in the sepulchral annals of this church is that here in the year 1650 was interred the body of the Princess Elizabeth, the second daughter of King Charles the First, who after her father's death was kept a prisoner at Carisbrook, and it is said was destined by the levellers of that period to be apprenticed to a button-maker in Newport. Her grave was distinguished by no other memorial but the initials E. S. until, in the year 1793, on opening a vault in the chancel, a coffin was discovered bearing the name of "ELIZABETH, SECOND DAUGHTER OF YE LATE KING CHARLES DECE'D SEPTEMBER 8TH, MDCL." Upon this discovery, a copper-plate was laid down upon the spot, with this notification : "Underneath, in a lead coffin, rest ye remains of Elizabeth second daughter of King Charles the First: obiit September 8, 1650, ætat. 14." It has now been found that, in order to furnish this memorial, another party who had deserved well of the parish, was despoiled of his epitaph, for the reverse of the plate still bears this inscription : HERE LYETH YE BODY OF MASTER GEORGE SHERGOLD LATE MINISTER OF NEWPORT WHO DURING SIXTEEN YEARS IN DISCHARGE OF HIS OFFICE STRICTLY OBSERVED YE TRUE DISCIPLINE OF YE CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISLIKING THAT DEAD BODIES SHOULD BE BURIED IN GODS HOUSE APPOINTED TO BE INTERRED IN THIS PLACE HE DYED UNIVERSALLY LAMENTED AND ESTEEMED JANUARY XXIII 1707. From a MS. in the British Museum, entitled "Church Notes in the Isle of Wight," and bearing the date of March, 1719, it has been ascertained that this tablet was "in the churchyard which is about a quarter of a mile west of the Church." Whether the rebuke it conveyed on the practice which very generally prevailed at the close of the last century, of burying within the church, at all contributed to its removal, it may not at present be possible to decide. At any event, it will now be restored to the memory of the conscientious and pious Minister and it has been announced that her Majesty intends to erect at her own expense a more suitable monument to the Princess Elizabeth. An inscription upon the south wall of the church, on the outside, indicated that the last considerable alterations were made in the year 1701. In the century and a half which has since elapsed any thing that may have been done has rather impaired than improved the stability of the structure; and it has at length been determined that the only safe and effectual remedy consisted in reconstruction. Divine service was performed for the last time in the old church on the 16th of July. On the 24th August the first stone of the new building was laid by H.R.H. Prince Albert, the Bishop of Winchester attending to offer the customary prayers, and the Freemasons of the neighbourhood, to the number of more than 400, affording their aid to the solemnity. The stone is thus inscribed: "On Thursday, August 24th, A. D. 1854, this foundation stone was laid by his Royal Highness the Prince Albert. Francis Pittis, mayor; George Henry Connor, M.A. minister; Edward Way, Henry Loosemore, churchwardens." The architect employed is Mr. S. W. Dawkins, of Whitehall-place. He has adopted the Florid Gothic style, without galleries, except at the west end; and the church is to accommodate 1486 persons. The old tower is to be carried up fifty feet higher, when its height will be 128 feet. Its exterior will be newly cased, with angular turrets and a handsome doorway. The whole church will be built of the stone of the island, except the dressings, which will be of Caen stone. The cost is estimated at 83201. |