Stories of the Scottish Border — Chapter 40 Belted will and the Baronry of Gilsland

*Belted Will and the Baronry of Gilsland* "When for the lists they sought the plain The stately lady's silken rein Did noble Howard hold;

Unarmed by her side he walk'd And much, in courteous phrase they talk'd Of feats of arms of old.

Costly his garb; his Flemish ruff Fell o'er his doublet, shaped of buff, With satin slashed and lined;

Tawny his boot and gold his spur, His cloak was all of Poland fur, His hose with silver twined.

His Bilboa blade, by Marchmen felt, Hung in a broad and studded belt;

Hence, in rude phrase, the Borderers still Call'd noble Howard, Belted Will."

SCOTT, _Lay of the Last Minstrel_.

One of the many picturesque figures of Border history was "Belted Will," or to call him by his proper name and title, Lord William Howard, a younger son of the powerful Duke of Norfolk.

His mother had died when he was an infant, and his father, the foremost Roman Catholic nobleman in England, took up the cause of Mary Queen of Scots, whom he wished to marry.

For this treason against Queen Elizabeth he was beheaded in 1572, when young Lord William was only nine years old.

At the age of fourteen the young lord's guardians arranged for him a marriage with Elizabeth Dacre, a member of a powerful Border family, and heiress to the Baronry of Gilsland.

As the bride was even younger than her boy-husband, let us hope that they both went to school again immediately after the marriage!

When he grew to manhood, Lord William warmly supported the Roman Catholic cause and was imprisoned by Elizabeth; but when James became King, he was released and restored to his estates on the Border.

Throughout the remainder of his career he was the most notable man of his district.

He knew how to make himself respected by his wild neighbours.

His fame and power were great.

He founded the fortunes of his family so surely that he it is who is usually thought of as the ancestor of the Earls of Carlisle, though his great-grandson was the first to hold the title.

Lord William had great energy and many interests, and was remarkable as being an "all-round" man.

He was equally a leader of men and a lover of books; no detail in the management of his estates was too small for him to study; he was a good husband to his wife, and a splendid father to his fifteen children.

He selected the most beautiful of his several castles, that of Naworth, and repaired and almost rebuilt it; he took there the fine old oak ceiling from the ancient castle of Kirkoswald, which was ornamented with portraits of all the kings of England.

Visitors to Naworth can see to-day the "hall of Belted Will," by kind permission of the present Earl of Carlisle.

He was something of a poet and very much of an antiquarian.

His estates were full of interesting things, and none knew them better than he.

There were miles of the Roman wall, still in excellent condition; there were many Roman altars and inscriptions, which he copied and translated;

quite near him, at Coome Crags, was a Roman quarry, which can still be seen to-day, with marks of Roman tools on its stones.

It stands in a beautiful wood by the side of the lovely river Irthing.

And only a little further on, standing on a fine cliff overlooking the river, is the old Roman station of Amboglanna, a fort that covered five and a half acres, with walls that were once five feet thick, the main foundations of which are still standing, clear enough for anyone to trace them out.

It is quieter there to-day than it was in Roman times, or in the stirring days of Belted Will!

It is good to think that this broad-shouldered, gallant, powerful nobleman, who could ride, shoot, fight and keep this wild district in order, was at the same time such a clever student and book-worm.

They tell a story that he was once sitting in his library intent on a book when his men brought in a robber whom they had caught red-handed, and asked Lord William to try him.

Belted Will, angry at being interrupted, cried out:--"Don't disturb me; hang him!"

Half an hour later he rose and came down to try the man, but finding that he was already hanged he went on with his book.

It is only fair to add that robbers in those days expected no mercy when caught.

One of the many clever things that Lord William did was to have figures carved in oak to represent soldiers; these he placed on the top of his high towers, and deceived the Scots into thinking that he had a large and very watchful garrison!

These figures can still be seen at Naworth.

Near Naworth Castle is Lanercost Priory, where King Edward I. stayed on his way to Scotland.

There is a secret passage from Naworth tower which is supposed to run under the river to Lanercost.

No one is allowed to go through it, as it is considered dangerous; the people of the district say that the last man to do so was Oliver Cromwell.

Visitors to Naworth to-day should certainly go on to Gilsland itself, the picturesque straggling little town, which was the head of the Baronry which Elizabeth Dacre brought to her boy-husband.

The Irthing at Gilsland runs through a wonderfully beautiful gorge, rocky and wooded, wild and romantic.

Stand on the venturesome stepping stones near the old church, with the river rushing at your very feet, and see if this is an exaggeration of the beauties of the scene.

Right in the midst of the glen you can see the "Popping-stone" where Sir Walter Scott walked with the lady of his choice and asked her to marry him.

Readers of "Guy Mannering" can see in Over Denton church near Gilsland the grave of Meg Merrilees, who died here at the age of ninety-eight.

The town is also interesting for the fact that the county border is at Gilsland, and there is an inn so built that it stands in both counties, and contains a bed in which you can sleep with your head in Northumberland and your feet in Cumberland!

There is a story of Belted Will that tells eloquently of the strength of his character.

When he was released from prison by King James he found his estates so ruined by careless management that he knew that great care was needed to put things right again; so until he got his affairs into order, all the pocket-money that he would allow himself was twenty shillings per month!

Bold William, Belted Will, gallant Lord Howard, as you will, died at Naworth in 1640 aged seventy-seven, one year after the death of his devoted wife.

His descendants were, like himself, students and men of action; the present Earl of Carlisle is directly sprung from him, and is very proud of the fact.

*Chapter XLI*