Bygone Berkshire

But there was a great opponent to the rights and freedom of the good citizens of Reading in the person of the high and mighty Lord Abbot. Referring to the original charter of the abbey granted by Henry I., we see what extensive sway was placed in the hands of the abbot. He ruled Reading with a powerful hand, and when a former mayor of this town, in the time of Henry VI., thought he would like to have a mace carried before him as a badge of office, the abbot objected. The mayor appealed to the Crown, but he was told it was contrary to the franchise and liberties of our church and monastery, that he was only a keeper of the guild at Reading, admitted by the abbot, and might only have "two tipped staffs" carried before him as a badge of office.

The extensive powers given to the abbot produced constant struggles for power between the guild and the ecclesiastical rulers. Sometimes they even came to blows, and the townsmen often assaulted the abbot's bailiffs in the execution of their duty. The men of Reading were cited in the reign of Henry III., 1243, to show what warrant they had for any privileges which they claimed as members of the guild. The sheriff of Berks received a strict injunction to prevent the men of Reading from interfering with the abbot's lawful rights. Two years later "a final and endly concord" was established between the contending parties, but in 1351, the dispute revived; quarrels arose about the election of a constable for the town, and the contention was not settled for 200 years. In 1430, abbot Henley seized from the guild the out-butchery, or shambles, used by butchers not living in the town, which was another bone of contention.

The abbot received part of the fines paid by those who wished to become freemen of the guild. He received a fine of 5d., called chepin-gravel yearly from every member. He exercised criminal jurisdiction, tried prisoners, admitted and selected the warden or mayor, and in many ways held powerful sway over the good folk of this ancient borough.

But the day came when his power ceased, and the abbey was dissolved. By degrees the guild obtained more power, but the Reformation shook the fabrics of the old guilds of England, and they found that they had only exchanged masters, and that the new master was rather more masterful than the old, requiring inventories of guild plate, lands, and revenues, and appropriating much of their superfluous wealth to his own exchequer.[4 - 1545 – By Statute 37 Henry VIII., An Act for dissolution of colleges, it was recited that divers colleges, free chapels, chantries, hospitals, fraternities, brotherhoods, guilds, and stipendary priests, "having perpetuity for ever," had misapplied the possessions thereof in various ways; and it was then enacted that all the same be dissolved and the proceeds applied for supporting the king's expenses in wars, etc., and for the maintenance of the crown, etc.The advisers of Edward VI. promptly availed themselves of this as a pretext for plunder.]

In the time of Queen Elizabeth, the guild merchant, the chrysalis, broke its shell, and became the full-winged corporation of mayor and burgesses, although its place of meeting was still called the Guildhall, and was situated somewhere near the Hallowed Brook, where the worthy brethren were often disturbed in their deliberations by the Laundry women "beating their battledores," which was the approved style of washing clothes in those days. Subsequently the old Church of Grey Friars became the Guildhall until the old building was erected, from whose ashes the modern Town Hall phœnix-like arose.

The old burgesses, or members of the guild, were very provident. In time of Queen Mary it was ordered that every burgess should pay 20s. over and above his accustomed fine, as a fund for the relief of burgesses in old age or want.

Berkshire has not been remarkable for its guilds. The guild of the brotherhood of the Holy Cross at Abingdon has been already mentioned. At Maidenhead we find a guild incorporated in 1351, probably for the purpose of keeping in repair the bridge over the Thames, one of the most ancient in the county. This corporation was called "the Fraternity or Guild of the Brothers and Sisters of Maidenhythe." Of minor guilds there would be examples in almost every village and town, but no records of them remain. The guilds of Reading are the only ones of real importance; and I have attempted to point out the chief points of interest in connection with their growth and development, and to describe briefly the origin of these institutions which played so important a part in the making of England.

The Scouring of the White Horse

By E.R. Gardiner, m.a

The story of our village feasts, and of the way in which the rude forefathers of the hamlet were wont to enjoy themselves, forms a chapter in our manners and customs which cannot but have considerable interest to the student of bygone times. One of the most interesting relics of this kind pertains to the County of Berks. Upon White Horse Hill in that county, there used to be celebrated at stated intervals a feast known throughout the countryside as "The Scouring of the White Horse." This has been so admirably and exhaustively treated by Judge Hughes, Q.C. (Tom Brown) in his well-known book on the subject that it is almost hopeless for anyone writing on the same topic to do otherwise than follow in his wake.

A few words on the history of the White Horse of Berkshire seem necessary as an introduction to the subject, although its origin, like that of the old historic earldom of Mar, seems to be lost in the mists of antiquity. White Horse Hill is the highest point of the range of chalk hills which the traveller by rail sees on his left hand as he journeys down the Great Western Railway between Didcot and Swindon, and is plainly seen as he approaches Uffington Station. Its summit reaches the height of 856 feet, and commands an extensive view over what is known as the Vale of White Horse, no less than eleven counties being, so it is said, visible therefrom. It derives its name from the rude figure of a horse cut out in the chalk on the north-west side of the hill, some 374 feet long, and with its outline marked by trenches ten feet wide, cut two or three feet deep in the turf to the white subsoil. A very common tradition ascribes its formation to King Alfred, in memory of his decisive victory over the Danes at the battle of Æcesdun, something over a thousand years ago. The tradition has no doubt arisen from the fact that the Saxon standard was a White Horse, the well-known names of Hengist and Horsa being probably mere forms of this ensign. If this were the only turf carving of a similar character to be found in England, there might be a good deal to say in favour of this tradition. But such figures are not rare, and some of them have, for cogent reasons into which we have not space to enter, been attributed to times far more remote than those of Saxon and Dane. With regard to this particular turf-carving, although we may allow the horse to have been the Saxon standard, and that King Alfred, in setting up "his banner for a token," would only have been following ancient practice, yet, plausible as this may sound, it would have been far more in accordance with what we might have expected had he set up a cross to commemorate his victory. In fact, not so very far away, in the hamlet of Monks Risborough in the Chiltern Hills, there is a hill figure of a cross, nearly a hundred feet in height, which, with quite as good if not better reason, is conjectured to be a memorial set up by Alfred, to record a victory over the Danes at Bledlow. And further, the figure of a horse as a badge or device is far older than Saxon times, for on a coin of Cunobelin (the Cymbeline of Shakespeare), who reigned in Britain, A.D. 40, the figure of a horse on its reverse is very similar to the turf-carving with which we are dealing. Indeed, there is much more in favour of these hill-side figures being of a date far anterior to Saxon or Roman times. For to the right below White Horse Hill is a high mound known as the Dragon Hill upon a piece of ground at the top of which grass does not grow. Here was ample scope for a tradition, which, coupled with the name of the Hill, developed into the story that this was the identical spot on which St. George (or "King Gaarge," according to the rustics) slew the Dragon, and that no verdure ever grew on the place over which its poisonous blood flowed. But unfortunately this derivation collapses when it is found that the name of the Hill should be Pend-ragon, which, in Celtic, signifies "Chief of Kings," and was, as Mr. Wise points out in his letter to Dr. Mead, written in 1736, the common appellation of a British King constituted such by vote in times of public distress. Thus, as we learn from Cæsar's Commentaries Cassibelan was chosen Pendragon by the allies at the time of Julius Cæsar's invasion. So much then for the history and traditions of the White Horse.

The festival called the "Scouring," about which we are more immediately concerned, is, comparatively speaking, a manageable subject, although the aforementioned Mr. Wise, writing 150 years ago, speaks of it as a ceremony, which, "from time immemorial has been solemnized by a numerous concourse of people from all the villages round about." The importance which he attaches to it seems to us at this time of day a trifle exaggerated, for, after appealing to all persons who have a regard for ancient customs whether such a solemnity would not deserve the countenance of the nobility and gentry, a sentiment in which many will heartily join, he goes on to suggest that if the festival were solemnized at regular intervals, say of four years, the common people would use it as a mode of reckoning their time, which would then very properly be done by speaking of the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year of the Scouring of the Horse: and not only this, but the worthy author goes on to say he should not despair of its creating a new era in English history, viz., The Restoration of the Saxon Olympics. Here surely we have enthusiasm gone mad.

The first Scouring, according to Judge Hughes, Q.C. (who is really the authority par excellence on the subject), about which there is any authentic information, was held in 1755, and the sports then appeared to be pretty much the same as those held about a century later. The chief prize for backsword play, or cudgel play, as it was sometimes called, was won by a stranger, who appeared in the garb of a gentleman, and who held his own against all the old "gamesters," as the backsword players who had won or shared a first prize at any revel, were then called. As soon as he had won the prize, he jumped on his horse, and rode off. There was some speculation as to who he might be, and presently it was whispered about that he was Tim Gibbons, of Lambourn, who had not been seen for some years, and about whom some strange stories had been afloat. A descendant of his, a native of Wodstone, a village which nestles at the foot of the White Horse, gave the following account of his ancestor: – "Timothy Gibbons, my great-grandvather, you see, sir, foller'd blacksmithing at Lambourn, till he took to highway robbin', but I can't give 'ee no account o' when or wher'. Arter he'd been out, maybe dree or vour year, he and two companions cum to Baydon; and whilst hiding theirselves and waiting their hopes in a barn, the constables got ropes round the barn-yard and lined 'em in. Then all dree drawed cuts[5 - Drew lots.] who was to go out fust and face the constables. It fell to Tim's two companions to go fust, but their hearts failed 'em, and they wouldn't go. So Tim cried out as 'he'd show 'em what a Englishman could do,' and mounted his hos and drawed his cutlash, and cut their lines a-two, and galloped off clean away; but I understood as t'other two was took. Arter that, maybe a year or two, he cum down to a pastime on White Hoss Hill, and won the prize at backswording; and when he took his money, fearing lest he should be knowed, he jumped on his hoss under the stage, and galloped right off, and I don't know as he ever cum again to these parts. Then I've understood as things thrve wi' 'un as 'um will at times, sir, wi' they sort o' chaps, and he and his companions built the inn called 'The Magpies' on Hounslow Heath; but I dwon't know as ever he kep' the house hisself, except it med ha' been for a short while. Howsomever, at last he was took drinking at a public house somewheres up Hounslow way, wi' a companion, who played a crop wi' 'un, and I b'liev' a' was hanged at Newgate. But I never understood as he killed anybody, sir, and a'd used to gie some o' the money as he took to the poor, if he know'd they was in want."

The next Scouring, of which there seems to be any record, took place in 1776, concerning which the following printed handbill was published: —

"White Horse Hill, Berks, 1776.

The scowering and cleansing of the White Horse is fixed for Monday, the 27th day of May; on which day a Silver Cup will be run for near White Horse Hill, by any horse, &c., that never run for anything, carrying 11 stone, the best of 3 two-mile heats, to start at 10 o'clock.

Between the heats will be run for by poneys a Saddle Bridle and Whip; the best of 3 two-mile heats, the winner of 2 heats will be entitled to the saddle, the second best the Bridle, and the third the Whip.

The same time a Thill Harness will be run for by cart horses, &c., in their harness and bells, the carters to ride in smock frocks without saddles, crossing and jostling, but no whipping allowed.

A Flitch of Bacon to be run for by asses.

A good Hat to be run for by men in sacks, every man to bring his own sack.

A Waistcoat, 10s. 6d. value, to be given to the person who shall take a bullet out of a tub of flour with his mouth in the shortest time.

A cheese to be run for down the White Horse Manger.

Smocks to be run for by ladies, the second best of each prize to be entitled to a Silk Hat.

Cudgel playing for a gold-laced Hat and a pair of buckskin Breeches, and Wrestling for a pair of silver Buckles and a pair of Pumps.

The horses to be on the White Horse Hill by nine o'clock.

No less than four horses, &c., or asses to start for any of the above prizes."

Then came a Scouring on Whit Monday, May 15th, 1780, and of the doings on that occasion there is the following notice in the Reading Mercury, of May 22nd, 1780: – "The ceremony of scowering and cleansing that noble monument of Saxon antiquity, the White Horse, was celebrated on Whit Monday, with great joyous festivity. Besides the customary diversions of horse racing, foot races, etc., many uncommon rural diversions and feats of activity were exhibited to a greater number of spectators than ever assembled on any former occasion. Upwards of thirty thousand persons were present, and amongst them most of the nobility and gentry of this and the neighbouring counties; and the whole was concluded without any material accident. The origin of this remarkable piece of antiquity is variously related; but most authors describe it as a monument to perpetuate some signal victory, gained near the spot, by some of our most ancient Saxon princes. The space occupied by this figure is more than an acre of ground."

There was also a list of the games, which was the same as that in 1776, excepting that in addition there was "a jingling-match by eleven blind-folded men, and one unmasked and hung with bells, for a pair of buckskin breeches."

An old man, William Townsend by name, whose father, one Warman Townsend, had run down the manger after the fore-wheel of a waggon, and won the cheese at this scouring, told the story, as his father had told it to him, how that "eleven on 'em started, and amongst 'em a sweep chimley and a millurd; and the millurd tripped up the sweep chimley and made the soot flee a good 'un;" and how "the wheel ran pretty nigh down to the springs that time."

The next Scouring seems to have been held in 1785, concerning which one William Ayres of Uffington, aged about 84 years, in 1857 made the following statements: – "When I were a buoy about ten years old I remembers I went up White Hoss Hill wi' my vather to a pastime. Vather'd brewed a barrel o' beer to sell on the Hill – a deal better times than now – Augh! bless 'ee, a man medn't brew and sell his own beer now: and oftentimes he can't get nothin' fit to drink at thaay little beer-houses as is licensed, nor at some of the public-houses too for that matter. But 'twur not only for that as the times wur better then – But I be gandering shure enough, – well now, there wur Varmer Mifflin's mare run for and won a new cart-saddle and thill-tugs – the mare's name wur Duke. As many as a dozen or moor horses run, and they started from Idle's bush, which were a vine owld tharnin'-tree in thay days – a very nice bush. They started from Idle's bush, as I tell 'ee, and raced up to the Rudge-waay; and Varmer Mifflin's mare had it all one way, and beeat all the t'other on 'um holler. The pastime then wur a good 'un a wonderful sight o' folk of all sorts, rich and poor. John Morse of Uffington, a queerish sort of a man, grinned agin another chap droo' hos collars, but John got beeat – a fine bit o' spwoort to be shure, and meead the volks laaf. Another geeam wur to bowl a cheese down the Mainger, and the first as could catch 'un had 'un. The cheese was a tough 'un and held together, a did I assure 'ee, but thaay as tasted 'un said a warn't very capital arter all. Then were running for a peg too, and they as could ketch 'un and hang 'un up by the tayl had 'un. The girls, too run races for smocks – a deal of pastime to be sure. Then wur climmin' a grasy pole for a leg of mutton, too: and backsoordin', and wrastlin', and all that, ye knows. A man by the name of Blackford, from the low countries, Zummersetshire, or that waay someweres, he won the prize, and wur counted the best hand for years arter, and no man couldn't break his yead; but at last, nigh on about twenty years arter, I'll warn 'twer – at Shrin'um Revel, Harry Stanley, the landlord o' the Blawin Stwun, broke his yead, and the low-country men seemed afeard o' Harry round about here for long arter that. Varmer Smallbwones, of Sparsholt, a mazin' stout man, and one as scarce no one, go where 'a would, could drow down, beeat all the low-country chaps at wrastlin', and none could stan' agean 'un. And so he got the neam o' Varmer Great-Bwones. 'Twur only when he got a drap o' beer a leetle too zoon, as he were drowed at wrastlin', but they never drowed 'un twice, and he had the best men come agean 'un for miles. This wur the first pastime as I well remembers, but there med ha' been some afore, for all as I knows. I ha' got a good memorandum, and minds things well when I wur a buoy, that I does. I ha' helped to dress the White Hoss myself, and a deal o' work 'tis to do 't, as should be, I can assure 'ee. About Claay Hill, 'twixt Fairford and Ziziter, I've many a time looked back at 'un, and a' looks as nat'ral as a pictur'."

Between 1785 and 1803 there were probably at least two Scourings about which no reliable information seems to have been obtained.

At the Scouring of 1803 Beckingham of Baydon won the prize at wrestling; Flowers and Ellis from Somersetshire won the prize at backsword play; the waiter at the Bell Inn, Faringdon, won the cheese race and at jumping in sacks; and Thomas Street of Niton won the prize for grinning through horse-collars, but it was said "a man from Woodlands would ha' beeat, only he'd got no teeth. This geaam made the congregation laaf 'mazingly."

Then came a Scouring in 1808, at which the Hanney men came down in a strong body and made sure of winning the prize for wrestling. But all the other gamesters leagued against them, and at last their champion, Belcher, was thrown by Fowler of Baydon. Two men, "with very shiny top-boots, quite gentlemen, from London," won the prize for backsword play, one of which gentlemen was Shaw, the Lifeguardsman, said to be a Wiltshire man himself, who afterwards died at Waterloo. A new prize was given at this pastime, viz., a gallon of gin or half-a-guinea for the woman who would smoke most tobacco in an hour. Only two gipsy-women entered, and it seems to have been a very blackguardly business, but it is the only instance of the sort on record.

There seems to be some doubt as to the date of the next Scouring, which was either in 1812 or 1813, but Judge Hughes thinks it was most probably in the latter year, because the clerk of Kingston Lisle, an old Peninsula man, told him that he was at home on leave in that year, and that there was to be a Scouring, and all the people were talking about it when he had to go back to the wars. At this Scouring there was a prize of a loaf, made out of a bushel of flour, for running up the Manger, which was won by Philip New, of Kingston-in-the-Hole, who cut the great loaf into pieces at the top, and sold the pieces for a penny a piece. The low-country men won the first backsword prize, and one Ford, of Ashbury, the second; and the Baydon men won the prize for wrestling. One Henry Giles had wrestled for the prize, but it is supposed took too much beer afterwards; at any rate he fell into the canal on his way home, and was drowned.

The next Scouring, about which any record is found, did not take place till 1825, and it seems to have been the largest gathering there has ever been. The games were held at the Seven Barrows, which are distant two miles in a south-easterly direction from the White Horse, instead of in Uffington Castle, for some reason which does not appear. These seven barrows are popularly supposed to be the burial places of the principal men who were killed at Ashdown.

After this there was no Scouring till 1838, when, on the 19th and 20th of September, the old custom was revived under the patronage of Lord Craven. The Reading Mercury says that no more auspicious year could have been chosen for the revival "than that in which our youthful and beloved Queen first wore the British Crown, and in which an heir was born to the ancient and noble house of Craven, whom God preserve."

The next took place in September, 1843, about which it is recorded that the Berkshire and Wiltshire men, under Joe Giles, of Shrivenham, got the better of the Somersetshire men led by Simon Stone at backsword play; and then were two men who came down from London, who won the wrestling prize away from the countrymen. There seems to have been some difficulty in getting the elephant's caravan up the Hill, for Wombwell's menagerie came down for the Scouring, and, though four-and-twenty horses were put to, it stuck fast four or five times. It does not seem to have struck the Berkshire folk that it would have been simpler to turn the elephant out and make him pull his own caravan up.

In September, 1857, was celebrated the festival so admirably described by Judge Hughes in his book, "The Scouring of the White Horse," to which we would refer our readers.

Of subsequent Scourings there is little or no record, village festivals having fallen gradually into disuse through the advent of railways and other means of communication with the outer world. The last took place in 1892, and was undertaken at the sole expense of Lady Craven, of Ashdown Park, the Horse having become so obliterated by neglect that its outline could scarcely be traced even at a few miles distance. It was unaccompanied by any festivities whatever.

The Last of the Abbots

There are few sadder stories than that of Hugh Farringdon, 31st mitred abbot of the great Abbey of Reading. One of the foremost ecclesiastics in the kingdom at the time of his terrible death, even in Henry VIII.'s reign of terror, few men fell so far, so suddenly, and so fatally.

An Abbot of Reading was a member of the House of Lords. He had a revenue with his abbey, amounting to well nigh £20,000 per annum at the present day; one of the most charming country residences conceivable at Pangbourne, Bere Place, which still retains some few relics of its abbot owners; and, in the abbey itself; an abode whose magnificence, even amidst those grand ruins, we very feebly realise. The abbey precincts were at least thirty acres, in the midst of which the great church arose in size and grandeur not far short of that of Canterbury Cathedral itself.

The earlier portion of his abbacy seems to have been tranquil and happy. We read of no such grave disputes as in the case of Abbot Thorne. That 28th abbot seems to have carried fully out his name and crest. He was a thorn in many sides. We read of bitter complaints how he seized on the revenues of the Hospital for Poor Widows, and appropriated them to the uses of the Almoner of the abbey, and not content with this, laid hands also on St. Edmond's Chapel, which then stood at the end of Friar Street, which he made into a barn.

The 31st abbot was a very different man from the 28th. He had more of Mary than of Martha in him, as an old chronicler remarks somewhere of somebody else. There is reason to believe that he was a most amiable character. Mr. Kelly in his History of St. Lawrence has discovered the following interesting record of him amongst the receipts for pew rents: —

"1520. Setis – Item of my lord abbot for his moder's sete iiij d."

"A touching entry," says Mr. Kelly; "Hugh Faringdon, on his promotion to the abbey, though a man of humble extraction, did not forget to provide for the comfort of his poor aged mother."

It is true Leland speaks of him as an "illiterate monk." "Hugh Cook was a stubborn monk, absolutely without learning." Of course he was a monk, that goes without saying. With regard to his "stubbornness," there may be two opinions. As for being "absolutely without learning," he appears to have been one of those admirable in every age, who have raised themselves from a low rank to a high one by sheer force of character. A poor boy may still become Lord Chancellor or Archbishop of Canterbury.

He appears not to have had educational advantages. He deplores this in a letter of much dignified modesty. He had occasion to correspond with the University of Oxford. The Oxford authorities seem to have been in need of some stone from a quarry of the abbey, and had addressed a polite request to him. He "returns thanks to the University for considering him in the number of those learned persons who had been members of that learned body," but speaks of himself as one who had not the least pretences to that character. He styles himself a man of no erudition; laments that the fates had denied him the advantages of instruction in his youth, and states that he is still anxious to become a member of the University, and apply himself to that course of study which would suit his capacity, now become dull and feeble by length of years.

He was evidently a patron of learned men. Leonard Cox, Master of the Reading School, which, thanks to Henry VII., had been established in St. Lawrence's Hospice rescued from Abbot Thorne, dedicates his "Art of Rhetorick," 1539, to this last of the abbots.

He seems also to have been a good administrator, and an active magistrate, and we read of him as taking his place at the Bench at "Okingham," on 11th July, 1534, as one of the Justices of the Peace for the county. More than this he was a religious man. He took care that the Bible was read daily in the abbey. Dr. London, one of the commissionaries for dissolving the Monastery and Friary, reports to his superior, Lord Cromwell: —