Note 85 — Chapter XXI

— Interesting evidence of the connection of Mounteagle with not only these great northern families of Preston and Leybourne (whose places that once so well knew them now know them no more), but also with the Lords Dacres of the North and with the Earls of Arundel, is contained in Stockdale’s book on the beautiful and historic Parish of Cartmel, on the west coast of Lancashire, “North of the Sands.” — See Stockdale’s “Annales Caermoelenses,” p. 410, a work, I believe, now out of print. — Stockdale says that in the old Holker Hall (which seems to have been built by George Preston, in the reign of James I.), in the Parish of Cartmel, there was over the mantel-piece in the entrance-hall an elaborately ornamented oak-wood carving, on which were displayed, in alto-relievo, twelve coats-of-arms, namely: — Those of (1) King James I., with the lion and unicorn as supporters. (2) The Preston family, younger branch; from whom, through an heiress, the Dukes of Devonshire to-day own the Holker estates. The younger branch of the Prestons, viz., those of Holker, were probably Schismatic Catholics, or “Church-papists,” for some time, but gradually they conformed entirely to the Established Church. The elder branch of the Prestons, namely, the Prestons, of the Manor Furness, were strict Roman Catholics. Margaret Preston was married to Sir Francis Howard, of Corby, third son of Lord William Howard, of Naworth. The last of the Prestons, of the Manor, was Sir Thomas Preston, Bart., who, in 1674, became a Jesuit at the age of thirty-two. — See Foley’s “Records,” vol. iv., p. 534, and vol. v., p. 358. — Sir Thomas Preston, S.J., had been twice married, but had him surviving only two daughters, whom he amply provided for, and then gave his Furness estates to the Society he had joined. A subsequent Act of Parliament, however, defeated his intention almost entirely. (3) Arundel impaling Dacre; Philip Howard Earl of Arundel having married Anne Dacre, or Dacres, daughter of Thomas Lord Dacres of the North. (4) Howard impaling Dacre; Lord William Howard having married Elizabeth Dacre, or Dacres, sister to Anne Dacres Countess of Arundel and Surrey. Through Elizabeth Howard, the Earls of Carlisle have the Naworth Castle and Hinderskelfe (or Castle Howard) estates. (5) Morley impaling Stanley; Edward Parker Lord Morley having married, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Stanley, only daughter of Lord Mounteagle, of Hornby Castle, Lancashire (these were the parents of Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham). (6) Dacre impaling Leybourne, of Cunswick, near Kendal; Thomas Lord Dacre having married Elizabeth Leybourne, daughter of Sir James Leybourne, of Cunswick. (7) Stanley impaling Leybourne; William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle, of Hornby Castle, having married Anne Leybourne, sister to Elizabeth Lady Dacre. (8) Leybourne impaling Preston; Ellen (Stockdale by mistake says Eleanor), daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, of Westmoreland and Lancashire, having married Sir James Leybourne, of Cunswick; this lady afterwards married Thomas Stanley second Lord Mounteagle, the father of her son-in-law, William Stanley third Lord Mounteagle, who married her daughter, Anne Leybourne, and who was the grandfather of Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Tresham. (9) Cavendish impaling Keighley; William Cavendish first Earl of Devonshire having married Anne Keighley, daughter of Sir Henry Keighley, of Keighley, Yorks. (10) Keighley impaling Carus; Henry Keighley, of Keighley, having married Mary Carus, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale. (11) Carus impaling Preston; Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale, having married Catherine Preston, daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, about the reign of Philip and Mary. (12) Middleton impaling Carus; Edward Middleton, of Middleton Hall (who died in 1599), having married Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Carus, of Kirkby Lonsdale.[A]

Fittingly does that great master of English, Frederic Harrison, quote approvingly, in his charming book, “Annals of an Old Manor House” (i.e., Sutton Place, Guildford, the home of the Westons, and the dwelling, for a time, of the above-mentioned Anne Dacres Countess of Arundel and Surrey — that queenly Elizabethan woman), the words of a historian-friend of his: “Sink a shaft, as it were, in some chosen spot in the annals of England, and you will come upon much that is never found in the books of general history.” The late Robert Steggall, of Lewes, wrote a fine poem in blank verse on “the Venerable” Philip Howard Earl of Arundel and Surrey, the husband of Anne Dacres. It appeared in “The Month” some years ago.