Cranes in the Vintree" by Thomas Dawson, 1590; the dedication "dated from my study at Waiemouth, and Melcombe Regis the 28th January in the year of our Lord 1584". At the end is inscribed Finis. Quoth Robert O'Penshaw, pastor of the church of Waiemouth", etc. 66 The clue to the date is useful, and proves that some persons or parishioners thought it worth while and took interest enough in the church to cover the bare plaster with extracts from a favourite book.1 On the third pillar in the nave over the old pulpit is an inscription, the text of which is taken from Coverdale's Bible, printed A.D. 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII, viz. :— "Preach the worrd Be instant in season 11 Tim. B. II. v." On the easternmost pier of the church on the south side, on the inside of the arch, the following Latin verses were, in 1629, put up by Christopher Philipson to commemorate the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot :— "Hic est ille dies renovante celebrior anno Quem facit et proprio signat amore Deus Faucibus eripior Fauxis quasi carcere mortis Christoferus Philipson, Jun., Generosus, 1629.” Which may be literally translated as follows: "This is the day (anniversary of the Plot) more famed as each year brings it round again, which God Himself appoints and marks with his peculiar favour. Rejoice! ye who are good! The mischief conspired in (or by) Stygian darkness has now been made This is an interesting trace of the Reformation period, probably put in prominent view of churchgoers as texts and comments explanatory of the New Doctrines. an empty tale by the hand of Providence. England, which was shortly to be conspicuous for the greatness of its ruin, may now sing hymns since she has remained free by the aid of Heaven. "England expresses her great joy. "I am delivered from the jaws of Faux as from a prison of death. "Glory to God in the Highest. Hence is my secret safety. -Christopher Philipson, Junior, Gentleman, 1629." On a stone tablet near the small south door is a poem entitled "The Author's Epitaph upon Himself, made in the Time of His Sickness. "A man I was, wormes meat I am To earth returned from whence I came In earth at length my bed is made A bed which Christ did not disdaine His deadlie foes might plainlie see Over sin and death his victorie Here must I rest till Christ shall let me see His promised Jerusalem and her felicitie. Robert Philipson, gent: 10 Octobris An° Salutis 1631 anno ætatis suæ 63tro " He Another Christopher Philipson, of Calgarth, died 1562, was a benefactor to the church. He was devoted to the cultivation of letters, and is supposed to have presented several books to the library at Cartmel. is believed to have been barrister-at-law and Mayor for Charles I. But for a discrepancy in the date of his death, one would suppose him the identical author of the Guy Faux inscription and the epitaph. Probably this is the case, and the numerals may have been altered in some period of repainting or cleaning of the walls. There are several mortuary brasses of no special interest; also a monument by Flaxman to Bishop Watson, of Llandaff, who died at Calgarth, and is buried near the east window in the churchyard. The church possesses a copy of Jewel's defence of the Apologie of the Church of England; there is also chained to the seat under the reading desk, a copy of Erasmus' Paraphrase of the New Testament. A curious tradition relates to the small central pane of painted glass in the window of the north side, and which is named the " Carrier's Arms". It represents a rope, a "wantey"1 Book, and five packing pricks or skewers, which are the instruments used by carriers to fasten their packing sheets together. The story goes, regarding this window, that the church and also the chapels at Ambleside, Troutbeck and Applethwaite were all ruinous and unfit for worship; and it was proposed, as the neighbourhood was so poor, that one central church should be built for the use of all. The people could not agree as to the most suitable position, therefore it was decided that whoever gave the largest donation should choose the site. A carrier, who had made his fortune in business, offered to cover the church with lead, so the choice fell to him. He selected Bowness; and his craft, though not his name, is commemorated to this day in this curious specimen of ancient glass. In the year 1873 St. Martin's church underwent restoration, and it was during that process that the famous east window was brought into prominent notice, and was treated both carefully and with success by Mr. Hugh Hughes, under the superintendence of the well-known artist Mr. Knight Watson. Before the restoration the window had been sadly neglected, and allowed to fall into a most dilapidated state. The zeal of iconoclasts during the Civil Wars is probably answerable for much of the damage done, both to the window and the church itself; as it is recorded that the Roundheads made havoc there, and that they smashed the organ. No doubt the painted glass suffered; indeed, it has been surmised that there were several painted windows in the church previous to the Civil Wars, and that some of the parts lost or irreparably injured in the east window were afterwards patched and replaced by pieces from other windows broken at that period. The neighbourhood was largely inhabited by persons of less puritanical views, who did their best, when quieter times returned, to put their old church in order according to the somewhat inartistic methods of the succeeding century. An old writer states that the "East window had been affectionately repaired in places by glazed tissue paper stained 1 This is an expression used in a local book of reference; it is probably a technical word formerly used by carriers. with water colours, and the holes stopped up promiscuously; the larger ones with mortar, the smaller ones with glazier's putty". It is rather difficult to decide whether the author of the above statement is writing in praise of the proceeding, or wishes to convey a delicate hint of irony between the lines. At any rate, when Mr. Hugh Hughes took the window in hand he found the design difficult to trace, in consequence of the imperfect manner in which the glass had been put together, although some parts remained much in the same position in which they had originally been placed. The restoration led to much argument and discussion, and a comprehensive study of the history and origin of the glass. Indeed, the subject aroused so much interest, and was so exhaustively treated, that the questions involved were not fully decided for some years; the conclusion arrived at being stated finally in a masterly discussion by Mr. R. S. Ferguson during a visit of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society to the neighbourhood in the year 1879. It had been hitherto (that is, previous to the restoration in 1873) supposed that the glass of the east window had formerly adorned the Abbey of Furness: a tradition founded on very insufficient evidence. The only statement to that effect which can be found is one for which the painter Benjamin West is alone answerable; who, in his history of Furness Abbey, mentions the theory, but gives no authority for it. However, although in the earlier editions of Camden (prior to 1789) the tradition is not mentioned, Gough, in his edition of that year, brings it forward with the powerful name of West to back it the latter's history of that Abbey, of which he was an enthusiast, having been published in 1774. It is nevertheless a question whether there ever was any painted glass at all at Furness Abbey, as the rules of the Cistercian Order, of which foundation Furness was, forbade the use of painted glass. Canon Dixon has paid particular attention to the dissolution of Furness, and has found no mention of painted glass there. The earliest account of the glass is to be found in Machell's manuscript in the collection of the Dean and Chapter Library at Carlisle. The writer visited the church prior to the year 1698, and being curious to decipher the dates, he says that he sent the schoolmaster (who, it appears, was more active than himself), up a ladder to examine the coat-of-arms in the east window. In his account he leaves a blank where he evidently intended to add the name of the place from which the glass was brought, which, unfortunately, he omitted to do, and perhaps was unable to discover. But note, he does not mention Furness. He further remarks as follows: "On a window in the Ile (this aisle) next the queer dooer is written in text letters 1523, which" (says Machell) "shows the time the windows were done". The royal arms mentioned mentioned are those of Prince Arthur or Prince Henry (afterwards Henry VIII), and, being on the east window, mark the date of transference to the church as before 1523; but there was in 1523, and had been since 1509, no one entitled to bear those arms; but if the transference was after 1509, the arms may denote some gift of money or presentation of glass prior to 1509. Mr. Hugh Hughes during the progress of his work was able to bring many remarkable points to notice, which had not until the restoration been available for discussion, and which drew especial attention to the question of the origin of the glass, with the result that those authorities who are best qualified to decide have come to the conclusion that the greater portion of the window must have been made about the year 1480, and originally placed in the Priory of Cartmel, near Grange, from whence it was removed to Bowness about 1523, or before the dissolution in 1537: thus escaping the destruction which befel the religious houses. Mr. Ferguson sums up as follows:-"This window formed part, and by far the greater part, of a seven-light window from Cartmel Priory; the present Perpendicular windows of the choir and transepts at Cartmel were, before reformation, inserted in place of the original Transition or English ones. The window was brought whole and uninjured |