written a history of the Cliffords. Still, amid the many tales of interest that are rife about the family, it may perhaps be permitted to give one. It is an anecdote of a time when the most fortunate knew not but that the next moment might see his head upon the block in token of his loyalty. At this time the twelfth Lord Clifford had died on the field at Towton; and his widow, deprived of the protection of her lord, was seeking everywhere a hiding-place for her children, where they might live in safety from the wrath of the Yorkist partisans. In her trouble she sent Richard, her youngest boy, to the Netherlands; and for her son Henry she could find no refuge but that provided by a shepherd who had married one of her maids. And thus as a shepherd did Harry Clifford, the proud offspring of a great family, roam about the wilds of Cumberland till he had reached the age of thirty-two, at which period of his existence he had not learnt to read. He, however, subsequently acquired more opportunity to learn and practise himself in the art; for in the first Parliament of Henry VIII. he was restored to his estates.

THE HISTORICAL BARS.

N

CHAPTER VII.

O work upon York Castle would be complete if some mention were not made, even in the most cursory of ways, to the Bars in York, now of his

torical importance. These are Bootham Bar, Fishergate Bar, Micklegate Bar, Monk Bar, Victoria Bar, and Walmgate Bar.

BOOTHAM BAR

appears at times to have been known as Bulmer's Bar, Burning Bar, and Galmanhithe Bar. It does not seem, however, that any very lucid explanation can be given of the manner in which it obtained these names. Gent was of opinion that it was at any rate called Burning Bar because it had been built on or near the spot where the Romans used to perform their funeral rites and burn their dead. On the contrary, Drake says that Bootham was no Roman graveyard, but a hamlet for booths; and he further says that this hamlet for booths was stationed there by the Abbot of St. Mary's when he held his fair. Davies, in his "Walks

through York," pooh-poohs this idea, saying that Bootham Street and Bootham Bar took their names from the vill or burgh through which the street passed; and he supports this argument by adding that the vill must have been in existence before the Abbot could have held any fair in it. The name Bootham he considers to have been of earlier origin than the foundation of the abbey. One should remember, however, that the earliest recollections of the vill or burgh seem to have been in connection with the Abbot and Convent of St. Mary's, to whom the vill belonged. The vill probably occupied the greater part of the ground which is now included within the walls of St. Mary's Abbey. Since that enclosure was made the vill has ceased to have a separate existence.

In spite, however, of the Abbot's claim to the vill, it would seem that, in bygone days, its proximity to the city formed the occasion of constant dispute between the Abbot and the Corporation. Thus in the year 1275 the former obtained a judgment in his favour, "pro villa sua de Boutham juxta Eboracum et libertatem ejusdem contra majorem Eboraci, in qua sunt limites villæ de Boutham." This judgment appears only to have made an end of the quarrel for a time; for in 1350 a commission was issued "ad perambulationem faciendum," between the Abbot of the Abbey of the Blessed Mary of York and the Mayor of the city respecting Bootham.

The street known as Bootham leads in a direct line from the Bar to Burton Stone, now a mere pedestal or stone, on which formerly a wayside cross used to stand. Near this spot stood the hospital, known as the "Maudlin 'Spital." It was here that in the days of the Plantagenets and Tudors,

when the city sent forth her military levies to aid the Sovereign in his wars against the Scots, the (Lord) Mayor and Aldermen assembled to make their last inspection of the citizen warriors and bid them their last farewell.

The name Galmanhithe is said to have been given to a monastery erected on this spot prior to the time of the Conqueror. But the Bar was probably known as Galmanhithe Bar (or Gallow's Gate: A. S. Hith, a gate), because near it stood the gallows of St. Mary's Abbey. The Bar faces the great road leading to the north. Its arch is of Norman structure, and is surmounted by two shields bearing the city arms. In 1832 the barbican was taken down ; the portcullis remains.

FISHERGATE BAR

dates from the fourteenth century. It was walled up from the time of Henry VII. until 1827. Fishergate Postern, erected in the sixteenth century, is the sole remaining one.

MICKLEGATE BAR,

which faces the south or the London Road, was the gate supremely honoured by bearing upon it the heads of those who were deemed traitors to the party in power. It was on the summit of this gate that for two stormy years the head of the Duke of York might have been seen calmly reposing. After his execution in 1460 thither was his head taken, crowned with a paper crown, "that York might overlook the town of York." But at Towton his son Edward revenged his father's loss; and, removing the Duke's head from the Bar, he left in place there the heads of the Earls of Devon and Wiltshire, and of three others of his father's enemies.

Above the arch of this gate, which is of Roman origin, are still to be seen the arms of England and France, with those of York.

In olden days without the Bar stood a preceptory. The manor on which it stood was the gift to the Knight Templars of Lord Ross, who lived in the reign of Henry II. At a later date, when the preceptory was destroyed, a statue was erected to the memory of his lordship in a lane, since called Hob's Lane. This lane, which was formerly known as Mount St. John, from the saint to whom the Knights Templars had dedicated their preceptory, owes the origin to its present appellation to "old Hob," the nickname for Lord Ross. The back stone supporting the statue offers the following gratuitous information :

"This image long Hob's name has bore,
Who was a knight in time of yore,

And gave this common to the poor."

Camden says that "

'Micklegate Bar was the only entrance to the city on the west side of the river Ouse."

MONK BAR

is the largest of the city gates. It was erected in the fourteenth century, facing the road which now leads to Scarborough. Britton speaks of it as the most perfect specimen of architecture of its kind in the entire kingdom. Until after the civil wars of Charles it bore the nawe of Godram Gate, in compliment to Godram, a celebrated Danish chief; then, however, at the Restoration, the name was changed to that which it now bears, and forms a lasting testimony to the virtues of the popular General Monk.

At one time the interior of the gate was used as a prison