CHAPTER XIV. HULNE. THERE is no reason to doubt the commonly-received statement that Hulne Abbey was founded about the year 1240 by John de Vesci. Romantic circumstances have been associated with the tradition; and though they do not rest upon equal authority, there is nothing improbable in the supposition that the aspect of Hulne may have recalled to the mind of an ardent erusader the memory of Mount Carmel, and induced him to consecrate some portion of his wealth to the support of a fraternity deriving their name from a place so endeared to our affections in sacred story. It is allowable to believe that resemblances between the two spots may have influenced the choice of the site. De Vesci, in thus selecting the position of Hulne, would, in fact, have only yielded to a very natural impulse. For, with his mind full of earnestness of purpose, imbued with devotional zeal, and enraptured by the sylvan loveliness of the scenery, he would even unconsciously recall the images of the past, the mountain's sides he had wandered over in weariness and thirst amid sunnier climes, the fraternities who had received him with hospitable kindness, and the holy places where he had prayed. Unconsciously, as he stood on the verdant slopes of Hulne, with Briselee's overhanging steeps before him, darkened by its groves of pine, The nodding horror of whose shady brows would the memories that were fading, and a thousand fleeting fantasies, throng into his mind, subduing and elevating his feelings, till at length he resolved to offer up something from his wide possessions to the service of God." It might have been that De Vesci was worked upon by feelings kindred to these. But we know, without drawing upon imagination for his inducements or his motives, that he actually founded a monastery at Hulne for the support of brethren belonging to the order of Mount Carmel. As the original record of all the grants made to this religious establishment has been preserved, we are in possession of a body of facts furnishing nearly all the information that can be desired. The chartulary is preserved in the British Museum, and I am indebted to the kindness of William Dickson, Esq. of Alnwick, for a free use of his transcript. This is printed in an extended form in the Appendix to the present volume, after having been collated with the original manuscript in several passages where the scribe was mistaken, or where contractions rendered the meaning doubtful. It is the first instance of an entire chartulary of an English monastery being set forth in print, and consequently forms a valuable portion of the Appendix. It has been stated by preceding writers, who copy each other, that when William de Vesci, accompanied by Richard Gray, visited the monks of Mount Carmel, they unexpectedly found there a Northumbrian countryman, named Ralph Fresborn, who had distinguished himself in a former crusade, and who, in obedience to a vow, afterwards took upon himself the profession of a monk in that oriental solitude. De Vesci and his friend strongly besought the superior of the order to permit the novice to return home with them, which was at length granted, under the condition that they should found a monastery for Carmelites in their own country. Such is the narrative that has been preserved, and throughout it there is an air of probability. Nor, as it has been already intimated, is there any reasonable ground for doubting, that when De Vesci and his newly-found friend Fresborn returned to Northumberland, they should have fixed upon Hulne, with all the recollections of the eastern monastery impressed vividly on their minds.* De Vesci made the first grant of land for the maintenance of the brethren, and it is stated that Fresborn erected the building. This latter fact is not, however, so easily substantiated. The first charter we find in the manuscript is one from *See p. 121, ante. John de Vesci, confirming the grant of the area of Hulne made by his father William. He gives the monks wood for burning and making lime, and for making charcoal to burn in the church during winter; wood for a cart and for household utensils; right of fishing in the Alne; stonedigging; a mill; pasture for six oxen, two horses, and two asses; all wild honey and wax found in Walshow and Hulne, for the support of light for the church, rushes and brooms. These, with some few other privileges, were confirmed in the presence of the Abbot of Alnwick and numerous witnesses. William de Vesci, brother of the last-mentioned John, confirmed the preceding grants, and augmented them with a money-payment of twelve marks annually from the farm of his mills at Alnwick. He subsequently increased it to twenty. Edward I. ratified this grant and the previous confirmations, when he was at Berwick in the fourth year of his reign (1276). The noble family of Percy having become seised of the barony, Henry de Percy, the first lord of Alnwick, confirmed all the foregoing rights in the year 1310. His son, Henry de Percy, called "inter sapientes sapientissimus,' gave them reconfirmation in 1334. Walter de Witthil gave the monks of Mount Carmel half a mark annually; Thomas Heryng of Howick, twenty shillings, towards supporting the ornaments of the church (1339). Even this small yearly payment was subsequently confirmed by Edward III., in 1336. Popes John and Boniface VIII. confirmed all the preceding grants. John de Clifford gave (1347) one quarter of corn and barley, and two of oats, annually. Henry de Percy, the third lord of Alnwick, followed the example of his ancestors, and both confirmed their charters, added to the right of pasture, and gave them license of nutting. Robert de Populton, at whose instigation these new privileges were obtained, procured a gift of 1051. 138. 4d. for covering the church (1364). He seems to have bequeathed also several manuscripts. John duke of Bedford, and Henry de Percy, sixth lord of Alnwick, confirmed and continued all the preceding grants. Such were the slender possessions of the Carmelite foun |