for him to defend the castle with success, those supplies being cut off, and the army of Lord de Valence nearly at the gates.

At noon the royal armies were in possession of the castle, which was surrendered by the general consent of the garrison. John de Mowbray was conveyed prisoner to Craike Castle, and there confined; but at the accession of Richard to the throne (the eldest surviving son of Henry 11,) he was re. leased, and reinstated in those possessions which had been forfeited by his Uncle, Sir Roger de Mowbray.

After his defeat at Northallerton, Roger de Mowbray went a second time to the Holy Land; where he remained during the remainder of Henry's reign. In the second year of Richard Cœur de Lion, on the 12th day of July, A. D 1191, the city of St. John de Acre surrendered to the armies of the Crusaders, under the command of the King of England, and Philip of France. No less than 300,000 Pilgrims are said to have perished in this expensive siege of two years; among whom were very many Princes and noble personages, whose armorial bearings still retain some badge of this Holy War, as Escallop Shells, Stars, Crescents, and Crosses. The escutcheon now visible at the S. E. angle of the tower of Thirsk Church, and which is commonly ascribed to the family of Mowbray, bears to this

day a Cross moline, which may possibly have baen the honourable distinction bestowed on the valiant achievements of Sir Roger in the crusade of Richard the First.

The arms of Lord Daere, the Earl of Lincoln, the families of St. John, Minshul, Tilney, Mowbray, &c. are recorded on the page of History* as disz, tinguished by this lasting memorial of their ances tors' mistaken piety and iruitless valour.

On the 15th, Acre was equally divided between the two Kings of England and France. The Earls and Barons who attended them in this expedition, desired that they also might be sharers in the gains, as they had been in the labours and dangers of this destructive siege: but as they received po satisfaction, most of them were compelled to sell their arus and return homewards. Probably Roger de Mowbray might be among the number; for we find that he retired shortly after to the solitude of Byland, for the remainder of his days; where, after a short illness, he departed this life; and was buried in the chapter-house of that abbey.

After the lapse of more than CC0 years, Martin Stapyltont Esq. discovered, from ancient MSS.,

Kapin by Tindal, 1, 250, note (3.).

Martin Stapylton, Esq. is lineally descended from

the exact place in Byland Abbey, where lay the, bones of the illustrious Roger, which he caused to be disinterred, and conveyed them in his carriage to be deposited at Myton, in the month of July, 1819. Fragments of the coffin, and small pieces of the bones, &c. were obtained by different persons; and are now preserved by their possessors with the veneration of relics.

King Henry II., who was at Northampton when the castle of Thirsk was taken, made use of the peaceable times which succeeded, to demolish all the fortified castles still remaining in private hands, which had been so great a check upon the power of the Sovereign. Thirsk Castle was involved in the calamity; and the halls of feudal magnificence were levelled with the dust.

"Hark! the loud engines tear the trembling walls, And from its base the massive fabric falls,

And all at once these ancient honours fade; These lofty towers, and all these noble spoils. Sink into silence, 'midst intestine broils

In prostrate ruins lost, and dark oblivion laid."

The only remaining vestiges yet retain the ap pellation of The Castle Yard; and the subterranean

Sir Miles Stapylton, one of the original Knights of the Garter; and also from Beatrice, daughter of King Henry III.

vaults having some years since given way, caused the earth to subside about four feet at the surface. If the spot were explored, something curious might possibly be discovered, well worthy of the undertaking.

The remaining ruins are so many memorials of the vanity of earthly grandeur, which, like man himself, is humbled and laid low in the tomb of oblivion, and frequently irrecoverably lost, even to the exertions of the most diligent security. Eliam ipso periere ruina. The very ruins are decayed and lust.

With this period the History of Thirsk Castle closes for ever; its later destinies seem to be beneath the notice of History; and to have escaped the search of the curious. Its venerable remains are well worthy the examination of the antiquary : and the vestiges of departe. greatness cannot but excite a melancholy pleasure in the breast of the visitor.

If Thirsk and Upsal Castles in our own neighbourhood, and many others in the kingdom, no longer exhibit their warlike towers and stately walls in a posture of defence, we are thankful they are no longer needful. Now, we behold in the aspect of nobility, a philanthropy and benignity

diffusing real blessings, in the patronage of every institution, which has for its object the instruction of the ignorant, the relief of suffering humanity, and the general amelioration of society. The benign influence of Christianity has produced the pleasing change.

RESUMING the History of the family of Mowbray, we find William de Mowbray,* A D. 1199, suspected of favouring the claims of Arthur, Duke of Bretagne, in opposition to those of King John, for the throne of England: but by the promise of restoring to them all their rights, the hostile lords were prevailed on to take the oath of fealty to John. The name of William de Mowbray stands honourably recorded, as one of the nobility who demanded a charter of that King. A. D. 1214.†

Roger de Mowbray, who died in the fifty-first year of Henry III, A. D. 1267, was interred in the priory of dominicans at Pontefract

* Rapin, I, 250, note (3.) Rapin, I, 275, note (2.)

Boothroyd's History of Pontefract, 340.