heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

THE CLIFFORDS. 275
lifetime also he married Lady Eleanor Brandon, daughter of Charles
Brandon Duke of Suffolk, by Mary Queen Dowager of France, daughter
of Henry VII. It was in honour of this lady, and in recognition of her
royal descent, that the gallery which I have already mentioned was built
at Skipton Castle.
This Earl died in 1570, but in the previous year, 1569, on the insurrection
of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, he assisted
Lord Scrope in fortifying Carlisle against them. This, which was one of
the movements which disturbed the reign of the good Queen Bess, is
known as the " Rising of the North," and was intended to secure the
liberation of Mary Queen of Scots her ; marriage with the Duke of
Norfolk and recognition as next heir to the Crown ;
the deposition, and
probably death, of Cecil; and the restoration of the "old religion," as it
was called.
The Earl of Cumberland again stood firm to his allegiance ; but
nearly the whole of Yorkshire was in their favour, and his neighbour,
Richard Norton, of Norton Conyers and Rilstone, amongst them. Wordsworth,
in his poem of The White Doe of Rylstone, has touchingly portrayed
the scene when the old man, resisting the counsel of his eldest son
Francis, determined to go forth with his other sons and retainers. They
compelled the Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland, who were
hesitating to take action, to assemble at Raby Castle thence ;
they marched
to Durham, where, on November i4th, Northumberland, Westmoreland,
Sir Christopher and Sir Cuthbert Neville, and old Richard Norton, strode
within the cathedral with sixty followers, armed to the teeth, behind them.
Norton, with a massive gold crucifix hanging from his neck, and carrying
the old banner of the pilgrimage of grace, the cross and streamers and
the five wounds. They overthrew what they called " the communion
"board," tore the English Bible and Prayer Book to pieces, replaced the
ancient altar, and caused Mass to be sung with all solemnity. They then
proceeded on their way to Tutbury, where Queen Mary was confined but
;
at Clifford moor, near Wetherby, they found themselves opposed in front
by the royal army, under the Earl of Sussex, and in the rear by Sir George
Bowes, so they retreated to Raby Castle. Sir George Bowes threw himself
into Barnard Castle, where he was soon captured by the rebels, who also
besieged and took Hartlepool, where they hoped to receive reinforcements
of Spaniards from the Low Countries.
Queen Elizabeth, ever suspicious, dispatched Sir Ralph Sadler to look
after the Earl of Sussex, who still tarried at York ;
but as soon as the
Earl was joined by the Lord Admiral, Lord Hunsdon, and the Earl of
Warwick, with 12,000 good men and true, he marched northward. The
insurgents, disappointed in their expectations of receiving reinforcements,