heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

308 THE HERALDRY OF YORK MINSTER.
" Roger! unam plagam mortalem longam unius pollicis et lat' duor pollic,
" ex qua plaga idem Rogerus eadem hora mortuus ibidem obiit, et quod
" casu non aliter, &c." A free pardon for the above manslaughter appears
on the rolls of Bishop James, date 6th September, 1609, so that there is a
very matter of fact explanation to what has naturally been enshrouded in
mystery and romance.
But the Hiltons seem to have been habitually a little high-handed in
their dealings with others ;
and the monks at Wearmouth made frequent
complaints of the grievances sustained at the hands of these very lay
and haughty barons. Amongst others, " William Hylton and divers of his
" servants came to Monkwearmouth the Saturday before Palm Sunday, and
"assaulted William Ingham, master of Wearmouth, and layd on him his
"hands in the quere of tye saide kirke in violence, and poul'd off his
"hode, to great shame and reproof."
Amongst other baronial appendages, the Hiltons were amongst the
last to keep a domestic fool. The Baron, on one occasion returning from
London, amused himself with a homeward saunter through his own woods
and meadows. At Hilton footbridge he encountered his faithful fool, who,
staring at the gaudy laced suit of his patron, in the newest metropolitan
fashion, made by some southern tailor, exclaimed " "
: Wha's fule now r
I wonder whether this was the same baron who (1630), previously to
leaving home for one of those metropolitan excursions, made his will :
" In the name, &c. . . . Because I am at this instant, God assisting me,
" intending to goe for London, and that no mortall man is certain of his
"safe return." A curious indication of the insecurity of travelling which
has been so minimised in our more favoured days.
Henry Hilton, who died 1630, was a captain in the State service
under Prince Maurice of Orange, and is mentioned in Bishop Neil's
letters as "an experienced soldier that had borne office in the field," and
was made " Muster Master " of the trained bands of the county. His
inventory seems to have been small, though characteristic, viz. : " a target,
"muscat, bandeloor, and head pece, ^i;" he had "33 in apparell, one
"wine peece, and four silver spoons;" the rest of his wealth corn ("ioo
"in the staggarth), and nowte bestiall, his wyve's stock."
But, like many old families, the decadence of the Hiltons came at
last. Henry Hilton, who succeeded his father Robert Hilton, 1607-8, and
died 1640, seems to have been a half-witted, melancholy creature, living
at Billinghurst, in Sussex, in strict retirement, having married a daughter
of Sir Richard Wortley, and dying at Mitchell Grove, in the same county
of Sussex, 1640. He made a will leaving his property in trust to the
Lord Mayor and four senior aldermen of the city of London, for certain
charitable bequests to parishes in the county of Durham, orphan children