I would like to know about Matty Benn's bridge also we used to walk up to there and I have a very fine photo which I took of my mother, brothers and cousin, I was about twelve at the time I think Dave did anybody in your family ever use the phrase "Get away to Wilton"as a sort of reply to something you disbelieve or are my family strange!! Also the reply to where's Wilton was The Fell bottom> I do know where Wilton is, turn off just after the Florence mine, or off Cold Fell Patricia ----- Original Message ----- From: Dave Banks <DavidKenneth@banks81.freeserve.co.uk> To: <ENG-CUL-COPELAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 7:25 PM Subject: [CUL-COP] Re: [CUL] OT: Goosey Tyson > Steve, > Goosey Tyson's Cave is a natural cave, cut in a limestone > inlier, on the edge of the Lake District fells, and is the only known > cave in West Cumbria. The local legend has him living in it as a > recluse/hermit, hence the pots and pans story. It is, for most of its > extent, very low and cramped, and was explored by local cavers, who > accurately surveyed it. Although the downstream side is just a stream > appearing from a small hill containing the quarry, the place where the > water enters the cave, is still open, and has two small entrances side > by side. > I was there about a month ago, introducing my twin five five year old > grandsons to the legend, and the local features that I had visited > during my younger days, on one of our many "missions". > Got anything on Matty Benn's Bridge? > > Dave > (Florence Mine Heritage Centre, Egremont) > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "S S" <sks.2513@virgin.net> > To: <CUMBERLAND-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 10:24 PM > Subject: [CUL] OT: Goosey Tyson > > > Came across this story in a old Cumbria ( 1969 ) > Steve > > > > MENTION the name of Goosey Tyson in the village of Hale, or the > neigh­bouring hamlet of Wilton, and the older folk will tell you all > about > him. They will show you his cave near the old Mousegill Quarry, and > there > are some who are pre­pared to say that they knew someone else who saw > the > cave when it was fully equipped with cupboards and shelves, which > Goosey > used. The cave, the entrance to which has now fallen in, is still > there; > whether it was used I do not know. > On the morning of October 7, 1840, the farm servant of Mr. John > Mossop, > yeoman, of Carleton Lodge near Egremont, went out to a stubble field > called > Low Croft, to feed his master's geese. There should have been forty > geese in > the croft, but twenty-nine were missing. The man hurried back to the > farm > and told Mr. Mossop. After a search twelve of the missing geese were > discovered about half-a-mile away from the house, but the remainder > had > vanished. > Mr. Mossop was a member of the "Association for the Prosecution of > Felons in > the Parish of St. John, Beckermet," his estate being 'in that Parish. > This > organisa­tion very quickly came to his aid, and published a notice of > a > reward of £5 for information that ·w6uld lead to the conviction of the > offenders. Shortly after this notice was made public, a letter was > pushed > under Mr. Mossop's door and as a consequence he set off for Whitehaven > where > he obtained a search warrant, which he placed into the hands of John > Douglas, a police officer at Whitehaven. > That evening Douglas, with a constable named Henry Bragg from > Egremont, went > to Wilton about two miles from Carleton Lodge. They concealed > themselves > near Brackenthwaite farm and sat down to listen. Not long after they > heard > the noise of geese, and visited an out-building where they found some > geese. > >From a description supplied by John Mossop, the police officer came > to the > conclusion that these geese belonged to Mr. Mossop, who was now sent > for and > who identified them. > At about four o'clock in the morning Douglas hammered on the door of > Brack­enthwaite and Henry Tyson, son of the owner, answered the door. > He was > asked to bring his father who appeared, and wanted to know what all > the > bother was about. He was asked how many geese he owned. He said he did > not > know. A search was made of the premises and nine geese were found in a > stable, and eight in an out­house which Mr. Mossop claimed were his > property. > Henry Tyson, senior, was arrested and taken to Whitehaven to be lodged > in > the "lock-up." On the way he became rather garrulous and exclaimed to > Douglas: "John Mossop might come to my house and take away a pig and > say it > was his." His son had previously told him that the geese were being > taken to > Mr. Mossop's house, and Tyson had replied, "If John Mossop takes away > any of > my geese, I'll trim him." > Mr. Tyson was brought before the White-haven magistrates and Mr. > Mossop told > the Bench that he identified the geese from some peculiar marks; they > also > had larger and longer necks than the usual type because they were bred > from > a Chinese goose. Six of the geese were paraded in the court-yard of > the > public office at the rear of the court room, and after the magistrates > had > examined them they decided there was a case against the prisoner, who > was > then released on bail to appear at the next Quarter Sessions in > Cockermouth. > > THE subsequent trial on October 20, 1840, aroused a tremendous amount > of > interest, and a great number of people flocked in to Cockermouth > hoping to > gain admission to the court. Every corner and avenue of the court room > was > crammed with spectators, and so closely were they crowded together > that > witnesses, when called, had the greatest difficulty in pushing their > way to > the front of the court. A hush descended on the crowd when the name of > the > prisoner was called and he stood at the bar. > He was a yeoman farmer, and it was most unusual to find such a man > charged > with so serious an offence. He had three sons and four daughters. As > the > spectators looked at him they saw a man aged between 60 or 70 years of > age, > slender made, with a pale and serious cast of countenance; in fact he > was > not a bad specimen as far as appear­ances went of an intelligent > statesman > of the county, the class in society to which he belonged. > Both parties were represented by members of the legal profession. The > hearing, which was one of the longest ever known, started at 11 a.m. > The > arguments were some times rather long and tedious, but there were > incidents > that rocked the court with laughter. Giving evidence, Mr. Mossop said > that > when the stolen geese were replaced in the field with the remainder > they > were all very friendly and showed great forillaess for one another; > had they > been strangers they would have been quarrel­some. > Willy Barnes, his farm servant, gave his evidence and said he had > brought > six of the geese to the court. The chairman then asked for them to be > produced and after much shoving and pushing through the throng of > spectators > the geese were brought forward in a potter's crate. The geese were > unaccustomed to such surroundings and attempted to escape, and > cackling > loudly sent forth a shower of feathers much to the annoyance of > several > august gentlemen - the spectators loved it. > The crate was placed on a table in view of the magistrates, but had to > be > removed quickly because the geese, obviously deter­mined to escape, > now > soiled some books, a number of gentlemen's hats, and the coat of one > gentleman suffered a similar fate. A scene like this had never been > witnessed in a court room before. > BETSY Speight, house-keeper to John Mossop, said she had often fed the > geese > and could recognise them. Under cross-examination by the prisoner's > counsel > she was made to feel rather uncomfortable when asked whether she sat > and > took a glass, with her master. She said she did not, but admitted to > having > a cup of tea sometimes with him. She also admitted that her husband, a > sailor some fourteen years before, had gone out of the house, and she > had > never seen or heard of him since. > Tyson had a number of his neighbours from Wilton to speak for him. > They said > they had known him many years, and had never known him to commit a > misdeed. > Elizabeth Jackson of Wilton said she had ordered a goose from Mr. > Tyson for > Christmas, and she had seen geese on his farm before Mossop had his > geese > stolen. > At 4 p.m. the jury retired under the care of a bailiff, and were > locked in a > room at the Globe Inn at Cockermouth. For three hours the jury were > away, > while a large crowd gathered in front of the Globe Inn, determined to > hear > the verdict before they went home. At 7 p.m. the jury came out of > their > room, and went to the assembly room in the Globe where the magistrates > were > wining and dining. The foreman of the jury pronounced the prisoner > guilty. > Henry Tyson, yeoman, was sentenced to six months' hard labour, one > month to > be spent in solitary confinement. He appeared shaken by the sentence, > but no > doubt found some consolation in the thought that many men for much > less had > been trans­ported for seven years or more. > > > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.394 / Virus Database: 224 - Release Date: 03/10/02 > > ______________________________ > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >