Woodhorne and three other canons of Hexham were ordained acolytes by bishop Hatfield in Durham cathedral in September, 1370; and he was made deacon in the church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle-on-Tyne, by Hugh bishop of Lethlin, on the Saturday on which "Sitientes" was sung. In 1397, Woodhorne appears as a culprit, but his offence, which was a serious one, was no bar to his subsequent promotion." On the 1st of December, 1423, during the vacancy of the see of York, the dean and chapter made Prior Woodhorne the keeper of the spiritualities of Hexham."

The name of Prior Woodhorne seems to be alluded to on a piece of crest work carved in wood, which recently was in the church of Hexham. I give an engraving of it.

JOHN DE BRAWBY, the successor of Woodhorne, takes his name from a small village in Ryedale, co. York, where the convent of Hexham had an estate. All we know of him is that on the 23rd of February, 1427-8, he was installed prebendary of Salton in the person of John Anistarley, canon of Hexham." On the 17th of May, 1443, archbishop Kempe empowered the canons to elect a new superior as Brawby was dead."

THOMAS FERRER, or FERROUR, became Prior on the death of Brawby. He, being then a canon of Hexham, was ordained sub-deacon on the 1st of May; deacon on the 24th of May, 1129; and priest on the 10th of June, 1430.

On the 28th of June, 1443, Robert Dobbes, vicar-general of archbishop Kempe, appointed Mr. John Norton, doctor of decrees, John Marchall, doctor in both laws and canon of York, and Robert Thorneton, bachelor of decrees and advocate in the court of York, his commissioners to confirm Ferrer's election to the Priorate. On the 29th of June, Marchall made proclamation at Hexham for the confirmation. Ferrer was confirmed and made his obedience, and was installed on Monday, the 1st of July." On the 5th of September, he was installed prebendary of Salton in the person of Thomas Wardell, canon of Hexham; and in his own person, Sept. 3rd, 1453. On the 30th of September, 1446, he was made keeper of the spiritualities of Hexham; and chancellor of the liberty and official of the court there on 31st October, 1452.' On the 22nd of February, 1455-6, he was appointed penancer there. In 1457, he resigned his office, and was duly provided for in his retirement."

JOHN WELLES was the next Prior. On the 1st of December, 1457, Mr. William Brand, archdeacon of Cleveland, registrar, and domestic chaplain of archbishop Booth, was ordered to confirm the election, which he did. The Prior made his obedience, and the primate announced the confirmation from Southwell on the 20th of December. On the 17th of June, 1458, Welles was installed prebendary of Salton. On the 26th of November, 1462, he was made commissioner to punish the offences of the archbishop's dependents at Hexham ; and in 1464-5, he was similarly engaged in a suit to which the Priory of Cold

ingham was a party. Prior Welles died on the 27th of December, 1475, and was interred in his church on the same day.

WILLIAM BYWELL, who took his name from a little village near Hexham, succeeded Welles. At that time he had been a priest and a resident at Hexham for more than half a century. On the 23rd of September, 1424, he was ordained sub-deacon, the sub-prior of Hexham giving him a title; deacon at Durham in the same year by Robert bishop of Elphin; and priest on the 2nd of June, 1425

The process of Bywell's election to the Priorate is described at length in one or two interesting documents in the Appendix.* On the 22nd of February, 1475-6, the sub-prior and convent sent John Barton, and Rowland Leschman, two of their canons, to tell the primate that Bywell had been chosen on the 20th.' He was vicar of Stamfordham at the time of his clection.

Bywell was installed prebendary of Salton on the 8th of May, 1476, in the usual way, "per libri et panis traditionem." He did not long enjoy his office, as he died on the 16th of February, 1479-80, when he must have been about eighty years of age. On the 20th, the sub-prior and convent asked leave to elect his successor, and, four days afterwards, the archbishop accorded his assent."

ROWLAND LESCHMAN succeeded on the death of Bywell. I am inclined to think that he was a Northumbrian and a native of Hexham. This cut represents an old gravestone, now destroyed, but which was at one time in the Priory church. Judging from symbols of his art, it seems to have commemorated a mason; and the initials

The Priory of Coldingham, ed. Surtees Society, 193.
Reg. archiep. Geo. Neville, pars ii., 246.
Reg. Langley, at Durham, 122 b, 290 b,
Appendix, pp. cxiii-xx.

292 a.

"Acta Capit. Ebor., 1427-1504, 156 a.

Reg. Geo. Neville, pars ii., 24 b.
Reg. Laur. Booth, pars ii., 126 a.

R. L. are indicative of the names of the deceased. When we recollect how fond Prior Leschman was of alluding in a like manner to himself, there is a bare presumption that this sculptured stone preserved the memory of one of his ancestors. Some years after his decease, in the time of Cardinal Wolsey, there was a person living at Hexham called Rowland Leschman, so that there was, probably, a family of that name settled there.

On the 4th of March, 1479-80, the sub-prior and convent made Christopher Worthyngton, their proctor, to announce to the primate their election of Leschman. On the 22nd of the same month, the archbishop made his kinsman, Mr. Ralph Booth, bachelor of laws and archdeacon of York, his commissioner to confirm their choice; and, on the 28th, the confirmation took place in the presence of Mr. Thomas Neville, William Hyne, Richard Twedell, Nicholas, John and Clement Ridley, Christopher Worthington, John Swynburn, and others." On the 6th of June, Leschman was installed prebendary of Salton in the person of John Hert.

Leschman seems to have been an active superintendent of the fabric of his church, and he did nothing without stamping upon it in some form or other his own monogram. Generally, the initial letters of his name are represented as piercing one another, and presenting a strange similarity to two cross bones. The beautiful little cut on the title page shews a shield of wood which was at one time on the roof of his tomb. In the churchyard the same device may be seen among the tracery of a perpendicular window. There is, also, a panel of a screen which commemorates Prior Leschman in a still more graceful manner. Two feathered arrows cross the panel diagonally, and in the compartments which they form are the well known characters R. L.

Reg. Laur. Booth, part ii., 128 b, 131 a.
Acta Capit. Ebor., inter 1427-1504, 169 b.

Prior Leschman is the only superior of Hexham of whom there is a sepulchral memorial in existence; and it has owed its preservation more, perhaps, to its massive character than to any other cause. It stood originally on the north side of the choir, in the second bay as you came westward; but, during the recent restoration of the chancel, it was ejected from that position, and was severely injured in the removal. It has been put together and set up again in the south transept, at the corner of the choir aisle, and there it still preserves the appearance of a small chantry chapel. The popular voice has claimed it as a memorial of Prior Richard, the historian, but the style of architecture, and, above all, Lechman's monogram, forbids the supposition.

In the centre, on a stone platform, is laid the rude effigy of Prior Leschman, carved in freestone, of which I give an etching, dressed in his choir habit. The native artist seems fully to have caught the spirit and character of the man, and represents him, as he must have been, a plain simple Northumbrian. Judging from the marks at the edges of the slab on which the