Arthuret Parish, 1848

ARTHURET (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Longtown, Eskdale ward, E. division of Cumberland, ¾ of a mile (S.) from Longtown; comprising the townships of Breconhill, Lyneside, Longtown, and Netherby, and containing 2,859 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the border of Scotland, where in 1337 a Scottish army crossed, which, marching eastward, destroyed about twenty villages; and at the chapel of Solom, a small oratory which anciently stood near the spot called the Chapel Flosh, commissioners from England and Scotland met in 1343, to settle the boundaries of the respective countries. On Solom Moss, in 1542, the Scots, 10,000 in number, but discontented with their commander, Oliver Sinclair, a favourite of the Scottish monarch, allowed themselves to be defeated by a small body of about 500 English troops, under the command of Dacres and Musgrave, and it is said that 1000 of them were made prisoners, amongst whom were 200 noblemen, esquires, and gentlemen. The parish comprises about 11,000 acres, and there are quarries of white and red freestone within its limits. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £3. 2. 1.; net income, £687; patron, Sir J. R. G. Graham, Bart. The church was rebuilt in 1609, with the exception of the tower, which was not erected till 1690: in the churchyard is a rude cross with a pierced capital, near which were interred the remains of Archibald Armstrong, court jester to James I. and Charles I., and a native of the parish. An artificial tumulus, in the form of a prostrate human figure, near the church, is said to have been raised over the body of a chieftain slain in the above-mentioned battle.