Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, &c./Part 1/Whalley Crosses
THE CROSSES IN WHALLEY CHURCHYARD.
The parish church at Whalley is one of the most interesting structures in the county. Its foundation dates from the earlier Saxon times, when Northumbria was an independent kingdom, and when York, the ancient Eboracum, still retained its importance as the metropolis of the North. The curious old document entitled the Status de Blackburnshire, preserves an ancient traditional account that the parish of Whalley was little more than a wilderness at the close of the sixth century; that it was remote from the usual centres of population, and almost inaccessible, and that it was "entangled with woods, and overrun with wild beasts." Notwithstanding these difficulties, St Augustine is represented as penetrating into these wilds and converting the inhabitants to Christianity. This record further states that he preached at Whalley, and, as a consequence of his ministry, a parish church was erected, which was dedicated to All Saints, and denominated the "White Church under the Leigh." It was then, also, that the three tall crosses were formed and erected at Whalley in honour of Augustine's mission; and that "after seven centuries these continued to be called the crosses of Augustine." After quoting the Status, Dr Whitaker very justly requires his readers to suspend their assent to "this ancient ecclesiastical story," since the "account is merely abstracted from a monkish manuscript of the fourteenth century." In his opinion there is no evidence whatever, nor even a probability, that St Augustine ever visited Whalley; whilst there is much to show that Paulinus is really the person intended.
We know, from the authority of the venerable Bede, that Paulinus, under the auspices of Edwin of Northumbria, his illustrious convert, passed through Deira and Bernicia, preaching the gospel to the inhabitants, and baptizing great numbers of them in the rivers which intersect these provinces. His presence at Dewsbury was attested by an inscription on one of these stately and beautiful Saxon crosses. There is another of these relics at Burnley; and tradition "assigns with one voice" that the three crosses now standing in the churchyard at Whalley were erected to commemorate the same events. The writer of the Status, or some transcriber, must therefore have transferred the labours of Paulinus to Augustine, and thus in some degree has done injustice to the zealous missionary. The "obeliscal form and ornaments of fretwork," which distinguish these crosses, are characteristic of the state of art among the Saxons, Norwegians, and Danes; and the period of their erection may therefore be placed with much probability about the middle of the seventh century, since Paulinus was banished Northumbria in A.D. 631, "on the death of his royal convert."
Bede tells the story of Edwin's conversion with dramatic effect. There is the doubt as to the truth of the Christian doctrines—the hope that the power of the true God will aid him in his troubles, and the resolve that, if he be successful, then he would cast away his idols. Paulinus took advantage of this hesitation, and by confirming the sign of the hand upon Edwin's head, he brought the king to his knees in full determination that he and his should embrace Christianity. Coifi, his chief priest, was the next important convert; and after he had resolved to abandon the worship of Thor and Woden, he encouraged the people to imitate his example and learn from Paulinus. He then mounted the king's war-horse, and defiled the heathen temple at York by casting a spear into the sacred enclosure. He and "all the nobility of the nation, with a large number of the common sort," then "received the faith" and were baptized. Paulinus was appointed Archbishop of York, and soon after set out into the most distant parts of the kingdom, preaching, converting, and baptizing the crowds who flocked to hear him. When we look upon these weather-worn crosses, we may imagine that we see the venerable Archbishop standing on the banks of the Calder, or at Bishop Leap on the Brun, surrounded by the rude inhabitants of the district, eager to be instructed in the doctrines of the new religion. He is said by Bede to have been "tall of stature, a little stooping, his hair black, his visage meagre, his nose slender and aquiline, his aspect both venerable and majestic." No wonder, then, that his fervid exhortations produced converts by the thousand—they were awed by his presence as well as convinced by his arguments; and he was powerfully assisted by "James the deacon, a man of zeal and great fame in Christ's Church." It was fortunate that the mistake in the Status should have been investigated by such a competent authority as the historian of Whalley; and there is satisfaction in the thought that tradition has restored to the great "Apostle of the North" the honour of having banished the Paganism of the kingdom of Northumbria, and planted Christianity in its stead.