were all removed in 1551, and sent up to London to be cast into weights for the use of the town.
A lofty stone cross, according to the general custom, once marked the ground of St. Nicholas churchyard as consecrated; but every vestige of it has long since gone, together with the yew tree which no doubt grew near it. The adjoining gardens, which once formed part of the monastic grounds, are still the property of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich; and in them there still stand several pear and mulberry trees planted by the monks in former days; one of the latter is the largest in the east of England.
At the era of the Reformation the new doctrines were received with much favour at Yarmouth, and we read of one William Swanton, a chaplain, who interrupted the sermon on a Sunday, in 1535, by denouncing the honour given to saints’ pictures and images, and avowing his belief that “holy water is good sauce for a capon:” as also of four merchants of the town who greatly disturbed the congregation by uttering “heretical words” of a like import; one of the latter, with an eye to business which savours of neither faith nor works, but rather of worldliness, bargained loudly for a last of herrings while the preacher was in the pulpit.
There were frequent quarrels between the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, and the burgesses of Yarmouth, as to the patronage of the Church, the latter desiring to get the nomination into their own hands; but their efforts were unsuccessful, as a reference to the “Clerical Directory” for 1863 will show. Adjoining the parish church are the remains of the old Benedictine monastery, recently restored in excellent taste, and now used as the national school. A public breakfast used to be given here to the inhabitants every Christmas Day; this caused great scandal, and an attempt was made to suppress it in 1614; but the parishioners liked this part of the old religion too well to abandon it without a struggle, so they brought the matter before the Lords of the Privy Council, but without success, and eventually it was put down by authority.
The constant and easy intercourse by sea between Yarmouth and Holland, where the reformed religion had assumed a freer action, had so powerful an effect upon the inhabitants of Yarmouth that we find the ecclesiastical authorities at Norwich had to put the laws into motion for the suppression of “Sectaries,” and Queen Elizabeth supported her ministers by commanding the “Anabaptists and such like heretics, who had flocked to the coast towns of England, to depart the realm within twenty days.” On this occasion an Anabaptist preacher named Cayne was imprisoned; and with admirable impartiality one John Wright, “a Jesuit or seminary priest,” and a Franciscan Friar, whose name is not recorded, then lying as prisoners in Yarmouth Gaol, were “sent over the seas” by the bailiffs of the town, apparently on their own authority. A chapel used by the Dutch, in which a Mr. Brinsley had preached, was also forcibly closed by the authorities and turned into a warehouse. The Rev. Thomas Bridge, who having held a living in Norwich, had become an independent, and had settled in Yarmouth, preached here frequently and powerfully during the Commonwealth, and after fighting a hard battle for his ground, obtained the use of the chancel of the parish church as a chapel for his congregation, and he continued to minister there until the Restoration, (the Presbyterians having their own ministry), when he was ejected.
We have already hinted that the borough of Yarmouth, in its corporate capacity, has on various occasions shown a high and independent spirit, as if its inhabitants were resolved to “hold their own” against all rivals. Nor is this to be wondered at, considering the maritime position of the town, and the distinguished character of many of those individuals who have been entrusted with its liberties. The High Steward of Great Yarmouth, in the words of the Charter of Charles II., must be unus præclarus vir; and there can be no doubt that few towns can show a nobler list of distinguished names than Yarmouth. Among the High Stewards since the reign of Edward VI. have been Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk; Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Cecil, Lord Burleigh; Devereux, Earl of Essex; Howard, Earl of Nottingham; Sydney, Earl of Leicester; Sackville, Earl of Dorset; Henry Cromwell (the Protector’s youngest son); Hyde, Earl of Clarendon; Paston, Viscount and Earl of Yarmouth; Sir Robert Walpole, and his son and grandson, successors to his title of Earl of Orford; George, first Marquis Townshend; Lords Bayning, Sydney, Lichfield, and Sondes. In the list of the Recorders of the borough occur the names of Miles Corbet, the regicide; the Honourable Robert Walpole, &c.
The Seal of the Corporation of Yarmouth is of the early date of 1251. It consists of the patron saint, Saint Nicholas, seated in a chair of state, with his pastoral staff in his hand, and an angel on either side, with the incription “O Pastor vere, tibi subjectis miserere.” on the reverse is a ship of the twelfth or thirteenth century, and the legend “Sig:Comunit:de:Gernemutha.”
At one time, viz.: in 1667, the cool independence of the good people of Yarmouth rose so high that they took upon themselves to begin a coinage; and in that year, farthings (now very rarely to be met with) were struck off by them. King Charles, as might he expected, was very indignant at their presumption, and forced the citizens to pay the fine of 1000l. before he would grant them his royal pardon. The same thing, we have heard, happened at Beccles, a town situated some ten or twelve miles inland, but with what result we are not informed.
But our sketch of Great Yarmouth would not be complete without some notice of its fisheries, which are of ancient celebrity.
Then followed Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall,
And with him brought a present joyfully,
Of his one fish unto their festival,
Whose like none else could show.
Whose liSpenser’s “Faërie Queene,” IV., canto xi.
