WILLIAM LE GROS (the fat) earl of Albe marle and Holderness, was son of Stephen FitzOdo, by Hawise his wife, and was allied to the family of William the Conqueror.

He was the chief of those barons who obtained the victory over the Scots, at Northallerton, in the battle of the Standard, in the year 1138, where the "archbishop of York had caused a famous standard to be erected, and thereon the banners of

V

S. Peter, and S. John of Beverley, and S. Wilfrid of Rippon, adding thereto the sacred Host." William was immediately advanced by king Stephen to the earldom of Yorkshire. But about three years afterwards, he was at the battle of Lincoln, when king Stephen was taken prisoner, and all his forces vanquished, and William, then stiled earl of York, " betook himself to the priory of Bridlington, and there stood upon his guard."

66

William le Gros was the founder of several religious houses, and among others of the abbey of Meaux, in Holderness, anno 1136, "not far from his castle of Skipsey," which castle was built by Drogo (or Drew) de Beurere, and is said by Dugdale to have been the strongest fort on all that side of Holderness.

The following account of the foundation of the abbey of Meaux, is extracted from Dugdale's Baronage, and a great part of it may also be found in the Monasticon Anglicanum.

William le Gros "being a person very famous in his time, and the owner of the greatest part of Yorkshire," made a vow to go to Jerusalem; but from his age, and corpulency, he found it difficult to perform his vow. At that time a monk of Fountain's, named Adam, a person of great fame and ability, who was employed in

building the abbey of Woburne in Bedfordshire, and other abbies, became acquainted with William, and advised him, that in satisfaction of his vow, he should found a monastery of the Cistercian order; and he added, that he would obtain for him, from the pope, an absolution from his vow. To this William consented, and Adam forthwith obtained the pope's absolution. Adam then took a view of the territories of this earl, and seeing the place now called Meaux, " well adorned with woods and groves, and environed with lakes and waters, and also the soil thereof very fruitful," he ascended that part of the land at Meaux, called St. Mary's Hill, or Our Lady's Hill, and fixed his staff in the ground, saying, This place shall be called the king's court, the vineyard of heaven, and the gate of life.

When the monk made choice of this place, the earl was very sorry, as he had an extraordinary regard for it, and had lately obtained it from Sir John de Meaux, or Melsa, whose inheritance it was, in exchange for the manor of Bewick, near Aldburgh, in Holderness. Nevertheless, he yielded to the desire of the monk, and the abbey was founded at Meaux, on the hill above-mentioned.

The earl afterwards gave large property to the abbey of Meaux, in various parts of Yorkshire,

in which were included the pastures in Holderness on the Humber, called Saltagh and Newland, and a free passage from Saltagh to Paul.

The following extract from the history of Meaux in the Monasticon, relative to Saltagh and the neighbouring places, shews the state of that part of Holderness, and the powerful effects of the tides in the Humber at that time.

"After we had begun the grange of Saltagh, on account of the frequent inundations of the tide of the Humber, which consumed no small portion of the land near the grange, the same grange was erected in a place farther in land, where it is now situated, as in the time of lord William, the abbot. The place from which the above-mentioned grange was transferred, is called Ald-Saltagh, or West-Saltagh, against which place, although the Humber had destroyed the land there, the land now began to grow again; and the above-mentioned earl, William le Gros our founder, gave us a free and undisturbed passage to Paul, that we might enjoy a free passage in going and returning with all our goods. He also gave us a certain mansion in

* It is probable that the termination of the word Saltagh is derived from aga, water. See Du Cange under the word Aga.

Hedon, that in going to Saltagh and the said passage, and returning thence, we might have there a place of entertainment for ever."*

William le Gros married Cicily, daughter of William Fitz-Duncan, nephew of Malcolm king of the Scots, by which marriage he enjoyed, as his wife's inheritance, all that part of Yorkshire called Craven, and left issue two daughters, Hawise and Cicily, or, as Cicily was sometimes called, Amicia.

"William le Gros died in the 25 Henry II, An. Dom. 1179, and was buried in the abbey of Thornton upon Humber (in Lincolnshire) which himself had founded."

William de Mandevil, earl of Essex, married Hawise, the daughter of William le Gros, and had with her the vast domains of her father; and in her right was earl of Albemarle and Holderness. Hawise, it seems, was then deemed the sole heiress of her father, as nothing is said of any claim from her sister Cicily; nor do the descendants of Cicily appear to have made any claim till 6 Edward 1, in the year 1278.

William de Mandevil died at Roan, in France, anno 1189, leaving no issue, and in the next year * Dugdale's Mon. Ang. vol. 1, p. 796.