Historic%20Yorkshire
Historic%20Yorkshire
Historic%20Yorkshire
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70<br />
THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE ELLANDS.<br />
by the faithless wife,succeeded in plantinghis murderous<br />
dagger in the breast of his host. The yeomen of the<br />
household — house-knaves, as they were called — forced the<br />
door ofthe hall, butit wastoo late — theLordof Ellandlay<br />
prone,his coursenearlyfinished;butsummoningup allthe<br />
remnants of his dying strength, he dipped his hand in the<br />
blood that slowly welled from the ghastly wound, and<br />
casting some upon the face of the Norman, said with his<br />
last breath, " Even as thou hast won this heritage, by<br />
such means it shall go from thee and all thy house.''<br />
Hugo then married the guilty womanwho was the cause<br />
of the tragedy,and assumed the nameof the deadElland,<br />
together withhis possessions. Upon the coming over of<br />
William in 1066, Hugo lent his services, and for his<br />
assistance was rewarded by the title of Knight, and the<br />
granting of large estates; but retribution overtookhim at<br />
the time of the great attempt of the Saxons to throw off<br />
the Norman yoke, in 1069, when he was killed by one<br />
whose land he had seized.<br />
There is no reliable account of the Ellands during the<br />
period which elapsed between the above date and that of<br />
the struggle betweenEdwardII.and his barons, but it is<br />
considered that the descent was direct from that time<br />
when an Elland was one of the refractory nobles hanged<br />
at Pontefract by Edward. His son, Sir John Elland,<br />
becamea great favourite with Edward III., chiefly by his<br />
successful efforts against the Scotch. He was a good<br />
type of the baron of those days. Oneof themost powerful<br />
of the secondary nobles, his influence, especially in his<br />
native Yorkshire, was enormous. An ancient ballad,<br />
which deals with occurrences of his life, says —<br />
At Eland Sir JohnEland dwelt,<br />
Within the ManorHall,<br />
The town his own, the Parish held<br />
Most part upon him all.<br />
He was a man of ungovernable passions, and being<br />
remarkablystrong and huge, with a perfect masteryof all<br />
weapons of war,it is not surprising that he was held in