Note 1. Sir William Dugdale, in his Antiquities of Warwickshire, tells us that St. Dubricius fixed his episcopal chair some time at Warwick; and that, during his residence there, the most agreeable solitude, since called Guy’s Cliff, on the side of a rock upon the banks of the Avon, about a mile from Warwick, was the place of his frequent retreats from the world, and that he there built the oratory which was dedicated, not in honour of St. Margaret, as Camden mistakes, but of St. Mary Magdalen. For this, our antiquarian quotes the rolls and a manuscript history of John Rous, or Ross, a nobleman, and famous chantry priest of this place in the days of Edward IV. in whose history, now published by Hearne, are found some curious anedcotes, but blended with many traditionary fables and groundless conjectures. Guy’s Cliff is so called from Guy, the famous English champion against the Danes, in the reign of King Athelstan, commonly called earl of Warwick, though the chief governor or magistrate was then usually called earldorman, the title of earl being introduced a little later by the Danes. His warlike exploits are obscured by having been made the subject of ballads and romances; which also happened to our great King Arthur, and to the famous outlaw and captain of robbers, Robin Hood, who ranged in Sherwood forest in the time of Richard I. Guy, after many gallant achievements, renounced his honours and riches, and led an austere poor life in this place, under the direction of an old virtuous hermit, who lived in a cell or cave which he had hewn in the side of this rock. Guy died in a neighbouring cell in the year 929, of his age the seventieth. Guy’s tower, at Warwick, was so called from Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick; and the curious monuments of other powerful earls who resided in that strong castle (which was very advantageous in the old civil wars, by its situation near the centre of England) are, by the vulgar, very falsely ascribed to this Guy, the champion, afterwards the palmer or pilgrim, and the hermit. Many hermits in succeeding times served God in this delightful solitude, and a great number of cells with innumerable crosses cut in the sides, in the hard rock, are still seen there. Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, founded at Guy’s Cliff, a chantry, which establishment was confirmed by Henry VI. The church is still standing; but serves for an open stable to shelter the cattle, which cover with ordure the very place where the high altar stood. In the nave two great stone statues are still standing, the one representing Guy, the other, Colborn, the Danish champion, whom he slew in a single combat near Winchester. [back] |