CHRISTOPHER Shute was appointed Vicar of Giggleswick in 1576. He had been a Sizar of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, in 1561 and graduated B.A. in 1564, M.A. 1568, and B.D. in 1580. He was a writer on religious subjects and published "A Compendious Forme and Summe of Christian Doctrine, meete for well-disposed Families" and among other writings "A verie Godlie and necessary Sermon preached before the young Countess of Cumberland in the North, the 24th of November, 1577."

After he had been appointed Vicar of Giggleswick by Queen Elizabeth, he took a very sincere interest in the fortunes of the School, and at his suggestion and Henry Tennant's the Statutes of 1592 were set forth. In 1599 he began a Minute-Book to record "all constitutions, orders, eleccions, decrees, statutes, ordinances, graunts, accounts, reckenninges and rents for the free Grammar Schoole of Giggleswick of the donacion and grant of the most famous king of late memorie, Edward the Sixt by the grace of God, King of England, Fraunce, Ireland, etc. Beginning the five and twentieth daie of March, Anno Domini, 1599. Annoque regni ReginÆ ElizabethÆ etc. quadragesimo primo." These being Governors:

Christopher Shute, Vicar.
John Catterall.
Henrie Tennant.
Anthony Watsonne.
Richard Chewe.
Thomas Bankes.
Henrie Somerscales.
Richard Franclaund.

He did not give the book definitely until 1604 "ad usum legum, decretorum, electionum, compitorum," and there are no entries in it between the years 1599 and 1603.

The period during which Christopher Shute was a Governor was marked by great prosperity in the fortunes of the School. During the first twenty years of the new century, many rich gifts were received. The first of these that is recorded is in 1603 when John Catterall, Esquire, of Newhall, leased to his fellow Governors a meadow in Rathmell for "their only use and behoof" for twenty-one years; the Governors leased it in their turn for an annual rent of 33s. 4d. and eventually, though the exact date is not mentioned, John Catterall bought it back for a fixed sum of £13 6s. 8d. and an annual rent of 33s. 4d. as the former lessee had not paid his rent.

In 1603 also, William Clapham, Vicar of "Runtoun in the county of Northfolke by his last will and testament bearing daite the fyft day of July, 1603," bequeathed to the schoole the patronage, free gift and advowson of the Churches and Rectories of Fulmodestone, Croxton and Rolleston in the county of Norfolk, "And the yearlie pension or porcionn paiable out of them of iiijli. viijs. viijd. I will that iiijli. thereof be yearlie for ever imploied towards the maytaynance or fynding of a poore scholer of the said schoole of Gigleswick, being of the said parish of Gigleswicke or Clapham, to be kept to Learning in somme Colledge in Cambridge: Provided alwaies and my will is that he shall be one of the Claphams or Claphamsons, if there shall be anie of those names meete and fitte theirfore, and to have the said yearly allowance of iiijli. for the space of seaven yeares, if he continue and abide in Cambridge so long." ... "And the other viijs. viijd. I will that the one half theirof shall be bestowed yearlie toward a potacionn amongst the poore schollers of the same schoole, for the tyme being one Saincte Gregories daie, and the other half distributed amongst the poore of the said parish of Gigleswick yearlie on Easter daie for ever, to be ordered, governed and distributed from tyme to tyme by the Feoffees, overseers, governors, and rulers of the said Schoole for the tyme being, whereof one to be a Clapham if their be anie of the name in the same parish meet for that office."

Potations, thus provided for by William Clapham, were common to many schools and were gifts of food and beer by the Master to the Scholars, who in their turn were expected to bring gifts of money and thus enable the Master of a Free School to get an addition to his pay. At Nottingham Dame Mellers in 1512 did "straitlye enjoyne that the Scholemaister, and Usshers, nor any of them, have, make, nor use any potacions, cock-fighte or drinking with his or their wiffe at wiffes' hoost or hoostices, but only twice in the yeare nor take any other giftes or avayles, whereby the Schollers or their Frendes should be charged, but at the playsure of the frends of the Scholers, save the wages to be payde by the sayde Gardyans." On the other hand in the Hartlebury School Statutes, 1565, it is written "the said Schoolmaster shall ... take the profitts of all such Cocke-fights and potations as be comonlie used in Scholes." At Cambridge "they have a potation of Figgs, Reasons and Almons, Bonnes and Beer at the charge of the sayed Determiners."

Such was the custom and William Clapham evidently intended by his gift of 4s. 4d. to relieve the Master from the expense and allow the gifts to be pure profit. Unfortunately no record has been traced of any gifts though there are entries in the Minute-Books of payment of expenses on March 12, 1626, "charges this day vis. vid.," which probably refer to the expenditure upon the scholars. Such mention is quite exceptional up till the close of the seventeenth century. The usual accounts are much briefer, giving no details of expenditure but mentioning the balance only e.g. "their remaineth in the hands of John Banks fifty-eight pounds eighteen shillings sixpence."

In time Clapham's bequest increased in value and was reckoned in the Exhibition Account. Certainly from 1767 the Exhibition Account gave something towards the cost of the Potation. In 1767 it was £1 7s. 0d., in 1770, 11s. 3d. In 1782 it becomes a fixed sum of £1 10s. 4d. and the Governors make up the rest from another account. In one year 1769 it was regarded as a joint expenditure by the Governors and Masters. During the last twenty years of the eighteenth century the expenditure averaged £2 10s. 0d. In 1814 it was £8 1s. 2d., thus proving independently that the numbers of the School must have increased considerably. In 1839 figs and bread are mentioned as having been bought and the Charity Commissioners' Report of 1825 says that beer had ceased to be provided. The figs and bread continued to be distributed till 1861, after which the practice ceased.

The Scholarship to "some colledge in Cambridge" was gradually merged with other gifts in a general Exhibition Account and it is only rarely possible to distinguish a holder of the Clapham Exhibition. Indeed £4 was not a luxurious sum as time went on.

On June 29th, 1604 Henry Tennant of Cleatopp, who had already shewn himself eager for the welfare of the School by supporting the petition of Christopher Shute for the confirmation of the Statutes, gave £100 to the Governors of the School. With this money they were to buy lands or rent charges "to and for such use, purpose and intent that the yearly revenues, yssues, and profittes ... shall and maie be by them ... emploied first for and towardes the better mantaynance of Josias Shute, one of the sonnes of the said Christopher Shute, in Cambridge, until such tyme as he shall be admitted to be Master of Arts in the said Universitie, and from yeare to yeare for ever for and towards the releiving and mantayninge of such schollers within the Universitie of Cambridge, one after another successivelie, as shall be naturallie borne within the said parish of Giggleswick and instructed and brought upp to learning at the said free Grammer Schoole, and as shall be elected and chosen out of the said Schoole by the Master and Governors ... to be fitt for that purpose." Each one was to receive the money until he became Master of Arts, so long as he did not defer the time beyond the customary limit nor remove nor discontinue his place.

This gift Tennant confirmed in his will of July 5 in the same year with a further gift of all his lands and hereditaments in Settle and the "ancient yearlie rent of five shillings be it more or lesse." This was to "go towards the procuringe and obtayninge of an Exhibicioun for a poore scholler or seizer in somme one Colledge in Cambridge until ... he shall or may be Bachelor of Arts.... The same poore scholler to be borne within the parish of Giggleswick and brought upp at the schoole their att learninge and to be elected ... by the Maister and Governors." Clapham's advowsons and rent-charge were sold by the Governors on June 20, 1604, to "one Symon Paycock, of Barney, and Robart Claphamson, of Hamworth, in the countie of Northfolk, clarke" in consideration of the payment of one hundred marks and the lands in Settle left by Henry Tennant were sold to Antonie Procter, of Cleatopp, on January 14, 1604 for £40. These two sums together with Henry Tennant's former gift of £100 helped to make up £240, with which the Governors on January 19, 1609, bought a rent-charge of £14 13s. 4d., which has been paid them ever since. Being a rent-charge, it is not liable to fluctuation.

The first elections were made on February 14, 1604. Josias Shute did not take his B.A. degree till 1605 nor his M.A. till 1609, so that the clause in Henry Tennant's will referring to him still held and he was receiving the interest on £100, but there is also the interest on the lands in Settle which had been sold for £40 and were bringing in £4 yearlie.

Thomas, one of the sons of Christopher Shute, and Alexander Bankes, of Austwick, in the parish of Clapham (also a relative of one of the Governors) were elected to the two Exhibitions. But as Clapham's money continued for seven yeares, they were each to receive £4 a year for four years and to divide the Clapham Exhibition during the next three years, if both continued in the University. This was done "for their better mantaynance and to take awaie emulation."

Thereafter elections were frequently made, until the merging of the funds in the general foundation of the School by the scheme of 1872.

In 1507, the half-acre of land on which James Carr, capellanus, had built his school had been leased for seventy-nine years for a yearly rent of "xijd. of good and lawfull moneye of England," and when the seventy-nine years were up, the lease was to be renewable on a payment of 6s. 8d. Clearly it had been renewed in 1586 but no record remains. In 1610 "on the ffourteenth daie of December, Sir Gervysse Helwysse and Sir Richard Williamson were owners in ffee farme of the Rectorie and Parsonage of Giglesweke." Durham had ceased to possess it, on the Confiscation of Finchale Priory, and in 1601 Robert Somerskayles had bought it of the Crown.

Sir Gervysse Helwysse and Sir Richard Williamson "in consideracion of a certeyne somme of money to them in hand paid, but especially at the request and mediacion of the said Christofer Shutt" sold "all that house comonly called the Schoolehouse in Giglesweke afforesaid and that close adioyneing therto, called the Schoolehouse garth, parcell of the said Rectorye."

The amount of the "certeyne somme of monye" is not declared. The land now belonged to the School, but the xijd. yearly had still to be paid as part of the fee farm rent, payable for the Rectory to the King's majesty.

The next important bequest comes from Richard Carr, Vicar of Hockleigh in Essex, who died in 1616. He was a great-grandson of the brother of James, the founder of the School. The family interest was maintained and at his death he left a house in Maldon, called Seely House Grove, with all its appurtenances to his wife Joan and after her death to the "Societye, Companie and Corporation of Christe Colledge in Cambridge." He also bequeathed direct to the College "a tenement at Hackwell alias Hawkwell in the Countie of Essex called Mount Bovers or Munde Bovers."

These lands "during the naturall life of my foresaid wife, Joane" were to be used for the provision of five Scholarships at £5 apiece and after the death of Joane the whole estate was to provide eight Scholarships at £5, and two Fellowships at twenty marks (£13 6s. 8d.) apiece. The Scholarships were to continue until the holder had time to "commence Master of Arts," if he abode so long, and the Fellowships until they had time to "commence Bachelor of Divinitie."

The Scholars had to be born in the parish of Giggleswick or be children "lawfullie begotten of my brother-in-law, Robert Thornton and my sister Jeanet, his wife, in the parish of Clapham and of their children's posteritie for ever." They must have been brought up in the free School of Giggleswick and were to be "chosen from the poorer sort though they be not altogether so learned, as other scholars, who have richer friends." If any of the founder's kin were not immediately ready for the Scholarship, it could be held over for one year and the amount for that year distributed among the Sizars of the College. Never more than four of his kin might hold the Scholarship at one time.

The Fellowships were to be offered to his two nephews "Richard Carr, now of Peterhouse, and Robert Thornton, of Jesus Colledge in Cambridge." If they should be unable to accept them the "Maister and Fellowes of Christe Colledge" shall elect fellows from the number only of those "who have or at least have had some of the aforesaid scholarships and none other to be capable of them."

The College Authorities were asked to provide convenient chambers and studies for both Fellows and Scholars and to account them as Fellows and Scholars of the College.

In consequence of the provision that the Scholars were to be elected from "the poorer sort" an agreement was made in 1635 by which those elected were allowed to receive the £5 and yet go to another College. For £5 was quite inadequate and at Christ's "by reason of the poverty of the holders, no Fellow is found willing to undertake for them as a Tutor in respect of the hazard thereof." Tempest Thornton is the only name recorded as a Giggleswick Fellow and he held office in 1625. The reason why no other was ever elected is given in a letter from Thomas Atherton, Fellow of Christ's, written May 29, 1718, to Richard Ellershaw, Vicar of Giggleswick, in which he says that it was "owing to our having lost that part of the Estate thus bequeathed us called Seely House Grove, which was sued for and recovered a great while ago by some or other that laid claim to it."

The farms in Hockley and Maldon are still in their possession and one of them retains its name, Munde Bowers. Never more than six Scholarships a year had been given and in 1718 the income was £31 a year. In 1890 there were apparently two Carr Exhibitions of £50 a year each, while at the present day there is one of £50 tenable for three years, but it is possible that in a few years another Exhibition may be given occasionally.

In 1619 the term of Christopher Shute's Headmastership drew to a close. He resigned and his place was taken by the Rev. Robert Dockray. It cannot be ascertained how long Shute had been Master, for the earliest expenditure which is entered in the Minute-Book was in 1615 and therein:

This entry establishes the fact that one Christopher Shute was Master in 1615 and the receipts continue in his name for four years until 1619. Tradition says that the Vicar and Master were one and the same person, but there are certain difficulties in the way. In the first place the Vicar was over seventy years of age, secondly there is no Grace Book or extant contemporary writing or extract from the Parish Registers, in which he is called both Vicar and Master. Thirdly, the Vicar's son, Josias, is said to have been educated by his father, until he was of an age to go to the Grammar School. On the other hand Shute may have undertaken the work of the Master for a few years only and owing to some especial necessity, which has not been recorded. Secondly there is no record of any Christopher Shute, other than the Vicar, who in 1615 could have acted as Master. Nathaniel Shute had a son Christopher, who was later a Fellow of Christ's, Cambridge, but at this date he was still a boy. Thirdly the signatures in the Minute-Book of both Master and Vicar are very similar.

The year 1619 is the latest date at which the Vicar took any active part in the advancement of the School and his work may be briefly summarised. With Henry Tennant, he had petitioned Archbishop Piers for his assent to the Statutes, which they had drawn up. In 1599 he had procured a parchment-covered book, which he called "Liber Christopheri Shute et amicorum" and in 1604 he presented it to the School. The book contains elections of Scholars, elections of Governors, Accounts, Receipts, etc.; it is not full of important matter, but is rather a bare record of certain facts.

In 1610 he was responsible with Robert Bankes and John Robinson for the purchase of the land on which the School stood, and during his mastership the Clapham, Tennant and Carr bequests were made. Such benefactions in themselves denote the fame of the School, and the result of its teaching is seen in the pupils it sent forth.

Nathaniel Shute was born at Giggleswick "his father, Christopher Shute being the painful Vicar thereof." He was educated at the School and went thence to Christ's College, Cambridge; he became a most excellent scholar and solid preacher, though nothing of his work remains save the Corona Caritatis, a sermon preached at the funeral of Master Fishbourn. He died in 1638.

Josias Shute, born in 1588, was the brother of Nathaniel and from Giggleswick went on to Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1611 he became Rector of S. Mary Wolnoth, Lombard Street, and remained there over thirty years. He was "the most precious jewell ever seen in Lombard Street," but suffered much during the civil disturbances of the reign. Charles I made him Archdeacon of Colchester in 1642, and he died on June 14, 1643. His funeral sermon was preached by Ephraim Udall.

He was a skilled Hebrew scholar a language which he had probably begun to study at Giggleswick, and he left many manuscripts which were posthumously published by his brother Timothy. While he was still at Cambridge, he had enjoyed the interest on £100 given by Henry Tennant and in gratitude therefor and for other benefits received at the School he left to the Governors by a will dated June 30, 1642, certain parcels of land in the parish of Giggleswick, called Eshton Close, Cappleriggs Close and Huntwait Fields. The rent of these fields was to be apportioned in two ways. Five pounds was to be given yearly to the maintaining of a poor Scholar of the parish, who had been educated in the School, at either University until he became Master of Arts. The remainder of the rent was to be distributed amongst the poor of Giggleswick, who were most pious and had most need. The land increased in value greatly. In 1683 the rent amounted to £6 8s. 0d., and in 1697 £7 5s. 10d. Seventy years later it had almost doubled and in 1806 it was £34 6s. 0d.

In the latter year the Governors effected an exchange. Huntwait was given up for Tarn Brow and the rent rose five pounds. In spite of this gradual increase in value, the Governors only allotted the five pounds to the Exhibition Fund, the rest went to the poor of Giggleswick, to be distributed on the day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. The five pounds was as a rule paid as an extra Exhibition in addition to the sum received from the Burton rent-charge, which had been bought with the money left by William Clapham and Henry Tennant, and the recipients were often especially mentioned as poor, notably in 1652 and again in 1673.

On December 13, 1872, Tarn Brow was sold for £1,000 and apportioned to pay part of the cost of the buildings which were then being erected. The Governors were directed to pay three-and-a-half per cent. interest on the sum expended. Cappleriggs was let for £20 a year and Eshton for £11.

The whole income now arising from these sources is applied in providing certain boys with total exemptions from payment of tuition fees and the costs of books and stationery: they are called Shute Exhibitions and are offered in the first instance to boys who are in attendance at a Public Elementary School in the ancient parish of Giggleswick.

Christopher Shute had three other sons who were all ministers of the Church and were "all great (though not equal) Lights, set up in fair Candlesticks."

He had done his duty as a Father, he had more than done his duty as Vicar and Governor. It is unfortunate that there is no portrait of him, for it would then be possible to discern the scholarly and courtly grace of the man under whom the School more than it had ever done before or was to do again until the nineteenth century flourished and prospered and grew notable. He died, still Vicar and Governor, in 1626. "Happy a father who had his quiver full with five such sons."

The Rev. Robert Dockray succeeded in 1619 as Master, and Henry Claphamson, who had been Usher certainly since 1615, possibly earlier though no records exist, continued in the office. The pay of both had increased since 1592. The Ancient Statutes of that date give the stipend of the Master as twenty marks (£13 6s. 8d.), and of the Usher as £6 13s. 4d., with power to the Governors to increase it. It cannot be ascertained when a change was made but in the half-year Accounts for 1617 there occurs the entry:

Item: to the Maister and Usher, xvli.

Robert Dockray and Henry Claphamson never received less than £20 and £10 yearly apiece after 1619. In 1629 they received an additional gratuity, the Master, of twenty nobles, i.e. £6 13s. 4d. and the Usher, of £3 6s. 8d.

The School went on its uneventful way. Dockray, the Master, became Vicar and made his protestation as an ex-officio Governor in 1632. In August, 1635, Christopher Lascelles, of Ripon, gentleman, received £20 in consideration of some request he made concerning troubles which he had been put to but which he does not specify. For the rest Governors succeeded Governors, Scholars were sent to the University with aid from the Exhibition money, Master and Usher receipted their wages each half year. The year 1640, is the last in which Robert Dockray appears as a Governor and his last receipt for his wages is dated March of the same year. Henry Claphamson succeeded to his work temporarily for eighteen weeks, receiving 10s. 3d. a week, but himself died before August 1642. Anthony Lister, the Vicar, taught for just over six months at the same rate, and on August 25, 1642, the Rev. Rowland Lucas had earned £9 12s. 0d. as "head scoulmaster."

The Usher's place was taken by William son of Thomas Wilsonne, "AgricolÆ" in Giggleswick. He had been at the School for ten years under Mr. Dockray and at the age of eighteen had gone up to S. John's, Cambridge, as a Sizar in 1639. Thence he went back to his old School in 1642 and remained there for twenty-four years.

Chapter V.