The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-12 00:00:00

THE WILTSHIRE PEERAGE•

It is known to most of oar readers that the
.
ancient Catholic family, of Scrope are endeavour-
ing to revive their title to the earldom of Wilt-
shire, which has long been dominant in their
lineage. On this subject two letters have appeared
in the daily Standard. We copy them
,without at
all vouching for the exactness of the facts they
detail :
Sir,—ln your law report, under the head of " The
Wilts Peerage," I find that there is a claimant for
this dignity in the person of Simon T. Scrope,
of Danby-on-Joke, Yorkshire, Esq. All readers
of history know that the earldom of Wilts was
enjoyed by Sir Thomas Bullen, father of the unfor-
tunate Queen of Henry the Eighth. There are
other facts; however, not so well known, but which
are preserved with sundry deeds and documents in
my family. Therefore, at this juncture of the
proceedings in the House of Lords, I beg you will
allow-me to state that the earldom of Wiltshire
is not in abeyance. In 1399 Scrope, Earl of
Wiltshire, was attainted; the earldom was, how-
ever, revived in the family of "Ormond," through
whose representatiye, the Lady Margaret Butler,
eldest daughter And coheiress of Thomas Earl of
Ormond, it seems to have passed to her son, Sir
Thomas Bullen—at least he was created Earl of
Wiltshire, but never having been attainted, and
dying without leaving any male heir, the earldom
of Wiltshire became extinct. Not so, however, the
barony of Ho° and Hastings, to which allusion is
made in the same report, this barony being still
in abeyance amongst the heirs general of Jeffery
Bullen, Lord Mayor of London (1458), and of whom
my late father was the direct representative.-7-
JoHN BULLEN, 8.A., Incumbent of St. Matthew's,
Southampton.

Sin,—The history of the Wiltshire (not Wilts)
peerage is very curious, and it has been held by
four different families, and thrice forfeited. The
first creation was in 1379 by King Richard 11., in
favour of his chief adviser, William le Scrope,
second son of Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham.
This personage is alluded to in Shakespeare's play,
act ii., scene 1:
" The Earl of 'Wiltshire hath the realm in farm."
His execution, with two other Ministers of King
Richard, at Bristol, in 1399, is alluded to in act
iii., scene 2 :
Audmeear—ls Bushby,
dloi Green, and the Earl of riltshire
"
seroop.—Yea, all of them at Bristol loist thseierrloeoa)d.'w'
as
This last speaker, the loyal Sir Step became
tseliceoenldderLoanrdd
sonerlyopberootfhemr oahfsbtandrae.ster
a,ndandit
inction between
portant to bear in mind t
le
ecnr o pine.
as
d. of
roßolton,ugii
becausethe Scro pgerse oa ft
l‘colansfhuasillio:nldiast
losing sight of the difference. :dr
sheurso,olt itsbeemAnrarcohn_
for writers to state that Richa p,
bishop of York, who took up arms against King
Henry IV., /was brother of the Earl of Wiltshire,
and the poet adopts this mistake in the " First
Part of King Henry 1V.," act i., scene 3, where it
is said of the prelate—
t,--- Who bears hard
His brother's death at Bristol, the Lord Scroop."
But the archbishop was the second son of Richard,
first Lord Scrope of Bolton (who had the famous
controversy with Sir Robert Grosvenor respecting
their coat armour), whose eldest son, Roger, was
second Lord Scrope, of- Bolton, whilst from a
younger son, Sir Stephen Scrope, of Bentley, is
descended the claimant to the Wiltshire peerage,
Mr. Simon Scrope. William, Earl of Wiltshire,
was attainted, and his title was therefore forfeited.
He died without issue. It does not appear that
his attainder was ever reversed. Fifty years after
his death the title was revived in favour of James
Butler (eldest son of James, fourth Earl of Or-
monde), a staunch Lancastrian, who fought at the
first battle of St. Albans, 1455 ; and in act i., scene
1, third part of " King Henry VI., which opens,
directly after that fight, with the principal persons
recounting their deeds, the Marquis of Montague
exclaims, showing his bloody sword,
"And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's bloiik'
Whom I encounter'd as the battles join'd."
The earl was taken prisoner at Towton in 1161,
executed, and, being attainted, his title was for-
feited, Awa neat granted by liing Edward W.,