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Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Sir Francis Dashwood
Written and compiled by George Knowles Sir Francis
Dashwood is one of those colourful characters from our past whose life was
shrouded in controversy, half-truths and gossip.
During his day it was widely rumoured that he and his group were evil
Devil worshippers, Satanist’s up to all sorts of diabolical deeds, rituals and
orgies, many of which in today’s more enlightened times, few if any people
would even raise an eyebrow. He was
an aristocrat and a man of influence but also the rogue of his day, who reveled
in his indulgences living his life to the full and not giving a damn for the
consequences. As such his name and
that of his Order was just the stuff on which legend was founded.
This is the life story of Sir Francis Dashwood and the “The
Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe”.
In
1708 during the reign of Queen Anne, Sir Francis Dashwood was born on the 11th
December at Great Marlborough Street in London into a
wealthy family of landed gentry. He
was the only son of Sir Francis
John Bateman Dashwood and his second wife of four,
Lady Mary Fane the eldest daughter of the “Baron Le Despencer”.
Sir Francis John
Bateman Dashwood was a wealthy businessman who had
been created
the “1st Baronet Dashwood of West Wycombe” (1658-1724) and built
the family fortune from his dealings with the Ottoman Empire trading in Turkey
and China. When young Sir Francis
was two years old his mother Lady Mary died, and his father promptly remarried. Not much is
known of Sir Francis during his formative years except that he was educated at
Eton. There he became associated
with “William Pitt the Elder” (later the Great Commoner) and being of
the same age, the two became good friends and retained a deep mutual respect for
each other. In 1724 his father died
and Sir Francis just turned 16 inherited his baronetcy, the family estate at
West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and a vast family fortune. In 1726 Sir
Francis started out on his first “Grand Tour” of Europe.
It was customary during those times for the sons of nobles, and those of
wealth Englishmen, to finish their education visiting the Royal courts of
Europe, normally accompanied by a personal tutor (his was said to have been a
Catholic Jacobite their family having mild Jacobite leanings). While traveling around Europe they could sample the
intellectual arts and other such treasures that the continent had to offer.
Sir Francis being a young man of high spirits and lascivious inclinations
roistered his way from Royal court to Royal court creating a stir wherever he
went. He duly visited the art
galleries and museums, but spent just as much time in bawdy alehouses and risqué
brothels and bordellos generally indulging in the delights that would shape and
characterize his life thereafter. One
of his favorite phrases at the time was: “To taste the sweets of all things”.
This first trip to Europe lasted eight months and took him to France and
Switzerland then back through Germany. During 1729 Sir
Francis took another tour this time starting in Italy, and it was here that the
future Dashwood of legend was formed. Italy
at that time was a hotbed of occultism and Sir Francis reveled in his study of
the forbidden arts and particularly the “Eleusinian mysteries”.
He was also greatly influenced by the work of “Francois
Rabelais”
and his fictional “Abbey of Thélème”.
One story that became legend tells of his rakish sense
of humour particularly in relation to his mockery of religion.
His tutor the Catholic Jacobite ever disdainful of his promiscuous
behavior insisted on taking Sir Francis to the Sistine Chapel, hoping to instill
some form of respect for Christianity. Sir
Horace Walpole (the 4th Earl of Orford) witnessed the event and
wrote: “It
was on Good-Friday when each person who attends the service in the Sistine
Chapel, as they enter they take a
small scourge from an attendant at the door.
The chapel is dimly lighted and there are three candles which are
extinguished by the priest, one by one: at the putting out of the first, the
penitents take off one part of their dress; at the next, still more; and in the
darkness which follows the extinguishing of the third candle, lay on their
shoulders with groans and lamentations. Sir
Francis Dashwood thinking this mere stage effect, entered with others dressed in
a large watchman’s coat, demurely he took his scourge from the priest and
advanced to the end of the chapel, where, on the darkness ensuing, he drew from
beneath his coat an English horsewhip and flogged right and left quite down the
chapel and made his escape, the congregation exclaiming Il Diavolo! Il Diavolo!
And thinking the evil one was upon them with a vengeance.
The consequences of this frolic might have been serious to him, had he
not immediately left the Papal dominions.” The title “Il
Diavolo! Il Diavolo!” Would remain with Sir Francis for most of his life.
Another story
further explains his growing distain for Christianity.
One night after the event in the Sistine Chapel his tutor was awakened by
terrible screams coming from his master chamber.
Investigating he found Sir Francis staring outside at four gleaming green
eyes, they were accompanied by a terrible screeching and wailing.
Sir Francis was convinced that this was a four-eyed devil that had come
to haunt him because of his actions. The
more worldly-wise tutor recognized instantly that it was simply two cats
fighting outside his master’s quarters, but decided not to explain this to Sir
Francis and instead went along with his misconceptions in an attempt to get him
to see the error of his ways. The
tutor’s ploy worked for a time and against his genuine inclinations Sir
Francis became a convert to Catholicism. Eventually
the tutor’s plan backfired, for when Sir Francis found out about his
deception, it served only to fuel an intense dislike for organized religion. From Italy, Sir
Francis moved on visiting Turkey, Denmark, Greece, Asia Minor and Russia. During his travels he picked up a deep love for the cultural
arts, as well as a penchant for costume and dressing up.
In Russia his mischievous sense of humour showed itself again, when he
turned up at the Royal court in St Petersburg dressed as the King of Sweden, one
of Russia’s great enemies. While
it caused something of a stir amongst the other courtiers, it doesn’t seem to
have hindered his time in Russia, in fact it was even rumoured that he bedded
the Tsarina Anna. Returning from
Russia Sir Francis started his near life long task of restoring and developing
the family estate at West Wycombe. There
the myths of “Bacchus” and “Ariadne” proved to be of
particular significance to him. He
brought in a Milanese painter “Giuseppi Borgnis” to work on the house
(which he did for the rest of his life, his son Giovanni taking over and
continuing on with the work after him). On
the ceiling of the Great Salon he had painted a vast picture of the “Admission
of Psyche” into the realms of the Gods, based on a painting by Raphael.
The Dining-Room ceiling had the theme of the “Triumph of Bacchus and
Ariadne”, based on a Caracci painting in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome,
while the central section of the ceiling of the lower colonnade had a painted
fresco depicting “Bacchus crowning Ariadne”. Shortly after
the restoration began Sir Francis formed “The Society of Dilettanti. This brought together a group of serious art connoisseurs,
who soon gained a fine reputation in the world of art. When the society had acquired enough status and money, Sir
Francis became very active in promoting expeditions, sending out architects and
draughtsman to survey and draw reconstructions of almost-lost classical ruins.
There was
another side to the society however, and some interesting parallels can be made
between this group and the later more infamous one that Sir Francis founded. The use of costume was a feature during the Dilettanti meetings
and they often performed mock religious rituals, similar in spirit to those he
would create later. From a Satanic
viewpoint it is interesting to note that the secretary always dressed as “Machiavelli”.
After their meetings and rituals, the society celebrated with a feast
devoted to the old gods, eating and drinking while discussing the arts.
The box containing the “Minute Book and Dinner-Money” was
called “Bacchus Tomb” and resembled a miniature Roman
sarcophagus. The artist “George
Knapton” who was also a member designed its lid.
An entry in the
Minute Book of the Dilettante Society states:
“That every member of the Society do make a present of his picture in
Oil Colours, drawn by George Knapton, a member, to be hung up in the room where
the said society meets” (Sir Francis was depicted as a Monk, a glass of wine
in his hands and his attention fixed on a statue of Venus with the inscription
“San Francesco Di Wycombe” in the form of a Halo around his head.
William Hogarth later painted a version of this).
San Francesco Di WycombeIn 1739, Sir
Francis paid a second visit to Italy where he met “Prince Charles Edward
Stuart” (the Young Pretender) in Rome.
Stuart was the grandson of King James II who was forced to abandon the
English Throne half a century earlier. Francis
later wrote of this meeting to his friend “Sir John Montagu” the 4th
Earl of Sandwich stating: “I
am at one with this gallant Prince, he has all the gifts of a true leader and
above all he is honest. But I
detest most heartily the fripperies of Rome, which emanate from his entourage. Should the Prince truly come into his own, it is difficult to
see how he could keep away from their influence”. After a brief
flirtation with the Jacobites, Sir Francis was given a minor ceremonial post in
the Court of Prince
Frederick the Prince of Wales,
son and heir of King George II. Relations between the Prince of Wales and his father were
remarkably bad. The king would
usually refer to his son as “Poor Fred”, and felt no compunction
about describing him in public as a half-witted liar and a beast.
The Prince retaliating would denounce his father as an obstinate,
self-indulgent martinet with an insatiable sexual appetite.
It was natural therefore that the political opposition to the King’s
government, to which Sir Francis was bent, should coalesce around the Prince of
Wales. So it was in this circle of the aristocracy that Sir Francis
made the acquaintance of the leading men of his day, and turned his mind to
politics as a suitable career for someone of his wealth and standing. In 1741, Sir
Francis was elected to Parliament as the independent MP for New Romney and took
his seat in the House of Commons. He
began to busy himself with worthy schemes mainly to do with the repair of roads,
the building of bridges and the general improvement of London and other
principle cities. He also founded
another though short-lived Society called “The Divan Club”, started
in 1744 it was never very popular and was terminated in 1746.
Qualification for membership to the Divan club was having been to some
part of the Sultan’s Empire. He
is depicted wearing a Turban at its meetings and “The Harem” was a
regular toast at its dinners. One
can only imagine the nature of its meetings.
The Divan ClubIn 1745 Sir
Francis much to the surprise of his friends and colleagues married “Sarah
Ellis” the rich widow of “Sir Richard Ellis”.
It seemed a mystery why someone of his tastes should marry her, she being
described as a “pious prude”
by those in the know. Sir Francis
on the other hand was sexually promiscuous and his sexual
appetites had become almost legendary. Sir
Horace Walpole’s son once said of him, “he has the staying power of a
stallion and the impetuosity of a bull."
He regularly amused himself with married and unmarried women from
aristocratic ladies to whores from the streets of London.
Perhaps he married her hoping for an heir to his title and estates?
But this she failed to do.
Whatever his reason and despite his wayward ways, he did seem to have had
a genuine affection for her. As part of his
schemes to improve roadways, in 1748 he began to organize the construction of a
new road at West Wycombe. This was
a two-mile stretch of the London to Oxford road connecting High Wycombe and West
Wycombe. Caves were produced as a
result of excavations for road-material. Sir
Francis had the caves extended and
instructed his builders to construct an intricate system of passages and
chambers. On the walls of the caves
they carved head like figures, one with a mitre and one with horns, and an old
and molding female statue stood forlornly in a niche.
The tunnel sloping downwards crosses an
underground stream and ends at a circular chamber a quarter of a mile from the
entrance. This
is the main underground feature and was the so-called Banqueting Hall, which
measured 40ft across and 60ft high. A
Gothic front and sidewalls were built to enhance the appearance of the entrance. None of the tunneling beyond the main cave was necessary for
the road building, but Sir Francis had other plans for it.
The road was completed in 1752.
The wall carvings and the female statue in the caves.
Gothic
front and entrance to the tunnels.
Sir Francis
made friends easily and had a charming manner when it suited him. He
began to collect about himself a core of like-minded friends of power, influence
and distinction. They listened with
interest to what he told them about his religious beliefs.
It was from these elite friends that in 1751, he founded a brother-hood
of men, an Order he named after himself called “The
Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe”
also known variously as “The Knights of St Francis”, “The Monks
of Medmenham” or “The Hell-fire Club”.
The group shared in all his loves and appetites for the cultural arts, as
well as those for Sex, drink, food, dressing up, politics, blasphemy and the
occult. The order
originally met at Sir Francis’ lavish home, West Wycombe House.
But this was his family home and not really suitable for the revelry and
festivities he envisioned for the new group.
He began to cast about for a more secluded and private place to hold
their meetings. He found the
perfect site through his friendship with a local painter Francis Duffield.
The Duffield family had inherited an old and disused 12th century
Cistercian monastery called “Medmenham Abbey”.
It was situated in a secluded grove by a stretch of the river Thames near
Marlow, about six miles away from West Wycombe and twenty miles west of London.
It seemed perfect for what he wanted and he took over the lease from
Duffield. To preserve
secrecy, instead of using local labour Sir Francis sent in his own builders and
gardeners from his estate in West Wycombe and transformed the abbey into a
Clubhouse. A square tower was added
to the southeast corner of the building with a cloister of three arches along
the side facing the river. Stained-glass
windows of an ecclesiastical nature replaced the existing plain ones and frescos
painted by “Giuseppi Borgnis” decorated the inside.
At one end of the dining room stood a figure of “Harpocrates”
the Egyptian god of silence with a finger to his lips, and at the other end the
figure of the obscure goddess “Angerona” in the same pose.
Over the main entrance to the abbey, inscribed in Latin, was the motto of
the order “Fay Ce Que Voudras”, meaning “Do As You Will”
(a quotation from “Francois Rabelais fictional abbey of Thélème”).
“Maurice-Louis Jolivet” then re-planed and designed all the
gardens. The initiates
of the inner Order were limited to thirteen men, Sir Francis known as the “Abbot”
and his 12 “Apostles”, all other members of the Order were known
simply as “Monks” hence the “Monks of Medmenham”.
They are thought to have worshipped the Goddess in her orgiastic mood. Only men of importance were admitted for initiation into the
inner Order, and these included some of the most powerful men of the day:
the Prince of Wales, the Marquis of Queensberry, Sir John
Stuart the Earl
of Bute (later Prime Minister), Sir John Montagu the
Earl of Sandwich, George Bubb Dodington (later Lord Melcombe), John Wilkes (the
Reformer), Sir Henry Vansittart, Robert Lloyd (Poet), George Selwyn, Charles
Churchill (Poet), William Hogarth (Painter), John
Tucker (M.P.) and Thomas Potter (M.P. and son of a former Archbishop of
Canterbury). The administrator of
the Order was the poet Paul Whitehead who kept the records, and who at the very
end of his life destroyed them with his own hands, so the rituals of the Order
should never be known.
Sir Francis / Duke of Queensberry / John Wilkes / Paul Whitehead Their
ceremonial outfits were said to be white jackets and trousers with matching
cloaks and a round white cap. The
abbot’s hat was red and trimmed with rabbit’s fur.
Meetings of the Order took place twice a month, with a large AGM meeting
that would last for a week or sometimes even longer.
One of the monks acquired a baboon, which became the abbey’s mascot and
was dressed up as a chaplain during rituals.
The abbey had a plush drawing room for entertaining and a library stocked
with books ranging from the Bible to pornographic and occult literature. There were also private rooms for the monks complete with
beds. The abbey was open to guests
of the monks, but two places were strictly for members only.
One was a chapel where only monks had access and beyond that was the
chapter room, where only the inner circle of 13 were allowed. The rituals
conducted in the chapel by the monks seem in general to have been good-natured
spoofs of Christian services with much sexual innuendo and symbolism. The monks were said to be worshipers of “Bacchus and
Venus”. It seems possible
even probable that the inner circle performed some rites in the secret chapter
room that today might be classified as “Pagan”.
These secret rites were allegedly based on a Sir Francis’ version of
the “Eleusinian mysteries”. These
were a series of rites performed in ancient Greece over a period of nine days
and honoured the goddess of grain “Demeter” and her daughter “Persephone”. One can only
guess whether these rituals had a serious edge to them, or as seems more likely,
were conducted in the style of mockery and charade that typified the general
mood of the abbey. From the little
information that has survived, it is believed that Demeter and her
daughter Persephone were represented by naked young women made to lie
across an alter with their legs spread open.
One can only speculate as to what would happen next, but it was even
rumoured that aristocratic women sometimes volunteered to represent the
goddesses, though no names are known for sure.
It was widely believed that they worshipped the devil “Satan”
himself, which earned them the name of the “Hell-fire Club”.
However there seems to be no evidence to support these claims, they
merely worshiped the old gods in their own way as they envisioned it.
After the rituals had been performed, good-class whores were hired in
London by Paul Whitehead and conveyed to Medmenham by coach.
There the leading politicians and aristocrats of the day were invited to
take part in the feasting and heavy drinking that followed. At his estate
in West Wycombe, Sir Francis had amassed a considerable library of books, many
of them being of a pornographic nature. Amongst
them was one of the earliest copies in English of the “Karma-Sutra”,
presented to him and inscribed by Sir Henry Vansittart who had been Governor of
Bengal. It is thought that its
teachings might have inspired some of the more sexual parts of his rites. Worship of the goddess would continued at Medmenham for
nearly two decades and over the years rumours about the “Mad Monks of
Medmenham” spread, and stories of their exploits and the goings on in the
abbey were passed down into legend. As with any
Order or organization rivalry among it members causes friction and such was the
case within Medmenham Abbey. One
story passed down into legend serves to demonstrate this, for there seems to
have been little love lost between Lord Sandwich and John Wilkes.
Wilkes allegedly played a trick on Sandwich during one of their meetings.
Wilkes had contrived the night before to bring into his cell the
abbey’s mascot baboon. When the
brotherhood retired to their cells after dinner to prepare for the ceremony, he
dressed up the baboon in phantasmic garb and conveyed him to the chapel. There he shut him up in a large chest used to hold the
ornaments and utensils of the table when the Order was away. To the spring of the lock of the chest he fastened a cord,
which he then drew under the carpet on the floor to his own seat and there
brought the end of it through a hole made for the purpose and in such a manner
that he could readily find it. By
giving it a pull he could open the chest and let the Baboon loose whenever he
pleased without being perceived by the rest of the company. Later
that night during the proceedings Wilkes jerked the cord and out popped the
baboon, which jumped on to the shoulders of Lord Sandwich who cried out:
“Spare me gracious Devil, spare a wretch who never was sincerely
your servant. I sinned only from
vanity of being in the fashion, thou knowest I never have been half so wicked as
I pretended, never have been able to commit the thousandth part of the vices
which I have boasted of, leave me therefore and go to those who are more truly
devoted to your service. I am but
half a sinner.” Lord Sandwich
would never forgive Wilkes for the humiliation he suffered and would later seek
revenge.
Meanwhile by
1752 much work had been done on Sir Francis’ estate, the grounds of which had
been transformed into a park. A
survey map of West Wycombe Park drawn by his gardener “Maurice-Louis
Jolivet” shows how a little stream was dammed to make a lake with islands
and a cascade, and how trees were planted to create a broad walk.
Sir Francis then turned his attention to the “Church of St Lawrence”
and work began on its restoration. In
1757 a new regiment was formed called the “Buckingham Militia”, and
Sir Francis being the most important person in the county, was commissioned by
the Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire “Sir Richard Grenville the 1st
Earl Temple”. As “Colonel
of the Regiment” Sir Francis in turn made his friend “John Wilkes”
his second in command with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Sir Francis held the post for five years but with more pressing demands
on the political front, handed full command over to John Wilkes.
Through the
Order at Medmenham there can be little doubt that Sir Francis and other members
of the inner circle gained tremendous power and influence.
Many of the people entertained there held high office in Government or
the Opposition and favours were readily swapped and exchanged. In the elections of 1762, “Sir John
Stuart the Earl
of Bute” was
elected Prime Minister, and he in turn invited Sir
Francis to the office of “Chancellor of the Exchequer”, a flagrant
show of favouritism. John Wilkes
(feeling he had been snubbed by Bute) commented that he had been given the job
because Sir John had been impressed with his ability to add up drink bills (a
jape that would later lead to his expulsion from the Order).
Sir Francis had absolutely no head for figures and freely admitted that
he could not do sums over five figures. To
make matters worst and to raise money, he put a tax on Cider at four shillings a
barrel. This led to such an outcry
from producers and drinkers alike, that he was forced to resign his office the
following year. Bute as Prime Minister lurched from one disaster to another
and he too resigned in 1763. Work on his
estate had continued and renovations to the Church of St Lawrence completed. On the inside Sir Francis had rebuilt the nave and stripped
out the chancel, then redesigned the whole interior as a reconstruction of the
interior of the “Temple of the Sun at Palmyra” near Damascus. On
the ceiling of the chancel, “Giovanni Borgnis” (his father having
died) painted an original “Last Supper”, where the eyes of Judas
Iscariot followed everyone around the whole chancel.
Outside the tower of the Church had been raised and capped with a Golden
Ball. This was 80 feet above ground, seven feet across and had a
trap door for access; wooden seats were placed inside it to accommodate three or
four people. John Wilkes along
with the “Rev Charles Churchill” were invited for “divine milk
punch” in the Golden Ball after it was re-opened on 03rd July
1763. John Wilkes later
wrote: “…The
magnificent gilt ball on the top of the steeple, which is hollowed and made so
very convenient in the inside for the celebrations not of devotional, but of
convivial rites…the best Globe Tavern I was ever in…I must own that I was
afraid my descent from it would have been as precipitate as his Lordship’s was
from a high station, which turned his head, too.
I admire likewise the silence and secrecy which reigns in that great
globe, undisturbed, by his jolly songs very unfit for the profane ears of the
world below”.
The Church of St Lawrence showing the Golden Ball Other comments
on the Church came from: “The
Gentleman’s Magazine” (A publication of the day.) who commented:
“It is reckoned the most beautiful country Church in England”.
A Mrs. Libbe-Powys adds “…it gives one not the least idea of a
place sacred to religious worship. Tis
a very superb Egyptian Hall, no pews, pulpit or desk accept two ornamental
seats, which answer the two latter purposes.
The font is shown as an elegant toy; in fine, it has only the appearance
of a neat ballroom with rows of forms on each side”.
John Wilkes stated: “Some
churches have been built for devotion, others from parade of vanity.
I believe this is the first church which has ever been built for a
prospect…built on the top of a hill for the convenience and devotion of the
town at the bottom of it”, and the Rev Charles Churchill called it
“A temple built aloft in air, that serves for show and not for prayer”. The Church of
St Lawrence completed Sir Francis turned his attention to building a huge “Mausoleum
Monument” next to it. Later
that year he was also appointed “Lord-Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire”, and on
the death of his uncle inherited the tile of “Baron Le Despencer”
with a castle near Dover. This
automatically gave him a permanent seat in the “House of Lords”. Although the Monks
of Medmenham would still exist for some years to come, schisms were
threatening to break up the Order brought on by attacks from one of it’s
former brethren, John Wilkes.
Wilkes felt he had been overlooked when Sir
John Stuart the
Earl of Bute
was repaying his favours. His anger
at the snub would effectively seal the fate of the Order as it had been.
He began to publish a forthright and cutting satirical newspaper called
“The North Briton”, in which he vigorously attacked Bute and his
policies. The paper caused serious
damage to the government and although he had originally refrained from
slandering the Order, he began to attack the monks in a series of writings and
cartoons. When the Order decided to
silence their former brother, Wilkes himself provided the means to do it.
During his time as a devoted monk he had collaborated with another member
“Thomas Potter” on a pornographic spoof of Alexander Pope’s “An
Essay of Man” entitled “An Essay on Woman”.
Lord Sandwich
used this to damaged Wilkes’ moral standing by reading it out to the House
of Lords, they condemned
it as a scurrilous piece of libelous obscenity. Wilkes was forced to flee to France and for the time
being his political career was finished. Lord
Sandwich had had his revenge. In 1765 the construction of the Mausoleum Monument beside the Church of St Lawrence was completed. This was a hexagonal structure with 12 Tuscan columns based on the Emperor Constantine’s “Triumphal Arch” in Rome and Rabelais’ fictional Abbey of Thélème (Sir Francis had two copies of Rabelais’ works, one in French and one in English). The six-sided shape could also be a reference to the Cabala, its sixth emanation being the “Sephiroth”, representing the divine force that impels life to continue symbolized by the Sun. The catalogue of Sir Francis’ library included a copy of “Conjectura Cabalistica”, published by “Henry More” in 1653.
The Dashwood Mausoleum Monument The Mausoleum
was originally built with a £500 legacy left to him by “George Bubb
Dodington” who had died in 1762, to be used for the building of an arch,
temple, column or additional room as a memorial to their long friendship.
Inside the Mausoleum the name of George Bubb Dodington - “Baron
Melcombe Regis”, was carved in great letters and in a niche was placed a
portrait-bust of him. It would also
be the final resting place for other dear and close friends, such like “Dr.
Thomas Thompson”
and later his second in command of the Order, Paul Whitehead. In 1766 Sir
Francis was appointed as “Postmaster-General” by William Pitt an
office he would hold for the rest of his life.
During which time he established the penny post in Dublin and
experimented with fast mail deliveries between towns.
After the Wilkes
incident the Order at Medmenham began to decline for it could not survive
the public scrutiny to which it had been subjected.
It is interesting to note however, that none of its members refuted
allegations raised against it. But still the rumours about the Order would not die.
So he moved the Order out of the Abbey to the series of underground caves
located underneath West Wycombe Hill. There
in less luxurious surroundings the Order gradually faded and finally ceased to
exist. Sarah Ellis
his wife for 24 years died in 1769 and was buried in the family vault in St
Lawrence’s Church. A memorial was
built to her in the very center of the Mausoleum beside the Church, which has a
stone canopy on four columns beneath which was an urn on a tall plinth with the
words “May this Cenotaph sacred to the virtues and graces that constitute
female excellence, perpetuate the memory of Sarah - Baroness Le Despenser who
finished a most exemplary life January the 19th 1769.” After the death
of his wife, Sir Francis continued with the work of developing his estate and in
1770 built an addition to the west-wing of West Wycombe House.
This being a replica of the “Temple of Bacchus at Telos”, near
Smyrna taken from drawings made by “Nicholas Revett” for the Dilettante
Society. It had three pictures
by “William Hannan” above a statue of Bacchus.
In the center was the “Chariot of the Night”, on one side a Bacchanalian
procession and on the other side Bacchus crowning Ariadne (copied
from a work by “Guido Reni”). The
west-wing then became the new main entrance to the house and the drive through
the Park was re-laid to take visitors there.
It was opened in 1771 and Sir Francis, who invited many of his friends,
staged a grand celebration. An
eyewitness account of the celebration is contained in Thomas Langley’s “The
History of Antiquities of the Hundred of Desborough (1797)”: “The
delightful gardens of West Wycombe were opened to the public and a novel
exhibition took place in one of the rural walks. A fine portico at the west end
of the house has been lately erected (in imitation of that of the Temple of
Bacchus) for the dedication of which a Bacchanalian procession was formed of
Bacchanals, Priests, Pans, Fauns, Satyrs, Silenus, etc., all in proper habits
and skins wreathed with vine leaves, ivy, oak, etc. On the arrival of the
procession in the portico the High Priest addressed the Statue in an Invocation
which was succeeded by several hymns, and other pieces of music vocal and
instrumental suitable to the occasion, and having finished the sacrifice
proceeded through the grove to a Tent pitched among several others at the head
of the lake where the Paeans and libations were repeated – then ferrying to a
vessel adorned with colours and streamers, again performed various ceremonies
with discharges of cannon and bursts of acclamations from the populace. The
ceremony was finished by a congratulatory address or ode to the Deity of the
place. Several of the company wore masques on this occasion.” In 1773 “Benjamin
Franklin” the American Deputy Postmaster-General was a guest at West
Wycombe House and wrote: “I am in
this house as much at my ease as if it was my own and the gardens are a
paradise. But a pleasanter thing is the kind countenance, the facetious
and very intelligent conversation of Mine Host, who having been for many years
engaged in public affairs, seen all parts of Europe and kept the best company in
the world, is himself the best existing. The
exquisite sense of classical design charmingly reproduced by the Lord Le
Despenser at West Wycombe, whimsical and puzzling as it may sometimes be in its
imagery, is as evident below the earth as above it.” Sir Francis now
in retirement and quite surprisingly given his background, collaborated with Benjamin
Franklin to produce a revised edition of the “Book of Common Prayer”
for the Church of England. Entitled
“The Franklin Prayer Book” it omitted all readings from the Old
Testament and became popular in America but was rejected in England by the
British Bishops. One has to wonder
why? Paul
Whitehead the former Steward
and Keeper of the Minute Book of the Order at Medmenham abbey, died in 1774 and
wishing his body to be left to science but his heart preserved wrote: “…that
my heart be taken out…the purchase of a marble urn… in which I desire it may
be deposited and placed…in some corner of his Mausoleum, as a Memorial of its
Owner’s warm attachment to the Noble Founder.” His wish was
granted, and his heart was placed on a black-draped bier carried by six soldiers
of the Bucks Militia, the choir of St Lawrence’s church singing an especially
composed piece for the occasion as the procession entered the Mausoleum monument
were it was placed. “From
Earth to Heaven, Whitehead’s soul is fled.
Immortal glories beam around his head.” reads the inscription
beneath it. Sir Francis now
aged 66, was far from giving up his favorite pastimes.
That same year in 1774, his mistress an ex-actress called “Mrs.
Frances Barry” gave birth to a daughter, “Rachael Frances Antonia”.
Then in 1776 he acquired the lease of “Round Tar Island” from
“Sir Thomas Stapleton” as a base for boating and fishing.
This is situated on the River Thames between Cookham and Marlow.
In 1778 having retained the lease of Medmenham Abbey (perhaps out
of sentiment) he finally gave it up and the property was sold to “Robert
Sawyer” of Heywood, Berkshire. In November of
1781 several members of Sir Francis’ household reported seeing the ghost of Paul
Whitehead, his right hand man from the Order, beckoning and calling his
mortal friend. On the 11th
of December having been in ill health for some time but still preparing for
another tour to Italy, Sir Francis died. Just
before his death he altered his will leaving almost everything to his
illegitimate daughter Rachael Frances Antonia by the actress Frances
Barry. He was buried beside his
wife and parents in the family vault in St Lawrence’s church. The life of Sir
Francis Dashwood has down through the ages been shrouded in controversy,
half-truths and legend. So much so
that in modern times it is now difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.
He was an unashamed libertine, a gallant who reveled in his indulgences.
He dedicated his life, as did those of his Order, to the worship of the
old gods personified in Bacchus and Ariadne.
As in the old tradition they met at night in the Abbey, and later
underground, secretly, and practiced something like orgies, but they did so in
jesting parody. As they mocked the
Christian Church, so too did they mock the Devil and Hell, enjoying their
reputations as rakehells. Their
meetings were a celebration of life and all its indulgences, which they lived as
the motto of the Abbey dictated “Do What You Will”.
Sir Francis maintained this dictum right up to the end and never lost his
zest for life. End
Sources
Yet to be posted
First published on the 16th February 2002, 16:56:26 © George Knowles
Best wishes and Blessed Be
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Site Contents - Links to all Pages
A Universal Message:
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
About me: My Personal Page / My Place in England / My Family Tree (Ancestry)
Wicca & Witchcraft
Wicca/Witchcraft / What is Wicca / What is Magick
Traditional Writings:
The Wiccan Rede / Charge of the Goddess / Charge of the God / The Three-Fold Law (includes The Law of Power and The Four Powers of the Magus) / The Witches Chant / The Witches Creed / Descent of the Goddess / Drawing Down the Moon / The Great Rite Invocation / Invocation of the Horned God / The 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief / The Witches Rede of Chivalry / A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality
Correspondence Tables:
Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals
Traditions:
Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /
Traditions Part 2 - Gardnerian Wicca / Georgian Tradition / Henge of Keltria / Hereditary Witchcraft / Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) / Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) / Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition / Nordic Paganism / Pagan Federation / Pectic-Wita / Seax-Wica / Shamanism / Solitary / Strega / Sylvan Tradition / Vodoun or Voodoo / Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /
Other things of interest:
Gods and Goddesses (Greek
Mythology) / Esbats &
Full Moons / Links
to Personal Friends & Resources / Wicca/Witchcraft
Resources / What's a spell? /
Circle Casting and
Sacred Space / Pentagram
- Pentacle / Marks
of a Witch / The Witches
Power / The Witches Hat
/ An
esoteric guide to visiting London / Satanism
/ Pow-wow
/ The
Unitarian Universalist Association / Numerology: Part 1
/ Part 2 / Part
3 / A
history of the Malleus Maleficarum: includes: Pope
Innocent VIII /
The
papal Bull /
The
Malleus Maleficarum /
An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum
/ The letter of approbation
/ Johann
Nider’s Formicarius /
Jacob
Sprenger /
Heinrich Kramer /
Stefano Infessura
/ Montague Summers /
The Waldenses
/ The Albigenses
/
The Hussites / The
Native American Sun Dance
/ Shielding (Occult
and Psychic Protection) /
Sabbats and Festivals:
The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)
Rituals contributed by Crone:
Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools:
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
Animals:
Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Unicorn / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat / Rats / Unicorn
Trees:
In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder
Sacred Sites:
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:
Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom and Inspiration:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia: (Our Ancestors)
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras / Paracelsus / Abramelin the Mage / Archimedes / Agrippa / Socrates / Aristotle / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Biographies
A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People (Ancient, Past and Present)
(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)
Pagan
Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Aidan A Kelly / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Praetorius / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Hermann Löher / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer and the “Malleus Maleficarum” / Idries Shah / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / James Sprenger and the “Malleus Maleficarum” / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Lambert Daneau / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /
Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
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