The Lucks of Cumbria

Lucks are precious heirlooms that supposedly brought fortune to several of the great Cumbrian households. Among them we consider:

The Venetian glass bowl of Muncaster Castle, presented by King Henry VI.

The agate communion cup of Mary Queen of Scots gifted to Workington Hall.

The celebrated Luck of Edenhall now cherished in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

These Cumbrian treasures include crystal glass goblets, a Syrian chalice perhaps brought back from the Crusades, silver and brass platters, a wooden mazer, even an oak tree and a white deer.

Our tale includes folkyarns, fairies, hobgoblins, and witches, and the fantasies and fears that gripped the beliefs of folk in times past.

This is the concise pictorial guide to all the known Cumbrian Lucks owned by the Flemings of Rydal, the Hasells of Dalemain, the Grahmes of Levens, Whelpdales of Skirsgill, the Lowthers, the Curwens, Penningtons, Lambs and Musgraves, even the Fetherstonhaughs of the Kirkoswald area – their family treasures and the fascinating stories that surround them. One hundred years ago most folk had heard of these Lucks, but in the past century their prominence has faded from memory. In this illustrated book we bring back their long-forgotten tales.