the time he was flying from his enemies
in 1461, when Sir John Pennington, the then possessor of
Muncaster, gave him a secret reception.

The posts of the bed in which he slept, which are of handsome
carved oak, are also in the same room in good preservation.

When the period for the king's departure arrived, before he
proceeded on his journey, he addressed Sir John with many kind
and courteous acknowledgments for his loyal reception,
lamenting, at the same time, that he had nothing of more value
to present him with, as a testimony of his good-will, than the
cup out of which he crossed himself. He then gave it into the
hands of Sir John, accompanying the present with the following
blessing:--"The family shall prosper as long as they preserve it
unbroken;" which the superstition of those times imagined would
carry good fortune to his descendants. Hence it is called "_The
Luck of Muncaster_." It is a curiously-wrought glass cup,
studded with gold and white enamel spots. The benediction
attached to its security being then uppermost in the
recollection of the family, it was considered essential to the
prosperity of the house at the time of the usurpation that the
Luck of Muncaster should be deposited in a safe place; it was
consequently buried till the cessation of hostilities had
rendered all further care and concealment unnecessary.
Unfortunately, however, the person commissioned to disinter this
precious jewel let the box fall in which it was locked up, which
so alarmed the then existing members of the family, that they
could not muster courage enough to satisfy their apprehensions.
It therefore (according to the traditionary story still
preserved in the family) remained unopened for more than forty
years, at the expiration of which period a Pennington, more
hardy or more courageous than his predecessors, unlocked the
casket, and exultingly proclaimed the safety of the Luck of
Muncaster.

When John, Lord Muncaster (the first of the family who obtained
a peerage), entered into possession of Muncaster Castle, after
his elevation in 1793, he found it still surrounded with a moat,
and defended by a strong portcullis. The family having of late
years entirely resided upon their estate of Wartee in Yorkshire,
the house was in so very dilapidated a state that Lord Muncaster