Times
consequently became hard for poor Stokoe; his affairs went from bad to
worse, and though his name was included in the general pardon which
Government issued some time later, he never got back his land nor any of
his possessions. Part of the land passed with the Derwentwater Estate to
Greenwich Hospital, part, including the peel tower, where he and his
ancestors had lived for generations, remained in the clutches of those
who had seized it. Old age came upon Frank and found him
poverty-stricken; want came, "as an armed man," and found him too weak
to resist. The spirit was there, but no longer the strength that should
have helped the spirit. He sank and died, leaving behind him no shred of
worldly gear.
Another noted Northumbrian who was "out" in the '15 was him whom men
then called "Mad Jack Hall" of Otterburn. Not that he was in any sense
mad, or even of weak intellect--far from it; the name merely arose from
the fiery energy of the man, and from the reckless courage with which he
would face any danger or any odds. As a man, he was extremely popular,
and no one could have been more beloved by his dependents. His fine
estate he managed himself, and managed well, though before he went "out"
misfortunes fell on him which no management could have averted.
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