Chalis

Luck of Eden Hall (The). A drinking cup, said to have been given to Miss Zoe Musgrave on her marriage with Mr. Farquharson, and still in Eden Hall, Cumberland. Probably given by her father Sir. Richard Courtenay, 11th Bart of Edenhall.

The tale is, that is was snatched surreptitiously from the fairies, who attached this threat to it:

“If that cup either break or fall,

Farewell the luck of Eden Hall.”

The celebrated drinking glass, called the Luck of Eden Hall, on the preservation of which, according to a legendary tale, the prosperity of the Musgrave family depends, is still carefully preserved in a stamped leather case, ornamented with scrolls of vine leaves, and having on the top the letters I.H.S., and is said to be of the time of Henry IV or Edward IV. The tradition respecting the Luck of Eden Hall is , that the butler, going to fetch water from the well, called at St. Cuthbert's, which is near the hall, surprised a company of fairies who were dancing on the green, near the spring, where they had left this vessel, which the butler seized, and on his refusal to restore it, they uttered the ominous words :-

"Whene'er this cup shall break or fall,

Farewell the luck of Eden Hall."

The land on which Edenhall stood was by the river Eden near Penrith and was in the ownership of the Musgrave and associated families from the time of the Norman Conquest. The ancient family's Norman ancestor is reputed to have come over with William the Conqueror. The family had their seat at nearby Musgrave. Sir Richard Musgrave of Hartley Castle was created a baronet in 1611 and the title remains with his descendants. The last of the buildings to be known as Edenhall was an Italianate mansion built in 1821 and demolished in 1934.

The Luck of Edenhall is an old goblet. According to the legend the continued wealth of the Musgrave depended on it being kept intact. The legend developed in the poem is that the glass was acquired by a butler who, going to fetch water from a well, surprised a group of fairies dancing on the green near the spring. The glass was by the well and the butler made off with it. When he would not return it, the fairies uttered the curse which is in the famous couplet.

In 1928 the Luck of Edenhall was given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it remains to this day. Oliver Watson, Chief Curator of Ceramics and Glass at the V&A, says it is 13th-century Syrian glass and that it was brought to Europe very soon after it was made. This is clear because it has a leather case, which is English or French, that was made only a few decades after the glass.

The glass is in perfect condition. It is a drinking glass, cylindrical in shape with a wide flaring mouth, made of an orange-tinged translucent glass. Painted on it in red, blue and white enamel are intersecting arches and arabesque leaves which are outlined in gold leaf with fine red lines for extra detail. This is high-quality glass such as was only being made at the time in the Middle East. The history of the glass between the date of the case and the 18th century is not known. The legends are stories that became attached later.

The Luck of EdenHall: History and Myths

This famous glass, known as the 'Luck of Edenhall' for at least 230 years, is a beaker with flaring rim decorated in gold and coloured enamels.

The Luck of Edenhall is actually a luxury drinking glass decorated with painted enamels and gilding, made in Syria in the 13th century. Its early history is untraced, but it may have been brought home by a Crusader returning from the Holy Land back to Europe where such a rarity would have been considered the highest form of exotic luxury.

The brilliance of the Luck's colours and its immaculate condition are due to its leather case. Decorated by stamped and cut work, this is thought to have been made specially to contain the Luck in France in the 14th century.

The glass eventually descended into the possession of the Musgrave family, of Edenhall in Cumberland, England, but its real origin was forgotten. It gained a reputation as a fairy cup, left behind by fairies who, it was said, had been disturbed while drinking at St Cuthbert's Well in the Garden of Edenhall.

The first printed account of 'The Luck' appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine for August 1791. Sir William Musgrave wrote "The late agent of the family had such a reverential regard for this glass that he would not suffer any person to touch it, and few to see it. When the family, or other curious people, had a desire to drink out of it, a napkin was held underneath, lest any accident should befall it; and it is still carefully preserved, in a case made on purpose." "Tradition our only guide here, says, that a party of Fairies were drinking and making merry round a well near the Hall, called St. Cuthbert's well; but being interrupted by the intrusion of some curious people, they were frightened, and made a hasty retreat, and left the cup in question: one of the last screaming out, If this cup should break or fall, Farewell the Luck of Edenhall"

This account appears to provide the inspiration for other romanticising versions, in which the 'Luck' is imagined as being broken, and Edenhall destroyed in consequence. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translated Johan Ludwig Uhland's ballad of 1834 in which the 'Luck' is imagined as being broken at the feast, with the consequent capture of Edenhall and death of its Lord.

'As the goblet ringing flies apart,

Suddenly cracks the vaulted hall;

And through the rift the wild flames start;

The guests in dust are scattered all,

With the breaking Luck of Edenhall!

In storms the foe with fire and sword;

He in the night has scaled the wall,

Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord,

But holds in his hand the crystal tall,

The shattered Luck of Edenhall.'

In storms the foe with fire and sword;

He in the night has scaled the wall,

Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord,

But holds in his hand the crystal tall,

The shattered Luck of Edenhall.'

An account from the journal of nine and a half year old Georgiana Rosetta Smyth god-daughter of Sir George Musgrave in 1844 records "At our dinner Sir George brought the enchanted Cup, he told us that Duke Wharton used to throw it up in the air, and have a manservant to catch it again. We all drank out of it, the little Musgraves were not allowed to come into the room for fear of breaking it. Sir George showed us where the cup was kept, there was an Iron door and stone wall, in case of fire, the Cup was then put into a tin box".

The glass remained intact in the possession of the Musgrave family. In 1926 the glass was loaned to the Museum, and in 1958 it was finally acquired for the Nation; and remains on permanent view in The Glass Gallery.