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BYGONE    LANCASHIRE. 


Of  this  book  750  copies  have  been  printed, 
and  this  is 


No 


^a  > 


BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 


EDITED    BY 


ERNEST     AXON. 


LONDON : 
SIMPKIN,  MARSHALL,  HAMILTON,  KENT  &  CO.,  LD. 

MANCHESTER  : 
BROOK  &  CHRYSTAL. 

HULL: 
WH.LIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,  THE  HULL  PRESS. 

1892. 


preface. 

"T  ANCASHIRE  fair  women,"  says  the  old 
-^—^  proverb,  but  the  County  Palatine  is 
famous  not  only  for  its  witches,  real  and  imaginary, 
but  also  for  the  memorable  historic  events  that 
have  taken  place  within  its  borders,  for  the  quaint 
and  curious  customs  that  have  survived  from  past 
ages,  and  for  the  quick  life  of  its  populous 
industrial  districts.  These  varied  interests  are 
reflected  in  the  pages  of  "  Bygone  Lancashire," 
by  the  good-will  of  a  number  of  Lancashire 
authors  and  antiquaries  who  have  contributed 
papers  in  elucidation  of  the  annals  and  associa- 
tions of  a  county  memorable  alike  in  the  past  and 
the  present. 

The  best  thanks  of  the  Editor  are  tendered  to 
his  contributors,  to  Mr.  William  Hewitson  for 
the  loan  of  the  engraving  of  the  Covell  brass,  and 


534806 

LIBRARY 


PREFACE. 

to  the  Council  of  the  Lancashire  and  Cheshire 
Antiquarian  Society  for  permission  to  use 
Rosworm's  portrait. 

"  Bygone  Lancashire  "  is  sent  forth  in  the  hope 
that  it  will  prove  a  not  uninteresting  addition  to 
local  literature,  and  that  ii  may  encourage  the 
local  patriotism  which  is  such  a  striking 
characteristic  of  the  Lancashire  lad. 

Ernest  Axon. 

47,  Derby  Street,  Moss  Siuk, 
Manchester. 


Contents, 

Historic  Lancashire.     By  Ernest  Axon  

The  Religious  Life  of  Lancashire  during  the  Common- 
wealth.    By  W.  A.   Shaw,   m.a.  

Kersal  Moor.     By  Janet  Armytage  

A     Lancaster     Worthy— Thomas     Covell.      By     William 
Hewitson 

Some    Early    Manchester    Grammar    School    Boys.      By 
Ernest  Axon      ...    .     ... 


51 

11 


The   Sworn   Men  of  Amounderness.     By  Lieut-Col.   Henry 

Fishwick,    f.s.a.            89 

Lancashire   Sundials.      By   William  E.    A.    Axon,    m.k.s.l.  98 

The  Plague   in   Liverpool.     By  J.    Cooper   Morley           ...  105 

The    Old    Dated     Bell     at     Claughton.       By     Roljert 

Langton,    f.r.h.s u^ 

The  Children   of   Tim   Bobbin.     By   Ernest  Axon 116 

The   "Black  Art"  at  Bolton            132 

An   Infant  Prodigy  in    1679.     By  Arthur  W.    Croxton     ...  136 

Wife  Desertion  in  the  Olden  Times        144 

The  Colquitt  Family  of  Liverpool 146 

Some  Old  Lancashire  Punishments 157 

Bury  Simnels           165 

EccLES  Wakes.     By  H.    Cottam 17c 

Furness  Abbey         184 

Colonel   Rosworm   and  the  Siege  of  Manchester.      By 

George   C.    Yates,    f.s.a 189 

Poems   of   Lancashire  Places.     By  William  E.   A.   Axon, 

M.R.s.L.             202 

Father  Arrowsmith's  Hand.     By  Rushworth  Armytage      ...  227 

Index 235 

List  of  Subscribers           "       ...  239 


•v 


BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 


^-•-^ 


1bi6toric  Xancaebire, 

Bv  Ernest  Axon. 
T     ANCASHIRE    is   now   so   largely   devoted 
^-^     to  manufacture  and  trade  that  many  scarcely 
think  of  it  as  a  county  full  of  historic  interest. 

The  county  palatine  of  Lancaster  is  one  of  the 
youngest   of  English   counties.       It    grew  out   of 
the   Honour  of  Lancaster,    mentioned   in    Magna 
Charta,   and   was   made  a  county  in     1267.       Its 
history,      however,     goes     back     into     the     most 
remote  period  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge. 
Manchester     indeed    is    said,    but    on     doubtful 
authority,  to  have  been  a  British  station  before  the 
Romans   came.      The   earliest   reliable   history   of 
Lancashire  is  to  be  read  in  the  Roman  remains  that 
have  been  found   in   many  parts   of   the    countv. 
At   Lancaster,  Manchester,  Ribchester,  and  other 
places,    altars,    tools,    and    coins   have    been    dis- 


2  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

covered   which   show   that  the   Romans    were    in 

Lancashire  as  early  as  a.d.  74,  and  remained  until 

about  the  conclusion  of  the  fourth  century.     The 

Roman  station  of  Ribchester  was  of  considerable 

magnificence,  and  an  old  Lancashire  rhyme  that 

"  It  is  written  upon  a  wall  in  Rome 
Ribchester  was  as  rich  as  any  town  in  Christendom" 

is  to  some  extent  justified  by  the  numerous  articles 
of  artistic  beauty  found  there. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Romans,  Lancashire 
formed  part  of  the  British  Kingdom  of 
Strathclyde  or  Cumbria,  but  little  is  known  of 
what  took  place  during  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries.  The  Arthurian  romances  mention 
two  battles  which  appear  to  have  been  fought  in 
Lancashire,  one  at  Wigan  and  another  at 
Blackrod.  The  former  battle  lasted  through  the 
night,  and  when  in  1780  a  tunnel  was  cut  on  the 
alleged  site,  three  cartloads  of  horseshoes  were 
found.  The  battle  on  the  Douglas  has  also  been 
assigned  to  the  Lancashire  Douglas.  Another 
legend  connecting  Lancashire  with  Arthur,  is 
that  Tarquin  occupied  the  castle  at  Castlefield, 
Manchester,  and  was  slain  there  by  Sir  Lancelot 
du  Lake. 

In    607,    Ethelfrith,    the    Northumbrian    king. 


HISTORIC  LANCASHIRE.  3 

marched  upon  Chester,  and,  upon  his  victorious 
journey  thither,  passed  through  Southern 
Lancashire.  Eadwine,  King  of  Northumbria, 
conquered  the  greater  part  of  the  county,  and,  in 
620,  entered  Manchester,  which  he  permanently 
added  to  his  dominions.  In  627,  he  embraced 
Christianity,  and,  in  consequence,  the  people  of 
Lancashire  became,  nominally  at  least.  Christian. 
Several  battles  were  fought  in  Lancashire  during 
the  Saxon  period,  and  Lancashire  men  took  part 
in  the  rebellion  against  Tostig,  Earl  of  Northum- 
bria, in  1065. 

The  Conquest  would  appear  to  have  had  little 
effect  in  Lancashire  beyond  its  transference  from 
Saxon  to  Norman  lords.  Domesday,  which 
mentions  several  towns  and  villages  in  the  county, 
shows  that  it  was  thinly  populated  and  very  poor. 
Most  of  the  county  was  given  to  Roger  of 
Poictou,  and  afterwards  passed  to  the  Earls  of 
Chester,  and,  on  their  extinction,  to  the  Ferrers 
family.  In  1267,  the  Honour  of  Lancaster  was 
given  to  Edmund  Crouchback,  who  was  created 
Earl  of  Lancaster  the  same  year.      The   title  of 

I  Duke  was  granted  to  Henry,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  in 
1 35 1,  and  in  the  patent  of  creation,  the  dignity  of 
an  earl  palatine,  was  also  conferred  upon  him. 


4  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

When  Lancashire  attained  the  dignity  of  a 
county  palatine,  its  duke  became  a  king  in  all  but 
the  name.  He  could  pardon  treasons,  murders, 
and  felonies.  He  held  a  separate  court  of 
chancery,  court  of  common  pleas,  and  court  of 
criminal  jurisdiction.  He  could  summon  his  own 
barons,  and  the  king's  writ  did  not  run  in  his 
dominion.  When  Henry,  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
came  to  the  throne  as  Henry  IV.,  the  county 
palatine  came  directly  under  the  crown,  but  it 
retained  its  privileges,  and  it  was  not  until  this 
century  that  the  administration  of  justice  was 
assimilated  to  that  of  the  rest  of  England. 

In  1 3 16-17,  Lancashire  had  a  little  civil  war  of 
its  own.  One  Banastre,  a  .servant  of  the  Earl  of 
Lancaster,  had,  in  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
the  king,  invaded  the  earl's  land.  Banastre  was 
defeated  in  battle  near  Preston. 

Lancashire  returned  two  knights  of  the  shire  to 
the  parliament  held  at  Westminster  in  November 
1295.  The  boroughs  of  Lancaster,  Preston, 
Wigan,  and  Liverpool,  returned  two  members 
each,  and  the  Sheriff  added  to  his  return  that 
there  was  no  city  in  the  county  of  Lancaster. 
The  two  latter  boroughs  soon  ceased  to  have 
members,  being  excused  after  making  two  returns. 


HISTORIC  lANCASHIRE.  5 

Preston  ceased  after  making  seven  returns,  and 
Lancaster,  after  sixteen  returns,  discontinued  early 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  From  1359  to 
1547,  a  period  of  nearly  two  centuries,  no 
Lancashire  borough  sent  members  to  parliament, 
and  the  county  was  represented  only  by  the 
knights  of  the  shire.  In  those  days,  the  members 
received  from  their  constituents,  a  salary  and 
their  expenses,  and  the  poverty  of  the  Lancashire 
boroughs  rendered  them  unable  to  afford  even 
that  expense. 

Though  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  were  between 
the  sympathisers  of  the  houses  of  Lancaster  and 
York,  the  county  was  not  the  site  of  any  battle 
during  that  contest.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Stanley  influence  would  take  many  Lancashire 
lads  into  the  field. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth  was  marked  by  the 
persecution  of  the  Catholics,  who  were  particularly 
numerous  in  the  northern  parts  of  the  county. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  county 
earned  an  evil  notoriety  by  the  number  of  witches 
who  were  discovered  in  it.  This  epidemic  of 
superstition  resulted  in  the  cruel  deatn  of  many 
poor  old  women.  Another  form  of  the  super- 
stition was   Satanic    possession,  of  which   alleged 


6  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

cases    were    by    no    means    uncommon    in    the 
county. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  found 
Lancashire  very  divided  in  opinion.  The  great 
influence  of  the  Earl  of  Derby  was  thrown  in  the 
king's  favour,  and  the  Parliament  was  supported 
by  a  large  body  of  Puritans.  The  siege  of 
Manchester,  in  1642,  was  the  first  local  event  of 
importance,  and  the  battle  of  Preston,  when 
Cromwell  broke  the  backbone  of  the  Royalist 
power,  was  the  last. 

Two  incidents  in  the  Civil  War  are  deeply 
engraved  on  the  history  of  the  time — the  heroic 
death  on  the  scaffold  at  Bolton  of  the  great  Earl 
of  Derby,  and  the  equally  heroic  defence  of 
Lathom  House  by  his  Countess.  After  the  Civil 
War,  the  dominant  party  endeavoured  to  estab- 
lish Presbyterianism,  and  with  a  certain  amount 
of  success,  and  the  Parliamentary  representation 
was  re-arranged.  The  Restoration  was  welcomed 
throughout  the  county,  and  in  Manchester  the 
coronation  of  Charles  II.  was  celebrated  by  pro- 
cessions, dinners,  and  the  filling  of  the  conduit 
with  wine  instead  of  water.  The  Restoration 
resulted  in  the  disfranchisement  of  the  town. 
The  Act  of  Uniformity  drove  from  their  livings 


HISTORIC  LANCASHIRE.  7 

many  Lancashire  ministers,  some  of  whom 
carried  their  congregations  with  them  into  dissent, 
and  when  the  persecution  abated,  founded  bodies 
of  Dissenters,  who  have  ever  been  numerous  in 
the  county.  The  accession  of  William  III.  was 
followed  by  some  discontent  amongst  the 
Catholics,  and  Government  spies  had  so 
magnified  this  trouble  that  a  "  Lancashire  plot " 
was  imagined.  The  plotters  were  to  make  war 
upon  the  Government  and  restore  James  II.  A 
number  of  the  Lancashire  gentry  were  indicted 
on  a  charge  of  high  treason  for  being  concerned 
in  the  conspiracy.  Their  trial  at  Manchester 
made  it  quite  evident  that  their  accusers  were 
perjured,  and  that  the  "plot"  was  non-existent. 
The  gentlemen  were  acquitted  amidst  great 
rejoicing.  The  Stuart  cause  was  long  a  living 
power  in  Lancashire,  as  the  part  the  county  took 
in  the  two  rebellions  of  17 15  and  1745  proves. 
In  the  1 715  the  Scots  were  joined  by  many 
Lancashire  men.  Perhaps  the  "Royalists"  were 
in  a  minority,  for  Wood,  the  nonconformist 
minister  at  Chowbent,  found  no  difficulty  in  raising 
a  force,  which  he  led  against  the  Scots.  In  the 
'45,  the  Scotch  army  were  joined  by  a  few  Lanca- 
shire men,  much  fewer  than  they  had  expected. 


8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

The  majority  were  content  to  stand  by,  and,  after 
secreting  their  valuables,  watch  the  contest. 
Those  who  were  faithful  to  the  Stuarts  marched 
with  the  army  to  Derby,  shared  in  the  disastrous 
retreat,  and  a  few  of  them  lost  their  heads,  which 
decorated  the  principal  buildings  in  their  native 
town. 

The  45  was  followed  by  a  long  period  of  rest, 
and  Lancashire  subsided  into  a  money-making 
county  only,  with  very  small  taste  for  martial 
glory.  The  Lancashire  men  improved  and 
extended  their  svstem  of  naviofable  canals  and 
rivers,  and  they  revolutionized  the  cotton  industry. 
The  French  wars  brought  about  a  revival  of  the 
martial  spirit,  and  the  county  was  one  of  the 
foremost  in  the  first  volunteer  movement.  Early 
this  century  Lancashire  attained  notoriety  by  the 
part  it  took  in  politics.  As  a  result  of  very 
inadequate  Parliamentary  representation,  and  the 
war  policy  of  the  Governrnent,  the  county  was 
full  of  men  rendered  almost  desperate  by  poverty 
and  oppression.  Luddites  went  about  smashing 
machinery,  which  they  regarded  as  the  cause  of 
their  troubles.  Blanketeers  assembled  to  march 
to  London  to  petition  for  reform  and  help,  and 
each  man  carrying  the  blanket  which  was  to  serve 


HISTORIC  lANCASHIRE.  9 

him  for  a  tent  on  his  journey.  A  few  years  later 
wiser  councils  prevailed,  and  the  reformers  met 
peacefully  to  petition  for  reform.  One  of  these 
meetings,  at  St.  Peter's  Fields,  Manchester,  was 
dispersed  by  the  military,  and  several  of  the 
unoffending  crowd  lost  their  lives.  The  Chartists 
found  many  aiders  in  the  county,  and  to 
Lancashire  belonofs  the  honour  of  havingf  started 
the  Temperance  Reformation  and  the  Anti-Corn 
Law  Agitation.  The  county  is  a  sort  of  epitome 
of  the  whole  country,  embracing  within  its 
boundaries  mining,  commercial,  manufacturing, 
and  agricultural  districts  ;  moorland,  woodland, 
mountain,  and  lakeland,  small  hamlets,  large  towns, 
and  great  cities.  This  may  explain  the  position  the 
county  claims  in  most  social  and  political  matters, 
as  summed  up  in  the  well-known  phrase — 

"  What  Lancashire  thinks  to-day,  England  thinks  to-morrow." 


^be  1ReIioiou6  %\tc  of  Xancasbirc  baring 
tbe  Commonwcaltb. 

By  W.  a.  Shaw,  m.a. 

THE  religious  life  of  Lancashire  during  the 
Commonwealth  period  furnishes  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  weakness,  as  well  as  of  the 
strength,  of  that  Puritanism  which  Carlyle  would 
have  us  regard  as  the  only  great  and  memorable 
force  in  modern  history.  If  Puritanism  any- 
where had  scope  to  live  and  act,  it  was  here; 
if  anywhere  in  England  it  was  actually  a  force, 
it  was  in  Lancashire.  There  is  no  other  part 
of  England  that  can  furnish  so  complete  an 
illustration  of  the  true  spirit  of  this  seventeenth 
century  Puritanism  as  it  was  manifested  in 
actual  practice,  and  it  is  this  that  gives  such  a 
peculiar  value  to  the  records  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  county  during  the  years  1643-60. 

Lancashire  was  not,  as  might  be  supposed, 
among  the  first  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.    The  work  of  settling  the  government  and 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  ii 

liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  had  been 
entrusted  by  the  parliament  to  the  Westminster 
assembly ;  and  following  the  advice  of  the 
assembly,  the  parliament  passed  successively  the 
Directory  for  public  worship,  and  the  ordinance 
for  Church  government.  Independently  of  this, 
changes  had  been  made  in  particular  parishes 
by  the  parliament  ever  since  the  commencement 
of  the  war.  Royalist  parsons  had  been  seques- 
tered or  ejected  for  their  royalism  (or  "malig- 
nancy,") or  for  alleged  scandalous  life,  and 
"  learned,  godly,  and  orthodox  divines,"  sub- 
stituted for  these  "dumb  dogs."  But  the  direct 
change  effected  in  the  religious  life  of  the  people 
before  1645  was  small.  One  priest  had  taken  the 
place  of  another  at  the  parish  church,  and  sermons 
were  preached  as  never  before — nor  since,  and 
sound  "doctrine"  was  taught.  But  even  this 
change  was  not  general.  Many  parish  churches 
retained  their  royalist  parsons  and  the  common 
prayer,  and  openly  or  tacidy  ignored  the  parlia- 
ment and  its  ordinances.  It  was  not  until  the 
parliament  had  sanctioned  the  Directory  and  the 
form  of  church  government  drawn  up  by  the 
Assembly,  that  the  county  was  really  brought 
face  to  face  with  a  new  institution.     A  new  form 


12  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

of  worship  was  imposed,  which  must  have 
sounded  very  strange  in  the  ears  of  parish- 
ioners who  had  Hstened  to  the  prayer-book  from 
their  youth.  The  '*  piping  on  great  organs  "  and 
the  "  squeaking  of  chanting  choristers "  were 
done  away  with,  and  church  music  was  reduced 
to  the  simple  chanting  of  psalms.  When,  on  the 
Restoration,  this  beautiful  music  was  broufjht 
back  into  the  church  it  seemed  to  many  a  novelty 
and  a  curiosity.  "We  came  to  Manchester," 
says  a  simple  diarist  of  the  time,  "and  in.  the 
first  place  we  went  to  the  church,  and  looked 
about  us,  and  anon  the  quiristers  came,  and  we 
stayed  morning  prayer  ;  I  was  exceedinglie  taken 
with  the  mellodie."  The  rest  of  the  service 
accorded  with  this  severe  plainness.  The  con- 
gregation were  authoritatively  commanded  to  ab- 
stain from  all  private  whisperings,  conferences, 
salutations,  or  doing  reverence  to  any  persons 
present  or  coming  in,  as  also  from  all  gazing, 
sleeping,  and  other  indecent  behaviours.  The 
prayers  offered  up  by  the  minister  were  to  be 
"conceived,"  or  extemporary,  and  so  directed  as 
to  get  his  hearers'  hearts  rightly  affected  with 
their  sins,  that  they  might  all  mourn  thereof 
with  shame  and    holy     confusion  of   face.       But 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  13 

even  greater  stress  was  laid  upon  the  sermon— 
the  centre  and  core  of  the  whole  service, — "  the 
preaching  of  the  word  being  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation,  and  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
excellent  works  belonging  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel,"  Only  those  acquainted  with  the 
literature  of  that  period  can  form  any  idea  of 
the  stress  that  was  laid  upon  the  sermon  or  of  the 
character  of  it,  the  opening  and  endless  dividing 
of  the  word,  the  doctrinal  defences,  and  the 
hundred  and  one  "uses"  and  "applications." 
Not  content  with  preaching  the  sermon  in  public 
worship,  the  typical  Puritan  was  accustomed  to 
"repeat"  his  sermon,  recapitulating  the  chief 
"  heads  "  and  "  uses  "  to  a  private  audience  at  the 
close  of  the  Sabbath,  either  in  his  own  home  or 
in  the  house  where  he  happened  to  be  entertained. 
Following  this  new  form  of  service  came  a  new 
form  of  Church  Government  "  by  Presbyteries." 
Hitherto  the  parish  had  been  regulated  by  the 
parson  and  his  wardens,  the  parson  by  the  bishop 
and  his  ordinary,  and  parsons  and  bishops  alike 
by  convocation.  All  this  organisation  was  now 
abolished.  The  affairs  of  the  parish  and  the 
morals  of  the  parishioners  were  to  be  regulated 
by   elders — a  small   council,   which    was    to   meet 


14  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

weekly,  and  was  to  consist  of  the  minister  and  a 
number  of  elders  elected  from  and  by  the  con- 
gregation. This  body  was  to  be  styled  the 
Parochial  Presbytery.  A  number  of  contiguous 
parishes  were  to  be  united  into  a  higher 
organisation  styled  a  "  classis,"  the  affairs  of  which 
were  to  be  regulated  by  the  "Classical  Presbytery" 
— a  body  meeting  monthly,  and  formed  by  a 
delegation  of  two  or  more  elders  and  one  minister 
from  each  Parochial  Presbytery. 

Thirdly,  the  various  classes  of  each  county 
were  to  send  delegates  of  three  ministers  and  six 
elders  to  form  the  synod  of  the  province  or 
county,  which  met  half-yearly. 

All  the  bodies  here  prescribed  were  actually 
got  to  work  in  Lancashire.  Sixty-two  parishes 
in  the  county  were  arranged  into  nine  classes, 
each  classis  holding  its  meeting  at  some  place  of 
central  importance,  Manchester,  Bury,  Warring- 
.ton,  etc.,  and  these  classes  sent  delegates  to  form 
the  provincial  synod,  which  met  half-yearly  at 
Preston. 

There  was  a  further  step  prescribed  by  the 
ordinance  for  church  government.  It  was 
intended  that  delegates  should  be  sent  from  the 
various    provincial    synods   to   form   a    National 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  J5 

Assembly,  which  would  thus  replace  the  convoca- 
tion, and  stand  to  the  Church  in  the  position  in 
which  the  Parliament  stood  to  the  nation  at  large. 
But  in  England  this  last  step  was  never  reached. 
There  were  never  enough  provincial  synods 
formed  to  enable  a  National  Assembly  to  be  called 
— fortunately  enough  for  the  nation  ;  though  it 
must  be  confessed  there  would  have  been  some- 
thing very  curious  and  instructive  in  the  sight  of 
an  English  National  Assembly  standing  side  by 
side  with  the  Parliament. 

The  interest  attaching  to  the  experiment  of 
working  this  Presbyterian  form  of  church  govern- 
ment is  extreme  as  regards  the  clergy,  and  still 
more  as  regards  the  laity.  But  as  to  these  latter 
— the  parishioners — we  have  to  guess  a  good 
deal.  We  do  not  know  for  certain  that  in  any 
single  case  they  expressed  any  desire  to  submit  to 
the  new  system.  In  every  instance,  the  first 
steps  were  taken  by  the  Parliament.  In  the 
month  of  September,  1645,  letters  were  sent  by 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  the 
commissioners  of  the  various  counties,  requesting 
them  to  call  together  "divers  Godly  ministers 
and  others  of  the  county  to  consider  how  the 
same    may    be    most    conveniently    divided    into 


1 6  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

distinct  classical  presbyteries,  and  what  ministers 
and  others  are  fit  to  be  of  each  classis."  The 
replies  to  these  letters  either  give  the  proposed 
division  into  classes,  or  state  that  the  county  is  in 
such  a  condition  as  not  to  be  able  to  furnish 
sufficient  ministers  for  the  classes.  These  replies 
were  then  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Parliament 
for  Scandal,  and  from  this  committee  the  suggested 
classification  was  proposed  to  the  House  of 
Commons  to  be  passed  as  an  ordinance. 

In  all  this  there  is  no  trace  of  any  independent 
action  or  expression  of  opinion  on  the  part  of  the 
laity  of  the  county.  In  the  case  of  Lancashire, 
there  exists  a  petition  which  was  presented  some 
nine  months  after  these  various  letters  had  been 
sent  out  by  Speaker  Lenthall.  It  purported  to 
come  from  many  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  county,  and,  immediately  after  its  presentation, 
the  Parliament  passed  the  ordinance  dividing  the 
county  into  nine  classes.  Nevertheless,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  this  petition  contained  nothing  in  the 
shape  of  a  demand  for  the  erection  of  classes  in 
the  county.  It  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
one  of  those  purely  formal  petitions  with  which 
the  Parliament  was  at  the  time  besieged.  We 
can  trace  no  independent  act  on  the  part  of  the 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  17 

laity  of  Lancashire,  no  independent  expression 
of  desire  on  the  part  of  the  parishioners  at  large 
in  favour  of  the  new  system  of  church  govern- 
ment. Accordingly,  we  shall  not  be  surprised 
when  we  find  the  people  of  Lancashire  by  no 
means  unanimously  in  favour  of  it,  or  favourably 
impressed  by  it.  This  is  noticeable  from  the 
very  beginning,  for  it  appears  that  many  parishes 
were  quite  reluctant  to  elect  elders  for  the  parish 
as  they  were  required  to  do.  In  the  first  place, 
in  order  to  set  the  curious  machine  in  motion,  the 
Parliament  had  named  elders  in  its  ordinance,  but 
these  were  simply  to  act  till  the  various  parishes 
had  elected  their  elders  for  themselves.  But 
when  the  time  came  they  were  loath  to  do  this. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Manchester  classis 
only  four  parishes  were  represented  by  elders, 
and  in  the  minutes  of  the  classis  there  are  most 
interesting  proofs  of  this  reluctance  on  the  part  of 
the  laity,  e.g.,  one  "James  Chorlton  being  called 
to  shew  cause  why  he  doth  not  execute  his  office 
of  elder,  alleged  that  they  have  never  setled  to  an 
eldership,  that  he  is  unfitt,  and  desires  to  be  freed 
from  his  office."  At  Oldham,  the  congregation 
desired  that  they  might  not  be  pressed  to  set  up 
the    government    at    present,    because    of    some 


1 8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

obstructions.  The  Chapel  of  Didsbury  was 
repeatedly  urged  by  the  classis  to  elect  elders, 
and,  when  at  last  that  step  was  taken,  the  elders 
refused  "to  undergoe  their  office,  and  certifyed 
the  same  to  the  classis  by  a  note  under  their 
hand."  Not  less  than  seven  other  chapels  in  the 
Manchester  classis  alone  manifested  this  same 
unwillingness,  and  doubtless  in  other  parts  of 
Lancashire  where  the  population  was  not  so 
ardently  Puritan  as  in  the  southern  and  eastern 
portions,  the  number  of  disaffected  was  still 
greater.  The  matter  was  several  times  brought 
before  the  provincial  assembly  at  Preston,  and  in 
May,  1649  (more  than  two  years  after  the  system 
had  been  supposed  to  be  working),  that  body 
issued  an  exhortation  to  the  various  classes  to 
procure  the  settling  of  congregational  elderships 
and  their  acting  in  every  congregation.  It  was 
only  after  this  exhortation  that  several  of  these 
disaffected  congregations  proceeded  to  elect  their 
elderships,  e.g.;  Denton,  Oldham,  Salford,  Gorton, 
etc.,  and  it  is  plain  that  this  act  of  compliance  was 
not  sincere.  In  the  following  year  the 
Manchester  classis  ordered  the  members  of  "the 
particular  elderships  to  show  cause  why  they  doe 
fall  off  from  their    offices,"   and  again,   two  years 


■  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  19 

later  (1652),  two  ministers  were  requested  by  the 
classis  "to  go  to  Flixton  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Woolmer  and  the  elders  there,  to  demand  the 
reason  of  their  withdrawing  from  the  offices." 

In  the  following  year,  the  classis,  in  despair  at 
the  state  of  things,  ordered  every  particular  elder- 
ship within  the  classis  to  come  provided  against 
the  next  classis  to  give  account  of  their  meetings 
and  other  things  to  be  inquired  of,  especially  of 
these  three  things  : 

I.  Whether  they  keep  up  their  constant 
meetings.  2.  Whether  they  register  their  most 
material  acts.  3.  Whether  they  have  given  or 
doe  give  in  their  delegation  to  the  classis  under 
their  minister's  hand. 

Still  more  interesting  than  the  question  of  the 
attendance  of  the  eldership  is  the  question 
of  its  exercise  of  jurisdiction.  The  chief 
duty  of  this  body  was  to  safeguard  the 
Sacrament,  to  see  that  persons  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  Supper  were  sufficient  in 
point  of  knowledge,  and  unblamable  in  morals. 
Ignorant  and  scandalous  persons  were  to  be 
excluded,  and  there  are  many  curious  notices  as 
to  what  degree  of  ignorance  or  scandal  was  to 
be    considered    sufficient    ground    for    exclusion. 


20  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

^.^.,  the  eldership  was  requested  to  take  notice  of 
scandalous  gamblers  ;  also  it  was  determined  that 
"sittinge  and  drinkinge  unnecessarily  in  an  ale- 
house or  tavern  on  the  Lord's  Day  was  to  be 
censurable." 

In  addition  to  this,  the  Presbytery  was  to 
observe  whether  or  not  the  communicants  came 
constantly  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Indeed,  all  the 
duties  of  the  eldership  centred  round  this 
ordinance,  and  it  was  their  action  in  this  particular 
that  gave  the  greatest  offence  in  many  places.  In 
the  works  of  Oliver  Hey  wood  there  is  a  graphic 
description  of  the  troubles  that  were  caused  at 
Bolton  by  the  determination  of  the  eldership  to 
dictate  to  the  parishioners.  "  At  Bolton,"  he  says, 
"  where  my  father  had  joined  in  communion,  there 
were  two  ministers,  with  whom  were  associated 
twelve  elders  chosen  out  of  the  parish.  These 
sat  with  the  ministers,  carried  their  votes  into 
effect,  inquired  into  the  conversation  of  their 
neighbours,  assembled  usually  with  the  ministers 
when  they  examined  communicants,  and  though 
the  ministers  only  examined,  yet  the  elders 
approved  or  disapproved.  These  together  made 
an  order  that  every  communicant,  as  often  as  he 
was  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  should  come 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  21 

to  the  ruling  elders  on  the  Friday  before  and 
request  and  receive  a  ticket,  which  he  was  to 
deliver  up  to  the  elders  immediately  before  his 
partaking  of  that  ordinance.  The  ticket  was  of 
lead,  with  a  stamp  upon  it,  and  the  design  was 
that  they  might  know  that  none  intruded  them- 
selves without  previous  admission.  The  elders 
went  through  the  congregation  and  took  the 
tickets  from  the  people,  and  they  had  to  fetch 
them  again  by  the  next  opportunity,  which  was 
every  month.  But  this  became  the  occasion  of 
great  dissension  in  the  congregation,  for  several 
Christians  stumbled  at  it,  and  refused  to  come  for 
tickets,  yet  ventured  to  sit  down,  so  that  when  the 
elders  came  they  had  no  tickets  to  give  in.  My 
father  was  one  of  these  ticketless  persons,  and 
because  they  judged  him  to  be  the  ringleader  of 
this  faction  of  Schismatics  they  singled  him  out, 
and  summoned  him  to  appear  before  the  eldership. 
They  sent  several  times  for  him,  he  went, 
many  disputes  they  had  on  the  subject  solely,  for 
they  had  nothing  else  to  lay  to  his  charge.  At 
last  they  admonished  him,  and  when  they  saw 
him  still  resolved  not  to  revoke  his  error,  they 
suspended  him  from  the  Lord's  Supper  for  con- 
tempt, as  they  construed  it,  because  he  could  not 


22  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

in  conscience  comply.  They  said  he  laughed 
them  to  scorn,  but  he,  having  naturally  a  smiling 
countenance,  might  possibly  smile  in  his  conversa- 
tion with  them.  His  tender-spirited  wife  would 
have  had  him  yield  for  peace  sake,  but  he  durst 
not  in  point  of  conscience.  Others,  though  they 
approved  what  he  did  and  encouraged  him,  did 
not  much  appear,  but  held  off,  out  of  policy  or 
cowardice,  so  that  he  was  left  alone  to  struggle 
with  his  opponents,  which  he  did  manfully." 
This  affair  was  carried  before  the  classical 
meeting  at  Bury,  and  finally  before  the  synod. 
The  latter  body  ordered  the  eldership  at  Bolton 
"  to  revoke  the  sentence  and  receive  him  again 
into  communion,  after  the  controversy  had  con- 
tinued some  years,  occasioned  many  animosities 
among  good  people,  and  opened  the  mouths  of 
those  which  hated  religion.  It  divided  the  whole 
society  into  parties,  and  greatly  affected  the  heart 
of  his  good  wife,  who  was  all  for  peace  and 
submission,  but  he  insisted  upon  his  integrity,  and 
often  alleged  Job  xxvi.,  2-6." 

There  was  indeed  nothing  about  which  the 
clerical  mind  of  that  age  was  so  agitated  as  about 
this  question  of  admission  to  the  Sacrament.  In 
many    parishes    the    celebration    of    the    Lord's 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  23 

Supper  was   discontinued   for   years,  the   minister 
being  unwilling  to  administer  it  "promiscuously" 
to    all  the   congregation,     and    the  congregation 
revolting   against    the    idea   of  being    catechised 
and  examined  before  the  eldership.      Most  of  the 
diaries  of  the   time  that  have   come  down   to   us 
were  written  by   ministers,   and   it   is  strange   to 
notice   with  what   gusto   they   record   the  fate  of 
those    persons    who    opposed    their    pet  scheme. 
"At   Gorton,"  writes   one,  "Mr.    Rootes   himself 
catechised  all  that  came  to  the  Sacrament.     And 
a  man   and  his  wife  and   daughter   came,    and  he 
began  to  catechize  the  daughter.       '  What !    (says 
the  man)    Will  you  catechize  her  ? '       '  Aye   (says 
he),    and   you   too.'      He   forthwith   calls  his  wife 
and  daughter  away,  and   said  they   would  never 
come  there  more,  and  before  the  next  Lords  Day 
he   and  his   wife    were   both   dead''      The    same 
diarist  gives  another  curious  instance.      "  One  Mr. 
Higinson     preached    against    promiscuous    com- 
munion  in   these  words,  '  give   not   that  which  is 
holy   unto   dogs.'      A   man    in    the    congregation 
reviled    him    sadly    about    it.       He    was    shortly 
stricken  sick.     After  a  time  he  got  up  again,  and 
thought  he    mended,    went   over   the    way    to  a 
shop  window,  and  his  neighbour  was  congratulat- 


24  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

ing  his  recovery.  He  said  he  hoped  he  should 
be  well  again  now.  Suddenly  the  hiccup  took 
him,  and,  being  very  extremely  on  him,  says  he, 
'now  I  am  gone  to  the  dogs,'  and  went  kofue 
and  died y 

Truly,  the  clerical  spirit  of  this  period  was 
somewhat  lacking  in  charity.  Many  of  the 
funeral  sermons,  which  were  the  delight  of  the 
age,  were  preached  expressly  with  the  object  of 
"  improving  "  the  sudden  death  of  some  drunkard 
or  confirmed  sinner,  and  they  have  an  odd  look. 

One  old  man  who  had  lived  penuriously,  and 
was  said  at  his  death  to  have  died  ;^50  in  debt  to 
his  back  and  ^loo  to  his  belly,  had  left  his 
money  to  a  young  man,  who  naturally  enough 
made  merry  with  such  unsanctified  gain.  Before 
the  twelvemonth  he  was  dead.  The  minister 
who  was  asked  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon,  did 
so  on  the  understanding  that  he  should  be  at 
liberty  to  "  improve  "  the  occasion.  Accordingly, 
he  chose  for  his  text  Luke  xii.,  20:  "This  night 
thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee,"  adding  in  his 
diary  the  simple  words,  "a  lively  instance  of 
Eccles.  iv.,  7,  8." 

Sooth  to  say,  these  men  believed  that  they  had 
a  mission  to  perform — that  they  were  called   to 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  25 

correct  the  immorality  and  gross-mindedness  of 
the  age.  They  were,  it  is  true,  clergymen  first — 
partisans  of  an  ecclesiastical  system  which  the 
parishioners  found  intolerable— but  they  were  also 
social  reformers,  and  it  is  no  true  estimate  of  their 
success  to  judge  it  in  the  light  of  the  alleged 
return  of  immorality  at  the  Restoration.  In  the 
records  of  one  of  the  Lancashire  classes  alone, 
there  are  almost  numberless  instances  of  the 
correction  of  persons  for  uncleanness  of  life. 
The  entries  give  one  an  idea  of  the  blunt  and 
inquisitorial  nature  of  the  proceedings  of  these 
religious  bodies  : 

''Agreed,  That  Wm.  Hardy  and  his  reputed 
wife  are  bound  in  conscience  to  consummate  their 
marriage.  She  absolutely  refuseth  to  marry  him. 
Voted,  that  they  are  guilty  of  fornication.  He 
acknowledgeth  it  a  great  sinne  in  him,  but  asserts 
she  is  his  wife  before  God." 

^'Agreed,  That  the  pretended  marriage 
between  Thomas  Rudd  and  Sibill  Rudd  is 
incestuous  and  null.  Thomas  Rudd  appearing 
acknowledges  his  fault,  and  submits  to  censure. 
Agreed,  that  he  be  suspended,  and  so  declared  to 
be  in  every  congregation  solemnly  within  the 
classis  the  next  Lord's  day  but  one." 


26  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  George  Grimshaw  made  public  acknowledge- 
ment of  his  comittinge  the  great  sin  of  incest,  in 
the  church  of  Manchester,  upon  the  next  Sabboth, 
the  lo  Feb.,  according  to  order," 

As  an  instance  of  the  power  of  the 
ordinance  of  ,  suspension  from  the  Sacrament, 
Newcome  relates  the  case  of  a  man  in 
Ashton  parish  who  was  excommunicated  by  the 
classis  for  such  an  offence.  He  remained 
hardened,  and  went  away  into  Ireland,  and  was 
there  some  time,  and  yet  God  so  owned  his 
ordinance  that  he  never  had  quiet  till  he  came 
back  again  to  Ashton  parish,  and  submitted  there 
to  open  acknowledgment  of  his  offence. 

Any  account  of  the  religious  life  of  Lancashire 
under  the  Commonwealth  would  be  incomplete 
which  left  out  this  most  important  and  peculiar 
feature.  It  had  so  practical  a  bearing  on  the  morals 
of  the  parish,  and  this  is  the  only  justification  that 
can  be  offered  for  such  militant  Puritanism.  For 
assuredly  the  Puritan  clergy  did  no^  succeed  in 
that  higher  function  which  Carlyle  ascribes  to 
them  of  spiritualising  their  age,  of  giving  them  a 
vivid  conception  of,  and  belief  in,  an  immediate 
God.  Such  a  conception  comes  not  to  a  nation 
by  the  teaching  of  men,  but  only  by  revolution, 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  27 

by  national  calamities.  The  preaching  of  the 
Puritan  clergy  was  dogmatically  too  narrow  ever 
to  accomplish  such  a  result.  But  though  their 
work  thus  occupies  a  lower  plane,  it  was,  for  all 
that,  the  more  valuable,  because  the  more 
intensely  practical.  One  of  the  duties  most 
strongly  urged  upon  the  parishioners  was  that  of 
family  prayer  and  worship.  The  two  sins  most 
frequently  inveighed  against  by  the  clergy  were 
swearing  and  drunkenness,  nor  was  it  merely  by 
word  of  mouth.  An  Act  was  passed,  in  1650,  for 
the  suppressing  of  the  detestable  sin  of  profane 
swearing  and  cursing,  and  not  unfrequendy  entries 
are  to  be  found  in  the  church  registers  of  Lanca- 
shire of  fines  paid  under  this  Act.  "  Received  of 
the  wife  of  George  Hulton  for  swearing  and  other 
misdemeanours,  i6s.  8d.,"  an  enormous  sum,  one 
would  think.  A  Puritan  minister,  before  whom 
an  oath  was  uttered,  records  his  secret  humiliation 
that  his  presence  had  inspired  so  little  authority 
as  to  prevent  it.  It  is  on  this  point  oi  personal 
influence  that  the  estimate  of  the  practical  good 
accomplished  by  Puritanism  really  turns,  and  it 
was  on  this  point  that  the  clergy  manifested  the 
greatest  jealousy  of  zeal.  "  I  remember,"  says 
Newcome,     "Mr.    Constable,    a    known    famous 


28  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

epicure  that  was  a  retainer  to  a  gentleman. 
He  was  prophane  and  very  bad,  yet  was 
as  civil  and  tame  to  me  as  could  be.  One 
time,  coming  from  a  sermon  of  mine  wherein 
he  was  touched,  he  told  Mr.  Hardy  thatjt  might 
be  I  might  think  he  was  an  atheist,  but,  for  his 
part,  he  did  believe  there  was  a  God,  and  that  he 
ought  to  be  served,  etc.,  but  he  was  forced  to 
drink  to  please  the  gentlemen  that  maintained 
him.  Another  time,  on  a  Lord's  Day,  at  night, 
in   the   winter,  before  prayers,    he   told   the  lady 

there   was    excellent   ale    at ,  and  moved   he 

might  send  for  a  dozen,  some  gentlemen  of  his 
gang  being  with  him.  I  made  bold  to  tell  him  that 
my  lady  had  ale  good  enough  in  her  house  for 
any  of  them  ;  especially  I  hoped  on  a  Sabbath 
Day  she  would  not  let  them  send  for  ale  to  the 
alehouse.  The  lady  took  with  it,  and,  in  her 
courteous  way,  told  him  her  ale  might  serve  him, 
but,  notwithstanding,  after  duties,  he  did  send, 
but  durst  not  let  it  come  in  whilst  I  stayed. 
That  evening,  not  thinking  of  any  such  thing, 
we  fell  into  some  good  discourse  that  held  us 
long  talking  under  the  window,  whilst  the  other 
gentlemen  stood  at  the  fire.  Mr.  Constable 
longed  to  be  at  his  ale,  but  durst  not  let  it  come 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  29 

in  whilst  I  stayed,  but  stood  murmuring,  'Will  they 
never  have  done ;  what  can  they  find  to  talk  of  all 
this  while?'  and  the  like.  At  last  I  took  leave,  and 
then  he  said,  '  Now  he  is  gone  !     Fetch  in  the  ale.'  " 

It  was  this  sense  of  theimportanceof  their  personal 
influence  that  led  the  ministers  to  insist  so  rigidly 
upon  their  duty  of  catechizing  their  congregations. 

"  I  had  a  very  pretty  and  considerable  dis- 
course," writes  one,  "  with  James  Bancroft, 
servant  then  in  the  yarnecroft.  He  was  affected 
with  the  word,  but  most  grossly  ignorant  (as  it 
was  ordinary  for  the  children  and  servants  of  such 
as  had  run  the  way  of  Separation).  I  asked  him 
how  many  commandments  there  were,  and  he  told 
me  ten,  but  could  not  tell  me  one  of  them.  I 
then  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  such  and  such 
duties  and  sins,  and  he  could  tell  all  these,"  The 
records  of  the  time  abound  in  curious  references 
to  such  direct  and  authoritative  interference  on 
the  part  of  the  minister  in  the  daily  life  of  their 
parishioners,  and  the  respectful  acquiescence  in  it 
is  really  a  worthy  vindication  of  their  proceedings, 
and  of  the  superiority  of  moral  tone  assumed  by 
the  clergy.  "I  had  occasion,"  says  Newcome,  "in 
exposition  about  the  gesture  of  prayer,  to  declare 
for  either  kneeling  or  standing,   and  that  sitting 


30  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

was  not  a  fit  posture,  and  I  could  not  but  observe 
the  obedience  of  that  great  congregation  (at 
Manchester),  that  of  all  that  day  I  could  scarce 
see  any  sitting  in  prayer,  whereas  they  had  many 
of  them  (and  of  the  better  sort)  much  used  it 
before."  It  is  very  instructive  to  contrast  the 
moral  strength  of  this  Puritanism  with  its 
doctrinal  weakness,  and  its  dogmatic  narrowness. 
These  very  men  "who  were  fighting  for  our 
liberties  introduced  a  bill  into  the  House  of 
Commons  to  put  a  man  to  death  for  denying,  the 
Trinity,  and  these  very  clergy  who  stood  thus 
morally  head  and  shoulders  above  the  laity, 
showed  little  real  intellectual  advance  upon  them. 
It  sounds  like  an  extract  from  a  fifteenth 
century  record  when  one  reads  such  an  account  as 
Newcome  gives  of  a  contest  with  the  devil.  "  I 
received  a  letter,"  he  says,  "from  Mr.  Hough, 
which  gave  an  account  of  a  poor  maid's  condition 
that  had  by  promise  given  her  soul  to  the  devil, 
and  such  a  day  was  to  meet  him.  He  desired 
prayers  for  her.  I  got  a  few  together  in  the 
morning  by  six,  and  we  kept  to  prayer  till  after 
nine  on  her  behalf,  yet  it  proved  in  the  end  a  kind 
of  drawn  battle.  Satan  did  not  prevail  in  this 
gross    contrivance    upon    her,     but    she    proved 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  LANCASHIRE.  31 

melancholy,  idle,  and  would  follow  no  business. 
The  servants  of  God  which  had  striven  for  her 
had  not  that  joy  in  her  which  they  desired," 

But,  let  it  be  clearly  understood,  the  only  claim 
which  Puritanism  makes  in  history,  is  on  the  score 
of  its  moral  teaching.  The  men  themselves  were 
probably  not  fully  aware  of  this,  they  were  so 
bound  down  by  doctrine,  but,  looking  back  upon 
the  epoch,  that  fact  becomes  clear.  They  have 
done  what  in  them  lay  to  preserve  in  its  full 
force  in  English  life  what  has  to  some  extent 
been  always  characteristic  of  us  as  a  nation — a 
stern  moral  earnestness  and  uprightness.  The 
question  as  to  the  method  by  which  they  sought 
this  end,  is  after  all  a  subsidiary  one.  In 
Lancashire,  they  proceeded  with  the  high  hand, 
and  attempted  to  rule  the  private  life  of  the 
parishioners  through  the  inquisitorial  proceedings 
of  the  Presbytery.  Looking  back  on  it,  we  can 
see  that  it  failed,  and  we  feel  that  it  deserved  to 
fail,  but  its  effect  for  good  on  the  life  of  the  people 
was  valid  for  all  that,  and,  however  blindly, 
through  zeal  or  insufficient  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  these  men  acted,  the  result  achieved, — 
not  immediately,  but  only  by  the  slow  lapse  of 
generations — was  unspeakably  beneficial. 


Ifcersal  flDoor. 

By    Janet    Armytage. 

FROM  the  earliest  periods,  Kersal  has  been 
an  important  portion  of  historical  Man- 
chester, and  yet  there  are  people  about  Manchester 
who  hardly  know  even  its  name.  Of  its  early 
history  little  is  known.  Of  course,  it  was  not 
always  as  it  is  now  ;  it  was  a  portion  of  a  forest. 
Manchester  was  formerly  a  Roman  camp,  and  in 
the  lists  of  the  Roman  roads  round  Manchester, 
one  is  given  as  crossing  Kersal  Moor.  This  road 
was  a  part  of  the  old  racecourse.  Whitaker,  the 
historian  of  Manchester,  says  that  "  the  moor  of 
Kersal  was  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  perhaps 
in  that  of  the  Britons  before  them,  and  for  many 
ages  after  both,  a  thicket  of  oaks  and  a  pasture 
for  hogs ;  and  the  little  knolls  that  so  remarkably 
diversify  the  plain,  and  are  annually  covered  with 
mingled  crowds  rising  in  ranks  over  ranks  to  the 
top,  were  once  the  occasional  seats  of  the  herds- 
men   that    superintended    these    droves    in    the 


KERSAL  MOOR.  33 

woods."  Kersal  Moor  has  changed  since  then. 
The  last  of  the  trees  was  burnt  about  twelve 
years  ago. 

But  if  the  early  history  is  vague,  its  later  events 
are  more  certain.  In  1730,  were  established  the 
Manchester  races,  and  the  moor  was  fixed  upon 
as  being  the  most  suitable  for  a  racecourse.  Dr. 
John  Byrom,  the  owner  of  Kersal  Cell,  was 
greatly  opposed  to  this,  and  he  wrote  a  pamphlet 
against  it,  but  the  races  continued  for  fifteen 
years,  when,  probably  through  Dr.  Byrom's 
influence,  they  were  stopped  in  the  year  of  the 
Jacobite  rising.  Another  fifteen  years  passed, 
and  the  races  recommenced,  and  were  held  every 
year  till  1846,  when  they  were  transferred  to  the 
Castle  Irwell  grounds.  The  last  race  at  Kersal 
was  marked  by  one  or  two  accidents.  The  front 
rail  of  one  of  the  stands,  which  had  too  many  people 
in  it,  gave  way,  and  thirty  or  forty  of  the  pleasure 
seekers  fell  into  the  dust.  No  bones  were 
broken.  Another,  later  in  the  day,  was  more 
serious  in  its  character.  A  man  named  Byrne 
was  riding  in  the  hurdle  race  when  he  fell,  receiv- 
ing so  much  injury  that  he  was  removed  to  the 
Manchester     Infirmary,     where     he     died     next 

morning.     So  ended  the  races  on  Kersal  Moor, 

D 


34  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

and  then,  to  use  the  words  of  one  of  the  news- 
papers, "  the  stands  were  allowed  to  stand  no 
longer,  the  posts  were  made  to  cut  their  sticks, 
the  distance  chair  and  the  seat  of  judgment  were 
levelled  to  the  ground,  and  all  the  distinctive 
features  of  a  racecourse  were  cleared  away,  save 
and  except  the  grand  stand,  which  still  rears  its 
head  on  high."  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  first 
school  on  this  side  of  Manchester  was  held  in  the 
grand  stand,  after  the  departure  of  the  races. 
Since  then,  other  schools  having  been  built,  the 
grand  stand  school  was  cleared  away. 

The  "  correct  card  "  of  the  second  of  the  race 
meetings  after  their  return  to  Kersal  is  now 
scarce,  and  is  reprinted  below. 

"  A  true  and  exact  List  of  all  the  Horses,  &c., 

That  are  Enter'd  to  Run 

On  Kersal  Moor,  near  Manchester, 

On  Wednesday  the  21st,  Thursday  the  22nd,  and  Friday  the 

23rd  of  October  1761 

On  Wednesday  the  21st,  for  £,^0  by  four  year  olds  carrying 
8st.     five  year  olds  8st  81bs.     six  year  olds  gst.  51b.  and  aged 
Horses  lost.  saddle  and  Bridle  included,  four  mile  Heats. 
Philip  Egerton  Esqr's  Bay  Mare,  Rockatina,  5  years  old.  Rider 

Robert  Collins,  in  Blue 
Mr.   Pearson's  .Chesnut  Mare,   Lashing  Molly,    5    years    old 

Rider  John  Cotesworth,  in  Green 


KERSAL  MOOR.  35 

William  Broome  Esqr's  Bay  Horse,  Hector,  6  years  old.  Rider 
unknown. 


On  Thursday  the  22nd,  for  a  Whim  Plate  of  ;^5o.  by 
Horses.  &c.  14  Hands  to  carry  gst.  higher  or  lower  weight 
in  proportion,  and  all  under  7  years  old  to  be  allowed  ylb 
weight  for  each  year,  according  to  their  Ages,  four  mile  Heats. 

Mr  Williams's  Bay  Horse,  Moscow,   6   years   old,   14   Hands 

I  inch  3qrs.  gst.  51b.  40Z.  Rider,  Robert  Collins  in   Blue. 
Mr  Stanhope's  Bay   Horse,   Short  Hose  Aged,    14  hands  gst 

Rider,  Thomas  Clough  in  Blue. 
Dr  Bracken's  Chesnut  Horse,  Dismal,  6  years  old,   14  hands 

8st.  81b.  120Z.  Rider,  Matt.  Wilson,  in  Red. 
Mr  Eyre's  Chesnut  Mare,  Pretty  Bess,   5  years  old,  13  hands 

3  inches  yst.  ylb.  Rider,  John  Eyre  in  Red. 
(To  be  sold) 


And  on  Friday  the  23rd  for  ^50.  by  6  year  olds  carrying  gst. 
71b.  and  Aged  Horses  lost.  Saddle  and  Bridle  included,  four 
Mile  Heats. 

Philip  Egerton's  Bay  Horse,  Dionysius.  Aged.  Rider,  Robert 

Collins,  in  Blue. 
Mr  Peter's  Bay  Horse,   Orphan,   6   years  old.   Rider,  Robert 

Bloss,  in  Yellow. 
William    Broome,    Esqr's,    Bay    Horse,   Hector,   6  years  old. 

Rider,  unknown. 
Mr    Williams's    Bay    Horse    Moscow,    6   years   old.    Rider, 

unknown. 

To  start  at  1 2  o'clock.  There  will  be  an  ordinary  every 
day  immediately  after  the  races,  provided  by  Mr  Budworth,  in 
the  Exchange,  which  will  be  properly  air'd  for  the  Purpose. 


36  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

THE   HORSE   RACE,    A   POEM. 

The  Signal's  given  by  a  shrill  Trumpet's  sound, 

The  coursers  start,  and  scour  the  ground  : 

While  for  the  palm  the  straining  steeds  contend. 

Beneath  their  Hoofs  the  Grass  doth  scarcely  bend; 

So  long  and  smooth  their  strokes,  so  swift  they  pass. 

That  the  Spectators  of  the  noble  Race 

Can  scarce  distinguish  by  their  doubtful  Eye, 

If  on  the  ground  they  run,  or  in  the  Air  the[y]  fly. 

O'er  Hills  and  Dales  the  speedy  Coursers  fly. 

And  with  Thick  clouds  of  dust  obscure  the  Sky. 

With  clashing  whips  the  furious  Riders  tear 

Their  Coursers  sides,  and  wound  th'  afflicted  Air, 

On  their  thick  manes  the  stooping  Riders  lie, 

Press  forward,  and  would  fain  their  steeds  outfly. 

By  Turns  they  are  behind,  by  turns  before ; 

Their  Flanks  and  sides  all  bathed  in  sweat  and  gore, 

Such  speeds  the  steeds,  such  Zeal  the  Riders  shew, 

Upon  the  last,  with  spurning  Heels  the  first 

Cast  Storms  of  Sand,  and  smothering  Clouds  of  Dust. 

The  hindmost  strain  their  Nerves,  and  snort  and  blow. 

And  their  white  foam  upon  the  foremost  throw. 

Manchester — Printed  by  Jos  Harrop,  opposite  the  Exchange,  by  Order  of  the  Stewards." 

In  1789  and  1790  there  had  been  many  high- 
way and  house  robberies.  Gangs  of  armed  men 
entered  houses  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and 
carried  away  with  them  whatever  they  could 
take.  The  authorities  placed  armed  patrols 
about  the  neighbourhood,  but  this  did  not 
diminish  the  number  of  outrages.     At  last  a  man 


KERSAL  MOOR.  37 

named  James  Macnamara  was  arrested  with  three 
others  for  a  burglary  at  the  Dog  and  Partridge 
Inn,  in  Stretford  Road.  Macnamara  was  tried 
at  Lancaster,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged  as 
a  warning  to  other  burglars.  Kersal  Moor  was 
selected  as  his  place  of  execution,  so  that 
everyone  might  see  him.  Joseph  Aston,  in  his 
Metrical  Records  of  Manchester,  expresses  his 
opinion  on  the  execution  in  verse  : — 

"  It  was  in  the  year  that  Macnamara  was  hung, 
When  the  heart  that  was  feehng,  by  feeling  was  wrung. 
For  the  wretch,  whom  the  law  had  with  justice  decreed 
Had  made  forfeit  of  life  by  a  wicked  misdeed, 
Was  from  Lancaster  dragg'd,  for  the  idle  a  show, 
By  mistaken  policy,  adding  to  woe 
Severity,  such  as  the  sentence  ne'er  said ; 
Nor  tortur'd  before  death — but  hanged  till  dead,  dead. 
To  the  wicked,  example  like  this  had  no  gain, 
And  the  sight  of  the  wretch  to  the  virtuous  gave  pain." 

The  number  of  persons  attracted  to  the  place 
was  immense,  "but  after  all,"  says  Aston,  "no 
one  could  suppose  the  example  had  any  use.  In 
proof  that  it  had  not  any  good  effects,  several 
persons  had  their  pockets  picked  on  the  ground 
'  within  sight  of  the  gallows  ;  and  the  following 
night  a  house  was  broken  into  and  robbed  in 
Manchester."     In    the   Chetham    Library  is  pre- 


38  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

served  a  programme  of  this  execution,  giving  the 
order  of  the  officials  who  attended  it. 

From  this  dismal  scene  we  turn  to  one  of  more 
cheerfulness — a  review  of  the  Rochdale,  Stock- 
port, and  Bolton  Volunteers.  This  having  been 
fixed  for  Thursday,  August  25,  1796,  on  the 
Wednesday  evening  they  assembled  on  the  moor 
for  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  ground,  and 
settling  other  necessary  preliminaries,  after  which 
they  marched  into  town,  and  were  quartered 
for  the  night.  On  the  Thursday  morning,  about 
ten  o'clock,  they  again  marched  to  the  ground, 
preceded  by  all  the  loyal  associations,  who,  in 
compliment  to  the  corps,  had  determined  to  show 
them  that  tribute  of  respect.  The  Alanchester 
Mercury  mentions  that  the  loyal  associations 
"  had  their  various  flags,  and  wore  blue  favours 
in  their  hat."     It  goes  on  to  say  : — 

"  The  appearance  of  the  associations  was  most  respectable; 
and  the  officers  and  privates  of  the  Volunteers,  dressed  in 
elegant  uniforms,  were  truly  military  in  their  style  and  order. 
At  the  entrance  on  the  moor,  the  Ayrshire  Fencible  Cavalry 
(who  are  stationed  in  our  barracks)  formed  on  each  side  the 
road  to  clear  the  way ;  they  were  of  the  greatest  service  and 
highly  increased  the  interest  of  the  scene.  Major-General 
Barnard  now  appeared  on  the  ground,  attended  by  his  aides- 
de-camp  and  other  officers.  The  Volunteers  were  put  in 
motion,  and  the  review  began.     Their  marching  and  military 


KERSAL  MOOR.  39 

appearance  were  most  excellent,  and  would  not  have  been 
exceeded  by  any  regiment  on  the  establishment.  The  man- 
oeuvres were  continued  with  various  marchings  and  counter- 
marchings,  in  the  course  of  which  they  fired  in  platoons, 
by  divisions,  and  in  lines.  From  no  part  of  their  discipline 
did  they  gain  more  credit  than  this — their  firing  was  such 
as  the  oldest  regiment  in  the  service  would  have  been 
honoured  by.  When  the  business  of  the  day  was  finished, 
the  General,  in  the  most  polite  manner,  addressed  each  corps 
separately,  and,  in  terms  of  the  strongest  approbation, 
expressed  the  great  pleasure  he  had  received  from  their 
excellent  discipline,  and  the  order  with  which  they  had 
conducted  themselves  through  their  arduous  task.  It  was 
late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  review  was  over,  and  to  finish 
the  day  there  was  a  horse  race  which  afforded  tolerable  sport." 

The  Manchester  Mercury  says  that  there  were 
no  fewer  than  60,000  persons  present,  but  with 
due  respect  for  the  departed  pages  of  that  most 
useful  paper,  it  is  not  necessary  to  place  implicit 
faith  in  this  statement. 

The  next  item  of  importance  in  the  annals  of 
Kersal  Moor  is  a  duel  between  two  worthy 
gentlemen  of  Manchester.  A  meeting  took  place 
one  afternoon  in  July,  1804,  between  Mr.  Shak- 
spere  Philips  and  Mr.  Jones.  Mr.  Philips  was 
attended  by  a  Mr.  Fosbrooke.  Mr.  Jones  fired 
at  Mr.  Philips  without  effect,  and  Mr.  Philips 
discharged  his  pistol  in  the  air,  upon  which  the 
seconds  interfered,  the  parties  shook  hands,  and 


40  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

separated  after  mutual  expressions  of  satisfaction, 
which  they  would  do  all  the  more  amiably  as 
neither  was  hurt.  Two  other  Manchester  men 
had  been  quarrelling  in  the  newspapers  for  some 
time  past,  and  about  a  fortnight  after  the  duel 
mentioned,  that  is  on  July  25,  Mr.  J.  L.  Philips 
and  Colonel  Hanson  met  on  Kersal  Moor  to 
get  satisfaction.  Information  had  been  given  to 
the  magistrates,  and  when  the  duellists  came 
to  the  spot  they  found  a  portion  of  the  Man- 
chester peace  officers  awaiting  their  advent. 
They  were  arrested,  and  so  ended  the  second 
duel. 

Three  years  pass  by,  and  Kersal  Moor  assumes 
another  character.  One  James  Massey  was 
imprisoned  in  the  New  Bailey,  and  in  a  fit  of 
despair  hanged  himself.  He  was  buried  near 
the  "distance  chair"  on  Kersal  Moor.  This 
distance  chair  has  since  been  spirited  out  of 
existence.  There  appeared  to  be  some  difficulty 
in  disposing  of  the  body  of  this  unfortunate  man  ; 
his  body  was  removed  and  re-interred  in  the 
ditch  at  the  place  where  the  murderer  Grindrod 
was  gibbeted.  This,  however,  was  not  con- 
sidered satisfactory,  and  he  was  again  removed 
to  another  part  of  Sal  ford. 


KERSAL  MOOR.  41 

In  181 2,  there  was  a  camp  stationed  at  Kersal 
Moor ;  the  MiHtia  regiments,  numbering  about 
3000  persons,  were  reviewed  in  June  by  General 
Acland.  The  camp  was  under  such  miUtary 
regulations  and  arrangements  as  were  requisite 
for  immediate  service,  so  that  the  routine  of 
camp  duty  was  strictly  observed.  To  complete 
the  preparation  for  such  a  service,  a  telegraph, — 
i.e.,  a  semaphore, — was  fixed  on  elevated  ground, 
from  which  any  necessary  information  could  be 
communicated  all  through  the  district  in  a  few 
minutes.  There  were  two  pieces  of  artillery  upon 
the  ground ;  six  horses  were  attached  to  each 
of  these  pieces  ;  a  driver  to  each  pair  of  horses, 
two  men  stationed  on  the  gun,  and  about  twelve 
men  on  horseback  in  attendance.  Cowdroys 
Manchester  Gazette  gives  this  account  of  an 
incident : — "  Last  Sunday,  at  the  camp  on  Kersal 
Moor,  was  exhibited  a  solemn  and  impressive 
scene,  that  does  credit  to  the  liberality  of  the 
times,  and,  we  trust,  will  be  a  presage  to  the 
return  of  tolerating  and  unbigoted  principles. 
The  Roman  Catholic  part  of  the  highly-respected 
regiment,  the  South  Militia,  with  other  soldiers 
of  the  same  faith,  were  brigaded  on  the  ground 
and    marched    round    an    altar,     raised    for    the 


42  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

purpose  of  celebrating  mass.  The  sight  of  so 
many  hundred  warriors,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  on  their  knees  supplicating  the  Almighty 
for  their  country  and  themselves  in  a  way  most 
congenial  to  their  inborn  feelings,  imposed  a 
religious  silence,  and  interested  every  spectator." 
This  camp  was  visited  in  August  by  the  Duke 
of  Montrose. 

Some  years  ago,  Kersal  Moor  was  much  fre- 
quented by  naturalists  and  botanists,  as  it  was 
then  perhaps  the  most  favourable  ground  near 
Manchester  for  the  study  of  botany.  This  has 
been  changed  since  the  ground  has  been  protected 
by  the  Corporation.  One  of  the  botanists  of  the 
time,  that  is,  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  and 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  Richard 
Buxton.  His  life  was  rather  a  curious  one.  His 
family  was  very  poor,  and  could  not  afford  him 
any  education  beyond  teaching  him  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet.  But,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was 
dissatisfied  with  this  ;  so  with  the  idea  of  teaching 
himself  to  read,  he  procured  a  spelling-book. 
After  some  trouble,  he  was  completely  master  of 
it,  and  was  able  to  read  the  New  Testament. 
But  the  pronunciation  and  meaning  of  most  of  the 
words  troubled   him,  and  to  mend  this,  he  got  a 


KERSAL  MOOR.  43 

pronouncing  dictionary,  and  went  steadily  through 
it  from  beginning  to  end.  Then,  in  his  leisure 
moments,  he  went  excursions  a  little  out  of  the 
town,  and  Kersal  Moor  came  in  for  a  good  share 
of  his  attention.  One  June  day  he  was  quietly 
botanizing  there,  on  the  bank  of  a  brook  at  a  part 
now  drained  and  cultivated.  A  number  of  his 
favourite  plants  grew  there,  and  he  immediately 
became  interested  in  his  work  ;  when,  at  a  short 
distance  from  him,  he  saw  another  man  engaged 
in  botanizing.  They  struck  up  an  acquaintance, 
and  the  stranger  turned  out  to  be  John  Horsefield, 
a  hand-loom  weaver,  who  was  the  president  of 
the  Prestwich  Botanical  Society.  He  became 
interested  in  Buxton,  and  introduced  him  to 
several  other  working  botanists.  Buxton  after- 
wards wrote  a  Botanical  Guide  to  Manchester, 
which  contains  a  memoir  of  himself,  and  shows 
how  carefully  he  had  examined  the  country  round 
about  the  city.  The  flora  of  Kersal  Moor  is 
interesting,  as  showing  what  flowers  may  still  be 
found  in  the  outskirts  of  a  city  like  Manchester. 
Mr.  Cosmo  Melvill  contributed  an  article  to  the 
Journal  of  Botany,  in  which  he  gave  a  list  of  the 
plants  and  flowers,  not  including  mosses,  that  are 
to    be    found    on    Kersal    Moor.     There   are    no 


44  B  YGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

fewer  than   240  different   kinds,  or  at   least  there 
were  a  very  few  years  ago. 

Perhaps  the  most  crowded  time  on  Kersal 
Moor  was  during  the  day  of  a  large  Chartist 
gathering,  which  took  place  on  September  24th, 
1838.  Placards  were  placed  on  the  walls  in  every 
town  or  village  within  ten  miles  of  Manchester, 
and  invitations  were  given  to  all  the  trades  to 
attend  the  meeting,  which  was,  as  the  placards 
stated,  "  in  favour  of  universal  suffrage,  annual 
parliament,  and  no  property  qualification."  The 
principal  procession  started  from  Manchester 
about  half-past  ten,  and  moved  down  Shudehill, 
Hanging  Ditch,  Cateaton  Street,  Hunt's  Bank, 
and  Bury  New  Road.  Kersal  toll-bar  had  not 
then  been  taken  down,  and  the  procession 
occupied  thirty-five  minutes  in  passing  through. 
The  principal  banner  of  the  Manchester  pro- 
cession was  said  to  have  cost  ^30,  though  this 
may  have  been  an  exaggeration,  like  many  other 
things  that  were  said  in  connection  with  the 
meeting.  The  inscriptions  on  some  of  the  flags 
and  banners  showed  that  the  Peterloo  massacre 
was  not  forgotten  ;  one  banner  with  a  representa- 
tion of  Peterloo  field,  bore  the  inscription 
"  Murder  demands  justice,"  and  on  several  others 


KERSAL  MOOR.  45 

were  portraits  of  Henry  Hunt.  At  the  time 
proclaimed  for  the  taking  of  the  chair,  that  is 
eleven  o'clock,  few  people  had  arrived,  but  about 
half-past  eleven  came  the  Bolton  procession, 
which  had  several  bands  of  music  and  some 
curious  remarks  on  the  banners.  On  one  of  these 
was  worked  the  lines  : — 

"  Those  jealous  reptiles  we  have  not  forgot, 
How  they  did  strive  a  patriot's  name  to  blot ; 
Despite  of  their  dungeons, 
Their  fines  and  decrees, 
Who  would  ever  bow  down 
To  such  reptiles  as  these  ?  " 

Another  had  on  it  a  representation  of  three  dead 
clergymen,  and  Fame  with  a  trumpet,  and  the 
words  "  They  trafficked  in  the  people's  rights ; 
their  characters  are  as  black  as  hell."  One  flag, 
carried  by  a  Bolton  lad,  may  be  said  to  be  unique  ; 
it  was  a  copy  of  the  Bolton  Chronicle,  pasted  on 
a  board,  with  a  broom  held  above  it.  At  half- 
past  twelve  the  Manchester  procession  reached 
the  moor,  and  was  immediately  preceded  by  an 
important-looking  individual  on  horseback,  who 
wore  a  white  hat  and  a  snuff-coloured  coat.  This 
gentleman  came  to  herald  the  approach  of  the 
procession,  and,  on  its  arrival,  the  chair  was  taken  by 


46  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Mr.  John  Fielden,  m.p.  As  this  was  at  ten  minutes 
to  one,  the  chairman  was  only  two  hours  late  in 
opening  the  meeting.  The  chairman's  address 
occupied  forty  minutes ;  this  and  all  the  other 
speeches  were  fully  reported  in  the  Manchester 
Guardian,  though  the  reporters  were  rather 
hardly  treated.  All  that  was  provided  for  their 
convenience  was  a  piece  of  board  to  write  their 
notes  against.  After  the  chairman,  there  were 
speeches  by  Mr.  Hodgetts  of  Salford,  the  Rev. 
J.  R.  Stephens,  and  Mr.  Feargus  O'Connor. 
The  two  last-named  were  next  year  sentenced  to 
eighteen  months'  imprisonment  for  similar 
speeches  made  at  Hyde,  though  the  Manchester 
police  took  no  notice  of  the  Kersal  gathering. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  meeting,  there  was  a 
drizzling  rain,  and  the  last  speeches  were  drowned 
by  the  sounds  of  the  various  brass  bands  as  they 
were  going  home.  The  reports  as  to  the  number 
present  were  numerous  and  dissimilar,  but  the 
Manchester  Guardian,  for  that  date,  says  that 
there  were  probably  40,000  persons  present. 

A  still  larger  demonstration  was  held  on  May 
25th  in  the  following  year,  when  Mr.  Feargus 
O'Connor  and  other  Chartist  orators  treated  their 
audience      to     some      violent     speeches.        Mr. 


KERSAL  MOOR.  47 

O'Connor  stated  that  he  came  there  because  the 
Queen  and  the  magistrates  declared  the  meeting 
to  be  illegal  and  unconstitutional.  The  later 
annals  of  Kersal  Moor  include  several  more 
military  camps  and  reviews.  Nor  must  the 
Jubilee  bonfire  be  forgotten. 

The  ground  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Corporation.  It  was  a  part  of  the  property  of 
the  Byroms  and  the  Clowes  family,  and  their 
trustees  not  being  able  to  give  the  moor  to  the 
town,  it  was  leased  for  twenty-one  years,  and  the 
trustees  returned  the  money  as  a  contribution 
towards  the  expense  of  keeping  it  as  a  public 
recreation  ground.  The  moor  was  not  always 
as  small  as  it  is  at  present.  Quite  near  to  it  are 
the  two  old  houses,  Kersal  Cell  and  Kersal  Hall. 
A  tradition  of  the  hall  may  be  given  in  Mr.  R. 
W.  Procter's  words  :  "  Eustace  Dauntesey  came 
as  chief  of  the  fated  mansion.  Dauntesey  wooed 
a  maiden — no  doubt  a  beautiful  young  lady,  with 
a  handsome  fortune,  who  was  ultimately  won  by 
a  rival  suitor.  The  wedding-day  was  fixed,  and 
the  prospect  of  their  coming  happiness  was  utter 
misery  to  Eustace.  Having  in  his  studious  youth 
perfected  himself  in  the  black  art— a  genteel 
accomplishment    in    the   dark   ages — he    drew    a 


48  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

magic  circle,  even  at  the  witching  hour,  and 
summoned  the  evil  one  to  a  consultation.  The 
usual  bargain  was  soon  struck,  the  soul  of 
Eustace  being  bartered  for  the  coveted  body  of 
the  maid,  the  compact  to  close  at  the  lady's  death, 
and  the  demon  to  remain  meanwhile  by  the  side 
of  Dauntesey  in  the  form  of  an  elegant  "self,"  or 
genteel  companion.  Eustace  and  his  dear  one 
(in  a  double  sense)  stood  before  the  altar  in  due 
course,  and  the  marriage  ceremony  was  completed. 
On  stepping  out  of  the  sacred  edifice,  the  elements 
were  found  to  be  unfavourable.  The  flowers 
strewed  before  their  feet  stuck  to  their  wet  shoes, 
and  the  torch  of  Hymen  refused  to  burn  brightly 
in  a  soaking  shower.  Arrived  within  his  festive 
hall,  the  ill-fortune  of  Eustace  took  another  shape. 
His  bride  began  to  melt  away  before  his  eyes. 
Familiar  as  he  was  with  magic,  here  was  a 
mystery  beyond  his  comprehension.  Something 
is  recorded  about  a  holy  prayer,  a  sunny  beam, 
and  an  angel  train  bearing  her  slowly  to  a  fleecy 
cloud,  in  whose  bosom  she  became  lost  to  earth. 
Taken  altogether,  the  affair  was  a  perfect  swindle 
in  its  bearing  upon  Eustace.  Awakened  to 
consciousness  by  a  touch  from  his  sinister  com- 
panion, Dauntesey  saw  a  yawning  gulf  at  his  feet. 


KERSAL  MOOR.  49 

and  felt  himself  gradually  going  in  a  direction 
exacdy  the  reverse  of  that  taken  by  his  bride  of 
an  hour." 

Nor  has  Kersal  Moor  been  without  literary 
associations.  In  the  last  century,  it  was  one  of 
the  haunts  of  the  witty  and  wise  John  Byrom. 
In  this  generation,  Edwin  Waugh  had  for  years 
his  home  close  by.  This  last  remnant  of  moor- 
land Manchester  may  possibly  have  suggested  his 
fine  poem  of  "  Wild  and  Free  :  " — 

"  I  wish  I  was  on  yonder  moor, 
And  my  good  dog  with  me ; 
Through  the  blooming  heather  flower 
Ranging  wild  and  free. 
Wild  and  free, 
Wild  and  free. 
Where  the  moorland  breezes  blow. 

"  Oh,  the  wilderness  is  my  delight, 
To  foot  of  man  unknown, 
Where  the  eagle  wings  his  lordly  flight, 
Above  the  mountains  lone  ; 
Wild  and  free, 
Wild  and  free, 
Where  the  moorland  breezes  blow. 

"  Sweet  falls  the  blackbird's  evening  song, 
In  Kersal's  posied  dell ; 
But  the  skylark's  trill  makes  the  dewdrops  thrill 
In  the  bonny  heather  bell ; 

E 


50  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"Wild  and  free, 
Wild  and  free, 
Where  the  moorland  breezes  blow. 

"  Oft  have  I  roved  yon  craggy  steeps, 
Where  tinkling  moorland  rills 
Sing  all  day  long  their  low,  sweet  song 
To  the  lonely  listening  hills ; 
And  croon  all  night, 
In  pale  moonlight, 
While  mountain  breezes  blow. 

"  In  yon  lone  glen  I'll  take  my  rest, 
And  there  my  bed  shall  be, 
With  the  lady  fern  above  my  breast 
Waving  wild  and  free ; 
Wild  and  free, 
Wild  and  free. 
Where  the  moorland  breezes  blow." 


a  Xancastcr  Mortb^— ZTbomae  CovelL 

By  William  Hewitson. 

I  "HE  oldest  brass  in  the  ancient  parish  church 
J-  of  St.  Mary,  at  Lancaster,  is  inscribed  to 
the  memory  of  Thomas  Covell.  A  portion  of  the 
brass,  showing  the  figure  of  the  deceased  in  his 
robes  of  office,  was  broken  off  some  years  ago, 
and  only  that  part  which  bears  the  epitaph 
remains  fixed  in  the  pathway  along  the  middle  of 
the  nave.  The  figure  as  engraved  on  the  brass 
is  about  twenty-five  inches  long.  It  is  broken 
across  the  middle,  and  much  worn — the  features 
being  practically  obliterated — but  the  appended 
sketch  conveys  a  tolerably  good  idea  of  it. 

The  epitaph  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  HERE  LYETH  INTER-RED 
THE  BODY  OF  THOMAS  COVELL,  ESQ., 

6  TYMES  MAIOR  OF  THIS  TOWNE, 

48  YEARES  KEEPER  OF  THIS  CASTLE, 

46  YEARES  ONE  OF  Y^  CORONERS  OF  Y^  COVNTY 

PALATINE  OF  LANCASTER, 


52  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  CAPTAINE  OF  Y    FREEHOLD  BAND  OF  THIS  HVNDRED  OF 

LOINSDALL 

ON  THIS  SIDE  Y«  SANDS, 

AND  IVSTICE  OF  PEACE  AND  QVORVM  THROVGHOVT 

THIS  SAID  COVNTY  PALATINE  OF  LANCASTER, 

WHO  DYED  Y«  I  OF  AVGVST,   1 639, 

^TATIS  SViE  78. 

Cease,  cease  to  movrne,  all  teares  are  vain  and  voide, 
Hee's  fledd,  not  dead ;  dissolved,  not  destroy'd  : 
In  heaven  his  sovl  doth  rest,  his  bodie  heere 
Sleepes  in  this  dvst,  and  his  fame  everiewhere 
Trivmphs ;  the  towne,  the  covntry  farther  forth, 
The  land  throvghovt  proclaimes  his  noble  worth  : 
Speake  of  a  man  soe  kind,  soe  covrteovs. 
So  free  and  every  waie  magnanimovs. 
That  storie  told  at  large  heere  doe  yov  see, 
Epitomiz'd  in  briefe  Covell  was  hee." 

"  So  far  as  we  can  ascertain,"  says  the  writer  of 
a  handbook  published  in  my  native  town,  "there 
is  no  record  of  the  exploits  of  this  eminent 
Lancastrian  other  than  is  found  in  his  fulsome 
epitaph.  The  panegyrics  of  the  tombstone  are 
not  always  reliable."  It  is  surprising  that  the 
spirit  of  local  patriotism  has  not  saved  the 
memory  of  Thomas  Covell  from  the  sneer  of  a 
Lancastrian  whose  lack  of  knowledge  on  the  sub- 
ject is  self-confessed.  Whatever  opinion  may  be 
formed  on  the  Covell  epitaph,  standing  by  itself, 
evidence  is  not  wanting  to  show,  at  any  rate,  that 
he  was  one  of  the  most  substantial  citizens    of 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  53 

Lancaster  during  a  period  of  which  local  historians 
have  said  very  little. 


A.NXIENT    BRASS    IN    ST.    MARY's   CHURCH,    LANCASTER. 

Whether  Thomas  Covell  was  a  native  of  the 
town   in   which   he   lived   so  long   is   not  known. 


54  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

His  name  appears  in  the  list  of  Freeholders  in 
the  hundred  of  Lonsdale,  in  the  year  1600.  He 
became  keeper  of  "  Gaunt's  embattled  pile"  in 
the  days  of  the  most  famous  Duchess  of 
Lancaster,  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  in  one  way  and 
another  held  high  office  in  the  ancient  borough 
for  well  nigh  half  a  century.  He  had  seen  some 
thirty  summers,  and  the  Virgin  Queen  had  been 
three-and-thirty  years  on  the  throne,  when  he 
was  appointed  keeper  of  the  Castle.  Another 
dozen  years  saw  the  end  of  the  Tudor  and  the 
beginning  of  the  Stuart  dynasty.  Two-and- 
twenty  years  he  lived  under  the  "  the  wisest  fool 
in  Christendom,"  some  fourteen  under  Charles 
the  First,. and  then,  full  of  years  and  local  honours, 
he  made  his  will  and  next  day  died.  Many 
visitors  to  the  Old  Church  in  which  he 
worshipped  and  at  last  was  laid  to  rest  have  been 
disposed  to  smile  at  the  rhymed  part  of  his 
epitaph. 

But,  making  allowance  for  the  posthumous 
exaggerations  of  the  time — exaggerations  not 
confined  to  the  seventeenth  century — there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  Thomas  Covell  was  a  man 
of  excellent  qualities.  At  any  rate  the 
Corporation  of  Lancaster  went  the  length  of  six 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  55 

times  electing  him   Mayor,  and  civic  honours  did 
not  go  a  begging  in  those  days. 

In  connection  with  the  Castle,  Thomas  Covell 
had,  of  course,  many  disagreeable  duties  to 
perform,  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  that  he 
incurred  the  ill-word  of  some  of  the  persons 
committed  to  his  charge.  One  of  these,  a 
distinguished  clergyman,  has  left  it  on  record  that 
his  personal  comfort  was  disregarded  by  the 
keeper.  Then  we  have  it  on  the  authority  of  a 
Bishop  that  too  much  leniency  was  shown 
towards  certain  of  the  prisoners.  These  seem  to 
be  the  worst  things  that  have  been  said  of 
Covell  in  his  administrative  capacity.  Leaving 
the  complainants,  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  two 
contemporary  writers  bear  testimony  to  his  genial, 
hospitable  nature. 

John  Taylor,  the  "  Water  Poet,"  visited 
Lancaster  in  his  "  Penny lesse  Pilgrimage  or 
Moneylesse  Perambulation "  from  London  to 
Edinburgh,  in  the  summer  of  what  he  describes 
as  "  the  yeare  of  grace,  one  thousand,  twice  three 
hundred  and  eighteene,"  that  is,  1618.  Leaving 
Manchester,  he  tells  us  :— 

"  The  Wednesday  being  lulyes  twentynine, 
My  lourney  I  to  Preston  did  confine, 


56  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE, 

"  All  the  day  long  it  rained  but  one  showre, 
Which  from  the  Morning  to  the  Eue'n  did  powre, 
And  I,  before  to  Preston  I  could  get, 
Was  sowsd  and  pickled  both  with  raine  and  sweat, 
But  there  I  was  supply'd  with  fire  and  food, 
And  any  thing  I  wanted  sweet  and  good. 
There  at  the  Hinde,  kind  Master  Hinde  mine  Host, 
Kept  a  good  table,  bak'd  and  boyld,  and  rost. 
There  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday  I  did  stay. 
And  hardly  got  from  thence  on  Saturday. 
Vnto  my  lodging  often  did  repaire 
Kinde  Master  Thomas  Banister,  the  Mayor, 
Who  is  of  worship,  and  of  good  respect. 
And  in  his  charge  discreet  and  circumspect ; 
For  I  protest  to  God  I  neuer  saw 
A  Towne  more  wisely  Gouern'd  by  the  Law. 

Thus  three  nights  was  I  staid  and  lodg'd  in  Preston, 

And  saw  nothing  ridiculous  to  iest  on. 

Much  cost  and  charge  the  Mayor  vpon  me  spent. 

And  on  my  way  two  miles  with  me  he  went ; 

There  (by  good  chance)  I  did  more  friendship  get. 

The  vnder  Shriefe  of  Lancashire  we  met, 

A  gentleman  that  lou'd  and  knew  me  well, 

And  one  whose  bounteous  mind  doth  beare  the  bell. 

There,  as  if  I  had  bin  a  noted  thiefe, 

The  Mayor  deliuered  me  vnto  the  Shriefe. 

The  Shriefes  authority  did  much  preuaile. 

He  sent  me  vnto  one  that  kept  the  layle. 

Thus  I  perambulating,  poore  lohn  Taylor, 

Was  giu'n  from  Mayor  to  Shriefe,  from  Shriefe  to  laylor. 

The  laylor  kept  an  Inne,  good  beds,  good  cheere. 
Where  paying  nothing  I  found  nothing  deere  : 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  57 

"  For  the  vnder  Shriefe  kind  Master  Couill  nam'd, 
(A  man  for  house-keeping  renown'd  and  fam'd) 
Did  cause  the  Towne  of  Lancaster  afford 
Me  welcome,  as  if  I  had  beene  a  Lord. 
And  'tis  reported,  that  for  daily  bounty, 
His  mate  can  scarce  be  found  in  all  that  County. 
Th'  extremes  of  mizer,  or  of  prodigall 
He  shunnes,  and  hues  discreet  and  liberall. 
His  wiues  minde  and  his  owne  are  one,  so  fixt 
That  Argus  eyes  could  see  no  oddes  betwixt. 
And  sure  the  diiference  (if  there  difference  be) 
Is  who  shall  doe  most  good,  or  he,  or  shee, 
Poore  folks  report  that  for  relieuing  them, 
He  and  his  wife  are  each  of  them  a  lem  ; 
At  th'  Inne  and  at  his  house  two  nights  I  staide, 
And  what  was  to  be  paid,  I  know  he  paide  ; 
If  nothing  of  their  kindnesse  I  had  wrote, 
Ingratefull  me  the  world  might  iustly  note  : 
Had  I  declar'd  all  I  did  heare  and  see, 
For  a  great  flatt'rer  then  I  deemd  should  be  : 
Him  and  his  wife,  and  modest  daughter  Besse, 
With  Earth  and  Heau'ns  felicity,  God  blesse. 
Two  dayes  a  man  of  his,  at  his  command, 
Did  guide  me  to  the  midst  of  Westmerland, 
And  my  Conductor,  with  a  liberall  fist. 
To  keepe  me  moist,  scarce  any  Alehouse  mist." 

In  Taylor's  '' Wit  and  Mirth,"  published  in 
1630,  the  Water  Poet  tells  a  quaint  story  for 
which  he  was  probably  indebted  to  his  Lancaster 
host.  "  A  poore  woman's  husband,"  he  says, 
"was   to  be  hanged  at  the  towne   of  Lancaster, 


58  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

and  on  the  execution  day  she  intreated  the 
Shrieue  to  be  good  to  her  and  stand  her  friend  : 
the  Shrieue  said  that  he  could  doe  her  no  hurt, 
for  her  husband  was  condemned  and  iudged  by 
the  Law,  and  therefore  hee  must  suffer.  Ah, 
good  master  Shrieue,  said  the  woman,  it  is  not  his 
life  that  I  aske,  but  because  I  haue  a  farre  home, 
and  my  mare  is  old  and  stiffe,  therefore  I  would 
intreat  you  to  doe  me  the  fauour  to  let  my 
husband  be  hanged  first." 

The  other  witness  in  Covell's  favour  is  the 
author  of  "  Barnaby's  Journal,"  Richard  Brath- 
waite.  This  Westmoreland  genius  was  related  to 
Sir  Francis  Bindloss  (son  of  Sir  Robert  Bindloss, 
of  Borwick  Hall),  who  represented  the  borough 
of  Lancaster  in  Parliament  in  1627-28.  For 
some  years  between  1620  and  1630,  Sir  Francis 
Bindloss  resided  at  Ashton  Hall,  near  Lancaster, 
and  describing  his  passage  through  the  county 
town  on  a  visit  to  his  kinsman,  Brathwaite 
writes  : — 

"  First  place  where  I  first  was  known-a, 
Was  brave  John  a  Gant's  old  towne-a  ; 
A  seat  antiently  renowned, 
But  with  store  of  beggars  drowned ; 
For  a  Jaylor  ripe  and  mellow, 
The  world  has  not  such  a  fellow." 


A  LANCASTER    WORTHY.  59 

Further  mention  of  Thomas    Covell  is  found  in 
an  account  given  by  three  miHtary  officers  of  a  visit 
to  Lancaster  in    1634: — "We  entered  [from  the 
north]    into     the     famous     County     Palatine     of 
Lancaster,    by  a   fayre,    lofty,    long,    archt  bridge 
over    the  river  Lun.      Wee  were  for  the  George 
in     Lancaster,     and    our    host     was     the     better 
acquainted  with  the  affayres  of  the  shire  for  that 
his  brother  was  both  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  a 
chiefe  gaoler  there,    by  vertue  whereof  wee  had 
some  commaund  of  the  Castle,  w'ch   is   the  honr 
and   grace   of  the  whole  towne."     In  the  Castle 
they  found  "stately,  spacious,  and  princely  strong 
roomes,    where   the    Dukes   of  Lancaster  lodg'd. 
It   is    of   that    ample    receit,    and   is   in    so    good 
repayre,  that  it  lodgeth  both  the  judges  and  many 
of  the  justices  every  assize."     From  this  record  it 
appears  that  the  landlord  of  the  George  Inn  (for 
many  generations  one  of  the  best-known  hostelries 

in    Lancaster)    was    Thomas    Covell's    brother 

probably    Edmund    Covell,    who    was    Mayor   in 
1631,  and  died  in  1634. 

Touching  the  complaints  against  Covell's 
keepership  of  the  Castle,  I  find  that  on  January 
29,  1598  (about  seven  years  after  his  appoint- 
ment)     the     Bishop    of    Chester,    Dr.     Richard 


6o  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Vaughan,  wrote  as  follows  to  Sir  Thomas 
Hesketh,  Attorney  of  the  Court  of  Wards  and 
Liveries,  and  M.P.  for,  and  Recorder  of, 
Lancaster  : — "I  hear  that  the  prison  at  Lancaster 
is  very  ill  kept ;  that  the  recusants  there  have 
liberty  to  go  when  and  whither  they  list ;  to  hunt, 
hawk,  and  go  to  horse  races  at  their  pleasure  ; 
which  notorious  abuse  of  law  and  justice  should 
speedily  be  reformed.  If  no  means  be  used  to 
keep  them  in,  and  to  bring  in  the  chief  in  this 
faction,  it  will  breed  in  the  end  not  mischief  only 
but  a  public  inconvenience."  Lancaster  was  then, 
and  till  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  later, 
in  the  diocese  of  Chester. 

In  "A  Narration  of  the  Life  of  Mr.  Henry 
Burton,"  published  in  1643,  some  strictures  are 
passed  on  Thomas  Co  veil  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
Burton,  b.d.,  of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  Friday 
Street,  London,  who  was  for  twelve  weeks  a 
prisoner  in  Lancaster  Castle.  Burton  was  a 
victim  of  the  Star  Chamber,  and,  along  with 
William  Prynne  and  Dr.  Bastwick,  had  his  ears 
cut  off  in  the  pillory,  was  very  heavily  fined,  and 
sentenced  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  He  was 
removed  from  London  to  Lancaster  in  the  first 
week  of  August,    1637,   and  on    November    ist 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  6i 

following  he  was  transferred  to  the  prison  in 
Guernsey.  Covell  and  Burton  appear  to  have 
fallen  foul  of  each  other  immediately  on  the 
arrival  of  the  latter  at  the  Castle.  "There  he" 
(Covell),  writes  Burton,  ''sitting  in  John  of 
Gaunts  old  chaire,  fell  to  speak  his  pleasure  of  me 
and  to  censure  me  for  what  I  had  done :  To 
whom  I  said,  '  Sir,  it  is  your  office  to  be  my 
Gaoler,  not  my  judge.'"  Burton  complains 
bitterly  of  the  inattention  of  Covell  to  his 
comfort,  and  of  the  "extreme  coldnesse  "  of  the 
prison.  He  describes  the  aged  keeper  as  a 
"beastly  man,"  and  complains  of  the  "hellish 
noise,  night  and  day,"  made  by  "five  witches  with 
one  of  their  children  "  who  were  lodged  in  a  dark 
room  under  the  one  occupied  by  himself  As  he 
passed  out  at  the  Gateway  Tower  on  his  way  to 
Guernsey,  Burton  had  a  parting  shot  at  Covell, 
who,  he  says,  was  "vexed  at  this." 

It  is  not  improbable  that  Thomas  Covell 
managed  the  refreshment  department  at  the  Castle, 
and  at  the  High  Sheriff's  house  "  neere  ad- 
joininge,"  at  the  assize  times,  in  connection  with 
his  brother  of  the  George  Inn.  At  any  rate,  he 
had  the  means  at  his  command  of  acting  the  part 
of    "mine    host"    on    an    extensive   scale.      For 


62  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

instance,  during  the  shrievalty  of  Mr.  William 
ffarington,  of  Worden  Hall,  in  1636,  an  agree- 
ment was  entered  into  on  his  behalf  with  the 
keeper  of  the  Castle,  for  making  provision  for  the 
Lent  Assizes,  in  these  terms:  "Agreement 
betwixt  John  Rowe  and  William  Somner, 
yeomen,  in  the  behalf  of  William  ffarington  Esq., 
Sheriffe  of  Lancashyre  on  the  one  pte,  and 
Thomas  Covell  of  Lancaster  Esq.,  on  the  other 
pte,  viz. — ffirst  it  is  agreed  that  the  said  Thomas 
Covell  shall  upon  his  own  cost  and  chardge 
p'vyde  dyett  lodginge  and  horsemeate  (pVander 
excepted)  for  the  said  Sheriffe  and  XLtie  men  at 
the  said  assyzes,  and  also  dyett  for  XXtie  gentle- 
men att  the  sheriff's  table  every  dynner  and 
supper  duringe  the  said  assyses.  And  yf  there 
bee  more  gentlemen  at  the  sheriff's  table,  or  more 
servingmen  than  aforesaid,  then  the  said  sheriffe 
to  allow  for  every  gentleman  above  that  numb 
xiid  a  meale,  and  for  every  serving  man  or  other 
vid.,  and  the  said  Mr  Covell  to  fynde  all  lynnen 
and  naperie  for  all  the  tables  (except  the  sheriffs 
table.)  It:  The  said  sheriffe  shall  at  and  upon 
his  owne  chardge  p'vyde  wyne,  sugar,  and 
venyson  for  both  Judges  and  himself,  and  plaite 
only  for  his  owne  table.     In  considera'con  where- 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.     .  63 

of  the  said  sheriffe  is  to  pay  the  said  Thomas 
Covell  LXXXV^  out  of  the  which  the  said 
Thomas  Covell  is  to  allowe  to  the  said  sheriffe  for 
the  gaole  at  Lancaster  this  next  assyzes  XV^ 
and  XV  windles  of  oats.  In  witness  whereof  the 
parties  above  said  have  interchangeably  subscribed 
their  names,"  etc. 

Some  interesting  but  ghastly  chapters  might  be 
written    concerning  the   criminal   business   which 
the  Judges  of  Assize  transacted  and  the  sentences 
which    were    carried    out    at    Lancaster    during 
Thomas  Covell's   keepership   of  the    Castle — the 
whole  assize   business   of  the   shire  being  trans- 
acted at  that  time  in  the  county  town.      It  may  be 
assumed  that  he  was  present  when  Edward  Kelly, 
the  seer  and  associate  of  Dr.    Dee,    had  his  ears 
cut  off.        In  his   official  capacity,    Covell   would 
give    up    to    the    Sheriff    the    reputed    conjuror, 
Edmund  Hartlay,  who  was  executed  in   1597  for 
witchcraft  alleged  to  have  been  practised  by  him 
on  the  family  of  Nicholas  Starkie,  at  Cleworth,  or 
Clayworth,  in  the  parish  of  Leigh — this  being  the 
first   execution    for    witchcraft    in    Lancashire   of 
which  there  appears  to  be  any  record.      In  July, 
1600,    the  keeper  of  the   Castle  gave   up  to   the 
Sheriff,     for     execution,     Edward    Thwing    and 


64  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Robert  Nutter,  two  of  the  many  Roman  Catholics 
who  were  laid  upon  a  hurdle  at  the  Castle  gates 
and  drawn  through  the  streets  of  the  old  town  to 
the  Tyburn-shaped  gallows  on  the  Moor,  there  to 
be  hanged,  "bowelled,"  and  quartered,  their  dis- 
membered remains  being  afterwards  exposed  on 
the  Gateway  Tower  at  Lancaster,  or  on  church 
towers  in  other  parts  of  the  county.  Two  more 
Roman  Catholics,  Thurstan  Hunt  and  Robert 
Middleton,  suffered  in  like  manner  in  March, 
1 60 1,  and  another,  Laurence  Baily,  in  September, 
1604.  A  year  afterwards,  a  woman  named  Anne 
Waters  was  burnt  to  death  for  complicity  in  the 
murder  of  her  husband,  at  Lower  Darwen — a 
murder  which  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
a  dream.  A  few  years  later,  in  161 2,  Lancaster 
was  the  scene  of  one  of  the  bloodiest  events  in 
the  assize  history  of  the  town.  On  the  morning 
of  August  20,  ten  prisoners,  of  both  sexes,  were 
given  up  by  the  gaol-keeper  and  carried  to  "  the 
common  place  of  execution,"  where  they  were  put 
to  death  for  having  "  practised  and  exercised 
divers  wicked  and  devilish  artes  called  witch- 
craftes,  inchauntments,  charmes,  and  sorceries." 
These  were  the  poor  "Pendle  witches,"  whose  trial 
had    concluded    only    the   day    before.        In    his 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  65 

famous  work,  "The  Lancashire  Witches,"  Harrison 
Ainsworth  makes  it  appear  that  these  victims  of 
superstition  were  burnt  to  death  "  in  the  area 
before  the  Castle,"  and  according  to  an  illustration 
in  the  1803  edition  of  Challoner's  "Memoirs  of 
Missionary  Priests,"  published  by  Thomas 
Haydock,  in  Manchester,  this  open  ground 
immediately  in  front  of  the  Castle  was  also  the 
spot  on  which  at  least  one  Roman  Catholic 
priest  was  executed.  There  is  nothing,  however, 
in  the  records  of  the  town  to  warrant  the 
supposition  that  a  death  sentence  has  ever  been 
carried  out  on  the  site  in  question.  In  Thomas 
Pott's  "  Wonderfull  Disco verie  of  Witches  in  the 
County  of  Lancaster,"  originally  published  in 
161 3,  it  is  stated  that  the  Pendle  witches  suffered 
the  death  penalty  at  a  place  "near  unto 
Lancaster,"  and  no  doubt  this  refers  to  the  then 
open  moorland  about  a  mile  eastward  of  the 
Castle,  now  included  in  the  workhouse  grounds. 
William  Yates's  map  of  Lancashire,  published  in 
1786,  shows  a  gallows  at  this  particular  point ;  and 
this  was  the  place  of  execution  down  to  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  a  scaffold  was 
first  used  at  the  back  of  the  Castle,  close  to  the 
Crown  Court.      It  is  said  that  after  the  arrest  of 


66  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

the  so-called  witches,  in  the  Forest  of  Pendle, 
some  of  their  friends  met  at  the  Malkin  Tower, 
and  among  other  things  decreed  that  Thomas 
Covell,  by  reason  of  his  office,  should  be  slain 
before  the  ensuing  assizes,  and  that  Lancaster 
Castle  should  be  blown  up.  But  the  keeper  of 
the  Castle  was  a  tough  customer ;  he  lived  for 
twenty-seven  years  longer,  and  died  in  his  bed  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  Civil  War,  some  four 
years  after  he  had  passed  away,  that  any  real 
attempt  was  made  to  blow  up  the  Castle  in  which 
he  had  spent  so  much  of  his  life.  Besides  having 
to  do  with  the  reputed  witches  in  his  capacity  as 
gaol-keeper,  Covell  had  two  of  them  before  him 
in  the  exercise  of  his  other  functions.  It  is  on 
record  that  the  confession  and  examination  of  old 
Alice  Whitde  (the  alleged  rival  of  "Old 
Demdike,"  who  died  in  one  of  the  Castle 
dungeons  before  the  trial  came  on),  and  the 
confession  and  declaration  of  James  Device  ("Old 
Demdike's "  grandson),  were  taken  before  "Mr. 
William  Sands,  mayor  of  Lancaster,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Covell,  district  coroner  and  keeper  of  the 
Castle."  In  March,  1616,  two  more  Roman 
Catholics,  John  Thulis  and  Roger  Wrenno,  or 
Warren,  were  hanged  and  quartered  at  Lancaster  ; 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  67 

and  in  March,  16 18,  eleven  prisoners  were 
executed,  but  for  what  offences  does  not  appear. 
The  last  executions  of  Roman  Catholics  with 
which  Covell  was  officially  concerned,  but, 
unhappily,  not  the  last  of  the  kind  at  Lancaster, 
took  place  in  August,  1628,  when  Father 
Arrowsmith  (of  "dead  man's  hand"  fame)  and 
Richard  Herst  were  put  to  death  and  dis- 
membered after  the  barbarous  manner  of  the 
time. 

In  1630,  a  man  named  Utley  was  executed 
for  having,  as  it  was  alleged,  bewitched  to  death 
Richard  Assheton,  son  of  Ralph  Assheton,  of 
Middleton,  near  Manchester.  Three  years  after- 
wards, the  Castle  was  again  the  scene  of  a  great 
witch  trial,  the  prisoners  hailing  from  Pendle  and 
the  neighbourhood ;  but  although  seventeen  of 
the  accused  were  found  guilty  and  condemned,  the 
sentences  were  not  carried  out,  and  eventually 
the  whole  of  the  prisoners  regained  their 
liberty. 

Several  alleged  witches  lay  under  sentence  of 
death   in   the   Castle   in   the  early   part  of  1635. 
Four   of  them    were    women    from    Wigan,    and 
when   Dr.   John    Bridgeman,   Bishop  of  Chester, 
proceeded    to    the   Castle   by  royal    command    to 


68  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

examine  them,  he  found  that  two  of  the  women 
had  died  in  gaol.  In  the  summer  of  1636,  Covel 
had  ten  persons  accused  of  witchcraft  in  his 
custody,  these  being  mostly  from  the  Pendle 
district,  whose  sentences  had  been  respited. 
Probably  it  was  some  of  these  same  prisoners  to 
whom  the  Rev.  John  Burton  refers  as  having 
"continued  a  long  time  there,"  and  who  "made 
such  a  hellish  noise"  in  the  "dark  room," 
immediately  under  the  one  in  which  he  was 
confined  for  three  months,  in  1637.  These, 
however,  were  not  the  last  "witches"  imprisoned 
there.  Writers  on  this  subject  have  failed  to 
make  an  exact  record  of  the  last  case  of  execution 
for  witchcraft  in  Lancashire.  The  point  is  thus 
vaguely  referred  to  by  Dr.  Webster,  in  his 
"  Display  of  Witchcraft,"  dated  February,  1673  : 
"  I  myself  have  known  two  supposed  witches  to 
be  put  to  death  at  Lancaster  within  these  eighteen 
years,  that  did  utterly  deny  any  league  or 
covenant  with  the  devil,  or  even  to  have  seen 
any  visible  devil  at  all."  A  woman  named 
Isabella  Rigby  was  executed  for  witchcraft  at 
Lancaster,  in  October,  1665,  and  this  is  the  last 
execution  of  the  kind  on  record  in  the  County 
Palatine.       Probably    the    last    person    sent    to 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  69 

Lancaster  Castle  for  trial  on  the  charge  of  witch- 
craft was  an  aged  woman  named  Katherine 
Walkden,  of  Atherton,  who  died  in  gaol  before 
the  case  came  on  for  trial — this  being  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  April,  1636,  a 
batch  of  ten  prisoners  passed  from  Covell's 
custody  to  the  moorland  gallows.  It  will  be  seen 
that  a  total  of  thirty-one  persons  were  executed, 
as  the  outcome  of  three  assizes  alone,  during 
Covell's  term  of  office.  As  regards  the  number  of 
culprits  executed  on  any  one  occasion,  he  appears 
to  have  established  a  "  record,"  so  far  as  the 
County  Palatine  is  concerned.  By  way  of  com- 
parison, it  may  be  noted  that,  on  April  25th,  1801, 
seven  prisoners  were  hanged  together  on  the  new 
scaffold  at  Lancaster,  and  on  April  19th,  18 17, 
nine  were  put  to  death  in  the  same  "  Hanging 
Corner,"  these  being  the  most  numerous  simul- 
taneous executions  in  Lancaster  since  the  days  of 
Covell. 

With  regard  to  Covell's  "  modest  daughter 
Besse,"  mentioned  by  the  author  of  the  "  Penny- 
lesse  Pilgrimage,"  the  only  other  reference  to  her 
is  found  in  the  pedigree  of  an  old  Lancashire 
family,  the  Brockholeses  of  Heaton  and  Claughton. 
In  this,  she  is  mentioned  as  having:  become  the 


7©  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

second  wife  of  John  Brockholes.  The  two 
children  born  of  this  marriage  died  in  1654  (about 
twelve  years  after  their  father),  and  were  buried 
at  Garstang  Parish  Church.  By  his  will,  dated 
July  31st,  1639,  Thomas  Covell  bequeathed  to 
his  grandson,  John  Brockholes,  ^50  and  the 
"  chief  lordship "  of  Torrisholme ;  and  to  his 
granddaughter,  Elizabeth,  two  houses  in  Lan- 
caster, with  their  appurtenances  and  certain  goods, 
and  also  all  his  interest  in  his  "  new  house  and 
new  stables  "  in  the  same  town,  after  the  death  of 
his  wife,  Dorothy.  Covell's  inventory  amounted 
to  ;^3,047  7s.  3d.  His  widow  died  the  year  after 
him. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Thomas  Covell 
built  the  front  part  of  the  very  substantial  house 
at  the  higher  end  of  Church  Street,  Lancaster, 
which  has  been  for  many  years  known  as  the 
Judges'  Lodgings ;  and  that  Thomas  Cole  (of 
The  Cote,  Bolton-le-Sands),  father  of  the  Edmund 
Cole  who  was  High  Sheriff  of  Lancashire  in 
1707,  built  the  addition  (north-west  corner) 
abutting  on  St.  Mary's  Gate,  placing  his  initials 
and  the  date  (1675)  on  the  door  head  stone  at 
that  side,  and  his  crest  on  the  pillars  of  the  main 
entrance,  as  it  still  exists.     Mention   is  made  of 


A  LANCASTER   WORTHY.  71 

this  house  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
and  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  as  "  Stoop 
Hall."  This  name  may  have  been  given  it  much 
earlier,  and  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
pillar  or  cross  which  is  shown  in  Speed's  plan  of 
the  town  as  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
immediately  fronting  the  house,  in  16 10.  Since 
the  days  of  the  venerable  gaol-keeper,  it  has  been 
known  as  Covell  Cross.  All  that  is  left  of  it  now 
is  the  round  foundation  stone,  level  with  the 
pavement.  For  some  unknown  reason,  what 
remained  of  the  shaft  or  "  stoop  "  was  taken  down 
about  the  year  1826,  and  placed  in  the  garret  at 
the  Judges'  Lodgings.  Twelve  or  fifteen  years 
ago  it  was  removed  thence  to  the  corridor  under 
the  Nisi  Prius  Court  at  the  Castle,  and  not  long 
afterwards  it  was  "cleared  out  as  rubbish!" 
Such  was  the  ill-fate  of  the  cross  at  which  (as  well 
as  at  the  Market  Cross,  which  has  also  dis- 
appeared) new  Sovereigns  were  always  proclaimed 
by  the  civic  authorities,  with  the  accompaniment 
of  "  the  town  musick  and  four  drums  " — ^a  cross  to 
which,  on  all  occasions  of  public  rejoicing  or 
thanksgiving,  the  mayor  and  his  colleagues  were 
accustomed  to  walk  in  state,  "  with  musick  playing 
and  drums  beating." 


72  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

The  purpose  of  this  somewhat  discursive  article 
will  be  abundantly  served  if  it  should  lead  to  a 
better  regard  for  local  antiquities,  and  for  the 
memory  of  the  men  who,  in  one  way  and  another, 
have  rendered  service  to  "  time-honoured  Lan- 
caster." 


^ome  lEarl^  flDancbcstcr  Grammar  Scbool 

By  Ernest  Axon. 

THE  Manchester  Grammar  School  possesses 
an  excellent  register  of  its  boys  from  1730 
to  the  present  time,  and  the  admissions  from  that 
date  to  1830,  have  been  printed  under  the  able 
editorship  of  the  Rev.  J.  Finch  Smith ;  but 
scholars  anterior  to  1730  have,  to  a  large  extent, 
been  ignored.  Yet  they  include  men  who,  in 
various  capacities,  have  done  service  to  their 
country.  The  difficulty  of  compiling  a  list  of  the 
early  scholars  is  great.  Biographical  writers 
rarely  think  it  necessary  to  state  where  their 
subject  was  educated,  and  the  difficulty  is  not 
lessened  by  a  different  class  of  writers,  who  say 
that  the  person  whose  career  they  are  recording 
"  probably "  received  his  education  at  the  free 
school  of  the  town  in  which  he  was  born. 
Guesses  of  this  latter  kind  must  always  be 
accepted  with  caution.      If  we  did  not  know  that 


74  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Dr.  John  Byrom  was  educated  at  Chester  first, 
and  afterwards  at  Merchant  Tavlors'  School, 
everything  in  his  history  would  point  to  his 
having  been  at  the  Manchester  Grammar  School, 
and  Byrom  is  only  a  specimen  of  a  large  class 
who  went  far  from  home  for  their  education. 
Even  what  appears  to  be  a  distinct  statement 
requires  to  be  carefully  examined.  An  interest- 
ing character,  the  Rev.  Peter  Walkden,  is  stated 
by  his  biographer  to  have  removed  from  a  village 
school  to  "ye  famous  school  of  Manchester." 
The  "  famous  school  "  here  referred  to  is  not  the 
Grammar  School,  but  a  Nonconformist  academy 
kept  by  Mr,  Coningham,  one  of  the  early  Cross 
Street  ministers.  As  the  early  admission 
registers  of  the  Grammar  School  have  dis- 
appeared— if,  indeed,  such  registers  ever  existed 
— knowledge  of  the  names  of  the  earlier  pupils 
of  the  school  has  to  be  sought  amongst  the  records 
of  the  various  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
in  the  lists  of  school  exhibitioners,  which  date 
from  fully  half  a  century  previous  to  the  printed 
school  register,  and  from  a  variety  of  miscel- 
laneous sources,  such  as  Newcome's  "  Diary," 
and  Calamy's  "  Lives  of  the  Ejected  Ministers." 
The  college  admission   registers  give  the   names 


EARLY  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BOYS.  75 

of  the  undergraduate's  school  and  schoohnaster, 
and  so  a  list,  accurate  but  not  complete,  might  be 
compiled  from  this  source  alone.  The  portion  of 
the  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  register  that 
has  been  printed,  gives  the  names  of  thirty  or 
forty  Manchester  students,  and  it  is  much  to  be 
wished  that  the  registers  of  Jesus  and  Emmanuel 
Colleges,  and  of  Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  were 
printed,  and  thus  rendered  more  easily  accessible 
than  .  they  are  at  present.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  the 
scholars  would  go  to  the  University,  and  that  of 
the  majority  of  those  who  went  into  commerce, 
not  a  trace  is  now  to  be  found  that  would  connect 
them  with  the  school  where  they  were  taught, 
and  of  which  they  were,  doubtless,  very  proud. 

Amongst  the  earliest  Grammar  School  boys 
John  Bradford,  the  martyr,  is  usually  reckoned. 
He  would  be  only  a  young  boy  when  the  school 
was  founded,  having  been  born  in  15 10.  Being 
brother-in-law  of  Bishop  Oldham's  nephew,  there 
is  every  probability  that  he  benefited  by  the 
munificence  of  his  kinsman.  His  life  and  his 
martyrdom  by  burning  at  Smithfield  are  too  well 
known  to  need  telling  over  again.  Another 
eminent     man,      Laurence     Vaux,     Warden     of 


76  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Manchester,  is  reputed  to  have  attended  the 
school  in  its  early  years.  He  lost  the  Warden- 
ship  upon  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  by 
refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  He  fled 
to  the  Continent,  but  afterwards,  as  a  seminary 
priest,  returned  to  England.  Here  he  shared  the 
sufferings  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Catholics  in 
England,  and  was  thrown  into  the  Clink  Prison, 
where  he  died  in  1585,  being,  as  it  was  said, 
"famished  to  death."  Vaux's  successor  in  the 
Wardenship  of  Manchester,  William  Birch,  was 
also  probably  educated  at  Manchester  School. 
In  his  case,  the  probability  is  considerably 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  mother  of 
Warden  Birch  was  one  of  the  Becks,  and  a  close 
connection  of  the  founder  of  the  school.  Birch, 
who  was  an  ardent  reformer,  held  the  Wardenship 
for  only  one  year,  when  he  resigned  it,  but  he 
obtained  several  good  benefices  in  the  diocese  of 
Durham.  He  did  not  forget  the  school,  and  in 
his  will  bequeaths  "to  xx  poor  scholars  in  Latin 
in  Manchester  School  xls  apiece."  William 
Chadderton,  a  later  Warden  of  Manchester,  is 
also  numbered  amongst  the  Grammar  School 
boys.  He  was  born  in  1538,  and  when  quite  a 
young  man  secured  the  friendship  of  several  of 


I 


EARLY  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BOYS.  77 

Queen  Elizabeth's  most  powerful  Ministers,  and 
by  their  patronage  became,  at  the  age  of  forty, 
Bishop  of  Chester.  Holding  both  the  Bishopric 
of  Chester  and  the  Wardenship  of  Manchester, 
he  was  one  of  the  most  important  men  in  the  two 
counties ;  and,  fixing  his  headquarters  in 
Manchester,  began,  under  a  Royal  Commission, 
a  campaign  against  the  "  Popish  recusants."  In 
this  apparently  congenial  work  he  spent  several 
years  of  his  life,  and  it  was  during  his  time  that 
the  heads  of  Bell  and  Finch,  two  Roman 
Catholics  who  had  been  executed  at  Lancaster, 
were  exposed  on  the  Collegiate  Church. 
Hollinworth  describes  him  as  "a  learned  man  and 
liberal,  given  to  hospitality,  and  a  more  frequent 
preacher  and  baptiser  than  other  bishops  of  his 
time."  In  1595,  Chadderton  was  translated  to 
Lincoln,  and  in  1608  he  died.  Humphrey 
Chetham,  who  is  yet  lovingly  remembered  by 
thousands  who  have  benefited  by  his  will,  either 
as  boys  at  the  Hospital  or  as  men  at  the  Library, 
was  at  the  Grammar  School  under  Thomas  Cogan, 
author  of  the  "  Haven  of  Health,"  a  physican  as 
well  as  a  schoolmaster.  Chetham  was  born  in 
1580,  and  probably  left  school  in  1597,  in  which 
year    he    was    apprenticed    to     a     linen-draper. 


78  B  YGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Having  made  a  large  fortune  in  business,  he 
was  called  upon  to  serve  the  office  of  High 
Sheriff,  which  he  did  with  considerable  detriment 
to  his  pocket.  One  result  of  this  honour  was  an 
amusing  correspondence  with  the  heralds  as  to  his 
coat  of  arms,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  had 
to  pay  considerable  fees  to  the  heraldic  authorities 
ere  they  allowed  such  a  prize  as  a  rich  merchant 
to  slip  through  their  fingers.  Humphrey  Chetham 
is  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  generous 
benefactors  that  Manchester  has  known,  and  as 
founder  of  Chetham's  Hospital  and  Library  he 
will  continue  to  be  reverenced  as  long  as 
Manchester  exists.  A  schoolfellow  of  Chetham's 
was  Rowland  Dee,  one  of  the  earliest  exhibi- 
tioners of  the  school,  and  son  of  the  "wizard" 
Warden  of  Manchester.  William  Langley,  the 
author  of  a  scarce  book  entitled  "  The  Persecuted 
Minister,  in  Defence  of  the  Ministerie"  (1656), 
and  one  of  the  clergy  who  suffered  for  loyalty  to 
Charles  I.,  is  also  considered  to  be  a  Grammar 
School  boy.  The  autobiography  ascribed  to 
Langley  says  :  "  I  was  borne  at  Prestwiche  anno 
Christi  1596,  my  father,  M.  Langley,  being  at 
that  time  curet  to  his  cosen,  who  was  parson 
there.      I  was  brought  up  there  in  my  youth,   and 


EARLY  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BOYS.  79 

went  to  ye  Gram.  Schole  at  Manchester,  where  I 
receyved  good  instruction  in  Gramar  learninge 
before  I  was  entred  at  Brazennose  Colledofe. 
Oxon."  A  cleric  of  some  importance  in  his  day 
was  Richard  HolHnworth.  He  was  born  at 
Manchester,  in  1607,  and  educated  at  the 
Grammar  School  and  at  Cambridge.  He  became 
a  fellow  of  the  Collegiate  Church,  and  was  an 
active  upholder  of  the  Presbyterian  system.  In 
1 65 1,  he  was  imprisoned  at  Liverpool  for 
complicity  in  Love's  plot,  and  was  afterwards  a 
commissioner  for  ejecting  scandalous  ministers 
and  a  feoffee  for  carrying  out  Humphrey 
Chetham's  will.  He  died  in  1656.  He  wrote 
six  theological  books  and  a  history  of  Manchester. 
John  Booker,  the  astrologer,  also  received  a  portion 
of  his  training  at  the  school.  He  was  born  in 
1603,  and  went  into  a  trader's  shop  in  London, 
but  finding  the  work  uncongenial,  he  became  a 
writing  master  and  astrologer.  In  the  latter 
capacity  he  was  thought  by  one  of  his  rivals 
to  be  "the  greatest  and  most  compleat  astrologer 
in  the  world."  Booker,  who  died  in  1667,  had 
the  reputation  of  being  "a  very  honest  man." 
Ralph  Brideoake,  the  only  Mancunian  who  was 
successively    pupil,     master,     and    trustee   of   the 


8o  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

school,  was  born  in  1613.  He  went  to  Oxford, 
distinguished  himself  as  a  Greek  scholar,  obtained 
the  high  mastership  of  the  school,  and  returned 
to  his  native  place,  where,  in  addition  to  clerical 
and  scholastic  duties,  he  undertook  the  office  of 
manager  of  the  estates  of  Lord  Derby  and  of 
Humphrey  Chetham.  During  the  Civil  Wars 
he  was,  as  became  a  servant  of  the  Stanleys,  a 
Royalist,  but  under  the  Commonwealth  he  made 
his  peace  with  the  Parliament,  and  was  com- 
fortably provided  for.  At  the  Restoration  he  again 
became  an  enthusiastic  Royalist,  and  eventually, 
by  bribing  one  of  the  King's  mistresses,  obtained 
the  Bishopric  of  Chichester.  A  man  of  a  very 
different  type  to  the  pushing  and  unscrupulous 
Bishop  Brideoake  was  Dr.  John  Worthington, 
whom  both  school  and  town  have  reason  to 
honour.  Of  the  time  he  spent  at  the  Grammar 
School  he  seems  always  to  have  had  a  kindly 
recollection,  and  when  he  was  applying  for  the 
Wardenship  of  Manchester  he  referred  to  his 
connection  with  the  school  as  one  of  his  reasons 
for  desiring  the  appointment.  From  the  school 
he  went  to  Cambridge,  where  he  became  Master 
of  Jesus  College,  and  subsequently  Vice-Chancellor 
of   the    University.       He    died    in     1671.      Dr. 


EARLY  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BOYS.  8i 

Worthington's  "  Diary  and  Correspondence," 
edited  by  Mr.  James  Crossley  and  Mr.  Christie, 
is  a  monument  alike  of  the  learning  of  Dr. 
Worthington  and  of  the  vast  erudition  of  the  late 
and  present  presidents  of  the  Chetham  Society. 

One  of  the  comparatively  few  distinguished 
lawyers  educated  at  the  school  was  Sir  Robert 
Booth,  member  of  a  family  distinguished  in  the 
annals  of  the  neighbourhood  for  its  charity. 
Booth  was  born  in  1626,  and  became  successively 
Judge  and  Chief  Justice  in  the  Irish  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  eventually  Chief  Justice  of 
the  King's  Bench  in  Ireland.  He  died  in  1681, 
and  was  buried  at  Salford.  An  interesting 
character  was  Jeremiah  Marsden,  a  sectary,  who 
was  at  the  school  for  a  very  short  time  ;  being  a 
lad  of  very  weak  health,  he  found  his  master  "  too 
rigid,"  and  so  he  left.  In  1654,  he  became  a 
clergyman,  and,  though  a  successful  preacher,  he 
had  not  the  faculty  of  remaining  long  in  any  one 
place.  He  declined  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  Charles  II.,  and  in  consequence  spent  a  few 
months  in  York  Castle.  In  1662,  he  was  ejected 
from  a  benefice  he  held,  and  became  more  un- 
settled than  ever.  As  he  frequently  rendered 
himself  liable  to  the  penal  laws  against  Dissenters, 


82  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

he  was  often  in  trouble,  and,  like  the  Jesuits 
under  similar  circumstances,  adopted  an  alias, 
passing  as  Ralphson.  Marsden  died  in  Newgate 
prison,  in  1684,  after  he  had  been  confined  some 
months  for  his  theological  heresies.  In  striking 
contrast  to  Marsden's  career,  is  that  of  Edward 
Kenyon.  Kenyon  early  succeeded  to  the  family 
living  of  Prestwich,  and  that  appears  to  have 
been  his  only  cure.  Other  clergymen  were  the 
Rev.  John  Mather,  d.d..  President  of  Corpus 
Christi  College,  Oxford,  who  was  a  scholar  of 
Mr.  Barrow's,  and,  by  virtue  of  his  position  as 
head  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  appointed  Mr. 
Barrow's  successor  in  the  high-mastership ;  the 
Rev.  John  Lees,  incumbent  of  Saddleworth  from 
1663  to  1712;  and  the  Rev.  John  Heginbottom, 
incumbent  of  Saddleworth  from  1721  to  1771. 
Lees  was  curate  of  Salford  .and  assistant  librarian 
of  Chetham's  Library  for  five  years.  At  Saddle- 
worth, his  life  was  one  of  steady  usefulness.  He 
taught  the  village  school  in  the  chancel  of  the 
church.  While  teaching  the  young,  he  en- 
deavoured to  dissuade  the  adults  from  their 
savage  amusements,  a  bull  bait  or  dog  fight  being 
to  him  a  source  of  "lamentation  and  woe." 
Thomas    Martindale,   who  died    in    1680,   in    his 


EARL  Y  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BO  YS.  83 

thirtieth  year,  was  the  son  of  Adam  Martindale, 
whose  reflections  on  his  son  occupy  an  important 
place  in  his  "  Diary."  Thomas  was  one  of  the 
pupils  of  Wiqkens,  and  after  graduating  in 
Scotland,  and  mildly  sowing  his  wild  oats,  almost 
breaking  his  father's  heart  by  marrying  a  wife 
without  dowry,  settled  down  as  a  country  school- 
master. He  died  after  a  few  months  of 
schoolmastering,  and  his  father,  in  his  "  Diary,"- 
seems  quite  as  much  troubled  about  having  to 
provide  for  Thomas's  infant  daughter  as  by  his 
son's  early  death.  The  sons  of  Henry  Newcome, 
the  celebrated  Nonconformist,  were  at  the 
Grammar  School,  and  the  "Diary"  has  many 
references  to  the  school  and  its  master.  Henry 
Newcome,  junior,  one  of  these  sons,  was  author  of 
a  curious  work  entitled  the  "  Compleat  Mother." 
Another  son  was  Peter  Newcome,  vicar  of 
Hackney,  who  published  a  "  Catechetical  Course  of 
Sermons  for  the  Whole  Year,"  which  must  have 
been  a  godsend  to  the  country  parson.  It  con- 
tained a  sermon  for  each  Sunday  of  the  year,  and 
passed  through  two  editions.  The  Rev.  Thomas 
Cotton,  M.A.,  was  a  well-known  minister  in 
London  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
was     born     in     Yorkshire,     and,     to     quote    his 


84  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

biographer,  "  the  greatest  advantage  he  had 
for  school  learning  was  under  the  famous  Mr. 
Wickers,  of  Manchester."  He  became  a  Dissent- 
ing minister,  was  a  strict  observer,  in  the 
Puritanical  fashion,  of  the  Sunday,  and,  it  is  said, 
declined  the  offer  of  a  benefice  in  the  Established 
Church.  Father  Thomas  Falkner,  one  of  the 
earliest  of  medical  missionaries,  was  a  Grammar 
School  boy,  and  was  born  of  Protestant  parents 
in  1707.  Having  studied  medicine,  he  became  a 
ship  surgeon.  On  one  voyage  he  fell  ill  at 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  was  tenderly  nursed  by  the 
Jesuits.  Gratitude  paved  the  way  for  conviction  ; 
he  became  a  Catholic,  and  in  1732  entered  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  For  thirty-six  years  he  led 
a  self-denying  life,  striving  to  civilise  the 
Patagonians.  In  1768  he,  with  1000  other 
Jesuits,  was  expelled  from  South  America. 
Falkner  returned  to  England,  where  he  spent  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life  as  a  domestic  chaplain, 
Falkner's  "  Description  of  Patagonia  "  was  edited 
by  an  incompetent  person,  who  omitted  from  it  all 
the  anecdotes  which  Father  Falkner  is  said  to 
have  delighted  in  telling,  thus  leaving  only  dry 
geographical  detail. 

The      Rev.       John      Clayton,     one      of     the 


EARL  Y  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BO  YS.  85 

early  Methodists,  was  at  the  school  for 
several  years,  and  obtained  an  exhibition  at 
Brasenose  College  when  he  was  only  fifteen. 
At  college,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Wesleys,  with  whom  he  remained  on  intimate 
terms  all  his  life,  his  pulpit  frequently  being 
occupied  by  John  Wesley,  on  his  visits  to 
Manchester.  Clayton  was  a  Jacobite,  and  when 
the  Pretender  came  to  Manchester,  in  1745,  it  is 
said  that,  in  the  words  of  the  Lancashire  novelist, 
he  "  threw  himself  at  the  Prince's  feet,  and,  in 
most  fervent  tones,  implored  the  Divine  blessing 
on  his  head,  praying  that  the  enterprise  on  which 
he  was  engaged  might  prove  successful.  As  the 
chaplain  was  in  full  canonicals,  the  incident 
caused  a  great  sensation,  and  was  particularly 
gratifying  to  the  Prince."  Clayton  was  Chaplain, 
and  afterwards  Fellow,  of  the  Collegiate  Church, 
and  died  in  1773.  Robert  Thyer,  Chetham's 
Librarian,  was  educated  at  the  Grammar  School. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  and  edited  the 
"  Remains "  of  Butler  the  poet,  besides  helping 
Bishop  Newton  with  his  edition  of  Milton. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  Dr.  Samuel  Ogden,  who, 
born  at  Manchester  in  17 16,  went  to  the  Grammar 


•86  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

School,  and  thence  to  Cambridge.  In  1744  he 
was  appointed  head ,  master  of  the  Grammar 
School  of  Heath,  Halifax,  a  post  he  held  with 
credit  till  1753,  when  he  resigned.  On  leaving 
Halifax  he  went  to  reside  at  Cambridge,  held 
several  preferments,  and  became  a  wealthy  man. 
In  1763  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the 
mastership  of  St.  John's,  and  in  the  next  year 
was  elected  Woodwardian  professor  of  geology. 
It  appears  that  this  professorship  cost  Dr.  Ogden 
about  a  hundred  guineas  to  obtain,  and  it  has 
been  cited  by  his  biographers  as  a  disgrace  to  the 
University  that  it  should  have  been  necessary 
to  bribe  so  extensively  for  a  University  office.  At 
the  present  time  the  disgraceful  part  of  the 
proceeding  appears  to  be  that  Dr.  Ogden  was 
ever  elected  to  the  professorship  of  a  subject 
of  which  he,  it  was  acknowledged,  had  not  even 
an  elementary  knowledge.  But  though  he  knew 
nothing  of  geology,  he  deservedly  had  a  great 
reputation  as  a  classical  and  Oriental  scholar,  and 
his  rise  in  the  Church  was  only  hindered  by  his 
unpleasant  manners  and  uncouth  appearance. 
Ogden's  reputation  did  not  extend  to  verse,  which 
he  occasionally  attempted.  On  the  accession  of 
George  III.   he  wrote  three  versions  of  a  poem, 


EARLY  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  BOYS.  87 

in  Latin.  English,  and  Arabic  respectively.      This 

iour  de  force  produced   the   following  oft-quoted 

lines  by   Lord  Alvanley  :— 

"  When  Ogden  his  prosaic  verse 
In  Latin  numbers  drest, 
The  Roman  language  prov'd  too  weak 
To  stand  the  critic's  test. 

"  In  Enghsh  rhyme  he  next  essayed 
To  show  he'd  some  pretence  ; 
But,  ah  !  rhyme  only  would  not  do — 
They  still  expected  sense. 

"  Enraged,  the  Doctor  swore  he'd  place 
On  critics  no  reliance, 
So  wrapt  his  thoughts  in  Arabic, 
And  bade  them  all  defiance." 

Ogden  died  of  apoplexy  in  1778.  James  Brad- 
shaw,  the  Jacobite,  was  a  Grammar  School  boy. 
Born  in  1717,  the  child  of  Catholic  parents,  he 
was  apprenticed  in  London  in  1734.  In  1740  he 
returned  to  Manchester,  where  he  engaged  in 
business  for  a  few  years.  In  1745  he  was  a 
captain  in  Colonel  Towneley's  regiment,  and  after 
being  in  several  battles,  was  taken  prisoner  at 
Culloden,  He  was  tried  in  London  for  high 
treason,  convicted,  and  executed  on  Kennington 
Common,  28th  November,  1746,  being  only 
twenty-nine  years  old  when  his  sentence  was 
carried  out  with  all  the  barbarity  that  distinguished 


88  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

the  punishment  of  high  treason.  James  Heywood, 
a  local  poet,  was  at  the  Grammar  School.  In  his 
solitary  book  of  poems,  published  in  1726, 
Heywood  gives  a  poem  on  an  epigram  of 
Martial,  "imitated  when  at  Manchester  School." 
When  Barrow,  his  old  schoolmaster,  died,  Hey- 
wood wrote  a  eulogistic  notice  of  him,  which 
appeared  in  the  "  Post  Boy." 

Amongst  those  who  have  been  mentioned  as 
probably  educated  at  the  Grammar  School  may 
be  named  the  Rev.  John  Prestwich,  the  founder 
of  a  library  in  Manchester,  now  incorporated  with 
Chetham's  Library ;  William  Crabtree,  the  friend 
of  Horrox,  and  fellow-observer  with  him  of  the 
transit  of  Venus  ;  Charles  Worsley,  first  m.  p.  for 
Manchester;  the  "poet"  Ogden,  and  indeed 
most  of  the  natives  of  the  town  and  district  who 
have  obtained  celebrity.  Hamlet  Winstanley, 
perhaps  the  earliest  Lancashire  artist,  has  been 
claimed  as  a  Manchester  schoolboy,  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  he  was  educated  at  Warrington, 
his  native  place. 


Zbc  Sworn  fIDen  of  amounbcrnese. 

By  Lieut.-Col.  Henry  Fishwick,  f.s.a. 

^^  WITHOUT  venturing  into  the  question  of 
»  »  the  origin  of  parishes,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  state,  that  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  the 
Parish  was  looked  upon  as  the  integral  sub- 
division of  the  Hundred  ;  and  that  for  the  purposes 
of  assessment  of  taxes,  men  were  selected  from 
each  parish  to  assist  the  Hundred  jury,  and  also, 
that  these  chosen  men,  being  under  oath,  were 
sometimes  called  sworn  men. 

In  many  of  our  old  cities  and  towns,  inhabitants 
were  selected  to  assist  the  Mayor  or  Bailiff,  and 
were  designated  as  sworn  men.*  Although  these 
customs  may,  in  some  measure,  account  for  the 
title  given  to  the  sworn  men  in  the  parishes  of 
Amounderness,  they  do  not,  in  any  way, 
satisfactorily  show  why  this  peculiar  form  of  local 
government    should,    for    over    three    centuries, 

*  English  Guilds,  E.  E.  T.  Soc,  p.  349. 


90  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

have  been  common  in  this  particular  part  of 
Lancashire,  and  entirely  absent  in  the  surround- 
ing districts.  In  the  hundred  of  Amounderness. 
there  are  nine  parishes,  viz.:  i.  Preston:  2, 
Kirkham  (with  Goosnargh) ;  3.  Lytham :  4. 
Poulton  ;  5.  Bispham  :  6.  St.  Michaels-on-Wyre: 
7.  Garstang ;  8.  Lancaster ;  and  9.  Ribchester 
(of  which  part  is  in  the  Blackburn  Hundred). 

In  seven  of  these  parishes,  the  "sworn  men" 
are  known  to  have  been  established,  and  in 
the  other  two,  viz.  :  Lytham  and  Bispham,  there 
are  special  reasons  for  their  absence  ;  as  Lytham 
is  a  very  small  parish  of  only  one  township,  and 
Bispham  was,  originally,  a  chapel  of  ^ase  to 
Poulton. 

Ribchester,  though  now  in  the  Deanery  of 
Blackburn,  was,  until  comparatively  recent  times, 
in  the  ancient  Deanery  of  Amounderness,  and 
was  so  classed  in  1291.'*  Indeed,  there  is  a 
tradition  that,  at  an  early  date,  it  was  included  in 
the  Hundred. 

As  Ribchester,  at  the  time  when  this  institution 
of  "sworn  men  "  was  in  full  force  (say  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century,)  was  in  the  Deanery,  but 
excluded  from   the  Hundred,  it  appears  clearly  to 

•  Pope  Nicholas,  Tax.  Excles. 


5  WORN  MEN  OF  AMO  UNDERNESS.  9 1 

indicate  that  the   origin  of  this  peculiar  form  of 
Vestry  was  ecclesiastical,  and  not  civil. 

No  reference  to  these  "sworn  men"  in 
Amounderness  has  been  discovered  of  earlier 
date  than  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  they  probably  were  first  elected  soorf  after 
the  Reformation.  The  oldest  and  most  perfect 
records  of  the  transactions  of  these  vestries  are 
found  at  Kirkham  and  Goosnargh,  the  former 
extending  back  to  1570,  and  the  latter  to  1625. 

At  Preston,  Lancaster,  Goosnargh,  and  Rib- 
chester,  the  vestry  consisted  of  twenty-four  sworn 
men,  but  Kirkham  had  its  thirty.  The  records 
of  Poulton,  Garstang,  and  St.  Michaels-on- 
Wyre,  have  very  few  references  to  this  form  of 
government,  but  sufficient  to  indicate  that  it  once 
obtained  there. 

On  a  fly  leaf  of  the  oldest  Churchwardens' 
book  at  Poulton,  is  a  memorandum  "  that  ye  ix 
day  of  December,  in  the  year  1623,"  it  was  agreed 
"by  Thomas  Singleton,  of  Stanning,  Esqr.,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Parishioners  and  other  inhabitants, 
together  with  the  churchwardens,  and  Four-and- 
twentie  77ien  of  the  parish  of  Pulton,  and  Peter 
White,  the  Vicar,  that  .  .  .  Thomas  Dickson  the 
younger,    son    of  Thomas   Dickson  late  dark    of 


92  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Pulton  deceased  be  dark  of  the  parish,  etc," 
In  1 710,  this  body  of  twenty-four  men  was  still 
in  existence.  At  Garstang,  the  only  trace  left  is 
that  in  1734  the  twenty  sidesmen  who  assisted 
the  four  churchwardens,*  were  called  "  the  gentle- 
men sidesmen,"  and  were,  apparently,  elected  for 
life.  The  records  of  St.  Michaels-on-Wyre,  show 
very  little  trace  of  this  institution,  except  that,  in 
1682,  the  Vicar,  the  Churchwardens,  and  "gentle- 
men "  of  the  parish,  are  found  making  assessments. 
That  the  "sworn  men  "  sometimes  took  to  them- 
selves the  title  of  "the  gentlemen,"  is  clear  from 
the  records  of  Ribchester,  for  example:  on  12th 
April,  1664,  they  begin  a  resolution  by  "Wee 
the  gentlemen  and  xxiiij  of  this  parish." 

The  oath  which  was  taken  by  the  newly-elected 
"sworn  men"  at  Goosnargh,  in  1678,  has  been 
preserved.  "  Here  ensueth  the  form  of  oath 
wch  of  antient  time  hath  beene  used  to  be 
ministered  unto  every  person  elected  into  the 
number.  Company,  or  Societye  of  the  Four-and- 
Twenty  sworne  men  of  the  chapell rye  of  Goosnargh, 
in  the  countye  of  Lancr.,  at  the  time  of  his 
election  into  that  Societye,  viz., — You  shall  well 
and  truly  observe  and  keepe  all   antient   lawful  1 

*  They  were  known  as  "  the  24  men  "  until  about  thirty  years  ago. 


5  WORN  MEN  OF  A  MO  UNDERNESS.  93 

and  laudable  customes  as  heretofore  in  this  place 
hath  been  observed  and  kept  as  far  as  they  shall 
agree  with  the  lawe  of  this  Realme  and  the  good 
and  benefit  of  this  Chappell  and  Chappellrye 
according  to  your  power  and  best  understanding 
and  your  own  counsell  and  your  fellowes  you  shall 
keepe.  So  helpe  you  God."  The  duties  per- 
formed by  these  governing  bodies  were  very 
numerous  and  varied,  they  levied  rates,  elected 
the  parish  clerk,  and  in  some  cases  appointed 
the  churchwardens,  and  even  laid  claims  to 
nominate  the  vicar,  indeed  they  evidently 
acted  as  the  managers  of  everything  in 
the  parish  which  in  any  way  related  to  the 
church,  its  fabric,  its  ceremonies,  or  its  general 
welfare. 

The  following  extracts  are  from  the  records  of 
the  Kirkham  sworn  men  : — 

1570.  "Nov  the  XX  James  Porter,  Nich   Fayre,    John  .... 

Edwd  Hankinson,  ch^^wardens  made  up  their  ace''' 
before  Sir  Ja^  [Smith  the  vicar]  clearke  and  the  30 
men  of  the  same  parish  "  "  28  of  the  30  men  agreed 
to  a  lay  [a  rate]  of  v  shilHngs  to  be  levied  on  each 
township." 

1 57 1.  Paid  for  a  scholar  verifying  the  ch'wardens  ace'"'- 

1572.  The  30  men  elected  .  .  .  Arkwright  clerk  of  the  church 

.  .  .  and  ordered  that  he  should  be  resident  to  teach 
singing. 


94  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

1576.  "Agreed  that  Geo   Killet  shall  be  clerke  for  one  hole 

yeare    and    shall  keep   a   songe   boke   free   for   the 
parishioners. 

1577.  The  churchwardens  were  ordered  by  the  vicar  and  30 

men  to  continue  in  office  another  year  because  they 
had  not  repaired  the  bells  or  levied  the  gauld  [rate]. 
1595.  The  churchwardens  charged  xii''  for  tarrying    with  Mr 
Vicar  when  he  gave  warning  to  all  householders  not 
to  sell  ale  during  the  time  of  service." 

In  1636,  the  sworn  men  of  Kirkham  had  begun 
to  assert  to  themselves  powers  which  the  Vicar 
could  not  consent  to  their  using,  and  to  meet  the 
case,  as  he  thought,  he  submitted  to  them  certain 
conditions,  one  of  which  was  that  "  the  Vicar  shall 
have  a  negative  voice  in  all  their  proceedings,  and 
that  they  shall  determine  nothing  without  the 
consent  of  the  Vicar  ;"  this  would,  of  course,  have 
deprived  the  vestry  of  all  power,  but  the  Vicar 
also  required  that  "  if  there  be  any  turbulent  or 
fascitious  person  that  the  rest  of  the  company 
shall  joyne  with  the  Vicar  and  turn  him  oute." 

The  thirty  men  not  agreeing  to  these  terms, 
they  were  locked  out  of  the  church,  and  ultimately 
appealed  to  the  Bishop,  who  declared  "  that  the 
corporation  or  company  of  thirty  men,  not  having 
any  warranty  from  the  King,  was  nothing  in  law  ; 
but  if  the  parish  or  township  did  delegate  the 
power  to   the   thirty  men   as   to   church   matters, 


^  WORN  MEN  OF  A  MO  UNDE  RNESS.  9  5 

then  their  acts  relating  thereunto  were  as  effectual 
and  binding  as  if  they  had  the  King's  sanction," 
and,  to  get  the  opinion  of  the  parishioners,  he 
directed  that  a  meeting  be  called,  and  a  vote 
taken.  When  this  was  done,  the  inhabitants, 
with  almost  one  voice,  declared  that  they  wished 
to  continue  "their  antient  custom,"  and  to  hand  it 
to  posterity  as  it  "had  come  down  to  them  from 
their  ancestors,"  and  no  less  than  483  parishioners 
signed  a  memorial  to  that  effect.  The  Bishop 
thereupon  urged  the  vicar  to  give  way,  but  he 
refused  to  do  so,  and  the  thirty  men  instituted  a 
suit  in  the  Consistory  Court,  where  they  received 
a  verdict,  and  were  ultimately  admitted  into  the 
church  again. 

At  Ribchester,  in  1639,  the  twenty-four  men 
there  were  in  dispute  with  the  Bishop  of  Chester, 
they  having  appointed  a  man  against  his  will  to 
the  office  of  churchwarden.  The  man  was  infirm 
and  old,  and  the  Bishop  wrote  to  the  twenty-four 
men  that  "  if  they  breake  theire  owne  custome, 
their  Companye  also  of  twenty-four  will  soon  be 
dissolved." 

The  sworn  men  were  not  re-elected  annually, 
as  is  the  case  of  churchwardens,  but,  once 
appointed,  they  held  office  for  life,  unless  they  left 


96  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

the    neighbourhood,    became    Nonconformists,   or 
failed  to  attend  the  meetings. 

In  the  records  of  the  twenty-four  sworn  men  of 
Goosnargh,  the  social  status  of  the  members  was 
carefully  recorded.  Thus,  in  1634,  the  vestry  con- 
sisted of  an  esquire,  six  gentlemen,  twelve  yeomen, 
and  five  husbandmen.  In  1684,  the  following 
names  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  list :  Alexander 
Rigby,  Esq.  (the  son  of  Colonel  Alexander 
Rigby,  of  Middleton  Hall),  Mr.  Justice  Rigby, 
Mr.  Justice  Warren,  Thomas  and  Edward  Rigby, 
and  Thomas  Whittingham,  of  Whittingham  Hall, 
who  were  all  men  of  high  social  position.  The 
churchwardens,  it  should  be  noted,  were  part  of 
the  twenty-four,  and  it  was  usual  for  each  vestry- 
man to  perform  the  duties  of  warden  for  at  least 
one  year,  but  he  was  at  liberty,  if  so  disposed,  to 
appoint  a  deputy  to  do  the  work.  As  an  example 
of  the  long  tenure  of  office,  it  may  be  cited  that 
James  Fishwick,  of  Bulsnape  Hall  (whose  father 
and  grandfather  had  been  members  of  the  same 
vestry),  was  elected  one  of  the  twenty-four  of 
Goosnargh,  and  churchwarden,  in  1694,  and  he 
continued  a  member  of  the  vestry  until  his  death, 
in  1737.  From  the  various  records  of  these 
sworn    men,   much    interesting   matter   has  been 


SWORN  MEN  OF  AMOUNDERNESS.         s)i 

printed,  and  might  now  be  quoted,  but  that  would 
be  foreign  to  the  object  of  this  article,  which  is 
only  to  draw  attention  to  this  peculiar  kind  of 
vestry,  which  has  now  almost  entirely  become  a 
thing  of  the  past,  but  which  in  its  day  was  a 
power  in  its  parish,  and  helped  to  keep  together 
the  members  of  the  Church,  by  giving  to  the  laity 
the  manaofement  of  its  secular  affairs.  These 
vestries,  in  some  respects,  answered  the  purposes 
for  which  the  modern  Church  Councils  have  been 
formed,  but  with  this  wide  difference  that,  in  the 
old  governing  body,  the  laity  by  their  votes 
decided  what  was  to  be  done,  whilst  in  the  newly- 
constituted  ones,  they  have  only  the  power  to 
talk,  or  at  best  give  advice,  which  may  or  may 
not  be  accepted. 


II 


Xancasbire  SunMal6. 

By  William  E.  A.  Axon,  m.r.s.l. 

"  The  shepherd  lad,  who  in  the  sunshine  carves 
On  the  green  turf  a  dial,  to  divide 
The  silent  hours  ;  and  who  to  that  report 
Can  portion  out  his  pleasures,  and  adapt 
His  round  of  pastoral  duties,  is  not  left 
With  less  intelligence  for  moral  things 
Of  gravest  import." 

— William  Wordsworth  (The  Excursion,  Book  iv.) 

"  With  warning  hand  I  mark  Time's  rapid  flight 
From  life's  glad  morning  to  its  solemn  night  ; 
Yet  through  the  dear  God's  love,  I  also  show 
There's  Light  above  me  by  the  Shade  below." 

— ^J.  G.  Whittier  (Inscription  on  a  Sundial). 

IT  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  best 
authorities  should  assign  to  the  County 
Palatine  of  Lancaster,  not  only  the  earliest  dated 
church  bell,  but  the  earliest  dated  sundial,  so  far 
recorded.* 

*  The  best  authority  on  sundials  is  the  volume  due  to  the  zeal  and  interest 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Alfred  Gatty.  A  third  edition  of  her  "  Book  of  Sundials." 
was,  in  1890,  published  by  Messrs.  George  Bell  and  Sons,  and  forms  a 
handsome  quarto  volume  of  nearly  600  pages.  It  is  illustrated  by  many 
charming  sketches  of  sundials,  remarkable  for  their  quaint  design  or 
picturesqueness  of  form  or  situation.  The  new  edition  is  edited  by  Mrs.  H. 
K.  F.  Eden  (the  daughter  of  the  authoress)  and  Miss  Eleanor  Lloyd,  and 
there  is  an  appendix,  in  which  the  construction  of  dials  is  dealt  with  by  Mr. 
W.  Richardson.     The  book  is  already  a  standard  one. 


LANCASHIRE  SUNDIALS.  99 

On  a  vertical  sundial  on  the  house  in  Rochdale, 
which  is  believed  to  have  been,  at  one  time,  the 
home  of  the  Byroms,  there  are  two  dates,  1521 
and  1620,  which  have  been  supposed  to  indicate 
the  period  of  erection  and  of  restoration.  "  This," 
says  Mrs.  Gatty,  "is  the  oldest  dated  dial  of 
which  we  know.  There  is  one  at  Warwick  dated 
1556,  and  another  near  Oswestry,  dated  1578, 
and.  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Anne's,  Wood- 
plumpton,  there  is  one  without  a  motto,  dated 
1598."  Unfortunately,  we  are  compelled  to  add 
that  Mrs.  Gatty  has  been  misled  as  to  the  real 
age  of  this  dial,  which  is  passed  over  in  silence  by 
Col.  Henry  Fishwick  in  his  "  History  of 
Rochdale."  His  scepticism  as  to  its  antiquity 
has  been  confirmed  by  further  inquiries,  and  he 
informs  me  that  it  is  not  older  than  1820,  when 
it  was  put  up  by  a  Wesleyan  minister,  the  Rev. 
Peter  Garrett,  who  simply  placed  on  the  dial 
what  he  thought  was  the  date  of  the  house. 

Mrs.  Gatty  mentions  a  dial  formerly  on  Man- 
chester Church,  and  adds  :  "  There  is  still  a 
horizontal  dial  in  the  churchyard,  but  so  closely 
imprisoned  by  heavy  iron  railings  that  it  is  prac 
tically  useless.  And  yet  the  Dean  and  Chapter 
might  remember  that — 


loo  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

'  A  prison  is  a  house  of  care, 
A  place  where  none  can  thrive.' 

Not  even  a  sundial ! "     There    was    formerly  a 

perpendicular   dial    on    a    cottage    in     Clarendon 

Street,  Hulme,   and  the  name  of  Sundial   Bank, 

Whalley   Range,   speaks  for  itself.     Many  more 

than  are  chronicled   must,  in  the  past,  have  cast 

their   shadows    in     Lancashire.       In    Aldingham 

churchyard,  the  sundial   adjures   the  passer-by  in 

these  terms  : — 

"  Use  the  present  time, 

Redeem  the  past ; 

For  thus  uncertainly, 

Though  imperceptibly, 

The  night  of  life  approaches." 

Colonel  Fishwick  has  a  dial  (which   came  from 

Belfield  Hall)  with  the  inscription : — 

"  Vt  hora  praeterita 
sic  fugit  vita. 
1612  A.B." 
(As  the  hour  that  is  past,  so  doth  life  fly.) 

Ut  hora  $ic  vita  (life  is  as  an  hour)  is  an  old  dial 

motto  that  has  been  placed  on  the  clock  of  Hoole 

Church    in    memory    of    Jeremiah    Horrox,    who 

there    observed    the    transit  of   Venus    in    1639. 

At  Cartmel,   there  was  a  dial  as  early  as    1630, 

when  3s.   6d.  was  paid  for  the  "  setting  up"  of  it, 

but  that  now  in  existence   was  erected  in  1727, 


LANCASHIRE  SUNDIALS.  loi 

the  maker's  name  being  Russell  Casson.  The 
motto  is  Tenipus  fugit  per  umbra\_ni\  (time  flies 
by  the  shadow).  Sine  sole  sileo  (without  the  sun 
I  am  silent)  is  inscribed  on  the  dial  at  Chorley 
Church.  In  the  churchyard  at  Garstang,  is  a 
dial,  dated  1757  ,with  the  motto  from  Martial, 
Pereunt  et  imputantur  (they  pass  by  and  are 
reckoned).  This  motto  is  found  in  many  other 
places.  Another  favourite  inscription  is,  Sic 
transit  gloria  mundi,  which  was  on  a  dial  at 
Prestwich,  not  recorded  by  Mrs.  Gatty.  "Our 
days  upon  earth  are  as  a  shadow  "  (i.  Chron.  xx. 
15)  is  inscribed  on  the  sundial  of  Thornton 
Church,  in  the  Fylde.  Ntmc  ex  praeterito  discas 
(now  may'st  thou  learn  from  the  past)  is  the 
inscription  at  Warrington  School.  At  Heapey 
Church,  Absque  sole,  absque  us2i  (without  sun, 
without  use)  may  be  read  on  a  dial  dated  1826. 
At  Great  Sankey,  there  is  one  with  the  motto, 
Ab  hoc  mojnento  pendet  aeternitas  (on  this 
moment  hangs  eternity).  It  has  the  name  of  its 
maker,  J.  Simkin,  and  the  date  1781  inscribed  on 
it.  The  same  maker  executed  a  dial  at  Childwall 
with  the  same  monitory  words.  Vive  meinor 
quant  sis  aevi  brevis  (live  mindful  how  short-lived 
thou  art)  (Horace,   Sat.  ii.  6,  97)  is  the  inscription 


I02  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

put  up  at  Goosnargh  Church,  in  1748.  There 
are  also  dials  connected  with  the  churches  of 
Flixton,  Prestwich,  and  Lytham  ;  there  was  a 
sundial  in  the  garden  of  an  old  house  at  Winton, 
near  Eccles.  In  the  Queen's  Park,  at  Heywood, 
a  sundial  was  placed  in  1890.  x'\t  Hambleton 
Church  there  is  a  dial  dated  1670.  At  Holcombe 
Church  there  is  a  horizontal  sundial,  and  at 
Pinfold,  a  cottage  near  Holcombe  Church,  is  a 
perpendicular  dial  dated  1780,  with  the  motto, 
Nosce  teipsum  (know  thyself). 

Amongst  remarkable  dials  may  be  named  that 
at  Knowsley,  with  four  dials  which  are  supported 
by  eagles,  no  doubt  in  allusion  to  the  famous  crest 
of  the  Stanley  family.  At  Shaw  there  used  to  be 
a  copper  horizontal  dial,  with  the  words  : — 

"  Abuse  me  not,  I  do  no  ill ; 
I  stand  to  serve  thee  with  good  will ; 
As  careful,  then,  be  sure  thou  be 
To  serve  thy  God  as  I  serve  thee." 

But   thieves   "  abused "   the   dial    by   stealing   it. 

The    Rev.     S.    E.    Bartlett   had   a   dial    on    the 

vicarage  lawn  with  this  inscription  : — 

"  Nulli  optabilis 
Dabitur  mora  ; 
Irrevocabilis 
Labitur  hora : 


LANCASHIRE  SUNDIALS.  103 

"  Ne  sit  inutilis 
Semper  labora. 
Neve  sis  futilis, 
Vigila,  ora." 

"  None  from  Time's  hurrying  wain 

Winneth  delay  ; 
Ne'er  to  come  back  again 

Speedeth  each  day  : 
While  its  few  hours  remain, 

Labour  ahvay. 
Lest  thou  should'st  live  in  vain, 

Watch  thou  and  pray." 

This  dial  plate  has  been  placed  in  the  churchyard, 
on  the  shaft  of  the  old  cross  from  which  the 
previous  one,  just  named,  had  been  abstracted. 
Both  the  Latin  and  the  English  are  the  composi- 
tion of  Mr.  Bardett.  It  was  stated  in  the  London 
Guardian  that  Lord  Coleridge  found  the  motto 
in  an  old  church  in  Devonshire.  Lord  Coleridge 
on  being  appealed  to  at  once  declared  he  had 
seen  the  dial  in  Manchester  (where  it  was  made) 
before  it  was  sent  to  Shaw,  and  he  supposed  the 
verses  to  be  those  of  some  mediaeval  Latin  poet, 
and,  having  made  a  copy,  sent  it  to  Mr.  Justice 
Denman,  who  made  a  fine  version  of  it.  This, 
by  the  kindness  of  the  author,  we  are  enabled 
to  give  ; — 


I04  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"The  Dial's  Lesson. 

To  none  is  given 

Pow'r  to  delay, 
Told  off  in  Heaven 

Passeth  each  day. 
Be  thou  not  fruitless, 

Work,  while  'tis  day  ; 
Trifling  were  bootless, 

Watch  thou  and  pray." 

Lancashire  antiquaries,  and  indeed  those  of  all 
the  counties  in  the  kingdom,  would  do  well  to 
"  make  a  note "  of  all  sundials,  their  mottoes, 
dates,  and  inscriptions,  so  that  there  may  be  a 
complete  record  of  these  once  general,  now  almost 
obsolete,  but  always  interesting  measurers  of  time. 


Zhc  plaoue  in  XiverpooL 

By  J,  Cooper  Morley. 

THOSE  of  our  readers  who  are  familiar  with 
Defoe's  "  Account  of  the  Plao^ue  in 
London  "  will  remember  with  what  vivid  power 
he  describes  the  ravages  which  that  terrible 
scourge  brought  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the 
metropolis  at  that  period.  More  than  one 
hundred  years  previously,  however,  London  and 
many  parts  of  the  provinces  were  visited  with  an 
equally  terrible  scourge,  viz.,  the  Sweating 
Sickness. 

Of  this  sickness  we  have  no  narrative  as  in  the 
case  of  the  plague  of  1664-5,  and  It  Is  only  from 
the  correspondence  of  the  remarkable  personages 
of  the  time  that  we  gain  a  glimpse  of  its  character 
and  extent.  Sir  Thomas  More,  writing  to  his 
friend  Erasmus,  In  August,  15 17,  says:  "Almost 
everyone  in  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  London  has 
been  ill  lately,  and  we  have  lost  many  of  our  best 
and  most  honoured  friends.  ...  I  assure  you 
there  Is  less  danger  on  the  battlefield  than  in  the 


io6  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

citv."  *  The  account  of  Dr.  Caius,  an  eminent 
physician  of  the  period,  may  be  found  in  Mr. 
Brewer's  introduction  to  the  Letters  aiid  Papers, 
Henry  VI 1 1.,  vol.  ii. 

It  is  not,  however,  till  some  twenty  years  after- 
wards that  we  find  any  record  of  the  earliest 
visitation  of  the  plague  in  Liverpool.  In  1540 
we  are  told  that  Liverpool  was  nearly  depopulated 
by  the  plague.  At  this  period  the  population  of 
the  town — or  rather  village — must  have  been  very 
small  indeed;  for  in  1555  we  find  the  town  con- 
sisted of  138  householders  only,  and  allowing 
seven  persons  to  each  house  would  give  a  total  of 
966  inhabitants,  which  would  probably  be  over 
than  under  the  number. 

After  the  first  visitation,  Liverpool  appears  to 
have  suffered  considerably  by  the  frequent 
recurrence  of  the  pestilence,  whether  in  con- 
sequence of  refugees  from  other  parts  or  on 
account  of  the  unsanitary  condition  of  the  town 
does  not  very  clearly  appear.  Thus  in  1558  we 
find  another  record  of  the  plague  visiting  the 
town.  This  time  the  burial  place  of  the  victims 
was  situated  in  the  vicinity  of  Sawney  Pope 
Street.      On  this  occasion   the  Council   found  it 

•  Inter  Epist.  Erasmus^  522. 


THE  PL  A  G  UE  IN  LIVERPO  OL.  107 

necessary  to  issue  more  stringent  regulations  for 
the  good  ordering  of  the  inhabitants  : 

"  1558.  It  is  ordered  that  all  persons  who  may  happen  to  be 
visited  with  the  pestilence  in  the  said  town,  that  every  of  them 
shall  depart  out  of  their  houses  and  make  their  cabbins  on  the 
heath,  and  there  to  tarry  from  the  feast  of  the  Annunciation  of 
our  Lady  until  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel ;  and 
from  the  said  feast  of  St.  Michael  until  the  said  feast  of  the 
Annunciation  of  our  Lady,  to  keep  them  on  the  back  side  of 
their  houses,  and  keep  their  doors  and  windows  shut  on  the 
street  side  until  such  time  as  they  have  license  from  the  Mayor 
to  open  them,  and  that  they  keep  no  fire  in  their  houses,  but 
between  1 2  and  3  of  the  clock  at  afternoon  and  that  no  other 
person  or  persons  be  of  family  conversation  or  dwell  with  them 
upon  pain  of  imprisonment,  and  to  keep  their  own  houses,  and 
that  they  walk  in  no  street  except  for  a  reasonable  cause,  and 
their  houses  to  be  cleaned  or  dyght  with  such  as  shall  be 
appointed  by  Mr  Mayor  for  the  safeguard  of  the  Town." 

Whether  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  measures 
adopted  in  the  foregoing  order,  or  from  some 
other  reason  not  so  easily  explained,  it  is  certain 
that  for  a  considerable  period  following,  the 
inhabitants  enjoyed  an  immunity  from  any  further 
recurrences  of  the  plague.  In  16 10,  however,  we 
find  that  a  lay  of  half  a  fifteenth  was  charged 
upon  townships  in  East  Lancashire,  "to  the 
relief  of  the  infected  of  the  plague  in  the  several 
towns  of  Liverpool,  Uxton  (Euxton),  and 
others,"*    but   as    no  official    record   appears    to 

*   Lancashire  atid  Cheshire  Antiquarian  Notes,  i.,  99. 


io8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

have  been  kept  by  the  local  authorities  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  very  few  of  the  inhabitants 
suffered  from  it. 

We  are  now  approaching  a  period  when  it 
became  more  than  ever  necessary  that  the  officials 
should  carefully  watch  the  entrance  into  the  town 
of  strangers  from  other  towns  ;  and  the  extracts 
which  I  am  about  to  give  will  show  how  valiantly 
and  sturdily  the  whole  community  worked  in 
order  to  protect  themselves  and  their  families 
from  any  further  contagion.  Thus  on  the  12th 
June,  1647,  it  was  "Ordered  that  strict  wach 
shalbe  kept  by  the  townsmen,  because  of  the 
rumour  of  sickness  to  be  begune  in  Warring- 
ton. 

Again,  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  a 
further  order  was  issued,  wherein  "  It  is  pro- 
pounded by  the  governors,  concerning  the 
distraccons  betwixt  the  armie,  etc.,  and  other 
p'ticulers  at  this  assembly.  Whereunto,  answere 
was  made :  '  That  it  is  the  desire  of  Mr.  Maior, 
ye  Aldermen,  and  Comon  Councell  that  in  all 
things  there  may  be  a  free  &  faire  complyance 
betwixt  the  townsmen  and  ye  soldiers,  and  withal 
do  hold  it  fit,  and  ord"^  that  the  townsmen  from 
tyme  to  tyme,  according  to  Mr.  Maior's  direccon 


THE  PL  A  G  UE  IN  LI  VERPO  OL.  109 

shall  joyne  w'^  the  soldiers  in  keeping  Wach,  and 
that  noe  Chester  nor  Warrington  people  nor  their 
goods  during  ye  tyme  of  this  infeccon  shallbe 
admitted  to  come  into  this  towne.'  " 

In  the  early  part  of  the  following  year,  we  find 
several  entries  relating  to  the  plague,  from  one  of 
which  we  learn  that  the  town  was  so  poor  as  to 
be  unable  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  those 
infected,  and  was  therefore  obliged  to  appeal  to 
the  Justices  of  Assize  for  contributions  towards 
that  end,  and  as  the  sickness  had  abated  the 
inhabitants  became  uneasy  at  the  restraint  placed 
upon  them,  and  applied  for  their  liberty.  In 
connection  with  this,  we  find  the  following  entries, 
under  date  14th  February,  1648  : 

"It  is  this  day  ordered  by  Mr.  Maior,  the  Aldermen  and 
Comon  Councell  assembled,  that  the  p'sons  shutt  up  in  their 
howses  within  this  towne,  upon  the  suspition  of  the  sickness 
and  infeccon,  may  tomorrow  be  sett  at  lib'tie,  and  the  gards 
taken  offe,  upon  condicon  they  first  shew  themselfe  unto  the 
officers  appoynted  for  p'vyding  for  the  poore,  that  they  are  all 
in  health. 

"  W<:h  was  donne  accordingly,  praised  be  God  for  his  m'cie 
in  o""  speedie  deliverance." 

"  April  7'h.  Memd  that  the  2,"^  Portmoote  Court,  w^^  shold 
have  beene  held  at  after  Xmas,  was  deferred  and  put  of  by 
reason  of  the  sickness  and  infeccon  happe'ing  in  certaine 
howses  in  the  Chappell  Strete,  W^^,  through  the  blessing  of 
God    (great  care  being  taken)  and   much  cost  bestowed    in 


no  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

buylding  of  Cabbans,  and  removing  the  said  families  forth  of 
the  towne  into  the  said  cabins,  it  ceased  in  two  months  tyme, 
with  the  death  of  about  8  or  9  p'sons  of  meane  qualities." 

In  the  early  part  of  1649  a  return  of  the  sick- 
ness was  greatly  apprehended,  therefore  the 
Common  Council  again  ordered  that  all  the  poor 
coming  to  the  town  were,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  Governor  and  soldiers,  to  be  kept  out.  In 
the  following  year  it  was  found  necessary  to  place 
alike  restrictions  upon  all  persons  and  merchandise 
coming  from  Ireland  and  other  parts  unless  the 
said  persons  could  upon  oath  prove  that  they  had 
not  been  near  an  infected  town. 

Yet,  with  all  these  precautions,  the  sickness  was 
slowly  but  surely  finding  its  way  to  the  town. 
The  virulence  of  this  visitation  appears  to  have 
been  much  greater  than  any  that  had  yet  visited 
the  town,  nearly  all  business  being  suspended, 
and  many  of  the  officials  were  attacked  with  the 
sickness.  On  the  8th  of  October  it  was  ordered 
"  that  the  Ballives  shalbe  freed  from  the  collecting 
of  the  fynes  because  of  the  p'sent  condicon  of  the 
towne  in  regard  of  the  infeccon." 

1 65 1  saw  the  commencement  of  another  plague 
in  the  town,  during  which  more  than  200  of  the 
inhabitants  (a  number  probably  equal  to  one-tenth 


THE  PLAGUE  IN  LIVERPOOL.  in 

of  the  population)  died,  and  were  buried  in  the 
street  now  known  as  Addison  Street,  but  then 
bearing  the  name  of  Sick  Man's  Lane,  or  Dead 
Man's  Lane.  The  Grammar  School  belonging  to 
the  town  was  closed  in  consequence  of  this 
visitation,  and  one  of  the  earliest  orders  passed 
by  the  Council  in  1652  was  "that  the  Schoolm'' 
shall  have  his  whole  q'"''  wages  notwithstandyng 
his  discontinuance  of  teaching  by  reason  of  the 
sickness."  On  the  same  date,  Mr.  William 
Williamson  was  ordered  to  "  goe  to  Wigan,  con- 
cerning the  ley  to  be  collected  for  y''  poore  and 
infected,  and  to  solizit  the  Justices  of  Peace  for  y" 
furtherance  of  the  payment  thereof." 

The  continuance  of  the  sickness  necessitated 
the  removal  of  the  Custom-house  from  the  town 
into  the  country,  where  it  remained  for  a  whole 
year,  during  which  time  none  of  the  State's  vessels 
came  into  the  harbour."^'  On  June  the  9th  of  this 
year  (1653)  it  was  "  ord'red  that  Capt.  Thomas 
Croft  shall  have  3''  paid  him  by  y^  Balives  forth 
of  y"  townes  stock,  in  lew  and  consideracon  of 
his  howse  and  lands  w''^  was  spoyled  by  y'^ 
infected  p'sons  being  there  in  y^  time  of  God's 
Vizitation  of  y^  sickness  in  this  towne." 

*  Cal.  Slate  Papers.     Domestic,  1652-53,  p.  527. 


112  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

The  plague  which  was  raging   in  London  and 

elsewhere  during  1665  caused  much  anxiety  to  the 

Liverpool  authorities  as  the  time  of  the  principal 

fair  approached.     On  the  2nd  November  in  that 

year  a  public  meeting  of  the  burgesses  was  held, 

and  it  was  resolved  : 

"That  upon  consideration  and  apprehension  of  the  spread- 
ing contagion  of  the  plague,  now  raging  in  divers  neighbouring 
towns,  in  Cheshire,  and  other  parts,  and  of  the  great  concourse 
of  people  usually  from  these  parts  all  the  time  of  the  Fairs  kept 
in  this  town,  it  is  generally  noted,  agreed,  thought  fit,  and  so 
ordered,  that  the  keeping  of  the  fair  here  on  St.  Martin's  day 
next  (Nov.  11'^)  the  eve,  and  other  usual  day  after,  here 
accustomably  kept,  shall  on  this  present  exigent  of  danger,  for 
this  year  be  absolutely  foreborne  and  forbidden  by  open 
publication  and  notice  thereof  in  the  open  market  the  next 
market  day." 

This  notice  brings  our  account  of  the  plague  in 

Liverpool  to  a  close.     Considering  the  immense 

progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  town  during 

the  last  200  years,  and  the  enormous  increase  of 

the   population,    and    of  its   wealth  as  a  seaport 

town,     it     is     very     questionable     whether    the 

authorities  of  the  present  day  could,  in  the  event 

of  a  like  pestilence  falling  upon  their  city,  show  a 

greater  desire  for  the  safety,  welfare,  and  honour 

of  its  inhabitants  than  did  their  predecessors  of 

two  hundred  years  ago. 


Zbc  olb  ^ate^  :Bell  at  ClauGbton. 

By  Robert  Langton,  f.r.h.s. 

THE  village  of  Claughton  (pronounced 
Clafton,  and  written  Clagkton,  in  the 
Inquis  Nonariwrty  temp.  Edward  III.)  lies  on  the 
old  Roman  road,  seven  and  a  half  miles  from 
Lancaster,  in  a  north-east  by  east  direction. 
On  approaching  the  village  one  cannot  but  be 
struck  by  the  imposing  and  altogether  unusual 
appearance  of  the  double  bell-cot  at  the  west  end 
of  the  church. 

In  this  bell-cot  hang  two  bells,  one  of  them 
quite  modern  and  of  no  interest,  the  other  is  the 
oldest  dated  bell  in  England — older  bells,  no 
doubt,  still  exist,  but  they  are  without  date  or 
other  inscription.  The  accompanying  illustration 
is  a  true  rendering  of  the  lettering  on  the  bell, 
and  is  exactly  half  the  size  of  the  original 
inscription.  It  is  taken  from  a  rubbing  made  by 
the  writer  on  the  evening  of  June  27th,  1884. 
The  bell  at  Cold  Ashby,  in  Northamptonshire,  is 


1 

^U 

;     *-     ■ 

o 

U 

< 

0 

z 

1 

0 

=  2 

- 

r- 

:z 

: 

a 

: 

2 

^ 

:   2 

O 

+ 

^    ! 

P 

1 

0 

THE  OLD  DATED  BELL.  115 

the  next  oldest  known  dated  bell,  and  was  cast  in 
1317.     The  legend  on  it  reads  thus  : 

--00  o 

"  +  MARIA  -  VOCOR  -  ANO  -  DNI  -  M  -  CCC  -  XVII  -  " 

The  inscription  on  the  Claughton  bell  is  high 
up  on  the  shoulder  of  the  bell,  near  the  canons, 

and  reads  thus  : 

000  00 

"  +  ANNO  -  DNI  -  M  -  CC  -  NONOG  -  AI  "    [1296]. 

It  runs  entirely  round  the  bell  in  a  continuous 
line,  and  is  only  broken  into  three  lines  here  by 
the  necessities  of  space.  The  height  of  the  bell, 
exclusive  of  canons,  is  sixteen  and  a  half  inches, 
and  its  diameter  at  the  mouth  is  twenty-one  and  a 
quarter  inches.  The  weight  I  estimate  at  about 
two  hundredweight  two  quarters  ;  the  note  is  E 
flat,  or  a  trifle  higher.  It  should  be  noticed  that 
the  founder  has  inverted  the  V  at  the  end  of  the 
date,  a  very  common  blunder  in  all  ages  of  bell 
casting;  there  is,  however,  no  doubt  as  to  the 
true  reading  of  the  date. 

It  should  be  mentioned  here,  that  the  great 
antiquity  of  this  bell  was  first  discovered  by  the 
Rev.  W.  B.  Grenside,  m.a..  Vicar  of  Melling, 
in  1853. 


Zbc  Cbilbrcn  of  ^im  Bobbin. 

By  Ernest  Axon. 

THE  proverb  "like  father,  like  son"  is  not 
very  far  from  the  truth  when  applied  to 
the  Collier  family.  The  father,  John  Collier, 
alias  Tim  Bobbin,  though  certainly  a  clever  man, 
was  eccentric  almost  to  madness,  and  his  habits  of 
life  were  what  we  should  now  regard  as  disreput- 
able in  one  to  whom  was  committed  the  charge  of 
a  school.  He  was  a  drunkard,  and  seemed  to 
glory  in  the  fact.  His  sons  were  all  of  them 
"characters,"  and  had  intellectual  abilities  much 
above  the  average ;  yet  they  all  died  poor,  and 
one  of  them  was  insane.  The  wife  of  Tim 
Bobbin  seems  to  have  been  a  motherly  person  of 
fairly  good  education.  John  Collier,  jun.,  the 
eldest  son  of  Tim  Bobbin,  was  born  at  Milnrow, 
in  February,  1744-5,  ^^^  ^^^  trained  by  his 
father  until  his  twelfth  year,  when  he  was  placed 
as  an  apprentice  with  Mr.  Bowcock,  herald- 
painter,  of  Chester.  He  early  displayed  ability 
in  his  profession, — thanks,  probably,  to  his  father 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.  117 

having  taught  him  the  elements  of  painting, — and 
at  fourteen  was  sent  by  his  master  to  Rochdale  to 
paint  the  Royal  arms  in  the  Parish  Church. 
After  his  time  was  served,  he  returned  to  his 
father  at  Milnrow  ;  then  he  went  to  York  for  a 
short  time,  and  in  1766  settled  at  Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne  as  a  coach  painter  and  heraldic  artist.  He 
speedily  made  a  good  business  in  Newcastle,  and 
only  a  month  or  two  after  settling  there  he  wrote 
in  jubilant  tones  about  his  work.  "  My  business 
has  kept  as  brisk  as  my  last  left  me,  without 
housework,  which  I  have  neither  time  nor 
inclination  to  undertake.  My  work  pleases,  the 
price  sometimes  a  little  muttered  at  ;  no  wonder, 
as  'tis  generally  near  one-third  more  than  any 
painter  has  here  beside  myself"  The  result  of 
John  Collier's  first  year's  work  was  a  profit  of 
almost  ^60,  but  he  says :  "I  have  no  great 
inclination  for  settling  in  a  place,  though  I  know 
rambling  will  be  no  better  for  me."  John  Collier 
was  joined  at  Newcastle  by  his  brother  Thomas, 
but  the  brothers  soon  disagreed.  John  com- 
plained to  his  father  that  Thomas  was  lazy, 
conceited,  and  failed  in  his  duty  as  a  servant.  In 
August,  1767,  Tom  left,  and  his  place  was  taken 
by  his  brother  Charles.     The  change  made  little 


ii8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

difference  in  the  tone  of  John's  letters  to  their 
father,  and  the  complaints  were  renewed,  though 
the  name  was  altered.  It  seems  probable  that 
the  person  most  at  fault  was  John  Collier,  whose 
gloomy,  irritable  spirit  made  him  somewhat 
difficult  to  work  with.  After  Tom  left  John 
there  was  some  talk  of  his  taking  service  with  a 
rival  coachmaker  in  the  town.  The  father 
thought  this  a  very  desirable  arrangement,  for  his 
sons  could  be  near  each  other,  and  the  elder 
assist  the  younger.  John  was  opposed  to  it. 
"  Do  you  think,"  he  writes  to  his  father,  "  it 
would  have  tallied  with  my  interests  or  temper  to 
have  assisted  those  whose  power  and  delight 
would  have  been  to  see  me  reduced  to  the  servile 
condition  of  being  their  slave  ?  Would  you  correct 
the  work  of  a  Finch  or  Stuart,  or  like  me  for 
doing  it  ?  I  think  not,  nor  should  you  wish  to  see 
the  rankest  enemies  of  one  of  your  sons  assisted 
by  the  other ;  if  I  have  put  it  in  his  power  to  help 
my  enemies  to  stab  me,  gratitude  might  forbid  it  ; 
the  world  is  wide  enough, — in  the  name  of  God 
let  him  fill  some  corner  on  it  where  I  am  not." 
John  Collier  had  no  longer  any  desire  for 
rambling.  He  was  in  love.  As  his  father  wrote  : 
'*  The  lad's  smitten  with  710  beauty,  and  with  no 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  .BOBBIN.  119 

great  fortune  ;  I  believe  it  will  be  ^400."  On 
January  22nd,  1768,  John  Collier  was  married  to 
Betty  Ranken,  the  youngest  and  favourite  daughter 
of  Mr.  Robert  Ranken,  a  well-to-do  tradesman  in 
Newcastle.  The  accession  of  fortune  he  had 
with  his  wife  enabled  John  to  extend  his  business. 
He  built  a  house  and  workshops,  and  added 
coachbuilding  to  his  previous  occupations.  He 
did  a  little  painting  of  "old  masters."  Of  this 
branch  of  art  he  was  not  very  proud,  and  wrote 
to  his  father,  who  had  indiscreetly  mentioned 
it: — "  I  am  not  pleased  at  your  acquainting  any 
person  with  my  painting  the  old  head.  I  thought 
I  had  given  you  a  caution  (when  I  painted  that 
for  Mills's  on  canvas)  not  even  to  tell  Tom  the 
secret,  as  he,  by  not  being  able  to  do  it  as  it 
ought  to  be,  would  only  discover  the  imposition, 
without  any  benefit  to  himself ;  'tis  true  I  did 
paint  it,  nor  do  I  think  it  a  crime  to  impose  on 
those  who  are  fond  of  giving  high  prices  for  the 
indifferent  works  of  persons  dead,  which  very 
seldom  have  anything  to  recommend  them  but 
their  age  and  dirtiness."  John  Collier's  building 
operations  brought  him  into  contact  with  a  Mr. 
Drummond  about  some  land  in  which  the 
Corporation  was  also  interested.      It  appears  that 


120  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Collier's  house  encroached  on  Mr.  Drummond's 
land.  This  led  to  a  lawsuit,  and  the  part 
projecting  was  forcibly  taken  down.  The 
litigation  in  this  and  kindred  matters  embittered 
the  remainder  of  the  sane  period  of  John  Collier's 
life,  and  perhaps  hastened  his  insanity. 

John  Collier  was  often  severe  in  his  criticisms, 
and  unkind  in  his  remarks.  Even  his  father,  for 
whom  he  had  a  genuine  admiration,  did  not 
escape.  Criticising  some  of  his  father's  work,  in 
1769,  the  younger  John  said:  "You  certainly 
might  etch  your  heads  yourself  better  than  that 
plate  you  sent,  and,  to  tell  you  plainly,  the  draw- 
ing is  so  very  bad,  and  the  composition,  I  can 
scarcely  make  either  sense  or  satire  of  it,  what- 
ever is  designed  by  it."  It  is  true  that  posterity 
has  justified  the  young  man's  criticism.  John 
Collier  carried  on  a  pamphleteering  campaign 
against  the  Corporation  of  Newcastle.  In  1775, 
he  published  anonymously,  "  The  Corporation : 
A  Fragment,"  in  which,  in  Hudibrastic  verse,  he 
satirised  the  civic  body.  In  1777,  appeared  "An 
Essay  on  Charters,  in  which  are  particularly  con- 
sidered those  of  Newcastle,"  an  essay  which 
combined  considerable  research  and  antiquarian 
knowledge    with   keen  satire.     About    this    time 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.  121 

he  lost  his  first  wife,  an  event  that  somewhat 
unsettled  him,  and,  not  long  afterwards,  he  fell 
in  love  with  a  girl,  many  years  his  junior,  named 
Betty  Howard,  whom  he  married  at  the  Collegiate 
Church,  Manchester,  i6th  December,  1777.  His 
wife  assumed  for  the  ceremony  a  false  name 
(Forster).*  There  is  consequently  some  doubt 
as  to  the  legality  of  the  marriage.  Shortly 
afterwards,  his  already  marked  eccentricity 
rapidly  developed  into  violent  insanity.  He  com- 
plained that  his  young  wife  put  steel  filings  in  his 
shirt  and  stockings,  which  made  him  that  he 
could  not  rest,  and  to  prevent  the  repetition  of 
such  conduct,  he  beat  her  so  severely  with  a 
poker  that  he  bent  it  across  her  back. 

In  1778  appeared  "An  Alphabet  for  the 
Grown-up  Grammarians  of  Great  Britain.  By 
John  Collier,  a  Supposed  Lunatic."  Whether 
this  curious  pamphlet  appeared  before  or  during 
his  incarceration  is  uncertain.  He  had  some  idea 
of  a  phonetic  alphabet,  and  advocated  the 
substitution  of  the  letter  "  K  "  for  the  "  O."  which 
he  says  "is  the  devil  of  a  letter  in  our  alphabet, 
because  it  is  none  at  all."  He  sums  up  :  "  Four- 
teen vowels  !  six  mongrels  !  five  consonants !  and 

*  Information  of  Mr.  John  Owen. 


122  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

one  devil  knows  what,  form  our  present  alphabet, 
consisting  of  twenty-six  marks."  Early  in  1778 
Collier  tried  to  shoot  a  servant  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Slack,  the  printer  of  one  of  his  earlier  works, 
whose  life  he  also  threatened.  Mr.  Slack  had  the 
matter  inquired  into  by  the  magistrates,  and  John 
Collier  was  confined  in  the  lunatic  hospital,  where 
his  brother  Thomas  found  him  "chained  to  his 
bed,  with  proper  apparatus  for  one  in  his  deplorable 
situation."  The  magistrates  would  not  release 
him  until  they  had  a  bond  for  his  good  behaviour 
whilst  remaining  in  Newcastle,  and  there  seems  to 
have  been  some  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  both 
the  Colliers  and  the  Rankens  to  undertake  the 
responsibility.  Thomas  Collier  wished  John  to 
go  to  Penrith  with  him,  but  the  unfortunate  man 
vowed  that  he  would  stay  in  Newcastle  and 
prosecute  those  he  imagined  to  have  used  him  ill, 
"and  if  iustice  is  not  to  be  had,  to  blow  their 
brains  out."  He  had  his  lucid  intervals,  but  broke 
out  again  without  any  warning.  When  writing  a 
letter  he  would  often  stop  and  say,  "  Now,  some 
thick-headed  attorney  has  set  his  head  on  my 
.shoulders,  but  had  I  a  pistol  I  would  soon  do  for 
him."  In  January,  1779,  John  Collier  was 
released  and  placed  in  the  charge  of  his  brother 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.         123 

Thomas  at  Penrith,  who  found  him  both  trouble- 
some and  expensive.  In  the  lunatic's  first  week 
at  Penrith  he  ran  his  brother  into  debt  to  the 
amount  of  ten  or  fifteen  shilhngs  "by  ordering 
things  for  an  electrical  machine,  printing,"  etc. 
There  is  in  existence  a  long  letter  of  John  Collier's, 
dated  January  9,  1780,  full  of  mad  wanderings 
and  incoherent  sentences.  He  curses  his  father 
and  brothers  for  believing  in  his  insanity, 
complains  of  his  treatment  by  his  brother,  states 
his  theory  about  the  transference  of  thought  from 
one  person  to  another  by  means  of  electricity,  and 
is  in  trouble  about  his  property.  Writing  to  his 
father  he  asks,  "Why  do  you  support  his  [Mr. 
Howard]  making  off  with  my  money,  or  think  a 
fool  of  that  stamp,  or  my  brothers,  or  you  either, 
can  settle  accounts  of  my  own  work,  in  which  I 
have  never  yet  failed,  better  than  myself."  After 
a  few  years.  Collier  had  recovered  sufficiently  to 
be  allowed  at  large,  and  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  at  Milnrow.  In  the  early  days  of  his 
partial  recovery  he  did  some  painting.  One  of 
his  works  was  a  portrait  of  himself  in  a  sort  of 
iron  mask  or  grating,  which  he  used  to  wear 
occasionally,  and  which  he  had  made  for  himself 
out  of  hoop-iron.     He  also  painted  a  sign  for  the 


124  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Ship  Inn  at  Vicar's  Moss,  Rochdale.  This  sign 
was,  it  is  said,  not  badly  executed,  but  the  artist 
had  painted  the  sails  full  set  and  the  ship  sailing 
stern  first,  whilst"  some  sailors  in  a  boat  were 
rowing  with  their  faces  to  the  prow.  Jacky,  as 
he  was  called  by  the  villagers  at  Milnrow,  was  of 
middle  stature,  and  had  a  strongly  marked  and 
venerable-looking  countenance.  His  dress  was 
uncouth,  and  he  had  a  habit  of  wearing  his  clothes 
wrong  side  out,  and  towards  the  end  of  his  life  he 
dressed  in  sackcloth.  With  this  peculiarity  of 
dress,  clogs  with  extremely  thick  soles,  and 
carrying  a  staff  almost  as  long  as  himself  and 
two  inches  thick,  he  was  a  very  striking  figure  in 
Milnrow,  His  liking  for  having  every  article 
of  clothing  inside  out  did  not  at  first  extend  to  his 
clogs,  which  he  was  unable  to  reverse.  At  last, 
after  much  study,  he  hit  on  a  plan,  and  by  taking 
the  nails  out,  turning  the  leather,  and  nailing  it  on 
again  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  sole,  he  accom- 
plished his  object.  John  Collier  owned  a  few 
cottages  in  Milnrow,  and  on  one  occasion,  thinking 
his  tenants  had  affronted  him,  he  decided  to  evict 
them.  Wishing  to  know  the  correct  way  of  doing 
this,  he  sent  his  brother  Charles  to  consult  a 
lawyer,  and   Charles,   being  inquisitive,  asked  all 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.  125 

the  various  proceedings  of  a  contested  suit  at  law. 
When  Charles  got  home  he  told  Jacky  all  he  had 
heard.  John  decided  to  take  a  shorter  method. 
He  got  up  early  the  next  morning,  before  any  of 
his  tenants  were  stirring,  fastened  their  doors  and 
windows  from  the  outside,  and  stuffed  up  their 
chimneys  with  hay  and  straw.  When  the  tenants 
lit  their  fires  the  smoke  could  find  no  outlet,  and 
the  inhabitants  became  almost  suffocated.  Collier 
released  them  only  on  condition  that  they 
consented  to  take  their  goods'  away  and  give  up 
possession  at  once. 

Thus  John  Collier's  later  years  were  spent. 
He  had  survived  his  second  wife,  and  was  living 
with  his  nephew,  James  Clegg,  at  whose  house  in 
Milnrow  he  died  in  1809.  He  left  two  daughters 
and  a  son,  Edmund  Collier,  a  harmless  labouring 
man,  who  was  for  many  years  a  farmer's  servant, 
and  used  to  retail  milk  in  the  streets  of  Rochdale. 

Thomas  Collier,  the  next  son  of  Tim  Bobbin,  was 
not  nearly  so  unfortunate  as  his  elder  brother,  but  his 
life  was  not  without  its  vicissitudes.  He  was  born 
at  Milnrow  in  1746,  and,  after  he  had  served  his 
time  with  a  painter  at  Leeds,  entered  the  service 
of  his  brother  at  Newcasde,  at  a  salary  of  half-a- 
crown  a  week  and  board.      He  and  John  could  not 


126  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

agree.  Thomas  wanted  his  wages  raised,  and 
John  declined  to  raise  them,  whilst  John  wanted 
to  be  autocratic,  and  Thomas  would  not  obey  him. 
The  result  was  that  the  brothers  separated. 

Thomas  went  to  London  in  August,  1767.  He 
found  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  get  sufficient 
to  live  upon,  and  he  would  have  been  in  great 
straits  had  he  not  found  good  friends  there  who 
allowed  him  the  use  of  their  house,  and  nursed  him 
through  a  long  illness.  Less  than  a  year  sufficed  to 
tire  him  of  London,  and  he  returned  to  Newcastle 
to  his  brother's  employment,  but  the  wrangling 
commenced  again,  and  in  February,  1769,  John 
turned  him  out  of  the  house,  and  vowed  that  he 
should  never  enter  his  door  again,  "except  he 
reforms  in  a  manner  that  I  am  very  certain  'tis 
not  in  his  nature  to  do."  Tom  was  high-spirited 
and  extravagant.  He  ran  into  debt,  and  made  a 
show  of  wealth  by  giving  tips  twice  as  large  as  his 
elder  brother  did. 

In  1 770,  John  wrote  to  his  father  that  Tom  was  a 
source  of  continued  uneasiness  to  him,  "  not  only 
on  account  of  doing  good  to  himself,  but  on 
account  of  the  ridiculous  actions  which  mark  his  low- 
lifed,  grovelling  spirit."  When  Newcastle  steeple 
was     being     repaired,      Tom     very     foolhardily 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOB'BIN.  127 

ventured  to  the  top  of  an  outside  spire.      While 
on  it  he  was  seized  with  a  tremor,  and  had  to  be 
ignominiously  carried   down   by   a   Steeple   Jack. 
When  he  got  to  the  bottom  a  sturdy   bellringer 
rope-ended     him     very    severely.     On     another 
occasion  he  went  with  a  party  of  journeymen  into 
the   Sandgate     shouting  "Wilkes   and   Liberty," 
amongst  the  keelmen  and  colliers.     John  Collier 
relates  that  the  journeymen  "got  pelted  severely  ; 
Tom     in    particular    was    trailed    and    tumbled 
by  the  women  in  the  channel  till  his  cloaths  were 
all  of  a  colour  with  dirt  and  nastiness,  and  so  very 
severely  bruised  and  battered  that  he  would  in  all 
probability  have  died  under  their  discipline   had 
he  not,  with  the  assistance  of  a  few  of  the  men 
more  merciful  than  the  rest,   got   shoved   into  a 
boat    and   got    over    the  _  river."     It    was    soon 
noised    abroad    that     "Mr    Collier    was    almost 
killed,"  and  the  staid  and  respectable  John  Collier' 
was  annoyed  by  messages  and  inquiries  being  sent 
to  him  to  ask  how  he  did,  and  congratulations  on 
his  speedy  recovery  from  his  bruises.      "Judge  to 
yourself,"  writes  the  injured  elder  brother,  "when 
an  unfortunate,  ridiculous  action  is  saddled  on  a 
wrong  person  ;  if  he  was  not  of  the  same  name,  I 
should  be  content,   and  laugh  along  with  the  rest 


128  •  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

at  his  folly  ;  but  as  it  is,  it  galls  me  to  the  quick 
even  to  excuse  myself  and  say,  '  I  suppose  it  was 
my  brother.' "  Thomas  Collier  eventually 
commenced  business  at  Penrith,  and  was  for  some 
years  comparatively  successful.  With  fraternal 
piety  he  took  charge  of  his  brother  during  his 
violent  madness.  He  was  interested  in  politics, 
and  not  being  on  the  right  side,  the  magistrates 
of  the  town  took  every  opportunity  of  harassing 
him.  During  the  Revolution  he  wrote  and 
printed  a  volume  of  indifferent  verse,  "  Poetical 
Politics,"  but  before  it  was  published,  information 
was  given  to  the  magistrates,  and  Mr.  Collier  was 
apprehended.  He  was  confined  for  several 
days,  and  only  liberated  on  condition  that  the 
whole  of  the  printed  copies  should  be  destroyed  ; 
consequently  they  were  all  burnt,  with  the 
exception  of  one  copy,  which  Mr.  Collier 
contrived  to  secrete.  "  Poetical  Politics "  was 
not  Tom's  only  attempt  at  verse.  He  wrote  the 
well-known  epitaph  on  Tim  Bobbin's  grave, 
which  has  erroneously  been  said  to  have  been 
written  by  Tim  himself  shortly  before  his  death. 
He  was  author  of  a  fulsome  "  Eulogium  on  Tim 
Bobbin  by  way  of  epitaph,"  which  contains  the 
lines  : — 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.  129 

"  Thy  name,  O  Tim  !  thy  works  have  spread, 
And  thou,  Hke  Homer,  shall  be  read 
As  long  as  time  remains." 

He  also  wrote  a  poem  on  hanging,  entitled  "  Law, 
law."  He  pretended  to  understand  astrology, 
and  used  to  describe  himself  as  a  "  conjurer  and 
professor  of  mighty  magic."  Tom  Collier's 
business  having  been  ruined  in  Penrith,  he 
removed  to  Rochdale,  where  the  latter  years  of 
his  life  were  spent.  He  died  in  1825,  leaving  an 
illegitimate  son,  Robert  Collier,  who  succeeded  to 
his  father's  business  as  a  painter,  and  was  also  an 
auctioneer,  but  became  reduced  in  circumstances 
and  health  about  1829,  and  removed  to  Liver- 
pool. 

The  youngest  brother  of  this  unfortunate 
family  was  Charles  Collier.  Born  in  1749,  he 
was,  like  his  brothers,  apprenticed  to  a  painter, 
and  followed  Tom  as  assistant  to  John  Collier. 
The  brothers  did  not  agree,  and  Charles  left 
Newcastle,  settled  at  Kendal,  and  prospered  in 
business.  He  married  a  widow  with  ^100  a 
year,  and  resided  at  Kirby  Hall  for  some  time. 
Before  he  was  thirty  he  was  in  a  position  to  be 
able  to  buy  Tim  Bobbin's  cottage,  which  he 
presented  to  his  father  and  mother  for  their  lives. 


I30  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Mrs.  Charles  Collier  died  in  1782,  and  her  income 
died  with  her.  Charles  therefore  left  Kendal 
and  removed  to  Milnrow,  where  he  painted,  and 
carried  on  business  as  a  flannel  dealer.  Amongst 
other  commissions,  he  received  orders  for  the 
portraits  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shaw,  his  wife,  and  two 
children,  and  of  Jeremiah  Ainsworth,  the  mathe- 
matician. The  combination  of  portrait  painter 
and  flannel  dealer  was  not  a  success,  perhaps 
because  Charles  Collier  was  fonder  of  field  sports 
than  of  business.  He  kept  a  hunter,  and  lived  in 
an  extravagant  style,  and  after  his  father's  death 
was  forced  to  give  up  business,  and  thence- 
forward he  made  a  scanty  living  as  an  itinerant 
portrait  painter.  Of  the  rambling  life  he  led  we 
may  get  some  idea  from  a  three  months'  tour  in 
1802.  He  visited  Oxford,  London,  Hertford, 
Cambridge,  Ely,  Bury  St.  Edmunds, — where  he 
"  got  a  little  cash  in  pocket  with  painting 
portraits,  size  of  palm  of  my  hand,  in  oil," — 
Norwich,  Yarmouth,  Lowestoft,  Ipswich, 
Harwich,  Rochester,  Chatham,  Dover,  Brighton, 
Portsmouth,  Gosport,  Salisbury,  Exeter,  Ply- 
mouth, Penrhyn,  and  Falmouth,  His  travelling 
and  privations  aged  him  rapidly,  and  when  fifty- 
three  he  wrote  that  he  looked  "full  threescore 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  TIM  BOBBIN.  131 

years  old."     Charles  was  extremely  fond  of  seeing 
soldiers,     and    on    one    occasion     walked     from 
Rochdale    to     Dover    that    he    might    witness    a 
review    there.        When     the    great    review    was 
held  on  Kersal  Moor,  in  18 12,  he  was  one  of  the 
first   on   the    ground,   having  gone   there   on  the 
previous    evening   and    slept    in    the    open    air. 
Charles   Collier,    broken   in   health,  and   in   great 
poverty,  lived  at   Milnrow  during  his   last  years, 
and    died    there    in    181 2,    in    the    house    of   his 
nephew,  Mr.  James  Clegg. 


^be  *'3lnc\{  Hrt"  at  :B5oIton. 

IN  the  sixteenth  century  the  "  Black  Art " 
meant  not  only  witchcraft,  but  burglary 
in  its  initial  stages.  "The  Blacke  Arte,"  says 
Robert  Greene,  "is  picking  of  Lockes,  and  to 
this  busie  trade  two  persons  are  required,  the 
Charme  and  the  Stand.  The  Charm  is  he  that 
doth  the  feate,  and  the  Stand  is  he  that 
watcheth."  Some  of  the  tools  of  the  trade,  he 
says,  were  imported  from  Italy.  Particulars  of 
this  and  other  methods  of  knavery  are  given  in 
Greene's  "Second  Part  of  Conny-Catching," 
which  was  first,  printed  in  1591,  where  there  is  a 
narrative  of  a  Bolton  tragi-comedy.  This  curious 
story  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Not  far  off  from  Bolton  in  the  Mores,  there  dwelled  an 
auncient  Knight,  who  for  curtesie  and  hospitallitie  was  famous 
in  those  partes  :  diuers  of  his  Tennantes  making  repaire  to  his 
house,  offred  diuers  complaintes  to  him  how  their  lockes  were 
pickt  in  the  night  and  diuers  of  them  vtterly  vndoon  by  that 
meanes :  and  who  it  should  be  they  could  not  tell,  onely  they 
suspected  a  Tinker  that  went  about  the  Country  and  in  all 
places  did  spend  verye  lauishlye :  the  Knight  willing,  heard 
what  they  exhibited,  and  promised  both  redresse  and  reuenge 


THE  ''BLACK  ART'  AT  BOLTON.  133 

if  he  or  they  could  learne  out  the  man.     It  chaunced  not  long 
after  their  complaintes,  but  this  iollye  Tinker  (so  experte  in  the 
black  arte)  came  by  the  house   of  this   Knight,   as   the    olde 
gentleman  was  walking  afore  the  gate,  and  cryed  for  worke : 
the  Knight  straight  coniecturing  this  should  be  that  famous 
rogue  that  did  so  much  hurt  to  his  Tennantes,  cald   in   and 
askt  him  if  they  had  any   worke  for  the  Tinker :   the  Cooke 
aunswered  there  was  three  or  foure  old  Kettles  to  mend,  come 
in  Tinker  :  so  this  fellowe  came  in,  laide  downe  his  budget 
and  fell  to  his  worke,  a  black  Jacke  of  beere  for  this  Tinker 
sayes   the    Knight,    I    know   tinkers   haue    drye    soules :    the 
Tinker  he  was  pleasant  and  thankt  him  humblye,  the  Knight 
sate  down  by  him  and  fell  a  ransacking  his  budget,  and  asked 
wherefore    this    toole  serued  and  wherefore  that  :  the  tinker 
tolde  him  all :  at  last  as  he  tumbled  amongst  his  old  brasse, 
the  Knight  spyed  three  or  fower  bunches  of  pick-lockes  :    he 
turnd  them  over  quickly  as  though  he  had  not  seene  them  and 
said,  well  tinker  I  warrant  thou  art  a   passing  cunning  fellow 
&  well  skild  in  thine  occupacion  by  the  store  of  tooles  thou 
hast  in  thy  budget :  In  faith  if  it  please  your  worship  quoth  he, 
I  am  thankes  be  to  God  my  craftes  maister.     I,  so  much  I 
perceiue  that  thou   art  a  passing  cunning  fellowe  quoth  the 
Knight,  therefore  let  vs  haue  a  fresh  Jacke  of  beere  and  that 
of  the  best  and  strongest  for  the  Tinker :    thus  he  past  away 
the   time  pleasantlye,  and  when  he   had  done  his  worke  he 
asked  what  he  would  have  for  his  paines  ?    but   two  shillinges 
of  your  worship  quoth  the  Tinker :    two  shillinges  sayes  the 
Knight,  alas  Tinker  it  is  too  little,  for  I  see  by  thy  tooles  thou 
art  a  passing  cunning  workman  :  holde  there  is  two  shillinges, 
come  in,  shalt  drink  a  cup  of  wine  before  thou  goest  :    but   I 
pray  tell  me  which  way  trauailest  thou  ?    faith  sir  quoth  the 
Tinker  all  is  one  to  me,  I  am  not  much  out  of  my  way  where- 
soeuer  I  goe,  but  now  I  am  going  to  Lancaster :    I  praye  thee 
Tinker  then  quoth  the  Knight,  carry  me  a  Letter  to  the  Jaylor, 


134  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

for  I  sent  in  a  fellow  thither  the  other  day  and  I  would  send 
word  to  the  Jaylor  he  should  take  no  bale  for  him  :    marry 
that  I  will  in  most  dutifull  manner  quoth  he,  and  much  more 
for  your  woorship  than  that :  giue  him  a  cup  of  wine  quoth  the 
Knight,  and  sirrha  (speaking  to  his  Clarke)  make  a  Letter  to 
the  Jaylor,  but  then  he  whispered  to  him  and  bad  him  make  a 
mittimus  to  send  the  Tinker  to  prison  :    the  Clarke  answered 
he  knewe  not  his  name :  He  make   him  tell  it  thee  him  selfe 
sayes  the  Knight,  and  therefore  fall  you    to   your  pen  :    the 
Clarke  began  to  write  his  Jiiiitimus,  and  the   Knight  began  to 
aske  what  Countryman  he  was,  where  he  dwelt,  &  what  was 
his  name  :  the  Tinker  tolde  him  all,  and  the  Clarke  set  it  in 
with  this  prouiso  to  the  Jaylor,  that  he  should  keep  him  fast 
bolted,  or  else   he   would    break    awaye.     As    sone    as    the 
mittimus   was    made,    sealed   and    subscribed   in   forme   of  a 
Letter,  the  Knight  took  it  and  deliuered  it  to  the  Tinker  and 
said,  giue  this  to  the  Cheefe  Jaylor  of  Lancaster  &  heres  two 
shillings  more  for  thy  labour :  so  the  Tincker  tooke  the  Letter 
and  the  money  and  with  many  a  cap  and  knee  thanked  the 
olde  Knight  and  departed  :    and  made  haste   til   he  came   at 
Lancaster,  and  staid  not  in  the  town  so  much  as  to  taste  one 
cup  of  nappy  ale,  before  he  came  at  the  Jailor,  and  to  him 
very  briskly  he  deliuered  his  letter :  the  jailor  took  it  and  read 
it  and  smilde  a  good,  and  said  tinker  thou  art   welcom   for 
such  a  Knights  sake,  he  bids  me  giue  thee  y^  best  entertain- 
ment I  may :  I  sir  quoth  the  tincker  the  Knight  loues  me  wel, 
but  I  pray  you  hath  y'  courteous  gentlema  remembred  such  a 
poore  man  as  I  ?     I  marry  doth  he  tincker,  and  therefore  sirra 
q.  he  to  one  of  his  men,  take  y«  tinker  in  ye  lowest  ward,  clap 
a  strong  pair  of  bolts  on  his  heeles,  and  a  basil  of  28  pound 
weight,  and  then  sirra  see  if  your  pick  lock  wil  serue  the  turne 
to  bale  you  hence  ?  at  this  the  tinker  was  blank,  but  yet  he 
thought  the  jailor  had  but    iested  :    but  whe   he   heard    the 
mittimus  his  hart  was  colde,  and  had  not  a  word  to  say  :    his 


THE  '' BLACK  ART''  AT  BOLTON.  135 

conscience  accused  :  and  there  he  lay  while  the  next  sessions, 
and  was  hangd  at  Lancaster,  and  all  his  skil  in  the  black  art 
could  not  serue  him." 

The  story  will  not  be  unfamiliar  to  our  readers, 
but  it  may  be  fresh  to  find  it  localised  in  Lanca- 
shire three  centuries  ago.  It  may  be  claimed  as 
perhaps  the  earliest  recorded  instance  of  that 
form  of  practical  joking  sometimes  styled  "  Bolton 
trotting." 


Hn  3nfant  IproMg^  in  1670. 

By  Arthur  W.  Croxton. 

A  NOT  uninteresting  side  of  the  past  history  of 
Manchester — and,  in  fact,  of  Lancashire 
generally — is  that  which  has  shown  the 
birth  and  progress  of  reHgious  and  social 
movements,  which  have  in  time  become  incor- 
porated with  the  history  of  the  nation.  While,  in 
these  matters,  Manchester  may  be  said  to  stand 
in  the  forefront  as  the  source  of  much  that  is 
good,  it  has  also  not  been  without  its  religious 
and  social  frauds  and  quaclcs.  Perhaps  the 
earliest  of  these  appeared  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth, 
when  the  northern  provincial  towns  and  villages 
were  not  noted  as  places  where  education  or 
refinement  could  be  found.  His  name  was  Ellis 
Hall.  He  called  himself  Elias,  the  "  Manchester 
Prophet,"  and  died  in  prison  in  London  on  the 
25th  of  February,  1565.  When  in  business 
in  Manchester,  Elias  saw  remarkable  visions. 
He  gave  up  the  worldly  attractions  of 
business  life  for  the  joys   of  the  seer,  and  went  to 


AN  INFANT  PR  ODIG  V.  137 

London,  where  he  attempted  to  gain  admittance 
to  the  Queen.  But  with  visions  and  seers 
EHzabeth  would  have  nothing  to  do.  Ellis  Hall 
was  arrested,  condemned  to  the  pillory,  and 
whipped  by  the  ministers  at  Bedlam.  More  than 
one  hundred  years  later,  although  the  time  was 
the  age  of  Milton,  Bunyan,  Newton,  and  the 
Royal  Society,  the  public  mind  had  made  little 
advance  in  the  acquirement  of  that  knowledge 
which  is  the  despair  of  quacks  and  frauds.  Only 
three  years  after  George  Fox  began  to  preach  his 
doctrine,  and  to  "  declare  the  truth  among 
the  professors  at  Duckenfield  and  Manchester." 
Hollinworth,  the  historian,  shows  that  the  good 
townsfolk  of  Manchester  were  as  loath  as  ever  to 
disbelieve  the  marvellous.  For  instance,  "  in 
Blakeley,  neere  Manchester,  in  one  John 
Pendleton's  ground,  as  one  was  reaping,  the  corne 
being  cut,  seemed  to  bleede  ;  drops  fell  out  of  it 
like  to  bloud  ;  multitudes  of  people  went  to  see  it, 
and  the  strawes  thereof,  though  of  a  kindly  colour 
without,  were  within  reddish,  and  as  it  were, 
bloudy." 

But  marvels  of  this  kind  fade  into  insignificance 
when  the  year  1679  is  reached.  It  was  in  this 
year  that  an  infant  prodigy,  a  "  wonderfull  child," 


138  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

named  Charles   Bennet,   became   "  the   Discourse 

and  wonder  of  all  Lancashire,  Warwickshire,  and 

parts  adjacent."     There  is  little  known  about  the 

boy    whose    wonders   moved    Manchester   to    its 

heart's  core  in  the  last  days  of  the  second  Charles. 

What  evidence  there  is  of  the  boy's  existence  is 

to  be  found  in  a  tract  which  appeared  in   London 

in  1679,  at  the  time  when   Bennet  was  reaching 

the  summit  of  his  wondrous  career.      Its    title    is 

in  the  following  form  : 

"  The 

Wonderfull  Child 

or 

Strange  News 

from 
Manchester," 

and  from  its  contents   may    be  gathered   one    or 

two   interesting  particulars  relating   to   the   birth 

and  career  of  Charles  Bennet.     Certainly  a  great 

deal    may    be   learned    about    his    extraordinary 

possession,  at  the  age  of  three,   of  powers   and 

abilities  which  would  do  credit  to   the  Admirable 

Crichton  himself      The  tract  begins   by  stating 

that: 

"  The  Holy  Scripture  witnesseth,  that  God  doth  often  reveal 
his  strength,  and  shew  the  glorious  effects  of  his  power,  out  of 
the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings.  What  we  are  here  to  relate, 
is  certainly  as  rare  and  signal  a  dispensation  of  his  providence, 


AN  INFANT  PR ODIG  Y.  139 

as  most  that  have  occurred  in  our  Age.  And  this  is  concern- 
ing a  child,  the  Discourse  and  wonder  of  all  Lancashire, 
Warwickshire,  and  parts  adjacent ;  For  that  having  never 
been  taught  any  but  his  mother  Tongue  ;  and  being  in  truth 
of  an  age  too  young  and  incapable,  to  all  humane  apprehension, 
of  being  taught  or  instructed  in  anything  of  Learning,  being 
but  three  years  of  age  ;  and  when  he  began  first,  not  so  much ; 
he  does  yet  freely  and  frequently  speak  Latine,  Greek  and 
Hebretv  besides  English,  which  he  was  bred  unto  :  and  answers 
Questions  demanded  of  him,  in  any  of  those  Languages." 

Then  follows  some  information  as  to  the  birth 
of  the  child.  The  son  of  "  one  Thomas  Bennet, 
an  honest,  poor,  industrious  man  in  the  town  of 
Manchester,''  he  was  "born  on  the  22nd  day  of 
June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1676  ;  so  that  two 
days  befors  this  last  Midsummer  day  he  was 
completely  three  years  of  age,  and  no  more  ;  as 
not  only  by  its  parents'  affirmation,  but  likewise 
that  of  the  church-book,*  and  the  testimony  of 
many  of  their  Neighbours  does  most  certainly 
appear."  The  enthusiastic  author,  whose  zeal  is 
more  than  suspicious,  afterwards  remarks  that  the 
countenance    of  this    remarkable    child   "  is  very 


*  Mr  John  Owen  has  kindly  examined  his  transcripts  of  the  Manchester 
Collegiate  Church  Registers  for  Bennet's  baptism.  No  one  named  Bennet 
was  baptised  about  1676,  but  in  that  year  "Charles,  son  of  Robert  Bent  of 
Manchester"  was  baptized  June  22nd,  1676.  This  would  no  doubt  be  the 
wonderful  child,  in  spite  of  the  father's  name  being  Robert  instead  of 
Thomas.  Robert  Bent  had  two  other  children  baptized  at  the  Collegiate 
Church  ;  Ann,  Oct.  31st  1675,  and  Katharine.  Dec.  22nd,  167S. 


14©  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

solid  and  composed  ; "  and  that,  considering  his 
tender  age — "  which  usually  is  brisk  and  full  of 
play " — he  seems  inclined  to  "  Melancholy,  yet 
hath  a  kind  of  Majestical  Gravity  even  already 
appearing  in  his  looks ;  which  is  frequently 
attended  with  a  modest  smile  :  and  when  he  hears 
people  fall  into  excessive  praises  of,  or  wondering 
extremely  at  him,  does  commonly  blush  and 
reprove  them  ;  desiring  them  to  praise  that  God, 
and  admire  his  power  and  goodness,  who  is  the 
sole  bestower  of  every  good  and  perfect  Gift  and 
work." 

This  young  man  of  sensibility,  with  his  "  antique 
youth,"  could  prattle  English  when  he  was  but  a 
year  and  a  quarter  old.  As  for  Latin  and  the 
other  languages  with  which  he  is  said  to  have 
been  acquainted,  they  came  to  him  "by 
inspiration."  When  he  was  a  little  over  two 
years  old,  his  powers  seem  to  have  attracted 
attention.  "  For,"  the  tract  remarks,  "  one  of  his 
relations  being  reading  a  Chapter,  the  child 
observed  that  they  read  wrong,  and  withal  told 
them  what  was  right :  and  afterwards  was  heard 
by  several  that  understood  it  to  speak  words  of 
Latine ;  at  which  the  hearers  were  not  a  little 
surprised  both  because  of  his  Age  and  Education." 


AN  INFANT  PRO  DIG  Y.  141 

This,  however,  was  not  all ;  the  child's  ambition 
soared  beyond  Latin.  He  read  Greek  and 
Hebrew  to  his  relatives,  with  the  result  that  his 
fame  spread  wide  ;  and  "abundance  of  Ministers, 
Physicians,  and  Gentlemen  that  are  scholars  come 
out  of  Curiosity  to  see  and  hear  him  ;  which 
when  they  have  done,  they  all  confess  that  they 
never  saw,  heard  of,  or  read  the  like." 
Manchester  soon  became  too  small  for  the  child, 
and  he  determined  that  "he  must  go  to  the  King, 
for  he  had  something  to  say  to  him."  Then  the 
boy  made  a  "royal  progress"  to  London.  He 
could  only  travel  a  little  way  each  day  ;  multitudes 
crowded  to  see  him;  and  "persons  of  quality"' 
invited  him  to  their  houses.  At  Coventry  all  the 
magistrates  came  out  to  see  him,  and  "  heard  him 
talk  in  the  Languages  aforesaid  to  several 
Ministers  ;  whom  he  very  freely  converses  with, 
and  answers  all  questions  out  of  the  Bible,  in  a 
wonderful  manner." 

Evil  tongues  are  ever  prone  to  belittle  that  which 
is  good  or  successful.  Charles  Bennet  was  not 
without  enemies,  for  "there  are  some  people  who 
would  seem  very  wise,  that  imagine  this  child  is 
possessed,  and  that  some  evil  spirit  answers  for  it 
in  this  variety  of  languages."     At  this,  the  child's 


142  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

special  pleader,  the  author  of  the  tract,  becomes 
righteously  indignant ;  he  repels  with  scorn  such 
insinuations.  Rather,  he  says,  "  we  do  esteem  it 
as  an  extraordinary  gift  from  God  ;  and  hope  it 
will  be  a  means  to  advance  his  glory,  that  those 
who  will  not  be  reclaimed  from  their  ill  lives  by 
the  ordinary  ministers  of  the  church,  may  at  least 
be  awakened  from  their  sin  to  see  this  young 
miraculous  preacher,  sent  to  call  them  to  repent- 
ance." It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  pious 
ejaculation  was  not  made  in  vain.  The  tract  thus 
concludes:  "We  have  a  tradition  of  the  famous 
Ambrose  Merlin,  that  he  prophesied  from  his  very 
infancy  ;  whence  some  report  him  not  to  have 
been  of  humane  race,  but  begot  by  the  Phantasm 
of  Apollo,  but  these  are  but  old  ivives  Fables ^ 
"  I  cannot  say,"  the  author  magnanimously 
remarks,  "  x}ci\?,  prodigious  child  \s  a  prophet ;  and 
yet  I  heard  that  several  things  he  hath  said  have 
afterwards  come  to  pass.  He  came  to  London 
the  28th  instant,  and  is  lodged  at  the  Bear  Inn  in 
Smithfield,  where  hundreds  have  been  to  see 
him."  Such  is  the  story  of  the  early  days  of 
Charles  Bennet ;  whether  he  grew  up  to  manhood 
does  not  seem  to  be  known.  Those  whom  the 
gods  love  die  young,  and  doubtless  the  boy  met 


AN  INFANT  PRODIG  V.  143 

with  an  early  death.  How  far  this  record  of  his 
career  is  true  would  be  difficult  to  say.  The 
seventeenth  century  was  not  remarkable  for  its 
religious  balance  ;  the  youthful  life  of  John  Bunyan 
will  show  to  what  an  extent  enthusiasm  ruled  in 
matters  of  the  heart  and  religion.  To  apply  the 
searching  criticism  with  which  Renan  attacks  the 
synoptic  gospels  to  this  little  story  of  Charles 
Bennet,  would  probably  speedily  show  the 
weakness  of  the  fabric  on  which  it  is  built. 


Mife  Desertion  in  tbe  ®l^en  Zimcs. 

AMONGST  the  documents  in  the  town  chest 
of  Atherton,  there  is  the  following,  which 
exhibits  a  striking  portrait  of  a  ne'er-do-weel  of 
the  past : — 

"  The  humble  petition  of  Henry  Mills,  otherwise  Meanley, 
of  Atherton,  in  the  County  of  Lancaster,  Naylor:  (To  the 
Churchwardens  and  Overseers  of  the  Poore  and  others,  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  Townshipp  of  Atherton  aforesaid)  Humbly 
Sheweth  That  whereas  your  Petitioner,  Henry  Mills,  otherwise 
Meanley,  hath  severall  times  withdrawn  himself  from  his 
ffamiley  and  strolled  about  the  country  with  a  strange  woman 
in  a  disolute  and  disorderly  manner  whereby  his  Lawful!  Wife 
and  Children  have  been  chargeable  and  burdensome  to  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  said  Township  of  Atherton,  haveing  at 
times  for  Rent,  Phisick,  Cloathing,  and  other  nessessarys 
Received  from  the  s''  Overseers  of  the  Poore  to  the  sums  of 
Nine  pounds.  Now,  your  petitioner  humbly  begs  that  the 
s'^  Churchwardens,  Overseers  of  the  Poore,  and  others  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  said  Township,  will  be  pleased  to  pardon 
and  forgive  your  s'*  Petitioner  at  least  so  far  as  to  legal!  or 
Bodily  punishm*  and  your  Petitioner  will  do  what  in  him  lies 
to  reimburse  to  the  said  Overseers  of  the  Poore  the  sum  of 
Six  pounds  in  maner  following  (That  is  to  say)  fifive  shillings 
at  the  delivery  hereof  and  ffive  shillings  every  Quarter  of  a 
year,  to  commence  from  the  date  hereoff  and  to  continue 
untill  the  said  sume  of  six  pounds  be  fully  paid  and  discharged, 


WIFE  DESERTION  IN  OIDEN  TIMES.      145 

this  your  petitioner  humbly  hopes  they  will  in  their  goodness 
comply  with.  And  if  your  Petitioner  does  not  conform 
himself  wholly  to  the  terms  above  mentioned  and  prove  him- 
self a  good  Husband  to  his  Wife  and  fifamiley  your  petitioner 
will  submit  himself  to  any  Bodily  punishment  the  law  shall 
direct,  and  in  return  your  Petitioner,  as  in  duty  bound,  will 
ever  pray,  &c.— Signed  by  your  petitioner  the  third  day  of 
December,  1735. 

Henry  X  Mills, 
otherwise  Meanley, 
his  Marke. 
Witnesses  hereto  :  Thos.  Collier,  Peter  Collier." 

The  idea  of  binding  down  an  erratic  spirit  like 
this  by  virtue  of  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  wafer  seal, 
argues  a  faith  in  human  nature  that  even  the 
operation  of  the  old  poor  law  could  not  dispel. 


Zbc  Colquitt  jfamil^  of  XiverpooL 

THOUGH  now  scarcely  remembered  in 
Liverpool,  the  family  of  Colquitt  was  once 
of  great  importance  in  that  town.  They  occupied 
a  prominent  position  in  Liverpool  for  almost  a 
century  and  a  half,  and  now  the  only  local 
reminder  of  their  existence  is  the  street  known  by 
their  name. 

The  Colquitts  were  originally  a  Cornish  family, 
and  in  1620,  Mr.  John  Colquite  of  St.  Sampson's, 
Cornwall,  having  failed  to  establish  his  right  to 
bear  arms,  was  proclaimed  by  the  heralds  to  be 
"  no  gentleman,"  and  was  prohibited  from  assum- 
ing the  style  and  privileges  of  one.  Another 
John  Colquitt,  apparently  the  grandson  of  John 
Colquite,  "no  gentleman,"  was  surveyor  in  the 
Customs  at  Hull.  He  served  under  Cromwell 
and  the  Rump,  and  was  not  friendly  to  the  Royal 
House.  At  the  Restoration,  complaints  were 
made  against  him,  alleging  that  he  was  "  trying  to 
keep  up  the  old  interest,  dismissing  loyal  men, 
and  employing  four  dangerous  officers  in  the  late 


COL  Q  UITT  FA  MIL  V  OF  LIVERPO  OL.        147 

army."  The  result  of  the  complaint  is  not  known. 
Benjamin  Colquitt,  son  of  the  Hull  surveyor,  was 
admitted  to  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  in 
1670.  He  graduated  b.a.  in  1673,  became  m.a. 
in  1677,  and  immediately  afterwards  was  incorpor- 
ated at  the  University  of  Oxford. 

The  connection  of  this  family  of  Colquitts 
with  Liverpool  commenced  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  but  more  than  a  century 
earlier,  Mr.  Humphrey.  Colquitt  was  a  member  of 
the  Liverpool  Corporation.  Mr.  John  Colquitt  L 
was  surveyor  of  Customs  at  Liverpool  in  1699, 
when  he  was  granted  a  moiety  of  £<^\  in  English 
coin,  which  had  been  seized  by  him  and  a  brother 
officer  when  it  was  being  illegally  exported.  Six 
years  later,  Edward  Scarborough,  collector,  John 
Colquitt,'  surveyor,  and  Marmaduke  Dean,  con- 
troller, of  the  Liverpool  Customs,  were  engaged 
in  some  extensive  frauds  which  resulted  in  their 
dismissal  from  office.  It  is  probable  that  other 
places  were  found  for  them,  and  the  Liverpool 
surveyor  was  almost  certainly  identical  with  John 
Colquitt,  collector  of  Customs  at  Poole.  John 
Colquitt,  of  Poole,  married  PVances  Allen,  of 
Christleton,  near  the  city  of  Chester,  and  his  son, 
John    Colquitt    H.,    was   also    in    the    Customs. 


148  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

He  appears  to  have  owed  his  introduction  to  the 
service  to  the  then  member  for  Liverpool,  the 
enterprising  but  impecunious  Sir  Thomas  John- 
son, who  ended  an  active  Hfe  as  a  merchant  and 
public  man  in  an  obscure  post  in  an  unknown 
corner  of  the  American  colonies.  Colquitt  was 
collector  of  Customs  at  Leith  for  some  years, 
and  in  1726  was  appointed  to  the  lucrative  and 
important  position  of  collector  at  Liverpool,  a 
post  he  held  for  twenty-three  years.  With  his 
two  sons  he  was  amongst  the  subscribers  to  the 
building  of  the  Liverpool  Infirmary  in  1745. 

This  second  John  Colquitt  married  Frances, 
daughter  of  Roger  Smith,  of  Frolesworth  and 
Edmundthorpe,  in  Leicestershire,  and  had  four 
sons,  John  III.,  Edward,  Scrope,  and  Thomas. 
The  eldest  son,  John  Colquitt  III.,  entered  Rugby 
School  in  1726,  being  described  in  the  school 
register  as  "  son  of  John  Colquit,  Esq.,  Liverpool." 
He  succeeded  his  father  as  collector  of  Customs  at 
Liverpool  in  1749.  During  a  long  tenure  of  office 
he  acquired  considerable  wealth,  which  was 
invested  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  present 
Colquitt  Street.  These  lands  were  formed  into 
streets  of  commodious  houses  which  long  kept  up 
their    aristocratic     prestige.       He     married     the 


COLQUITT  TAMIL  Y  OT  LIVERPOOL.        149 

widow  of  one  of  the  Seel  family,  whose  estates 
adjoined  his,  but  he  left  no  children.  Mr.  Brooke 
records  a  saying  of  Mr.  Colquitt's  in  1770,  "  How 
happy  shall  I  be,"  said  the  worthy  official,  "when 
the  Customs  of  Liverpool  amount  to  ^100,000  a 
year."  At  that  time  they  were  between  ^80,000 
and  ^90,000  per  annum.  What  would  Mr. 
Colquitt  have  thought  had  he  returned  to  his  post 
half  a  century  later,  when  the  Customs  revenue 
had  increased  to  many  times  the  amount  he  could 
have  anticipated  even  in  his  most  sanguine 
moments.  Mr.  John  Colquitt  III.  died  in  1773. 
His  brother,  Edward  Colquitt,' second  son  of  John 
Colquitt  H.,  was  born  at  Leith  in  17 16,  educated 
at  the  Bury  Grammar  School  and  at  St.  John's, 
Cambridge,  where  he  graduated  b.a.  in  1739, 
and  became  a  clergyman  of  the  episcopal  church 
in  Scotland,  being  minister  of  St.  Andrew's, 
Edinburgh.  The  Rev.  Edward  Colquitt  died 
unmarried.  The  fourth  son,  Thomas  Colquitt, 
also  died  a  bachelor,  having  perished  in  a  passage 
boat  off  Anglesea.  A  daughter  of  John  H.  was 
the  wife  of  Francis  Gildart,  a  member  of  an  old 
Liverpool  family,  and  holder  for  many  years  of 
the  office  of  town  clerk. 

Scrope  Colquitt,  the  third  son  of  John  Colquitt 


ISO  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

II.,  was  an  important  person  in  his  day.  He  was 
born  in  1 7 19,  and  like  other  members  of  his  family 
was  an  officer  of  the  Customs  at  Liverpool.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council,  and  in  1753 
was  bailiff  of  the  town.  His  name  figures  in  the 
lists  of  first  subscribers  to  the  Liverpool  Infirmary 
in  1745,  and  to  the  Liverpool  Dispensary  in  1779. 
When,  in  1756,  there  was  great  distress  among 
the  Liverpool  townsfolk,  Mr.  Scrope  Colquitt  was 
one  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Corporation 
to  administer  a  fund  raised  for  their  relief.  In 
1759,  he  signed  an  address  from  the  leading 
inhabitants  of  the  town  to  the  printer  of  the 
"  Liverpool  Advertiser,"  requesting  him  to 
discontinue  giving  in  his  paper  lists  of  the 
shipping  of  the  port.  The  lists  had  proved  too 
good  a  guide  to  the  French  war-ships  in  their 
search  for  plunder  and  prize-money  to  be 
appreciated  by  the  Liverpool  merchants. 

Scrope  Colquitt  resided  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
which  in  the  last  century  really  deserved  its  name, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  well-to-do  families 
living  in  its  neighbourhood.  He  was  married 
first,  in  1744,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John 
Goodwin,  of  Biddulph,  Staffordshire,  and  secondly, 
to  Mrs.  Bridget  Harrison,  a  widow.      By  his  first 


.   COL Q  UITT  FAMIL  V  OF  LIVERPOOL.        1 5 1 

wife,  Scrope  Colquitt  had  a  large  family.  Anne 
died  in  infancy  ;  John  will  be  dealt  with  later ; 
Frances  was  married  to  Captain  Gideon  John- 
stone, R.N.,  youngest  son  of  Sir  James  Johnstone, 
Bart.  ;  Mary  died  unmarried,  at  Christleton,  in 
1776;  Goodwin,  Scrope,  and  William  will  be 
named  later ;  and  Elizabeth,  Smith,  and  Ralph 
died  vounor. 

The  eldest  son,  John  Colquitt  IV.,  was  born  in 
1746,  and  became  an  attorney.  He  lived, 
accordinof  to  Picton,  in  Wood  Street,  but  in  the 
Directory  of  1774  his  address  is  39,  Atherton 
Street.  He  laid  out  streets  on  his  property, 
which  lay  between  Wood  Street  and  Seel  Street. 
The  street  now  called  Berry  Street  was  originally 
Colquitt  Street,  but  when  the  present  Colquitt 
Street  was  formed  the  name  was  transferred  to 
the  new  street,  and  the  old  one  then  became 
Berry  Street.  Mr.  John  Colquitt  IV.  was  a 
member  of  the  Common  Council,  and.  bailiff  of 
the  town  in  1774.  His  name  occurs  in  the  Latin 
inscription  on  the  first  stone  of  St.  John's  Church. 

In  1 78 1,  he  succeeded  his  uncle,  Francis 
Gildart,  as  town  clerk,  but  can  hardly  be  said  to 
have  shone  in  that  office,  for  in  an  important 
trial  between  the  Corporations  of   Liverpool  and 


152  B  YGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

London,  respecting  the  town  dues,  another 
attorney,  Henry  Brown,  was  employed,  Colquitt 
not  being  considered  competent  for  the  extensive 
research  and  deep  legal  lore  required.  John 
Colquitt  IV.  was  married  to  Bridget,  daughter  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Martin,  of  Whitehaven,  Drumcondra, 
and  of  Virginia,  and  died  in  1807. 

The  town  clerk's  children  were  John  Scrope, 
Samuel  Martin,  and  Bridget,  who  married  Mr. 
Thomas  John  Parke,  of  Liverpool,  and  who  died 
a  widow  in  1861.  John  Scrope  Colquitt,  the 
eldest  son,  was  born  in  1775,  and  baptised  at 
St.  Thomas's,  Liverpool.  He  was  educated  at 
Macclesfield  Grammar  School,  and  at  Rugby. 
He  entered  the  army,  and  became  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  Guards.  Colonel  J.  S.  Colquitt 
served  in  the  Peninsular  War  with  distinction. 
He  was  wounded  at  Barossa.  At  the  capture  of 
Seville,  in  April,  181 2,  he  was  again  wounded  so 
severely  that  he  died  from  the  effects.  Colonel 
Colquitt's  brother,  Samuel  Martin  Colquitt,  took  a 
prominent  part  in  Liverpool  politics.  He  was 
born  in  1777,  and  went  to  Macclesfield  and 
Rugby  with  his  brother.  He  had,  when  only  six 
years  of  age,  been  entered  in  the  books  of  the 
Royal  Navy  as  Captain's  servant.     This  was  on 


i^.:  iMt^i 


COLQUITT  TAMIL  Y  OT  LIVERTOOL.        153 

the  loth  December,  1783,  and  though  really  he 
was  still  at  school,  he  nominally  cruised,  until 
1789,  on  the  Irish  Channel  and  Halifax  stations. 
He  was  a  midshipman  before  this  cruise  was 
finished,  and  it  was  probably  in  that  capacity  that 
he  actually  joined  the  navy.  In  1794,  he  took 
part  in  the  capture  of  two  French  vessels,  after  a 
battle  of  three  hours.  In  1795,  he  was  promoted 
lieutenant,  and  served  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
off  the  coast  of  Spain,  and  was  first  lieutenant  and 
acting  captain  of  the  "Thalia."  Having  become 
captain  in  1802,  Colquitt  commanded  for  several 
years  the  "  Princess "  floating  battery  off 
Lymington  and  Liverpool.  During  the  time  he 
held  this  command,  Captain  Colquitt  was  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Tory  party  in  Liverpool.  In 
1804,  he  was  second  in  the  duel  in  which  Mr. 
Edward  Grayson,  shipbuilder,  was  mortally 
wounded.  Captain  Colquitt  and  his  principal. 
Lieutenant  Sparling,  were  indicted  for  murder  at 
the  Lancaster  Assizes,  but,  though  there  could  be 
no  doubt  of  their  legal  guiltiness  they  were 
acquitted.  At  that  time  duelling  was  winked  at 
by  the  authorities,  and  even  in  the  clearest 
cases  verdicts  of  not  guilty  were  returned.  In 
1809,    Colquitt  was   appointed    to    the   command 


154  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

of  the  "  Persian,"  on  the  West  India  station.  He 
became  post-captain  in  1810,  and  attained  the 
rank  of  rear-admiral  in  1846.  A  curious  episode 
in  the  captain's  poHtical  Hfe  was  his  standing  for 
Preston  in  1826.  There  were  eight  candidates, 
and  the  polling  was  as  follows  :  for  Hon.  E.  G.  S. 
Stanley,  2944;  John  Wood,  1974;  Captain  R. 
Barrie,  1653;  William  Cobbett,  995;  Sir  T.  B. 
Beevor,  Bart.,  14 ;  Captain  Colquitt,  i  ;  John 
Lawe,  I  ;  and  Mark  Philips,  o.  Admiral  Colquitt 
died  at  Bishopstoke  in  his  seventy-second  year,  in 
1847,  having  been  in  the  Royal  Navy  for  sixty- 
four  years. 

Goodwin  Colquitt,  the  admiral's  uncle,  was  also 
in  the  navy.  Born  in  1750,  he  served  during  the 
French  wars,  and  became  a  captain  and  com- 
mander. In  1782,  he  was  in  command  of  H.M.S. 
"Echo,"  of  sixteen  guns.  He  died  at  Bath,  in 
1826.  Captain  Goodwin  Colquitt  married  a 
Manchester  lady,  and  had  an  only  son,  also 
named  Goodwin,  who  attained  some  celebrity  for 
bravery  and  skill  as  a  military  commander. 
Goodwin  Colquitt,  junr.,  was  born  in  1786,  and 
became  a  captain  and  lieutenant-colonel  in  the 
first  regiment  of  Guards.  He  was  present  at 
Waterloo,    and    received    the    Companionship   of 


COL  Q  UITT  FAMIL  Y  OF  LIVERPO  OL.        155 

the  Bath.  Captain  Gronow  relates  a  remarkable 
instance  of  Colonel  Colquitt's  coolness  and 
presence  of  mind.  During  the  terrible  fire  of 
artillery  which  preceded  the  repeated  charges  of 
the  cuirassiers  against  our  squares,  a  shell  fell 
between  Captain  Colquitt  and  another  officer.  In 
an  instant  Colquitt  jumped  up,  caught  up  the 
shell  as  if  it  had  been  a  cricket  ball,  and  flung  it 
over  the  heads  of  both  officers  and  men,  thus 
saving  the  lives  of  many  brave  fellows.  This 
gallant  soldier  was  ancestor  of  the  family 
of  Colquitt-Craven,  of  Brockhampton  Park, 
Gloucestershire,  the  present  representatives  of 
the  Liverpool  Colquitts. 

Scrope  Colquitt,  the  town  clerk's  next  brother, 
and  uncle  of  Colonel  Colquitt,  was  born  in  1752, 
and  was  appointed  deputy-searcher  in  the  Customs 
in  1778,  and  eventually  became  searcher.  He 
took  part  in  the  volunteer  movement  in  1803,  and 
was  appointed  a  lieutenant  in  the  Liverpool 
Independent  Companies.  In  1798,  when  the 
"loyal  and  patriotic"  gendemen  of  England 
entered  into  a  subscription  in  aid  of  the  Govern- 
ment, Scrope  Colquitt  subscribed  ^50.  Scrope's 
eldest  daughter  married  John  Touchet,  of 
Manchester.        His     only     son,     Scrope     Milne 


156  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Colquitt,  B.A.,  Fellow  of  Brazenose  College, 
Oxford,  died  at  Greenbank,  Liverpool,  in  1825, 
being  only  twenty-three  years  old.  Scrope 
Colquitt's  daughters  lived  in  Liverpool  until  quite 
recently.  In  1842,  they  gave  a  benefaction  to 
their  brother's  college  at  Oxford.  Christ  Church, 
Liverpool,  consecrated  in  1870,  was  erected  at  the 
cost  of  Miss  Susan  Colquitt,  daughter  of  Scrope 
Colquitt. 

William  Colquitt,  brother  of  the  younger 
Scrope,  was  the  only  literary  personage  of  the 
family.  He  was  born  on  July  27th,  1753,  and 
was  educated  at  Christ  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  took  the  degree  of  b.a.  in  1781.  In  1790,  he 
resided  at  18,  Bold  Street,  and  in  1802  published 
a  volume  of  "  Poems,"  which  was  printed  at 
Chester.  Considered  as  poetry,  their  quality  was 
mediocre,  but  dealing,  as  they  did,  mostly  with 
Liverpool  subjects,  they  are  still  remembered  by 
those  interested  in  the  Liverpool  of  the  time  of 
the  French  War.  In  1825,  Mr.  W.  Colquitt 
again  ventured  on  authorship.  In  that  year,  his 
"  Essays  on  Geology  and  Astronomy  "  appeared. 
He  also  contributed  to  the  Geiitlemati  s  Magazine. 

With  Miss  Susan  Colquitt,  the  founder  of  Christ 
Church,  the  family  connection  with  Liverpool  ceased. 


Some  ®lb  lancaebtre  punisbnients. 

THE  old-fashioned  methods  of  punishuig 
offenders  in  Lancashire  did  not  differ  from 
those  of  the  rest  of  England.  The  cucking  or 
ducking-stool,  brank,  stocks,  rogue's  post,  and 
pillory  were  in  daily  use  to  punish  criminals,  and 
to  act  as  a  warning  to  others  who  might  be  evilly 
disposed. 

In  the  old  time,  the  fair  sex  had  the  doubtful 
honour  of  a  special  punishment.  As  an  unknown 
last-century  poet  says,  and  the  verses  are  true  of 
almost  every  village  in  the  country  : 

"  There  stands,  my  friend,  in  yonder  pool, 
An  engine,  call'd  a  Ducking-Stool ; 
By  legal  pow'r  commanded  down, 
The  joy,  and  terror  of  the  town  ; 
If  jarring  females  kindle  strife. 
Give  language  foul,  or  lug  the  coif, 
If  noisy  dames  shou'd  once  begin, 
To  drive  the  house  with  horrid  din. 
Away,  we  cry,  you'll  grace  the  stool. 
We'll  teach  you  how  your  tongue  to  rule. 
The  fair  offender  fills  the  seat. 
In  sullen  pomp,  profoundly  great. 


158  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  Down  in  the  deep  the  stool  descends, 
But  here,  at  first,  we  miss  our  ends, 
She  mounts  again,  and  rages  more 
Than  ever  vixen  did  before. 

If  so,  my  friend,  pray  let  her  take 
A  second  turn  into  the  lake, 
And  rather  than  your  patient  lose, 
Thrice  and  again  repeat  the  dose  ; 
No  brawling  wives,  no  furious  wenches. 
No  fire  so  hot  but  water  quenches."  * 

Lancashire  was  well  provided  in  this  respect, 
and  the  records  of  Corporations  and  Court  Leets 
contain  many  references  to  the  ducking-stools. 

At  Liverpool,  in  1637,  the  Corporation  ordered, 
"that  a  Cooke-stoole  shalbe  made."  In  1657,  a 
new  cuck-stool  was  ordered,  and  the  order  was 
repeated  in  1659.  In  1695,  15s.  was  paid  for  its 
repair,  and  about  the  same  time  the  cage  and 
pillory  were  ordered  to  be  kept  in  repair  by  the 
town.  In  1 68 1,  the  Court  Leet  of  Manchester 
resolved  that  "wee  ordr.  the  prsent  Constables 
forthwith  to  putt  the  Cookstoole,  Stocks,  Rouges 
Post  and  Pillory  in  good  repaire." 

The  ducking-stool  was  in  use  in  Manchester  as 
a  punishment  for  scolds  as  recently  as  1775,  and 
in  Liverpool  the  ducking-stool  was  used  in   1779 

*  "  Miscellaneous  Poems,"    by   Benjamin  West,   1780.     This  poem  is 
not,  however,  by  West,  and  was  written  al)out  1720. 


OLD  LANCASHIRE  PUNISHMENTS.         159 

by  the  authority  of  the  magistrates.  The 
Manchester  ducking-stool  was  an  open-bottomed 
chair  of  wood,  placed  upon  a  long  pole  balanced 
on  a  pivot,  and  suspended  over  a  pool.  The 
locality  of  the  pool  is  shown  by  the  name  of  Pool 
Fold.  In  its  later  years,  the  stool  was  suspended 
over  the  Daubholes,  or  Infirmary  Ponds. 


WOMAN    WEARING     A     BKANK. 


The  brank  or  bridle  for  scolds  was  another 
favourite  instrument  for  curbing  the  unruly  tongue, 
and  there  are  many  traces  of  it  in  Lancashire.  It 
was  in  use  in  Manchester  early  in  the  present 
century.  Kirkham  had  its  brank,  and  in 
Warrington  the  brank  is  still  preserved.      It  was 


i6o 


BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 


last  worn  by  Cicely  Pewsill,  about  1770.  At 
Preston,  a  brank  was  used  in  the  House  of 
Correction  about  forty  years  ago,  but  the  fact 
having   come    to   the    knowledge   of   the    Home 


rit* 


A  '"^"r^'::^^^^^m 


IN    THE    PARISH   STOCKS,    BY  ALFRED   CROWQUILL. 

Secretary,  he  prohibited  the  barbarous  practice, 
and  confiscated  the  brank. 

The  stocks  were  considered  to  be  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  law  or  order.  Each  township 
had  to  provide  them  for  its  inhabitants'  use.     The 


OLD  LANCASHIRE  PUNISHMENTS.  r6r 

Manchester  stocks  were  at  the  foot  of  the  pillory, 
in  the  Market  Place,  and  are  frequently  named  in 
the  Court  Leet  Records  and  in  the  Constables' 
Accounts.  In  1613,  a  "  doblee  heng  Locke  for 
the  Stockes"  was  bought,  and  in  1624  new  stocks 
were  provided.  The  Manchester  Accounts  of 
162 1  show  that  some  criminals  were  .enterprising 
and  fortunate  enough  to  escape  from  the  stocks  : 

"  Item  paid  for  hue  and  crye  that  came  from 
horwich  aftr  two  men  that  made  an  escape 
forth  of  ye  stocks  for  stealinge  certen  lynen 
cloth        .... 


o  o 


Perhaps  the  most  common  punishment  for 
venial  offences  was  whipping.  This  was  done  by 
the  sturdy  arm  of  the  parish  constable  or  his 
deputy.  A  whipping  cost  the  parish  from  four  to 
twelve  pence. 

The  pillory  was  common  in  Lancashire  as  else- 
where in  the  country.  Manchester,  Liverpool, 
and  Preston,  as  well  as  most  of  the  other  market 
towns,  boasted  one  of  these  instruments.  In 
Manchester  it  must  have  been  of  very  early 
origin,  for  the  earliest  notice  of  it  is  in  connection 
with  its  repair.  On  July  9th,  1619,  the  constables 
of  Manchester  "paid  to  Richard  Martinscrofte 
man    for    mendinge    the    Cage   &   pillarie,    iiijd." 

M 


i62  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE, 

The  next  item  in  its  history  is  that  on  8th  April, 
1624,  the  jury  of  the  Court  Leet  ordered  "that 
the  makinge  and  erectinge  of  a  Gibbett "  be 
referred  "to  the  discrec'on  of  Mr.  Steward  and 
the  Bororeve  for  the  time  nowe  beinge  to  bee  made 
att  the  charge  of  the  inhabitants  and  the  frameinge 
or  fasteninge  to  of  it  or  placeinge  of  it  to  them  as 
principal!  officers  for  the  lord  of  the  Mannor."  In 
the  following  year,  April  6th,  1625,  the  jury  again 
ordered  that  a  "  sufficient  Gibbett  or  pillorye  for 
the  use  of  this  towne  "  should  be  erected  "  in  some 
convenient  place  about  the  market  crosse."  This 
was  to  be  done  before  the  24th  day  of  August, 
"sub  pena  xxs."  The  result  of  this  order  is  to  be 
read  in  successive  entries  in  the  constables' 
accounts  for  1625  : 

"September  16.  Paid  Thomas Andrewes     li,    s.    d. 
of  Stopford  for  a  Tree  to  bee  a  new 
Pillorye         .         .         .         .         .     00  12  06. 
paid  more  to  Willm.  Brockhurst  for 
bords  Joystes  and  Sparrs  to   the 
Pillorye         ,         .         .         .         .     00  05  08. 
paid  Symond  Mather  and  his  man 
for   theire  worke  and  for  Smytes 
worcke  and  men  to  helpe  to  Reare 

the  pillorye 00  1 1  05. 

September  17.  paid  Willm.  Butler  for 
Timber  and  Allexander  Radcliffe 
for  a  bastbord  and  for  pin  wood    .     00  04  08. 


OLD  LANCASHIRE  PUNISHMENTS.         163 

"  paid  Hennerye  Pendleton  and  Willm. 
Smyth  for  pointinge  the  Crosse  and 
for  Layinge  the  new  pillorye  in 
Colors  of  oyle       .         .         .         .     00  05  00." 

On  June  9th,  1630,  the  Constables  made  a  pay- 
ment  "for  mending  the  pillery  "   of  "00  01   06." 


MAN'CHESTER    PILLORY 


The  Manchester  pillory,  early  in'"'"this  century, 
was,  according  to  a  writer  in  the  Manchester 
Collectanea  (ii.  252),  a  movable  structure.  It  was 
erected  in  the  Market  Place  when  necessary,  and 
"consisted  of  a  strong  post  about  twenty  feet 
high,  with  four  stays  at  its  insertion  into  the 
ground  to  support  it.     About   ten  feet  from  the 


1 64  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

ground  was  a  circular  stage  or  platform,  large 
enough  to  allow  several  persons  to  stand  on  it. 
Four  or  five  feet  above  this  was  fixed  across  the 
post,  horizontally,  a  board  about  five  feet  long  and 
eighteen  inches  deep,  and  in  this  cross  piece  were 
three  holes  or  apertures,  the  largest  and  most 
central  for  the  head,  and  the  other  two  for  the 
hands  or  wrists  of  the  offender."  In  this 
prominent  and  uncomfortable  position,  the 
Manchester  malefactor  was  condemned  to  stand 
for  the  prescribed  time,  whilst  his  neighbours 
pelted  him  with  rotten  eggs  and  other  unplisasant 
missiles.  The  pillory  remained  in  more  or  less  fre- 
quent use  until  1816,  when  it  was  finally  removed. 

The  last  time  the  Preston  pillory  was  used  was 
in  1 8 14,  when  a  man  of  about  sixty  years  of  age 
was  pilloried  for  keeping  a  disreputable  house. 

These  quaint  punishments  of  the  past  have 
given  place  to  the  present  monotonous  round  of 
fine  and  imprisonment,  and  are  now  quite  extinct. 
Though  a  few  townships  preserve  their  stocks, 
the  majority  have  nothing  but  a  memory,  which 
in  Manchester  was  made  more  vivid  by  the  full- 
size  models  of  the  pillory  and  stocks  that  occupied 
a  prominent  place  in  the  Old  Manchester  section 
of  the  Exhibition  in  1887. 


f  "O  every  inhabitant  of  Lancashire  the  name 
J-        at  least   of  the  simnels   must   be   famiHar, 
but  few  indeed  probably  are  acquainted  with  the 
origin  and  history  of  this  toothsome  description  of 
cake.     The  accounts  of  its  first  appearance  are  as 
varied  as  the  forms  under  which  it  appears  at  the 
present  day.      We  will  briefly  review  the  various 
alleged  origins  of  the  simnel  cake.     One  account 
runs  to  the  effect  that  an  old  couple  named  Simon 
and  Nelly,  to  whose  paternal  roof  came  once  a  year 
their     children     "  a-mothering."       One     year     it 
happened  that,  being  very  poor,  they  had  nothing 
to  regale  the  young  folks  with,  excepting  a  piece 
of  unleavened  Lenten  dough,  and  a  remnant  of 
their    Christmas    pudding.      The    pudding    was 
enclosed  in   the  dough  with  great  skill,  and  the 
old  people  agreed  in  every  step  of  the  process, 
until     the    question     of    cooking     arose.        Sim 
suggested    boiling,    Nell    advocated   baking.     So 
they  came  to  words  on  the  matter,  then  to  blows, 
both   with  fists,   and   broom,   and  stool.      At  last, 


1 66  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE.  ^ 

both  being  exhausted,  the  combat  concluded  by  a 
compromise  being  arrived  at.     The  cake  was  first 
to   be  boiled,  and  then  baked,  which  was  done, 
the  weapons  of  broom  and  stool   being  used  as 
fuel,  and  the  eggs  broken  in  the  scuffle  used  as 
glazing.     Thus  according  to  the  pleasantry,  came 
about  the  making  of  the  first  "  Sim-Nell"  cake, 
and    the  account    may   be    taken    for   what   it   is 
worth.     In  the  year   1487,  a  boy  of  fifteen,   one 
Lambert,  was  put  forward  as   Edward,    Earl   of 
Warwick,  and  a  claimant  for  the  crown.      He  was 
taken  to  Ireland,  where  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  the 
deputy  of  that  country,  and  others   took  up  his 
cause.     This  boy  was  in  reality  (so  state  various 
writers)   the  son  of  a  joiner,  a  shoemaker,  or  a 
baker,   in  connection  with  which  last  occupation 
King  Henry's  supporters  called  him  in  derision 
"  Simnel,"  as  his  father  is  said  to  have  a  celebrity 
for    the    manufacture  of   that   article.      He   went 
next  to  Flanders,  where  he  raised  2,000  Dutch 
veterans  ;    thence  he  returned   to   Ireland,   where 
his   forces   were  augmented   by  a  large   body  of 
Irish,    and    with     the    whole    of    his    supporters 
he   set   sail    for  England,   landing   at    Fouldrey, 
Lancashire.     Here  he  was  joined  by  Sir  Thomas 
Broughton,  and  further  south  he  was  strengthened 


BURY  SIMNELS.  1 6 7 

by  numbers  of  supporters  from  Bury  and 
Pilkington.  SImnel  marched  southward,  and  at 
the  village  of  Stoke  (Nottinghamshire)  he  was 
met  by  the  King  with  a  large  army,  an  obstinate 
battle  was  fought,  and  Simnel  was  taken  prisoner. 
Simnel,  as  is  well  known,  was  treated  with 
contempt  by  the  King.  He  was  made  a  scullion, 
or  cook,  in  the  King's  kitchen,  and  afterwards 
became  one  of  the  King's  falconers.  The  "simnel" 
cakes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bury  are  yet  looked 
upon  by  many  as  being  directly  commemorative 
of  the  disastrous  termination  of  the  struggle  against 
Henry  ;  and  these  see  in  the  original  hexagonal 
shape  of  the  confection,  an  intention  to  form  a 
funeral  cake  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the 
catastrophe  in  which  fell  so  many  local  men. 

An  old  story  explains  the  origin  of  Bury 
Simnels  thus  :  A  pilgrim  named  Simnel  once  in 
the  olden  days  was  passing  through  Bury  on  the 
day  of  Midlent,  and  the  inhabitants  wishing  to 
afford  some  recognition  of  his  numerous  and  well- 
authenticated  virtues,  were  fain  to  offer  him  a  rich 
cake  in  lieu  of  the  viands  forbidden  for  that  season 
by  the  Church.  So  the  offering  became  general, 
and  the  cake  took  the  name  of  the  pilgrim  who 
first  received  it. 


i68  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Here,  again,  is  yet  another  story.  It  is  said 
that  in  bygone  times  the  women  of  Lancashire 
were  extremely  inferior  cooks,  and  that  a  lady, 
whose  culinary  perfections  caused  her  to  bewail 
such  a  state  of  affairs,  offered  a  prize  for  the  best 
cake ;  and  that  one  of  the  fair  competitors 
distanced  all  her  compeers,  and  instituted  the 
Simnel  by  a  cake  rich  with  all  the  fruits  obtain- 
able in  her  time,  and  the  first  and  finest  of  its 
kind. 

Leaving  such  apocryphal  accounts,  we  find  that 
the  real  origin  of  Bury  Simnels  and  Simnel 
Sunday  is  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  antiquity. 
Sifitila  in  the  Latin  means  "fine  flour,"  for  which 
is  seminellus  and  simanelliis.  The  term  is  used  in 
the  Book  of  Battle  Abbey  thus  :  Panem  regiae 
niensae  apsuin  qui  siminel  vidgo  vacatur — "  Bread 
fit  for  the  table  of  the  king,  which  the  common 
people  call  sifninel"  The  "annuals"  of  the 
Church  of  Winchester  have  an  entry  for  1042 — 
conventas  centum  simnellos — "the  convent  100 
simnels,"  in  which  the  meaning  is  clearly  "cakes." 
Johnson's  dictionary  (edition  of  1792)  has  simnel 
{simnellus,  low  latin)  a  kind  of  sweet  bread  or 
cake.  The  German  semel  or  semmel,  is  a  roll  or 
small  loaf,  while  the  Danes  have  simlc,   and  the 


BURY  SIMNELS.  169 

Swedes  si7?ila.  In  Somersetshire,  "tea  cakes" 
are  called  Simlins.  In  Lancashire,  the  custom  of 
having  and  offering  simnel  cakes  is  likewise 
called  simbling,  simblin,  simlin,  and  there  is  an 
undoubted  connection,  for  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
the  word  simbl  meant  a  feast  as  well  as  a 
meal,  and  at  either,  one  might  expect  the  siminel, 
the  bread  of  fine  flour,  which  was  then  somewhat 
of  a  dainty,  the  chief  bread  fare  of  the  mediaeval 
ages  being  that  of  the  coarser  "  unbolted  "  kind. 

In  the  dictionary  of  John  de  Garlande, 
published  at  Paris  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
simnels  (simineus)  is  used  as  a  synonym  to 
placentae,  the  cakes  exposed  for  sale,  and 
commonly  bought  by  the  University  students. 
According  to  Ducange,  it  was  the  early  custom  to 
impress  the  cakes  with  the  figure  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  or  of  Christ,  which  plainly  proves  their 
religious  origin.  They  were  also  called  on  this 
account  paiii-demayn  (corrupted  to  "  pay-man,") 
or  "  Bread  of  our  Lord,"  and  it  is  not  at  all 
unlikely  that  the  cakes  received  the  sacred 
imprint  in  the  place  of  some  Pagan  monogram  or 
mark,  exactly  as  was  the  case  with  the  Easter 
cakes  or  "hot-cross  buns,"  which  the  Saxons  ate 
in  honour  of  their  goddess  Eastre,  and  to  which 


I70  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

the  Christian  clergy,  being  unable  to  eradicate 
the  custom,  sought  to  give  sanctity  by  marking 
them  with  a  cross.  So  also  it  may  be  that 
simnels  have  an  origin  in  the  pagan  rites  of  the 
Teutonic  race. 

The  day  upon  which  it  has  been  the  custom 
from  time  immemorial  to  present  the  simnel  cakes, 
and  to  which  is  given  the  name  of  "  Simnel 
Sunday,"  is  the  fourth  Sunday  in  Lent,  and 
numerous  indeed  are  the  names  which  are  given 
to  the,  day.  It  is  called  "  Mid- Lent  Sunday," 
being  near  the  middle  of  the  fast,  Dominica 
Refectionis,  or  "  Refreshment  Sunday,"  because 
on  that  day,  after  six  days  fasting,  the  special 
dainty  of  the  day  was  truly  a  refreshment  to  look 
forward  to.  It  was  called  "  Mothering  Sunday," 
because  on  that  day  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
clergy  and  people  (under  compulsion  or  fine)  to 
visit  the  mother  or  principal  churches  of  the 
respective  districts.  Also  from  this  arose  the 
custom  for  children  and  young  folks  to  visit 
their  parent's  homes  to  bear  in  mind  the  first 
commandment  with  promise,  and — they  were  not 
to  go  empty-handed.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
much  doubt  that  the  idea  of  this  personal  visiting 
the  mother-church  with  offerings  has  its  foundation 


BURY  SIMNELS.  1 7 1 

in  the  Mosaic  requirement  to  appear  at  stated 
intervals  before  the  Lord  in  Jerusalem.  The 
custom  in  Lancashire  is  known  as  "  Going-a- 
mothering."  The  day  is  likewise  known  as  the 
Sunday  of  the  "  Five  loaves,"  for  in  the  gospel  of 
the  day  is  related  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand. 
The  proper  first  lessons  (for  there  are  two)  for  the 
even-song  of  Simnel  Sunday  are  also  appropriately 
chosen  for  their  connection  with  "refreshment." 
They  treat  of  the  entertainment  and  liberality  of 
Joseph  to  his  brethren  and  father.  The  conclud- 
ing sentence  of  the  one  reads  :  "  And  they  drank, 
and  were  merry  with  him,"  which  the  margin  has  : 
"They  drank,  drank  largely.".  This  recalls 
another  name  which  is  given  to  the  day,  namely, 
Bragget  Sunday.  Its  derivation  is  most  probably 
from  the  Celtic  bracata,  or  from  the  Welsh 
bragawd,  or  mead,  the  original  British  ale  in  which 
honey  was  used.  There  is  an  old  Scotch  word 
bragwort,  meaning  a  drink  made  from  the  dregs 
of  honey.  Bragget  is  a  favourite  Lancashire  term 
for  the  mulled  ale  which  a  certain  class  of  the 
celebrators  of  the  day  drink  "largely."  Baines's 
history  has  the  following :  "  Formerly  it  was  the 
custom  in  Leigh  to  use  a  beverage  called 
'  bragget,'  consisting  of  a  kind  of  spiced  ale  ;  and 


172  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

also  for  the  boys  to  indulge  themselves  by 
persecuting  the  women  on  their  way  to  church  by 
secretly  hooking  a  piece  of  coloured  cloth  to  their 
gowns." 

The  customs  and  observances  relating  to 
simnels,  simnelling  Sunday,  or  "mothering" 
Sunday,  are  spread  more  or  less  throughout  the 
country.  Gloucestershire  and  Shropshire  are 
both  famous  for  their  "mothering"  pilgrimages. 
Shrewsbury  has  a  universal  fame  for  its  simnel 
cakes,  though  Devizes  claims  rivalship  for  the 
original  manufacture  of  the  article.  Herefordshire 
and  Monmouthshire  have  equally  a  name  for  the 
manufacture  of  the  simnel,  and  a  regard  for  its 
customs.  Bury  is  the  centre  of  the  Lancashire 
simnel  makers,  and  here  is  used  an  original 
recipe,  which,  of  course,  the  people  of  Bury 
regard  as  the  original  recipe.  Baines,  in  speaking 
of  Bury,  says  :  "  There  is  an  ancient  celebration 
here  on  Mid  Lent,  or,  as  it  is  called,  '  Simbling 
Sunday,'  when  large  cakes  with  the  name  of 
simblings  (simnels)  are  sold  generally  in  the  town 
of  Bury,  and  the  shops  are  open  the  whole  day, 
except  during  divine  service,  for  the  purpose  of 
vending  this  mysterious  aliment,  which  is  usually 
taken  with  large  draughts  of  mulled  ale." 


B  UR  Y  SIMNELS.  1 7 3 

The  simnel  had  as  one  of  its  principal  in- 
gredients, saffron.  The  Shrewsbury  simnel  is 
made  "  in  the  form  of  a  warden  pie,  the  crust 
being  of  saffron  and  very  thick."  The  simnel  of 
Devizes  has  no  crust,  while  the  saffron  is  mingled 
with  a  mass  of  fruit  and  spice,  and  the  whole  is 
made  in  a  star  shape.  The  practices  of  mothering 
and  simnelling  are  but  little  referred  to  by  the 
poets,  but  from  "  Collins's  Miscellany"  we  learn 
that  cakes  were  used  when  parents  (and  especially 
the  mother)  received  visits  from  their  children. 

"     .     .     .     Zee  Dundry's  Peek 
Luks  like  a  shuggard  mothering  cake." 

For  which  read  : 

"     .     .     .     See  Dundry's  Peak 
Looks  like  a  sugared  mothering  cake." 

This  proves  that  the  icing  of  cakes  is  not  a 
recent  expedient,  for  the  hill  top  coated  with  snow 
is  here  compared  to  an  iced  cake.  That  these 
"  mothering  cakes "  were  simnels,  though  there 
may  be  two  customs  united  into  one,  is  evident 
from  Herrick's  canzonet  to  "  Dianeme,"  to  whom 
he  says  : 

"  I'll  to  thee  a  simnel  bring 
'Gainst  thou  go'st  a-mothering, 
So  that  when  she  blesseth  thee, 
Half  that  blessing  thou'lt  give  me." 


174  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

As  we  have  said,  Bury  and  the  surrounding 
district  is  the  headquarters  of  the  simnel  and  its 
usages,  for  here  the  character  of  the  people  makes 
the  agreeable  custom  find  a  congenial  home.  In 
some  parts,  other  orthodox  dishes  for  the  day  are 
veal  and  cheesecakes,  the  veal  probably  being 
allusive  to  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  and  the 
fatted  calf. 

Other  cake-like  institutions  which  furnish 
parallels  to  the  Bury  simnel  of  Mid-Lent  Sunday 
are  the  twelfth-night  cake,  the  pancakes  of 
Shrovetide,  the  buns  of  Easter,  the  "minced 
pye "  of  Christmas,  the  Passover  cakes  of  the 
Jews,  and  other  concoctions,  which  have  all  had 
in  their  beginning  a  symbolic  or  religious  meaning. 

We  must  not  conclude  without  giving  yet 
another  name  for  Mid-Lent  Sunday,  namely, 
Fag-pie  Sunday,  an  appellation  which  in  some 
parts  of  Lancashire,  and  particularly  about  Black- 
burn, is  greatly  used.  It  is  customary  in  this 
district  to  visit  friends  and  relatives,  to  partake  of 
Fag  (fig)  pie,  which  is  prepared  with  figs,  treacle, 
spices,  etc.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Burnley, 
however,  "  Fag-pie  Sunday  "  is  the  fifth  Sunday 
in  Lent,  instead  of  the  fourth,  as  with  "  Simnel 
Sunday." 


JBcclce   Manc6. 

By  H.  Cottam. 

ONE  of  the  most  famous  of  Lancashire' 
village  festivals  in  the  olden  times  was 
the  wakes  at  Eccles.  It  was  celebrated  on  the 
Sunday  following  the  25th  of  August,  and 
continued  during  the  four  succeeding  days.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  hamlets  and 
villages  flocked  in  such  large  numbers  to  Eccles 
that  "  as  thrunk  as  Eccles  Wakes "  became  a 
proverb.  The  list  of  the  festivities  was  a  long 
and  varied  one,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following 
programme,  which  is  one  of  the  earliest  known 
to  be  in  existence  : — 

''ECCLES  WAKE 

Will  be  held  on  MONDAY  and  TUESDAY,  the  30th,  and 

31st  of  August;  and  on  WEDNESDAY  and  THURSDAY, 

the  I  St,  and  2d  of  September,  181 9. 

On  MONDAY,  the  ancient  Sport  of 

BULL    BAITING, 

May   be   seen   in   all   its   various    Evolutions. 
Same  Day, 

A  DANDY  RACE, 


176  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Foj  a  PURSE  of  SILVER— the  best  of  heats— The  second- 
best  to  be  entitled  to  5s. 
Same  Day, 
A   FOOT-RACE  for  a  HAT, 
By  Lads  not  exceeding  Sixteen  years  of  age. — Three  to  start, 
or  no  race. 
On  TUESDAY, 

A  JACK-ASS  RACE, 

For  a  PURSE  of  GOLD,  value  ^50.— The  best  of  three 
heats — Each  to  carry  a  feather. — The  Racers  to  be  shewn  in 
the  Bull-ring  exactly  at  12  o'clock,  and  to  start  at  2. — Nothing 
to  be  paid  for  entrance  :  but  the  bringer  of  each  Steed  to  have 
a  good  Dinner  gratis,  and  a  quart  of  strong  Ale,  to  moisten  his 

clay. 

Same  Day. 

A  FOOT-RACE  for  a  HAT, 

By  Lads  that  never  won  a  Hat  or  Prize  before  Monday. — 

Three  to  start. 

Same  Day. 

An  APPLE   DUMPLING  Eating, 

By   Ladies   and   Gentlemen    of    all   ages :    The   person   who 

finishes  the  repast  first,  to  have  5s. — the  second,  2s. — and  the 

third,  IS. 
On  WEDNESDAY, 

A  PONY  RACE, 

By  Tits  not  exceeding  12  hands  high,  for  a  CUP,  value  ;^5o. — 

The  best  of  heats, — Three  to  start,  or  no  race. 

Same  Day. 

A   FOOT-RACE   for  a    HAT,    value    los.    6d., 

By  Men  of  any  description. — Three  to  start. 

Same  Day, 

A   RACE  for  a  good    HOLLAND    SMOCK, 


ECCLES  WAKES.  177 

By  Ladies  of  all  ages  :  the  second-best  to  have  a  handsome 

Satin  Riband.     Three  to  start. 

On  THURSDAY, 

A  GAME  at  PRISON-BARS. 

Also, 

A    GRINNING    MATCH    through    a    Collar, 

For  a  PIECE  of  fat  BACON. No  Crabs  to  be  used 

on  the  occasion. 
Same  Day. 

A  YOUNG  PIG 

Will  be  turned  out,  with  his  Ears  and  Tail  well  soaped,  and  the 

first  Person  catching  and  holding  him  by  either,  will  be  entitled 

to  the  same. 

SMOKING  MATCHES,  by  Ladies  and 

Gentlemen  of  all  ages. 

To  conclude  with  a  grand  FIDDLING  MATCH,  by  all  the  Fiddlers 
that  attend  the  Wake,  for  a  Purse  of  Silver. — There  will  be  prizes  for  the 
second  and  third-best — Tunes:  "O  where,  and  O  where  does  my  little 
Boney  dwell — Britons  strike  home — Rule  Britannia — God  save  the  King." 
May  the  King  live  for  ever,  huzza  ! 


N.  B.  As  TWO  BULLS  in  great  practice  are  purchased  for  diversion, 
the  Public  may  rest  assured  of  being  well  entertained.  The  hours  of  Bait- 
ing the  Bull,  will  be  precisely  at  lo  o'clock  in  the  Morning  for  practice,  and 
at  3  and  7  o'clock  for  a  prize.  The  dog  that  does  not  run  for  practice  is 
not  to  run  for  a  prize. 

The  Bull-ring  will  be  stumped  and  railed  all  round  with  Oak  Trees,  so 
that  Ladies  or  Gentlemen  may  be  accomodated  with  seeing,  without  the 
least  danger. — Ordinaries,  &c.  as  usual. 

SST     The  Bellman  will  go  round  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the  time  of 

Baiting. 


GOD  SAVE  ^^«ilmS  THE  KING. 


JOHN  MOSS,  Esq| 

T.  SEDDON,  Esq  /stewards. 

T.  CARRUTHERS,  Clerk  of  the  Course. 

J.  Patrick,  Printer,  M.inchester.] 

N 


178  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

The  programme  was  slightly  varied  in  the 
following  year,  a  "pony  race  for  a  silver  cup" 
took  the  place  of  the  "  dandy  race  for  a  purse  of 
silver,"  a  "  wheel  race  "  the  place  of  a  "  foot  race 
for  a  hat,"  and  the  soaped  pig  was  left  out 
altogether.  In  1830  the  programme  of  the  sports 
was  as  follows  : — 

"ECCLES  WAKES.— On  Monday  morning,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  the  sports  will  commence  with  that  most  ancient,  loyal 
rational,  constitutional,  and  lawful  diversion, 

BULL-BAITING, 

in  all  its  primitive  excellence,  for  which  this  place  has 
long  been  noted.  At  one  o'clock  there  will  be  a  foot-race  ;  at 
two  o'clock,  a  bull-baiting,  for  a  horse  collar  ;  at  four,  donkey- 
races,  for  a  pair  of  panniers  ;  at  five,  a  race  for  a  stuff  hat ; 
the  days  sport  to  conclude  with  baiting  the  bull,  Fury,  for  a 
superior  dog-chain.  This  animal  is  of  gigantic  strength  and 
wonderful  agility,  and  it  is  requested  that  the  Fancy  will  bring 
their  choice  dogs  on  this  occasion.  The  bull-ring  will  be 
stumped  and  railed  round  with  English  oak,  so  that 

The  timid,  the  weak,  the  strong, 
The  bold,  the  brave,  the  young, 
The  old,  friend,  and  stranger, 
Will  be  secure  from  danger. 

"On  Tuesday  the  sports  will  be  repeated;  also,  on  Wednesday, 
with  the  additional  attraction  of  a  smock-race  by  ladies.  A 
main  of  cocks  to  be  fought  on  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednes- 
day, for  twenty  guineas,  and  five  guineas  the  byes,  between 
the  gentlemen   of    Manchester  and   Eccles.      The  wake   to 


ECCLES   WAKES.  179 

conclude  with  a  fiddling-match,  by  all  the  fiddlers  that  attend, 
for  a  piece  of  silver."* 

Striking  features   of    Eccles   Wakes   were   the 

baiting-   of    bears  and      bulls.      The  former    was 

the  most  ancient,  and  took  place  on  the  south  side 

of  Eccles  Church,  on  a  plot  of  waste  land  near 

the    Cross    Keys    Hotel.       The    bear   was    first 

irritated  by  being  poked  with  sticks,  and  the  dogs 

were   then   set   upon    it.       The    bear,    instead    of 

being  a  very  fierce  brute,  was  not  infrequently  of 

the    most    miserable    description.       A    writer    in 

Notes  and  Queries,  describing  one  of  these  poor 

animals,  sayst  : — 

"  I  was  never  a  witness  of  a  bear-bait,  but  I  well  remember 

a  poor  brute  who  was  kept  alive  for  this  sole  purpose  at  Y , 

in  Lancashire.     He  was  confined,  as  a  general  rule,  in  a  small 
back-yard,  where,  sightless,  dirty,  stinking,  and  perhaps  half- 

*  At  this  wakes  the  following  hand-bill  was  issued  by  a  local  inn- 
keeper : — 

"On  Saturday,  August  28,  1830,  at  the  house  of  Miss  Alice  Cottam, 
sign  of  the  King's  Head,  near  Eccles.  A.  C.  with  great  pleasure  informs 
her  friends  and  the  public  in  general,  that  she  has,  at  a  considerable 
expense,  engaged  an  excellent  bull,  bear  and  badger,  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  those  who  may  favour  her  with  their  company  ;  the  Bull  will  be 
baited  three  times  a  day,  namely,  half-past  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at 
half-past  one  in  the  afternoon,  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  every  day 
during  the  Wakes.  The  Bear  will  be  baited  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  and  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  badger  will  be  baited 
every  evening.  N. B. — The  Bull,  Bear  and  Badger  will  be  baited  on 
Saturday  night  previous,  to  commence  at  six  o'clock  precisely,  subject  to 
such  conditions  ?s  will  be  then  and  there  produced.  The  whole  is  so 
arranged  as  to  form  a  never-failing  source  of  amusement.  By  order  of  the 
Stewards. — God  save  the  King." 

t  Ribton — Turner's  History  of  Vagrants. 


i8o  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

starved,  his  sole  and  constant  exercise  appeared  to  be  moving 
his  head  and  forequarters  from  side  to  side.  When  taken  to 
other  villages  to  be  baited,  his  advent  there  was  announced  by 
a  wretched  fiddler,  who  walked  before  him  and  the  bear-ward. 
Upon  one  occasion   the   story  goes   that   he  and  a  second 

champion  of  the  like  kind  arrived  at  W ,  on  Wakes  day, 

before  the  evening  service  was  completed.  This,  however, 
was  rapidly  brought  to  a  close  by  the  beadle  calling  to  the 
preacher  from  the  church  door,  '  Mestur,  th'  bear's  come ;  and 
what's  more  ther's  two  of  'em.'  This  freedom  of  speech  in  a 
holy  place  is  less  to  be  wondered  at  when  it  is  known  that  the 
good  rector  and  a  party  from  the  rectory  usually  witnessed  the 
bear-bait  from  the  churchyard  adjoining  the  village  green." 

The  diary  of  that  venerable  Nonconformist, 
OHver  Heywood,  contains  an  interesting  passage 
relating  to  bear-baiting  at  Eccles  Wakes,  which 
shows  incidentally  that  Edmund  Jones,  the  ejected 
minister,  opposed  bear-baiting,  neither  because  it 
gave  pleasure  to  the  spectators  nor  because  of  the 
cruelty  to  the  bear,  as  alleged  by  Macaulay  of 
the  Puritans,  but  because  of  the  disorder  and 
drunkenness  which  always  attended  those  exhibi- 
tions : — 

"  At  Eccles,  in  Lancashire,  there  was  to  be  a  bear-bait,  a 
young  man  there  was  zealous  for  it,  and  would  have  it  at  his 
house  for  gain,  and  sel  ale  at  that  time.  Mr  Joanes  lately 
minister  there  urged  him  to  forbear  with  many  arguments  & 
told  him  he  would  repent  of  it,  he  made  light  of  his  councel, 
went  to  Manchester  on  Saturday  cryed  in  the  streets  a  bear,  a 
bear,  would  have  given  the  bel-man  a  groat  to  cry  it.     Mr 


ECCLES  WAKES.  i8i 

Jones  went  to  him  agen  told  him  al  his  predecessors  in  that 
place  had  declaimed  agt  it  his  father  was  minister  before  him, 
had  sd  if  there  be  a  rogue  in  the  country  he'll  be  there,  told 
him  of  a  man  slain  there  on  that  occasion,  but  he  was  wilful, 
the  day  came,  &  the  sport  was  over,  people  gone,  al  peace,  but 
that  night  a  drunken  man  comes,  takes  occasion  to  wrangle 
with  him,  and  gave  him  such  a  blow  as  he  thinks  he  shal  feel 
while  he  lives,  he  is  yet  alive  but  scarcely  likely  to  recover. 
Mr  Joanes  hath  endevoured  to  convince  him,  and  he  begins 
to  soften  tho  at  first  he  did  not  see  he  was  in  any  fault  the 
Lord  doe  him  saving  good  of  it." 

Bull-baiting  was  an  equally  cruel  sport,  which 
had  however  a  tinge  of  danger  to  the  spectator. 
Once  during  the  baiting  of  a  bull,  several  cows 
passed  near  to  the  ring,  and  whilst  winding  their 
way  through  the  crowd,  a  bull  dog  suddenly 
sprang  on  one  of  them,  and  caused  the  affrighted 
animal  to  overturn  a  cart  of  nuts,  and  a  girl  had 
her  leg  broken  in  consequence.  The  bulls  used 
to  be  baited  on  the  south  side  of  a  plot  of  vacant  land 
at  the  Regent  Road  entrance  to  the  village.  At 
the  last  bull  bait,  a  stand  erected  for  the  use  of 
spectators  fell,  and  several  people  were  injured. 
One  of  them,  a  woman,  died  some  little  time 
afterwards. 

The  frequenters  of  the  wakes  were  often  of  a 
rough  character,  and  amongst  the  roughest  were 
the  inhabitants  of  Flixton,  who  some  eighty  years 


i82  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

ago  were  in  the  habit  of  having  at  least  one  fight 
before  they  concluded  their  day's  amusement. 
The  leader  of  the  Flixton  people  was  one  Joseph 

G ,  whose  reputation  as  a  fighter  was  locally 

very  great.  One  Eccles  Wakes,  Joseph  had 
fought  several  times,  and  in  honour  of  his 
victories  was  far  advanced  in  drunkenness.  A 
wag  told  him  that  a  person  was  ready  to  fight  him, 
and  that  everybody  said  Joseph  was  afraid  to 
tackle  him.  Annoyed  at  this,  Joseph  said  he  had 
thrashed  several  that  day,  and  was  quite  ready  to 
thrash  another.  They  told  him  that  he  would 
find  his  opponent,  who  was  no  other  than  the 
bear,  in  the  inn  stable.  Joseph  went  into  the  stable 
and  his  companions  shut  the  door.  He  stumbled 
over  the  bear,  who  immediately  grabbed  him,  and 
in  spite  of  Joseph's  well-directed  blows,  almost 
squeezed  that  worthy  to  death.  He  managed  to 
get  out  of  the  bear's  clutches  at  last,  and  made 
for  the  door.  When  he  got  out  his  friends  asked 
him  how  he  got  on.  "  By  th'  mass,  lads,"  said  he, 
*'  he's  too  strong  in't  arms  for  me,  but  only  let 
th'  devil  take  his  top  cooat  off  and  I'll  give  him 
what  for." 

The   wakes   still    exists,    though    through    the 
opposition  of  the  local  shopkeepers  it  was  driven 


ECCLES  WAKES.  183 

from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Old  Cross  about 
a  dozen  years  ago.  Bear  and  bull  baiting  were 
abolished  in  1834,  and  have  given  place  to  round- 
abouts and  hurdy  gurdys,  and  the  regular  pro- 
gramme of  seventy  years  ago  is  replaced  by  the 
miscellaneous  entertainments  of  the  ordinary  fair. 
Were  Drayton  to  visit  a  Lancashire  Wakes  at 
the  present  day  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  would  no 
longer  sing  : — 

"  So  blyth  and  bonny  now  the  Lads  and  Lasses  are, 
That  euer  as  anon  the  Bag-pipe  vp  doth  blow, 
Cast  in  a  gallant  Round  about  the  Harth  they  goe, 
And  at  each  pause  they  kisse,  was  neuer  seene  such  rule. 
In  any  place  but  heere,  at  Boon-fire,  or  at  Yeule  ; 
And  euery  village  smokes  at  Wakes  with  lusty  cheere, 
Then  Hey  the  cry  for  Lun,  and  Hey  for  Lancashire." 


Jfurnc66  Ubbc^. 

"  Here,  where  of  havoc  tired  and  rash  undoing, 
Man  left  this  structure  to  become  Time's  prey  ; 
A  soothing  spirit  following  in  the  way 
That  Nature  takes,  her  counter-work  pursuing. 
See  how  her  ivy  clasps  the  sacred  ruin, 
Fall  to  prevent  or  beautify  decay  ; 
And  on  the  mouldering  walls  how  bright,  how  gay. 
The  flowers  in  pearly  dew  their  bloom  renewing. 
Thanks  to  the  place,  blessings  upon  the  hour ; 
Even  as  I  speak  the  rising  Sun's  first  smile 
Gleams  on  the  grass-crowned  top  of  yon  tall  Tower,    • 
Whose  cawing  occupants  with  joy  proclaim 
Prescriptive  title  to  the  shattered  pile 
Where,  Cavendish,  thine  seems  nothing  but  a  name  !  " 

— W.  Wordsworth. 

FURNESS  ABBEY,  which  was  one  of  the 
grandest  of  English  monastic  buildings, 
was  founded  by  a  body  of  Savignian  monks  who 
had  left  Savigny  in  1 1 24,  and  made  a  temporary 
settlement  at  Tulketh,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ribble.  The  monkish  colony  obtained  from 
Stephen,  Count  of  Boulogne,  a  grant  of  the  forest 
of  Fuderness  (Furness)  and  Wagneia  (Walney), 
the  fishery  at  Lancaster,  privilege  of  hunting,  and 
everything  within  the  lordship  of  Furness,  except 
the  land  of  Michael  le  Fleming,  for  the  establish- 
ment   and    endowment    of    an    Abbey     of    the 


FUR  NESS  ABBE  Y.  185 

Savignian  order.  The  foundations  of  the  monas- 
tery were  laid  in  July,  11 27,  and  the  monks 
shortly  afterwards  forsook  Tulketh  for  their  new 
domain.  The  monks  were  ambitious  and 
avaricious,  and  their  estates  were  soon  increased  by 
gifts  from  rich  and  poor.  They  had  a  quarrel 
with  Michael  le  Fleming,  upon  whose  rights  they 
had  infringed.  The  quarrel  was  arranged  by  an 
exchange  of  land,  but  eventually  the  Fleming 
family  were  reduced  to  the  position  of  vassals  to 
their  powerful  neighbours. 

The  high  reputation  for  sanctity  which  the 
monks  had  obtained  increased  the  power  of  the 
Abbey.  It  soon  began  to  send  out  offshoots,  and 
as  early  as  11 34  obtained  land  at  Rushen,  in 
the  Isle  of  Man,  on  which  a  monastery  was 
erected.  The  King  of  Man  also  made  a  special 
grant  by  which  all  future  bishops  of  Man  and  the 
Isles  should  be  elected  from  the  monks  of 
Furness.  Other  branches  from  the  monastery 
settled  in  Ireland,  Yorkshire,  and  Lincolnshire. 

In  1 148,  the  Savignian  Order  was  incorporated 
with  the  Cistercian  Order,  and  the  monks  of 
Furness  were  exhorted  to  submit  to  the  new  rule. 
The  Abbot  of  Furness,  Peter  of  York,  refused 
to  conform,  and  went  to  Rome  to  appeal  against 


1 86  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

the  transfer  of  his  house.  He  obtained  from  the 
Pope  a  dispensation,  enabHng  the  Abbey  of 
Furness  to  remain  of  its  original  Order.  On  the 
Abbot's  return  from  Rome  he  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  monks  of  Savigny,  and  was  compelled  by 
them  to  resign  his  abbacy  to  a  more  tractable 
cleric,  who  reconciled  the  convent  to  the  new 
Order,  and  so  Furness  Abbey  became  Cistercian. 

The  Abbey  was  very  wealthy,  and  its  wealth 
was  derived  not  only  from  its  numerous  and  wide- 
spread estates,  but  from  its  ships,  which  conveyed 
the  iron  from  the  mines  in  Furness  to  foreign 
countries.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  the 
revenues  of  the  Abbey  were  reckoned  at  a  sum 
equal  to  ^18,000. 

During  its  prosperous  period  the  Abbey  had  no 
history  beyond  the  record  of  the  obtaining  of 
grants  of  lands  and  privileges,  and  of  quarrels 
with  neighbouring  landowners.  Having  gradually 
lost  its  ancient  repute,  the  grants  of  land  to  the 
Abbey  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
were  comparatively  few,  and  at  the  dissolution  of 
the  monastery  its  yearly  revenues  were  estimated 
at  only  ^9,000. 

Abuses  had  grown  up,  and  in  April,  1537,  after 
considerable    pressure,    the    monks   of    Furness 


FUR  NESS  ABBE  Y  187 

formally  surrendered  their  house,  with  its  broad 
acres  and  ample  revenues,  to  King  Henry  VIII.* 

The  Abbey  is  at  present  a  most  picturesque 
ruin.  The  church,  of  which  we  give  a  view,  is 
the  most  important  of  the  buildings  of  the  Abbey. 
Its  interior  length  is  280  feet,  the  width  of  the 
nave  with  aisles,  65  feet,  and  the  width  across  the 
transepts  from  north  to  south,  129  feet,  by  28  feet 
from  east  to  west.  At  the  west  end  of  the  church 
are  the  remains  of  a  lofty  tower,  with  walls  eleven 
feet  thick,  and  supported  by  buttresses.  The 
west  window  measures  35  feet  in  height  by  1 1  feet 
6  inches  in  width,  and  is  ornamented  by  a  series  of 
flowers  and  grotesque  heads  introduced  in  the 
hollow  of  the  jambs.  The  interior  of  the  tower 
is  plain.  The  tower  is  the  most  recent  part  of 
the  church,  and  dates  from  about  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

There  are  three  chapels  on  the  east  of  the 
north  transept,  and  two  other  chapels  and  the 
sacristy  are  attached  to  the  south  transept. 

The  chancel  extends  60  feet  to  the  east,  with  a 
breadth  of  30  feet.  The  walls  are  60  feet  high, 
and  are  strengthened  by  staged  buttresses  at  the 

*  A  good  account  of  Furness  Abbey,  both  historically  and  architecturally, 
appears  in  Mr.  W.  O.  Roper's  "  Churches,  Castles,  and  Ancient  Halls  of 
North  Lancashire." 


1 88  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

angles  and  between  the  windows.  The  east 
window  is  47  feet  high,  and  has  been  a  magnifi- 
cent example  of  perpendicular  architecture,  but 
the  arch  is  now  fallen  in. 

The  sedilia  below  the  southern  windows  con- 
sist of  four  niches  used  as  seats  by  the  officiating 
priests,  of  a  similar  niche  in  which  the  piscina  was 
placed,  flanked  on  each  side  by  a  smaller  niche  in 
which  the  towels  were  hung  after  ablution.  The 
canopies  above  are  executed  in  the  beautiful 
Decorated  style. 

After  the  suppression  of  the  monastery,  the 
Abbey  went  gradually  to  decay,  and  much  of  the 
ornamental  stone  work  and  materials  was  carried 
away  to  decorate  or  build  parish  churches.  The 
proprietors,  the  Devonshire  family,  have,  however, 
taken  judicious  measures  for  its  future  preservation. 


Colonel  1Ro5Worm  anb  tbe  Siege  of 
flDaucbester. 

By  George  C.  Yates,  f.s.a. 

COLONEL  John  Rosworm  was  a  German 
engineer,  who,  having  learned  that  this 
country  was  Hkely  to  be  very  soon  a  scene  of 
hostihties,  came  to  offer  his  services  to  either 
King  or  ParHament,  whichever  would  be 
inclined  to  purchase  them.  His  first  offer  was 
made  to  the  inhabitants  of  Manchester,  at  a  time 
when  they  felt  much  embarrassment  in  attempt- 
ing to  strengthen  their  town  against  the  impend- 
ing siege.  Colonel  Rosworm  was  a  great  acquisi- 
tion to  the  Parliamentarians  of  Manchester.  He 
was  a  brave  and  skilful  soldier,  well  versed  in  the 
best  method  of  fortification  which  was  practised 
in  his  time,  and  he  was  familiar  with  the  discipline 
of  an  army.  His  experiences  in  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  of  Germany  had  taught  him  the 
various  artifices,  the  ruses,  and  the  systems  of 
espionage  which  were  practised  in  campaigns. 
Though  an  adept  in  the  wily  art  of  his  profession. 


1 90  B  YGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

he  was  never  known  to  have  turned  his  know- 
led  ije  to  the  disadvantagfe  of  the  commander  who 
had  purchased  his  services,  but  to  the  last  moment 
of  his  eng^agrement  he  was  faithful  and  honourable 
to  his  trust.  When  the  term  for  which  he  was 
bound  had  expired,  he  was  then  free  to  dispose 
of  himself  to  any  other  contending  party,  even 
though  it  should  be  to  the  enemy  whom  he  had 
the  day  before  opposed. 

It  appears  that  at  the  time  of  the  Irish 
Insurrection,  Rosworm  was  in  Ireland,  but  upon 
"just  discontents,"  and  with  a  prospect  of  congenial 
work,  he  left  that  kingdom  and  came  to 
Manchester,  where  he  "fastened  his  stranger's 
home."  Before  he  had  lived  in  Manchester  three 
months  the  inhabitants,  "  apprehending  a  manifest 
danger  of  ruine "  from  the  King's  party,  and 
having  no  one  skilled  in  military  matters,  selected 
John  Rosworm  to  fortify  the  town,  and  offered 
him,  under  hand  and  seal,  the  sum  of  thirty  pounds 
for  his  labours  for  a  half-a-year. 

That  Rosworm  had  no  small  idea  as  to  the 
value  of  his  services  is  evident.  He  says,  "  I 
must  be  bold  to  say  that  my  undertaking  of  this 
Service  (though  for  a  poore  reward)  as  it  was  not 
small  in  itself;   so  it  proved  in  the  consequents 


COLONEL  ROSWORM.  191 

as  considerable,  both  to  the  weakning  of  the 
Kings  party,  and  the  strengthning  of  the  Parlia- 
ments, as  any  action  in  that  kinde,  through  the 
passages  of  that  yeer  for  (let  it  be  considered)  foure 
for  one  in  that  Town,  if  not  more,  favoured  my 
Lord  of  Darby  and  had  publicly  vowed  to  cut 
my  throat  if  ever  I  attempted  any  works  to  keep 
him  out.  The  other  party  which  favoured  my 
undertakings,  were  full  of  fears  and  confusions, 
not  knowing  which  way  to  turn  themselves ;  the 
town  in  all  its  entrances,  open,  and  without  any 
defence  about  it." 

The  inhabitants  of  Manchester  were  expecting 
almost  daily  Lord  Derby's  appearance,  and  under 
these  circumstances,  which  Rosworm  thinks 
"  might  easily  have  made  it  lawfull  to  fear,  and  in 
the  fear  to  decline  a  service  of  this  nature,"  he  put 
his  life  in  his  hands,  overlooked  all  the  dangers 
and  difficulties,  and  undertook  the  charge  of  defend- 
ing the  town.  The  morning  after  his  contract  with 
Manchester,  Rosworm  received  a  present  of  ^150 
from  Lord  Derby,  with  an  invitation  to  Lathom. 
But  "honesty  being  more  worth  than  gold," 
Rosworm  returned  his  thanks  and  the  money  to 
the  Earl,  and  addressed  himself  to  his  work. 

Rosworm's  first  business  was  to  set  up  posts  and 


192  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

chains  to  keep  out  the  enemy's  horse,  which  was 

accomplished  on  Sept.  22,  1642.     He  fortified  each 

street  end  with  mud-walls,  and  advised  where  the 

men    should    be    fixed    to    defend    each    point. 

Salford    Bridge,   which   he   regarded  as  the  only 

dangerous    post,    he    reserved    for   himself    and 

fifty    men,    though    by    his    contract  he    was  not 

obliged  to  fight  at  all,  but  merely  to  advise  and 

direct. 

His    part  in  the    siege,   which   commenced   on 

Monday,  Sept.   26,   may  best  be  told  in  his  own 

words  : — 

"Munday  (Sep  26  1642)  I  was  necessitated  to  send  20  of 
my  Muskettiers  to  Captain  Bradshaw  at  the  Deans-gate  which 
never  returned ;  that  afternoon,  though  thus  weakened,  I  was 
numerously  assaulted  :  but  through  the  goodnesse  of  him,  who 
saved  us,  my  30  muskettiers  (having  no  Brest-work  but  a  Chain) 
gave  them  a  sound  repulse.  The  next  day  (Sep  27)  the 
Enemy  plaid  at  us  with  his  great  Peeces,  which  being  a  strange 
noise,  and  terrour  to  my  raw  men,  sixteen  of  them  took 
their  heels  ;  the  rest,  some  for  fear  of  my  drawn  sword,  others 
out  of  gallantry,  resolving  rather  to  dye,  than  to  forsake 
me,  stuck  close  to  me,  and  to  the  safety  of  their  Town.  I  was 
now  few  in  number,  but  found  some  pitie  from  some  other 
gallant  hearts,  who  voluntarily  came  in  to  ftiy  assistance,  making 
up  my  number  28.  And  this  was  my  huge  Army  even  then, 
when  I  had  not  onely  many  Enemies  without,  but  dangerous 
temptations  within  to  deal  with.  For  the  Enemy  finding  their 
assault  not  to  take  successe,  nor  their  Cannons  to  terrific  us, 
as  at  the  first,  several!  parleys  sore  against  my  will,  were  sent 


COLONEL  ROSWORM.  193 

into  the  Town  ;   whereof  I  gave  my  Souldiers  a  httle  notice, 
with  incouragements  to  stand  out,  to  the  utmost. 

Particularly,    Wednesday,    Septemb.    28,    the    Earl    offered 
upon  the  delivery  of  some  100  Muskets  to  withdraw  his  Forces, 
and    march    away.      To    back    this    offer,    Collonel    Holland 
understanding     my    aversenesse,    earnestly    pressed     me     to 
condescend  to  the  motion,  using  withall  these  three  Reasons. 
First,  said  he,  we  have  neither  Powder  nor  Match.     I  confesse  I 
had  onely  six  pound  of  the  one  and  18  fathome  of  the  other; 
but  this  was  onely  known  to  myself.     Secondly,  the  Countrey- 
men   (said  he,  though    falsely)  will  stay  no  longer,  their  own 
houses  and  goods  lying  open  to  the  mercy  of  the  Enemie. 
Thirdly,  said  he,  the  Enemy  is   increased  in  strength.     With 
these  arguments  did  he  not  only  urge,  but  almost  command  the 
embracing  of  the  Earl's  Proposals.     I  related  these  things  to 
my  Souldiers,  who  unanimously  resolving  never  to  yeeld  to  my 
Lord  of  Darby,  so  long  as  I  would  stand  out,  and  they  had  an 
mch  of  Match,  or  a  shot  of  Powder :  my  heart  leaped  at  such 
courage,    and    thereupon    I    peremptorily    refused   any    terms 
whatever,  Which  so  passionately  moved  Collonel  Holland,  that 
he  left  me  in  great  anger  and  discontent.     Immediately  after 
this.  Master  Bourne,  an  aged  and  grave  Minister,  came  down  to 
the  Bridge  to  me.     I   told  him  Collonel  Holland's  language 
and  the  dangerous  concernment  it  tended  to ;    I  advised  him, 
that  if  he  desired  to  prevent  the  mischief  which  might  ensue, 
he  would  immediately  walk  to  the  Deansgate,  and  from  thence 
to  the  other  Centuries,  using  his  best  encouragements  to  prop 
up  their  hearts  against  any  dangers  ;  and  assuring  them  from 
me,  that  whereas  the  Enemy  now  made  no  assaults  but  where 
I  was,  I  was  confident  with  the  help  of  Almighty  God,   and 
my  few  men,  to  defend  it  against  their  whole  Power,  nor  should 
they  ever  enter  at  my  guard.     The  heartned  old  man  quickly 
left    me,    and    followed    my   advice,    with    such    gravity   and 
chearfulnesse,  that  I  cannot  but  ascribe  much  to  it,  as  to  the 

O 


194  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

means  of  our  preservation.  Having  thus  prevailed  for  a 
refusall  of  all  terms,  sent  in  by  the  Enemy,  our  height  of 
resolution  to  defend  ourselves  to  the  utmost  was  returned  to 
the  Earl ;  who  finding  by  our  actions  that  we  spake  as  we 
meant,  within  3  dayes  after,  withdrew  this  siege,  and  gave  me 
leave  with  about  ten  of  my  men  in  open  view,  to  fetch  away  a 
great  number  of  good  Arms  from  them." 

"  Thus  was  Manchester  freed  from  the  danger 
of  her  first  brunt,"  says  the  gallant  Colonel, 
"  wherein  how  farre  I  was  instrumentall,  if 
impartiall  men  cannot  see,  I  will  appeal  from  them 
to  my  enemies ;  if  either  can  deny  me  an 
acknowledgement,  I  am  content  the  world  should 
be  blinde,  and  what  I  have  done  should  be 
buried." 

Lord  Derby's  retirement  gave  Rosworm  time 
to  continue  his  fortifications.  Under  his  advice 
the  Manchester  garrison  went  to  Chowbent, 
where  they  shattered  the  enemy,  took  Leigh  by 
assault,  and  returned  in  three  days. 

The  term  of  his  contract  with  Manchester 
having  expired.  Colonel  Rosworm  was  re-engaged 
on  terms  which  he  states  : — 

"I  kept  this  command  of  Lieutenant  Coll  [in  Colonel 
Ashton's  Regiment]  during  the  residue  of  my  halfyeers 
service  contracted  for  with  the  Town  of  Manchester,  which 
being  now  expired,  they  then  observed,  what  they  cannot 
without  shame  remember  now,  that  I  was  both  trustie  and 


COLONEL  ROSWORM.  195 

successefull.  They  were  loath  to  for-go  such  a  servant,  and 
therefore  propounded  new  terms  to  me,  offering  me  an  annuity 
of  60  h.  per  annum,  to  be  paid  15  li.  quarterly  during  the  lives 
both  of  myself  and  my  wife,  which  should  survive  the  longest, 
if  I  would  by  my  advice  prosecute  the  finishing  of  their 
Fortifications,  and  the  ordering  of  all  Military  affairs  conducing 
to  the  safetie  of  the  Town,  and  upon  all  occasions  be  ready  to 
give  directions  accordingly.  At  the  same  time  also  they  with  the 
Deputy  Lieutenants,  desired  me  to  accept  of  a  Foot  Company 
in  the  Garrison  of  Manchester,  engaging  themselves  to  maintain 
it,  as  long  as  it  was  a  garrison,  and  to  pay  me  40s.  per  week  in 
part  of  my  Captains  pay,  and  the  rest  was  to  go  upon  the 
publick  Faith.  I  was  pressed  to  accept  this  so  importunately  on 
their  part,  and  by  one  reason  so  strongly  within  myself,  which 
was,  that  by  embracing  the  first  of  these  Proposals,  I  should 
not  leave  a  desolate  Widow  without  a  poore  subsistence,  in 
case  a  warlike  end  should  befall  myself,  that  I  layed  down  my 
Lieutenants  Collonel's  Commission,  and  closed  with  their 
Contract ;  and  is  this  circumstance  nothing  to  chain  these  men 
to  their  promises  ?  Those  hearts  certainly  are  deeply  rooted 
in  the  Earth,  which  Reason,  Equity,  Conscience,  nay  and 
shame,  cannot  pull  out  with  such  ropes. 

My  Engagement  being  passed  I  returned  to  my  Charge, 
enlarged  my  Fortifications,  left  nothing  unprepared,  as  time 
would  permit,  which  might  not  make  an  Enemy  a  strong  work 
to  attempt  me." 

During  his  second  contract   with    Manchester, 

Rosworm  saw  some  active  service.     The  soldiers, 

declaring  themselves  discontented  if  Rosworm  did 

not  accompany   them   on   the  expedition   against 

Wigan,  he  went,  "  being  loath  that  those  should 

want  any  of    his  service,  who  had  afforded  him 


196  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

such  roome  in  their  hearts,"  and  the  Colonel  took 
a  leading  part  in  the  taking  of  Wigan.  He  spent 
five  days  at  Liverpool  directing  the  fortifications 
there,  but  without  any  reward,  he  "  quickly  helped 
Nature  with  Art,"  by  strengthening  Blackstone 
Edge  and  Blackegate,  and  manning  them  with 
soldiers,  and  he  accompanied  Fairfax  to  Nantwich, 
after  which  he  returned  to  a  home  where  he  had 
with  his  utmost  skill  "  nourished  a  company  of 
vipers."  In  August,  1644,  Rosworm  served  as 
Master  of  Ordnance  during  Sir  John  Meldrum's 
siege  of  Liverpool. 

Rosworm  relates  that  Prince  Rupert  attempted 
to  persuade  him  to  betray  his  trust  at  Manchester, 
his  agent  being  Mr.  Peter  Heywood. 

"This  Mr.  Peter  Heywood,"  says  Rosworm, 
"  who  at  this  time  sits  at  his  ease,  and  enjoyes  his 
own,  whilest  I,  for  want  of  it,  endure  extreme 
miserie,  was  a  captain  in  Lancashire  for  the 
Parliament,  was  often  in  our  private  consultations, 
and  by  holding  intelligence  with  the  Enemy,  did 
us  much  mischief.  He  went  oft  to  Chester, 
Oxford,  and  other  garrisons  of  the  enemie, 
discovering  our  secret  results.  This  being  at 
length  found  out  and  proved  against  him,  he  was 
secured  by  the  Committee,  and   yet,  without  the 


COLONEL  ROSWORM. 


197 


consent  of  the  rest  of  the  Committee — contrary  to 
an  Orduiance  touching  such  cases,  released  by 
Col.  Holland ;  two  of  his  friends  also  being 
bound  for  his  appearance,  which  never  was 
questioned,  though  he  presently  upon  his  enlarge- 
ment went  to  the  Enemy,  and  was  afterwards 
thought  the  onely  fit  instrument  to  work  me  to  this 
treacherie. 


COLONKI,    ROSWORM. 


"  His  method  was,  first  to  take  advantage  of  the 
injurious  and  most  unthankfull  unworthinesse, 
which  the  Town  had  used  towards  me,  stirring 
those  passions  in  me,  which  he  knew  were  deeply 
provoked.       This  done,  he  offered  in   the    behalf 


198  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

of  Prince  Rupert,  that  I  should  have  a  very  great 
summe  of  money  payed  me  in  my  hand,  before 
my  delivery  of  the  Town,  that  I  should  have  great 
preferments  under  Prince  Rupert  :  besides  the 
perpetuall  obligations  of  affection  and  honour  from 
many  most  noble  friends,  which  I  should  look 
upon  as  purchased  by  the  desert  of  such  a  season- 
able and  usefull  service.  I  was  not  so  little  a  fool, 
though  I  never  meant  to  be  a  knave,  but  I  gave 
the  propounder  audience,  gave  some  incourage- 
ment  to  the  businesse,  so  much  as  to  fish  out 
which  way  the  Enemy  would  lay  his  stratagem, 
and  to  secure  myself  from  suspicion  on  their  part, 
appointed  them  a  time  of  receiving  their  hopes." 
That  Rosworm  could  have  easily  betrayed  the 
town  to  the  royal  forces  cannot  be  denied.  He 
had,  however,  that  honesty  and  integrity  which 
soldiers  of  fortune  often  displayed.  As  he  says, 
"  I  could  with  more  ease  have  sold  them,  man, 
woman,  and  childe,  with  all  they  had  into  their 
Enemies  hands,  than  at  any  time  I  could  have 
preserved  them."  "  But"  says  Rosworm,  speaking 
in  the  light  of  his  later  experience,  "alas,  I  should 
then  have  been  a  Manchester  man,  for  never  let  an 
unthankfull  man,  and  a  promise-breaker,  have 
another  name." 


COLONEL  ROSWORM.  199 

When  Rosworm  had  got  to  the  bottom  of  this 
plot,  he  laid  it  before  six  of  the  principal  men  of 
the  town,  and  showed  them  how  to  prevent  the 
danger.  The  mud  walls  were  repaired,  the 
cannons  got  ready,  and  nothing  was  uncared  for 
which  was  necessary  to  repel  an  assault,  but  the 
enemy  having  got  wind  of  the  preparations  steered 
clear  of  the  town.  The  plot  frightened  the 
Manchester  men  considerably,  and  during  the 
continuance  of  the  danger  they  were  very  forward 
in  their  promises  of  reward  to  Rosworm,  in  whom, 
alone,  they  could  feel  confidence.  "  But  alas, 
when  our  distresse  was  over,  which  lasted  a  week, 
this  smoke  vanished,"  and  it  was  with  difficulty 
that  he  got  his  pay. 

During  the  visitation  of  the  plague,  Rosworm 
remained  at  his  post,  and  was  instrumental  in 
keeping  safe  from  thieves  the  deserted  property  of 
the  inhabitants  who  had  fled  the  plague  stricken 
town. 

"The  Plague  being  ceased,"  says  Rosworm, 
"and  the  chief  inhabitants  of  the  town  returned,  a 
man  would  have  thought  that  this  last  evidence  of 
my  faithfullnesse  alone,  should  have  wrought 
these  men,  if  not  to  thankfulnesse  yet  to  honesty  : 
But  who  can  white  a  Blackmore  ?  or  make  a  rope 


200  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

of  sand  ?  Their  brows  were  brasse  to  all 
entreaties,  their  affections  flints  to  all  reason,  their 
hearts  rocks  to  all  pitie,  and  their  consciences 
adamants  to  all  obligations  ;  even  still  my  Annuity- 
was  kept  from  me  ;  which  aggravating  my  many 
debts  and  wants  to  the  height  of  extremitie,  in 
hope  of  relief,   I  repaired  to  London." 

He  stayed  in  London  for  three  quarters  of  a 
year,  but  was  disappointed  in  his  efforts  to  obtain 
his  payment.  As  a  last  resource  it  came  into  his 
head  "to  print  an  angry  paper,"  in  which 
Manchester,  its  inhabitants  and  rulers,  are  held  up 
to  the  scorn  of  the  world  as  promise-breakers,  well 
merited  abuse  is  heaped  on  their  heads,  and  withal 
he  tells  his  story  so  plainly,  yet  with  vigour  and 
freedom,  that  he  carries  conviction  along  with  him. 
It  must  not  be  assumed  that  no  payments  were 
made  to  Rosworm  by  the  town  of  Manchester. 
The  Constable's  Account  from  1644  to  1647, 
contain  frequent  mention  of  payments  to  him,  but 
after  the  latter  date  no  payments  are  recorded. 
John  Palmer  in  his  history  of  the  Siege  of 
Manchester  thus  sums  up  the  Colonel's  character 
and  the  causes  of  his  troubles  : — 

"  He  had  all  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  class  to  which  he 
belonged.      Attached  to  the  presbyterians  probably  because 


COLONEL  ROSWORM.  201 

they  first  engaged  his  services,  Massey  himself  could  not  have 
more  firmly  refused  all  offers  to  prove  unfaithful  than  our 
Engineer,  even  when  oppressed  by  the  greatest  necessity. 
The  whimsical  ideas  of  fidelity  entertained  by  these  tramontane 
Condottieri  are  already  familiar  in  the  opinions  of  Captain 
Dugald  Dalgetty.  Rosworm  in  common  with  that  redoubted 
companion  of  Gustavus,  possessed  no  mean  idea  of  the 
importance  of  his  own  actions.  The  County  of  Lancaster 
won  from  Lord  Strange,  towns  and  castles  taken,  the  uncon- 
scious parliament  saved,  and  all  by  a  Lieutenant  Colonel  in 
Holland's  regiment.  (He  raised  their  forces,  gave  them  his 
advice,  and  interceded  for  them  with  heaven.)  Such  boasting 
was  the  prevalent  humour  of  the  profession.  The  cause  of 
Rosworm's  disappointment  may  easily  be  imagined.  His 
unfortunate  lot  was  cast  in  the  midst  of  zealous  sectaries, 
and  having  neither  taken  the  covenant,  nor  interfered  in 
spiritual  concerns,  he  became  the  object  of  their  suspicion  and 
dislike,  whence  his  being  employed,  or  laid  aside,  was  regulated 
rather  by  the  movements  of  the  neighbouring  Royalists,  than 
by  the  gratitude  of  those  he  had  so  essentially  served. 
Rosworm  by  unwittingly  setting  down  much  valuable  historical 
information  has  rescued  his  vituperations  from  that  oblivion 
into  which  two  centuries  might  have  gathered  the  efforts  of  a 
more  eloquent  pen  and  a  mightier  sword." 


poems  of  Xancasbire  places. 

By  William  E.  A.  Axon,  m.r.s.l. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  anthologies  in 
the  English  language  is  Henry  Wads- 
worth  Longfellow's  "  Poems  of  Places,"  and  yet 
probably  each  reader  who  turns  over  the  four 
volumes  devoted  to  England,  will  miss  something 
he  would  gladly  have  seen  included.  Thus  there 
are  but  eleven  poems  devoted  to  Lancashire,  and 
though  it  cannot  be  said  that  our  ancient  castles, 
our  green  woodlands,  our  rugged  fells,  our 
pleasant  homesteads,  and  our  busy  towns,  with  all 
their  wealth  and  bustling  life,  romance,  tragedy, 
and  aspiration,  have  yet  been  adequately 
celebrated  in  song,  yet  the  places  of  Lancashire 
poems  are  far  more  numerous  than  Longfellow's 
selection  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  Possibly 
local  sentiment  may  incline  the  Lancashire  critic 
to  be  more  lenient  in  his  canon  of  comprehension. 
Some  gossiping  data  about  the  poetic  localities  of 
the  county  palatine  may  not  be  without  interest. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  203 

There  are  of  course  references  to  Lancashire  in 
Drayton's  "  Polyolbion,"  in  Taylor's  "  Pennilesse 
Pilgrimage,"  and  in  "  Drunken  Barnaby's  Jour- 
ney." There  is  the  "  Iter  Lancastrense,"  and  the 
scholarly  Richard  James,  who  in  1636  made  a 
tour  in  the  county,  and  described  what  he  saw 
in  a  poem,  which  after  remaining  in  manuscript 
for  two  hundred  years,  has  been  twice  reprinted 
during  the  present  century. 

Alkrington. 

The  "Wild  Rider,"  by  Samuel  Bamford, 
is  a  legend  of  Alkrington  Hall,  in  which  Sir 
Ashton  Lever,  the  founder  of  the  famous 
Leverian  Museum,  is  made  to  take  a  place  that 
has  probably  been  assigned  to  others  in  earlier 
aofes.  One  of  the  feats  attributed  to  the  wild 
rider  is  that  of  riding  up  and  down  the  steep 
multitudinous  steps  of  Rochdale  church. 
Bewsey. 

Bewsey    Hall,   near  Warrington,   is   celebrated 

in  local  ballad    literature  as  the  scene  of  "  The 

Bewsey  Tragedy." 

Droylsden. 

There  is  a  quaint  wakes  song  connected  with 

Droylsden,  which  has  been   printed  by  Mr.    John 

Harland. 


204  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Farington. 

Farington,  near  Leyland,  was  the  scene  of  a 
touching  incident  in  the  Cotton  Famine.  The 
mills  had  been  stopped,  when  in  the  early  summer 
of  1863  a  load  of  cotton  came  to  the  village 
and  the  people  turned  out  to  meet  it,  a  woman  wept 
and  kissed  the  bales  of  the  precious  material  that 
was  to  bring  back  the  brightness  of  independent 
exertion  to  their  cottage  houses.  Finally  the 
Doxology  was  sung.  This  suggested  to  Mrs. 
D.  M.  Muloch-Craik  her  "  Lancashire  Doxology." 

"  *  Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow.' 
Praise  him  who  sendeth  joy  and  woe. 
The  Lord  who  takes,  the  Lord  who  gives, — 
O,  praise  him,  all  that  dies,  and  lives. 

"  He  opens  and  he  shuts  his  hand, 
But  why,  we  cannot  understand  ; 
Pours  and  dries  up  his  mercies'  flood, 
And  yet  is  still  all-perfect  Good. 

"  We  fathom  not  the  mighty  plan. 
The  mystery  of  God  and  man. 
We  women,  when  afflictions  come, 
We  only  suffer  and  are  dumb. 

"  And  when,  the  tempest  passing  by, 
He  gleams  out,  sun-like,  through  our  sky. 
We  look  up,  and  through  black  clouds  riven. 
We  recognise  the  smile  of  Heaven. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  205 

"  Ours  is  no  wisdom  of  the  wise. 
AV^e  have  no  deep  philosophies  : 
Childhke  we  take  both  kiss  and  rod, 
For  he  who  loveth  knoweth  God." 

One  of  those  who  stood  by  and  witnessed  this 
touching  scene  was  that  true-hearted  Lancashire 
lad,  my  dear  friend,  the  late  Edward  Kirk,  and 
it  was  his  sympathetic  account  in  the  Lancashire 
papers  that  sent  a  thrill  through  many  English 
hearts.  Edwin  Waugh  has  noticed  the  incident 
in  his  "  Factory  Folk  during  the  Cotton  Famine." 

FuRNESS  Abbey. 

The  picturesque  ruins  of  Furness  Abbey  have 
given  rise  to  more  than  one  outburst  of  noble 
verse.  Besides  that  of  Wordsworth,  "  Here, 
where  of  havoc  tired  and  rash  undoing,"  there  are 
two  fine  sonnets  by  Aubrey  de  Vere. 

To  Furness  Abbey. 
I. 
"  God,  with  a  mighty  and  an  outstretched  hand, 
Stays  thee  from  sinking,  and  ordains  to  be 
His  witness  Hfted  'twixt  the  Irish  Sea 
And  that  still  beauteous,  once  faith-hallowed  land. 
Stand  as  a  sign,  monastic  prophet,  stand  ! 
Thee,  thee  the  speechless,  God  hath  stablished  thee 
To  be  his  Baptist,  crying  ceaselessly 
In  spiritual  deserts  like  that  Syrian  sand  ! 


2o6  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  Man's  little  race  around  that  creep  and  crawl, 
And  dig,  and  delve,  and  roll  their  thousand  wheels ; 
Thy  work  is  done,  henceforth  sabbatical 
Thou  restest,  while  the  world  around  thee  reels ; 
But  every  scar  of  thine  and  stony  rent 
Cries  to  a  proud,  weak  age,  "  Repent,  repent ! " 

II. 
"  Virtue  goes  forth  from  thee  and  sanctifies 
That  once  so  peaceful  shore  whose  peace  is  lost. 
To-day  doubt-dimmed,  and  inly  tempest-tost. 
Virtue  most  healing  when  sealed  up  it  lies 
In  relics,  like  thy  ruins.     Enmities 
Thou  hast  not.     Thy  gray  towers  sleep  on  mid  dust ; 
But  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just 
Thy  works  contemned  to-day,  once  more  shall  rise. 
Guard  with  thy  dark  compeer,  cloud-veiled  Black  Coombe, 
Till  then  a  land  to  nature  and  to  grace 
So  dear.     Thy  twin  in  greatness,  clad  with  gloom. 
Is  grander  than  with  sunshine  on  his  face  : 
Thou  mid  abjection  and  the  irreverent  doom 
Art  holier — Oh,  how  much  ! — in  hearts  not  base." 

In  another  vein  and  yet  equally  poetic  and 
reverent  in  spirit  is  that  poem  by  Samuel  Longfellow, 
having  for  its  motto  these  words  translated  from  the 
Charter  of  the  Abbey — "  Considering  every  day 
the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  that  the  roses  and 
flowers  of  kings,  emperors,  and  dukes,  and  the 
crowns  and  palms  of  all  the  great,  wither  and 
decay ;  and  that  all  things  with  an  uninterrupted 
course  tend  to  dissolution  and  death." 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  207 

"  On  Norman  cloister  and  on  Gothic  aisle 
The  fading  sunset  lingers  for  a  while  ; 
The  rooks  chant  noisy  vespers  in  the  elms  ; — 
Then  night's  slow  rising  tide  the  scene  o'erwhelms. 

"  So  fade  the  roses  and  the  flowers  of  kings, 
And  crown  and  palms  decay  with  humbler  things  ; 
All  works  built  up  by  toil  of  mortal  breath 
Tend  in  unbroken  course  to  dust  and  death. 

"  Pillar  and  roof  and  pavement  all  are  gone  : 
The  lamp  extinguished  and  the  prayers  long  done  ; 
But  faith  and  awe,  as  stars,  eternal  shine  ; — 
The  human  heart  is  their  enduring  shrine. 

"  O  Earth,  in  thine  incessant  funerals. 
Take  to  thyself  these  crumbling,  outgrown  walls  1 
In  the  broad  world  our  God  we  seek  and  find, 
And  serve  our  Maker  when  we  serve  our  kind. 

"  Yet  spare  for  tender  thought,  for  beauty  spare. 
Some  sculptured  capital,  some  carving  fair  ; 
Yon  ivied  archway,  fit  for  poet's  dream, 
For  painter's  pencil,  or  for  preacher's  theme  ! 

"  Save,  for  your  modern  hurry,  rush  and  strife, 
The  needed  lesson  that  thought,  too,  is  life  ! 
Work  is  not  prayer,  nor  duty's  self  divine, 
Unless  within  them  Reverence  hath  her  shrine." 

HorwooD. 

Bamford  has  written  a  dialogue  between  the 
Muse  and  the  Bard  in  some  "  Lines  relating  to  a 
beautifully  rural  cottage  in  Hop  wood."  Hop  wood, 
it  may  be  added  by  the  way,  was  visited  by  Byron, 


2o8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

who    is    traditionally    said   to  have  written  some 

portions  of  "  Childe  Harold"  whilst  staying  there. 

Lancaster, 

Bamford,    whilst   a   prisoner   in  the   Castle   of 
Lancaster,   in  September,    1819   (after  Peterloo), 
wrote  some  "  Lines  "  which  breathe  forth  strong 
determination  and  love  of  liberty. 
Liverpool. 

Liverpool  has  been,  fortunate  in  the  poets  who 
have  derived  their  inspiration  from  the  City  of  the 
Mersey.  This  fine  poem  on  '*  The  Mersey  and 
Irwell"  was  contributed  by  Bessie  Rayner  Parkes, 
to  a  little  volume  of  "  Poems  :  an  offering  for 
Lancashire,"  which  was  edited  by  Isa  Craig,  and 
sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  fund  for  the  relief  of  the 
operatives  in  the  cotton  famine. 

"  A  century  since  the  Mersey  flowed 

Unburdened  to  the  sea  : 
In  the  blue  air  no  smoky  cloud 

Hung  over  wood  and  lea, 
Where  the  old  church  with  the  fretted  tower 

Had  a  hamlet  round  its  knee. 

"  And  all  along  the  eastern  way 
The  sheep  fed  on  the  track  ; 
The  grass  grew  quietly  all  the  day, — 

Only  the  rocks  were  black ; 
And  the  pedlar  frightened  the  lambs  at  play 
With  his  knapsack  on  his  back. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  209 

"  Where  blended  Irk  and  Irwell  streamed 

While  Britons  pitched  the  tent, 
Where  legionary  helmets  gleamed, 

And  Norman  bows  were  bent, 
An  ancient  shrine  was  once  esteemed 

Where  pilgrims  daily  went. 

"  A  century  since  the  pedlar  still 

Somewhat  of  this  might  know, — - 
Might  see  the  weekly  markets  fill 

And  the  people  ebb  and  flow 
Beneath  St.  Mary's  on  the  Hill 

A  hundred  years  ago. 

"  Since  then  a  vast  and  filmy  veil 

Is  o'er  the  landscape  drawn, 
Through  which  the  sunset  hues  look  pale, 

And  gray  the  roseate  dawn  ; 
And  the  fair  face  of  hill  and  dale 

Is  apt  to  seem  forlorn. 

"  Smoke,  rising  from  a  thousand  fires, 

Hides  all  that  passed  from  view  : 
Vainly  the  prophet's  heart  aspires, — 

It  hides  the  future  too ; 
And  the  England  of  our  slow-paced  sires, 

Is  thought  upon  by  few. 

"  Yet  man  lives  not  by  bread  alone, — 

How  shall  he  live  by  gold  ? 
The  answer  comes  in  a  sudden  moan 

Of  sickness,  hunger,  and  cold  ; 
And  lo  !  the  seed  of  a  new  life  sown 

In  the  ruins  of  the  old  •! 


2IO  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

*'  The  human  heart,  which  seemed  so  dead, 

Wakes  with  a  sudden  start ; 
To  right  and  left  we  hear  it  said, 

*  Nay  :  'tis  a  noble  heart,' 
And  the  angels  whisper  overhead, 

*  There's  a  new  shrine  in  the  mart ! ' 

"  And  though  it  be  long  since  daisies  grew 

Where  Irk  and  Irwell  flow, 
If  human  love  springs  up  anew. 

And  angels  come  and  go, 
What  matters  it  that  the  skies  were  blue 

A  hundred  years  ago  ?  " 

Several  of  Roscoe's  poems  bear  the  impress  of 
the  locality.  In  addition  to  the  lengthy  "  Mount 
Pleasant,"  there  are  the  pretty  verses  describing 

The  Dingle. 

"  Stranger !  that  with  careless  feet 
Wanderest  near  this  green  retreat. 
Where  through  gently  bending  slopes 
Soft  the  distant  prospect  opes  ; 

"  Where  the  fern,  in  fringed  pride, 
Decks  the  lonely  valley's  side  ; 
Where  the  white-throat  chirps  his  song, 
P'litting  as  thou  tread'st  along  ; 

"  Know,  where  now  thy  footsteps  pass 
O'er  the  bending  tufts  of  grass. 
Bright  gleaming  through  the  encircling  wood ; 
Once  a  Naiad  rolled  her  flood. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES. 

"If  her  urn,  unknown  to  fame, 
Poured  no  far  extended  stream, 
Yet  along  its  grassy  side 
Clear  and  constant  rolled  the  tide. 

"  Grateful  for  the  tribute  paid, 
Lordly  Mersey  loved  the  maid  ; 
Yonder  rocks  still  mark  the  place 
Where  she  met  his  stern  embrace. 

"Stranger,  curious,  would'st  thou  learn 
Why  she  mourns  her  wasted  urn  ? 
Soon  a  short  and  simple  verse 
Shall  her  hopeless  fate  rehearse. 

"  Ere  yon  neighbouring  spires  arose, 
That  the  upland  prospect  close. 
Or  ere  along  the  startled  shore 
Echoed  loud  the  cannon's  roar, 

"  Once  the  maid,  in  summer's  heat. 
Careless  left  her  cool  retreat, 
And  by  sultry  suns  opprest. 
Laid  her  wearied  limbs  to  rest ; 

"  Forgetful  of  her  daily  toil, 
To  trace  each  humid  tract  of  soil^ 
From  dews  and  bounteous  showers  to  bring 
The  limpid  treasures  of  her  spring, 

"  Enfeebled  by  the  scorching  ray, 
She  slept  the  circling  hours  away ; 
And  when  she  oped  her  languid  eye 
She  found  her  silver  urn  was  dry. 


212  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

*'  Heedless  stranger  !  who  so  long 
Hast  listened  to  an  idle  song, 
Whilst  trifles  thus  thy  notice  share, 
Hast  thou  no  urn  that  asks  thy  care  ?  " 

Benjamin  Preston's  poem,  "  The  Mariners' 
Church,"  describes  '  a  characteristic  scene  of 
Liverpool  life  ;  and  the  permanence  and  mutability 
of  things  are  well  expressed  in  a  poem  on 
Liverpool,  by  Robert  Leighton. 

Manchester. 
The  capital  of  the  cotton  kingdom  has  not  often 
excited  the  poet's  enthusiasm.  Yet  there  is  a  fine 
poem  by  John  Bolton  Rogerson,  in  which  the 
associations  of  the  past  and  the  present  are 
skilfully  blended  : — 

"  And  this,  then,  is  the  place  Avhere  Romans  trod, 

Where  the  stern  soldier  revell'd  in  his  camp, 
Where  naked  Britons  fix'd  their  wild  abode. 

And  lawless  Saxons  paced  with  warlike  tramp. 
Gone  is  the  castle,  which  old  legends  tell 

The  cruel  knight  once  kept  in  barbarous  state. 
Till  bold  Sir  I^uncelot  struck  upon  the  bell, 

Fierce  Tarquin  slew,  and  oped  the  captive's  gate. 
No  trace  is  left  of  the  invading  Dane, 

Or  the  arm'd  followers  of  the  Norman  knight ; 
Gone  is  the  dwelling  of  the  Saxon  thane. 

And  lord  and  baron  with  their  feudal  might ; 
The  ancient  Irwell  holds  his  course  alone. 

And  washes  still  Mancunium's  base  of  stone. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  213 

"  Where  once  the  forest-tree  uprear'd  its  head, 

The  chimney  casts  its  smoke-wreath  to  the  skies, 
And  o'er  the  kind  are  massive  structures  spread, 

Where  loud  and  fast  the  mighty  engine  pHes  ; 
Swift  whirls  the  polish'd  steel  in  mazy  bound, 

Clamorous  confusion  stuns  the  deafen'd  ear, 
The  man-made  monsters  urge  their  ceaseless  round. 

Startling  strange  eyes  with  wild  amaze  and  fear ; 
And  here  amid  the  tumult  and  the  din, 

His  daily  toil  pursues  the  pallid  slave, 
Taxing  his  youthful  strength  and  skill  to  win 

The  food  for  labour  and  an  early  grave  : 
To  many  a  haggard  wretch  the  clanging  bell, 

That  call'd  him  forth  at  morn,  hath  been  a  knell. 

"  But  lovely  ladies  smile,  in  rich  array. 

Fearing  the  free  breath  of  the  fragrant  air, 
Nor  think  of  those  whose  lives  are  worn  away 

In  sickening  toil,  to  deck  their  beauty  rare  ; 
And  all  around  are  scatter'd  lofty  piles, 

Where  Commerce  heapeth  high  its  costly  stores — 
The  various  produce  of  a  hundred  isles. 

In  alter'd  guise,  abroad  the  merchant  pours. 
Learning  and  Science  have  their  pillar'd  domes ; 

Religion  to  its  sacred  temples  calls  ; 
Music  and  Art  have  each  their  fostering  homes. 

And  Charity  hath  bless'd  and  sheltering  halls ; 
Nor  is  there  wanting,  'mid  the  busy  throng, 

The  tuneful  murmurings  of  the  poet's  song." 

The  humorous  aspects  of  bygone  Manchester 
are  pleasantly  set  forth  in  Alexander  Wilson's 
famous     ballads,        "  Th'     ovvd    church,"    as    the 


214  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

mother  church  of  a  very  wide  district,  was  a 
favourite  place  for  the  marriages  of  those  who, 
though  not  resident  in  the  town,  still  had  claims  as 
living  within  the  boundaries  of  theancientparish,but 
it  is  curious  to  note  that  Oldham,  whence  came  the 
wedding  described  below,  was  formerly  in  the 
ancient  parish  of  Prestwich.  When  Anna  Raffald, 
the  daughter  of  the  authoress  of  the  "  Experienced 
English  Housekeeper,"  was  married  at  Eccles,  to 
Mr.  Thomas  Munday,  the  Rev.  Joshua  Brookes, 
the  eccentric  but  kind-hearted  chaplain  of  the 
Manchester  Collegiate  Church,  "  from  a  fatherly 
regard  to  Anna  Raffald,  insisted  on  her  being 
married  a  second  time,  as  she  was  then  a 
parishioner  of  Manchester,  and  had  been  married 
out  of  the  parish,  and  it  might  affect  the  rights  of 
her  children.  To  satisfy  him,  Mr.  Munday 
reluctantly  consented  to  be  re-married,  observing 
that  he  thought  once  was  quite  enough  ;  and  they 
were  re-married  by  Joshua  Brookes,  at  the  Old 
Church,  on  the  i6th  October,  1796,  just  two  months 
and  four  days  after  they  were  married  at  Eccles." 
Brookes  was  said  to  have  married  more  people 
than  any  other  clergyman  in  the  kingdom. 

In  "  Johnny  Green's  Wedding  and  Description 
of      Manchester     College,"     Alexander     Wilson 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  215 

describes  an  "  Oldham  Wedding  "  in  the  Collegiate 
Church,  and  a  visit  to  Chetham's  College. 

"  Neaw  lads,  wheer  ar  yo  beawn  so  fast  ? 
Yo  happun  ha  no  yerd  what's  past ; 
Aw  gettun  wed  sin  aw'r  here  last, 

Just  three  week  sin,  come  Sunday. 
Aw  ax'd  th'  owd  folk,  an  aw  wur  reet. 
So  Nan  an  me  agreed  tat  neight, 
Ot  if  we  could  mak  booth  eends  meet, 
We'd  wed  o'  Easter  Monday. 

"  That  morn,  as  prim  as  pewter  quarts. 
Aw  th'  wenches  coom  and  browt  t'  sweethearts  ; 
Aw  fund  we're  loike  to  ha  three  carts — 

'Twur  thrunk  as  Eccles  Wakes,  mon  : 
Wu  donn'd  eawr  tits  i'  ribbins  too — 
One  red,  one  green,  an  tone  wur  blue. 
So  hey  !  lads,  hey  !  away  we  flew, 

Loike  a  race  for  th'  Leger  stakes,  mon. 

"  Reight  merrily  we  drove,  full  bat. 
An  eh  !  heaw  Duke  and  Dobbin  swat ; 
Owd  Grizzle  wur  so  lawni  an  fat 

Fro  soide  to  soide  hoo  jow'd  um  : 
Deawn  Withy  Grove  at  last  we  coom, 
An  stopt  at  Seven  Stars,  by  gum. 
An  drunk  as  mich  warm  ale  an  rum 

As'd  dreawn  o'th  folk  i'  Owdham. 

"  When  th'  shot  wur  paid,  an  drink  wur  done. 
Up  Fennel-street,  to  th'  church,  for  fun  ; 
We  donced  loike  morris-doncers  dun, 
To  th'  best  o'aw  mea  knowledge. 


2i6  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  So  th'  job  wur  done,  i  hoave  a  crack  ; 
Boh  ah  !  what  fun  to  get  th'  first  smack, 
So  neaw,  mea  lads,  fore  we  gun  back, 
Says  aw,  •  We'n  look  at  th'  College.' 

"  We  seed  a  clock-case,  first,  good  laws : 
Wheer  deoth  stonds  up  wi'  great  long  claws, 
His  legs,  an  wings,  an  lantern  jaws. 

They  really  lookt  quite  feorink. 
There's  snakes  an  watchbills,  just  loike  poikes. 
'Ot  Hunt  an  aw  th'  reformink  toikes, 
An  thee  an  me,  an  Sam  o'  Moik's, 

Once  took  a  blanketeerink. 

"  Eh  !  lorjus  days,  booath  far  an  woide, 
Theer's  yards  o'  books  at  every  stroide, 
Fro  top  to  bothum,  eend,  an  soide, 

Sich  plecks  there's  very  few  so  ; 
Aw  axt  him  if  they  wurn  for  t'sell ; 
For  Nan  loikes  readink  vastly  well ; 
Boh  th'  measter  wur  eawt,  so  he  could  naw  tell. 

Or  aw'd  bowt  hur  Robinson  Crusoe. 

"  Theer's  a  trumpet  speyks  and  maks  a  din, 
An  a  shute  o'  clooas  made  o'  tin. 
For  folk  to  goo  a  feightink  in, 

Just  loike  thoose  chaps  o'  Boney's ; 
An  theer's  a  table  carv'd  so  queer, 
Wi'  OS  mony  planks  os  days  i'  th'  year, 
An  crinkum  crankums  heer  and  theer, 
Loike  th'  cloose-press  at  mea  gronny's. 

"  Theer's  Oliver  Crumill's  bums  an  balls, 
An  Frenchmen's  guns  they'd  tean  i'  squalls. 
An  swords,  os  lunk  os  me,  on  th'  walls, 
An  bows  an  arrows  too,  mon  ; 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  217 

"  Aw  didno  moind  his  fearfo  words, 
Nor  skeletons  o'  men  and  birds, 
Boh  aw  fair  hate  seet  o'  greyt  lung  swords, 
Sin  th'  feight  at  Peterloo,  nion. 

"  We  seed  a  wooden  cock  loikewise  ; 
Boh  dang  it,  mon,  these  college  boys, 
They  tell'n  a  pack  o'  starink  loies, 

Os  sure  os  teaw'r  a  sinner ; 
That  cock,  when  it  smells  roast  beef,  '11  crow, 
Says  he ;  '  Boh,'  aw  said,  '  teaw  lies,  aw  know. 
An  aw  con  prove  it  plainly  so, 
Aw've  a  peawnd  i'  mea  hat  for  my  dinner.' 

"  Boh  th'  hairy  mon  had  miss'd  mea  thowt. 
An  th'  clog  fair  crackt  by  thunner  bowt, 
An  th'  woman  noather  lawmt  nor  nowt, 

Theaw  ne'er  seed  loike  sin  t'ur  born,  mon  ; 
Theer's  crocodiles,  an  things,  indeed, 
Aw  colours,  mak,  shap,  size,  and  breed ; 
An  if  aw  moot  tell  tone  hoave  aw  seed. 

We  moot  sit  an  smook  till  morn,  mun. 

"  Then  deawn  Lung  Millgate  we  did  steer, 
To  owd  Moike  Wilson's  goods-shop  theer. 
To  bey  eawr  Nan  a  rockink  cheer, 

An  pots,  an  spoons,  an  ladles ; 
Nan  bowt  a  glass  for  lookink  in, 
A  tin  Dutch  con  for  cookink  in, 
Aw  bowt  a  cheer  for  smookink  in. 

An  Nan  axt  proice  o'  th'  cradles. 

"  Then  th'  fiddler  struck  up  th'  honeymoon, 
An  off  we  seet  for  Owdham  soon ; 
AVe  made  old  Grizzle  trot  to  th'  tune, 
Every  yard  o'  th'  way,  mon. 


2i8  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  At  neight,  oytch  lad  an  bonny  lass, 
I^ws  !  heaw  they  donced  an  drunk  their  glass ; 
So  tyrt  wur  Nan  an  I,  by  th'  mass, 

Ot  wea  leigh  'till  twelve  next  day,  mon." 

The  "  Songs  of  the  Wilsons"  include  several 
other  pieces  of  local  interest.  Mr.  Joseph 
Anthony's  "  Irwell,  and  other  poems  "  appeared  in 
1843,  and  deals,  of  course,  chiefly  with  Man- 
chester, and  includes  a  wild  legend  of  Kersal  Cell. 
Mr.  Charles  Kenworthy's  "  Original  Poems," 
printed  in  1847,  contains  "  A  view  of  Manchester 
in  1818;"  "A  view  of  Manchester  in  1838;" 
"  Collyhust  Hall  ;  "  *'  Love- Lane  "  (this  was  near 
Ancoats  Hall) ;  "  On  Seeing  an  Emperor  Butter- 
fly in  the  Streets  of  Manchester  ;  "  "  Strangeways 
Hall ;  "  "  Manchester  Athenaeum  ;  "  and  "  The 
Winton  Murder." 

Miss  Mathilde  Blind,  in  her  frequent  visits  to 
the  city,  has  been  impressed  by  some  of  its 
characteristics,  and  has  written  a  sonnet  on 
"  Manchester  by  Night." 

MiDDLETON. 

Although  he  has  chosen  to  give  it  the  name 
of  Waverlow,  it  is  generally  understood  that 
Middleton  is  the  locality  celebrated  in  several  of 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  219 

Ben  Brierley's  writings,  and  especially  in  the  fine 
pathetic  verses  entitled  "  Waverlow  Bells." 

"  Old  Jammie  and  Ailse  went  adown  the  brook  side 
Arm-in-arm,  as  when  young,  before  Ailse  was  a  bride ; 
And  what  made  them  pause  near  the  Holly-bank  Wells  ? 
'Twas  to  list  to  the  chimes  of  the  Waverlow  bells. 

"  •'  How  sweet,'  said  old  Jammie,  'how  sweet  on  the  ear, 
Comes  the  ding-donging  sound  of  yon  curfew,  my  dear  !' 
But  old  Ailse  ne'er  replies,  for  her  bosom  now  swells — 
Oh,  she'd  loved  in  her  childhood  those  Waverlow  bells. 

"  '  Thou  remember'st,'  said  Jammie,  '  the  night  we  first  met, 
Near  the  Abbey  field  gate — the  old  gate  is  there  yet — 
When  we  roamed  in  the  moonlight  o'er  fields  and  through 

dells, 
And  our  hearts  beat  along  with  those  Waverlow  bells. 

"  '  And  then  that  wakes  morning  so  early  at  church, 
When  I  led  thee  a  bride  through  the  old  ivy  porch, 
And  our  new  home  we  m.ade  where  the  curate  now  dwells. 
And  we  danced  to  the  music  of  Waverlow  bells. 

"  'And  when  that  wakes  morning  came  round  the  next  year, 
How  we  bore  a  sweet  child  to  the  christ'ning  font  there  ; 
But  our  joy  peals  soon  changed  to  the  saddest  of  knells, 
And  we  mourned  at  the  sound  of  the  Waverlow  bells.' 

"  Then  in  silence  a  moment  the  old  couple  stood, 
Their  hearts  in  the  churchyard,  their  eyes  on  the  flood ; 
And  the  tear  as  it  starts  a  sad  memory  tells — 
Oh  !  they  heard  a  loved  voice  in  those  Waverlow  bells. 


2  20  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

"  '  Our  Ann,'  said  old  Ailse  *  was  the  fairest  of  girls  ; 
She  had  heaven  in  her  face,  and  the  sun  in  her  curls  ; 
Now  she  sleeps  in  a  bed  where  the  worm  makes  its  cells. 
And  her  lullaby's  sung  by  the  Waverlow  bells.' 

"  '  But  her  soul,'  Jammie  said,  '  she'd  a  soul  in  her  eyes, 
And  their  brightness  is  gone  to  its  home  in  the  skies ; 
We  may  meet  her  there  yet  where  the  good  spirit  dwells. 
When  we'll  hear  them  no  more — those  old  Waverlow  bells.' 

"  Once  again — only  once — the  old  couple  were  seen 
Stepping  out  in  the  gloaming  across  the  old  green, 
And  to  wander  adown  by  the  Holly-bank  Wells, 
Just  to  list  to  the  chimes  of  the  Waverlow  bells. 

"  Now  the  good  folks  are  sleeping  beneath  the  cold  sod, 
But  their  souls  are  in  bliss  with  their  daughter  and  God ; 
And  each  maid  in  the  village  now  mournfully  tells 
How  old  Jammie  and  Ailse  loved  the  Waverlow  balls." 

Newfield  in  Seathwaite. 

The  stepping  stones  at  Newfield  in  Seathwaite 
are  made  famous  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  of 
Wordsworth's  sonnets  on  the  Duddon. 

Pendle. 
There  is  a  large  amount  of  poetical  and 
legendary  lore  connected  with  Pendle  Hill  and  its 
neighbourhood,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  reference  to 
Mr.  James  Mackay's  monograph  on  "  Pendle  Hill 
in  History  and  Literature." 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.         221 

Preston. 
On  the  wayside  between  Preston  and  Liverpool, 
early  in  this  century,  there  stood  a  pile  of  turf  that 
was  maintained  as  a  memorial  of  a  father.  This 
curious  relic  attracted  the  attention  of  Wordsworth, 
who  has  celebrated  it  in  his  sonnet  on 

Filial  I^iktv. 
"  Untouched  through  all  severity  of  cold  ; 
Inviolate,  whate'er  the  cottage  hearth 
Might  need  for  comfort  or  for  festal  mirth  ; 
That  pile  of  turf  is  half  a  century  old : 
Yes,  traveller !  fifty  winters  have  been  told 
Since  suddenly  the  dart  of  death  went  forth 
"Gainst  him  who  raised  it ; — his  last  work  on  earth  : 
Thence  has  it,  with  the  son,  so  strong  a  hold 
Upon  his  father's  memory,  that  his  hands, 
Through  reverence,  touch  it  only  to  repair 
Its  waste.     Though  crumbling  with  each  breath  of  air. 
Its  annual  renovation  thus  it  stands, — 
Rude  mausoleum  1  but  wrens  nestle  there, 
And  redbreasts  warble  when  sweet  sounds  are  rare." 

Perhaps  we  ought  to  include  in  this  list  "  The 
Preston  prisoners  to  the  ladies  about  the  court," 
which  belongs  to  the  poetry  of  the  Jacobite 
rebellion  of  171 5. 

Preston,  as  a  representative  factory  town, 
attracted  the  notice  of  Ebenezer  Elliott,  who,  in 
"  Preston     Mills,"    has    vigorously    attacked    the 


222  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

system  by  which  children  were  employed  early 
and  late  in  the  close  atmosphere  and  fatiguing 
labours  of  the  spinning  and  weaving  sheds. 

Radcliffe. 
The  visitor  to  Radcliffe  may  still  see,  though  in 
a  forlorn  and  dilapidated  condition,  "  Fair  Helen's 
Tower,"  the  locality  of  a  dreadful  murder.  The 
local  tradition  says  that  the  second  wife 
of  Sir  William  Radcliffe  commanded  the 
cook  to  slaughter  the  only  child  of  the  knight's 
first  wife,  and  to  make  her  into  a  pie.  This 
ballad  is  sometimes  known  as  "  The  Lady 
Isabella's  Tragedy  ;  or,  the  Stepmother's  Cruelty." 

Rochdale. 
Through  the  native  town  of  John   Bright  and 
Edwin    Waugh    flows   the    Roch — now,    alas !    a 
polluted     stream — whose     bygone     charms     are 
celebrated  by  our  Lancashire  laureate. 

To  THE  River  Roach. 
"  The  quiet  Roch  comes  dancing  down 
From  breezy  moorland  hills  ; 
It  wanders  through  my  native  town, 
With  its  bonny  tribute  rills. 

"  Oh,  gentle  Roch,  my  native  stream  ! 
Oft,  when  a  careless  boy, 
I've  prattled  to  thee,  in  a  dream, 
As  thou  went  singing  by. 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  223 

"  Oft,  on  thy  breast,  my  tiny  barge 
I've  sailed  in  thoughtless  glee  ; 
And  roved  in  joy  thy  posied  marge. 
That  first  grew  green  to  me. 

"  I've  paddled  in  thy  waters  clear, 
In  childhood's  happy  days  ; 
Change  as  thou  wilt,  to  me  thou'rt  dear 
While  life's  warm  current  plays. 

"  Like  thee,  my  little  life  glides  down 
To  the  great  absorbing  main. 
From  whose  mysterious  deeps  unknown 
We  ne'er  return  again." 

The  grave  of  Tim  Bobbin,  in  Rochdale  church- 
yard, has  been  made  the  occasion  for  several 
lively  pieces  in  the  dialect  by  Sam.  Bamford, 
H.  O.  Shaw,  and  George  Richardson. 

Bamford  has  also  written  some  satirical  "  Lines 
written  at  the  Blue  Ball,  Rochdale." 

Salp^ord, 
The  well-known  humorous  ballad  of  "  Old 
Grindrod's  Ghost "  is  versified  by  William 
Harrison  Ainsworth  from  a  tradition  repeated  by 
Mr.  Gilbert  Winter,  of  Stocks.  It  refers  to  a 
supposed  after-death  incident  in  the  career  of 
Grindrod,  a  Salford  dyer,  who  was  hung  in  1753 
for  poisoning  his  wife. 


224  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

Scout  Edge. 
Scout  Edge,  near  Duerden  Moor,  in  the  town- 
ship of  Shuttleworth,   is  the  scene  of  Bamford's 
poem,  the  "  Witch  of  Brandwood." 

Seathwaite. 
One    of    Wordsworth's     Duddon    sonnets    is 
devoted  to  Seathwaite  Chapel. 

vStake-Hill. 
This    is    the     scene     of     one     of     Bamford's 
dialect  poems,  "The  Stake-Hill  Ball,"  in  which  a 
rustic  festival  is  described  with  much  spirit. 

TuRTON  Fair. 
A   humorous   poem,   describing   the  somewhat 
coarse  festivities  at  Turton  Fair,  was  published  by 
Wm.  Sheldrake,  in  1789. 

Ulpha  Kirk. 
The    churchyard    of    this    small    hamlet   near 
Duddon  Bridge  is  the  subject  of  one  of  Words- 
worth's fine  sonnets  on  the  river  Duddon. 

Warrington. 
Warrington  can   boast  of  two  local  ballads  of 


POEMS  OF  LANCASHIRE  PLACES.  225 

some    popularity — one    in    praise   of    Warrington 
ale,  and  one  descriptive  of  "  Warriken  Fair." 

Whalley  Abbey. 
The  late  Mr.  George  Richardson,  who  published 
his    "Patriotism,     and    other    poems,"    in    1844, 
includes  in  it  a  sonnet  written    after   a   visit    to 
Whalley  Abbey,  Lancashire. 

"  Thou  ancient  temple  of  six  hundred  years  ! 
Hoary  with  age,  and  in  stern  ruin  grand, 
Thy  mossy  mantled  arches  proudly  stand 
Like  monumental  fanes  which  fate  reveres, 
No  pompous  mass,  nor  monk,  nor  vestal  prayer. 
Breaks,  as  of  yore,  upon  thy  calm  repose  ; 
For  on  the  mouldering  walls,  where  ivy  grows. 
The  day-scared  owlet  finds  its  gloomy  lair. 
A  solemn  awe  pervades  the  sacred  ground  : 
The  crumbled  cloisters,  and  each  hallow'd  bed, 
The  verdant  sepulchre,  where  sleep  the  dead, 
Give  a  dread  silence  to  the  scene  around. 
Save  'neath  thy  walls,  the  Calder  wends  along, 
Singing  of  man's  frail  lot,  and  Time's  triumphant  song  !  " 

To  this  picturesque  pile  belongs  that  weird 
scene  of  incantation  described  by  Ainsworth  in 
his  metrical  account  of  a  midnight  meeting  of  the 
Lancashire  witches. 

Windermere. 
The  lake  of  Winandermere,  now  shortened  into 
Windermere,   which  is  partly  in   Lancashire  and 

Q 


226  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

partly    in    Cumberland,    has    been    celebrated  by 
Wordsworth. 

These  references  do  not  profess  to  be  exhaustive 
of  the  subject.  With  abundant  leisure,  it  would 
not  be  either  a  difficult  or  an  unpleasant  task  to 
construct  a  poetical  companion  for  the  wanderer 
amid  the  bleak  fells  and  busy  towns  of 
Lancashire. 


i 


iTatbcr  Hrrowemitiys  Ibanb. 

By  Rushworth  Armytage. 

IN  the  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Oswald,  Ashton 
in  Makerfield  is  preserved  a  human  hand, 
said  to  have  belonged  to  Father  Edmund  Arrow- 
smith,  to  which  powers  of  a  miraculous  nature 
have  been  ascribed. 

Edmund  Arrowsmith,  the  former  owner  of  the 
hand,  was  born  at  Haydock,  in  Win  wick  parish 
in  1585,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  Having  refused  to  take  the  oath  of 
supremacy,  he  was  in  1628,  tried  before  Sir 
Henry  Yelverton  on  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
On  two  indictments,  accusing  him  of  being  a 
priest  and  of  being  a  perverter  in  religion,  he  was 
found  guilty,  and  the  usual  sentence  of  hanging, 
drawing,  and  quartering  was  passed.  Not  content 
with  a  mere  form,  the  judge  is  said  to  have  added, 
**  Know  shortly  thou  shalt  die  aloft  between 
heaven  and  earth,  as  unworthy  of  either,  and  may 
thy  soul  go  to  hell  with  thy  followers." 


228  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

The  sympathy  of  the  Lancaster  folk  was 
entirely  with  the  victim.  No  one  would  under- 
take the  duty  of  executing  the  priest.  A  butcher 
engaged  that  for  ^5  his  servant  should  do  it,  but 
when  the  servant  heard  of  the  arrangement  he 
ran  away  and  was  not  seen  again.  At  last  a 
prisoner  in  the  Castle  undertook  the  business. 

It  is  curious  that  in  the  account  of  the 
*  distribution  of  the  different  parts  of  Arrowsmith's 
body  no  mention  is  made  of  the  hand,  which  was 
afterwards  to  become  famous.  In  1629  Mr. 
Henry  Holme  wrote  a  letter  attesting  certain 
relics  of  Father  Arrowsmith,  but  he  does  not 
mention  the  hand,  though  possibly  it  is  included 
in  the  "and  more"  near  the  end  of  the  letter. 
Holme's  letter  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Worthy  Sir, — My  duty  remembered  ;  for  the  certainty  of 
these  things  which  I  did  deliver  you  at  your  l^eing  at  Lancaster 
I  will  afifirm  to  be  true,  for  the  hair  and  the  pieces  of  the  ribs 
I  did  take  myself  at  the  going  up  of  the  plumbers  to  see  the 
leads,  when  they  were  to  mend  them,  and  the  handkerchief 
was  dipped  in  his  blood,  at  the  time  of  his  quarters  coming 
back  from  the  execution  to  the  Castle,  by  me  likewise  with  my 
own  hands.  .  .  .  All  these  were  the  relics  of  Mr  Arrow- 
smith,  who  was  executed  here  at  Lancaster  the  25th  [28]  of 
August,  1628,  upon  the  statute  of  persuasions.  I  did  deliver 
this  to  you  in  July,  1629.  I  did  [gather]  all  those  I  gave  you 
myself,  and  more  at  several  times,  and  had  none  from  any 
man's  hand  l)ut  my  own." 


FATHER  ARKOWSMITH'S  HAND.  229 

The  accepted  account  is  that  after  Arrowsmith's 
body  was  dismembered,  one  of  his  friends  cut  off 
the  somewhat  charred,  but  otherwise  perfect,  right 
hand.  The  hand  was  kept  at  Bryn  Hall,  the 
residence  of  Arrowsmith's  maternal  kindred,  for 
many  years,  and  was  afterwards  removed  to 
Garswood.  In  1822,  it  was  transferred  to  the 
chapel  at  Ash  ton. 

The  hand  was,  according  to  an  early  mention, 
kept  in  a  linen  cloth  and  a  box.  Barrett  speaks  of 
it  as  being  preserved  in  a  white  silk  bag,  and  still 
later  Lady  Burton  says  it  was  inclosed  in  a  silver 
case. 

There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  account  of  an 
alleged  cure  performed  by  the  "dead  hand," 
during  the  first  hundred  years  of  its  existence, 
unless  the  tale  told  by  Harland  in  his  "  Lancashire 
Legends,"  belongs  to  that  period. 

The  story  is  that  one  of  the  owners  of  I  nee  "  lay 
on  his  death-bed,  and  a  lawyer  was  sent  for  at  the 
kst  moment  to  make  his  will ;  but  before  he 
reached,  the  man  was  dead.  In  this  dilemma  it 
was  determined  to  try  the  effect  of  a  dead  man's 
hand  on  the  corpse,  and  the  attorney's  clerk  was 
sent  for  it  to  Bryn  Hall  in  all  haste.  The  body  of 
the  dead  man  was  rubbed  with  the  holy  hand,  and 


230  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 

it  was  asserted  that  he  revived  sufficiently  to  sign 
his  will.  After  the  funeral,  a  daughter  of  the 
deceased  produced  a  will  which  was  not  signed, 
leaving  the  property  to  his  son  and  daughter  ;  but 
the  lawyer  produced  the  will  signed  by  the  dead 
hand,  which  conveyed  all  the  property  to  himself. 
The  son  quarreled  with  the  attorney,  and  after 
wounding  him,  as  he  supposed  mortally,  he  left 
the  country  and  was  never  heard  of  more.  The 
daughter  also  disappeared,  but  no  one  knew  how 
or  when.  After  many  years  the  gardener  turned 
up  a  skull  in  the  garden  with  his  spade,  and  the 
secret  was  revealed.  When  this  took  place  the 
Hall  had  long  been  uninhabited  ;  for  the  murdered 
daughter's  ghost  hung  suspended  in  the  air  before 
the  dishonest  lawyer  wherever  he  went.  It  is 
said  that  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
Wigan,  the  victim  of  remorse  and  despair. 
There  is  a  room  in  the  Hall  which  is  said  to  be 
haunted  by  the  ghost  of  a  young  lady,  and  her 
shadowy  form  is  frequently  seen  by  the  passers  by 
hovering  over  the  spot  where  her  remains  were 
buried." 

The  earliest  detailed  case  of  cure  wrought  by 
the  "dead  hand"  is  that  of  Thomas  Hawarden,  aged 
twelve.      In  June,  1735,  this  boy  had  a  slow  hectic 


FA  THER  A RRO  W SMITH'S  HAND.  2 3 1 

fever,  other  ailments  followed  and  he  eventually 
lost  the  use  of  his  limbs.  On  October  25,  1736, 
"his  parents  having  often  heard  that  many  and 
great  cures  had  been  effected  by  means  of  a  hand  of 
Father  Arrowsmith,  procured  leave  to  have  it 
brought."  Mrs.  Hawarden,  the  boy's  mother, 
applied  the  back  part  of  the  hand  to  her  child's 
back,  and  drawinor  it  down  on  each  side  of  the 
back  bone,  and  then  across,  she  said,  "  Sweet 
Jesus  Christ,  give  a  blessing  to  it,  and  may  it  do 
him  good  ;  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  boy 
immediately  felt  better,  but  the  mother  continued 
drawing  the  martyr's  hand  up  and  down  the  boy's 
back,  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  repeating  the 
prayer.  The  lad  now  declared  that  he  could 
stand,  "hereupon  he  immediately  rose  from  his 
seat,"  began  to  adjust  his  clothes,  and  stood 
upright. 

When  asked  what  he  had  felt  when  the  hand 
was  applied,  he  answered,  "  that  he  believed  it 
would  do  him  good,  and  that  immediately  upon 
the  first  touch  of  the  hand  he  felt  something  give 
a  shoot,  or  sudden  motion,  from  his  back  to  the 
end  of  his  toes." 

The  truth  of  the  whole  story  was   certified  by 


232  BYGONE  LANCASHIRE, 

four  persons,  eleven  other  persons,  three  of  whom 
were  Protestants,  certified  the  truth  of  his  lame- 
ness and  cure,  having  seen  him  daily  during  his 
illness  and  afterwards,  and  two  Protestants  testified 
that  they  had  seen  him  lame,  and  that  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  later  they  saw  him  moving  about  cured. 
In  1768,  another  cure  is  recorded.  Mary 
Fletcher  was  troubled  with  convulsions,  and  had  a 
lameness  which  confined  her  to  her  bed.  In 
1767,  she  was  declared  by  Dr.  Ralph  Thicknesse 
to  be  past  all  human  assistance.  On  Sunday, 
November  20,  1768,  her  brother  brought  the 
'*  holy  hand  "  to  her  house.  Her  sister  made 
the  sign  of  the  Cross  on  the  invalid's  back  and 
breast,  the  Trinity  was  invoked,  and  the  patient 
several  times  repeated  the  prayer,  "  Holy  Father 
Arrowsmith,  pray  for  me  to  Almighty  God,  that  I 
may  receive  the  use  of  my  limbs,  if  it  be  God's 
holy  will  and  pleasure."  The  next  day  her 
recovery  was  so  complete,  that  she  was  able  to 
assist  at  the  family  washing  and  baking.  The 
truth  of  this  was  attested  by  two  priests.  Lady 
Blount,  Lady  Eccleston,  and  Elizabeth  Rigby. 
One  of  the  two  priests  who  witnessed  Mary 
Fletcher's  cure.  Father  Joseph  Beaumont,  had 
had  his  throat  and  mouth  so  much  mortified,  that 


FATHER  ARROWSMITITS  HAND.  233 

death  was  expected,  "  when  upon  the  touch  of  the 
holy  hand  he  was  cured  of  the  complaint  in  an 
instant,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  doctor  and 
everybody  else."  A  comparatively  recent  instance 
of  an  alleged  cure  is  recorded  to  have  taken  place 
about  1848  or  1849.  A  child  of  two  or  three 
years  had  lost  the  use  of  her  limbs,  she  was 
touched  by  the  hand  in  the  church  shortly  after 
the  mass,  but  no  change  in  the  child's  condition 
took  place  until  the  following  Sunday,  when 
the  mother  heard  mass,  and  begged  through  the 
intercession  of  Feather  Arrowsmith  the  cure  of 
the  child.  The  child,  which  was  not  in  the 
church,  showed  an  inclination  to  walk  at  the 
precise  time  that  the  mother  was  praying  for  her, 
and  was  restored  to  health  immediately.  A  still 
later  instance  of  belief  in  the  miraculous  powers 
of  the  "holy  hand"  is  given  in  the  Daily  Nezvs 
of  August  13,  1872.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Wigan 
Board  of  Guardians,  held  in  that  month,  it  was 
mentioned  that  the  assistant  overseer  of  Ashton 
in  Makerfield,  had  sent  to  the  Wigan  workhouse 
a  destitute  woman,  named  Catherine  Collins,  who 
had  been  sitting  all  day  on  a  doorstep.  She 
stated  that  she  had  come  out  of  Salford  work- 
house,    on     leave,     to    have    the    "holy    hand" 


234 


BYGONE  LANCASHIRE. 


applied  to  her  paralysed  side.  One  of  the 
guardians  for  Ashton  stated  that  hundreds  of 
persons  visited  the  township  for  similar  purposes. 
The  belief  in  the  miraculous  powers  of  the 
"dead  hand"  still  exists.  In  the  "Catholic 
Directory"  for  1892,  it  is  stated  that  "those  who 
wish  to  venerate  the  '  Holy  Hand'  will  have  an 
opportunity  of  satisfying  their  devotion  on  any 
day  after  mass." 


3nbcy. 


Aldingham,  lOO 

Alkrington,  203 

Allen,  Frances,  147 

J  Iphabet for  grown-up  Grammarians, 

121 
Alvanley  (Lord)  on  Dr.  Ogden,  87 
Amounderness,   Sworn  Men  of,  89 
Arrowsmilh,     Father,     67 ;     Dead 

Hand,  227 
Assheton,   Ralph,  67  ;  Richard,  67 
Aston,  Joseph,  37 
Atherton,  144 

Badger  Baiting,  179 
Baily,  Laurence,  64 
Bancroft,  Jas.,  29 
Barnaby's  Journal,  58,  203 
Bartlett,  Rev.  S.  E.,  102 
Bear  Baiting,  179 
Beaumont,  Joseph,  Cure  of,   232 
Belfield  Hall,  100 
Bell — head  exposed,  ']'] 
Bell,  dated,  at  Claughton,  113 
Bennet,  Charles,  138 
Bent,    Ann,     139;    Charles,     139; 
Katharine,    139 ;    Robert,    139 
Bewsey  Hall,  Ballad,  203 
Birch,  Wm.,  76 
Bispham,  90 
Black  Art  in  Bolton,  132 
Blakeley,  Bloody  Corn  at,  137 
Blood  drops  from  corn  at  Blakeley, 

Bobbin,  Tim,  Children  of,  116 
Bolton,      Black      Art      at,      132; 

Chronicle,  i,'^  ;  Communion,  20; 

Volunteers,  38 
Booker,  John,  79 
Booth,  Sir  Robert,  81 
Bradford,  John,  the  Martyr,  75 
Bradshaw,  James,  87 
Bragget  Sunday,  171 


Brank  in  Lancashire,  159 
Brathvvaite,' Richard,  58 
Bridecake,  Bishop  Ralph,  79 
Brierley,  Ben,  219 
Brockholes,  John,  70 
Brookes,  Rev.  Joshua,  214 
Bryn  Hall,  Dead  Hand,  227 
Bull  Bailing,  82,  175 
Burton,  Rev.  Henry,  60,  68 
Bury  Simnels,  165 
Buxton,  Richard,  42 
Byrom,  John,  n,  49,  74 

Cartmel,  100 

Chadderton,  Bishop  Wm.,  76 

Chartists  at  Kersal,  44 

Chetham,  Humphrey,  77 

Chetham's  College,  214 

Childwall,  lOi 

Chorley,  loi 

Chorlton,  James,  17 

Classis  established,  14 

Claughton,  Old  Dated  Bell,  113 

Clayton,  Rev.  John,  84 

Cold  Ashby,  Bell  at,  113 

Coleridge,  Lord,  103 

Collier,    Charles,     129 ;     Edmund, 

125;  John,  116;  Robert,  129; 

Thomas,  125 
Colquitt  Family  of  Liverpool,    146 
Communion,  Promiscuous,  23 
Constable,  Mr.,  27 
Cottam,  Alice,  179 
Cotton,  Rev.  Thomas,  83 
Covell,  Edmund,  59;  Thos.,  51-72 
Crabtree,  Wm.,  88 

Dauntesey,  Eustace,  47 
Dead  Hand,  227 
Dee,  Rowland,  78 
Denman,  Mr.  Justice,   "The  Dial's 
Lesson,"  103,  104 


236 


INDEX. 


De    Vere,    Aubrey,     "  To   Furncss 

Abbey,"  205 
Didsbury,  18 
Drayton,  M.,  183 
IJroylsden,  203 
Ducking  Stools,  158 
Duels  at  Kersal,  39 

Flccles  Wakes,  175 
Elders,  Reluctance  to  Elect,  17 
Elias,  the  Manchester  Prophet,  136 
Euxton,  Plague  at,  107 

Fag-pie  Sunday,  174 
Falkner,  Thomas,  84 
Farington,  204 
Finch — head  exposed,  77 
Fishwick,  Henry,  99,  100 
Fishwick,  James,  96 
Fleming,  IVIichael  le,  184 
Fletcher,  Mary,  Cure  of,  232 
Flixton,  19,  102 
Furness  Abbey,  184,  205 

Gamblers,  Scandalous,  20 

Garrett,  Rev.  Peter,  99 

Garstang,  90,  92,  loi 

Gatty,  Mrs.  A. ,  98 

Gibbelt,  or  Pillory,  162 

Gildart,  Francis,  149 

Goodwin,  Elizabeth,  150 

Goosnargh,  90,  91,  92,  96,  102 

(Jorton,  23 

Grayson,    Edward,   killed  in  duel, 

153 
Great  Sankey,  loi 
Greene,  Robert,  132 
Grenside,  Rev.  W.  B.,  115 
Grimshaw,  George,  26 

Hall,  Ellis,  the  Manchester  Prophet, 

136 
Hambleton  Church,  102 
Hanson,  Col.  Jos.,  Duel,  40 
Harrison,  Bridget,  150 
Hartlay,  Edmund,  63 
Hawarden,  Thos. ,  Cure  of,  230 
Heapey  Church,  loi 
Heginbottom,  Rev.  John,  82 
Herst,  Richard,  67 
Heywood,  James,   88  ;  Oliver,  20, 

180 ;  Peter,  196 
Heywood,  102 
Holcombe,  102 


Holland,  Col.,  193 
HoUinworth,  R. ,  77,  79,  137 
Holy  Hand,  227 
Hoole  Church,  100 
Hopwood,  207 
Horrox,  Jeremiah,  100 
Horse  Race,  a  poem,  36 
Horwich  Stocks,  161 
Howard,  Betty,  121 
Hulme,  100 
Hulton,  Geo.,  27 
Hunt,  Thurston,  64 

Ince  Hall  Legend,  229 
Incest,  25,  26 

"Johnny  Green's  Wedding,"  214 
Jones,    Edmund,    opposes   a   bear- 
bait,   180 

Kelly,  Edward,  63 

Kenyon,  Edward,  82 

Kersal,  cell,   47  ;    hall,   47  ;    moor, 

32,  131 
Kirkham,    93,    94;     brank,     159; 

sworn  men,  90,  91 
Knowsley,  102 

Lambert  Simncl,  166 

Lancashire        Doxology,  204 ; 

historic   i  ;    old     punishments, 

157;  plot,  7;  sundials,  98 
Lancaster,    i,  4,    5,    90,    91,   208; 

castle,     51-72;      chief    jayler, 

133-135  ;     tluchy,    3  ;    George 

Inn,  59  ;  worthy,  51 
Langley,  Wm.,  78 
Ivathom  House  Defence,  6 
Lees,  Rev.  John,  82 
Leigh,  l)ragget  in,  171 
Liverpool,    4 ;      Cokjuitt     Family, 

146;         cooke-slool,  158; 

customs  frauds,    147 ;    pillory, 

161  ;    plague  in,   105  ;    poems, 

208 
Longfellow,  Saml.,    "On   Furness 

Abbey,"  206 
Lord's  Supper,  19,  20,  26 
Lytham,  90,  102 

Macnamara,  James,  y] 
Manchester,    brank,    159;    classis, 

18;         ducking-stool,         158; 

grammar     school     boys,     73 ; 


INDEX. 


237 


Gitaniiaii,    46 ;    Mercury,   38, 

39  ;  pillory,  161 ;  prodigy,  136  ; 

siege,       188 ;      stocks,       161  ; 

sundials,  99 
Marriages,    orders    concerning    by 

classis,  25 
Marsden,  Jeremiah,  81 
Martin,  Bridget,  152 
Martindale,    Adam,    83 ;    Thomas, 

82 
Massey,  James,  40 
Mather,  Rev.  John,  82 
"Mersey   and    Irwell,"    by   B.    R. 

Parkes,  208 
Middleton,  Robert,  64 
Middleton,  218 
Mills,  Henry,  144,  145 
Milnrovv,  1 1 6,  123,  124,  130,  131 
Mothering  Sunday,  170 
Muloch-Craik,  D.  M.,  "  Lancasliire 

Doxology,"  204 
Music  in  Churches,  12 

National  Assembly,  14 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,      117,     119, 

120 
Newcome,     Henry,    26,    27,     29 ; 

Peter,  83 
Newfield,  220 
Nutter,  Robert,  64 

Ogden,  James,  poet,  88 
Ogden,  Dr.  Samuel,  85 
Oldham,  17 
Owen,  John,  139 

Parish  (lOvernment,  89 
Parke,  Thos.  John,  152 
Parkes,  Bessie  R. ,  "The  Mersey  and 

Irwell,"  208 
Pendle  Witches  executed,  64 
Parochial  Presbytery,  14 
Pendle,  220 

Pennylesse  Pilgrimage,  55,  203 
Peter  of  York,  185 
Pewsill,  Cicely,  160 
Philips,  J.  L.,  duel,  40 
Philips,  Shakspere,  duel,  39 
Pillories  in  Lancashire,  161 
Plague  in  Liverpool,  105 
Poems  of  Lancashire  Places,  202 
Poulton,  90,  91 
Prayers,  Extemporary,  12 
Presbyterianism,  6,  10 


Preston,    4,    5,    55,     90,   91,   221  ; 

Brank,     160;     Election,    154; 

Pillory,  161,  164 
Prestvvich,  Rev.  John,  88 
Prestwich,  78,  82,  loi,  102 
Pretender  in  Manchester,  85 
Procter,  R.  W.,  47 
Punishments,  Old  Lancashire,  157 
Puritanism  in  Lancashire,  10 

Races  at  Kersal,  33 

Radcliffe,  222 

Ralphson,  Jeremiah,  82 

Ranken,  Betty,  119;  Robert,  1 19 

Religious  Life  of  Lancashire  during 
the  Commonwealth,  10 

Reviews  at  Kersal,  38,  41 

Ribchester,  i,  90,  91,  92,  95 

Richardson,  George,  225 

Rigby,  Isabella,  68 

Rochdale,  116;  Poems,  222;  Ship 
Inn,  124;  Sundial,  99;  Vol- 
unteers, 38 

Rogerson,  J.  B. ,  212 

Roman  Catholics  Executed,  64,  65, 
66,  67,  77,  227 

R.oman  Lancashire,  I 

Rootes,  Mr.,  23 

Roper,  W.  O.,  187 

Roscoe,  W. ,  "The  Dingle,"  210 

Rosworm,  Col.,  and  the  Siege  of 
Manchester,  189 

Saddleworth,  82 

St.  Michaels-on-Wyre,  90,  91,  92 

Salford,  223 

Satanic  i'ossession,  5,  30 

Scout  Edge,  224 

Seathwaite,  224 

Sermons,  Puritan,  13 

Shaw,  102,  103 

Simnel  Sunday,  170 

Simnels,  Bury,  165 

Smith,    Sir   James,     93  ;    Rev.     J. 

Einch,  73 
Smock  Races  for  Ladies,    176,    178 
Sparling,  Lieutenant,  153 
Stake-Hill,  224 
Starkie,  Nicholas,  63 
Stockport  Volunteers,  38 
Stocks  in  Lancashire,  160,  161 
Stoop  Hall,  71 
Sundials,  Lancashire,  98 
Swearing,  Eines  for,  27 


238 


INDEX. 


Sweating  Sickness,  105 

Sworn   Men  of   Amounderness,  89 

Taylor,  John,  "Water  Poet,"  55 
Thornton  Church,  loi 
Thulis,  John,  66 
Thwing,  Edward,  63 
Thyer,  Robert,  85 
Torrisholme,  70 
Tulketh,  184 
Turton  Fair,  224 

Ulpha  Kirk,  224 
Utley,  67 

Vaughan,  Bishop  R.,  59 
Vaux,  Laurence,  75 

Wakes,  Eccles,  175 

Walkden,  Katherine,  69 

Walkden,  Rev.  Peter,  74 

Warrington,  88,  109,  224 ;  Brank, 
159,  160;  Plague,  108;  Sun- 
dial, lOI 

W^aters,  Anne,  64 


Waugh,    Edwin,    "To   the    River 

Roch,"      222;      "Wild     and 

Free,"  49 
"Waverlow  Bells,"  219 
Whalley  Abbey,  225 
Whalley  Range,  100 
Whipping,  Public,  l6l 
Whittier,  J.  G.,  98 
Whittle,  Alice,  66 
Wife  Desertion  in  the  Olden  Times, 

144 
Wigan,  2,  4,  III 

"  Wild  and  Free,"  by  Waugh,  49 
Wilson,  Alexander,  213 
Windermere,  225 
Winstanley,  Hamlet,  88 
Winton,  102 
W^itchcraft,  5,  63,  67,  68 
Witches,  61,  64,  65 
Woolmer,  Mr.,  19 
Wordsworth,     William,    98,     184, 

221 
Worsley,  Charles,  m.p.,  88 
Worthinglon,  Dr.  John,  .80 
Wrenno,  Roger,  66 


%\et  of  Subscribers. 

Abraham,  A.  C,  87,  Bold  Street,  Liverpool. 

Adshead,  G.  II.,  94,  Bolton  Road,  Pendleton. 

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Alexander,  J.  J.,  76,  King  St.,  Manchester. 

Allen,  Rev.  Geo.,  Shaw,  Oldham. 

Andrew,  Frank. ,  J.  i'. ,  Nowellthorpe,  Ashton-under-Lyne. 

Andrew,  Jno.,  (ilenthorne,  Ashton-under-Lyne. 

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240  LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 

Callison,  R.  D.,  Town  Hall,  Manchester. 

Caton,  R. ,  Lea  Hall,  Gateacre,  Liverpool. 

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Crabtree,  Percy,  Bankfield  Villas,  Burnley. 

Credland,  W.  R.,  Fern  Bank,  Bowker  Street,  Higher  Broughton. 

Creeke,  A.  B.,  Westwood,  Burnley. 

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Crowther,  J.  S.,  Endsleigh,  Alderley  Edge. 

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ffarington.  Miss,  Worden,  Preston. 

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Garside,  Henry,  Burnley  Road,  Accrington. 

(Gladstone.  RolH. ,  9,  Harrington  St.,  Liverpool. 

Glass,  P.,  48,  Delaunay's  Road,  Crumpsall,  Manchester. 

(}odlee,  F.,  Styal,  near  Handforth. 

Goodacre,  Rev.  E.  E.,  .Shaw. 

Gorman,  D.,  Chesterfield. 

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LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS.  241 

Gregson.  W.  E.,  Moor  Lane,  Great  Crosby. 

Greig,  Andrew,  30,  Belmont  Gardens,  Hillhead,  Glasgow 

Grenside,  Rev.  W.  B.,  m.a.,  Melling. 

Guest,  W.  ir.,  Arlington  Place,  263,  Oxford  Road,  Manchester. 

Ilainsworth,  L.,  120,  Bowling  Old  Lane,  Bradford. 

Ilaggerston,  W.  J.,  Public  Libraries,  Newcaslle-on-Tyne. 

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Hargreaves,  Hamlet,  45,  Devonshire  Road,  Burnley. 

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(2  copies). 

Industrial  Co-operative  Society,  Failsvvorth. 

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Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner,  &  Co.,  Limited,  London. 
Kennedy  G.  A.,  10,  Studley  Terrace,  Pendleton. 


242  LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 

Knot,  Oliver,  7,  Chapel  Walks,  Manchester. 

Lancaster,  A.,  St.  Helens  Free  Library. 

Law,  Kdward,  16,  Shakespeare  Crescent,  Patricroft. 

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Livesey,  J.,  Leoview  House,  Liscard. 

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M'Cormick,  Rev.,  F.  H.  J.,  F.S.A.Scot.,  Ilkeston. 

Mackie,  Wm.,  Priory  Chambers,  Oldham. 

Mansergh,  J.  F.,  Clougha,  Hargraves  Road,  .Sefton  Park,  Liverpool. 

Mark,  Jno.,  ex-Mayor  of  Manchester  (2  copies). 

Martin,  W.  Y..  M.D.,  Walkden. 

Marton,  Colonel,  Copernwray,  Cainforth. 

Mawdsley,  J.  P. ,  30,  Falkner  .Square,  Liverpool. 

May,  Wm.,  Free  Library,  Birkenhead. 

Mayoh,  Hy.,  Town  Hall  Bolton. 

Miles,  Rev.  R.  H.  P.,  Rhincheck,  New  York  State,  U.S.A. 

Miller,  M.  H. ,  Times  Office,  Leek. 

Miller,  Wm.  Pitt,  Merlewood,  Grange-over-Sand  (2  copies). 

Molyneux,  N. ,  Moss-giel,  Lancaster. 

Monk-Lingard  R.  B.  M.,  Fulshaw  Hall,  Wilmslow. 

Moore,  Mrs.  L.  B.,  I,  Clare  Street,  South  Shore,  Blackpool. 

Muschamp,  Robt.,  Victoria  Street  RadclifTe. 

Neild,  T.,  B.A.,  Dalton  Hall,  Manchester. 

Nicholson,  R. ,  J.  P. ,  Southport. 

Norton,  Fred  T.,  28,  Linthorpe  Road,  Stamford  Hill,  London,  N. 

Oakley,  F.  P.,  Hanging  Bridge  Chambers,  Manchester. 
Ogden,  Thos. ,  9,  Mincing  Lane,  E.C. 
Ormerod,  J.  P.,  Castleton,  Manchester. 

Parrott,  W.  J.,  Tor  Side,  Helmshore. 

Parry,  A.   Ernest,  Memorial  Hall,  Manchester. 

Parry,  David  W.  W.,  Didsbury. 

Patchett,  Jno.,  Mildred  House,  Undercliffe  Lane,  Bradford. 

Pearce,  M.  W.,  Lynwood,  .Southport. 

Pearson,  Joseph,  .Salford. 

Peltigrew,  J.  B. ,  8,  Exchange  Street,  Manchester. 

Philips,  J.  W.,  Ileybridge,  Tean. 

Phillips,  M.,  West  .Street  Ilouse,  Chichester. 

Phillipson  &  Golder,  Booksellers,  Chester. 

Pickell,  W.  E.,  c/o  Box  283,  G.  P.  O.,  Melbourne. 

Pink,  J.,  Cambridge  Free  Librarj*. 

Preston,  Thomas,  92,  Manchester  Road,  Burnley. 

Procter,  R.,  Oak  Mount,  Burnley. 

Proctor,  George,  Bank  House,  Bamoldswick. 


LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS.  243 

RadclifTe,  R.  D.,  M.A.,  F.s.A.,  Liverpool. 

Rawlinson,  Jos.,  Ulverston. 

Rawlinson,    Sir    Robert,    k.c.b. ,    Lancaster    House,    ii,    Boltons,    West 

Brompton,  S.  W. 
Redford.  W.  J.,  Spring  Place,  Great  Lever,  Bolton. 
Rennie,  W.,  Chronicle  Office,  Oldham  (5  copies). 
Roberts,   D.  Lloyd,  M.I).,  Manchester. 
Robin,  Mrs.,  Woodchurch  Rectory. 
Robinson,  A.  J.,  Clitheroe  Castle. 
Robinson,  Jno. ,  56,  Church  Street,  Eccles. 
Rogerson,  Thos.,  Sunny  Bank,  Fiixton  (2  copies). 
Roper,  W.  O.,  Lancaster. 
Roscoe,  James,  Kirkby  (2  copies). 
Rudd,  Jno.,  5,  Sale  Road,  Northenden. 
Rushton,  H.,  31,  Scotland  Road,  Nelson. 
Rylands,  J.  Paul,  F.s.A.,  Heather  Lea,  Charlesville,  Birkenhead. 

Sharp,  W.,  29,  Albert  Gate,  Hyde  Park,  London. 

Shaw,  Rev.  Henry,  Urmston. 

Shaw,  (jiles,  k r.  n.s.,  72,  Manchester  Street,  Oldham. 

Shaw,  J.  B.,  4,  Chapel  Walks,  Manchester. 

Simpkin,  L.,  9,  Spring  Street,  Bury. 

Smith,  Bryce,  Rye  Bank,  Chorlton-cum-Hardy. 

Smith,  C.  C. ,  Liniehurst  Knowle. 

Smith,  D.,  Highfield,  Schools  Hill,  Cheadle. 

Smith,  Mrs.  F. ,  Egerton  Terrace,  Chorlton  Road,  Manchester  (2  copies). 

Smith,  Rev.  Prebendary,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  Lichfield. 

Smith,  J.,  Stapylton,  Rotherham. 

Smithies,  Miss  A.,  367,  Waterloo  Road,  Cheetham  Hill. 

Stalybridge  Corporation,  Stalybridge. 

Stanning,  Rev.  J.  PL,  M.A.,  Leigh. 

Stevens,  Edward,  One  Ash,  Alderley  Edge. 

Stevenson,  Thos.,  Glodwick,  Oldham. 

Stewart,  Rev.  J.,  F. U.H.S.,  Penrhyn. 

.Storey,  H.  .S.,  Lancaster. 

Storey,  Sir  Thomas,  Lancaster. 

Sutton,  C.  W. ,  Manchester  Free  Library  (7  copies). 

Swindells,  G.  H.,  7,  Cranbourne  Road,  Heaton  Moor. 

Swire,  Tom,  Keighley. 

Tarrant,  Hy.,  Duchy  of  Lancaster  Office,  W.C. 

Taylor,  Jno.,  10,   Radcliffe  Street,  Oldham. 

Taylor,  Rev.  R.  V.,  H.A.  Melbecks,  Richmond. 

Taylor,  Rev.  W.  PL,  Warmington,  Banbury. 

Teal,  J.,  Halifax  (2  copies). 

Thorneley,  J.  L. ,  57,  Faulker  Street,  Liverpool. 

Threlfall,  H.  ,S. ,  12,  London  .Street,  .Southport. 

Thwaites,  Jos.,  Lightbounds,  Halliwell,  Bolton  (2  copies). 

Thorp,  J.  Walter.  H.,  Jordongate  House,  Macclesfield. 

Tomlinson,  \Vm.  S.  Paget,  Kirkby  Lindale. 

Tonge,  Rev.  Canon,  51,  South  King  .Street  Manchester. 

Tootell,  Leigh  G.  H.,  West  Cliff,  Preston. 

Trafford,  .Sir  Humphrey  F.  de,  Bart.,  Trafford  Park. 

Turner,  Jas.,  9,  Halliwell  Street,  Manchester  (2  copies). 


244  LIST  OF  SUBSCRIBERS. 

Turner,  Wni.,  Plymouth  Grove,  Manchester. 
Unwin,  John,  7,  Park  Crescent,  Southport. 

Walkden,  Jas.,  I  ley  wood  Street,  Moss  Side. 

Walton,  Robert,  66,  Rectory  Road,  Burr.ley. 

Warluirton,  S.,  10,  Wilton  Polygon,  Cheetham  Hill,  Manchester. 

Ware,  Mrs.  Hibbert,   Bowden. 

Wareing,  A.  D.,  Clarksfield  Street,  Oldham. 

Wareing,  J   W. ,  Clarksfield  .Street,  Oldham. 

Watson,  J.,  Bookseller,  Nelson. 

W^ebster,  Isaac,  Rainford. 

Webster,  Robert,  Egerton  Park,  Worsley. 

Welby,  Edward  M.  E.,  Norton  House,  Norton. 

Whalley,  Colonel,  J. P.,  5,  Queen  Street,  Lancaster. 

Whitehead,  Jos.,  Washbrook,  Chadderton,  Oldham. 

Whittaker,  J.  W.,  67,  Wellington  Street,  Accrington. 

Whittaker,  Thomas,  Mayor  of  Accrington,  Sunnyside  House. 

Wilde,  R.  W.,  18,  Brasenose  Street,  Manchester. 

Wilkinson,  John,  25,  Manor  Street,  Ardwick. 

Wilkinson,  W.  King,  .M.A.,  Whiteholme,  Slaidburn,  Clitheroe. 

Wingate-Saul,  W.  W.  Fenton,  Cawthome  House,  Lancaster  (2  copies). 

Winterbottom,  John,  24,  Derby  Street,  Colne. 

Wodhams,  Rev.  L,  m.a.,  Brackley. 

Wood,  Joseph,  22,  Victoria  Road,  Fallowfield. 

Wood,  Robt.  K.,  222,  Waterloo  Street,  Oldham. 

Woodcock,  Rev.  G.  H. ,  RptcIifife-on-Wreake,  Leicester. 

Worthington,  A.  H.,  High  .Street,  Manchester. 

Worthington,  John  W.,  Rose  Cottage,  Church  Street,  Newton  Heath. 

Wright,  J.  C,  32,  Market  Street,  Bradford  (2  copies). 

Wrigley,  .S.,  Hirsedge,  Oldham. 

Young,  Henry,  &  .Son,  12,  South  Castle  .Street,  Liverpool  (2  copies). 
Young,  IL  E.,  6,  Arundel  Avenue,  Liverpool. 
Young,  H.  .S.,  7,  Lome  Road,  Waterloo. 


PUBLICATIONS 

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HULL. 


Elegantly  bound  in  cloth  gilt,  demy  3uo.,  price  6s. 


Ofb   ejurc?  Bore, 

By    WILLIAM    ANDREWS,     F.R.H.S., 

Author  of  ^^  Curiosities  of  the  Church"  '■^  Old-Tiuie  Pmiish/uents" 
^'Historic  Rotnance,"  etc. 


OONTEIlSrTS. 

The  Right  of  Sanctuary— The  Romance  of  Trial— A  Fight 
between  the  Mayor  of  Hull  and  the  Archbishop  of 
York— Chapels  on  Bridges— Charter  Horns— The  Old 
.  English  Sunday  — The  Easter  Sepulchre  —  St.  Paul's 
Cross— Cheapside  Cross— The  Biddenden  Maids  Charity 
—Plagues  and  Pestilences— A  King  Curing  an  Abbot 
of  Indigestion— The  Services  and  Customs  of  Royal 
Oak  Day— Marrying  in  a  White  Sheet— Marrying  under 
the  Gallows— Kissing  the  Bride— Hot  Ale  at  Weddings 
—Marrying  Children  — The  Passing  Bell  — Concerning 
Coffins— The  Curfew  Bell— Curious  Symbols  of  the  Saints 
—Acrobats  on  Steeples— A  carefully-prepared  Index. 
(5->i«-5)      I  L  LU  ST"R  AT  ED.     (s-V^ 


^i-    PRESS    OPINIONS.-'^ 


"  A  worthy  work  on  a  deeply  interesting  subject.  .  .  .  We 
commend  this  book  strongly." — European  Mail. 

"  An  interesting  volume." — The  Scotsman. 

"Contains  much  that  will  interest  and  instruct." — Glastjow 
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"  The  author  has  produced  a  book  which  is  at  once  entertaining 
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"Mr.  Andrews'  book  does  not  contain  a  dull  page.  ,  .  . 
Deserves  to  meet  with  a  very  warm  welcome. " —  Yorkshire  Post. 

"  Mr.  Andrews,  in  '  Old  Church  Lore,'  makes  the  musty 
parchments  and  records  he  has  consulted  redolent  with  life  and 
actuality,  and  lias  added  to  his  works  a  most  interesting  volume, 
which,  written  in  a  light  and  easy  narrative  style,  is  anything  but 
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both  bound  and  printed  in  an  artistic  fashion." — Northern  Daily 
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HULL:  WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,  THE  HULL  PRESS. 
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SECOND  EDITION.       Bound  in  cloth  gilt,  demy  8uo.       6s. 

Cuxmitm  of  t^t  Cpurc^ : 

Studies  of  Curious  Customs,  Services,  and  Records. 
By    WILLIAM     ANDREWS,   F.R.H.S, 

Author  ok  "Historic  Romance,"  "F"amous  Frosts  and 
Frost  Fairs,"  "Historic  Yorkshire,"  etc. 


eO/STE/STS: 


Early  Religious  Plays :  being  the  Story  of  the  English  Stage  in 
its  Church  Cradle  Days— The  Caistor  Gad-Whip  Manorial 
Service— Strange  Serpent  Stories— Church  Ales— Rush-Bearing 
—Fish  in  Lent— Concerning  Doles— Church  Scrambling  Chari- 
ties—Briefs—Bells and  Beacons  for  Travellers  by  Night— Hour 
Glasses  in  Churches — Chained  Books  in  Churches — Funeral 
Effigies— Torchlight  Burials— Simple  Memorials  of  the  Early 
Dead — The  Romance  of  Parish  Registers — Dog  Whippers  and 
Sluggard  Wakers— Odd  Items  from  Old  Accounts— A  carefully 
compiled  Index. 

— ^  ILLUSTRATED.  @^ 


prees   ©pinions. 

"A  volume  both  entertaining  and  instructive,  throwing  much  light  on  the  manneis 
and  customs  of  bygone  generations  of  Churchmen,  and  will  be  read  to-day  with  much 
interest." — Neivbery  House  Magazine. 

"An  e\tremely  interesting  volume." — North  British  Daily  Mail. 

"A  work  of  lasting  interest." — Hull  Examiner. 

"The  reader  will  find  much  in  this  lx)ok  to  interest,  instruct,  and  nmufx." —Home 
Chimes. 

"  We  feel  sure  that  many  will  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Andrews  for  having  produced  such 
an  interesting  hook."— 'J'he  Antiquary. 

"A  volume  of  great  research  and  striking  interest." — The  I>ookbuycr{Keiv  York). 

"  A  valuable  book." — Literary  World  { lioston,  U.S.A.). 

"  An  admirable  book." — Sheffield  Independent. 

"An  interesting,  handsomely  got  up  volume.  .  .  .  Mr.  Andrews  is  always  chatty, 
and  expert  in  making  a  paper  on  a  drj-  subject  exceedingly  readable." — S'e^i<castte  Courant. 

"  Mr.  William  Andrews'  new  book,  'Curiosities  of  the  Church,'  adds  another  to  the 
series  by  which  he  has  done  so  much  to  popularise  antiquarian  studies.  .  .  .  The  book, 
it  should  be  added,  has  some  quaint  illustrations,  and  its  rich  matter  is  made  available  for 
reference  by  a  full  and  carefully  compiled  index." — Scotsman. 


HULL:   WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,  THE  HULL  PRESS. 
London :  Simpkin,  Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  &  Co.,  Ld. 


ELEGANTLY  BOUND  IN  CLOTH  GILT,  DEMY  8vo.,  6s. 

1\}^^pi^  Fi^MILY  I^OlVjAflClE. 

By   FREDERICK    ROSS,    F.R.H.S. 

Author  of  "The  Ruined  Abbeys  op"  England,"  "Celebrities  of 

Yorkshire  Wolds,"  "  Biographia  Eboracensis," 

"The  Progress  of  Civilisation,"  etc. 


C3TTM0NGST    Yorkshire    Authors    Mr.    Frederick    Ross 
f— j      occupies  a  leading  place.     For  over  sixty  years  he  has 
^  been   a    close    student    of    the    history   of   his    native 

county,  and  perhaps  no  author  has  written  so  much  and  well 
respecting  it.  His  residence  in  London  has  enabled  him  to 
take  advantage  of  the  important  stores  of  unpublished  infor- 
mation contained  in  the  British  Museum,  the  Public  Record 
Oflice,  and  in  other  places.  He  has  also  frequently  visited 
Yorkshire  to  collect  materials  for  his  works.  His  new  book 
is  one  of  the  most  readable  and  instructive  he  has  written. 
It  will  be  observed  from  the  following  list  of  subjects  that  the 
work  is  of  wide  and  varied  interest,  and  makes  a  permanent 
contribution  to  Yorkshire  literature. 


CON 

The  Synod  of  Streoneshalh. 

The  Doomed  Heir  of  Osmotherley. 

St.  Eadwine,  the  Royal  Martyr. 

The  Viceroy  Siward. 

Phases  in  the  Life  of  a  Political 

Martyr. 
The  Murderer's  Bride. 
The  Earldom  of  Wiltes. 
Blackfaced  Clifford. 
The  Shepherd  Lord. 


ENTS  : 

The  Felons  of  Ilkley. 
The  Ingilby  Boar's  Head. 
The  Eland  Tragedy. 
The  Plumpton  Marriage. 
The  Topcliffe  Insurrection. 
Burning  of  Cottingham  Castle. 
The  Alum  Workers. 
The  Maiden  of  Marblehead. 
Rise  of  the  House  of  Phipps. 
The  Traitor  Governor  of  Hull. 


IMPORTANT  NOTICE.— The  Edition  is  limited  to  500  copies, 
and  the  greater  part  are  sold.  The  book  will  advance 
in  price  in  course  of  time. 


HULL  :   WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,   THE  HULL  PRESS. 
London :  Simpkin,  Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  &  Co.,  Ld. 


Elegantly   bound   in    cloth   gilt,   demy    8uo.,  price    6s. 


By    EDWARD    LAMPLOUGH. 


eO/N  TENTS: 


T 


HIS  work  contains  carefully- s\rilten  accounts  of  the  following 
Yorkshire  Battles,  which  cannot  fail  to  interest  and  instruct  the 
reader.       It  is  a  book  of  more  than  local  interest : — 


Winwidfield,  etc.  — Battle  of  Stamford  Bridge — After  Stamford  Bridge — 
Battle  of  the  Standard— After  the  Battle  of  the  Standard— Battle 
of  Myton  Meadows — Battle  of  Boroughbridge — Battle  of  Byland 
Abbey — In  the  Days  of  Edward  III.  and  Richard  II. — Battle  of 
Bramham  Moor — Battle  of  Sandal — Battle  of  Towton — Yorkshire 
under  the  Tudors — Battle  of  Tadcaster — Battle  of  Leeds — Battle  of 
Wakefield— Battle  of  Adwalton  Moor— Battle  of  Hull— Battle  of 
Selby — Battle  of  Marston  Moor — Battle  of  Brunnanburgh — Fight 
off  Flamborough  Head — Index. 


©pinions  ot  tbe  firess. 

"  A  remarkably  handsome  volume,  typographically  equal  to  the  best  productions 
of  any  European  capital." — Sorlh  BritUh  lialy  Mail. 

"  A  handaonie  book.  It  is  extremely  interesting,  and  is  a  work  which  cannot  fail 
to  find  a  permanent  place  amongst  the  best  books  devoted  to  the  history  of  tlie  county. 
The  military  history  of  Yorkshire  is  very  closely  investig-ated  in  this  work.  Although 
the  bjok  is  written  in  a  clear  and  pichiresiine  style,  great  care  and  attention  have  been 
given  to  the  researches  of  anti'juarics  and  hisfirians,  and  many  authorities  have  been 
consulted,  in  conseqiience  of  which,  sever.al  long-established  errors  have  been  corrected, 
and  some  oft-repeated  but  superficial  conclusions  confuted  S]>ecial  attention  has  been 
given  to  the  military  history  of  the  county  during  the  great  rebellion^a  subject  which 
has  yet  to  be  fairly  and  intelligently  treated  by  the  general  historian  So  far  as  tbe 
limits  of  the  work  permit,  the  general  history  of  the  cotinty,  from  ejwch  to  epoch  haa 
been  sketched,  maintaining  the  continuity  of  the  work,  and  increasing  its  interest  and 
value  both  to  the  general  reader  and  the  specialist.  The  printers  of  the  book  are  Messis. 
Wm.  Andrews  and  Co.,  Hull,  and  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  good  specimen  of  local 
typography." — H'aieJUld  Free  Prest. 

"An  important  work." — Beverley  Independent. 

"  Does  great  credit  to  the  new  firm  of  book  publishers." — York»hire  County  ilagazine. 

"A  beautifully  i)rinted  volume." — Halifax  Courier. 

"  Mr.  I>am])lough's  b(x>k  is  thoroughly  readable,  and  is  written  in  a  manly  as  well 
as  a  discriminating  spirit." — Yorlshire  Poll. 


LONDON:     SI  MP  KIN,    MARSHALL,    HAMILTON,    KENT,    d    CO. 
HULL:    WILLIAM  ANDREWS  d  CO.,   THE  HULL  PRESS 


AN  IMPORTANT  BOOK  FOR  REFERENCE. 


Fcap  4to.     Bevelled  boards,  gilt  tops.     Price  4s. 

FAMOUS  FROSTS  and  FROST  FAIRS 

IN   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

(rbronicle&  trom  tbe  Earliest  to  tbe  present  Uiine. 

By  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  F.R.H.S., 

Author  of  "Cukiosities  of  the  Church,"  "Old-Time 
Punishments,"  etc. 


Only  400  copies  printed,  each  copy  numbered,  and  only  20  remain 
on  sale.      Three  curious  full-page  illustrations. 


THIS  work  furnishes  a  carefully  prepared  account  of  all  the  great 
Frosts  occurring  in  this  country  from  a.d.  134  to  1887.  The 
numerous  Frost  Fairs  on  the  Thames  are  fully  described,  and 
illustrated  with  quaint  woodcuts,  and  several  old  ballads  relating  to 
the  subject  are  reproduced.  It  is  tastefully  printed  and  elegantly 
bound. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  favourable  reviews  of 
'' Famous  Frosts  and  Frost  Fairs." 

"The  work  is  thoroughly  well  written,  it  is  careful  in  its  facts,  and 
may  be  pronounced  exhaustive  on  the  subject.  Illustrations  are  given 
of  several  frost  fairs  on  the  Thames,  and  as  a  trustworthy  record  this 
volume  should  be  in  every  good  library.  The  usefulness  of  the  work 
is  much  enhanced  by  a  good  index." — Public  Opinion. 

"  The  book  is  beautifully  got  up." — Barnsley  Independent. 

"Avery  interesting  volume." — Northern  Daily  Telegraph. 

' '  A  great  deal  of  curious  and  valuable  information  is  contained  in 
these  pages.     ...     A  comely  volume." — Literary  World. 

"  The  work  from  first  to  last  is  a  most  attractive  one,  and  the  arts 
alike  of  printer  and  binder  have  been  brought  into  one  to  give  it  a 
pleasing  form." — Wakefeld  Free  Press. 

"An  interesting  and  valuable  work."^ — West  Middlesex  Times. 

"Not  likely  to  fail  in  interest." — Manchester  Guardian. 

"A  volume  of  much  interest  and  great  importance." — Rotherham 
Advertiser. 

HULL :    WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,  THE  HULL  PRESS. 
London :  Simpkin,  Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  &  Co.,  Ld. 


"Quite  up  to  Date."— Hull  Daily  Mail. 
Crown  8vo.,  140  pp. ;  fancy  cover,  Is. ;  cloth  bound,  2s. 

STEPPING-STONES  TO  SOCIALISM, 

BY  DAVID  MAXWELL,  C.E. 


eo^JTEl^TS. 

In  a  reasonable  and  able  manner  Mr.  Maxwell  deals  with  the  following 
topics :  —The  Popular  Meaning  of  the  Term  Socialism— Lord  Salisbury  on 
Socialism— Why  There  is  in  Many  Minds  an  Antipathy  to  Socialism— 
On  Some  Socialistic  Yiews  of  Marriage— The  ftuestion  of  Private  Property 
—The  Old  Political  Economy  is  not  the  "Way  of  Salvation— Who  is  My 
Neighbour?— Progress,  and  the  Condition  of  the  Labourer— Oood  and 
Bad  Trade :  Precarious  Employment— All  Popular  Movements  are 
Helping  on  Socialism— Modern  Literature  in  Relation  to  Social  Progress — 
Pruning  the  Old  Theological  Tree— The  Churches,— Their  Socialistic 
Tendencies— The  Future  of  the  Earth  in  Relation  to  Human  Life— Socialism 
is  Based  on  Natural  Laws  of  Life — Humanity  in  the  Future— Preludes  to 
Socialism— Forecasts  of  the  Ultimate  Form  of  Society— A  Pisgah-top  Yiew 
of  the  Promised  Land. 


PRESS  OPINIONS. 

The  following  are  selected  from  a  large  number  of  favourable  notices : — 

"  The  author  has  evidently  reflected  deeply  on  the  subject  of  Socialism, 
and  his  views  are  broad,  equitable,  and  quite  up  to  date.  In  a  score  or 
so  of  chapters  he  discusses  Socialism  from  manifold  points  of  view,  and  in 
its  manifold  aspects.  Mr.  Maxwell  is  not  a  fanatic  ;  his  lx)ok  is  not  dull, 
and  his  style  is  not  amateurish." — Hull  Daily  Mail. 

"There  is  a  good  deal  of  charm  alx)ut  Mr.  Maxwell's  style." — Northern 
Daily  News. 

"  The  lKX)k  is  well  worthy  of  perusal." — Hull  News. 

"  The  reader  who  desires  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  a  subject 
that  is  often  under  discussion  at  the  present  d.iy,  will  derive  much  interest 
from  a  perusal  of  this  little  work.  Whether  it  exactly  expresses  the  views 
of  the  various  socialists  themselves  is  another  matter,  but  in.asmuch  as 
these  can  seldom  agree  even  among  themselves,  the  objection  is  scarcely  so 
serious  as  might  otherwise  be  thought." — Publishers'  Circular. 

HULL:  WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,  THE  HULL  PRESS. 
London  :  Simplcin,  Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  &  Co.,  Ld. 


Price  6s.     Demy  8uo.     Elegantly  bound,  cloth  gilt. 

(^  (Uton^P  in  a  ®anM: 

^  Woman'a  n^anberin^e  in  Qtort^ern  '^nbia. 

BY 

CHRISTINA    S.     BREMNER. 


COJYTEJVTS : 

The  Ascent  from  the  Plains  to  the  Hills — Kasauli  and  its 
-Amusements — Theories  on  Heat — Simla,  the  Queen  of  Hill 
Stations— Starting  Alone  for  the  Interior — In  Bussahir 
State— The  Religious  Festival  at  Pangay — On  Congress — 
On  the  Growing  Poverty  of  India. 


PRESS   AND    OTHER    NOTICES. 

"  The  book  on  India  for  the  present  season  which  shall  surpass 
in  sterling  value  this  work  by  Miss  Bremner  has  yet  to  be 
announced.  For  clear  insight  into  and  an  airy  way  of  describing 
character ;  for  appreciation  of  the  climatic  and  scenic  conditions 
of  India ;  for  a  due  recognition  of  the  profuse  hospitality  and 
devotion  to  duty  of  Anglo-Indian  civilians ;  above  all,  for  a 
sympathetic  attitude  towards  the  Indian  people,  a  swift  discern- 
ment of  the  shortcomings  of  British  rule  both  in  itself,  and  in  its 
effects  upon  the  governed,  and  a  wise  prescience  as  to  the  need  for 
speedy  and  thorough  change,  Miss  Bremner's  book  deserves  to 
take  very  high  rank,  and  be  widely  circulated.  The  vigorous 
grappling  with  the  problems  attending  our  governing  of  India  puts 
it  in  a  category  by  itself.  Discriminating  and  thoughtful,  it  may 
be  confidently  recommended  to  all  who  desire  to  know  something 
of  the  real  state,  alike  of  the  people,  and  of  the  land  those  people 
live  in." — India. 

"Miss  Bremner's  descriptions  of  what  she  saw,  and  her 
sketches  of  character,  are  vivid  and  interesting,  and  carry  with 
them  the  marks  of  accuracy.  Consequently,  even  to  one  familiar 
with  works  on  India,  her  book  is  full  of  freshness.  No  portions 
of  the  book  will  be  read  in  India  with  more  interest  than  the 
chapters  on  Congress,  and  the  growing  poverty  of  India.  They 
deserve  careful  perusal,  more  in  England  than  in  India." — The 
Hindu. 

HULL  :   WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,   THE  HULL  PRESS. 
LONDON  :   SIMPKIN,  MARSHALL,   HAMILTON,  KENT,  &  CO.,  LTD. 


Elegantly  bound  in  cloth  gilt,  demy  8uo.,  price  7s.  6d. 

Only  500  copies  printed,  and  each  copy  numbered.     Only  30  copies 
remain  on  sale. 


BYlJOtlE    ]ilOI(T[lAf  TOplI(E  : 

3t0  J^isiox^,  Sof^'feore,  anb  (QlemoraBfe 
(glen  ant  ^omen. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  f.r.h.s., 

Author  OF  '  Old-Time  Pcnishments,'  'Cukiosities  of  the  Church,' 
'Old  Church  Lore.' 


OOlSTTHinSTTS 


Historic  Northamptonshire,  by  Thomas  Frost— Ths  Eleanor  Crosses,  by  the 
Rev.  &eo.  S.  Tyack,  B.A.— Fotheringhay :  Past  and  Present,  by  Mrs. 
Dempsay— The  Battle  of  Nasely,  by  Edward  Lamplough— The  Cottage 
Countess— The  Charnel  House  at  Rothwell,  by  Edward  Chamberlain— 
The  Gunpowder  Plot,  by  John  T.  Page— Earls  Barton  Church,  by  T. 
Tindall  Wildridge— Old  Fairs,  by  William  Sharman— "Witches  and 
Witchcraft,  by  Eugene  Teesdale— The  City  of  Peterborough,  by 
Frederick  Eoss,  F.R.H.S.— The  English  Founders  of  the  Washington 
Family  of  America,  by  Thomas  Frost— Anne  Bradstreet,  the  Earuest 
American  Poetess — Liber  Custumarum,  Villae  Northamptonise,  by 
Christopher  A.  Markham,  F.S.A.— Thomas  Britton,  the  Musical  Small- 
Coal  Man,  by  E.  E.  Cohen— Old  Scarlett,  the  Peterborough  Sexton- 
Accounts  of  Towcester  Constables,  by  John  Nicholson— Miserere  Shoe- 
maker of  Wellingborough,  by  T.  Tindall  Wildridge— Sir  Thomas 
Tresham  and  his  Buildings,  by  John  T.  Page— Northamptonshire  Folk- 
Lore,  by  John  Nicholson— Northamptonshire  Proverbs — An  Ancient 
Hospital,  by  the  Rev.  I.  Wodhams,  M.A.— A  carefully  prepared  Index. 

•WumerouB  illustrations. 


—^    PKESS    OVINIONS.    ^~- 

"  The  volume  is  very  interesting,  and  for  those  who  dwell  in  the 
county,  or  whose  tastes  lead  them  to  explore  its  history,  it  will  have 
especial  attraction." — Fubliiheri'  Circular. 

"A  welcome  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  county." — 
Northampton  Herald. 

"  The  book  is  published  in  a  form  that  is  well  worthy  of  the  high 
standard  that  the  Hull  Press  has  achieved,  and  we  can  congratulate 
Mr.  Andrews  on  adding  one  more  stone  to  the  fabric  of  the  bygone 
history  of  the  Midlands." — Hull  Daily  N'eicn. 

Hull  :  William   Andrews  &  Co.,   The  Hull   Pkess. 
Northampton  :  Abkl  &  Sons. 

liONDON  :     SiMPKIN,      MARSHALL,      HAMILTON,      KeNT,      &     Co. 


ELEGANTLY  BOUND  IN  CLOTH  GILT,  DEMY 
8V0.     PRICE  6K 


LEGEND 

YORKSHIRE, 

BY  FREDERICK  ROSS,  F.R.H.S., 

Author  of  ''Yorkshire  Family  Romance,"  "The  Ruined 
Abbeys  ok  England,"  etc. 


CONTENTS. 

The  Enchanted  Cave. 

The  Doomed  City. 

The  Worm  of  JVunnin^ton. 

The  DeviVs  Arrows. 

The  Giant  Road  Maker  of  Mulgrave. 

The  Virgin's  Head  of  Halifax. 

The  Dead  Arm  of  St.  Oswald,  the  King. 

The  Translation  of  St-  Hilda- 

A  Miracle  of  St-  John- 

The  Beatified.  Sisters- 

The  Dragon  of  Wantley- 

The  Miracles  a,nd,  Ghost  of  Watton- 

The  Murdered  Hermit  of  Eskdale- 

The  Calverley  Ghost- 

The  Bewitched  House  of  Wakefield- 


Beverley  Record  says  :  It  is  a  work  of  lasting 
interest,  and  cannot  fail  to  delight  the  reader. 


London  :   Simpkin,  Marshall,  Hamilton,  Kent,  &  Co. 
Hull  :   William  Andrews  &  Co.,  The  Hull  Press. 


2  vols.,  7s.  6d.  each. 

Bygone    Lincolnshire. 

Edited  by   WILLIAM   ANDREWS,    F.R.H.S. 

"Mr  Wm.  Andrews  collects  together  a  series  of  ]>Hi)ers  by  various  eomjjetent  hands 
on  the  hist«>ry,  antiquities,  and  folk-lore  of  the  great  eastern  county  which  lias  borne  so 
conspicuous  a  part  in  the  )>ast  history  of  England,  and  produced  s<^  many  men  who  have 
illustrated  it.    .    .    A  valuable  contribution  to  lo:;al  history" — The  Tiiiien 

Fancy   Cover,   is. 

Wanted— An  Heiress  :  A  /Novel. 

By    EVAN    MAY. 

"  It  is  an  entrancing  story,  and  perfectly  wholesome  reading.  In  this  work  the 
author  of  "  The  Greatest  of  These  "  is  at  her  best ;  and  "Wanted,  an  Heiress."  may  be 
pronounced  a  leading  tale  of  the  season" — Sou  th  I'orithire  Free  Prex* 

Cloth,    4S. 

CJorkshire  in  Olden  Tinnes. 

Edited    by    WILLIAM    ANDREWS,     F.R.H.S. 

"  The  work  consists  of  a  series  of  artijles  contributeil  by  v.irious  aiithora,  and  it 
thus  has  the  merit  of  bringing  together  mujh  special  knowledge  from  a  great  number  of 
sources.  It  is  an  entertaining  volume,  full  of  interest  for  the  general  reader,  as  well  as 
for  the  learned  and  curious"— 6?nV/./s  Daihj  Gazette 

Paper  Cover  Is.,  Cloth  2s. 

My  Christ:  and  other  Poenns. 

By    H.    ELVET    LEWIS. 
(elfed) 

"  The  fifty  pa^es,  by  no  means  overcrowded,  which  Mr  Elvet  I^wis  has  given  us, 
go  far  to  justify  the  hojte  that  a  new  poet  of  genuine  power  h:w  arisen  among  us.  The 
thought  is  often  singularly  beautiful.  The  expression  is  so  simple  and  so  natural  that 
it  conceals  the  art.  The  delicacy  of  the  workmanship  may  easily  blind  <18  to  the  strength. 
Mr  Lewis  is  essentially  original,  thotigh  his  affinities  are  closest,  i)erhaps,  to  Whittier 
and  Lynch  ;  but  there  is  not  a  trace  of  imitation  to  be  found  in  the  book  from  one  end 
to  the  other"- — Literary  World 


IN  THE  PRESS. 

BYGONE     DERBYSHIRE. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  f.r.h..s. 

BYGONE   ESSEX. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  k.r.h.s. 

BYGONE   LEICESTERSHIRE. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  F.R.n.s. 

BYGONE   NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  STEVENSON. 

BYGONE  YORKSHIRE. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  ANDREWS,  k.r.h.s. 

HULL :  WILLIAM  ANDREWS  &  CO.,   THE  HULL  PRESS. 
LONDON:   SIMPKIN,    MARSHALL,    HAMILTON,    KENT,    &   CO. 


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