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diff --git a/41108-0.txt b/41108-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62142ba --- /dev/null +++ b/41108-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6135 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41108 *** + + [Illustration: Legends of Longdendale + By TOM MIDDLETON + Author of "Annals of Hyde"; "Old Godley", &c &c] + + + + + LEGENDS of LONGDENDALE + + Being a Series of Tales + Founded upon the Folk-lore of Longdendale + Valley and its Neighbourhood. + + BY + THOMAS MIDDLETON, + Author of "Annals of Hyde," "Old Godley," etc., etc. + + + Should you ask me whence these stories? + Whence these Legends and Traditions? + + * * * * * + + I should answer, I should tell you, + I repeat them as I heard them + From the lips of Nawadaha, + The musician, the sweet singer. + Should you ask where Nawadaha + Found these songs so wild and wayward, + Found these legends and traditions, + I should answer, I should tell you, + In the bird's nest of the forest. + + * * * * * + + All the wild fowl sang them to him, + In the moorlands and the fenlands, + In the melancholy marshes. + + * * * * * + + In the Vale of Tawasentha, + In the green and silent valley.--(Longfellow). + + + HYDE: + + FRED HIGHAM, PRINTER AND BOOKBINDER, "CHESHIRE POST" OFFICE, + CLARENDON PRESS. + + MCMVI. + + + + +LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. + + +The Author desires to gratefully acknowledge the kindness and +encouragement that he has received from the Ladies and Gentlemen whose +names appear in the following list. It is in great measure owing to +their assistance that the present effort to preserve in book form the +Legends and Traditions of Longdendale has been successful. + + ANDREW, J. D., ESQ., + Longdendale, Oswestry. + + ANDREW, W. J., ESQ., F.S.A., + Cadster, Whaley Bridge. + + ASHTON, MRS. THOMAS, + 37, Princess Gardens, London, S.W. (4 copies). + + ASHTON, THOMAS GAIR, ESQ., M.P., + Of Hyde, and of Vinehall Place, Robertsbridge, Battle, Sussex. + + ASTLEY-CHEETHAM PUBLIC FREE LIBRARY + (Stalybridge)--Thomas Swain, Esq., Librarian. + + ASPLAND, MRS., + Werneth Lodge, Gee Cross, Hyde. + + BARR, JOHN, ESQ., + Dinting Lodge, Dinting. + + BEAUMONT, MRS. T. A., + Lower Market Street, Broadbottom. + + BEELEY, JAMES, ESQ., + Derbyshire Level, Moorfield, Glossop. + + BENNETT, ISAAC BOOTH, ESQ., + Godley Green, Hyde. + + BIRKENHEAD CENTRAL LIBRARY + (John Shepherd, Esq., Librarian). + + BLACKBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY + (R. Ashton, Esq.) + + BODELL SMITH, REV. H., + The Parsonage, Mottram-in-Longdendale. + + BOOTH, AMOS, ESQ., + Hattersley, Gee Cross, Hyde. + + BOOTH, D., ESQ., + 4, Mottram Moor, Mottram-in-Longdendale. + + BOWLES, CHARLES E. B., ESQ., + The Nether House, Wirksworth. + + BRADBURY, GEO. T., ESQ., + Green Lane, Hollingworth. + + BRAMHALL, FREDK. J., ESQ., + 56, Bank Street, Hadfield. + + BRIDGES, REV. W. G., M.A., + Oxford (formerly Vicar of Hyde). + + BROWN, PERCY B., ESQ., + Chisworth House, Charlesworth, near Manchester. + + CALDWELL, MISS C. M., + Marple. + + CHAPMAN, CHARLES, ESQ., + Carlecotes Hall, Dunford Bridge, Sheffield. + + CHAPMAN, GEORGE J., ESQ., + Carlecotes, Dunford Bridge, Sheffield. + + CHEETHAM, F. H., ESQ., + Triscombe House, Taunton, Somerset. + + CLEGG, W. E., ESQ., + Printer and Publisher, Market Place, Oldham. + + COCKS, JOHN, ESQ., + Brookside, Romiley. + + COCKS, JAMES, ESQ., + Harden Cottage, Woodley. + + COLLIER, ALFRED, ESQ., + Solicitor, 44, Mosley-street, Manchester. + + COLLIER, EDWARD, ESQ., + Glen Esk, Whalley Range, Manchester. + + COLLIER, EDWIN, ESQ., + Holly Wood, Glossop. + + COPPOCK, MAJOR SYDNEY, + Daisy Bank, Macclesfield. + + DAIN, EDWARD, ESQ., + Market Street, Stalybrldge. + + DERBY PUBLIC FREE LIBRARY, + (W. Crowther, Esq.) + + DODDS, JAMES, ESQ., + Penketh House, near Warrington. + + DUKINFIELD FREE LIBRARY, + (E. B. Broadrick, Esq., Librarian). + + ELLISON, F. B., ESQ., + Holly Grove, Hollingworth. + + EVANS, SETH, ESQ., + Bradwell Villa, New Mills. + + FAULKNER, F. W., ESQ., + 527, Hollins Road, Hollinwood, Oldham + + FIDLER, SAMUEL, ESQ., + 26, Ashton Road, Newton Moor. + + FIRTH, D., ESQ., + Hall Green, Dukinfield. + + FLINT, WILLIAM, ESQ., + Woolley Lane, Hollingworth. + + GARTSIDE, J. E., ESQ., + Moorlands, Stalybridge. + + GLOSSOP DALE NEW INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY + (John Hyde, Esq., 2 copies). + + HAMNETT, ROBERT, ESQ., Glossop. + + HEAPE, C, ESQ., + Hartley, High Lane, Cheshire. + + HIBBERT, OLIVER, ESQ., + Brook Bank, Mottram Road, Godley. + + HOLLINWORTH, GEORGE, ESQ., + 277, Crompton Road, Macclesfield. + + HOLLINGWORTH INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, LTD. + (J. Swindells, Esq., secretary, Education Committee). + + HOWARTH, DANIEL F., ESQ., F.S.A., + 24, Villiers Street, Ashton-under-Lyne. + + HOWARD, JOSEPH, ESQ., + Denby Grange, Burford Road, Whalley Range, Manchester. + + HYDE PUBLIC FREE LIBRARY + (John Chorton, Esq., Librarian). + + KENYON AND SONS, + Chapel Field Works, Dukinfield (4 copies). + + KENWORTHY, ORLANDO, ESQ., + 106, Werneth Hall Road, Oldham. + + KNIGHT, MISS M. H., Brooklands. + + KNIGHT, RICHARD, ESQ., F.R.C.O., Hyde. + + LAWRANCE, REV. HENRY, + Dinting Vicarage, near Manchester. + + LEECH, MRS., + 4, Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W. (8 copies). + + LEES, MRS., + Leesdene, Hale, Altrincham. + + LOMAX, HY., ESQ., + School House, Mottram. + + MACKENZIE, DR., Glossop. + + MARSDEN, JOSEPH, ESQ., + Solicitor, Hall Street, Glossop. + + MILLER, N., ESQ., + 297, Buxton Road, Macclesfield. + + MOORHOUSE, F., ESQ., + Westfield, Bramhall. + + MOSS, ROBERT, ESQ., + Hague View, Charlesworth (5 copies). + + MOSSLEY INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY + (Ed. Jackson, Esq., Librarian) + + MANCHESTER PUBLIC LIBRARIES + (C. W. Sutton, Esq., Chief Librarian--4 copies.) + + NEALE, JOHN, ESQ., + Borough Treasurer, Town Hall, Ashton-under-Lyne. + + NICHOLSON, ALBERT, ESQ., + Portinscale, Arthog Road, Hale, Altrincham. + + OGDEN, MISS, Oldham. + + OGDEN, GEORGE, ESQ., Broadbottom. + + OLDHAM CENTRAL FREE LIBRARY + (W. H. Berry, Esq.) + + PEARSE, PERCIVAL, ESQ., + Bookseller, Warrington. + + PEMBERTON, REV. W. A., M.A., C.C., + The Vicarage, Mottram-in-Longdendale + + PHILLIPS, W. G., ESQ., J.P., + Ansley Hall, Atherstone, Warwickshire (2 copies). + + PLATT, EDWARD, ESQ., J.P., + Mersey Bank, Hadfield. + + POMFRET, DR. H. W., M.D., F.R.C.S., + Hollingworth, Cheshire (2 copies). + + POTTS, CHARLES, ESQ., + Braehead, Great Norbury Street, Hyde (4 copies). + + RAMSBOTTOM, MRS., + Highfield, Alderley Edge. + + RIDYARD, ALDERMAN JOSEPH, J.P., + High Bank, Stalybridge. + + RINGROSE, REV. R. D., + The Vicarage, Glossop. + + ROCHDALE PUBLIC LIBRARY + (George Hanson, Esq.) + + ROSCOE, T., ESQ., + The Old Hall, Mottram-in-Longdendale. + + ROSS, G. B., ESQ., + Mersey Mill, Hollingworth. + + SALMONS, EDWARD J., ESQ., + The Villa, Mottram-in-Longdendale. + + SHAW, WRIGHT, ESQ., + 234, Stamford Street, Ashton-under-Lyne. + + SIDEBOTHAM, E. J., ESQ., J.P., + Erlesdene, Bowdon. + + SIDEBOTHAM, J. W., ESQ., J.P., C.C., + Merlewood, Bowdon, Cheshire. + + SIDEBOTTOM, T. HARROP, ESQ., J.P., + Etherow House, Hollingworth. + + SIDEBOTTOM, COLONEL W., V.D., J.P., + Harewood, Broadbottom. + + SIMPSON, ALDERMAN ALLWOOD, J.P., + Enville Place, Stamford Street, Stalybridge. + + SPARROW, WALTER W., ESQ., J.P., + Betton Hall, Market Drayton. + + STAMFORD, THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF, + Dunham Hall, Cheshire. + + SUMMERS, H., ESQ., Stalybridge. + + SUMMERS, JOHN, ESQ., + Inglewood, Stalybridge. + + TAYLOR, MISS JESSIE, A.L.C.M., + West End Terrace, Harry Fields, Broadbottom. + + TAYLOR, HENRY, ESQ., + Hollingworth Hall, Hollingworth, near Manchester. + + TURNER, GEORGE, ESQ., + 5, Cathedral Yard, Manchester. + + UNDERWOOD, WM., ESQ., J.P., + Albert House, Astley Street, Dukinfield + + WAGSTAFFE, JOHN, ESQ., + Mottram House, Mottram-in-Longdendale. + + WAINWRIGHT, JOEL, ESQ., J.P., + Finchwood, Marple Bridge. + + WALTON, WILLIAM, ESQ., J.P., + Horsley Priory, Nailsworth, Stroud. + + WARD, MRS., The Hurst, Glossop. + + WATTS, JAMES, ESQ., J.P., + Abney Hall, Cheadle (2 copies). + + WHEWELL, SAMUEL, ESQ., + Hollingworth, Cheshire. + + WILKINSON, ARTHUR, ESQ., + Victoria Road, Dukinfield. + + WIGAN PUBLIC FREE LIBRARY + (H. T. Folkhard, Esq., F.S.A., Librarian) + + WOOD, MRS., Moorfield, Glossop (2 copies). + + WOOD, COLONEL JOHN, V.D., J.P., + Whitfield House, Glossop. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Hitherto, the Legends of Longdendale--although popular with the +country people of the extreme north-east corner of Cheshire--have been +scattered, and, to some extent, fragmentary. They are here re-told in +what, I hope, is a more permanent and complete form. As far as +possible I have carefully followed the original versions; but in one +or two instances, it has been necessary to draw upon imagination. I +have, therefore, introduced several characters and incidents for the +purpose of giving local connection and completeness to those stories +which were lacking in detail or were vague in location. The legends +are here printed in chronological order. They were first published in +the columns of the "CHESHIRE POST" during the winter of 1905-6; and it +is to the kind encouragement and assistance of Mr. Frederick Higham, +the proprietor and editor of that journal, that they owe their +appearance in book form. + +If further explanation as to the publication of these stories be +considered necessary, I would refer the reader to the Preface to the +first series of "The Traditions of Lancashire." In it Mr. Roby quotes +the following passage from a German writer:--"All genuine, popular +tales, arranged with local and national reference, cannot fail to +throw light upon contemporary events in history, upon the progressive +cultivation of society, and upon the prevailing modes of thinking in +every age. Though not consisting of a recital of bare facts, they are +in most instances founded upon fact, and in so far connected with +history, which occasionally, indeed, borrows from, and often +reflects light upon, these familiar annals, these more private and +interesting casualties of human life. It is thus that popular +tradition connected with all that is most interesting in human history +and human action upon a national scale, ... invariably possesses so +deep a hold upon the affections, and offers so many instructive hints +to the man of the world, to the statesman, the citizen, and the +peasant." + +I may add to the above the fact that these wild and improbable tales +have a fascination for me, and that I firmly believe it to be the duty +of the people of the present to preserve from oblivion the traditions +of the past. In the case of the County of Lancaster, this preservation +has been admirably carried out by the late John Roby; and it is with +the desire to perform a similar service for the County of Cheshire--or +at least one corner of it,--that I have ventured to write the stories +which appear in this volume. + + THOMAS MIDDLETON. + + Manchester Road, + Hyde. + 1906. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. THE LEGEND OF COOMBS ROCKS + II. THE LEGEND OF ALMAN'S DEATH: A Tale of Melandra Castle + III. KING ARTHUR'S ADVENTURE + IV. THE LEGEND OF WAR HILL + V. SIR RO, OF STALEY HALL + VI. ROBIN HOOD'S VISIT TO LONGDENDALE + VII. THE ABBOT OF BASINGWERKE, or the Wehr Wolf of Longdendale + VIII. THE DEVIL'S ELBOW + IX. THE LEGEND OF CHARLESWORTH CHAPEL + X. SIR EDMUND SHAA + XI. LORD LOVEL'S FATE + XII. THE RAIDERS FROM THE BORDER-SIDE + XIII. THE LEGEND OF GALLOW'S CLOUGH + XIV. THE KING'S EVIL: or the Wonderful Cure of the Mottram Parson + XV. THE MAGIC BOOK + XVI. THE PARSON'S WIFE + XVII. THE DEVIL AND THE DOCTOR + XVIII. THE WRITING ON THE WINDOW PANE + XIX. A LEGEND OF THE CIVIL WAR + XX. A TALE OF THE '))45 + XXI. THE HAUNTED FARM + XXII. THE SPECTRE HOUND + XXIII. THE BOGGART OF GODLEY GREEN + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PICTORIAL TITLE, with Distant View of Mottram Church, and + Author's Portrait.--(A Sketch by H. C. Jaxon and F. Redfern) + ROMAN COINS, BRICKS, AND TILES FROM MELANDRA + INSCRIBED ROMAN STONE FROM MELANDRA + PREHISTORIC SPEARHEAD FROM MOUSELOW CASTLE + "THE PRINCESS INELD" + "A COUNTRY MAID OF LONGDENDALE" + THE WAR-HILL, MOTTRAM--WITH VIEW OF CHURCH + "IN THE MINSTREL'S GALLERY" + DOORWAY TO STALEY CHAPEL, MOTTRAM CHURCH + EFFIGY OF SIR RO AND HIS LADY, MOTTRAM CHURCH + "THE FOREST OF LONGDENDALE":--View at Bottom's Hall + "THE ROBIN HOOD STONE" + "THE ABBOT'S CHAIR" + BASE OF CROSS ON THE MONK'S ROAD + "THE LADY GERALDINE" + "THE FAIRIES" + "BESS ANDREW" + MOTTRAM CHURCH AND VILLAGE CROSS + "A RUNNING STREAM" + DUKINFIELD HALL + "A PURITAN CHANT OF PRAISE" + ARMS OF THE DUKINFIELD FAMILY + ANCIENT DOORWAY, MOTTRAM CHURCH + + + To + FREDERICK HIGHAM, + of + Abbotsford, Godley Green, Hyde, + in memory of + Happy Hours spent together in Literary Association, + and for the sake of + A Friendship which ripens as the Years pass, + This Book of + Legends of that Wild Land we both Love, + is Dedicated + by + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +I. + +The Legend of Coombs Rocks. + + +For some time after the invasion of Britain by Julius Cæsar (55 B.C.) +no proper steps were taken by the Romans to reduce to submission the +northern portion of the island. The civil war in Rome, which resulted +in the establishment of a monarchy under Augustus, prevented the +Romans from making further attempts upon Britain, for Augustus was +unwilling to endanger the empire by extending its limits. At length, +however, the Emperor Claudius, remembering the island, sent over an +army which carried the Roman line beyond the Thames. Later in the same +reign the Romans subdued an insurrection among the Brigantines--a +nation which inhabited Lancashire, Yorkshire and the other Northern +counties. The kingdom of the Brigantines extended to Longdendale, +where it was bounded by the territory of the Cornavii, another ancient +British tribe who were masters of Cheshire and several other counties +to the south of the Brigantine line. These warlike tribes again rose +in opposition to the Romans, but were finally subdued by Julius +Agricola, who, coming to Britain about the year 79 A.D., took +possession of Cheshire, and occupied the county with his own legion. +He is supposed to have either led or sent a strong force of soldiers +to overcome the inhabitants of Longdendale, and one outcome of this +expedition was the series of incidents narrated in the following +legend. + +It would be about the year 80 A.D. when the Romans advanced up the +north-east Horn of Cheshire to attack the people of Longdendale. +Agricola heralded his coming by a summons to surrender, which was met +by a defiant refusal from the haughty Britons. Proud of their country +and her great traditions, the local Britons determined to fight for +their freedom to the last, preferring death in battle to slavery +beneath the yoke of Rome. + +"Tell thy proud chief that the sons of Britain are warriors and free +men. Free men will they live, and free men die. Never will they submit +their necks to the yoke of the Eagle. Rather will they perish on the +spears of the legionaires." + +Thus spoke Edas the son of Atli, the brave hill warrior, who was chief +of the Britons in Longdendale. The Roman heard, and, proud and haughty +though he was, could not help admiring the heroic audacity of the +white, half naked savage who stood before him. Edas, son of Atli, was +a finely built man, six feet and more in height, broad of chest and +stout of limb, and standing thus, with no garment save a covering of +wolf-skin about his loins, the beautiful proportions of his frame +stood out with the clearness of a statue. His long hair hung loose +about his shoulders, shining golden in the sunlight, and truly was it +said of him that no hero of the old time was more glorious to look +upon. + +For a moment the Roman paused. Then at length he spake. + +"Why battle with the legions? Why fight against fate? Why not live as +free men? To be a citizen of Rome is to be a free man indeed--a +citizen of an empire which rules the world. Welcome the Eagles and +live. But resist the legions, and--what then?" + +"Then," replied Edas, "we shall at least preserve our honour; we shall +at least remain free as our fathers were; we shall have the chance to +emulate the deeds, and die deaths as glorious as those of the heroes +of whom the bards sing, and we shall not live to see our wives and +daughters dishonoured by the ruthless soldiers of Rome." + +He looked the Roman full in the face, and the emissary of Agricola +flushed with anger at the implication contained in the chief's +concluding words. + +"Is that all?" he asked. "Is that thy message to Agricola? Not peace +but war?" + +"War," answered the chief fiercely. "War to the death against the +Romans." + +"So be it. The legions will surely come. Farewell." + +A short time only elapsed after the dispatch of this defiant +declaration ere the British outposts brought news of the Roman +advance. Perfect master of the art of war, Agricola left nothing to +the last moment, and the same day which brought the message from the +Britons, saw the Roman army in motion. The troops marched along the +course of the Mersey, and halted for a space at Stockport, where they +afterwards built a strong station. Then they moved on, still following +the stream, and passed up the banks of the river Etherow, until the +great basin of the Coombs Valley lay before them. + +Meanwhile the Britons had vigorously prepared themselves for the great +struggle. Over the heathery wastes of the hills--into what are now the +counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire--through the thick +forests where the wolves, bears, and other wild beasts of prey +lurked--went the war message of Edas the chief, rallying the warriors +to battle. For once the tribal jealousies were forgotten, feuds +vanished in face of the common danger, and Brigantines joined with +Cornavii to offer a united front to the common enemy. For days +succeeding the arrival of the Roman herald there was a great massing +of warriors, fleet-footed graceful men from the Cheshire plains, big +wild men from the mountains which lie to the north and east of +Longdendale. Day and night the forest altars and the stone circles of +the Druids, which stood amid the heather on the summit of the Coombs, +were constantly the scenes of sacrifices and other savage rites of +Druid worship. Young men and maidens were slain by the golden knife of +the Arch Druid, and their spirits passed, with the strains of weird +singing, to intercede with God for the cause of Britain. All day the +bards sang the songs of old, and at night the ghosts of buried heroes +sailed past on the wings of the wind. Thus were the hearts of the +British warriors strengthened for the battle which was to come. + +Night fell, and the forests of Longdendale were full of the white, +fierce warriors, who moved silently yet swiftly in the direction of +the Coombs. It was the last night of peace; on the morrow the songs of +war would arise, and brave men would die. Also, it was the night of +sacrifices, and the Druid altar--that strange group of stones now +known as the Robin Hood's Picking Rods--would witness the supreme +sacrifice--the offering to the Gods of that which was most dear to the +hearts of the Britons. That day, just before the setting of the sun, +Arwary, the fleet-footed, had bounded into the camp with the lightness +of the deer, bringing tidings of the Roman advance. The legions would +attack on the morrow, and so that night must be a night of +sacrifice--the greatest sacrifice of all. Caledon, the ancient Druid, +had summoned the Druid priests to the sacred groves of oak, and the +warriors were bidden to gather about the altar shortly before the +rising of the moon. + +In the wood, near the dwelling of Edas, stood the chief. By his side +was a maid--Nesta the fair--the beloved of Edas, son of Atli. Soon, if +the gods willed, she would become his bride. Meanwhile she was the +fairest maid in all Britain, and even the voluptuous Romans sang her +praises about the camp fires at night. + +Edas, son of Atli, spoke of love, and Nesta the fair drew close to his +breast. Her arms were about his neck, and the lovers kissed. Edas, son +of Atli, and Nesta the Fair, were happy. + +Presently a voice was heard, and the maiden started. It was the voice +of Caledon, ancient Druid and he called for Nesta the Fair. + +"The gods have need of thee," he cried. "They have sent to me their +message, and they ask as a sacrifice the beloved of Edas--the bride of +the chief." + +The voice of the Druid was stern and terrible. Edas the chief stood +like one bereft of reason. Only Nesta the Fair remained calm. + +"It is the will of the All-Giver," she said, and sighed. "Yet--I had +dreamed of happiness and love." + +Again the voice of Caledon cried-- + +"What greater happiness can a maiden have than to be the chosen of the +gods?" + +But Edas flung his arms about the maid. + +"She is too young, too fair to die," said he, his voice breaking with +agony. "Druid, it shall not be." + +For a moment the priest stood silent. Then the words fell from his +lips in an angry torrent. + +"Art thou a coward, Edas, son of Atli? Must the daughters of the poor +be offered for sacrifices, and shall the mighty ones of the earth +escape? Shall the gods ask the consent of Edas before they select +themselves a holy bride?" + +"And thou, Nesta, art thou not a daughter of a race of kings? Is not +the blood of Hu the Mighty in thy veins, the blood of heroes who +feared nought, death least of all. Maiden, I tell thee the gods demand +it. Only by thy death can the Romans be overthrown, and Britain remain +free. And behold the moon is even now in the sky, the hour of +sacrifice is come." + +Nesta the Fair flung her arms about her lover and kissed him. + +"Farewell, my heart," she cried. "The gods prosper thee, and give thee +a hero's death at last." + +In another moment she was gone, and Edas, who knew the power of the +Druids, fell on the ground and sobbed. + +The wild warriors hurried on, and gathered in silence about the altar +of sacrifice. There, between the upright stones, was bound the form of +Nesta the Fair. About her were the white-robed Druids, and Caledon, +the priest, stood near her on the altar. + +The voice of Caledon rose, and the multitude drew their breaths to +listen. + +"To thee, Dread All Giver, Master of Life, and Death, we offer now the +fairest maid in all the Isle of Britain. We give to thee our best +beloved. Better far is it that she should become Thy bride than fall +into the power of Roman ravishers. Deign to accept her blood as the +price of British victory. May our spears be dyed in the blood of the +Eagles, and may the Roman legions be swept away before the rush of our +warriors, even as the leaves scatter before the wind." + +So he chanted, and then, as the moonlight fell in a slanting beam upon +the snow-white breasts of Nesta the Fair, he raised the golden knife, +plunged it deep in the maiden's heart, and the spirit of the bride of +Edas passed beyond the mountains to the Land of Rest. + +Then Caledon turned to the warriors. + +"Sons of Britain," he cried, "the Gods have accepted your sacrifice. +Get ye to your spears. The air is thick with ghosts. The dead heroes +have left their graves, and their spirits sail about the moor. Sing ye +the songs of the heroes who died for Britain. For on the morrow the +blood will flow like water, and it is well that ye know how to die. +The victory will be as the gods decree, but end the battle as it may, +see that the bards have a glorious song to sing of you, and let not +the ghosts of your fathers be ashamed when they greet you in the after +world." + +Silently the warriors filed away, and, as they laid themselves to +rest, the bards sang of glorious deeds. Thus passed the night, and on +the morrow Edas the Chief, pale and heavy eyed with weeping, yet loyal +and true to the land he loved, led his men to meet the Roman steel. + +Now the British army was gathered upon the level summit of Coombs, +which runs crescent shaped about the northern end of the valley, and +commands the whole land beneath. One glance at this position convinced +the skilful Roman leader of its impregnable character, and of the +impossibility of taking it by direct assault. The rocks at the head of +the basin-like vale presented an unscaleable barrier to the legions. +The Roman general determined to seek some easier path to the summit. +He moved his men to the right, and, working his way up the gentler +slopes about Ludworth, reached the high ground which stands level with +the crest of Coombs. Here, gathering his men in battle array, he +prepared for a final assault upon the British line. + +But the British finding that the Romans were not inclined to attempt +the impossible task of scaling the rocks, and seeing no further +advantage in maintaining their position, moved rapidly towards the +west, and met the Romans on the Ludworth moor. Chanting their wild +songs of battle, the warriors charged upon the Roman line. Again and +again the warriors charged, but the legions stood firm, and the +slaughter was horrible to see. The Britons fought for freedom, which +was dearer to them than life, and few who went to battle that day +returned home to tell the tale. It is said that the British army was +annihilated, and certainly that was the last great fight between the +Romans and the Britons which took place in this part of the country. + +When the battle was ended the dead were buried in two great groups +upon the field, and mighty cairns of stones were raised above their +graves. These cairns still remain, and are probably the oldest +monuments to British bravery in this district. + +The chief Edas was one of the last to fall. He led charge after charge +of his warriors, shouting his wild war cry, until at length, pierced +by many blades, he fell far in front of the British. For a moment or +so he lay as one dead. Then a glad smile spread over his face, and he +sprang to his feet. + +"Nesta, my beloved, I come. The gods are just. They will unite us. We +shall dwell together in the Land of Rest. Thus do I win my way to thy +side." + +So crying, he gripped his war hatchet, and, rushing full upon the line +of Roman spears, slew until the soldiers made an end of him. + +"That was truly a brave man," said the Roman general. "He could not +have died a nobler death had he been a Roman." And having learned the +story of the death of Nesta, he had the two bodies of the lovers +buried in one grave. The Romans encamped in the neighbourhood, and at +night were startled by a wild song which came from the battlefield. It +was Caswallon the bard, who sang above the grave of Edas. And thus he +sang. + +"Now have the heroes gone beyond the veil of the Invisible, and the +Land of Ghosts is thronged with the spirits of the brave." + +"Edas, the son of Atli, led his warriors to join the hosts of their +forefathers." + +"Edas was of the blood of Hu the Mighty; he was glorious to look upon; +fair was his countenance, even as the light of the morning; he was +sturdy of stature as the oak; he was fleet of foot as the deer; his +eye was as the eye of the eagle; men fell before him in the battle." + +"He gave his heart to Nesta the Fair. She was the fairest maid in all +Britain. The Gods had need of her." + +"The Romans came, who are brave men. But the Britons are still braver. +Every Briton is a warrior." + +"Edas, the son of Atli, led his men to the battle. The battle raged, +and the war song of Edas arose. Many brave men died, but the Britons +still fought on. Edas, son of Atli, led the way; he led his warriors +through the gates of death." + +"The battle ended. The Romans won. But the Land of Ghosts welcomed the +souls of Edas and his brave Britons." + +"The men sleep beneath the cairns amid the heather. But their spirits +sail upon the wind. And they shall watch over Britain until new heroes +shall arise. And the fame of the Eagles shall grow dim before their +fame, and Britain shall conquer, and shall be mightier than Rome." + +Such was the song of Caswallon the bard. + +It is said that at certain seasons of the year, when the moonlight +falls upon the Coombs Rocks, the ghosts of the ancient heroes marshall +on the battlefield, waving in phantom hands their phantom axes, as +though ready for the coming of the Roman foe. Thus they keep eternal +vigil over the wild land they loved of old. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +The foregoing story is founded upon one of the earliest traditions of +the neighbourhood, which states that a great battle between the +ancient Britons and the Romans was fought upon the elevated ground in +the vicinity of "Coombs Tor." Several writers of local history have +included this battle in their accounts of actual events. Butterworth, +the historian, gives an elaborate account of it in his description of +the Coombs Cairns. He first mentions the conflict as having taken +place between the Romans, "who were inspired by conquest and the +thirst for military glory," and the Britons, who "fought for their +country's independence"; and then he continues as follows: "Though the +poet and other historians are silent upon the great engagement--for +such I consider it to have been--yet two prodigious mounds, barrows or +tumuli, at from a quarter to half a mile distant from each other, on +the field of battle, remain to attest the magnitude and consequence of +the action. I have been upon them both, and observed that they each +consist of some hundred tons of stone heaped together in a circular or +rather an oval form, covered with the effect of time. One of them has +furze or dwarf gorse growing upon it, and I have seen cows in hot +weather standing on their summits for the purpose of inhaling the +cooling breezes." The same writer then goes on to record the erection +of a Roman trophy stone at some short distance from the field, and +also deduces evidence of the Druids once existing near. + +In the neighbourhood of Coombs Rocks there are several relics of +antiquity which are classed as Druidical. One of these, which consists +of two upright stone pillars, rising from a massive stone base, is +situated on Ludworth Moor. It is locally known as the "Robin Hood's +Picking Rods," because Robin Hood and his men are said to have used it +as a target for their arrows. But tradition states it to have been +used by the Druids as an altar of sacrifice. + + + + +II. + +The Legend of Alman's Death. + +A TALE OF MELANDRA CASTLE. + + +When the Roman general, Julius Agricola completed the subjugation of +the Britons, he began to prepare for a permanent occupation of the +country by erecting a series of strong military stations or forts +throughout the entire kingdom. A number of these fortresses were built +in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire, and among the rest was +Melandra Castle, erected on the banks of the river Etherow, in what is +now known as the township of Gamesley. This fort was established about +the end of the first century of the Christian era; it was well built +and was of considerable size; moreover its importance was increased +because it commanded the hill country north and east of Longdendale. +It proved an admirable means of driving back the raids which the +scattered hill-tribes were fond of making on the rich lands of the +valley. The Romans originally called the fort "Zedrotalia," but, on +account of its standing in a district where oak trees were plentiful, +it came to be known by its present name. Melandra is said to be a +Roman name derived from the Greek MELANDRYON, which signifies "The +heart of oak," or "The heart in the oak," and is supposed to have +reference to the fact that the forests of Longdendale were noted for +their splendid oaks at the time when the Romans built their station. + +The site of the Castle has been excavated during the years 1899-1905, +and the result of this has been the securing of ample proof that +Melandra was a station of great strength and importance. The +foundations of walls of considerable thickness, with the masonry still +solid and straight as on the day when it was laid, have been +unearthed. Pieces of pottery, broken weapons, and coins have +been found. There is also an inscribed stone containing the +inscription--"Cohortis Primæ Frisianorum Centurio Valerius Vitalis." +Dr. Watson, the eminent antiquary, translates this into "The Cohort of +the First Frisians, Centurion Valerius Vitalis." The Frisians were +troops attached to the renowned Twentieth Legion--the "Valiant and +Victorious"--and Valerius Vitalis is the only one of the Roman +commanders whose name has been handed down. + +Across the valley, some distance from Melandra, is a hill called +Mouselow. This hill is supposed to have been a stronghold of the +Ancient Britons. It forms a position of great natural strength, and +was well adapted for military occupation in the days anterior to +gunpowder and artillery. Several pre-historic weapons have been +discovered near. + +For a considerable time after the erection of Melandra Castle, the +Roman garrison was much harassed by the activity of a chieftain who +was encamped on Mouselow. This chief watched his opportunity, and +rallying to his side the few fighting men of the Britons who were +left, darted down on detached bands of the Roman soldiery, and left +not one alive to tell the tale. Thus from the earliest days, it seemed +fated that there was to be strife and enmity between the two +strongholds. Even when the Romans had finally driven out the Britons, +and razed the original building of Mouselow to the ground, the +struggle did not cease; for after a time the legions were forced to +leave the country, and no sooner had they turned their backs than the +native chiefs were quarrelling over the spoils. One chief took +possession of Melandra and became prince of that place, and a rival +chief rebuilt the fort on Mouselow and took the title of Prince of +Mouselow. + +After a time came the Saxon invasion--bands of freebooters from the +continent landed on these shores, and pillaged where they listed, some +returning to their own land with the spoil they had won, others +settling on the lands of the chiefs they had defeated and slain. Among +the latter class was a Saxon chief named Alman--a brave, though +ruthless warrior, who, after some fierce fighting put to death the +Prince of Mouselow, and established himself in that mountain +stronghold. Thereafter the country of Longdendale was never free from +the depredations of this chief; his robber bands harassed the valleys, +and no man's property was safe if it happened to attract the attention +of the new Prince of Mouselow. He terrorised the native chiefs, who +were nearly all reduced to a state of vassalage by him; indeed, of all +those chiefs, the Prince of Melandra alone maintained his former state +of independence, and this principally because he was fortunate enough +to hold a castle built by the Romans, which, as may be readily +supposed, was the strongest fortress in that part of the country. +Affairs were in this state when there occurred those incidents which +form the substance of this legend. + +Now Alman had set his heart upon winning the daughter of a +neighbouring chief for his bride. She was named Ineld, and her father +was the Lord of Woley--which at that time was a fair-sized town. He +was a brave old man, but his forces had been defeated, and his +territory ravaged by Alman's soldiers, so he was somewhat afraid of +the Prince of Mouselow, and more than half inclined to bestow his +daughter's hand upon Alman without ever consulting the girl's wishes +at all. + +But it chanced that Ineld had views of her own upon the subject, and +Alman and his robber ways were not to her liking. She had heard things +of Alman and his doings which made the blood run cold. + +One day there had come to her father's gate an old woman, who craved +an audience of the chief. + +"Why are thine eyes so heavy with mourning?" asked the Lord of Woley. +And the old dame made answer: + +"O Chief, I am a widow, and the only stay and comfort of my old age +was my son--an only child. He kept me from beggary and want. He loved +a maiden, and hoped shortly to make her his wife, and even to-day they +talked together by the roadside. But it chanced that the Prince of +Mouselow rode by with his retinue, and, happening to catch sight of +the maid, he ordered his guards to seize her and carry her to the +castle. My son interfered, and in an instant the Prince of Mouselow +slew him with his own hand. And now, O chief, I cry aloud to thee for +justice." + +And another day one of her father's serfs had come in weeping. + +[Illustration: ROMAN COINS, BRICKS, AND TILES, FOUND AT MELANDRA +CASTLE.] + +"My lord," he cried, "I am heavy of heart. I have suffered a great +wrong, and I look to thee for redress. My farm, as thou knowest, is on +the boundary of the Prince of Mouselow's territory, and to-day, in my +absence, his men came and carried off my cattle and much store of +corn. Also, when my wife, who is very fair, remonstrated with them, +they seized her and carried her away to their prince, and my little +child they slew with the sword." + +These things had Ineld heard, and they in no way predisposed her in +favour of Alman, nor did the appearance of the chief when he came +a-wooing, alter her first opinions of him. He was a rough, boisterous +man, who drank deep, and swore loud oaths--fine and handsome of +outward appearance, but a man lacking that refinement which most women +prefer to see in men. + +Having disclosed his intention to the Lord of Woley, Alman made his +way to the fair Ineld's side, but so used was he to wooing by force +that he could not even now altogether rid himself of his blunt, +repulsive manner. + +"Ah, my May," cried he, stealing behind the maid, and flinging his arm +roughly about her waist, "one kiss from those rosy lipe of thine, and +then we will talk of love." + +He laughed as the startled Ineld struggled to free herself from his +grasp, but a scowl of anger swept over his face as, with her little +hand, she struck him heavily upon the coarse lips which he had thrust +near her face. + +Then he laughed again, and even swore. + +"By Woden," said he, "but you are a fit wife for any chief. Little +spitfire--but I like such play. Trust me, I love thee none the less +for that blow. Some day I will tame thee, and then, by the gods, we +shall make a mighty pair." + +"Never," cried Ineld fiercely. + +And, breaking away, she ran to the mansion, and hid herself in the +women's quarters, where even Alman dared not follow. + +That day the Prince of Mouselow rode away immensely pleased with +himself; he loved to see a maid full of fight, so he said, and he +promised himself that Ineld should love him by and by. But the days +went past, and do what he would, he could never persuade the maiden to +grant him an interview alone. + +His spirit chafed at the prolonged delay, and at length he determined +upon bolder measures. He lay in wait in the woodland near the home of +Ineld, and in due course his patient waiting was rewarded. The fair +maiden appeared, and, first looking timidly around, as though to make +sure she was unobserved, made her way through the glade to a spot near +a fern-covered spring. + +Alman chuckled to himself with glee, and silently he kept pace with +the maiden, although remaining concealed the while. + +When Ineld stopped, and showed unmistakable signs of going no further, +the Prince of Mouselow emerged from the undergrowth behind which he +had been hidden, and, with a laugh of triumph, stood before her. + +"Now, my little vixen," said he, "I have won you at last. Maids so coy +as you must be wooed in rough fashion. And, once inside my mountain +fortress, I doubt not your consent to wed Alman will soon be +forthcoming." + +So saying, he made to carry her to the spot where his steed was +tethered, for he would win his bride by force, even as he had won his +wealth and lands. + +Ineld screamed shrilly in terror, and the Prince clapped his rough +hand upon her lips to stifle the cries. + +"Cease such idle wailing," said he. "The wood is deserted, no one can +hear, nor would it greatly matter if they could. I hold thee now, and +no man in all the land shall rob me of my prize." + +"Be not so sure of that," said a voice at his shoulder, so suddenly +and unexpectedly that Alman dropped the girl, who immediately, with a +joyful cry, sprang to the side of the new comer. + +"Lewin--sweetheart," cried she--then could say no more by reason of +the caress which her deliverer bestowed upon her. + +"Ah," cried Alman--a light breaking on him, as he recognised the +youthful Lewin, Prince of Melandra. "So 'tis a lover's tryst I have +marred by my presence. Well, let us see who is the better man--Lewin +or Alman, and the winner takes the maid." + +He loosened the short axe at his side, and, without pause, rushed on +Lewin, waving the weapon aloft. Scarce had the youth time to thrust +the maid behind him and draw his blade when the axe fell; but the +sword of Lewin was swift to parry, and at the same instant he sprang +aside. The axe missed him by a hairsbreadth, but the sword was +shattered by the stroke, and the Prince of Melandra stood +weaponless--at the mercy of Alman. + +[Illustration: INSCRIBED ROMAN STONE FOUND AT MELANDRA CASTLE.] + +The Prince of Mouselow laughed, and again raised his axe to make an +end, but Lewin, disdaining to fly, faced him calmly, awaiting death +without a tremour. His cool and gallant bearing touched the fierce +robber, and he dropped his arm. + +"I could slay thee easily," said he, "but I soil not my fame so. Thou +art a brave man, and above all the chiefs about, hast hitherto opposed +me with credit to thyself. I give thee thy life--the maiden goes with +me. But this chance I give thee. Rally thy men and meet me now in +battle array--Melandra against Mouselow, and we will fight for a noble +prize--the lordship of all the land of Longdendale, and the fair Ineld +for a queen. Thou may'st trust me. The maid stays in my keeping, but I +touch her not until the battle has been fought and won." + +Lewin advanced and took the hand of Alman. + +"I trust thee, Prince." said he. "'Tis a noble act. Get thee to thy +stronghold with the maiden, for soon the axe of Lewin will be knocking +at thy door." + +Then, turning to the trembling girl, he whispered: + +"Fear not, Ineld, I come quickly. Ere another hour is passed the +war-song of Lewin will echo through the hills." + +Then he was gone. + +An hour later Alman stood on the rampart of Mouselow, and gazed in the +direction of Melandra. The warrior by his side pointed to a dancing +light which played upon the distant fields and seemed to move on +Mouselow. It was the sunlight reflected from a host of shields and +spears. + +[Illustration: PREHISTORIC SPEAR HEAD FOUND NEAR MOUSELOW CASTLE] + +"They come, my lord," said he. And Alman answered: + +"This Lewin keeps his word. The fight will be such as a soldier loves. +Now get to your arms." + +The Prince of Mouselow watched the approach of the foe with gladness. +Rude and tyrannous though he might be, he was yet a brave man, and +asked for nothing better than a worthy foe and a fair field. It +mattered little to him if death came in the conflict. His fathers had +all died fighting, and he, too, longed to die in the thick of the +fray. He loved fighting for fighting's sake, and in the lust for the +conflict he even forgot the fair Ineld--the prize for which he fought. +Placing himself at the head of his men, he led them out of the fort, +and soon the two forces were in touch with each other. The Prince of +Melandra was at the head of his own troops, and as the two armies +closed he gave forth his war shout and called upon his men to charge. +The warriors clashed their axes and shields together, and cried aloud: + +"Lewin we will follow thee to death. Lead on!" + +And thus the great fight begun. + +The battle lasted through the day, and it seemed almost certain that +the superior force of the Prince of Mouselow would win. But the men of +Melandra fought like heroes; they stubbornly maintained their ground, +and, as the day passed, the battle was still undecided. + +Throughout the combat Lewin seemed to bear a charmed life. He was ever +in the thick of battle, and where his axe descended there death +reigned in the foemen's ranks. But towards the evening he realised +that his rapidly thinning ranks were in danger of being enveloped by +the greater number of the foe, and that if the battle was to be saved, +it would require a superhuman effort. + +Then, knowing that where he led his men would surely follow, he raised +his war shout, and, with a mighty rush, charged single-handed on the +foe. He was surrounded in an instant, and a score of blows were +showered at his head. The peril of their chief so incensed the men of +Melandra that they became like madmen, and swept onwards with a charge +that nothing could withstand. This was exactly what Lewin had looked +for, and, hoping to render the effect of the charge doubly sure, he +still pushed on, making for the standard where Alman fought. + +The Prince of Mouselow rallied his men about him, and, shoulder to +shoulder, they stood to repel the onslaught. But the rush of Lewin was +too fierce, the men of Mouselow were scattered like chaff, and Alman +himself fell pierced by a score of blades. + +[Illustration: THE PRINCESS INELD.] + +With the fall of Alman the battle ended, his men fled from the field, +and their dying chief turned and laughed as he watched them fly. + +"They run," said he--"the dogs. And yet--they fought bravely. Well, +let them run. Ho. Lewin, the day is thine. Ineld is thine, and I--I +die. Tell her I died as a brave man should--face to the foe. Valhalla +calls me. Lewin, farewell." + +So he died. + +The old chronicle tells us that he died as the sun set, and his spirit +passed away with the dying beams to the eternal land of rest. It is +said that so keen was the conflict, and so great was the bloodshed, +that one part of the battlefield was afterwards termed Redgate in +perpetual commemoration of the day. The spot whereon Alman died was +called Almansdeath, a name it still retains. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +There are many traditions which speak of the fierce encounters between +the forces of Melandra and Mouselow. They are, however, extremely +vague, and it is difficult to say whether the story of Alman refers to +a battle between the Romans and the Britons, or a struggle of the +later Saxon period. For the purpose of this narrative I have adopted +the latter date. It may be added that Melandra has been a favourite +theme with local writers. The following fragments from the pen of +Thomas Barlow, the Longdendale poet, will serve as illustrations of +the way in which the "castle" has been the subject of song and +romance. + + And well I loved the roaring flood-- + The wind, when whistling through the wood, + Below where once Melandra stood, + With turrets high; + And often stray'd at eve, to brood + On days gone by; + + In which, traditions old declare, + Melandra flourish'd, free and fair, + And glisten'd in the morning air, + Anent the sun; + Ere Time, who swept the ruins bare, + His freaks begun. + + When lordly knight, at dawn of day, + Led forth his train--a proud array + Of stalwart warriors blithe and gay + With martial fire; + Whose arms upheld the feudal sway + Of knight and squire. + + When martial music could entrance, + And prompt the love inspiring glance, + Till knights and ladies would advance, + Quick-step or slow; + In halls where hung the sword and lance, + And good yew bow. + + In fancy oft I saw the throng, + And heard the aged minstrel's song, + As, softly sweet, he did prolong, + His tender strain; + With themes of love or war his tongue + Could audience gain. + + When deeds of arms his song would claim, + He sang Melandra's knightly fame, + And hung with reverence on the name + His chieftain bore, + Till tears reveal'd the ardent flame + That fired his lore. + + + + +III. + +King Arthur's Adventure. + + +Arthur, son of Uthyr, Pendragon of Great Britain, organised that high +order of Christian chivalry, commonly known as the knighthood of the +Round Table. The companions of this Order bound themselves by oath to +oppose the progress of paganism, to be loyal to the British throne, to +fight--not for self-glory, but for the redressing of human wrong, to +protect the defenceless, to show mercy to the fallen, to honour +womanhood, and never to turn their backs upon a foe in battle. + +It is said that God raised up King Arthur that he might render Britain +free, drive out the heathen, purify his realm, and spread Christ among +men. For this purpose, the Lady of the Lake, "clothed in white samite, +mystic, wonderful," gave to the king the huge cross-hilted sword, +"Excalibur," which was forged beneath the sea, whose blade was so +bright that men were blinded by it, and before whose sweep no man +might stand. With this blade, Arthur led his knighthood, and in twelve +great battles overcame the Saxon heathen hordes. It is said that four +of these great victories of the young Pendragon were fought in +Lancashire, and that after the battles the knights of the Round Table +rode through the country, redressing the wrongs of the people, and +putting tyrants to the sword. + +At this time there were great castles on the hills of Longdendale, and +in one of these strongholds dwelt a cruel and treacherous knight of +gigantic stature and enormous strength. On account of his many +cruelties he was known as Sir Terrible. His fortress was built upon a +commanding eminence; it was defended by ramparts surmounted by massive +towers of stone, and was so strong a place that it had never yet been +taken by a foe. + +Sir Terrible was not married, though he was now in the prime of life. +It was said that no woman would mate with him, so black were his +deeds. Strange tales were told of his love passages, and many a +country maiden had mysteriously disappeared. Rumour said that the +knight carried off the maidens to his dreadful dwelling under cover of +the darkness, and it was certain that when morning came, the cottage +of each victim was found in ashes, and the dead bodies of the kinsfolk +lay around. No trace of the maids could be found, and they were never +seen again, though shrieks and cries of agony floated on the air from +the direction of the castle walls. + +Now King Arthur held Court after one of his great victories, which he +won near Wigan, and to him flocked the people from far and near, +laying their grievances before the King, and beseeching help at his +hands. Among the rest came an old dame from Longdendale, who wept +bitterly as she told her story, bewailing the loss of the fairest maid +in all Cheshire. For it seemed that the maiden was the old dame's +grandchild, that they two lived in a lonely spot in the valley of +Longdendale, that Sir Terrible had become enamoured of the maid, and +had carried her to his castle, where he kept her a prisoner, neither +suffering her to go out, nor yet anyone to hold converse with her. +Also he had slain two noble knight-errants to whom the dame had told +her tale, and who had chivalrously sought to rescue the maiden. + +It was towards the close of the day when the old dame told her story, +for there had been a large attendance of petitioners to see the King; +moreover all the knights had left the court on some quest or other in +keeping with their oaths as members of the Round Table. But when the +King heard of the cruelty of Sir Terrible, he rose at once, the gentle +look passed from his face, and in its place gleamed the determined +light of battle. He donned his war-gear, and buckled the great sword +"Excalibur" to his side. Then, accompanied only by a young squire, and +dressed only as a simple knight, he rode away towards Longdendale. + +The King rested for the night at the hut of a poor peasant, from whom +he gleaned tidings of many fresh cruelties of Sir Terrible. Early in +the morning he set out and soon came in sight of the Castle. + +Now, as they rode, the young squire had been silent. But when the +Castle towers hove in sight he spoke to the King. + +"My liege," said he, "My father was a knight at the court of Uthyr +Pendragon, and was esteemed meet company for brave men. I, his son, +have not yet done a deed worthy of mine ancestry. Grant, I pray, that +this quest be mine to follow. 'Tis true I am untried, and the foe is +strong, yet the cause is just, and, mayhap, God will nerve my arm." + +So he pleaded, for he desired above all else the chance to do some +Christian deed that might win for him the fellowship of the Round +Table. + +After much persuasion the king at last granted him his prayer, and the +Squire rode with a glad heart to the castle gate, while Arthur hid +himself among the trees. + +Reaching the gate, the squire thundered at it with his lance, and then +drew back to wait. In answer to his knocking, the knight Sir Terrible +appeared, ready mounted, armed with lance and sword. + +"Villain and treacherous knight," cried the squire. "How darest thou +abduct innocent and defenceless maidens, whom all thy Order are bound +to protect, keeping them as slaves within thy castle? I am come to +make thee rue this foul insult to the order of our good King Arthur; +for thy cruelties are a stain upon the honour of his knighthood, and a +blotch upon the fair fame of his kingdom." + +"Thou discourteous churl," answered Sir Terrible. "Do but lead on to +yon level piece of green, and I will first meet thee in fair fight, +and then send thy carcase to thy base born king." + +Now the squire, used to the honour of noble knights, turned to ride to +the greensward indicated, but no sooner was his back turned than the +treacherous Sir Terrible, couching his lance, drove at him between the +shoulders, striking him so fierce a blow that the squire fell +senseless to the ground. + +Then the knight laughed loudly, and would have hacked off the head of +his fallen foe, had not the king, who was now dismounted, stepped from +the shelter of the trees, and stood above the prostrate squire. + +[Illustration: "A COUNTRY MAID OF LONGDENDALE."] + +"Thou cruel traitor," cried the king. "That foul stroke shall cost +thee thy life. Never have I seen a blow more foul." + +On seeing this new foe, Sir Terrible--who did not recognise the +king--again couched his lance, and, without waiting to give his +opponent chance to mount, and meet him in fair combat, charged down +upon the king. + +But Arthur stood calm and firm, and drawing Excalibur from its sheath, +he stepped aside as the horseman charged, and smote with all his +might. The blow cut clean through the lance close to the haft, and +falling on the steed, brought it to the ground. Instantly the knight +sprang up in terror. + +"Now I know thee," he cried. "Thou art Arthur Pendragon. No sword save +the brand Excalibur could have struck so great a blow as that." + +"Thou speakest truly," answered the king. "I am indeed Pendragon." + +Then the coward knight turned to fly, for well he knew that none +might stand before Excalibur and live. + +But the king stepped forward. He raised the great sword aloft. The +blade flashed in the sunlight. It cut clean through the iron helm, and +the head of Sir Terrible rolled on the sward. + +After slaying the tyrant--so the story tells us--King Arthur restored +the squire, who was merely wounded, and then the two, mounting their +steeds, rode up to the castle gates. The king rode in front, and at +his saddle bow there hung the bloody head of the dead tyrant. + +Arthur raised his lance, and with it thundered on the outer gate. + +"Ho! warder," cried the king, "open instantly!" + +But the warder made answer-- + +"Who art thou who knockest so loudly? Know that I hold the castle for +Sir Terrible, and that I open only when my master comes." + +At which the king laughed. + +"Then open hastily," said he, "for thy master is here even now." + +And swinging his arms, he hurled the gory head of the traitor knight +over the iron spikes of the gate, so that it fell with a thud at the +feet of the warder. The terrified fellow shrieked and fled, and his +cries rang through the castle, causing the men-at-arms to grasp their +weapons and stand at attention. + +By this time the king was hammering loudly at the gate--great blows +that shook the stout oaken portal so that it trembled in its sockets, +and threatened to fall into splinters. + +"By my troth," cried the captain of the men-at-arms, "but 'tis a +mighty arm which deals such blows. No wonder our master fell before +it." + +Then, leaning over the rampart, he called aloud: + +"Ho! there without. Who art thou who makest such a din; and what is +thy business?" + +Then Arthur made answer: + +"I am the king," + +Whereupon the men were overcome with fear, and casting aside their +weapons, they opened the gate, and surrendered the castle to King +Arthur. The king ordered all the captives to be set at liberty, and +this was immediately done, the long procession of unfortunate victims +of the cruelty of Sir Terrible passing before the king, each one +blessing him for having wrought their deliverance. + +Last of all came the maiden whose rescue had been the immediate cause +of the king's visit to Longdendale. She was wondrously beautiful, and +as she stood before him, Arthur was so struck by her good looks that +he could not refrain from passing knightly compliments. + +"Such beauty as thine," said he, "would best befit a court. 'Tis +wasted in these wilds. Thou shalt have a place among the maidens who +wait upon the Queen." + +But the maiden answered: + +"If it please thee, sire, I would stay in fair Longdendale. I am but a +country maiden. I love the free life of these hills and valleys; and +at thy court I should be but as a wild bird in a cage." + +Whereupon the king, noticing her earnest look of supplication, +smilingly bent his head, and suffered her to depart. + + * * * * * + +Now the rest of the tale is soon told. The king bestowed the castle +and the lands of the dead Sir Terrible, upon the young squire who had +accompanied him, and whom he now made into a knight. + +And then great changes took place in that part of Longdendale. Instead +of being looked upon with dread by all the people of the countryside, +the castle came to be regarded as the seat of a protecting power, to +whose lord the poor might look for succour in time of need, and for +justice in all seasons. + +And perhaps the greatest change of all took place in the maiden who +had been rescued from the clutches of Sir Terrible by King Arthur and +his squire. Formerly she had trembled at the very name of the lord of +the castle, and had witnessed his approach with a terror as great as +that which causes the timid to shrink from death. But now she shrank +from his approach no longer, there were even whispers that she kept +tryst with the new lord; and at length there arrived a day when the +young knight came in state, and carried her to the castle--a willing +captive--where, in the presence of the king, they were made man and +wife. The two lived long and happily together, trusted by the king, +respected by their equals, and beloved by all who were beneath them in +station. The knight won great renown as a warrior, so much so that +evil-disposed men feared to meet him, and during his lifetime, +although there were wars in other parts of the kingdom, the land of +Longdendale enjoyed peace. + +In due time the knight and his lady had several fine sons, who grew up +after the pattern of the king, and long maintained the fair fame of +Arthur Pendragon in Longdendale, even in days after the good king had +passed from life, to sail in the black barge with the three Queens, to +Avilion, the Isle of Rest. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +Concerning the connection of King Arthur with Longdendale, it may be +of interest to mention that Bernard Robinson, in his "History of +Longdendale," writes thus:--"Traditions speak of castles and kings, +and great bloody battles fought along the hills--traditions of the +times of Aurelius Ambrosius, and King Arthur, that have come + +"Floating down the tide of years' mantled in mystery." + +I may further add that it is not surprising to find Longdendale +associated by tradition with the great hero of English romance. +Several great battles of King Arthur are said to have been fought in +Lancashire and Cheshire, and the former county is very closely linked +with the chief of the knights of the Round Table. The name Lancashire +is said to mean "Lancelot's Shire." Lancelot of the Lake is reputed to +have been monarch or ruler of this county. + + + + +IV. + +The Legend of War Hill. + + +It was early autumn of the year 1138, and the Valley of Longdendale +was a vast tract of desolation. True, the trees were still decked with +verdure, and the mellow tint of autumn clothed nature with a lovely +garb. The streams still murmured with silvery splashes as they +wandered through the woodland, and the birds warbled among the +branches. In all this the valley was as of old--lovely, radiant, fair. +But the song of the reaper was never heard; the fields were tangled +and untilled, the instruments of husbandry were destroyed or +abandoned, and a grievous famine reigned. For the demon of war was +abroad, and the blight of his shadow had fallen on the fair Cheshire +vale. + +King Stephen was seated on the throne which he had won by violence. As +he had usurped the sovereign power without the pretence of a title, he +was necessitated to tolerate in others, the same violence to which he +himself had been beholden for his crown. Even in time of peace the +nobles made sad havoc with the property of the people, but now that +war was in the land, and the forces of the Lady Matilda, King Henry's +child, sought to drive the usurper from the throne,--now, indeed, the +castles poured forth bands of licensed robbers, and the homesteads of +Longdendale were burned, the people driven to the woods, and the +flocks and herds of the yeomen were confiscated. + +Had the reader been privileged to wander through the woodland glades +near Mottram, he would, maybe, have seen a group of fugitives +bargaining with a sturdy forester for leave to shelter themselves in +the depths of the forest, without fear of molestation. + +"Thou hast known me all my life," said the leader of the party, "for a +patient, God-fearing, and faithful husbandman. I have ever kept the +forest laws, and seek not to work harm therein even now. But Mottram +town is no place for me, for all my poor belongings have been seized +by the King's men, and my hut has been burned to the ground. And but +yesterday there came a party of the other side, and their leader had +me up, and soundly thrashed me, because he said I helped the King, and +was disloyal to the Princess. Helped the King, forsooth, when the King +helped himself to all I had, and turned me out o' doors to shift for +myself." + +"And I," quoth another, "come from Tingetvisie (Tintwistle), and there +the townsfolk are so scared they dare not seek their beds at night. +Nothing have I left to call my own, not even arms with which to +protect myself. Truly the forest is a heaven to all such poor people +as we." + +"Well, well," grumbled the bluff forester, "get into the woods and +hide yourselves, but play not with the deer at your peril. A pest on +these troubles. I would the great folk would settle their differences +themselves, and allow the poor to live in peace. Get off, I say, and +hide yourselves. Steer clear of both King's men and Queen's men, and +be damned to both sides." + +So saying he went on his way whistling, and the fugitives hastily left +the path, and were soon lost from view in the undergrowth. There, like +beasts of the forest, they lay by day, and emerged when the night +fell, to pick up such scraps of food as were to be had by the way. +Little wonder there were robbers on the roads in those times. + +Days passed on, and the wanderers in the woods beheld parties of +rovers, riding with lance and sword, now north, now south, as the tide +of war ebbed and flowed. Rumours had reached them of an invasion of +the Scots under King David, and following the rumours came bands of +wild Highland men, who laid waste with fire and sword what little the +robber-bands of the English knighthood had spared. The King of +Scotland came south to aid his niece, the Princess Matilda, and with +the appearance of his army on this side the border, the nobles who +favoured the Princess arose. There was a mustering of all the +able-bodied men of the Vale of Longdendale, and, glad to strike a blow +to bring the state of tumult to an end, the men took sides. + +"Hast thou heard the news?" asked one fugitive of another. + +"To what news dost thou refer, good man?" was the reply. "Is it more +of evil?" + +"Nay, that is as thou listest," was the answer. "'Tis said the King of +Scots rides hither with a great following of men at arms, and that +King Stephen's forces muster for the combat. In that case there may be +a great struggle toward, and now, maybe, we shall see the ending of +all this strife and misery." + +"In that case, good man, methinks I will strike a blow for one side, +so that the matter may indeed be ended." + +"On what side art thou?" + +"I am for the Princess." + +"And I for King Stephen." + +"Then we are enemies, but I bear thee no ill-will. Mayhap we shall +meet again in the battle." + +"Maybe. At least it will be better than starving in the woods. I wish +thee a good-morrow." + +"And I thee. Farewell." + +Upon which the speakers went their several ways to arrange themselves +beneath the banners of the cause they favoured. + +Soon there was a fair mustering of each faction, and with the trains +of knights, who came from north and south, the rival forces grew from +companies into armies. King Stephen sent a great body of horse and +foot to strengthen the array of those who fought beneath his banner, +whilst stray bands of Highland men swelled the ranks of the warriors +of Matilda. + +Now the chief forester of Longdendale was a man with a kind heart, and +to all those civil and respectable folk who took to the woods for a +refuge, he showed such toleration and care as his position allowed; +only upon the idle, thieves, and evildoers, was his anger bestowed. It +was no new thing for him to meet with fugitives--particularly +women--seeking shelter in the forest, and, accordingly, he gave little +heed to a small band of riders in which were several females, who +entered the forest of Longdendale upon a certain evening just before +the hour of sunset. + +"Another band of fugitives," said he. "Poor souls; God have mercy on +them." + +He would have passed on his way had not one of the band--a +sturdy-looking young man, dressed in plain russet garb--thus accosted +him: + +"Ho there, fellow," cried the youth. "Come thou hither, for I would +have a word with thee." + +The tone in which the words were spoken was commanding, and to the +forester it sounded insolent. + +For answer he turned, and looking the horseman straight in the face +said: + +"Have a care, knave, what words thou usest to thy betters, or thou art +likely to rue such speeches as that." + +The young man frowned, and, raising a light riding whip, made as +though he would strike the forester. But the latter brought into +position a stout oak staff which he carried, and, advancing boldly, +said in a threatening voice: + +"Take advice from an older man, and drop thy paltry weapon. Otherwise +I shall be put to the necessity of cracking thy pate. One blast of +this horn now dangling at my side will speedily summon some of the +stoutest lads in Cheshire, and thou and thy followers will ere long be +dangling from the nearest tree." + +So saying, the bold forester blew upon his horn, and scarcely had the +echoes died away ere five stalwart men clad in green, each armed with +yew-bow and quiver, and long knives at their girdle, burst from the +thickets and ranged themselves by the forester's side. + +What the newcomers would have done with the old forester at their +head, it is difficult to say; but a diversion was created by one of +the female riders, chiding the horseman who had first spoken. + +"Thou art over-hasty, and even rude," said she; "where is thy +discernment. Seest thou not that these men are honest, and wouldst +thou set them against us?". + +Then, advancing alone, she bent in her saddle, and whispered something +to the forester. The old man started, gazed at the speaker, for a +moment, then doffed his cap, and bowed low. Next turning to the five +who stood behind him, he cried: + +"Uncover, and on your knees. It is the Queen." + +The Royal Matilda--for she it was, thus driven with her infant son, +Henry, and a few faithful followers, to adopt the disguise of poor +travellers, and to seek for a place of refuge until the coming battle +should decide her fate--smiled graciously upon the old man and his +companions. + +"Methinks there is a likeness in all your faces," said she. "Are these +thy sons?" + +"They are my sons," answered the forester; "and withal thy loyal +subjects, gracious lady, ready to give their lives for thee and +thine." + +After a few further passages of speech, the chief forester led the way +to his own dwelling--which was a strongly built and well concealed +place, where, attended by his good wife, the Queen might rest secure +until the battle had been fought and won. + +Meanwhile the forester and his sons donned their war-gear, and when +the time was ripe they took their stand with the rest of those who +fought beneath the banner of the Queen. + +It was in the gray dawning of an autumn day when the two armies met. +The battle was fought on a hill in the Mottram township, where the +ancient Church of Mottram now stands. But there was no sacred building +there on that gray morning of long ago, when the clashing of arms +awoke the echoes, and the air was heavy with the shrieks of dying men. + +The army of Matilda was posted on the hill. Their position was strong +and commanding. From it they could note the approach of the foe, and +fight him with advantage. In the midst of their array rose the +standard of the Princess--the royal banner of the great Henry--and by +its side the bonnie flag of Scotland floated in the breeze. + +As the gray light broke from the east, the watchers on the hill beheld +the first line of Stephen's forces emerge from the woods. The King's +army was a mighty host, the bright spears gleamed in the light of +dawn, and the archers carried great quivers full of deadly +goose-tipped shafts. + +The royal force came on, and the leading ranks broke into a +battle-chant as they neared the hill foot, and bent to meet the slope. +The archers winged their shafts, the axes, bills, and pikes advanced; +a rain of arrows beat whistling from the ranks upon the hill, and the +great fight commenced. + +Bit by bit the soldiers of Stephen advanced up the hill. They left +many dead upon the slopes, but still the host went on. The army of +Matilda hung thick and massive upon the crest, and waited with +unbroken front for the closing of the foe; they rained down their +flights of arrows, but kept their ranks unbroken, with bristling rows +of pikes in front. + +At length the advancing host drew near. The foremost men rushed +bravely on, they clutched the wall of pikes with their hands, and +strove to hew a way to victory. But the arrows fell among them, +dealing death in full measure, and the brave men fell. Others took +their places, and again the goose-shafts flew. + +Now the advancing army remembered the trick of Norman William on the +field of Senlac. At a given signal they turned and fled in apparent +confusion. With a wild yell the unwary Highland men broke from their +post upon the summit, and charged down to slay. Then, swift as +lightning, the warriors of Stephen turned. Their archers met the +onrush of the pursuers with a staggering volley of shafts. The pikes +and bills charged up the slope. The axes hacked the brawny Scots, and +the broken ranks upon the hill, opening wider yet to receive their +retreating comrades, let in the charging body of the foe. After that +there was a mingled mass of slaying men about the summit. The hosts of +King Stephen girt the hill round, so that there was no escape for the +men who stood upon it. Death was everywhere, death for the victors +and the vanquished; for the soldiers of the Princess died as soldiers +should, and they slew great numbers of the foe. + +[Illustration: MOTTRAM CHURCH AND THE WAR HILL, THE SITE OF THE BATTLE +MENTIONED IN THE LEGEND.] + +That was the last stand for the Princess Matilda in that part of +Cheshire, and the old chronicles say that the blood shed in the battle +ran in a stream down the slopes, and formed a great pool at the foot +of the hill. + + * * * * * + +As the gray of the morrow's dawn fell upon the scene of battle, the +pale light fell also upon a group of living beings, who stood upon the +summit of the hill among the hosts of the dead. + +Matilda, the Queen, was there--beaten and dismayed, since all hope was +lost. The chief forester of Longdendale stood there also, and he, too, +sighed, as one whose heart is broken--he had just been groping among +the corpses, and had found what he sought. + +"Are thy fears well founded?" asked Matilda, anxiously. + +The old man pointed to the inert forms of five dead men. + +"They were all I had--and I am an old man. Now they are gone, my very +name must perish." + +The royal lady looked at him for a moment, her whole being trembling +with grief. + +"My heart is broken," she said. "Yet what is my loss to thine?" + +The old man took her hand, and kissed it. + +"I am a loyal man--and an Englishman. I gave them freely to the cause +of my Queen. Who am I that I should complain?" + +Royal lady and lowly-born forester gazed into each other's eyes for a +brief space--their looks conveying thoughts which were too sacred for +words--and then the Queen's train moved down the hill, and the old man +was left alone--alone with his sorrow and his dead. + + * * * * * + +The world is full of changes, and ever on the heels of war comes the +angel form of peace. Men called the hill whereon the battle had been +fought Warhill, and in after days the builders raised the sacred pile +of Mottram Church, where the soldiers of Matilda and Stephen fought +and died. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +According to an old Longdendale tradition, the War Hill, Mottram, is +the site of a battle which was fought in the twelfth century between +the forces of the Princess Matilda and King Stephen. + + + + +V. + +Sir Ro of Staley Hall. + + +There was a noble gathering in the great banqueting room of Staley +Hall, on that memorable morning when Sir Ro or Ralph de Stavelegh +entertained his guests for the last time ere he set sail for the Holy +Land. The message of war had been sent through all merrie England, and +many of the Cheshire knights were leaving their homes, their wide and +pleasant meadows, and their dear wives and children, to engage in the +stern conflict of the great Crusade. Sir Ro, of Staley, was one of the +first to offer his sword in the holy cause. He was a brave knight, +born of a war-like ancestry, and desirous above all things to risk his +life in so sacred a war. And now he had called together his friends +and neighbours, that they might feast once more in the old banqueting +hall, and pledge themselves as true and leal comrades before the +knight said farewell. + +There were many brave knights and squires, many noble dames and fair +maidens, seated about that hospitable board. But the lovliest of all +women gathered there was the young lady of Staley, and the handsomest +of men in that goodly company was the warrior knight, Sir Ro. + +The feasting went on well into the night. In the minstrels' gallery +there were harpers who harped of war, and bards who sang of heroes' +deeds and victory. The music was wild and glorious; it lured men to +war, it breathed the spirit of strife, it lured the love of maidens to +the man who wielded axe and sword. When the music ceased there were +speeches made by the knights, and good wishes expressed, and the words +of friendship passed. + +Then the Knight of Staley rose to bid farewell. He spoke of the true +comradeship between his guests and himself. He begged them to see that +no enemy laid waste his fair domain while he was distant at the war. +By every tie of friendship, he prayed them to protect well his dear +lady should ever the need arise. Then, turning to his wife, he asked +that she should hand her wedding ring to him, and the lady complied. +Holding up the ring, and in sight of all the guests, Sir Ro next +snapped the golden circlet in twain, and, restoring one half to his +spouse, he placed the other against his heart, swearing by that token +to be a true lover and husband until death. On her part, the lady made +a like vow, and thus, before all that noble company, they pledged +again eternal troth. + +On the morrow, with many bitter tears at the pain of the parting, with +many tender kisses and protestations of fidelity, Sir Ro and his lady +parted--the lady to her lonely bower, the knight to his ship, his +journey, and the war. + + * * * * * + +Sir Ro sailed the seas in company with many other English knights and +men-at-arms. They marched across the great desert, suffering many +privations, often being in peril of death by the wilderness, and at +other times endangered by the craft and might of the foe. They fought +many battles, winning great glory for the Christian arms, and putting +numbers of the Saracens to death. In all the fighting Sir Ro of Staley +played a great part. He was ever in the thickest of the battle, his +helm bore the marks and dints of many blows, his breast was scarred +with wounds, his sword dulled with hacking, his axe chipped with +striking. Wherever he rode the foe fell like hail beaten by the wind. +They were powerless before him; death came to them with the falling of +his brand; and before his arm multitudes of heathen bit the dust. + +[Illustration: "IN THE MINSTRELS' GALLERY."] + +At length befell an evil day for the Christian army. Sir Ro was +captured by a cunning strategy of the foe, and, bound hand and foot, +was carried off to a Saracen town. There, stripped of his knightly +raiment, and dressed in the poor garb of a palmer, he was cast into a +filthy and dark dungeon, and there left to pine and die. + +For long dreary months did the brave knight suffer this cruel +captivity without a murmur or complaint. His cheeks grew white, his +limbs thin, his frame was wasted; the palmer's dress hung loose about +his figure. None would have recognised in that feeble prisoner the +once gay and handsome lord of Staley Hall. + +One night Sir Ro fell into a troubled sleep, in which he dreamed some +horrid dream. It seemed that some great evil threatened his wife and +kindred at home--an evil which he had no power to avert. So vivid was +the dream that, on awakening, the force of his anguish was such as to +cause his frame to tremble and his heart to languish with despair. +But, like a good Christian knight, he fell upon his knees and poured +forth his soul in earnest prayer to God, asking his Heavenly Father to +succour his wife in the hour of peril, and, by some means--if it were +His will--to restore him to his home. + +Having thus prayed, a calm fell upon the knight, and, repeating the +Saviour's prayer, he laid himself upon his couch, and fell into a +gentle sleep. + + * * * * * + +Sir Ro awoke with a start. It seemed as though a bright light from +heaven blinded him. There was a warmth as of living fire about him. +All the cell seemed a-flame. Then his full senses came, and he leaped +and cried aloud for joy. + +There in front of him was the fairest scene in all the world. + +Gone was the cold damp cell, gone the poisonous atmosphere of the +dungeon, gone were the iron fetters, his strength had returned to him, +and lo!--before him, shining fair in the summer sunlight, rich in the +fulsome melody of singing birds, was a fair English landscape, and +beyond it his own ancestral hall of Staley. + +God had heard his prayer. By His own Almighty working he had bridged +time and space, and Sir Ro was safe again at his old English home. + +"A miracle, a miracle!" exclaimed the knight. And, like a good +Christian, he fell upon his knees, and gave thanks to God. + +When he arose Sir Ro passed along the soft and level sward of green +until he came to the hall door. There he knocked long and loud. The +warder who answered the knocking, failed to recognise the knight. + +"Who knocks so long and loudly?" asked the warder, peering curiously +at the palmer. "For a holy man, friend, methinks thou hast a mighty +powerful stroke." + +This greeting reminded Sir Ro that he was no longer dressed as a +knight, but in the garb of a palmer, and that he had best put off +knightly ways unless he wished to be discovered, so, in a feigned +voice, he answered: + +"I am a humble palmer, hungry and footsore, and I crave a meal and +leave to rest awhile. All of which I pray ye grant for Christ Jesu's +sake." + +"Well, well," said the warder, somewhat mollified by the penitent tone +of his visitor, "of a truth thou lookest woe-begone and +travel-stained. Come thou within and eat and drink, and then, +perchance, thou wilt have a tale to tell, which will help the hours to +pass merrily. Hast thou any tidings? Is there any fresh news from the +Holy Land?" + +"Little of importance," replied the supposed palmer. "But before I +tell my story, perhaps thou wilt answer me a few inquiries, for I +confess I am mightily curious about this same hall of thine. I had +thought this was the hall of Staley." + +"And so it is, Sir Palmer. What belike should make thee doubt it?" + +"Well, friend, I have travelled in the Holy Land myself, and thy +master's escutcheon is not unknown to me. He was a stout soldier of +King Richard against the Paynim. And that banner which floats from the +high tower bears not the same devise as that which Sir Ro of Staley +bravely upheld against the Saracens." + +"In truth, thou art right there, Sir Palmer. 'Tis not the same banner, +and, though I eat my salt beneath the new devise, I do not mind +confessing that I would sooner see the old one flying overhead. 'Tis a +sad story, friend. Hast thou not heard in thy wanderings that the +brave knight of Staley was slain in the Holy Land?" + +"That is news to me," answered the other, starting. "But even so, what +of his lady? Is she not alive?" + +The warder looked uneasily about him, as though he had no wish to talk +upon such a subject. + +"The women can tell thee more of my lady," said he. "And thou art +still hungry. Eat first, and talk afterwards." + +[Illustration: DOORWAY TO STALEY CHAPEL, MOTTRAM CHURCH.] + +Saying which he ushered Sir Ro to an apartment, and left him for a +while to the attention of the waiting maids. As the warder, even so +the maids--none recognised their lord, Sir Ro, in the palmer's garb +which he was wearing. In accordance with the old laws of English +hospitality, they brought to him a cup of methyglin, and manchets of +bread to eat. As he supped, Sir Ro fell into conversation with the +maids; he asked after the health of the Lady of Staley, and whether he +might have an audience with her. To which the maids made answer that +the Lady of Staley was sore troubled, and even then was weeping in her +chamber, and would see no man. Then they related to him the +circumstances of their lady's trouble. The knight of Staley, they +said, had gone away to fight in the great crusade. News had come that +he was dead--having been captured and put to death by the enemy--and +now the kinsmen of the lady were forcing her to wed again, although +her heart was still with her dead lord, and she could bear the sight +of no other man. + +"That," said the spokeswoman, "is why Staley Hall is so much changed, +and why another banner floats above the turrets." + +"But if your lady does not love the newcomer, why then does she submit +to a marriage which must be distasteful? Did not her lord will his +estates to her in case he should fall in the Crusade?" + +"That we know not, good sir palmer. But 'tis said that this new knight +has made her understand that he hath a grant of her late husband's +lands from the king, and that he will dispossess both her and her +relations unless she consents to marry him. Folk do think it is more +for the sake of her kinsfolk that she brings her mind to the wedding." + +"And when is the wedding to be?" + +"To-morrow." + +Sir Ro pondered awhile, then turning to the chief serving-maid, asked: + +"Would'st do thy lady a service?" + +Being answered in the affirmative, he took his empty drinking-cup, +and dropped into it the half of his wife's broken wedding ring, which +he had retained, and bade the maid carry it to her mistress. This the +maid did. On seeing it, the Lady of Staley gave a great cry, and, +saying that the palmer surely brought some news of her dead husband's +last hours, and perchance carried his dying message, she commanded him +to be brought into her presence. + +Sir Ro now beheld the face of his loved one, whom he had never thought +to see again. At first the lady failed to recognise in the guise of +the palmer, the husband whom she had never ceased to love, and Sir Ro, +being anxious to learn whether she was still true to him, forebore to +make himself known. The lady, with tears in her eyes, looked at the +half of the wedding ring which the palmer had brought, and placing her +hand in her bosom drew forth the companion half which she wore ever +near her heart. Then, with many sobs, she protested that the image of +her dead lord had never left her, and that she only consented to mate +with another in order that her kinsfolk should not be reduced to +beggary. + +[Illustration: EFFIGY OF SIR RO AND HIS LADY, IN STALEY CHAPEL, +MOTTRAM CHURCH.] + +Bit by bit the knight drew from her all the story: how her new suitor +had been the one to bring tidings of her lord's death, and how he, +having secured the Staley estates, now offered her the choice of a +union with him or beggary for herself and her people. + +Then Sir Ro, unable to restrain himself any longer, uttered her name +in his own voice, and instantly she recognised him, and, with a great +cry, fell into his arms. + +Now the joyful cry uttered by the Lady of Staley rang throughout the +hall, and, full of wonder and fear, the retainers rushed to the +chamber, feeling that they had been indiscreet to leave her alone with +an unknown palmer. The treacherous knight, who, by his lying tale, +sought to entrap her into marriage, also appeared upon the scene, and, +in a voice of anger, demanded of the palmer what he wanted, and by +what right he was there. + +"By the best right in the world," answered Sir Ro--"the right of +master." + +"Insolent," cried the traitor-knight in a fury, drawing his sword as +he spake. "Thou shalt pay dearly for thy folly." + +But Sir Ro, with a sharp action, cast from his shoulders the palmer's +disguise, and, standing forth in the full glory of his warlike figure, +snatched a mace from the wall, and advanced to meet his enemy. + +"A Staley, a Staley!" he cried, giving forth the rallying cry of his +house in a voice which the retainers knew of old. + +Instantly he was recognised, and with shouts of joy the men-at-arms +and servitors sprang to his side, whilst some of them disarmed the +traitor, and without waiting for the order from their lord, hurried +him to the deepest dungeon, there to await justice when the joyful +celebrations anent Sir Ro's return had come to an end. + +Needless to say the imposter met with the punishment he deserved; he +was stripped of his knightly rank, and was never afterwards seen or +heard of in Longdendale. The bells of Mottram Church rang out a merry +peal in honour of the homecoming of the Knight of Staley. Sir Ro and +his lady lived a long and happy life together. At their death they +were buried in Mottram Church, where an effigy was placed to their +memory above their grave. This effigy, which represents a knight in +full armour, and his lady lying side by side, may still be seen in the +Staley Chapel of the old Church at Mottram, and it serves to keep +green the story of Sir Ro's adventures. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +In Mottram Church is an ancient monumental effigy, which is said to +represent the figures of Sir Ro or Ralph de Stavelegh of Staley Hall +and his wife--the hero and heroine of the foregoing legend. "Roe +Cross," the name of a well-known spot in Mottram, is also attributed +to the connection of the place with this popular local crusader. + + + + +VI. + +Robin Hood's Visit to Longdendale. + + +Robin Hood, the greatest bowman that old England ever knew, frequently +visited Longdendale. Probably the "thick woods of Longden," with their +wealth of wild red deer, induced him to lead his band from the haunts +of merrie Sherwood to the no less merrie land of Longdendale. Old +traditions tell of a "mighty forest in Longdendale, whose trees were +so thick that the squirrels could leap from branch to branch from +Mottram to Woodhead." Such a country might well attract a lover of the +free forest life like bold Robin Hood; moreover, there ran a road over +a good portion of Longdendale, along which the fat old Abbots of +Basingwerke were wont to convey their treasures from their township of +Glossop, to their fine abbey seat in Wales. Doubtless the Abbot +dreaded a meeting with the mighty outlaw, for Robin dearly loved to +pluck a fat-bellied churchman that he might place the golden nobles in +the pouches of the poor. + +This story, however, has nothing to do with the robbing of the Abbots +or Monks of Basingwerke. It is a story of skill and fabulous strength. +Indeed, there are many who doubt that the incidents related ever +occurred--simply because such things seem impossible. But then those +incidents are recorded in the traditions of the people of Longdendale, +and, consequently, they are worthy of serious consideration. He must +be either an amazingly bold or an exceedingly ignorant man, who would +cast a doubt on the veracity of a Longdendale tradition. + +However, the reader must judge for himself. + +The story has it that bold Robin Hood and his forest band (including +the redoubtable Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Much, the +miller's son, and a hundred other sturdy yeomen, all clad in Lincoln +green, and having great long bows of English yew and good cloth-yard +shafts) appeared one day in the Longdendale country. Weary of hunting +the stag through the woodland glades, they were longing for some +chance of adventure to present itself, when they became aware of a +loud and dismal moaning hard by. The sound came from a handsome youth +who, cast full length upon the sward, was bitterly bemoaning his cruel +fate. It appeared that he was betrothed to a beautiful maiden, but her +guardian (who was a grim old bachelor) had forbidden their union, and +finally, to prevent all intercourse between them, had shut her up in +his castle. + +On hearing the story the foresters were loud in their denunciations of +such heartless conduct. They vowed it was the greatest sin that man +could possibly commit--to interfere with lover's meetings. Little John +was for attacking the castle, battering down the gates, and sending an +arrow through the mid-rib of the guardian, which process, he +thought, was calculated to end the matter at once. But Robin, though +anxious enough for a fight, was of opinion that his henchman's plan +might endanger the maiden, who was completely at the mercy of the +tyrant. He suggested an interview, and, accordingly, the stout Friar +Tuck was sent as ambassador or emissary to make terms with the +maiden's guardian. + +[Illustration: SCENE NEAR BOTTOM'S HALL; "PART OF THE ANCIENT FOREST +OF LONGDENDALE."] + +At first the Friar was met with an angry outburst on the part of the +guardian--a bold bad baron--who loudly declaimed that he would permit +no outside interference with his affairs. + +"Out on thee, thou fat-bellied churchman," shouted the Baron. "What +hast thou to do with lovers, particularly maidens. Methinks thy vows +should bid thee leave maids and love severely alone." + +Now this sort of talk did not at all suit Friar Tuck, who, churchman +though he might be, and shaven and shorn to boot, yet loved to kiss a +pretty maid on the sly as well as the best layman who ever walked. But +he loved not to be twitted about it in this fashion. + +"Fat-bellied churchman, indeed," quoth he. "And what about thine own +fat paunch. As for love and pretty maids, I warrant thou would'st have +a long way to travel fore thou comest across a maiden who would fall +in love with thee. Such a foul-visaged reptile I never set eyes on. As +for beauty--well, as far as thou art concerned--the least said on that +head the better." + +The Baron stared at this rejoinder, as well he might. Such language +had never been hurled at him before, and for a moment he could +scarcely speak, so great was his surprise. When he recovered speech, +he ordered his attendants who were in the room to seize the Friar and +cast him into the dungeon. But Tuck lifted the quarter-staff which he +carried, and brought it down so heavily upon their crowns that the men +dropped like poled oxen. At this the Baron began to swear and rave, +vowing all manner of punishments for the Friar,--all of which, +however, only made Tuck fall a-laughing. + +"Come," said he, "thou art short of wind enough, friend Baron. And if +thou goest on like that thou art like to choke thyself. Moreover, if +thou only so much as raises a finger to summon thy vassals to thy side +with intent to lay me by the heels, I shall een clout thee on the +sconce as I have served thy catiffs. So thou hadst best listen to +reason." + +Now sorely discomfited as he was, a bright idea suddenly struck the +Baron, and turning blandly to the Friar, he readily consented to set +free the maiden, and to permit her marriage with her handsome lover, +providing the foresters (of whose shooting prowess he had heard so +much) could shoot their arrows from the tumulii now called "The Butts" +to the upright Druid stones, now known by the name of "Robin Hood's +Picking Rods." By setting them this (apparently impossible) task, he +thought to rid himself of interference from the band; and he chuckled +merrily to himself, when Tuck (who knew nothing of the distance to be +covered by the archers) coolly accepted the terms. + +The time for the shooting display having arrived, the Baron led a gay +company to the scene, that he and all his friends might witness the +discomfiture of the renowned archers of Sherwood. As for the handsome +youth on whose behalf Robin had interfered, he was quite dismayed, and +even the assurance of the outlaw could not comfort him, for he thought +the feat impossible. + +The archers stood at the butts, and away in the distance rose the +stone target of "The Picking Rods." Robin Hood took the first shot, +and he laughed inwardly as he drew the string tight and true. For he +knew the secret of the "Long Bow"--(as, indeed, do the chroniclers who +tell this story). The arrow left the bow with a shrill whistle of the +goose-wing tip, and, greatly to the surprise of the Baron, it fell +plump on the target with such force as to cut a notch in the hard +stone,--a notch so deep that it may be seen to this day. Little John, +Will Scarlet, and the rest of the forest band, all tried their skill, +and but few failed to hit the mark, though none were quite so near the +centre as their leader Robin Hood. + +When the shooting was finished the Baron was in a great rage, and he +sought for some means of evading the fulfilment of his promise. +Turning to Robin Hood he made an offer--that if the outlaw, with his +own hands, cast down the great stone which stood upon Werneth Low, +then the Baron would not only bestow the maiden upon her lover, but +would give her a good dowry into the bargain. On the other hand, if +Robin failed to accomplish the task, the whole matter must rest where +it was, and the maiden remain a captive. + +Greatly to the surprise of all, Robin agreed to the proposal. + +"I will humour thee this once," said he to the Baron. "But if thou +attemptest to get behind thy word when the feat is done, my good +foresters shall fall upon thee and knock sparks out of thy baronial +hide." + +"If thou doest the feat," quoth the Baron, "rest assured I shall keep +my promise." + +For the task he had set bold Robin was, as the Baron well knew, a +thousand times more difficult than that of shooting at the Picking +Rods. + +Robin Hood conversed awhile with Friar Tuck, and then the whole +company moved off to the summit of Werneth Low. The stone, or rock, as +it should more properly be called, was a huge mass almost the height +of a man. It had occupied its position on the summit of Werneth since +the world was created. A round half-dozen of the Baron's retainers +failed to lift it. But Robin Hood, casting aside his jerkin, and +baring his brawny arm, raised the great stone slowly aloft, and then, +with one mighty throw, cast it out westward towards the sunset, and, +amid a wild shout of triumph, it disappeared in the distance. + +They afterwards found the stone in the bed of the River Tame, near the +woods of Arden, and, under the name of "Robin Hood's Stone" it +remains in that same spot to this day. + +[Illustration: "THE ROBIN HOOD STONE."] + +Now there are some who profess to believe that no mortal power could +cast that stone so great a distance, and they explain the event by +supposing that Robin was in league with the good fairies, who gave him +strength to lift the stone, and then, (invisible to men) flew away +with it, and dropped it in the Tame. And perhaps these people may be +right. + +Be that as it may, there is no record to show that the bold bad Baron +disbelieved in Robin's powers, and we may take it for granted that the +lovely maiden was duly released, that she married the lad of her +choice, and that they lived happy ever afterwards, as they certainly +deserved to do. + + * * * * * + +It is asserted by some that there was a much smaller stone near the +great Robin Hood Stone on Werneth Low, and that Little John afterwards +threw this stone in the direction of the one thrown by Robin. The +second stone, being lighter, travelled a few yards further than the +first, but the throw being not so skilful the stone was broken in +several pieces by the fall. It lies to this day near the Robin Hood +Stone in the waters of the River Tame, and it still retains the name +of that giant forester Little John. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +The "Robin Hood relics," referred to in the foregoing legend, are +objects of great local interest and curiosity. The "Robin Hood's +Picking Rods" are situated on Ludworth Moor, and consist of portions +of two upright stone pillars rising from a massive stone base. They +are thought by many to be relics of the Druidical period, and are +referred to in the "Legend of Coombs Rocks"--the first legend of the +present series. It is said that they received their present name +because Robin Hood and his outlaws used them as a target for their +arrows, and the dents in the pillars are said to have been caused by +the arrow points. + +The "Robin Hood Stone" is a huge rock which lies in the bed of the +River Tame near the Denton Cemetery at Hulme's Wood, almost opposite +the Arden Paper Mill. + +As stated in the legend, there are fragments of Little John's stone +near it, and old traditions state that both stones were thrown to +their present positions from the top of Werneth Low by the two +foresters whose names they bear. Certain indentations in the larger +stone are said to be the imprints of the fingers of Robin Hood, whose +grip was so strong that he left the impression in the solid stone. + + + + +VII. + +The Abbot of Basingwerke + +Or THE WEHR-WOLF OF LONGDENDALE. + + +Glossop, which in the Doomsday survey was reckoned as part of +Longdendale, was granted by William the Conqueror to his natural son, +William Peveril--Peveril of the Peak,--whose descendant was +disinherited by Henry II. for procuring the death of the Earl of +Chester by poison, when the township reverted to the Crown. King +Henry, however, being on a military expedition to North Wales, became +acquainted with the monks of Basingwerke, and in return for their +friendship and attention he bestowed the township upon Basingwerke +Abbey. + +A road which crosses a portion of Longdendale is known as The Monk's +Road, and is so called because the Monks of Basingwerke are said to +have made and used it. On the wildest part of this road stands a large +stone, hollowed out in the shape of a rude seat, which is said to have +been the seat of the Abbot of Basingwerke, who periodically held +open-air court on that spot. The stone is known as "The Abbot's +Chair." + +On a certain day in the reign of good King Henry, the Abbot of +Basingwerke sat in state upon the stone seat of "The Abbot's Chair." +He was holding a court for the receipt of all his rents and tithes, +for the dispensation of justice in that part of his possessions, and +for the purpose of hearing any petitions which the people might wish +to make. To him came an old dame, full of woe and misery, and almost +blind with the falling of bitter tears. Her tale was enough to melt +the stoutest heart. She had an enemy, and the enemy was a woman who +dabbled in witchcraft. Through the agency of evil spirits, this witch +had brought death upon the old dame's husband and on all her children, +so that now she was all alone in the world, and knew not where to look +for shelter or for bread. It was said, also, that the witch possessed +the power of changing her shape, appearing now as a woman, now as a +man, now as an animal or bird, so that it was almost impossible to +catch her and bring her for punishment. + +The Abbot of Basingwerke, on hearing the story, was very angry. He +first relieved the distress of the poor woman, and then pronounced an +awful curse upon the wicked witch. + +"May the hand of Heaven fall upon this wicked mortal," cried the +Abbot, "and in whatever shape she be at the present moment, may that +shape cling to her until justice has been done." + +[Illustration: "THE ABBOT'S CHAIR."] + +Then he prophesied that ere long the righteous wrath of heaven would +fall upon the witch, and that a bitter death would assuredly be her +portion. And the old dame went away satisfied. + +Now it chanced that that very morning the witch had changed herself +into a wehr-wolf, and was even then prowling about the forest in +search of victims. And by further good luck it happened that good King +Henry II., who was on a visit to the Baron of Ashton-under-Lyne, was +out hunting in company with his son, Prince Henry, the Lord of +Longdendale, the Baron of Ashton, and other noblemen and knights of +the district, The Royal party hunted chiefly in the forests of +Longdendale, which were noted for wild boars, deer, and game of every +description. And inasmuch as it was customary at a Royal hunt for +every portion of the forest to be explored, and all the game therein, +great and small, driven forth before the hunters, there was--providing +there was any efficacy in the Abbot's curse--every prospect of the +wicked old witch being immediately laid by the heels. On former +occasions when she had assumed the form of an animal, it had always +been easy for her, if pursued, to fly into the nearest thicket, and +there resume her human shape, or else to suddenly disappear +altogether. But if the Abbot's curse took effect and compelled her to +remain in the garb of a wehr-wolf, then it was almost certain that +she would meet her doom before the sun set. + +The hunt proceeded, and the huntsmen met with good sport, but the +chief success of the day fell to the lot of the Lord of Longdendale, +who slew "several horrible British tigers," and after a tough struggle +succeeded in killing the largest wild boar which was ever seen in +Cheshire. + +Prince Henry, who was a valiant youth, was desirous of imitating the +exploits of the Lord of Longdendale, and accordingly he repaired to a +gloomy part of the forest in search of some worthy adventure. Here, to +his great surprise, he was suddenly set upon by a fierce old +wehr-wolf, which, taking him unawares, seemed likely to put him to +death. + +[Illustration: BASE OF CROSS ON THE MONKS' ROAD.] + +At the first assault the Prince's steed, by swerving as the wehr-wolf +sprang, luckily saved the rider, and Prince Henry was enabled to bring +his hunting spear to bear upon the beast. He drove at it, and although +he succeeded in piercing its side, so that it cried out horribly--more +like a human cry than a beast's, said the Prince, when he afterwards +came to recount the story of the combat--yet it seized the spear +handle in its forepaws, and with a snap of its great jaws broke the +spear clean in two, so that the Royal huntsman was left almost +defenceless. He drew out his long hunting-knife and buried it to the +hilt as the beast sprang at him, but though he fought bravely and +long, the terrible thing succeeded in pulling him from his horse to +the ground. Here the Prince gripped the beast by the throat, but his +strength was much spent, and it seemed almost certain that he must +succumb. Fortunately, however, he had been followed at a distance by +the Baron of Ashton, who arrived upon the spot just in time to turn +the fight, and to engage and finally slay the wehr-wolf. + +Great honour was, of course, bestowed upon the Baron of Ashton, and +the carcase of the wolf was taken in triumph to the Castle at +Ashton-under-Lyne. Upon the beast being opened, its stomach was found +to contain the heads of three babes which it had devoured that +morning. + +Much talk then ensued as to the unusual fierceness shown by the +wehr-wolf, and the Prince again and again asserted that at times the +cries of the beast were most human in sound. A forester, also, on +hearing of the exploit, came forward and gave some strange testimony. + +"May it please your highness," said he, "I was to-day lying in a doze +beneath the greenwood, whither I had crawled to hide, the better to +enable me to watch and ambush certain forest marauders who interfere +with the deer, when I was suddenly startled by a strange noise, and, +on looking through the copse, beheld a wehr-wolf tearing at its own +skin as though it desired to cast it off, even as a man discards his +clothes. And the thing screamed and moaned piteously, and it seemed +to me that a woman's cracked voice, muttering wild incantations, +emerged from the beast's throat. Upon hearing which I was sore afraid, +thinking I was bewitched by the evil one, and I fled." + +Divers others had also strange tales to tell of the wehr-wolf's +actions, and that same evening, on the Abbot of Basingwerke coming to +dine with the Royal hunting party at the hall of Ashton-under-Lyne, it +was proved beyond doubt that the wehr-wolf was none other than the +wicked witch. + +Thus was the curse of the Abbot speedily fulfilled and justice meted +out. Needless to say that witch was never seen again. + + + + +VIII. + +The Devil's Elbow. + + +The traveller through the valley of the Etherow is invariably +impressed with the wild grandeur of the scenery, and in nine cases out +of ten his attention is especially claimed by the bold rock escarpment +known as "The Devil's Elbow," which frowns high over the course of the +stream. The situation of the rock is certainly romantic: the wild +moorlands of bog and heather stretch away on either side, in fact the +rock stands on the verge of some of the wildest mountain scenery of +Great Britain. The very name of the place is suggestive of legend, and +one is not surprised to learn that there are some queer stories +related concerning the neighbourhood; one of these explains how the +rock came to receive its name. + +The date of the story is uncertain--that fact, however, should not +trouble the reader. At the time when the events now to be related +actually occurred, there was a castle standing on one of the heights +above the Etherow; it was a strong castle, fit home for a proud old +feudal lord; and its owner, De Morland, was one of the most haughty of +those barons who claimed descent from the great Norman lords who +landed with William the Conqueror. Little is known of him beyond the +fact that he was immensely proud of his long ancestry, that he was +very fierce, that he was rich, and looked with scorn upon most of the +gentry of the neighbourhood. These things certainly do not speak much +for his good sense, for why a man should imagine that the possession +of a few more pieces of gold or silver makes him a better man than his +neighbour, is a mystery. For instance, a thief may by successful +robbery become wealthier than an honest poor man, but surely the mere +possession of greater wealth does not make him better than the poor +man. The principle of this holds good with regard to wealth, no matter +how it may have been secured. So, after all, the Baron de Morland had +no sound base on which to build up his pride. + +The baron had a daughter named Geraldine, who was born on May day, and +was as sweet as the month in which she was born. Her teeth were like +pearls, her hair gleamed like gold, her skin was the fairest, and her +figure the most beautiful ever known in Longdendale. Altogether she +was a maid to set the hearts of men aflame with love. + +Now it should be stated at the outset that the maiden had been wooed +by more than one noble suitor, but she had an eye to none save a brave +young knight who came from Mottram. His name was Sir Mottram de +Mossland, and he was lord of a castle--something similar in appearance +to that of the Baron de Morland, but not quite so grand--which stood +on a bold ridge near Mottram town. This knight had long been in love +with the lady Geraldine, and on several occasions had managed to get +interviews with his lady-love. We may be sure he lost no time in +making known to her the state of his heart, and in ascertaining the +exact condition of her own. They kissed, and swore fidelity to each +other, and generally behaved like all young lovers do. But bye and bye +the Baron de Morland got to hear of this lover's business, and he +swore a terrible oath concerning it. + +[Illustration: "THE LADY GERALDINE."] + +"By my halidome," swore he, in the hearing of his daughter; "Who is +this upstart de Mossland? Are his lands to be compared with mine? Is +his name to be linked with that of de Morland? Shall one of his hated +blood mate with my own superior stock. Out upon the thought. I will +slay him sooner. Yea, by my halidome, and all the saints whom I adore, +I swear most solemnly that if I know him to speak another word with my +daughter, it shall be the last word he shall ever speak. For I will +have his blood." + +The Lady Geraldine heard this terrible oath, and knowing the character +of her furious parent well, was quite certain that he would carry out +his threat. So, fearing for the safety of her lover, she had a message +conveyed to him, begging him, if he really cared for her, to cease his +stolen visits for a time. The lover, though sorely troubled, obeyed +her requests, and the days passed by in fruitless sighing and longing. + +Of course, it goes without saying, that, although he might refrain +from speaking to the maid, a handsome and brave gallant like Sir +Mottram de Mossland would yet be on the alert to secure a glimpse of +his lady-love, and would worship her with his eyes even if his lips +were doomed to be closed. And so it came to pass that, day by day, +often in disguise, he followed her path, and gazed longingly at her +from a distance. Now, one day when she was out riding on her +milk-white palfrey, her steed took fright, and ran away, and would +certainly have leaped down a dreadful precipice--carrying the lady to +death,--if the gallant Sir Mottram had not sprung at its head, and +pulled it, by main force, to a place of safety. + +Now, in spite of his lady-love's message, he could no longer refrain +from speaking, and, folding her in his arms, he kissed her, and asked +for some token of love in return. The maid kissed him gladly, and +promised to marry him in spite of her stern and cruel father. Then, +full of joy, Sir Mottram went on his way singing gaily, for his heart +was lifted up by the promise of his lady-love. + +Unfortunately, however, the Baron de Morland was riding that way, and +when he beheld the transports of Sir Mottram he immediately guessed +what had been toward, and he at once began to swear again. No oath was +too strong for him to use concerning the family of Sir Mottram de +Mossland. It should be stated in explanation, that years before, the +Baron had been in love with Sir Mottram's mother--then a pretty maiden +in her teens--and had been rejected by her in favour of Sir Mottram's +father. Hence the Baron de Morland could never bear the sight or +mention of a de Mossland, and hence his hatred of a union between Sir +Mottram and his daughter Geraldine. + +Full of anger the Baron rode home to his castle, and there at once +sent for his daughter. + +"You minx," cried he, "is't true that you have promised yourself to +that foul de Mossland?" + +"It is true, my father," said Geraldine, in a low yet clear voice. +"What else could I do since I love him? Moreover, he is not a foul +knight, but is brave and true." + +Now the Baron swore again. + +"You witch," he cried, "know this, rather than you should wed de +Mossland--yea, by all the saints I swear it!--I will send you to the +devil." + +"Oh, my father!" shrieked Geraldine, "have mercy!" + +And her shrieks rang through the castle, till the serving maids and +the men-at-arms came running in to see what was the matter. + +But the Baron took up his sword, and with the flat of it struck right +and left, and drove them forth. Then, turning once more to her, he +shouted: + +"Mark well what I say. If you speak to de Mossland again I will summon +the devil's aid, and you shall be sorely punished." + +Then he left the room, and the lady fainted. + +Now, the Lady Geraldine was bold enough, as became a daughter born of +a race of fighting men, and, having pledged her word to her lover, she +had no intention of going from it. So, on the day appointed, she +proceeded to a certain spot, where her lover met her, all prepared for +flight. The lovers kissed, and then the knight began: + +"Dear Geraldine," said he.--But before he could proceed further, an +awful thing happened. A dark form rose up between them, and, on +looking at it they knew it was the Devil. He was in his own shape, +with horns, hoofs, and tail complete. With a mocking laugh he bent his +elbow, and made as though to seize the maid, but Sir Mottram, +throwing his arms about her, turned and fled, hoping to be able to +cross a running stream before the devil could touch them, and then, by +the laws of sorcery, they would be free from satanic molestation. + +The devil, however, gained on them rapidly, and it appeared certain +that he would catch them, when, just as he put out his hand to touch +the maid, a strange light appeared in the sky, and a voice called out +the one word--"Hold." + +The Devil staggered as though he had been shot, and when he recovered +the light had vanished, and with it the maiden and her lover. + +They were never seen again, but the legends say that they were made +perfectly happy by the fairies, and that they still haunt the banks of +the Etherow at certain seasons of the year in the forms of two white +swans. + +As for the devil, he received a shock. At the moment the light +appeared, his right arm had been bent at the elbow for the purpose of +seizing hold of his prey, but lo! when his victims had disappeared, he +found that the powers which had delivered them from him had turned his +right arm into stone. Not a muscle of it could he move, it would not +bend, it was worse than useless, it was an encumbrance. + +So Satan, being a philosopher in his way, determined to make the best +of a bad job. He tore the arm out by the roots, and left it there--the +elbow showing prominently over Longdendale. And that is how the great +rock known as the Devil's Elbow came to be perched high up above the +Etherow valley. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +The Devil's Elbow is the name given to a picturesque rock which stands +on the brow of a high and steep hill above the valley of the Etherow. +This rock is one of the landmarks of the Longdendale country. + + + + +IX. + +The Legend of Charlesworth Chapel. + + +An old chapel at Charlesworth is said to have owed its foundation to +the circumstances narrated in the following tradition. + +Once upon a time--it is impossible to say exactly when, because, +unfortunately, the records as to date have been lost, but it was +certainly in that halcyon period of English history which is generally +spoken of as "the olden time"--a traveller was on his way from the +northern parts of England to London. Here again the chronicles are +slightly obscure, because there is no mention of his name, and +opinions differ as to his occupation. Some state that he was an Irish +merchant, others that he was a priest. But be that as it may, all +agree that he made the journey, that he made it on foot and alone. For +the purposes of this story, therefore, it will suffice to refer to him +as "The Traveller." + +He had reached that portion of Derbyshire known as the Peak, and was +journeying over that part of the Peak which includes Coombs Rocks and +the hills above the River Etherow, when he found himself overtaken by +the night-fall. The track he was travelling was but ill-defined; it +led through a desolate region--in fact, one of the wildest regions in +all Britain--and, therefore, was but seldom used. As a consequence it +was no easy task to keep to it in broad daylight, and when the +darkness enveloped the moor, the danger of losing it was very great. +To-day, when almost every acre of the country is cultivated and +drained, the neighbourhood though savage enough is comparatively a +safe one to travel, but in the time of which we speak there were +treacherous bogs on every side in which the unwary might easily be +swallowed up. + +Accustomed as he was to the perils and vicissitudes of a wandering +life, the Traveller was, nevertheless, somewhat dismayed to find +himself be-nighted so far from any habitation, and in a country +altogether strange to him. + +"Now may the good saints protect me," mused he, "for of a truth I am +like to need their intercession this night. Already the path grows +fainter, the skies seem charged with rain, and the wind moans eerily." + +He wrapped his cloak tighter about his limbs, and stepped along at a +brisker pace. + +"If only the night would clear," he said, "so that I could see distant +objects, then should I be likely to make my way in safety from this +desolate moor. But the darkness hangs heavy like a pall: it is damp as +though the clouds were settling on the heather, and--ha!" + +The last exclamation was wrung from him by the slipping of his foot, +and the fact that he suddenly found himself standing up to the knees +in the sponge-like peat. He turned his face and tried to retrace his +steps, hoping to regain the path, but this was no easy task, and +presently he found that he was wandering hopelessly through the bog, +with every risk of becoming engulfed if he proceeded further. To make +matters worse, at that moment, a thick white choking mist settled down +on the moor, and it seemed to the Traveller that his fate was indeed +sealed. He stretched out his staff in despair, and by great good luck +it struck on firm grit, and in another moment the Traveller had hauled +himself upon solid earth. Once here, prudence told him not to stir, +either to the right hand or the left, lest all the horrors from which +he had just escaped should be again about him. There was nothing for +it but to wait patiently for the return of day, when he might be able +to thread his way through the mazy bogs in safety. But the night was +chill, the mist was like the icy touch of death, and in a little while +the Traveller was shaking in every joint. The keen cold went to the +bone, and it seemed as though he must now perish from exposure. + +"Now indeed am I in a sorry plight," quoth he, "and I have need of the +Divine help; else I am lost." + +Whereupon, being a good Christian, he fell upon his knees, and prayed +aloud to God for help, vowing that if he was permitted to reach his +home again he would return to those hills, and as a thankoffering +erect thereon a house of prayer dedicated to his patron saint. + +Scarcely was the prayer ended when a great wind arose, the mists were +rolled away like a curtain, the hill tops stood out in the clear +night, the stars shone, and the moon-beams fell softly over the +landscape, and a shepherd came along as though a heaven-sent guide to +show him the path from the hills. + +"Friend," said the shepherd simply, as he beheld the Traveller, "Hast +thou been long upon the moor? If so, thou shouldst indeed be thankful +to God, for thou hast run a great risk of losing thy life upon this +desolate wilderness of heather." + +"Thou sayest truly," replied the Traveller, who then proceeded to +recount his experiences and his vow, and also asked the name of the +place where they stood. Then he marked the spot, which lay upon the +bleak hill-side above the present village of Charlesworth. + +"I will surely come here again," said he, "if my life is spared, and +fulfil my vow." + +On concluding his journey, and having discharged his business, he +immediately returned to the Peak, and on the spot of his delivery he +built a small chapel or oratory of bog oak, which was specially +brought over from Ireland. This building, says tradition, was erected +upon the site now occupied by the present Charlesworth Chapel. + +Why Irish bog oak should have been the material used in building, the +present writer has not been able to discover, nor does the tradition +in this particular altogether agree with the following account of what +is therein stated to have been the original fabric. + +"It was a small octagon chapel," says the historian, "the roof of +which was carved; the arched rafters resting on massive buttresses, +the walls rough blocks of stone, the floor earth covered with rushes, +the seats and altar simple and unpretentious." + +Possibly the building mentioned in this account was a successor of an +even earlier structure, and to judge from other sacred buildings in +the neighbourhood, it is by no means unlikely that the earliest chapel +of all was one mainly composed of timber. But after all, what does it +really matter whether the chapel was built of wood or stone, so long +as the Traveller fulfilled his vow, and so long as the chapel served +the purpose for which it was erected? + + + + +X. + +Sir Edmund Shaa. + + +In the reign of King Henry VI. there dwelt in Longdendale a youth who +bore the name of Edmund Shaa. It is claimed by some that he was a +native of Longdendale, but other authorities assert that he was born +in the parish of Stockport. Certain it is that he was connected with +the parish of Stockport, and also with that of Mottram--a connection +which he maintained up to the close of his life. Moreover, the Shaas +were among the earliest of the inhabitants of Mottram of whom we have +reliable record, and the name Shaa, in its modernised form of Shaw, is +still found in the town, and other portions of the parish. + +At the period of our story, the Shaas were recognised as a family of +great respectability, though not of much wealth. They probably +belonged to the yeoman class, and for generations had been accustomed +to live on the soil, passing their lives in the open air, varying the +hours of toil with the healthy recreations then common--shooting with +the bow, sword-play, or indulging in the chase. Healthy, manly lives +they led, fearing God, obeying the laws, and paying their way honestly +enough, with a margin left over to provide against a rainy day--but by +no means able to amass any great store of wealth. Besides Edmund Shaa, +his father, John Shaa, had other sons, of whom, however, little is +known. + +The boyhood of Edmund Shaa passed like that of other Longdendale +children, exhibiting no signs of extraordinary promise, unless the +bright alertness and the ambitious imaginings of the lad might be +accounted as such. But as he grew older, there came over the boy an +unconquerable aversion to the unchanging life of the country. Not that +the life itself was disagreeable, but the labour seemed all in vain, +never leading to anything better than the humble respectability which +was the highest mark of yeoman rank. Young Edmund Shaa had seen the +trains of noble knights pass by; he had witnessed the huntings in the +forests of Longdendale, when lords and ladies gay rode in grand +attire, on richly-caparisoned steeds, and received every mark of +respect from the country people who assembled to witness the sport. +And to his young brain, it seemed that the best of them all was but a +mortal of flesh and blood and intelligence, like any yeoman's son and +daughter, or even as the hinds. Was not he, Edmund Shaa, as well made, +as shapely, as strong, as keen of intellect as any of the rich +gallants who flaunted themselves in silken attire before his eyes; and +that being so, why should not he, putting his abilities to use, come +to attain a position of power and affluence equal to theirs? + +The young lad thought the matter out many a time, and to him there +seemed but one reason--the lack of opportunity. In Longdendale he had +no chance of distinguishing himself. There was no wealth to be won in +Longdendale,--nay, even the very abilities which he knew himself to +possess were not recognised by his fellows--for is it not a worldwide +truism that "a prophet is not without honour save in his own country?" + +Then the lad decided in his own mind that he must leave his Cheshire +home, and seek occupation elsewhere, if he was to become anything +better than a yeoman. He accordingly sought counsel of his elders--his +relatives and friends--and made known his ambitions to them. But the +elders only laughed at him, and discouraged his scheming. + +"Banish all such dreams from thy foolish pate," said one. "Thou art a +good lad, and a clever one to boot, but the life thy fathers led is +good enough for thee. Lords and ladies are above thy station; thou +wilt have to work for thy living, and, as for holding thy head high, +and bothering thy brains with affairs of State--why, lad, thou art a +fool to think about it." + +Such discouragement was kindly meant, but other folk, to whom the lad +told his hopes and longings, were less sympathetic. Some openly jeered +at him, called him a dreamer, denounced him as a conceited fop, +upbraided him with the fault of considering himself superior to other +people, and finally snubbed him and treated him as a snob. + +Young Shaa bore all this quietly enough in the presence of his +tormentors; but the bitterness of it was keenly felt by him, and when +alone, he gave way to grief. Often he would seek the quiet of some +secluded spot in the woodland glades of Longdendale, and sob as though +his heart would break, for it seemed that the obstacles in his path +were too great for him to overcome. + +One day when he thus lay lamenting in solitude over his fate, a great +weariness stole over him, the hot summer's day overpowered him, and +presently he fell into a doze. Then it was that the good fairies stole +from their tiny palaces under the leaves in the forest, where no +mortal may ever find them even if he looks, and, taking pity upon the +handsome youth who lay sleeping near, decided to help him to achieve +that goal of greatness upon which his soul was set. The little sprites +gathered around him, and whispered in his ears a wondrous tale of the +wealth and honour awaiting in London town all those bold English lads +who dared seek fortune there. They drew phantom pictures of a young +man's struggle in London, of his success by honest industry and skill, +of civic functions in which the young man bore a part, of a grand +procession, where the youth,--now grown to manhood's prime,--was +become Lord Mayor; and to Edmund Shaa, who saw the pictures in his +sleep, it seemed as though the face of that phantom Lord Mayor was his +own face. + +Then the fairies sang a song, and the words of the dream song were +these:-- + + "If thou would'st win great renown, + Make thy way to London town; + Fortune waits to greet thee there + Even London's civic chair; + Lord Mayor of London thou shalt be + --The wielder of authority. + And when thou rulest London town + The King shall beg of thee his crown." + +Shaa awoke with a start, sat up, and rubbed his eyes, telling himself +that he had been dreaming--a wondrous pleasant dream,--but to his +charmed ears there still came the sweet strains of the music, and the +words of the fairy song:-- + + "If thou would'st win great renown, + Make thy way to London town. + London town, London town." + +The lad listened awhile, then sprang to his feet with a joyful cry, +and a determined look in his eyes. + +"To London town," quoth he. "To London town! Thither I will go, and +nought shall stop me now." + +Then with a merry whistle, he made off homewards, and before the sun +set, had completed his preparations for the long journey to the south. + +The rest of Shaa's story reads like some romance, and yet it is true. +Once settled in London, he appears to have been successful even beyond +his wildest dreams. He became a member of the goldsmith's company, and +rising rapidly in wealth and civic position, was ultimately appointed +jeweller to King Edward IV.--and this position he continued to hold +under four successive monarchs. In the year 1482 he received the +dignity of Lord Mayor of London, and henceforth he became one of the +most striking and interesting figures in that most dramatic period of +English history. He received the honour of knighthood, and his +influence was sufficiently powerful to render him one of the most +prominent factors in securing the crown of England for King Richard +III. + +When Edward IV. died in 1483, it fell to the lot of Shaa, as Lord +Mayor of London, to attend and take part in the funeral ceremonies, +and to receive in great state the infant King Edward V., on his +subsequent entry to the city. This occurred on May 4th, 1483, and is +thus described in the old chronicle:--"When the Kynge approached nere +the citie, Edmund Shaa, goldsmith, then Mayre, with William Whyte and +John Matthewe, Sheriffs, and all the other Aldermene, in scarlette, +with five hundred horse of the citizens in violette, received him +reverentleye at Harnesey, and rydyng from thence accompanyed him into +the city." + +Richard, Duke of Gloucester, anxious to seize upon the crown, saw that +the only way to accomplish his design was to secure the sympathies and +support of the city of London. Being at that time Protector, he made +Lord Mayor Shaa a member of the Privy Council, and, after that, he +seems to have had no difficulty in inducing him to enlist his sympathy +and influence on the side of the plotters, and to secure the services +of his brother,--Dr. Shaa--an Austin Friar, and a noted preacher of +his day. The initial steps taken, the Shaas played conspicuous and +important parts in the critical events which followed. Dr. Shaa +preached at St. Paul's Cross against the legitimacy of Edward's +children, and in advocacy of the claims of Richard; and Lord Mayor +Shaa headed a deputation to Gloucester with an offer of the crown, and +after the proclamation he attended as cup-bearer of the King. The +citizens of London, however, began to suspect that the sons of their +late King (Edward VI.) had been murdered, and showed signs of +rebellion, upon which, Richard sent for over 5,000 soldiers to form +his bodyguard, and not daring to levy money for the purpose of +rewarding them, he disposed of some of the Crown property to Sir +Edmund Shaa, who found means to supply the sum required. After the +death of Richard at Bosworth Field, Shaa lived more the life of a +private citizen, though he still continued to hold office as a +magistrate and as the Royal Jeweller, and enjoyed the friendship and +confidence of King Henry VII., until his death. During the latter +portion of his career he had been associated with the most influential +men of his time, honours had fallen thickly upon him, and his +relations had become connected with families whose representatives are +still to be found in the British Peerage, and among the older landed +gentry. + +It is pleasing to know that although Sir Edmund Shaa figured so +prominently in great historic events of his day, he did not forget the +northern county that gave him birth. He founded the old Grammar School +at Stockport, and left a considerable sum of money with which to endow +it. He gave a sum of money towards the cost of the building of the +tower of Mottram Church. He also built a chapel in the Longdendale +valley, at Woodhead, to which he thus refers in his will. + +"I woll have two honest preestes, one of them to syng his mass and say +his other divine service in a chapel that I have made in Longdendale, +in the Countie of Chester; and to pray especially for my soule, and +for the soules of my father and mother, and all Christian people; and +I woll that he have for his salarie yerely for evermore, the sume of +£4 6s. 8d.; and I woll that the other honest preeste be a discrete +man, and coning in gramer." + +The will of Sir Edmund Shaa is a curious yet beautiful specimen of the +old English testamentary document. It begins thus--"In the name of God +be it, Amen. The xxth day of the monthe of Marche, the yeare of our +Lord after tha' compt of the Church of England mcccclxxxvijth, and +iijth yeare of the reigne of Kinge Henry the vijth, I, Edmund Shaa, +Knight Cytezen and Goldsmith and Alderman and Late Mayor of the Citie +of London etc.... First I bequeathe and reccomend my soule to my Lord +Jesus Christe, my Maker and my Redeemer; to the most glorious Virgin +his mother, our Lady Saint Marye; to the full glorious Confessor, +Saint Dunstan, and to the Holy Company of Heaven, and my body to be +buryed in the Church of St Thomas of Acres in London, between the +Pyler of the same Churche, whereupon the image of Sainte Mychel, the +Archangel, standeth before the Auter, there called Saint Thomas Auter, +and the nether ende of the same that is to wit as nigh the same as my +body may reasonably be layed.... And in consideration that I have +bourne the office of Mayoralte of the said City, I will for the honour +of the same City, that my body be brought from my house to the Parish +Church of St. Petery's, in Chepe, where I am a Parysshen as the Manor +is, and from there to my burying at St. Thomas's, of Acres aforesaid, +in descrete and honest wise without pomp of the world, and I will have +xxiiij (24) honest torches to be bourne by xxiiij paide persons to +convey my body from my house to my said Parisshe Churche as the maner +is and so to my burying aforesaid, and I will have the same xxiiij +torches and my honest tapers to be holden in like wise by iiij poor +persons to brenne at my exequies to be doon for my soul as well at my +burying aforesaid as at my Moneth's Mynde to be done for me. And I +will that eache of the torch bearers and taper holders have for their +suche labours to pray for my soule after all my said Exequyes full +doon xxd." + +The will then goes on to say--translated into modern English--"And, as +the usage of the City of London, at the burial of one who hath borne +the office of mayoralty is, for the mayor and aldermen, and other +worshipful and honest commoners, to be present in their proper +persons;--to the extent that they may understand that I was a true +loving brother of theirs, and am in perfect charity with them, and +each of them--if it would like the mayor and aldermen and recorder of +the City of London, to be present at my Dirge and Mass of Requiem to +be done for me; I would tenderly desire them, after the said Mass, to +take such a repast as my executors by the sufferance of our Lord God, +shall provide for them; and I will that each of them after his repast, +have of my gift, from the hands of my executors, to remember my soul +among their devout meditations, inasmuch as I am a brother of theirs, +6s. 8d." Among local bequests, the will contained the following--"I +will that my executors, as soon as they may goodly after my decease, +do buy so much Welsh frieze, half white, half black or gray, and +thereof do make at my cost, 200 party gowns; and the 200 party gowns +with 12d. in money along with every gown, I will be given to 200 poor +persons dwelling in the parish of Stopford, in the County of Chester, +whereat 'my fader and moder lyen buryed,' and within the parishes of +Cheadle and Mottram in Longdendale in the said County, and in the +parishes of Manchester, Ashton, Oldham, and Saddleworth, in the County +of Lancaster, by the counsel and advice of the curates of the said +parishes, ... such curates taking counsel with the saddest men dwelling +in their parishes, to the intent that those poor persons should have +them that have most need unto them." He also wills that his executors +make at his cost "sixteen rings of fine gold, to be graven with the +Well of Pity, the Well of Mercy, and the Well of Everlasting Life; +with all other images and other things concerning the same--the rings +to be distributed to certain persons named in the will." He also again +refers to "the saide Church of Stopford" (Stockport) and the grave +therein where the bodies of his father and mother "lyen buried." + +Sir Edmund Shaa died on April 20th, 1487, just a month after making +his will, and was buried according to his direction in "the Church of +St. Thomas of Acres in London." He left behind him a widow--Dame +Juliana, one son, Hugh, and two daughters, Katherine and Margaret. +Hugh Shaa did not long survive his father, and died without male +issue. It only remains to be added in conclusion that Shakespeare has +immortalized Sir Edmund Shaa. + + + + +XI. + +Lord Lovel's Fate. + + +The Lovel family came into possession of the township of Mottram at an +early period. In the time of Edward III. Sir John Lovel held the +lordship of Longdendale from the King (as Earl of Chester) by military +service. Sir John was a warrior of great bravery and fame. He served +through the French wars, and in 1368 is mentioned as a leader under +the Duke of Clarence. Most of the Lovels figure in history, and +Francis, Lord Viscount Lovel, was a great favourite with Richard III. +He was the King's chief Butler and Chamberlain of the Household. +Moreover, he exercised a great influence in shaping the course of +English affairs of his day. He was the Lovel of the ancient couplet:-- + + The cat, the rat, and Lovel the dog, + Rule all England under a hog. + +The cat was Catesby, the rat Ratcliffe or Radcliffe, of Ordsall Hall, +Salford, and the hog represented the crookbacked King. + +Francis Lovel was looked upon by his tenants in Mottram as a being of +almost equal importance to the King. His word was law, his favour was +courted, his anger feared. There are many curious stories told +concerning his connection with Mottram and its neighbourhood. It is +said that he owned a hall in Mottram which was connected by a +subterranean passage with the Parish Church. He is also the hero of +many adventures, most of which may be set down as pure stories of +imagination. Perhaps the following legend is of this class. + +Now it should be stated that at the period of which we speak there +were witches in Longdendale. The age was one of gross superstition, +and it was universally believed that certain mortals, notably old +women, were in league with the evil one, and that Satan had bestowed +upon them powers of evil whereby they were enabled to work harm upon +the persons of any to whom they took a dislike. What particular powers +these wretched women possessed will probably never be known; it is +quite possible that some of them were students of magic, for in those +ages some of the most learned men professed to dabble in mystic arts; +but the probability is that by far the greater part of their dreaded +powers existed only in the superstitious imaginings of the day. But to +the people of that time the witches and their witchcraft were real +enough and terrible to boot; so much so that if a man fell ill, or if +some piece of bad luck befell him, to all the suffering caused thereby +was added the mental torture consequent upon the belief that all the +trouble had been caused by the evil schemes of some demon-possessed +witch-woman. This belief was widespread, even among the better +educated classes, to such an extent, that if a person lay ill of +consumption, it was supposed that his waxen image was at that moment +slowly melting before some witch-woman's fire, and that every fresh +pang of pain was caused by the witch thrusting her sharp bodkin into +the image. In Longdendale it was asserted that at night the witches +sailed across the bleak moors seated on broomsticks. Often would the +peasants rush in terror to the shelter of their cots as they heard a +strange rustling overhead, and, on looking up, beheld the wizened +forms of old hags riding on broomsticks through the air with a speed +which no horse could equal. + +There are certain stories told which ascribe to Lord Lovel the habit +of consulting and using the services of these unholy mortals, but +implicit faith cannot be placed upon these stories, because other +tales describe him as absolutely fearless and devoid of +superstition--a man, in fact, who placed no faith in their supposed +powers. + +On one occasion Lovel was in Longdendale. History does not tell us the +cause of his visit, but he had left his hall at Mottram, and was +walking in the woodland, when suddenly he found himself confronted by +a woman of evil shape. She was an old hag, of bent form and wrinkled +face, and she leaned heavily upon a crutch. For all that when she +walked she was nimble enough, and could get about with speed. When she +spoke it was in a cracked voice, like the croaking of a raven, so that +her very tones caused the flesh to creep, and a shudder to pass +through the frame of the listener. The nobleman would have passed on +with a brief salutation, but the hag planted herself firmly in his +path, and sawing the air with her fore-finger commenced to speak. + +"Thou art a proud man, Lord Lovel, and like all thy class thou +regardest the poor as dirt beneath thy feet. But I tell thee that the +hour is at hand when thou shalt be lower than they. They that live by +the sword shall e'en perish by the sword, and they who scheme to +entrap others shall be caught in their own net. The curse of doom is +already on thee, and this night I can prophesy the end. Thy downfall +shall be speedy, and thy death paltry. Nothing heroic shall there be +about either. And the end shall be total. Neither child nor kindred +of thine shall rule after thee in Longdendale." + +Lovel heard, and, despite his courage, he could not help trembling at +the terrible aspect of the witch. + +"Out upon thee, thou whelp of Satan," he said at length, "or I will +have thee in the ducking stool." + +But with a shriek of horrible laughter the witch vanished. + +Now this was the end of Lord Lovel, and the reader may decide for +himself whether or not the witch's prophesy was fulfilled. It is quite +certain that from that date his fortunes began to wane. He fought in +the Battle of Bosworth Field on the side of the defeated King Richard +III., and after the battle he took refuge for a time in Longdendale +and Lancashire, but finally was forced to fly to Flanders. He returned +to England with the Earl of Lincoln as a supporter of the Pretender, +Lambert Simnel, and was a prominent figure at the "court" held for a +brief space by that would-be King at the Pile or Peel of Fouldrey--now +a picturesque ruin on Fouldrey Island off the coast of Lancashire. On +behalf of Simnel he fought in the Battle of Stoke, and the last seen +of him was after the defeat of the rebel army, when he was observed to +join in the flight, and to swim his horse across a river, and to +scramble safely up the further bank. Some say he was slain in this +battle, but the popular version of his death ascribes to him a far +different ending. According to this version some days after the +combat, the disguised figure of a man might have been seen wending his +way stealthily to a house at Minster Lovel, near Oxford. The fugitive +was none other than Lord Lovel himself. + +With his enemies on his track, and afraid to trust even his friends, +he made his way alone to his own house and entered it under cover of +the darkness. Then, not daring to trust even his oldest servants, lest +they might be tempted to betray him, he quietly stole to a secret +underground chamber, and there immured himself, thinking to lie hidden +within until he could find some means of escape from the country. What +actually happened no man will ever know, but it is easy to surmise. It +would appear that Lovel, from some cause or other, was unable to open +the door by which he had entered his hiding-place, and having told no +one of his intention to make use of the chamber--or else through +treachery--he was perforce left to his fate, and died of starvation. +In all probability when he found out his predicament he attempted to +set some record of it down on paper, but, if so, his story was +destined never to be read. He disappeared from the sight of his own +generation, and the world had well-nigh forgotten him. But in the +Eighteenth Century--several hundred years after his death--a party of +workmen broke into the remains of an underground chamber at Minster +Lovel, and to their great surprise came across a skeleton. It was +thought that this skeleton was the frame of the once powerful +noble--Lord Lovel. + +It is said that when the workmen broke into the vault, the skeleton +was found sitting at a table, the hand resting on a bundle of papers, +but that with the admission of air it soon crumbled into dust. + +After the Battle of Stoke, Lovel's lands were confiscated, and in 1409 +were granted to Sir Wm. Stanley, who had turned the fortunes of the +day at Bosworth Field. With this change of ownership Longdendale +passed out of the hands of the Lovels for ever. + + + + +XII. + +The Raiders from the Border-Side. + + +There was once a time when it was considered the height of fashionable +conduct for the Scotch who lived upon the border, to dash into the +Northern Counties of England, put the men they met with to the sword, +burn their homesteads and stores, and carry off the women and cattle. +It is quite true that the English, on their part, considered it fit +and proper to cross the Scottish border, to raid the lands, and carry +off women and cattle from the lower shires of "Bonnie Scotland;" and +so on the score of fairness neither side had any cause for complaint. +But then, both parties never thought of that; the nature of their own +conduct was never questioned, it was always the other side that was in +the wrong. Their opponents were "thieves and marauders," their own +forays were characterized by the high sounding title of "military +expeditions." For such is the way of the world. + +There is no record to say whether the men of Longdendale ever rode +north to join in expeditions across the Scottish border; but it is +chronicled that "bold moss-troopers from the border-side" occasionally +raided as far south as the rich country of the Longdendale valley. +These Scotchmen usually came in strong and well-armed bands, +consisting of picked fighting-men, and, oftener than not, led by some +distinguished lord or knight who wished to reap fresh honour by +reddening his blade in English blood. Sometimes the lord or knight +looked upon it as a fair (and certainly the easiest and cheapest) way +of securing a wife, or mayhap a mistress, together with a good fat +dowry in the shape of plunder. None can blame him for holding such +views, for it all came in the manner of living in the olden time. + +But it did not always happen that the raiders were successful. +Sometimes the "raided" were on the look out, and the surprise party +themselves met with a surprise. + +It was a bright morning in the summer, and the valley of Longdendale +had never looked more beautiful than it did that morning when Jock, +the steward's son, kissed his sweetheart at the end of the lane ere he +entered the woods to join his father's men, who had some work to do in +the forest. A fine lad was Jock, merry and free as becomes one whose +life is mostly spent in the greenwood: his limbs were finely made, he +was straight and strong, and there were none in all the country-side +who could run, fence, or box like he, or who could shoot straighter or +further with the bow. A right proper lad, such as an English maiden +loves. His father was steward to the Lord of Mottram, and to that +position young Jock looked one day to succeed. In the meantime he +discharged such tasks as were set him with diligence, and drank his +fill of happiness with that bonny yeoman's daughter, Bess Andrew. Bess +knew his habits and his times of departure and homecoming right well, +and thus the two found many a chance to bill and coo throughout the +day. + +It was with a light heart that Jock sped through the lanes when he had +taken leave of Bess; and with a heart as buoyant, sweet Bess returned +to the homestead when the parting was over. The maid sang a snatch of +a country song as she entered the farmyard and set about her tasks, +wondering whether her mother had missed her during the few moments she +had been absent in the lane. + +[Illustration: BESS ANDREW.] + +But Goody Andrew, the farmer's wife, was busy in the kitchen, and the +farmer himself was away in the fields. His lands were broad, and on +this merry morn he was busy at a distance. So Bess had the farmyard to +herself save for the presence of the children, her brothers and +sisters, all younger than herself. + +Bess busied herself with the milking-cans for some time, dreaming, as +sweet maids will, of love and hope and the life that is to be. +Suddenly she started, then bent her head to listen. On the wind came +the sound of horses' tread, and the jingling of harness; the sound +increased in volume, and it came from the lane which led to the farm. +Bess left her work, and moved to the gate. Then she screamed and +turned to fly to the steading. For, all gay and boldly, armed to the +teeth, came galloping into the farmyard a band of fierce +moss-troopers, having at their head a tall big-limbed laird, from the +Lowlands over the border. + +"The raiders," screamed Bess, as she hurried towards the house. "God +'a mercy on us." + +But she never reached the door, for the leader of the band rode to her +side, and with a laugh leaned down, seized her in a strong grip, and +swung her to the saddle before him. + +"The raiders," echoed he; "and of a truth we have won a prize worth +raiding. Come, kiss me, my beauty. Thou shalt be my share of the +plunder." + +He forced his face to hers, but the maid fought fiercely, and struck +him in the face, whereat the trooper laughed again. + +"What a spitfire of a wench" said he. "But we will tame thee ere thou +art much older. Bring hither a rope my men, and tie her up. Also gag +her until she has found her senses, and knows where and how to use her +tongue. Now get to work and lose no time, for I have no wish to bring +a hornet's nest about my ears. Ho! who comes here. Settle them off in +the good old fashion." + +The last words were uttered as a couple of farm-hands came from an +out-building to see what was astir. The poor knaves were instantly +seized before they had chance to cry aloud, and in another moment were +hanging by the neck from a neighbouring bough. That preliminary +accomplished, the troopers proceeded to plunder the farm of all its +valuables, and to get together the cattle that lay about. Poor Goody +Andrew begged hard for mercy, but her plea only met with a coarse +laugh from the robbers. + +"Thou art a well-favoured vixen," quoth the chief. "And had'st thou +only been a score years younger, then I had not left thee to the +embraces of the southerners. But thy daughter is fair enough, and I +doubt not she will like her Scottish lover when her good humour +returns. Now, my lads, set the stead ablaze, and then to horse." + +The men obeyed to the letter, and in a little while the farm was +blazing fiercely, the troopers, loaded with plunder, were galloping +towards the hills, on the saddle of the chief was the lovely form of +the maiden Bess, bound and gagged; and in the farmyard sat the good +dame with her younger children, wringing her arms, and weeping +bitterly. + + * * * * * + +In the distant meadows, Yeoman Andrew paused at his work to wipe the +sweat from his brow, and then looked up. In the direction of his home +a column of smoke arose, which had not been there when last he looked. + +"Hallo!" quoth he, "there is surely something amiss. What ho! ye +knaves, leave your work awhile, and hurry with me to the farm, for I +fear the worst." + +Then, in company with his men, he ran to the steading, to find his +weeping wife, and the ruin of what had been his home. + +The farmer was a practical man, so he just swore a good round English +oath, and then he got to business. + +"Ho, there! Will Leatherbarrow, do thou slip for my good grey mare +down to John the smith's, get aback, and ride for thy life on their +trail. Send word by any messengers thou canst catch from time to time, +how they fare. And thou, Hob, cross the fields, and set the great bell +at Mottram Church a-ringing, and the rest of you scatter and bring out +the archers and the men who can fight. Cease thy chatter, good dame, +and see if thou canst scrape me a good meal together '))fore I set about +paying my debt to the Scottish laird." + +In a little while the great bell at Mottram Church was clanging out +its wild alarm, and from the woods and fields about, and the distant +farms, the stout yeomen were hurrying into the town, bringing with +them their bows and bills, their swords and axes, and their horses all +ready for the chase. For they had ridden on the track of the raiders +before. + +As the men mustered round the cross near the church, a horseman +galloped into the throng, the flanks of his steed white with foam. It +was the first messenger from Will Leatherbarrow, who hung like a +sleuthhound on the trail. + +"They have e'en ta'en the Kings' high road," he shouted, "and they +ride for the hills." + +"They will turn off at the bend before they reach Glossop town," said +Jock, the steward's son, who now sat his horse at the farmer's side. +"I know a short cut, and we may head them off. Do you, Farmer Andrew, +ride on the trail, and I will lead a band to get before them. Then not +a man of them shall escape." + +"To horse!" cried the yeoman, curtly assenting. And in another moment +the spurs were driven deep, and the men of Longdendale were hard on +the track of the foe. + +Grim men were they when the scent of war was in the air. Men who had +learned the use of the bow from their cradle. For did not the men of +Longdendale help to scatter the French at Cressy and Agincourt, and +did they not in later days join in the annihilation of the Scotch at +the fight of Flodden Field? On they rode, and as they went, their +number was swollen by fresh recruits, and so they galloped till near +the sundown. + +"The pace tells on the beasts," said one man at length. + +"It will tell more on the Scotch," said another, "since they are +hampered with plunder." + +And the cavalcade still galloped along. + +The road wound up the hills, and at the top there was a level stretch +of several miles. As the band of pursuers reached the top of the rise, +they beheld a cloud of dust at some distance ahead, and a shout of +triumph burst from their lips. + +"They are yonder!" said one. "Ride faster, my men. We shall catch them +at the gorge." + +"They will never get beyond the gorge," said Farmer Andrew quietly. +"Jock will ambush them there. The thieves are fairly caught." + +Then silence reigned again, save for the sound of the galloping horses +and the rush of the wind about the horsemen. + +The pursuers clearly gained upon the foe, but the latter reached the +next dip of the road well ahead, and disappeared from sight. A few +minutes later, when the Longdendale band reached the top of the +descent, a glad sight met their eyes. Across the narrow path, just +where the road bent, Jock had drawn up his men, and already the +archers were at work. Already several of the Scotch lay dead upon the +road, and the rest were in confusion. Ere they could rally, with a +wild shout the pursuing yeomen burst on them at the charge, and then +there was a fray well worth the telling. It only lasted a few minutes, +and Jock backed out of it the moment he found the sweet maid Bess +safely in his arms. But the rest of the Longdendale lads laid lustily +about them until the work was done. A palatable work it was to them--a +clashing of blades, a crashing of axes, and then the great Scottish +raid was over. Yeoman Andrew was avenged, and he had more in plunder +from the Scots than made up the total of the damages he had sustained. + +It is said that many a "guid wife" in bonnie Scotland looked +southwards with eager eyes for the homecoming of her "man" from the +foray in Longdendale, but always looked in vain. For the ravens had a +rich feast spread on the hills above the Derbyshire and Cheshire +border, and those Longdendale moors were dotted white with the +bleaching bones of Scottish men. + + + + +XIII. + +The Legend of Gallow's Clough. + + +Near Mottram, on the verge of the moors, overlooking what is now the +high road to Stalybridge, is a spot known as Gallow's Clough, which, +as its name implies, was in feudal times the scene of the Gibbeting of +malefactors. Here in the good old days, was reared the gallows, +whereon the criminal was first "hanged by the neck until he was dead," +and from which his body was afterwards suspended in chains, until the +weather and the birds between them had picked the flesh away, and +nothing remained but a few bones--a grim reminder of the power of the +law, and the folly and risk of departing from the paths of virtue. + +In the days when gibbetting was fashionable, it behoved almost every +petty township to possess its own gallows, for there was far too great +a demand for the services of rope and hangman to permit of only a few +recognised places of execution, and one common hangman, as is the +custom at the present time. Not that people were very much worse than +they are now, but the extreme punishment of the law was meted out for +what are now considered the minor crimes of sheep and cattle stealing, +poaching, highway robbery, house-breaking with violence, and such like +offences. The sight of a dead man dangling between earth and sky was +of too common a nature to cause surprise, even so late as the early +decades of the nineteenth century. + +Wild and lonesome as the Gallow's Clough is at the present day, it was +a much bleaker and more awesome place in the days when the gibbet was +standing there. Then it was considered as a place accursed, and was +said to be haunted by the ghosts of all the dead men who had been +strangled there. Even in the daylight folk gave the spot a wide berth, +and at night when the winds moaned down the gullies from the hills, +and swayed the dead men to and fro, and caused the chains to clank and +rattle, then, indeed, the traveller kept as far off as his route would +permit, and hurried past with beating heart, and face blanched with +fear. + +Nor was that all the terror. Witches were said to infest the place at +certain seasons, and in the darkness to hold converse with the ghosts +of the malefactors, from whom they learned how to transact deeds of +darkness successfully. Men forced to pass that way at these seasons +had seen from a distance the crouching forms of the old hags, and had +even heard their crooning voices, and the fiendish laughter with which +they accompanied their terrible midnight revels. Many a timid dame +added a petition to her prayers--that Providence would accord her and +all belonging to her, special protection from the witches who danced +and plotted and sang the hell-song round the gibbet at Gallow's +Clough. + +On a certain day in the olden time, a throng of people might have been +seen wending their way through Mottram to the place of execution at +Gallow's Clough. It was a gloomy procession,--calculated to depress +the beholder for the remainder of the day, and probably for many days +to come. First marched a company of well-armed men--part of the +retinue of the feudal lord--and in their midst was one bound, and +wearing a halter dangling from his neck. Behind came a motley company +of the country-folk--some weeping, some grimly silent, and some few +laughing and jesting. Most of those who thus followed in the heels of +the armed men were women, and in the front rank of these was a +handsome peasant girl, who wrung her hands and cried aloud as though +distracted. + +The prisoner--condemned man though he was, with only a few hundred +yards between himself and death--walked with a firm tread, and head +held proudly erect. Now and then he turned his head to look at the +weeping, wailing girl, and at such times his eyes grew moist: when the +guards somewhat roughly thrust the girl back, his lips compressed, and +his chest heaved, and his arms tugged at the thongs which bound him, +in a manner which indicated that it would have fared ill with the +guards had the young man been free. But beyond those silent +manifestations of feeling, the prisoner marched to his death as calmly +and fearlessly as though the journey had been an ordinary country +walk. + +Presently the procession reached the gibbet at Gallow's Clough, and +here it halted. The guard cleared a space about the gibbet, and by +means of their axes and bills kept back the crowd. The prisoner and +the executioners took their place beneath the gallows, and near them +stood a well-dressed man--the representative of the feudal lord. + +Without loss of time, and with but little ceremony, the executioners +went about their business, heedless of the cries of the women, and the +piteous appeals for mercy from the handsome peasant girl. + +Soon the preparations were complete; the well-dressed, +officious-looking personage drew forth a document, and proceeded to +read aloud the details of the crime for which the poor wretch had to +suffer death--shooting at and killing deer in his lordship's forest of +Longdendale--a crime of so serious a nature in the eyes of the +authorities of that day that nothing less than the death of the +offender could atone for the sin. The reading being ended, the reader +nodded to the executioners, and they made as though to carry out the +sentence forthwith. + +But at this juncture a diversion was created, for the young woman who +had hitherto so persistently and closely hung upon the steps of the +guard, burst through the ring and threw herself upon her knees before +the lord's representative. + +"Mercy, mercy, Master Steward! Thou canst save him yet; and it is such +a little crime. What is one deer from the forest against the life of a +good man? He but shot the deer because I--his wife--and his child +needed food. And if thou sparest his life we will work, and more than +doubly make up the loss to his lordship." + +The steward--a dark man of evil countenance--looked at the girl for a +moment, and hesitated; then he caught the eye of the prisoner, and +instantly his face grew stern. + +"Get thee gone, thou baggage," said he, spurning the female. "Stop her +mouth, some of you; or, if she will scream, take her to the ducking +stool." + +Then, turning to the hangman, he curtly said: + +"Do your work." + +With a wild cry of despair, the girl sprang up, leaped towards the +condemned man, flung her arms about his neck, and kissed him, and +then, before any could stop her, burst from the crowd and fled, +shrieking and laughing, over the wastes of the hills. In another +moment the prisoner was dangling in the air, and before the night fell +the gibbet at Gallow's Clough held the ghastly form of a dead man +swinging in chains. + + * * * * * + +It was midnight, and the skies were inky black; not a single star +showed in the heavens, and there was no moon. A cold wind moaned down +the gully, and swung the dead man in his chains so that the gibbet +rocked and creaked. In the distant farms the timid country folk +shivered in their beds, and as the wind shook the casements, they +trembled the more, and told each other they could hear the clanking of +the chains and the shrieking of the witches at Gallow's Clough. + +It was a night on which few would care to stir out of doors, but for +all that there were those who set out through the eerie darkness to +wend their way to the gibbet. When night had fallen, the dead man's +wife crept down from the hills and stood beneath the swaying form of +her lifeless husband, and with a grim energy cast pebbles, and uttered +shrill cries to scare away the birds that came to peck at the carrion +that had once been man. + +As she kept her vigil, she sang snatches of wild songs, and ever and +anon talked to the dead man as though he could understand. It was +clear that the woman's grief had driven her mad. + +Towards midnight she slackened in her exertions, and seated herself at +the foot of the gibbet, contenting herself with fearful but +intermittent screams to scare away the birds. But presently nature +gave out, and she fell into a troubled slumber. She was awakened by +the sensation that some other mortal was near, and with a wild cry she +sprang to her feet to find herself confronted by an old hag who +appeared to be sawing at the dead man's wrist, as though to sever the +hand from the arm. + +"Malediction," croaked the hag, "who art thou?" + +"I am his wife," answered the mad woman. "What dost thou want, witch?" + +"Ah!" said the hag; "now I know thee. Thou hast need of help and +friendship--I will be thy friend." + +"What dost thou here?" said the woman, unheeding the latter part of +the sentence. + +"I seek a dead man's hand, and a dead man's flesh. The hand I would +dry and wither in the smoke of the fire, and it will point out the way +by which my schemes may achieve success. Of the fat of the dead man I +would make candles--witch-lights--and by their glimmer I shall see, +and see, and see,--things and secrets that are hidden from mortal +eyes." + +"Thou shalt not touch this dead man; he is my husband. Seek what thou +requirest elsewhere." + +The witch placed a long hand on the distracted widow's shoulder. + +"Be not so foolish, poor wench," said she. "Trouble not over what I +do. I tell thee I am thy friend, and the hand of thy dead husband once +in my possession, will be of more service to thee than if left rotting +here. Will not the ravens come--the birds of the air--and peck the +bones clean; and is that not a greater defilement than boiling the fat +in the witches' kitchen, and drying the dead man's hand in the smoke +of the witches' fire? Listen!--dost know the meaning of revenge?" + +The poor widow's eyes glistened as though a fire burned within her +brain, and she repeated the single word "Revenge." + +The old witch laughed, and said: + +"Ah--thou knowest that. Tell me thy story." + +Then the younger woman told the tale of want and woe and cruel wrong. + +"The steward cast his eyes on me," she said, "but I loved my husband, +and would have nought to do with him. And one day, my man being near +when the tyrant insulted me, struck him to the ground, whereupon the +steward dismissed him from his post, and we were made beggars. Then my +child sickened, and since we needed nourishment, and there was no +chance of honest labour for my husband, he took to the forest and shot +one of the deer, saying that no wife or child of his should starve as +long as there were any of God's creatures to be shot in the woods of +Longdendale. The steward heard of this, and, like a wicked fiend, he +hounded my man to death. There his body hangs, and the man who drove +him to sin walks about in pride and power." + +She ended her story with a wail, and commenced to tear at her hair. + +"Where is thy child?" asked the hag. + +The distracted creature pointed to a bundle, which she had previously +deposited at the foot of the gallows. In the bundle was the form of a +male child, lately dead. + +"Dead too, like its father," said the witch. "How did it die?" + +"It died of want and of grief. Grief poisoned my milk, and the child +drank of it and died." + +"Does anyone know 'tis dead?" + +"No one but me--its mother." + +The witch looked intently at the eyes of the mother, as though she +would read her very soul. + +"And thou would'st have revenge?" she asked at length. + +"Would I not," answered the woman; "Oh, would I not. 'Tis all I live +for now. Give me vengeance and I will become thy slave." + +"Then listen to me." And the hag whispered something in the ears of +her young companion which appeared to satisfy her, for in a little +while the two left the gibbet, carrying the dead child in a bundle +between them. + +The next day, one who passed the gibbet noticed that the corpse +hanging thereon had only one hand. + +A short time afterwards it was reported that the infant child of the +steward had been spirited away in the night. It had been set to sleep +in its cradle, and when the nurse awoke the cradle was empty, and the +window open. There was a great outcry, and men were sent in search; +the searchers presently returned bearing the dead body of a male +child, the face of which had been half eaten away. It was impossible +to recognise the features, but the steward wept over the body, telling +himself that his son had been devoured by some savage beast of the +forest, that had made its way into the mansion, and stolen the child +while the household slept. He suspected that some evil witch-wife had +been at work, and he trembled with fear, for he was sore afraid of the +powers of darkness, as all wicked men are. + +Meanwhile the dead man's widow dwelt with the old witch at a haunted +hut in the forest, and it was reported that her son throve apace. + + * * * * * + +Years passed by, and the steward had no more children. The shock of +his son's death had proved too much for his lady's strength, and she +became an invalid. He grew more brutal and unmerciful in his conduct +day by day, and the peasantry came to regard him as a fiend in human +shape. + +As for the old witch and the poor distracted widow and her child, they +lived in the haunted hut, shunned by all--for it was reported that the +widow herself had also become a witch, and was in league with the +powers of darkness. The lad grew up into a fine youth, and had he +lived an honest life, he would have been accounted one of the +handsomest and likeliest lads in all Longdendale. But the training of +his mother and the old witch had led him to spend his days in all +manner of evil, he robbed and plundered, and finally took to the woods +as an outlaw. Inspired by his mother, he was particularly severe in +his depredations upon the property of the steward, and being reckless +and daring to an unusual degree, he had so far succeeded in avoiding +capture. At length there came a time when an adventure more impudent +and daring than all previous affairs, caused the steward to put a +price upon his head, and so keen was the hunt after him that the bold +rascal found it necessary to keep in hiding. + +The steward chafed with anger, for all his efforts to lay the robber +by the heels were fruitless, and he had small hopes of ascertaining +the whereabouts of the man he wanted. One day, however, an old hag +presented herself at his gate, and asked for an interview. + +"Ah," said he, recognising the old witch, "what doest thou here. Where +is that imp of Satan whom thou hast helped to rear?" + +"That, good Master Steward, is even what I am come to tell thee," +answered the hag. + +"How now," said the steward; "what evil scheme is afloat now?' + +"Revenge," said the witch, snapping her toothless gums, and shaking +her crutch. "Revenge upon the woman--my companion, and upon her +evil-minded son. They have played me false, and now I mean to return +the compliment. The woman is away on a journey, and to-night her son +crept in from the forest for shelter and a meal. I gave him meat and +drink, but I drugged the drink, and now he lies in slumber at my hut +in the forest. Send thy guards, steward, and take him ere he wakes." + +The steward rubbed his hands with glee, and laughed joyously. + +"Thou devil's spawn," said he, "thou shalt be rewarded if we take +him." + +"I seek no reward but to see him gibbetted," said the witch. + +"Thy wish shall be gratified," said the steward; and without more ado +he called his men, and marched off to the witch's hut to effect the +arrest. + +In those days little time was lost between the arrest of a man and his +death upon the gallows; and on the following day the witch and +her companion--the young widow of the earlier part of this +story--accompanied a procession to the place of execution at Gallow's +Clough. The steward was there with his men-at-arms--and as he beheld +the widow, he turned to her and began to rail. + +"Ah, thou hell-cat. Dost thou love the gallows so? Thy husband died on +this gibbet, and now thy son comes to the same end. Like father, like +son. 'Tis in the breed. Why dost thou not weep and shriek for mercy as +thou did'st when thy man was swung?" + +Then the woman answered with a laugh: + +"Because I am mad, thou fool, and cannot weep. My tears were dried up +with weeping over my husband, and now I can weep no more. I must +laugh, man, laugh when the gibbet creaks beneath the weight of a dead +man. The days of weeping are past, the time of laughter and rejoicing +is come." + +"Thou speakest truth," quoth the steward, turning away. "Thou art mad +indeed." + +"Yet not so mad as thou, oh, thou wise man," said the woman,--but the +steward did not hear her. + +The executioners did their work, and the young man was hanged by the +neck until he was dead. Then the steward and his men turned to depart. + +But the widow stood before him, and laughed in his face. + +"Wise man--madman, rather," said she. "Whom, thinkest thou, is that +dead man on the gallows?" + +"Thy son, witch, thy son," said the steward, stepping back before the +wild appearance of the woman. + +"My son, fool! Nay, 'tis thy son, steward. The child who disappeared +from his nurse's room was brought to me, was reared by me, was trained +for the gallows, and hangs there dead. My son died the same day that +his father was hanged--murdered by thee--and his mangled and +disfigured body was found by thy servants and buried as thy son. Dost +understand me now?" + +The steward reeled, but recovered himself with an effort. + +"'Tis false," said he, in a choking voice. + +"'Tis true," screamed the woman; "was not there a birthmark upon thy +child's shoulder? Ah, thou rememberest it, I see. Look at the dead man +on the gallows, and thou wilt find the birthmark there." + +With a wild cry the steward stripped the clothing from the dangling +corpse, and there upon the lifeless shoulder, he found the mark which +branded the criminal as his child. He had hanged his own son. + +Before his men could lend a hand to stay him he had fallen senseless +to the ground. + +The men turned and sprang towards the woman, who was now convulsed +with horrible laughter. + +"Seize her," cried one,--and they all made to obey. + +But quickly raising a phial to her lips, she drank the contents, and +in an instant fell back a corpse. + +The old witch shook her crutch at the armed men. + +"The murder of an innocent man is avenged," she cried. "Is it not +written that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the +children? And lo--the murderer's son perishes upon the gibbet where +the father's crime was done." + +Then, laughing shrilly, she hobbled away over the hills, and, full of +fear, the men-at-arms let her go unmolested. + + + + +XIV. + +The King's Evil + +Or THE WONDERFUL CURE OF THE MOTTRAM PARSON. + + +There was a certain John Hyde appointed Vicar of Mottram in the year +1575, who continued to hold the sacred office for over 50 years. He +succeeded his father, Sir Nicholas Hyde (the Vicar of Mottram from +1547 to 1575) who was buried in the Chancel of Mottram Church on the +24th day of April, 1575. John Hyde married at Mottram on February +26th, 1575-6, Alice Reddich, of Mottram, by whom he had several +children: and after her death on March 21st, 1593-4, he married for a +second wife, Ann Hyde, on May 22nd, 1597. In the year 1599 the Parish +Registers were transcribed from the old paper books into the parchment +volumes now in use, and every page of the transcripts bears the +signature of John Hyde. He was also rural dean of Macclesfield. + +During a great portion of his life, Parson John Hyde had curates to +assist in the discharge of his ministerial duties; this assistance was +the more necessary on account of the wide extent of the ancient parish +of Mottram, and also because there was a chapel at Woodhead dependent +for its ministry upon the mother church at Mottram. The most prominent +of these curates was his eldest son, Hamnet Hyde, who, as appears from +the Mottram registers, was baptized at Mottram Church on May 14th, +1580, and afterwards settled in the town, marrying there on the 12th +day of January, 1601, Joane Greaves, of Mottram, by whom he had three +sons, John, Nicholas, and Thomas. + +Parson Hyde was of an ancient family of gentry, notable in both +Lancashire and Cheshire; being connected with the Hydes of Denton, and +the Hydes of Hyde. His great influence, however, was not alone owing +to this circumstance, but was rather due to his own attainments and +his proved superiority in the matter of learning and wisdom. Hamnet +Hyde, his son, inherited his father's good qualities; he was a man of +good parts, was distinguished for his learning, and was withal pious +and devout. He made a good curate in every way. He was well liked by +the parishioners of Mottram, and was, indeed, well spoken of +throughout the whole of the Longdendale country. It should also be +added in view of the details of this tradition, that he was a fairly +robust man, steady, sober, in no way given to gluttony, and there +seemed every prospect of his living to a good old age. + +There came a time, however, when good Master Hamnet Hyde was greatly +distressed to find a grievous disease slowly yet surely creeping over +him. Do what he would, it was impossible to shake the sickness off. +Bit by bit the disease grew worse, and the local quacks and surgeons +were entirely powerless to stay its course. One by one the local +doctors tried, and each one was sorrowfully obliged to confess to +failure in the end. "Nothing could be done," they said; and a complete +cure seemed almost hopeless. + +Now, not only was Master Hamnet Hyde distressed with this +intelligence, and not only did his good wife Dame Joane, weep until +her good looks were impaired, but the news also gave great pain +throughout the parish. The people took the matter to heart as though +the parson was one of their own relations. So greatly was he beloved +by the common people that some of them even went so far as to employ +charms and other harmless means, whereby they hoped to remove the +sickness from which the curate was suffering. + +The curate's condition formed the subject of gossip when the people +gathered together about the cross opposite the churchgates after +divine service. + +"Goodman Shaw," said one to his neighbour, "what think you of Master +Hamnet Hyde to-day?" + +The man addressed shook his head sadly before he answered. + +"Methinks we shall not have many more sermons from him unless he +alters greatly." + +The curate, it should be stated, had preached that morning. + +"Thou art right, goodman," went on the first speaker, "but it comes +into my mind that there is one remedy he has not yet tried, which it +were worth his while to put to the test. Someone should suggest it to +him." + +"And what is that, pray?" "Why, the Royal Touch. Let him visit the +King, and be touched for the evil. There was a pedlar called on my +dame but yestereen, and he told a great tale of the marvellous cures +wrought by His Majesty King James, God bless him. Why should not our +curate journey up to London, and get the King to remove his sickness?" + +"Why not, indeed. Thou hast spoken wisely." + +It should be mentioned that in those days the cure of disease by the +patient being "touched" by the Royal fingers was widely believed in. +It was asserted that kings were specially endowed by God with the +power of healing by touch; and of all the monarchs who ever ruled in +England, none were believed to have received this truly royal gift in +such abundance as that Most High and Mighty Prince, James the First. + +A suggestion of the sort mentioned by the gossip was not likely, +therefore, to be neglected, and accordingly the idea was laid +pertinently before the curate, who eventually made up his mind to seek +the royal remedy. With this object in view, he mounted his horse, and, +attended by his friends, journeyed southward to see the king. Before +setting out on the journey, he commended himself to God, for the roads +were infested with highwaymen, and it was a perilous venture to travel +from Longdendale to London at that time. There was a goodly +congregation in the old church at Mottram, and from the heart of every +worshipper there went up a fervent prayer for the curate on the +occasion of the last service specially held before his departure. + +On the morrow the whole village was early astir, for it was known that +the curate would that morning set out upon his journey; and a numerous +array of villagers gathered in the street before the parson's door as +the hour of departure drew nigh. + +[Illustration: MOTTRAM CHURCH AND VILLAGE CROSS.] + +"Fare thee well, good Master Hamnet," cried one; "God prosper thy +journey." + +"If the king but touch thee thou art surely healed," said another. + +"Look well to thy pistols, parson," quoth a third. "'Twere a pity not +to put to good service the weapons God hath placed in our hands. And, +of a truth, there be many rogues upon the road." + +"Be sure the beds whereon thou sleepest are well aired," put in an old +dame. "Nothing aggravates the sickness like a damp bed." + +And so with numerous manifestations of good will, the sturdy Mottram +folk sped their parson upon his journey. + +Now, after safely passing the many perils of the road, Master Hyde +arrived at Greenwich in due course and, securing an audience of the +King, was touched by His Majesty upon the 22nd day of May, 1610. There +was a crowd of sufferers gathered about the Royal Palace, many of +whom, like the curate, had travelled from a distance, and they cried +aloud for joy when the King came amongst them. They fell upon their +knees before him; and, with a gracious smile and many words of +comfort, the monarch passed through the crowd, touching each patient +as he passed, and breathing a prayer for their welfare. Immediately +the fingers touched the patient, the royal virtue passed into the +frame of the sufferer, and he was instantly healed. Then the crowd +gave thanks to God and his Majesty, and with glad hearts set out for +their homes. + +It is needless to dwell long over the homecoming of good Master +Hamnet. The news of his return was heralded abroad, and when he +entered the village, the people flocked about him, throwing up their +caps and cheering lustily, so that he returned like some great +conqueror to his own. + +After his return, he not only showed his gratitude by rendering public +thanks to God for the wonderful cure performed upon him, but in order +that future generations might know of the Divine goodness, and the +King's most excellent kindness, he inscribed the following passage in +the parish register of Mottram, where it may be read to this day. + + "Anno Dni, 1610. Md. that uppon the 22nd daie of Maie, 1610, I, + Hamnet Hyde, of Mottram clerke was under the King's most + excellent Matie. his hands (for the evill) and att Greenewiche + was healed. On wch. daie three years itt is requyred by his + Matie. that the ptie so cured shoulde returne (if God pmitt) to + render thanks bothe to God and His Matie. + + God save Kinge James, p. me. Hamnettum Hyde, clericum." + +Hamnet Hyde lived several years after this miraculous cure. He died in +1617, and was buried at Mottram on the 3rd January, 1617-18. The entry +in the register written by his father is as follows: + + "1617-18, January 3rd. Hamnet Hyde, my sonn, buried--." + +Parson John Hyde survived his son Hamnet nearly 20 years, for he +continued Vicar of Mottram until the year 1637, being buried on the +17th March in that year. He left direction concerning his burial in +his will as follows: "In the name of God. Amen. The 13th February, +1633, I John Hyde, Vicar of Mottram, in the County of Chester, Clerk, +being aged. My body to be buried in due and decent manner under the +stone where my late father lyeth buryed, in the Chancell of the Parish +Church of Mottram, adjoining to the tomb of Mr. John Picton, late +parson there." etc., etc. + +It may be added in conclusion that the sovereigns of England claimed +and frequently exercised the power of healing certain diseases by +touch. The curing of scrofula, or the "King's Evil," as it was called, +was practised by Henry VII, Henry VIII., and Queen Elizabeth; and was +also very extensively carried on by those believers in the "Divine +Right" theory--the Stuart Kings. The "cure by touch" was believed in +as late as the time of Queen Anne. The "Form of Healing" occurs in the +older prayer books, especially those of the 17th century. + + + + +XV. + +The Magic Book. + + +There is a spot prettily situated near the town of Glossop, known as +Mossey Lea. It is notable as having been the home of a great magician, +who dwelt there in the olden time, and who was renowned far and wide. +He was, perhaps, the most learned and powerful of all magicians who +have lived since the days of Merlin, but unfortunately his name has +been forgotten. Such is fame. + +So renowned was he in his own day, however, that pupils came to him, +not only from all parts of England, but even from across the seas. +These pupils desired to be inculcated with the mystic lore, and +invested with the same degree of skill in the exercise of the magic +arts, that their master possessed. Accordingly they left no stone +unturned in their efforts after knowledge--that is to say, they were +not over-particular as to the means they adopted to secure the end +they had in view. They strove to impress upon everyone with whom they +came in contact, their vast superiority to ordinary mankind, and +generally they proved a big nuisance to the country side. + +But there were two of these pupils who were especially curious; they +were constantly prying into nooks and corners which were labelled +"private"; they were ever meddling with business that did not concern +them. By some evil chance, the magician fixed upon these two pupils to +act as his agents for the transaction of some business in a town in +Staffordshire, and to bring back with them a very remarkable book, +which dealt with magic, and which was, moreover, itself endowed with +magical powers. Thus the two luckless youths became all unwittingly +the heroes of the following Longdendale tradition. + +History--as is often the case in these legends of the olden time--has +forgotten to record for us the names of the two notable youths, hence +we are driven to the necessity of naming them ourselves, in order to +distinguish them from each other. So we call one Ralph and the other +Walter. It has already been said that they were two curious youths, +ever ready to pry into things; and on the night preceding their +journey, they indulged in this pastime to the full. + +While they were at supper the magician had bidden them to repair to +his private chamber ere they retired to rest; and having +entered therein, they were treated to the information already +recorded--namely, that they would have to make a journey on his +behalf, transact some business, and bring back with them a magic +book--with the addition of the following piece of advice and warning. + +"Look to it that ye heed what I now say," said the magician; "for by +the shades, 'tis a matter of mighty import. Ye shall get the book, and +ye shall jealously guard it. On no account shall you open it. More I +do not vouchsafe to you, but remember my warning. Open not the book at +your peril. Now get ye to rest, for to-morrow you must een start with +the rising of the sun." + +The youths left the room looking very solemn and good, with many +promises that they would faithfully remember their master's charges, +and what was of more consequence, that they would act upon them. But +for all that they did not retire to rest. When they reached the +passage leading to their apartment, Ralph said to Walter: + +"What thinkest thou of this quest of ours? Is our master treating us +fairly in thus keeping secret this matter? We have paid a high fee for +tuition in magic, and here he sends us on our first quest, and we are +een to know nothing of the mission on which we go." + +"Thou art right," said Walter. "'Tis most unfair, and methinks our +master has in view the acquisition of some potent power. If we engage +in the quest, it is but fair we should share the spoil--the knowledge +to be gained." + +To which Ralph added, "I am with thee, comrade. And I would know more +of this business before I start." + +Here he whispered to his companion, and the latter nodded his head in +acquiescence. After which the two stole together in silence to the +door of the magician's room, and in turn set their eyes to the +key-hole, whilst their ears drank in every sound. + +The magician was seated before a crucible, muttering certain +incantations which are as foreign language to the unlearned. But the +two students understood the meaning of the sentences quite well, and +the result of their eavesdropping appeared to give them satisfaction. +When the magician made signs of coming to the end of his labour, they +skipped nimbly away, and sought their beds, chuckling triumphantly as +they ran. + +It is not to the purpose of the legend to dwell upon the incidents of +their next day's journey. Suffice it to say that on that day they were +early astir, that they went gaily upon their way, and in due course +received the magic book from its owner. Then they set out on their +homeward journey, looking very good and innocent until they were well +out of sight. But withal both determined to see the inside of that +volume before the day was over. + +Soon they came to a lonely part of the country, and here they sat +down, intending to gratify their curiosity. + +"If there is knowledge contained within, then am I determined to drink +of the well thereof, and become even one of the wise." + +So spoke Ralph, and Walter also said: + +"And I am of a like mind, comrade. So bring hither the book, and let +us fall to." + +They placed the thick volume upon their knees, and quickly undid the +handsome clasp which held the sides together, when, lo! a veritable +earthquake seemed to have come upon the scene. The ground shook, +houses tottered, walls and fences fell down, a tremendous whirlwind +arose, which uprooted trees and tossed the forest giants about like +little wisps of hay. Even the students were terrified at the result of +their curiosity, and as for ordinary mortals, why there is no +describing the panic in which they were thrown. + +When the luckless students recovered from the first shock of +astonishment, they could only bemoan their folly in discarding the +warning of so potent a magician as their master, and they were filled +with dread as to the punishment they would receive when next they +stood before him. + +"Of a truth we are undone," said Ralph; "our master will never more +trust us." + +"We are like to be beaten to death with the tempest," said Walter "Who +can stay the power of this evil Spirit, that our mad curiosity has +thus let loose?" + +Now, luckily, the magician no sooner beheld the tempest than he at +once divined the cause of this hubbub of the elements, and with +commendable promptitude he proceeded with all speed to the spot where +the students lay with the magical volume. Arrived there, he pronounced +an incantation, and then by magic means known to himself alone, +rapidly stilled the tempest, which the ill-timed curiosity of his +pupils had brought forth. In the words of the old chronicle, he "laid +the evil spirit, commanding him as a punishment to make a rope of sand +to reach the sky." + +Which venture no doubt had a salutary effect upon the spirit, for +there is no later mention of any similar antics on its part. We may +conclude from this circumstance, that the spirit has found the task +assigned it as a punishment, greater than it can discharge, and that +it is still labouring away at the sand rope, which is not much nearer +reaching the sky than it was when the work first begun. + + + + +XVI. + +The Parson's Wife, + + +In olden time Providence often punished the sins of men and women in +some remarkable fashion. The divine retribution often followed swiftly +upon the violation of the sacred rules of life. We frequently read of +profane men and women whose blasphemy has been instantly followed by +some paralytic seizure, or who, when guilty, and protesting their +innocence have called down heaven's vengeance on their heads if they +were not even then stating the truth, have been at once rendered +lifeless by some strange stroke of the divine power. The following +story will illustrate this principle. + +There was once a parson of Mottram--his name and the date of his +holding the benefice are for obvious reasons not mentioned--who had a +peculiar wife. In many respects she was a loveable woman, but she +possessed a nose formed like a pig's snout, and she was forced to eat +her meals out of a silver trough specially provided for her. How she +came to win the affections of the parson, is not known, it might have +been that she had riches to make up for her deficiency in beauty of +countenance, or it might have been that the parson saw in her +compensating charms which were not obvious to the rest of mankind. +This tradition only deals with the cause of her strange infirmity. + +Her parents were very wealthy; her mother was a haughty dame who +worshipped wealth, and looked down on all people who were humble in +station. To those wealthier than herself, or whose social standing was +above her own, she was most polite and agreeable, and willing to go to +any trouble no matter how great, to win their friendship and esteem, +but to those who were poor, no matter how estimable they might be in +mind, ability, or real worth, she was chilling and distant, and even +insolent in bearing. True Christian love and charity were virtues she +did not understand. Probably she did not believe in them; at least she +did not practice them. No poor man's blessing ever ascended to heaven +on her behalf, for she was never known to bestow a gift willingly upon +the needy. So, no doubt, Providence considered that it was necessary +she should be taught a severe lesson, that thereby mankind might be +led to see that such un-Christian conduct was opposed to the highest +rules of life, and could not be practised with benefit and impunity. + +One day, to her door, there came an old beggar woman and her children, +clearly betokening by their appearances the utmost misery and +destitution. Their clothes were all in rags, only just able to hang +together, while here and there, through the great rents, the flesh +showed bare and cold. Their faces were pinched, and their frames thin +and withered from lack of proper food; and nearly all of them were +shoeless. Their feet were red and blistered, cut in places by the +sharp stones of the wayside. + +"A charity, I pray, good lady, for the love of Christ," said the +beggar woman as the lady stood at the door. "Not a bite have we had +this day, and we have travelled far. If thou hast children of thine +own, take pity upon the starving children of the poor." + +But the haughty dame bade her begone. + +"Out on thee, thou vulgar drab," said she. "Thou art no honest woman, +else had thou hadst a husband to provide for thee." + +"My man is dead, lady," protested the beggar, "and I am left a widow." + +"More likely thou art a harlot, and the children basely begotten. Away +with thee from my door, or I will have the constables after thee, and +thou shalt be publicly whipped for a low woman." + +Then, losing her temper completely, she called for her serving men. + +"Ho, there. Rid me of this pest. Turn out this old sow and her litter, +for there is the smell of the stye about them." + +At this outrage the poor woman fled. Some say she called down the +vengeance of heaven upon the haughty dame, others state that divine +justice asserted itself of its own accord. Be that as it may, the +wealthy lady was in due course with child, and she brought forth a +daughter having a face shaped like an animal with a pig's snout +thereon, who in after years married the parson of Mottram. Thus did +pride and want of charity bring its own reward. + + + + +XVII. + +The Devil and the Doctor. + + +Longdendale has always been noted for the number of its inhabitants +devoted to the study of magic arts. Once upon a time, or to give it in +the words of an unpublished rhyme (which are quite as indefinite)-- + + "Long years ago, so runs the tale, + A doctor dwelt in Longdendale;" + +and then the rhyme goes on to describe the hero of the legend-- + + "Well versed in mystic lore was he-- + A conjuror of high degree; + He read the stars that deck the sky, + And told their rede of mystery." + +Coming down to ordinary prose, it will suffice to say that the doctor +referred to was a most devoted student of magic, or, as he preferred +to put it--"a keen searcher after knowledge"--a local Dr. Faustus in +fact. Having tried every ordinary means of increasing his power over +his fellow mortals, he finally decided to seek aid of the powers of +darkness, and one day he entered into a compact with no less a +personage than His Imperial Majesty, Satan, otherwise known as the +Devil. The essentials of this agreement may thus be described. + +It was night--the black hour of midnight--and the doctor was alone in +his magic chamber. He had long desired power sufficient to enable him +to accomplish a certain project, and hitherto all means by which he +had tried to secure that power, had been of no avail. Blank failure +had attended every effort, and at last he had decided to make use of +the most certain, yet withal most desperate, agency known to him. In +other words, he would call up the Prince of Darkness, and ask his aid. +The only thing which troubled the doctor was the thought that the +price which Satan would demand, might be much greater than he would +care to pay. But, after all, that was something he would have to risk. + +He set a lamp burning on the table, and into a small cauldron hung +above it, he poured certain liquids, which he mixed with certain +evil-looking powders and compounds. Some of the items which he added +to this unholy brew, appeared to have once been members of the human +frame. But that, of course, was known only to the doctor. When the +brew began to simmer, the doctor commenced to mumble certain strange +incantations, which he continued with unabated vigour for the best +part of an hour, without, however, eliciting any manifestations from +the dwellers in the spirit world. At length, however, his patience was +rewarded, for the light beneath his cauldron suddenly went out, the +mixture within boiled over, and the vapour which rose from it, spread +over the room until all the objects therein were hidden as though by a +thick black cloud. Then, out of the cloud, came a voice, deep and +terrible in tone, which caused the very building to rock as though an +earthquake had occurred. + +"Why hast thou summoned me from the shades, O mortal, and what dost +thou require?" + +The doctor gasped with awe, he almost felt afraid to address the +dreadful spirit, which his own incantations and rites had brought from +the underworld. At length he screwed up sufficient courage to proceed, +and said: + +"I would have the possession of certain powers, O, thou Dread spirit." + +"And of what nature are they?" asked the spirit. + +Whereupon, the worthy doctor commenced a long explanation, into which +we need not enter, setting forth his evil desires, and begging the +Devil to aid him. + +"Thou shalt have all that thou requirest, and more," said the Devil +when the doctor had come to an end of his requests; "that is, +providing thou art prepared to pay the price." + +"And the price is?" ventured the doctor, trembling. + +"The usual one," said the Devil. "I have but one price, which all +mortals must pay. On a day which I shall name, thou shalt wait upon +me, and deliver up thy soul to me." + +"'Tis a stiff price, good Satan," said the doctor in protest. + +"'Tis the only price I will listen to," said the Devil. + +"Then I must een pay it," said the doctor, seeing that further +argument was useless, and, being by this time quite determined to have +his desires no matter what the cost. "I agree," he added. And there +and then he signed the bond in blood, with a pen made from a dead +man's bone. + +Satan pocketed the bond. + +"Thy desires are granted," said he. "Make the most of thy +opportunities. One day I shall surely call upon thee for payment." + +Then, with a burst of mocking laughter, he disappeared. + +The doctor seems to have enjoyed the results of the compact until the +day drew near for the settlement. Then, indeed, he appears to have +repented, But he was by no means a dull-witted individual, and in a +happy moment he began to cudgel his brain for some way out of the +difficulty--some plan of escape. Before long his face brightened, a +gleam of hope shone on it, and at length he seemed to see his way +clear. He received the formal summons of Satan with a knowing smile, +and when the day at last arrived, set out in good time to keep his +unholy tryst. + +In the language of the rhyme, + + "Now rapidly along he sped + Unto a region waste and dead, + And here at midnight hour did wait + His Sable Majesty in state." + +The Devil appeared, seated upon a coal black charger, which was of the +purest breed of racing nags kept specially for the Derby Day of the +Infernal Regions. Satan was very proud of his horse; he was open to +lay any odds on its beating anything in the shape of horse flesh that +could be found on earth. + +Judge then of the Devil's surprise when the Longdendale doctor offered +to race him. (It should be stated that the doctor had ridden to the +place of meeting on a horse which was bred in Longdendale, though the +trainer's name has unfortunately been lost). + +At first Satan laughed at the impudence of the proposition, but after +some little haggling, he at length agreed to the doctor's conditions. +The conditions were that the Devil was to give the doctor a good +start, and that the latter was to have his freedom if he won the race. + +[Illustration: "A RUNNING STREAM."] + +"I am unduly favouring thee," said the Devil; "I do not as a rule +allow my clients a single minute's grace when payment falls due, and I +do not reckon to let them bargain as to other means of payment. But +for all that, I do not see why I should not make merry at thy expense. +I am not altogether as black as I am painted. And if it will give thee +any comfort to imagine thou hast a chance of escape--why then get on +with the race." + +Acting upon the above agreement, a start was made, and the course was +along the road now known as Doctor's Gate. The contest was most +exciting. Prose can scarcely do justice to the occasion, but we will +endeavour to give some account of the strange contest. The Devil good +naturedly conceded a big start, for, of course, he felt quite certain +of reaching the winning post first, and when the signal was given he +went full cry in pursuit. Away the coursers sped like wind, the doctor +riding with grim countenance, and teeth firmly set, ever and anon +casting an anxious look behind him, and now looking as anxiously in +front. Meanwhile the Devil rode in approved hunting fashion, with many +a loud halloa, which made the very mountains shake as though a thunder +peal was sounding. His horns projected from his head, his cloven feet +did away with the necessity for stirrups, and he lashed the flanks of +his coal black charger with his tail in lieu of a whip. + +Slowly but surely the Devil gained upon the doctor. Inch by inch the +black steed drew nearer the Longdendale hack, until at length the +Devil, by leaning over his horse's head, was able to grasp the tail of +the doctor's horse. With a loud burst of fiendish laughter, Satan +began to twist the tail of the Longdendale horse, until at last the +poor beast screamed with pain and terror. This greatly amused the +Devil, who twisted the tail all the harder, so that the doctor's +horse, goaded almost to madness, plunged along faster than before, and +in its fright took a mighty leap into a running stream which dashed +brawlingly across the path. All too late Satan saw his danger; he held +on to the beast's tail and tugged with all his might. For a second, +the contest hung in the balance, and the result seemed doubtful. But +luckily for the doctor, the tail of the horse came off--torn out by +the roots--the Devil's steed fell back on its haunches, and the +doctor's charger plunged safely through the flood, and gained the +opposite bank. Then the doctor gave a great shout of triumph, for +according to the laws of sorcery--laws which even the Devil must +obey--when once the pursued had crossed a running stream, the powers +of evil lost all dominion over him. + +Thus by a combination of skill, cunning, and good luck, the +Longdendale doctor outwitted the Devil. Some profane mortals state +that when he found himself victorious, the doctor turned towards the +Devil, and put his fingers to his nose as a sign of victory, while the +Devil, sorely disgusted, rode off to hell with his tail between his +legs, vowing that the mortals of Longdendale would have no place to go +to when they died, for they were too bad for heaven, and too clever +for hell. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +The road known as "The Doctor's Gate"--mentioned in the above +story--runs across a portion of Longdendale. In reality it is part of +the old Roman road from Melandra Castle, Gamesley, to the Roman +station at Brough in the Vale of Hope. + +With reference to the main incident of this legend, the following +quotation from Sir Walter Scott will be found of interest:--"If you +can interpose a brook between you and witches, spectres, or fiends, +you are in perfect safety." + +No date is attached to the legend. + + + + +XVIII. + +The Writing on the Window Pane. + + +It was an evening in the glad month of June, of the year 1644, and the +children of Longdendale were playing games on the smooth green plots +before the cottage doors. At one spot not far distant from the site of +the old Roman station, Melandra Castle, a group of merry little ones, +lads and lassies, were swinging round hand in hand, their sweet young +voices chanting an old-time rhyme. + +Suddenly there was a shrill cry from one of the girls, and following +the direction of her gaze, the children beheld a sight that at first +set their young hearts beating sharp with fear. A company of horsemen, +wearing wide-brimmed and much befeathered hats, with long hair hanging +about their shoulders, rode jauntily past the greensward in the +direction of the Carr House Farm. The horsemen were well armed, +carrying swords and pistols, and bright steel armour shone dazzling +upon their breasts. As the cavalcade moved on, the jingling of +stirrups, bits, and harness, made a merry music that was well adapted +to the martial scene. The children, though startled at first, soon +recovered from their fright, and ran gaily to see the squadron pass +by. Curiosity, in their case, got the mastery of fear. For those were +what the historians term "stirring times,"--days of war and tumult, of +peril and death, of bloodshed and ruin, of suffering and horror; and +well the children of Longdendale knew that the quarrel between King +Charles and his Parliament had already made sad hearts and weeping +eyes, widowed women and orphaned children, even in their own +neighbourhood. But the great battles of which they had heard had all +been fought at a distance, and, as is well known in the case of war, +"distance lends enchantment to the view." There was something wildly +romantic and fascinating to the minds of the children in those great +events which were daily transpiring, and about the men who fought in +the battles; and so, on the June evening of this story, the children +flocked curiously about the horsemen, who were a band of gentlemen +cavaliers on their way from Lancashire to join the army of King +Charles at York. + +Accompanied by the children, the cavaliers rode up to the Carr House +Farm, and, at a sign from their leader, dismounted, and, without +troubling to ask consent, proceeded to stable their horses, and take +possession of the best rooms for their own accommodation. It was not +altogether a good mannered proceeding, but then, the people who lived +in those days when war was rife, grew accustomed to such violations of +the rights of property, and submitted to the indignities with as good +a grace as they could assume. They knew full well that if they had not +placed upon the table of their very best, the soldiers would have +raided the larder and confiscated all the contents. So, in the +language of modern days, "they made the best of a bad job." + +One stalwart trooper, throwing the reins of his steed to a comrade, +was the first to stride through the farm door, and, as he came, the +farmer went bareheaded to greet him,--not altogether without some +qualms of doubt and fear. + +"Come, good man," cried the trooper merrily, "show me the way to thy +best room, for our leader, Captain Oldfield, rests there this night. +And if thou art of the King's party, set thy wife to work at once, and +prepare him a feast right merrily, or if thou be'st of the roundhead +faction, why, do the same unwillingly, and be damned to thee." + +History does not tell us which side of the quarrel the farmer +favoured, and it does not really matter which, for in any case a visit +from the Royalists would be alike unwelcome. If he was a Roundhead, +then, as a matter of course, the billeting of a force of Cavaliers was +bound to be distasteful; if he were loyal to the King, then against +the satisfaction of providing for the King's troops, must be set the +knowledge that the next force of Roundheads that came into the +neighbourhood would pay him a visit and demand satisfaction for the +favour he had shown their enemies. The farmer made a discreet remark. + +"If ye are true men, ye are welcome to such hospitality as I can +afford." + +And then he and his servants set about doing with as good a grace as +possible that which they knew themselves compelled to do. + +But although the soldiers might be unwelcome guests to the farmer and +his wife, their coming was by no means received with a bad grace by +other members of the household. The maids, in particular, seemed quite +glad as they beheld the Cavaliers enter the yard, and what was more +remarkable, they made scarcely any attempt to prevent the arms of the +fighting-men stealing around their trim-set waists with the coming of +the gloaming and the shadows. There were shy giggles and blushes and +many a stolen kiss in and about the Carr House Farm that night, before +the bugle sounded the hour of rest. + +When all the men were inside save the sentries, whose duty it was to +give notice of the approach of Roundheads--if any such rebel gentlemen +should chance to put in an appearance--the officer in command gathered +his soldiers around the oak table in the best room, and seated himself +at their head. Captain Oldfield, of Spalding (for such was his name +and title), first addressed the company, which included the master and +mistress of the farm, and all the pretty maids whose lips so readily +lent themselves to a soldier's kiss. He reminded his hearers of the +great sin of fighting against the "Lord's anointed." + +"For," said he, "did not God appoint kings and princes and governors, +and if they are not to rule their people, wherefore are they created? +Therefore it stands to reason that they who oppose the will, and set +themselves in array against the authority of good King Charles, are +fighting against God, and are likely ere long to suffer grievously +from the displeasure of God. And I would especially urge upon ye good +people of Longdendale that ye remain loyal and true to His Majesty, +and have nothing to do with traitorous rebels who are prompted of the +devil. So shall ye escape a felon's death here and damnation +hereafter." + +Then, drawing from his finger a ring set with a large diamond, he +continued-- + +"My stay will doubtless be short, yet would I leave behind a loyal +sentiment which shall serve to remind you of your duty toward your +royal master." + +Whereupon he advanced to the window, and on one of the little +diamond-shaped panes, he scratched the following words in the Latin +tongue:-- + + "May King Charles live and conquer. + Thus prays + John Oldfield, + of Spalding, + 1644." + +The task of writing being ended, he then called on all present to fill +their cups with the farmer's best country wine, and drink deep to the +sentiment which he had just inscribed. + +The men filled their cups and drained them to the dregs, after which +they cheered for King Charles. And then the band broke up, the +troopers seeking their hard couches, while Captain Oldfield retired to +his room with the officers, to discuss their future movements, and to +question and gossip with the farmer and such of the loyal gentry of +the neighbourhood as had come to greet him on hearing of the arrival +of his force. + +"And whither march ye, Captain Oldfield?" asked one of the gentlemen +of Longdendale, as the talk went on. + +"Toward York, Sir Squire," replied the officer; "To join the King." + +"And how will the fight go? Think you the rebels will attack the +city?" + +"That I doubt. For Rupert is there, he of the Rhine, a Prince of fire, +whose hot blood can never wait in patience for an assault. Rather +should I think he will sweep down on the Roundheads before they muster +in force sufficient to attack the city. As for the end of the fight, +why, look you, I am no prophet. Being in the struggle I do my best, +and I take the outcome, be it what it may, as becomes a true soldier. +There be some who pretend the seer's gift of sight so that they can +foresee what is to happen, but on such things I set little importance. +If the end is evil, why, then, the knowledge of it comes soon enough. +And if good, why the joy is all the greater for the waiting." + +The farmer now raised his voice: + +"If it please you," he said, "there is a neighbour woman who possesses +the gift of sight. She foretells events in a manner right wonderful. +If your worships like, I will e'en summon her before you." + +"Well," quoth the Cavalier, "I have no objection to witnessing her +antics, though I set no store by what she may say. So bring her +within; 'twill help the time to pass." + +The farmer left the room, and presently returned, leading in an old +beldame, whose withered and bent form seemed scarcely able to stand +upright. She leaned heavily upon an old crutch, and her breath came in +loud gasps as though she were a prey to asthma. + +"What is your will?" she asked, in a fit of coughing. "I am old; could +ye not let me rest a'nights without summoning me to make sport at your +revels." + +"Come, granny," said one of the gentlemen, "be not ill-tempered; we +would let these good Cavaliers witness a sample of your skill. They +ride to York to join the King, and would know what fate awaits them +there." + +The old dame laughed shrilly. + +"Better had they wait. Evil comes soon enough. Why not drink and be +merry while ye may?" + +"Why, granny, whence this croaking? What ill-fate seest thou?" + +"I see what ye in your pride deem impossible. Ye have just now drunk +to the King. Ye have inscribed on the window-pane of this dwelling a +prayer for his triumph. And a bonny sentiment it is that ye have +written, ye bloody murderers of Englishmen. Upholders of a tyrant, +think ye that the powers of the other world will ever smile upon your +cause? Not so. Your cause is accursed. Never shall the words of the +writing come to pass. King Charles shall perish. So shall ye, his +myrmidons. Lo! I see a field of battle. Rupert is there and the army +of King Charles--a glorious array without the walls of York. But there +cometh Cromwell, the man of iron, his horsemen charge once twice, +thrice, and lo! the army of the King is scattered, and the earth is +red with blood. I see faces, cold and dead, turned upwards towards the +sky. The faces of men slain in the battle. And behold, some of the +faces are your faces, For such is your doom. And in the end your King +shall perish, and old England shall be free." + +The frame of the old beldame shook as she delivered herself of this +tirade, and when she had ended she moved feebly to the door. The +company remained still, too awestruck to stay her, and presently she +had disappeared. The soldiers soon recovered their spirits, and joked +gaily over the occurrence. + +But it was destined that the words should come true. + +With the first streak of dawn, Captain Oldfield led his men on their +long march to the city of York. There on the second day of July, they +fought in the Battle of Marston Moor, and, even as the woman had +prophesied, most of the band perished in the battle, and Cromwell beat +back the King's army, and England was one step nearer being free. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +Ralph Bernard Robinson refers to the above legend in the following +passage in his little book on Longdendale. + +"Opposite, on the other side of the river, is Melandra Castle as the +the villagers call it. Some fields here are called in old deeds 'THE +CASTLE CARRS.' Hard by is an ancient homestead going to ruin called +'THE CARR HOUSE.' This old house has an historical celebrity. A party +of Royalists, on their march to Yorkshire before the Battle of Marston +Moor, stayed here one night. The name of the Captain, John Oldfield, +of Spalding, that of King Charles, and the date (1644), long remained +inscribed in Latin, with a diamond ring, on a window-pane of the old +dwelling." + +In some way or other, the pane of glass referred to by Robinson became +the property of the late A. K. Sidebottom, Esq., J.P., and after his +death was purchased at a public auction by my friend, Mr. Robert +Hamnett, of Glossop. To the kindness of the last-named gentleman, I am +indebted for the loan of the glass, and for various particulars +concerning it. When it came into Mr. Hamnett's possession, it was in +two pieces, which, however, have now been cemented together. The pane +is the ordinary size of small diamond panes frequently found in +cottages of old date, and still largely used in the windows of our +churches. The inscription is quite clear, but the glass is badly +scratched, as though some sturdy member of the Cromwell faction had +done his best to obliterate the Royalist writing without going to the +expense of breaking the window. + +The inscription is as follows:-- + + Vivat et vincat Rex Carolus, + Sic orat + Johnes Oldfield + de Spalding + 1644. + +Mr. Hamnett has been at considerable pains to trace the career and +family of the above John Oldfield. I am indebted to him for the +following particulars. The passage given here is taken from an ancient +MSS. belonging to the family, and has been supplied by the Wingfields, +who are direct descendants of Captain Oldfield. + +"We now come to John--the Captain Oldfield of the Longdendale +legend--the eldest son of the first Anthony, who, as we have sayd, +succeeded to his estate November, 1635. This gentleman was a most +zealous Royalist, and as the other party prevailed (he being left +wealthy by his father, notwithstanding his providing so well for +his other children), was at several times plundered by the +parliamentarians, and sequestred as a Delinqt., and at the Siege of +Newark, where he served the Royal cause gallantly as a gentleman +volunteer, was shot through the body, but recovered of his wounds. He +married Alice, the daughter of ---- Blythe, of Shawson, in the County +of Lincoln. He added to, and very much improved the seat built here by +his father, building the rooms and grand staircase in the north wing +of that house, and planting many forest trees and much wood about it. +This John was interred in the chancel of the Parish Church of our Lady +and St. Nicholas, in Spalding, as was Alice, his wife, by whom he had +three sons and as many daughters, viz., Anthony, his eldest, who +succeeded him to his estate and was afterwards created a Baronet by +King Charles II.... We now come to Anthony, eldest son of John, who, +as we have said, succeeded to his father's estate, 1660. He married +first Mary, the daughter of ---- Parker, Esq., by whom he had no +issue; secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Edmond Gresham.... This +gentleman was much esteemed and had a great intimacy with people of +the greatest worth and quality in his neighbourhood, and particularly +with Sir Robert Carr, Bart., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and +one of His Majesty's Most Honble. Privy Council, and upon the +recommendation of the Rt. Hon the Countess of Dorset, he was, by His +Majesty King Charles II., by letters patent, bearing date the 6th day +of August, 1660, advanced to the degree and dignity of a Baronet of +England, by the title of Sir Anthony Oldfield, of Spalding, in the +County of Lincoln, Bart.--he lies in the chancel under a very large +grey marble, upon which is this inscription:-- + + "Here was interred the body of Sir Anthony Oldfield, of this + town, Bart., who departed this life the fourth day of + September, Anno Salutis--1668; Aetatis--42." + +Sir John Oldfield, son of Sir Anthony, married in 1668, but at his +death in 1704, left only three daughters surviving. The baronetcy +accordingly became extinct. Elizabeth, the third daughter and co-heir +of the last Sir John, married John Wingfield, of Tickencote, High +Sheriff of Rutland (1702). From this union spring the present family +of Wingfield, which includes among its members Sir Edward Wingfield, +K.C.B., and Captain John Maurice Wingfield, of the Coldstream +Guards. + + + + +XIX. + +A Legend of the Civil War. + + +In the year 1644 the town of Stockport became the scene of some +exciting incidents in the great struggle then waging between the King +and his Parliament. From ancient days, Stockport had been accounted a +place of military importance, commanding, as it did, the passage of +the river Mersey. When the Romans took possession of the county, they +established a strong fortified camp upon a site near the modern market +place. The Norman lords of Stockport reared a castle upon the same +site, and from that period downwards, the strategic value of the place +continued to increase. When the Civil War broke out, the importance of +obtaining and maintaining possession of the town, was soon recognised +by both factions, and throughout the grim and prolonged contest. +Stockport was held first by one party, then by the other, as the +respective fortunes of the Cavaliers and Roundheads ebbed and flowed. + +The majority of the principal landowners and gentry--that is to say, +the most powerful of the representatives of the old county +families--in the vicinity of Stockport, were much inclined to +Puritanism, and so the cause of Parliament received strong support in +this part of the country. The Bradshawes of Marple Hall were vigorous +supporters of the Roundheads--Colonel Henry Bradshawe was a +distinguished Parliamentary soldier; and his brother, John Bradshawe, +afterwards became President of the Council of State, acted as the +Judge at the trial of King Charles, and passed the death sentence upon +that unhappy monarch. The Ardernes of Arden Hall, the Dukinfields of +Dukinfield, the Hydes of Hyde, and the Hydes of Denton were all +resolute supporters of the Parliament; and inasmuch as all these +families had property and influence in the town and parish of +Stockport, it is scarcely a matter for surprise to find that in the +year in which our story opens Stockport was held by a Parliamentary +force under command of that staunch soldier, Colonel Dukinfield, of +Dukinfield. + +Colonel Dukinfield is a man who deserves a few words of description. +He was one of the most distinguished of the group of famous historical +characters who sprang from this part of East Cheshire, and helped to +mould the destinies of the nation in the 17th century. A man of +Puritan ancestry, himself a great Puritan, with Republican tendencies, +endowed, moreover, with many of the gifts of a great soldier, he took +part at an early age in the opening stages of the great war. His +exploits in the field, and his influence and ability to raise and keep +together strong bodies of horse and foot, soon won for him a high +place in the ranks of the Parliamentary party; and right worthily did +he acquit himself, whether in the field at the head of his troops, or +in the Council Chamber, where all the qualities of a statesman were +called into play. Historians are unanimous as to the disinterestedness +of his character, and the purity of his motives; indeed, it is +generally recognised that he was one of the truest men of either party +that the Civil War produced. + +In the year mentioned, he was sent to guard Stockport, and the bridge +over the Mersey--one of the entrances from Cheshire into +Lancashire--and this task he performed, until military necessity +compelled him to evacuate the town, and retire before a superior force +of the enemy. + +A strong army of Loyalists, being sent to invade Lancashire, must +needs take possession of Stockport on their way; they were led by that +dashing dare-devil nephew of the King--Prince Rupert of the Rhine. +Recognising that the enemy was too strong for him, and deeming it +imprudent to risk the lives of his soldiers in a hopeless resistance, +Colonel Dukinfield withdrew his force, and vanished from Rupert's +sight. He of the Rhine sent his men through the rich farm lands about +Stockport, and they plundered the suffering yeomen--confiscating +whatever they required for the service of the King. The Roundheads, on +their part, had done the same, so no one could grumble very much about +the matter. As the sufferers said, "One side was every bit as bad as +the other." + +But not a glimpse of the Roundhead soldiers did the gay Cavaliers get, +and Rupert of the Rhine, hot-headed as he was, had yet more sense in +his pate than to be led astray from his direct line of march to begin +a risky, fruitless, and possibly disastrous chase of the +Parliamentarians. For he knew that Dukinfield, who, being a native, +was acquainted with every yard of the country, had taken refuge in the +wild and mountainous region of Longdendale, where it was easy enough +for the Roundheads to ambush the Cavaliers, and where there was little +chance for practising that dashing form of warfare--the grand charge +of large masses of cavalry upon equally compact masses of the +enemy--which was Rupert's favourite method, and which--until Cromwell +and his Ironsides came upon the scene--was invariably successful. + +So after a time Rupert passed on his march. + +Our story, however, has to do with the troops of the Parliament, and +their sojourn in Longdendale. When he left Stockport, Colonel +Dukinfield led his men directly to the wild country beyond Mottram; +and on the lands adjoining the old halls of Mottram, Thorncliffe, and +Hollingworth, and about the homes of the wealthier inhabitants, he +quartered his force. He does not seem to have met with much resistance +in this matter; and it is most likely that the Longdendale landowners +were themselves inclined to favour the Parliamentary cause. + +Be that as it may, they found food for horse and men, and supplied +Dukinfield with money, cattle, and soldiers, when the time came for +him to march. There are some interesting documents still preserved, +which give the details of the various expenses to which the +Longdendale gentry were put by the prolonged stay of the Roundhead +forces on their lands. + +[Illustration: DUKINFIELD HALL.] + +As was to be expected, the arrival of so renowned a fighter as Colonel +Dukinfield, and his bold band of Roundheads, caused more than a +flutter of excitement in the breasts of the country folk of +Longdendale. Those inclined to the Roundhead faction, were rather +proud to stand by and wave their caps and cheer at the brave men who +had so resolutely fought against the tyrant King; while the Royalist +inhabitants surveyed the soldiers and their Puritan colonel, with +feelings akin to hatred seeing in them nothing but a set of rebels who +were too vile to live. + +Of the last-named class was a stout yeoman whom for the purpose of +this story we will name Timothy Cooke. A thorough King's man at heart, +he had no sympathy with any who set themselves up to fight against the +"lords anointed," and as he saw the Roundheads ride past he would, had +he dared, and had the opportunity presented itself, have put a bullet +into the body of each rider. + +"A damnable set of psalm-singing rascals," muttered Tim to a +companion, as the Parliamentary troops went by. "May the food and +fodder they get in Longdendale, choke both man and beast. They are of +the devil's spawn, every one, enemies to God as well as to the King." + +"Steady, Tim," whispered his companion. "They will overhear thee, and +then, belike, thou wilt get into serious trouble." + +"Trouble!" quoth Tim. "I care mighty little for anything they can do. +The King's forces will wipe them out ere long; and had I been but half +the man I was in my young days, I would have ridden behind the +Cavaliers, and struck a blow for His Majesty." + +Then, grumbling at the perversity of the times, which permitted such +unseemly sights as that presented by a band of Republican soldiers +marching coolly through Longdendale, he jogged off homeward, to weary +his wife with his ill-humour. + +But the goodman had more to put up with ere long, for after a few days +were passed, there came riding into his farmyard, the stalwart figure +of a Roundhead. The soldier was a young man, of gentlemanly +appearance, and strikingly handsome. He wore his hair cropped close, +and his face was clean shaven. He sat his horse firmly, and his +well-proportioned figure gave signs of strength. + +"Farmer," cried he; "I give you a good day. You have a grey mare, I +understand, of some little fame hereabouts. My officers require the +use of her for the service of the Parliament. And I am come to take +her forthwith. Also a sheep from your fold would not come amiss, but +that you may send to the headquarters by one of your farm hands." + +He spoke with the free air of one who expected that his requests, or +orders, would be observed as a matter of course. + +Timothy stood stock still for a few moments, lost in wonder. Then his +hot temper blazed forth in a volume of words. + +"Why you knave--you close-cropped murdering rebel--you speak and carry +yourself with the bearing of an honest King's man. Get out of my yard +this instant, or I'll brain you on the spot. No horse or sheep of mine +goes from here to the service of the King's enemies." + +He flourished a large hay-fork dangerously near the horseman, and the +steed began to back with alarm. + +"Drop that fork," cried the soldier, drawing his pistols, "I've no +mind that there shall be any accident, but if you will advance, and if +one of these weapons goes off, 'tis no fault of mine." + +But the old farmer's blood was up. + +"I'll spit you as I would a goose," cried he; "and all other such +Republican knaves." + +The soldier pulled his horse aside, and levelled his pistol at the +farmer's head. + +"Thou mad fool," he cried. "If thou wilt rush to thy death, 'tis no +concern of mine." + +And sighting the weapon, he made ready to fire. + +But at that moment came a diversion, and from an unexpected quarter; +for in the doorway of the farm, directly behind the irate yeoman, +there appeared the figure of a maid. She was the farmer's daughter, +and a maid of uncommon beauty; and the sight of so fair a daughter of +Eve, bursting thus suddenly on the soldier's vision, banished for one +brief second the murderous purpose from his mind. He hesitated, let +his eyes wander from the farmer to rest upon the figure of the girl. +That second's hesitation was fatal, for the hay-fork driven with force +by the yeoman, took him in the shoulder, and tumbled him heavily to +the ground. He had a confused sense of having done something very +foolish and unsoldierlike, of falling with a thud from his horse, of a +sharp pain in the shoulder, and then his senses left him. + +When he recovered consciousness, the unfortunate Roundhead found +himself lying on a couch inside the farmhouse. He was at first dimly +aware that a somewhat heated discussion was going on in one quarter of +the room, and that some person with gentle touch bent over him and +tended to his hurts. In another moment, his senses having fully +returned, he could distinguish the voices of the disputants, and knew +that they were talking about himself. + +The farmer's wife, good mistress Cooke, was denouncing her husband's +folly in having wounded the soldier, and thus brought the man nigh to +death, and the yeoman, himself, in grave danger of arrest, court +martial, and the gallows. + +"'Tis thy hot temper, of which I have so often spoken, and which thou +never canst control, that has led thee into this mess--and a pretty +mess it is, upon my conscience," said the dame, "What harm had the +poor fellow done to thee or thine, that thou must prod him with the +fork, as thou dost a truss of hay, and tumble him headlong out of the +saddle. A mercy it is he did not break his neck by the fall. As it is, +he is not seriously hurt, though the back of his head will carry a +lump for many a day, and his shoulder will be stiff enough for weeks. +The next thing that will happen, I suppose, will be that thou wilt +have the whole band of them--foot and horse--about the house, and they +will carry thee away a prisoner, and I and the bairns will een be +tumbled out upon the road-side." + +"Stop thy chatter," growled the farmer, his courage somewhat overawed +by the volubility and sting of his wife's tongue. "Wouldst have me let +a Roundhead knave, an enemy to the King, rob and plunder me of the +grey mare, and a sheep from the fold, without using the hay-fork when +'tis in my hand. Death and damnation is too good for all such rogues." + +..."Death and damnation," quoth the dame. "Death and damnation, +forsooth. That is like to be thy reward for the business. Out of the +room, man, for thy presence drives away my patience. Out thou goest, +while I see if I can bring the poor fellow round, and make amends for +thy fool's folly." + +She bundled the farmer out, and at this moment the Roundhead opened +his eyes. Then he shut them suddenly, as though some bright light had +dazzled him, for there, bending close above him, was the bonny face of +the maiden, whose dazzling beauty had been the cause of his undoing. +She had been tending to his hurts, and was gazing at him anxiously, +wondering the while if he were about to die. + +The Roundhead did not long remain with closed eyes, for the vision of +the maid was too sweet to lose for want of the effort of raising his +lids. He gazed straight into her eyes, and smiled; and the girl, +finding him fully alive, and conscious of her presence, blushed +crimson, and drew backwards in confusion. Her movement attracted the +dame, who by this time had got rid of her husband; and having no +special desire to be the recipient of attentions from an old lady--no +matter how estimable and kindly disposed she might be--the Roundhead, +with an effort sat up. He had not been seriously injured by his fall, +which had done nothing more than deprive him of his senses for a short +time; and the thrust in the shoulder was nothing more serious than a +flesh wound; now that the bleeding had been stopped, he was really +little the worse for his misadventure. + +"I thank you, madam," said he to the farmer's wife, "for your kindness +and attention. Doubtless your good offices, and those of the young +lady, have saved my life; and I promise you they shall not be +forgotten in my report to my commanding officer." + +Relieved as she was to find the Roundhead out of all danger, poor Dame +Cooke was terribly upset on hearing the concluding words of the +soldier. + +"Oh, sir," said she, the tears springing to her eyes, "must you indeed +report the misdeeds of my hot-headed husband. If he is taken, +and called to account for this mishap, I much fear that his +punishment will be severe. If you could overlook--could find some +excuse--could----" + +She broke off, utterly unable to say more, but her eyes pleaded with +the soldier. + +Restraining an inclination to smile, with an effort, the Roundhead +said solemnly: + +"A bandaged head and shoulder must of necessity give rise to comment. +And how can I escape from the necessity of a report? Moreover, there +is the matter of the grey mare, and the sheep." + +"They shall be sent to your camp within the hour," put in the woman +eagerly; "and more likewise, if ye will only be merciful to my good +man." + +Other talk followed, but for reasons of his own, the Roundhead omitted +to assure the dame as fully as she could have wished, that she should +hear no more about the matter. It was not without a feeling of great +trepidation that she listened to his last words of gratitude for her +personal attentions, and witnessed his departure. + +Mounted on his horse, he rode slowly down the lane, and not till the +farmhouse had disappeared from sight--hidden by a bend in the lane, +and a dip in the road--did he meet a single soul. Now, however, he +reined in his charger suddenly; and he felt his heart beat quicker as +he beheld the pretty maid standing in the road barring his path. + +Off came his hat, with a sweeping bow, that would have done credit to +a Cavalier; and he bent gallantly in the saddle to converse with the +fair being who had waylaid him with the evident intention of speaking +to him. + +"Oh, sir," said the maid, her voice trembling with emotion, her face +rosy with excitement and bashfulness; "you will forgive my father will +you not? He is not a bad man, and if anything happened to him, it +would break my heart, and my mother's also. Do not punish him, and +mother and I will make amends in some way." + +The Roundhead looked at the maid, then cast his eyes rapidly up and +down the lane, and a twinkle of merriment shone in his glance. + +"You are quite willing to compensate for your father's sins--to render +a service if I pledge myself to silence on his misdeeds." + +"I will do anything," said the maid, eagerly. + +The Roundhead bent low in his saddle, until his face was dangerously +near that of his companion. There was a look in his eyes which caused +the maid to blush a deeper red, and set her heart pit-a-pat with a +thrill of strange and joyous excitement. + +"Then kiss me," was all he said. + +The girl dropped her eyes a moment, then looked full into his, and +finally raised her lips and kissed him. + +"Now," she said, "remember your promise, and keep it." + +Then with a mischievous nod of her head, that caused her curls to +dance in the sun, she skipped out of his reach, and ran up the lane +towards the farm. + +He turned the horse as though to pursue her, but contented himself +with calling after her, "Tell your mother not to trouble about the +grey mare and the sheep. I will come for them myself--another day." + +He doffed his hat, and the girl waved her hand; and then the Roundhead +trotted off to explain in some cunning fashion how he had foolishly +met with an accident, and if his colonel had no objection he would go +for the grey mare and the sheep another day. The young man was a +favourite officer with his superiors, and his colonel had no objection +whatever, so the farmer heard no more about his attack upon the +Parliamentary forager. + + * * * * * + +It is not to be supposed that human nature of the masculine gender, +however much inclined to Puritanism, could, after having once tasted +the sweet lips of the farmer's daughter, resist the longing for more +of such delights. And so the Roundhead more than once or twice made +his way towards the farm; and either, owing to his cleverness, or to +the strangest coincidence, it so happened that he never returned to +quarters without having held some converse with the maid. + +In this way the time passed, and to the two lovers it seemed as though +everything was sweet and fair, and as though war, and suffering, and +death were not abroad in the land. Indeed, so far, the revolution had +brought nothing but fortune to the young man, for he was already +promised a captaincy when next the troops were put in motion; and then +he would move onward to fresh adventures, wherein he hoped to add to +his laurels, so that when the wars came to an end, he would have a +position of some standing to offer to his bride. + +At last there came a day when Colonel Dukinfield bade his men make +ready to march. Messengers had ridden in on foam-flecked steeds, and +it was understood that great events were about to transpire. The +troops looked to their arms, burnished up their breast-plates, and +head pieces, and after a busy day spent in preparations, made ready to +pass their last night in Longdendale in the fashion that the Puritan +soldier loved. + +When the night had fallen, groups of soldiers were gathered within the +best rooms of the farms whose owners--being favourers of the +Parliament--had gladly welcomed and billeted the Roundheads, and the +host having brought forth some musical instruments, which were tuned +up forthwith, soon the voices of all were joining in a Puritan chant +of praise. Loud and long that night sang the Puritans, and ever and +anon, in the intervals between the chants, some of them, in nasal +tones, would break out into prayer--strange old-fashioned petitions, +in which the Lord was asked to strengthen the arms of the Parliament, +and to sweep the Royalist faction away as the leaves are scattered +before the wind. Then with the first break of day the bugles sounded; +and, leaving the fair Longdendale land behind them, the Roundheads +passed to scenes of grim contest--some joining in the conflicts in +Yorkshire, others participating in different sieges in Lancashire and +Cheshire. After their departure, Longdendale was visited in turn by +bands of Cavaliers, who rode towards the points of strife; and then +for a time the valley was left to its rural quietness. + +[Illustration: "A PURITAN CHANT OF PRAISE."] + +For some weeks the maid heard nothing of her lover and her only +consolation during his absence was to chat and talk with the wives and +sweethearts of Longdendale men who had joined Colonel Dukinfield's +troops, and ridden off to the fight. + +One day, however, when the tasks about the farm were all done, she +sat in the old-fashioned seat in the advanced porch of the steading, +which looked out towards the west. It was the close of a glorious day, +and far away over the great levels of the Cheshire plain, the sun was +setting--flooding the earth and sky with a light that seemed too +beautiful to be real. It was as though one looked right into the gates +of heaven. The farmer and his wife were seated near, for they, too, +were weary with the toil of the day, and were resting for a space in +the cool of the evening before the darkness fell. + +Suddenly the girl raised her head as though to listen, and then +pointing towards the sunset, she uttered a loud scream. + +"There, there! do you not see them? the Roundheads are beaten back, +and their leader falls. It is he, my love--and oh!--they have slain +him----" + +Then she fell back into the seat and sobbed, and shivered, and moaned. + +The farmer took her by the shoulders, and shook her. + +"Art daft, my lass," said he, "or dreaming. What is it thou see'st?" + +For a moment the girl could not do anything but sob and moan, then, +recovering herself, she told her parents that, as she gazed at the +sunset, it seemed as though the western heavens were alive with the +figures of men--she could see the Roundhead troops rushing to the +assault, at their head was the form of her lover, and even as she +looked, the Royalists repulsed the attack, and in the melee she saw +her lover fall, his brain pierced by a musket ball. It seemed, too, +that she could hear the noise of the piece, and the death-shriek as he +fell. + +"Tut-tut," said the farmer, "'tis nothing but a dream. Thou hast been +dozing, that is all." + +The mother also tried to comfort her, and the two led her inside, but +that night when the farmer and his spouse sought their chamber, the +latter said in an awesome whisper: + +"'Tis the gift of sight, good man. My grandmother had it; and I fear +that the vision she has seen will prove true." + + * * * * * + +Some days passed, and nothing was heard of the great strife which +waged beyond the valley; but one day a man, pale and thin from +suffering, seated upon a jaded steed, rode wearily into Longdendale. +Near Mottram town he met Yeoman Cooke, whom he accosted; and the +latter looked at him with a start of surprise. + +"Why, Jack, is't thee, my man?" said the farmer. "Bless me if I knew +thee. Thou art just like a ghost." + +"And I had nearly been turned into one, farmer," answered the man. +"For I got a blow on my head in the fight just a week gone by to-day, +which stretched me senseless; and other hurts about my body, have +knocked out of me all the fighting for some months to come. 'Twas an +evil day for Longdendale, and I trow that thy own home will be turned +into a house of mourning by it. For this was how we fared. Even as the +victory seemed assured, the Royalist rascals made a great rush, and by +ill-luck our leader was shot dead, and other officers falling, we were +beaten off. As for the Captain--well, I think he loved that lass of +thine--King's man though thou art,--for in his breast, when we came to +carry his body off, were certain keepsakes which I have seen thy +daughter wear. There was also a letter addressed to her, and I have it +with me here. Thou wilt tell her that he died as a brave man should +die, and that he was worthy of her love to the last. I must ride on +now, for it grows late, and I have ill-news to carry to other +Longdendale women besides thy wench. This is the worst side of war." + +[Illustration: ARMS OF THE DUKINFIELD FAMILY.] + +"One moment," said the farmer, placing his hand on the bridle of the +other's horse, "When did this happen?" + +"A week ago to-day," replied the Roundhead. "Just as the sun set; and +it was too late to renew the attack that day." + +With that the man rode on, and the farmer was left alone. + +"The good wife is right after all," he said to himself. "'Twas second +sight, and the lass has the gift. We must keep the matter to +ourselves, or the folk will think she is a witch." + +Then he set his face homewards, and walked off wondering. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +The following particulars from old historical documents will give the +reader some idea of the part Longdendale played in the Civil War; they +will also afford evidence of the unrest which was the predominant +feature throughout the country, in the days of the great Rebellion. + +Earwaker, the learned historian of East Cheshire, quotes a series of +accounts from the Harleian MSS. These relate to Hollingworth in the +time of the Civil War, and are the accounts "made and sworn unto by +several inhabitants of the Township of Hollingworth" in 1645. The +following extract will serve as a sample of the contents of this +interesting document. + +The accompts of Alexander Hollinworth, of Nearer Hollinworth, in the +above said Townshippe. + + Imprimis: I paid to Collonell + Duckenfield, the 15th day of + Deecmber (1643), for pposicon + money 5 0 0 + + Itm: The same tyme ye said + Collonell had of me a bay + gueldinge ffor to be one in his + Troope, well worth 5 6 8 + Wch continued in his Troope + until Candlemas after, and then + was soe spoyled that he was not + able to do any more service. + + Itm: After the said horse was + soe lamed I sent another horse + in his roome, and a man to ride + him, which horse hath beene in + ye said troope ev since Candlemas + after to this present tyme: + the horse when I put him in + was worth 8 10 0 + + Itm: I was att charges for the + man that did ride ye said horse + sev'all waies above 40tye shillings + 2 0 0 + + Itm: When Sr William Breerton + marched towards Yorke wth + Cheshire fforces ffor ye assistance + of that County, there was + 250 horse and rydrs quartered + at my house; the damage I + had by them in eatinge my + meadowe, killinge my sheepe, + and plunderinge some of my + goods privily, and consuminge + my victualls they found in + my house, to ye value att ye + least of 20tie marks 13 6 8 + + Itm: The damage I sustayned + in quarteringe some of Captaine + Rich horse and foote ye most + pte of halfe a yeare Anno 1642 + att the least 10 0 0 + + Itm: The damage I sustayned + in quarteringe div'se of Captaine + Eyres Troope sev'all + tymes in Ann 1642 and 1643 + was att the least 5 0 0 + + Itm: In quarteringe some of + Collonell Deukenfield souldrs, + Major Bradshawes, and diverse + others, the tyme when Prince + Rupert came to Stockport, was + att the least damages to me 3 6 8 + + Itm: In quarteringe of 18 + Troopers of Sr William Breerton + Companye when they + marched towards Nottingham + (as they said) about 5 or 6 + weeks agoe 1 10 0 + + Itm: I have mainteyned one + musquetyer from the beginninge + of theise unhappy warres, + and never had the value of one + penny towards the charge + thereof from the Publique 25 0 0 + + Item: I have been sometymes + att charge of one and sometymes + 3 souldrs more when any + publique danger was, as div'se + tymes into Darbishire, to Adlington, + to ye raysinge of the + siege of Namptwicke, wch I + verily thinke cost me above 5 + markes att the least 3 6 8 + _____ + Sum £82 6 8 + +John Hollinworth, of Hollingworth, had a similar bill of £70 16s., and +the Booths and the Bretlands also sought recompense for the expense +they had been put to in buying arms and quartering men. + +One other old document may be quoted. + +On the 8th of December, 1653, Colonel Dukinfield and Colonel Henry +Bradshaw sat at Stockport to prepare a list of pensioners in the +Stockport division in connection with the civil wars. The list +contained the following names: Ellen Wagstaffe, whose husband was +wounded at Adlington; Catherine Goodier, whose husband was slain at +Nantwich; Ellen Heape, of Tintwistle, whose husband was slain at +Nantwich; Elizabeth, wife of Hugh Wooley, slain at Chester; Jane +Cooke, whose husband was slain at Middlewich; John Wylde, of Disley, +wounded at Worcester; Thomas Hinchcliffe, wounded at Worcester; +Elizabeth Small, whose husband was slain at Cholmondeley; Joan Small, +whose husband was slain at Middlewich; John Sydebotham, wounded at +Cholmondeley; Margaret Whewall, whose husband was slain at Selby; The +widow of George Hopwood, wounded at Middlewich; Randal Cartwright, +wounded at Hanmore; Margaret Ashton, whose husband was slain at +Lichfield; Ellen Benetson, wife of William Benetson, of Dukinfield, +wounded at Chester, and died. + +It will be noticed that several of the above are names of Longdendale +men. + + + + +XX. + +A Tale of the '))45. + + +The year 1745 was a noteworthy year in the annals of Longdendale. In +that year the valley was roused to excitement by the doings of Prince +Charles Edward Stuart, the young Pretender, who, at the head of a +large army, marched through Manchester and Stockport on his road to +Derby. Many of the male portion of the inhabitants of Longdendale +walked into either Manchester or Stockport to see the army pass, and +to catch a glimpse of the romantic figure which might one day sit upon +the throne of England. Most of these sightseers returned home full of +the grand picture which the Scottish army presented; they told a great +tale of how the Prince forded the river at Stockport, that the water +took him up to the middle, that he wore a light plaid, and a blue +bonnet, in which was set a milk-white rose. + +These accounts greatly interested the inhabitants of Mottram town, +who, like most people, loved to hear of martial doings at a distance. +The Mottram folk, however, were not so highly elated when, a little +later in the year, they heard that portions of the flying Scottish +army were likely to pass through their town during the retreat from +Derby. They would gladly have had the soldiers play the part of the +Levite of old, and "pass by on the other side." + +"A murrain on them," quoth the sexton, as he sat in the ingle of the +"Black Bull's Head"--that homely tavern perched on the hillside just +beneath the graveyard of Mottram Church. "Why cannot they even travel +back the same gait they came, and leave our good Mottram folk in +peace? Like enough if they come, there will be blows, and who knows +but what my trade will flourish mightily. And that will be the only +trade that will flourish if they get to fighting on this side of the +border." + +The maid who was attending to the wants of the customers pricked her +ears at the conversation, and as she filled the sexton's glass, she +joined in with her sweet woman's voice. + +"For my part I should be glad to see them march through Mottram. They +say that the Prince is a handsome gentleman, and brave as he is fair. +One day he will be the King, and then, think what an honour it will be +to Mottram, to have had his army billet in the town when he fought +for his own. Moreover, as I hear, there be some of the best and +bravest of the old families of Lancashire in his train, and we see too +few of the real gentry hereabouts to throw away so fine a chance as +this. As for the fighting, I see no sin in that when the good Prince +but seeks to win back his own." + +The sexton smiled at the maid's enthusiasm. He slowly charged his +pipe, lit it, and when she had done, took the stem from his lips. + +"You are a maid," said he; "and like all women, are easily carried +away by a handsome face and a fine figure. And belike you are a +supporter of the Stuarts. As for me, I am for King George. I know +enough of the Stuarts never to wish them in power again. My +grand-father was a youth when the great war was on, and he saw enough +blood shed then through the follies of Charles the First to turn him +and all his kin against the breed. I could tell you tales he told to +me that would set your heart a sick at the very mention of a Stuart. +And war is not the grand thing some folks think. It's all well when +someone else gets the worry, and pays the price, and leaves to us the +glory of it. But I've no desire to see my thatch blazing above my +head, my goods and chattels carried off, and my earnings squandered to +keep some hungry fighting man in trim." + +John the smith now took up the tale. + +"As for me, I'm a favourer of the Stuarts. The lad is the true King, +say I, by all good right. But I'm heart and soul with you, sexton, in +hoping the army of the Scots will keep clear of Mottram town." + +And as the talk went on the speakers were divided on questions of +politics, some siding with the Prince, others with the House of +Hanover; but all alike agreed in hoping that the fugitives would give +the Longdendale country a wide berth. + +Military necessity, however, knows no law, and the Scotchmen came at +last--big burly Highland men. They wore kilts, and carried +claymores--for the most part they were bearded, unkempt creatures, men +who followed their leaders with the blind faith of children. As soon +as definite news of the retreat of the rebel army in the direction of +the town became known, the householders of Mottram became greatly +alarmed, and everybody grew busy in hiding his or her valuables, and +in driving the cattle to places of safety. The farmers scattered about +their fields, and horses, cows, sheep, and swine, were hurried into +the hills, and there secreted as comfortably and well as possible. +Even the poultry were collected, and hidden away, so that they should +not become a prey to the hungry Scots. It is said that the sexton had +a busy time among the graves, burying such pieces of plate as were +owned in the neighbourhood; and in many other spots throughout the +district the savings of the householders were committed to the ground. + +Contrary to expectation, however, the Mottramites found the +Highlanders a quiet, harmless lot of mortals, who did not seem +desirous of reckless plunder. When they arrived they showed no +disposition to take more than was absolutely necessary to provide for +their needs, nor did they turn the people out of doors, and take +forcible possession of the houses. During their short halt at Mottram, +they roughed it with the best, killing cattle for food, and then +(through lack of proper utensils) boiling the meat in hides skewered +up at the corners. + +[Illustration: BELFRY DOOR IN MOTTRAM CHURCH.] + +The kilts of the Highlanders were what interested the people most of +all, and the children would often flit about, in and out, near the +legs of the soldiers, looking in awe at the strange petticoats for +men, and the knees all bare and bony. Sometimes the men would take the +children on their knees, and tell them stories of war and panic, of +the charging of horse and foot, and of the glorious deeds of the great +and brave. At which the children were greatly pleased, and could have +listened all day long. + +The soldiers did not camp together, but were divided into companies; +one portion stayed in Mottram, but the bulk of them encamped near +Hollingworth Hall. Some of the inhabitants took pity on the men, and +treated them with great kindness, which appears to have been much +appreciated by the rebels. On departing, one of the soldiers left +behind as a mark of his gratitude a tinder-box--the most valuable +possession he had--and this box was long preserved at Hollingworth +Hall. + +A noticeable feature about the coming of the Highland men was the +excitement and pleasure it occasioned among the female portion of the +inhabitants of Longdendale. The lasses in no way showed those signs of +distress and doubt which were so evident in their elders. On the +contrary, they dressed themselves in their best, became gay with +ribbons, and by every art known to woman sought to enhance their many +charms. Even in those days a soldier's coat was a magnet of attraction +to a maid. + +Among the rest was the pretty maid who had spoken to the sexton in the +"Black Bull." She was a fair lass, of good figure, and winsome ways, +and she was greatly admired by all the lads of Mottram town. One of +these was one whom we will call Robin Shaw, on whom she seemed to look +with favour; and already that handsome yeoman had come to consider her +as especially his property. A sad surprise was in store for poor Robin +when the Scotchmen came marching through the town. + +Robin, young though he was, had strong views upon the situation. He +was a staunch "King's man," and it was with no good grace that he +beheld his lady love sporting the rebel colours as the Highlanders +marched by. His cup of bitterness, however, ran over when, on the next +night, he came across the faithless damsel strolling down a lane, +where he himself had often made love to her, in company with a +handsome youth who followed the fortunes of Prince Charlie. + +It was an angry scene which followed. + +Good Robin lost his temper, and in the most approved Longdendale +fashion, then and there gave forth his opinion of the heartless +conduct of his lady love, and the unjustifiable meddlesomeness of the +soldier. The two would have come to blows there and then (for the Scot +was quite as eager for the fray as his enraged antagonist) had it not +been for the presence of the maid, who placed herself between them, +and firmly decided against hostilities. As it was, she commenced an +onslaught with her tongue, and the unlucky Robin, on whose head she +poured forth her wrath, at last beat an ignominious retreat. + +"I'll be even with you yet, you bare-legged rebel," he cried to the +Highlander as he went. + +And the soldier with a light laugh replied, "At your service, my +friend, whenever you are ready." + +But the fates were against their meeting for the present, for, eager +to get back beyond the border before the English army, which was +massing, should lay them by the heels, the Scots left Longdendale, and +passed hurriedly northwards. + +The day after they left, a fine figure of a man, equipped and ready +for war, strode into the bar of the "Black Bull" at Mottram. It was +Robin Shaw, and he sought the maid. + +"Well, my lass," said he, "I'm off. I've joined the army for the +north, and now I'll be on the track of the rebels. If I meet your +Highland lover, there'll be blows, and the end will be that you'll +have no difficulty to make a choice between us. If I live, I'll come +back to claim you. One kiss now, and then good-bye." + +Without waiting to see if the girl would give consent, he drew her to +him in a grasp that would admit of no resistance, and kissed her. Then +without another word he left the inn, and went swinging on his way. + +The weeks passed, and the grey dawn broke upon the heath near +Culloden, where the English and the Scottish armies lay. With the dawn +the Duke of Cumberland set out on his march, and shortly after mid-day +the roar of the English artillery told that the battle had begun. All +the world knows the history of that fight, how the fierce Highlanders, +rendered desperate by the play of the cannon upon their ranks, burst +into that wild and ill-fated charge which met with a bloody repulse; +but there are personal details of the conflict that the world knows +nothing of. + +When the Highland line darted forward, there moved in the front rank a +"braw" young Scot, whom one at least of the Royal troops welcomed with +a shout of joy. For an instant the weight of the Scottish column +caused the English regiment to waver before the impetus of the charge. +But there was one man who never gave ground an inch--the Longdendale +Loyalist--Robin Shaw. He had seen among the charging host the form of +the soldier who had tampered with his love in distant Longdendale, and +with a shout he set himself in front of his foe. + +"Now, my merry rebel," he cried; "we meet again. We will settle old +scores." + +"Thou art welcome," cried the Highlander, crossing blades. "We fight +for the love of a lass and--King James." + +"For the love of a lass, and King George," said honest Robin Shaw. + +And with that the fight began. + +Now, Robin was no match for his foe save in strength. In skill of +sword play, the Scot was greatly the superior of the two, and the +result was not long in doubt. Before he knew where he was, Robin's +blade was dashed from his grasp, and the sword of the Highlander +thrust him through. Robin grew sick, and a mist rose before his eyes, +but in the mist he could still make out the triumphant face of his +foe. With teeth firmly set, he pulled himself together, and sprang at +the throat of the Scot. In vain the latter drew back. Before he could +draw his dirk, the Longdendale lad had him by the throat, gripping him +like a vice. The men fell to the ground, rolling over and over in the +struggle, but the grip of Robin never slackened, and at length both +lay still. Another moment and the beaten wave of the Highlanders swept +over them, and the victorious English charged past in pursuit. The +battle of Culloden was fought and won; Charles Edward was beaten, and +the Stuart cause for ever lost. + +When the burial parties passed over the battlefield, they found two +corpses firmly locked together--an Englishman run through the body by +the other's sword--a Scotchman strangled to death by the grip of his +foe. The dead man's grip might not be loosened, and they buried the +bodies in one common grave. + +So Robin and his rival lay down together in the last long sleep +beneath the heather at Culloden, and away in merry Longdendale a fair +girl watched and waited for a lover who never came. + + + + +XXI. + +The Haunted Farm. + + +In the township of Godley, on the fringe of what was formerly an +unenclosed common known as Godley Green, stands an old farm, +stone-built, of picturesque appearance. It is pleasantly situated a +short distance from the turnpike road, from which it is approached by +a country lane. Its windows command some beautiful views over the farm +lands of Matley and Hattersley, which stretch away eastwards with many +a clough and dingle, to the bleak hill country where the old church of +Mottram stands out dark against the sky. The farm is said to occupy +the site of an ancient hall, and old folk tell of the remains of +mullioned windows, and a curious antique mounting block, which were to +be seen there in the days when they were young. + +Tradition says that the farm is haunted. In former times it was +occupied by a family, the last survivor of which was an old dame, who +is spoken of by those who remember her as being the very picture of a +witch. She is said to have had a nose and chin so hooked that they +almost met; and to have been very mysterious in her movements. Rumour +had it that there was some treasure or secret buried in or about the +farm, and that after the old dame's death, her spirit, unable to rest +in the grave, commenced to wander through the farm at night, as though +searching for something which was lost. + +Various persons who have at different times resided in the farm--some +of whom are still living,--have related strange stories of their +experiences of the ghostly visitant. In the dead of night, the +doors--even those which were locked--have suddenly opened, footsteps +have been heard, as though some unseen being walked through the rooms +and up the stairs, and then the doors have closed and locked +themselves as mysteriously as they opened. Sleepers have been awakened +by the beds on which they lay suddenly commencing to rock violently; +and at times the bed clothes have been snatched away and deposited in +a heap upon the floor. The ghostly figure of an old woman has been +seen moving about from room to room, and then has vanished. Fire-irons +have been moved, and have tumbled and danced about mysteriously; pots +and pans have rattled, and tumbled on the floor; and there has been +heard a strange noise as though some one invisible was sweeping the +floor. + +In the early and the middle decades of the nineteenth century, the +appearances of the ghost were of frequent occurrence, so much so that +the farmer's family became accustomed to them, and beyond the +annoyance and the loss of sleep which were occasioned, ceased +troubling themselves about the visits. But for guests or strangers the +ghost had terrors. The farmer's daughter had a sweetheart, and one +night he paid a visit to his betrothed, and sat with her before the +kitchen fire. Suddenly there came a gust of wind, there was a noise as +though every pot and pan in the house had been broken, and every door +was flung wide open by a mysterious and invisible agency. + +"What on earth is that?" asked the young man, full of surprise, not +unmixed with terror. + +"It is only the ghost of the old dame prowling about," answered his +sweetheart. + +But the youth had seen and heard enough, and seizing his hat, he +dashed outside and made off rapidly over the fields. Scarcely had he +departed, when the doors shut themselves, and all was quiet as before. + +Some time afterwards, the farmer engaged a farm-hand from a place +beyond Charlesworth. The new man took up his abode and slept one night +in the haunted farm. The next morning he came downstairs with blanched +face and startled eyes. + +"I have seen a boggart," said he; "the ghost of an old woman; and I +think it must be my mother. On her deathbed I promised her to place a +stone upon her grave; I have been too greedy to spare the money for +the purpose. It must be her ghost come to upbraid me; and I cannot +rest until I have placed the stone above her grave." + +Never again would the poor fellow spend a night in the farm, but for +years he walked to and from his home beyond distant Charlesworth and +his work at the haunted farm. + +Other farm-hands and servants were equally terrified by the strange +noises and apparitions; and the farmer found it almost impossible to +get anyone to remain long in his service. At length, so annoying did +the ghost visits become that it was decided to call in the aid of some +minister of the Gospel for the purpose of "laying the boggart." The +Rev. James Brooks--the respected pastor of Hyde Chapel, Gee Cross, +from 1805-1851--was asked to undertake the task, and he readily +complied. Accompanied by other devout men, he spent several nights in +the haunted rooms, reading passages from the Bible, and uttering +prayers specially adapted for driving evil spirits away. The +ministrations of the reverend gentleman were so far successful that +the ghost did not again appear for some time, and its visits have not +since been of such frequent occurrence as formerly. It was widely +believed that had Mr. Brooks continued his visits and his prayers long +enough, the boggart would have been effectively "laid." + +As it is, the strange noises and visitations have continued, and are +borne witness to by several persons. Between 1880 and 1890 the +following strange thing happened. It was in the middle of the +afternoon, when most of the household were out of doors, and there +were only the farmer's wife and a boy, and girl within the house. +Presently the mother went into the yard, and the youngsters, bent on +mischief, rushed into the pantry for the purpose of feasting on the +jams and honey which they knew to be there, when lo! they were +suddenly startled by a loud and strange noise overhead, giving them +the impression that some burglars must have got in the upstairs rooms +by some means or other. Full of fear, they rushed for their mother, +who boldly went upstairs, the children following at her heels. When +they entered the room from which the noise came, they beheld the +curious sight of an old rocking-chair, violently rocking itself as +though some person might have been seated in it, and the rocking +continued unabated for a considerable time. A farm labourer, who was +called in to stop the chair, was too terrified to do anything, and +finally the farmer's wife had to sit in the chair to stop it. + +It is said that the old dame whose ghost haunts the place, died in her +rocking-chair in that very corner of the room; and the belief was that +it was her spirit, invisible to the inhabitants of the farm, which had +set the chair rocking so mysteriously. + +To add to the mystery and the uncanny character of the place, there is +a certain part of the garden connected with the farm, on which nothing +will grow. Time after time have the tenants endeavoured to cultivate +this little spot, but always unsuccessfully. Some years ago human +bones were dug up, and the secret attached to their interment is +supposed to account for the sterile nature of the soil. The present +tenant of the farm asserts that he has paid special attention to the +piece of ground, has applied quantities of the best manure, and in +other ways has endeavoured to bring the soil to the same state of +fruitfulness as the rest of the garden, but all to no purpose. So +recently as the month of April, 1906, primroses growing on that part +of the garden are pale and withered; while those in other parts are +fine and healthy flowers. + +The present tenant's wife relates a strange story of a supernatural +death-warning which occurred in connection with this haunted house. +Her brother lay ill in the farm, and she had occasion to go to Gee +Cross on business. Returning homewards, she met a black cat, which, do +what she would she was unable to catch. Then, whilst walking along the +lane leading to the farm, in company with her mother who had met her, +a strange thing happened. It was a beautiful summer night, hot and +still; not a breath of air stirred the leaves upon the trees; and +there was no sound. Suddenly the high thorn hedge on their right +commenced to rock violently; and behind it there sailed along from the +direction of the farm a female figure draped in white. The beholders +were spellbound, and they entered the house with bated breaths. There +they found that the sick man had just died. + +The history of this haunted farm is but another testimony to the truth +of the saying that there are more things in heaven and earth than are +dreamt of by ordinary mortals. Things such as these are beyond human +ken; and in all probability the apparition and the ghost-noises of +this old farm house in Godley will baffle the wisdom and the cunning +of generations yet unborn. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +It is quite probable that the majority of those who read the foregoing +account of "The Haunted Farm" will come to the conclusion that it is +entirely the outcome of the writer's imagination. I therefore hasten +to explain that there is not a single detail in the account which has +been imagined by me. Every incident recorded has been supplied to me +by persons who have resided in the farm, and all that I have done has +been to put them in the form in which they now appear. + +Most of my informants are still living; indeed, I saw and interviewed +four of them so recently as the last week in March, 1906. One of these +was the old lady, who, as a young woman, was one of the lovers +mentioned in the account; after her marriage she resided in the farm +and is "the farmer's wife" referred to, who witnessed, and stopped the +mysterious rocking-chair. The other individuals, who were much +younger, related to me the story of the strange noises, invisible +footsteps, and uncanny opening and closing of doors, which they +witnessed towards the close of the nineteenth century. They are +persons of the most reputable character, and of social standing, and +they solemnly assure me that the things recorded in the above article +are literally true. + +I also visited the farm in the month of April, 1906, and obtained from +the present occupants their experiences, which are also embodied in +the above narrative. The sterility of the "haunted" part of the garden +I saw for myself; and can unhesitatingly testify that, from some cause +or other, the flowers growing on it are quite withered and weak, +whilst similar flowers in other parts of the garden are healthy and +blooming. There is no apparent reason for this fact, inasmuch as the +unfruitful portion of the ground is as advantageously situated as the +rest of the garden. + + + + +XXII. + +The Spectre Hound. + + +Until the latter half of the nineteenth century there might have been +numbered among the curious old buildings for which the township of +Godley has long been famed, a low, old-world farmstead of the style +that is now fast fading away. It was a small, picturesque building, +and stood upon a portion of Godley Green, surrounded by a prettily +laid-out cottage garden. Its occupants combined farming with other +pursuits, and in one part of the building handloom weaving was carried +on to a comparatively late period. The farm was pulled down, as +already indicated, in the latter half of the nineteenth century; and a +handsome modern residence has been erected near the site on which it +stood. + +There is a curious legend told about this old building. It is said to +have been haunted; and the ghost, in the form of a spectre hound, is +still supposed to roam at nights over the fields which were formerly +attached to the farm. The legend runs that some persons were done to +death in some mysterious fashion in the building; and that ever since, +an evil spirit, in the shape of a great yellow hound, has haunted the +neighbourhood. Old people who can remember the farm, state that in it +there was a certain flag on the stone floor, which bore the stains of +blood; and that no amount of swilling and scrubbing could ever remove +the stains. What became of the stone when the house was pulled down is +not known. + +Many persons--residents in Godley, and others who have had occasion to +be in the neighbourhood said to be haunted--have seen the spectre +hound, careering over the fields and through the lanes during the +night-time. The occupants of the adjoining farms have been awakened +from their sleep in the dead of the night by the noises made by the +cattle in the fields; and on looking from their windows have seen the +terrified animals dashing wildly across the fields, chased by the +horrible form of the great ghost-hound, which with hanging tongue, +protruding eyes, and deep sepulchral baying, drove them round and +round. + +Children, returning along the country lanes from school on winter +evenings, have seen the hound dash past, and have reached home +well-nigh frightened out of their wits. Young lovers, walking arm in +arm along the quiet lanes, seeking some secluded spot wherein to dream +of love and happiness, have been put to flight by the spectre; and the +more timid maids from the farms have been afraid to venture out after +dark. + +The wife of one of the farmers, when returning home one night, after +delivering the milk in the neighbouring towns, was driving slowly +along the lane past the site of the demolished farmstead, when the +horse suddenly stood still, and began to tremble violently. At that +instant the form of the giant hound, yellow in colour, with horrible +staring eyes, sprang from the field, leaped over the fence into the +lane, and with great strides like the galloping of a horse raced down +the lane in the direction of a well which is sunk close to another +farm. Full of fear the good woman reached home, and told her father +what she had seen. The old man, merely shook his head, and said +quietly: + +"The yellow hound. So you have seen the yellow hound?" + +"What is it--what does it mean?" asked the daughter. + +"Some day I will tell you," said he. "But not now. If you have seen it +once, be sure you will see it again." + +Some time afterwards the old man himself came quietly home, and told +his daughter that he, too, had just seen the hound. + +"It was sitting by the edge of the old well," said he, "looking into +the water. Its eyes were staring wildly, and foam dropped from its +lips." + +"What is it--what does it mean?" again asked the daughter. + +But the old man only shook his head, and answered: + +"Who can tell?" + +Again the woman saw the hound in the fields of their own farm, and +sometimes it appeared without head. A great hound it was, life-like +enough at first appearance, but clearly a spectre, terrible to see. + +Another lady saw the hound when she was a child, and several times +during her life it has appeared before her. This is her narrative: + +"The first time I saw it was in the lanes, when I was walking with a +relation, older than myself. I was a child at the time, and although +startled was not too frightened to think of trying to scare it away. +As it kept pace with us, I looked out for some stones to fling at it; +but my relative caught hold of me and said: 'Don't; you mustn't throw +at it, or it will attack us, and tear us to bits. It is the +ghost-hound.' Since then I have seen it several times. It is not a +pleasant thing to meet, and I have no wish to see it again." + +Yet a third lady saw the ghost-hound between the years 1890 and 1900. +"I was staying at ---- Farm," said she; "and I went down to the well +to get some water. It was a winter night, and on a pool near the well +was a strong sheet of ice. While the buckets were filling I went +towards the ice, thinking to enjoy a slide. But when I reached the +pool, there stood the hound. It was about the size of a lion, its skin +much the same as a lion's in colour, and it had eyes as large as +saucers. At first I thought it must have been a lion that had escaped +from Belle Vue, or from some menagerie; and as it came towards me I +backed away. I was too terrified to turn and run, but kept my face to +it, as I retreated. When I neared the house it disappeared. I shall +never forget the sight as long as I live. It was a dreadful thing to +see." + +A tradesman of Hyde--a fishmonger, who made a weekly journey round +Broadbottom, and came homewards across Godley Green--once saw the +spectre, and his story is equally sensational. + +"It was as big as a cow," said he, "its skin a light tan colour. I was +walking down the lane with my basket on my shoulder, when suddenly I +saw the thing beside me. It kept pace with me as I walked; if I stood +still, it stopped, and if I ran, it ran also. I could not overtake it. +I was not more than a yard from the hedge, and the ghost was between +me and the hedge. I struck at it, but hit nothing; for my hand went +clean through it as through air, and my knuckles were scratched by the +hedge. My blood ran cold, and I was terribly frightened. Then it ran +in front of me, and then came back, and passed me again; it did not +turn round to do this, but, strange to say, its head was in front when +it returned. As soon as it had passed, I took to my heels as fast as I +could run, and it was a long time before I ventured down the lane +again at night. When next I met the farmer whose lands were haunted by +it, and whom I had formerly served with fish, he asked me where I had +been lately; and I then told him I had seen the ghost. He replied that +he and his family had seen it often; and that I must not be afraid." + +"Never mind about that," I said. "You'll have to do without fish at +night, unless you like to fetch it." + +"It was the most hideous thing I ever saw. Its feet went pit-a-pat, +pit-a-pat, with a horrible clanking noise like chains. I wouldn't meet +it again for twenty pounds. I never want to see it again if I live to +be a hundred." + +And so on, the different mortals who have seen this terrible spectre +of the yellow hound relate their grim experiences. + +The legend is that the ghost-hound must haunt the lanes and fields +about the site of the old farmstead, until the crime for which it is +accursed has been atoned for, when its midnight wanderings will cease, +and the troubled spirit will find rest. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +As in the case of the story of the "Haunted Farm," I desire to state +that I have not drawn upon my imagination for any of the incidents +related in the account of "The Spectre Hound." The story of the ghost +came to my ears from the lips of a friend, and being filled with +curiosity at so remarkable a story I determined to investigate it. For +this purpose I saw and interviewed all the persons whose experiences +are related in the story, and from them I received the substance and +detail of the above account. They are all perfectly serious, and +positively affirm that they saw with their own eyes the actions of the +spectre hound as recorded. + +Their statements were given to me in the presence of reliable +witnesses; and my informants are still alive at the time of writing +(May, 1906). + +The fishmonger whose statement is given above is a well-known Hyde +worthy, and I interviewed him at his own house on Thursday evening, +March 29th, 1906. I took with me two friends--well-known public men of +Hyde--as witnesses. My knock at the door was answered by the +fishmonger himself. I told him who I was, and my object in +calling--that it was about a ghost, a spectre hound--a great dog. + +"Great dog," said he; "why, man, it was as big as a blooming cow. Come +inside." + +With that we entered the house, and he related the story which is +recorded in the foregoing narrative. At the conclusion I suggested +that the spectre might have been a cow. + +The man shook his head. + +"It was no cow," said he solemnly. "It was a ghost. I never want to +see the thing again if I live to be a hundred years old." + + + + +XXIII. + +The Boggart of Godley Green. + + +It would, perhaps, be difficult to find in all England a tract of +country of which so many wild stories of ghosts and boggarts are told +as the old common land of Godley Green, and the picturesque cloughs +and dingles which surround it. Some interesting old farmsteads still +stand on and near the "Green," and there were in former times others +still more quaint, which have disappeared before the march of time. +Concerning most of these homesteads, ghost tales are told; indeed, one +old native of Godley recently declared that "there were more boggarts +at Godley Green than anywhere else in the kingdom." And perhaps this +statement is true. + +Most of the stories are old tales, which have been handed down from +former generations, no living being laying claim to any personal +experience of the boggarts referred to. But in one or two cases the +boggarts are said to be still haunting the scenes of their former +exploits; and people still living claim to have actually seen the +ghosts, as well as heard about them. The present story belongs to the +latter class. + +There is a certain house in that part of the township of Godley known +as the Green, which is said to be haunted by a boggart in the shape of +an old lady, who formerly belonged to the house. The legend is not +very precise as to the cause of her unrest, but it is said that she +did certain things in her lifetime the memories of which will not +allow her to rest quietly in her grave. Accordingly, her ghost wanders +about the house and grounds, occasionally startling people by its +appearance, and its peculiar actions. + +One old lady--still alive--gives some graphic details of the boggart. +She at one time resided in the house but now she has removed to a +distance. + +"Many a time," says she, "I have seen 'Old Nanny'--the +boggart--wandering about after dark. She is generally outside the +house, but occasionally peeps in at the windows. I can remember the +old woman during her lifetime, and the boggart is just like her. She +wears an old-fashioned cap, and a skirt kilted or tucked up in the +old-fashioned style. She wears an apron, which she shakes, and makes a +peculiar hissing noise. There is a gate leading from the garden into a +meadow and I have seen the boggart standing there, waving her apron, +and saying, 'Ish, ish, ish.'" + +"On one occasion a relative of the old dame, was present, and saw the +boggart. 'It's owd Nanny,' said he, '))reet enough. Why the d---- can't +she rest quiet in her grave. What does she want frightening people +like that.'" + +Another night a serving man was ordered to go into the back garden, +and gather a quantity of rhubarb. He was gone a short time, and then +he rushed back to the house with blanched face, and terror in his +countenance. + +"What is the matter?" asked his mistress; "where is the rhubarb?" + +"It's where it mun stop, missus, for me," he replied. "I've had enough +of rhubarb getting in that garden." + +And then he related how he had proceeded to the rhubarb bed, had +gathered one stick, and was about to pluck another, when he suddenly +became aware of the white figure of an old woman standing before him +in the midst of the rhubarb, looking at him intently. + +"She waved her apron at me," said he, "and then I heard her say, 'Ish, +ish, ish.'" + +While he looked the boggart vanished, and then the man took to his +heels. + +Another lady, who resided at the house in the last years of the +nineteenth century, has also some queer tales to tell of the +appearance of the boggart. Says she: + +"I would not live in that house again if its owner would give it to +me, and the land it stands on. The place is uncanny, and the boggart +is always there. I saw it more than once. I remember going into the +orchard one evening with my sister. We went to pick some apples, and +having got as many as we wanted, were returning to the house. At the +gate, which leads into the meadow, we saw the boggart--in the form of +an old lady, with a withered face. She stood there waving her apron, +and saying 'Ish, ish, ish.'" + +"We dropped the apples, and fled." + +Other persons still alive assert that they have seen this boggart, and +it is firmly believed by many that the ghost of the old woman will +continue to haunt the house until her sins are expiated, or until some +minister or holy man "lays the boggart," by using the forms laid down +by law in the olden time, for exorcising evil spirits. + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE. + +To the two other ghost stories relating to the township of +Godley--namely, the stories of "The Haunted Farm" and "The Spectre +Hound"--I have thought it necessary to append a note of explanation. I +now adopt the same course with regard to the story of "The Boggart of +Godley Green." I wish to repeat in this instance that nothing in the +story must be credited to the imagination of the writer. All the +details have been given to me by persons still living (May, 1906), who +have resided in the house at one time or another, and who solemnly +assert that they have seen the boggart, under the circumstances +related in the above account. Their statements were given to me in the +presence of witnesses, and it is impossible to doubt the earnestness +and honesty of my informants. + +I do not wish to cast any harsh doubt upon their statements, nor do I, +on the other hand, desire to give it forth that I am a convert to the +belief in ghosts and boggarts. I merely record the stories as told to +me by people whose honesty I know to be above suspicion, and who +firmly believe that they have seen the things they describe. + +The houses and the fields and lanes mentioned in the three stories, as +haunts of the ghosts, are all well known to me. I have walked over +them alone, at all times of the night and day, and in all seasons. And +with the house and grounds mentioned in the story of "The Boggart of +Godley Green" I am especially familiar. The land behind the house dips +down to a secluded valley; and the gate mentioned by the narrators as +a favourite haunt of the ghost is half-way up the slope. It is +overshadowed by tall trees, and in certain lights the darkness cast by +these trees is peculiar, and almost palpable. Beyond the gate is a +meadow, from which at certain times the mists rise thick and white. +When seen through the trees the mist sometimes takes strange forms. My +first experience of it was rather startling. I had been in the orchard +alone one night, and when slowly walking up the rise I chanced to look +towards the gate, and there in the gap between the trees appeared a +white form, like the veiled and draped figure of a female. It seemed +to be moving, and for the moment I received a shock. On proceeding +towards the gate, however, I found it was nothing but a moving column +of mist, framed by the thick foliage of the trees. Even then, by an +abnormal imagination, it might have been taken for a spectre. + +But although the mist might in some degree explain away the appearance +of "The Boggart" at the gate, I must candidly admit that it does not +account for the spectre hound, or the strange noises, movings of +furniture, and openings of doors, recorded in the two first stories. +These things are as much a mystery as ever. + + + THE END + + +[Illustration: HYDE: + FRED HIGHAM, + PRINTER, + "CHESHIRE POST," + MARKET PLACE. + MCMVI.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Legends of Longdendale, by Thomas Middleton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41108 *** |